Badminton day today, but I woke up late and didn't go to the sports hall with them so they actually had to pay £13.50 for the court! Cisss... felt so guilty man.

Instead, I enjoyed myself cooking and baking in the comfort of my own kitchen. Happily rolling out pastry, scalding milk and cooking turkey.

Ooh, and look at that pineapple turkey that I cooked!

Got the recipe off boo_licious' masak-masak blog. I swear just visiting her blog makes my mouth water and feel so totally homesick for the food back home.

So I didn't wake up early enough to get more apples from Asda. Damnit, there were so many nice juicy Bramley apples on Jason's backyard that I could've used to bake all sorts of apple dishes, but alas, it's in London.

How wonderful would it be to be able to walk into your garden and pick apples from your own backyard whenever you want them and then cook them yourself!

Oh god, I'm so turning si-lai man... ini tak boleh jadi nih.

So what to do, had to use whatever I had in the kitchen la, which was basically milk, eggs, vanilla essence and sugar, so i ended up making a giant egg tart. And it turned out so beautifully as well, if I may say so myself.

Had them as dessert after our lunch of pineapple turkey and hot steamed rice together with vanilla ice cream with Wong, Hung, Gabby and Mariella.

Also cut a huge slice for Alvin as he loves egg tarts and passed some to Harry, Andy, Odil, and the guys opposite my house (Abe, Maurice, Richard and Ed). Saved some for Doreen of course, so practically everyone had a piece of pie.

I've been talked into joining them for Halloween at Walkabout tomorrow. Shall go as what I originally intended to la, a bewitching witch. The only thing missing is a witch's hat. Sheesh. Drinks on the guys, and they want to get me absolutely wasted. Heh, tough luck la.

Anyway got some DVDs off Richard, a Japanese flick called Crashen, Secretary (chickflick I guess) and Closer.

*hugs DVDs gleefully*

Haven't watched any DVDs for AGES! Shall do that whilst eating the lovely yummy chocolates that Wong and Hung bought for me! Teeheehee. Me lovvie choccies.

Did perpetual happiness in the Garden of Eden maybe get so boring that eating the apple was justified?

I love the fall season.

I love the crisp autumn air. I love the smell of dried leaves and damp grass and the feel of the chilly air against my skin. The burnt orangey-red fall foliage, and apples peek-a-booing out of trees like jewels, I can nearly sympathise with Eve's urge to eat it. Especially if she ever knew of the wonders of a hearty portion of warm apple pie.

Walked with Mariella to Asda and saw so many apples on sale today that I *had* to get them, thinking I'd bake an apple pie for Teh who's flying back to Malaysia today. But the sheer logistics of it made it pretty impossible to do.

Anyway, it was a spur of a moment decision, as Doreen and I were already planning to just stirfry some vegetables for a potluck buka puasa dinner we were having with our Muslim coursemates.

He was leaving at around 12, so I thought I'd just bake it for him, pop over to town, stay overnight at Wong's place if I don't get a bus back and come back tomorrow with them when they come over for our weekly badminton sessions.

Omigod, I can spend hours shopping for groceries. Spent too much time at Asda, thinking I'd be able to walk back in less than 15 minutes but I only got back at 6.15, and quickly chopped the garlic and cut the carrots, cauliflower and capsicums, and got it ready at 6.30 just in time for buka puasa, went back to make the pie pastry dough, and put it in the fridge for it to rest while I ate with the rest of the group. But then didn't manage to go into town as it was raining and all that, so decided to bake it anyway for the potluck, especially since I haven't seen the UoP guys for awhile.

Ooh, and everyone's back now. Syucks, Iryan, Ajeem and Zul came over to makan as well. It's good to see all of them again. Made me happy. ^_^

After sending the vegetables over, I went back, peeled, cored and chopped the apples. Was too rushed to go online to check the recipe, so everything was sort of like instinctive. It was a race against time as the guys had to go back around 9, so had to cut the time down by half by cooking the apples first.

Basically just melted some butter, put in some sugar and cinnamon and threw all the apples in and then thickened it with a bit of cornflour and let it cool while I rolled out the pastry. It was all done and baked by about 8.30pm. Just in time as they were just about to leave then.

And my oh my, was it yummy! Had them served with vanilla ice cream with the guys, while I passed some to the rest to the girls at Doreen's. After the guys left I joined the girls and had more food. Was so damned hungry then, cos I sort of like fasted for the potluck thingy as well with the believe that if we're going to buka puasa together might as well really buka puasa together la. Hehe. But by then all the good stuff was gone so just had some beehoon with tomyam soup, which was pretty good as well.

