Why?
Because Avanna lost her wallet.
Yes. I know, how stupid of me..

BUT! Not THAT stupid.
Because I only lost my student card & my key card (aussie's atm)
Bad enough thank you very much. =/

I've done my complaints and rants to my very very very nice friends..
Thank you the followings,
xiaoyan, wenhao, jiaxuan, harry, jason & wanyan.
You've been great listeners.
I wouldn't have still survived if i haven't vomit everything out on you guys.
Love loves (:

I was so almost in resorting into eating tree bark.
Because!
Key card = atm card = source of $$
no key card = moonie-less (moneyless with a slang)
Whatever it is, I'm left with only $5
& I owe Jason(UNSW) $3, for bubble tea.

OH YARR! bubble tea here is bloody 3 bucks for a small cup.
BUT IT'S DAMN DAMN GOOD! Serious! I don't lie.

So, I'm left with AUD2 for like say 5 more days?
Because, I just went to the bank today
to get them send me a new key card.
It's going to take them 5 WORKING DAYS to send over.
OMFG! I sooooo wanna faint.

Guess what I just had for dinner.
Cold plain rice with sesame oil, soya sauce and COLD PASTA SAUCE!
Everything taste blood good when you're hungry
So true.
I'll die for a piece of bread now =/

FYI, not that New South Wales is not a good place to live in.
(for people that might not have been here)
It's just that, the feeling of being alone and restricted sucks.
You cannot do anything at all!

I'm so going to gorge when Gawin comes over.
Maybe I should paste a recipe of my awefully good tasting rice.

recipe:
rice x 5 scoops
chicken - a couple of pieces?
potatoes - a couple of pieces?
soya sauce - add until got colour
ginger x 2 slices

cook rice till the rice cooker flick to warm
scoop a bowl of rice
put alot alot of sesame oil
& soya sauce to your liking
end off with a spoon of bolognise pasta sauce
(:

Turning mental

Since I didn't want to wait a whole month to try it out, I made a quick lunch with items I found in our fridge, and ate it all. I'm very full now, because I'd just eaten breakfast an hour before.

Well, here's the pictures!

react negatively to a culinary tradition other than their own by saying 'yuk'.

So if a child doesn't like spicy food, as they tend not to given the strong taste, they might be on the watch list as a future racist that needs brainwashing to eat curry? Crazy. I love curry, I don't favour mass immigration, will this confuse the racist hunters?

But maybe my dislike of Brussel Sprouts was in fact an early sign of my EUscepticism!

Now, my mother is insisting on giving a chunk of cash (this thing is going to cost under $10,000, but still she insists on helping), but with the caveat that she gets to veto every decision I try to make. Apparently, one of those decisions is whether or not I'm taking her money, so she basically has taken control of my wedding. I'm used to this behavior. 

My point here is that I'd love to be able to do as much of the food myself. My fiancé and I don't want an actual, formal sit-down meal, but instead would prefer an hors d'oeuvre buffet. We're not really fans of large groups of people, and feel that a sit-down meal is awkward and forced. My mother says that we, "have to feed people if they come to a wedding," and has decided that this is an unacceptable way of feeding people. Basically, my task is to prove to her that this is a viable, and socially acceptable method of putting food into people's bodies, so as to convince her that no one will judge the event for being tacky or cheap. I'm sure that's all she's worried about. I should tell her I imported white truffles and will be sprinkling that over the fois gras, as well as gold leafing the cake. 

So, my question is more or less, would this sort of hors d'oeuvre buffet be plausible? Has anyone been to a similar wedding? How did it turn out?

"Il riso OGM scovato nel birrificio della Budweiser è il Bayer LL601. Una delle varietà che nel 2006 hanno contaminato gli stock di riso degli Usa. Da allora, la contaminazione è stata rilevata in circa il 30 per cento degli stock Usa. E ha provocato un impatto estremamente negativo sull'industria statunitense del riso: il riso transgenico non era autorizzato, provocando la chiusura dei mercati esteri."

