Merry Christmas, everyone (Notice there's no exclamation at the end of the sentence because frankly yours truly is not actually brimming with enthusiasm over Christmas celebration this year as she's stucked in The Sandpit). Bah.

To those on holiday abroad, have a fun and diarrhea-free time.

To those on holiday in country, eat more, drink more and be merry more.

To those who are probably suntanning on board a yacht now, have fun and please come back in one piece (Sure hope you guys stocked up on Stugeron).

Joanne threw a pre-Christmas dinner on the 8th (yes, we're going to have a post-Christmas and New Year dinner as well) and invited a bunch of people over. More like a potluck dinner, actually. And everyone had to come dressed up. Joanne, I very the give face lor, I went with heels eventhough my house is just 10 steps away.

My first Christmas dinner with a whole roast turkey complete with stuffing! I must say, the turkey was VERY nice with homemade gravy. And the stuffing as well, made with breadcrumbs, sausages, celery and mince beef (I had to chop the bread into small pieces by hand, cos Joanne plain refused to use those ready made breadcrumbs).

Then I had to rush to supermarket to get the ingredients for cheesecake. I was floating all the time due to lack of sleep (Just came back from Osaka). The worst part was, I couldn't find Philadephia cream cheese and had to make do with spreadable cream cheese. Due to the consistency of the cream cheese, I had to bake it for more than 3 hours. I was so tired I took a nap and woke up at 30 mins interval to check on the cake. Imagine if the alarm decided to not work, the whole house would be burnt down.

At about 6pm, people started to arrive. First to come were Neiqy and Sherry, with their angel hair pasta and chicken meatballs in tomate sauce.




Paul and Nina then came together with their goodies. This Paul is crazy. He made 3 containers of mashed potatoes, each portion is enough to feed 20 people. Suffice to say 1 container is still sitting in the freezer, most probably to last until the post-Xmas dinner.











With so much food, I'm proud to announce we did a pretty good job in devouring the food. Everybody had at least 3 helpings. I was expecting to have a lot of leftover for the cheesecake as everyone was full to the brim, but only a slice remained. Lukman whacked 3 pieces of the cake.










Everyone will take turn to go back Malaysia for Christmas and New Year, starting with yours truly. Joanne is in Korea now. Next, Jojo and Jac will come back. I'll be spending Xmas in The Sandpit and New Year eve on standby though. The though of it is depressing. But for now, I'm happy resting at home, eating Mama Tju's cooking.

Hectic, hectic. These past few days have been a whirl of activities.

Came back from KIX (11 hr 45 mins) and straight away went to Joanne's place to help her prepare for the pre-Xmas dinner. At the same time my 2 new Korean housemates came (They were in the KIX flight I operated, talk about coincidence). And then I had to go to supermarket to get ingredients to bake a cheesecake.

I don't know what went wrong, but I baked the cheesecake for 3 hours. 3 hours! I was falling asleep and waking up at 30 mins interval to check on the cheesecake. More about the Christmas dinner later, as I'm using 52 kbps dial-up now and it's slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter jam.

Oh ya, I'm back in Melaka. Home. Sitting down and typing this entry while sipping Amarula. And happy.

I'm so low-maintenance, no?

Want to hear something funny?

I checked into the hotel in Osaka at around 4.30pm, changed and went to downtown Dotonbori. As I only have about 1000 yen left from my previous Osaka trip, I didn't bother to change into more yen as I was thinking I could do so in town, as long as the money is enough to pay for my train fare.

So there I was, all excited and hyper (that's what happens when one passes the threshold of not sleeping for 24 hours) and hungry, making my way to town.

And I fucking walked for 3,4 hours without managing to find a money changer or bank in sight. In high heels. And I tried putting in all the cards I have into God-knows-how-many ATMs and every single one of them was rejected. The ATM here uses biometric identification for God's sake! I'm still on chip, OK?

And the best part was, I found this nice restaurant which I thought would have offered credit facilities. Luckily I asked before sitting down and ordered ten thousand items from the menu, because no, that restaurant doesn't accept credit card. And their ATMs fucking use biometric technology but their restaurants don't even recognize those nifty plastic cards so essential in this modern age of cashless spending?

So this auntie here had no choice but to go back to the hotel and had something from the room service.

