Food in need is food indeed.

Morning Wednesday, December 29, 2010


I am alone again, as my sister and my brother-in-law went out. I was supposed to rest--meaning "sleep" in their dictionary but I just can't.  Since my headache and dizziness appear less, I want to do many things speedily as ever. However, my strength has not returned to its original level. My legs and feet are still too heavy to lift and shift fast, my head and eyes seem not coordinate well after a short while of reading or thinking. It is rather frustrating. Well, I have to cool down myself a bit.


So, let's talk about food.  Think of any tasty dishes that make your mouth watering and your mind full of imagination of bits and pieces of ingredients in the dishes. Yes, the feeling is a combination of heaven and hell,  especially when the food is unavailable to you when you terribly crave it.  Welcome to the cruel world of need.


I love food. I love the look, the aroma, the taste and the texture of food. I even love all those components more when food passes my taste buds and sits securely inside my awaiting stomach. Thai food, Chinese food, Italian food, Japanese food, Mediteranean food, Middle East food, French food or Indian food. You name it. Food is good. Period. Do not try to dissuade me from food or convince me that food is monster. That has been my belief until I get sick.



Your favorite food can be your worst enemy when you are sick. I feel badly nauseated just see some of my favorite dishes. How? I do not know exactly how our best friend food turns away from our trust but it does happen to me.  If cutting the complicate details of science, the causes can be due that our body system gets messed up by illness and decide to reject something in its composition--flavor, scent, taste, texture, etc.  Luckily, such change of heart is temporary in most cases.


In my case, I hate fried eggs, ham, sausage, milk and so many other kinds of food when I become sick. That is a truly dangerous sign of my body. I suppose to love all as I do when I am in good health.  When I am sick and with some strength left enough to swallow some food, my favorite menu includes porridge or boiled rice, salty egg, pickled cabbage and fried salty fish. That's all. Those are my heaven on the table. Hot water is the only drink I welcome to my heaven ground of the table. 


Ayway, here is some good news for those who wish to lose your weight, copy my menu and you can thank me later.


I call those dishes, my food in need. :)

I am back and ready to say good bye to the outgoing year 2010

Sunny Tuesday, December 28, 2010

I guess it is not too late to say Merry Christmas and probably not to early to say Happy New Year  to you all dear readers as well.  I am quite late to show up here and send all dear friends my best wishes on the greeting season of Christmas. But I have my good reason. I have been terribly sick; even at this moment I am not so well back to my best healh.


Well, at least I can crawl  back to my keyboard.  Greatly thanks to my sister and my brother-in-law.  I can't feel good if not showing my best respect to the Lord Buddha and all holy spirits that I clinged to during all the suffering period of my illness.  And my tired body and mind can not gather back their strength again if no lovely messages and calls from many friends. 


Thank you all.


Wow, is that I who wrote such sweet lines above?  I did mean that. Every word above came from my heart but I must say it could be some side effect from medicines I took or the virus doctors suspected being the cause of my bad illness.  Normally, sweet words and I are hardly friends. Those who are familiar with me, regardless of love, said I have a big herd of fierce dogs in my mouth.  They shoud at least be happy that they are honest dogs.  I have tried to make those dogs behave, so far I fail.


Okay, back a bit before I feel too tired to carry on for a long piece. I was infected by some virus during my holiday trip in Chieng Mai. I arrived there by plane in the evening and just checked in at a new and very lovely hotel called De Chai Hotel on December 17. 


First night was cold because of sudden change of the weather there. I slept very well after went out to have dinner at Night Bazar.  We walked along the quiet streets since there were not many tourists there, which is very strange considering it is high tourist season. The next day my sister, my brother in law and I walked around down town Chieng Mai. We came here two years ago and since then the couple love this northern city very much. We dropped by to visit an old temple named Wat Mahawan at the entrace of the lane where our hotel is located. We spent quite an hour having a great conversation with a monk there. I will share with you all later how interesting this monk is. 


Then, we went to have good coffee at our favorite place, Vavee Coffee Shop. The coffee shop is not far away from Ta Pae Gate and AUA English teaching school. I had a big mug of strong coffee. It was a bit too strong and too much  for me whom my coffee lover friends said my coffee was a bit stronger than just plain water. Hey, I love the aroma of coffee.


