Life, Love and Food

10 things I love about you

2010-04-21T19:13:00.007+01:00

Today is the HAG's and my third anniversary and I, being the cheapskate that I am, thought that as a gift I would dedicate a blog post to him...

You're not like the typical guy who when asked to do something, does the bare minimum and waits for the next person who notices to deal with it. When you take rubbish out of the bin, you clean the bin. Before you fill the fridge with groceries, you wipe away any crap on the shelves.
You are really cute with babies. Although you make it seem like I'm the one who's good with kids, you are far more patient and caring when they're upset.
You give me the most amazing presents - TomTom, camera, iPod Touch, laptop, holiday to Vegas...
When we go out for dinner, you will read the menu and tell me which dish you think I'll probably order. And since you know me so well, you're usually right!
You're not a jealous boyfriend so I can tell you all sorts of stuff without having to worry about you freaking out, like which friend of yours I find very hot and how I flirted with so-and-so at work.
You don't expect dinner to magically appear before you. When I'm cooking, you always ask if there's anything you can help with. And you always volunteer to do the dishes.
You are the most amazing kisser ever.
You are quite bashful so you're probably blushing at Number 7.
You read my Glamour magazines and discuss articles with me. Such a girl.
When you're watching something boyish on TV (yes, I know I'm contradicting Number 9) and I'm just sitting next to you reading a magazine or faffing around on the laptop, you will stroke my arm or do circles on my hand with your finger or whatever, just so that I know you're not ignoring me.

Happy anniversary! I'm still as smitten as I was on Day 1 :)

Eba misses you

2010-04-18T21:49:00.000+01:00

Last weekend was the last time I went to Reading to see the HAG.

Although I'm absolutely ecstatic about him coming up here to live, it does mean that I will no longer be regularly going to Reading and that makes me sad because I won't get to see my other boyfriend very often...

Some of you may remember him as Pickle from a blog post a while ago.

I was looking at photos of him from when he was only a few weeks old and I just can't believe that he's almost 3 now.

September 2007

Look at the size of him then! Now he's almost as big as me! Ok, maybe not quite but he probably will be the next time I see him... sniff...

April 2008

He is the most adorable child I've ever met. He's just so affectionate - he puts his arms around me and squeezes tightly and he does cute little Eskimo kisses...

April 2008

When I pout, he says, "Awww, Eba sad..." and gives me a big kiss on the lips. Yes, he calls me "Eba" and I think it's the cutest thing. To him, the HAG and I are one person called "EbaMike".

June 2008

Once I phoned the HAG when he was at Pickle's house (well, his parents' house... he's a bit young to own property...) and the HAG put Pickle on the phone. I asked him if he missed me and he said with great enthusiasm, "Of course!" Just too sweet.

January 2009

When I visit, usually within about 15 minutes of being at their house, Pickle will take my hand, say, "Come on, Eba", and lead me upstairs to his bedroom to play. We joke that he's learning early how to take girls up to his room...

September 2009

I'm going to really miss him. The HAG and I will still go down to Reading to visit every so often but I'm worried Pickle will forget his Auntie Eba and think of her as a stranger when he sees me... :(

Life, love and poop

2010-04-15T22:06:00.001+01:00

The HAG couldn't believe that I mentioned pooping in my last post so I said to him that my next post would be all about pooping. He probably thought I was kidding and even suggested the title of this post. So here goes...

We used to call pooping "thinking". So whenever one of us needed to go, we'd say that we were going to go do some "thinking". Afterwards, one might ask the other, "Did you have some good "thoughts"?" Now, we just call it pooping.

The HAG and I are very comfortable with each other. I recall that from the very beginning, we left the bathroom door open whenever we showered or peed. And after a short while, we were comfortable with being in the bathroom together. We do, however, always shut the door when we poop. Some things just don't need to be seen, heard or smelled. The romance doesn't need to be killed completely...

Countdown - 3 weeks

2010-04-14T21:04:00.002+01:00

Three weeks until the HAG moves in.

While he is busy down there trying to pack up his whole life into lots of big boxes, I am up here trying make room for all his crap... er... stuff.

My flat (soon to be "our flat"!) has two bedrooms and the spare bedroom will have to have the double bed and other items of furniture moved out so that it can be turned into the HAG's office. I think "office" is just an excuse for a boy's room filled with drums, loud speakers, pictures of naked women, mini-fridge of beer... OK, maybe only the first two are true (yes, we're going to be really popular with the neighbours...) but who knows if the other two will appear when I'm not looking...

The master bedroom has a built-in double wardrobe which at the moment is jam-packed with my clothes (but I never have anything to wear, of course). I have to clear out half of the space for the HAG's clothes! Why??? He only has one pair of jeans and a T-shirt! He could just wear those on him the entire time - why would he need wardrobe space??? (I'm sure you can't tell that I'm in a bit of an exaggerating mood...) Thank goodness the spare bedroom has two built-in double wardrobes so I will just have to move the stuff I don't wear very often into those. Why would the smaller bedroom have more wardrobes? Design FAIL.

Right now, I don't really use the bathroom very often as I have an ensuite. The main bathroom is for guests (and pooping when the HAG is up... you didn't need to know that...) and for when I feel like a relaxing bubble bath. The ensuite is full of bottles and jars and tubs of cleansers, face cream, eye cream, face masks, blah blah (hey, don't judge. I don't look young for my age without a bit of help)... they might have to migrate to the main bathroom when the HAG moves in... either that or I get rid of all those lotions and potions and start looking ugly. Then the HAG will probably dump me. Hmm... tricky...

Living with a boy

2010-04-04T21:09:00.007+01:00

So the HAG and I have been together for almost 3 years now and as you probably know, it's been a long-distance relationship since the very beginning. I'm actually rather impressed that despite the need to travel 400 miles to see each other every fortnight, we have managed to stay together all this time!

But in a month's time, we will no longer have to do that because... the HAG is moving up to Glasgow and we will be living together!

I've had some interesting reactions when breaking this news to people:

"OMG, aren't you nervous?"

"Gosh, what do your parents think about that?"

"I'm so jealous! I wish I could get a guy to commit to me like that!"

"Seeing each other every single day? What if you start hating each other?"

Well, to be honest, I am a little nervous. Not about living with the HAG as such, because I'm quite confident that we'll get on very well. The thing about long-distance is that although I don't get to see the HAG frequently, when I do see him, we'd spend between 3 to 14 days together so to an extent, I know what living with him is like. I'm pretty sure I won't want to kill him when we move in together. Unless he eats all the food. Then he would deserve to be killed.

What I'm a bit nervous about is the change.

I'm used to living on my own and not having to answer to anyone. I can do whatever and meet whoever I like after work. I'm sure I won't need permission from the HAG to meet my friends but I will still need to let him know in case he thinks I'm dead.

I'm quite a messy person. I have clothes strewn on the bedroom floor. Bills scattered in the hallway. Old newspapers and magazines on the coffee table. My toiletries are everywhere. My shower is laden with numerous bottles, full and empty. I will need to be more organised when the HAG moves in. (I really hope that the HAG is fully aware of all this already and isn't now put off living with me having read this.)

And the parents? I don't really get the concern that people have about them having a problem with me living with the HAG. Do other people out there have really uncool parents? Come on, we are in our twenties after all... I don't even get ID'd anymore when I buy alcohol at the supermarket (That means I look at least 25 and I hate that). Mr Dad and Mrs Mum are totally happy about it, giving suggestions about how to move all his things up here and stuff.

As for the commitment factor, well, I mean we have been together for ages now so it's about time! (Hope I don't sound too desperate there... ahem...) But I am very glad that the HAG has made the decision to move up here so that I don't have to move down. It's a really big step and it means a lot to me for him to do that.

Thank you :)

Comeback

2010-04-02T10:30:00.003+01:00

The last time I blogged was just over 5 months ago.

In the year of 2009, I blogged 6 posts.

In the month of June 2006 alone I blogged 15 posts. Sometimes more than once a day.

Ok, enough statistics. What has happened? I used to love blogging. Whenever anything happened, my little brain would be thinking about how to write about it in an entertaining and witty way (some may disagree but it's my blog and if I say I'm entertaining and witty, then I am. End of).

So really, why the drastic decline in the number of posts? Have I lost my ability to convey thoughts into words? Do I not have anything worthwhile in my life to write about? Am I just too lazy? The last one is undeniably true but I genuinely believe that I was born that way so it's not something I can change.

Sometimes, I do think to myself, "Ooh, that would make an interesting blog post... but I didn't blog about that other thing last week that was pretty cool, so why blog about this one?" I become trapped in a vicious circle, where the longer I don't blog about anything, the more I think that my next post needs to be awesome.

And here you have it, my huge, long-awaited comeback post about... nothing really remotely awesome. Actually, "nothing really" might be a more fitting description... but hey, I am out of the vicious circle and plan to continue blogging about nothing really.

A little bit more food...

2009-11-01T14:34:00.003+01:00

Seafood

Ah, seafood... yet another love of my life. Yes, I may be small but I just have so much love to give. The HAG once asked me if there is any food in the world that I don't actually like. I had to think quite hard about this. In fact, I'm still thinking so I'll get back to you.

I don't really cook much seafood myself but luckily for me, my parents cook quite a lot of it at home and whenever we go out for dinner, usually 75% of the dishes we order will feature some form of seafood. I do love some western ways of preparing seafood (especially when there's cream involved...) but Chinese-style is the way to go - salt and pepper soft-shelled crab, lobster with ginger and spring onion, scallops with vermicelli and garlic and black bean sauce... mmm...

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the yummy Chinese goodies mentioned above - I don't tend to take photos when I eat out at Chinese restaurants... not sure why really... probably because the urge to dig in as soon as the waiter puts the plate on the table distracts me... so I'm afraid you'll just have to look at the photos of the few seafood dishes that I've made myself.

So unoriginal but sometimes it's just what I need - breaded fish, chunky chips, peas and the most attractive splodge of tomato ketchup.

Salmon marinaded in coriander pesto then pan-fried, with colcannon (mashed potatoes and cabbage) and designer salad leaves.

Pan-fried scallops in garlic and chilli oil, roast potatoes and salad with honey mustard dressing.

Salmon marinaded with tikka masala paste then pan fried, on top of cucumber raita and naan bread (shop bought - I am yet to try making my own naan bread).

More food...

2009-08-15T12:32:00.003+01:00

Pizza

I love pizza. It involves two of my mostest favourist things in the world: carbs and cheese. Seriously, what more can you ask for?

One day, I was craving for some amazing, crusty pizza with gooey cheese but at the same time, I was also feeling in a healthy(ish) mood. The latter rarely happens, I assure you. So what I did was buy some garlic pizza bread, and loaded it with buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, spring onion and basil. I ate it with a little dish of balsamic vinegar on the side... oooh, it was heavenly...

So that was the more goddess-like version of pizza. But as I said, I don't often feel the need to be healthy so... here's the other extreme... pizza crunchie (deep fried pizza in batter) with chips...

With my flat being so central and surrounded by restaurants and takeaways, I'm rather proud of myself for managing to fight the temptation most evenings but of course, I do slip sometimes (prime example above)...

Japanese

Another love of my life: sushi. I make rather decent sushi (Mrs Mum says so and she is a very fussy woman) and with most things, it's cheaper to make yourself than to eat out. However, after a day of work, the last thing I really want to do is to go buy fresh ingredients (can't really get away with buying fish days in advance of eating when you're going to be putting it into your mouth raw), chop and slice it all up, cook and season rice then wait for it to cool, then actually finally assembling it all together. And why should I need to do all that when there'a Japanese restaurant 2 minutes away from my flat? Even with my measly trainee solicitor salary, I can afford to indulge every so often...

14-piece sushi combination: salmon, mackeral, tuna and king prawn nigiri; California maki (crastick, cucumber, mayonnaise and fish roe); and cucumber, carrot, radish and sesame seeds maki

Bento with Japanese rice; miso soup; king prawn and vegetable tempura; salmon, mackerel and tuna nigiri; California maki; and teriyaki chicken.

I will be moving soon (more about that later) and I don't believe there's a Japanese place near my new flat... very devastating... excuse me while I go comfort myself with some cake...

I'm back!

2009-08-12T19:16:00.002+01:00

It has been over 5 months since my last blog post. Once I stopped blogging for about a month or so, I just felt that it was too hard to keep up. But I am planning to make an effort with this again, starting with a little post about food...

Since I live on my own, I often have to cook for one. While I lived at home with my family, I would love cooking for just myself when all the others had gone out (and if there wasn't that opportunity, I would sometimes sneak into the kitchen at 2am to make myself a second dinner...). There's less chopping to do, I don't have to think about what other people like or don't like, I can experiment without worrying too much about how the result would taste, there's no time spent on serving the meal on several plates for different people so I can eat the food while it's still steaming hot... I thought it was great.

But of course, when you have to do something on a regular basis, the novelty kinda wears off... just like it would if I received presents every day... (no, actually, I take that back... just in case someone who is planning to shower me with gifts reads this... it could happen...)

What do you cook for one person? Quantity-wise, I'm not going to bother making a big roast dinner. I may be a pie but unfortunately there are limits to how much I can stuff into this teeny body. Effort-wise, is there much point in slaving away for an hour or two just to create a masterpiece for myself? I like to be impressed but I prefer it to be someone else doing the impressing, thank you very much.

Anyway, I thought that I would over, the next few weeks/months, post some pictures of meals that this "single female lawyer" (as my brother likes to call me) eats on her own...

Pasta, pasta and more pasta...

Rigatoni with basil, mushroom and sundried tomatoes in a creamy, garlicky sauce.

Linguini carbonara with pancetta and spinach

Spaghetti bolegnese (my version which I insist is awesome)

Square-spaghetti (which apparently clings onto more sauce) with king prawns and sundried tomatoes in a sauce made from cream, egg, parmesan and lemon zest/juice, all topped with coriander and parmesan

You can see from the photos that none of the dishes have much sauce. I hate pasta that's drowning in sauce... and don't get me started on pasta that is overcooked... ugh...

Am I too cute?

2009-03-06T21:23:00.008+01:00

I had my review at work today. It went pretty well, and I was only one mark away from the top mark but there was one tiny criticism (and it wasn't even related to my work performance): "Try not to let people think of you as a little girl."

Apparently I'm too warm, friendly and cuddly. All very well if you're a primary school teacher, nanny or hot-water bottle; not so good when you're a corporate lawyer.

Although it was only a comment at the very end of the meeting and my mentor didn't even write it down on my review form (he was merely telling me as a friend), it gave me something to think about. I mean, I often joke that I'm too cute to be a lawyer but is that really what other people think too? Do I need to be a brutal bitch to succeed and have people take me seriously and respect me?

I'm not too concerned about what he said. I do understand where he's coming from and that the corporate world is very macho and cut-throat, but I don't really intend to do corporate work when I qualify. I just moved to the Private Client department and even before I started, I guessed that this was going to be my favourite department, and now that I've worked there for a week, I'm 99% certain that this is what I want to do when I grow up. And I don't think that being too nice in this area of work will do me any harm because the clients involved are REAL PEOPLE rather than MONSTERS... ahem, I mean, (heartless) businessmen. And no I'm not being sexist; I never met a single female client in the six months I was in Corporate. I went to 3 meetings this week and two were with women and one was with a couple.

I will take on board what my mentor said but at the end of the day, I am who I am... a small, cute Chinese girl who always has a smile on her face... is that really so bad?

Warning: This is mushy and will either make you sick or very jealous

2009-02-26T21:27:00.008+01:00

Just some of the reasons why you're the best boyfriend any girl could wish for*...

You will sit on your own for 45 minutes at a buffet restaurant, without any food in front of you (or the ability to go get food because I've left my handbag and shopping bags at the table for you to look after) while I queue for Alaskan king crab legs (which you won't even benefit from since you don't like seafood) and when I finally get back to the table, you don't utter a single word of complaint.

When the alarm on my phone goes off at 7am (because I've stupidly forgotten to turn off the recurrent alarm even though I've taken the day off work) in the living room, you will get out of bed and look all over the living room for my phone to turn off the alarm instead of kicking me out of bed and getting me to do it myself because I am sound asleep and you don't have the heart to wake me up.

When I'm having (yet another) one of my irrational moments and I'm down (probably because there's a speck of dust on my fingernail or something equally significant), you do not show an ounce of annoyance or frustration, but instead you use that lovely, soothing voice to comfort me and somehow manage to make everything OK again.

*Other girls better not wish for you though because then I'd have to kill them and I don't really like blood...

Our friend, Mr Taxi Driver

2009-02-22T22:40:00.002+01:00

I take taxis quite regularly. Sometimes I'll take one back to my parents' house at the weekend if I can't be bothered taking the bus despite the fact that it's £20 for the taxi and just over £2 for the bus. And sometimes if I'm feeling really lazy, I'll take a taxi back to my flat from the train station after work even though it's only a 15-minute walk... But my usual taxi journeys involve going to and from Glasgow Airport.

Now I don't mind when taxi drivers don't utter a single word to me during the entire journey. It's not their job - all they need to do is take me to my destination in one piece. And not take me to a secluded alleyway to rape me.

But when I do get a friendly taxi driver, I'm quite happy to chat with them. And when you ask them to take you to the airport, that's usually a good conversation-starter.

So a good few months ago, I got talking to a driver who was taking me to the airport. He asked me where I was travelling to and I told him I was going to visit my boyfriend. He was pretty interested in this long-distance relationship and started asking me questions about how we met, how often we got to see each other, etc.

A few weeks after that, I called for a taxi to pick me up from the airport (I'm stingy and don't like to be ripped off by the white taxis at the airport. Yeah, I won't pay the additional £5 yet I'm perfectly willing to pay the extra £18 to take a taxi instead of a bus... makes complete sense in my head). When the taxi arrived and I jumped in, the first thing the driver said to me was, "Hey, are you just back from visiting your boyfriend?" I thought this was pretty funny, but then again I'm really easily amused so of course I would.

Therefore, I was even more amused when the HAG phoned me from the airport earlier to tell me that when he got into the taxi tonight from the entrance of my flat, the driver asked him, "Hey, are you the boyfriend of the Chinese girl?"

Heeheehee...

Boring routine? I don't think so...

2008-12-20T21:16:00.004+01:00

It's been two whole months since I last blogged! It's a bit mad but I've just not had the time or desire to blog. But this weekend is different. It's the first weekend that I've spent in my flat on my own. Normally, I'm either back at the parentals' house, down in Reading with the HAG or he's up here with me. I have never had a weekend on my own before! So no excuse not to spend it with my beloved blog... oooh, that makes me hot... hehe...

So the last three months and a bit has really just been work work and work. Weekdays go something like this: I go to work, I come home, I make and eat dinner, I watch TV/go online, I chat on the phone with the HAG, I go to sleep... (repeat). Sounds awful but I actually quite like the routine. About a month ago, I took two days off work because I was unwell and I felt so uneasy about it because it was DIFFERENT. And even not going home this weekend feels really strange. I am officially old and boring.

Ok, so not every weekday goes like that. There are variations involving evenings going to the supermarket, shopping, having girlfriends over... but generally, I don't mind just coming home and not doing anything special. And I like living on my own because there is no obligation to talk to anyone after a day of work. I enjoy my quiet evenings where I can just be alone with my thoughts. Oh dear, so not only am I old and boring, but anti-social too...

So a little bit more about work...

I'm in the Corporate department with a bunch of men. Yes, ALL men. Not a single female solicitor in that department. Lucky me. I never thought that I would like corporate law but I'm starting to change my mind. I've been given a really wide variety of things to do. And no, I don't spend my days photocopying, filing and making cups of tea for my superiors (I have a secretary who offers ME endless cups of tea and coffee). After hearing nasty stories about trainees in other firms being given crap unimportant work to do, I really appreciate the kind of work I get to do.

During the first week, I had an ergonomics dude come analyse the way I sit and work at my desk. Apparently it's all wrong wrong wrong... so he gave me a foot rest and a back cushion... which on mosts days, I don't even bother using... la de da...

I charge clients £100 an hour... and I have to keep time sheets to account for all my time at work. It felt so weird at the start seeing on my time sheets that I was charging clients £20 for briefly emailing them... ho hum... I am so cheap compared to the partners though... heehee...

Ok, that's enough blabbing... I'm going to save some for the next blog post... whenever that may be...

Viva Las Vegas (part 9)

2008-10-19T18:24:00.003+01:00

GRAND CANYON

The visit to the Grand Canyon was really amazing. Crazy hot but the views made up for it. We took a little 7-seater plane there and just the ride itself was so much fun!

After all that writing about the shows, I really am out of words so this post will pretty much just be photos with perhaps a few captions thrown in. But the photos are so beautiful that no words are really needed... (that'll be another tenner for me from the HAG... hehe...)

Crazy man

Crazy man taking a couple of pictures for us beyond the barrier where we weren't allowed to be...

Now where shall we sleep tonight...? Oh, the choices...

I think we should put in an offer for this one...

Yeah, haven't quite figured out how cameras work yet...

These ones are my favourite...

So that pretty much concludes Viva Las Vegas so my mission this weekend has been accomplished! Well, except from the food posts but they fall into a completely different category so they don't count. Yeah, can you see how good I am at convincing people why I don't get things done? I get lots of practice at work...

Viva Las Vegas (part 8)

2008-10-19T13:38:00.003+01:00

SHOWS

We went to see three shows, which I don't have any photos of, but they were so cool that it's definitely worth giving them a mention.

KA at MGM Grand

On our second night, we went to see a Cirque du Soleil show, KA at MGM Grand. There's a brief video here which gives you a rough idea of what it was all about. I'm going to try my best at giving a (very very) short review but I'm not very good with words and since it's been months since I saw the show, it's really not that vivid in my mind so what I say really won't give any justice to how fantastic the show was. Really cool acrobatics, choreography, costumes and more...

