A very interesting article I read in TIME (Jan 14, 2008 edition) was the increase of miniature parks on rooftops in U.S. cities. According to the article and a BioScience paper, these rooftop parks can reduce heat loss from a building by 50%, reduce air-conditioning costs by 25% and reduce heat retention of 2°C called the ‘heat-island effect’. Now the heat loss is irrelevant for our metropolis since we certainly do not need heaters here! but -25% in air-con costs! There was a recommended air-con temperature setting of 25°C for energy saving somewhere but I can’t recall where I saw it.

I avoid Silom Road as if it were infested with the plague as I find it is too polluted, I only go there if it is absolutely necessary. In comparison, walking along the Siam shopping area in Bangkok and Orchard Road in Singapore, the buildings are equally modern, however the lack of ‘green’ and air quality is vastly different. Other differences such as annual rainfall of around 2300mm in Singapore and 1500mm in Bangkok, in Singapore they seem to have consistent rain over the year washing away the heat, whereas we have something more seasonal, further details can be found at worldclimate.com. Not a really good comparison due to population density and geographical location.

However, Bangkok Mayors over the past decade have been trying to gradually ‘green’ our city. The current one I hear has been creating parks wherever possible. Since there isn’t much space in Bangkok to add more foliage along the streets, the rooftop solution certainly is more viable than knocking out half the buildings in the CBD to make way for trees. I am unsure of what the BMA can do to implement a rooftop greening program but I will email them anyway.

The full article from TIME can also be found here.

What continues to slightly irritate me whenever I see one is the ‘simple knot’ also known as ‘the schoolboy knot’. This simple way of tying a neck tie just looks imbalanced! My father taught me how to tie the ‘simple knot’ on my first day of school as it is very SIMPLE. Regardless of it’s simplicity I find it still looks incomplete. This is all a personal opinion so I’ll behave like a child and say ‘whateva!’ if one wants to walk around looking unfinished then so be it.

The solution to this unsightly problem would be to learn how to tie something a bit more complicated. I was taught this knot a few months into school by a good friend of mine. The beauty of this knot is that, if taken off carefully, the shape of the knot can be retained, the ‘simple knot’ will easily collapse. I however, don’t suggest keeping the knot if you use an array of neck ties as it will ruin the material and shape. But for school kids that wear those slippery striped nylon ties go ahead! saves a bit of time in the morning. A brief mention on clip-on and pre-made ties… DISGUSTING!

Anyway, the knot I am referring to is the Windsor Knot. Now I only know how to tie a tie two different ways, this balanced triangle and that lopsided thing, there are many other balanced knots but here is an excellent video on Youtube from www.skikkogbruk.no, no idea what the original website is about since it is all in Norwegian.

Further research into tie knots, the Windsor Knot is more suitable for wide spread collars and the Half-Windsor knot can suit any type of collar due to it’s slightly smaller size. How to tie the Half-Windsor below from same website as before.

There is also a book by two Cambridge graduates who researched 85 different ways to tie a tie if you are that interested. Simple/four-in-hand knot photo at the top is by Keith S. Brown, initially I was hoping to find an image of the Windsor Knot on wikipedia, but the one currently posted certainly did not look like one to me! Unfortunate that Mr. Brown did not photograph a Windsor Knot.

At almost every kebab shop in Sydney had these delicious pastries consisting of paper thin sheets of dough filled with nuts (mainly pistachios or walnuts) and soaked in honey. Now the problem is finding it in Bangkok since Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food is not readily available or very popular here. The only place which seems to produce them would be Olive & Kebab Cafe at All Seasons Place on Wireless Road as the restaurant review at Bangkok Post describes “Greek-style puffs (two pieces for 55 baht; three for 75 baht). These plain looking appetisers looked like Indian samosas and Thai egg rolls but tasted absolutely different, if not a lot better.” So I assume the writer must be referring to the baklava. They have an outlet at Paragon however I didn’t see any there, will have to haul myself over to their main restaurant one day.

