tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11768665034089616642024-03-22T10:32:20.409+10:30Spring in my stepsCerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18129539726283735439noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-28187272994268367602017-03-28T19:30:00.000+10:302017-03-28T19:45:33.847+10:30All Within His Plans<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Lying down next to my newborn nephew, keeping my eyes on him whilst feeling melancholic and with my thoughts miles away. At a slight noise, the little one scrunches his face and puckeres his mouth, in readiness for a wail. My hands reach out to quickly comfort and pat him back to sleep. Watching his adorable mashimaro face slowly relaxing into slumber, hearing his soft gentle breathing, sniffing his baby smell, my eyes are suddenly open again to how beautiful he is. This little baby, who has caused so much worry and concern, a particularly difficult pregnancy for my sister and his emergancy coming into the world, I can finally feast my eyes on. It suddenly dawns on me that after all our prayers for his safe delivery, I have forgotten to say a prayer of thanksgiving. And so I say a quick prayer doing just that and realise in the process, that I have much to be grateful for. My heart bubbling with newfound appreciation, I grab my sister's bible and begin to thumb out some of my favourite well known verses;<br />
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<i>Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus</i><br />
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<i>Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you", declares the Lord</i></div>
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I have read somewhere that the verses from Jeremiah have been all too often taken out of context. That it is not supposed to mean that the Lord will take away your suffering and answer immediately when you call to Him, but that He will make you stronger through adversities. I believe that this particular adversity that I am facing, will be a catalyst for an overdue change to come. It is really high time for me to take all this in stride, accept what I do have..the good and the bad, climb out of my comfort zone and change what I do not like without hesitation. And so I shall trust that everything happened for a reason. All within His plans.<br />
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Cerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18129539726283735439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-60769174485632444662015-10-29T21:32:00.000+10:302015-10-29T21:33:41.526+10:30Free Bus Ride!I rode the bus for free today. <br />
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Got on the bus, swiped my card and realised that it is low on fund and I don't have enough for the ticket. No problem. Took out my purse and, horror of horrors, discovered that there's no cash nor coins at all in there. *sweat* Started raiding my bag and turned everything upside down. Not a cent. Damn. By this point, I contemplated looking around with puppy eyes and hope that some kind soul get the point and offer to lend me the money. Exchange the money with the apple I have in my lunch bag, maybe. Before I even lifted my head, I already know the task is too much to ask for a thin skinned person like myself. <br />
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So, with my head bowed low, I went up to the bus driver and told him with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I am out of fund and realised that I forgot to bring any cash today" *cue puppy eyes* The driver looked at me and said "Go and sit down. Next time remember to top up" (puppy eyes must have worked) I shuffled back to my seat, a little embarrassed. Heard a few guys whispering at the back "What happened?" "She forgot to bring cash" Put on my earphones to block the noise and thought to myself...It's ok...I get to ride for free today...<br />
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I could have topped up my card on the bus on the spot from my phone with my credit card if Adelaide Metro doesn't take a whole 24 hour to process a purchase online. Time to step it up guys. It's the 15th year of the 21st century for goodness sake. Everything should be by card.<br />
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p/s: Thanked mister driver before I got off the bus. Should've given him a thumbs up and my apple.<br />
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<br />Cerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18129539726283735439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-17099262681185711172015-10-22T21:45:00.002+10:302015-10-22T22:17:32.699+10:30Of Fears and CowardiceHere's a 'not so secret' secret. I have this insurmountable fear of bad people breaking into my home. I can even go so far as to claim that this probability strikes more spine chilling fear into me than any apparition of any kind could. My sister can certainly vouch for that as she had, on countless occasions, been scared shit-less from my many imaginings. So here I am, broadcasting my historical accounts for everyone's enjoyment.<br />
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First instance of imagination gone wild was a few years back when we were living in our previous house. There were only me and my younger sister in the house then as everyone else had gone back for a holiday. Something in our wardrobe fell down with a crash which sent the both of us into panic. We thought that someone managed to crash their way into our house and armed with hangers and a blow dryer, we locked ourselves in the ensuite until a friend came to our rescue.<br />
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Second incident happened back home in our hometown when I went to visit dad. That night I bunked in the same room as dad since all the other rooms' a/c filter hadn't been cleaned in ages. In bed, I heard a weird sound and woke dad up. Told him that it sounded like someone was trying to saw their way into our grilled laundry area on the second floor. Dad listened and almost convinced, got out his *self defence weapon and with me following behind with a steel tube cleaner thingy, went to check out the laundry area. Nothing. Stood and still heard the sound of something sawing at steel but couldn't make out where it came from. So dad convinced me to go back to sleep and told me not to worry as everything had been locked up properly. The very next day, after extensive investigation, dad announced that the sound came from our neighbour s dog. Apparently, the dog was chained to a post and as it was pacing around, the chain being pulled along the concrete floor created the sound that confused us.<br />
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Third one happened where we are currently livng. As we were getting ready for bed, my sister and I heard a loud bang coming from our ground floor front door. Trying to be braver, we stepped out of our rooms to check what it was but another loud bang (sounded like our door had been crashed open) sent us scuttling back to my sister's room and locked the door. I grabbed a chair from my sister's desk, leaned it against the door, so that the back of the chair will help stop the handle from going all the way down, and started to drag out all the heavy luggages from the walk in robes to stack on top of and under the chair. While I was busy being superwoman and trying to move all those heavy bags, my sister looked out her glazed balcony door and saw a motorcycle driving out of our front yard. We realised then that it was probably someone knocking loudly on our front door. Probably a pizza delivery guy. Curse you.<br />
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The last account happened early in the year back in our home town. Our family home is double storey and on our trip home, the house was undergoing a major renovation. As a result, we had to move from room to room (to sleep in at night) depending on where the work was taking place. On this particular day, mum, my sister and I have opted to sleep in the second bedroom on the First floor while dad and my brother decided to take the smaller room on the Ground floor. The house had been broken into once when no one was at home, and a few valuables were stolen. Since then, dad had upped the security and every time we leave the house or go to bed at night, we would turn on the alarm. <br />
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In the middle of the night, a sound, of something being knocked over or someone going through the drawers, woke me up from my sleep. As I sat up wondering where the sound came from (being really paranoid), the alarm of our house went off. Mum and sis woke up and I whispered to them that I heard a noise just before the alarm went off. They were a little more sceptical at first and thought that it could have been an insect tripping off the alarm. So we turned the alarm off and on again. Within seconds, the alarm went off for the 2nd time and by this time, all of us were hyperventilating as this could only mean that there's someone walking about in the house. My sister called dad to tell him what I heard and to demand that him and my brother stay in their room. There's obviously a miscommunication at this stage. Anyway, we decided to leave the alarm on in an effort to 'scare off' the intruders. However, right after my sister hung up from talking to dad, we heard the sound of footsteps walking around the hallway and into the empty master bedroom. I started to desperately push a cabinet towards the door in an effort to block the only entry into the room. My sister was at this point, getting really hysterical and mum was on the phone to aunt, trying to get the phone no. of the nearby police station. I remember thinking to myself...THIS TIME IT'S REAL!!! And then....all of a sudden, we heard a knock on our bedroom door and dad's voice calling out for us to open the door.<br />
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Everything unfolded then. Dad was the one who set off the alarm. He was also the one who was walking around the hallway and the master bedroom trying to find the 'intruder' that we were talking about (even though we distinctly told him to stay in his room) and the one who probably made the noise that woke me up when he opened his bedroom door. I still don't know where the miscommunication between him and my sister occurred but if we were told that he was the one who tripped off the alarm in the first place, it would have saved us from a hell lot of suffering. Funny story to share with our friends though lol.<br />
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P/s: Starting to feel like the boy who cried wolf :(<br />
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Cerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18129539726283735439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-78764851508086310482014-08-26T23:20:00.001+09:302014-08-26T23:20:36.646+09:30Hungry MonsterWe made a brief stop at Coles straight after work yesterday to buy some Philedephia cream cheese. Our housemate informed us that it's currently on offer and if we were to buy 2 packets of the product, we would get 2 dessert glasses for free. I really really like the glasses and have been meaning to get something similar for when I make individual tiramisu or deconstructed cheesecake. I ended up getting 4 packets of the cream cheese =_____= Now to figure out what to do with them. Fatty bon-bon, here I come.<br />
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Remember the adage about not going shopping for food when you're really hungry? Well, I was famished, so everything looked so tempting. I was so hungry, my ability to make judgements was impaired. Here's an example of the conversation between my sister and I when we were trying to pick which bread to choose:<br />
