How to stay slim.

I am tiny, I think you obviously see that.


The thinnest I used to be was when I was 2nd year in Bachelor school, it's 36 kg.


The fattest I used to be was after I came back from my internship in Karen village in Chiangmai, I gained my weight ~10 kg.


After that, it took about 5 or 6 months to got back to my normal weight.






There's a name that my Mahidol friends define me. It's "Khwan's full" which is what I always say after I ate A LOT but then I could eat more and more, even I've said ''I'm full.''


Amazing metabolism, huh. Since I eat a lot but I can stay slim as you can see.






Now, my weight range is 37-40 kg, except last month that my PMS made me broke my record in 4 years, 41 kg total.



And again, when my weight hit 40 kg, my amazing metabolism will make it automatically reach to the bottom, 37 kg., within a few weeks.





I have been being asked how to stay slim...


I saw my friends tried hard to be on diet and lose their weight. Those things never happened with me... On the other hand, I even tried to gain my weight...


So I couldn't find them any answers and I'd be complained that why I had to keep it secret...





OK...


They can ask me now, I have an answer for them.




For me, now, there's an idea to stay slim which really, really works...




If you want to stay slim or lose your weight,


Study MD and do thesis, then!!

Icarus - Enjoy something too much, and so you'd fall.

Icarus

a young man who was prisoned with his father - Daedalus

attemted to escape from Crete island where they're exiled by King Minos.

One day, Icarus catched a seagull.





"Look at it's wings, Father.

How great it would be if we could have wings and flyaway from here,"

Icarus said to his father.

Daedalus looked at the bird and ponder.

"Catch more, Icarus. I will make wings from these feathers

and we will flyaway together,"

said Daedalus.

Then Icarus catched his father seagulls.

Daedalus made 2 pairs of wings out of wax and feathers for his son and himself.

Before they took off from the island,

Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, nor too close to the sea.

At first, Icarus followed his father.

But then he enjoyed the sun so that he flew higher and couldn't hear his father's shout.

These wings led Icarus fly higher and higher...

The sun warmth made him forget about everything.

Before he'd realized,

he found that some feathers were off and the wax melted.

He kept flapping his wings but the feathers fell off.

And so... Icarus fell into the sea...











The sun warmth made Icarus enjoyed himself...

too excited,

too happy,

too high....

to realize that it'd harm himself.

Also this girl....




She's flying so high.

Enjoys herself with something

and forgets that if it's too much... to turn back,

too high... too close to the sun,

she'd fall down.

And it'd hurt herself somehow.












It'd be so much funny....

to fall and drown into the sea

when you even have your own wings to fly high.

Haunted Fridge

Did I ever tell you that I have the 6th sense?

That I can see or feel something mysterious?











No??









Right, because I never really wanted to let anyone knows about this.

But today I'll tell you a story.











When I studied in Bachelor school, I had to stay in dorm and shared room.

There're 18 rooms on each floor. They're separated into 2 sections, left and right wing, and 2 persons had to share a room. I shared a room with my close friend, Ple. At the middle of the floor, there'd be public space and facilities for us to use, such as TV, iron and fridge.






This was the beginning of the dormitory scariest mystery...





It's called Haunted Fridge.







One rule, for our security, of staying in the dorm was that we couldn't go out after midnight. So we had to prepared stuffs for ourself when we sudden were hungry during late at night, such as snack, food and drink.

One day, after studying hard, Ple and I got back to our room. I headed to a fridge on my floor for a box of orange juice which I baught and put it there the day before.



But my orange juice wasn't there....




Maybe someone thought that it's belong to them and took it?

You know how it'd be frustrating when you're hungry and want to have something so bad but you find that you lost it?


Fine!! I backed to my room with a glass of plain water instead.





After that, Ple and I baught a huge bottle of juice to freshen us whe we had to study for exams late at night.

One night, Ple got mad and woke me up.




Our juice disappeared...






We started to believe that there must have been something strongly haunted around the fridge.
So we started to observe the situation.




A 4-cup pack of yoghurt disappeared.

A pack of smoked ham turned to be a box of milk.

My tupperware box which there're pieces of cake inside disappeared and the cake were moved to the bottom shelf of the fridge.

Ple's bottle of coffee was opened and drunk. Luckily, there still was a half of bottle left for her.






Fianally, girls there had enough for the situation.

Nong, a girl next door who studied pharmacology, got mad when her box of premium chocolate from the US was gone. We asked a security girl for viewing security camera.

Spending a few hours, trying to catch the fridge ghost, in the cam, we saw girls walked to their rooms, saw us walked to the stairs and we did saw girls and housekeepers walked to the center space where the fridge was.




