What we've been up to this week

This is an informative post to tell you what we've been up to and what we did over the Christmas hols.

23rd Dec: MH finished work early. Basically, almost everyone in the office went home right after a long leisure lunch which ended at 2.00PM. So he was home by 3.00PM. We decided to go down to Darling Harbour in the city for a walk and to enjoy the Christmas decorations and carol singing. It was lovely. The sound of the Christmas carols sounded so magical together with the beautiful scenery and ambience. We also walked around a shopping centre to hunt for the missing piece of MH's Transformers boxed set collection. We saw a myriad of last minute shoppers racing around everywhere.
{I wonder why despite how early the Christmas sales season begins, there will ALWAYS be last minute shopping to do, and there will always be the last minute mad Christmas rush. Puzzling isn't it?}
After dinner, we went out for supper with some of MH's ex-classmates to meet up with one ex-classmate who was in Sydney on holiday. It was an evening spent reminiscing over the good old days for MH and his classmates and catching up on the latest gossip on who was doing what, who was getting married, who died, who's dating who now etc. Although I could not reminisce with them at the same level, I always enjoy being part of this type of conversation. There's a sweet nostalgia and a kind of serenity when old comrades get together like this.

24th Dec: Christmas Eve. We spent it in the most unusual way. MH and I, together with our other connect group members had agreed to help one member shift into her new apartment. We started at 9.30AM and meant to finish all the packing and moving and unloading by 11.00AM or 12.00NOON. But Murphy's Law must dictate that whatever can go wrong will inevitably go wrong. The main problem was that the lifts in the new apartment block were not functioning and there was absolutely no other way we could find our way up to her apartment. And so the whole morning and most of the afternoon was spent waiting around for this issue to be resolved... we called the security guard's office, the sales office, and the lift maintenance people. There was a lot of drama in between which I shall not go into now. But in the end, we finally managed to move everything in time for the member to spend Christmas Eve at her new place.

25th Dec: Christmas Day. The morning was spent at Christmas Day service in church. Then we had an unusual Christmas Day lunch with our couple friends, D&G;, eating dim sum in Chinatown. I believe dim sum is aways best enjoyed enjoyed with friends. I thoroughly enjoyed the talking and eating and sharing of food. After that we went for a nice drive up to the Harbour Bridge to enjoy a quick glimpse of the beautiful city skyline.

26th Dec: Boxing Day. MH and I went down to the Sydney Olympic Park to check out the so called major Boxing Day sales by a major retailer. Unfortunately it was quite dissapointing. The range of clothes were not as nice and varied as I expected. Although they claimed to slash 60-90% of the original price, somehow the items were so expensive to start of with the discounted price was not as attractive as I'd hope. We did eventually end up buying some jackets for next winter.

27th Dec: The REAL boxing day sales commence. MH and I realise that the real post Christmas sales in Sydney begin the day AFTER the actual Boxing Day. We went down to the Westfield Shopping Centre near our place to Myer's major stocktake sale. Wow, it was crazy!!! I confess that I myself went a little bonkers too. I hadn't shopped like this in ages. I tried on plenty of clothes but ended up only buying one item. Somehow it's difficult to find items in XS size in Australia. We also bought some Christmas decorations and Christmas cards for next year... they were so cheap!!!
{Apparently, it's a well know fact that Australians always decorate their house every Christmas with items acquired from the previous year's boxing day sales. I found this quite amusing... the whole pre-Christmas sales is in fact a charade because people just wait for boxing day to buy everything anyway. A friend mentioned to me that it was estimated that the entire country's retail industry will fork in AU$4 billion from boxing day sales alone}
Okay, back to shopping... my favourite buy was a little bag with a funky design which had an adorable little matching set of an apron, oven mitt and pot holder. So cute!!! I especially liked the bag and the apron very much and will certainly use them regularly.
In the evening, we had our couple friends, D&G, over for a simple dinner (I made fried rice and tossed a quick salad of red onions and red wine vinegar for a kind of pickled side-dish). After that we went to watch a movie together: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It was good but a bit of an anti-climax at the same time (more on this later).

28th Dec: MH had taken the day off today so we could run some errands together... we had some banking affairs to close and needed to do them together as we were joint signatories for the accounts. We ended up in the city after finishing our banking to have lunch at the famous Malay-Chinese food restaurant and take-away. It's not bad, really. The owner is supposedly some big business tycoon from Malaysia, but I can't remember his name now. Since we were in the city, I couldn't resist checking out the retail scene there to see what the sales were like. The mad rush of post-Christmas shoppers was still ongoing. But we didn't buy anything.

For me, the Christmas season is officially over and it's time to start thinking and planning for the new year. Time to move forward.

