One Butter Cake, Please

One thing that I have found I love doing is baking. It's because whatever I bake usually lasts for more than one meal, unlike cooking. Plus, I love cakes and sweet things.

For over 4 months now, I haven't touched any of my baking things and suddenly I am faced with an "order", my very first request from my boss for her birthday. This is good, as it has spurred me to get off my tush and start searching where my flour, sugar and stuff are degenerating. Also, I get to use my brand new Kitchen Aid, thanks to my bro and sis who got it for my wedding! Yup, an exciting weekend is ahead. No wonder I woke up this morning thinking it was a Saturday. Bummer of a way to wake up.

Anyway, back to baking this cake for my boss, I unfortunately have no idea how to ice it. Thank God my mum is coming down this weekend.

Promotions

Hanging out with the gals last night brought a lot of good news. E has been promoted to Assistant Manager and G has changed jobs together with a substantial pay rise. Really happy for them, especially E who has been working so hard here and not really recognised. G keeps telling me to change jobs more often so that my pay packet will rise. Easier said than done for me unfortunately.

And C is hilarious! She works for a company that sells organic fertilizer, "in short, I sell shit". Laying egg sort of chicken shit only, mind you. She goes on to describe her visit to the shit factory. I always knew we could use every part of a chicken (and pig too, for the record) but never imagined people paying for their faeces! There you go, a new thing learnt.

Auntie Susan

I don't know how this term was coined, most likely from one of my friends but we use this name for that time of the month. Just like many others, I too suffer a certain degree of pain during the initial 24 hours. One way of curing this pain is to actually sleep for a short while so I was really glad when I had the entire night to sleep over it.

KS has been worried ever since our friend got pregnant accidentally so I've been telling him all sorts of things like craving for vege and fruits which really got him worried as I'm a strict meatatarian. Am I mean or what? :)

Headache, headache, headache!

This morning I received an email from the car rental whom I have been emailing for rates etc. So I finally sent my email to confirm my booking and they tell me the car I want is no longer available! "We have another one for extra NZx, are you interested?" Well! Times NZx by the 8 days and then by the increasing exchange rate...

So I started frantically Google-ing other car rentals (something which I should have done right from the start) and got a major headache looking at the various prices by lunch time. Hopefully I have more responses by tomorrow since they promised a 24 hour reply!

And tonight, I'm going to meet my gang of ex colleagues for dinner and they have requested to see my wedding photos. I have with me a CD with 461 photos and when I looked at ALL of them, my head started pounding again. Let alone I had to scrutinise each and make a selection to show them. Heaven forbid me from letting anyone have a headache just to see my wedding photos!

Harry Potter dream

Now, after writing that bit about being dreamless yesterday, I had a dream last night which I vaguely remember. It had something to do with Harry Potter being so consumed with his rage in the middle of a game where they had to hold some kind of sword that he slaughtered someone and was put in this mental hospital. Nope, not something I'd like to dream about again. But if the next book talks has a hint of anything like this, I will set my charges on my dreams.

Take for granted

Yesterday my place had very low water pressure and it jolted me into realisation how much I take running water for granted. We didn't have any stored water so we trickled water into a jug just in case. Of course I couldn't take a shower unless I used the water from the tank which was freezing cold. Unfortunately this morning, the water pressure wasn't back so I ended up with a cold shower. Getting really spoilt. I miss my water heater!

Dreamless

I used to have loads of weird and funny dreams, which I'd love to have blogged about. Of course, at that time I didn't start my blog yet so I didn't have anywhere to record it except to tell it to various family members.

However, since I've been married, I haven't had a memorable dream, much to my dismay. When I wake up, I usually look forward to trying to capture the floating pieces and fit them back together like a jigsaw. Kinda miss that. It would indeed be a tragedy to have dreamless sleeps.

"A Toad, Madam?"

Yesterday it was the perfect day to laze around at home. It rained in the evening and continued to drizzle into the night. We flung our doors open, letting in the fresh scent of the rain drift into the house.

Dimming the hall into one solitary light in the dining hall, there was a warm cozy glow which was accentuated by the twilight from outside.

