I am recovering, but the hurt is still there… Yesterday I went and buy groceries with my mom. It has been two weeks and it is definitely boring stay cooped up in the house for such a long time. So off I went and everything went well until we went to buy some biscuits right below my flat.

The lady looked at me as if I am some infectious slug waiting to pounce on her. So what if I look like a sesame biscuit at this moment? Is it my fault being in such a state as mentioned?! At that instance, I think I can relate to those who suffered during ancient eras whereby cure was still unavailable. Isolation in a tiny hut faraway from other living and healthy human being, fending off any danger lurking nearby and living on tree barks and raw potatoes… I bet most died due to the pain accumulated in their hearts: disappointment of being deserted, heartache of being treated as if they are some hideous creatures…

I caught it on the 12th of December, ruining my two weeks, which includes Christmas too… (sigh)

It was also the first time I felt so vulnerable and alone: my sister did not wished me to return and my housemate would prefer I stayed out or stay cooped up in my room during the recovering or disease-spreading stage. It hurt so bad that I wound up crying like a river. It had been years since I had done such a thing as such…

Also, I felt pangs of guilt not having to work during the recovering session. I only started work on the 25th of November, which means it had only been ten days before I felt sick. (sigh) Hope they do not blame me for the overload of job due to my sickness…

Final arrangement, I came back to my family; however, that comes with a price. I am not allowed entrance into the room where the computer is, which means I could not do work or surf the net. Also, I am not allowed to do several other things; only to sit or sleep in my confined area. How sad is that, right?

Chicken pox blues, chicken pox blues

Please be away as fast as you can

‘Cause it’s such a misery for you by my side

I couldn’t eat this, I couldn’t do that

And my heart was torn in pieces

So off you go my chicken pox blues

Off you go, fast to be gone

Only then will I have my old life back~~~~

I thought I might die in a new environment… guess I’m wrong after all. My friend said she, a person of IT would not want to venture into this business; yet, me, a person of language and linguistics would have the nerve to face this industry. Weird world, is it not?

Even when I entered, it is quite a challenge for me to adapt to its environment: I am alright switching to different languages; however, the code switching here is quite fast-paced. Sometimes, I accidentally blurted out a Mandarin word when I never spoke to my partner using Mandarin…

Then there is the residence that I am living in currently. That… I do not have any problem with it. The only problem might be the temptations I get whenever I went down for something: there are lots of restaurants just right below my flat. Imagine: Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Thailand, US and even France joining together in a meeting to crush me with all their aromatic scents!!!! It is really hard to resist…

By and by, I am still surviving… and that is great, right? (nods and thinking thoughtfully) OF COURSE IT IS!!! ^^

Yesterday I went out with Yen Cheng and SK to visit one of the room in Hard Rock hotel. All these while, I thought Hard Rock is in Georgetown area, so you can imagine my surprise when I realised it is in Batu Ferringhi area. No wonder it cost a fortune (well, maybe it is considered as cheap by certain level of people, but it is definitely not me)

If you must know, the normal rate for a room there is RM1000 (+O+) and only during promotion duration does it costs RM500 (rounded figure means almost 50++%, right) So that had me thinking: what is so special about this hotel, or more to say, the room, that it costs so much? So let’s have a look, shall we?

Upon entering, I had the shock of my life. The size is almost the same as the one I had in Hotel Maluri which definitely costs lesser than this one. And definitely nothing special. Of course if you consider having Elvis Presley in your bathroom overlooking you taking a bath is special, then by all means, go ahead and spend your money like water… or the fact that you can open the separator to watch or admire your partner’s body while they are taking a bath is making your adrenaline pumping, be my guest…

Okay then, room, not special at all. How about if we look at the facilities instead? This I will admit they are quite impressive. Just in front of the lounge where live bands perform is a whole stretch of swimming pool lining from one end to the next. Now only can we see that those guests who stay on the ground floor must have spent a fortune (more than RM1000, that is) as they have access to the pool directly from their patio. On one side of the pool, you will come to see two bars over there. One is the usual one that we always find in bars or pubs. The other one is lower and nearer to the pool. At first I did not notice, but heck! They have short stools made of stone lining the shorter bar. Therefore, the swimmers can place their butts on the stone stools and enjoy their martinis or margaritas right on the spot. How cool is that? They also have access to perhaps in their term private beach?

But, really!!!! Is it worth the money? You be the judge…

That is the date when we had our gathering. This time round is better; however, a shame that some of our member could not attend due to personal matters.

I guess we are all into new location and food, so it was a new location: Gurney’s Breeks. Initially, we planned to have it in Kim Gary (SI’s suggestion); unfortunately, it was crowded (how can it not be: it was during lunch time!!!!) Therefore, we changed the venue to Chili’s (I did not tried it before ^^); sadly, the restaurant could only accomodate eight people and most probably we have ten, so we cancelled off that plan and took on the restaurant beside it: Breeks!

