Meeting old friends

Dear Readers,

I’m leaving in 2 hours for the airport, I can’t believe I’m going to meet Andrea after 5 years!

I always imagined that Andrea and I would meet only at each other’s wedding, or something huge and monumental for us to travel across oceans to see one another.

The last time I saw her I was a complete mess. I cried so much at the airport leaving for Bangkok, and none of them knew why. Andrea, Rita, Heather, Josh and Penny dropped me off, and they were giving me hugs like, it’s fine! We’ll see you in 2 years! (because I was headed for Lancaster for my exchange programme) and I guess somehow subconsciously or in some premonition sort of way – I knew that I was never returning to Toronto.

Never is a real strong word, more like, no where in the near future returning to Canada.

So that was 5 years ago, 2003 if I remember correctly, or maybe 6. Either way its been an incredibly long time.

I am super excited! so much so that this is my 3rd day of straight insomnia.

I’m all packed, I just need to delegate some work and take a quick nap!

I just wanted to say that with today technology, it is so easy to keep in contact with friends, despite distances. Not to promote a company, but for only 7 euros I bought an unlimited world package with Skype and call practically any country – for free. Its amazing! and finding Skype changed my life!

Once there is a strong foundation of friendship, once there is a sealed deal that you love and care one another – distance and time doesn’t matter. When meeting old friends after a long period of absence feels exactly the same as if you saw that same old friend just yesterday (clumsy sentence). What I mean to say is – that there is no awkwardness and there are no readjustments needed-

It is an extremely nice feeling, and I’m extremely looking forward to seeing Andrea!!

Speak soon!

Stacy

I broke a glass today

Dear Readers,

I broke a glass today. This week has been filled with a whole series of accidents!
I’m extremely paranoid,
Stacy

My little prince

I love holding him, and he always asks to be held too!

Dear Readers,

This week in the Bangkok Post’s magazines 5th anniversary they had the most gross fashion portrayal of my favourite book – THE LITTLE PRINCE.

ARgh so disgusting.

Anyways, Vick left for dubai and left her son with us – Gizmo. He’s our little sweetheart! Of course we still adore and love Perdy lots more, but Gizmo is really growing on us.

His new names are – Little Man, Gizzard, Henry (named after Ugly Betty’s Sweetheart Henry!), and Little prince.

So dreamy

Gizmo eating his bone

I love holding him

I love holding him, and he always asks to be held too!

Gizmo sleeping on my tummy

 

Isn’t he so precious?

Stacy

I almost killed Justin

Dear Readers,

My rental car is named Justin. I made a promise that my first car would be named Justin – therefore everyone meet Justin – my super old, ugly blue Daewoo top line Espero.

Justin is really ghetto. His insides are all worn out, and he runs on LPG gas, and when I turn it on, there is neon blue light glowing. He’s also falling apart, the headlight switch is the same switch stick (for lack of the technical term) so when I turn on the headlights, if Justin jiggles a bit, the highlight turns on. So alot of people think that I’m flashing them, when I’m not. The rear view mirror is also very wobbly, that when I drive through bumps, it moves and I have to readjust.

Justin also really loves me and anyone who sits in the car, he is a very needy thing, because he LOCKS us in. That’s right, the front passenger side door does not open if it’s locked internally. Meaning that when I drop off Jeab, or Grego, I have to get out of the car – take my key out of the ignition and walk to the passenger side to open the door.

I really wanted to take photos of Justin to show you all, but I’ve been lazy and also, he is quite the shit box.

On Tuesday, October 21st 2008, it was a really tiring day for me. I played tennis for 30 minutes, did weights for 1 hour, and felt totally exhausted. Left the capitol club at 5:30, and this time I asked dad if I could play my Retro Hits mp3 disc while driving and he let me. And so on route to the tollway, I didn’t notice that I was in the wrong lane – I was driving in the inner most lane, that was turning right, the middle lane also is allowed to turn right. So at the intersection, I drove forward, and this HUGE ASS white blue and yellow bus turned right.

Collision.

