there has to be something wrong when i can't even finish eating 2 sushi rolls without feeling like i'm gonna burst.

so GP has been utterly fantastic. great doctors, great nurses, really cool patients and most of all, lovely drug representatives that bring free food to entice the hearts of the doctors to buy from them. hope they come everyday so i don't have to bother packing my own lunch or buying it if i'm running late.

getting to the clinic's a bit of a hassle though. the bus doesn't really stop directly in front of the clinic, it stops about 1km away. so i've been walking a lot lately. calves getting super toned but at the end of the day, i'm so tired, they involuntarily go into spasms and cramp up.

today's session starts at 2. so, i've been playing house the whole morning. cleaned my room, scrubbed the toilet, washed the clothes. i'm turning into a regular stepford wife. minus the blond hair and bimbotic facade.

oh, and did i mention, i've started keeping fish? guppies. bought 5 of them, 2 have since died. don't ask me how, i don't know either. you'd think the daughter of an avid fish keeper would know how to keep a few measly guppies alive. guess not. they cost me an arm and a leg as well! one fish cost 3.75AUD. back home, they'd cost 50 cents! crap...

me : daddy!! i bought fish!!

daddy: nice. how did you cook it?

me : huh? i bought fish for keeping lar! guppies!

daddy : ohhhh..how many?

me : 3 males and 2 females.

daddy : ... you should have bought 1 male and 3 females lar...

me : but they're the same price! i thought buying the colourful males would have been the better choice.

daddy : how much did they cost?

me : urm...3.75 each?

daddy : (due to the lag over the phone line, there was literally a 30 second silence) WHAAAAAAAT!?!!?!?! tzap kui korh??? (hokkien for almost RM20) can buy me 2 meals already!

me : but...but...but...they were the cheapest fish!!

daddy : couldn't you have just gone into the drains and fished up a few??

me : daddy...i don't even see drains here. they're all under the roads..

daddy : haih...you're supposed to be investing in ASSETS not LIABILITIES!!

me : but they ARE assets! don't tell me all the fish at home, not assets arr?? then you got more liabilities than me!

daddy : then you better make sure your fish start breeding so you can sell the babies and make money.

good ol' daddy...

everytime i watch this show, i am practically goosebumped the whole time. i absolutely adore tragic love stories. it just makes life so much more exciting. wah...i'm quite drama. but really. the love that they share. so pure. so true. so timeless. siiiiigh...something i have yet to find actually. hopefully it's out there somewhere. but other than that, i'm completely mesmerised by the colours and dancing of the show. it all looked so dark and yet so colourful. the song arrangements were delightful. watching the show was like being in a pinball machine where i was bouncing off songs and was just being thrown from one end of the musical spectrum to the other. lovely.

was su-ann's birthday yesterday. had an small, intimate dinner party for her. soo yi came over as well and of course, where there's soo yi, there are obligatory silly pictures.

voila!

only with soo yi will i do silly, off the wall stupid things like this. that's because she'll do it with me. =)

starting GP rotation tomorrow. quite looking forward to it. hopefully i get a good doctor. and a cute one too.

had a remarkable and memorable day yesterday. decided to be adventurous and spontaneous and took a train down to the Gold Coast by myself yesterday. wanted to head over to Surfer's Paradise to take in the beach. something that i absolutely love. just sitting on a beach. watching people, chasing the waves, sinking my toesies into the sand. ah...bliss.

so, i'm all up and ready to go at 9am and after an uneventful trip, except the fire drill at the train station (i was told to leave, if not i would DIE), i arrived at the Gold Coast. the sky didn't look too promising though. it was cloudy and slightly gloomy. but i had faith that it would blow away and that the sun would come out to play. HEY! that rhymed! hahaha...sorry...bimbo moment.

met up with some classmates of my little sister, sook yi and xue mei and had a blast! went window shopping, which ended up being actual shopping, had a whopping lunch where we had to literally BEG the waiter for more delicious mushroom sauce (which by the way, i think i know how to make already), and got hit on by some surfers who were recruiting for a bar crawl they were organizing. *note: if the girls were over 18, i would hop right over to the hottie and list my name and theirs down with them in BOLD*

finally, we saw it. well, at least i saw it, they've been there umpteen times already.

