Christmas is here...

Santa honey,

I’ve been an awfully good okay gal this year… so check my list and slide down the chimney quick ;D

Well, in case your iphone application is jammed with requests, here’s my “condensed” list…

1) World peace – I guess this is a pre-requisite to get you to scroll down the list eh…

2) Cool gadgets – I wouldn’t mind receiving tablets, high-tech media devices or game consoles

3) Hunk(s) – Well, it’s about time that I get a dose of romance and ‘excitement’… the ticking sound you hear isn’t your countdown to Christmas but my biological clock =p

4) Health – The family is ‘expanding’ (except the Chan family line), so good health and great well-being to all

5) Job that pays real moolah – Seriously, 30 years old and all I can afford is a car (heck, it still belongs to the bank!)

Okay, time to move on to the next naughty nice person’s list… XOXO

Blessed Christmas everyone!!!



Melbourne

I wonder if there’s an unwritten code that all budget airlines must be delayed… our flight from Adelaide to Melbourne via Tiger Airways was delayed, causing us to miss our airport transfer to our hotel… so after few enquiries and calls we finally got onto a van en route for Formule 1 Melbourne…

It’s warmer in Melbourne, more crowded too… there are so many trams in the city! It’s exciting, I’m a city girl so being in a ‘happening’ city is ‘stimulating’ ;D

Formule 1 hotel is ok, but their elevators are really really slow… next, we moved to Batman’s Hill on Collins… wow, huge difference… there’s a mix-up by the travel agent hence instead of a triple sharing room, my sisters and I got a suite without having to pay extra…

Then we had two tours - the 12 Apostles and Phillip Island… we visited the Royal Botanic Garden as it’s their Spring Open Day… did some shopping at Harbour Town & Bourke Street… so many places, so little time… their opening hours really sucks… woke up early, they’re not open… after 5 pm they’re closed, so at night the only thing to do is go to the supermarket! Gosh! Being in Oz really gave us the shopping-withdrawal syndrome…

I found joy in a 2nd hand shop where I bought two books that looked so new… one is a 2010 publication! In Msia, these very books will cost around RM90 to RM130… And best part? I thought it’s AUD$1 per book (I had to stop myself from shoving every book into my bag) but when I went to the cashier, it’s only 20 cents per book!!! Walaupun kali 3 baru 60 sen di Malaysia!!!

Food wise, nothing special… love that there’s porky everywhere… even in McD… oh did I mention, Farmers Union iced coffee? That’s a must try… too bad didn’t get to try their gelato… should have gotten a bottle of wine eh… next trip…

All in all it’s a good trip… nice to catch up with family and friends… good to be away from the stress of work… and if we don’t convert the prices of stuff, it’s actually quite affordable & definitely cheaper compared to the stuff in Msia…

Took SIA back to Msia, a little stopover in Sg again… my system went haywire after the trip… imagine there’s a time difference when we arrived in Adelaide, then another time zone in Melbourne, few days later daylight saving started, then it’s time to go home… so I was disoriented for a few days, hungry and sleepy at the wrong times, and don’t get me started on the heat & humidity of our beautiful country…

Ahhh… I’m a survivor… let’s do it again =p

Aussie Adventure

My poor blog has been left idle for some time… thought I wanna update it after my trip down under… but once I returned to the office I was swamped / overwhelmed / buried with work… my ever so ‘lovely’ superiors had moved my deadline forward! So after almost 2 weeks of all-work-no-rest, I’ve finally met the craziest deadline ever on Monday…

For the uninformed, I went to Singapore, Adelaide and Melbourne in September and returned to Malaysia in October… like all holidays it was too short =p

I took Singapore Airlines hence the stopover at Spore… I had more than 10 hours in Spore… reached Changi Airport around noon and had my brunch in Terminal 2… waited for my family members travelling from KK… after meeting up, we went to the city… boy, it was super crowded coz F1 was that very nite! Too bad I didn’t see Jenson Button or Lewis Hamilton…

The flight to Adelaide is at 11 something at nite… they served supper on flight but I was too tired to eat so just downed a glass of red wine and zzzzzzz…. Didn’t sleep well, woke up after awhile and watched in-flight movies…

Touched down in Adelaide airport in the morning… long line and very strict immigration checks… so having been sniffed by 1 huge dog and 1 mini dog, and escaping the hassle of having my suitcase opened, I emerged to the other side of the terminal and saw my eagerly waiting sister =D

Spring just started, temperature was around 11 °C with strong winds and a shower or two… stayed at Annie’s Place… the good thing bout oz is their public transportation… buses, cabs and trams in good condition, ppl are courteous and helpful, and most importantly they’re on time! Unlike the place I’m residing in, where schedules are just a formality, drivers drive like a drunk and the vehicles are rundown…

After dinner on the day of arrival I just knocked out… then we had the convocation, meeting up with friends, a little shopping, lots of eating and photo snapping… rented a car to the wineries and other local attractions, returned the car to the airport and off we go… to Melbourne…

… to be continued…

The Sinkhole Syndrome

http://www.christianity.com/Home/Christian%20Living%20Features/11635280/

BlanK

No inspiration
Nessuna ispirazione
아니 영감
いいえインスピレーション
Aucune source d'inspiration
ไม่มีแรงบันดาลใจ
Tiada inspirasi
No hay inspiración
没有灵感

Loss

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want...

