Happy New 2009!

Ok I'm saying that in advance since i'm already too late to wish u all Merry Christmas. Lots of changes going on right now...I might take a break from blogging, scrapping, the works....we'll see how it goes. I cant believe I start work on Friday...and my room is still a wreck. At least H and I have sorted out the bridal studio. We both think we've got a pretty good deal and are happy so we've put a deposit down. We're looking to take pics sometime in July. Now for me to loose 3kg and H to lose 10kg...hee hee

Sigh...

I've been a really horrible blogger and scrapper I know. I've basically been spending time with the family, finishing season one of Gossip Girl (ooooh so b***hy), considering possibilities of what to do to my room (and REALLY need to get down to decluttering), preparing for my farewell party (tonight) and looking forward to my upcoming holiday in a few days...Wow, time has flown....seriously...cant believe half my break is almost gone *sniff sniff*. Oh I've sent out and received some SK Swap stuff....so much fun!! Until i stop by again...take care y'all!

Last day..

I felt an instant weight lift off my shoulders as I finished my trial just now. It means (1) that I dont have to come into the office tomorrow other than to pack up my stuff (2) I no longer have to wear penguin suits/ lizard s**t outfits officially anymore!! (unless for functions in the new job). I've just started watching Gossip Girls (till 5am this morning...yes despite my trial) so guess where I'll be for the next few days till H comes back from Japan ;)

WOHOO!! NO WORK FOR THE NEXT 2 WEEKS!!

Little balls of joy

Hi there, I've been lazy with the blogging world this past week...fitting in mahjong sessions before H's sister left, bringing the sibs to watch Bolt, finishing up my status report at work, wondering what to pack up in the office and my current fix of making little fabric yoyo's. They're cute. If you've seen the Maya Rd ones then they're about that size. Would look much better with a button or brad of some sort in the middle cos I aint the neatest sewing person in the world but its still cute. I prefer the little round ones to the heart shaped ones but I havent ventured to the clover yoyo's. So anyway, I found some leftover fabric from some baju-making some time ago so...I just wanna say hi and thank those that drop by my blog eventho I suck at updating so for those who commented on the last post, I'll be sending some fabric yoyo's ur way...Thanks to Zizi, Mich, Ed, JC, Emily, Vivs and Foxyzz (who immediately sent me an sms wen she saw the post). Hope to see those little things on ur projects soon!

Early Christmas Present

I so totally screamed when I received this package. I was not expecting it at all!! Julia and I had been corresponding since the advocacy workshop and after she sent me a few goodies and I sent her my thank you card, I didnt think there was more stuff coming cos we had agreed not to do this endless cycle of exchange of presents but then this came!!



Actually I didnt even look to see who it was from before I opened it...LOL...my staff had picked it up from the post office without me knowing. I had told Julia about how I liked the cute Heather Bailey fabric yo-yo's and she told me about this tool that helps you make it. Little did I know she was going to get it for me...but not just that, she also got me the heart and clover shaped ones AND she got me 3 pieces of HB fabric and a book on fabric scrapbooking. This is one of those things that you didnt know was on your Christmas list until you get it. *screams with delight again*

Julia, if ur reading this, I havent met you yet but you're a star! On my next trip to Singapore I'm bringing you a whole box of goodies and will buy you a huge expensive dinner and I wont take no for an answer!

*squeal squeal squeal*

I'm off to play with my new toys *huge grin*

The Countdown Begins...

In less than 2 weeks, I'll be packing up my office to fit into an (XL size...hehe) Ikea box and stored away for another 2 weeks before it the stuff will be unpacked in a new location. Its been over 4 years and I've moved from a cubicle to a lovely room (and hopefully an even lovelier one). I cant wait. Its all so exciting...a new place, new people, new challenges. Lots of things happening in 2009. A new journey or more to begin so...LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!

Fun weekend and some sayings...

Panic set in when I left work at 5.40pm (very rare so early) and drove up onto the highway only to find that it was jammed cos of a fender bender!! I was DEFINITELY going to be late for SC's anniversary crop. Argh! I called Anna and had to ask her to save me a space. It didnt help that it was end of the month which meant that Gadong would be jammed too! Huff...puff! I got to SC by about 6.20pm which wasnt too bad I guess considering...

