Its my party and I cry if I want to...

Wow.. I just realised that my last update was wayyyyyyyyy back in August, when we had that photoshoot!  So what has happened since then?  Well, I turned a year older recently so here are the things that I can tuck under my belt as in 'been there.. done that'..

1. We got published in the October edition of Prestige.. it was aptly titled "The Dar-Lings of Kuching".. isn't that so cute?  There was a gorgeous picture of the four of us in white, that we requested from the publisher to give it to us so we can print it and frame it.  What I loved about the article was reading what your siblings say about each other.. like things I never knew they thought about.. it was really sweet and touching.

 

1. Being published in October also meant that it was my birthday month and what better way to celebrate a birthday than by being on a magazine? It was an awesome feeling and it was even more awesome celebrating our birthday together with OktoberFest!  That's right, we combined our birthday and threw an OktoberFest celebration! 
   
   We organized for 1 liter bottles of Paulaner beers (which came with a 1 liter cup) to be served at our party.. in total we had about 40 liters of beer and 40 mugs.. enough for the 50 or more guests that we were expecting.  And we served up PORK!  Yes.. Germans are famous for their pork.. so why not incorporate that into our party?  There was suckling pig, pork salami, pork ribs.. we were going to do pork sausages as well, but thought there might be a pork overload, so decided against it.
   
   In the end.. 2 liters of beer was what did it for me.  Totally KO-ed on the floor.. before being unceremoniously kicked awake by PrincessBling and tossed through the front door of the house and having the door slammed behind you.  Ahh.. but what a great night.  Everyone had fun, and the main thing was that most people lost memory .. a sign of a great party!
   
2. I attended an awesome seminar in Singapore where it thought me the difference between being a manager and a leader, and I find out that I'm neither at the moment.  That's why I'm now taking steps to become a better manager, and hopefully a leader one day.  I've now decided that I don't want to go to Harvard University.. instead, I want to go back to Christchurch University of Canterbury to take their 2 year MBA course there.
   
   I would love to go back to Christchurch, to hang out with my friends again and revisit the old haunts.  I looked up the MBA course and it's exactly the courses that I want to take.  Changing others and Leading Change.. I feel that with this MBA course, it will give me the knowledge and strength to run the company the way I feel that it should be run, and not to be a pushover and have people take advantage of me.
   
3. Had the time of my life in Singapore during the seminar.  I stayed at Shangri-La Hotel at Orange Grove and the hotel.. let me say.. was excellent in service.  I upgraded my room and got free reign of their happy hour deal.. free cocktails and food from 5pm - 7pm daily and free breakfast as well!  It was awesome.. and food was delicious!  In fact, the lunch for the seminar was in the hotel's buffet restaurant.. and omg.. I've never seen such a succulent buffet before in my life.  Food was simply delicious!  It was money well spent!  I must say I made full use of the extra money spent..

I can't say very much has happened.. which is why I haven't blogged in awhile.  Life remains the same for now.. which sometimes is disappointing as I want more.. sometimes I just want to feel the adrenaline again .. the rush of being in a big city.. but at the same time.. I have my friends and family here.. what more could I ask for?  Independence?

On the plus side, the land purchase is finally done.. I'm the proud owner of a landed property.  I've got big ideas for it.. which firstly includes demolishing that monstrosity of a house!  But I'm in no rush to get a house.. so I'll let PrincessBling and husband do theirs first, before coming up with a design that will compliment their house (our lands are by each other).  But if I want my independence, there's nothing stopping me from building a one storey loft for myself at the moment :)

Well, I hope that I'll have more interesting news to post on my blog in the near future.. there's plenty of things coming up: Standard Chartered 10km run, Langkawi New Years Eve, Christmas Day.. I can't wait for it all...

In the meantime though.. Happy Halloween!!!!!

 

Glamour Photo Shoot!

A few months ago, we were asked by Prestige Magazine if they could do a feature on us four sisters.. why.. hell yeah.. of course we would do it!  The deal just got better when they said that we would be draped in Bulgaria jewellery!  But what on earth are they going to feature us about?  No idea.. but anyhow, we booked our tickets to KL and arrived one day early just to we can get prepared, do some shopping..and get a good night's sleep to avoid those eye bags! hahaha

Anyway, we got there on Wednesday.. firstly, they cancelled our 7.45am flight and pushed us onto the 7.15am flight.. super tired when we arrived in KL.. hopped on the cab which took us to J.W Marriott where we would spend our night.  Since our room was not ready (and who'd expect it to be at 10am?) we went to Pavillion and had breakfast at The Loaf.. square eggs on toast anyone?  Then we walked about Pavillion.. went to have a hair wash and manicure (I straightened my hair and got french tips done) .. buying beige panties because I forgot that we would be dressed in white.. when we stopped at Shanghai Tang.. and realized that the store was closing down.. SALES GALORE!  I got a cashmere jacket for a mere RM600!  Then it came time for dinner.. we went to a Japanese restaurant, which was kinda of a let down.. it looked so fancy and the food was just mediocre.. after dinner, we walked around some more.. and headed back to the hotel room at 10pm when all the shops were closing for the day.  Was so tired I crashed after taking a shower.

Next day, we had buffet breakfast.. careful not to eat so much as to not show a stomach bulge in the photos..and went to The Ritz Carlton Residences PENTHOUSE where the photo shoot was being held.  We met up with Brian who's the editor.. and found out that we're his first cover piece since he only joined Prestige a month ago!  How exciting is that?  Things got started straight away..

Step 1 - The Interview

PrincessBling and I were interviewed together while my other sisters were whisked off to hair and makeup.  That was a fun interview.. it was interesting because while I could just blab on for ages, I had to be careful of what I say because this is going into the magazine.. where thousands of people were going to read it!  I can't simply say anything .. worried that I might offend people, might spill a secret.. etc.. I think I was interviewed for half an hour before it was PrincessBling's turn.

Step 2 - Hair and Makeup

Was whisked off to hair and makeup myself after my interview.. The makeup lady was called Joey and she's really good.. she asked me what I usually wore, and I said I always wear dark.. so we went smokey with super long lashes.. kinda mimicking cat's eyes.  We went brown/gray tones and I absolutely LOVE it.. we went dramatic on the eyes and natural on the lips.  

Hair was being straightened and crimped at the roots to give volume.. I just never realized how much I missed having straight hair!  I think I shall keep it straight from now on.. when I'm at the salon washing my hair!  It still has some of the perm in it.. so when I wash it myself, it tends to go wavy and frizzy.

Step 3 - Clothes

I was given a Bottega Venetta dress to adorn.. it was brown in color and looked really funky.. unfortunately, I likened myself to looking like a tree trunk in it.  It's so heavy that it didn't do much for my figure.  PrincessBling was given a black lambskin DVF dress to wear that looked so good on her.  It was like the perfect fit for her.. damn her and her good body.

Step 4 - Duo photo taking

PrincessBling and I were to take a photo together to showcase on the magazine article.  We took a few shots before deciding that PrincessBling would step infront of me and I would be at the back, giving depth to the picture.  It was fun taking all the different shots, but really soul crushing when they can't find a good enough picture that you keep having to take more and more shots! hahaha

Step 5 - Individual shots

PrincessBling took her individual shot first, a shot showing her back and her face through a mirror.  It was really nice.. I waited in anticipation to see what my shot was.. and guess what?  It's at the corridor balcony.. overlooking the living room where there was this HUGE chandelier hanging there.  Here's a sneak peak of what the shot looks like :)

That's a shot of .. looking away from the camera.  My photo shoot didn't take too long because most of it came out looking really good! :)  Pretty pleased with my picture actually.. and I was draped in a gorgeous looking Bulgaria dangling earrings.  That's why my hair was swept to one side.. to showcase the earrings .. hahaha

Step 6 - Group Shots

We all changed into white outfits for our final group shot.. it's going to be in the middle of the magazine book, so we're seated on the couch smiling at the camera.  Pretty neat.. and the last photo is an 'undercover' shot.. which is basically a behind-the-scenes shot.. so they took a picture of us taking selfies!!

