My Brother

My brother and I both attended an international school in Bangkok until we reached 6th grade, when he decided to take a plunge and move to study in Japan (and has been there ever since).

Recently he got married and is now expecting a baby. I wrote both him and his wife a casual email (keep the word 'casual' in mind, it becomes important), asking about their new home, the sex of the baby, and if they could send me some pictures of their wedding.

This was his reply, 1 month later:

Sorry for my belated reply.

The baby is said to be a girl.
Wedding pictures/movie in DVD will be send to you by post shortly.
Please kindly advise address in BKK.

ATTN (wife)

Please prepare and send above said DVD to (me)

The first thing that came to mind as I read the email was: "Did he use an online translator?" (a la Babelfish)

Or maybe he's just a lot more business-like. Big brothers are weird.

tokyo food

tokyo is a gourmet's paradise

somehow i had an inkling that was the case.

-p.

why boys will never grow out of anime and cosplay

and you thought it was all pokemon and doraemon.

-p.

What Goes On in Your House is None of My Business

"The suffering ordinary people have to endure as the world respects sovereignty is beyond belief"

a profitable foreign policy is not always the most healthy one.

i wonder if anyone will care.

tragic.

-p.

The Power of Alcohol

Young people in Europe get drunk to improve their sex life

somehow i don't think it's limited to just Europe.

there's a reason why Thailand is one of the biggest Whiskey consuming countries in the world.

cheers.

-p.

Aid Wanted, but not the Foreigner

by the way, if you read the title and thought that this would be about sex or STDs because the word "aid" was mentioned, please go away.


after the cyclone which devastated the country, killing 15,000+ and displacing 1.5 million people, Burma still refuses to allow UN and other aid workers inside the country.

"ridiculous," you may think to yourself.

but you know, Thailand is not that different, as anyone who tried getting a work permit in Thailand can tell you.

and the Thai government once said that Thailand only wants foreigners that make good money.

xenophobia + greed = ?

you tell me.

-p.

Facebook in Real Life

A bit of an over-exaggeration,

but that's probably why some of my friends refuse to upload pictures of themselves, or write excessive wall posts.

(but they'd look very carefully at everyone else's profile. sic.)

-p.

Food Prices and the Poor

I know that most of you out there probably don't give a flying fuck about food prices and poor people, but for the few that do, here's an interesting take on food subsidies.

Subsidizing food prices for the poor may actually damage their nutrition intake.

Why is that?

An extremely simplified explanation of a complex problem:

This is because the poor usually spend most of their money on the basic foods; bread or rice, especially after food prices go up. But once you decrease the price of those basic foods, the poor consumers then divert the money they have saved into buying other types of tastier, but less nutritious foods.

Enjoyment goes before health, I suppose.

Those that want a much more professional and clear explanation can go here:
Freakonomics

-p.

Celebrating Your Failures

Lessons from Bessemer Venture Partners

For a few, (and very rare) group of people, it is just as important to celebrate their failures alongside their successes. I think that's a smart way to go about things.

think about it:

- your successes are awesome; you can get drunk on it and fill yourself with elation every time you think about it. but deep down you wonder if you can do it again. hence 1-hit-wonders.

- your failures leave a bitter taste every time you think about it. but if you have the courage (and wisdom, as well as the masochistic desire) to view them as reminders and hints as how you can be better in the future, you continue to grow and succeed in the future, to make up for the missed opportunities in the past.

but then of course, too much of either side is somewhat unhealthy. take your pick.

on the outside, looking in

i work in central Bangkok.

and on the way out of the office one evening, i walked past one of the premium department stores holding a party for some hi-so event, with a tower of london, and fancy tents with fancy people.

and standing beyond the steel fences were the bangkokian commuters waiting for their buses, looking in. i think it's a nice way of showing the clear divide between the affluent and the common.

or are we all just amusing ourselves by watching the rich playing with their toys?

it's an interesting proposition.

-p.

restart and rewind (perhaps)

Hi. This is my another attempt for a blog.

Had some on somewhere, and I moved around some more.

Hope this one is permanent.
Or not.

-p.