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Bi: So which one should we get? Bread A costs a bit more but it's packed with grains and expires later than Bread B. Bread B costs a little less but comes with less grainy goodness.<br />
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Me: (looking at the breads) Bread A is thickly cut and has less slices. Bread B is thinly cut and has MORE slices. Should we get bread B?<br />
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Bi: You think so? But bread A looks healthier and we probably can't finish bread B before it expires?<br />
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Me: But we'd definitely finish bread A in a day! We could have 2 slices of bread B per day!<br />
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Bi: You're only saying that cause you're hungry now<br />
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Me: ....Ok...Let's get bread A then but one slice is not enough...I want cereals with the bread<br />
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Bi: Ok<br />
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FYI, we havnt even touched the bread and usually dont eat much breakfast anyway. See how scary shopping on empty stomach is. Another conversation regarding chips:<br />
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Me: I spy chips on sale!!! 3 for $8!<br />
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Bi: I thought we're going to eat healthier now?<br />
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Me: They have a new flavour!! Mediterranean thick cut chips!!<br />
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Bi: *swaying*<br />
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Me: Buy!!!<br />
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Bi: Feed me in the car while I'm driving!<br />
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After that I ushered my sister out of the shop saying "Lets get out before we buy anything else we dont need", when in actual fact, I was dying to eat the chips. Lol.Cerahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18129539726283735439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-65463448889136610592014-08-19T20:31:00.000+09:302014-08-19T20:33:51.981+09:30Ghostly Encounter<div style="text-align: justify;">
We went for a steamboat potluck at some friends' house the other day, and as is our unofficial custom after dessert, we started telling scary ghost stories. My sister reminded me to recount my own personal experience and after managing to spook the girls, I thought, Hey! I could write my own ghost story!<br />
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So, to commemorate the chinese's Hungry Ghost Festival, my new post shall be about an encounter that happened during our family trip to Taiwan. </div>
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Since I tend to forget where we've visited on previous tours, I decided to produce a collage of photos, write a brief summary of the places we've been to and upload them at the end of each day. Walla! Instant mini travel journal.</div>
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Fifth day into our trip, our tour guide decided that we had ample of time before lunch to do a quick impromptu tour of Lin An-Tai Old Homestead. Our initial thought was, cool...same surname. To give a very brief summary, the ancient courtyard home was built by the Lin (Ling) family over 160 years ago, dismantled from its original site and reassembled at the current location for public viewing. We were told that it is a well known filming location for period dramas and in fact, my brother saw filming crews there on the day we visited.<br />
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We entered through what I took to be the main courtyard which led us to a lake pavilion. The view was impressive and we stopped to take a few photos. We then wandered off to the main house with rooms connected via a series of corridors/passageways. Almost all the rooms were furnished with traditional furniture which brought back childhood memories for my parents. Mum was especially ecstatic upon discovering the kitchen and informed us that the traditional cook stove was exactly like the one she used to tend when she was a child. The next room we entered consists of a huge and intricately designed timber framed bed, a mirrored dressing table and chair. This particular room was darker than the other rooms and we were a little creeped out by the intimidating bed. Dad figured that this could be the Bridal chamber. He suggested that we have our photos taken while seated at the dressing table, to which we obliged. I took a photo of my sister and she, in turn, took 2 photos of me. One unsmiling, and because I wasn't happy with the result, another one of me smiling.<br />
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We then proceeded to the main ancestral hall which was decorated with ancestral pictures on the walls, a main alter with tablets, some food offering and chairs on each side of the table. While mum and dad were waiting for their turn, our tour guide entered the room and reminded everyone to smile when they have their photo taken. From the way he said it, I think everyone in the room understood that not doing so would possibly offend any lingering spirits. We didnt have time to linger, so after a final family photo in front of the homestead's gate, we left the venue and proceeded to lunch.<br />
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You're all probably getting really impatient by now and thinking, WTH, is that all?? Lol. Anyway, the last 2 days of the tour were really hectic which resulted in me neglecting to post any update. While lying in bed a few days after arriving in Adelaide, I decided to browse through my photos taken at Lin An-Tai and pick out a few for the collages. I was flicking through the photos we took in the Bridal Chamber when I noticed that in 2 of the photos, the mirror behind us was clear, whereas a single photo showed a blueish shadow at the back.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8YuqK1vpnl0osX2O9NhnmHUYjoG98acSb4_XuSYnQ-O7LPlAjeL7iKWIgUNLntjsb5JM4xRyvS3qYtf8_XlBBHPZ-4BJbAV3jaS5eKhsw_cHjX-_LlTwWQHsodI5jG1zpk1tTDoYWhE/s1600/IMG_1052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8YuqK1vpnl0osX2O9NhnmHUYjoG98acSb4_XuSYnQ-O7LPlAjeL7iKWIgUNLntjsb5JM4xRyvS3qYtf8_XlBBHPZ-4BJbAV3jaS5eKhsw_cHjX-_LlTwWQHsodI5jG1zpk1tTDoYWhE/s1600/IMG_1052.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Clear mirror </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnPPzWNdgWZLoA6LGj2_MllNm2kaVrhZETYBj8aBzAN71blMHkHiVDuFKyoDlbFqVlyHgyYRWrc2w4xhUnFEBv3lwsRNXLaAnxY-vEXqhC8msulMS89PCbuJzJiUXXaw9jcoqMPF4KkQ/s1600/IMG_1049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnPPzWNdgWZLoA6LGj2_MllNm2kaVrhZETYBj8aBzAN71blMHkHiVDuFKyoDlbFqVlyHgyYRWrc2w4xhUnFEBv3lwsRNXLaAnxY-vEXqhC8msulMS89PCbuJzJiUXXaw9jcoqMPF4KkQ/s1600/IMG_1049.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Clear mirror</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCZo_xoc8LQ1Hd3lYG3_hbXGio3T1ARpojCEckwUoaG3mqFZNC0ozv5pamMpCzmkjIjJT3r1tu6OYjoBjct68x9o1aW9_lWo6QjYl-4uHiJKOwKi3UVM4dv60xOmKg0NHIOOqWtFDAWY/s1600/IMG_1051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCZo_xoc8LQ1Hd3lYG3_hbXGio3T1ARpojCEckwUoaG3mqFZNC0ozv5pamMpCzmkjIjJT3r1tu6OYjoBjct68x9o1aW9_lWo6QjYl-4uHiJKOwKi3UVM4dv60xOmKg0NHIOOqWtFDAWY/s1600/IMG_1051.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Blue-ish shadow on mirror</div>
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Wondering what the blueish tinge is, I decided to zoom in to see what it is. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcnwGum4cPuM1orFpvubIWj06D_qORZgCx9jIq38agEag_F89goB5KoBvCoM4nH6D3CWqK9lVWWShHXKM4ELHXKsruJ7ZqaSoAB8zdXA-JqugYtANIpwEoVd9e63-DDxgrAUn2vD9Chs/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcnwGum4cPuM1orFpvubIWj06D_qORZgCx9jIq38agEag_F89goB5KoBvCoM4nH6D3CWqK9lVWWShHXKM4ELHXKsruJ7ZqaSoAB8zdXA-JqugYtANIpwEoVd9e63-DDxgrAUn2vD9Chs/s1600/1.jpg" height="320" width="314" /></a></div>
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<span id="goog_46944879"></span><span id="goog_46944880"></span>And I saw her straight away.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWMEp-opzyxn7gvmXEuK3WbAqvZjgE-Iv2ybJWmEU1Dqe1vgRFNTK6pyjdKhUr24fciuc1rgnKS0u0GgpcY6JJQI_b1F3vcJjH9jsegVdZebDvGHslVY85oBB5MIS6x_kwgnlEm_pxd0/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWMEp-opzyxn7gvmXEuK3WbAqvZjgE-Iv2ybJWmEU1Dqe1vgRFNTK6pyjdKhUr24fciuc1rgnKS0u0GgpcY6JJQI_b1F3vcJjH9jsegVdZebDvGHslVY85oBB5MIS6x_kwgnlEm_pxd0/s1600/6.jpg" height="320" width="275" /></a></div>
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In case you lack imagination, I have tried to make her clearer. She looks like a bride in traditonal bridal hat/headdress. I tried to find a similar one on google and this is what I found.</div>
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However, it's a headress for mongolian bride, which doesnt make much sense =/</div>
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I contemplated telling my sister about it but decided to leave it till the next morning so as not to spoil her sleep. Lol. Everyone's been asking how I felt since the discovery and all I can say is....It's cool. She didn't do anything bad. The vision probably appeared because she was upset that I didn't smile. (Notice that she only appeared in the unsmiling photo and remember what our tour guide reminded us to do when taking pictures) I'm just glad that she's pretty and not a deformed creature with fangs. I am also intrigued. About the occupants who stayed there many centuries ago, especially the females. How their lives were like. BUT! Saying that, I hope that she doesn't decide to pop up in any of my future photos. R.I.P. please.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-36920523031483981632013-10-16T17:25:00.001+10:302016-08-10T15:05:36.349+09:30MAS - Malaysia Airlines "WE LOVE YOU"There. That title should be flashy enough right? I hope some big shots from MAS read this and give me lifetime privileges for the free advert I am about to offer them. (as suggested by mum jokingly - or not?) It's been ages since I'm back but, what the heck, might as well write something to mark my first entry for 2013.<br />
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We went on a short trip back to Malaysia in September. Nothing profound or out of the ordinary happened during our trip back. As usual, we spent the majority of our time eating, shopping, eating and eating again. (a whole lot of incidents with my adorable nephew but that is totally another story) For the record, we flew with MAS everywhere. ADL-KL-PNG-KL-BTU-KL-ADL<br />
We are SUPER loyal customers *puppy eyes*<br />
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Anyway, to cut it short, on the day my younger sister and I were due to fly back to Adelaide, our connecting flight from Bintulu to KL were delayed. I wrote delayed but in actual term, the flight was aborted. We all boarded the plane on time but the plane seemed to have difficulty taking off. You know how the plane always glides around slowly to the take off point before launching into full throttle and lifting off? Well, our little guy tried oh-so-very-hard to lift off but for some reason, went back to his very slow glide at the last moment. This happened twice. When the pilot finally announced that there is a fault to the brakes and that they had to abort the flight until this is rectified, I knew that we were in deep s*** and would miss our return flight to Adelaide. We were herded back to the airport 'lounge' and in the end, the flight was delayed for 5+ hours. We lined up and ate our late dinner refugee style in the waiting area. No announcements were made and the whole experience sucks. On top of that, we were really apprehensive about our flight to Adelaide. The staff in Bintulu airport were curt and unhelpful when we enquired about our connecting flight. They're surely due for a proper training in customer service. *nose in the air*<br />
