I was really in the mood to blog last night after coming home from my night out with Melissa, but realized I had left my laptop in the office as I did not want to be lugging it around Bangsar.  So here I am now!

 

Last night was entertaining!  We walked into almost all the boutiques in the main Bangsar square area and tried on dozens of outfits!  There's really nothing like having a girls' night out!  At this one shop, Cat's Whiskers, there was this super stick thin girl with her equally super stick thin friend - I mean, she was so skinny that when she turned to the side, she all but disappeared from my view.  Anyway, she was trying on these skimpy blouses that were so small they were hiding behind the price tag, and she put on this one halter neck top that frankly wouldn't even have fit halfway up my arm - and she and her friend simultaneously gasped in horror, and said "No, it makes me/you look fat" ... and I'm balking and thinking, honey, you two need a serious reality check.  The both of them together couldn't have weighed more than half of me. 

 

Anyway, Melissa and I had dinner at Alexis, which was disappointing food wise, and entertaining in other areas.  But more on that later. 

 

First ... the food.  I had the angel hair pasta, which turned out to be one of the worst pasta dishes I have ever had.  I used to think that one really couldn't go wrong with pasta - but I was mistaken!  The angel hair was overcooked - definitely NOT al dante.  They didn't use enough olive oil, so the pasta was clumping together.  The garlic was chunky and undercooked.  The olives were terribly salty.  The prawns tasted like they were just dumped into a pot of boiling water without any seasoning whatsoever.  I tried adding some pepper, but that didn't work.  So I finally doused the whole thing in tabasco sauce.

 

Melissa had the mee siam, which looked okay - but she poured in some tabasco sauce too, so maybe it wasn't all that great.

 

For dessert, we had a slice of mango cream pie, and a slice of tiramisu.  The mango cream pie was bland with not much mango taste, even though they had bits of mango in it.  The tiramisu wasn't tiramisu!  If we go by the assumption that because it didn't taste like a tiramius and therefore wasn't a tiramisu, then as far as cakes go, it tasted pretty good.  Probably the best thing we had all night.

 

BUT - the main source of entertainment, besides our gossiping, was this ang mor couple sitting two tables away having a really loud domestic.  I mean, REALLY loud.  She was screaming at him to F*#$ OFF!  I HATE YOU!!  - said various times throughout the 20 minutes or whatever that they were arguing - followed by lots of GO TO HELL!!  and GO F$#* YOURSELF!! - the man finally got up and walked out of the restaurant - peace, we thought - and then he came back 5 minutes later - which started the woman (I was going to say 'lady', but obviously not much of one!) off again - and then he left again - and came back yet again .... FIVE freaking times!!  By the 5th time, we were like ... BOTH of you go home already ...

 

I thought it was extremely rude and discourteous of them to be airing their dirty laundry in public.  I mean, at one stage, she even screamed at him to "Go back to your whores and prostitutes" ...

 

Oh the drama!  Melissa and I lapped it up, we loved it!!

 

So yeah ... it was an entertaining night ... thank GOD for girlfriends!!

Sent Mel off this morning for a two-day-one-night motivational / leadership camp organized by her school for the Year 6 pupils.  I think taking a break from UPSR preparations are a good thing.  I mean, the amount of school work and stress those kids go through - they are 11 and 12 year olds, for heaven's sake - I think all examinations should be banned until they are at least 16.  And then at PTA meetings, you've got idiot parents who think their kids don't get enough homework ... I'm like .. what the ... !!  Those kids are in school from 8am to 3:30pm - 4:30, if they have extra-curricular activities - when do they get to throw in some relaxation if there's gonna be MORE homework??  Some parents have their brains where their arses are.

 

But I digress ...

 

Anyway, she's off for this camp and I have today and tomorrow off!  So of course I'm gonna hang out with me best buddy this evening after work ... we're gonna lepak in Bangsar (it's okay! I'm not driving!) - do a spot of shopping - have dinner - dessert - coffee - sit around and bitch about people we know and people we don't know who are walking by - and it'll be fun to not have to watch the clock because I have to be back by a certain time for Mel or something.

