Sherene and I

Before steaming
After steaming

Had a pau making session last night (1st Sept). It was a long weekend so we had time to spend with friends. I made steamboat on 31st Aug at my place. Too bad I forgot to take a photo of the stuff on the table before it got eaten up. I tried out korean kim chi chige for one of the soup base. The other soup base was plain chicken stock. It was quite a hunt for beef though. Did not realise it was that difficult to buy beef in Kuching. In the end, we managed to buy some from a frozen mart in Satok. The slicing was tricky as I wanted it really thin. But it was worth the effort...yummy!

Saturday night was also free, so we tried making kaya pau. I had bought the flour quite some time ago but did not have the time to make it. It was quite challenging. Definitely toned some arm muscles kneading the dough. The dough had to be kneaded for a long time. I hope we did not drip any sweat into it while we were at it...oops. The next challenge was the 'pau' part. It was tricky getting the kaya to be 'pau' inside and not spill out. I will definitely appreciate effort put into making a pau next time I buy one from outside. It was quite a successful first time for us. The pau turned out edible although not as fluffy and white as those sold. Hurray! Still have half pack of flour left...maybe char siow pau next.

It's my darling's birthday on the 7th of Aug. My turn to buy him a cake.

Cute panda on the double deck






Somewhere on Orchard Road










Myself and the double deck

Had a short trip to Singapore on the 24th of April. It was an adventurous trip with two other colleagues of mine. We drove around Singapore so I got to see most of Singapore. It's not very big. We visited Orchard Road. I just had to see what all the hoo-haa was about Orchard Road. Had my first glimpse of the double deckers and an amazingly double-jointed bus which was so long. Would have loved to see how they make turns.

Now, I can safely say that I have been to Singapore! That was the first stamp on my international passport and hopefully more to come. Yeay! Will be back to experience more of Singapore when I have the chance.

The living room
The kitchen
The porch

Finally...after almost two years of searching and countless houses viewed. We found the house we were looking for. Good condition, fully furnished, good location, well decorated, nice owners and most important of all, reasonable price. It's a second hand house, almost ten years old but in tip top condition. It had been our plan to look for second hand house due to ridiculous house prices in Kuching. A new double storey, intermediate terrace, empty house in a good location starts at RM300K. Add in the grills, furniture etc etc, it will come to almost RM350K. Ours come with almost everything - grills, great lighting, alarm system, auto gate, solar heater, furniture - all for less than RM300K. Plus it came with really great owners who are now like friends. We are inded blessed.
Mother-in-law wanted to look for auspicious date to move in. According to the chinese calendar, that will be on the 28th of Sept at approximately 3.00a.m. Don't ask me why the time. It's custom. The moving also comes with some rules attached - make sure the gas tank and the kuali get in first. Hang the red cloth...and there's more to come I am sure. Well...we look forward to moving in on the 28th of September.

Another year older, another year wiser....
My darling hubby bought me a very nice cake for a quiet celebration - just the two of us. Very sweet of him.

Well, this year is CNY in Sarikei - Hubby's hometown. Next year will be mine...Yeah!!!
Midnight of the CNY at Sarikei is filled with colorful skies, loud bangs and smoky air. It was beautiful.

The girls.....
Guess your foot. The guys
My hubby in action.

Well, one more year passed by. Welcome 2007. We celebrated at Samuel's with a small gathering, BBQ and red wine. It was also his house warming since he moved to a new place.

SLUSE gathering at Sharing Planet organized by Rosalind on 29 December 2006. Hope we have another one this year. Turn out was ok, with Chiew and Dr. Lau Seng turning up. Dr. Gabriel gave us the big "777" aeroplane though.

Photo of the room I stayed in Sunway. It had an overview of Sunway Lagoon.

Had a business trip to Melaka and KL on 3-4 December. Went to some places to do audits and managed to get some nice experience of the local place at the same time.

In Melaka, we were treated to very nice seafood and otak-otak at a riverside near a Malay Kampung. Later, after being extremely stuffed with seafood, we were further treated to Melaka's authentic satay celup...oh we were completely stuffed after that.

First baby....Miss E. 15 July 2006

After the wedding, we adopted a cute little kitty from SSPCA. She was 6 months old when we got her. She had been abandoned by her previous owner who returned to West Malaysia - just left the cat at the house to starve. Some people do not deserve to have pets! Well, she was rescued by the nice neighbour and sent to the SSPCA where we adopted her. There were so many cats to choose...she was lovely and she meowed to us through the cage...requesting "take me home".

Thus, we have our first baby. She has a nice beautiful greyish coat which the vet describes as "blue tabby". She looked elegant despite her lost of weight and therefore was duly named Miss E for Miss Elegant. Nowadays we just call her Missy.

Actually we got two kitties. The other was a few weeks old tom cat which was down with flu. He was named Max. Max did not survive. It was a heartache over his death two days after we got him. So, don't want to talk bout it.


