NOTE: the last day of October is approaching and it occurred to me I should write something before the month ends.
Q and A
Q: Where have I been?
A: Having a few job interviews here and there, eventually decided to take a job offer from a decent design firm. My employment started a couple of days ago.
Q: My own business?
A: Still do it. Will do both at the same time until the business's strong enough I can do it full time.
Q: Life in general?
A: No fun. Getting back to work is not fun as I wished. In fact, it involves too many cups of coffee, stress, headaches, and long hours of dedication. I feel like I'm losing passion over those factors. Being independent for 7 months was boring BUT peaceful.
A: Life is full of surprise. I thought things'd get better after Tim and I landed a job. We both now have a decent job. But I haven't yet felt contented. Confusing.
A: LOST and not (yet) found
My passion. My willpower. And my sparkle eyes.
In case I don't have time to update anything next week, just want to give you a heads-up that Matt B. is arriving next Tuesday (Oct.30) I'll write about him when I have a chance next time.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Brand Building - Bean&Leaf
September 19, 2007
Part of my future plans is to build my own brand, which led to my current interest in developing a brand identity for domestic tea Market. Speaking of its taste, Thai tea is second to none. However, it's been a big disappointment after seeing a number of tea products in the Thai market, none of those has differentiated itself from its competition. Thai consumers still opt for well-known and/or imported brands because of its worldwide recognition. Bean&Leaf is created based on the need to refining tea packaging, and to creating brand identity that has equal standard to internationally well-known brands.
Below is some samples of Bean&Leaf tea package;
Let me know how you think about it. Would you pick them up from a shelf?
Herbal Tea packaged in a clear bottle. Ideally the plastic bottle
will be replaced by tin can.
Part of my future plans is to build my own brand, which led to my current interest in developing a brand identity for domestic tea Market. Speaking of its taste, Thai tea is second to none. However, it's been a big disappointment after seeing a number of tea products in the Thai market, none of those has differentiated itself from its competition. Thai consumers still opt for well-known and/or imported brands because of its worldwide recognition. Bean&Leaf is created based on the need to refining tea packaging, and to creating brand identity that has equal standard to internationally well-known brands.
Below is some samples of Bean&Leaf tea package;
Let me know how you think about it. Would you pick them up from a shelf?
Herbal Tea packaged in a clear bottle. Ideally the plastic bottle
will be replaced by tin can.
Friday, September 14, 2007
The good, The bad, and The ugly
September 13, 2007
The Bad
Three weeks ago, I got home late, one night, to find my dad lied unconscious in his bed. My sister, brother, and I tried to wake him up but he didn't seem to respond to our words. So we called an ambulance. After a preliminary diagnosis, the ER team immediately placed him in ICU. Dad was suffocating. His heart beat was 165 bpm that put him at risk for sudden cardiac arrest. That night, we had to go home because they didn't allow visitors to stay over in the ICU. By the second night, his condition worsened. He couldn't breath by himself so the physician team decided to intubate him. A nurse informed me about side effects of having a tube down his throat and inside his body. But that's the only choice we have. It wasn't pleasant experience to see him on a mechanical ventilation. I cried so hard that night.
My dad wasn't healthy to begin with. As far as I remember, he was always overweight. His obesity caused him several diseases including congestive heart failure, hypertension, and gout. Due to accumulation of fat in his trachea, his sleeping posture was merely sitting up. If he lied down, his trachea'd get pushed by the fat which let only small amount of O2 passing through his lungs, and causing him to suffocate.
The blood tests came back and confirmed he had lung infection or Pneumonia. It could be malignant in elderly people, specifically people who have congestive heart failure. The doctor tried to comfort our feelings but didn't make any promise on positive outcome. Most hospitalized patients had weaker immunity to fight diseases and were likely to develop onset diseases later on. On the forth day, a sign of his underlying mental issue emerged. His mouth and nose were covered with the O2 mask and intubation, yet tried to give us a sign language. He insisted he saw dark evils who were trying to kill him in a middle of the night. He seemed nervous about it, then asked us to stay over. After a visiting hour, he began to yell and pull out his intubation and IV that left the nurses no choice but re-intubating him, which consequently caused the bleeding and swelling in his trachea.
