Gong Hei Fatt Choy!

This post has been sitting in my draft folder for the past 2 weeks. Got busy. Got ill. Still nursing a cough but that's okay. So here goes. Hey, at least I'm posting this before Chap Goh Mei, right?

The eve
CNY eve was celebrated quite simply with family at home. We had roast duck from Loong Foong in Paramount (though I much prefer the Sunrise Roast Duck, they decided not to open for business this CNY), Char Siew (roast pork) from James Ayam, Jellyfish Yee Sang from Chuai Heng (One Utama) topped up with salmon sashimi from Jusco Supermarket (I don't see the point in thinly sliced salmon, really) and mom cooked some vegetable stir fry. I opened up a bottle of Merlot to go with the duck and pork and it was not too bad either. Sunshine got to eat inside with us. She even had a taste of everything. Just a weee-bit. Except the wine of course. Then she was quite happy to lie at our feet. Hahaha. Pictures to come soon. I still can't find that damn USB cable for my phone. Grrrr.

Cycling up Frasers
As for the first day of Chinese New Year, I had a total blast cycling up to Fraser's Hill with JJ, MF and some new friends I made that day. We met up in Kuala Kubu Baru, and then headed for hills, cycled past the beautiful KKB dam and then a steady climb to the Gap which lasted over 2 hours.

It was a lovely climb, with shady trees by the long and winding road. The cool breeze was crisp and fresh. I could smell the green scent of the jungle and hear the rustling of leaves. When we rode near the river we could hear the sound of water tripping over rocks as it rushed towards the dam we left behind.

When we finally reached the Gap, we were greeted by many cars parked by the roadside. Holidaying families were waiting for the road leading up to the top of Fraser's Hill to open. Well, we got this far, so the guys said we should ride to the clock tower, another 8km away. Gulp. JJ was up for it, so I thought OK lah. Might as well.

We didn't want to wait for the road to open, so we used the alternative route, which started off with a really steep slope. A 750m 15% incline. Oh gawd... I tried, but half way through, I knew I couldn't anymore. My heart was at the verge of bursting and my legs couldn't maintain a steady rhythm. I quickly unclipped my shoes and prayed I wouldn't fall over in an undignified heap. I managed to get off my bike to push.

After getting back on the bike, we endured a few more kms of rolling hills. Then we saw the gang who were ahead of us coming down the hill. They said there was a landslide further up and there was no way we could cross. Bummer.

So much for the clock tower. We could take the other way up, but we were running out of time. After a short rest back at the Gap, we were on our way home. The ride down was madness! Averaged 30-40km/h (and I might add there's a speed limit of 30km/h for cars here). Round and round back down the hill.

Weeeeeehoooooo... the wind was in my face. I avoided oncoming traffic, holes, sandy corners and fallen branches. I didn't realise I climbed up such a distance until I saw that the journey down was pretty long too. Then we reached the big road near the dam. Changed to my big crank and pedaled, reaching a top speed of 60km/h (I didn't see any speed limit signs here though), and the downhill speed gave me momentum to fly up the smaller slopes after.

Cool breeze gave way to hot air as the sun was already up and we had no more shady trees for cover. The heat from the tarmac made me feel like I was riding in a bed of burning charcoal. Phoooh! But it was over pretty quickly when we reached KKB town again and back to our cars at the stadium. ZM treated everybody to makan opposite the stadium, and it was such fun talking about the ride. It's definitely one of the best rides I've had so far, and I can't wait to go back there again. Hopefully next time we can make it to the clock tower.

Hamper shopping
Went home. Took a shower. Then went to Giant to get a CNY hamper for D's family. Goodness gracious. The hampers were pricey but filled with junk. I decided to handpick some better items, although for the same budget, there would be less items and I'd get a smaller hamper. Oh well, better than cheap sugar-crusted jelly sweets or plasticky chocolate any day. Besides, it's more gratifying to push the trolley around and choose items the recipients would like.

