Vanity Validator
My vanity validator is as below:
A Day In The Bin
Going out was definitely a waste of time today since we didn't accomplish anything within the mission! First we went back to the hair saloon where I previously did my hair last Tuesday and the hair dresser who did my hair wasn't around and asked us to come back tomorrow. Second, we had some business with BB and went to its Ramkhamhaeng branch at Carrefour but was asked to go to the main branch instead (at Bangkapi the Mall) since they don't have the English forms for us. So our rush to the BB Bangkapi branch were only to find out that the form were also in Thai and they never had English forms as claimed by the first BB! Heck! Then upon filling out forms, they told us that one of their policy have changed and that we have to live with it or die. We left with funny t shirts given by BB as their complimentary gift. H..................................c......k! Lastly on our way home we hope for the dentist to stay open and it was already closed. Arrrrggggghhh! We would have been better off if only we have chose to stick our butts in front of the telly and watch Heroes!
Come tomorrow a fine day!
Places Close to MBK
It was a nice Monday morning and a friend had requested for help in organizing his family vacation. Well, since I've been doing this for him and others in the past, I was thrilled to be asked again. So Hobbit and I kicked off our sleepy butts out of bed and were ready in no time. This time we decided to check out cheap places to stay nearby MBK. We know many of our friends who visit Bangkok merely for shopping reasons want to stay close by to major shopping malls. Nah, here are several places you can consider IF you love MBK, Paragon, Siam Centre and the like to pieces! We only picked out the good, decent ones although there are many other inns and guesthouses (mostly run down and old) around.
We got down from National Stadium BTS stop opposite MBK and walked into Soi Kasemsan 1 at Rama 1 Road:
Soi Kasemsan 1
The first place, also the place we favored most was Reno Hotel. Yes they have a website. It attracted us so much because of its serene atmosphere and elegant. Of course it cost a little bit more but the price range is only between a hundred baht to two hundred baht more compared to other so-so places around. What delighted us more was the cafe. We spotted one farang (foreigner) was enjoying the breeze outside Reno's cafe while sipping his hot latte and reading the papers. It must be the outdoor plants that adds to the magic! The receptionist were friendly and spoke good English. While negotiating about the rooms etc, unfortunately the dates we opted for was fully booked and they have no rooms to show us for they're all occupied. See...you have to book earlier if you want to stay here! It's a hot spot! Don't forget to visit their website for further info about room rates etc.
Outside Reno Cafe
Walking further down was Wendy House. They also have their own website (don't play-play). It's not a bad one too. Just that when we inquire about the rooms, the receptionist were a little unsure about things around. For example, we asked if extra bed is permitted in a double bed room and if it was okay to bunk in 4 in a room. She gave us several minutes until she gets the boss to personally deal with our two simple questions! Anyhow the boss was friendly and also informed us that her place is FULLY BOOKED on our requested date. She stressed that even if you want to book for today, there's only one room available! Huh, there goes...indicating her place is a hot spot too! 
Then we walked back closer to the entrance of the Soi Kasemsan 1 and walked into Muangphol Mansion. Do check out their website thanks to me for this free promo! Shish! Okay, so we waited for 5 minutes to be attended and when we did, the receptionist gave us this look with BIG question mark on her forehead saying "WHAT YOU WANT HUH??" So we told her that we were looking for rooms available on so and so date. So she went on and on and on and the on made us leave the place. Thank you Muangphol Mansion for the kind ONs. Actually one of the things they wanted to know is when exactly is my friend's family arriving and what was the exact time and and and that they need to wait for another day for availability bla bla.
Heck, most places were fully booked. We were getting hungry! Now right in front of the National Stadium BTS stairs (still opposite MBK) is another place you could consider for a short stay -- Krit Thai Mansion. As soon as we stepped inside, there is this funny smell, a smell of a run down place but hold your horses...it's not that bad. It's just the smell! The receptionist was extra friendly with beautiful smile and well-dressed in a suit! Hehe...At least she showed standards. Well, after a short preview, this place is decent after all that I ended up booking 4 twin rooms that cost 980B each. A good bargain considering the location and area. They allowed us to reserve without any deposit as long as we called them the day before to confirm. Easy! Before I forget, a few walks up at Soi Kasemsan 2 is Jim Thompson's House Museum. It's open to locals and tourists. So if you have time to spare, why not take a few relaxing walk and enjoy classic!
