These few days have been good. I've cleared most of my backlog so I can finally move on to do here-and-now stuff. Quite pleased with myself :)

I've finished reading the da vinci code book. It's a really good read, very thrilling & keeps yr heart racing fast. The person I borrowed it from said I should read the other danbrown books too, but I'll give it a pass. I really have lots of other important things to read now, definitely not fiction.

Like guidebooks.

AH has ended up doing most of the research (again!!) because I'm just too busy (no nooo...I am *not* a travel bimbo!) at work. And actually I prefer to leave it up to him coz usually he knows these things best, and I trust him. I'm glad I read the books though, coz at least I won't be such a blur blob. Hopefully some of the foreign names register in my head; enough for survival when we're there.

For a start, I've been practising to say 'Hi' & 'Goodbye' in a certain language. My colleague, seated right infront of my workstation, has the honour of listening to my practices. He never fails to let out guffaws of laughter listening to my attempts at waving him goodbye every evening.

Maybe I should start answering the phone with Oui. It's quite good that I read the da vinci code coz that gave me an idea on how to use the word Oui correctly.

Actually come to think of it, maybe I should just forget about attempting to learn the basic greetings; after all we're going to spend probably only 1 day there.

Anyway AH has assigned me with a task. Yeah, it seems that I'll be of use after all! :)

Romantic road, anyone?

Oui!

A date with a girlfriend on a Friday night was exactly what I needed. Plenty of laughter thanks to anecdotes from her recent Europe trip, attempts at speaking the most basic French and the simplest German greetings of Alo!. Girl talk too, of course. One word - Fun.

And of all the places we went to, we went to Delifrance. I asked, "Kat France ada Delifrance tak?" Within giggles that risked turning into guffaws, she let out a "Tak ada!!" Rather lame but amusing to me anyway.

And the edible souveniers she got, will come in handy to satisfy my never-ending choco-cravings.

We're headed to JB tonight for his friend's wedding dinner. I'm hoping we can stop by a supermart so I can stock up on girly essentials and canned food for the trip. Whatever our balance Malaysian ringgit can buy.

....

2 pecks on the cheek & a kiss on her hand later, she's out. Till we meet again on Monday :)

I think my blog is getting boring. No one seems to pop by at all. Or perhaps people do pop by; they are just lurkers who can't be bothered to say Hi. Since I do that too sometimes, I guess I can't blame these people. Actually I do lurk around pple's blogs too, but I'd say hi to the ones which are less frequented.

But come to think of it again, since this blog is largely for my own keeping & reading pleasure, I shouldn't be bothered whether or not people read my blog. To me my blog is interesting & relevant (to myself) so that matters most!

Anyway I had a nightmare yesterday. I dreamt that I lost my hair! As in gugur & hair starts to thin slowly. Is that scary or what?! I remember last time, a friend of a friend had to take her tudung off, as advised by the Doc as wearing the scarf did not allow her hair or hair follicles or scalp or something like that to breathe, hence her falling hair. Now, that's frightening. I think it's time I start pouring hair tonics after every shower.

I rewarded myself with 4 pieces of chocolates after all that walking (and running after the bus in heeled shoes) just now. This means, my diet will have to resume only tomorrow.

Since AH wasn't fetching me today, I took a trip down to the Central National Library. I marvelled at the size of the library, and the big spaces available; and the escalators & the lifts.

I know I've got so much to read these days, but these reads will come in handy come the next few weeks.



I contemplated brushing up my driving skills by early Jul too, but upon consideration, I doubt AH would dare to sit in the car I'm driving, so, I'll save the trouble.

*destination will be revealed at a later time...insya-Allah. I hope it happens :)

Many months since Aug 05, I've read this less than 5 times. It's a gift from AH during our wedding, and I thought it was quite an interesting gift. It's about time I start reading this again. I have a feeling, though, that one would need further interpretation from the hadiths themselves.