Sharon quickly burst into action once we were all settled and had some fun projects for us. We were divided into the pink and blue team. I had Foxyzzz, Scrapperholic, Renoa, Serene and Bee Fong with me on the pink team. Firstly we made a little coaster autograph book and we went around introducing ourselves and getting everyone to sign it. Then we had a little game of listing out the number of items that we were supposed to try and memorise which our team won! We continued with a few questions then altered a mirror which Sharon had brought all the way from Singapore with her for us! The last game of the night was to list down A-Z of scrapping brands...the other team won so we all went home a winner. That's not all though!!

Being Scrapperholics also meant we were shoppaholics! We had a chance at a lucky draw for every $50 we spent (this is still on-going) and I got a kit and a $5.00 voucher...and and and...I got an anniversary gift of 3 6"x6" American Crafts albums!! And and and...there's more! I attended the crop and Emily's class which meant I got a goody bag from each session! It was a weekend full of fun and freebies! Will update this post with pics later on. If u want to see the beautiful creation we made at Emily's class, check it out here. I would have loved to join Lia & Sharon's classes but my weekend was booked up. I hear they had some great giveaways though!!

My sis and I spent some of the weekend pampering ourselves (all paid for by me...broke now) and making cupcakes (carrot & walnut and pink icing) as well as trying to remember how to play mahjong. Ken had a whole bunch of friends surprise his wife with a lovely gathering at Sheraton on Saturday night for her birthday. Aww!! I didnt expect for there to be so many people but it was good to catch up. Dinner with my out-laws (not yet in-laws bah)on Sunday was postponed and I got a head start on making X'mas cards for the kids that will be receiving some lovely goodies from the SK Swap...my brother is going to have a very happy X'mas! I'm soo going to capture lots of pics of his reaction to receiving all the packages!



*the cupcakes*

Anyway I just wanted to leave u guys with some stuff people have told me over the years that has really helped me. I hope it helps u in some way too!

1. When ur rich, everyone wants to be ur friend. It's who is still there when ur poor/normal

2. Its very rare that people find someone who fits their criteria 100%. Be happy with someone who is 70/80% cos remember, ur not perfect yourself

3. Whatever your hubby does with his money is his business, as long as he treats u well and provides for the family, he does what he wants with his extra money

4. Take everything that happens to you in your life as an experience you can learn from, whether its good or bad. U still walk away with something u've learnt at the end of the day

5. A smile always starts things off well no matter what

6. Always make time for yourself no matter how busy, or in love or rushed you are. It really makes a difference...clear your mind, read a book, do what YOU want to do. I find I really cannot go without more than 2 weeks without having a girly session with my girlfriends or taking a moment to just taking time to immerse myself in a good book always helps.

And finally...

I have completed the SC ASR Challenges. The one that took me the longest was the last LO for some reason. My mojo decided to run out on me just before the last challenge so I wasnt the first 5 to finish but I'm just happy to have gotten it all done. Now I have the crop on Friday and Emily's class to look forward to!

Challenge #5:- Create an LO with 15 pattern papers


Challenge #6:- Create an LO using the title "I Scrap Because..."


TFL!! Good luck to all the others in the running and thanks so much to all those who leave their lovely comments for me!

Christmas Wishlist

I'm following in WS footsteps and making up a little wishlist of my own. Yeah I'm a copycat, so what? We're going to be related....eventually (I hope cos not many people can take on that fat cat at home). I'm putting up a more affordable and REALISTIC (WS take note) list....keke.

No. 1: Canon Selphy Printer. I just got my new toy (which I have yet to blog about) which is my new little Dell XPS (strokes it lovingly) which matches my phone. This little baby will complete my (new colour of the moment short of getting my Lexus IS300) white collection of gadgets. It's very useful for a scrapper like me (unless anyone has recommendations for better)


No. 2: Flowers from Wilyn. OK so its a bit boring but eversince H got me this last year (which caused me to have a huge silly grin on my face for the whole day) for my birthday...a Wilyn bouquet just makes me wanna sigh with pleasure. Yes, they will be my wedding florist!