<br />
We reached KLIA about 2++ in the morning and rushed to the nearest ticketing counter to enquire about our missed flight. As there is no more flight bound for Adelaide until late that night, we were offered complimentary breakfast, lunch, dinner and accommodation vouchers. I really have to commend the courtesy and professionalism shown to us by the ticketing staffs in KLIA. They were very helpful and answered every questions calmly and without any hint of irritation. Seeing that there's only 2 of us girls, the staff arranged for us to stay in the airport hotel and gave us ample supply of meal vouchers. While waiting for our new tickets and vouchers, I notice an irate japanese on the counter next to mine. I'll try to reconstruct the conversation from what I remember:-<br />
<br />
Japanese : They are expecting me in Narita this morning (expressed angrily)<br />
Airport Staff : We are really sorry for this. We will get you onto the next available flight.<br />
Japanese : humph<br />
Airport Staff : (Explaining to the Japanese about his new itinerary) and we will provide you with a hotel voucher<br />
Japanese : Can you give me entry to the First Class Lounge...I dont want the hotel voucher<br />
Airport Staff : I will see what I can do, Sir. I will have to check with my supervisor (promptly made a call)<br />
Airport Staff : (Explaining the circumstances to his superior in Bahasa Malaysia and after having another glance at the irate japanese's face, added...)<br />
Baik kita bagi dia First Class Lounge. Kalau tidak, nanti dia pancung kepala ku. (translate: Let's just give him access to the First Class Lounge. If we dont, I am sure he will have my head for this)<br />
<br />
I had to LOL after hearing that remark, especially since he said it in such a calm voice. All in all, we were very happy with their service. Everyone we encountered, from the airport luggage staff to the hotel buggy driver in KLIA, had been really friendly. Such a vast difference from the staff in Bintulu. Instead of sweeping the incident under the rug as an unfortunate one, we were able to really enjoy our stay-over, thanks to them. Here are some of the pictures that I have taken in addition to my commentaries during our escapade.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-IQNh5bvebV2hOHMdStxdQf167ALJoHtj00Rno7Y_CQ8U-yuyYN40W5KvT_PFXm5IVQy2ugk9Ap7MNtPR-XSnOkgLqOGx7Mkec2hUoqE0o6qpGFvCdx10uqGIqfW1S8xWL-Cgm0S1WY/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-IQNh5bvebV2hOHMdStxdQf167ALJoHtj00Rno7Y_CQ8U-yuyYN40W5KvT_PFXm5IVQy2ugk9Ap7MNtPR-XSnOkgLqOGx7Mkec2hUoqE0o6qpGFvCdx10uqGIqfW1S8xWL-Cgm0S1WY/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>Stranded in KL and missed our connecting flight to Adelaide. Pros-Given meal vouchers worth RM185 each and airport hotel voucher, Cons-No sleep for almost 24 hours and going straight to a full day's work after an 8-hour flight tomorrow. Dang! Time to splurge on breakfast and then hit the sack!</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg302KWEEZvbqnUAke-IM60cdEOeqxg_8GOjO7U7JkI35oEze4PXwVyPRa6HRQCcZcK433pq406av4M1yFDpxKmFdtOI-c03fdcUmaECkg0JkIDsyEabyOjaaH7EHV8swRVxYmRWWwkDLM/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg302KWEEZvbqnUAke-IM60cdEOeqxg_8GOjO7U7JkI35oEze4PXwVyPRa6HRQCcZcK433pq406av4M1yFDpxKmFdtOI-c03fdcUmaECkg0JkIDsyEabyOjaaH7EHV8swRVxYmRWWwkDLM/s320/2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>We had Rm130 to spend on breakfast. Splurged it on Chocolat Viennois, scampi risotto, seafood omelette and smoked salmon croissant. Seriously overpriced and the food is very average with undercooked risotto and tough seafood. Major fail.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzT5TzRtUy1jguqWx456AQEbkN9URjZpWXZFmtJVyi9JkBIk7Ha9yDVYKfNKf45fInK_C02xwiKQD3xK3XGh7QPVrgwqy06SwERazCU2KVyvGcX3SaaPRy5mKnRvZQphCuOeLaps0dS-I/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzT5TzRtUy1jguqWx456AQEbkN9URjZpWXZFmtJVyi9JkBIk7Ha9yDVYKfNKf45fInK_C02xwiKQD3xK3XGh7QPVrgwqy06SwERazCU2KVyvGcX3SaaPRy5mKnRvZQphCuOeLaps0dS-I/s320/4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>Lunch update : RM 120 to spend and our "piece de resistance" is the lamb shank. We also ordered smoked salmon croissant (again), egg mayo croissant, tuna mushroom feuillette and mochas. Croissants are very light and fluffy. Lamb shank soft but at this point, we are too full to give it much credit.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLQYADy1TKL8ggJUl7qhrSpbjoXf3p75tQBQMwhcFbuJ0sTLyC9nRWONpszDafpJ3M3u4IdNPLIhw8R7htZizyH_QsW6WItDBfwJKTQ3FF8VmNI6FRwTDJcpNuh8kK5cm8x_dh-tdZSg/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLQYADy1TKL8ggJUl7qhrSpbjoXf3p75tQBQMwhcFbuJ0sTLyC9nRWONpszDafpJ3M3u4IdNPLIhw8R7htZizyH_QsW6WItDBfwJKTQ3FF8VmNI6FRwTDJcpNuh8kK5cm8x_dh-tdZSg/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Finale : Dinner. Were kicked out of Fukuya, Starbucks and Coffee Bean. By this point, we were so sick of food we decided to have desserts and light foods. The foods that we have consumed today would have been enough to feed a family of 5 for 3 days and 3 nights. =____= Food is so so. Ordered sandwiches and cakes and both cold and hot drinks. I have long since lifted my white flag..admitting defeat</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 17.98611068725586px;"><br /></span><br />
<i><br /></i>
We're such pigs. Lol. As luck would have it, we managed to arrive in Adelaide early and were able to make it in time to work right after we dropped our luggages at home. Was on a high the whole morning thinking, wow...this is fun! I feel GRRRREAT!<br />
.....but spent the afternoon trying to fight the invasion of the sleeping bunnies. I nearly fainted from exhaustion. <br />
<br />
All in all, we had fun and will consider it as a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. ^^ We're glad we flew with MAS! *puppy eyes take 2*<br />
<br />
p/s: Dear MAS, please message me for my postal address. Any form of payment for free advert will be gladly accepted. Yours truly, Your most loyal frequent flyer.<!---------><!---------><!------->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-41011215643484090332012-10-25T20:53:00.000+10:302012-11-02T15:56:23.405+10:30Crabbing!<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">Crabbing season is ON! We’ve been planning
to give this activity a go since a few weeks back but have, unfortunately, had
to put it off a couple of times due to various reasons.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">Last Saturday, on a perfect sunny day, about 13
of us + a super cute baby set off around mid morning (10-ish am) to Port Parham
which is located towards the North of Adelaide. It took us about 45
minutes from our meet-up point (a friend’s house in Mawson Lakes) to reach the
beach. For those of you who are unfamiliar with crabbing, the season in
South Australia is officially open from September to April. There are
many crabbing locations here but I have been told that Port Parham and Port
Gawler are probably two of the more well known spots. The high tide on that day
happens around 7-ish am whereas low tide happens around 12-1-ish pm. We
arrived about 2 hours before the low tide happens and I found out after the
fact that we were there at the best time. There weren’t a lot of people
around at the time of our arrival and most, I suspect, are veterans as they
don’t come in groups like we did. Another way to tell that they are
veterans is the fact that there are no screams coming from their directions.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pTRME4jdO0iJMNHXyZoR-mrcMZljGx-8AYoPBAiyFenxiq7bbFbxovgrgleKEpEYvtPEbbO930_mSqaarTpl9QZkImNGygOtjTW5Grw-lJ21toS3FArumnNnSrcAOXsFv5sB0zWQCbY/s1600/553878_10151205241594736_646552908_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pTRME4jdO0iJMNHXyZoR-mrcMZljGx-8AYoPBAiyFenxiq7bbFbxovgrgleKEpEYvtPEbbO930_mSqaarTpl9QZkImNGygOtjTW5Grw-lJ21toS3FArumnNnSrcAOXsFv5sB0zWQCbY/s320/553878_10151205241594736_646552908_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Setting off on a fine day</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP-D3fY4Z-8FfkDCkaKDL6jwRm1gG9mDQagBy7Pxx_9PxD0uKRvAdqv-Y_38fSZos2PAIDR3Bku1RbfBvj1SaHuJV2eF_OlvhWB1v68xW6mwTJgdLjqF83NiIo1Mlnylek-p8X8VJRHhI/s1600/548596_10151103435058613_274018880_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP-D3fY4Z-8FfkDCkaKDL6jwRm1gG9mDQagBy7Pxx_9PxD0uKRvAdqv-Y_38fSZos2PAIDR3Bku1RbfBvj1SaHuJV2eF_OlvhWB1v68xW6mwTJgdLjqF83NiIo1Mlnylek-p8X8VJRHhI/s320/548596_10151103435058613_274018880_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone pushing on to where the crabs lie</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjql_0kxXGDRtbMXJktwLQomuBnGbNP7c83lR2tEvEO1pQvsREtCC2qy_xxKOH6r8bnrwSc8Nb06qD0koErd3P7uboHn2VZYlT019JBnE50oN-PK-IFaAaChKsq6CZx9dGmvEVRC8QevoQ/s1600/550241_10151205241164736_282629622_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjql_0kxXGDRtbMXJktwLQomuBnGbNP7c83lR2tEvEO1pQvsREtCC2qy_xxKOH6r8bnrwSc8Nb06qD0koErd3P7uboHn2VZYlT019JBnE50oN-PK-IFaAaChKsq6CZx9dGmvEVRC8QevoQ/s320/550241_10151205241164736_282629622_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crab Mowers???</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQ87u2m8uVhgoMMxp1EiHbC_oT5ULVqs4doD9unIm1jFtE4xdJRfLZZLNT-NCnyGqqviPbt2CoEOtpg6psoBAFSQ2yOsJwM4EmAD6kXYLnltyWf2iWJTAmsig0kfE3G-KGa_sNKTSGgA/s1600/374140_10151205242119736_1895195476_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQ87u2m8uVhgoMMxp1EiHbC_oT5ULVqs4doD9unIm1jFtE4xdJRfLZZLNT-NCnyGqqviPbt2CoEOtpg6psoBAFSQ2yOsJwM4EmAD6kXYLnltyWf2iWJTAmsig0kfE3G-KGa_sNKTSGgA/s320/374140_10151205242119736_1895195476_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Family =)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Before I go any further, let me list down
crabbing paraphernalia you’ll need for the activity:</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1) Rain boots
– We spent several days combing shops for cheap and serviceable rain boots in
preparation for our outing. Not willing to fork out $30 for a pair if
it’s going to be worn only once so in the end decided to go barefoot. Do
this at your own risk.<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2) Crab rake –
The idea is to poke the crabs with it and the crabs would automatically grab
onto the rake in attack mode. ßNo fingers allowed! No baits
required.<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3) Kitchen
tongs – This is an ingenious equipment for crabbing. Crab rake doesn’t
really work because some of the crabs would let go before we could get them
into the bucket. With the tongs, we were able to grab hold of them and
chuck them into the bucket.<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4) Buckets –
for the crabs obviously. We saw some veterans with esky-like boxes tied
with a string that is then tied around their midriff. We think it’s
really clever as it frees both their hands for the task. Must make sure
there’s a lid to it though or I imagine the crabs would crawl free and start to
sing ‘The Freedom Song’.<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5) Plastic
bags – For rubbish and wet slippers and some knick knacks you pick along the
way.<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s a surprisingly long trek from the beach to
where the crabs are. I started off wearing rain boots lent by a friend
but took them off midway because the boots were chafing against my legs and
blisters had started to form. A note of advise for those wearing boots :
wear socks even though it’s going to end up getting soaked because sea water
and gritty sand would get inside the boots regardless. The sand would then act
like an abrasive agent and create blisters. So, wear socks!
