OMG! It's his B'day again?!? I felt like I've just written abt his b'day @ Tony Roma's & obviously - tht was 1 year ago! It's an occassion to be celebrated, no doubt... but I can't help feeling freaked out tht time is moving so fast!
People used to tell me time flies @ unbelieavable speed when you cross 35. I'm already feeling it at 30.... I can't imagine how much faster it'll fly 5 years fr now! :-p
Anyway, poor bro has his exam right on his b'day, so we celebrated it a few days earlier - last Sun (26/04) at Melaka. We planned to have it at a Japanese restaurant, but turned out it was closed (imagine closing on the day where you'd be cashing in the most!.... **shakes head** don't understand). Bro was so disappointed.
Then Mei Ling suggested going to a fusion restaurant - Asian Havana (I think). Half way driving towards tht direction, Ming decided against it & wanted to go to a big Chinese restaurant (the type ppl normally have their Chinese wedding dinner)... I was surprised! I thought it was daddy's suggestion...
So we went there anyway (can't remember the name... as usual it has something like "Palace" / "Garden" whatever to its name). Another surprise - the food was really quite good... Let's see if I can recount the menu :
1. Steam "red lion" fish - nyonya style (verdict: good)
2. Stir fried "choy sum" with garlic (verdict: good - then again you can't go wrong with vegetable)
3. signature home-made "water" taufu (verdict: good)
4. Crispy chicken (verdict: could have been better. We thought it was the normal crispy skinned chicken where you get prawn crackers on the side. Instead it was coated in flour, deep fried & drenced in sticky sesame sauce)
5. sweet-sour pork rib in a yam ring (verdict: Excellent! The best of all dishes! The yam "ring" is actually pieces of square yams, but yummy anyways - so who cares abt the shape!)
6. Rich warm peanut soup & "Wor Peng" (crispy, pastry like flat pancake with sweet lotus paste filling - verdict: An excellent finish to a good meal)
Can you belief tht on top of all tht, we still managed to eat half of the birthday cake!?
As usual, hubby & I forgot the camera again (wonder why we bought tht piece of junk for if we don't use it!), so can't share any photos. This time however I managed to take a pix of the birthday card I made for my brother. Will upload the pix sometime end this week lar...
Tuesday 28 April 2009
Saturday 25 April 2009
Book Review: The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga
I got this book from the 'Pay Less Books' warehouse sales some time back. It's 2nd hand & slightly worn, but oklar for the price I'm paying (I think it was in the 6 for RM10 / 12 for RM10 pile or something...). To be honest I was a bit skeptical abt the book because there were a number of books tht I bought fr unknown authors (or at least unknown to me), in such book warehouse sale & they were rather disappointing despite the "intriguing" title, interesting synopsis & excellent recommendations from various news agency / book critic. So this book was on my shelf for quite some time before I finally pick it up to read - I really need to clear my growing unread books cos' am replenishing faster than I read them.
Anyway, this book revolves around Margot as she leaves her home (& not to mention her grief since her mother died several years ago) to fly to Florence, Italy - to volunteer her help to restore books that were damaged from the flood (she's a book restorer). Many adventures along the way, including going down memory lane when she used to go around places in Italy with her mum, a string of affairs - ending in various degree of heartbreaks (or relief), staying in a Catholic convent to restore their library & still not understanding why a woman would want to be "imprisoned" in a nunnery and being entrusted with a 16th century book of 16 erotic poems by Arentino & pornographic etchings for each of the poem. It was bounded with a religious christian book - naturally it's at the back of the book - so the cover & first 100+ pages are clean & proper, but horrors of horrors (at least to the virgin nuns) at the back (though only 16-pages).
She was entrusted by the principal of the convent - Madre Bandessa to sell this book (said to be the only 1 left in the world because all known copies were destroyed by the Vatican at the time it was first distributed). Said to be the European version of the Karma-Sutra, of course she tried some of the "positions" in the book. Anyway, it did not went into the details of the sex scenes / the pornographic etchings itself (some, but not all) - this book turn out to be a good read on books / frescos / art restorations & the adventures of Margot after getting the book & trying to dispose it at the highest price while dodging the sharp eyes & ears of the Bishop (who's trying to regain control over the nunnery; which is currently in the capable hands of Madre Bandessa - Catholic Church politics it seems). It all culminates to how successfully the sale was pulled off, the money collected & deposited in a trust fund for the convent so tht no one else (especially the Bishop) can touch it.
A good & interesting read. Just wish I know some more Italian to understand some of the phrases written in tht language.
