Evening Walk

Yesterday, I took a walk to an auntie's place who lives just a couple of streets away from my home. I can reach her place in 30 seconds if I drive but looking at the breezy weather, I decided to take the time to walk instead. Also, I just had my dinner, a walk would help with digestion too ^^

I really like my neighbourhood. Thank goodness that there are fewer cars in the evening. It is so much quieter and peaceful at this time as well. The air was fresh. All thanks to the bushes in the area :)

It has not rained for many weeks and it makes going out a torture. I feel as if I'm being baked in the oven and my skin will become crispy in any minute! It's a crazy hot weather! But last night, the weather was different. Unexpectedly cool and breezy!

I need a portable air cond!

The breeze kind of felt good on my skin. And that salmon pink sky painted by the sunset looked yummy too! And since when do these colourful flowers grow along the roadside? Mannn... where have I been all this time? I drive on this road EVERYDAY!



I should take an evening walk like this around my neighbourhood more often. It seems that it's the way to discover things I don't notice or bother to look at! But...

I'm afraid of being chased by dogs.... (-_-''')

Oh well, I guess a discovery once in a while isn't so back ;p

Shocked and Sad...

When I was small, I didn't have any idol and I didn't listen to music. The only songs I knew were National Anthem and school songs. All my friends were into somebody but I was more interested in catching fish in the drains, climbing trees, pretending to be in war in our backyard etc...

Only when my sibblings and I started pretending to be dancing queens did I learn more about the music world. We became interested in Michael Jackson and tried to imitate his dancing moves. We tried to do his famous moonwalk and then the 'AW' moves but always ended up laughing til we rolled on the floor. We were just not meant to be on the dance floor...

When my friend woke me up from my sleep at 7am this morn telling me of MJ's passing, I jumped up from my bed like a mummy that just came to live! I thought it was a joke until I heard her teary voice. OMG! The King of Pop has died! Shocking & Devasting news! I couldn't help but felt sad too... *sob sob*

Although MJ was never 'officially' my idol, I did own a few of his CDs and also watched his biography on the tv. He was the only superstar I 'grew up' with. He was part of my teenage memory!

The radio station has been playing MJ's songs since early morn. Listening to them, they really bring back a lot of memories.... *Heal The World now playing in the background*

When he was alive, he was the child molester. Now that he died, he became the king of Pop once again... Sigh... it's sad that that's the way life works - one only gets appreciated after he/she is dead....

They are Organic!

Mum set up a bamboo 'house' a few weeks ago in the backyard. I didn't know what she was planting until....



Tada! Fresh produce from the garden planted by mum, with her love.

Egg plant & Winter melons

There are so many melons dangling from the stand like big ballons! Mum's effort paid off! It has also become my routine to check them out every morning and evening. They are just so cute to look at! ^^ Not only that, they give me lessons in life that you get what you work for and no matter what, the cycle of life continues....

It's amazing how fast these things grow! In no time, they will end up as healthy & delicious dishes on our dinning table. Hmmm... that's a mouth-watering thought.....

Need a Break

I can't stand it anymore! I've been sufferring for 2 weeks and seriously need some peace and quiet! I need a place to breath and relax or I might go nuts!

Ever since the ceiling in my office building collapsed, the workers have been busy installing reinforments to prevent similar recurrence. The drilling noise around me really agitates me! It sucks away my good mood and kill my nice days! :'(

Am so glad that it's finally Friday. I love Fridays! Not only is that the last workday of the week but also meant that I can enjoy 2 days of quietness over the weekend! That's definitely something to celebrate! So at lunch break just now, we decided to visit the new HK tea house nearby. The thoughts of being able to get away from the noise and enjoy the afternoon with some fun people light me up :)

Life is really full of surprises because the moment we entered the tea house, we were all taken aback by the 'red carpet' services. Big cameras with long lens were pointed at us and girls dressed in tiny sexy tube tops welcomed and surrounded us. For one moment, I thought we had won lottery! While one of the girls introduced the dishes to us, the cameras kept flashing at us. Mannnn... we really felt like famous celebrities except that we didn't have pretty make up on and hairdo and were not dressed in designer evening gowns >_<''

I was really hoping to relax during the lunchtime! And I'm so not used to so much attention! :P Oh well, it did make my lunch time interesting though...

Call me Goofy

This is how I feel now.....

I did something STUPID today. Sigh, how i wish i could turn back time to undo it.... if only life works the same way as a movie DVD that allows me to re-wind, fast-forward, pause, select scene....

My office phone rang just now and i thought it was a friend. She did sound like a friend of mine who likes to tease me whenever she calls. When the caller asked if she could speak to "ME", I teased and said NO. A LOUD, FIERCE no.

Guess what? It was actually a sales person from a training centre wanting to promote a seminar! I didn't react fast enough to turn the situation around *slow dummy* Instead, i pretended to be my own PA for 10 minutes!! She will call again tomorrow to speak to the PA's boss, AKA also ME.

Tell me I'm not a goofy....

Did I Over-Reacted?

Mum returned from Pontianak a day after me. On the night of my return, probably because of the fatigue, i 'accidentally' fell asleep at 9pm, with my mobile phone in silent mode. When I woke up, it was 330am. Crap! I hadn't even showered yet! When I checked my phone for time, I found 4 missed calls and 4 messages. One of the them said 'Please call me asap. S (friend in Indonesia) not managed to find your mum in Indonesia...'

My mind went blank and my heart sank. What happened to mum? Gosh! The first 2 days in Pontianak didn't go so well for mum and her gang so i immediately thought of the worst....

