3 reasons to be HAPPY on a Monday

1. I'm officially on 2 weeks' holidays!!! Hear that??? *silence* That's the sound of me NOT mumbling and swearing to myself while trying to comprehend incomprehensible drafts at 11pm. AHHhhhHHhhh

2. Mooncakes for breakfast (AND lunch... and dinner... and supper...)

3. Mr. Postman arrived this morning with THIS:



Introducing the latest addition to my growing family of photo-taking gadgets-

The SNOWCAT VERSION of the DIANA F+



[ SNOWCAT ] is a cute cartoon journal by a Korean illustrator. I have no idea what the captions in the comic mean because it's in Korean, but the simple yet adorable cat design was enough to convince me to buy it on this plastic baby I've been putting off for yoinks because "it's a WANT, not a necessity".

I finally gave in to the itch after [ Jerry ] got the Colette version, and [ Daph ] got the mini.



Mariah sussing the new camera out


Who dis new CAT?!?!! I'z d only feeline allowd in hawse!!

Snowcat no good, mommee. I'z still kiuter

. . . . .

I totally had an angel/devil conversation going on in my head yesterday morning, when I was watching Eddie train the Singaporean girls.

The catfight between the one with the fluffy halo and the one with the pitchfork went something like this:

HALO: *smiling sweetly* Sighh. Look at that. Eddie is such a fantastic coach. You're the luckiest girl in the world... You've got a wonderful boyfriend who's puts in so much time and effort into something he's not obliged to do, yet willingly helps out just because he can... and you've got wonderful girlfriends who are taking up a sport you love, so you don't have to play alone anymore! Life can't be any better than this, can it? *angelic beams*

HORNS: MOVE BEEYATCH *shoves Miss Halo away and yells into Jody's ear* HELLO ARE YOU KIDDING MEEEH?!! Your BOYFRIEND is coaching YOUR OPPONENTS. See how good they're getting!! Yes, you should be worried. What the hell were you thinking, helping recruit players for the enemy and asking your boyfriend to help train them? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??!! You're asking to get trashed, that's what it is. You have the power to tell Eddie to stop training them before it's too...

*Jody promptly flicks the little Devil away, picks up the poor Angel and places her back on shoulder*

See, this is why I didn't want to participate in the ASEAN Games in the first place. I don't like being competitive; I just want to play for fun! I used to get serious performance anxiety during Karate days because I just CANNOT bring myself to compete against friends.

But since [ Alia ] and [ Yasmin ] have left the team (graduated and gone back to Malaysia), we were already short of players, and with more of our good players being injured or away for the holidays, Hajar was having a hard time looking for new substitutes so it wouldn't be fair if I said I didn't want to play when I was totally available.

Nevertheless, with the ASEAN opening ceremony coming up this Sunday, I'm totally looking forward to it now, regardless of who wins or loses. Hey it's just a game after all, and at the end of the day, it's the learning experience and the exposure that counts :)

OHAI

Yew callz mai naime?

Smell that?

That's the smell of a hole being burnt in my pocket.

Eddie and I went to Rebel Sport today after our lunch date, and he bought.... NOTHING!! (Although he was cradling a EPL soccer ball with a price tag that could buy almost a dozen normal soccer balls)

Guess who splurged instead?



Today's damage:

Bus ticket - $5.80
Lunch (kebab + drink) - $9
New Dan Brown book from Borders - $32.99
Starbucks Strawberries & Cream frapp (tall) - $4.80
Jean-Paul Gaultier 'Classique' fragrance (Ma Dame- 2009 Summer Edition) - $99
80k car servicing - $445.70
Dinner (Chilli tofu & noodles + drink @ Chez Tessa) - $8.50
*EDITED* Lomographic Diana F+ Snowcat Edition + 2 rolls of 120mm film - $245
------------------------------------
GRAND TOTAL: $850.79 T.T
------------------------------------

My next car servicing will cost even more, FML.
Why is it so expensive to own a car *wails*
. . . . .

