Boxing Day

Boxing Day - A holiday Malaysia doesnt have. ANd its the day the Sales starts offically (I think =P)
Veronica and I went shopping with 2 new friends she just met from someone's birthday party. Believe it or not its such a small world. One of the girl is a taiwanist - LISA, while another is a Malaysian who so happen to be from Catholic High School, a year older than me - Wai Lee.
Its nice to meet someone's familar... someone from the same high school.

Our first stop was Topshop. No one will ever believe such thing will happen!!! I couldnt find any nice and suitable tops or bottom there. So I went for bags * wee *. THere's one bag which was not bad, so I decided to buy it. When I pay the scanner showed it was only £1... the sales girl was shocked herself. She commented the bag was really nice and when she knew the price she said she will get one herself too.
When Veronica knew it, she too went looking for a £1 bag. Know whats the trick? For Veronica's case, I told her to find those which are left only ONE, ONe and OnLy one. Then to clear the stock they will of course had it on a SUPER sale. I regretted not taking that bag for myself!!!! HOW STUPID AM I!!!!!!!!!!!

Later than we went to Miss Selfridge. What I got from there? Its those kind of pants which is in fashion right now, but in denim.

I wanted to get a pink color pearl kind of necklace, but it didnt really match the clothings I am planning to wear to the theater, so I gave up and planned to get it from other shop.

Wai Lee was looking for a pair of boots, so we went to a shoe shop. She's quite choosy so we didnt manage to get a pair. But Lisa found one immediately, quite nice and cute.

Later then, we went to Accessorize. The whole shop was on a 50% off, almost all... But the thing I wanted to buy most wasnt on sale >,< - HATS. I couldnt see any accessories & bags that are nice, for the very first time, I didnt buy any necklace from that shop... haha.. Maybe because I was too tired to go search for one ^P^
But I got myself a hosiery from it. I couldnt decide on which patter should I buy, so I got a floral maroon one. I feeel like getting more of those, but I am afraid that its not suitable for Malaysia's weather. But dont care... I too got a hairband which is suitable for my that night's outfite...haha. While in the shop, I met Heidi and her colleague who had just finish their work.We were all exhausted when I walked out from Accessorize. At least Veronica and my arms were tired.

I bought my boots from River Island, therefore I recomanded Wai Lee to have a look at that shop. As usual, we were always able to find something to buy from any shop. The bad thing about that shop that day was - NO TRYING. They were afraid that the fitting room's queue would be too long, so they close the fitting rooom. Still Veronica and I each grabbed a bottom... haha... We had till 29th December to refund if its not suitable. Luckily I didnt buy this last week before the sales starts cause it was on a 50% off =)

We met some of Brian's friends when I came out from River Island. They wanted to Cruise but Wai Lee and Lisa wanted to shop for boots so we went our separate ways.
The guys wanted to go Men's Accessories, so they went in and Veronica and I went into O'neil.
OMG!!!! I found a tote bag I LOVE SOO MUCH!!!! But it wasnt on SALE!!!! So I decided to wait till year 2006 and see whether will there be any sale... haha...
Veronica did get herself a furry bag which cost only £10.. super cute one... I am wondering whether should I get that too.. hmphmm...

Later than we walked to Cruise and guess what? Its closed that day!! haha...
Veronica need to buy a bottle of wine for Brian's mechanic but all the shops which sells wine were close, so I suggested her to get wine glasses for him. Hehe...

Then come the same old situtaion - WHERE TO GO NEXT?
Wai Lee wanted to go makan but the guys were all still full so we ended up GOING HOME while Wai Lee balik rumah masak maggie... haha....

I was being teased by the guys on the way back. Saying one of the guys want to kao me (teasing of course) but I didnt know how to respond... made me damn awarkward nia -_-''
Any how.. its quite a good day, bought quite some good stuff with a bargain price.. hehe...
LOVE Shopping * Viva Shopping *

Christmas Day

Its my little ruddof raindeeer frm WHS Smith ~ Isnt he cute ^^ ~ Merry Christmas

We didnt have the traditional Christmas dinner, instead we had seafood - Giant Crab & Lobster =)
It was pretty great... everyone had a good meal. But the process of killing the crabs were cruel. As the crabs were still very alive, the method used to cook them was quite ferocious.
1st - throw them into boiling water while they were still alive. The sight of they sturggled in the boiling water was really pitiful.
2nd- cut them into half & depart their legs with body ~ eww ~
3rd - cook them with sauce or bake in oven ~ tasty ~

But the technique of eatting crabby was really a pain in the ARSE!!! That explains why I dont like to eat crabbies with shell >,<. Usually when there's crab, dad will be the one knocking here and there while we will be the one enjoying the fresh jucicy delicious meat ~ Yummy ~.
The crabs shell here were much harder than the Malaysia's crabby. Maybe its because they are from the big sea.


