Just Missed It!

I had this list of must-watch concerts and now that my #1 (U2) on my list of checked off and #2 (Michael Jackson) will never be happening, I thought I'd give concerts a break right after the spectacular U2 concert last year.

Then today, my sis-in-law says, "Did you know George Michael is performing in Perth end of this month? No one wanted to go with me so I didn't bother."


GAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! I thought he had stopped performing! I knew he was in the USA in 2008 right after he performed for American Idol but never thought he was going to perform in this part of the world so soon! And Perth is but only 5 hours flight away! Sob.

I better keep a lookout for more of his concerts and also Josh Groban if I intend to check them off my list.

Bag Jinx

After much complaining on how my last expensive bag gave way within less than a year, I finally decided to buy an even more expensive handbag, ensuring it would be made of leather this time. And real leather, not like the last one with faux leather that peeled off horribly on the handles.

So I hunted for the bag that I would be comfortable in carrying, never mind the price tag if it's below RM1,000. Finally, I decided to get a Braun Buffel bag, after reading plenty of good comments on how happy other users are of theirs. And since they boast of their wonderful leather, I settled on one that could be converted into a sling bag.

After using it for three days, yes, just three days, the zip tab came apart. While I can fix it up in a jiffy, once it's loose, the chances of it happening again will be very likely. So tomorrow, I'm hoping I can take it back to the shop to have it fixed/exchanged.

Now is the time to see how good their customer service is. At that price, I'm expecting it to be at least better than my previous experience.

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Customer service was great! The sales staff didn't even ask if I wanted it fixed and promptly said she would replace me with a brand new bag. Excellent!

Rare Movie

There's this movie I've been wanting to get my hands on for the longest time. I watched it twice in the cinema when it came to Malaysia in year 2000, I think. Both times I was tickled to bits with it and would love to show it to my family.

The show is called "Welcome Back, Mr McDonald". KS tried to search in every DVD shop he could when he was in Japan but they all did not have it.
I myself have been searching for the DVD on the internet and find that it's been discontinued and there's a limited number of copies on Amazon. And while it is a DVD I'd like to have, to have it sent here to Malaysia is too costly. And because it's so rare, the prices for a second hand DVD is also too high for consideration. The cheapest second hand copy is going for USD14.98, which, when converted to RM, is not something I'd pay for for a DVD.

The "local suppliers" here also do not keep copies of such a movie. Hence, it looks like I have to be a bit more resourceful (ahem) and learn how to make use of P2P software.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Every year, my Chinese New Year begins with the meeting of good old friends for our yearly must-have yee sang. This year, in keeping with our tradition, we met up again and this is the first time we're taking a photo together (missing member would be Gaya's hubby who couldn't make it this time)

Then, there's the packing of the ang pows. I still prefer my ex company's ang pow packets last year but guess my new company's design for 2010 is still presentable:

And of course there would be some nice ones for parents and closer family members:This year, we didn't take our usual family photo as we were already late in heading to Masjid Tanah. Never mind, will find a time to take one when we're in Ipoh in a few days.

In Masjid Tanah, KS relatives would always have a lion dance visit their house. I'd often take photos but never posted them so I thought I'd just share them this year.

Basically, their modus operandi is by driving around the housing area asking if any household would like to have a lion dance for a fee. They would then unload the lion costume, get prepared by asking the host to place a tray of oranges complete with ang pow packets in the middle of the living room.
Then they'd dance from the porch into the hall, with the head always facing the house even as they back out. They'd do a little dance in front of the oranges and then proceed to "swallow" the tray.
This is the first time I observed who get the job of peeling the oranges and notice the tray has been passed to the back guy. Poor thing, he not only has to bend from waist the entire time nor does he have a face yet he has to peel oranges in the fastest time possible with the cleanest cuts possible.

Thereafter, the tray is presented with the mouth of the lion to the owner, sans the ang pow.

Anyway, I'm sure you all know what goes on so I won't elaborate too much on that. This year, however, we have a new addition to the family:

Meet Yet-To-Be-Named Husky! She's a few months old and looks so adorable!

Anyway, that has been my CNY so far and it's only Day 1! Have a great New Year ahead, wherever you are!

Brilliant!

After spraying Frontline (tick spray) on Ang Ku, I decided to dry off the medication with a hair dryer. So I held her locked between my crossed legs and held her front arms with my hands, KS directed the hair dryer towards her neck.

Within 2 seconds, I had to release her in great pain. My finger and the inside of both my thighs were bleeding as a result of her great fear of hair dryers. The poor gal then crouched behind a chair for the rest of the morning.

We also discovered that we haven't had that much injuries in the longest time. Our first aid kit contained an antiseptic cream which expired in 1996. Sheesh.

Welcome Year of the Tiger indeed.

Keys!

Got our keys already!! It was passed through our lawyers. So tonight will go check it out once we collect it. Phew! No delays, no drama... and hopefully no dead dog left in the acquarium.

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Ok, no dead dog in the acquarium but looks like a tornado swept through the house. All their things are still there, the beds, the junk, mattresses etc. They took the fish, which they said they'd leave behind for us so my newly purchased fish food is going to be kept one side until we get our own fish.

