Saturday, December 31, 2005

Lazy blogger Di is

I'm just so lazy to update these days. Gone are the days when the comp faces me, online 24 hours a day. (well, not exactly gone since those days will be back sometime in Feb when I get back to Melb ehhe)

Being at home means taking extra effort to switch on the desktop, switching it off when there's a hint of a thunderstorm (hse wiring is extra-sensitive to lightning strikes) and switching it off again at night (dad doesn't like the idea of it running all night). so mah-fan. Put it simply, this blogger's just lazy.

Returned from Johor and S'pore day before yesterday. Muar was alright, managed to sample the Mee Bandung, asam pedas (which would prob be better from the Malay rest. rather than the Chinese one i suppose), satay for breakfast plus a glance at Tanjung Emas (the local park). Looks like Muar town had a surprise visitor to its river. We saw a crocodile (aka BUAYA) right next to the jetty for the river cruise. It was going against the current and my, it seemed LARGE.

S'pore, best be left undiscussed till a later point. My verdict from this trip:
~ didn't see much
~ didn't buy anything
~ didn't take photos (disappointingly so) -- no night shots, no panaromic shots, no nothing. and thats despite lugging around the other camera.

~ travelling with family's definitely very different from those with mates

Anyways, to round up the week.. yesterday night popped by Friendster cafe at Damansara Perdana (a place recommended by Chris, good service nice ambience etc) for a bout of yamcha. These days I rarely drive out at night but yesterday was an exception. On the way back, nearing midnight got stuck with a badly gashed tyre (& punctured of course). Had to stop by in Taman Tun to sort it out. (My father came to sort it out for me le). Ol' friend was still with me hence it was alright. Initially we even thought someone slashed the tyre, seeing how badly gashed it was..but turned out to be a nail causing all the trouble.

Conclusion from yesterday night:
~ yamcha 'n meetin up = fun
~ flat tyre at night = not-so-fun

*this song "疯了" is playing in my head. Quite apt (for the thoughts in my head).

Realized this'll be the final post for 2005. So here goes:
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wishing everyone a great year ahead!

My wishes for the new year? I want at least as good a year as 2005. We always demand more, don't we? On a personal side, I wished people would keep in contact more, call or talk face-to-face instead of sms-ing. As I've made known to most of my mates, I'm not a huge supporter of the current trend of "over-reliance/over-dependency" on this little gadget we call a mobile phone. Imho its taken over too much of our lives. So there. Have a good year guys!

Monday, December 26, 2005

Trip

First things first, Di wishes everyone a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

we had a "small" Christmas gathering on Christmas eve, where the parents invited their friends plus the 20plus carollers from church. Rained as usual (it rains on Christmas eve every year!) hence the caterers were forced to place the foodstuff inside, which together with the slightly larger than expected crowd meant a rather..hot atmosphere.
Not many photos cos I was busy serving drinks (no maid la). Anyways I'm still so lazy to upload the photos. Prob get it sorted out when I'm back.

Am going off tomorrow for a trip. One night in Muar (I do believe we're stopping there tempted mainly by their otak-otak), then prob 2 nights in Singapore. Don't have much idea of what to do in Singapore actually. It feels rushed, and most of the attractions are more suited to Caucasian tourists (ie Little India, Chinatown etc). Not very interested in some other notable ones such as Underwater World, S'pore Zoo etc.. cos I've been doing all that in Aus this year (Seaworld, Melb Zoo, Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary, penguins, polar bears, sharks etc) sudah bosan..there's only so much "wildlife in captivity" I can take.

Hope to slot some photography in (darn forgot to borrow likai's tripod!! I left mine at home in Melb...), am bringing some rolls of film but I don't like to be rushed when taking pics so.. we'll see.

Now checking out what Muar's got to offer. Been there abt 2 years ago and all I remembered was the river, my hotel, the bus station and otak-otak everywhere. Tomorrow shall go find:
  • Mee bandung Muar
  • Parit Jawa fishing village
  • Satay for breakfast on Tuesday
Someone's mentioned a place called "Tanjung" in Muar. Googling it shows me its a family park beside the river with some facilities/food. hmm.. prob drop by in the evening.

