2008

Well.... somehow another year has managed to creep past me...... again.. :P

It seems somehow that i've been cheated out of most of my year, my being in Korea has always seemed like a type of self imposed exile to me, it's like a sabbatical or a leave of absence, perhap even a pilgrimage of sorts, to challenge myself and to see what type of person i really am.
Because of all this... i just don't think it's fair that time should pass regularly (silly i know)

Still 2008 has passed not without difficulty, but i feel that i have, for the most part, handled the challenges it has thrown at me.

I have learned to live with and by myself in numerous different way, i have learned to organise myself because i have noone else to do it for me, not that i was totally reliant on others previously, but.. still i didn't even have a saftety net to fall back on. I have also learned to look after my health a lot more, as i know if i fall sick *touch wood* that i won't have anybody to look after me, so prevention is definitely better than cure.

It seems like i've done so much in this year, and i owe that to being in Korea, a place where i've begun to learn the language, a place i begin to appreciate a lot more now.

It's hard for me to think what home's like right now, i wanted to post a series of pictures of my entire year... but i've left pictures before my exodus at my 'home' in Korea.

I've been so man places this year;
1/ i started the new year in Malaysia in somebody else's home before going to
2/Thailand for a week to se the sites there, i returned
3/Home to Australia for a couple of months before going to
4/Seoul in Korea to begin my work as an ELT and couple of months later my darling arrives and we go to
5/Jeju Island at the south end of Korea. The rest of the year passes and in this month i've returned to
6/Malaysia once again for Jin Khang's wedding and then to
7/Hong Kong to spend New Year's Eve with my sister


If Facebook is any indication... in 2007 i made 7 albums for the entire year, THIS year however i've made 38 ...... fair effort i'd say

Distance has made things hard for some aspects of my life, and i hope that the distance shortens for that reason.

I have a lot of people to thank for making my time in Korea better and less lonely than it could've been. But as long as i've been there and as much as i'm beggining to fit in, it's still not home...



I hope that 2009 presents me with even more challenges even more opportunites and chances to force me to grow.


THank you 2008. you've been a good year to me =)


Happy new year everybody.
For people in Korea, I'll see you soon,
For people in Australia, I miss you all
For the person in Malaysia, I wish you were with me.

Leaving Malaysia 14-12-08

This post has been long awaited by a certain somebody i believe :P hahaha

In this post are pics of stuff i ate whilst i was there, and other bits and the finish will be about my leaving Malaysia....
so i'll just post all the pics here.. no need to add a lil story about each i think :P


Some laksa that i had with Shim and Shir over at... some shopping centre...Gardens?


This is some special roti something or rather with.. curried chicken or something


This was a rather lackluster maggi mi goreng.... WAY too wet


And this... one of the best things ... and MUST HAVE things in Malaysia... Roti canai served with some sambal, curry and.... dahl

Ahhhh yum cha :) this was my yumcha fix until i got to HK (where i'm writing this post now)


the Club sandwich from Chili's :) pretty nice i spose.... eat quick else it'll go dry


Shir's swiss mushroom burger ..... yes that pile of..... something at the top is mushrooms, we actually had to send it back the first time cos it tasted like crap, second time was way better i mean honestly how hard is it to pan fry some mushies?!


oooooh this is gu lu yuk... sweet and sour ... pork.... but this place made it SOOO good crunchy still on the outside but tender inside..... textbook S&S pork


this was called 3-something... had prawns, long beans, and aubergines/eggplant


another favourite from this restaurant (same as the above 2) just fried tofu with some egg and crab meat sauce :) simple yet excellent... the tofu had a lovely outer coating, firm but not crunchy


mmm beef balls


and also at the same shop was this super beef noodle (which apparently Seremban is like totally famous for)it was pretty good i must say sauce was damn thick


and THIS!!! is one of the highlights.... yue tao mai fun (fish head vermicelli) this was seriously very damn good, soup was amazing



ahh this is tandoori chicken..... i scoffed when Jared said to order this... but i must say... it would've been a big loss for me the chicken was so tender.. and that minty limey chilli sauce was REALLY damn nice as well


this was ... just plain roti i think... otherwise it's the cheese naan that we got, the right puddle is actually evaporated milk ..... and i know that sounds weird but the flavours actually worked out well together