Then, we just walked around, taking photos of the places and people while witnessing the changes of this cutural town during the time of our absence.
At night, we walked over the brigde across the Ping River. We finally landed at an open-air restaurant on the river bank  called Deck-1. The main reason we chose it was due to its life jazz music performance there.  We were led to a table a bit far from the stage. It was the only table available at that time. Fine.


That was the first time I felt something wrong with my body system. Nope, no other peculiar signals except I felt my usually-huge appetite nearly disappeared. I did not feel wanting to eat anything. How could that happened to me, if not serious illness? So, I ended up with a big plate of grilled, mixed vegetables. It was yummy, despite my near-zero appetite.


The bad truth came up the next day. I became headache, dizzy and nauseated.  They were under my firm control in the morning. We went out of the city center to Baan Tawai where wood crafts and home decorations trades are popular.  My brother-in-law's friend and his girl friend came to pick up us from Ta Pae gate. We enjoyed touring the market place of the crafts and had a simple but delicious lunch at a restaurant there.
On the way back, my control slipped. I vomitted and lost all energy in our friend's car.


That 's the beginning of my long suffering period during this holidays season.




Okay, suppress your curiosity a bit. I need some rest, as you already knew I am on the recovering process.


Don't bite me.  It is a greeting season and everyone supposes to love themselves and others.


I love you, too. :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Height-Shame-Model-Money

Friday, November 5,2010

I have been years away from writing about models and runways since I left my first publishing house. But I can't help putting my nose into this topic when I saw recent news about several (super)model contests in both Thailand and abroad on the media.

Not that I dislike or oppose this job or  model contests. I am open-minded and not so lunatically feminist. Models, male and female, help boost sales and reputation of goods and services. Putting the right models to the right products adds values to products for audiences can visualize themselves better if they use those goods. Beauty and Glamour are often offered. But the truth always remains. Nothing is perfect.

Model contests lately nagged my open-minded nerve. The recent news I came across was a contest in China that the winner was an eleven years old girl.  Yes, eleven - 11  as in number- is her age.  According to the news' illustration, the girl is cute and fit for  the "model" stereotype. She is willowy and very tall at her age--175 centimetres.  With good makeup and her backless long dress, the girl could be assumed to be older as much as her two runners-up who are around 20s. The winner looked very proud.

The 11-year old lady deserved to feel proud.  It is not easy to win the contest and certainly she had spent her precious time practicing her walks and poses for the contest.  Her mother said she was very proud of her daughter.  Her girl was much taller than most children at her age, causing others to make fun of her. She added that raising a tall kid is not easy but now she saw a brighter opportunity for her kid's future.

I should feel happy with the mother-daughter duo but I don't.  Too bad that I may be a minority to feel this way. According to the news, several other model contests in China also gave similar results---their winners and runners-up are around 13-16 years old. They look bright, pretty and innocent despite their full makeup and revealing dresses. One truth about their ages that cannot be concealed may be their not-fully-developed bodies. But that is certainly not a problem in the eyes of those contests' judges and sponsors.

Let me get you back to relaxing mood a bit. Look out at the blue sky and green trees (if you can find) outside. Then, we will see more from what I saw from this issue. :)

Green Fingers .. Not Me (II)

Sunday, October 31, 2010


My mom was borned to have green fingers, I am sure. I have seen her grow many trees and plants at our home garden. All survive and live long enough to bear fruits and flowers to make us (me, too, of course) proud. We have various kinds of vegetables and fruits from our yard. Some are rarely found at the market.

She grew lead trees around the compound of our house so lead trees acted as our fence while offering us their young leafs for meals. Those green lead trees were long gone now. They were repalced by grey brick walls covered with concrete slaps. It looks stronger but more boring and lifeless, as well.

Many other trees and plants at our home garden were disappeared , too. But I still have them fresh in my memory.  A big, strong trunk of kaffir lime with thick shrubs of its green leafs and bumpy skinned fruits hanging from those spiky branches stood near the fence.  Nearby were a lime tree with its green round fruits and a lemon tree with its egg-shaped fruits in bright yellow colour. Lime fruits are smaller and round compared to lemon fruits.  Mom always used limes for her cooking. Lemon juice is too sweet for her cooking.

