SILENCE IS GOLDEN

My Ugly Spain Cup! =)

2011-09-12T13:21:00.000+09:30

Hi,

I am flew in to Malaysia from Spain / Espana. I represent a souvenir from Lawrence (aka the bf) to the great Nicolai because apparently he went to my origin country during the Raya break without bringing her. That's so cruel right! =(

But after her annoyingly consistent pestering (spamming both his Whatsapp and email) for a souvenir (or was her exact words 'SouvenirSSS'?), her bf gave up and got her me.

My name is 'Ugly'. Or so I thought... that's what my owner said when she first laid eyes on me, after unwrapping me from the red paper with 'dobra' written all over. Talk about appreciation, she so lack =.=.

I don't even know what does 'Ugly' mean. My proud owner did also exclaim "cuteeeeee" after she said 'ugly', so maybe my name is 'Cute'? Ah I'm so confused. Her exact words were (high pitch) "eeeee so uglyyyyyyyyyyy....(higher pitch)....and cuteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...(higher and higher pitch)...eeeeee" - thank god for 'breath', she ended that annoying pitch of hers after running out of them.

My proud owner then proceeded with taking pictures of me. She can't resist me, I am a photogenic born poser.

What?! Want to FIGHT?! *imagine bull with red cloth pose*

I am a CHAMPION! Ha! Still want to fight?! Ha!

Ah, I am so cute.

Food and Places

2011-09-06T21:32:00.001+09:30

I know I am suppose to be studying like right NOW. Exam is a couple of weeks away and I have (frankly) no clue on the topic. Books are laid out on the table, highlighters and pens nicely arranged, and here I am, blogging. Talk about procrastination.

Having been absent for so long, I suddenly have the mojo to write, again, lest I forget (which I will). Plus, an online journal with pictures will be a good way to rekindle with memories from the past, for future Nicole.

Besides,my home connection (P1 Wimax) has been transporting me back to the jungle with its terrible connection, but today, out of the blues, I am able to connect via a laptop, so why not seize the day eh?

P1 WiMax sucks!

As I am feeling completely bored right now with no recent experiences/ events to talk about (actually, there are … but mehh, I haven’t been writing for so long I am having mind-blockage for words), I shall instead indulge in the hassle (yea right) of posting up pictures with minimal description (or so I say).

Note: I am just being extremely random.

Plan B, Bangsar Village 1

Plan B, by BIG (that's what written on their Facebook page). The phrase "by BIG" reminds me of Sex and the City's Mr Big, staring Chris Noth (*drools*). Yeah, totally unrelated and unnecessary.

Anyhows, being strategically located in Bangsar which is near enough to my workplace, I have dined in Plan B a few times and found the food to be quite pleasant.

The place gives out a warm and friendly vibe, perfect for catching up with friends over dinner and share a dessert (obviously, share the guilt too =p).

The interior is like a western cafe with 3 TV screens on the wall with black and white graphics, of what I assumed to be P.Ramlee production, giving us a sense of fusion and reminiscence.

They have also this "under-table hook" specially for the handbags. Gotta love their considerate little touch to make dining more comfortable.

When asked for 'Chef's specials', the waiters (waitresses) will not hesitate to recommend you the Spicy Soft Shelled Crab Pasta or Crabmeat linguine. Unfortunately, during my visit with this bunch of people (heh =P) on a Saturday evening, we had no luck with the specialties and hence decided to try some of the other stuff on the menu.

I couldn't really recall what we ordered so I'll just put in the pictures and irrelevant captions ok?

Heard that they have good Butterscotch milkshake but again, having no luck on that day, one of us ordered this ... I don't know what.

Lets check out my attempt-to-remember with the food we ordered.

Some sort of Bolognese I guess? Or was it spicy somthing? Or meatball something? (OK it's clear as sky I am failing miserably)

Seafood something something? No-eye-deer

Ah, I know this one! Something with brinjal. (Yeah I so know)

Carbonara?

Food was fair given the affordable price. Couldn't really recall the sensation as it was long gone. I have, on another visit, tried the chef specials (mentioned above) and found them to be fair too, nothing to shout about. It does, however, do appeal to the new trendy-er market, being un-conventional and all.

We did not order desserts this time around (despite being really tempted by the yummylicious-looking on display) as we had plans to go for Baskin Robbins 31. Sigh, one just can't be too greedy.

I have, on another visit (again), tried their Chocolate Moist Cake (ok I have to admit, I have forgotten the name entirely), and it tasted sinfully delicious! Chocolate cake with a generous splat of chocolate over the entire slice, paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (if my memory did not fail me), they just compliment each other so well ... the bittersweet of one mouthful ... so ... gastronomical...

Ok, I should stop now, I'm luring myself to the sinful road of ... ...

PS: I know this post is titled "Food and Places" and 'Plan B' alone does not count as "places"...also I mentioned I will put up pictures with minimal words...and it turns out to be the other way round, but ...

MEH whatever.

Hi, I am awesome

2011-07-03T16:16:00.002+09:30

On a really hectic working day, I have the sudden urge to get something defined.

"Life" was first on the list of course. But without even looking, I knew it was hard.

So I googled something simpler.

"Nicole". My name.

And the result?

nicole
awesome person that is often imitated but never duplicated.
Nicole is so godly that I adore her.

(extracted from urban dictionary)

Oh what an apt definition!

Life is good ;p

Blogging

2011-05-31T00:46:00.011+09:30

I was reminded of the existence of my own blog. This shows how busy I was with my work life that I have entirely abandoned my personal blogging life.

Life have been hectic.

Not entirely true really. It was just me who have chose to be so pre-occupied with so many other things that I have stopped to really stop, and smell the roses.

So many other things going on in life.

Writing this blog post, I realised I have lost the enthusiasm I had in blogging, hence this blog post is to inform you that

Hi, I am blogging.

But yeah I don't feel like blogging.

Heh. I am cheater ;p

Have a good day

Am I?

2011-02-28T00:03:00.001+10:30

2years 1month 1week and 1day

Am I making a mistake?

Just wanna blog

2011-01-17T01:07:00.001+10:30

Need to express.

Sometimes I think I get to choose, whether to feel down or to feel really really happy.

Thus, for now, I choose to be really happy and energized, for no reason whatsoever =.=

Now, the thing is, I really wanted to blog. But I don’t know where to start. And when I don’t know where to start, I ended up not starting cause … I am so overwhelmed by the amount of … you know … stuff, I don’t know where to start!

Ok, I’m partially talking about the blog here and the life I’m living right now. Well maybe not right now, but you know … right now.

Oh yeah, I am confusing the heck out of me, you and everybody.

My fingers are really just typing, and my mind is not focused. It’s really running through a lot of thing right now, as in really, NOW. A lot, a lot, a lot of stuff.

And there is this one thing in particular that bothers me a lot … for a long time, but I don’t know how to start confronting it and I am not exactly avoiding it … I am just letting in hang there, not doing anything. But it really really really bothers me, a lot.

Sigh, missing the times in 2008. Where the girls will just sit in the rented room and every one will just listen to every one and really get into each others shoes and understand each other and you know, girls talk. Great talk =)

Well, being all girly and having my mind running wild with idiotic thoughts apart, allow me to TRY to really write a real post! =D

…

….

…..

SHIT. I really don’t know where to start.

There are so many things to talk about! Yet, it felt like there are none. Cause, for starters, I don’t know where the “line” is! You know, the LINE…

________________________________________________________________

Like …. to what extend can I blog about a certain thing and to what extent is the line where me talking about it or posting it here will be taken as “crossing the line” ?

Bahhhhh

Ok. I’m giving up.

I’ll try blogging another time =)

PS: Still looking for my blogging mojo from a few years back. Be patient.

Hugs.

With love,

Nicole =)

Peak

2011-01-11T00:19:00.000+10:30

5 minutes ago, I published thos post with the title ‘Peak’ and left it with a blank entry.

Just wanted to illustrate how busy I was.

But here I am, explaining myself, so it actually defeats the purpose mentioned above =.=

Yes, I am THAT smart.

Pardon me, I’ve just came back from working for 16 hours, non stop. And there are more to come.

Life is Great yo! =D

What do I go home to?

2010-11-03T23:48:00.001+10:30

I used to.

I used to look forward to coming home, to that home cooked meal.

I used to look forward to coming home, to that movie.

I used to look forward to coming home, just to go out with the loved ones.

I used to look forward to coming home, waiting for that phone call.

I used to look forward to coming home, to get online and chat with the loved ones.

I used to.

I was blessed.

I was living life to the fullest. I was enjoying life.

But I wasn’t appreciative.

I took things for advantage.

And today, at this moment,

I realize.

I have nothing.

No meal waiting for me at home.

No movies to watch.

Nobody to go out with.

Nobody who cares/ obliged to call.

And I could barely get online to chat with anybody.

And so I question myself.

What is life?

To get to work early in the morning, to leave long after the sun sets. Yet feeling so inadequate. Being so lethargic yet unproductive. Going through the never ending pile of things to do in my mind. Again feeling inadequate.

and

coming home to nothing.

Leaving work with nothing to look forward to, and dreading the arrival of to-morrow.

This is me now. Is that what I want in my life? Is that how I will live the rest of my human life?

I used to.

I used to think, that if I am successful person, I would not need anybody.

I used to think, that being loved and being cared for, is just a waste of everybody’s time.

I used to think.

Today I learn.

Today I grow up.

Emo post aside:

I’ve whipped myself a chinese-fied cawanmushi and it is forming in the rice cooker =)

Today I learn,

when I have nothing, it is up to ME to create something!

MY LIFE, MY CALL.

Oh and allow me to illustrate to you how short my life will be.

Breakfast : overnight oats with milk

Lunch: Cereal with chocolate milk

Tea: Cereal with chocolate milk

Dinner: Eggs and cheese

I am going to die from excessive dairy products consumption.

Bless me.

MY future is in MY hands

2010-10-17T01:37:00.001+10:30

“Let others leave small lives,

but not you.

Let others argue over small things,

but not you.

Let others cry over small hurts,

but not you.

Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands,

but not you.”

Jim Rohn

Of Somebody’s Birthday Last December

2010-08-09T03:09:00.001+09:30

I was browsing through my photo albums when I came across this folder: 2009-12-15 Chan Joon’s birthday.
as to why CYJ is named Chan Joon is another story to tell. Of which I will not. It is one of those stories that it is funny only to those people who were there / those who can picture precisely how it went given that they know the subject very well. You know?)

Looking through the pictures just made me miss last year so much. Carefree (not exactly). Oh well, responsibility free at least? Ok, not exactly actually. You know what I mean.

Working is so different from uni life. Then again, uni life was so different from college life; and college life was so diff from high school life; and high school life was so diff from primary school life; and… I don’t remember complaining that primary school life was different from kindergarten life… ok, we shall end here shall we?
Back to the topic.
CYJ’s 21st birthday.
I think it was the first time she actually wore a dress in front of us! Heh heh.
Oh no, that wasn’t the highlight of the day. I don’t know what was. It’s just an observation.

The day started with this amazing discovery that Audrey, Philia and I were all using the same phone.
They say great minds think alike. I can’t but agree with it.

Philia escaped all the way from Malaysia to this wonderful country down under after the exams. She arranged her holidays in such a way that she would make it just in time for Chan Joon’s birthday

AND our graduation.

Awesome friend we have here don’t we?

After picking Phi up from the airport, the three of us wasted no time in introducing the poor girl to the small (literally) city of Adelaide.
We went present + cake hunting at the only possible shopping district of the city – The Humble Rundle Mall.
We somehow forgot to capture the 4 famous pigs at Rundle but took picture with this life size teddy bear instead. Ah sigh. I don’t think it can even fit in my house.
As nightfall bestowed upon us, we adjourned to the 24-hour Pancake House for a scrumptious meal.

Oh how I miss the food in Australia. Everything spells big, juicy and delicious. And not to forget, fattening.
Prior to her arrival, we thought of playing a birthday song / her favourite song on this juke box to create a grand entrance scene.
Needless to say, we have failed miserably. Instead we played songs like … to date, I have really forgotten what was the song that we have chosen.
One of the many pretty pictures we took that night (while waiting for the food)

I believe there are many more group pictures but they are just not taken by my camera.
Camera producers should allow users to sync their camera on the spot. Too many shots of the same picture/ pose and the non existence shot of you that you know exist but not in your album (if you know what I mean) is just pure annoying.
We adjourned to the students’ house basement for a cake cutting + games session. The type of venue we lack here in Malaysia.
Individual snap shots with the birthday girl. I realize we don’t have a group picture with the birthday girl and the cake. And the candle which reads “21st Birthday” is facing the wrong way.
Brilliant.
And oh, the collage somehow seem simple, minimal and artistic. Black and white. Nice. =)
Oooh I’m liking the above collage so much I’m gonna make another one.
What I dislike is the watermark above. What Microsoft Research bla bla bla. Ah, till I find a real software, beggars can’t really be choosers can I?
After gobbling down the cake, it is followed by the present opening session.

Oh, and card writing. You know we wrote birthday greetings in the birthday card in front of the birthday girl? Nothing is impossible.
At least we did not wrap the presents under her supervision =P
And the below sums up the remaining of the night.

Being good underage girls, we substituted the empty wine bottle with Solo at the end of the night.
Who said people can get high only with alcohol? =)

Road block

2010-06-26T03:11:00.001+09:30

FML.

…

I have not blogged for so long and the first thing I could say after such a long time is

FML. Really, fml.

It’s 1am now and I have just reached home. Went for a karaoke session with the colleagues. It was alright. Missing the ONLY other time I went ~~singing~~ screaming with my friends. It’s two different worlds.

2 years ago, in 2008, this was what I did:

For the benefit of those who aren’t very sharp, we were all standing on the seats screaming away. No we are too normal to stand on the floor, we HAVE to stand on the sofa. Who says seats are designed for seating?

2 years later, in 2010, I was seated throughout the entire session.

That’s what working and ageing has done to me.

Anyway, that apart, I have another story to tell:

I got asked to pull over by the police during a road block on the way home.

With the boom boom appearance of my modified car, I thought it’s normal to be asked to pull over. Little did I know, the ultimate motive of the polices are to ask for my phone number.

FML.

They tried to made conversation by commenting on the cleanliness of my car (wtf. police telling me my car is dirty =.=), and then one commented that my birthdate is similar to his when I handover my IC and driver’s license for “inspection”. and then they commented on where I stay and asked where am I working and where did I go why am I so late all the while i was just thinking fml fml fml

and finally,

they asked for my phone number.

Only idiots will give out phone numbers like that.

WTF. Malaysian police officer. Exploiting their power like that. Imagine the number of single young (yes still young, despite the ageing part I mentioned earlier) girls driving home late at night. Ok maybe I’m the few rare ones fml nobody wants to fetch me home maaaaa T_T.

And thank god I obediently carry my IC and driver’s license around. Or else, they might have a “valid” and “professional” reason to get my phone number.

FAllMalaysianGirls’L.

Suffice to say, Malaysia Boleh. Oh wait, that’s not our erm propaganda already. 1Malaysia it shall be.

Murphy’s Law

2010-04-24T06:16:00.000+09:30

Reporting to the blog after my long absence:

It’s 4:30am now and I am here, typing. My heart is beating fast and I am wide awake. Wide, wide awake. I would very much love to lie on bed and enter dreamland peacefully, but no. Can’t do. You can say that I am “suffering” from a short-term “trauma”.

Maybe it’s just Murphy’s Law. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. And today is just one of those days.

Bizarre I call it.

1. Dinner

Had arrange to meet up with 5 other friends at One Utama for dinner in the evening. 3 of us turned up and another 3 will be late. Work commitments. So the three of us had our dinner first (cause I was starving) at Delicious.

Heard nice reviews about that place so I thought I’d give the Mains there a little try. Turned out, Murphy’s Law, the two things that we ordered – Carbonara Something Something Spaghettie and Mushroom something something Spaghetti are terrible. Not even a decent bit edible given the price. I believe I would be able to churn out something nicer with Preggo’s sauce topped with a little Parmesan and Cheddar.

2. After-dinner plans

I thought we should have some “life” since it’s Friday night, else my life will be depressing and I’ll always say I am a sad sad person (as if I don’t say it often enough already). We were debating whether we should go for drinks or movie and we after what seems to be like forever, we settled for the later.

Chose to watch “Shutter Island” only because it was screened half an hour earlier than the others. Reasoning: So that we can go home early.

Wanted to chill with some alcohol prior to entering the cinema only to realize that the place we wanted to go – Mardi Gras is quite a distance from GSC. Dropped the already rising drinking mood and fought for benches (to sit down) instead in the shopping complex. Told you our lives are sad.

After what could be the longest wait, we adjourned into the cinema only to find that some of the seats are uncomfy. As if that weren’t bad enough, again, Murphy’s Law, the movie was terrible. No storyline whatsoever. Seemed more like segments and pieces of scenes were pasted together to rush for the production of the movie. Nothing makes sense except that it’s produced to screw up our brains.

Or all of us are too blunt to understand the bloody movie.

3. THE drive home

After the sucky movie session, I dropped off two friends at Subang and proceeded to drive home. It was raining heavily and the roads we scary. There were minor minor flood at some parts of the roads and at some others, I can barely see the road. Yeah, the rain was THAT heavy…plus, it was 3am in the morning.

I turned down into Federal Highway and thank God the rain has subside. The numbers of cars on the road were just nice and everything seemed fine.

But, Murphy’s Law, things WILL not be fine. As I passed by Menara TM, heading towards Kerinchi / Kuala Lumpur, my car started to show signs of slowing down. Accelerating doesn’t help and it could only mean something – NO PETROL.

