Dayre

I'm blogging more often on Dayre now.

Find me there: dayre.me/amysimon

Grey's Anatomy

Wrote this post last night but forgot to post. Posting it now.


Photo from here.

Shonda Rhimes is sick. I tell you, sick. Because only a sick person can come up with so many ways to screw up a person's life. That, among others. Take Meredith for example. She has so far survived a plane crash, drowning, bombing, plane crash, and now giving birth. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Dafuq?

Every time before a season ends, she has to find some way to screw up every doctor's life. If you can't tell yet, I love this series and have watched it multiple times from Season 1 to Season 9. But man this is too much. I got sick of it starting from season 7 onwards.

They keep bringing in new people and killing off old ones. George O'Mailley died first, then Izzie left, Dr Burke left too (but that I don't care too much), Lexie died (wtf?!) and Sloan. Sigh. They just keep bringing in new ones and killed or thought of some painful way for them to die. I would prefer if they stopped at Season 6. Like SATC was good and they stopped at Season 5 (or was it Season 6) And came out with 2 movies. That's it. Story ends. Not like this. Never ending trauma. 

And yes, its a hospital story of course there are trauma's. Kev and Win say its all just love/sex between the doctors. Others tell me its full of medical terms. I disagree on both. Its not like they show explicit images of sex or way too much love drama. Most of the time the doctors are promiscuous. This can go both ways. Anyway what I mean is, its not like the L word. That was a drama about a group of lesbians and their lives. In the beginning, it was interesting then I got a bit bored of all those girls making out. 

I dunno la. I have no idea why I like to watch Grey's Anatomy too. Its interesting to me. Maybe I should have been a surgeon too eh. Pfft. /sings sweet dreams are made of these.

Change topic.

There have been some thieves in our housing area recently. Motherfuckers. Second time this week.

First time, our neighbor told us his gas tank got stolen, among others. He went out and got a dog.

Dad went to tell Eli, who checked our own gas tank, only to find it stolen too, among others. Like my shoes. Gone. Chee bye. That was a few days back.

Tonight, eli informed me again that our next door neighbors stole some stuff again. They installed cctv this time. SON OF A BITCH!!!

I continue next time. Busy now. Bye.

Dayre

Hello. I'm trying to blog on dayre now. Testing only. 

This is my profile. Click.

Its basically a blog. Only supposedly easier for people to blog on cos you can blog on your mobile. Which I sometimes do anyway on blogger. But I suppose this is more convenient cos you can upload photos (and it comes with filters), videos, and emoticons (like those line stickers).

From what I see now, you can update a few times a day, maybe just a short line or quote, or upload a photo, and at the end of the day, it is all compiled into one post under one day. As you can see from above, it is day 318. Nearly end of the year ler. Cheh.

Anyway. I'm so far only following Xiaxue, Timothy Tiah and Audrey fourfeetnine on Dayre. Go download the app and try it out.

Laters.

Monday blues

When I woke up this morning, I chose this pink/purple dress instead of my usual black in an attempt to ward off Monday blues.

Not working. If anything I feel more meh than anything. Its only 10 am and I have so far managed to snap at Cs a few times, causing him to have a lousy Monday (bad wife) morning too, and is now ignoring me (I assume). Shit. Or he's just really busy.

Time to turn this around. Apologised to him already. He just blew me a kiss. (emoticon but still). /heart thaws a little bit wtf. Ice queen.

Ok better now. Yes, I feel ashamed typing this out. 

At times like these, I normally find some way to cheer myself up. I tried listening to Christmas carols but it didn't work. Mostly because well, Christmas to me means nothing much really. Besides drinking and going out for a nice dinner. This year particularly, I'm not sure. My parents might be going somewhere again (doctor not vacation), and for that reason, we shall see. 

Christmas in a four season country would so rock though. Here, we hear Christmas carols, yes but there are no pretty decorations everywhere, no night illuminations, and no cold weather. We just have the rainy season upon us again. Typical Monsoon season for non-Malaysians. Christmas in London means boxing day shopping, enjoying the cold weather, ice skating, planning Christmas dinners, and gift exchanges. That's fun. But here, my group of friends and family just go out for a nice dinner and exchange gifts (mostly half heartedly cos its the norm and not really from the heart - me thinks), and drink the night away. Not as fun.

Maybe I should break tradition and organize something eh? We went to Damai one year and it was so so packed. School holidays and lots of kids swarming around. We went to Bar Zing once and it was soo packed that some of us had to stand away from our table. Not fun  Think 12 of us shared one tiny table. Boo. So hmm what can we do? House party? No longer have a house. Its under construction - will be done mid next year earliest. Fingers crossed.