Other green trees grown by my mom included jackfruit, coconut, banana, lemongrass, garangal, Thai basil and sweet basil. Ginger, wild ginger, cummin, starfruit, mango, water apple, custard apple, pomelo, patato, wild jam and gourd were  also planted along with bitter gourd, papaya, gooseberry, horse-raddish, chili, swamp cabbage, pumpkin and garcinia.
We also found a variety of mushrooms growing at some rotten tree stumps or piles of old and rotten leafs in our garden in rainy season, too.

There are still many names of plants and trees in my younger years left unmentioned. They are all the proof of my mom's green fingers. I helped mom grow some of those, but I thought the growing part came from my mom's talent and the trees' willing for cooperation.  They obviously did not give me much coooperation when I decided to grow them myself.

Still, I do not and will not give up on them since I love to see the world go green again. I just decided that I will pay good attentions on those trees and plants that are willing to cooperate with me and want to last long with my love and care. 

Good news, I have four five pots of plants survive at my balcony. A tough jasmine tree that was nearly dead more than three times because I was away due to my work trips away from Bangkok. A generous palm tree( he lets my cats eat his leafs with no sign to die soon), a dark-green-leaf tree (I forgot his name. He was given away from a green project by Bangkok Metropolitan Authority). And two climbing trees that have weird and forerign names. The rest two plants are mostly died-hard typed I ever met.

Now, who said   I have no " green fingers" :)

Green Fingers...Not Me

Sunday, October 31, 2010


I support green ideas, I mean not fake and nonsense ones. I wish our world to have more green areas, more forests, more trees , like it once had. So, we may have more hope to live more happily with fewer natural disasters that we experience more and more these days.


To help the world go green, I take several measures to make that happen and one is growing plants and trees.  It is such a great feeling to see those creatures extend their components from tiny seeds or small plants to stand proud in bigger sizes and with more green branches and leaves. That is my feeling when I saw my mom's work on her plants and trees. It convinced me my idea about my happy green world.


I followed my mom's steps. I memorized what she did to her green stuffs and more. I consulted experts and read more books when I grew my plants. I made sure they received  proper water, temperature, sunlight, shade and fertilizer. I did pamper my plants more than mom did. I even talked to my plants but how come they hardly survive.


My plants are more likely to die than living longer to see their glorious days. Some that survive must have been the toughest ones and I deeply appreciate their effort to live with me.  I tried to find out what I did wrong to make most of my plants give up so early. I asked mom, consult experts (again) and read more books. Still, I found no clue.


Finally, I got the best answer.  I am not " green fingers". 
I will talk about that "green fingers" later in my next chapter.

WINTER IS ARRIVING...HERE

Sunday,October 31, 2010

It is just 6.23 am. here. Too early for many people to leave their warm and comfortable beds especially when the weather is getting cool. I got up more than an hour ago and went out to look up at the dim sky outside at my small balcony. Ummmm, I can feel cool breezes touching my skin. Fresh air and morning scent remind me that winter is finally arriving this year.

Winter is my favorite season. If you live in a very humid country with only three main seasons annually that are hot, hotter and hottest seasons, you will love winter like I do.

Well, we do not learn that school. At school  we are taught that Thailand has three seasons: summer, rainy and winter seasons. It used to be like that when I was a little kid but later that changed.  Summer became longer and the sun seemed loving Thailand too much. He stays very long and emanates his power more. April is known for the notorious month of summer heat here.

Rain still visits us and as if he wants to make sure that no one forgets him. He became moodier, with storms and torrid streams of water from the sky that later inundates places and creatures down under. Yes, this year , actually, we are facing big floods and flash floodsin many provinces around the country after heavy non-stop rain. Basic necessities are donated from the public to send for flood victims , besides support from the government and local authorities.

Winter had been faded for years. I don't remember when it started fading. My red sweater was fold and kept at the bottom of the cabinet until I forgot. I hated that sweater so much because of its very bright colour. It was my mother's choice. Like most adults, she assumed that every kid loves bright colours. I must insist that such assumption is wrong, at least to me. I prefered pastel or subtle tones. I wanted to tell her but she bought it already when I first saw it. I knew she would be happy to see me wear it. Well, if wearing that ugly sweater makes her happy, I would wear it.

