Feed me!

Food.. that's what we have been stuffing our face with since we landed in Malaysia. And it's not because we are always hungry.
Since the entire clan is back from all corners of the world for the wedding, and friends of family who have also come to visit and experience the country and my crazy family, there's been dinners after dinners and lots of mealtime get-togethers and what nots. My calendar is full for the next 12 days and 87% of it consists of food. And I am not complaining. These mealtimes are bonding sessions. We eat, laugh, make a lot of noise and do stupid things to embarrass ourselves, like the chicken dance. I get to see how fast my little cousins are growing up, and how weird my teenage cousins have turned out. Jeremy is doning a mohawk hairstyle which I think makes him look like an angry iguana. Megan is a chubby 3 year old now with a genuine wide grin. Aaron has found himself the nicest and sweetest girlfriend. All my aunts are still as crazy as ever and that's what I love about them. My grandma is still the grandma who dotes and always makes sure we are fed before we leave her house.

It's so good to back!

They say home is where the family and tummy is. And that is so true because that is where mine is and will always be.

And I hear more chicken dances have been officially planned :)

Ok, gotta go and eat breakfast now.

The Last Supper? Hope not

This might be my last post before we board the plane.

We had to go out for dinner last night because we have totally cleaned out the fridge except for a couple of eggs, butter, ketchup, mustard and apple juice, which I don't think can be considered as dinner food.
So we went to our favorite sushi place which we haven't been in awhile and sat at the sushi bar and ordered our usual meal. This time, we also ordered entrees and not just sushis because I had a coupon for a buy-one-free-one entree.
While waiting for our meal to arrive, the sushi chef surprisingly handed me two fresh slices of sake (raw salmon). Ahh.. pure joy was written all over my face.
Rule for the day :"Make your customers happy by remembering what they like to eat and feed it to them!"
It sure made my day!

Frantic

Three and a half days to go, and we'll be airborne for 27 hours. This was a frantic weekend (for me atleast). I hate packing. Not so much the packing itself but the "making-sure-I-get-a-gift-for everyone" part. I've been making a list for months now and yet, I still had to make one last shopping trip today. I am hoping I did not miss anyone out.
We have 2 big suitcases, one big box and one smaller suitcase, and 2 carry-ons. The box and 2 suitcases are mainly just gifts.
I am just bringing 5 days' worth of clothes and I plan to do some clothes shopping in Malaysia since the mega sale is on and I miss the stuff at MNG and Miss Selfridge and U2.
It is just almost impossible to find a dress that fits me here. We went shopping last week and I walked into atleast 12 different stores and none of the dresses would fit. Not that I like wearing dresses much but when an occasion calls for it, I get worried because I have no dress!

I am also trying to clear up stuff at work but everyone is trying to dump more work on me before I go on vacation. And I have to call in to some meeting right before we leave for the airport. How nice...not!

Poor Trouble has been sulky since we got out those suitcases. And he cries when he sees it.
I guess cats have feelings too. Thankfully, Jason's parents will drop by occasionally to look in on Trouble.

We have also assigned our neighbors to get our mail for us and another neighbor to feed Trouble.

I think we should be all set.

Boy, I'm tired already and I'm not even on the plane yet!

Window shopping

Last week, we saw the new Hyundai Elantra on the road and it looked really nice so tonight, after dinner, we decided to drive to the Hyundai dealership to check it out since we did not have anything else to do.
We tested it and drove around and I must say I am impressed! It is much more silent, smooth, more horse power and the doors are solid. It is a little wider than the old one. The interior has also improved. But what caught my attention is this little hook on the passenger side at the bottom that pops up and you can hang your handbag/purse there. Now, that is one smart invention because my bag always falls over when I take a left turn and I end up dumping everything out on the car mat and I have to grope around looking for my cellphone and office doorpass under the seat.

But we are not ready to trade in my blue thang yet.

Good food, Good company

Our neighbors invited us over for a German dinner tonite. They made some bierocks (German Meat Turnovers), zuchini bread and some good homemade sunlight tea (brewed in the sun).
Jason and I brought over some mutant chocolate chip oatmeal cookies that we quickly whipped up in the nick of time after he got home from work (and because the bakery was closed today)
Bierocks are sort of like the German version of a cornish pastry and is very common among the Volga German community.