Dinner with D's family and drinks with friends
It was his folk's last night in KL before they fly back to Adelaide, so we had dinner before dropping them off at the granny's. Nothing else seemed to be open in the USJ area on the first day of CNY, so we ended up at a vegetarian restaurant. After that, we met up with some friends for drinks at Chili's in Midvalley. It was a good catch up session with LY, WY, EK and AW who's back from Shanghai.

Not so 'ong' 2nd day
Didn't do much but rest and recover from the ride the day before. Had dinner at my aunt's place. Sunshine had a swell time running around the big garden and having everyone fuss all over her. Later, D & I went to LY's cousin's place for a few rounds of cards. Not very 'ong' at all la this year. Must be Aunty HN's boob-shimmying and leg-crossing ala Sharon Stone disturbing the 'luck'. Hahahaha.

Packed 3rd day
Visited KY's place on Saturday afternoon. My, her belly had gotten bigger. Zombee was cute as always, yelping at the back for some attention. Then I went over to The Curve for quick meet up with the old DDBi gang as SC was back from Vietnam. So nice to see everybody again. Then it was off to LY's place for another round of cards. Still not very 'ong'. Lost some at Dai Dee but managed to recover some at the Black Jack table.

The Chins, Chong, Oois & Mah
Met up with the girls. SY's belly has grown as well since we last met at MT's wedding. After coffee and catching up, AV and I met up with the boys after their basketball game. KC and CC hadn't changed a bit. Put them and D together, aiyooohh, it's like a trip back to our GMSJ Youth days over a decade ago. Hahaha. And oh, the Sup Kambing at Darus Salam in SS15 Subang Jaya, SUCKS. All MSG and fatty meat with an overdose of spice. Uggghh.

Got sick :(
The following few days were horrible. Got a bit of a fever. Sore throat. No sniffles, but a dry cough. My tonsils swelled up. Doctor asked me to consider removing them one day, cos they get inflamed so easily. It's been a week and I still get the hacking cough. Damn the heaty CNY weather. No lah... it's not all the bak kua I ate. I didn't get enough of those. Sniff.

The Chans
Visited CN on Saturday and it was so good to see her and hubby after so long. And while I heard that her sister (3 years our junior) just gave birth to a baby girl 3 months ago, it didn't sink in until I saw SN with her baby. And I still remember SN in her high school pinafore. OK, that was about 10 years ago, but gosh! In my mind, she still that tall, young, pretty girl with the school bag. She's still tall, young, and pretty - but now she's a mom, with baby bags!

It's Day 12 today. Chap Goh Meh on Thursday.
Shites, only 3 more days of Angpow collection!

Of yoga and other evils....

For the past few months my mom's exercise equipment of choice is this custom-made wooden board for the feet, angled at about 45 degrees, from China.

According to her, standing on it and flailing your arms like a chicken or a bird ballerina will help improve circulation and can cure all ills. In a booklet that came with it, it apparently cured someone of cancer and diabetes. And help others lose weight.

Riiiiiigghhtt.

I have no doubt it would help stretch your nerves and blood vessels in the legs (which, okay, could improve your blood circulation)... and it does look like a pretty good gadget to stretch your calf muscles and tendons. But a cure for cancer? And *cough* weight loss?

She gets on it every morning and says she feels much healthier. And she's gotten my haven't-been-exercising brother to get on that thing as well to help him shed some kilos.

I suggested yoga to my mom. No impact while building overall body strength and flexibility. And it's really not that difficult once you learn the basic poses. As for my brother, he should just play badminton again and go for walks in the morning before work. So my mom looked vaguely interested at the yoga picture book I bought.

"NO! Don't do yoga!", said my bro, almost furiously.

Ah-hah! I should've seen it coming.
He thinks it's anti-Christ and Hindu God worship.

I could be opening a can of worms here... but I don't see how stretching your muscles in various poses while breathing in and out properly in the name of exercise is any form of 'worship'. There are so many different branches of yoga anyway. It's not as if I'm recommending the 'meditation' type of yoga or any of the spiritual awakening stuff. Will practising yoga really turn a person away from God? If anything, overzealous comments are a bigger turn off.

