Little Sasha Said

Went to KY’s place on Chap Goh Meh night to learn how to make vegetarian ‘Siew Ngor’.

The sweet little cutie, Sasha (aged 6?), who is sort of like a PR at KY’s house, came into the kitchen to join the crowd.

When Sasha first saw me, she asked KY in Mandarin.

Sasha: Is this your friend ah?
KY: Yes.
Sasha: So skinny one?
Me: You are also so skinny what.

Hahaaha… LOL! Everyone (KY, KS, and I) in the kitchen burst into laughter. What a ‘Little Skinny’ calling the ‘Big Skinny’ skinny drama. Sasha has such a skinny and tiny body but she doesn’t look that skinny from the pictures that KY took though. She is THIS skinny and I am THAT skinny (for people who know me in person, you know how skinny I am), and she was calling me skinny. That’s funny! Hahaha :D That’s how we started our conversation, with the skinny commonality. We clicked well quite instantly in the kitchen.

While watching us to make the ‘Siew Ngor’, she was talking a lot and asking a lot of questions and I bullshitted with her with some nonsense.

She was drinking a winter melon packet drink.

Me: Since you are drinking winter melon drink, so you are little winter melon lor? You see, you look like the winter melon in the packet too, slim slim and small small.
Sasha: So what are you then?
Me: Human lor!
Sasha: If I am a small winter melon, then you are a BIG winter melon lah!

LOL! She’s so smart! She then continued.

Sasha: Then Ah San jeh jeh is BIG BIG winter melon and KY jeh jeh is BIG BIG BIG winter melon!

LOL! She continued to talk and ask non-stop.

Me: Can you speak Cantonese ah?
Sasha: Can. 'Hou kan yiu wong' (好紧要黄/旺) ah! (That’s the famous phrase from the Digi ad).
Me: Wah, so wong ah?!
KY: Give '4 ge zi’ lah. ('4 ge zi=4个字 in Mandarin, which can mean 4 numbers or 4 words in that context. KY meant 4 numbers)
Sasha: Hou kan yiu wong (好紧要黄/旺)! Hou… Kan… Yiu… Wong… (counting with her fingers), 4 words lor!

LOL! You will never expect what a kid can answer you!

Sasha is such an adorable and humorous little one! She had definitely added a lot of fun to our ‘Siew Ngor Night’. LOL! :D

A Coughing Chinese New Year

I am back from Chinese New Year holidays!

Had a miserable coughing CNY back in hometown. I headed home for CNY with sorethroat and cough, at the very wrong time. When I was back home, sorethroat had subsided but the cough had worsened exponentially.

Chicken being one of the main dishes almost on a daily basis during CNY, I took a few pieces of them and 1 piece of dried meat made of chicken. Believe it or not? Like a curse, my slowly subsiding cough had worsened dramatically and drastically! I coughed terribly at night till 3-4 am at midnight, waking up my whole family with my disturbing cough. The saying of not to take chicken when one is having cough has been testified and proven to hold some truths! So, touch wood, if you ever get cough next time, never ever take chicken or you'll suffer! Don't play play!

So, no Mandarin Oranges, cookies, cold drink, and hot and spicy food for me this CNY. Lots of food and drink that I couldn't really take though they were right in front of me! Kanasai! It was darn demotivating! I was losing appetite and didn't really each much.

The weather was super hot, like sauna. I was staying at home most of the time, resting, watching TV, playing with my niece and nephews, had mahjung with sisters or went online. Well, while online, people kept sending me different URL with photos of Edison Chen sex scandal, which is one of the hottest news in town now. :) Didn't manage to catch up with many friends, only managed to meet up with Ms. Aeroplane and WL who's back from Sydney for CNY with hubby and little Isaac. Ang Pow? Not to mention. I didn't get much as I didn't visit any relatives or friends except Ms. Aeroplane and WL.

The only delighting moment was when mum, dad and my second sister stroke 4D on the New Year Eve. I was happy for them though I didn't strike any. Since it's CNY, everyone was having the mentality of 'once a year only' to bet or gamble in order to 'fatt choy'(strike fortune). Almost my whole family members were betting on a few streets long of numbers EACH, which was a bit too 'happening', like money isn't money. Anyway, this would ONLY happen during CNY, never during normal days.

It short, it was quite a boring CNY. I have coughed away my CNY and 1kg of hard gained weight! 1kg means a lot to me! For me, gaining 1kg of weight is as hard as some people trying to lose it. Give me back 1kg of weight!!!

