The Final Touch

Uncooked Pau all wrapped up ready to go to the steamer

All Cooked BBQ Chicken Pau - glossy and delicious

Hhmmmmm... That's what the inside looks like! Delicious isn't it?

Up close and blur

The Day I decided to Make BBQ Chicken Pau

Breast chicken cut in chunks and mixed with Tesco BBQ Sauce and some Chili Sauce

The Box said after rolled out, cut it into 12 pieces
but it seems impossible so I only able to cut into 6

This is the Pau mixture I use which work wonders...
Yes, I cheat a bit but next time will definetely do it from scratch!

Good Laugh At Last!

It's been a long time since I've had a good laugh - I mean proper hyena kind of laugh. I was talking to a new found friend last night over the phone, and she being a Singaporean was another plus as we spoke about everything and anything in that hour or maybe just 54 minutes. Didn't realised that we spoke that long though. Well, they say when you're enjoying yourself, time just flew by without you noticing it! Subjects that we touched on? Well, it all started with food and food, then the singlish then, weather, then food again, then our lives, then Singapore.. and then, and then.... many many more...

I'm really gald that I've found another 2 other Singaporean living in the UK - though they're living around the Lancashire area, that won't dampen our communication and We try to chat as often as possible! I hope we'll be able to meet up with one another!

Not forgetting, N, a fellow Malaysian who lives in Manchaster that I've been in contact with recently too! Gosh, she's also a wonderful lady and a doting mum - heck, all of them are! We had good laughs too whenever we chat on the phone! I think I better give her a ring today for I haven't done that quite some time!

Kak Teh did mentioned that in June, there will be a London Malaysia festival and for definete I will be there. All I need to find out from her is the exact location and the date and time of the festival! I've arrange with M yesterday that we should meet up at that Festival as she's living in London herself... Oooohh! This will be exciting! I just can't wait to meet up with her and her friends! She seems/sounds like a super duper mummy... Heck I think all of them are super duper ace people that I'm glad to meet!!!!

Thanks ladies for making my life this year a full one!!!

Sheesh! What a Day

So, yesterday I wrote a not so nice entry and true, I should have e-mail her first but I didn't...

My mistake, my mistake! I let the whole world know about this instead and I can see why she don't appreciate it! Somethings are meant to be provate isn't it? Stupid MJ! I guess I shouldn't have done that and again I guess we won't be speaking to each other anymore in the next, oh I don't know weeks, months or years or so... There's no excuse for my behaviour...

I am a nice person, I know I am - ask all my friends, ask my family, ask my other friends... They will say to you that I am a nice person and I never do anyhting to hurt or harm them... You've got to know me to know what sort of person I'm truly am for I don't normally do this kind of thing. But I guess, you'll never know! It's okay, guess you won't lose or gain anything from knowing me too seeing what I've did...

Anyway, I just wanna say I'm SORRY if you feel the way you feel and I'm SORRY for saying and writing the things I said and wrote. I didn't mean no harm and I guess I might have misinterpret what's been written and it was a bit harsh of me to say what I say...

So for anyone who have read it, please, forget about it and ignore it and move on...

Truthfully, she is a nice person, and I'm really dissappointed that with my behaviour yesterday, I actually have lost a friend...

I'M SORRY AGAIN GIRL...

PS: Prince, will delete those inactive links! Thanks bro!

Some more?

That's Ian, our single friend... Hee hee! Any takers?

In black & white

Brothers? Yes they are!

Smile ladies!

More Random Pictures

You do wonder what he's upto!

No, he's not the murderer, just a bit out of place! Hee Hee!

Waiting for the menu

hiding behind the menu - shy? I don think so!

Random Pictures

Countdown - 23 More Days

I have to emphasize yet again that weather today is abysmal. Cold, constant wintriness… I can feel it all over my delicate body…

Did I say it right - my delicate body?

Am I being utterly and brutally honest here? Ha ha ha hah!

Okay, so what’s the crack there then?

Just had my lunch or as they call it here ‘dinner’ - 2 plums, 1 packet of Ryvita Minis and 1 bowl (?) of pasta and cheese (low fat thingy). It might look as if it’s a lot but it’s not really.