Dinner was good. We really enjoyed it.

Oh, and they named their breakfast area the "Bernadette room" because the furniture was Made in Malaysia. So I have a room named after me :)

Babysitting

Jason and I babysat our nephews alone for the first time last night whilst the parents attended a wedding party in Greensboro.
The boys were no trouble at all and behaved really well.

I was, ofcourse, initially paranoid and had a mental checklist in my mind making sure to ask for car seats incase we had to rush to the hospital, or what to do if one of them throws a tantrum until he could not breathe(I heard that happens), or if they lock us out of the house..etc.. (we have heard stories)

But no, the boys were angels. Ofcourse it helped that my smarty husband brought a DVD (The Incredibles) and plopped it in for an hour and that kept them(atleast one of them) still. And I brought a pack of flash cards and played that with Wrenn.

Wrenn was constantly hungry and asked for food. I tried to avoid giving him anything with sugar so he ate some of the Bojangles Biscuit that we brought and wanted a donut roll. He sat down on the couch and ate it all without moving and without making a mess. He kept wiping his mouth and hands after each bite. I was impressed.

They even asked to go to bed when it was bedtime. Cooper taught me how to turn on their night light (I had turned on a different lamp) and Wrenn turned on his own sound machine and they both climbed into their own beds. How adorable is that!

So now we're home, everyone is safe, no trips to the hospital, no hair pulling, no fires, no fighting and yelling.
It wasn't so bad after all.

Trouble got jabbed...maybe

I took a moaning whining cat to the vet yesterday for his rabies jab. The poor cat didn't know where he was going to and he probably thought I was taking him to some foster home because he had just seen me put two luggages and filled two boxes in my room. (He cried when he saw the luggages)

The vet assistant took his weight but Trouble refused to get his photo taken. Kept turning his head away from the camera. Then she told me to wait outside whilst she took him inside for the doc to give him his jab.

Less than 5 seconds, she brought Trouble out again and said it was all done.

I did not see it and I did not see a doctor. So I don't know for sure if Trouble had actually received a jab.

Anyways, being trusty, I paid and left.

I no Se Habla Espanol

On Monday, we were scheduled for some workers to come and repair the nail pops in the house because the last guy who came to do the job did not finish and left the company (or country).

So at 9am in the morning, I open the door to find a woman and an infant in her arms. And she said one word "Wall".
I asked her if (name of company) had sent her. She said "yes".
I paused.

I am thinking this is impossible. Maybe there was a hidden candid camera crew nearby. How is she going to climb a ladder and fix nail pops with an infant?
She probably saw the confused look on my face and pointed to two teenage boys walking towards the house.

Ahh, I see... this makes more sense now (sort of)

I asked the boys some questions but they just stared blankly at me.

Lady tells me "No English".

Ok, now it all makes sense to me. So the lady was the interpreter, eventhough she can only mutter "Yes" and "No". But I guess she understood what I was saying.

I have to admit I was a little worried. Here is some stranger with an infant in my house and two teenage boys.

The boys got to work immediately and they worked fast. I was amazed they found so many nail pops that neither Jason or I saw. They were done by noon and will be back next week to paint.

Now I have another thing to add on my "101 things to do before I die". Learn Espanol!

Check your check

I received a check(cheque) for $2.99!! Woohooo!!
That was for a rebate for Jason's bottle of gel spray which I curiously mailed in to see if they would actually send me a check. Ofcourse I totally forgot about it and after about 4 weeks the check(cheque) came in the mail.

Now, to deposit that check(cheque), I'd have to drive 13 miles (20.93 km) to our nearest bank.
Nah.. not worth it.

P/S : I learnt that cheque is spelled as check here. So if I were to say "Please check that check so that I can check the box to note that you have received the check"
Makes sense? I didn't think so.

Happy July 4th!

Well, too tired to post much. Will just let these photos speak for themselves. The grill master has already posted. Next year, I'll have to remember not to be too ambitious with the appetizers.
Fireworks are still going on outside as I write this.