After a week, his lungs started to clear up and his physical condition recuperated,
However, not for his mind. His severe physical illness,later, developed Delirium - a condition of severe confusion and rapid changes in brain function. We decided to have him transferred out of the ICU and to a private room that we were able to stay with him. We took turn to stay up in order to watch him 24/7, and did everything to regain his memory. Our great effort started to pay off by the end of following week. He's starting to come back.
Now, dad's back home. He still needs special care so we got him a professional
caregiver. Over all, our lives are getting back to normal. Having too much stress
put me into getting sick, but I'm getting better as well.
The Good
• Tim and I accepted an offer from ExxonMobil to host its global Team Building Seminar held on September 12. The timing wasn't perfect due to my dad's situation but we tried to work it out. Considering our zombie condition, I was so grateful with the outcome. We got to meet 12 management attendees from the US, which gave us a little excitement.
• After doing a marketing research for 6 months, I've gotten familiar with Thai consumer behavior that, in turn, led me to the idea of opening my own business. Currently, I am in the process of forming a brand building company. If things go as I hope, it'd be launched by the end of year.
The Ugly
It's growing stronger inside me. It's the feelings I've been trying to reject. But now I have to admit it. I miss Chicago. I miss my life, my friends, and my work. I have to repeat myself over and over I've moved on. Thailand is my new home now. But deep down, I still think of it. Maybe this is life. We always yearn for something we don't have, and careless of what we already have.
The Bad
Three weeks ago, I got home late, one night, to find my dad lied unconscious in his bed. My sister, brother, and I tried to wake him up but he didn't seem to respond to our words. So we called an ambulance. After a preliminary diagnosis, the ER team immediately placed him in ICU. Dad was suffocating. His heart beat was 165 bpm that put him at risk for sudden cardiac arrest. That night, we had to go home because they didn't allow visitors to stay over in the ICU. By the second night, his condition worsened. He couldn't breath by himself so the physician team decided to intubate him. A nurse informed me about side effects of having a tube down his throat and inside his body. But that's the only choice we have. It wasn't pleasant experience to see him on a mechanical ventilation. I cried so hard that night.
My dad wasn't healthy to begin with. As far as I remember, he was always overweight. His obesity caused him several diseases including congestive heart failure, hypertension, and gout. Due to accumulation of fat in his trachea, his sleeping posture was merely sitting up. If he lied down, his trachea'd get pushed by the fat which let only small amount of O2 passing through his lungs, and causing him to suffocate.
The blood tests came back and confirmed he had lung infection or Pneumonia. It could be malignant in elderly people, specifically people who have congestive heart failure. The doctor tried to comfort our feelings but didn't make any promise on positive outcome. Most hospitalized patients had weaker immunity to fight diseases and were likely to develop onset diseases later on. On the forth day, a sign of his underlying mental issue emerged. His mouth and nose were covered with the O2 mask and intubation, yet tried to give us a sign language. He insisted he saw dark evils who were trying to kill him in a middle of the night. He seemed nervous about it, then asked us to stay over. After a visiting hour, he began to yell and pull out his intubation and IV that left the nurses no choice but re-intubating him, which consequently caused the bleeding and swelling in his trachea.
After a week, his lungs started to clear up and his physical condition recuperated,
However, not for his mind. His severe physical illness,later, developed Delirium - a condition of severe confusion and rapid changes in brain function. We decided to have him transferred out of the ICU and to a private room that we were able to stay with him. We took turn to stay up in order to watch him 24/7, and did everything to regain his memory. Our great effort started to pay off by the end of following week. He's starting to come back.
Now, dad's back home. He still needs special care so we got him a professional
caregiver. Over all, our lives are getting back to normal. Having too much stress
put me into getting sick, but I'm getting better as well.
