Merepek

So end of January, I called up the tour agent and booked for a packaged tour for March 7 2008. Manatau, our PM then decided to hold the 12^th General Election on March 8 pulak. Aiksss…..This resulted in many of the people in the travel group to opt out of the tour…me included. So, tak jadi jalan again! Still determined as ever to go jalan-jalan, I then booked for the next date, that is April 24 and just kept my fingers crossed that there will be no more cancellations. I told myself that if the agent were to call and say that trip cancelled because of insufficient pax, then this year 2008, gua tak mau pigi sana lagi….next year baru cerita liao.

Anyway, the travel agent called on April 9. “Ms Tan ah…I am Joe from YYY Tours. I call to let you know we have confirmed your hotel booking for 2 nights extension in Hong Kong ….bla…bla….bla…”

“You mean the packaged tour confirmed jalan ar? Enough pax ar?” I asked.

“Of course! Early-early also enough people ledi. We now have 22 pax.” he answered.

YIPPIESSSSSSSS……………….Finally…Finally….I would be going on a holiday.

So on April 24 2008, I boarded flight no. CX 724 KUL/HKG; transit in HKG for 2 hours and then flew non-stop HKG/LAX for 13 hours. No joke lar….the 13 hours cooped up in Economy Class…..body ached…legs ached…arms ached…and I think I walked out of the plane head 'senget' to one side too. First stop at Immigration and the guys there had to take a photo of my oily-face with panda eyes peeking out from under a dishevelled mop of hair.

Cleared Immigration and collected our bags, we then walked out of the terminal building into the nice, cool night air of Los Angeles…temperature at a comfortable 16 degrees or so. Very seronokssss.

The drive from Los Angeles International Airport to our hotel in Anaheim took about 50 minutes. As it was already close to 11.00pm local time, our accompanying guide asked if we wanted supper and she would then get the bus driver to stop over at Carl’s Junior for tapau. One Uncle in the group asked to stop by a mini-market. He wanted to buy bottled water and Maggi Mee. Soli, Unker. So late liao, mini-markets closed already.

Since most of the people in the group felt tired more than hungry, we went straight to the hotel. By the time we got the keys to the room it was close to 1.00am. And our morning call was 6.00am, followed by breakfast at 7.00am and then on the bus by 8.00am.

It was a glorious Friday morning…clear blue skies with temperature of 19 degrees …..wonderful weather for Disneyland. As we were quite early, the crowd was not that heavy yet so, the queue for the rides was a breeze. At first, I said I will only go for those ‘milder’ ones lest the poor old heart cannot tolerate the other head-spinning, heart-thumping, stomach-churning, adrenaline-rushing and mind-blowing rides. But then, it looked like everybody else would be going and I did not want to look like a spoilt-sport. So I closed my eyes, said my prayers and joined them. No regrets…. I enjoyed as much as I did when I visited way back more than 10 years ago. I won’t mind visiting again…..but then, first let me get over and forget the ‘trauma’ of long-distance economy flight. Or pray that I strike it rich and can then afford First Class comfort.

It was a long, fun-filled day. By dinner time, I was already very tired. Could have gone back to the hotel but then I wanted to stay back to watch the fireworks display. To keep myself awake I went for the leisurely train ride. Bad move! I fell asleep on the train. Cannot blame me mar….cool, night air blowing on the face and with the gentle rock of the train….I visited Snoozeland. The show started on the dot at 9.00pm and it was spectacular…the night sky came aglow with glittering sprays of colour and there was Tinkerbell flying across the night sky waving her magic wand. Yes, it was pure magic.

Saturday – Universal Studios.

Got to sleep-in a little bit longer. Wake-up call at 7.00am; breakfast at 8.00am and on the bus by 9.00am.

Breakfast was same-same like the day before except they replaced the French toast with pan-cakes served with butter and syrup, potatoes, scrambled eggs and crispy, fried bacon with juice and coffee/tea. No fruits.

Wah…..morning temperature was already 26 degrees and the weather forecast said it was going to be hot day…may reach 32 or more. By the time we reached Universal Studios, the sun was already shining bright in the cloudless sky and ya, it was getting hotter by the minute. We went for the back-lot ride first…all of an hour or so riding on a tram going round the studios and movie sets.