Yes. The petrol tank totally ran out of petrol when I was in the middle of Federal Highway. Lucky yours truly was alert enough and she drove the car (with whatever droplets of petrol left) to the side of the road. No petrol could be seen at both sides of the road and all I can think of is to call for help.

I didn’t dare to call my parents because by coming home so late, I was already crossing the line … what more if I tell them I am stuck in the highway with NO PETROL?. For I think only DIMWITS like me can end up in situations like this.

I called up the friends I met up with earlier and made them all worried sick =p After about 15 minutes of calls and sms thinking what they can do, a friend said that she will come with her parents and help me out. At the same time (by The-Almighty grace), a SPRINT RONDA truck appeared out of thin air.

Now, these SPRINT RONDA people are AWESOME. They are like the most AWESOMEST team on earth. Once they see my car parked at the side of the road with emergency signal on, they quickly switched on their colorful orange – blue – red light thingy on their truck and came over to me to see what’s happening. Seeing that I ran out of petrol, they efficiently tolled my car to the nearest petrol station, found that it was closed, tolled it to another petrol station, help me feed my car with petrol, helped me restart the car and make sure it works and swoosh, off they go to save another stranded car. Just like the heroes in all our childhood cartoons.

All these are done in a jiffy and they didn’t even ask for a cent! It’s totally like some voluntary team or something set up by I seriously don’t know what!

But seriously I was so grateful (still am) for without them, I seriously don’t know how I would get back home.

Thank god Murphy’s Law what can go wrong will go wrong did not happen to me (badly enough). And thank god SPRINT RONDA happened.

With that, I am safe and sound at home now. Typing this out, in ever so gratefulness and thinking that Malaysia, ain’t that bad. =)

SIZZLING HOT

2010-01-11T15:16:00.001+10:30

I AM SIZZLING HOT! *whistles*

No!

I AM SIZZLING HOT!!!

as in it is now 43 degrees Celsius outside and I am roasting.

Despite fans pumping out wind it is HOT and I am roasting!

I think I can even feel my laptop burning and if I don’t bring it to somewhere cooler it’s gonna explode.

LIKE *KABOOM* *EXPLODE*

and TIM TAMs from the freezer can’t even stay SOLID for a minute once removed from the freezer.

I don’t know why I mention TIM TAMs but hey I think it proves how HOT it is here!

And my boyfriend cannot stay out of the shower for even half an hour (or less!)

HELP! HOT! BURNING! *OUCH!*

I am a graduate! Whee!!!

2010-01-11T00:37:00.001+10:30

I know I am like half a month late but hey! I am a GRADUATE!!! Like wheee!!!

Not like it’s something unachievable but I think I deserve the right to be proud of myself eh? *winks* Somehow I think I’ll be happier if I’m acknowledge a godzillion-aire (my version of super billionaire). At least I don’t need to think about the next step right?

People say college is the stepping stone to erm [insert whatever here … success, life, enlightment etc] but I’ve completed college 3 years ago, no make it 4, and I am now a university graduate. Then? What does it place me in society? I can only name two.

Fresh grad and unemployed. *PROUD*

Like T___T LIFE what are you??? T___T Life is like a freaking maze I just want to find my way out to erm enlightment? Whatever it means.

My life is like so … typical.

Form 5. College. University. Unemployed. HAHA! I’m so totally IN the crowd =)

Ok enough blabbing. I shall just insert some pretty pictures of ~~my graduation ceremony~~ Miss Nicole Lai before I slump into deep depression (like it’s ever possible =.=)

Here goes…

and the first picture clearly states that I am SOME graduate. Like such *cough* MATURE *cough* graduate. Like I’m *cough* SO *cough* WISE

Nah a fine pretty picture of my family and I. Taken by ~~butler~~ Lawrence Chong. I have to say he who took this picture is good. Cause those people taking the REAL portrait were all over the place it’s really hard to steal a decent shot.

Here’s another stolen shot of my aunties and I. Gotta love those two for attending my graduation.

And this is a good shot of my butler! =D [PS: I hope he doesn’t see this although he’s just like sitting next to me right now =.=]

My ~~butler~~ Lawrence and I! =)

Yes, this is what graduates do. They do this cross eyed thing so that they look like spastics.

And to compensate for the previous idiotic picture, here’s another skilled-stolen shot.

Notice that my smile has been the SAME for all the pictures. While waiting in line for the graduation portraits, I was too free I practiced smiling.

And gosh, graduation is not something FUN like picnic by the park or a stroll by the beach. It’s like TIRING. Very TIRING. As if the robe is not heavy enough, a super heavy mortar board landed on our head. Oh, how I miss primary school days … where our mortarboard is self made … using paper =.=’’

PLUS, we have to keep our smile for every picture gosh I never forced a smile for so long in my life.

PLUS, I wore HIGH HEELS (wow!) to the ceremony and I had to walk around to take pictures my leg nearly got killed. Thank goodness I had a shoe holder with me (aka my brother) who brought my flats along so that I can change into them when I’m not taking pictures.

PLUS, it was like what 38 degrees outside it was so hot *faints*

PLUS … this will be never ending but since I AM A GRADUATE I shall end the complains here and scream wheeee!!!

*stops* *act mature and businesslike*

So *ehem* I am officially unemployed now so whoever whatever company that wishes to hire me please send me an email at nicole89lxy@gmail.com.

My terms are $5000 per month for a fresh grad like me and preferably an Australian company so that you could sponsor my PR application.

I do not guarantee that I will accept your job offer but I will put you into serious consideration.

Thank you very much and cheers =D

*hehe just joking*

BUT SERIOUSLY, ANYBODY OUT THERE WANTS TO HIRE ME???

Baked Eggs and Cheese Strata

2009-11-05T01:31:00.001+10:30

No, this is not some bun I bought from the local bakery, this is a homemade Baked Eggs and Cheese Strata *proud*

I stumble upon the recipe at iVillage.com and I find it pretty easy.

Baked Cheese and Egg Strata

I used a different proportion of bread-cheese-egg because I have only a baking dish that can accommodate 4 slices of bread.

4 slices of bread

5 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

salt

pepper

butter

1. Grease baking pan with butter.

2. Lay bread nicely in baking pan and place a little butter on each slice.

3. Sprinkle in a little pepper and salt.

4. Throw in cheddar cheese.

5. Mix eggs and milk in a different bowl and pour them all into the baking dish.

6. Cover with aluminum foil. Chuck the whole thing into the fridge. Leave overnight.

7. Sleep.

8. Wake up. Preheat oven at 175Celcius.

9. Chuck baking dish into the oven and it’ll be done in one hour. In the mean time, go wash up and fix that terrible hair of yours.

Easy peasy right?! Simple, easy and unhealthy. I love =)

You should see that it’s all actually on estimation. Throw in a little pepper, a little salt, and a little of any herbs you like. Experiment with anything, everything. I might try using tomato, for the texture reminds me very much of quiche.

I made one yesterday but it was a bit bland. I was too timid with the salt and pepper. I don’t even know what a strata was. It looks pretty much like any normal bread out there but no, it’s really different. Imagine bread soaked with eggs and baked … it’s a little like french toast, except that this is from the oven, not the stove top.

Today, I became bold. I grind in more salt and pepper, along with some random herbs.

I might try with some other herbs tomorrow. Like rosemary, parsley, coriander and what not. I know I have them in the community garden down there. Lavender maybe … hmm, is lavender edible? I might accidentally poison my housemate and I. *chuckles*

On a second thought, I shall leave the wild side of me for another day. Three continuous days of strata as breakfast doesn’t sound ideal.

Yeah, maybe another day.

Bubbly Blisters

2009-11-02T23:03:00.000+10:30

Because I like to procrastinate
Because I refuse to wake up 10 minutes earlier
Because I have to print out my assignment and tutorial work at home
Because I missed the tram
Because I have a presentation to do
Because I decided to WALK to uni
Because the sun is glaring
Because I decided to use flip flops to complement the nice sunny weather
Because my presentation is in 15 minutes time
Because I had to walk really really fast
Because I am using those beautiful flip flops

And just because of all the above, I am granted with three beautiful blisters on my feet.

Sigh. If only.

If only I can be …… (shall fill in the blank if only “if only-s” can make all the difference, but since “if only-s” can’t, there is no point “if only-ing” zzz)

On a happier note, those blisters also mark the LAST ASSIGNMENT of my entire DEGREE!!! Whee~! *clap hands* *chants if you’re happy and you know it clap your hands* *clap clap* *jumps up and turn around*

LAST ASSIGNMENT. *pants*

LAST ASSIGNMENT. *gasps for air*

LAST ASSIGNMENT. OMG. After spending 83947893 hours on 484394 numbers of assignments, this is the LAST. LAST. LAST.

Ooow mai gawd, these blisters are totally worth it! Blisters you rock!

I seriously can’t think of a bubblier way to honour this LAST ASSIGNMENT occasion. OMG thank you thank you blisters! *bow with gratitude wtf*

Sarcasm aside, I wonder if I poke them with a needle, will they erupt like a volcano? I hope they contain enough liquid to drown me in ……… so that I can have the BEST excuse not to sit for exams.

=.=’’ *solemn mood on*

Pie Floater in Adelaide

2009-10-22T02:28:00.001+10:30

You know how I was like (and still am) always putting off things that I said I’ll do and does something instead? Like I said I’ll do A but I’ll do B instead … I’m doing it again.

I said I’ll study, but I ended up blogging.

When I said I’ll blog, I ended up studying (yeah right =.=”).

So here I am, typing this post, when I’ve just said to Lawrence that I’ll study. I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry (to myself). =.=’’

*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~

I was browsing through my photo folder earlier and I realize I’ve been wanting to blog about PIES (but never really getting to it), so PIE I shall talk about now =)

Having tried the pies from Pie In The Sky at Mt. Dandenong, Melbourne and learning that they origin from Adelaide, I was desperate to get my hands on them when I am back in my own city.

I began googling (it’s a wonder how Google now became a verb) the famous pie in Adelaide, only to find that the renown Pie Cart of Adelaide has been closed down due to the construction of the tramline. The Pie Cart was previously situated outside Adelaide’s Casino, SkyCity but it has been removed for the tram to City West. Hmm, for better or worse?

However, it appears that the Pie Cart is back in July 2009 and is relocated outside Adelaide City GPO at Franklin Street.

Now, Franklin St is not located somewhere inconvenient in the city. On the contrary, it is smacked right in the middle of the city and I pass by Franklin St almost everyday.

Sometimes in the evening I do notice an abnormally huge white truck parked at the side of the street but curiosity never brought me far enough as to checking it out. I’ve always imagined it to be like some “Lok Lok” back in Malaysia or some youngster selling pirated DVDs in the middle of the night.

Having done some detailed research (actually there is not much information available online =.=), I finally braved myself to check out the giant white truck.

It was a Saturday midnight and the roads were full of people enjoying their nightlife. I, on the other hand, was just walking back from an assignment discussion. Poor lowly lifeeee T__T.

A girl + walking alone + Saturday midnight + countless of drunkards roaming around + with laptop … this wasn’t what I imagined how it would be when I buy my first ever Pie Floater from the Pie Cart, but since I lived to talk about it, that’s the way it should be.

Now I shouldn’t lament on how cold the night was, what a comfort it was to hold the hot pie floater while walking home, how I was praying for my safety with every step I take, how sensitive I was towards any movement on the dark dark street (when I say movement, that includes human and cats), how I plotted on utilizing the hot hot pie floater as my weapon when somebody (or some-cat) attacks me … (ha I know I was over-imagining but hey! it’s always good to take extra measure ok!) … for I made it home safe and sound … and devoured the pie floater in the silence of a Saturday midnight.

Oh, life’s a bliss~

I ordered a Steak and Mushroom pie and to have it swim around in the pie floater, mixing the filling with the pea soup is indeed, h-h-heavenly.

I reckon the pea soup would be a bit bland on its own and the pie would be a bit too strong a flavour, so when those two meet, it is perfect combination. A $8.50 perfect combination.

Oh I’m drooling just by thinking of it …

Now I know why pie floater selling in a pie cart is famous in Adelaide, and I know why it is known as the icon of Adelaide, especially during a cold, cold night.

Oh blissful~

Maggi Mee

2009-10-21T22:43:00.001+10:30

I’m so addicted to Maggi Mee right nowwwww!!!

Had my FIRST packet of Australia’s Maggi Mee three days ago and I’ve been eating them everyday!!!

Wooo!!! I love them!!! Cause they are MICROWAVABLE!!! =.=’’ And my egg’s so pretty!!! =.=’’

Ok don’t get me wrong

1. It’s not my first instant noodle. I bought 10 packets of Indomie a few months back (and there are still some left zzz) but it’s the FIRST time I had the Maggi Mee sold in Australia. Frankly speaking, they are nothing near to what we get back home but ahhh it’s MICROWAVABLE!!!

2. I don’t live in the jungle. I know Maggi Mee is microwavable but it’s just that I’ve never tried it until 3 days ago. All these while I’ve been cooking Maggi Mee using the stove but now it’s microwavable (tried and tested) it’s just so AMAZING! No fuss meal ME LIKEY! =)

Hehehe. Ok I sound totally like a jakun here but forgive me, I AM. teehee

Microwavable Maggi Mee Microwavable Maggi Mee =D

I’m so gonna

1. gain weight

2. lose hair

3. die early.

YiiiiHaaaa! (like cowboy). Wheeee =DDD

Untitled

2009-10-17T18:25:00.001+10:30

How does one go about protecting themselves from the harsh reality out there? Ignore everything that presents before your eyes? Shield the fragile one with an invisible wall? … I just don’t want to be hurt …

I’m feeling so lonely, so vulnerable. Tears are rolling down but I have nobody to share the sorrow with. Nobody would understand. I’ve always wanted “feelings” to be like any tangible item out there, pack em in a box and dispose them far, far away. But no, feelings are not disposable. It lingers around you, gradually taking over your life. The negative ones are especially unbearable …. they swim around the top of your head, haunting your every moment. When you feel like ripping them off, they cling on you more tightly, so tightly … so tight … you can’t help but feel defeated and you just want to give up … but are you ready to?

Deep down inside, I know I am not. This one I am having, is like a precious gem. Hard to find, and extremely precious.It is not something you are willing to let go just because of that occasional sorrowful moment. There are many happy moments that I treasure, memories that keep me fighting. The journey doesn’t just stop here … there is still a long way to go, a long, long way.

Things will get better when you learn to confront them, conquer them. I just need to learn... I just need to grow up … I just need to be strong …

Those tears that just fell, they aren’t tears of a loser. They are tears of a survivor, saying “I will defeat you”.

Rojak rice

2009-10-16T20:25:00.001+10:30

Nicole Lai’s definition of fried rice:

Dump everything you find in the fridge into the pan.

Like this:

Left over fried rice
Green peas that I’ve stocked up n-years ago
One tiny left-over chicken breast from Sara Lee which I don’t fancy
Eggs – is a must
Tomato – from n-years ago as well.
Half an onion – left over from yesterday’s spaghetti
Left-over garlic bread spread (garlic and butter)
Grind in some pepper and salt

and if you find it a bit bland, throw in your already stacking up ginger chilli sauce:

Tada! Super weird tasting fried rice.

And if you still find it bland, pour in a lot a lot a lot of tomato sauce, and you’ll find yourself swallowing on a recession-proof meal

=.=’’

Thank you for reading. I am very informative, I know. Have a good day ;p

My visit to Melbourne

2009-10-15T23:18:00.001+10:30

I notice I have not blogged about Melbourne despite going there for so many, so many, so many times =.=’’

As well, despite visiting Melbourne for so many, so many, so many times, I am still not familiar with the roads around. It’s like … I know how China~~town~~back alley looks like when I am there but I don’t know how to get there. This applies to almost everywhere … like I know how Bourke St looks like when I’m there, or I know it when I’m walking along Swanston … but I just don’t know how I got there.

I shall put the blame on Lawrence. He’s always bringing me around thus I don’t have the opportunity to learn ;p

Oh, for his defence, he once asked me to take the train ~~home~~ to his house on my own … and despite taking the train to Glenhuntly Station for so many, so many, so many times, I got lost =.=’’

I am just ~~BAD~~ TERRIBLE with directions.

Anyway, I visited Melbourne again from 11 Oct to 14 Oct. The obvious purpose is for his 21st birthday but it seemed more like a food tour. In fact, it IS a food tour. We’ve been going around for food instead of getting high and drunk to commemorate his 21st. He’s the one who said that he want a quiet birthday, so a quiet one he shall get =)

I figure I shall post up ~~FOOD~~ Places I visited in Melbourne in another post (again, on whether I would be doing it is another matter) since there are too many of them and I don’t think one blog post would accommodate so many of them … so I shall end this post with a little sneak peak on the places I’ve been and also the boy’s birthday picture =)

Ok now that I’ve inserted the pictures, It doesn’t seem that many actually =.=’’ Maybe I could really get down to writing about them … but I’m just so lazy zzz … Ah we shall wait and see won’t we? ;p

Oh and I know it’s 2 days late to write them here but still, Happy 21st Birthday Baby =)

My Lavender Pack

2009-10-14T23:08:00.001+10:30

He bought them from Royal Melbourne Show 2009, and said he’ll post them to me. Days later he decided against posting them since I’m going to Melbourne anyway. Lazy bum.

Despite asking him countless times on what he got me, he remained secretive. The secret’s finally revealed when I arrived at Melbourne 3 days ago , and I LOVE them =)

Thanks baby <3

With love <3

1. Lavender sweets – they tasted like lavender! like I'm eating the scent! love =)

2. Lavender potion haha – for my pink piggy

3. Ladybug toothbrush holder – ok this ain’t lavender but its the cutest toothbrush holder ever, cause I left mine at his place and he claimed it his property since then =.=’’ Good for me too, cause now I have an advanced one and his is still the conventional Woolies toothbrush holder HAHA hehe <3

4. Purple Lavander-ish tissue box – cause he is random and I like lavender and purplish stuff =)

Work

2009-10-04T17:08:00.001+10:30

Friday, work

Saturday, work

Sunday, work

Monday, work

Assignment? non-existent-day

Study for test? non-existent-day

Keeeeel me.

