ON LIFE & EXPERIENCE

It warms my heart...

2012-01-24T19:06:00.001Z

Every year Chinese New Year, one greeting card will always turn up at my door step without fail, even when I've never managed to send any out in return, this particular CNY greeting card will still arrive, on schedule.

This year, there is no exception.

Sitting proudly on my sewing table, is this special CNY greeting card which truly warms my heart and makes me appreciate how lucky I am to have her as a friend.

You know who you are... I just want to tell you this CNY greeting card means the world to me and although you haven't got mine in return, I want to wish you a prosperous, happy and healthy year of the Dragon, with all your dreams, aspirations and wishes coming true. You're truly one, fantastic friend to have and to cherish! Love ya!

On Chinese New Year and everything nice...

2012-01-19T13:36:00.000Z

From my last post until now, I can promise you that I did try to post a few times but they never resulted in anything concrete that was 'post-able' if you know what I mean...

Almost three weeks ago we ushered in another new year and what's my thinking for 2012?

Do I want to set another list of new year's resolutions which ultimately I couldn't live up to? (that's the norm, like do more exercise, eat more healthy food, be more active, etc, I'm sure you've got them in your list?)

So when Steve asked me what my new year resolution was, I said 'to contiue to be happy in life'. It's quite a simple one, don't you think? Such is life, no matter what you do, what position you're in, how much money you've got or how much money you earn, ultimately, if none of the above makes you happy, then there is no point.

Having said that, being happy doesn't mean that you have to improve or change your life dramatically...sometimes, it is as simple as changing your perspective in life.

I must admit I am a simple person with simple pleasures. For me, being happy can include being able to finish work on time, go home, kick off my shoes and snuggle under the blanket in front of the telly with a hot cup of tea.

Another example? Being happy means getting a phone call from the other half telling me that dinner for the night is sorted, and all we need to do is to heat it up...

There comes a point in life when you struggle to find the meaning of happiness. For me, it changes according to surrounding events, my mood and my hormones (if you're female, you will agree).

Last two weeks, I wasn't feeling very happy mainly because I found out that one of my high school friends was fighting against cancer. Eventually, the sad news came that she had succumbed to the horrible illness. Instantly facebook was full of tributes to her and everybody who knew her shared the sad news....

Gradually, people started moving on and talks of the Chinese New Year celebration started to dominate facebook and life resumed normal again...

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, as humans, our normal instinct is to come to terms with sadness, pick ourselves up and move on again to a place where there is happiness...

If you are stuck at a place where you can't find happiness, don't keep looking in the same place. Spread out your search, open up your mind and space.

Before I end this post about happiness, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone I know, a very happy and prosperous year of the Black Water Dragon. If you're due to have a baby this year, may you have a healthy and happy Baby Dragon... If you're due to get married this year, may you have a blessed and wonderful long marriage ... If you are just being you, plodding along in life, I wish you all the happiness that life can offer to you...

恭喜发财

I'm back!!!

2011-08-12T00:27:00.002+01:00

Yesss, back to my old self and feeling chirpier, relaxed and creative again!

And the best thing is, after months of a sewing lull, I'm slowing getting back into it again and it feels great. The bag that I promised a friend to make is coming along nicely and hopefully not long after this i shall be able to post some pictures to show you.

So what's been happening lately in my life? I guess one of the many highlights is that a really dear friend from Miri visited last week and we spent a great few days just catching up, relaxing and enjoying good food. Among some of the lovely Malaysian food that she brought along with her was durian cake, much missed by yours truly, a variety of sambal, dried prawn crackers, dried sotong and many, many more! I was overwhelmed, to say the least!

Another highlight was probably the fact that after 18 long months I've finally reached the stage where I was eligible for a phone upgrade and I went for a BlackBerry Torch. At first I wasn't sure about it, mainly because it was another 24 month contract and I wasn't sure if I wanted to get tied down to such a long contract but seeing that the trial period of 14 days to return the phone is coming up to an end very soon, I guess i'm kind of stuck with it now, aren't I! Oh well...I like the phone anyway...let's hope I'll still like it 12 months later... Gulp!

The recent rioting in England has raised many questions in terms of parenting skills, the irresponsible young generation and how easy it is for a group of yobs to go on a rampage for days before things got under control. It's also interesting to see various intellectuals with their theories behind the causes for the series of violence across the country... Among some possible causes mentioned were jobless and frustrated youths; senselessness; and gangsterism. But now it's emerged that some of the offenders charged consisted of a teaching assistant, a University student and a young mother, none of whom were, jobless, senseless nor a gangster!

I shook my head in disbelief as I watched clips of interview on the street where these offenders spoke openly and 'righteously' of their intention to continue looting and demonstrating violence until they are caught! I have run out of items of vocabulary to describe this surreal unfortunate incident. Only one word comes to mind - UNBELIEVABLE.

On that note, I'm declaring myself tired and sleepy and I'm off to bed. Hopefully when I see you next i'll be able to share pictures of my latest project!

Ps: T.G.I.F

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Guilt sucks...

2011-07-14T00:22:00.001+01:00

It's been officially one month since I started my new job and I'm still coping...

Took me one week just to get my head round the structure of the job and what it entails...

Then it was another week setting up meetings and getting to know various important people who i'll be working closely with...

I spent the third week trying to understand and memorise acronyms and technical jargons - PQQ, ITT, CEQLW, COMPRE, DDRE, CRE, T&C ... I know, you tell me...

Then last week I had a minor surgery at the hospital and am now still recovering from the effect of anaesthetic...

So overall, a full-on month... Which is also a month riddled with a sense of guilt... I haven't been doing much sewing and i know I promised a friend I would make a pretty nappy bag for her and until today I still haven't managed to deliver... You know who you are...please be patient and I promise I'll finish your lovely bag before your beautiful little girl turns 18!!

Summer has started but Steve and I still haven't managed to go for a swim in the sea... The weather though has been great, was perhaps not warm enough yet (I'm such a whooz) ...hopefully the weather will properly pick up soon and we can go for an after work swim like we did a few times last year... So refreshing and relaxing...

Okay, I'm going to bed...another intense day at the office tomorrow, trying to unravel more mysteries through reading contracts, emails and agreement forms! Exciting stuff!!! On the plus side, most of my new colleagues are helpful and nice, which makes thing a lot easier...

Good night.

Change.

2011-06-16T00:12:00.000+01:00

So it's a bit strange right now. I've been waiting for this moment for quite sometime. And when you've been in such anticipation for something to take place, quite often the reality of it is somehow quite different from what you've imagined.

I've always known that i'll miss sitting opposite DSC, but I didn't expect to feel....lonely. In my previous job, there is me, DSC sitting opposite me, and my boss in her room but still near enough to shout for me, asking me what the date was. So when I found out I was moving to a bigger department with a much bigger group of colleagues, I was ecstatic. I said to DSC, finally a chance to mingle in a REAL office environment, with more than 3 people in the office. I was so wrong. In a much, much bigger office, everybody minds their own business and you feel more lonely than ever, especially if you're new and everything seemed so unfamiliar. I told DSC today that I felt like Joey in 'Friends' when he moved out temporarily from Chandler's apartment on his own. Lonely, 'office' sick and lost. DSC assured me that things will get better through time but we'll see. The highlight of the day is DSC bringing me my favourite chocolate - kinder bueno with White chocolate. I was almost reduced to tears by the kind gesture. The only consolation in this is that I've only moved to the office next door so I still get to see DSC, which is comforting. But the downside is when the old boss couldn't find the marker pens in the stationery cupboard, she decides to go to your new office instead of sending you an email about it, or look more closely in the cupboard.

Anyway, tomorrow is another training day so I'd better go to bed now. Good night.

Blessing in disguise

2011-06-07T01:15:00.010+01:00

I am utterly and completely in love with the new toy that I've recently acquired. It happened like this: it was last Wednesday; I was working really hard to finish off a birthday present for a dear friend on the sewing machine, and I could see the end coming near. Then my sewing machine had other plans and decided to stop working! Needless to say, I was feeling absolutely frustrated by it!!! So I rang up the company I bought it from just to be told that the whole of their service department is shut till end of June!! Alas! One whole month without sewing? So, being the way I am, I've decided that the solution to my problem, is to get another machine while I wait till the end of the month to send my machine to be repaired. Drastic but absolutely necessary.

It was almost love at first sight. Although being sensible, I did originally purchase a much, much cheaper reconditioned New Home sewing machine just to find that I was struggling with it every five minutes so I had to take it back the next day. It was destined, the union between me and my beloved.

Although I did make an effort to start looking at other new machines that were a lot cheaper than my beloved, my mind and attention kept drifting back to 'the one'.

To be honest, even if the salesman had been speaking Russian, I would have bought it, regardless. Steve calls me 'every salesman's wet dream'. But to be fair, just so you don't think that I'm a complete loony, the salesman made his sales with two things - all original packaging, manuals and accessories that came with the machine were still there, even with the free thread that came with it. Pretty amazing! Also, if it turns out that I wasn't coping well with the machine, I can take it back to the shop(when I made that request, the salesman said confidently - Trust me, you wont bring this back to us!) So away we went, 15 minutes later, me lugging the big brick of the machine back to my car and i was grinning from ear to ear. When I said all original packaging, I really meant all ORIGINAL packaging. Check this out!

Can you see the label? I find it so fascinating! So out comes the machine in its hard case.

The first glimpse of my beloved. By now, you can probably see that it's the famous Bernina. But this is not just any Bernina! Let's see more pictures.

Side view of the case. Are you as excited as I am?

I read up extensively about this range and knew that this 'cord' that keeps the box shut is most commonly missing so I made sure that it was there.

Tada!! Open sesame! I love how the power cable coils around the back. And you can just about see the extension table clipped on the inside of the case.

Yup, it's a Bernina 900 Nova from the 80's! And I L.O.V.E it!

I especially love this. See the flower symbol? How cute is that?

Handy drawer at the bottom of the case.

How cute is that?! I just had to have it! And this vintage baby, is a solid metal beauty!!

All original accessories in tact. The gap is of course the presser foot that's attached to the machine.

I'm already thinking about expending this. The best thing is, although the machine's no longer being manufactured, I can still get the parts online.

Full set of tools. Including even the tube of oil at the end slot.

For a spare and reconditioned machine, it wasn't cheap. And I've probably paid over the odds too. That night, I didn't get to 'testdrive' it as we were heading to Taunton for a wedding, so I had to wait an agonising two days before I could get my hands on it. And when I finally had chance to try it, I knew then, that I had made the right decision... It was a dream, sewing on it. I mean my Husqvarna Viking 203 isn't bad at all, but this vintage Bernina Nova 900 was, different.

So I managed to finish the project in no time at all. The stitch quality was superb; and it was in every way, perfect! Although the machine was almost 30 years old, it didn't feel like that at all.

Upon seeing how excited I was by the Bernina, Steve planted an evil seed in my mind - get my Husqvarna Viking fixed, and then trade that in for a new, modern Bernina! To that I replied, but the new ones are so expensive!! But deep down, I'm mulling over the possibility...

Dangerous! I think i'll let me bank account recover first, and then i'll probably think about it. For the time being, I'm still smitten with my new love...(forgive my disloyalty my dear Husqvarna Viking)...

Reminiscing

2011-05-20T10:39:00.001+01:00

As I was reading through my previous blog posts I really had a good time reminiscing about past events. And I felt really good that I had kept a blog and that I had religiously documented significant events which took place in the past. Reading through my own blog posts, I was brought back in time and relived those moments. It felt just great and that made me more determined than ever to keep my blog updated. I know I've been neglecting my blog for a while and also my recent blog posts were mostly about sewing projects. I think I shall try and change that from now on.

One major event which is worth mentioning is that after two years and three months being in the department where I am working right now, I shall be moving on to another department next month. I just can't wait. I think after two years and two months, I am eager and ready for a new set of challenges. My mind is yearning for more knowledge, to learn new skills. In the past few months, many vacancies have come up within the University and I have applied for a few but in the current state of economy, competition for jobs is fierce and I was told that for one of the previous jobs that I had applied for, they have had over 130 applications!! So when this recent job vacancy came up and was only open to internal staff, I was hopeful. I took a lot of care and a long time preparing my application; speaking to the right people within the department to find out as much as I could about the job role; reading up extensively about the deparment, and after checking my applications for more than a hundred times, I clicked the 'Send' button and ever since then, my heart was in my mouth. Luckily, a few days after submitting the application, I went on a week-long holiday to Rhodes Island and that sort of took my mind off it a bit, until my mobile rang while I was on holiday. Three days into my holiday, I received a telephone call, inviting me for an interview for the job the following week. And can you imagine the state of my mind for the entire time after that? I started preparing myself mentally for the interview. And the couple of days leading to the interview, I started practising on my own; checking out tips for interview online; and rehearsing answers to possible interview questions in my head over and over and over again. Although in the end, none of the questions that I had prepared for came up during the interview, I think the preparations helped calm my nerves and I was able to feel relaxed and confident before the interview. The entire interview process was daunting. I was given 5 different scenarios and had to explain how I would deal with each scenario and after that 5 people in the panel each asked me different sets of questions. I gave examples from my experience as best as I could but when I came out, I was angry with myself because in some cases I had given the worst kind of examples that you could think of. And then the awful waiting began. We were told that we would be informed the following week. And it was only the middle of the week when the interview took place. How was I going to survive till the following week? All the speculating, the not knowing, the anticipation?! Well, I did survive, barely. I was in a constant turmoil all weekend, playing the interview in my head over and over and over again.

I think I did well?

No, I think it was a flop.

No, I think I did okay, they were impressed.

No, I did not really answer some questions correctly.

And then Monday came, and eventually at around lunch time, I received the good news. I have been offered a job with the Centre. And the relief just washed over me. I was happy, I was relieved and I was nervous. Nervous about telling my current manager. And because she was working out of the office for a few days, that presented me with the greatest means of informing her -- through the great email. Not the best way to tell her, but it had to be done, and it had to be done quick so that I don't delay giving in my notice and hence delaying the start date of my new role.

So now, three more weeks before I move to my new department and I am now writing 'handover handy tips' and it made it realise how far I have come at this current role. When I first started, I knew nothing. What a learning process it has been, these past two years. From organising a Conference, to editing the Centre's newsletter, to facilitating a workshop on my own to having to step in as the Finance administrator... and many other things. And I have no doubt that when I step into my new role, more learning of new skills and knowledge will take place and I am really excited by that prospect. It is cliche but true. Learning is a lifelong process and I couldn't agree more. As humans, we thrive on learning new skills, getting to know new people, visiting new places, gaining new experiences, trying new things, and buying new gadgets (hehe). As myself, I thrive on enhancing my existing skills, gaining more experience, and learning new sewing techniques and making different lovely projects.

It is Friday today, the best day of the week and this weekend, we are off to Frimley to have an early celebration of Steve's birthday. So roll on 4.30pm I think so that my proper weekend can begin. Have a great weekend you lovely people and to end my post, let me show you a pair of shoes I bought for my recent holiday and I love them.

Don't mind the socks. I know it's meant to be slip-ons but I still like to wear socks so that I don't end up smelling the shoes with my sweat.

Labour of Love

2011-05-18T11:51:00.001+01:00

A few months back, Mum expressed her wish to have a handbag made for her. So I started sketching ideas and thinking of bag patterns. Then the iPad came along and everything ground to a halt and I thought I had plenty of time. Then I finally managed to get something started but half way through, I became quite unhappy with the bag I was making and decided to start afresh because it was really important that my mum will like the bag I've made for her. This time, I decided to try a pattern that I had bought online. And before I could start doing anything, I went on holiday and another week has gone before I could start picking the fabric and started cutting the bits and pieces needed to make the bag with. Step by step I followed the pattern and joined the fabric that I've cut, piece by piece. Although I would have loved to make my mum's bag from a pattern I had designed myself, I was pressed for time so using a pattern seemed a sensible idea. And using this pattern, I have really learned a lot from making this bag. It wasn't always plain sailing; there was frustration and there was satisfaction.

Finally, today I came really close to finishing it. Although I still have to put the lining of the bag in place, I couldn't wait any longer and decided to share the pictures of this near-finish bag.

With Steve's help, I chose oilcloth as the front and bag panels of the bag; and a plain, matching cotton fabric for the zip section. I wouldn't say this bag is perfectly made, but i am quite happy with the result so far. A few pictures to show you.

Really didn't expect it to be quite so big.

Before the straps got sewn on. You can see the instructions on the sewing table, and my 'best friend'.

A rather challenging step, piecing the front and bag panels together with the zippered section.

Can't wait to carry on with the project, finish the lining and send this bag off to my Mum. Bless her she's waited long enough.

In the meantime, I'm already thinking of more projects to embark upon. How exciting!

A weekend of Summer

2011-04-11T11:19:00.002+01:00

Before I start to tell you all about what's happening lately, let me just give you 5 very good reasons why you SHOULD NOT buy an iPad.

1. It is an absolute time waster.

You wake up in the mornings and you lay in bed reading news, RSS feeds and Facebooking. Before you know it, it's time to get dressed and you realise you're going to be late to work and you end up rushing through breakfast which in the long run is not healthy for the digestive system.

2. If you used to have other hobbies, you can forget about them.

I don't know about you but I used to have loads of hobbies and enjoy sewing, doing crochet and knitting. Before the iPad Age, I've been making pretty purses and have other pretty projects in mind, not to mention I promised my Mum I would make her a handbag for Mother's Day (it's May in Malaysia). So I've been thinking about the design and the pattern for a while and then I decided that getting an iPad would make it easier because I can then sketch out my design and work out the pattern and take notes anytime and anywhere I feel like it.

BIG MISTAKE. I have been procrastinating the making of the bag for so long I have stopped feeling guilty. But mind you, I did try to attempt it last week. Day 1, I drew some lines onto a piece of paper, before I caved in and continued playing my game on the iPad. Day 2, I researched for pictures of some bags on the iPad and had 5 minutes of thinking about, before I conveniently switched over to the Games App and continued with my game. Day 3, what bag?

3. Your partner will complain that he's lost you to the iPad

Yup. Poor Steve. He jokingly complains to his friends that he's lost me to the iPad. When you are busy killing aliens who are trying to steal your sheep, really, you don't want to be interrupted !!

Before you judge me, yes, I do share my iPad. Steve has a go on the iPad too, occasionally, when he can tear it off my hands.

4. You are turned into a free app cheapskate

Yup, I check the free-app-a-day website everyday and install anything that is free even if it was an app to help children to learn to tell time. So you end up with loads and loads of junk apps on your iPad which you will then waste more time sorting through and deleting.

5. It gives you the delusion that your life depends on it.

These days, I do a lot of things on the iPad. I read the news on it, I facebook on it, I record my work daily tasks on it, I bury my face in it during my lunch break at work, I finish work at 5pm and can't wait to get home and spend my free time on it, I have stopped sewing because of it, I bury my face in it during and after each meal times, I have stopped concentrating on the TV programmes because of it .... and NO, I do not have an addiction issue. I AM NOT OBSESSED WITH THE IPAD. I AM NOT ....

