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May 15th, 2012 Last month, I had the opportunity to visit Jakarta on business. I didn’t have any plans for Songkran (Thai New Year/Water Festival), so rather than just sitting around my apartment and wasting two vacation days, I asked my boss if it would be okay to work those days instead. His solution was a trip to our company’s office in Indonesia, and I didn’t object.
During my week-long trip, there were two aspects of Jakarta that really stuck out: the foliage and the food.
The hotel I stayed at was located on the corner of clover highway interchange and was in a complex with a couple of residential condos. Even though it was in the middle of the city, there were tons of big trees, something I rarely see in central Bangkok, as most of the large trees have been cut down to make space for new construction. Continue reading …
May 6th, 2012 
After reading The Hunger Games, I felt the need to read something that more closely aligned itself within the category of literature. (Yes, The Hunger Games was an entertaining read, but it won’t be winning a Newbery or Pulitzer.) Before coming to Bangkok, I made a rather long list of books that I wanted to read on the flight over, and, thanks to a wonderfully large, beautiful dose of Dramamine, I barely did any in-flight reading. FYI, for those who haven’t made that leg, the best way to cross the Pacific is asleep. In the last few months, I’ve slowly been working my way through that original list.
The Sense of an Ending is by no means a lengthy book, barely managing to straddle the novel/novella line, but what it lacks in quantity of content it makes up for in quality and substance. Julian Barnes does a wonderful job helping the reader understand the protagonist’s misgivings towards certain critical choices in his past as his curiosity compels him to reevaluate the events surrounding them. While the novel isn’t completely linear, it does not rely so heavily on flashbacks that the plot becomes incoherently garbled or diluted by context. I can’t write much more without spoiling the novel, but I will say that this novel will definitely make you reexamine the decisions you’ve made in your own life from a more cautious perspective.
The Sense of an Ending on Amazon (Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD)
March 20th, 2012 Dear Mom,
As you can see, I did learn something from those Saturday cleaning chores you gave me as a child.
Love,
Your son
     
Update: Added a picture of the guest room, as it appeared before I put my empty suitcases on the bed and stuck an ironing board in there.
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