Parmigiano ReggiAno:

Pesticidi fatti su misura per gli OGM, OGM fatti con il Diritto d'autore... che beghe!

Le solite multinazionali, i soliti interessi, la solita gente che che compra le cose a caso, sto diventando paranoico...? Il dubbio sorge sempre in questi casi, ma alla fine non possiamo stare sempre con il magone ed il pensiero che tutto va male, con la preoccupazione che dobbiamo fare qualcosa anche noi magari comprando con un minimo di attenzione, per non renderci partecipi di questo sfacelo.

Ma poi, con tutto quello che abbiamo da fare! Chi ha tempo di fare attenzione a cosa compra e a cosa mangia? Ma poi, è solo un ipotesi! Chi lo dice che questo filmato non ci racconti frottole, e chi ha tempo e voglia di approfondire... io ora penso solo ad andare in vacanza! olè! :D Basta ho deciso, nel dubbio scelgo la possibilità più meglio: è tutta una cazzata!

Stiamo bene così, non ha senso preoccuparci e comunque anche se fosse, il nostro apporto con una spesa più attenta probabilmente sarebbe inutile. Quandi non ce pensiamo e dormiremo sogni tranquilli.

Nel frattempo viva alla Toscana e alla roba genuina e biologica! :P

How many times have you seen the movie Forest Gump? How well do you know the story? How about the details? Well, if you ever go to Bubba Gump's for lunch, you better bone up on your Gump trivia. As soon as we sat down our waiter pounced on us with "What were the name of Forest's friends? What sports were played in the movie? What actress played his mother?..." All we wanted was to read the menu.
Here's another thing. If you are trying to eat clean, Bubba's is not the place to go. Almost every item on the menu was fried-fried-fried. Either that or it was drowning in mayo and disguised as a "salad." The healthiest thing on the menu didn't even have shrimp in it and sounded incredibly boring and tastless (I don't even remember what was in it except the main ingredient was "iceburg lettuce") so I went for the only nonfried, nonmayo'ed shrimp dish - the dipping pot. Crusty bread (white) and sweet, nutty Jasmine rice served with a pot of steaming hot shrimp "soup." The shrimp were swimming in a stew of butter, garlic, fresh herbs, and seafood broth. The concept of the dish was to have fun with this very interactive meal. I needed to fish out the shrimp from the broth and eat it with a scoop of rice. The bread was for the dipping pot. Very entertaining.
When the meal was first placed in front of me I was impressed with its presentation. So much so that I took the above picture. What I didn't know was that the lid to the "soup" was roasting hot. As I was innocently snapping my pic our flamboyant waiter approached and demanded to know who brought us our meals. Guy or girl? he snapped? Red shirt or blue? Bewildered, we told him what we knew and without another word took a dishtowel to remove the lid of my pot. "Seriously hot" he snarled as he walked away. Woah. We all looked at the pot in amazement. That would have hurt. Seriously. I snapped another picture.

Anyway, I tried quite a number of them in China. Below is a picture of a stick of squid-- very nice on a rainy day.

Roadside stall

A more permanent fixture

There are words in my vocabulary that tell just as well as my accent that I am a New Zealander.  I thought I knew them all.  Chilly bin, jandals, dairy, and bach are some of those words.  Today, while I was chatting to some friends I discovered a new word.  

It was when I told my friends that I had a pottle of chips for lunch on Saturday.  They looked at me blankly and I said "I know, I know, chips for lunch, horrible aye?"  But, they said "POTTLE, what's a POTTLE?"  And I said "What do you mean, what's a pottle?"  Then they said "God you're weird, pottle's another one of those New Zealand words like chilly bin isn't it?  What is it?"  I said "I can't believe you don't know the word pottle!"  But, I explained to them that a pottle is a small, round, cardboard container and agreed that it must be another one of those New Zealand words.

