tiring...

today started quite badly.firstly get a call from mom informing me about vodka!... he was continuously vomiting and was so sick that he wasn't wagging his tail as usual. he didn't even budged when they waved his fut-fut (his fave toy). cried a little as i remembered bronte last days.... not again...then when reached office, had to face numerous sarcastic emails from my business rep which i suspect issues caused by users themselves as later he confirmed issue resolved mysteriously.saddest news was the passing away of a relative of my close friend.
very trying day ...

my great oz (victoria, actually) escape - itineraries

at last. the rough plans are drawn out! i just love plans especially if they turn out as planned. phew... now, i have to worry about my budget...
01-Apr Sunday
Yarra Valley day trip
- Yarra glen
- Healesville (santuary??)
- Black Spur Drive
- Marysville
- Steavenson Falls Walk (2 hours)
1800 dinner and snooze time
02-Apr Monday
island escapade! (3D2N)
- nobbies
- date with the small guys in tux
nite @ cowes
03-Apr Tuesday
island escapade! (continue..)
- up & personal with the koalas
nite @ cowes
04-Apr Wednesday
island escapade! (continue..)
- lepak
05-Apr Thursday
St. Kilda??
Lepak melbourne??
06,07-Apr Friday,Saturday (4D3N)
life's a beach! - Gippsland
get high! - Alpine
08-Apr Sunday
to the race!
- run with the devils at mornington
- back to gippsland
09-Apr Monday
life's a beach! - Gippsland (continue..)
10-Apr Tuesday
to the ranges
- belgrave
- dandenong's tuesday market
- puffing billy
- etc?
11-Apr Wednesday
the great expedition
- nite @ Apollo Bay
12-Apr Thursday
the great expedition (continue..)
- nite @ Port Fairy
13-Apr Friday
the great expedition (continue..)
- head back to melbourne via inland
14-Apr Saturday
golddigging (not the nose thingy la) day
- ballarat
15-Apr Sunday
0000 leaving on the jet plane

Why British think 80% of M'sians coming to UK to study law?

UK Immigration Officer: Purpose of visit?
Visitor: I'm here to study law, sir.
Officer: You know, you must have a lot of lawyers in Malaysia .
Visitor: Why do you say that?
Officer: Well, i've been here for a good twenty years, and I'd say 80% of Malaysians I see here say they're here to read law.
Visitor: Oh, really? That's really something i never knew. Hard to believe in fact.
Officer: Just you watch, then. You just stand here until the next Malaysian comes along, and I'll bet he's here to read law.
*Visitor waits for 5 mins, Ah Chong from Malaysia comes to immigration counter*
Officer: Mr. Ah Chong, purpose of visit?
Ah Chong: Study lorr...

quirky quacks

let's play spot the quacks. ok. so i am being wu liao. he he. it has been someday since the last entry to the blog. so i thought why not share some of my fave stuff with ppl.
although some ppl thought photography is my recent craze with the new slr and all but they are gravely mistaken. those who knew me way back then would know better. i love taking the shots (hee hee, literally and figuratively, actually) and not being shot (which depends on the company...). if you have seen my travel photos, you would know. which my mom still doesn't understand why i prefer to be behind the camera.
besides feeling a little wu liao, i need to use my e500 to stop from collecting dust :), so i took some shots of the recently cleaned bookshelf. yup. after a tedious day cleaning and re-stacking my books (this time in category order) i decided then to decorated it with the rubber ducklings i bought in kekloksi (of all shopping places, rite ?!). so now you might have guessed my top pastimes. DUH?! cleaning shelves??!!! are you nuts. reading of course :). and shopping for them, of course!. which gal doesn't love shopping?
so what stuff i read. ANYTHING! that i fancy. chic lit, historical stuff, lovely dovey romance, classic lit, pulitzer winners, etc. you can gather from the pix. erm. actually there's one collection that was suppose to be phui's pressie. it came late from online order and it laid in the shelf since the day it arrived. i thought it was a neat piece. corny but i think every bookcase should have one of this...
and if you scrutinized even closer. you will spot the 2 decks which i enjoyed a lot especially during cny. so far there are my income "ka chang" during this festivities. hee hee.

online shopping
well, what can i say. I LOVE online SHOPPING! i mean, it's shopping rite?!! besides being sOOoooOOOoo easy and accessible, some of my purchases are not available in msia e.g. certain book collection and %discounts to boot. ok. some of you scary cats. safe? of course, always check their creditability first. don't just plunged and purchase from the first site u come across, silly! check your credit card statement carefully and often after any purchases.
some sites i shopped and recommend :

• 
  
  books - http://www.acmamall.com : this site is great. they offer up to 26% depending on the promotion. each month will have different category on offer. free shipping for purchase over myr200. free stuff u get when shopping - precious!
  
  
• 
  
  music cds - http://global.yesasia.com : my fave dig-out for k-pop. ok. i don understand korean but doesn't mean i cant enjoy them... start clicking this site for those hard to find kpop albums. customer service is good as response is extremely fast. just splurged on another purchase recently. hope they will arrive before i leave for mel.
  
