2012 as it was

So it's 3.51pm on New Year's eve and here I am sitting in front of the computer, writing my last entry for 2012. Unfortunately, I'm not proud to admit that I can hardly recall what happened throughout 2012. *grimace* Now I know the importance of either updating my blog regularly or keeping a written journal; neither of which I have done properly this past year.

Nevertheless, there are things that happened this year that are still etched in my memory. And just like the rule of the universe, it's good and bad. :-( Sighs.

The good: My sis and I finally started our (we-hope-to-be-yearly) travels. The destination this time was Singapore as it was on my sister's bucket list of things to do. What a blast we had in Singapore. From walking down Orchard Road, sitting by the "river" at Clarke Quay, to winning at the Marina Bay Sands Casino to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!!! This amazing trip was courtesy of both our North-South parents. :-) It was truly a memorable trip and Singapore is definitely home No.2. We'll definitely go back, whether we're wanted or not! Lol! Plus, since I now know how to get to the flat in Toa Payoh, we can just surprise our South parents. *grin*

Another good thing that happened this year: my sister started working and my brother got engaged!!!!!!!! Woo!!!!!!!! :D

The bad: Sadly, as much fun as we had in Singapore, just 4 months prior, something that should never have happened, happened. I did not have easy time accepting what happened. Losing, or rather ending a friendship with someone whom you've known for more than 6 years, where you've studied together, graduated together and continued to be close friends despite having different careers, is tough. The sad thing is, back when we were in college, we had decided that nothing should/would get in the way of our friendship, be it boys/men etc. That's a decision that we both thought we could keep but unfortunately, it is something easier said than done. We both have our own opinions and though there are times when we usually don't "get" each other, we're most of the time on the same wavelength. We click despite our differences. 

I'm pretty sure we both have different takes on what exactly happened. And that neither one of us are going to budge. I guess that is expected from two people who have strong opinions. As far as I know, the friendship has ended (though as far as I remember, things just ended abruptly. There were no more SMSes or calls or chats). People have asked me what happened, but I just smile and say that people change and times change. Sighs.

It's weird. Now that I am writing about it, it sounds like I was in a relationship with someone and that relationship has gone sour. Lol! 

Anyway, another bad thing that happened, which suddenly just came to me was the constant nagging by my grandparents to get married! That's not a topic I want to get into at all. I occasionally do get those feelings where I feel that I'm lagging behind when I see my friends getting married and having kids. But then, I tell myself that this is the path that I have chosen and I am happy. So why compare?

Well...that's the end of this entry. There are some things that happened in 2012 that I will learn from and there are things that happened that will last forever in my mind. 

As 2013 approaches, I look forward to newer, greater things happening. As it is, the first great thing about to happen is me spending two months in Germany!! I can hardly believe that I will be experiencing winter, be living on my own and....living in a place full of Europeans. Lol! I only hope I'll adapt fast both to the place and weather, and that people will like me. :-) Who knows? I might meet someone there. Lol!

Here's wishing everyone a WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!

Long Overdue

This entry is long overdue, simply because I was too lazy to sit and type out what's on my mind. In my last entry, I started with describing the first day of my trip to Singapore. I ended it by saying that I would just give the highlights and low points of the trip. So here goes:

Day 1:

Highlight: Arriving in Singapore of course!! What else? And of course meeting Aunty Esther and re-uniting with our Singapore family!

Low point: Orchard Road was still "dark". It was also drizzling. Still managed to get some nice pictures though.

Day 2:

Highlight: Visiting the oldies and listening to their stories from THOSE days - Grandma Grosse and Uncle Maurice. Touring, buying souvenirs and having dinner around Chinatown ended a great day! Also went to Clark Quay.

Low Point: We did not get to meet Uncle Jeff's mother.

Day 3:

What can I say? Uncle Stephen was off! Universal Studios Singapore!!!!!!!!! Marina Bay!!!!!!! First time in a Casino (legally)!!!!!!!!!!!!

Low Point: It was rainy towards the end of the day. And....it was our second last day in Singapore. Sighs.

Day 4:

Highlight: Finally met Aunty Teresa. Had lunch and spent some time at home.