I am not a cat person actually, the cat is my dear hubby's. But, ironically, the cat got more attached to me. It follows and listens to me more than hubby...which irritates him no end. Hahaha.....



The first week we got her, it was endless series of vaccination, toilet training and explaning the do's and don'ts. She was also neutered. We do not look forward to hoards of kittens every few months. We kept her in the house for a week to familiarize with her surroundings. The first night we let her out, she did not get back until 2.00a.m. We were frantic, searching the whole neighbourhood. Worried sick that she may be in trouble, captured or lost. When the clock strike 1.00a.m. I was crying and vowing never to get another cat if she did not return...the pain of losing Max was still there. Thank God, she waltzed in at 2.00a.m. happy as a cat that just caught a mouse. Pets....they are just like kids. They have to be coached, demands attention and love, does amazingly irritating things like dirty the house & destroy your beloved things and yet manage to look all cute and adoring while they are at it.

She is the love of our live at the moment.

From Hotel Wawasan to hubby's home in Sarikei.


Bridesmaid (sis-in-law), bestman, flower girl and ring bearer (Andrew's cousins)

Blessings over...happily ever after starts.

Updates

Finally...updates. Lost the PW, lost the ID to the blog, busy....many other reasons but mainly was the PW. The world we live in requires too many PWs. We have to change PW every quarter on our PC at the company. Imagine that. I am running out of PW not to mention finding it hard to remember PWs.

First up is the Wedding! 6 June 2006. One year aniversary already passed...definitely not latest news anymore. :)
The wedding went well...lots of customs to follow. Some of it was funny, like the part where my brother has to walk around the car 3 times and pull the cloth off the car. Also, the car looks funny with two plastic pink lanterns on each side. But I was quite sad that it was a date where none of my friends could attend. Not a holiday anymore. :(

Three more weeks and counting...I have not got the invitation cards sent out yet. Arrghhh....stress. Plus work is busy as well as emotionally draining. Ever get the feeling that you are being played like a puppet or that you are in a situation beyond your control? Sigh...just have to try to be patient, think objectively and play the game when your hand is forced. Lucky for me, I have great friends who are always supportive.

Last weekend was a great 3 days break. It will be another 3 day week this weekend as well. Looking forward to it so much. That is when the mountain of laundry will finally get done - the mountain in the laudnry basket will transfer to the mountain of clothes to dry, then to the mountain of clothes to fold and iron...then back to the basket again. It's a vicious cycle. Wish we could do away with that ;)

Well, have not touched the report I am supposed to amend for my previous company. Have to tackle that this weekend as well. Hope I will also get some wed photos by then so I can update my site as well.

Am missing my brother very much. Wonder where is he now. Still at sea somewhere I guess. Since his new job, I do not have much chance to chat with him. But his job is really interesting. They survey and map the seabed for oil exploration companies ensuring that the place is safe for drilling. Plus you get to travel to foreign countries. Good experience for him.

Wedding Preparations

Busy with wedding preparations. Less than one month to go and we have still not finalize church program and the booklet, invitations etc...have not even chosen my wedding gown. That will happen on the 4th of May I guess when we go and collect our studio photos. Hehe...the photo taking session was an experience to remember. We had to walk around town in our gown and suit for the photo shoots including walking into Coffee Bean, the traffic light at Tun Jugah and the State Library. Lucky for me, ppl will not recognize me for the make up I was wearing. :)
Photos turned out ok...not as good as I hoped but what more can I expect if I am not photogenic..even the best photographer cannot help me. May post a photo if I can figure out how to attach it.

Transferred from Multiply.com

This entry is transferred from my Multiply site. Date: Dec 3, '05 6:43 AM

It's been a really busy time with work and life and everything else. Miss going out with friends very much because everyone is busy. But I am glad that I can find some time to update my page again. I am sure many are wondering about me as much as I am about them. I have not been actively mailing everyone too. My sincere appologies dear friends.

Anyway, I want to share a little about the last field trip I went. It was into a peat swamp forest in Bintulu. Exciting?? Yes, it was quite exciting but also exhausting. We had to collect some samples of water from a river within our study boundary. All the easily accessible areas of the river were beyond the study boundary. So, the original plan was to trek in using a transect which had been cut earlier for some peat depth studies. (Btw, peat means organic soil in Sarawak). Not something I look forward to as the area is flooded - water table is at ground level. This means that my collegue and I will have to trek through floating organic materials which might lead up to out chest. I was very apprehensive when I thought about what might be underneath all those floating organic material. There could be snakes. I could have chosen not to go in but my pride wouldn't let me. I wanted to know if I could do it - get through the challenge. To my relief though, on that day, we found an alternative route. There was a logging camp in the area which was carrying out salvage logging. They were removing remaining logs with commercial value before an oil palm plantation is set up. The loggers had built a rough rail track which they use to move the logs out. The track was built about 2 feet above ground so we could just walk on the "slippers" and stay dry. Walking on those slipper sorely tested my agility and balance because they were made of logs so they were not flat surfaces and some of the slippers were set far apart...too far for me to cross to another in one step. Naturally, I had the balance of a hippo walking a tight rope and I fell like a clumsy one too. First time I broke a glass bottle for the water sample. Second and third time I fell, I landed in the water. So much for keeping myself dry. I am just thankful that a glass bottle was all that I broke and my bones were all intact. :) Had some colorful bruises decorating my body though. Too bad I did not get to enjoy the view inside the swamp as it was really hot and I was concentrating too much on not falling off the tracks. I have got to find a way to rationalize with my pride. I think someday..it will just land me in serious trouble. But as of now, everything went well, so here I am again typing away in my journal. I am thankful for that. Oh, I almost forgot, we also went up another river in a flimsy kampung long boat....which almost capsized 90 percent of the time it was being paddled. But I'll save that account for another time.