Mom and Dad said I was driving quite fast, but I didn’t think so. And I didn’t notice the bus until Mom said, “Stace, do you see the bus TURNING!!!!” and I was like, “What/???” and right then and there

I saw the bus crushing into Dad’s side, and I saw the window shatter in slow motion, while Dad was like, AHhh!! And maintaining eye contact with me, it was so traumatising! And the sound effects? It really sounded like those crash scenes in movies. So – well done Hollywood for such an accurate projection!

I then stopped the car, and just sat there in total shock, and super worried about Dad and that he’d yell at me. Because – Justin only has 3rd party insurance, and looking at the damage I thought, god dammnit I just bought Justin.

Though I locked Justin when we left Capitol club, when I was sitting in the car, just staring at the wheel, someone opened my door! It was the bus driver checking it everyone was okay. And when he opened the door, I saw the incoming traffic from the right side. Which meant that even though I was in the wrong lane, the bus definitely cut me!! If I was going to turn right, I would have had and accident too!

I was so surprised, my parents didn’t yell at me, they told me to remain calm, and the police came over the mark the scene, then I had to pull over to call the insurance. One of the worst moments was when the bus had to back up to un-collide with Justin. There were more scratch sounds, and I felt like fainting. They told me not to worry, and it’s not my fault. Really loving and caring, they wanted to come over close to me, to give me a hug, but I had to shy away because I was worried about getting all teary.

Really impressed that I remained my composure, I really wanted to call Mr. Celebrity at that time, to tell him what happened, but I thought if I did, i would get all teary so I didn’t. And because our accident happened 3 minutes away from Dianna’s house, I really wanted to call her and ask her to pick up my parents. But my parents told me not too. After 45 minutes, when the adjuster came, I called Dianna, she just left her house and she said, Oh you should had called me earlier! I would have picked you up! and I replied, I KNOW!!!

I love you Dianna!

We went to the police station, and somehow we spent 3 hours there. At the end of the day, both parties were found in the wrong, and in that case – in Thailand the insurance policy is for both damaged parties to fix their own mess.

And after 3 hours, we realised that this is a private operated bus – the driver bought the bus, and the route, and does not have any insurance! If he were to pay for the damage, that would be equivalent to his monthly salary. So we couldn’t do that to him. And – the injustice – just because I’m relatively rich, I have to pay the damage myself. Grrr..

And – on a random note – there was one really good looking police officer on duty! So is this the chosen occupation for good looking thai men? Hmmm…too bad I don’t speak thai. sigh.

Imagine, I had to drive Justin home, and thank goodness he had tempered glass. So even though he’s a shit box, he has some good points. The officer tapped the window and exclaimed – OMG! Where is the Side Mirror! That’s right! The window – shattered, side mirror – wiped out, door – bent inwards.

I had to drive him home!! And as I was easing out of the police station, his window fell off! ARgh!! So scary!

It’s the worst thing in the world, getting into a car accident, and having to drive the thing that risked your life and your family’s life home.

Greg took a lot of photos of Justin after the accident, but I haven’t seen them yet, I’m sure they look really bad so he is protecting me.

So after the accident, I’ve been feeling really down, and unmotivated with life because – 1. I have to pay to give Justin reconstructive surgery, which I feel he doesn’t deserve, and 2. Dad is still going to keep on renting Justin so that I can practice driving more.

ARGH!!!! I’m so upset about this. I’m upset that I put Dad in harm’s way (Mom too, but the collision hit dad directly) and I have to say that he is really blessed, because he has no bruises, no whip lash.

My right eye was twitching ALOT 2 nights ago (so much that I couldn’t sleep ) and yesterday morning. I’m just really scared that something is going to happen to me really soon.

A bit paranoid, worried and broken hearted,

Stacy

Blueberry Cheesecake

Welcome Home Dad!

 

Dear Readers,

So on Saturday I baked Dad a welcome home blueberry cheesecake. Initially I was planning to do a new york style cheese cake, but Greg suggested Blueberry (as he remembered it’s Dad’s favourite sort of cheesecake!)

 

Recipe:

The official recipe: (so many recipes on this site!)

http://www.blueberry-recipe.com/basic-blueberry-cheesecake.html 

 

I suggest using a 9inch cake pan, I used a 12 inch it was too big!!