Don't we look gorgeous all of us? :)  It was funny how some people had trouble differentiating PrincessBling and I in that picture.

So that was basically our day at the photo shoot!  10.30am to 4.30pm.. what a long.. but exciting day.  It was definitely a great adventure and I can't wait to see my name in print.  One question posed to me was "What was your ambition when you were young?" and mine was "to be famous".. haha.. cheesy.. but hey.. my name is appearing in a magazine!!!  

I could get used to this....

AMSTERDAM 2013

After London, we took a flight to Amsterdam for 2 nights.  It was fairly easy navigating through the airport.. given that we were taking British Airways (I think) it was part of the One World group so I was given access to their lounge.. we spent a total of 5 minutes in the lounge before leaving because the lounge TOTALLY SUCKED!!!  No free alcohol or food.. just drinks.. we were better off shopping around in the airport.. til we realized how far the walk to the airplane was.. we were rushing!

Amsterdam is a nice place.. we've been there before with besties and had the best kebab there.  Or maybe we had the munchies cos we were high :P

 

  
That's me and my sister walking away from the sign.. but it seems to be the tagline in Amsterdam these days.. I AMsterdam.. we caught a cab to the hotel (I was staying at Marriott for the first night and moving in with my sister at another hotel for the second night).. 

Once we've settled into the hotel, we walked to meet up with the rest of the gang and ended up in a sports bar where they're serving 'all you can eat ribs!!'  OMG.. hell yeah! hahaha.. we ate til we could eat no more.. I'm not sure what you can do in Amsterdam.. but shopping was definitely not one of it.  Although we did find a Karl Lagerfield shop in the midst of all the ancient shopping.. 

Red light district was a sure disappointment.. firstly.. they don't open til late, secondly.. the ladies were all fat and old!  (We did see one guy going in and getting lucky :P ).. th enext day, we decided to take a tour of Amsterdam on a coach bus.. the one thing I remembered going to on our first trip, and now again.. was this..

Looks familiar? Yes!  It's a windmill and it looked exactly the same as it had in 2009.  I was stoked to remember looking at it.. hahaha.. I even suddenly remembered that that was where the bus broke down in 2009!

That night, we rented out the hotel's boat and went for a canal cruise.  It was awesome weather and it came with alcohol!

What trip wouldn't be completed without a shot with the captain's hat.. hahaha and at the stern of the boat?  Anyway, we took a 2 hour trip down the canal where we saw beautiful buildings (even the Prime Minister's residence!)

Isn't that just such a beautiful sight.. the canal with the olden day buildings.. enjoying the sights with a nice cup of white wine.. absolutely breath-taking.

We had dinner at a 2 STAR Michelin restaurant that was just a stone's throw from our hotel.. and boy was it a gastronomic affair... it was a course of 7 dishes, all prepared by the chef (ie there's no menu to choose from) and each one was more delicious than the previous one.

That was a seafood platter with cream of asparagus soup in the shot glass.. Princessbling LOVES the raw salmon paired with meringue.. she didn't know such a combination would go so well together.  I didn't eat raw food so I got a replacement dish instead.. 

Ham and Salami cold cuts started our meal.. it was beautiful.. not to salty and great textures!

Main course was a delicious tenderloin that was cooked beautifully.. each mouth melted in your mouth, just the way good quality beef should.. I'm just drooling thinking about it again!

Dessert was finished by a strawberry mousse with lemongrass ice cream.. it was a perfect way to end the meal.. we left feeling full and very satisfied.. there was a cheese platter as well, but since I don't eat cheese, it was wasted on me.

Thus was our two nights trip to Amsterdam.. we then boarded the Euro train for a 3 hour ride to Paris.. since we bought first class tickets, we were treated to food on board as well as alcohol!  Let's just say.. this trip was all about indulgence.. good food, good drinks and good company.

If you're wondering, no we didn't smoke weed or eat magic shrooms .. I was eager but no one wanted to have the responsibility of taking care of me when I'm high.. oh well.. maybe next time eh? :)

London 2013

We spent a total of 4 days in London, indulging in great food and shopping, taking in the sights of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye (although we didn't sit in it because the queue for it was sooooooo long).. and we were treated to the usual London weather, where it started raining and we were all soggy in no time.. only to have the sun come out 15 minutes later to dry us all again.

Now in London, shopping was awesome.. we were at Selfridges and Harrods shopping, and what's even better.. is that it's sales in London!  It was definitely a treat shopping there because of the sales.  I ended up 2 dresses from Karen Millen and 1 dress from French Connection at Selfridges.  From there, we had a lunch of oysters and champagne (I indulged in asparagus in hollandaise sauce) and when we regained our strength, we went for a walk along Oxford street, coming across big brands like Chanel and Prada.  I couldn't find anything I wanted in that Chanel shop, but sis found a gorgeous plum caviar skin bag and it took a long time for them to ring it up so we stayed for at least an hour in the store.

Prada was having a sale on shoes, and I was looking for a pair of cork wedges and what did I find?  A pair of cork wedges!  I had to choose between green or yellow.. finally settling for the yellow because it was easier to match and it just looked happier.

See, doesn't it just look so chirpy?  It was on sale too, with an additional 50% off!  BARGAIN!!!  So hence, that was the first pair of branded shoes I bought while on this trip.

Harrods just went on sale and the crowd there was crazy!  BUT, I managed to buy a pair of Jimmy Choo patent leather wedge pumps IN MY SIZE!!  It was 30% off and it too was a bargain!  It did look like my Nine West patent leather wedge pumps but hey.. it's Jimmy Choo okay?  Yes.. I've been called a brand whore before :P  I also managed to find a pair of gladiator sandals which I've still no idea what I'm going to wear it with, but it's something fun to have.  They only had two pairs left, one in size 37 and one in size 40.  Size 37 was my size, and I took it as a sign that I was meant to get it :)  Zara also went on sale and I got some great deals on daily wear, which was awesome!

Sis's friend took us to a Japanese restaurant called Zuma for lunch just before our Phantom of the Opera show.  We ended up overstaying for lunch and missing half the show.. but lunch was awesome.  The food just kept coming out and each and every one was as delicious as the one before.  We had sashimi (no I didn't touch it), tempura prawns that was so crispy and non-oily, baked cod fish but the best thing that came out was dessert!  It was a tower of sorbets, ice creams, cakes and tropical fruits.  Didn't think I would actually find langsat in London!  It was simply delectable!  Phantom of the Opera was great.. we came in at the right time and the singers were awesome.. it was in a small auditorium.. which was interesting because I thought it would be in a bigger hall.. but it was great.. I enjoyed it.

I got to say though, I made a booking at a steak restaurant that came highly recommended online, only to be sorely disappointed.. firstly.. it was FAR and secondly.. my steak came out looking rather pathetic and burnt.. and the onion rings were tasteless.. never trust the internet again!

We went out for lunch again at a place called Oblisk, which was located in the tallest building in London.. I had scallops as entree and it was beautiful!  Cooked perfectly, it was surrounded with sweet corn and rockets (my favourite!) and a lovely sauce.  Main course was LOBSTER!!!  Since having it and falling in love with lobster in Goodman's London.. I ordered the crustacean every chance I get!  And I wasn't disappointed.  It was so light and crunchy.. heaven on a plate.  Dessert was chocolate brownie sundae which was the perfect end to an awesome meal.