Moral of the story? Eat in-flight. Look what happened the first time I saved my stomach for food.

But only applicable to crew, please. Passengers should just sleep the moment their asses touch the seat.

I cried today.

Talking to Ken Lee. Bitching with her. Pouring out my problems to her. I miss that bitch.

And it was cleansing, the crying. Sort of like spring cleaning for the cluttered soul.

Do you ever feel that you have everything but then you have nothing at all? Why am I being so complicated? Why can't I be mediocre just like others and be contented living a normal life? Why do I have such high expectations for myself and others and then get all upset when these expectations are not met? Why do I have such rigid ideals? Why am I so....weird?

Ken Lee and Jojo are complaining how come I did not update this blog of mine lately. Ken Lee I can understand, being 5 hours ahead of me, but Jojo, I'm only living like ONE floor above you lor.

Truth is, there's nothing much to write about. I have sunk into a new level of depression. From acute loneliness. My last housemate left few days ago so I now officially live alone. By myself. Have been hanging around Jac and Joanne's place these past few days as I couldn't get online (the fuse in the modem adapter fried) and the wicked grip of loneliness keeps tighten it's hold around my neck I need to escape from it.

Joanne and I decorated Christmas tree in her house (Yaya, a bit early I know, but who cares). Strip of blinking fairy lights going round and round the tree with gold beaded chain running vertically across the top of the tree. We then casually hanged gold and red balls, angels, bells and red ribbons on it. All the wrapped presents were placed underneath the tree, spilling onto the floor. When the tree was lighted up, Joanne and I sat around and watched it. It's beautiful.

Jac just came back from a date and I was thinking, damn woman, you haven't been on a date yourself for ages. No wonder I am anal retentive. The thrill of picking out a dress then putting it back and taking out a dozen other dresses and then eventually settling on the first one. Rushing to put on make-up and do the hair because that damn dress took too much of your time and realising you haven't done your nails nor pick out the shoes and bag. Oh, the horror of it!

And after much work, your date finally arrives and knocks on the door, takes your hand and whisks you to a fancy restaurant. The two of you will have nice food and wine accompanied by interesting conversation. And he commenting on how fabulous/witty/intelligent/amusing you are. And the night ends with a peck on your cheek at the door before saying goodbye, leaving you all flushing and happy and short of breath.

*Zip back to reality*

Nah, so not my type of date.

But.....but.....it'll be nice once in a while. Like when you're suffering from acute loneliness.

Like now.

Ok, I need a date. Pronto.

Happy Birthday, Joanne dear!



Imagine, we'll be flying together to FRA on your birthday! Must be some good deeds we did lately that lead to this turn of event. Fancy that!

May you be surrounded with grace, the way you always bring happiness (and chicken rendang and sambal petai and ayam ponteh) to the people around you. Who cares about number? You're the hippest "auntie" I know.

As Abraham Lincoln put it, "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years".

Hell, you have more life than the entire population of The Sandpit.

Now, let's endure 6 hrs of flight, then we can have our fun!

You know what's irritating?

Eagerly dived into a new, shiny book you just bought before noticing a piece of hologram sticker on the front cover. Then you tried removing it, but only the glossy plastic layer came off , leaving a sticky layer behind that refused to budge no matter how hard you scrapped at it.

Damn kau infuriating wei.

I fell in love with this poem the moment I read it. And so I dig out more poems by E.E. Cummings. Mr. Cummings wrote his poems in an intentionally typography haphazard way, with words, parts of words, or punctuation symbols scattered across the page. At first look, they don't make much sense. It's meant to be read out that the meaning and emotions soon become apparent.

I will have someone recite and demonstrate this poem to me one fine day. That would be lovely.

My favourite girl in the whole world left 2 days ago. I wasn't there to see her off, but I prayed to God for good tailwind so the plane could speed up and send her safely back to KL.

My favourite girl couldn't wait to go home, but she didn't know she had to leave another "home" in order to do so. See, this "home" is very special, we have our Mama Joe, Auntie Jack, Auntie Joanne, Big Sister Klyie, yours truly and of course, our little girl. Somehow, this "home" feels weird without our favourite girl. She took a piece of us when she left that day, and this "home" will never be the same again.

My little girl couldn't cook, so we took turns cooking for her. And one fine day, she announced that she would cook soup. Naturally we were surprised, and the ABC soup since became her signature dish that fateful day onwards.

