Little Cozy Corner

Despite the rain this afternoon, the lunch was great! Venue : The Stamford, North Ryde, not in Epping as I mentioned earlier. They had a rather wide variety of seafood and I must say that my favorite was the squid salad. Out of the 3 crustaceans that I was looking forward to trying, I hit one - the Balmain Bug. I was rather disappointed with it as there was so little flesh in there and people pay a lot to eat it. The texture is somewhat prawn-like, unlike crabs meat which kinds of crumble. This was slightly tough, maybe more like lobster? I’m not sure coz I’ve not had lobster before but I think it’s almost alike. The other thing that I’m glad I tried or finally had the chance to try is fresh oyster. I’ve heard so much about it that I just had to try it.

The first one was nice coz I only took one seeing that I was afraid I might not like it and didn’t want to waste the lot. And I enjoyed it. It was something like kerang/cockels. Then I was a bit brave and took another 3, which was a mistake. The second one was ok, the third I couldn’t swallow - it began to make me feel sick coz Ted was looking at me funny and he kept asking me if I liked it coz it was slimy. Although I don’t blame my sickness on him, I think I may have had a not-so-fresh oyster when I took the 3rd shell so I dumped the 4th. Wasn’t going to take the risk and puke all that wonderful seafood out. After this, I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t really like it and I’m glad that I tried it coz now I know where I stand. For dessert, I didn’t what to choose coz there was just so many things to choose from so I settled for the chocolate mud cake and the passion fruit sponge cake. The passion fruit cake was a-ok but the chocolate mud cake, AIYOR!!!! So sinfully delish……*still drooling from just now*

Anyway, all in all, we had a good time out and I’m sure that the in-laws had fun too coz they are all seafood lovers! Now, on with the pix….

Because it was raining, couldn’t take pix of the ‘resort’

The birthday boy with his pressies from big bro, Bill.

Yummy seafood for all! [L-R] Prawns, crabs, mussels, Balmain Bugs and oysters.

The sinful platter you couldn’t resist even if you tried!

The birthday boy with his birthday cake at MIL’s place.

The fountain outside the restaurant

The Balmain bug and the Oyster. ANd the squid salad too - YUMMY!

Now, one more thing before I close this post. With Lent happening now, I normally sacrifice something I enjoy. This happens every Lent. Last Lent, I cut down on my sugar intake. This Lent, it’s going to be blogging. From now until Easter, I’ll only be blogging once a week, that is every Sunday. I’ll be honest, although I don’t blog that often now, when I go back to Malaysia, I know I’ll be itching to blog and if I could [that is if it weren't Lent season], I would be blogging daily. Now only that, my friend is getting married so you can image how much I will long to blog but I would have to wait till Sunday till I can spill the stories.

It’s going to be very tough but that is what a sacrifice is. However, since I won’t be blogging, it will also give me a chance to drop by your blog instead. At least I won’t lose out that much I guess. :wink:  So till next Sunday…..have a good week and when I do get back, I’ll have pictures of Batemans Bay coz that’s where Ted and I will be going for a short holiday. We leave on Wednesday [28th Feb] and will be back in Parramatta on Saturday - a 4D/3N long awaited and well deserved holiday. We are both very excited about it and are counting the days till we head off.

So be good while I’m away and see you next Sunday!

Tomorrow is Ted’s birthday so today, his parents and brother are taking us out for a buffet seafood fest in Epping. Dun ask me where it is, I am [somewhat] a tai-tai. I just sit in the car and allow my husband to drive me around. I’ve been told to expect the best and I guess I am. No heavy brekkie for me, just some little mee hoon leftover from last night’s dinner and a Nescafe. I had brekkie at about 9.30am but now, at 10.50am, I’m already hungry. No thanks to being pregnant, I’m constantly hungry…..I think because of me, our credit card statement only seems to show Coles, Woolworths, Coles, Woolworths, Kmar [coz me now got the crochet bug] - both are giant supermarkets nearby.

