say it with me – ugh.

Last week was Chinese New Year. Many people got a whole week off. I had, in essential, one day. Monday and Tuesday were public holidays, so we didn’t have our Abnormal Psychology class. But that was it. Thursday and Friday we had the usual classes. And to top that off, we had a replacement class on Saturday. Saturday!! That meant I had 9 a.m. classes three days in a row. Say it with me – ugh. We were supposed to spend Saturday afternoon performing community service as a course requirement, but that got cancelled.

On Wednesday, I had to interview the CEO of HELP for an article I’m writing for the American Flyer, the ADP’s newsletter which I’m still a part of, even though I’m no longer a part of the ADP. It was quite interesting. Hannah was with me, and the two of them found out they had something in common – playing Chinese musical instruments. We also found out things about HELP that we didn’t know, like the area from the main entrance of the main block until the bursary was originally meant to be a disco, of all things…

On Thursday, a bunch of us ended up going for Music and Lyrics, with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. It was a very, very light movie. Predictable, but he’s funny. Friday was the first ever Student Council Meeting of the B.Psych. program. Being the newly-appointed secretary, I had to go and take notes and all. The meeting ran a little longer than was expected, so I was basically in class from 9 to 12, in a meeting from 12 to 2 and in another class from 2 to 4. Say it with me – ugh.

Today, we were supposed to have a quiz on Sexual Variants, Abuse and Dysfunctions for our Abnormal Psych. class, but that didn’t happen, even though I flipped through the second half of the chapter (Hannah flipped through the first half), pausing to read only what caught my attention – pause-and-squeeze technique, anyone? I read out bits of it to Lavan, who was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe. We expected class to be “lively”, as Viv put it, but it was far from.

It started to rain, and Viv was going to give us a ride to the main block. She and Hannah had gone to get her car, and Lavan and I were waiting outside our building. Then, these two guys appeared and were talking in some foreign language. Being the curious (I’ll refrain from using ‘nosy’ here…) creatures that we are, we tried to figure out where they were from. Our guesses were Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius and the like, but it was only when the moved behind us that we figured out what they were speaking was Hindi.

All I’ve been doing lately is attempting to study for some more midterms. Human Factors is on the 1st, and Personality is on the 2nd. Biopsychology is on the 9th. Ihave to go to bed now, cuz when I wake up it’ll be time to tackle Freud's sex life. Say it with me – ugh.

...and what i want is you.

I liked The Holiday. I think there could've been more of Jack Black (he's funny, but a different sort of funny in this movie...), but I still really, really liked it. I knew Jude Law was hot and all, but ohmygod. There's this one scene of him in bed with his...okay, i won't say with who in case you haven't watched it, but it's not what you're thinking!! Anyway, there he was, in his pj's with a stack of papers he was editing, and he looked completely adorable. And when he smiles. And those eyes. And when he came in out of the snow.

There's this one scene he goes, "I've finally figured out what I want, and what I want is you...".

*melts like a block of butter on a sunny day*

hell week(s) - the aftermath.

I'm on my bed, in sweats and a t-shirt. It's been raining all morning, and it's all quiet (except for my music) and cold. Weather like this would put anyone to sleep. My mother baked a cake. It smells really, really good.

Things have been hectic. I had two assignments due on Thursday and Friday last week. One was a journal critique for Biopsychology. I'm trying really hard to remember what it was about. All I'm getting so far is 'HILOG analysis', which is something we definitely didn't cover even in our Oxford/Cambridge-level Advanced Quantitative Methods class. Oh wait. It was about eyewitness memory. For Human Personality, our (very cool) lecturer had us write a paper on our Implicit Theory of Personality. In other words, he wanted to know why we think people behave the way they do. It was a very subjective paper, one that I don't think I could recreate at all. I had some help in the form of a little pixie with shiny purple wings ;)

Thursday was also when Ling left for Melbourne. Sue and I went over to see her before she left for the airport, and as I was walking towards the car, I told Sue that I already missed Ling.

I spent Friday night and the entire weekend with my Abnormal Psychology textbook. Our midterm was on Monday, and we had to cover eight chapters. The most difficult part is diagnosing disorders according to the DSM-IV-TR, which is basically this book that lists disorders according to symptoms. For the case study, everyone had a different diagnosis. But afterwards, we had a late lunch in Dome, BSC. The food was really, really good.