This here weird pot noodle thing... was alright.. personally i wouldn't order it again, tastes as good as it looks and i mean that earnestly :P

ladies and gentlemen... mango and jelly ... in a jar :P VERY tasty as was the honeydew that i had and all the other drinks that everbody else had :P hahaha

i actually don't find this one that great.. roti hawaii... lots of .... meat? i think in it.. can't really remember ah well :) it was good to try but i like simpler things

now this plate looks like it's straight out of your regular chinese reataurant.. and as i saw it coming towards me i must admit i was SERIOUSLY unimpressed that i came all this way to order a plate of chow mai fun......
then i smelt it..... O..M...G... it was the most UNBELIEVABLE and the taste matched the smell
this was called royal mee goreng.... (some malay word for royal)


This was at a pancake store me and shir visited on our date out this was one of there.. like... over 100 products




THIS particular thing isn't actually a cheese cake.. it's actually a stak of pancakes with choc in between then and then smothered in chocolate...... intense huh ?


and the stuff that we actually ordered... strawberry pancakes with home made peanut butter



----------------------- END OF FOOD SECTION--------------



My boys Shim and Seng, attempting to play pool =)



Me, my girl, my boys :)


Sei fei zhai




So after a wonderful yet mere 8 days of reconnecting with my dearest (not to mention attending the wedding etc and what not I had to leave my poor girl once again.... for the second time this time, and for a much longer period of time too this time... it'll be quite some time before i see my beautiful missy, and basically it's going to suck... this face pretty much says it all i think...


But being together agains was the best thing EVER as can be seen here:





BUt i have to say that i'm SOO thankful that we made it to December, and were able to ... 'undo the damage' that was done to us during this distance
and i'm so glad we're back on track. I have so much more faith about us now.... and i can't wait to see you again =)
saranghae darling :)

Meme

tell us about the first time you met and your first impression of him/her:

First time I really interacted with her was at the Inter-Club Conference which was... a Sunday I believe, and as a prelude to this I have to say that I'd actually dislocated my shoulder in a volleyball game earlier that week. There was this cute lil girl in our committee, a newbie... but in an important position; Treasurer. So we go to the conference and she insists that I sit next to her so I do. Over the course of the day we had to do several physical things one which required me to hold up a bag with a couple of bricks inside it. My shoulder was protesting slightly under the strain and safter the challenge was done I sat back down with a slightly pained expression on my face. This cute thing was al aflutter over making sure I was okay... constantly checking on my welfare... offering to massage me as well. What really struck me was how much she cared about me, how much she wanted to make sure i'm okay. My first impression was how kind and caring this girl was, that she would show the same amount of care and kindness for someone she barely knew as I would for my friends maybe even my closer friends.

tell us something funny about him/her: she has a real obsession with cutesy stuff, in particular, dresses, basically doesn't matter where you're shopping if she says “hey that dress/top looks nice....” it generally has a ribbon that you need to tie up on it. Also every now and then she'll hook her bottom lip on her top right incisor and close her mouth so it looks like she has this tooth embedded on her lip.

what’s a weird habit or quirk that s/he has?: She roams around on other peoples blogs ostensibly to read them, but then if she finds any cutesy stuff that couples do, (like this questionaire for example) she'll want us to do them

what makes him/her happy?: chocolate and ice cream do the trick. A really cute soft toy as well. A good feed from some REAL mamak food as opposed to “that crap they serve in Australia”

they'll make her kinda happy.. but i think for her.. the thing that'll almost always make her feel better is a great big hug.

what makes him/her sad?: being away from her loved ones, the possibility of failure, the misfortunes of others but when it's exam time.. just about anything could possible set her off :P hehe

what makes him/her angry?: I tend to do that :P hahaha but apart from me. Incompetent people especially in positions of power, the immigration and customs section at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport, and recently I've found out that the ineficiency of Malaysian govt offices as well.

what excites him/her?: the prospect of watching movies or series with hot/cute guys in them (most recently Robert Pattison and the guy who plays Chuck Bass in GG). Watching ManU play.

