Mother's day high tea

This whole tea idea was unplanned. Things were hectic at work. Besides, the son is with Grandma in the home country. But a friend was greeting her Mom friends on FB, I was tagged on cards a couple times and it looked like people were bent on making the day something you wouldn't forget easily.  Well, they show me. I love celebrations so it didn't take long for me to decide that I was having tea after all.

I picked Coffee Beans by Dao, a posh cafe in a posh mall to celebrate Mother's Day with a girl friend. She's not a Mom but her niece just had a baby and that according to her makes her a Grandma. Sweet. I believe in treating the self from time to time, and of course it is such joy to have a friend to celebrate special occasions with.

The Moroccan mint tea (on collage) was a welcome taste as it was my first since 2010. Blueberry cheese cake is the specialty of the house and that's what I had. Yum!

Why does food look so inviting right after work? Yeah... work hard, party hard.

Or maybe it's just me. I'm a fan of food and I love to eat. I even like saying that ;)

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Fifty

This post is linked with: Booking Through, Thursday 13 

"My brother-in-law turns 50 this weekend. So, in his honor, please pick up your nearest book or whatever book you’re currently reading, and turn to page 50 and then share the first 50 words with the rest of us."

From Timeline by Michael Crichton:

Only the Professor's personal intervention prevented him from being expelled from Yale. Chris's response to this sudden jeopardy was to bury himself in his studies; his grades swiftly improved; he eventually graduated fifth in his class. But in the process he became conservative. Now, at twenty-four he tended toward fussiness and stomach trouble. He was only reckless with women.

Thursday 13: Books that readers did not finish reading. Book Riot on FB asked fans what books they broke up with and these are 13 out of more than 200 responses.

1. Fifty Shades of Grey (reported 29 times)
2. Twilight (reported 7 times)
3. Eat, Pray, Love (reported 3 times)
4. Game of Thrones (reported 3 times)
5. The Great Gatsby (reported twice)
6. Anna Karenina (reported twice)
7. Duma by Stephen King (reported twice)
8. War and Peace (reported twice)
9. The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling (reported twice)
10. Jane Error (spelling intended)
11. Wuthering Heights (reported 3 times)
12. Catch 22 (reported twice)
13. Emma by Jane Austen (reported twice)

Other answers were Little Women, The Devil Wears Prada, Water for Elephants, Hunger Games, The Book Thief, Poisonwood Bible, and even Pride and Prejudice. But clearly people's preferences differ of course. What book did you not finish reading?

Tea time in Castelgard

Constantly a fan of old, it took me 2013 to start reading Michael Crichton's Timeline. Published by Frederick in 1999, the book talks of going back hundreds of years; of knights and castles, an ancient language, lords and ladies, sword battles - there's my appetite for medieval history.

The story deals with modern machinery to get a glimpse of the old world. That's my cue not to lose touch with reality. High-cost technology is woven into the plot. There's a tournament in Castelgard. A rogue knight threatens to marry Lady Claire by force to save himself from bankruptcy. I need to make sure my own finances are in order after that spontaneous island vacation I did two weeks ago. Things seem manageable. I bought the paperback for just 68 cents. Contrasts keep life interesting, don't they?

So tea time into a tour back in time.

And joy is accompanying the read with a white chocolate macadamia moist cake paired with a cup of earl grey. I love chocolate drinks, hot or cold, but I take care not to have the same flavor in both pastry and drink. What kind of drink do you usually have with cake or while reading?

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On a blogging hiatus

First, my internet went off for a week, and this week it's my turn to go off. Headed out of town to some place I haven't been to yet. Here's hoping things turn out for the best. Happy Songkran to my Thailand friends. A great April to bloggity friends around the world.

Celebrating Equinox

This post is linked with: Booking Through, Thursday 13 

Happy Spring Equinox, everyone. What book are you choosing to celebrate with?

Timeline by Michael Crichton. It works around some of my most favorite topics: archaeologists discovering something shocking at a medieval site.

Thursday 13: Dasa's bestselling travel non-guidebooks in my side of town. Any familiar author or title you might be interested in?

1. A fortune-teller told me by Tiziano Terzani

2. A cook's tour by Anthony Bourdain

3. Off the rails in Phnom Pehn by Amit Gilboa
4. Holy Cow! by Sarah MacDonald
5. The great railway bazaar by Paul Theroux
6. Notes from a small island by Bill Byrson
7. Finding George Orwell in a Burmese teashop by Emma Larkin
8. Ghost train to the Eastern star by Paul Theroux
9. Defiled on the Ayeyarwaddy by Ma Thanegi
10. Into the wild by Jon Krakaur
11. Lost Continent by Bill Bryson
12. Down under by Bill Bryson
13. To Myanmar with love by Things Asian Press

Reading green

This post is linked with: Booking Through, Thursday 13 

Does your current mood affect your reading? Affect your choices?