The girls said that the pie was a bit too sweet... Omigod, since I've started baking, I've lost my tastebuds for what's too sweet now. It kinda shocked me today when I ran out of Splenda, I actually put 4 tablespoonfuls of sugar in my tea and thought it wasn't sweet enough... and I remember when I used to think that 2 teaspoons of sugar was plenty.

At the rate I'm going, I'm probably going to be diabetic. Must stop eating all these sweet stuff.

Doreen and I didn't go for the Halloween party thingy at Destiny. We already had our costumes but her bf didn't really like the idea of her going, so she stayed back. I was just too lazy to put on everything, and had a run on my fishnets. Aww damn! But the Linda, Sudi, Sally, Jules, Gemma, Lotte and Huda were dressed as devils, princesses, a gypsy, a fairy princess, and zombie and Lex looked absolutely dashing as Dracula, with his cloak and fake teeth & nails and blood dripping from the corners of his mouth.

Maurice and Abe came over at around 12 for a chat. Maurice begged off at around 1 and Abe and I talked until Gabby came back from Reflux at 2.30. God I was so tired. Finally managed to excuse myself at 3!!

And tomorrow I need to get up early for that badminton thingy. Gonna cook pineapple turkey for the Hung, Wong and David for tomorrow after the game and if I'm rajin, wake up early and get more Bramley apples from Asda to make another apple pie for them, if not, it's just going to be egg tart filling in a flan case (the dough is already in the fridge, I just made another batch). This time I'd like to actually try some of the apple pie that I baked, and save some for housemates as well.

Hehehe. At least my first time baking an apple pie was a success. Especially since it was done without a recipe. Yeay!

to let a mockingbird live

it shames me to no end whenever i think of it.

she only wanted to be liked. she didn't have much confidence to begin with and seemed like a puppy dog; eager to please, happy with whatever scrap of attention given to her.

she was, in every sense, a mockingbird.

i don't know why we did it. maybe she irritated us with her too nice, 'please walk all over me' way about her, maybe she was so naive and innocent that we felt that we needed to 'give her a taste of what the real world is like'. i don't know. perhaps we were bored. possibly we were just venting all our insecurities out on her.

but what we did shattered her.

we made spectacle of her. pretended to be her friends, gave her a false sense of belonging in our group, inviting her out and all that when all we actually wanted to do was make fun of her, led her to believe that a guy liked her by writing her love letters and getting a guy friend to pretend to be her secret admirer and call her. snicker behind her back whenever she talked about that guy.

and ooh, my oh my, was she happy that she actually had a secret admirer.

which 14 year old wouldn't? who else would she have confided in if not for her 'friends', maybe embellishing a little to make the story juicier.

i didn't like it, but i was too cowardly to say that, going along with it in fear that if i opposed, i would be cast off as well. and so i played along a sick girl's idea of 'ooh-its-so-easy-to drown-that-kitten' entertainment. at 14, the need to be accepted by my peers outweighed the need to do the right thing.

and so i played along and forever smeared the blood of an innocent on my hands.

tell me: would you be at the stoning of a someone and join in without rhyme or reason, because you don't want to be the one stoned as well, or would you dare to risk your life and stand in front of them like Jesus did and question why they were doing that?

but i did what worst.

i just couldn't do it and blurted everything out to her. that the whole secret admirer thing was a hoax, that she's been the object of ridicule of everyone who knew about it, which was a lot and spanned the student population of approximately 3 schools.

and how she cried.

what shocked me was that she wasn't angry. in her own resigned way she just seemed to accept it and try harder to be in the group. it sickened me and for the first time, i realised that some people just want to be abused.

then i found out she almost had a nervous breakdown.

i don't know if they were angry at me for exposing them, i'm not sure if they were secretly ashamed that they did it. perhaps we just somehow managed to push it to a corner of our minds and never want to think about it again. we never spoke of it again.

it was an eye opener. from then on, i lost respect for my friends. if they could be so cruel to someone, what makes me think that they wouldn't do the same to me, i realised in horror. and so i slowly withdrew from the group.

in search of sincerity, i lost popularity.