My little girl didn't know how to wash clothes. She fully covered the washing machine compartment with washing powder. She since learnt a cupful is enough when I exclaimed incredulously at the amount of washing powder being used.

My little girl simply loves fried chicken and fries, and would beg and pester and coax me into ordering KFC. And I would give in in the end, eventhough I'm not a big fan of fried food, just so to see my little girl smiles.

My little girl always came barging into my room whenever she's back from flight and would bitch incessantly. Never mind I was sleepy, I would lent her an ear (and most of the time join in the bitching session as well) so that my little girl would feel better getting stuff off her chest. And then she would make me noodles.

My little girl used to come back empty stomach from flight, but almost always greeted with home-cooked food. That was how pampered our little girl was.

My little girl, although young of age, taught me lessons I didn't know people her age were capable of. Like good finance managing. Like standing on your own two feet and working for what you want. Like following your head instead of heart, no matter how much that heart screams out to you. My little girl taught me it's OK to fall and cry, but to bounce back stronger than ever.

My favourite girl in the whole world left 2 days ago. And I wish her the best of things life could offer.

Due to her inherent laziness, The Princess couldn't drag herself to update her blog. Anyway, nothing of much interest is happening in her life, she had been busy attending classes last month.

Notice how she is always at the right place at the right time? Well, 2 days ago she was in Munich for Oktoberfest and it so happened that day was German Unity Day as well. Downside was apart from F&B outlets, all other shops were closed.





She has always wanted to go to Oktoberfest and she must has done something right lately that God decided what a good little girl she has been and decided to reward her. Even the weather was behaving itself, cool and sunny. Karma is not always a bitch, yeah?



And it was crazy! Tens of thousands of people were thronging this huge are called d' Wiesn with 14 big tents erected, with each tent accommodating up to 7000 people! All kinds of rides were available and a few were definitely not for the faint-hearted. The carnival-like atmosphere were thick with the smell of food (bratwurst, roast chicken, popcorn, battered almond) wafting, screams from the rides and the merry chatter of people all around. Booze, food and rides - it's my kind of fantasy land comes true!

Behold, people, Alice flapping her wings! Now, that's one very, er, stripey chick.

88 people perished in a plane crash in Phuket yesterday afternoon. The aircraft was landing in heavy rain and came into a slide and crashed into trees and walls surrounding the airport. The impact caused the aircraft to split into two and went into a series of explosions.

My deepest condolences to friends and famillies of the victims of the ill-fated flight.

RIP.

Met up with the girls at The Curve while The Princess was back in KL the other day. So the kesian, she didn't even sleep after touching down, just changed and rushed out to take a cab to TTDI for facial and haircut. When she arrived at Italiannies, the girls were already done with appetizer, nasib lar they have enough willpower to wait for The Princess before tucking into the main course (which had been sitting on the table).



Papa Yong then dropped by to pick up and drop off some stuff for Joanne. Jess recently bought a DSLR camera so she was playing around with it, but she couldn't get the setting right. So Piang stepped right in and started tweaking the setting (to the extent of asking Cal to shade the flash with tissue paper).








Then it's time to go back to hotel to meet up with Mama Tham to pass her airticket. She gave a few boxes (5 to be exact) of jelly mooncakes for the girls in The Sandpit. Thanks, Mama Tham, they were delicious! But oh, the agony of lugging around 5 boxes of fragile mooncakes in trolley bag was killing.

By the way, the photos nice or not? The Princess was Photoshop-perimenting with black and whites to produce different effects.

Nevermind that the Mid Autumn Festival is still 10 days away. The Princess and Ken Lee started hanging paper lanterns around the house. Once all the lanterns are lighted, they switched off the lights and invited Klyie and Jojo over.







They were pretty good, only one lantern caught fire (and if you have played with one you know how easily they burn). But the curtain railing where they hung the lanterns melted a little at each end. Die, housing better don't come and check.

Ma hai. Tiu nia sing.

How the fuck The Flying Goat company managed to get 5-star rating is beyond me. Can say most of the flights are delayed lor. Fucking Skytrax accept bribe is it? So far I have only done 2 SIN flights that were not delayed. And I have at least one SIN every month OK. KUL also same story. Bloody send a lousy, almost torn apart A300 to KUL. Hello, KUL is a money-making route for you OK. The pax don't drink much, behave like how civilised human should behave instead of acting like a bunch of monkeys (only applies in winter cos in summer, it's packed with Arabics and don't get me started on them). Where you send the A330s and A340s to? To bloody DAC, BOM, LHR etc.

