Retro: Mum in Bangkok !

I'll be posting some of my own favorite (or important) entries (and there aren't many of them), from my previous blog to this one. Most of that blog is about my life abroad, mostly in Singapore in 2004, and then Bangkok in 2005 - that blog predates this current blog.

As a start, this is my favorite memory from Bangkok - taking my mum for a short holiday during Chinese New Year !

Some editing has been done to the original entry, mostly grammatical ones.

Originally posted on Tuesday, 15 February 2005

Mum posing with a mural depicting Hanuman (Monkey King) transforming his mouth into a cave for Rama to sleep, all this while they were being shot with sleeping darts by the evil army. It's her favorite mural in Wat Phra Keow.

I brought my mum out here to wild wild Bangkok over the Chinese New Year holidays because i think she really deserved a break. this is a woman who doesn't have holidays, really.

Here, she went to all the usual suspects - Siam Square area, Chit Lom shopping areas, MBK, Chatuchak, Grand Palace, Temple of Emerald Buddha, Wat Po, Wat Arun, Royal Barge Musuem and Suam Lum night market. How did I cram all these iteneries into just 2.5 days?

Mum has amazing physical fitness for a person her age. She outwalked a particular Mr Taylor - mum actually walked the entire Grand Palace, Temple of Emerald Buddha and then walked over to Wat Po, where she again, walked the entire place. And all this on a single bottle of mineral water. Go mum!

She also tried plenty of Thai food as well, ranging from Thai vegetarian food to Tom Yum noodles. She liked the mango with sticky rice as well as Pad Thai. Great - I'm happy she had a good time.

Posing with the famous reclining Buddha in Wat Po.

We spent considerable amount of shopping times looking for a particular shopping bag I had bought my sister in an earlier trip. However, we couldn't find that. Of course, we did get her some t shirts instead from Chatuchak. And mom got herself 3 very nice shirts.

And of course, we have some little souvenirs. I am really hoping she will like it. And that she enjoyed the trip.

Little bit of update ...

These are busy times for me. Both at work and in my own personal time, there are just so many things happening, it's both fulfilling and dizzying at the same time. It's a bit like juggling with really sharp things ... it demands concentration, if you do it well, the audience will applaud and appreciate your skills. If you do it badly, you could end up with some very ugly scars.

Some of you may know I have another blog (other than the photo blog, that is). Well, most of you won't. Anyways, that blog is shutting down soon - it's turning into a pay-only site, and I don't like pay only sites - as if there's not enough ad revenue to go around !

So, I'm now in the process of moving posts that mean a lot to me from that blog into this one. I've done the backup, but there's more to it than just copy and paste. It's not a Ctrl+c and Ctrl+v thing, moving sites.

One thing about reading that other blog all over again is that somewhere in those blog entries, is the history of my digital photography journey ! There are so many great memories ! You will soon see some of those blog entries moved over here, as soon as I make them ready, I'll point it out to all of you, so that you can see what I was like before I was here, before I became the Mozilla Monster you all know (or don't know).

It was also about a time when I was grappling my way through work life, so it's been doubly satisfactory for me to read up on my own journey through those formative career years !

It'll take time to get those posts over here, so keep coming back to check on what's up. In the meantime, I've posted some photos from that other blog over at my photo blog. The first series is called Bali Sunset. Do hop over to have a look !

Hanoi, Hanoi ..

Recently, I visited Vietnam again, and while I didn't have any time to take in the sights in Ho Chi Minh City, I did rekindle my liking for Hanoi ... I've visited Hanoi previously in December 2006 on holiday, and a few times since on business.

I really didn't have any time to do any touristy thing, this being a business trip, but I did find a couple of hours of time to stretch the legs a little bit, walking around the spiritual heart of Hanoi, Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarters.

As usual, I'm letting the photos do the talking ...

The beautiful Turtle Tower is situated on a small island in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake. In the mornings and the evenings, you'll see masses of Hanoi residents congregating around the lake, either relaxing, or doing workouts.

When in Hanoi, you must Hang Gai (Jalan Jalan in Cantonese). In the Old Quarters, streets are named after the merchandise sold on that street in the past. Hang Gai now is the main touristy thoroughfare selling silk and souvenirs, and home to many a tailors, but in the past, it sold Hemp (Gai). So, Hang Gai means Hemp Goods.

Relaxing at Hoan Kiem after work ...

The hauntingly beautiful Opera House, conveniently situated next to my hotel =)

My verdict for Hanoi is clear ... =) ... if you sit near the front of the plane, look out the window before takeoff ... the ground crew has to remove some pin from the aircraft, and give the all clear signal ... which is what I've photographed ..

Macha ... satu lagi !!!

It's birthday time !!!! Gosh, time passes really quickly, doesn't it? More so when one is having fun !!!

My past year had been full of fun and surprises, so I'm really convinced it won't be a bad thing to have another year full of good things !

Happy Birthday to me ! 31 isn't such a bad age to be !

What was really cool about the past year ?

I found my sunshine, that's definately tops! I call her sunshine because she exudes warmth, and gives you that great fuzzy feeling you get when you walk in the soft glow of the morning sun !

Again, the travel has been great. I think of all things, I discovered Hanoi, which I really liked ! It's impossible not to like it if you are a traveller looking for 'retro' places.

My parent's continued good health ! Dad retired ! And he's now a home-maker of sorts ! It's really cool to see him do his gardening. It's time to take a well deserved rest, dad.

And not least, you, my small group of readers and blogpals. Considering the fact that I haven't written a single Top Ten list for a very long time now, I'm surprise anyone still peeks in, but you do peek in ! =)

Thanks everyone for your wishes. Personally, I'm wishing for another good year ahead - whatever good means.