Morning Sun

I am unsure whether or not this is due to jet lag, but regardless it is very strange that I wake up at 7 everyday now. Sleep at 9 (I managed to stay up to 9 without a nap yesterday) and wake up at 7 calls for a 10-hour-sleep... At least I'm sure people will tell me it's a healthy change and what not.

Mornings here are so very beautiful- actually, mornings back home are too. That golden hour at 10 when the sun is warm and shines with a golden tint... I sort of miss mornings back home. Then again if I were home I wouldn't see much of it.

My room with a view.

I used to (try) to sleep before midnight (and failing, usually) and wake up to my 9 o'clock alarm... then snooze it to wake up at 10. Haha! It sure is a great change for me to have sleeping patterns like this... I don't think I've ever slept so early, except possibly primary school.

I'm not complaining! We all know the benefits of sleeping early, so hello good skin and healthy bowel movements! Also, I get to use the bathroom while everyone else is still sleeping! I just hope I can keep this up even when I have classes.

Glad to report that I have been super responsible for myself this week... Tidying up, making my bed, cooking and cleaning, vacuuming... I think I can handle this staying by myself thing... Yeah. I'll make it through! :)

Pepperoni pretzels, mmmhph, so so good!

How does the same thing taste so much better here??

DARK CHOCOLATE CHEERIOS NOT EVEN KIDDING

Home made mushroom omelette tortillas! + bacon bits! :D

Clear Blue Skies

It is strange, that I feel completely at home.

Yes I miss people and places and food (oh yes, the food, don't get me started on the food) but here in San Jose, where "hot" is "warm" and "warm" is "cold" in Malaysian weather, it is surprisingly... comfortable.

Day 4: It hasn't rained yet. There are actually no clouds in the sky. Not a single one. Everyday, bright blue skies. At most there may be streams of thin clouds, but otherwise it is clear. In fact I doubt that it'll rain at all this week.

View from the 101.

One thing I love about this weather is that you can walk anywhere. Come high noon just put on a cap (and sunblock!) and walk... Nothing at all compared to Malaysia... The sun is up and warm but it's hard to sweat if you take it slow. In short; nothing at all like the heatwave everyday back home.

It's taking a while to sink in that this is "summer"... Now I understand why people don't mind walking ten blocks, or love the sun with such passion. Instead of seeking shade as I walk, I actually walk in the sun to catch some warmth in my hands... I'm pretty sure I'm doing it because I'm not quite yet used to the temperature, but it is really comfortable, the little bit of warmth that caresses skin.

Malaysian street view

The people are friendly, the neighborhood more so. The street I live on is beautiful, each house with personality and carefully maintained gardens, trees with various shades of color (forest green, light green, golden, purple!), the street free of litter but instead decorated with cute drawings in chalk.

Unrelated, but Penang. Heh!

This place... makes me happy.

You'd love it here.

5 More Days

Here's to a great journey ahead with

new space

new room

new thoughts

new friends

new food

new air

new experiences

But never forgetting the

ones that stay back

places I've been

food I've tasted

pink bedroom

grey car

Malaysian air

.
.
.
.
.

5 more days until the bluebird flies away but she will always, always come home

Be Yourself, Be An Inspiration

There used to be a flat area of grass next to the tennis courts at the park nearby. When I was younger I'd run off to the park every evening until dinner.

There also used to be a couple who brought their dog there every evening for training. When I knew they did so, I started to bring mine too. Only just did I remember that perhaps I had fallen in love with her then.

They were old (adult!) when I knew them, but perhaps now they not that old to me anymore. The lady wore her hair short, wore her clothes tight, and wore her sneakers often. She spoke kindly to me, and gave Snowy doggy treats. (She was the reason I learned that dogs can be given doggy treats every once in a while- although later I tended to spoil my dogs.) The man was quieter, showed up less often, but had the same enthusiastic energy she had. They were dog trainers, I remember her explaining to me. To me it was a vague concept, a hobby. I imagined her having some office work. I imagined him poring over blueprints. I don't imagine such things for anyone anymore, for it is unfair and I have learned better.

