Transforming a House into a Home Episode 1: From a Balcony to a Floating Room
4 comments Published by Mel on Monday, July 07, 2008 at 10:43 AMI never did like having balconies in the house because I am too lazy to clean anything outdoors. That would explain why my front porch is in a pathetic condition...I have not cleaned it since I moved in!!! Oh well, it can't be helped, we have a BIG porch. It's just too much trouble to clean! I figured I would start cleaning it once we get to decorating the porch. Anyway, having a balcony is a tropical country is not too wise because 90% of the time it is too damn hot to sit in the balcony during the day. And at nights if you sit there, the chances of getting bitten by a gazillion mosquitoes is 100%.
Hence, we transformed our balcony to a meditation/tea room. We call it the "Floating Room" simply because it "floats" over the garden.
...became an enclosed room with a full frontal view of the 4 acre park
Cost:
1. Walls on left and right side of the balcony, windows and grills, paint~ 1800
2. Removing sliding door and replacing with carved wooden frame ~ 800
3. Bamboo mat ~ 100
4. Carved teak table ~ 300
5. Cushions. bamboo vases flowers ~ 40
6. White Zen stones ~ 45
7. Bomboo table and scented candles ~ 75
8. Lace curtains and curtain rail ~ 40
Total Cost : $3200
And this, my friends, is the first episode of Transforming a House into a Home. Stay tuned for more miraculous transformations...
Midnight Shopping Trip with Marilyn
1 comments Published by Mel on Friday, August 31, 2007 at 12:28 PMAfter that, we took the train back to our office. At the train station, I bought a hard cover Oliver Twist book for dirt cheap! Oooh I love hard cover books (see this).
After dinner, we left my house for One-U. It was traffic jam all the way in, but the shopping was great. We went to Warehouse and tried on several dresses. They were on 50% off, but still cost about 70-80 pounds after discount. I tried on the white dress first and fell in love. It's gorgeous. I felt like a princess!!!
The Princess- Dress
The would-be Princess
Pretty in PinkThe white tube dress was also really nice. The material is not as soft as the previous dresses (which were satin), but it looked really classy. The best thing is that it shows off the shoulders without squashing the shoulder "fats" which most tube dresses inevitably do. I quite like the black flowers on the white cloth. It brings out a lot of contrast and the black satin ribbon makes the waistline look tinier. This dress, however, cost 100 pounds (no discount).
Are you talking to me?We managed to find a parking space in Tesco, where the parking is not free. We ended up paying 6 bucks for parking :( Anyway, we ran in and got my boots in white colour.
Cream-coloured boots that we fell forSince we were already there, we decided to stay until midnight to watch the fireworks (it was already 11.15pm by the time we got in, and 11.45 pm by the time we bought the boots). It turned out to be an absolutely spectacular 10 minute display of fireworks. It was fantastic. Marilyn said she felt like she was in a dream. Indeed we were wishing we got a hotel room nearby (where Marilyn's dad could get a 70% discount) so that we could be closer to the view without having to face the crowds!
After the fireworks ended, they played the liberty song, and everyone was singing and shouting accordingly! The atmosphere was so pumped up and happy that I began to feel warm all over and so very proud of my country! It's Independence Day! It's our National Day! 50 years of Independence and the chants and songs really made me feel so very connected with my fellow countrymen.
At about 12.30am, we walked into Ikea and did some more shopping. Marilyn bought a soft and fluffy baby blue throw for her sofa. Then we walked out to the stalls that were set up alfresco just outside the mall. There, I almost bought a kimono. Marilyn loved it too! Too bad they didn't accept credit cards. Anyway, we may go to Time Square (where their shop is located) to buy the kimono in future, probably during Christmas or something. We can always take a train there to avoid having to drive through traffic. We shall see.
