little miss may

Don’t panic — I am alive.

Thanks to those who sent me text messages, or peeked into my comments box to check for signs of life, or emailed me their well wishes. Most heartfelt and appreciated. For those who didn’t, well, that’s ok — I know you don’t love me any less — you knew I was alive anyway, didn’t you? *grin* Yeah, me and my disappearing acts.

By some quirky strike of lighting to my brain, I decided to go without blogging or reading blogs or commenting for a week. It was quite liberating, actually. I wasn’t in much mood anyway, especially when the demons within decided to rear their ugly heads and threatened to kick my sanity out the door. Thank goodness my 3-8 feet were big enough to squash them like mashed peas, and they remain well swept under the carpet for now. Gotta get on with it. No point sulking over cold harkau, eh?

So what else is new?

Other than being given more “awards” in Blogland, it’s been boringly normal in the real world, to be honest. Oh, I did pluck up my courage to tag along with a colleague of mine to dinner last night, and discovered Sydney’s best place for Spanish tapas. The restaurant is called Encasa, and though some people aren’t too pleased with the service, everything else is absolutely fantastic. Way, way better than KL’s La Bodega, aitelyu! The tapas are so scrumptious that despite being full to the brim, you’d want to eat that last piece of tender lamb and wash it down with fruity sangria. I didn’t have my camera with me so these ones I took with my phone’s camera don’t really do them justice. You’ve just gotta try them for yourself.

Hmm, what else?

• Finished the last book of Harry Potter in 3 nights (no price war here, and I got a free fluffy white owl). It was worth the daytime lethargy and panda eyes — I can’t help but be rather fond of Severus Snape and knew he had redeeming qualities all along. And I’ve always been a fan of Alan Rickman, he’s such a good baddie!

• Got my Malaysian driver’s licence translated, finally. Next, I’ll have to get off my lazy arse and take the tests, but procrastination is getting the better of me, as usual

• Visited the Museum of Contemporary Arts today. The MCA (not our Malaysian Chinese Association, ya) has an exhibition of Latin American art on at the moment. It’s ok, but after that visit, I figured contemporary art wasn’t quite my cup of tea. I’d much prefer the National Art Gallery in London. Proper art. Old is gold, I say.

Ok, that’s it for now. I have “homes” to visit, comments to drop, and tags to finish. Do forgive me for not checking out your blogs in the last week; I’m slowly making my rounds over the weekend, and I’m getting there… I’m getting there… wait, detour… the apple and peach crumble is calling my name from the freezer…

By the way, if you had to pick your own souvenir from Sydney, what would it be?

Still waiting at the airport…

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It’s been awhile since I went to a live production of sorts, whether a musical or an orchestral performance. So when Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (the Barber of Seville) came to town, I jumped at the opportunity to watch a real opera at Sydney’s very own Opera House.

At first I thought I would have problems getting a date to share the experience with, but with sheer luck and a very willing Italian, I recruited my boss (yes, he’s the Italian), who in turn gathered a Brazilian (our colleague) and an Aussie (a lady friend) to join in on the fun. Whee! A foursome!

Clothed in my LBD™ (Little Black Dress), I felt rather “cultured”, especially when in the company of two very well-dressed gentlemen in suits and an equally elegant lady friend, at the opera. With a little fizzy champagne during intermission, it was almost like living the high life!

The production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia was spectacular in my books. At first I wondered if I would enjoy watching and listening to something sung in old Italian, but with the help of English surtitles at the top of the stage, it made things much easier to comprehend. I loved every minute of it! The stage (which I sneakily took a photo of just before it started), the settings, the costumes, the arias, the orchestra…

After the show, we had a bit to eat and drink at the Opera Bar. Despite the loud, rather out-of-place, live rock-meets-jazz music which we had to almost shout above to be heard, we had ourselves a pretty good evening watching the world go by with one of the best views of the Harbour Bridge.

And this morning, I realised that I first stepped foot here in Sydney exactly 12 years ago. Pretty fabulous way to celebrate my “anniversary”, eh? Cheers!

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I’m so pleased! So honoured! How could anyone not be happy about being awarded the Rockin’ Girl Blogger? This was the badge Paris Beaverbanks passed on to me. Oooh, thank you thank you! *kembang*

My turn to pass on the badge! There are those whom I’d like to award it to but they’ve already been given that title by others. I seem to be quite late in jumping on the bandwagon sometimes, aren’t I? LOL! Nevermind, there’re still lots more out there whom we can spread the joy to, yes? So… here you go girls, you rock in my books!

