The Things That Matter

Almost everyone in the family returned home to Penang for Grandma's funeral and prayers. It was the rare occasion when everyone was in one place - having meals together, going places together - just being together. Now that the children are working elsewhere, we rarely ever meet. Aunties and uncles spend more time with their own expanding family. Mom and dad with us.
I missed those times of being together as one big family. It was almost festive-like last week. Even though the main reason was for a funeral, it was the one thing that brought us all back together. In a way, Grandma had always been the one reason everyone got together. We spoke of all the old days, living in the big kampung house in Alor Setar, of Chinese New Year eves together (we rarely do that nowadays with the family scattered all over the place), 'pai thnee kong' (prayer at midnight on the 8th day of the lunar New Year by Hokkien folks) nights when the kids got to stay up late, yummy dishes Grandma used to cook, the graffitti us kids drew on the walls of the old house and the never ending line of dogs we used to have... those are precious memories.
The kids are all grown up now and earning good lives away from home. But it is not the ability to jetset or buy that latest ridiculous gadget or that new dress that is in season that will give us eternal joy.
The things that really matter are usually free but priceless - and my family is on top of that list.

Dinner Tonight - Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Thinking of Grandma....

...and home alone again... sigh...

In Loving Memory of Our Beloved Grandmother

My beloved grandmother (mommy's mother) passed away last Friday. It is such a devastating loss to all of us. Ah Mah had been the centre of all our lives for as long as I could remember. We are still grieving the loss, but hold the memory of her dearly within our hearts. I always consider myself the most fortunate of all grand-daughters to be able to have grown up in the shelter of her abundant love and affection. She was the most generous and kind person, and touched the lives of many many people beyond our own family members.
I will always miss my Ah Mah, and pray that she is now happier and even more blessed.

It's So Hard Sometimes

It feels as if these few months, fate is trying to test me. First, I had to go through my miscarriage and try to be strong while hubby couldn't come back in time, and now I am feeling so so so crappy, being sick and coughing my guts out - home alone again. It's not that hubby doesn't keep me company, but I just had to fall sick when he already made plans to return home. On top of that, I am really worried about my dear grandma who is now in the ICU in a critical condition, and the earliest I can return home to be with her is on Friday. I am stuck in a situation at work where it is just impossible for me to leave before Friday unless something really really really bad happens. Bad things are just falling on me at all the wrong moments.

Oh gosh... I wish I am not in this place all by myself most of the time. I wish I am closer to my family. I wish I can get away from the demands of this uninspiring job. I wish all these bad days will just go away :((((

TGIF!

Oh mah goodness! This has been a hectic week at work.. soooooooooooo glad it is finally over and I get to have a nice quiet weekend doing pointless window shopping, eat, sleep and more sleep... he he...
To kick it off, dinner out tonight. Yippee....

Dinner Tonight - Steamed Fish w/ Nyonya Sauce

With hubby back at home, dinners at home are now longer and less lonely :P. While for two weeks, whenever I ate at home, those were quickie dinners and quieter too. But for the next 3 weeks we can have dinner as a family - just the 2 of us. Tonight, I decided to steam the 'ikan merah' that I bought last week from the market. On work days, nothing beats pre-packed sauces; and tonight I feel like some spicy sour nyonya curry sauce. You can get those from any supermarket and grocery shops, my favorite brands are Uncle Sun's and Good Mum. For that little extra touch of home, I simmered the sauce for a little while with onion wedges, one diced tomato and a stick of lemon grass. Plus, a side vege dish sauteed with garlic and 'ikan bilis' (anchovies). Eating at home sure saves you some money...RM3 for the sauce, RM4 for the fish, RM2 for the vegetables...not even ten bucks!

My Favorite Wedding Moments

Looking back to a year ago and listening to our wedding song (Two Words by Lea Salonga), the memories came flooding back. Our wedding was held over two days in November last year. One day for the bridal pick up and Chinese tea ceremony, and the dinner over the next evening. Most of the two days went by in a blur, but there are moments that are etched in my memory and they will be there, always

I remember waking up feeling calm and excited all at the same time. And filled to the brim with happiness!

I could hardly sleep the night before, staring at my wedding gown and shoes all ready at the foot of my bed. Then in the morning when sunshine filtered through the window, illuminating the lace, I thought "Gosh! I am getting married today!"

Then, my aunty came through the door, carrying the most beautiful bouquet. She promised me they would be special for me, and they were....every single petal was perfect!

The fresh orchids for my hair! Aunty and I went to get those from the market a day earlier and they bloomed fresh and lovely. Makeup artist Mandy did a great job.

I always liked this picture, of my daddy so tenderly putting up the final touches to my door.

Sharing a moment with my dearest friends

My wonderful family - Daddy, Mommy & Big Brother

My friends had wanted to make the guys eat a whole bag of bananas....

...and ended up eating the bananas themselves! Gee, they gotta really work on their negotiation skills...

Hubby coming in to pick up his bride...

:)

I remember vividly the moment I saw the ballroom for the first time before the banquet. I remember being choked with emotions, and thinking how absolutely beautiful it was! The colors, the flowers... it was amazing. I remember at that exact moment, I thought to myself.. our wedding is going to be perfect!

Our emcees for the night - Angeline and Beng Hooi. Their opening words touched us deeply - thank you, you two!

