Leaving again.

Leaving in less than twelve hours’ time. While I can’t wait to see someone again, I don’t really want to leave home… sighh. Wish that I was staying at least a week more. I think as we’re all entering adulthood, we’ve come to realize that Brunei isn’t such a “boring” place after all. On the contrary, it’s actually a really good place to live in… we may be laughed at for our small population, but I think that’s one of the things that I like about Brunei. We don’t get serious crimes happening here, it’s generally peaceful, no income tax, and fuel is cheaper than water! ($0.53 per litre…! And even cheaper for diesel-fueled cars.)

On the other hand, I think that we’ve been really privileged and even spoilt, growing up here..

I don’t really want to go back to the heat, back to walking, and I’m going to miss having good meals everyday. And hanging out with friends and especially driving. I’m going to miss driving so much.

I haven’t even left the country, and already I’m feeling homesick.

I wish I can pack “home” into my luggage.

CNY in Ipoh…

… was alright. It always feel different coming back to a place knowing that you’ve aged another year; in this case, five years older. It’s been a while. Despite being Malaysian, I find it hard to think of this place as “home”, when I’ve grown up in Brunei my entire life…

My ye ye appears to be happier and healthier this time though – he’s bed-ridden, and is confined to sitting down most of the time, but his memory is still sharp, and his eyesight still bright. We didn’t visit my grandmother’s grave – some Chinese New Year pantang or what. It’s apparently not advisable to visit graves during CNY – but I guess to the Chinese, it makes sense, since there is the Qing Ming festival that’s in April this year where relatives visit graves and clean up and stuff, and Chinese New Year is, after all, a celebration and time for family and reunion.

I’m not particularly close to my dad’s side of the family – language barrier is one thing. I see my cousins grown up, and it’s almost hard to imagine that we played together once as young kids. It’s funny how as each year passes, and especially since we only see each other once in a blue moon, the distance grows, and we do nothing about it, simply because… it just is. There isn’t much emotional attachment, and I think we’re almost content to let it be. And frankly speaking, I can’t say I’m very fond of my dad’s relatives too, as ugly as that sounds. A question fleeted across my mind – that once my dad’s generation passes by, will that mean the end of “going back” to Ipoh? Will the relatives in Ipoh just become a distant memory? Because for my siblings and I, our home is already here. This is where we will always return to.

I think I much rather spend CNY in Brunei… it feels more like Chinese New Year here than back there.

We visited Cameron Highlands (again) on our way back to KL after a few days in Ipoh. (Highlight of the trip back: My dad let me drive the rented SUV! The horrible 5 hours in the jam from KL to Ipoh when we arrived, and coming down from Cameron Highlands after one night there, going back to KL.) Driving the bends and curves is no joke – I got a bit of a headache after a while of navigating curve after curve – felt like I was spinning round and round. The other “headache” came from the parents who constantly cautioned me to drive slower. Haha. I don’t think parents will ever stop picking at the way we drive.

The tea plantation and the scenery is gorgeous, but I think after the first time, it loses a bit of the magic. Nevertheless, the scenery is still beautiful; it’s hard to imagine that all these are hidden away here, in the mountains, when two hours away, you have the bustling and busy polluted KL city. (That smog I keep seeing around KL is pollution right??)

When in Cameron Highlands, must have steamboat.

The obscenely fat dog in the restaurant.

Waterfall on the way down.

One of the highlights of the holiday. We went to El Cerdo at Changkat Bukit Bintang in KL. It’s this restaurant that specialises in pork dishes. It’s an interesting experience. My dad, sister and brother came here back in July last year upon the recommendation of my dad’s friend. Since my mom, my youngest brother and I haven’t been here, we came back here again. We treated three of my cousins who are working/studying here in KL too (my mom’s side).

“Nose to tail eating”… you’ll find out why soon.

The door… haha! What a sacrilege.

Unfortunately I can’t remember the details of what we were served, but suffice to say, it was all pork from start to finish.

I do like their mustard though… German, if I remember correctly.

The restaurant

I was like… whoaa. That’s cruellll. Poor piggie.

But before you devour into this though, there’s a ritual that you have to do.

First, two “victims” are picked… (in this case, my mom and brother).