 

Crust : I suggest going FAT all out and go for a short-bread crumb crust. So what you do is take 1/3 stick of butter, and crumble it with all purpose flour until perfect and mix with sugar (to your taste).

Put the crumbs on the cake pan, and pop it in the oven (170) until golden brown. The secret I learnt is to NOT lay on the crumblayer thick, if its super thick then ppl will be really using their forks with force

 

 

Filling:

1.5 packs of cream cheese (leave it out so it can soften)

3/4 cup of plain yoghurt – you know those single packet cups – not 250ml. (instead of sourcream)

Sugar (to taste – roughly 3/4 cups)

Splash of Vanilla

3 eggs

1/2 lemon (for its juice)

1. Beat the eggs and the sugar together

2. Beat the cream cheese until smooth.

3. Combine the 2

4. Splash the vanilla in, around 1.5 teaspoons

5. Add in the yoghurt and lemon juice

 

The mixture should be similiar to melted icecream. Pour the mixture into the cake pan, and bake at 165C for 35-40 minutes

 

When it is done, use a wet knife and cut around the edges, remove the cake wrappan (dont know what to call it)

Let it sit for 30mins, allow it to cool, then put it in the fridge.

Some tips:

 1. Use lemon juice to give the cake zest.

2. I suggest smaller cake pans, my cake pan is huge so when I poured the cheese batter into the pan, it spread, and was relatively thin.

3. When laying out the crust, pad only 1/2 cm down.

4. Best way to cook is Jamie Oliver style  – i.e. using your taste buds.

5. I used yoghurt instead of sour cream

6. Chill in the fridge for 8 hours.

It was quite a success. Yay! So far I’ve conquered – mango cake, carrot cake, blueberry cheesecake, apple pie, apple cobbler, apple crumble, bread and butter pudding, and pumpkin pie.

This weekend my mission is to replicate McVitie’s digestive biscuits. They are SOOO GOOD! and the recipe is top secret! I have a rough idea of how to make it, the key is vegetable oil, baking soda and brown sugar.

Cheesecake is SUPER easy to make. But quite expensive – especially in Asia where cream cheese is expensive and blueberries are extremely hard to find! I made a short-bread crumb crust – extra fatty. The only way to go.

I’m a glutton and hating it,

Stacy

 

 

 

Expectations get the best of me

Dear Readers,

There is a WAVE 88 FM anniversary gimmick for the month of October. SMS – Happy Birthday Wave 88 FM! and in return, get the chance to win an iPod Nano, tea, or a WAVE package, each prize is randomly alloted a number from 1 to 3, and you choose a number.

I sat in the car, while driving to pick up Greg, and I had this HUGE feeling that wow today is my day. And I’m going to pick door number 3 and win Greg an iPod nano! Texted my SMS, waited for the call. And then, around 5:45pm, the radio DJ plays my ALL TIME FAVOURITE SONG – You to Me are Everything by The Real Thing it’s actually my ringtone! So you can imagine my confidence! – TODAY IS MY DAY!

Needless to say, time flew and my phone didn’t ring. How disappointing. So yet again – expectations got the best of me.

I’ve decided that I will only have a dose of starch for breakfast. And not eat rice or bread during the day. Can I just say, that it is SO DIFFICULT to do?  I was starving for lunch, and because my parents aren’t around, I decided to walk to the nearest shopping mall to buy lunch. EVERYTHING was Starchy! I ended up getting a pack of pineapple. So that was good, but then for dinner I couldn’t resist and ate rice.

Aie, this is why I can never achieve my weight lost goal, because I’m not committed to the task. And tomorrow I plan to bake a New York Cheesecake (yummm) so this means I’ll have to work extra hard at the gym and swimming pool this week.

Will let you know how the cheesecake goes!

Still a bit disappointed about not being called,

Stacy

Asian Hiphop Festival

Dear Readers,

So I went to my brother’s performance at the Asian Hiphop Festival, October 11th at Muang Thong Thani. He is Ghost Style, from 24 Herbs.

Although I can dance to hiphop (Hiphop and MTV dance classes are amazing!!) I’m not a hip hop listener. My music playlist is named “destressing” – filled with alot of easy listening, jazzy, soft rock and golden oldies songs. So you can imagine my reaction going to a hiphop concert.