"It is an honor to have good friends. But when good friends fall in love and decide to spend the rest of their lives together, we feel very priviledged to be apart of that story"

We were grateful for friends who travelled from afar just to share this special day with us

Need I say more? :) My wonderful hubby

My mommy's smile... :)

My daddy's smile... :)

Friends who have been with me since primary school, we share everything..bad times, and good times like this

And at the end of the day, it was the company of family members and good friends that made all the difference

Of course, my most favorite wedding moment....getting married to the most wonderful, kind, understanding, funny and loving person - my husband

.

Coming Up: Our Wedding Anniversary!

Our first wedding anniversary is coming up in 2 weeks! Wow... I can hardly believe it is now nearly a year since we tied the knot. And the best thing is, we will be in Penang on that day. What a pleasant coincidence ! Back to where we started....

Girl's Best Friend

Of course, apart from diamonds, anything pretty and blinky may do too. Or even bags. But let's get back to the main topic here...

When I was in KL this week, Wid and I went engagement ring shopping on behalf of a guy friend of ours who is currently stuck offshore and could not do it on his own. Anyway, with a certain given budget and specifics for the ring (that lucky lucky girl!!), Wid and I found ourselves in Tiffany and Co. and Cartier. While we couldn't deny that Tiffany and Co. had the kind of ring with the BLING factor that he's looking for (slightly over budget but what the heck....), we weren't exactly impressed with their manners and customer service. We were out of there within 20 minutes.

Then we dropped by Cartier just to have a look at their range and found ourselves stuck there for nearly an hour. For starters, the sales person was extremely nice and helpful, and most of all made us feel very comfortable being there (I mean, hey... it is not as if Cartier is our everyday shopping destination!). She gave us options, showed us different ideas for proposal to bring back to our friend and started a friendly chit chat with us. So if you are indeed considering dropping by Cartier KLCC, do look for Maybel.

And then, it caught my eye! It was a necklace with a pendant of two inter-twined rings in 18-carat rose gold. Simple, ridiculously priced... but oh so LOVELY! Sigh.....

I couldn't find an exact picture of it, but it looks somewhat like the 2008 Charity bracelet here, but instead of the red silk loop, the two rings are connected to a gold chain. And both rings are in gold. There are those in white gold too, but I do like the one in yellow or rose gold better. :)

P/S: We decided the engagement ring from Tiffany and Co. would give him that BLING factor that he wanted for the fiancee-to-be (again, luckyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy girll!!!). Cartier KL does not stock engagement rings. One has to order it off a catalogue from Singapore, or drop by Cartier Singapore.

Dinner Tonight - Instant Penang Prawn Mee

By the time I was done feeding the dogs, watering the garden (it didn't rain all 4 days when I was away) and showering, it was close to 7.30pm. My first thought of dinner was pizza delivery, but only to be disappointed when Pizza Hut said they do not deliver to my area. Hmmph!

Already clad in my 'been-through-100-cycles-in-the-machine' pyjamas, I wasn't in a mood to go change into 'fit-for-public-appearance' clothes. So that leaves what's left in the kitchen larder, which turned out to be instant noodles of some sort. I decided to cook myself instant Penang Prawn Mee from a packet. Relatively good on its own, but better if one makes a little extra effort. For tonight, a fistful of spring onions would do.

To add the extra ummph! to this instant noodles:

Boil some prawns with water. Drain cooked prawns and maintain the prawn stock.

Prepare a stock with pork/chicken ribs and the prawn stock. Better still if you have leftover bak-kut-teh soup.

With stock: Use the stock in place of water to cook the soup (add the seasonings from the instant noodles in the stock)

With bak-kut-teh: Use half portion of bak-kut-teh soup with another half portion of prawn stock. Boil together with the seasoning from the instant noodles.

Serve with cooked kangkung, shelled boiled prawns, sliced meat (pork/chicken) and fried onions. If you get the seasoning right, it tastes almost like the penang prawn noodles (hokkien mee) you get in Penang.

Back Home!

I spoke too soon in the last entry. Now, as I lie in bed typing this, I AM feeling tired. I have spent almost the whole of today travelling back from KL. Even though it is just a 2 hours and 15 minutes' flight from KL to Miri, my trip started at 11.30am today to KL Sentral, then 28 minutes to KLIA, after which I spent some time waiting for my flight at 2pm. Then, it got delayed to 2.40pm, I was in the air for 90 minutes to Kuching, in transit for 40 minutes, delayed again and finally landed in Miri at 5.40pm. Disembarking, walking out the gate, taxi ride home blah blah blah.... finally closed the door at home behind me at 6.35pm !! And that, in Miri was almost dark.

I cannot believe I have been doing this almost weekly for 5 years...

In Transit

I am blogging this from the Golden Lounge in KLIA while waiting for my 2pm flight back to Miri. I am excited to be going back to the comfort of my own home, but at the same time had reluctantly said my goodbyes to my friends. We had a nice chatty breakfast of pan mee (the best Szen swears!) at Chow Kit before dropping me off at KL Sentral.

I am surprisingly feeling very fresh and well rested for this trip. Probably the reason is because I spent Friday night bumming at Szen's house instead of running after the 8.40pm flight from KL to Miri - that is almost always delayed and causing me unnecessary mental anguish (from being upset about arriving past midnight at home).

I've had little bits of exciting treats in KL this week. Going to check out the food selection now, blog later.

P/S. Hubby will be back in 2 days! 48 hours! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee !