Delineating Des

Wai Khru or Teachers' Day, in Thai educational institutions, is a ceremony done to honor teachers. Schools hold the ceremony usually at the beginning of the academic year, and always on a Thursday. In Thai tradition, Thursday is the day of Brihaspati, the Vedic God of wisdom and of teachers. Students present teachers with flower offerings to show their respect and gratitude. These are some shots from a Wai Khru ceremony last week in one school in Bangkok. A 'non-photographer' took these shots. But here's hoping some cultural snippets managed to come out of them. You can click on the photos to enlarge. Students waiting for the ceremony to begin Class representatives offer flowers to the teachers -- and bow. The next batch does the same . Visit That's My World Tuesday to see more of the world.

Almost every morning, I turn on my computer half-asleep. Friday was the same mood. When my home page appeared, I read the news title, and continued clicking to open other sites. Suddenly I paused, fully awake now and asked, "what was that?!" I clicked back, dread creeping in and with head starting to throb defiantly at the headline, I thought, "of course, it's just Michael's namesake." That's how my weekend kicked off. As far as I can remember, this is my only second time to feel bad about a celebrity passing away. The first was Lady Di in 1997. Like many others, I focused on work to forget that something upsetting was going on. I reeled through business travel topics the entire Sunday. Stech held another Teacher's Day ceremony for the weekend classes. Several bouquets, all beautiful, arrived in the faculty office. As soon as I was handed this bloom, Elton John's voice boomed in my mind, "Goodbye, England's rose..." Memory associati

View more FFF participants at Living to Tell the Story This week was just great. Here are my faves : 1. Just on time. If there's one luxury I am enjoying nowadays, it's TIME. Thus, all this blogging, all this net surfing, all this time in front of the pc. Lately though I seem to have forgotten that no matter how long the free time is, it still has to be managed properly. I have procrastinated on other important things that I felt alarmingly surprised to find out my work uniform isn't ready and it was only a matter of hours til the requirement to wear it was imposed. Clock was ticking, ticking fast! I pleaded with the seamstress. It turned out Lady Luck was on my side. She finished the uniform just on time for me to go to work without having to cook up an alibi why I wasn't wearing the prescribed dress code. *Exhale* That was close. 2. Lost and found . Aside from books, soft TV noise lulls me to sleep. That makes me very attached to the remote control. Alas, my son play

Too early. That is what I think of Ceejay's schooling. Too late. That's what his dad thinks. At 3 I just know Cj is not ready for school. His dad was having none of it and enrolled him in a chinese school near his condo. The so-called first day of school was big for the ex. He was proud. I went to work like normal. That evening the yaya reported that the gf came along to help send Cj off and she ended up becoming the driver. I LMAO. More news: Cj screamed all the way to school and back. A tete-a-tete with the ex was in order. I reminded him of his little nephew who came home exhausted from school, dropped his schoolbag on the floor and announced, " I hate school ! I want to retire !" The amused uncle (ex's older brod) asked, " and what will you do if you were allowed to retire ?" The poor boy answered, " I will go to Europe every month just like you do ." It isn't fair, is it? Back to the tete-a-tete: like the rest nothing much came out

Header by Samulli . Play T13 here . Music is a great stress reliever -- we all know that. We use it in different ways. I play the piano to unwind. Earlier I moved in to a smaller place, selling my gorgeous black Kawai upright in the process. Nowadays I play in piano studios, paying by the hour, thanks to divorce. Although I no longer play as often as before, I still have more than a thousand pages of sheet music, compendiums, selections, and books, excluding the ones at home in the Philippines. Most of the time I play to bring back memories or just to feel good. 1. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach; ~ playing this reminds me of grandma's haunted WW II house where I always heard The Platters version when I was little 2. Liebestraum by Franz Liszt ~ makes me dreamy and my plants grow well 3. War March of the Priests by Felix Mendelssohn ~ I play it to help digest a hearty meal 4. Fur Elise by Ludwig van Beethoven ~ my piece as a kid, still play it

