Mothering Corner

Every year, the road accident rate will be higher than usual during Songkran when millions of Thai or foreigners are traveling on the road, either going back home or going for vacation. I’ve seen the crazy crawl of cars trying to get to the northern provinces during long holiday, so I would always try my best to avoid the crawl and prefer to go somewhere else.

Actually, I don’t like to travel long distance in cars, buses and trains. I prefer to fly. But BIL travels a lot in car and he doesn’t mind driving up to Chiangmai or Phuket, and he had just go back from Nan, SIL’s home town. It’s very far north and I haven’t been there. Their car has bike rack for suvs, and BIL would even bring his bike a long if he’s going for triathlon.

Some times, we are trying to drive safely, but there are always some reckless drivers who drink and drive or who knows what else they are capable of.

Over the trip back home, I managed to meet up with some friends, which I haven’t seen for 17 years! It’s amazing how time had passed us by, leading us in different direction and when you saw each other, it’s doesn’t feel like we haven’t been away for that long. Most of my friends have started their families, and it’s nice to see their faces in real instead of using Facebook. LOL!

I must say that the guys have gained a lot of weight. Seriously, what had happened to them? LOL! Most ladies are still maintaining well, they would make a kill in nurse uniforms or cosplay costumes if they are keen!

Anyway, it’s nice catching up with them.

It’s nice to be back home for the long weekend, even if time was pretty limited and I couldn’t taste all my favorite food nor visiting more friends. But we had a good time and we managed to bring back a lot of stuffs! Especially my wedding photo frames! We had to let go off some items like fernandes guitar, the keyboard, the extra golf sets and etc But still, I will slowly move all our stuffs here over time.

As much as we have been in Thailand for almost 4 years, this is the first year of us owning our own place, so it’s time to make it more homely with our memorable collectibles.

It’s going to be my 4th year in bento-ing, and as much as I’ve slowed down as comparing when I first started, I still pack after school bentos for my kids, at least 3 times a week. Fridays are reserved as junk food day, which my kids are allowed to buy anything they want from the cafeteria, and most of the time, my gal will go for ice-cream and my boy for sushi or nuggets. I’m trying not to cut them off the fun of buying food on their own, without compromising much on their snacking on empty calories too many days a week. As for lunch, it’s all provided by the school.

I don’t decorate all the bentos everyday. Mind you, I’m a busy working mom. But I’m just doing my best in kyaraben. Furthermore, my kids are totally cool with having non-decorated bentos, even if it’s just some fruits with bread, peanut brittle, sweet corn and potatoes and etc. This morning, I packed some garlic toasts and grapes for them. And I stopped snapping pics of my non-decorated bentos. If not, I will have tonnes of bento pics! LOL!

Packing food should be done with the objective of providing a better meal for our little ones, and food decoration comes as a bonus.

I’ve never smoked and I don’t quite like the idea of being a passive smoker either. That’s why if hubby goes out drinking with his clients or friends, he must take a good shower and wash his hair before coming to bed. Either way, he can sleep on the couch.

Maybe it’s just me being over sensitive towards the smell as some of my friends are alright with cigars such as macanudo, but it’s just me who can’t take it. I will just walk away.

My imported goods have arrived this morning, but instead of placing them on the pallet rack in the store room, the staffs are moving them out for delivery immediately. There is an increase in purchase order this month, but I’m pretty sure that this could be temporary. Some customers are repairing their plants, so there is a higher demand.

But since everyone is unsure if a massive flood will happen again this year, some factories decided to swift to other countries especially if they already have productions there. I would do so too to avoid a massive loss. That’s why I won’t move to a new office, at least not until I’m sure which area is not affected by flood in our province.

I should be the only one with the most bags to work everyday, at least at my office building. Besides my laptop bag and handbag, I’ll have to bring a cooler bag for kiddo’s bentos and my water tumbler. Some times, there are more stuffs in retail bags which I need for work.

This is fine if my office is located at the ground floor but it’s at the 5th floor. So, my daily exercise is walking up the stairs with so many bags on my shoulders and wrists. LOL!

That’s not it. I will have more bags to handle after I pick up my kids after school,  and  if I grab some grocery. I keep forgetting to place the trolley in my boot, so there are more bags to carry up my condo. Oh boy…

At times like this, I wish that there is a bell boy at our block.

I hope that all of you had a great reunion with your loved ones this Chinese New Year, and I am glad that we did! Even if I couldn’t be home with my parents, but we had a short reunion in December, and I’m sure that they will visit us again.

This year, hubby’s family flew here for reunion again, and it’s our 4th CNY in Thailand. How time flies! It’s great to see each other again, even though it’s only for a couple of days.

They were in time to warm up our new place, which is not totally ready yet. I don’t even have a proper kitchen sick and had to wash the dishes with vessel sink at the bathroom! Chinese believe that we are supposed to cook in our new kitchen, but then again, my kitchen stove has not been installed. *slap head*

Oh well, it’s time spent together that counts. I’m glad that we had a good time, and it’s another joyful celebration for all of us.

As for my condo, the renovation is still on going and the workers promised to install the kitchen sick and vessel faucet, and install the piping for my washing machine. Honestly, I’ve lost confidence in their empty promises and losing patience with their lack of efficiency. I would do everything on my own, including changing the  vessel sinks, fix the flooring, stick on the wallpaper and etc if I know how to do it!

Ok, it’s bad to be grumpy during CNY. I must keep my cool.

Happy Chinese New Year!

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When I first moved to Thailand, I didn’t know much about the language, and so I had only minimum conversation with the office staffs. I couldn’t understand their gossips or jokes, and I was too lazy to be bothered to learn. But these days, I can gasp their parts of their conversations and they are quite surprised that I learn by “listening”. LOL!

Working with more than 10 ladies in the office room can be quite entertaining, if you don’t mind listening to gossips, their family lives, which workers have admitted to one of the best Best rehab centers or even some goofy love stories. Previously, I was working in an almost all male engineering department, so as much as men talk, it’s totally different from women’s talks.

But these days, I prefer to close the glass door of my office area so that I won’t hear anything from them. LOL!

After numerous trips back home by boats, we have had an idea how many stuffs which we manage to save, and what else should go straight to the trash bags. The only thing is, garbage trucks can’t come in easily to our neighborhood, so cleaning up is not as easy as it seems.

Nevertheless, I’ve managed to wash and sterilize my first batch of bento tools, even if I’m not sure if I will use them again. Maybe I will regain confidence in using them after batches of steaming and sterilizing!

In the mean time, we hope that our condo will be ready before Christmas so that we can move in and start all over again. Like most Thais and expats whose lives are affected by the flood, things might be tough for the next few months but I’m sure that we can cope and overcome the hardship.

A lot of businesses struggle to survive, so we should work harder for time to come. I’m glad that I don’t have to resort to finding Resort Clerk Jobs or getting a new job now, but just work on my biz.

Hopefully, I will be able to get back to bento-ing in January.