Christmas Buzz

'Tis the season to be jollyy..... fa la la la la la la la ...

Christmas has come and go. It's insane how fast time passes when you are not noticing. This year has gone by incredibly fast, it felt like just weeks ago that I was packing to go away, and now I'm back, and the year is coming to an end.
This year, it's a pretty quiet celebration for us, well, the party on Xmas eve wasn't exactly quiet, but it was far from wild. It was a simple get together for family and friends. As usual, I'm just chef and the maid at the end of the event. Not that I minded doing it, but it was all so much work! Thanks to the fuss made by Dad before the party started, I do not have good pictures of the food that I've been slaving over. What fuss did he make? Well, it all started when I placed all the food on the table, he thought it wasn't enough for our guests, and being the stubborn man he is, we went out to the supermarket to get somemore food. We came back with 4 bags of frozen chicken and sausages, 3 loaves of bread, more Coca-Cola, and 100 sticks of satay(which totally spoiled my theme of a roast dinner!). Well, since he dragged me out, I didn't havethe opportunity to snapp pictures before the guest digged in. And at the end of the dinner party, there were leftovers of almost everything. And the frozen food were untouched, sitting nicely in the freezer. Men! They can't estimate food for a party ! But of course, I love my dad too much to tell him that in his face... We'll just tease him on and off for the whole of next year ! muahaha

Only a small group was still around to toast to Christmas at 12, well not exactly, cos we kinda made a toast at 11.30 pm! And then the cleaning followed, the part that I loath most. As Yi Ling was around for slumber, we stayed up chatting till bout 3am. And then we both crashed. The next day was spent putting away things from the night, and movie marathoning. That was my Christmas! hope you had a good one too,Happy holidays to you !

Backdated: Winter Solstice

It's that time of the year, where the Chinese would get together to make "tong yuen", with the idea of a reunion of all family members. It's more commonly known as "Gor Toong" , it means "Winter passing" .

I spent the day at Grandma's , helping her with prayers and preparations for dinner. And when it's time to make the small round glutinous rice balls, the kids are the happiest. Look what we did.

Backdated : Sushi Zanmai revisited

Am at Sushi Zanmai again, 2nd time this week. Was in One Utama with a few friends from uni on Monday, and then was there again in Gardens with JM. Since we both love Japanese so much, we ordered enough food for the village ! And the bill came up to 80+.. that wasn't too bad of a damage. After dinner, we watched Love Happens, and i was treated to the Premier Class @ Gardens.. My my.. it was a luxurious movie treat, I wouldn't even bother getting Gold Class !
( They even let us bring in our Krispy Kremes ! :P)

Some pics of our Jap feast..

The must have Salmon belly

Stamina roll - love the avocado , salmon platter in the back

All time favourite - Tempura moriawase

Backdated: Sky Treks

A few pics from the failed SkyTreks mission

The mission


All geared up


The long way up

Walk the plank?


The drenched me..

you thought you knew

you think that it's all over,
putting behind all that happened,
but as you move along, you find yourself turning around,
looking back at the pieces of the past,
wondering if the pieces could ever form a picture. Again.

you think it's all that simple,
given the distance, given the time,
but as you move along, you see, and you find,
that it's as complicated as ever,
then you stop and ponder,
the same question you have had forever,
but that's when you realised, you never did find the answer.

you thought you knew what you wanted most of the time,
but when you stop and ponder,
you find yourself at that familiar crossroad,
the very same one infact,
and this time you ask again,
which way should I take ?
and as you walk down the path,
you keep your fingers crossed,
hoping that it's the right way.

Was out last nite with Wai Mun and See Ying. Met up with the girls in The Cuve, the initial plan was to check out Library @ Curve, but the place was pretty packed. So Sanctuary it was then. Wai Mun had a few other friends with her, and it was a good nite to just chill and move along to the music. Have not been to Sanctuary for a while, being there last nite brought back some memories of the yester-years.

As I have to drive home this time, it was just one drink for me. I'm a responsible driver ok? well, a pretty reckless one. hahaha... So we left at 12+ and called it a nite.

Failed Mission :Skytreks

Went to Shah Alam yesterday to gate crash the ME Marketing Dept's Team Building. I've been wanting to try out the Sky Treks challenge, so when an opportunity came along, I grabbed it. Aha! Got there bout 1pm, it was good to meet up the rest of the gang. The activities started with a short briefing of safety precautions, and they gave us a lil help puttin on our harnesses. We are then to complete a short training, which is a sneak preview of what we will be doing inside. It started with a simple climb up a 'pipe ladder'. then a horizontal ladder of planks.,followed by a swing across into a web build from ropes, and finally a 'flying fox' to the ground. With a big group around, and having to wait for each and everyone to complete the training, the Big Thrill Challenge did not start until bout 3pm.

Raindrops were falling on our head as we took on the first challenge of the 23 different rope challenges, but we were told that we could proceed in the rain, unless a thunderstorm strikes. Well, maybe that instructor did jinx it, it started pouring cats and dogs, Michelle & I were up at the platform waiting for our turn to go down this long ladder built from plastic pipes. But due to time constraint, and the heavy rain, we were told to slide down a la "Flying Fox" all the way to the side where there is a descending "Chicken Net" for emergency exit purposes. In this case, it was us who needed it. I was running franctically to the shelter as my camera was getting soaked too. Good thing nothing happened to it.

So at 4.30pm, not only we did not complete the challenge, we were soaked thoroughly. It was a good thing that we are entitled to a reschedule. Looking forward to the new date !

The moment has passed

we once sat side by side, sharing a joke or two,
once young and naive, and even a fool,
we shared a moment.

then the distance came, and we were separated by miles,
but we never stopped caring,
sending joy and laughters through mails and phone calls,
it was then, we vouched to be there for each other,
through thick and thin, through the good times , through the gloomy moments,
again, we shared a moment.

then the distance came again, this time, the distance is felt at heart,
we were kept occupied - with our studies, with our friends, with our own lives,
efforts to stay in touch , were made in vain,
nevertheless, we still shared a moment

over the years, the distance in miles ceased, for i know you are nearer,
though we were once close at heart, but i've never felt closer like now,
but, it never happened then, and it will never happen now,
for the moment has passed.

Pictures of the hike up Bukit Tabur

Halfway there..

Eu Jin striking a kick

Overlooking the Klang Gates Dam

The Sunset view

The view of KL at dusk

The hiking trip

I don't think I'll ever be a good writer, thanks to my talent in procrastination. Been wanting to put up some pictures of my outing with my lil cousins, took them out to MidValley and The Curve the other day. Snapped some pretty pictures of my babyNatalie. Well, she is 6 years old, but still very much a baby to me !

Was supposed to meet up with a girl friend in One Utama for a girlie session, but due to some reasons on her side, it was called off. Well, I guess the change in plans was good for me as my poor legs do need the rest.
Yesterday I went for a hike at Bukit Tabur with 2 friends. As it was a last minute arrangement, it was just the 3 of us. We only started hiking at 5.20pm, EJ's friend said the hike will only take 2 hours. The hike up consisted of a combination of steep slopes and rocky structures. I find the the rock climbing to be a challenging feat, most of the time I was clinging on for life ! At one point, I think I was such a baby, cos I was stuck in the middle of the rock climbing,not knowing where to put my legs! So I was neither going up nor down ! But I made it in the end, pushed myself up all the day!
Well, thanks to me, who needed countless breaks on the way up, we only got up to the summit (apparently that was only the 2nd highest peak!) close to 7pm. Due to the thick smog, we only managed to catch a glimpse of the sunset. Unlike Ej's friend who is an experienced outdoor activities instructor, we were both beginners at this. As soon it turned dark, both of us got lil worried, and impatient. And going down wasn't easy at all, although there were no more rocky attempts, it was pretty steep and we were trying out best not to slip nor trip over the roots. Luckily Ej's friend had a torch with him, so that was fully utilized by me, shining the way for both me and EJ behind. As we passed by an orchard(we were told it was an orchard, not that I can see that! :P), there were several dogs barking at us, I find that harder than the rocks and slopes ! At that point, we felt like we were a thousand miles away from our icy cold 100 Plus. After the long walk down, we could finally see the main road in front of us. Yay! That was at 8.30pm, so it was exactly 3 hours of hiking. What a workout for me, I almost couldn't feel my legs. We rewarded ourselves with a cold Excel Isotonic, and dinner in Bandar Menjalara. Then we called it a nite.

