Define early

Me : Mummy, what time did u sleep last nite?

The Mothership : Early.

Me : What time is early?

The Mothership : 2am

Me : o_O'

Happy 1st year Anniversary!!

Dear Mr. C,

Happy 1st year Anniversary!!

1 year married,

11th year together.

11 years through ups and downs,

We've been to hell and back.

Many a times have we fought and frown,

But seriously, what the heck!

1 year since the signing of our forevers

to each other.

It's been a really good year.

Yet another year of us, together.

As December comes,

and we pledge our love anew.

In front of friends and family,

I just want to say, 'I DO'.

Oh my blues!

On my first week back, I visited the florist to discuss the flower arrangements for my wedding. Lily from My Bridal Florist and I, with my mother had a delightful chat. She had some good suggestions and seeing how my mum was rather against my dark blue choice for the wedding, I opted for tiffany blue aka turquoise as per Lily, the florist's suggestion.

Although the colour has been changed to turquoise blue, my bridesmaids will still wear cobalt blue. It wouldn't be fair to ask those who have bought their dresses to go looking for new ones.

My bridal bouquet will be white roses with peonies and baby pink eustomas wrapped in turquoise ribbons. My bridesmaids will have turquoise themed corsages (which is still matching with cobalt blue) and so will the groomsmen's boutonnières. The bridal car which is my mum's grey ish blue Alza (for practicality and cost saving reasons) will also be decorated in said blue.

Am really interested to see the outcome of our discussion. Hope all will be as pretty as I picture it in my head.

And because of that, I had to go to the tailor and change the cobalt, royal blue sash to a turquoise one. It does look rather fetching. However, I reckon all colours match white easily.

Regarding my wedding dress, my mum and I decided to do away with the two white flowers on the sash and also the bow at the back. It is always the smallest details that makes a difference. Sometimes, the difference can be so subtle but you somehow notice it.

The two white flowers do look alright in pictures but in real life, if you look closely, you can see the edges fraying. Besides, it does look classier without. As for the bow, if I wore my veil, it would cover the bow, hence, pointless to have it there and have too many things going on at the back.

Next up was hunting for the ties to be worn by the Heng Dais (brothers) aka groomsmen. It is no easy feat finding ties in turquoise blue. Thank God I didn't have to find them in the initial cobalt blue. That is an even more impossible mission. LOL. Unless I scour every mall and every single shop that sells ties. Then again, the budget might be a problem.

I really like the ties in the above two pictures. Taken at Renoma section in 1utama's Jusco. They've revamped the place and I couldn't find the area that used to have racks of ties that cost less than RM20! Perhaps they're trying to 'up' the departmental store's image and pricing.

Miss Bubbly informed me of the Jusco Member sale the next day and I proceeded back to Jusco with her Jusco card on the second day of sale. Saw the above cutesie grey tie with baby blue polka dot selling for RM19.90. Material felt good and thick as opposed to the one below.

The navy blue tie was the reason I went to Jusco to have a look. It was priced at RM9.90. It would have been alright if the blue was lighter or brighter. I didn't think it will look good on the groomsmen if they wore white shirts. It would have looked just too plain.

So back to square one. Still have yet to find any ties for the groomsmen. Miss Bubbly mentioned that she saw the above and below two ties at Metrojaya in the Curve. Shall have a look tomorrow when I am in that area. The higher priced tie was at RM25.90. Should be pretty agreeable with the lads. After all, the ladies are buying their own dresses and not a single one complained at all!

I wished I had the dough to buy my bridesmaids beautiful gowns to adorn for my day and nice suits for the groomsmen. Oh well, so much for fanciful notions. It's back to mother earth.

Besides tie hunting, I've been utilising many a brain cells in regards to the wedding favours. My wedding venue does provide wedding gifts but it is a cheapskate version of Ferraro Rochere in Kopiko like wrapping! Someone commented that people don't really remember door gifts or wedding favours and it shouldn't really matter.

Well, it does matter to me. Of course, I wouldn't want to spend on candles or scented flowers or chopsticks or beautiful coasters as people won't appreciate nor use them. And neither do I want to spend time and effort making something people are just going to throw away after the wedding.