It’s been a painful lesson to me as my blisters have yet to heal. T^T
FYI, I had to trek all the way back to the shore to store the boots and
then all the way back out to sea again. All in all it’s been a great
workout. The waters generally came up to my knee but in some parts, I’d
be soaked up to my mid thighs. So another thing to take note of is to
wear really short shorts. Walking barefoot is bearable although some
parts would be scattered with broken sea shells and some rather sharp marine
weed-like plants. However, the greatest threat of all for the bare footed
is still the crabs themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZb-FBSck0pF7XFwvPpkRyphRLf7_AF548OsBzBpiqqRh6DMDibIjXmw6dPP4MNp1HDbKjE1AZmslsYcWdwGP9nt-8ZYIJRm85hKRHSMt4dtLvmPA00U7X_glWa3K8xpXkMzSb30IJm8/s1600/30740_10151205242279736_1915873549_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZb-FBSck0pF7XFwvPpkRyphRLf7_AF548OsBzBpiqqRh6DMDibIjXmw6dPP4MNp1HDbKjE1AZmslsYcWdwGP9nt-8ZYIJRm85hKRHSMt4dtLvmPA00U7X_glWa3K8xpXkMzSb30IJm8/s320/30740_10151205242279736_1915873549_n.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Crab of the Day!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PVvdIi_JOJnRTfqIBw_sT8VKhDeVY4PcbCpQcY3YEUe_dssBaQX4nJ86JkLzPPCciRNOQf6bqUXvhuG61wKr7p6cUk1OA-c7lGXeAHeAuTQAkTE7cJlN4bfDVc-A5epRX9pNQt968kg/s1600/190317_10151205243414736_198685901_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PVvdIi_JOJnRTfqIBw_sT8VKhDeVY4PcbCpQcY3YEUe_dssBaQX4nJ86JkLzPPCciRNOQf6bqUXvhuG61wKr7p6cUk1OA-c7lGXeAHeAuTQAkTE7cJlN4bfDVc-A5epRX9pNQt968kg/s320/190317_10151205243414736_198685901_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crab in a Bucket</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When we entered ‘crab territory’ and heard
screams from, I presume, people who had been privileged by attacks from the
crabs, I started to hyperventilate and held on tightly to my sister’s
arm. She’s wearing boots and as such was, in my eyes, my personal
savior. She kept saying to me ‘Don’t worry. I’ll protect you
with my boots. You just walk behind me ok?’ Lol. At one
point, when I heard a particularly loud scream, I really contemplated climbing
onto my sister’s back. XD Anyway, I got used to the adrenalin soon
and started to keep my eyes peeled for the little beasts. My first catch
of the day happened as soon as I started to relax. I felt a shocking nip
to my ankles, let out a loud scream and automatically reached down with my
tongs and grabbed the offending crab off the sea. All in all, I grabbed 3
crabs for the day and received about 4 or 5 bites. I have to say that for
me personally, the bites weren’t painful at all. However, my mum and bro
both shed a bit of blood. One bite was particularly painful for mum that
when she screamed and lifted her foot, she separated one unfortunate crab from
one of its claw. I guess it depends on where you’re bitten. Just
make sure that your toes are safe and you’ll be fine….hopefully.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBdksfK1mjBfxLFpjnJa5GLhemDpdzsVkQa76W3EOhitoh1UczcMg1SrP4TwuihlGmQeEKudKbY-f5LmP7ZUUC6qCBLXpXLsAm_-J3g83LpNaOSR58jv0r77A3snNFunuDedLu5yn80U/s1600/22717_10151103434643613_1075131513_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBdksfK1mjBfxLFpjnJa5GLhemDpdzsVkQa76W3EOhitoh1UczcMg1SrP4TwuihlGmQeEKudKbY-f5LmP7ZUUC6qCBLXpXLsAm_-J3g83LpNaOSR58jv0r77A3snNFunuDedLu5yn80U/s320/22717_10151103434643613_1075131513_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and baby Lucas - Cute as a button in his boots!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7oeYzwWQs8pflaXnTqcRr5ysIFXTm2KlrQpyGc8nJHd17pEU854PfwHjZ1scwyKRkq5zLMYYAPDMjuPvZyQF0VIbcMNCgU_bvxp0XFc5pUeNr6j1hJgEXzsEeQtt25frQbG30-mA7x9U/s1600/550242_10151205244959736_247540514_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7oeYzwWQs8pflaXnTqcRr5ysIFXTm2KlrQpyGc8nJHd17pEU854PfwHjZ1scwyKRkq5zLMYYAPDMjuPvZyQF0VIbcMNCgU_bvxp0XFc5pUeNr6j1hJgEXzsEeQtt25frQbG30-mA7x9U/s320/550242_10151205244959736_247540514_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Group Photo!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another thing to take note of before you start your forage
for crabs is to ensure that you refer to PIRSA Fisheries and the Fish SA’s
websites for legal sizes of crabs allowed (in our case, for blue swimmers crab,
it’s 11cm across the body part) in addition to the number of crabs per
bag/person (40 crabs each for blue swimmers). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.fishsa.com/crabs.php"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.fishsa.com/crabs.php</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/fisheries/recreational_fishing/catch_limits_and_legal_lengths"><span style="color: blue; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/fisheries/recreational_fishing/catch_limits_and_legal_lengths</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We based our estimation on sight only and I have been
informed that that is actually not acceptable. We were lucky that no
enforcers were roaming about on that particular day because if we’d been caught
without any physical measuring tools, we would either have been fined, or asked
to throw back all the crabs we had caught and get kicked off the beach.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After a light picnic and splitting up the crabs (we caught
about 50 crabs), we went back to quickly clean and prepare the crabs. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uCiZWh_XSuGUf9hd3InNpPM1VRQL_DvKUPCxHoZ24IDXH5IsqMJmAzPitgJgPdWATxuc9THo5-dxJTS8PbVmBkotV4qtmprUSrgh2V_FkQmp6bFebtun0F3aiyeY0RWr-9-0vRJsMcU/s1600/224451_10151103435633613_1956061110_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uCiZWh_XSuGUf9hd3InNpPM1VRQL_DvKUPCxHoZ24IDXH5IsqMJmAzPitgJgPdWATxuc9THo5-dxJTS8PbVmBkotV4qtmprUSrgh2V_FkQmp6bFebtun0F3aiyeY0RWr-9-0vRJsMcU/s320/224451_10151103435633613_1956061110_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleaned and Prepared Crabs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steps to clean and prepare a crab (this is going to be
gruesome so skip if you’re squeamish):-<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1) As we’re in a hurry and
also because there’s no more space in the freezer to freeze them to death, we
had to kill them inhumanely. Use a sharp knife and stab them through
the middle. Sayonara baby.<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2) Flip them
to their back and grab hold of the flap at the back of where the head is (head
as in the part the eyes are located) and rip the flap away.<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3) Mum
suggested scrubbing the crabs with a brush to get rid of the sand but I was
lazy so I just rubbed them with my fingers under a running tap. Make
sure to rub between the legs…er claws.<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4) Slide your
thumb between the top part of the shell and the body part and crack the top
shell off. The crabs’ intestines will then be exposed. In
case you’re wondering, the intestines are the gill like rubbery strips on the
body. Peel off the gills as best as you can. Make sure
you get them all off as I’ve read that they’re bacteria infested. Then
clean the body part again with water and scrub off any residue sand. For
big crabs, cut the body in half for ease of handling. Luckily, blue
swimmers have much softer shells compared to mud crabs so this was a fairly
easy task.<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5) Back to the top
shell. At the very top of the shell, dig around until you find a
black sac and pull them off. Mum called it the shit sac. I
know some people would also clean the top shell of the yellowy mush but we
actually find it a delicacy so we left that on.<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LJ685Jx6mtHOzG6H2nruANrqlTZk_UVuwFzmvFMCbToStd6v6ay6dyPbqsrS-8SC89pb6fUNxX6KWKAN-jYS7jCorYfHF8LuiCPpmKcCBFHJ9GHMWY5-YwNp7cRqQeBZio-pXEi6ZoI/s1600/9085_10151103457758613_989070405_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LJ685Jx6mtHOzG6H2nruANrqlTZk_UVuwFzmvFMCbToStd6v6ay6dyPbqsrS-8SC89pb6fUNxX6KWKAN-jYS7jCorYfHF8LuiCPpmKcCBFHJ9GHMWY5-YwNp7cRqQeBZio-pXEi6ZoI/s320/9085_10151103457758613_989070405_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wok Tossed Chilli Crabs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After our bath, we congregate again at Jas and Kevin’s house
to cook the crabs. Every household did different versions. We
had Singapore Chili Crabs, Black Pepper Crabs, Egg Crabs and mum did a Red Wine
and Eggs Crabs. A Crab Feast. We ate till we can eat no
more. We also helped a friend celebrate his birthday that
night. He was not a fan of crabs and didn’t eat much of it. The
cake we bought didn’t come with candles and there were unfortunately no candles
available at our host’s home. In the end, we had to improvise with a
lighter. =.= I expect it’s one of his worse birthday
celebration ever. Sorry Ah Yi. Haha.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvs6IM-fF_rn98XdjWgwQzgDONQo9cr9h0ONpHEswk3JhFPbeAHWUCs-e6gGglR1H5k_m4ZB2gZ8brHxpDkWbFZi2ITr0_VkVfU6fE-yR6WRdpolsKwqD3ZHCHfwhB7AMvC_xDi4nyplY/s1600/578556_10151103492098613_31069323_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvs6IM-fF_rn98XdjWgwQzgDONQo9cr9h0ONpHEswk3JhFPbeAHWUCs-e6gGglR1H5k_m4ZB2gZ8brHxpDkWbFZi2ITr0_VkVfU6fE-yR6WRdpolsKwqD3ZHCHfwhB7AMvC_xDi4nyplY/s320/578556_10151103492098613_31069323_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crab Feast~</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIRb02rQiW-MTYerjvVZxD2foQpGXirQ_YYxrHZ5P0OtK0XWKHCw1FzTDWQfnGHRc4GHh6jQ66yDHqFwNdkNgwqtsez91LiKJaAAmBEd7_naby0ujsSSHtcoMqrmhg7B6A_WCCmI3znI/s1600/644105_10151103532483613_1289629292_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIRb02rQiW-MTYerjvVZxD2foQpGXirQ_YYxrHZ5P0OtK0XWKHCw1FzTDWQfnGHRc4GHh6jQ66yDHqFwNdkNgwqtsez91LiKJaAAmBEd7_naby0ujsSSHtcoMqrmhg7B6A_WCCmI3znI/s320/644105_10151103532483613_1289629292_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Group photo with the Birthday Boy. No candles so we used our fingers. 22 for 22nd Birthday XD</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Onwards and upwards to other activities! XD All photos
are courtesy of Jaslyn and Ah Yi (the birthday boy). Thanks guys!</span></span></div>
</div>
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-16362766948021458902012-10-11T12:46:00.002+10:302012-10-11T15:18:52.002+10:30Let it snow!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/snow-at-mt-lofty-more-wild-weather-coming/story-e6frea83-1226493307107">http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/snow-at-mt-lofty-more-wild-weather-coming/story-e6frea83-1226493307107</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It snowed at Mt. Lofty,
albeit only around 50mm on the ground BUT STILL it snowed!! In spring! The
whole of Adelaide is excited and it’s like Christmas is here. Wish I could take the day off to play. It should've snowed when we went there for
our hike last Saturday. Great hike but
our endurance was so bad, we had to stop every few minutes during the walk up,
which was embarrassing considering there
were people with pom poms along the trail cheering everyone on. Hmm..I still havnt found out what that’s all
about. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6ReiU8rJqekqdkZ1c2GdCjkSEvY0C5M6B4CGGjbR6VPIGKePgoO4xTmaCVUNAtsTQ5j4gqzzx5Hc6JU2_0SPV0XgLtpNrjL4MyePHb_VXsGgTGVu45eUCSaAOR6NOh1ufFeMroraRW4/s1600/adelaidehillsregion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6ReiU8rJqekqdkZ1c2GdCjkSEvY0C5M6B4CGGjbR6VPIGKePgoO4xTmaCVUNAtsTQ5j4gqzzx5Hc6JU2_0SPV0XgLtpNrjL4MyePHb_VXsGgTGVu45eUCSaAOR6NOh1ufFeMroraRW4/s640/adelaidehillsregion.jpg" width="608" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>The trail we took was the Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty Hike</i></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We hiked through a str</span><span id="goog_209420612" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span id="goog_209420613" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/" style="font-family: inherit;"></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">etch of bushfire re-growth nearer
towards the peak and the trees there are still charred from a bushfire back in 1983. I just had to stop and wonder at the surprising
beauty of it all. The whole place smells
of roasted potatoes, sun’s out and the day was perfect. It couldn’t have been more obvious that
spring is here. The hike down was so
much easier without any stop. Took us
nearly 3 hours to and fro but it’s been fun. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This week, rain started to pour and it’s been hailing on and
off. Everything has been so disjointed. What with daylight saving (a waste of my
precious hour) and hailing at night, I havn’t been able to catch much sleep. Been digging out my summer
clothes but I guess it’s still too early for that. =( It's a love-hate affair with this crazy weather. I'd forgive the inconvenience if only it'd snow all over Adelaide. Enough for us to throw snow balls and build a snow man with. =p</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-49537799571970552682012-09-07T22:30:00.000+09:302012-11-02T15:54:15.981+10:30Jetty incident<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dad has a formidable temper. I remember our childhood speckled with
memories of being disciplined with ‘specially made’ canes. Dad would get some cane suitable for hitting
naughty kids from furniture shop owners.