What a day !

It's been a long day. Well, for someone who has been sitting home for a week, I think I had a pretty eventful day. Started with accompanying mom to the wet market, we went out at 10am. Some of you might think, 10 am?? The chickens and fish would be all dead by then, hang on, they are dead already. Our Kepong Baru market is a lil different, as there are probably about 100 stalls of vege, meat, chicken, clothes, breakfast, and misc goods, one is spoiled for choices here. I dare say that there are at least 3 stalls for each category. Having said that, I know for a fact that there is only one stall that sells beansprouts, or locally known as tauge. It was a piece of knowledge that I stumbled across by chance.

After market, I got ready, and left home for the train station. I was going to meet an ex-colleague for lunch - apart from catching up, I needed some HR advice from her. She decided to have lunch in Pizza Hut, urmm... don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like pizza, but I just had it yesterday.. so it was the Garden Salad and a coffee for me. It was good fun chatting and catching up with Sharan, thanks for lunch dear. Then I went up to ME to drop a present for my dear friend, it's a lil kiwi I bought in Queenstown for her. I thought she might need a lil furry company after the hard week she had. *hugs*

I had to head to Labour Office to clear out some issues, and the only way I knew how to get there was to jump on the cab. I have always been a lil paranoid about taking cabs, but I guess taking one in bright daylight, plus the fact that it's just a short distance, I was alright with it. My destination was Menara Perkeso, Jalan Ampang. Only when I got there, I knew it wasn't that far away.
The cab driver was quite friendly, but behind the chatty face, he tried to con my money! As he was going to stop me in front of my destination, the meter read RM6.90, so I pulled out a RM10 note for him, and he quickly said he had no change for that. His excuse was that he just left his house, and this is his first trip, thus not having any small notes with him. I thought that was hard to believe because
1-He is a cab driver, he should have small change with him all the time.
2-He did not even look in his wallet before stating that he had no change.

So I told him to pull over at the petrol station in front, he hesitated a lil, by saying that I will need to walk back. But I quickly said it's fine, and I got him to stop at this Iranian restaurant by the road, quickly got down to get some change. The Iranian man said I was smart because the cab driver was trying to cheat my money. To be honest, it was only at that point that I realised what the cab driver was up to! He was trying to get me to say " Keep the change!" And the fact that I am incomeless now, I wasn't going to part with my 3bucks ! So I walked back to the cab and wanted to pay him RM7.20, but he said " 7 ringgit cukuplar". And so his mission failed.. *grins proudly*

My matters at Labour Office was done within the hour, I am suprised by how efficient they are. I hope to hear from them soon! From the earlier ride on the cab, it didn't seem impossible to walk back towards town. So I slowly walked my way back, passed by several embassies, a few restaurants, a few construction sites, and there I was at a familiar crossroad. Right across the road was the Ampang Park LRT stop, of course, Menara Citibank. It seems like just yesterday where I get off that stop and went upstairs to for work. Oh well...

After walking for a thousand miles, I find myself in the familiar surroundings of KLCC. Since I was out in town, thought I might as well meet a friend for dinner, but the few that I 'ajak-ed' all declined.. so I hopped on the LRT and headed home. Was glad to be home after a long day...

On a Friday night

It's almost 2am, I'm watching Ugly Betty on the net, it's taking a while to stream it, so I thought I'll write a lil. Was feeling a lil low tonite, I was sitting home doing nothing on a Friday nite, for some unknown reason, it felt pathetic. I asked myself why, it's not that I was out every Friday night back then when I was working. I remembered going shopping alone, head home after that and just spend quality time with myself - reading, surfing the net, etc. It must be this too-much-time on my hands syndrome.. I have all day to do nothing, and then when it's night time, I do nothing again. Gosh, I really need to do something, soon ! The search has been done in vain though.

Last night, I went to Laundry@ The Curve with a friend, it was a spontaneous invitation, we had a drink there while this Fly FM event was happening. Well, besides great music, and a great pint of Strongbow, it was good to be out. I haven't been on a night out since I got back from NZ. Though I was there with my friend, I was very much sitting on my own at the bar enjoying the music. Well, to give him a little credit, he did introduce me to most of the people there, but as they were all with the media industry, I didn't have much to say to them. Just smile and nod. ( I was being polite!) Well, I did talk to some of the people in the group, and got their contacts, should be useful if I want a job there. Sweet as !

Well, I said I WAS feeling a little low, that means I am feeling better now. I had a very good conversation with someone on the phone just now. Yes, I rang him. I wondered if he was suprised to see my name flashing on his phone. or maybe it was just my number. Well, I'm glad I rang him tho, I must have blabbered on for more than half an hour, but it felt good. I went on ranting bout my cute lil cousins, my so called boss, my job hunt and some others. As I chatted with him, I realised how much I missed talking to him, and how well he listened to me. Thanks dear, for everything.

As I sit here alone, upstairs in the hall, I could hear Mom + Dad chatting and laughing away. It's sweet how they have this habit of staying up and chat away in bed. Don't get me wrong here, I am not writing about my parents bedtime activities. It's just that as I sit here watching my Ugly Betty, I could hear Mom laughing away. And then it hit me, it's amazing how my parents are still very much like young love birds at times. I can sometimes here them chatting till 3 , 4 am in the morning, they chat about the weirdest things at times, about going places, about the neighbours, and at times about politics ! After my own episode of emotional trauma, I don't know how much my faith stands about marriage. When I look at wedding pictures of friends on Facebook, it just seems so scary at times ! The most recent one was my two classmates that are high school sweethearts, and got hitched recently. It must be close to 10 years now... Wow.. how did they do it? Would I be able to find that kind of faith and commitment in myself, anytime soon? I wonder..

I'm jinxed !

What happened to my lovely pinky grey background?

It's almost as though I'm jinxed at blog designs.. Every time I meddle with the layout and design, the whole thing screws up..

Anyone out there willing to help me with it? :(

The question

For some reason, I always find myself feeling the loneliest at this hour of the nite. I'm thinking, it's probably because everyone in the house is asleep, and I'm still up? If only the answer is as simple as that. I find myself seeking deeper within myself, and the answer is still not surfacing yet. I keep asking myself the question, but I only have myself to blame that I am not trying my best to answer it, not just yet.

I will ask again tomorrow, and I will have the answer then.

What am I doing?

It's quarter to 11, I'm not sleepy, I'm not out, I'm not interested in FB anymore, what should I do?

Today was spent sitting at home. Got up early to finalise my letter, got it mailed to FL at the post office, sent them an email. I still can't believe it's all over just like that. At least have the courtesy of sitting down nicely and telling me rite?I can't help feeling betrayed too. Lesson learnt this time- do not trust ppl easily, ever again. That's probably one of my biggest weakness, I promised myself many times that I should becareful, and be more wary..but sama jer... tsk tsk tsk.

