the hunt for...

My roommate in Singapore requested that I bring back "King's Candy" from Bangkok. Found only in 7/11. The problem is that I don't really remember purchasing actual King's Candy anywhere so I was quite clueless. 

I asked him to give me "more information" at which point he googled for images for about half an hour and found this:

 

As well as the name of the actual candy: suan dusit milk tablets (and i hope that anyone googling for this in the future to fulfill such requests comes upon this page, because I have here (under) the actual package of King's Candy):

 

 Ta Da! 

It took some amount of Google, Iphone, 7/11, DTAC, SingTel & RIS brains to figure this one out, but in the end it was (hopefully) worth it.

AND I JUST FOUND THIS OUT (from the website from which above picture was taken): "Broken tablets are also collected and reproduced as milk tablets for pets."

And i receive this email: "OMG OMG...read the last line of this website.....have I been eating pet food????"

just one reason why i love (and miss) thailand

met up with a friend from chicago in bangkok first thing after landing and chilling with the 'rents & rex. he's kind of a 'rent by now. or a grandparent! anyways, about rex latah.

but we go out. thinking let's have a beer and catch up. turns out that they are not serving alcohol in thailand today on account of a religious holiday. ok no worries. next best thing? late. night. thai. food.

first off, the place is closed but the lady sees us and says of course boys you can. come on it. because she's maternal like that. like almost everyone. and yes, they are obviously thinking "whats the bottom line impact" - no not really. not at all. there's not much of a change in her life if two kids eat a plate of noodles or rice. 

anyhow, we enter and sit and eat and chat and chew and so on...

comes time to pay the bill. i have 1000 baht - as a note. and the lady comes over and apologizes to say - we don't have change sorry! and so my friend who is about 6yrs or so younger than me says no worries, i have money and i tell the lady, in thai - how can you let the kid pay? i'm the elder brother! so she says you're completely right - and proceeds to tell me, no worries, come back tomorrow sometime when i have change and apologizes instead of taking the money.

now that is service. and amazing at that.

loving thailand every minute i'm here. missing it tons. but knowing that i'm so close by makes it so much more accessible...

just some of the amazing options. all with their own unique taste...

Internship Progress

part of the most important pieces of a successful internship or even a day at work is what you do to keep yourself energized so that you are firing from all cylinders. So that you are really focused. So you are pretty much ready to take on the world.

And no place in the universe (at least not so far as I have explored) is able to provide you with the thirst-quenching, appetite-satiating, quick-n-ready service as the food courts in Singapore.

Thus far, for lunch, I have enjoyed:

- Korean BBQ
- North Indian Vegetarian Delights
- Thai Basil Chicken
- Fish Noodle Soup
- Yen Tau Foo
- Claypot Rice

Hopefully by the end of my internship, I will have tried all the different options so that I can make an educated decision for long term prospects... I mean at work, not the food court, but that definitely weighs in quite heavily.

Am I glad I get up every morning to do a 30 minute swim! Or else next time you see me, I'll be rolling around on my tummy... Here's to great weather that provides the perfect naturally heated pool.

Yes. Yes Singapore, I am having a good time. Thank you for asking.

Yen Tau Foo - Choose 7 pieces minimum! ($4.50)

Finding the Ampas-ible

I'm absolutely loving Singapore. This place has all kinds of conundrums! I can't really explain what I mean right now as I'm still formulating a good way to make it engaging for you to read.

However, I will give you some random thoughts...
1. Public Transport is great BUT they don't have any indication of where you are while ON the bus - i.e. no bus stops listed in the bus as the bus is stopping and no maps on the bus. Now before you say something, trains have it. buses in Chicago have it. This information exists. And yes, it is on trains because you can't always see the landmarks are you are going through subways BUT again in Chicago when you're on the ELevated part of the journey, there's STILL information on the train.

OK obviously you have realized this is a point of pain for me. Mainly because I've been trying to figure out what is the BEST bus for me to take to work everyday. I have finally found one. But it took some time.

2. Swimming pools everywhere. And I mean everywhere! Going to try to get in a morning swim as often as possible because the pool is NOT heated because it does not HAVE to be!!!! Great temperature.

I'll leave it at "a couple of thoughts" for now... And I don't have pictures just yet, sorry. I was going to image.google something for you. But that would be cheating, right?

up up and away!

off to singapore in 7hrs.
can't believe its been 6 months already!
contact y'all in a few days when i get internet and life setup in singapore!

fonty. its been real.