So, I've decided to make either Sugi cake or Chocolate Chip Cookies. The thing is, I need to decide which one to make. My sister said if I were to make cookies, I'd have to wrap them the night before the wedding to ensure it stays crisp. Despite knowing that I will have friends to help with the wrapping, I don't really want to be stressing out about it the night before the wedding when I am sure there will be other last minute details to look into.

Brain is still thinking... Cake vs Cookies. Cake vs Cookies. Cake vs Cookies.

And whilst battling in the mind over which to make, I went to Sea Park to source for the wrapping materials. The glossy paper and ribbons. Came upon turquoise blue wire and am thinking it'll be easier to tie up the wrapping paper. However, I think ribbons will look so much more better.

So, now, it's Cake vs Cookies... Ribbons or Wire. OhMyGosh!! How does brides-to-be do this??! It's just insane. LOL.

For the second week of my being back, I've actually been rather slack and taking it easy. Three more weeks and time to buck up and getting things sorted out and finalised. Photobook to settle, unity candle to get, cake/cookie ingredients plus wrapping materials to purchase, songs to choose, reception table spread and decorations to source for and the guest list plus table arrangements.

Time to tick off some of these matters. Or even just one of them!

Mothership and a sweet blind bat

Went to the hairstylist with my mother and sister yesterday. LOL. Everyone's hair seriously needed some perk-me-up! After conversion to AUD, the pricing seemed alright. But in RM, it burnt quite a big hole in my pocket!

Mummy had her hair permed whilst I had my whole head redyed with treatment done. My sister, on the other hand had a trim and treatment carried out on her scalp as she tends to have pretty oily hair due to her scalp condition.

I wouldn't have bothered dying my hair if not for the upcoming special day. My streaks were fading and the regrowth was showing. The colour recommended turned out pretty nicely much to my delight!

As for mummy, she had quite a fair bit of white hair showing at the top of her head. I later on dyed her hair with a DIY box but now, her hair closest to the roots are rather purpley copper due to the dye colour showing more on her then, white hair.

It was our first girly time out together doing something feminine. LOL. We're not much of those gushy giggly girly girls. Sometimes, I wished they were a little bit more.

A bubble tea addict

Since coming home, it is safe to say that I had at least 5 cups of bubble tea! And I am supposed to be losing weight for the wedding! LOL. Well, at least, not gaining any weight! But how to say 'No' to bubble tea?

They're so addictive... well, to me they are.

The Cha Time in Melbourne CBD was a real let down. It isn't the same as the ones here in Malaysia. So far, I've only been to the branch at Uptown and the other one in SS2 Mall and for both, quality and standards are there. I like how the tea taste is strong and the pearls are just the right chewable texture with the right amount of sweetness.

I've had many bubble teas and sometimes, on bad days, the pearls are hard and other days, they're just plain hard and no fun to chew.

However, since having my first bubble tea in Cha Time, I am addicted. And still am. Just last week, I had it on Sunday night, Monday afternoon, Tuesday night and even Thursday night and also on Saturday!

Seriously, they should give people like me some rebates or points like the EasyWay in Australia. Evertime you buy a drink, you swipe your loyalty card. Every 10 drinks, you get a free one. Oooh, I think Cha Time has such offer. Instead of gaining points electronically, they stamp on a hard copy card. But seeing how I won't be here permanently, I let my friend gain the stamps.

I know I shouldn't but I can't help but wonder when to get my next cup of Pearl Milk Tea....

I miss you

Once again, Mr. C and I parted ways. I flew back to Malaysia on Sunday, Melbourne time 3.40am via Emirates. Flight was delayed and we finally took off at 4.20am. Gosh! Flying at this time is crazy. By 2am and waiting to board, I kept wondering when I could board the freaking plane and get my sleep!

Mr. C and I don't do long distance well. Every time we're apart, we argue. Often times, conversations turn ugly leaving both of us frustrated and disgruntled. Prior to this trip, we had a talk on how we can try to avoid the repeat of the past.

Hopefully this time, things will be different. ;p I like how we are learning to overcome our distance. If we could do LDR for 4 years, what is a mere 4 weeks, right?

Despite seeing and being with Mr. C 24/7 when we're living together in Melbourne, I never get bored of his company. And somehow, we don't tire of each other. In fact, his cute antics grow on me (most times). I love watching him as he sleeps. His peaceful and boyish looks just tugs at my heart. Being here and with him there, I am counting down the days till we meet again.