I remember tagging along once and he said to me “See this? This is for
when you don’t listen to me” and bent the cane to test for flexibility and swung
it around to test for durability while I stood there watching *sweat*. I remember as well being chased around the
house with said cane and locking myself in a room only to find dad climbing
through the windows…by then it’s game over.
I also remember doing something bad and the first thing I did before dad
got home was to find the cane and throw it behind the cupboard. I was right, what I did was bad enough for
the cane to make an appearance, but since dad couldn’t find it (to my initial relief), he
ended up using one of his leather belt (to my horror). I think I end up pretty normal though. I guess it’s just the way kids are
disciplined back then. Kids now are so
over protected and pampered.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, the reason why I wrote
all that was to explain how scary dad was.
Dad is so much more mellow now and obviously, the cane has retired. However, there are still times when his
temper would explode and we would cringe in silence. When he widens his eyes and flares his
nostrils in anger, everyone would either <i>1)stare
back in alarm trying to think if we are brave enough to be a smart ass</i> or
<i>2) try not to look, be silent and pretend
that everything is going to be A-OK</i>.
That was many years back though. This
then brings me to an incident as related to me by my brother.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There was a period when dad, who
was a civil servant, had to work away from our hometown. Mum would drop him at the jetty very early in
the morning and he would catch a boat to another town for work. Either mum or my brother would then pick him
up again in the evening. They were late
in picking dad up from the jetty one day and dad called to tell them to move
it. After hurriedly dropping my sister
off for her driving lesson, mum and brother proceeded to drive to the jetty. Unfortunately, they chose that day to try a
different route and ended up getting lost.
To make matters worse, my brother left his hand phone with my sister as
she’d forgotten to bring hers, so there was no way to assauge the oncoming
storm.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Arriving at the jetty, as soon as
they saw dad’s dark face from the car, they decided to <i>2) try not to look, be silent and pretend that everything is going to
be A-OK. </i>Dad was seriously
pissed. He opened the car door, threw
his bag on the seat and slammed the door shut.
Without turning back, my brother proceeded to drive away. Both mum and brother remained silent, hoping
dad would cool down in time. However, as
he’d expected at least a barrage of reprimanding from dad about time keeping,
my brother was getting really curious when MANY minutes have passed and still
there was not a peep from dad. Glancing surreptitiously
at the rearview mirror, he was shocked to see that there’s no one at the
back. Thinking that his eyes were playing
tricks on him, he turned around and looked properly. Still, there’s no dad. By then, his mind was furiously churning. Was dad so angry that he opened the door and
jumped out of the moving car? He
distinctively heard the door slam shut!
Brother turned to mum and said “Ma, pa’s not there” and mum immediately
turned around. They’re both
stumped. By then, they have almost
reached my sister’s driving school and so decided to quickly pick her up and go
back to the jetty. When my sister got in
the car, she had the hand phone plastered to her ear. She whispered to my brother “What happened?
Dad’s so angry! Here!” and passed the phone to my brother. As soon as my brother said Hello, my dad
proceeded to let loose a string of swear words.
This coming from a man who abhors crude language and had instilled
enough fear in us to never breathe any in his presence. (in his presence should be in bold..lol)</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It transpired that after dad
threw his bag in, he did not follow suit as he had to go to the washroom. However, right after slamming the door shut
but before he was able to indicate to them that he’s going to be right back, my
brother had driven off without even a backward glance. My dad ran after our car shouting, but to no
avail. He had been left stranded. Ta dummmmmmm….. In the end, too embarrassed to go back to
where he was (everyone outside a café was watching), dad legged it until my
brother found him. Apparently he’d
walked many miles. When I asked what
happened next and if everyone got a tongue lashing, my sister told me that dad
was sheepish when he got into the car.
Cute. He probably had time to
cool down during the walk. Lol.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-84700305295506839742012-08-01T21:47:00.000+09:302012-08-01T21:54:17.442+09:30Grandma, Wo Hen Tong Ku T^TNephew's sick...again. He asked to webcam last Sunday which I happily obliged. In spite of a fever and coughs, with a cooling patch stuck on his forehead, he was still very energetic and talked non stop about his Bakugan collection. He loves them dearly. Halfway talking, he kept rubbing between his eyes in very impatient movements. I was baffled but even when I asked what is wrong, he kept on talking. Da jie heard me and looking at the way he was rubbing, she guessed rightly that he had a headache. She decided to end the video call so he can have a nap. As she was leading him away, he kept turning around to wave and blow me kisses. He even extended his head to make sure that I can see him while he was walking away *melts* <br />
<br />
That night, they found ulcers in his mouth and suspected that he had contracted the hand, foot and mouth disease. Went to the doctor's but was advised that it's not what they feared and was sent home with advise to monitor him further. The very next day, with more ulcers and fever that would not abate, they went to another doctor and was informed that, true to their fears, it is indeed Coxsackie. They suspected that he contracted the very infectious virus at nursery. However, with so many babies with the virus already admitted to the hospital (I think there's an outbreak in Penang so to all parents there, take care!) , he was sent home with antibiotics. I googled up coxsackie on the net and the images that came up look really painful. My poor nephew. I can only imagine how much pain he is in. He told mum <i>"Grandma, wo hen tong ku"</i> <---"Grandma, I am suffering." T^T He's started to form blisters on his body as of last night. Was told that the whole process would take about a week. My sister's joining a new company today and my heart goes out to her. She must be under so much stress. It's definitely tough being a parent. <br />
<br />
p/s: There's so many grey areas in medicine and high likelihood of misdiagnosis, so seek second opinions for sicknesses which are out of the ordinary. One of my aunt was diagnosed with an illness and given a bunch of medication to take only to be told by another doctor down the track that she had been wrongly diagnosed. My younger sister had to undergo a major operation which could've been avoided with correct diagnosis earlier. Thus, moral of the day is...doctors are sometimes wrong so pray really hard and do your own research.
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-67136501935088160302012-07-24T10:13:00.000+09:302012-07-24T10:23:29.059+09:30Cute messages<span style="font-family: inherit;">I received a message late last night from da jie, asking me if I
am already in bed. She told me that my
nephew wanted to write to me via msn messenger.
Unfortunately, I’ve just switched off the light and hopped into bed, so
decided to viber them instead. While the
phone was being passed to mum, I can hear my nephew speaking and singing in the
background. Mum informed me that he is
typing a very long offline message to me.
He would occasionally interrupt my mum asking “How do you spell airplane?
Or Grandma how to spell next?” and then he’d go on and sing the alphabet very
loudly. When I asked to speak to him, he
said to me “Yi yi! I am now writing abc..can you see??” XD Before I ended the call, da jie warned that I will
be bombarded with offline messages when I next log in.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 3.6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 3.6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lo and behold, as soon as my messenger is up and running in the
office this morning, I received a string of cute messages from the little guy.<span style="color: #545454;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 3.6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:02 PM):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*joel lim is coming </span>
<span style="color: #e69138;"><---XD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">*tv<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:03 PM):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*12345678910<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:04 PM):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*100<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">*90<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">*80<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">*70<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*60<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*50<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">*40<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:05 PM):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*30<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">*20<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">*10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:06 PM):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*aeroplane<span style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="color: #e69138;"><---Because I’ve always asked him to fly to
me whenever I talk to him on the phone or via webcam</span><span style="color: #c00000; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 3.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:09 PM):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:11 PM):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*nowissoundforabc </span>
<span style="color: #e69138;"><-- </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #e69138;">Now I sound for abc???? LOL!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 3.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:12 PM):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*nexttime </span>
<span style="color: #e69138;"><--- </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #e69138;">Next time</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 3.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:13 PM):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*one </span>
<span style="color: #e69138;"><--- </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #e69138;">Supposed to be ‘wont’. Our bad.
We thought he wanted to spell the number.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 3.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:14 PM):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*yousing </span>
<span style="color: #e69138;"><--- </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #e69138;">you sing</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*with<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:15 PM):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.6pt; margin-right: .9pt; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">*aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbcccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc </span>
<span style="color: #e69138;"><--- </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #e69138;">hahaha,
cant stop laughing at this..it’s like he’s really singing here</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">He stopped at m and went on to write a
series of random letters and numbers. Gosh,
he’s so adorable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This has definitely made my day. <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">♥</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-24290535271296142672012-07-06T09:55:00.000+09:302017-05-28T00:01:14.226+09:30We've Moved!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Yes, we’ve moved! Am still at the stage where we fall into bed
every night with the sound of our backs cracking from sheer exhaustion. Up to date, we’ve unpacked only about 70% of
our stuffs (despite working zealously every night after work) , bought and installed
practically the whole of the upstairs furniture, carried things up and down the
2-storey home about a hundred times, and moved enough heavy furniture to make
us stunted for the rest of our lives.
(yeah yeah..I know we’re way beyond help BUT STILL..one could always
hope) The muscles to our legs are still
aching and I think I’ve sprained one of my foot. Need.massage.desperately! I’d like to think that all this is helping to
keep my weight in check but the weighing scale in the bathroom showed how wrong
I was last night. I’ve even put on
weight…a lot!..a lot of weight.
Dammit. No wonder my face looks
so fat lately.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Things hadn’t been going all that
smoothly during our move. Friday was the
settlement date and had been a total nightmare.
We set out to work in the morning happily thinking that everything’s
going so well. Fast forward halfway to
work and all hell broke loose. Our bank
agent called with an earth shattering news.
(Not going to go into detail here, suffice to say that it’s enough to
give everyone a brain freeze) The rest of the morning was spent flying around
the city between the banks and the conveyancer’s office. I’ve hung up on our agent so many times that
my brother has made a joke out of it
“Ahhh…can I call you back!” du du du du du….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I’ve also managed to piss my boss
off by taking an emergency leave and have been feeling the pain throughout the
week. Sigh. So many reprisals. Started the day really early the next day
doing last minute packing, aka chucking everything into black garbage
bags. Our motto is if you have to
unpack, there’s no point using duct tapes.
My brother found a Chinese guy who can move some of our heavier
furniture for $220 (he initially quoted $200 but complained halfway that we
have more things to move than originally informed =p) which is a bargain
considering the fact that to rent a 3 tonne truck alone would cost us
$197. Henry came to help with some of
the moving even though we said not to and Julia made us a delicious lunch. We really appreciate it guys. <3</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
First night sleeping in the new
house felt like staying in a hotel.
Everything’s different and new and smelling of fresh paint. Reminded me of the home sickness I
experienced when I first arrived in Australia as well. Such a bittersweet feeling =) Sunday was
spent furniture hunting. We bought a
wardrobe, bed and narrow table for my bedroom.
I have a vision of all white bed sets.