I am just waiting for the novelty of it to die down slightly, and then I'll be back on planet earth and will be able to resume my normal, ordinary life. For the time being, honestly, I know I wrote the list above, but I didn't mean any of it (my dear iPad please don't be mad with me).... LIKE I SAID, I DO NOT HAVE AN OBSESSION ISSUE !!!

Anyway, lest you think that I have turned into a complete iPad-loony, I do have some pictures and stories to share with you and no, they are non-iPad related.

I went to York two weeks ago and visited a really dear friend of mine and had a totally relaxing foody and girly break. A few pictures just to show you what I mean.

Curry noodles, nice and spicy

. Had my hair curled.

We had our picture taken at the trainstation before I had to board the train home. Hopefully we'll be able to do this again soon... Thank you Bea for the lovely and fabulous time I had in York.

It was an absolutely lovely and beautiful weekend just gone and Steve and I had a lovely time sitting in the garden, having a cheese, biscuit and salad picnic in the garden, going for a walk on the beach, and cooking nice food.

Last but not least, I have been to the salon and got myself a new look. It's a crappy picture taken in the toilet at work but you get the idea. My long straight hair is now slightly wavy and curly, something which I've always wanted to experience. And I quite like it.

What do you think?

It's time to get productive

2011-03-27T22:16:00.001+01:00

Ever since I've made my very first oil cloth bag from my own pattern last year, I've not really made anything else with oil cloth so I thought since Beatrice has especially requested for a wallet as her birthday present, I have decided to use oil cloth to try and make it.

I must say I was quite pleased with the result although the colour scheme was not 'Spring' enough for her so I agreed to make another which was more colourful. Meanwhile, another friend of mine saw the wallet and wanted me to make and sell her one.

Although it wasn't a big sum of money, I still managed to get a certain kind of satisfaction from making a small amount of money from such an enjoyable and fulfilling hobby.

Next week i'll be heading off to York to visit Beatrice and I really look forward to it as we always have a great time together on our short get-togethers.

Meanwhile, I did manage to make another wallet for her which has a more Spring look to it.

Take a look at these pictures.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Spring is in the air

2011-03-21T10:45:00.000Z

I know that it has been a while since I updated my blog and without realising it, it is now March. How time flies. Flowers are blooming by the road side,the days are getting longer and the weather is becoming more and more pleasant!

I've been thinking about getting an iPad for a while but ever since moving into our new place, because we didn't have Internet connection I thought it was a bit of a waste. So I held out till last week.

By chance, and after three months of living in the new place, we found out that we could get Internet connection from Steve's office(at his dad's house, located at the back of our house) when we're upstairs in our bedroom!! So without much delay, I made the plunge and got myself an iPad. This is also partly because the new iPad 2 is coming out and they have brought down the price of the original iPad. And not only that, I managed to save some money by buying an Apple certified refurbished one, with 64GB memory, new outer case, new battery and the same warranty. Of course, to buy a refurbished item, you have to accept the fact that it's not brand new, it's been used and there might have been a problem with it at the first place and hopefully is now fixed. But since it is Apple certified and it comes with the same warranty, and so far, so good... I don't see any problems with buying a refurbished one because I'm really not fussed about it. And to think that it used to be well over 500pounds, I think I saved quite a bit of money on it. But if I was going home to Malaysia to visit my family any time soon, I would have waited till then because it is a lot cheaper in Malaysia. But I couldn't wait that long.

So now, when I go on a holiday, I know that I will be entertained for hours on the iPad because i had managed to download and purchase lots and lots of Chinese novels that i used to read when I was in secondary school; Japanese comics; free games and lots more! Of course I am also kind enough to share my new purchase with Steve so he occasionally gets a go on the iPad to play some games.

On another note, I can't wait for summer to come and when we can go on picnics, swimming in the sea, bike rides and have barbecues!

Fantastic!

Just to share with you how I feel today!

A project long overdue

2011-02-09T23:59:00.001Z

I was highly ambitious before X'mas last year in terms of my sewing projects. I was making plans to make this for so and so, make that for such and such person... And in the end, I've only managed to complete a pair of X'mas stockings for Steve and myself.

So now, almost one and a half months after X'mas, I'm playing catching up. Tonight, I started with a simple cushion cover for the foam pad that I had planned to give Don, Steve's dad as X'mas present. From beginning till the end, the project only took me less than half an hour and the result was satisfying.

I hope Don will be pleased with it when I give that to him this Sunday. But I think I won't mention that it was meant to be a X'mas present :)
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Chinese New Year Eve

2011-02-02T10:20:00.000Z

Today is Chinese New Year Eve and unfortunately I'm working. Come to think of it, even if I wasn't working, what would I be doing at home? Bumming on the couch in my PJ's watching/ flicking through some boring daytime telly. This is the time when I miss home and family the most. Listening to Chinese New Year songs on Youtube; reading blogposts from others about CNY preparations; talking on the phone to mum and listening to her tell me about her preparations -- always makes me feel a bit sad and nostalgic. This year(as with two or three previous years), due to poor planning, I wasn't able to make it home to celebrate CNY with the family. I am determined that next year, I will book my tickets early so that I can be home for Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is not complete without all your family members around you. And I do feel guilty come this time of year, knowing that my family will be missing me, yet again, during their reunion dinner. So having to work today really sucks, and not only that, I am working till 10pm tonight, so tripple S.U.C.K.S !!! But luckily, one of my colleagues from my evening shift is kind enough to cover for me tomorrow night so at least I can do something special then in the evening just as a small mark of celebration to usher in this year of the cute bunny rabbit.

Anyhoooo, let's move on and I shall show you in a picture sequence of what has been happening lately. I know, I know, didn't I mention at the beginning that I will put in a bit more effort in updating my blog and so far that hasn't yet materialised. You must forgive me as ever since we've moved to the new place, we have not had the internet so that has made things a bit tricky, especially in terms of blogging after work. But, today being Chinese New Year Eve, I am in the mood to update my blog, for some strange reason.

Last year, Travelodge was doing some great deals on their room rate and one can get a room for as low as £9 per night so we booked three weekends away to three different places that we've always wanted to visit but never got round to because ordinarily it's too expensive. So the weekend before last, it was a weekend away to Brighton and we only paid 12.50 per night, for a room in the heart of the Brighton City Centre and it was brilliant. We explored the famous and cultural North Laines, went for drinks at the pub, and of course had an excellent Indian lunch at the famous Chilli Pickle restaurant and it was absolutely mind-blowing. Some pictures to show you.

Steve ordered the chicken curry dosa and it came looking like two gigantic horns on a plate and it was delicious and authentic.

I ordered fish curry thali which came with rice, dal, pickle and bread. It was a bit too hot and spicy for me but the mixture of spices in the dishes were amazing. Not too over-powerful; just the right touch.

We spent a considerable amount of time at the Amusement park at the pier mainly because Steve was determined to win me a teddy bear from the teddy bear clawing machines. And also I was addicted to the 'coin machine' and the phrase for the day was '10p more', '10p more'... ie, if I slot in another 10p, the machine will push the coins further to the edge so that more coins will drop out. Steve had to practically drag me out of the amusement centre so that I don't lose another 20 lot of '10p more'... here's a picture of Steve working hard at those teddy bear 'clawing' machines.

We didn't get the big teddy from this machine but Steve eventually managed to get me a smaller and cuter dog from another machine. And we both left the amusement park feeling smug and contented with me hugging the doggy to my chest and looking proud (great weekend huh? lol)

In my last post, I was excited about my latest sewing project and I can now reveal that it's a beanbag for the lounge and I can tell you I am very satisfied with it.

This picture shows the inner and the outer bag before the big operation of white fluffy bean filling into the bag.

And here's the beanbag and it's really comfortable too. ps, note to self, must start making other things too. I haven't seen my sewing machine in ages.

On a seperate subject, I have been buying honey pomelos from Lidls and they only cost a pound and it's always juicy and lovely, although the last one was a bit too sharp for me so it's still sitting in the fridge.

Not many people know about this fruit in this country and people always shy away from things they are not familiar with. People love grapefruits and this is almost like a grapefruit, but three times bigger !! So if you see a honey pomelo when you're next in Lidls, get one, and follow my example to cut it open. It's juicy, tangy and sweet.

I am very lucky to have DSC working in the office. She often surprises me with lots of goodies.

Chocolate mice, that is.

How cute are they?!?!

Okay, this concludes my non-Chinese Chinese New Year Eve post and Gong Xi Fa Chai to all and wishing you a full year of health, wealth and happiness, just like the bunny.

New Year, New Post

2011-01-07T10:39:00.004Z

7 days into the new year and my last post from last year is staring back at me, almost with a fed-up expression, demanding to know when I will finally get into gear to write a brand spanking new entry for the new year.

This working week started on Tuesday, so really it was only a 4-day-week, but it felt like it's been dragging on for dayssss and I am glad that it is finally Friday today and all my muscles are beginning to loosen themselves and my 'relax' mode is about to kick in, in a few hours' time.

Sometimes it is a challenge thinking of interesting and engaging topics to write about on the blog and at the moment, the 'fountain of ideas' in my head is as dry as the Sahara Desert.

I guess the highlight of the new year is us appreciating the new living space that we have right now. In the next post, I will put up some pictures of the house but at the moment because the weather is always so dark and gloomy I reckon any pictures taken will not look very nice at all. In the meantime, we are still collecting bits and pieces for the house to make it as nice as possible. Having said that, for reasons that I will not get into details right now, this shift is only temporary so we are trying not to go crazy with buying new things so that when we eventually have to move out, we won't have to face a new clutter, on top of the old one we already have. But I am determined not to worry about something that has yet to come and I will enjoy this moment to the maximum. It is really lovely to have my own sewing room although I haven't been in there for quite a while. However, that is all going to change soon because as I am composing this, my whole body and mind is trembling with excitement over a project that I can't wait to get started on as soon as the weekend begins!! And obviously more will be revealed about the project as the pictures of the finished project are unveiled in the next post, hopefully !!!

Oh and just a few pictures to share with you of our quiet but absolutely delicious New Year celebration at home. I love steamboat because it always reminds me of Chinese New Year with my family and also it's an excuse to prepare lots and lots of calorific fantastic array of seafood!!

We made some siew mai for lunch on New Year's Eve.

Firing up the gas stove to make sure that our steamboat experience will take place without a hitch.

And the selection of food that we had. We surprised ourselves by finishing quite a huge amount of it but still have enough leftovers for a quick noodle soup meal the next night. D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S !!

Okay my dears, I think this will do for a new year post from me and hopefully in the next post I will be able to upload some pictures of the house to share with you. Until then, a belated Happy New Year to you and take care.

PS: This entire post was composed with me holding the phone to my ear with my left hand while being put onhold with the Maybank2u telephone customer service and my right hand tick tack typing away. And I keep hearing this over and over again - "Sorry, all our EXECUTIVES (they certainly think very highly of themselves) are still busy. Please hold, we will attend to you shortly." They can't even be bothered with putting on some nice music to sooth the 'seething anger' that I am slowly building up within me. I don't mean to put the Malaysian service down but it really wouldn't come as a surprise to find that the EXECUTIVES are probably sitting there yakking away about what to have for dinner and decide to let the phone ring and ring and ring.... I need to make the EXECUTIVE decision about when is the best time to give up and hang up...

And Christmas is almost here...

2010-12-22T16:33:00.000Z

So much has happened lately I haven't even the time nor the energy to blog about it. But looking back at my blog posts for last year, I had some Christmassy blog entries and this year, I thought I should at least make some effort to record what's been happening.

Right, first of all, we have moved into a new place temporarily and it's been hectic moving all our things over. Despite the fact that it was just moving to the back of the house, the number of trips we had to make moving things out of a room over to the new place was endless. We also took this opportunity to get rid of some of the rubbish that's been sitting around for years. And it felt good !! Although we have everything we need in the bedroom and the living room (with all the Christmas decorations up) our kitchen actually looks empty and at the moment, there are two sets of cutlery, two mugs, a bowl and some dinner plates, haha. And of course, most importantly, we bought some pots and pans but that's about it...here are some pictures taken of the new place after the snow.

The area outside the patio door.

The pavement outside the house.

So we managed to move almost everything eventually and we were beginning to organise everything into their proper place and starting to settle down a bit but we were also busy preparing for something else. Last Saturday, Steve and I had the opportunity to host a Christmas party at the shop for 17 of our close friends and it was bloody fantastic!! Of course Steve, being absolutely ecstatic with having that opportunity started planning his menu months beforehand and decided on a full-blown 5-course dinner with various canapes of dragon roll sushi, rare roast beef on mini yorkshire puddings, and etc. on arrival. Before the starter, guests were served an Amuse-bouche of sweet corn veloute accompanied by streaky bacon or vegetarian cornbreads (a bit like the corn muffins you get from Kenny Roger's Roasters but smaller). And then comes the starter, which was thin slices of home-cured salmon gravlax, served with asparagus tips and dressed with chives creme fraiche and leaf salad, or for those who do not like seafood, they were served home-made ravioli with roasted pine nuts and spinach. It was an absolute shame that because I was busy helping him serve up the courses, I didn't get the opportunity to take a single picture of the food. But I did manage to take a picture before the party started which I shall reveal later. And after the starters, the main course of fillet steak was served with roasted potatoes, provencal peas, red cabbage and caramelised onions in beef jus. As for the vegetarian, pan fried scallops were served instead of the fillet steak. For desserts, everyone was served an assiete of pudding which consisted of a slice of lemon tart, a slice of bread and butter pudding and a chocolate mousse (not sure if it was mousse because it was quite thick and creamy) with raspberry coulis. And the dinner didn't finish at that. Afterwards, guests were served coffee as well as home-made chocolates!! It was a really fantastic experience but of course what came at the end was loads of washing up and everybody helped to clear up as well so there wasn't much to do apart from the washing up. And I didn't really fancy the thought of having to go back there again the next day to continue with the washing up, so I whipped through all the washing up of pots and pans and glasses and plates and cutlery that night and we only had to go up to the shop the next day to do a bit of tidying up and putting the shop back to its original form. It was a great and fantastic experience and we were happy that everyone came and had a great time but quite a lot of preparations went into it. Ahh, here's the picture I took before the party started...

As you can see, we were not short of things to drink.

This is a really nice picture taken by one of our friends. Unfortunately, she's missing from the picture.

So after that had taken place, we then started to worry about getting the last minute bits and pieces done in preparation of Christmas. For the first time in 5 years, Steve and I decided to do a Christmas stocking for each other and I happily volunteered to make ourselves two personalised Christmas stockings and I went and got all the materials from the fabric shop but I kept being delayed because my sewing room was not properly set up at the new place and all my fabric boxes and books and other paraphenelia were still lying around. So on Monday, the University was shut due to the snow and I immediately cracked on with the stocking and managed to produce something. I started doing Steve's stocking first and paid a lot of attention to details and did lots of satin stitch edging around the applique but when it came to mine, I had lost half the will and did a rather sloppy job of stitching the applique on but I am quite happy with the end results nevertheless.

Fely mentioned that Steve's stocking is larger than mine. Can you tell the difference?

Well, that's about it for now. I am quite ready for Christmas and getting more and more excited now. Not long to wait now.... 2 days before Christmas!! Yiippeeee !!

Have a really Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

And it's December...

2010-12-08T00:25:00.001Z

A couple of posts ago, I was whining and whinging about the challenges and difficulties that I was facing trying to complete a set of Roman blinds. I knew I could do it, but I just felt like whinging and whining about it... part and parcel of completing a project...

Anyway, the pair of Roman blinds were duly completed at 11pm the night before we had to go up to London to 'deliver the goods' and I was overcome with a sense of relief, mixed with pride and a tinge of smugness. Here are some pictures to show you their complete state, before they were hung in their proper place.

The two greatest challenges when making them were 1. they were too big for the limited work/ sewing space that I had, seeing the fact that I only own a household sewing machine, and also the fact that my cutting/ measuring table was actually just a 110cm x 80cm dropleaf table, and 2. I didn't have a specific pattern/ instructions that I could follow. I had watched quite a few youtube videos of roman blind making and also read up on a few articles about it but I had to device my own pattern and it was a bit of a 'hit and miss' and I was so nervous the whole time about making mistakes, especially when I was cutting the pieces out because the fabric wasn't cheap.

But I did manage to complete them and thought they looked absolutely beautiful. They were not 100% perfect but I think for a first roman blind, it wasn't too bad. Of course after completing them, I then had another worry that they weren't going to fit the windows properly and as you can imagine I was worrying about it all night and all next morning until Steve's brother finally said, "Okay let's see if we can fit the blinds up then". Here's a picture to show you a comparison of the old curtain, and the new blind.

So overall, a happy me and a satisfied 'client'.

What I like about this whole sewing addiction is that you learn something new after each project and the level of satisfaction you get from completing a project no matter how big or small is so great! And I've been thinking to myself for the past few months -- sewing, where have you been all my life?!

On a separate subject, you would have probably read somewhere by now that the UK was hit by a sudden cold snap which brought along plenty of snow, even Bournemouth, a place which rarely snows, had such a thick layer of snow that we couldn't get to work for almost two days ! I took some pictures and here they are, as a nice way of ending this first post for the December month.

Time for bed now I think. It's been a longggg day.

Am I back in secondary school?

2010-11-21T09:01:00.000Z

Throughout my primary and secondary school years, because my name is a rather uncommon name, I received more than my fair share of teasing and taunting about it because you know what kids are like, they tease and make fun of other kids. That gradually disappeared, thank god, and I sailed through the University years without any reminder of what else or how else my name could sound like.

On my name tag which I wear during work at the supermarket, I have requested only my first name to be put on it, which is 'Peng Peng'. These are some of the comments I get from it, as far as I can remember.

"Is that your real name?"

"What a beautiful name !" -- now that, I don't mind at all.

"What an unusual name !" -- define 'unusual' please...

"Is that your first name and your surname?"

"Your parents like your name so much they named you twice?" -- do they even think when they say things like that?

"Your sister must be called 'Peng Peng Peng' and your other sister 'Peng Peng Peng Peng'....." -- what?!?!

Anyway, these are only some of the comments I can remember.... bear in mind I have been working at the supermarket for nearly three years now and I'm sure there must have been more than that said to me at the check out by people who cannot resist to say 'witty' and 'funny' things to the check out girl.

Can you imagine what it would be like if I had included my surname in it?!

The Three Most Useful Things I've Ever Bought.

2010-11-17T15:38:00.001Z

It is normal to go through life making mistakes and learning from them.You often make the wrong decisions which you will later regret; say the things which you would wish you hadn't; and buy the things that you will find out later to be rather useless and serve no purpose. This might not be strictly true for some of you careful shoppers out there, but for me, it is one of those things which I have come to accept in life. I am impulsive, careless and easily swayed.

I was sitting down with a cuppa one day and started reflecting on things (as you would, with a cuppa)... and I started to look at the things around me and realised that actually, not all my 'impulse buys' were deemed useless and a waste of money. In fact some of these 'impulse buys' turned out to be the 'best buys' ever !! And most of all, they were inexpensive items which I have come to rely upon every day, without realising it.

