The dentist reveals the sleeping beauty

If you are planning to go overseas for your education, make sure you don’t forget to visit the dentist.

It will be good to get copies of dental records and x-rays to bring over.  

Have all dental work done BEFORE you leave. A cavity filling could cost up to USD100! I know there is someone who paid USD200.

This morning Andy went to have his annual dental checkup AND to sort out any dental work that needs doing before he leaves.

Our dentist, Dr Darren, realized that Andy would have a problem with his wisdom tooth. An xray revealed a “sleeping beauty”. Actually, we were all pretty tickled by it

So Andy had it surgically removed – all in about 20 mins or less. 

Actually, I’d be happier that he gets the lower right molar removed too. It looks like its ok, but it might have some problems popping up, (space constraint) and I think prevention is better than cure. But then again, its not my tooth and Andy’s not happy to “meddle” with it.

I just pray that it’ll come out ok or at least not give any problems until next June!

 

The birds came again

The birds came to make a nest again on one of our “domestic plants”

I’d like to think that we are an ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY family with an environmentally friendly garden

Just hope the birds don’t make the nest drop again this time after the eggs have hatched!

Bangkok – Platinum, Pratunam, a mistake, a BBQ and Mr Bun

Besides Chatuchak, another “must go” place for shopping must be Platinum Shopping Mall

Whilst the kids were let loosed at Platinum, Allan and I went across the steet to the Pratunam Market Complex to see if we could get some costumes – this is really like an old market with small stalls, a bit like Chatuchak without all the noise and crowd but with the heat.  If you are claustrophobic, don’t venture in. In any case, this place is full of tailors who make costumes and headgears for shows and also uniforms. These pictures will “explain” what I mean.

As you can see, its not a place for regular shopping.

In the meantime, the kids were having a blast at Platinum. Problem with this place is that most of the shops do not allow you to try on the clothes and you can’t even assume that a size 30 on one pair of slacks is equals to size 30 on another pair – they have different “cuttings”.

So the best thing to do is to pay for one pair of whatever you’re buying, then go to the toilet, try them on and change the size if it does not fit – a bit of a hassle but ……

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this is what happens to people who don’t try before purchasing…..

Poor Joel, we had our week’s quota of laughing at his expense after he tried on the jeans when we arrived home

(This photo posted with permission from Joel)

One place that you really should head to is the Mr Bun outlet on the ground floor (right in the centre) of the shopping mall across the street from Platinum and just beside Pratunam Market Complex. I can’t remember the name, but if you take the pedestrian overhead bridge from Platinum Mall and turn right when you get to the other side, its the mall that’s next to the bridge (not directly in front of the bridge)

The bun tastes like our Roti Boy in KL

That night we had a great BBQ dinner prepared and cooked by Phill and Allie

These sausages have noodles, rice and meat in them and tastes better if you rub a slice of old ginger on the skin before eating – pretty good dinner, don’t you think?

We remembered Joy when we saw this bottle of wine and thought we should take a pic to show her :p

Sasha looks real cute when she closes her eyes to give thanks for the food. We asked her to pose again after saying grace and she gleefully obliged, …. 3 times cos our camera person was laughing so much that she couldn’t take a steady shot!

Sasha put some pomelo salad into her drink and cooly stated that she was making soup

Bangkok – of chatuchak, foodstalls and so on…..

I have just realized that the food stalls in Bangkok (at least the ones I have visited) are so CLEAN

Just look at the pictures below. This is a stall at the junction of Sukhumvit  Soi 12. 

The Pad Thai here is much cheaper, only 35 baht (RM3.50) but of course it is a smaller potion. I think its good for those who want to try the different kinds of food – smaller potions just for trying means you can eat more kinds of food without paying so much la

Last year we missed Chatuchak because we didn’t stay over a weekend, so this time we made sure we had a weekend. Chatuchak is accessible by the BTS train to Mo Chit (Green Line) or to Chatuchak Park on the Blue line. But since there were so many of us, it made better sense to just take a cab – about 100 – 120 baht (inclusive of toll) from Sukhumvit to Chatuchak. Would have cost more by train. Its basically like a market except they don’t sell vegetables and meat. The place is HOT, in ALL sense of the word. 

Be prepared to 1) wear something light and bring a cap (or buy one there)

2) bargain like mad !

