Chap Goh Meh

Happy Chap Goh Meh to all...

Today is the final day of Chinese New Year 2009. It's called Chap Goh Meh (in hokkien meaning "15th night"). It's the Chinese Valentine's day actually, where "hopeful" single women throw "kam" (mandarin oranges) into the river while the daring single men go all out to grab these oranges. The most romantic day of all the days in Chinese New Year.

Incidentally, today marks the wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Keyman. Kinda romantic when I think about it falling on a Valentine's day. However, Keyman tells me that he's celebrating the day with his "gay" friends.... (gay = in cantonese meaning machines/gadgets i.e. hi-fi, audio video stuffs).

Today is Ginger's birthday too (based on the Chinese Calender). Also very romantic because her actual birthday falls on 14th February, the western Valentine's day. How coincidental. She told me that this phenomenon only happens once every 19 years and it happened on the day she was born. How romantic, I thought. However, she tells me she's not celebrating tonight with a date, nor is she going to celebrate the coming Valentine's day with anyone.

Then cousin told me that his friend has organised a clubbing session this coming Saturday, but it's only for the singles. I was somewhat offended initially, thinking that I was prejudicially excluded from the outing on purpose. And then he told me I was not invited because it's "Single Awareness Day" (SAD) and only then did I realise that next Saturday is Valentine's day. Clubbing on Valentine's day for the singles seems like a romantic occassion until cousin told me that the meaning of single in his context does not refer to marital status but being alone!

Such irony. For what seemed to be romantic stories or situation, is actually celebrated with the least romantic inclination.

Closer to home, Big B is going for Badminton tonight, totally oblivious to any romantic relations...

So I decided not to be alone.... I went to cousin's house for some Guitar Hero. And boy was it fun...

"And so what, I'm still a rockstar..." Ahhahaha.. pfffttttt....

Happy Valentine's Day (said in rocker style... yeah! Peace, man, peace! hahaha)

*Disclaimer: This article is not a flamer to those romantic couples nor do I disapprove of romance, love and affection (I am a hopeless romantic, actually). Just something to spread cheer and help lift the spirits of the broken-hearted or the faith-departed.

First time on stage

All the practice sessions in the karaoke did not prepare me for the embarassment which I brought upon myself last Saturday. I was literally forced to duet with a fellow colleague on stage to help foster better relationships within the team. Team building it seems. Somehow, I just get a feeling I was being conned - you know, like the famous cantonese saying, "being put on a table" (Umm, this has slightly different meaning from the English Idiom, "putting someone on a pedestal" (which has a good meaning). The Cantonese version refers to putting someone in a spot and subsequently forcing him to do something unwillingly where the task is totally non-beneficial to him whether or not it is performed). While it was a good experience, I cant forget how my hands shivered as I held the microphone on my right hand. I had to grasp it with both hands to stop it from being obvious. Now I know why people use both hands when they sing in a competition... ahahaha..

And it all started so badly that I fumbled on the first 2 lines. I was too playful and concentrated in trying to make my duet partner mess up his lines that I messed up my own lines. I was teasing him asking him to put in more feelings... and laughing to distract him but he was good... he didnt get distracted nor panicked. Yours truly, however, was so panicked that I forgot the whole tune ahahah.... The song was "When I fall in love", by Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole. ("Dont even think about trying Celine Dion's version", I warn myself!) Not a difficult song at all but if you do not know how to bring out the best of the song, it'll sound as boring as watching grass grow...

And to think that my cousin's band wanted to use me as their back up lead singer last time (I can't be the lead singer because I can't be commited to the band :P - well, you know, with big B and little b, I can't go for practises and gigs as often as I wanted....). I think they must have thanked their lucky stars for not being serious about their band... hahahah...

Oh well, it was a boring first time... A line that Macau Tycoon Stanley Ho's daugther Josie Ho said during the Forbes interview repeats in my head. Btw, Josie is 8th in Forbes Billionaire heiress list and is the only Chinese on the list. She said, "I stopped my singing career after singing very badly off key on stage..... but my friends encouraged me not to give up...."

So.... if you think you have rid of me and no longer have to fight me for the mic in Karaokes, you are dead wrong.... ahahahaha Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go practise my vocal chords..:) La la la la la la la....

Live from Station 1

Hey hey hey... never knew I could do this.... live blogging.... Yours truly and her clubbing gang are at Station 1... a cafe with live band (it's crappy-imagine a guy who had to do both the woman and a man's voice when singing... but hey it's live entertainment so we try not to complain too much) and alcohol (the live beverage) ...

Anyway, here's some pics ... pre-Deepavali celebration... whoo hoo....