There's even a motorbike in the driveway and cupboards, drawers and other junk left on the driveway too. Which also means they still have a set of keys to the house. Our lawyer is now talking to her lawyers. We'll see what happens next.

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We're giving her until Wednesday to clear everything out.

Bye-Bye Klang

Yes, although the place is far, we will miss our first home in Klang when we sell it off. The few but beautiful walks we had around the man-made lake:
We used to keep our expired bread in the freezer and then come Sunday evenings, we'd come here to feed the fishes. I wonder if they survived all that oily bread people kept feeding.

This is how my house looked like. It's been renovated and given a makeover by the new owners. This is how I'll always remember the facade of it to be. The once scrawny tree is finally blooming and is now one of the healthiest on the street.
We have a huge master room and 9 foot long wardrobe. (Ahem, as you can see, we never got around nailing the mirror on the wall). The master bedroom in our new place is very much smaller, that I'm worried my king sized bed isn't going to fit. Then we had cheerful guards who somehow managed to find us on the rare times we visited the house to come collect protection money. Well, he wasn't cheerful when we complained they didn't inform us when one of our windows was accidentally left open for a few weeks.
We found two good places to eat near that area. One is a tim sum shop but since we can get fairly good tim sum in PJ, the other shop will be the one we'd miss most. Yes, Klang Bak Kut Teh:
This shop we frequent serves both soup and dry versions. We always order both as you can't have one and not the other. We have yet to discover a good BKT place in PJ, let alone the dry version.
KS assures me we can come back to eat this but we're just not the type who'd travel 45 minutes just to eat good food. So looks like it would be some time before we will come back to eat there again.

Memories of Good Ol Times

During our trip back to Melaka with Ron, we took the effort to go back to my grandma's old home. We spent many school holidays there, climbing the guava tree, playing in between the banana trees, walking along the monsoon drain to the market in Tengkera and almost destroying my grandma's vegetables.

Now, the house is owned and used by a contractor who has turned it into a store house. The garden has been replaced with a shed to keep tools.

This is where my grandma used to plant banana trees and pineapples. She had trouble with people stealing her fruits and she'd sometimes wait with her lidi broom to chase the thieves.

Karen and I would play around this area. We had sadly carved our names on the trees on our trip just before they migrated to Canada, knowing it would be at least a decade before we met again, declaring this would be our secret place forever. The carved names are gone and I'm not even sure if it's the same tree.

This is the monsoon drain. It used to look much larger and scarier while the bridge of the far right used to seem so far away. Now, the drain looks smaller and the bridge no longer looks like it is unreachable by foot. However, the stench still remains the same so it still brings back memories.

Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted the photo of the house while clearing my phone. Ron, do you still have it?

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Your phone camera is so clear! Time I went to fix mine.

The house now.

Pineapple Tarts

I blogged about this fantastic pineapple tarts some time back, made by my aunt-in-law in Melaka. This year, their maid who helped out with the most tedious part of the cookie making had gone back to Indonesia.

So they decided not to make any this year. I have had at least 4 friends who called and wailed when I told them there wasn't any this year. Hopefully they will start making it again next year.

Someone said the pineapple tarts from IKEA (yes, they sell cookies in IKEA here) so we bought 6 packs. Unfortunately, they're just not the same, you know? :( so no pineapple tarts this CNY.

Buying House Stress

Our journey of purchasing a house so far has just climbed a notch on the stress-o-meter. Our lawyer preempted us that our loan would be disbursed very soon and set our expected date of key handover before Chinese New Year, which is in two weeks.

So last Sunday, we decided to go see the owner, bring our architect to take a look so that we can start discussions on the renovations. However, the owner seemed slightly misinformed and said her lawyer told her not to shift out since she still hasn't gotten the payment. When I tried to tell her that the loan is on the brink of being disbursed, she simply waved me off by repeated, "My lawyer says not to shift until payment is made". So since I didn't have the loan yet, I kept quiet but I was very disturbed. Her house didn't look like it was being packed.

Today, our loan has just been disbursed and we are about to make payment. Normally, the owner is supposed to handover the keys in 3 working days but she had requested for 5 working days in the Agreement, to which we consented. So by right, she's supposed to handover the keys next Thursday or Friday. Otherwise she will have to start paying us a daily interest rate.

So she calls me and say something to this extent, "Remember last Sunday I told you that I wanted to shift after CNY right? So just wanted to ask if you can waive off the interest rate until I shift. After all, you can't start your renovations just yet isn't it?"

What do you think? We chased for the payment after you first indicated you wanted to be paid in two months instead of the normal three. And just when is "after CNY"? She also did mention "end of the month". So we pay for our loan for almost a month before you decide to vacate it for us?

At the same time, we don't want to antagonise her too much because what if she destroys something in the house? Block the sewage?

Grrr... I hate being held hostage. We were considering letting her stay on for free but I'm just glad that my lawyer is a good one who advised me not to let go of my right so soon.