Surfer's Paradise.

clambered over the dunes and managed to find a spot. not many people since it was a friday and that was a blessing. since i was there to appreciate the view and not the bodies. if i wanted to do that, i'd come on a saturday, FOR SURE.

i love the sand..

pictures with the young ladies. all grown up. *sniff* i remember when sook yi was a little girl and would come over to my house to play sleepover with my little sis. and now, she's a beautiful young lady. *nostalgia*

the blue, blue, sky. how beautiful.

it was such a wonderful day. i didn't want it to end.

went city crawling today. just decided to go alone and walk around. taking in the sights and the people. very un-touristy i assure you. just needed some alone time to listen to my music and to chill with myself. stumbled upon this very interesting piece of scripture:

i like it...

found a small store tucked away in a corner that made medals and coins. was gazing into the window while i was waiting for my bus and i saw this

this medal is dedicated to my old faithful companion back home, loobie, who's old and frail and my daddy is going to take her to be put down this week. rest in peace darling loobie. your years of loyal service, love, loyalty and faithfulness to our family will be much missed.

had to use a public toilet the other day. was quite the stinky. and the last person who used it conveniently 'forgot' to flush down his chocolate cake. so with nose pinched and brows furrowing, i proceeded to complete my own business.

and then...i saw this written behind the door.

oh gosh. hahaha..it made me laugh. it's still making me laugh. can you believe what this gabby wrote? who describes their loved one as a hunk of meat? a kiwi one at that. hahaha...can't stop laughing.

and this is for pamsie-doodles. was wandering around the city and found many bridal shops and i just HAD to snap some pictures of the wedding dresses. as my mum said..i was starting to 'khayal' and since i know pam-pam loves these sorta things, i decided to post them up.

mum's gone. she flew off at 2pm this afternoon. a bit sad but really happy that she made the trip all the way over here just to make sure i was alright. i'm glad she left with a heart at peace that i've settled in alright and that life is moving along for me.

so, she spent the first 5 days cooking and cleaning and making sure we're all comfortable while studying for exams. could see she was getting bored after like 3 days. but she kept insisting that she was fine and that it was a relaxing trip where she can just let her mind go and not worry about anything. especially school. speaking of school, my sister, supersara got straight 12A1s for her SPM exam. which are completely, and utterly remarkable. i'm so proud of her. when we found out, i was jumping up and down, whooping and screaming around my house. i was so proud of her. she...by far...is the smartest gu in the family. tuagu salutes u siaogu!

anyway...after the exams, i managed to take her around the city a bit. not much, nothing touristy at all. she just wanted to know the places i go to and what i usually do. so...i'm gonna let
the pictures here do the talking.

sorry, i don't really feel like going into details of the trip. still a bit moody over mum leaving. promise to put up something more cheerful soon.

she's here! she's here! she's here!

*jiggle jiggle dance dance*

the mother's here! the mother's here! the mother's here!

*whoop whoop whoop*

*runs around the room and jumps for joy*

*pant pant pant*

yes...my mummy's here! so happy happy joy joy.

she's been cooking and cleaning and making me smile.

i can't believe how much i'm smiling today. and tearing at when i think about how she'll be gone in 10 days.

BUT!

i'm not going to think about that. i'm just going to enjoy my mummy while she's here.

so happy!

oh my gosh...i've been tagged. i've never been tagged in my whole blogging life and i had hoped that i never would. buttttt...sarah sim yen mi! u've tagged me. grrr...

so here goes:
THE SIX WEIRD THINGS ABOUT ME

1. i study better in the toilet

yeah..you read it right. i've noticed that whenever i'm in the toilet, i tend to retain information better. especially when it comes to studying. i think it's the whole dumping out and taking in thing. i dump out my poo and take in information. has worked wonders. back home, i would sit for hours on my toilet bowl just studying. until my butt starts to hurt then i'll reluctantly get off. tried simulating it once by sitting on my chair as i would on my toilet bowl...but my mind very smart. it knew that i was bluffing it and didn't fall for it.

2. i count syllables

i have a this weird obsessive compulsive thing where i tend to count the syllables of words that i read while i'm driving. like if i see a billboard stating 'TEH TARIK CAP LEMBU', i'll start counting the syllables with my fingers. and the thing is, it has to be in even numbers. like...TEH-TA-RIK-CAP-LEM-BU...that's six syllables...so, i count it off, once i reach five, the next syllable has to fall in between my five fingers, means it has to land on my middle finger. so what if it's an uneven number like seven or nine? ok...for seven, the sixth and seventh syllable will end up being counted on my index and ring finger. if it's nine, it'll have to land on my thumb, index, ring and pinky finger, leaving the middle one out. makes sense? i know it doesn..but oh well..and i also count car number plates and shop signs.



