Booker blogs here too

Semester I done, another oh... 7 to go!

2012-01-11T12:48:00.002+08:00

Almost as soon as it started, my first semester's done! Lectures, assignments, presentations, study groups (yeah right!) and final exams all bungkus, ta pau, finished!

It's a relief, as it always is, since exams are over and done with, but scary, cause technically, I'm supposed to know stuff about the subjects I did in Sem 1, and judging from the hollow echos ringing in my sleep deprived head now.... I don't think so!

It was a bit of a roller coaster ride, you wait in anticipation, get on the ride, all smiles and anticipation. The wheels start rolling and you IMMEDIATELY regret it, screaming at anyone who will lend an ear "WHY THE HELL DID I DO THIS??!!" and then in a blink of an eye, it's over. And you walk away feeling kinda proud you had the guts to get into that machine in the first place.

Well, kinda feeling that now, except that, my roller coaster ride's a pretty long one, with several intermissions thrown in here and there. So yeayy! Exams are done, and it's semester break till after Chinese New Year :D, and then, *boxing ring bell striking* Round II begins...

So for the next month of so, life goes back to normal.

So excuse me peeps, I gotta decide what shade of pink my nails are going to sport this CNY....

For those in the know, I'll blog about my handphone... err... issues another time :D

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - Welcome 2012!

2011-12-29T15:48:00.002+08:00

There's nothing like buying a pair of killer heels, especially in my size! So got a pair yesterday and am already teetering all over Shah Alam in them. Okay, so they're almost 5 inch heels, peep-toe and tantalizingly sexy - IF I dont fall flat on my face that is.....

Anyways, just a short note to say "MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR" everyone! (and "everyone" on this blog means Phi, Buck, Yin and maybe Eric) so have a blessed 2012 and may it be a successful and happy year for us all!

Oh! For those who know about my studies, can you believe I'm on my final break before the finals???? So yeah! Pretty much 40% of the coursework in form of assignments and presentations etc are done. Yes, there were sleepless nights and early mornings, tonnes of coffee and plenty of curses, a million "WHY THE HELL DID I SIGN UP FOR THIS??!???!!!".

But it does feel like I blinked (and whined a lot) and suddenly, the 1st semester's ending. Suddenly it was the last lecture, and in a couple of days, final exams. Still a long way to go yet, I need 11 papers in all. CRAZY!!!!! But then again, I figured I must have been crazy when I signed up for this, so like begets like. *sigh*

Alrighty then, time to go teeter to the pantry for a hot drink.

Warm hugs to all!

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Buttercup

2011-10-30T15:20:00.003+08:00

It's the weekend. And here I am, sitting at the kitchen table, notes and such spread out, trying to type out a 10,000 word assignment.

So far, I've got "0", but oh well, at least I've started reading up on the thing... nevermind the looming deadline.... seriously... HELP!

But the reason I'm posting this, aside from tha fact that EVERYTHING else is suddenly so much more important than starting my assignment, (seriously, everything... like doing the laundry, or counting the pandan leaves in the garden) is to share with you my 8 inch high pillar of support.

When I'm studying, my dearest Buttercup sits with me.

When I'm bashing my brains out upstairs, she waits patiently, on her little rug at the foot of the stairs, looking up, waiting for me. "She doesn't move. She'll just sit there and stare up the stairs." says my sis.

*Be still my melting heart*

She's here now, under the kitchen table, sprawled on her belly, roasted piglet style, head on her front paws, content to simply keep me company. It's as if she knows how hard this is for me (rusted brains and all) and she is, in her own unique way, offering all the support she can muster.

I love my Cup-Cup.

I really, really do.

Ok, back to the hitting the books.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

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It's Been a While....

2011-10-17T14:54:00.002+08:00

You know when you begin a project that you thought was brilliant, had such hopes for it, thinking it'll be interesting and fun?

Well, I started one.

Thinking it'll be interesting.

Thinking it'll be fun.

2 weeks into the "Project", I sit, blankly staring at the space in front of me, listening to my own inner voice silently screaming in my ears "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!????!!!!??!!!"

*gulp*

It's been some time since I did this.

Give me grace, give me wisdom (although a little of this at the time of signing up for this Project would have been good - but let's look at glass half full here)...

God help me.

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Macaroons!

2011-06-23T12:56:00.006+08:00

ANYWAYS, I've gone and FINALLY tried my hand at making macaroons.

They have been eluding me for years now cause firstly, I never heard of them (in the early years) and then later, I turned my nose at them cause I felt "Cheh, just 2 biscuits with some filling squished in between them, WHO COULDNT DO THAT???"

That is until I found out that macaroons are the current rage and they are selling at RM4 per macaroon. Seriously. Those little neon coloured biscuits with some filling squished between them... 1.5 inch in diameter sell for more than what I'd pay for a bowl of mee hoon kueh! (not the kay-liow version with extra ikan bilis and fried onion - which would cost a bit more... but i digress).

So I tried making some. First attempt failed of course.... they rose and everything but didnt have any "feet" (*the ruffley edge running around the bottom of the macaron disc), and the surface cracked. badly. On top of that, I had followed the recipe to the T and it turned out tooth achingly-send-a-herd-of-elephants-into-diabetic-shock (hi Eric!) kinda sweet!

2nd attempt worked tho..... feet and everything. Managed to cut 60% of the sugar... wasn't very confident it'll work cause ALL the recipes warned, put motion sensors and plastered DANGER WARNING signs against messing with the recipes..... BUT ...... (as Austin Powers would say... "I like to live DANGEROUSLY...")

So i cut the sugar, piped the little macs and hoped for the best.

Curiously enough, made them in orange and pink. The orange ones rose, but without feet, but the pink ones... my NEON coloured pink ones (I was going for sweet pastel pink.. these food colouring thinggies really should come with better directions...) but anyways.... my neon pink ones rose, WITH FEET!!!!!!!!!

Oh the JOY!!!! Now I understand what these blogs mean when they talk about the "rush" they feel when a batch of macaroons turn out right... It's like you've performed.... (*Sleepless in Seatle pause for effect here) .... "MAGIC!"

So anyways, I immediately whipped up a batch of strawberry swiss meringue buttercream and sandwiched them precious pink discs together.

My sis tried it, and she, has shown her support by being straight up and almost BRUTAL in her honesty when it comes to my baking....

(Me : I think I'll bake a xxxx cake today! (*eyes shining with excitement, mind
already taking in the measurements and ingredients)

Sis : Please don't bake. I'll take you shopping, buy you anything you want, but
please don't bake...)

... actually said "WOW! Now THESE are macaroons!"

I take it that she approves.

Well anyway, neon pink or no, my little macaroons happened! And I was the happier for it.

Next project..... Salted Gula Melaka ice cream - No thanks to Eric, who MADE me (he litereally put a plastic tea spoon to my neck) try this after lunch the other day... and since then....the idea of making this has taken root in my brain and it won't go away till I have a big sloppy mess of cream, gula melaka and salt in my freezer!

Till next time!

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More Updates!

2011-06-02T12:18:00.004+08:00

This little beauty's getting better too...

My Buttercup :D

(and here we go again with the picture posting ritual... you know the drill... Pretend. Please...

Updates Updates Updates

2011-05-31T11:55:00.014+08:00

Contrary to one person's belief, my blog has not died.

I've just been busy, then lazy, then preoccupied, then lazy some more and then finally, finally got down to syncing my handphone pictures to this computer... it's been a while.

So, here's a picture update on what's been happenning.... since you know, my pics are kinda grainy and not rotated properly... but hey, at least the blog's alive :D

In no particular order ....

Ok. dunno what happened, but if you see a picture of a cake with purple rosettes on it, it's the cake I baked for my brother (#2) who FINALLY FINALLY got registered. It's his "You're FINALLY married, legally too! cake". Red Velvet with Vanilla Buttercream (cause cream cheese doesn't hold up that well in our weather, and this cake had to travel a bit).

And there are some wedding cupcakes too.... for firstly, my sister in law's mother insisted on a wedding dinner, which, when MY mum got wind of (my brother HAD to invite her to this one) had a lightbulb moment and *TING!* in turn, she TOO insisted on a wedding dinner, so we ended up having 2.

For my brother's luncheon (for it was so last minute, all the dinner slots were taken - ok, it may not ALL have been taken, but since he left it to me, my mum and my sis to plan this, I decided we'd try ONE restaurant (cause I liked the food there) and THEY were fully booked for dinner, hence the Sunday wedding luncheon.

And for the lunch, I made these babies... 113 of them, in 4 different flavours. Luck of the draw, even I couldnt tell which was which.... a hotch potch of Rum & Raisin cupcakes, Orange Poppyseed, Guinness Chocolate and Lemon Lavender.

(ok will try to post pics here.... they may of course pop up at any random spot on this post, but help me out here and pretend I posted them directly below this sentence k?)

(ok, am thinking they got plonked right at the beginning of the post, but like I said... help me out here.... )

Besides baking, other things happened too... but that's another conversation, for another time.

Till then, live happy everyone!

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Hanoi - "Oh My Buddha!"

2011-04-04T17:21:00.002+08:00

Just got back from Hanoi.

With 3 of the bestest travel buddies anyone could ask for! Thanks guys!

So part of the itinerary was a day trip to a place of great historical significance, with 2 temples, a big lake, and some truly picturesque landscape (ok, you guessed it, I’ve forgotten what that place is called… Hoa Le or Thuam Loc or something like that.....)

It was very pretty, and the weather was a cool low 20ies.

It also had a 40 min bicycle ride in the kampungan areas, surrounded by paddy fields and duck ponds....
(Can you imagine how happy Eric, the great RPM Master was?) I swear, I heard a sigh of contentment when he put himself on that bicycle seat...

Bicycles were basic and old but functional. And the ride around the kampongs, cool fresh early evening air and the pretty paddy fields and occasional cow and duck made for a very very “The Hills are Aliiiiiiiiiiive” moment.

And then of COURSE, (cause it could ONLY happen to me) during the bike ride...I.broke.my.bike.

Really, the bicycle served me fine, until Eric and I decided it would be fun to race. BAD IDEA! Especially when one thinks of the size of the average Vietnamese person, who stands at 5’ 2” tall and weighs at the most, 50kgs (and I’m talking about the men here... the women don’t weigh anything above 35kgs and are mostly 4’ something.... barely 5’ tall)... and then there’s us, on their bicycles.

Sigh.

“Let’s race!”
“Ok!”

*happy giggles all around*

Not 2 revolutions of the wheel did I feel all resistance disappear.......
Which was exhilarating, for all of 2 nanoseconds, and then Eric did a U-turn, whizzed by me.... LAUGHING HIS HEAD OFF! WHILE.TAKING.A.VIDEO!!!!!!!!

So much for a friend indeed in my moment of need!

So I had to holler for the tourguide. Who was 100% Vietnamese (See general description of average Vietnamese above).

Hats off to him, he very gallantly offered to give me a ride on his bike.

I stood there and laughed for a minute.

All 3 travel buddies joining in mirth (No doubt already picturing the poor bicycle and more amusingly, the poor tour guide)....

Until we all realised he was serious.

So I shrugged my shoulders, said a little prayer and hopped on. He held on to my broken bike, and away we went.

v.e.r.y.....

s.l.o.w.l.y.....

Poor thing. he struggled on the flat plains, and I didn't make it any easier by laughing half the time and shooing Eric away the rest.... the rest of my beloved travel buddies were too busy laughing and taking pics to be of any help.....

And then (of COURSE) the landscape got slightly hilly. and it's just a gentle slope, not even a bonggol kinda slope, and we were almost at a standstill....

Poor thing huffed and puffed (seriously, the bike hardly moved, I was very close to doing a Fred Flinstone) and then, almost out of breath, my heroic tour guide yelled "OH MY BUDDHA! YOU ARE HEAVY!"

Basket...... *curses and scowls*

I’m sure he said other things (happily and thankfully, he was laughing too) but I couldn’t hear anything except the huge explosion of laughter from all sides (think dolby surround sound) of my dearest travel buddies.... you guys WAIT!

Tipped him and gave him accolades in the comment form.

Had such a fabulously fun fun time, even if it was really and truly a “shy only” moment.

:D

Growing Old....

2011-03-14T14:11:00.004+08:00

How many of us have received forwarded emails containing the following joke :-

Aging:
Eventually you will reach a point
When you stop lying about your age
And start bragging about it...

We read it, laugh and enjoy a few seconds of lightheartedness.

I've received this joke several times before.

BUT, the last time I read it (just earlier today), my heart skipped a beat.

Why?

Because I just realised that that was EXACTLY what I was doing, just 2 days ago... in the gym.... talking to a bunch of Generation Y youngbies.

To their credit, they feigned disbelief (such proper upbringing these people had) and told me (as if in utter disbelief) that I looked at least 10 years younger (how I wanted to pinch their cheeks and pat the top of their heads!).

But yeah... I guess I have reached yet another stage in life.... (you know besides the permanent wobbles, aching joints, failing eyesight, thinning hair, stubborn fat and early nights) I've begun to well, not so much BRAG (ok, maybe a little) but more, I'm no longer ashamed, about my age.

Until a few weeks ago, my cheeks would burn in shame, I'd feel slightly embarrassment, and I'd look away when anyone mentions anything that pointed out my age...

Yet today, I'm ALMOST bragging.

Ok... gotta go. Time to get this triple-botox-action-anti-wrinkle-age-defying-youthful-suppleness-guaranteed mask off :D

Live young.... think wise :D

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New Year, New Nugget....

2011-01-11T14:33:00.002+08:00

Nugget has arrived!!!

Yeay!

Just mumbling....

2010-11-27T11:39:00.002+08:00

It's been an age since I've written anything worth putting your hands Nigella-esque-ishly into.

And today, I feel like it.

So write I shall. For a bit. To say... a little of this and a little of that.

Buttercup's getting better. For those in the know, she's been sufferring from a very very bad case of sarcoptic mange. I'm trying everything, from medically sound injections and treatments to earth clinic certified borax baths and energized water and bracelets... and now, she's FINALLY growing some fur on her back, tuft by tuft, slowly but surely. Thank heavens!