And finally, we'll be walking down the aisle and pledging our forever to each other in front of family and friends. I really hope all goes well and it will be a truly beautiful and special day not just for us but for everyone else.

See you in 21 days time!!

Till then... XOXO!!

Nuffnang : Animal People

I love to read. From an early age, I'd read Enid Blyton's book one after another and eventually, I graduated to the Nancy Drew, the Jupiter Jones series and Sweet Valley High followed by Harlequin romances, John Grisham and what not.

In Melbourne, you'll see me going in the library and coming out with 20 over books much to Mr. C's fascination. He truly does find it interesting that I can actually finish reading a 300 - 500 pages book a day. If it is a page turner, you'll see me dying to finish the novel and in three hours or less, I'd be flipping to the last page. However, some books, each line can be a real drag and it feels like it will take forever just to reach the end of the book!

When Nuffnang Australia was giving an opportunity to read and review a book, I jump to the opportunity. And to my delight, I was one of the few bloggers who were given the privilege to do a Product Talk post courtesy of Nuffnang Australia.

This isn't exactly my typical kind of book to read which is good. Of late, I find myself looking for a change in my reading materials. Reading romance novels doesn't do much for my dwindling intellect.

To be honest, it took me awhile to get into the rhythm of Animal People by Charlotte Wood.

I read a couple of pages whilst I was in the midst busy packing for my trip back to Malaysia. The beginning was a bit slow for me, at first. But as you read on, you feel compelled to keep reading to see how it all ends.

This book tells the story of Stephen's ordinary journey in life on an ordinary day and how he intends to call it quits with his girlfriend. With that decision in hand, we are shown how miserable Stephen is with his life, which many of us can relate to, such as his poor relationship with his family and unfulfilled job satisfaction. If his life wasn't dismissal enough, his day goes from bad to worse.

As to how all this relates to the book title, 'Animal People', I shall leave it to you to grab a copy of the book to discover it for yourself. No one likes a spoiler. ;p

And for one lucky reader, here is a chance to win yourself a free copy of Charlotte Wood's Animal People courtesy of Nuffnang Australia. All you have to do is follow my blog and leave a comment telling me if you are an animal person and why you are. And if you are not, tell me why not.

It is that simple. So, what are you waiting for??!

Entries will close on 24th November 2011, 11pm Malaysian Time. This competition is open to residents in Australia and Malaysia only. Winners will be announced on this blog. Do make sure you leave an email I can contact you with in the event you win. :)

Leaving home for home

#1 On Emirates flying from Melbourne (now my home) back to Malaysia (where I used to call home where Mr. C forbids me from referring to as home anymore as Melbourne should be my home where he is at ;p )

#2 I have been sitting on AirAsia for the many times to and fro Australia and Malaysia that I felt totally 'pampered' on this trip back on Emirates especially when I saw the pillow and blanket! First thing I do is to scan the movie list. It was 4am in the morning and despite knowing how important sleep is as I would be having a really busy day once touched down, it did not deter me one bit from watching a movie.

#3 Although the pillow, blanket and movie list made me a happy camper, the food reminded me once again to the old, 'yer, airplane food sucks!' line. Basically, AirAsia's meal is waaaay tastier IMHO. What was good is that, at least you get water and juice and tea and coffee!

#4 Welcome back to Malaysia!! First thing that greeted me at KLIA was the icky toilet! Was rather surprised that the toilet at the International Airport was poorly maintained. Not only was the toilet dirty, it stank of dried urine!

#5 First Monday back, we had a Meal at home together. We had Roasted chicken bought from Carrefour at Tropicana City Mall with tomatoes and blanched brocolli with egg and bacon.

#6 Everytime I am back, I definitely have my Tom Yam Fried Rice fix at Taman Mayang. The Aunty still remembers that I will add a 'hor bao tan' (fried egg) and more Tom Yam paste (though most people would think the added Tom Yam flavour is too salty for them). :) I must say, it is nice to be remembered despite not being around for awhile. Can't say much about people who are supposedly closer to me but seem to forget my existence when I am not around. Oh well. Life.

#7 Went to Mid Valley with my mother and we had 'Yao Char Guai' with Soya Bean at I Love Yoo!. My mother was really happy with the black kopi which is rather unusual as she has super high standards.

