Weekend in Bangkok

I'm back-tracking a little.. :) Headed over to BKK with Mum for a couple of days before going off to London... was a lovely weekend of shopping and sightseeing!

First tom yam noodles in BKK... now you see it...

.. now you don't!

Beads at Chatuchak

Waiting at the BTS station... tired la.. and no chairs!

With Mum on the Chao Phraya

It's amazing how ppl make a living this way. So precarious!

Symmetry

Dried mangosteen... my tongue felt funny after

I'm here!

I've finally arrived in London - yay! It's Day 6 and things have just been a whirlwind around me. My folks have headed of to a swissoland and I've been attending one induction after another, doing the usual school and banking admin and working out the quickest route to school.

LSE has a whole host of public lectures... Alan Greenspan was here 2 nights ago for a lecture... I didn't know!

Last night I went with SY and CL to their CG meeting which is held at a barge beside Canary Wharf... how cool is that! Haha. It's London's first floating church wor... ;) Anyways, it's been fun apart from the wet and gloomy weather and the need to walk, walk, walk. I miss my car.

From now on, I'll be blogging about my Chevening year at pumpkingoestoskool.blogspot.com

Super Dad saves the day!

Yet again!

What would I do without my Dad? My car tyre burst in the mall yesterday evening and thankfully, I was still able to drive out of the underground parking and wait for Dad by the main road outside Tesco. Thank God for my handyman Dad... :)

My car looks rather spastic with it's spare wheel. The normal wheel is too large for the boot and had to be placed in the passenger seat... hahhaha. Photos to follow.

Counting down...

5 weeks and counting.... yippeeeee!!!!!

Here's a teaser.... ;)

A lovely affair

It was one of the loveliest weddings I have ever been too. Loads of people, young and old (proportionately more young), squeezed into what I'd imagine is a hall meant for 250 at most. ;) Celebration was in the air and the crowd cheered as soon as the bride walked through the sliding door. T'was definately a first for me! ;)

The ceremony was beautiful and meaningful with personal exhortations and blessings meant for the couple. All in all, lovely! I was moved to tears.. hehe.

What I've learnt:

1) Testimonies from the couple's marriage counsellors lend a personal touch to the proceedings.

2) Choice of speaker is VERY important. All speakers should end with blessings for the couple.

3) A smaller hall creates a cosier atmosphere.

4) The element of friendship in a marriage must be nurtured and not forgotten.

And a whole host of other poignant things.. hehe. Congrats D & B!

O my

The strangest thing ever. People talk about 6 degrees of separation. It's actually only 3 degrees... and it extends all the way to the UK!

Home sweet home

There's nothing like the feeling of coming home to a familiar bed, familiar smells. :) No doubt the week-long break in bustling Tokyo was awesome! Nevertheless, it's great to be home!

I meant to put in a final blog on the trip on my last day but Narita Airport doesn't have free WIFI, plus I spent most of the morning on trains... 3 trains to be precise. And all the while (until the last transfer) I wasn't entirely sure I was on the right train.. hahha... there were so many different services stopping at different places that I wasn't sure it I was going to make it in time for my flight! :P Tis the price of a cheap Metro ticket! hahahha

Anyways, thankfully I made it in time and was pleasantly surprised that my reserved seat was reserved after all. (I've had so many bad experiences with airline reservations that I've almost lost all hope :P). The trip back was pleasantly uneventful and the movie selection rather good - I watched Freedom Writers, The Thief Lord and Miss Potter. I enjoyed them all tho Miss Potter was my fav. Check it out at http://www.aceshowbiz.com/movie/miss_potter/. But be warned that "good" shows to me are those that make me cry. ;)

M was back over the weekend and it was great just hanging out together and catching up after such a long time. :) All in all, it was a wonderful week! Special thanks to all who took the effort to make my stay in Tokyo a memorable one. :)

Here're some shots from the museum of modern art, Tsukiji Market and Shinjuku.

Permission to go "click click".

Rain, rain go away...

What started of as a rainy day in Yokohama, ended with a bout of shopping Shibuya. So no complaints from me. ;)