Groovy the dog was (if I am not mistaken) a Jack Russell terrier. I am not biased when it comes to breeds, I pick all my dogs from SPCA. Jack Russell terriers, however, has always been the one breed that I absolutely adore. (At least now I know why.) He was very well-trained, playing Fetch, doing tricks, performing for us. He also had a bit of an attitude, a bite to match his bark, and I have never been able to give him a full tummy rub. (My dogs, on the other hand, expose their furry tummies to anyone who bothers to pet them.)

In the beginning I thought the lady and the man were married. I brought it up, abruptly, in conversation, the way only a 9 year old can without sounding rude. She laughed and said no. They weren't married, but they were living together. I was delightfully scandalised to learn such a thing, for my mother would never approve of such thing, and it was such a greatly different way of life than what I knew then. However I prodded no further and also never mentioned it to my parents, lest they decide that they were bad influence and not allow me to see them or Groovy the dog. (Groovy the dog is always Groovy the dog, Groovy the dog can only be called 'Groovy' by the lady.)

 It may seem rude that I do not know (or remember) their names, and I do agree that it's not ideal. Yet despite seeing them everyday and playing with their dog, until the time came for me to stay at home even during the evenings, it never quite dawned on me that I should know their names.

A few years after seeing them one last time, I saw Groovy the dog again on a newspaper article about a dog show. They won first place. I suppose it clicked in my head that they were really not the sort of adults I had been taught to believe. I did attempt to search for them online, but nothing came up. Again I promptly forgot them.

Yesterday I thought I saw a woman walking a dog that reminded me of Groovy the dog. I was in my car, at the traffic light on Jalan Ara, and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw the adult who had changed my life more than they (nor I) could ever imagine.

Thanks to her, I found out that not everyone lives their life like how I have been taught to live mine. Thanks to her, I found out that not everyone treats their dog as, simply, a dog. Thanks to her I learned that you can be friends with a 9-year-old.

I don't remember her name, and she very likely doesn't remember me at all. But she inspired me to break out of the conventional mould simply by being herself. You never know who you can inspire, and you never know when.

Cheers to childhood memories!

JAPAN!

This week I'll be flying off to the Land of the Rising Sun with my TAS friends, and I am so excited!

I've never been overseas without adult supervision before so this is a new first, a step out into the world of journeys and adventure! All the new things that can happen!

I have yet to pack, but I have my whole wardrobe planned out in my head already... Well, at least that would make packing easier wouldn't it! Haha!

To be honest though, I'm more excited to meet another culture. To see how other people do things and go about their daily life. The way they dress, talk, commute. The Japanese are well known to be neat, polite and efficient. I'd love to understand how such a culture thrives in contrast to Malaysia.

We're going to be walking around a lot though, and currently the most (vain) problem on my mind is 'What shoes to bring?????' hahahaha!

Of course we're only going for a week or so, but still I'm sure it's going to be awesome! :D

Just a few more hours and we'll be breathing Japan air! :DDD

Valentines' Day and White Day

So~ White Day has just passed us by, and it dawned on me that I should probably blog about all the amazing things le petit ami has done for me. That would take at least a couple of lengthy blog posts however, so I'll just write about the significance of Valentine's Day and White Day instead.

I finally got to cook for him after a long hiatus. Also because I've been craving for fried eggplant, so I decided to give it a shot and try my hand at it.

I'm not tooting my own horn here but it turned out pretty awesome. xD

The onion cutting ninja at work.

Look at that!

Making curry~ It turned out too thin, as usual... @@

A relatively healthy... vegetarian meal, ohohoho!

Because of course we were saving ourselves for dinner, since le petit ami had already planned a pretty extravagant Valentine's dinner at La Risata! (The food explanation is copied from the menu given. I pretty much have no idea what it means, but it sounds terribly fancy and I'm compelled to type it.)

