BOOTS

i was writing a long-ass post last night after i came home from midvalley after having dinner with the rest of the chambees at nando's. halfway through... i pulled the ac plug from my laptop and normally when i do that the battery would kick in... but this time, it didnt and the whole laptop shut down and together with it, my post which i did not save. *sigh* and now i'm in no mood to do that post anymore.

but instead... let's talk about BOOTS, just like my subject up there says... "BOOTS".

and no, i'm not talking about the footwear. i'm talking about the mega chain drugstore.. Boots.

no comprendo? check out the link... BOOTS.

understand now?

what's there to talk about?

well, i MISS it like crazy. especially the one in eldon square, newcastle. i used to spend like a really long time in there. just looking and trying out all the things they have there. the row of cosmetics, the perfume, the dyes, the range of facial care. *sigh* i really miss boots. i really do.

but i guess it's more of missing the uk lifestyle i had. the freedom to do whatever i want. the freedom to go wherever i want. the freedom. i think i miss my freedom. it was bliss for me living abroad. and newcastle was superb. sure there were times when i missed home, missed malaysia... but one thing i did not miss was definitely my lack of freedom in malaysia.

and what brought on this longing for boots?

i was in guardian and watsons today in 1 utama and the selection we have here was soooooooo miniscule compared to boots. there are things here that boots dont have but malaysia have but still... the choices are limited. the things expensive. not much testers. it's just different. makes me wonder why don't we have boots or superdrug here. i'm sure if boots or superdrug would open here they would send guardian and watsons into winding up.

but then again, even if boots or superdrug opened up here, it wouldn't be the same. i wouldn't have the same amount of freedom and time to linger around just like i used to do in newcastle. things will never be the same.

I MISS BOOTS!!!

oh gosh.. i just found out that boots have chains in not only Britain, but also in USA, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Romania, Russia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and... AND... coming soon... KUWAIT, DUBAI, THAILAND AND INDONESIA!!!

what about MALAYSIA!?!?!

*sigh*

I MISS BOOTS!!! and MY FREEDOM!!!

Lesson 1

ENGLISH BULLDOG



The English Bulldog is small in stature, but wide and compact, with a thick, massive head. The head is broad (the broader the more prized) with cheeks that extend to the sides of the eyes. The skin on the skull and forehead falls in dense folds. Its muzzle is short and pug and its nose is broad and black with large nostrils. The upper lip is pendent and the lower jaw is very undershot. Eyes are very round, far apart and very dark. The ears are small and thin and folded back in the form of a rose. The tail is short and carried low. The coat comes in red, fawn, brindle, pale yellow or washed-out red, or white, or a combination of any of these colours. The muzzle is sometimes dark. With its stocky legs set squarely at each corner of its compact, muscular body, the Bulldog looks as though it waddles when it walks.

The English Bulldog descended from ancient Mastiffs that originated in Asia and were brought to Europe by nomads. Mastiffs were bred for ferocity in fighting, holding, or bringing down aggressive prey. The Bulldog was bred in the early 13th Century for bull baiting. The short muzzle and wide lower jaw were needed for the dog to clamp itself to the bull's nose like a vise, and the nose had to be upturned so that the dog could still breathe while clinging to the bull. It is mentioned in many historical works, most notably, in Shakespeare's King Henry VI. When animal baiting contests were outlawed in England in 1835, these Bulldogs were increasingly exported to America and also to Germany, where they helped create the Boxer. The last of the working Bulldogs in England were crossed with Pug Dogs to create a stocky, docile, family pet-known today as the English Bulldog.

Gentle, friendly, and adoring, with a mischievous dose of stubbornness, the English Bulldog is incessantly loyal to its family. It usually gets along well with other animals, is particularly fond of children, and does best indoors. Highly spirited as a puppy, the English Bulldog grows up to be a calm adult. The breed prefers not to exercise, can easily overheat, and is prone to drooling and snoring.


end of lesson.


if by now u're wondering what provoked this sudden lesson on english bulldogs... well, it's probbly of the massively huge dinner i had just now in hartamas... NO!!! I DID NOT EAT AN ENGLISH BULLDOG!!!

don't be so sick ok? that's like super disgusting!!! eeeyeeewwww.... now i feel sick. it's all ur fault for bringing it up...

