last day of 2007

Bye 2007. . .


Hello 2008 . . .


What have I achieved in 2007?

• Changed jobs
• Moved to a new country
• Built our home from nothing
• Went back to KL and find myself missing KL even more each day
• Looking into my monitor and thinking what else have I achieved in 2007

What will the new year bring? Will it be more excitement? more challenges? or more homesick?

Regardless...


Welcome 2008 =)

nasi lemak

Wanting to know if M-E can cook? Still in doubt? Check this out..

So far, there are . . .

• Sushi
• Lamb chop
• Bak kut teh
• Curry mee
• Cakes
• etc.

And now . . . Nasi Lemak !! We basically made everything from scratch. From coconut rice, to curry chicken, to sambal . . . yummmm..

here are some evidences =p

Spotting any good potential of a siu lai lai? lol

I've already got orders from back home to serve this when I'm back. I really miss home... Looking forward to the day I'm on my comfy bed...

boxing day

I shall let the pictures speak for itself.

The crowd in Chaddy and the crowd to Chaddy

Boxing day is just another ordinary day for most. But for the other majority of people, boxing day seems great with discounts! I walked into stores and stores thinking how great these discounts are til it's worth queueing to ENTER a shop for45 minutes?

Most shops I entered already have their "SALE" and "Up to 50% off" signs up way before Boxing day. Apparently Boxing day is not the best day to shop, infact, a few days before is the time for real shopping, with more variety of designs and most importantly, sizes!

I hope to spend my next Boxing day back home instead, or perhaps another country?

xmas day

Christmas in Melbourne is soooo quiet! Apparently, there are restricted trading days for business in Victoria, Australia! Even Coles, Safeway, Target, Chaddy, Portmans, Witchery, Cue, etc. are closed! Which resulted in a slept-all-day-Christmas =p

I am missing being at home for Christmas even more now... =(

xmas eve

It's finally Christmas Eve, the long awaited day since 2 weeks back. Back home, we would normally have turkey *drools*, salad, pasta, etc. yummy mommy cooking... I miss it very much!

Being so far away from home, where everyone is eating the standard xmas food, we decided to do japanese instead =p

Check out the sushi master in action starting each and every step from scratch, and finishing it purrfectly decent . . .

A sushi demonstration collage =)

Any orders? Haha...

Other than my sushi, xmas eve in Melbourne is indeed pretty quiet. There was no jam, Crown was relatively empty compared to normal days, the city much less busy than any other nights. Where have all the Melbournians gone?

It is also the last night our friends will be in Melbourne. Bye guys, will see you during CNY!!

Now I can't wait for Boxing Day :D

another late night out

Just when I thought 2 days ago would be my last late night out, here I go again! This time, we went to a pub. Not only I had some red bull drink, but a beer and 4 neat shots in 2 hours! =(

1. tequila
2. bacardi 151
3. absinthe
4. flaming absinthe

Not only was it a long while ago since I last had alco, but I've never had that much in a night! Surprisingly, the night turned out well. Not until the next morning when I suffered the worst sore throat I've ever had!!

A HUGE no-no to alco for a longggg time!!

Absinthe that we had

The flaming absinthe

seven ?

A couple of friends visited Melbourne, and so we went Seven. Seven what? I said. The only thing that came into my mind was dinner time!! Seven Nightclub, we were told. So, directions please we asked. Oh, it's near Domain Interchange, just get there. Both CH and I exchanged looks. Well, OK. How difficult can a detailed description of directions be, we thought. Good thing we had time to google it! =)

It has been agggggeeeeessss since I've . . .

• hang out past 11pm
• slept later than 12am
• had alco
• gone clubbing

I have forgotten how fun and how tiring it can be!!

Sober look, some redbull drinks, and our pictures

a trip to franky

Hello Frankston!!

We spent half a day at work, half a day travelling to Frankston on a Toyota Rav4! It was unbelievable! Reminded me of Cammy, sitting tall, high and above everyone on the road.

Frankston was peaceful and serene which reminded me of uni days living in an ulu suburb. A good place for a holiday house though. Should be relatively cheaper?

Franky with Rav4

another quarter century celebration

Happy quarter century old my dear housemate!!

We headed towards a far far away surburb, west of Melbourne city, Williamstown, the Anchorage Restaurant for a quiet celebration, which turned out surprisingly nice..

The restaurant was a former boatshed, that is built right on the water's edge overseeing the beach.