For brekkie, had my ultimate favourite weekend brekkie of puri and potato dhall with coconut chutney with pasupal teh - sini vena besar :D. It was a weekend ritual for me and my beloved father, a ritual which I've resolutely* carried on since his passing more than a year ago. Resolutely, cause I really REALLY hate eating alone! I miss you so much Pappy!

But company's back. Sis is home. Finally! So no more dragging my mom out to weekend brekkies (Mummy is endearing in many MANY wonderful ways, but suffice to say :- she.is.NOT.a.morning.person!).

Oh! My past ran into me a couple of weeks back. And it was a pleasant run in. Bumped into someone I practically watched growing up, and found out certain somethings which left me tickled pink and flooded with a warm sense of glee... at what could have been, if not for HIS incredible shyness coupled with MY incredible blurness. (For who in their right mind would look at me then? Seriously, you guys should see the photos, and NO, none will be posted here).

But, the past shall remain in its rightful place, in the past, and shall serve to put a smile on this face when I choose to reminisce. We had a GREAT, GREAT time laughing about it :D

And...... No, I have NOT booked my car. Apparently, it's not a very wise thing to do so close to the end of the year. Something about losing a year in terms of registration and depreciation....... lost me at "Just wait till Jan 2011". So I will. Wait. Unless Mr Toyota comes up with some fantastic deal.... then I'll get Nugget sooner than later.

(I've chosen to call my car Nugget) <-- since we're being random today.

And one last thing.... ice blended dry ginger ale with a splash of dark rum is FABULOUS! I love my new blender....

And....(ok so maybe the cocktail thing wasn't the last thing...) Jesus kitchen is in the final stages of planning... YEAYY!!!! Am hoping to get it done by Dec 2010 :D

After that goes up, I guess everyone's welcome :D

Till then, see you guys on LLABBB! :D

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Chocolate Blueberry.....

2010-11-16T15:05:00.003+08:00

Baked this morning.

Chocolate Blueberry Cake.

Which received a very uninspiring "Ok-lah".

Sigh.

And cause it's got chocolate in it, I can't even give any of it to Prince or Cup-Cup.

Cheesecake next time.

Wanna watch a movie???

2010-10-14T10:46:00.004+08:00

8 years ago, we watched a movie.

Well not so much watch as cower behind our shawls and cardigans whacking each other repeatedly and crying :-

"I can't BELIEVE I let you talk me into watching this!!!!!"
"But YOU booked and bought the tickets! And you said it got good reviews!"
"I'm soooooo not watching any movie with you again... EVER!!!!!"
"You said YES! NOBODY forced you into this!!!!!"
"I'm never talking to you again.... EVER!!!!"

From this experience....

I've learnt to appreciate sleeping with the lights on. Did it for 3 years running after the movie.

I've learnt to avoid empty lifts. It took me awhile not to freak out when a lift opens at an unchosen floor, to an empty hallway.

I've learnt to not look too long at the roasted pork and bbq-ed meats at the local chicken rice stall.

I've learnt to respect horror movies at a level I never imagined they deserved.

So this was in 2002. The movie in question? "The Eye" by the Pang brothers.

8 years on.

She asks me again.

"Wanna watch a movie? "Child's Eye" from the same people who made "The Eye""

Of course memories of everything we went through 8 years ago, the many many months it took me to finally sleep with the lights off again came flooding back to me.

A split second later I answered :-

"Sure!"

Sigh. Humans. We never learn!

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Decisions, decisions......

2010-10-05T15:57:00.003+08:00

It's been a long LOOOOOONG time coming this decision.

But I've pretty much decided that I WILL get a new car, I've decided on WHICH model of the car and the SPECs I'm gonna get it in.

The only thing I have left to decide is.....

BLACK or WHITE!??!??!!??!!!!

Arrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't help myself......

2010-09-03T14:43:00.004+08:00

These are chocolate (with whole almonds dropped into the batter for good measure, almonds are white (kinda) hence, NO CALORIES! with a kahlua chocolate cream cheese frosting.

And there are 14 of these babies sitting in my fridge now.

This is so bad for my diet. This failed diet will be epic.... cause I'm already thinking of Hummingbird cupcakes next!

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Shhh..... a Confession.

2010-09-01T13:56:00.002+08:00

I have a confession to make.

There was no one around, and all the shutters were drawn.

He was there, all alone and miserable.

Stuck perpetually to a cruel chain but 3 feet long, he lived over a drain with the space of a 2ft by 2ft built in garbage disposal area for shade and shelter.

He's left alone, chained up, with no water or food during public holidays and days where the shop closes.

His life, stuck to the 3ft chain, was to be a subject of amusement to the workers of that car repair joint.

I took pity on him.

So, that fateful public holiday, when all the shutters were drawn, I drove up to him, got out of my car. Seeing me approach, he sat up straight, looking at me with trusting eyes. I took one last glance around, reached for his chain and released him.

The dog isn't mine.

But nothing should live a life like that.

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Lime Yoghurt Cake

2010-08-28T14:42:00.003+08:00

It's a long weekend.

I was bored.

I had limes, and low fat yoghurt. Then I remembered Rachel Allen baked this the other day on tv....

This was the result. Mum had some friends over, so I forced a few slices on them. Hope they like it :D

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Happiness is.... Part 2

2010-08-23T12:18:00.005+08:00

Yes, it's another blog entry about baking.

But this time, with PICTURES!!!!!

I finally figured out what that little landscape thumbnail thinggy is for!

Baked a batch of Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes last Saturday. These were intended for my Mandarin class Lao Shi who's a dear dear friend whom we consider family. No, I'm not trying to be teacher's pet or anything, but these days, ANYTHING's an excuse to whip up a batch of cupcakes and the best part... to FROST them :D and these babies were frosted with Amaretto Cream Cheese frosting.

(...20 mins later, and I'm still trying to upload the picture.....)

So maybe there's something ELSE you need to click to upload pictures... Ok, keeping fingers crossed that the correct pictures have been uploaded cause all I see is a bunch of html gibberish.

:D

Happy Birthday No.2!

2010-08-19T16:22:00.003+08:00

He doesn't read my blog I'm sure, but it's #2's birthday, so :-

HAPPY BIRTHDAY #2!!!

Love you loads eventhough you take it for granted that I was born to feed your dog when you're away and EVENTHOUGH you refuse to buy me a new car!!!!

Made him some lemon frosted lemon lavender cupcakes! Not the macho-est of flavours but I had lemons in the fridge and I LOVED this recipe so.... too bad!!!!!!!

Maybe if he'd gotten me a car I'd put a bit more thought into baking him some seriously butch cupcakes :D

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Love,

#4

Great Expectations........Part 1

2010-08-17T11:41:00.008+08:00

Great expectations I once had,
And that I think has me sad;
For not once or twice but many a time
Great disappointment was my payment in kind.

Great disappointment was my payment in kind
A solution to this I've yet to find
To lower thresholds and turn an eye blind
Or keep true to myself in soul and mind?

To keep true to myself in soul and mind
Great strength I somehow need to find
To grapple with the shock I feel
Everytime someone breaks a deal

Everytime someone breaks a deal
In pain and doubt I toss and keel
For my great expectations that seemed to soar
Were really what I'd give to them and more.

Note : End of part 1. Sigh. I better lay off the classics after I finish Wuthering Heights.

Happiness is....

2010-08-13T11:48:00.002+08:00

....Finding that PERFECT recipe for the lightest, loveliest, lemony-est, lavendery-est cupcakes EVER!!!!!!! (Thanks Phi for finding me lavender - oh, Happy Birthday!).

They came out smelling heavenly, and they taste so good, I wanted to name each and every cupcake and keep them all!

Almost didn't wanna put any frosting on them in case it overpowers the delicate flavours of the cake, but I'll think of something feather light to prettify them with.

Ahhhh.......... the joys of baking!

Jesus Kitchen...

2010-08-06T15:18:00.003+08:00

He came today.

Late, but he came nonetheless.

Ladies and gentlement, Christ was in my home this morning.

Capenter that he is, he came, he measured, he tapped, he measured some more, and all this, while Buttercup sniffed him out and made eyes at him. LOL!

I'm expecting a quotation next week, with pretty 3-D pictures in whatever colour I may fancy. His colour pallette pretty much covers ANY colour I see driving around on the road. Yup, they use the same paint as them car paints.

So imagine a Betsy Blue with a Bookermobile maroon! (Ewwww........eating!).

But you get the picture.

Right now, I'm imagining the kitchen in a super glossy metalic red and a super glossy silver speckled black. Then I'll paint one of the kitchen walls a chilli red and shock the shock (of her now non-existing pleasantly white kitchen) out of my Mummy. Muahahahhahahahahaha!

But, I also asked him to show me the kitchen in the traditional wood grain variants, just to keep Mummy dearest happy (I'm NOT as evil as I look).

Also in a fit of wishful thinking and idealistic dreams, I've asked Christ to draw me up a bar and a tv panel, with in-built soft lighting and some wood grain dividers to separate the split level space.... And when I get the bill for this, I'll go to my RED RED kitchen and shock the shock (of my now non-existing bank account) out of my system.

And now, let us pray.......

The First Time...

2010-08-05T11:46:00.002+08:00

They say there's a first time for everything.

It all started with me purchasing my first copy of Motor Trader earlier this week, which got that heaving chest of his bursting with pride. That Nut can be quite persuasive.

And then, before I could sink my teeth into that magazine, he calls, sounding very excited.

Honda Civic. 2.0. Mint Condition. Cheap.

And it was from a friend. His father's car. Sounded good. Reluctantly I agreed to see the car over the weekend.

But then he calls again. This time frantic. 6 people with ready and willing offers are lined up this weekend. To get my grubby hands on this sexy piece of steel, I've gotta be quick. Are you doing anything tomorrow evening?

So trepidatiously, I went for my first car-see and met up with said friend and father of said friend. As a source of superior technical car knowledge and cashmere comfort, the Nut came too (thank you!).

We chit and we chatted. If I was nervous at all before, I wasn't anymore. Father and son couldn't have been lovelier. We laughed through light hearted car banter and I tried, I really, REALLY tried not to sound dumb about car thinggies.

We test drove, and everything went well. Car was lovely.

And then it was time to talk numbers. As a first time buyer, I guess anything they ask for is automatically, too high.

But they were SUCH NICE PEOPLE I didn't want to insult them by making an offer too low. (Almost made an unreasonable offer just so I could be friends with said father and son) but the Nut checked me on that (apparently, that's NOT how you buy 2nd hand cars).

So with a pained expression on my face (it was a look of half constipation and half toothache), I, as politely as I could deferred, and then earlier today, declined.

The car was beautiful. All civics are.

It drove beautifully. In pale blue too. So pretty!

But I guess I chickened out of this one.

So I didn't get the car. But there you have it. My first time! And thank goodness the sellers were lovely people, and as always, thank goodness that comforting and supporting heaving chest was there. Thanks again Nut :D

Open season has just been declared. Let the hunt begin!

Hokey Pokey...

2010-07-26T16:06:00.002+08:00

Nigella looked really Goddess like making it.

It looked SO SIMPLE.

Just 4 simple ingredients.

But..... sigh.

Maybe I wasn't watching the fire closely enough.

Maybe I didn't measure the sugar properly.

Or maybe I should have replaced that busted light over the stove. Checking boiling sugar for that perfect caramel colour using the light from my handphone MIGHT have caused it.

It.

"It" being the bitter, black horrible smoky burnt oil-slick like sticky mass that was left in the pot! My favourite pot no less! Thank goodness I didn't ruin said favourite pot!

Sigh.

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It's a SIGN!

2010-07-16T12:35:00.003+08:00

Subtle, I know. Cause not many people would take a leaky engine oil tank as a sign to replace their car, but I see it as such.

A sign that maybe, just MAAAAAAAAYBE, I should START thinking of getting a new car.

Nevermind that my friends have been YELLING it into my ear, and the Nut reminds me pretty much on a daily basis, and heck, EVERYONE I know's been asking me to get a new car. From the gentle hints to the club-me-over-the-head approach, "new car" has been mentioned muchly lately.

So I guess it's time to break the bank.

No more stalling.

Bookermobile's gotta go.

Sigh.

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Yet another wet, wet Wednesday...

2010-06-23T15:13:00.005+08:00

It's yet another wet Wednesday.

And I'm in the office. Typing away, looking very much like the busy and occupied worker.

But in reality, I'm thinking of what I'd rather be doing right this instant, as I look out at the grey landscape outside my window, splockled with raindrops...

1. Sleep.

Curtains drawn, curled up in bed, reading light on, while I finish the last few delicious chapters of my all-time favourite book "The Egg & I";

2. Eat.

If calories didn't matter, I'd be having scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, creme brulee washed down with some cheese, crackers and white wine.

3. Bake.

Days like these my head's filled with recipes! The latest one that's been zinging in there's a big bad dark chocolate cake with bananas and hokey pokey honeycomb drowned in caramel sauce....

4. Draw.

It's been a while. But a friend showed me his debut collection of pastels and I must say, I am inspired.

5. Yoga.

There's just something about the soothing music they play and it's just you and your body. No machines, no gadgets. Over the rain, the traffic's silenced and everything's very zen..... (okay, it helps that the instructor's so cute it's almost illegal!).

But it's a couple of hours yet till my time becomes my own. For now, I'll just sit back, sip on green tea and dream a little.....

Ahhh....

Holiday dresses

2010-06-16T10:31:00.007+08:00

After the month that was May, I need a holiday.

Nut, if you're reading this..... I NEED A HOLIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok then, back to normal stuff.

Just spent a bomb (think Hiroshima) on clothes. From France. Which got shipped to UK, and will be coming home to me next week! Yeayyy!

Dresses that are made for women with boobs! Holiday-y summer-y ones! Yeayyy! And I got pants too! Which are long enough!!! And... IN MY SIZE!!!!!! *twirly dance of joy*.

Seriously, I love Malaysia and everything, but this country makes and sells women's clothes for tiny petite little things. Anything "free size" would most definitely, 100% guaranteed not fit, and those "proudly Malaysian" labels... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... I don't even bother.

To be honest, the only thing that kinda fits are stuff made for (sadly) plus sized <-- no problems with that cause some of these pieces are rather pretty, but I'm curvy (aka fat - I'm not delusional... let's call a spade a spade) all around, and not just at my tummy or butt, and these plus sized clothes hang at the wrong places on me.

