Little Cozy Corner

I just finished reading her blog and I can’t help but feel a connection or understanding of what she is going through. I may not know for sure or exactly how she feels but I get the jist of it. If you’re wondering why I can relate to her most recently posts is simply because both of us came out to Sydney at about the same time for the same reason. Only difference is, I married Ted and she’s still building the bridge.

There seems to be a certain trend in  practically every conversation that I’ve had since I’ve come home, “How’s life in Sydney?”, “Wah, migrate to Sydney, sure best wan! Syiok or not stay there?” and of course, no conversation would be complete without a “Do you miss home?”. I personally feel people think that it’s a big deal when one moves/migrates to another country and I don’t deny the fact, it IS a huge deal. It certainly was for me. But somehow I get the feeling that when posed with questions such as the above-mentioned [to say the least], it’s from the view point of someone on vacation.

My answer is always and most of the time, the same thing, “Life is not too bad and I’m still getting used to it.” It’s certainly not too far from the truth and the truth is, it has not easy. Like Midnitelily, I felt the sense of ‘loneliness’ as well, not only from being away from the presence of friends and family but the whole feeling of community. 

I came to Australia knowing only Ted and my relatives. I had no friends to begin with, unlike May who had studied in Australia sometime ago. I believe it would be easier for her to pick up where she left off. I’m not too sure about Midnitelily but I think she and I are in the same boat, at least to a certain degree. My relatives live in New Castle which is a bit of a distance away and having lived the Aussie way for a long time, I think my aunt has also developed the same style of living, so visiting each other often is not a norm.

I only began to have friends when I started my job in Sydney, CBD [Central Business District I think] and even there, the clique culture exists. But I didn’t let that bother me and tried my best to develope friendships before my tenure was over and thankfully, I now have a handful of friends - ironically, we only keep in touch via email. However, the meaning of ‘friends’ in Australia differs vastly from what I would call friends back home.

Perhaps my expectation of friendships is too high but how to foster a relationship when everyone is their own person after 5.30pm? Everyone is chatty in the office and during lunch but the minute it’s 5.30pm, it’s like a switch is turned off and everyone is off on their own, doing their own thing. The trend I notice is that if you want to be in the group, you gotta hang out with the group. So what happens if you don’t like doing what the group does? That pretty much leaves you a choice of forcing yourself to join or simply not be in a group at all. That’s normally what happens to me. The ‘happening’ clique are the ones who go by the pub after work and grab a couple of beers and chill out. But I don’t like doing that coz it’s just not me also, money don’t grow on trees and it’s not like as if I’m making tonnes in the first place. It feels as if ‘friends’ get together only if there’s a party or a huge get-together. But back home, you don’t have to have a reason to lepak at the mamak stall. You don’t need a reason to just pop by and say hello. You don’t need a reason to meet up at all. 

During a recent conversation with my boss, he mentioned that it’s different over there because although they are friendly and they can chat you up anywhere and talk for hours on end but at the end of it all, you suddenly realise that despite all that talk, you don’t really know who that person is at all. It’s as if an invisible wall is there to barricade or to prevent you from getting to near or close to them. And that really hit me like a ton of bricks because it made me realise how true his words were!

I like Ted’s friends but I do note that they too, only gather occasionally particularly when there’s a party and although his friends are really friendly and we get along fine, there’s always something there which doesn’t feel right. I’ve tried being close to one of the wives because they live quite near to us but surprisingly, I get along better with the hubby rather than the wife!! *sigh* And the wife whom I actually like hanging out with and seems to be more friendly than the rest, lives too far away. *double sigh*

I guess people back there are more private and prefer to lead solitary lives but that’s just me and my opinion. I’m glad to a certain extend that I am not going through exactly what Midnitelily is going through coz it’s for sure ain’t a fun ride. And having Kecik coming along soon will certainly be a big bonus for me coz it’s definitely going to keep me busy and by then, I wouldn’t have to bother nor worry about other people. And at that point, I think I’ll be like the rest of the people around me too - absorbed in my own happy little world! *Aiyaiyai…..*

Name cards important if you have a business and looking forward to expand it in a relatively fast way BUT it’s not only for business people. I think it’s perfectly fine for anyone to have a name card and I think I found a great place just for that purpose. It’s called 123Print which is a business card printing site.

I was pretty impressed by the variety and more so something which I have not noticed before. In fact, I never even knew I existed! It’s called Magnetic Business Cards - and I wonder how they work….I guess by having a magnetic card, you can stick it up on your fridge?? Hhmmm…that is indeed a good idea if you want to spread the word about your business eh? *grin*

See so cute these poscards??