When I got home tonight I told Eddie that Australians don't use the word pottle, like it was a strange thing.  Eddie looked at me sideways and said "POTTLE, who uses the word pottle." I said "you're kidding me right?"  And he said "No, nobody uses the word pottle."  And I said "But, I use the word pottle... and I'm sure there must be other people that use it too..."  And he said "...That's 'cause you're a South Islander." 

I'm not sure on that last point.  The part about only South Islanders using the word pottle, but I do know that when I did a quick google search for "pottle of chips" there were only 14 results and they looked to be mainly from New Zealand websites.  So, now when you hear someone asking for a pottle of chips you'll know they want those chips in a small, round, cardboard container and you can be fairly sure they're from New Zealand.

Saturday, after spending a criminally long time in bed, we drove over to Yarraville to meet up with one of my mates from work who lives over there. She promised to show us around and give us a tour of the area, and she delivered on every front. Yarraville seemed like just what we're after, being charming, small and having none of the increasingly annoying hordes of visitors that come to St Kilda every weekend and inhibit your daily goings on. Lots of nice little coffee shops, a big pub on the corner, butchers and bakers, 2 supermarkets and an old art deco cinema. The surrounding areas were a mixed bag. Kingsville and Seddon are close enough to Yarraville to be a walk away, and are both nice too. Footscray seemed a bit run down, but no more so than the arse end of Wolverhampton or Birmingham. My mate took us to a couple of big parks in the area too, which were amazing. One park had a lovely little pond and stream running through the middle of it, and if it werent for the cockatoo's screeching, you could almost imagine it being a summers day out in the country in the UK. The other park was massive! It was an old quarry which has now been partially filled and is a lake, while the rest is kinda forest-ey full of mad giant water fowl, that are probably venomous or something! Anway, overall, were totally sold on moving over there, and are looking at houses to book house inspections for on the weekend, nearly all of which are old weatherboard style houses with ornate ironmongery on the frontage, and picket fences around the front garden. Like our own little fairytale house! Cant wait!

As for stuff going on this week, theres not much really. Were off to see a doublebill at an old arthouse style little cinema on Thursday (Ironman & Spiderwick Chronicles) and Id like to see Hancock and Speed Racer at some point. Rock Band is still thrilling me with the download content, and it seems like Im finally starting to get the hang of that damn tricky 5th button! GTA is still keeping me going with stunt jumps and pigeons aplenty to be found, and BF: Bad Company is great, but its really intense, so I wont allow myself to play it too close to bed  time as Im wired afterwards! 

Macbook Air bargains on Ebay seem to have dried up, and Im toying with waiting a bit and holding out for a Macbook Pro. There are rumours of a case redesign floating around today, so Im hoping its not too far away. I dont really need the power of a Macbook Pro, but it would be good to compare the MBA against. We'll see. Im spending more time having a lie in on the net rather than with a book, so a light mac would help. Speaking of net stuff, if youre an internet nerd like me, have a butchers at this and see how many your recognise. Good song too!

Anyway, thats it for now. Im gonna get off to watch the last Dr Who and Youve Been Framed. T'raaaaa a bit!

The Marijuana Conspiracy pt2

The Marijuana Conspiracy pt 3 pt3

Here's a nice and simple variation on grilled pizza:

Grilled Pizza with Pesto and Tomatoes

Enough Pizza dough for one 12 inch pizza of your choice (EZ Grill Bread would be nice)

1 cup freshly made pesto

1 tomato, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated

Build a fire in your charcoal grill.  This recipes assumes a 22-inch kettle style grill.  Adjust your grilling technique accordingly for other types of grills.  (Apologies to gas grill owners, I don’t own one so I can’t give any advice as to how this would be done on a gas grill.)  When the coals are ready, bank them off to one side of the grill, leaving one side completely coal-free.  Let the fire go until it is medium (you can hold your hand above the coals for 4 to 5 seconds). 

