If I’m still a blogger, then why am i never invited to blogger gatherings anymore? Now, wait a minute, I am not complaining nor am i lobbying to get myself invited to the local blogging events but i just want to say that I GET JEALOUS. ESPECIALLY and ONLY when it comes to food tasting events.

I mean who wouldn’t? all the free food and the fact that you get to try the food for free saves you $$$ loads from paying for shitty meals. especially when they say their food is of “fine dining” quality. give it 5 years and we still won’t get close to the true definition of fine dining in Brunei.

Unless… unless..they start paying us more but that’s another story.

My story is, i get jealous BUT on the other hand, i probably wouldn’t like the idea of having to blog nice things about shitty things. I’d probably do it for hard cold cash..but i’d definitely won’t do it for a free meal.

i miss Charcoal.

I’ve been here a month. 2 more months to go. So far there’s nothing to complain about except the fact that i haven’t ran in almost a month and i’m gaining weight fast from sampling all the food items offered at the international pavilions.

TWO weeks ago we were constantly trying not to vomit out our innards from consuming the Prawn Burgers at Lotteria on a daily basis now i’m just trying to keep my temptations under control. It’s so hard not to pop by the Dunkin Donuts across the Brunei pavilion for an extra large Cappuccino. On the way UP to the Pavilion there’s Singapore with their Halal chicken curry and RICE and SHELL-LESS Chilli Crab..(it’s like the WHOLE WORLD have intentionally made it easy for me to get fat kan? haha SHELL-LESS CHILLI CRAB GUYS. CRAB, WITHOUT THE SHELL!!! ) and nearby, i have my theme park style, american churros..from the churros stand, i can see the turkish abangs selling authentic turkish ice-cream, Dondurama. The Turkey Pavilion itself houses an array of halal doner kebabs complete with Lahmacun and Meat-filled Pides. The icing on the cake has got to be the Belgium pavilion that sells my favorite belgian cookies Speculous BY THE PACK and a collection of chocolates by Godiva , Neuhaus and Callibaut…but u know what? ALL THIS GOOD QUALITY CHOCOLATE .. and i’m craving for TIM TAMS. which i managed to SOURCE by the way. YES, I CAN DO EVERYTHING. lol. I’ve made friends with people over in the Australian Pavilion and scored a piece yesterday.

Oh oh. and finally, finally, finally..there’s finally Sushi! the JApanese have opened a food court somewhere in the basement and after month of being sushi deprived.. i finally managed to sink my teeth in to an Inari.

mari lah menari.

jadinya, bepantun. lol.

i should really slow down kali. especially when it costs 18,000 won (about BD$18) for a set of raw fish and another 4,000 won ($4) for a cone of strawberry ice-cream. Singapore has never been more kiasu their chicken curry costs about 15 bucks. I think the malaysians are selling a set of teh tarek and roti canai for $18. haha. exploitation at its zenith. if i keep this up, i don’t think ill be able to afford Lotteria prawn burgers in a few weeks time.

I have the morning off today. Will only start work at 2. its a little bit close to 11.

I should slip on my running shoes and go for a short run. it’s been a while :S

kiss me.

So far, there only seems to be two department stores here in Yeosu. The biggest being Lotte Mart (why of course! i reckon they should just rename their capital city of Seoul to ‘Lotte’!) and the second being E-mart. I prefer e-mart because it’s smaller and they have free wi-fi for shoppers! but for some reason, we always end up at Lotte mart.

Anyway, we were just there earlier this evening. I was looking for Strawberries. FYI, Korea has the best strawberries in the strawberry universe. I don’t know why we bother importing our Strawberries from Australia. Korean Strawberries are fat , berrrryyyyyy juicy and sweet. If you don’t mind the pun It’s almost like biting in to uh. a big fat juicy sweet stawberry? ah. exactly like that.

with strawberries like these, i don’t know why one would want to indulge in chocolates anymore. #supasave please take note.

so anyway, i found my strawberries and headed towards the dairy section for whipped cream. nothing like the old fashioned strawberries and cream kan? Local products are mainly being sold through out the supermarket but most of their dairy products are imported. As i was browsing the shelves for cream, i caught sight of the prices for butter.

close to 9 bucks!!!??? for BUTTER????. and i thought we had it bad in Brunei. BND$3.10 for 250g of newzealand butter doesn’t seem so bad anymore. i think i finally understand what they mean by “Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri, lebih baik negeri sendiri”

Rain fall gold in people country, rain fall stone in own country, better in own country!