So without further ado, let's introduce them.

#Item 1

I bought this in a sale after Christmas, not last Christmas, but two Christmasses ago for 50p. And ever since then, I have used it every day without fail, to bring my lunch to work. The best 50p I have ever spent.

#Item 2

Last year, I went on a girlie trip to IKEA, and on impulse bought this laptop table for my Mac. I love having this table next to the bed and I wouldn't know where and how else I would have set my laptop up in the room given the limited space that we have around us. And the price, a mere £14.99 !

#Item 3

I was browsing in Sainsbury's one day when I came across this blue dotted bowl and thought to myself that I must have it. So I bought it for £2.50 and I have come to rely on it a lot for my meals at my desk -- my morning porridge, my Monday instant noodle lunch, etc.

So there you have it. The three most unassuming items which I have bought that I have come to rely upon so much every day, and it didn't even cost me an arm and a leg.

A Rainy Sunday...

2010-11-15T10:33:00.004Z

At 10.15am, I was still lazing in bed.

I have a confession to make. Two months ago, I would have jumped out of bed on a Sunday as early as 7.30am, eager to continue with a sewing project that I have got going.

Not this morning. I mean, I do have a project going at the moment, but 'eagerness' is the last word I would use to describe my feelings about it right now. For the first time, I don't feel excited about a project I'm working on. As usual, I have done all the necessary research before embarking on this project and have got all my materials ready and I know exactly what to do. Until I got started. I started measuring and cutting out the material and so far it has taken more than a day, just to cut out one of the front pieces, with wonky edges and corners. And I'm still trying to get it straight.

This project I'm working on is a pair of Roman blinds which Steve and I have promised his brother as a birthday present... it's very simple :- Steve buys the materials, and I put the blinds together. Only, it's not quite as simple as it sounds. For the first time, I dread going into the sewing room.

The fabric is long and stretchy and difficult to handle. Although I now have a good size measuring table, it's not made it any easier. Measuring out the right size to cut is a disaster; trying to cut it out on a straight line, is beyond catastrophic.

The edge of the fabric kept fraying and bits of fluff kept coming off, making it impossible to work with. Fely has kindly suggested a pair of pinking shears and pinking shears were obtained but that didn't help eiter.

Why am I blogging about this?

Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is behind every beautiful and succesful sewing project, there is a certain degree of frustration, depression, anger and exasperation. This one in particular, is at an exceptionally high level. And I haven't even yet started sewing it. But the past few months of sewing has taught me that resilience, determination and patience are the three main ingredients to completing a beautiful and neat project and as much as I dread it at this stage, I will certainly push myself to get past this stage and start to enjoy the project a bit more when I've made some great progress with it.

I remember a month back I started a project making my mum a blouse for her birthday following a pattern from a Japanese pattern book. That was also a challenge to me clearly because a. I can't read Japanese (whatever possessed me to buy a book with Japanese instructions??!?!) and b. the fabric I was working on for it was silky, smooth and stretchy and it kept falling off the table and 'running' away from me hence the cutting was no fun either. But I ploughed through it and was proud to be able to pack the blouse a few days before Mum's birthday and send it off. Hopefully it is now safely on its way to her.

The only thing I worry slightly about is the size. I didn't have her measurement but I used myself as the model throughout the entire process but the trouble is I am slightly bigger than Mum and the blouse itself is quite baggy. But we'll see :)

Anyway, back to my rainy Sunday...

So when Steve suggested that we go for a movie, I saw it as a means of 'escaping' from the task at hand. It was a movie called 'Unstoppable' featuring Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson, based on a true story. Due to the negligence and stupidity of a rail worker, an unmanned train carrying highly toxic and explosive chemicals was heading at full throttle towards densely populated cities and somebody has to stop it. It was an excellent movie based on a few factors :: it wasn't dragged on for too long; the introduction and background to build up the characters was relevant and sufficient and not too soppy; and during the entire movie, I was kept on the edge of my seat. The best thing of all about the movie yesterday -- it was free. Steve had managed to find a voucher off the internet which he printed and which gave us two free tickets to watch the movie. So all in all, a great experience!

To finish off this post, a couple of photos to show you who Sasha always favours in the house.

Those legs belong to Steve and that's where you'd normally find Sasha when Steve's sat at the computer doing his work. And no, it wasn't a Thursday when I took these photos. The man clearly has issues with his days...

Hopefully when I update my post again, I shall have more pictures to show you of the progress I've made with the blinds.

Take care now and thanks for dropping by.

November...

2010-11-02T12:52:00.011Z

Looking back at the month of October, I can say that it was rather unproductive in terms of blogging as well as sewing. It was a slow, slow month where day just passed after another day...

So now that we've just hit November, I am determined to change that trend! So let's start with me telling you all about my rather successful trip to IKEA this Sunday just gone. It is a general known fact (don't quote me) that most men hate shopping and 'browsing' through loads and loads of items in a shop unless they have to buy something. I know there are a small proportion of men out there who geniunely enjoy window shop with their other half and will suggest doing that on a beautiful weekend. But I can tell you they are of the rare exception and ladies if you happen to be going out with one, well done!

So it didn't come as a surprise that my man was an unwilling victim in this scheme of mine, to spend half a day in IKEA looking at pretty things, gasping and 'appreciating' the arrays of colourful and wonderful plastic goods that IKEA has to offer at affordable prices. Mind you, I have been browsing through their catalogue online and I did have specific items that I wanted to purchase. But that didn't stop me from wanting other things as well when I saw them there. You can't help it, it happens in all IKEA to most women.

When I started off my sewing hobby, my beloved sewing corner aka 'my retreat' looked like this.

You might be asking, where's the sewing machine? Well this picture was taken before the sewing machine arrived and the feeling I was experiencing at that time was akin to an expectant mother preparing her nursery for the arrival of the new born baby. I mean, not exactly the same, but you get my idea.

And when the machine's arrived, it was transformed to this. By then I had purchased a few more essential items that I needed. When I started getting interested at patterns and ideas from various sewing books, I started buying them like mad from Amazon and slowly but surely developed a collection on the shelf.

Because I couldn't find a single bookend in the house, I had to stack them up on the shelf like that because I had learnt through the hard way that standing them up wasn't such a good idea especially when the books came tumbling down onto the sewing machine. Let's just say 'thank god for hard covers.'

Anyway, through these past few months, I wasn't just collecting books. Bit by bit, I slowly built up my lovely sewing corner with fabric, and accessories and the latest puchase was a much needed drop leaf table where I could do all my measuring and cutting. After using this table to measure out and to cut fabric for a project I'm currently working on, I did wonder how I had managed to cope with measuring and cutting my fabric pieces on the bed before I had this table. Of course what you couldn't see was that what used to be in that spot was Steve's exercise bike which has been pushed aside. So the best thing about this drop leaf table is that it's perfect for me and that space. When it's not needed, it can be collapsed and hidden away in the corner.Even better, I bought this second-hand so it didn't even cost me too much money.

Anyway, it is with much pleasure for me to show you my sewing corner at its present state.

This is my retreat. This is the corner where I spent many enjoyable hours making fun things while listening to my Ipod dock (which is well-hidden by the way due to lack of space). What I managed to purchase from IKEA made a lot of difference in helping me organise my space better. The two hanging baskets which I got meant that I can now organise my sewing boxes and bits and pieces under the shelf and that freed up more space for books (Oh dear) and I managed to get bookends too which meant that my books won't come tumbling down anymore. And I also managed to get a cute clamp lamp which ideally was going to replace the table lamp but because it was not bright enough, the table lamp had to stay. Let's zoom in closer to look at those tiny creatures on my shelf.

Honestly I had no use for them at the moment but when I saw them at the charity shop I couldn't help myself.

These are the wooden pegs that my DSC got me during one of her trips to Cornwall and they are so cute.

Some of my book collection.

For the past few weeks, I've been driving round and noticing how beautiful the autumn leaves are so this morning, armed with my camera, I decided to capture some autumn colours to show you and very much lacking in skills and knowledge on how to fully utilize my camera, I present to you some mediocre shots that I took with the auto mode on my Canon G11.

Autumn on my desk.

I have just bought a book called 'From snapshots to greatshots' from Amazon. So hopefully, very soon I'll be able to share some good quality pictures here with you. In the meantime, I'll just have to settle for the auto mode.

Have a great week ahead.

London Weekend

2010-10-26T00:05:00.004+01:00

When I looked at my previous posts, it's quite interesting to see that around this time last year, we went up to London for a show and spent a nice foody weekend up there.

For months, Fely and I have been planning our trip to the Stitch and Knit Show at the Alexandra Palace in London and it finally took place three weeks ago (Yes, I know... I am a bit slow these days)

We (Steve and I) thought that it would be nice to also take the opportunity to spend sometime in London, watch a show and eat some nice food. So we went up to London the day before and Steve's brother kindly arranged and bought us tickets to a show in London, Avenue Q as a belated birthday present for me and it was entertaining, light and quite funny. I wouldn't say that it was of the same standard and quality as The Lion King, but for a two-hour entertainment, they didn't do a bad job. Singing and dancing muppets - can't go wrong with that. After the show, we were treated to a really posh Italian restaurant meal in which I enjoyed a really nice Fresh crab Fedelini and got to taste Steve's Seafood Stew as well.

Because I was having my foot problem, we couldn't walk very much and I felt quite guilty most of the times for wanting to take the easiest form of transport which requires the minimum amount of walking. Worst of all, after the meal I insisted that we took a cab back to Steve's brother's place.

The next day, Fely and I had a scrumptious meal of dim sum at Leicester Square before heading to the show. Due to maintenance work at tube stations, it took us FOREVER just to get to the show but when we finally got there, it was all worth the effort and we were hypnotized and mesmerized by the multitude of gorgeous and wonderful things surrounding us. The only regret we had was that there wasn't enough time to spend together at the show because Steve was waiting to take me home after the show, I didn't really want to let him wait for too long and I had to leave quite early, leaving Fely behind at the show (which thankfully she didn't mind too much because she got to 'play' with a sewing machine). All in all, a fantastic and wonderful weekend spent in London, watching a show, having lovely food and catching up with my dear, dear friend.

As usual a weekend in London is not complete without some nice pictures to show you. So I'll let these pictures tell you the story.

I got told off after taking this picture as there was NO PHOTOGRAPHY allowed in the theatre (the lady screamed). To be fair, I didn't see a sign and also the show hasn't even started yet !!

After the show, we went for cocktails and Steve ordered something with passionfruit and it came out in flame.

While waiting for Fely outside the Four Season's restaurant in China Town at 10am, I took this unusually quiet and chaos-free scene of China Town.

The happy lady.

Looking demure with her Chinese tea trying to pick a dish to order.

Pork puff. Yum...

Roast pork Cheong Fun.

Chicken's feet, of course.

Siu Mai.

As much as we would have loved to, we didn't stay all day at the dim sum place and we moved on to the show. I didn't take many pictures of the show as you can imagine that the last thing I wanted to be doing was taking pictures and not properly utilizing every minute I had there.

The gorgeous Amy Butler corner.

There you go, hope you've enjoyed looking at a few pictures from my lovely weekend.

My Spanish Getaway...Part II

2010-10-01T23:31:00.002+01:00

So in the previous post I told you that I tumbled down the stairs and became half crippled... And Eugene specifically requested for some pictures so I thought it'd be interesting to share some of the pictures I took while I was 'trapped' in the flat. These must be classified as the most unconventional holiday pictures, ever...


The ceiling lamp in the flat, obviously. Taken while waiting for Steve to come home with our mahoosive jacket potato. The dining area and our very small telly. A lizard on the roof of the apartment opposite the balcony. Is it real? Testing out the 'Foliage' mode on my camera. Waiting for Steve to get home from shopping for groceries. Still waiting for Steve... View from the balcony... Book that Steve was reading... Tissue... You must forgive the randomness of this series of pictures... I was trapped in the flat with no immediate prospect of going out and I was getting extremely boredddd and restless.... By the end of the second day being trapped in the flat, I said to myself, enough was enough!! I was getting more and more desperate. That was when I decided to take a couple of Ibuprofen pills and braved it down 4 floors of staircase just so I could get out and have some fresh air. Steve was of course a bit worried about that because imagine if I couldn't make it back up the stairs on my own, I'll have to piggy-back ride on him upstairs !!! Wouldn't you be scared at the thought of that? Anyway, it turned out that I made the right decision as it became easier and easier with each step and we also made sure that we had plenty of stops to rest my poor foot. And after grabbing some food stuff from the supermarket, I managed to make my way slowly up the stairs and from then, our holiday resumed its course and we were out and about every day. In the next post, I shall share with you a few more pictures we took here and there, during our travels.

My Spanish Getaway...Part I

2010-09-27T00:23:00.000+01:00

Pre-Departure
For months leading to the 19th September, Steve and I have been eagerly anticipating our week-long holiday in Malaga, Spain. So on the 18th September, all the bags were packed, passports packed, tickets printed and we set off to the airport early on 19th September, took the 7.50am flight from Bournemouth and arrived in Torremolinos at around noon local time, greeted by the wonderful and hot sunny Spanish weather.

Upon arrival
Because we have been to Torremolinos so many times and knew exactly how to get to the flat, we wasted no time at all in settling into the flat and stocking up on food and drinks, and making the flat nice and cozy for our week there.

However, when we went downstairs to check out the pool, it was to our utter disappointment to discover that the pool was shut. Hoping that it was just being temporarily shut for cleaning, we made a note to check it again the next day, keeping our toes and fingers crossed.

So having nothing to do and keen to follow the Spanish culture, we decided to enjoy a siesta before heading to town for some dinner.

That was when it all happened... I was carrying a box of cookies and a water bottle and as I was making my way down the few flight of stairs to the bedroom, I slipped and fell, BIG TIME, on my bum and IT HURT LIKE HELL. When Steve finally got me onto the bed, I was in floods of tears because of the pain. After the initial shock and pain died down a little, I stood up to go to the bathroom. That was when I realised that when I fell down, I must have knocked my problematic heel somehow and I could not put my foot down without it hurting like hell. Sharp pains shot up from my right heel straight to my calf every time I attempt to put my foot down and walk. Which meant that I had to hobble on my toes wherever I went and going from the living room to the kitchen was an enormous effort. Worst of all, the flat was on the 4th floor, with no elevator !!

ALAS!!! What am I going to do?!?! I simply cannot face the prospect of being trapped in the flat for the whole week of my holiday. What about poor Steve? Not only did he have to be at my beck and call, fetching everything I needed, he also had to go shopping on his own and to bring home dinner and lunch for me!! And did I not mention that we have both been looking forward to this holiday for months and months?!?!

Stay tuned and I shall reveal what happened next in Part II as I need to be heading off to dreamland for my much needed sleep to be ready for work tomorrow morning...

Till then...

The changing of seasons and more projects completed

2010-09-06T11:28:00.008+01:00

Nine calendar months have snuck past me and I am still in a daze ... It seemed like not long ago we were rejoicing in the unexpected January snow (not all of us) and when I turned around, it's September already. Mind you, from January to September, I did manage to squeeze in events like going home to Malaysia to visit the family; learning to use the sewing machine; celebrated another birthday; a few holidays here and there.... So all in all, quite an eventful nine months.

As much as we are unwilling to accept that Summer is coming to an end, you know that it is happening when you can feel the air getting chillier and you no longer feel comfortable in just your skimpy t-shirt; shorts and flip-flops. Your lips start to feel a bit dry and flaky; and your skin becomes rather dry.

Speaking of dry skin, I have started using the much talked about 'Waitrose Baby Bottom Butter' on my face. I know it sounds absurd but not long ago I read about it on the news and when I was in Waitrose a month ago, I saw it and decided to give it a go. It actually works quite well on my superdry skin, so I have stopped using my dermalogica moisturiser and am only using this. But I suspect I will go back to my dermalogica products quite soon, once I get hold of another tube of my daily moisturiser as I've run out of that product. I like the light, aromatheraphy-smelling moisturiser on my face. But at the moment, for £2.49 per tub, it's doing quite a good job.

I hate using make up and until today, I am guilty of going around puffy and pale-faced, looking like I've just woken up from bed, even at 1 o'clock in the afternoon because I can't even be bothered to put lipsticks on. I have tried, I swear, I have, that is, to maintain a regime of applying make up before coming out. Bea even gave me a crash course on using make up but I just gave up after two days because I cannot be bothered. Too time consuming and, frankly, pointless. But I will give it another go, soon, when I've visited the store and bought myself some proper MAC make-up. I'll let you know. I quite like the Hello Kitty range, so perhaps I will start trying, soon. First, I need to sort out my unruly and quite frankly, almost non-existing eyebrows. That's what irritates me the most.

Anyway, some random pictures to show you what's been happening...

The view of Widemouth Bay

This picture was taken during our latest weekend away in Cornwall and the whole weekend was spent appreciating how beautiful the Cornish coast was. We enjoyed driving along the tiny and narrow coastal roads with tall hedges on both sides, while admiring the breath-taking views of the sea whenever we get chance to have glimpses of it. When we do get chance to stop and appreciate the beauty, the Canon compact camera that we have just isn't quite cut out to do the job of capturing how beautiful the surroundings were. I guess that's one of the reasons that has prompted me to want to get myself a camera which has slightly more options than a compact digital camera can offer, for the sole purpose of being able to capture pictures with a bit more depth. I have no idea about shutter speed, or ISO or macro but I am sure once I get hold of the camera, the learning will come with using it. So it's all very exciting.

Another completed project, Michelle's Bag

I call it Michelle's Bag because it was made for a friend's birthday and you guessed right, her name's Michelle. From the outside, it might look like an ordinary tote bag but close up, you'll see that each flower is individually stitched to give it a sort of '3D' effect. It was an enjoyable project to do and hopefully she'll be able to make some good use of it.

Mind you, I was saying to Fely after three flowers, it was quite hardwork stitching free-motion and maneuvering the fabric to get the stitches around each flower to look tidy. Quite straining on the eyes and back but was definitely another satisfying project to do.

Made some cushion covers yesterday and I must say I'm quite pleased with how they have turned out. Steve chose the green fabric, flower motif with green background on one side and I matched it with a stripey deck-chair, seasiddey kind of fabric on the other side.

I already have another project or two in mind, just need to find time to do them. It's all go, go, go !!

Another birthday...

2010-08-27T12:08:00.005+01:00

I was reading some of my older posts that I wrote last year this time, and realised that I have been a bit of a slacker in terms of updating my blog entries this month (or the last, and the one before that). I have therefore 'forced' myself to write something... actually I have got lots to share of my activities of late but have not found time and motivation to do so...

I recently celebrated another birthday (I know, where did the time go?!) and it was a lovely, lovely birthday with me being spoilt rotten the entire day, and I had a wonderful birthday, despite the fact that I was so full of cold and most of the things I ate tasted of nothing.