3) DON’T bring children – they can’t appreciate that you can get good deals on your shopping and as someone said, “Its inhumane to bring children here” – really, its hot, crowded and the children will be miserable, unless you go early, at about 10am and leave at 11am

It looks cool, right? Don’t be fooled by the camera – its terribly hot!

Chatuchak has anything almost anything that you would want to buy and its HUGE!

Best way is to go to the info counter and grab a map, decide what you want to see and buy before you start – they even have a pets section with live animals!

You won’t go hungry here too cos there are lots of food and drink stalls

We bought ourselves a t shirt each to remember Chatuchak – paid 95 baht each for the girls’ tshirts and about 120 baht per tshirt for the guys. The designs are sewn on, not printed, so we think we got a good deal

There are also all kinds of fashion ideas walking around

Our group separated and met again at the clock tower at 3pm, went home and jumped into the pool

Why 2 same pictures?

Well, Andrea liked this one but Angie said that she looked like someone boxed her on the eye in this picture

…..so we took another one :p

Bangkok – River Ride, Museum of Siam, Cabbages and Condoms

We decided to visit this new Museum that was set up with an entirely new concept and identity – it was set up as a Discovery Museum and as a Plearning (Play+Learn) center.

I must say that I am just so impressed with the creativity that went into planning this museum.  If you think that museums are boring places with cobwebs in the corners, you MUST visit this one. The pictures will speak for themselves. 

We took a train down to Siam station, then changed lines to go to Saphan Taksin and walked over to the ferry terminal (Central Pier) to take the public ferry (orange flag) to pier 8. Sasha was quite happy, a far cry from last year when she was all tired out and irritated throughout the journey. She’s certainly grown in more ways than one

Thais are very religious people. You’ll see people praying at shrines all over the country and the city.  Religion is a part of their lifestyle and culture.  I was just thinking that it would be marvelous if we Christians made Jesus Christ a part of our daily lives and remember God’s Word as part of our culture.

Angie did the same thing this year – not long after this photo was taken, she fell asleep and slept almost throughout the ferry journey – terrible tourist!

Joel went with us for this holiday and it was a good opportunity to get to know him better.

Wat Arun, one of the older and more famous temples. I think that it has some resemblance to 

Angkor Wat

This is so amazing. This barge is 4 “trains” long and is pulled by that small, tiny little tug boat!

One of the drinks you should try is the freshly squeezed mandarin orange juice. They retail for 20 baht (about RM2) per bottle.

We found some good food at this lane.  When you get off Pier 8, walk straight to the end, then turn right towards the temple (Wat Pho) and the Museum of Siam and you’ll see this lane somewhere on the right along that road.  Its the lane before this cafe called Rub Aroon.  We enjoyed the clear Thai hot soup (not Tom Yam), the papaya salad and the crispy fish salad.

Crispy fish salad

Another “must-eat” item is the fresh pineapple.  They look over ripe but they are not and they are SO VERY SWEET

Anna didn’t have mango rice in Asia for 2 years (her friend, Amy, made some for her in the States) and made sure she had her fair share of it this trip

Make sure you don’t get tricked by people standing around the Museum telling you that the museum is close for the day. They are tourist guides who will try to take you somewhere else to earn some money from unsuspecting tourists. Its the same at the Royal Palace too.

The next 20 pictures were taken at the Museum of Siam.

This is why I say they are creative. There are lots of “hands-on” stuff to do at this museum. Its almost like the Singapore Science Centre.

Mock up of a bar in the 60’s complete with the right kind of music from a juke box (no less), a bar counter, tables and chairs and a dance floor.

The children pretending to be drunk (pity they only had Coca Cola bottles)

From Left to Right: Angie, Anna, Andrea and Andy (he gets to have a mock up boyfriend!)

This is a room with a big screen and some stations where you can leave your message and see it flashed on the screen.  Sasha is trying to touch her message (on the right)

The cost is pretty cheap and they let us in as a student group although some of us can hardly be termed as students anymore

After the museum, we went to this beautiful cafe next to the river for a cuppa and rest before some of them went home whilst the rest of us went on to MBK to look for a suit for Joel. He finally found a full wool suit and trouser set for 2800 Baht (about RM280) – a good bargain. A polyester suit set will cost about 2000 baht but it does look like a secondary school prefects’ uniform.

