tick tock tick tock

I'm caught in a plateau, uncertain of my somewhat forced on decision to pick one of the few fork roads ahead of me. But to pass days in this frenzied emotional roller coaster is sucking out the very core of me. No wonder my colours are fading..

Leng cheh has vented, but she's a mom with 3 kids so the choice is even harder for her. The Sis is constantly on a verbal diarrhea on this topic too, but that's cos she's wanting to meet more hot men. So has Gecko (no, not to meet any hot men :p), but he has a gameplan come end of this year to indulge in his passion of living under waters (at least for a while that is). My Furniture decided to take matters into his own hands and explore his dreams, but now is the best time for him to do so (altho' if u asked me, I'd rather he choose the option of going abroad).

Magges took the plunge. So did Sourrain. Brave brave souls.

Am I throwing to big a fuss over a comparatively simpler decision I made? I will know come July. I hope it's sooner though for I count the seconds to end the days I'm still facing.

knnccb

My ride got broken into last night :(( I woke up this morning to find my back passenger window smashed to pieces with a lousy yellow plier. The damn thief manage to steal my smarttag and attempted my radio too. As I installed one of those radio with the detachable panel head, the schmuck either did not have enough time to remove the entire radio behind the display panel or was a plain amateur! He disconnected the battery pack under the hood hoping in vain to stop the alarm but lo and behold! my car has a backup alarm battery which did not stop the incessant blaring at 2am. A great big holler from my dad halted his unforgiving act and he took off in a lousy white Proton Iswara.

I am at least thankful that all he got was the smarttag, without my touchngo card inside. Hahahahhaahahha.

Funny thing tho', my smarttag battery died on me for more than a week and a half, and I never got around to replacing the battery. So I have just been using the smarttag on touchngo lanes. As I was driving home last night, I don't know why it struck me that I should just leave the smarttag in the glove compartment and tucked the card on my sun visor. That saved my loaded card from being taken as well!

In a way, I do feel violated. The thought that this bloodypieceofshit sat on my very own seat and rummaged through my belongings is just plain repulsive!!! I hope he gets hit by a car! A car similar to mine! To remind him of his wrong doings! To my car!! Argh!!

My first thought when I learned of this incident, "did he steal my sunnies?!!!!" :p

And PangSaiMa can only say "welcome to the club" -_-

/on a side note - good luck on your first day tomorrow magges!

Porkelicious delight!

4 fellow porkies trotted down to the heart of the city for a real indulgence of soul food. Combine a team of food lovers, wonderful conversations, excellent food, hearty laughters, sufficient drinks and lovely ambience, one would be blisfully contented to start the week.

- We indulged in a mix variety of pork spread; from thinly sliced pork ham with white juicy asparagus to half a suckling pig (hah?? half only ar?!) marinated in white wine which is tender enough to be cut with a plate
- We had fabulous desserts that ended with a shot of alcoholic lime like juice ala tequila style
- One of us had pork ball noodles for breakfast and roast pork rice for lunch to build up the anticipation for pork dinner (over-porked, if u asked me :p)
- We were enlightened with tales of a german's rear to feed our imaginations
- And given recommendations for the best char siew and siew yoke place in town
- To justifications on why "big size" beat "good looks" anytime

El Cerdo in Kuala Lumpur with the best company to brighten up the butterfly's colours. No pictures of food because we were too busy stuffing ourselves :p

Happy birthday Magges!!

I wanted to post this with some good old shots of previous birthdays but I am blogging from my new pc *yes!!!!* and have yet to transfer my old stuff over hence, no photos :( Here's wishing you a wonderful and fantastic year ahead, with great success overcoming all the challenges you will be faced with! I'd like to bake a creme brulee for you but no equipment yet, heh, so wait up for next year ya :)

*muax*

:(

The dreaded day is fast approaching, tomorrow to be precise, and I can only wish you the best of luck! Have faith and be strong, remember that there is nothing like a good challenge to bring out the best in you! That is you my dear friend, that is you. You will be missed tremendously here yet you will be loved and remain in our hearts whenever we do our annual lou sang sessions, birthdays, coffees, drinks and eating. Until we meet again, take good care and I love you lots woman! *big giant hug*.

The last supper, heh

When the lights finally hit red

With SluD (no longer silto)

What facial expressions he has!

Told ya ;)

I will miss you plenty!

Or so it seems!

Flew back to KL and was told I'd be whisked off to Phuket again! Whee!! What a pleasant surprise :) But we paid for the price of last minute planning. Rather expensive air tickets if you asked me. It was a rush for leave application, tickets collection and hotel reservations. We almost missed our filght to begin with as we all left from work early on that Friday afternoon but the rain threw our tight schedule awry.

But Phuket is beautiful; so relaxing and comfortable and cheap. Unfortunately it was the low-peak season, which meant dark cloudy skies and sprinkles of rain showers everyday. First night into Phuket, I was down with fever which blew into a sorethroat, cough and cold. Am still not fully recovered today, 13 days later. But was an otherwise enjoyable trip with good company and alot of laughter.

Phuket Graceland Hotel - very nice!

Maya beach - check out the dark clouds

Dinner on Patong

Foot massage everyday!

