AirAsia Eyeing Perth

That's the news that caught my eye last week. As I had planned/suggested that my parents, Jan, KS and I go to Perth at the end of the year, I have been wondering how we are going to afford another trip this year. Question is, do I save up and go somewhere KS and I have already been? But this trip is more of taking my parents around Perth so yeah, I guess I'd like to go.

On the other hand, my colleague, who graduated from Curtin, discouraged me from going in Dec/Jan as it is gonna be very hot. And the best time to go would be during the Royal Perth Show which happens in Sept/Oct. Since this year is too soon, hopefully by next year Sept/Oct, AirAsia would have started their flights to Perth and save us $$.

Sorry Karen, looks like Canada will be on hold for quite some time. Like maybe a decade or two. Or when AirAsia flies there too. Like never.

Busy Packing

I've been running around like made these few days. Being in charge of the logistics of the Mission Trip this Friday is not an easy task. Every hour, I would smack my forehead and say "Aiyah! I forgot to buy/do ..." and it's driving KS nuts. Ok, ok, so I now carry a pen and a piece of paper to write it all down. Not that it soothese my nerves!

Gulp! Five more days!

And 5 more days til my boss leaves the company. I know she loves butter cake and I hope I have the mood to bake her one tomorrow. My poor Kitchen Aid is in a state of neglect. Hopefully I can squeeze in baking time in the morning tomorrow.

And come Monday, I'll be eagerly anticipating a volcano to erupt from my partner after I sent off a reply to their 6 page long complaint letter. Ooo, I am so looking forward to Monday - NOT!

Malaysia in the Religious Spotlight

If you Google "Lina Joy", you will know what I mean. The case of the Malay girl who converted to Christian and is trying to change her religious status to Christianity so that she can marry another Christian has caught the world's attention.

High Court decision is about to come out one of these days, on whether she is allowed to do so or not. To say "Yes" would cause an uproar with the Muslims of this nation. There will be strikes, persecution of those who intend to renounce Islam and well... unrest. To say "No" would be a really ridiculous thing because a law can't force you to say you are something you are. But to say "No" is also the easier way out with less violence.

Let's see what the High Court has to say.

Muffin?

Almost a decade ago, when I was faintly interested and, ok I admit, furiously flirting with KS in uni before he finally decided to ask me out, we went for a trip to the north of Auckland, Paihia with a bunch of friends. On the way back, I was sitting at the passenger's seat and KS was driving. I bought some muffins and since it was a long way home, I offered a pinch to him and tried to feed him since he was driving. He shot a glance to our friend Kenneth who was sitting at the back and resisted but at my insistence, he took the bite gingerly.

We were recalling that incident this evening and he says it was a very suggestive gesture. If I were to feed anyone else like that now, he would be very upset. I have a different opinion that I would feed anyone if they are driving too or if their hands were full. Of course, it would be a different thing if we were at a dinner table since the person would be perfectly capable of feeding himself. Hmm... just thought it was an interesting difference in opinion. But if it upsets him, I guess I won't do it again.

Bits n Pieces

Two more weeks before we fly off to Cambodia. I'm not sure if I'm excited or dreading it as I don't think I'm prepared.

I'm supposed to be looking at my "work" for Cambodia but I've just been so lazy. There are 4 books waiting for me to finish, Bare Bones, The Time Traveller's Wife, Expresso Tales (2nd installation of 44 Scotland Street) and my newly borrowed Terry Pratchett's The Truth. By the way, I went back to the book sale in Atria and ALL Terry Pratchett books were GONE! In one week! But then again, he's a favourite author.

It's been a strange week at work too. I know my boss is worried that I am also thinking of leaving since my immediate boss is leaving. And I must say it did cross my mind MANY times as she is my mentor at work. She did encourage me somewhat in staying, at least until next year as she said the bosses were pleased with my performance and that I can look forward to a nice bonus. Of course, "nice bonus" here would be anything better than what I used to get back in the old company.

I guess she knows my motivations well because that has certainly given me hope. The funny thing was she confessed her shock when she learnt of my pay just before I came here. I don't know whether to laugh or cry at that but hey, I guess the working environment there makes up for the lack of pay.

Back to less depressing things, I discovered Jaya Supermarket selling Thai basil plants which I was tempted to get. Jan keeps telling me of Ron having this pot of basil in his kitchen which he plucks from everytime he needs a few leaves for his cooking. Sounds so ang moh, you know, plucking from your own plants to eat. Completely foreign here in Klang Valley. But Thai basil? What is it used for? Hahaha... nice to plant but don't know how to use. Anyways, at least I know where to get it from.