We did have Chinese food for one day (Saturday).. we went to the Royal China Club for dim sum (and more lobsters!) which was super yummy.. totally miss dim sum... and at night, we went to Kai, the only Chinese restaurant with a Michelin star awarded to it.  Dinner was just absolutely stunning.. we started out with slow poach egg with black truffle and caviar (light and airy) followed by scallops and the usual fare like sweet and sour pork, chinese vegetables.. all tied together with chili infused rice.  I can't really remember what dessert was.. but it was a great meal.. nice and satisfying.

Needless to say, we had some pretty gastronomic meals in London.. sis's friend made sure that we never went without food and champagne :)

Thus was our trip in London.. next stop.. Amsterdam!

Europe Trip 2013

I thought it's time to write about my AWESOME Europe trip, having been back for 5 days already.  I'll talk about the trip from start til finish (if I can remember!) and post some pictures on the way.. mind you, it was a total GASTRONOMIC trip that all the pictures I've taken is of food.. 

So let's start with checking in at the airport... it all went by uneventfully.. checked in a the Business Class counter because I was flying Biz class to KL, then changing to cattle class to London... whereas my traveling buddies were all on Biz class all the way.. Jealous?  No.. I was flying Biz class myself back from Paris :)

It feels like just yesterday when we're waiting in the Golden Lounge waiting to board the plane.. I was giddy with excitement when we finally boarded.. here comes EUROPE BABY!!!  We arrived in Kuala Lumpur about 9.45pm (our flight to London was at midnight) and John took us to the Platinum Lounge straight away (that's right.. Not gold.. but Platinum!) where we were served champagne and sampled the food in the lounge.. not bad at all.. 

We parted ways at the departure gates.. they had no queue going into Biz class whereas us cattle class minions had a huge queue to go through (mind you, we were sitting the A380!).  I got a window seat (thank goodness) and surprisingly, there was no one seated in between me and the guy on the aisle!  (And it was a full flight!)  I always find it surprising how it can be a full flight and there's always an empty seat next to me!!!  The guy was pretty nice, he helped me with my luggage.  Flight was pretty uneventful.. not at all turbulent-y and I managed to get a good few hours of sleep!  Naturally, I woke up for every meal :D The guy next to me was even nice enough to take a snack box for me when I was sleeping!  And he was nice enough not to bother me with chit chat too.. just the obligatory "where are you from" etc.. 

Now here's where it got interesting.. I was on the way to the toilet when I got stopped by a Steward, and he asked me where I'm from, and I said Kuching.. and he said I looked familiar (pick up line?) but I said I never met him before.. so I walked to the toilet.. and on my way back, he stopped me again, asking if I was "pure Chinese".. weird right?  He thought I had mixed blood in me.. and then he asked for my number and my Facebook Account.  He said he'll probably make a visit to Kuching too.. EKK Freaky!  But you know me.. I never know how to say no, so I gave him my name card and Facebook Email address.. but he's a nice guy.. friendly fellow.. 

In what felt like no time at all.. we landed in LONDON!!!!!!!!  Woo hooo.. and here comes the start of  a great holiday!  I was a little worried about immigration (I always am) but we got through with no issues (my sister even took a fast pass ticket for me!) and next thing I know.. we're on a taxi on the way to Julie's house.  Now Julie is my sister's friend whom she met while Julie was staying in Kuching.  Since then.. Julie has moved to London and Paris (yes, she stays in both cities now) and she's hosting us in her house for the entire trip in London AND in Paris!  Well, in Paris, we stayed at another apartment, but nearby to her place!

It was a LONG ride to her house, but we got there at about 7.30am.. and walked out to find food.. only to find that most places were either still closed.. or closed for that day.. so we ended up in a corner deli.. where I had ham and cheese croissant.. which was heavenly.

When time came... we met up with PrincessBling and hubby (who were staying at Cumberland Hotel) at Selfridges and here comes the on slot of SHOPPING!!!!!!! I got a couple of dresses from Karen Millen and FCUK.. then we walked to Chanel where sis proceeded to buy a gorgeous red caviar patterned bag.. I couldn't find anything I wanted.. so decided not to buy anything.. after all, there was more shopping in Chanel in Paris!  Lunch was held in an Oyster and Champagne bar in Selfridges, where we indulged in champagne, oysters, asparagus (me) and other tid-bits.  Then it was on to more walking!

We ended the night having dinner at Goodman Steak House.. where we had a 5kg lobster.. thus starting my love for the crustacean (never really liked it before) and we had gorgeous steaks there too.. we finished a magnum bottle and a smaller bottle of red wine and never felt better!  After dinner, we met Julie at Princess Victoria (a bistro next to her apartment) for drinks.. and I tried to be polite, but I was crashing.. I literally hit a brick wall.. so I excused myself and went to bed.  PrincessBling and hubby who arrived the night before and therefore had a good night's rest.. stayed on and came back to Julie's place and continued drinking until 2am!  Kudos for lasting so long.. but me and sis were in snoozeland by 9pm.

Ahhh.. day 1.. and I'm loving London already!

SPRING LIVE ACTIVE RUN!!

Recently (ie 2 days ago) we had the 2nd Annual Spring Live Active Run, which features a half marathon, a 10km run, 5km fun run and kid's 1km dash.  Since I took part in the 5km fun run last year, I decided to go ahead with the 10km run this year and boy was I glad that I did.  Firstly, I did it for the medal!  Hahaha.. only 10km and upwards gets you a medal.. secondly, I was the 'watcher' for my bro who couldn't run this year.. so it was up to me to gather information on the race and how it can be improved for next year!

Naturally, I HAD to go shopping to prepare for my run... first thing I bought.. a pair of running shorts from Nike!  I prefer it to the long running tights that I had previously worn (only thing I didn't think about, and luckily it didn't affect me.. was chaffing! hahaha)  Second thing I bought was a handphone armband to put my Blackberry Q10, some cards, cash and my car keys in.. beats carrying a fanny pack any day!  Thirdly I bought this awesome wireless Sony Walkman MP3 player!!  In hot pink!  It's so awesome.. just the headphone and nothing else.. no wires getting in the way.

I didn't get to use it on the run unfortunately.. I couldn't put music in it as it doesn't work in Itunes, and you can't rip out of Itunes, which bugs the hell out of me because I paid for the music, therefore I should be able to do what I want with it right?!?!  So that's my purchases ready for the run.

It was really fun.. me and Riv had butterflies in our stomach before the race.. thinking 'oh no.. what have I gotten myself into?!?!'  It was still dark when our race began (6.15am) and we started out really strong!  about 400m down the line, klutzy me tripped over those small speed bumps.. and almost fell flat on my face.. hope nobody saw that.. but we jogged and overtook people.. and I for one wasn't feeling all that huffy and tired and 'lungs will explode if I don't stop now!'  I was feeling pretty damn good I must say.. until the stitch came around 1.5km later.. arghhhh.. I had to stop cos it was killing me!  So as dramatic as I could.. I told Riv to go on without me (think Titanic moment!) and I walked to the water station at 2km mark and guzzled water which made the stitch go away.. I started jogging again but couldn't find Riv anywhere.. so I started my walking and jogging combo.. and running through all the traffic lights, only because motorists were so impatient these days and policemen were getting frazzled by all the honking.. that.. and I didn't want to die crossing the roads.

I came in at an awesome time of 1 hour and 32 minutes! Yeah baby!  That's like a whole 10 minutes off my previous best at the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon!  It was truly an enjoyable race/run because it took the scenic route through Kuching city.. and it started early enough so that non of us were scorched by the sun.. 