We thought that it would be worth buying the Category 1 tickets to get a good view and it definitely was worth the money (well, I didn't have to pay a penny so of course of it was worth it for me... hehe...) Apparently the show and the theatre cost $165 million to develop... so I guess a meagre $165 per ticket isn't that much...

The star of the show was the stage, as strange as that may sound. It would move and be at different angles so that at some points, it would be completely vertical. And if that's not enough to impress you, it would also rotate! With the performers on it! It was so cool! There were some really dramatic scenes involving the moving stage. Aaaah, just can't possibly describe it in words! Go and watch it yourself!

The funny thing was that although the HAG and I both thought KA was really really impressive, it was our least favourite out of the three shows we saw! I would still go see it again though!

Penn and Teller at the Rio

Again, we had brilliant seats for this. I do think that you should pay the extra money to get good seats for these Vegas shows. There's no point in going if you're going to be seated way at the back where you can barely see what's going on. I mean, the money that we (sorry, the HAG... but what's his is mine, right?) spent on our tickets for three shows was probably enough to cover crap tickets for 5-6 shows but I think I'd much rather go with quality than quantity.

I think Penn and Teller was my favourite show out of the three. If you don't already know, they're magicians/comedians. Penn is the boisterous one who does all the talking while Teller just mimes but he's still hilarious just by using his body language.

The first trick involved a member of the audience. Penn chatted to her for a bit then asked her to take off her glasses and he put them in his pocket. Meanwhile, Teller came onto the stage with this cement block over his head. Penn smashed the block with a hammer thing, revealing Teller's head... and he was wearing the woman's glasses!

Before the show even started, the audience were asked to sign our names on this sealed envelope that was on the stage. We thought it was a bit random at first but then there was a trick involving this envelope. A guy from the audience was invited to go onto the stage and asked to flick through several joke books and pick a joke. He read out the joke he chose... and the punchline was written on this banner that was inside the envelope!

Then there was one trick where Teller placed a potted plant about 2 metres in front of an easel with a white canvas so that the plant's shadow was shone onto it. Then when he used a knife to 'slice' the shadow of the stem of the plant... the actual stem was cut and the top of the plant fell off!

The grand finale involved guns. Two members of the audience who had experience with guns were asked to go onto the stage. They were each given a bullet and asked to write their names on them and to draw something to make them distinguished from any other bullets. Then they loaded up guns with those bullets, and one of them shot Penn and the other shot Teller. The next thing you knew, Penn and Teller each had a bullet caught between their teeth... and they were indeed the ones that had the guys' names and drawings on them!

Blue Man Group at the Venetian

The HAG had already seen this twice - once in Vegas, once in London. But the last time he was in Vegas he wasn't as rich so couldn't afford good seats. So it was better this time. And I was sitting next to him, making it awesome. Ahem.

I'm not really sure how to categorise Blue Man Group into a genre. There's comedy... rock music... original percussion... cool lighting... three guys wearing latex caps and covered in blue paint, who don't do any talking whatsoever... oh, and there's lots and lots of paper...

To elaborate on the paper thing, there was one point where loads and loads of white crepe paper streamers came from the back of the theatre, travelling towards the front so that the whole audience was eventually covered in paper! And since black lights were used throughout the show, all the white paper turned purple... it was pretty cool stuff...

And when I say original percussion, I don't mean funky beats. I mean percussion involving playing pipes (no, not bagpipes - pipes that you find under your sink...) and crunching on cereal...

Oh, and the people in the first five rows had to wear plastic ponchos to protect their clothing from the paint, food and other crap that were splattered from the stage. This was the one time that we didn't mind not being too close to the stage...

Bodies the Exhibition at Tropicana

This wasn't exactly a show and we hadn't booked it in advance but we stumbled upon it online one day when we were trying to figure what to do and it looked pretty interesting.

The exhibition was basically about the human body but what was so cool was that everything in the exhibition were real human body parts that were preserved. Not only just parts but there were full-sized human bodies that were posed in different ways and layers of the body were cut away so that you could see how the muscles, bones, etc. (I'm no scientist - I don't know all the fancy names) react when the human body is performing different actions. If you click here and watch the short video, you'll see what I mean.

Seems a bit icky but actually, when I was looking at all the different bodies, I didn't even think about the fact that they were real - they looked kinda plasticky after the preservation processes. There was one room that was a bit creepy though (and people were warned that there was an option to skip it) and it contained foetuses at different stages. Ick.

Viva Las Vegas (part 7)

2008-10-18T15:33:00.015+01:00

Right. Here's my plan. I don't have anything on this weekend for a change so I'm going to try and finish blogging about Vegas. It's hugely ambitious, I know. What will I think of next? Taking over the world?

I left off with the hotels and I think I've pretty much covered all the interesting ones we visited. Even if I haven't, I'm not going to bother. There are far cooler things to talk about. No, actually, less talking, more photos. Less thinking required.

ANIMALS

Lions at MGM Grand

"Oooh, I hear food..."

"Mmm... she looks tasty..."

"No, actually, I want to eat YOU!"

"It's so stressful being a lion!"

"OMG, this plastic ball tastes like shit..."

"Human leg should be good though..."

"Yes, I'm going to lay here all day. What you going to do about it?"

"I'm so depressed..."

"Why hasn't she called me yet... does she not fancy me...?"

Birds at Flamingo

"I refuse to let you get a good shot of me."

"Alright, fine. But only if you slip me a $5..."

"Yeah, get a close-up of my hair. I spent ages styling it to perfection this morning."

"I can't see you, you can't see me."

"Eugh... did someone pee in there?"

"I'm an inter-racial birdie..."

"You need to go on a diet, love."

Dolphins, alpacas, leapards and tigers (big ones, little ones, orange ones, white ones) at Mirage

"Pucker up and gimme a smooch."

"If I smile then maybe no one will notice what my dolphin friend is doing to me down there..."

"This angle makes me look fat..."

Something about this Alpaca makes it look rather sacred... like I should bow down to it or something...

Photographer: "Ok, now give me fierce."

"You can be my friend..."

"All this posing for photos is exhausting..."

"What was that? Is it food?"

"Where did it go?"

"Ok, can't be bovvered..."

"*Cough*... hair ball..."

Just chillin'

"Gimme a cuddle please..."

"Mmm... if it's a white tiger, then is it still cannabilism...?"

"Om nom nom nom..."

"I sad... take me home with you..." (Those are my fingers in the shot by the way. There's a plastic barrier between us though, of course.)

"I think you're just the right size for my dinner..."

"I'm so going to win this staring contest..."

I must say that I think the HAG got some really good photos. I'm probably very very biased though... (plus he pays me to compliment him... nah, he doesn't really. But he should.)

Viva Las Vegas (part 6)

2008-09-04T20:24:00.005+01:00

Argh! So much for finishing the Vegas posts before starting the new job! I've still got so much to blog about! Food! Shows! Tigers! Grand Canyon!

Ok, even less commentary than before so that it won't be next summer by the time I finish all of it! I really don't have much time to blog now - with the commute I have to wake up pretty early in the mornings, which means having to sleep early and I don't get home until about 6:30pm or 7pm (or maybe later to show the partners that I'm keen) so that doesn't give me much free time at all. I'm loving the job though so it's all worth it! More about that later once I get these holiday posts out of the way!

HOTELS/CASINOS (cont'd)

Monte Carlo

I've been to the Monte Carlo in Monaco before and from what I remember, it looked nothing like this... there was one thing in common though - I won money at both casinos! I think I won something like 45 Euros with 2 Euros in Monaco. Here we put $5 into a slot machine and left with $135! It was so cool!

I thought these statues were really pretty... do you think I could get one to put outside on the terrace?

Bellagio

The Bellagio had fountain shows every 15 minutes. Very mesmerising stuff. I think they played different songs throughout the day and the fountains would do different things to synchronise with the music. It really did look like the water was dancing gracefully to the music. We watched the show three times on the last night at different locations so that the HAG could get some good shots. I didn't mind - I could have watched even more!

Waiting patiently to video the show...

Some very funky hot air balloons. Again, since I'm looking for decorative ideas for the flat, do you think this would work? I have high ceilings... ok, probably not high enough... dum de dum...

Mirage

Just a few more photos of outside the Mirage...

This was the sign/seats for the Revolution bar. We wanted to get a photo of it without any people in the shot but that proved to be very difficult as is seemed like there were people sitting on those seats all the time... how inconsiderate...

Talking of cool signs, I missed this one of the Liquidity bar in Luxor.

It looks like the bottom part is the reflection in water but the sign is actually cut out like that. We thought this was really cool.

Viva Las Vegas (part 5)

2008-08-26T12:56:00.007+01:00

Argh... really am very behind with blogging about the summer hols... bad bad Eva... must finish before starting work on Monday... will not resort to blogging in the office...

Blogging at the HAG's right now while he's at work... his two massive monitors really makes things much easier in terms of being able to have multiple windows opened at once and not overlapped on top of one another...

Not sure if I can be bothered typing very much though so a lot of this post will just be photos...

HOTELS/CASINOS (cont'd)

The Venetian

The Venetian's theme was based on... take a guess... VENICE!

Everything here was very beautiful and had a rather romantic charm...

Outside the Venetian...

The singing gondolier... we didn't go on one because I had already been on a gondola in the real Venice and the HAG wasn't really fussed about it...

Some painting on the ceiling... very useful information I know... feel free to buy my holiday guidebook...

Humpty Dumpty sat on a 'wall' at the David Burke restaurant...

Look how happy he looks with me... too bad he couldn't fit into my suitcase... we would have had a wonderful life together...

So so beautiful at night... sigh... I wanna go back...

Caesar's Palace

This place was huge! The hotel is made up of five towers and has about 3,300 rooms! Lots of statues and fountains at Caesar's Palace...

We joked that perhaps this statue once had a head but was the victim of an ugly drunken accident... dum de dum...

Some crazy horse/fish thingy... I totally agree with inter-racial relationships but this is taking things way too far... heehee... sorry, that was inappropriate...

The Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace which we went into a few times as there were some really nice restaurants in there...

The ground floor of the Forum Shops with its grand decor and cool spiral escalators... I wonder if they could fit one of these in my flat...

Statues and fountains...

More statues and fountains...

And um... some more statues and fountains...

Massive wooden Trojan Horse at the entrance of a toy shop...

Inside the toy shop were... SWEETIES! I really like this photo of the display of many many sweetie scoops on the wall...

Forget Humpty Dumpty... meet my new beau, Mr Dino with his lengthy tongue...

New York New York

Two things I distinctly remember about New York New York...

One, the scary rollercoaster ride. I screamed all the way through it while the HAG laughed at me. I used to love thrill rides... just goes to show that I am old now... bah!

Two, a crazy woman in the toilets. I was washing my hands and could feel her staring at me. I eventually made eye contact and smiled at her, and she said to me, 'Awww... your bag looks heavier than you. You're so tiny! You're so cute!' Ok... I am a fully grown adult... not six years old...

Fake Statue of Liberty... please ignore the construction works in the background... maybe they're going to build her a boyfriend...

Not really sure which bridge this one is modelled on... funky-looking though...

Life-size Rock-em Sock-em robots...

We thought this photo was taken at a really interesting angle...

Paris

The Montgolfier Balloon... well, not quite, just a neon sign the shape of it...

The Eiffel Tower replica which is apparently five eighths (540 ft tall) of the size of the real one...

Arc de Triomphe replica that is two thirds of the size of the actual one...

Guess who those shadows belong to... heehee...

I think this is the pretend version of La Fontaine des Mers... but I'm not entirely certain...

The Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe captured in one shot...

Happy HAG...

Aaah... the fountain was very cooling in the scorching heat...

I think that's sufficient blogging for one day... I should go shower so that the HAG doesn't come from work and find me still in my bathrobe... like yesterday... ahem... I'm not lazy... honest...

Viva Las Vegas (part 4)

2008-08-13T00:05:00.006+01:00

HOTELS/CASINOS

We spent a fair bit of time just walking along the main strip and popping in and out of hotels/casinos. As sad and uneventful that sounds, it was far from that. All the hotels had some sort of theme or attraction so when I say that we wandered through hotels, what I really mean is we did some sightseeing and stopped to take lots of photos...

So let's go through some of my favourites... in no particular order...

Luxor

The Luxor had an Egyptian theme. The building itself was shaped like a pyramid and there was a huge sphinx at the front. Lots of other cool statues inside and outside of the hotel.

And since the building is pyramid-shaped, elevators couldn't be used. Instead, they had inclinators which went up and down diagonally. Pretty cool I thought.

I thought the Luxor was a really nice hotel. Although the Mirage was lovely with all its palm trees and waterfalls, the interior wasn't quite as funky as the Luxor so I kinda wished that we stayed here. However, this was pretty much at the end of the strip whereas the Mirage was in the middle so it was definitely more convenient.

Excalibur

I felt like a princess at the Excalibur! It looks just like a fairytale castle! So cute!

Thought I'd better include a photo of myself in case you thought I was making up this holiday... hehe...

Yes, I rule...

The guard who checked your ID before letting you in. Just kidding...

Check out the architecture! Its even built like a castle inside! Must contain my excitement and stop revealing how much I want to be Princess Eva...

Ok, there's only so much blogging a girl can do in a day... so that's me done for today... heehee...

Viva Las Vegas (part 3)

2008-08-08T18:50:00.005+01:00

Just back from Reading on Tuesday night. Had a good time though it felt like the HAG and I didn't have much time alone. On Friday, Jen came to Reading and we all went out for dinner then she stayed overnight. Sunday, we went to Kier and Boxy's for a barbecue. Monday, after the HAG came home from work, we went out for dinner at the Swan with Scott, Susan and Colin. So the only time we really had on our own was Saturday after we dropped Jen off at the train station then went to see the Dark Knight (such a good film...) and had dinner at Wagamama... I'm greedy, I want the HAG all to myself... mwahahaha... definitely not enough of him to share despite there being 6' 2" of him... hehehe...

Anyway, more holiday blogging...

LAS VEGAS

I had initially intended on writing a day-to-day diary sorta thing about the holiday but instead I'm going to try dividing it up into categories. Probably easier for the readers to digest and perhaps makes things a bit simpler for me too.

Airport

I thought the Las Vegas Airport was pretty cool. On our way to collecting our suitcases, we walked past many many slot machines. I mean, you often see arcades in airports and perhaps the odd slot/fruit machines dotted about, but this was far more extensive.

One thing I was very impressed with was a vending machine. You know, the ones that you put some money into, choose the thing you want to buy, then out it comes. Yes, I know we get them in the UK... but I'm not talking about soft drinks, chocolate or crisps here. I'm talking iPods and other electronics!

Weather

It was hot. Very very hot. I knew that as soon as I stepped out of the airport. It was about 9pm, sun had set, and still very very warm. Average temperature during the day was 43 degrees. I've been talking to people about their holidays and they'd be like, 'It was absolutely roasting! 30 degrees!' Er... whatever... hehe...

Despite the temperature being so high, it was still (just) bearable. I've been in HK when it's been 37 degrees and that felt much hotter than Vegas. That's most likely due to the humidity of HK while Vegas is very dry. So it didn't cause that horrible sticky, sweaty feeling as soon as I stepped out of an air-conditioned building, wanting to go right back to the hotel for a shower. But of course, it was still hot enough to make me run from shaded area to shaded area to keep cool, much to the amusement of the HAG...

Our hotel

(I thought this was quite a cool photo)

We stayed in the Mirage which was in the middle of the strip. Nice hotel with some really nice restaurants (more about the food later). Our room was very spacious with a massive king-sized bed (if you didn't know already, US king-sized beds are larger than UK kings. They're the equivalent of UK super-kings I believe). The HAG found it fascinating that despite the size of the bed, he would still find me on his side in the middle of the night, almost knocking him onto the floor...

Our room was cleaned twice a day, and the evening maid would leave flowers and a little box of chocolates on the bed for us. A very sweet touch I thought...

The Mirage's signature attraction is its volcano which would erupt at scheduled times throughout the day. Unfortunately, it was getting renovated when we were there so we didn't get to see it... boohoo...

Other attractions at the Mirage included the 20,000 gallon aquarium at the lobby with apparently almost 1000 different species; the indoor tropical rainforest situated near the front entrance so we walked past palm trees, orchids and waterfalls after we checked in to get to our room; and the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat with the cutest little white, white-striped and golden-striped tiger cubs! (More details later under the Activities category)

I'll try to continue writing tomorrow! No promises though! I'm totally addicted to watching TVB's Forensic Heroes 2 so might be doing that instead... dum de dum...

Oh, and if you noticed the different sizes of the photos, it's because some are from my camera and some are stolen from the HAG... what's his is mine, and what's mine is, of course, MINE!

Viva Las Vegas (part 2)

2008-07-25T13:35:00.003+01:00

I just slept for a little over 11 hours... didn't get up until 1pm... very naughty. Though I was rather exhausted. Worked on Wednesday at the takeaway then headed to a girly sleepover (not been to one of those in ages and discovered that my body is now too old to sleep on the floor). Got about 5 hours sleep then went to see little princesses Esther and Rachel. Playing with toddlers require quite a lot of energy... all that before going to my flat to paint and take apart some old furniture to throw away.

And in a few hours, I need to go work again because I agreed to do someone else's shift... busy busy busy... so busy that my suitcase from holiday is still lying half-full in my bedroom. Should really deal with that...

Right, more about the holiday...

Philadelphia

We didn't do that much during the few days that we were in Philly before we headed off to Vegas.

One day, I went shopping with the HAG's mom (while the HAG went to see his accountant... boring...) who isn't really into shopping but she was so kind to take me to the mall and wait patiently while I looked around and tried things on. Ended up getting a few really nice things, including some fantastic skinny jeans (in size 0!)

The HAG and I went to meet his friends for dinner one night. I thought they were very very American - they all did their funny handshake when they met and then attempted to do it to me who obviously had no idea, so they just 'pounded' me. Hehe... and the way they spoke reminded of teenage American movies and I don't just mean their accents - one very memorable line was 'Dude... that's the lamest shit, man...' It made me crack up... For dinner, we went to Outback Steakhouse and I had this really yummy filet steak... mmm... almost melt in the mouth... I could do with some now actually...

Oh, and the HAG drummed a fair bit on his acoustic kit (the kit he has in Reading is an electronic one since he lives in a flat and the neighbours probably wouldn't appreciate all the banging...) which was pretty impressive. Not that I actually watched him that often - it was so loud that even when I had headphones on, I could feel my heart seriously pounding like it was about to escape out of my body and go splat on the floor! So most of the time, while he drummed in the basement, I sat upstairs with a book or magazine and I could still hear him at a comfortable volume. If I wanted it even quieter, I'd go up another floor... hehe...

Haha, it's so bad that I've entitled these last two posts as 'Viva Las Vegas' when I haven't even written anything about Vegas yet! Next post, I promise!

Viva Las Vegas (part 1)

2008-07-21T22:47:00.005+01:00

I'm back! Actually I've been back for over a week now but been very busy sorting out things for moving out (more about that later) so I've not had the chance to blog about the awesome holiday. Definitely the best birthday present ever! Thank you HAG!

Now, where to start...

Arriving

Well, we arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday evening. Had a slight problem getting through Immigration because I didn't have any proof that I was going to be returning to the UK within 3 months... told the dude that it was all booked online and that I hadn't printed out the itinerary... he asked me how long I was staying, who I was with, blah blah... then said he was going to keep my passport while I went to look for the HAG (he was in a different queue obviously since he's an American citizen). The HAG came and told him pretty much the same stuff that I had, and he let me through. Do I not look trustworthy or something? Hmph.

After collecting our suitcases, we were met by his parents who were really lovely. Big hugs from both of them. The HAG's dad looks even taller than the HAG! Apparently they are the same height though... his mum (mom even...) is small like me though still one or two inches taller... heehee... At one point, the HAG asked his parents if they had trouble understanding my Scottish accent, to which they replied that they could understand me better than they could understand him! Hehehe...

Drive through the city

On the way back to their house, his dad took us (well, it was probably for my benefit really) for a drive through the city and pointed out all the interesting stuff to me. Unfortunately I don't really remember much of it... I was a bit tired and maybe overwhelmed by the fact that it was my first time in the States.

The place where the HAG grew up

The HAG gave me a tour of the house once we got there and I was convinced that I was going to get lost. Why do two people need 4 bathrooms? Oh, and I loved that their house was like a library - everywhere you went, there were shelves stacked full of books. Maybe a couple of thousand books I reckon. Very fascinating.

The HAG's bedroom was so cute - there was a shelf filled with his football trophies and medals and a frame on his wall with the football badges of all the teams he had played against. My boyfriend is a boy after all... heehee...

Right, I'm tired now, so more blogging later and I'll put up a selective few out of the 2000 photos that the HAG took in Vegas!

Confessions of a Cheating Girlfriend

2008-06-17T14:33:00.008+01:00

The time that I kinda cheated...

On holiday, a group of us played Truth or Dare and I was dared to kiss a boy. We had a proper full-on snog. I didn't fancy the guy at all. If it hadn't been for the game, the kissing would have definitely not happened.

Still, I regretted it and wished that it could be erased.

I had a boyfriend back at home and I told him about the incident as soon as I went back to Scotland. He was quite upset but was glad that I told him straight away. It didn't really affect our relationship and I didn't cheat on him again in the remaining 4 years that we were together.

The time that I think I definitely cheated...

On a different holiday a good few years later, I became good friends with a guy and gradually developed feelings for him. I had a feeling that he felt the same too but we never did anything. Until the second-last day when he asked if he could hug me... then he kissed me. I didn't pull away.

Then he held me really tightly and said something along the lines of how he really liked me but nothing could happen (I wasn't really listening - I was still in shock about what had just happened).