Alright... excuse me for now... before the tower of carlsberg finishes .. haha and there's a lot to catch up to do on the hot gossips ... :)

Special note: the most juicy gossip for the night revolves around Kenson and the fishballs and Alex and his origami flowers muahahaha

Mooncake festival - Lanterns and mooncakes galore

My family is still practising the Chinese traditions... and I am quite proud of that because I believe, these traditions will fade with the new generations. All of my siblings have no idea how to carry on these traditions, thus... they are going to be lost forever ... and what's left would be these pictures and blogs to remind the next generation of how to celebrate these chinese traditions... :P Ours is a pretty simplified celebrations of the Mid-Autumn festival... but I am sure the kids enjoyed themselves with the pretty lights and the goodies.. :)

(from the pictures below, you can see gluttony runs in our family.. hahahah)

Happy Mooncake Festival

It's mooncake festival today... I haven't had the time to blog recently and there's a lot happening in my life right now... Mostly work related... so I have been busy, busy, busy (which translate to stressful, stressful stressful)

It was fun bringing little b and his cousin Miao to a community mooncake festival organised by the local political party. Despite all the news in the newspapers lately, it is great to see people of various races gather together to celebrate the mooncake festival in peace and harmony.

Night Out at Poppy

Ahhhh... It hurts so good... my body and legs are still aching now after 3 and a half hours (maybe 4 - time flies when you're having fun?) of non-stop amatuer dancing. My neck still suffers a slight muscle strain due to bad sleeping posture (so tired and drunk that I could hardly move) and hangover. But still it feels good. Now I understand why people like to go to the gym for a great workout. At least for people with clear and focused purpose of what they want to achieve at the gym. You'll never regret having done exercise, but you'll always regret not exercising. And my idea of a great workout is clubbing-dance to sweat it out, and some alcohol to get the heart going... (I am sure Alex agrees with me when it comes to alcohol .. :P)

I had a clear and focused target when I went to Poppy yesterday. I wanted to dance. It's been a long time since I could do that and I wasted no time. I started dancing even though the rest claimed that they weren't drunk enough to dance yet. And when I was drunk enough, I was already doing "pole dancing", much to the chagrin of my 2 cousins. They threatened to disown me until they found the fun and wonders of "podium dancing".

There were some Hong Kong guys who tried to be friendly, and I was soooo worried....Yeah, they have intentions on hitting on us, it was so obvious, but that was the least of my worries (as cousin brother was there to provide protection).... I was more worried that they would drink up our liquor hahahahah... One of the girls, who tried to be friendly towards them, ended up being lashed by Kenson during our tea session. She mentioned that she hated Hongkies (due to Edison Chen) but Kenson retorted, "But your behaviour just now doesn't seem to project that! You seemed as if you wanted to marry and emigrate to Hong Kong!" The poor girl was so embarassed but then again we were all drunk and should not be held liable for whatever we say. Furthermore, Simon was there to cushion all our sacarsm... *wink* *wink*...Anyhow, everything we said or do was done in good humour, not meant to ridicule or embarass anyone...

It was a fun night. However, it would have been more complete if Switzerland hadn't lost to Czech Republic and if Turkey didn't lose so much to Portugal. Must be all Simon's fault for betting on the same team that we did. ha ha...

*Euro 08 results:
Switzerland vs Czech Republic 0-1
Turkey vs Portugal 0-2

Happy Birthday Bryan

May 19, 2008
Last minute preparations... last minute invitations... but luckily the 2 chefs were very agile in cooking up a few signature dishes, Hakka Char Yuk, Hainan Chicken Rice, Curry Chicken, BBQ Chicken Wings, (hahah so many chicken dishes - last minute mar).... and my family was around to help me wash up later... All in all, it was a fun night for the children ... and I am very thankful to all the adults who came to make Bryan's birthday a memorable one... even though we gave out last minute invitations... Very "pei min"... a big Thank You to all of you...

Bryan's birthday again

Hmmm... I feel rather guilty that I have somewhat stopped writing about Bryan when it was he who gave me the first topic to write about. I started writing during my after-birth confinement period when I had basically nothing to do, and having a high metabolic mind makes it difficult for me to keep idle.

So this blog will be dedicated to this cheeky boy... and what appropriate timing, the 6th Anniversary since my first piece of writing.

I was trying to look for his birthday pictures and felt pretty bad that I have lost some of them. (Perhaps not lost, just not archived as prior to my digital camera, most pictures were film based and I don't have a scanner.) Yes, I have thousands and thousands of them but somehow, I didnt label and keep them, thus, I couldnt do a complete pictorial chronology of his birthday parties. Nevertheless, I'll just make do of what I have...