Japanese Doll WannabeThe traffic congestion HOME was really bad (it wasn't even moving) so instead of wasting petrol trying to get out, we stopped by the 24 hour Macdonald's nearby to sit for a bit. But it was way too crowded i.e. no place to sit and the line to order was so long that people were lining out outside the store!! Instead, we went to another smaller stall and had mamak food. We got back to our car about 1.45am and only got home about 2.30am. The car barely moved and so we starting cam-wh0ring in the car. Our faces are red in the pictures because of the brake light from the car in front of us!!
Red-Faced Chinese GirlsIt was a great day, and I'm still feeling the rush of giddiness and adrenaline!
Today Marilyn and I will continue our shopping spree by hitting other stores!! We already went to 4 shopping malls yesterday in a short period of time. I wonder how many we shall go to today!!!
We have been quite broke recently, so we aven't actually gone out to eat a nice meal in ages. Actually since we have gotten married, we haven't gone out as a couple to a restaurant to have a nice meal.
Today, we decided to cook a nice lunch. I really missed Italian food, so it's pretty nice to have a good spagetti for lunch. We bought a nice honey mustard cream sauce from Australia, and decided to use it. We had mushrooms, mince meat, chicken ham and garlic mixed with the sauce. I also added cheese, white and black pepper to spice it up. Then we washed some fresh organic lettuce to partake with our lunch.
After some nice decoration on the plate, it looks like a restaurant level dish. I enjoyed it immensely, probably because I cooked it :)
On Monday evening I finally met up with Radhika after so many months. She's now studying in the United States, so she didn't attend my wedding (sniff sniff). Anyway, since she came back for the holidays, it's been one problem after another for her :(
It's lucky she has John to support her, I guess :D And he's a pretty nice guy too. Anyway here's a pic of us together:
United again
Lingerie-lookalike
Meet the new members of the Springfield community. They are a Chinese couple!! Haha, actually that is the Simpsonized cartoon version of me and Chow. You can also Simpsonize yourself, by going to this website: http://simpsonizeme.com/ Go try it, and Simpsonize yourself today!When I came back from my trip to Warsaw, Poland.
Friend: Oh, where is Warsaw? is it near Saudi Arabia?
Me: No, it's in Poland.
Friend: Oh. Poland. Did you see any Polar bears?
Me: Erm...
When I came back from Ottawa, Canada
Friend: Where is Ottawa?
Me: In Canada. It's the capital, actually.
Friend: Oh, you're wrong. The capital of Canada is Toronto.
Me: Actually, it's Ottawa, although most people are more familiar with Toronto. I visited the Parliament when I was there.
Friend: That must have been the American Parliament, because the Canadian Parliament is in Toronto.
Me: Erm...
When I came back from Seoul, Korea
Friend: So did you speak much Chinese when you were there?
Me: No, I went to Korea.
Friend: Oh. I thought you spoke Mandarin and Cantonese (Chinese dialects)
Me: I do, but I went to Korea and they don't speak Chinese.
Friend: Yes they do. It's not like you went to Japan or anything.
Me: Erm...
When I came back from Guilin, China
Friend: Where is Guilin
Me: China. It's really beautiful, you should visit there someday
Friend: Guilin? I have never heard of it. Is it near Shanghai?
Me: No, quite far actually.
Friend: So, did you see any Samurais there?
Me: Samurais??? Why would I see Samurais in Guilin?
Friend: Isn't it a remote area in China?
Me: Erm...sort of untouched. But ermm....Samurais are from the last few centuries ago. From Japan.
Friend: Really? But I just saw them on TV the other day.
Me: Erm...
A really bitter Malaysian-Chinese guy
0 comments Published by Mel on Wednesday, August 01, 2007 at 4:20 PMHis rap song was in hokkien mix Mandarin mix Malay mix English. You need to be Malaysian Chinese to understand what he is saying. But I managed to find an English sub of the video. I will explain some of the metaphors he brought up here so that non-Malaysian readers can follow what he is trying to say.
Many people said that his song has more effect on society than 10 years of Lim Kit Siang's speeches (leader of the opposition political party). But I digress.
