I am going to sign myself up for ballroom dancing and kick-boxing. Sounds like fun isn't it?? Well, I have actually done kick-boxing some time ago and been to several classes. It's fast-paced, all moves and incorporates dance routines as well. It was all good fun! I wonder if I can learn how to dance to the tune of "Better in Time" by Leona Lewis. It is my absolute favourite song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrNoDUblAtE

One particular news on TV actually encouraged people to try pole-dancing! Surprise, surprise! Well, it's a really healthy activity because it incorporates every inch of your body for all the different moves possible with and on the pole. But still, I reckon dancing would be more suitable for me as I like something that can make me sweat like hell and can be done with a partner or with others in a group environment. I do not prefer solitary activities.

If I manage to master just any one kind of dance, then I've done almost everything that I yearn for. I am a very active person and any excess energies I need to expense. The only other thing is sky-diving although I have a sickening phobia of heights. Oh well, that makes it even more challenging, doesn't it??

It's hard to say goodbye to anything/anyone in the past. Honestly, it pains your heart and sometimes you wish that things will be the same as before and nothing will ever change. Even the death of our dog just recently is a heartache to all of us, especially my youngest sister. It's hard to accept the agony of eternal farewell.

I have had 4 dogs now ever since we moved to our new home when I was 12 years old. The first one I remembered vividly was from my primary school best friend. Her dog at that time had quite a few new-borns and so she gave us one. Tyro was a cross-breed. I cannot remember what his bloodline was now but he was definitely not a large breed. Mum decided to give him away after 3 years to one of our friends who had a bigger yard than us. Because they adored Tyro so much, I relented in the end convinced that he would be in good hands.

A couple of years later, I bought Tiger together with my ex-bf as a christmas gift to my mum. By then my mother was feeling a tad bit lonely and she wanted a dog to keep her company. So we bought her a Bull Mastiff. He was the gentlest creature that we've ever seen and I loved him to bits. He was a massive breed and I could pretend he was a little pony and ride on him. He was incredible. We had him for 4 years even after I left for studies in Melbourne. But at the end of my final year of University, we decided that my bf's family needed him more than we do because Tiger was a good guard-dog and they have just moved into a large house. It was still all good until we ended our relationship and Tiger stayed at his place. I was still visiting Tiger during the first year after we broke off but then subsequently, I stopped because it became too inconvenient for both of us. I missed Tiger tremendously because he was the very first dog that I single-handedly brought up.

Now we only have Furgo, our golden retriever after Heuger died from a car accident a week ago. It was depressing to lose something that you have always taken for granted to be around. Having pets is the most rewarding and wonderful experience one can have but the death of them can be something that tears you apart as well. As with life itself, sometimes, we take things for granted. When we come to appreciate them, they are gone and lost and we can never find them back. But when I feel the separation is too hard to bear, I will remember and remind myself that the good memories did exist and still exist in the deepest parts of my being and even though circumstances are different now, those memories are not forgotten and they will always be the sweetest parts of my life.

Partnership in Marriage

I have had so many different kinds of friends in my short 27 years of life and now going on 28. I hear many stories and some of them tell me they are unhappy about who they are because they think they are unworthy of better things. And some of them kept insisting that I am so lucky to have found my perfect match and that because I am born lucky, they can never be the same as I am. In my defense, I want to say that is all such delusional talk and that is why, I want to quote Pastor Joel Osteen, "Don't talk about the way you are, talk about the way you want to be".

In retrospect, Meng and I are completely different beings. He is reserve, level-headed, domesticated and peace-loving. I on the other hand, am vivacious, loud, active and sometimes hot-headed. So how can two very different beings get together? Friendship and tolerance. I always believe that the deepest aspect in a marriage/relationship is friendship and partnership. It never fades and you can feel reliant, safe and strong when you know you have your best friend braving the storms with you, edging you on when you feel like giving up. That far surpasses love. People don't understand how we work. Meng is quiet. So what? I love to invite friends for dinner and meeting new people. He respects that and I introduced him to a wider circle of friends. He is patient and so he gives in to my sometimes whims and fancies. I love the outdoors so I get him to go running with me in the mornings and even organize a Tai Chi class for us to join so we can stay fit and healthy. In short, we try to do everything together and find a common way of life. Although we may not be the most compatible couple around, we try to work our way around to fit each other's lifestyles as best as we can. That is partnership.

In the past, I did not know why my relationships failed. Often times, I give in too much and I tend to lose myself admist it all. Then the love waned and then I try to find myself again. You can fall in love many times but if you are not capable of establishing a strong friendship in your relationship, it will continue to fail. The crux of having a happy life and marriage is to change yourself, not for anything else but to appreciate what the other has to offer. Do things together as partners and enjoy each other's company. There is a lot of people that you can find yourself interested in but there are few you can share genuine connection and profound friendship with. That, is an invaluable thing. Sometimes your partner may not be what you see yourself to become. You don't have to change yourself entirely to suit the other person. In fact, be yourself but respect the change that you need to make to ensure the relationship stays healthy and strong. No sacrifice is big enough to let go of your true companion.

Nothing is too late if you want to stop living in the dyfunctional life you are in now. Every relationship can succeed. Everything broken can be mended if you put your heart into it.

Love

Love is:

His callous hands that grip me strong;
His hearty laugh that makes me smile;
His doleful eyes with earnest and truth;
His quiet disposition, thoughtful and wise;
His faithfulness, locks sturdy and secure;
His pleasing manners, makes me wonder;
How anyone could love me madder;
His gentleness and genuine kindness;
Makes every pain a minuscule passer;
His devotion and loyalty like mine paralleled;
It's all that words are not sufficient to jabber...

