Back to normal. Sort of

This is the end of my first week back to work. It was nice but I like the dayoff :)

The sad thing was to actually see the extend of damage of Siam Theater that was arson. It was not just a theater but a one block complex comprised of many shops from apparels to music shop and restaurants. about two third of the block was burned down and now closed off to the public. This includes two small 7-Eleven shops in the same block.

This is a vicious act of senseless violent. It doesn't matter what their cause or intention were, it is plain wrong to burn the theater down.

This theater was open for more than 40 years! It survive the rise of Cineplex and Shopping malls multiplex along with the other 2 older generation of movie theater left, Lido and Scala theater. They are survivors and for one of them to go down like this? It just make me sad.

I doubt the police will be able to catch the culprits. It was in the no man's land zone after all. I do hope karma will catch to those criminal eventually.

Bangkok Curfew

Today the government announce curfew from 8pm to 6am in response to the heavy unrest after the redshirts leader surrender to the police.

Now the main road outside my house is eerie quiet. And I live on the main road, which usually have many cars passed by every now and then.

I hope the military can get control soon. Many places has been torched. A few of the biggest damage are Central World Shopping Mall and Siam Theater. That is quite in my office area. Luckily we are quite deep into the back of the area so it should be ok.

I suppose it will be highly unlikely to catch whoever did this because it happens in the heart of the redshirts stage. I do hope karma will catch up with those people eventually.

I think now the redshirts have lost any credibility that they might have. However, they seems to still be quite popular in the provinces. As the unrest spread out to several other provinces.

Bangkok Unrest results in Offices Close

Due to the unrest in Bangkok, my offices are close for the week.

I don't really mind that I hope that I won't have to use my leave days to compensate for this though... Since my leave days are already tight with two trips schedules this year.

I hope the unrest will ends soon though. The damages are already tremendous. I suppose it came down to a point where this has to happen. To bring closure to the event that have drag on for longer than a month.

Visa Get! and Heatwaves

I finally get the Schegen visa for my Germany trip :D. So expect more photos when the time comes ;)

For the pass two nights it's been exceptionally hot in Bangkok. I barely slept at all at night when it was like 34c-35c in my room around midnight with the fan on. I even have to get up and go get myself a gulp of cold water from the fridge. Last night I even jump into the shower for a soothing cold shower. My room have good ventillation but it felt like mild oven lately. I have thoughts of just call in sick so I can rest in bed for the day.

I am sorely tempted that for sure...

Today at Germany Embassy

I finally done the visa interview at Germany Embassy. The process was painless but it didn't went smoothly.

I was kinda nervous and their process was kinda confusing. I arrived a bit before my appointment time, got my queue card and went to waiting area. I show the card to one of the guard and he told me to wait for the call. Then the call happen I went to the guard who oversee the appointment list. When it's my turn, he jived in with "Where were you when I call for your time". To which I replied "I was already show my card to the other guard who told me to wait".

Anyway he then proceed to tell me to get inside for my interview. There were 3 booths and two interviewers. I think waited for about 10 minutes before it's my turn. The greeting from the interviewer? "Please hurry, there are other people waiting"... The interview seems to went well I think... There was a few mishap with my filling in the wrong address and using the wrong photo. But all those where corrected during the interview and hopefully I get the visa.

My passport is due to be picked up on Thursday. Hopefully there won't be any problem with that.

Gleeking over Glee

I downloaded episodes of Glee a few months back, after hearing many celebrities said that they are watching it on Jay Leno show. I read up about it a bit on wikipedia and boy I didn't know that it would be this good :D

I won't go on about what the show is, you should watch it anyway. I really love the music part of the show. They have got many talent actor/singers. Quite a few are from Broadway shows, while a few others are fresh off the casting couch.

The main girl and the teacher are from Broadway show while Chris Colfer, a male soprano, who play Kurt is a fresh faced one. The songs they use are both new and old and those who sang them nailed the songs very nicely. I especially like Kurt's rendition of 'Defying Gravity'.

In the latest episode, Home, Kurt's rendition of 'A House is Not a Home' could reduce men to tears. I am related to the sense of loneliness in this particular episode. The last song, 'Home', by Kristen Chenoweth is also very touching. Especially when she closing the song by hitting the high note.

On a related issue, I love to see Kristen Chenoweth on TV :) I think she is kinda like Bette Midler in that she can act, she can sing and she is very funny. Anyway, I now sometimes play Glee episodes on my computer to listen to the songs :)