its never easy, rite?

Waking up today, feeling as if I didn't sleep much last night. I dragged myself to the Melbourne office, to start my first day as an instructor. Gosh...its rather terrifying and it didn't help, that my mind refuse to stick to the script. Sigh....I'm glad I didn't kill any of the poor kids from boredom/confusion.

Then...my period decided that its the right time to resurface. Ugh......backache, ripping pain in the abdomen and while all these happens at once, I have to stand up straight and look normal. Horrible!!! Can't even finish my sandwich during lunch........

When the whole thing ends, I head back to the hotel that the company booked. Lovely....big fluffy pillows....and seriously huge for me alone, if not too huge! Still feeling crap, I called Sum to whine and to catch up with her.......

Sadly head down to Crowns ....for my lonely dinner tonight. Wasn't up for any company anyway....too tired, too grumpy, aching all over.......feeling all sad and sorry for myself.

And then.....a darling of a waitress appears. Gosh...lovely service. I asked about serving size, she gave perfect advice......and when I told her I feel like having chocolate cake....and don't which one to order.....she suggested the Choc Mud Cake....and I say I'll like it warm. No problem she says...and off she goes bringing me a lovely Choc Mud Cake to takeaway...........

What makes it special, she gave me a knowing wink....i think she knows...its the period day...hence, a girl needs a little TLC and lots of chocolate............ah...............its good to have a little kindness at the end of the day!

its the same everywhere...

when's my last entry?

I can't even remember. Should have been more than a month I supposed.

Lately, life had not been treating me good....its not critically bad, but its not smooth sailing either...its bump after bumps...

First, its the mother of all flu ...my first flu in Adelaide and its crap. And to top it all off, I've got a flu vaccine early March. That pretty much gets me down....blown out for 2 whole day, and on the 3rd day I find the energy to get up and go to work in a groggy state. Which is not exactly a good idea to go back to work, but then audit being audit, there's a deadline.

Then its the week at Melbourne...and a boss from the previous job who called and reminded that its my responsibility as the team leader , regardless of where I am located, to get the cashflow checked, financial statement out by next morning. It didn't help that she didn't bother listening and won't take NO for an answer. So much for the work-life balance. I wouldn't be as much as angry, if I don't hear from the Partners claiming that they are doing some planning to reduce overtime and to spread work evenly, and hence no overtime is required. Well, at that point in time, when my Senior Manager insist I work through the night to meet the deadline, regardless that I'm also working on another client in Melbourne....all I can think is...BS..really , so much of BS....

All this time, I'm still struggling with the remaining of the flu that refuse to go.....

ITs good that I have Sumita in Melbourne. Its good to have someone you can just walk into and tell, "Sum..I have the worst day ever, and i'm homesick and i seriously need company and some TLC"......and to top it all off, my period decide to come and wreck havoc with my hormones...

And the sisters arrived in Melbourne and that did cheer me up heaps.

Then back to work in Adelaide......busy week, on a superannuation audit. Rush and rush, half the time I don't know what I'm doing.......my boss is super busy ..not exactly accessible so its hard to get any coaching. It didn't help that client is on the presumption that they have superannuation experts on the audit team. Seriously, auditors should take some acting class.....that'll help them do their job better.....

and then the sisters arrived in Adelaide. Spend the weekend in Hahndorf and then Barossa valley over the weekend. And back to work while sisters take care of the house and do a bit of traveling.......rushing back home everyday to bring them out for dinners....they cooked me, Elaine, Shane and Sue Ann a dinner at home too...which is lovely. Its really tiring and busy for me......and viola, the flu came back...

Initially, I thought its just me being tired and probably a little bit of sore throat and of course, constantly in a groggy state......a cross between a headache and inability to focus. Went to see the doctor, hoping that he'll give me a medical certificate so I can rest at home for a day (officially - the bossess have no right to ask me to work when I'm sick here...its a big no no here). Well, ended up, I'm actually down with fever, a slightly infected throat and right ear and the doctor reckoned I have another viral infection (i think that's a flu...)

So....spend the long weekend recuperating.....a lot of sleep..and rests. NO work at all....since Thursday. And now, I'm dreading the mountain of work...accumulated from last Thursday till now.........

Well, it will be a great Tuesday.....it have to be great.......a big big day......

~mh is glad to get this off her chest....and pray hard that she will come back a human (not a zombie) tomorrow!~

Life is tough....because no one dare claim that its ever easy

past few weeks had been tough

both at work and in the home front

haih...

sad...

tired....

disappointed...

sniffy flu

I hate flu or any sort of cold. Whatever flu virus is made of....its out there to wreck you day..or for some, days.

Suddenly, you have no control of your mind, on your snot can't stop leaking from your nose....running nose is not even close.....and then, you get to sneeze like every 10-15 mins....till your neck and back hurts....

