Melbourne

So Melbourne, we meet again.

Melbourne Central clock tower

This is my 4th time in Melbourne and my 3rd time staying with Kenneth. He's been an excellent host.

My flight here was long, bumpy and sickening, literally. I was a messy tired heap of migraines and stomach aches when I got off the flight. And the drama started from the moment I stepped into LCCT in KL, with my electronic visa being rejected because I had a new passport, and my luggage being overweight, and my laptop battery failing on me, and WiFi KLIA that didn't allow me to log into the Australian Immigration website. Geezzz...All of which has never happened to me before in my years of flying to and fro...not even the overweight baggage.

But I met many kind souls to help me get through it all, starting with Julie's mum and colleague, which helped me get a visa for free through the phone, followed by Michael, a Scottish traveller who helped me check in 1 backpack (Very interesting dude, who stayed with the Penan for a month and travelled around Malaysia for about 3 months or something), and finally Denning, an Iban/Fuchow Chinese from Kuching who played the ukulele and taught me both how to play the ukulele and speak Iban in our 8-turned-9 hour flight to Melbourne.

Denning and his ukulele

View of the full moon from my seat.

Anyhow, Melbourne has been enjoyable. The weather is a little erratic though. It's 15 degrees today, and I've not a single jacket in my bags. Coz they're all packed away in Auckland.

Potato twisty things from China Town

Aunty Bee Imm and my cousin Kimberly

I have been meeting up with several friends, and meeting up with more today and tomorrow. I even met up with my aunty and my cousin over here. Guess it was a pretty good idea to come for a few days longer. =) Makes my journey back to Auckland slightly more pleasant...hehe...

Melbourne and her arts. :)

I'm very tempted to shop in Melbourne. There are sales EVERYWHERE! But not only do I not have the moolah, I also do not have luggage space. heh.

I am missing my family and friends at home heaps. I've had some pretty heartfelt moments with every one of them this time around, so that makes leaving them very difficult. But I guess the bright side is there are only about 5 months to go before I see them all again. =)

Laugh.

I had a pretty good day today.

Went for karaoke with Julie, Weng and Pei Jien and it was epic. It was the most fun I've had in a while. =)

Then I went for lamb burger with Jon, Gene and Seu Foong and it was good fun too. Laughed loads. =) Doesn't matter that this was the 3rd burger I've had this week.

Laugh. Today I laughed. Whole heartedly. :)

Why I love working in a women's gym

I came in to work today, and when I opened the office door, a familiar waft of bittersweet sin made me smile.

I saw this.

Why do I love working in a women's gym? Because they understand. =)

Sunday Morning Breakfast

I'm sitting here staring at my empty plate filled with crumbs and a banana peel. 5 minutes was all it took. My cup of warm Milo is fast cooling down, and will soon be less than delicious. Not like it was super delicious to begin with. It loses its appeal when you have it almost every morning.

You know what I miss every damn Sunday morning here in Auckland? Breakfast with my parents. I miss Mum knocking on my door ever so lightly, so that if I were awake, I'd hear it, if I were asleep, it wouldn't wake me up. I usually hear it. "Girl, want to join us for breakfast?" she'd ask. And I never refuse. =)

Breakfast at home constitutes going out to SS15 or USJ 2 or USJ 14 or SS13 or USJ 6 for a nice hot plate of hakka meen, or a steamy hot bowl of kuey tiow soup, or delicious nasi lemak, or crispy roti kosong with teh tarik.

Everything about it is awesome. Getting into the car involves the decision making process of where to eat. And since I have been going overseas a lot, they always let me decide. I love deciding where to eat. =) Going there, Daddy would have a lot of things to talk about - usually pertaining running/marathon. I'm often still in a just-out-of-bed daze to reply, but I do listen. It's like turning the TV on while you putter around in the kitchen. The noise is soothing, comforting. It lets me know I'm not alone.

