Monday 27 January 2014

Updates times infinity

Hello. So I want to update my blog with pictures. But the Internet failed me. Anyway I'm not here to whine today.

What I have been busy with (in no particular order):

- baking - actually on Sunday's only. The past three Sundays to be exact. Pistachio cookies, bourbon cookies, seaweed crisps, muffins, and choc chic cookies. I'm all baked (no such term but whatevs) out.

- sleeping - to compensate for all the baking. Hahaha. I feel like such a pig.

- cleaning the house - a lie. I only cleaned my room. God bless Eli. On another note, Eli is leaving us!!!!! She's gonna get married. Congrats to her la but we're not going to survive without her.

Examples of how Eli is a God-sent. (This should be a whole new post)

- she told my dad to bring a watch to go jogging so he knows what time to come back for dinner. Dad (perplexed): why??!! Eli: Cs has to go to work at 7pm and he can't go on an empty stomach. =.=. She's so nice! And so considerate.

- when she knows Winnie and I are baking, she cleared the island early in the morning so its empty and clean for us to start. She'll chip in to help too if we ask her.

- She baths Cherrie (every 4 days in warm water, towel dries and blow dries her fur), and hand feeds the spoilt brat. Mum spoiled her. Eli is spoiling her now too. When mum's not home, Cherrie sleeps on Eli's bed too. Didn't know they are so close eh?

No need to say about how she always returns money she found (in pockets etc), or jewelry or whatever. She's always been so honest. ! Argh where are we gonna find another Eli?

OK. Back to what I've been doing these days:

-  working - normal la but I ran out of things to say.

Main point why I've not been updating this blog is cos the Internet sucks in my bedroom. Always cannot connect. I don't bother trying anymore. I just use my phone to go online. And also, I have good old Dayre, which allows me to blog on my phone. Hu ha. Blogger go eat shit la you.

Ohh sorry I take it back. Trying to be all zen now.

In the name of the new year and all that! :) Peace.

So its 2 more working days to go before I go on leave!! Yayyy!!! Cannot wait for a looong break of bumming around. Eat, sleep, eat, sleep continue for 10 days. :)

Yah I took quite a lot of days off this year.

Umm...what else? Daddy's fine, thanks for asking. So's Kevin - the BFG as I like to refer to him. Fondly. I also refer to another woman in the office as the BFG. Heheh but you don't need to know that.

We've been playing mahjong almost every night these days. We here refers to me, Win, Cs, and sometimes Kevin. Mum comes in to critic our choices. Whoever mum helps always ends up winning. Tis the power of mum.

Yeah..mum taught us to play when we were kids so we could play with her and grandpa in Taiwan. Kev's the best among us. I ALWAYS lose. Always! I'm that bad. Even Cs the beginner is better than me. Ish. This is why I don't play much. Does this mean I'm bad at strategy? Or I'm always too ambitious - always trying to get better cards. Never settling for plain old "bo tai". Oh wells. Either way, I lose. No fun.

What else? During CNY in Kuching, we also always play 21 - blackjack. No brainer la everyone knows how to play and this is the easiest to gamble by far. Was planning to wear red undies this year for luck but it turns out red is my unlucky colour! If you're the year of the rat, your lucky colour is black and white. :)

Coincidentally my dress on the first day is white. Yay. Now all I need is another white undies. Hahah. And black accessories and money money come. Yeah right. I wish. I do actually. Money come.

Ok that was an update. Laters.

If I don't update again, Happy Chinese New Year!!

May we all win more money!! 

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Meme overload cos I'm bored


Memes from Sunday Stealing

The Blerp Meme

When you get a headache do you take painkillers right away or try to wait it out?  
Wait it out until it gets unbearable. But will normally try to massage it away first.

 Is there a really funny YouTube video you’d like to recommend to me?  
Nope. Mostly just listen to songs or watch a movie.

Did you watch Sesame Street when you were little?
Not really. More Doraemon!