But I'm just glad that the doctor don't think that the flu is exactly the swine version of it....though he say any indication of going hot and cold (like to the extreme of cold and hot) then I'll have to start worrying.......

And meanwhile, I have snuggle up in my room...brain totally in Groggo-land .....and crash....

crashy crashy in groggy mode....with stick some tissue up my nose to stop any leakage.....but then i can't breathe....but hey, the stupid nose of mine is so clogged up that it doesn't matter....

*suddenly i miss my mama very much....thinking of pork ribs porridge, or just plain white porridge with salted duck egg..........* sniff sniff....*

A thought...or a memory ..

Once upon a time.....

MH took a road trip down to Malacca....with 2 friends. Both originated from Malacca.......but one is obviously handicapped when it comes to roads and directions, and thank god we have the other one who serve as , I'll say..a rather satisfying guide...

ANyway...I just remembered a MH moment during that trip.

I was to be shown the "good stuff" ....when it comes to cendol. But it was a Monday and the cendol stall is not open. So we head off to another one, located at the Tan Kim Hock building.

I had durian chendol...which is rather good. But the MH moment during this chendol search.....is that the 2 malaccan got all excited that they see Mr Tan Kim Hock at the Tan Kim Hock building.

I'm like ....errr....what's so special about that leh? Tan Kim Hock face is plaster high up at the building........a huge poster of him!

An the Malaccan girl goes like " NO!!!!!!!!!!!! MH....not the poster....the real thing la. Tan Kim Hock just walked to his white mercedes and chaffeured off.....!"

I gave them the blank face and blurted this " But...i thought Tan Kim Hock is no longer here (aka deceased)? That's why they put his picture up at the building........"

Well, the 2 malaccan were laughing all the way when we got down from the parking lot and head off for our durian chendol.

*BLUSH*

~MH would like to apologise to Mr. Tan Kim Hock. No offence intended........!~

A week of a carnivorous woman's life....

Sunday morning (late morning), had a light brekky at Melbourne St. ......a mushroom omelette and a good cuppa of cappucino.

Munch on some macadamias (I'm so hooked on nuts.......even though i suspect they are the reason for my expanding waistline, which has taken the shape of spare tyre..........) and slept.

Nothing left in the fridge, but some anchovies, a few stalk of celery, loads of carrots and potatoes. Well, the easiest thing to cook from all that is make some anchovy stock, dunk some pasta/macaroni and chuck all the vegs for a simple dinner.

Well, I had that for dinner, had the left over for lunch the next day, and by the end of the day....

I have this light and airy feeling......

I think my body is detoxing......

because for the past 24 hours......

I didn't have any meat...............

Seriously, people should know the importance of meat....

Without it, its hard to feel "human"..........

Driving home after work, I'm still wondering what's wrong with me....why do I have this empty feeling in my gut.......and I saw KFC along Anzac Highway. It struck me then that I have not eaten any meat and .......I guess you know the rest of the story. KFC to the rescue.....2 piece of fried chicken........

If there's a roadside bakuteh stall in Adelaide, I think I'll tahan and drive there for a meat fix!!!!

Anyway, I survived the rest of the week with crappy food from :

1) Had Domino's Pizza at Elaine's place. 4 large pizza for 4 adults.......

2) Tried Yum Sing Express from Glenelg. Fastfood Chinese Sytle ..........which, I personally thing, is more of ang moh food impersonating to be chinese food. Fried chicken pieces skewered with a sate stick is their version of sate chicken, spring roll...well its spring roll la. And butterish fried rice......together with one serve of salt & pepper squid.

All for less than $10. I can't complain...coz its considered dirt cheap for dinner. Its hard to have a meal outside that cost less than AUD10.

3) I'm late in meeting the girls for movies down at Palace Cinema, Rundle St. So late that I didn't have time to grab a burger or something from the likes of Hungry Jacks, McDonalds or KFC. Had a big pack of popcorn (yucky coz its salty) , coke and to end that with a Choc Top ice cream.

By then, I have this gnawing feeling that I'm not eating right........

And decided to do something about it :

Char Siew - the way Mom makes it :

Covered the marinated pork belly in foil, and chuck it in hot oven (200 degrees Celcius). After about 30-40 mins, the slab of fat meat look like that :

Sliced it into small pieces :

Put the remaining marinade on the pork slices, and chuck the plate of fatty char siew in the making into the oven - uncovered.

After...I think another 30 mins, the char siew turn out like that :

While waiting for the char siew to cook, I cooked the following :

I MISS STAYING AT HOME....................every night have good food from mommy....

I MISS Kuala Lumpur...where real food is just a stone throw away......................

I MISS all my friends in KL..........who are just a phone call away when I need to have a good makan.....................