but i discovered other friends. true friends. friends like yen who willingly lug 10kgs of foodstuff and all from malaysia to pass to me whenever she flies to london and not want to accept a single penny from me for the things she bought. friends like lizzie and dave who drove all the way from kl to some secluded place on the way to bidor to pick me up when the bus broke down on the way to taiping from kl. and yes, friends like doreen and amyr who insisted on waiting up for me when my bus back from london was delayed and reached plymouth at 4am. friends who respect me enough to tell the truth and not lull me into a false sense of security.

but sometimes some things are best left unsaid. she wouldn't have wanted to know anyway. perhaps it was selfishness in me that told her that, to unload the burden off my chest and feel like i did the right thing.

shades of grey.

sometimes the right thing to do is just to shut up. because they don't want to know it anyway. or maybe they know it deep down but refuse to acknowledge it. and you're just being cruel by forcibly bringing it to their attention.

maybe sometimes its best to wonder than to know.

La Dolce Vita

Hola! And guess what?

I'm going on a holiday again!!

This time to Barcelona with the Doreen, Jules, Linda, Sudi, Prema and Hema!

Ahh... a much deserved (don't even dare question that!) holiday with all my hot chun chicks, a stay next to the gorgeous St Sebastion beach with the seabreeze blowing into our chalet, walking around in our itsy bitsy teeny weenie bikinis, the city only 10 minutes walk away (so we can go shopping if the weather doesn't cooperate, eat paella at tapas bars and drink sangria and horchata all day long!

Speaking of paella, I miss La Bodega's paella takeouts! Back when I used to live in Pantai we couldn't cook so once in awhile when we feel like a girls night out (read: malas to walk to Bangsar) we'd just call and they'd deliver, and we became such good friends with the delivery boy that he sometimes brought us complimentary wines and picked up groceries for us on the way as well. Hehehe... he couldn't resist our *serangan mata bersinar-sinar*

I'm so looking forward. Extra motivation to not overspend on unnecessary things, to kumfei (have to la - itsy bitsy teeny weenie bikinis, remember?) and study hard (cos next time if tak jadi become tai-tai who's only work is to travel, pan leng leng, holiday, have to work to afford such luxuries lorr)

Haish, forgive my shallow frivolousity today.

I'm bored out of my mind but I don't want to leave my room. Because I don't want to be around anyone for awhile... overdosed on people already, so cranky that if anyone tries to talk to me in person I'd snap their head off.

Thank goodness I have understanding housemates and SweetieShinYee is superforgiving and stays clear of me whenever I go into one of my moods and unintentionally snap at her. Should learn how to control this PMS-ey moodiness la, not good for the soul, cos I feel superbad when I lash out at unsuspecting people so that increases my moodiness and then its a downward spiral from there. Kesian Shin Yee have to bear the brunt of it. Its very trying to live with me. Sigh.

I have to catch up on my reading as well... 'sides thats what reading weeks are for.

And I wish Bansi would come back fast fast cos he's back at home in London so cannot layan my merengek-ness and change my bedsheets (I like clean crisp sheets so I change them obsessively every Monday and Friday) and teman me go walking every night.

Back from London

What a day it's been!

I shouldn't be so stubborn. Especially when Patrick offered to let me leave my luggage at his place until it was time to go back. Would've saved a whole lot of trouble of hauling heavy luggage full of stuff to Victoria, finding out that it would be £5 per item (was carrying 3 items, go figure), calling Patrick to ask if it was too expensive, deciding that yes, it was, and then hauling it all the way back to Sloane Street where he lives, and finally being late for a last minute meet up with the people I haven't been able to see the last trip to London.

Grrr...

But it was good.

First thing I did in the morning was walk over to Harrods to get 200g worth of Brazillian coffee and a dozen krispy creme original glazed doughnuts for my friends back in Plymouth. If only they had Krispy Kreme in Plymouth... *drool*

And it was nice hanging out at High Street Kent and Starbucks and Leichester Sq with my friends. Been awhile since I've seen them, although it was a bit of a rush to fit so many people in such a limited span of time.

Went back to get my luggage and guess what?

I had a bouquet of lilies waiting for me. Cos he said I've been very mang-chang (moody/snappish) and just recovered from a cold.



Whoa..... I don't know what to say, didn't know he knew I liked lillies. But then again he reads my blog.

Oh hi, Patrick!

Aneeway, had my last longing look at those gorgeous beyond gorgeous pair of boots at Ferragamo, did some last minute (window) shopping at Harvey Nichols and had some fantastic champagne sorbet before we walked over to Victoria.

