A BBC list of 100 books

A BBC meme asks how many of the 100 books of a list they published have you read.  Library Thing comments that "the BBC apparently believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books."  It's probably true to me. While I read two Harry Potter books and Da Vinci Code twice, I managed only parts of numbers 7-13 on my list: (Library Thing link has the complete list; see how many have you read)

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
3. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
4. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
5. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
6. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
7. Adventures of Sherlocke Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
8. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
9. Anne Shirley of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery
10.  The Bible
11.  The Complete Works of Shakespeare
12.  Moby Dick - Herman Melville
13. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

Megan and Janet host Thursday Thirteen

Chikuyoh Yakiniku

You know what happens when you live in a normally boiling hot city and it suddenly turns cold? Instead of staying where you are you wander... Half an hour into looking around your empty stomach growls and you remedy it with a cup of coffee -

And then you become curious what's on the other pages of the menu. 

Ok, that's my routine, sort of. A month ago this was what I experimented on: Chikuyoh Yakiniku @ Yagura Chaya Fumi. Loved it!

This post is linked with

Food Trip Friday

and

Friday Food Fight

The culinary excuse of the hedgehog

Bangkok used to be predictably boiling hot during summers but now it's freaking cold. Two nights ago I walked around Piyarom Sports Club, my long-time haunt. The wind only had to make me shiver slightly and I was inside Ma Kitchenette in an instant, one of several eateries in the complex. It was half past ten at night and I needed the warmth you know :)

 

Rice fried with fish paste and dried mint leaves. The cashew nuts were my first attraction.  And that book club session I got back from earlier had too much red wine, chips and opinions on The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I had to temper those with a warm cup of cappuccino.

This post is linked with

Food Trip Friday

and

Friday Food Fight

Between lunch and dinner

What do you call food eaten between lunch and dinner?

Last weekend I looked for a place to read a book in peace and 9th Cafe @ Siam Paragon was a yummy find. Chocolate swirl cheese cake! I did not regret choosing this.

Sprite.  A drink I have not had in awhile.

 

And mini beef tacos. Yum and I got to do two of my fave pleasures: eat and read.

The world is all good. 
This post is linked with

Food Trip Friday

and

Friday Food Fight

Weekend brunch

This is not a sudden interest in Japan. Japanese cuisine has always been my preference for weekend brunch since I acquired a weekend life. And the beef steak set at Fuji is my usual order even though they always give me rare no matter how much I emphasize that I want well-done:

 

The set includes choices for either coffee or tea, hot or iced. I always have the hot tea with milk.

The meal is concluded by a trio of papaya, pineapple and watermelon slices.

Rarely do I pick something else on the menu. This set is what I order almost every weekend. Here's hoping it's not a weekend eating abnormality. I'm going out in a few minutes to have this brunch again.

This post is linked with

Food Trip Friday 

Friday Food Fight

Kiwi and dragon fruit

Since I started blogging there's one thing I have been neglecting and it's one of my major pursuits - eating or dining if we are so formally inclined :D. I will start my very first food post with something healthy. You don't want to know what I explore if I go splurging on food. These slices of kiwi, dragon fruit, pineapple and capsicum were one of those weekend breakfasts when by some stroke of luck I walked into the fruit section of a supermarket.

This post is linked with Food Trip Friday

 

and Friday Food Fight

It's not what it seems so don't wander

Lazaruz Vault by Tom Harper tells of knights and castles; a 12th century poem kept deep in a Scottish forest. The star character, a gradschool student lured by old world affluence, is wondering about what lies on the 6th floor of her employer's headquarters as much as I furrowed my brow over some words in the story. There could be more as I haven't touched chapters 20 - 53 yet. I make each vocabulary simple with just the obvious term of the definition and reminders intended to warn my mind against wandering off.

1. hauberk is a shirt not a partner in crime

2. bittern is a bird not a betel nut

3. fascia is tissue not a hue

4. vavasour is a tenant not a sour guava

5. breton is a horse not a variant spelling of briton

6. brigand is an outlaw not a brigadier

7. declension is an inflection not necessarily a decline

8. donjon is a keep not a dungeon

9. seneschal is a butler not Senegal in the 2000 FIFA World Cup

10. fewter is a holder not Harry Potter's cauldron

11. letch is a satyr not the grub in Lion King

12. tannoy is a loudspeaker not a tan alloy

13. proscenium is a wall not "Mr Van Helsing, your reputation precedes you."

Megan and Janet hosts Thursday 13.

Majorly Personal

Our Weekend Memoirs: When old maids meet
Please scroll down for Sunday Stealing

A friend on the other side of the world mentioned this place. I discovered it's right down my backyard when I googled it. Since a co-old maid was game for a little exploration we went there last night. The name of this restaurant is apparently its most attractive feature.

We punctuated the food with conservative-wild observations of 21st century old maidenhood. Ah, there's my Screwdriver. Reliable in penetration.

"Don't these things come with a man?," we teased the server who gave us condoms instead of the usual mint candies after we settled the bill.

More memoirs at Ebie and Arlene's Our Weekend Memoirs.

