Wicked

Went down to Singapore with Terri & Gladys to watch Wicked. The last time we went to Singapore together was 11 years ago. This time, we were all more grown up and matured. It's nice.

And I loved Wicked! I am going to watch it again... yippppeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Took back a little

Yes, I am finally home. Home since Saturday morning, but seemed to have left my heart in Istanbul. It is such a beautiful, beautiful country. And yes, whilst I have been there before years back... but that didn't count because most of the time I was stuck in the hotel room and only eating cheap kebabs for lunch and dinner (breakfast was provided).

This time, out of intuition, I went alone. Although I would have very much loved company, but yet was not taken aback that I was alone. Had to admit that there was some discomfort - being all alone in a foreign country, not knowing their language and all.. but what the heck, if not now, when??

And it turned out that all my plans were screwed up. The places which I planned to go, I did not and ended up in places where I did not even consider going in the first place. Thanks to my Turkish friend, Ilkay who took 2 days to show me some other parts of Istanbul and also another new Turkish friend I met, who happens to be the hotel receptionist of the cozy hotel I happened to intuitively pick, I enjoyed a lot more of Istanbul compared to the first time I visited this place years back.

Food was awesome and my favourites were the tomatos and fish. Their fish is just awesomelly naturally sweet! I tried out food, turkish bath, watched the sufi dance and turkish dance... it was all magical. Weather was good and people were a mix! Thank goodness for my new friend who showed me a taste of the original turk as he calls himself, my perception of turkish people expanded.

I fell in love with Istanbul, and strongly recommend that women, to at least experience travelling alone once in their life time. Something shifts and expands. Of course, it is not necessary to choose Istanbul as a destination. It was just my choice and will also be amongst my future choices.

Mom was telling me how I can bring her there in future. I am elated by that thought! And I was telling darling how she has to come with me too as I know she will surely enjoy such an adventure...

Ah well, I am home. Thea seems to have grown up a little more, probably reflecting my own growth coming back from afar. :) And I am happy to be home with my precious little gem.

Off to a Trip

Leaving... on a jet plane

Don't know if I'll be back again...

Adios amigoes...

Drama, Drama

Weather was cold. Flight was delayed. Thea didn't want dinner. Didn't sleep on board (me, I mean). No nasi bryani (thank God nasi lemak was not bad). Drizzling when arrived. Car cannot start. Thea vomitted. Argue with hubby. Went to hospital (thank God for Bee). Feed Thea medicine. Unpack bags. Repack bags. Received inspiration to write (not this blog though). And it is now 3:47am.

Shucks, got to wake up early tomorrow...

Hmm, strangely, amidst the drama - still feeling peaceful and calm. Nice! :)

Summer Hong Kong

Just came back from Hong Kong. Hubby couldn't make it due to work so Thea and I left for HK all by ourselves. Felt really independant and had loads of fun with Thea, just me and her. It was a good thing that hubby didn't come along because I had wanted to take her on a holiday just me and her. She was a very good girl, didn't stray far from me, sticking close to me and I was a very good mommi too! I bought her most of what she wanted.. haha!

Mom and the others arrived the next day but we hardly hung out much because they were the shopping kind and Thea and I were the wait-and-see-what-we-feel-like-doing kind.. haha.. Most of the time, we were at the hotel just watching Mickey mouse reruns and only went out for walks at nearby malls for lunch and some shopping.

Thea was really home sick though. She cried a little in the night before she slept saying how she missed home, and sometimes in the middle of the sleep too. Hubby was very touched. She is just so darned homely! But she did enjoy herself in HK, having meals and spending time with her godparents and also her favourite aunt! I trust that she enjoyed her time with me too. Basically, it was just us both. The others were constantly on the lookout for us though, ensuring our comfort and making sure we are alright. The thing is, we are in HK! There is no way we won't be alright! Haha!

One of my most memorable times was being able to meet up with 2 new friends. What I had expected to just be a touch-n-go dinner, turned out to be a warm and cozy night of non-stop chatting in our room. It was splendid! And shopping was, needless to say was heavenly.

