Happy Fricken' 2007

They say it's good to have all the "suay" luck out of the way before the (Chinese) New Year. Well, baby. Life after February should be beyond roses, seriously. A windfall should strike me, to the tune of a cool million bucks. Where do I begin??

1. My brand new car gets scraped cuz I judged the car dimensions wrongly. It's a teeny scrape lah, to be honest... but still!!!
   
2. Hubby's paycheck is viciously slashed this month because the company accountants in Dubai have compensation issues.
   
3. Chinese New Year's in 2 weeks. This means packing red packets...with what, though?! Peanuts?

To be fair, it's not as bad as it seems. I'm whining, true. I don't even believe I'm entitled. Believe me when I say SD has more problems, and I feel awful that he's just gotten back to work and is already miserable due to circumstances.

I also got a job at a local Uni. It's nothing awesome lah, and the pay ain't all that, but it's good for my CV. And boy, it needs the additional lustre :)

Anyways, some lame-o pictures I took on a random picnic with hubby, right before he left.

The world in a ball...




Shrine of a Shopaholic

I guess I'm not in the mood to post up much. But a Happy New Year to all.

Friends...

SoulDoc models her polka dotted outfit, complete with skewed facial expression..!












SoulDoc and I had an impromptu theory lesson at Starbucks... where she proceeded to spill our freebie toffeenut latte (oh my GAWD that is the uber numness!!! :D) all over Empress, flirt with the barista, model her latest mix'n'match creation and terrorize me...

All in a day's work for SoulDoc! ... :D ... ??

Okay, okay. She did spill the toffeenut latte, but I was the one terrorizing the general public ... *sob!*...






The Terrible Trio strikes A&W!!









Lainie proves that she's intellectual and current by bringing the morning paper to A&W at 11pm. Becky is awake (holy shit!!!) and Zedeck....well, who knows with Zedeck, really? That could be his Unholy Finger of Unwaggleable Pointing or something, and that could even be a whammy he's giving Lainie... but you can't tell with Zedeck. Sometimes, a pointed finger is simply a pointed finger :D





'twas a dark and rainy night, when the nuts came out to play...!"






Zedeck: "Get in the trolley, Juliet, and we won't sic Pang on your dogs!!"

Juliet: "Ohhh...! *swoon*...Okay!! >_<"

















"Here in Kakiseni, we strive to foster our creativity in imaginative ways!"

*hack!* *choke!!* :D







Long-distance lovin'









Last but NOT least are friends of SD's who came down for a quickie visit. Never mind the fact SD was in the middle of Bumfuckistan at the time of their visit, it never fails to touch me that true friends never give up on you, never forget you, and seldom remember anything but the best of you.

Hunny, if you read this, you'd better call Vyn yah? He's missing you mucho :)

Anyways, apols to friends whose pictures I did not take using my phonecam. Actually, y'all prolly oughta thank your lucky stars you're not featured in my PeaNut Gallery :D <3!!!

After the ball...

Well, no ball. More like a concert. And it's DONE...! Am now listening to the recordings made during our performances. And am cringing a little. Just a little :) I'm just about done listening to the recording from our 3rd show. Urk :)

I've been heavily stressed out from so many events crashing around my ears. The show, nerves, friends, my monthly visitor... I'm now snatching whatever moment of rest I can, and plan on enjoying myself by kicking back with a book, and enjoying my solitude :)

Man, I can't even work up the energy to get out of the house to hunt for food :p Fear me!

Anyway, I think I'm in love with JP's voice :) *nudge JP*...Dude, onstage with fucked up monitors blasting insincere levels of sound, you're drowned dead. But the mic loves you man, LOVES you!!! Gotta do some editing on the recordings, compile the ones we like best, and put them together in a memorable CD collection. Yeah. In the meantime.... *drooooool*...! :)

I am now bursting with notes and ideas to work on for future shows. Hopefully, I don't lose whatever friends I've managed to retain (apols to those I've lost by flapping my loose lips whenever a random thought struck me!)...