Then, reaching our destination, we would then sit down at a vacant table and ponder what to eat. Daddy would give his orders to Mum, and she'll run off to place orders. I usually go about by myself to pick from the variety of hawkers. Upon returning to the table, as if by habit, we would ask each other "What are you having?" even though we kinda already know, and it wouldn't make a difference to us. But it's like an obligatory report. I always come back to my seat and automatically announce what I have decided to order.

All throughout breakfast we would chat happily about anything. Maybe it's something in the news. Maybe it's about my brothers who are usually not there, so we can gossip about them. =) Maybe it's about relatives. Or maybe it's just about nothing at all. Just random nonsense we decide to debate on like "Why yellow noodles give you tummy ache and white noodles don't".

Mum would always be the first to finish, so she would always stand up and start buying things for Keith to eat, start doing bits of marketing here and there, buying veges and meat and asking me what soup I'd like to have this afternoon so she can go get the ingredients. I'm usually the slowest to finish my breakfast so Daddy usually waits for me.

And when everything is done, we head to the car and make our way home. One hour. At least.

One hour of not eating alone, of having someone to talk to, of delicious food, and of getting out of the house.

I miss home. I miss my Sunday morning breakfast with Mum and Dad. Oh why can't I finish studying already?!

good company

I hate being alone. So when it is the last day of the first half of the semester, after I am done with mid terms, and before I begin my 2 week term break, the last thing I wanted to do was to go back to an empty house and sit in front of my pc refraining from using too much bandwidth.

So i got some people to come over! I used Merdeka Day as an excuse, but really I just wanted to have more people around me. And it was really successful!

I think I had about 13 people altogether. It was pretty good! I cooked up some stuff, and we played charades, and some of the guests brought really delicious stuff, like Abby's bubur chacha and Wye Yin's roast stuffed chicken.

This is just some of those who came.
Some of the things i managed to cook up. Frying pappadums are awesome!
Playing with Zhi's multishot function. 8 frames i think.

Photos are compliments of Zhi. The company was really good. I don't know why I was too lazy to get my own camera to snap more photos. But owell...=)

However, when the party's over, and everyone leaves, there's always this sinking feeling in my heart. Sigh. 14 more weeks before mum, dad and keith comes over...=)

post #1200

I can't believe it's the puasa month again. I love this time of the year. If only for the food. =)

The Bazaar Ramadhan right outside my house is the awesomest day market ever. Just walking along the stalls, immersing yourself in the mixed up aroma of the most delicious Malay food there is, it's heavenly.

I've not been able to attend this bazaar for 3 years now. I miss my potato brick, mashed potato, murtabak, curry puffs, onde-onde, roti booms..the list goes on.

Another little bit of trivia - this Bazaar Ramadhan played a role in the story of D and I. If you'd like to know how, you gotta ask me next time you see me. ;) And perhaps that is why I often think fondly of this foodie haven. I look forward to the next time I am able to walk this street again with him. That'll be next year. Won't be long now...=)

Auckland 2010

So after 3 blissful months at home, I am finally back in Auckland. And to be honest, I don't really know how to feel happy or excited or thrilled in anyway right now. I know it's because I just got here, and it has only been less that 72 hours since i bade my boyfriend goodbye for 9 months, so i'm feeling extremely emotional, and homesick, but really, there must be the slightest hint of excitement in me to be getting back to my course, or to be independent again, or to be able to have mussels and belgian beer again.

But all I can think of is how I won't be able to have Ramly burger at midnight anymore, or drive to Mutiara Damansara for lamb burger anytime, or arrive home and Mom would've had dinner ready on the table, or call up Julie on a weekend and crash her place, or have her crash mine, or call friends from everywhere, really, to meet at mamak lorong anytime. Or how i won't be able to call D up and see if he's keen for lunch. Or go on spontaneous trips with D to Klang or Bangsar for more food. Or go walking around with D.