But we couldn't see anyone take our stuffs.




Maybe they hid it behide since everyone knew that there're security cams?






One evening, Nong knocked on our door.

"I want you to know that I have my reason for this," she said. She got mad and showed us an empty fridge shelf where she had put 3 large packs of M&Ms.

Ple and I silently looked at her slowly injected laxative into a 4-cup pack of strawberry yoghurt, one syringe per one cup, without open them and put them in the fridge.




In the next morning, we checked out the fridge....

Without any words, we looked at each other when all of those yoghurt were gone.







Good luck........... fridge phantom...










After spending a few years in the dorm, I moved back to my house.
I released... since I didn't have to get mad of losing my stuffs and there's everything I wanted waiting for me to pick in our fridge all the time, no matter how late it was.





Well.... I was wrong...





I then found that the fridge phantom followed me here...




How did I know?

Because my pizza was bitten,

my juice was drunk

and my snack disappeared!!






I began observing again...

I baught a piece of cheesecake, put it in the fridge and looked forward to catch the fridge phantom.




The diferrence from when I was in my dorm was that I was lucky....


Before my cheesecake totally disappeared,







I've seen my mom opened the fridge!!

Sticky Rice and Thai Custard

This is one of my favorite dessert.

Sticky rice and Thai custard


(Khao Neaw Sangkaya)






Those colourful sticky rice are made from sticky rice boiled with different juice.

Yellow colour is from curcuma or pumpkin juice.

Blue colour is from butterfly pea juice.

Green colour is from pandanus juice.

Red colour is from rosella juice.








To make the sticky rice and Thai custard,


you have to boil sticky rice with plain drinking water

or if you want the rice to be colourful, boil it with those juice.

Adding oconut milk and sugar will make the rice smell nice and sweet..... and yummy!!








Then it's Thai custard's turn.


To make Thai custard, you need eggs, coconut milk, sugar and concentrated pandanus juice. Pandanus juice will lessen egg scent and make your custard smell sweet.


Then beat eggs well, add the rest ingredient and mix well. The last thing to do is to steam the ingredent about 20 minutes.


And you will get smell-like-heaven Thai custard.


All you have to do next is just place sticky rice on small plate and topping custard on it.


But beware...., only a-small-piece-of-cake-size sticky rice with Thai custard will give you ~370 kcal.


Instead of sticky rice, the custard can be eaten with something else also. For me, I love having it with steamed pumpkin.

I love custard and every times I have chance to have it, I'd think about making it by myself since the ingredients can be found easily in Thai kitchen and the method is not any complicated.


So oneday, I tried making it. And I found that it's very easy!! You just mix those ingredient well, pour it into a bowl and steam it.


After awhile, I got very-nice-look Thai custard. I left it to be cool for awhile and put it in my fridge.





When my mom got home, she said to me,

"I think your omelette in the fridge is a little too sweet."

Huh!?!?!?











Thai custard is an easy and very delicious dessert.


For me, I still want to make it again.

Hmmm....




Well.... when think twice....




Maybe finding some Thai dessert stall is a good idea as well.

This post is for you.

When everything collapses in a blink of an eye and it makes you want to scream out loud, whom you wish to listen to you?


When there's thunder and storm, where your shelter would be?

When your whole world is upside-down, where you'd run to?





For me,

there's only one word for those questions.



"Friend"




There are days that I hesitate to back home, there alway is a place for me to be alseep silently.

There are days that I don't know where I would go, there always is a place for me to stay.

There are days I am confused to face the world, there always is someone to encourage me.

There are days that I wish I have someone to listen, there always is someone there.

There are days I cry and want no advice nor speech but only touch on my shoulder and understanding eyes, everything I want is always on another phone line. Though I can't see those eyes or feel the touch, but I know that they're always there.




There were some times I hesitated to back home. My eyes were swollen because of too much crying. I dialed my phone and did not say anything when someone at another side answered.

Without any questions, "Come here," she said.



There were some times I was silenty on the phone.

Without any words, "You can cry if you want," was what I heard.



There were times I was disappointed and shocked.

Without judgement, I could run into someone's arms and cry on thier shoulders.

To go beyond the surface, to reach into your soul.

This love is not demanding, my heart has told me so.

Let's make the headlines, loud and clear.

The best things suddenly happen when you are here.

If I lost my way, you'd carry me home.

Take me all the way to heaven, never leave me alone.

And it's just like everything matters when you are near.

With them, I don't have to be worried if I'd be forgotten.

Now we all grew up.

We do good things and bad things, we face the world's good side and bad side without each other side-by-side as in the past.

