Look in the mirror and say...

... "I'm beautiful and I'm going to make things happy for myself."

Should I be as beautiful as colorful Nemo?

Or as cute and pampered as little puppy?

Mirror mirror on the wall,

what should I do for myself today?

Shall I dance?

Shall I sing?

Or shall I watch a flick to make me smile?

Mirror mirror on the wall,

please send me my favourite smile.

How much can one take?

I often wonder, how many times is one too many times?

How much disappointment can one take before one decides to give it all up?

Are empty promises a valid reason for being disappointed?

Or is it just mind over matter - don't care, no disappointment?

Open Air Cinema

Thanks to Von for organizing a beautiful dinner and movie night out to mark my ahem* rather old age. With my new dress on, we hit the Birrarung Marr.

Nothing beats home made snacks. Don't ask me how she managed to smuggle them in - probably with her cute looks *wink*. I'm not going to try an explain what they are - it'll take me forever! So here are some pictures of THE SNACKS:-

1. First up - sweet chips and murruku

2. Spiral biscuit with sesame seeds

3. Chinese new year cookies! Pineapple tarts, cornflake biscuits and I don't know how to explain that white stuff, it just simply melts in your mouth.

And of course, how could we not drink to the occation!

We watched "The Valet" - light hearted french comedy.

A toast to an enjoyable day out! Now next on my list is a trip to the drive-in...

Split in the middle like a split pea

I'm in 2 minds:-

1. I wish to celebrate it with music, drinks and dance till my feet hurt
2. I wish to celebrate it over a quiet dinner in a cosy restaurant, chats, laughs and dessert *yumm.... chocolate mud cake*

I'm have 2 completely different genre of friends:-

1. Pub crawling, hooking up, happy feet dancers and singer wannabies
2. Silly jokes, photo taking, gossip and sex in the city chicks

..... and I'm stuck in the middle.... because I love them all to bits, and I fit in both mould....

ps: Can someone please invite him to my party?!

Almost a weekend of celebration

It's Monday, and technically it should be a normal working day, but I took matters into my own hands and declared today as a day of rest and relax - if i've not done so already.

First and foremost, to all the chinese out there...HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! It's the year of the pig *oink oink*, which means Dad has officially turned old-er.

Highlights over this weekend:
1. Reunion dinner at my borrowed family's house - It was such a hot summer day that the transformer went "bang" and cut off all elecricity to the street. I was enjoying myself with Lady (sorry, i wish i have a photo of her, she's a cute white ball of fluff - a cross tzishu and maltesse) under the aircon when i heard the bang. In the heat of panic, everyone rushed around trying to cook using the BBQ stove and make-shift gas stove in the garage. It was fun and hilarious trying to cook in the dark - burnt vegetables and tea towel caught fire. We ate and ate and ate, under the candle lights, being bitten by mozzies, getting drunk under the stars.

2. Fixing the transformer -It took the electrician 2 hours before 2 trucks drove up the street. 15 kids (age between 4 - 19) stood outside watching them replace the fused something (i really have no idea what that thing was). I had a little girl Joey in my arms. She was so tiny that I was afraid of crushing her ribs. 20 minutes later, we saw lights! One house after another.... HURAY! All the kids yelled in delight - Thank you mister, thank you for your help and happy chinese new year! - quite frankly, I doubt these guys know that we were having a celebration, or why we are so relief to rush back in to the room and switch on the aircon.

3. A phone call from my real home - Dad's birthday falling on the first day of CNY? It's huge! Not to mention turning 60 is a milestone to celebrate. Talking on the phone with my real family was tough - laughing and passing the phone around to a room full of people, some I don't even remember what they look like now. 8 nieces and nephews? Since when?! It was faster than speed dating - *ding* times up, next aunty on the line....

4. Mom's extra special day - So I've officially lived for 28 years, 12 hours and 24 minutes. And I don't feel a day any different.

I've always imagined this weekend to be different. It would have been a BIG celebration of food, party, laughter and the whole village would have been there. Except it was almost that, minus the real family.

Big Thanks to my borrowed family!! - the food was great as usual,and the company was hilarious! Sorry I couldn't share point #4 with you guys. It's a secret :)

ps: I've received my first ang pao (red packet) in 8 years! Yipee!

It's FINALLY here!

For those of you who've read my old blog, I've mentioned many times that I truely enjoy and cried my heart out watching the movie Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Well, it's here! Mind is a powerful tool, if you control your mind, who controls you? Doesn't the mind control you?

Little blue pills (click) - and I don't mean those that guys take :)

"How to piss people off in under 1 minute over the internet..."

Receipe:

1. Log in to msn
2. Choose a target
3. Say "Hi!"
4. Wait for a reply
5. Say "So I heard you had a thing with so-and-so"
6. and let the game begin....

I have to say, I really didn't mean to start off a conversation out of the blue and just simply pull topics out of my arse - although I do tend to do that ever so often, I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut and bite my tongue before I let it go lashing out like that...

So let me just clear the air... Didn't mean it! No intentions, just one of those things that I pull-out-of-my-arse type conversations.

Penalty:
Wear this cardboard around your neck and walk around Central Park

Beware, I am...

Petty + Inconsiderate + Seriously Emotionally Disturbed

Bring out the champagne

Every so often I feel like kicking back, sit on my arse all day in PJ and watch episodes after episodes of whatever that takes my fancy - at this very moment, it's Heroes (click).

In hot weather... a nice cold drink would be good.. in this case, the drink of my choice is this little baby here... yummy fruity Zibibbo!