I called my friend at 330 in the morn. Nobody answered. Not knowing what happened, i became very worried. Then I called mum on her mobile phone. Nobody answered. Worse, the line suddenly broke off! *stress* All kind of bad thoughts popped up in my mind like mushrooms. Did someone else purposely switched it off? I became even more worried, like an ant on hot pot. Not knowing what else to do, I started to cry hysterically, like a kid losing her way in the street. I felt myself shivering when I re-dialed mum's number!

After what feels like an eternity, a familiar voice answered the phone. Mum was safe and in the middle of her dreamland! She had to spend a couple of minutes calming her crying daughter though...

Phew, good thing that nothing bad happened. Can't blame me... The message did sound really scary at that time..... Mum now laughs at me at every chance she has (-.-")

Haiz... she should be grateful to have such a good daughter like me!!

Wohohoho, im such a good kid

No one beats mum's cooking!

It looks too cute. I can't resist... and took this picture


Mum made this last night. She combined scallops, sea cucumbers, minced pork, mushrooms, red dates and of course melons to make the soup. So extravagant I know! :P

Mum presented her work in a melon some more! So creative of her! It really looked like a dish from some high class restaurants. Now i know where i inherit my creativity from ^^ The soup was sweet with lots of seafood flavour! Tasted exactly like deep sea I say.... yummm...

I love my mum. She's the best!

Happy to see flowerssss ****

I feel as if I were in Japan! Just look at the pink flowers on the trees along the road! Don't they look like cherry blossoms? So beautiful! Feel as if it's spring time in Kch! So nice to be able to see so many flowers while on my way to work and home everyday ^^ They really brighten up my days! *Happy*

Sometimes I see pink petals falling down softly from the trees like feathers, which kind of look like snowflakes... OOOoo, Spring and Winter happening at the same time in Kch? Odd but cool!! Or is it just that I've good imagination?

What's the name of this tree btw?

Same Same?

After all these years of not seeing, I thought there would be a lot of changes. If not, at least some.... It's still the same as I've remembered. Did time stop here? Did I step into a time machine that brings me back to the past? I guess certain things are just unchangeable, like how a rock can never be turned into a sparkling diamond. For the first time, I really appreciate what I'm given and already have.

Apart from a few new buildings here and there, Pontianak city hasn't changed much. Poorer people in the rural areas still use the dirty drains, ponds, rivers, any place with water as their kitchen, bathroom and toilet. Just imagine this, somebody's neighbour might be doing big business upstream while she is taking water for cooking *vomit* Scary but that's how these people live :(

The city itself kinda reminds me of Hanoi city. Lots of motorbikes and the air is smelly and dusty. The buildings are also quite run down and there are rubbish everywhere. Certain places at the countryside reminds me of Sapa, especially the green paddy fields...

City Centre - Gajah Mada

Photo taken when we were taking a break from our 'tuna-can' ride
- The Countryside

Something interesting about the city is that, whenever you try to park or reverse a car, somebody or any passerby will suddenly pop up from nowhere and give you directions. And for that, you will have to pay for their 'unwanted' services. Nvm, as long as these suddenly-pop-up people don't do illegal things to earn a living....

My trip was pretty good... unexpectedly. The city gives me the impression that it's backward but in actual fact, they do have a very nice mall! Much better than ours over here! *jealous*

There isn't much to see in the city itself except for the Monument of Equator.

Jenn is SEPARATED!
One leg in Northern Hemisphere, One in Southern Hesmiphere

Food is our only agenda. We basically ate all day long! From morning til midnight! Our Indonesian friends really know where all the good food are! Am surprised at how delicious their food are except that they are all BROWN in colour.

Everything is either fried, BBQ-ed, grilled or with lots of chilli padi. Mannn.... why are all the unhealthy food more delicious?! Hmmpphhh.... I sufferred from 'greens deficiency' in Pontianak. I hardly see any vegetable dishes there! The only veggie I saw is chilli Padi. The Indonesians eat their kuih with that. I tried it. It was damn hot! I couldn't taste anything for a while :( Not my kind of food definitely hehe...

Can u see the tiny but SUPER hot chilli on the kuih?

Good thing that i don't live there long term or else i would be stuck in the toilet everyday! Not because of diarrhoea but constipation!

Pontianak is an interesting place to visit. If not for it's long car ride, I don't mind going again. Just for the food....

Left: Nasi Uduk, Nasi Padang, Kueh Chap

Left: Ayam Lemongan, Lele (egg in fish fillet), assorted Indon kuih

Didn't have pictures of all the food. They disappeared before I even had a chance to turn on my camera!

My Realisation.....

During the Gawai holiday, I took a 10 hour bus ride to Pontianak with my friends. It was a last minute decision. I was in dilemma for a long time. Part of me wanted to go as I've not re-visited the city since I last went. That was AGES ago. When I was in primary 6. Then the other part of me was put off by the long journey. Just imagine being trapped in a bus for 10 hours like a sardine in a can! That's 20 hours in total for the whole trip! @.@ I'm glad that I went despite the long, torturing journey. My trip was full of fun and of course delicious food!

My book finally arrives!!

Got the book coz I'm just the same
- have to travel no matter how sufferring it is ^^

I've realised something lately. Sometimes it's good to have no expectations and just go with the flow. When I have no expectations, I have nothing to compare with, which means I can't be disappointed. Like that day, my friend called me out of the blue and asked me to go watch Star Trek. I didn't really want to go. I'm not a fan of science fiction. I'm not interested in spaceships and aliens. I've heard of the series before but never bothered to watch them. Also, I don't think I would able to catch the plot and that would be a waste of my time. Despite all these reasons, I went anyway, without any expectations. Worse come to worse, I could sleep in the theathre. Unexpectedly, I thought the movie was quite good and I enjoyed it! And it turns out that I'd to explain the story to my lost friends! Haha...

I'm not sure if it's good to live life without expectations. But so far, I'm enjoying it. At least, life feels breezier like this..............