No. 3: Provo Craft Cuttlebug. I've been coveting this for AGES cos I love their embossing results...sigh...someone please feed my card making addiction (and scrapping of course)


No. 4: Miss Dior Cherie. The bottle is just too pretty and it smells nice too. Not too overpowering or sickly sweet. I *heart* this.


No. 5: A weekend getaway to KK for H and me just walking around hand in hand, enjoying a couple's spa, eating bah kut teh, seafood & me getting my Starbucks fix! Oh gotta check out the new Wan Borneo as well! Maybe for our 3rd anniversary...

Label Tulip Oct Kit

Got it last week but havent had a chance to play with it yet. I cant wait to use those cute Maya Rd velvet blooms *rubs hands together*



*pics taken from LT website*

SC's Amazing Scrapping Race

Its Shabby Chic's 2nd Anniversary and they've got an Amazing Scrapping Race going as well as some fun classes with their current DT's...oh and they have just announced a crop on the 28th! (which I've already signed up for). I must say I wasnt sure if I was going to participate in this but its got my mojo going and I'm happy to still be in the race even if I am most likely not to win the Big Shot seeing the amazing talent that is out there.

Challenge #1: Create an LO with at least 6 photos


Challenge #2: Create an LO with at least 2 altered raw pieces of chipboard


Challenge #3:- Create a totally B&W LO including ONE B&W photo (this caused some confusion for me cos of the word "include")


Challenge #5: Create an LO with 2 ribbons, PP, CS, flowers, buttons and types of alpha.


So far, I'm still in the running and awaiting my next instructions.

P.S. I'm glad to see that I've used totally different types of pictures and totally different themes of LO's throughout. Ideas have flowed to me pretty fast this time around. Hope it continues past the competition. Thank you SC for fuelling my mojo.

Life's Choices

The bulk of my work at the firm the past year and a half has been divorce matters. When I go to court, I'm amazed at the increasing divorce rate here in Brunei. Yesterday, while I was tending to a client whose case would be potentially very contentious, I was asked if I was married. I told the client that I would be getting married next year. The client was amazed how I would still want to get married after handling so many divorce cases.

I told the client I could be put of marriage by all this or I would be more determined to make marriage work after seeing all the mistakes people make. Most of the time, I notice that people were incompatible to begin with. U can not only learn from your own mistakes but also from the mistakes of others.

I made a similar choice after I had recovered from cancer. I could have chosen to treat myself as a potentially sick person for the rest of my life or live my life to the fullest and achieve all I can while I'm still around. I'm glad I opted for the latter. Life isnt meant to be lived wrapped up in a cotton ball.

Next year, I now have 2 major events to look forward to. A new exciting job with lots of prospects and a wonderful journey of marriage with H.

I cant wait!!

Day 2 in Jakarta

Nothing exciting happened for me on day #2 (depending on how u look at it) as my stomach was still precious from the night before. EL brought us for some lovely Spanish food that night at Moya after I had more or less recovered. It was delish!! We had a few different types of huge plates of tapas (the UK ones are tiny compared to these). Love love love the prawns...sigh! EL's fav dish is the thinly sliced smoked pork (cant remember what its called) but the prawns won it for me and Dr A. We sighed at having proper nachos with guacamole and cheese...ummm. Oh we also loved that wall mural behind Dr A...cool eh?













Dr A wandered down to the loo after our meal and she insisted I go down WITH the camera afterwards. EL had told us it was a nice cosy jazz club downstairs (apparently they are no longer concentrating on jazz now) and the decor was just fab!! That cushion with the pole was outside the loo area...soo plush! The loo itself was cool cos u got these grafittied walls and u are welcome to leave ur mark cos they provide u with chalk to scribble too!






Restaurant Moya is part of a company that also has Cassis Restaurant which has fine dining and another restaurant in the building serves Indonesian food (I think). There is also a big club and we saw some very nice wheels in the carpark!!




We ended the night buying loads of dvd's (cos it was sooo cheap) and watching them for the rest of the night. The place beats Unitek!! No pics...was too distracted looking for dvd's...hehe.