3. i'm obsessed about my weight

well...not obsessed until the point of an eating disorder. i still eat and very heartily i might add. but usually after eating a mite too much, i get really guilty and feel that i need to lose weight. so i do it by semi-starving myself the next meal or by exercising and sometimes, i've resorted to laxatives. and everytime before showering i would look at myself in the mirror and assess whether i've put on any weight. this is like daily. yeah, you heard right. but then...i've learnt to control my eating and exercise moderately to maintain a proper weight. and i always tend to feel very self-conscious and always need to ask my friends whether i look ok and not too fat. that's what happens when u have sisters who are twigs. hahaha...

4. i talk to movie screens

back in malaysia, when i watch movies, i tend to read the malay subtitles way ahead and then mouth back the words in english while the dialogue is still going on. i have no idea why. apparently it's quite annoying. according to one timothy law. but i find it amusing. so..next time you wanna watch a movie with me, ask me to shut up before hand.

5. i have super fast growing eyebrows

i just went for my first eyebrow waxing on saturday and the eyebrow hair started showing it's growth on tuesday. i'm quite serious. i had to start clearing and plucking it. waxing not that bad also actually. i expected worse. but then...it was quite bearable. i mean..i prefer it to threading since they have to go over and over just to really clear a spot. waxing. one pull and it's all gone. quite good. i think i might just end up waxing a lot more than my eyebrows very soon.

6. i eat my skin

like goldmember in austin powers, i eat my skin. you see..i used to bite my nails all the time. but i stopped after putting on braces. but after i took them off, the habit sort of came back. so nowadays, instead of biting my nails, i bite the skin beside the nails. bite, bite, bite then i swallow it. no taste. just a habit. quite gross i know. hehehe...

ok...now that's done, i TAAAAAAAAAG....

esther lau
sara lau
keshia kan
timstone
pamsong

aaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddddddd

bryanlimus!

...

on another note.
MY MUMMY'S COMING TOMORROW!!




tomorrow, tomorrow, i love ya...tomorrow, you're only a daaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy aaaaaawwwwwaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!!!!

my little covenant with God.



be blessed.

Get Your Sexy Name

i like this... =)

MY MUMMY IS COMING IN 5 DAYS!!

*heart's beating faster, palms sweating, tummy churning*

i'm so happy!!!

meanwhile...this is what i've been doing.



and this is for darling soo yi..



driver/eating buddy/shoulder lender/borek partner/talking-rubbish assistant/geng mata sepet/friend i could never live without.

thanks soo soo...*hugz*

i am sitting in front of my computer eating Uncle Toby' Mango and Passion Fruity Bites with a glass of milk by my side. it's supposed to be some sort of cereal where u eat it together with milk. but i found that putting them together makes the fruity bites soggy very quickly. so, now i just pop the crunchy bites into my mouth and then take a swig of milk. shake my head a bit and proceed with chewing. =)

how did fortitude valley a.k.a. Chinatown get it's name?



there you go..a bit of brisbane city history for you culture bugs.

and for the slightly less cultured ones.



this outfit was lasviciously pointed out to me by a slightly deranged man while i was waiting for a bus at a bus stop that was conveniently situated outside an adult store. noticed the man was staring at yw and myself so i turned around to see what was his problem. he was standing right next to the outfit and when he saw me turning around to look at him, he took the opportunity to point at me and then at the outfit and then back again at me.

swt.

checkout what it says upclose.



oooo...talk about kinky.

thank goodness he walked away after a while and left us alone. and then something else caught my eye.



apparently they're looking for asian dancers. if not it wouldn't be advertised in chinese as well right? gosh...so that's what he was thinking.

dancer...can make a lot of money orhh...

been snapping random photos with my handphone while out exploring. while i've been only been encountering weird, mentally deranged people, i'm quite happy to see some very normal and touching scenes as i've been doing my wayfaring.



was on the bus, going to the hospital one morning and i saw this old couple. the old woman was looking out the window, lost in her own thoughts, when this old man just reached across, took her hand and brought it up to his lips for a kiss. it was so sweet, i teared up.

now, how wonderful would it be if we had a love like that which would last the test of time. never letting the feelings die, never letting things get routine or mundane. how i wish that life didn't have to be so cynical and so hard. it hurts me to see how many time people just fly and race about their everyday lives, lost in their own little world that nothing else matters. never stopping to appreciate the things and people around them.

should life become one large routine?



this one, brought a smile to my face. these 2 sisters wearing lovely dresses and looking like little fairy princesses. took me back to when my sisters and i were little girls and my mum would sew dresses for us to wear. all the same material, but different patterns. i would be so proud to wear them to church or to dinners. knowing that we looked special, not because i was dressed identical to my sisters, but because i knew that my mum had made the dresses and that she did it because she loved us.

pretty dresses make me happy.

i have recently developed into a passable chef. =) i guess i did inherit some of my mother's genes.

due to high demand (if i do say so myself..*grin), this is the recipe to my chu kiok chou. it's really very simple and you'll be amazed at how well you can suddenly cook!