• wennnn
• cheepeeone
• consuela
• zara’s mama
• _butt

Go on, make other girl bloggers happy by giving them the badge. You know you wanna wanna!

And just today, reading angel’s post, I discovered that it’s kyh’s birthday! More reason to celebrate, woo-hoo! Bring out the birthday cake. The band. The fireworks!

Happy Happy Birthday, kyh! Many wonderful returns, may you have wonderful times ahead, and wonderful memories to look back upon!

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I’ve been tagged not once, not twice, but three times by these lovely people on the one for charity by Idham, on three different dates. How not to do it leh?

• Angel Eyes on 5 July
• Winn on 10 July
• ehon on 12 July

The tag is simple — complete 17 out of 27 sentences in the meme before 26 August 2007, and RM127 per post will be donated to the Darul Izzah Orphanage by Idham. Hmm, I wonder if, by completing all, they add an extra ringgit to each? Extra RM10 for the orphanage please, thank you!

And in conjunction with the Earth from Above exhibition that’s currently running in Darling Harbour, Sydney, I’d like to borrow a few of the beautiful aerial portraits of our planet by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Absolutely stunning, and even more so when you see the large prints of these.

01. A person is only as good as what one thinks oneself to be.

02. Friendship is always a very precious gift.

03. To love is to forgive.

04. Money makes me secure in a strange way.

05. I miss you.

06. My way of saying I care is by doing good.

07. I try to spread love and happiness by being positive.

08. Pick the flowers when they bloom.

09. To love someone is to love their shortcomings as well.

10. Beauty is all around us, if we see with our hearts.

11. When I was thirteen, what I remember the most was being in school.

12. When I was twenty one, I remember going on a ski trip.

13. I am most happy when I’m at peace with myself.

14. Nothing makes me happier when I see nature at its best.

15. If I can change one thing, I will change how we treat this planet.

16. If smiles were rainbows, then I would see one all the time.

17. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could be together?

18. If you want to be a friend, then you have to be a friend to yourself first.

19. Money is not everything but it sure is nice.

20. The most touching moment I have experienced is when I see love expressed.

21. I smile when I realise how beautiful this world is.

22. When I am happy, I am contented.

23. If only I don’t have to be petty, then I could be a better person.

24. The best thing I did yesterday was come home from work early.

25. If I ever write a book, I will give it this title, This is Life.

26. One thing I must do before I die is hug you.

27. Doing the meme, I feel like it might do some good after all.

For a better planet for our children, my friend. Now your turn, if you please:

Paris Beaverbanks - A meme for May
Pink Elle
Simple American - Gang Memed By Giddy Tiger And Little Miss May
Jemima - Clearing out my closet
Bkworm - A Meme For Charity

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Finally, after 5 months of lamenting how much I miss bakuteh, guess what I found in one of Chinatown’s supermarkets?Yup, you guessed it from the photo below — bakuteh herbs and spices mix! Claypot brand some more! The one that we’re all familiar with back in KL. This pack has travelled far, up high in the sky and over the deep blue seas to reach my hands. I bought it for $1.80. How much is this back home? I forget. I don’t care. I’m gonna have me some Fann-tastic Bak Kut Teh tonight!

I bought some Aussie pork ribs (I don’t know why they call it that, but that’s what it said on the label), some nice and fatty pork rashers, a pack of mixed mushrooms and some garlic to make my pot of “ribs tea”. Dumped the ingredients into a big pot together with a sachet of herbs mix, added water, brought it to boil and left it to simmer so while I took my shower, but not before I pot some rice in the cooker to boil as well.Just as I finished towelling off, I heard the rice cooker go “pop”… ahhh, the rice is ready. Dinner is served!

Simply fann-tastic, aitelyu! It’s not as good as the Subang BKT place, nor Klang, nor even my Mom’s version (somehow she does it better than I do despite using the same herbs and spices mix). But I kinda know how L B feels now after having “fasted” from all these asian food favourites for a few months, and then having a good dose of it one fine day. Cocka, we can have BKT here in Sydney liao!Ahhhhh… *urp!*

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