The Good
• Tim and I accepted an offer from ExxonMobil to host its global Team Building Seminar held on September 12. The timing wasn't perfect due to my dad's situation but we tried to work it out. Considering our zombie condition, I was so grateful with the outcome. We got to meet 12 management attendees from the US, which gave us a little excitement.
• After doing a marketing research for 6 months, I've gotten familiar with Thai consumer behavior that, in turn, led me to the idea of opening my own business. Currently, I am in the process of forming a brand building company. If things go as I hope, it'd be launched by the end of year.
The Ugly
It's growing stronger inside me. It's the feelings I've been trying to reject. But now I have to admit it. I miss Chicago. I miss my life, my friends, and my work. I have to repeat myself over and over I've moved on. Thailand is my new home now. But deep down, I still think of it. Maybe this is life. We always yearn for something we don't have, and careless of what we already have.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Kenmore Home
August 11, 2007
My parents are stuff collectors. You'll never believe how their small house contains that much stuff. Most of which have seen its better days. Like a 20 year-old washer that's no longer served its function, and should have been eliminated years ago, is still sitting on a floor next to a brand-new washer they just purchased. One day, I offered to throw it away, just to get a big NO NO from my mom. The broken washer has sentimental value, said my parents. As far as I recalled, they never give up any of their possessions. They have at least a couple of identical items on their list such as 2 fridges, 2 washers, 3 TVs, 7 stereos, 6 DVD players, unlimited supply of dishware and cookware, 4 industrial sewing machines, over 300 pairs of shoes, 10 tables, roughly 40 boxes of magazines and books, and so forth. The house has been like a big storage full of stuff and has little room left to sit or walk.
Having to live in the storage/ish/ house growing up, I had aimed to have a minimal house, which won't have anything beyond the means. Minimalism inspiring has not only affect my Utopian dwelling, but also significantly influenced on my lifestyle and design work. My Zen philosophy is "messy house is messy mind" Messy house is depressing. And living in depressing environment will never do good to anyone, specifically people who need creativity on their every day lives.
Over the course of my presence in Chicago, I had made a few places home. But there was a place I have felt emotional attachment for. It's apartment we resided before moving back to Thailand. Took me three months to find it, and took me a fraction of minute to fall in love with it at first glance. I know right then this was it.
My search's complete.
The apartment has two bedrooms/bathrooms, which takes up a whole floor on a second floor of a 3-story brownstone building. As it's on a second floor, the room temperature remained at a comfortable level all year round. Adding to its charisma is original 1940s wood doors and mirror, in perfect condition, that the owner decided to keep during the renovation. The focal point of the place is a living room. It's a big room with high ceiling and giant windows exposed a luxury of natural light through a day. My favorite moment was when I opened a bedroom door to see the living room in the morning. Looking out the windows was like watching live painting by the nature. The light coming through windows in various angles at different time of day created intrigued dimensions to the room, especially while the sun's going down - my favorite moment of all.
Writing about the place takes me back to those beautiful days. I still remembered the day we're leaving for the airport. The empty room looked doleful in the morning sunlight, anticipating a couple who couldn't wait to move in the next couple of weeks. I looked around for the last time and said good bye to it. Promised myself that some day I will have my actual home, not a rented one. A home full of joy and gratification that will put my long journey to an end.
My parents are stuff collectors. You'll never believe how their small house contains that much stuff. Most of which have seen its better days. Like a 20 year-old washer that's no longer served its function, and should have been eliminated years ago, is still sitting on a floor next to a brand-new washer they just purchased. One day, I offered to throw it away, just to get a big NO NO from my mom. The broken washer has sentimental value, said my parents. As far as I recalled, they never give up any of their possessions. They have at least a couple of identical items on their list such as 2 fridges, 2 washers, 3 TVs, 7 stereos, 6 DVD players, unlimited supply of dishware and cookware, 4 industrial sewing machines, over 300 pairs of shoes, 10 tables, roughly 40 boxes of magazines and books, and so forth. The house has been like a big storage full of stuff and has little room left to sit or walk.