From one of those several bookstore-browsings I did recently, I found Short Stories from the 19th Century by David Stuart Davies . I have heard of or read most of them already in school or at home; the authors much more so. But I bought the book as I was after what Davies had to say in his introduction of each story. Today I join Wondrous Words Wednesday , a meme hosted by Bermuda Onion's Weblog , and share words that are new to me. The story is very old, so are the words (again to me), but that's where I find the appeal of the read. Davies conveniently provided notes to the text, making comprehension a lot faster: 1. posset - "If you'll take my advice Mr. Higgins, you'll have your bed warmed, and drink a treacle posset just the last thing." ~ posset is a hot-drink remedy for a cold made with curdled milk and spices * When I saw treacle preceding posset, I thought of Harry Potter's treacle tart, but that was eaten, not drunk. 2. Griselda - "Mr Du

My first entry for My World Tuesday : The Bangkok Skyline at Night. This shot was taken by a friend in January 2009 from the 84th floor of Baiyoke Tower II . At 328 meters high it is Thailand's tallest structure. Well, the tallest until Ocean Tower One in Pattaya, at the height of 367 meters, is completed in 2012. After having been around Bangkok for more than a decade, and despite shopping countless times right at the foot of Baiyoke Tower II, this is my first time to visit the place. It's about time I get to know a bit more of my neighborhood. Welcome to my world!

It's Father's Day and in my case, it's remembering-Papa day. Sweet things that remind me of him have a place in my heart, and in my palate. My father had a sweet tooth. When I was little Mama lectured the two of us about the hazards of too much sweets. Papa did the opposite and secretly allowed me to eat all the sweets I wanted. Sometimes he would take me out to eat ice cream until the tip of my nose was cold. When he passed away in 2005, I lost my 'partner in crime.' I made sure there was enough ice cream for everyone at the funeral reception. It has been four years of collecting memories of him, and the list now includes a weekend self treat that has become rather indulgent. Macadamia choco cheese cake and durian ice cream - my old man would have loved these. This is my imperfect shot of a perfect indulgence: Papa would have spoiled my boys just as he spoiled me. I just know he would have. History has a sweet way of repeating itself, doesn't it? The eldest

Today we ripped this meme off a blogger named NotBob from NotBob’s Bits. He admits that he “lifted it” but does not say from where. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing ! Cheers to all us thieves! 1. I've come to realize that my last kiss... was to be the last, by choice, in a long time 2. I am listening to... the morning silence 3. I talk... less to send my message across better at work 4. I love... crumpet 5. My best friend/s... has plunged herself into a career I doubt will give her personal happiness 6. My first real kiss... was an awesome beachfront experience 7. Love is... JK Rowling's bottomline logic for her HP series 8. Marriage is... beautiful if you are lucky 9. Somewhere, someone is thinking... I would respond to his text gimmicks, poor thing 10. I'll always... look forward to good times ahead 11. The last time I really

Although I believe in the story of redemption, I don't have the stomach to view crucifixion images. Except for the appalling violence (they make me flinch), I love watching this music video. Salvation is a beautiful thing to have. I remember listening to this song during dormitory worship back in college in the early 90s. I love playing it on the piano too. Have a great Saturday, everyone! TSMSS is hosted by Amy of Signs, Miracles and Wonders . Visit her site to join or view more participants .

1. Do you like James Bond films? If yes, what’s your favorite? ~ lots, and I have a hard time choosing between For Your Eyes Only and Diamonds are Forever 2. Are you daring enough to go snorkeling in the water fountain at the mall? ~ not the mall but I did in James Bond Island in Phuket (Man with the Golden Gun filming location) as part of my honeymoon, and got my poor butt nipped by a fish that looked like it wore a distinctly red lipstick 3. Do you sometimes hate everything and everyone around you? ~ you'll get bored asking me about hate. I love answering nooooooooooo 4. Do you secretly or openly believe the world revolves around you? ~ why would it?... 5. Would you rather buy a moped or a Harley Davidson? ~ not buy. I ride mopeds, they're common on inner streets here. I'd like to see a bride riding a Harley to church and see the look on the priest's or minister's face 6. Do you water ski or ice ski? ~ jet ski 7. Tell us about the last time that you tailgated. ~ d

Anything that makes me look forward to things positive, I'm in. Today I join Friday's Fave Five , a meme hosted by Susanne of Living to Tell the Story. Since positivity is exactly what I'm trying to uphold in my life, here I am. When I reviewed my week for anything nice that happened or I thought was positive, I found out I have more than five! The count-your-blessing concept always works. Here's the summary: 1. Birthdays . June 15th was my mother's birthday, and we got to chat on the phone. Last night while getting ready for bed I opened my porch to let some fresh air in and heard chatter from the corner store opposite my apartment building. The chatter was in Thai, I didn't understand a thing. Then suddenly they all chorused "happy birthday to you!..." What caught my attention was that all of them sang off-key. Not a single voice was singing a correct tune. It was almost midnight, the neighborhood had gone quiet, but these birthday revellers althou

