MooPig & The Babe

Posted by MooPig at 17:38 | Permalink | Comments

I was on Skype talking to GucciGoldPhish this evening. At the same time, I checked my bank account and I proudly told her 'Yay! haven't swiped my card for 5 days!'

Few minutes later, I received an email from Tesco and the title reads: Free Delivery on all DVDs, Games, CDs and Books. Now, don't we all just love free stuff? I do.

'I must get new books!' I told myself. I clicked on the link and browsed through the books and clicked 'add' everytime I saw a book which I fancy. Without me realising, there were 5 books in the 'shopping basket'. In my shopping basket was Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen's God's Wife by Amy Tan, Mao by Jung Chang, Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella and Empress Orchid by Anchee Min.

5 books!! I was feeling guilty. If I get 5 more, I'll have 6 unread books. No no no no no. I've stopped reading for a while actually. Blame it on the exams and oh, the telly too. I get so tired by the time I'm in bed all I wanted to do was to watch telly till I can't open my eyes anymore. The last book I read was Kafka on the Shore (by Harumi Murakami) and that was a few months ago. I reluctantly removed 2 books from the shopping basket.

The last time I read JLC was when I was in college and I enjoyed it. I'm finally getting it now. :) I read Jung's Wild Swans in May 2004. It's a good read and how can I resist her second book? A friend recommended Kitchen's God's Wife. She claims this is the best book written by Amy Tan.

And did I just say that I haven't swiped my debit card for 5 days? Darn. I spoke too soon. Online buying and Free Delivery. They share one thing in common: Evil.

Now, I better start throwing away my AC430 notes clearing up my book shelf to make place for my new books!



Sat for my first paper this morning. Sigh. It was hard. And I'm only hoping to pass. 50%. Just that. *fingers and toes crossed*

Thank you for all the good luck messages, prayers and wishes. {Hugs}

Posted by MooPig at 00:16 | Permalink | Comments

And so my fingers are itching to type. Not on hiatus yet, I think.

I was chatting to J a while ago and she told me she was dreaming of food all night long. You see, she lives in the halls and there's a food thief who shamelessly free-rides on anything in the fridge. When we went out for lunch yesterday, she bought dinner for tonight and kept it in the fridge. She was worried that the thief would eat on her behalf so I guess she dreamt about it all night long.

And then it hit me that I dreamt about food too! Of all food, I dreamt about KFC. In my dreams, I went to KFC (the one on Tottenham Court Road) and ordered a meal. It was probably Zinger meal. It came with a large fizzy drink. I remember it was 7-up. I took extra napkins and wrapped around the drink because the drink was cold. Don't ask me what happened next because I don't remember anything else.

I remember opening my eyes and 7.46am and sub-consciously asked myself if I wanted to eat KFC for dinner. I'm not craving for KFC. I hardly stepped into KFC in the UK because I'm not a big fan of their OR. Give me Hot&Spicy anytime.

Hmm.. it must be exam stress. Read this and you'll (probably) understand. :P

My first paper is at 10am tomorrow and I'm worried. For the past few days, I've been thinking of that post. I'm just being silly. ha.. ha.. ha...

In case you're wondering, I'm NOT having KFC for dinner.

Posted by MooPig at 12:43 | Permalink | Comments

An update:

I'm not alright.

I feel sick

I'm disgusted

I feel like puking

I feel ill

You, thank you for ruining my morning. Thank you for greeting me with the most disgusting word one can find in the dictionary. You probably think of it as a joke but bad try, mate, it's not a joke. I'm VERY offended. Think about it.

I feel like puking. Yucks

My stomach feels horrible now.

Thank you for insulting me.

Thank you, cos you just gave me a horrible morning. I so do not appreciate that.

Please, just do me a big favour after insulting me. Please. Please just get the hell out of my life. Get lost. I so do not wish to see you again. Neither do I want to hear from you. Nor do I want to talk to you anymore. Just get lost. GET LOST!

