The Little Things

The little things that make me a happy bunny...

1 - Spending time with my loved ones...

The brother and the sister. It is amazing just walking with them on the streets of London and admiring the beautiful architecture of the Royal Albert Hall.

2 - Cooking for my loved ones and they actually enjoy the food...


Steamed popiah. This is actually the first time I have popiah steam here in UK. We steamed the skin and wrapped it with veg instead of frying it. More healthy lah. But then we got greedy and put too many skins in the steamer and they all sticked together. Oooops...

3 - A full fridge.


I love seeing my fridge full. I used to hate it when I was at uni cause it was full with other people's food. Makes me happy just opening the fridge and seeing all my food.

4 - A hearty breakfast.


I love this baked egg dish. It is so easy to make. Basically, just butter the bottom of the ramekin with some butter, add in the egg, add a layer of sauted mushrooms and cheese and tomatoes. Put in a baking dish which is half filled with water, cover with tin foil and bake for 10 mins. Serve the cheesy runny egg with toast. Love it.

5 - Doing my bit to save the world.
Inspired by my cousins and uncle.

I try to use these bags when I go shopping.


And I recycle everyting from train tickets to receipts.

6 - Taking cool photos.

Well, I think they are cool regardless of what anyone says.

A peek of London.


The City from St Paul's cathedral.

I have been here for almost 5 years and this is the first time I visited St Paul's. I don't think it is right to charge to go into a church but I guess they need the money for all the restoration work and stuff. But still...

Gandhi..

It's not Gandhi lah but I thought of Gandhi when I saw this sculpture.


We also went to watch Wicked. My bro wanted to watch it cause it was recommended by his friends.

It was actually pretty good. I wasn't expecting much from it. I thought it will be cheesy. And it is cheesy but thats the fun of it.

Watched Gubra yesterday.

I know it is old but I never got round to watching it.
I guess after the success of Sepet, expectation for Gubra is high. I was a bit disappointed. I love Sepet but Gubra is not even half as good as Sepet. It is just average. Maybe I was expecting too much. But it was thoroughly enjoyable watching a Malaysian production here. It gives you the warm fuzzy fuzzy feeling. And some bits of the movie were actually quite funny.

Off for my mock exam.

Till I get back from France.

Au revoir..
x

Super Super Excited

I was still at uni when he last visited.

Mum reminded me not to bully my brother when he comes.

Of course I will bully him. He is my brother. That's what brothers are for.

I can't believe I will be having breakfast with my brother tommorow.

Its so unreal.

Kite Runner - 4/5

I finished reading the Kite Runner.
This is one of the best books I have read for a while.

The story is quite predictable.

But Khaled Hossein's story of childhood in Kabul, the dillemas of good vs evil, is enough to make this book worth all the time in the world to read it.

Priceless.

It will be a classic book to be read by generations to come.

I have been reading loads lately. Maybe it is just a phase. I have not been reading as voraciously as I used to. But now that I have got back into it. I am thirsting for more. All I need now are 'good' books. Any recommendations?

Next book - Love in the time of cholera...

Dialing...

I finally got a phone in the flat.

And I can actually dial up from home.
Oh the excitement when it actually worked.

Don't think I will get broadband because I don't want to be tied down to a contract.

I am working today because I want to finish off all my work before I am off holiday for 2 weeks cause my brother is coming to visit. wooo...

The Plan - Spend a day or 2 in London. Next Next week, we will be off to Bordeaux, Lourdes and Paris. I have been to Paris but my bro hasn't and it doesn't make sense to go to France and skip Paris. I am really looking forward to seeing Lourdes. I have been reading all about it. My neighbour loaned me a book about Lourdes. I was so touched and in tears when she told me about her visit to Lourdes.

In between all these I need to study for my exams. 10 more weeks to exams!!!

Things have been wonderful since I moved into this flat that I love love love. I think I have said that like a million times. I just feel so at home here. Its like I finally found somewhere that I feel at home. I think I will be really sad when the day comes and I have to say goodbye to this lovely flat. Oh and I met the lovely elderly lady living next door. She is the loveliest, and bravest lady ever. She has lived in her flat for 40 years!!!!

After my exams I need to figure out what I want to do next. Should I go back for good? Then there is the temptation to move to another foreign country to work. I must be mental, I have been yearning to go back. Despite all the moaning about the volatile lifestyle. I am used to it and I do enjoy this nomadic lifestyle sometimes. But I guess there is no need to think about that now. When the time comes, I will know where to go and what to do. Perhaps I already know the answer deep down inside.