Some chicken and mushroom pasta thing.

Fish and Chips with Wedges

Apple pie with ice cream =D

Tuesday, my family and my mum's sister's family (minus my uncle) had lunch in Antonio's, this Italian place that my dad's family owns or something. My cousin was leaving for Dunedin the next day, and we were supposed to go out on Sunday but she was sick. The food was really good, and we all went home completely stuffed. Interestingly enough, the Cream of Broccoli soup wasn't at all green.

Wednesday afternoon, I went over to the same cousin's house cuz she wanted some of my really cool music, although she'd never admit that. There were things all over her room - bags, books, photos, cables...I spent the whole afternoon there, and then went home for a quick shower before leaving for the airport. We had some of her bags with us in the car, and when my brother was wheeling the trolley, I sat in front of it, realizing that I never walk in airports anywhere. He wheels the trolley, and I sit on it. After they checked in, we had dinner in KFC (yuk) which my cousin loves, and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye.

Wednesday was also Valentine's Day. I've always been ambivalent towards Valentine's Day, but this year pushed me towards the 'dislike' end of the continuum. There was a lot of that going around. About seven people I talked to reported feelings of disgust and annoyance and such. It can be amusing, how people get so excited and all. But I still wanted to kick Cupid and Saint Valentine where the sun don't shine. Even the word 'Valentine' annoys me now. Kevin came up with the ultimate revenge - straighten Cupid's curls. I thought that was completely hilarious. I don't think I know anyone who actually got into the whole spirit of the day, and...wait. Scratch that. I do.

The last two days have been a little difficult. Somewhere along the line, it hit me that both my cousin and one of my best friends left within days of each other. A friend took one look at me on Thursday morning and knew something was up. In Friday morning's tutorial, I got the same thing from two other friends. But they still made me laugh with the boyband impression thing :)

Some people (including my brother) get a whole week off for Chinese New Year. I get, in essential, one day. I have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off by default, so they don't count. But on the bright side, I'm finally going to watch The Holiday today. Hannah said Jude Law looks amazing in this one.


Song for today - Into the Fire by Thirteen Senses. Priya sent me this song the other day, and I love it.

caught between all i wish for and all i need.

This song is amazing. I hear there's a version by Chris Martin and the lead singer of REM, but I haven't listened to that one yet. Enjoy.

the world according to peyton sawyer...

quickie

So there are a bunch of things that need to go in here (the rest of the Thailand trip, Cousins' Night Out...), but since I'm smack in the middle of what I've affectionately dubbed as Hell Week, I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Eventually, though...

tigers

I've been trying to put our trip to Thailand up on here for a very, very long time, but things kept happening. Not that I could name any of them right now, but to illustrate - I started reading The Devil Wears Prada somewhere in Thailand, and I still haven't finished it, even though I love it.

So, Thailand.

Day 1 - Our flight was at 8, meaning I had to be up very, very early. We arrived in Bangkok at 9 (their time) and after walking pretty much all over their new airport (which looks so much like K.L.I.A, it was creepy...) to find food, we left for Kanchanaburi. Our taxi driver didn't really know how to get to our hotel, so it took us a little longer than two hours to finally get there. Kanchanaburi in reality is nothing like the image you would get reading about it on the Net. First of all, there are no hotels that are walking distance from the Bridge on the River Kwai. If they say they are, they're lying. Unless of course, you're accustomed to walking for miles. Our hotel was a good ten minutes ride from the bridge, and completely gorgeous.

Pung-Waan Resort & Spa. The River Kwai is just beyond the pool, spa building is on the left.

After a quick lunch at the hotel, we hopped on Kanchanaburi's version of a taxi - a truck, of sorts, that was open on the sides - to go to the Tiger Temple.

In the taxi. Look carefully at my sunglasses ;)

The temple was the main reason we were in Kanchanaburi - we had watched this place on Animal Planet or something, and said that we were going. It took about an hour to get there. Thailand's scenery is so different from ours - everything was brown and dry. When we got to the turnoff, it was another ten or so minutes to the temple, along this very, very dusty road. That day and the next, we got so dusty! It made my hair look grey. Once we got in, we had to walk along another dry, dusty road to the canyon where the tigers spend their afternoons. There were lots of other animals there, mules, wild boars...but more later.

