Muddy River Mouth

I believe that's what Kuala Lumpur means. But my Malay is as shoddy as my Maths, so feel free to correct me.

Quick updates on the last week.

A last minute decision was made for me to come back for Chinese New Year, seeing as practically all my cousins are back this year. And we are quite the clan, so it's kind of a huge thing for us. Thus, to add to the statistics, Daddy Dearest flew my ass back.

The moment I landed, I remembered why I was so eager to leave the country. The pollution. The indifferent attitudes. The inability to comprehend the idea of a queue. The chaos and absolute lack of system.

But then, I got home and remembered why this is still home. The three Fs - food, friends and family. I kind of went a little insane on the food in the first few days. Oh wait. Correction. I'm still a cow pigging out, as Tina so eloquently put it. When the topic of Chinese horoscopes came up, she literally guffawed when I told her I was born in the Year of the Pig.  -__-

I'm really looking forward to having all my cousins gathered together during Chinese New Year. It's going to be a blast!

On another note, things are finally moving forward somewhat. I have been tossing the idea of moving to New Zealand back and forth, and when to do so. I can finally say that I will be making the move in the first week of March. Let's hope job hunting is a little more fruitful over there. This is a record. Moving countries twice in six months.

Much to look forward to already. I'm liking 2011 so far.

fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!!

*gasp* only eighteen days left to go? here are some bits and pieces for some christmas inspiration.

update: alive and kicking

back from yet another hiatus.



i've been wanting to post up pics from CNY. but i figure it's kind of pointless since it's all up on FB anyway. =p yes, i'm just lazy.

plenty has happened in the last month. as of may, i will (be attempting to) freelance full-time. so, if you need someone to design something for you, or hear of anyone needing some work done, do let me know. feed a starving designer.

and unlike many designers who harp on about being broke and starving, i assure you, i will be one of the few that really mean it.

i've been busy preparing for the fashion show alongside with designs for the upcoming presentation for the next collection. it all sounds exciting, and i just wish it was as exciting as it sounds.
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meanwhile, su and i have started working on a small side project which will hopefully be launched next month!! we're super excited about it. so, do give us some support yea? =)
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alvin recently sprained his neck and is now walking around like Frankenstein in a neck brace. so not a sexy look, guys.

moral of the story = futsal is the main cause of most injuries. a doctor even said his business has improved since futsal became popular.
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mili and i are now planning a beach getaway sometime in may/june. i am seriously in need of one. i haven't been to a beach since krabi in feb last year!
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ok. i know this post lacked any soul or entertainment value whatsoever. just a quick update. =p

GONG XI AH GONG XI!!

FA DA FA DA CAI!!

i honestly have no idea what that song means, but i'm guessing it's something along the lines of prosperity. chinese are just obsessed with prosperity.

it's been a super busy chinese new year. i've had lunches and dinners back to back for the last 4 days and will continue on til sunday!! it's a good thing i'm not a huge fan of the fancier chinese food, so i haven't been pigging out like most i know.

i'm cheap when it comes to chinese. i like fake stuff and hawker food.

but i HAVE been gambling non-stop. i'm not the kind to gamble just for the sake of winning. i play just for fun. i can spend rm50 on a meal but i wince to even think of betting rm5. that must be my teo chew side. apparently we're stingy people. haha

i've got quite a few photos to post up, but i'm way too tired right now. hope everyone is having a good chinese new year!

i dread going back to work on monday after a week-long break... think happy thoughts!

the lady joiner returns!!

oh yeah baby... i'm off to bangkok again! it's become a yearly tradition now.

well, i guess there's no better way to learn lady joiner skills than learn it from the country of its origin. this time it'll be cam, hunter soon and myself. a fraction of the old melbourne crew.

there's room for one more, if anyone wants to join.

here are some photos from my last trip...


awesome thai & italian restaurant which served yummy mojitos


me and my lovelies - ally & cam


anti-pasto at zanotti


the DFSes at Vertigo Sky Bar (Banyan Tree)


partying at slims in costume

places i MUST visit:
pratunam market
suan lum night market
zanotti for awesome italian food
thong lor

things to eat:
larb gai (mince chicken salad)
som tam (green papaya salad)
tom kha gai
red duck curry
lime minced pork noodles
beef noodles

back at the t-junction

tomorrow is my last income earning day before i become an official bum. i'll live on bread and water and when i can't even afford that, i'll have to start eating my car.

i went for an interview on tuesday. my first REAL interview. it was nerve wrecking. you know that feeling before you go on stage to do a public speech? i had that feeling ALL day before the interview.

everytime i thought i about it, my heart jumped to my throat and got stuck there before sliding back down.

the interview went well though. they said they liked me.

unfortunately... being a small design house, they can't pay me what i'm currently earning.

