Alitta

It’s June 27^th and it’s my 23th birthday today! It’s probably I’m getting old so I didn’t look forward to my birthday to come. It was a very wonderful day though

I started my special Friday with my mum and my younger sister in the early morning. We went to make merit by giving food offerings to three monks who usually drop by around my house area for their morning routine. We Thai commonly make merit on special occasions and also on one’s birthday. One of those monks asked if it was my birthday, I said yes and he started praying. It really made my day as I gained good thing on my birthday morning.

Thank you mum for getting up since 4 am to cook and arranging everything. Thank you dad for over 3 calls today and the most wanted wish ever (he wished me to be more beautiful everyday haha). Thanks doctor - my big sister for a call from the north. Thanks my younger sis for a birthday wish via msn at midnight though she was just upstairs.

I received a number of calls and sms from my friends since midnight till the end of the day, so I needed to say sorry to my colleagues and of course my boss for the whole-day cell phone rings.

Thank you so much Chris, my teenage boss, for a very lovely PINK bouquet which made me feel really girlish and a cute birthday card with my name incorrectly spelled on it haha just teasing!

Also, thank you Chris, Jock, Tom, Benz, all my colleagues for my birthday present tucked in a pink (again) box and delicious chocolate cake (with only one candle on it) which quite surprised me hahaha. Actually it was a big surprise to receive the birthday cake as I didn’t expect those four guys to mange this kind of thing by themselves when there was no girl around. A cake deliveryman came in the office saying he came to deliver cake and at that moment he was kind of ruining my surprise as I was sitting right there hahaha. Anyway, I really really appreciated you all and thanks again for the cake with my name correctly written on it

Anyway, I heard a poem when I was a kind saying that our birthday is a so-called death’s day of mum as she risked her life with our birth and yes, that’s so true!

Happy Birthday to Me and thanks mum for giving me birth~

In order to avoid serious traffic jams during rush hours in Bangkok especially in the area I work at, I need to use skytrain which is really packed in the early morning and in the evening after work yet it takes me only 15-20 mins. It’s better than being stuck in the traffic for hours though!

I have always experienced annoying things on the skytrain since I started relying on it many years ago. I reckon the similar things commonly happen in other countries as well.

The first thing that always gets me frustrated is when someone possesses a pole on the skytrain while others are likely to fall over the floor when the train is moving as they have nothing to hold. Don’t know if that person does it in purpose or he/she just doesn’t realise it’s a kind of selfishness.

The second thing I hate is when someone jumps the queue to enter the train! Bangkok skytrain is very busy and it’s like a mess when people are trying to catch the train as a few mins can cause them late at work or any appointments. People are being in queue and when the doors slid open, he/she comes from nowhere and suddenly gets into the train, people at the end of the queue are left outside the train, keep waiting for the next train to come!

Thirdly, when sitting guys are pretending they don’t see the old or pregnant women standing quite close to them. Guys will try to look on the screen, unpleasant views outside or wherever they won’t have an eye contact with the age and the pregnant women. It should be that last thing in the world all the guys do but……!!!

The fourth thing is noisy people! Of course they can talk on the train but they should be krengjai other passengers by not talking that loudly! Most of them are teenagers, they love showing off in public, I can understand that though as I’ve passed that period of time in my life

The last thing is people who seem to be afraid they won’t have a chance to get into the train if they don’t try to run through the crowd that is going out of the train. That’s really annoying as it’s hard enough to struggle my way out to the door when they train is packed, and I usually get mad when someone try to struggle themselves into the train while I’m trying to get out! They won’t die if they have to wait for a few more seconds!

Education and degrees do matter for Thai students while western people don’t really care about how educated people are (this is what I’ve heard). So a graduation ceremony is what Thai university students and their parents always look forward to. Getting a degree means a success in life and as for Thai society, it’s not only a value but it’s what can obviously be seen in every day life.

There are a number of state universities and private ones in Thailand and of course students who graduate from state universities usually gain more advantage in applying for a job as they are the very first choices for several companies.

The graduation ceremony is also held at the different period of time for different universities. The person who gives the degree certificate is also the different ones. For some universities, it’s an honour to get the degree certificate from a royal family member while some university students get it from the president of their university.

It’s the proudest moment for those students and their parents as the degree commonly means their efforts capabilities and IQ.

On the ceremony, apart from attending the hall to get the certificate, when the ceremony is done, it’s time for taking photos and each the graduate will hire their private photographer, some of which are professional while some are the graduates’ friends. They also invite loads of their old friends, cousins and their juniors in the uni to join them in hundreds of photos

Check it out! One of the most funniest Japanese game shows I’ve ever seen! The Japs are really admirable and totally creative! Genius!