This year I plan to dig out my sweaters from my small cabinet. Luckily, no more bright red sweather. Those sweaters I bought myself were in cream, pale green and black. They suit my preference. However, when I see some little girls in red sweaters, I must say they look very cute, more like sweet, little angels.  Hmm, maybe my mother saw that in me when she bought that red sweather. So, red sweather was not that bad.

Movies Part II (sci-fi)

Sunday, October 17, 2010

It is nice moring in Bangkok city, with cooler air and mind sunlight. Thanks that rain stopped pouring at dawn. Yesterday I drove out of town amid the pouring rain on the way back and forth. Raining is the least desirable for my driving after two times car crashes. Both took place while it was raining and I drove like a old turtle, believe me.  Fortunately, my recent trip was safe although I was lost on the way back. I found my way back in time.

Let continue about my beloved sci-fi movies.  I recalled that I missed several titles I did enjoy. To amend that, I will add more for you to catch up or get them somewhere for your free days.  Check these out:

Enemy Mine
Dreamcatcher
I Come In Peace
The Hidden
Invaders from Mars
Intruders
K-Pax
The Last Starfighter
Men In Black
Independence Day
Little Shop of Horrors
Pitchblack
My Favorite Martian
Riddick
Species(the original)
Star Gate
Starman
The Thing
Total Recall
Judge Dred
They Live
Underdog
The Abyss
The Arrival
Avatar
Astronaut's wife
Transformer I and II
Battle for the Palnet of the Apes,
Batman ( all versions)
Blade Runner
Critter(the original)
Dark City
Demolition Man
Dune
Event Horizon
Handcock
Highlander
I Am Legend
Mimick
Nemesis
Tron (the original)
Tremor(the original)
Superman (the original and Christopher Reeves version)
Underworld (all three parts)
Van Helsing
Ultraviolet
Hellboy(I and II)

That's all I can think of at the moment.
Have fun searching .

Movies Part I (sci-fi)

Friday, October 15, 2010

The weather is too good to sit writing anything long tonight. My bed is sooo tempting while rain is pouring outside. But as I promised my readers that I will produce at least one more story today, here is my short one for tonight.

Who loves sci-fi movies? I do. No, not just do. I am crazy about sci-fi movies. Not all sci-fi movies are good but most are interesting. When you find good ones, you will hardly forget them. Some sci-fi movies have terrific special effects and excellent production while others have good plots. Some give incredible views or inspirations for humans especially for  next generations.Others have all of those qualities.

Casting is also important. I don't mean only handsome actors/actresses since my favorite character in sci-fi movies is Mister Spock in Star Trek.  No matter the stages of life he is, I always love my Mr. Spock. He is the most charming character of my all sci-fi movies list, with his pointed ears and robotic-like mind.

Let's get to a short version of my sci-fi list first so I can leave you enjoy reading while I can enjoy my bed time.  We will have a long talk in details of  why sci-fi movies got me later.

Here are some of my favorite:

Predator the original, Predator II,
Terminator the original, Terminator II, Revolution,
The Book of Eli,
Star Trek(TV series, movies)
Star Wars (all)
Men In Black,
Wall-E,
District 9,
War of the World,
A.I.
I Robot
E.T.
Outer Limit (TV series)
Earth Final Conflict
X-Men
The Fifth Element
X-Files
Matrix( all)
Johnny Nemonic,
Alien (the original) and Alien:Resurrection  (with Winona Ryder)
Invader From Mar
2001: Space Odyssy
Back to the Future
12 Monkeys
Calling



That is all just coming up in my sleepy mind.

Have fun and have a good night.

Love Movies But No Love For Some Moviegoers (II)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

I previously shared one of my experience at a theatre. A couple of young moviegoers loved each other so much that I had to help them get back to earth a bit. 

The guy started telling the movie story to his dear girlfriend shorty before the show began. Well, he seemed lost contact to the whole world. Not only his girl but also the rest of that big crowd were inevitably with him. 

Once the show began, he kept sharing his I knew-all-what's-next details for more than 5 minutes with no trace of tiredness ( I wished for gods to make him feel tired but my wish was ignored obviously).  I had to put a blame on his idiot girlfriend (go ahead, hate me if you think I am bad mouthed). She kept asking him what 's next  scene by scene, "Honey, what's next?  Oh , really? Wow, that 's nice. You are so smart. How come you remember all this?... bla bla blah.." I wished to tell her that your honey was not smart and you were more idiot than you (ever) imagine you are.