That night, while he was sleeping on the top bunk and I was on the bottom bunk (long story as to why I ended up in a room with three guys... trust me, it wasn't my choice), we held hands for a while and he stroked my thumb with his ever so gently.

I was really upset when it came to the end of the holiday and we had to part. I cried on the journey home knowing that I would probably never see him again.

When I got home, I looked forward to receiving his emails and talking to him on MSN and Skype.

I never did see him again after that holiday (since he lives on the other side of the world) and I stopped having feelings for him a few months after the holiday... but I do still cherish everything that happened.

I didn't tell my boyfriend until a month later.

The time that I don't think I cheated... and turned out to be something wonderful...

Things weren't working out with my boyfriend. We hardly saw each other and more importantly, weren't communicating. I was feeling rather neglected and on the 10th day of not seeing the boyfriend, I went to a birthday party. At dinner, I was seated opposite this guy that I had only just met the previous night (and we hadn't really spoken to each other). We got on really well and I thought he seemed like a nice person.

We exchanged a couple of purely platonic text messages the next day. Then when he went back to Reading, we chatted on MSN. About a week or so later, we started talking on the phone. We had so much to talk about that we would end up on the phone for hours (one time we were on the phone for 10 hours...). I knew that I was starting to really like him but doubted that anything could happen because I was already with someone and even though things weren't working out, I wasn't quite ready to give up. However, about a week and half after chatting to this guy on the phone, I finally broke up with the boyfriend.

Two weeks after the break-up, I went down to Reading to see the guy.

To be honest, I consider all of this to be a bit of a grey area. I guess you could say I emotionally cheated but I didn't physically see the guy again after the initial meeting until a couple of weeks after ending the previous relationship.

However, I suppose a lot of people will think that even if I didn't cheat, two weeks to start another relationship is far too quick. And I'll admit that if I heard that about someone else, I would think that it was definitely too soon.

But the fact is that when Mr or Miss Right comes along, you shouldn't have to wait the 'acceptable' length of time before starting a relationship with them just because you're scared of what other people might think. It's your life and only you will know whether or not it is right. And what is 'acceptable' anyway? Charlotte from Sex and the City says that it's half the time that you were with your previous partner. But does that mean that if you were with someone for 6 years, you have to wait 3 years after the break-up before considering being with someone else? That seems a little harsh to me.

Anyway, it didn't turn out to be just a fling or rebound or whatever. It turned out to be this really amazing relationship where although we may have weeks of being physically apart, we still talk every day and share detailed accounts of one another's days. He listens to me. He's patient with me. He can make me smile when I'm down. Make me laugh when I didn't think I was in the mood. Make me feel like I'm a really special and important person. Make me feel loved.

Karma vs Revenge

2008-06-16T00:06:00.004+01:00

My friend, J asked me if I believe in karma. She told me a story about two girls who she had invited to her house when she was younger. They stole money from her, and although thinking back, it wasn't a huge amount, it meant a lot to the little girl that she was and she was really upset. She confronted these girls who obviously denied what they had done. That day, J not only lost £50 but also two people whom she thought were her friends.

A week later, the two girls' parents' car got stolen.

Ok, insurance probably covered their loss but that's besides the point. They would have still had to endure a certain extent of stress and anxiety having to experience something like that.

From that day on, J believed that what goes around comes around.

I was working at the takeaway the other day and a woman I had not seen for over three years came in. She had stolen money from us in the past. We called the police but nothing could be done.

That day when I saw her, she told me her son died. One night, he got really drunk, walked into the middle of a road and got knocked down by a car.

Far more extreme than J's experience. And no insurance will ever replace the son.

I have been quite a vengeful person in the past but later on regretted it. I would feel really angry in the heat of the moment and want to do something to get back at whoever has wronged me. But later on, once I've calmed down, I would wish that I hadn't stooped so low. And all this karma stuff has made me realise that there is no need for revenge. Everything will be taken care of. I don't need to do anything to give those people their just desserts.

If you steal, you will be stolen from. If you borrow money from others and don't return it when they're in need, you'll lose even more money yourself and get into bigger debt. If you disrespect your parents, your children will mistreat you. If you have treated previous partners like garbage, your future partners will do the same to you. If you only make friends to use them to your advantage, they will turn their back on you when you need help.

On a much lighter note, holiday in less than two weeks! Three whole weeks with the HAG. So so so excited!

A day-out and night-out that was almost forgotten about

2008-06-15T18:25:00.006+01:00

I'm a little behind with my blogging! I really have no excuse for not keeping up-to-date... er... I was washing my hair... yeah, that's a good one that everyone believes, right?

Lucy's Farewell

Just over 2 weeks ago, a couple of current Jewellers X employees, a couple of ex-employees and I went to Cafe Andaluz for dinner before heading to Kushion for Lucy's little farewell party (she's going to work in the States for a few months. Lucky girl!). Dinner wasn't bad but La Tasca is still my favourite for tapas.

Kirsty, Lucy, me, Jodie and Heather (aka. Ms. Supervisor and Little Miss Perfect)

Jodie, Heather and Heather's cleavage... heeheehee...

Me and pretty Kirsty

I'm not a lawyer yet - I'm allowed to be inappropriate... Kirsty on the other hand needs to be more sensible...

Getting a little silly, are we?

I wonder if Jodie's trying to do the famous 'Joey Tribbiani come-on'... "Hey... how you doin'?"

BBQ and Games

Last week, a group of us boys and girls went to Victoria Park for some burnt food and strenuous games. Really, all I cared about was getting some sausages into my tummy but I was forced to play Rounders. Bah!

After finally getting fed, we played some Twister on one of those mini versions of the mat (came with McDonald's Happy Meal, I believe) which led to the guys getting into some rather compromising positions...

Can't remember who this big bum belongs to... dum de dum...

Hmm... I wonder what everyone's reaching for under Danny's bum...

Joe: "Worship me all you like... just don't get too close..."

Us girls are far more arty-looking...

Er... maybe not...

We also played some card games, a few of which I lost and was made to do sit-ups and squat jumps as punishment! I was rather achey the next day... though I must burned off all that food I ate... heehee...

Oh, and I must not forget the homemade 'pinata'... that was made out of Danny's shoe...

Cat: "Hmm... I wonder how many sweets I'll manage to knock out of this 'pinata'..."

Getting ready to bat... but not quite managing to restrain her laughter...

And finally, a couple of happy girlies after some ice cream and milkshakes in McDonald's...

Life after Uni

2008-06-14T13:06:00.003+01:00

Lots of people are graduating at the end of this month and the beginning of July. Well done to all those who made it through the four years of hard work!

It's been two years since I graduated. While it would have probably been ideal to be like my friend K, who graduated from law, did her Diploma in Legal Practice and started her traineeship with no gaps in between (well, besides summer holidays), a lot of people, including me, didn't quite manage such a smooth journey.

Take J for example, she graduated at the same time as I did and went down south a few months after graduation for a 'holiday'. Well, the so-called 'holiday' has still not ended. Haha, well, that's not really true... a two-year holiday would be pretty awesome. She decided to stay down south. She studied for another course that took a few months to complete. She found a job. Unfortunately, it was basically an admin job that she was far too good for and had practically nothing to do with what she studied at Uni.

A few months later, she found a much more challenging and better-paid job and for a while, I heard nothing except from how much she loved this job. She did really well for herself and became the top *insert job title* (I'm taking this anonymity thing seriously... heehee...) in the company despite being one of the youngest. Things aren't always perfect though, and for weeks, I heard nothing except from how much she hated her job. She couldn't take anymore, handed in her resignation and now, five weeks of jobhunting later, she is still unemployed.

Sounds a bit daunting, doesn't it? I guess it's not all bad though. I mean, she expanded her CV, got herself some work experience and achieved some pretty impressive stuff in her second job. This will all help her find her dream job in the end.

As for me? Well, you know the story. I graduated, went travelling around Europe, found a legal traineeship about 3 months later (which doesn't start until almost 2 years after the interview itself!), worked for a Jewellers for 6 months or so, went to Hong Kong for 6 weeks, started my Diploma and now I'm just waiting to start my traineeship in September.

Like I said, it would have been better to have done things like K, but I don't feel like I wasted too much time. OK, working in a Jewellers is hardly related to law and will probably be ignored (or sniggered at) when I'm applying to work for some hot-shot law firm in the future... but hey, I met some really lovely people that I still keep in touch with and go on nights-out with, I learned some useful stuff about diamonds, watches, gold, etc. and most importantly, I loved that job (oh, and the discounts!). I had great fun! And in any case, it only involved taking ONE gap year. There are people out there who have graduated for 2-3 years and are still faffing about. They might be in the exact same position now as they were in a day after they graduated, still in the same dead-end part-time job that they hate but can't quit because they need the money. Very sad...

I'm not trying to be unsympathetic here. I do know that it's really hard to get a job with so many graduates competing against one another every year. But I also know that you can't just sit back and not do anything. Like J, she didn't just sit on her ass and do nothing. She went out there and constantly improved herself instead of feeling sorry for herself and complaining about how unfair it is that A, B and C have achieved what she hasn't. I can't stand those people who moan and moan that "A is so lucky, he's in this amazing job and gets paid £X. Why can't that happen to me?" Er... because A bust his ass trying to get a good job rather than playing computer games/getting drunk/doing other useless things, waiting for opportunities to arrive at his doorstep... Don't envy what others have that you don't when you're not prepared to work for it like they did.

Playing nurse

2008-06-12T13:10:00.004+01:00

I was down in Reading last week and the HAG and I did some role-playing - he played the patient and I played the nurse.

No, it was not a kinky dress-up game! He was actually ill!

I arrived on Sunday in the afternoon and after hanging out for a bit in the flat, we went for an Indian dinner at The Tamarind Tree. It was during the main course that he felt a bit funny and needed to go to the bathroom. He could barely eat any more of his dish when he came back so we waited for me to finish my Lamb Passanda, Pilau Rice and Peshwari Naan, then asked for his Chicken Tikka Masala to be packed in a box.

The HAG was not very well for the rest of Sunday but we thought he'd be better after a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and he had to skip work on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday... lots of shivering, lots of going hot and cold (which involved lots of finding everything he could find to wear AND wrapping himself up in the duvet... then the next minute throwing everything off again and laying sprawled across the sofa in just his undies), lots of going to the bathroom (even when he's almost dying, he's still polite enough to choose to use the bathroom that's furthest away from wherever I happen to be...) and lots of not being able to get much sleep (which meant lots of going to bed separately).

I couldn't really decide whether or not it was actually a good thing that he was ill. Haha, that makes me sound so evil, but I don't mean it that way! The HAG being ill resulted in him taking 3 days off work. This meant that I had all that extra time with him that I wouldn't have had if he was perfectly healthy. Ah... always the optimist!

Seeing that the HAG was not in a position to be able to entertain me (apart from watching TV with me and making the odd jokes here and there), I had to find other people to take care of that! Again, that makes me sound like the most horrible girlfriend ever but the HAG insisted that I went out and had some fun because he felt bad about me being stuck indoors with a sick person for so many days!

So on Wednesday night, Scott and I went for dinner at 0 Degrees. I had the Grilled Garlic Prawn Pizza which had tiger prawns, mussels, red onion, white wine and garlic sauce and parsley. Scott had the Thai Chicken Pizza which had chicken, spring onion, peppers, carrots, coriander, satay sauce and roasted peanuts. Their menu that's filled with descriptions of interesting pizzas always makes me drool and struggle with choosing what to have. But when the food comes, it's always a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, the food is good! But maybe the high expectations make it seem like it's not as good as it really is... Oh, and for dessert, we had the Banoffee Pie and Chocolate Torte. The Banofee Pie was better I thought. Probably because Scott ordered that and a dessert that doesn't belong to you always tastes better...

On Thursday, I went out to London to meet Jen for some lunch and shopping. We went to Chinese Experience for some half-price dim sum (weekday lunch offer). The bill only came to £11.70! Including tea and service charge! We ordered:

Deep-fried Taro Balls. OMG, I love taro and I love it even more when it's been mashed up then deep fried! Crunching through the crispy batter to get through to the melt-in-your-mouth taro... Yum... I would go back just to have this! The only place I know that does this dish in Glasgow is See Woo. I had it on Tuesday and it was ick.

Barbecue Pork Cheung Fun. Very nicely done. The 'noodle' part was nice and thin just the way I like it.

Steamed Prawn and Chive Dumplings. Again, nicely done. The 'pastry' (seems weird to use that work to describe something that isn't crispy...) was really thin which apparently is quite difficult to do. Tasty filling too. Good juicy prawns.

Steamed Shanghai Buns (aka Soup Dumplings). These were really nice. Yummy gingery pork filling and good pastry. The first one I ate didn't seem to have any soup inside (probably leaked out...) but the second one was very soupy and I sorta squirted myself when I bit into it...

Fried Turnip Cake Singaporean Style. This was my second favourite (after the Taro Balls in case you didn't know that already). It had really nice spicy flavours and despite the turnip cake not being amazing (I've been spoilt with my aunt's homemade turnip cake that is filled with lots and lots of good ingredients as opposed to the ones they serve you at restaurants that's got a lot of flour in it and rather little turnip), it was a really yummy dish overall.

After being fed, we did some shopping in Oxford Street (well, we just went to Topshop really!) where I bought some sunglasses, and Carnaby Street where there were lots of beautiful things but I didn't buy anything because everything was too expensive for someone as skint as me.

Came across this little shop which sold wool and buttons, etc. that had quite a cute display in its window:

Woolen cactus - perfect for someone like me who can't keep real plants alive (yes, not even cactus).

Woolen cakes - perfect for someone like me who loves sweet things but has no self-control...

Woolen camera - perfect for me so I could swap it for the HAG's big beasty camera... he would so not notice... right?

The HAG was pretty much nearly completely recovered by Friday... the day I was leaving! Such perfect timing! In a way, I wish that I hadn't gone down to see him bang on the days that he was sick, but I suppose it was probably good for him to have someone around to look after him. Shame we didn't get to do much though. Ah well, the next time I see him, we're going to be together for 3 whole weeks and we're going on holiday! Weeeee!

Baby post

2008-06-09T17:21:00.002+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, Cat, Mel and I went to the Leungs to visit baby Esther (well, she's hardly a baby anymore...), baby Rachel (15 months) and baby Chloe (8 months). Before you get confused about the age gap between Rachel and Chloe, Chloe belongs to Ash and Chris while Esther and Rachel were made by Edward and Wei Ling.

Not long after we got there, Godmummy Cat fed Chloe some milk and she was so distracted! Chloe that is, not Cat... heehee... she kept turning her head this way and that way to look at me and Mel. Maybe we're so pretty that she couldn't bear to take her eyes off us... or maybe it's because she thinks we look weird...

Lots of pics from that day:

Cat with Chloe in her fancy wee motor

Rachel: 'Hey, who's that? She looks familiar...'

Rachel: 'Wow! It's me... amazing technology you have there...'

Rachel: 'I feed you apple.'

Rachel: 'I change my mind. I munch apple myself.'

Chloe: 'Get me away from the strange lady!'

Rachel: 'I'm seriously bored of posing now... can we play something else?'

And while I'm posting about babies, let me show you the most beautiful baby ever... remember Pickle? I put up pics of him about 10 months ago. Admittedly back then I thought that he looked like a bit like a mini version of an old man... but after a few months, he got so cute, and now he is the most adorable baby! And he's so friendly! I only get to see him every 2-3 weeks but he seems to remember me every time! It takes him a couple of minutes to scan my face and recognise me, but after that, he gives me the sweetest smile! Awwww, he just makes me melt! (A very useful quality in boys...)

This is one of the most recent pics of him (stolen from Kier's Facebook!):

Look at his six little teeth! He can eat practically anything now! Rice crackers, apples, breadsticks... it's too cute.

And here are some pics from back in April (again, nicked from Kier!) which was the last time we had pics taken with the little charmer...

'Wow, I'm almost as tall as you, Auntie Eva...'

I Heart My Life

2008-06-09T15:58:00.005+01:00

I heard something recently that I didn't want to hear. It upset me a fair bit and kinda spoiled the rest of what would have been a brilliant day.

That's a bad thing about me - I let things get to me quite easily.

Fortunately, a good thing about me is that I manage to get over it pretty quickly.

After a night's sleep, everything became clear to me. I have a pretty damn good life. Sorry, the rest of this bit will probably sound awfully braggy but hey... I have a good law degree. I've passed all my Diploma exams. I have a legal traineeship that's due to start in a few months. My career path is all laid out for at least the next two years. I'm moving out into a flat in the city centre soon. I have wonderful friends who understand me. I have parents who are cool and support me and I have great chats with them. I get on brilliantly with my brothers who forever love to hang out with me in my room. I have the sweetest, most considerate boyfriend who I can talk to about everything. We're going on holiday in a few weeks and he planned and booked everything from flights to hotels and shows to excursions. I practically have no hurdles in my life at the moment. There is nothing major that I need to worry about.

THAT IS THE BIG PICTURE.

Why should I let a teeny tiny little insignificant thing that lies in the past bother me? The important thing is that my life is fantastic RIGHT NOW. If other people have such crap lives in the present that they choose to dwell pathetically in the past then let them LIVE IN THE PAST. I'm over it.

It doesn't matter what they do or what they say. If they want to waste their time doing pointless things then let them be. I'm going to use MY TIME to concentrate on enjoying my life in the present and on being a great person to the people around me. I don't mean to be crude, but fuck the past.

And I'm going to stop fretting about lies that other people might have heard about me and what they might think about me. The truth is that if they choose to believe those things and want to judge me then they weren't my real friends anyway. On the other hand, the people who stick by me and trust my character, without the need of me even bothering to defend myself, are the ones who matter.

Birthday weekend (Part 2)

2008-06-07T11:25:00.005+01:00

Yes, it has taken me over two weeks to continue with blogging about my birthday. Procrastinators should not be allowed to do things in two parts. They should be strapped to their chairs and be forced to finish everything in one go. Well, unless the task didn't really involve sitting in a chair...

Anyway. So on Monday, the actual day of my birthday, the HAG and I went to Lomond Shores. We walked around a bit and the HAG took photos.

Some of my favourites:

And while he was concentrating on taking some good shots, I pretended to fall off things to get his attention...

Then we headed to the Aquarium. Lots of funny-looking, cute and scary creatures... yes, even funnier looking and cuter and scarier than me... (I'm very versatile.)

The venomous Lionfish with its long and separated spines.

Two otters being very cute with one another. There were three otters in the Aquarium called Ona, Shona and Rhona. I'm not really sure which two these were... dum de dum...

Not so cute when they're crunchy on the bones of teeny tiny day-old chicks...

Funky-looking seahorse. Very helpful and educational information I'm giving here, I know.

A shark. Duh.

It was all pretty cool but probably not worth the £10.95 entrance fee. It was only afterwards that I realised you would save £4 per person if you booked online in advance. So I suggest you do that (and give me the money that you save. Thank you. Hehe...)

After all the excitement, I was rather hungry, so we went to the Kilted Skirlie for a light bite. Didn't want to fill up too much since it was about 4pm by that point and we had dinner reservations at 7:30pm... The restaurant was really nice and we kinda wished that we had decided to go there for dinner instead... oh, and the prices were really reasonable for a restaurant with such a nice view! Ah well, next time...

I had some very yummy Haggis Clapshot Croquettes which were haggis, neeps and tattie encrusted with breadcrumbs, in a deliciously creamy whisky and chive sauce. The HAG had some of this and it was his first time eating haggis! Ok, not really quite the same as the real thing but it was definitely a good introduction (far less icky looking for a start). Oh, and he had the Spicy Cajun Potato Wedges. Biggest wedges I'd ever seen! But no photo because... well, we all know what potato wedges look like... They were very fluffy and tasty.

After getting fed, we went home and I had a nap. I sleepy when I full.

Once I was more alive again, we got ready to go out for dinner at Cafe Mao. Sorry, no photos because the HAG didn't want to take his big fancy beasty camera out and I forgot to take mine... boooo... oh well, words will have to do despite not really having the drool inducing abilities...

For my starter, I had the Sticky Pork, Cashew and Mango Salad which was tasty though somewhat lacking in cashews... the pork was really well marinated and had a nice sweet aromatic flavour. The HAG had the Chicken Satay which was a bit disappointing. The chicken had been rubbed in spices but apart from that tasted quite bland. The dish came with a sauce, but rather than the expected thick peanutty satay sauce, it was a runny one that tasted more like a Thai red curry than satay.

For mains, I ordered the Chilli Plum Duck: slices of crispy aromatic duck on a bed of udon noodles with sweet potato and shitake mushrooms in a chilli plum sauce. Pretty satisfying though the duck could have been sliced slightly more thinly. I have quite a small mouth really despite what other people say about me. The HAG had the the Chilli Lime Beef: stir-fried strips of beef fillet marinaded in chilli and lime served with hofan noodles (rice noodles shaped like taglietelle) and veggies. This tasted good to me too but I'm not sure I would have been able to eat a full portion because the flavours were quite strong.

And for the most important part of every meal, the DESSERT, the HAG had the Chocolate Pudding with warm butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream. It was chocolate. It was good. I, on the other hand, had a crappy dessert. I ordered the Coconut and Pandan Creme Brulee which I thought sounded brilliant. Unfortunately, it didn't have the smooth silky creme brulee texture, but instead resembled the filling of an egg custard tart. Very disappointing since to me, the dessert pretty much makes the meal. If the dessert is good, I leave the restaurant feeling very satisfied. If not, even if the rest of the meal was good, I feel wronged. Oh well... all in all, the meal was rather mediocre. The company was good though and I smiled and laughed and tingled a lot so never mind. (Cue the 'awwww' please).

So, the HAG left on Tuesday and that's pretty much the end...