Assorted Picture Treats

I've added a new photo album to my collection... it's an assortment of various photos snapped by me using the camera phone function of my nokia. The picture resolutions may not be top quality, but you can be sure these are honest uncensored moments sparked by my trigger-happy reflex to "capture the moment".

You can find it here: Life is great!

Drop by again 'cos I'll be adding new photos to this album regularly.

Merry Christmas to all!

I realise that this is our first Christmas Eve as an independent family unit. So it was up to me to roll up my sleeves and cook up something worthy (or at least decent enough) for dinner.

The spread looks simple, but I can assure you that it tasted fantastic. MH will back me up on this... sometimes simplicity is really the key. And you can't really go wrong with the classics. And I was bold enough to throw in my own twists.



The basic: roast chicken, anointed with a touch of olive oil and butter. The twist: sweet stuffing of apricots seared in honey.

The basic: mash potatoes. The twist: lots of cheese and a touch of sour cream.

The basic: tomato and cucumber salad tossed in olive oil and vinegar. The twist: actually there's no twist, salads taste best when they are simple and uncomplicated.

Although I miss the usual Christmas feast with the rest of the family back in KK... but we made our own as memorable as possible anyway.

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas pressie for himself

Last night we went Christmas shopping. Westfield shopping centre in Burwood was packed with shoppers with late night shopping extended to midnight. So exciting! We walked around Myer and looked at all the pretty and shiny new things. I was itching to buy a nice new solid good-sized cooking pot (Oh man, I really am turning into a Stepford wife!). In the end I settled for a little stopper so I can keep olive oil in old wine bottles and drizzle them over salads like a professional. Cost $2.60 after 25% discount.

My beloved hubby on the other hand was more extravagant. He spotted the DVD boxed set of the transformers animated series and went absolutely ga-ga over them. He spent a loooong time poring over the sets, contemplating the "to buy, or not to buy" question. Then we went all over the entire Westfield shopping centre to see if there were better deals in other shops. There were none. So it was back to Myer once again. He couldn't decide which one to buy, so he bought both Season 1 and Season 3 DVD boxed sets. Season 2 sets were out of stock much to his dissapointment.

Once we arrived home, we couldn't wait to start watching the first DVD and finished the first 2 episodes. The familiar refrain of the theme song "Transformers... More than meets the eye..." came through the TV speakers... and I remember hearing that same tune every Saturday morning as my brothers plonked in front of the TV to watch Optimus Prime and the Autobots battle it out with Megatron and the Decepticons.



This Transformers thing has gotten bigger than we imagined. Almost every boy owned his own action figure of Optimus Prime or one of their favourite Autobots. In fact we have a friend who still meticulously collects Transformers action figures, even though he's way past his childhood. Apparently, he makes good money selling them to other avid collectors.

Well, inside every man is a little boy. And boys will always be boys. I am glad my hubby found a Christmas present he really likes. He'll probably also say that this DVD boxed set will be something like a legacy to pass on to our kids in the future.

P.S. We're going out again later tonight to another Myer outlet in the city to see if he can get the Season 2 DVD boxed set. Boys!

Our very own Christmas Tree

To keep up with dad's recent posting of the Christmas tree they put up back home in KK, I thought I'd show our own Christmas tree here in our little home in Sydney.

We picked up the tree for a bargain at $5 at a garage sale. The silver tinsel and decorations cost $9 from Ikea. MH insisted on having proper Christmas lights for around $10 also from Ikea. The only drawback is that the lights do not twinkle, but that's alright.

We've spent a few quiet evenings sitting quietly on our couch looking at our pretty Christmas tree. It's very therapeutic.



On another topic, despite the Christmas season,the current issues in Australia is minority groups protesting Christmas celebrations. And they are not even Muslims or Jews. Just ordinary "free-thinkers" who strongly believe that Christmas carols and Christmas greetings should strictly be limited to churches or religious settings. They were deeply offended that a local school sent their family a Christmas card to wish them "Merry Christmas". Apparently, it's now a disgrace that schools are force-feeding children Christmas traditions and practices which are irrelevant to their background.

I never thought this is kind of thing that would happen here. But I guess it doesn't matter nowdays where you are, it's very easy to offend just about anyone. Just wish them "Merry Christmas" and you might be up for a lawsuit on religious extremism. Scary.

Mini-reunion dinner

We hosted a dinner party on Saturday night. It was Housewarming + Christmas + Friends Get-together party. So you can guess that the whole day from morning to night was spent in the kitchen. I wanted to take my time cooking at a leisurely pace, so I started early. But somehow, everything always comes together at the same time in the end, so there was a bit of scramble just before the guests arrived.