Then, as I walked past the dining hall into the kitchen, there was this brown grey lump nestled at the wall which caught the corner of my eye. Peering at it closely, it wiggled and I exclaimed to KS that we had a visitor. The poor toad must have somehow jumped in from one of the open doors and found itself in a strange flat but dry plain.

After chasing it out with a broom handle and a broompan, I set it free in the garden. But during the process, he expanded his body and exhaled with a loud hissing noise. Now, I've read about them squirting some horrible substance that makes its enemies avoid toads so I was apprehensive in approaching it too closely. Anyone know if my floor/furniture is poisoned? Should I be scrubbing everything down with Dettol or Clorox??

Lovely Sunday

Yesterday was a fantastic day spent together at home. We had set aside this day to spend time to be at home, to make it feel more like home somewhat. Did all our laundry, cleared whatever mess, shifting my clothes lying on the floor to it's proper place in the cupboard, watching loads of CSI Season 4 and another DVD... Then KS cooked a great dinner and ironed the clothes. Isn't he fantastic?

We also played with the new camera and am trying to grasp the functions of it. Altogether, it was the most relaxing day since our marriage. Like an ordinary weekend is supposed to sound actually.

Armed and ready

I forgot to mention that last night we went to my favourite shopping mall, Mid Valley to "take a look" at some digital cameras. Both of us aren't great photographers and have in fact lived the last 6 years without any camera so we were not fussed about what kind of camera, as long as it's affordable and has a 3.2 megapixels.

The camera we had in mind was a Canon which was going for RM699 as advertised. What one shop had offered was a 128 memory chip plus a 3 year warranty which we thought was a pretty good offer. KS's friend mentioned to him to just check out the market price and let him know as he can get a better price from this other friend of his. So there we were, market researching.

We walked into the first shop and the offer was worse than the previous offer we were given so we walked on to the next shop. This was a proper camera/photo shop and was attended to by this late 40s Chinese man. Asking us what our budget was, he slowly convinced us that a Nikon for a RM110 more was more worth it. He was really good, except we didn't like the way he kept mentioning we were "lucky" to have stepped in at 9:30pm before the "offer" ended. And although by the time he finished his spiel, it was almost 9:45pm but he assured us he would "know what to do" and would still charge us RM810 instead of the displayed price of RM999.

In the end, we bought it. Why? Because it is a Nikon and it was a 4 megapixels plus it comes with a charger (apparently the Canon didn't come with one). So I excitedly read the manual and find it to be a bit complicated for someone who has never owned or used a digital camera much. Anyways, ladies and gentlemen, we have our first a digital camera! Woo-hoo! (uh, this exclamation apparently has a different meaning in Sims 2, which I will one day own)

A picture, finally!

This is Jay

Testing out my Hello at home in PJ. This is my beloved Jay who's currently curled up on the most expensive chair in the PJ house (Mum doesn't go on the internet so I'm safe saying this). Yay! Will find more pictures to post.

Test Drive

Today we went for our very first test drive. As mentioned before, we are looking for a car since KS's car is giving him a lot of problems. So we headed to the Proton showroom in Mutiara Damansara, figuring we can't afford any other car.

It was just a short drive around the showroom area. As I took over the hot seat from KS, I could see the salesgirl gripping the handles in panic as I tried flooring the gas. The first car was a bit slow in it's pick up although it is a sportier car than the second.

We weren't sure what we were supposed to be testing out for but I suppose the general feel of both cars were enough to help us select one of the designs. Now it's down to either getting the standard or enhanced version. Unless we get itchy-fied and want to see what Honda or Toyota can offer...

No pictures!

Why? Because my company has somehow banned programmes like msn and icq so by using Picasa, I can't start up Hello, hence no pictures on my blog! Yaaaarrrrhhh! Plus I don't have internet back home except in PJ and that is like on rare occasions that I'm there.

So, my apologies for having a bare blog for the moment. I shall endeavour to rectify this by somehow finding my way to the PJ house and get this done. On dial-up. Well, better than none in Klang!