The bus was delayed by 1/2 hour. Then when we reached Heathrow, it was further delayed when someone's bag got pinched whilst he was waiting to get on and he accused the bus driver of being negligent. Had to wait for the police and all that to come, so got myself a cup of soup at Cafe Nero, which was so bad that I couldn't manage to have more than a few spoonfuls. So yuck. Instead, I had SIX doughnuts from the box. Siao. Sugar levels must've been so high.

Called Doreen to inform her that I'd be late and I'd get a cab instead but she insisted on picking me up. And pick me up she did, at 4am in the morning with Lex who stayed awake to keep her company as well. They loved the krispy kremes. ^_^

Oh god I'm so sleepy. But its 8am and I've got a 9.30am class.

So gonna collapse after class.

Bored in bed

I'm calling in sick with a horrible bout of flu and brain the consistency of cotton candy.

Urgh.

Perhaps it's nature's way of telling me to stop that whirlwind of activities, take a break, indulge and love myself, or at least let other people do that for me.

Its nice to be fussed over.

To have SweetieShinYee giving me soup for lunch, to have GorgeousGabby's wonderfully filling pasta chicken soup for dinner, have Bansi come over, change my bedlinens for me, and make me lovely lovely ginger tea as a therapeutic nightcap and sort my files and work for me. To have BigMummyMariella come up to check up on me, make my breakfast today, cook a hearty Chilean chicken stew and rice and pao Lemsip for me to drink. And never having to worry about washing up afterwards.

Best of all, ponteng Mike Boston's classes! And get leave off gym and swimming sessions.

To have friends calling and checking up every now and then. Its nice to know how much I'm loved sometimes. Yes, I like the attention. I'm a baby when I'm sick.

But its B-O-R-I-N-G staying in bed all the time!

I want to go out, its such a nice sunny day today, it almost seems unfair to stay cooped up in my room like that.

Wanna go out, wanna go out, wanna go out!

Upping the Redoxon VitC dosage and fingers crossed, I'll be able to make it to Katy Salisbury's [my fav lecturer, though a bit stingy with the marks] class and it's off to London for the weekend!

La la la.

Mind over matter: Get. Well. ASAP.

Dancing on Quicksand

by Jeremiah Tan

Just a year is forever,
But three years fly too fast.
Can you come home again?
Can you realise the past?
Tell me: Is your laughter
Hiding secrets, blocking tears?
How does the cutting pain
Damn defeat and dry up fears?

Older Cousin leaves and flies,
Younger Cousin plays with knives.
And I'm dancing
I'm dancing on quicksand...

Driving fire in the blood
Born of brains and beauty.
Charm and strength are tempered
With trials - life's not empty.
Thoughts, dreams and ideas flood
A mind so young, so distant.
Hot tears flow unhampered
By truths that grow important.

Older Sister makes men swoon,
Younger Brother loves the moon.
And I'm dancing
I'm dancing on quicksand...

Chocoholic, on the go
From strong love to stonewall.
Secrets in extremis
So harsh! So cruel the fall!
Is this love? Do you know
Tears are hard, words are harder.
Lonely one, what's amiss
That we can't take this further?

Mother dearest has clipped wings,
Father dearest cares but stings.
And I'm dancing
I'm dancing on quicksand...

Bridge:

Come on and laugh with me
(This number will never end)
Come on and sigh with me
(And the dance floor is quicksand...)

The smallprint in dreams

Just when you think you've got your equilibrium sorted, somehow or rather, something, somewhere, comes dashing in to upset everything.

And all you can do is watch helplessly as the glass castle you painstakingly built comes crumbling down.

With tears trailing their way down your chin, you try so hard to salvage whats left, picking up the broken pieces, and cut yourself in the process.

Pick up the broken pieces, or sweep it all away?

Start anew. Build something else, something you won't be as passionate about, but sturdier. Something not so much what you want and hoped for, but less fragile.

Dreams...

The older you get the more you realise that things aren't always what you expect them to be. You may have your ideals, you may have your dreams. But have you read the smallprint in dreams?

Dreams... Ideals... they're just that. You can work and strive towards them, but sometimes they remain just that. Aim high, stretch yourself hard enough, but most times you end up grasping at nothing. Reality bites. It has sharp fangs, too.

Change is the only constant.

But what is permanence in this world? What is time? What is it's purpose and it's meaning? What, who, determines my future?

What can you do? What will you do?

How do you hold on, when there is nothing in you except the Will which says "Hold on"?