Anyway, this book revolves around Margot as she leaves her home (& not to mention her grief since her mother died several years ago) to fly to Florence, Italy - to volunteer her help to restore books that were damaged from the flood (she's a book restorer). Many adventures along the way, including going down memory lane when she used to go around places in Italy with her mum, a string of affairs - ending in various degree of heartbreaks (or relief), staying in a Catholic convent to restore their library & still not understanding why a woman would want to be "imprisoned" in a nunnery and being entrusted with a 16th century book of 16 erotic poems by Arentino & pornographic etchings for each of the poem. It was bounded with a religious christian book - naturally it's at the back of the book - so the cover & first 100+ pages are clean & proper, but horrors of horrors (at least to the virgin nuns) at the back (though only 16-pages).
She was entrusted by the principal of the convent - Madre Bandessa to sell this book (said to be the only 1 left in the world because all known copies were destroyed by the Vatican at the time it was first distributed). Said to be the European version of the Karma-Sutra, of course she tried some of the "positions" in the book. Anyway, it did not went into the details of the sex scenes / the pornographic etchings itself (some, but not all) - this book turn out to be a good read on books / frescos / art restorations & the adventures of Margot after getting the book & trying to dispose it at the highest price while dodging the sharp eyes & ears of the Bishop (who's trying to regain control over the nunnery; which is currently in the capable hands of Madre Bandessa - Catholic Church politics it seems). It all culminates to how successfully the sale was pulled off, the money collected & deposited in a trust fund for the convent so tht no one else (especially the Bishop) can touch it.
A good & interesting read. Just wish I know some more Italian to understand some of the phrases written in tht language.
Tuesday 14 April 2009
2009 Old Souls Day - Cheng Beng
Last Sunday was my 4th Cheng Beng with the Tang's family. I remembered writing in my blog last year with mix comments from awkward feelings to life's lessons that my sis-in-law bestow on her daughter.
The same as last year, my mum-in-law prayed for a grandson - hopefully fr me (cos' I have no kids at all so far & I'm the youngest - so still of child-bearing age) & my sis-in-laws (both have a daughter each). Stress again.....
I remembered a Taoist priest once told my husband - the reason why there are no grandsons in this Tang family so far is because the Ancestors are not happy because the ones doing the praying and offering to the Ancestar altar at home is always the female of the family. The men don't.
I also remembered a story that my uncle once told me about his sister-in-law who periodically goes to the ancestral graveyard & curse the ancestors saying "If you don't let me strike lottery, I'll NEVER come & pray / provide offerings EVER AGAIN!!! What's the use if I don't have money to buy your offerings!" and on and on she went.
Put these 2 stories together, my over-active mind concocted the following "evil" thought:
Wonder what will happen if on Cheng Beng, I go to the graveyard & started cursing "You @$#%*#% you!!! Year after year I faithfully come to pray under the sweltering sun bearing heavy offerings with all the men in the Tang family & you dare to complaint that you don't get offerings from your men folks!? On top of tht you want to punish us by making me childless & my sis-in-law without the son tht the society is pressuring them to have! If offspring is 'granted' by show of filial piety, then why my youngest sis-in-law (by rank, not age) who has never joined a single Cheng Beng trip, has a daughter & I have none!! If I have none before the coming Cheng Beng, well - expect another daughter-in-law of the family to boycott this event & not come next year!!"
(note: Not tht I prefer sons over daughters. But tht was the expectation of us.... sigh....).
Naturally I did not scream all these inner thoughts out on tht day. That would be asking to be divorced!!
Wow! When I think of it again - that's a lot of negative energy!! I know it's some old wife's hocus-pocus tht can't be believed... But the fact tht I can even think such a things does indicate my mental health. Do you think I need to get help before it's too late? I feel ok, but to a person in trouble, you're always ok... **shrugs**
The same as last year, my mum-in-law prayed for a grandson - hopefully fr me (cos' I have no kids at all so far & I'm the youngest - so still of child-bearing age) & my sis-in-laws (both have a daughter each). Stress again.....
I remembered a Taoist priest once told my husband - the reason why there are no grandsons in this Tang family so far is because the Ancestors are not happy because the ones doing the praying and offering to the Ancestar altar at home is always the female of the family. The men don't.
I also remembered a story that my uncle once told me about his sister-in-law who periodically goes to the ancestral graveyard & curse the ancestors saying "If you don't let me strike lottery, I'll NEVER come & pray / provide offerings EVER AGAIN!!! What's the use if I don't have money to buy your offerings!" and on and on she went.
Put these 2 stories together, my over-active mind concocted the following "evil" thought:
Wonder what will happen if on Cheng Beng, I go to the graveyard & started cursing "You @$#%*#% you!!! Year after year I faithfully come to pray under the sweltering sun bearing heavy offerings with all the men in the Tang family & you dare to complaint that you don't get offerings from your men folks!? On top of tht you want to punish us by making me childless & my sis-in-law without the son tht the society is pressuring them to have! If offspring is 'granted' by show of filial piety, then why my youngest sis-in-law (by rank, not age) who has never joined a single Cheng Beng trip, has a daughter & I have none!! If I have none before the coming Cheng Beng, well - expect another daughter-in-law of the family to boycott this event & not come next year!!"