(*Note: This year's pictures have yet to be taken. Birthday is on Monday!)

Happy Birthday, Bryan.... May you grow up to be a happy, healthy, weathly, wise, respectable, and fine gentleman. :P

Baby love, hugs and kisses from me...

2002 - Birth











2003 - 1st Birthday party @ Nova Condo


2005 3rd Birthday Party @KFC


2006 - 4th Birthday Party @ our house

2007 - 5th Birthday Celebration @KFC

Whining about my wine tasting experience - "wine-ding" up in the toilet bowl

I cannot believe how the alcoholic… errrr… workaholic me managed to drag myself to work today after the wine tasting outing yesterday. Was seriously contemplating an MC (Medical Leave) or EL (Emergency Leave) as my whole body was aching and lethargic due to lack of sleep. My lack of sleep was not due to a late night. In fact, we wrapped up around 9:45pm and I was ready for bed by 11:30pm. Before you think it’s a typo, the time stated is correct – it was a half hour drive home and you must understand that we women take a long time to undo all the make up we’ve done in the morning… Ok, the secret is out… You no longer have to wonder why women hog the bathroom in the morning and also when they return home.

Anyway, my lack of sleep was due to a premature hangover. Was already suffering from a splitting headache while driving home. I don’t think it was the amount of wine that we drank (only tasted 8 out of 9 wines served) but the mixture and the pace that made my body react so positively to the alcoholic beverage. Actually MissTry2BTough here is allergic to alcohol but due to my curious nature, I relentlessly challenged my body until the system gave in and accepted alcohol without giving me a terrible rash. Occasionally, my body throws a tantrum and gives me a headache, body ache, stomach churn, diarrhea, nausea etc…And yesterday was major tantrum day and I suffered the symptoms all at the same time. Earlier, one of the drinking mates taught me a new trick. He said, “Do you know that hangover is caused by dehydration? I’ve never had a hangover if I drink 3 glasses of water before I sleep.” I tried the trick (but can only drink up to 1.5 glasses before being too full and had to lie down to rest). And what happened subsequently was not something this Miss Try2BTough had expected.

At around 4am, Miss Try2BTough drowsily but hastily, ran to the bathroom, bumping her legs on the chair and the bed side and woke Mr. B on the way, and started to vomit. Yeah, gross. And mother of all surprises, the puke was all clear. My body rejected all the water! And Mr. B, witnessing this, gave me a weird stare and questioned, “You can’t possibly be pregnant, can you?”

Hmm… so much for, “Are you ok, honey?” Also equally surprising, is that my headache subsided after the puke and I caught 40 winks, and I am able to come to work without a terrible hangover. Maybe his water trick did work after all. He probably just didn’t mention that you need to puke out all the water.

Oh, I can’t resist sharing another thing I learnt yesterday. It’s amazing how my every outing seems to widen my horizons and enhanced my knowledge. I mean, at this age, it’s amazing that I still have the capability or the capacity to learn ahaha…

I am no wine connoisseur, but here’s a tip to act like one when the occasion requires it. When tasting wine, the 3 basic things to look out for are the colour, the nose and the palate. The colour should be clear and aroma should be good to your liking and of course the taste should be appetizing to you. And you often see people swirling their wine glasses. Yeah, perhaps they do it to look cool but actually there’s a purpose to it. Swirling actually airs the wine and the air brings out the aroma in the wine to better tease your nose which in turn will enhance your wine experience. So, now we know… Did I say it like a pro?

(pictures courtesy of inmagine http://www.inmagine.com)

Chap Goh Meh!

Just came out of the bathroom.... after some deep bowel cleansing and a shower. I wonder if it was the burger or was it the Yee Sang at my mom's place.

Lately there's been so much good food entering my tummy... Ah Yatt Abalone, Marco Polo dimsum, Nikko Hotel Dimsum, Mei Keng Fatt Seafood, Overseas' Char Siew, Ipoh's Assam house, Setiawan's Ah Pek Seafood, homecook goodies, etc etc... Feels so satisfying... Hahaha, everyone knows that I am a little gluttony when it comes to food... I derive a lot of happiness when eating good food... Feels so gratifying as we spend our hard earned money "into" ourselves hahaha...

Have been a little dry on ideas lately due to too much entertaining, angpow exchanging, CNY card playing, and of course CNY gluttony... Thus I will keep this short and simple. Enjoy the pictures though... :P (Special note: will upload pics later coz I need to visit the bathroom again.. *bummer*)

Oh, oh... Incidentally today is the "Valentine's Day" in the lunar calendar... Happy Valentine's day to all the lovers out there... May you find abundance sweetness in your lover year after year ..... (doesn't it sound like some CNY greeting? ahaha.. it's totally intentional AHHAHAA)

CNY Ipoh trip

FEB 10 SAT: It’s Chinese New Year again… time for fun and merriment of sorts, food and drinks galore, gathering and gossiping, and not forgetting lanterns and fireworks in abundance….