Ok bye. Assignment T___T

Another Sunday!

2009-10-01T21:17:00.001+09:30

It’s been a long while since my friends and I had a proper yum cha session on a Sunday morning. With so many of us working nowadays, its just very hard to find a time that accommodates everybody.

Nonetheless, all of us get to have proper dim sum today, just like what my family often do back in Malaysia. They say “friends are family” when you are abroad. How true.

Due to the fact that we stay 5 minutes away from Chinatown, the Sturt St people chose to leave the house at the latest time possible.

Upon arrival, Datuk,

Marion,

Audrey,

and Joon were already eating away. What nice family T___T

But thank god they have already ordered the yellow dim sum (the ones on the left) so I was too busy fighting for food to even bother complaining =p. Unfortunately, the yellow dim sum (NOTE: I call it YELLOW dim sum cause I forgot the name) wasn’t as nice as expected.

Datuk said this restaurant serves better dim sum than Ding Hao (opposite the road) but their Yellow Dim Sum is equally un-nice.

However, the Har Gao (the one smacked right in the middle) is quite nice. And the Fried Triangle Char Siew Pau (the one at the lower right) is quite nice as well ^^ Happy.

All of us were like Barbarian and the we kept ordering

and ordering

we did not stop until we are bloated.

Their egg tarts are not bad. But again, it’s nothing compared to the Ming Kee / Lee Kum Kee / Forgot-what-kee (if it’s even a –kee) in Malaysia.

Due to the existence of Chan Yuan Joon, Audrey kept ordering different sauces. We were actually looking for some thick-ish sweet-ish sauce but what we get were sweet & sour sauce, caramelized sauce, chilli sauce etc. After several attempt, Audrey finally said “seafood sauce” (and we thought she is asking for oyster sauce) and oh thank allah oh thank god its the correct sauce. Near to correct sauce … cause seafood sauce is something like Chee Cheung Fun sauce. We still didn’t get our normal Dim Sum’s sweet-ish thickish sauce =.=’’

Some beautiful decorated fruit tart

The famous mango pudding (the yellow one at the right).

The mango pudding usually comes with a sour-ry milky topping (the beige one at the left) but because we wanted to try the original taste of the mango pudding, we requested the waitress to separate the topping.

I wouldn’t be surprise if the waitress / waiters get annoyed by us due to our strange demands and our loud voices / un-demure-ish actions =p

After tasting the mango pudding on its own and with its sauce, we come to realize that the mango pudding is best eaten with its sauce. The sauce balances the pudding out because its a tad too sweet to be eaten by its own.

They also serve Durian tart but I forgot to take a picture of it. It looks exactly like Egg tart it taste different (duh?).

After the extremely filling (and pricey breakfast), we (out of randomness) decided to visit the “Refugee Camp in Your City” set up in Victoria Square, opposite Hilton Hotel.

They are by Doctors Without Borders to create awareness

Camwhored while waiting for the guided tour

no idea what were we laughing at

made everyone take picture with the person next to them cause I was extremely bored

I’m soooo tall

Attempt to take a picture of the volunteer who was working there but we failed =.=’’ Apparently she’s a Malaysian too The young uns were busy taking pictures while Datuk and Kai Nie were being briefed.

The weirdest thing happened at the supposedly “cross-border-gate”.

Tour guide: Say a war is happening in Adelaide. You’d need to leave Adelaide and run to another place. Where would you head to?

Nicole: Melbourne.

Tour guide: So we are going to head … east. You are at the border, and you need to bribe your way through. Apparently the guard needs a pair of shoes. You’d need to donate your shoes to her so that she’ll let you through.

Guard: *points at Audrey’s heels* I would like that.

Audrey: *takes off her shoes*

Guard: *puts on Audrey’s heels. they fit perfectly*

Poor bare feet Audrey. Haha!

Having to cross the border, the guide took us for a tour around the makeshift refugee camp, drilling new information into the nests of our brains.

These are different types of land mines.

This is where refugees live, along with their make shift kitchen utensils and toys

There will be around 20 refugees living in a tent of such size.

Those nearer to the city will have the luxury to use wood planks and steel material for their camp.

The tour guide showing us the little amount of food refugees have for a day. They usually consist of rice, wheat or couscous, depends on the country they are staying in.

This is where refugees head to for water. Its usually on top of a hill and the children are usually sent to do this task. Picturing a poor skinny 7-10 years old carrying like 5 liters of water really allows me to appreciate my life more.

Refugees’ toilet. Those social group working to help the refugees usually take extra measure to ensure the cleanliness of their toilet.

Clinic in a refugee camp. The most common prescription they have there is for diarrhea. Its the same as the OCR / OSR (forgot) we had when we have diarrhea.

This is how they test if a baby has malnutrition. For little children, they have a band that measures the diameter of a child hands to decide if they need extra care.

The clinic they set up to treat people with cholera. The tour guide says when cholera affects an area, the volunteers will usually set up a treatment centre at lightning speed. Patients sleep on beds that have a hole in the middle because they can’t control what their shh shh / mm mm. =.=’’

This marks an end to an hour of really informative tour. We tried asking the people there on how we could help / if we could help at all. However, since the headquarters is in Sydney but not Adelaide, there ain’t much we can do. Moreover, we are like Commerce people and they’d mostly need people from the medic / logistic / psychology field.

Accountants / Finance people like us are like …. useless T____T

Me found job!!!

2009-09-28T18:59:00.001+09:30

After what like 6 months living in Adelaide, I’ve finally found a job.

Say GRATS!!! =)

Ok fine I’ve started working a few weeks ago but now only I remember to blog about it =.=

Working as a waitress at one of the ~~restaurants~~ cafes in Chinatown. The place I work in aint’ no high class restaurant type. No it’s not even a restaurant, its a CAFE, where people enter in a hurry, eat in a hurry and go in a hurry, and we serve in a hurry.

Ok fine, not all customers are in a hurry but the concept is something like that. During peak hours, we seriously need to serve in hurry.

Pay is not high but baaah, its better than nothing.

So yeah, here’s me in my uniform.

Haha you can see nothing cause I was wearing all black zzz. But my hair’s tied up like aunty hip hip hooray T__T

Imma working Imma working =)))

PS: Pay LOW. Not happy. Just grateful.

2009-09-23 Potluck

2009-09-26T01:04:00.001+09:30

Ok I’m writing the title of the post with a date because there are too many stuff that I want to blog about (NOTE: is WANT to blog, not WILL blog. I always said I WILL blog about XYZ stuff but I never will) but I never get the time to / never get the mood to, and to avoid confusion, I dated the title.

Makes sense? Don’t make sense? Ignore me.

I’m in the middle of a flu … AGAIN. I don’t know why my nose is so prone to overflowing liquid nowadays. I wonder was my immune system so low back in Malaysia ….. T___T now I miss all those Chinese Herbal tea / soup from home T___T all I know how to boil now is ABC soup T____T I want my ~~Leung~~ Yong Sam Sou T____T ~~Leung~~ Yong Sam Sou is my favourite leung shui but I don’t seem to find them here T_____T. Ok fine, to be precise, I never bother to find / never remember to find.

T_____T

Ok back to our potluck.

Once upon a time, in far far away land, a group of young lad has too much free time on hand and decided to have potluck. The idea of potluck has been lingering in their head for a month or so, and the holidays came just in time before they give up on it.

After a heated discussion (literally heated) …… I shall try to illustrate our discussion here.

(PS: I’m using “Young Lad #” because our discussion was so messy and I didn’t know who were speaking at any point of time)

Young Lad 1: Do we have a theme?

Young Lad 2: Aiya don’t need theme la, just cook whatever we cook best.

Young Lad 3: Ok I make mash potato.

Young Lad 4: Ok I fry hot dog.

Young Lad 5: Audrey cook Pan Mee!!!

Everyone: Agree!!!

Young Lad 6: But isn’t it weird, Pan Mee and mash potato AND hot dog????

Young Lad 7: Hmmm true. Then Young Lad 3, you STEAM your potato la! Make it Chinese style!

Young Lad 4: Ha! Then I steam my hot dog also? HAHAHA

Young Lad 1: Half half la! Steam and Fry it!

Young Lad 2: Or use Chinese Hot Dog (Lap Cheong) HAHAHA

Audrey: I don’t want to make PAN MEE!!!

Everybody: NO! You make PAN MEEEEE!!!

Young Lad 3: Yeah! And we are adjusting our dishes to your pan meee!!!

… followed by more noises. There were suggestions like agar agar, zucchini cake, muffin . cake, fried anchovies, fried onion, steam broccoli etc etc etc but we weren’t able to decide on anything.

So we had only ONE conclusion: Audrey make Pan Mee.

On Potluck day, we manage to fork out some other side dishes that compliments / un-compliments the Pan Mee. The most uncomplimeting dish is by yours truly hahaha cause cause Chinese don’t have appetizers but I WANT appetizer!!!

Oh wait, before that, lemme tell you something: Our Pan Mee is HANDMADE. From scratch T___T

The entire process of Pan Mee is handmade. Audrey made the dough earlier in the evening and at 7pm-ish, we went over to her house and PEEL pan mee. Like seriously flatten pieces of pan mee with our hands. 6 of us. Peel pan mee. With hands. And we used up to 1 and a half hour. T___T Pan mee making is no joy T___T

Above is the food for the night. Squint your eyes and you will see Spicy fried eggplant with mince pork (the black one at the upper left corner), Carrot Raisin salad (the orangey one at the middle top), Longan agar agar (the plastic container beside the orangey salad), Fried chicken with bok choy in oyster sauce and pepper that taste like KFC (the plate in the middle) and all the other 8 look-a-like bowls are Pan Mee. Audrey-style dried Pan Mee with carrot+potato+mushroom in oyster sauce. I think.

I know the Carrot Raisin salad is so out of place =.= Its like a sore thumb in the middle of a Chinese dinner hahaha but but but it was edible and refreshing! It was suppose to be the appetizer but all of us were so hungry we dived into the Pan Mee straight away (come on! We spent 1 and a half hour standing in front of a stove peeling Pan Mee … who wouldn’t be starving T__T)

Everybody is bloated after dinner and we went down to the basement for ping pong, card games and some mooncake

Mooncake: Fake. Not nice T___T

Pain T__T

2009-09-22T16:41:00.002+09:30

I wonder if period pain kills.

I have a feeling I am going to die soon.

Anytime now.

Pain.

Dying.

Dead.

FREE Indian Cooking Class

2009-09-15T21:27:00.001+09:30

Oh look! Flowers!

(Pardon the messy living room)

Saw these on top of the counter after I came back from a FREE Indian Cooking class. They made my ~~day~~ afternoon =)

Thanks baby <3

Now lets talk about the FREE Indian Cooking class. Yeah I know I know, it’s annoying that I keep CAPS-ing FREE, but ah well …

You know students living abroad (students like ME) always had to eat home-cooked crap food because they are always tight on budget? Like I’ve totally been living on fried rice and/or spaghetti for the past … 6 months because those are the easiest things to cook. In fact, now I’ve learn to cook a two-day portion so that I can just microwave them the next day cause sometimes you come home so worn out you really don’t have the strength to cook (and I have not even mention THINKING about what to cook).

Plus, my cooking skills are RATHER limited and I’d always need to Google before cooking up something fansy-pansy.

So one day, StudyAdelaide or something came up with this FREE Indian Cooking class and Jojo and I signed up straight away.

Like hey? At least we’ll get to LEARN how to cook and we’ll get some easy-peasy recipe to save our potential-miserable day for the rest of our … lives.

Thus we hopped on the bus and got down at North Adelaide Community Centre with anxiety.

We were like 30 minutes late but lo-and-behold! the class have not started yet =_=

What do you do? You camwhore.

Ok we leg-whored. Whatever it means.

No that guy behind the tables ain’t the instructor.

We waited (together with the instructor and 2 more students who attended) for another 30 minutes or so before the class officially started. The total number of students attended are … *drumsroll* 8. Zzz)

Halfway through the class, a reporter / photographer appeared and had the instructors + 2 volunteers to take some pictures. Of course the bored one sitting on the chair also took pictures of people taking pictures.

Yeah the one in blue sari is the instructor. Indian cooking class ok.

Another angle

And another shot

More shots. I’m obviously bored ain’t I?

And another angle. Yeah … erm through the whatever of the photographer whatever. What do you think I was suppose to do? I was sitting right behind when he stood on the chair and we actually found it kinda amusing. At least I didn’t take a picture of his butt.

And it’s done. In like … 30 minutes I think. 2 dishes and one rice. Pretty easy (from the looks of it) and fast. The one at the far end, in orangey colour is butter chicken, the one in the middle is dunno-what-rice and the one in the yoghurt container is cucumber-and-some-spices-yoghurt dish.

The rice is good. The butter chicken is not bad and the yoghurt is … just not my type of thing. Not with rice at least. I’m good with soy sauce. Thank you.

This is Nicole who is contented with what she has just learn (which I’ve to-date forgotten) and with the free tasting.

This is Ms Jojo Chan with her plate of rice. She is gonna kill me when she sees this. Amen.

This is me, all dainty after the mini-meal.

Yeah right.

There were supposed to be a “net-working” session but we moved on to the loo and camwhored inside. I think we network-ed well with the mirrors/ our reflection. “Oh Hi Nicole!”

Scary. But that’s the best already =.=’’

By the time we are done, everyone has left except for the instructor and her helpers who were busy packing.

We bid them a polite goodbye and went to the 24 hours bakery opposite Blue and White Cafe that sells Abs (of which I have not blogged about I believe zzz)

YES. 24 HOURS BAKERY! IN ADELAIDE (well, not in the city but it’s near enough!). Oh I wish I have a car now *dream*

Bought quite a variety of confections but managed to take picture of this one before I drown them all into Nicole Lai’s mouth.

It’s some Banana cream-pie thingy. Can’t remember it’s name. Pretty yummy =) but its too small. Wish it could be bigger and cheaper XD

Now, how I wish I can have a electric mixer so that I can baked more pretty little sweet edible stuff more easily =(

Yes. Electric mixer. That’d be in my wishlist (my non-existent wishlist a minute ago) *dreamy*

Help! My nose is running!

2009-09-13T20:24:00.000+09:30

Lamo Zzz

But seriously, I’m having escaping nose. Running nose. Water-tap-nose.

Looked at the amount of tissue paper I’ve used

I think I’ve just killed a tree.

I could have just taken a pail and let the mucus or whatever drip down into the pail. That would be more economical =.=’’

Kill me already. Nose hurts.

090909

2009-09-09T23:27:00.001+09:30

It’s 09 September 2009 today, ie 090909, just thought I might post something to erm commemorate the erm significance of today =.=’’

Today meant … nothing to me. Fullstop thank you very much.

Yesterday when my housemate realize that today’s gonna be 090909, I was baking muffin and we were all so hyped up.

We were like

“Eh we should celebrate!”

“What should we do?!!!”

“Hmmm, but we’ll be having our Derivatives and Securities Markets (DSM) lecture =( “

“But DSM is not until 9.10am!”

“Ooooh!!! Then we can shout ‘Hurray!!’ outside the lecture hall at 090909090909 (ie 09/09/09 090909 ie 9 o’clock 9 minutes 9 second)

“YAAAA!!! We should so do that!!!”

“Ya. and 51 seconds later we walk into the class right =.= “

“Ya”

*silence*

*I continue fussing around with my muffins and they continue on with their movies*

Needless to say, we did not so call “celebrate” 090909. In fact, we were late for class and when we walked into the lecture hall, the lecturer has already started on god knows what. We sat right at the back of the lecture hall

notice how empty the lecture hall is. I figure there is a linear relationship between how interesting a lecture is and the number of students in the lecture. I believe the relationship can be portrait in the graph below:

The petite figure we have in our lecture today is pointed out as “HARZARDOUS MATERIAL” as seen from above. This indicates that the lecture / course we are taking is at an extremely dangerous stage where it will cease to exist at some point of time.

Yeah right I wish. Zzz. Boring.

and … people at the back read newspapers.

Sorry for the extremely blur and unclear picture. I was afraid they will look back and punch me right in the eyes, thus the ugly / non focused picture.

I don’t know why we were at the lecture. Zzz.

Maybe because today is a cool day 090909. Today is “forever” day 090909. Today is “dog” day 090909. Ok enough with the 090909090909.

Hmm, lets talked about the muffins I baked!!!

It was my first attempt baking muffins in Adelaide =D

Bought the ingredients the day before yesterday (I think). Or two days before. Whatever.

Didn’t get the time to bake them Chocolate Zucchini Muffin till yesterday. Yeah I was busy like that.

Got the recipe off Pioneer Woman’s link Tasty Kitchen cause I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Pioneer Woman =) She taught me a lot. And when I say a lot, it’s A LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.

It’s like whenever I felt like baking / cooking something, the first website I go to is Pioneer Woman’s. Thanks lady! =)

Now you know. I wouldn’t be baking shit if not for that website. Oh thank god for internet! =.=

Here’s the ingredient I bought:

Pardon me for using Homebrand. Maybe if you care to pay me, I wouldn’t be living such pathetic live / using such pathetic ingredients. But hey! At least I use erm Cadbury! (I have this perception that Homebrand stuff has much much much more lower quality than the branded ones. But then again … flour, sugar …. don’t they come from the same erm plant? Ah whatever).

I did my “magic” and ta-da.

Hohoho. Chocolate muffin!!!