I received a call from Backhome today. It is a new backpacker in town, infact there was a feature article on last Saturday's Weekender. It is owned by Ng Ping Ho, a local talent. Does the name ring a bell? He is the man behind Kopitiam, Table for Two,Realiti and The Firm. The place looks really cool and cozy, hopefully it will change the perception most will have of local backpackers and hostels. The reason they called? I applied for a postion as Hotel Manager, thought it will be great fun, and it will be a sneak preview of the hospitality industry. The lady who rang mentioned the pay to me, and I have my thoughts about it. We'll see.

Got an email reply from Delectable, it's the cutest lil dessert shop. I came across it in Gardens yesterday when I was bumming around there. Then they were looking for someone too, thought I'll give it a go, since I'm not doing anything at the moment, and it will be great fun as I love baking too. Did a bit more reading on the shop, or more like the creator of the shop. It all started from Su. My my.. she is a very successful girl ! You can read more bout her on her blog - http://cookingismypassion.blogspot.com/.

So you see, nothing much happened today. Be it my social life, my work or others. hang on, what work? ok, that's Work in Progress then.

For now? prob back to my book. Am reading Danielle Steel's Wanderlust.

I wished

There's good and bad points in having so much time on my hands.

Good points :

1. I can read all the books I want to
2. I can watch all the series on my 250GB hard disk
3. I have time to sort out all my NZ pics
4. I have time to clean my room, and rearrange everything
5. I can do my own BootCamp and do yoga every morning
6. I have more time to search for the ideal job
7. I can spend more time with mommy
8. I can catch up with friends and family

Bad points :

1. I am demotivated at times, having no goals at the moment.
2. Too much time to think of the silliest stuff
3. Am checking Facebook so often that there are no more updates to read
4. Seeing all the photos on facebook makes me wanna go back

The only thought on my mind today was... I wanna go back.. I so do... :(

Monday minus the blues...

My first day of bumming around -Phase 2. Day was spent in Midvalley and Gardens. Went down with Sissy, and did a lil shopping with her before she headed back to Kampar. Met up with a friend who happened to be in Midvalley, we sat down for a cup of coffee in Starbucks, Borders, and I went ranting away about things. After he heartlessly dumped me alone, I sat there in Borders and continued reading.

I picked up the book Empress Orchid by AnCheeMin in Kinokuniya last Thursday, read a few chapters and decided that I'm going to just read it from the bookstore. Hrmm.. it's not that I'm a cheapskate, but it's just not one of those books which makes me feel like I must have it. It was just a good read. The last book that I fell in love was " Secrets of a Rainbow Goddess", it was one book that I couldn't put down until I completed it. And I remember crying after reading the ending of the book. Ok, I admit that I cry easily, but this is the very first time I have shed tears reading a book. It was as though I really felt what the character was going through in the story. Wanna read it? gimme a buzz.

Back to Empress Orchid, I did not actually complete the book, I finished a lil more than half of the book, and find it a little too much for my brain today. The book combines fiction and a lot of historical facts in there, thus the overdose. Shall return to Borders this week to finish reading it.

A quiet weekend..

Since it's a long weekend, and also Boy's birthday on Monday, I've decided to cook up a meal to celebrate his birthday before he goes back to Malacca. Was dragged out of my coma at 2pm, and went out with Mom for lunch and groceries shopping. After 1.5 hours of slaving in the kitchen, the results are voila !! And it was yum !

The table is all set

Cheesy garlic prawns

Garden salad with Edam cheese

Roast Chicken with boiled veggies

It just happened...

It was just like any other day, until the news was droppped on my lap.. well more like dropped on my head.

It wasn't my happiest moment of course. The news did not do any good to my ego at all. Being labelled and treated like this is totally new to me. I know that the problem does not lie within me, but that moment dampened my spirit. The proudest moment within that split second when it all happened was probably when I agreed with one thing he said.

" you think I'm a crap manager and I'm self absorbed", he said.
" *paused* that's true", I said.

Yes, that is my opinion of you, but what you failed to see is that, my opinon of you has nothing to do with my performance. Oh well, this decision is your lost, not mine.

I read the texts that you sent me over and over again, and I remembered the jokes we shared. We used to laugh about the silliest things.

I look at our pictures, and I remembered the many places we have been.
We used to spend so much time planning.

I was sitting down in Starbucks, I ordered a drink, and I remembered that was your favourite coffee.
We used to go there so you could get one.

I went to the supermarket and I remembered how much fun it was to go shopping with you.
We used to shop for groceries and fruits.

I picked up a book and started reading, and I remembered the ones we bought for each other. We used to argue about completing a book.

Somewhere in my mind, I am thinking of you. In ways that you may not think I will.
Not just about those that I've feared, but the many moments that we shared.
I hope you know, that somewhere in my mind, I am thinking of you.

It's finally Friday !

It's here , it's here ! Friday is finally here, I have not felt like this for a long long time.
1. I was in NZ for the past 6 months, and I wasn't working in the last 4 months of my trip. So... Mon,Tues, Friday? It never really mattered to me.
2. Work has so far been pretty alrite, and not stressful, but for some reason, this week seems like forever ! And to make things worst, we had training till 5pm today, that's one hour more than usual time ! Well, at least next Friday is a holiday ! wheeee....

Left the office at 5.10pm, could't bear to spend another minute in the office. Rushed off, and said bye to Bobby and Scott, and even delayed my WIP to Monday. Notti notti. I got home at 6pm, trains were very punctual, all good. Hmm, someone wasn't very punctual though, was supposed to go for dinner and movie at 7pm, but my ride only turned up at almost 7.30pm.. And, I was all dressed up for One Utama, in the end we ate in Kepong, due to time and distance. Dinner was ok overall, but the movie never took place though, cos he has to leave to pick up someone. Oh well, some other time then.

So here I am, back home, writing and reading some books. And a lil thinking as well, can't help thinking about how I'm a lil messed up in certain aspects of my life. Sigh

I can't wait for tomorrow, will be meeting up with Patricia, my all time bestie, and ex-partner in crime. Will also be meeting up with the girls from uni at 4pm..Woohoo, tomorrow is reunion day !

The pain

It's only Thursday, but I can't wait for the weekends already. It has been such a pain, came to work this morning to deal with it. Confrontation wasn't as drama as I imagined it, it;s probably better that way, don't think either one of us wants an ugly scene. Pain no 1 - done.

The next pain, my body is aching all over. I went to gym last nite with FBIL, we worked out for about one hour. 30 mins on the cross trainer and some weights, and I'm done. Gosh, I really need to work on it ! And not to mentioned the meal after gym that I definitely do not deserve - Fried Assam Laksa. FBIL recommended it, and it was yum! Will get the picture from him, and post it up.

I guess that's all the pain for the day.. now, it's time to go home.

News spreads pretty fast on Facebook, be it good ones or bad ones. After dinner last nite, I was sitting in front of FB for a while, it's a pretty rare sight lately, as mom is always hogging the pc ! I usually click on photo updates to browse through the lives of fellow friends. One particular album caught my eye, it was a Wedding Registration album. One of my very dear friend got married , to the girl of his dreams. Well, I know them both actually. I must say, it took me by suprised though, a lil. I knew the 2 lovebirds are partners for life, but didnt know they were getting married just yet. So here's to Mr and Mrs Tan ! Congrats, looking forward to the big gala dinner !

Something new, something old

It's been a long day at work, still at work actually. It's been a long long time since I've sat up here at my desk, hearing the traffic honking away and looking out the window at the night sights of KL.

