Vroom vroom

Guess which lucky person got his wish fulfilled on New Year's day 2010??

Ryan wishes he is 17 so he can drive. The hubby and I thought why not give him a cheap thrill now? Let him get a feel of what he thinks he wants. So after a New Year's day brunch of yummy dim sum, the whole family piled in the trusty pick up truck and headed off to a deserted car park. Oh, Ju brought his Ferrari helmet, too!

Anyway, we made a quick stop at the local shrine for prayers...Ryan was very excited and I think pretty scared as well cos he was the first one off the car to light the joss stick!! I think his emotions probably ran the gamut that day.


So....we got off to a slooooooow start. Luckily it was auto transmission, so no 'sei four' !! ( engine dying) , but it was a very very very boring slow drive up and down the car park. I think Ryan didn't bargain for the fact that we made him stop and actually look left ( where there will be traffic on a normal day) before he made a U turn. In short, he thought driving comprises only going straight, without looking for the back and sides!!! Anyway, since there were 2 instructors in the car , Ian and the backseat instructor aka the dad, I kept quiet. Would not help to add to the confusion!!!

Ryan did pretty well. He even attempted parking ( head in first) and on the 3rd attempt ( I think), managed to park it in the box!! And he thought parking was easy, always offering to park for me at Pyramid. Heaven forbid. :)

Perfectly in the box!!

He hasn't asked for a second round...yet. Maybe that was too much stress and excitement for some time.
Success!!! ( That's me in Ju's helmet)

B2

B2? What's that??? Well, for those of you who were not fortunate enough to catch their maiden performance.....by the way,you didn't miss anything..hehe.... ( oops- shouldn't have said that - must give support all the way ...afterall, I dragged them into this...)let me explain.

B2 stands for 'Brothers Yee' ( Not THAT B2 in Bananas in Pyjamas, ok ) - 2 in Cantonese read yee...get it??? Oh well, I am not too creative so that's all I can come up with. Anyway, B2 is a band ( comprising the Yee bros), hastily formed to play at a friend's daughter's 9th birthday party. To elaborate, the theme of the party was 'American Idol', complete with 3 judges ala Simon, Randy and Paula, and all the guests were requested to participate.

So, to oblige the hostess who is a very good friend, I managed to convince the boys to perform, and to put to test all the money I spent on their guitar lessons. Ian (who never had the benefit of any lessons), was given a crash course in playing bass, and they had a grand total of 2 practices before the big event!!! Talk about speed!!

Nevertheless, they gamely tried their best, and with a lot of support from friends on the floor, pulled through the excruciating 2 and a half or so minutes!!! Suffice to say, the express manner in which the whole thing was organised showed, and I have to admit very reluctantly, my boys would have not a very bright future in a music career!!! But they did look good on stage!!! Gaya ada but talent....???? Better stick to skating :) Shucks...I was hoping some talent scout would show up and make them stars....haha..okok.. I know.....back to dreaming. Sooo...the band was just as hastily disbanded immediately after that first gig.

Good news is, they did win a prize ( although the hostess was very diplomatic in not giving any ranking to all the prizes ! All winners were ranked the same) and the sad news is that they did not get any recording contracts!!! ( But if anyone with taste (?) wants them to play at birthdays, weddings, funerals etc... - call me, ya? )

Oh, I want to add that Ryan was so enthusiastic that he snapped a guitar string during the performance although it's not obvious from the video!!!

I want to thank them for being so sporting to do this to please their old mom. Love you guys :) You are always top on my chart!!

Bye 2009 !

2009 is almost over, and soon we'll have a brand new clean slate on which to write a new year. Gee, this year simply flew by . I must admit reluctantly and most unfortunately. I don't have any 'achievements' to shout about nor did I do anything I am particularly proud of. However, I did discover some home truths about myself - throughout this year, I have gotten rather eccentric ( at times), reclusive ( sometimes - some people who have been trying to get me out for dinner will testify to this!) , short tempered ( most times!!) and illogical ( all of the time!). Blame it on the hormones that ran amok during these pre-menopausal times!!! I look at this as a privilege of getting old!!! So, to those in constant contact with me ( especially my family), sorry and thank you for your tolerance in putting up with me.

2009, despite no high points in my personal agenda, was indeed a milestone of sorts in my family. Ian turned 21. We had a little surprise birthday party for him - some very close friends and some of his Bestari school chums - many thanks to Evonne for helping to organise this part and on such short notice too. Julian turned 12 - old enough to get his IC !! My babies are growing up !!! Sometimes I look at the old photos and reminisce about when they were small. Bitter sweet really ....

My cousin Lina from Sydney was here for a visit. Gosh, it was last year since Ian and I visited her and Uncle Eric in Sydney!! Still remember the lovely time we had. Uncle Eric has since passed on and I am so glad we took the time to visit him.

I live my life through my kids. Ian is currently home for his internship and will be here until after CNY 2010. He graduates next year and will ( hopefully) remain in Australia after that. So, I aim to savour this time he is at home. He may not have so much time to be at home next year on!!

Ryan is loving school and all its activities. Was Sportsman of the Year for lower sec in school and has excelled surprisingly in middle distance running!! He has had a great year, was the Nationals Novice champion for figure skating and was voted Most Promising Skater. He passed his Freestyle 9 test, which makes him one of the highest level skater in the country. We are now aiming for Freestyle 10 next year and hopefully he can be the first Malaysian to achieve that. Fingers...and toes crossed!!! But all these are not without its price - he suffered injuries to his knee and for a while had to do physio every other day. Now we are very careful about not over training. Ryan is also selected to attend the Korean Dream Program next month in Korea.