Anyways, if anyone wants to tell me what they thought of our show (ONLY for those who bothered to attend lah, ok? Chanks..!), leave a comment! I'm always ready and WILLING to learn from mistakes, and to improve on what's already there.

Complacency's my enemy :)

Look Test

I had my sis "do me" with my newly purchased makeup for the WP concert :) Lets cut to the chase, shall we? *Fatblablacoughblauglyblablamew!*

Macro'd this using a mirror and light from outdoors so in some shots, the colors are washed out. Whatcha think? Bear in mind, I requested a campy look :) And will be attaching mega-long falsies too.

The eyebrows are t3h c00|_|\|3ss PLUS!!!! We used eyeshadow. And that's all I'm-a' gonna say about it! :D



Blahblah...thread eyebrows...blah! That done, This is how it will look with the white hot stage lights. A bit muted, methinks.



And this will be the look in my eyes after Sunday's show...drunk as a skunk and wiped out. No, only kidding on the drunk :)

P/s: Puhleeze to ignore zee outfit. I slept in zat. Zut!!!

Spamalot Baby!

My not-so-li'l 7-year old Dollie is crazy about Spamalot: The Musical. Have we watched it? NO! But she got hooked when I kept giggling through the soundtrack (which I'd purchased @ Borders Whee Lock)...One day, I came home from rehearsal, only to see her lying comfortably on my bed, and watching a DVD.

Me: "Whatcha watching, Doll?"
Da Doll: "Tee-hee-hee!"
Me: *dash around telly case to see if she's watching some forbidden movie or something*
Me: "Omigod, is that Monty Python and the Holy Grail?!"
Da Doll: "*nod* Tee-hee-hee! *gnaws on smelly red blanket*"
Me: *FACEPALM*

You know you've boo-boo'd when you crack up while recommending to friends that they should take the White n' Nerdy Test, and your daughter shows signs of aceing that test by voluntarily watching MP&THG...btw, the test questions sort of lean towards the movie, as well as Star Wars. Fear that.

The WP Concert rehearsals are progressing in a slightly alarming way. Things are getting done, but the clock's ticking too fast, and time's seriously running out. Tensions are running high, artistic temperaments are beginning to fray, and panic is kicking it.

Ahhh...the adrenaline high from an upcoming performance. It just can't be beat :)

That being said, bonds of friendship are always tested in times like these, and a person's personal mettle is brought to the fore. Sounds poetic? It's not as dramatic as it sounds, and neither is it as pretty. It's life. And I think I'm going to miss all this crazed energy that's flying around once the show ends its run on November the 19th.

One year of accumulated work and emotional discharge is going to come to a head. Be there for it :)

Daily Zeitgeist et al...

Welp. I've added the requisite cam-whoring photos (believe you me, there's seriously nothing to brag about there) on the right bar using Flickr. And I've been trying for the longest time now to add our concert posters.

I think I'll have to take a page out of AJ's book, though. And use Photobucket :(




Oh, hello! It worked! So yeah, check out concert details (and please pass it on!!) and a sneak preview of one of the outfits I need to wear (Dr. Sam is ebil...fat women should not wear pretty dresses) during the show!

In other news, I actually went out for a drink with Zedeck and Lainie earlier. The invitation was unexpected, but the part where I play driver to these young intellectual (and car-less) Cikus is not lah. Harhar :D

Also, and mind you, I'm guessing Zedeck's presence had something to do with this incident, we saw the most gut-busting cock-up as we were turning into the street leading to A&W!!!

This local car which was driven by a Makcik wearing a tudung, suddenly WHANGED onto this pseudo-divider thing. Her left wheel climbed onto it, and I think her reflexes weren't in tune anymore, cuz she didn't hit the brakes and attempt to reverse off the divider. Oh noooo, she climbed onto it (think 4-wheel drive here, people!), bruised the car's under-carriage, bounced awkwardly onto place right smack in the center of the divider (it's triangular, by the way) and then proceeded to bounce off it.

