Cherrie time

Just because I don't want to end 2011 with that post below of Kevin and me insulting each other.

So I err..adjusted the date on this one and voila. This shall be my last post of 2011 :)

One of the best things we (the Simon family) ever did this year (wait was that last year - 2010 sheeeett time really flies) was to inherit a new pet. Cherrie has brought so much joy and laughter's to our life. She has made mum so much happier.

 

In the beginning, I was quite against my mum getting a new pet so soon after ah boi passed away. But I'm glad we did now. This little cutie, this little fatty warmed our hearts again. 

 

 

She's our little pampered princess. We love her to bits and unfortunately spoil her to bits too. Hehe but its okay.

Said little princess sleeps with my parents in their room because little princess is afraid of the dark. We put her in the kitchen but she looked so sad when we turn off the lights and left her alone. HAHA. Spoilt indeed.

 She is not dirty though if that's what you're thinking. Mum bathes her and cleans her with a wet cloth every night. Cherrie is also toilet trained literally. She runs off to the toilet when she needs to pee/shit. 

When she was still a puppy, we laid newspaper at different spots around the house so she can run to the nearest one to pee/shit. Puppies can't really hold in their pee/shit as long. When they wake up, they need to go. Immediately. 

 

But as she got older, we only put newspapers in the toilet, and she runs to the toilet when she needs to. So kwai right? :D So she really is not that bad. Quite easy to take care of. Mum or Eli cleans her up after she does her business every time. So she is clean.

 

 I don't know how I ended up talking so much about Cherrie but oh well. She makes me happy. I used to come home from work upset and cranky and to have a little ball of fluff jumping around you so happy to see you, it just makes my day! :D

 I miss that fatty even though I just saw her yesterday. :D

Conversations with the brother

My brother is one year older than me and I forgot when we started talking to each other like this. But it always makes me laugh like shit after. So I saved it down to share here.

 

I was anticipating the FUUUU when it came hahahhahaha.. Dumb shit! Referring to both me and him. 

Too many dates to remember

We forgot our anniversary again. Fook it. So many dates, how to remember ah? This anniversary I'm talking about is the day we got together: December 28. I remembered it a day too late. Cs, when I asked him about it, told me that he remembered it after I fell asleep. He debated on whether to wake me up or ignore it. Haha idiot.

Seriously though, now we have quite a few dates to remember. I'm not the kind of girl who can remember dates. There are:

1) day we got together

2) day he proposed (I keep forgetting the date =.=)

3) day we got married (marriage cert)

4) day of our wedding (easiest to remember since we worked hard planning for it, and informing and reminding everyone of the date so much that it is imprinted in my brain already)

5) days of our honeymoon (hahaha I know this isn't counted lah but really that week was one of my happiest week ever! so I want to remember it!)

So yah. Can you blame me for not remembering? And no, I don't blame him either. Its rubbish. In the future, I have to remember my kids birthday some more. And oh no, just realized something, does this mean I now have to remember my in-law's birthday in addition to my own family? Oh no.

Better get my calendar out to mark all these dates.

Anyway.

This was from our trip to Disneyland and Macau. We don't need a tripod, nonipod, gorillapod whatever thingymajig.

Pffitt...We can do this with our eyes open..

And yes, even with our eyes closed! Hahahhahaha...

Not bad eyy..Saves money.

It takes practise. It takes skill. And most of all, it takes a thick face (or two).

*****

So, its Friday today, and officially my last working day of the year. Bosses declared today as casual day and a half day working day. Woot. I get to go home at 12:30pm. Awesome ness.

Going to catch up on much needed sleep. Been feeling a little under the weather. Raining everyday. Actually no lah, that's horseshit. I'm not feeling well because of not enough rest and too much playing and too much red wine.  Heaty. But it has been raining everyday without fail, sometimes only stopping for about 5 to 10 mins and then raining again. Its terrible.

So what are your plans for New Year's Eve? This year as usual, I'll be at Sarawak Club with my family and my parents group of party loving friends. Heh.

****

So, its the end of 2011 and here are some highlights of my year so far, in no particular order:

1) Got married. Became a wife. Gotta get used to that term. I have a husband now. I can't refer to Cs as my bf anymore.

