The Bangkok International Film Festival 2006 has been organized by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) for 3 years. As it's been quite internationally successful for the former ones, so this year...here we go again - the event that all movie buffs have always longed for.

Anyways, the arrangement this year is quite different, seemingly worse - theatres, tickets, box offices, etc. All movies are shown only at Siam Paragon Cineplex and tickets are also available for booking there only. Things that really bother us this year are concerning these arrangements. First, the information provided on website "sucks" - unwell-prepared, as the movie schedule just came out about two days before the opening while the informations about box office has never been clear until the box office itself finally opened. My boyfriend, Dan, had to show up at Siam Paragon "everyday" from Tue 14th to Fri 17th the opening just trying to buy some tickets and he ended up getting nothing but some "useless" information. We also heard that a bunch of people also complained about this.

Second, some of the staffs are not very professionally well-trained. I respect those who "volunteer" to work for this event, but still the quality and their capacity of work should be able to be criticized though. It's sort of "international" event which all international, espacially bi-lingual staffs should be fully provided. I found they basically didn't have enough.

However, it doesn't seem to be perfectly bad at all. Some good things we still can find in BFF2006 are definitely "movies" themselves. This year there're still a lot of interesting movies in various categories as well. So we could at least still enjoy the movies around. Also we're quite thankful to some staffs for how they take care of us, well...as we're understood as sort of foreign press, but anyways...I really appreciate that lady who led our way into the theatre since we lost our tickets for that show.

Alright...then, I think that's about it.

So....from now, it's time to enjoy our favourite kind of Arts, MOVIESSSSS! :)

We decided to watch the whole series just hoping to find some "references" about this kinda stuffs. Of course we cannot compare the situation in the movie to others. Anyways, I still find how it can be quite interesting - particularly about "the circle of trust" which was mentioned by De Niro's character, Jack the father. It's interesting how we mean of "trust" and "be honest" to each other. On the father's side - he was right to initially prefer an honest guy, but on the other hand, thinking that some truths about his life might not impress his future father-in-law, Greg (or Gaylord Focker - Ben Stiller) decided not to tell him. Whose side are we on then? I guess they're both understood by the audiences while that kind of understanding never happened between themselves. Anyways, the father ended up purposing Greg for his daughter's sake and finally seemed to surrender just because of the love for his daughter. It was a happy ending - but I kinda don't believe that it would be that easy in real life, so it was not finished yet until they met again in "Meet the Fockers".

I kinda could see myself as like the Fockers, rather be sincere and honest enough to reveal what kind of person I am. But in the meantime, the Forcker parents were too much opened in some ways - and that's something I'm not like them. This time, Jack the father still drove the story by screwing up some more as he hadn't really accepted Greg to be in his "circle" yet. But at the end, by holding on to such a thought, again that he failed and found himself was actually out of the circle. Anyways, they could work out and things were finally clarified, happily ending as a normal comedy.

Yes, I got entertained and some laughs. But if turning this story back to our lives, I find it's truely stressful in some ways. How much effort would you have to take - not only just to win someone's heart, but also that person's rellies'? Would you be able to take that kind of situation and deal with it easily? I wouldn't answer that....

Coz "the One" above always knows that - even better than I do....

Well...nothing much to explain, just enjoy her small gallery and see how adorable she is!

Is that called LOVE
That draws so many smiles
Is that called LOVE
That causes many people cry
What LOVE really is...
Still never known nor understood

Is that called LOVE
That creates all things
Is that called LOVE
That sweeps away all things,
And hurts all hearts,
Destroys everything all gone...

**[Translated from "Kue-Kwam-Rak-Chai-Mai"
GMM Grammy PCL., Thailand]**

Though I love being somewhat "being fashionable" myself, it doesn't mean that the event would excite me so much that I would never leave it until the end. It was my boyfriend, Dan, who "got stuck" to photo shooting for his UNIFEM project. I looked at him working energetically, feeling tired myself and wishing we would take a break soon, I still couldn't stop being proud of what he was passionately doing anyways.

Not sure whether it was "lucky" or "tricky" of us to get access through all the shows being registered as an international media! Fortunately, we talked in English all the time although we both don't have a western look at all and the organizer including service teams also were very nice. We really appreciated that they were not so questioning for who we are or where we're from, thus they were supporting and taking a very good care of us.

On Saturday evening, I got into the Fashion Dome watching the "live" catwalk show for the first time of my life. It was a show of "Tube's Gallery"- the most funky and flashy show of the event I got to watch, with a retro concept collection. We ended up at a show by "Kiti's Jewelry" back in Super Catwalk, Pinary Hall, which wasn't very exciting for me even I personally love accessories, but I have to say that their stuffs are not really my type.

On Sunday after church, we headed back there again hopefully to attend to just a couple of interesting shows. But we were even more fortunate not only to get the badges for all the shows, but to get the back-stage access of "Kai Boutique" watching its sort of "behind the scene"! While all the models walking by, dressing up, posting rehearsal, chatting, taking their own photos, reading newspaper, I found it was quite chaos in there and started to get bored but Dan looked really enjoyed still, shooting continuously, and didn't seem to stop.

