keeta joirait-joirait nor

it was indeed miraculous that we managed to get a room during the recent cny hols in langkawi. it all started last wednesday when the hubby & i thought it would do us good to get out of haunted old kay-ell. after checking online, stalking my travel agent & calling the hotels, there were none that was reasonably priced. the only one we had was 'yes maam, we have rooms available but only the suite & it costs three thousand ringgit a nite'. okayyyyy....

so we were almost resigned to the fact that we would be in town for the celebrations & decided instead that we would round up some friends for a yee-sang lunch. a couple of them couldn't make it as they were going away for the hols...one replied saying she'll be away for the hols in langkawi with the hubby & the in-laws. sigh!! so i related to her how we planned to go away too but couldn't get rooms (we even tried four seasons & a funny conversation transpired but that's another story for another day). so she said 'why don't i ask j (her hubby) cos we are staying at his friend's resort?'. i told her to try but i wouldn't be too disappointed if she couldn't get anything (of course i was lying through my teeth & keeping my fingers, toes & whatever that could be crossed, crossed).

in the meantime i was stalking & annoying the daylights out of my agent who was trying to get me rooms in phuket, bali or even singapore. then, then, then i received an sms from my friend 'ada bilik, nak tak? kena confirm cepat..'. a quick call to the travel agent & the hubby we were destined to spend the hols in langkawi.

joining the rest of them last minute shoppers, we went looking for all things essential for fun in the sun in between calling the vet to send my cat for boarding, booking the cab to klia & getting the tour guide cum cab driver in langkawi to book his services for the four days we were gonna be there...

sunday afternoon, we were on the plane to the island. the resort we stayed at was quite decent actually. rooms were quite comfortable but somehow the ambience was not too 'resorty'. but the gorgeous view, the quite private beach more than made up for it. and we were sure the daughter would approve of this eco-friendly resort.

ahhh, serenely blissful four days of lazing on the beach soaking up the sun, strolls by the beach, joy-ride exploring the islands, good food, lepaking, gambling (chinese new year lah. always looking for a eason i suppose), massage at the spa & of course you can't go to langkawi & not shop. what can be better than that?

we were taken away by the beauty of the islands, the azure ocean, the flora & fauna and the simplicity of life. we just didn't want it to end & practically dragged ourselves to the airport to get back home.

just as we reached home & started to unpack, i got a missed call from the cab driver who took us around in langkawi. thinking that i may have left something behind in his cab, i called him back. guess what, he just called to check if we arrived home safely. if that's not service, i don't know what is..

so i leave langkawi & her beauties with a heavy heart. pics prove why langkawi was awarded a national geopark status by unesco. it has now become our favorite local holiday destination for

a quick getaway. and the four seasons will definitely be on the list.

enter the ox

XIN NIAN KUAI LER

wishing all those celebrating the lunar new year a very happy, loud & prosperous one. for the rest, happy holidays. it's gonna be a long weekend & so for those going away to be with loved ones, be safe.

tong tong cheng sei sei sei

as the lunar new year approaches slowly but surely, i have been keeping an age old (okay, three years old to be exact) tradition. see three years ago, the hubby dragged me to shop for new year's hamper for his client. and being the kiamsap, kiasu & lain-lain 'kia' chinaman his client is, it was nothing but the best. the most expensive liquor, the top of the range abalone, yada yada yada...

so three years on, today i had to go to our regular place to get yet another cny hamper. let's see - year 1 was cordon bleu, year 2 was cognac & this year x.o. yeah, they get to choose the liquor. and after choosing nothing but the best, it set us back a nice 1.3k but somehow the hamper looked kinda small. thanks to his 'expensive' request, i had to cut down on the other stuff like abalone, ginseng, bull's penis, tiger's schlong or whatever it is the shrivelled stuff is that they sell at the sinseh...

and as i was waiting, bored to death while they were making the hamper i got a call from some girl who was from some place. almost ready with my 'thanks but i'm not interested reply' thinking that it was from citibank or some time-share thing, she mentioned something about there is a refund cheque for me. oooo, me likey. turns out, she's from ird & the gomen is giving me back my money that i paid them in taxes. and this is for assessment 2007. geez but better than nothing i suppose. so i asked her how much is the amount. she said 'four four four, not very lucky huh'. its okay, as long as its $$$.