 

This morning:

 

Mel:  Mom, are you gonna miss me or are you happy to have some time off?

Me:  Of course I'm gonna miss you!!

 

(looks at me suspiciously and rolls her eyes)

 

Mel:  Tell the truth, mom!

Me (a little sheepishly):  Half gonna miss you and half happy.

 

Mel grins at me.

 

Mel:  I don't think I'll miss you at all, I'm gonna have so much fun!!

Me:  WHAT???

Mel:  It's ok, I still love you, I just won't miss you.

 

Teach your child to be honest some more lah ...

 

 

 

 

We decided to try something new for dinner tonight, and after some searching online, we decided on Mediterranean food.  I know that's a bit vague - Mediterranean covers Spain, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Morocco, Cypress, France, Lebanon, etc ... I think!!

 

In any case, we decided to try Safffron in One Bangsar - not to be confused with Saffron at Sri Hartamas, which serves Northern Indian food!  Let it now show for the record that getting to Bangsar on a Friday evening is absolutely horrendous.  After stopping for the fourth time at the same set of lights, I told myself that the food had better be worth the trouble!

 

So we arrived, and we parked - the initial perception was a good one.  I liked the ambience very much.  It was classy without being gaudy, despite them using bright orange curtains to separate the private booths from the rest of the dining area.  Funky artwork on the walls.  Blue goblets on wooden tables.  Grey-ish blue tiles on the floor.  Blue cushioned chairs.  Yellow and blue placemats.  Silver cutlery.  Wooden shutters.

 

 

 

Then they brought us our menus ...

 

 

And bread ... lovely lovely warm bread ... all snug and cosy in the little basket ... LOVE warm bread ..

 

 

After perusing the menu and much deep discussion, we settled on some warm tapas as a starter.

 

So we had the button mushrooms, sauteed in olive oil with butter, garlic and parsley.  It was quite bland compared with the rest of the tapas, but perhaps that was because the rest had such strong flavors.

 

 

We had tiger prawns cooked in a tomato-based sauce with loads of peppercorns thrown in.  Peppercorns are good!

 

 

We had eggplant in some supposedly spicy sauce - but it really tasted more tangy than spicy ... still, it was good ...

 

 

And we had grilled lamb chops with some sort of garlic mayonnaise dip.  The lamb chop was succulent - grilled to perfection - crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside.  The dip was good and went well with the lamb, although I would have preferred it to be a bit minty.  Lamb just doesn't seem right without mint.

 

 

The lamb cutlets got Mel's vote as the best tapas dish - mine was the tiger prawns.

 

And THEN ... it was time for the main meals!  I really felt like some paella, so we ordered the Paella Mariscos - which was a huge plate of paella, on top of which sat some prawns, mussels, scallops and squid.  It really hit the spot for me ... the paella was soft and fluffy without being soggy - and the pesto and almonds they added to it was perfect.

 

 

We also had the pan seared cod, which came sitting on a bed of zucchini, carrots, asparagus and red peppers.  YUM-MY!

 

 

And if you think we were done, you are highly mistaken!!  Let's not forget dessert ........

 

We had the Bitter Chocolate Tarte, which came with some strawberries on top, as well as a blackberry sauce topping.  Oh my gawd ... the slight bitterness of the dark chocolate blended perfectly with the tanginess of the blackberry sauce, and it was SINFUL ...

 

 

AND (yes, there's more!) - we also had tiramisu ... proper tiramisu ... with liquer.  But really, it was a bit disappointing, as you could hardly taste the Kahlua, and - being the tiramisu queen that I am - I felt that there wasn't enough marcarpone cheese.

 

So here we are finally ... stuffed beyond belief ...

 

 

I mean, we polished off EVERYTHING ... including the desserts ...

 

 

 

What a night!