I was walking up on Swainston Road just now, by myself after looking at a potential flat. It was about 9 pm. And the streets were deserted. It wasn't that it was scary or anything, considering I've been mugged on that road before. But I wasn't scared this time. I was just so full of hatred for this place. I hate Auckland. I hate the fact that I have no where to go to, and nothing to do on a night like this because everything is closed. I hate the irony that right here, where the weather is so awesome, and there's no curfew and all the freedom in the world, I couldn't have D here.

I feel like I've been locked up in a department store, and I can have anything I want for free, but I can never leave the store.

So, right now, I'm still struggling to keep my chin up. I am feeling so miserable this time around, it's not funny. I'll get better. I know I will. It's just this time around it's a whole lot harder than last time. And I can't quite put my finger on it. I think the novelty of studying abroad has worn off, and i've had enough of being by myself, and really because I just want to be home, where I don't have to pack lunch for work, or think twice when I want to eat out, or worry about internet quota.

And with that, I leave u with hopefully the first and the last whiny, emo post I'm gonna put up about Auckland for this year.

Oh I hope it'll be sunny tomorrow.

the little engine that could...not

*edit* Added photo of My Mean Green Running Machine=)

So, let me see. Whoa it's been a few days since i last blogged. Well, it wasn't because I didn't have exciting enough things to write about. Quite the contrary actually. Have been quite busy throughout the weekend with many many highs and one low.

Let's start off with good stuff. My flatmates and I finally managed to make our Chocolate Boutique flat outing come true. The cool thing about my flatmates is that we've got this massive calendar sitting on the dining table which we pen down just about everything that goes on with us (including couple anniversaries :P) and sometimes, in fact quite often, we fix specific flat outings. And it's been really fun! So the Chocolate Boutique has been shifted around quite a number of times, but hey! We finally made it there, all 5 of us, on Saturday. =)

Me with my Steamed Chocolate Pudding and Iced Mocha

The bunch of us

Then it was Yin's Big Two-Five birthday party, where I contributed an oreo cheesecake and played some rock La Bamba on guitar hero. That was fun too. I think when I'm earning enough money, I will buy the Guitar Hero set.Yin, the birthday girl

And on Sunday...*jeng jeng jengggg*....I went with Navin and Ahmed to The Ellerslie Car Fair and...yup, u guessed it...bought one. I wasn't expecting to make a purchase so soon honestly. But the moment I laid eyes on the little green thing, I fell in love! =) It was adorable, it was cheap, and when we took it for a spin it ran perfectly. I walked on to check out other cars but after seeing that one, every other car seemed dull, boring, expensive, normal. So I went back to that little green thing.
It's a Suzuki Alto 1985 model. Yeah, it's older than me. But it apparently has only ran 69,000 km. The car was in great condition, barely any dents/scratches, no leakages, everything works, it seemed like the perfect choice! So after Navin and Ahmed both spent sometime checking it out, shaking it about, revving the engine, lifting bonnets and kicking tires and what not, I started to bargain with the dealer. We got it down from $1195 to $900. Not bad I'd say. =)

Happy with my purchase, and even happier that the car comes the next day, I went all excited.

Today, I went to collect it. I signed the papers, shook hands with the dealer again, and got into my little green thing. I was happily driving it back home, feeling like I had bought my very first car with my own money, and then something went wrong.

Clouds of white smoke started coming out of my bonnet and I was in the middle of a very busy crossroad. The white smoke conitnued to escape. When I stopped at the next lights, the driver in front came down and told me to stop at the next gas station. I was a little worried, but I was consciously checking the temperature level and it wasn't going up real high so I decided to just head home first. I had to go to work anyway.

When I got home, I rung the dealer up and told him about it, but he thought I had driven with the choke pulled out. I didn't. Anyway, disappointed but still excited over my new toy, I took it to work. After work, I took it to the city to see Navin, Ahmed and Ben. And when they all gave their 2 cents engineer's talk, my heart sank deeper n deeper. I couldn't quite grasp what they were saying, but all I know is there's apparently a leakage somewhere and I'm burning engine oil.