After that, we went for the rides and I tell you, it was no fun queuing under the scorching sun…..the temperature rose steadily and I can safely guess it to be around 36 degrees or even more. It was that hot and I was being burnt to a crisp! There are not many trees and shaded areas in Universal Studios, unlike Disneyland, so walking and standing in queue took a toll on me. Plus, jet-lag decided to kick in. By late afternoon, I was practically withering away…..the head throbbed, the injured foot hurt, eyes blood-shot and sore and I needed to shut-eye so badly. What to do? I found an unoccupied table outside a food outlet and I just plonked myself down and slept for an hour.

So all in all, I did not cover a lot in Universal Studios because much time was wasted in the queues. Next time, must visit in February…cooler weather.

Sometimes I can be so ‘free’ with nothing much to do and I can just laze and procrastinate. And other times, the plate is just too full; not that I am complaining though. To me, got work to do means good lar. If no work hor, then 'jialat' liao. Betul tak?

And when I am trying to push as fast and clear as much outstanding work as possible so that I can go enjoysss cukup-cukup my holidays, I had to fracture a toe 10 days back which kinda ‘immobilise’ me– can hobble but cannot drive; I had to have blocked nose and sore throat since 2 days ago; and a small but none the less painful ulcer decides to take position in the mouth. Arrghhhh.......Murphy's Law!

The handphone too, chose to 'misbehave' - it had some minor software problems causing me to lose my playlist and pictures but luckily the contacts list was spared. Had to send it in for rectification and for the few hours that I was without the phone, I felt kinda lost but come to think of it, it was actually quite a peaceful few hours. Weird or not? I just got the phone back and it has been beeping non-stop. aiksss…….Looks like all of them decided to call me at the same time and … and….they want their things yesterday. Geezzzzzz.....

Nevermind. Let them wait a while…I wanna put up a short update here before I fly off tomorrow for my short horniday. Shall be back in 2 weeks.

To all my friends here……have a great day and stay beautiful, always!

Clumsy me kicked on the leg of the bed…OUCCHHHHH…ADDOIIIII…….NIAMAHHH....%$@#*&^%.....and I instantly fell forward onto the bed, hands reaching out for the injured foot. OMG....my foot looked something like this…..

The fourth toe bent something close to 70 degrees towards the little toe. Seimou!…It looked so weird and on impulse, I gave it a push and I heard a soft ‘SNAP’ and the toe settled back into position. Ahh…looks as good as before. A cold compress and some Voltaren gel and then to roll it up in grib-bandage should do the trick.

Woke up this morning and I realised the foot is unable to bear my weight and there is swelling at the base of the toes. Went to the doctor's and had imaging done…oh…oh….there is a phalange fracture. Doctor’s prescription – a buddy splint and some oral medication to relieve pain and swelling and to rest the foot.

Lesson learned - 'Look Before You Kick.' And this has to happen when I am going off for a break in 11 days time. WAAAAAAAaaaaaa……….

My favourite colour is red…ya…solid, bright, vibrant red in all shades. I have many things in red…dresses, blouses, t-shirts, footwear, bags, phone pouches, a squiggie pillow and I just noticed…..even that humble langyard is also in the brightest red.

Red attracts me….when window shopping and browsing through the stores, I am somehow drawn towards the color red. I know…I know, a couple of my friends have been telling me ever so often, “Aiyoh…why so red? You looked like an over-ripe tomato lar.” And my response would go something like this, “Cantik lar….gua suka lar…..'ang-ang' very swee lar…” hehehehe…..

The 2 boys are as different as chalk and cheese where their choice of colors is concerned. No. 1 likes plain colours….his wardrobe consists mainly of whites, blues, greys and browns. Aiyah…kinda dull lar, if you ask me. As for No. 2, he is the exact opposite…..he takes to bright and loud colours and you can certainly find the full spectrum of the rainbow and more in his wardrobe, neons and metallics included. hmmmm…can be kinda 'jarring' at times.

And when I came home from work yesterday evening, I saw this on my bed…......

From my no. 2

Waaaah…..I was thrilled to bits. A red-red t-shirt with a handmade card. Momma sukaaa…….sooooo red…..soooo 'kelip-kelip'……soooo me…. I melted like ice-cream.

