I took a lot of selcas today; I couldn't help it cause the makeup was so lovely! It was done by a korean MUA and she did a classic korean face on me - goregous skin, sparkly eyes, tight and waterlined, with a slight flick at the corners. I never thought I could look this korean! But gosh I honestly love it, esp the eyes!



I'm back from my short trip to the land of smiles, which has given me a short escapade from the concrete jungle here, to alas, yet another concrete jungle right in the heart of bangkok, but difference is difference, and shopping for three days in a foreign land gives me just that little jab of much needed rest (mentally, obviously). Physically our shopping exhausted and wore our shoes out, but my shopper's determination was evidently much stronger than Gia's, who always started to complain of fatigue once 11pm drew near.

My stomach though, was no match for their fiery thai food. I had an upset stomach on both occasions I had the tom yum soup and spicy pork. I admit I was never spice tolerant to begin with but some spice I can take - theirs was just too extreme! That said, I loved our brunch spots, both of which served the usual american breakfast. Classic and nestled in my comfort zone, just the way I like it.Especially memorable was the hazelnut nutella pancake at After You, I think I can have it for breakfast every day!

Shopping wise, I just wished we had more time. In the three days we had, we only went to really shop at MBK, Platinum Mall, Khaosan and Chatuchak! Price wise it wasn't really as cheap as I'd thought, the locals really know how to bargain.. with the tourists. One thing I love about travelling is hearing people guess which country we're from. Several times shopkeepers would approach me and speak to me in thai - and only after my bewildered face they would say "Oh, english? I thought you're thai!" The first time I heard that, I nudged gia and said "I don't know if I should be flattered or not..." hahaha

I also had a jolly good time sussing out trannies. In my time there I observed three types (or stages? I assume they move up gradually) of trannies.

The Work in Progress
There's a lot of these, actually. They're mildly vain, mostly seeming as if they've just taken metrosexuality a tad bit far. Trimmed brows, just started growing out their hair (which is the crucial identifying factor), slight makeup, with their dressing still being discernibly masculine but with feminine touches here and there.

The Almost There
These are the ones walking the streets after the whitening jabs, hormonal treatments and boob jobs. Most of them wear maxi dresses and put in real effort to look expensive, and put themselves in luxury malls and shops. Sometimes their build still gives them away, but one thing that bugs me the most is their voice.When I see a pretty one I'm like wow this girl is so pretty and then I hear the voice and it 1. creeps me out like fuck and 2. disgusts me. I feel like they enjoy it somehow, you know? Like oh see everyone's looking at me thinking how pretty I am OH now they've heard me speak hence the disgusted expression hell yeah  \m/ I mindfucked you snigger snigger

Trannies are evil people.

The Impossible To Tell
I can't describe these cause they just look like normal pretty girls, except once upon a time they were very much a true blue dude.The thing is, because I can't tell either and I see a lot of pretty girls in Thailand, everytime I see one I console myself by thinking so pretty, must be tranny.

One question that bugs me is what pushes these once-dudes over the edge to decide to go through such a thorough, expensive and painstaking process to be on the other side - are there really so many men in Thailand that have this inner lady trapped in their men-shells that they can do nothing but to free themselves and embrace their true "person", or has the subconscious notion of it being a trend/so damn common that it triggers such a longing?

I guess I will never know!

After months of planning, researching and booking this and that.. The day has finally come!!

BANGKOK!!!

So excited I can't even!! ^^ May the next four days pass really, really slowly. HOLY SHIT YEAH!!! Night markets and all that jazz, here I come!



So, I finally got some breathing space from the chaos of Friday with the send-offs and completing unfinished work.. IT'S OVER.

I've really enjoyed myself these ten weeks, especially because the dynamics of the museum team is vastly different from the comms team. But this time goodbye means goodbye to the whole of mbs, and gosh I'd really miss all these damn wonderful people.

Managed to lunch with some of them during my last week, but I didn't get to meet some of them at all :'( But I'd always go back to see y'all and revisit my second home! ♥♥♥






























For dinner they brought us to Roland's restaurant, where we had awesome crabs and seafood and received more gifts from them. It was a lovely friday, to be remembered in years to come. This experience has been rewarding in so many ways!
Feeling the adrenaline tonight.

This evening as I was about to leave the workplace jeff called me to say "come to waku ghin now, your boss needs to talk to you". So off to waku ghin I went, and as I strode into the restaurant four of their staff flanked both sides of the entrance, standing ready and opened the doors for me. A chorus of welcomes, good evenings and warm smiles. That's an impressive reception, I must say.

Sitting at the bar was Minn Ross Jeff Damien Jerms.. Sending off Damien no doubt. As the waiter helped me onto the bar stool, I saw each of them with a cocktail. Behind the bar, Kaza-san works his magic, patron saint of cocktails and wines. I expected a menu to be passed to me but Minn just said "Tell Kaza-san what you want. Sweet, fruity.." Surprising ordering method, but so refreshing at the same time. Of course, I expect this to only work for really good bartenders. I told Kaza-san "something with cranberry, or strawberry, berries are just good for me" and I left him to his creative expertise. This is what he came up with, that's him in the background:


Looks like some prune mush but MAN it tasted heavenly. Left me wanting more. And as we chatted the rest  just kept ordering, and so I was wondering what to order next when Minn ordered a salty dog. It was grapefruit vodka, with some salt on the rim. I tasted it and I loved it, so I ordered the same. Strangely enough, the two drinks that I ordered didn't taste alcoholic at all, more like a mocktail? But ten minutes after I finished the drinks the alcohol started rushing to my head and yes, that familiar rush of dizzy happiness filled my head. Can I just say I love you, Kaza-san? You are a master at masking the bitter taste alcohols have.

 I love the details that Kaza-san puts in preparing each and every drink.. It was a pleasure watching him prepare everything in front of us. There was never those messy pipe dispenser things I saw in Zouk and other wine bars. Everything was nicely refrigerated, categorized and kept in their bottles. For the salt, he grated a piece of rock salt before carefully lining the rims with the grated salt. Kaza-san then passed around some truffle salt for us to take a whiff of. Ir was pure sex in a dish. For Jerm's drink, in it was a single piece of ice, apparently crafted from a block of ice, multi-faceted (think igloos and diamonds). Jerms said it had to be carved from a block of ice instead of just frozen in a mould to prevent air bubbles. The attention to detail and presentation is just so, so impressive!

I tried Jeff's bloody mary and it was all kinds of awesome. Incredibly different from the other bloody marys I've ever had. I guess all this comes down to the fact that all of us, especially me, enjoyed their service, food, and the general experience with zero complaints. Their cocktails weren't cheap, probably 30$ bordering on 40$, but even if I did pay, I would be a happy paying customer. The thing I love about wg is that as much as their prices are ridiculously out of range for many, and with all the heavy accolades, their service direction is clean, simple, classy and sincere. Different from other expensive restaurants who try too hard and are pretentious. I can't wait till the day where my finances allow me to dine their 10-course degustation menu.

The reason for this post titled so is just because recently, I've come to be extremely thankful of my job, the perks and how the people around me are so incredibly generous. And now that I'm back a second time, my circle there has expanded and I'm just so happy to be part of that community. Sometimes I'm just tweeting and tweeting about how awesome the perks are and I'm thinking "Shitfuck, what have I done to deserve all of these?" Nothing, actually, so I guess D's right, in some way, I am leading my own version of a charmed life. At least at mbs.