Funny thing was that I came in at the same time as my B-I-L.. I caught up with him at the last 500m (he took part in the fun run) and I was all but happy to walk next to him.. when he decided 'no.. we have to run!' so he pushed me and started running.. so I had no choice but to run together with him.. and it was awesome.. I was so tired.. my legs were burning.. but B-I-L encouraged me and made me go on til we crossed the finished line together.. what an awesome feeling when you finished!

Yes.. I made it.. I got my medal!  (looks like I woke up and forgot to put on pants as well!)  but yes.. that achievement you feel when you receive a medal for it in the end.. it's just beyond your wildest dreams.  And look.. my bib has my lucky number 137 on it :)  I believe that brought me luck throughout my run.
 

These are my colleagues who took part in the run with me.. (except for the Hard Rock lady) and this year, we all did the 10km together.  It was awesome.. real funny when the two colleagues on my either side called me halfway during the run and asked me if I wanted McDonalds (the race goes past the store) and I claimed that I had passed it ages ago.. only then did they realise that I wasn't behind them.. I was in front of them!  Tsk tsk tsk.. guys and their male ego :P

So next year.. attempt the half marathon? :)

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By the way, to the guy who left the comment on my blog about how 10km is NOT a marathon .. dude.. who got your knickers tied in a knot?  Who died and made you the dictionary?  A marathon is 'any long distance race' and frankly.. it's MY opinion that 10km is LONG distance.. but that's just it.. MY opinion.  You can call it whatever you want, and I decide to call it my marathon.  OKAY?  If you don't like it.. don't read my blog!

So exciting!!!

It's been so exciting, counting down to Europe.. which by the way.. is 5 days and counting!  But many things have been exciting leading up to the big trip as well..

Firstly, I bought my first Anya Hindmarch Murano clutch in Silver Glitter for myself (I've bought Anya Hindmarch as gifts, but never for myself!).. I saw it on theoutnet.com and without a moment's hesitation.. purchased it.. it was a pretty good deal too I must say..

Sorry I couldn't find a better picture of this online.. but that's essentially what her Murano clutch looks like.  It's super bling as well, which PrincessBling absolutely adores.  I've used it once and it's the perfect match with any colour outfit you decide to wear (if you're wondering, I matched mine with purple!)

So what's this theoutnet.com?  Well, it's a branch of net-a-porter.com which sells branded goods (mostly clothes and bags) and theoutnet.com sells what net-a-porter.com cannot sell after a year of listing.  Isn't that awesome?  Well, I better trawl through for more bargains.. and look at what I found...

A freaking awesome pair of Tory Burch off-white ballet flats!  How absolutely cute is that?  Well, the insignia on my shoes are white as well as the inside of the shoes.. but that's how the outside looks like.  It's so adorable.. I'm wearing them now to break them in for Europe trip!  It's so adorable that PrincessBling bought the exact same pair as me.. and we were so excited about the purchase that we didn't even think to buy two pairs at once and save on shipping.. instead opting to have it shipped separately to each of our names.. sigh..  but it was such a huge bargain anyway.. 

And the best thing is that it arrived on our doorstep in 4 days (Working days).. how AWESOME is that?  I'm going to shop on this site more often!  But you have to be in quick though, because things sell out really really fast.. but I took it as a sign cos they had exactly TWO size 7 pairs left!

So that's been my shopping splurge for the last few weeks.. 

Coming up in 3 days time is the Spring Live Active Run 2013 (second year running) and I can't wait for it.. I'll be doing the 10km run this year and it's mighty daunting knowing that I haven't really practiced for it.. things always get in the way of training.. such as Happy Hour :P  but I'm confident in finishing it before 2 hours to get my finisher medal!  Let's hope it's as successful as last years.. in fact, the registration doubled from last year's registration, which is an awesome sign.

And in 5 days.. I board a plane to London, UK.. we arrived early in the morning, but luckily we're staying with a friend so we don't have to worry about checkin times.. Highlight of the trip?

• Phantom of the Opera on the 20th June 2013
• Hawksmoor steak dinner on 20th June 2013
• Outlet shopping on 21st June 2013
• Eiffel Tower!!!
• Cabaret show in Paris!!

That's only some of the things that we planned to do in Europe.  I'm so excited!!!!  I feel like jumping up and breaking into a little song and dance.. that's how excited I am.

I'll definitely bring along my camera to document each fantastic moment in Europe and I'll be sure to blog about it upon my return (no way am I bringing a laptop on the journey!)  Let's hope I don't do something dodgy like leave my camera in a cab again! (remember Greece?)

5 days and counting....

Gym has been going great by the way.. am lifting more weights now than before and not feeling half as winded as I used to!  Am definitely on track to get stronger and leaner..lets hope I don't blow it all on indulging in croissants and stuff in Paris!

 

June already??

My oh my, where has the time gone?  Can you believe that half a year has already passed by?  Where did it go?  What have I done?  Did I achieve all that I wanted to so far this year?  What's looking up for the rest of the year?

1. Gym, Paleo and weightloss
   I started the gym in January 2013 with a weightloss goal of 10kgs by June 18th 2013.  I started personal training 3x a week and switched to a Paleo diet just before Chinese New Year.  So have I reached my goal?  Well, I haven't loss 10kgs but I'm so much more leaner, toner and stronger now.. I've lost inches.. but hey.. muscle weighs more than fat right? :)
   A part of me have let go of the rigidness of weighing myself.. letting myself believe my trainer when he says that the number does not matter.  What matters the most is the body that you're comfortable in.. in any event, he's promised me a bikini body by the end of the year.  And I've been working so hard for it.. only to be thwarted by several factors...
   
   BEER.... BEER.... BEER....
   
   If only not for the constant craving of alcohol, would the weightloss be faster.. I don't know what to do about my drinking anymore.. it's getting worst and worst I reckon, with me yearning to go out for a drink almost daily!  I don't know what it is.. but what I need to iron down is why I really drink.. and why I find the need to drink so often.. I think I need to take a break from drinking for awhile.. especially beer.. if I want that flat stomach.. even my personal trainer has said that beer is bad for the gut.. so what's more important to me right now?  Drinking.. or getting that bikini body?
   
   Unfortunately for me, my personal trainer will be in the country for another 16 weeks.. minus holidays and stuff.. that leaves about 31 hours of lessons left for me to get that body.. I must push it harder ... get stronger.. get leaner... But don't worry, I'll probably continue with another personal trainer when he goes.. I'm not going to stop just because he's no more here.. although it is much to my dismay.
   
2. Europe Trip 2013
   Now this I'm really excited for!  I went to Europe before in 2009 with PrincessBling, AlanHarperIsMyIdol and CryptKeeper and that was fun.. but I was still in a haze, not really myself yet.. having just come back from rehab and getting use to life back in Kuching etc.. not to mention clonazepam has a drowsy effect on you.. so anyway.. I'm so excited to be visiting London and Paris again.
   
   I'm excited because we'll be watching Phantom of the Opera in London, a Cabaret in Paris, the Eiffel Tower and plenty more.. not to mention this time, I've saved up enough of my own money to go on shopping spree in Europe!  Think of all the things I want to get!  Shoes, bags, clothes oh my!
   
   I'm also excited to be traveling with family who are a great bunch of people to hang out with.. and I know we'll have fun eating, drinking and shopping our way through Europe.
   
3. Bintulu Trips
   I'm pleased to announce here that I'm no longer required to go to Bintulu again for payroll purposes.  I think I'm going to miss it though.. all the traveling..hopefully I'll get to go back one day again.. but not anytime soon!
   