Thank you, Son. **muakssss.....**

As the workers had to tile up that postage-size excuse of a garden, the external ‘rocket’ water filter would have to be re-located first. So when they came in yesterday morning, they turned off the water mains, saw off the old pipes, shifted the filter to one side and then proceeded with the tiling works. By late afternoon, they then carried the filter to the corner, fixed it up and then turned on the mains. Lo and behold! No water came out….only hissing sounds from a dry tap. Die lar…what happened? What got blocked? The filter malfunctioned already? Quickly ran in to the house to check on the other taps which connect to the reserve tank Alamak….just a very slow trickle and then it all went dry too!

A call to the Water Supply Department confirmed that there was a burst pipe somewhere in the neighbourhood (nothing new, actually...happens all the time) and repairs were underway and would be expected to be completed by 10.00pm or so. So how? I have not a drop of water in the house; the workers had used up all the water in the spare tank. So no need to cook lor…no need to wash….no need to bathe…no need to do laundry.....

Then at about 11.00pm, supplies finally came back in spurts. The water was dirty…yellowish-brown in colour but what the heck! I needed a shower. After that, I wanted to start the washing machine but it was a no-go. The pressure is so low, it’s gonna take maybe 4-5 hours to run the full cycle if it's gonna run at all. The water is still yellowish and it’s sure to stain the laundry.

**sighssss....**

Perhaps, digging a well is not such a bad idea afterall……"Ding-Dong Bell....come and help me dig a well....."

So, the 31^st day of the month will find me at one of the Baskin Robbins outlet to stock up supplies and just 2 days ago, I was there, standing merrily in the queue. Normally, it would not take more than 20 minutes or so but this time around.whoaaa…….20 minutes passed and the queue didn’t seem to move at all. What happened? Well, as I inched closer to the counter, I saw a few of the customers testing out the myriad of flavours. Point…point…point and then lick…lick…lick and then shake, shake…shake their heads and then point…point…point again and then lick…lick…lick..Aisehman….apparently they could not decide which flavour they wanted and they appeared oblivious to the people in the queue who were getting agitated by the minute.

Seriously, can you actually taste the difference when you are like sticking more than 6 little spoons, albeit with different flavours, one after another into that trap? I dunno, but for me, I cannot tell them apart beyond the third spoon…..all would somehow taste the same…just sweet!

Anyway, back to the main story. This time, it took close to an hour to have them finally call out my number. Chihsin,….gila…..mad or not? Actually halfway through, I had thought of walking off but then, no lar…how can???...how can walk away empty handed when I have already 'invested' 30 good minutes in the queue? Mati-mati also must get something, right? So I shove them my number slip with my order written on it. Then the chap said, “Sorry, Ma’am. We ran out of covers for the half-gallon tub.”

So how, holy cow? “Nevermind”, I told him to just pack into 2 x 1 quart tub per flavour.

“Then you gotta pay RM29.67 x 2 instead of RM55.20 for the half-gallon”, he said.

As I was not willing to pay the extra RM8+, I told him I’d pay for the order and collect it the next day. Not too much trouble really, since the outlet is just walking distance from my house and I am happy as punch that I saved a princely RM8.69. That would be good for another slurpilicious scoop.

And it was just one of the few evenings when I had to sit down and sort out the stack of paperwork I brought home. I don’t normally bring work home and the few times that I did, the papers just stayed where they were…in the bag. I would then bring it back to the office the next day for completion. Carry in and carry out. Silly, isn’t it? Honestly, I planned to finish the paperwork that evening but somehow, I got distracted……I’ll read the papers first lar…I’ll read the comics lar…..I’ll chat on the phone lar…..I’ll fixed the loose button on the shirt lar……I’ll catch some food reviews on the TV first lar…I’ll check my emails first lar…I’ll blog-hop a little lar...etc..etc.... Well, it’s everything else except opening my workbag and by the time I remember the work, most times my eyes refused to stay open and my brain just turn cottony. shuckssss……I am so indiciplined.

So I forced myself. Past couple of hours, I sat down and diligently completed my work and now I am wide awake….eyes big-big and brain sharp-sharp…good enough to bang the keyboard to string a few words for this post. And now, I think I should go and start counting sheep.