and tomorrow we have another two hampers to shop for. oh, happy days......

why lah why...

come monday, we will be ushering the year of the golden ox as the chinese celebrates their new year. it's gonna be a weeks holiday from school for the daughter & so she is being shipped to the aunt's place somewhere north of the country. she will only be back home end of next week. hubby & i can't make this trip as we have a wedding to attend (no, can't escape this one). thus we have the whole week to ourselves.

thought of getting away for a short break just the two of us but at odds end on where to go. so this morning the hubby was browsing the net for some exotic locations. seeing that the man is so fussy about what he feeds himself, decided to make the trip to a local destination & the conversation went somewhat like this...

him: langkawi? now where haven't we stayed? want to try datai?
me: okay lah but all the seafood restaurants are chinese owned. won't they be closed?
him: we ask o (the cab driver tour guide we normally hire)
me: yeah, we can book him for the day

so we were browsing the datai site & checking out the rates and it is by no means cheap. so i suggested phuket. yeah, about the same rate as datai but scraped off the idea lest hubby pull a jekyll & hyde on me whilst we are there; you know what they say about hungry men...

me: 'k, how bout tioman?
him: no, no monsoon season
me: pangkor?
him: what's the name of the resort?
me: pangkor laut

so he's checking the website while i go tinkle about in the kitchen. suddenly...

him: come, tengok ni..the rates are quite okay but we don't take the sea villa or spa villa lah
me: then?
him: take the hill villa. see? the rates are okay ya?
me: eh? how come ah? sure or not??? (and he's scrolling the page to the top & i am seeing 400+, 500+)
him: until....you see at the top lah. it's in USD lah...
me: (smacks him) so funny lah

and he laughs & laughs & laughs as he goes off to get ready for his golf game. as he leaves he asks me "so dah decide nak gi mana?". and i say "ya, duk rumah jer just like we always do"; which is most likely what we'll end up doing..

and it dawns upon us again...

just when we thought it was safe, it dawns upon us again. of course i am referring to the american idol series lah. i know one person who's gonna sigh when i plonk my ass down in front of the idiot box every wednesday & thursday evening. the fun part is of course the auditions & depending on who makes it to the final twelve or thirteen or eleventy-two, yeah i would be faithfully following it all the way to the end.

just this morning the deejays of our local airwaves were arguing between who should have won the last season - cook or archuleta. i guess one doesn't necessarily have to come out champ in the reality program to be a success. look at ruben studdard, winner of season two and you would go ruben who? but on the flip side, jennifer hudson, daughtry didn't win & they are making it out there.

so this evening at 6pm, you know for sure what i would be doing. looking out for the ignorant few who are disillusioned to think that they are the next mariah carey or freddie mercury. but at least you've got to give it to them for being so gutsy to claim their fifteen minutes or seconds of fame... here is one memorable performance from last season.... wonder if he's coming back this season??

que sera sera

know how it feels like when you do something you do because its expected of you or just because; only to be taken for granted? for doing something for the love of it just for it to end up being a thankless job? for giving the best of you only to fall flat & all there is left is 'what the ...'?

i do, do you? this too shall pass.....

my funny friends & me

yonks ago i wrote a post (that is now lost & not found in the twilight zone) on how i never pass an opportunity to make friends & how some of them become very good ones. recently i did a quiz in a daily (nothing better to do la) - question: how many friends do you have? choices were i think something like less than 10, more than 10 & perhaps i have no friends. i think i chose less than 10 but i was referring to good friends. sad? who needs quantity when you have quality. maybe its more than 10 i don't know but who cares.

some time back a couple of them got together for lunch at a restaurant, owned by yeah you guessed it a friend. so half way into lunch, the owner comes by our table & asks if everything is going okay & for some small talk; as he usually does. he, being the lovable gentle person he is, was (is) very polite. then this conversation came up:

she: he's the owner of this place ah?
me: ya
she: he's so polite. how come can be your friend?