4. Studying
   Yes, I've started studying again for admission into Harvard MBA course.  But first, I have to take the General Management Admissions Test (GMAT) before I send in my application form.  I plan to take my GMAT in October and do my application form right after that.. I've set myself a target of 700/800 points so I'm studying pretty hard to achieve that.  It's so nice to find something so inspiring again after a long time and I'm getting excited about studying for it.  Just the thought of getting accepted is daunting and scary but imagine the pride I'll feel if I get accepted!

Well, come to think of it, I haven't achieved much in this half year.. but if you think about it, I've achieved so much in terms of health (mentally and physically) and that's the best I can probably spend most of my energy on.  So what's the rest of the year looking like?  

Well, there'll still be studying for the GMAT, then focusing on producing the best application form I can to Harvard, Stanford, London Business School and University of Bath.  

There's still ongoing training to keep the body that I shall have, a change in lifestyle I hope.. 

Then there's marathons (10km runs to be exact) that I'm participating in this year, starting with the first one being Spring Live Active Run on the 16th June 2013 (just before Europe!), followed by Borneo Marathon in KK in August, then the Penang Bridge Run in November, and possibly the Standard Chartered Run in Singapore in December.

Lastly.. there's the wish to travel.. I definitely want to go back to San Francisco for at least 3 weeks and head down to Lake Tahoe and bunk with my besties there :), I want to make a trip to Melbourne, Sydney and Christchurch at the end of the year (or next year), I want to make a trip to Vietnam in the near future to visit Phong's family again and I would probably make a few more trips to Singapore before the end of the year.

Overall, I think life is good.  I've definitely been blessed to have all these experiences in my life. 

What come May...

Ahh.. can't believe that we're in May already.. let alone MIDDLE of May.. So many things has been happening in May.. Firstly..

1. Month of Birthdays!
   
   There's already 3 birthdays in my family (Mum, John and Jo), not to mention Mother's Day AND my parent's wedding anniversary.  This year is a big year birthday for my mum and we celebrated in Tom's where we had canapes, champagne, wine, salad, beef ribs/lamb chop/chicken and dessert of chocolate cake from Four Points.  It was an awesome night, with about 38 guests in all.. Happy Birthday Mummy!
   
   John's birthday was also held in Tom's, where it was themed CAVEMAN (mainly because half the guests invited were on caveman diet!).. that was really fun.. all the girls showed up in animal print dresses (I got mine off Ebay for RM59 INCL free shipping!) and I decided, in a moment in ingenuity.. to go all Pebbles Flintstone and incorporated a bone into my ponytail.. that was an instant hit! haha We had steak, prime rib, salad, soup.. all paleo food.  That was another fun night, with alcohol of choice being Sake.. in all, we cleared 9.. yes 9.. MAGNUM bottles of champagne, with approximately 38 guests as well.
   
   Jo's birthday was more low key.. we just had mee sua (longevity noodles) in the morning.. I think she'll be having a party this Saturday, but I'm not sure.. I even bought her 10 pieces of steak from Singapore for her celebration!
   
2. Blackberry Q10 is out!
   
   I have been eying the new Blackberry Q10 ever since there was a rumor that one was coming out.  When the Z10 got released, I got more excited because that meant that the Q10 would be coming out soon.. the difference?  Z10 doesn't have the QWERTY keypad which I wanted.. and guess what.. the Q10 just got released yesterday!  I can't wait to get my hands on it.  Will update with more pictures when I get the phone.. but here's a sneak peak on the phone.  Isn't it gorgeous?
   
3. Singapore Trip
   
   I made a trip to Singapore at the beginning of the month to catch up with my psychologist and psychiatrist.. good news is that I'm doing so much better that they can't decide when is the next time that they want to see me!  Which is awesome.. then again, I do know that I'm doing much better myself :)  It's true.. working out does make you happier!  Had a huge shopping spree in Singapore as well.. first off.. I bought a Nespresso machine for my Juice Bar.. I bought 2 pairs of shoes from Nine West (a pair of wedges and a pair of white stilettos), a Zebra print dress (just incase the one I bought from Ebay didn't fit - PrincessBling ended up wearing it).. SGD400 worth of MEAT.. I went with 20kgs and came back with 30kgs worth of personal luggage.. thank goodness for MAS increasing their luggage allowance to 30kg and thank goodness for being an Enrich Gold Card member (I get additional 10kgs).  Below is the picture of the Nespresso machine I got.. can't wait to use it in the Juice Bar.. it will cost around RM2 to make one coffee, so I'm going to charge one cup of coffee for RM4.50 or RM5.00.. depending.
4. Bintulu Trip
   
   This .. hopefully will be my last trip to Bintulu at the end of the month.  I'm getting sick of Bintulu already.. not to mention I'm dreading meeting that Black Balding Indian guy who keeps harassing me.. but as my psychologist say, make this a personal challenge to say NO to somebody.. so if he approaches me again, I'm going to say 'NO.. get lost Buster!' hahaha.. except maybe not in that manner.

Well, that's all that has been happening in May.. coming up, there's the Spring Live Active Run on 16th June 2013 where I'll be running 10km.. which means I got to get my ass moving and start training on the treadmill again.  Going to do tabatas Spring.. which means running for 1 minute, 1 minute walking and one minute running, next minute walking.. you get the picture.. going to try for 20 minutes, then up it to 30 minutes so on.  I plan to be doing this every other day and on weekends.  I also want to try my hands on TRX on Tuesday and Thursday lunch time.. yes people.. I WANT THAT BIKINI BODY!!!  I also want to complete the 10km run before 2 hours so I can get the finisher medal! hahahah.. also I want to beat my current timing of 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Also coming up.. is my big trip to Europe!! London, Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris baby!  I can't wait!  I'll be the only one in cattle class on the way to London, but will be flying Business Class back from Paris to Kuching.. I can't wait!  I've never sat Business Class for such a long flight before.. so I'm excited.. and I can't wait to do all the shopping in London and Paris.. eat all the food, enjoy the sights etc.. oh it's going to be fun!

With so many things in line, it's no wonder the time has passed so quickly.. before you know it, half the year is gone and I hope I'm not left with 'what if or why didn't I'.. I've learned to live life to the fullest and to not worry about little things in life.. if it's meant to be, it will happen! :)
 

Back to Studying...

What??  Studying... again??  I know I swore off studying the minute I left University of Canterbury.. couldn't stand the pressure of getting good grades and passing the course.. I for once.. am NOT going to repeat anything!  So when I graduated .. I thought that THAT was the last of it for me..

But I've been thinking lately about getting my MBA (Masters of Business Administration).. so I did some research about it.. and somehow I found the 'Harvard MBA' website.. when it suddenly dawned on me that I'd always had a dream of going to Harvard (maybe it was from watching Legally Blonde!) and I got excited about it.. I had a look at Stanford as well (two Ivy Leagues that I've always wanted to attend) and both offers one of the top MBA courses in USA!  Awesome.. what I wouldn't give to go back to the United States.. I'm in love with California!  Looking deeper.. it seems that I need to get my GMAT (General Management Admissions Test) before applying to the MBA courses.. sure.. no problem.. so I downloaded GMATPrep.. which was an online test that you can do to test yourself.. I was excited.. downloading took FOREVER on the office internet.. and finally.. when I opened the application.. the first question was: if Y = 4 + (X-3)2, then Y is least when X = ?  Holy Mother of *%@($#  What on earth does that mean??  If the entire test was like this.. I'm screwed!  I hated maths, and I was never good at it!  It took me YEARS to understand Algebra.. and then it was easily forgotten after I got my degree and never put to use again!  Oh well, at least it was multiple choice..

So I looked online, and I found this book..

GMAT for Idiots...

 Actually.. I think mine was the 13th Edition.. but never mind.. it's written by the creators for GMAT tests.. which means that it has to be good right?  OMG.. I couldn't wait to open it up and get cracking.