Took the bus to UQ from the city (took me light years to find the 412 bus-stop goddammit) to watch Grace play with her usual casual futsal kakis



The WAGs and the Singaporean girls' team might be training tonight. I don't think it'll be very nice of me to play with them at this stage (so close to the competition) when I'm the 'enemy'... I might look like a spy or something :P

Methinks I'll just go for a run instead and build some much-needed stamina.

Of ASEAN nations and futsal madness

My girlfriends are playing for the Singaporean team
and I for the Malaysian team
Because I am Malaysian
And dating a Singaporean
Who is coaching the Singaporean men's team
And who plays with a friend
Who is coaching the Indonesian women's team
Whom we are playing against tonight

Amen kthxbai.

Super Sunday

Farah had organized a casual soccer session for the Singaporean girls and had invited me along. I whinged a lot all morning (too early la, still sleepy la, no warm-up la, no stamina la, sun too hot la, need foot massage la, too tired la, too hungry la etc. etc.) but in retrospect, I actually had a really good time playing... Especially with the WAGs and Juju being there, and also being able to work on some basic drills afterwards with the help of Eddie and Brennan :)


Our furry spectators

Had had a headache since I woke up this morning, which got worse as the day progressed. Popped a Panadol Rapid in the arvo after getting home from soccer but it didn't help at all. I think it might've been because of wearing my contact lenses to sleep for the past 3 days. Anyway, I've just woken up from a good nap and the headache's gone now so that's good!

Went to Sunnybank with Juju and Julia in the arvo and we finally got MOONCAKES!!! xD I got a box of 4 mooncakes with 4 yolks in each. OMG I have been craving for my eggyolks for the longest time, and it was soooo goooood to finally be able to sink my teeth into one...



Eddie and I devoured a whole mooncake in minutes (well actually, I ate most of it *cough*) and I fell asleep happy after that. ^^

Hmm I think I'll go have some more now.

The Body Shop party

Yoshi invited us to a foot pampering-themed party, which was hosted by her colleague, whose ex-boyfriend's sister is a Body Shop consultant.

The host Gemma (Jenna?) had made cupcakes, and there were also strawbies, veggies with dip, crackers and camambert, coffee, tea, juice... the whole lot.



The yummy spread!

After games and being given some products to try on/sniff/slather on, we had the foot spa yay



The girls (the guy is someone's boyfriend heh) munching on cupcakes and enjoying their Peppermint foot baths.

The Body Shop lady is Kellie; she had only started doing these party packages (this was only her third party, I think). I like her cos she's nice and genuinely friendly, and I think she's trying really hard to see how she can improve her next parties!

The chickas...



And my foot. I had to B&W this photo cos my leg looked disgusting and blotchy, compared to the bronzed goddess on the cover of the catalogue sitting on my lap. Look at my yucky toenails bruised from soccer.



Rhonda and I did not buy a single thing from the party, tempting as the Catalogue was, cos...

... WE'RE HOSTING OUR OWN PARTY ON THE 26th!!!! :D :D :D

We booked the MAKEUP package cos we love Body Shop makeup, and it'll be good to have products to play around with so that we can all try and test and have fun without the embarrassment of having to walk into a shop and have the sales assistants look at you like an idiot when you ask them noob questions, or when you take too long trying to figure out what suits your skin tone, or when you have to say "Thanks, but no thanks" because you really really cannot afford to spend your week's pay on five more smokey black eyeshadows but now you're obliged to because the SA has spent half an hour piling the stuff on your face!

*takes a deep breath*

Anyway, after the party, the three of us went to Westfield Chermside to suss out some more BS products for our party, window-shop around a bit and had lunch.

Then went home and crashed with the boyfriend.

Really need to stop taking afternoon naps, it's past midnight now and we're still wide awake! How to wake up for soccer tomorrow morning?