Right now, I feel a bit sad, not because I think my car's was a rotten buy, but because I had trusted the seller quite a lot, and maybe I was naive and he was being cunning, but I really thought he was being very honest. I didnt find him the least bit shrewed at all. He came across as someone who was genuine and honest. Sigh..

Anyway, I'm bringing the car back to him the next time I'm free. I'm hoping he can do something about it. I hope everything will turn out good. I still really really like the car.

There goes one weekend. It was a fun-filled one though. Hmm...a filled one at least. half of it was fun. I had work from 8-4 on both Sat and Sun and it just took away my entire weekend. It's a good thing Monday's off for me. So I'm taking this opportunity to sleep in (but i woke up at 7.15 anyways), and to skip running (it's really windy outside, and I've got Bootcamp class tonight anyways), and to lounge around in my pj's the whole day. =) Sometimes I think my flatmates are envious of me, because I'm the only undergrad in this whole house. 1's doing PG Diploma, 1's doing Masters, and 1's doing a PhD. And they're all 22 and 23 year olds. Crazy huh? Who said Asians were the crazy nerdy geeky studious ones? haha...

Anyway, the non-working bit of my weekend was spent having good Peking Duck with Hensen and friends. It was really awesome. I don't remember having such good Peking Duck before in my life.Then yesterday night, my flatmates and I decided to make Tandoori Vegetable soup. Just because I had Tandoori paste. It was pretty delicious, aye. I really loved it. We ate it with baguettes. yum.

After that I went to the Flying Moa for Lily's farewell. I spent most of the night chatting with Lily's family. Haha...i felt so grown up, drinking tap beer and talking about the economy. But it was good, the place is quite nice. And I kept wondering whether my farewell would be quite as "felt" as her. Sure I say this now, because I'm dying to go home and be with my family and friends. And maybe a part of me would feel sad leaving Auckland another 2 years down the road. Or maybe not. Because this just isn't home. Doesn't seem like there's much to miss here. For now at least. *shrug*

Best $20 I've Spent All Year

Yesterday Ruth, Erin and I went to The Food Show in Auckland. It. Was. Awesome. I had never seen so much variety of delicious food before! Like seriously. It beats even hotel buffets. Well, it's a lot cheaper, that's why. =)
I paid $20 for it, and at first I thought that was quite a lot considering all we get were free samples and you still had to buy the food. I just thought it was another experience to put under my belt in Auckland. If there weren't much to shout about, I just won't go next year. *shrug*

So we went in, bright and early, at 10 am when the doors opened. Boy, where there a LOT of food and wine! It was amazingly delicious. The first bite of sausage I had was pure heaven. And then the wine. And then the tea. And then the chocolates. And within the first hour, I was already a pretty happy girl. We went to watch the Donna Hay No Time To Cook cook show and it made me want to cook! (and have kids to cook for). By the 2nd hour I had already figured my $20 was worth it.
Then Ruth said "Ok, shall we move on to the next hall?". There was another hall? Here's a picture of the floor plan. It turned out, Hall One was the smallest hall out of 3! Oh, boy. I think that moment of realisation completely made my week!
So we ventured into hall 2, arms linked, with Ruth as our Navigator and Captain of our Plan of Attack. And the first stall I saw in Hall 2 was this. 42 Below Vodka. Ah...$20 very very well spent. *giggles with glee*And so it went on. There were biscuits with the widest selection of dips and pesto you can think of. Cheese from all over the world. Goat cheese too. NZ Natural ice cream, absolutely FREE. Big, generous chunks of Rocky Road chocolate. More wine. More vodka and irish cream. Most delicious hot chocolate ever. Even more smoking hot sausages. Barbecued lamb. Amazingly tasty Indian cuisine. Superb pasta. Even mussels!
There's no saying how happy I was. =) I was absolutely stuffed. With free samples! I was floating by the end of it. Probably from all the alcohol. But really, I have made a promise to myself to do The Food Show again next year. And the year after if I am still here.
At 5.15, when we finally decided we cannot stuff anything more down our throats, we finally left the show. And we left as 3 very very happy, very very blissful girls.

