Small town girl

We're back in KK....

And FINALLY have some internet connection at last! (after being MIA for sooooo long)

We had a busy time in KL racing around running errands, settling admin and banking stuff, meeting up with friends and family... it was soooo tiring driving around, getting lost in the ever expanding matrix of new flyovers, roads, and traffic light intersections...

So it it is certainly a refreshing change to back in little old Jesselton.

I love KK. It's not a fancy place. But I've met a number of people from different places like KL, Singapore and Perth who say there's just something different about KK. Life slows down and you feel a sense of peace.

I have to admit that the traffic is getting a bit more congested in some areas (what to do? majulah Sabah mah!) but despite that, driving in KK is still somewhat more relaxing, and after some reflection with hubby I conclude that it is because:

Number 1: Drivers are nicer (especially compared to KL-ians) they are not so ruthless and are more likely to give way... hence it is less stressful because you don't feel that you have to fight your way through traffic, cutting queues aggressively to get around. There's still bound to be a courteous driver who will pause and let you pass, and in turn you also feel nice mah, and then you give way to others... these are utopia-like qualities I wish more drivers practised every where. There is also less horn-honking. I hate drivers who honk uneccessarily... very low class.

Number 2: Rules are bendable... unlike Australia where you have to follow all the rules rigidly... there is still some room for maneuvering... e.g. can't find parking? just park on the road island so you don't have to park 1 km away and walk 15 mins to your destination. Not sure if a road is one-way to two-way? Well some situations are left up to self-interpretation... this is creative driving.

I've been to and lived in a number of big cities in my life. But I'm proud to say that I'm still a small town girl at heart. It's a very special thing to be able to look at a simple place like KK and see the many little things which make it so beautiful.

Delay again

At the AirAsia LCC terminal in KLIA...


No surprise that our AirAsia flight is once again delayed... by TWO HOURS!!! Unbelievable...

How to kill two hours? Let's check if there is wireless internet connection... we found three connections, but all of them were inaccessible (one of them we had to pay to use)


So I pulled out my magazine


Hubby amused himself with a game of FreeCell


I started working on some puzzles


Two hours later we were on the plane.... which by then was still not ready to take off...

They apologised for the "inconvenience" as usual, this time it was due to some broken engine parts which they were waiting to be delivered, therefore resulting in the delay...

Here they are filling petrol... sigh...


Another 2 hours to kill on the flight...

We resorted to playing BINGO


And Hangman

Christmas presents

Presents from our cell group Christmas party


Lots of candy


And oooohhhh... a fondue set from Satu-C.... soooo niiiice

Love from around the world

Sis in London...


Same sis in York...


Our Christmas cards...

You've got mail!

Pink envelope in the mail today... unusual... and exciting... with a very modern looking non-stamp attaced...


Our 2nd Christmas card of the season!


And a VERY belated birthday card...


From a London gal... I got friends in high places eh?

Doodle training pics

Some pics from our company's Meeting Training

Introduction notes from our trainer...


My work of art...


The team getting into some graffiti...


Looks like some primary school wall...


With our trainer


More photos of our other "works of art" can be found on my multiply site at >>this link

Screwdriver

After dinner I had a sudden craving for a Screwdriver cocktail.

Well I didn't have any pure vodka around the house, but instead had the brilliant idea of marrying the orange juice with Smirnoff Vodka Twist!


Woohooooooo!


Not the full blown taste, but close enough lar.

Aaaaaahhhhh.....

Summer is here.

Temperatures are soaring to over 32°C and even up to 37°C. In a few weeks time we'll be pushing the 40°C mark.

Thankfully, our little house is equipped with this...

Central cooling system... aaaaahhhh...

No more baking in an oven house on hot Saturday afternoons

Impressive but easy Bakuteh

This post is mainly for Paul's benefit because I know he misses good home-cooked Chinese food.

So in this post I shall demonstrate one of the impressive but easiest chinese dishes to make: Bakuteh!

First put a pot of about 5-7 bowls of water to boil


Make sure you have the secret ingredient: a packet of bakuteh herbs from the local Chinese grocer


Lots of whole cloves of garlic (I like to put them in unpeeled... more rustic)


About 600-700 grams of pork ribs


Other optional things to add in can be tofu, pork balls etc...


Just dump everything in and boil for about 40 minutes or until the meat is tender. Then add salt, pepper to taste, and a bit of black soy sauce for colour


Enjoy!

