little miss may

Didn’t realised I had been given homework by kyh in Double Couple while I was away. My mixed doubles partner L B had already served and thrown in the towel, and I’ve yet to hit the ball, eek! Here goes nothing… *whack*

01. Coke or Pepsi?
I honestly don’t have a preference, though Coke is the more popular choice. I like Vanilla Coke but only if it’s icy cold.

02. KFC or McDonald’s?
KFC for the fried chicken. And McDonald’s for the french fries. Somehow they do the fries just right. And Burger King (or Hungry Jacks, as what they’re called here) for the burgers.
Over the weekend, I had a KFC Zinger burger with bacon and cheese. REAL porky bacon! OMG! It’s not the best burger I’d ever tasted, but the bacon was enough for me to devour the whole thing in a matter of minutes. We just don’t get stuff like this back home…

03. Häagen-Dazs or Baskin-Robbins?
Häagen-Dazs for their fondue. Just so sinfully yummy! But I’d go to Baskin-Robbins for the Hokey Pokey… *turns myself around*

04. Coffee Bean or Starbucks?
Starbucks has got their marketing strategy right. And we don’t have Coffee Bean down here in Sydney.

05. Nike or Adidas?
Adidas! I love their lifestyle range. And Puma too, and Asics. Nike has more comfortable running shoes, though. Conforms better to the shape of my feet.

06. Mercedes-Benz or BMW?
BMW. Makes me feel younger.

07. UK or U.S.?
I can’t really make up my mind on this one, since I’ve not been to the U.S. Can I take a rain check on this till I’ve visited Simple American in Texas? Or maybe Disneyland? Or Alaska…

08. Paris or Rome?
Another one I can’t make up my mind on. I did what the Romans did when in Rome, but will I do as the Frenchwomen did in France? And what do they do in France, anyway?

09. Céline Dion or Mariah Carey?
I’m not a fan of either. But if I have to choose… Céline, since I could sing her songs better in karaoke than Mariah’s.

10. Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera?
It’s Christina Aguilera for me. Such a sparky chilli padi, that one. And less of a bimbo.

11. Brad Pitt or David Beckham?
Brad Pitt, no questions about it. I can’t quite stand David Beckham’s high-pitched voice.

12. Dad or mum?
Awwwwww. You know I’d pick Mum for this. But to be fair to Dad, he’s been a good sport too, in his own ways.

13. Movie or music?
A musical! 2-in-1. Both movie and music together. Nescafé and Coffee Mate. Strawberries and cream. Hoops and Yoyo. You get the drift.

14. Windows or Mac?
That’s not a question you should be asking a MacBook owner.

15. PC or lappie?
Laptop. Maybe it’s because I’ve never owned a Desktop, and I’m so used to the portability of a notebook. Why be confined to the desk when you can boogie on someone’s lap? Ok, that didn’t come out right…

Tag a guy and a gal:
Sengkor - Double Trouble Couple and Winn - Double Trouble Couple & Co…. Liucas can be the invigilator. No cheating mmmkay… He can’t do your homework for you wan!

Ooh, and guess what? I got a cupcake today from my Exec Producer for surviving my first week! Hahaha! We had a quick catch up on my progress and how I’ve been coping, and it seems that I’ve been doing pretty good by their books. And so I got this yummy passionfruit cupcake with a purple star to indulge in. Believe me, it tastes better than it looks. Isn’t that just so cool? LOL!

Wanna see my room?

I used to occupy a small itsy-bitsy room (smaller than some bathrooms I’ve seen) next to the kitchen of my uncle’s house when I was here 10 years ago. Back then, my cousin and his wife were still living with us, so that was the only room available. But now that they’ve moved to their own place, I’ve taken over their more spacious, more private room located at the basement.

Basement?

Yes, basement.

Many, many, many years ago (don’t ask how many, I don’t really know myself but it must’ve been at least 15 years), the basement had been renovated and turned into an extra room. It’s a much bigger one than the one I had, at least double and a bit more. More space to roll around, whee! And without further ado, may I present…

My room. For now. Until I get my own place.

It’s a nice private little pad with an attached (door to the right) bathroom so I won’t have to wait in line to use the one upstairs. There’s a built-in closet too at the foot of the bed (not shown). Too bad the place isn’t WI-Fi enabled (no sexy Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station, or even the AirPort Express for that matter), otherwise I’d be stuck down here for most of my time. I have to go to the study (my ex-bedroom) to get hooked on for that.

Every day I’d trudge up and down the stairs leading to and from the room. It’s not a bad deal, really. My daily 5 seconds’ worth of exercise for each going up and going down. There’s a little ‘gate’ at the top, always locked in case anyone should lean on it absentmindedly and take an accidental spill.

There’s also a side door of sorts which, upon exiting, you could go up to the back of the house, or down to the street. I don’t use this entrance daily though, since I usually leave after eating breakfast, and it’s rather rude not to ‘leave visibly’ when the folks are around. But great for sneaking in and out if I have to. And moving bodies too, those live, warm and wriggly ones… *hint!* Not sure if the place is all that soundproof though, so gotta watch those grunts and moans and… ahem.

It’s a lot cooler down here than it is upstairs, because of all that hot-air-up-cold-air-down circulation. Plus, if I leave my side door open, it could get quite chilly at night. Works well during the Summer, but maybe a tad too cold during Winter.

Ok, end of tour. Up next — the great trek to the bus stop.

