I love the water

It balances me out and rejuvenates me

And life always seems a little easier to deal with when you can be near water

Which is why Redang last week was such a blessing

Helped clear my head and now I can handle a little more crap without the risk of snapping (for a little while)

It was a last minute tag along trip with Henry, Hal and his prospective Mum-in-law and some other friends I'd not met ( or don't remember meeting )

A good mix of divers and non-divers for a well rounded holiday

On top of that, we actually stayed in a proper "5-Star" resort... Berjaya Redang (cos Henry get's 50% off the rooms as part of his staff perks package ) and Berjaya Air flies from Subang airport directly to the island... all easy peasy and neat..

Halina and her aunty waiting for the plane. Subang airport is actually really grotty and not maintained at the moment but it's only 10 minutes away from home, vs 45 mins to KLIA so convenience wins out over appearance

Berjaya Air propellar planes

Wheee! Henry and Me going diving again... first trip of the year. Check out the bengkak, early morning eyes

We arrived in Redang and checked in to the Resort by 11 a.m. Then Henry, Kuan the Batty Boy (that's what Henry called him) went in search of diving

And nearly passed out in shock cos a boat dive with full gear at Berjaya cost RM118 a pop. Long Beach dive centers charge RM60 or so per boat dive so we headed for the jetty and got a boat to Long Beach (altho it did cost RM30 per person just for the boat ride there  )

And the boat dives there had gone up to RM100 per dive ( plus gear) and RM30 per day to get us to and fro the Berjaya jetty to Long Beach...

It was the %^&*#$@ fuel price hike again! The boat cost is what made the dive prices shoot sky high cos the shore dives were still RM40, just like it's been the past couple of times we dived in Redang

Ughhh... yet another reason to complain about the fuel price hike ( along with my RM6.50 plate of chicken rice from a coffee shop in section 17 that used to cost RM5 a week before)

Anyway.. we were still gonna dive anyway and since we were already at Long Beach, we did 2 dives. A shore dive to reacquaint super rusty Henry and a boat dive, before the dive centre dropped us back at the Berjaya beach

Henry and Kuan gearing up for the dive

And showing some manly looove

Post dive bug eyes from the salt water and canned air

More love, and a friendly pat on the bum for Henry. Kuan's a butt man apparently

Kuan and his super sexy-when-wet white rash guard

The view from our balcony...Lovely and the pond was full of fat koi

No Henry, your boobs are not bigger than mine...yet

Twilight and chilling. We had to wait for the Berjaya guy to unlock our door cos it jammed. The dude took almost half an hour to get it right

I checked out the resident spa the next morning. Ayura Spa. Wonderful pampering aromatherapy massage and facial for me

The path to pampering paradise

Ayura Spa

My pamper room

Post massage ginger tea, very yummy too

Kuan and his wife Amanda on the boat out to the dive centre (another one on a different part of the island)

Hal and Yin

Anticipation

Dive gear waiting to be used

Amanda, Hal and I suiting up

Henry's specially ventilated wetsuit

The squirrel we met there when we got back from our dives

Waterlogged, sunburned and tired after a whole afternoon of diving

Or not

Kuan looks like he got a touch or narcosis

Boats on the jetty and a hint of sunset in the sky when we arrived back

Post dive picture of Henry and Me

Halina attacking a coconut for her Mum at dinner in Long Beach

Zul and his wife, our lovely hosts of sorts

Sun, sea, sand, clear blue skies...heavenly

Happy Me

Happy Toes

Happy Amanda

 And more gorgeous beach

Salmon, prawn and brie pizza served by the beach

Sunset skies on our last day on the island

....was a beautiful close to a much needed beach holiday

I'm dreaming of the next one already

Mr. Right or Mr. Right Now?

Is a question that every single female over the age of 18 needs the answer to.