Since we are on the subject of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food. I have not been able to find a place which sells Turkish Pide, something that would always fill me up after a boring day of lectures. Spinach, cheese and salami filling! of course it was better than eating those squashed and petty excuses for a burger at McDonald’s. All pretty and wholesome on their menu board but when removed from packaging appears tossed around like a rugby ball and stepped on by a hippo. Back to the Turkish Pide/Pizza, consisted of the dough/pita bread base folded over various fillings and baked. A favourite of mine I’ve already mentioned, I suppose the spinach was healthy enough to balance out for all that grease! Regardless of its fatness I found it delicious, and with an annoyingly high metabolism it doesn’t matter that much.

I apologise to the people who consistently visit this page to read the randomness that I spew out. It’s been a busy month and thought it would be inappropriate for me to ramble on during the mourning period.

The pigeons are still around! I think this year I may have to resort to violence, even more disturbing is a crow came and perched on my balcony for a second then spluttered off the other day. But “no news is good news” although I would have hoped it killed a pigeon.

This year I have decided to be slightly more healthy researching various ‘at home’ exercise techniques with minimal equipment. A series of videos by a user called ‘expertvillage’ found in Youtube on exercise with dumbbells, so far I have noticed seem quite informative and useful, relatives have commented that I don’t appear so twiggy anymore, ok enough of that! Here is a video sample:

Now to continue on with the health topic, olive oil has been researched to be very healthy, the person with the longest recorded lifespan Jeanne Calment “reportedly attributed her longevity and relatively youthful appearance (for her age) to olive oil, which she said she poured on all her food and rubbed into her skin”. All of that info and image from wikipedia. Being odd as I am, have started putting it on everything also! even when the target dish is from a completely different continent. Initially it will taste strange together for example wonton noodles & olive oil! however only at home, it would be too eccentric to lug a bottle of olive oil every where I go.

The last time I sent a handwritten letter to someone was in 1995, then computers were installed at my school and we were introduced to the internet. The last time I wrote anything longer than half an A4 was in late 2003 for an exam! Anything else has just been scribbling down ragged notes.

With the global populace increasingly gaining access to computers and the internet, in say 30 years will written text only be found in calligraphy? As far as I am aware of, technology has not seemed to be that readily available when it comes to “handwriting & electronics”. When a premade PC is purchased ie. from HP or Dell, one is often supplied only with the machine, monitor, keyboard and mouse, nothing more. The PalmV several years ago had a method of writing on your pad which would automatically input into text, however I found the system quite flawed. One pretty much had to learn a new way to write in order for the text to input as intended.

There is also the graphics tablet that we see around, the small inexpensive ones are quite tedious to use due to it’s proportion in comparison to a computer screen. When graphics tablets are concerned, the size certainly does matter! Working with a small graphics tablet, one constantly looks back at the screen to ensure that you have drawn or written something that has not escaped the writing space. Some may get used to it with practice and have no need to check but I have not. Wacom which has often been suggested by my friends has tablets ranging from A6 to A3. Size of course associated with cost, an A3 tablet at SGD$1,049 can buy an entire PC in Bangkok excluding an LCD.

One could of course just purchase an interactive pen display however they do not seem multipurpose enough for home computer use. 15″ screen size is most likely too small for pleasant viewing of graphic work, movies, gaming etc. if one were to upgrade your monitor.

Regardless of it’s usefulness depending on size, the graphics tablet can be used as a mouse replacement, except for gaming and reportedly better for those who do not want or have Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). “This is because the use of computer mice tends to be very repetitive on the wrist, whereas operating a pen is more natural and tends to involve the movement of the entire arm” ~wikipedia

Logitech’s io™2 Digital Pen functions just like a physical writing utensil with ink. Personally have not tried one myself, but according to it’s description, “stores everything you put to paper for transfer to a PC, where it can be archived and opened in your favorite applications”.

Now back to the original intended jumbled purpose of this entry after I lost myself browsing within the world wide web. Even with all this technology to ease the continual use of the act of writing they still are not as readily available as the keyboard and mouse. Graphics tablets however, are apparently commonly used in conjunction with IMEs (Input Method Editor software) for writing Chinese, Japanese and Korean due to the method in which their characters are written. Software like that should be programmed for Thai and many other Asian scripts as characters in a word are written individually.