There were a lot of visitors. Apparently, that day they had 600 people. All these people come all the way here, even though some people make a fuss about it because they say the tigers are drugged. We asked one of the volunteers, who said that the reason almost all of them were sleepy was because they are nocturnal animals, so naturally they'll be sleepy in the afternoon. But anyway, you get into the line, and when it's your turn, one of the volunteers leads you around to each of the tigers while another takes pictures for you. Controversial or otherwise, where else would you get to be close enough to tigers to pat them??!

The volunteers are the ones in the yellow shirts, and the monk in the background is the head honcho.

Then, the tigers are lead back to their cages (and later fed roast chicken). The last tiger stops along the way for more pictures. There were two tiger cubs and a leopard, but they weren't let out. Later, the other animals are fed. There was all sorts of things - peanuts, sweet potatoes, and winter melons strewn across the road, and all the animals would suddenly appear for a feeding frenzy. Peacocks, families of wild boars, cows, deer, goats...


We went back to the hotel to chill for a bit and have tea (mum) and gelato (me - passion fruit). At night, we took a taxi to the night market, where we had what is probably one of the best tom yams I've ever had.

It was amazing. The lady person barely knew what we were saying - we just pointed at prawns and vegetables, and the food turned out perfect. After dinner, we wandered around the food side of the market. There were stalls with all sorts of strange things...

Fried insects, anyone? This reminded me of the food market we had to walk through the last time we were in Bangkok.

Then, we wandered around the other side of the market, but I didn't buy anything. A taxi ride back to the hotel after a drink at a little cafe and it was time for bed.

Day 2 next time : )

sated

I made the cupcakes. All by myself too. My brother didn’t feel like helping. Evil spawn. I haven’t even had one, but it’s almost like I don’t have too. I felt all good inside just by looking at them. I made butter icing, but I wasn’t too happy with it. So they got little white chocolate ganache flower thing, with a silver drageé in the center.

Late one night, maybe a day or two after New Year’s, I made a little list of all the things I wanted for the new year when I was texting a friend. Cupcakes were on that list :)

I just realized that this, and the white chocolate mudcake makes me seem all domestic, but let me assure you, I’m far from that.

nebulized

For the record, I don't know if that really is a word.

I had to go to the doctor today. My cough wasn't getting any better, but at least it stopped feeling like I was coughing up bits of my lungs. He listened to my lungs and was not happy. Then he said, 'nebulizer'. I had asthma when I was younger, and going to the doctor late at night to be nebulized was nothing unusual. But this hasn't happened in ten, twelve years. More even. So there I was, holding the mask (now that I'm old enough to do this myself...) and breathing in and out as deeply as I could, and I had this flashbulb memory (psychobabble). I was really young and sitting on my dad's lap in my pediatrician's office getting nebulized.

So anyway. My doctor gave me Ventolin, which I hate, cuz even half a pill makes my hands shake and my heart rate increase. But I seriously need to get better by Thursday next week.

I think I'm going to go make cupcakes now. I want them, and there's nothing on tv.

my "trip" to japan...

It’s the middle of my first week back at uni. This is the first time in…well, ever, that I haven’t

>> Phone call

That I haven’t already decided what subjects I’m taking. I haven’t even registered yet. Not that that’s a big deal cuz I do it online anyway, but still.

We’ve had two Abnormal Psychology classes so far. They’ve been quite interesting, haven’t had this lecturer before. But it’s going to be a lot of work. The quizzes that we have in class are going to be based on forward reading. Forward reading!

We had an Educational Psychology class, which is one of my options for my elective. A friend said that the lecturer’s Filipino accent makes her sleepy, but he’s quite amusing. From the course outline though, it looks like it will be a lot of theoretical work. So tomorrow, we’re attending the Human Factors (and something something, it’s got quite a long name…) lecture.

