Thursday, January 31, 2008

Amazing Bangkok - Day 1

Yes, I'm calling this post "Amazing Bangkok". It's amazing bcos eventhough i've been here say a gazillion times, the city never cease to amaze me every single time.

You can refer to my previous posts
here, here, here, here, or here for comparison or reference (for those of you who's been asking me where to go).

Yes, this will be one of my typical posts with a barrage of pictures only.
Warning: your bandwith might be affected. :P


Back at Suvarnabumi airport. We were surprised by the CNY festivities going on.





On our way to the city, we saw a convoy of buses (at least 8 of them) with air-brushed animation graphics.

Once again, this shows the Thais' love for art/creative expression.




The food

As soon as we're done checking in, we headed straight for food. I miss my tomyum noodles.





Claudine misses fried chicken.




Caryn and Ken miss the coconuts.





Big "jambu air" (water apple).




Thais love sausages. You can see sausages everywhere.





Thai corns are really really sweet. Why? Cos they add condense milk into the corn in addition to salt and butter. Eww..





Erm...only they could finish such sweet sweet corn. I think it's an acquired taste, that one.





We like those grilled sausages. Yups, I'm not supposed to buy street food. Can't help it though.






We had Thai BBQ at the same stall (the one near Big C in Pratunam). I absolutely miss their sauces.





Kenn ordered a bottle of Chang beer as he knew he wouldn't be able to withstand the spiciness. Smart move.





Was tempted to order somtam from this stall but didn't cos i was too stuffed.





Baked fish covered in chunks of salt.








Chicken and shrimp poppers. Pretty good stuff.





We tapau-ed basil pork rice for supper. It was superb.





The shopping/fooling around bits...


Love is....when you walk with your girlfriend (for hours) through endless shoe searching/shopping. And you don't mind a thing.





Love is.... when you find that perfect pair of stilettos. And you can't help thinking about it, even though it's gonna cos you a bomb.




Love is...when you can't stop missing your bf who's in U.S. And you can't stop talking with him on the phone eventhough you know the phone bill will kill you.



Toys we like..





It was 6:35pm local time and this bank was still opened. Our Msian banks should have this kind of operation hour too.




Fooling around...

Sis wearing a strawberry hat, and I'm wearing a pink nemo on my head.




Moose, strawberry.





Who'd wear a sunflower on her head? Silly ol' me.



Kenn looks good as a chicken. :P



Not the fish...



Cute couple






My sisters were tempted to have their nails manicured while shopping but decided against it cos we had plenty to do and they didn't wanna ruin their nails in the process. Decided to save it till later in the night.





We found the same manicurist (the one who did our nails last year) this time. She wasn't around the last time I was there though.




Both my sisters did their nails. I didn't cos I just cut mine real short (yeah, some nails broke - i had to cut) and I reckon it'd be super ugly with nail arts.




I wasn't waiting for my turn, was only taking the opportunity to rest a lil. We've been walking all day.



Claudine's black with floral designs, Caryn's maroon with psychedelic designs. RM5 per person. Dirt cheap.


Thus end day 1 of our silly adventure in Bkk.

Tomorrow, I shall blog about the food that made me sick. You guys gotta ban that dish man.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Shoes galore from Bangkok

I'm backkkkkk...


:)


The trip to Bangkok was good, except for the fact that I had "traveller's diarrhea" 3 out of 4 days I was there.
Fact, I rushed to the toilet to puke as soon as I entered the boarding area even as I was departing Bkk. Sigh, sick even on my last day there.

I had a feeling it had something to do with this particular soupy dish I bought from the street vendor.

Mum has now banned me from buying food from street vendors. Serve me right. But but I can't help it. I'm curious by nature and I love trying new food.

Anyway, I'm keeping this really short as doc said I need more rest.

Well being sick has kind of killed my mood for eating and shopping. Despite that, I still managed to get these.


These shoes are enough reasons why I go Bangkok once every 6 months. :)


Black peep toe (wedge), Blue peep toe.




Gold strappy, Bronze Aldo-inspired




This pair kind of reminds me of Chanel.




Something for Chinese New Year :P





Love the embellished heels of this one.

All in all, I bought 7 pairs of heels, a pair of sandals and a pair of flip flops.

I think we bought close to 20 pairs of shoes (among the 3 of us) altogether. Including 2 pairs for the queen (who didn't even go). Would have bought even more if not for the fact that I had no more luggage space, I was sick and had no mood, and the ones I wanted didn't come in my size.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

One Sweet Day

Love is in the air. It's everywhere...
Everyone can see, everyone can feel..
Love's in the air, it doesn't matter where...
And everyone agrees, love is all we need...
-Shunza



Yesterday marked the beginning of a new chapter in life for this newly-wed. Shukz is now officially Mrs Ooi. Congrats darling!