I AGREE 100% with you Mr Peribahasa Melayu.

but in anycase, don’t they EAT butter here???? i’m guessing they dont. that’s why they’re all sooooo PERFECTLY SIZED. its like god intentionally made them to be skinny with perfect hair and perfectly clear skin so fat girls like ME with dry dark skin and dry hair would look PERFECTLY PETTY for getting EXTREMELY UPSET over the price they charge for butter!!!

shipal! if i were to sell my brownies here, i’d be selling them for close to a BILLION WON ..per box. lol. 8x8x2.

I also passed by the cheese section and my eyes got even wider when i saw that they were charging close to $16 bucks for CHEESE.

and it’s korean cheese. wtf.

ok. nvm. ill just have strawberries for bfast lunch and dinner from now on.

arrosso!?

kudeo.

kiss me.

Here i am sitting cross legged, korean style in a korean styled hotel room ..replying to work mail whilst listening to the likes of Big Bang. It can’t get anymore Korean than that. Wait. actually. it can.. but i refuse to call room service for a bowl of cold stoned rice.

ive succumbed to the world of K-pop. It’s the only way to learn the language, FAST.

lol. who am i kidding? how often would i get a chance to say Naega Jael Cha Laga (I am the best!) ?

and “Nege nege nege ppajyeo Ppajyeo ppajyeo beoryeo baby!” (fell fell fell..fallen fallen baby??”).

Sometimes i wish i could just break in to song whenever speaking to a Korean who doesn’t understand a word of English.

this would be my ideal scenario.

Me: Can you get the cleaners to clean my room?
Hotel Receptionist: dey? ha? [Blank look on face]
Me: Clean. CLEAN. CLEAN MY ROOM?
Hotel Receptionist: ?
Me: clean ani pun kamu nda kan tahu kah?? “NAEGA JAEL CHA LAGA… TRAT TA TA TA TA TA TA TA TA TA! NO NO NO! NA NA NA !” *shuffle* *shuffle* *shuffle*

anyway, this little fella made my day today.

I saw him walk past me once. and i thought, eh what was is this boy wearing on his head? Whilst waiting for our driver i saw him again and i stopped him for a photo .. and he was more than happy to pose

bah eh back to work. krg kana ucap nda kraja. kana ucap kraja ku disini ani blogging saja.

biasa~ mulut org~ racun~~

kiss me.

so i’ve decided to post again for the second time today. facetimed with the family and mom told me that she read my blog today and asked me to keep it updated. i’m such a good daughter.

walked to the minimart nearby to get a few bottles of Mul. that’s water in Korean for you (but don’t bother saying it to the girls at the cafe downstairs. they seem proud to be able to pronounce ‘Evian’ the french way. Everytime i ask for Mul, their reply would be.. “Eviang?” and a loud round of APPLAUSE would immediately follow – IN MY HEAD. ) At the minimart, i came across a variety of chewing gum. They had the normal bottled ones but what caught my attention were these Lotte chewing gum (it’s amazing how Lotte started making chewing gum and now runs the whole of Korea) that offered 2 different flavours in 1.

Mcm kacamata atu jua ah? those glasses that would turn dark when you’re out in the sun and back to clear when you’re in the shade? awu bah cinggam ala ala kacamata VVVVIP.

Anyway, They had orange flavored ones that CHANGES to Mint and Mint flavoured ones that changes to GRAPE.. the third one that i saw was labeled ‘Mystery’. Being the curious cat the i am, i chose Mystery only to be dissapointed that it tasted like STRAWBERRY.. the WHOLE TIME. I was chewing on it for a good two hours before accepting the fact that they weren’t going to change flavour.

kirakan mcm SURPRISE, kau kana tipu oleh chinggam.

banar kan? i think i AM in Pyong Yang.

:S

kiss me.

I haven’t been much of a blogger these days.

I’m also currently not in the country. Will be a way for most of April,May, June, July and inshallah returning home just in time for the Eid Celebrations. lol. “Eid Celebrations”. who am i kidding? Raya lah! hahaha. hahaha. hahahaha.

Whatever it is, this mini posting i’ve been given..i can’t be more grateful for it. It’s not like i have a choice BUT to be GRATEFUL.

but in anycase, it’s nice to get out of the office and work in the comfort of a hotel for a while. the hotel isn’t much of course. it’s very basic but then again, this isn’t Seoul. I’m located South, of South Korea. The views are scenic, the weather is Spring, but the work is the STORY of Pyong Yang.