Tempting

People are starting to ask what my blog site is. Hmm... on one hand, I'd love to share it and hear comments from others. On the other hand, I just sanitised my entries so far, but have come across a few which really cannot be sanitised as that is what I want to say. But if the person reads it...

One day.... one fine day.

Men!

Last night I had a good long chat with my pregnant friend. I asked her how did this happen since it was unplanned (we've been worried as we ourselves are NOT ready for a kid) and her answer shocked me. They didn't use any protection because the husband wanted a kid even though she was not ready! And when she broke down sobbing when she learnt of the news, he asked her if it were tears of joy! MEN!

It is utterly selfish for one person to want a child and take risks when the other person is not ready. And the reason why she called me? 'Twas because he was out with the boys, leaving her at home and she felt a bit lonely. MEN! KS apologised on behalf of all men to me after I ranted this out to him.

But of course, she has psyched herself to slowly enjoy her pregnancy. I suppose that's the only thing to do now but it's not a position I'd prefer to be in right now. My heart goes out to her but really hope her joy will emanate from within her and not from her mind telling her.

Root canal: Part 2

Okay, apparently the first time I went to the dentist for this was not for a root canal. He did something else to clean the insides of my tooth as it was having a tooth resorption (I kept thinking the word as "rapture", don't ask me why). What it basically means is that the bloody part of the tooth inside gets irritated from something and starts eating the tooth from the inside. So my tooth is now just a shell after he cleaned it.

Mouth it still numb but I'd better take some painkillers before the pain hits. Once bitten, twice shy. By the way, there will be a Part 3 either next week or the week after. Keep tuning in.

Pre-printed Cards

Yet another instance where I'd like to bury my head in the sand like an ostrich. My thank you notes for those who attended my wedding have been printed with a small portion of it having a pre-printed message. I didn't feel comfortable using it as all we wrote on the card for most people are just their names at the top. It did save us a lot of time (it's coming to a month and yet we're still writing to those who didn't turn up to thank them) so I went ahead with it and gave it to many people.

Then today I google on how to say a proper thank you to my director who didn't turn up and the first thing on their Don't list is NOT TO SEND PRE-PRINTED CARDS! I feel really terrible now as yes, the cards are "cold" and "mass", not signifying a warm thank you in appreciation for their gift. *sigh*

Well, what's done is done. I'll just write from now on even if the message is the same.

Quill

What a sad sad show! Although it celebrates the life of a seeing-eye dog, we were weeping as he went through different stages of life, especially the partings.

KS's sis bought the VCD and suggested we watch it to QC it before she does (she's worse when it comes to dogs). We have adamantly agreed it will not be suitable for her to watch unless she wants a good cry.

Back to the Wild

Starting from last week, I took my cat Jay over to my new house in Klang. In PJ, he's allowed to roam the streets and occasionally come into the house when my parents are not around. But in Klang, what with packs of stray dogs and unfamiliar territories, we thought keeping him at the enclosed backyard would be sufficient (I've heard of other people keeping their cats in the cage the whole day long until they return from work!).

It started out okay, he actually got cleaner and fatter and became a bit smarter by escaping into the living and dining area. Since he didn't wreck anything, we relaxed our rules and allowed him to stay in the whole house. Until last Sunday when he cracked a vase by shoving everything off a chest of drawers, left poo-soiled paw prints on the white blinds and generally got the idea he wasn't too happy being cooped up.

So despite a meeting in the morning on Monday, I rushed him back to PJ (with him protesting loudly all the way from his cage) and deposited him at his natural habitat. It was like releasing a wild animal back to his "forest". And you know what the first thing he did? Went right to the back and started mating. Just like a young male.

Prayer Walk

Yesterday I went on my first prayer walk. Not too certain if that was how it's done, just walking, praying and trying to discern whatever that particular house was going through. We prayed for blessings and if we sensed anything, we would pray against it and bind it. We kind of stood out with our different clothing and being in a close knit community, where everyone knows everybody.

At the end of it, I wasn't sure if we achieved anything out of it. Maybe not to me personally but I hope it has had some effect on the community there.