The day started with a lovely cake made by Steve -- a Red Velvet Chocolate Cake decorated with Milky Buttons which I lovee.... ignore the 'smudges' on the cake because I had to digitally blank out the pet name that he calls me by, which he had put on the cake ...

My lovely, lovely bf also made me my favourite breakfast, with an added 'kick' to it -- French Toast made with Thick Farm House Bread, sprinkled with icing sugar and garnished with Caramelised Banana on the side... did I hear you go, ummmmmmm..... it was YUMMY indeed.

While I was having breakfast I got to open some presents and this year, Steve made me a very special birthday present that nearly, very nearly brought tears to my eyes...

He had compiled all the various pictures we took during our holidays in the 5 years we've been together (6 according to me and 5 according to him, DON'T ASK !) and made it into an album with funny captions and it was so beautiful.

Apart from that he also got me bits and pieces for my sewing hobby and this I found particularly cute and interesting...

What do you think it is? It's actually a tape measure !! Haha and I had to be shown how to use it. You pull the bee's tail and the tape comes out from there and press the bee's stomach and the tape retracts itself... I had a real good laugh playing with it. What you see in the background also Season 1 and 2 of 'Arrested Development', which I've been telling him about. I used to enjoy watching them when I was back in Miri. So now that he's got me the DVD box sets we can watch them together. There were also other bits and pieces that he'd got me and a nice, warm winter jacket from his dad.

Now what's interesting this year, is that I've also received some lovely presents from my non-blood-related 'sisters' in the UK -- Bea and Fely, which made my birthday this year extra, extra special :)

A pair of lovely earrings lovingly handmade by Bea...

A musical pendant with a velvety ribbon that makes a lovely necklace..

This is my favourite !! A beautifully made bracelet in my favourite colours and the picture really doesn't do it much justice because it is simply gorgeous. Bea has set up her own online shop on Coriandr and check out her other stuff too !!

From Fely in Eastbourne, I received a beautiful selection of fat-quarters in pastel colours, and I have already thought of so many things I can make out of them !!

Don't you just love the colours? It's great to have a sewing buddy!!

When I got into the work the next day, there were more presents waiting for me !! Some of my lovely colleagues have got me a goodie bag of birthday presents, and there was a lovely mirror, and a set of body butter and shower gel and a really nice tin for teabags and the best thing of all, there were milky bar chocolates in the tin !! How cool is that?!

This is the mirror that my DSC has got me from the Russell Cotes Musuem in Bournemouth.

And up till last night, I was still opening late presents from friends -- more milky bar chocolate and the millennium trilogy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which I shall enjoy this long weekend when I'm away in Cornwall (another birthday treat from the bf)!!!

All in all, another fabulous birthday to remember ...

A brave attempt -- Making an oilcloth bag

2010-08-11T14:20:00.005+01:00

I was browsing through some Cath Kidston bags online quite some time ago and decided that I quite like to have a bag that looks like this but in red. But I was really quite reluctant to spend £55 on a bag because I just can't justify it to myself. So when I learnt that I could get oilcloth fabric in pretty designs (which was what this bag is made out of), I suddenly had this brilliant (or naive) idea -- 'hey I can make myself one of these bags!'. Hence, began the journey of buying and collecting the various bits and pieces to try and make a Cath Kidston Wannabe.

I started looking online for a suitable pattern that I could use to make a similar looking bag but tried as hard as I may, do you think I could find anything?! NONE. There was nothing on the Internet that really took my fancy and most of the designs were boring and uninspiring. So I decided that I would draw my own pattern, based on how the bag is constructed.

I even constructed a 'mock' bag out of thick glossy papers from old posters just to make sure that my pattern was going to work and that it would turn into a bag eventually.
I got everything cut and ready and was about to start when I realised that I haven't got enough webbing for the handles. So I had to order more webbing before I could do anything. Then when I finally got the webbing, I realised that I haven't got a pair of magnetic clasps for the front pocket, so yet again the project was put onhold. So it was a week later that I could start stitching everything together. Of course, with oilcloth, it was important not to make any mistakes because once the needle penetrates the fabric, there is nothing you can do to change it because it will leave a mark. So I had to be so careful in planning and stitching the pieces, and to work out which part of the bag to make first so that everything can be reached and stitched.

Slowly the bag was constructed bit by bit, starting with lining the inside with interfacing to make it thicker and then the front pocket, the handles, the zip....

I even made sure the handle was properly done and stitched with a leather strip over it.

Half a bag constructed...

Attaching the lining of the bag. By this time I have cursed more than a trooper and have been pricked by pins a million times!! The lining looks quite nice, kan?

Lining done and the bag was turned the right side out.

There you go. A Cath Kidston Wannabe.

Hung from the exercise bike.

I don't even know what the label says but I just like it...

As usual, it was a valuable learning experience making this bag. It wasn't too difficult, just tedious. But I can tell you that I won't be rushing to make another one soon!!

Oh in case you are wondering why I have chosen such a dull colour... the story goes like this... I found some bargain oilcloth and thought I'll use it as practice first, before I make a proper oilcloth bag with this piece of oilcloth that I got online, which was more expensive and nicer.

But, I like I said, I don't think I'll be making another oilcloth bag quite so soon yet. I need to let my skin heal from the pin injuries ....

On Life and Marriage

2010-08-01T23:43:00.001+01:00

Tonight I had a lesson in life.

A few of us from work went out for pizza and it was a good laugh because it was a big group of us and there was a cacophony of laughter and hooting and jeering and clapping and shouting across one end of the table to the other.

However, amongst all the chaos there were also whispered and hushed outpourings of emotions and feelings about life.

When you are stuck in a loveless and meaningless marriage, what do you do? How do you find happiness?

When you have two young children to think about and no family support, do you have the courage to walk away and start afresh?

Sometimes, when you learn about other people's problems in life, apart from feeling sorry for them, it also puts your own life into perspective. Suddenly, you appreciate that although sometimes you can't have what you want, at least you have a happy life.

I think marriage is a tricky thing. I have never been married so I am not qualified to say a lot about it. But what I do learn from talking to people and reading about others' lives is that people who are in a happy marriage, are very lucky people indeed.

When a marriage has failed, does it mean that the two people who originally fell in love and got married, do not love each other anymore?

When a marriage has failed, does it mean that the two people did not try hard enough to make it work?

8 out of 10 ten times, failed marriages always end rather horribly. Why is that?

Like I said, it is a tricky thing and I can bet you nobody will have the right answer to that.

It is only my random but meaningful pondering for tonight.

If you are in a happy marriage, I am truly happy for you. Love and cherish your other half, always.

A Weekend Project

2010-07-26T10:07:00.003+01:00

Another weekend gone and another project completed.

On Friday night when I got home, I originally started cutting out bits and pieces for another project but just as I was about to start sewing everything together, I realised that I haven't got enough material to complete the project so I had to postpone it and I then started making something else when I woke up on Saturday morning. Somebody did warn me that this sewing thing is very addictive and yessss, I completed yet another project while listening to the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows audiobook on my ipod dock, over the weekend. Mind you, I didn't exactly spend my whole weekend glued to the machine. I have decided that waking up early on Saturdays and Sundays is the best way to squeeze some sewing time in before you have to do other weekend chores. And I love it.

So what exactly did I make this time? I'll show you with a series of pictures.

I had a very happy model holding it up for me. So what is it? Let's look at it closely.

It's a quilted wallet. I found the pattern here but didn't follow it strictly coz I modified it slightly to include a coin pouch.

It's got 6 credit card slots and a zippered coin pouch and I especially love this label I attached with it as well.

In the past I've always completed a project at night and the pictures were always taken at night so doesn't really look natural. This morning, I managed to take another picture of it and this one shows the real colours of the wallet.

Again, this is not a perfect project and I'm still learning lots from sewing it but overall I am quite satisfied with it and so is my Dear Sweet Colleague, who is now the proud owner of this quilted wallet, although she insisted that it is more like a jewellery pouch than a wallet :P . Ever since I started sewing, I've always wanted to make something special for her and today, I did.

On another note, Monday is always a happy day in the office because there are quite often exchanges of gifts. I found this on my table when I got into work this morning.

A rock candy from Devon, a cute little froggy card wishing me a 'Hoppy Monday' and a lovely ,lovely gift tag the shape of a bird with a really cute button on it. I love Mondays !!

Okay, let's hope that there will be more post waiting for me when I get home so that I can resume the project I started on Friday.

These came for me last Friday and how cute are they?!

Alright folks, till the next post, take care now.

Less exciting but practical.

2010-07-20T01:55:00.003+01:00

My BlackBerry vibrated once at half an hour to midnight and the LED light started flashing, indicating that there is a message waiting for me to open. I know very well that it would be non other than Fely 'pinging' me... through gritted teeth I said to myself, she'll have to wait a while... I have a more pressing and urgent matter at hand. For the hundredth time, I was ripping a seam...and it was not going well because I had just made a hole on the fabric...

When I finally calmed down slightly, I responded and declared to her that I had lost all will to live... She commented -- "This is madness"... referring of course to the fact that at 11.30pm I was rigorously ripping a seam and she on the other hand was rolling out pastry.

The reason I was still toiling away near midnight despite a longggggg day tomorrow was the fact that I was so close to completing yet another project. This has got to be a record project as I only started it yesterday at around 3 in the afternoon and had it not for the fact that I had to wait till today to get a stronger elastic band, I would have finished the project yesterday night.

So after work today, I dashed to Fabricland and got what I needed and as soon as I can slip away from dinner, I continued with the project with the aim of finishing, by hook or by crook, tonight !!

But a few hiccups along the way meant that I only managed to complete the project at 12.30 midnight ! Madness indeed. It was the same time Fely had finished rolling out her pastry too.

So what is it, I can hear you ask...

Well, it's nothing exciting but it's definitely a very practical project. When I saw that Steve's old chef trousers were 'disintegrating' slowly, I announced to him that I would make him a new pair. And I did.

Using his old chef trousers as a template, I unpicked the stitches, took them apart piece by piece and used them to cut out different pieces from the new fabric. I then stitched the pieces back together like a jigsaw puzzle to form the trousers.

After that hole was mended, the pair of new trousers are now ready for the chef tomorrow morning. Can you see his old trousers next to it? Grubby, faded and limp?! Actually he prefers the smaller checks on his old trousers but because I had difficulty finding that material in smaller checks, he will just have to live with bigger checks then :P

Well didn't I tell you it was a less exciting project?

Hopefully the next project will be something a bit more exciting and colourful than this?

PS: I'll try and take a picture of the chef trousers worn by 'the model' when I get chance...

Addiction of the highest degree.

2010-07-15T10:22:00.003+01:00

Having been assured by Fely on how fun and easy it is to do this project, I started on it last Saturday morning as early as 8.00am. This new hobby of mine has seen me act in ways that I've never acted before, jumping out of bed at 7.45am on a Saturday morning is one of them.

If you have been following Fely's blog, you would have seen the completed project but I thought I'll share with you some step by step pictures anyway.

So this is what we're aiming for...

But the end product looked somewhat different, and I'll explain how.

The first step done and already I was bursting with excitement.

The pack of pre-cut fabric didn't actually come with any lining and also it was optional according to the instruction. But I thought it would be nice and also would make it thicker to have a lining so I went in search for one and found this piece of bandena lying around and thought it was PERRRFECT !! Of course, I have loads of other fabric sitting in the drawers that are also suitable but I was very reluctant to cut into any of that and this piece of bandena came free with a pair of Chef trousers that Steve had ordered years and years ago and so it will be happy that it is finally being put to good use.

It is ironed, cut and stitched into becoming the lining for the bag.

And then the bag itself is made with the lining sitting inside snuggly.

By this time, I was absolutely dying to stitch everything together and quickly proceeded to attaching the two pieces of fabric that would make the top edge of the bag.

Oooooo, it is all coming together nicely and I was so pleased. And then I continued to tidy up the top and even created an inside pocket on the lining.

Beaming with pride I took this picture after stitching the top neatly and nicely.

And then it suddenly hit me.... wait a minute.... something seems to be missing....... !!! Upon checking the instruction again, I then realised that in my haste to start stitching everything in place, I had missed out one CRUCIAL step and proceeded to taking everything apart when I realised that I had no other options. One thing you learn with sewing is lots and lots of patience and resilience and in Fely's words - Breathe in, breathe out... breathe in, breathe out........ And then the missing crucial bit was added and finally the picture looked right.

You see what I mean? The missing bit was rather important, wasn't it?

While I was doing all this, a certain creature was being quite cute and I couldn't help but take a picture of her.

After this, I proceeded to making the strap and stitching it and making buttonholes and sewing on the buttons and because they were rather a pain in the bum I didn't take any pictures. Just wanted to get it done. And walaaaa......

With Fely, she's got Princess Nia to model the completed project for her.

In my case, I have this...

Not quite as lively, but it'll do, for now. And what I did differently from the instruction was that instead of stitching the buttons attaching the strap on the outside, I decided to hide the ends of the strap inside the bag because I do not like the look of the end bits sticking out. So it looked like this close up.

Overall, a REALLY, REALLY satisfying project and there was a mixture of happiness and regret when I came to the end, happiness for the completion of the bag, regret for I had enjoyed making it so much !!

Addicted to stashing...

2010-07-13T15:47:00.001+01:00

The Internet is a dangerous place where one can get easily out of control and lose perspective...

In my quest in enhancing my newly acquired hobby (SEWINGGG !!) it is with a mixture of embarassment and a sense of pride that I announce to you that I'm officially addicted to Ebay and 'Online Shopping'. I have heard of the word 'stash' before and I have had a 'stash' for a while now consisting of balls and balls and balls of colourful yarn mainly because I always start a new project and then another and then another, before I have seen the first one through till the end. Hence, a stash has been built, through no fault of my own.

This time round, a 'stash' has a brand new meaning to me.

There is a constant invisible voice in my head that says 'BUY! BUY! BUY!'. If you have been following my blog, to date, I've only managed to complete two projects and am in the middle of making the third. So there is hardly the need nor the excuse to embark on a crazy fabric buying frenzy !! But I did.

It all started with this...

A perfectly innocent bundle of 4 Fat Quarters (1/4 of a meter) which cost me £2.75 to buy.

But then it very quickly spiralled into this....

and then this....

and this....

and also this...

and lately this...

and something of similar pattern but different material...

Bear in mind that this is just the collection that I happen to have on my mobile camera. There are others which I have not yet photographed. This activity is pure indulgence of the highest degree. At the moment, I'm just contented knowing that they are in different bundles of plastic bags, tucked away in different drawers of my sewing table (Steve has promised to take me to Ikea to look for a cabinet for them this weekend. yay!). I do have a few projects in mind for them but I am in no hurry to cut into them. No one can understand this feeling better than Fely, who has recently completed a whopping 6 cushions of her own in just two days flat. A record speed if you ask me. I wished I had more time to sew.

Only this week Fely and I had this conversation about sewing time and work.

Back in the days when I wasn't working full time as well as a part time job on the side, I wish I had known sewing then coz I would have had plenty of time to indulge in this highly satisfying and addictive activity. But then, I probably would not have enough money to buy myself a sewing machine to start with....

Always the way, isn't it? Sods law.

Ah well, juggling is what I'm very good at - work - sewing - spend time with bf - work - chatting with Fely - sewing - spend time with bf - work - sewing ........ and the cycle goes on.....

I am a happy, happy person (and a very poor one) this month...

Next pay day, come quick pleaseeeee !!

When I came into the office yesterday morning, I was greeted by a really pleasant surprise. A very sweet and dear colleague of mine went to the Victoria and Albert Musuem in London over the weekend and got me a stunning and beautiful button made of ceramic !!

Don't you think it's beautiful?

I have been warned again and again to handle the button with care because it is quite delicate and it breaks really easily so I'm not sure if I'll ever use it on any project but it is such a nice thing to look at.

I can get used to surprises like these on a Monday !! haha....

Lately...

2010-07-06T01:03:00.005+01:00

I have been working non-stop and trying to squeeze in as much time as possible to sit down at my sewing machine and to finish off the second project that I started more than a week ago.

Last night, I finally managed to do that and am happy to announce that I'm pleased with the end result. Again, it isn't perfect but it was a great and fun learning experience, while I had the opportunity to explore and to discovery more and more the capacity of my lovely sewing machine.

Now what could it be?

The reason I included this picture is although it makes no sense as to revealing what it is, I really love the contrast of the two fabrics.

Is it becoming clearer now? They are not brilliant pictures I'm afraid because they are snapped with the basic camera that came with my mobile.

There, you can finally see what it is. It's a rolled up pouch for my knitting and crochet needles, plus my circular needles for knitting, scissors and a ruler as well with space for more. Although it looks simple, it was actually quite time consuming, trying to get the lines straight and the column width equal and if you click on the picture you'll see the decorative stitch which is in the shape of tiny stars and I'm pleased as punch with that (simple mind, I know). I didn't follow any particular pattern for this. I looked at a few different sample projects online and then decided on what I wanted for myself and proceeded to create this from Steve's old pair of jeans and some fat quarter fabric when I first bought fabric for the sewing machine three weeks back. The top flap is so secure that I don't think I'll ever lose any needles from this pouch :)

And more shopping for me, trying to get my sewing corner more and more equipped! Coincidentally John Lewis was having a clearance sale so I managed to get some really good bargain with all these half price !

Right! Totally unrelated... Now that it's OFFICIALLY summertime (woohoo) Steve and I have been swimming in the sea a few times and it was absolutely refreshing !! We would finish work at 6pm and we'd drive straight down to the beach (5 minutes) and within seconds, we were splashing water at each other in the sea. Of course, each time there is always the initial shock to the body when you first get into the slightly cool water, but once your body gets used to it, it's amazing! That's why I'm finding it extra hard to find time to sit down at my sewing machine because we're really making the most of Summer. And not only that, we have taken to parking the car at the car park overlooking Studland while enjoying a spot of dinner and appreciating the sunset after our swim. I took a picture from the car during one of those evenings.

That's the chain ferry that takes passengers and vehicles from Sandbanks across to Studland and back. And of course there are sailboats and luxury mini yacht and kayaks and jet skis and people fishing too. Lots and lots to see and we always enjoy these evenings.

Okay, it is now 1am and if I don't go to bed now it will be so difficult waking up tomorrow morning.

Thanks for stopping by and I really can't wait to start on my next project !!

A pleasant surprise and my first project.

2010-06-21T14:58:00.000+01:00

So two things happened last week. I was co-organising a conference and also I bought myself a sewing machine.

I had to miss the conference dinner on Thursday because I was working in the evening. The next day boss handed me a gift box, saying that it was a token of appreciation from the assocation that I was helping to organise the Conference for.

It was definitely a very pleasant surprise because I hadn't expected it. As curious as I was, I didn't want to rip open the packaging to see what it was because after all, we were still at the Conference. But I sneaked a peek as soon as I got chance and absolutely loved the gift.

You can't really see it clearly but it's a thin silver chain with an apple. It's really lovely and cute. The Conference was held on the 7th Floor of the Executive Business Centre and needless to say, it was equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and I was particularly taken by the 'techno booths' especially designed for group discussions.

