Evolution

Is this where we are heading?

Bangkok Trip - Ocean World

My flight back from Bangkok to KL was at around 5pm on Monday. So I had the first half of the day to spend. My destination - Siam Paragon. Siam Paragon is one of the newer and bigger shopping complexes in Bangkok. I seemed to think that it is much better as compared to our own KLCC.

Like KLCC, there is an aquaria at the lowest floor of Siam Paragon. It cost 450baht (~RM45) for an adult entry. Initially I thought it was rather expensive but I later found out that it was worth it. The aquaria was really impressive... better than the one in KLCC and better than the one I visited in Singapore.


I spent almost 1.5 hours in there. There were just so many things to see. They actually did up a rainforest in there but as the ambience was dark and my camera was a bit mediocre, I could not get any good pictures of the setup.

There were the weird looking animals:

Garden Eel

Seahorse

Dunno what's the name for this fish... but it looks prehistoric

There were the pretty looking ones:

Scorpion Fish

There were also water rats on display and they are huge! Their size was like a small dog.

There was this huge tank with turtles as well. The turtle below seemed to pose for me as it stayed very still while I snapped the picture.

How come there was a car in the middle of the aquaria? As I moved closer, I saw that the whole car was a fish tank!! Cool!!!

What about a washing machine as a fish tank??


More pictures:

Bangkok Trip - Dinner Cruise

On Saturday night, we went for a dinner cruise at the Yok Yor Marina Restaurant. Dinner cruise basically means having dinner on a big boat while it cruise around the Chao Phraya river.


This was in fact my first time doing so, and although I kept touching my pants pockets almost every 5 minutes to ensure nothing of mine dropped into the river, the experience was really great. The food was so so ... and we got to see sights along the Chao Phraya.



I was told that Yok Yor Marina Restaurant is more famous among locals than to foreigners. Along the cruise, we did see lots of other dinner cruise boats which were more heavily decorated than ours. I bet they were more expensive as well as they were catered purposely for tourists.

The dinner cruise took about 2 hours and cost each of us around 640baht (~RM64). Good experience!

Bangkok Trip - Chatuchak Market

I arrived at Bangkok, Thailand around noon time on Friday. From the Suvarnabumi international airport, I took a taxi to Bangkok city for 400 baht (~RM40).

After checking into my hotel, the first thing I did was to get a prepaid SIM card so that it would be easier for my friends to contact me. I actually brought along an extra handphone (my old Sony Ericsson T610) for this purpose.

I opted for the Simple SIM by DTac. I got it from a 7-11 outlet nearby my hotel and it cost me 49 baht (~RM5) with 15 bath (~RM1.50) credit and 30 days validity period. I then recharged it with 100 bath (RM10) and my airtime validity was extended for 1 year. After that, I felt all "natural" again because I now have a Thai number!

The next day, we went to Chatuchak Weekend Market to do some shopping. So far I seemed to recall that everytime I went to Bangkok, this market would definitely be in the itinerary.

Chatuchak Weekend Market is the largest market in Thailand. It is like a heaven for people who like to shop for cheap stuff. There are many different type of things that you can get - home decorative, cutleries, clothes, souvenirs, pets and many more.

You can easily get to this place by taking the BTS Skytrain or MRT. If you are taking the BTS Skytrain, you should stop at Mo Chit. If you are taking the MRT, the stop would be Chatuchak.

We took the BTS Skytrain to get there. The ticketing machines only take in coins but you can easily change your notes at the station's counter. Some of the pictures taken there are as below.

Funny Warning

I am testing out the mail-to-blogger feature. So, this post is sent using MMS as e-mail to blogger.com.

Anyway, the picture is a warning in my colleague's apartment elevator.

On Geese and Friends

- author unknown

When you see geese flying in a "V" formation, you might be interested in knowing what scientists have discovered about why they fly that way.

1. FACT As each bird flaps its wings it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a "V" formation, the wholeflock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.

TRUTH People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the trust of one another.

2. FACT Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.

TRUTH There is strength and power and safety in numbers when traveling in the same direction with whom we share a common goal.

3. FACT When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point.

TRUTH It pays to take turns doing hard jobs.

4. FACT The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

TRUTH We all need to be remembered with active support and praise.

5. FACT When a goose gets sick or is wounded and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until the crisis resolves, and then they launch out on their own or with another formation to catch up with their group.

TRUTH We must stand by each other in times of need.

WE ARE FORTUNATE THAT THERE ARE MORE GEESE IN LIFE THAN TURKEYS. LET'S REMEMBER TO UPHOLD EACH OTHER IN FRIENDSHIP AND GIVE EACH OTHER A BIG "HONK" MORE OFTEN.

My Personality

My personality analysis. I thought it's quite accurate... My profile is of an ISTJ (Examiner). Some of the characteristics are:

• They have a keen sense of right and wrong, especially in their area of interest and/or responsibility
• ISTJs are very loyal, faithful, and dependable. They place great importance on honesty and integrity
• Private, does not appreciate strangeness, not adventurous, not spontaneous, follows the rules
• They honor deadlines, and they believe in thoroughness
• They established procedures and schedules, and are uncomfortable with those who do not do the same

Ctrl-Alt-Del

How I wish my whole life is like that too! I guess as humans we always tend to compare ourselves with people who are doing better than us, thus creating this dissatisfaction to our lives.