Over Drinks

Because of the mass exodus and now the entrails of it with one more leaving (no more, I hope!), my boss decides to do something about it. He's invited us to be open with him, speak up if there's anything we aren't comfortable with and basically wants to get us going as a team.

So in his first effort, he asked the whole gang out for drinks. And I gave him only one rule: No talk of work. "Me? Talk about work? I never!"

He behaved and we all had a really good time just talking. Okay, okay, I talked the most, pulling out all my little stories of Eric and the Snake, Eric and the Burning Kitchen (I've just realised I haven't blogged this! And I found another story of Eric and the Gas Tank!), Singaporeans who Bought a Bear Cub in Thailand Thinking it was a Puppy... you know, all that party stories you save up to make others laugh. We had a good time although I could see Boss straining not to talk about work. He remained silent most part listening to our banter.

It's a good start though. Next time we're going to put him under the microscope and make him talk.

Smokin' Sessions

Here's something I just wrote on a local newspaper blog. I doubt if it will ever be printed or shown on the website as some people never seem to understand sarcasm. But hey, I've put in a qualifier at the end!

Do you have anything that’s piling up and needs burning? Bring it over to the Kesas Highway, just after the Kota Kemuning toll. Open burning illegal? Not here!

2 Easy Steps:

1. Bring your old newspapers, old mattress or heck, just anything that you’d like to see burn!
2. Come to the spot as recommended above after working hours and burn to your heart’s content!

Guarantee:

• No one will catch you! Promise!
• Good for those residents in Kota Kemuning, Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Bandar Puteri, Bandar Botanic and Bandar Parklands who gave up smoking and desires to fill their lungs with smoke again – without actually smoking!
• Some residents have complained every year but hey, the burning party is still ON! Looks like the residents here aren't important enough for anyone to be bothered to take action.
• It’s really fun to see the wildlife smoked out of their homes.

This Smokin' Sessions happen EVERY SINGLE YEAR around this time for a couple of months. Be sure not to miss this year's challenge of making visibility below 100m on the highway and cause exciting crashes! 17 July night came close at 200m, we're nearly there!

Seriously, when will this open burning end??!

Happiness is...

...finding what was once lost.

Remember sometime in April I mentioned that my burgandy bible was missing? Today, after 3 long months, it's been found! It was placed at the Lost & Found box in church, which I never knew existed! I'm so happy to have it back! I was even thinking about it on Thursday while I was in a taxi, thinking I might have dropped it in one that day.

Unwilling Diet

I'm down with massive purging. For two days now I haven't had anything solid except for a slice of bread just 10 mins ago. Too bad it ain't Friday today so I can get MC. :)

It's been a while since I've had purging but I've always missed that I'd grow a bit slimmer after each bout. But I don't remember being in so much pain. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Unfortunately, having a tummy ache and vomiting spells will have a lot of people asking, "So are you pregnant?". I hope Mum doesn't think that either. I swear it's the chocolate drink I had at Starbucks on Thursday evening. Milk doesn't go well with me and I felt sick right after drinking it. But thereafter, I had this lovely beef noodles and beef also doesn't agree with me with age, as I can't seem to digest it properly. Bummer, no more steaks for me.

So today's just another day of resting around the house while KS has already washed the laundry and gone to church.

I have a theory that I should let out all the poison in my body before taking the pills to stop me from purging right? Just drink a lot of water, wait until 24 hours then only take the pill?

Gearing For Cambodia

KS dropped by during lunch hour to go shopping for our Cambodia stuff today. My office area is filled with wholesalers and we spent a good part of the hour sifting through children's toys. We bought RM100 of toys. It's gonna feel like Christmas in Aug!

Our trip is from 4 to 12 Aug. I've been trying to take leave since 2 weeks ago but my boss refuses to sign my leave form. "I will sign it..." "So why can't you sign it now? Besides, just to let you know I've already bought my ticket". He still hasn't signed it but I doubt if he's the kind of boss who would forbid me from taking leave.

Anyways, I've got it all planned out already if he doesn't sign my leave. Here's my backup plan: I will quit by 1 Aug, take Emergency Leave for the duration of my trip, come back work for a month then I'll be out of a job. Then I'll go to Perth to work illegally for a couple of months then come back... and then I haven't decided. Oh well, it sounds like a swell plan anyway.

Unexpected Find

I finished a meeting earlier than expected today so I had time to kill before KS picked me up. Since I was in Damansara Jaya, I popped over to Atria and started walking around. To my delight, there was a book clearance sale so I decided to just "have a look".