Doug got us VIP tickets! So we were able to see him up close and personal. But I have to say, that the crowd wasn’t very hyper, just standing there and watching, so that when 24Herbs came up, I ran to the center of the crowd and tried my very best to get people like you know “Raise your hands!” Needless to say I looked as if I just overdosed on Speed.

But, Doug did REALLY WELL! It was my first time seeing him perform live, and after they performed the party picked up alot! The first group (I think they were Japanese and Korean)  were  mostly showing off their dance moves. Booooooooooorrrrrrrrinnng 

24 Herbs sang their hit “Respect dou PK” Which means – respect until you PK (pok gai. drop dead on while walking on the street) – meaning Respect alot. or something of that sort. All 3 of us (Greg Jay and I ) introduced ourselves to Doug’s 5 other band mates, and I have to say that underneath their excessive cursing and rough voices, they are EXTREMELY NICE and  GENUINE people! And very guai (kwai?) (polite), haha I bet this ruins their bad boy image, but I have to tell the world, that they are so nice, smart, gentile and some are even shy too! No star-power disease and very down to earth. They also gave the crowd shirts, (threw it) and this guy behind me caught a shirt, was extremely happy and started to jump up and down shouting out “Ho!!!!!!!” When Bryan (forgot his stage name, KGB or something like that) said “When I say Hey you say Ho, HEEEEEEEEEEY “

24 Herbs did get a bit silly with the “When I say…” because they said the longest or like uncommon english phrases, and the thai audience  looked like this : :!  *blank stare*

haha

24 Herbs at the Asian Hip Hop Festival

 

Afterwards we saw a bunch of other performances, Jeab and I went in and out of the concert to sit and chat. We came back in and there was a taiwanese Band playing called MC Dog, and the guy on stage had the worse hair cut ever – school boy taiwanese style, and he was wearing a button down denim shirt. a sight for sore eyes. I saw him immediately, and told Greg, “Look at that guy’s hair, looks like Tim’s brother” and was surprised when we were talking to other people about Mc Dog’s performance, everybody commented on that fashion criminal! hahah funny stuff.

The big show by Thai Titanium came on, and I’m only accustomed to their famous songs. Their performance was 1/2 of their album. One of their songs consisted lyrics “We don’t give a F&@K” – sung on repeat by a white fat guy. It was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen. And people in the audience were like “YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” So the song went like this, white fat guy shouting: “We don’t give a F&@K , We don’t give a F&@K *bam bam*  We don’t give a F&@K , We don’t give a F&@K We don’t give a F&@K , We don’t give a F&@K *bao bam*” For THREE MINUTES.

Then a poor thing came on stage – a person in an ape suit, to do the Ape walk – which was just a half -ass crunk version of the monkey. As my dearest friend Alvin would put it, “Bravo. Well done.”

Then, the final show was a performance from NAS. Nas who? Exactly my point.

No wait, the name Nas is really familiar, Greg told me that he was Jay-z’s revival, then lost out. He made us wait for 30+ minutes, he came out at 1230, and sang his classics, but he was getting all political too, like “We need a black president!!!” and trying to get the crowd to be all like, “YEAH!!”

We need a black president!

 

But ppl were just like, “…..” Then on stage, a beautiful singer came out, and she was so TALL! and sang “If I ruled the world, I’d free all my sons” *on repeat* and I was like, wow who is that Giant woman, and Greg told me that was Kelis!!! She’s his wife!

I have to admit, I didn’t appreciate the concert at all, I’m biased and only went to see Doug perform and also to give support. I wanted to leave earlier and asked Greg and Jay to join me (cuz was worried about driving home late), and I got back the coldest stare from both of them, “STace, its NAS”

Wah, NAS whatever – he has no respect for his audience, make us wait like freaking beggars sitting around, and doesn’t even try to connect with the audience, the US doesn’t need a black president, the US needs a capable president regardless of race. Obama supporters should say, that he should be elected because he is the better of the two candidates, that he can lead them out of all their current mess. That’s like me chanting, “America needs a white wrinkly old president!” (Im a McCain supporter)  And unrelated to this post – Obama looks like he is going to win.