Hahahaha!!! I about whanged into that divider myself, I was laughing so hard! And that wasn't the end of it. She turned into A&W, situated at the end of the street, then realized we who'd been privy to her awesomely L337 driving skillz were turning into the same restaurant, she apparently decided to ignore the one available parking spot, and drove off.

I'm so ebil...EBIL!!! Bwahahahaha! I'm still laughing thinking about it. It was too precious not to blog.

So yeah, and here I am...2 hours later. I've finally managed to get the WP concert poster up, and I can SLEEP! Hehehe :) Mwaks! *blows kisses*

Trial run on Raya cookies!

Soooo! I had like this major fight with my parents like 2 days back. Caught in the middle of a disciplinary session of "Why Da Doll Does NOT Have The Right To Take Anything She Wants Merely Because She Wants It"....a heavily emo session ensued, and tears were shed, feelings were trampled, and tantrums were rife.

Gah.

That night, I sat down to my two favourite recipe books and pored through possible Raya contributions. I guess family turmoil is best resolved with domesticity. How.....revealing. In an utterly...sad...way :p

After narrowing down my choices to 5 possibles and writing the list of ingredients I would need, I got cracking on Sunday, after playing kitten-police (this is where you referee all kitten fights, clean up after kittens and their unfortunate "bed-wetting" experiences, save a kitten from a curtain, and another kitten from self-strangulation on a shopping bag etc...) I grabbed Da Doll and we marched up and down the aisles of Cold Storage.

Et, voila!!! I have 4 containers filled with sugar cookies and truffles. My press line gang (Second Sib and Da Doll) were busy coating the truffles with all sorts of toppings, and got busy with the colored icing and left-over decorations on the sugar cookies which turned out, while superficially retarded, were at least damned tasty :)

Just gotta say: Chocolate truffles are dead easy to make. And so are sugar cookies. But, you know. Because you can't go wrong even with re-adjusted measurements, you don't need to worry about taste-testing the product during assembly. Hehe. Cuz. You know, us puasa month freaks...we can't rely on a 7 year old's taste buds :)

*My smiley-faced cookie got "enhanced" with rainbow sprinkle hair and a chocolate nose :p

So, anyways. Here I am. Monday morning...well, afternoon, now....I had thought I'd catch a movie, but I'm really comfortable where I am. I don't think I'll go to the gym either. Laziness in part, but I'm also not looking forward to sweating for 2 hours without a drink. I don't know how my sister does it. She works out at lunch.

I'm suspecting a serious disorder on her part. And no, won't go into that. She's a size 2 and thinks she needs to lose weight :p

I'm wrapping this up or this post will never get done :)

Puasa Month Blues

I shouldn't complain, really. I don't work all hours like most everyone else who fasts. I do, however, feel severely restricted health-wise by the fasting month. My experience from several years back of fasting and exercising hasn't yielded satisfactory results. Worse still is the thirst.

So here I am, biding my time....and bloating up. My chin bears a strong resemblance to that of a bullfrog. And I waddle around like a duck, I'm that awkward. Blaaaaaah :)

My dress came in 3 days ago! It is faboo! And just the right shade of RED too!

I've got tons of stuff to post up, but I'm kinda on my way out to the doctor's now. Damn this haze :p And while we're at it, damn the Indonesians (or Malaysian contractors?) who're behind the annual tree-burning tradition across the Strait :p

Aari on: "Why Staying Up Late Is A Bad Idea..."

1. Point numero UNO!!!
   
   
   
   • You order a dress online, all the while feeling that somehow, this is going to be the lesson you'll be learning on "Why You Shouldn't Buy Clothes Online...Evar!"
     
   
   

2. Point nombre Deux!!
   
   
   
   • You order said dress out of desperation, neglecting to check if there's a difference in size definitions...???
     