*grins big and wide*

For more photos, click here.

postaussieitis

I miss it already. the 1 week i spent with friends in Melbourne and Sydney was amazing. It was really good fun just immersing myself in the huge variety of delicious gourmet food, the company of close friends, the awesome sales, but it wasn't so much the diverse cultures and modern bustling city and efficient public transport that's got me wishing to go back, rather the company of familiar faces and reminiscing fond memories. ah...i miss all of them now!

but i guess all holidays must come to an end. i'm heading to Mt Ruapehu tomorrow morning to hit the snow slopes. and as much as i try to be enthusiastic about it, i can't help but wish i were going with Mel or Anne or Pei Jien or Elisha or even Wai Hong! haha...

Maybe it's just the fatigue speaking. I reckon I would be in a much better frame of mind tomorrow morning.
Ah...i think i'll dream of souvlaki tonight...

5 minutes and 2 seconds

On Sunday I ran the 5th leg of the Run Auckland series. The air was frigid, there was frost on the grass, my hands were dead numb but this run is possibly my best run. Ever. I clocked 49:57 for 9.91km making it a 5:02min/km pace. I am just 3 seconds away from doing a sub 5 minute pace. and that route, was damn hilly, mind you. =) *JOY*. I guess all the training helped. I am so gonna be a sub 5 minute runner soon!!!!and with this run, also ends my participation in the Run Auckland series. I won't be attending the final leg because some people have somehow made snowboarding more appealing than running 21 kms. heh. haha...so I'll be snowboarding the slopes of Mt Ruapehu next next weekend. wee~!

I have just finished yet another paper - Sport and Society. Was pretty easy. It was a replica of a few past year exam papers, no new questions at all. I think I probably did pretty good. heh. =)

Because of this exam period, I have been snacking. a LOT. it's terribly unlike me, I'm not really a snacker. But this time around I am eating kit kats, chips, and my latest fetish - crackers. Cap Ping Pong, to be exact. Bought them from the asian supermarket down the road. and i used to eat these with peanut butter, but now I have them with honey. mmmm...how sweet it is to be loved by you....=)

that easter break

With this morning's 10km race, the 2nd leg of the Run Auckland series, ends my Easter break for the semester. I had a good run, the scenery was really something, with the Auckland skyline in the horizon. But even though I felt like I was running faster than I used to, putting in more effort than i used to, I seem to be running slower than I thought - 58 minutes. It's odd really. I don't pride myself as someone who trains very hard..because I don't..but I never really deprove (if there's such a word) that badly before. Guess the Auckland terrain got the better of me. That, or Aunty Jane's awesome home cooked meals. hehe...

After the race I went for another $10 buffet in the city. This time it was yum char (better known as dim sum) at Ocean City. Ocean City really gave us value for money with their delicious siew mai and siew loong pao and many other stuff. Yum...
And yes, we finished all that. That was only round 1. =)

So it's back to school tomorrow. Back to 6.30 am starts. I reckon this 2nd half of the semester would go by pretty quickly now with assignments coming in, whilst juggling my 2 jobs. It's gonna be a quick 7 weeks before exams begin. =)

Karen in Auckland 2.1

It's been 31 days since I landed in Auckland. As much as I'd like to say time really flies, I can't. Time didn't fly for me, but if it's any consolation, time didn't really crawl too. It just went by as it should, class after class, bus ride after bus ride, morning after morning, weekend after weekend. In school I have friends to talk to, make little jokes with, wave hi to on the bus and ask how their weekend was. But as soon as the last class finishes my life here in Auckland is no different from last semester, except for the fact that I now have free nights because I haven't started my second job.