A Teaser

Before someone's neck grows any longer, I'm going to talk about my trip to Jakarta. The 1st day anyway. It all started with some drama at the airport...waayy to early for my liking. Dr A had purchased our tickets with her CC a couple of months ago. By the time we had to fly, her CC had expired and she had returned it to the bank. She did not realise that we needed her CC to verify our ticket failing which we could not fly on those tickets and had to purchase new ones. She would further not be refunded for the tickets we had already paid for. She told me to stay calm.....I was ready to thump her!

We were given Option B which was to find out what the last 3/4 digits of her CC were. I thought...Ah! At least this one, she should have statements or internet banking to see the number....She had neither *.*. She ended up calling Customer Service at the bank and after explaining it to the guy more than once, he said he would call her back. I thought it was utterly ridiculous and called a friend of mine who worked at the bank and he got the number straightaway. We were then told we had been upgraded to business class!! Wopee!! (I later found out it wasnt our lovely smiles that got us upgraded but the fact that they had overbooked the flight)

We quickly went into the loungue for our brekkie and while we were there the bank customer service called back and said he was unable to get the CC number. WTF?!! Imagine if it wasnt for my friend, we would have been stranded!!

So, on to Jakarta...

Dr A started looking out the window as we approached and suddenly excitedly called out to me for the camera. She was amazed to see this stadium in the middle of a padi field. It was the beginning of the huge divide between the rich and poor we were going to be seeing during our trip.


We met EL at the airport after waiting AGES for our luggage (dont business class passengers luggage come out first?) and the driver was instructed to send us straight to Pacific shopping centre below the Ritz Carlton Hotel. I like the background of the picture below but the guy didnt take the lift that was behind the fountain and I look fat (gym time)


Realising that most of the shops in there were not within our anticipated budget, we stopped for some food. I had some herbal baked chicken stuff but I just had to take a picture of this absolutely decadent muffin we had...oh the place we stopped at specialised in muffins. It was also at this point that Dr A realised u can smoke ANYWHERE in Indonesia (all my clothes came back smelling of smoke)


We then decided to start from the top floor of the place instead and found the food area. This section caught our eye. Lovely isnt it? U can have ur dinner in that boat or in the lighthouse. Part of the restaurant...


After managing to do some shopping and while waiting for EL, we stopped for gelato. Mmmm....


We had shabu-shabu for dinner with EL and Sunny and the only pic we managed to take was the decor. We were too distracted and fascinated with the fast cooking super thin slices of meat and only realised we hadnt taken pics AFTER we had eaten everything.


The night didnt end there. After refreshing ourselves at the flat, we went out to Equinox which is a really good club. I didnt bring my camera as I was afraid to lose it and thankfully I didnt as I ended up having a tad much of my friend Johnny Walker which lasted me till the next day...but that's another story...

Shabby Chic Challenge #1

I managed to finish an entry for the 1st Challenge of Shabby's set of 6 challenges after Foxyzzz alerted me to it yesterday. I wasnt too happy with it at first until I added the bling and came back to it again then I was quite happy with how it turned out especially after I created my own "chinese coins". I'm not sure whether I can show the LO so here is a sneak peek...



Btw for those who wanted to know, in my last LO, I used PP from Making Memories and Heather Bailey. I got the butterfly CS from one of me Label Tulip kits, not sure if its sold out yet. The ribbon is a combination of organza ribbon I got somewhere and I layered the top of it with some AC ribbon in a similar colour to the background PP. For more definition, there is a strip of silver pearl thread. Psst...I tied the bow and pasted it down separate on top of the ribbon...hehe.

Young & In Love

This month's Groovie Cover Challenge had me inspired as soon as I saw it. My initial plan was to make an LO with no picture. However, I changed my mind when I started on my LO and I love the result as I have managed to colour code the LO with the colours of my sister's top in the photo. Oh, my sister may love this or may kill me for posting up the pic of her and her bf (that she didnt know I had)...keke. So, without further adue, here is the cover...



and here is my LO...



H's sister has been making delicious cupcakes since she came back last week while I was away. I came back in time for her strawberry muffins and strawberry and cream cupcakes. Yum!! She also helped me purchase this book I mentioned previously which I absolutely love!!