So what’s the deal here – instead of calling it lunch, the Brits call it ‘dinner’? Isn’t dinner means makan between 6pm till 8pm and when they call dinner it’s actually ‘tea’… Okay, so tea – high tea, low tea? I’m still bamboozled about all this even after living here for couple of years. Getting used to it I can’t! Well I got to as I don't want to look like the ever so new girl in town... Paiseh!

I am so looking forward to the trip back home. Yes, I think I’ve mentioned it like a berzillion times but heck, I’m just over the moon!

23 days to go y’all and I’m coming home – yes I am, ooops – that’s WE are coming home and WE are looking forward to the sun sand and sea! I’ve got so many plans and so many people to see – we, we, we… not just I but WE!

James very amuse about all this (not amuse ha ha but just amuse hmmmmm). He says that somehow he felt that with this trip he doesn’t have any say or control in any of it… He’s right. Decisions are made without verifying with him first and so he says that whatever I decide he’ll go along with it as long as it won’t burn our pockets… Fine by me baby!

I haven’t told him yet how much it’s gonna cost us to stay in Kuala Lumpur and that we’ll be paying for my parents, nephew & niece transport & accommodation… Hee hee! Well, its my money and I use my other bank account to pay for it so there you go! It’s sorted then! Right? Right? Right…

So, I had my appointment with the Gynaecology last week on the 14th. They still need to do more blood tests and this and that tests… I’m a bit edgy. You know what’s weird? I bought this magazine today right and what’s really dreadful is when there are two articles on two celebrities who detected cysts on their ovaries. Now I don’t know what you call that but it’s a sign isn’t it? I mean, twist of fate? I don’t think so! Maybe it is just a coincidence but it’s too close to home! Sheesh! Gotta get a grip on myself…

Therefore my gynae says that I’ve got to go back in the next 4-5 months and by that time they might have the results and if what they say is true, they might have to scan it... and so from there they’re able to tell…

In the meantime, like James say don't worry too much and just enjoy myself and drink more ubat periuk from mak! Blah! Ewwww!

Snow Again on Friday!

This question will give the impression of me being so dim-witted but I need to know… How in the world do you change the background on the blog? I mean, if I wanna choose a different pattern or even different background colour, how in the world do I do it? Could someone please show me the path? I’m sure to do it is nothing major but, well, I’m just a bit…. Uhhh what do you call it? Daft? Okay, help me out please?

Weekend macam mana? Okay semua? It’s been snowing here over the weekend and to go out is like a major chore for me and even James. It’s cold out there! I don’t want to freeze my butt off when I go outside but then again I don’t want to be coop up at home doing bugger all so, better out than in! Sounds dodgy!

James have to work on Saturday but thank God it’s only for few hours. Picked him up from work, dropped him off at home and I sped off to town. Got to be at the bank before 12pm since it’s Saturday and it’s half day for them.

Looked at my watch and I have only about half an hour to go before closing time. Traffic wasn’t that bad, that was good. Now, to park… Something that I have been dreading the most but then again if I don’t do it, I won’t be able to park would I? Drive around the lot and found myself a spot. Now, to reverse park or not? Oh! To hell with it, it’s either now or never! I did it! For the first time in my not so adventourous, not so exciting life, the one thing that I dread doing most, I did it with confidence and with professionalism…. Ha ha ha! Though I’ve got to ‘adjust’ here and there few times, but heck, I did it! I reverse into the parking spot and am damn proud of it and the great thing was, I did it all on my own without having James distracting me and confusing me and judging me and criticising about it and … oh, no more already… Got carried away a bit.

I’ve got all my documents that they required and requested with me, and soon as I got to the bank, the teller says,

“We need your OTHER bank account statements in order for us to process with you application.”

With confusion I say, “But when I was here last week, one of the teller told me that all I need to bring is my Counterpart Driving Form and now you’re telling me that I need to bring my other bank statements?”

Smiling she says, “I’m sorry, but since you have no utility bills under your name, it’s difficult for us to process. I tell you what, I’ll photocopy your Driving Licence, Counterpart and passport and I’ll pass it to the people at the Head Office and we’ll see from there, okay?”