The older you get, the more the question begs an answer

And the less likely you are to get one

When you’re younger, you take it for granted you have loads of time. You spend your time ( and energy) enjoying becoming an adult, juggling all the exciting new things going on in your life, chances are partying like there is no tomorrow

The world is your oyster (at least til your allowance runs out or your parents pitch a fit cos of your grades-you're never home-you're always on the phone and a million other things parents choose to pitch a fit over)

There are boys, boys, boys everywhere, and even some men

It’s enough to make you dizzy

A few years later, you start forming your life plan after you graduate and start work. Most of us do…start work by 21-22 , buy your own car around the same time, find a man you can live with by 25, buy a house by the time you’re 28, get married before you’re 30 and have your first kid at around 30

By the time you’re 35, everything is pretty much set for a happy life;

- a house (and a mortgage)

- 2 cars

- 2.5 (or whatever the average is) gorgeous kids

- maybe a dog-cat-hamster-goldfish (whatever works for you)

oh and a maid to help you manage all that (and do the dreaded cleaning) on top of your job

Sounds simple isn’t it? It’s the formula most Chinese (or any other race I think) parents prescribe to

It’s ingrained into all of us that this is the path that your life needs to follow if  not you’ll never be happy or have a fulfilled life (or even be considered a full “grown up” actually)

Problem is, life hardly ever works out that way

Panic sets in gradually when you still haven’t found a man ( or woman) by the time you hit your mid to late twenties (Panic not neccesarily on your part, mostly the parents actually. The selfsame ones who told you that there were too many boys/boyfriends hanging around a few years earlier)

Your parents, well meaning aunties and all sorts of others try to match make you with any and every semi available man out there

Even if you blithely go about enjoying your own life and scoffing at the nay saying older generation, you’ll be constantly hounded and put on display like you couldn’t possibly find your own man

Who hasn’t had aunties ask “do you have a boyfriend?” or “when are YOU getting married?” at every family gathering/dinner/wedding/wake/ teatime visit/ CNY visit

Screw love and finding your soul mate

You are supposed to be safely married by the time you’re 30, if not then there must be something very wrong with you (lesbian/gay/butt ugly/unqualified/smelly/insert own statement here)

Even if you do have a boyfriend, it normally isn’t good enough until you do get married and have a gigantic 10 course banquet dinner attended by a thousand people you don’t know just to prove that you did

Makes no sense… and makes finding the “one” that much more difficult (who needs the pressure right? )

That’s the whole point of this post actually

How do you find Mr. Right?

The other half of you, your perfect mate, for-the-rest-of-your-life guy

Does he even exist, and if he does, where is he?

How long should you hold out and wait for it and how will you actually know?

They say you just “know” (I don’t know who the mysterious "they" are either) when you meet your other half

... like magic

But the longer I look at things, the more I wonder…

What if this is it?

What if there is never going to be that perfect person who makes you feel less alone in the world?

What if there will never be someone who just gets who you are and loves you anyway?

The one who looks at you and really sees you...not the shell the rest of the world sees

What if whatever you have now is it and it’s never going to be any better and at the end of the day, it will still be just you vs. the rest of everything else?

Do you settle for someone you can live with just so you won’t be so lonely

Even if you know it’s settling

Will Mr. Right Now be enough?

Can Mr. Right Now actually become Mr. Right?

And how long do you wait for Mr. Right before you decide to put away your dreams and label them as silly, romantic and not possible in the real world?

Does anyone have any answers?

Food Glorious Food!

It's one of my passions in life ( kinda obvious dontcha think? )

I like looking at it, cooking it and eating it

Fresh food makes me happy and my brain starts planning menus and figuring out what I can concoct from the stuff I see around me ( it also mentally catalogues what I have at home and what else I need to get)

I can see one lovely ingredient and a whole meal gets planned around it

Sometimes I read cookbooks ( but I don't really follow recipes unless its something totally new) to get ideas

I love, love, love AFC and Discovery Travel and Living

I like trying new (and exotic?) food and unless it's still moving, I will at least try it ( so yeah, that means the witchetty grubs and live octopus are out and I'd rather not try the duck foetus balut)