Great challenges are coming my way, and it’s fast approaching too. I can only pray to god that i come out of this alive:- stronger and wiser than i was before. inshallah. amin.

i miss food by the way. it seems like Yeosu doesn’t have much to offer apart from the Prawn or Squid burgers from Lotteria. a Korean equivalent to Mcdonalds. Sort of like a Grade “A” version of a Mcdonalds, and they do it very well too!!

There’s also only one Mcdonalds here and Fillet o Fish isn’t on the menu. I’m guessing one needs to catch their fish themselves and bring it to Mcdonalds. Other food items are a hassle to order. People here don’t speak much english, let alone have menus written in the common language. The english friendly restaurants like the one in the hotel however, specializes in BLOW FISH (FML). I’ll leave it for when i’m feeling a little bit more suicidal.

I can’t believe it’s only Tuesday :S Maybe this is a good reason for me to have Blowfish for lunch? lol. they don’t call it suicide tuesdays for nothing. haha.

but hey, it’s SPRING time. We flew in just as the Cherry Blossoms were blooming. Unfortunately, we nly managed to enjoy them for FOUR days before the rain came and blew them away. Initially i thought they’d be around for the whole of spring, turns out they only bloom for a few weeks in a year :S haha but i was lucky enough to see it.

time to go to work. *pasang baju asgai*

kiss me.

No idea what ive been doing all week but i’m exhausted and hungry. I’ve missed out on two weekends this month and i’m finally crashing. Which also subsequently make brownies this weekend OUT OF THE QUESTION. this girl is exhausted and i’m not letting someone by the name of SAS push me further into slavery. y u no understand that? i seriously should start thinking of getting a new phone number for my brownie business.

funny how being in the kitchen used to be relaxing for me. now it’s a bloody chore.

it’s that time of the year again where you find yourself running on auto bot. You wakeup, hop in the shower, have breakfast , drive to work, work, run, come home and sleep. this will be the routine until December. I have a feeling that im not getting leave, UNLESS i decide to quit this year.

i hate my life.

I am lonely without my Iphone4 and Instagram. Cause when i’m away, these are the only things that keeps me company. I can bear leaving my toothbrush behind but i don’t think I can imagine my life without these two items that have made their way to the top of my traveling essentials.

In all honesty, It does get lonely sometimes. Especially when you are used to being surrounded with friends and family. It sucks not having anyone to laugh with upon encountering something that is out of the world funny that you know only you and your circle of family and friends would get. It’s pretty sad that Instead of laughing out loud, you laugh out loud in your HEAD and find yourself pressing an imaginary save button for you to tell it back to your friends another day.

i have an imaginary hard drive full of funny traveling stories.

but in any case, you try to make the best of things and make the most of your stay. I’m currently in Siem Reap for a meeting. In the last 3 days i have been on a diet of coke and tropical fruits – the only tea time options that they seem to have along side coffee, tea and a platter of weird looking local cakes (I’m a food snob like that). For lunch we are being served COLD everything.

By the time the meeting ends, i’d be too tired to find food that i’d usually retire to my room and feast on a packet of banana chips (or two) from the mini bar. It’s been a while since i had a fresh warm meal and i’m sure the salt and sugar content in my body is way beyond salty and sugary by now.

detox. Monday.

anyway, lucky for me the meeting ended wayyy ahead of schedule and instead of playing against the 20-something friends i have on Drawsome, I forced myself to brave the scorching heat to visit one of the 7 wonders of the world.

and oh, and was it WONDERFUL.

Words simply couldn’t describe how beautiful this temple, that i’ve only heard in History books actually was. I was enchanted to the point that if i had all the money in the world, all the money that even PRICELESS could buy, this would be my first real estate purchase.

This is what greeted us.

My friend and I were wondering how it was possible for the monks to climb up those narrow stairs. It was later in the day that i found out that there are actually 3 types of stairs in the temple each representing hell, earth and heaven. Apparently as you go further in to the temple, you would notice that the width of the stair steps gets narrower.. the explanation for this is because it’s easier for one to go to hell which is why the steps representing ‘hell’ are wider in comparison to the other two. The stairs going to heaven would be narrower because unlike going to hell, it’s more difficult for one to go to heaven.

and these people paid USD$20 to cheat their way out of hell.

hahaha. pakai tangga spisil. anyway, sucidial thoughts of me choking on mangoes and banana chips went away upon visiting this ancient site. kan. the best things in life are USD$20 a pop. sometimes more. but it’s usually worth it.

anyway. that’s all for me in Siem Reap.

