Home country

It has quite crazy over the past few weeks. I celebrated my birthday about four weeks ago! Yay Happy Birthday to me! Being 28 years old... is only 2 more years to reaching the big 3-0. Oh jeyyyysusss... I must admit my birthday celebration this year was pretty awesome. Will post up some pictures later.

After my birthday was over, Grumpy and I took on a little mini project at our home. We changed the carpets in our living room to floating timber, much to my dog's dismay. Pictures to follow soon. We are very pleased with the results.

And then, it was the week leading up to my trip back to KL for work. I had a very busy week at work, with more than a dozen meeting invites to attend, and heaps of preparation to do. We were briefed over and over.. and as I am the first person to kick start this project, meeting the new recruits we hired in KL for the first time, there were very high levels of expectation of me. So much pressure!

And... then I finally made it to KL. So here I am! Back in my home country for work.

How was it been so far? Its okay. Can't say its fantabulous, but its okay. Work is quite tiring. My mission this time is training 10 new starters about the main application system used in our department, and how we use it in Australia. I talk a lot about the Aussie business, Aussie blah blah blah blah blah but I am at heart a Malaysian :)

The KL office is growing at a very fast pace. The office is so sophisticated and my favourite part is the kitchen, as it comes with free drinks. Heaps of soft drinks. Hot drinks come from a machine, each floor has a few machines, fridges stacked with all kinds of drinks. Its great! I told Grumpy that there were no real tea bags or coffee in sight, no real sugar, nothing. It all comes from a machine! Voila!

I had the opportunity to meet a lot of senior people in the company, which does not mean much to me at all. However, I met one senior boss, head of something in the entire Asia Pacific region, and he is OMG-SO-GOOD-LOOKING! How can such a senior executive be that cute?! Plus, he's French, which makes it all so sexy. LOL Why is it that all the French people that I work with in Australia are unattractive? Maybe except for one, but he's left...

So during the weekdays (like today) I stay in the hotel. There is free shuttle to our office from our hotel. Then on the weekends, I go back and stay with my parents. Its nice to be with my family. I spent time with my grandfather (who is not well), my aunties, uncles, cousins, friends, in-laws etc.

Despite my busy trip, I do admit, I miss home.. I miss Melbourne! :(

I miss my hubbykins, I miss my puppy, I miss home! Is it weird? I'm back home yet I miss my other home! Why is this always the case? When I'm in Melbourne, I moan about how boring life is and how much I want to do something a wee bit more exciting. And when I actually get the opportunity, I can't wait to go back to my normal life with routine etc...

Mt Buller Snow Trip

Oh dear I have been having way too much shitburgers lately. Everyday I find myself surrounded by idiots. On the phone, on email, in the train, at a restaurant, you name it. No its not that time of the month. Its just... *sigh* shitburgers!

Anyway, to cheer myself up, I will blog about my recent trip to the snow with friends!

We planned this trip a few weeks ago. One of the our friends, his parents has a time share arrangement for accommodation at Mansfield. Mansfield is about 1.5 hours from Mt Buller. So we booked two villa units for a very reasonable price between the 8 of us. The week leading up to the trip, I was busy during my lunch break looking for things to buy for the trip. I ended up with a new pair of ski pants (hell yeah!), new beanie, new goggles, new snow boots, new ski socks, and... yeah that should be it.

Most of us finished work earlier than normal on Friday afternoon. We left Melbourne at approximately 7pm. The drive was quite pleasant, but of course, with daylight saving, it was dark. We arrived at our villa unit around 10pm. We settled in quickly, the place was quite old but very clean, cosy and most importantly, warm! We agreed to wake up at around 5-ish in the morning the next day, for a 6am start. While majority of us did not think it was realistic, let me tell you, we did it! Well, not exactly at 6am, but we were ready to go at 6.30am the next morning. Not bad for a group of 8, don't you think?

Initially, we agreed to drive two cars up to Mt Buller from Mansfield. So we drove in to Mansfield town centre to hire wheel chains for both cars. Depending on the weather, cars are legally required to hire the wheel chains to drive on snow and icy roads. While filling out the paperwork, we find out that the wheel chains could not fit my car. Therefore, at 6.55am, everyone agreed to take the bus from the town centre to Mt Buller. Mind you, the bus was scheduled to depart at 7am. We ran for our lives to get on to the bus in time. If we missed it, we would have to wait an extra hour. Good news is that we made it on time. Phew!

Grumpy and myself in the bus. Bright and early.

The journey up to Mt Buller, we could already see snow. Everyone was so excited.