Extra service...

with your parking at Public Bank in town, that is. I haven't used my car in less than a week but the smog at my new home in Klang is really bad. So much so that the thick dust on my entire card complete blanketed every surface and I could hardly peer out of the windscreen.

So when I got to Public Bank for a meeting first thing on a Monday morning was a pleasant offer to wipe down my car for a mere RM4! Boy am I pleased for this extra service!

Pregnant!

No, not me but one of my good friends. We got hitched ie got our boyfriends at the same time and also tied the knot almost at the same time too (her's was last Nov). She sent me an sms yesterday to say she's pregnant, although they had planned to wait a year after they were married.

Now, the strangest feeling of all... I don't feel super happy. I mean, my mind says "Oh wow! She's gonna have a baby!" but on the other hand, I feel suddenly pressured. No, I am NOT going to get pregnant just because she is! It just made me realise how unprepared I am for motherhood and my hubby feels the same. I wonder when the "mother hen" feeling will pop up for us.

Perhaps I'm also a little concerned for her since she seems to be in financial cycles, one minute she's absolutely broke the next they are ok. I suppose it's not fair for me to judge since they both are working a business which does not bring in a fixed income for them both. Anyway, if God looks after the sparrows...

Fats!!!

Now that the wedding is over, I find that I'm no longer concerned with my weight and size. Tis a bad thing indeed although I don't seem to be eating more than usual. Maybe I'm worried for not panicking anymore when I totally fill the chair. My clothes still fit though, but then, it's only 3 weeks since I was married...

Stupid Pos Malaysia

I'm so angry with Pos Malaysia. First they change their new policies by insisting people use standard sized envelopes and increase their prices without much prior notice. Then when we try to call them to clarify what is considered "standard" and "non-standard" letters, they themselves are not sure! For 2 days we called them and spoke to different staff, and both said contradicting things.

They claim that 60% of their customers are business based. This means, they have pissed off 60% of their clients. I'm one of them. I know of several other businesses like banks who have already printed their stationery to last them a long time and now perhaps their envelope does not fit the standard size, they have to pay 66% more. Now, although it may be just RM0.20 more, but I will be sending out over 40,000 mails for my next project which translates it to a whopping RM8000! And this increase of RM0.20 is the minimal. Stupid Pos Malaysia.

And I'm not the only one. I called up to enquire about my magazine subscription on why it hasn't arrived, they are also experiencing difficulties because of this change. So the two of us had a good time bitching about this new system.

Stars: Part 2

I failed to mention I have this knack of not actually seeing the celebrity when they're right in front of my eyes. For Innuendo, I passed them by, knowing they were there but I was actually looking at the staff looking at them. So when someone asked how did they look like, I don't actually know.

Yesterday on the way out for lunch, Asha Gill, the ex MTV VJ was sitting in a pondok in my factory premise, waiting to speak to one of the managers. I had noticed a cat nearby by failed to see her sitting there. Never mind, I've already seen her in person at another event.

This week, Malaysia plays host to the F1 Grand Prix and the whole KL is suddenly influxed with celebrities like Alan Cumming (Night Crawler of the X-Men II), Carmen Elektra, Boyz to Men, Backstreet Boys, Black Eyed Peas... the list goes on. They're all here for the Force of Nature event and the F1. The press is surely going to go mad trying to capture them all.

Privileged

There are two things that I have experienced in my life so far that I keep thinking back and really feel extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to do them:

1. I've spent a night on a yacht in Singapore. My ex-room mate in college invited me to stay at her home in Singapore and her family took me out onto their yacht where we spent the night on the waters off Singapore. It's hard work having a yacht, as you need to keep it sparkling clean at all times (I wonder why they paint it white then).

2. The first time I sat on a Boeing 777 was on my way back from New Zealand after my graduation. My friend's father was the pilot and my dad and I were bumped up to business class for the 10 hour flight. This was the first time I would see KLIA and oh, the way I saw it was amazing. As they were making their descent, I was invited by my friend's dad together with my friend to sit in the jump seats right behind the pilots. We were flying past Melaka then and there was a flurry of instructions and flicking of switches as the two pilots prepared for landing. Wow. KLIA will never look as spectacular from the side windows.