What’s the last thing you touched, other than your computer?  
My mouse/keyboard/phone. Definitely phone la.

When was the last time you talked to your best friend?  
Just now on Facebook chat. She went: Amyyyyy. And I immediately panicked: what?? You're in labour??? 
Turned out she just wanted to chat. Hahah idiot.

How often do you listen to music?  
Almost every day when I'm working.

What color is your cell phone?  
White. Black casing though.

What is the last non-alcoholic beverage you drank?
Plain water.

Do you like to wear sweatpants?  
To sleep, yes. Wait, actually they are more pajama pants.

What song are you currently listening to? Who sings it?  
Now, nada.

Have you ever gotten a black eye? 
Yes!! Believe it or not, Shirley punched me in her sleep!! She was dreaming that she was opening a bottle (I think), and she accidentally punched me with her elbow! In the eye. The next morning, I mentioned to her: my eye hurts! Look. Don't know why or what I did. And she sort of gasped and remembered her dream. =.= Shirley - do you remember this?? 

What caused it?  
Oh I just explained. See above.

How many times have you checked up on your ex?  
Ex? That would be Willie..and probably never? Don't think I ever surprised him but checking phones I do that occasionally. 

If you had to get a tattoo what would it be?  
I don't know. If I knew, it would be on me already. So hard to get decided on one that I will not regret in the future.

How many tabs are open right now?  
5

Are you scared of needles?  
Not particularly, but of the pain that follows..

Do you believe love can last forever?  
Yes.

Are good-byes easy or hard for you?  
Hard.

Would you rather sing or dance?
You mean like a talent? Sing!! 

The ASK Meme, part one 

1. What’s your favorite candle scent?
Don't know..rose? Is there even a rose scented one? Or strawberry?

2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister?
Someone filthy rich and very generous to her sister. Hahahaha

3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother?
Same as above. Ahem.

4. How old do you think you’ll be when you get married?
I was 27. 

5. Do you know a hoarder?
Nope.

6. Can you do a split?
I wish I could. Be more flexible.

7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike?
Dunno..primary school.

8. How many oceans have you swam in?
Dunno too..aih I'm so boring. Damai beach is not an ocean eh? Umm..the sea around Pulau Sapi counted?

9. How many countries have you been to?
Lazy to count..but not enough.

10. Is anyone in your family in the military?
Nope.

11. Have you named any of your body parts?
Ahahhahah nope! But I know someone who does. Heheh.

12. If you had a child today, what would you name him/her?
I used to like Chloe but the Chloe's I know are bitches. Ehh just the ones I know ah.

13. What’s the worst grade you got on a test?
Fail la. That's the worst what.

14. What was your favorite TV show when you were a child?
Do ra e mon.

15. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight?
We don't dress up in Malaysia. Only as we get older and dress up with friends. 

16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series?
Guilty..read all three. You forgot the Percy Jackson series. Finished that too. 

17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent?
British - more sexy. The one like Keira Knightly.

18. Did your mother go to college?
Yeah.

19. Are your grandparents still married?
Till death do us part - so no, I think.

20. Have you ever taken karate lessons?
No..I want though. Is it too late now?

21. Do you know who Kermit the frog is?
No.

22. What was the first amusement park you’ve been to?
Think its the one in Taiwan - aunt and cousins brought us there. Don't know the name.

23. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in?
Unrealistically, French. Realistically, Japanese - might come in useful.

24. Do you spell the color as grey or gray?
Grey.

25. Is your father bald?
NO.


The What's What Meme 

What is on your bed right now?
Pillows, blankets and probably our pajamas from this morning.

What’s your favorite word or phrase? 
Hehh?? Sounds damn dumb la I know.

What is the best ice cream flavor? 
Right now, cookies and cream. Oreo cookie chunks inside.

Did you wake up smiling this morning? 
Yep I did.

Is there something in your life you used to have, and now miss?
A pool within a 2 minute walk. Booooo....

What major company would you like to work for?
Some airline so I can get free flights!!