It does. This week I'm in the mood for the St Patrick's day color so I'm reading a book of nature quotations. Its cover is of course green. Men are from Mars, women are from Venus is up next. Its cover also happens to be green.

Thursday 13: Random things that are green in honor of St Patrick's Day.

On my old computer desk
1-  poinsettia leaves on my tea cup

2 - candelabra 'legs' and a bowl where I put water for flowers to float in it

3 - coffee table book of nature quotations

On my dresser
4 - key and coin dish, Marks & Spencer hand lotion
5 - essay on political negotiation tactics
6 - vintage hand bag and ear rings
7 - books: Men are from Mars..., Piano preludes and postludes, Hallelujah Chorus

My restaurant brunch yesterday (I deliberately chose the greens from the menu)
8 - green shumai
9 - green tea ice cream
10 - green noodles with pakchoy and braised beef

On the pages of my illustrated and picture books
11 - birthstone, Everyday handbook for magical mothers by Mary Cicely Barker
12 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
13 - the May fairy by Mary Cicely Barker

Memories of green

"Let us make, instead of war, an everlasting peace...."

~ Virgil, The Aeneid 

Book 4, lines 130-136

For years I wondered why my father liked green.

I didn't mind that he bought Mama a pair of high-heeled glass slippers with a light green tint until he bought me a dress that was military green. Of all colors!

He was a typical man of few words and when he passed away, I realized I would never be able to ask him why he favored green so much. I resorted to guessing.

There are instances when I ask myself why I do certain things.

It was most probably Father why I colored this girl's dress green. She's around books and I relate to that.

Father gave me The Aeneid when I was in 6th grade.

I didn't understand the gift and wished he gave me the normal Nancy Drew instead. Why The Aeneid? Of all books!

Could it have been his Jesuit upbringing? (which reminds me of the new pope right now) I vaguely remember him mention they were grilled in classical poetry during his Notre Dame days.

Father was born in May. There sparkles the emerald.

Ex-MIL wears an emerald-studded ring. Rock in the center is almost as huge as this one illustrated by Mary Cicely Barker, which precedes her description of the May Fairy:

"The tiny May fairy always wears her lucky birthstone colour, a clear bright green"

In honor of loved ones who like green, I deliberately choose my tiny cup with green leaves today for tea, and of course picked a green book of quotations to read while sipping green tea.

Would you believe I got this tea cup for just 34 cents? That was thirteen years ago which makes the purchase 'vintage' in my books. One more green: when I ordered this green tea ice cream I had no idea it would be served in a bowl that's exactly what we used to have at home in the 70s!

Charles Baxter says in The Feast of Love, "put your trust in ice cream." Like joy I will!

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Bible spring

This post is linked with: Booking Through, Thursday 13 

Clocks change this weekend here in the US, which means one less hour to read … does anybody else begrudge that hour like I do? Wish the Powers That Be would just pick a time-frame and stick to it instead of inflicting clock-driven jet lag on an innocent public twice a year?

Luckily we don't have clocks changing in Thailand. There was that time thingy in the Philippines they called Daylight Savings Time or something when it seemed an hour was taken out of the usual 8 hours in a working day. I would not want an hour less to read if a clock change happened in our part of the world.

Thursday 13: Bible Story Titles that stumped me. MV Logos Hope is currently in Bangkok and I went book-shopping there yesterday. My loot includes an illustrated Bible for the kiddo. Over coffee this morning I skimmed the index, confident that at first glance and even despite not having read a Bible for 20 years, I still know every single story in the entire collection.  

The Wrestling Match - of course that's Jacob wrestling an angel for a blessing; or A Wall of Waves - easy peasy that's when Moses whacked the Red Sea with his staff for the Israelites to cross. But these titles? No idea. So I took a peep as it won't be much fun to look blankly at them forever.

Which Bible story do you like? Do you have a favorite?

1. Higher than the Clouds (Genesis 11: 5-9) it's when one man's 'hello' came to mean 'confused' to another. The Tower of Babel. When the whole world became multi-lingual: the origin

2. Mission Impossible (Genesis 24: 1-61) what the heck is Tom Cruise doing in the pages of my son's Bible? Ops. They were just finding a wife for Isaac.

3. Fighting in the Tent (Genesis 37: 1-4) Potent jealousy. Jacob's ten sons mad over their brother Joseph's new robe. Parents, beware of playing favorites among your children.