We will not have missed such a stunning view with our baby Corolla =p


And our food . . .

yet another special day

. . . and it is the time of the year.. again - a quarter century old day =(

but with a year full of memories and dramas =p Thank you for such an interesting life ABC.

Dinner at Stokehouse, St Kilda Beach

our baby

*drumrolls*

May I present you, our baby . . . Corolla . . .

Yet another Sagitarius baby...

Our handsome, gorgeous Corolla

Front face of our baby

Back view of our baby

What more can I ask for?

• No more trams and trains on weekends
• No more checking trams/ trains timetable on weekends
• No more shopping in Safeway and only Safeway
• No more walking home with bags and bags groceries
• No more early nights (?)

YaYYYyyy!!!

more food

Want to know what's there to do on a weekend in Melbourne without a car?

Here you go . . .

Our very own home cooked dinners...

Home-cooked Lamb chop, Bak-kut-teh and a greedy Mei-Ee

The house is finally furnished - with the necessities. Very messy at that point, but much tidier now =p

A humble place called home

tesselaar tulip festival

There I go again... to the Tesselaar Tulip Festival for the 2nd time. Nothing has changed at all, other than the fact the tulips are less.. much less pretty and lush as before.

I was so disappointed with the tulip festival. Most of the tulips have withered =(

So guys, you've not missed the best of the Tulip Festival 3 years ago =)

Some shots from Tesselaar Tulip Festival

food

I've been pampered with food, food, food and more food for the entire week!! Food taken for the entire week were .... *drum rolls*

• Hokkien mee for supper on first day of arrival
• Nasi Lemak
• Popiah
• 9-course chinese meal in celebration of sister's graduation
• Chicken rice
• Taman Midah Ching tong lou shu fun (without taugeh)
• "Hill top" roti kosong banjir + nescafe tarik
• Bak kut teh
• Dim sum
• Nippon-tei (japanese rice, chicken + egg + sweet sauce)
• Chilles - fagaritas + salad + chicken wing + bottomless drinks
• Sushi king lunch
• Buffet lunch @ Big Apple, BTS
• Starbucks drinks
• Old town kopitiam - xi mut milk tea
• Drinks @ The Attic, Bangsar
• Krispy kreme packed from Melbourne Airport
• Lastly, which I missed most...... Home-cooked food (been a while since I last had a proper home-cooked food - my own cooking doesnt qualify as one, sadly..)

I've pretty much ate most food that I'd crave for in Melbourne!! People always say, women need to cook well to tie their husband's stomach, and secure their heart. I think it applies to friendship as well. As we sit, we laugh, we talk, we gossip, we catch up, it's mostly on a dining table, or over drinking sessions. As such, being the usual weight and diet cautious me could worry no more. What's important is to catch up with old friends =) And equally important, they are places and food that I'm so used to having with ... ahh.. what a change in 2 months =(

Well, to disclose a lil, actual fact is I've lost 2 kgs in 2 months, and I feel less guilty eating that much. BUT... what goes up, must come down... by the time I finished packing and weighing my luggages (yes, luggages - I returned with a luggage, and going back with 2 now), I decided to weigh myself, feeling confident about the 2 kgs lost, hoping to maintain the weight. Holy cow, I went back to my weight 2 months ago!! Imagine losing 2 kgs in 2 months, but gaining back the damn 2 kgs in 1 week!! But it was hell of a fun week..

reminiscence

It's already the fifth day I'm home. 3 more days and I'll be gone again. It's sad to leave home. There are so many things that I dearly miss. I've tried and I'm trying all I can to meet up with friends, spending quality time catching up and enjoying their company to the fullest, as I know it'll be another 6 more months before there's another chance for us to catch up again. Having said, a week home is such a short time and there are more things that I'd like to do!

As planned, I spent majority of my time with my family, grandma, aunts, uncles and cousin! A couple of lunches with ex-colleagues, prefer to refer them as friends now. Drinks with my best friend - so glad to have met up with her, she's my dearest girl friend who's always there to support and listen no matter how far either one of us can be. Plans for the next couple of days would be dinner and drinks with more friends! There are also more friends to meet up, but where's my time???