I like trying street food and anything new in the countries I visit and most times I'm ecstatic to live in Malaysia cos it's food heaven

Anything and everything and then some can be found here

It's one of the best food places in the world I think

Now I'm just gonna post random food pix that I've snapped but never posted, just cos it's lunchtime and I'm stuck at my desk with McDonald's delivery ( so sad )

Wonderful Malaysian-style seafood

Sublime chili crab (this was at Pantai Seafood I think)

Garlicky baked giant bamboo clams. Also at Pantai

Casual fun dining at lunchtime

Asparagus and Ricotta Tortellini at Souled Out. Vegetarian and yummy

Saefood Marinara, also from Souled Out

Work has its perks

The menu from a GAB luncheon we had at Eest@ Westin Hotel. My choice was the Green Curry noodles

Healthy food can be yummy too... if not  at least fun and colourful at Country Farm Organics

Free range chicken goulash with steamed organic green veggies and multi grain bun

Brown rice nasi lemak with happy Pac-man faced organic cucumber 

Admiral Fried rice with multicoloured organic veggies

Bubba Gump is something different, lot's of seafood

The sampler starter. I think I liked the dip and chips best, cheesy, artichokey and I can't remember what else

The spread we had for Sin How's send off before he headed back to Brunei

My second lunchtime visit.This time it was cajun and garlic prawns, garden salad with blue cheese dressing, clam chowder and garlic bread. Quite good too

And this last picture I've posted before, but I think it just looks so yummy. Super fresh, melt in the mouth Hamachi (yellowtail) sashimi

Yummmmm

*sigh*

somehow my Filet o Fish looks even less appetizing now

Bangkok Slow and Easy

Was the general tone of the holiday. It was a weekend trip cum late birthday present for my Mum

She's 70 btw and doesn't look it at all (you'll see later)

Pohgs came along and so did my Aunty (who is 78 this year )

So you could call it a multi age, multi generational type thing

Pohgs and I set an itinerary that allowed for the main highlights of shopping, massages and food, but still covered the stuff we had wanted to check out last trip but didn't get to

We had fun doing mostly girly stuff at our own pace

This time around,we stayed at i-Residence which was right in the heart of Bangkok on Silom Soi 3 ( and a 3 minute walk from the Chong Nonsi Skytrain station)

Hotel was nice...very modern but cosy and the staff was super helpful and nice

My aunty (L) and my Mum (R) waiting to board the plane

Pohgs RM12 Smurfetti T-shirt from Korea

We got bored waiting for the plane. Duty free action is zero in LCCT

Window seat

Cab fron Bangkok airport to our hotel

Home sweet home for the next 3 days

The scrumptious tea/ dinner we had at Platinum Mall ( before hitting the shops). We had huge, juicy oysters in a crispy based oyster omelette, som tam (young papaya salad), kuey chap ( Pohgs obsession. It's mixed stuff in a delicious broth and you mix in chilli to your desired spiciness), mixed seafood pad thai ( my obsession ) plus assorted fried stuff ( bacon wrapped sausages, mini thai fishcakes, stuffed crab shells and fried poh piah)

Tea lights at Suan Lum Night Bazaar

Pohgs snoozes like this

The rooftop pool overlooking the city. Pity it wasn't ready yet. It's phase 2 which will be done in a couple of months

Breakfast picture, still bleary eyed. Restaurant was on the rooftop too

A roast pork stall at Chatuchak market

More tealight holders. Was looking for them for Amanda's wedding in October

First stop when we hit MBK complex ( after a late lunch that is )... Boots

Kinda work for me. Regional branding stuff at the bars

Where we had dinner before heading to the Joe Louis Puppet theatre. It's also in the Suan Lum Bazaar area in Lumpini

Pohgs and my Aunty

Mum and me

The restaurant eating area was on a balcony overlooking the street and the sun was slowly setting as we were eating