And for those of you who are gym buffs, (who are thinking I really shouldn't be whining but sweating my butt off on them machines) honey, I'm on the wrong side of 30, and ALL dreams of losing weight and looking like Angelina Jolie has flown out the window, died a thousand deaths and been buried.

I've come to accept that I look the way I do.

I will never be skinny, svelte or waif-like, no matter HOW many laps I swim, or how much I try getting into that (*&%#$&#^$) yoga position.

I am curvy. I am wobbly.

And I'll NEVER be able to wear skinny jeans.

But you know what? I actually LIKE me this way!!!!!

Quite a lot :D

Giant feet and all (but that's another blog, for another boring Wednesday).

Ok... Nut, the holiday, and yes, it is for the sole purpose of me having reason to wear them pretty dresses!

What better reason to go for a holiday rite?

:D:D:D

I'm back!

2010-05-03T16:57:00.003+08:00

Went to visit my sister in London for a couple of weeks.

It was a pretty last minute decision, based on MAS suddenly lowering their airfares for the Easter season. So barely 10 days before the flight, I booked my tickets, and with narry a plan, I was off!

Arriving in London smack at the start of their Easter break with NOTHING planned was FUN but stupid. FUN cause it meant that my sister and London based friends had time to spare and took me around and fed me. STUPID cause everything was fully booked!

So hung around London a lot this trip, which I am not complaining about. I love the museums and galleries there..... It still astounds me that the original works by michaelangelo, raphael and leonardo (no, not the ninja turtles) are there, on display at their museums, and I get to oggle at these masterpieces for as long as i want... for FREE!

Made several really really enjoyable day trips to Brighton, Windsor, Kent and an unbelievable day trip to Paris too.

Oh, and a long and lazy weekend in Scotland! That was lovely :D

Extended my stay a bit cause I HAD to. Icelandic volcanic ash over the airways closed all UK airports for 6 days, and my flight home was at the very days of airport closure. Flight got cancelled twice. But that simply means more musuems, more days in the park, and more musicals :D

So, museums, musicals, pub food, puddings and many kgs added on later, I am home.

And as much as I loved my trip to London, I must say, it's good to be home :D

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Oh Nigella!

2010-03-17T11:54:00.003+08:00

So I had some leftover egg yolks from the cranberry-orange and almond cake I made recently.

And mucking about the fridge, I found a zested orange sitting forlornly in one sad corner. Also found a couple of lemons I'd forgotten about lurking in the crisper of said fridge.

So what do I do?

LEMON-ORANGE CURD!!!!

Yummy!

Did my bestest Nigella Lawson impersonation this morning, complete with British accent (in my head) and her signature - finger dipping in the luscious, lemony curd and licking my fingers, smacking my lips after, while making eyes at..... my kitchen wall.

Oh well..... waste not, want not! :D

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Me bake?

2010-03-08T16:08:00.008+08:00

I've always enjoyed baking.

Whether others enjoyed my baking.... now, that's another story.

I remember when I was younger, whenever I wanted to bake, my Mom would say "Please don't, don't waste flour". Sigh.

And when I DID bake, it always turned out as unrisen, hard doughey things. Which would sit on the kitchen table till it smelled funny, and ultimately end up in the bin. (even the dogs wouldn't have a go at them).

But lately, I've picked up baking again.

And this time, I bought MY OWN FLOUR!

And boy have I been baking!

I've done several! Red velvet, pink velvet, velvet baileys, key lime coconut, banana butterscotch walnut, pandan chiffon, passion fruit meringue, lemon meringue, pavlova (which didn't turn out so well) and strawberry shortcake!

I enjoy scouring the internet for recipes and tweaking them to suit whatever's in my baking stash. No heavy cream? No problems, I've got baileys.... what? They're both creamy-ish....

No lemon essence? No issues, absolut citron/bacardi limon should do the trick ;)

No orange flower water (whatever that is!!!) ? Hello cointreau! :D

Stick with things you know I say. And thank the heavens, them cakes have turned out.... passable.

So far no one's hurled either the cake, obscenities, rotten eggs, tomatoes or fruit, or simply hurled at me whenever I give them cake, so I take it as a good, and promising sign.

Well, it's no where close to them professional bakery cakes, but I'm having a great time baking! For one MUST sample the ingredients that go in (which reminds me, I'm running low on Bailey's and rum (for all them rum soaked raisins.... ahh....yummmm) and one must also sample the finished product (damn my jeans are super tight now... I wonder why....).

He's four....

2010-01-26T15:21:00.002+08:00

He’s four. And he was having a tummy ache.

Complaining to his mummy, he asked why his tummy ached so.

His mummy replied that it happens because it’s his body’s way of communicating.

His tummy makes a phone call to his brain, and his brain will tell him to ask mummy for some medicine.

Placated, the little one took his medicine and settled down.

An hour later, when he felt better, he looked at his mummy square in the face and asked “So what’s my brain’s phone number?”

He’s four. Stunners like that can only come from someone who’s four.

Close call....

2010-01-20T13:10:00.003+08:00

Thank goodness for Phi.

I was driving. Phi sat in the front passager seat, CP behind us.

We came to a junction. To my right, waiting to cross the road, a mother in BRIGHT RED was with her two little girls, holding on to their hands in each of her own.

The mother saw me, and stopped.

I stopped, acknowledged her, and looked to the the left to check for oncoming traffic.

The road was clear.

I started to move.

"JOYCE! JOYCE! JOYCE! Stop!!!!!!!"

I saw nothing. Only Phi's cries asking me to stop registered. Unquestioningly I stopped. And thank goodness I did.

One of the little girls had let go of her mother's hand, and had started to cross the road, barely inches from my bonnet. She was so tiny, I did NOT see her.

If Phi had not called out, I would have run her over for sure.

And that thought still shakes me up.

Thank goodness for Phi.

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I dream…

2009-12-17T16:05:00.001+08:00

For those of you in the know, my father passed away in July this year.

The loss brought me grief and sorrow like I’ve never known. Coping is the only thing I can do now, slowly but surely I’m trying to make some semblance of sense into this thing called ‘my life’ now.

I’ve been dreaming of my dad lately.

In my dream, I woke up, my usual happy self, burst out my room door and happily hollered out to him from the upstairs hallway, expecting him to be downstairs, watching either CCTV 9 or National Geographic. Expecting like I always do for his reply, to which I’d answer with our ritual weekend breakfast date.

But silence greeted me.

And then reality hit me. The jolt was severe and sudden. And I awoke. The reality of his loss falling on me like a tonne of bricks.

Weekends will never be the same.

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The Doosh! swoon

2009-11-25T13:26:00.005+08:00

For those who've known me for many a year, you will remember my intense love affair with "the Doosh".

No, it is not a sanitary device nor is it the sound one makes when air punching or kicking someone.

But excitement is me, cause my dear dear friends, I AM GOING TO SEE THE DOOSH!!!! LIVE!!!! IN PERSON!!!!! IN ALL IT'S VIBRATING GLORY!!!!!!!

Yup! Alan Tham & Hacken Lee concert's this Saturday, and the tickets are in my bag :D:D:D:D

*twirly dance of joy*

Ahhh..... all those hours of looking at that doosh, and imagining it vibrating, moving sensously up and down.....

Ok... this is getting a little TOO cheeky, even for me!

Lol! For those who havent known me for that long, the Doosh is what I had affectionately named Hacken Lee's......... adam's apple.

I admit, I had a thing for it.

And when I was much, much MUCH younger (and stupider goes without saying, but I'm saying it anyways), I had the Doosh syndrome. I called it the Doosh, and had HUGE crushes on guys with Dooshes to match. And ONLY, ONLY if their Dooshes were a respectable size of an apple. Them grapes, strawberries and lychees warranted narry a glance... but ahh.... how my heart skipped a beat when I spotted...... a Doosh.......

And come Saturday, it won't be just any Doosh.... I'll be seeing THE DOOSH!

Oh boy, oh boy OH BOY!!!!!!

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Food.... overload!!!!

2009-11-23T16:24:00.003+08:00

Don't get me wrong.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOOOOOOVE food.

And I love, love, looooooooove to over order, especially when people swing by Shah Alam for lunch.

But when we end up ordering 7 full sized dishes that can easily feed 6 just for the 2 of us....

Foodfest # 1

The Nut came by. I brought him to my favouritest thai restaurant in the whole of shah alam.

Butter prawns were on promotion. Yippee! So we ordered some.

Shark's fin soup was on promotion. Yippee! So we ordered some.

Tom yam soup seemed the natural appetizer, so we ordered some.

Mango kerabu there's to die for, so we ordered some.

Shark's fin egg picture looked particularly fetching in the menu, so we ordered some.

Salted fish mee hoon we ordered, because rice has calories...

Thab tim krab to wash it all down, cause it's honestly the cutest sounding desert I know.

and because they were so impressed with us, they gave us a voucher for .... FREE la la! 800gm!

Foodfest # 2

So the next week, MC came by, and I brought him to my favouritest thai restaurant in the whole of Shah Alam.

Butter prawns were STILL on promotion. Yippee! So we ordered some.

Shark's fin soup was STILL on promotion. Yippee! So we ordered some.

Mango kerabu there's STILL my favourite, so we ordered some.

Remember the voucher? La la was free, so naturally we ordered some, with spring onions.

Fish steamed in 3 flavours sounded too sexy not to order, so we ordered one.

We had prawns, shark's fin, la-la and fish. How could we leave crab out? Crab meat tau foo looked nice, so we ordered some.

To balance it all out, crispy glass chicken. Just so it wasn't just any ole' cholesterol fest, so we ordered some.

But note! No rice, which means the meal didn't have any calories! :D

And on both occasions, we finished everything! Well almost.... Thank goodness for long lunches, and thank goodness for quiet afternoons at work!

Anyone else swinging by Shah Alam soon???!??!

"Tai-Tai Afternoon"

2009-11-20T10:57:00.003+08:00

After a few hectic weeks in the office, there was a sudden lull earlier in the week.

So I booked a facial and took off from the office slightly before the bell rang.

In hushed soothing voices and dimmed candle lit ambiance, relaxing music trinkling in the background, they soaked my feet, wrapped me in sarongs, had spa infused relaxing steam waftinto my face, massaged, cleansed, pricked and poked and squeezed and nipped me and finally plonked very soothing face mask on me *i hope i snored not*, then, they woke me up, i was de-saronged, lavender and herb infused steam in my face again, and they were done with me!

I expected to see my face splockled with a thousand little red mementos from all that pricking, but to my great relief.... i looked like... well ... me :D *phew*

So I'm now white, black, red, green or whatever head free, and feeling very tai-tai. Especially since after that 2 hours of facial gymnastics, I walked 3 steps into my gentle yoga class, where I stretched and twisted the rest of me, again to soothing music trinkling in the back ground, soft lights illuminating the studio....

Ahhhhh..... I could get used to this....

"Potong!"

2009-11-18T12:28:00.004+08:00

I did it.

I've chopped it.

My long hair. Chopped.

I am now trying to pass off bits of hair hung from my scalp as a bob.

Which is supposedly really trendy, if I had enough hair to make the look work...

But with this much less hair length, the savings on shampoo is great :D

RPM (Really Painful Moments)...

2009-11-09T17:54:00.001+08:00

“Come laa…. I’ve been asking you for 3 years, come laaaa….”

I should have taken more heed to the evil glint in the Nut's eye that day…..

I should have noticed how Agent M and T3 exchanged knowing looks while swallowing their giggles that day…..

But I didn’t. Like the dumb-ass that I am….I decided to join RPM.

Only it was an RPM Challenge class….. which inflicts a lot more pain than a normal class….

And it was my first time, and I had not with me any super padded ultra cushioned special bike pants that day…. Not a good sign # 1.

It started out well enough, T3 and AgentM were the bestest hosts, showing me around the changing room, showers etc. And we changed and went to the Cycling Studio. Me all excited and happy (little did I know how short lived it would be).

1st track, the Nut’s right hand man with the Darlie smile came and introduced himself to me. Which was sweet, until he put on his microphone and ANNOUNCED TO THE WHOLE CLASS that a newcomer was on board….. (and there I was thinking I had chosen a bike in an inconspicuous corner of the studio)All eyes were on me, and EVERYONE was chuckling…. Not a good sign # 2.

So the tracks started…. Warm up… this I could follow and halfway through track 1, thought, hey, this isn’t so hard…..

Boy was I to be proven wrong…..

Track 2 came along, and Mr Darlie asked everyone to turn up the dial thingy in between your legs as you are seated on the bike… and I did. And BAM! Resistance…. And my quads SCREAMED!!!!! (and this is only the 2nd track mind you) sigh… Not a good sign # 3.

Then track 3. A few further turns of the dial, which I had chosen to ignore… and then Mr Darlie looked my way, smiled even wider (how he managed that is still a wonder to me) and with a little wink at me yelled into the microphone “CLIMB!” and EVERYONE got off their butts and started pedal running! I fumbled and scrambled and managed to stand up… for all of 3 revolutions of the wheel, cause by the 4th revolution, I couldn’t feel anything in my legs! So there they were vigorously climbing and reaching for the stars or Everest or the moon and me? I sat back down, cause by then, it dawned on me, I was never EVER going to make it as an RPM-ite.

So what was I to do? I was kinda stuck on that bike, cause I strapped myself in real tight…. So I sat back, adjusted my hair, took a sip of water and leaned into the wall a bit (supported by my water bottle-free hand) and proceeded to look around, head bopping to the catchy music.

After something like the 5th track, Mr Darlie takes off the microphone and passes it to the Nut. “Yeayy!!! I thought, cool down time!”

Boy, was I wrong! Sean Connery @ Nut announced that they were ALREADY halfway! Yeay my *^%$@$^!!!!! I swear I could hear him laughing on the inside… bad, bad, BAD Nut! So we were just halfway…. Crap. Not a good sign # 4.

So I went along, still pedaling like I was going to the Kedai Runcit for an ice-cream…. Until I realized somewhere in the middle of Track 6, that I was losing feeling in my butt.
Not a good sign # 5.

So at the risk of maiming myself for life, I decided to snap myself out of la-la land and re-focus on what was going on in that disco-balled flashy studio.