Of course back in those student days, we weren't privileged enough to have such hi-tech equipment that would have made group discussions on presentations so much easier. You sit in groups and view your slides together and one of you can make any necessary changes to the slides and you can plug in your own laptop too. I notice these techno booths in the library too. So canggih ah?

So after fiddling with my new sewing machine for a couple of days I decided to make an ironing mat, which would be my first project. I started off trying to make a quilt-like mat but halfway through realised that a quilt is not going to be ideal for ironing on as you can imagine that whatever you iron will have grooves and lines on them. So I did patch work on one side, and plain cotton fabric as the backing, which would be the side that I'll use for ironing. These pictures show you the sequence of the project.

Arranging the squares for patching.

Stitching them together stage by stage.

Done.

Framed.

Preparing to stitch the front, middle and back together.

And adding a binding on the edges. This was the state as of last night before I went to bed. Having a bit of problem doing the binding coz it's a pain in the backside. I hope to be able to finish it tonight as I'll be working nights for the next three days and won't be able to touch my sewing machine again till Friday night.

Oh and totally unrelated, I bought a box of 'Curiously strong mint' from Marks and Spencer just so that I can use the tin for my pins.

I was going round all evening trying to force my colleagues to finish the mints so that I can start using the tin box. Crazy. I had one of the boys stuff his mouth with 7 mints at one time. Bless him.

Oh here's my sewing space. Quite a small area but I'm utilising every inch of available space and still it was a bit tight.

Okay. After I finish this first project, I'll be looking for something else to make. So till then, adios.

Have I left my blog for too long?

2010-06-16T15:35:00.004+01:00

Well there wasn't very many exciting things to write about, that's why the long period of silence....

Today however, I have a few pictures to show you of my weekend just gone... what a fantastic foody weekend it was.

Last Saturday, from morning leading to evening, almost everyone was in this hythened state of excitement and was getting more and more psyched up by the minute over the much awaited World Cup match between England and USA. I, on the other hand, was getting extremely excited about a promise Steve made before the weekend to cook up a brilliant seafood paella with fresh seafood, while getting ready for the BIG match. To top it off, when we were shopping for the seafood in the morning, we decided that a meal is not complete without desserts so the plan was to make some chocolate profiteroles for afters.

I'll let these sequence of pictures tell you how it went.

Big fat juicy cockles and they were absolutely delicious too.

Oh I forgot to mention, when we were at the fish mongers, there were lots and lots of live crabs and they weren't expensive so I insisted that we get one and Steve had to kill it. He wasn't happy about that. He said kesian the crab.After the crab's been cleaned, we cooked it in Black Pepper Sauce and it was absolutely yummy. By then, Steve was still feeling sorry for the crab. I wasn't.

The paella rice cooking in pure chicken and seafood stock.

Almost ready now. The side of the pan decorated with mussles and cockles. The paella was absolutely delicious and to die-for. It wasn't cheap at all. That's one thing I don't like about the UK. Not being able to get fresh seafood at affordable and reasonable prices. The cost of the seafood for that paella was probably close to 15pounds. But it was absolutely worth it because we even had enough leftovers for lunch.

What's Sasha waiting for?

That's Steve preparing the choclate for the profiteroles and sadly Sasha wasn't allowed any. I'll show you the profiteroles.

Nice? It was very creamy and nice. This is the before-chocolate shot and I love it.

On Sunday, we decided to sit in the garden for a bit of sunshine. And I took this picture as I was lying down on a rug on the front lawn. The weather forecast wasn't meant to be good for that day but you can see clearly from the picture that they were wrong, again.

And I've got a new hobby.

What could it be?

Yup, I have caught the sewing bug transmitted by Fely. It cost me an absolute fortune because it's computerised and also it's Husqvarna Viking. This whole business of buying a sewing machine has been a bit of a journey for me and in fact as we speak, there's still the tail-end of the palavar which will hopefully be resolved soon. Long story short, first order I placed, the buyer did not state that it was a US machine until before it was despatched and I had to cancel the order. I was very disappointed but at the same time relieved coz I thought that was an opportunity to reassess spending such a large sum on a sewing machine when I barely knew how to sew. So the whole online search and shop began again and I found a different model that I'm happy with and Steve helped me secure a deal with an online company who promised a cash discount instead of free gifts. If you know me well enough you'll see this coming. Instead of ordering a much cheaper model, I have gone one notch higher and ordered something even more expensive than the first! (crazy, I know) The machine arrived and lo and behold, it was the wrong one. So we rang and now we're expecting them to send another one and in the meantime, I am allowed to use this machine until the other one arrives and I'm having tons and tons of fun on it!!

Bare in mind I am a complete beginner when it comes to sewing machine and this is what I managed to do on the machine so far.

I am most delighted with the ability to create alphabets (Fely, you're laughing).... I must say Husqvarna Viking Emerald 203 is very easy to use, easy to understand and because it is computerised, programming it to do various stitches is very easy. There were a few initial hiccups in terms of loading the bobbin and starting the stitch without it bunching... but after a few more attempts I got better and better and had so much fun creating various patterns on my old clothes.

But as Fely promptly reminded me, sewing is not all about creating fun stitches on your old clothes, it is about making fun and creative projects. Hopefully I'll be able to update my blog really soon with news of those. Meantime, I'm looking forward to going home and making more fun stitches on my old clothes later !!!

And it was a success...

2010-05-25T15:08:00.003+01:00

If you know me at all, I don't cook, bake or vacuum.

Yesterday, I did two of the above mentioned, because I wanted to make Steve's birthday special. I took half a day off work (and Steve didn't have a clue I was planning all this) and decided to bake a surprise birthday cake, and to cook a special birthday dinner. So, with the help and moral support from dearest Fely, I embarked on this challenge (I don't care what you think, it is a challenge to me)

After rushing around Sainsbury's grabbing all the ingredients I needed, I came home and happily laid out all the ingredients ready to start because I knew I needed all the time in the world for everything to go according to plan. ALAMAK, then I realised the Vanilla Extract that I had put in the shopping trolley must have fallen out before I got to the check out so I was missing the single most important ingredient !! So, I jumped in the car again, raced to Tesco, got my missing ingredient, and raced back. So now the picture is complete.

So I printed out the recipe from here and got started.

A good start?

It is surprising the number of oranges and lemons you need in order to generate a substantial amount of rind from them.

Kenwood chef working hard...

So far so good?

Cake finally in the oven. Unfortunately I was too eager to stick the cake batter in the oven so I forgot to take a picture of it before it went into the oven. I am not in the habit of licking cake batter, as you can see...

Fresh from the oven...

Cooling down...

After a layer of chocolate icing... Fely's expert recipe and opinion was a GREAT help... thanks hun...

At this stage, I started to panic a bit about running out of time and I started doing EVERYTHING all at once -- decorating the dining room, wrapping the presents, writing the card, dashing back into the kitchen to check on the icing to see if I could start writing on it...

And the finished product....I was told later on that decorating it with fresh orange segments, not a very good idea... but I thought they looked nice anyway....Notice the word 'Birthday' being shortened? By the time I had finished writing 'B' I knew I wouldn't have enough space to fit in 'irthday' in that tiny space... :P

After the cake, I quickly cleared all the dishes away, getting rid of all the evidence of a cake being made, and got started with preparing dinner -- Shoulder of pork steaks marinated in black pepper and char siu sauce, and stir fried kai lan with mushrooms...

The birthday boy blowing his candles after dinner.... he was still wearing his chef trousers after a hard day's work...poor thing had to work on his birthday...

As you can see the cake went down quite well so I took it as a sign that it must have been quite a success...

A special thanks to my dear, dear friend Fely who was there for me the whole time...

I never win anything, until now...

2010-05-19T11:07:00.001+01:00

Do you find yourself being EXTRA motivated in completing surveys and questionnaires when the reward for the prize draw is attractive and lucrative?! That's what I did...

Three weeks ago, a survey was launched at my workplace and I, along with 600 other people took part in the survey, in the hope of becoming the lucky winner in the random prize draw. I have done that many times and since very young, I have not had much luck in lucky draws so I did not harbour any hope at all.

So I got back into the office this week after my two-week holiday and have long forgotten about the questionnaire and the prize until I got an email yesterday.

Apparently, I have been randomly selected (with a randomiser software) as the winner for the prize!!! How about that?! Of course I was beyond ecstatic and my exact response -- "You are joking !!!!!!!!!! You're not pulling my leg, are you?!!!"

So the bearer of the prize came by yesterday and dropped this off for me.

Yup, that's my name. That's for me !

So I opened it and revealed this...

Can you guess what it is at this stage? Is it a book? Is it a pencil case? Okay, okay, let's carry on then...

The all-too-familiar symbol?! Surely you can guess by now? No? Okay another picture to show you...

Yup. You guessed right.

It is a brand-spanking new 8GB Ipod Touch by Apple.

The trouble with this is, I already own an Ipod Nano which Steve got me on X'mas a few years back and I am absolutely happy with it even until today. As for the WiFi capability and being able to surf the net and check my emails yada yada yada, I've got my BlackBerry to do all that. So technically, technically speaking, I have no need for this Ipod Touch. Even when I got the MacBook last year, it came with an almost-free Ipod Touch (cost me £20) and I sold it for the same reason, I didn't think I need one. Today, another Ipod Touch has yet again managed to appear in my possession and I am again left with the decision of what I would do with it. I was admiring it last night and Steve said ,'You are tempted to keep it, aren't you?'. Well, yes, I am tempted to keep it but I know I'll grow tired of it after a day or two, after the initial excitment has died down. So, so... I think I shall sell it and put the money towards getting a sewing machine!! What do you think?! I think it is a brilliant idea !!!!

Simple Cross-Stitch Tips

2010-05-12T22:25:00.003+01:00

Getting some encouragement from Fely, I finally decided to pick up from where I left off with my Cross-Stitch of Sasha two years ago.

This is the picture that I'm making the cross-stitch from.

Sasha was just a few months old then and she hasn't started growing her 'trademark' beard yet, which is why I decided this would be the best picture to use. And I have really enjoyed cross-stitching this picture so far. This is how far I've got to.

I know, I've got a long way to go yet!!
You probably can't see it clearly but you can just about make out on the right hand side the contour of Sasha's face with her right ear flapping down. Due to the type of fabric I've chosen, the squares are extremely small and it's quite a job trying to follow the chart and stitch at the same time without losing your place constantly. It is especially challenging when you get to a part with lots of different colours like this.

So I've decided to fashion a marker in which I can use to hold the paper in place, while marking my progress on the chart. I started off with this.

Nothing fancy, just a straight piece of rather thick wire.

Next, bend the wire following the shape of a paper clip.

And then you'll get this.

Simple, right? But be careful you don't poke your eyes out with the sharp ends.

And then, clip it anywhere on the side of your chart like you would a paper clip. Move it accordingly to which part of the chart you're working on.

To make it even more effective, use a black marker and make a tiny mark on the point of the giant paper clip like this.

And not only will this help to make your chart stay more in place, you'll never lose your place on it, ever again!

Another tip I find extremely useful, especially after you have worked a few different colours from your chart, is to keep your loose threads organised and properly labelled.

Start off with this.

Again, nothing fancy, just a piece of paper folded in half with holes punched on one side from top to bottom. Tie the loose threads each colour to a hole and label them like this.

That way, you'll never lose track of which code the loose threads belong to. Sometimes, because there may be two or three colours with shades that are very close to one another, it is extremely difficult to tell which colour is which without properly organising and labelling them. This will make your life so much easier when you're trying to reuse your loose threads again.

Another tip I find useful is colour marking the chart as I go along. (Assuming that you are not going to use the plan again)

Just get a few gel pens, and mark your progress on your chart. This way, you'll find it easier to keep track of your overall progress.

It might be a bit messy, but I find this method extremely useful every time I want to pick up my project again after leaving it for some time.

These are just a few handy tips which I find extremely useful in helping to keep me organised and to make my cross-stitch experience a bit more fun and hassle-free.

Try them and let me know!!

Finally !!

2010-05-09T20:37:00.007+01:00

So after staying at home for most of my 'visiting family' trip, I finally got to go out today to Penang to visit my brother's inlaws.

On our way to their house we stopped at our usual coffee shop and had our usual favourite - the very famous Penang Char Kui Teow at Genting Restaurant and it was every bit as good as I imagined it to be !! And of course out came the camera and 'snap', an ever lasting memory of my craving satisfaction after more than two years (and also to show off to Fely who must be droooling by now) hahaks.

I made sure that the photo size is EXTRA large so that you can see the yummy prawns and 'see ham' and egg... mmmmmmmm.....can still taste it in my mouth. (I have since had to reduce the size of the picture due to technical problems :P )

My fantastic foody day didn't just end there. On our way back, to save Mom the hassle of cooking dinner, we decided to stop at another food court and have something to eat. Because it was still early, we made a stop at Tesco Extra on our way to pick up some groceries (in which I picked myself a deliciously yummy tin of Julie's Love Letters (perisa Coklat), inspired by escape's blog entry not long ago). I asked Mom and Dad which flavour to choose from and Dad immediately said 'Perisa Coklat' so chocolate it was... and on our way to the check out Mom whispered, 'I would have picked strawberry....' SIGH typical Mom.... I should have picked up both tins then to make both of them happy, haha. Anyway, for dinner, we had some lovely sizzling claypot noodles (yummy) and some Ice Kacang !! Unfortunately it was getting dark so no picture was taken this time and also I was sent on the task of getting the Ice Kacang so in between trying to gobble down the noodles and eating the Ice Kacang at the same time before it melts, I had no more free hands for 'snap snap' !!

So we went home happy and contented and although we were all full to the brim with noodles and ice kacang, within half an hour, we were happily tucking into the tin of Julie's Love Letters !! Yummmy !!! Hehe this image I stole from escape...

And what makes me happy is knowing that there is still a whole tin out there waiting for me tomorrow (unless Mom and Dad make a drastic attack for it before I wake up tomorrow noon time) -- yeah I know, it's awfully terrible that I am still on England time which means that I only fall asleep around 6am Malaysian time and wake up around 12.30 in the afternoon just in time for lunch (shame shame shame)...

When I was packing for home, I knew that I would be spending most of my time at home doing nothing. So I packed lots of my hobby stuff(things that I always wished I had more time to do when I'm in the UK), making sure that I'll never have a dull moment and that I'll have lots to occupy my time with. This is the list of things I brought and also how much I've actually made use of them so far...

1. My cross stitch project -- Two years ago I started a very ambitious cross-stitch project of a picture of Sasha the dog... two years later, we still haven't seen any bit of her actual face yet. So I brought this project along, hoping that I'll be able to make some progress on it. But as you can tell from this picture, there is still no sign of any dog, so I haven't done much of cross-stitch so far.

2. Edward Rutherfurd's Sarum -- I did a research on the Internet before my holiday and found out that this book was recommended by many as resembling the experience you'll get from the great 'Pillars of the Earth' by Ken Follet and because I loved The Pillars of the Earth so much (read it four times so far) I practically twisted Steve's arm and got him to get this book for me with his Christmas voucher at Waterstone (yes, I am mean). I had it with me on the plane but I didn't read it because I was sleeping most of the time (or trying to sleep) and for a reason that you will soon find out, I have not had chance to read much of it either.

3. Friends Season 8 -- I know I'm sad.. I must have seen this a million times but believe it or not, when you've got nothing else on telly to watch, 'Friends' always come in handy. Since Mom and Dad are avid fans of period drama from mainland China which I have no interest in because they are too 'historical' for me, I have spent many a lonely nights in my room watching 'Friends' on my laptop and the saddest part was because I only brought along one season with me, I have to ration myself to a maximum of two episodes per night so that I don't run out of episodes too quickly (unfortunately the rationing wasn't very successful the first week I was here so I am now already on the last disc with only 6 more episodes to go before I finish the entire season !!! Should have brought along season 9 as well !!

4. Nintendo DSi XL -- Now this one.... this one..... it helped me sleep, it gave me entertainment and it was the best companion through the nights when I'm awake while the rest of the house is sleeping. I know, I am a fully grown adult woman who should be having babies and nurturing children at my ripe old age but instead I get extreme pleasure from shooting robots and collecting bits and pieces in the Lego Star Wars Trilogy!!! I think the thing that gets me so hooked on this game is that the level of difficulty is at the minimum where I can handle. Once a game gets too complicated and the controls get too difficult to handle, my mind gives up. This one is just right up my street. And I love love love it. Another picture to show you the game, haha.

You can tell from this elaborate post that I currently have lots of free time on my hands. I really, really want to get some cross-stitch done and start reading the book and get into some interesting history of Britain... but first, I must shoot all the nasty robots and collect all my coins !!!!

Hope I haven't bored you too much with my geeky hobbies. Until the next post, take care.

On discovering heaven and the Internet

2010-05-05T09:25:00.001+01:00

Yup, it felt like I went to heaven and back. Before I tell you why, a little bit about my 'arriving at home' story...

I finally arrived home at 10pm and after showing mum and dad all the goodies I brought home and then they went to bed and I was wide awake because -- a. adverse to Steve's advice on trying to stay awake for as long as I could on the plane so that I will have no trouble sleeping when I get home.... I slept on the plane. b. I was hungry.

Then I remembered that I bought three packs of extremely chocolatey chocolate coated biscuits from Marks and Spencer and they were still in my bag so I thought I'll have a piece just to keep going until the following morning when I have breakfast. When I pulled one piece out of the packet, the chocolate literally melted around my pinggots (you know what they are debs) and it was such a sticky mess !! So I picked up the other three packets of chocolate coated biscuits in my bag and rannnnnnnnn for the fridge !! I didn't think they would melt because it's got biscuit but they did anyway... arghhh... this is how hot it is here. It was night time, the bag wasn't even in the sun and the chocolate had melted.... So you can imagine that I am sitting in my room now, at 3 in the afternoon with the ceiling fan spinning like it's going to come off it's socket soon... no, I haven't got air conditioning in my room in case you are wondering now. And outside the window there is a stupid cat resting itself. No, it's no my family cat, it's just some random stupid cat who likes to come near the house and pee everywhere... nice.

Anyway, when I woke up this morning I told mum that I didn't need breakfast because I had actually brought home with me Sainsbury's Scottish Porridge Oats and some semi-skimmed milk (it's a wonder my luggage wasn't overweight with all the crap I brought home) and to that mum said 'Huh, posh! What's wrong with MY oats?'

When I came out of the room I knew that IT was in the house.... IT -- DURIAN !! The much desired and craved for King of Fruits !!! DURIAN !!!! So apart from mum's excellent home-cooked food, we had durian for lunch as well and when I had the first taste of it, it was PUREEEEEEEEEE HEAVEN !!!!! mmmmmm..... mum left some for me for dinner time so more durian afterwards... yay.. just a little picture to show you (mum was like 'huh, why you taking picture of your food?')