And I've had people sharing comforting words with me, saying it can only get better, you'll find friends eventually, you just need to settle down. And words of advice like join a society/club, go out more, pick up an activity. All very thoughtful and rational advice. And I've tried, trust me I've tried.

I had a long walk home today from my first Run Auckland race, and I started thinking. How is it that my preconception of a student's life abroad in a big fancy campus and a whole foreign land of opportunities turn out to be so skewed from what I am actually experiencing? Where are the endless fun and laughter that are supposed to go on in a house of students? Where are the numerous road trips touring the land? Where are the games, and activities, and pranks, and just silly nonsensical events that occur with students?

And so I kept on thinking. Friends - i guess is the determining factor. Without friends to do things with, life here drags on day by day like an endless to do list, like chores to be checked off. Because on campus accomodation is way too expensive I chose to stay out on my own. I believe on campus would be quite fun for the first year but that's too late now. And I'd love to stay in a big house with many other tenants but I kinda blew my chance with that one because I wanted to save on empty rent. Didn't want to pay while I was away. So, lesson learn, we make do. Do I have my own friends? Yes I do. Do we hang out? Sometimes. But lunching out incurs money. So take it indoors. Do I initiate? I always do.
Buffet lunch at Fortuna Restaurant. only $10/person! =)
This semester, with the arrival of Navin, it seems to be a bit easier to have friends to call. I never got around to doing it last semester, but just yesterday I gathered my lovely SJians for lunch in the city. It was great! So I've got a group now. A group of people I can call out quite easily if I wanted to. And if I wanted to save, if i wanted to take it indoors, the first thing I got to do is to rent a place of my own. A place where I can cook whatever I want, and call these peeps over and have them stay on till late in the night, with booze or a DVD or a pool table or whatever. There is nothing wrong with staying with the Cheahs. In fact I am the envy of a lot of people because of the luxurious home cooked food I get every day. And the care of a mom, watching over me while I am sick. It's really nice and comforting. But I left home to live a different life. To learn. To see. To do.

Yup, first plan of action. Move out..

but unless i find another 5-6 bedroom house with many tenants, I'm just not sure if I am willing to let go of the company I have here with the Cheahs. Because I dont think I can live alone again...

***

Run Auckland was a fun event. I found it a lot easier to run than Round the bays actually despite it being 10 km. But for some reason my timing was a lot slower - 59:01 for 10.15 km. Maybe it's because I haven't been well. And maybe it's because I haven't been training. And maybe it's the hills. But whatever the reason it was a good hour's worth of exercise. Had a good time. =)
Till the next race on the 19th! =)

semana dos - Round the Bays

Week 2 came and went. Living with the Cheahs have been pretty good and for one reason - food! Dinner with the Cheahs brings something new every day. From barbecued steak and pork and lamb, to nasi lemak with chicken curry, to lamb shank! I feel like I'm not losing any of the kilos i put on during summer. Oh! and there's wine! red, white, sparkling! One glass almost every dinner. Still think I'm not overly pampered here?? =) And it's so nice of aunty, uncle, and Lily to listen to my random ramblings of the day. See, I need that outlet. I need people to pour my daily do-derrings onto else i'll go bonkers. *grin*School has been pretty alright. I somehow don't exactly feel the rush of exams and assignments yet. Nothing too intense has been happening except for a Spanish assignment which I just finished yesterday, handing it in tomorrow. This week should be slightly different though because I'll be going into the cadaver lab.

Work has been okay. I managed to meet some of my former clients and they all seem pretty happy to see me. An old colleague even popped by on Saturday to say hi and it was so nice to see her! Man I miss all of my former colleagues. But life hasnt exactly been all that bad at Configure. It's quite alright. I get less responsibilities when I work only once a week. =) I'm going for interview sometime this week at Unisports - the gym on campus just right outside where I'm staying. If I get that job it'll be really really convenient.