Brush one side of the dough with olive oil.  Place two rounds of dough (oil side down) over the coals and cook just until toasted.  This shouldn’t take more than 2 minutes.  While it cooks, brush the other side of the bread with olive oil.  Watch it carefully as it goes from perfect to burnt pretty quickly.  Then flip the bread over and add the toppings.  Start with a layer of pesto and then layer on the tomato and red onion.  Finish with the Parmesan cheese.  When the other side is toasted, move the pizzas to the cold side of the grill and clamp on the lid.  Cook about 3-4 minutes or until the cheese has almost completely melted.  Remove from the grill.  Cut and serve immediately. 

I've been feeling pretty laid-back these days, not really baking much but just simply whipping some simple meals for myself. One of the easiest and fastest meal that I always like to prepare is Rosti.

Number one: it has my favourite ingredients and spices inside - potato, egg and black pepper (mine is an egg-variation). Number two: variations can be made VERY easily. Number three: it's filling and VERY easy to make.

To whip up this simple dish, get a medium-sized potato and an egg per person. Peel and slice the potatoes into very thin strips of thickness less than 5mm (just try to slice them as thin as possible - the potatoes will then be cooked much faster). Heat a little oil (I used olive oil) in a non-stick pan. Fry the potato strips in oil until they are softened and almost cooked through and season with salt and black pepper. Using a pair of chopsticks or spatula, shape the potato strips into a doughnut shape, leaving a hole in the centre. Crack the egg in the centre of the egg and break the yolk if desired. Spread the egg white around the potato strips to hold all the potato strips together. Continue to cook until the egg is cooked. Serve immediately with ketchup or chilli sauce or with bacon rashers.

*If you want the potatoes to be crispy, slice the potatoes really thinly and fry them for a longer period.*

I've tried grating the potatoes before to see if it'll be faster, but it resulted in a very watery mash of potatoes. Hence the potatoes have to be thoroughly dried before grating or be squeezed dry after grating.

I'll be posting on two chocolate cookies as soon as I've transferred the photos from my digital camera to my notebook.

Till then! :)

This is my favorite kebab recipe.  It's a pretty simple concoction but the beef comes out so brightly flavored because of the lemon zest in the marinade.  The garlic adds a nice bit of punch and the mustard adds some depth and richness.  Here's the recipe:

Zesty Beef Kebabs

1 1/2 lbs beef, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

2 T vegetable oil

1 T red wine vinegar

2 tsp dijon

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Mix together all ingredients, except the beef, in a gallon sized resealable plastic bag.  Add the beef to the bag, seal, and then use your hands to massage the marinade so that it covers the beef.  Place the bag in the refrigerator. 

Meanwhile prepare a hot grill.  When hot, skewer the beef on skewers, leaving about 1/2 an inch of space between each chunk.  Grill, turning occasionally, until cooked to your desired level of doneness.  Serve immediately.

So, when I say a hot grill, I mean something along these lines:

I think the charcoal chimney is a perfect method of cooking kebabs.  They're small, so they cook really quickly.  Yet, part of the appeal of grilled food is just a bit of char and to get that, when things cook quickly, you really need to turn up the heat.  Hence, the chimney. 

One note:  It is a good idea to use metal skewers for this dish, especially if using the charcoal chimney method.  Bamboo skewers really tend to burn pretty quickly at that level of heat and they will fall apart, especially if you forget to soak them in water (like a certian chef did).  Enjoy!

My parents are spa crazy and since Chiang Mai offers a good variety of spas, we set them up to go to Oasis Spa yesterday. Even the most expensive package there, The King/Queen of the Oasis was 3,900 Baht, a nice reprieve for my dad who has been paying Banyan Tree prices. According to them, the therapists were very accommodating and skilled. Due to both my parents being riddled with back injuries, they requested that the therapist skip the 10 minutes of Thai massage and it was replaced with a further 10 minutes of aromatic massage. The therapist also customized the massage to suit their body needs. So all in all, the Oasis Spa is not a bad place to try out. They have three outlets in Chiang Mai and two in Bangkok. And the compounds are very, very pretty and serene.