I am staying at my brother's house now. He lives alone so its still plenty of privacy. Its also really close to my parents house so I eat dinner there every night. I love this part of the arrangement. Home cooked meals ftw! I didn't put up photos because well we have many boxes of stuff around the living room that I have no place to store them. So it makes the place looks messy. So yeah. 

What else in terms of an update??

Friday night - I went out with Vero for a ladies night. Talked for hours and got to know each other's dark secrets, among other things. Hehe. This is why we need happy drinks.

Sat night - went out with Cs to Damai Central. He was craving oh chien again. Oh chien - oyster pancake Kuching style. 

I know most people don't like it cos there's too much of the crispy batter. But Cs and I (mostly) loves almost all types of oh chien - Teochew, Thai, Taiwanese, or Kuching. 

That's bitter gourd with egg (bottom left) and fried squid with salt and pepper. Our meal, including two bowls of rice, and drinks cost RM 68. Not bad considering that's what a soup, two main course and a dessert at Chef at Home costs too. RM 69. I remember cos recently we've taken to betting on who guess the total bill amount correctly. Heh I lost. Cis.

Its the school holidays and there were a lot more people around that I expected. Escobar was packed and we could not get a table. In the end, we bough two beers to sit by the beach! It was awesome!! It was high tide, the weather was perfect, stars lit up the night sky, and overall it was a nice night out.

Ok this is unrelated. But I was wondering is that his/her name real? OK that's stupid. Of course its real. Wtf would he/she put their fake name there? 

Just thought it was quite apt. The surname and first name I mean. 

This got me thinking of a really funny name Shirley once told me. Her colleague's name was Naima. In Cantonese it means wet nurse. I wonder if she have trouble keeping a straight face when calling out to her. Hehehe.

Ok bye.

Omelette du fromage

It's been a while since I cooked anything. Been living off mum and eli's awesome home cooked meals. :)

Today I made this for win and I. Semi healthy omelets. Tomatoes, hot dog, and eggs with cheese. Lettuce on the side.

Now we're watching mortal instruments- city of bones. I love Saturdays!

Typing Test for fun

I tried this typing test out of boredom.

This is my score:

Visit the Typing Test and try!

What's yours?

***

We went to watch Thor the other night. It was ok. I won't give spoilers. Basically I just spent my time drooling over Thor and Loki, whoever is on screen, or marvel at how pretty Natalie Portman is. Can't decide who I like better yet: Thor or Loki? Thor or Loki?


Beautiful people.

Anyway. If you haven't watched it, there are two credits. If you wanna wait for them la.

Btw, did you know Thor (ok Chris Hemsworth) is 192 cm and Tom Hiddleston is 187? Jeez they are soo tall. Natalie Portman is only 160 cm so she must be wearing really high heels in the movie.

Laters.

Disney sea and Tokyo Tower

Hi. Thanks for your concern and prayers about my dad. I do appreciate it. But I would also like to move on with life these days. Don't get me wrong. Dad is a huge part of it. I'm glad that now I can talk about this more openly. No more cryptic posts. On the other hand, I don't want any pity or sorry's. Sorry its just me. I'm sure you understand. Daddy is fine now, and we are all trying to be positive. Looking up new treatment plans and so on and so forth.

Anyway. Moving on.

I realized that I have a lot more of Japan to talk about. Sorry if you're sick of it (Winnie). But I'm actually quite looking forward to my trip now. Must be all that planning. My word document is about 6 pages long complete with table, maps and lots of links. Heheh.

We had to choose between Disneyland or Disneysea at Tokyo. For me, I thought that Disneyland would be too similar to Disneyland in Paris and HK, which I have been to, and Cs has been to Disneyland HK twice already. So, we chose to go to DisneySea, which is supposed to cater more to adults (scarier rides, and serve alcoholic drinks, for instance). Plus it promises to be breathtaking.

Go click on that link above for more information. Park tickets for a day costs Y6,200/RM200. Trivia of the day: Universal Studios Japan (USJ) tickets costs Y6,600/RM214. Express pass costs Y4,900/RM159. Total = Y11,500/RM372.15 each. Guess USJ costs more eh. I'm planning to get the express pass - will save soo much time.

Ok. Enough chatter. Photos.

Wanted to ride this gondola but every time we went back they said it was closed. Grr. This was in the beginning when we just walked in, and it was obviously still open. Probably closed later on due to maintenance or whatnot. 

The volcano in the middle of the park. DisneySea was really pretty though. Plenty of photo opportunities. We were lucky that it wasn't any holiday at all so not much school kids running around. 

But the popular rides like this Toy Story still went up to 60 mins (I think). Meh. No thanks. Skipped that and went on another ride instead. 

I liked this one. The boats move automatically so it was quite fun.

I have seen pictures of the Mermaid Lagoon before but it really does not do it justice. My photos really don't do it justice. It was so gorgeous! It looks almost fake. Its supposed to look like King Triton's underwater castle. I think la. Since the show was featuring little mermaid. We took photos during the show but immediately someone came over to tell us off. Nicely. 

There were a few rides in here. Nice. 

I don't know about the restaurant prices because we came in prepared. Bought some onigiri (rice balls) to eat and bottles of water from Family Mart. We ate it here. Inside the underwater world. Felt so surreal being there. 

The volcano up close. Cs is eating a pau/breadstick. Not so nice. I wanted another breadstick that others were eating but our Japanese sucks so we got the wrong one.

Btw all the shows were in Japanese (of course). But the directions etc were in English too so it was still easy to get around. We went to the Aladdin show and it was so funny to see Genie speaking Japanese and dancing to the songs. 

I know I should look happier in Disney wearing the Minnie hat. But I had a slight disagreement with Cs. We laughed about it afterwards. Why did we have to quarrel inside Disney? Spoil trip only. Yeah, that's why we didn't stay till night time. We went back to Asakusa area to find a nice restaurant for dinner instead.

Later on at night (or was it another day?), we went to Tokyo Tower. It looks like Eiffel tower eh? Only smaller. Just a guess. Lazy to Google - don't take my word for it.

It was quite late at night so not much people around. Took the lift upstairs for the night view.

Blur shot but it was worth it. Making that trip.

Guess those pink flowers were in conjunction with sakura/ cherry blossom season.

I'm always scared of these lookdown window thingy. My photo shows a very scared face. Hehe. Letting my imagination run away with me, picturing myself falling, imagining the feeling of falling (like a roller coaster), and what Cs would do if I fall etc etc. Stupid eh. So yeah that's why no pictures of me. :D

Ok last one before I call it a night.

My verdict of Disney Sea: Yes, its worth a visit. After the visit though, Cs kept thinking that maybe he would prefer Disneyland more because there are less cartoon characters in Disney Sea (more adult themed remember?), and I dunno..seems like less Disney atmosphere. I think if you've never been to any Disney's, then yes, definitely choose Disneyland first. Now Cs is trying to hint me to make a trip to Tokyo so he can visit Disneyland. Meh. No thanks bro. Truth is, we don't have enough time. Maybe if we have an extra week, then yes! Definitely go to Tokyo and find a ski resort while we're at it.

Tokyo Tower: Its just another attraction. Take some pretty shots and that's about it. That said, I think its still worth it though. Its quite a way from where we stayed. Tokyo sky tree was so near to us, and yet we didn't go. Instead, we chose to go to Tokyo Tower. Ironic and weird. Anyway, definitely go at night. Can see all the night lights. So pretty.

Ok bye.

The truth

So I mentioned that I have a lot on my mind these days. Its my dad actually. We are actually quite a close knit family. Dad is my hero. My idol. My father. Recently, he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to the bones. This means he's a stage 4. Sigh.

Over the past few months, I have been trying to hide this. From my friends, my blog, my colleagues. My dad, on the other hand, a lot of his friends know. For me, it feels all too personal. I don't like confiding or discussing this. But at times, I want to vent. To write it down. But over the months, more and more people know, and it seems there's no point hiding anyway. If anything, I'm finally honest on my blog now. This is what my mind has been consumed with for so long. I think of this everyday.

I wrote down some things below on those dates. Blue font indicates what I edited today.

17 Oct 2013

Worrying doesn't help. Laughter might. Positive thoughts might. But mid laugh, I sometimes feel guilty. Mid joke, I feel sad.

I do try to think on the positive side though. It could be worse. It really could be worse. I feel this is as bad as it can get but really, we have only just started. So, the only way to get through this now is be strong and take it one day at a time.

***

30 Sept 2013

Anyway. I suppose I should mention now.

The main trip to KL was to go to the hospital. We were getting a second or third opinion for my dad. We recently found out that he has Stage 3 (doctor has since said its stage 4) prostate cancer that has spread to the bones. I do not think lightly of this. My uncle (dad's brother) passed away from prostate cancer, and my grandpa also passed away from cancer. Cancer is in our genes!! 