Julian graduated from Primary school and will enter Year 7 next year. He, too had a good year. Was Head Prefect in school and graduated with a special award for achievements in skating. He, too won his category in the Malaysian Nationals. He attended the Korean Dream Program in Korea this year. Did ok in his UPSR , no flying colours unfortunately but nothing to be ashamed of either. He is very excited about entering secondary school next year. He is really growing up and so fast too.

Blue's year was so-so. Affected by the economic turndown and still trying to get back up. He has lost a bit of weight and this troubles me . Firstly for his health and secondly, I am jealous cos I am not losing any!!! He has 'rediscovered' his old school chums, attended a big school reunion recently and is now in constant touch with his mates. Bugs the hell out of us with his repeated requests for help in his emails and facebook journeys. This does not happen everyday - it happens every other hour in a day!!!! Help!

As for myself, I started a blog !!! A total of 49 entries , including this and I have passed the 1000 hits mark. Yay.....my only lapse was during this recent school holidays which threw a spanner in my works!!! Haha...hopefully I will persevere on. I have also added on in the weight category , and am now about 7 kg more than what I should be, or rather what I want to be. People who are kind say I look better but I look in the mirror and am not too happy with what I see! Took a trip to Melbourne earlier in the year for a mini school reunion of sorts!! Mini, cos it was only 4 of us - Cheng Kim, Jow Mee , Hock Poh ( Joni) and me!!! Still, it was fun. Now planning for the big one in 2011 - St Marians reading this please contact me so I can keep you gals updated!

Celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary this year - no do. Just a very quiet dinner for 2. Infact it wasn't even on the actual date cos that day I was flying off to Hong Kong with the boys for a competition!!! This reminds me of my 1st anniversary which I celebrated all by myself in Northampton ( work) while Blue was home in KL !!!

Discovered a new 'friend' who turned out to be really a friend in the true sense. Met up with old school friends whom I have not seen in a very very long time. Made some new 'friends' whom I don't really care for ( Nor they for me, I'm sure - haha) .

Cheers people - here's to a sparkling New Year and many more happy experiences !

Merry Christmas!!!

What???? My last post was Nov 5?? Gosh, I didn't realize it has been thaaaaat long ago! Oh well, the school holidays have thrown my usual schedule off and I am kinda in limbo since. Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone....expect more posts from next week on...after school reopens ! Hehe...this is not a New Year resolution, so .......:) I stopped making New Year resolutions long ago...but then that's another story.

The rink's Christmas show was last weekend. It was enjoyable while it lasted, as usual but this year I felt it lacked some 'oomp'. Can't put a finger on it but something was missing. Last year's show ( Jack in the box) was more interesting and Christmassy although we dind't have a Santa Claus. This year, we had Ian as Santa ( Thanks dear, appreciate it ) but somehow the Christmas feel was not there. Anyone who saw the show care to share your thoughts on this?

One more week to go before we have a brand new year to start afresh. Time really flies...hope to make the most of next week to have a memorable 'old' year. Am planning to do a summary of what I have been up to in 2009, so watch this space. Again, fingers crossed...soon, I hope!!!

Was told by hubby yesterday that we had an invitation to attend someone's 70th birthday party next week. 70 !!! Was going to say no, cos I don't even know who the old geezer is, but on 2nd thoughts - hey, I'll be one of the youngest people there!!! Haha....cheap thrill :) And the do is at Jarrod and Rawlins - I like that place, so why not? Maybe I will have more tales to tell after that...hopefully...that is if I don't fall asleep in the middle of it. What to talk to old people ar? (So mean, hor - I forget I will be 70 one of these days, and you young chicos will say the same about me ...sigh..:(

Merry Christmas folks, and have a great day !!! Ho Ho Ho .....

Boring dinner

Attended a very very very very....boring dinner last night. It's that kind of dinner where you don't really want to go but have to. I'm sure you know what I mean. Anyway, the hubby called up in the afternoon and said that his friend had invited the whole family for dinner with some Korean friends. Venue - some Korean place in Taipan. I was debating whether to say yes or not, especially when Ryan was having exams. Hmm...lucky him, he got off!! My sweet Ju offered to accompany me! I was wondering whether the 'family' meant that everyone was bringing their brood or was it just us?

Anyway, it does not really matter cos it turned out exactly what I envisioned it would be - BORING!! Koreans are notorious for being male chauvinists ( and I have not come across any exception yet) , and their women pretty much have to stay behind the limelight. This was from personal experience when I was working in GEC - our Korean counterpart thought I was the secretary and my assistant ( a guy) the Engineer. Even when he discovered I was the one he was supposed to deal with, he kept asking me if I was really an engineer!! What the.....

Anyway, coming back to the present, when we got to the restaurant, there were 3 tables reserved. One was for the Korean guy's family, in the middle, a big table were for the men, and another table on the other side for us!!! We were a bit late - that's another long story why - will save it for another time!! So everyone has started eating. Guess, it was a blessing in disguise cos that means I don't have to make small talk with other people. Just a big 'hi hi' and hello to everyone present and I can settle at our own table and eat!!! Thank God for small blessings!

Luckily Julian was with me cos the hubby 'abandoned' us right after eating and sat with the guys! Aiya, if they want to talk guy talk, why bring the family leh? Furthermore it was a week night and is usually not family day. Sometimes I wonder...does this make them feel better and convince themselves that they are not 'neglecting' the family??? Or they think we are so dumb that we can't see through their badly executed attempt to justify to themselves that they are giving us time? Hmm, I'd much prefer quality time over senseless quantity time.