A circular was issued a few weeks ago about the do's & don'ts of blogging for employees. So, we're not supposed to blog directly about work, and of course, blog at our own time. About blogging at our own time, I suppose that means I'm safe coz even if I do blog at work, I do so during lunch time or after office hours. Even so, there's the issue of using their electricity for my own needs. But it's not often I do that, I always try my best to blog only at home. It's about integrity. So irris, how about your periodic bloghopping during office hours? Hey, that's for stress relief :P

It's windy & dark outside, just the perfect weather to catch up on sleep debt. I've been feeling sleepy & sluggish for the longest time. I think it's time for me to get some exercise. That'll come soon.

Within the past 3 days, I've received news about 3 people getting pregnant - 2 good friends & 1 counterpart I met through work. I told Mak about one of my good friends being pregnant, but not about the other one, my childhood friend I've known since I was 7 yrs old. But frankly, I have a gut feeling Mak (and AH's mom too) have given up on asking us about when we're going to have a baby. We hope to surprise them soon though.

1 not so good news... but that concerns another old friend. I feel sad, but my dua is with her. And good to know she's a happier person now, though I hope she'll gain more weight soon.

Love, it can bring you so much pleasure, but it can also give you so much pain.

Forgetful irris forgot that she's got an exciting book to read this weekend, and brought her pda & mini keyboard home to get some work done!

It's a borrowed book, The Da Vinci Code. I'm determined to read it before I watch the movie. But the 2 free movie passes I got a month ago are still sitting nicely in our drawer, waiting to be taken out for a show. Maybe we should watch something else instead of Da Vinci with those passes.

It feels good to be at home on a Saturday morning. I feel liberated!

the travel bug.

So the leave has been approved! After 2 days of uncertainty! Syukur!

Now, we can start doing our little research... where to go, what do to, how to get there. So fun! Of course, try to do all that with very minimal expenses.

I only started travelling to destinations other than M'sia & lovely Indonesia since I got to know AH. He's quite a traveller, unlike me. And I prefer to be the girly one who tags along everywhere he went. Except for 1 occasion where he tagged along when I decided to go to Melbourne & Brisbane for an impromptu holiday. Actually I think he came along coz he was worried about blur me going around on the eastern states without a credible driver. (What in the world made me think my driving was good enough for me to get out of Melbourne roads in 1 piece?)

After that, no travelling till we were married. To a lovely beach resort we went, after having contemplated Queensland & Lombok.

Then a short trip to KL with the family. I think AH is still bewildered that my family has not gone to KL for 14 yrs.

BKK was great, though of course it was nothing but a spending trip. Hehe...street shopping only though, nothing from high end boutiques. I'm not a fan of those anyway (typical bargain hunter s'porean....hides face).

Then now... I've never imagined I'd ever get to go there, and since it's still about 3 weeks from now, anything can still happen but I'm hoping all will run smoothly and with Allah's will we'll get to go there.

I'm so excited. I think I should start my research soon. Maybe it's time I prove I'm not just a bimbotic tag-along girl this time round. My heart is beating fast just at the thought of starting the research. Can't imagine how it'll feel like when we're actually there.

I'll start with trawling the net for photos...right now.

That's what you do when you've picked what you want to keep in the album!



When AH bought the photo printer a month ago when all I planned was to get a new digital camera, I thought that printer would become a white elephant. But now I appreciate AH for thinking ahead, heheh, coz now we can print what we want without depending on people from the photo-kiosk!

....

While many were napping comfortably this afternoon, thanks to the rain, we caught Silent Hill @Lido. I still don't understand the story fully. But I'm glad for the date anyway :)

I hope my leave gets approved tomorrow or anytime really soon. If not, I'll be quite upset :( But I'll hold on to AH's words to feel better; the leave will get approved if Allah wants me to go. If not, next time then.

These stuff, abundant cheap cheap at BKK, were meant for my female teammies. But guess what? One of the girls don't have pierced ears! Actually now that I think about it, I think my other kaki haven't got pierced ears too. I was like..."Gosh, how can a girl *not* have pierced ears?" I thought that was mandatory for little girls or something. Anyway since she has no use for the earrings, I'll find other kakis to give them too.