You can see photos of our house in preparation to receive our guests at this link: Christmas Dinner Party

Unfortunately, in the midst of eating and talking, we forgot to take group photos of our friends... so those photos are the only evidence remaining of the dinner party. There are also some leftovers, but those will be gone soon anyway.

By some strange coincidence, the same night of the dinner party was also MH's 10-year class reunion in Subang. So later after dinner, they called one of their friends back in Subang to check the action going on at the hotel where they were having the reunion.

After our guests left the scene, we the hosts were left with the usual mess to clean up. At moments like this, I am just so thankful that we have a dishwasher.

My new toy

Our first Christmas present in Sydney. MH's old classmate gave it to us during the dinner party we held at our place. This is exactly what I've been itching to buy for the past few months.

I first saw this at MH's friend's house where we stayed when we first arrived. I was so amazed at this gadget... they way it steamed things so perfectly in such a short time. The friend was also very enthusiastic about showing me all the features and raved about how easy it was to use and maintain. I was determined to get one for myself too.

So we went to Myers to look at it. The price was fairly reasonable, but MH suggested we wait for a sale and get it at a discount. We didn't need it urgently anyway. So I agreed.

Then lo and behold, the same friendwent out to get one for us because she saw how much I liked it. I'm so amazed how nice people can be. I was like a little girl all over again, opening up the box and admiring how beautiful it looked.



It's now sitting prettily on my kitche counter. I can't wait to start using it. I am now enjoying the thrill of reading the instruction manual and learning about all the amazing features it has.

Little pears

Aren't these cute? This batch is part of my Christmas baking projects. I made this from a basic shortbread recipe. I could just look at them all day... cute lil' buggers...

Survivor Element

I realise that every country needs to have a "survivor"element embedded somewhere. Everywhere you go, there's bound to be someone boasting about how bad the living conditions are at such and such a place, and how the locals are so strong to be able to survive there.

It happens in KL. There's always talk about how bad the traffic is, how dangerous the streets are for both pedestrians and drivers, how bad the toilets are... If you grew up in KL, you develop a keen city-slicker instinct that is unique to KL-ians. And then outsiders (supposedly) "ooooh" and "aaaahh", seemingly impressed.

Same for goes Sabah. Bad road conditions. No electricity. No water. No wonder so many people still think Sabahans are living in the jungle. It's everywhere... China, India, Hong Kong. As I meet and talk to different people from different countries around the world, they all demonstrate the same intrinsic instict to talk about the "survivor" element of their place of origin.

Even in one of the safest countries in the world: Singapore. They still find something to talk about. Talk to any young male (or even old fellows) over the age of 20 and they all have one thing in common... N.S.

Yup. You can't escape the "survivor"element. It's buried inside every one of us.

Survival skills

I am presently sitting in front of the TV with MH's laptop on my lap. Life is very comfortable here. But I must take care never to forget that I am a SABAHAN!!! Growing up in Sabah is GREAT... I had a fun, memorable and happy childhood... but life was not always a bed of roses, and I've had my share of gruelling and life-toughening experiences.

What are the two basic modern amenities every household should have? Water and Electricity. Agree? Good. So imagine if these were taken away from you. Sometimes only for a couple of hours. How about a couple of days... even longer at times. This situation equals the basic OBS experience. Heck, I heard even OBS always provide these anyway...

Here is my survival guide for such situations:

Water Cuts
It never fails to happen in Sabah once every few months... sometimes every few weeks even. Dad said it happenes because one of the major water pipes had burst (again). And it seems happens more often during the rainy season. Ironic, eh? I could never understand why it happens so often. But like all Sabahans, our family was equipped with the highly sophisticated skills and tools to cope with this situation.

1. Always install a big metal water tank in the house. This is a must for every household. No questions asked. Some families prefer to elevate it on stilts behind the house... so called easier access when there are problems with the tank... but the disadvantage is that you will have to cart the water each time to do your laundry, cleaning, bathing etc. Sometimes when the mom is too malas to keep carting the water into the house again and again, she will just ask the kids to bathe outside. Can be very embarassing. We could see our neighbour's kids stark naked under the pipe of their water tank during bath time. So malu. Thankfully, our dad was more sensible and spared us such indignity by integrating our water tank with the rest of the house plumbing.

2. During high risk seasons (sometimes rainy season), build up your own stockpile of water. You can keep them in big basins or plastic bins behind your house. It can be very unsightly and messy, but you'll be very thankful one day that you did it. Our granny was very conscientious in this. I can now clearly picture her house, stockpiled with big colourful tacky plastic basins. But I can't complain because I myself have been a recipient of her large stockpile at times of need.

