Magic in Charity: Every $10 made at Siamese Pixie Store, #2, #3, #4, and
geek stuff PLUS whatever I made with Adsense is sent to Thai Red Cross, my mom's favorite charity. As of June 1, we are at $2.56 toward the next $10 and so far have donated $30.
We don’t hate kids. And we make great auntie and uncle. We just like to play with them and hand them off to the parents at the end of the day.
We adore Brandon’s two nieces age 8 and 11. We can hardly wait to hang out with Aurora and James’ 2-year-old Dresden and baby Chloe. Olaina and Justin’s Ella is still too little to play with but we didn’t mind hanging out with her too.
I’m quite sure the fact that they are relations–or practically relations, our tolerance and patience for them are a lot higher than for that of complete strangers’ kids.
However, we don’t offer to baby sit the kids on our own. Well, Brandon is okay with taking Dresden to the park for an hour or two, and Little D and I get along swell playing inside the house. But overall, we never want to be left alone with the young ones for more than a few hours at a time before our patience run out and our heads explode.
We chose to be child-free for a reason. And our friends know it.
Yet, it’s a constant question we have to dodge here and back in Thailand. My dad especially. I haven’t the heart to tell him, so my answer is usually, “I don’t have the money.” My mom’s friends know I didn’t want kids. Actually, and quite surprisingly, they were supportive of that choice.
I started to realize I didn’t even want kids back in college. I still remembered the first time my ex-boyfriend mentioned our future children. That freaked the fuck out of me out but I played along. Hahaha. Yeah, sure, honey, a boy and a girl, right? Wonderful. But in my head, Holy shit he already talks about KIDS?! God I can’t have kids?! I don’t want any kids!!
You can’t imagine the relief when Brandon brought up early on when we started dating that he didn’t want kids.
So far, our choice to be child-free has never been a problem in our social life because we can still hang with our friends who have kids.
We had Aurora and the kids over for dinner often. And we were perfectly okay with going to the movies with Brandon’s nieces when we were in New Mexico.
On those certain days we weren’t up for kids, we politely decline the invitation for their company. Most friends understand. Some don’t.
We are child-free BY CHOICE. And that choice includes choosing to not be around a child when we don’t feel like it. Because if we want to be with a child all the time, we would’ve chosen to have one.
We respect parents. We do. I mean, we can barely stand up to Dresden’s rambunctiousness for a few hours and Aurora has to do this all day with Chloe clinging on to her? Holy crap! And then there are friends and single parents who also work full time on top of being a mom/dad. I mean, seriously. How do you guys manage all of that?
Props. Mad props to you, parents.
We respect also your choice to have children. And we thank you for bringing your wonderful kids into this world and even share them with us sometimes.
We hope that you respect our choice to not have children–or not be with one when we don’t want to–as well.
First of, in this blog, soccer will be called by its proper name of football. Thank you.
You know, I’m not an all-the-time football fan. But every time the Olympics and the World Cup come around, I’m all into it all over again.
It’s a family tradition that I just can’t shake.
Having grown up with 2 older brothers, it’s not difficult to get roped into the spirit of all of the teams. Frankly, I remember watching enough games but I still don’t know who’s who. All I know is that since Sunday’s color is red in Thai tradition, my oldest brother claimed it Liverpool Day and we, including our cousins, were thereby demanded to wear red.
My dad, mom, and oldest brother were all educated in England. Naturally, as a household–except for mom who didn’t do sports–we always root for the English. My oldest brother’s team of choice after that is Germany for its well known precision. My older brother was all about Brazil. And then it’s everyone’s next favorite team, Italy. And these are the four teams I root for consistently every 4 years.
With all of that football love in my household, however I personally never own a football jersey. My mom wouldn’t let me have one because “girls don’t wear football jerseys”. I couldn’t even get the hand-me-down from my brothers! My brothers would wear matching jerseys when we went out for Sunday supper. Say, if it was French food we’re going for that evening, the boys would put on France jerseys and Italy for Italian food. This, obviously, illicit a lot of smiles. Not to be left out, I would try to dress myself to match the jerseys as well. I distinctly remember one outfit of white with accents of blue and red for the French jersey. Hey, I tried!
So, recently, I just bought myself an Italian jersey, albeit cheap and cheesy from Target and my Italian coworker’s snickering at it. One childhood depravity fulfilled. Woohoo!