Work in the freezer was a drag today. I know I should be grateful that at least I had a break but it was just so slow mo in the morning. And it didn't help that I only woke up at 8.30 am when I was supposed to be in office at 9 am! When I finally go to work, it took me some time to respond to emails, telephone calls and colleagues...betul2 slow mo.

Then my throat got worse, so at 4.30 pm, I scooted out of the office. Daripada nak blah after lunch, boleh sampai 4.30 pm. Betul2 ada magnet kat tempat duduk tu.

I've popped 2 panadols just now. Think it's time for something that'll make me drowsy so I'll go to bed immediately.

Good night all.

Back from the Land of a Thousand Smiles, Bangkok, Thailand.

It's really an amazing place, and I was really fascinated by it. OK, we admit, we didn't go to the cultural places; we didn't even go to Chao Phraya river or the Floating Market! All we did was shop, eat, walk, sleep, shop, eat, walk.... but it was fun (despite the fact we're at least $1.5k poorer, excluding the emergency swiping exercises we did).

The first night we arrived, we dumped our single baggage at the hotel, and strutted out to get some middle-eastern dinner at Sukumvit. After dinner, we realised, there was a flood!



Very exciting, though I did feel a tinge of pity for flood victims on the other side of Thailand.

Since it was late, after dinner (at about 10 plus BKK time, 9 SG time), we called it a day. I was really fascinated at the amount of people who were still roaming the streets, the street hawkers who are still selling stuff as if it was only 6 pm in the evening. I thought to myself, "This is gonnna be a great trip." And boy, wasn't it true?

Day 2
BOBAE TOWER, PRATUNAM & SUAN LUM NIGHT BAZAAR

Wy & Ej took us to Bobae Tower. A must go if you're hunting for baby clothes, t-shirts, pyjamas, undergarments etc at wholesale prices! Finding short sleeved pretty tops were easier than finding long sleeved tops. But the moment we found a shop selling simple but pretty long sleeved tops, we went...buy, buy buy!



For some reason, we were rather ambitious that day, so we stretched ourselves to cover 2 more shopping havens; Pratunam Market & Suam Lum Night Bazaar.

At Pratunam, think Geylang Hari Raya bazaar, but more compact with shops, with less lighting. I didn't find much bargains there, but people looking for pretty short sleeved tops will go ballistic there.



This was taken at a bridge linking Pratunam market to Pratunam Plaza (the shopping centre itself, not the bazaar-like type). There's a halal food stall at Pratunam plaza, and I think it was only about 60 baht per plate max (about SGD$1.50).

That night, we went to Suan Lum Night Bazaar. It was much cleaner & neater than the street stalls, but of course the stuff was slightly more expensive. I didn't buy much here, but AH & EJ got rather excited looking at the jerseys and t-shirts there. Me & Wy gave way to them; we sat & chatted along the way while the guys engaged in their fair share of retail therapy.

After bundles of buys, we headed back to the hotel, and it was less than a few minutes before we headed right into slumberland.

DAY 3
GOT OUR SUITS TAILORED, then MBK & SIAM PARAGON

By a stroke of luck, we managed to find the tailors we've been looking for. Manhattantailors, somewhere near our hotel, the Twin Towers, actually. I got a suit tailored for 4000 baht, and AH got a set for around that price too. I can never find a jacket I like over here; they're either too small or short (sighs, my body is not half as thin as the typical singaporean's body). I hope that jacket fits me well when I really wear it.

MBK was huge! But it didn't really appeal to me. I thought the stuff were similar, and not too cheap either. But there was a halal stall at MBK too, and the food was alright.

Night time, we walked around SIAM Paragon. That place is also huge & rather posh too, but being street shoppers, we didn't buy much. Just went in for a whiff of aircon :p

When our legs were giving up on us, we hailed a cab, called in dinner from Mak Yah's Muslim Restaurant, ate in, and booom...slept for another day of shopping that awaited.