Home

I am home! After driving for 2 hours 15 mins for a journey of 210KM alone on the North-South Highway, I am finally home to start my Chinese New Year holidays.

It's really a relief that the traffic was smooth and there was no jam at all. Glad that I have strategically made the right choice of day to go home to avoid the massive jam.

Sorethroat is slowly subsiding but I am still coughing like no body's business. Damn hate coughing! Turned the air-cond to blow side way to avoid irritating my throat but I still coughed sporadically while driving on my journey home. It was very torturing! It had given me a little excuse to speed a little to reach home faster, as the traffic was damn clear.

Going home for Chinese New Year is supposed to be something happy and exciting... but it seems to have also become a nightmare of massive traffic jam which is really testing patience.

Last year's experience was a total nightmare. I attemped to go home 'twice' on the same day before I actually got home. The jam started right after Damansara Toll in PJ and after about 1 & 1/2 hours, I still hadn't reached Sungai Buloh! If you are a frequent traveler on the North-South Highway, you know what I am talking about. I wanted to pee so much, but the traffic was not moving, and the nearest rest point was nowhere to be seen. If I continued to get stuck like that, my urine bladder was going to burst for sure. When I was near the Gurthrie highway exit to Shah Alam/Klang, I made the decision to exit and detour back to PJ to sleep, of course to settle the urgent business first! I went back again at night. It was still jam but less jam and more tolerable. I was glad for my decision to detour. The massive jam was from Damansara Toll to Jelapang Toll in Ipoh, covering 200 over Kilometers and it was covered in the front page of all the major newspapers! It took 6-8 hours for a journey of 2 hours plus to reach home if I chose to continue the journey in daytime.

Enough of recalling last year's experience. Dog tired of driving and coughing today, but feel peaceful as I am home and not part of the victims of the massive jam this year. Time to hit the sack.

Wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year. For those who are traveling home, safe journey home. For those who can't come home for Chinese New Year for a reason or another, Happy Chinese New Year too and home is where the heart is.

Curry Car

While other people own a Curry House restaurant, I owned a CURRY CAR last night.

Had a long day running around to client's place at Shah Alam and back in the office. On my way home after work, I turned to Damansara Uptown to pack the yummy Curry Chee Cheong Fen with fried dried shrimp and Yong Tau fu from Yip Hup Kee for dinner.

God knows, the curry sauce spilled and splashed on the window, the door and the safety belt of the passenger seat in front. Not only that, the curry disaster also contaminated both sides of the window as well as on the cushion on the left side of the back seat! Don't ask me how could it happen technically, it just happened! Damn it!

I was dog tired and hungry, and there's no way that I was going to spend time to clean the mess myself. Thus, I sent my car (which was just washed not long ago) for washing at a Shell petrol station on my way home.


At the car wash of petrol station, I was having problem communicating with the 4-5 workers there comprising Bangladeshis (I assumed) and Indonesians. The Bangladeshis were helpful but just couldn't understand what I said when I was telling them to clean off the curry sauce in the car. When I was trying hard to explain to them, 1 of them asked me if it was 'darah' (blood) in the car while I repeatedly mentioned 'Curry'. I almost vomited blood. Their English and Malay proficiency as you and I know, are registered under private limited. On the other hand, the Indonesians workers were showing bad attitudes. There were like deaf and not listening when I spoke to them in Malay. I had to stand there to supervise them (even using sign languages) to get rid of my problem, to wipe off the curry sauce inside my car before they turned stain.

RM10 gone for the car wash. Not much of an issue for the RM10 but the frustration, tireness (as I started to have sorethroat and feel like falling sick) and the hunger...

What a day! #$@#%#^%&%^*^&(&*)*()*()*(!@#!@#!$!

I am done cursing... and I am still breathing.

Moment of Truth

The weather wasn't good on Sat. It rained in the afternoon and was still drizzling a little in the evening. I had to call off my plan to go for an evening jog in UM campus, where I usually jog. I went to the gym at my apartment instead. Comparatively, I prefer to jog outdoor as I can feel to progression as I jog and enjoy the natural scenery. However, indoor gym would be the alternative due to weather or if I am lazy to drive out.

I jogged for 45 minutes and cycled for about 15 minutes. After an hour of exercise, i had a good sweat. It was around 7:30pm. I went up to my place only to realize that I left the key of the extra padlock (recently added) in my room! 1 house mate has gone to Taiwan while another was out for dinner. I didn't bring my handphone with me too since I was just downstairs, within the apartment compound.