Round the Bays happened this morning! And it was super duperly fun! My only regret was I didn't have my phone with me to snap pictures! There were people in costumes - bunny ears, furry suits, medievil, halloween, angel wings, u name it! And because it was such a huge corporate fundraiser affair, lots of companies send their employees with t-shirts made JUST for this run. And these T-shirts have some really funky words on them. There was this group who sprinted past me and their shirts had "Sprinting for Safe Sex" on the back of them. haha! Must've been Durex or something. And there was a couple of live bands playing in one of those convertible trucks which turn into a stage...just along the route. So nice!

The run itself is 8.4 km. It started pretty late, at 9.45 am. And the sun was pretty hot then. I had sunscreen on, don't worry. =) I did pretty alright, completing it in 45:21. The entire route was by the bay and it was really windy and sunny. Really nice scenary and all. I loved it!

After the race we all walked to the corporate tents which oddly were all on a field like a kilometre away. I kept thinking if it were that way with Malaysians, nobody would walk to the darn field. Malaysians are just too darn lazy and Malaysia is just too darn hot. Even though the field was bursting with the smell of grilled bratwurst, lamb, turkey and what nots. Heaps of companies had tents there, a few 100 of them I think. And lucky for us, Yin, is part of Ernst & Young. So she scavenged some food for us, and a couple bottles of beer. yum! =)

I ended today with dinner together with Abby and Lily. Caught up with the girl. Was good. No pictures tho. owell...=)

Long fun day. Tomorrow week 3 starts. I honestly think time isn't moving fast enough. Sigh..

time to go

After 91 days (could've been 94, no thanks to Bangkok) of convenient 24 hour mamaks, cheap delicious hawker food, daily yumcha sessions with friends, good ol' mega sales, high (wrongly) pitched karaoke songs, mummy home cooked dinners, rough and tumble with the brothers, long chats with daddy, and heaps of cuddles and pecks from the boyfriend...it is finally trime to go.

It was a great summer of 08/09, one that would make leaving tomorrow night really really hard to bear. But that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed myself this summer. I did things I had planned to do, and things that I didn't expect to do. Met up with almost everyone I wanted to meet up with. It's a pretty nice feeling you get from these little reunions. And that is the one consolation I derive from studying abroad that keeps me motivated - the sweetest taste of a reunion.

I am a little edgy, a tad nervous, slightly excited, almost thrilled, but tremendously heavy-hearted. Tell me it's normal...=)

Owell, here's a snippet of a the things I've been drowning myself in...

See you guys in Auckland! =)

Brazilian meat, Island delights and Japanese buffets

If there were a sin I am guilty of ever since I got back, it would be the sin of food binging. I have been stuffing my face non stop since i stepped on Malaysian shores, and trust me, it shows. Nevermind the fact that I haven't been training much. I am growing into a blimp. And Dennis isn't helping!

***

On Thursday, for our usual Dennis-Karen day outing, we went to Carnaval in SS22. It was a Brazilian place where you pay a nett price and they come out and serve you meat. All kinds of meat! They were on skewers, grilled/roasted to perfection. I really loved it, because the flavours were awesome! I think the both of us stuffed ourselves silly. I was so full I couldn't even move no more. And yet I wanted more and more because it was delicious! Ah! I need to stop this.This is Dennis's cannot-eat-anymore face...hahaha

***

Taman Negara Penang, where we hiked in to Pantai Kerachut. Lovely place, has a turtle sanctuary as well, which we didn't know about.

Anyway, for the weekend I joined Jackie, Jolvin, Wen Ching, and Wei Suan on an all you can eat trip up north to Penang. Nicholas and Qian Ee joined us the next day. It was...one helluva makan trip. And I had great fun! It started out a bit disappointing, food wise. Food in Penang was supposed to be good, and cheap! But it started out with really overrated overpriced food. We had a tally Subang vs Penang, and in the beginning, Subang was actually winning!

The infamous Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Tiaw that cost me RM8 a plate. I think the one they sell in USJ 14 taste heaps better and costs half the price.

