Crappomania

I got up with no voice today. And realised I felt crappy. (sick crappy + mood crappy = a grouch). And no, it's not time for PMS yet. So since I am not working today, I decided to use that excuse for staying in bed a little longer, but Trouble disagrees and starts meowing in my ear and leads me downstairs. (Yes, that cat knows how to get his point across) Its his way of saying "Get up you lazy crappy bones. Feed me cat treats and you will feel better".

When I am crappy, that's when I usually start floccinaucinihilipilificating. I look at unnecessary details and groan and gripe about it.

I see 3 piles of laundry that I have been dying to do since Tuesday but I cannot do it because the washer is occupied. (and still is)

I fill up the humidifier with water only to have it snap my middle finger and tear the skin off.

I send the truck for servicing, only to find out later that they have taken me for a ride and replaced wipers, brake lights and a clean air filter. Heck! They didn't even show me how "dirty" the existing air filter was! And they almost replaced the front brakes too!!

They tell me the truck is ready to be picked up, but mistook it for another truck, and I sit there waiting for 2 hours watching men burp and belch. And the toilet ran out of toilet paper. Nice!

I find out today that porridge + tuna flakes is nasty! But I eat it anyway.

Husband calls me to tell me that he will have to stay an extra 5 days in sunny Florida, so that means we will be spending our first New Years alone. He tells me that it's no biggie coz he doesn't really think much of New Years day anyway.

I am still bashing myself in the head for turning down a job offer with Bank of America. Dang, I would've bought myself a decent car today if I had taken that job.

Why does the phone decides to go dead on you when you need to make an important phone call?
And decides to work again, only to have some telemarketers try and sell you stuff.

Perhaps tis time for a detox or colon cleanse!! Say good riddance to bad rubbish and start the New Year with a blast.

Christmas in Charlotte

My first Christmas in Charlotte!! Here's how it goes...
Christmas eve :
8.30am - Got up and went for breakfast at Bob Evans with Jason. We split a platter of scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, potatoes and a slice of country ham.
9.15am - Did some last-minute Christmas shopping at Petsmart. Bought Trouble a Water L'eau Aqua ( a watering system so we don't have to fill his water bowl so often), chicken and cheese flavor cat treats and an all natural shrimp cat treat!
10.00am - Drove across to Media Play to check out their closing down sale. Bought 2 DVDs - Sweet November (I can never resist Keanu! Bet it'll make me cry again) and our all-time favorite - Somewhere In Time.
11.10am - Called my family in Malaysia to wish them all a Merry Christmas (yup, my folks get to celebrate Christmas earlier thanks to the timezone difference). They were all singing carols and talking and laughing and having fun and getting ready to open presents. Sure made me miss them loads! They passed the phone around and I got to talk to all my aunts, uncles, cousins and my parents. Felt really homesick! I miss laughing hysterically with them, the teasing, the pranks, the noise , the constant chatter, stuffing faces and opening presents together. It's tough being so far away from home during this time of year.
12.05pm - Bought lunch at Bojangles and took them over to Grandma's and Carlton's. Jason helped them fix the bed.
1.00pm - Jason and parents spend the next 3 hours watching the ballgame on TV. Carolina Panthers vs. Dallas Cowboys. And I try to finish wrapping the remaining stocking presents. (and still feeling homesick)
3.30pm - Susan, Greg and the boys arrive.... and watched the ballgame.
5.00pm - Jason and I go out to buy herbs and spices for Jason's Rib-rub.
6.30pm - Dinner is served!! (tacos, with yule log for dessert)
8.30pm - Susan, Greg and boys leave
8.45pm - We bring down the presents and put them under the tree.. and filled the stockings.
9.15pm - Just lazed around... listening to Barry Manilow crooning Christmas songs on the CD.(and feeling homesick)
11.45pm - Jason , mom-in-law and I leave to go to church for the midnite Christmas mass