*I think you still haven't got the message because you rang and texted me. Can't believe you still have the nerve to ask me for complimentary tickets. tsk tsk tsk. Calling me a bloody paedophile at 9 something in the morning isn't very funny, FYI. It's sickening. I wonder if you ever know what it means.
Just in case you didn't know, this website says it's an adult who is sexually attracted to children. In case my MSN status mislead you, let me clarify. (My MSN status that morning was (L) Joseph McManners) I love his voice. I am NOT sexually attracted to him because I'm not a bloody P_____. You tell your Mom 'I Love You' and does that mean you're sexually attracted to your Mom? Think about it. You were probably joking. But no, you failed. Big time. It's not a joke. It's not funny at all. Period. If you were staying near me, I would have slapped you left, right, up and down. Respect, is the word of the day for you.
29/05/2006

Posted by MooPig at 01:04 | Permalink | Comments

It's all good now.

The conversation was very much needed and I'm glad it took place yesterday. Perhaps it'd be better if it took place few weeks earlier. :P

I had 2 scoops of Haagen Dazs in a cone today. The ice cream ended up in my tummy but half of the cone ended up in the bin. :P Poseidon's premiere is today, I think, because there was a huge crowd in Leicester Square. So many celebrities, so many people. Shame I couldn't see any celebrities because I'm too short and there were way too many people. I really need a 10-inch high heels now.

I'm toying with the idea of hiatus. No, there's nothing to do with what happened yesterday. Writer's block, perhaps? lol

I'll be back when my fingers are itchy. Could be tonight, could be tomorrow, could be a month later.

Till then.

Au Revoir.

MooPig
xoxoxo

Posted by MooPig at 20:38 | Permalink | Comments

I don't know since when I've become this fragile. All this while, I thought I was strong. I thought I was one tough cookie. Emotionally, that is. I thought I was the girl who only cries when watching sad movies or listening to sappy songs.

For the past week, I've shed so much tears. Probably enough to fill a bucket or two.

Could it be the hormones? Or could it be exam stress? Or could it be that I've become too fragile that I can't handle any hurdles in life?

Those who know me well know that I didn't shed a tear when I found out the bitter truth about him. I didn't even cry this much when BAT rejected me. I didn't cry because I miss home. I didn't cry when I was alone. I didn't wail when I had to leave home for the very first time. The last time I cried so badly was in June 2000, when my uncle passed away.

But why have I been crying so much recently? Why am I so fragile now a days?

I cried when I was on the phone just now, talking to Mom. She was worried after the first conversation that she had to ask my brother to ask me to ring her again. She wanted to make sure I was fine. I was. I fought so hard to hold my tears whe Mom brought up him. I was over him, wasn't I? And why am I crying? I poured my heart out to Mom this afternoon. I told her how heart broken I was when I found out the bitter truth. I told her how disappointed I was. I told her about the betrayal. I told her why I stopped talking to both of them. She listened to me as I told her everything. She probably shed tears too. She told me everything is fine now, and I should be thankful to God because God has shown me that he's not a very nice person, and I didn't fall into his trap. She said I'll find the right person one day.

Well, we'll never know who's the right one if we hadn't met the wrong person, right? :)

I finally shared this part of me with Mom today. I'm glad I did it. So did she. She said she's very glad that I talked to her about it.

It's hard to go back to the past. It's so hard. It took me so long to get over it. Oh wait. Perhaps I wasn't really over it yet because I'm crying so hard now. Perhaps, all this while, what I was covering up my emotions, not heal my broken heart?

I don't want to pine no more. I hate pining. In my dictionary, pining is for losers. I don't want to be one. I want to move on. Yes, I will. I need courage, I need time.

I want to be the old me again. I want to be the person who doesn't cry so easily. Walk with me, guide me, be with me, will you?

Posted by MooPig at 16:51 | Permalink | Comments

=(

:(

):

)=

Bad Hair Day.

Lost my balance while walking back to my seat and spilled half a mug of soya milk. *splat* all over the floor, on my notes, my files, my tam-tam, my kettle. Soya milk never tasted so horrible.

:(

It's not like I'm a toddler who's learning how to walk. How on earth did I lose my balance? To add salt to the wound, when I tried to regain my balance, I stepped on the corn on my right foot. Damn painful ok. *Ouch*

=(

Then I tried to burn songs. Wasted a blank CD because something went wrong in the process. Had to re-do like 3 times before I got it right.