Low Point: It was time to leave! In addition, our flight was delayed!

Overall, I had a great 4 days in Singapore! We did as much as we could in those four days, with promises made to return and continue the touring of Singapore. USS deserves a second visit and I should sit on more roller coasters, at least before I turn 30 (which only gives me one more year)!

Thanks so so so so so much to my Malaysian and Singapore parents for making this trip come true. :-)

Days of being spoilt and pampered

So after all the dressing up and stuffing ourselves with delicious, home-cooked Indian food, the day after Deepavali saw dad, mum, Vay and me up at the break of dawn, getting ready for our long awaited trip.

We were out of our house by 8am to avoid the morning work traffic. Thankfully, as some people had taken the week off, traffic was not that bad. We reached the airport, checked our bags in, sat around for awhile, then it was bye-bye to our dear parents. I hope the next trip, all for of us will travel together.

As Vay and I walked through the international departure gate and immigration, excitement built-up. We were going to Singapore!! I can only imagine how Vay was feeling then - to be returning to Singapore after 18 years! I was there two years ago but it was such a short trip! It was simply not enough. Plus, I had traveled 10hrs by bus and by the time I reached Singapore, it was midnight. This time, we were traveling by plane and with lady luck on our side, we arrived 15 minutes ahead of schedule!

We passed the Singapore immigration, got our bags and out of the arrival door, we see....Aunty Lita and Aunty Esther i.e. second mum and bro's prospective mum-in-law. After rounds of hugs and introduction (as it was our first time meeting Aunty Esther), we went for an early lunch. We had noodles and drinks at Ruyi and after chitchatting for nearly 2 hours, we sent Aunty Esther off.

Then the holiday began! We took the Skytrain to the MRT session and from there it was a few stops to the Braddell station. On the way, Uncle Stephen i.e. second dad met up with us at one of the stops. It was like a big family reunion on the MRT. Hugs and kisses went round! :-)

It was slightly drizzling as we walked from the MRT station back to the flat. But as all the walkways were shaded, am umbrella was unnecessary. While Uncle Stephen and Vay took the lazy way up to the flat which was on the FIRST floor, Aunty Lita and I exercised our leg muscles and took the stairs.

The flat has changed much since I was there two years ago. It has a more "womanly" touch to it; with the curtains and house ornaments etc. It looked like a home. Not that it didn't look homey the last time, but you could just tell that a MAN was living in the house back then. Hehe!

After getting settled in and having coffee, that night, we went to the famous western food shop for dinner (fish and chips and chicken chop) before heading to Orchard Road to see the lights. As it was raining and I think still too early in the season, not much lights were up. But there were enough lights for us to take some pictures.

That day also marked the beginning of a cough that haunted me throughout my trip. *cough*

Note: My sis did a pretty good job of detailing our trip to Singapore. Therefore, I will not repeat what she has done. I will instead, give the highlights and low points of the trip in my next entry. I've posted this rather long description of our first day as it was written quite awhile ago. 

Deepavali

Deepavali preparations this year were hectic. For some unknown reason, everything was done at the last minute. We rushed to get our Deepavali shopping done: biscuits, muruku, mum and dad’s new clothes. Heck, we even bought OUR own clothes at the last minute. I’m not sure if it’s because we’re choosy or that the styles this year were just horrible. Nevertheless, after 3 rounds of roaming around Little India and visiting Kamdar where we got our outfits last year, Vay and I finally managed to buy our Punjabi suits – in Little India!! They cost more than what was budgeted but we decided it was worth it.

What do you think?

Our annual family dinner on Deepavali eve was the usual fanfare. Everyone was there sans some cousins and uncles who could not make it. The food was good and the company was great. We got ‘angpows’ too!

Deepavali day itself was fun. Of course, sis and I were excited to don our new outfits and get decked out in all the accessories. This is one of the few times a year that I actually dress up and am girly. Hehe! The whole family went to my grandma’s for brunch. A few of dad’s friends came over and mum met one of her old friends whom she hasn’t met in years.

That night, dad went for dinner at one of his friend’s house while mum, sis and I stayed home to finish packing for our trip the next day. And in the spirit of Deepavali, we watched a Tamil/English movie too!