Super romantic setting! (I couldn't resist burning some of the petals on the table... I see fire and I want to burn things, sorry. xD)

A shot of something that made my whole body heat up into warm fuzzy chocolately feelings.

Cappasana e Fragole

Pan seared scallop on strawberry carpaccio and almond flakes topped with deep fried bresaola beef julienne

Paccheri Rippieni di Anatra

Pipe shaped dry pasta stuffed with chocolate flavored duck ragout on green peas cream

Okay, a little something about this dish. I was at first skeptical of it, because really, duck and chocolate? But I was floored, because it really tasted like duck and chocolate and it was good. I was so confused but yet delighted so I think it deserves a special mention. The cream went really well with the pasta and the stuffing, but imho they should've offered a main course (see below) that wasn't so thick and filling because this did a really good job of cream, meat, carbs and thick sauce already.

Guancia Brasata

Red wine braised beef cheek with oven baked pumpkin and potato cake

Like I said, a mouth full of carbs. Makes me full just looking at it.

Salmone con Risotto ai Funghi

Butter fried salmon steak served with mushroom "chiodini" risotto with spring garlic butter and sautéed beetroot

Millefoglie di Banana

Layers of thin chocolate and banana mousse on Berries Coulis

Okay so technically there was only one raspberry and one blueberry but oh well. The mousse surprised me, because it's banana flavored but yet it was strangely appealing. Three wasn't enough. xD

We took at short detour back to Lake Gardens, the place we spent the beginning of our relationship to have a proper sit down and talk about everything under the sun moon. I'm really grateful we did, because we cleared away uncertainty and doubt and made way for trust and love. :)

And now onto White Day~! White Day is one month after Valentine's day (March 14th) and is generally considered an "epilogue" of sorts of V day. Since I forgot White Day last year (though it's totally the guy's responsibility to celebrate! Hahaha!) I got le petit ami chocolates, because #typical and #generic.

He surprised me more than what the chocolate was worth though, in a way. Even though I knew he had won Avril Lavigne's concert tickets from RedFM's Instagram contest, it was only one ticket... By sheer luck and generosity on RedFM's part they gifted us two instead, so... FREE CONCERT!

We had by far the worst KFC ever (it came in a big truck... guys never buy food from trucks.) and I accidentally hit a lady with our complimentary glow sticks and despite the eager crowd that rushed to the barricades and blocked everyone else's view, I enjoyed every minute immensely with this adorable baka! ♥︎

Too bad we weren't really prepared for the concert... Otherwise we'd have lightsabers ready! Whoop! xD

In a way I'm thankful I've never been the butthurt type to hate on these couple-days when I was still single (ohohoho) so I can say without being hypocritical that sometimes being stupidly in love on special days really is just so much fun! xD

I can't stress how awesome being in love with your best friend is. :') Good times are to be had, always!

TAS is Family

Ohana means family. And family means no one gets left behind.

TAS is my family. Extended family to be there always.

It's strange how the idiom 'blood is thicker than water' has changed its meaning completely... in the beginning it means that 'blood' shared between people- whether it be sworn blood brothers or the closest of friends, is stronger even than the kin with whom one shares the womb with- 'water'.

In terms of the old sense of the phrase I do agree quite heartily.... Many a times I feel like TAS is my second family, in our SLC living room... imagining if a whole group of us staying together in one mansion like the Oneida community... it'd be brilliant!

It's strange that we trust each other so much after, when you think about it, just some lunches together or weekly meetings. My parents love reminding me that there are no true friends who stay by you: that in the end we're all using each other for our own gain and benefit.

It's a cruel, disillusioned way of looking at the world, but I don't want to think that way. In the same way that I believe respect and communication is a two-way street, so is friendship.

So yes, I miss my TAS family. I haven't seen them in so long, I haven't talked and hung out and went for yum cha and laughed at each other over spicy sausage.

But still I'm sure we're family, and no one gets left behind. :)