   
   

3. Point nombor Tigaaaa!!!
   
   
   
   • You finally discover the proper usage of google, and after much head-bashing, decide to keep the order as is, and that includes expedited shipping, holy crapola!!!
     
   
   

I figure I can afford the rush, but what if the size is totally wrong? So okay, there's room for error. But *sigh*...when'd I start getting so blase about money? I already bought a dress for the November concert, and although I have my doubts about the color, I'm not so sure I'm not compounding the problem by sending for another dress...

And we are supposed to be meeting a friend of Sam's to get our clothing tailored. What is my problem anyway? Why can't I just go with the tailor? I don't get it! And I'm sure the answer to that question could possibly shake the foundations of known religion and possibly the unknown too...NOT :p

See why I shouldn't stay up late? Verbal diarrhea is the least of my problems, and brain fart isn't much better :p

Anyway, I'm not going to cancel my order, and am in fact going to put the cash into my credit card first thing tomorrow. Here's to hoping there're no more problems with credit card fraud (and by saying that, I know I'm dreaming :p)...and that the dress works out. Going by the size chart, it seems okay. Oh, *pray-pray-pray*...

I hate thee, costume-shopping! I hate thee, shows! I hate thee, body! But I have to say the one I bought from KLCC proved to be unexpectedly yummy :) So what if it turns out that I can't wear it onstage? It's a real find! And that's probably like the second real find I've found (har-de-frackin-HAR!) that wasn't much to look at on the rack :)

Anyways, the books I'd actually planned on buying from Amazon couldn't be shipped here. That's a big *sigh*...I'm turning into an obsessive book fiend!!! It's not enough that I don't even have floor space for my books anymore, I'm still trying to acquire more!

I know there's essentially a huge problem with me. I know it. And I swear, I'm going to try fix it. I am! *whimper* Right...?

And, since I'm at it and brain-farting...

Choir practice starts (technically) later today. I've gotta wake up, photocopy some pieces. Heck. I've gotta locate the damned pieces! The notice has gone out that rehearsals are on, but I'm a bit disheartened. I'm not really sure what our attendance figures will be like. Seeing as how they weren't so hot through the first half of the year...

Dr. M (not the ex-PM :p) says I should focus on getting a small group all polished up. I don't even polish myself, this is about as bad as "the blind leading the blind" :p Anyway, rambling on about it won't help me. Sleep will, as I need to get stuff photocopied before the sun goes down :)

Also, this has been a severely imbalanced month. Nothing felt aligned. Not hubby's visit, not my moonflow, not my mood. Everything seems off-kilter, and the year's winding down again. I can feel the spin slowing, the precursor to acceleration....to the time where you ask: "My God! Where's the year gone?!"

Right now, it's dragging. And the drag is making me tetchy. I'm not looking forward to aging, understand :p But a drag is a drag, and boredom is a pain. Truly.

Last night, Dr. M and YueL came over for what I'd assumed would be drinks and a satisfying goz session. Ended up talking about music education (Dr. M's working on her thesis) and I am quite certain now that I'm not only somewhat full of shit, but I'm in truth completely so. Hehe :)

For the longest time now, i've been wondering where I stand musically, and where I want to go with what I know.

(In the words of Juliet - "I'm a poet, and I didn't know it!" :p)

I don't believe solely in the theory of music. There, I said it. I don't think I'm cut out for teaching. I don't even know if I believe in music therapy. The only thing I understand about it is it's as necessary as breathing (music, not teaching), and that I don't want to turn it into a chore. So how do I make a living out of it?

It's a dilemma. And the answer is still eluding me. And I've yet to find my niche :)

Okie, that's enough from me. I'm tired, and I stopped making sense the minute I typed in the title to this post.

This week's word is.... "SpaZZing!"

Yeah, I try to use one catchphrase a week. Just to show that I'm capable of original thought. Go, me!