So that was Deepavali this year. The next entry should be more exciting!! :p

November already?

October just flew by and I don't even have ONE entry for that month! Hmmm.....

Well, the last few days of October saw me sick. Literally glued to the bed. Was on sick leave on Monday but had to return to work on Tues and Wed as the boss was leaving to Oslo. So much to prepare. Suffered through the 8+ hours and then "died" the moment I reached home. Poor sis didn't have dinner for like 2-3 nights coz I fell asleep the moment my head touched the pillow. Only got up to bathe, have a drink and it was back to bed.

Thank God, I'm starting to feel much much better. And it could not have come at a better time as Vay's convo is tomorrow and it's also less than two weeks to Deepavali and then the much awaited trip to Singapore!!!!

I still haven't decided if we're doing murukus this year. Should I or should I not? Mum says no need since we won't be here anyway but then, after having reached near perfection last year, I'm eager to see if we can nail it again this year. Hmmmm....

The weekend is approaching and it's going to be a hectic weekend. There's the convo, then there's Deepavali shopping to attend to, and if I decide to make the murukus, at least 3-4 hours will be spent on that.

But just as October flew, I'm sure November will just as well zoom past us and before we know it, it's Xmas, New Year and then 2013!

September Planning

September was a month of planning. Back in August when Vay fulfilled her probation period at work and was subsequently confirmed, we had a discussion about finances and future plans. We talked about how we would divide the household expenditures between ourselves; while at the same time have enough to save. We not only came up with a plan to save for a rainy day, but we also came up with the idea of having a ‘travel fund’.

Apart from shouldering the household expenditures and having enough $$ to spend monthly, we decided that a portion of our salaries would be saved for anything major etc and another smaller portion would be put into our ‘travel fund’. The idea is to build the ‘travel fund’ and at the end of every year or two years (depending on how much we have saved), the money would then fund our year-end trips.

So as said in the beginning, September was a month of planning. Although we have yet to start our ‘travel fund’, we decided that we would treat ourselves to a holiday this year. And thus, the planning began.

First on Vay’s list of places to visit is Singapore, having last been there when she was 4 or 5. Besides the “need” to re-visit Singapore, there’s also the added incentive of our second parents and beloved great-grand-uncle living there. They’ve always asked us to go down south for a holiday and I went myself back in 2010. Now it’s Vay’s turn.

After deciding that Deepavali would be the best time to travel (Vay and I plan to take a week off), we researched for the best travel options: bus, train or plane. Thanks to the internet (I really don’t know how life without Google would be), we found that we had two options: save money, take the bus and waste 20 hours travelling or pay more, fly and save the hours.

Days and weeks were spent thinking about this. And finally, we decided that it was not worth it to waste 20 hours just travelling and spending only 2 nights in Singapore. We chose to fly and thanks to Air Asia, we managed to get not-too-expensive flights!

However, before we could move forward, Vay and I had to get out passports done. Vay hasn’t had a new one since she was a toddler and mine expires early next year. But getting the passports done was easy. Within hours we had our passports!

The next hurdle came when it was time to purchase the tickets. My friend had agreed to buy the tickets for me online. Sadly, she was hospitalized (nothing serious thank God) and as days passed, the cost of the ticket increased much to our dismay!!!

Then our second mum came to the rescue! She offered to buy the tickets for us first before the price went up again. Much to our surprise and delight, our second parents decided to pay for the tickets for us as a Deepavali and Xmas gift! Woohoo!!!

And so now, with our passports and flight tickets ready, Vay and I just can’t wait for November to come. Nevertheless, being the slight OCD that I am, I still need to come up with a budget plan so that we can estimate how much we’re going to spend and how much $$ we need to bring. Since our tickets are already paid for, the bulk of the expenditure would be paying for USS. But heck, it’s not everyday we get to go to USS and it’s a MUST GO place!

Can’t wait for November!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

22 years ago, on August 15th 1990, I became a big sister for the third time. After the births of my two brothers, I was now a big sister a.k.a. akah, to a baby GIRL! I just want to wish this "princess", "chimpu", "jelly cheeks" and the list of nicknames just go on and on and on...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Love you lots and may we fight, beat, pinch, pull hair and call each other names for many more years to come! MUAX!!!!