Which reminds of the time I brought home YL's Harry Potter book. My bro had a tsk tsk look on his face, though he knew better not to say anything.

Look, if I'm about to start believing in witchcraft and can't differentiate between fiction and reality, I would have been a firm believer in fairies and goblins (thanks to Enid Blyton). Or the tooth fairy for that matter.

Sure... many of the little impressionable kids around the world probably want to be Harry or Hermione when they grow up at the moment, but hey, they'll grow out of it. I mean, eventually they'll realise that no matter what, brooms don't fly.

I'm digressing here, but even a child brought up in the most loving, staunch Christian family can grow out of their innocent faith (whether their parents know it or not). As they grow into their teens and seek to define their own identities, they will question everything from religion to school rules to authority. They will make their own choices. And in the right environment, rediscover God in His true glory.

Judgemental tsk-tsks and fanatical 'holier-than-thou' statements will only serve to alienate them and other people who are looking for spiritual guidance. I, for one, get very irritated. There are so many hypocrites out there, it's no wonder more and more people are running away from church.

I think it's gotta be a lot less talk, and a lot more action (with sincerity and love, of course). This world sure needs it.

“Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ’Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ’Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?’ And the king will answer them, ’Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me.’” - Mt 25:34

I wonder if an angel will suddenly go...
"AH HAH! You practiced yoga! You worshipped another god. Sorry. You don't belong here."

OR
"Sorry... you read Harry Potter therefore you believe in witchcraft. Please return your halo."

*rolls my eyes*

Please lah.

10 things I can't stand about my mom

My mom is a simple woman with quite a few idiosyncratic traits. Don't get me wrong, I love her. But loving your mother doesn't mean it's in the "hey, I wanna hang out with you, mom" kinda way. Quite the contrary, I find myself appreciating her more, missing her even, when I'm not staying at home (like when I was studying abroad).

Every meal time has the potential of becoming a painful episode. Not to mention every trip I make with her, even if it's a 5-minute drive in the car. I don't know if all mothers are like this, but I'm sure you can identify with some of these s-motherly habits.

1. She's an almost obsessive-compulsive clean freak. Not to be confused with neat freak, which is a totally different thing. Neat, she is not. I don't know if I should be thankful for that, but she certainly is a clean freak. I have a small house, so there are lots of junk and odds and ends lying about, some on top of each other. It's quite a mess most days. But every surface is spotless. Dust free. Under this category I could go on... such as her peculiar way of washing the dishes (every inch of the plate must be touched by the flow of water from the tap to be deemed 'clean'). Same goes with the front yard.

My water bill every month is astronomical. More than double if not triple of a typical household (I checked). In her mind, as long as something is 'washed', it's clean... water = clean. Doesn't matter that wet floors and wet things are more conducive breeding grounds for germs.

Oh, and in her eyes, everyone around her is filthy. Her most frequently asked questions: "Have you bathed?" or "Have you taken a poop?". Most frequent requests, "Go bathe." (doesn't matter if you had already) or "Have you washed your hands?".

She also washes all the cups we use every morning. Clean, unused cups. And she loves doing it really early in the morning, when it's too early for you to wake up. The kitchen is right next to my bedroom.

Now you know why I hate the sound of running tap water.

2. She complains no one helps her in the house. But because of the above (No.1), nothing we do is good enough. We do the dishes, she'll just do them again. You flush the toilet, and she'll flush it again for you. Or at the very least, spray the toilet with a some water (see No.1 again). Alot of 'work' she has to do are unnecessary. But of course, she doesn't think so. And she complains about having to do everything herself.

While she's so fiercely independent in some ways, she is totally opposite in other matters. She doesn't want to learn how to use a mobile phone properly (yet she's always hinting that she wants a new one of her own, despite being at home most of the time) and she gets flustered when using the ATM, so she gets my dad, my bro or me to do it.

3. She believes everything the newspaper/TV tells her. Those Wah Lai Toi infomercials on Astro are SO targeted at people like my mom. She doesn't make her own rational judgement about anything. It's "the newspaper said this....", "the TV said that...." Tell her something is good or bad in the media, and she'll believe it, hook, line and sinker. The media also fuels her paranoia. Good in a twisted way to keep her alert against potential dangers (snatch thieves and what not), but tiresome when every person on a motorbike is a potential mugger.