This year, I have 2 coworkers who are even more into the World Cup as I am, the Italian and the Armenian. I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere of “An Italian, an Armenian, and a Thai walk into a bar…” And that’s what we’ve been doing 4 out of 5 days last week, running into Casey’s in Downtown LA at lunch to watch the game with a VERY enthusiastic crowd.
They’re my surrogate football brothers. And I love them for it.
Back in 2006, there was just me in the office with the occasional glances from other coworkers. But it wasn’t like this year.
Looking back further into my June/July 2006 posts to see what all I’ve said about the World Cup then, instead, I found my posts about my mom’s stroke. It was hard to read. There I was, mixing the tragedy of mom’s stroke with the World Cup and other daily life nonsense. I didn’t know then the horrible effect the stroke would have on my mom. She was in such great spirit. I also didn’t know then that the stroke would be what would eventually take her from us. Otherwise I wouldn’t have made such light of everything.
Funny how in hindsight you find all these odds and ends.
So, today, in celebration of my family and a little piece of memory of my mother, I’m going to go out there and enjoy my World Cup fever as I have been doing all week. With the distance between myself and my family nowadays, there are a few things that keep us together. World Cup watching being one of them.
Anna of V (Morena Baccarin) : Dr. Sheldon Cooper of Big Bang Theory (Jim Parsons). Seriously. Watch V and see if at a certain angle and a certain expression of Anna doesn’t remind you of Sheldon!
Timothy Olyphant (Justified) : Michael Weatherly (NCIS) : Chris Pine (Star Trek…okay not TV, but movie based on TV show). They could play brothers. Hot, HOT band of brothers with awesome hair.
TED conference is where the brightest minds came together to share their ideas. I’ve heard of the event last year for the first time, and have been wanting to attend ever since.
And I finally got to do it this past week at TEDxUSC, an independently organized event hosted by USC.
In a small world, Amy G told me about her friend who were going to TED who turned out to know @FStop23. As a matter of fact, dude was the one who told @Fstop23 about the conference, who then reminded me to apply for the invitation. I, then, in turn, told my friend Janetta about it. The next thing we knew, our little posse worked out a great deal. @Fstop23’s gang, having a more flexible schedule than the rest of us, secured our seats in Bovard Auditorium. (5th row from the stage, better than my CEO’s seat, no less. Not too shabby there, gang!) I showed up with lunch for one of the gang and snacks in hand.
We’re talking innovation here, so I baked Pim’s The Morning After Banana Bread in muffin form. Ah, the glorious blend of bananas, espresso, and Jameson! Not only I got to feed my little crew, I offered some to the people sitting nearby and some random students as well.
See? Ideas AND muffins worth sharing!
Anyways. TEDxUSC’s format was mostly live speakers with a few videos of TED presentations, USC student films, and musical performances.
My mind was blown.
So much energy in the place. And so positive! Bovard auditorium has never felt so large AND small all at the same time. I mean, there’s so much more out there to know and to discover that you feel so tiny, but yet all the spirit of discoveries and innovation makes you feel larger in life, like you too can do ANYTHING.
Like Woodstock for the brainiacs.
Peace. And free ideas. Rock on, man.
I’m not going to recap everything from the event because they’ll post all of that up on TED website soon. However, these are the ones that made an impact on me.
Then we were in space with Dr. Nicholas Patrick, NASA astronaut. How your perception of everything changed when you’re in space. Like the value of letting go and holding on. One of the most intriguing things he said: You can see the [environmental] policies from space. How the policies are affecting the earth. We can’t see it down here but they can see it from up there.
And while in space, we explored a little further with Paul Frommer, the creator of the Na’vi language for Avatar. Instead of discussing the language, he instead introduced us to how to use Na’vi in romantic situations. Didn’t see that one coming, did ya?
The video of Temple Grandin’s presentation at earlier TED conference was very fascinating. “She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids,” says the description. Ms. Grandin herself said that the world needs all kinds of minds. And the mentors are essentials in bringing in more great minds. Funny how in WIRED magazine a few months ago, Thokil Sonne advocates for the same thing for the 12 shocking ideas that could change the world.
Michael Yap, CEO at the Media Development Authority of Singapore, talked about new media in sharing experience. The whole putting another billion people online is one thing. But then he showed a video of a “Food Lab” which has sensors in your ladle and in your pot, which transmits to the other pot and ladle so you can learn to cook, knowing exactly how much force you need to stir a pot at what temperature. I’m not alone in thinking that it was a little creepy of a way to learn to cook.