  
• 
  
  flights - http://www.malaysiaairlines.com : for oversea trips. come here to book. prices are lower than those in travel agent. REALLY! cos they are encouraging ppl to book online. purchases might be around myr10-30 cheaper.
            - http://www.airasia.com : for low fare promo. check here often. you might get free flights! i got mine free to philippines...
  
  
• 
  
  hostel - http://www.hostels.com : only did a booking once for a bunk in edinburgh. great place to check out oversea hostels.
  
  
• 
  
  hotel - http://www.asiawebdirect.com : booked some local hotels and service is quite responsive and good.

hoi kong!

first day at work. first day night shift. dont quite like working in the command centre as the place is not as comfortable as my own cubicle. but the whole place decorated festively. however, due to same area with the service desk ppl, quite noisy as some of them tend to speak their lungs out and worse in spannish. imagine how irritating that can be.

gong xi gong xi

tuan nian fan
i only managed to leave for mcca around 0930 on cny's eve. tg the traffic was not too bad. was only delayed for around an hour. however mom decided to have tuan nian fan dinner and not lunch. erm. bad move cos this means less time for digestion. i immediately had tummy upset after dinner. lots of lots of air in tummy and cant fart nor burp. ha ha. what a condition to start the new year. guess for chinese it suppose to be good kua. i mean full mar....
gong xi FATt chai
gong xi gong xi.... tis a quiet cny. with the strict ban and high fine for red crackers, no more cny bing bang mood d. first thing i did when i wake up after wishing gong xi fatt chai to mom, i dashed to my room to try my new clothes. aaa. lucky man. with my bloated tummy and all, i still can fit into them. ha ha.
ban ban
ha ha. puak kiao. my fave activity during cny. it was receiving ang pow but as you get older... luck didn't pick up in di koo's house. must be something about a-girl sitting next to me... however, luck picked up the next few days and yee ha!
peer pressures
ooh ooh. so cute. yea. reunion with friend and their babies. sooo cute all of them. but i only managed to take some ellie's pics. one of the aunties suggested that i get married soon to have one cutie myself... erm. i countered "erm... no need get married to have one, auntie. just a willing donor, rite?" she was stunned. so any donors? anyway, many of my ang pow giving friends has became scrooges!!! come on, there are only a few of us singles, er, rite? winnie and siewping were cornered by us singles and "willingly" gave us those lucky red packets. siewping turned the table by remarking "make sure this is the last time, ok?" yea. ok. erm. sure.
reunions of friends
one of the many reasons i always looked forward to during cny is meeting up with friends. some were anticipated while there will be a few delightful meet-ups. one of my best catch-ups was with winnie (based in suzhou with hubby, kintat). this woman is still as captivating and loud as all of us :) especially when us chabos and peter only gathered. phui looked more like a tai tai now with her long curly locks. siewping! our papan monitor... i think 2 years i haven't met her! still rosy cheeked with endless legs. sharon - our very own grey's anatomy was a little tired but immediately perked up during the puakkia session. who says docs don't take chances?! others were and i hope still are as lively and lovely as ever :) seems like we don't aged, huh?!

rise dragon rise!

ok. botched biscotti aside, i braved myself to bake another new cookie for this cny - loong pheng aka dragon biscuit. hey! what do you know - they turned out well. erm. after toiling for loooooong hours due to incorrect apparatus. i had some marks imprinted on my palm while using the ill-fitted icing pump. i even had muscle sores for like 2 days!! last resort, i had to roll the dough into short rounded strings and slowly inprint them with lines using the kuih siput's moulds. ha ha. inovative ler! well it turns out more like seh pheng. cheche said it looks like cacing pheng. but i was happiest when one remarked "eh! loong pheng!! didnt eat one for looong time! and this tastes good". aaa.

here's my loong pheng's recipe :

• 
  
  150g butter
  
  
• 
  
  80-90g icing sugar
  
  
• 
  
  3 egg yolks
  
  
• 
  
  1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  
  
• 
  
  1 egg white, beaten
  
  
• 
  
  1 whole egg + 1/2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
  
  
• 
  
  2 tbsp uht fresh milk
  
  Sift together:
  
  
• 
  
  350g corn flour
  
  
• 
  
  2 tbsp milk powder
  
  
• 
  
  20g flour

method

1. 
   
   cream butter and icing sugar till light and fluffy.
   
   
2. 
   
   add yolks one by one, beating well after each.
   
   
3. 
   
   add in the 1 whole egg, vanilla essence and uht milk. mix to incorporate well.
   
   
4. 
   
   fold in sifted flour and mix until a soft dough is formed.
   
   
5. 
   
   put dough into a cookie press and press out dragon shapes.
   
   
6. 
   
   dot the eyes red then bake in a preheated oven at 180 ºC for 15 mins (erm... depends on your oven heat distribution.) 
   
   
7. 
   
   DO NOT bake till brown. the cookies are suppsoed to be white or yellowish. (if u like crunchy instead of melt in your mouth, then bake till really light brownish...)

[01 Mar 2007] : grt news! left less than 1/4 tong now.