...i had dinner at this ENGLISH pub named BULLDOG. hence english bulldog. =)
*LOL*

[note : please pardon the sad quality of the pictures... my phone camera sucks]




well.. it aint the picture of the pub but a picture of its menu.. but so what? like i said in the note above... my phone camera sucks. it was rather dark... dark enuff for me to not be able to take any pictures.




TRADITIONAL ENGLISH DISHES!!! oh and plus some italian food too... but all the same........... IT WAS NON-HALAL!!! PORK!!! BACON!!! yummmmmmmm!!! *grins*




this was what salim ordered... fish and chips... NOT chicken chop as 'someone' said it was.... *wink*
the chips were yummy though a bit salty...




mellie ordered the bulldog burger... don't be fooled by how small the dish looks from the pictures... the burger was really tall and BIG... melly had to split the burger into halves and it looked as though she ordered 2 bigmacs from mcDs!!! the burger had bacon (YUMMMYYY) and beef patty and i dunno what else cos i did not try hers at all... i was having trouble trying to finish my own... *grins*




my meal... toad in the hole. 3 fat pork sausages in a yorkshire pudding covered in gravy. don't ask me which is the toad and which is the hole... but i would have called this dish... "BODIES IN WATERY GRAVE"
*LOL*
it's superb... by the time i finished half of the second sausage... i was full. by the time i finished the whole plate....... i was soooo close to exploding. if u had asked me to bend down and pick something up from the floor my dinner would have come gushing out.




Phillie's dinner of pork chop. it looked good too... i dunno. i didnt try.....




Azzie had steak and kidney pie. STEAK and KIDNEY INSIDE THE PIE as FILLINGS! *winks*
and no... that bun-looking thing is NOT a bun. it's the top of the pie!!!




and last but not least... Pammie's shepherd pie. now this is damn good and i can vouch for it becos i tasted it. it's HUGE too... it's like those ready made pies in tesco... but DOUBLE its size. gosh... i used to eat HALF of that shepherd pie for dinner back in newcastle!!! so it wasnt a surprise that pammie eventually did this.....




smiley face mash potatoes!!! *LOL*


all in, the pub was superb and it felt like i was transported back to an english traditional pub back in newcastle. only thing funny about this pub was... being an english pub... with english customers... and english menu...

... instead of showing english premier league...

...they showed MALAYSIAN FOOTBALL!!! *ROFL*

PANGKOR AGAIN

well, as u can read from the title... YESH I WAS BACK IN PANGKOR AGAIN!!! =P
but this time not on company trip but on a treasure hunt!!! to be specific, banking & finance division's client's charity treasure hunt...



Time Out!

it is a charity treasure hunt and to take part, u need to pay per car (minimum of 2 maximum of 4 persons per car), RM1,000.00!!! yesh a thousand per car!!! but we being poor chambering students, we were sponsored by the firm!!! so probbly that explains why i went to pangkor again... hehehe...

but first...

THE ACTORS



pammie the navigator, me the passenger no.2, azzie the driver and jennie the passenger no.1

now we start...

DAY 1 : 22 April 2006

woke up at the most unearthly time for a saturday morning... 5.50am! washed up, grabbed my bag and was off to the car park beside the Securities Commission...

...where we were flagged off at 7.37am! and we were given our directions AND questions and 7 and a half hours to get from KL to Lumut, Perak!!!



our questions..... this is only page 1...

...and we were stumped by question no.4...


spent a long time at this bus stop looking for the answer... without realising that the answer was actually the signboard RIGHT OPPOSITE THE BUS STOP which we had been STARING AT!!!