So overall summary - food was ok, liked the Bulgogi and the BBQ beef. Sang gei tang was a bit weird, not like the ones I am used to. ( This one had a very thick soup ) Dessert was completely yukky - I have never seen or tasted it before , some kind of noodle in a cold sour spicy soup. Tasted a bit like sour plum but then again not quite. Don't know what it was. Will not eat it again. Ju very gamely finished half a bowl although he didn't like it . He said he wanted to be polite - he is sooooo GOOD!! So happy for his presence, otherwise, I would be bored stiff!!

Not a great evening and one that I would not care to repeat.

Hanging Monastery of Mt Heng

Another place to add to my 'to visit' list is the Hanging Monastery of Hengshan, or Mount Heng in Shanxi, China. It's an engineering marvel, just imagine building on a sheer cliff face, 50 m above the ground. That translates to roughly 15 stories up above the ground.!!

As usual, I saw in on TV - what a marvelous invention that idiot box is!! And so wonderful for armchair travellers like me. What I saw really intrigued me - the whole building is made of wood, save for the roof tiles and is very cleverly cantilevered out from the cliff face. The long poles you see in the photo only 'appeared' to be supporting the structure but in fact, they are there only to give the illusion of security. In reality, the poles are merely wedged between the platform and the cliff face. They are not even buried inside the rock!!!

The whole monastery is actually very spacious as the monks apparently burrowed into the cliff face to make cave rooms. This is so ingenious, and to think that the building was built 1400 years ago!! That means practically no machines and super tools. Just imagine the amount of manpower and time it required. And it is still standing..or rather hanging today! ( Of course it has been repaired, restored etc but still...) I am really impressed and I want to go and see it for myself.

The whole idea of building it against a cliff is for protection from floods and strong gusts. As it is a Taoist monastery, the idea of calm and serenity is also very important - who is going to come and kacau such a precarious location!!

If you are thinking of going there, it's roughly 300 km west of Beijing, near a town called Datong, in the Shanxi province. My idea is to go before my legs give way and cannot make the climb up....but that's only a plan. Hope it materializes!!! See you there! :)

PS: Meanwhile, I'll still be slogging in the gym to make sure my legs are still working!

(Extremely) Noisy St Marians

9 ladies and a ton of noise!! That's what we do best!

Had a lovely afternoon today. Met up with 8 of my classmates from my secondary school days for tea at House & Co in Bangsar Shopping Center and had a great time catching up and generally behaving the age we once were!!

FYI, classmates mean my Form 1 to 5 buddies from St Mary's. Some of us meet up once in a while and we are pretty much up to date with each others' lives. But it was a real treat to catch up with Liz, whom I have not seen since Form 5 and YS, whom I met briefly many years back!! For those of you who know my age, you can pretty well do the math and guess that's it's been almost ?? decades !! It was wonderful to be able to sit down and yak yak yak away!!

The noise we made was horrendous, not unlike what we used to do many many years ago and got reprimanded by the teachers in school. Ryan and Julian dropped by and refused to sit with us. They preferred to go home than be embarassed!! It was certainly most 'unladylike' and definitely not what was expected of 'ladies' like us!! (To digress, this reminded me of a girls trip we took to Myanmar some years back and a guest in the hotel room next to ours complained that too much noise was coming out from our room!! Now that is another fantastic trip to reminisce about. ) A trio of customers walked discreetly passed our table and elected to sit outside....to get as far away from the din as possible!! The owners must have not been amused :)

We exchanged stories of kids, families but most of all juicy gossips about other classmates who were not present! Well, what do you expect if you do not come and defend yourself??? SK also related embarrassing stories of her misadventures and we had such a good laugh over it. Most prominent was the fact that she missed her own birthday party we gave her many many years ago cos she lost her way and somehow ended up driving into the motorbike lane along the Federal Highway!! She will never live this story down, and all our kids knew about it!

Then came stories of our kids and what stress they have given us! LK was relieved to hear that little boys do eventually grow up and make their moms proud instead of stressing them out with bad results and undone homework. I am certainly glad that phase for Ian has passed and I am so proud of him now. So there is much hope left for LK!

It's so nice to know that we can like practically picked up from where we left off , way back in Form 5. And looking back, we realized that we were a very Muhibbah lot those days. I think I have written about this before....that we were 1Malaysia way before we were told we have to be 1Malaysia. There are plans afoot for a reunion trip in 2011 to commemorate a milestone, and a spa trip to Thailand won hands down over a 14 day trek to Base Camp!!! Yours truly was elected, erm... more like forced to organise it!! Fingers crossed and hope it materialise...should be tons of fun. Oh yeah, someone suggested we book the entire place cos other guests would definitely not take kindly to our decible levels!! Especially if they are there for some R & R...we might even get kicked out!!! Yikes...would be most malu but what the heck as long as we had fun!! Might make a great story some day for the grandkids.

Weird tales

Watched 2 episodes of Weird Travels yesterday on Astro's 'Travel and Living' Channel. No, it is not a normal travel documentary like the ones Ian Wright ( one of my favourites!) or Asha Gill hosts, and definitely not like any mundane ones like Fun Taiwan, but it is one of the travel documentaries that I like very much.

If you have watched it before, you will know why it's called Weird Travels - it deals exclusively with the supernatural! Yup, it features haunted places all over America and sometimes Europe, too. Yesterday, one episode featured haunted hotels in America and the other focused solely on Chicago.