Dan even kept going for more back-stage thing by asking a team work guy to get us into another show, and we got it. "Sweet!", he said. So we got into Medium Rare's back-stage where they were preparing for a Red-Indian theme collection show. It was quite interesting but really packed and busy that I had to leave before Dan got kicked off a short while after that as they were starting the show. We still took photos around the area until quite last minute then left the event to return the lens and headed for a foot massage at Health Land Spa.

Looks like it was a good exciting experience - getting to see things I've never think I'd get to see and not everybody can easily have a chance for that either. I saw a bunch of well-known celebrities, models, actors and actresses or Hi-so people greeting each other, chatting, taking photos and stuffs. Well, you might think how delighted or excited I was feeling. But I'll say "Not at all"- I actually felt quite weak watching those scenes in front of me. I don't know why but guess I might be too tired standing, walking around, and hardly got to sit down anywhere.

The only one thing that could really interest me was the fashion trade area including the exhibition zone. Hehehe, I still can't stop shopping for clothes - but in the meantime, I try not to be "stuck" to it as Dan always says "dear, you really got stuck with clothes! oh..." Yeep, you may be right, dear, but trust me - I'm not gonna be like that, at least for good :p

I love fashion but it made me feel so weak over the last weekend, feeling also worried of my Chinese hand-writing homework which hasn't been done for almost 2 weeks. I wonder if other people would feel like I did - in some ways. Anyways, maybe this is how I feel more grown to pick up something more valuable for me.

Coz right now, my Chinese and spiritual studies are more important than anything, and that will never make me weak but grow strongly.

After cancelling a trip to Similan due to the tragic Tsunami early this year, we ended up buying a special package at Thailand Travel Expo (thanks to T.A.T., the Tourism Authority of Thailand for organizing that event) for our first trip down south. Well, it might not be very cheap but it was "the least" expensive, though. :)

We finally chose to go for The Tubkaak Boutique Resort's package, which I can say was "terrific" and really "worth buying"! We were very impressed by their well-organized and warm service. Believe it or not?! Just go check it out by yourself!

*Sunset at The Tubkaak

A vacation for a working person seems to be much shorter than usual (in my opinion at least). Looking back to the time when we were students, taking a 2-3 week vacation during school holidays wasn't such a big deal, while asking for only "one" day leave might be troublesome, as it took my boss quite a while to think it over before he finally agreed to sign the leave request, hahaha.

Anyways, 3 days and 2 nights is not nothing. On our first day, we only hung out at the hotel, feeling kinda "Hi-So", 555. The next day, we took a one-day trip to Phi Phi Island including snorkeling among fish which nibbled on us, as they might think we're food.

*Talay-Waak* (Split Ocean) in the morning - the first stop of the trip, the tide is still somewhat high to see the “sand bridge” which splits the ocean.

Too bad that we were not allowed to visit Phi Phi Lay where "Ao Mayha" is located (Yeep, it's also a well-known scene in the Hollywood film The Beach). Due to the monsoon around the area that morning, we could only make it at Phi Phi Don. Ao Mayha is said to be unsurprisingly gorgeous as it's the furthest hideaway beach of the Phi Phi Island group. Well, I guess the further it is, the more difficult it is for people to get there, so hopefully the better condition it will remain.

Upon our first steps on Phi Phi Don, the remnants of the Tsunami’s damage immediately hit us. I couldn't believe that I was standing on the beach where many people lost their lives. With every step, I wondered if I might have been walking where somebody breathed their very last breath....

*Where I was standing taking this photo, it used to be a big resort but right now, only empty ground remains.

Heading into town, strolling into a small walking soi or street, the quiet island was full of foreign tourists while Thai tourists could hardly be seen. Excluding me, only the street shop sellers were Thai.

*Walking street on Phi Phi Don, seemingly the most crowded area.

One thing kind of interesting was that the mobile phone network there works just as well as in a big city like Bangkok! "Oh, very cool!!!" I was quite surprised and was stunned for a while until a lady seller caught my attention saying "Well, they've just set it all up recently. Before, we never had a mobile phone network. It was not until that sad disaster happened, then they thought we'd better get some phone networks for safety and convenience. How sad, as if we had it, we might not have ended up this bad when the tsunami occurred." I, feeling more stunned inward, couldn't say anything afterwards but "Oh, really?..."

With a whole day trip to Phi Phi and some small islands, I've found that travelling in the low season period isn't so bad as I had believed. On the other hand, it is "the best" time to vacation in terms of all the deals you can get, smaller crowds, cheapest stuffs and the best service. The only one thing that cannot be guaranteed is rain, as it's during the monsoon season and we can't tell how good or bad the weather will be. It’s kinda interesting how most people don’t take their vacations during the low-season because of the weather. While during the high season, the one good thing that is guaranteed is the weather...

Go ahead people! Wrestle for “resting” in the high season! But I'm not fighting with you guys – now I’m starting to like the low season more.

I couldn't take it anymore seeing my own webblog with an empty page, doh! -.-'

Oh well, having been super busy like this, I wish I would be able to arrange my schedule as productive as I could.

Ciao!!