Anyways, I’m sure hiphop enthusiasts had an extremely good time.

Doug’s visiting until Thursday

Stacy

I’ve been coiling

Dear Readers,

I don’t know whether coiling is the proper term to use – coiling, or recoiling, the image I visualise is… do you know how you have to crank open a “Jack – in – the – Box” ? When I use the word coiling I’m referring to a reverse cranking, putting jack back into the box in a slow depressing manner. (turning the crank anti-clockwise?)

The irony of everything is that I’ve been so busy – actually SOCIALISING (insert big sarcastic gasp here.) Let me check..it’s been 2 weeks since my last post! And I’ve been wanting to update you on the Bangkok Political system, which I will do soon…but again not in the mood.

In the past 2 weeks, alot of things happened to me, went on TV again, went to a concert, got a rental car, and …. I’ve stopped exercising (i’ve fallen off the 6 week bandwagon!!)

I was in the car today, and I said that I’m trying to lower my expectations for everything, because I always get superbly disappointed afterwards, and in reply, Doug told me, don’t lower your expectations, HAVE NO expectations!

Again! Just like Jeab says.

I really can’t do it.  In my opinion, having expections is closely related to goals. I set a goal, and I expect to ACHIEVE that goal. Whereas, other people would say, I set a goal, and have no expectations about it.

Or something of that sort.

Your Number 1 Hermit,

Stacy

Bringing sexy back?

Dear Readers,

Jeab’s birthday party turned out to be quite eventful. I’ve been putting off blogging about the whole event because I’ve just been really exhausted recently!

Not sure whether it was the acupuncturist who helped me with my insomnia (I feel like sleeping at 8pm everyday, super drastic, but a huge improvement compared to before). Anyhoo, been sleeping early.

I’m at work, waiting to meet Jeab again, this time we are meeting Dianna for dinner (FINALLY! IM THE SHITTIEST FRIEND EVER!!!) and I just finished a cup of super sugary coffee a la office maid, so the caffeine is kicking in.

Ibiza at Hotel Intercontinental is….AMAZING!!!! It is huge, and it is a proper club, not like those shitty no-dance floor clubs in RCA and other areas in Bangkok. If you know Singapore night life, the lay out was very similar to that of Club Momo (forgot its new name), it is a wide open space, and there is a dance floor and VIP tables on the side. There is a stage too with the DJ booth at the back of the room.

If anyone ever claimed that I liked to be the centre of attention (it is entirely untrue) – our party experience at Ibiza must be one of there points stating that particular case. Jeab and I were 2 out of … perhaps 6? Non indians there!

And I have to say that Indians really know how to party! and they are all so sweet and supportive and friendly! They would look at the both of us and think, “aw…look at those chinese girls dancing non-hindi moves” and one really gorgeous girl smiled at me and said, “Shake your shoulders like this!” haha

(She was soooo pretty, in a white dress, and her hair was set in perfect curls, a sight for sore eyes.)

So to describe the night chronologically, we entered the club, went straight to the bar. The tickets cost 1,000 baht each, incl. of one drink, and that one drink wasn’t the usual standard drink, it was any cocktail drink on the menu! (Props to IBIZA!) So after we got our drink, we just walked around the whole area, and there were so many smiling faces. Such a nice change from other places.

Then, out of nowhere, I see my can-I-read-your-palms trainer. And you know what, I have no idea what invoked me to be so friendly, but I went over and tapped him on the shoulder to say Hi.

THE DUMBEST MOVE OF THE NIGHT

So he was like, WOW! What are you doing here! and then Jeab and I nodded and smiled. You know the type of nodd where you keep on nodding until the person gets the point where you wish they just disappear? That type of nodding. So he was like, alright! See you later!

YAY!!!

Then we were just standing near the dance floor, and suddenly there is a mini concert on the dance floor. Two huge black guys started to rap, quite comical actually. Then this really small indian guy started to rap, and he sounded really good! then he started to dance and he danced so hot! In shades and everything. Hahah I felt like I needed a fan.

Oh there were also 2 back up dancers, one girl was very hot, a very good dancer, natural and had the right moves, then another girl looked like she was an alien put on the spot. Her smile was incredibly strained, what a sight haha.

