Hope for South Sudan

I never get tired of the view of Juba every time when the plane takes off or approaches for landing. Whatever time of the day, whatever weather of the moment, the view always takes my breath away, makes my heart skip a beat and leaves me in utter awe. I'm in awe of the beauty of the land and the kindness of the people. Coming out from a 2-decade civil war, they remain cheerful and resilient. There's always a infectious smiles on their faces, jovial greetings and a hearty handshake. While there's still a lot to work on here in the country, they had achieved such tremendous progress over the last 2 years. The potential of the land and the people is almost infinite. Even the sky is not the limit.

May the horrifically senseless ethnic clash end soon. May the people of South Sudan persevere through this painful period. May peace and hope be upon the land.  

A Year Later

A year later, I'm still reminiscing the past. A year later, I'm still hoping for the future. A year later, I'm still examining what went wrong. A year later, I'm still imagining what could have been. A year later, I'm still asking questions. A year later, I'm still looking for answers. A year later, I'm still recovering.

A year later, it still hurts. 

A year later, I still learning to let go.

Accidental Sandwich

Another lazy man meal. It was all done due to a somewhat accidental nature, rather than planned. 

I was preparing the shredded mushroom, onion, carrot and garlic for my vegetable quiche. They were nicely sautéed with a dash of balsamic vinegar and orange juice. Unfortunately, the crust for my quiche was falling apart while it was blind baked. 

So I fried some bacon bits and returned the sautéed vegetables in for a quick toss. Then it was piled on top of slices of whole wheat bread with dijon mustard. Then grated Gruyere cheese was sprinkled generously over the bread and put in the oven for a quick bake. 

There you have it, the open sandwich of sautéed vegetables and bacon with Gruyere cheese melt.

That was my accidental creativity.

15-Minute Pasta

Another quick pasta meal. This one all done under 15 minutes, from prep to chow.

Pasta was put into boiling water to cook. While that was on, bacon, onion, garlic and one dried chili were roughly cut (to save time and for that home cook rustic feel) ready to be use. Bacon was first put into a hot pan to render the fat, followed by chili flakes, onion and garlic to sweat. When all in the pan were nicely caramelized, a good glug of white wine or orange juice was added to deglaze along with a dash of balsamic vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste. I think I also added some smoke paprika powder. By this time the pasta was ready and was off the heat and drained and returned to the pan for a quick toss to get chummy with the sauce.

Let's eat!

Secret Garden of Bangkok

Knowing a local in a foreign city is always a good thing. He speaks the language hence nothing is lost in translation when you are ordering food or bargaining for a cheap deal. Most of all, he knows the city like the back of his hand and would be able to bring you to experience the city's hidden gems. 

I've been to Bangkok numerous times. Talking about the city of Bangkok, some of the things that pop into my mind instantly would be the hustling and bustling of the traffic, throngs of people rushing along the streets and dancing the nights away partying hard. The city is always abuzz with such intoxicating energy and excitement. I love Bangkok for that.

How about a green lung just a 15-minute drive from the city center and a 5-minute boat ride across the Chao Phraya river? 

Yes, this green lung is real. It exists!

the place is called Bangkachao and it's is a peninsular on the Chao Phraya delta, an area gazetted in the 70s by the royal family to preserve the traditional self-sustain of Thai living. There are rustic country homes on stilt and quiet little temples amidst bananas grooves, mangoes farms and coconuts plantations. The mangroves forrest along the edge of the river and lush green forrest and parks are home to various bird species and reptiles. It's truly a secret garden of Bangkok.

Within this green space is a labyrinth of narrow pathways on stilts, making exploring Bangkachao on bicycle a no-brainer. We rented bicycles and roamed around leisurely, enjoying the quiet surrounding. The green foliage dampened the noise and madness of the city completely. The sounds audible were the chirping of the birds, dancing of the trees in the breeze and the squeaking of our bikes. Surrounded by such lush green, Bangkok seemed like thousands of miles away. 

Now I think of Bangkok, I can actually associate lush green serenity with it too. I'd never ever know about Bangka Chao if not for my friend, A who lives in Bangkok. Thank you A for showing me Bangka Chao

Another good thing knowing a local, you get driven around. My friend A has a car!

Protection

Protection seen on the road, whether it is against a deadly disease in Gisenyi, Rwanda or some evil spirits in Bangkok, Thailand. It might be foolish to trick ourselves into believing that we are somehow invincible, but don't you think we must do all the possible best to protect ourselves? And then some.

Photo of the Week

While sorting and archiving my photos over the weekend, I came across this one that I snapped in a cafe during a day trip to Melaka back in last June. The picture totally summed up how I felt for the whole last week, especially during daylight hours! A whole week, days and nights devoted to sieving through volumes reports and capturing tonnes of figures and converting those into a presentation, all due to the incompetency of a colleague in delivering presentation. 

Well, shit happens at work all the time everywhere, isn't it? Be it in Juba or KL or NYC.

Good thing that we get a long weekend here in Juba till Tuesday, for the Eid ul Adha festivity. It's time to play catch-up on shut-eye. 

Sometimes, the universe works in a mysterious way.

Zzz... Zzz...