Flashback 2008

I may have created a new blog for the new chapter of my life, old habits stay. Like the previous years, I try to recall all tears and joy on this day, and make a short entry about it. I don't write New Year's resolutions because I don't believe in them. I rather be free to change than obliged to follow. Let's see..

Family
Sometimes I get gripped tightly by fear, this fear that I will forget about Daddy. Forget the sound of his voice, forget the look of his face or my memories of him will fade away. I miss Daddy. We don't talk about him as much anymore, but he is deeply etched in our hearts. Turkish told me I will not forget about Daddy, never. I believe him.

Fats entered National University of Singapore, pursuing his tertiary studies. He is a brilliant kid and we are all very proud of him. We keep in touch often, through SMS mostly. His words always make my day. He is growing up so quickly. As for Mummy, our dearest mother, is cheerful like always and supportive. My physical presence may be distant but I know we will be spending a lot of wonderful time together in near future! :)

Friends
I regret not being able to spend time with the C4 as much as before. I think about the donkey years when freedom was the word. No responsibilites, party 24/7.. well, those days are over. We don't chat 24/7 but Facebook keeps us updated on each other life and my Blog is always here. I miss them more than they can imagine.

My batchmates, my Group 3, my lovely Pisa and Boss.. it felt like too long time ago since we parted but it was just a little over 6 months ago when we graduated together. I can only wish perhaps one day, we will see each other again. I like being remembered, I really do but it doesn't happen always. That's life, I guess.

I made a handful of friends and pleasant people on the Blogosphere. It's something very new for me, in the sense that this kind of friendship needs more than words to build ;)

Love
I might have met the one on 9th of February :)

Studies/Work
My ambition since age of 8 is achieved. Looking back, all those years were worthwhile. The lifetime experiences, wisdom gained, What I'm doing now is an upgrade to my profession. I chose a different path, which I feel is a blessing in disguise and a guide for embarking on further roads ahead.

Memorabilia of 2007

Northern Mountains

I’ve never been to Ipoh proper even though we’ve like passed through it hundreds of time whenever we drive to Penang. I wrote down a couple of places that we should cover (mainly famous temple and limestone caves).

Mum's saying something, Turkish's scratching and I'm taking this

Road to Ipoh is lined with limestone caves

We had a hard time looking for Sam Poh Tong, and when we got there, I was rather disappointed with the temple’s condition. Without ample funds and donations, restoration to its former glory is impossible. Maintenance itself is difficult too. I don’t think you’d believe me since the place is pretty photogenic!

So it became famous from the "Best Landscape Garden in 1993"

Sam Poh Tong (Three Treasures Cave)

Breathtaking view of its backyard

In 1993 it was the best.. now it looks like piles of rock shit

Arrrggghhhhh.. the woman in the background!
Picture spoiler *sniff, sniff*

Seeing my dissatisfaction, we dropped by next door at Nan Tien Tong and Ling Sen Tong. So many tong, tong tong! Actually they all looked the same to me. I guess the dampness from rainwater all year round damage the statues/painting quicker. Ooohh well. We lingered around for a bit more before dinner time in town.

Signs in Malaysia are a waste of money, really

Hahahahahaa how typical!

Mummy doing her rounds

Ling Sen Tong's fancy pavillion

And its ugly horse.. Turkish broke the poor steed's tongue

Mummy couldn’t recall which place serves the best Ipoh Taugeh Chicken or Chicken Noodles. We just parked ourselves at the busiest shop :P Okaylahhh.. nothing to yell about. The noodles were so slippery, Turkish’s shirt were hit by drops of oil from the soup!

We had no choice but to believe its self-proclamation LOL

Ipoh's best? Perhaps, we are tourists..
You know how tourists taste are always exploited

We bought pomelos. Turkish was amused with their sales tactics. Every stall had a woman posed or calling for customers, one looked better than the other and he was confused who was selling what (rather what was selling who? LOL).

Hehehehee Turkish wasn't impressed!

Merry Christmas

True enough, I spent Christmas at Sharon's house!

One cushion says it all ;)

The event was pretty messed up, due to delayed food pick up and bad traffic (heavy rain). What else is new in Malaysia, right? It was hilarious that Mummy, Belinda, Turkish and I showed up at the doorstep before their arrival! LOL

Thank God we have patience and patience is a virtue.

Sharon's mum invited many of her friends over, and was delighted that I brought Mummy to the party. Ooohh, Belinda is Mummy's friend. She took leave to go around KL with us until this weekend. The catered food was alright, nothing much to yell about either but it's really the company that counts. It was really good to see Sharon. I met her KTJ friend, Charu who's a real sweetheart.

Sharon, Charu and myself *giggles*

There was a turkey, lamb shank, Sheperd's pie, (alot of)
garlic bread, potatoes, cupcakes and bread pudding for dessert

Bon appetit!

I'm glad to be here this evening ;)

I didn't manage to see Sha who was at Dominic's place, and I couldn't wait any longer for her to come over to Sharon's. We left around 11.30pm. So that was it, pretty much wrapped up our Christmas for 2008.. my first after 6 years!