I seek not for things I have once sought after, and I pursue not that same dreams and goals of what I used to chase after. And that pile of broken dreams and wishes lay abandoned at the corner of the heart.

All hail the King of Pies!

The lemon meringue, that is...

Don't know what its supposed to taste like, but I liked what I baked... it was yummy! Just the right amount of tartness and sweetness, and the meringue was crispy at the top but had a marshmallow-y texture in between. The lemon filling was a little runny though, had the consitency of honey, but thats prolly because I couldn't wait for it to cool down and set before cutting it.

Doreen loved it! She had two huge slices, and everyone else wanted the recipe and there were requests for more and more and more!

:: dinner party with the girls ::

Sheesh, its misdirected energy.

If only I was as passionate about my studies as I am about baking.

On another note, been out too much. Friday night especially was a killer. My friend Dave came down from London to visit, so we went out and I showed him around Plymouth. And we drank. Too much. Went barhopping to so many bars that I can't even remember the names of the places we went to. I had:

2 pineapple malibus
1 shot absinthe
2 smifoff ice
1 vodka blue
1 gin and tonic

Funny thing was I didn't even feel any effect of the alcohol. Yes, this coming from a girl who gets all red and flushy after a pint of beer. Tsk. We went to this really really really sucky club called Recess or was it Reflux, I can't remember, and it was to terrible, they were playing unbelievably bad 80's music. Don't wanna think what kind of impression he got of Plymouth. Tsk. He was probably so bored with Plymouth that he ciao-ed the next day after we explored Dartmoor together.

So tired. Been out too much. Been around too many people too much. I need some time out on my own, by myself.

I need to do so many other things as well... most importantly, I need to get my priorities right. I can't have it all, I know that. But then again I'm not willing to make the sacrifices that need to be made in order to achieve what I want. Its a neverending tug of war between wants and needs, between the urgent and the important, between the work and play.

Equilibrium. Thats what I need.

my reality check bounced

I'm kinda depressed actually.

And I have no reason to, really. Life's been so incredibly good and fulfilling and all that. I've been so busy doing stuff, meeting people, going out and spending time with friends.

Like yesterday for instance.

A day trip to Looe and Porpello with friends and housemates and my Malaysian lecturers who came to visit... I had a great time.

Then there was that was a delicious buka puasa dinner with Tuan Hj Kamar and Mr Ng hosted by Allen, Shin Yee and me. We had a good time there, talking about the our old college, exchanging news, exploring career options that we may want to take up later and all that.

After that I accompanied Gabby to the SUB for a drink and we met two really cool guys there and invited them back for coffee and cake. Got to know that they lived just opposite our house and today one of the guys, Maurice, having known that I like reading, gave me a book. That was really really nice of him. And Abe promised to cook peanut butter soup for us one of these days.

It was regular weekly badminton game with the guys this morning again, coffee and cake for breakfast and also had lunch together and loads of laughs. After they left, Gabby brought another 2 friends of hers from Portugal over for coffee and pie. I got to know more people. And we decorated our common room.

Bansi comes over almost daily for dinner and we go for walks every night.

All these should be enough to make me happy, right?

After all, wasn't this what I wanted?

To have friends all around, have a busy social diary, and not be lonely?

But I'm not. There's something missing.

I'm still restless, I'm still searching.

But for what?

I don't know what I want.

Well not really. I want too many things. I can't decide on what I want.

I want to travel the world. See new things, meet new people, experience difference cultures, be free and not be tied down to anyone or anything.

But at the same time, I also want to settle down with a secure job, have a husband who loves me and a happy family thats really close knit and have friends all around me as well.

But I also want a high flying career, something um, haha, glamourous, like some CEO of something something something or some GM of some huge luxury shoe company like Ferragamo (staff discount! wahhh!) or Chanel [well a girl can dream, can't she?]

Too many wants.

Too many dreams.

Not enough willpower.

-sigh-

I wish someone would just hold my hand and guide me through life. Because although I do seem like I can do it alone, I'd rather not. Because I'm scared, because I'm hesistant. I'm afraid of how the decisions that I make today will affect what my life will be tomorrow. And it would be nice to have someone there, just to be there, to face the rough patches with, and to laugh over the panice moments when its over, and to smile at the good times with, enjoying the ride together.

Sometimes I wonder, how much of life is our own making, and how much is preordained, destiny? And if I actually let someone else make the decisions I am supposed to make for myself, am I forfeiting my own responsibility to myself? Its so easy to turn around and point the finger at someone else and say that it's their fault when the fault lies in ourselves for making the decision to let others make the decision for us in the first place isn't it?