:(

Can my day get any worse?

I bet.

Perhaps I should be grateful that there are no ants here or else I'll end up sleeping with them. Don't worry. I wiped the floor 3 times. But I'm not at all happy that my notes now have stains.

=(

Sob Sob.

Posted by MooPig at 15:41 | Permalink | Comments

I MUST CONCENTRATE

CONCENTRATE

CONCENTRATE

CONCENTRATE

CONCENTRATE!

CONCENTRATE
CONCENTRATE
CONCENTRATE
CONCENTRATE
CONCENTRATE
CONCENTRATE
CONCENTRATE



damn it!

Posted by MooPig at 15:43 | Permalink | Comments

Hear me rant!

I'm just being a drama queen. I've never experienced any before (touch wood)and no, I wouldn't like to experience. Not even a tremor.

But today, I've been experiencing tremor the whole afternoon and it's getting on my nerves. Road works are being carried out. Right outside my house. All the drillings and what not, damn annoying ok.

Everytime they drill, the whole studio vibrates. Ish.

Anyway, one of the neighbours has been annoying me with his oh-so-fantastic speakers. That guy sure has a bloody good sound system. I was told he just moved in a while ago. Perhaps during the weekend. I've been trying to figure out where the sound came from. Initially I thought it's from upstairs so I went up to the first floor but it was all peaceful and quiet. I tried to retaliate by blasting some techno music but obviously it was futile. He probably spent a few hundred quid on his and mine is less than a hundred. So today, I finally identified where the noise pollution came from- the neighbour in the lower ground floor- when I went out to throw rubbish. I went downstairs and true enough, someone was blasting some techno music. I knocked on the door. No reply. Man, he must be deaf or partially deaf. One lady was in the kitchen so I asked if she knows the tenant. She doesn't know but she told me he just moved in. We knocked on the door together for like 5 times before he opened the door. Immediately, he got the message and he said something which I couldn't decipher and shut the door. I smiled to the lady and came back to my room. The music subsided but I could still feel the beat. I guess as long as he turns on the volume, I'll never have peace.

Oh man, the drilling is annoying the hell out of me. How to concentrate la like this?

I know I should go out but I'm lazy lah. So are you gonna say padan muka to me again? I know you will cos you're evil (refer to the comment of the previous post). *blek*

oh yay! the drilling finally stopped! time to hit the books again.

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

/rant ends.

Posted by MooPig at 14:56 | Permalink | Comments

Perhaps I was being a lil too adventurous. And a lil lazy.

I haven't been cooking soup for a while so I decided to cook beef soup yesterday. I had a problem- I didn't know if I wanted the western style or the Asian style. I just dumped everything that came across my mind- ginger, garlic, tomato, potato, carrot, salt, pepper, malt vinegar, sesame oil and sugar. I have no idea why but I marinated the beef chunks. I guess I had too much time on my hands. I used salt, pepper, dark and light soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, oyster sauce and cumin. I like the taste of cumin. I always sprinkle cumin on meat when I grill/roast so I thought why not this time. BIG MISTAKE.

After boiling for a few hours, I tasted the soup. OMG!!!! It tasted sooooo off. It was weird. The taste of cumin was so overpowering. I panicked. I threw in more sugar, vinegar and salt and continued boiling for another few hours.

Dinner time came and I was starving. I had no choice but to have soup for dinner. Hey, it didn't taste as bad as when I first tasted it. It must be because I was too hungry. But still, that damn cumin spoiled the taste.

I made kick-ass curry trout about a week ago. Since I had salmon in my fridge, I decided to make curry salmon. I wanted my dinner to be slightly spicy so I added chilli powder. I was being lazy so I just poured the chilli out of the packet. Oooops, a little too much. But I thought I could handle. Another big mistake. Came dinner time, I was sweating because the fish was too spicy. So spicy that all I could taste was the chilli powder. Luckily I had a plate a salad and it was the saving grace of the night.

Next time, don't put cumin in the soup. And ffs, don't pour chilli powder straight out of the packet. Use a spoon goddamnit!

Tomorrow night's dinner better be good. Better luck, I hope!