Nearly 10 minutes past and I saw no sign of ending from the couple. More signs of my dooming moment approached clearer and clearer. Other audieces seemed deaf, too. Look like I could not rely on other brave hearts but my chicken soul.

EXCUSE ME. COULD YOU BE QUIET. IF YOU TWO WANT TO NARRATE THE STORY, PLEASE GET OUT AND FIND SOME OTHER PLACE TO SHARE BETWEEN YOURSELVES. PEOPLE PREFER TO SEE DETAILS FROM THE SHOW.

Yeah, I did that (again). Next thing I noticed was that the couple became mute and the dark hall turned eerie( my most joyous moment). The movie continued and I enjoyed every scene.

When the show was over, I went to wait for my friend outside. First thing she yelled at me with her big laugh, "You, again. Thanks, cruel lady."

Love Movies But No Love For Some Moviegoers (I)

Thrsday, October 14, 2010

I am sure I am not the only one who love movies but hate some movie-goers who share my joyous moment  ( I'd better say killing my moment).

I love movies,  a variety of movies gain my attention. Sci-fi, thriller, romantic, comedy, action, and etc. I never get tired of movies especially good ones. I can watch them  over and over again if I really like them, like I can eat Kaoman Kai (Chinese styled chicken with rice and hot soup) everyday for the whole month.

Okay, now get back to why some movie audiences make me hate rather than love them during my supposed-be-best time. Let me share you my first handed experience--one among several others.

One time, I went with my friend to watch a romantic movie at a trendy theatre. The movie was so popular that the place was packed every showtime.  Luckily we got our seats but in separate rows in one afternoon. My friend sat in the next row behind mine but a few seat away. I sat next to a couple of mid-20 lovers who seemed enjoying each other more than the show on screen. Next to them was another pair of lovers but younger, considering their college uniforms. 

The college couple started chatting since maybe only gods knew when. I heard their voices from the moment I set my feet inside that dim light hall packed with moviegoers.  I saw them cleary---good looking lovebirds. That's fine, the movie didn' start.  I often chat with my friends, too,when we still wait for the show.

I didn't mean to eavesdrop on their topic. If I was an evesdroper, the whole crowd would be, too, with no effort. The young man told his girlfriend that he already watched the movie and told her what happened in that movie.

Yes. Now you started to love him a bit, right?

To be continued.

I Am Back , Thanks Mr IT

Thursday , October 14,2010
 I am back. Nope, I didn't travel anywhere except  from my place to a computer repair shop at Panip Plaza, or  so-called the world's paradise for IT lovers and IT geeks.

 My laptop was broken. Don't ask me what 's wrong. The only thing you will get from me is that it didn't work. The screen didn't come out as bright and beautiful as usual. Only some kind of white sick patches and the ugly dark screen.  Now you believe me, as I told you priorly. I am a truly idiot computer user. I am proud to announce that with no shame, LOL.

Fortunately, the young IT guy at that shop help me get it back to work well again. My job was easy-- paid him for his job.  I asked him and listened to him when he examined, repaired and upgraded my laptop later. He told me all  in details. Those included tons of terms alien to my slow brain. So, he later repeated and translated them into another version more familiar to my (poor) ears. Thanks him for that and thanks myself for my dumb questions and facial expression. LOL, another pride of myself.

After telling me to try working on it with no hurry at his small shop for hours, he recommended me so many things including how to use and take care of my laptop properly(his face turned tormented when he saw some, but he said a lot, cat hair on my keyboard. Make it sound like I hurt him or his senior relatives).

Before I left, he repeated that call him anytime, if I notice something wrong. No need to wait. But it should be fine if I follow his advice and not get panic.  I wanted to tell him---impossible

Thanks Mr IT

To Sir/Madame With Hate

Sunday, October 10, 2010

 I never want to hate anyone or anything, honestly. Hate is certainly unhealthy. At least two parties are affected-- the hater and the hated. That's just roughly speaking. More often hate business involves more than two parties and more than two persons.

