It's now less than a week to Chinese New Year, yet there are still no cakes to serve. Hopefully there's enough time to get some before people come to the house and visit but don't have any cakes to eat!
It's all so last minute that I'm starting to go bonkers over all the silly preparations needed before the big day.
Now that the garden landscaping is almost done, all that's left to deal with are the garden lights, new sofa set, new dining set, and heaps of rearranging to do. Oh, and find time to get our family portrait taken. And also get my hair done AGAIN.
I'm beginning to dislike curls, part of the reason is because of the increasing number of girls here having their hair permed curly too, and it has become one of those annoying trends I hate to be part of. Remember about 5 years ago when straight-permed hair was so popular almost everyone went to the salon to get it done silky straight? Or when everyone went ga-ga over those one-size-too-small cardigans? Ew.
So that's my decision (for now unless the barber disagrees): shoulder length STRAIGHT hair with a bit of fringe. I'll post up pictures once I get it done (and if it turns out pwetty). =)
CNY shopping
Since it's only a week to Chinese New Year now, my parents and I made a trip to town. Jalan Padungan to be more specific. The road heading out from town through Jalan Padungan was blocked, allowing vendors to sell some Chinese New Year goods.
It's pretty impressive. There were 20 or 30 stalls lined up along Jalan Padungan, selling goods ranging from Chinese New Year cookies to Valentine gifts.
To be successful in a business like this, free samples are a must! Forget about public relations, all the Kuching folks coming out here just want tasty and cheap bak gua and shark fin for those reunion dinners.
There was even a mini concert featuring children as dancers. Something worth mentioning is that all of the dancers are Chinese dressed up as people from other races. For example, the kids were dressed up in Indian costumes (as above), and two youngsters wore Malay clothing in a drama. Incorporating other cultures into the festive season; it sure attracted many by-passers and overseas visitors.
Walking pass a stall, I noticed these incredibly cute (feel free to insert other adjectives here) Chinese Year New cakes (nian gao). The tauke was even kind enough to let me take some pictures. Hehe. I just love how their noses just sit on top of the gold. =)
sucky bank alert
I made a visit to Bank Simpanan Nasional (Tabuan Jaya branch) this afternoon to withdraw the RM500 given by the government for my SPM results.
As usual, it was packed to the fullest. There were only 3 tellers on duty at that time, and ALL three of them appeared to be happily chatting away to each other, ignoring the growing number of people waiting in line. Also, there was no proper numbering system used to call out the next person in line. So one of the tellers on duty had to call out the numbers indicating who was next. -____-
After 15 minutes of waiting, the small room felt too stuffy for me. Mum and I went around shopping, came back and waited for another half and hour again before our number was called. Thinking back about it, I was pretty patient to have waited that long and did not even complain about the extremely poor customer service.
And while I was waiting for my turn, I saw a little girl peeing on the floor, and the odd thing was, nobody else seemed to blink twice about that. Someone who seemed like her sister just grabbed the little girl's pants and used it to wipe the floor, with the little girl running around without any clothes on waist down. Erm, it's a bank for goodness sake. Put some diapers on!
One thing for sure, I'm never ever stepping into that bank again. Poor layout, poor customer service, totally outdated system... It's so not worth the wait!
As usual, it was packed to the fullest. There were only 3 tellers on duty at that time, and ALL three of them appeared to be happily chatting away to each other, ignoring the growing number of people waiting in line. Also, there was no proper numbering system used to call out the next person in line. So one of the tellers on duty had to call out the numbers indicating who was next. -____-
After 15 minutes of waiting, the small room felt too stuffy for me. Mum and I went around shopping, came back and waited for another half and hour again before our number was called. Thinking back about it, I was pretty patient to have waited that long and did not even complain about the extremely poor customer service.
And while I was waiting for my turn, I saw a little girl peeing on the floor, and the odd thing was, nobody else seemed to blink twice about that. Someone who seemed like her sister just grabbed the little girl's pants and used it to wipe the floor, with the little girl running around without any clothes on waist down. Erm, it's a bank for goodness sake. Put some diapers on!