And there they were, off their butts again. Doing the Infinity climb…And with the SOLE PURPOSE of relieving the pain that was slowly building up in my posterior, I cranked up the resisto-meter dial thinggy and got off my butt too. Oh the pain…How these people do this for the entire hour I will never understand, my utmost respect to all who have been for an RPM (Challenge or not) class, and did everything the instructors told you to.

After 5 seconds of Infinitism, PLOINK! My butt was on that super hard torturous seat again….

And a few minutes later, my butt was in the air again….

It became of a delicate task of pain management. Pain in the butt, or pain in the quads…

After something like 8 hours of this (which in reality came up to about 8 minutes or 8 seconds… pain does something to time perception abilities…), I gave up (again). I decided, well, the butt doesn’t really DO MUCH does it? I’ll just strap myself in really tightly when I sit down anywhere and wedge myself against a wall or something…. My quads I need to stand, drive, walk…. In the battle of pains, my butt lost.

So I remained seated for the rest of the 20 hours… or minutes, whatever, I couldn’t sit straight by then… hence I had to support myself against the wall… Not a good sign # 6.

Then FINALLY, FINALLY it was cool down time. I would have climbed off the bike and given Sean Nuttery a kiss had I not been consumed in so much pain….

Cool down stretches, bend this, extend that…… and FINALLY they allow you off the bike…. Took me a good looong while to maneuver myself off the bike without hurting anyone…. Sigh….

And then, bless the gods in the heavens, it was over! It was FINALLY over!

I wobbled, hopped and winced my way to the shower room and thought happy thoughts of nasi lemak and fried chicken and cham ais….. ahh…..

RPM again? Hmmm… I think I’ll stick to Beginner’s Yoga for now….

Chit-chat on a gloomy Wednesday...

2009-10-28T15:19:00.003+08:00

It's wednesday, the sky's gloomy and it's rainy outside.

And I feel like chatting. And it has been a while..... So chat I shall.

Am in my bimbonic phase lately. Got some makeup for my b'day and have been playing Michaelangelo (on my own face). Good thing is that the pallate is light, so no worries about looking like someone from Ms Drag Queen International 2009. Plus been accessorising too, when i can remember. Been rummaging thru my box of trinkets and realise that my earrings (those 3 for RM10 pairs) which i never wear, make pretty interesting pendants.... So with some pliers and a bit of imagination, i've given myself a host of new pendant thinggimajigs to wear! Like magic!

Oh! And I've joined a new gym. The one in centro Klang (which is next to the Hokkien Association). Been inactive at my old gym for around 5 months now... so that died a natural death.

From gymbing with Aunties who tell me about their children... usually about their graduation, or their weddings (that's how old them aunties are) to young properly attired gym freaks! Wow.... a bit of a culture shock.... and then the firm reality that you are in klang hits you when you're in the shower room.... whilst you have the latest tunes or mtv music piped in the workout area, everyone's focused, everyone's sweating and looking determined, enter the shower room and talk of bah kut teh, who's getting married to whom (were you invited?) conversations in Hokkien speak take centrestage. What a lovely contrast, and what an incredibly comforting one....

Note to self : the steam room and sauna room are there.... but i have never seen them in use.... granted I've only been there 3 times......

Oh! Haha and anor thing, Centro Klang, the one and only place where you can have a lovely oktoberfest evening with imported german beer, gourmet sausages, crispy bits of bacon and saurkraut and pork knuckles AND Cha-cham-bo!!!!!!! belted out by the band, and the lovely smells of bah kut teh wafting in from the bkt place in the building. Lovely combo, and ONLY in klang. Germany also kalah.

Am now debating if I should skive and leave for home early and have HELL UNLEASHED on me tomorrow and Friday, when the deadlines come steamrolling on my head, or continue to sit here, sip my green tea, and stare out the rain splockled window.....

Hmmmm decisions, decisions....

I'm melting.....

2009-07-01T12:40:00.004+08:00

I’m melting.

My face at least. Just got back from Bangkok and my face is literally, falling off… must be an allergic reaction to one of two things… One, it’s either my sun block *glaring accusingly at the bottle* or two, them fried bugs I had *belch*.

Thinking it’s the sun block *more glaring* cause it’s only my face that’s doing the “V” thing. (No, i swallowed no rats, whole or in little parts, in Thailand, or any other land for that matter!) The rest of my body is fine. Sigh….

Here’s hoping that my new face grows blemish free with porcelain-like smoothness.

Till then, if you see kids running around and screaming in utter fear, yup, it means I’m close by.

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Buttercup-ping

2009-05-11T17:23:00.006+08:00

Found myself hanging out at home a lot last weekend. Had some time on my hands but was too lazy to go out much... it was really TOO DAMN HOT!

So i hung out at home, with Buttercup.

Cause she looks like this...

And she does this....

Sorry to gush like an annoyingly proud parent, but I CANNOT TAHAN!!!

She really is very very very adorable!

Being Internet-less....

2009-05-06T15:15:00.003+08:00

Being internet-less means…

1. You are left out of the happenings of the world because :-

a. You check on no one’s blog. Which means that you’re left out of the juicy happenings of your dear and some even dearer friends;
b. You don’t get to read the Star online, or the BBC or CNN.
c. The worst, you’re not logged on to any online chats!!!! I really NEED to know when any of you feel sleepy or hungry!!!!

2. The world is left out of the wonderful happenings of your weekend because :-

a. you get to tell no one of the yummy pork burgers Ah Ming made and the succulent gourmet lamb chops Mike made and Khim’s mom’s fabulous fried rice. It was a great pot-luck do Ming, thanks.
b. You get to tell no one of the lovely bbq with endless food you went to;
c. You get to tell no one how Buttercup’s learnt a new trick!
d. You get to tell no one how the Bookermobile now has WORKING POWER WINDOWS, and working central locking and and and, a FULL SET OF LIGHTS!!!!! They all work, blink, and shine with gusto on command now; and
e. You get to tell no one you learnt something new last weekend. There’s such a thing as “parking lights” on my car, which for the record, are working just fine, thanks.

3. You’re stuck in a bit of a “catch 22” situation because:-

a. it prompts you to blog, but without the internet…. How the heck do you post it up?
b. You feel the urge to work, but without access to the work email, it sometimes doesn’t make sense to fax a 58 page agreement to an outstation client.
c. It’s Monday, which means I haven’t rested from the crazies of the weekend, which means, I don’t have the urge to skive, plus, it’s 38° out there…. No thank you!
d. PLUS, it’s Monday, which means that all them lovely warehouse sales have ended, dashed are my dreams of being a bargainista… sigh.

4. You incur a lot of expenses because :-

a. You can’t get online to pay any of your bills. So interest builds… damn! Nevermind that the bank’s just down the road…. Have I not mentioned that it’s freaking 38° out there today?
b. You can’t get online to check on those fabulous all inclusive no-hidden-charges-ridiculously-low air fares to plan your next holiday for next to nothing. DAMN!
c. You can’t get online to see if Cole Haan’s having another one of their 30% off their sale price promotion to get handbags for less than half the price of what you’d pay here.
d. You actually LEAVE your desk during lunch. Which means, you buy food ($$) and you accidentally drop into the new Clarks shoe shop (potential $$$ there… took a lot of willpower not to buy that cute pair of low ankle boots that will look great with jeans….) and you roll over to the pharmacy ($$$) and you accidentally buy a new pair of earrings ($). Damn!
e. You’re so bored you text/call your loved ones and friends.

5. You gain weight because :-

a. See item 3(d) above.
b. You’re so bored, the only to stay awake is to nibble. And nibbling for 6 hours comes up to A LOT OF CALORIES!!!!

6. To hell with the 38° scorcher of a day. I’m outta here…. I’m going home to finish my book, start on a new one with the air conditioning on. Love you guys, but BYE!

Buttercup – The Little Dame...

2009-04-15T13:11:00.010+08:00

Ok, so Eric didn’t blog today, which traditionally means, I have to.

Top in my mind right now, is Buttercup.

And how much poop comes out of that little thing!!!!

We’re still trying to house-train her… Again, my parents are absolute champions. Retired, they’re at home all day and will take her outdoors every couple of hours… so here’s hoping to zero-rizing “accidents” in the house *keeping our fingers crossed*

I’ve noticed that our little dame doesn’t really like the garden very much. Even when we’re coaxing and cajoling her. She will resolutely stand her ground, her short stumpy legs cemented to the porch, she will look up (and I mean up) (I’m about 5’ 9” and she’s all of 10” tall) and grooooooooooooowl!!!!

I don’t understand why, it may be that she’s not been to many gardens, or it may be that she simply doesn’t like grass… but then again, Patchee used to sleep on my car, and I never understood why either… so *shrugs*

She’s all grown up so thankfully, ripped newspapers and bitten shoes etc are all child’s play to her….. *Which is SUCH A RELIEF!*

She’s a dignified little matron this one….so she will come play with you WHEN SHE FEELS LIKE IT. She’ll “let” you pamper her a bit, nuzzle a bit, and she will layan you a bit, and once she’s decided that you’re settled where you are (reading the papers, watching tv, lounging around) she’ll walk away, about 3 feet away, flop down and let out a HUGE sigh…. Then she’ll let her eyes droop a little. (And boy are those eyes big!). Mid-droop, if you so much as move a muscle, those eyes BULGE out and POP back to attention! She’ll perk her little head up and watch you, 100% alert again. When she’s satisfied that you aren’t going nowhere, she’ll lay down her head, and the drooping process begins all over again.

But she never sleeps…

She gets excited and overjoyed when you come home, come down stairs, wake up, walk by her, HAVE FOOD IN YOUR HANDS, or simply call out to her… But come to think of it, I’ve never seen her asleep.

She’s an old gal, her muzzle’s speckled with white, and yet she doesn’t sleep.

And I kinda figured out why…

I think she’s afraid that if she DOES go to sleep, she’ll wake up and no one will be there anymore….

The poor thing….. If only I could take away the anxiety she’s feeling!!!

I’m pampering her all I can for now, just to assure her that she won’t ever be abandoned again.

Hey there Buttercup!

2009-04-13T14:23:00.008+08:00

She’s HERE!!!!

It was a Saturday. We expected her arrival in the late morning. But my dad and I both woke up early, and in anticipation of her arrival, went out for an early brekkie and went dog basket hunting.

Pugs are a toy breed. The largest toy breed. So we needed a big ass basket. Found one, that could probably house a cat. So we hunted some more.

In the end, we settled for a stop gap measure, and bought a big bright yellow bread tray. Stuffed it with old t-shirts and glazed it with a soft comfie old purple blankie….

At 10.46am, the dog rescuer called to say that they were on their way.

5 mins later, they alighted the car, Buttercup in tow.

My heart leapt a bit, soared a bit, fluttered a bit and cried a bit!

She was a compact bundle of contradiction!

She’s stocky but soft,
She’s fugly but gorgeous,
She’s sweet but determined,
She’s old but so child-like,
She’s lovely but tough,
She’s naughty but disciplined
And most importantly, she’s here! She’s here! She’s HERE!

She shadows each of us in turn. Everywhere we go around the house, we hear the clickety-clack of her nails on the floor. This will go on for all of 3 minutes, after which, Buttercup gets tired, and belly-flops onto the floor.

She snores… hehehe…. And has an underbite that fixes that mug of hers into a perpetual “Hey you!!!! Wanna fight????!?!”

But she’s so sweet. Her eyes are child like and when she starts wagging that tail, it seems like she’s about to shake her butt off!!!!

She’s a nuzzler. She’ll come up to you, and wait patiently by your side, all the while looking at you with those big big eyes of hers till your resolve melts away and you start lavishing her with pets, kisses and massages. Once she accepts you, she’ll hunker down, STUFF her head into your thigh, arm, leg, face (whichever part of your body she can actually reach) and nuzzle her face there….all the while snorting (kinda like a cat’s purr) her happiness.

And her bed, we made one for her at first in a big yellow plastic bread tray, which was replaced by a very respectable ikea dog basket. Did she take to it? Yes. For all of 2 minutes, cause she decided that the 3 seater sofa next to her bed looked better on her.

So she’s made the 3 seater sofa hers.

Which is fine, cause the once rarely used yellow sofa is now a hub of activity. I find myself doing all my reading there, book in one hand, and the other mindlessly petting that little rumbling engine of a pug. My dad and mom have their coffee there and seem to hang out on the yellow sofa a lot more now too!

She’s a little magnet for affection my little Buttercup, and what makes you really, really wanna lavish love and affection on her is that she doesn’t demand it, she just … well…..is.

And ladies and gentlemen, this is Buttercup!

To read Buttercup’s (previously called Pinky) story, click on this link = http://malaysiandogsdeservebetter.blogspot.com/2009/04/pinkys-story.html

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Search for Buttercup.... the wait.

2009-04-10T17:14:00.001+08:00

I want a pug. I’ve always wanted a pug. And I want to name my pug Buttercup.

I’ve been saying this, very annoyingly, like a broken record for MONTHS, if not years now. But have I done anything about it? Nooooooooot reaaaaaaaaally…

Until recently. I decided that I really, truly want a pug.

I scoured the net, I called a few breeders. Prices varied from RM800 – RM1600 per puppy.

*Gulp*

But hey, I’ve always wanted a pug! But then I thought, heck, if I’m gonna pay good hard earned money, I want a BLACK pug!

And they are rare.

All the breeders said “Sorry miss, they are very rare in Malaysia”. So I did what I do best.

I procrastinated. Days turned into weeks, and still no pug.

Until 3 days ago.

Mucking through petfinders.com I saw a pug for adoption. She was recently rescued from the Selayang pound and had just undergone surgery to remove stone crystal build up in her bladder. She was 4 years old, had been abandoned, cut open and sewn up again and from the 2 kinda murky photos posted up, she was heart wrenchingly ADORABLE!!!!.

I checked the comments, someone had requested to adopt her before me.

My heart sank but I put in my request anyways. You never know right?

Then I call her fosterer, only to be told that another lady had called much earlier and was viewing the pug on Friday, sorry, we have other dogs for adoption if you’re interested.

“No, thank you” I reply.

And head hung low, I go about my day.