Food should be something personal. Look at all the processed foods out of the factories, they’re nothing like a home cooked or even restaurant meal. Human element is needed to make food good. Oh yeah, I’m off on a foodie tangent there for a bit. But see? Wouldn’t have stopped to think about how I or we learn to cook and what food really means until Michael showed us that.
Then there’s a sit-down chat wiht Jeb Corliss, the Human Bird. Dude puts on a flying squirrel suit and jumps off planes. He said it’s not because he has no fear but that he harnesses the power of his fear into training and meticulous planning of every tiny little steps to ensure that everything goes right. If you do that enough, you have nothing to fear. While I can understand what he’s saying, I still think dude’s fucking nuts. And awesome.
And of course, Al Seckel. At this point, we’ve been in the auditorium for 4 hours now. And then Al came in and fucked with all of our brains with his sensory and visual illusions. It started with all these crazy visual stuff then it was also audio. You know, Stairways to Heaven going backward on its own was mumbo jumbo but when you look at the “hidden lyrics” while you listen, suddenly you hear every word that wasn’t there. But all of that comes down to how your perception was formed (by the age of 8 thereabouts) and what we think we believe in. Total trip.
We closed with the behind-the-scene of OK Go’s Rube Goldberg music video with Adam Sadowsky of Syyn Labs himself with a video intro from the band. (Tricked me. For a second I thought OK Go was REALLY behind the curtains! Boo on you, Adam!)
Like that wasn’t enough. There was an interactive reception afterward with “toys” you can play with like interactive physical therapy game that needs you to move to accomplish the task–a gentler Wii, if you will–and then there’s this laser thing that traces your image and projects it onto a wall (look at Janetta below playing with her laser shadow), and some models showing off wearable arts by Psycho Girlfriend like a dress made out of plastic tubings or pool foam “noodles”.
Now, at the reception.
<rant>
Us paid customers to TEDxUSC got red badges and no wrist band. I’m assuming that they too assumed we were all of age. Students in attendance were carded and given wristbands if they are over 21.
It is a blessing and a curse of looking like a college student even though I graduated from that very same college 10 years ago. The bartender wouldn’t serve me. because I had no wristband. I told him we red badgers didn’t get one so here’s my ID. He refused to check my ID and brushed me completely aside.
Look, motherfucker, if I was an underage trying to get a drink, would I BEG you to check my ID!? I PAID to be here at this event and have been in the fucking auditorium for 6 fucking hours. AND YOU WON’T SERVE ME MY MOTHER FUCKING WINE?!?!
Yep. I almost went Woodstock 1999 on his ass.
I found another bartender who listened to my situation, kindly looked at my red badge, and checked my ID. Wine was served with a smile AND an apology for inconvenience.
The kicker? I went back to the motherfucker who refused service earlier with my empty plastic cup of red wine and asked for a refill. “Of course, miss. Here you go.” Not event asking for that godforsaken wristband he couldn’t live without a half hour ago. Whatever.
</rant>
Despite the ID incident, the event was great. Our little gang had a great time.
I ran into someone I know during the break. I asked how he was liking the event. He said that he didn’t understand why the program should be interrupted by music and student films. And he thought not all speakers were worthy because they weren’t all innovation that are practical. What’s with that human bird guy or that autistic lady? A kid with looping electric violin? Really? For business executives like him, he said, he felt like he was cheated out of his precious time to spent 2 out of the 6 hours with what he considered nonsense instead of finding out more about cutting edge innovation.
My friend Janetta just looked at him and said, “You’re not at the right conference then. That’s not what TED is about.”
I’m one of those fortunate enough to have and hang out with diverse groups of friends, both in real life and out here in the blogosphere and twitterverse. All of them different shapes and sizes in colors of the rainbow with even larger variety of interests and points of view. All have great sense of humor and never take anything too seriously.
But those we pull no punches on the most are Brandon’s circle of friends. The boys have known each other since high school and once we’re welcomed to the family, you’re also fair game for endless teasing and good natured banters.
For example, we were over at James and Aurora’s for pizza on Friday night. Just so you know, James has always been the token Jew of the gang while I’m the token Asian. Well, then again, you could be token anything in this group. A token redhead. A token happa. A token Marine. A token Superman (Justin is a Marine veteran amputee AND an ER doctor in residency AND his wife is pregnant. So there, Superman!) So that’s always fun.