The next 2 months are gonna be interesting. More people are back, and SiowPing's coming back! Not once, but twice in January!! She'll only be back a few days, but I'm really looking forward to it -- yamcha, Teapot Cafe, pasar malam, Murni??

Itinerary for the next 2 months:
~ Jan 6th-9th Di's going Sibu, Sarawak (and maybe Sarikei/Bintulu)
~ Jan 13th-14th Port Dickson with buddies
~ Feb 16th-20th Kota Kinabalu with buddies (visit SiowPing), hoping to visit the islands and maybe Danum Valley??
~ Feb twenty-something returning to Melbourne (I almost think of it as returning home)

aah Melbourne.. looking forward to a slightly less busy semester. Unfortunately its going to be awfully quiet..

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

New kid on the block

Whoaa this I've got to see when I get back..

"New Squid on the (ice) block" (newslink from TheAge in Melb)

After all, how often do we get to see 7-metre giant squids up close?? The eye does look scary though..

I had to double check just now -- today's Dec 21st! (already!) Not being in the workforce means I don't really keep track of dates, hadn't realised its so soon.. Christmas this weekend, next week heading down south to Johor (again) and S'pore for a coupla days. After thats Sarawak and when I get back, a few of my mates'll be back from Melb. Ain't the hols great?!

Friday, December 16, 2005

Hols update - 15 Dec

Not been blogging much recently..erm due to a lack of interesting things to blog abt. One can only blog so much about mundane things..

I've a coupla spare minutes lying around now -- waiting for Chris to get off work (?) - he's running late. Planning to go for drinks with them instead of mamaking tonight. I'm almost (read- almost, not "have") had my fair share of mamak and HK-style cafes in recent weeks. They seem to have sprouted everywhere, esp where I live. But I shan't whine about having more choice. After all, more competition means consumers benefit. Darn, I'm thinking like an economist..

Traffic these few days in the Klang Valley is horrendous as ever. Went to Mid Valley yesterday, all the parking entrances were closed off as "full" and I ended up at zone H (kinda obscure-la). Queues for movie tickets stretched all the way to McD's (and this happening on a weekday!). Thanks M.Yee for getting the tickets, you're a dear :) I suppose its due to the school hols. Hopefully the crowds'll recede next month when the kids return to school. Or will it get worse due to the upcoming holiday season (aka CNY) next month?! Took me a fair bit of time just to get out of parking when I finished late with Narnia. Rushed to join the other crowd madness at Sunway Pyramid cos was meeting up with Jean. Stepped into Coffee Bean for probably the first time this year. Always had such a bad impression of their lattes but surprisingly yesterday's was decent enough..

Tomorrow might be heading to Melaka (subject to change). Can't think of much to see there, 'cept the touristy attractions (yeah the red colour what's-it-called building) and going for some food (the usual - chicken rice balls/sate celup etc). Much prefer to head to Penang. But in most likelihood the trip'll not materialise. Doesn't matter, I've just been there 2 weeks ago. Oops that reminds me, haven't posted the photos from Melaka/Johor yet. This blogger's lazy to select/resize/upload..

Grrr Chris's late.. He'd better not ffk (cancel last-minute).

Friday, December 09, 2005

Goin' travelling

This lazy blogger does not update often now, since there isn't much to say. Now I can't go lookin' for a full-time temp job.. i'm finally doing some travelling :)

Jan -
~Sarawak (confirmed). Actually I wanted to go Kuching too, but don't think there's enough time.. Prob will go Kapit/Mukah/Sarikei on the side to get some village/river shots.
~a short buddies' trip to Port Dickson (BBQ?). Time constraints means we have only a few days "free" for travel. one night only..sigh. But better than nothing.
~Thinking of dropping by in Singapore cos Michael n Shaz are gonna be in town. MunYee - interested??

