MooPig & The Babe

Someone gave my parents a bear's foot some months ago. Mom has been keeping it in a restaurant.

One day.. the boss called.. and so my parents arranged for a dinner tonight.

Initially, my parents refused to bring my sis and I.. but I begged them. What the heck I thought, bear's foot. I've never tasted anything like this in my life before.

Prior to serving the bear's foot, I was excited. Very. Couldn't stop thinking how it will taste like.

But.. when the dish came. I felt slightly disgusted. It's a BEAR's foot... My sis and I looked at each other. I looked at the dish. Thinking which piece should I pick (I was the first to eat cos I was rushing to pick my mom's friend's daughter from her tuition lesson). I swallowed my saliva, started to regret I insisted on joining my parents and their friends for dinner.

Finally, my uncle took a piece for me. *shrugs*.

I picked up the pair of chopstick. Ate a piece... Everybody looked at me.

The texture is like beef. Doesn't taste like beef. Doesn't taste like chicken. Doesn't taste like mutton. Doesn't taste like pork. Weird. I don't know what it tastes like. :P

I doubt I'll be having anymore exotic food. I feel guilty for eating bear's foot.

Posted by MooPig at 23:46 | Permalink | Comments

A childhood friend of mine whom I haven’t met for ages met up with me. To be frank, I was very surprised that she wanted to meet up with me because we sort of drifted apart after we went to secondary school.

Anyway, we met up in KGCC and talked about varsity life. She’s in Taylor’s College doing a business degree, twinning with one of the universities in Sydney. From the way she talked, I could see that she really wants to go overseas to study but her family is having financial problem. She’s the eldest in the family. Her brother is in form 5; another 2 sisters are in Form 3 and Form 2 respectively. Next year, her brother will be leaving high school for college. In a few years’ time, it will be her sisters’ turns. I’m sure it is very taxing for her parents to fund their children’s tuition fees. The fees that we pay in private institutions are no joke! The fees ARE expensive.

I would be lying if I say I know how she feels, but I sincerely feel so sorry for her. I feel helpless. Some people struggle so hard in order to study overseas, experience a different lifestyle there thus gain more experience. Some people have all the money in the world but do not know how to appreciate the opportunities that they have. There are also people who know how to appreciate the opportunities that they have.

I am very grateful that my parents can afford to send me overseas to further my education. As a full time student, I do not have to worry about finding a part time job to fund my expenses. I come back home every summer. I travel pretty often, be it in UK or to Europe. In short, I am indeed a lucky girl. =)

Thanks dad, thanks mom. Thanks God.. for everything.

Posted by MooPig at 23:08 | Permalink | Comments

Omigod.. the weather here is killing me!!!

I feel I'm falling sick soon. My voice has changed. My throat is always itchy thus causing me to cough.

I bathe like 3-4 times a day. I whine most of the time when I'm out from the house, running errands.

Past few days have been busy. On Thursday morning, mom received a call from her friend's daughter who wants me to become to Master of Ceremony for that night's function- Trinity Awards Ceremony & Charity Concert. The call was at 10am. I got the programme at 2pm. Ceremony was at 7.30pm. Holy crow, I thought. I wasn't a good MC that night. I got compliments from mom's friends who attended the ceremony but I think they were just being nice. I know I wasn't good, at all. I slipped my tongue a few times. I called out the names too fast. I'm just not good enough to be an MC.

Attended Rotaract Club's AGM on Sat night. The AGM lasted about 1.5 hours. Some of them were shocked to see me back again! =) Since we are lacking of members now, the President of Rotary Club proposed to shut down the club temporarily but none of the rotaractors agreed so we ended up having 4 important posts only. I'm not sure if there will be an installation this year, but I sincerely hope there will be one since it's the 25th year this year.

I've been back for a week plus and I've scratched my mom's car!!!!! Uh uh uh!! But the thing is, I didn't feel a thing when I scratched it! Luckily Mom didn't scold me. She just said she'll send the car to the workshop. The scratch isn't obvious.. but still, I feel so bad. I'm always the one who causes trouble.

I'll be metting a friend tonight. Looking forward to it. =)

Posted by MooPig at 10:33 | Permalink | Comments

Since young, I always adress my opposite neighbour as 'mama' (grandma). I used to see her almost every evening, watering plants in front of her house. But now, I don't see her anymore. Mom told me mama is down with stroke.

So this afternoon, I brought a bowl of bird's nests which kakak steamed yesterday for mama. When I saw mama, I was so shocked! She is so skinny now. She doesn't look like the mama whom I used to see. Mama tried to tell me something but I couldn't understand. I sat down, talked to her for a bit. I just didn't know what to say. I also talked to her daughters and they told me mama's condition has improved a lot. I'm pleased to hear that. At least, she can walk with the aid of walking stick. Although it was tough, I could see she's determined to continue walking.