4. She's a health freak. I like healthy living and healthful foods, but I still believe moderation is key. At one point, my mom heard from someone (on TV or in the paper, see No.3) that fresh juices every morning on an empty stomach is good for you. Yes, I know, she wants the best for her family. But if that means waking me up at an absurdly early hour in the morning with the sound of the juicer buzzing at high volume (we have a noisy one, and we live in a single storey terrace house), I go "AARRRRRRRGGHHH!" She grew out of that phase eventually. Erm... for now. Thank God for small favours.

Since the pork JE incident (1998), she stopped cooking pork. And she kicks up a fuss when we order pork or have bak kut teh when we eat out.

Since the mad cow incident (1993?), she stopped cooking beef. And while she would have a bite of steak if my dad is having some, she'd complain if it's bloody or not well-done, saying we'd all die of poisoning or some bovine disease.

Strangely, she didn't stop buying chicken after the bird flu fiasco. But she buys only free range chicken, which tastes much better, albeit a little tough. She buys and cooks fish, and even then it's just one or two types of fish for reasons unknown to me. And she cooks either chicken or fish in the same two styles (steamed, or pan-friend lightly with ginger and garlic), every day. I don't know what will happen if bird flu becomes a chronic problem or if the seas get more polluted and she reads about metal poisoning in seafood. Bwaahahahah!

She doesn't really fry her food anymore. Everything is steamed, broiled, boiled or maybe lightly stir-fried (with hardly any oil, and it's olive oil mind you) . Like veges in garlic. No oyster sauce. Organic soy sauce is used in small quantities. No salt unless absolutely necessary. She flavours her soups with chicken bones and breast meat. Again, no salt. But they taste great. I love her soups. And I enjoy her food in general (but that's cos I don't mind bland foods all that much). Besides, it's great for my dad's health.

But every day?
Erm... let's just say we look forward to the times when we eat out or take away 'normal food' from outside. Some days, dad would text me, pleading for some sinful hokkien mee, with pork lard and the whole works, which I'd buy home (mom complains, but surprisingly she'd take a few bites).

5. She imposes health freakiness to others. The family are not the only 'victims'. When eating out with the ladies from church or friends, she'd complain about dishes they order for the table. Especially if they're deep-fried, or oily or salty or high in cholesterol. She'd promptly eat a few bites and declare to all at the table that the food sucks and is bad for their health. Let's just say tact and social 'blending in' is not her forte.

6. Nothing makes the woman happy. I take her to a nice restaurant and she gushes at everything. All is fine and dandy throughout. But I just KNOW that she will find something to complain about by the end of the meal. Something never fails to be too oily/ salty/ sweet. If the food is perfect, she'd complain about the price on the bill. And when I buy back gifts or foodstuffs from my travels, she'd complain about them. Then she'd tell me not to buy anything on my next trip. But if I come home empty handed, she'd complain about it too. *groan*

7. She likes to 3-way call on a 2-way phone. I could be talking to my dad on the phone (he's at home with her) and I won't be able to hear a single word he's saying cos she's talking at the same time or telling my dad to tell me stuff while I'm trying to listen to what HE is trying to say. It's INFURIATING.

8. She compares me to her friend's daughter. Like how much pocket money that girl is giving her mother and how well she grooms herself. Of course, she forgets that her friend's daughter doesn't pay for the bills and groceries in the house.

9. She talks through my dad. We're both adults. If she wants something 'important', she should just talk to me about it. But no, she'd go through my dad.

10. She scrutinises and picks on me. I could be home from work at night, peacefully eating my dinner when she would sit in front of me and stare. Then she'd have things to say (or complain) about my hair, my face, my weight etc. Or in the morning when I'm about to leave for work, she'd fiddle with my hair, my collar, my bag etc. My hair is meant to have the out of bed messy look, but she says my hair would bring shame to the family. Whaa...t? This, when my hairstyle is almost just like hers.