Hahaha almost forgot, the prospect of going to Passionflower also gets her going, as does slowly coming to the realisation that she's about to be surprised

what’s s/he like at home?: Laid back, enjoys time alone as much as she does spending it watching Chinese serials on Astro. OH... also she's SUPREMELY lazy

what’s s/he like at work/school?: Extraordinarily professional, generally well ordered, but with school she tends to get a bit stressed out...

describe his/her room: Both her old room and her new one are pretty spartan as far as decorations on the walls go the colours are generally pretty muted, although her new room is pink and purple, they're darker colours. Her old bed was littered with soft toys, cows, cookie monster, pigs, numerous animals

what’s his/her best friend like?: somewhat reserved, quiet spoken, doesn't laugh very loudly, keeps under the radar (least in my presence), haven't met many of her real close friends really...

do you know who s/he hates the most?: people who are superficial, and more so for those who are so transparent when they're just being nice to you for their own agenda.

have you met his/her exes?: nope

do his/her parents like you?: yes.... and hopefully will continue to do so... though if I extend my stay in Korea I'm pretty sure that'll change :P hhaha

what’s the first thing s/he would do or say if s/he fell down and scraped their knee: “OW.....boo...*lower lip begins to tremble*”

what would s/he do in an emergency situation with other people involved?: Figure out what needed to be done in the fastest time possible

which shop would s/he spend the most time at in a shopping mall?: MANGO!! that or a dessert shop :P or perhaps a bookstore

what would s/he have for a typical breakfast?: at Uni either a small bowl of cereal or 2 slices of bread. At home, the posibilities are endless, it's Malaysia after all...

where would s/he want to go for dinner?: hahahaha every time she talks about the sweet and sour pork place (gu lu yuk) “near” her house she beams, maybe there :P

what kind of movie would s/he choose at the cinema?: Chick flick, romance, something cute

describe his/her taste in music: softer side of the volume scale, somewhere between chillout and rock. She enjoys Silverchair as much as she love Jason Mraz, or Daughtry

if s/he wasnt going out with you, who would s/he be going out with?: a person much better and probably more deserving than me. A kinder person who'd probably be more inclined to sayang her better when she's upset and sensitive enough to not say the wrong things at the wrong time

what item in his/her wardrobe would you like to burn: there's this purple square cut singlet top that i'm not really a big fan of and then that dress she bought for Mfest is horrid... DEF burn that one

what is s/he good at?: Anything that requires analysis, logical thinking for problem solving (as long as it doesn't involve people I think :P)

what is s/he totally horrible at?: anything requiring hand-eye coordination, ie, ANY sport

what’s something about him/her that is annoying/infuriating?: she takes things very personally, and the way she lashes out when she's stressed or upset

what’s something that you two fundamentally disagree on?: not actually sure about this one really...

what’s something that you two agree whole-heartedly on?: probably food :P hahahaha good food is the best :P

is s/he possessive?: very :P

why would s/he succeed in life?: she has drive, determination and discipline to achieve anything that she wants. If she cannot charm, she will slave away til it's completed

what is the coolest gift that s/he has ever given you?: anybody who's been in my room could tell you that the thing that I love the most that she has given me.... would be Manny the Moose :)

what is s/he obsessed with?: doing the best she can possibly do, especially in school

why would s/he be dangerous?: she's very fiery when something sets her off, so i'd imagine that danger in her case would probably involve something flammable. She's very capable... and that part about going at something til it's completed? I'm pretty sure this would also fall under that category.

what does s/he avoid at all costs?: being hurt.