This is my very first time seeing a stroke patient in this condition. I feel so sorry for mama. Mama's condition is very different from what I've watched from TV shows. Mama took 8 months to be able to walk like this. As she's a righty, it was very difficult for her to use her left hand to hold spoons. She was 24 hours on diapers, according to one of her daughters. But now, she's on diapers when she goes to bed.

It's so tough for her to accept her condition because she has always been a strong lady. She has always lived alone after her husband passed away. She's an independent lady. And now, she's down with stroke, she has to depend on other people. It's not easy. That's why she chose to stay at home all day. The only time she's out from the house is when she goes to the clinic. Sigh...

I pray that Mama will get well soon.. Get well soon, Mama!

Posted by MooPig at 15:47 | Permalink | Comments

I've been meeting people as I'm out of the house most of the time. I do Donkey jobs for my mom (:P), I go swimming in the evening, I send my siblings to school early in the morning, I send them for tuition lessons etc. Therefore, I'm bound to meet people. Sometimes, I'm appalled at the way some people behave and those people are my parents' friends.

Everytime I meet somebody, I'm asked questions like:
1. Eh? You're back! When did you come back?
2. What course are you doing?
3. When are you going back?
4. How's life in UK? it's very cold hor, can get used to it or not?
5. so you don't eat rice in england wan hor, no rice there.. then what do you eat?
etc etc.. I'm sick of answering these questions!

Sometimes, if I meet those uncles and aunties and tell them I'm doing accountancy, their first response is:
so you're taking over your father's business lah
And when I say I will not take over in the near future, they gave me a shocking look. Then some of them will continue: Aiya.. you should take over your father's office ma.. Your father is going to retire already, take over lah! the office is so big!

Ish!! I don't understand why are these people so kepoh. It's MY future for goodness sake! Why can't they stop 'jaga tepi kain orang'? Why do they have to open their big mouths to tell me what I should do? it's not like they are paying my sky high tuition fees!

Is this the mentality of most people these days? Are children obliged to take over their parents' businesses?

My parents, for sure, gave me all the freedom to choose what I want to do in the future and I thank them for it.

'It's your future, not daddy's future'- the famous quote of my beloved dad. =)

So, uncles and aunties.. please-lah, don't bug me about my future. Thank you very much

Posted by MooPig at 14:52 | Permalink | Comments

... I feel so pampered!

Kakak, our Indon maid, makes me feel like a princess! If I'm not downstairs for breakfast with my parents, she'll bring a glass of freshly squeezed juice upstairs for me. The first time she brougt up the glass of juice, I was like 'woah!! I'm so pampered!' I'm so used to doing things alone. I'm used to not having maid to serve me throughout the 9 months abroad. I'm used to chopping my own dinner, cooking my own dinner then doing the washing up. And now I'm back home, Kakak is there to do everything for me- from cooking to washing up to making freshly squeezed fruit juice for my breakfast. Yesterday, I decided to wash up after 'bak-kut-teh' and when Kakak saw me doing the washing, she shooed me away with the reason that I'm her employer's daughter and she's the maid so she should do that. Uh.. I explained to her that I'm used to washing up so just let me do it and she can do other cleaning job. She hesitated and I insisted.. so I had it my way. =)

Anyway, I was at the beach yesterday, spending time with my schoolmates. I haven't met some of them since 2000! It was good meeting all of them. We walked along the seashore. Thank God it was cloudy in the evening! We had BBQ chicken and frankfurters for dinner, we played cards and laughed like mad till I had to leave. Man.. I'll miss it so much! Local U's are going to start soon and they are all leaving already... =(

The weather has been pretty alright so far and I hope it stays this way. At least, it's not scorching hot now. I'm on the road most of the time, chauffering everybody except Dad. Enjoy doing it with my mom's brand new Naza Ria. hehe...

Alrighty ppl.. will blog again.

Tara~

Posted by MooPig at 12:22 | Permalink | Comments

Yes.. I'm out of town again.

It's the big day of my cousin brother. Everyone was so surprised to see me this morning. Almost everybody asked 'When did you come back?' Most of my lil cousins could recognise me but there are a couple who couldn't. Well, I guess I can't expect too much since I only come back once a year. ;) Nevertheless, it feel so good to see them. It takes time to warm up. =)

Dad's friends brought us out for dinner last night. The dinner was good!!! *drool* I miss Malaysian food so much. Being able to eat Chilli Belachan again is so nice!