After over an hour, we arrived right at the top of the central area in Mt Buller. It was soooo cold. We zipped up our jackets, put on our scarves, beanies, googles, all good to go!

After about ten minutes of settling down in Mt buller, we organised our ski hire. This process took forever. Especially with a group of 8, we spent over an hour just sorting out our skis, boots, poles and snowboards. Some of us were getting impatient and very hot, staying indoors with 4 layers of clothes = so not cool :(

Anyway, finally when everyone finished sorting out their skis and snowboards, we joined the queue for the chair lifts.

I always say to him "Are you exciteeeeeddddd?" And he'll go.. "I'm alright..."

Everyone knows that the crowd in Mt Buller is the worst among the 3 most popular snow locations (Buller, Hotham and Falls Creek). Buller is the closest to Melbourne though.

The last time I skiied was 6 years ago. I can hardly remember how to ski from my previous experience. Two minutes after we hop off the chair lifts at the top, I find myself very afraid of the slopes. So I joined Dopey's other half to a complimentary two-hour ski lesson. I found the lesson very helpful. The ski instructor was extremely cute too. He had blue eyes. *faints*

Finally after the lesson and some lunch, I was ready to take on the slopes. While there was hardly any sun that Saturday, it was constantly snowing. Excellent for skiing. The snow was so nice and fluffy, it did not hurt much if you fell. The last thing you want is for it to be icy, because falling down would mean a lot of bruising!

Grumpy looks funny here. Hehehe don't you think it looks like I have my arms wrapped around some random stranger?

The last chair lift was at 5pm. We returned our skis and headed to a pub for some drinks. The bus took us home around 7.30pm. We were exhausted. Finally at 9pm, we started preparing dinner. Mr Happy organised steam boat and it was sooooo delicious. I guess after a long and tiring day, any hot food would have tasted better than usual!

I must say, my arms were extremely sore that night. From my wrist to my elbow. It was so sore that the pain was excruciating! Grumpy thinks I must have gripped the ski poles a bit too hard.

We ate dinner while watching the election. Everyone voiced out their political opinions. Among the 8 of us, only one person was an Australian citizen. So all I can say is none of their opinions mattered except for one! LOL

The next morning, I wake up and my arms so much better. Yay, I have my arms back! The sun was shining in Mansfield, here are some pictures.

View from our villa unit. So fresh and relaxing!

Our bedroom. There was an electric blanket to keep us nice and warm while asleep. I loved it!

The last day of our trip. We started the day with breakfast prepared by Dopey. We drove about 35kms from Mansfield to visit the Jamieson brewery.

We did beer tasting and shared some lunch. Then it was time to make our journey back to Melbourne. On the way home, we stopped by at De Bortoli vineyard and bought a few bottles of wine. Grumpy said he was stocking up for summer. Yes sure, spring comes first, my darling.

So there you go, I actually made it for a snow trip this winter after many years. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Everyone had a blast.

Cy-ber-jai-yahhhh

This week, I have been caught up with work. My boss Belgian Truffles is back in his home country Belgium, so I am enjoying some peace and quiet at work. He talks too much most of the time, and lately because of the various things that are going on in the office, I get so easily annoyed with him. This week is also Little Miss-Whats-for-Lunch's last week with the company. She resigned and scored herself a much better job with a consulting firm on St Kilda Road. I am sad, of course, sad to lose my close friend in the office. But on the other hand, I am happy that she has found something that is much more challenging and rewarding.

On Tuesday, our office announced the company's smart sourcing plans. And so, everyone had to view at least 20 slides of rubbish in a powerpoint presentation, before they arrived at the last few which said that 26 people in the Melbourne office will soon lose their jobs because their roles will be moved to KL. While I am not affected at the moment, my team is convinced that our roles will disappear too in the future.

Anyways, this week I have also received more emails from HR about my business trip back to KL in September. That makes things a bit more concrete now and so I guess this is something I look forward to. A free trip back home is an opportunity not to be missed! Our office is in Cyberjaya. Many Aussie colleagues have been asking me how to pronounce it.

Cy-ber-jai-yahhhhh

Yesterday, my cousin invited Dopey and myself to her baby boy's full moon. Her baby is absolutely gorgeous and such a good baby. While I do not get along with this cousin at all, I put all our differences aside and celebrated with the rest of the family, the birth of her healthy son. This baby is another half-ling, half Malaysian half Kiwi. We still cannot tell if he looks more chinese or more Caucasian..? Soooo cute! He was sound asleep in my arms, and everyone else's while we passed him around like a parcel! haha

Langues de Chat cookies

In the recent weeks, I find myself spending more and more time in the kitchen (on weekends), experimenting new recipes - both cooking and baking. I am popular at work for being lazy in the kitchen, due to the fact that I get my dinners delivered to the office. In actual fact, I do not mind cooking at all. Its just that I am quite slow in the kitchen, and if you asked me to cook you dinner on a weekday.... well, after finishing work late, hopping on the train, walking home from the station, then going to the gym.. after all of that, dinner would be ready only at 10pm.

I usually reserve a few hours on a Saturday or a Sunday, in the kitchen, making something new, something that I am craving for! :)

I also find it very therapeutic... spending this time in the kitchen by myself, trying out new things while listening to music on MTV.

If I am not alone at home, Grumpy will normally help me in the kitchen, especially with the washing up. Everyone knows that Grumpy is a very good cook, but I am becoming a bit more experienced now. We work well together in the kitchen, I must admit. If he was cooking up a feast, I would be in between reading recipes out to him and holding on to measuring cups, etc.

Last Saturday afternoon, I made 'Langues de Chat'. A French style cookie, which means Cats Tongue. Its very easy to make. I found this recipe on my Epicurious app on the iPhone, but there are still some elements which I would like to modify to make this the most perfect tasting Langues de Chat cookies. Grumpy said it was delicious, which is a good start.

It is a very thin, crisp cookie. Once you start eating them, it is very hard to stop. The recipe said it makes 2 and a half dozen cookies. When Grumpy got home from golf, he would have been lucky if there were more than a dozen left. I ate them all. Before I even finished baking all the batches. LOL

Fun and games

Last week, I was so caught up with all sorts of things. The weekend was chock-a-block full of errands, I was up around 6.30am both on Saturday and Sunday, and this week again, work has been completely flat out.

In the recent weeks, I had two rounds of interview with an internationally reputable company for a role, which I have no clue why I even applied for it in the first place. Sometimes I find myself doing silly things, and the most silly of all, is letting my nerves get the better of me during the interview process. I found it so daunting, and of course when I am nervous, I speakreallyreallyfast. The third stage was a GMA test (psychometric) and a personality test. I think I failed this part, as they rang yesterday to say they were not going to proceed further with my application. I was extremely disappointed with myself, but of course it was a big learning curve for me.

Looking on the bright side, the role was not something I was very keen in pursuing. Put it this way, if they advertised it in my company, I would have disregarded it. The other point was that if I was successful (which I am not), I would have to divest all my investments in shares. Jules, you clearly do not have a million dollar portfolio here.. lol. However, that would have still resulted to some financial loss on my part as the current financial situation is bad bad bad. Did I mention that it was also applicable to my other half? Therefore Grumpy would not be allowed to own any form of investments in shares too, if I ended up in that company (which I will not).

While all of that was going on, there were many things happening at my own current work place too. For the first time, in my career, I had to sign a confidentiality agreement with my company. Over the next few months, there will be many changes in the office, and while I may have some knowledge of this, I am strictly not allowed to share it with anyone at all. Quite sad, really.

The flip side of this is that I will have some brief opportunities to travel overseas (short term) for work over the next few months which is always a bonus for me. So while I am keen to start a new challenge at a different work place, it is also very tempting for me to stay put and to support my boss over the next couple of months. So yeah.... fun and games!

This weekend, I look forward to staying home and chillaxing with my dog. Grumpy has requested that I 'sleep in', or at least try to get 12 hours of sleep!

Grandfather's 90th Birthday

This is long overdue, but I thought I would share with you a post about my recent trip back to KL in April. It was a last minute decision but I am so glad I made the effort to be home and spend time with my family. The main reason was to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday. My grandfather is an amazing person, I have a great deal of respect for him.

Unfortunately, Grumpy could not join me for this trip. But my brother and his better half made it.

All of my uncles and aunties made it, including all my cousins, the grandchildren. One cousin flew in with his wife and his very gorgeous baby boy from the UK, another cousin flew in from Hong Kong with his fiance and finally, one cousin flew in from Sarawak as he works in the oil rigs over there. All of us were looking forward to this birthday dinner which was held at Oriental Pavilion in Jaya 33, Petaling Jaya.

I made sure I had a nice cocktail dress, got my nails done - complete with nail art, I got my hair done (an amazing blow wave) at this hairdressers called 'Ah Mui's' (I kid you not) who is so famous in Damansara among the Malaysian elite - ladies like Datins to celebrities, to the rich and famous and to the more ordinary plain Janes like myself all go there to get a blow wave for a special events, parties, etc. I put on nice make up, fake lashes, bought a pair of gorgeous heels from Charles & Keith. After I got dolled up, I stepped out of my bedroom, Dopey looked at me and he said "OMG WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING? CLUBBING?!!" LOL

Here is a picture of all my grandfather's grandchildren. As you can see here, I was a bit overdressed for the occasion. My cousins must be thinking I am crazy but WTH, it is such an auspicious event for Granddad to celebrate his 90th, of course one must dress the part!

*big smile*

Dopey, Dad, Mum and myself with my grandfather. Apart from his right eye, which he recently went for an eye operation, he still is in good form.

The entire family had such an enjoyable time together, we used to be very close when we were young, but of course, now that everyone is all grown up, living their own lives, we do not catch up as much as we would like to. The last time everyone was together like this, was more than ten years ago.

After dinner, some (not all) of us cousins planned an after party! I was expecting a nice lounge somewhere in the heart of KL, but everyone complained about traffic, avoiding the hustle and bustle of the city... we ended up at an outdoor Belgian pub nearby. Of course, all the people there were wearing shorts and a singlet... I stood out like a sore thumb.

This trip, going home without Grumpy, I guess my parents had sole custody of me. I did heaps of family stuff, which was nice... first, let me show you my cousin's baby boy, Baby E. He is half Irish half Malaysian Chinese.

He is such a bundle of joy! I wish I could see him more often! I wish I could see all the little tots in the family more often!

And next, let me show you my other cousin's baby toy poodle. My cousin has a pure breed male and female toy poodle, complete with the poodle clip. Each of them costs an arm and a leg, and they had a baby poodle recently. This little puppy is so adorable! Watch this video of the puppy climbing the stairs. He is so tiny and such a delight to watch!

I should really make an effort to go back to KL more often....

Winter Weekend

How was your weekend? Mine was filled with lots of food, and lots of food!

Saturday, Grumpy had the day off. We made plans to go to this restaurant called Pie In The Sky all the way up in Mount Dandenong. Our close friend Mr Happy is very fond of this place and raves about it all the time. They make Guinness Beef pie here.

This restaurant does not take bookings, so we were worried about getting a table. When we arrived, we were seated straight away, no dramas there. It was busy, but it was not too packed.

Grumpy still sleepy (even though I let him sleep in on his day off, while I was up early doing tai chi, yoga and pilates at Body Balance class).

I had the Tandoori chicken pie with chips and salad.

Grumpy had a the Guinness Beef Pie with mash, peas and gravy.

The pies were okay, but we had no idea why our dear friend spoke so fondly about this place. I told Grumpy that I preferred the Harry's pies I normally get in Sydney. It was double the price of a normal Harry's pie too. When we got back in to Melbourne, I told Dopey that the pies were pretty average to me, "I do not know why Mr Happy says that the pies here so good when they are not!" Dopey told me that Mr Happy probably liked the pie because he also liked the ambience and the whole idea of driving all the way to the mountains. So true. Dopey has been making a lot of sense lately. Maybe he does not deserve this award winning title of 'Dopey' anymore.

After we had lunch, we went by to Grumpy's cousin Little-Mrs-Fitness-First place because she made popiah. Yeap, home made popiah which tasted so deeeelish! We were already so full from the pies, and yet we could not resist eating the popiahs for afternoon tea. OMG.

The two little kids of Little-Mrs-Fitness-First, the little boy just melts my heart. He is such a handful, but I love him to bits because he says the sweetest things! And you can't say no to a smile like his.

We ended the night with dinner with friends. We could hardly eat anymore but we still went out for dinner to catch up with the usual group of people.

Today, Grumpy played golf all day. No one plays golf in winter (and in the rain) except for my husband. For dinner, I made Prawn Tacos, Pico de Gallo, beans and guacamole with nachos. It was very easy to make, tasty and healthy too!

Soft tacos.... yummmm... Grumpy is going through an 'avocado phase' at the moment. He loves anything avocado. So his favourite was the guacamole I made from scratch. He put guacamole in his tacos.

I love Mexican food! I can't wait to go to the US and eat all the Mexican in the world!

I also made fresh banana bread today. I will share it with my friends at work tomorrow. I have modified the ingredients from two separate recipes, and the taste is nice, maybe short of one banana... but it crumbles a bit, and that makes it a bit hard when you pop it in the toaster. I need to perfect my banana bread recipe!

P.S. Remember the frenemy I was talking about in my earlier post... she found another job in Boxhill, so she resigned from her current job in the city! YAY! Which means I do not have to meet her for lunch anymore! Whoop whoop! First thing that came to my mind when she told me the news... 'GOOD RIDDANCE'!