Without handphone, how to contact my house mate for rescue?! So shit! Since I couldn't go in, I went down again, wandering around, trying hard to recall my house mate's mobile no. No matter how hard I tried, I still failed to recall hers and other contact numbers of some friends who have my house mate's number. Those contact numbers that I can remember off hand belong to friends who are too far away to come to my rescue. I was wandering here and there trying to figure out who could I contact and trying hard to remember their numbers. Unfortunately, all my attempts failed thoroughly.

Imagine with my sweaty body after exercising for 1 hour, with chilling wind blowing everywhere that I walked, I felt so cold. I was looking for a place that's less reachable by the chilling wind but there was none! I felt hungry too.

Finally, I decided to go to the guardhouse for shelter. I borrowed the phone and made a call to a friend who is usually quite mobile, and whose number that I could remember. Too bad, he was in Kajang and too far away to come to at least take me out for dinner instead of just waiting endlessly.

Knowing my house mate as a not so outgoing person, I decided to wait for her to come back as she normally won't be back too late. I waited patiently at the guardhouse. The guards actually passed me a locksmith's contact number but I decided to hang on for a while.

Time seemed to pass so slowly. Apart from being uneasy with my sweaty sticky and body, I started to feel tired and hungry. How I wished the time to pass faster or my house mate to return earlier. I had been wandering around and waiting in the guardhouse till 9:30pm. What if my house mate was returning very late or not returning for the night? Finally I decided not to wait any further and called the locksmith considering if I I kept on waiting and if the night got later, I would be dying of hunger and the locksmith might charge me double or sky high.

Within 10 minutes time, the locksmith arrived. He was a tall and fair guy. He brought along all his gears from lightweight to heavyweight. After he looked at and examined the padlock, straight away he told me, that kind of padlock is very hard to open, and suggested to saw the 'ears' of the gate, where the padlock was placed. I told him to try for a while first before using that ultimate solution as it will be troublesome for me to get people to seal it back. I even told him that I would rather pay him even without him opening anything if my house mate came back any time, than sawing the 'ears' of the gate.

Anyway, he kept on trying while I was praying hard that my house mate would return in time. He kept telling me it would be better to use that ultimate solution while I kept buying some time. I asked for the last 5 minutes and he agreed. On the 4th minute, he was already getting ready to saw. I asked him to hang on for another minute as time was not up yet and told him that a lot of things can happen in 1 minute.

Suddenly, I heard a 'ting' sound and saw some people coming out from the lift. I was dissapointed that I couldn't find any sign of my house mate's face from these 4-5 people that walked out from the lift. On a second glance, in that moment of truth, I spotted a familiar face and it was my house mate! Thank God!

'See, I told you!', I said proudly to the locksmith. He smiled at me and said, 'Luckily you insisted till the last minute.' However I still needed to pay the locksmith the minimum charge of RM50. He's a licensed locksmith and he did show me his license and the list of authorized charges. At first, I was trying to negotiate for a lower charge but after that I saved my saliva to bargain with him and paid him RM50. He deserved it as he was willing to come to my rescue (though no actual rescue done ultimately) so promptly and don't forget it was on Sat night. Guess what? I had only RM51 of cash with me, just enough to pay the bill with RM1 left. Haha...

It was around 10:30pm when I actually got in to my place and I hadn't even had my dinner! Was initially planning to cook rice & dishes for dinner if the homeless incident didn't happen but I could only settle with Indomee and tofu, a speedy istant dinner. What a night!

I wasn't angry or anxious in the process of waiting as it wouldn't help. Instead, I was calm to think and waited patiently. The sky wasn't falling down anyway.

Was I lucky or unlucky? Come to think of it, it was my own carelessness that lead to this homeless incident and I would consider myself lucky at making the right decision at the critical moment, though there was a price of RM50 to pay for it.

If there is a piece of white papar with a dark spot on it, I choose to see the white area rather than the dark spot to make myself feel better. Move on, life goes on!

2007 Flashback

Another year has passed. As we grow older, the more we feel the lost of time as each year passes. There are so much more to be done and yet time is passing without slowing down, whether we like it or not.

Looking back at the year of 2007, these are the few things that flash back in my memory.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Somewhen in January, I went to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for 4 days to attend my ex-company annual conference, gathering 13 offices from Asia. Most of the time, we were attending back to back seminar and training in the hotel ballroom or outdoor team building event. It was more tiring that working! From the conference, it reflected that in the name of commitment, some people have actually traded their life balance and even the importance of family for monetary rewards and to survive the highly demanding and pressured environment. My inner self was wondering ‘do I want to be like them?’

