Little Cozy Corner

20/9

Woke up this morning, not having anything in mind…I made brekkie. Simple one [one Ted would have hated!], bread spread with margerine n topped with parmesan cheese. Simple and satisfying brekkie IF you’re a cheese nut like me. While having brekkie, I turned on the tv and on most channels, Steve Irwin’s memorial was being shown live.

Many celebrities have come and gone and had their memorials telecasts on tv but this was the first time I ever shed tears. I shed buckets of tears especially when Steve’s dad said that it is not we [the human's] who have lost a good friend but the animals who have lost their bestest friend. It was so touching and what made me even more terharu was when Bindi [Steve's daughter] came out and read out her bit. At such a young age, it was just so amazing to note how much she is already into conservation and wanting to carry on her Daddy’s passion. It’s just simply amazing.

Steve Irwin will indeed be missed but he will never be forgotten.

CRIKEY, I’m GONNA MISS YA MATE!*WAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!* :crying:

Day 2 after arriving in Sydney and I find myself still trying to get used to being ‘housewife’. Ted normally leaves for work at about 7am then comes home at 9am then goes back to goes at 3pm then finally retires home about 9.30pm. The mornings are fine as I would still be in bed when he leaves. But it gets REALLY boring and lonely after lunch time. The first day he was away I found myself taking a nap from 3pm to 4.30pm then I woke up and did some vacumning and clearing up some of the boxes lying around. I couldnt possibly clear the content of the boxes as most of it belongs to Ted. After that, I pretty much had nothing to do. So I made some tea and watched tv. By 7pm, I prepared my dinner ~ ham & cheese sandwich and had half a lemington for dessert. I ate it while watching The Name of The Rose, an oldie but one of my favourites. This thriller is about how Brother William of Baskerville [Sean COnnery] and a novice, Adio of Nerk [Christian Slater] find themselves at this abby where monk after monk is brutally murdered in accordance to the Bible [according to the Appocalypse to be specific]. The movie is a GOOD one and worth watching BUT the build up is slow and you may lose interest half but hang on and in the end, you would not be disappointed. I’ve watched over and over again and can still watch it.

As I’m typing this out, Ted’s in the kitchen cooking up a storm. He’s making his favourite food ~ spaghetti. It’s smells divine and it’s simply making me drool all over his keyboard!!! :drool: :drool:

I’m outta here….I MUST BE FED!

Ps. All I had for ‘lunch’ was gelato.

Tis the hour has arrived, where I say my teary goodbyes….

Good bye Malaysia….. :crying: Good bye my lovely and very fattening foods, I shall miss you muchly.

And HELLO SYDNEY!!!! I can hear the sticky date pudding & gelatos calling out to me from here….fear not, my lovelies….I are coming!!! :drool:

This here will most likely be the last post I’ll be posting from Kulim. Since my flight transits at Changi Airport, Singapore ~ if I can, I may pop by to have a look-see. Otherwise, the next time you read me, it’ll be from down under.

One thing though, I’m not sure when our internet connection will be up but I’ve been forewarned that it might be dial-up [God help me! :praying:] so not only have I to practice my patience waiting for the initial hook up but also render lots of patience with super-slow Mr. Dial-Up. *pray for patience and sanity* :praying:

Till then my dears…..toodles!

Ted & I got married more than a month ago [:dancing:] and sadly, Lilian couldn’t make it as her son had high fever that night. But being the wonderful and thought person that she is, she gave us a very special wedding gift. She gave us a Pixart Photobook album and it came TODAY!!! :dancing: :party:

Lilian had dropped me a message saying that it was on it’s way but I thought that hopefully [was keeping my fingers crossed here] it would come latest by Saturday. But what a sweet surprise I got when the postman turned up and beep-ed for us this afternoon! I knew immediately what it was. The moment I laid eyes on that photobook…..I was in love!! [Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lilian!!]

Our Photobook album Hosted on Zooomr

I absolutely ADORE the cover, it’s just beyond words and the inside ~ Pixart has immortalised our wedding pix and it will not fade [coz the pix are printed on glossy paper] and I won’t lose anything either [since we can't always rely on CDs and DVDs] as all the pages been bound and has a hard cover. It really makes a GREAT gift for family and friends for ANY occasion. It could even be your travelogue too as I know many are good photographers and a travelogue would be perfect to keep all those memories and shots nicely decorated and bound in hard cover! [Looks knowingly at Visithra & Anjali.]

Another shot of our photobook Hosted on Zooomr

I am certainly looking forward to getting one done once we start having kiddies of our own. Pixart….YOU RAWK!

Ps. I know many of you are still waiting for me to upload more of my wedding pix but sadly, I have not done it. Please hop on over to my zooomr account and check them out there. I’ve put up some of my favs and the best. Do leave me a comment or 2.

Note : Sorry about the screw up with the photos….still getting used to using Zooomr.com.

• family members and friends continously tell you that they are going to miss you.

• they keep reminding you to keep in touch, everytime they see you.

• they keep telling Mum she’ll be here alone. [This I hate the most coz you don't have to rub it in and remind her of this fact, you know? :grouch:]

And this is the sad bit however, there is always the brighter side to things. This is when you are affirmed and been told how appreciative people are about you. It happened last night at my prayer group meeting. We meet once a month and discuss a reflection paper. I didn’t expect anything from anyone and I went because Aunty B asked me to go and I thought why not since it would be my last meeting anyway. But I was a little bit suspicious as my Mum was very insistent on coming and it’s not like her to want to go for this meeting, what more with Mum having a bad throat AND cough. Other than feeling weird and suspicious about Mum, I pushed the thought aside.

Everything went as normal and right after the final prayer. Terence, the new treasurer [who took over my duties] stood up and began giving a speech, thanking moi for all that I had done for them the past few years being in the committee and all. It still hadn’t dawned on me that the meeting was actually a potluck party too! It was only until he held out a small paper bag did I realise that the gift was for me and the ’surprise’ party was for me. :blush: I was touched, overwhelmed and blushing all at the same time. I guess this is what happens when you least expect something and then you get it. This is the first time I ever had a proper surprise party and I loved it! To think that Mum knew about this a month ago…..lol :hehe: She sure can keep a secret until yesterday when she very nearly blew it by mentioning something. Lucky for her I didn’t take note.

Me getting my gift Hosted on Zooomr

My BEC group gave me a beautiful crystal figurine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and it has a light embedded inside and if you twist the bottom [which in turn makes the connection with the battery], it lights up. It will fit perfectly on our new altar at home. It was very thoughtful of them, coming up with this. I felt very appreciated and that affirmed me. It boosted my confidence and not only that, it was a motivation to continue being who I am, doing what I do best.

Perfect gift Hosted on Zooomr

Food, glorious food! Hosted on Zooomr

There weren’t many times that people took the trouble to speak out and tell me how much they appreciated my help or presence but when they did, my spirits would soar and I could feel my whole being lifted up. It’s a wonderful feeling to feel wanted and appreciated. The bottom line is, even a simple heartfelt and sincere ‘thank you’ is more than enough to continuously give moral support and confidence to the giver. That is one of the reasons why we should never take these words for granted.

To me personally, thank you is the universal sign of appreciation and thanksgiving coz that’s what my Mama taught me. And she taught me well. :love:

Mum had a farewell party for me on Wednesday. We called a few family members and some of my close friends. The BBQ was great fun and the food ~ DELISH! :drool: As usual, we made our own dishes. Mum always takes pride in being the perfect host and till to date has not failed anyone’s expectations, at least she has definitely not failed my standards. She’s DA SMOKIN’ CHEF!

The main item was the chicken and frankfurters while the others were merely side dishes. We started preparing a little late but as usual, we’re always on time where time management is concerned. [Did I tell you that it takes me days to pack for a trip and I hate rushing to pack my bag? I started packing my suitcase to take with me to Oz since last week and I'm still not done!] I guess it was twice faster since 2 pairs of hands were working. I even had a debut signature dish out that night. It started out as pieces of steak for the bbq but ended up as a special mince meat dish….ala Yvy style. Actually, it looked very much like serunding. I think I know what went wrong though. I was so adamant and insistent that I had try out this recipe I conjured in my mind and die-die must do no matter what. After all, how tough could it be to prepare the steak with my special recipe, right? WRONG! In this case, it backfired! I guess it was partly my fault. I was suppose to tenderize it slightly the night before but I must have whacked it way too hard and on top of that, it was marinating in my special sauce over night. The final blow was when an aunt suggested we half-boil the meat first then add in the marinate so that it soaks right through and on that day, cook/grill/bbq till fully cooked.

By the time I mixed in my special brew, practically the whole pot of meat had fallen to bits. So I did the next best thing ~ added in more flavouring and had Mum help me stir it till it became dry as I was busy setting up the porch and such. Turned out might fine and was a hit among many. Guess Mum’s gift for cooking DOES run through my veins. Baby, worry no more…you shall not starve to death and we shall not live on nasi goreng alone, all the days of our life. :hehe:

Getting the bbq pit started was another drama ~ thank god I’m no drama mama myself or I would have been freaking out! Also another glitch no thanks to the inexperience me when it comes to bbq-ing. Who knows lar that those bbq coals which you can get in the bags were that fume-y and not hot enough? Costed us a bomb when all we needed was a bag of good ol’ charcoal wood to get the party started. *sigh* Poor Uncle Winston and Aunty Theresa were fanning away trying to get the fire up. But despite the slow start-up for the fire, once it got going….all went smoothly and the chicken was S-U-P-E-R!! :drool: :drool: Nice and slightly charred on the outside but ,juicy moist and succulent on the inside. Double, triple :drool:

The slow start….

The smokin’ pit ~ THIS is what I’m talking about! :drool: :drool:

See that dish on the bottom right? Yvy’s Special…

More food!!! :drool:

Our desserts waltzing in….

A (wo)man’s best friend during any party….BOOZE!! What bbq would be complete without a little firewater, eh? :smug: