To be or not to be?

It's been a rather busy week this week..lots of loose ends to tie up before I am off on a two-week holiday home to see the family.. YAY !! Mind you, these past two months leading to this trip has been a challenge of collecting/buying various presents and goodies for the family members -- chocolates and toys for the nieces and nephew, perfume and cosmetics for mum, jewellery for the Sis-in-law, Twining tea for Mum's friends, more cookies and chocolates.... The most difficult bit I have to say is buying for the two men -- Dad and my brother. I have one or two items for them, but I feel that it might not be enough. So, I still have this weekend before I fly off on Monday to try and sort something out. But I don't want to make the mistake I made last year when I went home --  I bought so much that in the end they woulnd't fit in the luggage and I had to leave some of the cookies and biscuits behind !! And this time, because I'm not going home with Steve, he has promised to bake some chocolate chip cookies that I can take with me for my parents because my dad loved the cookie that we brought back for them last year.

The office is finally back to normal this week with me being able to 'bug' my colleague incessantly while she's trying to get some work done. And from her holiday in Cornwall she brought me the most B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L and functional souvenir for me !! It's not a great picture because being my usual anal self, I am reluctant to open up the plastic wrapping and take them out in case I dirty them. But aren't these just so cute and adorable?!!

I haven't yet quite decided where and what to use them on so they'll have to stay in the plastic for a while longer but once in a while I do pick them up and ogle and admire them because they are just so cute !

Right, totally unrelated... I am in a mad quest of finishing my blanket because I am hoping to bring it on the plane with me for some warmth because I always find that the air conditioning is often too cold for me on the plane. But there are two dilemmas... 1. the blanket is surprising heavy and bulky (Duh, it is called a 'blanket') and 2. once I land in Malaysia with the guaranteed heat of up to 30 degree C and the humidity that envelopes you the minute you walk out the plane, I'm not sure if it will be worth while carrying all that weight just to use it on the plane... I don't know.. I guess when it comes to actually packing for the trip, the matter will resolve itself. But for now, just a couple of pictures to show you.

There is no system to the colour sequence. I basically use whatever colour that I come across first in the bag.

You can see Steve's foot sticking out in the background and the general messiness of the room. Can you see that bag sitting in the corner (next to Steve's foot), that's a whole bag of toys and stationery and goodies for the family. So tonight when I get home from work at 10pm, there will be more toiling to expand the size of the blanket. Now that it has grown so big, it takes soooooooo long just to finish one round of colour !! Fely, I've finally used the new bedlinen set I showed you not long ago... Nice?!

Okay chaps..... I will be in an Internet-less zone for the next two weeks.. so when I come back, there'll be lots of blog entries from you guys that I can catch up on (yiippiieee). Till then, take care and see you soon !!

Randoms...

Last weekend was an especially relaxing and enjoyable one for many reasons...

::I was not working at M&S (this is always good... it's especially hard having to go to work on a Saturday coming up to summer time as it gets dark a lot later and when I go into work at 6pm with glorious weather and sunshine outside, it's a real kill joy)

:: Steve managed to convince me to go on a really nice cycle ride and it felt really GREAT. I felt reserved at first because I honestly and truly hate cycling on the roads and the passing traffic really terrifies me a lot. So we came to a compromise and found a nice, traffic free route online and away we went. Halfway through, we decided to stop at ASDA to grab some lunch so that we can sit in the park overlooking the bay and enjoy a bite of lunch. I took some pictures while we were having lunch.

So on our way down towards the bay, it was really an easy cruise, and I hardly had to peddle at all. However, I was semi-conscious of the fact that when you go down, you've got to come up and the ride home won't be quite the same. True enough, coming back, the journey was never ending stretches of uphill and uphill and uphill and my poor heart which has not been pumping so hard for the past two years was coping as best as it could and by the end of the cycle ride, I was absolutely breathless and my legs felt like jelly !! That night, my muscles started to ache and every movement I made was not without effort.... Nevertheless, it was a fantastic cycle ride and I'd do it again anytime.

:: We finally went to the famous Koh Thai for some Thai Tapas after my colleague raved on and on about it. After much deliberation, we finally placed our order and after the waiter had left the table, Steve and I looked at each other and we burst out laughing, and we both knew that as usual, we had perhaps ordered a bit too much for ourselves. Ah well, we wanted to try as many things as possible...

The food was overall not bad... but a bit pricey I think.

We ordered prawn tempura, Thai fishcakes (4 on each plate), spicy thai duck salad, Koh special potato (which was extremely nice), Penang curry with sticky rice and the whole bill came to almost 40pounds. But it was a nice experience and the food was good so it's okay.

:: Saturday night, I finally cracked open my GIANT egg. Beatrice will know that from 10 years ago when I first came to the UK, one of my hobbies was to buy Kinder Egg surprise and collect the tiny toys inside. Steve knows this too and when we were in France last two weeks, he bought me a gigantic Kinder Surprise egg with of course a gigantic toy inside. I have some pictures to show you.

Can you see the difference between the usual Kinder Egg surprise and the giant next to it? haha

 Nice.....

So I forgot to take a picture of the toy inside so sorry can't show you that. But it was fun to assemble the toy and it was quite a cool toy as well.

So for the whole of this week, I'll be all on my own in this big office. Boss is outstation, and another colleague is on annual leave *yawn*.... can get a bit boring but I just get on with my stuff and soon it'll be 5pm. A couple of pictures to show you my space. 