 

I am really looking forward to my Mabul / Sipadan trip next week - not only did I manage to get a free ticket (yay, Air Asia!) - I'm also going with experienced divers, thus not much jaga-ing to be done.  My aim this trip is to photograph frogfish.  I would love to say my aim is to photograph seahorses - since they are my most absolute favorite of all sea creatures - but then the only seahorses they have in Mabul are pygmy seahorses.

 

 

Really really beautiful creatures, and also really really small, measuring only about, oh say, no larger than 1cm, usually smaller.  That's about the size of your fingernail clipping. 

 

So I shall make it my aim to photograph my second of all favorite marine creatures, which is the frogfish! 

 

Frogfish range anywhere from about 1cm in length ...

 

 

to about 30cm in length ...

 

 

I LOVE them, not just because of their variety - they come in SO many different colours - but also because they have the most amazing behavior and characteristics that set them way apart from other sea creatures. 

 

For one, they don't swim very often.  To move across small distances, they half amble, half gallop, using their strangely developed "feet".  If they need to move slightly further distances, they suck in a large quantity of water through the mouth and force it out through their gill openings - this results in a kind of forward propulsion, a few centimeters above the ground.

 

 

They are also masters at camouflage, often looking very much like the rock, coral or sponge they are sitting on ...

 

 

But then like everything else in life, you get the rebels and those who insist on standing out and being different from the rest of its species ... I have a soft spot for these types! 

 

 

So much for camouflage - bright yellow against bright red!!!  How not to love??

 

When frogfish feed, they engulf their prey by opening their mouths wide and sucking them in.  They sometimes yawn too ... but one has to be very patient to sit there and wait for it to open its mouth.  I hope to be quick enough to be able to catch a picture of that this trip!

 

In any case, I'm looking forward to going and to spending some time in my home away from home ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The brother of one of my divers claims to be a numerologist, or a fortune teller, or a psychic, or whatever they are calling themselves nowadays.  I know they are probably slightly different, and one probably does not have nice things to say about the other - much like people in advertising versus people in PR (!) - but anyways, he asked for my full name and birthdate, and proceeded to write down the following. 

 

(I am writing it word for word, comments written in italics are my own, wrong spelling and grammatical errors are his ... )

 

1.  They are moderately tall (I can't believe he still wrote that after seeing me in person ... or perhaps he has a different measuring tape - I am NOT even remotely, slightly, moderately tall - I am short !!) and have an attractive appearance (or maybe he's just terribly short sighted!!)

 

2.  Their fame and status will advance day by day (that's quite scary, especially when my role models of fame and status are bitch divas, such as Kimora Lee Simmons!)

 

3.  They will never be deprived of their energy (obviously he didn't see me moping around the house when Norman, my stomach virus, came a-visitng)

 

4.  They are a very alert beings (despite the obvious lack of basic English mastery skills, he was spot-on ... I AM a being of sorts.  Don't know about alert though)

 

5.  They have touch with people engaged in various professions (I am IN TOUCH with people of various professions, yes - not sure if I HAVE TOUCH - can't I go to jail for that?)

 

6.  They form friendship with others at once (No arguments there - I form very distinct likes and dislikes almost immediately upon meeting someone for the first time, and we're either friends then, or we'll never be)

 

7.  It is no exaggeration to say that they are luckly luckly people and that they are always surronded by friends (thanks for 'surronding' me, people, I'm so 'luckly'!!)

 

8.  They enjoy music, dance and similar arts with deep absorption (yeah, my absorption was so deep that I fell asleep at my first ballet recital as a drama student in Australia - but true about music and the arts)

 

9.  As they have faith in God, they manage to escape from many a delicate situation (thanks to my mom for her ceaseless prayers and supplications on my behalf!)

 

10.  They cannot conceal anything when they talk (no shit!!!)

 

11.  Hence others will call them innocent (not the word I had in mind ... most people just call me bitchy!)

 

12.  They willl plan each activity in such a way that it wil be profitable to them as well as being useful to others (yeah, I organize dive trips - useful to you, profitable for me - most times lah)

 

Profession:

 

All professions connected with luxury articles are good for these people (what, the Rolex of dive computers?  The Prada of wetsuits?  The Louis Vuitton of dive bags?  The Jimmy Choo of booties?  The Dolce & Gabbana of masks?? HEL-LOW!).  