Training ended at 7+, something new on this job, (the fact that I finished work at 3pm last Friday, and the Friday before). We had a training session at work today, started at 3pm, and ended a while ago. The training was on Name Gathering and Head Hunting. There you go, something new , and something old. Reminds me so much of the induction sessions I used to conduct back in ME. And today I was being trained instead. Hrmm... It's all good though, we are learning every single day.

Well, I really should get going, it's close to 8pm now, am absolutely starving ! Am craving for KFC... hrmm.. should I cure my sorethroat with a lil Hot & Spicy fried chicken? Yum !

The Trip to Malacca

The whole idea of this trip is to show Katy the historical city of Malacca, and of course, all the scrumptious food around. In the end, I think it was more like a food hunt !

We started our trip at 9am, headed to Sri Bintang for breakfast. Discussed the day's plan then, and am not surprised to hear that the whole day has been planned out around food ! Left for Malacca right after that. Reached Malacca just in time for lunch, and it was none other than Chicken Rice Balls !

Ooops, and a second lunch, a quick stop at Donald and Lily's , for their famous Mee Siam, and refreshing cendol.


Since we were tourists for the day, we have gotta go some sightseeing, started with the Stadhuys Building, St Paul's Hill, A Famosa, Museum of Independance and then the Museum of .. urm. something. After being baked thoroughly in the sun, we decided it was enough sightseeing, we headed to our backpacker. I was quite excited about it, as it will be my very first time staying in a backpacker in Malaysia. I knew it would never be anything close the the NZ ones. Went to Jalan-Jalan - a highly recommended guesthouse. I was a lil disappointed when we were brought upstairs to the dorm rooms. The place looks dodgy to me. We hopped on next door to Cheng Ho Guesthouse, priced at RM 15 per bed, this place looks way more decent and clean. We decided that an extra RM3 is fine. Katy, Steve & I each chose a bed, and had a lil snooze before we were due to be picked up for dinner.

Andrew & Kavin came by to pick us up at 7pm, and we headed to Alai for a meal of grilled fish. It was yum ! The pictures say it all ...


After dinner, we embarked on a crazy mission, drive to Muar for otak-otak! The boys went down to get them, while we stay put in the car, and they came back with 60 pieces !! Blimey, that's a lot of 'brains' !

We decided that we all need a lil walk, so Jonker St it is then ! Steve & Katy were equally excited with the variety of stalls along the night market. Actually, I think Steve was more excited about the whole trip !

A visit to Malacca ain't complete without a meal of Satay Celup. Capitol Satay it is then, it was unbelievable that there was still a queue at 1 o'clock in the morning ! Obviously they all have the same thing in mind.

The food hunt continued the next day, after a good night sleep, we were all ready to gobble down more food. Lunch was Pork Ribs noodles - I can't make out the location though, but the noodles were awesome !

We decided to have a lil dessert and some nice flavoured tea to wash down all the food. Nadeje it is then, a nice little cafe near Melaka Raya, and they served the most wonderful layered Crepe Cake. It was sinfully good, and the great thing about it was, it didnt have a usual overwhelming sweetness like most desserts. Instead it was very refreshing and cutting through the carefully stacked crepes was a fun thing to do !

Weekend with Katy

Katy got back from Cameron on Friday, and we decided to meet up in KL Sentral straight after for a quiet nite in. So much for wanting to do her laundry and packing, we were out in no time ! Giin Shing came by, and we went for a mamak session at Kanna Curry House, and a lil drive to KL.

How do you feel about a lil stroll in Starhill?

Oh great.. in our 'jammies'? We feel so sexy bout it !

So we listened to this amazing singer in Starhill, she belted L.O.V.E in the sexiest voice, and danced along to the tune. Well, as we were REALLY underdressed, we decided against getting a drink right in front of the stage, and watched her from the balcony on 1st floor instead. Before the roti canai and maggi goreng are even digested, we made our way to Jalan Ipoh to meet mom and dad for Dim Sum. The goal was to feed Katy with almost every kinda food possible! Dim sum session was great with Uncle Rikky making all those jokes bout tea, I knew Katy was loving it! :P
Mom and Dad headed home while we decided to go for a drive around, we ended up at Solaris, not for a drink, more like for a loo stop, and a drink from 7-11. Back home we went then,it was a cup of tea for Katy, and a cold drink for us. We were up chatting all nite, and I didn't get to bed till 4am ! The fact that I have to be up at 8am the next day to leave for Malacca, it's not funny at all!

Word of the day - Bizarre

work was bizarre madness, it must be one of those days where all bank workers could read each others' mind, and boycotted the telephone. 8 hours of work finally passed, hopped over to Lot 10 rooftop to meet someone. Mind you, that was the weirdest meeting I have been to. But I must say, the newly renovated Lot 10 rooftop looks awesome ! Must go and chill out at the bar someday .

Bumped into Steve in Lot 10, and we went for food tasting together-gether. We found out some interesting facts about some local food, apparently Murtabak is from Brunei, popiah is adapted from Vietnamese spring rolls ( that's alrite) and Steve's mom can cook a Myanmar dish -Stir fried cabbage + cauliflower!
Rang a few friends and crossing my fingers one of them would eat with me, no luck with that, so I hopped on the train and headed home. Sat down and ate all the greens on the table, am putting myself on a diet, gotta lose the NZ fat ! Speaking of NZ, I looked over the black table where my mom usually puts all the mail, and there it was, a pic of Mount Maunganui staring back at me. I picked it up with a silly wide grin on my face and read the contents with a wider smile. Mom thought I was mad, and said I thought you guys are already chatting online all the time? Wheeee... Nothing beats snail mail!
Thanks hun for the card , I was expecting a life sized parcel tho ! :P

And that's the end of my bizarre day..

the tourist and the tour guide

Spent the weekend with Katy, awaiting for her arrival was a hilarious story. A lil misunderstanding, and we were waiting for each other at different bus stops. She was well over at Pasar Rakyat at Jalan Imbi, and I was on the other side, standing in front of Puduraya. I had to ring her back on the bus driver's phone ! That was just insane. But it all worked out in the end, and we had a jolly good weekend together. Besides the many eating outings we brought her on, Katy also made it to the Petronas Twin Towers, Batu Caves, Bentong, and the many shopping centres in KL of course. I was playing a bit of a tour guide and tourist myself. I finally climbed up the 272 steps of Batu Caves. hehe
Katy is off to Cameron Highlands for a few days, a break from her 14 months of travelling, and a break from the food I've been feeding her ! That should prepare her for the huge feed this weekend !!

Halloween was spent at home, having a cup of Lady Grey with a slice of lemon at midnight, talking about the good ol times. Only thing missing is Cazzie ! Caz , midnite tea ain't the same without you.. :(

It's yet another week at work, hrm, I'm finally getting back into the swing of working life. That's what I told G yesterday, finally got to chat with him after so long, managed to do a quick catch up with him over lunch. And I'm still waiting for my post.. i wonder what it is..
Wheeeee !! :O

Trick or Treat!!

My first Trick or Treat in my life. The staff of the service office here takes it seriously about celebrating every event, (so I heard), so they came around with little plastic pumpkin lanterns, and candies. Cool aye? And to the rest, Happy Halloween !!

It's lunch time now, and I'm sipping my cup of coffee, and had a banana muffin. I can't wait to see Katy at 4.30pm !! yay !

a familiar new start

It's Day 4 at work. Getting on just alrite, with a great view from Level 36, and a lovely office, with an awesome pantry. Seems like a good start! A very familiar feeling though, with it being a similiar role, I have the same doubts I had back then. Nevertheless, I'm giving myself a trial period. And the constant reading about the financial industry is keeping me busy, it almost feels like being a student again! minus the classmates..and cute lecturer.