2) Got a new phone. I love my Iphone. Omg..where have I been all this time? When I just got the phone, I was astounded. So many things. So many apps. I can do so many things on it. Technology is amazing. And yah, I'm a bloody hypocrite.

3) Learnt to eat and cook more. Not just for me, but for Cs as well. In the process, I learnt how to cook and eat more healthily as well. If it was just myself, bah, I don't care. Eat maggi mee all the time. Or drink soup and call it a day. With Cs, I make more of an effort to eat something else, something more nutritious.

4) Moved out of the comfort of my parents house. Moving out means growing up and learning alot more responsibility. I have stayed away from my family when I was in London. Then, I was a student, and it was temporary. Some more, I was younger and I didn't care that much. Away from my home country where nobody knew me, I drank, I partied, I worked and I came back.

But now, its permanent. I work a full time job and we both go home to buy our own groceries, cook a meal, clean the house together, pay our own bills, and know when to shut the air con, use the fan, turn off all the electric sockets before going out on holidays, throwing out expired food, buying toilet paper. This is life now, but somehow these things seem more fun/bearable because I am with you.

5) Learnt that it was no mean feat trying to organising a wedding. Hahaha this deserves to be in the list. We worked hard for it, and it turned out to be wonderful. I shall remember forever that day and night. Okay maybe not, but at least I have photos and videos to document that day. (For future brides, do do do get a good photographer and videographer! They are the ones who will document your special day. Especially video. Must get it.)

6) Went to Damai twice, KL twice, Singapore, Phuket and Hong Kong. And I am so happy I got to travel!! I want more please. Haih there are really pros and cons of travel really. Pros: get to go out of the country, relax, shopping, eat, kick back. Cons: you get really tired after a while and just wanna go home and sleep on your own bed. And bills, bills, bills. That's why I haven't got round to buying another closet or shoe cabinet for myself. Hehh..

7) I'm sure there are more but I'm getting lazy. So this list shall end here.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Christmas at Damai

Christmas this year was spent at Damai Puri.

Pros: we had a bigger than usual room. Simply because we were located right at the corner, at the turning. Its good because there are 10 of us sleeping in this room at night.

Cons: it rained almost as soon as we arrived. Stopped for a while so we could enjoy our swim.

Impending cloud of gloom..

 It was high tide, the waves were strong, we didn't venture out to the beach at all. Stayed in the pool, tried to swim but the winds were blowing so hard, causing waves in the pool, that I just floated about enjoying myself. Oh well. It was still good to get out of the city.

At night, we went to Damai Central for dinner. Had Peter Vella during dinner. It was a 5 litre box, and we almost finished it. Between the 10 of us. Lihai.

After dinner, we went to Escobar. The new bar at Damai Central. Pretty good place. I liked that it was by the beach. Listen to the waves, enjoying the stong winds, and listening to good music while having our beer. Nice.

The inside of the pub was Karaoke, and the outside, they were blasting dance songs. We went in after a while. Some of the group started singing. And I, after red wine and beer, I requested Last Christmas.

I regretted it immediately afterwards and started gulping more beer. The pub was empty then, it was just us. So, I thought what the hell. Who knows, it started raining and everyone outside came crowding into the pub. FML!!

I still sang Last Christmas after all. The chorus part. Oh well. I shall remember this forever. The day I finally decided to sing in public.

*****

Speaking of singing, I went to Planet (the karaoke) last night. OMG! I believe I have met the Voice, the Kuching's next idol, the X Factor. Whatever you want to call it.

I have no idea what he is doing in Kuching, when he could be earning his fame somewhere else!!

He can do dual voice: guy and girl. HE sang to wu yan de jie ju. (ehh Google it), and then Ding Dang's wo shi yi ji xiao xiao niao (I'm a little bird hahah).

Man He can sing!! I keep emphasizing that he is a HE!! With his super high voice, and guy looks. Damn! Both guy and girl voices, he rocked it!

I took his video and we all kept staring at him. The whole pub burst into applause when he finished singing.

But then ah..some 30 mins later, another girl walked into the pub and sang Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey's I believe. And I realize, its genetics.

The taukenio said they are brother and sister. They both can sing SO WELL. I keep raving here, but its true. Haih moving on.