The gwailos are certainly a weird lot - it seems that some people do like to stay in haunted hotels just to have a chance of meeting its resident ghost! Me, I'd never ever stay in one if I knew it had a resident from the other realm! Would you?

So, all these eerie tales brought back some personal experiences. Now's a good time as any to relate them cos Halloween is just around the corner.

I have always thought, then and up till now, that one of the houses I stayed in as a kid was haunted. It was a double story house in Petaling Garden. In those days, some of those houses were actually 2-in-1 as one family would occupy the ground floor while the 1st floor was a separate unit. Anyway, we have just moved to PJ, after the May 13 fiasco, and we stayed in the ground floor unit. I remembered that the day we moved in, I got sick. Now, I do not recall any strange noises or things that go bump in the night but I do remember vividly that in one of the rooms which we used as a dining room, there was a huge drawing of a lady with long hair - just the head view. Well, it was not an actual drawing in the real sense - more like someone used water to sketch on the wall, yunno, like wet marks. Only that this does not dry up and disappear! I don't know why I never mentioned this to anyone then, and even now, I have never asked my family if they have seen it. So, I really don't know if it was only me or not. Guess I was and am now still too scared to find out the truth! I only remembered never walking near that wall and I never stayed in that room alone!

Another experience was in England, some years back...must have been at least 10 years ago. Anyway, the hubby and I were driving through England with some friends on a golfing holiday and we had to pass through a little town called Perth, on our way to St, Andrews. We stayed the night at a little inn ...yunno, the typical English countryside inn..old and a bit eerie. We had a fairly large room, with the bathroom slightly lower - you had to go down a short stairs to get to it. Anyway, the story had nothing to do with the bathroom!!! I digress...sorry! Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard, or I thought I heard a lady open the room door and when I shouted who is it, she said..oops, sorry wrong room and closed it back. I know it does not sound scary...but I have this weird feeling that it's not human.And we have definitely locked the door. Hubby says, at that time, he did not hear anything. Bet he doesn't even remember it now ( all he remembers of Perth was that wonderful duck we had at a Chinese restuarant there - now that's another story another time!!!) Anyways, it left a deep impression on me and I still maintain I was not dreaming!

I love horror movies and stories but I hope I will not encounter any as I truly believe in the existence of these beings. I have seen stuff that cannot be explained and I think it's wiser to keep a respectful distance and not disturb the peace.

Happy Halloween :) Peace to all.

Proud mom

I am so proud of Julian. Of course I am biased, very much so too and I am not shy to admit it!! Why? Well, because he is so sweet and kind and loving...just like his old mom...ahem...haha...all of that but I am extra extra proud of what he is doing in school now.

Let me explain, they have this rather weird program in school where Year 6 students are eligible to be chosen as 'model' student. Actually, 'chosen' is not exactly correct - they actually have to campaign and be voted as one. Sounds simple right? So, as a proud mom, I was rather hoping my little boy would be selected to campaign. But unfortunately, life does not always go the way we wanted. Anyway, he was not selected because his average was 2 points below the mark. Bummer , but then that is life. I was a tad disappointed and so was he but then it's not the end of the world.
So, why am I still so proud of him , one may ask?

The reason is because, despite his disappointment, he went whole heartedly all the way to help his friend in his campaign. In short, he became his friend's campaign manager! He helped print the campaign flyers and distributed them in school. He came up with the campaign strategy and angle. Next week, he will make a speech on his friend's behalf to solicit votes. That's why I am so proud - he kept aside his own disappointment and tried to help his friend to victory. This is pure Julian - he is so un selfish and is always thinking of others. This boy is truly a gem and I thank God for giving him to me!

Stupid robbers in the neighbourhood

2 articles in yesterday's and today's papers caught my attention. One was regarding petty robbers in my neighbourhood and the other about the new 'Malay Dilemma'. Both I have some strong views on. Since the latter is politically inclined and the former much closer to home ( literally!), I shall put my 2 cents worth in the former!! Be safe...is my motto..hehe

Ok, the articles aid that there has been an increase in the number of robberies in my area. Most occur early in the morning, dawn to be precise, and the victims are elderly ladies on their morning walks or to/fro the park where they do their early morning taichi or whatever elderly ladies do! This is no big deal, right? Happens in a lot of neighbourhood to helpless old ladies. But what caught my interest was that these robbers would waylay them and make them strip ......no, no, not to rape or molest them but to check that they do not keep any money hidden in their underwear!!!
This, I don't comprehend...I mean, if I were an elderly lady ( which I am not..yet..!!!), and if I were to go for an early morning exercise , I will NOT carry any money at all!!! Or if I did, I would bring just enough to cover breakfast and a cuppa with my exercise buddies later. I would not, like carry a hundred or more bucks with me!!! In fact , ten bucks would more than enought to buy my teh tarik and roti!! Even if I were to carry extra cash, how to hide it in your undies??? So what are these extremely stupid robbers thinking of???Oh, maybe can put inside the bra hor??? Hmmm..maybe they do get cheap thrills watching old ladies in their undies....how perverted can one get??? Personally, these creeps have no brains - I mean, how much would you carry with you? ( Slap forehead !) Maybe that's why they are what they are- small petty robbers cos they can't even figure out this simple logic!!

On the other hand, even if one don't lose much money, it would undoubtedly give any old lady an extremely traumatic experience, or maybe a heart attack to be asked to strip on the road. So....does this means one should carry more money for them to rob or risk having to strip??? Sigh...I really don't know, the state of things is so sad nowadays....better not to go out!!! And then how? Old ladies don't get exercise and get unhealthy......the vicious cycle doesn't end. What is the world coming to, one can't even step out of the house without having to worry to about personal safety.