But anyways. On with the show.
Bob was going over what was in the pizza order James placed that he had picked up. One was mushrooms and olives and the other was pepperoni and sausage. Brandon pointed at the meat fest.
Brandon: I voted for that one.
Me: Hey, how come I didn’t get to vote?
James: Because you’re a woman.
Me: [Single finger salute]
James: AND you’re a minority.
So we grabbed our pizzas and settled down for dinner. James had asked for some crushed red pepper flakes. Aurora had set it on the table in front of me so while he was busy conversing, I started peeling the stubborn “freshness seal” off this new bottle. The fucker just didn’t want to come off. James, getting antsy for his turn at the pepper flakes, looked over.
James: Oakley, can I help you with that?
Oakley: No! I started this war and I’m going end it, goddamn it!
James: Oh, but how many LIVES do you have to ruin to win this atrocious war!?
Drinking Buddy of the Year: Brandon, actually. Surprise! The mister doesn’t usually party down, but he has taken up a beer here and there this past year, a stressful one for his work. So we had gone out for a beer together more than the year before. Cheers to you, honey bunny!
Bar of the Year: Hennessey’s Tavern and Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach. These two places never fail to deliver cold pints and some great eats. They’re our go-to places when we want to run away from the daily life for a little while.
Sorry to disappoint y’all with the lack of Downtown LA’s bar feature this time around. I haven’t partied in town much at all. Climate change around the office will affect your happy hour weather, I tell ya.
Newcomer Award: Twitter Gang. I have grown to love folks I met at Tweet Ups especially @dananner, @anaperiodista, @fstop23, @davidmoyle, @sendchocolate, @joncruz, @vbesack, and the disappearing @phraktyl. We went shooting pictures. We played Rock Band. We got drunk. We had overall great times on and off line. Great year to make new friends!
High Point of the Year: Watch Thrill the World Los Angeles became the awesome success. From mere 100 last year grown into the thousands. It still blows my mind.
Low Point of the Year: The Christmas Flu and USC Football Rebuilding Year. Yep. Suckage.
Best Holiday: Halloween…again. I mean, prancing through Pine Street as Zombie Princess Leia, rocked that stage with my awesome crew of zombies? Best. Halloween. EVER!
Song of 2009: Glee soundtracks. I mean, I can barely pin it down to just ONE song! Almost everything from Glee I totally dig. I’m especially partial to Somebody to Love, Don’t Rain on My Parade, Defying Gravity (the duet), No Air, Sweet Caroline (Can I get a hell-yeah from Team Puck?), and this one I can’t stop singing. Lea Michele. What a revelation!
Movie of 2009: Avatar. I’m sorry, Star Trek and District 9! You came sooo close!
Surprise Movie of 2009: Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story – Rod Faifa Ma Ha Na Tuh – รถไฟฟ้า..มาหานะเธอ. I’m soooo in love.
Restaurant of the Year: Bottega Louie. Great food and ambiance. Totally a favorite place to run away from work to for a long lunch. Okay it’s a little loud, but what an awesome place to be! Affordable awesomeness.
Book of the Year: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Seriously. Go read that.
TV Show of the Year: Glee. Duh.
*
2009 Goals Tally: 6 out of 10…kind of.
1. FAIL – Explore Kung-fu. HAH! I did not.
2. FAIL – Drink more water. Did okay for a couple of months before waking up to pee in the middle of the night got old.
3. FAIL -More guitar/piano/singing – at least twice a week. I did try for once a month, but that didn’t happen since my office got so messy I can’t even get to the piano.
4. PARTIAL SUCCESS -Read more books – One book a month at least. Actually did 10 out of 12. Not too bad!
Water for Elephants, Sarah Gruen – Love it.
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Lynne Truss – Learned all sorts of new things.
Watchmen, Alan Moore – The movie ending makes a hell of a lot more sense than the book I tell ya.
Turn Coat: The Dresden Files Book 11, Jim Butcher – Always love Jim. This is no exception.
Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert – Definitely love the Eat/Pray part. I could do without the Bali experience.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith – Best. Book. EVER!
Bad Things, Michael Marshall – I’m still scratching my head at that one. Whuh…?
The Foodie Handbook, Pim Techamuanvivit – Totally enjoyable and awesome. She takes gorgeous pictures.
Heat Wave, “Richard Castle” – Totally a fun read for us Castle fans.