Unfortunately, due to my busy schedule.. I could only really focus on studying on weekends.... and since I now have to work at my juice bar on Sundays, it's the perfect time for me to study (as the gym business is rather quiet on Sundays!).. so if I studied at home on Saturdays and study at the gym on Sundays, I figured I could get 12 solid hours of studying done per week.. and I've given myself 6 months to prepare for the test.. so overall.. I have given myself 288 hours to study for the GMAT.  I'm aiming for a score of 700+/800!  So ambitious right?  

Til now, I have completed the maths questions in the book, but I'm going back through them just to understand it more clearly and learn which formula to apply to the questions.  There's another 3 parts to the exam, which is sentence correcting, data analyzing and essay writing.  Pretty scary stuff.. I've always had a thing for stressing out over exams, and especially results.. and no doubt I'll be stressing over this one when the time comes!  I'll probably take the test in October 2013, just in time for January cut-offs for US applications.

I've also looked at UK..and the best place to go is London School of Business.. and the second best place to go is University of Bath.. they're much cheaper than going to Harvard too.. and University of Bath is only a one year MBA course.. oooo.. all these pros and cons.. how will I ever decide which one to go to?  But then again.. it all depends on which course accepts me.. and it all depends highly on my application form.

Now most people have asked me why I want to do MBA (frankly speaking.. there's not really a need to get MBA when you're working in such a small town like Kuching).. but I say that I want to get it to better myself for the future.. when I'm looking after an organization.. wouldn't it be better if I equip myself with knowledge on how to manage that?  And I see an opportunistic future where things are going to grow bigger and better for Kuching...

So that's my plan for the rest of the year.. wish me luck okay? :)

5 years ago...

5 years ago.. I was lying in a hospital bed.. my home for 2 months.. having been diagnosed with Anorexia Bulimia.  I was only 46kgs.. skeletal in my tall frame.. 5 years ago.. I started healing.

Hurt as a small child.. teased as a teenager.. betrayed as an adult.. I was heading down the slippery slopes of depression.. see I started working for Project Goth Pty Ltd (later known as Mig33 Inc) in 2005.. I moved to Perth where I knew no one and I for one, found this as a great opportunity to transform myself.  I became the one that needed everyone to like me, the pleaser.. things got hectic at work, being a start-up company.. and I started skipping meals.. first it was just breakfast.. then lunch.. then cutting down on my dinner when I saw the weight falling off.. in one year.. I lost close to 20kgs and I love the transformation of seeing a skinny me.

In July 2006, I moved to Sydney.. where I picked up the gym.. BodyPump became a release for my energy and I felt great after each workout.. best of all.. now that I was living on my own in Sydney, I could eat whatever I wanted.. with no prejudice.  I still skipped breakfast and lunch.. but was gorging on fast food for dinner.. Bodypump kept my weight steady and my body fit... I loved seeing the muscles build up.. the body being fitter and toner.

In September 2007, I moved to San Francisco.. where the gym was not readily available.. so I stopped all gym routines.. my eating habits became more erratic as I would skip breakfast and lunch.. and sometimes even dinner..  by 2008, my work life became unbearable and I couldn't tolerate my manager.  Worst still.. I confided in my ex-boss the things that happened to me as a child.. once my secret was out.. I didn't know where to turn to.. suddenly it became real.. and I had to deal with it.. on my own.. as my ex-boss didn't do anything to help.. I started throwing up my dinner every night to deal with the pain.  by September 2008.. I was going down a spiral of depression.. drinking myself drunk almost every other night to cope with losing control over work situation.. which was my life.  I controlled my food intake even more and purging all my food.. my weight quickly went down.

On Christmas Eve 2008.. I took the first step in seeing a psychiatrist (recommended by my GP).. I was sent to rehab to get over my drinking binges.. and for the first time.. being confined to four walls never felt so safe.. 3 days there and I was crying bucket loads when I had to leave that safety wall.  As we talked about my childhood.. the worst I felt and the more weight I lost.  I was getting blood tests weekly to make sure I wasn't depleting myself of minerals and vitamins.

On 30th March 2009.. my weight plummeted below 105 pounds and I was admitted into Alta Bates Hospital.. being placed in ED treatment.  My home for the next 2 months.. I decided to come clean about my past to my doctor.. Dr Ansai.. and I worked closely with him and all the counselors to get through my past.  I credit them for saving my life.. for helping me through my darkest moments.  Because of them, I started to heal.

It's now 2013.. and it's been up and down... I've mostly conquered ED, although weight is still a big issue for me... I'm learning to deal with my past and to let my walls down.. 

5 more years from now, I hope to be free of ED and free from my past.  I hope to be off medication for depression and I hope to be able to accept my body for what it is.  Don't worry folks.. I'm working hard on it.. :)

5 years from now.. I want to be HAPPY...

Where do you run to?

I've been so stressed out lately that's it's showing physically.. my face is popping out in zits (like huge ones!!!) and I'm missing a certain monthly occurrence.. which is kinda weird since I'm taking OCP.. which means that it's SUPPOSE to come!  That's making me even more stressed out.. 

I think I'm a highly strung person.. I mean.. what on earth has gotten me so stressed out?  Well, as per my previous post.. my colleague is causing major headache with her reaction to getting a pay cut.. which is leaving me so worried that the Labor court will actually make a case against us and we'll have to go to court.. although I shouldn't be that worried because I didn't break any Labor Ordinance Rules.  I mean even LK (lawyer) has assured me that I followed the books.. so why is my mind telling me to be worried?  In any case, I've registered mailed her non-confirmation of contract letter, and today is her day back from leave and she's not in the office.  2 days of this and it's grounds for termination due to non-conformance.  Win win situation either way.  So why am I so stressed out about it?

So where do you run to .. to escape from everything.. well, I ran to Singapore!  A last minute 2 night trip there to escape from my current life.  What a well needed break it was.  And since I'm known to self-destruct when things get tough.. PrincessBling didn't allow me to go to Singapore by myself, so guess who decided to tag along.. PrincessBling and hubby!  We flew out Friday night and checked into Mandarin Orchard Road hotel at 11pm.. then it was straight out to the nearest pub for a few drinks.. we ended up at Brotzeit at Sommerset 313.. where we polished of 1 beer (me) and 3 bottles of wine in approximately 2 hours.. Brotzeit shuts its doors at 1am.  I went back to the hotel feeling happy and buzzed.. next day we went to Wild Honey for brunch.. where I had bacon and eggs.. omg.. it feels so good to be eating Western breakfast again.  Can't get good bacon in Kuching.. let alone proper Western meals!  Lunch was at Malones (Irish pub) and tea time was at KPO (more drinks).. before going to dinner at The Prime Society in Dempsey.. where I had a succulent piece of ribeye 300gm.. which was way more than I could handle.  The brussel sprouts with bacon that I ordered as a side was divine!  Love brussels sprouts.  We moved on to Wine Connections after that for a few more bottles of wine before calling it a night... again, was so buzzed and happy.. and not thinking about anything.  Next morning.. we went for Dim Sum at Crystal Jade Palace in Takashimaya.. then went about doing some last minute shopping before finally heading to the airport and coming back to Kuching.

It was a well needed break for me.. just to get away from the norm.. I can't really explain it.. but I felt like going somewhere where I was totally anonymous and could lose myself in the crowd without having to think about all my troubles... all my stresses.. 