Although I am no big fan of seafood - I eat them all the same. I am looking forward to having some lobster and balmain bugs and yabbies. These are creatures I’ve seen but never tried so I am excited about it. I’ve got my faith ol’ cam with me, don’t you worry and if I see these, I hope I can put on a muka tebal [kind of be a little shameless and ignorant] and snap away. And hopefully my in-laws don’t think I’m crazy then again, they have seen me taking pictures of food on the table and all that during Christmas so I think they won’t be surprised. Heh. I know what my Mum would say though, “Nothing better to do, is it? Like mad woman only….” then she would shake her head and totally ignore my existence. My sis would do the same too. Hahahaha!! Goes to show that this is a trait in many bloggers, eh?

By the way, if you didn’t know, there’s a bloggers meet, well in fact 2 :

1) Penang Bloggers - This Sunday [TODAY!!], 11.30 am, Starbucks e-Gate, Penang

2) Whole world bloggers - KL, March 9th. (check out rojaks site for details)

I’m so sad that I can’t make it for either one but if you’re in the area, why not pop by and join the fun? You get to meet other bloggers and meet new friends, catch up with the old and not only that, get to feel like a SUPERSTAR!!! Simply because all bloggers [mostly anyway] will be busy going tiak-tiak-tiak-tiak, taking pictures of everything and everyone - very teh best wan! Feel so glamourous lor…..better go if you can, if not, really rugi!!!

The aggressive woman

My condolences to the woman on the bus today who was screaming and going at the bus driver because she should have thought about all possible situations before having a go at the bus driver, who might I add is a very nice man.

My bus ride today was filled with obscenities which no unborm child should hear and thanks to that woman, Kecik got both ears full. :angry: I am ever grateful that up till today, I have not had to wait too long for a bus as most buses are on time or better yet, early and they actually wait for passengers to fill the bus. I get on a T-way bus everyday and there is no traffic on the T-way as it was made for that purpose only - no traffice but a long, long way to go. It has it’s own bus lane and no other vehicle can use this special lane. It’s painted red - a good enough warning plus a huge arrest if you do drive your car on this T-way.

Anyway, along come this woman and a man and in the bus they get. Since there is hardly any other vehicle on the road, hence there is no traffic, the bus is most of the time early and to ensure that they are not TOO early, sometimes the bus drivers stops at an empty bus stop just to make up the time and give passengers a chance to arrive at their designated bus stops in time. And today, this was what Mr. Bus Driver did. He stopped at one of the bigger stops and waited for a bit.

Before long, this woman comes up and demands to know why we’ve stopped. So he begins to explain to her why but before you know it, she’s screaming at him saying that she got on the bus coz the bus moves along and not stops for no reason. He didn’t lose his cool but I could see that he wasn’t amuse. He then tells her that this is what has to be done but she goes on about how she’s going to be late for court because of this and yadda, yadda, yadda before she storms off to the back. He then returns a remark telling her that if she wanted to arrive on time, she should take a taxi.

In my opinion, she should have just taken the earlier bus and shut her trap. She should be thankful that she will get [hopefully] to her destination in one piece. That’s why I almost never fail to thank the bus driver before I get off the bus. It’s just plain courtesy plus, my mama taught me well.

The stupid man

What’s worst : a man riding his scooter on pedestrian walk way or a man skateboarding downhill, on a busy main road at peak hour?

To me, I think they are equally stupid, if not, the skateboarder is dumber.

The guy on the scooter was something I heard on the radio so I can’t really comment on that but I think that would be rather dangerous seeing that people walk there with prams and old people are always walking slowly. With a scooter on that walk way…..his mama no teach him well. *shakes head*

As for the skateboarder - I saw this happen right in front of me four eyes this morning while waiting for the bus. Yes, I was a little lazy today so I took the bus from my place to the station when I normally walk for 20 minutes. :happy: Anyway, while I was waiting, from the corner of my eyes, I see this man on a skateboard gathering speed going down hill on a busy main road. At first I thought he was on the road for a bit and that he was going to get onto the walk way, out of traffic’s way but no. He just kept on going on the main road with this car trailing behind him, trying to get around him but he was obviously oblivious to the fact that his actions were not only dangerous to himself but he was also endangering the other motorist on the road too.