3. Remember to share... kind neighbours or relatives let us go over to their house to bathe and to "borrow" some water to bring back home for doing basic things like cooking or washing. And do the right thing... return the favour when the occasion arises.

4. Maximise club benefits... we were thankful many times for the shower facilities at the local golf club. Bathing during a water cut is a great luxury. It was almost like a familiar routine. After dinner, pack towel, soap, shampoo... drive down to KGC for a nice shower... after shower, sometimes we get to buy pisang goreng for a snack (which is a treat because we usually only eat pisang goreng on Saturdays after swimming) I will always be thankful to KGC for those times when we needed them most.

Power Cuts
Also happens every so often. For this one, I am not entirely sure why it happens. Maybe a major power cable got chewed by ants? Whatever the reason, the SESB will always give reasons more ridiculous than ant-chewing. So just be prepared.

1. Candles. This is basic. And remember to train yourself how to find them in the dark. It should be practiced like a fire drill and be an automatic reflex. Blackout, find candles. Simple.

2. Emergency light. Nowadays, this is also a basic thing every Sabah household should have. It's attached to a power outlet to charge automatically. Then when a blackout hits *ping* it switches on automatically. Brilliant! This is surely one of the greatest inventions in history (for Sabahans at least).

3. Toughen yourself up to take COLD showers. Most houses in Sabah heat up water using electricity. So no electricity = No hot water. If you are really fussy, you can boil some hot water, mix with the cold water for your bath... can be quite leceh as you can see... so just get it over with quickly with a quick cold shower... it builds character anyway (so they say).

4. Learn creative ways to entertain yourself. No electricity also means: No TV. No Radio. No DVD Player. No Astro. (Nightmare for dad). Nothing except your highly sophisticated and creative mind to ward off any insanity. Actually, I have fond memories of some power cuts. After enduring a cold shower, being burnt by a candle, sharing one emergency light with brothers to do homework... we would huddle together in my parent's room and just talk, play simple games, or do shadow puppet plays with the candle. So not everything is bad, you see.


Well, this is just part of Sabah life. Although this demonsrates the tremendous adabtibility of humans, it's also quite sad that people have more or less just "accepted" the situation. Of course, I do hope that this state will progress and invest in upgrading all these amenities. Still, I do look fondly back on the old days and can also proudly boast of my own survival skills...go figure.

Torn

I went for a job interview yesterday (Thursday). The company was actually one of the competitors of my previous company. It didn't turn out as exciting as I'd thought it would be (hey, there's a possbility that thewere calling me to spy on my previous company, right?).

When I got the call requesting me to come in for an interview, the secretary told me the name of my interviewer, and I realised that it was an ex-colleague from my previous company who was in Australia on a business trip. How queer is that? As she walked up to me at the reception, she was still the same sweet, smiley little thing as always.

After the interview, I felt torn.

It might be a good opportunity to try working for another company to widen my exposure. But I had a naggy little feeling of doubt that this was really the job for me. Somehow, I still enjoy the type of exposure I might get working for my previous company. But is it really worth banking everything on just that?

What to do, oh what to do?

Drat ulcers!

I made scones today. Soft, warm and buttery little mounds.

See how yummy they look!



You can find the recipe here: Scones

Unfortunately, my ulcer prevented me from enjoying the full bliss of savouring the scones.

Need more inspiration

I think my dad misses me. I rang him up today at his office, and the first thing he said to me was, "Where are you? Are you in KK?". Perhaps a faint hope that I had sprung another surprise visit home.

I tried making lemon-kai yesterday for dinner. Sadly, it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. I burnt the batter when trying to fry the chicken pieces. Thankfully the sauce turned out okay... perhaps a bit too sweet. I Googled the recipe online and tried to find that resembled the most to the way mom used to make it. Thankfully also, MH thought it was not bad and appreciated the effort.

I need more inspiration. The old familiar recipes that mom used to make are starting to fade slightly. I need to remember how to put together a good solid but simple curry, asian stews, soups and one-dish meals. I need more ideas on what to do with my chicken, beef and pork!

P.S. My bean sprout salad turned out okay. I blanched the sprouts in boiling water and tossed them together with some fresh mint leaves, drizzled with a dash of lime juice, olive oil and salt.

Baby Serene...

My connect group members organised a small makan session to celebrate my birthday yesterday... it was very sweet of them. Our leader even baked a cake (pandan chiffon) just for me... the only thing that spoilt the joyous occasion was when she remarked in one of those irritating high pitch voices - "You are just a baby!!!", in response to someone's question asking how old I was.

Really. Some people have no tact.

Unfortunately MH could not be there as he had a bad case of food poisoning from our romantic dinner at the revolving restaurant on top of the sydney tower the night before.