The last time I had a taste of durian was when out of sheer desperation, I bought a pack of frozen durian from the Chinese Supermarket in the UK and I was banned from eating it in the house and it was horrible and frozen and tasted like the skin. Thiss......... Thisssssss.... was TOTALLY different. The flesh was creamy and fragrant and fresh (it dropped from the tree only this morning). And not only that, the seed was only tiny. And can you believe all this from just one durian?! good huh? Fely I know you're drooling now, haha. Never mind, I'm hoping that your CK supplies would have arrived by now and that should take your mind off this gorgeous looking plate of durian.

Before I left the UK I had prepared myself for having no internet access for two weeks because my parents canceled the landline since they each have a mobile phone and Telekom was getting more and more expensive to maintain. But I thought I'd bring along my Macbook anyway just to play some games when I'm bored. So this morning, to my UTTER delight, my neighbour has a router which I could get signal from and through no hassle at all, I have now managed to get the WEP key and am happily sitting here blogging this. So the quality of my holiday has improved slightly now I can resume 'ping-ing' Fely but through another method. You should have seen the farewell conversation we had when I was at Heathrow.... we said 'Bye Bye' like a hundred times with lots and lots of sad and kisses and huggies emoticons... hhahaha... I had a shorter farewell than that with Steve when he'd dropped me off at Heathrow, haha.

Okay, apparently there is a guest coming soon to visit and I must brace myself for it.... (the three hundred questions that I have to answer.... So when are you getting married? No kids yet? What do you do there? How much is your salary? Are you staying there forever?) I know they are not three hundreds questions but sometimes it just feels like that....

So I shall keep in touch with you lot and keep you posted about my holiday.

Durian - Check

Char Kuey Teow - Hopefully next....

Assam Laksa - Maybe soon....

Blogging from Hong Kong

2010-05-04T07:16:00.000+01:00

Yess, am in Hong Kong Airport waiting for my flight to Penang which is in an hour's time. Initially, the flight from Heathrow - Hong Kong was not due until now but because the pilot and the crew were SUPER efficient, we landed a whopping 50 minutes ahead of schedule and you should have heard how smug the pilot was when he announced the 'good news' and I involuntarily let out a silent groan knowing that my waiting time at the airport has just been increased 50 minutes. Ah well, I suppose that gave me plenty of time to go through transfer and to go through security again without feeling panicky (to those who travel frequently by plane you know what it's like, taking off your shoes and your belt and your coat and separating your laptop and your mobile into a tray, yada yada yada). I also had ample time to check out the duty free shop to get the gift that Steve had 'hinted' for me to get him (men).

I was going to start telling you my inflight experience but unfortunately it looks like they are boarding people soon so I had better pack up and be one of those 'kiasu' people and dash the minute they pick up the microphone to start making an announcement.

Adios and have a good week.

xx.

To be or not to be?

2010-04-29T14:30:00.001+01:00

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...

2010-04-20T10:45:00.003+01:00

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

2010-04-06T15:54:00.006+01:00

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

2010-04-06T13:58:00.000+01:00

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.

I am a hypocrite

2010-03-29T13:54:00.002+01:00

Steve suggested to me on Saturday night that we should take a trip to the outlet shopping complex -- Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth to do a bit of shopping. Two words, Gunwharf Quays and shopping, and my head was bobbing up and down in earnest and there was a grin that spread from the right of my ear right across to the left. But, there was a catch, I mean, not really a catch. The thing is because it is quite a popular destination, especially on a Sunday, we decided that we would have to wake up as early as we can, to get to Portsmouth for 10am so that we can get an early start and finish early before everybody decides to leave the complex all at the same time.

The clock moved forward early Sunday morning, which means that when we woke up at 8.30am, my body clock told me that it was only 7.30am - GO BACK TO BED, GO BACK TO BED !! Plus, recovering from my cold, I had developed this annoying cough and I spent half the night coughing and coughing so I was extremely tired and grumpy from lack of sleep. But, in the name of 'SHOPPING' I had to drag myself, and Steve, out of bed and by 9.15am, we were on our way.

When we got there, as we were going from shop to shop in the outlet place, Steve declared that he would get himself another pair of jeans....

For no reason AT ALL, I was suddenly convinced that another pair of jeans would take up too much of the already limited space that we have and announced to him that WE need to sort out our clothes and chuck away what we don't need or wear anymore. And not only that, I started pointing out to him which items of clothing I have not seen him wear and which was taking up 'valuable' space. Steve however, disagreed with me and said that he WILL NOT throw away perfectly fine items of clothing because he might need them in future... so needless to say, I wasn't happy at all and actually thought that he does not appreciate the effort that I make in trying to keep our space tidy.

I was about to launch into my second 'attack' when I got distracted by 'Paperchase', a stationery shop that sells extremely funky and cute stationery items. I stopped myself in mid sentence and dashed into the shop and went nearly hysterical when I saw the 'reduced to clear' section... within 5 minutes, I was struggling to hold onto the 101 items that I had picked up and intended to buy...after about 5 minutes or so, I did eventually calm down a bit and decided that perhaps I did not need a fancy diary 2010 coming up towards April; or a self-adhesive photo album since I don't print out pictures anymore; or a fancy and elegant floral journal since I don't write any journal entries; or a set of novelty stickers featuring cats since I'm not 12; or a pack of Pet Champz party tissue pack since I'm not throwing a party....

But, but when I came out of the shop, I did come out clutching a big bag of goodies. And still smiling (Steve had to practically drag me out of the shop), I was feeling great about the things that I had just bought when it hit me like a brick -- I had been such a COMPLETE hypocrite. Didn't I just launch into this whole lecture with Steve about how we're lacking in space?! And what did I just do? Buy a lot of stuff that I probably didn't need at the first place !!

But, but take a look at these pictures !!! And I can TRULY justify that I need all these items !!

As you can see (from left to right), I have a metal pencil case (a new house for my crochet hooks and pair of scissors); a passport holder since I'm travelling with two passports all the time; next to it is a lockable diary for my niece, and the bottom two packs are coloured gel pens and also multi pens and pencils, also for my niece. Now, as for that bag..... I just couldn't resist !! I know I have a laptop bag already and the last thing I need is another bag, but take a closer look....

Don't you love it?! I know it might not be your style but I L.O.V.E. IT !!!! Absolutely ADORE it !! And at half price, I just couldn't say 'No'. But Steve has a better idea, he suggested that since I bought other stationery items with the same theme for my niece, how about giving the bag to her to make a complete set?! ..............*SILENCE*.............. I mean I really, really love my niece.... but, but I just don't think I could do it. It hurts too much... I am still thinking about it, that's why I haven't removed any of the tags from the bag and it's still nicely wrapped in a plastic bag in the cupboard. Between now and May, I might come to my senses.... but for now, THE BAG IS MINE !!!

To make this hypocrite feel even more guilty, when we got home, after looking at the wardrobe, out of the 5 stacks of clothing we have, only 2 belong to Steve *gulp*. (which he gleefully pointed out to me)

Before I end my post, just a couple more pictures to share with you my lovely foody weekend in which Steve made all of my favourite food.

These are terriyaki chicken on sticks and they are lovely. Steve used meat from chicken thighs so it's tender and juicy. Although we didn't have time to marinate them overnight, the rich taste from the marinade still managed to penetrate through the meat and they were delicious. We thought that we'll have plenty left after the meal but it turned out that we were more hungry than we thought so there were only two left and am going to have that for lunch today with my pot noodle *yummy*

So at the same time we were preparing the terriyaki chicken for Saturday night dinner, we also started preparing this Chinese Roast Duck for Sunday Roast, first blanching the outside of the duck with hot water, and then getting the inside of the duck marinated with a blend of sauteed five spice and spring onion and hoi sin sauce.. and other bits and pieces, and then Steve had an interesting job of 'stitching' up the bum of the duck to prevent 'leakage' of the good stuff. Finally the entire duck was brushed with honey and vinegar before being put in the fridge to marinate for 24 hours. The result -- this picture showing the ready to be eaten version on Sunday evening and it was absolutely Y.U.M.M.I.L.I.C.I.O.U.S !!! and I ended up eating so much rice because of that !!! There goes my getting-ready-for-summer diet...

This is a test...

2010-03-25T20:58:00.002Z

well for quite a while now i’ve had the software MacJournal and i’ve been trying to use it to publish my blog entries. i haven’t been successful because the pictures never seem to end up in my blog. after reading various online forums, i managed to find some tips which i am hoping to try. i took these pictures when i was on sick leave yesterday. one shows a rare moment -- sasha resting her head on my leg, and the other shows my project growing bigger and bigger...

let’s hope this post goes on successfully and the pictures will show.

keep fingers crossed.

London Weekend

2010-03-25T12:27:00.008Z

steve's brother is on holiday in peru so his house in london is unoccupied so we thought we'll make use of this opportunity to have a 'mini' free holiday in london town last weekend...

steve complains that he is always the planner for our past holiday trips so i took it upon myself to plan and reserve the restaurants for the london weekend (i went to the length of making a fully timetabled schedule, accompanied by a detailed tube journey plan)...

but the weekend didn't turn out the way i had planned at all (sod's law)...

first of all, steve came down with a cough and cold before we left (i did say we should cancel but he said he was fine, in case you wondered if i twisted his arm to drive us down to london)

then when we got to his brother's house in london after a mad hectic rush after friday work, we found out that the workmen who he had hired to paint the downstairs weren't finished when they were supposed to have finished the job, so everything was covered with cloth so no telly and no relaxing space for us and the whole house looked like it was struck by a tornado because they must have packed and left in a hurry (as you would....)

so we retired upstairs to the room...the super king size bed made up for the lack of telly... steve's brother loves reading and he buys all sorts of books so it was like being in a library so we each picked a book we liked and soon were happily reading...

the next day we didn't get out till after 12noon coz steve wasn't feeling well, then when we got to the italian restaurant (highly recommended according to timeout london guide) for our lunch reservation there was NO ONE in there so steve refused to go in and look like two pumpkins... so we went into a nearby sushi bar instead, Itsu.. it was great and it was heaving !!! so that was good....

When we went in, luckily there were two empty seats left at the bar so we quickly sat ourselves down and even before we settled down we picked our first dish to gorge on...

Tuna sashimi coated with sesame accompanied by a very unusual and delicious salad...

then we went to oxford street and it was raining so i made steve hold an umbrella over himself in case his cold worsened.. and then i dragged him into john lewis so that i could look at some overpriced yarn... and then we went to have a custard puff in the famous papabeard in oxford street...

days leading to the weekend, i promised him we would shop at china town in leicester square, get some goodies and i would cook him a lovely chinese meal on saturday night but the kitchen was beyond rescue so we had to forget about cooking so we didn't get anything from china town, didn't even get dinner...

we went back to kentish town at 6pm and by 6.30pm we were on the road back to bournemouth...

so overall, didn't turn out as planned but it was still a semi great weekend in london :)

On the living and the dead

2010-03-12T12:56:00.003Z

I don't see myself as the type with green fingers but that doesn't stop me from buying dying plants from waste after I've finished work in the evening.

I don't know if you recall from an entry I posted last year? I rescued a bonsai plant from being thrown away and felt extremely proud and noble about what I did because I had managed to turn the dying bonsai into a healthy looking and thriving plant. I even got her a little friend, and side by side they sit, happy and healthy looking. Okay, they (Big tree and Little tree) were doing great to start with. Then I went away on holiday to Turkey in August and it was after that, that things started to take a bad turn. I carried out all sorts of revival strategies --> watering them everyday; not watering them so often; putting them in direct sunlight; taking them away from direct sunlight........ still there was nothing I could do to help prevent what was coming. They started to lose their leaves and soon, they lost all their leaves and what was left was a skeleton of what used to be a healthy looking bonsai (both Big tree and Little tree together, sob sob)

They have been like this for a long long time and I refused to admit that they might be 'dead' and I continue to display them on my table, hoping for a miracle to happen one day, and also hoping that they are 'hibernating' during this winter period. (I found out through the internet that this is unlikely to be the case, sigh) So you can imagine my desk at work is not looking so great at the moment with two possibly dead bonsai plants sitting on it.

Things have changed this morning, however.

Last night, again I was tempted into buying a dying plant in the illusion that I'll be able to nurse it back to health. This morning when I brought it in to work it looked very, very sad indeed but still I wasn't about to give up hope.

You can see from the picture that the leaves and the flowers are really looking sad and droopy. So I wasted no time and quickly watered it. I must admit that the reason I was drawn to this plant at the first place was the extremely cute metal pot that it's sitting in. Don't you think that the pot is simply delightful?! Anyway, after I watered it, I left it and started doing some work. When I looked at it again after a while, I was amazed by the changes that have taken place.

Can you see that?? The flowers have 'come to live' and the leaves have perked up in that short period of time!!! I know it has been said many times but doesn't it show you how important 'water' is to living things??!!

I am absolutely delighted and excited beyond words but I do not want to give myself false hopes, not after what has happened to Big tree and Little tree. I shall keep very grounded with the development of this Polka Dotted Delight and see what happens next. But oh my can you sense my joy??!! I know I have probably not shown you very well the 'before' and 'after' comparison but I can tell you, the difference is definitely evident !!

It's Friday today and I am excited about the things that I might do over the weekend. I am feeling a bit more relaxed than usual this weekend because I have booked Saturday evening off as a holiday. Since the financial year is coming to an end and there is holiday to use up, Steve has sensibly suggested that I take two Saturday nights off which I thought was a brilliant idea!! So last weekend, and the weekend before that, I had attempted to bake some rasberry and white chocolate muffins but never got round to it (Steve said that it would never happen by the loooks of things). I have got all the ingredients that I need in the pantry (which Steve has kindly provided me with) so there is to be no excuse, really. So this weekend, might be the weekend that I'll make it happen. I bought some rasberries and strawberries last night and if they last long enough through the weekend, by the end of it, with a bit of luck, there might be some freshly baked muffins from the oven !! Woohooo !! The difficulty is I have got so many other things to distract me -- knitting, crocheting, designing my bespoke house on Sims 2, playing guitar hero on PS3, bugging Steve to take me on a car ride and hopefully stop for some ice cream and enjoying it while we're parked on the cliff overlooking the beautiful ocean)... So you can imagine that baking some silly muffins would come way way down the list of my priorities !!! But for you, I will give it a go because I would like to share the end result with you (if there are any successfully baked muffins, of course). If there aren't please don't ask me about them ...

Right-T-Ho.... I think it's time for some lunch -- Thai Red Curry with Jasmine Rice from Marks N Spencer.

Yummy (I hope).

I can't do without them (Part 1)

2010-03-08T11:03:00.003Z

Hello people.

I reckoned I have left my blog for too long, the memory of ever having a blogpage is beginning to fade slightly.

And what's worse is that everytime I tune in and look at Fely's blog she has managed to make nice little changes to her blog page and that really puts me to shame, staring at my out-of-date and out-of-style blog with its layout dated back to the Japanese era. (By the way Fely, I lurveeeee your blog design, so country, so quaint and so stylish at the same time!!)

Anyhooooo, back a while ago, Fely shared with us a list of things she is thankful for...not wanting to be left behind, I have also decided to share with you the things (non-living) that I simply cannot do without, and also not in any order of importance.

1. My Blackberry (you knew that was coming didn't you?)

Well, where do I begin? I know I sound like a techno freak when I say that life is not the same since I've got my BB but it is indeed very, very true. One of my most favourite hobbies -- take random pictures and share them on FB. I love it !!! I don't really care if people will look at them, but I just love sharing random, irrelevant, photographic moments !! These are some of them...Can you guess what they are?!

When I used to catch the bus to work, while waiting for the bus I used to read all the headlines from around hundreds and hundreds of different sources, all thanks to Google Reader. You know sometimes you see at the bottom/top of a webpage that says 'Subscribe to RSS feed'? Well basically, you click on that, and choose to subscribe that page on Google Reader (you must set up a google account, obviously) and Google Reader will pool together all the latest updates and news from the webpages that you subscribe to and you can read them through Google Reader and you can also organise them into different tags like 'technology' or 'blogs' or 'crafts' or 'cookery' !! I get all the latest blog updates on there as well so basically I am up to date where ever I go and it's a never ending supply of things to read, the latest celebrity gossip, the latest news about the Blackberry technology, gaming, computing, the latest news headlines and I am never bored where ever I go. And not to mention the latest thing that Fely and I do, which is having a daily conversation on the BB messenger. It is a must for us !! Even if it's just to say a quick 'hello' or to send each other funny pictures of what we were up to at the time (we draw a line at pornographic images) and I am really thankful to be reconnected with my MPIK soulmate again. It's really changed my life (thanks Fely, HUgS). And also the other little conveniences that a Blackberry brings to you like being able to go online anywhere, so looking up the telephone number of a restaurant or the opening times of a shopping centre, finding out the directions to a certain place, or checking prices and information of certain things have become much much easier. It's basically any information at your fingertips.

2. My knitting bag

Okay okay, this is screaming the 1960's with a granny style !! But I honestly love finding new projects to do (although I hardly ever finish any) and collecting new yarn to add to my collection, again quite pointless seeing that I never finish any projects that I have started. Yessss, even the American Blanket is now classified as an abandoned project (but I might pick it up again, you'll never know). And not to mention I now have 3 crochet and knitting books and I have got all sorts of knitting needles and crochet hooks of varying sizes. Project to date -- ONE, perhaps two, or maybe three... One of my most successfully completed projects is of course my laptop pouch which I am immensely proud of. Till today, I am still struggling to churn out another proud project like that one. Wait for it.... miracles DO happen, people!!

3. My Mac

Well, what can I say?? I love my Mac. Mainly because it is hassle free installing and deleting programmes. And it takes no time at all to start up and shut down the computer, unlike PC. Most importantly, the gamessss I am hooked on, on my Mac. Before this, I was really into playing my Cafe World on FB, and now, my latest craze is discovering the joys of building and designing a dream home on The Sims 2. Although the game has been out for yonks and there is even The Sims 3 out in the market now, I have just got really into it and got all the software and extension packs installed on my Mac. So far, I have picked a valley and built a house by the edge of the sea which I have named 'Ocean's Edge' and with Steve's suggestions and ideas, I have created an open plan house with a really big kitchen area and a bar... this is when I make use of my knowledge from watching episode after episode of Grand Designs on TV. Tonight, tonight I shall be building my bespoke bathroom with state-of-the-art bath accessories !! Can you sense my excitement?!!

Okay, I have spent long enough on this entry and it is time to do some proper work.

I shall continue with Part 2 in my next entry and mean time, keep well and have a happy week.

Little pleasures

2010-02-24T14:05:00.004Z

Okay... I think Fely made herself quite clear when she said to me in one of our 'SMS conversations' -- go and update your blog so that I have something to read.

So here I am, sitting here, typing this, as usual, having nothing in particular to share but various bits and pieces.

Last year Christmas, I received £60 worth of John Lewis voucher and I was beside myself with excitement because John Lewis sells theeeee BEST and the MOST LUXURIOUS kind of yarn from the Debbie Bliss and Rowan range and they are quite pricey. As keen as I am in knitting and doing crochet, I don't really feel right forking out my 'hard-earned' money just to have expensive and luxurious looking yarn when I can get cheaper yarn elsewhere. But if it was a gift voucher, it's a completely separate issue altogether, because anyhow, I will have to spend that amount of money, so might as well spend it on something that will give me immense pleasure for quite some time!!!