Well, the food is quite nice too (can override those of Little Cottage). The only difference is that Little Cottage is of a country-style whereas Breeks’ interior design had a modern feel to it (the drinks look familiar though; perhaps I’d been there before for drinks but forgotten about it… it should be the time when I had the Chung Hwa Primary School’s reunion time; which is almost during Christmas)

My sister’s dish is quite pleasing to the mouth. Although it’s just plain spaghetti in mushroom sauce, the flavours and senses is sufficient to make a person go wild eating it (well, almost as Bee Ling seems to find the sauce to thick and slightly rejected the sauce)… I had the Seared Pan of the day and it was quite alright. Very fulfilling… as for dessert, I had the Peppermint Tiara, which everyone can’t get enough of it ^^…

All and all, it was not too bad… Next gathering, here we plan!!! ^^

I was anticipating some sort a worse movie, but it surprises me. Yeah! Definitely better than XXX: (I forgot the digits) Doomsday (If you did not know, I cursed all throughout the entire scenarios)

It shows plenty about humanity: how a distanced father finally pluck up all his courage to reconnect with his son was not blessed with the chance to say “I love you, son” or “how’s life been these few years?” ; how cruel is the world to see money over genes; how a loving father who knew he would dive into the valley of death if he kept pushing his son up, sacrifice himself doing so to keep his son alive; how a tightly bonded father and son assuring each other that they won’t die despite knowing that they are lying to each other; how short a life is…

I almost choke to tears but that’s about it… technically, the breathtaking effects is quite amazing to watch… however, is Jackson’s role only revolve around a broken-family relationship, writing and digits? For those who had seen 1408, you would have an idea of what I’m referring to… Cheers!!!

I have been waiting for it for two days~~~ if I cannot have it today, it would be my third attempt already… Thanks heaven, my prayers was heard… hehe ^^

Perhaps that contributes a part where I got off at Scotland Road to take a shortcut back home. By chance, my parents saw me walking back and I got a ride back on time and… manage to have a taste of the long-awaiting “ku luo yok” rice… Not the best, I reckon, but just as good as it is…

Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!! (cheerful humming sound can be heard)

I found an accommodation that suits me finely, grandly and most of all, PERFECTLY!!!! ^^

It’s nearby my workplace, affordable and secure (as in my parents and my siblings would not worry anymore) because it is not a guy’s house or co-habitation, but solely for girls… ^^

If all goes well, I will be moving in on the first of December… hmmm… Now that accommodation problem is solved, next problem will be this: How will I survive without transportation before first of December (as my target work slot starts on the 23rd of November) hmmmm… a thought to be made quickly…. ooooops!!!!

I must say… I am sure a lucky gal to have such luck… My first attempt to find a job in Penang succeeded!!!! ^^

I will be starting my job on the 23rd of November and there will be an orientation in both parties next Tuesday (17/11). Can’t wait for it to start… And perhaps I have the chance to taste something extraordinary as well… I might be getting a delayed taste of independence: living outside my home sweet home; living without the safeguard of my mom and dad… maybe…

I am just glad I have this job. It fits every dream that I desire: 5days-week, no dress code and can learn new stuffs. Will definitely strive for excellence!!!! Ganbatte ne!!!! ^^

Supposedly this is one of my blog in May, but it ended in June… now it’s November…  Oh well… LOL

1st day (24/5): Or perhaps one should say first night as we arrived at 2000 in the Kuching International Airport. Waited for Tze Kang to arrive as he is our host. He arived at 2105 from Miri. Then his father fetched us back to Beratok, his home.By then the time was 2200 already. Later on, he drove us to a nearby kopitiam which serves game as well and we were served some unique dishes. There were “pi” (love it so much; it’s a kind of animal), koay teow noodle served with tomatoe sauce (nice), mani vegetable fried with anchovies and egg (yummy yummy) and venison (erm… okay, but I prefer the one in Penang)… At night, the scenery up above the sky was breathtaking with millions of stars twinkling. What a sight!!!

