little miss may

10!..

Oh dear, is it 2006 already? Damn! Where did year go?

9!..

Hmmm… did I do everything I’d wanted to do this year? I can’t seem to remember if I’ve set out any goals, too busy trying to stay… well, busy. What did I do this year that stood out? What happened? Why can’t I recall the details? Everything’s such a blur…

8!..

Changed jobs, yes… big holiday, yes… finally started biking… met up with some old friends… and oh yes, started blogging! Made a few new chums in blogsphere (yes, that means you). It’s a true eye opener, reading other people’s thoughts, opinions, reflections, little secrets that wouldn’t be revealed to anyone else except total strangers.

7!..

I didn’t go for a dive trip, I do miss that. The sights of colourful life underwater, the gentle swim of the giant turtles, playful anemone fish amongst the sacs of soft coral, skilful navigation of the reef sharks, the awe of watching schools of barracuda swimming against the currents. The sounds of bubbles, cracks, mechanical breathing underwater. The feeling of weightlessness, floating, a small insignificant creature in the vast ocean.

6!..

Some things are yet to be done though. I still need to write that article on Serendah for a friend’s site, and oh I almost forgot about that piece on Kinabatangan… do I have to do it? Haven’t even updated my other site with the latest information either, I’m such a procrastinator. Haven’t finished books that I’ve read halfway, didn’t catch movies I’d meant to watch. I guess all could be done in due time, no rush for those. They don’t have deadlines.

5!..

Personally I’ve changed quite a bit this year. I can’t rightly put my finger on it, but they’re there, those changes. Less outdoors, more indoors. Less carefree. More reflections. More battles to fight inside. More tough decisions made. Less of the old me. I’m just… different.

4!..

Hey, what’s all this “me, myself and I” talk going on here…? Have I really done anything good this year for other people? Did I make a difference in someone’s life? Was I kind, helpful, caring, understanding enough? Oh no, too many Is again! Why am I so self-absorbed? Why do I take things for granted?

3!..

What about the world? The tsunami victims, the quake and hurricane survivors, the natural disasters, never-ending war? People who have lost their lives, who are fighting for their rights, who are trying to just get through the day? Could I have done something to help them? To make someone feel more comforted, needed, appreciated? Am I doing my part for society and Mother Nature? Could I have done more? Is it too late?

2!..

Hang on, I haven’t quite finished what I want to do for the year…

1!..

No, no, no… wait, WAIT!

HaPpY NeW yEaR!

I hope I did make a difference.
Happy New Year, my dears. xox.

Technorati: new year, ramblings, life

It’s only 3 days to 2006. I’ve decided not to make any new-year resolutions, because if there were any to be made at all, I would’ve done it a long time ago. Besides, why wait till the new year to start one; now’s a good time as any.

Managed to do 6.5 things out of my to-do list before the year is out. #6 depends on the Client; chances are it’ll be 2006 before we’re done. I’m still deciding which pair of shoes to throw out for #7, and only 1 book was finished for #9 (thus the half). #10 is a perpetual task that’ll never end.

Finally sold my apartment, though it’s less than its worth in today’s market. Bad timing, but I didn’t want to wait any longer.

My relatives are up from Oz for a short holiday. I feel bad for trying to avoid meeting up with them but I’m not one for small talk. I’ll let my parents handle the social obligation ritual.

Yahoo and MSN Messenger decided not to co-exist peacefully anymore in my laptop on the office network. Either one works or the other, not both concurrently. The only time they make peace and are simultaneously online is at home on broadband.

I have a vanilla-scented candle burning in my room at the moment. I adore the smell of vanilla or anything remotely close to it, like Christian Dior’s Hypnotic Poison. It’s a scent that makes me feel… mmmmmm.

Bought myself a 200GB portable hard disk drive after months of griping about lack of disk space. Now that I have loads to spare, I don’t know what to put in it besides my video files and tunes.

I read in some feng shui book that carrying a red canine around with me will be good luck in the Year of the Dog come 2006. Now almost everywhere I go, a miniature Patrick keychain comes along with me.

Sharpening pencils are therapeutic.

I love it when you look me up for a quick chat. I want to hug you but you’re so far away.

Technorati: life, ramblings

I wanted to keep to my promise and bake something nice for my colleagues to munch, and judging from past failures, I decided to make the sticky date pudding for them as a safe bet (since that’s already tried and proven to be good).