*********************************************

Sunday Stealing: The Majorly Personal Meme, Part The Last
Please scroll up for Our Weekend Memoirs

Today we ripped this meme off a blog that is written by a group of high school students. The blog is called Eternal Fireworks. The writers are: Michael, Kynan, Alex, Kenny, Chris, Leo, Shelley, Athy, Bam, Tina, and Bnita. There is no statement as to where it came from. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. It is a long meme and we shall do it in parts. Cheers to all of us thieves!

41. What are your plans for this weekend? Saturday I had dinner with a friend at Cabbages and Condoms, and today I am bracing for machineless marking of university exams

42. Do you think someone might be thinking poorly about you? Why might that be? I don't know and I don't care. My life is good.

42. What features don't you have that you would like on your cell? umm... speech bubble that blinks "to be paroled in a heart beat"

43. How many people can comfortably sleep in your bed? two. three is crowded. I don't have room for a Camilla

44. What are you hoping happens by the end of 2010? another holiday

45. What was the last video you watched on YouTube? abandoned castles

46. Would you ever agree to an open relationship with someone? for now I'd rather case closed.

47. Is there something that you could never give up? whatever's in my velvet-padded bucket

48. Would you, (or did you) prefer a small, intimate wedding reception, or a big-scale, over-the-top reception? The Thai flag was waving at the in-laws' residence during my wedding reception. I didn't know 95% of the guests. So I'll try intimate if I ever attempt the institution again, and I'll have veto power on everything including the groom's color socks

49. What’s bothering you right now? my laundry

50. Do you hate anyone? I don't care

51. What were you doing at 12 am last night? re-reading Breaking Dawn

52. Was this summer a good one? How warm was it where you live? I traipsed 4 major cities in 3 countries this summer; my SPF remained at 20

52. Is the last person you kissed before your current situation mad at you? the last person I kissed does not impact my current situation

53. Can a man and woman be friends without having feelings for each other? why are 'feelings' always assumed in a man-woman friendship?

54. Do you think long distance relationships work? If you’ve had one, tell us about it. It depends upon what long-distance entails

55. Do you know why it’s called “Random Boredom“? no time to research; laundry is still piled up

56. Do you think that it’s always the man’s responsibility to initiate sex? no

57. Have you ever made love while you were in the same room with another couple? no

58. Tell us the best thing about your current or most recent S/O. revolutionary zeal for his beliefs

59. Tell us the worst thing about your current or most recent S/O. unmatched pigheadedness

60. Would you write one question in today’s comments so that we could have our followers allow us to steal their questions? We’ll need at least 15. When should you procrastinate - now or later?

More stealers at Bud's Sunday Stealing headquarters.

Main course

Write From Karen

For starters, I'd like some milk and whiskey....

A muscle towed my brow upward. "We are talking fine dining, people, and I want you all to go international," I announced to a group of Marketing majors last Sunday. These are what I fancied from their presentation:

1. Red mullet and skordalia (Greek)
2. Salmon sashimi with avocado (Japanese)
3. Braised halibut provencal (French)
4. Chargrilled prawns with lemongrass, tomatoes and coconut (Malaysian)
5. Lamb Steak with tequila and chilli (Mexican)
6. Veal roast with aromatic herbs and potatoes (Italian)
7. Roast mutton with red currant jelly (English)
8. Vermicilli with oyster mushrooms and king prawns (Vietnamese)
9. Somboon crab curry (Thai)
10. Chicken chow mien (Chinese American)
11. Barbecued lamb cutlets with mango and coriander salsa (African)
12. Bulalo (Filipino)
13. Paella vegetarian (Spanish)

Never again will I go to work with an empty stomach.

Megan and Janet host Thursday Thirteen. Click here for more lists.

Bookcase status

One thing I'm trying to control about my reading habit is succumbing to the temptation of buying more books than I can carry in my luggage when it's time to move to a permanent place. The bookcase I got is space-limited, city-ish. My hoarder instinct makes it a major object in my daydreams: ship the contents home when I'm finally through with Bangkok.

header by Samulli; click here for more lists

These are book(s) in my bookcase I read:

...devour more like
1. Harry Potter 1-7 by JK Rowling

passage by passage
2. A Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

in less than 4 hours
3. Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

to satisfy my curiosity
4. Empty Promises Vol. 7 and other true cases by Ann Rule

to pass the time away
5. Prince Charming: The John F. Kennedy Story by Wendy Leigh

for entertainment
6. The Complete Neurotic by Charles A. Monagan
7. You Don't Say I forgot the author but it's about identifying people who should be credited for famous quotations we know, like some of Shakespeare's lines we think are his but they can actually be traced back to someone else before him
8. Why Good Girls Don't Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do by Kate White

as insomnia pills
9. Compendiums of Bronte and Austen novels
10. Short Stories from the 19th Century compiled and introduced by David Stuart Davies

because it's necessary and I enjoy them at the same time
11. How to Negotiate Anything with Anyone Anywhere Around the World by Frank L. Acuff; Communication Research Measures edited by Rubin, R.B., Palmgreen, P. & Sypher, H.E.; Anthropology: exploration of human diversity (international edition) by C.P. Kottak

and these are books I'm reviewing for a cousin's 8-year old bookworm son
12. Jesus in Blue Jeans by Laurie Beth Jones
13. Anne Frank's Tales from the Secret Annex by Contact Publishing