(note: Not tht I prefer sons over daughters. But tht was the expectation of us.... sigh....).
Naturally I did not scream all these inner thoughts out on tht day. That would be asking to be divorced!!
Wow! When I think of it again - that's a lot of negative energy!! I know it's some old wife's hocus-pocus tht can't be believed... But the fact tht I can even think such a things does indicate my mental health. Do you think I need to get help before it's too late? I feel ok, but to a person in trouble, you're always ok... **shrugs**
2nd Hand Camry
Writing about my Accident Magnet, I just recalled that I did not mention that we bought a 2nd Hand Camry recently.
It was getting quite tiring commuting between KL & PD in the old Corolla. One day we took a ride in my brother-in-law's Camry that he purchased pending sale. Each time our poor Corolla hit a pothole / cross a "patch-work" road surface (the part of the road where TNB digs & resurface unevenly, then JBA decides to dig on the same spot - a few inches away & resurface again, then Telekom decides to dig on the same spot again! - you get the picture....) - we dreamt of the silky smooth ride on the Camry.
But, we also got a lot of suggestions like - why pay RM75k for a 6-yr old Camry when you can get a brand-new Toyota Vios / Honda City? Ok.... So in order not to get into any rash decision that we'll regret later, we went to several showrooms to test-drive. Turned out, the price is on par was merely due to the difference in age of the cars. In terms of comfort, great driving features, smooth ride etc-etc, Camry (even a 6-year old one) is a class above. We tried checking out the price of a new Camry too, just to see if the premium for a brand new car is low enough to justify buying new vs. 2nd hand. It turned out to be RM140++k! Errr.... 6-yrs old is fine with me! I'll be paying more than RM11k in depreciation for the first 6-years if I take a brand-new one & tht is if the 2nd-hand market for these cars do not dip further! Would be more if it does... (hehehe.... excuse me.... Accountant talking)!
So after much deliberation & co-incidentally since I got the car park & need a car to drive to work, we finally bought the 2nd hand Camry. Travels between PD & KL is less tiring now....
It was getting quite tiring commuting between KL & PD in the old Corolla. One day we took a ride in my brother-in-law's Camry that he purchased pending sale. Each time our poor Corolla hit a pothole / cross a "patch-work" road surface (the part of the road where TNB digs & resurface unevenly, then JBA decides to dig on the same spot - a few inches away & resurface again, then Telekom decides to dig on the same spot again! - you get the picture....) - we dreamt of the silky smooth ride on the Camry.
But, we also got a lot of suggestions like - why pay RM75k for a 6-yr old Camry when you can get a brand-new Toyota Vios / Honda City? Ok.... So in order not to get into any rash decision that we'll regret later, we went to several showrooms to test-drive. Turned out, the price is on par was merely due to the difference in age of the cars. In terms of comfort, great driving features, smooth ride etc-etc, Camry (even a 6-year old one) is a class above. We tried checking out the price of a new Camry too, just to see if the premium for a brand new car is low enough to justify buying new vs. 2nd hand. It turned out to be RM140++k! Errr.... 6-yrs old is fine with me! I'll be paying more than RM11k in depreciation for the first 6-years if I take a brand-new one & tht is if the 2nd-hand market for these cars do not dip further! Would be more if it does... (hehehe.... excuse me.... Accountant talking)!
So after much deliberation & co-incidentally since I got the car park & need a car to drive to work, we finally bought the 2nd hand Camry. Travels between PD & KL is less tiring now....
Accident Magnet
In the last 3-4 weeks, I don't know what is wrong with me. It's like I'm an accident magnet or something.
The first accident was about 3 weeks ago cos' someone in front of me suddenly brake after moving a few inches, but at tht time my feet was already on the accelarator, cos' the jam was just starting to move. Before I can move my legs off the accelerator to the brakes, my car is already within a few inches from the car in front. Too late - bang into a Kenari. The young girl I ram into was rather shocked too cos' she just jammed on her brakes a few seconds before I ram into her car. It wasn't a very bad accident, but bad enough to require claim from insurance.
Fortunately the car I was driving (my hubby's Corolla), had it's NCB transfered to the "new" car he's driving (& it was just abt a mth before the accident!) - so we don't lose the insurance accident-free reward. So my car was in the workshop the past 2-3 weeks or so.
Then this morning (the 2nd day since driving my car after collecting it fr the workshop), again I got in an accident involving my front bumper - again! This time it was because someone reversed into my car as we're waiting to drive out from an inter-section. She's a new driver, so she got excited when a car on the main road comes too near to her. So she reversed without looking back & bang into me. I was too surprised to remember to honk... My brain in the morning a bit slow I guess... Cos' I clearly remember thinking - should I reverse? (but if I do so I'll bang against the fella right behind me) or should I honk? Too late - Bang!.... sigh....