so why am i still thinking about it? because i love the work they do. i love their working environment. i agree with their philosophy and i can see myself doing lots of interesting projects with them. plus, i think i'll learn so much more and be able to build my folio.

once again. passion vs money. that seems to be the theme of this year.
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some pics from krabi.


the hot springs


the river below the hot springs


nature's own pool - the emerald pool


my daddy!


daddy & the kids


travelling feet


my stepmum and kids


ao nang beach looks nice in pictures. but is a huge disappointment in real life. the sand was made out of coarse ground shells. it was only about 20m from the top to the water. and it wasn't very long either.

apparently the nicer beach is railay. i'm aiming to go back to krabi and hop to koh phangan and koh samui.

oh. another thing. don't bother staying at maritime park hotel. it was an absolute con. it's old and rundown, the service was lousy and it's 20 mins away from the beach!
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back to pondering on life decisions.

fab feb

february looks like it will be an eventful month.

my colleagues and i are planning a lil getaway on the first weekend of february. one night stay in Port Dickson, bbq and drinks on the beach, a bunch of rowdy chicks - should be fun.

the following weekend will be chinese new year. everyone is eagerly awaiting its arrival with open arms. the food. the gambling. the ang pows. and more gambling.

but this year will be different for us. everyone will be scattered all over the globe, so my parents decided to follow suit. we're going to krabi. more sun and sand!

before you know it, i'll be jobless and desperately looking for a job.

yeap. february will be a busy month indeed.

hellooooo? helloooo? helloooo?

i hear myself echoing in the emptiness. it's like stepping into an abandoned house.

i don't know where to start, so i'll just start with today.

on the way to lunch, LoudMel and i were walking down a sloped road to her car. we were happily trotting away until my shoe lost grip and i slipped and fell. i managed to stub and scrape my toes, my knee and my hands.

i felt like a small kid. quite the embarassings.

when was the last time YOU fell down? when you were a kid, you'd be happy if you got through a day without scrapes and bruises. i almost forgot what it was like to fall. i guess i've just been reminded.

moral of the story- don't buy vincci shoes unless you want to embarass yourself.
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throughout the year, i've been complaining i needed a holiday.

in the last two months, i've been on four trips. it's depressing to know that the stint is over. =( no holiday til february. hee hee. off to krabi!!

first it was langkawi. then siem reap. then phuket. then singapore.

a whole year has gone by so quickly and before we know it, it's almost christmas!! not forgetting my birthday will be coming up.

so many birthdays have been and gone without me even realising it. to all whose birthdays i have missed... i'm so sorry. you know what i'm like with dates. so i can't expect everyone to bother with mine either. i need an organiser.

just for fucks, i'm going to post up a wishlist. since i know no one really reads this site anymore, it's more an inventory for myself... and the few stragglers still loitering around. =p

all i want for christmas/birthday:

• air asia travel vouchers for next yr's travel stint
• ikea vouchers to furnish my room in the new house
• sexy new underwear for a sexy new year
• a new job i'll love
• ipod touch
• lots of yummy food
• lots of good memories

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some random photos from the various trips

langkawi

mum, my grandmother and paul


criss-cross waves


he liked chilling by the jacuzzi

siem reap

beautiful. they were all over the place.


the rooms at hotel de la paix


on our way to see the floating village


welcome to angkor wat


why can't we have architecture this beautiful in our country? oh. because they keep demolishing the buildings.


within the walls of the temple


me trying to look demure.

phuket

entrance to burasari


alvin has no problems going into holiday mode


on our way out to do some island hopping


jack and rose on titanic


canoeing into the caves


it was like a scene from LOTR


we arrived at james bond island


the infamous james bond island

angkor what??

that was pretty much me before i went over to siem reap. it's no secret that my geography is atrocious. i wasn't even sure where saigon was until our cambodian guide told me with a patronising look. i was even more embarassed when i asked whether phnom penh was bigger than siem reap.

"of course. it's the capital city of cambodia." o_O
"oh." -_-

since certain people are not supposed to know we went on this trip, i won't post up any pics of the other people. i haven't even had time to post up my langkawi pics yet.

it was a short 3D 2N trip. got back yesterday utterly exhausted. i don't even know where to start, so i guess you'll have to wait for the photos. coming soon.

like sooooonnnn.

peeling: sign of a good holiday

i got back from langkawi on tuesday night and dragged myself to work on wednesday - thrust into a pile of backlogged work piling up in one corner.

major post-holiday blues.

will put pictures up soon, when i have time. will be going off to angkor wat this weekend. another expense paid trip. =D yay!! and then another month before alvin and i head to phuket... that's if they don't decide to close it off due to potential tsunamis.

i finally managed to get my tan. after a year of bitching about being too fair. now i really look like a lady joiner. yipee!