When

When bad things happen or when tragedy strikes, the first question that comes to mind is WHY. Why did this happen? Why did this happen to me? Why did it not happen to someone else? Why?

Ever since I started working almost 5 years ago, and from the experiences that I have had to go through the past few years, I have had some of my own WHYs. Why does it seem easier for other people? Why can't my life be like that? Why am I in this situation?

But of late, I'm beginning to ask a different question. WHEN? When will all this end? When will I finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief? When will I be able to stop worrying? Just WHEN.

Rather than dwell on the WHYs, I guess it's good that I'm now at WHEN. Maybe I've overcome my self-pity (why me why me why me) and it's a signal that it's time I started looking forward. Looking for answers that I hope are there. Somewhere.

Right now, I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. A few months ago, I thought I did. But I guess what I saw was just a hallucination. A dream that I thought was achievable soon. I had hope to achieve something by the time I turned 25, but nothing spectacular happened. Now, being two years away from being 30, I'm still waiting or rather hoping for a miracle to happen. Unfortunately, it's not something that I can do alone. And...I'm not talking about getting married. That's like the furthest thing on my mind.

The WHERE is here. I'm at peace with the WHY. It is the WHO, who needs to wake up and solve the WHAT. 

All I need is...The WHEN....

Double Celebration

So I've accepted the fact that I'm becoming the type of person that updates her blog only once a month. My last entry was in May and now that a month has passed, I'm back for another entry.

This entry is centred on the most recent double celebration (read: it just happened over the weekend). As fate would have it, Trish's birthday and mine are just one day apart. And since we found out about it yearsssss ago...birthday celebrations have doubled.

Last Saturday, since Kiran was back, the four of us (Kiran, Vay, Trish and me) decided to go to Hard Rock. It took us nearly two hours just to reach the hotel!! Not only is it the holiday period, it was also the weekend! Of course, Hard Rock was packed and having no prior reservation, we were lucky that we managed to get a table. Nachos, Mac and Cheese and Pizza was our dinner.

At 10.30pm, a band from the Philippines - Tiempo - started their set and although not as fantastic as some bands I've seen, they were entertaining. Trish had the hots for the lead singer, while Vay and I thought the saxophonist had a great body! Lol! At midnight, the band serenaded Trish with 'Happy Birthday' (we had earlier passed a message to them requesting this). :-) We left Hard Rock at 2am after sitting through the band's 3-sets.

The next day was spent at home as there was a celebration at the shop later that night. Dad ordered some food, a customer fried mee and Robert bought my cake and 5 litres of wine!

At midnight, dad played the guitar while everyone sang for me! (Just two hours earlier, Trish cut her cake while we sang). As Vay had work the next day, we left the shop after cutting the cake.

All in all, I had a great time this past weekend. Today, which is my real birth day, will be spent with loved ones.

Of spending money...

I drive only a small, white Kancil. And yet…the maintenance!! Granted, since I got my car back in 2008, I don’t think I’ve had it fully serviced. My dad is usually the one who takes my car for its “check-up”.

My drive shaft started making noises late last year. As I went to India last year and by the time I got back was already mid-December, the time just wasn’t right and also…I had no money!!

Anyway, fast forward to 2012 and I took it upon my own self to get my car fixed. If I wait for my dad to do something, I’ll never fix my car.

---

RM370. That is how much I spent to change my drive shafts. I didn’t even know there were TWO drive shafts! Sighs....a lot of money but well spent especially since it's for my safety while driving.

After that was done, the mechanic told me that I have to service my car and also change my front two tyres. Apparently, my front tyres are SO worn that they could explode while I'm driving!! Scary!!! One new tyre cost RM120 so that's RM240 I forked out! Sighs....

The servicing of the car cost RM100. Aiyoh!!!

Total spent on car: RM710!

Thankfully I received a cheque from A.Dot and the whole amount is going for the car, so that means, I hardly forked out my own money. I had wanted to spend the money from the cheque for my b'day but I suppose this is more important.