This year, without much preparation, we took a trip to Ipoh and Setiawan, just to sample the food there after hearing so much from colleagues…Everything was ad-hoc, where to meet and time was decided last minute, less than 15 hours before the actual trip itself…. Nevertheless it was an exciting experience for us…. And especially for Bryan....It was a great way to get him to see the greeneries and animals in the sub-urbs instead of being glued to the computer all day… He wasn’t too keen to leave his video games at first until I told him that there’s be 3 friends with better computer games, waiting for him in Ipoh…

Bryan has no idea what Ipoh is but it’s some where far…. So he was excited. And when we reached Tesco Extra Ipoh, Bryan saw the word Ipoh next to the Tesco sign board. He immediately associated Ipoh with Tesco. So now he thinks Tesco is Ipoh and Ipoh is Tesco, and keep telling me that he wants to go to Ipoh, thinking it’s a Ipoh is a supermarket where he can buy his Spiderman and Final Battle Gameset toys. OMG Help!!!! How do I explain what’s “Ipoh” to him…???? HAHAHAHAHA

Anyway, we found the Ipoh guy, Kee and proceeded to have lunch at Assam House…. MC was a little disappointed that his "weird taste pork hands" was no longer served in that restaurant as the restaurant has turned Halal. Food was okay only compared to those in KL (only the Sambal Kerabu and the Curry Hawaiian Muscle was worth mentioning).

We proceed to Kees house to rest for a while and complete the Chinese New Year tradition of visiting… Sorry Kee, we’re so embarrassed that we brought only “bananas” as we weren’t prepared for visitations ahahhaah…… Kee and family were nice and welcomed us warmly… Bryan warmed up quickly to his 3 little friends too..

As time didn’t allow us to hang around in Ipoh for too long, we proceed embark on our next destination - Setiawan for dinner. Journey was long with lots of traffic lights… the only highlight was when I showed Bryan a bunch of water buffalos. He’s never seen black cows before, so he asked innocently, “Why are they black? Venom attacked them ah?” AHAHAHAH… I bursts out laughing at his silly yet logical association …. Hahahahah Spiderman became black after being attacked by venom so it’s only logical to think that the cows became black if they were attacked by Venom hahahaha…

Dinner time came and we found LP who kindly brought us to Kampung Koh to sample their seafood. We wanted to Lou Sang but the restaurant doesn’t serve it… *bummer*…. We had a whole table of seafood, Fish, Prawn and Crabs… with oysters, sotong too… quite a sumptious dinner.. but still room for improvement tastewise… Anyhow, it's the company that counts. We had a superb meal because everyone was in such high spirits and joked about anything

Bryan keep asking me to bring him to the beach and thus we adjourned to Lumut beach for some final sightseeing. If you’re expecting sand and beach, then you’re in for some disappointment. (*Special Note: Yesterday I asked Bryan whether he wants to go to the Lumut beach again; the place where he can play with those dolphins statues and run around in the park beside the port. He replied bluntly, “But Mom, I don’t like to play with statues, I want some REAL DOLPHINS.” HAHAHAHAHAHA … and I thought I could trick him into some cheap alternatives ahahah..)

The day ended there for me as a very tired Bryan unwind to sleep in the car after some milo. But I heard Kee, MC and LV were still on the move. They went back to Ipoh hoping to get some more goodies such as “Salted Chicken”, “Ipoh Hor Fun”, “Ipoh White Coffee”, “Ipoh Taugeh Chicken Rice” ..etc…. However, to their disappointment, Ipoh was infested with tourist on that day and everything was sold out!!! They looked everywhere for food until around 1 am and had to settle for some imitation Ho Fun… CMC says the imitation white coffee was still good… Hmmm not sure if he was just saying that to lessen Kee’s guilt on his inability to bring his fellow friends to sample all the infamous food…. Ahhahaha… We can see Kee tries pretty hard to please everyone and was hoping his fellow buddies could stay the night to accompany him longer…. (Kee must have been pretty bored in Ipoh to be so desperate for MC and LV's companionship....)

Time flies when we’re having fun… it was indeed a very fun trip despite us spending most of the quality time in the car. We had joy, we had fun…. And we just cant wait till the next makan trip… :P

Thank you Kee and LP for such a wonderful time. And thank you LV and CMC for such a silly funny good time....