Christmas day :
9.30am - The Gower family and Santa(aka Wrenn) arrive and we all sat down to have a sumptious breakfast.(same as previous day - only homemade)
10.30am - All start opening stocking pressies (including Chelsea(the senile dog) and Trouble (the obnoxious cat)
11.30am - Then we start opening the presents under the tree. (taking turns each, and ooohing and aaahing at what we got)
12.30pm - Family in Malaysia starts calling up and wishing us Merry Christmas.
1.30pm - Lunch is served (ham, potato salad, devil eggs, butter beans, yeast rolls, and key lime pie for dessert made by hubby)
2.30pm - I had to go take a nap because of a migraine.
3.30pm - Everyone else proceeds to bring presents over to Grandma and Carlton's.
4.30pm - The Gower family leaves
6.30pm - We eat leftovers for dinner
8.30pm - We look at our presents again... and watched the video that we took earlier today.
10.30pm - Everyone zonks out and get ready for bed
11.30pm - I indulge in those Godiva chocolates!! Ahhh... what a nice end for a first Christmas in Charlotte!!

Now I have atleast 5 pairs of socks, 2 sets of snuggly plush robes, a sewing kit, a scrapbook set, office wear clothes, home accessories, plenty of chocolates and useful everyday items.. and a Digital-cam from Jason!!!

Duh!

I am so duh!!! Didn't realised that I had set my comments to be moderated and that I had a list of comments to be approved! Jason just now asked me why I didn't approve his comments. What a technobimbo I am.. sheesh..

So.. counting down .... 2 more days to Christmas!!

Gingerbread house

This evening, mom-in-law brought out a DIY gingerbread house and the 3 of us started to essemble it. (Yes, Jason too!!) It was pretty fun actually and I think hubby enjoyed it the most (but ofcourse he won't admit it). Had to take some pictures to prove it. You can see that smug grin on his face whilst he was trying to invent some "Calvin and Hobbes" creation on the poor gingerbread man..

Here we go a-frappin!

Alright.. we just had to do it too!!

Just add yourself here and we'll see where everyone lives! Coolness!

Pos Malaysia : Naughty or Nice ?

It is frustrating trying to be a Santa!
Last month, we decided to send Christmas pressies to my parents,aunts,uncles and cousins back home in Malaysia. Just small gifts as a thoughtful gesture. No iPods or fancy techy gadgets, but just Xmas pins, cookies, pecan nuts, cutesy ornaments,napkins and flirty boxer shorts. We figured those would be safe enough to send via normal mail postage instead of paying 3 times more via courier.
But to our dismay, many of those packages did not reach the recipients. Those that were fortunate to receive their package had the gift wraps torn apart with missing gift tags. Even the greeting card was not left unmolested!
So, the first thing that came to my mind was.... "those bloody *%&holes!!". But who are these *%&holes? The guys loading packages onto the airplane? or the guys unloading packages off from the airplane? or the Custom officers? or the guys sorting mails and packages in the mailroom? or the mail delivery guy? Who did it??.. WHO did it??... WHO DID IT???!!
Will the relevant authorities take action against these unscrupulous thieves? Will this nonsense continue to prevail as long as we condone to it and let it go as yet another ugly side of the Malaysian people?. .. So is this what the "Malaysia Boleh" attitude is like?
To Whoever it is that stole our gifts.. May you choke on the pecan nuts and may the boxer shorts catch fire!!!

This is the Place

This is where I spent 12 years of my childhood: in a sleepy old historical town. It didn’t look very different when I was a kid and still doesn’t. There are more cars now and the buildings are taller, but the historical spirit remains and so do the lampposts. This is also where I found bliss.


Once the capital of a mighty empire, this riverine trading port founded centuries ago by a Sumatran prince has absorbed the incursions of Portuguese, Dutch and British invaders and nurtured such distinctive cultural blends as the Straits Chinese Babas and Nyonyas.