Rantings....

First of all, to those who are worried about my foul mood, please rest easy. I feel tons better now and I thank you all for the concern.

Okay, now that the niceties are over and done with, let's get down to business. Hmm...actually the business comprises more complaints and bitching. Hehe...it's not been a smooth week!! Sigh...when will this wave of bad luck be over?

I am not happy with CF. If anyone from CF is reading this, please take note. Your class scheduling sucks..big time! ( Sorry eh, I know I have a 'rule' about not resorting to profanity here but this case really need strong words. My current vocab is so poor that I cannot find the politically right word to express what I feel. Besides, the words here do not quite reach the definition of profanity, right?) Anyways, to get back to the issue in hand, CF - why do you guys have to come and 'kacau' our nice schedule in Sunway Pyramid? Actually, to narrow down the problem, it all involves my beloved step classes. Why else would I get mad at other class schedules for?? Now that awesome Annie is on maternity leave,our usual step class has gone to the beginners. Yikes!!! There are a ton of step for beginners classes, including a brand new one on Thurs morning - why invade ours??? Please la , CF - change the slot to an intermediate/advance class and let us continue to enjoy our miserable 45 mins, albeit without Annie. If you concentrate on recruiting new steppers only, all your regulars will go. Take my word for it. Anyway guys, I am not just complaining here - I have already written to CF and they have yet to reply...as usual. Hate them...:(

Another thing I hate is people with 2.. or sometimes more 'faces'. They are so nice to you and behind you are something else. I met this rather nice and friendly man ( friend of a friend) and he is THE big boss of a big company. So during this social encounter, he told me that Ian can do his internship at his company end of this month, and that the timing is good becouse the next few months will be busy until the year end lull in Dec and Jan. So all was good and fine, and he repeatedly said there is no problem. A few days later, he told my hubby that he has received Ian's resume and there should be no problem. So, based on his no problems, I arranged for Ian to come home.That was 2 weeks ago, and guess what??? Got problem!!! After 2 silent weeks, I called his office and didn't even get a chance to speak to him. His secetary said she will call back and when she did, she said that the boss has forwarded Ian's resume to his manager and the manager said the timing is not right!!!! what the......
Tell la..if he is not suitable or if you don't want him to intern there but the silent treatment is really rude. Hrummp....and getting the secretary to relay the message is doubly rude. However, I shall give him the benefit of the doubt that he doesn't really know about it. Let me investigate and update later... I am really upset, not to mention Ian as well as he was really looking forwards to it.

Much as I love the ice, that is another potential area for complaints...as usual. All the old complaints remain as the management refused to acknowledge them and think that if they close their eyes, it will go away. Sigh...we just 'tahan' them because there is no other place to go and they know it. Too bad...for us. I won't go into that again ( Fellow mama blogger J - you know what I mean, hehe) but Chrisha's students are another lot. Her batch of new students...I mean. The old group was super great and I have absolutely no problems handling their classes. The new batch is an entirely different kettle of fish. I don't know which part of ' Do not request for new slots' that they don't understand, and they repeatedly request for new slots when replying to every single email I sent them!!! Arghhh....no wonder I am losing hair !!! It has gone to the point that I ignore them. Call me rude but I don't care.

Chrisha 'blacklisted' another skater this time round. A new one, as you would have guessed. That makes a total of 2 !!! She is such a tolerant person and so good with the kids, so to have her blacklist you means the kid is super irritating!!! And I totally agree with her as the respective moms are equally irrirating and demanding! Good, that's another pest less I have to handle. Sometimes, I feel that since I have the 'power' to 'grant' slots, maybe I should 'abuse' it by only giving slots to easy to handle parents???? Whadya think??? I can think of 3 I wanna get rid of!!! haha...2 are the ones who always ask for new slots and one thinks that since her kid is in the group class just recently, she is a regular and should be given preferential treatment by giving her a private slot. And she wants the slots in the preferred 'quiet' times!!! Gosh, the kid can't even skate fast enough to cover the whole rink and she wants the rink to herself. Go buy private ice time la...only RM500 an hour mar... Jeesshh. Some people are so full of themselves!!Some of the senior skaters don't even get ice time at quiet times and they managed ! Oh oh, got one more, she wants to bring in her own personal coach from God knows where ( she says she got contacts!!)....well, if she does, then she don't need Chrisha, right? I really think I should redo the system and give special times to senior skaters ( senior both in levels and time with Chrisha) instead of first come first served basis.

Highlight of the week was the Open Houses ( The only good thing last week!)!!! yay for rendang and lemang and curry etc etc... Ate so much that I still feel bloated up to today. Serious!! Must diet this week. Haha...say only, don't know whether can do or not. Fingers xxx. Oh, have another one to look forward this weekend!!! Die la....:)

Foul weather, foul mood

Have been in a foul mood the last few days....eerily coinciding with the weather. Floods , earthquakes and all. Can't dispel the dark thoughts and feelings. Hmmm...bad. Can't understand why also - could be a number of events triggering off such feelings. Things not going the way I like, meeting the ENEMY, death of someone I know. Sometimes I feel like I'm not me, if you know what I mean. People who spoke to me on the phone have commented that I sounded sick. I pick imaginary quarrels with people in my head, I recall old grudges.. and generally am being very grouchy. Aiyo...how ar? Hope I am not going mad and that this is not going to last.