Yay I’m done. Sifted some Homebrand Icing Sugar on each of them and wheee. Edible quite nice muffin hoho.

Thank you byebye.

Spring is Coming! Spring Cleaning.

2009-09-06T15:39:00.001+09:30

Spring is coming and it’s time for Spring Cleaning! Yay!

You and I both know I am random and I like to do random stuff like writing random posts with lots of random(s) in it.

I am good at poetry like that =_=

Once upon a day, I suddenly got hit by the ‘Spring Cleaning God’ and decided to do something to my pig sty. Instead of only cleaning, I took the extra step to rearrange my pig sty / room.

Now, before we go further, I shall let you on a sorrowful little secret – my room is … ~~small~~ (scrap that) tiny. Like … TINY.

The tiny-ness is extreme. Like … imagine i’m standing at the doorway and there’s a wardrobe beside me … and this is the picture I manage to take. Like TIINNNYYY. My room is TIIINNNYYY.

And in the above picture, my mattress cum bed was already standing (cause I was already cleaning before I remember to snap a before-and-after picture). Yup, you can picture for yourself how little floor space I have left after the bed / mattress is down. Like, as I’ve said it a million times, my room is TIIINNNNYYY. It’s so tiny that when a claustrophobic person enter my room, he or she will freak out and run and cry.

Ok. I was exaggerating.

So the tiny room girl is set to work. I wasn’t in a fit-to-take-picture-state (I never was) but I figure I should at least show a middle-hair-parting-with-ragged-home-clothes girl to prove that it was really me who did the said ‘Spring Cleaning’, thus the “Emboss”-ed + “Gaussian Blur”-ed picture. Teehee.

Even my mirror is TIIINNNYYYY. T___T I think I should so set up a www.helpnicolelaiescapehertinyworldcharityfund.com

Nah I’ve set up my “Help Nicole Lai Escape Her Tiny World Charity Fund .com” so do click on the link above and donate as much as you can to Nicole Lai. Every cent counts and your help is greatly appreciated.

That’s a LOT of bullshit up there =_=

Lets get back to my ‘Spring is Coming! Spring Cleaning”.

I moved away the TIINNNNYY study table that was beside the window (refer first picture) and placed my bed cum mattress there.

Yes. My room / pig sty is sooo TIIINNNY that the width fits only one SINGLE mattress / bed. Like reaaalllly TIIIINNNYY eh? =’(

But ah well, it does fit nicely in (self-consoling =.=)

I’ve also decided to change my bed sheet (after 6 months with the SAME bedsheet wtf) from a pink one to a ugly blue one. I don’t know what’s with my mother. I requested for a pink one and there she goes, sending me a ugly blue one with BIG blue flower T__T. And it looks kinda indian-ish ugly. Ok. It’s PURE ugly.

Hmmm, maybe it’s so ugly I wouldn’t stand sleeping on it, then I would have more time for other stuff (like STUDYING wth) instead of sleeping! Brilliant!

Thank god my quilt saved the day =)))

But because the quilt is so beautiful, I will start sleeping on my mattress cum bed again.

Ok it’s still ugly from the side. BAaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh.

So after complaining + cursing my ugly bedsheet, I pulled the TIIINNYY study table to the other side of the TIIINNNYYY closed spaced. And ta-da!

Given the limited space and lack of creativeness, this is the only other arrangement I can think off besides the first one. ZZZ. My room is so TIIIIIII-wait for it (sorry, too much of How I Met Your Mother)-NNNYYYY *screams*.

And yeah, if you’ve noticed, there is NO CHAIR. NO CHAIR in my room. Cause it’s a pig sty and pigs don’t need chair. It’s soo TIINNNYYY I can’t fit a chair in!!! Thus explains the Japanese / Arabic seats on the floor. And naturally, anybody would have guessed that I don’t STUDY much in this room, cause HECK, who can study in such a TINNNNYYYY table (ok, lame excuse of pure laziness)

*screams*.

I can only watch online movies here. Zzz. Life is good.

Royal Adelaide Show + BBQ

2009-09-04T14:38:00.001+09:30

WHEE WHEE WAA WAA!!!

Since we are all considered very very free, my friends and I decided to step out from our little hut and go explore Adelaide.

=.=’’

I’ve missed the Adelaide Fringe Festival at the beginning of the year, and I wouldn’t afford missing another!

Thus, Royal Adelaide Show here I come!!!

Saturday (05/09/09):

Going going going? Who’s going? I’m going! Tomorrow!! Heard that it’s a full day thingy, so we’ll be dedicating all our time (hopefully not money) for the show tomorrow =)

And while we are at it, we decided to participate in ANOTHER event organized by whatever as well. Wouldn’t miss out the fun!

Sunday (06/09/09):

It’s rare that I get my weekends occupied by some outdoor event instead of laptop-movies-online-laptop-movies-online … you get me XD

Teehee!!! =)

Assignment free!!!

2009-09-03T02:46:00.001+09:30

You know how I usually got so stressed up I’d have to put up due dates for assignments / examination dates?

Today, I decided to do something different and instead, list out all the assignments that I have submitted since the beginning of the semester:

(well, that’s also because I have nothing else to blog and I kinda procrastinated in complaining. WTH? Complains also can postpone zzz)

24th August 2009 – Issues in Accounting Theory (Individual Assignment 1)

31st August 2009 – Sing Tanggal 31 (wtf this is so irrelevant =.=); Global Issues for Accounting (Group Assignment 1) and Business Information Systems (Individual Assignment 1)

2nd September 2009 – Derivatives and Securities Market (Group Assignment 1)

It’s 3 September 2009 now and I am officially assignment free till the end of the mid semester break!!! Now when I say ASSIGNMENT, you say FREE! Yeah! (well, technically speaking, I have ONE assignment due on the 14th September but that’s relatively peanuts, so I consider myself assignment … FREE!) =p

Seriously, I have a feeling I am a changed person HAHA I am so inspired (by whatever force I don’t know). Like like like … I AM A CHANGED PERSON!

PS: One reason I said I am a changed person cause I sleep at 11pm (well, at least I tried to). But … as of now, it is 2.42AM. So much for being a CHANGED PERSON Zzz

Ok fine. I am still the old Nicole. But ah I don’t care, I still want to consider myself CHANGED. I should really sleep. Good nite!

Happy Merdeka!

2009-08-31T18:54:00.001+09:30

Happy 52nd birthday Malaysia!

I wish you the best in surviving / prospering from what little dignity you have and get to live a zillion majestic years. May you be gifted with more capable leaders and wise citizens so that you would not be a laughing stock among the many other nations. Allah bless.

Anyway, Malaysian students in UniSA celebrated our nation’s 52nd birthday with lots of free food and … more food. Awkward company but good food.

Let me repeat, FREE FOOD. Thank you.

It’s weird, to see so many coursemates, to recognize who they are, but to not know them. Conversation is scarce between different groups. Or rather, me. =S

*bluek*

However, the spirit of ‘Merdeka’ is there, for everybody sang out loud our erm Merdeka song, ‘Tanggal 31’. Though 99% of us don’t really remember the entire song but ah, we made it through, leaving a whole *silent* gap in the middle of the song cause nobody knows how to continue teehee.

There were quizzes at the end of the session and everybody had a great laugh at everybody. It was quite fun =)

But the best part is still the FREE FOOD wheee. Seriously, the only whats-not-to-love-thing-about-Adelaide is the number of times they provide you free food. Endless.

*PROUD*

Happy Merdeka. Happy independent's day. Zzz

Datuk’s birthday

2009-08-30T18:34:00.001+09:30

Gave Datuk Hong a mini surprise birthday party at his place last Thursday.

Ferrero Rocher ice cream cake, from Gelatissimo. It’s special for the fact that is is ice-cream cake … but there ain’t much Ferrero Rocher-ness inside the cake. We can taste the nut but baahh … the chocolate’s different.

Kena conned =(

Nyways, back to the birthday celebration…

We didn’t want him to know that we had something planned for the birthday ~~boy~~ man, so throughout the whole day, we acted like it’s just any other day (well, it is!).

Had an assignment discussion prior to his surprise celebration. So after the meeting, I went down to Audrey’s place (they are staying in the same apartment) and brought up the cake.

Lighted the candles in front of his door half worried that the fire alarm will go off.

Barged into his house but he ignored us =.=’’

It was awkward and we exchanged excited what-to-do-next?!-glances with his housemate Marion

Stood at the door for a good 30 seconds before we sang him “Happy Birthday” haha stupid us. This surprise-birthday-thingy is really old-school stuff zzz

Datuk’s reaction?

He stood there like a psyduck. Even he din know what to do. Nobody knows what to do -_-

After the song, he made a wish, blew off the candles, cut the cake (look at the way he cuts cake)

and yeah that is it, back to his computer games =.=’’

We totally suck at “surprise parties”.

Random stuff:

Ah gong “crying” haha!!! No la he didn’t.

The girls got themselves busy with taking pictures, recording videos, cutting cakes, bringing out the plates etc and he, he continued with his computer games. God bless.

Michelle the video recorder. I think she made a video 11 minutes long … while the real “surprise” was erm … 2 minutes?

Audrey mummy cutting cake.

My cake my cake! I insisted that I want a slice with ice cream on it HA!

Us. We are strangers to Datuk, that’s why everybody sat so far away from him =.=’’

Ok looks better.

Then after a few pictures, Datuk went back to his computer games again and we’re left to syok sendiri on our own.

Then we realize somebody is missing from the scene– Miss Chan Yuan Joon. In order to make her feel ‘included’, we had an ingenious idea

Brilliant minds at work, and

TADA! Call us geniuses~! Hehe.

We dig out a RARE close-up picture of hers (and there were only ONE, with me and her in it), crop myself off and included a moving pig at one corner to cover up my cropped of eyes.

I think we are brilliant. All in! One happy family! Zzz.

*awkward silence*

Bye.

C-O-C-O-N-U-T

2009-08-23T23:58:00.001+09:30

HAD NASI LEMAK TODAY!!!

Ok get my point? I ate Nasi Lemak today. Duh.

I know it’s nothing to shout about when you’re in Malaysia or maybe Indonesia (POINT TO NOTE: I HAVE NEVER EVER BEEN TO INDONESIA. Dear Indonesian friends, please invite me over to your lovely country please thank you).

So anyway, Nasi Lemak OR Coconut Rice ain’t nothing to shout about yadda yadda yadda you get me yeah but, it is SOMETHING when you’re here in Australia!

Say hooray!

Hip hip hooray!

Ok fine. Chilled.

Anyway, improvised version of Nasi Lemak prepared by my Uncle who is here to visit his son / cousin’s father / mum’s brother-in-law yadda yadda yadda. Yummy coconut rice + yummy anchovies + I don’t like peanuts + yummy curry chicken + yummy salmon (I made it a point to say yummy *food name* didn’t I? But hey dude! It’s Nasi Lemak! Not … …. erm u know, burgers?) etc etc etc
And nope, no pictures. It’s just a little erm dinner. Nasi Lemak dinner.

The end.

Thank you for drooling (I know you’re not, but just pretend that you are! Thanks)

Bye bye!

Hot Pig

2009-08-22T15:32:00.001+09:30

Yum!

Ok fine it’s not edible. But this pig really do come in handy during Winter … when the hands are cold and the feet are well … cold.

It is also scented with Lavendar and everytime it’s being reheated, a strong scent of lavendar will ooze out from the microwave and my housemate will squint. Haha!

Unfortunately, the smell is disappearing gradually and it now became Smelless Pig T__T

Grabbed it off the shelf in some shop in Handorf the German Town in Adelaide and had Mr.Somebody pay for it. Teehee.

The shop do sell heatable-bedroom slippers too … but baahhh, this pig is cuter =)

And it’s PINK! It blends it with my comforter, my bedsheet, my pillow case and well,

my bedroom slipper.

Haha! Piggy in bedroom slippers.

Stooopid.

PS: I’m not pink-craze. Those stuff just happened to be pink. Zzz.

Ok back to assignment. Pro pro pro anti anti anti regulation!!!

Toodles!

Brown box

2009-08-20T22:15:00.001+09:30

Hello I am back and it’s assignment period AGAIN!!!

Assignment due date: Monday

Start to do assignment date: Later

Blogging: NOW.

~~My motto: P-R-O-C-R-A-S-T-I-N-A-T-E—N-O-T~~

Oooh I feel like blogging about so many things … … oohh, lets talk about the package I received the other day!

I think I haven’t really received any DELIVERED stuff (other than pizzas la) throughout my entire life … well, not until I came to Australia at least.

The first “parcel” would be this

From the synonym of “Rules and Regulation” wtf. It was left on the doorstep on 14 Feb 2009 cause erm I was too lazy to answer the door in the morning…. poor thing =p

You wouldn’t be interested in what’s written inside the card.

It’s actually there to congratulate me on my new house *winks* Yeah right.

The second parcel is this

Well obviously it didn’t come in this way. It came inside an envelope and it’s not surprising cause I myself bought it off Ebay. Zzz. Poor me.

I was actually at the craving-for-Angels and Demon-period. Random.

But I am really intrigue by the AMBIGAM thing.

The third thing is a letter (I know I know. We all receive letters like almost everyday now … Bank statements, Subscriptions etc … but well, this is different!)

It’s a birthday card! Received on 27th July 2009 -_-

From the bestie Matahari Shir Li! (the card OBVIOUSLY did not arrive in time)

Dear Nicole,

followed by a lot of words.

Love you too! <3

The fourth and last (T___T) is this

From Director Philia A.Mastan =D

See what she wrote ON the box

-__- Yes. ON the box. It’s like her tut-ting the postman.

PS: Tut could be anything. Let your imagination run wild wtf.

now look at this

Yes folks. The good ole EARTH.

Like Wtf?

When she asked me wuts my address, I MSN-ed her

XXX Street, Adelaide 5000, South Australia, Australia, EARTH

and there she goes, really writing EARTH on the BOX.

Heh heh. I bet the post man’s amused -_-

And inside the big box, there’s a smaller box.

(No, she’s not trying to trick us. It’s Post Malaysia that FORCED her to buy that blooody box. Zzz. Con man.)

And on THAT box,

Yup. Totally. Wat the tut right.

Like “Tut u 100000000000000000000000000 times” and “EARTH” is not enough, there is ANOTHER smaller box, with

“NICOLE is STUPID”

and

more “NICOLE” s

and more, written all over the box.

Ya la ya la! I know la! This box is for NICOLE! Even the postman will know that. Like NICOLE’s PROPERTY wth.

and guess what’s inside!

I know. Books. How boring right.

But but but look!

Philia’s THICK lips!

Not one but FOUR! (not all for Nicole la. There’s one each for Ms Chan, Ms Ong and Ms Ch’ng)

From VICTORIA SECRET USA!!!

(Sorry jakun here, but…) OOOOHHH. SEXY!!!

Love it! Muacks!

and then there’s also BOOKMARKS for the erm … non-victoria-secret-lipgloss-owner,

like ~~Miss~~ Mr Hong, Ms Ch’ng and Ms Tan.

And oh, there are also books (did I say that already? I think I did) and I shall not bore you with pictures of BOOKS (which I weren’t interested in snapping anyway).

Adios!

Pretty fattening food =)

2009-07-01T02:08:00.001+09:30

Got really bored of rice and spaghetti these days, so we found a new … fad, which consist of short pasta and a lot, i mean A LOT of cheese.

Yesterday’s breakfast + lunch + dinner (cause I wake up ast 4pm =.=)

Baked pasta! Lucky our house is equipped with all kinds of kitchen utensils! Thanks erm … owner!

Peeping tom =)

Short pasta, ‘Tuscan Garden’ Pasta Bake, Chicken, and A LOT A LOT of Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese =)

Yum!

Today’s breakfast + lunch (cause I wake up at 2pm =.=’’'):

Short pasta, ‘Tuna + Spinach + Garlic’ Pasta Bake, A LOT A LOT of Tuna and A LOT A LOT of Parmesan and Mozzarella … so filled till it flow off…

Cheesy + Creamy.

Yum!

No hope for DIET. I’m just not meant to be. SIGH with a big big smiley face =D

BOO!

2009-06-12T02:05:00.005+09:30

HEE
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HOO
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HAHAHA! *stupid face*
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because I am random and scary like that
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and
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because I'm studying Audit at this hour (2:08AM) in the LIBRARY.
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UNISA's library is cool ... they open 24 hours for nocturnal students like me =)
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... resume pretend to study session.
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Happy laughing people XD

My new love

2009-06-11T14:27:00.001+09:30

When I first arrived in Australia, the must have in my FOOD CABINET were Tim Tams.

Tim Tams of all varieties … original, Double choc, Classic Choc … you name it.

But now, gone are the days of the a bit too sweet Tim Tams.

Now I’ve moved on, to another two NEW (to me la =.=’’) munchies …

1. Lemon Crisp (recommended by Mr. Chong)

It’s NICE! Not too sweet and it has bits of salt on top! Maybe the salt balances out the sweetness and it became neutral! What crap =.=’’

and

2. Squiggles (recommended by Miss Ch’ng)

Ah this one is a little too sweet. But it’s some variation from the Tim Tams.

Wheeee! =)

Ok. STUDY.

zzz

ABC pasta

2009-06-11T02:20:00.001+09:30

A normal-looking packet of pasta.

Squint your eyes and try to see what forms that mountain.

MY NAME! Yeah, that’s a packet of CUSTOM MADE pasta! Fuiyoh!

No la. I just lied =.=

It’s called SOUP PASTA and the pasta are shaped in alphabets!

Wheee!!!

My EDIBLE name!!! Ok, sorry jakun here wtf

Anyway, I don’t know what got into me today… I suddenly got so EAGER to cook.