As I was meeting the gals last night, I felt like whipping up a little something for them and here is the result. Sorry for the bad pic la...it was on my fone and I didnt take my time to focus in...



I know at least one person is waiting to read the stories of my travels. Here is a sneak peek of the wonderful pictures to come of my travelogue...keke. Its the sunset I witnessed at Borobudur but as someone said to me before...no camera can capture the beauty of ur surroundings as well as ur eyes can.

Catching my breath!

Hi there,

Had a blast in Jakarta~eating, drinking, shopping and clubbing...and in Jogja~eating, drinking, shopping and sighseeing. Its been a crazy week of being upgraded to business class (both flights), eating a wonderful variety of food, seeing Borobudur wake up, hearing about all the myths and stories of the Jogja temples and palaces, getting drunk (one night only), enjoying the spa and sauna, travelling in a becah, bargaining for our purchases....

I've got lots to tell u accompanied by pics so stay tuned!

Prelude

Mummy's birthday was on 21st October. She is finally half a century old. We thought after many outings to Japanese, we would go for Korean (especially with my mum's current obsession with Korean drama) but my siblings were kinda disappointed with the food and that waitress is useless. As they close at 9.30pm, we didnt take pictures at the place. Jer and I bought her a gorgeous bouquet from Wilyn arranged in a lovely basket, a cake from Bakerlyn and I got her two tops. EJ got my mum a chocolate diary free cake and H bought her dark chocolates...she loves chocolates...her two future son-in-laws have scored brownie points this time around! Sorry the chocolate stuff was devoured before a good pic could be taken!

I finally got some scrapping mojo back just before I'm about to leave for Indonesia. Havent been this happy with an LO for quite a while. Thing is I cant show it to you all yet cos its for the next Groovie Book Cover Challenge so all I can offer you is a sneak peek....dont u just love that shiny butterfly lace CS?



Pre departure drinks with the girlfriends was cancelled due to the heavy rain which has been pouring for about 6 hours each day for the past couple of days. Hope the rest of you have a great week ahead. Take care and thanks for stopping by!

The 1st Confirmation

So I finally went to see this tailor that has been recommended to me about making the only dress I'm making for the wedding. Its a red cheongsam covered in french lace and made of crepe satin. The difference between this and a traditional cheongsam is that the 'skirt' bit looks like a slinky evening gown (with a little train of course). I had called up Singapore to ask how much they sell it off the rack for...and they said $3,000+ *gulp*

I had my fingers crossed the tailor would say she could do it so that I can buy the lace in Jakarta and maybe even the material too *fingers crossed*. I walked in and told her my plans. I didnt ask the price but I know I'm looking at a 3 figure sum rather than 4 figure and definitely cheaper than buying or even making it in Singapore... Asked her what material to get and how much of it and whether she could make it.

And she said.......YES!!!

3 days and counting....

I've had so many aspirations to scrap....materials all bought....so far....only an LO to show for it...n a couple of cards...sigh....Tonight, I will do at least one project. Lets not be too ambitious. After all, I gotta go present shopping and tomorrow night I start off pilates with V. I've been wondering whether to start it for a while and now that she told me she is teaching, it seems there is no time like the present.

H has come back from Japan...a trip which could have been more enjoyable with my company (perasaan!!)...keke. He din buy me anything....hmpf! Apparently din get a chance to shop....*sulk* Nevermind, he's back! *hugs*

Dr A has been raving that she wants to visit this miniature park in Indonesia for a while. I've been trying to look it up. It basically shows Indonesia in all its splendour in one place (in miniature! The pics of Indonesian pavillions did not attract me as much as this miniature castle inspired by Suharto's visit to Disneyland...huhu...Its got a bird park nearby too.



I'm just thankful we're not visiting Komodo Island cos I dont like 'em lizards! *shudder*

Shopping is (definitely) on the agenda in Jakarta but I kinda went to visit my cousin's shop after I got the sms of their new goodies and bought a new dress *guilty look*........and 2 pairs of earrings.....and 2 tops.....and a skirt....

In my defence, they're really good quality and classic and will last me ages and MAYBE I will save them for CNY :p

Updates...