So here is a toast - as cleverly said in episode 3:

To love.....

May we stay away from it when it's no good for us!

As Valentine day approaches

"When women fall in love, their world becomes singularly focused on the object of their affection: Him. Their former relationships become backdrop"

You've heard the story before - your close friend meets someone. Falls deep. And then, hanging on to the balloon of love, floats right out of your life.

What's the deal with this? Why does the entrance of a new man (or new women for dudes out there)signals the exit for your friendship? It sometimes make me wonder: did the friendship really means anything to begin with?

I tend to fall victim to this pool of here is the exit sign friendship. I'm proud to say I never once let go of my friends just because of a new man. It's all about including the new man, not excluding your friends.

Why go to the bar with your single friend when you already have a man at home? Often the process is subtle, but slowly, hanging out with your friend during the weekend, going to any drinking outings or grabbing a coffee without the mention of "Him" is an anomaly.

But wait! This is not the last time you'll hear from your friend: when she's had a fight with him, or when he's already made other plans - you'll hear from her. I know this very well. It almost always happen to me, I become the best friend for the period of time until the cold war is over or he's back.

It strikes you:- you were only there as a fill in, an understudy.

As for the men, it's all together different. They are known as the pussy-whipped (excuse my language here) - submission to the ladies. It is also commonly describe as the initial male separation from their ever important Lads Faction.

Friendship among women plays a signifant role in reducing stress and promote well-being. The thing with women is we like to talk things out, talk things over. Women are generally hard-wired to cope with stress through friendship networks. Men on the other hand are often tagged as "lacking intimacy". They build trust amongst their mates, and they do it in a different way. Friendship is a major avenue of self-explorations.

So before you ditch your friend for bliss, think twice - inclusion, not exclusion.

ps: Good luck in love! xoxo

Detox the new diet

Once in a while I get into one of my moods. I want to try something new. Anything from a new hair style, new dressing style, new hair color. This time around, my hair is too short to do anything about it, and I've already changed color to it, so I decided to try something from the inside - Detoxify. So for the next 21 days, my diet will have to change.

Here's the menu:

1. A glass of warm water with a splash of lemon juice every morning
Easy.. I can do that

2. No caffeine - that includes no coffee or tea, herbal tea is OK
Tough. I'll give it a go. I need my caffeine everyday.

3. No fruit, except for bananas
Easy enough, I like bananas

4. No red meat
Easy. I prefer chicken any day

5. No dairy
OK, I've learnt to drink soy milk, that's fine. I can live without cheese for a bit

6. No cigarettes, no alcohol
No problemo

7. No food containing wheat, yeast, gluten
Errr... OK, that means I have to start reading labels. I have a friend who is celiac. If she can do it, so can I (not that she had a choice not to anyway).

8. Tuna and Salmon fish
Easy! My 2 favorite fish.


Sounds easy enough. I've been struggling to find food that DOES NOT contain yeast, wheat or gluten! How do the rest of the people out there who's allergic to these do it?? They MUST shop somewhere. And so they did. if you are desperate enough, you'll find it. Well, as for the caffeine.... I have sniffles every morning, and it's only a matter of time before I say I GIVE UP!



Day 6... and counting...

Dresses oh dresses

Mom bought me 2 summer dresses, she must think I'm still 12.

It's brand new, yet to have any memories associated with it.

Then there's this little red dress that I bought for New Years celebration....

It was a happy day. Had cigarette burns on it so I had it altered - shorter.

And this little black dress I wore to last year's Darby Day... where I got really drunk and couldn't remember much of that day....

It was a blur... but I remember being happy until i found out about something...and got drunk

..... A dress that I bought for a wedding where I was completely ignored and left alone to fan for myself by my so-called partner for the wedding....
A day i would like to forget entirely

Finally... a dress that mom passed down to me...

Not worn

Old letters

Once in a blue moon i'll tidy up my wardrobe when i'm bored at home and too lazy to go out. I thought about dyeing my hair to some other color but I was way too lazy to drive out and get the color.
What a pleasant surprise when i saw a box of "goodies". Letters, cards and gifts given to me from friends. I felt like a little kid finding a treasure box full of gold coin chocolates! (although i really would rather like to find a box full of money, fat chance).

Drawing up a cup of hot chocolate with my fondue (awsome, if you're a chocolate lover, get one and make your own creamy thick hot chocolate), had the aircon cranked up (money well spent! *pat on my back*), i sat curl up on the sofa slowing reading through all the cards, letters and gifts.

Can i just say, sad as it seems, there were so many that i just cried while reading through them. Surprisingly, these are friends that i've not lost. Just that we're all scattered around the world. Letters dated back to 1999, the latest being 2003. That just shows that after 2003, when email became really dominant in my life (and that's the year i started working), i spent less time on more personal communications. I'm a slave to technology. When I meet someone, it's "do you have an email/business card?" as opposed to "what's your mailing address?" and i hate exchanging phone numbers, it's a tad too personal for my liking.
As i read through the letters, i realised that i killed the old me. Either that or I've matured to a boring, selfish little b!tch. Some old habits die hard, as i read through some, i can't help but smile..."that is just so ME".

This is a shout out of those who have sent me endless postcards and letters, first and foremost, sorry that i've not once wrote back, and all i did was emailed or sms back (my excuse is im in IT). Secondly, it was these written words that made me realised why I should continue being who I am and not fit myself into someone elses' mould (I'm too unique to be fitted into a prepared mould). And lastly, I promise to email and/or sms you with my updates :) Old habits die hard remember? Moreover, i have terrible handwritting :)