Since I’ve done it before, this time it was a breeze… ta-dahhh!

I’ll leave it up to my eaters to comment on the taste of it tomorrow when I feed it to them. My folks have had a slice to taste and they gave the thumbs-up, so it should pass my colleagues’ fussy taste buds with flying colours. I won’t make the butterscotch sauce this time though, a little messy to take along (plus the pudding is way sweet enough without it). Will leave the ice-cream option up to them.

Ok, since it’s Christmas and all, I really, really wanted to make these big soft gingerbread cookies. The reviews it received on the All Recipes were nothing but praises, I just had to get my hands dirty and make some for myself.

The recipe is simple enough to follow. However when everything was mixed together, the dough texture wasn’t as what I’d expected - really soft, mushy, almost toothpaste-like and you can’t shape it into anything let alone use a cookie cutter to make shapes. But hey, 348 reviewers would’ve said something about it if the recipe was wrong, right?

So anyway, I used a teaspoon and scooped up enough dough to to make a decent-sized cookie (walnut-sized, according to the instructions). Placing them as far apart as I could but still trying to be space efficient, I popped them into the oven to bake.

Oooh, the smell that came out of there was absolutely mouth-watering! The cookies expanded nicely, and as soon as they turned to a deep brown colour I took them out, let them cool for a bit…

Now for the taste and texture test… *bite*…Yummmmmmmmmm! The taste is just right; not too gingery although if you’d like it a bit more spicy, add more ground ginger. As most reviewers said, it’s really sweet so go easy on the sugar if you don’t want it giving you toothaches. I’ve even skipped rolling the dough in sugar before baking.

The texture is crunchy on the outside, nice, soft and chewy on the inside. Just the way a really good cookie should be *grin*!

p.s. Time to go on a diet after all this binging… *sigh*

Technorati: christmas, food, pudding, cookies

“Christmas isn’t Christmas without presents!”
(Josephine March in Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Lookit what I got!

Thank you all for the lovely gifts, the gloriously delicious food and best of all, your much appreciated company these few days.

Tee hee!Technorati: christmas, seasonal, friends, presents

My dearest reader,

Thank you for coming, be you a first-time visitor or a returning regular. It’ll be Christmas in a couple of days, and the New Year is just around the corner. Made a list of resolutions yet?

I’ve been reflecting on the past year, what has happened, and what has not. Every year I think, “This has got to be the best and funkiest year ever!” This year… no. It’s been a hard, long period for me, for a lot of my friends, probably for a lot of you. Many changes, many moves. Tough choices that made us wonder we made the right calls, hard decisions which broke our spirits, yet we’ve survived through them.

It’s been a tough year, hasn’t it? It certainly was for me. Looking back at my posts, I’m startled yet not surprised at how erratic my behaviour has been over the last few months. My life this year has been affected not only by my own decisions, but also by the people around me. More and more have moved or are moving away, starting new chapters in their lives. So much movement, so much confusion, heartaches, trials and tribulations faced by my family, my friends, more so myself.

Through it all, there’s always someone saying a silent prayer for us, hoping for our sakes that we’d live through it and make us stronger, better. We know for a fact that there’s always someone looking out for us. Thank you for looking out for me. I’d like to return that favour to you, who’ve thought of me, who’ve given me the encouragement and support through it all. Know that even if you’ve fleetingly crossed my path, you’ve made a difference.

So my dears,

This is my wish to you.

I sincerely wish, that no matter what it is that’ll make you happy, contented and at peace with yourself…

Be it to pick up the pieces of your life, win the battles that rage within you…

Be it a new beau, someone to love and care for, and someone who’ll love you unconditionally in return…

Be it a new job, a new challenge that’ll finally get you on your way…

Be it a financial relief from long overdue debts…

Be it a spiritual pilgrimage to find your inner self…

Be it the help from people who are more than willing to get you back on your feet…

Be it better health and recovery from a bad illness…

Be it the completion of a task, a job, a target you had set out to achieve…

Be it the realisation that despite all that’s happened, life has more to offer if you open your eyes and your heart to embrace its gift…

Be it the very simple desire to enjoy what you have right now because life couldn’t be better for you already…

Anything.

I wish it would come true for you.

Merry Christmas.

Technorati: life, reflections