Gold Coast

As an appreciation to the job well done for the company's final party before the merger last December, the committee members were given an Airasia X return ticket each.  We decided to have a committee trip to Gold Coast, Australia.

Thirteen of us went.  Since the flight ticket was free, we only came out with just under RM1500 for accommodation, car rental, food on flight and luggage.  The big boss also paid for two of our dinners (Bazaar at QT Hotel & Omeros Bros).  It was one of the best seafood I've ever had.

Our activities there? 

Day one - Shopping at Harbour Town

Day two - Tamborine Hill for glow worms (amazing creature!), vineyard, beer distillery & cheese factory

Day three - Brisbane town and some koala sanctuary (Can never get enough of them cute creatures!) and harbour town again!

Day four - River cruise along Gold Coast and amazing picnic style lunch at Peter's Fish Market!  

It was fun filled trip!  If you plan to go to Gold Coast, rent a car! It's so easy to drive around there and the Aussie drivers are more civilised! Trust me.

View from our apartment

Spotted on the window of a Malaysian restaurant

Going Away

Tomorrow, I'm going to be away from my Ewan for the very first time.  I am not sure if I can handle it and the thought of being away from him for that long can really hurt.  I'm going to miss him to death, that's for sure.  And my telephone bill will shoot to the roof of roaming charges, I'm sure of that too.

Oh my... I wish I can bring him along but since it's a semi business trip, it's impossible.

Come let's vote

As soon as I found out the polling day was set to be on the 5th of May, I went online and check on the flights.  Timing can not be better.  I purchased my ticket and Ewan's at just under RM400 with MAS.  I swear, MAS flights are much cheaper these days compared to other airlines.

Since the dissolution of parliament last week, I've been receiving strange phone calls and text messages from random strange numbers.  These are political campaigner trying to "persuade" me to vote for their contesting candidate .  

Thing is, I don't need people telling me who to vote.  I also do not like to read, hear or watch anything that looks like personal attacks on the politicians.  Their personal preference is their personal preference.  What's important to me is whether or not they can lead the country to become a better nation, regardless the fact that he may be gay/bi-sexual/sex maniac or if he has a very scary looking wife who happens to like luxurious stuffs. 

So come May 5th, I am going to cast my vote.  My decision is mine.  It won't be based on other people's emotion, but on my own judgement.  Win or lose is just another story.  It's democracy anyway.  Majority vote wins.

I hope my Malaysian readers will come out and vote.  There's no point complaining if you don't exercise your right in the first place. 

Memories

It's April's Fool day today.  Doing a prank on people today seems to be so juvenile especially when the mood in the office is so somber.  A colleague passed away due to a fatal car crash last Saturday and it wasn't until today that I got to hear what actually happened.

Life is short, that's what I kept hearing today.  He was just 25.  And just a few days back, I met an elderly lady whose husband passed away after 57 years of them together.  I thought that was an awfully long for two people to be together and then to lose the other half.  

However long you know that person, as long as you know them, it is hard/difficult/sad/devastating to learn about their passing.  No one and nothing can ever fill the hole that that one person left in your life.  Two people can never leave the same impression in your life.  

All we have of the people who have left us are their memories.

Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again.

Willa Cather

57 years

While my colleague and I were waiting for our lunch to be served at The Loaf BVII, an elderly lady passed by and collapsed right in front of the restaurant.  Naturally, I ran trying to grab her before her head hit the floor.  Fortunately, she was with a friend and also there were two passers-by who happened to be just behind them that got to her first.

I didn't panic but I forgot my phone.  I wanted to call the ambulance but at the same time, I saw the three ladies were struggling to get the elderly lady back on her feet again.  I quickly grabbed a chair instead and they sat her down.  I asked her friend if she's alright and that I'd call an ambulance.  Her friend was calm and told me not to, she was sure that her friend was fine.

When she was seated, the lady opened her eyes and I could see her eyes were red and puffy.  She also had dry cracked lips and it was slightly bleeding.  Another lady handed her a glass of warm water and she just hold it.  I told her to drink up, hopefully it'll make her feel better. She did, and she looked at me.  

Through her tears, she told us that they were at Delicious BVII trying to have lunch earlier on. However, the service was so slow and made them wait more than an hour for their food.  The elderly lady made a fuss about it and apparently left the restaurant without having any lunch.  And then, she said thanks to us and apologized.  She said she has never acted that way.  "I just lost my husband yesterday" she said.  "After 57 years together".  My heart went to her and I rubbed her shoulder and said how sorry I was to hear that.  I felt that her shoulder was so bony and frail.  She must have been more than 70 years old.

I can never imagine how lonely she must have felt without her husband after that many years together.  I can never know.  All my love stories never lasted that long.  And I never wish to.  I feel, the more time you spend with a person in your life, the more painful it is when you have to lose them, or for them to lose you.

Of Yew Tree

I've been meaning to update this blog but I guess I really don't know how and where to start.  

First of all, Happy Palm Sunday to all my Christian friends.  I got to find out today that today is also called Yew Sunday.  Yew is the origin of Ewan's name.  And I also got to find out that my "new" aunty has got a grand-nephew that is also named Ewan.  I have always met the variation in spelling as in Euan, but apart from my baby and Ewan McGregor, this aunt's grand-nephew is the only other Ewan I know.

T-shirt says: "What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's"

Having a baby isn't easy and hats off to working mothers who have more than one!  I just don't know how they do it.  And being a mother really made me put my life in perspective (I think).

This may sound petty but I no longer indulge in shopping for my own, I'm drawn to baby's department every time - baby's stuffs are not cheap!  I'm already thinking about his schooling and education fund, the guy's only three months old! And above all, I'm so eager to find a place of my own so that one day I can leave it to him when he's all grown up.

That's how I've changed, and I hope it's for the better.  I think it is.  Since becoming a mother, the relationship between me and mom improved tremendously.  I understand her much better now and I appreciate her even more than ever.  Mom's truly an angel!

Absent

I'm not blaming anyone but let me show you the source of my absence from blogsphere.

He's now the apple of my eyes. The love of my life. Apart from his daddy of course!

My chubby & cheeky baby

I went back to KK for his full moon's celebration.  With my busy time, and the help of family members we managed to pull off a great celebration for him. I let pictures do the talking

Ewan's personalized chocolate wrapper 

Party Packs for Small Kids

Red Egg for adults

Brown paper bags with candies for tween guests

Ewan's fruit cake

Mommy helped blow his candle

Surprise Clown appearance courtesy of daddy

Many people asked me why I chose the name Ewan.  Yes, it's after Ewan McGregor and both his daddy and me are a big fan of that British actor. For me since Moulin Rouge, for daddy since Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.  And also the fact that the name's "universal enough" for our diverse cultural background.

Welcome to the world

Welcome to the world baby Ewan.  I shall introduce him to the world when all is settled anytime next week.

In the meantime, I'm excited and nervous at the same time!