Season's Grrreetings

We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I scheduled this post so that I will not miss out to wish everyone!

Right about now, I should be either at my friends' house munching Christmas cookies (together with Turkish and Mummy) or somewhere on the streets in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, celebrating with other merrymakers!

My first Christmas in Malaysia, after 7 long years :)

I can't wait to blog when I return!

Enjoy, ya'll!
Go paint the town red! LOL

My warmest wishes,
A friend, a fellow Blogger.. that's me, Gorgeous Ol' Eve

Package Pick Up

Since I started pen-pal'ing at the age of 8, I enjoyed going to the post office in my neighbourhood. My love for writing exponentiated to affection for stamps, papers, envelopes, cards, postcards, anything I can send. We used to pay water and electric bills, taxes, summons and other kinds of payments there.

The post office in our neighbourhood was efficient. The staff was always friendly, worked at normal speed (sometimes the women spoke too much) and they always had nice stamps ;)

Anyways, I received a notice earlier for a package collection! It was from my friend, Samuel who migrated to NZ! I was damn surprised, didn't expect a Christmas gift from him at all! I ran to the Pochta (Russian=post office) in my district with my slip. The scene in Russia is very different than back home.

It's much more interesting ;)

On 100% recycled paper

Old ladies bring their pets inside..
Sit around for a chit chat while waiting

Comfortable writing desk and chairs

Except this is one weird ass Christmas deco
Santa that looks more like stealing than giving

Russians have no problem standing in line. It's Russian culture. I think it gives them fond memories of the Soviet days when they had to queue for bread. No one makes a sound even if both their legs give away after standing for an hour or if they are the last person 100m behind. Their favourite line when seeing the presence of a queue is:

"Who is last? You? Ohhh you? I'm behind you".

When I got to the post office, there were 4 people in front of me. There was only 1 counter working. 1 for everything. Everything that can be done in a post office is done through that small window. Even to send a telegram or wrapping a parcel to send to Timbuktu.

Anything that doesn't fit through the narrow space will be transacted through a door, the process will take an additional 5minutes.

Scenario: Employee gets up slowly from the seat. Walks slowly towards the door. Unlocks, opens the door slowly. Passes the parcel slowly. Locks the door slowly. Goes back to the seat slowly. Takes a breather for 1-2min then attends to the next person in line.

I think they enjoy watching us stoop so low

2 people needed to dig my package

She found it!

Ta-daaaaa!! All the way from Kiwiland!
I tell you, Samuel is supersweet :)

I got something nice from the Pochta for Samuel too. Hehehee I really liked the envelope though. The card is a bit sad-looking but oi, I wasn't in Memory Lane or Hallmark store.

Pretty, right?

Who wants a pen-pal? LOL

I'm prolly one of the very few who are still into snail mail. My record of exchanging letters would be.. 11 years. We met in UK after 9 years of writing. I'm happy I'm still keeping in touch with most of my (ex)pen-pals. Oooohhh.. those were the days when letters were my weekly affair. Miss it!

For A Good Cause

I have 3 things to bitch about before I begin to write about the White Christmas Charity Ball '08 we just attended.

1. My haircut looks like shit. Turkish's Indian barber can wait. I'm going to Lisa (my hairdresser) first thing when I touch down. OMG. My hair's plastered to my face, making it rounder and flatter.

2. My camera was on PMS. Nia behh. The pictures we took are either blurred or too dark. Maybe it's because Turkish didn't take them properly.. I don't know.. I really think it's time for a SLR *snicker*.

3. And there's absolutely NO white Christmas this year. Not even close. The day when Moscow is still snow-less in December, I think the world's coming to an end sooner than we expect.

But overall, the evening was nice :)

Turkish and I were the few punctual ones. We arrived at Hotel Radisson Slavyanskaya at 4pm sharp (80% waltzed in an hour late). Despite its grandeur on the outside, with painting exhibits and all the spotlight, I was abit miffed to see the plain backdrop inside. Someone said it was done last minute.

Really white alright LOL

On our table, almost meant for VIPs! ;)

Ahhhh, the agonizing diet paid off! (I think)

Fine, those pork chop arms won't slim and my youth is slipping away compared to the younger, hotter, skinnier girls. I called out, "Come take picture with the old lady" and the girls scurried over. Also, I made a mistake wearing the long chain which was dangling all over my breasts at the wrong directions LOL

L-R: Eng Tai, Christina, Shing Ni, Me, Jia Yu, Ashley and Sophia

L-R: Joey, Me, Turkish and Ker Hsin

The handful of talented doctors in the making, really are masked musicians and singers (and a bunch of skillful cooks!). Throughout the near 3-hour fundraising event, there were many performances by the students and guests. Sezann the Magician and a rap dance crew were hired to spice up the evening. I was delighted to see the familiar faces, friends and the long-time-no-see ones.

I miss my batchmates here today..

Eng Tai performed to Michael Buble's Fever, and Jingle Bells

Sezann and his 36DD/E cup assistant
Now talk about MAJOR distraction for a magic show!