My head says, “You better, b$%*@! So bloody difficult to open a bloody account! Hey I’m putting my money in your bank okay, not the other way round so, if you try to make it more difficult, then I'll show you hell!”

But what I actually say, “Right, okay then… So, anymore information that you need from me?”

“No, no, it’s all okay. You’ll hear from us in the next 5 working days. Thank you and see you later.”

“Yah, whatever lah! Susahkan kita ajer!”

After that, I decided to treat myself and bought some makeup kits and moisturiser and other wonderful stuff that brings me to a total of £43. Gulp! Didn’t I check how much they all costs? Well, apparently not! I was dismayed to see the grand total, but it’s all been scanned so got to pay for those blasted things!

Not to forget I bought myself 2 books, one from the author Tash Aw and the other – yet to remember the author. Will let you know. And not forgetting also, also, also for my darling James his ever so favourite sports magazine, the Autosport - F1 Race interviews and what nots... All about the Formula One... (I'm still waiting to be taken to any F1 Races and I'm getting sick of waiting!)

I got back home in time as Andy & Lucy will be picking us up at 1pm to meet up with the parents.

When we got to the barn, only Daddio was at home as mummio were at downtown. I must say, I could be such a cheeky monkey when I can be sometimes especially towards my father in law. I can be so sarcastic when I talked to him but of course it’s all in jest, nothing too serious! I like him; he’s a very nice man and both he and my mother in law have helped me and James out a lot even before we got married! He paid for my Spouse Visa that cost me upto S$500 and he always pay for my flight ticket whenever I visit James in the UK when we were only engaged… They’re so kind to my family as well and we all get along so well…

Anyway, the meeting? Well, it was very positive and beneficial for both brothers. My FIL were talking about bonuses and all and I asked him, “What about spouse bonus? Do you have one of those?” Of course I was just messing about. Heck, there’s no such thing – or is there? Anyway, after saying that, Lucy offered herself to work with them as a secretary if they do decide to have another office in Skipton or Keighley. I wanted to bring myself forward but then I just kept quiet about it. I would love to work with his dad and James and Andy as a secretary and I’m sure the money would be great and also I don’t have to do odd jobs anymore like what I'm doing now in this company… Well, we’ll see… It might be difficult if they have to choose between me and her… I mean, if they took me on board, I don’t think she will be pleased about it knowing her. But for me on the other hand, it doesn’t really matter if she get the position – Malay say dah rezeki dia kan? Maybe I should send him my resume for reference eh? Just in case kalau-kalau dia memerlukan seorang secretary/PA yang cekap dan berpengalaman! Sneaky isn't it? Hee hee!

Kalau ada rezeki tak ke mana… If I’m meant to work there, Alhamdulillah, kalau tak pun, tak kisah lah… Ini semua kan rezeki masing-masing! Tapi kalau dapat kerja kat situ pun best jugak – family affair lah katakan! Sama-samalah kita berdoa yer?

Or maybe I am meant to work in this company that I’m in right now for the rest of my life… Seraaaam!!!

Bukak business sendiri lagi bagus eh?

Peluang Keemasan

It’s still a grapevine. Nothing being corroborate until we go up to the barn and the family will have a discussion about it. Well, it would only be between the boys and their dad so us ladies (me, Lucy and maybe even the MIL) would just have to sit back and let them have their talk… Probably I might suggest that we go down to Skipton town and do bit of shopping or even enjoy a cup of tea and a scone. But I think that my suggestion will be taken lightly or even be ignored knowing Lucy, she might want to sit down with them and join in the discussion which I find it inappropriate but I could be wrong kan? Call me old fashion, call me ulu or whatever but that’s just me! Ialah, Lucy tu orangnya ada sikit aggressive especially when it comes to tunang dia (my BIL) punya duit and kedudukan my BIL in the dad’s company… Aku tak kisah lah… Apa yang bapak dia nak berikan untuk James, aku hanya dapat bersyukur kepada Illahi dengan rezeki yang diberikan. Aku tak nak lah masuk campur hal dia dan bapak dia… Bukannya aku tak nak ambik tahu, it’s just that I know my place and my place as a wife is to support my husband in any shape or form…. And my place as a daughter in law is to just respect the bapak mertua keputusan and apa-apa yang dia nak cakap lah!