No its not funny but I have known about this for the past few months and I feel that for now, we have more or less accepted this. Not for the bad. I'm prepared to fight this. I don't know lah. I have a lot of things I want to talk about but I feel its too personal. I want to share this journey and yet I don't want to. 

Right now, my dad is undergoing treatment. When people ask how is he, I say he's doing treatment. He's fine. I don't want people to think of him as weak, old, sick, cancer, bed-ridden or any bad stuff. 

I think of him as still strong, still fighting, happy, working still, and just going about day to day life as normal. If anything, that is what we are all doing. We are going about day to day life normally. Yes, its cancer. Yes, its serious. But really, its psychological too. 

The doctors emphasize this actually. Being happy. Your state of mind. That is what's important. If you keep thinking you're sick, then you're sick. Instead, think that you're going to be fine or am fine.

Even as I'm writing this now, I don't know whether to share this or not. It feels way too personal. 

*****

9 Sept 2013

Why is life so fragile?

Why do we only know how precious it is when we are about to lose it?

Why do people die?

Why do we have to outgrow our parents? 

Why do people we love leave us?

Why does nothing last forever?

My dad is fine now. But only recently he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. We are waiting for the bone scan result to come out to know how serious it is. 

My close friend's dad passed away tonight. We call each other "sista". She's like my sister. We have known each other since primary school. Our dads were close friends, and so were our grandmas. We are the third generation. Her brother is also close friends with my brother. In addition to that, we lived next door to each other for years.

So, her dad's passing has affected me quite a lot. I'm sorry if I make this sound like its me. My dad has cancer. This phrase is something I'm trying to avoid even thinking out. I have not told much people. 

How am I taking this?

It varies. Sometimes its as if we are still the same. The same happy family because we try (or we are still) happy being together..eating together..watching movies. But not planning vacations because we don't know about the future.

When we just found out, we were devastated. We cried. I found it so hard to focus on other things, and on my job. My mind wanders and I try so hard not to break down in the office. I was so disinterested in other things. Now, we have more or less talked it over, and accepted it (not really but life's like this), and we just try to make dad happy. Or, at least, I am. 

I don't make plans for my own future. My plans revolve around dad. I have two vacations planned but you know what? All I'm thinking about is dad. What can I do for him? What vacations can he go on? Which doctor can I refer him to? Will he have a chance to hold his grandchildren? Choi please.

I'm superstitious now. Can you blame me? 

This is why I'm taking Uncle Ah Huat's passing really badly. I know how she would feel. I know what she's feeling now. I'm sorry sista. I don't know what to say. IF I was in your shoes, nothing would help. But know that I care. 

I'm desperately trying to remain positive and look on the bright side. And take each day as it comes now. Whatever comes, we will face it together. God willing.

Life is so fragile. Why?

I have the best dad in the world. Please don't take him away.

***

Today.

I just came back from Singapore today. Yes, we went to look for a doctor again. This doctor, I didn't like him much. He was the most direct, most honest doctor who gave us his very honest (or harsh) opinion. How many years we have, what to expect, but too bad this is delivered in his I'm-too-good-for-you manner. In the beginning. Towards the end, he seemed to sympathize (I don't know if this is an improvement).

Anyway. I suppose this counts as an update.

Again. I want to emphasize. Please don't think of my dad as sick. I know he's very sick. But I really don't like that word. He's fine. Look at him:

Sometimes I wonder am I in denial? No. I just want to be strong. Plus we carry on as if we are fine.

After meeting the doctor, we (mum, dad and I) were all quiet. Then dad said: well, its good too to know the truth. At least we know what to expect. He smiled and resumed his normal manner. Mum and I followed his lead. Because really, what can we do? Might as well take each day as it is, as happy as we can be. 

I don't even like writing this post. Should I post this? Way too personal but I feel its time to share the truth. With my friends. I hide it very well I think. On Facebook, all you would see are my shopping loot at Orchard. We went there after the hospital you know. 

I didn't feel like shopping. But we followed dad's lead. I felt numb and at times I'm wondering: what am I doing? How can I shop now? 

Aih. I really don't like this post.

I know. I know. It could be worse. I'm repeating this phrase to myself so many times I feel almost numb. But its a consolation. I saw my friend post on FB something along the lines of: lung cancer that has spread to the brain. As selfish as it sounds, the first thing I thought was: thank God! Dad's is not that bad. 

Its life innit. Cruel world. 