Having to live in the storage/ish/ house growing up, I had aimed to have a minimal house, which won't have anything beyond the means. Minimalism inspiring has not only affect my Utopian dwelling, but also significantly influenced on my lifestyle and design work. My Zen philosophy is "messy house is messy mind" Messy house is depressing. And living in depressing environment will never do good to anyone, specifically people who need creativity on their every day lives.
Over the course of my presence in Chicago, I had made a few places home. But there was a place I have felt emotional attachment for. It's apartment we resided before moving back to Thailand. Took me three months to find it, and took me a fraction of minute to fall in love with it at first glance. I know right then this was it.
My search's complete.
The apartment has two bedrooms/bathrooms, which takes up a whole floor on a second floor of a 3-story brownstone building. As it's on a second floor, the room temperature remained at a comfortable level all year round. Adding to its charisma is original 1940s wood doors and mirror, in perfect condition, that the owner decided to keep during the renovation. The focal point of the place is a living room. It's a big room with high ceiling and giant windows exposed a luxury of natural light through a day. My favorite moment was when I opened a bedroom door to see the living room in the morning. Looking out the windows was like watching live painting by the nature. The light coming through windows in various angles at different time of day created intrigued dimensions to the room, especially while the sun's going down - my favorite moment of all.
Writing about the place takes me back to those beautiful days. I still remembered the day we're leaving for the airport. The empty room looked doleful in the morning sunlight, anticipating a couple who couldn't wait to move in the next couple of weeks. I looked around for the last time and said good bye to it. Promised myself that some day I will have my actual home, not a rented one. A home full of joy and gratification that will put my long journey to an end.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Outshines the brightest stars
July 25, 2007
city of Ayutthaya
It's raining cats and dogs every day. (whenever I use the idiom, I always imagine the actual cats and dogs falling down from the sky. Perhaps, that'd explain why I've seen a lot of stray dogs and cats in BKK.) Good thing is the temperature has dropped to a comfortable level. I even feel chilled at nights. You may wonder how it could possibly happen to me who, back in Chicago, walked around in a tank-top and refused to have the heat on in my apartment during bitter sub-zero winters. I guess my tough skin's peeling off.
Not only the rain that's pouring down these days, but pedestrians also have to look up and watch out for alien objects that may fall from the sky. Remembered the news about scaffolding crashed down onto a car, killing three people, back in Chicago? It's happened here as well. But it's advertising billboards that came down on people. The disaster's caused by vigorous winds blowing over 30 MPH with heavy rainfall. According to law, the billboards're designed to withstand a maximum of 10 MPH wind capacity. (note: Bangkok is not a windy city, therefore 30 MPH brisk wind is pretty forceful.) Of course, the city said the incidents never occur before in its history. Now they have to revise the law. Nevertheless, with all the record-breaking disasters news happened around the world these days, if we connect the dots, we'd figure out what caused them. (need a hint?)
This week Mr. J came up to town from Koh Tao(Turtle Island) to pick up his girlfriend at the airport. He called Tim up to arrange our reunion.
(To refresh your memory, Mr. J is a friend of Tim from work and has been here for diving courses.) They planned to be in town for a few days. In stead of hanging around and repeating the same activities, I lured them into the out-of-town trip. Ayutthaya's only 86 km from BKK so a day trip is attainable.
The kingdom of Ayutthaya existed between 1350 and 1767 A.D. It's one of the most powerful cities in southeast Asia. In 1767 the city's destroyed by the Burmese army, and the ruins of the old city now form the Ayutthaya historic park, which's recognized internationally as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Most sites are within reasonable traveling distance of each other. The best way to travel around the historic sites is to rent a bike, which comes with a free map. To get better picture of the area, imagine a land in rectangular shape surrounded by the river. If you keep riding a bike along the river, you'll easily return to a starting point without getting lost. The ride's pleasant as the city's green and we could see the ruins from distance along a roadway. Some of the highlights included The Chao Sam Phraya National Museum, Wat Phra Si Sanphet, and Ancient Palace.