*blush*



answer to this question... "local law enforcers have lost their head, but do stop for some coffee and some bread"

anyways... we were going at our own pace figuring "hell, 7 hours is more than enuff time"... BUT boy, were we sooo wrong. by the last few questions... we were running out of time and we were still MILES away from the lumut jetty where the finish point was. and to make matters worse... our dear navigator took us on a nice detour by failing to notice that we had to turn left at a certain turning. by the time we got back to the right road... we hardly stopped to hunt for the answers so we were literally spotting answers as we zoomed by to reach the final destination!

by the time we arrived at lumut jetty and submitted our answers, we were 15 minutes late and so we were penalised... =(

boarded the ferry to pangkor again... and we were exhausted... so was our driver...



azzie k o-ed in the ferry... :D


but it was worth it...



the beautiful pangkor beach....



dillie pammie and jennie enjoying a leisurely walk on the beach...



more of pangkor...



we got bored sitting around so we started playing chor tai di...



..until i saw the sunset... *sigh* if onli smoo was there with me...


and then we all went back to our respective rooms to get ready for dinner. i was sharing a room with the partner... so it was kinda scary at first but the partner was really nice and so it was a thrill having to share a room with her... =)

dinner was kinda fun... kinda cos the food just spoilt it. we had buffet and hey guess what??? it's the SAME SERVINGS as the last time we were there!!!
but the auction was fun to watch... they were auctioning drinks and weird stuff off all for the sake of charity... before they revealed the answers to our treasure hunt... and the winners......



s.a., ex-partner, l.a. and partner... won 3rd prize!!!



and we got SIXTH PLACE!!! :D not bad for beginners eh?



SIXTH PRIZE ok? ... one RM50 voucher for drycleaning... one RM100 voucher for an hour's game at the cage... futsal place futsal place... not some kinky thing... :D


as for what happened after the dinner... the rule of what happened in pangkor remains in pangkor applies here... unless u manage to 'persuade' me to reveal all... *cheeky grin*

and then we went to sleeep... zzzzzzzz...


DAY 2 : 23 April 2006

woke up a lil' late and missed breakfast completely... so we hurriedly checked out and caught the ferry back to the mainland...



on the ferry... pammie dillie and azzie... dillie was STARRRVING!!!


we wanted to go for seafood cos we heard that apparently there was this place at kampung cina that serves splendid seafood but unfortunately we couldnt find the place... we found kampung cina though... and so we ended up in teluk intan having banana leaf rice. *lol*



the treasure hunters in teluk intan with our mode of transport.... what car??? *winks*



malaysia has her own equivalent to the leaning tower of pisa... THE LEANING TOWER OF TELUK INTAN!!!


and after lunch we headed straight for home....... only to end up in ss2 having swensens ice cream!!! yummmmmmmmmmmy!!! sticky chewy chocolate!!! =)



btw, if u are wondering how fast we were going.......



this pic was taken when the car slowed down a lil and it wasn't so bumpy...... note that the speedometer is in MILES...

*grins* i hope daddy/mummy don't know about this blog... if u do, the speedometer is in KILOMETRES OK??? *grins*

PANGKOR and TREASURE HUNT was FUN!!!

Pangkor forever...

been ages since i last posted a photo blog. but then again, i'm a chambering student... what photos am i supposed to take? life's fallen into a routine... wake up, eat breakfast, work, eat lunch, work, eat dinner, shower, chat on msn, sleep, wake up, eat breakfast... u get the drift. so i seriously doubt anyone would want photos of my life as a chambering student right???

all the same, the weekend before the last, i was on our company retreat to pangkor island. accomodation, travel expenses and food all covered. GRANDNESS!!! and where were we staying? Pangkor Island Beach Resort!!! the place was gorgeous... simply absolutely beautiful...

DAY ONE : 8 APRIL 2006
woke up early to get ready and somehow still had to rush myself to office to get to our meeting place on time to catch the bus to pangkor which was supposedly supposed to leave at 9am SHARP! note i said SUPPOSEDLY!


azzy helping out... carrying boxes to load onto one of the 6 buses...


the things people do when they get bored on the bus...


it took us DAMN LONG to reach lumut. say we left at about 9.30am... but we only arrived in lumut at about 1pm!!! it was crazy i tell u... CRAZY!!! we had 2 stops... the first stop was like 15 minutes after we departed from our office's parking lot! and we got off the highway somewhere far away from lumut... which meant we travelled the old roads all the way to lumut... grrr...

got off the bus and within 5 minutes i was edi burning in the sun... how wonderful is that? and yes, i got realllllllllllly burnt!!! *sobs*

we caught the 2.45pm ferry across to the island...


the gorgeous ladies of the chambering rooms of 18th and 19th floor... MIA : azzy who was our cameraman... ally, rajjy and seany who didn't join the retreat... BORING!!!


don't u think this boat reminds u of PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN minus the sails???