Here are some disadvantages of hate. Hate speeds up aging and deterioates handsomeness of all genders, men, women, undecided and already-gone for sex reassignment genders, and etc. It ruins good moods while bringing in bad moods. Even  if you are an Oscar award winner , you may crack your pretty smile to lie to others but you know well that you prefer to be a murderer at that moment of hate.

Other destructive outcomes of hate can include headache, sleeping difficulties, annoying, paranoid (if your annoyance leaps further to another level) and more hate. Some hateful persons can gain or lose weight due to abnormal appetites--either too good or too bad appetite. Few can maintain their normal appetite.

To give you a clear picture, just find a mirror(make sure it is spatial enough to cover all your head ( particularly your face). Stare at yourself through the mirror. Put all your harsh feeling in your mind and chanel it directly to your reflection. Yelling, scolding, menace glaring, screaming, unfriendly staring, crying, pulling your hair off and whatever you think you often do when you hate someone.  

Now, tell me honestly, what do you look like from that mirror?  :)  That is just a physical result of hate, beware. 

Taste of "Romances"

Sunday, October 10, 2010

As promised, I am going to bring you a list of some romances I read. This may help you save time to search for delightful romances. Each novel already held me its prisoner through a period of my reading, from the beginning to the end.  Beware of that.  These books are products from various authors. Thus, writing styles are different, although several share common plots or themes. Choices of words also make some romances outstanding beyond others as you may find out later, if you read them.

Oh , one more warning.  heartless readers may skip this list, please. They will kill you alive.

Get your pen and paper ready and here they are:

Bygone   by LaVyrle Spencer,
Also by the same author are Separated Bed, Fulfilment and Family Blessing,

A Heart So Wild by Johanna Lindsey,
Along with You Belong to Me, Say You Love Me by the same author,

River Lady by Jude Deveraux,

Nobody's Angel  by Karen Robards,

Halfway to Heaven by Susan Wiggs,

The Silver Devil by Teresa Denys,

The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss,

And Sandra Brown 's work: Breath of Scandal, Mirrow Image, Bitter Sweet Rain and  Eloquent Silence

Find out and tell me later whether you love them or not.

Let's Get "Romances"

October 9/2010/ Bangkok

It is raining outside. Millions of crystal drops of water kept falling from the vast gray surface above. From my small, tiled balcony, everything outside looks very gloomy. Staying inside a small cosy room is the best choice for my quiet Saturday.  This kind of weather is great for "Romances".

Aha, now I get your attention( I keep my fingers cross).  Let me be honest with you, my precious readers.  My "Romances" is not worth a second for those who are already with your beloved boyfriend/girlfriend/couple.  You who fit in such category can stop following this story this minute . No hard feeling from me.  I promise.

For those who prefer to continue, I will  later give you a list of romances. This list is for anyone who love reading romances, from medieval to futuristic  and from street - to royal-living.  I truly love romances. I have hundreds of romances on my book shelves. Some are stacked on the floor. I used to count to know how many romances I have. My last count was more than 500 books. That was more than 5 years ago and my gathering and buying still continues.

Reading romances is for fun. That's my first expectation. Generally, why read it if you don't find any entertainment in the stories. They are novels, not research  or textbooks for your reports or sources for your PhD course in finance or physics.  But I realized later that as I am not an English native speaker/user, romances did help me improve and understand English beyond textbooks or English classes.  I thank my "romances" for that.

At my early days with romances, I bought a paperback romance with no more than 200 pages, including its covers and advertisement pages. It was a used book with traumatized look as I can see from its very worn  covers and brown , mold-mixed paper. That ugly look didn't scare me at all ( for you can get it at 10 baht ( around 35 penny) with complete details of the story while you have to spend at least 200 baht for a new print).

That introduced a romance-less junior highschool student like me to a new world and that partly shaped my view, my understanding, my knowledge about people and the world beyond my small world.

At the beginning with that liitle book, it was not totally fun as I previously expected. I lost count for how many times I had to open my student dictionary to find the meanings of so many words I never heard or learned from my English class. Some words did not even appear in my dictionary.  The grammar used in that novel was not exactly like that my English teachers taught me or what I read from textbooks. There were some incomplete sentences, some short phrases, and others strange forms . Those were real pains for a 12 years old Thai girl whose English was known only from her a few hours English classes weekly at a public school.