****

Trying to cook more..

Found this post somewhere hidden in my Drafts so I'm posting it here. I made this pasta with meatballs a loong time ago. Its good and really easy to make.

I took the meatballs recipe from Kimberlycun again. I don't really remember it now but I guess that it contains: (hoping I didn't leave anything important out)

- Minced beef (don't ask me how many grams and what not, I estimate)

- ketchup

- 1 egg

- worchester sauce

- mustard

- salt

- pepper

- garlic or onion? I used a bit of diced garlic (I think)

Things to remember when making meatballs/burger patties, when mixing it together with your hands, it should not be too wet. Add in the ingredients. If too wet, add in more beef. Work like that hahaha..That's how I do it anyway.

Form into lumps/balls, and lay them on the plate. Cover with foil and stick into fridge for about 30 mins so they can firm up. Then fry! Voila. Done. I made burger patties with this before too. It ish good! Grilled outside, and tender and juicy inside. Yum!

For no good reason, just felt like posting this photo up. From our wedding. ♥

Time really flies.

Merry Christmas!

I'm off to the beach!! Hope it rains hahahaa..

Not being a spoil sport. But if it rains, at least I dont have to work so hard to stay out of the sun.. :))

X'mas and AFC's Next Celebrity Chef

I did my nails the other night. I went to Youtube to find a Christmas theme nails because I was going to Singapore and I wanted to have pretty nails for myself, and because I needed to look at something everyday to get myself in the Christmas mood.

I have been listening to Christmas songs in the office every day for hours to get myself in the mood. 

I read somewhere before that Christmas comes from the heart. If you feel it inside, then you feel it. If not, then you don't. Kinda true really. 

I wasn't really looking forward to my Singapore trip. I guess I should have seen it coming. The trip was okay, or in Winnie's words: kinda sucky. But I'll talk about that later, or maybe never.

We booked through Agoda and they (Agoda) forgot to inform the hotel. Hello?! Got this kind of excuse one meh?!!! (Malaysian slang when I'm upset!) So to cut a long story short and a lot of quarrelling and raised voices, we were transferred to another hotel. Another branch.

In the first room we stepped into, Cs killed 6 cockroaches in 5 mins!!

I AM NOT EXAGGERATING!!!

Read again: 6 cockroaches!!

Screw this. Complain mode on. So we kicked up a fuss (of course!!) and asked for another room. 

In the second room, Cs killed another 5 roaches and we went down to bitch some more. OK, when I say we, I mean I did. The other customers at the lobby heard me say: I can't stand it. There's just too many cockroaches!!

He repeated softly after me: cockroaches?

I turned to him and told him the truth. Hah. The manager can't be too pleased. Sorry man but they really need to get pest control.

In the third room, there was only one roach flying around. Fine. I'll take it. Better than 6. 

Aside from the terrible hotel room, it rained day and night. But that was unavoidable. But it did put a damper during out trip to Universal Studios, and during shopping or catching a taxi etc.

Enough chatter. Moving on to my pretty nails.

I drew the snowflakes on myself! /proud!! It takes a shitload of patience to do this so yea, I'm quite proud of myself..

In the process..

Cherrie getting in the way of Winnie's packing. Cutee..

Look at that face. She is just too CUTE for her own good. We all still fight and gloat over who gets to hold her, cuddle her. Particularly after her shower when she smells soo good, and her fur all soft, clean and soo fluffy. Aww..I miss the lil cutie.

I bought this new dress for her. Bumblebee! There's this new pet stall at my work place. I walk pass it at least twice a day and I keep wanting to buy new outfits for her. Hahaha is this how parents feel for their own kids? Hmm..

 

Aww..so cute. Melts..

And one last photo of me. Got to go watch E&O's Search for AFC's next Celebrity Chef!! Can't believe Stanley is eliminated!! NOOOooooo...

Bye!

P/S: Celebrity Chef chosen. I can't believe Dino won. OK I can believe it. He is charming. But not that good a chef le..compared to Diane or Stanley. Omg. I can't believe Stanley is eliminated. Nooo..

I know I know, they are searching for tv personality. Celebrity Chef. Dino would be more suitable than Stanley. Ahhh but I can understand why Stanley would say that upon leaving, about how he don't feel its right to lose to Dino, whom everyone knows is not as good a chef as Stanley.