"oh! come back to me my dearrrr johhhnnnieeee!!!"


arrived at the resort and got our key to the rooms... it was triple sharing but it was wonderful. the space in the rooms was BIG enuff to fit 13 people into one room!!! =)

rested a bit... changed and went out to take a walk on the beach... OH!!! NO HANDPHONE RECEPTIONS!!! *sobs*
... jumped waves a lil' before proceeding to join in the staff meeting at the ballroom...
...thereafter had BBQ dinner by the poolside... limbo rock... and when we were about to retreat to go find someplace to practice our performance for the next night, we got caught by the partners of the firm to join them at the bar for some drinks... and we were there from 9pm to about 2am before managing to escape back into our rooms for zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

zzzzz....

DAY TWO : 9 April 2006
went for breakfast... and was told to go put on the orange t-shirts we were given the day before during the meeting. so after breakfast we all went to change and was heading to Joe Tan's beachfront to join the sea of orange telematch but was stopped short by the beautiful clear waters and so...


AAAA!!! WAVE!!! MEAN WAVE!!! BAD WAVE!!!


after soaking in the clear waters... and after showering and after lunch... all of us squeezed into one room where we watched tv, chitchatted... forgot that azzy was around (he was the only guy k) and some girls were trying to 'molest' one another... =D

some fell asleep... some chitchatted...


i wonder what's so funny...... hiddy & pammy


then we went to Joe Tan's beachfront to help decorate the place for the night's dinner... Bohemian Blitz. it was absolutely beautiful.. well, kind of beautiful by the time we were done...
and then we had to FINALLY PRACTICE OUR PERFORMANCE FOR THE FIRST AND THE LAST TIME before going back to get ready for the dinner...


GORGEOUS SUNSET!!!


dinner was a buffet... but none of us had any appetite to eat... we were worrying about our performance... which was due to start soon...


bush, devil and lucifer... interviewer scene...


hiddy v vivvy.... the fight scene...


hiddy v pammy... the fight scene...


"kalau salah tolong tunjukkan!!!" all of us in a row...


top L-R : jully, mandy, massy, meeny, vivvy, hiddy, dilly, azzzy, jenny
bottom L-R : philly, pammy, rinny, melly


our performance sucked. no one understood it and so... i don't ever wanna be reminded of it. EVER.
but we were FAMISHED after our performance so all of us went grab whatever that was leftover of the buffet... and stuffed ourselves full... =D

and then we split up... some went back to their rooms to sleep... some went to the bar to watch the manchester match... while a few of us went walking on the beach...


dilly and vivvy...


DAY THREE : 10 April 2006
was woken up by the telephone ringing and got up to go get ready for breakfast. after breakfast... some of us went canoeing whilst some went to rest and relax on the beach in the shade...

i saw STINGRAYS at the bottom of the seabed whilst canoeing!!!

dipped in the sea awhile before heading back to the room to shower, get ready and pack up to check out with a heavy heart.


homeward bound... on the ferry...


that's about all about the pangkor retreat. there are more that happened at pangkor but as the rule "whatever happens in pangkor stays in pangkor" applies... i shall not say anymore. =D

all the same... pangkor was superb and guess what? I AM GOING BACK THERE THIS WEEKEND 2DAYS AND 1NIGHT FOR TREASURE HUNT!!!
*grins*

mebbe i'll take more pics this time... MEBBE!!!
btw, if some of the pics look grainy and not so good... it's probbly cos it's a pic of a pic!!! =D

so until next time.... adios~!!!

V = ?

"Voilà! This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, it is vestige of the vox populi, no vacant, vanished as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-gaurding vie and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigiland and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-a-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

-ripped from the movie V for Vendetta.

life as a chambering student in a big firm is tough. if it's not massive work load and long hours you have to get through, it's the politics of the firm you have to bear. and that does not include the politics of the lawyers above you. it includes your fellow chambering students. not that we really play politics like that of the other firms but when you get a few bad characters in, things get pretty bad...