After class, Ling and I were supposed to go out, but she couldn’t so I ended up going over to her place. She gave me all sorts of interesting Japanese things to eat, since pretty much all I’d had all day was a vanilla-frosted donut (yummm…). I’ve been sick since Monday. At first I thought it was an allergic reaction to my gorgeous Neroli Jasmine Body Lotion, but it’s definitely more than that.

Anyway. The first thing I had was something called mochi, which is this clear, sticky thing that had chocolate on the inside and chocolate powder (or cocoa. Still don’t know the difference) dusted over it. It was quite nice, even though it was really sticky. Ling had mochi with cheese when she was there. Later, I had something called kibidango, which is also sticky and kinda sweet. Apparently, this was what Momotaro (the peach boy) gave to some animals so they would help him do something. There were also some prawn crackers, which were quite strange looking. They looked like pieces of. I don’t know. They were flat. Not bad either. Then there was what is probably my favorite, the Tivoli Park wafer things. They were like love letters (the kind you eat) that had cream in between them. Unfortunately, this was also probably the least Japanese thing of the lot. What was the most interesting were these hard cookies. In each pack of them, you get a little hammer that you use to break it up. How cool!! There were also these little chocolates, slightly smaller than Smarties. So harmless-looking, but when you bite into them, there’s this explosion of strawberry flavor, somewhat overwhelming. Ling also gave me this strange looking thing that was made of brown sugar or something, and rice tea, which looked and tasted like green tea, except for a slightly rice-ish after taste. I have some candy in my fridge I haven’t tried, don’t think my throat would be too happy, but they look innocent enough. Seriously though, they like their red beans there. There was this green crêpe looking thing that was stuffed with red beans. There was red bean candy that looked like little boats. There was red bean Dorayaki. And get this – red bean Kit Kat. The cutest thing about Japanese food is that everything is individually wrapped. So organized.

I have to be up early for class tomorrow.

it's been a while (again)...

Things That Have Happened Since I Was Last Here

1. New Year's Eve + New Year's: Apparently, New Year's Eve was quite the emo occasion for people other than me. I ended up with a friend and his brother, cousin (both of whom I tutor) and their friend at the Batting Cages on the rooftop of One Utama, from where we watched the fireworks from the Curve as well. Before this, it was what has almost become a New Year's Eve tradition - barbecue at my uncle's. The adults stayed there to watch the fireworks. Imagine being able to watch fireworks from your garden. On New Year's, we had the usual lunch at my grandmother's. Another tradition. Speaking of which, I kind of broke one of my own. I stopped making resolutions a few years ago, but this year, I ended up deciding that my 2007 would not be as emo as that night. People are leaving, and I will miss them buckets, but still. Later on, I decided that I'm going to not skip any more classes. Must. Go. To. Class.
   
   
2. This was the last week of my holidays. It was somewhat productive - I downloaded my timetable and worked out my schedule and everything. I reorganized my notice board to make more space for ticket stubs. I think it's turning into more of a ticket stub display than anything. I might have to get another one.
   
   
3. Ling came back yesterday from Japan. I went over earlier, and she showed me some more pictures of really strange-looking food, and strange-looking food that she brought back with her. All of it made me think that if I ever ended up in Japan, I'd starve. 3 out of 5 things she bought had red beans in them. Everything's written in Japanese, so you really have no idea what's in them. If I'm ever in need of a serious challenge, I know where to go. Japan would be the perfect location for my very own version of Survivor.
   
   
4. Yesterday, I actually juiced three apples. Not something I do at all, I'm more of the juice-in-a-carton type. But it tasted so good. Then, I decided to have a little detox day. Today, I had freshly-squeezed orange juice and a banana for breakfast. A fruit salad (orange, apple, pear) and watermelon juice for lunch. I don't feel any different. But it made me realize how fake juice boxes are. My orange juice tasted nothing like the juice in my fridge, which I actually love(d).
   
   
5. Yesterday, I went for my first yoga class in maybe three months. After I hurt my neck, I had to skip classes for research colloquium and finals. Then, it was Diwali, more exams, and Christmas. I managed sun salutations and all here and there, but it was far from regular. After class, I felt all stretched out and so good, but when I woke up today morning, I was a little sore. It didn't help that Jay and I hit the gym. I had to take my brother to the club for taekwondo anyway. I just had a soak with Epsom Salts to help with the muscles. And I wanted cupcakes today. I even took the butter out of the fridge. But my brother didn't feel like being helpful, and the thought of making them from scratch, and by myself...I put the butter back.
   