5. FAIL – Add yoga to the routine – at least once a week. Not so much. However, I ended up losing 6 lbs. from September through November with the Thriller work out and stress diet. Haven’t gotten any of it back…yet.
6. SUCCESS – Take a language class. Buongiorno!
7. PARTIAL SUCCESS – Cook one new recipe a month. I went with a few new ones in a month and then go without cooking for weeks. But we did try new recipes.
8. SUCCESS – Fix them teeth. 5 more months!!!
9. SUCCESS – Fix them eyes. Well, I *did* decide on not getting LASIK done after extensive reserach and serious discussion with my optometrist. There’s a 50/50 chance I would come out normal or my dry eyes are going to get more severe to a level that’ll become problematic. I’ll stick with the glasses with that kind of odds, thanks.
10. SUCCESS – Keep up with whatever is working well. Still a latte a week here.
I must’ve been bad last year as Santa brought me the flu for Christmas.
I had a fabulous Christmas Eve dinner with Nora’s family. Great time. Tons of presents. Hope you and yours had a fabulous time as well!
Christmas morning, I woke up with pain in my ear and swollen glands. By noon I was running fevers averaging to about 101. By 2 p.m. I called my cousin to excuse myself from family dinner. By 2:05 p.m. I downed first of many shot of Nyquil of the next 5 days. By 2:30 p.m. I fell asleep on the couch hugging a pack of blue ice for comfort. The rest was very much a blur.
Saturday morning, I woke up to 103 fever. Fortunately, the fever stayed put, back down to the 100. No emergency room visit for me. Yay. But the date between me, the couch, the ice pack, and body pillow (aka Jerry) continued. I regrettably had to cancel my appearance at a Tweet Up the following day which I organized a month earlier. Fooey! Fever broke once over night.
Sunday morning, ear ache was gone. Things started to drain down the back of my throat, but I wasn’t all that stuffed up. Fever was still with me although a lot less probably it was trumped by fatigue. So Jerry the Pillow and I continued our date on the couch, thinking all the while that I wanted to be at the Tweet Up, playing Rock Band, having Hooters wings and presenting my friend with his Guinness Chocolate Birthday Cake. By 5 p.m. it was clear I wasn’t at the party nor in any condition to go to work the next day. I had one sweaty night that night, not in a good way but definitely was better for me.
Monday morning came the onslaught of ick. Things were still draining but I also started the drippy goodness. Fever was starting to subside, though. I got an appointment with my substitute doctor as my current one is pregnant. The sub swabbed me and cleared me for strep throat (duh, I could’ve told her that…wait, I *did*!), and concluded that I was at the tail end of the flu. She told me to keep up with the Mucinex and plenty of liquid, to call in sick the next day, and sent me home. I coughed and hacked through the afternoon, feeling worse as I went. Piles upon piles of tissues were bulldozed scooped into the trash can when I went to bed at 7 p.m. Ah. Another sweaty night guarantee the morning victory!
Alas, a glorious morning without any drippy goodness! I felt great! But then my vocalizing “Yey” came out more like a weezy whistle. With all the hacking yesterday, it seeemed my voice ran away from home. A few minutes later, the mucus all came back and good feelings proved to be just a flash in the pan. I cuddled back up to Jerry the Pillow, the second box of Puff with Lotion, and my pot of tea.
I have lost count as to how many pots of tea there have been through these past 5 days. From PG Tips English Breakfast with sugar and milk on Christmas morning, to the rotation of Yogi Echinacea Immune Support with honey, just hot water and honey, lemongrass and pandan tea from Thailand, and TenRen Chrysanthemum tea with a touch of brown sugar. Something in these teas definitely makes it all better faster. I personally think it’s the REAL honey, avocado honey no less, I got from the farmer’s market. But I digress.
Many, er, “hairballs” later, I started to feel better. By 5 p.m. I actually wanted real food and Brandon, bless his heart for having taken care of me all week, fetched me the patty melt I craved. Everything stayed down this time.
Hopefully, that was the last shot of Nyquil I will need for a while.
Well, this post started after I watched the latest episode of “Sood Sanaeha”, the Thai soap I’m following. Long story short, she finally sees what has been in front of her this whole time, and decides to nab the Chef. The Chef walks away after her big scheme to apologize to him.
I was actually cheering for the Chef. Good for you for leaving that manipulative, selfish, whiny bitch!