To make matters worse, my brother-in-law (whom I must add, helped me repair my car & arrange for insurance claim etc-etc cos' he's experienced wif this cos' he's a 2nd hand car dealer) rush out to see & I'm so embarrased. Why? Cos' he had that look like "Not Again?!?! You dunno how to drive wan ar...." But his only comment was "Next time don't follow so close... Sometimes at slope area, ppl alwiz slip down" Errr.... but this girl reversed the whole half car distance btw me & her.... Didn't say it out lar, but it was on my mind... Sigh.....
Feel like I'm really an accident magnet. So...... Just to be extremely cautious to the point of being ridiculous, I distance myself with the car in front by a bus length! Then again, when I did tht bus-length-distance this morning, I either get honks (despite being in the slow lane) or someone overtakes me & effectively reduced the gap I tried to maintain & it became half-car-length-distance again....
I used to love driving... I'm also quite "efficient" in a manual car! But after this 2 accidents I'm beginning to lose confidence.... :-(
The first accident was about 3 weeks ago cos' someone in front of me suddenly brake after moving a few inches, but at tht time my feet was already on the accelarator, cos' the jam was just starting to move. Before I can move my legs off the accelerator to the brakes, my car is already within a few inches from the car in front. Too late - bang into a Kenari. The young girl I ram into was rather shocked too cos' she just jammed on her brakes a few seconds before I ram into her car. It wasn't a very bad accident, but bad enough to require claim from insurance.
Fortunately the car I was driving (my hubby's Corolla), had it's NCB transfered to the "new" car he's driving (& it was just abt a mth before the accident!) - so we don't lose the insurance accident-free reward. So my car was in the workshop the past 2-3 weeks or so.
Then this morning (the 2nd day since driving my car after collecting it fr the workshop), again I got in an accident involving my front bumper - again! This time it was because someone reversed into my car as we're waiting to drive out from an inter-section. She's a new driver, so she got excited when a car on the main road comes too near to her. So she reversed without looking back & bang into me. I was too surprised to remember to honk... My brain in the morning a bit slow I guess... Cos' I clearly remember thinking - should I reverse? (but if I do so I'll bang against the fella right behind me) or should I honk? Too late - Bang!.... sigh....
To make matters worse, my brother-in-law (whom I must add, helped me repair my car & arrange for insurance claim etc-etc cos' he's experienced wif this cos' he's a 2nd hand car dealer) rush out to see & I'm so embarrased. Why? Cos' he had that look like "Not Again?!?! You dunno how to drive wan ar...." But his only comment was "Next time don't follow so close... Sometimes at slope area, ppl alwiz slip down" Errr.... but this girl reversed the whole half car distance btw me & her.... Didn't say it out lar, but it was on my mind... Sigh.....
Feel like I'm really an accident magnet. So...... Just to be extremely cautious to the point of being ridiculous, I distance myself with the car in front by a bus length! Then again, when I did tht bus-length-distance this morning, I either get honks (despite being in the slow lane) or someone overtakes me & effectively reduced the gap I tried to maintain & it became half-car-length-distance again....
I used to love driving... I'm also quite "efficient" in a manual car! But after this 2 accidents I'm beginning to lose confidence.... :-(
Friday 10 April 2009
Book Review: If You Could See Me Now by Cecilia Ahern
I think I'm officially a Cecilia Ahern fan. I loved every bit of this book. It's even more entertaining than P.S. I Love You (but then again.... P.S. I Love You was more of an emotional roller-coaster ride, while this was more about growing up & learning to have fun).
In essence, it's about imaginary friends / invisible friends & in this book he's called Ivan (there are more, but the friend of the main characters is him). It's written as if imaginary friends actually exists & I would say at least half of the book is narrated by / written based on Ivan's thoughts. They are always visible to children because adults are always too fixated on what is right vs. what is not / acceptable vs. taboo / sane vs. mental illness. If an adult sees unbelievable imageries - they put it down to stress / worse - they're going bananas!
Well Elizabeth is 1 of the many adults who refuse to accept that there's such an existance as imaginary friends, when her nephew (whom she's taking care of because her sister is too free-spirited to care for her own son - whom the sis doesn't even know who the father is) started "seeing" someone called Ivan. Elizabeth is 1 of those very uptight, very serious / no nonsence & loves structure over letting things be... aka Control Freak.
Ivan is the direct opposite. He may be as "old" as Elizabeth in appearance but he loves to play! He takes nothing seriously (except making his friends happy & helping them through a rough patch). He & his friends (Opal, Olivia, Calendula, Tommy, Bobby, Jamie-Lynn to name a few) are fr the land of "Ekam Eveileb" (which actually means something.... but will not disclose it in case I accidentally spoil the whle book for you) & their mission is to make friends... They have a set of code of conducts & Opal being their wise leader will guide them along the way to help the children that they be-friended.