   
6. Who'd have thought that getting hotel rooms for one night in Kanchanaburi would be so difficult?? How is it possible that two hotels are fully booked in the middle of the week? It's not even peak season!! I'm still waiting to hear from this really, really gorgeous hotel. Seriously, it looks like paradise.
   
   
7. Our Christmas Tree came down today =/

cousins and hotels

We went to the gym again today. A longer work-out though, but with Oasis (again) and the All-American Rejects. We had dinner, then I had to drive everyone (my brother, who doesn't really count since he lives with me and three of our cousins) home. Noisy bunch of people, they were.

From the time I got home till now, I've been looking up hotels in Kanchanaburi. I wish there was just one website that had everything you needed to know and that answered all your questions. Why have 483748374870932 that at the end of, leave you pretty much where you started from? So I turned to Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree. It was really helpful the last time we went to Thailand, so hopefully someone knows something.

Who knew looking up hotels could be so tiring. It doesn't help that the connection is still a little sucky. I can't get into Hotmail.

It's the end of December. The year is almost completely over.

testing, testing...

There was an earthquake in Taiwan that has messed up Internet connections in lots of places, my dining room (which is where I am now), for one. Everything's really slow and sucky, and I've only just been able to get into Blogger. What's worse is how dependent we've become on technology. I was watching Star News yesterday...people in Hong Kong and all have it bad, losing buckets of money.

We're hurtling towards 2007, and no one has plans for New Year's!

We've been talking about doing the reverse bungy thing, first in Singapore and then when they opened it up here. I think we have plans to go on Saturday. I'd like to, would be a nice way to top off the year. But talk about scaaareee!

I'm not even sure this will work, so enough for now.

Laters.

tragic desires

Today, I watched what is probably my favorite episode of One Tree Hill ever – The Tide That Left and Never Came Back from Season Two. Jimmy Eat World (!!) perform at Tric and central to this episode is the famous quote by George Bernard Shaw - There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it.

Have you ever thought about what this guy had to say?

It is easy to imagine that not getting what you desire can be quite tragic. Yearning for something or someone you can’t have must be hellish.

But what if what you desire can’t possible do you any good? What if it’s just what you think you want? What if you were swayed into a false sense of attraction by a box of chocolates, a heartfelt moment between two characters in a fictional movie, or even the smile of a stranger from across a room?

A cynic would add that chocolates make you fat. And that what happens in the movies never actually happens in real life. And that gorgeous stranger was smiling at the equally gorgeous person behind or in front of you.

How much more tragic is getting your heart’s desire?

What happens when you finally get something you’ve wanted (assuming that you really do want this) for so long? You’ve been waiting, and waiting, and now, you can reach out and touch it whenever you want to. All that anticipation and craving has been replaced by a sense of satisfaction.

But how long can that last?

Will you always be happy with what you have? Now that you have it, will it become less appealing because you know it’s no longer unattainable? How long before you set your sights on something else that is just beyond your reach?

On the flip side, you may become completely paranoid about losing what you fought so hard to gain. What if this consumes you? You won’t be able to ever enjoy whatever it is you wanted to badly.

And then, of course, there’s the possibility that you’ll actually lose it – a fate that I imagine to be the most painful. To have something, and then to have it taken away. But is it better to have had and lost then to not have had at all? Would your life honestly be richer? Is it worth the anguish?

A romantic would say of course, it’s worth it. Everything you experience influences you in some way, whether it makes you smile more often or it makes you decide to get your head shaved. A romantic would say, if getting my heart’s desire is tragic, then give me tragedy. I’d rather live for a while than not live at all.

What Shaw did in twenty or so words was sum up the human condition. We always want what we can’t have. And if we are lucky (or unlucky) enough to get what we desire, we often forget to relish that because we’re too worried about losing it. And if we are unlucky (or lucky) enough to lose what we have, we often forget to be thankful for the fact that we did have, even if only for a while.