We also went for dinner at a place called Fine Restaurant last night. Nobody had any idea if it was as its name said 'Fine Restaurant', but we were starving. Turned out, the food there was pretty good. In fact, it was awesome. We had Tom Kha Kai, the coconut and galangal chicken soup, Northern Pork Curry, Prawn fritters, Prawn Canapes, Tub Tin Fried Fish and Fried River Prawns with Garlic and Chili. All brilliant and extremely fresh, with the Tom Kha Kai being the spiciest I've tasted in Chiang Mai so far. Pity they didn't have Yum Pla Dook Foo though.

We tried to take my parents to the Tapae walking streets after dinner. They got to see the VW bus that sold coffee and a few other cool stuff, then it started POURING. Absolutely POURING. And we had to run 3/4 the way through the city to get to Wat Phra Sing where our car was parked. If we keep that up, I'll be able to run a marathon soon.

Tonight, I'm gonna enjoy being 21 for the last time. We're gonna go to Duke's for steaks. Yum, meat!

Normally, how we cook the instant noodles is to put the noodles into a pot with water, throw in the powder and let it cook for around 3 minutes and then it's ready to eat.
Biasanya, kita memasak mi instan dengan menyimpan mi ke dalam panci berisi air, masukkan bumbu masak hingga 3 menit dan siap dimakan.

This is the WRONG method of cooking the instant noodles.
Ini adalah cara yang SALAH untuk memasak mi.

By doing this, when we actually boil the ingredients in the powder, normally with MSG, it will change the molecular structures of the MSG causing it to be toxic.
Jika demikian, ketika kita mendidihkan bumbu, biasanya MSG, akan merubah struktur molekul MSG menjadi bersifat racun.

The other thing that you may or may not realize is that, the noodles are coated with wax and it will take around 4 to 5 days for the body to excrete the wax after you have taken the noodles.
Hal lain yang perlu diketahui, mi instan dilapisi lilin dan membutuhkan 4 sampai dengan 5 hari bagi tubuh untuk mengeluarkan lilin setelah kita menyantap mi instan.

CORRECT METHOD :
Cara yang benar:

1. Boil the noodles in a pot with water.
Rebus mi hingga mendidih
2. Once the noodles is cooked, take out the noodles, and throw away the water which contains wax.
Lalu tiriskan, dan buang air rebusan yang mengandung lilin
3. Boil another pot of water till boiling and put the noodles into the hot boiling water and then shut the fire.
Didihkan kembali air dalam kemudian masukkan mi ke dalam air yang mendidih, matikan api.
4. Only at this stage when the fire is off, and while the water is very hot, put the ingredient with the powder into the water, to make noodle soup.
Saat api telah dimatikan masukkan bumbu ke dalam air yang masih panas.
5. However, if you need dry noodles, take out the noodles and add the ingredient with the powder and toss it to get dry noodles.
Untuk memasak mi goreng, tiriskan mi kemudian campurkan dengan bumbu.

Just share this info and help save a life.

Referensi:

http://toefelus.blogspot.com/2008/01/botol-plastik-sate-udang-mi-instant-dan.html

http://www.mail-archive.com/balita-anda@balita-anda.com/msg99728.html

http://organisasi.org/nilai-kandungan-gizi-pada-mi-instan-indomie-supermi-sarimi-kare-pop-mie-mie-sedap-dll

http://naneen78.multiply.com/reviews/item/6

One evening last week i began watching Gordon Ramsey's F Word, not realising that i was about to view something that would test even the most fanatic of cheese fan's stomachs. Casu Marzu. If anyone asks you casually if you want Casu Marzu on your Spaghetti Bolognese think very carefully before giving an answer. That is unless you want to have Maggots crawling around over your plate. Casu Marzu literally means "rotten cheese" in Sardinian and is colloquially known as "Maggot cheese". It is considered a delicacy in that part of the world, something which i found very hard to comprehend, as i watched the cheese almost wriggle off the table.