When that mini concert finished, they started to play “Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake, and no one went on the dance floor to dance! So…we were one of the first to go on, I dragged Jeab on the dance floor, when there were only 10 people, and then more people soon followed. haha

Then, I asked Jeab to dance close to the stage so I can put my handbag on the floor. 5 minutes later, the REAL performance started, UK singers Veronica and H-Dhami.

We were at the front row, and I felt soooo bad, because everyone around us were so enthusiastic, belting out the lyrics to these hindi songs, and the best thing I could do was “Watermelon” it. (Have you ever heard of the watermelon tip? just keep on saying watermelon and it will look like you are singing the proper lyrics, haha to some extent, a trick learnt in Grade 5 choir).

There was one part where, H-Dhami said, “I know you guys all know who my father is, I really respect him…” then he broke out into a beautiful acapella, and everyone was singing with him, I FELT SO STUPID!! not stupid, but very out of place and a bit sad for the girls who were reaching out to touch his hand behind me. (i offered for them to switch places, but they were so sweet! they said, “Its your night!!”)

We made friends with a girl, Veena and her brother,(forgot his name, oops) and we danced together, really fun. Then Jeab and I separated from the dance floor, went to the bar again, and hung out near some bar stools and bar table.

Then….there he comes again. this time he lingers on longer, and do you know what, I don’t mind talking to people in a club, but honestly, he couldn’t hear anything I said, and when it was his turn to talk to me, he SCREAMED IN MY EAR!!! UGH!!! so gross, ugh, like “WHAT I CANT HEAR YOU!!!” – after he said that, I still had a lingering ringing in my ear

But he was really nice in a sense that he did get us drinks, and I felt really rude because he got me a soda mix, and you remember my No SOFT DRINK resolution?? So I couldn’t drink it. Then he kept on saying to me, “Let me see your indian dance moves!! *wiggle wiggle hips*” EEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww lol.

Aie.

Then he walked off again, came back and asked if he could introduce us to his friends, (he knew the owner)

Lo-and-behold, there we went to the VIP area, and I saw all the indian men who gym at the same time with me. It was a Capitol club reunion.

Its quite funny because when we are gym-ing we smile and nodd, and don’t speak to eachother, and here I am, at Ibiza meeting them, still smiling and nodding. I will make an effort to create dialogue with them the next time I see them, although I doubt that they’d recognise me. (Because I am dressed in extreme grubs at the club).

Then on the couch, my trainer leaned over and shouted in my ear, “I KNOW I ALWAYS SAY YOU ARE SEXY, BUT TODAY YOU ARE RRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLY SEXY, *GRIN*”

OMG!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee *screams* Who says that!?!?!?!?  get me out of here!!! lol. seriously even now I feel like barfing. *gag* 

Jeab and I immediately ran away from the VIP area, threw ourselves on the dance floor. Danced like no tomorrow. 

One thing I have to say, is that I’ve noticed that Indian men love to dance on stages . You never see girls up on the stage, its a huge man-fest. Just like the NUS MBA Inaugral dinner that Neha invited me to. Once the music started, 30 indian classmates jumped on stage and started dancing. Interesting…

When the party whined down, Veena told us there was an afterparty, so we went with her (it was one adventurous night) We went to Gazebo in Khao san.
IT IS THE MOST DISGUSTING PLACE I’VE EVER BEEN TO IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

Sleaze-beeze. Prostitutes everywhere, ugh and no aircon! Totally out of my comfort zone, but we made nice friends that night, and Veena says she wants to meet up another time for dinner, so we are both looking forward to that.

To summarise Jeab’s party (i have to go!! i’ve written too much already!! im late) it was quite fun, and the following morning we went to temple. I had my rhaspy sexy voice back. You know the type of voice you have after hours of smoke exposure and a late night of partying.

I really miss my sexy voice, lol, so it was nice to have it back for one morning.

Last thing I’m gonna say is that, if anyone wants to have a good time in Bangkok, I would never recommend RCA, people stand around their tables and they don’t dance, they aren’t friendly and are quite pretentious. Going out to Ibiza opened my eyes to a nicer bangkok night life.

Stepping out of my comfort zone,

Stacy