Sound System

I'm rather particular about sound. I can't stand players that give weak sounds and speakers that sound hollow. KS, on the other hand, says, "As long as there's noise". So when he went out to get our first radio without bringing me around, let's just say I will be taking charge of putting together our sound room in our new house.

When I was growing up, I'd follow dad and Ron to showrooms in Penang which would play gorgeous music through expensive sets. We'd sit there and listen to the acoustics while dad and Ron would discuss the quality of it.

Then, during Chinese New Year, we'd visit my uncle who would frequently upgrade his hi-fi set. Without fail, each year he would excitedly show us his latest collection of LDs, CDs, VCDs, DVDs what have you not. Despite the crowd of chatting people in his house at that time, he would blast his latest favourite song and envelope us all with the music. He would also show us the latest technology in improving the sound, from using a green marker to mark the sides of a CD to placing a special felt on the CD. He would even compare CDs made in Malaysia and those imported from the US. And I can tell the difference.

Hence, the strive for good acoustics in my new house. However, while I know I want really good sounds, I have no idea about hi-fi, what I should be buying if I want surround sound etc.

So begins the exciting journey of discovering what this is all about. Hi-Fi for Dummies. Right after we get the house together.

Busy!

Sorry, I know I have Blogger access at work but it's just been absolutely mad at work! Haven't had the chance to breathe much. But it's good busy, you know?

Anyway, we've managed to sell our house in Klang so even more busy times ahead. As for the new house status, it's moving along smoothly and think we should be getting the keys some time before CNY. Yay!

Ron & Air Travel

I don’t think I ever blogged anything about Ron’s unfortunate air travels but now I can’t help but to compile it into one posting since it’s gotten to be quite a fair bit to tell.

Two trips back to Malaysia, Ron was going to catch the plane back to Melbourne. He read 0950 as 9:50pm so by the time he realized it was a morning flight, the plane was about to taxi off the runway. It took him a few days after to catch the next plane since it was peak season.

Then the last trip back, he happened to check with JetStar on some details about his flight back to KL which he bought months in advance, only to be told JetStar no longer flew to KL! So he had to quickly make new arrangements, luckily with the help of the airline.

He flew from Bangkok back to Melbourne for that trip. And his luggage was so overweight, the airline had to charge him for it. As he scraped his remaining Baht, Euros and Ringgits, he found he didn’t have enough to pay! Plus his charge card was maxed out after his holidays so he had to sheepishly offer his mixture of currencies and ask for a discount. The girl over the counter just gaped and in the end, accepted his offer.

After a slight flight delay and upon reaching Melbourne, his friend who had waited to pick him up had already incurred $20 for his car park ticket, no thanks to the delay. He was hoping Ron had some change on him because he was also flat broke. So, two penniless guys, wandering around the airport for hours trying to find ways of paying the car park ticket. In the end, they had to call another friend to come loan them the money.

This trip, now this trip, Ron was delayed for 5 hours sitting in the plane the whole time as the flight crew could not let them on the ground after checking them in while they fixed the plane. So, his flight time doubled. The only good thing was, AirAsia crew decided not to charge him for his meal after he argued for it.

And most recently, he was supposed to go Cambodia with a friend, who, on the day before their flight, postponed it to a further 2 days, only to scrap the whole trip in the end.

Usually, if any of these incidences happens to someone, it would be quite traumatizing. However, since Ron’s been having so many occurrences, it’s become rather funny.

He flies back to Melbourne next Monday. If anything happens, I’ll blog it again.

Summing Up 2009

This year, I didn’t list down my new year’s resolution in my blog but at the back of my mind I had two main goals:
1. Visit someplace new (which is our annual goal anyway)
2. Donate blood

So with just these two targets, I must say 2010 was packed with events that became major points in my life:

1. FREE U2 Concert in Wembley
2. Visited Bali, London and Paris
3. Getting our house in PJ
4. Donated blood at last!
5. New job which is nearer to home

Now I’m listing down my goals for next year and it’s a lot longer than this year’s. Maybe seeking for a yearly miracle like this year’s U2 ticket win isn’t too far fetched? Miracles come in many forms, it’s whether you’re on the lookout for it or not.

Will share my 2010 goals at the end of next year when I do my review. :)

*Wow! Just discovered I can blog from the office!!*

Fantastic Feasts!

Merry Christmas!!


This year for Christmas, it was a bit quieter for us since the two boys aren't around. There was no Christmas tree, the Christmas presents were a bit less (see my small stash below), our family gathering on Christmas eve and Christmas morning was also quieter, with no kids running around.



For Christmas eve, Ron cooked us some Greek lamb with some very delicious potato salad and green salad. He roasted the lamb just the perfect way I like, medium so it was juicy but not bloody.

On Christmas Day itself, we headed off to Melaka and KS family prepared a feast of two succulent roasted chickens, stuffed turkey breast, smoked salmon, ham, baked pumpkin and potato, fresh salad and three bottles of Champagne.