Alamak, in the midst of writing this, rasa nak muntah-muntah pulak! Tak sempat nak pergi tandas tekak dah tak loya lagi… Hmmm… agaknya kopi yang aku buat terlalu pekat kot? Anyway, dah okay dah…

Okay, balik hal ehwal keluarga ipar aku nih… Bapak ipar ada company sendiri. Dia buat Steelwork – traditional steelwork dan sekarang ni abang ipar aku dah bekerja dengan bapak dia sebagai Design Engineer (agaknyalah)… Kira sekarang nih hidupnya mewah jugaklah – gaji naik, semua naik… So kirakan when it comes to wang, dia tak ada masalah. Tapikan, tunangnya tuh, asyik merungut ajer pasal tak ada duit padahal diaorang pakai join akaun (walaupun masih bertunang, diaorang tinggal sebumbung) duit tuh mestilah melambung-lambung. Apa orang kata, tak cukup pakai/makan? Entahlah… So setiap kali jumpa or kalau kita ajak nak pergi mana-mana dia rungut cakap tak cukup duit, not enough money… Not enough money kebabai engkau! Aku tengok diaorang tuh sihat walafiat, lepas tuh selalu keluar makan malam memandang kan si Lucy tuh tak masak – mana tak cukup duit kan? Entahlah, ni kira bangsa tak tahu nak bersyukur lah kan? Ada duit lebih tuh hulur-hulur lah sikit kat mana-mana yang memerlukannya… Macam kita ker (kwang, kwang kwang)… Tapi itu duit dia, hak dialah. Dia nak buat apa dengan duit tuh dia punya pasallah kan?

So kita berbalik pulak hal yang bapak mertua ku yang budiman nak bincang dengan anak-anaknya… Bapak mertua ingin James join syarikat dia as a Civil Engineer in charge in some of the projects and dia pun ingin tahu bila James dapat join dia? Kalau boleh secepat mungkinlah. Aku dan James kita dah discuss dan masa yang paling sesuai sekali untuk dia join Bapak dia ialah apabila dia balik dari Singapura…

Alhamdulillah, syukur Alhamdulillah kehadap Illahi terhadap peluang yang diberikan ini… Ialah, dah lama jugak dia tak happy dengan his recent company sebab-sebab yang tak dapat aku explain dan dengan offer yang diberikan ini, aku bersyukur sangat kehadap Illahi kerana memberikan dia peluang yang keemasan ini (sekali lagi)… Alhamdulillah… So, there will be 2 division in Bapak’s company… Satu division untuk business partner dia and satu division lagi untuk dia dan anak-anak dia concentrate… Ialah, bila bapaknya dah retire, bolehlah dua beradik nih take over the company… Yang aku harap sangatlah mudah-mudahan ada jugak kerja kosong untuk aku join sekali… Kee Hee Hee!

Ialah, aku ni pun tak lah happy sangat kerja kat sini kan so kalau ada peluang as a Secretary kat opis bapak dia itu, apa salahnya! Nak experience? Hah! Aku ada 8 to 9 years of secretarial/admin/invoice clerk… semua aku ada experience… Kerja kat construction site? Iskh! Aku ada pengalaman! Jangan main-main ha! Aku ni pengalaman banyak walaupun muda… Ewah! Eksen gituk kan? Tapi, kita tengok jelah! Mana tau rezekei aku hanya di recent company aku… Tapi takpe kan? Rezeki yang halal ada di mana-mana… Kita kena bersabar jelah! Aku pun mengharap juga yang rezeki lagi satu tu pun kita dapat kecapi! Alah, tahu tahu jelah rezeki apa – rezeki dapat anak… Itulah rezki yang paling besar aku nanti-nantikan… InsyaAllah… Kita tunggu jelah apa yang Doctor Gynae tu akan perkatankan…
Selamat Semua!