Song for today – Pardon Me by Incubus. I don’t like the verses, but the chorus kicks ass.

Pardon me while I burst into flames.
I've had enough of the world, and its peoples’ mindless games
So pardon me while I burn, and rise above the flame

noel

So Christmas came, and Christmas went. It just happened so quickly. There was hardly any anticipation. I remember saying that I didn’t think the presents had even been under the tree long enough to get excited about. I went shopping three times to get everything, and I was surprised at how completely exhausting it was!

On the 24th, my brother and I made a white chocolate mud cake. The method was a little strange – we had to melt butter, sugar, white chocolate and milk. When I tried some of the goop, I got seriously worried cuz it tasted like pure sugar. But it looked really, really pretty.

Even after adding the flour and eggs later, it still looked nothing like how other cakes look. But we chucked it in the oven, and a little over an hour later it was ready to come out. We then slopped a ganache over it and decorated it with little silver thingies. They have a name, I know they do…but I can’t remember now.


After dinner at home, we went for midnight mass at the Church of Our Lady Fatima (or something like that), which is the same church where my parents had one of their weddings (they had two, the other was in a temple) and where I was baptized (not sure about my brother). Mass finished just after midnight. We were sitting with my uncle and his family, and one thing I love about sitting with my cousin is that she knows exactly how much longer till mass is over. So then, we went for supper to my aunty’s house and we left at about two.

The next morning was the usual presents and breakfast thing that we do every year with my aunty’s family. This year, my uncle had some important golf game (quite paradoxical, if you ask me…) so he wasn’t there and it was just the seven of us. We had juice (apple and orange), French toast, hash browns, and they had bacon. We usually have a lot more than that, but we had a big lunch in a few hours and plus, it was a Monday. After eating, we got to the presents =D

From my mum and dad, I got a Body Shop gift set that had the Neroli Jasmine EDT (I knew I was getting this from someone), shower gel and body lotion. My brother bought me a crystal anklet from Above and a tin of nutless (wooo!) chocolate chip cookies from Famous Amos. My cousins got me Stop the Clocks (which I also knew I was getting. They brought it over the day before and it was completely obvious that it was a CD, but I don’t care…I got Stop the Clocks!!). My aunty and uncle gave me a Borders gift card and a silver scarfy/belt thing. And from Ads I got a pair of this really cool flip flops :)

Once that was all over, we had to get ready for the lunch. My cousins were coming with us, so they got ready here. Jay, for some reason, brought his hairdryer. It was the strangest thing!

Lunch at Antonio’s, the Italian restaurant that my dad and his family own a part of or something like that was with pretty much the whole of my dad’s family. There was salad, breaded mushrooms (which were apparently really, really good), bruschetta (likewise) and soup (either seafood, which I had, or mushroom). After a bit of an intermission, during which my niece, Selena and my cousin, Dinesh and I had a bit of fun with shiny confetti that was lying around on the tables, we had the main course, which was a choice of either lamb (which was apparently, also really, really good) or chicken. Everyone was so full, that when they brought the turkey out after the main, it was sent back to be packed up. Dessert was the cake, which people actually ate…and LIKED! Even though it was just family, I was all worried and things. Everyone assumed it was all me, and I had to keep reminding them that my brother made it too. Talk about gender stereotypes!

Later on, the breakfast people came over again so my uncle could open his presents. We then had a late dinner at some place called William’s. The food was good, but the place wasn’t. Yesterday, the four of us and Jay went to the Yacht Club in P.D. for the day. Once we got there, I listened to the whole of Stop the Clocks, during which the boys had their lunch then played “football” on the beach, and we played pool (I sunk many balls =D ). The weather was a bit weird, cloudy but hot. Once we finally got off the deck chairs and had dessert, we went to the playground. Between the three of us, we did everything there – serious fun! Then we went to the beach for some “volleyball” and some more “football”. The tide was out, so we had to walk past the bit with the crabs, which were HUGE. I’ve never seen them so big! Usually, they’re so tiny you barely see them. I only went into the water as far as my ankles, cuz things have never been the same after the prawn.