2 hours later, another fosterer calls me. Turns out the pug’s treatment, surgery and care was given in a veterinarian’s clinic in Klang, a stone’s throw from where I live! So solely because I lived in Klang, my request trumped Ms Sunway's who called earlier. It made more sense to let me adopt the pug (who needed constant care because of her surgery) since I’m closer to the vet, and the fosterer (who lived 5 mins away from me) could help with her care.

WHOOOOOOOPIEEEEE!!!!!! The pug’s MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“She’s old.
She’s been abandoned.
She’s had surgery.
She needs constant care.
She’s ONLY to be kept indoors.

She needs expensive prescription dog food.
She needs regular eye drops.
She needs constant companionship.
She needs loving.”

But I wasn’t listening anymore. She’s MINE! Nevermind that she’s not a black pug! That adorable little face on that compact little body is MINE! MINE! MINE! To love, to pamper, to spoil! I can’t wait!

But wait I must.

She’s only coming to Klang from Bkt Jalil tomorrow (Saturday).

Till then, I’m a bag of jumping beans… I’m excited beyond words.

My parents have been absolute champions about this. My dad’s going to spoil her rotten, that I can guarantee, and my mom’s bustling about the house, creating a cosy little corner for the little one.

We’re waiting for you Buttercup!

Little Hubert...

2009-04-07T11:32:00.000+08:00

We almost missed him J and I,
For he’s so small, he escaped our eye
We had turned our backs and almost exited
Yet, tucked away in a jar he waited

J said “Hey wouldn’t it be nice?
To have him for pizzazz and spice”;
At once a twinkle in my eye did gleam
“He’d fit right in my car!” I screamed!

I coaxed a little and in minutes three;
He bought me Hubert, I beamed with glee,
My little seahorse, shall play the field
In his new home, on my windshield

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Bluff-bluff…

2009-04-01T16:25:00.004+08:00

I called Ming the other day, to get her opinion on something…

Me :
“Ok…. Hypothetically right…. If I….”

Ming :
“WAIT!!!!!!!! I just spent the past 2 hours baby- talking to my sons. Please…. Nothing more than 5 letters when you speak to me now… my brain hasn’t re-adjusted…”

Me :
“Hmmm…..”

*ponders*

“Ok… bluff-bluff right…. If I decided to…”

I didn’t really get to ask her for her opinion that day. Cause she burst out into hysterical laughter!!!!

What?

What’s wrong with “bluff-bluff”?

Didn’t we ALL use it when we were kids playing games of pretence?

Kid # 1:
“Bluff-bluff we are Eskimos living in the North pole. So it’s bluff-bluff very cold. This blanket is our bluff-bluff igloo. Now you must bluff-bluff go hunt for polar bears.”

Kid # 2 :
“Then you must bluff-bluff start a fire. (Reaches for an orange t-shirt). Ok. Bluff-bluff this t-shirt is the fire.”

Said kids will then pretend to shiver like it’s 300° below and crouch around the “fire”.

You get the drift?

Ming didn’t. Cause apparently, around HER neck of the woods, kids didn’t say “bluff-bluff”, they used “Say-say”…. So:-

Kid # 1:
“Say-say we are Eskimos living in the North pole. So it’s say-say very cold. Say-Say this blanket is our igloo. Now you must go hunt for say-say polar bears.”

Kid # 2 :
“Then you must say-say start a fire. (Reaches for an orange t-shirt). Ok. Say-say this t-shirt is the fire.”

Said kids will then pretend to shiver like it’s 300° below and crouch around the “fire”.

Hmmm….. I thought…. INTERESTING….

So we decided to analyze it.

We deduced :-

1. When saying “say-say”, the kids were really mimicking “Let’s say” which is commonly used by adults to hypothesize. Kids being kids, had listened to the adults and had simplified “let’s say” to the babytalk version of it. Hence “say-say”.

We both agreed this was very clever indeed for 3.30pm on a weekday afternoon and gave ourselves a pat on the back.

Then, we tested her “Say-say is really ‘Let’s say’” theory on my “bluff-bluff”.

We deduced :-

2. Didn’t work. Cause try as we might, we couldn’t imagine what “bluff-bluff” was mimicking. We tried to crack our heads to think of a phrase, commonly used to hypothesize, that “bluff-bluff” could have come from?

We tried and tried, and came up with nothing.

Then Ming, in a flash of brilliance shouted “EUREKA!”

Before I could let her know that “Eureka” doesn’t sound anything like “bluff-bluff” she said :-

“It’s HOKKIEN!!!!”

Me :
“Huh? Isn’t "bluff-bluff" English?

Ming :-
“NO! It’s direct translation from HOKKIEN!!!! Think about it!”

So I thunk about it…

AND BURST OUT LAUGHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, “bluff-bluff” is direct translation of “kay-kay” which is Hokkien speak for… well…. “bluff-bluff”.

*Sigh*

Only in Klang….. Only in Klang.

Bangkok...

2009-03-31T12:59:00.004+08:00

I’ve never been to Bangkok. So when Rosie asked me if I wanted to join her and N this June to go see this city of angels, I said YES!!!!

J couldn’t make it, so not wanting to be a third wheel to Rosie’s romantic Thailand getaway, I needed a travel buddy, and I needed one quick.

So I asked Eric. (He’s the only one I know who wasn’t either planning a wedding, about to give birth, or who just blew a small fortune on a couple of lv’s and a luxury watch, or who was saving up leave and money for a holiday later in the year. AND, the fact that I absolutely LOVE traveling with the big guy helps too. HEAPS!!!)

And in 3 minutes, he said “Ok. The dates look good. The prices even better. LET’S GO!!!!!"

And then……….. the gushing started…..

Eric :
“Ooooh and we can go visit my uncle there!" *gush gush*
(interspersed with giggles [and this is on messenger mind you]
*gush*

While he was giving me some details of his uncle’s latest squeeze, I booked the tickets.

Eric :
"...He’s so cute…. (something about licking….)"

Me :
"You wanna eat on the flight?"

Eric :
*pause*
(I could almost hear those gears changing…. His mind was obviously in another land, where he need not necessarily be eating.. you know.. food)

"Up to you lah!"

"Oh! And imagine all those bars we have to hit….. and the shopping"
*continues to gush*

Me :
"I’m getting us travel insurance also ok."

Eric :
"… all that eye candy, And did I mention the abs on them?"

*blink*

"Oh… okay"

Me :
"AARRRRGGGHHH!!!!! *&^@%#$@%^& website HUNG ON ME!!!!"

Eric :
"… back to those abs…… so pretty!!!!!"

3 attempts later, we had tickets and travel insurance and extra check in luggage ;) Rosie and N booked us the accommodation and all in all, it’s costing us RM630 nett each for all that :D

I foresee a fun filled food and shopping experience! Chatuchak! Platinum mall! Lots of trinkets I’ll probably NEVER use, lot’s of Chang beer, Sam Song and Thailand’s very own Mekhong (Spirit of Thailand), technically fruit juice (so no calories!)… well, they DO start off with sugar cane….. and rice… and….. *my turn to gush*…

Holy Cow!!!

2009-02-25T15:32:00.002+08:00

Literally.

Ming and I walked out of McDonald’s to be met by a growing crowd mulling about the Mc’D’s delivery motorcycles. Photographers and journalists in their tell-tale vests were hanging about there…. Young men in light blue vests from the state;s ruling party were waiting excitedly too….

We got out of there with no incident, spying many a bored faced uniformed FRU personnel waiting under a tree here, under the shade there…. I got up to my office on the 9th floor, and promptly ran to the window.

The group had grown to approximately 100 in number. And as if on cue, the banners appeared, and the group started shouting slogans and marching… Nothing really out of place, just YET anorther demonstration... only THIS one was led by…. a cow.

I’m not kidding.

They were a throng of about 100 men, all in their prime (18 – 45 years), sporting slogan filled t-shirts and party flavoured tops, marched, shouting their support for their beloved head of state, all orchestrated to move in one fast paced concerto, conducted by….. a cow.

The cow, which was the focus of many a photographer’s flashbulb, was undoubtedly the star of this show, she was displayed, at the back of a little lorry, which for half an hour earlier this afternoon, was her centre stage on oscar night.

They photographed her, placed banners near and around her, and made her lead the crowd, in her lorry, at the head of the procession.

They marched towards my office building. And excitedly, I wished hoped and prayed they’d lead her into the lobby. That’ll be a sight… but the lorry veered off towards the parking lot, and the crowed marched on towards the lobby downstairs.

As I type this, I can hear men’s voices shouting (into their hand held hailers) :-

“Tan Sri…. I LOVE YOU! x 3”. Loving group these men are….

“Hidup Tan Sri…..” x 3,582. Prophetic too…

I applaud them for their dedication. To be able to get a group of grown men, to meet and steak out, and herd themselves towards a common and well loved cause, nevermind who (or in this case, what) led the procession…. is nothing short of an amazing feat of bull headed determination, beefy dedication and selfless-ness.

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25 random things meme

2009-02-12T13:33:00.004+08:00

I was tagged by Ema fren on facebook, and like many others who find the facebook forum a bit too public, I’m posting my 25 meme post here.

The meme was to list 25 random things about yourself, and to subsequently tag 25 people to do the same, including the person who tagged you. So here goes :-

1. I love singing and usually entertain myself to a solo concert in the car. Much to the amusement of the other road users around me.

2. I love luxuriously long hot showers.

3. I want a pug. And I want to name it Buttercup, be it a boy or girl.

4. I love eating smelly things. By that I mean, naturally pungent food. Durians, cheese.. yummmm!

5. I will stop eating my bah kut teh and/or mee hoon kueh once I run out of cili padis. For this reason, I ALWAYS have to ask for more chilly at the restaurants, and I have my own cili padi plants at home.

6. I daydream, skive and talk to myself a lot.

7. I am long winded. What can be succinctly expressed in 5 words, I will invariably choose to say in 40.

8. I read classics. For 2 reasons. I started reading them years and years ago when I was a student with very little to spare and classics were the cheapest books around PLUS they made very good value for money too…. Small print, no pictures and they were so thick! All for RM4.95 (at that time). Now I read them simply cause they sooth me. With everything happening around the world and in my life today, the pages in these classics have no gory violence, terrorism, rude language and such. It’s refreshingly amusing to read about how one is practically betrothed to another if one is promised more than 2 dances at a ball. (Now you believe item 7 above?)

9. In the past 3 years, I have learnt more about the person that I am and hope to be than in the 30 years preceeding that.

10. I prefer bread and noodles over rice.

11. I am a morning person. I like the promise of a great day the morning brings, and I love, love, LOVE drizzly mornings, with the smell of Mummy’s loh shi fun wafting up from the kitchen.

12. My unfavouritest time of the day is dusk. Just as the final half hour of sunlight ebbs from the sky. It feels like my heart’s sinking with the sun. I don’t know why I get so down, and sometimes, it’s simply unbearable.

13. I believe in giving credit where it’s due. Sometimes to the abashed blushes of the person receiving it.

14. I say a little prayer for the patient and his/her family every time I see an ambulance on the road.

15. I have a hero. He inspired me to do well in life and make something of myself, to stand out. Dr. Tony H.L. Leong, my ophthalmologist who treated me during my very very impressionable teenage years. (Dr. Leong, I hope this doesn’t scare you, if by the remotest chance you happen to be reading this). He was sincerely kind and generous and caring to me when he really had no reason to. For that, I am humbled and hope to be able to be as kind and generous to someone, as he was to me.

16. I swallowed mercury from a thermometer as a young child. To the relief of my parents and doctor, the problem resolved itself errrr ‘naturally’. Although my mum still blames the mercury for my sometimes bizarre behaviour… which leads us nicely to item 17…

17. I do things that are (what my mom, sis, anyone around me find) kinda weird (so they say). I kiss myself (on the hand) from time to time, I kiss my car from time to time, and when I was growing up, I had a list of 7 husbands (all famous movie stars and the likes). Nothing serious…am still very much unmarried.

18. I am predominantly right handed but write, draw, use chopsticks and do delicate things like carving or lip lining with my left hand, leading many to think I am left handed.

19. My brother and I are mirrors. (ok, we KINDA look alike) but we mirror each other in the sense that he’s predominantly left handed, but writes and uses chopsticks with his right hand.

20. I am a world of contradiction, and have been known to change my mind at the last minute (sometimes more than once), much to the irritation and consternation of the people around me. SORRY!!!! (Please see item 16).

21. I like cheong sams. Nevermind my lifetime quest of losing weight.

22. I like cooking and I love baking, but have been told, time and again that I can’t. But I stubbornly refuse to accept the fact that I will never, ever by ANY stretch of the imagination be Nigella. *sigh*

23. I am a procrastinator on certain things and am unforgivably impatient on others. (Please see item 20 and oh, what the heck, item 16 too!).

24. I wish I had smaller feet. Even just by 1 size. Because I have large feet, growing up, it was like finding a needle in the haystack every time I found a pair of girly footwear, hence I had very, very few. Now that there are larger sizes and more imported brands of footwear available here, I sometimes go overboard with buying shoes, kinda to make up for lost time I guess.

25. I believe in karma and in being just, patient (God knows I try), forgiving (this too!) and compassionate in my search for happiness (do I sound dalai lama-ish of what!?!). I am trying, and I am learning…

For the 5 of you who read my blog, consider yourself tagged. I wanna know something about you too. So Buck, OT, Angie, Marc and JP, I am looking forward to reading your 25 random things.

Only during CNY….

2009-02-03T15:15:00.000+08:00

It was a serious occasion. We were visiting a friend in the hospital.

5 minutes into the visit, she whips out her deck of cards. The one she carries with her in her handbag, throughout CNY….

She looked at me, we both looked at the patient…

Well she LOOKED alright, the sedatives WERE wearing off, she DID have an appetite…and it was CNY!!!!

And the hospital bed made the perfect table.

For black jack.

Played in hushed tones….

We were decent. We didn’t yell or call enthusiastically for the “PICTURE!”, we WILLED it, eyes scrunched, a gentle “picture” whispered….

I made some money that day. The patient broke even, the others lost :D

What?!? It WAS during CNY, and the patient SEEMED okay….. PLUS, the nurse didn’t stop us…..