And to make it more Christmassy, my in-laws went and bought a cute Christmas tree, complete with blinking lights! And played carols throughout the night.

After that, we walked to the Portugese Settlement to take a peek at their Christmas deco:

Notice how Aik Cheong (the local coffee) has its branding all over the place?

Anyway, we had absolutely amazing Christmas dinners. I can't quite tell what I liked best because they were all good. Seriously. Only missing was Yen and Grace + family :)

The Blue Icing

A few weeks ago, one of KS’s business partners gave them a lovely box of cupcakes, the icing depicting the corporate logo of a pitch KS’s company just won. The logo has dark blue as a major part of it and somehow, the blue colouring was more potent than any other colour.

They made one of their colleagues eat the blue icing, watching in fascination as his teeth, tongue… his entire mouth, turn blue. He only realized it after they all laughed at him and tried to wash it off. He also rubbed it with tissue but his teeth remained firmly blue, never mind he had an important presentation that evening. It was only until he went home and brushed his teeth that it came out.

So when KS brought some home, we discarded the cardboard box with some smeared blue icing in the kitchen dustbin.

The next day, I noticed 3 droplets of watery blue colouring on the kitchen floor. Thinking someone had eaten one of the cupcakes, I cleaned it up and didn’t think twice about it.

The day after that, Dad asked me if I had eaten one and when I said no, he said he also discovered 3 drops of watery blue colouring on the floor that morning.

By the afternoon, we noticed yet another blue drop of colouring, this time in a tiny hardened form.

And we still haven’t eaten the blue cupcakes. We haven’t found out how this is happening, with the only conclusion drawn that a lizard had consumed the icing from the box and had diarrhea over 2 days.

Supermarket Sweep with a Twist

When we went to Paris, Ron had asked us to get him specific brands of sardines and foie gras. Before our trip, I Googled for pictures but couldn't find the picture of the foie gras tin, only the logo, Valette, which I thought would be good enough.

So we headed to the recommended Le Bon Marche on the morning we were going to leave Paris. When we walked into the food section, everything was in, well, French. But soon enough we spotted a whole shelf of canned items including the liver. Of course, we had to pick every tin up to check:

1. if it was foie gras

2. if it was the Valette brand

Most of them were foie gras alright but none of them were Valette. Then we walked around and found many more tins scattered on almost every other shelf! Grief! With time ticking, we split ourselves up, eyeballed every tin but could NOT find it!

In the end, I had to approach an employee with the only French sentence I know, "Do you speak English?" and not caring that he gave me a cold look, I plundered on to ask the availability of the brand. Needless to say, I was sent in circles to 3 other staff before I gave up and decided to just get any brand.

But then! There were so many types of foie gras! Bloc? Mousse? Puree? Entier? Less than 100gm? d'Oie? d'Canard? Anyway, after a dozen SMS-es to Ron, our little adventure ended happily with the correct tins:

After that, KS and I came up with this idea of hosting a game show similar to Supermarket Sweep. We get locals who don't know how to speak/read French (or any foreign language) as a criteria, send them into a French (foreign) supermarket to look for a list of groceries unique to the country, with a limited time.

Bragging...

Just wanted to brag about one of my London photos going into the Schmap London Ninth Edition. They found it via my flickr. Hehe...

Gift Exchange

It's the time of the year when we have gift exchanges. Over the years of receiving strange gifts which are still stacked up somewhere in a moulding box under the stairs, we have made each one give a list of 3 things that they'd like to receive (with a fixed budget of course) so that when we actually receive the item, it would be something you'd have wanted in the first place.

However, while this is most practical, most people don't like the idea of taking the surprise out of the gift. So this idea has been shelved for some time now. And we continue to receive an eclectic mix of gifts. And, as a friend said recently, why don't we have Boxing Day here in Malaysia where we can go back to the shop to return gifts we don't need?

KS has this idea of having a gift exchange after the Christmas season. You know, when you bring all the gifts you won't be using and exchanging it with others. For example, I have this HUGE rice cooker which can cook for like 10 people but I don't cook, neither do I have to constantly feed 10 people. So if I can put it up for an exchange with something more useful to me, wouldn't that just make sense?

First Fortnight

I've completed my first fortnight at my new workplace. The first thing to note is that I really feel welcome there, with two familiar faces and good friends to ease the transition. My immediate team members are smiley happy people, very pleasant and potential to be gila folks.

Secondly, the work is something I'm familiar with. Going to a meeting to represent my boss at the last minute still had me understanding what they were talking about! It feels good to be able to nod knowingly and ask slightly smarter questions than before.

Thirdly, I love the distance to work! It takes me about 20 mins with not much jam along the way, with only traffic lights slowing me down.

And lastly, it is simply quite amazing to discover the little township there. It looks like it's been plucked from one of those old fading small towns like Kampar or Bidor with shops selling an eclectic mix of items. Thank goodness there are lots of food options there too.

So, so far so good!