(25/5) 2nd day: We went to have breakfast: Yen Cheng had kolo mee, SK had himself “lui cha” (a very healthy dish; however, for those who don’t feel like eating food as bitter as this for breakfast, this is definitely not your dish of the day, unless if you eat it in Mid Valley: it’s superb!!! Love it!), Tze Kang had himself kolo mee as well, and I laksa sarawak. It’s okay, but after I tasted kolo mee, kolo mee wins me over and became my top choice of delicacy in Kuching!!! ^^

Then, we went to Jong’s Crocodile Farm. It was awesome during the feeding time of the crocodiles. We get to see them performed on pouncing their prey: some were swift and fast; some clumsy and in Spanish we say torpe) LOL… Other than that, we get too see kingfisher, monkey, peacock, australian turkey (huge like an ostrich but colourful like a turkey), porcupine, otter and sun bear too… We bought some souvenirs: bookmarks, cute crocodiles magnets…

After that, we head to the famous cat museum. At first, one who had not been there would probably thought that the duration spent there would most probably be very short, but alas! We took approximately TWO HOURS plus in it!!!! Can you imagine that? And that was also because I got tired of looking at each and every one of the stuff there and I was the LAST!!! Oh my god!!! However, it really gave me quite an insight about cats and all. Did you know that there was a cat who gave birth to 240 kittens in her whole life? Or that a millionaire gave his cat all his fortune?? I was also captivated by a movie entitled ”Cat People”. It seems to be quite a movie to catch. I wonder if I can find it in youtube. Haha… Bought more souvenirs: bracelets, pen covers…

Then we had some satays of all sort near the river of Kuching. They reminded me of the “char siew” as the sauce the vendor use is similiar with that of the “char siew”,  a delicacy of us chinese. After eating, three of us: SK, Yen Cheng and I had a sampan boat ride across the river whilst Tze Kang drove to the other side. It was quite a ride, I assure you. With three of us, it was unbalanced. I even had a moment of dread, thinking that I was going to drown in what Tze Kang called as the dirtiest river in Kuching. I’m not sure about that though, so no comment on my part… Fortunately, it went supringly well… LOL… When we arrived at the other end, I saw a bazaar selling aunthentic goodies from Kuching. So we went in to hunt for some more souvenirs. That was when the situation started to get ugly. It seemed that we were “hacked” by the previous souvenirs stalls and shops. I did not really lose lot of money, but Yen Cheng and SK did. Poor souls!!!! You could literally hear yen Cheng mumbling about this on and on. I felt so guilty that I wanted to give back the amount that they lost, but she exclaimed, “Are you crazy?!” LOL

 Okay… This is until the second day. The rest, I cannot tell you in perfect sequence of what had happened or where did we visited since it had been so long. Actually, I even had the nerve to forget where we went when Tze Kang’s mother enquired about it. How forgetful am I!  So there won’t be any details of date or time… Here goes:

We went to the pitcher plant and orchid farm. It was quite a scenery, but need some improvement and new collection. Perhaps one of the charms that Kuching hold is its mother nature’s gift: greenery… I don’t know about the rest, but I LOVE it!!! I remembered there was this time when Tze Kang got lost and drove into a dead end. But imagine this: there’s a school just before the dead end!! Cool, huh? Anyway, along that route, there were trees that look like pine trees lining on both side of the road, creating a canopy walk that you can only see in states, such as Canada. It was a beautiful sight, no doubt!

We also went to the cultural village. The fare is super duper expensive, but luckilly Yen Cheng and I have our student cards still. In it, we went into the chinese traditional house whereby we can see cookery, the original scene that one sees in drama series and also the pepper processing utensils, Malay’s traditional house and played “congkak” (it was my first time playing, in which I lost to Yen Cheng several times before winning once… LOL), the Melanau tall houses, Ulu’s long house (love this the best as the people carved beautiful and colourful decorations), learnt a trick or two in blowing the “sumpit” with the Pendan, went to the Iban house and last but not least watched a cultural dance performance… On the way back, we went and have a pit-stop in Santubong beach. It was very nice and seemed to belong to us four as there were no one there. Tze Kang said when it nears Hari Gawai, swarms of people will lunge themselves into the sea and gather at the beach. The scene was superb… like a picture I’d seen in the Internet…

We also went to the Chinese History Museum. There were many stuff there, like histories of hainanese, hokien, tew chew, cantonese and etcetera and etcetera… Also, they have musical instruments, cookery (some made from jade even), lion dance’s props, some prayer altars, a trishaw and many more…

We had two stops in shopping area: one is in Crown Plaza, the other I forgot already. Why would I remembered Crown Plaza? (snicker) Because I found Beauty Credit there!!!! I once bought their products in Penang: they were really good and dries fast (nail polish by the way), but then they shutted down. So sad, right? So imagine my happiness when I saw it in Kuching!!!!! ^^  

More food blog up next: Tze Kang brought us to eat “lek dao shuang”, a hot mung bean dessert, chicken cooked “siu mai” (yummy yummy… after I came back, I can’t take the pork ”siu mai” for a week), more kolo mee and freshly made soya bean drink and salad with cuttlefish… I think that’s for now… I can’t really recall already. LOL… Pictures will be up next!!!!