Many things happened along the way which I'll not write here, but suffice to say Elizabeth (& surprisingly Ivan too) was changed from this friendship. Oh yes... forgot to mention that she did managed to see him at some point but mistook him as her nephew's friend's father - despite all the facts that Ivan tells her - e.g.
- his name - Ivan, is the same name as her nephew's imaginary friend's name - Ivan!
- he loves olives; which is "co-incidentally" her nephew's imaginary friend's favourite
- his surname is "Elbisivni" which she thought was Russian (try reading it backwards)
- She tried Googling Ekam Eveiled & can't find such a place on the World map
etc.... etc....
A good read... If you wanna borrow it, drop me a note. Take good care of it though...
In essence, it's about imaginary friends / invisible friends & in this book he's called Ivan (there are more, but the friend of the main characters is him). It's written as if imaginary friends actually exists & I would say at least half of the book is narrated by / written based on Ivan's thoughts. They are always visible to children because adults are always too fixated on what is right vs. what is not / acceptable vs. taboo / sane vs. mental illness. If an adult sees unbelievable imageries - they put it down to stress / worse - they're going bananas!
Well Elizabeth is 1 of the many adults who refuse to accept that there's such an existance as imaginary friends, when her nephew (whom she's taking care of because her sister is too free-spirited to care for her own son - whom the sis doesn't even know who the father is) started "seeing" someone called Ivan. Elizabeth is 1 of those very uptight, very serious / no nonsence & loves structure over letting things be... aka Control Freak.
Ivan is the direct opposite. He may be as "old" as Elizabeth in appearance but he loves to play! He takes nothing seriously (except making his friends happy & helping them through a rough patch). He & his friends (Opal, Olivia, Calendula, Tommy, Bobby, Jamie-Lynn to name a few) are fr the land of "Ekam Eveileb" (which actually means something.... but will not disclose it in case I accidentally spoil the whle book for you) & their mission is to make friends... They have a set of code of conducts & Opal being their wise leader will guide them along the way to help the children that they be-friended.
Many things happened along the way which I'll not write here, but suffice to say Elizabeth (& surprisingly Ivan too) was changed from this friendship. Oh yes... forgot to mention that she did managed to see him at some point but mistook him as her nephew's friend's father - despite all the facts that Ivan tells her - e.g.
- his name - Ivan, is the same name as her nephew's imaginary friend's name - Ivan!
- he loves olives; which is "co-incidentally" her nephew's imaginary friend's favourite
- his surname is "Elbisivni" which she thought was Russian (try reading it backwards)
- She tried Googling Ekam Eveiled & can't find such a place on the World map
etc.... etc....
A good read... If you wanna borrow it, drop me a note. Take good care of it though...
Najib's New Cabinet
Recently someone sent me this e-mail saying that she's attaching the pix of Najib's new Cabinet, so naturally I assumed it's the new Cabinet of Ministers appointed yesterday... Hmm.... Can't wait to find out. Until..........
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hahahaha..................
Some people ar.......
Thursday 2 April 2009
Book Review: "Size 12 is Not Fat" & "Patty Jane's House of Curls"
Ok... Ok... I'm on self-denial mode & it goes to show from my choice of reading... :-p
I'm a Size 10/11 (Japan standard - not UK / America), so by the book's standard, I'm relatively "slim"! ;-)
And... I've just got my curls done (not really just lar... it was last year Oct, but still quite recent lar)
The first book "Size 12 is Not Fat" by Meg Cabot is a teenage-chick-flick type of book actually... & the attitude of the characters can be quite childish to be honest (or maybe I'm just too mature even when I was in my 20s).
It's about Heather a once popular teenage pop-star who caught her then boyfriend (who's a member of a hearthrob boy band & whose father is the owner of a record company) getting a BJ fr another up & coming teen pop-star. So she broke off with her then b/f, got kicked out from the house they were sharing, got fired by her record company because she insisted on singing her own written songs & cheated by her mum who took all her money & ran away with some guy to South America. She started to increase in size till Size 12 & is now:
1. working in a dormitory (excuse me... the book insisted it should be called "Residence Hall"... snort...)
2. staying in her ex-boyfriend's estranged brother (estranged because the brother is so different. As different as an apple vs. a pineapple... i.e. the similarities ends beyond the last name). This ex-bf brother is a Private Eye.
While working in the dorm, there were 2 incidences of girls falling off the elevator shaft & everyone including the police & the ex-bf brother (forgot his name so have to refer him as such) belief the case's closed.
However Heather insisted it was a murder & not death due to some silly games such as elevator surfing. Naturally no one believed her, so she went snooping around & nearly got killed several times as the murderer starts to feel the heat of her investigation. Finally with the help of her ex-bf's brother, they managed to deduce the murderer & caught her (i.e. the murderer - who happens to be her boss) just before Heather gets herself killed.