GTG Eddie cooked chicken drumsticks for supper and it shmells damn good ^^

Pissed off

No, I am NOT VERY HAPPY AT ALL with students who use me as an excuse to NOT pass up their drafts which were due LAST WEEK, email me drafts now when it's BEDTIME and expect me to correct them AND help them write up conclusions and whatnot before 8am tomorrow morning.

Fuck it, I've had a long day and I'm going to bed.

Craving for stingrays

Thought we'd give Shorncliffe another go since Adrian hadn't caught his stinger yet (and also because it's been a while since we've had grilled stingrays slathered with sambal), but we ended up catching... NONE.

Instead, we hauled up a mixed seafood platter of herring, toadfish, mullet, prawns, squid, a truckload of undersized bream, a small shovelnose shark, and a crab (a BIIG one which greedily hung on to the bait, but let go of the line when Adrian cleverly tried to get it up with the castnet) -.-

Weather was really tranquil though, after the storm this morning. I had never seen anything like this at the jetty! The wind died down to nothing-ness, the moon was full and it just reflected off the calm surface of the water like a mirror.


Sans flash

Eddie and his shovelnose



Our live bait bucket



This tiny fella broke my personal record in two ways:
1. It was my first ever (spotted rock) cod, and
2. At about 2 inches, it was the smallest wee thing I have ever caught on a line!



The li'l sucker tried to swallow bait almost its own size O.o

Tried recharging Adrian's squid jig with my camera flash (rather than use his tiny torchlight), but it didn't work very well



Adrian caught a small squid.

I know I look damn fugly in this photo... I was going "Faster take, faster take!" cos I didn't want the sotong to squirt ink in my face, even though it had supposedly used up all its ink already



In the end we got so fed up with the undersized fishies and non-existent action that we decided to pack up and go home just after high tide.

Brought a prawn back for Mariah. She went CRAZY



Alright I'm super sleepy already. Bed time, goodnight world! x

Reading by the Riverside

(Current book: A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby)

Dressing room saga

Eddie's gone off to see Venecia to continue his physical assessment, so I might as well put up some photos from today while I wait for him to come back.

I'm really proud of Eddie and his determination to lose weight by signing up for personal training (so that we can eat more when we go back to Singapore end of the year bahaha) but at the same time, feeling embarrassed for myself because I've been pigging out on junk food like nobody's business, being lazy, getting fat, not exercising, and what have I been doing about it?

NOTHING.

My girlfriend is training my boyfriend, instead of training me.

=.=

Eddie has even given up the cheese in his kebabs, swapping it for tabouleh (omg RESPECT... I can never ever give up CHEESE!!!), because everytime he eats anything sinful these days, he'd start imagining a tiny little Venecia perched on his shoulder tsk tsk-ing into his ear and frowning at him disapprovingly.

O.o

Anyways after lunch, we chilled out at Starbucks for a bit before Eddie went back to his office...



I didn't feel like going home just yet so I thought I'd walk around the city and window-shop.

Took pictures of some of the stuff I tried on at [ Forever New ]. This shop is one of my favourite haunts cos they've got pretty nice designs, good material, and best of all their garments are pretty affordable.

I actually really like this picnicky top, because the material is thin, comfy and perfect for summer... But they didn't have my size :( This was a size too big.



I loved the hummingbird design on this one! Again, they didn't have my size; this size was frumpy to the point of looking like a nightie :( If it were a size smaller, it would've been perfect teamed with a belt.



This halter dress was nice, but it was a size too SMALL...



...I couldn't even zip it up from behind.



This silk dress was lovely and pretty and flowy, but didn't like the cutting cos it made my small boobs look even smaller! So nope, of course I didn't get it.



Tried to find work stuff at [ SUPRÉ ] but no luck. I swear they make clothes for 7-ft girls, not for short people like me (T.T)



OK Eddie's back! Damn hungry. Gonna go tapao dinner and go watch the Asean Cup Trial 2 for the Singapore men's soccer team!

It was summer last week

Why is it winter again this week?

. . . . .

Futsal last night was pretty intense for me. Could barely play for 10 mins and I was already out of breath! T.T Shit as lah, I really need to start running more to get some stamina back...

