El Hub is 35!!

october 27, 08 monday
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HUSBAND J!!

All of 35 and looking hotter than ever!! Purrrr......

This year, I had grand plans of re-doing J's closet. But a conversation with friend Ain made me change my mind. She said, "Make him feel like a man, buy a drill!", and so I did. I wanted to get him a fancy-shmanchy one with 1001 bolts and attachments, and that comes with its own carrier, but the ones I saw were waaay over my budget, so I grabbed the one below. I had it wrapped up and all, which got him all excited when I gave him the Box of Mystery.



J was so delighted to find out it was a drill and I was so happy that he liked it!


My plans continued with dinner, of course. I wanted to do the whole candlelight dinner with flowers, but today is Deepavali, and so the flower vendors near my house would be close for the celebration.

I decided to make Baked Macaroni with Eggplant, which I took from a pasta cookbook sister Maz recommended not too long ago. I was excited!! There were a lot of ingredients though. More than what I'm used to.

I ended up not preparing enough eggplants, but still, it turned out fantastic! J loved it, Mom loved it, little brother liked it, and I thought it was pretty good!! YAY!! I added some cili api for husband J ;)

For desert, we had cheesecake. J is known not to like deserts very much, so this was a bit tricky. But he loves his cheese and so I ordered a cheesecake from Latest Recipe at LeMeridien KL. It cost a bomb (for a medium-sized cheesecake!!), but it tastes heavenly!! The best so far!!

J received a few birthday phone calls from home which made him very very happy. And he said this was a good day for him. Auwwww......

Oh. And he also put his new toy to good use - he fixed the bathroom door at the back of the house!!

Mom gave him 2 long kain sarong she got from her trip to Kelantan, and that made J happy. He's always wanted a collection of sarongs. And now he has...4!!

Happy birthday Babe!!

XOXO

Eid Mubarrak!

october 1, 08 wednesday
It's the first day of Eid and husband J and I just got back from PD. After spending the whole day visiting relatives.

Yes. I made Mummy happy. I followed her to Rembau and Melaka. J came along. Everyone was intrigued at his height. Sat around and listened to family gossip/politics. Met up with cousins I've not met in years. Had a lot to eat. Had too much too eat. OD'd on nasi impit, rendang and the like, and Mom's nasi briyani was a nice break from the same ol' same ol'.

Drove back watching a crazy bus driver trying to run my little brother off the road. That was scary.

And now we're home. Thank God the day is over!!

Will I do the same thing again next year??

Will I be around next year??

Eid on the horizon

september 27, 08 saturday
OH MY GOD! How I loathe this time of the year!! It so bloody boring!! For some reason, the whole forgiving/visiting thing during Eid is sooooooo cliche. I dread it every year. Apart from tradition, I do the whole sorry/visiting routine to shut my mom up, so I would not end up getting all pissed off and stressed up listening to her nag. The routine of visiting relatives....what the hell is that all about?? Mom keeps telling me, I'll need them in the future...Oh puh-lease!! We hardly meet, let alone talk. They are practically strangers to me. Maybe one, or two, but the rest.... *shrugs. don't care* Plus I have my family, they're all I need. Relatives, to me, are a waste of (my) time. Just keep in touch via FB, isn't that good enough??

El hub, J, told me something which struck a chord.."the way you treat your rallies is going to come back and bite you in the ass." (*bowing head down*) Yes, it's true. *sigh* I am being mean. And arrogant. And mean.

OK. Maybe this Eid, I'll do my tour of duty. Bring J to see rallies he hasn't met yet. I'm sure J would enjoy this.

But it still doesn't change the fact that I wish Eid would end quickly. It doesn't change the fact that I still find Eid boring!! Maybe when I have children, I'll break the tradition of celebrating Eid. Eh? Eh? Eh? OK, that didn't sound like a good idea. It sounded coming out from an arrogant moron. Seeeesh!!

*sigh*

*dragging feet*

(*Hence, the short, short blog*)

OLD!!

august 16, 08 saturday
There's nothing more that screams "OLD!" than meeting with cousins you used to carry around when they were a toddler. It's as if someone pushed the fast-forward button and you missed the good bits because you were too self involved with your own life.