#8 NEVER GO TO JOJO's for pan mee!! I went to the SS2 branch with my parents and the food was really bad (no offense meant). After consuming the noodles, I felt nauseous and unwell. In fact, I didn't even finish it! The mince pork was really sweet with the noodles just tasting alright.

The chilli wasn't anything to shout about leading to my question, "WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL GOING THERE?". Unless they have other better food which I doubt it. A few friends have even commented that the food is really bad at all branches as I thought perhaps it was only the SS2 branch that had bad food, leaving me and my tummy with an unfavourable experience.

Up to date, I've yet to satiate my Chilli Pan Mee cravings! Face-to-face, HERE I COME!!

My God

For the past few months leading up to my birthday, I've actually been looking about for a nice heart shaped pendant for Mr. C to buy for me. :) But it is actually rather difficult to get the right size and shape. Most heart shapes we saw were either too big a heart or too small. If it wasn't the size issue, it would be the flaw in design; too gaudy or too plain, too ostentatious or too simple.

Somehow, I have yet to find one that makes my insides scream 'MUST BUY!!'. I gather it must be a matter of time or perhaps, it's just not meant to be.

When I reached back Malaysia on Sunday, the reason for my hiatus from blogging, my mum told me that a distant aunt bought for me a gift since she couldn't make it for my wedding. Lo and behold, it was a heart shaped necklace set. Well, it isn't exactly something I would have chosen but it does look rather chic and something I would definitely wear.

And today, I went out for Bubble tea at Uptown's Cha Time with Miss Bubbly. She gave me a belated birthday present. And I must say I was rather taken aback to see the content.

It was a heart shaped pendant!! Pretty, simple and elegantish. I find it funny though 'cos I somehow thought that it would have been more appropriate for my love, Mr. C to buy me one but somehow, God sent other people to buy me, my heart shaped necklace.

I can only conclude that God is somehow reminding me that despite my lack of faith in friends and life at times and what not, He is forever faithful and is forever looking out for me. Not so much a reminder but more so I feel that He is watching over me.

Only He knows the depths of my soul and my innermost desires. How great my God is.

29.09.11 Indulgence Thursday

Chicken Rigatoni at Glen Waverly's Mocha Jo's!

Cutesie Hello Kitty figurines at Knox Mall's Swarovski shop.

Churros indulgence at San Churros in Knox!

A Touching Story For Married People

I received this email from Mr. PB and I think it's a good, gentle reminder for all, married and non-married people.

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My husband is an Engineer by profession, I love him for his steady nature and I love the warm feeling when I lean against his broad shoulders. Three years of courtship and now, two years into marriage, I would have to admit, that I am getting tired of it. The reasons of me loving him before, has now transformed into the cause of all my restlessness.

I am a sentimental woman and extremely sensitive when it comes to a relationship and my feelings. I yearn for the romantic moments, like a little girl yearning for candy. My husband, is my complete opposite, his lack of sensitivity, and the inability of bringing romantic moments into our marriage has disheartened me about love. One day, I finally decided to tell him my decision, that I wanted a divorce.

“Why?” he asked, shocked. “I am tired, there are no reasons for everything in the world!” I answered. He kept silent the whole night, seems to be in deep thought with a lighted cigarette at all times.

My feeling of disappointment only increased, here was a man who can’t even express his predicament, what else can I hope from him? And finally he asked me:” What can I do to change your mind?” Somebody said it right, it’s hard to change a person’s personality, and I guess, I have started losing faith in him.

Looking deep into his eyes I slowly answered: “Here is the question, if you can answer and convince my heart, I will change my mind, Let’s say, I want a flower located on the face of a mountain cliff, and we both are sure that picking the flower will cause your death, will you do it for me?” He said:” I will give you your answer tomorrow….”. My hopes just sank listening to his response.

I woke up the next morning to find him gone, and saw a piece of paper with his scratchy handwriting, underneath a milk glass, on the dining table near the front door, that goes….

My dear, “I would not pick that flower for you, but please allow me to explain the reasons further..” This first line was already breaking my heart. I continued reading. “When you use the computer you always mess up the Software programs, and you cry in front of the screen, I have to save my fingers so that I can help to restore the programs.