And while I was at it, I suddenly realize I’m not placed in this world to study. I don’t belong to the BOOK world … instead, I fit best into the FOOD world

-________-

I took up the MISSION to cook for my housemates and I ended up bringing an army of food into the LIBRARY. Yes, PICNIC in the LIBRARY. Life’s gooooood.

~~Today’s~~ Yesterday’s menu :

1. Soup pasta (I boiled the cute alphabets! cruel me! idiot -__-) topped with Carbonara

plus

*picture chicken here*

*picture button mushroom here*

*picture potato here*

*picture Mozzarella cheese here*

*picture Parmesan cheese here*

(it’s so obvious that I added whatever rubbish I found in the house)

all dumped into one pot. YUM! =)

2. Spinach & Ricotta Cheese puff

which turns out to be quite yummy =)

Can stock up on that alrdy yay I’m all prepared for war.

3. Fresh cherry tomato

4. Fried bitter baby cabbage thingy

number 3and 4 are the obvious attempt to EAT HEALTHY. More like PRETEND to eat healthy…

5. Fried egg with long beans

*picture long beans fried with eggs here*

I don’t know why the sudden Chinese food … maybe i’m trying to implement the concept … when EAST meet WEST wtf.

All in all … YUM! =)

No wonder I don’t go thinner

-_________-

PS: Why are my post so food related recently? Maybe I really belong to the food world. Nothing is going on except … EATING

Sigh.

STUDY.

Coles never close

2009-06-10T14:39:00.001+09:30

So one one fine ~~day~~ night, my housemates and I went to the library. It’s all because of these:

20 June 2009 – Taxation Law 1

25 June 2009 – Auditing Theory and Practise

27 June 2009 – French 1A

02 July 2009 – Market Analysis

Equipped with the heaviest and thickest books we ever had in our lives, we marched of to the library in full force.

8:30pm : reached library. got into a study room.

8:30 to 8:35pm : pretend to study session.

8:35 to 12:30am : religion / human personality / life experience discussion session. If you do notice, all these “discussions” are so NOT related to the examination subjects above.

12:30am: realize we’ve missed the last tram home. Whee! Study we shall!

2:30am: somebody blurted out “Hmm…what for dinner tmr? LET’S GO COLES!”

2:35am: McD session

3:05am: can no longer pretend. Coles we shall.

So the Sturt St house people marched off to Coles. Oh yeah, COLES Adelaide opens MIDNIGHT =D

Attempt to snap a picture of the time: 3:33am but I’ve obviously failed. Blame phone camera.

Empty COLES aisle

Human cleaning the floor

Vampire 1 with squiggles. Yum yum

Vampire 2 choosing potato. Pardon the stupid hair. Tribute to the ULTIMATE NERD HAIR CLIP that i’ve forgotten to take off =.=’’.

Vampire 2 veli happy got potato

Dunno how to cook. Simply buy =.=’’

I smell no blood

No human presence

Vampire 1 happy with shopping.

Bye bye COLES.

Balik rumah. Tidur. Vampire mood off.

Good morning.

Tonight’s dinner

2009-06-01T18:34:00.001+09:30

I’m not stressed. I’m just not studying Audit. That explains why I am blogging so many times.

Voici le dîner ce soir.

Here is tonight’s dinner. It’s fried noodles + salmon + carrots topped with a mutated sunny side-up. My eggy does look pretty doesn’t it? =)

The story behind the combination of ingredients and the orange-ness of ingredients:

The salmon … it has been in my freezer for the past … one month? I had no idea how to cook it when I bought it. I bought it on impulse cause it looked pretty and I haven’t been eating home-cooked salmon for the longest time ever. It was actually a block of salmon but I know I’ll burn it if I fry it in one chunk, thus i chopped it up into smaller pieces.

The carrot … there appears to be bottomless carrots in our fridge. Say thanks to yours truly here. Ever since my arrival in Adelaide, I started this affair with carrots. Not like i’m in a relationship with any food unless you consider lollipop food =.=’ . When I’m bored, I’ll either cut carrots into bite-sizes or munch it on its own (Whazzup doc?). I hope I don’t turn orange.

The egg … I guess no story is required for this. Every meal is incomplete without ~~a glass of wine~~ an egg. It is the main source of protein in my everyday life (as if salmon has zero protein =.=’’). I hope I don’t die from too much protein.

The end. Merci beaucoup.

Malaysian Food in Adelaide (part 2)

2009-06-01T17:32:00.001+09:30

mentioned in my previous post here that we’re on a Malaysian Food hunt here in our city Adelaide. Having tried the Swinging Bowl located in Rundle Mall, we stopped by A Taste of Spice in Gouger St for another taste of HOME.

2nd stop: A Taste of Spice

Located at 57 Gouger Street, Adelaide (nearby China Town) is this pretty classy Malaysian restaurant that serves various Malysian dishes such as Nasi Lemak, Laksa and Satay etc.

This restaurant offers a quiet ambience, with Jazz music playing in a restaurant and Jazz-related artworks pasted all over the wall. They are even cheeky enough to put state in their menu that Jazz is not related to the food here … they play it simply cause they like Jazz =.=’’

The food there is quite pricey for us POOR student (hmm, I think I should set up a support NicoleLai.food fund … what’cha think? =p) so we ordered one dish each (there were 4 of us) to share.

1st dish: Nasi Lemak with beef rendang (around AUD $12)

While we were standing outside the restaurant reading the menu, I knew this would be the most expensive Nasi Lemak i’ll ever have in my life. AUD $12 for a plate of coconut rice + one egg + beef rendang + acar + ikan bilis (anchovies) and peanut … is one hell of a Nasi.

I remember back in KL, we were complaining about the RM 11 Nasi Lemak served in Madam Kwan’s … this one here (after converting) would be like RM 36 (gosh! self stab). Sigh, blame the supply and demand graph shall we?

Verdict: Again, the coconut rice lack the Nasi Lemak taste we have back in Malaysia. I said maybe it’s because they didn’t use pandan leaf and my friends pointed out at the Pandan Leaf plate they used =.=’’ lame.

I don’t personally fancy acar (mixed vegetables?) so I’ve no comment on that. The beef rendang is good but it’s nothing to shout about.

2nd dish: Laksa (around $12)

Laksa in Penang/Alot Star is curry mee. Laksa in KL/Subang is Asam Laksa =.=’’ (or is it the other way round? I don’t know)

This Laksa here is neither curry mee nor Asam Laksa … it’s Kuay Teow soup. Hehe no la. It’s Laksa cause it does look like laksa but taste and spicyness wise, it’s Kuey Teow Soup. It’s like egg noodles and mee hoon served in a milky soup with a little spiciness to scare customers.

When mentioned to the waiter that the food wasn’t spicy, he said we could have told them to increase the level of spicyness (now we know =.=’’). Oh did I mention the staff there are quite friendly? We had a little chat with one of the uncle – the Singaporean and my friends even spoke to him in hokkien. I as usual, know only one word: Wa Ka Lu Kong … (I tell you ahhh) (inside joke)

3rd dish: Roti canai and curry chicken ($3.90 roti canai only. with curry chicken is $11)

Verdict: The roti canai? Not good. You can still taste the flour in the “bread”

The curry chicken however, is very delicious (to our desperate no-curry-chicken-for-4-months taste bud). It has the Malaysia-canned-curry chicken (Ayamas?) taste and it has the strong curry taste. No wonder it is served with the flour-ly and tasteless roti canai. The Singaporean uncle said he can eat 3 roti canai with it =.=’’

4th dish: Pisang goreng and ice cream (AUD $6.90)

Sorry no picture cause it was served after our meal and our picture-snapping mood weren’t on.

Anyway, imagine for youself a pretty big Pisang goreng (Fried banana) with Maple syrup and a couple scoop of vanilla ice cream.

It was the most expensive (again? =.=’’) and most classy Pisang Goreng I ever had in my life. The fried banana isn’t like those dirty-looking ones we get in Malaysia. This one here in A Taste of Spice is a fair-lady skin looking banana without those black burnt skin.

Having to origin from Malaysia myself, this one here (despite the fact that it is comparatively healthy) isn’t as crunchy as the one we find back home. I’d still prefer the unhealthy one fried in re-used oil in Malaysia (taste wise) =p

All in all … the food is pretty … good. However, with that kind of price (and with my kind of status as a STUDENT + poor), i’ll pay a return visit only when I crave for Malaysian food again AND when i’m feeling thrifty.

Malaysian Food hunt in Adelaide

2009-05-31T22:39:00.001+09:30

Having been in Adelaide for … 4 months, we poor poor thing haven’t actually been trying out the few Malaysian Food stores scattered around the city.

Fortunately, our hidden-“very”-adventurous soul were stronger than our poor empty pockets, thus after all major assignments were due, we took it to ourselves to explore our own city.

1st stop: Swinging Bowl

Hidden in the alley opposite the big City Cross (CX) screen, there’s this tiny restaurant said to serve the best Malay food (or is it the only one?) in Rundle Mall.

sorry, no picture of the BIG CX screen, thus the random Rundle Mall picture *shy*

The best thing is, it is not only smacked right in the middle of the city (convenience), it offers Malaysian food at a very affordable price too! Plus, students get 20% discount! Whee! =D

The price breakdown is like below (after student discount)

Nasi Lemak = $6

Rice + 2 dishes = $5

Rice + 3 dishes = $6

One word after staying here for 4 months. CHEAP.

The restaurant resembles the typical Nasi Lemak restaurant you can find back in Malaysia. Once you step in, you’re welcomed with a strong whiff of coconut smell and a very sticky floor =p (didn’t I said it resembles our restaurants in Malaysia?)

It is really small in size I don’t know how it can accommodate the many frequent customers it has. It is said that (or rumored? I don’t know) government sponsored students get to eat free there *jealous* *pout*

HEY I’M FROM MALAYSIA TOO! (suddenly semangat Malaysia =.=’’) WHERE’S MY FREE FOOD?!!

I didn’t get to order Nasi Lemak cause they said they’ve ran out of it *pout more*, thus I ordered a rice with 2 dishes.

Sweet chilli chicken + Sambal egg?(whatever) with a bit of erm … kurma chicken sos?(whatever)

The food too, resembles typical Malay food (red + very oily =p) and they do have a Taste of Malaysia *patriotic gila*

The verdict: The chicken and the sauce are not bad. The rice are a bit sticky though … maybe the rice boiler wasn’t in a good mood that day =.=’’'

A friend managed to order Nasi Lemak *pout MORE* … and the sambal turns out to be REALLY good. The Nasi Lemak (coconut rice), however, lacks the authentic Nasi Lemak taste … like there’s something missing … pandan or coconut … I don’t know.

For a person who has ZERO knowledge in cooking proper Malay food, this restaurant does serve pretty good Malay food. Would come back another day for their other dishes like the satay and roti canai! *hungry*

… to be continued.

FAT? What is that?

2009-03-29T22:32:00.001+10:30

I’m posting up the same post at both blogs again. “Mutuality” principles says that one cannot sue herself for plagiarism.

We’re destined to be fat.

Yeah, the three pigs staying at Christie Walk 9/103 are destined to be fat.

Not one day is without dairy product. Not one day is without adding some extra FAT that is not needed by the body. Yes, not ONE single day.

EVERYDAY, we kickstart our days with MILK. Yes, cereal + milk = healthy rite. We never heard of excessive milk intake did we?

And dinner … well, dinner for us can vary from REALLY REALLY vegetable-ONLY healthy to REALLY REALLY cheese + egg unhealthy.

Today, we chose to be REALLY REALLY cheese + egg unhealthy we’re gonna get heart attack.

#1. This, this innocent looking thing is full of melting cheese inside. I’ve totally forgotten to snap a pic of that overflowing cheese cause I was busy eating. Sorry.

#2. We cooked ourselves some CROCODILE sausage. Yeah, lemme repeat, C-R-O-C-O-D-I-L-E sausage. The above is entirely our own recipe (crocodile + corn + olive oil) cause our fridge has only CORN left. Pathetic.

#3. Now this … this is beef curry. BEEF CURRY. No, we are yet to reach that “cook curry” stage (I imagined cooking curry is a very tedious task, but who knows? I might be wrong *shrugs*) This beef curry is given by our neighbour half an hour before we started cooking our own dinner. Yes, NEIGHBOUR.

Tell me, who has nice neighbours who give them FOOD, no correction, DELICIOUS FOOD every now and then? We do. And we’re really proud of it.

So yeah, thats dinner for today. I don’t know why I’m posting it up. The initial centre of attraction was the CROCODILE SAUSAGE (com’on, hello? who eats crocodile?! ok sorry, jakun here -__-).

And then we started cooking the Melting Cheese Egg with long beans. It was so sinfully delicious it replaced the crocodile as the centre of attraction.

Then came the beef curry. CURRY = Malaysia = homely. Who doesn’t want the homely feeling when they’re deserted farrrr away from home, farrr away from what people call HOME COOKED FOOD? I bet most do. So yeah, the curry kinda took the centre of attention title.

Alas, I myself is confused on who IS the centre of attention. Crocodile Meat? Melting cheese egg? Homely beef curry? Crocodile? Cheese Egg? Beef curry?

I don’t know. I am indecisive. Maybe each of them deserves their own credit. Each are distinctly unique. But then again, if every one of them is different from other, that doesn’t make any of them anyhow special right?

I’m confused. Good night.

Oh sorry sorry, not yet.

That’s another SPECIAL ONE.

Yes, HOMEMADE cookies. Seriously, homemade. Don’t believe me? I show you.

Yeah wtf rite? My housemate came out with the idea of squeezing the erm cookie dough from the ziploc bag instead of us scooping out one by one (she came out with the idea only after we’re 90% done)

Only lazy people can do that -________-

A jar of HOMEMADE chocolate chips walnut cookies (or is it Walnut Chocolate Chips Cookies? whatever.)

Life’s good.

Eggy Eggy

2009-03-23T02:38:00.001+10:30

EGGs are my favourite past times. EGGs are my favourite present time. EGGs are my favourite future time.

There are a LOT of amazing dishes you can fork out from egg, for example tomato EGG, potato EGG, onion EGG, carrot EGG, mushroom EGG, cheese EGG … just to name a few.

So I shall hereby dedicate this post to EGG. EGG rocks. EGG rolls. EGG pecah. wtf.

#1a. Carrot egg

#1b. Carrot egg close up

#2a. Pimple egg aka Twiggy Sticks egg

#2b. Pimple egg close up I’m hungry

#3a. Milk + Boccocini Cheese EGG

#3b. Milky Boccocini EGG so cheesy can pull

These are just the collection of eggs we ate for the past few days. Some are not included eg Omelette Tom Yam Fried Rice cause I don’t have the pic.

Don’t even mention excessive EGG consumption.

People go for Alcohol Anonymous. I think we need to go for Egg Anonymous T__T

Thank you BYE.

Roo Meat

2009-03-21T17:05:00.001+10:30

You know when you’re in Rome, you’re suppose to do as the Romans do. Similary, when you’re in Australia, you’re suppose to do as the Aussies do rite!

Oh yeah baby, thats so true.

So a few weeks ago, I deliberately picked up a packed of roo meat from the convenient store cause thats what Aussie eat rite! rite rite rite?! =p

Nicole’s attempt to cook some kangaroo meat.

#1. Main ingredient

#2. Picture on the packet shows capsicum and cucumber, so I bought those as well. Obviously it meant that I have ZERO idea on how and what to cook with =.=

#3. Red, very pretty

#4. Green, very healthy

#5. Red and Green, Pretty and Healthy

# Grill bloody roo meat

#7. No idea if they are cooked. I suppose they are.

#8. Decorate nice nice, so that it gives the impression that I’m in a high class restaurant or something T__T

#9. Added egg and rice cause roo meat was too tasteless. Decided to forgo the high class attempt and go for the homely attempt.

Taste:

1. Tasteless: I don’t know what to add so I went with nothing.

2. Hard: It’s either roo meat turns hard when cooked or I overcooked it.

The end. Thank you.

Oh and btw, roo meat is really really bloody. Like really BLODDY roo meat.

Eww yucks yucks *puke*

Bye.

A simple act

2009-03-16T21:54:00.000+10:30

It was drizzling this morning. I went on the tram. There was a little girl sitting by the fogged window.

She drew on “Good Luck” and a smiley face =)

I smiled.

I love kids. Only kids can do such innocent and cute stuff and still look cute (imagine me doing it -__- I think I’ll look terribly stupid).

Me love kids. Kids can lighten a strangers day by their sweet, random, simple act. Me love them =)

Greetings from Adelaide!

2009-03-15T23:38:00.001+10:30

First off, apologies people! Hehe, I know I should have updated more often but but but … no reason. I just don’t feel like updating. BLUEK~ XD I hope this blog is dead by now, then I can write whatever stupid stuff I feel like writing freely, without creating the perception that I’m not THAT smart -__-

tut tut tut …

I’ve been here for *picks up calendar + calculator* one month and 10 days! Ho! Ceh! One month only. I thought I’ve been born and bred here -__- oh btw, my here HERE is Adelaide, Australia here.

Yes Adelaide, not Melbourne not Sydney cause I am OLD and I deserve an old folks place to live in. Tut la. So not true. Truth is, I chose Adelaide cause Adelaide has two balls smacked right in the middle of the city. Irrelevant and random, I know.

So yeah ONE whole month already and I’ve a lot to tell. A lot of stories, a lot of complains and a lot of nice nice stuff to talk about (cause I’m nice so my life is nice – Nicole Lai’s theory).

Seriously, life has been and is still good. I am still in one piece, still healthy and still happy. Self inflicted happiness wth sound so wrong but nonetheless, I am still enjoying life. Holding no grudge. Appreciating everything (ya la ya la I’m easily pleased shut up). Just simply smiling and laughing everyday =)

(Wth like I’m in a war and I’m writing a letter home to daddy mummy telling them that I am still alive, safe and happy -__-)

But anyway, right here, right now, I suddenly remembered that I am a student. A student with tutorial work not done. So yeah, I shall make this a short post to remind you of my existence =)

Will be posting photos and other stuff soon! Be patient and you’ll be rewarded (sorry that’s a lie).

