It's a wonderful life

yesterday was a fantastically awesome day! it's the best time i had since i came here.

in summary, we did nothing except to eat, sit, talk rot, eat and sit again!

vincent and pat were supposed to come pick me up @ 10am before going for dim sum, but that two uncles didn't reach till 12pm. i was about to die of hunger.

to patrick: hey, you can LEARN to cook good indonesia food instead, and NOT LEARN to become late alright! [indirect joke, but you should get it right?]

so, anyhow, the guys need to use the bathroom when we reached the dim sum place but i was so hungry that i had made all the orders by the time they came back.

after visiting pat's sister, we went for ice-cream, to the beach and then dinner @ Little Malaysia. wau lau, at Little Malaysia, just between the three of us, we ordered 5 dishes and the tables all around us started looking at us, as though we were some freaks. haiya, whatever man, when it comes to food, im not pai seh one!

we had kang kong balacan, rendang beef, tahu goreng, mee goreng and asam prawns.

it was really a damn fun and hilarious day!

gannsai. actually i don't know if this is a chinese restaurant or a western place cause this is the first time i had dim sum at the patio. it was pretty interesting. 

ay, seriously. this is one pretty darn good place for dim sum. though it is not very cheap but overall it is marvalicious. 

good dim sum and good friends == perfect day! 

pat recommended this place for ice-cream. we just had dim sum a couple of hours ago but NEVERMIND lah, being typical greedy asians, good food woo... comfirm must try lah. eat first, can puke later!

it was pretty good. this place was rated top 10 places for ice-cream in the US by MSN 2003, 2004; best ice cream in L.A. by citysearch 2004, best malt in L.A. by LA magazines 2004; etc.

however, there are actually two places who can compete with this place. there are in stamford, connecticut and east village in new york city! 

Hermosa beach! we eat a shit lot of stuff for lunch and tea so it is finally time to just take a walk before heading for dinner. the weather was great and hermosa beach is pretty awesome. it is very different from santa monica beach. here, it is more of the local community and not so commercialised as santa monica.

very nice to just be able to walk down the sidewalk with good friends and the ocean in view.

this is funny. we had such a good time just walking along the beach and chilling out that by the time we got back to the car, we only have 1 second left before the meter expired. THAT WAS CLOSE!

pat needs to get some tonics for his sister who just gave birth on friday; which was my birthday! the boy sure will be as bright and cool as me. [alright, don't puke, i'm just kidding dudes!]. so, anyway, after dim sum, we decided to stop by Tai Seng Hang to get some things for her before heading to the hospital.

this place is solid man. never felt so chinese before. this is like some typical shops back home in asia.

anyhow, monterey park in los angeles is like mini taiwan or hong kong. you get all things chinese here man. chinese dental, chinese tonics, made in taiwan rice-cooker, rice dumplings, hong kong cafe and haha you also can get laughing buddha too! wau lau.. just all chinese stuff lah. 

back home, when i go market shopping with my dad on sunday, i always see those bras wrapped in plastic.

this looks like those typical shops in chinatown back home.

tonics. the years spent growing up with my maternal grand-mother and also being typical cantonese, i'm always nagged to drink tonics, herbal soups and eat bird's nest. they have a wide variety of chinese stuff @ tai seng hang so i grabbed a few packets cause everything looks so darn cool. 

the REAL stuff. i'm so pissed with the knife i bought from ikea. the quality is crap. sometimes, i'm not even sure if it will break halfway when im cutting my meat or vegetable. so.. when i saw this at Tai Seng Hang, i'm so happy. yes, finally, i can butcher up some stuff!

