Happy NIU year!

It's CNY! That means a few things - time to start afresh, reunite and catch up with loved ones and friends! It's the time to celebrate! And being Chinese, we like to celebrate with food. Yayeee...

I've not had any proper food for the past 3 days. All I stuffed into my mouth were crackers & acar (my fav!!), CNY cookies, cakes, sweets and tarts, BBQ pork slices, fizzy drinks and food which I've no names for... Whatever dieting rules I tried to follow were out the windows. It's rude to reject kind ppl who offer nice food ;p

And what's CNY without firecrackers? My usually-quiet-neighbourhood turned into a war zone at 12am on the 1st day of CNY. Fireworks broke the silence and lit up the dark sky. My bestest friend-since-the-moment we-were-conceived (namely Jane) and I stood outside our home enjoying the moment. Yup, CNY has definitely arrived. We could feel and smell CNY in the air...

The smell and sound of firecrackers brought back many fond childhood memories. When we were small, after playing our chicken-spin-around fireworks, dad would drove us all out to see colourful street lights in his old jeep. Mum would always remind us to not stick our heads out the windows. And if friends and relatives happened to still be awake when we passed by their houses, we would pay them a quick visit. It was exciting for us. Not only did we get to sleep very late & collecting red packets but also no scolding for snacking unhealthily and unlimitedly y(^^)y It was heaven for us kids.

That happy family time feeling engraves deeply in my heart. Each time I hear and smell firecrackers or at the sight of street lights, the images of happy family time play before my eyes..... I really miss those moments.

What's my wish this CNY? Pretty obvious huh.

It happened before CNY

It's 2 days before CNY and this happened

Good thing that I was at home and not somewhere on the street when it happend.

So out the tools I got and tried to removed the tire so i could bring to the tire shop for a quick fix. I managed to figure out how to raise the car (yeah! A girl could do a man's job!) but I didn't have the strength to unscrew. No matter how I pushed and pulled, and even 'stood' on the bar, nothing happened. So in the end, I called my mechanic for help....

Oh well, at least I tried to do it myself....

Glad to say, my tire has been fixed! Yayeee...

Dream dream dream

Was talking to Jane just now. She is now on her way from Taipei to HK. And tomorrow, she will be on coming HOME for CNY! Yayeee.... I can't wait!

As she was complaining how time consuming her precious time are wasted on travelling and how difficult and inconvenient it is to have so many heavy luggage bags, something got me into fantasizing - if only we had doraemon's 'ren yi meng' ('Go anywhere anytime door'). Everywhere would be just one step away! That means we could go anywhere anytime we liked. No fuss, no hassle, no time wasted. And Jane would be able to live in Kch while working in HK at the same time (which also means i don't have to eat laksa everyday everytime she comes home ;p). That would be so cool!

Hehe, I'm excited just by imagining about it!! Oooo.. only if we could live in the cartoon world and had a friend like Doraemon...

New Pets for CNY

We have an old acquarium at home. It used to be the house of many fishes until my dad's treasure, Jing Lung Yu (not sure what it's called in English) died a few years ago. Dad really had a special bond with that fish. Every time fish saw (or sense?) dad, it would swim towards my dad's direction. I don't know if fish could see or feel but that was what I witnessed. There was really something special only the two friends undestood and felt.

After the passing of fish, dad was devastated and had the acquarium moved out from the living room to the car porch. Poor acquarium got abandonned just like that.... as if being blamed for the death of the fish....

Acquarium sat quietly at one corner until Mum decided to give new life meaning to it.

A few days ago, she bought some goldfish. Acquarium is still sitting at the car porch but it seems much happier than before! Goldfish must have sensed its happiness for they are also happily swimming around in the acquarium...

It really makes my day too to see bright coloured fish everytime I walk to/from my car.....

Mum's creation

Psk... I'm determined to LOSE WEIGHT

Food overdosed in Taipei. It's now payback time. Time to suffer.....

Don't tempt me with food. I'm on strict diet........

until CNY!

CNY mood!