11. She doesn't know the meaning of privacy. She barges into my room uninvited. Takes things out to wash when I don't need them to be (say a pair of jeans I've only worn once) . Rearranges things in my room so I have no clue where to find them. AND worst of all, throws away stuff without asking me first. MY STUFF. When I was younger and emails didn't exist, she'd open my mail from pen friends or friends who were abroad. Until one day I totally lost it and went ballistic did she stop opening my mail.

Oh my, that's 11 things. Ooops.
I'm half expecting lightning to strike me right now.

*braces myself*

All that is said and done, she's a caring mother. I know that. But if only she could do it without being so annoying. God forbid I'll pick up these idiosyncrasies as I age. It won't be a sign of 'aunty-dom'. It'd be aunty-doom. Sometimes I catch myself doing or saying certain things and realise, OH NO... I'm turning into my mom *aarrrgghhhhhh*

Though it's unlikely she'll ever read this, she's my mom and I do love her. She makes it hard for me to show it, but I do try. These days I grit my teeth and shut my mouth when she waters the frontyard (there are hardly any plants to water, but who knows, maybe our floor tiles need water to thrive).

Mother's Day last month, I took my folks to a nice place for dinner (it coincided with their 30th anniversary). The food was great. But I knew she would complain about something. She just had to.

Sure enough.
The cod was deep fried.

Sigh. I give up.

Playing aunty

My sis came back to Malaysia for the first time in 10 years with my nephews. She came back mostly to see our dad. And it's been a long time since he saw his grandchildren. In fact, he's never met the younger boy.

It was Chinese New Year, and a perfect time to get together with family. So I took a few days off and played tour guide and "Ah Ee" to the kids. The last time I saw them was 8 years ago in Sydney, during my final year in uni. There was only Shane then. And Scott was in my sister's tummy.

Shane's twelve now and Scott's seven.
And over the 11 days they were here, I was torn between smothering them with kisses. Or a big heavy pillow.

They were boisterous.
Fussy eaters.
Spoilt.
Demanding.
Whiney and rude.
All rather normal behaviour for some kids.
But I found my patience and tolerance thoroughly tested. If I was ever doubtful about ever wanting to have kids, they sealed the deal for me. Gosh. If they were my own I dunno what I'd do. I can't lock them up in a kennel like I do Sunshine.

Hmmm...

Anyway.
Behaviour aside, they're both very intelligent kids. Super cute. And they can be super charming. I mean, look at their faces. How to stay angry with them?

We spent a lot of time doing the touristy thing. Going up KL Tower. Wandering around KLCC. We even ate durians at KLCC park. You should've seen how the boys wrenched their faces when their mom indulged in them smelly morsels. I had to bribe them to try some.

On the second day of CNY, we drove down to Singapore where we stayed with my cousin for a few days. The kids and I spent time playing basketball at my cousin's apartment, along with her daughter Zoe, who's grown so much since I last saw her. She's practically a lady now (Snowie, that's your cupcake she's holding).

We swam in the pool. Watched DVDs. Did some shopping. And went to the Night Safari, as well as the Singapore Zoo (REALLY NICE). My cousin always made sure there were places to go, or things to do, and great things to eat. Oh, we ate heaps.

I got to drive around quite alot too. But just as I was getting familiar with Singaporean roads, it was time to go home. I even drove to A & K's place on another part of the island one night, which was such a lovely drive.

After we got back to KL, it was some last minute shopping, more last minute durian eating for my sis and we visited our grandma's grave. We had a nice lunch (wah, Lemon Garden at Shangrila, second time this holiday, mann), thanks to my aunt. Before we knew it, they were packing their suitcases.

My sis and the kids finally flew back to Sydney early yesterday morning. But not before staying up to play Monopoly until it was time for us to leave for the airport at 3am. The elder boy had so much energy, it was tiring just to watch him.

What a huge relief... But I started missing them quite abit, despite myself. The monsters emailed me not long after they arrived in Sydney, and that put a smile to my face.

My dad was really sad to see them go though. He cried a little at the airport when they left, and that was quite painful to see. Well, we don't know when they'll be coming back again.