Life

25 years on this earth.

what have i grown into?

thinking back, i have indeed change over the years -- abit wiser and learn to take things less seriously.

i have learned to let go and not take things too hard. well, i guess alot of things are beyond my control... so what if i try to get things fixed or prevent things from happening. if things are meant to happen, then so be it. i'm just a tiny human on this vast, vast earth. alot of us out there fail to acknowlege how small we actually are.

yah, yah.. alot of times, alot of us may know that same friend and our friends may know each others' friend's friend, and we always say the world is so small but the truth is ----- THE WORLD IS BIGGER THAN WE THINK IT IS.

i guess since the time my grandfather passed away, i learned to f****** care less and also being in america, there is nothing much i could do if things happen at home.

life is fragile.

to me, i learned to treasure every single moment i have with my friends, families and the things that the lord has blessed me with.

looking back, i am thankful for my life. the lord has indeed blessed me very well. though, there is no such thing called the perfect life but i am contented with my life now.

on this day, l received birthday greetings from friends that i have not spoken to in 4 yrs. i have a wonderful fellowship back in tucson and the ever so thoughtful vincent actually sent me an e-greeting card; louanne and clifton called me up and yes!!! chilling out sessions begin on thursday night after i reach tucson and thank you all for remembering this day!

one of my best friends that i have got to know since primary school [16 yrs ago] actually called up my home and tried looking for me a few months back.

i am really thankful. really thankful for the blessings i have in life and all who have smsed or sent me me a birthday card.

thank you everyone, for being part of my life.

Thanks for remembering

remember this?

it is au bon pain --- one of my favourite pastry shops around.

this is really sweet. one of my co-workers, he went to stamford, connecticut for some training. he had to transit over at Dallas, texas on the way back and he saw this!!!!

he remembered me telling him that i love love love stuff from this pastry shop and i bought so many croissants when i went over to new york... so he got this for me when he saw it over at dallas.

very sweet.

i'm going to have this for breakfast tomorrow.

what a good start to the day!

 

More clapping

woo hoo.. my friends are coming down from san diego.

this is going to be so bloody fun!

i'm going to have dim sum and emm... maybe some malaysia food!

woohoo!!

thank you lord!

When you are happy, you clap your hand!

i have been questioned! why heven you been updating your blog?? err.. coz i'm kind of lazy.

anyhow, today, me is very happy.

my c0-worker brought me to this indian restaurant near work. it is damn good and cheap.

For $5, i get naan, curry chicken, indian style vegetable, basmati rice and two potato thingy.

VERY GOOD DEAL AH + ULTRA DELICIOUS!!!

today, i also received a birthday card from my best friend from AUSTRALIA!!!!!! as i get older, i don't really need the thing --- known as present. it is really the thought that counts. if i want anything, i can get it myself. now, i'm just looking for things that are thoughtful so im really thankful that she remembers my birthday but KNN, at the same time, she also reminded me that i have hit the quarter century mark.

i also received something from mark. A FRENCH PRESSED COFFEE MAKER. yahoo!!! i love that. he knows that i really like one of those ever since we went to the Griddle's cafe in LA and we tried their french pressed kopi.. damn nice.

last but not least, a birthday card from my whole family. i love my family cause they are all so supportive and err... naggy (esp my mum). wau lau, when she saw my orhbaka on my feet, she smsed me @ 6 in the morning and told me not to play play, better go and see a doctor. i'm like wau lau, is just orbaka lah not like my foot ganna disease or what.

anyhow sometime naggings are good coz at least this shows that people care for you. so... everything's cool!

business cards!! yeah! hopefully i will last till the last of the card 

Quarter century!!!!! thanks for reminding me!!!! nevermind i'm still damn young.
at least i still look 18.

birthday card! 

my dinner -- chicken herbal soup and egg. simple and nutritious (err.. i'm not really sure the amount of oil in the soup is actually that good) anyhow, drink soup is good. we, cantonese love to drink soup. 

Ouch Ouch Ouch

Ouch!

when i woke up this morning, i got a shock.

well, i expected a blue black the night before but i didn't expect it to be so big and bloody painful.

it came about when i was taking a shower and the shower gel bottle fell on my feet.

dammit. my body is filled with blue black circles. the first one being the burn i got a few days ago and now this.

this is so embarrassing.