Life gets more and more complicated as the days go by. There are more and more things to worry about. Immediate things like bills and cleaning and budgeting, long term things like investments, carreer and family, it's just so overwhelming.

Its not a wonder people are allowed to drink and smoke once they turn 18. Being an adult isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I'd rather worry about finishing my homework for tomorrow than those phone bills of over £100 awaiting payment by next week.

I wish the I was still 11.

Old enough to think for myself, but young enough to enjoy everything childhood has to offer.

international nite

too well fed

If you're ever around Plymouth/Dartmoor area, do make a pit stop at Lords.

It's a little tea room at Princetown that serves the yummiest cream tea ever. Freshly made cornish clotted cream and strawberry jam on raisin scones served with tea with milk fresh from the cow's udders.

Absolutely gorgeous.

Ugh, on another note. I've been eating too much. Case in point:

Sunday:

Wong, Hung, and David came over to play badminton with me. Naturally I'd cook lunch right? I cooked chicken pongteh and mixed veggies.

Lecturers from previous college also arrived to check up on us. Malaysian feast in which 40 people arrived and there were so many varieties of food. Pasta, pizza, ayam masak merah, 3 kinds of curry, fruit salad, chocolates, spring rolls, etc etc etc...

mentang mentang esoknya nak puasa...

Monday:

Lunch with Brazillian and Chilean housemates. Quesadillas with cheese, loads of them.

Dinner with Bansi and Raymond - I made the chapattis, Bansi cooked corn and capsicum sabji and Raymond cooked some korean potato thingy

Tuesday:

Stuffed deepfried tofu and mixed veggies for Doreen, Bansi and myself. And after that, after dinner tea and aromatic Brazillian coffee with Latina housemates.

But then again I also learnt how to SALSA, so prolly burnt some calories there... oh yeah and also those dikir barat pratices. Phew!

Today:

Breakfast
2 fried eggs and some fried spring rolls
brazillian coffee (i'm supermotivated to wake up in the mornings now - cos i smell the coffee!)

Lunch:
Chowmein with Allen and Doreen

Dinner:
More chapattis with Bansi... and chickpea sabji.

I should never have revealed the fact that i knew how to make chapattis. Tsk.

You know the saying: whatever you say will be used against you?

next time i don't want to reveal that i can cook la, wait for people to cook for me, better. =P

How to kumfei liaddat?

i hate roses

always have, always will.

so when i actually get a bunch, i ooh-ahh awhile to be nice, and them promptly chuck them out when the sender is out of sight. or give them away.

seriously, don't guys ever pay any attention at all?

if they did, they'd know that: the flower of preferance is lilies, aurum lilies top the list, if not then tiger lilies. if thats too difficult, then daffodils or violets, or handpicked wildflowers - i'd appreciate them so much more.

but please, no roses.

Oh, that twinkle in the eye!

"Recently, you ran into someone every bit as fiery, independent, and innocently reckless as yourself. Since those, of course, are exactly the qualities you insist upon when you're looking for companionship -- in fact, they're secretly at the very tip-top of your list of 'absolutely non-negotiable qualities which must be sensed within five minutes of meeting someone you find attractive,' you'd be foolish to let them escape. Bet you won't -- and that they won't even try."
~ Friendster horoscope

*ahem*

nevermind.

We had bubbly champagne and mooncakes today. Peppermint chocolate mooncakes that Yen brought for me. Belated, but still yummy.

Took forever to get us all together. Allen and Doreen always so busy working and with conflicting timetables as well.. but in the end it was all worth it, because everybody was there, no one was left out.

Me is happy.

Damnit, drinking champagne from mugs so no feel man! tsk... we need flutes shaped like aurum lillies for that! Grrr... but thats me being fussy.

Anyways, just some pictures before I sign off... too tired. Went out to town whole day, greeted new housemates, and baked eggless cake and some cupcakes and all that stuff.

Yes, all in one day.

I am superwoman.

I like this picture...

... i looked... happy? up to mischief? dreamy?

i don't know, it just gives me a warm fuzzy feelin'.

Pic was taken in Exeter, during Syuck's birthday party at a shisha place called al-Hameed or something like that. We were all there, 3 carloads of us.

Peppermint tea. Bakhlava. All sorts of goodies.

*smiles fondly*