You always leave the house keys behind, thus I have to save my legs to rush home to open the door for you. You love traveling but always lose your way in a new city, I have to save my eyes to show you the way.

You always have the cramps whenever your “good friend” approaches every month, I have to save my palms so that I can calm the cramps in your tummy. You like to stay indoors, and I worry that you will be infected by infantile autism. I have to save my mouth to tell you jokes and stories to cure your boredom.

You always stare at the computer, and that will do nothing good for your eyes, I have to save my eyes so that when we grow old, I can help to clip your nails,and help to remove those annoying white hairs. So I can also hold your hand while strolling down the beach, as you enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful sand… and tell you the colour of flowers, just like the color of the glow on your young face…

Thus, my dear, unless I am sure that there is someone who loves you more than I do… I could not pick that flower yet, and die.. ” My tears fell on the letter, and blurred the ink of his handwriting… and as I continue on reading…

“Now, that you have finished reading my answer, if you are satisfied, please open the front door for I am standing outside bringing your favorite bread and fresh milk…

I rush to pull open the door, and saw his anxious face, clutching tightly with his hands, the milk bottle and loaf of bread…. Now, I am very sure that no one will ever love me as much as he does, and I have decided to leave the flower alone…

That’s life, and love. When one is surrounded by love, the feeling of excitement fades away, and one tends to ignore the true love that lies in between the peace and dullness.

Love shows up in all forms, even very small and cheeky forms, it has never been a model, it could be the most dull and boring form.. . flowers, and romantic moments are only used and appear on the surface of the relationship. Under all this, the pillar of true love stands… and that’s our life… Love, not words win arguments…

11.10.11 Sal and I

TOKYO DELI

click the link to go to the site

Life is funny at times. You never know where you will find yourself say in a weeks' time, a month's time, a year's time or even five years to ten years time. My pen pal relationship with Sal commenced when she left Malaysia for Melbourne when we were only 14 year olds. She started out as a friend's friend.

Who knew that after 13 years of her moving and our frequent correspondence would see me moving here permanently to Melbourne this year. And who knew that we would be able to hang out every once in awhile and go traipsing about indulging in coffee and fattening cakes!! ;p

Sal brought me to Tokyo Deli at Elsternwick. This suburb is pretty far from where I live but near to where she lives. I've been here once before and LOVED the Japanese food that we had; she had a bento set and I had the beef terriyaki.

This shop is interesting as part of the shop serves as an eatery with tables and chairs for patrons to order food, sit and eat. The other part is like a grocery shop that sells Japanese and Korean food. I had the same dish as before.

My delicious beef terriyaki that cost AUD8.50.

Sal's pork burger with rice going for AUD8.50.

Sal's white and newly bought Samsung Galaxy S2 looking sleek!

The beef terriyaki was as delicious as I remembered it to be. Tasty and came in good portion. There was meat, some vege, overall a well balanced meal!

Next up, after our meal, we adjourned a few shops down to Aviv, an awesome bakery shop that is just filled with lots of lovely puffs and pastries to satiate ones sweet tooth.

This is my second time coming here and you know how sometimes you step into a shop and you are spoilt for choices; everything you see just looks yummy and screaming to be eaten, well, this shop brought about those guilty feelings.

I know I should resist temptation and not eat more than I should especially sweet stuff. So much for losing weight for my big day. LOL. As you can see, the battle was lost the moment I stepped into the shop.

Sal wanted her Orange cake whilst I wanted the Vanilla Slice. The Vanilla Slice was just as good as the first time I had it and definitely WAYYY better than the one I tried at Gloria Jeans. The top puff pastry was nice and fluffy topped off with icing sugar which complimented the slice. I reckon it is custard filling that sits in between the top and the bottom waiting to be devoured.

If I had more space in my already filled up tummy from lunch at Tokyo Deli's, I would have had another slice. LOL. The pastries here are lovely but the coffee isn't much to shout about.

Everytime when I am out with Sal, I notice that all we do is eat and shop. Bad combination especially when I am NOT supposed to be doing either! Lol. Despite arranging to go for swim, we've yet to actually step into any pool as she fell ill.

It's nice to have a good chum to hang out with every once in awhile for some girl time. Wonder how are we going to hang out next time once I get a job and am not able to meet her for 'time out' sessions during the weekdays... :(