Yum Cha

Who said Yum Cha is only ideal for elderly people? Here in Melbourne, amongst the younger community, we go for Yum Cha whether it's for a friend's birthday, a get together or just after a tremendous calories burning session (i.e. cold morning jogs). Anyway, I remember Yum Cha back home in Malaysia were always with my family. My mum will drag me up at 7am in the morning to get ready (because I'm basically really slow) and take me out for morning tea. In Melbourne, Yum Cha starts at 11am the earliest and the second session at 1pm. It's pretty much brunch if you really look at it and it's the best thing that someone who is not an early bird can enjoy. I
especially love it during my uni days because during the stressful times of staying up till the wee hours in the mornings to study, I can still get hot steaming buns and some of my favourite Yum Cha dishes even if I woke up late.

The dishes served here and back home are not entirely different but there are certainly more selections in terms of choices here. Most of them are a hybrid of western and eastern crusines like my favourite melted cheese with ham bits on scallops/oysters. Totally yummy! And they serve egg tarts and other sweets as well and I especially enjoy the mango pudding with evaporated milk. This is something that you can't simply find in anyone of the asian restaurants back home. In Melbourne, almost 80% of the restaurants here provide desserts as part of their menus whereas back home, only cafes and western restaurants have that (unless of course I'm so out of touch now with the eating culture in Malaysia that I am totally clueless and mistaken).

And so we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly like the ageing people that we are (haha) at Westlake restaurant for Yum Cha to celebrate Ada's birthday. The food was good, the company was great and most importantly, we get to sleep in before our brunch at 11.30am. What more can you ask for?? And so, Yum Cha is becoming more like a "must do" activity whenever someone comes to visit us. I will definitely schedule one of their afternoons for this. Believe me, this is the closest you can get to actually being physically in Hong Kong to get true blue Cantonese style Yum Cha. Even I have managed to pick up some very handy cantonese phrases and words to use now :) " Yat long har gau, mh goi" (in broken pingying meaning, one serve of prawn dumplings pls, thank you!)

Another blurb of Kwon Sang Woo

I absolutely looove Kwon Sang Woo. I might have mentioned it like a trillion times now but I never get bored even if it's a zillion (if there is) times! Don't tell me I'm being one of those childish teenage girls who would scream their lungs out or break their necks just to have a glimpse of their heart-throbes. To be perfectly honest, yes, I would do the very same...I am so smitten with his smile. It is just such a teaser. I love guys with a nice smile and who at the same time eludes a kind of morose and mystery and you can never tell what he is thinking of. But when he smiles, the whole world lights up as well...I am such a great fan of his that when I used to be single 3 years ago, one of my friends actually pulled a joke on me by saying he would introduce someone to me who looked very much like Kwon Sang Woo. In the end, I was in such high anticipation but it turned out to be just a prank. Bummer!

To top it off, I also missed him when he was in Singapore in the same year. I am not a Bimbo, believe me...I am not just his fan for superficial reasons. His acting is also devastatingly good. He always makes me cry and I can literally feel his love everytime I watch him act. His eyes are amazing. I know there are other
actors that many would think better than him but the way he uses his eyes to convey his feelings and that amazing smile of his just makes my heart melts... :)

Anyway, now that he is happily married and just had a baby boy doesn't make me admire or like him any less. In fact, he's still my object of infatuation.

Lunchtime today I made a really interesting discovery. I was just bored reading the news about yet more swine flu attacks and so started a random search for the most famous blogger in Singapore and I got hits for the web-blog of someone called Xiaxue. By now, some Singaporeans or even Malaysians would be going "oh...". She is really quite famous in Singapore and to be honest, when I saw her photos, she did not really took my fancy but when I saw her clips on U-Tube, I actually find her really funny and amusing. In fact, I kind of like the way she expressed herself and her honesty in everything. In short, she is so Singaporean that it is precisely why I am somewhat hooked to watching her video clips on U-Tube and find it utterly outrageous yet interesting.

One of my favourite clip is of her going for a tongue pierce. I can never imagine myself doing it and actually getting to watch the entire procedure makes it somewhat intriguing. I had done a naval pierce and it is almost similar but then you get to lie down and the pain was nothing. Although I have to say, the swell and the pain a while later does get to you. If you are keen, or just like to see what it's like or who she is, you can Google her name and you'll find her blog. She has got tons of pictures on so if you are a graphic person, then bravo, you'll fall in love with the many many photos she has posted online. Below is the link of a sample video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV3poYnsuOY&feature=related

One of the other things that I came across was her having her hair bleached blonde. I have met so many Asian gals here doing the same but I do not have the guts to do it. The integral reason of all is that it would badly damage my already parched hair. Speaking of hair, I was actually thinking of dyeing it back to black as oppose to the light ash brown I have now. But I've got strong protests from many friends especially those at work who said that my hair colour makes me look more "exotic" and they cannot imagine me in black which is said to be dull and lifeless...I can't even remember how I looked like before and the one and only photo that still bears evidence of me in my natural hair colour is this on the right which looks a bit corny...

And now I am in the same room with my house-mate Ada who just got striking red streaks done today. They look absolutely FABULOUS!-at least, to me. Well, I might decide to get mine done in the weekend now. I will really reconsider changing my hair colour because majority wins and no one likes me black. But, I am definitely getting it trimmed. My hair is now so long the back of it is near my hip...almost. If anyone is happy to go blonde or contemplating it, you can watch the below~it's hilarious! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve1qwnFdIbg