Sore!

Learning new tricks is a harrowing experience with body falls and slams against hard and unyielding concrete. Not only my back hurts, my muscles are sore all over from the stress and strains of trying to balance myself in different awkward positions. Muscles that were inactive in the last few decades (ya! I am getting there!) is called to action. Many times I have to waves my arms wildly in a bid to regain balance. It must be funny to an observer. Whereas for me, it was a struggle for survival.

My Aching Back!

My back hurts after I fall a few times today while roller blading. I read the inline skating book and try out the braking options and skating backward. Boy! This is a huge challenge. Falling down several times and several near falls. Maybe I should just stick to blading forward and turning gently.
With a weak back, I am not sure how much abuse my spine can take....

Bright Star

There is a huge bright star in the sky tonight. The sky is quite clear and many stars are blinking through our dark sky. Most of us are watching tv. Star grazing is no longer a pastime. The city lights make it difficult to see stars well. I remember in a Malaysia resort it is starlight, starbright, and I wish I may and I wish I might, I wish my wish will come true tonight.

California Pizza Kitchen

I want to try pizza other than Pizza Hut. I know Modestos in Orchard Hotel was quite good. California Pizza is a lot more patronized. As usual, the crowd mean the food must be good or it is good value. So when I reached Modestos and it is empty, I decide California is good for lunch. This resturant is in Wisma Atria and is very popular with foreign families. Kids must have just dismissed from their enrichment class.
We, my wife and I ordered a salami pizza, salad, chocolate cake and one ice lemon tea. The total cost is $55. Cost of meal for two is going up! Inflation making eating out expensive and out of reach for the average wage earner. However, I must say the pizza and salad was excellent. Overall it is good value for an "Italian" meal.

What do I REALLY want?

Come to think of this question, it is a laundry list of wants!
Freedom - freedom to do what I enjoy, freedom from worry, financially free, freedom of choice basically.
Love - mother, brother, sisters, wife, sons and in-laws
Teach - to teach and to learn
Health - good health
Money - no worry living
Earth - enjoy a standard of living with minimal impact to our Mother Earth
Spiritual - make spiritual progress, acquire good karma and make the world better for being here

What do I really, really, really want?

I have my empty create screen open and wondering what to write... Then I switch on the TV and Oprah was on and interviewing a woman about her journey in life. How she travelled all the way to Bali and found Life! This woman was smiling radiantly. Yes, she looks like she found it. However, she says you need not travel the same journey as her to achieve what she did. She went all the way to Bali and learned from a master. This master never move out of his front porch. He told her he does not understand why the Indian master makes meditation so complicated. "I will teach you the way to meditate. All you have to do is to sit here and Smile." Yes, just smile. Make sure your liver is smiling too. The author was smiling from her heart and actually her whole body is oozing with smiles. Yes, it is obvious she has learn, practice and mast the art of smiling. The book she wrote is the journey of love, a love story that has a happy ending. On page 287, here is my favorite part, Oprah read "This is enough. Come, come to my bed now. Come, come to my bed now". The book is
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gibert.
To embark on the same journey as Elizabeth, all you have to do is to ask the question What do I really, really, really want? every morning when you wake up and answer the question in a journal. The really, really must be repeated 3 times.

Wonderful Party

I had a wonderful party with my distributor in Singapore. A party of 10 eating my bbq heartily. It is great to have great company. I had a fantastic time and enjoys all the small talk and loving the fact that my guests tucking in my cooking with gusto. We had sauages, pork tenderloin, ribeye and sirloin, boneless chicken thighs and satay. My guests like my home very much and loves the views. I noticed I am getting less blue sky now as more high HDB are surrounding my estate. I hope we do not keep building and crowd our the sky view.
Grocery is more expensive much more expensive than before. Our purchasing power has been reduced by the high inflation. I have no idea how the 7.7% inflation come about. I think the cost of raw food has gone up by more than 50%!!

Mid Valley Mall

Jusco has sales for members only today and starts early in the morning. The crowd was tremendous. Judging by the response, the economy is doing well. Everyone is buying loads and carrying large bags when they leave Jusco. I look at the people buying all the stuff which basically is manufactured goods where raw material are dug from the ground. This mean Jusco and the consumers are directly contributing to global warming and the destruction of our planet.
I wonder what we could do to live with less and in total put less demand on Spaceship Earth.

Plasma or LCD?

I am always partial to LCD TV as the power consumption is low and there are plenty of good writeup on the virtues of LCDs. Recently, Hitachi put up a vertical banner that caught my attention! More than 80% of people preferred plasma TV. I was surprised by the high percentage. Hitachi cited interviews done with side by side testing on colors, brillant, picture quality, etc, etc. Now I am sold on plasma tv especially since it is a lot more economical (ok lah! cheaper) than LCD. I understand Panasonic is the market leader in Plasma TV and have the most experience. Right now, I am shopping for the best price. I hope the price will continue to drop...