Let me explain first that I have lousy family values. I don't think my extended family is important at all so I never bothered with my cousins, uncles and aunties. I am even more estranged from my dad's side of the family. It has always been extremely awkward when there are family meetings with my dad and his family. I stick out like a sore thumb. The age gap is so far apart. I am the eldest on my dad's side, and with my on-air job, I know my younger cousins all know who I am.

I was at a wedding today. One of the younger cousins got married and so off I went with sister and husband J. As usual, we were the only relations not on the floor helping out ushering guests, we were the guests!! As we arrived at the entrance of the venue, I shook hands with my uncles and aunties, and with the cousins. They all bowed as they took my hand, and one attempted to kiss my hand!! Whoa! Yes, OK. I know, it's a polite gesture, required almost, especially to your eldest. But I was a bit appalled. I used to do that!! And now they're doing that to me!! Oh! Noooooo......

As usual, I was oblivious to who's who. They all looked like strangers to me. But then there was one guy I gawked at. Tall, fair, young, very handsome. I was gobsmacked! He was the one who tried to kiss my hand. Hmm...I didn't give a second thought, maybe he's from the other side of the family. I really had no idea who he was, but he was so darn cute!!

As we took our place at the table and gobbled the nasi minyak (its was good, by the way!), sister asked if I saw my youngest aunt's only son. Oh yes, him, the little one. I said 'no' and she pointed out to the "tall, fair, young, very handsome" guy I gawked at for a moment at the entrance. Yes, the one who attempted to kiss my hand. That one?? Your kidding!! That's my cousin?? The little Chinese-looking kid I used to carry around??

Seriously.

I felt old.

My Gawd has he grown!!

Again. I feel old.

The whole way home, I was in denial. He can't be that boy!! Impossible!! I told sister, I doubt he knows who I am, but she is convinced he does. After all, I am the eldest. Everybody knows the elsdest.

Gosh! I was in awe! He's all grown. Done with college. Working. He's a man!! He's hawt!

And he was my (little) cousin!! Whoa!!

I'm old.

Sh*t!

Travels: G'day Sydney!

july 17, 08 thursday
This blog is a little overdue, because we arrived in Sydney on Tuesday morning i.e 2 days ago. Just have not had a chance to update as I had plan before I left KL. Of course, we were on an 8-hour flight and had little to no sleep might have something to do with it as well.

Before we left, husband J's twin Ant warned us that winter in Sydney that week was freezing. So imagine our surprise when we got in at about 8-ish in the a.m, and the weather was nice! It was about 20 degrees, no wind and sunny! With my sister's winter jacket, I felt a little overdressed!

We grabbed a cab to father in-law's place in Eastwood, and was taken aback at having to pay AUD113.80 for the trip! Also I might add our visit coincided with the Pope's visit to Australia, in conjunction with World Youth Day (WYD), so we were quite amused seeing over enthusiastic catholic 'pilgrims' at the airport. They were waving flags, dancing, singing....Jeez!

We got to father in-law's place and it was good seeing the old man again. He looked well. The last time I saw him was at our wedding, and he looked frighteningly frail. He's moving on with age I guess, but this time, he actually looked like he has more colour to his face! We chatted, caught up with family goss and the like, before brother in-law David and pregnant wife Sue dropped by! I haven't seen them in 3 years! We had lunch, chatted some more, oldest brother Paul popped by for a bit. Chatted some more and pretty much crashed when everyone left.

Ant and girlfriend Nat came by later that evening to pick us up, as we are staying with them for the week. We stopped by at a pub near by and had pub grub. I just chowed down a small pizza, I wasn't very hungry anyway as I kind of pigged out at the Golden lounge in KLIA and on the plane. Typical of me! I was fading away as well. The journey finally caught up with me. As the 3 Aussies were catching up on local stuff, the conversation sounded like it was in a tunnel. You know how that is when your really tired. And I was very tired! When we finally made a move, I swear I was already in dreamland.