Been making some rules for myself, or more like resolutions. Am determined to make it happen, wait.. determination alone is ain't enough. Am practising it ! Results will be unveiled by end of 2009. Muahah.

It's few more hours to 6pm, time seems to be passing quite fast today, could be the late lunch hour. hrmm.. Katy is coming to KL tomorrow, can't wait to see her. Oh, mom n dad are coming home today too, can't wait to have them back. It's been just piggy and me at home, and it's so lonely and quiet, plus playing mom is so tiring, waking up at 6.45am to send piggy to school, gosh.. Mom, I really admire you. Don't ever leave us for long trips again, untill piggy finishes form 5 of cos!

This year

25 years ago on this day, mom waited in pain for about 12 hours, before I decided to come out to this world.

It's 26 October tomorrow, not only it's the mark of my 25th birthday, it's the mark of a new start. It will be my first day at work, after 6 months living as a backpacker, I am stepping back into reality, back into the corporate working environment. I wonder how fast I will adapt.

Yesterday, bro and sis threw me a lil suprise, together with 2 dear friends, it was a good one, thanks guys.

As I blew out the candle on my lil cake last nite, I was told to make a wish. I closed my eyes and then I blew the candle, but I said no wishes, simply because I don't know what I should ask for. I will sleep on it tonite.

Lastly, happy bday to myself ;)

I baked..

I opened the fridge and saw cream cheese, butter and a pack of digestive on the table.. I knew what he was up to - baked cheesecake. Since I have the time, I seized the opportunity to do some baking. After 2 hours of baking, and a night of chilling, ta daa ....

Happy Deepavali !

It is Deepavali tomorrow, would like to wish all my Hindu friends , a Happy Diwali !

Deepavali - A colorful festival that is celebrated by all Hindus worldwide is Deepavali, which is also known as the festival of lights. This festival usually falls around late October and November. One important practice that the Hindus follow during the festival is to light oil lamps in their homes on Deepavali morning. By lighting the oil lamps, the Hindus are thanking the gods for the happiness, knowledge, peace and wealth that they have received. The Hindus consider Deepavali as one of the most important festivals to celebrate.

The fireworks outside has been going on for about an hour now. It's no mistake that the Indian community is celebrating it on a grander scale now. Back then, we could only witness fireworks on the eve of 3 public holidays - National Day, Christmas, and New Year's Day.

Today, fireworks are lit on every other celebration, even on a housewarming party at times. Eversince I came home, I can't help noticing the differences in our Malaysian lifestyle, and at times, I wonder why we are moving on yet stagnant. A contradiction you may find, but the former simply refers to the advancement in terms of technology and standard of living, and the latter - our mentality. I wonder when we Malaysians can be totally civilised and well mannered. Many visiting tourists has only praises for us when it comes to the Malaysian Hospitality, even MAS has that on their tagline. MH - Malaysian Hospitality, More than just a flight code. But, little do they know about the ugly behaviour that is sometimes on display. I love my country a lot, and totally proud of our colourful culture, but I personally think we have a long way to go to better ourselves, to put Malaysia on the stage.

And for now, let us indulge in the colourful cookies and candies on a Deepavali open house. Am going to a friend's place tomorrow for lunch. Can't wait !

Any progress?

It's about time to keep tab of my progress, on what? on my life of course. Have been feeling a little lost and still dreaming at some point. It's been almost a month since I got back, and I still have that thought at the back of my mind " I wanna stay there..." I guess I have to work hard for that. I have to keep saying positive statements, a section in "The Secret" says like attracts like. So here it is again, I need to work hard to go back !

Jobhunt has been done in vain, I am ashamed that after all these years, I still don't know what I'm good at... and what I can do with it. Any pointers? Attended ONE interview so far, it was ok, but I'm still hunting of course. As for that business idea in my mind, I realised that I will need some capital to do that, and also a business proposal to start with, of course. Sigh, it's not one of my favourite thing to do, oh wait, I don't even know how to do that. Shame on me, a business student, yea rite!

Other than my job hunt, everything else has been pretty alrite I guess. Have been wanting to meet up with most friends since I got back, but a spell of laziness has came over me, and I have been very reluctant to step out of the house. I'm sorry dearies..
My normal routine now includes going to the market with mom, hunting for jobs online, planting and harvesting on Farmville and a few other chores. One of them include checking Facebook every 1 hour, perhaps? That's a sign that I'm too free.. I know. I can't help noticing the number of weddings happening around me, I attended 2 myself, since I came back end of Sept. And a few questions have been raised to me, or more like to mom, when is her turn to be a mother-in-law ? Hahaha.... my answer would be.. " ni man man deng" -> slowly wait.. I don't think it's happening anytime soon, moreover, I have a totally different view on marriages now.. Not entirely negative.. just different.

It's sunshine after the rain

It started as a lil conversation between us, and it ended up as a group talk, with me listening to each of their view. At the end, there were tears and laughter. And mom had to come in and witness. Yikes !

I'm so glad we talked things out...

I'll always love you ... Alicia, Andrew and Abby. Muahss !

Tonight...

Tonight, I am feeling a lil emo. A common term in our Manglish - Malaysian English. The word translates to feeling emotional, depressed, mixed up. Anyone with a better definition? I don't know what made me feel like this tonite, it's prob a series of things that happened these few days. I hate that I'm feeling so moody lately, it's almost like an emotional rollercoaster - cheerful, happy, determined, notti, empty, and sometimes lost. What exactly am I looking for? What do I want?

Tonight, I'm thinking about someone, infact it's not just tonight, i thought about how much we cared for each other, how he makes me laugh, and how i kept the whole lot of texts from him in my phone. It's funny how things are sweet between us, but it just ain't goin anywhere. i'm missing you hun.

Tonight, I'm sitting here , browsing through the long list of friends on my facebook, which is 633 friends at the moment. It got me thinking, who are all these ppl ? When was the last time I met some of them?Staying friends, takes effort from both sides...that's what I think. I'm ashamed to admit that I probably keep in touch with just 10% of them, or maybe less. So , I went on and click on them randomly and dropped them a note.

Tonight, I'm sitting here, writing halfway, and I find myself dumbfounded... I don't know what to write next... so tonight, I 'll have my first unfinished post...

A visit to the dentist

I had to visit my dentist the other day, one of my tooth required some fillings. Too much of sweets in NZ, it must be. So I went over to the dentist at 9am in the morning, I didn't have any appointments made, well I did, but it was on 20th Oct, and my tooth can't wait that long.. that was why I decided to walk in and wait all day till the dentist was free to attend to me. I was called into the surgery room ( that was written on the door!) at 10.30am, and I sat there on the dentist chair waiting for her to attend to me. The anticipation was worst than getting inked - It was a similar chair at the tattoo parlour. The dentist was a nice young lady, I don't know why but I always thought that Dr. Mah was a middle aged Chinese woman. She told me that the damage on my tooth was only moderate and not as serious as I thought it was. The whole process + scaling was done in about an hour's time. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Phew.. mission of the day accomplished - Tooth was patched.

memories of the past..

I spent a day with a dear friend, he wanted some company and suggested karaoke, and I agreed. So we sang our heart out for almost 3 hours. I pity the people in the room next to us, cos they had to put up with my horrible singing.