Life is unpredictable, as Forest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” I am somewhat blessed as I experience loss considerably late in life. My lovely grandma passed away late last month and everyone is sad but we know she’s with the Lord. She lived a full life... a woman of faith, independent, strong, cool and smart... she lived to see four generations under one roof... she didn’t suffer and she remained faithful to Christ till the end... she was 89 years old... She’ll be dearly missed.

On an unrelated matter, I so totally fell in love with Nick Vujicic! A charming man of faith... it didn’t matter that he’s without limbs... I liked something he said... it goes something like this... pray for what you want... and wait for it... it’ll be on god’s timing not yours... but if you don’t get what you prayed for... it’s ok... coz you can be certain that at god’s timing, He has something even better for you... *grin* I can hear single ladies shouting amen... this is true, not just in the aspect of relationship, but for all parts of life... Stormie Omartian wrote this in one of her books, “Prayer is a privilege that is always ours, but the power in prayer is always His. Without God, we can't do it. Without us, God won't do it.”

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28)

Thomas Cup Finals 2010

Proton

Taufik Hidayat

Lin Dan
China players / team members
Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng, Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan, umpire & match officials getting ready

Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng (China)

Pancaragam (waiting for the arrival of the King)

Chen Jin-Simon Santoso

Meow

Last weekend was mother’s day... come to think of it, i’ve not celebrated mother’s day with my mom for the past decade! So this year, we went on a little break in Kuching, Sarawak.
Relatives from my maternal grandma’s side are in Kuching and of all my family members, i’m the only one that had never been there. So it’s a good time to go show my face and also to meet of my grandaunt who’s visiting from California, USA.

The trip was ok, tried the local delicacies but was a little disappointed. It’s just not to my ‘taste’. Made a quick stop by the ‘original’ cat statue for a quick photo snap on the first day.

Next, it’s time to go home... the weird thing bout Kuching airport is there’s no free wi-fi... so i just sat in the boarding hall... plane was late in arriving, perhaps due to the heavy downpour... not only was my flight delayed, when i got to klsentral via erl, the lrt had an unscheduled delay... by the time there’s a train, everyone squeezed in like sardines in a can... what a long and tiring day...
Didn’t go to any of the caves but made a trip to Sematan beachside, that’s 1.5 hours drive from Kuching.

Then, there’s the mother’s day cum getting to know relatives cum reunion dinner. I was introduced to everyone since it was my first time there. Met all the grandaunts, granduncle, uncles, aunties, cousins. When i talked to one of the uncles, i realised his son is actually my friend from university! What a small world... i’ve known him for about 10 years not knowing we’re cousins!

 

Do You Long for the Goodness of Life?

http://www.crosswalk.com/spirituallife/11629526/

Operation Botak

This operation aims to raise RM100K to help provide indigenous communities in the interiors of Tuaran & Kota Belud (Sabah, East Malaysia) with the gift of education & literacy by equipping a mobile library & learning resource centre.

Read more & support this at World Vision website.

International Women's Day

March 8th = International Women's Day
Read this article

CNY Dash

Cny is often a busy time of the year. What i didn't expect was my dash started the day before the eve of the lunar new year. My flight back to hometown was on Feb 12th. Since the flight is at 3pm, i've decided to walk out to the lrt station & take the lrt to klsentral in order to take the erl to KLIA. But then a dear friend offered to send me to klsentral. Not wanting to sound too desperate (though i gladly jumped on the offer), i said sure if it's convenient for you... he insisted we go earlier in case the erl encountered any technical problems. Since he said that, he kinda jinxed it so we set the time to 12 noon. The time came & went... he's late! i wanted to walk out since it was sunny but he insisted i wait, so i waited till bout 1pm! I reached klsentral around 1.30pm, the check-in time for my flight at the station was closed so i gotta check-in at the airport... waited 12 minutes for the train & it took 28 minutes to reach klia... with lots of prayers, i reached the self check-in kiosk & surprisingly there's no one there... for the first time in my life i didn't check a single detail on my boarding pass... the moment i got my boarding pass, i rushed to the baggage drop counter... boarding time was 2.30pm and i checked-in at 2.20pm! thank god i didn't miss the flight!