We arrived at this quaint little house in Marrickville, the inner west of Sydney. It's about 10 minutes away from the airport and about 15 minutes from the city centre (CBD). The temperature dropped at night, to about 9 degrees. And mind you, Aussie homes have no central heating. Ant and Nat have a small portable heater which they use for the living room, but our room (and everywhere else)has no heating. However, Nat has this awesome electric duvet (or "duner" in Australia), and the minute I got under it, I didn't want to come out! It was thick and oh-so-warm! And so I did, under the electric blanket I went, and before I knew it..

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

37

june 21, 08 saturday
Dang!

That's a big number. But, it doesn't bother me so much...until someone makes a big deal out of it. I can't believe I'm already celebrating another birthday. How quick the year(s) flew! It's like you can't get older quicker. It's almost absurd.

When I was younger, birthdays are the one day I looked forward to. Well, you're young, you can't wait to have another birthday to be older.

These days, I dread birthdays. The early 30's was fun. However, the Late 30's, totally another story!

Although I have to say, at this age, I have never felt better, leaner, healthier, stronger and more confident. I've never felt younger too! And I think I age well....yes?? Thank God for the workouts at the gym. I think I'd be feeling my age if I didn't change my lifestyle!

Husband J was kind enough to replenish my expensive skincare supply. Trust me, I've tried changing to cheaper brands. I ended up with dull skin and pimples. So back to my trusted and beloved SKII. The products J got me were intended as my birthday present. That was really sweet of him.

Goodies from husband J: SKII galore! Enough to keep me going with great skin for

another 6 months!

This morning I received flowers from mom. Auwwwww!! So sweet!!

From mom: beautiful bouquet of roses!

For dinner, J brought me to Genji, the Japanese restaurant at Hilton PJ. It was my idea actually. It's been like yonks since I last went, and I remember Genji fondly. They served fantastic Japanese cuisine. A tad bit pricey than usual, but certainly worth it.

We had reservation for 8.30pm, and when we arrived the place was buzzing. Screaming kids. People walking all over the place. Unmade tables. What the hell is going on?? Wasn't Genji supposed to be exclusive, classy and quiet?? No ala carte, we were told. No ala carte?? Only buffet. *eyes rolling* OK. Whatever. Walked around. The spread was nothing to shout about. The food was good, but not as fantastic as I remembered it to be. I was disappointed. I apologised profusely to husband J. He didn't look like he was enjoying himself either. I felt bad.

After paying for dinner, we went to the newly-renovated Uncle Chili's. Nice. Not as sleazy like the last time I went some 4-5 years ago. We hung around for less than an hour, and off we trotted home.

So there you go.

Happy 37th to me.

Connecting the dots

june 12, 08 thursday
Not too long ago I was adamant about not joining the Facebook (FB) community. Somewhere down the line I changed my tune and signed up. Then I was consumed. It was FB first thing in the morning, even before coffee, FB in the mid-day, FB before and after lunch, FB at tea, FB at dawn, FB before I retire for the day. I slept, ate and breathe FB. Then I got bored. I wasn't really into sending cupcakes, or flowers, or giving a wet willie to my friends. My list grew. Honestly, I have more fans wanting to be in my list then I do real friends. I was this close to deleting my profile, because after awhile all I ever did was deleting stupid, repetitive posts.

I stopped myself though. My friend, Ain, told me she keeps her FB account for networking, to keep in touch with friends, some of whom she's not seen since school days. Ever since FB, she's re-connected with more old friends and this keeps her in the loop. That made me think (gasp!). I may not have very many friends in my list, but what FB has done is get me re-connected with my cousins.

Here's the deal: I am not a family person, and I am not ashamed to admit that. The only family important to me is my immediate family members. Everyone else do not play any part in my life. Which explains why it is incredibly hard for me to go visit relatives even during Eid, and how I make plans deliberately on the day we have the big family gathering. This is me. I place no importance in my extended family. And every get-together with them had been very awkward and boring.

Nowadays, with FB, we chat, we sent messages, we share recipes, for crying out loud! It's so great! It's like me getting to know my cousins slowly again and hopefully when we meet next it won't be so awkward. This connection trough FB has given a new meaning to family, for me, at least.