I MISS rocky....who really rock my world....

But ...but......

But i don't miss the freaking long working hours........

I don't miss the traffic jams

I don't miss my RM/hr pay..................wahahaha...that's really crappy. I can't imagine for the 2.5 years with the Big 4, I have about 1 month overtime accumulated, that's on top of the 2 months leave I've utilised during 2008. You can do some maths.....assuming 8 std hours/working day, for 52 weeks (that's assuming there's no public holidays), plus 20 days (1 month worth of working days) multiply by 3 mths, i.e, I would have worked for 2560 days per annum (that's the average, ok....). That's more than 40 hr/week.......can someone out there tell me if that's legal???

Seriously, I think I'm worst than a confused teenager.......kekekekek

hell of a weekend

I mean it literally. After the traumatic experience of being fined for traveling at 57km/hr, I'm literally spooked out whenever I'm driving in Adelaide. Coming from Malaysia, where 60km/hr is considered "slow-coach" speed, I still dealing with the fact that speed limit can be as low as 40km/hr.

Hence, I've been really careful. Until yesterday. Thought I'll make the most of the spring-ish weather with a whopping 27 degrees and great sunshine. Thought I'll take a drive up to Mount Lofty, get some exercise by taking a walk on trails.....but then, I had to get lost on my way there. Somehow, was stuck in some windy roads .......and I was trying really hard to keep to my lane and look out for a spot to turn back. And as I found a place to turn, a spot along the windy road......I thougth I'll stop and give the map another read, when a police patrol car pull over.

Well, for a second, I thought they have come up to check if I need help, but Mr. Police Officer started the conversation with "Lady, do you know what offence you've committed ?'"

*FACE BLANK* follow by bouts of head shaking left and right

I started to blurt things like I'm trying to get to Mount Lofty Summit and I'm lost....and Mr. Police Officer ask me the question again " Do you know what offence you've commited?"

Well, to cut the story short.......I got an expiation notice (what Malaysian call -traffic summons) for obstructing traffic and failing to give way to a motorcyclist.............

Honestly, I feel really really innocent here....but I really don't know how to argue out of this.
OH...and of course, Mr Police Officer thinks I"m drunk. So I have to do a breathe analyser test.....Great! Now I've finally experience how a breathe analyser test is done.........

that's how my Saturday ended. For the rest of the day, I'm in shock. I manage to drive home, feeling all giddy and worn out. Had a long long nap.....cooked myself some comforting soup with loads of pasta. And watch Madagascar on TV, followed by Batman Begins............thank god, for Christian Bale. Looks so deliciously good.......and not to mention all the cool stuff that Batman can do.........

Then comes today, which is Sunday. Woke up to a morning with super strong wind......the perks of staying at the top unit of an apartment..you get to see the tree tops swaying like mad.

Anyway, had brekkie with Elaine and Shane....at the Central Market Foodcourt. The Laksa was really great.....really close to the real thing. Its only 11.45am by the time we had brekky...and I can't stand another day holing up at home. Took a drive down to Norwood......looking left and right for like 5- 10 times before I dare turn, paying like 95% attention to speed limit and the remaining 5% on the road (not sure if that's a safer option), and head down to HOYTS. Thought I'll watch Coraline for some "entertainment" but I'm 15 mins late and the movie had started. The next movie is My Sisters' Keeper, based on a novel by Jodi Picoult. Not too keen as I'm 98% sure that I'll end up all depressed after watching it, even though I'm sure its a good movie. Watched it anyway........

2 hours later, I end up with swollen red, puffy eyes. I think I can pass as Gavin's or Huay Yin's sister....coz my eyes is really tiny................like REALLLY tiny ...coz the blardy eyelids are swollen from all the crying. Such a heart breaking story............... Its a good thing that almost everyone came out with swollen eyes like mine. I don't feel that awkward....in fact, the girls had a laugh when we look at each other in the toilet........and gave each other a knowing look.

And now....I'm back home. Refuse to sleep....but my head is throbbing from all the crying....and, I'm sitting here, wondering what I can do. 20 mins to 5pm....and when its 5pm............the whole city of Adelaide will be close for business.....save for restaurants, bars, pubs, and well, we still have the cinema open.

What do one do, on weekends here? No wonder they don't mind setting up a barbie and spending all the time preparing and cleaning afterward. Coz that's how they pass time here.
After 8 months here, I beginning to feel that its ok to walk in the parks (there's plenty of that over her) doing literally nothing. OK...maybe you can watched the swans and ducks waddling around, and if you are lucky, you'll spot some parakeets..............

Maybe I should really start taking up knitting..................
Or should I write a book on what to do on weekends?

Anyway guys, there's DOmestic Blitz on TV at 6.30pm. I should get ready and wait for it to start.....how exciting!!!!!!