After the boys ate some more and had showers, we left. Later, I was watching the HBO movie about the tsunami. It’s been two years, and over fifty thousand people are still missing. I think that’s the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone. Imagine, you go on a holiday, and you come back missing a family member or a friend. How do that many people just vanish? And to think, we were going to Phuket two weeks later. We had air tickets, hotels…everything.

I’ve been listening to Stop the Clocks a lot. There’s not one song on it I don’t love :)

all i want for christmas...

1. Stop the Clocks - the new CD from Oasis.
2. Island by Michael Kors - I just saw this perfume today. It's divine.
   
3. While we're on perfume, I also want Pleasures by Esteé Lauder and Neroli Jasmine from the Body Shop.
   
4. I want to watch Oasis live. And Robbie Williams.
   
5. The perfect snow globe. I've been looking at some. None have talked to me.
   
6. Okay I just looked at the list so far...materialistic much? I want world peace =D
7. I want people to hurry up and find a cure for cancer, and AIDS and all that already.
   
8. I want people to hurry up and make shoes that look nice.
   
9. Same goes for swim suits.
   
10. I want to go back to Switzerland.
    
11. And I want to go to Paris. And Istanbul. And Greece. And...
12. I want an island.
    
13. I want my holidays to be a little longer.
    
14. Right now, Swiss Miss.
    
15. You.
    

the eve of christmas eve

I wrapped presents for. I don't know. Maybe three and a half hours. I put Christmas music on and got to work. In case you don't already know, I love wrapping presents. Last year, I made initials from aluminum foil to stick onto the presents (not doing that again). My fingers feel all strange like. But now there's a whole bunch of presents under the tree =D

Earlier today, as in WAY earlier, I went with my mother to One Utama to get presents for my aunty, uncle, cousin, brother and dad. I also got my brother's present (from me), and we walked all over the freaking mall. Everywhere. But we managed to get everything done. It's weird how everything was so completely last minute this year. By now, we're usually done with the shopping, but I don't know what happened this time. My brother and I have just one more present to get, which I'm making him do tomorrow cuz I was in the shop, and he wouldn't let me get it then. Tomorrow we also have to whip up a white chocolate mud cake for Monday.

Hey, it's Christmas Eve already.

surprises, zen moments and slippery senoritas

I was just looking at the pictures I took in Penang :) So here's the recap.

Early Wednesday morning, Ads and I hopped on a bus to Butterworth. The four and a half hour journey wasn't actually that bad - I didn't even finish reading the Cleo magazine (almost complete fluff) I had. The bus stopped at the ferry terminal, and once we were on the island, we took a cab to the Penang Club. We hadn't had lunch so we asked the receptionist if there was any food nearby, and she said that Swatow Lane was just down the road. So we set off, all the time looking over our shoulders just in case Priya, who had no idea we were there, happened to whiz by or something. After wandering around a bit, we come across the same place Priya and her mum took me to the last time I was Penang! We had Majestic Rojak (I swear, that's what the sign says), which has the stickiest rojak sauce I've ever seen. It's got the consistency of honey!


All we kept talking about was how cheap everything was. The Char Kuay Teow was only three ringgit, and was excellent also.


But taking pictures of food felt a leeetle too touristy, so I put my camera away and enjoyed the food. Once we were done, we wandered around some more, trying to decide where to go shopping and how to get there. We decided on taking a cab to Gurney Plaza. We were still on the lookout for Priya, and we even agreed to duck into the men's room if we had to ;)

We headed back to the club after that, and hung out in the gorgeous, gorgeous garden. There was this huge tree that had benches around its base, and the sea was just beyond that. It was seriously breezy and so peaceful. I could spend ages there, just chilling. Very, very Zen.