One thing for sure, I'm never ever stepping into that bank again. Poor layout, poor customer service, totally outdated system... It's so not worth the wait!
The unsent letter
My friend,
Knowing you for over 10 years already made me take for granted the fact that I KNOW you well enough to depend on you. Well, apparently I was mistaken.
I know we all have our own things to do now, with you busy working and running various errands. But can't you fit an old friend into that busy schedule of yours? The hot weather and traffic is no excuse, since I sacrificed my time in overseas to be back here with all of you. If you know me well enough, you would also know that I HATE people being late, and I HATE being late myself. So that's why when it's 12 o'clock sharp, it is 12 o'clock SHARP. If you know there's going to be traffic, get out of the house early.
You told me we would meet at 2pm today. Fine, I said. Then you said plans changed, and the time to meet is now 3.30pm. Fine, I said, I'll be there. Time passed and it is 4.30pm, and you arrived with not only an insincere apology, but also spent the whole time chatting to someone else and complaining about not being able to have your picture taken with us. My dear friend, my whole point of asking you to join us was to take some frigging pictures, so if you're not keen on that, why even bother to show up?!
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I felt annoyed. I forgave, but as the saying goes, I never forgotten. This has become a bad habit of yours that I'm not sure I can ever live with. Every moment spent with you makes me feel like I owe you the time you're spending to be with all of us.
No, I'm not mad at you. I'm just surprised at how much things has changed since I last left town. Or maybe, I was also like that once, totally ignoring the feelings of others and only focusing on mine? Whatever that has caused this, things have definitely changed. And I won't make any effort to change it since you seem pretty comfortable at that position, and frankly speaking, I feel that I don't feel as comfortable as before being back here like I used to.
Little by little, I feel more belonged at Dunedin. I tend to compare more things and be unhappy about more things here. Heck, even my body is responding to the drastic change and asking me to hurry back to whether I should be right now.
Maybe I've been expecting too much. I expect to be able to laugh along at your jokes, or join in at the latest gossips, and listen to you complain about your new hairdo... but I find myself just sitting there, faking a smile/laugh once in a while, wondering to myself why would I even bother being there anymore. What I had thought was cool and used to do has suddenly became boring and lame.
Oh well. And why would I even bother typing this since you don't even know that this blog exists? Even if you ever come across this, please don't take it the wrong way. You've been my friend for the longest time, and I treasure what we have, and will do my best to keep this tie strong. Just please put in more effort in making this friendship worthwhile and memorable, would you?
You're brilliant at what you do, even though you might not realise that at times. Confidence do come in handy sometimes. I believe that you can do great things. And though I won't be around here often and since we barely keep in touch online either, I wish you a wonderful journey along that road called life, and that you'll remember the times we had in the teenage years of our lives.
Till then, my friend.
Knowing you for over 10 years already made me take for granted the fact that I KNOW you well enough to depend on you. Well, apparently I was mistaken.
I know we all have our own things to do now, with you busy working and running various errands. But can't you fit an old friend into that busy schedule of yours? The hot weather and traffic is no excuse, since I sacrificed my time in overseas to be back here with all of you. If you know me well enough, you would also know that I HATE people being late, and I HATE being late myself. So that's why when it's 12 o'clock sharp, it is 12 o'clock SHARP. If you know there's going to be traffic, get out of the house early.
You told me we would meet at 2pm today. Fine, I said. Then you said plans changed, and the time to meet is now 3.30pm. Fine, I said, I'll be there. Time passed and it is 4.30pm, and you arrived with not only an insincere apology, but also spent the whole time chatting to someone else and complaining about not being able to have your picture taken with us. My dear friend, my whole point of asking you to join us was to take some frigging pictures, so if you're not keen on that, why even bother to show up?!
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I felt annoyed. I forgave, but as the saying goes, I never forgotten. This has become a bad habit of yours that I'm not sure I can ever live with. Every moment spent with you makes me feel like I owe you the time you're spending to be with all of us.