You'll see this once you step down the BTS stairs opp. MBK
Eric Lopez
Eric Lopez is a Latino who sings beautiful Christian pop music. He has awesome musical talents and I just have to say that his voice would take ones breath away...:) He has an official myspace page where you could listen to samples of his songs and yeah...I'm deeply inspired by his music, written to praise the utmost loving God. My favorites so far are Tu Eres & I'm Overwhelmed.
*Off to check out mykonos villa rentals!
School Joke - Skip 1st Grade, Go 3rd Grade
LOL! My cousin forwarded me this story and his hope is that I appreciate this joke, as a teacher. I really had a good laugh, thank you P. Hope it gives you a chuckle! :)
A first-grade teacher, Ms Tulip (Age 28) was having trouble with one of her students. The teacher asked," Boy, what is your problem?"
Boy answered, "I'm too smart for the first-grade. My sister is in the third-grade and I'm smarter than she is! I think I should be in the third-grade too!"
Ms Tulip had enough. She took Boy. to the principal's office. While Boy. waited in the outer office, the teacher explained to the principal what the situation was. The principal told Ms Tulip he would give the boy a test and if he failed to answer any of his questions he was to go back to the first-grade and behave. She agreed.
Boy. was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he agreed to take the test.
Principal: "What is 3 x 3?"
Boy: "9".
Principal: "What is 6 x 6?"
Boy: "36".
And so it went with every question the principal thought a third-grade should know. The principal looks at Ms Tulip and tells her, "I think Boy can go to the third-grade. "
Ms Tulip says to the principal, "I have some of my own questions.
Can I ask him ?" The principal and Boy both agreed.
Ms Tulip asks, "What does a cow have four of that I have only two of?
Boy., after a moment "Legs."
Ms Tulip: "What is in your pants that you have but I do not have?"
Boy: "Pockets."
Ms Tulip: What starts with a C and ends with a T, is hairy, oval, delicious and contains thin whitish liquid?
Boy: Coconut
Ms Tulip: What goes in hard and pink then comes out soft And sticky? The principal's eyes open really wide and before he could stop the answer, Boy. was taking charge.
Boy: Bubblegum
Ms Tulip: What does a man do standing up, a woman does sitting down and a dog does on three legs? The principal's eyes open really wide and before he could stop the answer...
Boy: Shake hands
Ms Tulip: Now I will ask some "Who am I" sort of questions, okay?
Boy: Yep.
Ms Tulip: You stick your poles inside me. You tie me down to get me up. I get wet before you do.
Boy: Tent
Ms Tulip: A finger goes in me. You fiddle with me when you're bored. The best man always has me first. The Principal was looking restless, a bit tense and took one large Vodka peg.
Boy: Wedding Ring
Ms Tulip: I come in many sizes. When I'm not well, I drip. When you blow me, you feel good.
Boy: Nose
Ms Tulip: I have a stiff shaft. My tip penetrates. I come with a quiver.
Boy: Arrow
Ms Tulip: What word starts with a 'F' and ends in 'K' that means lot of heat and excitement?
Boy: Fire truck
Ms Tulip: What word starts with a 'F' and ends in 'K' & if u don't get it u have to use your hand.
Boy: Fork
Ms Tulip: What is it that all men have one of it's longer on some men than on others, the pope doesn't use his and a man gives it to his wife after they're married?
Boy: SURNAME
Ms Tulip: What part of the man has no bone but has muscles, has lots of veins, like pumping, & is responsible for making love ?
Boy: HEART.
The principal breathed a sigh of relief and said to the teacher,
"Send this Boy to OXFORD UNIVERSITY EVEN I GOT THE LAST TEN QUESTION WRONG MYSELF"
I believe most of you think different from the Boy. You need some bleach on your brain.