Then we left to go get ready, and made our way to the Family Room that had been done up in purple and white. It looked gorgeous! Everyone was waiting for Priya to get there, and she still had NO idea what was going on. Finally, she was there, and her expression was priceless! She reacted in what Ads and I deemed a classic Priya way, and it was the coolest. A little while later, the newly tattooed Jacqui showed up. I can't remember the last time I saw her, maybe two years ago, so that was brilliant too. The food was really good, there was a DJ, but I was completely frozen and had to keep going out of the room to thaw. Then Ads suggested a drink to warm me up, which actually was a really good idea, but a whiskey-coke later, I was not warm at all. Just as we got a second, we decided to go down to the patio area to thaw some more. It was breezy as hell, but slightly less cold than it was upstairs. We had been talking to Jacob when suddenly Jacqui calls and goes, "COME NOW THEY'RE CUTTING THE CAKE!" which resulted in my getting up a little too quickly for two whiskey-cokes. That was followed by Ads and Priya inhaling helium and singing 'Silent Night'. I'd never done that before, so I did. It was weird. What was also weird was me, Jacqui and Ads hanging out in the bathroom, talking for a long time. The bathroom? But it was all good :)

Some people were dancing while Ads and I chilled (I have got to stop using this word) with Jacqui. Then the DJ started playing old music, and we did the whole YMCA hand thing while sitting down. It was funny - the only thing people know about that song are the hand movements and the "young man" bits. At about one, it was decided that the after party would be at Slippery Senoritas, which was just down the road. I changed, and we left. The place was crowded-ish, but it was Ladies' Night. There was a bunch of guys who looked like they were about twelve. We went to the bathroom, took pictures in the mirror, and when we were leaving Ads said she saw Utt walk into the men's.


We went upstairs, where we stayed until they closed. There were two bottles of vodka, juice and Pepsi (ugh.), and it was a whole lot of fun (aside from the creepy guys who would not look away when I went down with Ads for a while). There was good music - Sean Paul, that song with Jennifer Lopez - Lose Control, Terriyaki Boyz.

After leaving, Ads and Jacqui decided to have a little karaoke session in her car while waiting for the others. Panic! was on the radio when I was talking to Durvesh just before 4 a.m. and they were singing along. The plan was to go out for food, but that didn't happen to Jacqui dropped us back at the club. After a really random picture, I was in bed by 4.30.

The next morning, Priya came to our room at about 10.30 for a little chat. After she left, Ads and I had juice (again) in the garden (again) and I had a Zen-like moment (again). I took some really cool pictures, and later on the whole bunch of us had a nice Indian lunch before Ads and I had to leave. We made it just in time for the bus at 3, I was home before 8, and falling asleep during Amazing Race: Asia.

Many little things made Penang oodles of fun, but for the most part, it was my chicas. I miss them already.

Today afternoon my brother and I finally started our Christmas shopping, and we managed to get 1.5 presents and plan the rest. There are two presents under our tree, and both have my name on them. The second one was there when I got back. And yes, of course I rattled it to figure out what's inside. Haven't got the faintest idea. It's not Stop the Clocks though =/

More Christmas shopping tomorrow, so laters for now.


Song for today - Again by Lenny Kravitz. I had forgotten all about this song, till they played it to get people out of the club. Not that it worked for us.

i heart oasis.

just a quick one. watch clips of liam and gem of oasis live in paris here. it's all acoustic and beautiful.

*melts*

O Christmas Tree

Every year, my mum's sister and her family (i.e. my uncle and their two kids) come over to help us decorate our Christmas tree. This has been going on for as long as I can remember, and it's usually heaps of fun. We put Christmas music on, and sort out all the ornaments, then put them on the tree. There's not a second of silence, and we're usually quite loud to be heard over the music.

This year, my aunty and uncle couldn't come, they're still in Ipoh, so it was just the six of us (and Charlie). The tree and the lights were put up two days ago, to give it time to chill (I'm chatting about Zen-like states, sorry) and stuff. So we put the music on and got to work. When I looked at the tree, it somehow seemed smaller. Strange, seeing as how I'm definitely not growing taller. It made sense for my brother to say it seemed smaller. Being the youngest, he insisted on being the one to put the topper one, even though my dad had already done it. Then we were talking about how in the movies, the parent carries the little kid up so he or she can put the topper on, and we laughed at how my brother was the least likely to need carrying.

Last year, we had hot chocolate when we were done. Okay, i don't know if everyone had hot chocolate but I remember making my uncle some. I don't know if it was rainy then, but it's really hot now, so no hot chocolate.

The tree's also in a different place this year, directly opposite from where it usually is. I wonder how that'll work out with the presents on Christmas morning...

I don't feel like typing anymore.


Song for today - Snow (Hey Oh) by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

but i need more than myself this time