Chinese New Year is 1 week away \(^0^)/ I can't wait to visit my family and friends (actual intention: eat tit bits, tarts, cakes & drink Shandy ;p)

Bet everyone must be busy with house cleaning, baking, shopping, decorating... Not me and my family though. We are pretty organise and efficient this year. We've done already everything. I've even started to eat some of the CNY tit bits ^^ hehe, only to make sure that they are still good before we serve them...
I didn't do much for this CNY except re-shuffling and organising the junks in my room and the TV room haha.. I feel guilty that mum did most of the chores - from cleaning to baking. A very efficient mum coz each time I went home from a LONG, HARD (with extra emphasis added on the words) day of work, something was already done. I was gonna help her bake some tarts and cookies and also clean the house....
Of coz, I didn't just sit there and watched mum worked so hard. That would be a sin! I did do something very important. Much more important than anything else in the whole wide world!
This year, my main CNY task is to taste. Yup, I tasted everything my mum baked and bought. It's an important job coz what I say will be what my guests eat... We wanna make sure that only the best get served in our home!
Wooooo, what a tedious job. Putting the food away is indeed a challenge! *wipe off my sweat*

QC passed

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Half Day In Food & Shopping Heaven

Stopped by Hong Kong while on my way to Taipei last month. Wanted to see Jane's new place and also taste again the local food...

Nothing has changed much since 2005. Even the 'Po Lo Bao' (pineapple bun) and 'Ying Yong' (coffee + milk tea) that I missed so much still tasted exactly the way I remembered. And the egg tarts (oh the egg tarts) with creamy and soft centre at Central! Who could forget that?! I drool just by thinking abt it!

Time was really of the essence for me that day. There were so much to do and so little time! I think God wanted me to suffer before I got to indulge myself because poor me got stuck at HKIA for 3 hours. Hmmppph... precious 3 hours wasted coz there were no airport crews to pick up our bags. They were on strike :( Crap...

As I had limited time in HK, Jane and I did everything like wind. We woke up really early, got ready in a flash and walked faster than most HK ppl. In that short time, we managed to eat the Po Lo Bao, Ying Yong, egg tarts that I couldn't stop thinking abt since 3 yrs ago. We also had Vietnamese food (Hanoi ones are better & cheaper too!) and HK desserts, did some quick shopping at IFC 2 and took some interesting pictures.... like this one...

Xmas Ornaments

And this one....


Can u see me and Jane?

We are so tiny.....

What have I done?!

I have thought about it for a long time.

Should I do it or should I stick to what I already know. The latter doesn't sound so bad. After all, why do otherwise when you are already comfortable with it and know that you are in safe hands?

But life would be so dull if there weren't any changes, excitements or adventures. We only live once and shouldn't we try everything at least once so we could die without wondering about the outcomes? It's only by going thru the ups and downs that we could learn about life and appreciate what we already have...

Despite my philosophy of trying-everything-at-least-once, I still took a long time to consider. Guess you could say I'm a careful (aka indecisive) person.. With the encouragements of family and friends, I decided to take the big step and go ahead with the big plan *deep big breath*

I did it yesterday and all I could say now is that.... I feel BIG.

I'm sure you must have noticed. It's way too big not to see....

I think I look like Fran of The Nanny. Do you see the resemblance?

I have hair that is just as big and puffy as hers! Luckily I do not have her nasal voice! I wouldn't mind working for a rich and handsome boss just like the one next to her though ;p

This is not what I've in mind. This proves again that hairdressers don't listen. Sigh, I really miss having long straight hair..... :(

I feel so ancient now.....

A Good start to Ox Year

I won a prize at our Company dinner last Friday.

That's my 2nd lucky win in this lifetime (so far).

Ooooo... I can forsee a better year coming my way. I've been involved in so many unfortunate events for the past few years. Am so glad that I'm finally (hopefully) admitted into the 'Lucky Land'....

Mr. Smiley's hat's off

Mr. Smiley at Work

Mr. Smiley brightens up my room and hopefully, my future and life too :)

高人一等的心聲

終於不用低頭鞠躬說話了! Y(^V^)Y *Yayeeee*

高mei mei - Jane, Sandy and Jennifer at 淡水