*Gong Xi Fa Chai everyone !!!!!*

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Bring on the Red!

2009-01-14T16:25:00.000+08:00

It’s my absolute favourite time of the year now. CNY! And the days leading up to it

I remember in years of past, my mum would bake cookies to sell…. And bake she did!

The whole house was transformed into a cookie churning factory. We’d roll, cut, baste, bake, pack and seal THOUSANDS of pineapple tarts, peanut cookies and peanut puffs. The hall will be laden with tables and table or “work stations” and everyone had a job. Dad would be in charge of scraping the pineapples and cooking the jam, my siblings and I would be in charge or rolling and filling and cutting and basting… and Mummy, chief operating officer! Year in, year out. We’d make the cookies till the very last day we could. I still remember the oven sweating away, baking the final batches of tarts while Mum whipped up her delicious culinary CNY delights on the stove above. We were cleaning floors, washing baking pans, and changing the curtains and cushion covers all during the mad rush that was CNY eve.

After dinner, we’d all get into gear. Everyone again had a task. We had the clock to watch you see…. After midnite, all brooms, mops, brushes and other cleaning paraphernalia would be retired. “No cleaning on the first day”. Strangely, of the many many superstitious rules we sometimes questioned (like “don’t open an umbrella in the house, you’ll never grow tall”) this one, we adhered to religiously!

Dishes would be dealt with quickly and immediately the floor washing team would kick in. Hoses of water soap suds and slippery moonwalks across the kitchen to the back yard later, we’d rush to get things ready for prayers at midnight. (Now I know why my mom had 4 kids). 2 of us would be assigned to cleaning the fruits, setting up the table and candles and josssticks, the other 2 will be assigned to finishing up the cleaning of the house.

All eyes will be on the clock… and as midnite approaches, trust me, calmness and serenity in welcoming the new lunar year? NOT IN THIS HOUSE!

“QUICK! Pass me the mop!!!!”
“Watch out! I just mopped that part of the floor!”
“Have you swept under the cupboards?””Where’s the brush I used 5 minutes ago?””YOU STAINED MY FLOOR!!! STOP WALKING ABOUT!!!!!”
“Where’s one more cushion cover!!?!?! I lost a cushion cover!!!!”

30 seconds to midnite, mops, brooms brushes and such are haphazardly FLUNG into a cupboard marked “DO NOT OPEN”, we make a dash to change out of our sweaty work clothes to a brand new RED something, and make another dash out to the front porch.

There, coolly, my father will be waiting, jossticks in hand to hand us our 3 sticks to pray, in our pretty new clothes, for prosperity, health and 4D.

The standing joke all those years was that if we couldn’t clean the house in time, we’d lock the house up on the 1st day of CNY and pretend no one’s home. But we ALWAYS managed, it was ALWAYS a rush… but oh my!!! What a LOVELY rush it was!!!!!

Sure I griped, groaned and complained… but looking at it now, 2 weeks from CNY in 2009, where my parents are retired, we don’t bake any cookies anymore, not even for ourselves (my cooking experiments which my Mum still calls “a waste of flour” don’t count) where I know, it’ll be a quiet affair waiting for midnite, where the only sounds will be that of the tv, I can honestly say, HOW I MISS THE GOOD OLE DAYS!

He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother

2009-01-13T15:59:00.003+08:00

“How’s the Wira keeping?”

“Ok lar…”

“Is it falling apart already?”

“Nope”

I say that while thinking about the frozen windows, the car light that’s fallen off, the two indicator lamp casings that have fallen off, the rear suspension that needs changing, and the front something-under-the-hood that needs replacing… Well… nothing’s literally “fallen off” yet….

“What’s the mileage like on your car now?”

“About 220,000 km”

And I pause for a second to consider if I should tell him that the speedometer gauge thingy didn’t work for about 6 months, so it’s not the most accurate of readings on mileage… but I thought I’d spare him…

“You want my waja?”

And I hesitate… Sure, it’s a much newer car. Bigger engine too. Well taken care of. A better car (arguably…..) BUT… *I take a quick breath*…. It’s got PURPLE seat covers!!!! Urgh!!!! But still… it IS a newer car...

“Sure! You changing cars ah?”

“Yeah. Thought of trading in the Waja. But if you want it, I’ll trade in your Wira instead”

“Errr….. you DO realize, in the condition she’s in… you won’t get much if you trade in value from the Wira riiiiiiiiiiiiiiite….?”

[Sighs] “I know. It’s ok. I’ll absorb it”

“YEAYY!!!!”

Older brothers. I love muchly!!! Everyone should have one! :D:D:D

Sleighbells ring......... are you listening?

2008-12-24T13:50:00.008+08:00

It's Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it IS the spirit of giving.... So for those who have complained about my last "aunty" entry (Only Eric was kind enough to call it my "martha wanna-be" entry...) here, this entry is for you lovely people who read my blog... :D

So CHRISTMAS!!!! I dont celebrate it in a religious way, but it's hard not to get caught up in the festivities and the end of the year.... everything's winding down, to gear up for a new year ahead. And what a year it will be methinks...

Anyways, whatever the economic situation, since everyone seems to be posting their wish list, I thought I would too.... So here's mine... material things only, cause the intangible thinggies like love and peace and happiness are, although a given, either stuff I need to work on internally or are really beyond my control.... so here goes, my wish list, purely tangible goods and purely frivolous (well some of them are) :-

(i) a hand held mixer

Yes, the auntie in me has surfaced lately... and I'm into baking... for better or worse for my friends and family... cause they end up being my guinea pigs/piggettes. My old mixer, which I loved muchly, given to me by my sis circa 10 birthdays ago finally sputtered coughed keeled over and died. Sigh... that mixer and I have seen so many good memories, so many baking experiments.... so now I'm mixing cake and cookie batter by hand.... and as much as I appreciate a good workout, there's only so much the hand can do, and I have ambitions of baking meringues! pavlovas! and i wanna cream them all to high heaven!!! Top on my "I'm itching to bake" list are (a) Orange poppyseed cake and (b) White chocolate cranberry muffins!!! Nevermind I dont got a muffin tray... sigh...

(ii) a pretty overnight luggage bag

In dark chocolate brown, it lured me from my main purpose that day... and proved to be quite a distraction. But time wouldn't permit me to think properly that day, or I would have bought it. I didn't. And as luck would have it, it was sold out a couple of days later, the only available one being faulty... *&^%$#@$%!!!! I guess I'll just have to keep hunting for this one....

(iii) strappy tan leather heels

It's not easy shopping for shoes when you wear a size 10. So many pretty shoes have eluded me, so much so that I actually have very very happy dreams that I'm shoe shopping, and every shoe I fancy fits!!!! But then, I wake up.... and realise.... DAMN! it's just a dream.... I've got several brown outfits, and I'm wearing my dark brown pair of strappy heels to death now.... they're starting to fade.... and peel... poor things.... So i need a pair brown pair of strappy tan leather heels PRONTO!!!

(iv) THAT dress...

You know the one that you just KNOW is perfect the moment you put it on.... Yeah... I want THAT dress.... so far, I've had a couple of near hits, both tugging with much force at my heart strings, but seeing as my purse strings weren't as easily moved, sigh.... I guess I'll just have to keep hunting!!!!

(v) a sketchbook

A decent sized one I can lug about with me... I've already packed my charcoals and my pencils and some chalk into a pretty zippy soft bag I now carry with me in my weekend bag... So now I want a ring bound sketchbook to put them charcoals, pencils and chalk to good use!!!! And oh.... any willing models??? Now THIS (sketchbook.... sketchbook) I know where to get! haha... mayhaps I'll get it tonite, as little frivolous Christmas gift to myself....

And you know what? Once I started the list, seems I have so MANY things I want!!! So I'll stop here... and end this entry with "HAVE A MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!"

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Miracle froth...

2008-11-24T15:08:00.001+08:00

At the risk of sounding like an auntie…. I’m gonna blog about this.

To remove tough stains on whites (I haven’t tried this on coloured clothes):-

Directly onto the stain, splash some bleach and then some Vanish detergent.

The mixture will turn into a miracle milky froth. Leave the froth on stain for a few minutes, and then rub/scrub gently.

Stain WILL go away.

Even old stubborn ones.

My whites, are white again!!!

Plus, you get super smooth hands after.

(Ignore the redness, and/or stinging sensation…. Acid peel – schmacid schpeel, this works!!!)

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Unspoken Code of Conduct...

2008-11-12T11:25:00.000+08:00

It was a lovely weekend girly lunch. One of those long lazy ones with good food, great gossip and better company.

We brought Little A along, and as always, he was a joy to have around, a good little boy who LOVES his clotted cream and jam on scones…..

So the service left much to be desired. But the place was packed, the food was good and we were too busy enjoying ourselves talking anyways.

The afternoon wore on, fantastic roast beef set, a very yummy sandwich, fries and scones scones scones!!!! And like all good things, it had to come to an end…. Plus Little A was getting sleepy…

So we asked for the bill…

It came.

It took me 2 micro-seconds to adjust the look of pleasant surprise on my face…

It was HALF of what I had mentally calculated it to be.

But as much as I tried to adjust my features, I think the waiter caught my look of surprise and proceeded to ask me if it was the “correct bill”.

I shot a quick look of “NO ONE SAY ANYTHING! LET ME HANDLE THIS!” to the girls… and proceeded to confirm in a very dumb blonde fashion….the very few things that we actually DID order and which were reflected in the bill…. He seemed happy, I pulled out some cash and paid the bill.

The waiter obviously didn’t see the big ass plate of roast beef that we had. Yorkshire pudding and all!!! Although one can’t really blame him, we polished everything off!!!

The change came and Ming gave me look of shock … she had the look of “You’re KIDDING me! You only gave him ONE RM50 note and THERE’S CHANGE??!?!?!?”.

I gave her the smallest of nods to indicate things are a-ok and with much haste (using Little A’s falling asleep as an excuse) we left the joint.

In an unspoken code of conduct, understood only amongst people who have been friends for almost 20 years…. none of us mentioned ANYTHING about the bill.

Even outside.

We waited till we were at least 50 metres away…. When I said…. “Oh, by the way, they forgot to charge us for the roast beef set”. (it was the most expensive thing on their menu).

Ming, 8 months pregnant, and carrying her 3 year old son at that point in time, immediately dropped her head, and proceeded to POWER WALK towards the car…. Fiercely whispering “HURRY UP YOU GUYS!!! WALK!!!!!”

Makes me wonder what kind of role models we are for a 3 year old… but then again, he’s 3, he was half asleep and we may have saved RM40 but the buzz of excitement, the good 10 minutes of hysterical unexplained laughter we indulged in on the way home…. was PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!! We’ll worry about morals when he gets a little older I guess….

.

Vindicated!!!! (The Heat is On – Part 2)

2008-11-07T13:10:00.003+08:00

I AM NOT BLONDE! *doing twirly dance of joy*

And I have proof!

My radiator DID go bust on me!

It cost me a little more than RM200 to get my cracked radiator fixed, and I am happy. Cause this means that I am NOT one of those clueless lady drivers!!! (contrary to WHATEVER the Nut chooses to write on HIS blog).

The Bookermobile is doing her thing on the road again :D

Feeling very proud and walking around with my head held high KNOWING that I have irrefutable evidence that I am NOT blonde…..I got a call :-

J : Hello, how’s your car?

Booker: Ok. It didn’t blow up. Just a cracked radiator.
It’s all fixed now. Only cost me RM210!
*grin*

[yes, I grin into phones… I believe a grin adds depth to any phone conversation]

J : Oh good. So you got the car back now?

Booker : Yup. She came back last nite.
*smug look on face*

J : Great! Did you check the radiator water level?

Booker : *blink*

J : Hello?

Booker : *frowns*

J : *tilts his head to a side, shaking it slowly* <-- [I just KNOW he did it]

Booker: …no….. THEY FIXED IT ALREADY MA!!!!!!!!!!! *pout*

J : *sigh*

.

The Heat is On!

2008-11-03T14:37:00.001+08:00

The radiator heat-o-meter gauge thingy on my car decided to start climbing the other day…. And it was just a short trip to the pasar malam…. To get some tau foo far….. but it was late, and all I actually DID manage to get was a healthy splatter of fish guts water from the friendly toothless fishmonger….. sigh….. must be my old ratty t-shirt….. but I digress….

So smelling like yesterday’s catch, I got back to my car….and drove home. 100 meters from home, I noticed the radiator heat-o-meter gauge thing going up…. Hmmm not a good sign…. I’m no car expert, but I know enough of its mechanics to know that the gauge thingy should never be higher than the middle line…. And that your eyebrow should rise progressively with the gauge…. And so… following that rule of thumb, I had the look of sheer HORROR frozen on my face by the time I got home!!!!

Alarm bells ringing…I rush home, opened the bonet and did an expert STARE.

*PHEW* nothing blew up….

And my look of sheer HORROR relaxed to one of just SHOCK.

Next…. I did the most Macguyver thing I could think of…… I checked the water tank thingy next to the radiator…..

And Lo and Behold!!!! My look of SHOCK turned into one of SURPRISED SHOCK! (with exclamation mark!).

The water tank with plastic hose tube thingy was EMPTY! Dry as the sahara…..

That’s what you get I suppose for not really checking…. My poor car!

So I filled her up…. Could her the hiss as the first drops hit the radiator while I was filling in the tank… aiyoh…. How my heart ached…. Sigh….

So problem solved! My look of SURPRISED SHOCK! slowly relaxed to one of CONCERN.

Concern over my TYPICAL LADY DRIVER-ness….. sigh….

*Fast forward a few days…*

So my car ran pretty much like normal after that…. For a few days….

Then Saturday came along…. And I was designated driver for my parents’ errand running.

Of course it HAD to be a scorcher of a day…..

And 30 mins into driving around town, I noticed that I was looking MILDLY SURPRISED when I checked myself in the mirror….. asked myself why…. And then glanced the way of the radiator heat-o-meter gauge thingy…DAMN! It was rising again….

40 mins into driving and it had gone ¾ way up…. That’s when the (by now kinda familiar) SHEER LOOK OF HORROR plastered itself on my face….

And, as if for good measure, I realized that we were NO WHERE close to home yet….. another 20 mins of driving lay ahead of me….. and half of that, was me being held up by red lights and traffic snarls…..