Posted by MooPig at 20:00 | Permalink | Comments

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross

Robbie Williams

Early mornings (but not the waking up part)

Paul Bettany

in no particular orders

Posted by MooPig at 23:31 | Permalink | Comments

I don't care if the title sounds cheesy. =P

I'm happy. I've been happy.

Went grocery shopping at 8.30 in the morning. First time in my life, I think.

Securities Commission replied. Made it through the first interview. Next interview and assessment will take place in Malaysia after the exams.

Bank Negara gave me a positive reply few weeks ago. Have to go for another interview when I go home.

I'm not VERY enthusiastic about the jobs. As long as I pass the interviews I'm happy enough. At least I don't have to deal with rejections so fast right? Agree? Welll.. if they ever reject me at a later stage then only I feel sad lah. But at the mean time, let me be happy.

Gonna watch the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra perform tonight. Happy.

Watched Rat Pack: Live in Las Vegas yesterday. So-so only lah. But still.. happy lah.

I'm gonna go get ready now.

Listening to Vienna Boys Choir singing Canon in D. Ahhhh... so soothing. so nice.

I'm happy. Happy. Happy. Happy. =)

Posted by MooPig at 17:17 | Permalink | Comments

I was at the verge of tearing my hair this afternoon. I spent more than 30 minutes staring at the same page and nothing registered in my brain.

I gave up and started making scones. I had wanted to make them but couldn't find time. Since the Babe is visiting today, I decided to make scones in the evening but I couldn't wait anymore.

So I took out self-raising flour, sugar, butter, milk and baking powder. Mixed everything together and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

While letting the dough to rest, I looked around for something to substitute the 5cm pastry cutter but I found nothing. Guess what I used? my heart shape cookie cutter. :P

The scones turned out to be light and fluffy. Successful!

Here's the recipe:
Homemade Scones by James Martin
225g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
pinch salt (omit if you use salted butter)
25g caster sugar
50g unsalted butter
150ml milk
1 egg, beaten (for brushing)

1. Preheat the oven to 220'C (I baked at 180'C and they turned out alright)
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Stir in the sugar, add the butter and rub quickly into the flour, creating a fine breadcrumb consistency.
3. Add the milk, a little at a time, working for a smooth dough.
4. This is now best left to rest for 5-15 minutes before rolling.
5. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface until 2cm thick, Using a 5cm pastry cutter, cut the dough, using one sharp tap and not twisting the dough as you cut. Twisting the dough will result in uneven rising.
6. Once cut, the scones can be brushed with beaten egg for a shiny glaze or dusted with flour for matt finish.
7. Place the scones on a greased baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cook slightly and serve while still warm.

*I added a tsp of bicarbonate soda and added 50g raisins*

=====================================

I think The Choir Boys' Tears In Heaven has calming effect. The moment I played this song, I felt so calm and didn't feel so grumpy anymore. Too bad I downloaded this song after I baked the scones. But well, not too late, I guess. =)

Posted by MooPig at 16:39 | Permalink | Comments

M.U.S.T. W.A.K.E. U.P. A.T. 7.30AM E.V.E.R.Y.D.A.Y.

I Must

I Must

I Must
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Persevere

Determine

Discipline

Posted by MooPig at 10:05 | Permalink | Comments

Mommy's my best friend, my sister, my makan buddy, my advisor, my everything.

I've broke her heart uncountable times. I lost count of the times we argued and she shed tears. I made her angry a million and one times. Despite all these, she still cares for me. She still tells me 'Mommy loves you'.

She's the one who picked me up when I was at my lowest. She told me not to give up hope because there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. She's the one who told me everything is possible and she proved it to me. She's always there, patiently listening to me whining and then advise me. When I was in trouble, she's the one who stood by me and helped me.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there... especially Mommy, Okasan1, Okasan2 and Obaachan!

Posted by MooPig at 19:56 | Permalink | Comments

So what happened to the other half of the trout?

Well, it's in my stomach now. *burp* Excuse me! =)

No, I didn't repeat the recipe. Instead, I modified Amy Beh's receipe.