It's not that time of the month, just in case some of you may be wondering. Hehe..small things can irritate me. Even watching my beloved TVB series can set off some irrational anger - anger at the characters, anger at why certain people behave in ways that will hurt others. Yeah, yeah, I know, it's only make believe, not need to get so emo, but what to do? I blame it on the out of control hormones that are unbalanced in me!! Is there such a thing?

FYI, I am currently watching ' Chamber of Bliss' and the brothel characters really bother me. Dunno why...on the good side, the actress must be good to invoke such emotions, on the negative side, am I prejudiced??? Anyway, I am not enjoying such strong responses, and hope it will be over soon, and life will be normal again. Fingers xxxxx, toes xxxxx and may I borrow some more fingers and toes? :)
One bright light is that I have not much appetite and have lost all of ONE kg...Yay....hahaha....( Yeah yeah, I know it's only water and I'll put it back in no time....stop it woman,.no more depressing thoughts!)

Anyway people, don't worry, I am perfectly sane and of sound mind...just letting off steam. Thanks for lending me your ears!! Next post will be of happier stuff, ok?

Mental Block ...or is it 'Blogged' ?

Been staring at the screen for a very long time...nothing comes to mind. Heck, I have no idea whatsoever to write about ! Thought of not posting anything but then if I were to stop, I know it will be helluva difficult to restart! I'm sure you guys know what I mean.

Anyway, the week before was nondescript, hence the drought. Boys were on holiday due to Raya, so much time was spent at the rink. No big deal. Did the usual classes at the gym..again no big deal. Hmmm..what else ar? All my brain can think of is no big deal...hehe..

Ah, weekend...went to a party on Saturday. Again no big deal, until I found out the ENEMY was there. Then BIG DEAL lah...so not very happy. In fact, not happy till now. Today lagi not happy . Firstly, discovered that the stupid people who took over the gym messed up most of my favourite classes *&&%^*@#$% Very MAD. Why must they come in and disturb a perfectly fine schedule and put all kinds of classes which no one in California really wants???? Stupid idiots. ( I wanna use stronger words but cannnot do it here....). Just wished they would leave things alone. And some moron goofed up today and lost my membership card at the towel check-in. Somemore they have the cheek to say never mind cos the cards will be replaced by Oct 1. Hello people....there is still Sept 30 to go????

Okay, don't want to rant anymore - make myself lagi miserable. Yesterday was saved by a fantastic class by Annie..though sob sob...she is going on leave till next year :( And when I got home, Ryan brought back fried mamak mee which he cooked in KH class at school. The teacher says I have to rate it. I gave him a 80%. I was not being biased cos it was really good. More so cos I couldn't have done it myself !!! Would have posted a photo but I was so excited to eat and only realised I didn't take any photos until it was finished!!! Next time...

Ahem, must make a disclaimer here - bad English is used in this post by intention!!! Hehe...must jaga my reputation ok, in case some people think my 'Engrish' is so baaaad... :)

A cook's tour

Was watching Anthony Bourdain's ' A Cook's Tour' on Astro. He is my very favorite food/travel host and his shows are always so interesting. In this particular one, he goes to Bangkok and Singapore.

But, surprisingly, in Bangkok, he does not showcase any Thai food !!!! Hello....no Thai food in Bangkok???? Instead, he visits a Laotian restaurant where he eats rotten anchovies!!! Urgh..the anchovies are mixed with salt and left to rot for anywhere between 3 months to 1 year. It looks horrid...greyish slushy mush...and it's supposed to smell, too. But Tony, unlike so many Gwailos, took to it like he's been eating it all his life. That's what I like about him..he is so game and adventurous and he is so willing to try anything. Guess that's part of his job . This brings to mind a certain Gwailo I know from my working days. He was here on business from England and I took him for steamboat. It was such a joke, when I asked him if he has had steamboat dinners before, he actually said, ' No, where is it going?' . Gosh, he thought it was a real steamboat!!!Anyway, for us Malaysians, steamboat dinners are no big deal , right? Nothing exotic about it - just put everything to boil. No weird raw stuff, no strange ingrdients. But this guy is so bloody fussy, he hardly touched his food. Seems he only like familiar western food. Now that's a boring visitor.

Anyway, I digress. Coming back to Anthony Bourdain, he further ate deep fried frog skins ( this does look yummy) and also deep fried insects ( this I woulded touch). And surprise surprise, the dessert was going to an Egyptian restuarant for coffee and a sweet pudding!! Interesting...I didn't know there is an Egyptian restuarant in Bangkok.

His next stop was Singapore...hmmm..I wonder why he didn't stop here! I know there was an episode on KL but I never caught it. Anyway, he ate Indian food there, banana leaf dinner with all the works. No big deal, except when he tackled the fish eye from the fish head curry!!! Now I really take my hat off to this Gwailo....hehe...that's why I like him. Any gwailo who eats the stuff I wouldn't eat earns my respect! I myself am a squeamish eater and when some white foreigner eats something I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, he really rates high on my list.

Hmmm...life is really boring these few days...no subject to blog about except pathetic attempts like this..hehe. Anyone eat anything interesting lately???

Bon appetite!

'Jamie' at Home

Jamie Oliver's dish

Ryan's version

Inspired by Jamie Oliver, Ryan has taken a keen interest in cooking. This week, he decided that he would cook dinner for me on Wednesday. So he went through the various recipes on Jamie's website, and chosed one that featured my favorite kind of fish - white fish.

So, for this episode of 'Ryan at Home', our dinner menu featured ' White fish wrapped in smoked bacon, with a zesty mayo sauce'.