On another note…I spent another RM100 something on new clothes. Sunshine Farlim had a Labour Day sale and everything was on 70-80% off! Branded stuff too. And although I am not a shopping addict, I went slightly crazy. Sis and I bought stuff that cost nearly RM500. Thanks to all the discounts, we only paid RM100 something.

As much as I am happy that my car is now smoother and safer on the road, and I have brand new clothes, I’m also suffering from shock at the amount of money I’ve spent. I’ve asked mum and sis to not let me spend anymore money for the next six months. I really don't know how people can just spend, spend and spend. I keep thinking of how much is left in my bank and how much I have in hand etc.

Sighs....well....no regrets! :-)

Catching Up

Wow...another month has gone and from what I see, I've been "updating" my entries VERY often! Lol!

It's really not good to be procrastinating as now, I can't really remember what has happened over the past 30 days. Thankfully, I have my sister's blog to remind me. Haha!

So my sis and I decided to surprise Aunty Lita for her birthday by sending her a gift. We usually just SMS her the usual birthday greeting every year; but since she's retired as of March 1st, we decided to get her a new "uniform". Not like she ever wore a uniform. We bought her a 'kaftan', packed it in a 'Tau Sar Pneah' box and posted it to her in Singapore. We weren't sure if she would wear it but what the heck...it's the thought (and joke!) that counts! Lol! Turns out...she loved the surprise!! :-)

At the end of March, sis, Trish, Raghu and I attended the Penang World Music Festival, courtesy of Trish's boss who gave her free tickets!! Sis and I wanted to go for it but the price of the tickets were too expensive at RM90 per person per day. But I guess luck was on our side!

Then April rolled in. Nothing astonishing happened on April Fool's Day.

April 11th was a welcomed holiday as we "celebrated" our King's installation. The day turned out to be a scary one as Indonesia experienced an earthquake and we could feel the tremors!!! I even recorded my altar pictures swaying!!! SCARY!!!

Of course talk of the earthquake and the end of the world dominated the next few days. In fact, I'm beginning to fear that the Mayans may be right! :s

Receiving a cheque from the US from Aunty Dorathy was a nice surprise. Trish and I both got cheques for helping her with her house sale! :-)

I also finished reading The Temple! Now I feel a bit stupid reading those sappy love stories! I sooo want to buy the other Matthew Reilly books!

Then just last Sunday, Trish, my sis and I went to watch Hunger Games. It was a good movie. Great storyline although some scenes were a bit gory. Can't wait for the next two movies as the story is a trilogy.

Other than going out to music festivals and watching movies, I sort of got a second job. I suppose my writing and editing skills are coming to good use. Dad's friend who's handling a new property project decided to "hire" my sis and I to come up with the full write-up for the project, name the three towers and also come up with the PR plan. We're so new in this, I hope our first effort pays off!!

Also, Vay and I have been super busy on trying to get our special project done. This is what that's stressing me the most and making me lose my patience and temper. I'm up to the point where I can't even speak to the person involved!! It's that bad!

But I'm sure I'll get over it. I have to, no? :-)

Writing

Well...it's been more than a month since my last entry. Since then, Thaipusam have passed and so have my mum's and bro's birthdays.


I suddenly had the urge to write because recently, I chanced upon a shared article on FB - one that I wrote years back and had appeared in The Star. The shared article had over 1000 likes and it had been shared over 1000 times!! I simply could not believe it! Word around says that the article has been circulating for awhile. Being curious, I decided to Google the article and what do you know? It has been mentioned a few times here and there, and has even appeared on a Filipino blog!! My article!!

That one article garnered so many comments, so I decided to share the links to more of my articles (read: 3-4 more only). That's me being perasan. Of course, all my sweet friends and family 'liked' and praised me. :p

I've always liked writing but I find that I can only write about stuff that I know well. Simply give me a topic and it'll take me awhile to come up with something worth reading. I don't think I'm author-worthy because I know I am simply not THAT creative.