More on hubby's crazes and cleverness

Hubby's current craze at the moment is the Japanese anime series Initial D


I blame our friend Ronald who let him copy the complete series of Initial D Stage 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Anyway, this entry is not meant to be a rant about hubby's current craze... but really about more of his clever antics...

Previously, he would watch his favourite series on the computer screen like this...

But with some tweak of the cables, he can hook it up to watch the series on our TV screen like this...


Unfortunately I'm not a big fan of the series at all... so I am simply blogging about this while hubby sits next to me enjoying the fast Japanese anime cars racing across the screen...

Anyway, I think it's really clever what hubby can do. Most people I know can't make any sense of the tangle of wires coiled up behind their electronics, much less fiddle around with it to do clever things like this! *smile proudly*

Getting into the Christmas spirit

Oooohhh... the Christmas spirit is truly in the air... lots of people are getting in the Christmas spirit... today in church, Lynn passed a little pack of homemade cookies to hubby and I each. She stayed up quite late last night doing up these little cookie packs so nicely... so sweet of her...


And we received our first Christmas card of the season! (not counting e-cards)


I've been busy with the whole Christmas card writing business... I have a little confession to make... I actually got these Christmas cards last Boxing day in Sydney... (yup, it's time to own up Serene!) but they were soooo pretty, and I think I should get credit for getting soooo early into the Christmas spirit... one year ahead in fact!


All done and ready to be given out to our dear friends!

Party Party Party

Yesterday was a big day of Christmas party party party!

Worked half day until noon on Friday.

After that, my colleagues and I all headed down to O'connor for Indoor Go-Karting for our company Christmas celebration... something different from the typical Christmas sit-down luncheon or dinner...

Waiting for the bus...


Me in between the two office clowns...


GT holding up our lunches


All geared up and ready to rumble!


Wanted to show you what the racing track looked like, but MFS's head was in the way (btw that's a hairnet which MFS is wearing "for hygiene purposes only okay!!!")


Driver's podium


Unfortunately I didn't win first prize... but I won an award for being "The Most Improved Driver"... we played 3 rounds and my average speed in the final round was over 40% faster compared to my first round! Cheongster baby!

After the Go-Karting, we proceeded on to my boss's house... a very nice house with a classic built. We sat around in his patio sipping Champagne and Pimms cocktails.

And four of us were presented with special awards for the Go-Karting:

1. Best Improvement
2. Worst Improvement
3. Most Consistent Driving
4. Most Dangerous Driving

For having the "Best Improvement" I won this bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne... not bad eh?



I left earlier at 5pm and headed home to get ready for my next social... hubby's annual company Christmas dinner at Burswood.... oooohhhh, classy!

We didn't take any photos that night, but there was a photographer going around that night taking photos. She took one of us as well. So if I come across our photo in one of those Perth Social Columns, I'll be sure to post them up.

The place was beautifully decorated with very lovely table setting. The food was exquisite - we had two entrees, seafood and chicken, a beef main course... and I was very much looking forward to the dessert, passionfruit explosion and chocolate creme brulee. But this was where the bad thing about the event comes in... the timing for each course was spaced too long for my liking... over an hour in between! Our main course was only served at 9.45pm and I had no patience to wait for dessert... was too tired already.

So we headed home at 10.30pm (dessert would probably not be served until 11pm)

I took comfort in the fact that each of us could take a home a goodie bag with this... hehehehe...

Furnished

My handyman hubby with his trusty power drill finally managed to put everything together... and so I finally feel ready to display photos of our home...

Our couch and ottoman which we got at a fantastic deal from Myer. This item didn't need any assembly, but I just couldn't bear to take any photos of it until the rest of the furniture was up


Another angle of the living room... our $50 TV is sitting on a hubby-assembled TV bench.



I really like this shelf (also assembled by hubby) and besides being very functional, I think it also adds a nice touch to our green wall



Dining table and chairs (yup, assembled by hubby) in our sunny dining area... I like the purple wall too!


Bed frame... I like the matching side tables which are attached to the bed... hubby-assembled, with assistance from his sidekick - me!


Just a quick snapshot of our bathroom so you have a rough idea what it looks like


I'll be adding bits and pieces of loving and homey touches over time.... like cushions and trinkets... but even now it already feels nice :)