Feb - KK here we come!! For years I've been saying want to visit SiowPing in KK. Finally we take some action. AirAsia's current promotion meant we went through quite alotof hassle getting tickets. But yeah, 6 of us are confirmed going for 5D/4N. Round trip costs RM80 (flight). Cheap cheap cheap. But my first time taking AirAsia. Don't really fancy small aircrafts..

Now whats there to do in KK? Don't think we'll go climb Mt Kinabalu (I'm still scared of heights), prob drive up to mid? Tenom? Kundasang? Danum Valley? For sure we'll be visiting some islands and makan-ing seafood (I can already imagine likai salivating at the thought of his crabs hahha). Itinerary is pretty flexible since S.Ping's there and can do the bookings for us =)

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Back from the weekend trip to Johor. Will blog about it when I sort out the pics. In short - it was satisfying.

Although this's one of the shortest trips I've ever been on, 2 days 1 night is better than none.. have got a few decent photos (finally had opportunity to go around 'n be shutterbug).. Not very productive these 2 days, have only been helping my mother with some chores and played driver-of-the-day up till afternoon. In a short few hours, went from PJ to Shah Alam to Klang to Section 14 to home and then to Sentosa for lunch. Whew..

Heard about AirAsia's ticket giveaway (yeah they're giving away free tickets again!) but unfortunately I had the "luck" to be out without internet access. Won't even bother checking it now since pretty sure its all taken.. so looks like no travel for the hols.. unless its Penang next month?? Aihh lazy to think..

Meet-up list for the 'moment:
~Carrie
~Christine
~Li Sung
~Jessie
~MYee

Tonight -- yamchaaaaa. Yes, diana's back.

Friday, December 02, 2005

Back / food / I need a job

gosh time passes really quickly. Its been half a month of doing-nothing (since I got back). Actually I've spent the better part of these 2 weeks being sick. Not the common cold, mind you. Caught the flu bug and no thanks to Msian weather, its lasted for 2 weeks.

Had no particular cravings when I got back, since everything tasted bland due to my flu. But these week went out and indulged abit - hence satay, nasi lemak, curry noodles, hokkien mee, taufu bakar, SS2 mamak's indomie goreng etc etc. Something struck me -- everything's sooo oily. Min'd have a fit if she saw all the oil (Koreans are sticklers for less/no oil please). No stomachaches or anything of that sort for me -- living in PJ all your life kinda makes you immune to (less-hygienic) hawker food le..

Hmm whats new? For one, I've just gotten Streamyx this week. Very late I know. Its funny how my father doesn't insist on getting broadband until he himself starts using the Internet this year and finds dial-up appalingly slow. So now - yupp I got it almost instantly after applying. Yesterday tried out connection for the 1st time and it was awfully slow. Bandwidth tests showed the speed at <50kilobits>

What else's new? My room's the same, weather's the same. Only the people are different. Many friends have started work, others are having their break. Quite a number not back from Aus/US/elsewhere. Desperately want to go somewhere, so tomorrow I'm heading to Johor with Sam and LiKai. Going there to look for Kimberly, and maybe heading to the coast. Which coast? Hehhe we don't know.

Going by our usual of "no-plans-style" of travel, we're off to JB first, then perhaps go rayau to someplace named "Kukup/Kongkong???" All I know is its a fishing village, visitors get a chance to stay overnight on floating platforms/huts. Father mentioned one gets to stay on "palong". I've heard its near Pontian. Will google for its proper name later, post photos when I'm back..

Am going to look for a temporary/full-time job. Of what nature? I haven't decided. But I'm pretty flexible when it comes to jobs. Stuff I've done - receptionist / admin / teaching / cashier / food promoter / telemarketing / data entry / retail etc etc. Maybe try F&B? Or accounting-related. Anyways, I'm available to work 7 days a week up till at least the end of January. I can work through Chinese New Year too (since we don't really celebrate that). The only issue is - I need Christmas Day off. But employers' hv been quite flexible when it comes to this.. so if u hear of anything available, leave a message!

Oops, off I am to google "Kukup/Kongkong/???"