But so very recently, I did some-sort of editing work on a special someone's book. I didn't think my "editing" was good enough for it to be used in a soon-to-be-published book but what do you know? After engaging a bona fide editor, he told me that I'd gone a great job and that he has nothing major to change except maybe re-structure one or two sentences and check on my commas and full-stops. SERIOUSLY!!! I couldn't stop smiling and I still can't get my head around it. Perhaps I should look into this writing thing a bit more seriously.

Anyway...just a short update. Who knows? Maybe my next entry would have me shouting "I'm the next J.K. Rowling!" Lol!

You won't like me when I'm angry

I was away for 3 days last week, stuck in a resort that's up a "mountain" above 900 meters, for my organisation's yearly planning meeting. I was really reluctant to go on this trip as past experiences of having meetings that last more than 12 hrs kept haunting me. But I must admit, this year wasn't that bad. In fact, I had a good time. The very people whom I was reluctant to spend 3 days with, turned out to be fun; and the meetings actually ended early!! Gunung Jerai is as secluded as it can be. Not recommended for family holidays as there is really nothing to do up there. It'll probably suit honeymooners who intend to spend all their time indoors. :S

Anyway...my return back to Penang was not good. I returned on Friday night and even before the night was over, I was already in a bad mood. This mood continued to the next day and the next. People who know me, know that I am a very patient person. I rarely lose my temper and it takes quite a lot to make me lose my temper. But I guess there's a limit to accumulated and pent-up emotions, before it all blows up. I didn't blow up. But my voice level rose, my voice cracked and I had to take deep breaths to calm down. I'm hardly speaking to the person I'm angry at. It's better this way as any conversation we have is bound to end in a shouting match. It's so hard trying to be civil but I know I can do it. *breathe*

I hate it when I lose my temper. It's sooo not me. But like I said, there is a limit to my patience and sooner or later, I'm going to really blow. In fact, I honestly attribute my thinness to me keeping in my emotions. It's probably eating me inside.

Thank God I've got an outlet where I can just vent out. But then again, I prefer keeping most of it to myself. Why bother others?

I just hope this bad mood phase ends soon. I don't like what I'm feeling. I don't like what I project (ppl can actually tell when I am in a bad mood). I just don't like it all.

Sighs.

New Craze

So every year...well almost every year I have a new craze. One year it's Korean dramas. The next year it's Hindi movies. The next year it's Twilight. And now...in 2012 it's dance! When I say dance, I don't actually mean me dancing my shoes off! I wish I COULD dance! But sadly...I have two left feet. And being tall and skinny isn't exactly an ideal combination for grace. In fact, I look like a gangly kid, full of arms and legs. Imagine Goofy dancing.

I started watching Dancing with the Stars recently, the first season ever to be shown on Astro.

Although I did not watch it from the beginning, I got hooked on the last few episodes! One is of course because of the dancing. I can never imagine myself all dressed up in teeny-weeny dresses, dancing ballroom in heels!! The professionals who accompany the stars are of course the added bonus! I love Max's tall, toned body! :p and I don't know why but I think Derek Hough (pic below) is a cutie! He too has a hot body!! Lol...I sound like some awestruck teen!

My mum and sis are good dancers. Sadly...I take after my dad who really can't dance! So I live vicariously through these kind of shows. So You Think You Can Dance is another dance show that I love watching. One reason is that I feel comforted knowing and seeing that I am not the only one who can't dance well. There are some that are just soooooo awful, I wonder how they can even think of auditioning!

Of course...American Idol has started and that's another show that I watch if not to laugh at the horrible singers, but to also know that while I may not be the best singer, I am also not the worst! Just yesterday mum said that she thinks if I sang, I'd be the Norah Jones type. LOL!!! I don't even have 1/4 of her talent! Mum must really think highly of me!

Anyway....it look's like I shall be living vicarously through these shows. I may carry a tune but I definitely can't dance. If they had a Dancing with Non-celebrities show, I'd be the hardest contestant to teach and the first to be voted out! LOL!

Tong Tong Tong Chiang!

HERE'S WISHING EVERYONE..

A VERY VERY VERY

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Welcome 2012

MY FIRST ENTRY OF THE YEAR:

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

HERE'S WISHING

EVERYONE THE VERY VERY BEST

AND GOD BLESS

ALWAYS!