--post deleted--

anyways, i was thinking of doing a vendetta... but whatever... i'm adopting a shikamaru attitude and I DONT GIVE A DAMN ANYMORE unless it matters me.

note : if anyone's wondering what happened to the part that's been deleted, well, on second thoughts, i would never know who's reading this right? just like i never knew my own lecturer used to read this blog too. so i've deleted it. not becos i'm afraid... merely becos i don't want any bad rumours going around.

this is what happens...

...when u get all stressed up at work and can no longer think straight...

dear smoo, i know u hate it that i work late.
i wish i didn't have to. but my work load is excessive.
and this is the shit we'll have to go thru, until the day we climb up the food chain.
but i'm getting there and it is paying off.

...

*hugs and kisses*
u're my BIG BIG BIG time stress reliever.
just the sound of ur voice brightens up my crappy day.
sorry to make u worry so much.

my lil' stress reliever.

by the way... if u think the names on the board don't quite make sense, they probbly do since i renamed the 18th floor peeps. *grins*

and if any of u 18th floor gurls ever read this blog... gosh, u're so free.. may i delegate my work to you???
DROP A LINE OF HELLO!!!

shoe shopping

do u think guys enjoy following their girl friends/significant other/fiance/wife/mother/sisters to go shoe shopping?

somehow i hav this theory that they do...
wanna know why?

well, firstly, they follow to a shoe shop, and then they seat themselves down right in front/inside the shoe shop and then secretly enjoy the show in front of them... whilst feigning boredom and irritation.

what show?

well... the sight of countless of women/girls bending down picking shoes up.

hahaha... i think i'm crazy. but don't u think my theory has a certain ring of truth to it???

wished i didn't make u angry.
wished i didn't make u irritated.

wished u didn't have to go to sleep angry.
wished u didn't have to go to sleep irritated.

S O R R Y

please don't be mad.
please don't be irritated.

please don't sleep in anger.
please don't sleep in irritation.

forgive ur silly forgetful inconsiderate guilty moosh? please?

all about attitudes...

...at work.

picture this.
you're a fresh law graduate and you join a prominent firm. unfortunately for you, the firm is extremely busy and you are drafted in to help immediately. you work and work and work and three days later, you quit citing health reasons preventing you from moving around much and that all you want is a job that would allow you to just sit in the office and type. however, your typing skills is that of two-fingers.
what do you think that would say about your attitude towards work?

now picture this.
again you're a fresh law graduate and you join a prominent firm. the firm is extremely busy and you are drafted in to help. your fellow colleagues are similarly busy. however they are handling at least two projects AND also taking in all the small jobs that come in. you on the other hand, have only one project and you have the guts to ask a partner's secretary to type out all your notes for you. your fellow colleagues are working their heads off whilst you sit and surf the net day in and day out. and when people call asking if anyone has the capacity to do a little work, you have the nerve to say that you are extremely busy and have no capacity. thus, further burdening your fellow colleagues with more work.
what would this say about you? AND YOU WANT TO BE RETAINED! *pukes blood*

and one last one.
i received a call for N the other day but N was not around. the lawyer left a message asking for N to please return the laptop immediately. since N was taking a rather long time to return to the room, i decided to call N instead to inform N.

"N? XXX called and wants the laptop immediately."
"oh. when did XXX call?"
"quite some time ago."
"are you sure it was XXX?"

LIKE DUH!!!

work attitude. it is extremely important if you want to get somewhere in life.
REMEMBER THAT! i'm sure all those who made it in life are where they are now because of their attitude towards work. i highly doubt that they were once as lazy as in the above scenarios and that got them wayy up there now.

i don't want to get involved but you are really getting on my nerves. although it is only one side of the story i am hearing, i have eyes to see and ears to hear for myself to only know that it is more or less true.

alrights. back to work for me... no thanks to you.

OVERRATED is...