His song certainly shows disrespect to many different people. He touches on many sensitive issues that Malaysian citizens should not bring up, otherwise they can be arrested for threatening national peace. He is pretty brave (another word for stupid) to put up a song without keeping his face anonymous while still living in the country. I also do not recommend that anyone else follow in his footsteps. It is not prudent.
That being said, I think his jail time allows him to take responsibility for his actions. Anyway the song is really funny, and would make you laugh very hard, but only if you're not the one he is making fun of...
NegaraKu = My Country (Title of Malaysia's National Anthem)
Time just flashed by so fast and now it's half a year together. This was the conversation we had a couple of weeks ago.
Me: We should celebrate our first-year anniversary in the French restaurant that we celebrated my last birthday.
Him: (He turned his head and looked at me very intently) So what date would that be?
Me: WHAT? You forgot our anniversary!!! It's 25th January!! How could you!!! (crossed my arms and pouted)
There was silence for about 5 minutes.
Him: I thought it was 27th January...
Another long pause.
Me: Oh, yar horr....
Him: WHAT!!! You forgot it also! How could you!!!
Me: ...
Him: ...
So here we are, on July 29, on our half-year anniversary (more or less) hoping *fingers crossed* that we won't both forget our first year anniversary when the time comes!
On our wedding day
Despite popular believe that all turtles can swim, this is not the case. There is one particular land turtle that cannot swim, floats pathetically and often starts to drown when harassed in water. This is how that particular turtle looks like.
Yesterday, we went to the swimming pool where I proceeded to harass him (i.e. splashing water, attempting to pull off his trunks...you know, that sort of childish thingy children do in pools), and he panicked. He "ran" pathetically away from me -> straight into the pool light. HIs poor foot was cut and he bled pretty badly.
I felt so bad for harassing a turtle that cannot swim so I gave him a back massage when we got home :)
I read in the newspapers today that yesterday was the worldwide release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. There were people actually queuing up outside bookstores to get the book! At 4am!!! This is insane!
Apparently in one Carrefour, the Potter book was sold out within 6 hours. My story? I walked into Tesco yesterday just before lunch because I needed to buy groceries. While I was there, I saw them selling the Harry Potter book. Not realising that it was the day of the worldwide release (since there was no crowd or no "rush" to buy the book), I strolled over, picked one of MANY books up and asked my partner whether I should waste money buying it. He asked me if I really wanted it. I said, "It's got a hardcover. I like hardcover books. I think I'll just get it". There was no one else rushing to buy the book. The only 3 people standing in front of the shelf were me, my partner and a guy wearing a Tesco shirt who was attempting to fill the entire shelf with a box full of the Deathly Hallows book.
Yes, Harry Potter fans are going to kill me. I didn't know anything about the book's release until I read the newspapers today. And I only bought the book because it has a hardcover.
Anyway, I finished the book last night. I kinda already expected the ending so it wasn't too thrilling for me. I got on the internet today and found people saying they cried and cried while reading the book. Personally I thought it was boring. The only part I particularly enjoyed was Severus Snape's memories of his conversation with Dumbledore and he showed his Patronus. And Dumbledore said"After all this time?" And Severus replied "Always". That part was actually quite sweet. With a name like Severus Snape, it's hard to appear sweet. But that was pretty sweet. In a sick sort of way. But I digress.
I can't believe fans were bawling over the book and over who died. Honestly, I was not really captured by the story even though I read all the books and got to know all the characters thoroughly. Somehow the writer did not properly kill off any of the characters and it all felt too fake, too rushed, too boring. I certainly don't recommend anyone to read this unless, of course, they have read all the other Potter books and want to know what happens to Snape. You don't need to know what happens to Voldemort. It's obvious. He's the bad guy and bad guys always die. YAWN.
Lord of the Rings was way better. Potter doesn't even come close. Who cares about Potter? Go Frodo!!!!
In fact, I like it so much that one year later, I decided to blog about my tree.