*checking out on micro sd.
Furniture Dilemma
Hobbit is out attending his school's graduation banquet and I am at home keeping myself busy with furniture catalog. Buying furnitures is never among our priority list since we are still in the process of arranging our long term plans but when inconvenience situation kicks in, we just have to make a choice on whether to purchase or not.
Frankly speaking, our 2 medium-sized wooden closets can no longer hold all of our clothings. Don't ask why. We have tried to donate some of our clothings to charity and recently handed a bag for our parents to take some home but hey, is our present closets too small or what? In our previous apartment, the closets were attached to the walls (built in ones) but our present ones are not. Cish! I even argued with the landlord making a point that our clothings were not root of the big P but the closets!!! Bah humbug!
Play Tour Guide Headache
The Adventist Women's Ministry convention was held in one of the hotels here in Bangkok last week and those of us who are working here has this obligation in taking those delegates out for shopping since you know, they have this tendency to not listen and get lost. Well, what I mean by "not listen" is illustrated in this conversation:
**Conversation took place outside of JJ open market**
the play-tour-guide: Do not separate from your buddy, or else we will get lost.
delegate 1: okay. What time should we meet?
the play-tour-guide: 2pm at the clock tower.
delegate 1: Where is this clock tower?
the play-tour-guide: There (points to the clock tower direction) and here (points to the map). Ask around for the clock tour if you get lost.
delegate 1: Sure (eyes not looking at the direction and map but at the bling-blings and fine clothings at the kiosks). Can we go now??
That's what I meant. Not paying attention to details once their mind is attuned to the word "shopping". Then when the clock hits 2, the play-tour-guide has to wait for another hour or more to get the group together again.
The experience is not too pleasant but it never fails to give all of us a good laugh every now and then.
*reading on foreclosure.
Aunt's Shopping Luggage
My aunt KN dared me to put this in my blog yet here I am presenting her overweight luggage...
She was waaaaaaaaaaay overweight when they checked their luggage in at the airport and had to pay quite a big amount of money which is enough for her to shop for another day. This is what Bangkok can do to shopaholics like her. LOL!
Loving Sunny Days
The weather keeps on changing nowadays. Last week it was raining all day and this week it was all sunny plus a little bit of rain in the evenings. To judge todays weather, my friends and I agreed that it's stingingly humid all day. I was out it the sun everyday this week and now I have to thank the generous sun for giving me uneven marks of sunburn especially on my shoulder. All the clothings I wore this week were print-marked on my shoulders, arms and legs. Now my uneven skin tone makes me look like a human version zebra. Still, despite all the burns, I still love the sun. It's better than rainy days (rainy days in Bangkok ain't pretty!). Ahh! Time to take our ipods out in the sun again...
Applying Credit Card in Thailand
The Wind Chimes of plastic is blowing my way and I found some explanations on The Nation, one of Bangkok's English newspaper dated July 03, 2008.
Expats can apply for credit cards By Ekarin Bumroongpuk
But Thai banks set guidelines on minimum local work experience and monthly income for foreign customers wishing to use plastic
This is the second in a series about financial products for expats gathered by The Nation. Having previopusly covered procedures for opening deposit accounts for foreigners, this is about credit-card applications.
For a credit-card application, each card issuer requires a work permit and passport from foreign applicants.
For expats, domestically issued credit cards will allow you to receive benefits from regular retail promotions, lucky prize draws, discounts and loyalty programmes. By using local cards, foreigners can also save by not having to pay the foreign-exchange fee charged when using foreign-issued credit cards in Thailand.
However, each bank has different conditions for credit-card applications.
The Bangkok Bank credit card is available to foreign applicants who are permanent residents or have had a work permit for at least one year, while other conditions are the same as for Thai applicants.
Kasikornbank requires foreign customers to have a minimum of one year's work experience in Thailand to apply for a credit card, with a minimum monthly income of Bt50,000.
They must also provide a credit bureau's authorisation, and their work permit must be valid for at least six month after the application date. Customers will be informed of the approval result within 16 days for applications in Bangkok and 19 days upcountry.