There are so many Terry Practhett books, all going for RM10 but the one that broke my spend control was The Time Traveller's Wife! It was going for RM10 too and since I've read great reviews on it from 3 different bloggers, RM10 is pretty worth it to check it out!

Only thing that got me disappointed was finding Ptolemy's Gate selling at RM12. The book cover shouted "Monster's kind of book!" since it had to do with demons and death, so I called to verify. She highly recommended it and it was a good deal for what I thought was a trilogy. Read the first chapter on the spot and sort of liked the read. But turns out it was Part III (Part II was selling for RM10) and I couldn't find Part I. So I didn't get it. Oh well, let me borrow and find more books from the book rental place.

Chicken Feet

Man, after reading Karen Cheng's latest post, I'm having a craving for tim sum, and chicken feet in particular!

Why is it that Chinese eat the weirdest things? Someone joked that the Loch Ness Monster is no more coz it appeared to a bunch of Chinese tourists who immediately slaughtered it and consumed it to increase their vitality.

Chicken backside is also a delicacy and some people I know actually fought over it with their siblings when they were young.

Oh, I could go on and on. But the absolute worst things the Chinese eat are found in old musty brown Chinese medicine shops. Cockroaches, flies, lizards... all supposedly good for your health in one way or the other. *shudders*

Dang, I'm still craving for chicken feet. It's been a while since I last had tim sum... maybe after my Cambodia trip. Ha, where they eat tarantulas.

Nothing Much

It's been a busy week starting from the weekend. Last weekend, we went away to Awana, Gentings for a church Leader's Summit. Had a great time there and nicely spaced out in terms of activities.

Came back down on Sunday evening and had a short rest. Thereafter, I had to prepare for what I would be speaking in Cambodia. Of course, it's not as easy and it took me several nights in order to achieve a one and the half pager. Hence, I haven't been able to blog much. As other than that, nothing out of the ordinary has happened.

Today was a good day of rest in a loooonnnggg time. I watched Amelie again and some episodes of Quantum Leap. It was just to be resting at home after a non stop week (and weekend!) for some time now.

And today, my sister watched Superman and has been bitten by the gila bug over Brandon Routh. Check out this website www.brandonrouth.com will loads of yummy photos. Sigh... I must say that he looks slightly Clark Kent-ish. Ok, at least that makes him more human somehow and my level of gila-ness has subsided after more than a week.

No Bread

I’ve given up with my bread making for the entire week. On Sunday and Monday nights, I made one loaf each morning but man, you can kill birds with them. Don’t know what's going wrong. KS begged me to give bread making a rest for the entire week. I suspect it’s because his teeth are wearing down from trying to eat it.

So, bye-bye freshly baked bread aromas in the morning. For now. Anyone wants bread? I’m experimenting. Tried one recipe from allrecipes.com with over 180 people who rated it with 5 stars yet it was absolutely horrible. I’ll have to check if the fish in the pond have died since Sunday after feeding them.

Kitchen Idiosyncrasies

This is something I do not have. KS, stop smirking. Wait til you hear my colleagues "little habits". One says there is a particular way of slicing onions when you cook a dish with soy sauce. Or that fried kuey tiow is should NEVER be fried with chicken. It should only be fried with seafood or beef. Or did you know that when you fry leafy vege and if you want to put in cauliflower, you have to slice each flower so that it is the same flat shape as the leafy veg?

Even when it comes to potatoes, they have specific measurements and methods of cutting it up. For soups, it must be cubed. If it comes with chicken, it should be in wedges. Something like that.

My mum too has these tendencies. Slicing a carrot for this dish is different from another. Or the french beans must be sliced diagonally otherwise it isn't french beans. And beware, the minute it goes out of specifications, you get screamed at for not getting it right.

KS dear, aren't you glad I don't have this idiosyncracy?

Yummy

Brandon Routh plays an absolutely delicious Superman. When I first watched Christopher Reeve, my age was a single digit yet I still had a massive crush on him. So much so that I actually wrote down somewhere that I "cried buckets of tears" for something or other about him. This phrase was later on found and used mercilessly by my sister and brother to tease me endlessly.

This time, again the caped one has made me swoon over his good looks. Perhaps it is because he's the only superhero who doesn't need to mask his face. Perhaps it's his machoness. Perhaps it's because deep down, most folks want to feel as though they have a saviour looking out for them at every trip and fall.

I'm still salivating over Brandon Routh. Where on earth did they dig him out from? Move over, Brad Pitt, you're too old now.

As for the movie, it was ok. It's not something Eric would like, full of mindless action, shooting, bombings, bone breaking stuff. None of that. It focuses on his soft side. Anyways, go watch it. Expect it to be a little slow, though.