Andy’s latte

I was really glad to see that the tourism council is taking action to warn tourists of unscrupulous ”guide” trying to take them for “cheap sales” of jewelry and supposedly authentic Thai silk. They will take you there free on a tuk tuk but you will be pressured to buy some stuff which are not particularly cheap.

Andy with “Captain Condom” at Cabbages and Condoms, an interesting restaurant on Sukhumvit Soi 12

Mr Ronaldo all dressed up in condoms!

Cabbages and Condoms is a good place to eat because of the ambience and their cause.

The food is however, catered for tourists and is not as authentic, in that its not so spicy

 

Bangkok again :)

Our family decided on Bangkok again for our holiday this year after Anna came back.  Basically it was one of the places on offer by MAS and we could also visit Phill, Allie and Sasha. 

I must say we were amazed by the spread given by MAS – and all for a mere 2 hours flight, just look:

Choice of Chicken Bryani or Beef Satay for the main course.

Desert, Guava Juice, and Ferrero Rocher chocolates and you can still have a drink of your choice

The big surprise was the Haagan Dazs Ice Cream that followed

We nearly didn’t make the flight – my mistake entirely…..I looked at the arrival time at Bangkok on the ticket and mistook that for the departure time. Imagine my horror when we checked in and discovered we only had 1 hour before take off, which means we only had 15 minutes to check in! What a rush it was!

Arrived at Allie’s place in the afternoon. 

One tip for travellers – DO NOT take a taxi from the touts hovering at the airport hall or just outside.  Make your way to the desk that says “Meter Taxi”, pay for it and then go to the taxi queue. Plenty of taxis waiting for customers. It will be a good idea to get the address of your destination in Thai to show to the driver who might not understand English very well.

Ok, back to us….

Our first evening was eat, eat, eat and more eating

We made our way to Sukhumvit Soi 38 which was just 2 stations down from where we were

A must try was the Pad Thai which was priced at 50 baht at this area.  We found some other stalls at Sukhumvit Soi 12 area selling their Pad Thai at 35 baht but the quantity was less – good for those who just want to try it.

The mango rice was 60 baht, surprisingly, more expensive than the Pad Thai!

I guess this place is for tourists, so the price is a little bit more than the other street hawker stalls.

As we were leaving, we noticed a stall opening. This stall is located at the entrance of Soi 38. Its the winner of the Thai Cooking Contest “Pad Tai Gong-Sut”. 

Of course we HAD to try it – even though we had to wait 20 minutes.

While waiting, we tried the wanton mee from another stall.  This dish looks bland but it has all the right tastes.

So was the wait worth it?

I think so – it was definitely more fragrant, more spicy and they gave us 5 prawns (the other stall gave us 2 prawns that were boiled) – all for the same price

 

Aswara student gets scholarship…..We’re proud of you, Jessica :

 

DANCE student Jessica Ho Wai Yee has been awarded the Nordan Fine Art Scholarship for Ballet and Modern Dance that will enable her to pursue undergraduate studies at the Texas Christian University, the United States in September.

The National Arts, Culture and Heritage Academy (Aswara) student graduated top of her class last year, and became the first Malaysian Chinese dancer to play the lead in Aswara Makyong production Makyong Dewa Kecil.

Ho learnt dance in her hometown Ipoh at the City Ballet Academy under the guidance of Datin Rosalina Ooi and joined Aswara in 2005.

An assistant head prefect during her schooldays at the Ave Maria Convent, Ipoh, she scored 10As in her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination and obtained a Grade 8 in Advanced Ballet at the Royal Academy of Dance.

In Aswara, she excelled in various genres of dance including Bharatanatyam and participated in the Aswara productions Indigo and Allarippu by Umesh Shetty and 9 To 5 by Joseph Gonzales.
She performed in all major Aswara productions including Asyik, Tapestry, Tari and Jamu.

In 2006, she won the National Ballet Competition organised by The Dance Society and attended dance workshops in Melbourne, Australia.

She performed in Malaysia Week 2008 in Potters Field Park, London, Britain, and appeared in Tunku The Musical among other local stage performances.

She has also conducted workshops on dance for Aswara and emcees Aswara events.

 

SOURCE:  The New Straits Times Online: Aswara student gets scholarship

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