What time do you wake up on a typical morning? 
Weekdays - 8 am. 

What holiday makes you sad? 
Probably old souls day, when we have to visit ah kong. Or the date ah pui and ah boi passed away. :(

Where does a good night’s sleep rank on your priorities? 
Number 2 after good food. 

One song that makes you cry? 
None...why so sad?

 How old was your mom when she had you? 
25

When is the last time you went to the beach? 
Last year end? 

What is the most random object around you? 
A pair of scissors - to cut open packets of food. 

 What is your favorite sushi? 
Sa mon. Slightly torched!! Omg drool cannot think about this.

What food do you find disgusting? 
Intestines, pig blood etc - which is very weird cos I live in Malaysia.

If you could have any type of dog in the world, what would it be? 
Still shihtzu's - short, fat and furry.

What was the last meal that you made for yourself? 
Sandwich this morning.

Is the hard drive on your computer full or getting close to being full?
Don't think so.

Most daring 

Dare you have ever done?
Probably kissed a guy on the lips. Not that daring eh.

When is the last time you did something you knew was wrong?
Checked FB during office hours? Hhahah rebel. NOT!

What was on your mind most today?

Work.

Have a best friend?

Yes.

If you were upset, who’ s the first person you would go to?

Cs.

When was the last time someone yelled at you?

Can't remember, honestly.

What have you done today, so far?

Work la..boring..its a work day. Talked to Shirley and had a mini heart attack cos I thought she was in labour. Learnt that peeling an orange at your desk can get quite messy - juice squirting everywhere. Icky.

What did last weekend consist of?

Sat - slept almost my whole Saturday away. Sunday - busy baking cookies with the family!

What are you listening to?

The aircon. Very noisy.

Who were you last in a car with?

Cs

Have you ever been called cute?

I suppose...shy la.

Describe how you feel right now in one word:

Boredddddd

Has anybody ever told you that you talk too fast?

No..but I slur cos I talk too fast. So its the same thing I suppose. The bad thing was, this was mentioned to me at a job interview!

Did you have fun yesterday?

Public holiday - ok la. Woke up early to have breakfast with the family. Then grocery and CNY shopping. Headed home and Winnie, Eli and I made seaweed crisps in the dark, by candlelight cos no electricity! No, it wasn't very romantic. Then after the electricity came back on, we also made chocolate banana muffins. Not bad for a first try! At night, I joined Cs for his annual dinner. Its his badminton club annual dinner. Hahaha. Those guys are very close - they even had a surprise birthday for their friend. Salute ah. Big strapping, athletic guys take the time to plan birthday parties are kinda awww..

Do you like to cuddle?
Yes, especially watching tv.

Do you think someone is thinking about you?

Dunno..

Are you stubborn?

Yes. 

Is there a friend, boyfriend/ girlfriend, or ex that you will never forget? 

Yes.

OK that's enough meme's for today.

Laters.

Thursday 9 January 2014

Kiyomizudera

This is still the first night btw. After Arashiyama, we went back to the hotel for a much needed shower and change of clothes.



Lazed around the room debating whether or not to go to Kiyomizudera. I forgot how lazy one gets during winter. Its cold out and I'm so warm and comfy in bed. Aih. Should I drag myself out of bed or not? Ok..5 more mins. 2 more mins.. Dilemma. Yeah. I forgot that part.

But it was still only the first night so we did go out of course.


Might as well do this OOTN thingy. Cheat one cos I wear almost the same thing throughout the trip. 

On me: jacket from a shop at Ximending, Taipei. 
Gloves and inside top from H&M Tokyo. 
Jeans from Romp, KL
Boots from a night market in Taipei.
Bag from F21, Singapore.

(just realized it sounds like name dropping as if I travel alot yerr..but actually all quite cheap stuff)

Cs' jacket from Penang; jeans from Matsuda or Romp in KL; camera bought online; shoes (he wears the same one every day) from Taipei. He swears its the BEST shoes ever! Airy, light and he wears them day and night 365 days a year, and they are still fine. No wear or tear at all. I really believe him. I'm planning to buy myself a pair if I can next trip. 