However, those difficulties were not influential enough to beat me out from my eagerness. I wanted to know how the story went, how the hero and the heroin met and fell in love with each other, and how all obstacles they encountered (most were actually quite senseless, but luckily I didn't realize at that time).

Those plots were absolutely tempting  and they help me keep on reading with great efforts. The more I read those paperback, the easier I could understand unfamiliar vocabularies. I didn't have to open my dictionary as often as I first read. My imagination also got clearer , following each line the authors painted in their work. I felt  what each character felt and even thought about how to get them out from the problems they faced.

Romances showed me that this world is different. The culture, the values, the tradition narrated in those books are not always like what I have been taught or believed in my society. Those books were products of the authors and the countries foreign to me, my culture, my beliefs and my background. Some values were actually opposite to mine or could be forbidden  in my society. But they were well accepted and practiced in other societies. I also saw each character's thought and actions and witnessed how humans could be really good or truly bad to one another.  All ideas did not suddenly pop up in my head like when we switched on a light bulb. It took years to absorb and gradually shaped my views that emerged in my tiny brain.

I am not smart and reading romances do not make me become genius. But those romances, most with non-sense plots, gave me a great deal of knowledge.  Besides, my speed of reading was improved. I noticed that I finished reading texts in my textbooks faster than most of my friends and got key information better.  I can spend hours reading with  no agitation or restlessness. Time, people and surroundings faded while I was reading. My mind focused on the stories I read.

Romances didn't make me daydream to be like heroins in the stories. I became better aware  that I would never copy some of their ideas and actions. Instead, I took them as examples to remind what I should do if I were in  some similar, but more realistic, situations, such as I would be more careful with my belongings and my safety if I traveled by myself. I wish for  no troubles in my real world.  It was not worth to put myself at risk since there was no prince charming or millionnaire available in reality.

That was my "Romances". 
There are more of romances, but I will tell you later in my next chapters.

So, Let's Get "Romances".

I Love Peace (Part II)

I supposed to continue my dorm(doom) story yesterday but something urgent came up.  My toilet needed to get fixed and my fridge was nearly empty. My priority was temporarily deviated to the tasks that were rational enough for me to delay my Part II. :)

Okay, this morning I am ready to carry on my writing. I told you before about my noisy neighbours at my college dormitory and their late night party that caused me a lot of heache.

One night I sat studying a pile of my thick textbooks. Their noisy party started around 9 pm and carried on past midnight. Loud with music and people's chatting and screaming. No need to imagine what happened there, you just sat and what travelled through the air came into your ears. I closed all windows and doors. That didn;t help much because the buildings were mainly made of wood.

I gave up my study and sat quietly for 5 minutes. It was nearly 2 am and no sign of quietness for me.
Next thing I knew was that I was  right outside the closed door of that room at the opposite building. Darknesss and cold air were my companions. No other student was in sight except those party people behind that door. 

I banged that door hard and yelled for someone to open up. OPEN IT, NOW ! I yelled.  It was yanked open and what I faced at a close range was three wide chests (luckily garbed) at my eye level. That brought me back to reality. I took a small step back, enough to crane my neck up a bit, to see whom I had to communicate with. Yeah, actually there were three more guys right behind those three giants who gave me their dubious and annoying look.

Then , that giant in the middle front boomed out  saying "WHAT?" while he looked down at me. I didn't know  clearly what I did say to him.  In conclusion, it included  that he and his friends made lousy party and loud noise that terribly disturbed me (for weeks) and others who needed quiet time for study and rest. (well, it was school break but I had my right to protect ). I also told him that I already reported to the college admin but it was clearly he and his friends were too bad and too dumb to get what they should have done and lived with intellectual society. His parents must be sorry if they find out how bad their child can be and getting him into a good school with high education help very little. I told him that this was also the first time in my life to yell at people like a mad girl and with bad words since  I never met anyone this worse. So, I dared and would do more than just yelling at him.  And I am from Thailand, for his thick skull.

I might keep saying by myself until I realized that everything became suddenly quiet.
Next was big laughs coming from that room. Some guys voiced out that they would leave soon but loved to hear more what he would do . But they would not intervene whatsoever between him and me. Yeah, what a good crowd, these people.