Oh oh oh! Presents! The HAG's gift to celebrate my grand old 24th birthday was... a two-week holiday to Philadelphia and Las Vegas! Leaving in three weeks! Weeeeeee!

Birthday weekend (Part 1)

2008-05-23T19:02:00.001+01:00

The HAG was up for his third visit in Glasgow last weekend. The first time was when we first met, the second time was for my birthday last year, and this time it was for my birthday again! Wanna place bets on when his next visit will be? Heehee...

He arrived quite late on Friday so there wasn't much of an opportunity to do anything that night. I made burgers for the family for lunch on Saturday and Mr Dad and the HAG talked boys' stuff. Yawn... My parents and the HAG hadn't seen each other since July in Hong Kong so it was all very exciting. After lunch, the HAG sorted out all the computers in the house. Yay! Boyfriends who can fix things are awesome. In the evening, the HAG, the wee one and I went to Xscape and played arcade games, bowled and had dinner at Chiquito. My shredded BBQ rib wrap (with cheese and Mexican rice) and fries was yummy...

Oh, strange thing happened to the wee one on his way back from the bathroom. This woman at a nearby table started talking to him, and I thought it was one of his friend's mum. Turns out he didn't know them at all, and she just pulled him over to tell him that they were admiring his hair. Bizarre. Though flattering for the wee one I'm sure.

We went shopping on Sunday and I used the HAG as a human Ken doll. He got bored quite quickly though... booooo... what's the point in having a tall blonde dude for a boyfriend if you can't dress him up? Useless... (I take back what I say about being able to fix things. Heehee...)

After a short rest back at home, we headed out to Ad Lib for dinner with Cat and Raymond. I hadn't been before but was told that it was really good. It wasn't really what I was expecting. A lot more casual than what I had expected. Food was still tasty though.

We ordered two lots of chilli beef nachos and one lot of chicken goujons to share for starters. All really nice. Then I had the BBQ Duck Confit with sweet potato mash and spinach. It wasn't bad. The duck was a little dry and tough.

No dessert because Cat made me a cake!

No one's ever made me a birthday cake before! It was so cool! And she made flower petals out of melon because I love orange flowers! So thoughtful... awww... oh, and it tasted really good too! We each had a slice in the restaurant and I took the rest home with me. Mwahahaha... all mine...

Random food from this month

2008-05-22T14:51:00.004+01:00

Since I'm a bum again, with pretty much nothing to occupy myself with except a couple of days work at the takeaway a week, I've been spending a little more time in the kitchen. Cooking can be rather therapeutic... unfortunately doing dishes isn't...

I love making burgers at home. Not making the actual patties - I find that Sainsbury's Taste the Difference ones are rather yummy and really thick just the way I like them - but the putting together of all the components... toasted sesame bun... salad... tomatoes... cheddar cheese... patty... fried onions... garlic mayo... dijon mustard... ketchup... yum yum... And this burger was particularly satisfying since it was quite a challenge to fit the beast into my mouth after the wisdom teeth extraction but I managed it! Woo! (And probably burst all the stitches... nice...)

Burger was served with some 'rustic' chips, ie. chunky with skins on.

Aaah, another one of my great loves... SUSHI! Salmon nigiri and rolls made with a combination of salmon, tuna mayo, crabsticks, cucumber, red pepper, and egg omelette. The thing about making sushi is that when it comes to the eating part, I never seem to be that hungry anymore since I ate so much of the ends of the rolls while making them...

This was a new recipe I tried: Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake. A great success! It was really crumbly and buttery and lemoney and poppyseedy and yum. The best thing was that it still tasted pretty good the next couple of days! I usually have really bad luck with cakes in that they taste pretty good when they're just out of the oven, but end up being crap as soon as they cool down. Will definitely make this one again!

Asian Gourmet

2008-05-12T16:18:00.004+01:00

Last Wednesday, my family (minus Mr Dad who was at work) and I went for dinner at Asian Gourmet. My brothers and I weren't hugely keen at first because it's not exactly a nice location and we're more used to Cantonese food whereas Asian Gourmet features dishes originating from North-Eastern China I think... but Mrs Mum insisted that the food there was quite good so off we went...

I hadn't been to that restaurant for years, and even then it wasn't Asian Gourmet... think it was Mo's Kitchen or something like that... Anyway, it still seemed quite run-down. Entrance wasn't exactly nice and the welcome from the waitress wasn't very friendly either... but hey, if the food is tasty then I can overlook those things.

The menu was in Simplified Chinese which we struggled with a bit so asked the waitress to recommend a few dishes for us.

This was a cold dish of beef, ox tongue and beef brisket in a pool of what tasted like soy sauce, chilli oil and sesame oil with chopped chilli, spring oinion and coriander. The brisket was really tough but overall it was very yummy. I could have shovelled down many bowls of rice just mixed with the sauce... mmm...

Crab. Good description eh? Heehee... I think this was deep fried then tossed with some crumbled salted duck egg yolk. I love the taste of salted duck egg yolk... quite rich though and probably not that healthy... oops...

This shredded pork in peking sauce was rather disappointing. Note to self: do not always be tempted to order stuff that comes with pancakes. The sauce was just way too overpowering. Bleh.

This was pretty much just sweet and sour pork Cantonese style but with a special name which I can't remember. Definitely not as good as sweet and sour pork though. The batter to meat ratio just wasn't right. Gimme more meat dammit.

And a pic of the bucket of rice which I thought was rather cute.

Oh, and here's an update of family pics...

Not sure that Mrs Mum will be too pleased about being referred to as 'the old one'... but she doesn't read this so it's ok... mwahahaha...

Lopsided chipmunk

2008-05-12T14:53:00.003+01:00

Wanna see what the wisdom tooth extraction did to my face? It's rather funny...

This was a few hours after the extraction... not too swollen, but I'm having trouble smiling...

This was the following day. More noticeable swelling. If I mirrored this picture right down the middle, it would show me what I would look like if I was just a bit chubbier... heehee...

This is from today. Swelling's practically completely gone down...

... but a bit bruised. Ick.

The sad loss of quarter of my wisdom

2008-05-08T14:59:00.004+01:00

Very long post, but maybe worth reading if you're having problems with your wisdom teeth...

I got my lower left wisdom tooth taken out today. It was impacted and was causing problems to the tooth next to it so needed to be removed. I was horrified when I was first told. The tooth hadn't actually erupted yet so they would have had to make a cut in my gum, remove a bit of bone, then break my tooth into a couple of pieces first before extracting it. Gah. Ick.

I went for my consulation at the referral dentist on Tuesday and the dentist was really sweet. I felt a lot more comfortable after seeing her. She told me that since I would be getting intravenous sedation, although I'd still be conscious, I'd be lovely and relaxed, so that reassured me a lot. They gave me an appointment for the middle of June for the extraction, which I felt was a bit late and perhaps too close to my intended holiday date (I didn't fancy even the slightest risks of me looking like a chipmunk on holiday). So I phoned yesterday afternoon to ask to be put on the cancellation list - as soon as a patient cancelled, they'd contact me.

Within 20 minutes, they phoned back saying that they had a cancellation the NEXT MORNING! I almost died. I really didn't want it to be so soon but it was definitely better than leaving it until later. So I took that appointment and then spent the next couple of hours freaking out. Oh, and it wasn't going to be the same nice dentist I saw the day before so that freaked me out even more.

Anyway, I got back from the dentist about 3 hours ago. It was AMAZING!

They were running a bit late so I spent about 30 minutes in the waiting room panicking. Went into the dentist's room and told him I was totally terrified. But he was lovely too. Explained to me exactly what was going to happen but thankfully left out any gory details that weren't neccesery for my ears. Said that even if I wasn't getting sedated, I wouldn't feel any pain so there was nothing to worry about, blah blah. Put a needle then a tube into the vein in my arm which didn't hurt in the slightest (I was pretty worried about that before as well). Think the next thing I remember is him poking around in my mouth and I thought that was him just getting started. Turned out that the tooth was already out and he was taking out the gauze that was used to stop the bleeding... I think. Anyway, that was me finished!

Then I remember seeing my mum in front of me.

I think the whole procedure took about 30 minutes but it only felt like I was in the room for 5 minutes, including the time he took to talk me through everything!

They gave me my tooth in a little bag and when I was walking out with my mum, I said to her that I wondered why they gave it to me. She laughed and said that I had asked them to! I don't remember that...

Anyway, I feel fine now. Came home and napped for a bit cos I felt pretty woozy. The anaesthetic's worn off I think cos I can start to feel a slight pain. Left side of my lip and tongue are still a bit numb though but I think it's starting to wear off. Apparently because the lower wisdom teeth are so close to the nerves in the lower jaw, 5% of people getting their wisdom teeth removed experience temporary numbness in their tongue and lower lip and 1% experience permanent numbness! Kissing would be so weird...

Just a rant

2008-05-05T16:38:00.004+01:00

Not many people get on my nerves but I have recently found myself rather annoyed at X.

I can't stand that he makes out that all non-Christians are bad people. I can't stand that he makes himself sound like a saint. I can't stand that he doesn't contact me unless he needs help with something or wants to find out gossip about other people. I can't stand that when I try to initiate conversation with him, all I get is one to three-worded responses.

How could he even imply that he's wonderful just because he's a Christian and reads the Bible and prays, when he just uses people like me to his advantage? How could he suggest that even the most selfless, kind and considerate person is to be avoided if they do not believe in Christ?

Anniversary din dins

2008-05-01T13:13:00.002+01:00

Last week was the one-year anniversary of the HAG and I. Time really flies.

To celebrate, the HAG took me out for dinner at Malmaison in Reading. It was lovely to see him all dressed up. Normally he just wears bin bags. I kid. Hehe. It is true that he doesn't really care about clothes but since he's nice and tall, he looks pretty damn hot in anything. A completely non-biased opinion of course.

Anyway, the food was really good. First time I had tried fois gras. It was in a terrine with chicken and um... other stuff. I gave some to the HAG and still found myself struggling a little to finish it, not that I didn't like it or because it was a big portion (they rarely are in these places...), but it was just so rich. Very tasty though. The HAG's starter was this spanish ham thing "considered finest in the world, cured for a minimum of two years reared from free range pigs that feed on acorns". Their words, not mine. But yeah, it was really yummy. Kinda like parmaham but better.

For mains, I had duck breast with duck leg confit croquettes. The breast was really tender. Very very yummy. And I shouldn't even need to mention how good the croquettes were. They were deep fried. And had duck in them. What more do you want? Mmm... The HAG had the sirloin steak, medium. Again, very juicy and tender. I don't get people who order steaks well-done. Total waste. An interesting thing about his dish was that it came with a big chunk of bone containing bone marrow. The HAG wasn't that keen but I liked it. Reminded me of when I was a kid and I used to suck out the bone marrow from the bigger bones I found in the soup that my dad would make. (Some of you might wonder what on earth bits of bone were doing in nicely blended up soup, but Chinese soup is rarely, if ever, blended to a smooth consistency.)

I had creme brulee for dessert - I very often order this if it's available. Boring but satisfying. The HAG had apple fritters with cinnamon ice cream. Sorry for the lack of photos but I am actually starting to get a little self-conscious about whipping my camera out to take pictures of food in restaurants... but I mustered up the courage to take a picture of the apple fritters because the presentation was so cute!

I loved the idea of putting the apple fritters in a mini-fryer. So sweet. And they tasted so good! The cinnamon ice cream was mmmmmm... no real words needed...

Intellectual conversation

2008-03-25T18:52:00.003+01:00

A text message conversation I had with the HAG while I was at work last week:

Me: One guy just came in and called me gorgeous, a gem, a stunner and a legend... and he wasn't drunk. Funny men.

HAG: Hehe. It's all very true. I love you so much honey.

Me: Do you only love me because you're scared of other bawbags stealing me? :P

HAG: A bawbag couldn't steal you :)

Me: Well, not any old crappy bawbag anyway. You are after all the best bawbag in the world!

*The only time I say 'bawbag' is when I'm talking to the HAG because this silly American boy thinks that this silly Scottish girl is hilarious when bizarre Scottish crap comes out of her mouth.

Jammin'

2008-03-10T20:59:00.004+01:00

Those who know me well will probably think that the title of this post refers to something along the lines of spreading delicious jam on freshly baked, warm bread... but you are wrong! I am actually talking about music! Weird, I know. I've been told I have an awful taste of music. I resent that. Taste is subjective. I can like crap music if I want!

Anyway, over the weekend, I got the HAG to drum to some of the music on my iPod. He normally plays to crazy, scary death metal so it must have been quite a change to be drumming to Cantopop. Heehee. It was so awesome. I loved it! I got him to play to some Kelly Chan, Eason Chan, Vincy Chan (not all Chinese singers have Chan as their surnames by the way. Mere coincidence. Don't want you to be thinking that the entire Chinese music industry is monopolised by the one family!) and also some Pink and Gwen Stefani. I mean, it's usually pretty cool to watch him drum (and bang his head) in general but I wouldn't recognise the songs, I couldn't understand the lyrics, blah blah blah... so it was so cool to listen to some of the songs I love and watch the HAG drum away to them. Oh oh oh, and his favourite song of mine was Kelly Chan's 'Buy Shoes'... I think that's a sign...

The rest of the weekend was spent at the cinema watching 'Juno', eating out at Pizza Express and Royal China, food shopping, cooking and playing Scrabble. Oh, and we went to play with Pickle. He is incredibly cute now. Especially when he giggles. He found me hilarious when I made quiet coughing noises. Heehee. Though the HAG suggested that it was probably just because I looked funny. Hmph. Pickle got revenge for me by eating the HAG's nose. Ha!

I miss him really.

Goody grubby

2008-03-03T01:19:00.003+01:00

Hehe... I remember that Mr Manager at Jewellers X used to say, 'Would you like to go for your goody grubby?' which translated as 'Would you like to have your lunch break now?' Funny man...

Anyway, it's been so so long since I put up pictures of food so I thought I'd just take pictures some of the dinners and lunches I had this week. Not hugely exciting considering they were all just meals I had at home but it's still food porn nevertheless... and they were really yummy...

Fresh spaghetti with extra virgin olive oil, anchovies (marinated in some citrus dressing) and basil... so simple, takes 5 minutes to make, yet so tasty...

Breakfast mushroom grilled with garlic, thyme and butter...

... sliced up, put on toast along with anchovies again! The HAG would be absolutely disgusted with this - he hates mushrooms and fish! This relationship is probably doomed... hehe...

Lighly coated and seeded (pumpkin, millet and poppy seeds) plaice with garlic and leek mash and petit pois. The fish was bought from M&S but the mash was homemade! It was the best thing on the plate... the fish was actually quite disappointing. Served this with little tubs of tartare sauce, lemon mayo and pink peppercorn sauce from M&S also.

Oooh, oooh, notice the fresh basil everywhere? Let me present to you...

The first plant I've managed to keep alive for longer than a week! More effort put into watering it daily since it's not just any plant. It is an edible plant. I can eat it. It deserves my respect.

My boyfriend's famous!

2008-02-29T19:05:00.004+01:00

Ok, maybe not quite famous... but how many times do I have to tell you guys that I'm allowed to exaggerate/lie/leave out embarrassing details on my own blog? Get with the programme...

Anyway, the HAG did a talk at the PHP London Conference today. Check him out on the Speakers page! He's the fourth from the top - isn't he a hottie? Ok, maybe it's only me who thinks he's hot but I like it that way. Wouldn't want other people to be drooling over their keyboard while looking at his picture... not that I do that by the way... ahem...

I didn't do the whole supportive girlfriend cheerleader act by joining him there but I have my reasons. (1) I wasn't going to pay £100 to listen to him talk. I can hear him talk for free. About more interesting things than computery blah. (2) I would have been immensely bored. I mean, I'm sure I would have got through his talk without snoozing since I'd be so excited about seeing the HAG on stage (can you just imagine me nudging the dude next to me, saying 'Look look look! I know him! He's my boyfriend! He makes goooood cookies!'), but what about when it came to the other speakers? Do I pack a pillow and duvet in my handbag so that I could catch up on some sleep when they're talking? Other people might just happen to notice...

Hmm... though the hot fork buffet menu does look quite good... maybe I should have went after all...

Well done HAG! This silly wee girlfriend is very proud of you!

Chocolat

2008-02-22T22:30:00.006+01:00

I find myself a bit undecided about Valentine's Day. You see, I do agree that it's a bit of a farce. People shouldn't wait until the one day of the year when the rest of the world is being romantic to be nice to their other half. People shouldn't go out and pay hugely inflated prices for the privilege of being seated so closely to another couple that you might as well sit on their laps, and being forced to leave before you've even finished your overpriced dessert.

However, I do still think that the day should be acknowledged. I know that you don't need to wait until the 14th of February to tell your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband that you love them but it's still a nice excuse to get each other a wee present. I mean, I certainly don't want a silly teddy hugging a heart that's embroidered with 'I love you' and a huge card the height of me, but a little something thoughtful is cute.

All of this obviously leads to what the HAG and I did for Valentine's Day. We didn't go out because (1) my flight arrived at night and we didn't get home until after 10pm and (2) we didn't want to pay more money than usual for a more limited menu than usual and smaller portions than usual. I hate that on Valentine's Day, restaurants cram in more tables and you end up sitting about 6 inches from the couple next to you and you can hear everything they say. Very romantic. So instead, we stayed in and ate chicken satay that the HAG made.

Then we swapped cards. It was quite funny that I bought a cute card and wrote a jokey message inside whereas the HAG bought a funny and obscene card but wrote me a really sweet message.

As for presents, I filled up a box with lots of different sweeties (Jelly Tots, Millions, Starbursts, Choozers, Mars Bars, Fruit Pastilles, Twixes, etc) for the HAG and he gave me chocolates from Hotel Chocolat...

The hand piped selection

The love selection chocolate mini slabs

I'm not a chocolate snob. I mean, I even like Morrison's own brand of cheap chocolate buttons, but these chocolates from Hotel Chocolat were amazing... so rich and smooth and creamy and mmm... not really sure I could justify making them a regular purchase at those prices though... but so worth it... I'm going to get so fat... then the HAG won't fancy me anymore... then he'll stop buying me chocolates... argh, what a difficult life filled with dilemmas I lead...

Work night out... sorta...

2008-02-03T16:01:00.000+01:00

On Friday, I went out with some of the girls from Jewellers X. There were Ms. Supervisor who is still very cheeky, Miss Ex-Weekend Worker who is still very tall and pretty, and Miss New Weekend Worker who I met for the first time. I approve, she's really nice (not that my approval is, or ever was, really a factor when it came to the hiring of staff in that shop, but it makes me feel important when I say that, so there). Miss Other New Weekend Worker (who stole MY job) wasn't invited because she's a wicked witch apparently. I was getting the blame for her existence since I wouldn't go back and replace her (despite the fact that SHE replaced ME!)... everything's always my fault... nothing new there... hehe...

Anyway, we went to November for a couple of drinks before heading to La Tasca for lots of yummy food! The table was absolutely packed! When the waiter brought the first lot of food, we thought, 'Wow! That's so much! How are we possibly going to fit our little tummies with all of that?' (Ok, some will debate whether I have a little tummy considering how much it can contain but that's not the point here.) Then he subsequently brought us another 5 or 6 dishes! It was so good though. I love going out with people who share their food which really is essential when it comes to things like tapas, dim sum, sushi, etc. Can't stand people who hog their food! I want to try a bit of that delicious-looking thing you ordered! Maybe it's just the greedy aspect of my personality... ho hum...

After getting completely stuffed, we went to the Courtyard for some drinks and chat. All the juicy gossip from work! It's like working there but not having to do any work and still getting the perks! Ok, I don't get paid, but who cares about the details? Hanging out with the girlies made me miss working in Jewellers X... sniff... maybe I could just pop in whenever I have a spare couple of hours in between classes and sell some jewellery... no one will notice I'm sure...

I'm going to be such a sucky lawyer

2008-01-09T20:43:00.000+01:00

I had my first practical assessment today in Interviewing. The idea was that I was a lawyer meeting a client (played by an actress, rather than a real client looking for legal advice... heehee...) for the first time so the main thing was to get as much information from them as possible. Sounds simple enough...

But of course, nothing is ever simple! Blah! I don't find out who the client is or have any idea what she wants until 5 minutes before the interview. Zilch info before that. And all I can take into the interview room are blank sheets of paper, a pen, and my useless brain. So no cheat notes. Crap.

My client turned out to be a middle-aged woman whose father had just passed away. He had made out a will at our firm. He had separated from his wife (my client's mother) though the separation agreement had not yet been concluded, and before he died, he had been seeing this other woman. The will said that his estate was to be divided equally between my client and this woman he was 'dating' (so wierd to use that word for 70-year-old couples), with there being no mention of the wife, blah blah blah.

This client/actress was playing her part way too well! She was getting all upset and teary-eyed... referring to her father in the present tense then changing it to the past tense and saying how difficult it was to get used to that... sniffles... telling me that she was single and had no children or siblings so was coping all on her own... more sniffles...

"Argh! I cannot give you sympathy while I rattle my brain for what relevant questions to ask you and what legal advice to give you! I can't give you a hug, but there is only so much I can say to comfort you! I don't want to dwell on the fact that your father is dead but I need to get information from you, which means asking you questions about him, which means reminding you that HE IS DEAD! For goodness sake woman, what do you want from me?!"

That's not what I said, of course. That would have been a FAIL for definite.

I'm not entirely sure how well I did. I didn't feel that she was very comfortable with or confident in me since she didn't smile at all the whole time. But then again, how much smiling would you be doing if your dad had just died? There were a few awkward silences while I tried to think of what to ask and she just looked at me like I was an utter twat... I really have no idea... oh well, will just have to wait. Negotiation tomorrow and Criminal Advocacy on Friday. Fun fun fun...

