Sawadee...

Came back from Bangkok on the wee hours of Monday morning. Yawn. Tired. But it was a good trip. I’ve never spent so much time with my family outside before. Some things to jot down from the trip.

1. My parents are both gan-jiong spiders. Make that one big SUPERLATIVE gan-jiong. I've always know them to be so, but to bear the brunt of their gan-jiong-ness throughout the entire trip was amusing but irritating at the same time. While my sisters and I were still in slumberland, they were up awake, ready for breakfast and fit to go. Breakfast at the hotel was between 630 to 10. At the witching hour of 8am, a morning call came and jolted us up from our dreamland. "Wake up and get ready for breakfast!" I'd definitely vote my parents as the most unwelcome caller of the day. Ha. You know, we were in a rather relaxed mood. We the slugs of course would choose slumbering over filling our tummies. But my parents wanted u s to go down togehter. Ok, ok. Grudgingly dragged ourselves out of the very beguiling beds with lush, cushy comforters. I swore it was beckoning for me to be tucked in for another hour. Ha. 　

My dad wanted enough time to eat. Or rather, he wanted more than enough time to eat. Which probably explains why his tummy is his most striking feature. Ha. For me, I'd rather sleep longer, eat just enough to fill my tummy and be on the go. My parents are the type who want to be early for everything. They don't like to rush at the eleventh hour, unlike me. I'm always rushing around from one place to another. I don't know why, but i just thought it's better use of time.

2. Managing my expectations for a family trip. A family trip is not a shopping trip. I've stopped buying clothes for the past few months so that i could do a full swop of clothes during this trip. I was looking forward to buying many things. But with four other people around, you can imagine that not much shopping could be done. My parents are extremely frugal so there was an air of invisible stress when I'm trying to buy things, albeit the prices being rather dirt-cheap. My sisters were more interested in the upmarket stuff so the charms of Chatuchak failed to turn them on. My dad was put off by the hot, stuffy condition of Chatuchak, so in the end we stuck around Mabunkong for most part of our trip. Aiya, in short, the shopping experience was a near disaster. I gave up on it eventually and came to terms with the fact that it's a family trip, not a shopping trip.

3. Eating must be the highlight of the trip. We were eating so much good food that i didn't feel like eating at all for a while. Japanese food there was really worth every cent that we paid. Meaning, it's so darn cheap compared to Sing. Sashimi and whatever added up to only 12 bucks per person. What a steal! I'd eat it everyday if i could but my mum didn't quite enjoy Jap food, which i tink is acquired taste.

4. Like the previous time i went to Bangkok with Ms Tan and Mr Chng, I was absolutely bewitched by the Thais. I remembered being totally engrossed talking to Ms Tan about suave-looking Thais wherever we went. Up to a point where Mr Chng seemed rather irritated with our imbecile, delirious talk. But to be fair, i was totally bought over by the gals there too. Bought over by their genuine smiles, gentle demeanors and sincere personalities. If i'm a guy, I bet i'll fall head over heels over one of them. Or rather, many of them.

One of the most touching thing about Thailand as a country is how civilised her people are, despite being only a developing nation. Economics has no direct relation to civility and their people shine in manifesting that. (Ok, ignore the violence down South. I'm talking about their people in general) We took the their "MRT" a couple of times. My mum never had to stand at all. It was as though the people there are computed to automatically give up their seats whenever they see an elderly. But the thing is, my mum's not that old-looking. In my books, i would never give up my seat in Sing to a lady like her because i don't think she needs it. It's amazing, seeing people giving up their seats unassumingly and not expecting any word of thanks. I really am very amazed and astounded by their generosity and goodwill. (Ok, for the skeptics, you might say it's more of socialisation rather than generosity. But the fact is, they do it anyway)

They don't rush to be the first to get inside the train. They queue up orderly, as though they were chained to march in a single file. Wow!! Amazing again!!

5. While people are kind in general, there were the occasional crooks of course to mar the day. Our tour package included a half-day tour. The tour guide brought us to places other than places of interests to buy honey and gems. It was supposed to finish at 1230 but dragged on to 2. And it wasn't over yet. He didn't seem to care whether we were hungry. We started the tour at 730, common sense should tell him that we're hungry. But that obviously was not part of his concern and not on his agenda of things to take note of. We left on our own eventually.

When we checked out of our hotel (Asia Hotel) on the last day, a bottle of mineral water was charged to our bill. We refused to pay for it. The hotel staff brought the bottle down and the hotel manager insisted that we pay for it because it was found half-empty. He said it was their rule and could not bend it. We explained that we had no reason not to pay. After all, it was just 45 baht. We spent almost 1800 baht on dinner the first evening. Even when my sister said she wanted to complain and to tell everyone not to stay in the hotel, the manager refused to budge. I thought he was being an ass-hole and a less-than-competent and a less-than-astute hotel manager. By not budging, he implied that we were lying, that we were being dishonest about a darn bottle of mineral water. He challenged us to write the complaint letter. What an ass-hole! Asia Hotel, everyone. Beware! God knows what he was thinking. Plain stupidity, to earn on a bottle of mineral water but to lose potentially thousands of dollars by potential customers in future.