As I walked around Sg Wang, memories of my working days came flashing through my mind. As we made our way to Pavilion for a drink, vivid memories of the many lunches and shopping trips I had appeared before me. We finally decided to have a drink in La Bodega, I decided that I've had enough beer and wine in the past 6 months, so I settled for a refreshing smoothie, and my friend had a German beer. I shared with him my many stories in NZ, mainly about the many people whom I crossed paths with, and also about him. Memories of that first walk, and the first text, the first choc treat, it was all so clear. Being back here in KL, in familiar environments that were once a daily scene, made me feel like I was in a dream for the past 6 months, and everything that happened was just memories, well sweet ones at least.

We spent a goof few hours chatting, and decided to leave before the rush hour. Once again, I walked the familiar path down to KLCC, we were going to take the LRT. I've only been away for 6 months, how would one feel, if one has been away for years? Is it just me that is feeling emotional?

A song that reminded me of Chez La Mer

It's over..

I'm back in at home, in KL, and that means my working holiday is officially over.

It was a good week spent up in Auckland, well, I was only there for 2 days, as Sue brought me up North for a few days. So I managed to cram a day trip up to Cape Reinga and a dolphin cruise around Bay of Islands. It was awesome !

So here I am back in the hot tropical Malaysia.. and complaining about the heat. The past 6 months felt like a dream, if it weren't for the constant messages and phone calls from NZ, I would have thought it was really a dream.
sighh

The Maori love song

At 22 and 33 seconds, that's Mount Manganui. That's where I went for a walk. The two white buildings at the bottom of the Mount, are the Twin Towers. Not quite like the Petronas ones of course!

Kia ora , Haere Mai!

I left Tauranga with a heavy heart but I was really glad that I made the decision to make a stopover at Rotorua to go for the Tamaki experience. It has always been on my list of NZ must-dos, I skipped it in the beginning of my trip as I thought it wasn't worth 100 dollars for that 3 hours experience..and not to mention that a dear friend told me to watch the Maori channel instead! But I have spent more money down South on activities that are not exactly worth every penny of mine, so I thought I should go for it this time ! And it is probably one of the greatest experience here!

The night started with a bus trip out to the Maori village, the bus ride itself played a big part as the driver prepares us for the whole cultural experience ahead of us. A chief was selected from the participants and we were all given a briefing on what's expected from us at the welcoming ceremony.

The night started with a welcome ceremony by the Chief at the village, followed by tour around the many school houses where we learned more about the Maori culture. A performance consisting of songs and dances followed through. My favourite was the famous love song, Pokarekare Ana and the Haka of course. A group of strong Maori man with tattooed faces , shouting and slapping their thighs? I likey!

We then come to the final part of the event, the hangi , traditional Maori meal where food is cooked with hot stones. It was yum! We had lamb and chicken that has been cooked for hours in the hangi, and among the side dishes were potatoes, carrots and kumara cooked the same way. For dessert, we had pavlova - a real kiwi icon, and steamed pudding with NZ's best custard and cream! What a treat.

After a few more songs and another round of Haka, the amazing night came to an end. We boarded our bus again, which was labelled Waka ( Maori word for canoe) - we had to 'row' it back to the Tamaki office. On the way home, everyone had to sing a song from their country, so I proudly belted out Rasa Sayang - being the shortest and simplest song I could rmb !

Got back to my hostel -Crash Palace at 10-ish, feeling so glad that I came here for this. I felt that it was a good way to round up my 6 months journey here in NZ.

Back at one

No...I am not referring to the song by Brian McKnight

It's been an emotional week for me. It all started when I boarded the flight from Christchurch.
Tues- Christchurch to Wellington
Wed- Wellington to Tauranga
Sun - Tauranga to Rotorua
Mon- Rotorua to Hamilton

In the span of a few days, I find myself back at where it all started. The longest journey was the 8 hours bus ride from Wellington, and I was quite surprised that I didn't even catch a wink on this long journey. Ironically, as the bus travels forward, I was actually doing a back track , emotionally at least. As I passed by all the places on the route, I can't help thinking about how I was once there with different people, and with a completely different set of emotions. Back then, I was all enthusiastic bout moving down south and had so much company. And now, I am all alone, carrying with me a heavy heart as I know I have come to the end of my journey.

Boarded the bus from Wellington Railway Station, I was once there waiting for the shuttle for my ferry to Picton. The emotional journey now begins. All the way up to Tauranga, the places that stirred most of my emotions was Ohakune, Mt Ruapehu, National Park and Taupo. It felt like just a moment ago that I was there with my friends. Texted Therese the whole time, and told her how much I missed the times that we were driving down together. A few other special ones came into mind. And one very special person... yes, I thought about him, and that's probably the only factor that will be putting a smile on my face as I reach my final destination. And Ivy of course.

As the bus pulls over at the i-site on Willow St, the first thing I saw was the group of happy friends that sent me off back in June, well that of course was imaginary. The next thing I saw was a white 4WD pulling over right across the street. And so I smiled.

The next few days was spent catching up with different people.I went for a short walk with Sven, on the farm where he works and out to Kaiate Falls on Welcome Bay. I met up with Grayson for dinner, we had fish and chips, with enough tomato sauce. :) It was good catching up with him.

Fri morning was spent feeling emo, again, walked to the city on my own, and remembered how Jess & I walked there on Queen's birthday to have fish and chips near the Harbour. That was a fun day. Did a bit of window shopping and felt much better after that. Shopped at Pak n Save and bought some food, was goin to bake some treaties for Kez and the girls. It's unbelievable how I am always baking.. you can't take the baking out of Amanda!

Paid a lil visit to good 'ol Bell Lodge in the evening, was going to catch up with Ally, Laura and Chris. Had dinner cooked for me, as usual, Ally's cooking is yum! Needless to say, I ate all of that rice.. gosh..and then I had pancakes...the best pancakes ever by Chris. Thanks darling !
It was weird to be back there too, the one hostel that I stayed for 7 weeks, every corner I looked at reminded me of someone and something. But I felt like a stranger this time, in that very kitchen that I once cooked,baked, hugged and kissed! Guess it will never feel the same again, not without the company.
Walked back alone to the girls' place on Waihi road, again I remembered how we once walked them back after dinner and apple crumble. Fell flat out on my bed and slept so well till morning. I must be tired from all the reminiscing.

Sat morning, I woke up feeling pretty upset as it was pouring and all grey outside. I had plans to go for a walk up Mt Manganui with a friend - Why? Why must it rain?Did God not get my text msg asking for nice sunny weather? The bad feeling didn't last long though, at 11am, the rain stopped, and the clouds cleared up. Still it wasn't sunny, but good enough. Got picked up at half one, and off we went to the Mount. And so I smiled again.
It was an afternoon well spent..a good walk up the mount, followed by ice-cream on fresh waffle cones - which we truly deserve! And a good DVD to round it up. I'm glad we watched Marley & Me and not Green Mile! It was then time to go, and also time to say goodbye. He sent me home, and came in for a bit of a chat. We hugged goodbye, and he was off. This time, I didn't smile. I couldn't convince myself that this is the end of the lovely afternoon, the end of my visit. And so I went up to my bed, and I cried.

A moment

It's one of those moments...

It's 1.23am , and I'm still up. I can't sleep for some reason. A lot of thoughts are clouding my mind.. thoughts og the future, and thoughts of the past. I clicked on " All Friends" on my facebook, and clicked on some friends randomly, well, selectively to be exact, and thought about how things were, once upon a time.

I wish someone could hear me out, but I don't know who. Are you out there?

A friend from home

I woke up at 9am yesterday, and have been watching the time since then. Waiting for the buzzer at the door to go, and to see a familiar face behind the door. It was 10 mins past 12, and still no sight of her. Being the impatient me, I walked down to the i-site, it's just 5 mins away anyways.. then there it was, the French Connection bus, it drove past the i-site, and a familiar face was sitting right next to the window, I waved frantically. Jo is finally here.. been waiting for her to arrive eversince I got here to Akaroa.