funny eh? what's the thing about opposites & attraction again? hey, i can be polite when i want to be. like jlo said 'someone's got to be an adult sometimes'. so there, i can be nice, polite, charming, pompuan bukan melayu terakhir - all when i want to (bwek, bwek, bwek).

then just a couple of days back, we wanted to meet up again to eat, drink & be merry. jlo asked me this 'so who else in (my ex-employment) do you want to see?'. goes to show i wasn't very famous back then or perhaps famous for the wrong reasons. so this less than ten people & i went out to lunch yesterday. its always the same group of people, so i created a group in my email address book & labelled them 'people i like in (my ex-employment)'. aptly named, no?

i'd love to say a thing or two about the polite & not so polite people in my life but there would be so much nasties to say about them that the kids might need pg to read this blog. ha ha ha. i'd like to think that these friends of mine are comfortable enough with me as i am with them, to allow remarks like 'jlo, i'd love to hug you right now but you stink' only to have her laugh & say 'yeah, its a natural repellent'. just so you know, she didn't have b.o but she just had a fag & she smelt like a walking ashtray.

so lets see - here's to my ten or so frens near & far, polite or otherwise, bitchy or not without trying too hard, pompuan or dot dot dot; thank you for being my friend and yes, you are welcome too (ya ya i have no shame, so sue me!!). and i didn't put in any names as i have this affinity to forget one or two & then i won't hear the end of it. so i'll save myself the trouble..

who's da man??

this is pretty damn hilarious. enjoy!!

gimme gimme gimme a man after midnite...

after much anticipation & reading with much jealousy, catwoman & moi caught the mamma mia musical at istana budaya last saturday nite. two very feminine (not my words but catwomans) had a fun-tastic time that nite. catwoman blogged about it already so i'll just copy & paste from her site..

Don't be deceived by the feminine demeanour... these Dancing Queens were both on their feet dancing, tapping and grooving with the music! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! more baby!

PlainJane said " If they come around again...next time, we'll get 5 tickets each worth MYR100 only and we can come here 5 nights in a row!" This shouldn't be Our Last Summer!

I agree! I give it a 4 outta 5 and I don't mind watching it over and over again, really. It was SUPER Trouper!

The casts, Sophie and Donna both have great voices and they rendered the numbers flawlessly. Acting department...maybe nothing extraordinary, they could have done much better. Tanya was the life of the show...tho' I had my eyes glued on Sky...oh Honey Honey! Those skins and tush....arghhhh! Delish, simply delish!!

The audience were rather decent...passive and boring. If it wasn't for PlainJane, me a just a few others who started dancing on our feet towards the end of the show...the casts were surely left wondering if they had bore us to death!

Wasn't quite happy which our seating arrangements, I mean for the exorbitant price we footed...we could have gotten a far superior treatment. But nah! Istana Budaya doesn't quiet live up to the expectations...I thought GSC cinemas are way more sophisticated than this theatre.

When All is Said and Done...and with all the Money, Money, Money we've spent...it was a night to remember!

Till next time then!

So people, any takers for the next time they come to our shores again??

and the new year has come

it has quietly crept up on me & it just felt like any other day. nothing exciting, no raves, no orgies seeing that its the trend of ushering the new year in the big bad city of kayell. i guess the gloom dawned on me from xmas onwards. i mean yeah the family got together but nothing much really happens anyway. raya & xmas have just become an excuse of getting all under one roof & pigging out till you feel tight around the waistband. sad really....

but all in all 2008 was a year of mixed emotions - good times, bad times, moments to remember & some you just want to go away. new year resolutions? was never one who believed in making resolutions only to realise that the year is coming to an end & suddenly you go 'huh? what resolution?'. but i do resolve to help the daughter (besides chauffering for the extra classes, to & back from school) with her studies as she will be taking a somewhat major exam this year; remember to wish me frens on their birthdays & for the lucky few - buy them prezzies. yeah, thats it i guess.

albeit a few days too late - happy new year dear frens. 2009 doesn't seem as promising as we all want it to be what with the economic crisis, the war crimes in the middle east & so on and so forth. but i guess behind every dark cloud there is a silver lining & a glimmer of hope.

so dear readers, i have nothing but love & hope for you. god bless....