We're staying in Primula Hotel. It's pretty dodgy for a 4 star hotel really. I was so disgusted to see the ants crawling in the room! But, the view from my room is lovely! It overlooks the Batu Buruk beach. I only managed to catch a glance when I was waiting for the elevator at 6-ish in the morning. How I wish my parents agree to drive home tomorrow morning instead of driving home straight away after tonight's dinner.

Chao chao people.. Gotta go now..


Tara~

Posted by MooPig at 01:12 | Permalink | Comments

I'm finally back home. Everyone was very surprised!! =)

Leaving for Terengganu tomorrow- more surprises for my uncles and aunts!

Will blog more when I'm free. I wrote something when I was on the flight.

Still struggling to get used to this keyboard.

Well.. it's so good to be home. Now I feel like a Princess! ;)

Love,
Eileen

Posted by MooPig at 17:43 | Permalink | Comments

It's my second day in Warrington.

First thing Claire and I did after we woke up was to watch Breakfast At Tiffany's. hehe... Around noon, we went over to Twey's house for lunch as she was treating her colleagues. Good food I must say! =) The weather was fair as well! Bonus!

After lunch, Aunty drove Claire and I to Blackpool. Blackpool is quite similar to Rhyl actually but it's slightly bigger. We took a tram to Pleasure Beach and walked around. After that, we walked on the beach. Nice! It wasn't too sunny and it wasn't too cloudy either. We spent about 1.5 hours in Blackpool and headed home. We dropped by at Twey's place to get some leftovers for dinner. Doubt I'll be having anything for dinner cos I'm still full from lunch!

I'll post up some pics of Blackpool when I'm back home in Malaysia.

We'll be going shopping at Cheshire Oaks tomorrow!!

Tara~

Posted by MooPig at 21:23 | Permalink | Comments

I've left the good ol' Bangor for Warrington. Not for good, but just a few days. =)

After sending Yujen off, Zaw picked Claire and I up and he drove us to Warrington. I was so tired when I was in the car throughout the 2 hour journey. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the scenery of North Wales. I'm gonna miss it when I'm back home!

I'll be in Warrington until I fly off on 8th June. Really can't wait for that day to come. On the 9th, I'll be seeing my dearest family and friends. A friend of mine will be picking me up from KB airport. Now, I'm just gonna pray hard that I won't be taxed by the custom officers when I walk out from KLIA, and I'll be able to get a seat on the KL-KB flight. I don't care if it's economy class or business class. I just want to catch the next flight and be home safely and give my family a surprise! =)

Zaw, Claire and I watched Harry Potter 3 in the cinema just now. Man.. that was worse than the first and second movies! If I had knew the show was so bad, I would have gone for another movie!!!

I enjoyed Yujen's company very much. Despite the rainy weather, we managed to spend a day in Rhyl, which is about 30 mins away by train from Bangor. We also spent time catching up with each other, we also baked muffins, marble cake and cookies! Yummy!! The apricot yoghurt muffins were way better than the chocolate muffins though =)

Tara~

Posted by MooPig at 00:14 | Permalink | Comments

Bonjour!

Claire and I had lotsa fun in Disney Paris. It could have been better if the weather is a little kind to us, as in, no rain throughout the 3 days. When we arrived, it rained. It was partly cloudy on the second day, but rained in the late evening and continued till the third day.

We went to Disney Studio on the first day, watched a few parades and shows, entered the studios, went on Rock 'n Roller Coaster with Aerosmith, had our meals and we called it a day. As it was a bank holiday weekend, the Q was extremely long. We had to squeeze our ways through during the shows so we could take pics. On the second day, we went to Disney Park. I enjoyed the fast rides but not the Haunted House. :P I particularly enjoyed the roller coaster which goes backwards. You never know what's happening next. Fun! The Q was horrible though. We had to queue 40 mins to have a go on Peter Pan's Flight. As for the Space Mountain, we queued about an hour. So we actually spent more time in the Q than the rides! ;) Life is like a roller coaster. You never know what to expect, so enjoy it! right? Why make yourself suffer?

We left Paris at 1600. Stopped at Cheers to get some alcohol. I got a bottle of red wine for my parents. I didn't know what wine to get so I just picked the slightly pricey one :P I hope they'll like it. hehe. 13 hours later, we arrived in Chester. Surprisingly, the journey back home is 3 hours faster than the outward journey. Probably we made less stops.

Hmm.. here I am, sitting in front of my laptop.. missing the fun times that I had in Disney.... And they lived happily ever after. Doesn't that sound familiar? ;)

On another note, Yujen is visiting me today!! Can't wait to see her! Lotsa catching up to do. ;)

Posted by MooPig at 11:37 | Permalink | Comments