THANK GOD ITS FRIDAY. I look forward to going home and my daily runs. Oh and fresh warm meals , unlimited internet access, family and friends..and… and…

kiss me.

Everyone knows how much i loathe my job. Most days i find myself sitting in the office dreaming of opening a cakery of my own. Surfing the web for the latest trends in restaurant interiors, checking out latest courses in french pastries on lecordonbleu.edu and conjuring up a long list of potential flavors for Brownies.

But today, i am reminded how much i love my job and why i should put my brownie business on hold.

all because I met her.

hello doll!

I was in Copenhagen not too long ago but i was told that she had left for a year long expo in China. And now she’s back and i just happened to be back again for a meeting

It’s all about timing.

I managed to get to her JUST before sun down, which is coincidentally also the perfect time to take photos. Something about the natural lights kah apa kah whatever i was told.

isn’t she just beautiful?

Sometimes it amazes me how i managed to get here…not just here but to places that i’ve never dreamt of going – in my life! x 100. This just goes to show that one should just sit back, relax and let life take you wherever it wants to go.

I now believe that, If my brownie business is ever going to take off, it’s going to happen on its own. With a little bit of planning , luck and patience ..i’m going to get there and believe me YOU will too (the same school of thought also applies to finding Mr Right)

here’s to staying positive like HIV.

kiss me.

I’m missing those days when i can just eat anything, anytime, anywhere without having to worry about gaining weight. Those were my Carefree-like-Modess-days. I said ‘WITHOUT HAVING TO WORRY’ about gaining weight NOT “without getting fat” cause i definitely dont remember being skinny all those times i was stuffing myself up with all dat junk..all dat junk inside dat trunk.

it was delicious by the way. haha.

Anyway, I’ve been telling myself that once i have reached my ideal weight, I’d make myself a feast of all the Nasi Lemak i want in the world with a side of everything that goes with it. Why Nasi Lemak you ask?

I don’t know. The fat girl inside me just misses having homemade nasi lemak. I feel like there are certain food that YOU HAVE TO EAT as big meals and this is an example of it. It’s a GIVEN right that when you have nasi lemak, you HAVE to have it with as many of its condiments as you like.

This may be a double serving of MSG laden sambal or, like me, i like to have mine with a FARM of ayam goreng kunyit, slowly fried in recycled ayam goreng oil which makes it more sinful (and delicious), IN THE COMPANY OF (however amount i want of) the spicy-sexy-beefy rendang on a steamy bed of COCONUT RICE, maybe 3 beds one for Papa , Mama and Baby bear.

Nasi Lemak served up in restaurants just aren’t quite the same. for one thing, if you want extras you have to pay. i can’t imagine myself sitting down for a nasi lemak brunch and ordering up that many extras infront of my friends. i’d get very shy. huhuhu.

So anyway, this DREAM of having a Nasi Lemak Marathon has been my motivation to lose weight for the last two years. and hey. i don’t think it’s working . But the thing is i want it to work. cause den WHEN WILL I HAVE MY NASI LEMAK KAN? Same thing with chicken rice. god knows how long it’s been since i made home-made chicken rice. only because i scay that if i was going to make it at home..i’d finish off the whole sack of rice on my own.

Ill give it until the end of March. If i havent made nasi lemak then it’s probably time that i conjure up more obscene food marathons to motivate me to lose weight.. mcm minum minyak.

but i’m just saying bah, wouldn’t it be nice if we were able to just eat whatever we want at whatever time we like without having to worry about looking fat in the ‘S’ sized guni baras the next day. i sad eh. if only our confidence levels were the size of the universe ah? telanjang ku lagi bejalan.

HAHA.

anyway, in a bid to be more healthy, ive started playing around with the Paleo diet.

look it up. the concept makes good sense. the idea of not consuming ANY type of grains pushes me to go on the diet just so that i can have my NASI LEMAK at the end of March.

kiss me.

My eyes popped open at 5:30am this morning. After tweeting a series of good mornings to the birds and the universe i thought i’d go back to sleep and wake up just in time to shampoo, make myself an awesome breakfast and arrive on time for work.

and then it started raining..and i was more than happy to succumb to the cozy warmth of my blanket so i Snoozed. I snoozed my iphone to it’s death and woke up just in time for a quickie shampoo and breakfast which consisted of a CEREAL BAR in the CAR and arrived work at 8.30. fuck my life banar banar eh.

well. at least, it’s good to know that i had good intentions. eh..more like high ambitions.

now, to reach that high note like Whitney.

haha.

ok. Tuesday, be nice.