Crepe Cottage, a cozy little place serving waffles and crepes on Gurney Drive.

It only got better when we met up with Mei Hui, my lovely OB girl from Penang! She brought us to some of the best places to eat and to chill out! It was really great seeing her again, since I last saw the tip of her nose 2 Valentines ago.

Mei and I at Sunset Bistro, a really awesome place at Batu Ferringhi.

On the way there as well as back, we even treated ourselves to some Ipoh delicacies. Those were pretty satisfying. =)

Salted Chicken from Ipoh

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Today I tagged along to Tenji with Dennis and friends for the much talked about Jap Buffet promo. I think it's amazing how WOM (word of mouth) advertising is so so so effective because there wasn't a single ad on this restaurant and yet reservations had to be made days in advance if you wanted a spot. The verdict? It was good. Very worth the price. The boys had some things to say, comparing it with Jogoya and all. I honestly think they're all good. And today's buffet was no different. Oysters were ginormous. Cheese baked crabs were awesome. And Haagen Daas ice cream was the cherry above it all. =)I wonder if there are implications to stuffing my stomach to its fullest potential so often. I mean, stomach walls have muscles don't they? What if this constant overstrain on it will cause hypertrophy and then my stomach will bulge out? hahaha...wait...that's a scary thought.

I need to run, I know. I will. I will =)

high school

Girls of 5 Usaha 2003

There's something very stimulating about coming across an old photograph of you and your friends back in school. I find that when you see yourself and everyone else clad in the white and blue (olive green for guys) uniform, an intense sense of nostalgia arises and you're left there taking a train down memory lane to everything you went through in school. Only when I see myself in the uniform, for some reason. I feel nostalgic when i see old photos of other things as well, but high school photos...those just hit all the right spots don't they? I reckon high school...5 years of that...is a chapter in life in its own. You just spend so much time in school, you think? It's 5 (sometimes 6) days a week, from the moment the sun rises till your stomach grumbles in the hot scorching afternoon. For busybodies like me, after school programs were plentiful too. That's a LOT of time spent with your friends. I happen to have gone through some of the best and worst moments of my life in high school. After all, isn't adolescence the most difficult time of a person's life? Ah...i dont know. I miss high school so much. School was fun. Really fun.

And boy was i chubby back then...haha...

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btw i made the most delicious bowl of carbonara pasta today. yum~

chillax

Hey, I am feeling heaps better now after doing another paper and a few more questions, and i went "Hey I know this". so yeah...ego's been boosted again. Sorry about my breakdown yesterday. Panicked a bit. But I'm ok now...=)

A lot of people left me with many wise and comforting words, people from Perth, Kursk, UK, Singapore, home...thanks a bunch, guys. Some of you really helped me put things into perspective, while others just made me renew my own self faith. I'm actually quite glad my exam is tomorrow. After tomorrow I'd be able to breathe much more comfortably...=)

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Drama aside, Shermayne and I went grocery shopping last night to stock up for this exam-cramming period we're going through. And so with a mission to keep our energy levels up (and to achieve 2 sets of $40 to get the fuel discount at Pak'n'Sav), we loaded our trolley with...
yeah...CHOCOLATES and CHIPS and COOKIES...hey, one man's junk is another girl's BRAINFOOD ;)

btw, are there Kit Kat cookes n cream back at home? Coz they're the bees knees i tell ya! If there aren't any I'm buying a whole bunch of 'em home. =)

because i can

it's a sunday morning. i woke up at 9.50 am. i've had bread with cheese and margerine. then a kiwi, banana, yoghurt smoothie. then a CookieTime cookie.

because i can.

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i don't really like mornings. because everyone at home is sleeping. and i've got no one to talk to online.

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i'm looking forward to beach time on the 15th with Rachel and friends.

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i'm absolutely stoked about the kauri run on the 22nd.

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i'm coming home in a month. sweeyyytttt!