Further, commission work, contracts, agencies, steel business and transport business will bring them success.

 

Diseases: (not Health, but Diseases!)

 

Likely to suffer from diseases due to impure water in body (hmmmm ... gotta stop swallowing sea water then when my throat gets dry during a dive!)

It would be good to start reducing the quantity of sugar and salt in food (damn, there goes the food section of my blog)

 

Lucky numbers:  5 & 6

Lucky dates:  5, 14, 23, 6, 15, 24, 1, 10, 19 & 28

Lucky stones:  Diamonds, zircon & emerald

Lucky colours:  Ash grey, pale green & pale blue

 

Sign Name:  LYS YEEN  (23) - 10,008 times.

 

 

 

         

 

 

The Prince left last Saturday, thus the silence from my end.  Yes, the living room floor is spic and span now, being cleared of all toys.  Yes, we can open the windows and balcony door without being afraid he'd throw anything over the railing and kill someone walking 7 floors below.  Yes, we don't have to tiptoe around the house in the morning and speak in whispers, afraid of waking him up.

 

BUT ... there is also no more cheerful cries of "HI Tai Yee!!!" ... no more cheeky pokes or pats ... no one to go "again! again!" when he wants you to repeat something he found amusing or fun ... no more spontaneous hugs of affection ... no more bath time games and chats ...

 

AIYAH ...........................

 

Anyway, the Prince told my sister who told my mom who told me (see how we communicate in this family??  It's like the game we play where there's a long line of people, and you whisper something in the ear of the person sitting next to you, and it gets passed from one ear to another - and by the time it gets down to the end of the line, what started out as 'Let Sleeping Dogs Lie' has become 'The Donkeys On The Butterfly' - true story!!  This actually happened!!)

 

Anyway, as I was saying ... the Prince took his Pooh Bear and went up to my sister and said that Pooh Bear was sad.  Apparently, Pooh missed Malaysia.  So my sister played his favourite games with him and eventually, 'Pooh Bear' was "feeling better" ... and after a while, Pooh Bear was even Happy. 

 

So cute, but also sad, right? 

 

Nothing compared to how much we miss having him around though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to take the day off today, after much internal deliberation.  It's funny how you don't think twice when you're working for someone else, but when it's your own business, it's so difficult to blow off a day!  In any case, I went into the office at 7:40-ish this morning after dropping Mel off at school, worked solidly for about 2.5 hours, since the Prince doesn't get up so early anyways, and then went back home. 

 

Well, he STILL wasn't awake, and didn't wake till a good 40 mins after I got home!

 

Spent the day with them at Bangsar Vilage ... that place totally rocks.  I LOVE the restaurants - am mad about the shops - and it's just such a nice, shopper-friendly place.  We had lunch at Bakerzin ... I had the pumpkin soup, which was tasty enough, but I would have prefered it to be creamier and thicker.  Mom had the mushroom soup, which was okay too - but as far as mushroom soups go, I still prefer the one at Italiannies.  It did, however, have a huge dollop of cream in it, which was probably it's saving grace.

 

 

 

The Prince had his pasta, which was okay, though nothing to really shout about.  My sister had the mushroom vol-au-vent ... the pastry was lovely - light and fluffy ...

 

 

But the DESSERTS just took our breath away .... I wish we could have tried everything, but obviously with just 3 and a half of us, that wasn't possible.  We deliberated long and hard, and finally settled on three varieties ...

 

We had the strawberry tart - which was basically loads of strawberries on a cookie-like base and loads of whipped cream on the top - it was heavenly!  The base was crunchy without being hard - the cream was tasty without being too sweet - and it was like ... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ...

 

 

We also had the strawberry slice - it was basically strawberries served on a bed of puff pastry, filled with custard and sprinkled with icing sugar - what can I say - we love strawberries!!  Again, the pastry was fluffy and light, and melt-in-your-mouth yummy.  The custard balanced the strawberries perfectly, and it was orgasmic.