Verdict: Fun light reading but the unreal childish views of Heather can sometimes be quite grating
Second book - Patty Jane's House of Curls is even more interesting in story line but can sometimes be quite draggy. It's about Patty Jane who got married to a 2nd generation Norwegian immigrant in the US named Thor. They got married & lived happily but all changed when Patty Jane found tht she was pregnant. Thor is not ready to be a dad & started to shun her. A few days before she's due, he finally came to terms with the pregnancy & was rushing back to see Patty Jane to reconcile, but along the way he slipped & fell on the slippery frozen lake. After months of pining after Thor & filing a missing person report, Patty Jane finally gave up in finding Thor & wrote-him-off. She delivered a baby girl & set up a Hair & Beauty Salon called "Patty Jan's House of Curls".
The whole story revolved around her trials & tribulations at the Salon. Her effort to forget about Thor. Her sister - Heather's love life - who almost got married to a super rich man but her future husband was killed in an air crash. Patty Jane's daughter's feelings & actions when Thor came back into their lives as a man who lost all memory. Patty Jane's new love - Clyde Chuka - a native American. Heather's struggle with cancer just when she thought she found happiness by marrying a policeman who helped her kick her alchoholism.
Verdict: A dark story filled with sadness, but also full of life & laughter as the characters struggle through their "lives". Not a brainless read. An emotional roller-coaster ride, but still not as touching as P/S I Love You.
I'm a Size 10/11 (Japan standard - not UK / America), so by the book's standard, I'm relatively "slim"! ;-)
And... I've just got my curls done (not really just lar... it was last year Oct, but still quite recent lar)
The first book "Size 12 is Not Fat" by Meg Cabot is a teenage-chick-flick type of book actually... & the attitude of the characters can be quite childish to be honest (or maybe I'm just too mature even when I was in my 20s).
It's about Heather a once popular teenage pop-star who caught her then boyfriend (who's a member of a hearthrob boy band & whose father is the owner of a record company) getting a BJ fr another up & coming teen pop-star. So she broke off with her then b/f, got kicked out from the house they were sharing, got fired by her record company because she insisted on singing her own written songs & cheated by her mum who took all her money & ran away with some guy to South America. She started to increase in size till Size 12 & is now:
1. working in a dormitory (excuse me... the book insisted it should be called "Residence Hall"... snort...)
2. staying in her ex-boyfriend's estranged brother (estranged because the brother is so different. As different as an apple vs. a pineapple... i.e. the similarities ends beyond the last name). This ex-bf brother is a Private Eye.
While working in the dorm, there were 2 incidences of girls falling off the elevator shaft & everyone including the police & the ex-bf brother (forgot his name so have to refer him as such) belief the case's closed.
However Heather insisted it was a murder & not death due to some silly games such as elevator surfing. Naturally no one believed her, so she went snooping around & nearly got killed several times as the murderer starts to feel the heat of her investigation. Finally with the help of her ex-bf's brother, they managed to deduce the murderer & caught her (i.e. the murderer - who happens to be her boss) just before Heather gets herself killed.
Verdict: Fun light reading but the unreal childish views of Heather can sometimes be quite grating
Second book - Patty Jane's House of Curls is even more interesting in story line but can sometimes be quite draggy. It's about Patty Jane who got married to a 2nd generation Norwegian immigrant in the US named Thor. They got married & lived happily but all changed when Patty Jane found tht she was pregnant. Thor is not ready to be a dad & started to shun her. A few days before she's due, he finally came to terms with the pregnancy & was rushing back to see Patty Jane to reconcile, but along the way he slipped & fell on the slippery frozen lake. After months of pining after Thor & filing a missing person report, Patty Jane finally gave up in finding Thor & wrote-him-off. She delivered a baby girl & set up a Hair & Beauty Salon called "Patty Jan's House of Curls".
The whole story revolved around her trials & tribulations at the Salon. Her effort to forget about Thor. Her sister - Heather's love life - who almost got married to a super rich man but her future husband was killed in an air crash. Patty Jane's daughter's feelings & actions when Thor came back into their lives as a man who lost all memory. Patty Jane's new love - Clyde Chuka - a native American. Heather's struggle with cancer just when she thought she found happiness by marrying a policeman who helped her kick her alchoholism.
Verdict: A dark story filled with sadness, but also full of life & laughter as the characters struggle through their "lives". Not a brainless read. An emotional roller-coaster ride, but still not as touching as P/S I Love You.
Book Review: The Nanny's Diaries
I can't remember the name of the author. It's a book Storm lent me.
Anyways, I was just discussing the book with Storm the other day & we both agree that it was a chore to plough through the whole book & complete it. Before I go on, maybe I need to give a synopsis on the book first.
The main character is a girl called Nanny / Nan for short... Yea I know... I thought that Nanny was the occupation, not the name. Anyways, she's a NYU student who pays her rent by.... ??.... You guessed it! - being a nanny. She became a Nanny in the 'X' household (serious... No kidding... It's as per the book! The surname is X).