I bought myself a world map yesterday. I love looking at maps. Even as a kid I love looking at the Atlas. There are so many places that I want to go. I have been really lucky that I have had the opportunity to travel. Sometimes I wonder what I have done to ever deserve all these blessings.

Perhaps I have done something good in my past life.

Its Been A While

Have been really busy.
Ya you guessed it I was back at college preparing for my exams again.

In spite of the busyness I had a fab weekend last week.

Joanne came to visit and we did a bit of cooking.



Spring rolls...



Sushis...



Tiramisu...



It was really fun. I love it when people come to visit me and I get to cook and eat loads. People often think it is troublesome. But I LOVE it. I wish I can just spend my days reading and cooking.

I realise that cooking is something that is more fun when done with friends. Well, actually everything is more fun with friends. No man is an island I guess.

Cooking with Joanne made me a bit nostalgic. I thought about all the potlucks, jumbo diners , BBQs we had at Warwick. Good times good times.

Went to the market with Joanne and bought some mangos. We had it cut opened when we got home and it was not ripe!! So, after Joanne left, I called my dad and asked him how to make pickle mango. Something my grandma used to make when I was little. And I love them. She only makes it for special occasions. Dad made them a few times before they chopped off the mango tree but they never tasted as nice as grandma's.

So I gave it a go. My first pickle mangoes!!!



They tasted ok ok lah considering I did not have 'kham chao' (a spice my grandma use for the pickle.).

In between the busyness, I finish reading Norwegian Wood, another of Haruki's work.
The story is even more 'twisted' than the first of his work that I read.
But it was an interesting read. A bit disturbing but Haruki is such a good story teller that the story lingers and haunts you for while.

Yes the story is still fresh in my mind especially the ending.

Should get back to work.

Laterz..

x

The Dark Knight

Other than being a wee bit draggy. It was actually pretty good.

I enjoyed watching the many complicated characters in the movie.
It was fascinating how good and evil interplay in the movie.
And I think Christian Bale is hot as Batman but of course the best performance is definitely Heath Ledger. I don't think I need to elaborate on the latter point because most of you who have seen the movie would know what I mean.

I did not watch the last Nolan's Batman.

My memories of Batman was when Val Kilmer was Batman back when I was a teenager.
And I thought he was damn hot at that time.
Yesterday as I watched Christian Bale as Batman, I had the same feeling I had way back when I was a teenager. Well, almost the same feeling anyway. Maybe I just like men in masks.

The Big Question from the movie: 'Should Batman have taken that mask off?'

Feels like at the end of the day, even though good often prevails, there is still evilness in each and everyone of us. We would save our own asses above everything else. We are all hypocrites in one way or another. As much as we like to be true and real, very often we just 'conform'. Even those who try to be uncoventional are still unconventional in a conforming way.

Perhaps it is not possible to live life 'unmasked'.
Life is a big masquerade...

08.08.08

Apparently today is the luckiest day ever.

Feel very happy today.

Its the weekend.

Wooooo....

False Impressions

I am staying at the Mayfair Hotel at the moment.
Probably the 'poshest' place I have stayed to date.
Am doing a course here.

Today I learnt about first impressions and self promotion.

Its not what you are or what you do but its how you potray yourself and how it is perceived. Unfortunately, often there is always this distortion between how we want to be perceived and the impact ie the perception.

Anyway some interesting things I learnt today:
1. Apparently women who wear make up (in moderation) earn 10% more than those who don't. I don't normally wear make up to work cause my skin is quite sensitive and I like to leave it chemical free as much as possible. But if I can make more money with a bit of make up, I guess maybe I should. Hmmm..
2. Men take women more seriously if they wear a suit, heels and dull colours like navy,grey and blue. This is quite sad me thinks. Apparently to make a business impact, we should be trendy but not to trendy. Hmmm..

Sometimes you want to say heck, I just want to be myself.
Why do I need to change to fit in?
But the reality is you have to change if you want to stay in the game.
Which makes me wonder if it is all worth it in the end.

Oh and shoes... apparently brown shoes is a no no for men.
Like seriously, what is wrong with brown shoes?

I looked at my shoes and they were a pair of gold flats that I love to bits.
The bottom bit of the shoes is extremely worn but I still wear my lovely gold flats everyday!!! And I look around me almost everyone was wearing black heels!

Now, maybe I am just the odd one out.