…you “cut” the piglet (yes, piglet) with the plate… apparently the flesh is so tender that you can cut it with the plate. It was a very noisy affair from start to finish. Thump thump thump goes the plate hitting the wooden board to cut across the pig.

Then you make a wish – “money” or “relationship”?

Announce your choice…

And smash the plate in the bucket they provide.

Yes, you smash the plate.

Awesome. I almost wish I had a go at it myself. Haha. No, not the wishing part. The smashing the plate bit.

My brother failed! – he threw his plate into the bucket and it just landed without so much as a crack. The waitress laughed and asked him to try again.

We spent most of our time shopping in Pavillion. Lots of branded, high-end goods. Brrr. It’s such a materialistic world we’re living in now.

When we finally arrived back in Brunei after a week plus, I was never more glad to be home. Even if the weather sucks now, and I’m just content to stay indoors. With flooding and landslides occurring everywhere, it’s not a joke anymore. If it rains at night, don’t bother going out lest you can’t get back home anymore. My mom and sister got caught on that particular bad night a couple weeks back – they had to leave the car out near the main road and walk all the way back home in the waist-high waters. It was that same night that claimed a couple of lives..

Still… home really is where the heart is.

My house is a farm.

I know I’ve been AWOL for awhile on this blog now. Mm. Anyway. That’s my cat. He says happy new year to you too. And happy holidays. He’s certainly enjoying his life. I stepped out of the house today and was greeted by the horrifying sight of a dead bird on the ground. Ga-ross. I freaked out and yelled for my mom, who was more irritated by my high-pitched screeches and hullabaloo over ‘nothing’.

The female dog is in heat. It’s annoying, because the male dogs next door were howling their heads off, and the male dog is constantly trying to hump her, even though he’s huge and she’s tiny. He keeps howling too. It’s noisy and it disturbs my sleep early in the morning. And it’s not the most pleasant sight to see him trying to … er, never mind.

The chickens are very happy too.

I didn’t know they could fly that high. I was in my brother’s room and happened to glance outside and was flabbergasted when I saw the chickens perched on the tree. I ran out onto the balcony and was astounded. I mean, I was on the second storey of my house!! And they’re THERE. Apparently they all roost in that tree at night.

I think it was more believable to tell people that they are being reared to be eaten; I didn’t quite know how to react when I asked my mom why do we have chickens, and to hear the answer that these are special Japanese chickens that are meant to be kept as pets. What the. So yeah. Chickens running around my house = not meant to be eaten.

I actually took loads of pictures of the cat snoozing on top of the car that morning. My sister came out to join me and we both started pestering the cat, i.e. I’m trying to snap pictures of him. That’s my sister’s hand there. I think he got irritated at us.

“What do you want?”

“Please, leave me alone.”

“Rawrrr.”

“All I wanted was a nice nap! What’s your freaking problem??”

Meow. This is his “I’m-sticking-out-my-tongue-at-you” face.

“I’m king in this house, and you’re to obey my every whim and wish! Muahaha.”

Stupid noisy cat.

Back from Adelaide

Went to Adelaide for an entire week for the annual OCF Convention. This year’s venue was hosted by South Australia, and I stayed on after the 5-night, 4-day camp for AGM, which was another two extra days. Even if I wasn’t on the general committee, and just an observer, it was really an eye-opening experience, just to see the bigger picture that we were all part of. I didn’t take any pictures during the camp itself; most of them are up on FaceBook I think (and oh my goodness, the number of pictures that are up!) I did take a few pictures on Monday, which was the day after AGM ended, when we had a bit of time to sort of explore Adelaide.

Ohhh, the really awesome night sky on the 1st December, the night before I flew off to Adelaide

Smiling Sky

The sky bestows its blessing upon humanity

It really feels like it’s smiling at you! It’s really quite a rare event – the star on the left is Venus, I think, and the one on the right is Jupiter (someone correct me if I’m wrong), and this is one of the few times that they come together this close.

Adelaide!

Sunny day in Adelaide

Andrea, Jerica and I bunked at Debra and Sarah’s place for one night (Jerica’s staying for the whole week!) and we went for a lovely breakfast in the morning at Citrus, which was featured on the Breakfast Blog.