My sister bought a table and king sized mattress for her bedroom and
Maggie had a bed and table for hers. We
got the Chinese removalist to come and transport the furniture for us again and
when he arrived and saw all the furnitures, he said and I quote “ Whoa Cow! You
already had so many things and you are buying more!” Anyway, as we were rushing for time, my
brother and I went back to the house in Mawson Lakes to try an attempt a
preliminary clean up before the prospective tenants arrived. Unfortunately, they arrived before us. The first thing they commented when they
entered the house was..”Where’s the furniture?” =__= News flash guys, if it’s
furnished the rental would be a lot higher.
I bet that’s the last we’ll see of them.
After much consideration and comments of “Peggy, I don’t think you’re
tough enough to be a landlord”, and unless I can find a strapping boyfriend who
can kick butts before I sign the contract, I’ll be getting an agent to deal
with the headache. T^T Bye bye dollar sign. Meeting him this Saturday to start the
process.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Night time was spent trying to
put our furniture together. My sister
found out that the mattress doesn’t fit her bed even though one’s a king sized
bed and the other’s a king sized mattress.
We should’ve gotten a measurement but thought that it’s all
universal. I also found out that wrong
items had been selected for the wardrobe and we are missing a few vital
elements. Everyone said S*** the whole
night and we went to bed exhausted but with the feeling that nothing much has
been accomplished and more headache to resolve.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
We’ve managed to return the mattress
and wardrobe (the mirrored doors are super heavy!!!!) finally tonight and since
we again, had to call out the Chinese guy to help with the transport (we’ll
definitely become his most loyal customer of the year) we took the opportunity
to buy a washing machine as well. I’ll
be getting a robe specialist to come in for a quote on Saturday. If their website advertisement can be
trusted, we’ll be able to have a full height wardrobe installed for almost the
same price. *sigh* Should’ve thought of
this before and save us the pain. All
thanks to mum’s recommendation. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So there you have it, our week of
total torture, rash decisions and utter chaos.
We’ve put up our beds and things are slowly falling into place
though. Loving my room and the house to
bits. We have an invisible drummer
neighbor who plays almost every night and made the place sounds so
festive. The bass is loud enough to be
heard but not too loud as to be irritating.
I would sit in my sister’s walk-in robe to listen. Took the bus for the first time yesterday and
everything’s so exciting. New faces and
new routes. It’s like moving to
Australia all over again. =) </div>
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-23075650607652248522012-06-16T17:59:00.000+09:302012-06-18T11:02:48.437+09:30Stand by Me<span style="font-family: inherit;">When the
night has come</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And the
land is dark<br />
And the moon is the only light we'll see<br />
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid<br />
Just as long as you stand, stand by me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me<br />
Stand by me, stand by me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
If the sky that we look upon<br />
Should tumble and fall<br />
And the mountains should crumble to the sea<br />
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear<br />
Just as long as you stand, stand by me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me<br />
Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me-e, yeah<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve been
obsessed with the song for a few days and have listened to many different
versions and covers. Here’s a list of my favorites that I grabbed off Youtube:-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYtfMS1nlGU"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYtfMS1nlGU</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am
putting this live acoustic version foremost as it’s the one that got me
hooked. Go John
Park!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7P5jWu9JLo&feature=bf_next&list=PL182479E1FC3C3168"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7P5jWu9JLo&feature=bf_next&list=PL182479E1FC3C3168</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By the
ever lovable Timon and Pumba (and the frogs of course!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pumba :
Aaaaa…I don’t think I like this song….XD<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSHiiWP_Xtc"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSHiiWP_Xtc</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Heard
this on MyFM promoting the movie ‘First Time’. Nothing special about the voice but the band’s cool. By Mark Chao.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhw09nuhk0c&feature=bf_next&list=PL5B62319DEBD2FF9F"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhw09nuhk0c&feature=bf_next&list=PL5B62319DEBD2FF9F</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of
many remix of Beautiful Girl and Stand by Me. Never realize how the melodies could be fairly similar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q28Nl4OrPk&feature=bf_next&list=PL182479E1FC3C3168"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q28Nl4OrPk&feature=bf_next&list=PL182479E1FC3C3168</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Julian Lennon & Roland Orzabal’s version. I actually prefer theirs to John Lennon’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZqSRTrAQtQ&feature=bf_next&list=PL5B62319DEBD2FF9F"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZqSRTrAQtQ&feature=bf_next&list=PL5B62319DEBD2FF9F</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By
J-Co. A modern
take on the song.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R6kkZLkT-Q&feature=related"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R6kkZLkT-Q&feature=related</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Acapella
version by Rockapella<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjqre-8igAQ&feature=bf_next&list=PL5B62319DEBD2FF9F"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjqre-8igAQ&feature=bf_next&list=PL5B62319DEBD2FF9F</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Country
version of the song by Tracy Chapman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA53T_DT4kk"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA53T_DT4kk</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And of
course, the original by Ben E. King. Ahhh…love
the bass. =)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Which one
is YOUR favorite? </span></div>
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-72273908242952668432012-05-31T23:44:00.000+09:302012-05-31T23:44:16.221+09:30She went S-shaped!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0hwS7DIjr9Lef94nEMr-5aTIGwmK0F84Qwuek7jKRtXFAKyKuPsOdGsolFTTexP_4W6-gK_e-v4AbiNvydKKpACvauT1Ru8LVWbU-ti9PmkrkIgjbx3-nki4ysRYxWH5IjiJYwvb_rHM/s1600/v7c31.immortal_rain_v07_p0053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0hwS7DIjr9Lef94nEMr-5aTIGwmK0F84Qwuek7jKRtXFAKyKuPsOdGsolFTTexP_4W6-gK_e-v4AbiNvydKKpACvauT1Ru8LVWbU-ti9PmkrkIgjbx3-nki4ysRYxWH5IjiJYwvb_rHM/s640/v7c31.immortal_rain_v07_p0053.jpg" width="417" /></a></div>
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I got this from the manga 'Immortal Rain' by Ozaki Kaori. The guy in the white lab coat sneaked up to the one in black garb and ran his finger down his back, making him go AAAAAhh! See how his back is curved into an S shape? I think it's so funny and a bulb kindda went off in my head. *evil laugh*</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
And so..I decided to experiment on my sis to see if she'd go S-shaped too. Today, when her back was turned towards me, I acted immediately. Unfortunately, in my eagerness, I pressed too hard. She did go AAAAhhh! and went S-shaped but she turned and said "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? THAT HURTS!" >__< and she was looking at me all confused. I got shocked too since I thought she wont have felt the finger too much over her thick jacket. But seeing her confused face and remembering how her reaction was EXACTLY like the guy in black garb, I had to laugh. God I am so evil. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Now you know why I did what I did, bi.... LOL!</div>
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-6057888847158873902012-05-27T22:36:00.001+09:302012-05-27T22:41:33.166+09:30Is it because I am so cute?Was chatting with da jie and she told me about the conversation she had with my nephew. He's been strangely intrigued by the questions of life and death lately. Would clutch my sister's hand at night, crying and begging her not to grow old and die. Poor boy. I wonder what's caused his anxiety. Probably something that he came across while talking to his friends at the nursery. Anyway, this is one of the funnier conversation that came out of the blue.<br />
<br />
Joel: Mummy, why will old people die? Is it because they're so old already?<br />
Da jie: Yes<br />
Joel: Why?<br />
Da jie: It's just like your old toys, the wheels will break, the doors are gone, everything's not working anymore. It's the same with old people. When they grow old, their body won't function as well. Their hearts, their kidneys and many other organs in their body will not be doing their work properly. That's why old people will die.<br />
Joel: Just like old building will collapse issit?<br />
Da jie: Yes<br />
Joel: So old people will go to the graveyard and die issit?<br />
Da jie: ??? No. How will they know when they're going to die? They wouldn't know. You won't expect them to wait at the graveyard right? Who's going to bury them if they die there?<br />
Joel: Because they're old old already. And they're almost dead already. So they go to graveyard to die.<br />
Da jie: Can they dig their own hole or cover themselves with soil when they die?<br />
Joel: No.<br />
Da jie: That's why they need their friends, or family or someone else to help bury them when they die.<br />
Da jie: (quickly changes topic before he asks anymore baffling questions) Joel, are you cold? If you're cold or hot at school later, you have to make sure you tell your teacher ok.<br />
Joel: Why? Is it because I'm very cute?<br />
<br />
LOL!! Was informed by da jie that my nephew always thinks that everything has to do with him being cute. Probably as a result of being proclaimed so by his adoring mother, grandmother and aunts. =p<br />
<br />
Da jie: Don't simply run here and there. If I don't see you later, bad guys will catch you.<br />
Joel: Why do bad guys want to catch me? Is it because I'm so cute?<br />
Da jie: No. It's because they think you're a bad boy who never listens to mummy and daddy. That's why they want to catch you.<br />
Joel: Why do they want to catch me? Is it because I'm very cute?<br />
Da jie: !!! No.<br />
Joel: Is it because they want to eat me?<br />
Da jie: !!!!<br />
<br />
Haha..he IS cute! Da jie told me he did really well in his exam (they have exams in nursery!!! Poor babies!) He's been a really good boy and never complained when asked to do his revision. Congrats baby <3 Yi yi's so proud of you.<br />
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-8998303988932088792012-05-24T22:18:00.001+09:302017-11-01T15:01:29.819+10:30Wedding dressesI simply adore wedding dresses. They're so fascinating. Every time I walk into a shop with magazine stands, I would be tempted to flip open the bridal magazines just to see what people are wearing. Minimalist design does nothing to my heart beat though. It seems that the majority of couples now are opting for simple dresses a.k.a sleeveless/strapless, with little details and a sweep/court trains. (barely reaching the ground) I guess in today's world, practicality overrides aesthetic. <br />
<br />
I have always thought that wedding dresses of the past with it's many laces, long trains and intricate details are beyond charming. I would have to say that Grace Kelly's tops them all. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJrmUSPLkqQmn9O4J8SIo_NRY49WijjLttxfVtUA7UxdoN91csYQq26rnjMdexkohCNT7Eloj5DJLXFuW25DLkO1YEBDVzV1KOkA4OmWIkZGxcOfkknOAYdPC57_iC_da3B0zpVNopYa8/s1600/Grace-Kelly-Wedding-Gown-Picture-e1314354733626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJrmUSPLkqQmn9O4J8SIo_NRY49WijjLttxfVtUA7UxdoN91csYQq26rnjMdexkohCNT7Eloj5DJLXFuW25DLkO1YEBDVzV1KOkA4OmWIkZGxcOfkknOAYdPC57_iC_da3B0zpVNopYa8/s200/Grace-Kelly-Wedding-Gown-Picture-e1314354733626.jpg" width="171" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTdCD7ouFJAAssKj81DDk_Mr1-pxcdiTUm_rx53dFZ5wYroI4VhrtdqUD1Mw2WwpggjEPrsQX8ELNWboXr4OYPLIavdf_KklZz18egnZ8eHx_bgae6nVMBnKL2NeSm6Que733qxoe0XWU/s1600/Grace-Kelly-wedding-dress-1956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTdCD7ouFJAAssKj81DDk_Mr1-pxcdiTUm_rx53dFZ5wYroI4VhrtdqUD1Mw2WwpggjEPrsQX8ELNWboXr4OYPLIavdf_KklZz18egnZ8eHx_bgae6nVMBnKL2NeSm6Que733qxoe0XWU/s200/Grace-Kelly-wedding-dress-1956.jpg" width="171" /></a></div>
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Isn't it simply gorgeous?? I love the arm fitting lace sleeves, the empire waist, the tiny row of buttons (so chaste and delicate!) and the beaded juliette head dress. The only thing I would change is the skirt I guess. I personally think it's a little too stiff. The sketch of the dress is superb~ <3 </div>
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There's been many Grace Kelly inspired wedding dresses, most notably worn by Kate Middleton recently. My sister likes it though I think it's too simple for my taste. The best in my opinion is Nicole Richie's. Frankly, I think I prefer hers to the original. When I first saw the photos I was like 'GASP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' & swoon. Lol.</div>
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No flaws...nothing I would change about the dress! Love the fluffy ball gown! I also love how she could detach the skirt and it instantly becomes a slim fitting dress. Ingenious!</div>
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While I was browsing for the photos, I came across a couple of really cool alternative to veils. These would look really good with minimalist wedding dresses.</div>
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I want to ditch architecture and study wedding dress designs!</div>
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-10397388644122937062012-05-23T12:59:00.000+09:302012-05-23T13:00:35.327+09:30May Day<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I love May. The weather's great! Getting colder and colder and raining on and off. The sun's out but the sky is dark. So romantic. </span>Having a banana while I am typing away. Do you know that bruised bananas are actually good for you? It turns out that the brown is a sign that the antioxidant levels have risen. It’s a little icky but don’t spit the bruised parts away. It’ll help you blast away diseases.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’d been feeling lethargic and strangely depressed after my
exam. Felt lost and tearful, flitting here and there not knowing
exactly what to do and not really wanting to do anything. Turns out,
it’s my pre-menstrual syndrome acting up. Hallelujah! Scared me for
a bit since I thought I might be experiencing a post exam
depression. Lol. FYI, I passed! m< ^o^
>m. Mum had a premonition that we’ll receive a mail on that
particular day and as soon as I reached home from work, she went to check and
found the letter. Am now licensed to open up my own practice, and
get sued if anything goes wrong .….Frankly, I don’t see the point but it’s
great to get it out of the way. No more ‘important scary thing’ to
do hanging over my head…except driving.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I've been purging on books lately. And yes, purge
as in reading a lot and vomiting them out again. Ask me what I’ve
read and I can only vaguely recall the plots and storylines. None
that made me want to stay up reading all night. You might ask,
What’s the point in reading then?? And I’ll say, Just
because. I bought 2 books by Linda Taylor online a few days
back. Couldn’t find any of her books on our library’s register,
assumedly 1. since she’s a UK author or 2. because she’s not in demand and 3.