Ingredients:
(A)

• 2tsp fish curry powder
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp whole cumin
• 1-2 tsp oyster sauce
• pepper
• dash of Lea and Perrins
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2-3 tsp olive oil

Obviously you need half a trout (or any fish) and half a lemon.

Marinate fish with (a) for few hours.

Cover the fish with aluminium foil or banana leaves and bake in a preheated oven at 180'C for about 30-45 minutes or until fish is cooked.

When the fish is done, unwrap, squeeze the lemon juice on the fish and dig in!

I had mine with a huge plate of salad.

*I agak-agak the measurement. I didn't use teaspoons to measure the ingredients so follow your instincts when you're preparing the ingredients.

here's the picture.

Hungry yet?

***

my mom never breaks bad news to me the moment she hears it. She always tells me like a week later or worst still, few months later.

Like today, I found out that our family friend passed on via The Star. I was kinda surprised. Well, it was just a matter of time before he goes up there. Uncle Mike hadn't been very well, especially after he was robbed earlier this month. mom said the young chap pushed him and he fell and was admitted. I didn't ask about Uncle Mike's condition since then.

I quickly called mom. and after the hello-how-are-you-where-are-you conversation, I asked her

mom, uncle mike died already. how come you didn't tell me! [I was in a state of shock and the word 'died' just came out from my mouth. should have said 'passed away' instead lah. dumb me]
alamak.. who told you?
i read on the star online lor. why didn't you tell me?
aiyaa. you got exams ma, dont want you worry...

I was speechless.

And this afternoon, I was chatting to my brother.

bi ahh.. how come nobody told me uncle mike passed away?
har... sei lor.. er jie(second sis) sure kena from mommy one. [terrible la this brother of mine, accused his er jie like that. sorry arr meimei]
what? er jie didn't tell me lah. I read the news.
dun lie lar.. er jie told you. mommy sure scold her one.
.......

Apparently my mom told my sis, bro and cousin sister not to tell me. :/

My mom's too paraniod. :S

Posted by MooPig at 20:10 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by MooPig at 18:37 | Permalink | Comments

First it was the Rantau Panjang MP Abdul Fatah Harun. He said divorced women are gatal. I thought that was the stupidest remark one can ever make.

Then came Jasin MP Datuk Mohd Said Yusof who asked the custom officers to 'close one eye' on the illegal import of sawn timber. A day later, he admitted it was his company which was involved in the saga. To add salt to the wound, he apologised to Pak Lah quoting 'I minta maaf kalau I buat salah.' KALAU? IF? He's just apologising for the sake of apologising, not because he's remorseful. If you want to apologise, mean it! Don't use that word If. It's as if he's not wrong and he's apologising because the media forces him to do so. That MP also said 'I'm allowed to do business. Why can't MPs do business?' wah lau eh. That's soooo horrible. That attitude. Yucks!

What on earth has happened? What the hell happened to the MPs? How do you expect the next generation to contribute to the society when the MPs are so corrupted? How can our country be developed? Sure, we do have first class infrastructure but, do we have a first class mentality? Blame the MPs first before blaming the rakyat.

I've heard way too many stories about how corrupted ministers are.

I'm disgusted. So very disgusted. I'm ashamed. I'm annoyed.

Ptui!

Don't blame me if you don't get my vote next time.

Posted by MooPig at 20:05 | Permalink | Comments

May, I've got mail too! *blekk*

I was feeling rather jiwang this morning thanks to Karen Mok's song- 如果没有你. Suddenly, the phone rang, indicating someone rang my doorbell. I was surprised because I wasn't expecting anybody. I picked up the phone and the man said 'Parcel'. It must be the stuffs from Boots, I thought.

I opened the main door and saw the deliveryman holding a package and it's from Japan! I stared at the package for a few seconds before signing on the device (dunno what's that thingie call lah. Basically sign on it to indicate I've receive the package). I wasn't expecting anything from Japan. My host family normally sends me presents in December because Christmas and my birthday fall in the month of December.

Look what's in the package.


The package. I haven't got any Photoshop or whatever programme so I just used Paint. :P


The content- a kimono bag containing a cosmetic pouch and a cosmetic brush set- Just what I need! I think Okasan can read my mind. =) hand made cards from Obaachan (grandma) and Okasan (mother). Lovely isn't it? This bag is my 20th bag. :P


The card. I can read but cannot understand!!!!!!! Shanti, SOS!