(Well, this is not the finale. Although to me, it’s a perfect ending right there! Karma is a bitch, bitch! But this is Thailand, expect a few more episodes of the scheming to get him back.)
It then dawns on me, oh my god. There is NO MAN on the planet like that guy! I mean, he actually tells this bitch he thinks she’s perfect to him despite all of her flaws? He actually LOVES this narcissistic, kniving crybaby?!?! Seriously!?!?
I love the lovey-dovey thing he’s been doing since he realizes he had fallen for her while she floats around completely oblivious to his suddenly undivided attention. I hate the fact that we are now fed the image of a perfect man…who doesn’t exist at all.
Hi. I’m Oakley. I am a romantic comedy addict. AND a romantic comedy hater. All at the same time.
I love a good romantic comedy once in a while. Some of them I can watch over and over again. Even Brandon starts to recognize them because I would stop and watch whenever they are on TV.
Part of me still wants a tall sexy French man to tell me I don’t have to fly anywhere and take me back to the stone cottage on a vineyard.
To go to a pub after a break up and get pissed on Grolsch and meet a funny bloke who quotes Monty Python…then chop off my hair and start my own company, all the while getting over the break up and learning to enjoy life and love again with said funny bloke.
To follow all the signs that lead to that one true love I met randomly a long time ago on one spectacular evening in New York City.
To be loved by a boy for who I truly am despite the fact that I’m a major movie star.
To have a hunky roommate who actually has been trying to show me what the world is really like while I hide behind a theory of why some men are jerks, but yet he is there to catch me when I come to my senses.
To have someone who manages to fall in love with me just by talking to me on the phone and still love me despite the fact that I am not the gorgeous tall blond he thought I was but a nerdy short brunette.
To meet some guy by random chance who adores me even though I seem to be making all the mistakes like breaking his Rayban and his camera, AND still has feelings for me after 2 years of being abroad.
And to realize that what I want for Christmas is, well, you.
[ Oh yeah, name those movies, get some kudos. Leave your answers in the comments. (Hint: One of these you may find some clues in recent posts.) ]
In other word, deep down inside I still want to dream that big crazy romantic dream of getting swept off my feet and living happily ever after.
But then again, reality is different than fiction.
I guess–no, I know–I am bitter that romantic comedy doesn’t work in real life. And then I hate romantic comedy for putting a veil over the eyes of young girls everywhere about what love should be like, setting all of us up for disappointment later on.
Hey, I was once the citizen of Planet RomCom too. It took many years, several heart breaks, and lord knows how many gallons of tears to realize that life and relationship is NOTHING like the movies.
I know a few people who still wait for Mr. Darcy (both Jane Austen’s and Bridget Jones’) and keep throwing away opportunies or perfectly good relationships because it didn’t fit what they have in mind. You know, how it should be on Planet RomCom. They’re miserable for that.
It’s back to that Team Jacob v.s. Team Edward conversation we had recently. Do you want something real or do you want something to swoon to? I chose the practical love I can rely on with not a lot of swoon factor. Hence, the stack of romantic comedy I have around the house.
I guess swooning is like a drug. Once in a while you need a fix. And since we can’t be 16 again to get the full effect of raging love hormones, we go to our “dealer” and get a romantic comedy.
So, scoot on over, darling. Tonight, I need me a little “Pretty in Pink”.
I’ve done my share of long distance traveling. Every time some one gasps when I tell them how long it takes to fly to Thailand, I chuckle a little bit inside.
“Well, it’s 11-12 hours with a 3-hour layover in Taiwan/Hong Kong/Japan, and then another 4-5 hours to Bangkok. OR I can fly direct for 17.5 hours.”
“OH MY GOD! / Da-yam! / Are you kidding me? / I could never do that!?!”
Then I will tell them that it’s not so bad any more. On Thai Airways direct flight, even Economy seat has its own on demand TV and Interactive center. (Seriously, Jet Blue? DirecTV in every seat is supposed to be a big deal? Puh-lease.)
Sure, some flights are worse than others. But hey, if you ever plan to travel the world, get a grip on those hours of flights, people.
Like the jet lag I’m suffering the tail end of it right now. I’m staying awake as long as I can so I don’t wake up in the middle of the night again. But so far Melatonin has helped plenty.
That brings me to the list of things I have learned NEVER to get on a plane without ever again. (Not counting a bottle of water here since nowadays they supply you with plenty of water. Thai Airways handed me a bottle and told me to keep it for refill during flight.)