OMG I've misplaced or someone has taken my memory card with all my Europe photos in it....Eek!!

H is on his way back tonight so I'll be feeling a bit better *sniff sniff*...sigh

Oh and G and I saw Wuzhun yday at the airport. NO WE WERE NOT THERE ON PURPOSE. Can see him during CNY minus crowds. We are eating at the airport restaurant and came out just as he wandered out surrounded by paparrazi in a cap and shades. He left for KL today apparently. Was only here to promote Butterfly Lovers which I understand is his new film....hmm...RA covered some his promo at Empire here.

Hmm went for a briefing on Monday....quite excited for the change now! I would say cant wait till Jan but I cant wait for my 2 week break in Dec and my trip to Jkt first now. Recently, I come to realise some people say and do stupid things...sometimes even the professionals do that and its just not on...I'm very angry and disappointed but then, cant do much...except to bite back one day. Lets hope it doesnt come to that.

I'll be in tai tai mode again tmr at the salon...finally...some pampering!

Oh btw, up for some freebies? Check out Webster's Pages!

I Love U 2 Love Me

I'm missing my Bunny. I managed to complete this LO last week following a sketch inspired here. I knew what I wanted to create and althought it didnt totally turn out how I envisaged it (due to my hiding mojo) I'm glad I've scrapped this pic :) Now on to the 2nd sketch which looks so fun!

Miss Bimbo Ting8191

Today I noticed that I am on Day 69 of this game and I havent blogged about it so I thought I'd do so now. Thanks to a certain lady, I have kinda got hooked on this game.



Its kinda like an online Barbie-Tamagotchi thing. Sad? Maybe for some la but who cares. I get to shop virtually and I now know how to play Sudoku and Mastermind cos I have to play it everyday to earn my bimbo money and IQ as well as bimbo attitude. After u start, u kinda dont want her to get ill and die so you just keep playing and there are goals for every level. The only disappointing thing about these challenges that you have to do is that you dont get to see the b***h fights. Oh she has a boyfriend that gives her money (always a good thing) and jobs that pay more as ur bimbo gets smarter. They have all the other stuff like gym, library, therapy, boob jobs, make up, hair, etc......money is the catch so you learn to try and save and organise your earnings. Oh you have to feed and clothe her too la...

Sad? Well, I havent played Barbie for like 20 years so its my little reverie into my virtual childhood! So those who are interested can check it out here.

Wedding stuff

While I'm counting down my 9 days (wohoo!) to Jakarta and trying to clear my huge workload in the meantime (boo!! Hiss!!), I forgot to post that H and I have bought our tickets to KL for this coming Dec.


and staying here...


I have yet to email the studios we want to visit to check if they are open or Optimax for my 3 month check up for that matter. Opps! I visited Touch Wedding last time I was there and me and my 2 lovely & patient companions fell in love with 3 of the dresses I tried on...ok so i was the most keen on the peach one! So this time around, I hope to check out:-

1) Posh Wedding, who did my friend's photos recently and I absolutely loved them but I'm not so sure about their dresses
2) Wedding Couture which looks quite nice
3) Vogue Collection which was recommended by a few friends

I thought of seeing Love Vision but it is the same group as Touch so I thought it was best to narrow it down to 3 as our time there is quite limited and bearing in mind that most shops are not open on 25th Dec. I've arranged for a surprise for H from this lady for X'mas. Hope my order is ok!

Now I totally forgot about this until I was updating my friend on what wedding preps I've done so far....keke...u'll never guess....WEDDING RINGS!! Haha....hopefully we can find a nice pair that we both agree on otherwise maybe in another trip. We still have to go to BKK for the groom and bestman's suit and another trip to KL for the taking of the wedding pics. While we're shopping for the rings I can check out jewellery and accessories for the wedding too *clap clap* [H is so not going to enjoy this]. My brother said the 6mm Tiffany platinum band in KL is about RM6000 which is rather cheap for Tiffany's so might have a look at that!

Erm yea, that's mainly our KL trip agenda other than friends we can meet or squeeze in between and lots of eating of course...oh yah and my eye appointment :p

Grand Mercure

Ok so I still have not made dem cupcakes with H leaving for Japan for a few days on business *sniff sniff*....we have just been vegging infront of the tv lots. Oh yah and my facial lady has commented I have put on weight so I really really really need to start exercising....sigh.