Seeing something that seemed so strange being enjoyed by many people got me thinking about how food tastes differ between countries and cultures across the world. In England today it would be a great shock to open the menu and see monkey toes- deep fried, eaten off the bone, bats, or seal flipper pie. Nevertheless, these dishes are seen as the ultimate delicacy in some places. The thought of serving up fried cockroaches, reindeer blood dumplings, or dog would not cross my mind let alone dishes cooked with human breast milk or even placentas.

It can be incredibly easy to look at many of the different types of foods available and instantly regard them as "disgusting" or "inedible", even if we have not tasted them ourselves. It seems that food acts as a cultural marker, as people become accustomed to what they have grown up with- usually what is available to them. Therefore, anything that is not familiar, has never been part of life, or which has become renowned for being detestable seems too strange to consume. 

Many of my friends are from Zimbabwe and i have been continuously ridiculed by them about my favourite meal of Macaroni and Cheese. They used to be served it in their schools and told me that it was a very unpopular option, as they always wondered where the meat was or how fat and starch combined could be a healthy meal. The concept of me choosing to eat such a bland, meat free dish was incomprehensible. I could never really understand what was so wrong with my choice of food seeing as i had grown up with it being so popular and had never valued how easy it was to buy meat in comparison to Zimbabwe. However, my own disgust at the Casu Marzu helped me understand the idea that things can seem grotesque if you are not used to them, or can not understand the logic behind them. Interestingly, although i was so used to enjoying cheese, the concept of fly larvae feasting on a chunk at the same time as me literally turned my stomach. 

The Zimbabweans later told me a story which confirmed my belief that food, culture and familiarity go together. One of the things they commonly cook to accompany meat and vegetables, adding starch to the dish is Sadza. Sadza is the name of a cooked pulverized grain meal and is actually the stable food in Zimbabwe. I have eaten it and it simply tastes like thick porridge. Although fairly bland it makes a meal more filling and well balanced. However, a popular way to eat Sadza is with curdled milk. Living in England today a few of them still travel all the way to London to pick up some proper sour milk to add to their maize meal.

I could never imagine eating something which i automatically assume is sour and stodgy despite never having tasted it, yet i eat Macaroni and Cheese which has very similar ingredients- dairy and starch. On the other hand, the Zimbabweans ridicule my Macaroni Cheese, whether they have tried it or not, as many can not understand the concept. However, a plate of Sadza and curdled milk is delicious to them. Therefore, maybe we should be more accepting of what other people chose to eat, as whether we think so or not, we all have weird and wonderful dishes.

Want to check out the top 5 restaurants in Phoenix? Read through.

China Chilli, as the name suggests, is the best Chinese restaurant in Phoenix. It serves excellent food at a moderate price. The hot favorite among its diners are the Hot Braised Flounder, Kung Pao Calamari and Honey Walnut Prawns.

Fuddruckers Inc is known for their burgers. It serves grilled burgers made from freshly ground beef, turkey, salmon, and even ostrich sandwiched by homemade buns. You are allowed to select the toppings of your choice. It’s a kid friendly restaurant. The service is friendly and helpful.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House is the ultimate American restaurant for steak. A rare steak, which is served here, is the one topped with Asparagus, Crab Cakes, and Béarnaise Sauce. It offers personalized gift certificates which can be redeemed at any location in U.S or Canada. The service as well as the atmosphere is great.

The best Pizza restaurant in Phoenix is Pizzeria Bianco. The pizzas made here have been awarded the best pizzas in the entire United States. It would be a good idea to reserve your tables to avoid the lines. It has a great wine list and the popular pizzas include Margherita, Marinara and Biancoverde. The ambience and the service is great giving you a wonderful dining experience.

Los DOS Molinos is a Mexican restaurant with an authentic hacienda décor. It is preferred by diners who love spicy food like Burros, Enchiladas, Tamales and so on. It’s a non-smoking restaurant with a lot of parking space.

Don’t sit and smack your lips; just go for it.