1. Bonine
The wonder of a motion sickness pill! Unlike Dramamine, this thing doesn’t make me drowsy and it lasts for 24 hours. Being as sensitive to motion as I am, flying has never been my forte. I HATED flying and scared out of my head with every tiny little dip in the sky. I also used to have to sit by a window or I get super dizzy very quickly, worse when we hit turbulence during meal service. With Bonine, I don’t feel any drops except a significantly big ones. Last year, on a boat touring the islands of Phuket, I was so adjusted to the motion that I misstepped a few times because I actually couldn’t feel the boat tilting.
Bonine is chewable but dang the “raspberry” flavor is nasty. You’ll need to wash that down with some water. It works like charm on a road trip and most boats.
2. EarPlanes
I discovered these over one trip when I still had sinus infection before getting on the plane. Some forums suggested using the EarPlanes pressure regulator earplugs. They really helped. I usually have problems popping my ears on the way down that would either leave me kind of deaf for a few days or give me severe ear pain during and/or after the flight. Since I got these, landing is quite music to my ears.
3. Sleep Mask
Boy did I wish I have the complimentary one of those you’d get in Economy Deluxe class of seats over the last trip! My seat was aisle, one behind the front row with access to the bathroom. However, the green “bathrooms are free” light was so bright the entire trip there was no way I could escape it where I was sitting. And of course, there is always a jack ass somewhere with the reading light on.
4. A well tested travel pillow
I made sure my friend got a good one before he got on his long flight to the East Coast. Dude still thanks me for it. Personally, I have a child’s travel pillow, pink and funky-shaped, for my daily bus commute. You need to really test out your pillow at home first. I don’t recommend the blow-up kind. Those things SUCK! The buckwheat-filled beanbag pillow fits me better than any of that donut neck pillow or the oddly-stuffed one on the plane ever will. It’s just a tad heavier than the foam bubbles but definitely more comfy. A perfect companion for all the long hauls.
5. A warm hoodie
The plane could get incredibly cold and incredibly warm. The long haul usually ends up being cold. Best to get comfy. And have contingency plan to cover your eyes.
6. A book and/or a loaded MP3 player
Entertainment center died on us 6 hours into the 17 hour flight. I did have my netbook loaded with a few movies but the batteries were dying after one and a half of them. So, back to a book first, then music later. A laptop/netbook is nice but some times I really wonder if it was worth the extra weight I have to carry.
7. A passport holder
I always ended up rummaging through my stuff for my green card to go with the passport and then I didn’t remember where I put the card or had to put it back somewhere else. ETC. I spent a few bucks and bought a vinyl one from Target to hold my passport on one side, green card and Royal Orchid Plus frequent flyer card on the other with my itinerary. They fit into my hoodie pocket. Perfect.
8. A pen
Seriously. Everyone is looking around for a pen when the flight attendances came through with immigration form. Duh. Carry a pen, people.
9. Melatonin pills
This is NOT for during flight but your first night in town when you cross time zone(s). Someone told me about Melatonin “therapy” to get people back on track after traveling back to the US from Asia. It supposed to help you adjust your internal clock to darkness better. I took it before bed my first night in Thailand and I actually slept through the night on the first night! Usually I’d be up at 4 or 5 a.m. Victory! Second night was also a success. That was all melatonin I took.
On the way back, so far I’ve bounced back a lot quicker. I took it the first night and slept for 12 hours. LOL. Brandon dragged my butt outside of the house for some daylight therapy which you also need to get your clock back to normal. What should’ve taken 4-5 days or for some people a whole week to get adjusted back to, I am doing it in 3 nights with melatonin AND getting out in the sun.
Now that it’s nearing midnight, I think I’m tired enough to actually sleep through the night on my own. Cross your fingers!
Optional: Goldfish crackers or some other snacky foods
Domestic flights don’t really feed you any more so you’ll have to take your own. And sometimes you’re just too darn lazy to go the back of the plane for a snack during a long haul international flight. But if I fly Thai, I’ll probably won’t bring that any more. I’ve found on board Thai Airways this time that their mid-flight snacks are much better than the crackers. They have bananas, apples, and oranges back there with cheese and crackers leftover from another meal service. And if you want a cup-a-noodles, the attendance will hook you up with one. Neat, huh?
That would be my travel essentials. How about you? What else do you or would you bring on a long flight?
