Hilarious....from a forward mail and www.fringer.org

Translation to follow soon.

 

 

รุ่นนี้ชื่อ โอลิโออุ
จากวัด นาบิดสะโก
เป็นรุ่นพิมพ์นิยมของวัยใส มีไว้ชีวิตจะพบแต่ความหวาน
ผู้นิยมนับถือ จะมีพลานามัยสมบูรณ์กว่าคนทั่วไป
มีสรรพคุณให้พละกำลังรวดเร็ว
นิยมบูชาด้วยน้ำนมสด

ข้อเรียกร้องของฟ้าเดียวกัน ก็ใช่ย่อย

อยู่เมืองไทยนี่มันส์จริงๆ

 

Fingers (and toes) crossed that the rainy downpour of the majority of this week will cease, that the sky would open and summer will arrive just in time for Songkran.  For what would a summer's splashing be with a rain downpour.  Looking for a proper Songkran with HOT + SunnY days!!!

 

Then after many have had their splashing fun and enough have soaked, it's the perennial rush to to deparment stores for some of their chilling air-con... what a contradiction Bangkok is.... :)  And that's why I'm enjoyin' it. Again.

my Bachelor degree was in Energy Technology (short-handed 'ET' of which we have our distinct 'greeting gesture')

we were a group of 8 studying hard to pass the rigorous grading rule, woefully deepened by the small number of people. (doesn't help the statistics.

 

Years passed, and now we're in the Institute's Hall of Fame. 

(at least it's our picture up there...don't know who did the bribery)

 

....so Bravo ETians!!

 

 

the first fellow to know and advertise:

Por:   http://opal.diaryis.com/?20070327

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

 

 

 

 

 

I selected some quotes auto-generated from the new LiveSpaceGadget which i want to ponder. 

They are:

 

 and

 "We know our friends by their defects rather than by their merits."  - W. Somerset Maugham

 

I agree with the women's part, not entirely certain about the men's perspective but think not, and totally DISAGREE with the second statement. 

 

How about you guys?  Am I wrong to judge that this Maugham was a rather manipulative guy who exploit other?  Or on a candide light, does he mean, "We know true friends from adversity and are willing to accept their defects?".  If then, I think he should just say so!

Time: How mature is Thailand's democracy?

Thaksin: Without democracy it's not possible for Thailand to prosper, because without democracy, we will not get the trust and confidence [of investors] to develop the country.

This one is my favourite. Just let Thaksin's statements speak for themselves. "I'm a straightforward man. Provinces that give us their trust deserve our special care. We have to take care of the whole country, but our limited time has to be allocated to provinces where we receive the most trust. Provinces that trust us less will have to wait." "Democracy is a good and beautiful thing, but it's not [my] ultimate goal. Democracy is just a tool, not our goal. We can't drive a Rolls-Royce to a rural village and fix people's problems; sometimes a pickup or good off-road vehicle will do".

Slips of the tongue? Probably. But putting them together with his latest interviews can tell a lot about how mature Thailand's democracy is or how fickle Thaksin is. Some blame Thaksin more than the military and vice versa. The debate over which one is worse is wide ranging and seemingly endless.

There is one question though that I think Time should have asked Thaksin:

"Democracy gave you the biggest ever mandate, not once but twice. What have you done to protect it?"

- directly quoted from Tulsathit Taptim, The Nation, Feb 7, 2007.

- read more (on his version of freedom of the press, elections, corruption scams)at : http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/07/opinion/opinion_30026143.php

 

Being an avid traveller myself, and with doubts about the selection of places in the book titled 'the 1000 places to visit before you die', that when I stumbled upon this article while on one of my many I-want-to-escape-somewhere mode, it dawns on me the silliness of the 1000 places book.

 

I begin to think of late that travelling shouldn't be about quantities, how many places you've visited, i've been to so and so..., but about the stories and impressions you've gathered, the jovialness of companions, and the impact it has.  These are what made the trips memorable.

This I say with respect to trips which I've been to just to visit the place, eg a weekend away in Brussels or a lone trip to farmers market.  The former was interesting as a getaway, but whether it made any impact, i would be inclined to say 'no'.  Meanwhile the loneand no-frill trip to farmers market a few stops away on the London tube was enjoyable, much so because it was so lively and met an old lady selling oysters.  The sight of her hand severely covered by bumps and warts due to continual exposure to the oysters and sea water is something I won't forget easily.

 

So the article talks about 7 travel stories you should be able to tell before you die.  they are: travelers should be able to tell a good bus story, bathroom story, airplane story, animal story, hotel story, food story and guide story.

 

Don't think I've made it to all 7 yet

(got the food (Fat Duck at 200quid),

 hotel (communal bath (even if female only) onsen in Japan or robbed in Spain?)

animal (snake farm in bangkok))

 

... it only means I have to do more travelling, no?

 

 

 

 

"How to help the young children is to show them how to have a vision for their own future," she said. "They don't have that. Because if we are poor we need to develop ourselves to get a better future, not just give up and get some money easily."

 

Into exams within 10 days and getting stressed as usual.

Just thinking of things to do when it's over!  STress relieve mechanism running full steam in parallel.

 

:S

 

So meanwhile an update on Loy Krathong festival earlier in the month. 

