Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Melbourne's still great

Since I got back to Melbourne, it has been all work and play but no rest. Coming back a week after class started means I have to do extra hours to compensate what I've missed, which I'm not coping very well. On one hand work has been chasing for submission, on the other hand I'm busy drinking everyday. So far, there's not a day in Melbourne without drinking, let it be just a glass before dinner, or getting completely shacked.

When Candyman was back for Christmas/New Year, he not only cleaned up my whole apartment (baby, you're still the best!), bought me 13 bottles of supposed-to-be really great wine during his visit to the vineyards, he also played a game with me. It was Candyman photo hunt. He left 34 photos of himself/us in my super-duper huge apartment and I had so much fun trying to search for them. So far I've found 22 and I just can't figure out where on earth he had placed the remaining. Perhaps if I spend more time at home tidying things up, they would appear. The winning picture would definitely be this one that was found in my rice cooker *chuckle* This man never fail to make me laugh, or sometimes cry!

Thursday, March 06, 2008

The traffic here is annoying the shit outta me

Listen up June darling, I know you're going to Bali for the sun, surf and beach but you also have to check out this label that I found today in this city of massive traffic jam and severe air polution.

Puravida

I was checking out one of their local departmental store and found some very interesting Indonesian label, one being the one mentioned above. Some of the clothes are not what we would wear a.k.a. flare leg bold print pants but most of its collection are so pretty! I especially love the bold print dresses, they are the 100% cotton casual version of Emilio Pucci’s. The only problem that you might face is that their sizes are quite big. A whale like myself is wearing its S and XS.

The shopaholic streak in me has came to live again. Headed to Plaza Semanggi this arvo and discovered the cheap shopping on the lower ground floor. They are of the same stuff as ITC’s but slightly more expensive, however, I reckon it’s still worth getting it considering the amount of time you save from travelling all the way to Mangga Dua. Well, I guess it also depends on where you’re staying.

I got a free taxi ride to the mall but am feeling rather guilty about it, although he screamed at me in Indon and I have no idea what he was on about. The entry road to the mall was closed so he had to go straight. He suggested that I should walk to the mall from where he’s going to drop me off as it’ll take him forever to find the way in. I didn’t mind that but the whole stretch of road was guarded by police who didn’t allow him to pull over. He stopped me at the bus stop regardless and got yelled at by the passengers as he was in the way. I gave him a 50,000 note (the smallest I had) and he had no change. He got grumpy and started scolding me before asking me to get off his car. I got so shocked with him telling me off in a language so strange yet so familiar, people knocking on the back of his car chasing him away, and police walking towards our direction probably to give him a fine/ask for a bribe. I asked him to just take my 50,000 and not have to give me change (fare was only 8,500) but to my surprise, he didn’t want it. He screamed at me and once again asked me to get off his car. So I did. I felt sorry for him to get stuck in traffic and took me to my destination but made nothing out of it.

Traffic in Jakarta is doing my head in. So freaking annoying. Took me forever to get to my destination where I can get there quicker on foot yet I can’t because there’s no footpath and it’s unsafe. Today I saw a hawker stall, yes, a freaking whole stall, parked in the middle of a 4 lanes highway, selling pao (buns). I thought that was hilarious but wasn’t quick enough to snap a picture of it. Hopefully the roads are clear by time we head out for dinner tonight.

Last night we had dinner at the local hawker joint on the street. Annisa recommended us to this place in Taman Menteng and it was truly a local place. We were the only foreigners and had gotten a lot of unnecessary attention but it was harmless. I got all excited and ordered mortabak (very different from Malaysian’s, it was very much like pancake), sate, mie ayam and nasi goreng gila. This dinner had made me happy happy gila too.

Candyman is back from work. We’re going for dinner. Sheesh… I’ve just had a blueberry tart, 2 hours after I had ayam bakar with rice in the mall. I hope I’ll eat less when I return to Melbourne.

p.s. J.Co doughnuts weren’t great at all. I didn’t even remember to write about it until a week later. Krispy Kreme’s original glaze still rocks!