There are SO MANY THINGS I need to work on; for starters I really need to stop losing the ball all the damn time and know where I'm supposed to be at so that I can support my team-mates grrh

Had invited Yoshi along as well... She fell down going after the ball and her knee wouldn't stop bleeding O.o

Nevertheless it was a good turnout and it was good to see the girls again!

. . . . .

OK time to get ready for my Thursday date with Eddie ;)

I ♥ Shiok-turdays

Decided to take out the 'yaks again with Mark and Su. Weather was sunny, windy, and absolutely perfect. Hellooooo summer! :D



Going upstream against the current was a bitch though, and I learnt my lesson: Always remember to ADJUST THE RUDDER PEDALS before getting onto the water O.o



We paddled and glided and chilled on the river till noon, rocking like a 不倒翁 every time the CityCat churned past, soaking up the sun, occasionally dangling our feet overboard to dip our toes into the deliciously cool water.

. . . . .

When we got home, we were approached by an Indian lady who showed us her Telstra ID and whom I initially thought was out collecting data about our Internet services for a survey. We soon realized she was a door-to-door salesperson, and Eddie got sucked in because the internet package she was offering sounded too good to be true.

And because it sounded too good to be true (and the bit that sounded too good to be true wasn't stated on the contract she was trying to get Eddie to sign), Eddie insisted on speaking to her boss.

So she called her boss and passed the phone on to Eddie. Boss clarified the deal, which indeed WAS too good to be true, because it was totally different to what Miss Telstra India had been telling Eddie.

Boss, being very apologetic, said he would come over and explain the package to Eddie in person, since he was in the neighbourhood. So he did. Miss Telstra India kept quiet, having nothing to say knowing she had been caught trying to push people to sign up for a package SHE didn't know shit about.

Eddie didn't sign up, of course.

All the while, I was in the room listening to their conversation and admiring Eddie for his conversational/negotiational/clarificationing/whatever skills, because IF IT WERE ME, I would've just allowed myself to carelessly get sucked in by stupidly believing all the wrong facts!

I really should learn from Eddie to be more careful.

. . . . .

After the Miss Telstra India incident, we went to Coffee Square AGAIN.

I must admit the popular little eatery at Market Square is starting to grow on us. The food is affordable and pretty decent, servings are huge, food presentation not bad, service also pretty alright, and we never have to wait too long for our food.

This time I ordered the Diced Veal in Honey Pepper Sauce with Rice.



SHIOK~!! This dish definitely satiated the crazy pepper-lover in me, and halfway through the meal I could already feel the heat of the spice emanating from teh pits of my belly.

Poor Eddie on the other hand couldn't taste anything because I had passed him my germs and he's lost his tastebuds. Ooops.

After lunch, went junk-food shopping @ Yuen's.

After Yuen's, went for 豆花 (tau huay) at our favourite place @ Sunnybank Hills. We were ecstatic that they FINALLY had 豆花 with sweet potato dough, because for the past 5 times we were there, they were sold out!!

So we ordered two, of course...



... and were extremely disappointed because the balls of sweet potato dough were DIFFERENT! They weren't the same ones that we had loved so much. These were rather hard to swallow, not soft and chewy like the old ones (Eddie says it's like chewing old gum), and we could hardly taste the sweet potato. Bleh.

I really need to stop pigging out. My tummy is growing so big that I can't see my toes anymore.

Chicken rice @ Coffee Square

You know what my favourite thing is when I order duck rice/chicken rice/BBQ or roast pork rice in a Chinese restaurant?

The SOUP.



Whether it be watercress soup or carrots and kiam chai or chunks of juicy wintermelon in pork broth or stock, it never fails to make me homesick cos they taste so much like my mom's homemade soups :(

TOLERANCE, I has it... NOT

I find one certain group of people extremely exhausting- The ones who are about as consistent as Melbournian weather, but turn saccharin-sweet when...