Sex marathon!

2008-01-08T21:09:00.000+01:00

That's Sex and the City, you dirty people.

My mostest favouritist thing that the HAG and I did last week was lounge on the sofa in our 'His n Hers' snuggly, fleecy dressing gowns (his is black, mine is white. We look like a penguin when I'm standing directly in front of him.) under the duvet, watching Sex and the City DVDs (Season 6). It was so awesome.

The rest of the week was spent going out for food, going to people's houses for food (Kier made a second Christmas dinner which was fantastic, especially since I had Chinese food on Christmas day itself! Boooo!), playing with Pickle (I got to babysit him all by myself! Very exciting!), building the Lego Ferrari I gave the HAG for Christmas, food shopping (I love food shopping with the HAG. We go up and down all the aisles and he lets me buy everything. Wait until I get him to go shoe shopping with me... hehe...), watching DVD movies, cooking, etc.

Was a lovely break from Uni, but unfortunately, all good things come to an end. I have to study again, and wait a couple of weeks before I can hang out with the HAG. Bleh.

Pressies!

2007-12-22T01:29:00.001+01:00

The HAG has returned to the Land of Cream Cheese for Christmas (that's Philadelphia for you normal people out there). He will be back on Hogmanay so that we can spend New Year together though, and I'll get to be with him for a whole week! Weeeeeee! Not been able to stay for as long as that since I started back at uni! So strange that I miss him more now than if he was still in Reading even though I wouldn't see him anyway. Girls are strange. Well, at least I am.

I was down in Reading last weekend and since that was the last time we were going to see each other before Christmas, we did an early swap of presents! His presents for me were all beautifully wrapped up and in a neat pile waiting for me when I stepped into the living room.

Well, you see, I wasn't quite so organised. I ordered all his presents online and had them delivered to him so that I wouldn't have the hassle of taking them down in my luggage. I had to be very trusting of the HAG not sneaking a peek when they arrived... Anyway, so when I got there, all the presents were still in the boxes (actually, not all - two of them were delivered the day after I arrived) so I asked the HAG to leave me for a few minutes while I used HIS wrapping paper to quickly do a dodgy wrapping job. Not that it really mattered considering the paper got ripped off two minutes after it was put on. Poor trees. And it was really nice wrapping paper too... what a waste...

Anyway, cut to the chase, he got me a digital camera (not a big beasty one, but just a little beasty with lots of functions so I can learn to do some cool photography stuff. I think it's a ploy to make me stay away from HIS camera!), a memory card for the camera cos it came with a 32Mb one (why do they do that? What use are those?), a 1kg bag of Jelly Bellies (which I guessed from the cheeky grin on his face that he secretly got them for himself!), a book that I casually mentioned a while ago so that was quite sweet that he remembered, and a monkey. No, sorry, it's a frog. It looks like a monkey to me though cos she has really long arms and velcro on her hands (yes, it's a girl cos it's pink) so she can hang around your neck. Since when do frogs hang from your neck? Monkeys do though. Well... I've never had one do that to me but they look like they would do that sort of thing...

Girly night out

2007-12-22T00:07:00.000+01:00

Free from the evil clutches of personal injury cases, criminal trials, company resolutions, and writing wills! Woohoo! Well, for a couple of weeks anyway... good enough for me...

After my last exam on Wednesday, I went to the Diploma social for some free drinks and nibbles at the Union. 200ish lawyers-to-be getting drunk... very scary...

Afterwards, I met up with Cat, Sin Hung and Mel for dinner at Nana Kusa (I think that's what it was called anyway...). We shared the soft-shell crab and a 14-piece sushi platter, and the girls had noodley stuff while I ordered the Agedashi Tofu and Vegetable Tempura (sweet potato, mushroom and aubergine). I'd read about the tofu dish on loads of food blogs but had never actually seen it available at any restaurant I'd been to before so I was very excited! Yummy, silky cubes of tofu lightly coated in cornflour and deep fried, then served in a bowl of tasty soy-sauce based broth and strips of seaweed and spring onion. Mmm...

Then we went to see Disney's Enchanted! Well, Mel had to go home, but Nora joined us. Maybe they're the same person! Heehee. Anyway, it was such a cool film! I loved it so much! A real girly movie with lots of singing, dancing and cutsie stuff. I so want to be naive, fairytale princess who is totally unaware of all the bad things that happen in the 'real world'... oh, and I want to burst into song whenever I feel like it... and have rats and pidgeons do the housework for me...

What I like about Christmas...

2007-12-18T19:48:00.000+01:00

Christmas is approaching. Presents to buy, decorations to put up, cards to write... it's all a bit of a hassle really, isn't it?

Besides receiving presents, one of the things I really like about the festive period is... sammiches! Shops start to bring out Christmas-themed sandwiches! What is there not to love about stuffing you can eat on the go? Yum yum yum...

For a while, I was rather addicted to Gregg's 'Christmas Cracker' which is a white baguette filled with streaky bacon, brie, cranberry and onion relish. The rich creaminess of the brie mixed with the sweetness of the cranberry and smokiness of the bacon... so tasty!

But yesterday, I discovered... dun dun dun... Pret A Manger's 'The Pret Christmas Lunch'. Now that was one hell of a good sandwich! Turkey breast (nice thick slices as opposed to crappy wafer thin pieces), pork and herb stuffing, port and cranberry sauce, fresh leaf spinach, crispy onions (they were like little slithers of really crispy tempura onion... drool...) and mayo, all held together with two sliced of soft, malted wholegrain bread.

Excuse me while I go fantasise about it... mmm...

Snuggly nights

2007-12-01T01:24:00.000+01:00

I'm rather boring and instead of going out on exciting dates, I'd much rather stay in and cuddle. On Saturday, the HAG and I had a lovely night in, made cookies and minty hot chocolate, snuggled on the sofa and watched 'Love Actually'. Was so nice... I like having a girly boyfriend.

(Don't even try to deny that you're girly. Such a girl.)

Sparkly lights in the sky

2007-11-11T02:52:00.001+01:00

I really should stop moaning about missing flights and just be happy about what happened during the trip to see the HAG itself...

On Friday, as soon as the HAG picked me up, we made our way to Royal China for Kier's birthday dinner. I shouldn't really complain about the vast abundance of chicken satay, sesame prawn toast, spring rolls, butterfly king prawns and aromatic duck pancakes but I must say that I am starting to get a bit bored of the place. Even the funny waitress woman who speaks choppy English like my mum isn't entertaining me anymore...

Saturday morning/afternoon was spent lazing in bed and watching the HAG drum. Then we headed out to The Swan for some lunch. It's November and we could still sit outside and eat by the Thames! This global warming thing ain't so bad... hehe... My steak and ale pie was very yummy, and watching the HAG eat his chicken burger as the guacamole and salsa oozed out was very amusing...

Before heading out to see the fireworks display, we fooled around with the HAG's big fancy beasty camera. It had been a while since we took photos of one another so thought that we'd give it a shot (no pun intended!). As you will see, the HAG can actually take interesting photos while I just manage the kind that are suitable for prison mugshots... you will also see that although I am an addict of America's Next Top Model, I have obviously not picked up any tips on how to pose nicely... it looks so easy on TV dammit! All I know how to do is flash a cheesy smile... and we all know that full-on smiles don't exist in the model world! Ah well... guess I'll just have stick with that lawyer thing then...

After briefly fulfilling my modelling fantasy (and perhaps the HAG's fantasy of being a photographer who gets to kiss the model), we headed out to Sparks in the Park. The Three Geeks (one English, one Scottish and one American) each set up their tripods in the middle of the park. The HAG made me stand right where one of the legs were so that no poor innocent person would trip and fly to their tragic death. Considering the tripods were taller than me, I suggested that the HAG put his away and rest his camera on top of my head. I may not be as stable but at least I wouldn't trip anyone up and make them splat on the ground.

Anyway, the HAG ended up with some nice pics...

And this really cool one which I think I took but I can't remember for sure... bah, I'm taking credit for it anyway... heehee...

Afterwards, we headed to Wagamama for dinner. The HAG and I shared a Chocolate and Wasabi Fudge Cake... then wished that we had ordered two separate ones... well, at least I wished that I had ordered two all to myself!

Sunday was the only day that we got to spend entirely on our own. So what did we do? Sleep in, watch TV and eat bacon sandwiches! Perfect...

Hi, I'm Retarded, nice to meet you

2007-11-06T23:36:00.001+01:00

No, seriously, I am an utter retard. How on earth did I manage to miss a flight twice in three weeks?

Three weekends ago, on the way to Heathrow Airport after visiting the HAG, we were stuck in some heavy, heavy traffic. Normally it would take the HAG 45 minutes to drive me there. We left an hour and a half before the flight and still didn't make it! It was madness. We were constantly looking at the clock, knowing for sure that the plane was going to leave without me, yet we still had some hope inside us that maybe luckily the flight would be delayed. Nope. Nadda. Aeroplane say bye bye to Eva. Had to book another flight for the following night. To be honest, it was lovely to have an extra night with the HAG, but it was a bit stressful and I had to miss my class on Monday.

Then this weekend that's just passed... er... yeah. My flight was at 7:35pm and to be safe, we arrived at the airport at 6:30pm. Plenty of time! But the board said my flight was delayed until 8:20pm. So we had some hot chocolate and cakes in Costa to pass the time. We kept an eye on the board and the entire time, it still said that the flight was delayed until 8:20pm. So I didn't go through to Security until 7:55pm. Unfortunately, it was much busier than usual and I didn't get through until about 15 minutes later. By that time, the details of my flight had disappeared off the board! I ran to the gate to find that... YEP! The plane said bye bye to Eva AGAIN! WTF??? I tried to explain to the unhelpful BA staff that the board said that the flight was delayed and shouldn't be leaving for another 10 minutes! Got some crappy reply that the times of delay are just for information, blah blah blah. ARGH! I remained surprisingly calm and just said 'Thank you' and walked away. I was of course bubbling with rage and stress inside.

I knew that there was a BMI flight at 9:40pm that night so went to check the prices. £185! For a single back to Glasgow! ARGH! But I didn't really have a choice so went ahead with it. LUCKILY! Just as the guy was about the charge my card, I tried to make a bit of conversation with him and told him that I had missed my flight so he asked me what happened. After listening to me explain about my stupidity, he was so lovely! He asked if I was a student and said that £185 is a lot of money to a student (I didn't think it was the right time to tell him that I wouldn't be paying for the flight myself...). Then he said that he would take me over to the BA desk and ask them to transfer my ticket to the missed flight over to pay for the BMI flight so that I wouldn't need to fork anything out! Woo!

Next time, we are going to the airport 12 hours before my flight, and I am going to go straight through to Security and wait at the gate...

Chop suey vs. diamonds

2007-11-02T12:45:00.000+01:00

Surely one person couldn't go back to work for the same place for a third time? Yep, I've been asked to go back to Jewellers X by Ms. Supervisor. She's also made current/ex employees to bombard me with text and Bebo messages convincing me to go back. Ms. Supervisor actually listed 14 reasons why I should return. Though I thought the best reason was from K who said that I should go back to dress up in a fairy costume and sit on top of the Christmas tree... I would make such a cute fairy...

Anyway, I've pretty much declined because it's a weekend job I'm being offered (the only time I could work really with classes during the week) and I'm working at my parents' takeaway just now on Saturdays. I guess I could probably manage to find someone to do the job at the takeaway, but working at Jewellers X would mean every single weekend being occupied with work. Whereas with the takeaway, I can get someone to cover for me every other weekend so I can go see the HAG.

It's quite a difficult choice since I really did like working in Jewellers X. But could I really cope with not seeing the HAG until the holidays? When I first agreed to do the weekend job (which you would know went down the drain if you read my previous posts), I convinced myself that that would be a viable plan, but now that I've been opened up to an alternative option where I can work flexibly, I really don't think I could go back.

Putting considerations of the HAG aside though, what are the pros and cons of working in each place?

With the jewellers, I got to dress up in a smart suit to go to work and I would make an effort to do my hair and make myself all pretty (though the motivation to do that kinda deteriorated after a couple of weeks of having to get up at 7am every morning...). With the takeaway, I just pull on a pair of jeans and an old top that I don't mind smelling of grease by the end of the night, scrape my hair back into a messy ponytail and go! (Bizarre that customers still chat me up though... such strange tastes these men have...) Not really sure if these are pros or cons. It was nice to look good for work and I guess I could do that at the takeaway, but it's also very relaxing to not have to really care about what I look like...

With the jewellers, I really liked the people I worked with and had lots of fun joking around with them. Bitching about customers, slagging each other for slacking off and gossiping about everything and anything. At the takeaway, I work with my parents. Not that I don't like them but it's really not the same, is it?

At the jewellers, I had set breaks for tea (30 minutes) and lunch (one hour). With the takeaway, I can munch anytime when the shop's quiet! The amount of chips and curry sauce I've consumed in the past two months is rather embarrassing...

With the jewellers, I had set hours that I had to be there: 8:45am-5:30pm (though I do admit I was rarely in the door before 8:55am...). With the takeaway, because my bosses are my parents, I can be late! And as soon as the shop gets quiet, I can go home! Though of course, if it's busy, I can't leave until all the customers have been fed... how selfish... hmph...

I don't get any satisfaction of selling at the takeaway. I mean, how much scope is there really to upsell? 'Sweet and sour chicken, sir? No, why don't you go for the more expensive sweet and sour king prawn?' It's not quite the same as convincing a customer to go for the diamond pendant rather than the cubic zirconia one, is it?

When do you say those three little words?

2007-10-24T16:45:00.000+01:00

Do you tell someone that you love them...

...when they've done something for you and you feel very appreciative of them?

...when you want them to do something for you and you think that saying 'I love you' will get you anywhere?

...when you've done something wrong and think that the words will help persuade them to forgive you?

...when they've just given you a long, passionate kiss and you feel an overwhelming urge to say 'I love you'?

...when you're at the end of a phone conversation and just about to hang up?

When you've just woken up and you haven't showered yet, your hair is messy, your teeth aren't brushed, and you're struggling to keep those crusty eyes open, and he strokes your head and tells you he loves you, you know that's true, unconditional love.

"If I can't hear your heartbeat, you're too far away"

2007-10-04T17:21:00.000+01:00

I've been back at Uni for almost a week now and it's been rather pants. After a whole year of not studying, being in Uni from more or less 9 to 5 feels really intense... and horrible... and mind-numbing... this week has been all about writing legal letters, drafting contracts, interviewing clients, blah blah blah, bleh bleh bleh...

I step into Uni in the morning, and already I want to go home. It's unbelievable how redrafting a few clauses in a badly written contract can melt all the contents of your brain and make your body feel like it's had a good beating.

When I get home, all I want is a cuddle. I'm not going to pretend; long distance relationships suck. If I've had a bad day, I can't just say to the HAG, 'Can I come over and have a cuddle?' Actually, I do say that and just to humour me, the HAG will say, 'Yes'. But then proceed to clarify that even if I started making my way there immediately, I wouldn't actually get a cuddle until a good few hours later. Very sucky.

We can never just call each other up and say, 'Hey, I'm not doing anything. Are you free? Wanna hang out?' Spontaneity doesn't exist: our meetings have to be planned at least a week in advance. I mean, it's brilliant that each time we get to see one another, it can last between three days to two weeks, and we've never had to be apart for any longer than two and a half weeks. I really do love the long periods of time we get to spend together where we can go to sleep at night and still see each other when we wake up... but sometimes I do crave those out-of-the-blue dates. Sigh...

Putting these things aside though, sometimes I still can't believe my luck. Bit gushy here so be warned... The HAG is the sweetest, most understanding and considerate person I know. In fact, it still makes me feel a little uneasy because I'm still trying to get to grips with this. It's totally foreign to me that a guy can have those qualities! Even having been together for over five months, he still calls me every night and we can talk for hours. Everything can be shared and there's nothing that I don't feel comfortable talking to him about. He really understands me and is always so supporting. I can sometimes be stroppy and down for the most irrational reasons and he never complains. He'll still comfort me and rather than thinking, 'Why the hell is she upset? It doesn't make sense', he just concentrates on the fact that I am upset. He tells me that it doesn't matter if the reason I'm down is irrational; what's important is that I'm unhappy and his job is to make me happy.

Damn, sometimes I wish that he was a jerk so that I wouldn't miss him so much.

The little loves of my life

2007-09-30T01:20:00.000+01:00

I love...

- The smell of freshly washed hair.

- Getting into bed and burying myself snuggly under the duvet on a cold night.

- Finding a tenner in the pocket of a jacket that I haven't worn in a while.

- Having my hair played with.

- Being kissed on the head.

- Having laughter-filled 3-hour phone conversations.

- When I'm listening to the radio while driving and a really girly, head-boppy song comes on.

- Being told by the HAG that he feels giddy when he sees me from across the room.

Bits and bobs from here and there

2007-09-17T19:20:00.000+01:00

It's been ages since I blogged. I remember the days when I would blog every day or even twice or three times a day! But that was only because I used it as a way of putting off doing other things. Now that I'm back to being a bum, there's no need really to procrastinate. However, I will only be a bum for another couple of weeks or so before going back to Uni to do my diploma. So maybe then I will go back to blogging lots and lots... heehee...

Was meant to go out the other night with the girls from Jewellers X, but then I ended up not being able to make it. I was nevertheless entertained by the drunken voicemail messages they left me, the most amusing one being from Ms. Supervisor: "F****** get out here now. Do as your told. I'm your boss. Even though I'm not your boss. But I'm still your boss!" That strange woman makes me laugh.

Yesterday was Danny's birthday. Annoyingly, he's still not as old as me. We celebrated at Kokuryo, a Korean restaurant (after watching half of a Jackie Chan comedy at the church centre). It is such a teeny tiny place! I reckon that the seating area was about the size of my dining room! Though there was a small section upstairs where the nine of use were seated. The menu was quite long - too much choice is bad for indecisive people like me. After ruling out everything that had the 'H' symbol next to it (representing 'hot and spicy' - my tastebuds don't allow it), I settled for the chargrilled eel in a sweet, sticky sauce with rice and miso soup. Yum yum. I also ordered the red bean ice cream for dessert, which was a bit of a con. It was just vanilla ice cream with crushed red beans poured over the top. I suppose technically that is 'red bean ice cream' but if I had ordered green tea ice cream, I wouldn't exactly be expecting green tea drizzled over a scoop of vanilla ice cream... bizarre...

After dinner, most of us went back to the church centre while Cat and Raymond went to McDonald's to get us apple pies and McFlurries! Yes, I know we had just finished dinner but so what? Heehee... We finished watching the film, then played Cluedo and Poker until 2am... yawn... young folk go drinking and clubbing until the early hours of the morning while us old farts stay up to play board games! That said, I did go clubbing a couple of weeks ago and danced away to my heart's content. I was driving though and being stone sober while most people around you are drunk is very entertaining... heehee...

I like babies... but I couldn't eat a whole one

2007-08-21T15:55:00.000+01:00

Cute huh? But no, for those of you wondering how on earth I managed to squeeze a baby out of me in 4 months, this isn't a family portrait. Let me introduce Pickle, a baby borrowed from Kier and Boxy.

Mr Pickle was born while I was in Hong Kong so last week was the first chance I got to meet him. So incredibly cute and small, with the teeniest tiniest fingers and the most quizzical expression on his face almost all of the time.

The HAG and I spent almost an entire weekend with the Pickle so I got to...

...feed the Pickle

...bathe the Pickle (concentrating very hard on not drowning him).

...and let him fall asleep on me as though I was one of those big comfy massage chairs.

So much fun. I think Mr Pickle and I make a rather sweet couple, don't you think?

Too bad I don't go for younger men.

Me vs. Me

2007-08-17T19:11:00.000+01:00

Well, I feel a bit like a twat.

Having briefly talked about me doing the weekend job at Jewellers X when I go back to Uni, it was always assumed that I would have a job to return to after Hong Kong. However, Mr Manager was rather concerned about how I would manage to see the HAG if I was studying during the week and working at weekends so he went and hired someone else.

It is rather ironic that only a few days ago, I had mentioned to the HAG about how it was never confirmed that I would get to do the weekend job and how embarrassing it would be if I had wrongly assumed it all...

I was rather confused as to how I felt about this and found myself listening to an argument between Me and Me inside my head...

Silly Me: How could I have been promised that job and now it's been given to someone else?

Rational Me: Actually, it had just been spoken about and only implied that I would get to do the weekend job. Nothing was ever set in stone.

Silly Me: Well, it should have been discussed with me rather than just presumed that I would rather want to see the HAG at the weekends! Someone could have at least told me that a new person was hired rather than wait until I brought it up and made a big fool of myself asking when I was needed back!

Rational Me: Er... I was away in Hong Kong for 6 weeks then in Reading pretty much as soon as I returned. Anyway, maybe it's for the best. This way, I now have my weekends free. Otherwise I would have only been able to see the HAG during the Christmas and Easter holidays.

Silly Me: But that's for me to worry about! I knew what I was getting myself into and was prepared to make some sacrifices! I shouldn't have someone else dictate to me as to how I should be distributing my time!

Rational Me: Who cares? The outcome is the same. I now have the weekends to do whatever I like. I can sleep in on Saturdays and go to church on Sundays. Did I really want to be studying all week and working all weekend? And come on, realistically, could I have coped with seeing the HAG only once every few months? Now I can visit him whenever I feel like it.

Silly Me: But but but... fine, you win...

Yeah, as could imagine, my head hurt with those two idiots fighting in it.

To be honest, while I did really want to go back to working at the jewellers doing something I enjoy with people I really like, it would have only been a matter of two or three weeks before I came to realise that I hated having my entire week occupied and I would probably end up quitting anyway. And for the past few weeks, I have been thinking about whether or not things would have worked between me and the HAG if we couldn't see each other very often.