Unfortunately (or rather, fortunately), the closest John Lewis store is in Southampton, which is about an hour's drive away from here (1 hour for me; 40 minutes for Steve). So last month, I managed to cajole the semi-reluctant Steve to make a visit to the West Quay Shopping Centre to splash out on some luxurious and colourful yarn.

Despite the fact that I had £60 to spend, I was still EXTREMELY reluctant to buy full price yarn and being a typical Malaysian (always looking for bargain), I soon found myself digging through the 'reduced to clear' basket full of 'discontinued' or 'slightly damaged' (when it is labelled slightly damaged, it usually means that it's come loose and therefore deemed unsellable) balls of yarn, and instructing Steve to start digging as well, trying to find as many balls of yarn from the same range and same type as possible. After what-must-have-seemed-to-Steve-like-yearssssss (I think it was about 10 minutes) of digging, deliberation, more digging, and more deliberation, I finally ended up with around 9 different colours of extremely soft yarn balls made from Bamboo.

I've been thinking for a while now what grand project I was going to turn those yarn balls into and the more I thought about it the more clueless I got mainly because the yarns were so mismatching in colours and no way was I going to be able to harmonise the colours !! And also, there is only a limited amount of yarn to each colour, which makes it even more challenging. Then I started to regret not thinking about the colours carefully and merely picking them up because they were cheap !! (serves me right) As you can see from the photo, the colours absolutely don't go with one another, do they?! So I thought, alas, have I spent my precious John Lewis voucher on something that will end up being useless?

So anyway, I thought, I have got to start somewhere, so I started just browsing through websites to get ideas and browsing through the collection of lovely crochet books that I have slowly and surely building up (will telll you about that in another post, a bit of a delight I must say)... and I started making something. Not entirely sure yet what it's going to be, so it will be a surprise project but I will show you what it looks like now. Surprisingly, the colours go really well together, don't you think?

Anyway, I have rambled on and on about some silly yarn (some of you might think) so I'm going to love you and leave you.

Any ideas what I can turn this into?

Hopeless me.

2010-02-08T12:22:00.023Z

One of the things on my 'To-do list' last week was to ring up my mobile service provider, Orange, to terminate my mobile phone contract which ends effectively next month 2nd March. Since I love my current Blackberry and there is no need for an upgrade, my sensible self tells me that instead of paying up to £30 a month for the line rental, all I have to do is to get a pay-as-you-go sim from O2 which will allow me to have unlimited text and unlimited internet as long as I top up £15 every month. Simple?

Here's how it went...

Orange 1 : Hello, you are through to Orange Customer Service, how may I help?

Me: Erm, I would like to terminate my contract which ends next month please.

direct and straight to the point. so far so good

Orange 1: Okay. Could I have your telephone number please?

Hmmm, this is easier than I thought....

Me: Sure, it's 07XXXXXXXXX.

Orange 1 : Thank you. Let me transfer you to my colleague who will be able to help you.

Oh oh, and I thought it was going to be straight-forward... perhaps not

Orange 2 : Hello Peng Peng, my name is Beverly. I hear that you are planning to leave Orange. Would it be possible to find out from you why that is?

Must stay tough..... must stay strong...... must stay focussed

Me : Well, I have decided that I can save more money by using an O2 pay-as-you-go sim and top up £15 every month because I don't make a lot of calls or send many texts so I don't really need to be on an expensive pay-monthly contract.

extremely proud of self by now

Orange 2 : I see. Now Peng Peng, How about if I tell you we can do the same deal for you for £15 and on top of that you'll get 200 free minutes as well but it will be a contract-based sim.

Puffff I am not falling for that

Me : Nah, your offer sounds really good but I think for the time being I will stick to my pay-you-go plan because I don't really want to be tied down with another long contract.

Proud of me, aren't you?

Orange 2 : I see. Erm Peng Peng, I can see from your record that you are due for an upgrade of your mobile. Is there any particular phone that you might be interested in upgrading and we can see if we can do you a good deal?

Oh oh......... this could be my down fall....

Me : Well, ermm... welll... I am rather interested in the new BlackBerry 9700 that's just come out. But... but.. to be fair, I am quite happy with my existing BlackBerry to be honest (voice trailing to a whisper...)

Damn it! Stay strong, woman!!

Orange 2 : Right. Now, how about if I tell you that we can get that phone for you for free, and you only have to pay £19.99 per month and you get 200 free minutes, 200 free texts and unlimited web data, which would suit your usage just fine? If you were prepared to pay £15 a month anyway, this is just an additional £4.99 and you'll get a new phone for free.

Hmmm.... I must admit she's making a very, very good point....

Me : Ermm.....welll....Oh okay I'll take it.

Whatttttt am I doing??!!!!!!!! Noooooooo !!!!!!!

Orange 2 : Sorry? Did you say you'll take it? Oh that's great. Let me take down some details.

Me : Oh yes, oh yes...haha (nervous laugh).. can't believe I'm getting a new phone.

hands shaking with excitement by now and voice cracking with giddiness..

..........

The rest of the conversation was just her taking down my details and informing me of my delivery date.

How useless am I?? But I honestly think that was truly caused by her excellent marketing techniques!! And also, to be fair, the actual conversation was longer than that and she had spent a lot more time than I described to persuade me. I only made it shorter so that I don't bore you to death with the actual conversation of me going, ermmm.... ahhhh.... ermmmmm... wellll.....and plus I wasn't entirely sure if the £15 pay-as-you-go sim would provide me with BlackBerry Internet Service so it didn't take her long to persuade me to stay.

But, c'mon, £19.99 for a month and a free BlackBerry 9700 ... Who can resist that??!!

As we speak, I have just received a text informing me that my parcel with me new phone will be arriving this evening at 5pm!!! How exciting is that??!!

Honestly, gadgets and technology would be my greatest downfall. I belong to Geek Land.

What is to be your greatest downfall?

Friday morning...

2010-01-22T10:24:00.003Z

This morning finally I can drive my car to work.

The MOT, which is the mandatory yearly health test for the car had run out before I realised it so I have been taking the bus to work and have since booked myself and Fuzzer in for an appointment this afternoon so legally, I am allowed to drive it today.

So as I was pulling into a parking space at the Uni car park, I noticed a sticker on my right wing mirror... how I did not see it earlier while driving was beyond me... honest to god I do check my wing mirrors when I drive...

Anyway, back to this sticker... so when I spotted the sticker I was slightly annoyed as I know that it must be the work of one of the kids who were walking to the school just down the road from where I live.. sometimes I get some 'colourful' comments and thoughts scrawled on the windows of the car, especially when it's been a frosty night and the car windscreen and windows become a great canvas for their imaginative minds...

So this pink sticker looks like an ordinary sticker.... but upon close inspection of what it says I couldn't help myself but burst out laughing, and subsequently took a picture of it...

Can you see it?

For those of you who are slightly optically challenged, it says "The future Mrs. Pattinson"....and the writing is surrounded with lots of pink hearts...

Muahahahaha... who ever stuck the sticker there must have thought very highly of moi...

Those who are avid fans of the great Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer would know who Robert Pattinson aka Edward Cullen is and also they would know that he is absolutely D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. and gorgeous !!!

To be branded "The future Mrs. Pattinson"???!!!!!

Must be my lucky day!!! The sticker can stay there for a while I think...

Have a fantastic and restful weekend and hope to see you soon.

That mother of two really puts me to shame...

2010-01-18T15:25:00.001Z

Right, I guess I'd better buckle up and start writing a new entry.

Write about what though? I really admire Fely and her ability to constantly update her blogs with interesting feeds and pictures. Quite often I will start writing a blog and then abandon it halfway through because it just doesn't sound interesting enough.

I don't really want to bore you with my daily routine of waking up at 7.30am, getting to work for 9am, finishing work at 5pm, getting to evening work for 6pm, finishing evening work at 10pm, getting home at 10.30pm, shower, a bit of internet surfing before going to bed at 11.30pm. Surely you must be yawning by now?

Well, the one thing new this week is that I am now having to take the bus to work again... mainly because I have completely forgotten that the car MOT has expired and by the time I remembered (I didn't actually remember, the other half did :P) I had been driving the car illegally for a whole week without realizing it. So I have booked in for Friday to get it done, so hopefully by next week I shall be on the road again with Lil Fuzzer, after a clean 'health bill' that doesn't require too much money to repair :P

It's strange how we get used to life's conveniences...

Before the age of Mobile, we were fine and each time we left the house, we only needed the house keys and money. These days leaving the house without my mobile makes me feel as if I've gone out of the house naked. But I know one person who cannot be bothered as to whether he has his mobile with him and that would be Steve. Everytime I ask him, where's your mobile, the answer is to be expected -- Don't know, really.

Another one is my car... for most of the 4 years I have been in the UK, I was without a car and I was fine, relying on other people's kindness to drive me around and if I can't get that, taking the bus was the next best thing...

This morning, knowing that I had to catch the bus to work has really put me in a grumpy mood. Walking to the bus stop, standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus and walking from the bus stop from outside the university to my building seemed like such an enormous effort.

It just goes to show that human beings can be conditioned to become lazy so easily. When we were in secondary school, having a bicycle to cyle to school seemed like such a luxury !! Remember those good ol days?!

Sometimes, I think it's good to bring ourselves back to basic, and to look at life from a simplistic point of view. That is how you achieve contentment. Cliche but very true.

ANyway, I am rambling on and on now and I guess that's my cue to stop.

Till the next entry, take good care of yourself and smile always :)

On coming home in one piece.

2010-01-07T12:08:00.003Z

For weeks leading to Christmas and new year, I have been fretting endlessly that somebody in the family might break a bone before the end of the year 2009.

We were booked on a skiing trip to celebrate the New Year in Andorra, a beautiful country wedged between France and Spain.

Instead of looking forward to the holiday and to skiing for the first time in my life, I found myself worrying about every possible aspect there is to worry about, the dog, the danger of the sport, packing, timing to the airport...... yada yada yada.

So Christmas was celebrated with Steve's family with lots of lovely, lovely food, fantastic pressies and lazy Christmas telly. And before bedtime, there was a frenzy of packing and getting all the travel documents ready and making sure the weather condition was fine for us to drive up north to catch our flight to Girona.

Then came boxing day, and one by one, the 'to do list' was ticked accordingly.

::Take Sasha round to my colleague's so that she can be looked after while we were gone... CHECK

::Collect rental car from the airport and get the luggage packed in...CHECK

::Getting luggage FINALLY packed with all the winter gear... CHECK

::Making sure we don't leave anything on in the house that might set the house on fire while we were gone....CHECK

And finally, at 12pm we were on our way to the East Midland Airport to catch our 7pm flight.

As soon as we landed in Girona at close to 11pm, our journey has not stopped. There we picked up another hired car, and Steve started driving, in the dark, in a foreign country, in very icy and cold condition, on the other side of the road, up the mountain, heading towards Arinsal in Andorra which was more than 3 hours away.

By the time we got to our destination, it was almost 4am and we were all tired and exhausted.

The next morning, in order to make our week-long skiing trip worthwhile, we were 'ushered' and 'herded' out of our rented accommodation like a bunch of moo-cows (against our will) as early as it was humanely possible by Steve's brother so that we would get started with buying our week-long ski pass, and renting our ski gear and securing a locker room... etc.

One precious lesson learnt was that skiing in itself was not at all tiring or physically demanding.... it was the pre-skiing 'rituals' that tire you out...
First you have to get yourself all nicely 'wrapped' up for the weather condition up at the mountain top.. which means, thermal vest, and then a ski-top, a fleece and then your ski jacket.... longjohn, and then your sellopads, and thermal socks, and hat and gloves and ski goggles and in some cases, a scarf.

Second, you walk to the ski lift, hop on the ski lift which will take you to the top where you proceed to your locker room to collect your ski gear.

Third, ski gear consists of a pair of 'Robocop' boots, which makes it extremely awkward and difficult to walk around in. And then with the ski boots on, you have to carry your skis and your poles on your shoulder.

Fourth, to make it more challenging, they have decided to put in lots and lots of slippery stairs made from metal leading from the locker, to the actual place where you can eventually start skiing.

So by the time we reached the top, and have our boots properly clipped on, I was sweaty, exhausted and was ready to put my feet up and call it a day.

The first day was difficult. Although we signed up for a lesson on that first day, the language barrier (instructor was Spanish so she, at one time referred to the toe as the 'finger'.. and she said 'to control your skis, you must know how to use your big finger....hmmm), exhaustion, tiredness and frustration took the better of me and the next day by lunch time I was ready to quit skiing.

But I'm glad I did not because after falling down countless times, and performing a rather impressive split going down hill backwards on my ski .... we learnt better and better control of the skis and were beginning to enjoy ourselves a little.

So up and down and up and down the travellator we went, familiarising ourselves on the skis down the nursery slope, along with children as young as 5, whizzing past us as they cruised downhill, effortless, fearless and carefree.

The difficulty level of the slopes range from the Nursery slope, to Green, Blue, Red and Black with Black being the most challenging, obviously. We took a couple more lessons after the first day (fortunately with someone who spoke better English and who did not refer to using the fingers to control your skis) and by the end of the skiing trip, Steve and I were both rather proud that we had managed to progress beyond the nursery slope and had gone up and come down the Blue and even a bit of the Red slope.

In summary, it was a really, really enjoyable first skiing trip for me and I can't wait to go again. Nevertheless, it is an expensive sport and money were spent on ski wear, ski lift pass, ski gear rental, locker room... and the list goes on...not to mention the cost of travelling involved. But it was absolutely great fun and I highly recommend it !!

This is moi in my full ski gear !!

*notice the specially requested pink skis?

And oh, if you click on the picture to enlarge it, see that man with the stripy black and purple jacket on the right in the background, looking at another man who has fallen on the ground? That's Steve's brother trying to help his 80-year-old dad to get back up on his skis. He's amazing. For two whole days he tried his very best to learn to ski and only on the last day, he eventually gave up and said it's not his cup of tea...

New Year, New Post.

2010-01-05T15:53:00.000Z

Well, currently am in the office but not doing much work as there is a prediction of heavy snow and bad weather so everybody is on the edge of their seats waiting for it to happen and we've been waiting since morning, to be quite honest.

There is a possibility that the uni will be closed tomorrow depending on how severe the weather is going to be like at 6.30am tomorrow.

Naturally everybody is hoping that the weather will be bad but bad weather equals bad road conditions and that is never a good thing.

Anyhow, this is just a short entry before I put in a proper, proper new year entry because I don't really want my blog to be stuck at last Christmas.

Till we meet again, keep well and keep watching this space for a fresh new entry.

It's Christmas.

2009-12-25T01:13:00.002Z

It is now officially Christmas. It's nearly 1 am and I am wide awake composing this while watching Season 2 of 'Friends'. I know I will pay the price tomorrow when everybody's sat around the table for Christmas lunch and I'm yawning away but I feel that I need to write this post before Christmas is gone.

For the past week the entire household has been getting the house ready for our Christmas guests.... getting the spare room downstairs tidied and cleaned; bathroom washed; all the dust vacuumed; Christmas decorations up... and this year, thanks to the great Lucy I managed to add a few personal touches to the Christmas tree and am feeling immensely proud of them. These are just a few pictures I took with my Blackberry, as usual the quality wasn't great but you get the idea.

This snowflake is crocheted, starched and then dried on the radiator. After I've made the first one, I was so impatient for the starch to dry I ironed out the snowflake and it was a big big mistake because the snowflake became flat as pancake. After that I found the 'ingenious' idea of drying them on the radiator and they dried out in no time at all. I have made a few to give to my colleagues, my friend's mum... and they've all loved it. I didn't make too many because I didn't really want the tree to end up getting too crowded.

There are currently lots and lots and lots of presents sitting under the tree. It will be so exciting tomorrow.... yippie. I do love Christmas....

Anyway I can feel sleepiness kicking in, so I think I'm going to bed before I fall flat on the laptop keyboard.

Have a Merry, merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year.

Four days to X'mas !!

2009-12-21T09:12:00.002Z

This year I've been feeling really, really 'Chrismassy' so far, and it's not even X'mas Eve yet..

Last year, the extended family rented a place up in Malham, Yorkshire so we didn't really decorate the place much except to put up a tree and also I was sick as a dog and coughing non stop so I didn't really feel the 'spirit of X'mas' much last year.

This year, we're having the aunty and uncle, and Steve's brother for X'mas so we spent the whole of last weekend 'sprucing' the place up starting with putting up the X'mas tree and the bits and pieces that go with it, which was my responsibility, while Steve was cleaning the windows, and his dad vacuuming the carpet...

It was such a nice and wonderful feeling, putting up the tree and the decorations while listening to X'mas songs on the telly ... and the dog was busy sniffing everything and making sure it's okay before I put it up on the tree.... I love X'mas.

So I'm at work now, writing this short entry before I start my day's work.

Hope to see you soon and I'll keep you posted about X'massss....

Jingle bells..... Jingle bells......Jingle all the wayyy.....

Will the questions ever stop?!

2009-12-09T09:55:00.003Z

When you first embark on a relationship with someone, everyone is happy for you and they wish you well.

After two years, the questions start coming in ....'When are you getting married?'....'Do you plan to get married?'...'When do you plan to have babies?' ...'Are you getting married soon?'....

So after being with my other half for more than four years, you can imagine the questions come from left, right and centre at all times.

Frankly I am quite fed up with these questions. I know, I know, I know from the bottom of my heart that half of these people who ask these questions are genuinely concerned for my well-being (the other half being the classic Ke-Po-Chi)...

Quite honestly, I do not have answers to all these questions and it's rather tiring having to explain yourself over and over again... and believe you me, the questioning session doesn't stop after the first one.... it is a series of questions with a full-on interrogation...at the end of it, I am often left with the urge to shout to the person's face...BUGGER OFF AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS !!

Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that people are asking these questions... afterall I, like many other girls, have pictured myself meeting the right person, getting married, and having children. I happen to be stuck at the first stage for a long time without proceeding any further and people are beginning to wonder why.

I once heard a friend say something rather casual but it had such a great impact on me.

'When you are too busy worrying about the future, you often neglect to enjoy and cherish the present.'

It is very, very simple and yet very, very true.

With that in mind, I am now a much, much happier person.

Some people may say that I am trying to convince myself more than anything...

But the truth is, I honestly don't mind.

Now, all I need to do is to convince my mother to stop worrying (wish me luck).

On a completely separate issue, I have a question for you to ponder upon...

What would you do, when you are at the check-out at the supermarket, it is your turn to pay and your mobile phone starts to ring? Do you...

a. ignore the call because you know that you can check the missed call later and ring the person back
b. take the call but end it quickly telling the other person that you are at the check out and that it is rude to talk on the phone
c. take the call, expect the cashier to pack your shopping for you, and when she's finished packing your shopping for you, you throw your money down, take the change and then leave the till without even a smile, a glance, or a 'thank you'

Sometimes, it's good to watch our mobile phone etiquettes because it is too easy for people to be rude these days without even realising it. Who knows, you might just make someone's day a less miserable one :)

Click, click, click.