I am actually in a very reflective mood today. It's that time of the year which brings out the mood I guess. When you hear the jingle bells jingle bells, beautifully decorated christmas trees and soon you know that you will be seeing red, hearing fire crackers and kongsi kongsi ni blaring in the air - you just know that it's the end of another year. What have I achieved? Did I achieve any of the things that I set out to do? What do I want in the next year? Waht have I learned this year? Have I improved? Have I been a nice person to my family, loved ones and friends? And of course the acknowledgement that I will be one year older. Sigh...I think I need to reflect some more on those questions. Maybe I'll share it with friends when I go out with them. It will be good to go out again.

Anyway, just uploaded the photos for Miri. So, do check it out. And to all those who are keeping track of me and my activities here....take care y'all.

P.S. This entry is on a rather personal note due to my reflective mood.

This is a transferred blog from my Multiply site. Date: Oct 22, '05 12:35 PM


Just came back from Miri...very tired after a week of rushing for report completion and then followed by a field trip and another two impending reports to write when I get back to work. Next update will take some time before I am able to do it. But I still have a bunch of photos I would like to post up.

This was my first real visit to Miri. I had only been into Miri airport in year 2001, during our SLUSE field trip to Batu Niah. This time, I got a tour into Miri town , Curtin University as well as the famous Canada Hill where the first oil well in Sarawak was supposed to have been dug. The year was 1910 and the exploration and well was run by the Anglo Saxon Dutch Shell company. A total of 660,000 barrels of oil was produced from that well before it ran dry in 1976. Now the well is know only as the "Grand Old Lady" - and grand it is as it stands tall in the middle of the hill top overlooking all the visitors and demanding the respect it deserves. A Petroleum museum is in the final touches of being readied for opening. The building has a very nice and pleasant Australian architecture, similar to Curtin University. According to a surveyor who had been to the hill in the early 70s, the place has come a long way since it's oil rich hay days. In those days, the hill was still a jungle and litterrally a dump place - it was filthy with lots of rubbish. Today, there is a nice new road leading up the hill and some nice tiled pathways along the hill side overlooking Miri city. Needless to say, the view is breathtaking from the hill - you can get a clear view of the Marina Bay...which was man-made by filling up part of the Miri river and creating an alternative outlet for the river. Not sure how bad the impact is environmentally on such a change.

For a city, Miri seems to be very quiet. At around 8.30pm at night, the town seems to have gone to sleep. I was a little dissapointed to see that it was not such a big city and nothing really as impressive in the city as what I have heard. There were shopping malls that looked bigger than those in Kuching but they are few...Kuching still seems a better looking city than Miri. Of course I will have to give Miri's malls the benefit of the doubt as I did not step foot into one...but as I am a West Malaysian originally and have been to many many malls in KL, they don't interest me as much as the natural and historical sites.

A large part of Miri is made up of large flat peat lands. We could see many burnt over peat areas along the roads. They are said to have self ignited naturally during very dry seasons - now we know why there is so much haze. Timber sems to be still a viable economic gain as there are many many many log ponds along the Batang Baram river banks. The Batang Baram is a very big river, measuring more than 500m in width. The busy dockyards are filled with ships, some carrying containers docked at the dockyards. The timber industry is conquered by the two timber giants Shin Yang and Sam Ling in Miri. I have yet to see those really great big beautiful houses of the rich in Miri. I have heard so much about it. I hope I will be able to see those and more in my next trip. But overall, despite the short trip, I got to see most of what Miri is like and got a great dinner with really super cheap crabs at the New Fun Ling restaurant. They came at RM12/kg inclusive of the cooking - super cheap! So for those of you who will be visiting Miri...there's the spot to look for crabs. I will post some more photos up as soon as I can. There's still the photos going up Gading with friends to process. Till then...life is all about work. God, please grant me the patience to persevere.

First blog

Thought I would give this a try since Multiply does not seem to be working for me. Will try to get all my musings from Multiply over to this Page. PL must be thrilled to see me finally switching to this...yes, yes, I know what you are going to say " I told you so". Well, here I am...look out for more in the months to come.