The countdown to Jakarta has started and as I drool at what Lee and the others got up to here, I thought I'd just make some of the rest of you drool at the lovely hotel Dr A and I will be staying in Jogja :p

Grand Mercure Yogyakatra


We've saved on hotels in Jakarta so Dr A and I are splurging in Jogja. Its not the most expensive but it was the nicest and most reasonable. I thought of a really nice wooden spa type hotel but the prices were astronomical!!

I wanna go on holiday now!!

I wanna make cupcakes!!

My pregnant friend K and I have been hormonal (though she's pregnant so she has more of an excuse) and talking too much about hobbies and what we wanna do. I've been on a cupcake search for a while...I wanna make some...but I need pretty pictures...sigh. I was totally lazy last night and slept 12 hours!! At least it cleared up my impending sore throat. No rest for my wicked tummy tonight as I head to my 2nd open house of the day after work....but I'm getting distracted here. I found this lady's blog and was completely blown away by what she could do so I've emailed to ask her if she can make me a little surprise x'mas thingy for H (though he doesnt really like sweet stuff). Then while researching for cupcakes, I found this. I think I've found my little online recipe book for now until Mr T so kindly buys the 500 Cupcakes book I showed his wife. Wohoo!!

Groovie Book Cover Challenge

Ed PM-ed me a while back asking if I would like to join in a new challenge she was setting up on the Groovie Scraps Cafe forum. I thought it sounded like quite a fun challenge so I agreed. She then gave me this book cover to use to create my own interpretation of...


And here is the finished product. I didnt have action shots on hand with me otherwise that would have been great. I tried to go for a more shabby chic look here with all the Webster's Pages paper (yes I finally used them!) and white paint. Just got my cover for next month! Cant wait!! TFL!!

Something fresh...

I received an email a couple of weeks ago that stirred up my scrapping mojo which has been kinda of dormant...either that or I just dont like what I've been producing lately. I cant reveal it yet but it was fun trying this out and I got to try out some techniques I've been meaning to try. Here is a sneak peek:-



Come back tomorrow for the full reveal! (if I'm not suffering from a hangover as I have a pool party to attend tonight and a wedding to pretty myself up for tmr...yes another one!!)

Sungkai-ed out

My gals and I started a blog just for us. I wont even bother to link it cos no one can access it but us. I've been giving them food reviews on all the sungkai's I've been to so although raya is about a week away, maybe I should do it here too...

I started off with Villa Mauri with the 3 other lawyer ladies I regularly hang out with. I didnt know what to expect for $20.00 but when we saw the menu, we decided to have the All U Can Eat anyways. Its essentially a 4 course meal and u choose one of each course to have but u have to finish one course before u can move on to the next. There being 4 of us, Maurizio made us a mixed platter of all 3 starters then the 3 pastas (love the Marinara + ordered an additional plate), 2 little pizza's with a mixture of the 3 offered, 3 main course (lamb, fish and beef of which we were given a slice each) and were totally full by this point but could not deny ourselves dessert especially when it was tiramisu!! We also had the fresh fruits and ice cream. We were TOTALLY sated and definitely got our money's worth. Thanks G!

Then on to Ridzqun the next day whose buffet I enjoyed very much last year with the GHK crowd. Lots of variety but of course mostly Malay food. However, it wasnt the main course that I enjoyed the most but the stuff from the stalls outside like the kambing bakar, fresh murtabak, fresh ambuyat (ok so I din eat this but H loves it), curry fish head, fresh teh tarik, etc. I think it was worth $21.00 compared to some of the other stuff out there though I wasted la with H's mum cos she mainly ate satay and beef rendang only...keke.

Next up was Takara. I'd read some good reviews so H, his mum and I went. We started eating at 6pm (this was not a problem as there was only like one Malay table and the rest were all Chinese!). T came in and told us to start eating anyway so we headed off. The sushi wasnt out when I was examining the table (and mistook the dessert for starters) but I got my fill later on together with the gyoza, fried udon, fish furai, fried rice, soba noodles, salmon sashimi (thanks T!!), prawn tempura which came with HOT soya sauce (for those not in the know, please see here for the idiot's guide) and various desserts. Seeing as it was quite a hefty buffet, I was ok having only water and rose syrup to choose from. Definitely very worth the $12.80 we paid cos if u think about it, u definitely would order more if you had ala carte and its Takara!