Mrs X is the second wife of Mr X after both of them were caught by ex-Mrs X (confused yet?). Anyway, she's the trophy wife material :
1. goes shopping at all the branded boutiques
2. making trivial things like 'ensuring-there's-lavender-pillow-mist-L'Occitane-brand-only-for-her-husband's-corp-dinner-door-gift' the center of her universe
3. have the "society-required" inteligent son who at 4, is expected to plan on the College he needs to enter into &
4. "ladles" the son away with a wooden spoon / spatula / whatever within grabbing distance whenever her son wants to hug her for fear of getting her skirt crumpled!
Mr X is having an affair with Ms. Chicago (a nickname coined by Nan) his colleague at work. Ms Chicago is hell's bent to get caught - e.g. leaving a lacy panty at Mr X's home; so tht she can be the 3rd Mrs. X **shakes head** What's most amazing, Mrs. X who hates having children, went & get herself preggie just to hold on to Mr X. Towards the end, he even got involved in another affair involving a recent divorsee who was left penniless by her ex-husband cos' of a pre-nup signed. Sigh....
Anyway, she was treated like sh*t by Mrs X but the son - Grayer was adorable. So despite her frustrations (e.g. expected to miss her graduation cos' she needs to baby sit Grayer at their holiday villa in Nantucket), she stayed on for the sake of Grayer.
Now... the twist & turn of the story may sound interesting BUT... the constant whining & groaning & complaining fr Nan can sometimes get in your nerves. It's just like "The Devil Wears Prada" (sorry to the fans out there - including Storm... I hated tht book too). If you hate the job so much & you're treated like sub-human / slave, just Resign! Jeezz.... Why hold on to it like your whole life depended on it when you could have easily found another.
Then again, if the money is good, maybe it takes lots of courage to resign... Like me, I didn't have the courage to resign earlier... Fortunately though, times are much better now... Well... Maybe it's the same grating-on-your-nerves feeling my blog readers get when reading about my "baby-less" woes... (p/s Hubby & I agreed to go for IVR if all fails. Finally!! Hope it works)... So shouldn't complain abt the writer's writing too much then... :-)
I've just finished a teen-chic-flick "Size 12 is Not Fat" by Meg Cabot - might review that next. I'm currently reading "If You Could See Me Now" by Cecelia Ahern. Will do a short write-up on tht too when I finish. So far's it's been riveting.
Anyways, I was just discussing the book with Storm the other day & we both agree that it was a chore to plough through the whole book & complete it. Before I go on, maybe I need to give a synopsis on the book first.
The main character is a girl called Nanny / Nan for short... Yea I know... I thought that Nanny was the occupation, not the name. Anyways, she's a NYU student who pays her rent by.... ??.... You guessed it! - being a nanny. She became a Nanny in the 'X' household (serious... No kidding... It's as per the book! The surname is X).
Mrs X is the second wife of Mr X after both of them were caught by ex-Mrs X (confused yet?). Anyway, she's the trophy wife material :
1. goes shopping at all the branded boutiques
2. making trivial things like 'ensuring-there's-lavender-pillow-mist-L'Occitane-brand-only-for-her-husband's-corp-dinner-door-gift' the center of her universe
3. have the "society-required" inteligent son who at 4, is expected to plan on the College he needs to enter into &
4. "ladles" the son away with a wooden spoon / spatula / whatever within grabbing distance whenever her son wants to hug her for fear of getting her skirt crumpled!
Mr X is having an affair with Ms. Chicago (a nickname coined by Nan) his colleague at work. Ms Chicago is hell's bent to get caught - e.g. leaving a lacy panty at Mr X's home; so tht she can be the 3rd Mrs. X **shakes head** What's most amazing, Mrs. X who hates having children, went & get herself preggie just to hold on to Mr X. Towards the end, he even got involved in another affair involving a recent divorsee who was left penniless by her ex-husband cos' of a pre-nup signed. Sigh....
Anyway, she was treated like sh*t by Mrs X but the son - Grayer was adorable. So despite her frustrations (e.g. expected to miss her graduation cos' she needs to baby sit Grayer at their holiday villa in Nantucket), she stayed on for the sake of Grayer.
Now... the twist & turn of the story may sound interesting BUT... the constant whining & groaning & complaining fr Nan can sometimes get in your nerves. It's just like "The Devil Wears Prada" (sorry to the fans out there - including Storm... I hated tht book too). If you hate the job so much & you're treated like sub-human / slave, just Resign! Jeezz.... Why hold on to it like your whole life depended on it when you could have easily found another.