It feels great to have a friend from home ! It was great bitching bout certain things and people and having a listener who understands it! Hehe. Am so glad to have her here.

Made pancakes for breakfast today, Jo, Franck & I sat out in the garden to have stacks of pancakes with the yummiest maple syrup ! Then we did some shopping in Akaroa, ( ooo, hard work!). The weather has been nasty today, we woke up to some strong wind, then we had hail, and then it was sunny for a while before it started raining again. And it has been snowing further down south too. We had a quiet day of lollies, coffee and sitting by the fire. What a life !

the very disturbing conversation

I met up with a friend yesterday as she came to Akaroa for a day trip. Well, we both have a mutual friend, that's how we were introduced, virtually. We met up at the Akaroa Fish & Chips, and sat down to have some hearty lunch. I finally had my chance to try a whitebait pattie, after much curiosity about it. It reminded me so much of ikan bilis, yeah so it's like an ikan bilis omelette which cost me 9 dollars ! Blimey.

The disturbing conversation started with me suggesting to go and sit on a sunny spot, and the respond that I received was " as if there's not enough sun in Malaysia" , well technically he didn't say that to me, but i somehow felt annoyed with that statement. The conversation then continued with me asking how long they have been studying here in NZ, and how did they find this place? and the answer i got was

" Peaceful... very quiet."

" Well, whereabouts you from? "

"Kuching"

"Oh, then you should be alright, Kuching isn't that busy"

"No lor, I think Kuching is more happening than here"

" Really? Well, coming to NZ is all bout enjoying the nature"

"Yea, it's just the nature lor, nothing much d"

"Why did you choose to come here then? " was already a lil annoyed at this point.

" Urm.. I didn't choose this place"

All I could say in my head was , you ungrateful son ! I didn't know why I was annoyed with him, probably because I have not met someone who made such negative comment about NZ. I almost ashamed that he was Malaysian ! Maybe I have been kiwi-fied, and learnt to be more polite and not make such blunt comments.

I just munched my way through lunch, and wished that it will be over soon, so that I could go soak in the sunshine and the beautiful scenery of Akaroa.

Which I did. I took the bike out to the wharf and just sat there on a sunny spot all afternoon. Let the waves of the sea wash away that disturbing conversation.

Chez La Mer @ Akaroa

It's been a week since Katy & Therese dropped me here, and I am loving every single day here. For starters, I like running the hostel on weekends, don't really mind the cleaning in the morning, and absolutely love sitting out in the garden under the sun!

I will have one more week in this pretty lil hostel before I make my way back up north. Having a bit of a mixed feelings. Am happy to go see some friends before I head back to Hamilton and pick up my stuff to go home, but at the same time I really wanna stay here longer...or maybe forever??

But I know that I'm wanted back home.. at least sissy would be happy to have me back home again. Don't worry girl, I'll be back in 22 days.. Hang in there ok ?

A holiday within my holiday

A quick look at my calendar, and I realised that I only have one more month in NZ, and that will be the end of my holiday. oh dear.

As I planned out my last one month in NZ, I realised that I don't have much time to waste, so I drew up a concise 30 day plan. As a result, I have also decided to go out to Christchurch this week as I don't want to spend time there when I leave Akaroa. I was lucky enough to catch a ride with Alan & Linda - an Australian couple who stayed here on Monday night. They were such nice people, and it was a great drive out over the Banks Peninsula.

I had to catch a $7 shuttle from the airport to the city, but it was just a small price to pay compared to how much the Akaroa Shuttle would have cost me. I checked myself into Coachman Backpackers as that was the nearest hostel, though I was only carry half the weight of my usual luggage, I thought there wasn't a need to walk that far to stay in a hostel for the same price. Christchurch is a very nice city, and the very wide roads makes it look bigger than it is. I hopped on the Christchurch Tram, and did a loop around the city before I explored further on foot. I made a quick decision to go to Hanmer Springs the next day, have always wanted to go there, eversince I saw the ad of Hanmer Springs Hot pools. So I made my booking at the i-site, and walked away as a happier person,just poorer by $74.

Met up with Victor for dinner, and had Japanese food. Yum ! It was a good place and seems to be very popular as the little restaurant was quite full even on a weekday. My dinner cost me $11 for a beef teriyaki with Japanese Curry, and the meal also came with unlimited salad, rice, miso soup and water. It was a good deal aye?

Met up with Soon Young for a bit, just in case I don't see her again before I leave NZ. Victor and I then went for a lil walk around Christchurch, he showed me some of the nice places in the city, and we made a quick stop at the casino. In the ladies room, they have a coin-operated hair straightener.. I thought that was pretty weird. Maybe some ladies have better luck if their hair was nice and straight. Hmm..

The weather then went harsh on us and started pouring, so I got dropped off back at my hostel at 10.30pm..went to bed straight away.. and I slept like a baby.

My shuttle was at 9.30am, and it was a 2 hours ride into Hanmer Springs. Found out that Nadine was on the same shuttle, we both have the same idea obviously. But she was only on a day trip as she needs to fly home the next day.

Hanmer Springs is a nice lil town, almost too small infact. But it's a great place for a one night retreat. I got myself settled down at Hanmer Backpackers, and ate my lunch -a Chicken and Camberie pie from Hanmer Bakery. It was yum ! I have all evening to soak in the pools, so I thought I'll do a short walk. Took the track up to Conical Hill to check out the view of the whole Hanmer Springs. It's amazing how it's a view of pine trees and snowy mountains on one side of the place, and just flat grounds on the other side. The view was breathtaking...at least the track up the hill was !

I went into the hot pools at 4.30pm, and didn't get out till 7.30pm ! I felt like a sponge then, warm and wrinkly, but definitely more refreshed though ! Had a quiet and early night back at the hostel.

It was a good lil trip out to Christchurch and Hanmer. Met up with Therese and Katy before I went back into Akaroa. Well, Katy was just a plain coincidence. :)

From a farm to the sea

Meanderine Farm Stay
That was where I was for 5 days, it was a fun filled stay on the lovely farm with the many animals. The farm is in North Loburn, Rangiora - that's 30 mins from Christchurch. Therese has been woofing on this farm for bout a month, and her host said it was ok for me to stay a few days if I was willing to do some work for a few hours. And I am damn glad I did go and stay with her instead of coming straight to Akaroa. The farm was a lovely place, there were hundreds of animals on it! Well if you count all the ducks, geese, chickens and the fishes.. I think there should be 500 animals. When i first enter the living room, the dogs were just jumping on me... and I wasn't used to that at all. Well, I do like dogs, but I'm scared of them most of the time.. but after 5 days with Bailey, Sherry, Rummy, Gin & Kahlua..they all love me now ! Yeah I am such an alcoholic... hehe

Katy came by to visit us on the farm on Wed cos HER mountain was shut for the day, so we went for walks and player Rumikarb and had an amazing dinner. Wouter - Therese's host makes the best macaroni ever ! It was such a nice evening, it was like the good ol times, and the only thing missing is Caz's presence..
The next day, we all went on a lil roadtrip ! woo hoo... Well, I have to be in Akaroa to work of course..but it was nice that the girls came with me and stayed one night. We biked around the Akaroa and had fish and chips.It was a good weekend, and a good break for Therese.

So there's where I am at the moment.. Chez La Mer, in Akaroa...

Au Revoir...

life after queenstown..