Siam Commercial Bank requires a work permit and minimum monthly salary of Bt100,000, compared with Thai applicants' minimum income of Bt15,000. The bank also needs foreign customers to show a bank statement covering the past six months.
Krung Thai Bank requires foreign applicants to have had a work permit for at least two years, but their requirement for minimum monthly income is Bt15,000, the same as for Thai applicants. They must also show a bank statement covering the past three months and their passport.
TMB Bank offers two choices of credit-card applications for foreigners. The first requires lending deals with corporations of at least three years and a minimum credit line of Bt30 million. Expats employed by these companies are eligible to apply for a TMB Bank credit card. A work permits must also be shown.
The second choice is offered to individual foreigners who open a fixed-deposit account with the bank. They must use the account as collateral for their credit-card application and will receive a credit line of not more than 80 per cent of the deposit amount.
Bank of Ayudhya requires three years' local work experience and a minimum monthly income of Bt50,000 for a classic card and one year's local work experience and a monthly salary of Bt100,000 for gold and platinum cards. Self-employed customers should have average cash flow in their bank account of Bt350,000 a month or more for the classic card and Bt700,000 or more for gold and platinum cards. Applicants must submit copies of their passport and work permit valid for at least six months. Company employees need a copy of a payroll slip and a bank statement covering the past six months.
Remember that if any of your credit cards has been lost, stolen or retained by an ATM or if you suspect you have been the victim of fraud, contact your card issuer immediately.
In cancelling your card or putting a hold on your account, you will be liable for all transactions made before notifying the bank.
Going Out Again!
Hi Hi HI!
A plasma tv mount didn't just turned me into a couch potato but something better than that for a holiday is keeping me occupied that I don't even have time to sneak in and blog.
My parents and aunt are in town since last week and they are keeping me busy busy busy in a good way. So far we've visited several places that gave me my share of stinging sunburns and blisters, not to mention the worn off soles, thank you very much! Nevertheless, I had loads of fun fun fun! Goodness, sakitnya kena matahari bakar! Now I look like a semi red Indian clan!
It's 12pm Monday noon and I just crawled off my bed after a quick nap while the 'orang tua' (old people) are busy dressing up for another trip out! Hah! Someone has just cast a lazy spell on me.
Okay...someone's yelling out my name to go! Hope I can blog again tonight. XoXo!
Invisible Blog
What happened to my blog?? No wonder I have low traffic!
Well people (those of you who can access), many of my friends complained that they have problem viewing my blog. Why is that so? Well, I noticed that most of my readers are from Malaysia, Thailand and the US but what the flickening is wrong with TBLOG? Is it just me or others are experiencing down time all the time? One of my friend in Sabah actually told me that she has been trying to access my blog several times since May but it was either not loading at all or takes ages for it to load. Well, one thing I bluntly want to admit and you all know this that I have lots of bling-blings on both sides of my posts and probably that could be the cause but hey, how come nobody complains here in Bangkok and other parts of the countries? How come only certain places?? In MC, friends relayed another story -- that my blog is rated as "Contains Phonographic images." Com'on tBlog...Please fix this for me okay? I need lots and lots of dog supplies and if I don't...
I might as well consider another place to call home!
4th of July
4th of July
the birth of a nation
celebrated with sparkles and smoke
with awes beneath...
there shouts "one day, freedom."
Years past, the night remains
forever in memory.
4th of July
the birth of a godly man
crowned with love and blessings
with awes above...
there whispers "one day, home."
Sufferings past, the painful night remains
rest in peace
you're forever in our memories.
~Amy~
*Dedicated to our beloved J.R who left us last night. May your soul be at rest.
Dancing with Matt
Found this while surfing and I have to say it made my day this very Sabbath morning. After all that has been happening around me, it's good to get comfort from random odds.
The dancing guy is Matthew Harding, who traveled the world for 14 months, filming himself doing the same dance in 42 countries. I bet it was had work but nothing beats the fun! It's better than a walk in tub and wish I could be part of the dance!
How simple is it to touch the world?
Hats off to Matt!
Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.