Moving on. We took a bus there straight to Kiyomizudera. A lot of people going at night apparently to catch the night illuminations! So pretty!

Their lights super strong/bright la. 

Have to walk up a hill but its ok cos there are lots of small shops to look at. They sell lots of souvenir items like fans, food, and er..what I don't remember now. I didn't stop to shop through cos wanted to get up to Kiyomizu for photos first. Kiasu ma.



It was so cold actually so our hands were numb and we were hurriedly taking photos without caring if its blur. So of course most of them are blur la. Dumbo.


I made it! I'm here. Despite the cold, there were crowds of people - locals and tourists alike jostling for positions to take photos. You are allowed a max of 1 minute or less (definitely less) to hurriedly take photos. It helps if you're taller or if your arm is longer. 


Aside from the crowd, it was breathtaking. Cool wind blowing and the view is just..wow.


A bit blur..





OK things to know:

There is an entrance fee -Y500 each I think.
When taking photos, kiasu a bit and get to the front or stick out your arm as far as it will go.
Its cold (did I mention that?)
The entrance time at night is about 6 pm to 10 pm. I think. Go check Japan-Guide to reconfirm. This was in early December btw.
Its definitely worth the trip at night.
When you walk down the hill, stop at the shops - they give free green tea and lots of free food samples.

Of course I don't know what its like in the day time since I wanted to see it at night. Try it and let me know will ya?

After that we just went back to the hotel to rest. Think we squeezed in another public bath. Nice..


Ok bye.

Sunday 5 January 2014

Reflections on 2013

This is my half arsed attempt last year. Heheh. I'll try to finish this post today. So this is just a summary of the highlights of each month in 2013. If I want to do the same thing for 2014, I better update my blog a lot more than this. Even though I blog on Dayre, its not as convenient to look back on old posts when I suddenly want to.

OK.enough chatter..on to it!

January

Made my resolutions as usual and forgot about them. Jeez. So I won't bother making any this year. Just this month (I mean: Dec 2013), I told myself: I would eat more healthily and I did! Managed to lose one kg in the process. What the? Why didn't I do this earlier? So, I actually don't need to set resolutions. Just set my mind to it. See how long this lasts ah. I digressed.

This month (Jan 2013), nothing much happened. Busy preparing for Chinese New Year (CNY) as usual.



Cleaning the house and baking CNY cookies! I kinda dread and anticipate this part. Aniticipate cos CNY's a-comin and we can eat good food. Dread cos making cookies are a lot of work. We always have to double or triple or batch cos we eat so much ourselves.

I also tried to blog 365 days a year but we all know how well that turned out. On Dayre, I'm quite surprised that I managed to blog almost every day. So really its Blogger's fault for being not mobile friendly. Boo..

February

Busy celebrating CNY - eating, drinking, visiting, eating some more, and drinking a whole lot more. Yep that sums up CNY. Hahah.



Mum, win and I on the first day. 

March

I won the grand prize during my company's annual dinner. A new laptop!! Soo happy. I wanted an Ipad, which was the second and third prize, if I'm not mistaken. After I watched Hussein and Mary both getting their ipads, I resumed chatting with Nancy, whom I think must not be listening to me. Hahahha. She must be listening out for the grand prize and thinking why won't this Amy shut up?!

So yea, I didn't know I won till Nancy went: its you! They're calling you, and I looked over and the footballers were saying you won!! Then it hit. Wow..I won. :D


On a very wtf note, we (Winnie and I) discussed with mum and Janet on what we want when we die. We were drinking and singing if I die young. Winnie's request included sushi, all kinds of alcohol and a vibrator. =.=

Also cooked more food at home. Experimented with mini pizzas using pita bread. Probably why I gained weight.