4. A Hundred and One Excuses (Exodus 3:11-4:9) Moses debating with God about being sent to Egypt to tell the Pharoah to let the Israelites go

5. An Expensive Meal (Genesis 25: 27-34) the stew that cost Esau his birthright; and I was thinking of my dinner in Sirocco, one of Bangkok's most expensive restaurants

6. I Spy the Enemy (Joshua 2: 1-3) two of Joshua's best men sent on a secret mission to spy on Jericho. I should add The Spy Who Loved Me to my 007 collection now.

7. The Wise Woman under the Palm Tree (Judges 4:1-16) - Judge Deborah consulting with Obama...err... Barak to do battle in Mount Tabor.

8. Who Will Kill Sisera? (Judges 4: 17-22; 5:1-31) a cousin of Sapphira? Oh... a general who met his death at the hands of a woman who gave him milk and then hammered his head as soon as he fell asleep. Ouch.

9. On the Edge of the Promised Land (Joshua 2: 23 - 3:13) the day the Israelites marked the end of their forty years of wandering

10. Listening in the Night (Judges 7: 1-15) a Midianite soldier talked about his strange dream of a loaf of bread tumbling into camp; Gideon was listening behind a tent

11. Peninnah Hurts Hannah (1 Samuel 1:6-8) ahhh... two wives of the same husband competing over having children. My thoughts led to Kate Middleton's 'Born to Bred' news yesterday.

12. The Choice of Life or Death (Deuteronomy 29: 1-30:20; 31:2) Moses asking his people to choose life by obeying God's laws and not forgetting how He brought them out of Egypt

13. Samson Tells a Riddle (Judges 14: 8-15;20) The strongest man yes, but I totally forgot that he had a riddle: "Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet."

Patty-patter

Patty patter 

goes the chatter 

I burnt some patty 

while the rain was pattering 

and I was turning 

off the AC 

and saving
electricity

More than two centuries ago a certain grain was generally given to horses in England but in Scotland supports the people. It's the grain I used two days ago to make these patties to celebrate the rain. Bangkok has been searing hot for too long that when it finally poured, I thought a celebration was in order.

Although patties are originally made of meat, sometimes I concoct meals and I'm happy doing that. Tuna instead of beef. I mixed in minced purple onion, honey maple syrup, evaporated milk, soy sauce, salt, sugar, a large egg and butter cake flour.

If you're wondering about the taste, well, it was similar to the one I concocted two years ago with mackerel. My son kept stuffing himself with those as soon as I piled them on a dish from the wok. There was almost nothing left for me when I finished frying the last patty. At least that's the idea.

Back to the grain. It is said to be the "Horatio Alger of cereals, which progress, if not from rags to riches, at least from weed to health food." OATS. Yummy softies. And when I have them in the midst of books, life just seems so pleasant.

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Gables and Skyfall

This post is linked with: Booking Through, Thursday 13 

One of those quick, easy questions that I ask periodically because the answer is always changing: What are you reading right now? (And, is it good? Would you recommend it? How did you choose it?)

The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Started it last year and since then I have finished two John Grishams, one Nicholas Sparks, a Philippa Gregory and a few other leisure and work-related distractions. If anyone wants to explore themes of retribution or atonement or know what the consequences of greed were like around 1851, they may want to have a go at this classic. I'm developing curious sympathy for Hepzibah, poor old maid, so I'm going to finish this book before the next full moon invites howls from handsome shape-shifters.

Thursday 13: word associations from Skyfall. I didn't mind not getting around to watching the 23rd JB film until a bloggity friend commented on a post I shared with Judi Dench singing in it, saying she "just watched M die." Oh, blimey I hurried off to buy the DVD, and something caught my attention aside from their latest toys. I provide the 6th, 12th and 13th words as 007 and the psychologist mentioned only 11, and I doubt 'M' counts, as in M = bitch or that skyfall was really done.

I added a literary work that begins with the same word in bold. What are your associations of these words though? Any book, poetry or story you are reminded of with these words?

1. day - wasted -  Day with a courteous mother, A by Helen Hunt-Jackson
2. gun - shot - Gun for hire by Mack Reynolds
3. heart - target - Heart of Arethusa, The by Frances Barton Fox
4. agent - provocateur - Agent at the door, The by Walt Mason
5. woman - provocatrix - Woman who loved Chopin, The  by James Huneker
6. head - quarters - Head of Caesar, The by G.K. Chesterton
7. sunlight - swim - Sunlight on the soul by John S. Adams
8. moonlight - dance - Moonlight favor  by H.G. Wells
9. murder - employment - Murders in the Rue Morgue  by Edgar Allan Poe
10. bird - sky - Birds of spring, The by Wasington Irving
11. country - England - Country lass, The by Robert Burns
12. sky - fall - Sky is falling, The by Lester del Rey
13. lab - rat - Laboratory-Ancien Regime by Robert Browning