We baked the lobsters with cheese + lemon juice + salt + pepper. But we regret putting the black pepper as it covered the taste of the fresh lobster.
As for the crabs, we prepared it by the usual way - BRIAN being the chef and FRY with super hot chillie ~ Yummy ~ but extreamly hot!!!!
THe funny part was when Brian was frying the crabs, he found out some of it were only half cook. He cursed and sweared who the hell got this idea to boil the crab till only half cook cause its so tiring and hard to coook the crab as its soo heavy and hard. Who to blame? Adrian... haha... Brian's expression while cooking the crabs were dman funny... As if he was having a tough war with the crabbs... haha...

After eating afew piece, I gave up cause I got tired & full after struggling with those hard shells.

It wasnt the best Christmas but its after all a different Christmas =)
Here's a video of how we cook & kill the crabs.

Christmas Eve

Everyone thought my Christmas Eve would be SUPERB and very special, but the fact is - Its super normal. I spent my Eve in Royal China >,<... haha...
It was suppose to be the busiest day of the year as everyone will be too busy preparing the next day's Christmas lunch/dinner & of course party.... So logically, they will be ordering takeaways.

Lee's (tauke) wife - Cecilla (i think) was out helping in the shop too. She's so cute & friendly. She's pregnant right now expecting a baby girl during 2006's April.

It wasnt as busy as expected, but its still busy. So busy that Lee gotta go help up in the kitchen. Removing his nice flora sweater and putting on a apron. Its my first time seeing a tauke doing things himself.
I bought a bottle of wine for Leah's family, but Dan took it and gave it to Lee as Christmas present.
Lee has the same thing in mind, he gave every driver a box of wine containing one bottle of white wine and a bottle of red wine as Christmas present. And you know what he gave me? haha... He told me girls dont drink so he gave me a angpao for me to buy my own present.. haha.. Brian & Dan said they rather get that angpao then the bottles of wine as they dont drink... haha... So thanks Lee for my present... haha...

Actually Christmas in Newcastle is really boring cause its so cold outside there. Not like Malaysia where people can just go Bintang Walk with thin clothes and just party by the of the road. Maybe only in big cities like London & Manchester where really big parties and celebrations are held. And the only thing the hantu-s like is DRINK DRINK and DRINK.
So the style of them celebrating might not be like the way she celebrate in Malaysia where drinking is the the main thing but having fun is the most important. Or maybe our defination of FUN is different.

Whats Christmas actually? Is it only about gifts wines and turkey??
I dont know why but it felt so great when people greet me Merry Christmas. THe festive spirit here is so much greater than any festival I know. It really makes you feeel HAPPY. Compared to CNY where people say GONG HEI GONG HEI... I dont feeel anything.
I think Christmas is not about making ourselves happy - but helping others. I dont know why, but I have such feeling. The founder and biggest share holder of The Body Shop gave away 50% of her share worth £51million (if I m not mistaken) during this festive season to some foundation.
When I see those family shopping happily for themselves, I think at the same moment they too should contribute some to those in need. To those who is lonely and need all the warmth and love from everyone. Thats why I donated to the Dogs & Cats shelther ... haha.... =)

Anyway, I think my Christmas here is still unique in away that after all its different people around me... different weather... different foood... different feeeling =)
Merry Christmas everyone * *

Last Day at Work in Year 2005

Its my last day at work in Year 2005 =). Everyone only needs to work half day. As most of the people have work up their flexi, the office have only 10 people working... It was so quite... so empty...
Everyone has no mood to work as everyone's in a Christmas Spirit * Christmas *.

I was shocked when Stacy pass me a present. I never expect her to give me anything as I didnt prepare anything for her either.
Yesterday Lisa gave me a Christmas card too, but I forgotten to give her one today.
Its also Lisa's last day in work. Everyone just 'work' and chat chat and chat ~

After work, I went for lunch with Dan. We were suppose to get each other our Christmas present but the crowd was absurb. Its total madness... everyone's doing their last minute Christmas shopping... Shopping & shopping ~
We went to Ichiban for lunch. Whao... Had a super full lunch.