Food's here! Crabmeat omellete

My lime freeze came with an orchid

Kailan and salted fish, crispy fried pork and the crabmeat omellete. Yummy

To lovely, lovely fish we had. It was steamed in a sour spicy, herby broth and absolutely divine

Joe Louis Puppet theater with mischevious Hanuman and his puppeteer

My loot (Part of it anyway. I also got a dress, some t-shirts and assorted knick knacks like earrings, bracelets etc)

From Boot's, gorgeous scented hand creams and shower stuff, oh and an orange shaped bath sponge ( I forgot to bring mine)

Sparkly, butterfly and kittycat flip flops and white heeled slip ons

Clutch bags from MBK ( would you believe, only RM19.90 each)

Jewelry findings and semi precious beads for making more jewelry from Chatuchak Market

These are small grey blue, bronze and gold potato pearls waiting to be turned into jewelry

Bangkok airport check in. Time to go home

 Was a fun trip and I think next year my Mum and Aunty want us to take them to Chiengmai

Tis confirmed

I'm headed to auntie-dom for sure

I already have a passion for cooking and all things foodie (but the housework and cleaning anathema is still there, hence my need for a maid...any volunteers?)

I think home made is better than store bought most of the time

I've decided I will never be able to pull off a little frilly skirt or anything pink because I'm waaay to old ( and like black a bit too much I think )

I'm as happy as a clam in supermarkets. I ooh and aah over fresh produce, meat and seafood, cheeses and anything else interesting

I make it a point to visit the supermarkets in countries I manage to get too, and end up buying a bunch of stuff

I adore my wine and can spend quite a bit of time choosing (oh wait, that's not auntie-dom, that's the closet alcoholic in me )

I'm starting to think some clubs are too noisy ( I never used to), at least until I have enough drinks, then everything is ok.

I find myself mentally "tsk-ing" sometimes ( bad, bad sign )

And I have a new hobby...

I can blame Borders for this one....

One of my usual weekly book browsing expeditions, I spied a book in the bargain corner. Something about jewelry and how to make it, for only RM17.90

So I picked it up to add to my "interesting to read for fun" type of books (I have a ton of those and the topics are many and varied from celtic stories, white witchcraft, aromatheraphy and essential oils, Disney fairies, pressed flowers, greek myths and anything else that catches my eye)

It looked so easy...so I had to try

I'm semi hooked now...

I have a set of 3 jewelry pliers in a leatherette roll, a couple of thicknesses of stringing wire, all sorts of rings and clamps and hooks and clasps

An assortment of beads, some glass, some semiprecious, metal dangles and other bits and bobs

I've been trawling beading websites in my spare time ( on and off ok, not like obsessively )

And it's actually rather fulfilling to make jewelry...and it seems to relax my mind

I'm still stuck on pretty basic stuff for now...so let's see how much more I can pick up from that one book and the internet

My first attempt. This bracelet went to Amanda, cos she picked out the lavender tiger's eye beads I used on this

I had these clear quartz crystal nuggets from my last trip to Bangkok so they became a multi strand necklace. It's really heavy though, so I think it will be a special occasion piece that's worn for short periods of time only

There were enough nuggets left for a bracelet and earrings too. These can be worn everyday I think, cos they're lighter

I tried a charm bracelet with these little filligree, disco ball looking beads and dark and light pink crystals.

Flower focal in silver metal with double strand, small turquoise beads. This one is my favourite . I've worn it a couple of times already. I'll prolly try this with some other stones too

Some pretty blue and brown mixed beads I got from a supplier in Penang. I'm partial to those colours, didn't you know?  They look like candy dontcha think?

The brown beads became this long lariat style necklace ( mixed with some square, green and gold beads, little round silver beads and silver teardrops at the ends). You can loosely knot it for a long necklace or loop it for a shorter one with dangles.

Let's see what else I can come up with shall we? I have a whole bunch of stuff I picked up from Bangkok (yes, Bangkok pics up tomorrow if I can manage it )

Any suggestions?