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

In a nutshell

A lot had happened in the past 6 months, that made time seemed to sneak by so quickly. During this time, we’ve progressed from deciding to challenge the distance, to spending every possible second when given the chance, fights after fights while getting to know each other, and this current stage where sometimes we can finish off each other’s sentence. These had made us more committed to each other although there are still times when I felt like digging his brain with a fork and knife but am glad we always end up laughing about how silly we were. Besides giving up my rainbow single life (I absolutely am not complaining!), these times were also filled with lotsa celebrations and very unfortunately, bereavement.

In September, we fell in love and we made the greatest decision of the year.

In October, June and Des got hitched at the end of the month and prior to that, we had a big party at Velvet. The pre-wedding party turned out to be Rodney and Ilya’s “same same but different night”, looking at the album on FB makes me laugh. It was then the best holiday in Boracay before baby Chloe’s full moon dinner party in early November. Headed south to Singapore and further south to Bintan before returning to Melbourne for a full on 2.5 weeks of madness.

The 2.5 weeks consisted of a lot of PK session till dawn. Sleep over in the name of trying out TY’s very expensive new bed. Party followed by more parties at someone’s house regardless it’s the weekend or not. Minh’s slut and skank’s birthday party that got us all dressed up looking like hookers although that’s how some of us look like on a daily basis anyway. Curry day party at Alice’s and TY’s that turned out to be a private rave party of 5, right after a big night out where Alice and I ditched the boys at 161 and returned to my place for a secret party. I've also paid my 3rd visit to Vue De Monde, for its first time, it failed me. Service wasn't of perfection and it was a big disappointment for it has always been the best.
Dorothy came back to KL with me for Kuan’s big day in early December. Like God had gotten everything planned out for us, this trip had also turned out to be a chance for us to have dinner as a family for the very last time. And without much warning, we had to bid goodbye to Dad and that, I have to say is the most painful thing that ever happened to me. Because of that, I was unable to attend Kuan and Sam’s wedding but we had a kick-arse hens party a few days before.


That night was awesome, with heaps to eat, to drink and it’s the first time after so many years that we got a full on girls night. The night, however, ended up with two men in our apartment. Don’t ask me how that happened and we would prefer not to remember but we’re all thankful for the supper they brought, as well as being the idiots who made us laugh till today.

The following two months were filled with lots of quality time with family to keep us sane after realizing that there’s nothing more important than family. It was my first trip home with no partying. Great working experience at 8TV with a room full of cuckoo creative genius. Candyman was with us on the weekends whenever he’s not working overseas or too tied up with work. I’ve also become an intermediate mahjong player after getting sucked dry by my mum and aunt Vanessa, even the red packets from Chinese New Year didn’t help.

After this trip, life would resume next week. It was a long break from a lot of things. It seems so long yet so much had happened, sometimes I just have to remind myself again that I have to take it slowly and take a deep breath. Doesn’t it surprise you that we sometimes forget the most fundamental need in life, like breathe slowly?

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Things we often say

Some of the many quotes from Candyman during the week...

He came to look for me at The Cafe after work,
"Baby, I'll have to book you two seats to go home if you keep eating like this"

He wanting to sleep at night but I was all hyper as usual,
"We've some serious problems here. In the morning, I go hoooo-haaaa-hoooo-haaaaa (while jumping around) and you scream at me and ask me to shut the eff up because you want to sleep. At night, I'm all flat out and you go all weeee-waaaa-weeee-waaaa (dancing around) wanting to play but all I want is to sleep"

Before we head to the mall,
"Okay we should go. Now, go put on some real clothes... something that covers your legs and shoulder"

And from me...

"I'm so full! Can we go get some cakes back to the room, it's buy 1 free 1 time!"

"Touch my skin, touch my skin, they are soooo soft after the scrub at the spa!"

And Candyman's favourite of all quotes that he 'instructed' me to blog about it...
"Baby, I'm so jealous of you. You have a job that allows you to travel so much and stay in 5-star hotels. I wish that would be me because then I'll get to have good cakes everyday at the cafes!"
He laughed so loud and said he couldn't believe all I see in a luxury hotel is the promise of good cakes.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Still in Jakarta

Here I am, sitting at the hotel's cafe by myself, stuffing my face with these figure-threatening cakes and coffee. If this is the life of a tai-tai, then that is not for me. I do have work in hand that I'm committed to, I'm just so skilled in procrastination. I've only been here for a good 7 days and I've put on at least half a size (I can't even suck in my stomach), I cannot imagine that this is what I'll be doing for the rest of my life. Based on what I've been doing, I shall turn into a big fat b1tch with jealous-worthy smooth skin.