One cent, One service

wau lau, i think i'm toyota of redlands' best friend already.

the mechanics there all know me.

patrick: "eh.. is you! what's the problem with your car again?"

me: ay hi, how are you? this time no problem, just need to change my driving belt"

actually alot of people think that dealers comfirm out there to cheat your money so the advice to me from most people is never to buy car from the dealers. want to buy, buy from private party.

but then, the truth is one cent one service [yi fen qian, yi fen hu-a].

at least anything happen to the car you buy, you can bring it back to the dealer and gan them and have them fixed for you.

when i bought my camry from the dealer in tucson, a week later, the engine light came on. however, the car was already in california and i definitely won't drive it all the way back to tucson. i demanded that the toyota dealer from tucson reimburse me after i get it fixed here, and because dealers have a reputation to uphold, they agreed.

last week, i had the dealer here to check if i REALLY need to do a transmission flush. they did a check and told me no, just that i need to change my driving belt coz there are cracks already. anyhow, FREE CAR CHECK & NO NEED TO PAY == HAPPY!

+ they send me home and pick me from home. very good!

and anything happen, can just pop over there and make some noise.

The realistic life

i'm feeling nostalgia.

it is all allan's fault. everytime... EVERYTIME! i speak to him, he will remind me of the good old days with my friends in singapore.

i miss the quality drinking session with my friends.

i miss the good food back home.

when i go back singapore, i want to go try jumbo seafood, seafood @ defu lane, menotti, hong kee restaurant @ geylang, this japanese dinning cafe @ wheelock, the olive restaurant @ labrador, provence cafe @ holland village etc. there are so many bloody good restaurants opened in singapore.

sometime i am so caught up with my life here that i miss the real stuff back home.

seriously, till now, i still do think that america is just an illusion. everthing seems so fake here.

people here, they just want better cars, better food, better everything to better their life.

the other day, my friend was telling me -- "it is hard to imagine life without a dishwasher". i'm like WTF! don't have dishwasher, use hand lah. God gives you hand for what!

Costco

die lah how?????

i went to costco with my co-worker today.

*to mummy & daddy* --- remember costco?? the supercenter where you bought a box of the trail mix bar?

i saw THE CREAM PUFFS.

i walked up and down the aisle thinking -- SHOULD I BUY IT?

6 puffs = 308 calories.

and 86 of them in the tub. how to finish all by myself??

in the end, i bought it. emmm.. thinking, well, since mark is coming, he can help me finish some. also, i can give some of those to my co-workers and also some to the kids @ church.

also, my dad said i looked skinny. eating them sure will help make me look more puffy.

mai tu liao... buy lah.

some greeky food.. swiss cheese and ham roller from Costco

What's for dinner tonight?

after a hard day @ work, it is good to come home to a good and satisfying meal. today, i'm having baked ham and gratin potatoes (from last sunday lunch) and couscous for dinner. i love couscous. it is delicous and simple to cook. to finish it all, i had a glass of wine. so good.. so good..


couscous, baked ham and au gratin potato. Yum...

alot alot of food

wau lau.. anyone want to come over to my place for some good food?

i have so much food from the past few days. yesterday, i was at my co-worker's daughter birthday and before i left her place, she chunked me a plate of food to take home.

today, i had easter lunch at a friend's place. it was SO SO SO good. we had champagne, baked ham, grilled asparagus, some potato thingy, and a solid desert (apple pie in phyllo sheets). i had such a good time there; these people were funny and is just so nice to be able to sit down and chill out on a sunday afternoon [with free flow of good champagne]. anyhow, back to the topic on food ---- there were all so delicious that i had to take some leftovers home.

but in my fridge, i already had a plate of braised beef, pasta and some thai food.



braised beef
 

OUCH

Ouch!

i burned my hand while taking the croissant out from the oven. dammit.

these chocolate croissants had been causing me pain for the past few days.

the first one that i bought, it was so...................... GOOD that i ate the frickin whole thing in seconds and the moment i finished, my throat felt weird. i quickly drank some herbal tea for the next few days to prevent getting a sore throat.

so... my throat felt better yesterday and i decided to finish the second chocolate croissant that i've bought. as i was taking that evil thing out from the oven, i accidentally touched the top. OUCH!!!

i hope the scar will go off after some time. i hope.. i hope.