The huge “pancake” Yon ordered, which had caramelized banana and other stuff.

PanCAKE

My corn fritter thing. I personally prefer the one at Mart 130, a breakfast place in South Melbourne.

Corn fritter with bacon and mushrooms and slow roasted tomatoes

And Andrea’s poached eggs. I took pictures of their breakfasts as well because they were sitting to my left and right. Haha. I think the others ordered different stuff.

Poached eggs + usual breakfast sides

And a bit more of Adelaide…

Christmas deco in city center

Walking along the streets...

Main shopping area.

It really feels like Perth, except with fewer people, maybe? The city is quite small, and it felt very suburban like (in comparison to Melbourne). It’s a real change from the fast-paced bustling activity of the Melbourne city. What I do like about Adelaide is that the roads are so much wider, and it’s slower and much more relaxed. Very peaceful, and people are friendlier. But I guess that’s always the case when one comes from a big city into a smaller one. Sydney, on the other hand, is much faster than Melbourne, but I have to say that I very much prefer Melbourne.

Anyway, I’m glad to be back in Melbourne. Some people stayed back longer in Adelaide to tour around the few tourist attraction places that’s outside of the city. It’s all very well that I came back when I did – it’s going to be a rather busy week for me as I start packing up to move into my new place next week. Yes, that’s right! We got the apartment on Little Lonsdale!!! Moving out of my current place and moving into the new place together with two new housemates.

Okay, granted it’s not our first choice, but the apartment on Berkeley Street that Dawn, Linda and I really wanted went into a lot of complications, and was eventually taken off the market. (The same thing happened to this other apartment on Bedford Street that we were very keen on as well, with the owner deciding to take it back at the last minute. Grr.) The pictures from the inspection that took place late last month…

Three flights of staircase (!!) to the apartment which is on the top floor.

Living room as viewed from the open kitchen...

The living room from the other end...and yes, the crowd that was there for the inspection!! There's the blue-collared shirted agent.

There were seriously LOTS of people. Linda and I went to view the place; Dawn had something else to do that evening. And all the people that stood around waiting for the agent to come had looks on their faces that I can only label as “desperate”. I think Linda and I had the same looks on our faces. We came prepared with application forms all filled out, to be given to the agent at the first chance we have, and to increase our prospects of getting the place. We weren’t the only ones who did so – a few others came prepared as well. Three-bedroom apartments are not easy to come by, so there were a few familiar faces from previous places that we had viewed.. Hence desperate faces.

Bedroom. All three rooms had built-in wardrobes and were around the same size. This photo does not do justice to the space of the room.

The three flights of staircases elicited a “ohhh noo” response from us, but anyway now that we’re only a contract away from getting the apartment, Linda said that at least “moving all the stuff up the stairs, which is not our problem “. Lol. Trueee. Only hope that the movers won’t charge us too much for that!

The bathroom. (There's me in the mirror! )

But frankly, I’m quite relieved. It’s been a real challenge trying to find a 3-bedroom place, especially one that’s within our budget, and in a relatively central position. Little Lonsdale isn’t as close as we hoped for, it’ll probably take me 20 minutes at best to walk to uni. But it’s in the city, so access to shops and supermarkets and stuff is good. Ah well. When the agent called me this morning, asking if I was still interested in the place, I was like, “Yesss, of course!” Wondered if we were first choice applicants, or if others turned it down before he finally contacted me =/ Okay, shall not think that way! The point is, at least we have an accommodation for next year!

That should be enough update. Oh right. For those who are wondering, I’m flying to Singapore on the 29th, staying at Andrea’s place for a few days, just holidaying (shopping!!) and celebrating the transition into 2009 (can you believe it??), before finally heading back to Brunei on the 3rd. And then I’ll be off to KL and Ipoh on the 24th of January for Chinese New Year with the paternal family for a week.

Exam results will be out later this week. Sighh. Not looking forward to it now, which is quite a change of mind from when I finally finished my last exam, in which I was in a “I want my results NOW!” state of mind.

Okay I should stop here before I ramble on. Hopefully I’ll have a more substantial post next time instead of this general sort of updates. Haha.