2009-12-07T12:40:00.000Z

Honestly I should not be allowed to go online.

Remember I told you about the crochet book I bought over the weekend?

Well, I found another book by the same author on Amazon. Instead of crochet, this book is on knitting and yesss you guessed right, within three clicks of the mouse, the item is now on its way to my house. I just love the way the book is written and how the patterns are clearly explained to someone who is 'formulae-challenged' like I am. Apart from a mini diagram illustrating the stitches of the whole project, each pattern also comes with recommendation for the type of wool to use which I found extremely useful. So I am hoping that this book on knitting will also be the same. Really I am extremely excited about starting on a project from the book and to show you how I've done. I have accumulated so many balls of unused yarn really I think it's high time I did something useful with them.

Now, now, don't panic, the American blanket is still very much in progress, so there is no need to judge me just yet.

It's a rainy and wet Monday today.... as the British would say it ....'It is absolutely disgusting out there'.

See you later.

Nineteen Days to X'mas

2009-12-07T00:03:00.004Z

I have been on a major shopping spree this weekend.

Was at IKEA yesterday and came up close and personal with the Billy Bookcases that escape2 was raving about. They were actually very nice. My favourite was the BILLY BJASTA. I was oh oh so tempted. It's extremely lucky that we have very limited space, otherwise I would have bought half of IKEA.

There was one thing that I could not resist buying though. Knowing full well that I HAVE NOT GOT SPACE for it I bought myself the lovely DAVE Laptop table. There were Black, White and Red, guess which colour I chose? Yuppp... the Red one. I love it. I love it. I love it. I know that the contrast between my Mac and the table would be so elegant. Never mind that I don't even have standing space in my bedroom, never mind that there would be no space even for a small table downstairs in the lounge, I was possessed by a demon that told me I HAD TO GET THAT TABLE. So now I have the table still in its flatpack leaning against the TV cabinet in the room. Until I decide that something else in the room has to go, until I can get a bigger room, or until I can move into a new place, I cannot unpack it and set the table up. However, I can tell you about this wonderful table. What was clever about this table is that the table top can be tilted and also the stand can be adjusted to different levels. Where on earth can you find such an ingenious design for a price tag of £16.99?? I knowwww !!!! I left IKEA a lot poorer but happier, haha. It's amazing how every little adds up. You pick up small items like Christmas lights and cheese grater, or cereal box container, thinking that they only cost a couple of pounds but they soon add up and the whole bill made me more than 50pounds poorer.

Another precious find this weekend was my very first crochet book from Borders. Borders in the UK has unfortunately gone into administration and they were having a closing down sale and I managed to dig out from amongst a pile of books 'Stitch N Bitch, the Happy Hooker' by Debbie Stoller and got a 30% off from the original price. What I love about this book is that it's got really clear explanation with pictures and illustrations for all the patterns and not only that, there are some really cute and creative patterns in there that I can't wait to try out.

As weird as it may sound, one of the things I enjoy most is browsing in the shops on my own, taking my sweet time looking and choosing stuff without worrying that someone is waiting for me. Last week, I went to Hobby Craft and got totally 'drowned' in the yarn section. I went up and down the isle hundreds of times, not having any projects in mind but just picking a selection of yarn balls in a nice range of colours and I must admit I was quite happy with my selection and could not stop admiring them when I got home.

Like I said, I don't have any specific project in mind yet, but I'm sure I'll keep you posted about it. The picture was taken with my phone so the colours in the picture definitely don't look as vibrant as they should.

Today, we went to an outlet shopping mall and again the plastic 'MAGIC' card made several appearances and again I came home a lot poorer than before I left the house in the morning.

In my next post, I shall tell you all about it so stay tuned :)

I've been hit by a block

2009-11-23T15:26:00.001Z

Lately my blogging juice has run dry and I have nothing to blog about.

Can't be bothered to blog.

Too lazy to think.

Matters are too trivial to blog about.

Blanket is slowly but surely growing bigger at a steady speed.

Christmas is creeping up fast and gift ideas have not yet popped up.

I just realised that I've lost my spectacles and they are nowhere to be found and it hurts my eyes staring at the screen without them.

Question for you: Are you currently happy?

Talk to me if you're not....I'm listening.

My very American blankie

2009-11-18T19:35:00.001Z

It was a typical evening after work yesterday.

Got home and Bea rang me on my mobile and we decided to have a video chat for the first time because I wanted to show her my ripple blanket.

It turned out to be a really nice video chat where the only thing Bea didn't manage to do was make tea for me like she usually does when I visit her.

So I showed her my ripple blankie so far and she confirmed what I was thinking as well... that my ripple blankie looks extremely 'American'... although at one time, she mentioned something about it being French as well... but what ever it is, I'll let you be the judge of it and you can tell me...

So what do you think?

Looks very American, don't you think?

Spider web on my blog

2009-11-14T12:17:00.003Z

I was pressured into writing this new entry because Fely has laughingly commented that there are now spider webs on my blog....

I was going to drive down and see Fely in Eastbourne this weekend, but with gale force wind of up to 80mph, I think I have made the wise decision of postponing this trip of mine. Plus, I can't see very well driving in the rain, surely that is a bit dangerous?! And our missus in Eastbourne is busy getting the whole family back to Malaysia for a two-week holiday and I don't want to risk being accidentally 'packed' into one of the bags amidst the chaos :P

Steve is a lot braver than I am so he's taken my car and two friends, to go up to London to have a 'boys' get-together', leaving me plenty of time for my little projects, my cafe world and my 'one tree hill'.

When I was in Reading last, Beatrice gave me a brilliant idea of making a pair of baby booties for a friend's new born and in fact, she managed to find a pattern and made a really cute one.

So since then, I've also managed to find a really useful and simple to follow tutorial on youtube, and successfully created a pair of really cute looking mary jane baby slippers, except that I've taken such a long time to finish them, the baby's feet could have possibly outgrown them by now.

Since I don't have a real baby as my model, Felix the cat has volunteered her pretty long legs for me to test the slippers on and they look just so cute. And digging through my knitting accessory bag, I found some teddy bear buttons that go really well with the slippers. As usual, pictures were taken with my Blackberry camera so quality of the picture leaves much to be desired for. Speaking of camera on my BB, when we were in London, my phone was unfortunately dropped on the floor and the camera ceased working. Rang up Orange, got a new phone to replace the old one.

Everything's good after I have successfully backed up old information onto the new mobile, except I have now lost my 'home-brewed' theme which I spent hours creating and the ability to read and write Chinese characters because I have lost the multilanguage software pack on the phone which I painstakingly installed. Writing a letter to my mum last weekend was a struggle because usually I have a vague idea of the shape of the Chinese character but have to look up my BB to get every stroke, dot and dash in the word right. I studied the Chinese language for 12 years in school and this is how I ended up.

Dad used to tell me, 'Make sure you read and write Chinese as often as you can so that you don't forget'. I know now the true meaning in this advice. Sadly, these days I express myself better in English than in Chinese. But I get the occasional forwarded emails in Chinese so I force myself to read the emails word for word so that I don't forget the language all together.

My latest project is a crochet ripple blanket with the instruction from the great Lucy in Attic24. I just love Lucy's blog and her posts are really inspiring and uplifting. She's got such charisma and positive energy in her that every time I read her post, I feel like I'm sharing her joys in life. To think that we are all total strangers reading about each others' lives on the Internet, it's truly amazing.

As usual, in my determination to be Little Miss Perfect, I have spent the past two days, doing and undoing, redoing and un-redoing my project because I really want to get the foundation right. So we shall wait and see if this is going to be another one of my infamous 'abandoned' projects, much like the building construction work in Malaysia.

Okay folks, I have duly performed my duty and shall now go back to my 'project' and I will keep you posted with my progress (or non-progress).

Ciao.

'Wicked' and Sake no hana

2009-11-02T00:36:00.005Z

There were two things that we were excited about during our London trip last weekend. First, we were going to watch the musical 'Wicked' and second, we had reservation at one of the most highly recommended Japanese restaurants in London.

We went for the matinee showing of 'Wicked' and there were LOADS of children in funny, halloween costumes and the whole of the Apollo Theatre was jammed packed!! Because we only paid £20 for each ticket so you can imagine that we were sooooooo far away from the stage (the second last row) that the characters on stage were as small as my thumb, haha. We paid £1 to hire the pair of binoculars supplied but we could just about make out the faces of the characters through the binoculars. Overall the musical was good, but not as great as The Lion King, I must admit.

By the time we squeezed ourselves out of the theatre at the end of the musical, we had plenty of time before we had to make our dinner reservation at Sake no hana on St. James Street, near The Ritz Hotel. So we took the underground heading towards Green Park. It was a good job we had ample time as between us, we had two Google maps on our mobiles and still we managed to go the wrong way, twice.

Upon reaching the restaurant, we still weren't sure we got the right place as the area around the outside of the restaurant was dark; there was no clear sign board apart from some small letters next to the entrance. The entrance to the restaurant reminded me of the entrance to a secret society. It was dark and gloomy I actually thought in dismay that the restaurant was shut. The glass doors slid open after we stood there for a full 10 seconds and we were ushered upstairs to the main restaurant. Sake no hana is divided into three sections: downstairs is the conventional Sushi bar; upstairs you have the cocktail bar, followed by the main restaurant area where you have the choice of sitting on the floor (not quite on the floor because there are holes where you can dangle your feet), or you can sit at tables.

We chose the 'sitting on the floor' table, mainly because we knew we wouldn't be expected to fold our legs and sit properly like a real Japanese due to the hole in the floor. The interior of the restaurant was a neutral blend of bamboo and wood, with dim lights projecting from the right angle to create a very elegant and soothing environment. Before I had to take my shoes off and settle down, I visited the ladies and as expected, it was as equally impressive as the main dining area. It was too bad I didn't have my camera with me at that time... don't worry, I wasn't about to take a picture of myself on the bog, but the sink area was a spectacle in itself and I can only describe to you what it was like. Again the theme of bamboo and wood blend was evident in the ladies. The hand-washing area is formed by a main tub with a wooden tray sitting in between, for the disposal of used hand towels. There is no tap at the sink. Instead the water comes through two 'chutes' from the wall, into the tub. Washing your hands with water gushing down through the chute was so satisfying that I spent quite sometime washing my hands, haha.

Then came the exciting part of ordering for food from the simple menu of Starter, Salad, Sashimi, Maki, Rolls, Sushi, Tempura and Side Orders. After obtaining help from a really friendly waitress, we decided on our order and when our first order of Warm Softshell Crab with Rocket Salad came, we were well-impressed. Everything tasted as yummy as they looked and as soon as we had finished one dish, our next order materialized out of no where. One thing I must say is that the waitress and waiters were super efficient and super friendly.

Warm Soft Shell Crab Salad with Wasabi Sauce

Duck Breast Tempura drizzled with Sweet Vinegar Sauce (can't remember what the sauce is called)

Dragon Roll -- Eel, Avocado and Tobiko Caviar

My miso soup with tiny mushrooms, very nice

6 slices of Sashimi -- Seabass, Tuna and Salmon (just that plate cost us £15, eek)

We had some mixed tempura of prawns, scallop, pumpkin, courgette and mushroom too but didn't get chance to take any picture before we started digging in. At the beginning, because we knew that we only had a two-hour slot in which to order and dine, we were literally wolfing down our food thinking that we were not going to have enough time. But by the time we were eating the dragon roll we realised that we still had ample time so we slowed down and really took our time to enjoy our lovely and beautiful food. Steve was even persuaded to order some Sake which he really enjoyed tremendously. I had a sip or two and liked it too. The Sake tasted pure and had a full volume to it. Of course, no meal is complete without dessert, so to make ourselves feel less of a glutton, we shared a portion between ourselves.

The passion fruit cheesecake with yuzo ice cream that we couldn't resist

Overall, the bill should have been a little over £100, but because we managed to obtain a special 30% discount time slot, our whole bill came to £88, which is still a lot for a meal, but it was a special treat seeing that we don't go up to London very often. And it was a truly fantastic and tasty experience.

It was really a great foody weekend : over the weekend we dined at a French restaurant in Marylebone Street on Saturday for steak and chips for lunch; Japanese restaurant on St. James Street for Saturday dinner; and Breakfast at The Brew House Cafe in Kentwood House at Hampstead Heath.

Have to limit my intake beginning of next week.... but it was all worth it !! I shall finish off this blog with some really beautiful pictures I took of Hampstead Heath this morning, a wet but colourful windy morning. Apparently, this is the setting in which Julia Roberts did the filming of her period movie in the movie The Nottinghill (I hope this makes sense).

Autumn, leading to X'mas

2009-10-29T10:39:00.005Z

It is a funny time of the year.

You are never sure what to wear because you might get too cold, or too warm.

I am not rich so I cannot afford to have the 'in-between' wardrobe like most people do...autumn cardigan... autumn jacket....

My range of clothes (which are getting more and more limited these days as I have 'outgrown' most of them) jump from summer, straight to winter.

It's crazy that we're now talking about Christmas already. Shops have started stocking X'mas merchandise as early as September !!! (a bit like CNY and Hari Raya at home, no?) With Royal Mail on strike, there is an added pressure now to get Christmas presents sorted as early as possible because we do all our X'mas shopping online.

So Steve said to me that I must start dropping hints about what I want for X'mas. Year after year, it gets harder and harder to get each other X'mas presents. I have not done very well last year for him and I still feel bad about it. Last year he really pulled out all the stops and surprised me with an amazing portable piano and the best thing I got him was a Heston Blumenthal cookbook, The Big Fat Duck Cookbook which was not your ordinary cookbook and it still cost me an arm and a leg. The book weighs around 5.5kg, with glossy pages of scientific cooking methods, stunning pictures and amazingly unusual out of this world's recipes and it's more of an artwork rather than a cookbook. It has got some amazingly unusual recipes for things like 'snail porridge', 'tea jelly', 'sardine on toast sorbet' and 'smoked bacon and egg ice cream', to name a few.

Apart from the portable piano, he also got me a nice, cuddly and fluffy 'tatty teddy' dressing gown which I almost brought round to Bea's in Reading when she told me her house is really cold. I changed my mind because the whole thing bundled up would have taken the entire space of the small backpack I was taking. And it was really cold and I regretted not bringing it. Just to clarify, the person in the picture is not me, hehe. But the dressing gown looks just like the one I've got. Cozy, isn't it? Anyways, so he got me this nice dressing gown, and I got him an alarm clock with a weather station. haha. I know, I know it's terrible. But it is no ordinary alarm clock !!! It's got a special cord which you can stick out the window and it'll tell you the current temperature and it'll give you a very accurate weather forecast !!! Seriously, I thought it was cool !! (I know, sad...)

So this year, I really don't know what he's going to get me. I've got me laptop, got me piano, got me car, can't think of anything else I need, really..... hmm. The worst part is I don't know what to get him !! I got him a PS3 on his birthday this year, his dad and brother got him an exercise bike, so I've run out of things I can get him... SIGH. Any ideas, pleaseeeee feel free to drop them in.

I might ask for a pair of UGG boots though. They look so comfortable and so lovely !! But they are bloody expensive. I've never been able to spend a lot of money buying expensive clothing or handbags. So if Father Christmas is listening.... please may I have a nice, cozy and lovely pair of UGG boots?? Pwetty pwease...

Anyway, we're heading up to London tomorrow !!! Yayyy !! Am really excited about that. We plan to have dinner at a Japanese restaurant in St. James Park after the musical, Wicked, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Mean time, take care peeps and have a good weekend and a great Halloween.

On why it was absolutely justified for me to be NEUROTIC !!

2009-10-26T15:47:00.001Z

So last night I cried myself to sleep... and this morning Steve accused me of being neurotic.

As it is a well-known fact, I am a techno geek and where possible I always look for an opportunity to get the best software updates for my blackberry and my Mac and I love designing my own themes to be used on my blackberry... you get the idea.

Last night, for the first time, I installed and ran the Blackberry Desktop Manager on my Mac because I had received notification that there was a new software update !! So while watching the TV, I plugged in the phone and started going through all the familiar steps of clicking this and clicking that.

Not even bothering to read the screen for what I was installing because I've done it countless times, I set the phone up to receive the 'latest' software.

When the phone rebooted itself after the update, I picked it up to see what has been 'updated'. The first sign that told me something was amiss was when the screen showed 'As this is your first time using a Blackberry, this setup wizard will guide you through.....'

Hmmmm.....

Before I proceed, I need to layout the foundation of how important my Blackberry is to me... I have ALL my passwords in there, I have ALL my contact numbers, ALL my work and personal appointments on the Calendar, my pictures.... basically, my WHOLE LIFE !!Okay, perhaps not that serious, but you get the drift.

So, I checked my phone directory, BLANK ! I checked my password keeper, BLANK! I checked my Calendar, BLANK !! Blink, Blink, Blink...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!

By then my fingers were trembling and my heart was beating fast and there was sweat on my forehead.

What followed was a series of frantic revival rescue missions, trying to revert the update and looking up forums to see what I can do to 'undo' the damage... and to make matters worse, the Desktop Manager (as if by fear) has refused to work properly on the Mac, leaving me more frustrated and hopeless than ever...

Steve, as usual, while trying to be positive was saying things like 'It's replaceable'...'I'm sure there's a way round it' and 'Why are you so upset?'.... all of which were not very helpful at that time.

So not knowing what to do next, I started crying (yeah, that would really solve the problem)... I was so upset that I was prepared to throw the Berry on the wall...not only have I wiped out all the data on my Berry, all my other settings must have been affected as well because the Internet refused to work and I couldn't get into my email. I WAS NOT A HAPPY BUNNY AT ALL !

So last night, I cried myself to sleep...

This morning, after waking up and the realisation that I have lost EVERYTHING dawned on me, I became depressed again. I switched on my Mac nevertheless to see if there's anything that can be done. This time, the Desktop Manager has worked again, and I found a file with the title 'Back up' and I began to see a light at the end of the tunnel. So with trembling hands, I plugged my berry in and click on the magic button called 'Restore'.

I must explain here that I had not thought of doing this beforehand simply because I had not created a 'Back up' file before beginning the installation process so I did not expect that there would be a 'back up' file in the system. (Bless who ever created this feature as an automatic feature in the software)

When the process has finished and I checked my Berry again, I was awashed with relief to find that allllll my passwords were there, my contacts were there and my calendar events were there !!

HAALLLLLLLLELLLUJAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I knew what was coming but I had to phone Steve to tell him the good news (he had left for work by then) and of course what followed was a series of him mocking me and imitating my 'sobbing' and 'wailing' from the previous night...and him calling me a neurotic.

But I didn't care..... all I cared about was that I got everything back on the phone.....Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...... what a relief.

I think when I get home tonight I shall write down in a secret notebook all my passwords in case something catastrophic like this should happen again (god forbid).

I am not melodramatic or neurotic, seriously.