Mom told Thea, "Thea, when you come to HK, you walk-walk-walk and then when you see something nice, you walk into the shop and buy-buy-buy; after that you walk-walk-walk again and then you see something nice again, you walk into the shop and buy-buy-buy again... and then you walk-walk-walk again... until you become tired, you stop at a coffee shop to rest for a while and then you walk-walk-walk again.. that is HK for you!" I burst out laughing so hard and wondered what kind of ideas mom was trying to impose on Thea!! haha! But it was fun! and I am sure Thea is wise enough to conjure up her own meaning of HK!

We were both very tired by the last day, which was yesterday. But we were both excited to be heading home. Though flight was delayed, it gave us an opportunity to enjoy the Travel Lounge, something that I've been wanting to try. The space allowed us clean toilets, ok buffet spread, comfy sofas to rest and most importantly, plug points to charge the iTouch! haha..

I wouldn't mind doing this with Thea again though I think she will think twice before leaving behind her dada and her kakak and her Doby and her Salsa again! Haha! She is indeed very homely and I am loving her for it. :D

Cameron Highlands with Family

We had dimsum for breakfast before departed. We were actually already quite full. And yet....

We stopped by Bidor for Duck Thigh Noodles. It was impromptu, btw. ;p

Eventhough everyone was complaining prior to ordering that they were still very full from breakfast, yet they still whalloped everything on the table.

 We arrived at about 3pm++.

We were all doing our part, unpacking, to make the apartment as cozy as possible.

Get what I mean?

After unpacking and making the apartment cozy enough for a 3D2N stay, we all laid back to watch Astro.
Yes, there was Astro.

Despite Cameron Highlands being a land known for steamboat, yet one of our family member decided to homecook this thing for our first night home.

The lazy men watching tennis while the ladies prepared dinner. Ahem, myself excluded because I had to be the photograher.

No, we didn't play Risk. We just used its soilders as 'chips' to play Texas Hold'em.

 2nd Day...

This is the DS couple. They were hogging their own DS most of the time.

We decided to throw Don a surprise belated birthday song!!

Family Pic before heading out for tea.

Ya, of all things we did, we got down from the car and had ONE durian, shared by 8 of us, by the roadside.
Btw, we were actually on our way to the BOH plantation but it was just too freakin' jam.

After that, we stopped by SmokeHouse for tea and scones.
ONE durian shared by 8 persons just weren't getting us anywhere!

That night, we played RISK.

 3rd day...

Breakfast was instant noodle in cup, donuts, coffee, water and ciggies.
Unfortunately, we couldn't finish everything before we left.

We all stopped by BOH Plantation for a visit.

Family Pic again.

We had lunch here. I asked 7 why was it they did not sell beef since they are called ngow kei. 7 laughed.

This was one of the fastest meal we had ever eaten. We could not slow down to savour the food because we had to compete with the FLIES!!!! Yups!!! There were plenty of them, I tell you!!

There were lots more activities in between. But you know la.. with the slow loading of the pictures and the extra time and efffort to type in detailly what happened - argh, just too lazy for that now.. haha!

Thank you Don, Jen, 7, Oli, Ali, Dan, hubby and myself for this wonderful trip. And thank you, ciggie, for without you, I would not have gotten myself these beautiful friends.

First Ever Retreat at Janda Baik

I have never attended a retreat before, but somehow Angel inspired me to make this move. She told me, "we can have breakfast together... take a walk together... sleep together... dip our feet at the river together...." Ah, magical imaginations already!!

If you look carefully at the pictures you will notice that I was no where meditating near anyone.. lols! because I was busy meditating with my camera! lols! But it was fun in a way. My favourite time during the retreat was spending time with Angel, listening to BB and LF share on the workings of the Mind and Wisdom, plus some really fun games we played together as a team.

Hope you like the photos! It's my first attempt to photoshop some of these photos. :)