DAC - Rude, ignorant pax who cut the wire of the IFE remote cum phone thinking gee, look, I have a new mobile now.

BOM - Sister, whisky, sister whisky. Ma hai I'm not your sister. I bloody pour the whisky on your head only know.

LHR/MAN - Filled with cheapskate British who demand everything and would carry off the plane if they could. Not too mention lazy. Look at your size, that walk to the galley for a glass of water will do you good, cibai. MAN pax pulak all from kampung one. Damn no class can die.

Nevermind lar, company fucking rich what. Can manage to miss the allocated arrival slot and pay for a new one. Malaysians, don't complain about Air Asia's frequent delays. Trust me, you haven't seen worse.

Ya lar, The Princess is menstruating hence her moodiness. Dah ler always never get 3 days off this month she got it, fucking KUL flight is delayed for 3 hours rendering her effectively stucked in The Sandpit. Nicely inform Mama Tju I'm going back Melaka already.

Don't anyone dare to step on her tail these 3 days. Feel like just digging a hole, crawl in and hide.

I am drawn to you, like a moth to flame. My wings will get burnt and I'll never fly again.

I am consciously destroying myself, I am six feet from the edge.

Happy Birthday, Jac dear!

My dwindling grey matters makes me forgetful, but I did wish you and gave you a birthday hug one day later (only 1 day, not 1 week).

May you grow with the wisdom and confidence of a woman with surety. Remember I once asked you what/who is your pillar of strength, someone/something that keeps you going in moments of despair? I found mine and I know you found yours long time ago, too (I sure hope it includes chocolate!).

Love you, babe - Yes, you and your sometimes hard to put up with attitude.

Couldn't get access to the net these few days, so The Princess takes this opportunity to wish all Malaysians,

Selamat Hari Merdeka.
Came across this interesting article in Malaysia Today on civil disobedience. As she's away and her clothings for the next 6 days have been sorted out (nothing of yellow, by the way), The Princess shall fly a digital flag with a strip of yellow cloth (borrow your flag ya, Raja Petra).

I'm not a feminist, I'm an equalist. (Why burn bras when you can burn all the MCPs?)

I'm not a racist, I just practise selective discrimination.

So sue me.

Happy Birthday, Cal Dear!




Tju is sorry she was not back to celebrate it with you, but I hope you had a good one all the same. Please just don't tell her the celebration was alcohol-fuelled lest she feel tulan.

Halfway to go before we hit the good old 30s. Gasp. It seems just yesterday when we used to tapau nasi goreng sotong tambah cili padi in Block C. Reminiscing the good old days when life was much simpler and joy was having some nerd computer whiz to code our programming assignments.

Promise I will be back in December to attend your engagement, ok? Make sure you serve champagne, Tju wants champagne!

I have to share these videos. The Princess took it when Jac was super high. To quote Jojo, "Fatt seet lar, fatt seet lar (Go let it out, go let it out)".




That night was girls' night out to celebrate our 2 years in The Sandpit. 2 years! Can you imagine that? Well I, for one, couldn't. All the moaning and whining and time passes by just like that.

I'm glad I have a bunch of good friends here to share my joy and sorrow, to pull in the line a little when I go too far, to share my deepest, darkest secrets, friends who lend a shoulder to cry on. And occasionally give a piece of their minds when I get too smart for good.

To Ken Lee (my favourite housemate!) - I predict great things from you. Such mature thinking at such young age. Atta, girl!

To Jacklyn - There is rainbow after rain (or so I would like to believe). Let go and let live. You've been so strong all this while, what's a small ripple in your pond? And you're right, he's not my type.

To Jojo - I always imagine if I had an elder sister, she would be someone just like you. Always so calm, so collected and as cool as cucumber, nothing could affect you. Only sometimes a bit the bo feel lar.

To Klyie - Although you can't be there with us, we do think of you. Always so caring and helpful, nothing is of much bother to you. Please cook more nutritious soup for Diana to drink, ok?

I made my speech, so here goes - Camwhore moments!