Having the option of working at the jewellers at the weekends taken away from me, the weight of all those concerns has been lifted off my little shoulders. Though I would have quite liked to have been able to decide for myself how I was going to fit Uni, work and the HAG all onto the one plate. Actually, that doesn't really sound like a very appealing dish, does it? Heehee. So yeah, basically, I want to make my own decisions but have someone else make them for me. Yep, I'm just one big fat contradiction...

The Random Girl is back

2007-08-16T18:09:00.000+01:00

Yes, she is indeed back so quit whinging at her to update this blog! I don't why she, I mean, I, talk in third person... the heat in Hong Kong must have melted all my brain cells. There weren't even that many to start with...

I definitely don't miss the days of every single one of my pores practically shooting out sweat as soon as I step out of an air-conditioned building. However, I certainly miss being able to not leave the house until 4 in the afternoon, shop for a bit, snack whenever I see a stall selling yummy things, shop a bit more, have dinner at a fantastic yet inexpensive restaurant, shop even more, then buy all sorts of tasty treats from dessert restaurants to take home. That kind of behaviour would just not be acceptable now that I'm home.

At least, that was how my days were spent at the beginning and end of my 6-week holiday. The middle part was actually far more productive, and that was because the HAG then joined me for two weeks. We spent time up at the Peak viewing Hong Kong at a tremendous height, visiting zoos, parks and botanical gardens, going to temples and museums, shopping at night markets, watching fireworks and light shows by the harbour, and of course, hiking for two days in the picturesque Zhang Jia Jie. The HAG and I had so much fun together and surprisingly, after two weeks of constantly being with one another, we didn't want to kill each other by the end of it all. Hooray!

The HAG's been teaching me quite a lot about photography but unfortunately, I still don't know how to take a good shot. Every so often, one or two of mine come out quite arty-looking but frankly, it's just dumb luck. So to be on the safe side, let's just look at the ones the HAG took!

More random stuff from the random girl

2007-06-18T15:33:00.000+01:00

Went out with the girls from work on Friday to La Tasca then Yates. Dinner was yummy and the girly banter was great fun. We asked Lucy to tell us about a guy she had been dating to which she responded with, 'Oh that guy is way out of the picture! I've been seeing two other guys since him!' So we proceeded to ask her about Guy No. 2 and No. 3. No, they do not have actual names. In fact, men should have model numbers instead so that we could order them from a catalogue and upgrade to newer models after the contract expires in 3 months/6 months/1 year/2 years/Other (delete as applicable).

Last weekend, I woke up in the middle of the night and thought it would be quite sweet to give the HAG a little peck on the lips. He responded to this by HEADBUTTING me. He claims that it wasn't his fault because he was asleep... whatever... hmph...

After weeks of thinking about getting a new phone, I finally ordered it last night. I am the most indecisive person ever. It was hellish trying to decide which phone to get. Then when I settled for the Sony Ericsson w880i, I couldn't make up my mind as to which of the two colours to get. Ok, decided to go for the black and orange. But which tariff? Is it worth paying an extra £2 a month to get an extra 200 minutes? Will I use that many minutes? And should I renew my old contract and see if they could give me a good deal or get a brand new contract altogether? Argh! But it's arriving tomorrow and I am calm and serene again...

Mrs Supervisor has left us to fend for ourselves as she lays by the pool in Portugal for two weeks. Eeks. Mr Manager let her leave early on Saturday so she could get organised for her holiday, and 40 minutes after she left, the shop started to fall apart. Well, not literally; we're not talking loose bricks and rubble here. It is rather scary how much we all depend on her though.

Friday will be my last day of work (again). Then I fly down to see the HAG after work that day, come back on Tuesday night, then fly to Hong Kong on Thursday for six weeks! All very hectic but so exciting! The HAG is very lovely and said that he can't not see me for six weeks (you'd think he'd be glad to get rid of me for that long) so he's coming to visit me in Hong Kong in the middle of July! Weeeeeee!

Celebrating my one year anniversary with Life, Love and Food with random titbits

2007-06-03T18:31:00.000+01:00

It was scorching hot on Friday. We were all melting at work despite the air conditioning being on. So when Mr Manager left early for an appointment, Mrs Supervisor bought us all ice cream. She should be in charge more often... especially since you can normally get away with doing naughty things by bribing her with yummy things... heehee...

Last weekend, the HAG, Kier, Boxy and I went to see the third Pirates of the Caribbean. Kiera Knightley was so damn hot that I wished I was a pirate king just like her.

When we went for dinner at an Indian restaurant, the waiter couldn't understand my Scottish accent when I ordered a fresh orange juice. This was proceeded by the HAG and Kier slagging me for the way I pronounce the letter J. I do not like to be mocked. There's nothing funny about the way I speak. Hmph.

I thought about changing the 'HAG' to 'Super Hot American Geek' but the acronym for that is maybe just a little bit rude... I'm not really sure I could say that in public without blushing...

What is the deal with flowers? Do all girls like receiving flowers from their boyfriends/husbands? To be honest, I quite like the idea of it, and when I do receive flowers, I am rather pleased... for about two seconds. Then I realise that I have to make the effort to find a vase for them, cut the ends of them, then arrange them nicely in the vase. I would much rather a guy delivered desserts to me. Or just food in general. I'm not fussy.

I pointed out to the HAG that I thought he was always very structured during our conversations. At which point he said that I only thought that because I'm so random. He's probably right though. Something along the lines of "I'm a bit fed up with work. Do you like aubergine? I received my phone bill today. I think you're really cute" coming out of my mouth is nothing out of the ordinary.

Had the biggest craving for a Magnum ice cream this evening so drove to the nearest petrol station for one. Brothers thought I was the coolest big sister cos I bought them ice lollies too.

Having not played with Sims 2 for about a year, I really felt like spending a few unproductive hours playing it today. Sims 2 is a bit different from the first one. In the second version, when making up your characters, there are so many more things you can do. While in the first version, you can choose things like hair colour, hair style, clothes, etc, in the second one, you can pretty much choose the specifications of every single feature on their faces! I'm not kidding! You can adjust the height of the forehead, thickness of eyebrows, the space between the eyes, width of the nose, poutiness of lips, puffiness of cheeks, sticky-outness of the chin, etc. After spending ages and ages making up the characters of my Geeks family, I couldn't be bothered to build them a house. Oh well...

I'm very impressed with how well-stocked the HAG's kitchen is. Not many boys I know have such a wide selection of herbs in their cupboards. Not to mention that there is never a shortage of ice cream in his freezer (I have been told that they're there purely for my benefit. Awesome. Though probably untrue.). Last weekend, I offered to make dinner for the HAG and as I listed each ingredient that I required, I was given the response of, 'Yep, got that.' I'm rather concerned. Either (a) The HAG secretly has his mother shopping for him (which would be rather bizarre considering she lives thousands of miles away); (b) He has a girlfriend shopping for him (and I live hundreds of miles away and therefore do not do that, so there must be another girlfriend in the picture); (c) He is gay; or (d) He is a woman. However, I am NOT impressed with the way he stores yummy things like chocolate and crisps in very high places that I cannot reach. Not amusing.

This is the 100th post on Life, Love and Food and it has been exactly one year since my very first post on this blog.

Photos from birthday dinner

2007-05-31T20:13:00.000+01:00

The HAG very kindly emailed me some pics from last Sunday so here they are!

Crostini Misti - toasted Italian bread topped with wild mushrooms, roasted mixed peppers and mozzarella and tomato

Tagliatelle Trastevere - chicken, pancetta, cherry tomatoes, basil, garlic and mushroom

Tortino di formaggio al lampone, ie. Cheesecake! Can't remember what flavour it was but does it matter?? It's cheesecake! A cake made of cheese! Mmmm...

Coppa all' amarena - Italian ice cream topped with Moreno cherries

From top-left rotating clockwise: Scott and Clare, Lucy, Susan and Nicola, Kirsty

The HAG and the birthday girl

Me? 23? No... never... (continued)

2007-05-30T21:11:00.000+01:00

Yeah, I know I said that I would continue that last post 'tomorrow' and it's been over a week now... um... yeah, 'tomorrow' means 'whenever I can be bothered' in my dictionary...

Anyway, so on the Saturday night, the HAG and I had planned to be bums and not leave the hotel room. However, like I said, the phone in our room was buggered and with our tummies rumbling the words, 'Feed me', we had no choice but to go down to the Vibe Bar that served bistro food. Unfortunately, the Michael Caines restaurant was fully booked... sigh... his food looks awesome... I'm not drooling on my keyboard... honest... slurp...

Sunday, we got out of bed very late and didn't have lunch until 3:30pm... oops. We went to Bar Soba (an old favourite of mine). I had the Teriyaki Vegetable and Tofu Soba Noodles which I fed plenty of to the HAG (not because I didn't like it. How could you think that of me?? It was so so yummy and I was kind enough to share. So there. Hmph.). The greedy boy, on the other hand, didn't offer me a single bite of his Sweet Chilli Chicken Tempura Wrap. How selfish. He was rather cute though and after gobbling up the entire thing, he embarrassingly said, 'Oh my God, I just ate the whole thing without letting you try any of it! I'm so sorry!'

After lunch, I took him to my work so he could check out the place where I get paid to skive for hours and hours. Heehee... I'm kidding. I'm very hardworking, dammit. Ahem...

Had my birthday dinner that night, along with 9 friends, at Amarone. Thanks for coming guys! The food was nice, though not as good as the last time I was there unfortunately. It's got a lot to do with what you choose from the menu though, so I can't really complain. I do have to moan a little about the service though. The waitresses were rather aloof and one in particular was bordering on scary! Susan was nursing a hangover from the previous night so didn't have much of an appetite and hardly touched her pasta. The scary waitress came over and asked, 'Is there something wrong with the pasta?' which could be mistaken as caring, but no no no... she may as well have said, 'Don't make me hold a very sharp knife against your back and make you eat every last drop of that damn good food that originates from my country! Raaaar!'

On Monday, the HAG and I had some lunch at Zinc in Princes Square. I had the mostest tastiest sweetcorn and spring onion risotto with basil oil... mmm... The HAG over-estimated how hungry he was and couldn't finish his big beastly burger, having started with a Caesar Salad (which was so so good!).

Afterwards, we went to see Magicians which was quite funny. First time I saw people getting kicked out of the cinema for being too noisy... served them right... muahahaha... Then we headed to Xscape for some bowling. Now, we already know that the HAG is better than me at everything so of course, I didn't expect to beat him at bowling. I knew that with my skills, even if he was just an average player, he would still beat me. However! In the first game, I got 4 strikes (or maybe it was 5... I can't quite remember)! Three in a row! It was very funny to see the HAG's face as I got strike after strike after strike! So with a total of 174, obviously I kicked his ass. He beat me in the following two games though. Bleh...

After going the Robocoaster (Extreme mode, baby!), we went to Chiquito's for a bite. Clumsy-me-who-you-can't-take out-anywhere kicked the table leg, causing my Virgin Colada to spill all over the table and run down onto the floor, resulting in one pissed off waitress who then probably spat in our food. Oh well, our combo platter (with or without spit) was still very good. And I ordered another Virgin Colada...

So overall, the weekend was brilliant. I'm beginning to really get used the whole long distance relationship thing. Hopping onto a plane then getting picked up at the airport, and then jumping onto a plane again to go home, or picking the HAG up from the airport then dropping him off again a few days later is starting to feel very normal... are you trying to tell me that not all couples do this??? Wierd... heehee...

Me? 23? No... never...

2007-05-22T20:14:00.000+01:00

Actually, yes. I am 23. Gawd, I'm old. The night before my little brother's 13th birthday, I made a joke about how he would wake up in the morning, suddenly transformed into a teenager, ie. spotty, moody and rude. Ironically, I found myself looking in the mirror on Saturday thinking, 'Gees, look at those lines on my forehead! And those wrinkles under my eyes! Where did they come from??? I've aged a million years!' Ok, maybe a little over-dramatic but that's me for you.

Anyway, so I picked up the HAG from the airport after work on Saturday. Right, the HAG is better than me at everything. Seriously. Even at being feminine sometimes. Hey, I can't help it if I think like a guy at times. But! One thing I managed better than him was meeting someone from the airport/train station. I was there, standing right outside the Arrivals gate, able to see him as soon as he turned the corner. He, on the other hand... ahem... well, the first time he picked me up at the Reading train station, I walked out from the gate/barrier thingy and there he was, not paying any attention to me whatsoever because he was talking to a guy trying to get him to apply for a credit card. I had to walk up to him and stand there for about 30 seconds before he even acknowledged my presence. How welcoming. The next time I visited, he picked me up from Heathrow airport. Now, British Airways, for once, was early! I arrived about 15 minutes before the expected time. So I walked out towards the arrival bit... and no sign of the HAG. There I was expecting a big tall guy greeting me with a massive grin on his face. And nothing. Nadda. Ok, fair enough, if my flight had been on time, he would have been 5 minutes early. But he's not getting credit for that. Muahahahahaha...

By the way, I'm not seriously complaining. I just think it's funny to give the HAG stick. Hehe...

So we stayed at the Abode Hotel for a couple of nights. It was very nice. There was this cool water feature thingy the height of the hotel that the stairs were built around. The room was lovely too, with very yummy-smelling toiletries. Only one complaint: we had originally planned to call room service but the phone didn't work so we had to actually leave the room to get food. What a hard life.

Ooh ooh! Presents! The HAG got me some very cool birthday gifts. Very practical, but very cool. I have a shockingly bad sense of direction. I do not have the ability to imagine streets in my head and picture their locations in relation to other streets. Also, if I go from A to B using Route X, I have to go back using the same route. One-way streets screw me up. And, if I know of one route to go from A to B, even if there is a shorter way, I can't take it. I have to go the way I know. Oh, and don't even get me started on diversions. They completely confuse me. The HAG knows how retarded I am in this respect. So he got me a TomTom.

I am also a very bad driver. That goes hand in hand with the fact that I am a rather dangerous driver. Which of course means that I talk on the phone while I drive. Without a handsfree kit. I often find myself holding my mobile with my right hand, and using my left hand to alternate between steering and changing the gears. So he got me a Bluetooth headset. With interchangeable colour thingies so I can match it with my outfits. Awesome.

To other people, they might seem like utter unromantic and geeky presents, but to me, they were extremely thoughtful. Or perhaps selfish for that matter. Maybe the HAG just wants to be reassured that I'm not going to kill myself while on a call gossiping or end up in some random village called Lugton. (The latter actually happened because of my inability to follow diversion signs. And because of the lack of common sense telling me to turn round when I was driving in the wrong direction.)

I'll continue this in another post later. I'm feeling sleepy.

Yes, I know I could just save this as a draft and continue tomorrow then publish it all at once, but I promised MacV that he would have a blog post to read tomorrow. He's very ill just now and he threatened to get more sick if I didn't blog. How he was going to do that, I don't know, but I didn't want to risk it. People getting ill is scary.

Photography lesson No.1

2007-05-09T22:15:00.000+01:00

Went down to Reading this weekend (Monday and Tuesday count as part of the weekend in my world... heehee...) and had a very cool time. The HAG (Hot American Geek, in case anyone missed that the first time) taught me how to use his big fancy monster camera so this blog post will just be photos, photos and MORE PHOTOS! Ok, admittedly, a lot of them weren't taken by me... but all the food ones were! So HA! (Ok, maybe one or two of those ones were taken by the HAG too but this is my blog so I can lie if I want!)

On Sunday night, the HAG and I went to Soho to have dinner with Jen and Jez at Satsuma, a Japanese restaurant. I normally complain about how expensive sushi is up here but after going to this place, I will never moan about the prices in Glasgow again! It was damn good though, and they had an awesome selection of desserts... mmm... I would have ordered five desserts if there wasn't the risk of looking like a complete pig...

Tuna nigiri and salmon nigiri

Chicken yakitori

Sweet potato tempura

Vegetable and tofu gyoza

Okonomiyaki

Crabmeat and avocado hand roll

Yasai yaki soba

Spicy beef ramen

Chicken katsu curry

Black and white sesame ice cream

Green tea tiramisu

The food was really good. I would definitely go back there. If I could find it again... dum-de-dum...

On Monday, I had planned to kick the HAG's ass at Fusion Frenzy on the Xbox 360. I failed miserably. Damn the HAG for having to be good at everything. Hmph.

MacV came over and moaned that he was hungry in that sulky voice of his, so we headed to Santa Fe for some dinner. Didn't bring the camera... sigh... how disappointing... but not as disappointing as Krispy Kreme being shut by the time we finished dinner! I wanted a donut (or six) for dessert dammit!

We all went back to the HAG's house and continued with Fusion Frenzy. I don't like losing. Especially not to smelly boys. Hmph.

Tuesday morning, I fooled around with the big fancy monster camera again. I'm not really getting the hang of taking photos of people. I just don't know how to take a good shot. Nothing I take looks arty and cool... sigh... I mean, I'll take a photo of the HAG and think that it looks pretty decent... then the HAG comes along and takes one of me and I realise how crap mine was. Grrr...

By the way, I was not naked.

Then the HAG and I went to his new flat to pick up his keys. It's a very nice place with a lovely view from the pretty little decked balcony. Though I really have no idea why one little boy (Ok, he's 6' 2" but really, he's just a boy) needs two bathrooms but there you go. At least we won't have to fight when I'm visiting. I mean, the HAG just spends hours and hours in there beautifying himself... (again, this is my blog so I can lie if I want...)

Afterwards, we went on our first date! Well, first proper date. I mean, we've hung out at his place and gone out along with other people but we had never actually been out on our own on a DATE! Heehee! We went to Chili's and the HAG had some fun watching me attempt to eat a massive burger. At least there was no sauce dribbling on my chin. Well, not much anyway...

Ooh ooh! Then we went to Krispy Kreme and got a dozen donuts! Woo! Unfortunately I was so full from lunch that I could only manage one... I believe the HAG and MacV enjoyed the rest of them while I was on my way back to Glasgow...

And now I won't see the HAG until next weekend... bleh...

I have 'Idiot' written all over me

2007-04-26T20:31:00.000+01:00

After doing some grocery shopping yesterday, I loaded up my boot with bags and bags of goodies. I slammed the boot shut then pushed the trolley into the trolley park. While walking back to my car, I fumbled around in my pockets to get my keys. Not there. Checked my bag. Nope, not there either. Looked around on the ground. They hadn't fallen out of my pockets. Crap.

Yep, I left the keys in my boot and had locked myself out. Had to make a call to Mrs Mum to ask her to save me. Thank goodness I had a spare key in the house. She thought I was a bit of a hassle though. Well, no one told her to have a daughter. She should have known, being female herself, that girls are a lot of bother. Hmm... maybe that's why she proceeded to have two sons after me...

Anyway, enough about my stupidity. I had a really cool weekend in London and Reading. Friday was spent eating in Chinatown, touring Westminster and trying to get a mucked-up hotel situation sorted out. So getting a full refund. Not that it has anything to do with me really since I didn't have to pay a penny. Ah... the joys of being a youth worker.

Me and Viv in mid-air

After several hours of shopping on Saturday, I headed into Reading while the others left for Heathrow to fly back to Glasgow. The HAG (Hot American Geek) picked me up from the station and sitting in the passenger seat, strapped up in the seatbelt, was a teddy. Very cute. And waiting for me at the HAG's house was Tickle Me Elmo! So incredibly funny! (Note that this is not my own video. The HAG does not have a dog. And that carpet is icky.)

After a couple of hours of just chilling, we met up with MacV to have dinner at an Indian restaurant. It was very yummy, though the waiter maybe spent just a bit too long trying to perfect his handwriting while taking our orders.

Sunday was a bit of a blur. Didn't get out of bed until about 2 or 3pm... then we made chocolate chip cookies! When I say 'we' here, I mean 'he' since frankly, all I did was... umm... eat the cookie batter. Afterwards, we played Twister. And I lost. Hmph. The HAG is too flexible. Hmph. Then MacV came over and he and the HAG made me dinner. It's not very often that I have two 6-foot-plus guys slaving over a stove for me... heeheehee...

The rest of the evening was spent watching Top Gear and Inside Man. Well, to be honest, they watched Inside Man while I sat on the floor in a very confused state trying to figure out the Bedlam Egglam Cube. I so managed it. A cube has bits sticking out of the sides here and there, right? Ahem...

Monday was even less productive. Woke up even later than the day before. My flight home was at 9:35pm and we had originally planned to go out for dinner before the HAG drove me the airport. But we ended up being a couple of lazy bums and just ordered a pizza delivery... la de da...

Going down to Reading again next weekend. How cool would it be if it got to the point where I travelled by plane more often than by bus?

I never said photography was my stong point...

2007-04-16T19:19:00.000+01:00

I am loving the weather right now. It's so good to be able to wear sunglasses without looking like a prat. Sunglasses are great - you can roll your eyes at silly people, send daggers at nasty people and eye up hot people (I say 'people' and not 'men' here because I am comfortable enough with my feminininininity to appreciate the beauty of girls too. Plus females are generally prettier.) without them realising!

I finally handed in my diploma application form today. Woohoo! I had no choice really - today was the deadline. I felt a bit silly actually, because after all the fuss of putting it off until as late as possible, I realised that if I had just bothered my ass and sat down for half an hour without any distractions, I could have finished it without a problem. Sigh...

After going into uni today, I met my brother, Ken, for lunch at Oko Express. Had originally planned to go to Whistler's Mother for my favourite club sandwich and chips but the weather seemed too hot to eat something like that. Sushi felt like a more suitable option.

We had the Sesame Roll (crab, avocado, pickled mooli, cucumber and sesame seeds), Katsu Roll (prawn katsu, mango, carrot, cucumber and rocket) and Grilled Salmon Skin Maki Sushi. We also had a portion of Teriyaki Beef (which came with herb mashed potato... mmm... that wasn't the reason I ordered the dish... honest...) and Vegetable Tempura, which I took pictures off but I'm not going to put them up because they're not that good and M will just slag my photography skills. Hmph. OK, I know the one of the sushi isn't brilliant either but you have to understand that it was taken with a camera phone, so lay off, alright? Heehee. I've been promised photography lessons this weekend with his big fancy monster camera (I know it's called a SLR camera but I think my name is better), so we'll see what happens...

After lunch, I went shopping. I have discovered that if I can resist buying one thing then I can usually be very good and not buy anything at all the entire day. But as soon as I hand over money at one shop, I'll just buy buy buy at every single other shop I step foot into. I'm a monster. Lock me up and never let me into another shop again.

'Procrastinate' is my middle name

2007-04-12T19:01:00.000+01:00

I really don't have very much to blog about. I'm just doing it because (1) I haven't done so in ages; (2) I was told to by someone well over a foot taller than me who could just squish me with a finger and I'm a wimp; and (3) if I don't blog then I have to finish my diploma application... and I'd rather put that off for as long as I can...

So this post is just going to be random jibberish. Nothing new there then.

You see my metal-mouth there? That metal is coming off in 3 weeks! I'm so excited! I'm so desperate to get them off as early as possible that I begged my orthodontist to go into work on her day off to take them out for me! And she agreed! Yay!

Being back at work has been pretty good in terms of keeping myself occupied. It has also been a bit tiring though. Not that it's heavy labour or anything (our diamonds may be big but they don't weigh that much) but I've been getting about 6 hours sleep every night rather than the usual 10. My fault really for going to bed so late. I think my body might be learning to cope with it though. And the days that I do get to sleep in... ooooh... I do really appreciate them now... heavenly... mmm...

Now, I know that I'm short. But that fact really kicked in when I discovered that my little brother, who's 13, has reached the same height as me. How scary. I hope it won't ever get to the stage where he thinks I have no authority over him just because I have to tilt my head up to talk to him...

On Tuesday, everyone was out except me and Ken. I couldn't be bothered cooking so we went to Chiquitos. Fajitas! Mmm... I do really like them... Between us, we ordered Duck Fajitas, BBQ Ribs, Coleslaw (which we shouldn't have bothered ordering cos a wee portion came with the ribs but I didn't realise that) and Mashed Potato. Oh, and an extra portion of tortillas because there's always so much filling with the fajitas. Not a bad thing. About halfway through, I was ready to undo the button of my jeans. And after three quarters of the food was done, I was ready to die. But that didn't stop me from picking up my fork and finishing off the mashed potato... it's my thing, let it go.

Sunday 8th April marked the end of me and Mr Vince. Ok, not as dramatic as that. We're still friends. I still think he's cool.

And finally, a picture I stole from Nicola because I think it's really cute that we're all looking in different directions.

This Hobo/Non-Hobo status is confusing me

2007-03-21T00:37:00.001+01:00

Yesterday, I received a phonecall from Mr Assistant Manager at Jewellers X. Started off with some polite chit-chat and then he asked what I was doing with myself these days. To which I replied, "Bumming." What? I'm honest, so sue me.

You can pretty much guess what happened next. He asked if I would like to go back and work for them! Woohoo! Of course, I said yes! I've prayed and prayed that something would work out so that I could go back to that place to work! I didn't get all the details; Mr Assistant Manager just said that some things didn't work out. Told me that he would call me on Friday to confirm when I would start back, etc.

I'm a very nosy person though, so I sent a text message asking Ms. Supervisor for all the juicy details. Turns out that the new girl they hired a couple of weeks before I left, to fill in one of the full time positions, was rather incompetent so they were planning to sack her on Friday and have me back next week. Apparently she has to be taught things a million times. Whereas, of course I just need to be told something a hundred times... heehee...

Oh, and she said that it's also got to do with the fact that I can pronounce Chinese customers' names and that I'm small enough to fit into the windows to do the displays without knocking everything over... hmph... I knew they were just using me for my Chinese and petiteness...

I hope she was just joking...

But anyway, today when I phoned to ask if I could have a weekend in April off (yeah, I'm asking for holidays before I've even started... I'm such a good employee... hehe...), I was told that they fired the poor girl today because she made some mistake... from what I heard, it wasn't even a big mistake... I think they just took the opportunity to get rid of her as soon as possible, knowing that I was happy to go back... which is quite evil... hmmm...

So I've to go back tomorrow! Madness... it's like I never left that place... just had a two-week holiday...

After a while, this occurred to me: When I was told that the maternity woman was coming back and I had to leave, Friend X said to me that I was stupid for being so honest and telling the bosses that I was going to Hong Kong in June. Otherwise they would have probably not bothered hiring someone to fill in the full-time position (the one that I did for about 4 weeks until they hired the unlucky girl who got fired) and continued to let me do it. Of course, I really didn't want to do that because I really like the bosses and everyone I worked with so I wanted them to be clear about my situation, rather than telling them at the last minute that I had to leave. And by being honest with them, I maintained a good relationship with them and they offered me a part-time job in September while I'm studying. And now, I get to go back anyway! So it pays to be honest! Aha!

Oh, what the heck... Friend X was Mr Vince. I was going to let him remain anonymous so that it wouldn't seem like I was saying to him, "I told you so! I was right! You were wrong!" but really, that's what I'm doing... so HA!

Another year older but are we any wiser?

2007-03-19T16:18:00.000+01:00

On Saturday, we celebrated Susan's twenty-third birthday. Quote of the night: "It just wouldn't be my birthday if one of my boyfriends didn't throw a hissy fit." This was referring to MacV throwing a so-called 'hissy fit' on a phonecall to Susan when he couldn't find the restaurant and was wandering aimlessly up and down the street. In the rain. You're a big boy now. Deal with it.

Oh, and another disaster before that: He and Mike went to the Antipasti in the West End instead of the one on Sauchiehall Street where the table was booked...

Good start to the night, huh?

Well, actually, this just convinces me that you need all the crap to come at the beginning of the night in order for the rest of it to be good, because we ended up having a really great time. Past experiences have shown that night-outs which start off well can end up really depressing... So when my birthday comes along, I'm going to make sure something bad happens right at the start!

So anyway, we went to Antipasti for some dinner. Food was ok, but the banter was great. Apparently, according to the fine rules of dining, three things should not be discussed at the table: Politics, religion and sex. And all of those things were talked about at our table... and all initiated into the conversation by Scott, I believe. Ahem.

After dinner, we headed to Stavka for a few drinks, where we spent longer than really necessary trying to decide whether the DJ was male or female... we settled for feminine male.

Not had photos on this blog for a while, but boy, am I going to make up for it! I went completely crazy with my camera on Saturday! I don't think I'm going to be invited out ever again. Apparently my camera is evil... heehee...

MacV: "Hmm... what should I order?"

MacV: *lightbulb flashes above his head* *points to Mike* "I know! I'll just copy Mike and have whatever he's having! Sorted!"

Me and Susan: "Sigh... where's the food... oh well, we'll just have to eat our fingers... mmm..."

Me: "Look down there at... er... that fascinating napkin..."
Susan: "No, I just want to look at my boobies!"

Mike: "Oh Tiramisu, I am so in love with you... I could look at you all day... but instead I'm just gonna gobble you up... muahahahaha..."

Susan: "It's my birthday and I can be wierd if I want!"

I'm still not quite sure what I said to offend Mike...

Nicola and Susan: "Heeheeheeheeheehee... what are we laughing at???"

Nicola and Susan: "Let's compose ourselves. Maybe they won't notice how daft we are..."

MacV: "Ooooh yes, keep whispering those sweet nothings into my ear..."
Susan: "Er... all I said was, 'Could you go get me a peach schnapps and lemonade...'"

Now that's what I call a personal ad!

Scott drinking a human Guinness...

Susan getting her groove on...

Susan: "OK, I stop dancing. Who buy me drink?"

And some more pictures I want to put up but can't think of anything witty to say about them... What do you mean none of the stuff I said before was witty anyway???? Hmph...

Aging gracefully

2007-03-12T20:03:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked for identification when buying drinks at a bar. I know some people find it annoying when they are asked to show proof of their age, but I actually quite like it. I find it rather flattering that at 22 (23 in 2 months), apparently I still don't look like an adult.

There is a downside of course. The male attraction I get usually comes from boys. Yes, boys. Not men. Boys chat me up and look at me like I'm this naive little girl who is looking up to them and listening intently to every word they're uttering, when in fact, I probably have a few years on top of them...

It's probably got something to do with my height (or lack of), the under-developed body (ie. almost non-existent breasts) or the braces, but I like to think of it as being more related to the clear, wrinkle-free skin and the cute, carefree attitude. Oh, who am I kidding... it has everything to do with the braces. Which are coming off in a few months, so maybe once they're gone, I'll instantly age 10 years. Oh, heaven forbid...

Actually, everyone in my family looks young for their age. My parents look like they're in their 30s (They had me when they were in their 20s. You do the math.) Ken who is almost 20 looks about 17. And Kevin who has just stepped into his teenage years looks about 11.

And look at people like Joan Collins, Twiggy, Janice Dickonson and Julie Andrews. They don't look anywhere near their ages!

Which leads me to this thought: Nowadays, what do we use as the standard against which to judge age? When people look at me and say that I don't look 22, which other 22-year-old am I being compared to? And what makes that 22-year-old look more 22 than I do? Maybe I do look 22 and that other person actually looks 30... but then, which standard am I using to come to that conclusion?

Aaah... this is hurting my brain...

Lady of Leisure

2007-03-07T12:29:00.000+01:00

Well well well... this is my first week of hoboing. Actually, not my first week as such; I am rather familiar with hoboism, having spent about 3 months not doing anything last year. But anyway, enough about my unproductiveness and the gradual moulding of my body parts as I sit here and be useless. Dum-de-dum...

So, on Monday, I made some steak pie. My first ever home-made pie! Surprisingly easy to make. And very yummy too. Mr Vince came over with his Nintendo Wii after he finished work. People give me funny looks when I say that I like playing with his Wii...

Tuesday, Mr Vince and I went for some lunch. Baby back ribs and chips... mmm... Then we headed over to the church centre to play the Wii on the big projector. I can't believe Mr Vince spent 4 hours playing Zelda while I sat there with a laptop in front of me, reading out the Walkthrough to him whenever he got stuck. It was strangely enjoyable. Kinda like watching an interactive movie at the cinema. And if it was my normal working week, I would have never been able to spend so long playing computer games without the feeling that I should be doing something more useful. Maybe I can get used to this...

Mr Vince could have probably played for longer but we had to stop because the Liverpool game was about to start. So he packed up his baby into his bag ('baby' is referring to the Wii of course; I can walk by myself) and we went over to Chris' flat. Most girls would love to have been in my situation. Seven lovely boys. And me. Heehee...

I got the impression that maybe the male and female minds no longer work in the conventional way. While I entered the flat with a bag filled with kebabs, pakora and chips bought from the greasy takeaway downstairs, Chris was stirring a big pot of his home-made Scotch broth in the kitchen... how mind-boggling...

Anyway, Barcelona won... but Liverpool won overall cos they won 2-1 in the away game. Or something. I'm just trying to sound like I understand the whole football thing. I don't. My brain isn't programmed to understand it. And to be honest, I don't care that much. Admittedly I did get into the spirit of things (after Mr Vince told me that I was meant to be supporting the red team) but I can't say I'm a big fan. I was asked if I was a Liverpool fan... to which I replied, 'I have a Liverpool teddy... does that count?' I guess not...

Cry Baby

2007-03-05T00:49:00.000+01:00

So Friday was my little leaving do. We went to Amarone for some yummy Italian food, then Malone's for drinks afterwards. The guys couldn't make it, and with just us four girls, it did feel very Sex and the City... heehee...

Then Saturday was my last day... sigh... actually, it just felt like any other day. Until it came to the end of the night and I emptied the windows to put all the big diamonds into the safe. I got a little teary-eyed as I thought to myself, 'This is the last time I'm going to be doing this...'

Then we were all told to gather round, and they gave me a leaving present. I wasn't really expecting anything since I've only been there for four months. I kinda thought that maybe I'd get a wee box of choccies or something, but no... it was a pearl and diamond pendant on white gold chain that had even been shortened so that it would fit me perfectly! And I had chosen it myself without even realising!

You see, about a week ago, James had said that he was wanting to get his girlfriend a present as an apology since he had pissed her off, and asked me what I thought she would like. Heather suggested this pendant and I really loved it, so James and I were both going to buy it. But we discovered that there was only one left in the whole company. I was so disappointed! I couldn't believe that they had a wee scheme going and the pendant was for me all along!

So, when I opened the box (they had even disguised it by putting the pendant box into a bigger cardboard box and then wrapping it so that I wouldn't be able to guess immediately what it was) and saw that it was the pendant that I had wanted so much, I burst into tears... it was so embarrassing...

So yeah... I'm quite sad to be leaving that place. But hey, who knows, maybe I'll be back later for a weekend job. Heather told me to consider these few months as 'non-maternity leave'...

Soon to be a Hobo once again

2007-02-22T22:54:00.000+01:00

As much as I have loved pretending to be a diamond specialist these past few months, it is time to leave. The woman who I was covering for during her maternity leave is returning so I have to hand my job back over to her. Sigh. I have been reassured that if they had a choice, they would keep me instead but they don't want to be fighting any crazy lawsuits. Yeah, I know that they could just be saying that to comfort me but I like to think that it's true...

Anyway, I've been told that there is the option to go back if I wanted to in September when Kirsty leaves for her proper job (a legal traineeship... believe it or not, all three of us part-timers in there are 'lawyers'. Maybe it was a prerequisite... heehee...) That would work out quite well... doing my diploma course and filling my brain with mind-numbing stuff during the week, then selling sparkly things at the weekend...

So, we'll see...

I'm a little bit down about it all. Silly, I know, since from the day I had my interview I knew that I would only be working until March, but still... back then I didn't know that I would love it so much! I was pretty glad then that it was only a temporary job so that I could get out quickly if I hated it! Funny how things work out...

Next Saturday will be my last day, and the night before they're throwing me a little leaving party, which is sweet. I hope I don't cry.

Sniff.

Look at them straight in the eye... and lie

2007-02-20T15:16:00.000+01:00

Working at a jewellers really teaches you how to lie convincingly. Seriously, we are specifically taught to lie during staff training...

Say a customer asks to see something out of the window display. After you have sat them down and shown the item to them, they're not so keen after all. You are supposed to ask them what they don't like about it. Once they have told you and perhaps described to you what they're looking for, you are meant to say, 'Actually, I have exactly what you have in mind in the window. Just let me go get it for you.' Of course, that's bullcrap, so you walk over to the window, and panic as you pick out something that does not meet the customer's specifications at all and think quickly as to how to sell this piece of crap. And once you reach the customer, you are supposed to build up excitement: 'Just you wait til I show you this! You'll love it!'

And guess what! Nine times out of ten, the customer does buy what you've brought out to them!

Suckers...

On a wee endnote, the jewellers in which an armed robbery took place last week is only three shops beside the one I work in... scary... but Mr Manager reassured me: 'Nobody will rob us - we sell rubbish.' Har har har... £5000 diamonds are rubbish? I must make sure I look through all the bins next time...

Random bits

2007-02-04T00:10:00.000+01:00

Mr Vince brought over rhubarb crumble and chocolate pudding the other night. Such a cool boyfriend.

Though he is rather embarrassing at times. We went to Tawa, an Indian restaurant, and I quietly commented to him that I thought the waiter was pretty cute. When the waiter came over to take our orders, Mr Vince said to him, 'She thinks you're cute!' Gawd...

Tonight, Mrs Mum said, 'I have a wonderful daughter. She's pretty, smart, successful... too bad she's so lazy.'

I bought a new perfume. Kevin said, 'This doesn't smell like you.' Er... it would be a bit pointless to bother putting it on if it smelled of what I normally smell of...

Went to House of Fraser on my lunch break and bought a bargain pair of jeans. Reduced from £100 to... £3.75! Awesome.

Mr Vince and I challenged Eric and TT to a bowling rematch. This time we won by 30 points. Muahahaha...

Temporary actress

2007-02-01T23:42:00.000+01:00

On Sunday, we had our guest service at church. The theme was 'Loaded', ie. being burdened by problems relating to things like money, studies and relationships. Our cell group had a lot of fun filming a few short clips to show at the service. Have a look, it's really funny: Loaded

At first, I was just meant to be doing bits and bobs for the props, but then somehow ended up featuring as the horrible girlfriend in the clips... not sure what they're trying to tell me... ahem...

Anyway, basically I was just asked if I could act as a really mean girlfriend and be able to think of lots of things on the spot to moan at Chris (who was acting as the guy with all the troubles) about, and to try to speak really fast continuously... I said I would give it a try, so we practised without the camera rolling... and it turned out to be perfect (the practice was actually better than the real takes... if I may say so myself, not that I'm proud of being able to be a perfect bad girlfriend... hmm...).

At the end of it all, I got a lot of applause from my cell group buddies... along with, 'Gosh, I feel so sorry for Vince...'

I assure you, I'm a lovely girlfriend in reality... honest...

I'm still alive!

2007-01-26T23:15:00.000+01:00

Yes, that's right. I haven't just fallen off the edge of the earth. Still trying to find that... heehee...

Just been a bit busy to blog. Time management has never been my strong point. No idea how I managed to get out of law school alive.

Anyway, a guy got fired from my work (as I had predicted, he was a bit lazy) so being the considerate person that I am (can you sense my sarcasm?), I jumped right in and took his job... muahahahaha... so I'm now doing full-time. Just temporarily though, until they manage to find someone as wonderful as me (I actually said this to Mr Manager. I have no shame.), cos obviously I can't do this forever and ever. I want to be Ally McBeal dammit!

This is the first time I've ever had a 9 to 5 job (ok, well, 9-5.30). It's not bad. I faff about in the morning doing odd admin jobs (by the way, when I say 'admin', all I mean by that is that I have a pen in my hand) and before I know it, I'm being told to go for my half hour tea break. After that, I faff about some more. When there are no customers, sometimes I'll clean jewellery but most of the time, James and I will sit down and stare outside at the people who walk past. You'd be surprised how quickly the time passes when it is spent laughing at what people are wearing, or doing voice overs of the people looking at our windows ('Oh honey, what do you think if that beautiful diamond?' 'Er... it's rather flashy darling... what about something more modest like this cubic zirconia over here that's less than 1% of the price?') Then I go for my one-hour lunch. After I've been fed, I daydream for a while, or if people come visit me, I can entertain myself by chatting to them (Viv and Lisa came by yesterday so I went outside to talk to them. As I walked out, I shouted to Ms. Supervisor, 'I'm not skiving! Don't sack me!') Then it's hometime! Woo!

I haven't just been living in that shop though, of course.

On Sunday, Mr Vince and I had a lovely wee date at the cinema, watching Infamous, which I thought was brilliant so I'm now reading Truman Capote's In Cold Blood which the film is based on. I was very impressed at how the film could suddenly change from being so light and hilariously witty to dramatic and depressing. A very good film. And to think that we only went to see it cos it happened to be the only film that was showing at the time we were at the cinema. I had no idea what it was going to be about and assumed it would be crap cos it was on the top floor. So that shows you - never judge a film by its... er... level. Erm... yeah...

For dinner, we had quesadillas, fajitas and chimichangas at Chiquito's. It was really nice. Not just the food, but the company. We were constantly laughing and chatting. There was hardly a minute of silence. It's very nice to be with someone who you can never run out of things to say to. One of my biggest fears is to be one of those couples you see at restaurants sometimes who just eat in complete silence but for the odd 'How's your food?' *shudders* Scary...

Then on Tuesday, I went on my first ever double date! Well, of course, Mr Vince and I have been out with other couples before but there have always been singletons there too (Yes, I'm a huge fan of Bridget Jones. So sue me.).

After the two of us finished work, we went out with Eric and TT to Zinc in Princes Square for dinner. It was very yummy. There were four desserts on the menu (not including the cheeseboard and ice cream) so we ordered one of each. When they came, we each had a taste of each other's and at the end, none of us kept our own (except Mr Vince who was very pleased with his pear and apple crumble with cinnamon ice-cream).

The difference between a couple who have only been together for a few months and a couple who have been together for almost 2 years is rather apparent. Couple A are very cutsie but still careful with what they say or do and are quite polite to one another. Couple B are far from watching what they say to one another as they make fun off each other but eat off one another's forks.

Afterwards, we went bowling and split into two teams. Me and Mr Vince vs. Eric and TT. Eric and TT were both pretty good. Mr Vince was very good. And I was crap. So it was rather well-balanced but at the end, they won by 9 points. Rematch next week I think...

Bar Soba

2007-01-17T00:10:00.000+01:00

A few of us headed to Bar Soba for a bit of food and banter tonight.

Me, Jen and Mel(issa, not Melinda)

Mel and Will (who was just saying all the right things tonight... not... he called Jen a man, and me a cow... ahem... yeah...)

Me and Mr Vince (who had just done a 9-hour shift and still came out to have dinner with us... awww...)

And guess what! I took photos of food! How long has it been since I've actually posted pictures of FOOD??!! And this is meant to be a food blog! Shame on me!

Starters:

I had the Crispy Duck and Mango Salad - salad of mango, duck, crisp julienne vegetables and a sweet chilli mint dressing. The last time I had this, the duck was really dry and flaky, but this time, I got much bigger chunks that were really succulent... mmm... not much mango though.

Mel had the Pad Thai Spring Rolls - spring rolls stuffed with rice noodles, beansprouts, peanuts and chilli. I love how they serve food on slates (or floor tiles, as Jen called them). So cool.