• a dead rat in a glass case of actual rats - don't think they'd noticed him
• one of the actors threatening to kick R in the face if she continued to touch the door hatch - as we were waiting in line and getting impatient
• the 'hall' of mirrors - all turning so you couldn't tell where you were or what was mirror
• another actor as we arrived in her section asking for a break after this lot as she needed 'a poo'
• the boat ride through tunnels

From there we walked back to London Bridge station and decided to check out the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret. Unfortunately there were works going on, but it was still fascinating with heaps of old surgical tools and information, and we were able to see into the old female theatre - despite the scaffolding.

We got home in time to finish packing and jump in the car to head for the Eurostar station. Paris here we come! It was all very painless and we arrived in Paris a couple of hours later. We caught the metro to Ecole Militaire and our hotel was not far away. We checked in and then went out for dinner and a stroll. We found a brasserie and had a tasty meal, including steak tartare for L, and frites all round, bien sur.

After that we strolled a little and came to... the Eiffel Tower! Which was blue!! We also saw a lovely art nouveau doorway on our way to the park that leads up to the Tower. The grass of the park was covered with Frenchies out with picnics which I thought was nice - that they enjoy the area even though its such a big tourist draw. At about 11pm the twinkly lights came on which were just beautiful. After walking under it and lying in the grass to watch it, we went back to the hotel - a big day ahead.

Arriving at the train station ready to go to work is often an experience which can test many people's patience. The shock of a sudden rush of people makes it clear that the shower you had taken that morning did not wake you up properly. Dreams of being comfortably tucked up in bed are quickly disturbed by the realisation that your train is flashing delayed. Annoyed and with a frown you go over to the  worker in the bureau and ask for a ticket, only to discover the price of travel has increased yet again. Was it not just the other week the price had been raised?

Driving to work can be no easier than public transport. The car is sat outside your house and as you quickly finish breakfast and grab your bag you remember that yesterday the petrol light had come on just as you turned into your road. Rushing out of the house with a sigh you drive to the nearest petrol station to find that there has been another  increase in fuel prices. Carrying on down the road to the next garage you hope that the fuel costs will be significantly lower, only to be rapidly disappointed. There is nowhere cheaper and so the only option is to fill your tank and clear your wallet. The feeling of frustration rapidly builds up, your bank balance is worryingly low and images of 'final notice' bills run through your head.

The continuous increase of anxieties facing people every day can acount for the pessamistic outlooks of many. So much time is spent worrying that the positive elements in life can be dismissed entirely. This is a great shame, as it can be hard to recognize the extent to which your life has become charged with negativity. During July 2007 I decided to take a month out of my busy working schedule to go to Thailand. It had always  been a place I had wanted to visit for a different type of holiday and to find out why so many people referred to this country as "the land of smiles". Determined not to  only look around the main tourist areas I decided that for half of my trip I would go into the poorest, most rural places to live with a Hill Tribe family. My desire was to experience customs that were far from the life I had become accustomed to.  

Arriving in Bangkok airport, tired from a thirteen hour flight, carrying a heavy backpack I made my way to the exit. Confused by the value of the Thai Baht I  attempted to work out the best deal for a taxi to my hotel. As I arrived at my destination I payed the driver, only to later realise the charge was significantly overpriced. Fueled by adrenalin I put my bag in my room and headed out onto the bustling streets, taking rides in "Tuk Tuks" and visiting temples- unprepared to waste any time. This fast paced, action packed schedule was how my time was spent for the first two weeks of the trip, visiting every place that attracted my attention in various guide books. 

As I travelled from one place to the next I met very different people, from many places around the world. They all had there own reason for coming to Thailand. There were those who were embarking on a journey of self discovery, others who were unhappy back at home and a significant amount who had come for the adventure. It was clear that the traveling experience enthused a significant amount of people and I wondered how or if their experiences would change them in any way when they eventually went back to their home lives.

