Aiwah & Alex's Wedding Banquet & Glorious Penang Food

Quote of the day: Once in a while, indulge.

I have to tell you, Penang food is F***ING AWESOME! This trip is the bestest of the best! Right after I touched down, my lovely cousin whisked me off to indulge in one of the island's best Penang laksa.
Sori, ini imej dari telepon bimbit. The laksa soup luxuriously fragrant. And you gotta have authentic hay-ko (prawn paste).


Then, nap. THEN, out to eat rojak! Again, the hay-ko killed me.

But good things must come to an end...in the meantime. I had to endure typical Chinese wedding course, without hay-ko :(
Of course, the whole purpose of my trip is to witness and be part of a celebration of love and union of Aiwah and her always-smiling Alex. He must be very very happy to have her as his bride. Congratulations lovebirds! Herzlichen gluckwunsch!

Gurney drive.


Makan stalls at Gurney drive.


Couple of the hour.


Something unusual. But wait a min... the bride is not inside. Behold she's the bearer of the opening dish! Beh gam..





Supper at Batu Ferringi. Or-chien and char kuey teow courtesy of Sim's folks. I had so much little oysters.. and you know what oysters do to you, dontcha dontcha *chuckle chuckle* They were explosive.




Asam laksa, charkueyteow,oyster omellete and prawn mee. The four heavenly touch-my-body signature must-haves in Penang!

"Kakak"

Quote of the day: Be nice.

One night, Daniel went over to our study hall and played with his father's fax machine. As all kids with itchy hands do, he picked up the receiver and dialed some random numbers. He paused and looked uh-oh-what-did-I-do. Before Paul could reach him, he put the receiver back.

"Who did you call?"

*silent, looking guilty*

Paul pressed the redial button and listened.

"Tell me Daniel, who did you call?"
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
.
.
He nervously murmured, "Kakak"

On the line, this was who he called.

"Nombor yang anda dail tiada dalam perkhidmatan kami"

Paul and I had a blast.

Friends Forever

Thought of the day: Traffic at Singapore Checkpoints are scarier than being mooned by PM. Indeed, Mas Selamat has succeeded in creating terror without using weapons of mass destruction!

Good Friday was spent reuniting with my childhood friend whom I've not met for 16 years.

In that 16 years, we lost contact, studied in different continents, worked in totally different fields, lived differently and then one day, here we are, finding that we have actually a lot in common.



A toast to our friendship!

Meeting in Bintan

This year, our Scientific Advisory Board meeting is held in Bintan, Indonesia. It is a meeting where we report our progress and future work towards our institute's goal of producing the super cell-line that will invade the world!!

Ferry ferry not too shabby

Nirwana Resort Hotel, under Nirwana Gardens. Bintan is practically run by Singaporeans.





"Ibu, sup buntut satu! Buntut kanan ya!"

Doesn't quite feel Indonesian, but their resort buildings are, as usual, beautiful and simple.

Kid at Work

My workdesk in the office is temporarily converted into a childcare centre. I thought I'd let his nanny rest today.

So far so good.

"What Do You Love About Thee?"

I'm an old lady. Being awake at 12.43am is a feat to me. I'm having mental block from designing my cards. I can't go to work tomorrow because Daniel's nanny is in hospital. She had chest pains and has to be monitored overnight. My heart nearly stopped when she told me. This amazing woman has been my saviour ever since Daniel was born. And I can't even think of what will happen if something happens to her. She sounded alright though...

I was watching a Singapore TV program called Rouge, and in one part of the program, this was asked.

"What do you love about your other half?"

My answer used to be a cliche. "I don't know why I love him, but I just love him". Bla.

Becoming an old lady, I started to have reasons and opinions for everything. So, I thought I'd share on what I love about my other half.

He's always there.
He's the most reliable person I've ever met.
He's simple and straightforward.
He's a great father to our child.
He washes the dishes.
He tucks me in every night.
He's goofy.
He loves me.

OK. This old lady gotta go to bed.

*HIC*

Puisi of the day:

Gurindam Pak Lah

Panas ku sangka hingga ke petang,
Rupanya hujan di tengahari,
Kelantan ku sangka mudah ditawan,
Rupanya kuhilang 5 negeri.

Sungguh malang nasibku ini,
Tiada kampung, tiada negeri,
Penang negeriku ditawan DAP,
Taktau kemana nak bawa diri.

Ada baiknya ku undur diri,
Bagi peluang kepada Khairy,
Sambil kutumpu kepada isteri,
Manalah tau kot dapat baby!

***
Excuse me while I need to curse somebody...

MOTHERFBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPMATSELAMATBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP

Commuters at the causeway including yours truly were held up for 4 hours plus yesterday! FOUR BLARDY HOURS.

Guess what the customs doing now? Taking your blardy thumbprints. And it doesn't help when the system is blardy ssllooowww. Such genius! He escaped two weeks ago, and NOW we're scanning our thumbprints, so blardy awesome smart aleck they are!

I called home.

"So honey, how was Daniel's convocation?"

"It was great but that was ages ago. We are grandparents now, you know? Little Julia is a ruckus!"

"Oh... that's nice. Sigh... I should be home for Christmas if they keep this pace"

"Alright dear. Hey, sexie, pass me the beer.."

"Who is that?"

"Oh, that's Tina. I remarried"

"!!!!!!!!!!!!"

At this point, I saw Mat Selamat at the backseat of my car. He was holding a hi-tech device full of wire with a countdown timer, and I yelled, "SET THE BOMB I WANT TO DIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

***
As you can see, the highly *HIC* intense pressure of patience and *HIC* suspense have adversely affected my *HIC* nerves.
*muscle twitching*

National Wind of Change

Quote of the day: Truth prevails.

While we're still on political high...
T'was a peaceful polling day in Bandar Baru UDA. It was a great day indeed. I've never felt true democracy at work.




Johor is still a BN fort.


I now feel that our children's future in this country is no longer bleak. I hope that this happy face will remain happy, and he will have equal opportunities in all good things.

Baby Crocs

Quote of the day: Office:Mac 2008 is like having sex without condoms.

I saw a kid's croc shoe rolled into the side end of an elevator. It's horrifying! Fortunately, the child is alright, probably shocked and ashamed by mom's lecturing in public. SO, parents out there, if your kid ngeh-ngeh-die-die INSISTS on wearing crocs to places with elevators, make sure they LIFT their feet up (one foot a step of course) when they reach the end of the elevators. Or simply just lift them up yourselves.

OK?