So now I'm recovering from the long distance driving as well as lack of sleep from the past week. But my broadband is finally up. Gosh, after all this time, I finally gave up on dial-up. It's great. Wireless too, no less! Heh :) Need to fiddle and twiddle with my computer. It's like having a new toy. Yippeeee!

Father time

I enjoy hanging out with my dad.
Not that I'm a daddy's girl or anything, but we get along very well these days. One upon a time when he was younger and of better health, he had quite a nasty temper. Age and Parkinson's have slowed him down considerably. But despite all that, he laughs and jokes alot more now. And he sends me the funniest SMSes - mostly reports on Sunshine's antics and complaints about mom's super healthy (read: bland) cooking. He'd conspire with me to buy home some Hokkien Fry for supper. Bad for him, but I indulge the old man sometimes.

On Friday, I was on leave. Dad had to get his meds from both UH (now UMMC) and IJN (National Heart Institute). IJN was smack in town, near some of the more interesting old eating joints. I read about a Mushroom Pan Mee stall on Lorong Haji Taib 5 (a notorious red light district by night) on eatingasia.typead.com. Dad being a greedy foodie like me, despite his stomach not being able to digest as well as it used to, was more than eager to try it out. It was nice and mushroomy, though I felt the soup was rather bland. Read EatingAsia's article for a full description.

On the same foodie blog, there was a post about an old Chinese pastry shop nearby called Sin Wah Bee. They are famous for their Tau Sar Pneah (mung bean biscuits - ground mung beans in a flaky lard-y pastry). My dad loves Tau Sar Pneah and gets cravings for them. So we took a short walk along the backroads of Chow Kit to find that shop. And it was there. Just like in the picture on EatingAsia's blog, the old Chinese lady was at the back, making the little biscuits. A big mound of mung bean paste in front of her. Little circles of pastry shaped into coins on her side. A big wooden tray was filled with freshly baked biscuits. The place looked like nothing was changed since decades ago. Check out EatingAsia's pictures of this little shop. Very interesting. Taste-wise, cannot beat Penang's Ghee Hiang Tau Sar Pneah though. Hehe.

As we were walking back to the car I spotted a Bake With Yen baking supplies shop. I went nuts. LITERALLY. There's just something about baking supplies shops (and supermarkets) that makes me deliriously happy :D.

Back to the nuts. Chinese New Year's coming and I'm thinking of making more biscotti. Different flavours. So I bought a pack each of crystallised ginger, almonds, pistachios and pecans. Dad went on to take a handful of each nut to roast for snacking in front of the TV. Bwahahahaha!

In Memoriam

It's been 10 years since Ah Ma lost her battle with cancer. She has been dealt a rough hand in life, but she is one amazing woman (click here to read about it) and a real survivor. In fact, she survived her first bout of cancer before succumbing the second time, ten years after the first.

It's obvious to me that the 'resilience' gene in my family came from her. And every time the going gets tough, I think of Ah Mah and know that no hardship is too great to overcome.

All that could be said about her has been said, and said well by my aunt, right here.



We miss you.
(I especially miss your terror curry puffs and bak chang, hehe).

The old jalopy

It's an old, decrepit white 1984 Proton Saga 1.3 (M).

I remember my dad selling off the old Mazda 323 hatchback to buy the Proton when it was first launched. Malaysia's first 'national car'. Woweee.

I was six at that time, and I remember walking into the showroom, jumping into one of the cars on display, breathing in the plastic fumes that new cars always smell of.

When dad finally chose to buy one, I remember my mom saying, choose white. "Cleaner. Not so hot."
So he did.

I grew up with that car.
My dad went to work in it. Took the family out in it. Drove me about it. Heck, I even learnt how to drive in it. After its first decade my dad sent it for a total overhaul and it was as good as new again. Of course, little bits like the plastic lock buttons would break off (low quality plastic) and the paint was chipping here and there.