By then, I had passed the SHEER LOOK OF HORROR line and my face was slowly arranging itself into the *^%$&^%$^*&^%@ (in Hokkien – we WERE driving around Klang) KILL ME NOW look…

I declared it DefCon 5 there and then…… Heart racing, body leaning forward, I stared, sulked, scowled, motioned impatiently, swore at and almost spat at anything in my way of home…. It wasn’t one of my prettiest moments in life I must say….

Reached home…. The gauge was just touching the red zone…… I IMMEDIATELY popped the bonet, and caught of whiff of “burnt something”…. Oh NO!!!!!!!!!!!

No staring this time….. I went into auto-pilot and reached for the garden hose….. and hosed my car’s insides down…. (Flashback :I have an uncle who used to run a chicken farm… and on hot days, he’d hose the crates and crates of chickens in his lorry down…to cool them down, so that they don’t DIE……... Same logic applied here…..)

Everything the water touched under the car bonet sizzled and spat angrily. Steam rose, and I continued swearing in my bad Hokkien (in my head…. I have very decent neighbours)…

10 mins into hosing, and the insides of my car STILL steamed and sizzled…. I was almost in tears by then….. firstly for my car and secondly for my bad Hokkien….

After flooding the garden…. And deciding that my car’s not going to blow up…. I stood there and inspected the water tank thingy. Empty. Again!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!

SHOOT! Something’s leaking…. DAMN!

I knew that I needed to get her checked….. but logic dictated that I let her cool down a bit….. so I went into the house, decided I needed some cooling down too….. made myself an apple vodka cocktail and slept.

*Approximately 2 hours later*

I woke up, inspected the car….. still hadn’t blown up… phew! And drove to the mechanic, 5 mins away.

I walked up to the foreman and in my embarrassingly halting Hokkien somehow managed to convey the message that my radiator almost blew up.

He looked at the car, then suspiciously at me… and then opened up the water tank thingy. It was FULL. (I smiled smugly and he softened his gaze at me)…. Next he opened up the radiator cap….. and started frowning. He stuck his finger into the mouth of the radiator then looked up at me questioningly. I of course looked back at him even MORE questioningly….

He then took a deep deep breath… and asked very very s-l-o-w-l-y…… if I had filled water into the radiator recently.

No. I answered.

He then asked, again very slowly, when was the LAST time I filled water into the radiator.

Oh. You’re SUPPOSED to fill in water into the radiator? I asked.

I was about to tell him that I had NEVER done anything of the sort cause the radiator cap tells me in BIG RED WARNING letters “DO NOT OPEN!” (and in much smaller letters “while hot”) And since I fill up the water tank thingy regularly… like when it dries up……. But I didn’t have to say anything…

I guess my earlier answer made it clear just what he was dealing with….. such instinct! Must be the 30 years of experience as a foreman….

Anyways, he patiently filled up my radiator. It took him 2 trips with a big ass 5 litre bottle to fill it up…. And then he let the engine run for a good 10 mins…. All the while checking, sometimes half diving into the bonet with his flash light, sometimes ducking under my car…checking and re-checking.

After that, we turned to me and said very patiently, that there was nothing wrong with my car. No leaks, no cracks. Just an empty radiator….. (and a dumb owner) ß no, he didn’t say it… out loud at least.

The wash of relief over me that instant was overshadowed only by the sudden feeling of being INCREDIBLY DUMB standing there, talking to the very very patient foreman, who never once made any snide remarks, or crack any “typical lady driver” jokes….

He didn’t even charge me for his meticulous checking and 2 trips of water that day.

Sigh. So I’m relieved. Cause my car didn’t blow up… and I don’t really have to drive around with the SHEER LOOK OF HORROR on my face no more…. Phew!

Squiggly little thing.....

2008-10-28T12:59:00.006+08:00

What is it about squiggly things?????

So there we were, happy with our purchases…. From two warehouse sales located a stone’s throw from each other… when we decided to have Korean for dinner.

Nice.

So we got in the car, she and I, and tailed Betsy to Kota Damansara.

You would think tailing a bright turquoise Gen 2 amongst the more generic silver, gray and black cars whizzing about PJ would be a brainless, minimal concentration task wouldn’t you?

Not that day.

Nothing to do with his (I don’t even need to mention his name… who ELSE has a turquoise blue Gen -2 named Betsy?) as always, pristinely kept car, but focusing on Betsy proved a bit of a task that day…..cause something else caught my eye…..

Parked under some trees while we shopped, my car had become a landing spot for a myriad of things….. little yellow leaves, some crinkly twigs and what I thought was bird poop. A white tube like deposit, which landed smack in the centre of MY half of the windscreen…..

“Great!!!” I thought…..yet another reason for people to get me to wash my car….

I usually ignore bird poop and the likes, wherever it lands on my car….. so I did just that…. Until 200 metres out of my parking spot, the white tube like piece of what I thought of shit, started to MOVE…….. it wiggled, then wriggled and then did a double back flip and triple tuck dive to the bottom on my windscreen!!!!

It was then that I noticed it’s legs….. and it’s soft segmented body….. that wasn’t bird poop!!!! It was a soft squishy white baby caterpillar!!!!!!!!!!!!

My neck muscles immediately tensed up…..it was soft, wriggly and white…. And it was hanging on to its dear life, just where my wipers were……

I tried focusing on Betsy……

But I couldn’t. I kept looking at it’s wriggly body and it’s little nubs for legs!!!!!!!!!!

Ewwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!

To be fair to the little thing, it wasn’t ugly or horrible in any way, it’s just that nature had made it soft, cold and squishy… with little nubs for legs……… and it was ON MY WINDSCREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stiff necked, eyes on it’s nubbly legs, I said to She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named…

Booker : “I’m seriously disturbed by the little white caterpillar on my windscreen!!!”

She-who-shall-
Not-be-named : “Haiyah just ignore it la!!!! Let me read you my favourite line from this Bill
Bryson book I got for a steal at MPH”

And she proceeds to flip through her book and actually reads me a couple of lines from the book….

She may as well have been doing the hustle and singing me opera… I couldn’t focus……..

Booker : “I SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY am disturbed by the little white caterpillar on
my windscreen!!!!!”

She-who-shall-
Not-be-named : “Ignore it”

Booker : “I can’t”

And before I can tell her of my plan to pull over when I saw some trees of similar make to the ones I was parked under earlier, and very Macguyver-ishly use a twig to flick the soft little nubbly thing onto a low branch where it can live happily ever after……… She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named reaches over, and nonchalantly FLICKS ON MY WIPERS!!!! :-

The next few minutes of what happened in the Bookermobile have been censored for the safety and sanity of all reading this blog….

But for those who don’t really have much sanity to begin with, read on….

ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!!!! The moment the wipers started moving upwards, the poor little caterpillar’s body got caught in it and was squished, mashed, and squeezed between the wiper and the windscreen….. it’s bodily juices were smeared and splattered on my windscreen… in a graceful up down quarter circular motion……. REPEATEDLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

I have to squeeze my eyes shut as I type this…… the muscles at the back of my neck are tense and I have the heebie-jeebies all over me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!

The poor caterpillar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the midst of the pandemonium -> Loosely translated to me devastatedly screaming “Arrrgghhh!!!” (pls see above) pretty much to the rhythm of the wipers, Ms. She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named took one look at the crime scene on my windscreen, and BROKE OUT INTO HYSTERIAL LAUGHTER!!!!! I now know what cackling like a witch sounds like…..

I was so disturbed……

But I think Ms. She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named felt a little remorse after we stopped the car. For she got out of the car, immediately whisked out some tissues, and cleared all evidence of the murder that had occurred on the sprint highway that day………..

I am still disturbed………

*shudder*

.

Little Hugo II

2008-10-21T14:29:00.003+08:00

For 3 minutes, he did nothing but run up, along, above, behind, on and down my computer screen.

No bigger than a staple, his exo-skeleton was half brown and half translucent and he was just taking his late morning walkabout the office he's come to call home.

Lovely little thing....

Don't Say It - Update

2008-10-20T12:41:00.002+08:00

I am bursting with pride here.

Dinner with Khims, Ming and Little Aiden last Saturday couldn't have been better. Cause the Little Car Inspector proclaimed my car to be "CLEAN". Said with conviction and happy approval.

I love that kid.

*humming a happy tune*

.

A year older....

2008-10-13T14:12:00.002+08:00

A year older last Saturday.

So much to live for.
So much to be thankful for.

And so, so much to learn.

Live and learn, live and be thankful.

Don't Say It!!!!!!

2008-10-06T12:43:00.001+08:00

It was a typical girly yum-cha session…. Only the girls are in their thirties… and there’s simply no denying the thirties bit with an adorable little tot tagging along, him hugging his little blue elephant...

We settled in the makan place and ordered a LOT.

And as is mandatory with all girly session, we talked….. and talked… and talked….

He kept himself happy mucking about the booth seat, scrambling close to the cascading water feature and excitedly pointing out the “pond”. So easy to keep a 3 year old happy… (I can already hear Ah Ming going “You wait…. Wait till he’s in one of his MOODS!”

But he was so adorable that day.

And he was such a good boy, even when presented with a whole fish pond to conquer and explore….. with mummy and Auntie J letting their feet be fish fodder for the day…. And when he had that little piece of chocolate…. How his eyes lit up!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, and utterly ADORABLE!!!!!

Until of course….. dear ole me dropped him and mummy off….

He got out of the car…. Turned and looked at my tyres…..STUNNED!!!!!!

He did NOT blink…. He did NOT move…. He merely looked, and ever so slowly lifted his blue elephant free hand, pointed to my back car tyre and said…

“Mummy……. Joycelyn che-che’s car…… so…. so…..so…..”

Armed with instinct only a mother would have…. Ah Ming looked at her son, horrified….. and warned him….

“Aiden…. DON’T SAY IT!”

But he was too stunned, too transfixed to hear her….

“Mummy!!!!!… It’s so… so… so….”

Again, in the mummy-est tone she could muster, all the while giving me a helpless “oh-God-my-son’s-gonna-say-it look” …

“Aiden, DON’T! Come, hold Mummy’s hand, let’s go into the house…”

With a slight furrow on his ridiculously baby smooth forehead… he SAID it..

“DIRTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Ah Ming’s gasp of disbelief could be heard for a 1 km radius… hahahaha!!!!

I was tickled pink!!!!

Said with so much innocence…. And with such shock!!!! Like he couldn’t believe that tyre rims COULD get to that particular shade of dirty brownish black….

I sincerely hope the poor little thing didn’t have nightmares…..

So, being the responsible Auntie that I am, yesterday, I am SO DAMN PROUD TO SAY….. I squatted by all 4 tyres, effectively cutting off all circulation to both limbs, and scrubbed my tyre rims clean. They are a sparkly silver now……

I am so PROUD…. and my legs are fine thanks….

.

Monday....

2008-08-25T10:54:00.000+08:00

I woke up feeling tired today...

Amidst the usual sounds of the morning, I paused for 15 minutes, listening to the world go by.

I look in the mirror and see the dark circles, the pale complexion, the tired eyes.

My back's achy and my tummy's sulking...

Only means 1 thing....yep, *sigh* it's Monday....

Emily Diet - NOT Day!!!!

2008-08-22T13:27:00.000+08:00

I actually DO HAVE the discipline to see the Emily Diet through, unlike the Eric Diet where one only needs ONE bad virus attack, the Emily Diet needs patience, discipline and will of steel (I have never willed myself to faint this much in my life.... ever)!

But, having all the discipline, will and patience is ONE thing..... having parents that think anything less than a double chin means "YOU'RE STARVING!!!!!" doesn't really help either....

Classic case of Emily Diet-Not happened just this morning....

I'm asleep, when at 8.40am my mom comes pounding on my room door "WAKE UP!!! I MADE BREAKFAST!!!!!"

And I'm a morning person, cause of this wonderful inducement called breakfast..... so I hop gleefully out of bed and practically dance my way to the dining table.

There, she's cooked up some super kickass mee suah, dry version, swimming in lard oil, generously covered with stir-fried black sauce minced pork and garlic, blanketting strips and strips of prawn omelette.... yum-YUMMY-yum-YUM!!!!!!!!!

The loveliest thing to wake up to is Mum's cooking really..... espcially if she cooks anything with stir-fried black sauce minced pork with garlic.... It's one thing savouring stir-fried black sauce minced pork with garlic first thing in the morning, which is great, but the real BLISS comes from getting to burp stir-fried black sauce minced pork with garlic THE WHOLE DAY LONG!!!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh *big happy smile*

Anyways, how easily I digress..... back to the Emily Diet- NOT incident, there I was, happily napping for another 30 mins after I wiped the pork flavoured oil slick on my morning face, when I hear my father coming home from his morning "lim-teh" session. (See how I'm trying to meng-Hokkienise this blog?) And with him, he's bought.... sigh.... ONLY MY SECOND FAVOURITEST FOOD IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mee hoon kueh!!!!!!!

Ahhhhhhh ...... the unmistakable smell of ikan bilis broth, still piping hot, the crispy ikan bilis and fried onions, the smooth pieces of carbs floating between pieces of sliced pig.... YUM!!!!!!!

So deciding there and then that this was going to be an Emily Diet - NOT day, I dig in, intending only to "taste" the soup....and okay, MAYBE a couple of slices of "mee hoon kueh"..... budden... before I know it, 90% of the bowl's gone!!!!!

I really should learn to focus..... between eating my mee hoon kueh, talking to my parents and reading the papers, I somehow auto-pilotted myself into finishing most of my food!!!!

So, no Emily today.

But BOY AM I HAPPY!!!!! :D:D:D:D

Olympic Dreams....

2008-08-18T11:03:00.000+08:00

It was immediately after the much anticipated singles men's badminton Olympic final, battle for GOLD!!! Lin Dan had just beaten our Lim Chong Wei in straight sets, without even breaking a sweat... sigh.....

The tv was still flashing Lin Dan's emotional outburst after he'd won, music akin to "charriots of fire" <-- China version playing in the background, replaying the scene where he gets up from the badminton court, and rushes to his coaches, giving them a big BIG hug and sobbing into their sportjackets.....