Then again, if the money is good, maybe it takes lots of courage to resign... Like me, I didn't have the courage to resign earlier... Fortunately though, times are much better now... Well... Maybe it's the same grating-on-your-nerves feeling my blog readers get when reading about my "baby-less" woes... (p/s Hubby & I agreed to go for IVR if all fails. Finally!! Hope it works)... So shouldn't complain abt the writer's writing too much then... :-)
I've just finished a teen-chic-flick "Size 12 is Not Fat" by Meg Cabot - might review that next. I'm currently reading "If You Could See Me Now" by Cecelia Ahern. Will do a short write-up on tht too when I finish. So far's it's been riveting.
Niece's Birthday Card
Forgot to mention in my last post that I made a Birthday card for my niece.
Nope did not take a pix of it (again...) so will describe it.
I chose Lavender cos' I remembered her saying she likes a certain kind of purple. I used 2 A4 sized papers & punched some angel design along the binding sides. I then use a straw-like material to weave through the angel-shaped-holes to bind the 2 paper together. I also pasted some angel shaped designs from the same puncher but of other colours along the binded sides. Added some glitters on them.
On the other end of the paper in tandem to the binded side, I stencilled on a lighthouse (no particular meaning, just liked the design) & scattered stencilled stars all around it. I then cut along the outer perimeters of the stars & lighthouse, so tht there's some cut-out designs on the side & the bottom layer is exposed.
I then coloured the background black (but only the area with the stars) & outline silver borders around all the multi-coloured stars; which I coloured with 4-different coloured highlighters.
Finally in the middle between the border on the left & the designs on the right, I wrote a simple "Happy 21st Birthday!"
Eager to have the occasion to do more - Practice makes perfect... but wish I have more time...
Nope did not take a pix of it (again...) so will describe it.
I chose Lavender cos' I remembered her saying she likes a certain kind of purple. I used 2 A4 sized papers & punched some angel design along the binding sides. I then use a straw-like material to weave through the angel-shaped-holes to bind the 2 paper together. I also pasted some angel shaped designs from the same puncher but of other colours along the binded sides. Added some glitters on them.
On the other end of the paper in tandem to the binded side, I stencilled on a lighthouse (no particular meaning, just liked the design) & scattered stencilled stars all around it. I then cut along the outer perimeters of the stars & lighthouse, so tht there's some cut-out designs on the side & the bottom layer is exposed.
I then coloured the background black (but only the area with the stars) & outline silver borders around all the multi-coloured stars; which I coloured with 4-different coloured highlighters.
Finally in the middle between the border on the left & the designs on the right, I wrote a simple "Happy 21st Birthday!"
Eager to have the occasion to do more - Practice makes perfect... but wish I have more time...
Wednesday 1 April 2009
Sushi Galore for Dearest Niece
As mentioned in my last post, I was asked to make sushi for my niece's 21st birthday party. At first I thought - "No biggy... I did it before. I can do it again now... After all, they're only family..."
Oh boy... Oh boy was I wrong! Just a few days before the dinner, I found out that the party was for about 50-60pax! Errr.... That would be like catering! I've never prepared for such a large crowd before. I'm worried... My sushi is amateur-ish... It's all trial & error... How would the friends / guests take it? Preparing for the family is 1 thing, but it'll be embarassing when it's being served to guests who are practically strangers... No... err wait a minute... hmm.... strangers is fine... The "stranger" the better... :-p
Anyways, so hubby & I went on a major shopping spree to buy the sushi stuff. We had:
1. unagi
2. salmon slices
3. some raw fish that we don't know wht type of fish it is...
4. crabsticks
5. chicken sausages
6. japanese cucumbers
7. mayonaise
8. lot's of seaweed...
The party was supposed to start around 7.30pm-8pm, but I only managed to get all the stuff to my sis-in-law's hse at 5+pm! Fortunately I managed to complete everything on time. Churned out only about 6 plates of sushi's & it was among the first fe dishes to get wiped out first! Phew! Am so happy it was such a hit... Make me feel less of a failure in the kitchen... :-)
Oh boy... Oh boy was I wrong! Just a few days before the dinner, I found out that the party was for about 50-60pax! Errr.... That would be like catering! I've never prepared for such a large crowd before. I'm worried... My sushi is amateur-ish... It's all trial & error... How would the friends / guests take it? Preparing for the family is 1 thing, but it'll be embarassing when it's being served to guests who are practically strangers... No... err wait a minute... hmm.... strangers is fine... The "stranger" the better... :-p
Anyways, so hubby & I went on a major shopping spree to buy the sushi stuff. We had:
1. unagi
2. salmon slices
3. some raw fish that we don't know wht type of fish it is...
4. crabsticks
5. chicken sausages
6. japanese cucumbers
7. mayonaise
8. lot's of seaweed...
The party was supposed to start around 7.30pm-8pm, but I only managed to get all the stuff to my sis-in-law's hse at 5+pm! Fortunately I managed to complete everything on time. Churned out only about 6 plates of sushi's & it was among the first fe dishes to get wiped out first! Phew! Am so happy it was such a hit... Make me feel less of a failure in the kitchen... :-)
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