I am excited today because my long lost cousin Shah in Adelaide has decided to open an FB account. Though we've not seen each other in close to 20 years now, Shah and I have been corresponding through email for the last 2 years. It's so wonderful to get back in touch with him! I sent him an invitation to FB, and many months later, he hopped on. And he's excited to get in touch with his other Malaysian cousins. So, I sent a mass email to the cousins, telling them to add Shah into their list. Everyone immediately jumped on it. Everyone was excited! Finally, we got to know Shah all over again. He's not the 'long, lost' cousin anymore!

And to think I helped to connect the dots...

*BIG HUGE SMILE*

Miss Grumpy Me

may 24, 08 saturday
This should be my emblem. My logo.

My Gawd, I am a grumpy pot! And the excuse I always give is I am PMS-ing. Which is weird. Because I am usually grumpy around that time of the month. (And during most early mornings at work. But that's a different story altogether..).

So it is PMS.

But husband J refuses to take PMS as an excuse. Yeah. He has a point.

Today, we argued about meat. Correction. I argued about meat. I had set my heart on making roast lamb (or beef) for dinner tonight. We went to The Grocer at Bangsar Village after breakfast and I found a RM91 boneless lamb leg. No! Looked around, no beef looked interesting enough for me to do a roast with.

So I decided to drop husband J off at BSC to look for a cheaper lamb meat (or beef). And he came back with chicken. I was annoyed. I didn't know what to do with chicken. And he said (which set me off) "Look in the Internet".

OK, granted. That was not a reason to get pissed off. But I am PMS-ing remember? Lame, yes, I know. Anyway, I went off at husband J, saying something like, "If I wanted chicken I would have bought chicken. If I wanted to find out the recipe, I would have looked for it myself on the 'net! You didn't need to tell me!!!" Bla! Bla! Bla!

Many hours later (I went out and found a cheaper lamb meat elsewhere), I realised the blow up was out of line.

To say it will never happen again, is like saying Malaysians will adopt a better driving attitude tomorrow. Yeah, it'll never happen. But I am aware of it. And I try to be better. Husband J has been smart at handling my little 'psycho' outbursts. He just ignores me and let me fester for awhile. And for that I am grateful.

So maybe next time, I'll write about arguments that are worth reading about. Fighting about meat surely isn't!

BAH!

Husband-less weekend

may 11, 08 sunday
Husband J is away this weekend in Langkawi so I am free to do whatever I please! Not that I didn't when he is around...but you know, I still needed to think about what to feed the hubs and all that. Most times, he is on his notebook anyway, Earth Googling or playing Point-and-Click games (I know, I married a Grade A nerd!).

This weekend, coincidentally, my sister's husband is away too. So we have 2 husband-less sisters in the city...what to do...what to do....What else?? EAT!

We had an over-rated breakfast at Le Meridien (so that sister could use her discount from her hotel card). She had some "croque" thingy with eggs - it looked good and certainly was different than the usual. I had the usual....poached eggs on WHITE bread (when I asked for wholemeal), veal sausages and beef bacon.My Gawd, my meal was incredibly ordinary!! We should've picked up our lazy asses, drive to Westin, have brekkie there and hang out at the Pavillion mall.

Oh! Well!

In the evening, sister rang again, said she was hungry. So we decided to go to Delicious at Bangsar Village 2. We had the afternoon tea for 2 which had sandwiches, scones, biscuits, fruits dipped in chocolate and one dessert (we picked the usual - Banofie Pie). When we had the tray served to us, I saw a fresh tray of Pavlovas at the counter. I went nuts! But I wasn't sure how they would taste like so decided against exchanging the Banofie Pie with a Pavlova. I didn't want another bad food experience after this morning.

By the time I reached home, I was so stuffed it wasn't even funny. Rung up best friend Liza to cancel tonight. Husband J called and said he'd be home Sunday evening and was hoping I'd cook him something. Aiyah! Just when I thought I could get away with not cooking at all! So I thought...ahhh...the usual, the quickest, the easiest.....my famed spaghetti olio with bits of pepperoni and cili api!

Sigh. I wish my life was a bit more exciting than this...