Finally !!

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Randoms...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Nice.....

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

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

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

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

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

Have a good week ahead and thanks for dropping by.

Stuff British People Like

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

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

Stuff British People Like

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let's make that list

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

This list is how I feel, currently !!

MY HAPPY LIST

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

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

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

Okay my stomach is growling; time for lunch.

Have a lovely week.