Wives know best! (Charis chats)

Samuel and I are now back in Bangkok after a week back home in KL. Sam was to join me later in KL but due to the situation here in last 2 weeks, he managed to get leave to work in his KL office instead. That turned out to be a really great arrangement as we managed to complete our to-do-list together, which was quite an achievement as you can see:

You must be wondering at the careless nature of our spending but really, movies here are so expensive, we just couldn't resist (over)indulging in our favourite pastime together. Anyhoo, I had the most enjoyable time last week meeting all my close family and friends, I almost forgot I had to come back here to stay :( I'm missing all of you already...


So, that's why I brought a bit of home back here! Since coming here the last time, I found out that there are some foods sorely lacking from the supermarket shelves here and that sadly, the distant cousins of our products back home we find here are so different. So I brought "some" here. Also, my housekeeping instincts couldn't resist getting a few more items from IKEA to add to the household goods. So I brought "some" here. To top it all off, we brought back some other misc items (wedding presents!) we couldn't bring back the last time. Add that all up and what do you get? Answer: Excess baggage of 45 kg for 2 persons with 7 kgs of hand carry luggage EACH. Now, I show you the "spoils":

Yes, I brought back a toaster oven. Yes, I brought back 1kg of frozen chicken breakfast sausages. Yes, I stocked up on 4 buy5free1 packs of maggi mee (curry and chicken flavour, of course). Yes, I even brought back a whole bottle of chilli sauce. Yes, I brought back a garlic press, 1 colander, 1 microwave cover thingy, 2 chicken curry sauce, 1 Kentucky chicken spice, 5 packets of barley, two 1.25l of shampoo, 1 photo album and need I go on? :)

Husband was all exclamations naturally, but I was allowed to bring them back IF, and only IF, they fit into the 2 suitcases we brought back. I did nothing less than a miracle with the packing, I can tell you, yea-huh, a miracle. Sam eventually relented and agreed to my saying "Wives know best" when he came home hungry yesterday after the flight and I whipped him a hearty meal of chicken flavoured maggi mee with eggs and 3 breakfast sausages which, I might add, narrowly missed his censorship cut. 

Now I exit stage left to start doing unpacking and house cleaning. Thank you all of you who made our week back with you a wonderful and amazing one. We'll see you soon!

Manicures in Chaos (Charis chats)

Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes yesterday. I've uploaded pictures to how we spent it on FB. Truth be told, I actually thought Samuel will forget about it, but with numerous digital reminders these days (including one which I personally set and forgot about), let's just say domestic conflicts are happily on a downtrend. I  really had a great time with the double bonus of a birthday falling on a weekend and being in city with so many places to go. Thank you, Samuel and the folks in ICB's evening service for the wonderful birthday surprise.

You might be asking if we've lost our head bolts going out in the midst of the chaos you're reading about in the news. Though serious, it is largely concentrated on a famous commercial/retail area which is right at the other side of town, so to speak. Some of you may recognize this area, which is near Siam Paragon, Central World, Pratunam Centre, Suan Lum Night Bazaar, Lumpini Boxing Stadium, etc. Actually, just a weekend ago, Samuel and I was just there after going to Yaorawat Rd (Chinatown) and we had a short stroll in Lumpini Park where clashes between the military and protesters happened a week later. What a difference a week makes! 

See the pictures we took that day:

As testament to our safety, Samuel just had a haircut a few days back whilst I had a manicure (both approx. RM15 each!) and a foot massage near where we stay. Life goes on...

The saga continues... (Charis cooks. Again!)

I'm not as diligent as Samuel when it comes to updating our blog but there's just SO MUCH to update our friends and family after a really fantastic wedding weekend. A lot of you have been asking us how are things after the wedding and honeymoon. If you have been following me on Facebook, you will see that I've been keeping busy with the house, the cooking and shopping (but not the usual shopping!). 


Bangkok just moved into the rainy season which means a high temperature (my thermometer registered a 34°C few days back!) and high humidity. I have to think twice each time I want to go out - good thing everything we need is within walking distance. A lot of you have asked us if it's a good time to come visit. Well, life still goes on as usual here but the best advice is to just stay away from the "red zones". The skytrain is back to its normal schedule again so transportation is not an issue. Perhaps the biggest blow to tourists is that the popular malls where the red zones are camping at have been closed for more than a month. Other than that, everywhere else is business as usual.


And now back to why I'm finally posting:

Yes! I've been busy in the kitchen as well - busy revealing all my "tricks" in the kitchen in my years of cooking experience (which isn't much!). I think it is one of the best moment in the world to see your husband burp loudly and rub his tummy heartily after gobbling the dinner you cooked for 2 hours in 15 minutes =) Samuel posted some pictures on FB of what he cooked last weekend (Ramly burgers for brunch and grilled drumlets marinated with char siu sauce for dinner):

Now it's the wife's turn! What contributed to Samuel's weight gain in the last 2 weeks?


Presenting, from Char-Broil's award-winning "Everybody Grills!- Put Sizzle in Your Grill!" Lemon & Ginger Grilled Salmon Steak with garlic rice and coleslaw. Enjoy!

And for dessert!

But nothing beats the picture of a satisfied husband!

Time for us to hit the gym soon, Samuel! :)

Phuket on a bike (honeymoon)

(still waiting for our wedding photos from our photographers)

Few days right after our wedding, we flew back to Bangkok then straight on to Phuket to relax and chill. It's our first holiday ever together alone and it was pretty fun. The good thing about going to Phuket now is that it's the low season and with the things going on in Bangkok now (politically), most tourist were shying away from Thailand so the place was not as crowded as it usually is. 

Anyway, enjoy:

The one where we woke up at 8am

We got a call 16th April at around noon from Dr Living Lee (our marriage registrar) that he got a seminar the next day from 8.30am till about 5pm. We had two choices, we either had to do it after the seminar at about 6pm which we couldn't as the boys had planned a stag night and the ladies had their thing as well or 8am which is super early!!


Ok, moving back again for those who doesn't know, we're scheduled to be registered for marriage at People's Park by Dr Living on the 17th of April at 10am. We told our close friends and family about that and they blocked off the time to come for the ceremony. 


Fast forward, we chose 8am and so Charis started calling a few and from there the word spread. We didn't know who would come but we're glad that so many turn up. By 8.20am we were done and registered as husband and wife. By 9am, Dim Sum! 

The moment of truth

Dr Living Lee signing it off

That's it - lawfully husband and wife

Even Asher got up and dressed up by 8am

The Yau Family

The Liew Family

Best Men's (can't really see if they're asleep or awake as their eyes are the same - sepet. haha)

The ladies

Chun Chong - our good friend and photographer (contact him for any photo taking work you need - his link is at the side of the blog)

All who woke up at 8am

Followed by some candid shots:

All in all it was a good day that ended with some guy bonding session at Gentings for the guys and some really stressful spa for the ladies (at least that's what Sam heard).

Next, the wedding.