Stars

There are some local singers at my office today, in conjunction with a tsunami fund-raising concert coming up this week. Most of the staff are there right now, gaping at them and trying to get autographs.

I've never really been into autographs actually. The only one I have is of our former Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir. He was kind and patient enough to sign my first day cover but now, I really don't know what to do with it.

Oh, and my other one is of Anggur, the columnist of wine related articles in a local paper. He signed on my name card which I then stuck onto his book. I must have been very drunk at that time coz he must have been bewildered and probably scared with my enthusiasm of getting his autograph. I swear I will not repeat begging anyone to sign on my name card.

Warning from the deceased

Oh, I must blog this before I forget. When the massive earthquake hit Acheh on 26th Dec 04, some parts of Malaysia felt the tremours.

Now, I have this acquaintance whose wife and mother-in-law was at the father-in-law's grave at this point of the morning. After tidying the place from weeds, they both sat down on a nearby headstone in tiredness. Suddenly, they felt the tremours and almost jumped out of their skins! Quickly standing, they started apologising to the grave for trespassing and left the place in a hurry. It was only later they were calmed when they found out about the earthquake, not the wrath from the deceased!

Brown envelope

I never realised there is no equivalent word for brown envelope in Malay. They call it kelabu or gray.

Aotearoa, here we come!

We're booked! Now we need approval to take leave. Super excited, planning to do what there, and the headache of getting all our gear together will start soon. But in the meantime, WE'RE GOING TO NEW ZEALAND!

Planning to o back to our uni, meet some folks we haven't clapped eyes on since we left. Our wedding MC, Kenneth, who stays in Auckland promises that we'll fall in love with NZ again and won't want to leave. He even quoted us the unemployment stats which is at it's all time low in 20 years. Hmmm... what does it take to move a stubborn mule....

Expenses!

When I was in NZ years ago, the exchange rate was only 1.4. Now when I want to go back there, it is an alarming 2.8. Sigh, the cost of regrets. Regret for not going to the South Island when I was so nearby.

Anyway, moving on to another expenditure, I've been stirred up and excited by my colleague who wants to get a new handphone. I've been looking for a camera phone and have been doggedly waiting for Nokia to come up with a fairly good one at good prices. Unfortunately, after waiting for so long, they have disappointed me. Other competitors like Sony Ericsson has come up with quite a good one and I'm now drooling over it. It's about RM1000 for the phone and I vow to get it once I come back from NZ. Yeah, got to check what damage the trip will cost first! Otherwise, I'll get the cheaper model, which is selling at RM600. Expenses!

Choices

Sometimes, I prefer not to have too many choices. Especially when it comes to things you can't reason with, for example paint colours. Selecting the colours for the house was a real horror but in the end, we managed to decide within a few days. We now live with the consequences of having being inspired by my company's colour theme for Winnie The Pooh.

Then last week, we were trying to decide what kind of car to get to replace his car. That sort of boiled down to how much we could afford at this point, so the elimination process went fairly well. Also, facts like how much it would cost to service or repair, the convenience of where it can be serviced, all play an important part of this decision.

Now, our main decision is to decide where to go for our honeymoon which is by the end of next month. Problem is, there is the MATTA fair starting tomorrow and we have to really juggle trying to decide WHERE to go, how much do we want to spend. If we go back to NZ, the flight would cost around the same if we went to Paris or Los Angelas! Of course, we also have to consider exchange rates, but boy! We are almost at our wits end with all the promotional prices flung by all the local travel agencies. Firstly, where? Secondly, which travel agent? We'd need to go from one agent to another to find out who is the cheapest, meaning, we need to be at the fair where a hundred thousand people will be crammed in that small hall. Thirdly, what do we do there? Stay in backpackers? Buy a packaged land tour?

If only there were like 5 travel agents with offers, then selecting the cheapest one will be easy. Gosh, the stress of holidays is taking it's toll on us even before we start on our holiday!