what does s/he spend the most money on?: I would say clothes, but that's not true. In reality I don't think she spends much money on anything. She's not really a 'material girl'

describe his/her typical sunday: without committee meetings, it'd be sleep in, wake up around noon, chill out, read a book, or maybe snuggle into some blankets and watch movies or dramas and also get some good food into her. During term the larger part of the day would be taken up with studying

tell us about a time s/he looked absolutely gorgeous: Her brother's wedding when I saw her in her cheung sam ....... she looked absolutely amazing... the world actually stopped for a moment and I couldn't help but stare...

what’s something about him/her that would surprise all of his/her friends?: she might not be as innocent as some might think

what do you love most about him/her?: her kind and loving heart, the way she feels so deeply about things, the reason why she cries so easily and gets angry/upset as easily are the same reasons that she can love deeply and care so much.

the biggest lesson you have learnt from loving your partner:

Patience

Of Weddings, waiting and wax strips

Well it's Sunday now.
Means that i got through the wedding weekend.
Friday there was a dinner up in KL for the Bride's family to celebrate MANY MANY people there... 26 odd tables ? like damn man.... people in Malaysia have loads of relatives it's just insane O.O

Saturday was a quiet ... *kinda* dinner at the Ong residence with all of the relatives invited.
Supposed to be a session for the 'heng dais' to get together and discuss strategy, ..... FAIL :P
hahahahah just sat around talking crap.

Sunday was the same as friday but for the groom's side. Different restaurant, this time it was a place owned by a family member. A restuarant in the Royal Bintang in Seremban
But before we got to the dinner there was an ordeal to be had....
630 in the morning, Mr Ong wakes us up to get ready etc.
730-ish the heng dai and the groom-side family who are accompanying the convoy arrive and we all head off together to bring the bride 'home'
About an hour later we arrive in Cheras right in front of her house, and the tradition of zip sun leung (fetching the bride) begins:



Challenge One: Getting through the gate
This involved some heavy negotiation and wordplay on the part of the groom and his best man, not to mention the zi mui (sisters/sisterhood), and after many 'unreasonable' requests made by the girls and numerous threats by the best man to just leave the girl in the house and/or go down the street to pick up a different bride, an agreement was finally reached. The girls would receive a red packet of money in exchange for opening the gate. But the boys being savvy and untrusting said that both the guys and the girls would hang onto the red packet until the door opened and then the boys would let go.





Good plan...

unfortunately in all the excitement and the realisation that their hands are through the grills of a door about to be opened they jerked a bit too hard and the money and the red packet were both ripped :P much to the amusement of all.

Challenge 2: getting through front door

This was a ... culinary challenge.... the boys were required to eat a series of ... 'treats' prepared by the girls.

Dish 1: Sweet
This was, according to the girl that made this ... it was chunks of chicken that were marinated in sugar, which was then COVERED in sugar and the covered some MORE in jam.....
I have to admit, being a man of more savoury tastes, that this was quite a challenge to eat

Dish 2: Sour
This i felt really wasn't that bad, it was just a cup of lemon juice followed by a slice of lemon.
Personally i quite enjoyed this one, the juice was pretty but not overly sour, and by the time i ate the lemon it actully tasted quite sweet in comparison
Dish 3: Hot
Now this particular dish looked ominous it was a tiny cracker covered in wasabi and some other green substance topped off with a chilli..... admittedly when i ate this it really wasn't that bad... in fact i ended up eating 2 :S covering somebody else's the wasabi did its usual business on the nasal passages but the chilli wasn't so bad. Acoording to the girl responsible for this challenge she actually toned it down quite a lot because when she tried it on herself she got gastric from it like right away :P hahahahah how considerate of her to test it on herself first right? :P ( i wouldn't have)
also according to the groom this was peanuts compared to what his cousin had to do: two slices of bread covered in wasabi on both sides with a series of sliced chillis all over the inside O.O yikes....

So after all of this... we finally got to the front door... where Jin had to give another red packet for the door to be opened.....