DAY 4
CHATUCHAK WEEKEND MARKET, FITTING AT THE TAILOR'S & SUAN LUM AGAIN!



This place is a bargain palace. Things are rather cheap (I got a pretty dress for a colleague's 4 yr old daughter at only 100 baht ($SGD 2)! I bought earrings for 4 for $100 baht (meaning, each for SGD$0.50) for my female teammies & some cheap pens for the guys.

Other stuff included home furnishings that AH bought for my SIL, and loads of erm....non-authentic-adidas jackets for my sibling & bapak. And of course, banana chips, durian chips & dried-freeze durians Wy recommended. There are several halal foodstalls there (in the middle of stalls selling clothes & other knick knacks) but we chose to go to a rather cleaner & better ventilated one. Spicy, hot Thai food!

Chatuchak was hotter & more crowded than Pratunam, anytime; with the shops set up everywhere, hawkers peddling iced lollies & shoppers themselves. It's a weekend market, so imagine the throngs of people headed there.

A push-cart selling fruits went into the already narrow lanes we were in, but thank God for that, coz we bought 10 Thai guavas at 10 baht each (only about 40 cents). We thought about the baggage limit..but heck...we got them anyway.

On the sardine-liked packed humans in Chatuchak, AH summed it quite well,"The whole of Bangkok is here." We managed to get out of there in 1 piece at about 3 pm, and headed back to the hotel with a 200 baht taxi ride. Phew~ What a great relief.

After a nap, we were all recharged again & went to the tailor's for a fitting. I was quite depressed looking at huge my jacket turned out to be (coz that meant that I'm fat) & got even sadder when I saw how shapeless I was when I tried the jacket on. I got the sweet Thai lady seamstress to alter my jacket, so I hope now I won't look like a floating balloon.

After that, dinner at Mak Yah's (Yummy tom yam again!) then off to Suan Lum night bazaar. AH bought me a set of thai silk which I chose and love so much. Now, all I gotta do is find a nice tailor soon.

Once again, we only called a day when our legs & eyes started to give up on us.

DAY 5
BOBAE TOWER AGAIN!
LUNCH AT SOI SURAU - NANGPHAYA MUSLIM RESTAURANT
TRIP BACK HOME

Headed back to Bobae Tower for last minute bargains. I was left with less than 1500 baht (appx SGD$60) to spend. But...I managed to get 4 working shirts, 3 more tops, 2 pashminas (am not even sure when I'm gonna wear those pashminas!)& a make up pouch with whatever remaining baht I was left with. I think both AH & I were quite relieved with those buys.

I am a very disciplined shopper and it's quite hard for shops to earn my money & this annoys AH. So I think he was happy when I spent on stuff I really liked & was willing to pay for, heee :p



Lunch was really good. We saw street hawkers selling tidbits but with very little cash left (plus we were full to the brim from the lovely 520 baht lunch (About $20 for 4 people), we left for the hotel....where we started...yes, the arduous task of packing!

We managed to do it though, and thank goodness, not much excess baggage.

And after all that shopping, we rewarded ourselves with a foot, back & shoulder massage at Bangkok airport, soon after we checked in. What a blessing....truly blissful.

Apart from the bargains in Bangkok, several things fascinated me too. Like how much the Thais love their King and how they wear the yellow t-shirts celebrating the King's 60 years of ruling so proudly.

How gentle they spoke, and how lovely the Thai language sounds.

How Thailand is such a massive piece of land, and that it is such a unique place, owned by themselves.

And not forgetting the traffic too. Jams are perpetual there but it's amazing how organised the chaos is like on the Bangkok roads. AH sat infront in cabs most of the time, and I think the trips on the cabs have made him more religious by the day; what with the amount of prayers muttered each time we got on the road.

We're still rather tired from the trip, but I want to update this now, so I can capture the spirit of Bangkok that's inside me now.

Great place, great company. I can't thank my hubby enough for the trip. Thanks dear :)