Present from Chiang Mai (photos)

Two days ago, I went down to Chiang Mai to settle some stuff. Apparently the tenant of my condo in NaKornPin has left and I decide to take a trip down to check out my apartment (anything missing anot) Luckily, its a lady and she actually maintained the apartment quite well. Too bad she did not continue to rent my place. I would even reduce the rent a bit (she's a good tenant).

Since Chiang Mai is a bigger city (second biggest in Thailkand) decided to shop for some gifts for wify and girl. Wife easy lah, she has been asking for some make up stuff. Girl girl however headache leh. Looked around and this little pillow caught my eye..hehe. Really like the vibrant colours and the big smile. Cost about 350Baht. Quite resonable as the material is something like the LOFT Ball or Mogu in Singapore.

Packing this little bugger was a bit pain in the a** though. Anyway, manged to carry this back to Maesai and show to my baby.


Here's her reaction..
and a bit RA one hehehehe...

Nom Jing Bah Tu

This is a dish my wife loves to eat. See picture above.
Basically, Nom Jing stands for Chinese noodles. Bah Tu , is Mackerel (I think).

How you eat is simple, you grab some vegetables, normally lettuce or cabbage. Then you grab some fish and noodle, wrap or roll them all up in the vegetable, dip the chili sauce and munch in. Very easy dish to prepare as most of the stuff is raw, except the fish is deep fried.

The chili is the most important part for the dish as usual in Thai cuisine. Normally shallots, garlic and onions and some roots of a vegetable (must ask my wife on that root thingie) are pan fried and later pounded into a sauce.

My wife really likes to eat this... quite healthy actually but after some time, you might get sick of it (me sianz liao)... :P

By the way, can see where's the baby in the photo?? kekeke

Some old blog entries...

I was going through my old blogs in naapl.org and stumbled on some entries that are worth mentioning here. Of course, most of the post are actually quite boring to read.

Here are some noticeable ones that I linked here for future references. Feel free to click to view the entries.

How to make Mac Fatt Choy - silly entry (recipe) on our favourite NAAPL joke

Hong Kong Trip - super long entry of my trip to HK (no pics though)

My reasons for blogging - as of title

Games I play - some games I enjoy playing and experiencing

A Reflection - a reflection on me on controlling heated debates

Very Funny Dream - funny dream of the kids at NSP with BC and others

Joy, anxiety and a lot of mix bag feelings - about being father soon

Tuk Tuk Incident -interesting encounter in Thailand

Maesai Violence - another interesting event in Maesai Thailand

GE 2006 Fatboy version - politics

Let's move on Part 2 - even more politics!!

A week on Fatherhood - first week experience of Xin Hui

Things you will never see in Singapore - one of the better blogs showcasing Thailand's creativeness in using their motorcycle

there are many more... if you are interested, you can go here and visit my old blog. :)

Girl girl likes poetry!!!

Xinhui enjoying my recitation of a classic Cantonese poetry

My Complications (BIG BIG PROBLEM LEH)

Some background. I first encountered my wife in Bangkok in year 2002. A friend introduced me to her and we have been in touch for years through phone conversation. I visit her quite often during 2004 in Maesai when she lost her job.

She is a Thai Yai. A politcal refugee from Myanmar who escaped into Thailand during an internal civil war between the Shans State and Myanmar Military Junta. She is holding a Green Card which states that she could not leave the state of Chiang Rai unless with proper papers from her district office in Mae Fa Luang.

When we found out she is pregnant with our baby. We were worried.

First, my wife current status does not grant my baby full Thai citizenship on birth. My girl will be granted only when she is 15 years or more and she studies in Thailand plus proof from other Thai citizens that she is indeed born and studied here.

Second, we can't get married. This is due to the fact that there are no laws in Thai legal system that allows a Thai Yai to marry a foreigner. The law states she could marry another Thai Yai or even a Thai national. But no laws were in place for her to marry a foreigner like me. So we could not register under Thai Marriage Law.

The above 2 problems gives me a situation that I could not apply for a type 'O' dependent visa for my stay in Thailand. An O visa is that I could stay in Thailand for a year and report every 3 months. All I need is a marriage certificate with a Thai or a birth certificate of my baby (which should be a thai national) to apply for one. Both citerias not met, which means I have to stick to Tourist Visa and do a visa run every month to Myanmar. Luckily, Maesai is just next to Myanmar. But now, Thai Law has changed again. Visa runs might not be possible anymore.

So my wife and baby are currently stateless. I tried going back to Singapore to get my baby a citizenship or even a PR. The immigration too, rejected my application as we are not married. I explained my situation to them that we could not get married due to the laws there and I could not bring her out to another country to get married too as she is stuck in Thailand. What a joke, I thought they want us to have babies but they are just as ruthless.

Anyone can help?

Why the title Singaporean[Quitter]

`Fair-weather Singaporeans will run away whenever the country runs into stormy weather. I call them "quitters".' Former Prime Minister Goh Chock Tong of Singapore at National Day Rally 2002

Think the above link summurise why the title. Hahaha. Anyway, if any of you bother to read the whole speech, 2 more paragraphs from the line above, will find that I might ber a "stayer"?

Number of people leaving and becoming quitters are of course, is still rising according to here.

I am not sure about myself as still I am on Tourist Visa in Thailand (more reasons on that later).

I like Singapore, I do and mainly because I grew up with my family and friends there. Every living memories of Singapore are still within me everyday and time over here in Thailand. But there are certain realities that I must come to terms with if I wish to stay in Singapore.

First, I have a baby and financially, I could not afford my wife and baby to be in Singapore. (EVEN if my wife and baby could come.)

Second, Education in Singapore is still stick to papers qualification and I do not want my baby girl to start competing so early. Kids over here are genuinely happy even without the fancy computer games or toys. I want my children to be in such environment.

Third, the amount of money I earned now in Singapore does not garuntee that I will retire early and have a easier lifestyle when I am old.

Fourth, I like Maesai, its peaceful and quiet. And of course, I have a big house here that I could never dream I could own one in Singapore.

In short, 10 or 20 years down the road, I most probably will find myself settling in Thailand for real . Unless there are some major changes in Singapore that suits my needs, I will be a quitter for sure.

A New Beginning

I have started blogging quite sometime ago under NAAPL website. Recently, it comes to me that the website is more of a communtiy portal for my Lion Dance Troupe rather than my own personal website (a lot of posts and stuffs totally not related to Lion Dancing).

Some friends of mine who are interested in only my posts and photos got lost under the NAAPL site. (Kena Complained) Thus, it has been in my mind to move my personal stuff out. This really helps in keeping both site organised.

Its also nice to learn that blogger is coming out this new beta version which allows more customisation and features. Moreover, I do not need to create another user account (can use my current gmail account). One less password for me to remember. Yeah!!

I will blog more often about my new family in Thailand, personal philosophy, social interests in Thailand and Singapore(Comaparison and Differences) and maybe some other nosense that do not fall into the above categories.

A New Beginning (Like Star Wars hor..... :P)