I remember when my brother and I were kids, we'd be at the backseat fighting or inventing our own little stories on our way home from a mall (our favourites were Yaohan the Mall, Lot 10 & Sg Wang, Jaya Section 14 or the Jusco supermarket in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (MidValley and One Utama didn't exist back then, of course).

When I first got my driving license, the car being the only one we had meant I could only use it very occasionally, and with someone next to me. Later, I drove the car to college whenever my dad went away on business. I remember how stressful it was to drive out of my sub-urb for the first time.

It was the car that sent me off to Australia for my studies, and picked me up when I came home a year later. The car my dad would drive to pick me up from work when I got my first job (I couldn't afford a car yet). And the car I drove to work when my dad got too weak to drive us around.

When I bought my own car a few years ago, I hardly drove the old jalopy anymore. It became unofficially my brother's car, and we'd take turns to ferry my parents around.

Over the past few months, the car was giving more trouble than ever. So my brother put in a booking for a new car and found a buyer for the old Proton, at such a steal too. Sure it breaks down every now and then, and yeah, the steering wheel is falling apart and oh, the upholstery smells a little, but hey, over 20 years of memories gotta be worth more than 2000 bucks!

Anyway, my brother got his new car yesterday, a Perodua MyVi.
I told him I wanted to take some pictures of the old junk before he gives it to its new owner. When I got home last night, the car was gone! He didn't wait for me to snap some pictures first! Boy, did I kick up a fuss.

He's meeting the new owner again on Monday to settle a few things, so he said he'll take some pictures for me then. Hmmmph!

Sigh. I'm so glad I got to drive it one last time when I got back from Thailand (I drove it to send LY home). Am I a sentimental freak or what?

Empty hands, full stomach

Friday, 1 Oct. The Kancil Awards 04.

The ad industry annual award show. This year was quite a sad year for DDBi cos we didn't win anything. The finalists were displayed outside the ballroom before the dinner and ceremony started. So a quick tour of the exhibition told us we won't be running on stage that night. Saw old friends and ex colleagues. Was very happy for them who picked up a few. Like Alvin's Korean War TVC Bronze and Ivan's Gold in Copywriting.

It was also interesting to see how consistent Leo Burnett was across all categories. They've got really good people over there. So nervous about joining them soon. What if I don't measure up? What if I'm not good enough? Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.

After the night was over, we went over to Flams in Pyramid. SookWai hung out with us too so that was really nice. Kinda like a little reunion for everybody. We went a little crazy. Guess we were really trying not to let our no-win bother us.

Rollerblading and a yummy dinner...

I could finally rollerblade!! It wasn't that hard after all. Tried on Kay Li's blades on Saturday which were slower than the pair Clare lent me. They were much easier to balance and once I got over the fear of falling, it was actually quite fun!

After rehearsals, I had dinner with my family and family friends at Gold Dragon City in Paramount, PJ. Kinda like a 'welcome home' dinner ("sai chan", or wash dust, as we would say in Chinese) for my brother. It was also mom's birthday.

The food was great... opened with the 4 Season Starter which had almond crusted crab claws, scallops and snow peas, some really nice fish cake and seafood balls. Then it was the Superior Seafood Soup which tasted like sharks fin, minus the fin of course. I would never order a shark killed. Then we had Pat Poh Duck, which was a braised herbal stuffed duck. My dad and the older folks loved it. We also had Mar Lat Chicken which was steamed chicken with a spicy sesame, chili and spring onion crumble on top.



Then there's the special Pomfret Rolls with Crunchy Bones. They deboned the fish, rolled the fish fillets and steamed them while the bones were deep fried till crunchy. Followed by Braised Sea Cucumber, Mushrooms and Broccoli as well as birthday noodles. For dessert it was warm Soy Bean with Hasma (frogs stomach apparently).

Li Yen brought a huge carrot cake with candles for mom and between 12 people, we finished 2 bottles of wine (which is not alot, considering I had to hustle the uncles to drink). It was fun. Everyone had a good laugh. They loved the food. And I was quite contented by my 3rd glass of wine.

It was nice to see my parents having a good time. Haven't seen them so contented, ever. These occasions are rare and few. Who knows how many more there will be.