I remember riding through town in a trishaw with my mom. Those days, the trishaw was a common mode of transportation. Today, it is an overly decorated vehicle with blasting techno music to lure tourists. There was the ice cream seller who sells his everfamous ice cream sandwich - two ice cream scoops sandwiched between two pieces of white bread, the "kacang puteh" man (peanut seller) who sells assorted peanuts in a papercone, the breadman who comes by our house every evening at 3pm on his motorcycle with buns and bread, candies and snacks, hanging off the sides of his bike and I will buy a mini candy floss(cotton candy) on an ice cream cone for only 10 cents.
My friends in the neighborhood would go cycling together every evening without a care in the world. We played hopscotch and a skipping rope made out of rubberbands in the middle of our street without having to worry about getting rolled over by cars. We got chased by stray dogs and yet it was fun. We plucked mangoes and played "masak-masak".

This is the place. This was bliss!

The week that just flew by

Ok, now that whatever virus I had has decided to leave me (or so I think), my brains can now function properly again(or so I think again) I had lung infection since Thanksgiving and the stupid antibiotics gave me severe diarrhoea and nausea and palpitations. (and no, I am not pregnant)It gets worse when I am in the car. Ever had the feeling like when you gotta go... you GOT to go? Yup, that kind of feeling. So much so I even considered stopping by the side of the road one day to find a bush! Thank God there was a gas station less than 1 mile away or else I would've died!

Last weekend started with a wonderful Christmas party at Chris & Elizabeth's in Raleigh. The evil Santa game was a steal (literally). Such fun! Also managed to meet and catch up with Brian and Sophie, Ronald and Tammie for lunch, Philip and Selena for breakfast and dropped by Bert's on our way out from Raleigh. Hubby sure has got a wonderful circle of friends in Raleigh and I know he misses them dearly.

Now newly and proudly armed with a NC Drivers Licence, I took advantage of hubby's truck this week. I had a deja-vu of the same excited jumpy feeling 14 years ago when I first got my Malaysian Drivers licence. This 32 year old now feels like a teenager again. It sure feels good to be back on the road again. If I were taller and stronger, I would've driven his 1979 Jeep! So my goal is to finish Christmas shopping this week, work on my scrapbook, work on some video editing, start my amateur yoga routines again, try knitting that scarf (yes, the one who says she will never knit is actually trying to learn how to knit. Now all she needs is a wooden rocking chair) and make Char Siu Paus (steamed BBQ pork buns).
So far, I have only accomplished the Christmas shopping and I made 20 Char Siu Paus last night. Now I have approximately 12 hours before Friday is over. Maybe I can accomplish all those things I have set out to do.. or maybe I should just go and spend half of that time in the sanctuary of the library. So where did the week go?

Malaysian Food in Charlotte?

We had a pleasant discovery on Saturday. Jason suggested we stop by Tin Tin Buffet for lunch on our way to Pineville. This is not a typical Chinese restaurant serving carbohydrate-laden lo mein and moo shu pork loaded with MSG and sugar. They have a sumptuous buffet and I was surprised to find so many Malaysian dishes. Not just any regular made-for-Asian-restaurant dishes, but stuff that you can actually find in the "Pasar malams" (night markets) and hawker stalls. I was ecstatic !! There were peanut pancakes which you find in Pasar Malams for RM0.60,Yau Char Kuih with congee, Char Kuay Teow, assorted Dim Sums, egg tarts,chicken feet (which I still haven't acquired a taste for),satay, curry mee, roti canai, steamed fish ,etc.. Eventhough I was still feeling a little under the weather, it did not stop me from stuffing my tummy to satisfy all those almost-forgotten cravings. Now, if only they had "nasi lemak", I'd be in seventh heaven!

My First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day in America is a time to offer thanks, of family gatherings and holiday meals. A time of turkeys, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.