And of course the other thing that grabbed my attention was the postcards!!! Some of the designs are soooooo cute. Postcards and business name cards are just 2 items which they print but it’s good to note that they also have printing of labels, memo pads, greeting cards, envelopes and of course, lettrhead. What would a business be without these?

Between Sunshine and The Reaping - I should have picked The Reaping.

I went to the movies last night with a colleague and we couldn’t decide on Sunshine or The Reaping. Although she left it up to me to decide, I was all for The Reaping, sadly I decided against it because  I just wanted to be on the safe side and wanted ‘honour’ good ol’ midwives tales - “Not good to watch all those ugly and scary movies, then your baby will be ugly”. *rolls eyes* Well, serves me right for not listening to my guts!

In general, it’s about a group of 8 astronauts sent to save the sun from ‘dying’ by launching a stellar bomb into the Sun to re-ignite it. But as in all normal sci-fi movies, things go wrong but in the end, the world is saved.

In general, it’s about a group of 8 astronauts sent to save the sun from ‘dying’ by launching a stellar bomb into the Sun to re-ignite it. But as in all normal sci-fi movies, things go wrong but in the end, the world is saved.

I wasn’t impressed by the plot, I wasn’t impressed by the acting particularly by Michelle Yeoh coz I know she can do better than this, [Didja catch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?? You should if you didn’t!] and I was yawning most parts of the movie and pretty much got lost towards the end. But I was slightly impressed by the graphics particularly the way they showed what the Sun would look like after god-knows how many hundreds of percent filtering. And also how the Sun burns at close range. Then again, this was merely a vision or depiction I guess coz no one really know what the Sun looks like, do they? But I thought it looked very much like earth on fire really. And that was about it. I guess I blame my lack of interest in any sci-fi genre movies so if you’re into Armageddon and The Core, then go watch this. Otherwise, don’t bother.

Thankfully, my only consolation is that I only wasted RM7.80 - RM5 for the ticket and RM1.80 for my drink. It was Wednesday mar. Heh.

Spoiler here.

I hope there were 2 pots of gold at the end of these rainbows.

Do you love the sound of slot machines, money dropping out into your bag and lights beeping and howling out celebrating your win? Well, I love it to bits and slot machines are my favourite casino game. And it’s the only one I actually enjoy! If I’m at a casino, you’ll find me seated at a slot machine, waiting eagerly to strike and hear the ‘ka-ching’ of money.

There’s a new Gaming Club in town offering over 170 casino games which will certainly keep you entertained. As I’m writing this review, the progressive jackpot is certainly progressing steadily - it’s now $3,189,906 and going up! Quite an attractive figure eh?

I know many are worried about security when it comes to payment time but as a member, your details are fully encrypted by the strictest 128-bit SSL encryption, for total security purposes. Setting up is pretty easy - just download Casino Games and register yourself. They also have deposit and withdrawal options, as well as a transaction history for you to keep tab of your winnings. [Have to keep saying WINNINGS so WINNINGS is what you get!]

As much fun as all this gamble is, a word of caution - do keep check of yourself and if you feel you can’t handle it, stop. I know that I tend to get carried away very often but I always manage to ‘wake up’ before it’s too late. So have your fun BUT keep in check.

Now, get downloading and watch your money go KA-CHING, KA-CHING!!

**This is a sponsored post**

I was suppose to put these pictures up yesterday but was so tied up that I didn’t have the time. Was out almost the whole day shopping with Mum and looking around for baby stuff. It’s bizarre how things can take quite a turn the moment you find out that you’re pregnant. Everything you buy or look at is baby this and baby that. There goes all the shopping for myself. Haiz…anyway, I’m just glad I found a nice and huge baby shop in Kulim to do my baby clothes shopping. Thank goodness the clothes are mostly affordable!! Babies grow up too fast…..much too fast to spend too much on clothes. So this is just perfect. Anyways, enjoy the pictures but don’t ask me the names of these flowers I took from Mum’s garden. I know how to thiak-thiak-thiak only!

This is one of my favourites and I think it’s called Bleeding Heart.

This is my favourite orchid and I have plans to immortalize it within next year. *hint hint* By the way, fyi the size of this orchid is the size of my palm. It is HUGE.

This was one of the first pictures I took when I first got my new cam - a beautiful lily.

Then my uncle gave it a go too and now I know where I stand. NO WHERE!

I think by now, you should know that Mum’s an orchid fanatic!! And she’s got some really gorgeous orchids too.