The next day I was at Airport Restaurant for a lawyers informal do. Lots of variety as usual but cos my benchmark was Ridzqun/OGH for these kind of very "Melayu" buffets. It was rather disappointing. It won points with my on having roti jala but lost when they didnt have sliced almonds as topping for the ice cream. WRONG!! Main course, ok ok only la...they had chilli crab but other than that, nothing any more special than their normal buffet. And its $25.00!! Not worth leh...oh not to mention u have to pay for parking lagi tu.

On my 3rd day in a row of sungkai (I dunno how people do this), I tried the Millenium buffet. That was this year's GHK gathering and the curries were nice. For a change I preferred the main courses to the measely starter and dessert spread though the ambuyat was too watery. It was not a bad buffet and certainly filled me up but I'm not sure its worth $16.80....or maybe its just me...but then I think the I Lotus one is definitely not worth it whereas many seem to think otherwise.

Tonight I will be heading to TT Blues and next Monday, Nasi Kandar Penang...we'll see how those go...

Feeling like cupcakes

Yes again...this time I'm going to make it. Already located some cupcake trays and the 'paper cups'. I've been too lazy this week...time to get off my fat arse and do something...

Small rant

I don’t like people who don’t work cos they think a job is beneath them and yet chose to spend the money of others just cos they are too ‘proud’ to work. When its crunch time, you need to recognise ur responsibilities and face up to them. I may be a lawyer but that doesn’t deter me from helping the family sell shoes in the shop nor serve food at the restaurant. Sometimes people just have to face reality and bite the bullet….seriously…

From Big Temple to Little Temple

We had chosen the dates, picked the hotels, decided on our route and game plan so next came the most important thing of all...no it wasnt out leave....it was PARENTS!! Dr A's parents did not approve of 2 gals wandering around Cambodia on their own so yet again my dreams of visiting Angkor Wat were dashed. I was supposed to join this group but it was not to be. Sigh.

Not to be deterred, Dr A and I considered the alternatives...We decided to stick to Asia as I had just returned from Europe and Dr A is making her big plans for Oz next year so...where do we go? Manila just didnt sound exciting enough for me cos all we knew about was the shopping...if Cambodia was out then Laos and Myanmar were too and we were not allowed to go to Thailand with all the politics happening there now.

Then I remembered EL had been hankering for me and H to visit him in Jakarta for a while and conveniently he was in town so I could ask him what there was to do there. When he suggested Yogjakarta, I was sold! Borobudur!! Finally, what was in my history books (again) will be alive in my eyes!! Going to Jakarta also meant that I could possibly try and buy some of that French lace that I'm planning to have for my cheongsam (but that's in another post). Just to be safe, Dr A and I decided on Hong Kong for our fallback plan incase her parents disapproved. Well, I have family there and there is Disneyland should be ok.

We waited with bated breath for Dr A's parents to say yes (My mum was no problem as it is one of the places that she wants to visit too but she cant go cos my sibs have exams). Dr A's parents are delicate creatures so they needed a bit of time to absorb the information (mind you, their first reaction was that there were stampedes in Indon). A few days ago, while shopping I got the following message from Dr A...

"Green light!! GREEN!!"

We were good to go!! (dance dance)





This 9th century Buddhist monument is found in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia and is Indonesia's single most visited attraction. The monument is both a shrine to Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. More can be read about it here.

Before Dr A's parents could change their minds, we booked both our tickets to Jakarta and our internal tickets to Yogja yesterday. There was a slight hitch when Dr A was adamant she rather take a 7 hour train journey than travel on Garuda owing to the latest 'scares' but we found a compromise...hurrah for Airasia for flying the Jakarta-Yogja route!



I'm a happy bunny :D

(Now all I need is for H to renew his passport so we can get our tickets to KL in Dec! Grr!!)