You jealous yet? :P

I'm really grateful I have a host family who still keep in touch with me despite the distance. We haven't seen each other for 6 years. I only called them once back in year 2000, when I could still speak Japanese (That's because I just came back from Japan after 40 days). My Jap is so cacat now so I write instead of calling them. Of course, I wrote in English lah. I send them cards and presents on birthdays, mother's day, father's day and Christmas.

OK, enough of showing off. Time to get back to the books. Sighhhhhh

Posted by MooPig at 09:33 | Permalink | Comments

... I'm stuck in my shoebox! =(

At 4pm, it was 20'C. Sun was out. But where was I?

I was in my shoebox,spending time with...


my notes, colourful pens and highlight pens

I wish I were

• in Russell Square
• With a bottle of cold drink
• Eating home made popcorns
• Reading my story book not notes and boring text books
• Watching people when taking a break from reading

I should be doing all these!! Not staying in my shoebox.

Staying in the shoebox when it's nice and sunny should be a SIN!

***

Dinner was salad and Rainbow trout fillet! =)

L-R: trout with garlic, in the oven, dinner plate, trout

It didn't take long to prepare dinner. I marinated the trout fillet with salt, pepper, mixed herbs, a dash of lea and perrins, olive oil and finally, chopped garlic. Leave it in the fridge for a few hours (if you're in a hurry you can cook it straight away).

Shove it into the oven at 180'C for about 20-30 minutes.

While waiting for the fish to cook, prepare the salad.

I used

• Crest Lettuce
• 1 tomato
• 2 pomodorino tomatoes (heavenly!)
• a small portion of cucumber
• Emmental Cheese
• 1 tsp sunflower seed.

As for the dressing, I used lemon juice cos I like my salad sour. It's very refreshing as well. Feel free to use Thousand Island or mayo or French etc. =)

Serve!

I like my food to be hot so I took half a trout out of the oven first and ate the second half after I finished the first piece. ;)

See.. even the way I blog is like how i jot down notes for revision. going crazy soon.

Posted by MooPig at 19:00 | Permalink | Comments

Despite being in this country for 4 years, I still don't understand british humour. I think the Brits have weird sense of humour. No offence!

I watched Donkeys' Years this evening. It's a comedy so it's supposed to be funny. But, I thought it was dumb. (or perhaps, I'm the dumb one :/) American comedies are way better. Think Friends. Think Everybody Loves Raymond. British Comedy? Think Little Britain. Think Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.

Revival of Michael Frayn's Donkeys Years set at the
reunion dinner at a 'lesser college' of an 'older university' in the UK. In
Donkeys Years a number of graduates- now in their early forties and mostly in
responsible, influential positions- gather together for their reunion.
Everything starts out smoothly, their are the usual conversational greetings and
the old-boy reminiscences, but a slightly discordant note being struck by Snell,
a man of such insignificance that everyone has forgotten him, and continues to
forget him from one moment to the next. As the night goes on, however, the
college port causes behaviour surprising in those in positions of political,
academic or sprititual authority. Into the resulting bear-garden stembles Lady
Driver, the Master's wife, short-sightedly searching for the lost love of her
youth. The insignificant Snell sees in her the chance to make up for all the
opportunities of undergraduate life he missed before. http://www.thisistheatre.com/londonshows/donkeysyears.html

I was yawning most of the time during the first part of the comedy. Certain scenes were funny but most of them were lame. Seriously. The second part was slightly better. It was funnier because the actors were damn dumb. More actings, less talking. For God's sake, they graduated from Oxbridge! Aren't Oxbridge graduate supposed to be damn smart?

We sat at the dress circle (restricted view) and most of the audience were old people. -_- And they all damn layan wei.

Anyway, tonight happened to be the press night. I didn't get the performers to sign any autographs but I managed to take a picture of the author (I think) Michael Frayn. I also snapped a picture of the stage before the comedy started. The pictures didn't turn out very clear because I only had my phone and my phone doesn't have a megapixel camera.