You guys have been reading about their wedding prep on and off here on my blog and I hope that you're equally as happy for them. :)



The couple had their Registration of Marriage (ROM) at Tien Hou Temple.
.
.

.

Mich and I were a lil unsure how to get to the place (yups, we both don't go temple you see). I did some asking around and had a rough idea how to get there (thanks dad!)


We were so glad when we finally found the place. Next, we had to look for the ROM office.




Easy peasy, just follow the hearts trail on the floor. :)





Hsien Yu's dad n mum, Mich, and Shukz' mum.





Pre-registration.


The couple.
The brightly lit office in the background was the waiting room. Next to it was the "aquarium" where the couple will be solemnising their vows.







Us cheemuis with the couple







Introducing the "aquarium".
There's another couple inside, with their bridal entourage.
Don't you think it's a lil intrusive?







Shukz and Hsien Yu giving their I/C and other particulars to the officer.
Don't you like her dress? It's so gorgeous, i love love love the black lace trimmings on white silk. It's from Coast.







The couple with their dads as witnesses.






That was the marriage certificate they'll have to sign later on.





There was this "cute" notice just outside the aquarium.

One part of it says, "if a married person, particularly a married man conceals the truth and marries another woman, thus misleading the woman to believe that she is the lawful wife, marry him, cohabit with him and have sex with him it is cheating...





....If found guilty he could be sentenced to imprisonment up to 10 years and fine under Section blablabla..."

And we all gave Hsien Yu the "don't play play look". LOL! :P.

It's pretty unfair, isn't it? Cos it particularly mentioned "man cheating". As if we women don't cheat. Well, maybe not as much. :P




It was finally their turn.





The Registrar explaining the procedure to the couple.




The blur bride signing her life away :P. No turning back now ya woman! LOL!



Shukz: "You're mine now mister!"




The whole entourage...almost.
It was a very cosy and informal affair.We weren't even sitting on the seats cos we were all too busy snapping away.



Saying their vows.





Awwww...



Double awww. :)







Congratulations Mr and Mrs Ooi!








We proceeded to capture some pictures of the surrounding temple area.








The newly-wed decided to make some donation on their auspicious day.






San couldn't make it as she's still in Melby. Although she couldn't be there in person, her sweet thoughts were with us. She sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Shukz.




Mich and I helping ourselves to the bouquets.






Mich was assigned to "jaga" Shukz's bag and flowers.





We adjourned to Tai Thong to nurse our tummies with delicious dimsum.









We whacked like nobody's business..





I wished I ordered another bowl of the century egg porridge. It was so delish! Powdery smooth perfection. Mmmm








Dear Shuk Yee and Hsien Yu,


Here's wishing you both a great life-long journey together as husband and wife. May you both be blessed with a wonderful relationship filled with love, understanding, and joy. Let each day be a day of new adventure and discoveries together.



xoxo,
Ven








~*~*~*Double happiness*~*~*~

Here's another kind of love I encountered yesterday.


A mother's love...


One of my close ex-colleagues, Sarah has given birth to a wonderful baby girl on the 10th of Jan. The newborn was christianed Megan. From what Sarah said in her sms, "Our darling came into the world today at 10:10am. With a lot of hair, 47cm in length and 3 kg ~ 6.6 pounds", we were all excited to visit Rah and her bundle of joy.


So Kai and I decided to visit her since we're both off on Thaipusam.


Kai, Rah and me (I went over after the ROM).
Kai is also expecting. She was practically glowing yesterday, gotta agree that pregnancy certainly agrees with her. As for Rah, she was almost back to her slim self. Impressive!





Baby Meg has a lovely tuft of hair. A lot of hair indeed.


What a tiny lil foot.



She's so angelic.




It's feeding time.



Baby Meg clutching her mummy's hand. Isn't that adorable? Truly nothing can come between a mother and her child's bond.


Uh-oh, I could feel my maternal instinct kicking in. :P




The Sabapathys.





Now that she has lil Megan, her priorities have totally shifted. She shared that she can actually spend all day just looking at baby Meg, the baby can do so many cute lil expressions that melts her heart.


She has decided long ago (when she first conceived) that she'll quit her job and do something she likes on a part-time basis after she delivered her baby. She'll venture into this business called Jollyphonics, to teach little children to learn using very fun innovative methods.


Rah said that she cannot imagine working full time again, she'll miss her baby very much. Awww.

Such is the extent of a mother's love. Kudos to all mothers out there!