Anyway, this is like the third time I've tried posting since hubby left. And...ah-hah....blogger decides to make a flaming liar out of me...

Well, here goes. My 8th Anniversary pressie from hubby.



Normally, this gift comes in pairs. And so it is no different for me. Huzzah! :D

The first week he arrived... well, the plan was to meet him in Bangkok. But you know what they say about mice and men? Best laid plans blah..blah..blahhh....

Using some creativity, an apple and two tins connected by microfilament wire (bwahahaha...I so made that last one up!!), I booked us into a hotel up north. Where I do...SOLEMNLY...swear...that the drivers there ought to be destroyed by a handy-dandy bazooka that I shall henceforth pack along with my makeup the next time I visit that particular place :)



That was the view halfway up the hill. You'll notice I name no names, as my plan to blow the place up requires some stealth and discretion!!



Despite the recent session I did with the WP, you'll note, since I'm the subject, that I'm not the one who took this picture. There's an even cooler two-faced depiction of me which I find resonates with the bitch within. Unfortunately, it's a bit risque on account of the fact that I was a) on the bed and b) not dressed but for a well-placed pillow ;)

You get a view of the city at night though, aren't you lucky? :) Oh, and my point is: hubby snapped this all on his own, woo hubby!! :)



It's nice to wake up to this, yah? snapped a slew of this scene. After weeks of smog and haze, rainbows just make the world a prettier place. I don't believe I've had a holiday with my little family since...God knows when! So this was a fun trip for all of us. But especially Da Doll, the li'l stinker. She'd found her way into the pack of hotel-provided crisps while our backs were turned :)


"Thou art Kee-yuuuuuute, and henceforth shall be named.....

FLUFFY!"

So anyways, after this quickie holiday, hubby and I dropped the kiddy back home, hopped on a train and suffered the 9 hour journey down south, where we proceeded to spend every last cent of his hard earned money (as well as whatever credit he had left in his cards)....!

That's where he got me my earrings. Also, we discovered a Godiva tucked away in a little nook along the Raffles underground link. Naturally, I bought some chocolates back for personal consumption (hubby loved the mint twigs!!) and he made me eat the 85% Dark Chocolate squares without water to wash it down. SO MEAN!

Naturally, I retaliated by making him do it too, and he never touched them again. Bwahahahaha! He also took lots of pictures. But since they're on his camera and not mine, I can't post them :) Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, cuz...who wants to look at pictures anyways? :)

Okay, so after a week of that, we got home and boy, things didn't slow down one bit. I think I must've spent half a week in Low Yatt Plaza. Another few days in Sungei Wang Plaza. We finally got Celcom prepaids, as that's the only thing that works where he does. I got me a Lime Green PEBL to go with it, instead of the $200 phone I'd initially planned to go with the line.

I love my li'l PEBL! :D

And I used my N73 to snap this! Sans flash though, and really. I may have dropped it a time or two. So who cares if the piccie is grainy and muzzy? Huh? HUH?! :D

If you ask me: Did I spend all my time spending while hubby was home this time around, I'll have to plead guilty. But that's not to say that I only equate hubby with retail therapy. He got called back a whole week earlier, and I think he felt bad about being away so long. I'm glad he made it home for our anniversary. We exchanged gifts, and got to spend a lot of time together.

But he's going to miss my birthday, the WP concert in November, and quite possibly Christmas as well. I don't think things, in all their material glory, can make up for not having him around. But every time the boy gives me a trinket, a bauble, an electronic gadget...I remember the days when we were first married, and he beat himself over his head so hard for not being able to pay for my meals.

If you think the taking is easy, think again. The smile that lights up his face every time he sets eyes on the bling he put in my ears? It's enough for me. And believe me, I will never take his largesse for granted. I don't think a spouse ever should. It's a gift, but feeling his pride that he's providing for his wife, old-fashioned as that sounds...well, you just had to be there. All of 8 and a half years ago.