Hmm, but the trip's still a good one! =)

My first family trip!

My family is going on our first family trip abroad. A pity that my third sister couldn’t apply for leave on time to join us. I know she longs to go on this trip together. Our very first trip abroad. As a family.

My parents have been working hard all their lives to provide for us. It really is not easy raising four kids. Not to mention the fact that our parents had always been very supportive in whatever that we wanted to learn – swimming, art lessons, piano classes etc. I only learnt to appreciate the fact that they were working so hard for us only when I started to work. Making money really is like trekking mountains after mountains, an uphill task without respite.

But as a child, I resented the fact that they were busy and had no time for me, at all. They were tending their shop seven days a week, eleven hours every day. I once made a comment as a 7-year-old that made my aunt cry: “I don’t get to see dad. When I sleep at night, he’s not home yet. When I wake up, he’s still sleeping.” I resented that my friends could have a simple meal with their families, but I couldn’t. I resented my very deprived family life all to way to while I was studying in university.

But when you grow older, you start to come to terms with reality. I believe that everything in life is fair. That when you gain in some ways, you lose in others. I live very comfortably, with a maid to tend to the household chores since I was ten. But I never had the very close relationship that I longed for with my parents. Not as a child. Not as an adult now. Not in the future, I think. So for those of you who think I live like a tai-tai sometimes (which I do not!!), there’s a price to pay. The material comfort that I’m enjoying now really is a Pyrrhic victory of some sort. And frankly, giving up all the material comfort for a close knitted family is a steal that I will definitely settle for.

However, I’ve got to say that things have become better now. My parents are leading a much less hectic life since all of us have grown up and are working. Maybe it’s not too late to strike that match of family warmth yet, playing catch-up with the lost and stolen time from the past. I’m not sure how far we can go, but this family trip is sure one good head-start.

Don’t worry about me. I won’t wallow in self-pity about the lack of family warmth. I’ve done that for too long a time and have certainly looked beyond many things. And after all, I’m very close with my sisters and have a bunch of good pals to pour my heart out to. This very eternal optimist will certainly take things in her stride. “I try my best for everything but when things don’t work out my way, I have no regrets.” I’m strong!! Keke…

Snipping, DIY style

I looked into the mirror and saw that my fringe was almost covering my eyes. Hmmm, time to make myself look a little less wild. My hair seems to possess a life of its own whenever I cross the two-and-a-half-month mark after my last haircut. It’s ever so diligent in making sure that it heads everywhere but down south. Almost contemptuous and willful in its attempts to make sure that I know it’s time to pay my hairstylist another visit. But I don’t think I’ll have the time to do it this week, so it’ll just do a DIY snip, like I always do for my fringe.

I started looking for that pair of scissors that seemed to be able to perform just the trick. It’s a pair of scissors with jagged edges, the same ilk that can be seen across the hairstylist’s fingers when he wants to shear your voluminous hair down from a size 12 to a size 4. I’ve not tried using it yet because it only appeared mysteriously in my parents’ room one fine day in the very recent past. When I took it today, I finally got to know who bought it. My dad. And when he knew that I was trying to cut my hair, he took out his ‘lil invention – a comb with a razor taped carelessly to it – and offered it to me. Hmmm, maybe he’s considering becoming a part-time barber after he retires. Ha.

Okay, so I looked carefully into the mirror and started the DIY. A snip here. A cut there. Hey, that pair of scissors helped me managed a pretty decent cut for my fringe. That emboldened me to leap and jump: I started cutting areas other than my fringe.

Just then, my second sis came home. When she saw me cutting my hair, the whole lot of it, she commented: “You’re either a cheapskate or you’re talented.” It was not the first time I did such a thing. The last time I attempted such a massive amount, I actually cut the back too, with occasional checks with a mirror. It turned out okay then.

Now, it’s time for combarazor to strut its stuff. A nifty lil’ tool that helped me shed and shape my hair. Not bad at all. Oh and to my sister’s comment, I was neither a cheapskate nor a talent. It just happened that after I cut my fringe, the rest of my hair looked way too untidy. I couldn’t resist the temptation in trying to make it look neater. I decided to go for the asymmetric look because I still liked the shape for my right side. So I just cut the left. Then my dad came in to check on my progress and started offering his help. So using his dear combarazor, he helped me trim the back.

One hour later, I was done. One huge pile of hair in the dustbin. My head was a ton lighter. It was nothing near a perfect cut. In fact, I’m pretty worried what my hairstylist would say when she sees my hair the next time. But I did have a lot of fun cutting my hair, trying to shape and mould it, the way I like it. Try it!! =)