I didn't blog about it earlier because I thought this is one of those things that would catch my fancy, but would be forgotten after something new comes along. But strangely enough, I really love my little tree.
The undecorated tree
The tiny little ornamentsAren't they adorable? Each ornament is really tiny, as you can see from the picture below where I am holding a teeny weeny little snowman wearing a Santa cap:
Little SnowmanYou just have to hang the ornaments on the tree where the metal hooks are. You can hang them anywhere you wish, as long as there are hooks. Once every 4-5 months, I will take all the ornaments out and rearrange them, just for the heck of it. It's quite fun to decorate a Christmas tree, especially one so cute and tiny!
Hanging some ornaments
Hanging the cute little Christmass ballsAfter you decorate the tree, you need to remember to put the star on top. C'mon, it's a Christmas tree! Of course it has to have a star! No Christmas tree is complete without the star!! I never did like people who substitute the star for an angel. Unless, of course, they have both the angel and the star. It's important to have the star, OKAY? That's what makes the Christmas tree a Christmas tree.
The all important STAR
Now with the star, the tree is finally a true and certified Christmass tree! You can put your tree anywhere, because it is so small. BUT preferably out of reach of toddlers because they might take out the ornaments and attempt to eat them. The toddler will possibly choke on the ornament and that would be a disaster. I mean, don't you think the tree would look incomplete with one ornament missing?
The Christmas tree
I have my Christmas tree on my computer monitor at work. Everytime I work, I can see my little tree and it brightens up my day. After all, who can be grumpy if it's Christmas everyday?
My computer monitor
Butterflies and Fingernails: What do they have in common??
0 comments Published by Mel on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 6:00 PMBUT Marilyn and Shirley were really really sweet. In Malacca, they went to the nails shop and got me something I really really wanted!!! Butterflies!! And nails!!! This is what butterflies and nails have in common:
Manicure stencils!! They are so cool. I bought the whole set previously, with two stencils, some nail polish, a stencil blade and the stamp to transfer the nail paint onto the fingernails. My set didn't have any butterflies on them and I was really quite disappointed. Marilyn and Shirley bought 2 stencils for me!! Not one but two!!! And both have something like 4 butterflies and 10 flowers on them!! I can't believe it! I feel so bad, I wanna pay them back for them!!! The stencils are ssssooooo pretty!!! My set:
Thank you Marilyn!!! Thank you Shirley!!! MUAKSSS!!! Oops, I shouldn't be kissing Shirley, otherwise her other half will come after MY other half and gay him! Yes Shirley, I know you're going to say "sweat".How to use the nail stencil:
What you do is spread some nail polish onto the pattern on the stencil that you want to transfer. In my case, I chose to transfer two different butterflies: the smaller one for my fingernails and the larger one for my thumbnail. See the two patterns that are circled?
Yeah, those are the two.I first painted my nails with a base coat to protect the nail surface. Next, I painted my favourite colour, which is a pale peach (so that it would match most of my clothes and is sombre enough to wear to work). And then it's stenciling time!! I chose black as my stenciling colour, so I spread some black nail polish onto the stencil with my pattern. I scraped off any excess nail polish using the stencil blade:
The pattern will then be ready for transfer from the stencil to the nail. This is where the stamp comes in handy.
I pressed the stamp onto the pattern, and then quickly transferred it to my nail. The process has to be repeated for all the nails. Finally, I applied a top coat (for the nails, not my body) to protect the colour and pattern. Once done, you can see how pretty the nails look.
Thanks Marilyn and Shirley!!! I love them!!! I can't wait to try all the rest of them out!!!! YEAH!!!
Recently, everyone is getting married. Seriously. I mean EVERYONE is actually getting married. Because of this, I have to look for clothes to wear, hunt down my makeup and generally attempt to look passable so that I don't outshine the bride in the worst possible way. I mean, one way to outshine the bride is to put on a beautiful white dress, wear gorgeous and expensive jewellery and have your makeup and hair done up to the tens! Showing up like that is one BIG way to majorly p!$$ off the bride! 