I’ll be back! Cheers!

Internship - Day 10

2008-12-16T01:09:00.001+10:30

Today is by far the least boring day of my internship since Day 1. Had the usual I-am-waiting-for-things-to-do in the morning when one of my colleague (another VT) stepped in. Whooo! Not alone anymore! A couple hours later, another 2 financial auditors came and woohoo! Super not alone! (See how desperate I am for human's presence?)

All the others were like super tense I myself got motivated as well. Nonetheless, we get to de-stress and de-sleepy by talking to each other, asking about left right up down ... ... just by far, the BEST day. I mean, hello? 3 days alone in the COLD room? With other human in it. we can even share the cold air I didn't freeze to death. Ha! Now I like sharing. Sharing is caring.

Remember I mentioned that I have connection but I can't connect to the net? With human presence, I actually managed to go online. How amazing! One of the Financial Auditor was quite familiar with that place, so she helped me out with the connection proxy LAN password EYRemoteConnect tu tu tu and I'm online! At client's place! Best!

The I-am-happy-today did not end there and then when I left the office cause my next agenda is a date with Li Huey. At Nando's at KLCC. When I stepped inside that building, I felt sooo out of place. Come on. Formal? Laptop? Big big POOH word at handbag which contradicts my whole outlook? Tall with heels, not to mention I'm not exactly the typical small framed girls? Stupid-arrogance-face? And that lady was like taking forever to walk from OSK to KLCC. Guess she's just not done shredding paper -____- (Oh did you know that OSK intern's jobs are to shred paper? Ok. Thats ~~not true~~ partially true)

The moment she saw me, omigosh, all the lady-ness escaped Your Highness and Her Highness for both of us exploded with laughter, at PUBLIC. Seriously. You would have laughed when you see her face when she saw me. What the ... professional image ma! Wtf. Dinner session is all about exchanging "things we do"s and the RM 800 and RM 400 did not escape from our topic. RM 800. RM 400. Pathetic.

Oh and I'm also proud to announce that I found a NOT jam-all-the-way way from my client's to KLCC. It was by sheer luck that I got onto Ampang Elevated Highway after turning left right left and reached KLCC's parking. Smart ain't I =) and I've also managed to pass by an open air parking of RM5 per entry. Hooray! No more digging RM10+ per day just for parking =)

So yeah, thats about it. My deeper understanding towards the heart of KL. Oh and Asian Heritage Row is just like walking distance from my client's I think part of my RM800 will be spent there with Miss*cough*Li*cough*Huey*cough*RM400*cough*

Oh and before I run off to get Ubat Batuk, shall I amuse you by telling Miss Li Huey and I are two pathetic working interns. We wanted to sit at the sofa sit at Nando's but were told that *cough*it's*cough*just for *cough* 4 person *cough* There were only the 2 of us.

Pathetic.

Internship - Day 8

2008-12-11T23:47:00.000+10:30

Greetings from the client’s office!

This place resembles another Taylor’s College where air conditions function without cost. Cold. Damn cold. Despite the fact that I’ve put on extra two layers, it's still damn freaking COLD.

I am typing this in Microsoft Words cause I have forgotten to bring my RA-sumthing-S card, thus I’m unable to go online. Even if I brought it, I wouldn’t be online-ing cause I don’t know how to. I’d been fiddling with IP addresses, VPNs, LANs, Dial-ups and what nots for half of my office hour yesterday. Hohoho. Yup, I was THAT free.

Anyways, I think our laptops are idiotically cool. Because even if you have stolen an EY employee’s laptop, you can neither go online nor access the company's data (yup, we kinda have access to those. They’ve stored it in the drivers (ie (J:) drive and we’ll be able to access it once we are connected). You’ll need to have the RA-sumthing-S and even if you have our RA-sumthing-S, you wouldn’t have our password unless we idiotically wrote it down (which is damn unnecessary cause even I, ~~He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, sorry, was reading Harry Potter for nights now~~ She-Who-With-Short-Term-Memory can remember it)

I write like I’m expecting somebody to just snatch this laptop away from me at broad daylight. But it won’t won’t happen right?! Everything is possible. Prevention is better than cure. The safest place is the most dangerous place. Ok I think I made that up. If you know Chinese you would have understood me … maybe.

Reason I said the laptops are IDIOTICALLY cool cause with the SO advance security, I can’t go online right now and thus the BOREDOM and thus the blog post.

I’ve been doing really nothing for the entire morning. Been waiting for the client to pass me the data I require … waiting … waiting … and waiting. There goes my life. Waiting. And just 15 minutes ago, I’ve finally gotten the data and here I am blogging. Don’t blame me. The mood just strikes.

Ok. I think I should end this pointless blog (all my Internship posts are pointless I know) and start doing my Test-of-One. Oh do you understand me? I bet’cha you don’t but ah, I’m not in the mood to explain.

Toodles *winks*

Internship - Day 5

2008-12-05T22:47:00.000+10:30

Client's place today! No more jam jam jam to Pusat Bandar Damansara cause from today onwards, I'll be jamming all the way from Jalan Ampang to Jalan Sultan Ismail! Woohoo!

Clocked in at 9am cause senior said so.

Clocked out at 4pm cause senior said so.

Enough said. Haha.

Oh and I think that place sucks. Cause there are not much choices for lunch. And I think that place is 100% surrounded by Malay food. Boring. And guess what ... I think I'm the ONLY Chinese in the office. Not being racist ... just observing =)

The place (Malay place la duh, cause my senior is a Malay) my senior brought me for lunch... sucks. Dishes are served without rice and you need to order the rice separately. Not being racist but I think that is very stupid. For example, if you order Tom Yam, they'll serve you with the stupid Tom Yam soup thingy without rice and charge you RM 5 for it. My senior ordered fried rice and that's another RM 5. So it's RM 10 worth of nutritionless food. Stupid. I think it's more worth it if we go for steak wth.

So from next Tuesday onwards (Monday Public Holiday hohoho), I'll bring my own lunch. Apple. Can diet somemore. Hohoho.

What's worst, I'll be at that place for the entire December. I'm even starting to miss the many restaurants near our office at EY. McD, Secret Recipe, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, KFC, Mama's Kitchen, Mamak and a lot more within walking distance. At this client's office here? Cars cars cars and Malay food wth.

Bah. I so need to test my patience. I think I can survive the whole December in this.

Internship - Day 4

2008-12-04T23:09:00.000+10:30

Another day of internship, another day of leisure. How ironic.

People said that interns work like slave. Photostating, filing, OTs ... nobody can escape those. 4 days of interning in EY has definitely proved the contrary.

Let me tell you about my day:

7.45am - Left Ampang. Late for work. Got stuck in the jam all the way there. Literally.

8.45am - Reach office. Nobody to reprimand me for being late. Hohoho.

9.15am - Bored. Went down to the car to get my bottle and cup. I've left them inside the car cause I was rushing this morning, which is, unecessary.

9.25am - The 3 VTs from Business Advisory came down for a visit. Apparently, they too, have nothing to do. So it made 8 very free VTs. 1 was out at clients (lucky her!) and the other has her senior at the office, so she don't dare to roam around so freely.

9.30am - Started chatting about nothing really. We then started passing my bottle around cause it was so tight nobody was able to open it, not before pouring hot water on the cover -__-

10.15am - The 'visitors' went back to their own department.

10.20am - Started chatting at Sametime (something like an internal MSN)

10.30am - Count down for lunch. We can have lunch anytime we want, so we decided to set it at 12.30pm.

11.00am - The only senior there finally has something to do. But she need to arrange the files abit before passing them to us.

12.15pm - Got the files. Can finally sit down and really do my 'job'. Nothing accounting really. It's more to IT stuff. No, make it "it's totally IT stuff"

12.30pm - Lunch!

1.30pm - 7 eleven. Sweets. Back to work.

4.00pm - The other VTs are super free already. Left me and the other 'was super free' guy typing away.

4.45pm - Done! I've finished my part!

4.50pm - Help out with the other VTs part.

5.30pm - He's not done yet, and my friend from the Tax department (whom I'm suppose to fetch) smsed me to ask me to wait. So I self declared OT and helped out a bit.

6.00pm - Leave office.

7.30pm - Home!

Today I took an hour and half to travel back to Ampang. Yes, ONLY.Apparently, for the past 3 days, I've took like 2 hours to travel back home cause I kept getting lost in I don't know where -__-

Yeah I suck in directions.

And there goes my another day of internship =)

Internship - Day 3

2008-12-04T01:57:00.001+10:30

Today IS the DAY! The day where all of us will be introduced to our respective seniors and the day we get to start our HANDS ON experience of the auditing/ accounting world!

Went to work with the first-day-of-school feeling. Who is my senior? How will my senior be like? Who will be in the same team as me? What is my job scope? Will I be covering field work or I am only allowed to sit in the office? dadadadudududododo all these will be answered TODAY! Woohoo!

After dilly dally talk change phone number connect to the internet go visit IT department bla bla bla for a good 2 hours, somebody from the Advisory department finally came and adopt us VTs.

Happy happy interns went happy happily to meet their senior. My senior was not in so I was parked with another person for the day. She briefed me and my colleague on what TSRS is basically about for 5 minutes, scared us by telling us that we need to cover field work ALONE, told us what project we're involved in and *poof*, she's gone, leaving the 2 blank interns on our own.

No senior = no work = boring. Since both of use were strike with the same fate, both of us went around annoying the others and complaining about the freedom. You know you don't appreciate something when you can get it free and easy? That's exactly what happened.

We were not stranded with seniors or bundled with work and we were complaining away, asking colleagues what were they doing and if they need us to lend a hand.

Being too bored of asking the same questions and getting the same replies from our department, we roamed to the other department and asked the same questions only to get the same replies - we can't help them out. Oh fine!

Up down left right. We were like abandoned child. Up down left right. We were like orphans. Up down left right. It's 5.30pm. Time to leave the office.

...

So yeah. My day had been unproductive. Fullstop. Boring.

PS: Our senior will be MIA-ing again tomorrow. Oh bored!

Internship - Day 2

2008-12-03T01:42:00.000+10:30

Another WHOLE day of orientation. Told'cha we will be paid for ~~listening~~ hearing. EY is maintained their generosity by providing us with two tea breaks. Lunch on our own today. Not complaining but still, there goes my 'hard earned' money.

Today's orientation was half pointless half related but altogether boring. The day started off with I've forgotten what, and followed on with a session that teaches us how to feel in the timesheets and expense report bla bla bla. THOSE, are really troublesome but equally, if not more, important.

...

8.30am to 5.30pm. Whole day in the room. Ass pain ...

Internship - Day 1

2008-12-02T02:12:00.000+10:30

Where everybody had their 'first day's, I had mine too - first day of internship at the BEST accounting and professional services firm, Ernst & Young. Since I'm now with the firm, it will be the BEST to me. Kaki bodek, hohoho.

Spent the entire 9 hours (8.30am to 5.30pm) for orientation. Lunch and tea breaks were provided by the firm for the first day. Oh, how pampered we are!

Things worth noticing:

1. Must (literally) wear covered shoes. And it must be of NORMAL colour. Pink green purple blue are out of the list. Let me repeat, COVERED. Imagine how my feet hurt. Ouch. Today I wore flats, and it's already killing. Tomorrow I planned to wear heels, and I think I'll break my legs.

2. The parking attendance at HELP Open Site Parking deserves some credit =) I thought I was suppose to pay like near to RM 20 for day's parking (7.30am - 5.30 am at RM2 per hour, yes I reached at 7.30am will talk about that tmr) but the attendance was so kind he charged me the student rate - RM 3 per entry. It went like this:

PA (Parking attendance) : [took ticket] student kah?

Nicole: {in her mind - huh? do I look like a student? I am an intern. But true, I'm a student, just that I'm not HELP's student. Ah whatever la, I'm still a student rite, and he didn't specify 'HELP student'} Ah yaaaa.

PA: [big wide mischievous grin] ok. RM 3.

Nicole: {wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!} Thank you!

Hohoho! RM 3 per entry instead of RM 20 (*&%^##) muahahaha. There goes my salary =(

3. Interns of Assurance and Advisory department got their own notebooks. Freaking heavy EY notebooks. Distribution of the notebook is the best thing that ever happened. Plus, its scheduled to be the last agenda. Meaning get notebook --> go home. Woohoo! Happy! Interns from the Tax department will have their own desktops and fixed line.

4. That notebook is my life. Please don't snatch it from me. Plus, that notebook is bloody heavy you're better off snatching other's notebook cause I'm afraid you won't be able to balance yourself with EY's notebook.

5. EY is the best (Did I not mention I like to bodek? Hohoho) True to my words cause they showed us graphs and statistics that shows that EY is Number 1 in this and that (maybe all companies do that, no?)

6. EY reminds me of Taylor's College Main Campus. Once we stepped out from the building, we'll see Subway (like Taylor's), 7-eleven (like Taylor's), the erm MTB express? (like Taylor's, though it went bankrap ... no?), and then further down is McD (like Taylor's) and Starbucks (like Taylor's). Hohoho. Told you it's totally Taylorsified. Or Taylors is EY-fied.

7. EY is damn stupid to pay interns through a CIMB account when there is a HSBC bank just below the building. Had us interns (and to remind you the fact that I was in GIRL's shoes, not sneakers and my feet hurts) walk like 5 minutes (maybe less maybe more) to the CIMB bank located opposite the building. I know that it's near but hey, HSBC is nearer!

8. What we wear represents EY, so we better keep our "professional image" with us all the time. That means no funky funky stuff, no screaming, no messy hair, no big big comfortable T-shirts. Must be in UNCOMFORTABLE business formal all the time.

9. We have the chance to travel around ~~the world~~ Asia. Oh, we're not a Malaysian firm. We are an area firm, a Far East Asia firm. If we're lucky enough, we might have the chance to fly to erm say Korea in business class wtf dream la.

10. Let me repeat: Ladies MUST wear covered shoes. MUST. *insert any vulgars you want cause I'm suppose to like maintain professionalism* It's totally unfair. ~~Gentlemen~~ Guys can be oh so boring by wearing the SAME shoes and SAME black trousers ALL the time while ladies have to torture themselves everyday by wearing uncomfortable heels and formal wear. Daddy Mummy, why aren't I born with a BIRD?

Ok. 10 is enough, for now. Cause my eyes are half closed I need to sleep. Tomorrow will be another WHOLE day of orientation. WHOLE day. Yeah, I'm paid to listen. No, I'm paid to hear, not listen.

Good night and have a nice life!

Hang on there. Just one more.

2008-11-27T22:43:00.001+10:30

This semester is the WORST semester I've ever been through. Nothing that I did seem right.

I know, for the past 3 semesters, I have been equally full of complaints, but no, for the past 3 semesters, I have never entered the exam hall so UNPREPARED. Only this sem.

It's like I've lost all hope and faith in myself I gave up. No, not FEEL like giving up. It's I've totally GAVE UP. FA3 was terrible. FP didn't went well as well. As for tomorrow's ICBM, I have nothing optimistic to talk about =(

What's worst, I lost all mood to study. I buried myself in books, but I can't concentrate, I get distracted easily. By what? I don't know.

I really see myself plummeting this time, and nothing can sustain that weight.

_____________________________________________________________

Dropped Audrey off at Subang KTM right after FP paper, and I got stuck in a jam at the turning that links to Federal Highway. “Weird”, I thought to myself. This road has never been so packed before. "Today just isn’t my day," I guessed. Cars were moving forward at snail’s pace, and a while later, I saw a few cops in front. “Oh, road block, at this hour, great”. So I patiently cruised with other cars, wondering why other drivers seemed so patient.

When I was few cars behind the “block”, the cops began running forward with their back hunched, like what animals do before ambushing their prey. The cops ran like how cops ran in movies (-___-)when approaching their target, when approaching those bad guys.

The first thing that went into my mind was that one of the cars in front must be loaded with robbers armed with guns and the cops were on an operation. “Cool”, I thought. Then it occurred to me that I might die. I might be shot dead by one blind bullet when the cops and robbers are firing away. I took up my phone and smsed Audrey and the others:

"Save me! I think I’m witnessing a polis tangkap(arrest) people scene! If I die under the shooting shooting, please tell my parents I love them =.=’’"

Yeah. I am THAT random.

But it’s true. The thought was on my mind. The "dying" thought. Frankly, at that moment, I was thinking to thank God for getting me involved in a shooting scene so that I wouldn’t be sitting for my ICBM paper and it wouldn’t matter how badly did I do in my FA3 and FP papers.

No, it wouldn’t, if only I was dead. I wish I am dead.

To my disappointment, it turned out that the cops just instructed a silver Proton Waja to park over. No gun, no shooting, no bee-bo-bee-bo sound. No arresting, nothing. Boring.

Sadly, as much as I wanted to be dead, I’m here, alive, still in one piece. I am still clinging on to life and I am still clinging on to that stray of hope, the hope that miracle would happen, that ICBM wouldn’t turn out as bad as I anticipated.

I hope.

Death. It’s intriguing. But I don’t have time to ponder on that now, for there is reality awaiting.

Note: I know this post does not link, for my thoughts do not link. Told you I am easily distracted. From my today's exam to what I witnessed to death to tomorrow's paper to hope. No, they do not link, because my thoughts are not linked.

Deceived

2008-11-27T03:19:00.001+10:30

This world is deceiving. Things aren't what they look like. Truth have been distorted.

Even Microsoft Words is deceptive.