I certainly do that sometimes, especially when I have too much free time in my hands. I would start thinking that I should be in another line of work, I should be earning more, I should be this and I should be that. How I wish there are the simple Ctrl-Alt-Del buttons that I could press and my life could start all over again. I will definitely do things differently.

Sad to say, life doesn't work like that. DAMN!!

Detox Plan Aborted

My detox plan this weekend is aborted. I got the flu bug.

Guess I will have to do it some other day... maybe after my vacation to Thailand next week. Don't hate me.... AirAsia had some promotion and I could not say "No". Furthermore, work load is at the low point during this period of time, so I quickly seized the opportunity and applied for leaves. Geez...I am sure I will be eating a lot of sinful stuff during my vacation!

Well, seems like it's the best time to do my detox then. I will be broke after the vacation, and fasting will help me to save. See...more reasons to fast!!

Detox

I am planning to do a Detox Fasting this weekend. It is basically a Water Fast where for the whole day, you do not take any solid food. Water or pure fruit juice is allowed. Then the next morning, you take some "potion" and then start purging.

I have used this method before a few years back but I only did it once because it was very tough!!! Imagine having to fast when you love food so much! I remember the last time when I did it, I broke fast the next day with a big bowl of.....CURRY MEE!! So much for detox, right?

Anyhow, I need to take up this challenge as my favourite jeans seemed to be getting tighter lately. Besides it may help with lowering my cholesterol too.

So I e-mailed my good friend, Flo to get the instructions of doing this Detox Fasting. Apparently this is the way advised by Yoga practitioners too....although there may be slight variations.

Instructions
(excerpt from Flo's e-mail + my own words):

This fasting must be done 1 - 5 days before 1st day or 15th day of Lunar Calendar. So choose any one day which is most convenient for you.
I can't wait... so I am doing it this weekend!

Day 1:
Drink 500 ml of water in the morning after waking up.

Do not take solid food for the whole day.
Try not to drink the whole day unless very thirsty - take a few sips.
If really really hungry, then take an apple but advisable not to.
Go to bed early at 10pm.

Day 2:
Wake up early (If working day - 5am. If Sat/Sun - 7am)
Prepare the "potion" (i.e Juice from 1 lemon + 1 teaspoon of sea salt + 500ml of room temperature water)

Drink the "potion".
Half an hour later, drink 500ml to 1 litre of water.
Purging will happen anytime soon and may happened a few times at no specific interval.
In between purging - drink about 500ml of water. Don't drink until want to "muntah".... Just drink what you can drink.
After all the purging, swallow little little bites of 1 banana - do not chew. This will act like a sponge to clean the lining of the intestines.

After that, u can take either fruits or yoghurt for breakfast. Yoghurt is good to replenish whatever good bacteria that is lost during the detox.
For lunch, take something light - vege or fruits then night as normal.

Please Listen

by Leo Buscaglia

When I ask you to listen to me,
And you start giving me advice,
You have not done what I asked.

When I ask you to listen to me,
And you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that way;
You are trampling on my feelings.

When I ask you to listen to me,
And you feel you have to do something to solve my problem,
You have failed me, strange as that may seem.

Listen!

All I asked was that you listen,
Not to talk or do… Just hear me.
Advice is cheap.

And I can do for myself. I'm not helpless.
Maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.

When you do something for me that I can and need to do for myself,
You contribute to my fear, inadequacy and dependency.

But, when you accept as a simple fact that I do feel what I feel,
No matter how irrational,
Then I can quit trying to convince you,
And I can get about the business of understanding
What's behind this irrational feeling.

And when that's clear, the answers are obvious,
And I don't need advice.
Irrational feelings make sense,
When we understand what's behind them.

So please listen, and just hear me.
And, if you want to talk,
Wait a minute for your turn,
And I'll listen to you.

Don't Behave Like An...

Bowling

Yesterday we had a company's bowling game. We left the office around noon and proceeded to Midvalley for company's lunch and bowling competition. We were divided into 4 groups.

You see, I was (and am) always very bad in bowling...in fact, sports related activities were never my strength... :-( Anyway my performance in yesterday's game was not as bad as I anticipated. At least I did hit some pins in 99% of my attempts. I managed to get a few strikes too! And as far as I could remember, I never had a score of over 100. I scored 103 in one game yesterday... haha... my best record so far...pathetic isn't it?

One of my team members was excellent in bowling. Because of him, we won the competition and each of us got a RM30 Jusco voucher. It's better than none...moreover it's a good break for us from work.

Some fun facts about bowling:
1) It's a good exercise that works 134 different muscles.
I am very sure it works at least 3- the arm, leg and butt muscles... cos I am feeling the sore at those areas today!

2) It improves hand-eye coordination.
Hmm....seemed like my hand and eye coordination was really out cos my eyes were focusing on one side but the ball was moving towards the other.

3) Pins are made of laminated maple coated in plastic.
Well if you are going to be constantly knocked out by big balls, you will need the extra protection, right?

4) To choose the correct size ball, find one with 1/10 of your weight.
Pretty fair..the heavier you are, the heavier your ball should be.

5) Bowling lanes are 43 inches wide and were traditionally made of hard rock maple for the first 15 feet then followed by pine and with maple again in the pin area. However nowadays, they tend to use synthetic lanes instead of wood.
Save the trees campaign?!