(went to Thammasat Tha Prachan for the main float across Chao Phraya and one at Chula with my sis.  T-shirt says '100% Chula' (my sister's T-shirt, but still Thammasat down under.  :)

Been back to Bangkok for exactly 2 weeks today and have comfortably settled back into active family life.

Playing with my cuddly brother who manages to remember me all these years.  What an amazing aspect of child psychology.

 

Apart from a few hiccups versus admin ppl, life at the new office is happily sociable.

The air-con is cold almost everyday that I have to wear a jacket whilst outside temperature is steaming at 35 degC.

And to be categorized as size L clothing is definitely unpleasant.  Give me back my London sizing please.

 

Meanwhile enjoying basic pleasures such as eating happily.  Gained some weight (so much so i'm scared will be a permanent L-- a bit of exaggeration--) so ahead into exercising before this bubble state bursts on its seams.  That's the physical bubble.

Bubble of anticipation is taking its toll too. Exam coming up in 3 weeks of which loads of study still remained (typical procrastination).

Missing my chatty bubbly encloser as well... :) 

 

Finally back behind wheels... back to driving after 2 years draught.  Definitely not a raudy speeder across Bangkok's roads and expressway, but enjoying the accelerator.  (Have yet renew driving license though... so still driving carefully....)

 

Lastly, it's almost end of the year and vacations are coming up.  Have to use up all personal work holidays by year end as they are not rolled over.   So dear friends (inclined to say :Friends, Roman, countrymen'-- MarcAntony in Julius Caesar, Shakespeare as if i'm addressing to a whole load of people and on an important issue) let's go travelling!!!

 

Any good suggestions?

 

 

 

The Fat Duck

 

After several reservation telephone calls and long waits , finally got a table at the Fat Duck in Bray, UK, a restuarant which specializes in far-reaching menu such as 'snail porridge' (yuck!) and 'bacon and egg ice cream' (what ice-cream?).

Was very much looking forward to it, especially when arranged to go with Mother who flew all the way from Bangkok to help me pack stuffs I've accumulated in the UK for 2 years (it WAS ALOT).  It was a nice meal out in a long, long time together.....

 

The experience was worth the value.  Apart from some comments of disbelieve from colleagues such as 'What, you're taking your mom directly from a 12 hours flight to a 16-course lunch?!' or 'Paying a hundred plus quid for lunch each!', which are heard and taken, but nothing to stop me from going.  At least now I'm here in the UK and don't have to spend additional 400 sterling for a flight to come.

 

So that's how it went.  A visit at the Fat Duck restaurant, voted the World's BEST restuarant in 2006 (by a group of news reporters and critiques mainly from the UK- yah.. so some doubt of fairness, but what the heck... better experience it and be my own judge.

 

The most intriquing course would have to be 'Hot and Cold Fizz' which is simply odd.

Plainly a drink of Earl Gray TEa, but in one cup, divided directly down vertically by nothing, is tea in which one half is cold, the other is hot.  So when you drink, one side of the mouth is cold, the other warm.  There was no physical barrier, thus puzzling how the temperature difference is maintained (at least from the kitchen to table until serving) without any mixing before then.

 

Many other dishes, many surprises (eg the snail porridge turns out quite tasty and the bacon and egg ice-cream is a salty, creamy, egg ice-cream... pretty good. 

 

Will attach the menu soon... but check out the pictures... worth several words..

  

Visited the 2 university towns recently. 

They are both gorgeous, but have to say I like Cambridge much more than Oxford.  It is more tranquil yet lively, small yet grand.  Especially fell in love with Trinity College and St. John's at Cambridge.  It was almost like walking through a medieval elegantly decorated courthouse where you can feel history in every stone.

 

I just find Oxford less attractive, as each college looks similar.  That is of course, excluding the Radcliffe Tower and Oxford's St. Mary which you can climb up whirling staircase (only 1 so you really have to squeeze in when people are coming down and you up) with no hand rails but series of rope, but offer an amazing 360 degree view of the whole of Oxford when you reach the top and All Souls' College which looks as grand as Trinity from above.  (College names can get confusing as both universities can have same College names, eg, both St.Mary or Queens at Oxford and Cambridge.... shows the 'Tradition' of british ppl, eh?)

 

Both universities have long lists of famous ppl.  My favourite (and aim of visit) was Oxford's Merton College where J.R.R. Tolkien taught and wrote the Lord of the Rings (got to see the garden described as hobbits' hole) and Cambridge's Trinity College where Newton sat under his infamous apple tree.  In Oxford, also home to author of Alice in Wonderland, walked along to see the tree where the rabbit hole where that little Time constrained rabbit (aren't we all) jumps out too.  In Cambridge, the gardens and tree are picture perfect for autumn.  Lining trees, slightly bending, creating a covering for walkways.  Leaves turning a bit orange and red here and there.  A British colleague told me that Trinity College produces more Nobel Prize winners than France and is the second biggest land owner in the UK.  WoW! It's definitely some thing to be proud of, seriously, not least if the colleague was a Cambridge alumni.

 

Well, personal verdict is that I like Trinity.  (College not the girl in the Matrix) Khun Anand Punyarachoon is an alumni of Trinity.  Good luck to my cousin to get in!!!  and good punting!