One Christmas Ornament

I ran to the store to get the Shiba-ken calendar for 2025. I was late to do that this year, so I was a tad worried that it sold out. But there were two sets left. Whewww. I'm not too bothered about the other physical calendars. They'll come along when I see some funs ones.

I'm not bothered much about Christmas decorations. I don't mind Christmas wreaths, but I don't have a thing for trees. I also don't like knick-knacks clogging up shelf and table space — it's just an extension of me not liking decorative things at home. Glass and ceramic ornaments break. Ugh. To that, I don't store many Christmas decorations. They take up some much storage space. I'm certainly not having a box for it because I don't have extra room for them.

I finally stopped procrastinating and put up the scant few decorations I have, and those that don't annoy me. I don't have a habit of putting up Christmas decor at Thanksgiving, and just do them up on the first day of Advent. 

I kinda forgot about it but I found the 'glass' ball that N gifted to us. It's quite a cute thing. It uses a stock image, but it sort of works. I think people would hang it on Christmas trees, but since there's no tree at home, I will just hang it off the shelf bits and knobs. Oof.

Still At It — Pilates & Gyrotonic

While I don't mind home studios, sometimes they're not fully outfitted. So I appreciate the facilities of a commercial Pilates or Gyrotonic studio. When schedules change, I had to seek a new studio and re-set how I approach doing pilates regularly and consistently. 

The gym's reformer classes are insufficient for my needs. I prefer the intimacy of the attention of an instructor since she could totally spot my weaknesses and correct them. That's enormously helpful to my spine. There's mild scoliosis since my teens that has always been held at bay. I intend to keep that going as I age.  

I'm even more conscious about keeping up with the fitness levels. Just that on some days, I'm a little wistful that I hit plateaus a lot more because I don't have ski trips or hikes to train for to break up the monotony of the 365 days. I could, of course, but I've made a conscious decision not to ditch the dog. I have no big push to make any plans for a solo trip next year. I'll fly out to somewhere if I feel too stifled. That's the privilege I don't take for granted. So I never whine about not being able to travel. Moot point. Anyway.

I have no interest to experience debilitating perimenopausal musculoskeletal aches and its associated symptoms.  I was early to class that day at the Pilates studio. Since the studio doesn't mind, I decided to warm up on the Gyrotonic bench. I hadn't done anything that morning before class, so the muscles were a tad cold. The spirals stretched out the spine and warmed up the obliques. 

TEP Bar at Charoenkrung

Flew out to Krung Thep for 48 hours to see the friends for a quick bit. I'm always a tourist in Bangkok, but on this trip, I'm not a tourist, except for the staying in a hotel bit. 

I was going to stay outskirts at the motel nearer to their family homes, but they would be in town when I was there, so a hotel works. I didn't need to bunk in with the friends in their city apartment even. My preference is never to stay with friends even if it's for a night. Unless all I need is a hot shower and a quick sleep, and they have the space for me.

I ate easy and yummy six meals at very local restaurants. I had great filter coffee at local joints. I went to nowhere on TikTok or IG or Xiaohongshu popular lists. I did what I came here to do — reconnect with friends and check in with them after the passing of their 10-year-old dog. I know the dog too. It was all the more poignant because the dog passed on the same day as he was born, albeit 10 years later.

The friends insisted on taking me to TEP BAR. I was like... WHY. I don't need to go a bar! They said that I would love it. "We'll get you fried silkworms." They didn't tell me anything more about it and they told me not to google, and be pleasantly surprised. I tell you, only long-time friends could do this to me. They do know my preferences. I actually thought they're taking me to a metal gig. 

I could always hang out in bar, but I'm not a fan of cocktails. So none of these fancy bars or hip joints are memorable to me. However, TEP BAR left an impression. It has been around for nine years. It's very Thai and their IG posts and announcements are pretty much all in Thai. The best part — the live music bar hosts experimental Thai bands, and many of these bands play traditional Thai musical instruments and making new sounds to them. Which is awesome. So the new-to-me band tonight was Khamvisedth. I love their energy and enthusiasm tonight. Absolutely enjoyable! 

The best signage of the short trip came from tonight too, at the bar. LOLOLOL They wanted everyone to drink and party and have a good time, but FFS, hold your liquor well. NO PUKING. The bar is a tiny alley in hip Charoenkrung in Chinatown (Yaowarat), but this is not a get-drunk kind of place. They're not joking. I'm fairly sure that they would collected many 3500THB over the years. What a great way to pay the cleaning crew or add on bonuses for them. 

It's a very tiny bar and you gotta be comfortable with people knocking into you half the time you'd be there. I was like, whatever. Just don't bump me too hard or be rude. Also I had earplugs (as I always do), so I wasn't too bothered by the conversations or sounds. I could isolate the music, the conversation at my table, and focus on that. I also wisely avoided all award-winning cocktails made with Thai herbal liquor and stuck to gin all night.