Our topics ranged from economics, politics and properties to gossips of who and who's married to reminiscence of high school days and first couple of work years. Well, the first couple listed are not as interesting (duh!). But what really stroke me was... time flies! It's as though it was a blink of an eye we just graduated from high school - from being a carefree teenager who bummed around the science lab to sitting for the final exam in highschool, first day of college, first day of uni, and first day of work! Now, we've all left school, college, uni, and left my first job! Worse, albeit I have been in Melbourne for 2 months, it felt as though I've not been there yet, still getting ready and packing for it. But one thing for sure, I miss home very much.. Home being KL, my family, relatives, my house, my room, my friends, places in KL that I used to go for the past 2.5 years. Those sweet places I spent with ...

Some pictures that I could find lying in my HDD.

My best friend that I'll definitely miss...

The trip that I had so much fun, and an opportunity to understand everyone more. I missed this year's trip, which made me feel I've missed everything in 2007!!

I scrolled through pictures with colleagues of my first job! I must admit, we had more fun than actually work! Oh well, work too (but more on being crazy). We were so bonded in a team - from doing "illegal" workplace activities to travelling around peninsula together!

Some random shots in the years of our first job - ranging from Langkawi, Cameron, PD adventures, dinners, dances and drinks.

I'm leaving all that I've built behind... Til now, I still ponder if it was a wise decision in the first place?

graduation lunch

My parents threw a 3-table family lunch in celebration of my sis's graduation, me returning home (for a week), cousin completed her course, uncle's promotion, etc. There are always reasons for family gatherings, but do we really need a reason to gather every now and then?

Anyway, here is a picture of my sis's graduation cake and a toss with cousin who completed her course awaiting for her big day next year!

anne's graduation

My sister has finally graduated~ you've made it finally, after 3 years of uni and 9 months of bumming - earning of USD? Btw, where are my Coach?

CONGRATULATIONS!!

We are all so proud of you =)

I had to wake up at 6am to get ready to arrive Sunway at 7.30am, after a late night from the airport, first hokkien mee after 2 months last night. We were lucky to arrive early where there were no one in the gown and regalia collection desks. I managed to get one set for myself too! Yes, I "graduated" with my sister on the same day! =p Nah, I borrowed from Uni. The lady was kind enough to get me a set for no cost! =) Good to be Monash's alumni =p

Once all set, we rushed to the professional photo shooting area. There were only a couple of graduans taking the shots. Basically we did not even have to queue for it! As compared to what we experienced during my graduation 3 years ago, the crowd and queue was horrendous! We were so glad we do not need to repeat what happened 3 years ago! Since there were so few people waiting, the photographer was really nice to us. We took heaps of pictures! Even I did my individual shoots too! Well, essentially my point of getting the gown was to take a family picture with 2 graduates in the family.

A picture of proud parents and sister.

Very proud and happy grandma, cousins and nanny's family.

Thank you all for coming!!

back to home sweet home =)

I'm finally back home!! After 2 months of living away from home, and 2 weeks of being home alone! I didnt imagined that I'd be THIS home sick, which had never happened to me for the 3 years I spent away during Uni days.

To those who are wondering what am I talking about. To give a lil background, I have moved to Melbourne for work, for at least 2 years? Yes, back to Melbourne, and yes, I apologise for not having it "announced", throwing a huge farewell party and all. Afterall, there's no reason to celebrate my departure and leaving behind all the happenings, isn't it? ;) Anyway, I'm back now! for a week!! Which is more than enough for me to rejuvenate and go back fully charged!

My schedule for this week is so packed! There are so many things to do yet so little time. I promise, this time around, I'll spend most of my time to accompany my folks at home! =) So peeps, time is really limited for this trip, for those that I couldn't meet, I apologise in advanced. I'll be back again in February though (hopefully my AL is approved) =p

Very little has changed since I left. Nothing changed at home - my dog is still in her size, little changed in the roads leading from my place to the city, but I felt, drivers on the road have turned from bad to worse, or even worst, horrendous! What more can I say? It's the major shock I get from living in Melbourne, a city with courteous drivers who give ways to pedestrians on the street even though there are no traffic lights or zebra crossings to a city with reckless drivers, stopping in yellow boxes and making a u-turn as though it's their grandfather's road. There are so much more we need to do in order to be a developed nation. It indeed is such a disgrace~ good enough of a reason to make me stay in Australia for good?? ;) yes? no? (we know the answer - not to be discussed now =p )

turning point of middy's blog

I know I have long abandoned this blog. But I'm back, with a brand new perspective to what is being blogged. No more sad, sobby, depressing, poignant, aimless posts. For a very simple reason.. I'm very happy and contented with my life =)

This post will mark and be the turning point of middy's blog. Stay tuned for more of middy's "interesting" life..