I was suppose to go over to Leah's place and pass her her christmas present... but Dan was too tired & I became abit lazy... so I've changed the appointment to after Christmas and give a belated Christmas present.
We then went back and prepare for the night work - Royal China -_-

Life is Unpredictable

When Lun just told me a friend of mine was diagnosed with leukemia I didnt take it seriously. Thought that those guys in Malaysia were just trying to fool me as Christmas is round the corner. But after seeing Chau Sean's MSN personal message - Prayers for Liang, my heart sank. At that very moment, my mind was blank and I was numb. I couldnt accept the fact that my friend got such disease. How can it be possible? He is so young, he has a bright future ahead of him... He dont deserve such fate.
I was surprise this news struck me that hard. He wasnt my best friend, I am not that close with him, we didnt even talk much (But we do joke... sometimes). But why it affect me that much?
I really dont know why I had such feeling. I had no mood for the whole weeek. As Christmas is just days ahead and with such disturbing news, all my Christmas spirit was gone.

Maybe it made me realized, life is so unpredictable. One minute you are healthy, the other minute you might be on your way to heaven/hell. Life is so short & so unpredictable. Sometimes we might have spent too much time on something unimportant, something too small to cause any concern. Life is so much more than only being pretty, buying branded, being smart, being famous.....

Everyone knows about his sicknesss and to my amazed I didnt know this day will come, a day where S4 people can actually come together and share the same concern towards something. Almost all my classmates went visiting him in the hospital. We dont even have a class page but they are doing something together.... How astonishing is that?!!?? haha....
Now I just pray and hope that he will recover as soon as possible and not lost the chance to see this world. We might not be the best of friends... But I sincerely hope he will recover and have a gooood life

King Kong

While shopping for Dan's christmas present, I accidentally knocked against someone's back. When I turn around and said sorry... guess who it was - Brian and Veronica >,<
Rupa-rupa they just woke up and is on their way to watch King Kong. So yippie.. I joined them.

Although I didnt cry out loud like the normal me = p... but I teared.
From that movie, I really feel that animals too have feeling, they too know how to love and want to be love. What Kong wants is just to have a friend to be with him, to not be lonely...
When he fought for Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts), the scene was so touching... He is just an animal, the only thing he understands is he wants to protect what he likes, even it means lossing his life. He fought so hard to save her from any danger, no matter what he always remember to grab whole of her.
At the America Empire State Building where Kong was being killed, thats the part I cried. He died because of the girl, die to just see her one sight. All he wants is A FRIEND someone to company him.. to play with him.

At the beginning, when Kong just 'got' Ann, he treated her like a barbie doll, entertain him by doing those dance and he got grumpy when she refused to play again.. Those behaviour were so human like... so cute...
How can you treat something so innocent so bad. You cant blame him for destroying the place, its because he dont know how to live with humans.
I really pity Kong, die for no reason.... ANd I hate Carl Denham (Jack Black). Because of his selfishness - HE made everyone suffered... EVERYONE....
And to be honest, I think if the world really becomes like that when huge animals exist... I dont think I will blame them. Cause after all, we the humans are the one who destroy and took over their world. They are just taking back the ruling power.

Naomi Watts (Ann Darrow) - IS SOOOOO PRETTTY. She's a British but then moved to Australia with the family. From certain angle, I think she loooks like Nicole Kidman. That make me wonder do all Australian look alike? No matter what nationality she is - SHE IS DROP DEAD GORGEOUS!!!!

Hui Wenn

I saw one bubble envelope on the table - with my name MANDY LIM!!! Immediately Hui Wenn's silly face come into my mind... haha.. My SUEN MUI... lol... And yes thats my HUI WENN.. haha...
I still remember when we discuss about sending the food stuff... Afraid that both party will get fine for sending food stuff... WHen I look at the back of the envelope... I laugh out... She erased her address cause scared people will get her.. haha...
So whats in the envelope? A bag of sour plum, and 2 korean sweets? Sot Q... haha...
And of course a 'greeting' card. I cant imagine that fella doing something so girlish.. haha... Something really changed her... haha... Or izzit she can get that card easily... from her aunt's shop.. haha...

Anyway.. feel goood to receive a 'present' during this festive season - CHRISTMAS.... Although its not really a christmas gift but its still a gift =)
That fella is in the Outbound School right now.. GOing through some so call - FUN and TOUGH time... haha...
Hopefully she comes back with no broken bonds.. haha...