1. Their birthdays are just around the corner (and they're subconsciously buttering you up leading up to the date so that you'd make their day)

2. They need you for your car- to pick them up or send them places if they don't have a car, to be the driver when they can't be arsed to drive, to pick something up, move stuff, deliver stuff, etc.- The list is endless

3. They have noone else to turn to- like when they break up with their boyfriend, suddenly you're BFFs until things patch up for them and then she ignores your calls and msgs and you never ever hear from her again.

I play along every single time. Don't get me wrong, I have never ever turned down a person in need of genuine help. But what irks me tremendously is when these so-called "friends" think they can use their friend status to wipe their feet all over me at their convenience, when in fact they have no idea they're about as see-through as a jellyfish. It is annoying and extremely insulting to assume I am dumb enough for you to do that and get away with it. The worst thing is, I do it again and again because I think these people actually mean something to me, when obviously I'm just tissue for them to wipe their noses on when their noses start dribbling. Or whatever, you get the drift.

These are tumours who cling on and don't give a shit if they hurt you as long as they get what they want, but boy does it feel good when you finally cut them out of your life.

. . . . .

People ask why I don't believe in best friends. To me, a "best friend" is nothing but a label- a concept of professed undying friendship, love and a tangled web of complicated unspoken obligations. It doesn't exist in my world (and if it does in yours, good for you).

Call me a skeptic and/or a cynic, but sincerity is a rare gem these days.

I have close friends who mean more to me than a mere label, whom I love with all my heart, and as as cliché as it sounds, they are the ones who love me for who I am, not for what I can offer them. They have proven their worth through thick and thin over the years; they are the ones who tell it to my face like it is rather than sulk over petty little things and stab me in the back; they are the ones who give me wings and make me soar and fill my life with rainbows simply by being themselves.

And these are the people I miss dearly right now. Sigh. I'd give anything to call you and burn your ears with my emo rants but you'd probably kill me cos it's 4 o'clock in the morning. :P

OK slap me now and knock me out cos I've gotta be up for work in less than 3 hours.

Current addiction

*Somebody* set the toaster setting to 5...

I am now eating crispy BISCUITS of toasts.. Or what remains of toasts anyway, after having scraped off the layers of charcoal on both sides, which was so thick the entire plate was coated with black crumbs after I was done scraping.

Am not feeling too much better today, although the fresh air and panadol last night did do wonders...

Had tagged along with Eddie to watch the boys try out for the Singaporean soccer team for the ASEAN Cup. While the guys tried hard to impress the 'judges', the three of us WAGs sat on the side of the pitch and yakked about balls and *people* peeing in bushes and bullied Kaka and exchanged aunty stories hehe. I know you're reading this so thanks babes, u girlies make me happy! ^^

. . . . . . . .

Let me tell you how TERRIBLE I am at planning surprises.

I saw this in Myer's Father's Day catalogue last night.

It was a fragrance that Eddie had loved and wanted for light years, but had never gotten around to buying it because he wants to use up his current one first and he doesn't buy perfumes on impulse like me.



I was thinking "Eh, it's on offer for $99!"

Then I was thinking of how I could buy it for Eddie tomorrow before our lunch date and surprise him yadda yadda, before I suddenly realized I had actually spoken my "Eh, it's on offer for $99!" out aloud, because Eddie responded by saying "Yeah I know. I wanna get it. When does the offer end?"

Inside, I was kicking myself for blurting it out, because now if I bought it for him tomorrow it wouldn't be a suprise anymore, right? Cos he already knows I saw it in the catalogue.

While he was in the shower, I had a brilliant idea. I'll buy it on [ strawberrynet.com ]!! It'd be cheaper too. Boy will he be suprised when it arrives in the mail in a week or two!

Trembling with excitement, I went online and purchased it, clicking on "checkout" and printing the receipt the moment he stepped out of the bathroom. I was jittery with excitement, and I must have had the most ridiculously sheepish grin on my face, cos when he saw me he must have immediately known I was up to something. I felt like if I didn't show him what I was printing right then and there I would explode, so I did (show him what I was printing, not explode)

He was happy, of course :)

But geez, so much for wanting to surprise him.