because our library’s resources are too limited. I have nothing else
to read now except Reader’s Digest so am waiting very impatiently for their
arrival. In any case, our house is not that far from the suburb’s
library. Hopefully I’ll have time to drop in this weekend, bite the
bullet and pay my fine of $30+. I was lax in returning the books
borrowed last year and unfortunately one of the books was a reserved copy,
hence the fine. =( I adore the library
here. There’s bean bags, comfy sofas and full height windows all
around. Heaven~~<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">P/s : Dad’s coming to visit next weekend for 2 weeks and we have
our trip to New Zealand in August to look forward to. A lot of
planning to do and I haven’t even started yet. My boss came in to
chat and told me about all the must visit places on the North of the
Island. Sounds awesome and I can’t wait!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-9491839712747049022012-05-07T16:42:00.002+09:302012-05-07T17:02:53.176+09:30Stressed Out!I am super super stressed!! I am so stressed I am probably in trauma *back-of-hand-over-the-forehead-fainting-gesture* Was still frolicking in the sun and having fun a few days back. Serves me right. Want to curl up into a ball and just hibernate. T^T 3 more days to go and I've just received my timetable for the oral exam yesterday. The letter advised that "due to the large number of examinees this year bla..bla.." Dammit. If there's a quota for the number of passes then I'm in big trouble. Have been biting my nails in nervousness and stress ever since. On one hand, I so want the whole thing to be over and done with, but on the other hand, I want time to slow down in case I haven't prepared myself well enough. Problem is, I am not sure if I am even on the right track. *sigh* So strung up I just want to stand up and pace the room. OMG! OMG! x___x<br />
<br />
p/s: Been popping Vit.B Complex for a few days now with the hope that it'll calm my nerves but it's obviously not working. Stupid supplements. I should probably try high intensity yoga routine and hope that the pain will help annihilate my anxiety to nothingness. -___- Hummmmmm.......(oh wait..that's for meditation =p)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-19737021570485065332012-04-25T17:32:00.001+09:302012-04-25T19:02:38.341+09:30Time to unwind?I know I shouldn't but I really have to write to unwind. Been spending last night and the majority part of the day cramming for my oral and it's going very slowly indeed. Not even sure if I'll remember half of what I've read. =( So much for enjoying Anzac Holiday.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I am currently listening to 'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush. Heard it for the first time on 'the Voice' a few nights back and although my initial thought was 'Eek! Sounds like the girl swallowed helium!' I am pulled in once she reached the chorus. So mesmerizing. You'll find the song on my blog's playlist.<br />
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<i>Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering</i><br />
<i>Wuthering Heights</i><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Chorus :</i></div>
<i>Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy, I've come home,</i><br />
<i>I'm so cold, let me in a-your-window</i><br />
<br />
<i>Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy, I've come home,</i><br />
<i>I'm so cold, let me in a-your-window</i><br />
<i>Oh let me have it, let me grab your soul away,</i><br />
<i>Oh let me have it, let me grab your soul away,
</i><br />
<i>You know it's me, Cathy</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
Lol. Such a dark lyric, but so fitting of the novel. I read it a few years ago when I was really into Classical novels. Only once and never again. I don't get the hype about it being one of the most romantic novel of all times. It depresses me, is cruel and I totally cannot connect with the main characters. Of all the Bronte sisters' novels, I love Charlotte's Jane Eyre the most. Should get dad to bring over the books from back home when he visits in June.<br />
<br />
I read two novels by an author while I was at uni and for the life of me, could not recall her name. While I was reading my notes last night, the title of the books hit me like a tonne of bricks. "Beating about the bushes" and "Reading between the lines" by Linda Taylor. I'm ecstatic. >_< Totally love her novels. They're light, easy and made me laugh out loud. Feel good novels that I cannot get enough of. Found out that she'd written a couple more novels since and can't wait to get my oral over and done with so I can start raiding the library for them. <br />
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Time for a run and back to studying. *sigh* Wish me luck guys~
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-86045287909721199002012-04-17T23:29:00.000+09:302012-04-17T23:29:27.018+09:30Public Transports<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Caught a train home last night and had the unpleasant encounter of having someone who probably hasn’t showered for at least a week, sit on the row in front of me. Tried to act cool at first and resisted pinching my nose but the smell kindda stings and breathing shallowly had me gasping for air after a while. So, I did what the poor guy in front of me did and leaned as far away from the offending person as I could (didn’t help much though). I have this weird habit of not breathing when I walk pass people, especially if they are running with sweat pouring out of them. The more shabby and dirty a person looks, the longer I would hold my breath in case the whiff of them haven’t completely disappeared. I would always choose to sit or stand near a girl/woman. They generally smell really good and if they’d just washed their hair, I would have to stop myself from sniffing. Lol. I love perfumes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This got me thinking about my experiences in public transports. There’s an incident in the bus a few years back while I was on my way to the city. I’ve just taken my seat and a drunkard (he reeked of alcohol..eww) was walking pass me, trying to reach the seat at the back. The bus started moving and he lost his balance and slammed into the back of my seat. At the time, he was holding a big glass bottle (seriously..alcohol in the afternoon??) and somehow managed to bang the back of my head with the bottle. I almost passed out from the pain thinking that I probably have a blood clot that will see me dead the next day. Shocked and angry, I turned around and said…………….and said “ARE YOU OK??!” =___=!! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I swear I didn’t mean to ask that. I was supposed to be saying things like “You banged my head! Careful you idiot!” or “You nearly killed me!” I guess he really did manage to bash me stupid. To add insult to injury, he walked off without any word of apology. Made me want to throw my shoes at him. I should sue him for physical and emotional damage.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Taking the same bus on the same route for 5 years made a few faces familiar to me. There’s the kind looking old man who probably had a stroke a few years back since one side of his body is paralyzed. I always look for him when I reach my bus stop. If he’s there, it means that I haven’t missed my bus. He really likes newspapers and is always reading one. I have also observed a girl grown from a cute little child into an…obnoxious and loud adolescent. I know her name too since she and her mum likes to think that they own the bus and shout conversations over everyone’s heads. They have breakfast of apples and sometimes yogurt and her mum combs her hair in the bus almost every day. They sometimes have dinner at ‘nanna’s’ house but she doesn’t really make good pastas so can they please have chinese. She apparently does well in school, dislikes socializing, etc. Ugh, even when I’ve mastered the art of tuning out of private conversations, I still know too much.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I don’t dislike public transports though. The unpredictability and having people around me, even if they’re strangers, are oddly comforting. Besides, how blissful it is to be able to read while someone else does the driving. ^_<</span></span></div><br />
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-75219229040877362132012-04-11T15:49:00.002+09:302012-04-14T00:17:20.528+09:30Food for thought<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Was chatting with mum and a few friends over tea last night and somehow, the topic shifted to gardening. Since I know nothing about it and have no interest whatsoever, I just sat and listened. Mum started to say that most of the seeds that she planted in our backyard refused to blossom and she suspects that it's because our soil isn't fertile. However, considering the fact that the soil is black, it should have been fertile by right. That led to one of our friends asking if mum made sure that the seeds were well and truly buried in the soil and not just scattered on the surface. It appears that he once saw ants carrying away the seeds that he had scattered. He even showed us how it’s carried away i.e. both hands over one shoulder hefting an imaginary item. Lol. Food for thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are other trivia from the conversation that I thought I’d share since they are soOo cool. Did you know that all food discards/leftovers can be turned into compost? I mean, I KNOW what compost is but have never really thought of how it’s made. I guess I’ve always thought that it’s made out of manure. That’s how little thought I’ve ever spared on that topic. It’s interesting to know that some people don’t throw wastes away. They bury all leftovers (fruit and vegetable peels, leftover foods, etc) in the soil and in a few weeks time, everything turns black and walla..you have your home made compost. <i>HEY! A thought suddenly occurred while I am writing. Since our friends are vegetarian, all their food wastes must be vegetables. What about non-vegetarians? Can we turn meat into compost as well? Would that make the vegetable that we plant inorganic??? <o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Apparently, there is a type of storage bin on the market just for this purpose. You chuck all your food waste into the sealed container and it’ll help ferment the waste into one gooey mass. To use the compost as a fertilizer, simply turn on the tap located at the lower end of the container and I imagine you’ll see all those black mass flowing out. Truly gross. But earth saving.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another trivia is soaking all citrus peels in a tub of vinegar for a few weeks and recycling them to be used as detergents. Ingenious!! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">p/s: This weekend will be spent playing in the garden and throwing out seeds on the soil to test my friend’s theory of stealing ants. Xd</span></div><br />