Makes me wonder really, is Chef Michael Saxxon or Bruce Lim comparable to Stanley? I mean are they on the same par? Just curious. And I wanna eat in Stanley's restaurant!! Hahha!

And I refuse to watch Chef Bruce's show because he threw Robert's plate on the ground. No one deserves to be treated like that. And especially not on tv, where all of Robert's family members, relatives, friends and CUSTOMERS will see that. 

Just say the food is bad lahh..no need to throw on the ground. Fucking humiliating leh!! NO RESPECT!!

As you can tell, I am hooked on the show. I followed every episode. :)

Grr...upset that Diane didn't win. Or Stanley. Sigh.

Hong Kong: Din Tai Fung

When I told mum we were going to Taiwan, she told me that we had to go and try Din Tai Fung. Ehh excuse my pinyin. My chinese sucks and I never learned how to read/write Chinese, so bear with me. 

Supposedly they have the best xiao long bao's. So when Cs and I came across Din Tai Fung when we were in Hong Kong, we went in without further ado. I think it was at Tsim Sha Tsui. I forgot how to go there already. I know the way coming out of the train station lah hahha

 There. The name of the restaurant! Its located in a shopping mall. Err Google it folks. We found it online, so you can as well.

Ehh wait no lar. We saw the restaurant in our trusty guide book. It was listed as one of the must-go restaurants in HK. So we did! 

Mum and Winnie were absolutely right! It was awesome!!! Xiao long bao's should taste like this!! Filled with hot soup, it was so tasty!! Good stuff really. Not enough, I wanted more. More! Service was good at the restaurant. 

By the way, if I am not mistaken, this should be a Taiwanese restaurant/franchise. 

They also have this beef noodles. It was good. I can't compare much to real, authentic beef noodles, because although I have been to Taiwan many times, I have never tried beef noodles. Why?? Cos there are always other food to tempt me. Never ending food for me to eat and try. 

BTW, I'm going to Taiwan soon. Soooo excited!! Soooo happy!!! Assuming my leave is approved lah. Heh. 

I forgot what this dish below is called. But it tasted awesome too.

And another photo of me because I look kinda okay.. No photos of Cs because err I was busy eating and had no time to take photos of him. Haha I have the best husband in the world. He takes photos for me because he knows I need them to blog and post on Facebook. ♥ 

Oh yea the bill. Too bad it doesn't have the price on it. I would have liked to recall how much that meal came up to. Eating in HK is anything but cheap man. But maybe its because we keep converting.

Can't help it. Its what tourists do. At least service was good here. Our food arrived very quickly. We went to another restaurant, Yung Kee. Omg. That was one expensive meal. But its ok lah. On holiday, once in a while. Service was kinda bad though. But I'll talk about that another day.

Its late and my bed is calling. Night.

BFF

Earlier tonight, I was not speaking to Cs. Quarrelling. So what else is new. Married couples fight. We are no exception. I was upset.

Then you called me. We talked just like old times. Listening to your voice, your trademark laugh, it felt like old times. You told me you just came from Greenwich to Wood Green. Familiar names. But, unlike old times, you rode in a car, instead of the tube!!!!

Hahahhahahha it made me laugh so long, so loud, even now, I keep smiling to myself. Time has changed. You now hold a British Driver's License. You are still the same you. But things have changed. I'm glad that whatever has changed, the the way we talk to each other certainly hasn't. 

We still talk to each other about everything. Or rather, you tell me everything and I listen. HAHAHA what else is new? It was always like this what! You always talk and I always listen. I want to tell you everything. But you know me, I'm the same, as quiet as ever. I wish we can talk face to face, at times. I want to tell you everything. Like before. Share everything. I miss you. 

To make this sound less sad, I will add in biatch! I miss you bitch!!

 Matching nightgowns. Hahah no lah. Just the same colour. But same loose, baggy and sloppy.

Actually being so close, we always end up buying the same things. Most of the times. And we share clothes all the time.

Candid! Love this photo. It was winter, so we had to wear that much at night. Nightgown, long pants and socks. Sometimes a sweater as well. And this is with the heater on. But I miss winter!