Was typing away my Financial Planning cheat sheet for ~~tomorrow~~ today's (12 hours from now) exam. Thinking that I'm doing good, ~~tomorrow~~ today will be fine, the cheat sheet will be literate-able.

Fine. Good. Well done. Bravo!

But when I clicked on the "Preview" feature, it turned into this:

Yes. It turned out to be THAT tiny. THAT small. Cause I'd zoomed iin to a scale of 170% earlier. 170%.

Sigh~ I'll really need to squint my eyes ~~tomorrow~~ today.

Hope I'm allowed to bring in a magnifying glass. Yeah, why not?

*runs off to hunt for one*

General knowledge

2008-11-26T01:56:00.001+10:30

Harlow!

I walked into the living room whereby Dad was watching TV. One glance at the colored screen and I know 8tv is airing "Ghost Whisperer".

15 minutes earlier, I walked out for a drink and one look at the character on the screen, I knew it was "Gilmore Girls".

Then it struck me.

UNFAIR UNFAIR UNFAIR!!!

THIS IS SO UNFAIR!!! Why am I tested on things I am NOT WILLING to learn instead of being tested on GENERAL KNOWLEDGE?!! General Knowledge is waaaay more important ok!

Why am I being tested on consolidation when I don't even have the ability to control (not to mention invest) in other companies?!

Why am I being tested on Cash Flow Statements whereby my daily cash flow runs uncontrolled and don't need to be controlled?!

Why am I being tested on share-based payment, when I'm not a top manager (not to mention a working adult) in a company?!

Why should I care what is direct investment and managed funds?!

Why should I care who or who is the what or what of Australia?!

Why should I care about the ratios used to calculate this and that?!

WHY?!!!

This life don't BLOODY make sense! Why should I bother about the things that are NOT APPLICABLE in my life?! WHY?!

#$%^&*^%$

Why am I not asked instead, on what TV program is on air right now?

Why am I not asked instead, of who fuck who and who dated who in "My Best Friend's Girl (the book I'm currently reading)?

Why am I not asked instead, of who is the prettiest girl in "Little Woman"?

Why am I not questioned instead, on who is the President of USA or Australia or Malaysia?

Why am I not questioned instead, on who had a row with who in the blogsphere?

Why am I not questioned instead, on how much does a bottle of Nestle Yoghurt Drink or a bar of Cadbury chocolate cost?

WHY?!!!

WHY AM I NOT TESTED ON THINGS I WILLINGLY CHOOSE TO KNOW?!

WHY MUST I FORCE IN INFORMATION THAT I UN-WILLING-LY LEARN AND VOMIT THEM OUT WITHIN A FEW HOURS TIME?!

WHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY???????!!!!!

You tell me~ *screams ahhhhhhh*

CONSPIRACY. I tell you. It's conspiracy. There must be this master mind behind all this un-necessaries who directs his managers to force us on Unwilling Education. This person (or secret group) is going to transform human brain into living-xerox machines. This person (or secret group) is going to remove all "thoughts" and "feelings" known to humankind and leave us with our shell, our vulnerable shell. Then he (or they) is (are) going to treat(s) us like how Masters used Slaves in ancient times. Then ... ... ... [continue story with your own imagination wtf]

CONSPIRACY! It must be it!!!

*&^%#$%^

This is so UNFAIR!!!

BAH! Off to FP! One step to being this living-xerox machine. One step to the MASTERs' success. BAH!

Financial Accounting 3

2008-11-26T00:04:00.001+10:30

I broke my record. My very own record. Last minute studying doesn't seem to work =(

For the first time in my life, I stepped into the exam hall knowing I won't do well. No matter how easy the question will be, I won't do well.

It's not the I-know-I-won't-get-Ds feeling. It is I-know-I'll-barely-pass-or-even-fail *touchwood* feeling.

For the first time, I handed my half-empty paper in. It wasn't tough. It's just that I was not prepared. That's too many things to cramp into my little mind I don't have enough space, I don't have enough time.

For the first time, I was truly not prepared.

Right now, all I hope for is for the course coordinator to be kind. Just a little bit kind.

I just wish to pass. I need to pass. I pray to pass. Just pass.

I don't care that it'll be a P1 and ruin my records. I don't care if the P1 stands out among others. I don't care.

Pass. I need to pass. Desperately.

Exam updates

2008-11-20T02:43:00.001+10:30

Dear readers,

Lets all chime in “Bye Bye Corporations and Partnership Law! Bye Bye CPL!” (even though you don’t know what the heck is that, do it for my sake can?) Whee~

One down, THREE more to go! I can't wait for 28 November 2008. the day when I can officially declare holiday! (not for long though, cause there'll be this thing called INTERNSHIP *sobs* where's freedom? T_T huhuhu~)

Freedom freedom freedom I yearn for you.

After CPL, I spent my entire day dating my bed and reading "Little Woman". It's like I've no more papers and I'm waiting for time to fly. Ironic eh?

What's worst, I now feel like baking chocolate cookies and doing some household chores. I guess it's the after effect of reading that old book. Talking about that, there's this quote from the book that I find it very suitable.

'November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year,' said Margaret (Alcott 1974) [wth like this also want to reference =.='']. I totally agree with that statement cause I totally despise November! Baaah. ~~For one, it's the month of which my younger brother is born (hahaha, this is so not true, wth).~~ I dislike Novembers cause EXAMS fall on Novembers! SPM, ICPU and now UNISA -__-. Can they like choose other months? Like maybe April? Ok, thats random.

Also, not forgetting that SHIT HAPPENED when November 2008 arrived but I don't have the time to lament on that now cause it's not worth my time. I may complain and grieve over it later but donkey, it's EXAM PERIOD now, NO TIME TO GRIEVE!

Gosh. FA3 will be up next. Financial Accounting III. A super duper hard paper I’ll be GOD if I pass. (Ok, jangan curse sendiri *touchwood*). Call me Saint. I’m like so worried about FA3 but I just can’t gather the mood to open the book and revise. I takut. Takut takut takut.

And oh, I was so TAKUT this morning (before CPL) I shitted like twice before going to college and I even felt like shitting when I was driving (hohoho, I’ve nothing else to talk about but shit).

Since I have finished reading “Little Woman”, I now feel like reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

(if I read it again, it'll be my 84629times reading it -__-, oh I'm such a bore!). HO! I TAK ADA EXAM! Hohoho

I takut takut takut. FA3 I takut you. TAKUT TAKUT TAKUT. *trembles, cries, screams, pulls hair* Ok. I think I should start studying now. TAKUT~

PS: Takut means “scared”. I think I’m over using the term. I’m sorry. But I really am TAKUT!

Remorse

2008-11-13T00:43:00.001+10:30

How can anybody so smart, do something THAT stupid?

I don't comprehend.

Cat-phobia

2008-11-12T16:17:00.001+10:30

Nicole Lai HATES cats.

One don't need to be with me for long to know that I have cat phobia (hell, I can't wait to go Australia where I will walk on streets clear from cats ... please tell me there's no filthy cats loitering around Adelaide's streets ... please ...)

Friends who spend their lunch time with me will usually engage in deep embarrassment when I encounter a cat. ALL of them will do whatever within their power to keep cats off me, simply because the SCREAMS are unbearable.

At home, my parents said they will know of my arrival before I even appear at the doorstep because the SCREAM travels faster than the body. It's just like the lighting before thunder theory I guess.

You know of the calm before the storm? That just happened.

One day, I was peacefully staying indoors, studying. It was overall a peaceful morning followed by a quiet afternoon. No hindrance, no obstacle, no encumbrance. Everything sailed by smoothly ...

until the moment I opened my door.

You see, I stay in a condominium, so it's only natural to have a "space" between the gate and the wooden door, where a shoe shelve, some shoes and a door mat are placed.

So on this undisturbed day of mine, I left my harmonious room to seek food out at the equally tranquil house. Suddenly, I have this urge to walk out from my unit to dispose off the garbage. I took the trouble to tie up the seemingly heavy garbage and opened that wooden door.

and ...

AHHHHHHHHHHH! THERE WAS A FUCKING CAT LYING ON MY DOOR MAT!!! Somebody left the sliding gate ajar and a FUCKING CAT cat-walked in and laid itself nicely on the door mat! ****!!! ****!!! ****!!!

Not surprisingly, I screamed (like I've seen a ghost -__-) and dropped the super heavy garbage bag to slam the door shut.

and ...

OOOOUUUUCH! I hurt my leg in the process of DROPPING the garbage bag. @#$%^&^$ it hurts like HELL!!!

see I even have PICTURES to prove it!

I find this darker picture cooler cause it's more like CSI and the wound looks more tragic cause it looks like it's infested with worms wtf.

I know it's a MINOR INJURY but heck it HURTS!

@$%^&*&^%$#@#^&

I HATE CATS! I FUCKING HATE CATS I WANT TO BE A BILLIONAIRE WHEN I GROW UP SO THAT I CAN PAY PEOPLE TO INVENT A CAT-KILLING MACHINE AND I AM GONNA KILL ALL THE CATS THAT ARE WITHIN 10KILOMETRES RANGE AND I DON'T CARE IT PETA OR WWF OR WHATEVER TA OR WHATEVER F PARADE AGAINST THE CRUELTY OR HOLD DEMONSTRATIONS OUTSIDE MY BUNGALOW (cause I'll be staying in a bungalow if not palace wtf) CAUSE I JUST FUCKING HATE CATS!

@$%^&*&^%$#@#^& non stop.

Giving up NOT!

2008-11-10T19:23:00.001+10:30

Hey Dear,

I am NOT going to give up on you!

No I AM NOT!

I am SO NOT willing to give up on you!

Afterall, AIM is FREE (Yoyo girl, 2008), so yeah, why not AIM right?

Fight Fight Fight!

Aim Aim Aim!!

Shoot Shoot Shoot!!!

Ok. Motivated? Go Study.

*pats self*

nerd mood on -____-

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edited:

Reference list

(erm, how to reference email ah? help please ... WTF)

Chan, LH 2008, Re: nothing is impossible. just do it, Windows Live Hotmail, viewed 9 October 2008, http://mail.live.com/mail/InboxLight.aspx?n=750766651

Nah! I MCB HD one (in my dreams wtf)

I just copied my Hotmail Inbox link and linked it. Wtf if people spam into my inbox, I shall blame you.

Happy? Satisfied? Wtf

_____________________________________________________________

2008 Semester 2 Finals!!!

2008-11-08T00:43:00.001+10:30

Hello there!

Just how it looks like every time I switch on my laptop (nowadays).

Need I say more? I don't think so.

Cheers,

A very unprepared Nicole Lai.

Internship interview

2008-11-07T19:53:00.001+10:30

Normal people apply for internship MONTHS earlier. But people like me ... people who are VERY VERY BUSY starts applying only NOW.

Thank god those companies didn't yell at me. Thank god those companies take their precious time to go through my pretty pretty resume. Come on, I spent ONE YEAR on my resume ok! I started tying it a year ago ... then left it aside for few months, then continue again, then leave it aside ... you get the flow.

So I went for an interview with company XYZ today. The appointment was at 11am, and the smart me left Subang at 10.30am. Smart eh? I know. I expected my SUPER BRO to drive like SUPER MAD cause I know he can do it. I TRUST him. and I trust MY car. And I'm really proud to say that both didn't fail me. I reached Company XYZ on time. *claps*

Throughout the 30 minutes drive, I realized I'm the most talkative + uncivilized + annoying road user I've even known. At 10.40am, Federal Highway was in a total mess. Not like bumper-to-bumper jam, but cars were moving at SNAIL's pace (to VIPs like me, 40 - 60km/h is considered very very SLOW cause I was rushing for an interview for god's sake!).

So I kept exclaiming (in the car, mind you) "eh fast FAST!!! Me XYZ Me XYZ! Me XYZ!!" like XYZ is an oh-so-important company and ~~employees~~ ~~potential employees~~ ~~interns~~ potential interns of the company are equally very VERY important. I even waved (slightly la, not very noticeable I hope =p) to random people and exclaimed "Go GO GO! Me XYZ! Me XYZ". Monkey, I know. Brother in the car say I gila -__- What to do ... i was gelabar-fied. Wtf.

The interview went on quite smoothly (or so I think?). Result not out yet (wtf like exam only), The interviewer was quite serious ... like ... she had a long face throughout the interview. Super tak friendly. She asked like 4-5 questions and I was the one doing the talking for the 30 - 45 minutes. Penat mulut aku. Thank goodness I'm trained to crap. CRAP. Im trained to CRAP, not talk (so I don't know how WELL I did in the interview).

Allowance wise, don't know. Where will I be posted? Don't know. When will I know the result? 10 working days time. That's what I gathered at the end of the interview.

So, all I can do is wait. Wait........ *bored*

Applying for internship

2008-11-04T20:28:00.002+10:30

It's nearing the end of the term. Nicole is going to complete her 2nd year of studies in BUSINESS SCHOOL and still, she hasn't got any intern to do this summer break.

Summer Winter Autumn Fall.
Guess she is going to watch tress grow this summer. Or watch leaves drop? Definitely not snow fall la. Then the other one is what? Flower bloom? Haih whatever.

Nyways, her main point her is ... despite the NO INTERNSHIP, she is still so relaxed she refuses to do things seriously. She's applying for this company where it (or 'she'?) requires her to write down what would be her contribution to XXX within one year.

After BRAINSTOMRING, she came out with this

I say:
they want me to tell them MY CONTRIBUTION
*help Shir Li=) says:
ur contribution
I say:
i contribute more shit and urine to the toilet
*help Shir Li=) says:
increase efficiency in the workplace
I say:
and air liur to the office. and more screams to the quiet place
*help Shir Li=) says:
spread laughter n fun to the boring workplace
I say:
ha cool!!! increase efficiency
*help Shir Li=) says:
enterntain the old bored working ppl
*help Shir Li=) says:
cause when u make the working ppl happy
I say:
eh sound so wrong la. like im stipper entertaining the old bored working uncles.
*help Shir Li=) says:
then their efficiency increase lorr
*help Shir Li=) says:
see ur contribution is so great
*help Shir Li=) says:
HAHAHAHAAH
I say:
NICOLE THE GREAT.
*help Shir Li=) says:
NOT UNCLES LAHH GOT AUNTY ALSO
I say:
hahaha, then i need to ajak male strippers to entertain aunties wtf
I say:
damn die.com lor.
I say:
im so SERIOUS in the application -__-
*help Shir Li=) says:
haih

ONE WORD. HAIH.

MORE WORDS:
CAN PEOPLE JUST HIRE ME WITHOUT ASKING UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT?!!!! BUGGER.

NICOLE TAKUT SEKARANG.

BYE!

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-11-01T01:33:00.001+10:30

Nah. Nicole-is-a-ghost-picture:

Actually my hair WAS very cool. Past tense.

Then there is this another picture, where I really looked really eerie-ly scary. Wtf.

But the picture ain't with me. I'll post it up when I get it.

[space for Nicole's picture]

Ok. This year's Halloween is normal normal. Well, throughout my 19 years of life, Halloween has been pretty normal, except for last year, where I spent the night in ADP building with people in costumes. Boooooring.

No trick-and-treats in Malaysia. I think if I go around houses by houses in Malaysia, faking that oh-so-innocent-I-want-candies-face, I'll get kicked, punched, slapped, poured acid, burned alive, buried alive etc etc by those owners.

~~Yes. Malaysians are very unfriendly.~~

...

Talking about being kicked and punched ... My friends said they'll kick and punch me when I go knock on their doors in Australia (IF we are in the same house, IF.) Yes, they are very unfriendly people. They are very terrible people.

I think I don't wanna stay with them. I takut mereka child-abuse saya. And I don't know where to report child-abuse.

Anyway, I'm not THAT annoying rite!? I think I'm not annoying at all. I just like to talk, that's it. NO BIG DEAL... Especially when I'm under pressure, I can't stop talking and my mouth will just pit pat pit pat pit pat non stop. Not my fault rite?!

I am still ME ... afterall

2008-10-29T08:58:00.001+10:30

Guess what.

Nicole is still the old Nicole.

Simply because she has been awake for the past 20+ hours 'rushing' for her LMW - Last Minute Work wtf.

Below is her "chart of progress" for the 1500 words assignment:

28 October 2008

9am - woke up (0%)

9 - 12pm - ... dididada ... dadadidi ... dillydally ... dallydilly (0%)

12pm - Noodle Station with Phi and Jojo (0%)

3 pm - realize she don't have important chapters cause she is oh-so-Malaysian she photostat-ed the oh-s0-expensive 'Understanding Company Law' textbook. (0%)

3-4pm - walked out to borrow book to photostat, talked, shitted, 7-eleven-ed, talked, dadada... (0%)

4pm - 6pm - read, complain, talk, laugh, read, type (1%)

6pm - Miss Jojo nicely spilled my mango tea on me. My hands are mango-ish. My ass are mango-ish. My pants are mango-ish. My papers are mango-ish.

Nah, prove. My papers are mango-ish. Ish.

The few minutes-walk back to her house was frantic with me saying : "My butt has mango juice. My butt has mango juice. My butt has mango juice." (1%)

6pm - 7pm - Walked back Jojo house. Un-mango-kan myself. (1%)

7pm - 10.30pm - Noodle Station. Got Law answer from Mabel. God Bless Me. (5%)

11pm - 12am - dadada ... dididi ... dududu ...

29 October 2008

Due in 17 hours!!!

12am - 6am - Type type type. Backspace backspace backspace. Flip Flip Flip. Highlight Highlight Highlight. Drink Drink Drink. Eat Eat Eat. Shh Shh Shh Shh Shh Shh. Brush teeth Brush Teeth Brush Teeth. Talk Talk Talk. Laugh Laugh Laugh. (40%)

and now, here she is, blogging.

I am blogging without using my brain. Like seriously, whatever I typed here does not go through my brain.