Ingredients:
2 large cloves of garlic (slightly crushed, but not chopped)
2 large chunks of ginger (cut into small pieces)
1 white carrot (cut into cubes)
black chinese mushrooms (stalks removed and cut into half)
pork trotters, OR
pork spare ribs (cut into bite size)
2 chinese bowls of black vinegar
thick, black sauce
sugar
salt

Method:
first, fry the garlic till it's fragrant.
second, add in the pork (i couldn't find trotters so i just used spare ribs. how much is up to you) and fry till slightly browned
third, add in the ginger and fry some more till flavours are infused into the pork or until the pork is cooked.
fourth, add in the black sauce (how much is up to you, you want it blacker, add in more)
fifth, add in the white carrot and black mushrooms
sixth, add in the 2 bowls of black vinegar
seventh, add in sugar and salt to taste (i used 2 tablespoons of sugar)
bring it to the boil and then lower down the fire and let it simmer for about an hour.

if you really like it sour, then add more vinegar. remember to counter with sugar if not your guests will be making sour faces the whole night. the secret is in the vinegar and LOTS of ginger.

this is my mummy's recipe. i know there may be other recipes out there which require different ingredients but this is how she does it. and i'm pretty sure it's gone down well with quite a lot of people. =)

sorry lena, haven't gotten round to asking han nien for his char siew recipe. but i will soon!

and if you guys out there want to try a new lemon chicken recipe,

Ingredients:
2 pieces of chicken thigh fillet
1 clove of ginger
1 small chunk of ginger (grated)
2 tablespoons of flour
250ml of chicken stock
rind and juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons of basil
salt
pepper

Method:
finely chop the garlic and lemon rind and mix it with the flour.
cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and add it into the flour/garlic/lemon rind mixture. let it marinate for about 10 minutes.
fry the chicken till golden brown.
add in the grated ginger, flour mixture, stock and sugar into the pan and bring to boil and cook for 5 mins.
next, blend the egg yolk and lemon juice and add it into the pan.
add salt and pepper to taste.

the sauce will be slightly thick and creamy due to the flour. can be eaten with rice or with pasta.

and there you go. 2 simple dishes. hahaha..relatively. hope you guys enjoy it.

well. it's almost the end of the chinese new year, and i must say that being away from home for the first time kinda sucks. i miss the festiveness. i miss the togetherness. i miss the noise and chaos and ruckus.

the getting ready for the dinner. everyone rushing for the toilet and yelling at each other to hurry up. my sisters and i trying on clothes and putting on our makeup. all the men watching tv and waiting patiently for their grandmother, wives, daughters and nieces to get ready. the convoy of cars heading towards the restaurant. finally arriving and waiting to be seated. my grandparents and relatives greeting everyone they see as they've grown up with the whole of muar. waiting for the food to arrive, scarfing down the same dinner as the rest of the restaurant. teasing cousins and joking uncles. twittering aunts and blissfull grandparents.

the gambling and supper afterwards. the washing of the mahjong tiles. the shuffling of the cards. the 'phish' of the cans of soft drinks and beer and shandy. the cracking open of peanuts and munching of new year cookies. the blare of the tv and the raise voices to be heard over the hullabuloo. the neverending love.

i miss it all.

happy chinese new year everyone.

FOOD!

had a Chinese New Year dinner tonight. i must say, everyone went all out to create sumptuous dishes. all in the spirit of togetherness and of course, competitiveness. hahaha...but, it was a wonderful dinner. everyone ate to the brink of bursting.




once again, everyone's gathering at our home.


sarah, ying wei, me and linda


lining up for food...


ying wei's A1 soup


daniel's black pepper chicken


han nien's char siew


linda's potatoes


dexter's sweet and sour fish


sarah's woh tip (dumplings)


su-ann's eggplant with mince chicken and bean paste


daniel's brocolli with mushrooms


and finally, my chu kiok chou (pork trotters in vinegar)


and this is chef han nien, slicing his really, really tasty char siew


sarah and me


tucking in


me, su-ann and rand

yes, i wore a cheongsam. was the only one who was festive enough to dress up. but then, i'd use any excuse just to put on a pretty dress. =)

so yeah...everyone ended up just sitting around, chatting and watching tv. none of the gambling and mahjong playing like back home. hahaha..they'd all still be here if we were gambling, that's for sure.