Of riots, crack-downs and curfews

The situation in Bangkok is worsening by the day. The remaining red shirts are running havoc in the city. Is the surrender of the already-powerless red-shirt leaders the beginning of the end, or just the end of the beginning?

Since the surrender, we have seen 24 buildings torched, and good news to people who do not like the immense shopping frenzy in Bangkok, the second largest shopping mall in Asia has been burnt into a pile of useless charcoal on the verge of a complete collapse.

I guess it's not such a good time to start a business in Bangkok, and I can't help feeling dejected and frustrated while working away last night in my office while being involved in the first curfew in my life. I did not expect things to turn out this bad, but if the government is really using the curfew to do some long-awaited clearout, it could be a matter of days before things return to normal.

I have to thank my wife-to-be who has been here for the past 2 weeks, braving the storm with me and looking surprisingly relaxed despite the situation. Hats off to her, and for those who are wondering how we're coping amidst the riots and curfews (and seriously, we haven't seen for ourselves any bit of it since it started though we're here), here's a post to tell u.

This was Li Li's contribution to my office when she came, her oil painting which sits nicely behind my seat now, and when you thought that was her only forte in drawing, she churns out with a surprise within days of her arrival in Bangkok.

Water colour painting! Looks like we've got a budding artist on our hands. So versatile and talented right? I think we could open an art exhibition soon if this goes on.

Since there is no cooking facility in my home-office and the only possible area for a kitchen has been converted into additional warehouse space, I have gotten my hands on a new toy, a Zanussi oven!

In no time, our first oven baked dinner has appeared. If this picture looks confusing to you, it is actually baked pork belly with thai green chillis, sweet onions and tomato. Refreshing and yummy.

Another angle of this wholesome dish. I can prove to everyone that good well-balanced dinners can come out of just one baking tray, and if I saw the above picture in a restaurant menu, I would order it with no questions asked.

The curfew from 8pm to 6am was announced yesterday afternoon, and Li Li thought the oven would come in handy for us to manufacture our own warehouse of food in case anything else happens, and by 9pm, my messy desk looked like this.

Delicious sticky chewy chocolate chip cookies! I love my Zanussi.