April

The highlight would be going to Tokyo, Japan! Very anticipated trip!! Wrote a few posts on where I went to Hakone loop, tried public bath for the first time, also bathed in red wine, saw cherry blossoms, and went to Disney Sea, among others.



May

Cs' birthday month. For our birthday's, we torture the other person. The birthday person is basically King/Queen and is exempt of all chores, and the other person is the slave. So yeah poor me. Hahah its all good fun la. Especially when this extends to sex life. Ahem.



We went up to Damai for his birthday dinner..he loves oyster omelet. I think during this time, I went out more with the girls for ladies night. Namely: Winnie, Vero, Crystal and I. Its been a while since our last one though cos Winnie self declared herself sober, and Vero and I might or might not be trying for babies.

June

I went on Star Cruise with Cs, Vero and Benz. Two couples which makes things quite easy. Two rooms, one taxi, can eat dinner or split up whenever we want to. They were also very easygoing.



Day 1 - the sailing off party from Penang.



  Day 2 - Phuket. We discovered free wifi in this Tiger bar.



Day  3 - Krabi.

This trip was surprisingly fun! I still want to go on a cruise again. Its nice to not have an itinerary. Wake up, eat, bum around, eat again, sleep, go sightseeing. Nice. Beach holidays.

July

We sold off our house. It was bittersweet. I try not to look at photos of our old place still.



We drove past once and it was so foreign to me. Kids bike in our carpark!! So yeah. Moving on. Out with the old. In with the new. We'll make new memories at our new place. :) I'm currently staying at my brother's place. He lives alone so we have plenty of space to ourselves. Its also really close to my parents house so I have dinner with them every night - home cooked meal ftw! I'm gonna miss the luxuries of home soon. Our new place will be ready sometime mid 2014.

Also bought a new phone! I love my new S4. Wayy better than iPhone 4!

August

Cs surprised me with a birthday trip to KL. After a lot of hints, I might add. Hahah.

I dyed my hair as well. So sick of my boring old hair. Too bad we don't have number 76 style in Kuching. I would be a regular customer.


September

Went to KL again with my parents.



We found out about dad's cancer sometime in August. After lots of tests in Kuching, we went to KL to get a second opinion. We remain optimistic and going on day to day life as it is.



We also went to Genting as well. Yawn. Not my kinda thing. Mum and I while the time trying to shop, drinking beer in the evenings together, and sipping Starbucks in the afternoon. Heheh. I try my luck at slot machines and call it a day when I keep losing. How is this fun you tell me.

Oh ya, we also celebrated our two years anniversary. Doing what, I forgot la.



October

Nothing much happened except a stupid dream of London. So idotic.



November

Started blogging more often on Dayre and neglecting this blog even more.

I went to Singapore with my parents again to get another opinion. They were going for holiday so we persuaded them to go see a doctor too. Might as well. Too bad we got a prick of a doctor. Sucks big time. The more I think of it, the more I hate him.

The long version of the story is here.



December

We went to Japan - Kyoto and Osaka this time. Talked about this already so no need to elaborate.


So that sums up 2013 in a large nutshell. Good and bad.

I travelled more than I expected. Last year, I wanted to add new international destinations and Penang. I did both.

We received some bad news out of the blue - dad's prostate cancer. But in the process, our family got closer than before. We accompany dad to all the doctor's, and we spend even more time together. In a way, I'm glad that we sold off our place -  I get to spend so much more time at home with my family.

I'm also soo grateful that my in-laws are so easy going. I seem to have the best of both worlds. Thank God.

This year, I'm not going to travel so much. CNY one doesn't count. I'm going to Taiwan with my in-laws. But after that I actually have nothing planned.

Its back to square one - saving money for house renovations, buying furniture and so on and so forth. I like and hate this part. :) More looking forward la. What sofa to buy, what color theme, bedroom set, how to design my dream kitchen. They other electrical details, water tank, alarm system, etc etc (boring stuff) shall be handled by Cs. Hahaha.

So yeah. I foresee an exciting year ahead! :D

Happy new year! A bit late but whatever.