There is one more thing that is causing me stress, and that's dealing with heartache.  I never felt this way before .. and it's depressing.. but I saw a saying today that says "Sometimes your heart needs more time to accept what your mind already knows".. and that's true.. see, there's this guy I like.. but the feelings not returned.. and I don't know how to react.. because I never felt this way for a guy before.. on the plus side.. I've finally let down my walls that I've built for so many years and I've allowed myself to fall in love.. but if this is the feeling you get .. I might just build up my walls again... how do you get passed this?  "Many more fishes in the sea" I'm told.. but how do you catch without a fishing rod?  Man I've got so much to talk with my psychologist.. she'll be proud that I've come this far though .. but how do you let it go?....

I'm Back!

Wow, I realized that it's been awhile since I last blogged.. reason being.. there's nothing interesting happening to blog about!  Okay, maybe not, but I've just been going through some stuff that I don't feel like blogging about, and it's pretty much taken a lot of my time... and energy.. but I now figured.. where else can I rant if I am not able to rant here?

I'm still flying out to Bintulu once a month to deal with payroll.. it's a tedious job, that's going to be lighter now that everyone finally understood that we meant business when we said that we no longer want to use time cards!  We now rely on a fingerprinting system to clock in and out of work.  That makes payroll so much easier.  This month was no different.. except this time, I flew to Bintulu with my new minion!  She's going to be the one going to Bintulu going forward!  (although I'll still have to accompany her for the next few months!)

Keying in data is the tedious part.. we spent two whole days keying it in that I had to miss my returning flight to Kuching in order to finish the payroll.  Instead, I had to buy a whole new ticket leaving lunch the next day.  That was when shit happened.  See, I have 3 administration people there.. two admin clerks and one site administrator.  One clerk was on maternity leave so I have two staff on hand.  Well, the site administrator is Lazy with a capital L!  It seems like my questions are always answered with an 'I don't know lah!'  What the hell am I paying you so much for then?  So that morning, I sat down with her, and explained to her that I was reducing her job scope, therefore I am reducing her salary as well.  I mean, logical isn't it?  She was calm.. said she'll read the contract and let me know.  I thought it went pretty well... until I was at the airport waiting to depart when all hell broke loose.  I received an email from her .. and boy was she angry.  Now, firstly, her English was atrocious, making it difficult for me to understand what on earth she's on about (and to think.. we rely on her to take minutes!) and secondly... she accused me of being "young and inexperienced"... OMG.. this is the second time in my working life that I've been accused of that!  Like.. dude.. I have 9 years working experience already man.. at least she thinks I'm young =D

She went on and demanded a 10 day leave from the project manager.. who foolishly signed it (Sigh) and went on an SMS rampage with me (double sigh) and threatened to go to the labor department etc.. I'm not worried cos I didn't break any laws.  That night, I got a call from a colleague that some files were mysteriously gone from the server (uh-oh.. sabotage?) and the next day, I got a call from our other clerk saying that all the data in the fingerprint system is gone.  OMG.. sabotage??  I had to make an emergency trip to Bintulu... and luckily was able to salvage all the data, although it did take me a whole day to do it.  All throughout the day, the Site Administrator was sending me SMS .. badmouthing one of my supervisors at the site, saying that he's stolen money etc.. 

That's it!  I don't want to downgrade her anymore.. I want her OUT of the company.  She has a potty mouth.. but I can't just fire her.. I'll be breaking all sorts of labor law (I'm pretty sure that's what she wanted).. so after several maydays to HR managers and Labor law lecturers.. I got my answer.. and I'm so happy with it.

1. She's under probation so I can not-confirm her position, therefore terminating her as soon as possible.
2. She can't take that to the labor court because of my full-proof employee handbook that states that she had to be confirmed in writing.
3. She doesn't have a case against us (I hope)

Yup, it looks like HR wins.... =D  Oh, and I've already hired someone new to take her position as site administrator... Boo ya!

What a week!

I just got back from Bintulu town on Saturday evening, having spent 2 nights there doing the payroll.  Let me just say, and this might offend people.. but I do NOT LIKE Bintulu!  It's a seriously boring town with nothing to do except eat and drink!

Now why do I have to do payroll in Bintulu?  You see, we have all these foreign workers at our Bintulu project sites that thumbprint in to work daily, and it's all connected to the computer system in Bintulu site office.. and it somehow can't be imported to the Kuching computer.. which means.. everything has to be calculated in Bintulu and then brought out to Kuching to do payment.. 

And since when do I do payment for foreign workers??  It's not part of my job scope!  Well, I took upon this role when our usual lady resigned because she too did NOT WANT TO GO to Bintulu.  

So anyway, I flew out on the 28th February and had tickets to return to Kuching at 9pm on the 2nd March 2013.  I hate flying so early in the day.. messes up my body clock with a 7am flight!  Anyway, got there and started getting to business.. counting and entering hours work to make sure that it matches what the foreign workers have in their time cards.  The whole day was spent doing that..  and then we took the long drive back to the hotel (it's about 1 hour and 15 minutes drive!)...

I DID NOT WANT to stay at the hotel myself.. thoughts of ghastly ghosts ran through my mind the entire day.. not sure if I wrote what happened the last time, but I was given a corner room that's way too big for one person.. and when I walked into the room, all the lights AND the television was turned on.. which is fine.. except for the fact that the key card wasn't plugged into the wall, which meant that no electricity was supposed to be in the room!!!!!

Come to meeeeeeee..............

Imagine if I had walked in to see this scene from Poltergeist!  Hahaha.. luckily I didn't, but it sure didn't stop the goosebumps from raising on my arms!  

This trip, I was given their standard room... thank goodness.. everything was switched off, the way it should be.  I flipped on all the lights and took a shower (a quick one.. you never know!) and high tailed it out of the room to the closest bar and waited for my colleagues to pick me up for dinner!  Thank goodness I was exhausted by the end of the night that after dinner, I just got to the hotel room and collapsed in bed and fell asleep until 2am.. when I startled awake thinking I was late for my 7am pickup to go to work.. yes.. they work THAT early in Bintulu.

Second day, I got really pissed off with my colleagues.. they were supposed to send me the workcards on Friday.. and I waited all day until I finally got through to his phone and he said he was at 'Bakun Junction'.. which was apparently 3 hours away from our site office.. so much for finishing the calculation that day and catching an earlier flight on Saturday.  I was so pissed I needed to cool down, and that's when alcohol came in.. we went to eat native food where we had wild boar pansur, terrapin and bats!  It was delicious, especially the pansur.  I was again exhausted after a full day, but my colleagues insisted on going for a few more drinks, so fine.. I met up with them after a good shower, where I was so dying to go lay in bed and fall asleep.. but I'm glad we met up for drinks, because I had a lovely 2 500ml cup of my favourite Hoegaarden!  Was buzzed enough to fall asleep instantly when I got back to the hotel.

Day three.. mad rush to the office.  Mad rush to finish everything off.. got the work cards from my colleague an spent the next two hours keying it in.  Then the final part.. to get all the bank accounts ready (it's all in the system) and NOOOOOOOOOOOOO.......... bank accounts were keyed in wrongly for some of the foreign workers, which means that I had to go back and find each person's bankcard to key in the right bank account number.. damn these shoddy jobs done by other people!  I was finally done at 12.30pm.. just in time for lunch.. AND just in time to catch the 4.30pm flight out of Bintulu.  It transits through Sibu but I was desperate to get away from Bintulu I would prefer to take a longer route back than to wait til my original flight time.

OMG.. I was ecstatic to be home.. I would have kissed the tarmac if I could!  Sean so rightly put it.. "It sounds like Been - to - loo"...

And thus was my exciting week of nothing more than payroll in a shit town!

End of Chinese New Year

Well, after two weeks of indulging in food, alcohol and gambling, Chinese New Year has finally come to an end.  Indulging in all my vices can't be good.. I'm glad to say I tip the scales at only 1kg weight gain.. NOT GOOD.. 