So let me tell you what I'm up to in Jakarta. Candyman is here for work and he took me along. While he's working his arse off for about 15 hours a day on an average, yours truly, on the other hand, has been living the decadent life of... of a the girlfriend who's on holiday. Brunch delivered to the room has become a daily thing for the week days. I'll swim every other day but a little disappointed with it being the rainy season, thus, I can't get a nice tan that I imagined I would get. Going to the spa is also an everyday thing, either spa treatment or the traditional Indon massage that my man and I sooooo love, we've been getting that three days in a row now. My daily schedule also includes wandering at the over-the-top mad-arse malls here that have most international designer's brands but I can't afford.

On the first day that I succumbed to the sweet temptation at The Cafe and exposed myself to the ultimate risk of unable to fit into my skinny jeans, I met Annisa - a local girl who waitresses here. She was very friendly, so friendly that she made me feel the instant warmth after wandering alone in town by myself for half a day, in a city so strange to me with no footpath and people knocking on your window in the middle of freeways begging for money. The following day, I was on the verge of blowing up after my two dinners at Plaza Indonesia, I returned to the hotel and headed straight to The Cafe anticipating to see my new friend. I had cakes and tea and chatted with her about what I've bought from the mall and how I would like to get some cheap stuff, like those from Chatuchak, Bangkok. She offered to take me there the following day before her shift.

ITC in Mangga Dua was the place we went with at least 2000 stalls under one roof, selling knockoff hangbags, shoes, clothes for both men and women of all age, as well as toys, electrical goods and food. I reckon they are as cheap as Bangkok if not cheaper and most of them are of better quality. I got baby-Ts for AUD2 and smock dresses for AUD25 top. The most exciting thing was Annisa took me to get Soto-bihun for lunch and had my most favourite bottled ice-tea in the world, Teh Botol. I was so grateful for this babe to get up early after her night shift to take me shopping. This mall is such a local hangout, I was the only foreigner that day and most of them can't speak English. My limited bahasa has saved me a lot of money and I've learnt to pick up the Indon accent by rolling my tongue at r's!

Anyway, back to my lonely life here. Well, it's not that bad. Candyman's colleagues and even bosses are very nice to me but hey, they are here to work. So I've been hanging out by myself in the day and turned down dinner invitations at most evenings as I am the only girl on this trip and it's not normal for them to take girlfriends along on business trip although everyone knows about me. I just don't wanna make them feel uncomfortable with a bimbo around. I did join them for drinks on the first night when they didn't just talk about work. Also had dinner with a big group of them on Friday and went for jazz, drinking and clubbing on the same night. It was good fun and they are really nice people, but in the day... I'm just so lonelyyyyy! Pfftt... I'm such a whinger.

Candyman has been the sweetest boyfriend to me by putting work aside and spent the weekend with me, although that also means he had to stay up till 1am to finish up his work last night. He accompanied me to some very local Padang restaurant for lunch, to ITC again because I wanted to shop more but the crowd had given him a massive headache, to malls that I've not been, non-stop eating and of course, our daily massage fix. The weekend has made up our lost time during the week, smiley is me.

We were supposed to be back in Singapore on Saturday but work needs him here and I chose to stay with him. So what have I seen in Jakarta? Very luxurious mall especially the brand new Pacific Place that has yacht in the middle of the mall with real water; I got lost in the labyrinth of stalls at ITC; kids would harass you on the streets for money, as well as on the freeways; it's not safe to walk on the street because it's very common that people get attacked here; the cakes at The Cafe is so sinfully delicious I deserved to be sent to hell; Indonesian traditional massage is wayyyy better than the Thai's; and my skin is ultra smooth after the spa treatment that I had.

Alright, my man is making noise that I'm spending time online instead of cuddling up with him in bed. Should have an early night and seriously resume on my work tomorrow before I get screamed at. No pictures from Jakarta yet as they're all still sitting in the camera. hugs and kisses from the both of us!