Censorship - Stickers and Sharpies

How many times can my magazines be censored this month? 

Hint: much more than this (below).
These are just a few pages of about 30 or so that have been censored in the couple magazines I bought this month.

To be honest I find it more comical than annoying or intrusive as I wonder who sits in what office where with a black Sharpie and white stickers to cover offending female bits.

Below are pages from my Women's Health, Psychology Today and Marie Claire magazines.

Someone went through a lot of trouble to re-make almost the entire cover of the Psychology Today magazine on white sticker paper, and The Women's Health got more than a few layers of the white stickers to cover up that bikini bottom.

Below are examples of censorship of the black Sharpie variety.

Truth be told, this is nothing compared to Saudi where they draw on clothes and scratch out faces in pen.

On a side note, as I am not in the habit of buying children's books, but
did I mention that Disney's Piglet is banned in the Middle East?
I suppose it's understandable because he's pork right?
Sorry Piglet, no visa for you.
On some online forums, locals have said that the censorship of Piglet may be more to do with the sexual ambiguity of the character than because he's a pig (because he is pink Piglet is seen as a girl) and he (she) is naked... so poor Piglet gets Sharpied out of books along with breasts and bums.
By the way, anyone notice Pooh doesn't have any pants on? I'm guessing that's okay because he's a bear? or because he's a boy?

This post is brought to you by the letters "T & "A"

From One (Amazing Day) to Ten

I organized one very special day (with a team of talented people), while Ryan single-handedly organized the ten-day trip of a lifetime.

While everyone was having their mid-day coffees and nursing their hangovers over Sunday brunch after our wedding, we were already in JFK, as we made our way to the other side of the world for the kind of vacation dreams are made of. 

Two days later we landed in Bangkok and then Koh Samui, and took a boat ride to the island of Koh Phangan to our five star villa at the Santhiya Resort and Spa. 

Words can not describe the magic of this island and the amazing time we had there. 

Reception

View from the Spa.. we had Thai massages almost every day.

Rasta Baby - a cute beach bar next to the resort 

Our awesome villa, too big to fit into one photo with its waterfalls, huge grotto, orchid garden, outdoor shower and tub, bridge, separate living room, ..I could move in here.

Local fruit table at breakfast buffet at Chantara, Santhiya - yumm

Ang Thong's amazing snorkeling

Emerald Saltwater lake

Elephant trekking

Thing Nai Pang Yai beach

Dinner at the Seaside Bar at Santhiya - my favorite spot

Kohm Loy wishing lantern

Home Again via One Epic NYC Shopping Spree

Apologies for my absence. I have been --what else? Traveling.
I also got married again (see "Kuala Lumpur to meet the best man and how to avoid prison") so that explains my extended leave.

The countdown was on for our wedding day and I was back in Trinidad last month to get things rolling,.. and by 'get things rolling' I mean check in with my wedding planner, who has single-handedly organized everything while I lived the life out in the Middle East. I cannot imagine what I would have done without her except that it would have involved a lot of tears. (Laura Darwent Weddings).
Special thanks to my mum, dad, and my best girl-friends.
How do you plan a stress-free wedding? Surround yourself with these wonderful people.

So, what have I been up to in the last month and a bit?

We re-visited Kuala Lumpur.. for the pork of course.


We flew back to Doha from Malaysia and I left for New York three days later.

I met a famous 'Fugee on my flight this time. He walked up and down the first class aisles stretching his legs during our 13 hour flight. He introduced himself and took a seat next to me. He was friendly and down to earth. Poor fella, after chatting about Haiti, traveling, and visiting Qatar, I think I embarrassed him when I asked for his autograph,.. for my mum.



Mum met me in JFK hours later. We stuffed our bags into a cab and off we went on our week-long pre-wedding vacation in NYC.
Really, this trip was supposed to be all about the final fittings for my wedding dress and bringing the dress down to Trinidad, but let's be honest here: two women + New York = Plenty Shopping.
The buy-an-extra-suitcase-to-come-home kind of shopping.

We stayed at the gargantuan Marriott Marquis in Times Square in the heart of the Broadway theater district. The weather the week we were there was glorious. We shopped, we went sight-seeing, we took rickshaws, had nice brunches, dinners, went to the theater, picked up some last minute wedding things, and visited Kleinfeld several times to have my dress fitted within an inch of its life.

We went to see Billy Elliott. The Tony Award winning show did not disappoint. We left the theater and ran into (quite literally) Robin Williams who was exiting through the back door of his Broadway production next door, "Bengal Tiger at Baghdad Zoo." Mum wanted so badly to get his autograph on our playbill (from a totally different play), but I pretended I didn't hear her and did one better by getting her a great photo with her blackberry instead.

Twelve pairs of shoes, eight cocktail dresses, ten gym outfits (yeah- outfits), five bathing suits, two mother-of-the-bride evening gowns, eighteen wedding candles,... tops, bottoms, undies, nighties,.. things we needed, things we didn't...
Mum and I flew home to Trinidad one week later and 52 pounds heavier (if we're grossly underestimating). We had a fabulous mother-daughter-fun-filled trip. We were homeward bound and counting down the days to the big day.


I spent the few weeks home before the wedding having a great vacation with my friends and family. I wasted no time stressing about the wedding, and was happy and enjoying every valuable moment there.