Europe Part III

This will be a photo-filled post of Paris. I love the beautiful city and its ancient architecture. If given more time, I can sit in a cafe under the sun the whole day with un verre de vin blanc and people-watch :) I was warned endlessly that the French are really rude and I should keep a sharp eye on my personal belongings. Truth be told, I was really apprehensive before the trip wondering if I can even enjoy the sights with paranoia running through my mind! To sum it up, the French are much better I suppose; save for the receptionist at our hotel which I will perhaps share in another post, and the precaution needed while strolling along the busy city streets or tourist spots is just like how you would take in any other big city. Not a drama-case situation :p

The Pantheon - a temple where the great men in French history are buried

My 2 temp French guards outside the Pantheon :p

We took a cruise on the River Seine, the river running through the heart of Paris, from Pont Neuf, one of the many bridges across the Seine. This cruise is highly recommended as the first spot for first timers in Paris as it cruises along the main attractions of the city, giving you an opportunity to glimpse the favourite sights of Paris and plan your route for the remainder of your trip.

Pont Alexandre III taken on the cruise

The Seine behind us

Statue of King Henri IV, who reigned during the construction of Pont Neuf

We crossed the St Michel bridge to the Notre Dame cathedral. There was an evening service when we entered the church, it just felt so surreal.

Outside the Notre Dame

Its grand height

How much more beautiful those big black cameras can capture - that's me on the right snapping...

... the "Mays" of Notre Dame where green tea, poetry in chests of gold and famous paintings were offered to Mary as gifts from the goldsmiths of Paris on the 1st of May

A visit to the Lourve is of course, a must. Just to find out what's the great big deal of the largest museum in the world. However, even tho' one is not an art connaisseur, one can still enjoy a slow stroll through the maze of famous arts. It is indeed a pleasant experience and the hours just flew by! Photographs are not allowed to be taken in certain sections inside the Louvre, example with the Mona Lisa. So I bought a little bookmark of her. I think it is just a marketing ploy so everyone will buy souvenirs of her.

Outside the Louvre



The purpose of our trip

Candidly caught basking under the sun

Mars & Venus

Those beautiful ceilings!

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Venus de Milo - almost forgot that mum had a figurine of her displayed on a (now broken) glass mantle we used to have

An abstract curved mirror right in the middle of nowhere, making everyone pause with confusion when entering this area. Cute.

Pre-classical Greece, IMHO, the most beautiful & serene section in the whole museum

Right smack in the very busy 6-lane roads just for the Arc de Triomphe

A must on Champs Elysees! :)

I planned to catch the Eiffel in the early evening to see it in all its glory in daylight. And then maybe to hop into a bar for a beer while waiting for nightfall to catch its night lights. We got there about slightly past 7pm and the queue! The long snake of a queue!! Made us miss our beer just so we could catch its grandeur during the transition from day to night. 2 hours long and up 2 lifts later, the view is worth it.

Just as soon as it was lighted up

1000+ ft above, at the top of the tower

Also the purpose of our trip :)

The base of the tower

Not a bad postcard shot from my lousy Sony T5 eh :p

The many little bars along Rue Mouffetard

A typical French rue (us on the left plotting our Metro route over a cup of coffee)

Blood on my toes - my pair of flat-lined walking shoes failed me miserably :( & I bought the first pair of flip-flops I saw on Blvd St Michel

My busted feet

At Gare du Nord waiting for our Thalys back to AMS

Schiphol airport at 2am, dead - we had a 13-hours wait before our flight! O_o

Holiday over :(

Bad Omen

I am not really big on superstitions but I do what I can whenever I can; e.g. take extra precaution on Friday the 13th's, try not to break a mirror, always want to own a rabbit's foot (should have when Bibit died), and all that. In the span of the last week;

- my PC clock died on me. This synchronisation error to Internet server error has been on-going whenever my PC is left untouched for a couple of days OR it could be a curse from Kamarul. I believe it's the latter because I am not the only victim of this said curse as the AlcoholicFrogEater can attest to that!

- my room clock died on me. I changed the batteries twice since but it still does not work accurately. Maybe the batteries have been sitting too long in my drawer.

- my handphone's clock semi died on me. Last nite, I got confused looking at the PC clock that read 11:41pm, my room clock that read 9:37pm and my handphone clock that read 10:51pm. I had to quadruple check the time with my watch!! Which thankfully read 11:41pm.

Is this a bad omen or what?! :(

Europe Part II

We spent a day in Brussels in high search for mussels in white wine sauce but was disappointed to not find any big succulent mussels. Instead, we settled for some beer hopping of some of the local beers in sight. We simply picked at random at any nice sounding names; obviously not the N.A. (non alcoholic) type of beers! We had more beer photos from WS's camera but it got busted in France, so no more pictures :((

The weather was so not for me; too hot under the blazing sun but too chilly in the shades. I wasn't sure if I was turning flushed from the sun or the beer :p

We stumbled across the Manneken Pis by accident, while munching away on an authenthic Belgian Waffle, Brussels style; which is basically with a choice of toppings. From a selection of powdered sugar, dark chocolate drizzles, white chocolate drizzles, whipped cream, ice-cream and fruits; I selected one with strawberries and chocolate. You can't go wrong with that! Except to throw away the last quarter cos it was just too sweet.

The Manneken Pis is indeed very tiny :p

The famous square, Grand Place

Hiding from the sun

Beautiful architecture!

Cobble stone streets

Good stuff!

One whole piece by yourself can be very "errrr"

Manneken Pis is only the height of my head, no?

I could sit here all day sipping beer!

The only mussels we had, those tiny brown specks in the potato dish