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Blogger's Note : <i>*Heart melts* Heard this on the radio and fell in love with the song at first hear. Love it =)</i><br />
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-13988098012494404572012-04-02T19:29:00.005+09:302016-08-10T15:18:07.422+09:30Birthday and Everything Nice~<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The night before my birthday (2012 not 198x) mum announced that we are out of Shao Hsing Jiu (Chinese Rice Wine). She desperately needs it to cook Chang Sho Mien (Longevity Noodles) for my birthday the next day. Nothing beats cooking Chang Sho Mien with Foochow Red Wine infused chicken soup but since it is impossible to find one in Adelaide, we have resorted to using bland SHJ. The only shop open in our area at that hour is the Woolies and the possibility of finding a Chinese rice wine at a local Australian supermarket is nearly nil. Anyhow, we thought we’d give it a shot since the only other option is to cook the soup without wine, which in my opinion, is equivalent to cooking kimchi fried rice without kimchi. After searching high and low and almost giving up in despair, I finally spotted a single bottle of SHJ in its full glory on the very top level of a shelf. Hallelujah! The day (or soup) is saved! I’ll consider this my birthday gift from God >< ♥<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-tWdfdXtgNzA8E1LKj4XfvvxpNaCH0U_XJ6NM30rkG0JqfpfgJW9QoV3XIpGNY2bWD_Smhjo3nqPJtXz45ZEOyjiF2EIuOdQWU64O-22CaKEqvSGmo-Q1XJWdDCdFvPwe27wV-l0QXbE/s1600/C360_2012-03-28-20-02-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-tWdfdXtgNzA8E1LKj4XfvvxpNaCH0U_XJ6NM30rkG0JqfpfgJW9QoV3XIpGNY2bWD_Smhjo3nqPJtXz45ZEOyjiF2EIuOdQWU64O-22CaKEqvSGmo-Q1XJWdDCdFvPwe27wV-l0QXbE/s200/C360_2012-03-28-20-02-12.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shao Hsing Jiu</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I had the noodles + 2 boiled eggs for breakfast (only 1 for others since I’m the VIP for the day =p), trying very hard to not cut the eggs with my spoon so that my lucks are intact. Lol..I am THIS old and I still love all these little traditions. In the middle of the day, mum messaged me while I was at work and apologized for not remembering to wish me a Happy Birthday! She stayed up late to prepare the ingredients for the soup and got up really early the next day to cook the noodles and still, she felt sorry for not saying what was already obvious from her actions. T^T I have the greatest mother ever. ♥</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6-OShuruw6wkN6p5YapVLR_xuJigXMZC0LdRwPhfzzIh21FFE4-eALsIoBlLcLaJIEv66b3u0wqOo6QJ-5ARtYCYp68BVpBPNXvXrnwLMxtpaabuJYxPmRUH3DbGPs52IJVwlWwutjk/s1600/C360_2012-03-29-08-10-06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6-OShuruw6wkN6p5YapVLR_xuJigXMZC0LdRwPhfzzIh21FFE4-eALsIoBlLcLaJIEv66b3u0wqOo6QJ-5ARtYCYp68BVpBPNXvXrnwLMxtpaabuJYxPmRUH3DbGPs52IJVwlWwutjk/s200/C360_2012-03-29-08-10-06.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chang So Mien</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We made plans to meet up and have dinner at a Japanese restaurant in the city but found out at the very last minute that the restaurant has been shut down. Since my younger sis and I were early, we decided to take a walk along Rundle Street to see which other restaurant would suit our fancy. While admiring the clothes on display along the street, she dragged me into a boutique and made me try on a few outfits. We found a gorgeous black dress and after I tried it on, she insisted on buying it as a birthday gift. She doesn’t believe in surprise gifts and would rather buy something she is really sure I would love. I guess I am the opposite of her. I love surprises – both giving & receiving. They made my toes tingle XD. Asking people what they want kindda defeats the purpose in my opinion. I don’t always give good surprise gifts though. Especially to my younger sister as she has very firm ideas about the things she thinks suit/doesn’t suit her. =( In any case, I absolutely love the dress and it’s ingenious of her to buy me something I like and still let me enjoy the process. Thanks bi! ♥ Mum got me a handbag all the way from Malaysia. I’ve been admiring the bag while out shopping with her in Penang and were in mental anguish deciding whether to get it or not. Decided not to in the end because I have already spent waaaay too much. Mum and elder sis went back to the shop just before mum is due to fly over to Adelaide and got it as a birthday gift for me. ♥ My brother’s girlfriend got me an adorable owl necklace~ ♥ Brother announced that he didn’t get me anything and if I’d just let him know what I want, he’ll get it for me from ebay. Haha..guys. He paid for my birthday cake and dinner and bought a box of my favourite apple ciders so I’ll let him pass. ♥ Dad and elder sis called to wish me a Happy Birthday. Miss them and wish they are both here with us. ♥<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2WRzcvxtQaOtsytNMlpE4bjZXbIMvD7YAROoEhTpcIMC0mODUonHwyQUI7v6e8cjNSTL2vrXsjOJrEFmYAnT4QV-XZDUHs9lHN6Gd0jGsr6kC7uGCZFgNIHvhUxvjUYKwLgHiccXGukM/s1600/IMG_20120331_1_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2WRzcvxtQaOtsytNMlpE4bjZXbIMvD7YAROoEhTpcIMC0mODUonHwyQUI7v6e8cjNSTL2vrXsjOJrEFmYAnT4QV-XZDUHs9lHN6Gd0jGsr6kC7uGCZFgNIHvhUxvjUYKwLgHiccXGukM/s400/IMG_20120331_1_1.png" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner @ Brunelli's Cafe, Rundle Street</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After dinner, we went home and I changed into my newly bought dress for photo taking session. ^_^V</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb8o0qtGjkey_YcFR2qfv6sC3B9M5ZcqRfG1EOp_w3ixfSH0KDRedaEM0mxckeo2d-R8SRQWFaSg1Y2nIaXOGrhzLhWI9nIOwIrAncBf2sF1MX24xRnrOFsEXEFV4SpOyo45ye0lKu3rw/s1600/IMG_20120402_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb8o0qtGjkey_YcFR2qfv6sC3B9M5ZcqRfG1EOp_w3ixfSH0KDRedaEM0mxckeo2d-R8SRQWFaSg1Y2nIaXOGrhzLhWI9nIOwIrAncBf2sF1MX24xRnrOFsEXEFV4SpOyo45ye0lKu3rw/s400/IMG_20120402_1.png" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Birthday Gifts. FYI, serving suggestion for the apple cider : Bloody Cold XD</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We put sparklers and a candle on the cake and after taking pictures and making a wish, I blew up the candle. My brother and his girlfriend REALLY enjoyed the sparklers, as noted from the pictures. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHsI1TrQT3qogFVr7f7VvH3D7vac-zOzh09VPjw2QhYBLCGHx0QM_y4VyoMd2Cv7CzrRDUIXL-NngpRGGmSRbZwzuvowAsHujXvzrTNXYD1ih1nlwndv8V9SXMv6w5ZVJTzoSFdFF98o/s1600/IMG_20120331_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHsI1TrQT3qogFVr7f7VvH3D7vac-zOzh09VPjw2QhYBLCGHx0QM_y4VyoMd2Cv7CzrRDUIXL-NngpRGGmSRbZwzuvowAsHujXvzrTNXYD1ih1nlwndv8V9SXMv6w5ZVJTzoSFdFF98o/s400/IMG_20120331_2.png" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birthday Cake & Sparklers</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Haha..cute. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">All in all, I had a really good day. To everyone who’d left birthday wishes and greetings on my fb, sent them through whatsapp, msn messenger, phoned me and even drawn me birthday cakes on draw something (siok tze, andrew and jon – very inspiring! XD) Your wishes and greetings mean the world to me and I would like to say, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. =)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">XOXO<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">p/s: I don’t mean to sound like I am dying..and if I sound like I just won an award, I am even more sorry =p but REALLY I am happy! **\ (^___^) /**</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-31971593118447012302012-03-28T12:06:00.004+10:302012-04-14T00:18:31.687+09:30Reality TVHmm..Last night's My Kitchen Rules Grand Final was a major let down. Leigh and Jen came out the champions. How, what, why? I am still baffled. Was so sure the boys would win. Their dessert looked soOOo good I raided the fridge for ice cream just to subdue my craving. I accept that it's probably the taste that won the judges over but getting 10 out of 10 scores is just too much. Aren't presentations taken into consideration as well? Frankly, the girls' dessert looks unfinished and what about their congee entree? Didn't the judges think that it's too light a.k.a tasteless? =/ I am beginning to think who goes out and when are all predetermined in shows like this. Sucks. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEn0Ki2XBebiNZtp-Zv1V3fjpep8nlsYd70gnIU2SeynWcjzwt-DF43_v1UMIJxc9Hudn4lg5Cxv5PZOR9hIA1BHS2bauJqUZHSC27zL4cLwEFBwMp7S0F52yAuAsgl63aoUm6VG7d8h0/s1600/120328-MKRrecapTueGF-NR5thCourse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEn0Ki2XBebiNZtp-Zv1V3fjpep8nlsYd70gnIU2SeynWcjzwt-DF43_v1UMIJxc9Hudn4lg5Cxv5PZOR9hIA1BHS2bauJqUZHSC27zL4cLwEFBwMp7S0F52yAuAsgl63aoUm6VG7d8h0/s1600/120328-MKRrecapTueGF-NR5thCourse.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">How could this not win???!!!</div><br />
Speaking of tv show, Please Marry My Boy Finale will be aired tonight. I know I am probably watching too much reality TV but shows like this I just can't miss. It's so funny I watch just for laughs. Really..why anyone would subject themselves to such embarrassments is beyond me. <br />
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I blame mum for making me veg out in front of the tv. Since she came, I've been spending waaaay too much time in the lounge room. If not for her, I'd be in my room...playing......draw something......<br />
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</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1176866503408961664.post-13004785597494010172012-03-26T14:12:00.003+10:302012-04-14T00:18:45.523+09:30Lunch Break<div>My boss called in sick for the very first time since forever and requested that I cancel his appointments for the day. Settled that and efficiently plowed through work without the interruptions of telephone calls for the first half of the day. I am now having a much deserved lunch break in between typing away on my blog and listening to my mp3. It's great being alone in the office and not having to care if anyone sees me. Wearing my comfy jumpsuit with my legs tucked under me, glasses instead of contacts and with my annoying fringe clipped up like a dork. If it's raining, it'll be perfect~ Well, it's awesome now but most of the time, it's just plain lonely, boring and torturous. There's got to be more to working life than this!!!</div><div><br />
</div><div>Speaking of work, my oral exam is looming up ahead and I am still procrastinating like mad. Been playing 'draw something' on the go for the whole month and ended up with a data bill that nearly killed me. So to all my draw buddies, I am sorry for the late response but as of now, draw has been officially banned everywhere except at home or where there's wifi. >_< </div><div><br />
</div><div>*sigh* I kept glancing at the time and it's already passed my allocated half an hour. I haven't even had time to read the news. =( Better get back to work. Gah! I'm so bored!</div><div><br />
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