Another way to outshine the bride is to show up looking like something the cat dragged in. You know, like a lizard or a cockcroach. Dead, of course. And most likely torn up and missing a leg or two.
From 50% asleep + 50% dead
The second picture is me on my way to Kelvin Chong's church wedding. His bride is so fair and sweet-looking. They had a lovely church ceremony. In fact, their wedding card was one of the nicest wedding cards I have ever seen. It had a hard cover, a lovely satin bow in the front and an emblem of their initials (Kelvin and Jobina). During the dinner, they had a slideshow of the wedding photos they had taken in London (I think) and it was absolutely breath-taking. She is so lovely and he is quite handsome. What a lovely looking couple!
This is Ye Chow and I on our way to the wedding dinner. We were stuck in a pretty nasty traffic jam so I did some cam-wh0ring...And yes, I still look 50% like something the cat dragged in. But at least the bride won't throw me into a ditch, right? We finally arrived at Shangri-La where the dinner was held. It was lavish and beautiful.
The most amazing coincidence was that my god-sister was one of the 6 bridesmaids and was partnered to a groomsmen who was my ex-boyfriend. Confused? So was I....Actually it was a little bit humourous when we wanted to take a picture of her walking in, because she was arm-in-arm with my ex...so our pictures of her contained pictures of my ex also! My mom said it looked like we were stalking my ex! Hahaha...oh man....
Anyway another wedding we attended was a luncheon by Ye Chow's old classmate. I was the only partner who attended (most of the other guys came alone). They were Ye Chow's friends from high school. Most of them looked like nerds (What to do, all from Science One and Science Two classes what do you expect...). Just like my Spouse. Just like me....No wonder I fitted in so well. So there were 4 batangs and a geek at our table.
We were lucky the bride was sporting enough to come and Yam Sing (drink and cheers) with us...Any other bride would probably have walked the other direction! But then again, she also married another nerd (another science one guy)...just like me...so she's probably getting used to it also!!
After all the weddings and excitement, we are both tired. Ye Chow looks very adorable when he is tired. He really does look like a turtle sticking his head out of a shell.
You know the world is going crazy...
2 comments Published by Mel on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 1:26 PMI am sleepy. I know I am sleepy because I kicked a dog on my way to work. I know I'm sleepy because after I kicked the dog, I realised that it was actually my bag and not at all a dog.
I am grouchy. I know I am grouchy because I am sleepy. I know I am grouchy because I shouted over the phone very angrily. I know I am sleepy because I shouted over the phone, and there was no one on the line because I forgot to dial the number.
I am moody. I know I am moody because I am grouchy. I know I am moody because I my face is so long that my chin is touching the floor. I know I am grouchy because I am cursing the carpet for being a carpet.
I am sleepy. I know I am sleepy because I am moody. I know I am moody because my eyes are looking down all the time. I know I am sleepy because I keep walking into the door.
The world is going crazy...
Attempt 1: Passport Photo
Attempt 2: Studio shot at 18 Years Old
Attempt 3: Studio wedding shot
Attempt 4: Recent Photo
Discussions
Honestly, this software is flawed. I apparently have a 97% resemblence to Amisha and 90% to Madonna, who aren't even the same race as each other, or as me (totally different bone structure) in Attempt 2. Attempt 3 saw me "resembling" Martine McCutcheon (80%), Marcia Cross and Shakira (78% and 76%). WHAT??
The clincher is Attempt 4. My simple and normal picture with no makeup, exhausted (just landed in Europe after a 17 hour flight) and taken in a restaurant just before dinner. I ended up with a 75% resemblance to Lindsay Lohan, Beyonce Knowles and Mandy Moore. I wasn't even aware that Lindsay looked anything like Beyonce.
Conclusion
Not a good software. I have a feeling my post-graduate students can create something better. But then again, they are too busy creating something more sellable...