Turkish enjoyed himself pretty much. This was our first time at a sit-down function together. Food was served by the committee members. Hehehee I saw them piggin' out at the buffet slab at the back of the room! Maybe Singapore Airlines was one of the sponsors, the food reminded me of inflight meals :P You know, broiled vegetables, grilled salmon fillets, saucy pasta.. I like!

Turkish and I *giggles*

Clockwise: Salads, entr'ee, curry and dhal, my main course

**the Indian cuisine was added to the menu specially for the non-Malaysian guests but it was spicy for Turkish, even for me.. but then again, I can't take spicy. The dhal tasted FAR from Pisa's anyways.. hers is still the No.1 champion! Ooohhhh.. how she cooks dhal like a real Indian who does her laundry on Ganges River.

So like I said, my camera was on emo mode.. I don't have too many photos. Hopefully I'll see some on Facebook and prolly steal them. Entertainment, food and donation for a good cause was an excellent combo. I am glad we managed to raise quite a bit of money for the CHILDREN'S HOPE INTERNATIONAL, RUSSIA PROGRAM. The auction of handmade and collectable items itself sold a couple of hundred dollars.

Bravo to SMSA and MMCU organising committee!

90,000pyb (US$3180) means joy for many, many orphans!

The event wasn't perfect but it was brightened by warmth from many good hearts. Turkish complimented that Malaysians are capable of running big shows. He loves the food, the atmosphere and friendliness of our people. He likes Malaysia already ;)

Merry Christmas, people!

Dairy Fats

It just hit me that I've been trying many different brand of milk for the past couple of months. I prefer buying cheapkai brands with the oldest/vintage design. I get extra kicks out of these Russian milk boxes. I remember Zhi Hao said one look very erotic LOL

My 1.5% fat milk carton collection so far!

The Happy Milkman

White Town Milk

Shepherd Boy's Milk.. his cows' anyways LOL

The Full Crock/pot

My favourite from the 70's

"Odarka"

I'm not sure if anywhere else has so much variety of dairy products in the market. In Malaysia, milk comes either Lo-Fat/Hi-Fat or just Milk, if I remember correctly (I don't drink milk back home LOL).

In Russia, milk ranges from 0.5% to 6% fat. Apart from the very wide selection of yoghurt (every flavour/fat available), there's Kefir (a kind of fermented milk) and other form of Calcium-rich drinks. More of my dairy pictures to come!

Weight Down

Turkish and I have started packing. He's definitely very excited (even though he discriminates my mission to participate in the Year End Sales). I promised I will bring him to the Indian barber for a trim and the Blind Man masseur at Brickfields.

My boyfriend's low maintenance LOL

Cintaku Malaysia

I've been surfing for tourist attractions and places of interest in Malaysia the whole afternoon. My mouth was left agape, I wanted to cry and I felt a little embarrassed for not knowing the greatness in my own backyard.

From breath-taking manmade/built skyscrapers to natural wonders with luscious greens and richness in flora and fauna, we have them.

Leeds, you were right. Malaysia has so much to offer.

The plan is, we will be in KL for a couple of days and after Christmas, we head up north. Celebrating New Year's in Penang. Mummy suggested that we make stops in Perak. I found a very handy site on Malaysian tourism that comes with pictures and directions. Amazing. I can't believe there's so much to venture.

I've been to Hawaii, never to Borneo.

I've been to Prague Town, never to Ipoh Town.

I've been to Lake Luzern, never to Taiping Lake Garden.

I've been to Zion National Park, never to Taman Negara.

I've been to the Swiss Mountains, never to Mount KK.

I've been to Shanghai Tower, never to KL Tower.

Basically, we don't cuti-cuti Malaysia.

I used to be/maybe still/perhaps was a classic case of "Grass is greener on the other side" and my parents were always more enthusiastic to spend our school holidays abroad, like broaden our horizon kind of folks (not that I ever complained). Only in recent years, I walked more on Malaysian soil like Melaka and Langkawi (twice!).

Aaahhh.. I feel so proud saying that. I want more, MORE!

Too bad the Northeast monsoon is here to stay, so we have to cross out all the island trips. But Perak will be very interesting because we will go through Taiping, Ipoh, the other smaller towns for sightseeing. Might stay 2-3 days even. On Penang island itself, there are tons to see. I will kinda relive my childhood memories! We haven't been to many, many places for a long time! :)

First page of my guide book, don't laugh LOL

Penang is on the back of my palm!
Now we all remember CJ Tours, don't we ;)

Other states we will travel to would be Melaka, Pahang (Genting Highlands LOL) and Johor (my birth place!). Turkish has been to Singapore and Thailand.. yes, everyone tends to neglect the country in between both, plus we will meet Fats in Penang, I doubt we will cross over to Singapore. I just can't wait to show Turkish my country!

My motto: "Malaysian is my home and home is where the heart is".

According to Soo Lynnie Tong Bao who says that Singapore is very pretty with seasonal decos and such, we might consider it. OMG. So much lined up on the list and so little time! *screams*

Don't let me get started on food LOL