Eventho I was drugged with antibiotics and all sorts of medication, I woke up feeling like it was Christmas Day!! The aroma of a roasting turkey drifted up to our bedroom. I had a dream of a headless turkey chasing me around the night before. Must've been some TV advertisement that decided to haunt me. Nevertheless, it will not stop me from gobbling up this Thanksgiving feast.
Mom-in-law started cooking this feast since Wednesday. Susan brought her broccoli pasta caserole and my dear hubby made his Peanut Butter Tracks pie and Creamed Onions. (I was too sick to render him any useful help, or so that was my excuse:) We stuffed our bellies to the max and spent the rest of the day laying around chatting and browsing at all the catalogs and advertisements which came with the Thursday newspaper, as everyone decides which stores they wanna storm into at 5am the next morning to grab the best bargains in town.
Thanksgiving, as we know it today, has come a long way from the Pilgrim's harvest festival in 1621. It is an event that seems, as each year goes by, to reinvent itself and to expand its meaning to larger vistas. Maybe this is the real significance of the occasion; for as we continue to change and grow, there are an increasing number of things for which we can be thankful. And I am thankful for everything and everyone that has been a part of my life till today.
Now I am dreading the thought of having to get up at 5am to make that mad rush to the stores and act like a "kiasu". I'll probably end up buying something that I don't need. C'mon, my brains will probably still be asleep at 5am after a turkey overdose.

Autumn

Ahhh.. the sound of crackly leaves under my feet,
As I sit and watch the leaves falling outside my window,
Red, yellow, orange and gold,
What a beautiful sight to behold,
The trees will soon look barren
As the snow comes falling down
But in the meantime I'll sit and enjoy
as autumn unfolds its beauty

Halloween

A day described in my terms as "Adorable","Entertaining" and over-indulgence in candies!

Trouble

He is a cat.
It's hard not to love Trouble.
He jumps on the bed to say goodnite to us at nite.. then leaves the room when we turn off the lights.
In the summer, he sleeps on our bed and creeps out in the middle of the night.
When he is in his moods, he slams our bedroom door or whacks it wide open.
He knows what time to wake us up... meowing in our ear.. or scratching on our door.
He lets us know when his bowl is empty.
He begs for butter.
He loves jumping into the laundry basket.
We have a love-hate relationship - and yet we both share the computer chair. He snuggles up behind me, and meows at me to make room for him.
He may be just a cat, but he sure knows how to get his point across.
Our house will never have rats again.
Our lives will never be the same without Trouble.

Walking the path...

Ever wondered where you'll find yourself 5 or 10 years down the road?

Have you found the answers to what's your purpose in life?

"What If" may be the biggest cliche but somehow, everyone of us at some point in our lives,would have asked ourselves "What if I had not done this..." or "What if I had not met..."
Sometimes, we find those answers. Sometimes, we don't.
According to the Celestine Prophecy, everything happens for a reason. And there is a reason to everything.
Ultimately we will realize that we are spiritual beings living in a spiritual world - a world that is precisely designed for the discovery and implementation of our most inspired dreams. Each of us must discover our personal mission and the synchronistic process that can guide us forward.

As my journey unfolds, I am led forward by mysterious coincidences. I find myself in Charlotte, North Carolina. Two years ago, I did not even know this city exists. Sometimes, I ask myself "why Charlotte"? Obvious answer to that for me would be because I married the man who now lives in Charlotte! But if I look deeper within that question, I would have to ask myself "why this man? " "What brought us together?" "Is it fate?" "Is it geology?" or "Is it a prophecy".

I guess all I really need to do is just live my life and be as present as I can be. We can add something positive to whatever experience we participate in, and we can trust that our needs will be met when the time is right. We will be in the right place at the right time - either to further our destiny.. or to complete what we have come to do.

So here I am in Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina, and the 20th largest city in the United States. As I plod along, I will learn what it is like as a Charlottean (shar-la-TEE-uhn).

Things to do before I die

1. Experience the Auroras / Northern Lights
2. Successfully finish a 5000 pcs 3D Jigsaw Puzzle

3. Build a courtyard fountain

4. Explore Iceland, Luxembourg, Africa and the Mayan ruins

5. Eat more sushi

6. Try not to kill more plants

7. Try hangliding

8. Write a journal of all my travels

9. Preserve my sanity

10. Grow old with my husband
11. Continue adding to the list!!