My brain is too occupied with - I WANT TO SLEEPs.

Law.

Last

Assignment

Wahahaha.

Wtf.

Thats random.

K bye.

*BOOM!* <-- Thats my head. which just exploded.

Nicole is not Nicole

2008-10-27T00:08:00.001+10:30

I don't feel like me.

I want my old self back.

The 100 questions

2008-10-20T13:54:00.001+10:30

Tagged by Sebastian Oil Tong ~~(S.O.T).~~ Hahaha!!! I just realised his name is ~~S.O.T. as in sot sot~~. heeee sorrryy SOT =p

THE SELF
[01] Name: Nicole Lai
[02] Nickname: Nicolai (my name is too beautiful for ugly nicknames)
[03] Married: Oh no
[04] Zodiac Sign: Leo
[05] Gender: female
[06] Age: 18
[07] High School: SMK(P)P and CBN!
[08] College: Taylor's University College (TUC wtf)
[09] Height: 163, 164, 165 cm
[10] Weight: girls' weight is supposed to be P&C no? wait till I'm like 50kg, i'll tell
[11] Do you like yourself: I LOVE Nicole Lai
[12] Piercings: Duh. everywhere appropriate, ie the ears
[13] Right or left: righty
[14] Are you a freak : I'm aint a freak. I'm normal.
[15] Hair: Messy, spoiled, brownish black (under the sun)
[16] Skin: fairlady gone dark
[17] Allergic: cats.
[18] What are you doing now: trying to complete this goddamntag?
[19] What will you do 1 hour later: sleep
[20] What will you do 10 years later: signing documents (CEO wtf)

THE FAMILY
[21] Live with mother/father/parents: daddy and mummy
[22] Siblings (included you): tiga
[23] Eldest: Nicholas (bro)
[24] Youngest: Kennard (bro)
[25] Love/hate your family: Brought up with love and care

THE LOVE
[26] You found your another half: how would I know?
[27] If yes, who is he/she: Mr. Aha!-it's-you!
[28] If no, who you want he/she to be: Mr. Right
[29] Time(s) you in relationship: zero
[30] Ever woo boy/girl: woo!
[31] Anyone woo you before: define woo.
[32] Did anything wrong to your other half: refer 26
[33] What was/were the wrong you had done: refer 26
[34] Ever argue with your other half: refer 26
[35] You with your other half since: refer 26
[36] Are you straight/Lesbo: straight or loner.
[37] Reasons you love your other half: what's love? and refer 26
[38] You and your other half in which stage: 0
[39] You woo he/she or he/she woo you: woo.
[40] Ever think of marry he/she: refer 26

THE FRIENDS
[41] Your first best friend: erm, I think my first best friend was a girl named *forgotten* from Adventist Play School
[42] Your first enemy: make love, not war
[43] The friend you love the most: (friends) ShirLi Kelly ZiWei PeiYee SiaoKim
[44] The enemy you hate the most (1only): make love, not war
[45] Your most beautiful girl friend: Zi Wei and Kelly and Jojo Chan
[46] Your most handsome guy friend: nobody's handsome.
[47] The kind of girl you hate the most: Bitch.
[48] The kind of boy you hate the most: Sissys.
[49] You fall in love with your close friend before: I love them, don't I?
[50] Your best friend is your ex-lover: My best friend is my lover
[51] If your friend backstabbing you: shield it
[52] If your friend betray you: goodbye.
[53] If your friend woo your lover: let's compete
[54] If your friend fall in love with you: love you too. muakcs!
[55] If you fall in love with your best friend: hugs and kisses.

THE STUDIES
[56] Are you a good student: define good. conduct good? academically good?
[57] You always done your homeworks/assignments: tut work - never. assignments, always.
[58] The teacher/tutor you love the most: Pn Woo!
[59] Always late to school/college: better late than never right?
[60] Your class: my class.
[61] You love your seniors: don't know them.
[62] Senior who you love the most: Nicole Lai
[63] Your classmates good/bad: no classmates.
[64] Excellent result classmate: no classmates.
[65] Laziest classmate: definitely not me.

THE PEOPLE
[66] Smart people: are born to be smart
[67] Stupid people: are too lazy to learn
[68] Good looking people: should thank their parents
[69] Ugly people: are good in other things
[70] Funny people: are not always happy
[71] Cute people: are like cute dogs
[72] Bad people: can be rich
[73] Honest people: ends up with nothing
[74] Acting people: arre fakers
[75] You are what kind of people: smart, pretty, funny and rich (soon to be)

THE PREFER
[76] Lip or eyes: eyes
[77] Hugs or kisses: Hugs & kisses
[78] Shorter or taller: Taller.
[79] hesitant or spontaneous: spontaneous
[80] Nice stomach or nice arms: strong arms
[81] Listener or talker: listener and talker
[82] Romantic or rich: rich and romantic
[83] Good husband or Good Father: good husband, good father and good son

THE FUTURE
[84] Age to get marry: when Mr. Aha!-it's-you found me
[85] Numbers of kid(s): at least one
[86] Career: anything i'm happy with
[87] Salary: dividend/interest from investment
[88] Retirement age: as I like
[89] Properties value: too much
[90] Wishes: earth not destroyed

THE VICTIMS
[91] E
[92] V
[93] E
[94] R
[95] Y
[96] B
[97] O
[98] D
[99] Y
[100] bla

undo

2008-10-17T00:48:00.001+10:30

Undo.

if only it's as easy as Ctrl+z.

if.

The run's photos

2008-10-16T21:06:00.001+10:30

Didn't snap any pictures during the run cause we left the camera in the car, thinking that it'll be too heavy a burden for our body -___-

Photos taken after the run.

the track

the playground

the fountain

the mini waterfall

the ~~goose~~ geese

the human

the importance of hairband

the 'present'

the winner

the motorcycle

the car =_=

the runners

the disgusting creatures

the surprised face (Note: Sorry, permission not granted to reveal what we were actually 'doing'. Go imagine wtf)

the "come-punch-me" face

the insane

the childish

the young one

the really young kid

the farewell.

Yeah. A post with not many words. Too tired for words.

Pictures speak thousand words anyways =p

AdventuRun 2008

2008-10-12T20:52:00.001+10:30

Woke up at friggin 6am for it.

Completed 5km without any anticipated injuries wtf.

Not qualified for an ambulance.

Not qualified for any prizes either.

Fell in love with Lake Gardens.

Wanna go there for picnic, or cycling, or roller skating,

But not anytime soon.

Had lunch at some lubang in Petaling Street.

Never know the "i-dunno-what" mee is so famous,

despite going there for like friggin so many years.

Came back with a really sore leg and tired body.

Dropped dead.

Woke up.

I'm hungry. as usual.

Oh, I realize I didn't mention the cause of the run.

To support National Cancer Society Malaysia. (or something that goes in that line)

PS: Will have a complete different post of pictures, pictures and more pictures. (I think.)

I'm cute

2008-10-12T00:48:00.001+10:30

I'm cute.

I walked into bro's room.

Stared into his screen.

Said nothing.

And walked out.

Bro exclaim: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

I did not answer. I'm just too lazy to open my mouth.

Then I returned to my room, to my laptop.

And start a MSN conversation with my bro.

Nicole Lai says: i want grey's anatomy
Nicole Lai says: save into harddisk
Nicole Lai says: 218 onwards
Nicole Lai says: tell me when u're done
Nicole Lai says: save now
[01] Kenn says: LOL wtff.........
[01] Kenn says: later come take 'urself
Nicole Lai says: u save dy tell me i go take

I realize I'm cute.

I'm too cute to talk.

_____________________________________________________________

I'm joining a marathon tomorrow.

5 km only. I think I won't faint.

It's at Lake Gardens, KL and I'm driving there.

I hope I won't get lost either.

It's my virgin trip there.

_____________________________________________________________

GREY'S ANATOMY!

BYE!

I've done it again.

2008-10-10T05:19:00.001+10:30

This is the second time, me driving in a totally sleepy state.

I hope I can have a signboard outside my car with a statement,

in big bold words

"SLEEPY DRIVER, BEWARE."

Spent the entire yester-night writing / editing / deleting / re-writing Financial Planning.

Last minute work. As usual.

Subang lack places for students like me. Students who forbid themselves to go home cause they need to finish up their already very last minute assignment.

It's just SO hard to get a proper 24-hour place equipped with Wi-Fi, electricity supply and a quiet environment. In fact, there's only ONE restaurant that (almost) fulfills the SIMPLE requirement - McDonald's 24 hour.

That also, we (Philia and I) need to like visit 3 McD's (like we have all the time in the world) in Subang before settling in.

Our 1st stop: McD Drive-thru, SS15.

Reason for leaving: noisy + one and only one plug is being used.

2nd stop: McD dunno wut, opposite Sunway.

Reason for leaving: Wi-Fi down.

3rd stop: McD USJ (Taipan).

Reason for leaving: one and only one plug rosak. like mutated.

Further comment: I really like this place. It's like SUPER quiet upstairs (at the time when I was there, at least). I even called it "the ideal place" before discovering the mutated plug. Baaaah.

4th stop: Back to McD Drive-thru, SS15 and whipped out my extension so to share the plug (hehe, idiotic hor). Have to bear with the noise.

It's terrible. Last minute work, it's terrible. But I just can't not do it.

I'm damned.

~sigh~

Ok. SIGH is NO GOOD.

So now, I shall make myself a promise. NO MORE LAST MINUTE WORK. NO MORE!

I'm feeling better now. no more last minute work (or so I think, hehe)

Journey to the North (Part 7)

2008-10-08T03:18:00.000+10:30

The second day in Kedah was followed by a loooong journey to Hatyai, Thailand. Joon's parents drove us there.

We found out that Kedahans (or the upper east people?) don't require a passport to cross the Malaysia - Thailand border. Reason be it that they'll be crossing the line so often a passport wouldn't have enough space to accommodate the stamps, and renewing a passport THAT often does not make sense.

So the Upper East Siders (Gossip Girl!) were given this piece of paper, erm ... temporary approval to cross the border. Whateva.

We reached centre Hatyai at around 3pm in the afternoon and the first thing we did was to cure the grumbling tummies. The Chan family treated us to a scrumptious lunch with bird's nest as appetizer and shark fin soup as dessert. Apparently, they are so common in the little town of Hatyai (or is it all over Thailand?) most restaurant serves them.

We then walked across the street and check in to the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel.

Mrs Chan got two rooms for the four of us. The adults then left us for our "private-time" cause they were afraid that we'll go all SHY SHY when they're around.

We didn't really explore much of the city cause it was raining. The two shops we spent most of our time in were Watson Thailand and 7-eleven Thailand. Talk about adventure =.=''

We were so amazed by the number of different (and better) things sold in the two multi-national stores we picked one thing after another, examined it, screamed for the others to see, put it back, picked it up again, put it back, picked it up, and 'ka-ching', we bought it.

Without us realizing, it was already night time and we didn't get to walk far far far away from the hotel. We kept going round and round on the same street we finally got bored and decided to return to the hotel.

Went to the pool for a visit and that's when we realize we have not taken a SINGLE picture throughout the entire afternoon -__-. So we took some night view from the building as "payback".

They don't look so good here, but I super like that purple-lighted building. I heart purple, especially this type of mysterious-ish purple.

poolside picture~

us and purple building.

There are still time left before we can call it a day, so we proceeded to the streets and got ourselves some erm, Thai cuisines, ie coconut drink, mango rice, erm barbequed lok lok (whateva izzit called), fruits etc etc etc. We had to forgo the durian rice and those delicious looking prawns that were everywhere cause we were still bloated from the lunch.

Thats the little coconuts on the glass .We were trying to take this oh-so-romantic picture. look kinda romantic riteee? ... ignore the towel on the table lamp.

That us looking totally like idiots with our "dinner"

I tell you, this room look sooo creepy when there's only two person staying in it. The hotel totally sucks in furniture arrangement. Notice how much floor space we have? It WAS and IS empty. The space is big enough for a single bed but they just left it there, empty. A sofa would do much good but no, the floor space had nothing on it. Empty. Creepy.

Thats the four idiots squished on the queen-size bed before two of them adjourned to their respective beds in the other room.

Good night.

Growing up

2008-10-07T00:50:00.001+10:30

There's this feeling about secondary school friends that you can never get it anywhere else

The joy of watching them grow up

The joy of seeing them turn into adults

The joy of listening to their stories

It's just like watching your own kids grow up.

The little shred of their happiness

Can simply make me smile =)

It's not easy

2008-10-05T12:08:00.003+10:30

It aches.
It really does.

It's a hard decision to make
but it's the correct one.
At least the mind thinks so.

And with that in mind,
I can do it.
I just have to.
And I know I can.

Life's not easy, but what's life without challenges, ay?

Journey to the North (Part 6)

2008-09-27T14:13:00.002+09:30

Day 4 - Kedah

Having spent 3 days in Penang (and blog them in 5 parts wtf), the travellers finally go their separate ways.

Katherine and Sharon left for Subang while the other four (Nicole, Philia, Jojo and KC) left for Jojo's home town - Alor Star, Kedah.

KC's mum and aunty sent us off with teary eyes and we took a whole two hours hugging each other and we promised to be back next year (ie this year). Wtf, obviously I'm exaggerating.

The 4 girls hopped on a bus that heads to Alor Star, Kedah.

Slept throughout the journey up cause there's not much scene to admire anyway. Half of the 4 hours journey was surrounded by paddy fields, paddy fields and paddy fields. It's surprising I didn't see any cows / horse / buffalo or the likes crossing the highways. -___-

We literally sleep - eat -sleep - eat - eat - eat - sleep throughout the day.

Reached Alor Star at around 3pm and Mrs Chan (Chan Yuan Joon mama la) brought us to a restaurant. Aunty ordered food enough to feed a football team ... I think beliau takut kita faint kat tanah air beliau.

We ATE.

Then Mrs Chan fetch us home. Nice interior design they have. And a very very cute doggy, who is super smart cause she respond to strangers like angel. Talk about preventing robbers =.=''

Once we reached "home", we SLEPT.

Then after I don't know how long, we wake up to EAT fried ice cream =) and fruits.

Then aunty brought us out for dinner. This time, she ordered food enough to feed TWO football teams.

We ATE.

Then we were so bored we decided to visit Menara Alor Star. Breathtaking view I say. but stupid punya rotating restaurant.

1. It's super slow.

2. Service sangat teruk.

3. RM 6 for a cup of tea. Fine. We ordered four cups. And they gave us a sachet of tea in a "kettle" and 4 cups. and we were charged RM 24 for it. Stupid kan? RM 24 for a sachet of Lipton (or whatever shit) tea. Ask them go bunuh diri.

Oh btw, after we came down from Menara Alor Star, aunty said somebody bunuh-ed diri there. Eeeeery.

Warning: DO NOT GO UP TO MENARA ALOR STAR.

Despite how bad how bad the place is, we DID have fun up there, cause of these:

1. We asked aunty to take our pictures. After getting the angle right, aunty snapped, and the result it like this.

2. Of course, we were not satisfied, so we posed again, and aunty snapped again. The result:

HAHAHA!!! HOW NOT TO LAUGH?! AUNTY SAID SHE OLD DY! HER HAND BERGETAR! HAHAHA!

3. Then of course we're not satisfied la! Fail once, nevermind. Fail twice? Nevermind. We can still try for the third time riteeee.

So we posed, and the result is like this:

Yes! It's the SAME as the second picture cause aunty didn't press the "TAKE" button properly!

Our stomach seriously ache from laughing too hard, so we decided to exempt aunty from being the photographer.

Whoever who came up with the try 1 2 3 philosophy, you're sooo wrong.

So we proceed to the oh-so-famous rotating restaurant and attempt to snap more pictures.

Attempt one - Mirror! Karen Chengs pose.

Attempt two - by Nicole Lai. Either my skill is super good, or they're super cool.

Attempt three - Bad angle. Need to try again.

Attempt four - Good angle. But Nicole Lai didn't run back in time.

Attempt five - Ok. Perfecto. That explains why this photo is so big =)

After fussing over the oh-so-expensive tea among ourselves, we decided to leave the oh-so-empty place as it's already getting late.

Before we left, we need prove that we're there. So we took a picture with the Menara Alor Star miniature. Looks so KLCC hor. Or KLCC looks so Menara Alor Star hor.

After that, we went back to the Chan house and SLEPT.

End of the day.

The next day, we woke up to EAT. Aunty ta-pao-ed McDs and some Kedah Mee which is very different from KL's. Again, she ta-pao-ed food enough to feed a football team but we're already very used to it.

Aunty is cool~

Picture tag

2008-09-27T00:47:00.004+09:30

Crap! I've been tagged and I'm suppose to do it N-O-W. How nice of you, Mr Tong -__-

a) Answer the questions below,do a Google Image Search with your answer,take a picture from the first page of results,do it minimal words of explanation.

b) Tag 5 other people to do the same once you’ve finished answering every questions.

Here goes!

1. The age you'll be on your next birthday

2. A place you'll like to travel to

outer space.

3. Your favourite place

my bedroom. it looks nothing like this though.

4. Your favourite food

5. Your favourite pets

6. Your favourite colour combination

I typed black and purple but i found this.

7. Your favourite piece of clothing

comfy pyjamas!

8. Your all-time favourite song

9. Your favourite tv show

10. What do you wish to get now?

Don't mind me. I'm constantly hungry.

11. Find one thing to describe yourself

Imma very last minute person =S

12. Your screen / nickname

13. Your first job

tutor. HA-HA-HA

14. Your dream job(s)

it's a job alright =)

15.. A bad habit you have

16. Your worst fear

cats.

17. The one thing you'd like to do before you die

18. The first thing you'll buy if you get $ 1000 000

a piece of land (izzit even enough?)