Beauty & The Beast...

As a child or even as an adult, I’ve not been blessed with beauty (meaning attractiveness, good looks, captivating appearance and when society look at you they go wah or aaah or wow... aaawooooo). In comparison to my sister, I’m like down there and she’s like up there. She was and still is the beautiful one even when we were young as toddlers as babies as teenagers. Her enchanting smile, the sparkle in her eyes everytime she give that ever enthralling smile, her gentleness and kind-heartedness and sensitivity… She’s the perfect girl any parents would love to have and I adore her as well as she was and still is the most wonderful sister a girl could ever have in her life. Jealous? Never! I’m never jealous of her, why should I? But instead I’m proud to be her sister.

I was a chubby child and when I say chubby I don’t mean overweight or obese, just very round face with very round tummy and always have funny hair. I remember when I was about 8 or 9 years old, I wanted to perm my hair like sis. I wanted to feel what it’s like to have permed hair. We had our hair permed at this Nyonya’s beauty salon – or was it my aunt that did the perm for us? Well, anyway, sis permed hair turned out beautiful! Curls looked in place, very neatly and nicely done, all nice and curled up and springy, I mean she looked amazing and when it was my turn to reveal, it was ghastly! I hated it! I loathed it! I felt like running to the river and just drown myself… The shame, the horror… Why oh why do they invent this 'perm' in the 80s? It was finely curled and if you know how Maggi Mee looks like after it’s cooked, then that’s how my hair turned out – like curled up cooked Maggie Mee… There was nothing I can do. Mak told me that if I want to get rid of the curls FAST, I needed to wash my hair almost every day and every night, which I did – like frenzied! During that time, we don’t have and know the existence of a hair straightener so that was the only way that I could straighten my hair back to normal. I vowed to myself never in a million years would I perm or curl my hair ever again… Once bitten twice shy, heck it’s triple, quadraple shy!

Though I’ve never been blessed with exterior beauty or captivating smile and the lembutness of a lady (I’m more of a tomboy that time) I suppose one thing that I’ve been blessed with is my sense of humour. Believe it or not I’m a funny gal, so I’ve been told! Not blowing my own horn I tell ya, people tell me this thing okay!? One thing about me is, I just love making people laugh… they say I liven up the party – well, sort of… I make people guffaw, I make folks smile and I try to make people feel good about themselves (not in a dodgy way oteh?).

They say laughter is the best medicine and I hold that motto unfailingly… I love to laugh and I like teasing too (in an undamaging way) and I guess that’s why when you see me, you’ll notice that my face is round and my belly is round due to the cause of laughing too much… Sometimes I wish that I could be an entertainer – never mind what sort of entertainer, just someone who can make a difference, someone who can make people feel special… Hmmmm… doesn’t sound appropriate does it? Well you all know what I mean…

Anyway, what’s in an appearance, what’s in a beauty? The most important thing in life is how the heart works… You know, pum, pum pum… It’s how you potray yourself, your manner, your actions, your deeds, your sincerity to the people around you or even to strangers. I always believe that if you do good to others, others will return that goodness to you… Learn to love yourself before you can learn to love others… I never use to love myself when I was a teenager or a young girl, very self-conscious you know! I tried to be someone I’m not… I tried to be like my sister – prim and proper, soft spoken, gentle and tender loving… but I soon realise that I’m not her and I won’t be able to be like her coz I’m an individual… Though I am also a gentle and tender loving gal by nature… not really a soft spoken person though, the opposite… Accepting and embracing who I really am. Taking in any criticism with a positive approach. Criticism is good as you take it all into account and analyse it ourselves optimistically.

I learn from all the asinine mistakes that I made in the past and never to repeat the same mistakes again though it’s always easy to fall in that slip-up but don’t despair… Never give up hope…

I love my life at this moment and I am ever so grateful to the Almighty for giving me all that I have right now – my true Religion, my parents, my husband, my sister & Abg Ed, my niece & nephew, my PIL, my BIL, my old and new found friends, … I’m just blessed that I’m surrounded with people that I love and whom I hope will love me back for who I am…

So, who's the beauty and who's the beast?