 

 

Finally, we had the apple strudel - again, delicious pastry and chockablock full of apple slices.  You could taste the cinnamon, but it wasn't overpowering like it can sometimes be - again, a generous spread of cream - and again, mmmmmmmmmmmmm ...

 

 

So after a most satisfying dessert pig-out, we decided to walk it off.  I must say the Prince is amazingly patient - he would just amuse himself while us ladies tried on various articles of clothing.

 

(Note to self:  VERY bad idea to try on clothes after stuffing your face with dessert!)

 

Eventually after emerging from what must have been our 5th or 6th shop, the Prince turned to me, flashed me his dimpled grin, and said "Tai Yee, ice cream time!" ... so he got his Haagen Daaz ...

 

 

All in all, a most satisfying day indeed!!

 

And oh, I stubbed my toe on the chair leg, and it hurt, and the following took place:

 

Me:  Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow.

 

(Prince runs over to where I'm hopping around, kneels on the ground and plants a kiss on my toe)

 

Him:  It's awight, Tai Yee, all better now ..

 

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW ...................

 

Here are some snippets of conversations I've had with the Prince on separate occasions:

 

While shopping:

 

Me:  Are you tired?

Him:  Not tired .... happy!

Me:  Oh, that's good!!  It's good to be happy!

 

We were tasting ice-cream, and the Prince was so cute that the counter dude decided to give him a little extra in his cup.  So after taking the first scoop, he put his scooper in for another litle bit.

 

Me:  Wow, look!  More ice-cream!

Him:  Yes, please!

 

During bathtime, after I had said he had 1 minute left in the tub, he discovered a new game of throwing water all over the floor.

 

Him:  New game, Tai Yee, 5 minutes more.  That fair?

 

How to say No, he asked in such a cute way??!

 

Last night after I had thrown him into bed, which is a game we play every night, where I pick him up and half swing, half throw him into bed.

 

Me:  Okay!  Enough!  Time for your Milo now.

 

(He usually has his Milo before the throwing game, but I was going to spend some time with Mel before HER bedtime, so had to throw him first.  Oh, the demands on my time!)

 

Him (with hand over mouth):  OH!!  Milo!!  Milo, mommy!  Forgot Milo!  How did that happen??

 

Bear in mind that he's only about to turn three, but he says such mature sentences sometimes ... it's really very entertaining!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Prince declared last night that we were all to have ice cream for dessert.  So we all had a mini Magnum each ... hopefully we will have more such decrees in the near future!!

 

 

 

Mom and dad had a dinner party last night for some friends of theirs.  Mom cooked up a storm, it was divine.  She must single-handedly be the best cook in the world, I swear.  She made Thai laksa and "lor mai farn" - and it was sooooooo yummy ... just look at these!!

 

 

I think when the food is colourful and aesthetically pleasing, it tastes just that bit better ....

 

Anyway, after the chit chat and munching on tidbits part of the evening was over, and it was time to dig into the REAL food, one of my mom's friends filled a bowl with noodles and the condiments, and poured the gravy into the bowl.  The men were still sitting around at that point, and I thought, "Oh, how nice ... ladies first and all that" ... and then my illusion of old school gentlemenly-ship was shattered in the most drastic of ways when the said lady served her husband!  When it was commented upon, the chauvanist pig folded his arms across his chest and smugly said "Oh, she always serves me" ...

 

My sister and I simultaneously gagged at that comment and the way it was said ... my dear old dad, who's been living with 4 die-hard feminists in his house for as long as he can remember, said, "You're the last of your generation - nowadays, it's the other way around, the men have to serve the ladies" ...

 

YOU GO, DAD!!

 

Anyway ... here are some pics of the evening ...

 

 

Mel really enjoys her wine!  Wonder who she gets that from .... hmmmmmmmmm ....

 

 

 

 

For reports of the dive trip from a student diver's point of view, check out Doreen's Blog !!