As for the quality and legibility of written script. My own handwriting has become abysmal due to lack of use. Papernalia.com has excellent tips on how to improve one’s writing. I do not know if it is just me but from my observation, our parents, more elderly teachers and people their age bracket and beyond often tend to have clearer handwriting. I am out of touch in seeing English written text but as for Thai. Are those born in the 70s till now, trying to look cute and writing commentary on a ‘Hello Kitty’ cartoon? It is disgusting! Could it be technology and the current education systems that are causing millennia of human invention to end in squiggles and blobs? I will show comparison samples the next time I post of this ‘cute handwriting plague’.

In Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand one should be able to find variations of the fried roti. When asking a Malaysian, they would most likely think you are asking about bread, as the word itself just means bread in the Malaysian language. However in Thailand it is commonly known as roti. For further details on the roti please visit this vast fountain of information known as wikipedia here.

If you haven’t tried one and don’t care about the fat factor I highly suggest the experience. Crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. The only remotely close equivalent would be crepes or pancakes. Here in Thailand they come in several forms, rolled up plain or with condensed milk and sugar or with a whole egg fried with the dough. In addition to those there is the option of having bananas folded into them or the mataba which is a roti with a curry and chicken type filling. The latter however are harder to find due to the time it takes to cook them. The roti guy near my house used to sell mataba but gave up due to the queues of buyers he would get during lunch and dinner. It took at least 5 minutes for the mataba to properly cook, the other variations take a lot less time, so it was probably more productive to just remove it from his menu.

A brief story of this roti hawker. Born on the Thai-Burmese border, has no birth certificate due to this, speaks Thai fluently, has been living with his Thai wife for over 5 years, sells roti from 3pm to midnight and pays taxes to the IRS. Now what intrigues me is, last year he was forced to pay a certain tax collector 100,000 baht and did this money even end up with the IRS? Surely he could not have made that much in roti sales to require 100,000 in income tax or fines. Furthermore, why is this very hard working person not offered any legal support for a birth certificate or citizenship when he pays money to some bureau! Amazing what one can find out from my busy-body housekeeper. Nevertheless, try a roti when you have the chance!

-Added promotional banner for ????????????? organisation in honour of His Majesty the King’s 80th Birthday celebrations.

-Joined amazon.com associate program.

-Added tools for viewers to browse products at amazon.com on my links page.

-Basic configuration and customisation of store store powered by amazon.com.

-Attempted to implement amazon powered shop with existing shop page.

The Golden Compass being released this month as a film by New Line Cinema starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, was originally a trilogy of fantasy novels called His Dark Materials by British author Philip Pullman, which have been subject to controversy amongst some Christian groups. Regardless of that! The Golden Compass was released in the United Kingdom under the title of Northern Lights I am not sure why it became The Golden Compass for it’s US version.

My brother suggested to read Northern Lights whilst I was on a vacation from university and of course being the rebellious sibling that I am, initially refused to do so. I cannot recall what happened but somehow I picked it up and could not put it down unless I was required to do basic necessities. Which is often the case when I do find a very appealing novel. Would be best not to bother searching for plot summaries as they often spoil the experience, which is why I have not mentioned much at all. Reading a book before or after viewing the film, to me, does not essentially ruin either, but rather provides more depth, understanding and entertainment. How one visualises a character and how a studio casts them is also intriguing.

Due to the controversy of the trilogy, several key themes were slightly altered in the upcoming film, however the changes may not be as obvious as Lady Arwen carrying Frodo to safety, we will have to wait and compare. If you do plan to read the book, amazon.com has a wide selection here or the complete trilogy in paperback or hardcover below.

A friend told me this morning, after reading my pigeon post that these pests can be ‘detonated’ by feeding them aspirin. Not that I want to try! However, out of curiosity I googled for ‘aspirin on pigeons’ and found this very amusing webpage at halfbakery.com discussing wild ideas on how to eradicate the creatures. Comments on the page say it is alka-seltzers which cause them to explode or calcium carbide can also be used.

I am also curious on the views of animal rights activists have in regards to the feral pigeon. On another note I recall one of my cousins calling me up one day, frantically telling me she was assaulted on a school outing whilst going through the Botanical Gardens in Sydney by a pigeon that left a splatter in her hair.