For the first time since I joined Mommy Moments I stared at the computer screen doing nothing before finally typing anything. Those of you who have visited my previous MM posts would have an idea why. To arrive at my point, let me touch a bit of background. I have hinted before that the ex and I had a child custody issue. It resulted in a somewhat mysterious living arrangement for Cj. When I took Cj back to Thailand, Ex put up his condo for rent and bought another property in the Bangkok suburbs. I didn't know why then but now it's apparent that the main reason for the purchase was to house Cj there with his nannies during school days. Every week I spend more than two hours travelling to pick Cj up. That's very uncharacteristic of me as I avoid commutes like the plague. But they say that a mom can do things she normally shuns before becoming a mom. I bear with this set-up so that Cj can bond with his dad. If there's any motivation, it's in knowing that they are enj

Samulli A few minutes after preparing this post, I passed by yahoo news and saw something related to what I just did for today's Thursday Thirteen. It's about a Maine high school senior who was denied his diploma for blowing a kiss to his family. Non-Verbal Communication was one of the most interesting subjects I studied in gradschool. We had this reference book Gestures: The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World by Roger E. Axtell , filled with fascinating info about greetings that do not involve words for the most part. My T13 post today lists different kinds of greetings, a tiny part of the global non-verbal communication deal. 1. Namaste ~ practised in the Indian subcontinent; hands are placed in a praying position about chest high; which means "I pray to the God in you," "Thank you," or " Sorry" 2. Wai ~ in Thailand it is done similarly as the namaste but with variations: chest high for equals, nose level

Once again it's time to wear a glittering gown and go up the stage to receive awards :-) Three lovely ladies passed me these awards: Genejosh , Beth Moreno and Chris . To them I say thank you. I appreciate your thoughfulness. You are sweet. I'm so glad to have met you in the blogosphere. For the rules: This is the easiest and the fastest way to: - Make your Authority Technorati explode. - Increase your Google Page Rank. - Get more traffic to your blog. - Make more new friends. The rules are very simple: - Start copy from “Begin Copy” until “End Copy” to your blog. - Put your own blog name and link. - Tag your friends as much as you can. ************************************** The Kreative Blogger Award asks the awardee to list 7 things that he/she loves. Here are mine: *My boys: Ceejay and Mozart *My life online *Travel! *My fondest dream (getting there hopefully) *Shoes and clothes that make me look like my figure hasn't been blasted off yet =) *Food, glorious food! *Book

Lani hosts Crazy Monday Questions 8 . Head over to her site to join. Have fun! 1: You are driving down the street and you see the person you are dating/married to/living with walking down the street with a member of the opposite sex and it is someone you don't know...What do you think? What do you do? ~ I'm not a jealous type and never one to panic in situations like these. I'd observe them if time allows, and casually ask about it later. 2: The person you are dating/living with is spending a lot of time at the office these days after normal hours. Do you show up at work or call to see if he/she is there? ~ Lol...this reminds me of someone I know very well who used to show up at her husband's office only to be told by the officemates he's playing billiards next door. Although we are close, blood-related in fact, I do not operate like she did. I would verbalize my wondering when he gets home though. 3: How would you handle it if they are not at the office where the

Quick Facts: Ayutthya was founded in 1350 and is Thailand's second ancient capital (after Sukhothai); It was named after Ayodhya, a city in India, the birthplace of Rama It was once a sprawling metropolis and a famous hub of international trade It was destroyed by the Burmese army in the 18th century It is now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site Look at these chedis. I can't figure out exactly if the base of each pinnacle is either a square or a bell. I stood far away waiting for other tourists to clear the view when I took this shot. If it's a bell-shape then it's of Ceylonese influence. If it's a square, it's disctinctly Thai style. I would say the base on the right looks like a bell, but the left one is what I'm not sure of. How does it look to you? Prang are huge and high reliquary towers dotting the city. These are the tiny versions. The corn cob-shaped and rounder stupa shows Cambodian influence. This time I drew nearer as I suspect my SPF 50 wa