Inside, more challenges awaited for us before we proceeded.
1st a simple matter for Jin Khang to actually iron a shirt...... easy right? and for those who know me.. yeah that's nothing... quite like ironing shirts... especially more than pants. .. ANYWAY apparently it's not so easy for Jin...... cos he's never ironeed a shirt in his life apparently.
2nd challenge... another one i laughed at...... Waxing of the legs :P
Each boy had a wax strip attached to their leg and it was pulled off by a zi mui :P
the girl came up to me and said "lift up your pants leg"
*lifts up*
O.O ... "wow... there's nothing there" :P
"...... lift up the other one"
O.O (lol actually quite a few people were like..."wtf? no hair at ALL>?!"
"roll your socks down" ....
-.-"
*sigh*
"Take off your shirt"
Now at this point i said "woooo.... only said legs... if you want the shirt off you gotta pay :P"
so anyway this challenge passed me with any real incident
After that we were allowed to head upstairs where the zi mui blocked off the top... so MORE money had to be paid in order for that particular obstacle to go away.

Then there was the final challenge, we had to sing "You're just too good to be true" with a slight difference....
the first verse was to be sung in Bahasa Malayu
the second verse was supposed to be in Chinese
and only the last verse was to be in English.

The Chinese part was hilarious the first line "Pardon the way that i stare" was translated into
"ze me ngo tai lei gor fong faat" :P hahahahaha
"ze me" is usually used for "pardon" for when you want to say "get out of my way" :P hahaha

And actually there was one more thing to do.... Jin Khang had to sign the 'Declaration of Respect to Women" something which, after reading it just once, the Best man said "omg, sorry Jin Khang, i can't do this ... " :P hahaha
The declaration is quite funny :P so you should check it out :)



So after ALL of this crap he finally gets the girl :)

and then there was the tea ceremony where the newlyweds pour tea for the close married relatives of the bride's family, before we headed back to Seremban to do the same thing for the Groom's family.






Not meaning to belittle it, Dinner was your typical wedding dinner, lots of laughs and jokes.
Another tradition for those that don't know is for the couple to go to each table and toast them, the heng dai are also required to be there to toast as well. :P For friday night most of us just toasted with tea but on Sunday because it was the last night, we all drank wine, Chivas, or Martel :p hahahaha for all 26 tables :P hahahah it was hilarious :P aahhhh the fun that can be had with alcohol :P REALLY and enjoyable night overall :) Poor Jin was pretty trashed :P haha

This video is the last table we toasted, Jin Khang's med friends... they made some kind of concoction out of Martell, red wine and what tasted to me like soy sauce....
my reaction to this is .... obvious :P



Dr Ong chose me as a heng dai, and i gotta say despite the awkwardness of me not knowing like anybody in the heng dai group and the fact that i couldn't remember peoples names and hierachy on th family tree, i felt really honoured that he would choose me. It is a position held by a trusted/close friend meant to be like, a bodyguard/honour guard of sorts for the groom. It's more that just 'groomsman' in the traditional western sense because there's so much more involved. Western groomsman just stand around for the wedding and generally just participate in the buck's night. Heng dais accompany the groom almost everywhere, and are a crucial part of the groom's mission to fetch the bride from her house. They step in to take challenges that the "zi mui" throw at him and basically are a bunch of people who take the hits for the groom so that he may.... perform his duties (i'm guessing) later that evening.


It is a position of honour and privilege



Thanks a lot man, i hope you and Kim have a wonderful and long marriage together : )


and of course i have to post about my girly

Here's my gorgeous girl in her cheong sam :)

and her amazing hair....
before i dismantled it....

after i took out all of the pins...

after i untied her hair

and this is the number of metal objects i found in her hair :P

hahahaha

But i have to admit (biased or not doesn't really matter) that she looked amazingly stunning and it was fantastic to have such a gorgeous young lady on my arm =)



And the absolute final thing for this ridiculously long blog is the Video of the Day by the photographer... a REALLY excellent compilation of photos :) even if you don't load ANY other video you should load this one, and if you understand Canto, you should DEFINITELY load it if for no other reason that to listen to the really really cute song attached with it :) damn fitting