i blame facebook

- it has caused the death of this blog.
- i can't stay away from it for even a day.
- i am addicted to bogglific.
- i reload my home page to look at all the updates several times a day.
- it's kept me from focusing on my work more than a few times.
- there is sooooo much crap to explore!
- i have full-blown conversations about facebook outside the cyber realm.

i quite like my room on facebook so far. *beam*



aren't the cats cute?? i'm thinking of what to name them. ebony & ivory? haha. so cliche.

send me items to add to my room!!

damn those drop-out college kids.
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i am really looking forward to my trip in two weeks. it may be just langkawi, but anywhere with sun, sand and sea is better than nothing. it was originally going to be phuket... until the plane crash.

really. why would that deter anyone? it's not like they crash all the time. you could be flying to anywhere and crash!

on the other hand, weather reports say it's raining almost everyday in phuket now. so i'm not so sore about it. besides... i'm going in november. hurray!! alvin and i finally made our holiday a reality. after a year of prodding, poking and whining.

october:
"babe! when are we going for a holiday?"
"hmmm... end of the year, we'll go."

december:
"baaaabe. when are we going away for a holiday?"
"we'll go after chinese new year okay? when perhentian island is open."

march:
"we still haven't gone on our holiday yet!!"
"oh ya. err... we'll go in june or july."

july:
"ok. WE REALLY NEED TO GO ON A HOLIDAY!! i'm going to go insane!! i need a tan, damn it!"
"you can plan and i'll go."

-_- wtf.

and so i did. and we are finally going.

the hens played in bangkok PART THREE

finally. the last instalment of bangkok.


the hen and buck all dressed up


dinner at cabbages & condoms: meng, edmund, mei ling, cam, dave, jarrod and me

a novelty restaurant built for a cause - to spread the awareness of AIDS and safe sex. the entire place is decked out with sculptures made out of condoms. you won't see this many condoms in one place bar a condom factory. big ones. small ones. yellow ones. red ones. ribbed ones. smelly ones.


donny, gene, phil, bryan & ally


three horny devils


being surrounded by condoms makes a happy bride


all dolled up and ready to hit the scene in RCA!!


angels in disguise... *cough* at slims


ally giving cam some horn action


cam the angel and ally the horny devil


we met this italian australian guy... and they told him i was single!! idiots.

this is what happens when men try to chat up a bunch of girls and they're all married except one.

"hi, ladies. would you like to join our table?"
"oh no, it's okay. she's getting married and we're celebrating her hen's night!"
"oh, awesome. how about you?"
"i'm married too."

all eyes turn to the only one left and the two married women point at her.

"but she's single!!"
"err... ahh... umm... i have a boyfriend," she protests lamely but somehow it doesn't have the same effect as "i'm married", and the vultures descend.


the farang who taughts us to say kinky things in french and swear in italian


obviously he thought he was some kind of hero. rambo, perhaps?

hope everyone had a good merdeka!

the hens played in bangkok PART TWO

day 2
we spent the day doing a little shopping, searching for something cam could dress up in for her hen's night. and since shopping is SUCH a stressful and tiring affair, we hopped on the train to a spa called urban retreat. two thumbs up! nice spa, great service and still cheap. we liked it so much we decided to go back again on our third day for a foot and thai massage.

that night, cam took ally and i out for dinner at zanotti. it is fucking excellent. thinking about it makes my mouth water every time. if you're going to bangkok, you have to try zanotti. i ate like a pig. okay... i always eat like a pig. but i only eat like a pig if i really like the food.


baked mussels


antipasto


i had pork loins with blue cheese sauce


we may look demure but we eat like cows. or at least, i do.

ally found a place for us to go and have a little fun with salsa lessons. we got in a cab and got completely lost. after about half an hour of trying to speak thaiglish, we finally managed to find the place.

when we got to the entrance, there was a sign posted on the window that utterly perplexed us. it said:

NO DANCING

the three of us looked at each other in confusion.

"err... this IS the right place, isn't it?"
"yea! this is it. i don't understand!"
"how strange. a dancing club that doesn't allow dancing."

the guy inside must have noticed us standing outside looking a bit lost so he opened the door.

"yes?"
"umm. we heard you have salsa lessons here."
"ah yes. but tonight, no dancing."
"huh? what do you mean?"
"tonight we have no dancing."

we eventually realised he meant the dance classes had been cancelled for that night. -_-

with that plan chucked out the window, ally suggested we go to Vertigo bar at banyan tree instead.


ally and i posing with the lights of bangkok


my incestuous other half - cam


all pretty in shades of pink

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it's been a really long, tiring week for me. late nights, early mornings. and i'm told it will be this busy until next year. eek.

well... looks like i have two, possibly three trips to look forward to. YAY!!

angkor wat, krabi-phuket and one to be confirmed when my mum comes down to KL.

*crossing fingers*