At this stage in my trip I was overwhelmed at the idea of being over the other side of the world and was fascinated by the cultural differences, however, i by no means considered myself to be like a lot of the other people I had met. The things I were viewing daily were all  part of  another culture. As far as I could see I was simply a tourist who would visit, look around and then leave with a little extra knowledge of how people different to me live. It was difficult to understand those people who spoke about having their eyes opened and  whose experiences had been life changing. Although I was traveling in a culturally diverse group for much of the time, it took a while to realise we were discovering things collectively and that my English origin should not stop me from learning and adopting ways of various cultures. 

Having had an extremely busy and often chaotic two weeks in the urban areas of Thailand including Bangkok, Ayutthaya and Chaing Mai, I was ready to trek out into the rural areas of Chiang Mai,  to meet the hill tribe family I would be staying with. The trek alone was an experience i would never forget. Led by an extremely thin guide, I tackled the jungle with a few other travelers. We faced steep inclines followed by challenging declines and unbearably hot temperatures. As the jungle cleared and the surrounding terrain turned into paddy fields, I realised we were entering inhabited land and I soon caught sight of a small arrangement of wooden huts nestled in the hills.

We followed the river until we reached the Hill Tribe village. My guide pointed his finger to two small wooden huts on stilts situated very close to each other. They were at a slight distance away from the rest of the houses in the village and surrounded by mud which seemed to cover the parts of ground that were not long grass. I soon realized this was where we were going to be staying. A mixture of dread, excitement and intrigue came over me as the family slowly appeared from a dark doorway in the hut. As we cautiously walked up the steps to greet them, we were met with big smiles. Two children came running out, both under the age of five, wearing mismatched clothes and no shoes. My eyes scanned the room and i quickly realized the whole family lived in this one single room.

The family were not able to speak any English but enthusiastically signaled to us that we could stay in the hut next door. As we were redirected up the stairs of our new place of residence, i saw that my bed was the bamboo floor and my duvet, a mosquito net. For the first time on the trip i felt alone and admittedly a little frightened within my new situation.

It was dusk and the room looked gloomy. For a moment i started to ask myself what i was doing there. Thoughts of home flashed in my mind and for the first time i felt home sick. However, I was immediately put at ease as soon as I realised that the Thai family were doing everything in their power to make us feel comfortable. The whole family were working together to meet and greet us, creating a hospitable and friendly atmosphere. 

Having been left alone for the best part of an hour to unpack, bathe in the river and just relax, i soon noticed that an array of appetizing aromas were coming from the hut of the family. Extremely curious I  went onto the balcony just as the man was climbing the steps up to our hut with a large steaming pot. The lady followed closely carrying bowls containing food of all different colors. Even the children were helping with one bowl at a time. It became clear how this family had created a whole array of dishes especially for us, all with such enthusiasm. I could not believe where all the food had come from, there were all types of vegetables including potatoes, carrots and pumpkins - all of which had been turned into a curry. 

The people of the Hill Tribe were living in very simple huts, wore no shoes and bathed in the river, however, despite all this, they were still smiling. Not only did they appear content living in such a small space altogether, but they were kind enough to let visitors into their life and were thrilled to share what they had. After the meal, the children danced and sang for our entertainment and we taught them songs in return.

Staying in this environment made me realize for the first time on my trip that I could learn invaluable lessons from this incredibly different culture. Life back in England is often spent worrying about financial issues, when more time should be spent with family or friends. The Hill Tribe people seemed to place great importance on the family unit and enjoyed spending as much time together as possible, which can be a rarity in such a high speed British society. The Hill Tribes do not have luxuries as we know them in the United Kingdom. For instance, I saw one car in the entire village and that was under repair. Yet everyone i met greeted me warmly with a big smile.

This part of my trip, without doubt taught me that we should value what we do have. We may face daily struggles, however, for the majority of UK Citizens hot water and electricity are easily accessible and are used without appreciation. Can we be ruled by negativity when our supermarkets are filled with a variety of foods and our beds are comfortable and warm? More attention should be placed on the enjoyable parts of life and we should recognise how some people do not have the basic comforts we take for granted.