1st stop-Dunedin

After being in Queenstown for 10 days, I began to feel a lil sick. ..But as soon as the updates of the condition of Milford Road came in, and I accepted the position in Akaroa, the bigger picture was much clearer. So I finally made that trip down to Milford Sound, and it was just amazing! I wonder if it's possible to be overdose on beautiful sceneries.

After a long day of travelling from Queenstown to Milford Sound, I still had to pack my bags as I was leaving for Dunedin at 7.45am the next day. I'm tired, but I really can't wait to move on ! The driver was a very nice man who offered bits and pieces about the places that we pass by. It's a great way to know the surroundings. 4 hours later, we reached Dunedin, and the first thought that crossed my mind was " Boy do I love this city !!" It was so different, such a classic one! I put my heavy rucksack over my bag and began to walk towards Hogwartz -the backpacker that I wanted to stay in ( and supposed to work in).After a few very steep streets. I find myself standing infront of a huge building with the tiniest gate ever, and on it was the name Hogwartz. As I pushed open the gate, I find another flight of stairs ! Gosh, when I finally set my bags on the ground, I couldn't feel my back at all ! But it was all worth it, because it is a very nice hostel, and there were no bunk beds, just nicely made single beds in warm cozy rooms.

I did a bit of exploring that afternoon, on foot of course. This other Malaysian girl who was wwoofing in the hostel showed me around town. We walked to University of Otago, Dunedin Library, Dunedin Railway Station and the many churches in town. Took some pictures of the beautiful buildings too.

Day 2 in Dunedin - I had an early start, 8am. I managed to visit the Baldwin St, did the Cadbury tour, the Speights Brewery Tour, the library again and some cute lil shops in town. Decided that I should move on again, after a few texts and some mind battling thoughts, I booked on a bus to Christchurch the next day. Am goin to stay with Therese on 'her' farm for a few days.

2nd stop - Christchurch , 30 mins.

Arrived in Christchurch at 8pm, after 6 hours on the bus.. Gosh that was a long ride..Was so glad to see Therese, and will be living with her on the farm for a few days !

Mission Accomplished

It's done..

and I would just say it was ... FUN !!
I did it backwards.. with my hands behind my head and off the platform i went ! woo hoo !!!!!!!!

Was quite tempted to do a second jump cos it was only 39dollars ! but I didn't.. instead i bought the dvd for 45 dollars. sigh.
The group of Aussies with me all jumped twice, and 2 guys did it 3 times.. and in the end, they paid almost 200 dollars more to have ALL photos, All videos..

Oh well, i'm thinking bout the Nevis Bungy now.
LOL

The mission...

checked in.

Location : 37, Shotver St, Queenstown

Time : 15mins to the mission

Heartbeat : still normal and pumping

Damage done : $179 and my weight is 3 kilos up since Taupo Bungy !

Am blogging from the Canyon Swing office, gotta wait till 2pm to go out and do the big swing.. Am so excited bout it, just watching the clips of other jumps got my heart skipping.

Questions I'm asking myself now are :

1.Should I buy the video though I know it will cost me more than a second jump?($39 dollars only for 2nd jump!)

2. Which position do I wanna jump off?

Anyone wanna sponsor my video? mom ? u there? :P

oh well, I'm going to sit down and wait...

Over and out.

updates from down south

Been 2 weeks since I left Picton, been doing quite a bit of travelling with Lais, yet another German girl. We drove down ( technically SHE drove) the West Coast of South Island, and our last stop together was Te Anau, which is the connection to Milford Sound. We spent 2 nights in Te Anau waiting for them to clear the road after avalanche , but that didn't happen in 2 days. So I hopped on the Naked Bus and got to Queenstown on my own. And just in case you are wondering, NO, we dun get in the bus naked. ;P

Queenstown , Day 7, to be honest, I'm gettin a bit bored of this place. Don't get me wrong, Queenstown is a happening place, it's like a Sat night every night ! But if you are not a lil rich to splurge on the adrenaline pumped activities, or the snow sports, you can be bored, and it's so much more expensive to eat out here too ! Then again, i guess if you have got nothing much to fill your hands in the day, you can be pretty bored living anywhere !!
It's a good thing that I managed to get myself into this lil job at night. It's something that I should be pretty good at by now. I work 6.30PM - midnight, 5 nights a week. It involves a lot of persistence, talking and sometimes to bear with some swearing. Yup, I'm on a telemarketing job. It's so funny when I got in on the first day, and found out that I had to make calls to Australia. I can't run away from that can I ? Obviously the 2.5 years at ME trained me hard to bear with the nasty people at the other end. Then again, I AM the nasty one, don't think I will fancy being bugged by someone on the phone, especially after a long day at work, and you trying to make tea. ( *Tea means dinner btw)

Oh no, the negative thoughts are coming in, stay positive amanda, embrace the job, you need to love it to make a sale! am bearing with it as it supports my wait in Queenstown for Milford Road to clear up, and it also pays for my bed!

Looks like a cloudy day outside, maybe I'll go for a walk, just maybe. Legs are a bit sore from the Queenstown hill track yesterday, which i carelessly not bring my camera, and clumsily fell down.. sighh

Picton : Day 4

After day 1 of breakfast duty, I asked Ben if I could do it every morning.. First this he replied was .. " Why?"
Then I told him that I needed a motivation to wake up early in the morning, and then go for a run, and start my day. He said " Ok, if you want to, I'm sure the rest wouldn't mind at all !" That's true.

So this morning, I went for a short jog. Yay! I'm so proud of myself... Well, it was just a short run, but at least I started, and it was a bit too cold, cos I tried to pull one of those crazy Kiwi thing, and ran in shorts.. in winter !! Gosh amanda... what were you thinking? Tomorrow, I'll go again, but with leggings underneath my shorts! A weird dressing, but that's the only thing I have, it'll be stupid to jog in my jeans. Lol

Day 4 of work exchange at Sequoia Lodge, and I quite like it. Start work at 10 am every morning, and will be done by no later than 12.30pm. After 4 days of housekeeping and making beds, I'm beginning to get the hang of it ! Am a bit more systematic now. hehe
After all of us are done with our duties, we sit down to have a cuppa tea, and some amazing cookies ! ( see why i need a daily run?)

Then everyone is off to do their own stuff.. be it taking a walk, shopping, or just chilling out in front of the fire with a good book. And for me, a good hot shower, nd a walk to the library - for Internet and some reading, of cos. Was just telling Mandy, that I'm probably at the library more that I was back in MMU !

Mission of today - sit down to plan out my destinations for the next 9 weeks ! Wow, boy does time flies.. in 9 more weeks, I'll be back in KL. That will be the end of my holiday :( sighh...

Of ferries and choc pudding

And there's a spa pool too !

Of ferries and choc pudding

I've finally crossed over the Cook Straits. I'm now in Picton, doing a work exchange in Sequoia Lodge. I have to work a few hours a day, and in return, I get breakfast and bed, and choc pudding!

This hostel boasts of their nightly choc puddings, served with vanilla ice-cream. It is very yum, it is a great that they serve all their guest choc pudding, but its greater that I have been offered the duty to make it now ! It was my first attempt tonight, and it turn out pretty alright.. so I asked Ben if I could make it every night now... he said by all means !! Yay! oh you know me and baking... Can never take that out of me !

Haven't got the slightest idea how I will travel South Island, but I'm sure I have all the time here in Picton to figure that out. Today I had my first go at housekeeping, I had to change the sheets in a few rooms, and did some tidying up. Tomorrow I'm in charge of breakfast ! So I will need to get up at 7am, and lay out the four types of cereal, 4 kinda bread, and 4 different tyes of spread. I likey this job !

It's a good start for me to go into hospitality ! LoL !