Different orbits

It's sad when your colleagues leave, especially close ones. Two of my closest colleages are leaving this month, whittling my lunch group from 6 to 4 AND losing the only guy in the group. Life goes on though. I've gone through this once when my other batch of close colleagues left but this time, I feel a bit more sad for I know I will not be seeing them so often after they leave. Our lives are of different orbits, meeting only at work and will never clash outside even though we live in the same city.

Now I'm depressed... coz I'd like to leave too! All this travelling isn't going to do any good to my health and relationship with my hubby. Of course, he would have to shift jobs too, otherwise, he'll be the one coming back late etc.

Scary

When I hear how people plan their entire life, it kind of scares me. It's like, ok, by the time I'm 30, I must be married with one kid. And at the age of 28, he went out to "propose" to potential mate #1 out of 3, "Hey, I've saved up enough money and I'm interested in you. Do you want to be my wife?". She's shocked, of course but eventually is won over and they get married.

Then at 30, he wants his kid, right? And she says no, she's not keen to have a kid. And he starts thinking twice about this wife. She doesn't fit into his plans, man! Gee... which is why I'm glad my church has this Pre-Marital Counselling course. We discuss these sort of things first before we tie the knot! But I'm still a bit stunned that someone can be so inflexible in their persuit of their family goals. Personal goals, no problem, they're your own, but family goals involve 2 people and both have to be in agreement, especially when it comes to kids.

Back to the story, all is fine and dandy, they have a kid now which he adores. So, this is a happily ever after.... for the time being.

Unmotivated

Heck, after driving for over an hour to get to work this morning, my brains haven't even started working. And it's the end of the day already. I'm just not motivated these days.

Growing up

The worst thing about having 2 wedding feasts is that you start comparing everything. My biggest comparison was the make up and hairdo. It leaves me with regret for how my hair and make up was done for my actual wedding as the second one in Melaka, done by this guy in a hair saloon, made me look so much better!

However, I now itch to start putting on make up on my own and learn. Not that it will make any difference in my office since not many people bother to dress up anyway. I reckon this will be my biggest challenge when I change jobs one day, to be able to dress in proper office wear, with perfectly coiffed hair and immaculate make up.

Yummy

Just discovered some yummy apple crumble at Shakey's Pizza... and then learnt they are going to close down all outlets in Malaysia. Short lived joy.

Lovey-dovey

Even though I've been going out with my hubby for 8 years now, it's strange to find myself a bit more ah... affectionate towards him these few days. Maybe this is what they call the honeymoon period.

We travel together now since we live so far away and work quite close to each other. The hour drive in the morning is so far quite pleasant, just being in each other's company. But the poor dear has to battle traffic jams after he drops me off to get into the city and when he comes to pick me after work. I don't know if he can take it for long.

Grumpot

Yesterday as we made our way to cell group, I was sort of dragging my feet. It's been a long time since we really got involved in the cell and absense does make it easier to just say, "ah, let's skip this one this week". All throughout, my thoughts kept picking at negative things going around me, especially other people's mannerisms.

It was towards the end of the cell that I finally felt the reason why I was there last night. Even though we've sort of drifted apart, she broke down and poured her heart out about the family trouble she was going through. My heart just melted and really just wanted to reach out to her and comfort her. In the end, I'm just really glad that we have such an open cell group that we can just share with each other and support one another.

However, I still don't feel up to the mark of taking over again. I feel that my role as an assistant is just that, an assistant but the whole steering and direction of the cell group should come from the leader.

Turn a page

I'm married! And today, just 4 days after the wedding, I'm back at work. Of course, I can't find any strain of eagerness to do anything but nevertheless, I'm back at work.

This new chapter has been relatively easy so far. Nothing much to stress about. In fact, I'm taking this change very well. Of course there is much to be done about the packing and shifting but I think, everything's cool.

Mum finally said "I love you" in the strangest way. She said, "Now that you're not staying in PJ anymore, we miss you". That's the closest I've ever heard her say how much she cares. (Of course I'll ignore the rest of her sentence, "We need another driver around the house").