Though we don't contact much lately after we moved to different places to have our own lives, but I know that they still are there if I want them.

They know I'm here for them forever either.

Though we don't need advice from each other as we once did, but we know where the best without-judged place we'd run to.



There's no hurt though we are not in contact for awhile.

There's no complaint though we are the last to hear the news.

There's no need to excuse for what we shouldn't have done.

There's no judge for bad things we've made.

But there're hands, shoulders and eyes to comfort us with understanding.

Lately, I heard something from my best friend. I was asked for some advice what they should do.

I didn't say anything much but did only what I always do. It's to point them to see options they had and some possible results of those from my perspective.

I didn't say what they should or should not do. Because finally, they'd be the one to make a decision on what the best for them was.

One thing I always believe is that my friends are mature enough to know what they should do, to see what's right and wrong, and to choose the best for their own lives.

So there's no need to let me know everything or every times when they have probelm.

When my phone rings, it doesn't always mean there's someone needs advice but only to share me what they have gone thru.

And they know, I'd say something if they want me to.

They know, I'd be there to listen.

As much as they're meaningful to me, I'd love to be with them, although sometimes it's just to be being quiet for hours.

As much as they're meaningful to me, I'd offer them my shoulders to lean on, although it's just the only one thing I can do for them.

As much as they're meaningful to me, I'd spend time with them as long as they want, although it's just a couple minutes or hours.

And..
.

What great friends they are?

As much as I'm meaningful to them.....,

at the other night, they helped me to break my record of being on the phone...

only 6 hours total....

Empathy - Sympathy

Alright...

After being nonsense for awhile, let me write something serious.

If you don't understand, take that it's because of my poor English. And if you want to understand clearer.... I can describe you more, but only in Thai.





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There's a good side of my study field -- Social Work.

It's to learn how to see the world.


One of those important things is "Empathy"


It's to understand human being that we all are independent, different and can't be judged by only one standard.




But you have to categorize between "Empathy" and "Sympathy"

Notice that they are different.



When you empathize someone, there's no need to sympathize or pity them.

At the same time, when you sympathize someone, you may not understand them.

Sympathy (Oil on canvas)
By Briton Riviere, 1878

I was taught to have empathy and avoid having sympathy.


Because what?


Because Sympathy may lead to other feelings, such as pity and compassion.

When you sympathize someone, there's hidden meaning -- they're judged that they're pitiful by whatever reasons you have.


If you can't stop this feeling, it would lead you to have compassion.

and take that feeling to your heart.



For example,

You're friend breaks up with his girlfriend, loses his job and has problem with his family. You have sympathy toward him and feel sad for him.

Or... you saw a puppy was crushed by a car. You pity it and it lead you feel like you're unable to eat.



Actually, it's very simple to have sympathy toward anyone.

If there's someone don't have this feeling....., that should be concerned.



Problem is...

Sometimes there's too much sympathy to deal with. There's so much compassion that make you feel unhappy.



Sympathy happens easily.

But the challenge is how you can understand people without feeling bad.



It may be simple for general people. But for some vocations that have to be involved with any lives --doctor, nurse, social worker, psychologist or vet -- this issue is very important.

When we have to work with cases who come to us, bringing pretty tough problems in their lives, it's hard not to think about what we should do to help them. And if we let those problems and concerns get thru our minds, more and more, we would have mental health problem finally.





There's a stone on the ground.

When you pick it up, get to know its shape, colour or other characteristics,

You can choose.... you'll put it down or grasp it in your hand.

There's a thin line between "Empathy" and "Sympathy."


Can't you see?

That your strength is challenged to cross the line.

PMS

I always have bad PMS monthly...


What is PMS?



*
Pre Marriage Syndrome


Cause --> The coming-soon wedding


Symptom --> freaked about, stressed and fear of thinking about potential loss of freedom, long-term-can't-turn-back-commitment, unforeseeable drastic changes and general fear of fat-on-the-couch misery.

And there may be some of the followed questions...
- Is the man I have chosen to live with for the rest of my life the right one?
- Will the marriage last?
- Will I have the freedom to eat a whole tub of ice cream once I'm married?
- Do I have to stay with this guy forever?
- Am I becoming my Mother?
- Etc...


Treatment --> Mostly this syndrome would happen with girls more than guys. If someone around you have this syndrome, give her food and let her talk.


If PMS = Pre Marriage Syndrome...,

that meant I would have gotten marry about 120 times till now and I must have become the best "don't-ever-get-marry" counselor if I would have had to be suffering from the symptoms.


So it's apparently not Pre Marriage Syndrome.... If every girls would have this syndrome, I wish I'd have it just only once in my life.