When my phone rings....

It's Ah Ming.

She's laughing uncontrollably into the phone.... and I'm thinking she's lost a couple of marbles cause Malaysia's NOT getting that golden public holiday....

But that really wasn't the case.

She was laughing herself silly cause of this this :-

Caught up in the victorious Olympic gold medal moment of Lin Dan and his coaches after watching the match, Little A (her 3 year old son) ran up to her and her husband and asked for a "hug-hug".... (Awwwwwwwww...)

Hearts melted as only a parent's heart can when a child shows such displays of pure love and affection, the following conversation ensued :-

Father : Aww, Little A, do you wanna go to the Olympics???

Little A : I want!!!

Mother : You do? What do you want to do at the Olympics???

(Hearts beaming with love, pride, and ambition for their little boy, both parents looked lovingly at their potential Olympic champion, waiting for his answer....)

Little A : Mop floor.

I think i dropped my phone then..... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Hey, at least he wants to do it at the OLYMPICS!!!!

Hokkien, you gotta love it.. (Part 2)

2008-08-14T13:01:00.000+08:00

I've been laughed at (yes, all you evil people who made fun of my Hokkien speaking abilities...... ) and been the butt of jokes about my command of the language for YEARS now (all in good humuor, thankfully).

So recently, I've been putting a bit of effort in making myself speak Hokkien a bit more frequently, like once every month, specifically when ordering bah kut teh (no greens, it is SO WRONG bunny!) or spare rib rice. Nevermind that people INSIST that one never really speaks in hokkien, one SHOUTS it, or HOLLERS it. And it is not uncommon for the non-Hokkien speaking crowd to huddle together in fear while traversing the streets of my beloved Hokkien speaking town, for to their untrained ears, "EVERYONE'S FIGHTING!!!!!".

I love Klang, and it's dialect of choice, so I pooh-poohed their naivette, and took to my Hokkien speaking lessons seriously.

And in my quest, I've googled my dad many a time for the Hokkien version of a certain word.

Usually, my dad, being a fine, true blue, born and bred in Klang specimen, will answer me INSTANTANEOUSLY, sometimes with a bemused look on his face (accompanied by a little chuckle) and sometimes with a "where did I go wrong educating this child of mine" look (accompanied by a sad shake of the head). Well... some of the words are pretty basic, I AM in my thirties, and he IS a teacher.....sigh.

But ONCE and only ONCE did one of my "how do you say this in Hokkien" queries stump him.

I mean, he was literally, at a loss for words.

I did my usual "how do you say [word] in Hokkien?" thing on him and expected him to answer in an instant.

He didn't.

Instead, he put down his chopsticks (yes, we DO love our food in Klang), pondered for a full 10 seconds, looked this way and that, looked staight at me with a "I CANT BELIEVE THIS" look on his face and said very gently, "In the Hokkien language, there is no such word".

Everyone around the dining table stopped eating. Too stunned to do or say anything.

The word I asked him about?

"Please".

Hokkien, you GOTTA love it!!!

Hokkien, gotta love it! (Part 1)

2008-08-08T14:07:00.000+08:00

They're talking about the hokkien language on the Nut's blog today....

I live in Klang, and it's almost a natural guaranteed consequence that I am Hokkien (which I am).

But, like the Nut, both my parents are English teachers (retired now) and we never had any grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins or such living with us. Just the Booker brood.

So growing up, I never had to speak anything else but English to be understood. Even in school, everyone spoke English.

And as a natural almost guaranteed consequence of that, I dont really speak Hokkien.

I mean I DO speak it, only I cant say that anyone in Klang (or in any other hokkien speaking province) will understand it.....

Booker : Pappy! Wa lang kha tan ai khe to lok ah?
[Pappy! Where are we going later?]

Pappy : (*Pained look on his face*)
Khe chiak ming kia lor
[To eat lor]

Booker : Khe tolok chiak? Ho chiak boh....

(and i go on to rattle on in what i thought was pretty good Hokkien, feeling rather proud of my hokkien heritage... when my dad stops me midsentence, wearing an expression like he just heard fingernails on a whiteboard....)

Pappy : Speak in English *term of endearment for me*................ Please........ speak in English.

Sigh...

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeepy

2008-08-06T16:05:00.000+08:00

Zzzzzzz.........zz..........z..............................zzzzzzzz.

(I wonder if this counts as a blog entry?)

Pictures on my blog…

2008-07-28T16:30:00.000+08:00

I’ve been asked many times….“Why no pictures in your blog?”

So today I decided I shall post some pictures on my blog.

I took the effort to find and then bring to the office the cable thingy to transfer some shots from my handphone to the computer.

Plug this to that, and click “ok” to everything rite??!?!

WRONG!

No one told me anything about a cd.

The one containing the programme I would need to transfer the files from…… zzzzzzzzzz…….

Seriously…. TOO MUCH EFFORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodbye Patchee....

2008-07-23T12:37:00.000+08:00

We used to watch the sunsets together. I’d prop myself up onto my mother’s car boot, and he’d climb up next to me, cuddle up close and in silence, lend his unconditional support to me.

He used to be able to give me looks. Looks that would silently put me in place, looks that would wrench the very heart out of me, looks that will flood me with shame. Always silent, he didn’t need words to convey these emotions, his looks were enough.

Silently defiant as always, he was never one who complained. Even as a little thing, the first night we brought him home, separated from the comfort of his familiar surroundings, he didn’t let out a peep. He grew up strong and silent, even when he came back with the most horrible battle wounds, gored, skin ripped apart , these nasty open wounds were all silently endured. He never squirmed or complained when we dressed his wounds, even in the unfamiliar hands of the vet, he merely plopped himself down, turned his body to make access to the wounded bits of him easier, with nary a wince. The trust he had is us was complete and unquestioning.

He had his flaws. Not born to be a show dog (perhaps, the fault for that was ours to share, we never really trained him to be one… I’m sure he would have done great, when the mood struck him). He ran out, terrorized the neighbours and many a postman.

He was special. The best watch dog anyone could ask for. He’s the only dog we had (and we’ve had dogs since I can recall), which could climb on top cars and keep watch from there. Trust me, it IS very intimidating to have him bark at you from ground level, it’s something else to have him bark at you from on top of the car, as if he could leap off the top of the car, fly above the gate and come lunging directly at your jugular. Scary indeed.

But he was a sweetheart. As standoffish and unaffectionate as he may seem, he really was a big devoted furball inside. He’d nuzzle up for a quick pet every chance he got. He’s walk regally up to me the moment I got home and stand next to me, looking quietly at me, until I reach down and give him a “Hey boy, I’m home” pet. Then he’d walk protectively behind me, until I let myself in the house.

His devotion knew no end. He’d plonk himself on his belly right at our doorstep, and silently watch us from his panda marked eyes for hours on end. Watching us watching tv was his favourite past time. And we knew he was watching us, cause you only need to nod in his direction, and that tail will start wagging…. Look at him and smile, and he’d smile back (I swear, he could smile…) wagging his tail happily. Get up to get a glass of water, and he’d get up too. By the time you reach the kitchen and reach for a glass, he’s already at the back door, watching out for you.

I’m gonna miss you Patchee ole’ boy. 14 years of being together and suddenly you’re gone. I’ll miss your slow and steady regal walk. I’ll miss hearing you take your running start, and the clickity clack of your paws on the windshield, I’ll miss your silent nuzzles and most of all, my dear dear friend, I’ll miss our sunsets together.

I still glance by your usual hang out spot near the custard apple tree every morning. I still listen out at night for the sounds of you scrambling up my car. And then I see the wilted flowers in the garden, marking your resting place, and it hits me. You’re gone. Rest in peace Patchee, I’ll miss you.

Fire!!!!!

2008-07-08T13:19:00.001+08:00

Well not quite…. It was more of a smoke gets in your eyes… hair…. clothes….pores of skin affair…

But smoke there was….

We were on our way back to his place, after dinner and we smelt smoke… it didn’t raise any alarm bells then cause it was more like an “Oh dear… someone left the chicken on the stove a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit too long” kind smell…..

We reach the door and notice that things were kind blur….. hazy blur….. we peeped into the neighbour’s (yes, we’re nosy) and WHOAAAAAAAAAAAA smoke billowing out from the kitchen….. we leaned over the railing into the airwell to get a better view of the neighbour’s kitchen and spy a pot of something which was once boiling merrily away, was now burning red hot and spewing smoke like krakatao….

We sprang into action… *mission impossible theme song playing in mind*

We knocked, hollered, yelled.

The only one who answered was the neighbour’s dog…. And it kept barking… alternating between the kitchen then at us… the poor thing knew something was amiss but could do nothing.

He tried calling the neighbour…. No answer.

I kept yelling.... No answer.

So what were we to do? Smoke filling our lungs… (it was lotus root and spare ribs soup flavoured… of course, very very well done), he made to get the security guard, and I, acting on instinct, reached in through the grilles and started blind feeling the wall next to the door. I molested the wall a little bit and just as I was about to give up, the tips of my fingers touched metal… it chinked and rattled at my touch. I lean forward some more (my poor boobs) and Lo! And Behold! I felt the unmistakable touch of a bunch of keys!!!

Heart racing and adrenalin pumping I turn to him and say “Wait…I think I can reach the keys.”

Without hesitation (or any thought to the criminal sentence which carries a jail term for breaking and entering and how NICE it would look on both of our records (we’re both lawyers….) he answered “Grab them!”

So grab them I did (for the record, I was acting ENTIRELY on his instruction, and my judgement was clouded by lotus root smoke).

And they WERE the keys to the house. I opened the grille and we jumped into action.

“Grab the dog” he told me.

(Sure, sure…. Leave it to the girl to wrestle the agitated dog, with sharp teeth and all….)

So I opened the grille cautiously, by this time, the smoke had made everything slightly cloudy, and the other neighbour had come out to see what the commotion was all about… and I slowly but firmly carry the dog in my arms….ok… so Bubbles is a chocolate coloured little toy poodle with oodles and oodles of baby soft poofy fur… BUT IT STILL HAD TEETH!!!!

And the moment I had Bubbles in my arms, he flashed right by me and dog directly to the kitchen…

By the time I got there, still carrying Bubbles, he had already turned off the flames and was taking the super heated pot of charcoaled lotus root to the sink.

Lots of sizzling and hissing and more smoke later, we stood there… kinda amazed at what just happened, my mind filled with thoughts of the penal code, breaking and entering….prison…the criminal and civil suits that may follow, and I could tell he thought it too… second only to the boyish excitement plastered all over his face!!! And just as we were about to make a break for it….. (I was wondering if I’d have enough reach to be able to hook them keys back, when Ms Neighbour came bounding into her unit.

She was all flummoxed and flustered.

“I left the fire on!!!”
“I’ve been calling my *^$%*%*& brother but he didn’t answer the phone!!!”
“Thanks, you guys!!! I rushed back as soon as I could!!!”

To this, a wash of relief flooded over me… Good…. She’s not gonna bring an action against us….

I give her dog back to her and explain to her that we tired calling her and yelling for someone to open the door…

She nodded gratefully and thanked us profusely again..

Good, I thought. She suspects nothing. We were making our way out, hoping to hell we wouldn’t have to explain how the hell we managed to get in… when she asked “So how did you guys get in? You forced the grilled open?”

We looked guiltily at each other, and in an act of pure chivalry, he pointed to me and said “She did it”.

Thanks man.

I had to explain to her what I did…. And lest she thought I was some criminal minded habitual house breaker, I had to explain to her that we hung the keys in similar fashion at home (well not quite… we kinda have a key basket….) and that I used to do the same stretch and feel thing to let myself in to the house when I get locked out….

She smiled and nodded. I could tell she wasn’t quite buying it…

Crap. That’s it.

If she avoids me on the street next time I see her….. I’ll know if I have the “bad ass criminal look” about me…. Sigh….

But trepidation, adrenalin rush, breaking and entering and dog wrestling aside, I must admit, IT WAS FUN!!!!!!!!!!! And I can only say this because no one got hurt, except maybe some blackened lotus roots… sure we smelt smoky after that…. And I’m sure Bubbles and it’s owner will never see me in the same light again… but there IS this special chest-proudly-out, walking on sunshine feeling that comes with being self professed heroes…. Even if it’s only for 5 minutes, and even if the only thing you manage to rescue were some lotus roots from becoming charcoal…. It was FUN!!!!

Plus, it’s something to blog about.. :P

For you Yin...

2008-07-08T13:17:00.001+08:00

For the benefit of Yin, who can't access my friendster blog from the office, I'm posting my latest entry on the Booker Blogs here too... and perhaps, all of my blog entries... we'll see :D

Hope you enjoy the entries Yin.

Happy Birthday Cha!

2008-05-06T16:12:00.000+08:00

She flies back to london today... morning flight. weird but i was missing her since yesterday evening already, with her sitting just inches from me.....but i missed her the most the first 5 mins driving away from the airport. the brave front i put up at the departure hall crumbled the moment i was in the privacy of my car.... i cried.... i ALMOST bawled but the realisation that i was headed directly for the office helped. it's not so bad now... but i miss her...

hope she gets to her place in london safe and sound.

Write off......

2008-03-25T16:11:00.000+08:00

Everyone has write off days.... you know the kind that start off slow, you never get into gear, where the most mundane of things seem SO important??? like you simply HAVE to count the paperclips in your drawer before anything else days.... so today is a write off day for me.... It's a work day, I came into the office, and in a bit, I will be punching out and leaving the office..... where did all the hours go????

The Blearghs

2008-03-21T16:31:00.000+08:00

I have a slight case of the Blearghs today....(some call it the "blahs")....i think it's something a little less than an actual case of the blues but you feel a little useless, a little bored and a little uninspired all at the same time....

I've decided that this blog shall have entries that are little thoughtlets (a.k.a little random thoughtless thoughts).

Dont nobody worry about me.... the blearghs will disappear when I remove myself from these 4 walls of the office.... it's Friday anyways..... and 5.30pm couldn't come sooner!

Simply because...

2008-03-21T16:00:00.000+08:00

Another blog???

As if I blog THAT persistently.... but i think the "B" in the orange box is pretty cool to have next to my name when I enter comments on the Nut's blog... so there... reason enough to have another blog :)