...valentine's day.

just walk into a shopping mall and u'll see what i mean. the amount of countless valentine's day specials, bridal promotions, yadda yadda yadda... urgh! even restaurants are promoting v-day dinners... prices raised to almost cut-throat. DAYLIGHT ROBBERY!!!
hmm, mebbe i should open a bridal house or a florist shop or a gift shop specialising only on valentine's day gifts or even a restaurant opened only for valentine's day dinner... i think i'll deffie make loadsa cool bucks...

why do we need one special day to show how much we care? shouldn't it be everyday that we show the people we love how much they mean to us? shouldn't it be the little things that count instead of ONE BIG DAY?

anyways, it is depressing enuff i'm celebrating v-day with WORK at WORK but this??? stop rubbing it in my face! didn't help that nimjei asked how i'm celebrating v-day and hapeegi telling me about their plans. didn't help even more that lunasee is overseas celebrating with her man. even lapame is celebrating with her bf. well, even though late but still?
i'm stuck having to go to work... overloaded and overstressed. smoo's busy at work too... way up north.

valentine's day is just overrated and it sucks.


pardon me if u don't agree but i'm just comforting myself cos i felt so empty walking around the shopping mall without smoo. i'm addicted to having smoo nearby that it is soo hard to grow out of it.

but all the same...

!!!HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL YOU LOVERS OUT THERE!!!


and to my darling smoo... u know what i have to say. *grins* and that's why u're my smoo and i'm ur moosh. *hugs* and *kisses*

lost : smoomoo

celebrating cny with u was wonderful. even tho' we didn't really do much.
hanging out, shopping, attending dinners, fearless and geisha, meeting frens...
all that didn't matter.
what made the whole hols extremely fun, happy and exciting was u.
just plain simple u right next to me.
even when u were online and i was reading right next to u.
i was contented. i was safe.

and as u always say, "all good things must come to an end", these few days together flew by faster than we wanted it to.
and now u're miles up north.

i miss u edi so very much.

cheap

Would you be hurt if one day, a random stranger called you cheap to your face?

Would you be hurt if one day, a friend called you cheap to your face?

Would you be hurt if one day, your best friend called you cheap to your face?

Would you be hurt if one day, your own mum called you cheap to your face?



Which of the above, do you think, would hurt the most?

Which of the above, do you think, would be like a slap to your face?

Which of the above, do you think, would be like a knife in your heart?

Which of the above, do you think, would make you cry?




What you said hurt me the most.

happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday SMOOMOO!!!!!



H A P P Y


B I R T H D A Y





H A P P Y


B I R T H D A Y



happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday SMOOMOO!!!!!

p/s : i just realised i wished u happy birthday on my blog exactly a year ago!!! *kisses* & *sloth* hope u have a great one this year!

goodbye 2005... welcome 2006!!!

spending christmas and new year back in malaysia is like an all-new experience. there's so much i miss of newcastle. and our days at hotspur street is on the very top of my list. those were the golden days...
*sigh*
anyways, i also miss the christmas decorations in newcastle. especially fenwick's ever-unique christmas displays. and the snow. and the cold.

BUT...

this year.. well, last year's christmas to be correct, was an altogether different one. firstly and most importantly, it was a HOT HOT affair. and then there's the complete lack of christmas decorations with the exception of midvalley's which was superb... no boxing day sales to look forward to... AND the fact that 2 hours of christmas day was spent on a lil' fokker aeroplane! *lol*

yeah... i flew back to me hometown for the christmas weekend holidays.


scene in klia at an ungodly hour of 6am... air asia queuesssssssss........!!!



can u figure out which airport that pic above belongs to??? *grins*


nah, i guess not... unless of course u're from S A N D A K A N, SABAH.
yeaps, that's sandakan's airport. it still looks the same save for some changes here and there. and when i say STILL looks the same, i really mean it considering i haven't been back for almost a decade.

soo... i was in sandakan on xmas eve. and my uncle and cousin brother came to pick us up and we headed down to town to the 'pasar' (market) to meet my aunt @ 5yiyi, who's my mum's younger sister.
yesh... sabah is maternal side!
and... along the way, came across this road sign...