During the bike trip, we found a shortcut route to the other side of the city. We followed the trail through a park and through a narrow roadway built in a middle and along side of wild plants. And it's the ancient brick trail that caught my attention enough to cease my ride and take a closer look at it. It must have been built in Ayutthaya period, I thought. Then, walked further to discover a sign half-hidden behind a shurb that backed up my assumption. I looked at the trail and paused for a moment to pay respect to my ancients who, several hundred years back, had walked on the same road. It made me wonder what it's like to live in the most glorious period in the country's history. Were they grateful?
Ayutthaya has not only left us the evidence of once the most prosperous city, but also stories of our ancients who had given their lives in the war for the country and for the freedom their descendants'd have and be proud of. It's the freedom we've taken for granted.
The city'd left me something to think about that night.
city of Ayutthaya
It's raining cats and dogs every day. (whenever I use the idiom, I always imagine the actual cats and dogs falling down from the sky. Perhaps, that'd explain why I've seen a lot of stray dogs and cats in BKK.) Good thing is the temperature has dropped to a comfortable level. I even feel chilled at nights. You may wonder how it could possibly happen to me who, back in Chicago, walked around in a tank-top and refused to have the heat on in my apartment during bitter sub-zero winters. I guess my tough skin's peeling off.
Not only the rain that's pouring down these days, but pedestrians also have to look up and watch out for alien objects that may fall from the sky. Remembered the news about scaffolding crashed down onto a car, killing three people, back in Chicago? It's happened here as well. But it's advertising billboards that came down on people. The disaster's caused by vigorous winds blowing over 30 MPH with heavy rainfall. According to law, the billboards're designed to withstand a maximum of 10 MPH wind capacity. (note: Bangkok is not a windy city, therefore 30 MPH brisk wind is pretty forceful.) Of course, the city said the incidents never occur before in its history. Now they have to revise the law. Nevertheless, with all the record-breaking disasters news happened around the world these days, if we connect the dots, we'd figure out what caused them. (need a hint?)
This week Mr. J came up to town from Koh Tao(Turtle Island) to pick up his girlfriend at the airport. He called Tim up to arrange our reunion.
(To refresh your memory, Mr. J is a friend of Tim from work and has been here for diving courses.) They planned to be in town for a few days. In stead of hanging around and repeating the same activities, I lured them into the out-of-town trip. Ayutthaya's only 86 km from BKK so a day trip is attainable.
The kingdom of Ayutthaya existed between 1350 and 1767 A.D. It's one of the most powerful cities in southeast Asia. In 1767 the city's destroyed by the Burmese army, and the ruins of the old city now form the Ayutthaya historic park, which's recognized internationally as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Most sites are within reasonable traveling distance of each other. The best way to travel around the historic sites is to rent a bike, which comes with a free map. To get better picture of the area, imagine a land in rectangular shape surrounded by the river. If you keep riding a bike along the river, you'll easily return to a starting point without getting lost. The ride's pleasant as the city's green and we could see the ruins from distance along a roadway. Some of the highlights included The Chao Sam Phraya National Museum, Wat Phra Si Sanphet, and Ancient Palace.
During the bike trip, we found a shortcut route to the other side of the city. We followed the trail through a park and through a narrow roadway built in a middle and along side of wild plants. And it's the ancient brick trail that caught my attention enough to cease my ride and take a closer look at it. It must have been built in Ayutthaya period, I thought. Then, walked further to discover a sign half-hidden behind a shurb that backed up my assumption. I looked at the trail and paused for a moment to pay respect to my ancients who, several hundred years back, had walked on the same road. It made me wonder what it's like to live in the most glorious period in the country's history. Were they grateful?
Ayutthaya has not only left us the evidence of once the most prosperous city, but also stories of our ancients who had given their lives in the war for the country and for the freedom their descendants'd have and be proud of. It's the freedom we've taken for granted.
The city'd left me something to think about that night.
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