Before you screw me for posting ugly photos of you, let me reassure you that I look as ugly, if not much worse!! Hahah I was wayyy fatter than you before ok! :) Memories!! I tried to search for better looking photos, but we only had these type of stupid photos. No proper photos. Lol. Why?! Blame it on ourselves lah!

Hahahha no comment!

168B Jamaica Road. SE 16, 4RT, Bermondsey. Good God!! How can I still remember?

This photo below was epic. Hahaha same hair styles. Why?! Cos we needed a haircut and dye job really badly, and when we saw free haircuts advert in the newspaper (was it free? I forgot!), we called up without further ado. Being the poor students we were back then.

Turned out, we got our haircuts from the students at Vidal Sassoon (the saloon). Oh well. Better than nothing. It was free. And we got our hair dyed and cut. Ugly though. Haha.

Slept on the same bed for 3 years. Hahah that makes us sound like lesbians. We are. We shower together even. Hahha no lah. Kidding. Or am I? Heh heh. We are both married now man.

When we were bored, or just felt like drinking, we went clubbing together, just the two of us. Shirley badly needs me by her side now, I think. To show her how to have a good time. To drink and dance. To go out more. Hahahhaa..And yea to take more photos!!

4:42am at Trafalgar Square, waiting for the night bus to go home. So that was what student life was like back then. 

Now, I sleep before 12 am and wake up before 8am. How time flies.

This was from another night out. And yes we both look like shit!

We both have our own lives now and our own families to build now. ♥ But we will always have each other. Love you! xoxooxxx ♥

I really wish I can go to London next year.

You have no idea how much I miss life there and you. :D

xx

Of hotness and love

Its hot. Or, I'm hot more like. (No, not that type of hot!) Which is weird considering that its been raining almost nonstop these few days and nights. End of the year monsoon season.

So why am I hot! Maybe cos I just sat down and its 10pm at night, which means its time to sleep soon on a week night. And I'm upset that the day and night has just flew by again. With no time to myself again. Grr.

Let me rant here and now.

How do people cook dinner every night after work and look after the kids at night, have pets at home, and a full time job? How?

I am only finally beginning to understand. And I don't have a kid yet. Fear not. I am not pregnant. Yet. 

Already I find it quite tiring to have to clean the house, cook dinner and find time to exercise. I am not complaining. Not in the least.

I get my freedom. I know this is life now. I really do enjoy cooking and trying out new dishes.

*****

Earlier tonight, we had soy sauce chicken, and scrambled eggs and tomatoes for dinner. 2 dishes. He also tapaued a batin soup (no idea how to translate this), which was his leftover from lunch.

After work, we reached home at about 5:45 to 6pm. Depending on traffic. If we are lucky, we can get home by 5:30pm. Latest 6pm

Reach home, put down bag, take off jacket and immediately defrost chicken, cook rice, soak vegetables etc.

Busy cooking till 6:40pm and we sit down for dinner, both of us starving by now.

But its okay because I have the best husband in the world. He doesn't know how to cook, but he hovers around the kitchen, washing up the dishes as I cook, and following my instructions, overall being my kitchen staff. :)

And after dinner, he insists on washing up, telling me to go sit down and rest. But I don't because we love each other. So I stand beside him and talk to him while he washes up, cleans the sink. 

***

Change of topic.

That photo above was from ages ago. Years really. On his birthday some 2 years ago?

I love you.

I fall in love with you again and again. I guess that's why we got married.

Don't think I have posted these photos before. With the sisters.

On the morning of my wedding. Nervous. People kept arriving, it was all I could do to keep smiling, not to feel self conscious by all the stares and the cameras. But oh so excited and happy at the same time! At the same time, I kept checking my phone to make sure I didn't miss Cs' call that he was coming.

♥




A more recent photo of us. Somehow I don't remember when this photo was taken. I know the surroundings of course. VA. I have been to VA for 10 long years and I know that painting behind Cs. HAhaha..

 

This photo below was probably taken some 7 or 8 years ago when we were still friends. And unsurprisingly, I don't remember when or why it was taken. At my house I know. Probably after a night out drinking.

This photo below is from our recent trip to Hong Kong. At Lan Kwai Fong.

Us. ♥ Now.