"jalan buli sim sim" *LOL*

now... back to pasar... 5yiyi was waiting for us there. she runs a stall there and we had 5 bowls of roasted pork kuey teow soup waiting for us. *grins* yummy!!!


5yiyi's stall, the kuey teow soup, duchess of kent hospital... my place of birth!

after pasar... we headed back to granpa's house. and just after the roundabout, i saw a kinda-familiar structure... my p.o.b!!! it's onli kinda-familiar cos they've done extensive renovations to it and now it looks bigger than i remembered it to be.

can u believe that my xmas eve was spent cleaning up, sweeping the floor of dust and cobwebs, AND mopping the floor 3 times over??? granpa's house was seriously dirty since no one's been living in it for ages and it's even more ridiculous that we cleaned up almost the WHOLE house even though we were going to stay there for the night only!!! *lol*

but it was fun being back in granpa's house... and i even found this...!!!


my granpa's glasses!!! *grins*

for dinner, 5yiyi and her family took us out for dinner and we had the only food u should ever go to sabah to eat...................................

SEAFOOOOOOOOD!!!


*lol* sorry for pic of half-eaten food. i only remembered to take pics too late! and the pic on the right is a dish full of scallops!!! FRESH!!!

seafood is cheap cheap cheapo!!! can u believe that u can buy crabs at the market in sabah for only RM5 a kilogramme??? and compare that to buying crabs in peninsular malaysia for rm20-30 a kg!!! *nosebleed*

counted down to xmas in granpa's house in pyjamas and rummaging thru old old pics of my mum and her sisters and granma & granpa!!! how fun eh??? *hehehe*

xmas day dawns and it's off to the airport again to fly to tawau where we are going to see my eldest aunt and granma!!! and it's this miserly plane that we took from sandakan to tawau...


fokker...

there isn't much to say about tawau but i spent a good whole xmas day and boxing day there. urm, went to a philipino lady's house for xmas lunch... had xmas dinner at home... had boxing day breakfast in this shop... and had boxing day lunch of instant noodles!!! *lol*

nah... wasn't all that boring. spent most of my time with granma anyways. gee... i missed her so very much and it was a shock to see her using a walker for assistance when she moves around. but she's numero uno. unlike my paternal granma, who i see every single year, i hardly get to see my maternal granma and it's almost a decade since i've seen her. and believe it or not... she recognised each and every one of us sisters without making a mistake!!! paternal granma on the other hand mistook me to be my youngest sister... *grr*

all the same... eldest aunt took us around tawau... and these are what i saw... among a lot more...


the largest pasar in malaysia???


one of the road signs in tawau...

then on the evening of tawau, it was back to the airport and back on transit to sandakan.... in order to get to...


kota kinabalu!

and 2nd yiyi and uncle and couzzie took us straight after picking us up to... seafood restaurant!!! i think i got high blood pressure in sabah from all those seafood... *lol*

anyways, some sights of kk...





AND... meet 2nd yiyi's doggies....


guiness, zen, tongtong, dandan@feizhai!

and yeaps... that more or less wraps up my christmas trip to sabah... it was back to work for 3 days before rushing up to penang to celebrate new year with my smoomoo!!! and what a long 3 days of work... reason being i was looking forward to penang and also cos i completed everything the day i got back to work after christmas and there's was NO MORE work coming in... but...

... it was worth the wait...

NEW YEAR WAS ABSOLUTELY GREAT!!!

considering it was my first time out of the house counting down. and that includes when i was in newcastle. i've never been out on new year's eve pushing thru, rubbing against and even squished amongst sticky sweaty stinky people; getting my toes stepped on countless of times by different people over a period of 2 hours; stepping on, tripping over and kicking used spray bottles of soap suds and stringers; going almost deaf from the numerous times my ears took direct hits from whistles; saying hello to people i cannot for the life of me remember their names; getting sprayed with soap suds and stringers; getting all hot and stinky and sticky myself; feeling like some aunty amongst the crowd full of kids; and... counting down with so many people!!!


the crowd at gurney...


5... 4... 3... 2... 1...!!!


fireworks!!!

*gasps* *sputters* *coughs*


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

missing u edi my smoomoo...