I didn’t really have the chance to visit the city much due to the tight schedule. What I would not forget about the city was the chaotic traffic and mentally torturing non-stop honking noise, fatal road accident every single day (life is so fragile on the road in HCMC) and the most disgusting taste of pork on earth that I’ve ever tasted in my life when I bit on a spring roll! I almost vomited! I wished to have more time to see the city.

Unhappiest Chinese New Year Ever
I am a person who works and plays hard. I can be working very hard through out the year but Chinese New Year is a time for me to rest and be with family and friends. 2007’s was the unhappiest Chinese New Year I’ve ever had. Due to the selfishness of some bitches, I was deprived of spending adequate precious time with family and friends back in hometown. I’ve never encountered this before in my previous years of working life. I started to wonder, where has this person (that I respect as far as work is concerned) positioned the importance of family in her priority of life… Work seems to supersede everything, including her family.

Home
Felt no sense of belonging with my last job, the house of notes, and the city at times... I headed for home very frequently, more frequent than I can expect. Just wanted to get out of town, stay at home, do nothing and enjoy the tranquility and mum’s delicious cooking. When I needed a sip of Ipoh white coffee, Ms. Aeroplane was always there for me, and she still is.


New Beginning
There were a few new changes in 2007. I took big risk and opted myself out of an environment where I don’t belong to. I quitted my last job and I shifted out of the ‘House of Note’ to my current place where I can cook again, and I learned something about ‘Wok Seasoning’ when I bought new wok for cooking. I bought a new anti-static mattress to ease my static dilemma. I am happier now with all these changes that I have chosen. If you are stuck, find your way out.

Blogging
Started my first ever blog in April and my Chinese blog followed in September.

KK Trip
Went to the Land Below the Wind in May. Had a great time with Padas River white water rafting, Mount KK hike, the seafood, coconut pudding, grilled clam… the memorable ‘will you marry me drama’ and every moment of the trip. It’s the most luxurious hiking trip that I’ve ever experienced as compared to my other previous hiking trips.

Good Luck or Bad Luck?
My luck had been on a roller coaster ride. One moment I could be darn lucky and it could be followed by a bad luck incident the next moment. Fell at the staircase and sprained my ankle 1 week before my KK hiking trip. Fortunately, I managed to recover in time and still made it to the summit. Got parking summon from MBPJ for the monthly pass that didn’t stick well on my car’s windscreen and dropped out of sight of the officer. Stroke 4D (with small amount of reward) a few times this year. Hehe... Got an ugly triangle burn scar (which seems no sign of going off… sigh…) on my left hand while cooking in a camping trip. I slipped and fell 3 times in 60 seconds (for unknown reasons…) at the Curve and it was legendary! Till today, it still puzzles me how did it actually happen.

Tioman – The Island of Cat
I went to Tioman Island in August for an escapade with some friends who went diving. We stayed at Salang Bay. Since I am not a diver, I took my own sweet time to relax on the beach. Unfortunately the trip was pretty much spoilt by cats! I was VERY MUCH ANNOYED with the presence of cats all over the island, especially when they surrounded our table each time we dined. I couldn’t really eat or wander around in peace. Don’t ask me why, I just don’t like cats and am afraid of them!

Fireworks, The Aeroplane & the People That I Miss
Went to catch the Malaysia International Fireworks Competition at Putrajaya for 20 minutes of splendour with 2 hours of jam. Saw an aeroplane flew passed the sky filled with the splendid fireworks and it reminded me of people who are apart from me. I actually miss them and I wish them all the best, no matter where they are.

Wonderful People
Met some wonderful new friends including some special ones and I enjoyed the moments spent with them. It takes sincerity, truthfulness, caring, sharing, understanding, and acceptance of differences to reap the most out of friendship.

Damaged Hair
Rebonding is an inaugural event for my yearly calendar for easier maintenance of my hair throughout the year. I have never had any problem with rebonding as my hair stylist has been doing a good job for the past few years. I was lazy to locate where my hair stylist’s salon has shifted to, and I wanted to try a new salon at Taman Megah, PJ. The result was disastrous! Money and time spent, and my healthy hair was severely damaged and it looks like dried grass! I was so pissed off and sad! Lesson learnt, always stick to the hair stylist who understands your hair the best and can always do a good job for your hair.