OK. I gotta get myself outta this dump. 

Repeat: it could be worse. 

For now, let's pray. Hope for the best. I have not given up yet. Let's fight together.

I don't want to end this post like this.

Seriously. Aside from the cancer, we are carrying on life as it is everyday. We all go to work everyday. We go to KL and Singapore to see doctors, yes. But we also make time to go shopping, drinking and to the casino. Weird eh. Hahah. We spend time together. 

Our way of thinking is this: might as well enjoy, travel and eat more now while we can. I take lots of photos. I spend lots of time with my family now. Because I want to.

Lousy photo taken at Sentosa. Queuing up to go for dinner. Soo crowded during the weekends. 

I'll update more next time. Bye.

This is about Cs

We have been married for 2 years already. Time flew by. Just like that. I wrote about our wedding and marriage stuff here.

I posted this on FB:

We've been married 2 years today, dated 4 years plus, and have been best friends 11 years already.

Come to think of it, the way I phrase it is not so correct. I meant today, as of 2013, we've been best friends 11 years already. Ahh anyway you know what I mean.

I'm really fortunate to find someone who loves and cares for my family as much as his own. For this, I am grateful. He would bolt out of bed at midnight with me to go help my sis with her car troubles, he would even pick her up from the pub in the early hours without me, he willingly helps my mum buy red wine, wash the water filers for dad, send mum stupid keys for her Pengle or Farmville or Candy crush (even I hate sending them), and so on and so forth.

I used to want to date guys older than me. Like 4 or 5 years older because I like that they can teach me things. I like learning. I didn't know that with Cs, I would learn so much too. He taught me to be kind (kinder than I was before). I respect old people, but he taught me even more. He's not just kind to me, he's kind to everyone. He makes me laugh, and teaches me to laugh at everything.

I don't want to make this so sappy la. Or praise him too much. Ahem. Hahah he has his flaws too.

But so do I. In fact, I have much more. Poor Cs. :)

To cherish, to hold and to keep



Listening to Kenny G’s Songbird now. This song brings back “wedding” memories. Planning for our wedding, fretting over little details. Its all behind us now. So happy. Reason I’m writing this down though, is because I feel so lucky, so blessed to have him. That I married him. I thank God everyday for this. It’s the little things he does. I feel so lucky to wake up next to him everyday. Thank you.

When I broke up with Willie years ago, I felt like the world (my world) had ended. Life was meaningless. All those clichés seem to fit me so well then. I was angry and upset. Shirley said this to me, and I remember it so well: you will find someone who loves you more. You will. He’s out there.

And I thought: impossible. Well, it felt impossible then.

But I did. I found him. He was right beside me all along. I found him. He’s mine to keep, to cherish and to hold.

Thank you.

Same old, same old

Post from the past. Looking through my Drafts and randomly selected a few blog posts to post. This is one of them :)

Heya. I want to update my blog, but its been same old, same old these days.

Yesterday, I had a shitty day at work so I sulked and said no cooking tonight. Hehe. So we went to MJC kopitiam for simple kolo mee (me, finished the whole bowl wow I'm shocked and so full afterwards), and chicken rice (him, of course). I never order chicken rice willingly by myself.

After that we went home to pack non-stop. Meh. I attacked the cupboard upstairs. If we lose any items of clothings, we both know who to blame. Cs kept the tv's, sound system, and radio, and packed them up nicely for storage.

Keeping the cupboards is hard work okay. In between tossing out certain items, and trying on half the outfits  in my closet (cos I found some clothes I never wore), and neatly packing them into different plastic bags, it was tough.

Here are some conversations from last night:

Me: Do you think I look fat in this? (turns and poses in front of him)
Cs: No. You never look fat. (Comes over to smile and kiss me)

Some 30 mins later

Me: Do you think I should keep this? (turns and poses in front of him)
Cs: yes (without looking up)
Me: look again. Is my stomach big in this? Is my ass too big? Are the arms too tight? Can you see my undies? Is the dress too short?

Some 2 hours later

Me: Do you think I should throw this?
Cs: (ignores)

At the end of the night, maybe Cs secretly wanted to throw the tv into my face. Haha. Don't blame him. Ahem.

In an attempt to sound less bimbotic, maybe I should er..quote some facts from work today. Ramdom facts are stuck in my head today. Specifically those oil and gas pipeline companies. Gawd kill me now. Kill them more like. Why do I get such long companies?! Why! Who did I offend?

Ok bye. Abrupt end cos I can't think of anything else to say now.