I gave my last word that if he did this again, he would see what I was capable to do  and that could make a great effect on his living. Then, wait for no time, I turned my back and walked  (quickly), my chin up, back to my dorm. Darn, I just realized it was not easily get to that dorm or it was not very close between the two dorms. I had to climb down staircase and walked across a walkway to reach my building and walked upstair to my room that was opposite to that room.  Once I got inside my room, I secured the door and felt shaken. Whaddaheck I just did. What would happen to me if they turned angry enough to slap or hit me with no witness around. Who would help me?  Only trees, foxes, rabbits and birds were only creatures I saw at my dormitory compound.

That night was turn out all right. No, it was actually very good, I slept like a log. Too exhausted and scared of them to follow me, luckily they didn't. Following nights were the same as that night--- no more loud party from that room.  My small room became peaceful.   I found later that that guy who yelled at me was an undergrad student. We met again at the campus's stationery store where he worked as part-time staff.  He didn't threaten me although he stared at me like I had horns on my head.  Well, no problem. I could live with that.

As long as I got my peace back. I told you I love peace, right?

I Love Peace (Part I)

Like most people on this planet, I do love peace. I hate violence, neither verbal nor physical.  You can expect that I will not be the one who starts any conflict, especially when it has nothing to do with me or my business.

Back in college years, I first moved in my domitory in winter while most students went home for their school break. I was a foreign student and my dorm was so quiet that it reminded me of a graveyard. Only one room at the opposite dorm was occupied by some male students I never met  by person except hearing their noisy party cutting through the air at late night almost everyday.

I tried to stand that for the first few days since my nature told me to be patient.
Later,  their noisy party extended beyond midnight and further, I  called to complain at the dorm admin. They listened and told me to not worry; they would warn them not to cause such loud noise to disturb me and other students around again.

That night was my first peaceful sleep at the dorm. I could also study happily in my small, peaceful room.
It was the first and the last. The following nights, the party gang returned and worse. I called for complaint again. Nothing changed from that opposite room.

What should I do? I asked myself. I was only a foreign student alone at that school dorm  during that winter break. That room seemed the only sign of other students living closest to my room, although the opposite building.

I emphasize that I love peace and peaceful environment is what I prefer.
(To be continued )

Interesting books, you may like or hate

Sorry for my recent topic about interesting books. That previous one didn't reach the part I aimed to share . So, I will rename that -- My Love of Reading.

Here are some books I read and you may try and tell me later what you think of them.
But let me warn you first that I read different kinds of books, some of my favorite books can bore you to death. My taste for books is also up to my mood, not just my interest.  So, keep that in mind before you complain or yell at me later for my choice of books. Don't blame me for your mistake.

All right, cut the crab and back on track:

Can Asians Think? by Kishore Mahbubani
Voices Of  The Rocks by Robert M. Schoch with Robert Aquinas McNally
Japan Unmasked by Ichiro Kawasaki
To Be A Slave by Julias Lester

My Love Of Reading

I love reading. That is no doubt. I read everything available, books, billboards, ads on the bus-side, information on the internet, or even wrappers of food or bags. As I told you, I love reading.

That habit started since I was a little kid. I ran to greet my father every evening when he returned from work. My gladness was sure about seeing him back, but my more urgent aim at that time was to get his newspaper first. My rivals were my sisters. We all love reading.  Imagine that four little girls ran to their dad and screamed out loud when each of them tried to snatch all the pages but the newspaper scattered separately and not so much in its good  shape.

Well, I didn't mind that I could assemble those pages back later and enjoy reading.  It just added more excitement for my reading besides information I would obtain later, don't you think?

my first day with this blog

Blame my curiosity (plus more free time) to finally make me become a blogger.

I heard and read blogs created by many bloggers--some are terrific but others terrible. I never thought I could be one, not because I hate writing. But my stupidity about computer or whatever IT technology often drove my enthusiasm down before I even started.  Thank to my dearest friend Kung whose blog she showed me gave me a garagatuan push and eventually made me overcome my techno-panic.

 Kung, who is now living in another corner of this planet, may laugh out loud for my confession. I knew she loves this. Thank you that you and your terrific blog pull me out of my ancient era.

gigi
Day 1