No, I'm not mad at you. I'm just surprised at how much things has changed since I last left town. Or maybe, I was also like that once, totally ignoring the feelings of others and only focusing on mine? Whatever that has caused this, things have definitely changed. And I won't make any effort to change it since you seem pretty comfortable at that position, and frankly speaking, I feel that I don't feel as comfortable as before being back here like I used to.
Little by little, I feel more belonged at Dunedin. I tend to compare more things and be unhappy about more things here. Heck, even my body is responding to the drastic change and asking me to hurry back to whether I should be right now.
Maybe I've been expecting too much. I expect to be able to laugh along at your jokes, or join in at the latest gossips, and listen to you complain about your new hairdo... but I find myself just sitting there, faking a smile/laugh once in a while, wondering to myself why would I even bother being there anymore. What I had thought was cool and used to do has suddenly became boring and lame.
Oh well. And why would I even bother typing this since you don't even know that this blog exists? Even if you ever come across this, please don't take it the wrong way. You've been my friend for the longest time, and I treasure what we have, and will do my best to keep this tie strong. Just please put in more effort in making this friendship worthwhile and memorable, would you?
You're brilliant at what you do, even though you might not realise that at times. Confidence do come in handy sometimes. I believe that you can do great things. And though I won't be around here often and since we barely keep in touch online either, I wish you a wonderful journey along that road called life, and that you'll remember the times we had in the teenage years of our lives.
Till then, my friend.
Yummilicious
Food, oh glorious food.
One of the reasons that made me come back to Kuching to endure the drastic weather change (and suffer the bitter consequence- feeling lethargic almost every day). Yeap, good 'old Kuching food. Those you find in dirty kopitiams that I sometimes wonder how they achieved the "A" standard. Those that are placed in the not-so-strategic places and are only known by locals. Those that cost amazingly cheap yet taste absolutely delicious.
Roti canai; something not found in Dunedin YET. WHY oh why?! The yummy one is found at JnJ cafeteria, just a 2 minutes walk from my mum's shop. Forget about the normal canai telur or just canai kosong, they even serve roti canai with cheese and chicken curry!
Canai with cheese.
Chicken curry served separately.
Tried out this almost new bak kut teh shop at 3rd mile just recently. I never knew bak kut teh could taste THAT good! A standard meal for 1 person would cost you RM6.00, that includes your choice of 4 meats, beancurd, tofu, cabbage, and eu char kueh. A bit pricier from the normal ones out there, but it's well worth it.
1st time I've ever heard of DRY bak kut teh.
Served ala claypot style, of course.
Who cares if it's "eu" (oily)?!
Last but not least, the grandfather of Teh-C peng, Teh Tarik. Personally, I think Teh-C peng is taking too much credit and being far popular than it should be. From the normal Teh-C peng to 5 layered ones, it just differs on the amount of condensed milk (and colour) added. The real limelight should be given to Teh Tarik and its bubbles! Long live the bubbles!!! :P
One of the reasons that made me come back to Kuching to endure the drastic weather change (and suffer the bitter consequence- feeling lethargic almost every day). Yeap, good 'old Kuching food. Those you find in dirty kopitiams that I sometimes wonder how they achieved the "A" standard. Those that are placed in the not-so-strategic places and are only known by locals. Those that cost amazingly cheap yet taste absolutely delicious.
Roti canai; something not found in Dunedin YET. WHY oh why?! The yummy one is found at JnJ cafeteria, just a 2 minutes walk from my mum's shop. Forget about the normal canai telur or just canai kosong, they even serve roti canai with cheese and chicken curry!
Canai with cheese.
Chicken curry served separately.
1st time I've ever heard of DRY bak kut teh.
Served ala claypot style, of course.
Who cares if it's "eu" (oily)?!
Last but not least, the grandfather of Teh-C peng, Teh Tarik. Personally, I think Teh-C peng is taking too much credit and being far popular than it should be. From the normal Teh-C peng to 5 layered ones, it just differs on the amount of condensed milk (and colour) added. The real limelight should be given to Teh Tarik and its bubbles! Long live the bubbles!!! :P
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