Posted by MooPig at 00:50 | Permalink | Comments

May uploaded a few pictures of Baby Wei and she reminds me so much of my little niece. Xuan is three this year. She didn't remember me when I went home last summer and she was extremely shy when she first saw me. She didn't even allow me to carry her until her grandpa (my uncle) told her 'Go shakehand with aunty moopig'. Reluctantly, she came towards me and held my hand. Since then she allowed me to carry her when she was in a good mood. Girls... what do you expect, aye? But my secret weapon was my phone. All I had to do was show her, and she would go 'One, two, twee, chi-chek' (chi-chek is the sound of the phone camera). After she saw her pictures, she would clap her hands and say 'Yay!!!' Sometimes, I would tell her 'Come Xuan, let's go kai-kai' and she would run to the store room, take out her shoes and put them on. And she'd stick to me like a leech because I could bring her out for a ride!

I took a video of her when I was home last summer. So here it is. Enjoy =)



Hmm.. I have no idea why it's upside down. It doesn't help that I'm a html illiterate. Offer some help, please, please, please? I'm not gonna upload the video again cos it took aaaaaaages to upload and uploading= internet at snail speed.

Posted by MooPig at 19:55 | Permalink | Comments

I can never do a proper food review because I always forget to take pictures of the food. Anyway, here's a not-so-proper food review.

My friends and I went to Le Palais du Jardin for dinner tonight. It's a french seafood restaurant located in the heart of Covent Garden. Although I booked a table a few days ago, we still had to wait when we arrived. We didn't really mind that because we were late by 10 minutes and another friend of ours arrived slightly later than us.

At the entrance, the staffs took our coats and umbrellas and kept them in the wardrobe. That was very nice of them as our coats won't smell like French food after the dinner. :)

We were ushered to our table after waiting for about 10 minutes. The restaurant was pretty busy. I think they're short of staffs. It took quite a long time before they took our orders. The waiter was very rude! He was being very impatient and he didn't even smile at us. Our starters came shortly but the main course took quite a while to arrive. My friends had smoked salmon and foei gras while I had the carpaccio of beef with truffle sauce. The foei gras was fantastic and I wished I had ordered that instead of the beef carpaccio. I'm not really a big fan of raw food but I was eager to try the truffle sauce. :P

As for the main, we ordered a seafood platter for 2, beef with celeriac mash and halibut fish. My friend requested the beef to be cooked to medium. The beef was juicy and tender. The celerian mash was slightly runny though. Halibut fish was nice as well. As for the seafood platter, we enjoyed ourselves. It's been a while since I ate seafood so the lobsters, dressed crabs, mussels, prawns, crayfish, oysters and clams were yummy yummy! It was finger licking good! =)

The bill came up to about £150 for the 4 of us. I thought it was pretty reasonable. One of my friends actually thought of not paying the 12.5% charge since it was optional (but it was added to the bill) but we persuaded him not to do so. He's such a trouble maker I tell you.

Starters are £7.50 (Foei Gras is £8.50) Main course is about £17.50 each. The seafood platter was slightly less than £60.

Anyway, here's a collage. I only took pictures of my starter, my friend's foie gras and the gigantic seafood platter which was enough to feed 4. Here it is. Feast your eyes!

Posted by MooPig at 23:22 | Permalink | Comments

29 April 2006- I was promised by my phone company that a new phone will be delivered to me the next working day.

1 May 2006- A text message was sent to me which read that the phone has been despatched and would arrive the next working day.

2 May 2006- No news. I waited patiently.

3 May 2006- Another text message from the phone company. Phone would be delivered today. No news either. Patience running thin.

4 May 2006- I missed the delivery by 30 minutes. I was already in class when the courier company delivered the parcel. A 'Yellow card' greeted me when I arrived home from class. Redelivery the next day. I read the terms and conditions. I can choose for a standard redelivery or a premium delivery. For a standard redelivery, I can select the day of the delivery but the courier company chooses the time of delivery. Service is free of charge. For a premium delivery, I choose the day of delivery and whether it is a morning or afternoon delivery. Exact time is the choice of the courier company. It costs between a fiver and a tenner. I opted for the former since I'll be home the whole day the next day.