This is my favorite picture from this last Tioman trip ... !

 

This last Tioman trip reminded me again of how much I love the ocean, and why.  Only when you dive can you understand the magic of the sea.

 

The visibility was fantastic ... I mean ... just look at the photos!  Even the house reef had amazing visibility - it was just blue blue blue ... the sea was calm, nary a wave ... the sun was shining - and it was simply magical.

 

Having competent divers absolutely helped.  They were comfortable and watching them have such a blast while diving gave me a real kick. 

 

We had some amazing interactions with marine life - much more than we normally would.  For some reason, the fish were extremely curious and friendly this trip.  During our first open water dive, there was a huge tuskfish (about 3 feet in length!) that kept circling us, and actually swimming in-between us, in and out of the circle we had formed kneeling on the sand.  Infact, it even let Albert stroke it - I'm sure it thrilled him as much as it thrilled me watching him have such a blast with it!  These moments of acceptance are so precious!

 

During our Renggis dive, there was a school of very playful batfish, that kept circling us and swimming up to us ... it let us stroke them, and they were playing with our bubbles, and it was just really really nice to be able to interact with them.  We also saw sharks and barraccuda, cuttlefish, a hawksbill turtle, giant grouper - loads and loads of small reef fish in massive schools ... and having the water so clear was great as well - we could see at least 20 meters, and that was cool.

 

At Pirate Reef, we saw a pair of cuttlefish - and the female was laying her eggs into a huge batch of fire coral - and the students were delighted to be able to witness this.  I got a video of it too, if you're interested!  I can't post it on here - or I don't know how to - but I have it with me if you wanna see it!

 

And it was just a really good trip.

 

Everyone was certified - they did above and beyond the minimum requirements to pass their open water certification - and they got along with each other and they were fun - and it was just G-R-E-A-T!!

 

Of course coming home was especially exciting for me because my sister and the Prince arrived from Australia on Saturday night - and watching him get excited upon seeing me was absolutely heart warming!!

 

So I am refreshed - and I still love the ocean - and I love the Prince - and everything is right in my little universe.  Happy!  

 

Off to Mersing today, into Tioman tomorrow, back Monday evening .......

 

Later, 'gators!

During dinner last night, we were discussing a subject - oh okay, talking about someone - and I commented by saying, "Do you really think so-and-so gives two hoots about the way she is hurting others with her words and actions?" ... and mom started to say something like, "Well, she should", etc ... and I said, "Mom, that was a rhetorical question" ...

 

And Mel goes, "What's that?  What's a rhetorical question?" ... and I go "It's a question you ask to make a statement, or to emphasize something - not to get an answer" ... and she goes "Oh" ...

 

Then we go on discussing the previous subject.

 

And then Mel goes, "So mom, I've been quite good today, I get an ice-cream, right?" ... and I'm like, "No, you can have mango for dessert, it's healthier," ... and she looks at me and goes, "That was a rhetorical question, you're not supposed to answer, I was making a point about getting my ice-cream" ...

 

We burst out laughing, of course. 

 

But no, she didn't get her ice-cream.

 

 

 

I received this email from the Prince today, in response to an e-card I sent him saying that I can't wait to see him next Monday ...

 

lzhbcdeqxdkpaerrttygggyfrfgfdryecyyvyfyfaklekhhuuhyyyguhuhouytrwahjgvjgg
1234567890
ayx
fygtl
gq6ufyg0
tfhvyhkiopqfytyyyfhghvglidqapsemntdfytygtytrre
hrfgyfdyrfyyyrtygfhrttffr
cfrewqsfdKE
FDGDFVFADdDYTFYTTRYYRTHYGTGRSDHFTDTFFTTDTDDFTFDTFDTERRTTFTFTTO
FFRYTYFRT

 

Is that cute or what??!

 

Anyway, it took me a while to break the code, but what he's really saying is:

 

Dear Tai Yee,

 

Before I can finish counting 1234567890, I will be getting on an aeroplane and coming to see you.

 

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEE YOOOUUUUUUUUU!!