If he got knocked down which I think is highly likely to happen, he would not survive because there was a long line of cars behind him and they were all driving fast. After all, it was the peak rush-to-office hour - it was 8am. Why in the world he’d want to skateboard on a main road beats me but I hope he is still in one piece [coz he's really cute] and if he isn’t, I hope he’s dead coz if he’s still alive after being knocked down in that traffic, he wouldn’t want to be alive. :pinch:

I posted something about chivalry on Kecik’s blog today and Aida replied saying that she agreed with me. And I, in turn, couldn’t agree more. That post is here and check out the template - so cute!!!

I’m not trying to be bias but I have noticed that although Malaysians [in general] are known to be a courteous bunch. I have hardly seen any for the longest time ever. I’m sure that there are many out there who still hold the door for another, offer their seat to the elderly/pregnant woman and etc on the bus and are just pleasant to talk to and not snobbish but, there is also a big part of society out there, who live in their own little world where they and only they seem to exists. It may sound harsh but I think it’s reality.

I’m not being bias here or trying to make it look as if I’ve forgotten my roots. I say this based just from personal experience [as per my post at Kecik's blog], and also other times when strangers have held the door open for me, exchanged a few pleasant words and even smiled for that matter. A huge majority of Aussies are a really pleasant bunch - some are too rough and rowdy for me though, that much I can say as well!

As for being courteous on the road - I don’t even want to go there! BJ’s blog has tons of stories in there that would freak out any potential foreign drivers. I know Ted is. But as they say, if you can drive in Penang and make it home safely each time you’re out driving, KL should be a breeze. And with that in mind, please don’t ever try Malaysian style driving here in Oz because I can guarantee you that you’ll either get honked at [that's the bare minimum] or you’ll be in the worst ever wreck! This is most likely why I have not yet got my driving license. Although I have driven once from our home to my MIL’s place in an auto car, that was it. I was driving Malaysian style and I kept getting stern looks from Ted and at one point, he went, ‘You’re suppose to stick to your lane. You’re not in Malaysia, love.’

Lesson learnt : Always stick to your lane and if you signal, you know you can safely make that turn coz no psycho mutt will come cutting into or in front of you. That’s why it’s mighty tough getting a license here and it’s getting tougher coz many accidents are happening here due to new drivers. I think it’s 3 years before you can get full license. Maybe our Malaysian government should make it tougher to get a full license be it car or motorbike so that they can reduce all their Ops as well, eh?

Once upon a time, in a nice little forest, there lived an orphaned bunny and an orphaned snake. By a surprising coincidence, both were blind from birth.

One day, the bunny was hopping through the forest, and the snake was slithering through the forest, when the bunny tripped over the snake and fell down. This, of course, knocked the snake about quite a bit. “Oh, my,” said the bunny, “I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’ve been blind since birth, so, I can’t see where I’m going. In fact, since I’m also an orphan, I don’t even know what I am.”

It’s quite ok,” replied the snake. “Actually, my story is as yours. I too have been blind since birth, and also never knew my mother. Tell you what, maybe I could slither all over you, and work out what you are so at least you’ll have that going for you.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful” replied the bunny. So the snake slithered all over the bunny, and said, “Well, you’re covered with soft fur, you have really long ears, your nose twitches, and you have a soft cottony tail. I’d say that you must be a bunny rabbit.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” cried the bunny, in obvious excitement. The bunny suggested to the snake, “Maybe I could feel you all over with my paw, and help you the same way that you’ve helped me.” So the bunny felt the snake all over, and remarked, “Well, you’re smooth and slippery, and you have a forked tongue, no backbone and no balls…..I’d say you must be either a team leader, supervisor or possibly someone in senior management.”

Kwang…kwang….kwang….:w00t: I dare you to send this to your boss!! :devil: [Someone sent me this in the email but forgot who but thanks anyway.]