We were supposed to do the shopping on Wednesday evening, after music class. So, armed with a printed menu and ingredients list, we went shopping. Had to go to both Giant and Jusco just to get everything we needed. This made the entire expedition long and by the time we were ready to leave, it was 5.40 pm. To make things worse, it was raining cats and dogs and the traffic was horrendous. Add the fact that everyone was rushing to get back for Buka Puasa, it was doubly bad. I was really getting irritated, and it took us almost an hour to get home.

I left the kitchen to Ryan and his sous chef Julian, and prayed hard that they would not burn down the kitchen. Was a bit nervous cos the recipe called for both pan frying and use of the oven.!!

Anyway, the end result was....SUPERB, as you can see from the photos. The original Jamie Oliver dish is on top, the second one, by newly promoted Chef Ryan and Sous Chef Julian. Sorry about the quality of the photo, though, yours truly was never great with the camera. As the boys get better, I think I may have to hire a professional photographer!!! Haha...

The taste was divine....I would have said 'awesome' but the word is a private joke in our family!!!
And considering that this is the very first attempt, I'll give it a 95%!! Seriously, it was really good. (Although I am of course biased, but this is the truth) The fish, combined with the smoked bacon, was very uniquely tasty, and the asparagus crunchy. The sauce, a mixture of mayo , lemon juice and spices is very zesty. Really yummy.

However, the best part of the meal is not the great food, but the trouble ( looking up the recipes, choosing one, planning etc) the boys went through just to cook my favorite fish. This is worth more than 100% - the fantastic warm feeling it produces is irreplaceable. Thanks guys..I love you.

So who says letting kids watch Astro is not good? I have so much to gain from them watching it !!

Fire

The boys have been watching a lot of Survivorman and Man vs Wild lately and have been fascinated by the idea of making fire from rubbing two sticks together. So the project of the week became 'Making Fire'

Somehow they managed to get hold of some pieces of stick and a small wooden board. How and where , I have no clue, but they enlisted the help of our driver in this mad idea of theirs and he may have gone around the neighbourhood finding the stuff for them. They then fashioned a bow of sorts , with which the stick was strung and rubbed against the board. I must admit that I was pretty impressed by the creativity and ingenuity of it! Hmm...some of my engineering 'genes' must have been passed down...haha...So who else thinks that watching too much TV is no good? At least, this little project of theirs got them to turn off the TV and computer and do something with their hands and brains!

At first, the experiment was conducted outdoors , and rather unsuccessfully I might add, cos they were at it for about 3 days! Then on Saturday evening, the wind got strong and they moved indoors to the kitchen. I had warned them to stop but apparently they were quote 'very close' unquote!!! And this time, they had 'tinder' to help get the fire going. Eh btw, the 'tinder' referred to are the few miserable pieces of straw like thingie you see in the video.....don't ask me where they got it??? So how can I be so cruel as to stop them?? Besides, I didn't think they would succeed!! ( Tinder or no tinder)

Was I wrong? Watch for yourself. Needless to say, Ryan 'burnt' his hand on the wood ( it did get very hot and I did smell smoke) but I think my boys should remain in civilization cos if they can't get a fire going for 3 days, their chances of surviving in the wild are pretty slim!!! But I give them full marks for perseverance and tenacity cos they were still at it today!!! ( Today is Sunday)...4th day...still no success :(
If only this doggedness was applied to their school work and skating...then the world would be perfect and I would never have to nag again...LOL

Anyway, boys,I do hope you guys would succeed soon...then perhaps we can move on to another 'project'! Kampatei!

Police traps

Did anyone notice that there is an extraordinary number of police traps on the road the last 2 weeks? I have, and I have noticed that this is a regular phenomena during the fasting month. Is it because more people have a tendency to speed or break minor traffic rules during the holy month? Somehow, I have my doubts...what do you think? Hehe...I think we all know exactly why there are so many traps out there. I just wonder how many of these so called 'blocks' and traps are actually authorized???

I have even noticed lone police motobikes stopping cars along the highway. And usually these cars are luxury cars. Is it because big cars = rich drivers inside? Or big cars = tendency to break traffic rules ? You decide. This practice obstructs traffic and causes chaos on the roads for no reason, and I believe ( mind you, this is only my opinion) that the summons is usually never issued. Anyway, if you break a rule, you deserve a ticket...so do drive with care.

Anyway, drive safely and carefully, irregardless of what month it is, for your own safely as well as others'. Have a happy Ramadan and we all look forward to a very 'Selamat' Hari Raya at the end of it all!!

Xian ...revsited

Watched a documentary 2 days ago, on History Channel Astro. Seemed to be watching an awful lot of documentaries nowadays. Anyway, History Channel is one of my favourite, worth spending time there, if only they don't repeat so many times!!!

Anyways, I digress. Coming back to the topic at hand, I was watching a documentary on the first Emperor of China, Shih Huang Ti of the Qin Dynasty, and it brought back the memories of my visit to Xian some 4 years ago.

Watching the show gave me a sense of nostalgia as Xian is truly a magical place.

At first I thought it was just another tomb or mausoleum filled with dusty statutes. This would have indeed been the case had I not come across a book in the hotel library which gave life to these terracotta statutes. ( The hotel we stayed in was Sofitel - now that is another long story - such a fantastic place, and we were upgraded to a suite, courtesy of our friend who was GM there!) Anyway, our friend the GM allowed me to 'borrow' the book out on our exursions and it gave such an insight to the tombs.

At this point, I think it is fair to say that most printed material about the terracotta warriors are in Chinese, which I cannot comprehend, so finding something in English that is so concise is priceless.

Anyway, I discovered that there are ways to tell the ranking of each soldier and even the area they are from by examining the armour they wear and the way their hair is done up. Even the studs on the armour tells a story. Of course, most of the statutes are in the enormous pits and no on is allowed to walk near them but there were a few on display on a small ' museum' and although they were in glass cases, you can get up close and examine them. I was never so intrigued by statutes before !!! Poor hubby (who had no interest) and guide had to wait for me. (PS. the guide seemed to know nothing compared to what I can find in the book!)

The actual tomb of the Emperor was believed to be underneath a earthern pyramid ( looked like a hill to me!!) in the nearby area. We actually had the chance to go up the 'hill' on horseback. It was nervewracking as there were no obvious trials ...only the guides and the horses seemed to know the way. Many a times, my horse slipped on loose stones and it was really very very scary. But at the top of the hill, the view was magnificent! The tomb is yet to be excavated as the Chinese government have not found an entrance and they did not want to excavate blindly. Also, they have a problem of preserving it once it is opened.

I remember the Jackie Chan movie, 'The Myth' which was loosely based on this tomb. Legend has it that underneath the tomb was a lake and rivers of mercury. Tests conducted have shown a high level of mercury in the ground in these regions, so maybe it is true!

Anyhow, I do hope that I can visit again , especially when they open the tomb. Don't know why but I do have a kind of fascination with the Terracotta warriors after that visit. The legend is so intriguing! And oh, one not so pleasant memory is that someone tried to 'molest' me at the pit. I was wearing a sleeveless T and some guy tried to stroke my arm!!! Urgh...luckily can hide behind hubby.

Xian is very nice, food was good , especially the Muslim barbecued meat - chicken and lamb. Never tasted anything like it! Hotel was awesome, plus the fact that we got a private limousine and guide and a suite, and access to the club lounge, courtesy of the GM...that just adds up to the overall charm! Food at the hotel, in particular, the Japanese food was out of this world. Great memories!!! :)

1 Malaysia on Ice

Just finished 2 days' worth of 1Malaysia on Ice Show yesterday. A total of 4 shows, 2 per day on Saturday and Sunday respectively. I still don't understand why they had to do it on Sat , 29 August and Sun 30 August. Why can't we do it on 30 and 31 August???? Weird management decision.

The show was a blast, especially the last one. I was kidding around with coach A, that he should pay Ryan and Julian for every good jump they did, and he said I had to pay him if they fell. Ryan did 2 Russian splits which I claim is worth RM 50 each as it was such a crowd pleaser, but he stumbled a bit on landing the 2nd split, so have to deduct RM10!!! Julian fell on his axel-double toe which was not planned for in the 1st place ( that particular jump, I mean). he only did the jump cos A dared him to!! So it was a riot, and I think the boys had fun. No pressure at all. Julian even had time to talk to us at the door during the show! Ryan did 4 different jumps for all 4 shows - he really liked it as he can jump whatever he felt like doing..something which he don't always get to do.

In fact, it was zero pressure and 100 % pleasure, cos there were so many goodies involved, thanks to the generosity of some of the skater parents. They had free T shirts, food from MacDonalds and KFC and a very thoughtful gift as well. Plus a video CD to keep!! Thank you parents, you made it a very nice experience for us as we have never done a show with so much goodies involved. BL sure have some great skater parents. Please include us next time!!! And Happy Merdeka to all!!

Flying Noodles

Have you ever told your friendly neighborhood mamak man to 'tarik panjang panjang' when he is preparing your teh tarik? Well, I have and of course we all take great delight in watching him tarik the tea and display his skills. So much so that there is now an art to 'tarik-ing teh' and many a competitions have been held, and teh tarik is touted as something not to be missed by tourists.

Today I found something else to marvel at. You can now tell this particular guy at a wantan noodle shop in PJ to throw your noodle high high!!! Don't understand? Okay, watch the video





Isn't it awesome? We had dinner at this place this evening, and I didn't realize there was anything extraordinary about it until Julian saw the guy throwing the noodles and commented that the cook played with his food! I was seated with my back to the cooking area, so I turned around to look and was pretty amazed at the antics. We prayed that our noodles will not reach the ceiling and luckily it didn't! Whew, what a relief! Would be awful if it did and got stuck there, anfd we had to wait for it to fall off!!!
You think this guy is good? (BTW, he's not Chinese- he's Myanmarese.), wait till you see his sifu!! The sifu is Chinese, and he does the whole shing ding with a lot more style than this fella. He throws his noodles in a circle instead of straight up, and it's accompanied by a little dance like jiggle. Too bad, we couldn't catch it on tape to be posted cos he caught us by surprise and he only did it once - no repeat :( All the work was done by this underling!!

But, in spite of all this, the food is nothing to shout about. The noodles are home made egg noodles, which I was hoping would taste like the Hong Kong ones, but it did not. A cousin to it, maybe but not the real thing. However, it did taste a lot better than the normal coffee shop wantan noodles. I think they actually made it the Hong Kong way though, cos I spied a thick long bamboo near the kitchen area. ( The real McCoy is made by a guy sitting astride a huge bamboo and gently pressing onto the flour, much like sitting on a see saw going up and down). I know cos I am a wantan noodle snob and I refuse to eat the noodles sold in the coffee shops as they are so inferior compared to the real Hong Kong egg noodles! It's so hard to eat them once you have tasted rhe real thing in Hong Kong.

If you want to see this guy in action, drop me a comment and I'll tell you where to find him.