Oh, and one last thing…

I know I’m a day late; blame it for being a blur sotong and not knowing when it was, otherwise I’d have done a greeting for you yesterday. I only knew about it after spying it on PY’s blog early in the morning. Here’s a photo of the purple-est purple flowers I could find around the house. Not sure what they are, but they’re pretty! And some pink ones to go with it, too. I’m bad with flower names. Anyone care to enlighten me?

69 Hugs & Kisses, Birthday Girl! Hope you had a blast!

Hello hello!!

It’s been a week since my last post, yet it felt like years! Ok, that was exaggerated. Maybe months. Ok, still exaggerated. It’s been a week. Either way, it felt like a long time. I missed you, and you, and you, and YOU!! Did you miss me too? (It would make me a very happy girl if you said you did… go on, humour me).

This week has been pretty hectic, trying to settle in both at work and in a foreign city at the same time. Sydney’s not totally unfamiliar to me, but because it’s been a good 10 years since the last time I stayed for a long term, there were things that needed getting used to all over again.

Biggest surprise and to my utmost delight is that — you’ve guessed it — there’s broadband connection in my uncle’s house! Kakakaka!! *does the funky chicken dance* More stories on everything else later. For now, I shall leave you with these little snippets…

On my First Day in Sydney:
…I was so glad I got off one of the worst flights I’ve ever taken.
…I had hamm yue chau fann, charsiew and siew ngap for dinner.
…I watched half an episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
…I missed my family.
…I didn’t have time to shop for flip-flops.

On my First Day of Work:
…I got a free magazine to read from people giving them out at bus stops.
…I got to the office on time. No jet lag.
…I have been given lots to do already, and I’m overwhelmed.
…I had chicken pizza for lunch, on my own.
…I went around the block after that just to get my bearings right.
…I was too chicken to surf blogs in-between work.
…I took the wrong bus home, and had to get down, and get up a different one halfway.
…I have yet to shop for flip-flops.

On my First Day of Meeting the Client:
…I went up to North Ryde, where all the industrial giants are located.
…I survived the client’s queries and almost knew what I was talking about.
…I took a cab home, charged to the client’s account. It came up to A$59.75.
…I still haven’t shopped for flip-flops.

On my First Day of Shopping:
…I found out that Crocs are cheaper here when compared on a dollar-for-ringgit basis.
…I bought a cheap pair of black canvas shoes to trudge around.
…I still want my flip-flops.

On my First Day of Late Night Shopping Thursday:
…I played frisbee at Hyde Park with my colleagues during a picnic lunch.
…I finally got myself a local mobile SIM. One more step to settling down.
…I bought a pair of bermudas from Sportsgirl, A$19.95 discounted from A$79.95.
…I have a new pair of bright vermillion Havaianas flip-flops.

I feel strangely detached from the rest of you… *sigh*

So here I am, all ready to go.

Considering that it’s only been 4 months from the day I made my decision to move till today when I’m flying off, it felt like a long span of time has passed, but within a few blinks of an eye. Does that make sense? Maybe it’s the flurry of activities that have happened, one after the other, non-stop, like a speeding bullet train. When I look back on those past 4 months, It’s amazing where I’ve been, who I’ve met, and what I’ve done. Who could’ve thought I’d come this far, eh?

I know I won’t be gone from Malaysia forever. There’ll be trips and holidays home, maybe short term, maybe long term, who’s to know? The future is yet unwritten. I don’t even know if I’d last 6 months Down Under! One step at a time, yea…

Thank you all for your well wishes and words of encouragement. Thank you too, for the last-minute visits, farewell gifts, hugs, kisses, mobile text messages, phone calls, comments, ang pows, farewell posts on your blogs, YM chats, Skype… It means a lot to me, to have old friends and new, my family and relatives, and even new acquaintances drop by and wishing me all the luck I could collect and store in my virtual glass jar of Ong-ness. Cheers to all of you! I wish you all the best that life has to offer, and many more wonderful times ahead to enjoy.

Lastly, Happy Piggy Chinese New Year for those celebrating this festive occasion, and happy holidays to everyone!

Missing you already.

Keep in touch.

I’ll be seeing you soon.

I’ll spread my wings
And I’ll learn how to fly
Though it’s not easy
To tell you goodbye
I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change
And break away

~ ‘Breakaway’, by Kelly Clarkson

Monk[+]icon tagged me with The Great Desktop Challenge some days ago. And since I’m on a brain freeze of sorts, I’ll just fulfill it now…

See? See? Nothing to see… What were you expecting, eh? Hahaha! I’m the kind who dislikes cluttered desktops. I like seeing the “bigger picture”, and for this week, it’s the lonesome gondola floating on the canal in Venice. What a sight! The water reflecting the sunlight, those birds perched on the poles, the breeze (almost) blowing… *dreamy sigh*

Since I’m way behind in handing in my homework, I don’t know who else who hasn’t been tagged to do this! Ok, I’ll just randomly pick five people — if you’ve not been tagged yet, then hey, you’re it! If you’ve been tagged before and haven’t done it, this is your reminder. If you’ve been tagged and handed in your homework, oh well… it was worth a try. Wanna wanna do it again?

My delightful volunteers:
01. mistipurple
02. kyh: Peep a peep…
03. _butt: Hui jia…
04. Jo: My desktop
05. Sotong: Sotong Wallpaper

lidi lidi lidi…