One thing I didn't give up on was training.. I love training.. I'm addicted to training.. it's absolutely "free-ing" to push your body to the limit and see where it takes you.  I used to think that adrenaline was over-rated.. but not anymore.. I look forward to training every single day.. sometimes I wish I was training everyday and not just every other day!

But I'm glad for the training this Chinese New Year.. cos it only means I could indulge more with food and alcohol.

So what did we do to close the Chinese New Year period?  Why.. we held a party of course!  It was a pool party which supposed to start at 5.00pm.. but true fashion of Kuching-ians.. people didn't start showing up until past 7pm.  By then, the pool party ended and the BBQ has started... I love BBQ.. nothing better than charred food on your plate I say!  (No I'm not being sarcastic!)  It was an awesome party, with steak, hot dogs, squid, vegetables.. plenty of yummy food to go around.  Or so I thought, until we totally ran out of food for late comers.

That's me and Karen.. Frankly speaking.. I was so wasted I had no idea when that picture was even taken.. I had so much fun.. drinking whiskey and chatting to people.. when suddenly the spiked jelly (spiked with 750ml of Rum!!!) hit me and I started getting dizzy.. thus that's the end of the party for me!

But what an awesome day.. first was the Colored Rush Fun Run, then the pool party when I got thrown into the pool.. twice.. then the BBQ.. we let off some fireworks at the end of the night and that was how we closed Chinese New Year.. with a bang!

Colored Rush - Fun Run

I realised that many of my posts recently do not have any pictures.. that's probably due to my aversion for cameras.. don't like being in pictures unless I can guarantee that I look hot in them :)  Probably should carry my camera around with me more often.. but for now, my blogs shall remain pictureless.. 

So recently I took part in the Colored Rush - Fun run... which was a 5km run around Kuching city.  It's a charity run for the World Children Cancer Foundation and we each had to pay RM30 to participate, and we get a free T-Shirt with that.  I took part mainly because it was a stepping stone towards running 10km, and I wanted/needed to test my stamina...

I trained hard.. mostly on the treadmill (well, only on the treadmill) and found my stamina pretty good.. I could run 5km in about 45 minutes.. not the best time.. but still pretty good!  Can you believe that after 2 months of training, I've grown so much stronger and my stamina is pretty damn good.. 

So anyway, this Colored Rush was the first time ever that it's done in Sarawak.  What makes it colored?  No no no.. it's not a multi-racial run.. although there are people from all walks of life there.. it's colored run because each participant is given a bag of colored powder, and before the run, everyone sprays their powder around so each person will end up covered in different color.  I wasn't too keen on getting dirty.. but it's all part of the fun.  We couldn't wait to get colors on each other, but was told to hold off until the final countdown.. but the crowd was over-energized that the countdown never happened.. it was awesome seeing the cloud of colors going around though.. 

After a 30 minute delay.. we finally set off on the 5km run, which took us from Civic Centre, past the General Hospital, up Batu Lintang, down Bampflyde, past Sarawak Club and back to the Civic Centre.  I started jogging at my pace.. but my pacer was way in front of me so I had to run faster to catch up.. and that was the start of the end.. midway through Batu Lintang.. my legs gave up.  I couldn't run anymore.. my mind tells me to do it, but my body just shut down.. my lungs were bursting, my legs were aching.. I just couldn't do it anymore... I had to walk... so my pacer walked with me and I said I'd start running again when we reached Bampflyde.. the nice part was when we past Batu Lintang, I saw PrincessBling and hubby with Hunter.. watching us jog/walk past... it was such a nice welcome.  Anyway.. back to the race.. when we hit Bampflyde, I started jogging again.. but alas, it wasn't to last very long.. I just couldn't do it anymore... I've hit a wall and my legs could not go on.  I was so disappointed with myself.. most of all, I let my pacer down.. and that kills me.

In the end.. it took us 45 minutes to complete the fun run.. not a bad time.. but with all the training, it should have been better.. but now I know.. running on the road is very different to running on the treadmill.  I need to start training on the road more often than on the treadmill... given the actual environment (the heat and the humidity) compared to working out in a full air conditioned gym.. I might make it a habit to run one day every weekend.. in the evening.. sadly.. I'm not prepared to wake up that early in the morning to run.. not yet anyway :)

On a side note.. colored powder given was NOT WATER SOLUBLE!  I had my face dyed purple for the rest of the day and I'm still picking out red dye from my ears.

Overall, I had fun, but I don't think my pacer will sign up for any more runs with me for now.. haha he hates running and only did it for me.. and to disappoint him like that.. I need to train harder and push my body to the limit.  Next time.. quitting is NOT acceptable.

CNY Holidays!

Recently we had a long break due to the Chinese New Year festivities.. I love Chinese New Year.. it's the season to drink, eat and gamble.. when else can you participate in all these vices and have an excuse to do it? 

Chinese New Year Eve
Every year for the past 4 years (or was it 5?), our family heads down to a family dinner at Toh Yuen (Hilton) for a family reunion dinner.  Not much of a reunion since we see each other every night for dinner at home.. haha.. but it's always nice to get out of the house and be served by others and have a night of fun and chatters.. 
Then it's home time when we exchange Ang Pows (us unmarried ones waiting eagerly) and then we wait til 11.55pm to set off the firecrackers and fireworks!  I'm not sure how this happens but each year, it seems that I'm delegated to light the shortest fuse for the firecrackers!  That's why I'm sorta fearless now when it comes to lighting the crackers.. and I'm always the one lighting the fuse for the fireworks!  I love it when midnight strikes.. when the night skies get illuminated with the bright sparkles of the fireworks, when the air is permeated with the sounds of boom from firecrackers being lit to scare off evil spirits.. 
We let go 3 firecrackers and 5 fireworks that night... before finally calling it a night and drifting to sleep amongst the boom boom bang!

1st Day of Chinese New Year
We always have an open house on the first day of Chinese New Year.  That's when everyone is invited to our house for lunch..  I love entertaining people.. although when it gets busy.. I tend to hide in the comfort of the bar area (NOT drinking.. just having a barrier between me and the people!) and chat to the few who came to hide out there with me.. hahaha..
Pigging out on all the food because today is NO PALEO DAY!  YES! I had permission from Muscleman to go off Paleo for that one day!
After our house 'closed' for the evening, we headed out to Aaron's place.. he has this beautiful mansion on top of the hill overlooking Kuching.  That's when things got messy.. with the combination of too much alcohol and not enough food.. but I had a great time there!  I had a great conversation with MuscleMan and it was nice.

2nd Day of Chinese New Year
This is when we pay back visit to those who visited our open home on the first day of Chinese New Year.  This year, we visited 8 houses from 10am to 4pm... OMG were we exhausted by the end of it.. I was happy collecting Ang Pows (yes.. I still get them!) but it was hard not to binge on food, especially since I was on the Paleo diet again... once we got home, I took a half hour power nap, had a shower and was off to Johnny's house at 5pm for his open home party.  That was always fun.. loads of booze and food..and great company.
I left at 12am.. and then started the drunken walk from home to Justin's house for gambling.. I didn't last very long.. and had to be accompanied home (I insisted that I was alright to walk home alone) but ahhh... another great way to end the day.

The first two days are the most important days for Chinese New Year in our family tradition.. by the time it came to the third day, most of us were just enjoying the holidays and going off doing our own thing.  

Me, I started training for my 5km fun run on 23rd February 2013.  Muscleman has offered to run with me, and it's going to be a challenge because I'll be running the entire 5km.. no more running 1km and walking 4km.. I'm challenging myself and giving myself a run time of 45 minutes or less.  So hence the training begins...