It was like how I almost forced my sister to guess what her Christmas present was, and then just ending up telling her because I was more excited than she was, and couldn't wait for her to open it on Christmas!

Meh =.=

. . . . . . . .

What am I gonna do today?

I've decided not to meet Eddie for our usual Thursday kebab date, because I've got leftover pasta in the fridge and I need to stop spending moolah.

I thought of going fishing at Shorncliffe because I'd love some sun and fresh air, and there wouldn't be a lot of people on the jetty now (cos I hate it when it's crowded and all the good spots are bagged and there are kids screaming and stamping around)... but I'm a little hesitant about going alone because I secretly fantasize about hooking up some monster fish and there'd be no Eddie there to help me then I'd lose the fish because my tiny 6 pound line cannot handle it T.T

Hmm. The thought of having fresh bream for dinner is very tempting though. Can try using my Switchblade. Or can use bread on tiny hooks. I wonder if I use multi-grain bread, would the bream know it's good for them cos its healthier than white bread?

Summer blooms

I don't know if it's because I'm sick, or hormonal, or both, but there are some people who are really really starting to annoy the fuck out of me right now...

Miss Manja Puss

Suuuuke die when daddy sibuk main game >.<

A Tuesday unlike others

The school principal from a famous girls' school in Tokyo, along with her HOD of English and a few other Japanese agents, came to visit CSHS today as part of EQI's (Education Queensland International) promotion of Queensland schools for student exchange programs.

I don't work at CSHS on Tuesdays because I'm at Bundamba. I left work early so that I could meet our visitors and tag along on a grand tour of our school ^^

Upon arrival, the visitors were ushered into the Arts & Performance Centre, where they were greeted by the school's string ensemble at the door.

The principal gave a short welcoming speech...



Then the ensemble played another beautiful piece before the visitors moved on to the hall.



The Production students presented with a marvellous full-dress song rehearsal from "Cats"
It was one of my favourites from the musical, called "Memory" :)



Both performances were marvellous!

I am SOO JEALOUS of our international kids... I wish I had gone to school in Australia!!! Here, I could've chosen my subjects and studied things I actually LOVED- like Visual Arts and Drama and Music and Language... instead of having forced down my throat boring useless science subjects (I'm not dissing the subjects alright, they're just useless to me), like Chemistry and Physics and Additional Maths :(

...And PENDIDIKAN MORAL!!! Who the EFF came up with Pendidikan Moral. STUPIDEST SUBJECT IN THE WORLD CAN!!! @!^#%&^*#$-!!

OK enough ranting.
I digress.

Here are our visitors with the principal, and some of our lovely 'Cats' :)



Moving on to check out the sports fields, where some boys were enjoying a game of frisby...



The [ Bell Shakespeare Company ] happened to be at school today!

They've got an educational program called [ Actors at Work ], where the troupe of actors go around different schools in the country to perform and share their passion + the awesome-ness of Shakespeare's works around the country.

They.are.SO.FRICKIN.AWESOME.



The students were mesmerized.
So was I.
I wished I could've stayed on to watch, but we had to move on...



We took the visitors on to different classrooms to see students at work
Music room, computer labs, Home Ec....



... and my little ESL room too ^^
Good thing I came to school a little earlier to tidy and spruce up the room!

After the tour, we had some morning tea in the conference room.



The principals exchanged tokens of appreciation, and took some group photos before they left



The rep from EQI (third from left) says they are trying to break into the Malaysian market and promote the program, because while we've got a huge intake of Vietnamese and Japanese and Chinese students, there are almost no participating Malaysian students at all.

I told her EQI would need to do a lot more promotional work at education fairs and such, because if I had known these programs existed, I would have loved to have studied at an Australian high school.

She handed me her card and said she'd love to keep in touch, and would keep me updated regarding any promotional work they might do in Malaysia in the future. ^^

Sekian.