My space, a bit messy but it's a lot better than my old desk where I used to teach in Miri.

Empty office. My space is the second computer screen. Notice the big fish hanging on my notice board. Cute?

Okay, time for a cup of tea I think. Catch you later.

Have a good week ahead and thanks for dropping by.

Stuff British People Like

My colleague forwarded me a blog  -- Stuff White People Like and I think it is absolutely genius and hilarious. After reading the blog, I suddenly had the inspiration to start my own list, through my experience and daily encounter with British people....

Just let it be known that this is entirely my personal opinion and that this list should be taken with a pinch of salt and friends, feel free to add your own...

Stuff British People Like

#1 - Refuse to do something out of 'principles'. It's not that they are kedekut to spend 5 pence on a plastic bag, but out of principle, they WON'T pay for the bag because they think it's wrong. (But it's funny that they don't make it a principle to bring their own bag so they don't have to pay for one?)

#2 - Claim that they have a great sense of humour and believe that they have the funniest comedies on telly while their 'most highly acclaimed' shows like The Fawlty Towers, Yes! Prime Minister, or Blackadder are boring like hell. 'Friends' rule !!

#3 - Go for a drink. What ever they do, where ever they go and what ever the occassion, 'going for a drink' always appeals to all British people. It is something that I took quite sometime to comprehend and would never get because where I am from, going for supper, or going for yum char, or meeting up for dinner ALWAYS seems more attractive than just 'having a drink'.

#4 - Saying 'please'. 'Do you need a bag?' 'Yes, please'; 'How many apples do you want?' '5.... please'; 'Can you pass me the salt, please?'; 'Could I speak to the manager, please?'. 'Can I kick your butt, please?'. And when somebody doesn't say 'please', elderly people make disapproving 'clucking' sound and mutter under their breath 'how rude!'.

#5 - Make small talks at the check outs and think that they are extremely funny and original, having no inclination or the awareness that it was the 101th time I've heard the line 'I've only come in for some milk' for the day.

#6 - Insist on telling you what the weather is like outside when you can clearly see that 'it is pouring down with rain' or 'it is such a glorious, sunny day outside'.

#7 - Practise their newly acquired greetings in Chinese with you. 'Shed Shed... is that how you say it?'...'Erm, it's Xie Xie.'...'Yeah, that's what I said, Shed Shed.'....'Yeah, that's right! You've got it!! (eyes rolling, NOT)

#8 - Go for a walk. Aiyoh, this one, I will never get. Mind you, I am lazy and I get cold easily and I don't like the wind blowing straight into my bones.  As long as it's not pouring down with rain, they always want to go for a walk !!I just don't get that...

Okay, these are a few examples that I can think of. Please feel free to add to the list?

Let's make that list

I was cracking my head for ideas for my latest blog entry when I suddenly remembered that I promised escape2 that I would create a 'things that make me happy' list like the one she'd made on her blog.

This list is how I feel, currently !!

MY HAPPY LIST

1. my sleep pattern is slowly going back to normal and that I only woke up once during the night coughing.
2. I'm not working at M&S tonight and i can relax tonight
3. the sun is shining and the temperature is becoming milder and milder, signalling the arrival of summertime
4. it's a short working week this week.
5. can't wait to go home and catch up on my chinese drama (such a time waster)
6. chatting with fely on bb messenger on a daily basis
7. my parents are well
8. am in a happy relationship :)
9. have got a job
10. have a nice hobby -- crochet and knitting
11. steve can cook
12. have got a GIANT easter egg at home waiting for me to open !!!
13. i like processed chicken nuggets

Okay I think I shall stop here because this list can go on and on and on with very ridiculous thoughts of mine :)

We've just come back from a long weekend away to France, St. Valerie Sur Somme, to be exact. It was great and relaxing. We knew what to expect because we went to an area nearby for Steve's birthday last year. We drove to Dover on Thursday night and spent a night in a hotel before crossing over to Dunkerque on the ferry the next morning. Although it was a relaxing holiday for me, less so for Steve I guess coz he had to do a lot of driving. From Bournemouth to Dunkerque, and then Dunkerque to St. Valerie. But I managed to keep him happy by getting him an FM transmitter for his Iphone so that he could listen to his Harry Potter audio books in the car, so that was good. I also got him a box of mini easter eggs from Hotel Chocolate which he appreciated by eating three different ones in a row. But he topped me by sneaking out of bed early on Easter Sunday and hid 21 chocolate easter eggs all over the place and I had to hunt for them to get my Easter present :) that was great fun and needless to say, I excelled at that easter egg hunt because I am anal when it comes to looking at all nooks and corners for missing items. We've taken a few pictures but I haven't got the camera with me at the moment so the pictures will have to wait. We ended up with only a few pictures because we took loads of pictures when we went there last year. And plus a certain idiot (that would be me) had brought along the tripod but had managed to lose the screw that holds the camera onto the tripod so you go figure....Nevertheless, overall a very happy trip with me getting my seafood fix of oysters which we bought from the morning market which I shucked myself; cockles which were simply boiled quickly and eaten with chillie and garlic; and prawns with cheese and bread and olives; and not to mention, boullabaisse, the famous french fish soup which we cooked (I said 'we', but my part involves only doing the dishes in the end, as usual) after getting fresh ingredients of fish, mussles and prawns from the market !! yummy !! (in case you're wondering, we didn't eat all that in one sitting)

Okay my stomach is growling; time for lunch.

Have a lovely week.