Many Late Nights
Hit by facebook mania and couldn’t stop watching HK TVB series one episode after another! Spent many late nights on both. My Panda eyes are getting darker and darker. This is not good. 1 of my New Year resolutions is to sleep early!

New Toy - Sony Ericsson K770i
My Nokia 6020 just died all of a sudden till it couldn’t even be fixed or turned on. I was forced to get another new phone. As X’mas was approaching, I got myself a new Sony Ericsson K770I as X’mas present. It’s the most expensive X’mas present ever for myself.

I Wonder
Started to wonder where have all the teachings and values gone for some people, when it comes to pursuing personal happiness and love. Reality hurts…

X’mas
I had a round of gluttony at Datin’s place on Christmas Eve. We, the ladies were being asked by R if we are ‘L’ (Lesbian). Ahahaha… We are definitely 200% not ‘L’ and but we are ‘L’adies.

New Year Eve
I had dinner, spent my New Year eve in church, and had Satay for supper with some friends. I am not a Christian but have no issue attending church on certain occasions. I have been to church a few times prior to this. Enjoyed some of the hymns and gained something from the preaching. Peace is in a person. I think peace is most needed for a friend who is suffering from depression at the moment. I wish her to find peace in herself. From the dinner and the Satay session, I learned that Prince of Sweet & Sour Pork is a hardcore fan of anything sweet & sour other than pork and he actually drinks (instead of eating) Satay sauce, and Mr. Ice Bandung can actually have 2 more cups of Ice Bandung during supper after having 1 cup during dinner. The spirit is really hardcore, man! Ahahaha… Well, there is nothing wrong with it as they are just being faithful to the choice of food or drink that they love.

There might be some memories in 2007 that have slipped my mind but it doesn't really matter. Life goes on and there's a wonderful year ahead, I hope.

Wishing everyone a happy and a better new year in 2008!

Random Facts

Got tagged by KY.

1. A movie that made you laugh.
She's The Man. It was hilarious!

2. A book that made you cry.
Hardly read books nowadays. Read blogs, magazines and newspaper more. Can't really recall a book that made me cry. But there are 2 books that caused me many late nights - 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels & Demon', both by Dan Brown.

3. A best friend.
I am grateful to have some good friends around. They walked into my life at different stages of time. Some are old friends with friendship that has lasted for ages till now and some are new friends. Each and everyone of them holds a special place in my heart that is irreplaceable by anyone. Kind of hard to just pick one as the best. They are equally important to me and I appreciate them all. For those who are apart, I miss them and am always wishing them all the best.

4. A favourite childhood memory
Whacking durian, the squatting way! My whole family loves Durian. Whenever dad bought back some Kampung Durians (in those days, there were not many sophisticated choices like nowadays), we would squat in a circle in the kitchen area. Dad would open the Durian, and the rest of us would be waiting in excitement and filled with expectation on each Durian. Needless to say, when a Durian was opened, everyone was so swift in grabbing and whacking the Durian. It was always a clean sweep!

5. Your favourite animal.
I am more of a plant person. I dislike and am fear of any animal with fur or feather, with cats & dogs topping the list, and penguin an exception. Anyway, I would just stay away from them and won't harm them. But when they approach me...die, man! I would scream out of fear if I don't manage to shoo them away. If I seriously need to pick one, I think I would pick fish, no fur or feather mah! Ahahaha :D

6. Your favourite food.
I love Butter Cheese Crab. I am a food lover and have a variety of favourite food. It's hard to just pick one. Apart from crab, I also love anything hot and spicy, Asam Laksa, Prawn Mee, Tomyam, Sambal Belacan, Curry Noodle, Fried Kuey Teow, Popiah, Pan Mee, Ipoh Hor Fun, Seafood, Dim Sum, Prawn Cracker (Cucuk Udang, Chinese version, with prawns on top), Rojak, Lok Lok and a lot more! Damn, salivary gland is hyperactive now!

7. An item of clothing you can’t do without.
Baggy T-Shirt. I am most comfortable in T-shirt and short pants/jeans plus slippers.

8. Something you collect.
Corks from wine bottles. So the next time you drink wine, please keep the cork for me. I also collect some nice liquor and perfume bottles.

9. Your favourite store to shop in.
Ikea. Feel like home and so comfortable when shopping there.

10. Your favourite flower.
White Calla Lily.

No one in mind to tag. Please feel free to tag yourself and let me know. :)