5 May 2006- I've been waiting since 8.30 this morning. It's 3pm now. The last delivery time is 6pm. I'm stuck in the shoebox. I can't take a looooong shower because the delivery man might ring the doorbell any minute, any time. I can't go to Sainsbury's to get some groceries because I might miss the delivery. Did I mention the standard redelivery is between Monday and Friday only? If I missed it today, I have to wait till Monday and again, stay in the shoebox between 0830 and 1800.

I officially hate this courier company. It's a sunny day outside and I wanna go out for a walk. Like that also cannot!

Frustrating.

I feel like an idiot now. arghhhhhhhhhhhh *pulls hair*

Update:

This is extremely horrible. Something must be so wrong with the feng shui of my place i tell you!!!! I called up my phone company to check on the delivery and the staff called up the courier company. The phone is on its way back to the phone company! @#$&*$%^&*(#$*(%*( They have to rearrange a delivery again AFTER they have received the phone. That means it will take about another week? Bloody hell! I am pissed off now!

Parceline and Royal Mail, I curse both of you!!!!

Posted by MooPig at 14:54 | Permalink | Comments

01:02:03 040506

To those who're in Malaysia, what were you doing?

I never intended to stay up till this hour but I'm still not sleepy yet so I'm gonna do some work. =)

Well those who are in the same time zone as me, what do you plan to do?

So it's 010203 040506... next month, will you be waiting for 06:06:06 060606? ;) it was just a random thought.

And then it crossed my mind, babies born today in Kota Bharu will have on their IC: 060504-03-XXXX pretty neat aye?

Anyway, it's back to work.

Happy 010203 040506. Let's wait till the triple sixes! ;)

Posted by MooPig at 00:46 | Permalink | Comments

How time flies. Today marks the second week of Summer Term. In other words, my life as a university student will come to and end in no time. I had tonnes and tonnes of fun as a Masters student. Most of the people I know tell me the best time in their lives is when they're in university. As for me,studying in London is the best time in my life. I have absolutely no regrets coming to London. How I wished I did my undergrad here as well.

North Wales is totally different from London. I meet all sorts of people in London, I get to do lots of things that I never got to do when I was in North Wales and the best part, I get to watch musicals and go to orchestra performance without having to travel 3.5 hours to London and another 3.5 hours back to North Wales.

While chatting with my classmate on MSN today, I told her I'll miss uni life in many ways.

• Having lemon tea in styrofoam cup in between tutorials (or classes, as we call it here) on Wednesdays. Our financial reporting class ends at 11 and the finance class starts at 12 so within that one hour, we always go to the coffee shop located on Houghton Street, get cup of lemon tea and proceed to Brunch Bowl for chit-chat.
• The angmoh fried rice/fried noodles in Brunch Bowl. It's not very nice but well, edible lah. I don't know why but I know I'll definitely miss the fried rice. Get a bowl (about the size of the soup bowl in Pizza Hut) and choose the vegetables you want, give the bowl to the chef, tell him what oil you want (chilli oil, lemon grass or garlic oil.. something like that), tell him if you want rice or noodles and he'll take care of the rest. When he pours the rice/noodles in the plate, he'll say 'See you tomorrow!'. It sounds like he's singing.
• Checking out for Serviceeee on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. He's voted the best looking guy in the department by YF, J and I. :P We've been checking him out for more than 6 months but we still don't know his name. Sigh... I have a pic of him though. =P He's always late for lectures and classes so it's pretty easy to notice him. He's cuteeeee!!!
• Lunch at Chinese Experience on Wednesdays or Thursdays. Half price dim sum. Decent food. We order like six or seven dim sum and the bill only comes up to about £15. That's a fiver per person or sometimes it's less than that.
• Booking seats for each other. Needless to say, the three of us always sit together. Whoever comes first books seats for us.

If my Dad's a millionaire and money is not a problem, I'll stay back and do a three-year degree here! I'll do speech therapy. =)

Posted by MooPig at 23:49 | Permalink | Comments

I woke up today feeling very refreshed. I felt so good. It was surely a good start =)

Posted by MooPig at 23:29 | Permalink | Comments

Posted by MooPig at 20:28 | Permalink | Comments