BBQ life

i was reading this person's blog about BBQ life.

in a nutshell, BBQ life to her means attending FAMILY style BBQ/social events. you know, those where there will be a gazillion kids running around and the topics generally revolve around "how's your kids doing?", "what school is good for my kids ah?", " oooo.. you mean i can get my kids to raffles by doing this that and this ah?"

never in my life, [as of right now], would i thought of attending such events. hey.. i should be going to clubs or lounges to chill out man.. that's my life [oh well, maybe not here. i can only do this if i eventually do get back to singapore].

a few weeks ago, my co-worker invited me to her 3 yrs old birthday.

i love kids but i have absolute no patience to deal with them for a long period of time. by the time, i got out of her house. i was dead tired.when i was with them, i really played with them and before i left, one of them actually told me "hey, you are really nice!"

however, after spending more than 2 hours with these overly-active humans, i realised ----- no kids for me for a while.. i love hanging out with them but sorry ah... taking care of them full-time is another issue and i would really have to consider about attending another BBQ event.

i was complaining to my aunt after this and she told me... not to worry, not to worry, the bridge would become straight at the right time. is that really true?

Cheers!

fwah haha.

at last! at last!

this is the first time that my phone bill didn't exceed the regular monthly bill. in dec, it was about 160 USD. in Jan and feb, it was about 80-90 bucks. i don't even know who the heck i spoke to besides mark.

anyhow, is all good.. is all good...

since i started working, i have been checking on my expenses pretty regularly. now that i'm earning my own pennies, i have to extra careful as to what i spend cause ultimately, i do want to hit a certain amount in savings.

also that's a future to think about.

Just a thought

i just realised something. i'm pretty blessed working at this account.

it is a well-known fact that people have to suck up to each other in the corporate world. when you don't want to smile, you have to smile. when you are asked to attend any corporate event, there is only one answer. even if the joke is not funny at all, you have to try laugh.

what crap!

thank God that i don't have to do much of that (if i tell you i don't have to do all these at all, then i'm a big fat liar). people in my account, we are all very straight to the face people. pretty much what you see is what you get. oh man, this is such a blessing.

for eg: during orientation, someone asked my co-worker, mike, what's it like to work in one of your previous accounts? his reply was downright straight --- "it wasn't that enjoyable (something along that line. i can't remember his actual words)"

as for me: someone then asked me what do i do --- my reply was "staring at the screen for most of the time and looking at data" haha..it wasn't that bad as i have described it. at the end of the day, i really do enjoy what i'm doing!

after that mike told me that i should have told them that i helped to convert data into useful information and as for him, when that guy asked him about his thoughts about his previous account, he should have said... well.. working there is a learning experience. kannasai.

life would be so tired if we always try to please people and not be ourself.

What a trip!

hallo everyone. yes! i am back.

my small little butt is swelling from the 6 hours flight back. oh.. i'm really flying across the united states --- all the way from the east to the west.

it was a pretty good trip overall. got to see connecticut a bit and oh yah, the hotel that i was staying in, they have complimentary wine tasting every tuesday night, which was our second night of orientation -- after the orientation, a bunch of us headed straight to the bar. i must say it was very generous of them to come up with things like that. the wines that they offered us were not those typical california wines, there were all from italy and france. very nice.

as for new york. it was better than the last time i was there. i stayed away from those touristy places and hung out around the neighbourhoods. like the east, west villages and union square.

the most shocking thing was a trip to my friend's apt there. it is only 84 square feet and the rent is $900/mth. it was crazy man! it takes just 8 steps to walk from one end of the room to the other. i know that apts in new york is fricking small but reality really hits me when i saw one. unless you want to pay $2000-$3000 a month for a regular studio then you just have to suck it up and stay in a pigeon hole. it is so hilarious. my friend owns a building in maine but is staying at a 84 square feet apt in new york city. oh well, that's life.

au bon pain. my favourite. i know we have one in singapore but i can't find this in arizona or california so when i come over to new york. i need to have this. not one but alot alot. i bought like 5 pastries back so that i can have one everyday for breakfast. oh man, there are so delicous. i love pastries.

mark used to laugh at me when i made this statement "you know, i could have been thinner, just that i love pastries alot, how ah?" 

my co-worker. this guy is pretty darn funny and it has been very entertaining traveling with him. i like him cause he is who he is - very straight forward (I hate pretencious people). anyhow, we were so hungry by the time we reached connecticut and he told me he's a growing boy and needs to eat so off he went and ordered both of us some room service.