Rain in Bangkok

When it rain in Bangkok, big puddles form everywhere. Water is two to three inches deep. So water proof shoes does not work! Boots are recommended. It was pouring while we were having dinner in Vietnamese resturant and we saw a couple sharing a tiny umbrella and picking their way to the shops. I have no idea why drainage is not built when roads and car parks are tarred. It will take heavy continuous rain to flood in Singapore. However, in Bangkok water rise rapidly as the roads are not build to drain water away.
Back to the couple with the umbrella. This remind me of the Hokkien song - One Small Umbrella...
Two of us
Together we carry a small umbrella
Rain is heavy
Soaking Wet All Over
The Feeling is uplifting.
(This is my literal translation of the song)

Borders Vs MPH in Mid Valley Mall

I have some time to crawl the mall and as usual my haunt is the bookstore. I first go to Borders in Gardens. The store is bright and the books are well organized. I had a great time in there! I was reluctant to go but I want to check out MPH as well. I find MPH is a let down. Most books are on plastic wraps. Although MPH carry a lot of the latest books, somehow I find the store jaded and merchandising boring. Next time, I will spend all my time in Borders instead.
What surprises me is MPH is better patronised. So location is important. MPH is at the ground floor of the Mid Valley Mall which has much higher traffic. Borders is on the fourth floor of the Gardens. Gardens is quite posh and expensive. So the traffic is low.
I had a great time in the company of books. Hence, me the BookLOVER.

Bum Fall

I had a bum fall yesterday. My butt still hurts and it is sore!! My spine is not strong in the first place is getting more trauma from my new interest. I will have to keep at it to conquer my worst fears and practice until I reach competent level.

Wendy Drops In for BBQ Dinner

Wendy came over to visit my family and we had my usual favorite entertaining option, BBQ. Wendy was my colleague when we both were in Canada. Today, she is still working for the same company but based in Hong Kong. She is here for business but takes time to visit another friend who married to a Singaporean and us. She now has twin baby girls. They are fraternal twins. One is bigger size than the other. Both are extremely cute and adorable. We catch up news on ex-colleagues. It is excellent to be working here in Asia. The economies are growing and in far better shape than US. Canada is doing not too badly too.

Blading Again

I have not lost my touch! Errr... I mean my balance. I have not forgotten how to roller blades! I was a little worried. Even though I know once you learn how to bike, you will never forget. Roller blade is different! Falling is highly painful and exceptional easy. Even with all the protective wear, the butt is unprotected.
I have attained the next level. Now I no longer need the mantra fall forward, bend your knees. Still there are many near misses and I do not like them. The good thing is I can skate forward. Onward I will roll...

Wondering

Sometimes, I still wonder. I wonder what would happen when I die. I go to the hall of memories and review my life. It is like a report card. What would I do? How would I do? Have I progress? Do I have any regrets? Is there anything I could have done better?
How would it be like to know that I will be reborn again?
Life's questions! Any answers from anyone?

Severe Diarrhoea!!

I woke up in the middle of the night with severe diarrhoea and intense abdominal pain. It must be something I ate in Bangkok. Luckily I have lactiford and painkillers. Maybe the fruits are not clean. Or it may be the Vietnamese food. My last suspect is the ice blended coffee. So the ice may not be clean. I have a weak stomach and it hurts!
I am glad the episode happened once and it stopped. I prayed to angels and Goddess of Mercy and my prayers were answered.

B2S

B2S is a books and stationery store in Central World, Bangkok. It has an interesting range of Art books. There are a lot of books different from Kinokuniya. Kino is in Siam Paragon. I must say the shopping malls in Bangkok are a lot bigger than those in Singapore. The traffic is quite good today as it is Buddha's Birthday or something. On the way to the airport, the taxi driver explains to me that all the big bars are closed and the "girls" are not working. The contrast in Thailand is interesting as it is very religious and yet has a lot of sins (if prostitution is consider a sin). I find the women in Thailand are very attractive. I think they are most attractive in Asia!
Anyway, back home I weighs myself and to my horror it read 88.2kg when I am totally naked!!
Sigh! The dinner last night was excellent and I ate too much. It was Vietnamese food. I had pho, prawn in sugar cane, fried popiah, fresh popiah and two drinks. The company was good and the conversation's interesting and engaging. I enjoyed myself too much and now it is payback time. Diet for the next few days until my next trip.

My Ex-colleague Tracy

Tracy used to work for us in KL and is now working in Bangkok. I am glad to get a chance to meet up with her to catch up. She suffered culture shock and homesickness. It was tough adjustment for the past few months. Now she is getting used to the life here and adapting well. She is making tremendous progress. She is doing good work and she has an office bigger than mine!! I am very happy to see that she has grown in her capabilities and is settling in her new career.

Day 2 in Bangkok

Wake up on my own this morning and spend some time on the email. Then I change to my work clothes and then realise I was looking at the time in my computer. Bangkok is one hour behind. So I was too early rather than late. I change to swimwear and swim in the hotel pool. The pool is about the same size at the one I have at home....small! I swam for a total of 10 mins. It is great to do some exercise even though it is not too much.
I had a good meeting presenting my busyness!

Bangkok

It is hot in Bangkok. And I am cooped up in a hotel all day long. The good food and sitting all day. I am losing in my fight against weight gain. The positive is I will have another day of meeting and then off to do my real work. Meeting Customers!
I hope I have some time to explore the Kinokuniya in Siam Square.