**
Pre Monday Syndrome


Cause --> Sunday morning


Symptom --> Insomnia but don't want to get up and be stick with pillow. Feel tired and depressed. Sigh every 10 minutes (more or less)


Treatment --> Take sleeping pill, go to bed and pray you'd wake up again Friday evening.


Hmmm... although when I had my job, I had to work hard. But I have never ever had this syndrome.


So it's not Pre Monday Syndrome.




Then what does my PMS stand for?




It's called Premenstrual Syndrome.


Cause -->
- You are female.
- The exact causes of PMS are not fully understood. But the most that can be described is reproductive hormones and neurotransmitters (serotonin, GABA, opioid, acetylcoline,noradrenalin and dopamine.)


Symptom --> Symptom of this syndrome can be catagorized into 5 types.

- Depressed and sense : be unreasonably tearful and hurtful, hesitate when have to make any decisions, anxious and feel blue

- Swing mood : be irritable, stressed, impulsive and blow up easily

- Flatulent : feel gassy and have bigger tummy

- Feel fatigued : have joint or muscle pain, cramp, have headache or migraine

- Be hungry more often and have diarrhea


Moreover, there may be acne, abdominal bloating, breast tenderness or swelling and... well...changes in libido.


PMS would last since about a week before period till the period is gone.


Treatment --> There's no accurate treatment of this syndrome. But there also are some ways to heal it. It's to take pills, get enough rest, drink warm water, avoid alcohol and etc...






Note for guys :

Marks "The exact causes of PMS are not fully understood."

Now you see that girls are secretive creatures.


So... there's not "no reason" when we girls get moody, guys. There always are reasons for our being depressed or anxious. The best for you is to notice when we become a "having-period" creature and be as far away as you can from us. It's the best way to remain your relationship without anyone's injuring, both your girl's and yours.


And... well....

PMS is a part of our whole live as long as we have ovarian cycle or until we would be impotent or getting old.

So... this is our request, boys...



Love me, Love my PMS, please...






Alright, back to my PMS.

As I said on the first line that I always have bad PMS. I have all above 5 symptom types alternately monthly.Sometimes I'd do things more slowly than usual or stay in bed for half day. I'd be depressed and more sense than I usually am. (That means I would ask you to let me ask for your attention more.) I'd be more quiet than usual and look like I'm unable. That's bad, huh.

Also, I'd eat more snacks and food. (Normally, I don't really like snack.) But the least I'd have is being irritable.

For this month...

PMS affects me so much, much more than ever.



How so?

I gain my weight ~4 kilos within a week!!





Oh!!


There's another PMS I can recognize...





***

Post Master's Syndrome


Whatever cause, symptoms or treatment of this syndrome are, I want to have it so badly!!

Pride.... (not yet I could have it. :-P)

One thing I learn from living my life is that...




Mankind is uncontrolable.



So the best is not to learn how to solve, manage or even command other people but to deal with and control yourself.





These past couple days I've been being upset because of something's over my control. What I chose to do was to be quiet and let it go. Also, I tried my best to be cheerful as I usual am because I really disliked myself when I felt bad like that.



There's one thing that has made me felt good before I went to bed last night. It was emails from my dad and uncle.





At first, I wrote them an email about my presentation...

After that, I've got replies from them.

I apologize if my uncle's handwriting here makes you have a headache. I try to find a font that looks similar to his real handwriting. But I'm afraid that if I use that font, you could never read what he's written me at all.

This one was from dad.

For some reasons, dad's email was also sent to some place....

At last... I've got this email.

My uncle meant to send it to dad but it was sent to me instead.

When I first read these emails, I wished them know how glad I was to know what they think about me, especially when they talked (or even gossip) about me in good way without knowing that I knew it.

Knowing that there's someone's proud of me is like there's someone's holding my hand and walking me through the darkness to my destination.

So although I couldn't control anything in this world, but just knowing this thing, I felt like I would dare to face anything - especially my hard thesis or even my tough advisors.

.............................................................................

Love in your eyes sitting silent by my side

Going on, holding hands, walking through the night

Hold me up, hold me tight

Lift me up to touch the sky

Teaching me to love with heart

Helping me open my mind

Don't you believe that you light up my way

No matter how hard is my path

I'll never lose my faith

See me fly...

I'm proud to fly up high

Show you the best of mine

The heaven in the sky

This song is very simple -- nothing much in the lyrics or the singer's accent. (She's Japanese.)

But I like this version more than the original one because of the singer's voice and background music.

And the most I like in this song is this sentence....

See me fly....

Yes, I'm telling you to see me learning to fly.