Mr Vince had the King Prawn and Vegetable Tempura. I got a bit of prawn and it was so juicy... yum...

Will had the Crazy Boy Maki - fresh crab meat, cucumber and avocado sushi, lightly fried in tempura batter.

Mains:

For me, it was the Chilli Tiger Prawns and Squid - fresh tiger prawns and deep fried squid in a sweet caramel, ginger and chilli sauce, served with jasmine rice. This was really nice but I would have preferred more of a thick sticky sauce to go with my rice.

Mel and William both had the Roast Duck Curry - slow cooked duck with tomato, potato, aubergine, lime leaf and tamarind. Mel spooned the curry into her bowl of rice whereas William put the rice into the bowl of curry... we had a little debate about which way was better... yeah, we have the most intellectual conversations as you can imagine... heehee...

Mr Vince had the Soba Steak - chargrilled steak with a sesame crust, on top of a sweet potato rosti, with Japanese ginger prawns and bok choi. This was alright. I've never been a huge fan of steak...

And Jen had the Teriyaki Tofu and Vegetable Noodles - deep fried tofu marinated in sichimi spices, wok fried with soba noodles and snow peas in a teriyaki sauce. I had a few bites of this and it was really tasty. Though I think a whole bowl might have been a bit heavy cos the flavours were quite strong.

So this was meant to be a little farewell dinner for Jen, who's leaving for the big city of London... sigh... I'm gonna miss her so much... sniff...

Who wouldn't miss the girl who is away with the fairies most of the time? Heehee...

"Elegance is an attitude"

2007-01-13T22:05:00.000+01:00

My parents bought me a lovely Longines watch a few days ago and I am totally smitten with it...

Everytime I go to look at the time, I get so distracted by the prettiness of it... I move my wrist so that the light catches it and the diamonds sparkle and the mother of pearl shimmers... I admire the classy look of the bracelet... I marvel at how small and delicate it manages to look on me despite the teeny-weenyness of my wrist... and at the end of all that, I actually forget to read the time... totally defeats the purpose of a watch... ho-hum...

Scottish Legal Awards

2007-01-08T17:01:00.000+01:00

My law firm - no wait, not MY law firm (how cool would that be?), but the law firm I'm going to be working for - has been shortlisted as Firm of the Year and High Growth Firm of the Year in the Cuthbert Scottish Legal Awards. I'm not too sure what that is but it sounds kinda cool anyway. The website tells me that it is "considered ‘the Oscars' of the legal profession" but it would obviously boast of itself as that, wouldn't it?

Although I'm not working there yet, I do feel a little sense of pride... yes, that's just me for you... I take credit for everything... muahahaha...

Goodbye 2006

2007-01-02T19:57:00.000+01:00

The start of 2007 was spent playing poker (people just can't read me, it's great... muahahaha...) but what happened in 2006?

Just a few memorable moments...

- Accepting Jesus which was, and still is, absolutely awesome. I can't believe that He wasn't in almost 21 years of my life. But never too late, eh? =)

- Totally crapping myself on the day of my dissertation deadline, as my printer decided do me a huge favour and smudged every third line of my masterpiece and also not being able to have the thing bound, resulting in the need to put a big staple through a year's hard work. Then almost bursting into tears in front of the librarian as I explained the disaster and she felt so sorry for me that she pulled up a professor to reassure me that presentation is not important... sniff...

- Realising on Valentine's Day that Mr Vince and I both had the same ideas for presents for one another: we bought the same lovey-dovey shaped cookie cutters from Lakeland. The only difference being that my cookies turned out perfect and his er... didn't.

- Going to the library every day for hours and hours. Even Saturdays and Sundays. Then finding out that the exam I was studying for was cancelled... For a couple of hours, I was so confused that I kept on studying... ho-hum...

- Graduating! What more can I say?! Walking up to get my head tapped (still not sure what that's all about) and to receive my certificate was a pretty cool feeling.

- Meeting all those cool people from America at Summer Camp.

- Walking up the Eiffel Tower. Then dying.

- Paragliding in Austria. And being a little bored.

- Eating gelato three times a day in Rome. Then Venice. Then Florence. Forget about Italian men! It's the ice-cream I'm interested in!

- Watching a live sex show in Amsterdam... then smoking weed... that was an interesting night... hmmm...

- Jetskiing with Mr Vince in Malta. He is a deadly driver...

- Spending hours doing job application forms, trying to make myself sound impressive. Then finally getting a traineeship! Woo!

So yeah, the year of 2006 was filled with plenty of memorable events. Let's just hope that 2007 will be just as good =)

Santa Clause came to my town...

2006-12-26T19:41:00.000+01:00

Mr Santa and I had agreed that we wouldn't see each other on Christmas Day...

But when I opened my eyes in the morning, there he was, with a big bag of presents!

I must have been an extremely good girl this year, because Mr Santa really spoiled me...

I opened the first present thinking it was a wee bottle of perfume or something... But but but!

It was a PINK iPod Nano! Awesome!

The second thing was a pretty big box so I had no idea what it was...

And it was a PINK mini fridge!

I didn't think it could get any better... heehee... But!

As I opened the last pressie, all everyone could hear me shout was, 'No way! Get out of here! Wow!'

A PINK PSP!!!

Woo!

After all the excitement had passed, I felt a bit bad about calling him a bad boyfriend (yes, my boyfriend is Santa... I'm allowed to be gullible if I want...) the night before and hanging up on him... oops...

Packed lunch

2006-12-17T23:57:00.000+01:00

Back when I was a hobo, I had all the time in the world so every so often, I would give Mr Vince packed lunches made with lurve...

I would make things like caesar salad, king prawn and mayo with rocket sandwiches, sushi and pasta with portabello mushrooms in a creamy sauce put into a microwavable container so that he could reheat it at work. And I'd pack him goodies like crisps and chocolate too...

Mr Vince used to love boasting to his colleagues about his fantastic girlfriend (that's me, by the way... heehee...) who made him homemade lunches. In fact, I believe there were times that his lunches weren't made by me, but he would still pretend that they were, just so he could be the centre of envy... whatever.

Oh, and of course, there was that time, I delivered some freshly made sushi to him and we sat in George Square to eat it. He'd look over at all the other people eating their lunches there and say things like, 'What's that guy eating? Sainsbury's sandwiches? Tsk! I have fresh sushi! What's she having? A crappy salad from M&S? Ha! I have fresh sushi!' That boy's a bit strange...

Now that I'm working, I also make myself packed lunches to save some money. Homemade sandwiches are so much cheaper and yummier than those bought from Greggs. Or I would wake up a little bit earlier and make some pasta to take to work. Fresh spaghetti only takes 3 minutes to cook, then toss it in some pesto, and hey presto! Lunch!

Over the next week, since it's the days leading up to Christmas Day, I'm working 9am til 8pm, Monday to Saturday (rather than the usual lazy 5-hour days, 4 days a week). So instead of bringing in food each day, I went and bought some goodies to fill up the fridge at work so that I can just make lunch during my lunch break (I always seem to have too much time during my break anyway, and also this way, I can get an extra 10 minutes or so in bed... mmm...).

I bought myself some seeded rolls, sundried tomato and feta pita bread, sliced chicken and stuffing, some ready-cooked and flaked salmon, Normandy brie, caramelised red onion chutney, a packet of salad, cherry tomatoes, cartons of wild mushroom soup and spinach and nutmeg soup... oh, and I bought potatoes and made some potato salad and popped it into a tub.

I'm looking forward to some yummy and cheap lunches this week...

Ok, maybe not really cheap by the looks of what I bought... I guess I could have spent way less than I did and just had cheese sandwiches every day but where's the enjoyment in that? My tastebuds have standards! But hey, I reckon I'm still saving... I think... la de da...

Cheating scumbag

2006-12-13T23:31:00.000+01:00

A jewellery shop is a rather romantic place to work in. I get couples coming in, all rosy-cheeked and smiley, cuddling and kissing, to pick out their wedding rings, or maybe the guy just wants to give his girlfriend/wife a little treat. They are very cute to watch, and it just makes me feel all warm and slushy inside (unless I'm in a bad mood that day, in which case, I get very jealous and hate them).

Then there are the guys who come in on their own to find the perfect present for their other half. They usually make me bring out every item from the window because they can't decide what will make her eyes light up as soon as she opens the box (I try to refrain from telling them that a big diamond would have that effect... not only would her eyes be lit up, they will also be blinded...).

And then there's this type of guy...

I sold a lovely little diamond pendant with matching earrings to this guy, and as I was putting it into the box for him, I made a bit of conversation with him and asked if he had much more Christmas shopping to do...

Him: Well, I just need to get my girlfriend's present.
Me: Oh... is this diamond set not for your girlfriend?
Him: Ha! No, she is not that easily pleased.
Me: Oh... so who's this set for then?
Him: My wife.
Me: Oh... um... la de da... (*thinks to myself, 'You horrible, lying, cheating bastard. I hope they both have the sense to dump you before Christmas and you have to eat one of those individual microwave meals on Christmas Day all on your own. Git.' I still had a lovely, friendly smile on my face while I thought all of this, of course... I'm very professional...)

Bad food blogger

2006-12-13T00:40:00.000+01:00

I will never make a good food blogger. I'm just not devoted enough. I ate out twice in the past week and neither of those times did I take photos... bleh... ah well, I'll see how well I can do with merely descriptions...

Saturday, I had my work night out at Moldo's in the Merchant City. It was very yummy. For starters, I had grilled asparagus and roasted vine-ripened tomatoes with balsamic syrup and shavings of parmesan. Then tortelloni filled with basil, pinenuts and olive oil in a tomato sauce for mains. And for dessert... muahahaha... hot chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice cream... it was heavenly... mmm... so good... and all paid for by the company! Woo! Free tasty food!

Tonight, I went out with Mr Vince. On a proper date... wow... it's been ages since we've actually been on a real DATE! Just the two of us! It was very nice. We laughed and chatted and held hands. It was all very cute. Ok, enough slush. Hmm... maybe just one little bit more slush... I love Mr Vince. Ok, that's it.

We went to Paperino's and instead of the normal one starter, main and dessert each, we were very Chinese and ordered four starters, one main and one side to share. And to all arrive at the one time. Mr Vince is the type who picks up a menu and wants to order EVERYTHING. The waitress said to us, 'You're not going to be able to move after this!' What she didn't know was that he actually wanted to get another main course but I reminded him that we always end up wasting way too much food!

Crammed onto the little table were mozzarella sticks deep fried in breadcumbs, stuffed mushrooms deep fried in breadcrumbs, zucchini in beer batter, prawn Marie Rose with fresh strawberries, foccacia with garlic, olive oil and green peppercorns, and spaghetti with tiger prawns and cherry tomatoes... mmm... and to give our stomachs that final stuffing, tiramisu... I can't move now... but it was all worth it... mmm...

A not-so-lucky dip

2006-12-11T18:48:00.000+01:00

You know the deal - during the Christmas period, lots of shops have little Christmas trees, boxes wrapped up in shiny paper and lots of ribbon, and of course, Christmas music!

But to make the atmosphere even more festive at my work, we have this lucky dip thingy. So, if you get a really good sale, or manage to persuade the customer to buy the earrings that match the pendant she was looking at, then you can get something from the lucky dip.

Also, at the beginning of the day, Mr Manager might pick out a really ugly necklace from the window and say to us, 'Whoever sells this today can go into the lucky dip!'

Oh, and to make things a little more exciting, throughout the day, Mr Manager might say to us, 'OK, whoever manages to go out there and get a customer who's looking at the window to come inside and buy something can go into the lucky dip!'

So when Mr Manager said to us, 'Whoever gets the next sale, I don't care what it is, can get something from the lucky dip!', I got very excited and pounced on the first customer that came into the shop! And I did make the sale! Sold a wee pendant for £125 (the guy said it was a stocking filler for his girlfriend! You should have seen my face...)...

So into the lucky dip I went! BUT! Well, you see, there are all these envelopes that we pick from, and there are bits of paper inside with things like 'Happy Meal' (wanna take a wild guess at what that is? Yes, McDonald's...) and 'Present' (there's a bag of little presents in the office). But there are also two bad ones: 'Clean the staff room' (which Mr Assistant Manager got... heehee...) and 'Clean the toilet'! So, of course, I got the dirty job of cleaning the toilet... grrr...

Oh, how I whined...

Me: Mr Manager, that's just not fair!
Mr Manager: Well, how much was your sale?
Me: £125!
Mr Manager: Ah well, that's all it's worth - cleaning the toilet!'
Me: Noooo! Hmph! Fine! I'm not selling anymore things today! Hmph!

But Mrs Supervisor said that all I needed to do was squirt bleach down the toilet and flush... so that wasn't so bad... phew...

So far, still so good...

2006-12-06T01:16:00.000+01:00

I'm still really liking the job at Jewellers X. Woo! It's really such a nice job - showing jewellery to customers, persuading them to buy, suggesting matching items, trying things on for them so they can see the item on someone else (which means I need to constantly shape and paint my nails so that they are boooootiful and immaculate... well, I don't want a customer to get put off by my usual chipped and icky nails when I try on rings for them...), and being santa's little helper, ie. gift-wrapping (I go totally overboard with the ribbons. I love it!).

And of course, when there are no customers around, I measure the ring sizes of my fingers, try on pretty and expensive things (I also sometimes try on the most ugly and horrendous things just for a laugh) and sit down on a comfy chair facing the entrance so I can people-watch.

I get quite a buzz from selling things. On Saturday, I had my best day so far, and sold £1,100 of stuff! Woo! And I only sold three things... heehee... very cool. One of the things I sold was an £800 diamond bracelet, resulting in lots of praise from my manager. Not because it was particularly expensive really (there are £10K diamonds for goodness sake... *faints* But I am not allowed to sell the big diamonds yet because I know next to nothing about them. All I'd be able to do is say 'Ooooh, look at how it sparkles...') but because the customer had originally come in to look at a £150 bracelet and I managed to persuade her to buy a far more expensive one. Muahahaha... I am so evil.

Children are amusing

2006-11-23T00:23:00.000+01:00

An interesting conversation with a 6-year-old:

Little girl: What age are you?
Me: What age do you think I am?
Little girl: Eleven.

An interesting conversation with a 9-year-old:

Little girl: So if you're 22, does that mean you're an adult?
Me: Yes...
Little girl: So do you pay income tax?
Me: Er... *thinks to myself, 'You're nine! I only knew my 8 times table when I was nine!'

First day at work

2006-11-19T01:12:00.000+01:00

My first shift on Friday started off with me hunting for a pair of earrings that no one else could find. And I found them so that earned me brownie points! Then I was shown around the shop (which you'd think wouldn't really be necessary since it's pretty small!) and around the other stores in the shopping mall that are associated with the one I'm working in. Oh, and I was shown the warehouse and head office. There are a million codes I need to remember to get through all those locked doors. I'm never going to remember so if you ever hear an alarm go off in the Argyle Arcade, that'll just be me having entered the wrong code...

And the rest of my day was spent pricing stuff, rearranging displays, polishing the glass windows, untangling some chains (oh my...), and of course, selling! I sold 3 items which together was worth just over £200 which I thought was rather impressive for a first day... hehe...

So overall, I really liked it! The five-hour shift seemed to go by really quickly. What I used to hate about working in retail was the standing for hours (I used to sneak into the changing rooms to sit down!), but it's quite good in Jewellers X since I get to sit down with the customers when I show them jewellery. Give my poor feet a rest!

And the other staff are so nice. As in genuinely nice, rather than fake overly friendly nice which I really can't stand.

Oh, big mistake of the day: at the end of my shift, forgetting to return the set of keys I was given which unlock the cabinets with the shiny sparkly expensive pretty things. Oops. Nobody mentioned it the next day though...

Saturday, I was only in for four hours, but I sold 5 items worth £300 in total (I almost sold a platinum ring for £850! Grrrr...) so I was very pleased with myself! Ooooh, and I used the till by myself! I'd never used a till before! Ok, now I'm just being sad...

I admit I do get a buzz from selling things, but unfortunately, like most things I do, I'm excited for the wee while at the beginning then the enthusiasm dies... and since I've been asked to work 9am til 5:30pm this Monday and Tuesday to cover for someone, I have a feeling that my enthusiasm for this job might fade a bit sooner than usual... we'll see what happens...

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

2006-11-16T23:40:00.000+01:00

I finally got a part-time job! I tried Gap, Monsoon, Ernest Jones... all these shops that seem to have neds and neddettes working there, yet they wouldn't hire me? Could you believe it? Is there really such a thing as being over-qualified? Well, when a doctor told me that McDonald's wouldn't consider hiring him while he was a medical student, I started to believe that maybe there is...

Maybe they think you're not really serious in applying for the job. Why would a law graduate want to work in Gap Kids, folding teeny tiny little sweaters? Or maybe they think that you'll be be stuck-up and think you're better than everyone else. Whatever.

Well, at least the manager at 'Jewellers X' saw some sense and hired me. So now I'm working in Argyle Arcade, the land of diamonds and watches! Woohoo!

So guys, if you want to please the lady in your life, I can give you a generous discount on a pretty piece of jewellery. And girlies, if you want to please the man in your life... don't waste your money. Oh, how I make myself laugh...

Quality time

2006-11-09T23:38:00.000+01:00

Got to spend lots of time with Mr Vince this week and it's been so much fun.

Monday, I helped him do some deliveries and earned him some pretty good tips. Customers think I'm cute. Hehe. I also did some colouring in for him for Chinese School while he browsed the net and watched Top Gear. I had to wait til the adverts to talk to him. Not the most romantic of situations but I had a good time strangely.

Tuesday, we pigged out and ordered Chinese and Indian takeout food. Yeah, we couldn't decide what we wanted to eat so had both.

Wednesday morning, we played Tekken Dark Resurrection on the PSPs. I couldn't beat Vince. Gurrrrr. Then he went to meet a friend in the afternoon before cell group, and I used the 2 hours alone time to practise Tekken without him. Mwuhahahaha... After cell group, we played again and I whooped his ass. He'll deny it of course, but I'm telling the truth! I rocked!

Thursday, we picked up my parents from the airport, then after that Mr Vince gave all his attention to his new girlfriend that my parents brought back for him... Miss Ipod Video. Hmph.

Windows

2006-11-04T18:06:00.000+01:00

I had great hopes and dreams when I first started this blog that it will be mainly dedicated to food. I wanted to be able to take really professional photos of well-presented food, and give them fantastic descriptions so that my readers would drool over their keyboards. But that didn't really happen, and I just took crappy photos with my phone and gave my meals boring descriptions that couldn't get any tastebuds excited. And of course, I started writing about all sorts of non-food related crap... oh well...

Anyway, just to make sure that food features somewhere in this blog, here's some food from Windows Restaurant where we had my celebratory dinner...

Complimentary Greek salad

Pidgeon breast

Salmon with warm potato salad

Orange and thyme creme brulee with an anzac cookie

Future solicitor

2006-10-31T16:41:00.000+01:00

Remember the scary interview for the law firm I went to last week? I certainly do... the many days afterwards, worrying about all the things I said at the interview that might have sounded stupid, how my presentation might have seemed lame, how much I sucked at the written test where I had to draft up a contract, how everyone else at the interview seemed so much smarter than me... Gees...

Well, while I was still snoozing this morning (ok, admittedly, it was 11:45am but that is still morning!), I received a call... from the Human Resources Manager at the law firm offering me a position! Woohoo!

I really want to thank God. The first, one and only interview I get and that firm gives me the job! God works in miraculous ways. I wasn't given interviews at any of the other law firms which made me feel kinda rejected, but thinking back, if I did get interviews and then not been given any job offers after the interview, I would have felt worse. And I might have just given up. Praise God that He did things the way He did! And thanks to all those who prayed for me.

And I want to thank Mr Vince who had so much faith in me that he said he knew that I would get offered a traineeship by the first firm that interviews me. Thanks honey!

It feels so good knowing that I don't need to do any more application forms! Woohoo! In fact, my plans for today were to complete a couple more applications... what am I going to do now???

Lies to tell small kids

2006-10-30T21:38:00.000+01:00

I was in Waterstones today, and while I would love to be able to say that I spend my time at bookshops perusing the shelves with the travel, history or whatever books people regard as intellectual, I like to browse the chick lit and humour sections. And today, I spent a very enjoyable 5 minutes flicking through Loads More Lies To Tell Small Kids.

Here are some of my favourites:

When you change the channel, the presenter of the show you were just watching dies.

Go use Internet Explorer and click Refresh - the computer will squirt out 7-up.

If you swallow enough bubble gum, you'll be able to blow a huge bubble out of your ass.

All starfish are alcoholics. That's why you never see a starfish standing up and there are so many cans lying on the beach.

Retreat

2006-10-30T21:30:00.000+01:00

Came back from retreat yesterday and slept for 12 hours to make up for the lack of rest in the past couple of days. But it was all worth it! Great workshops, talks and games. Not to mention the good late-night chats, five-minute theatre and the fantastic location of the pretty Rowerdennan.

Funny moments include:

The alarm clocks of each of my roomies going off at different times but still failing to get all of us out of bed. Then what made us all jump was Sin Hung shouting out, 'Oh my gosh, there's a spider!' And the 'spider' started flying around the room, causing Yin Ru to scream helplessly as she was on the top bunk; Ling to run around trying to get away from the 'spider'; and me running with her with my electric toothbrush still buzzing in my mouth! The 'spider' was actually a butterfly by the way.

Having to take the bedsheets downstairs on the last morning while most of us were still lying in bed. You'd think that would get us all out of bed, but not Phui Yee... Yin Ru had to pull the sheet from underneath her while she continued to sleep... heehee...

Some of us playing Uno Stacko, and we had to say grace in the middle of the game before dinner... funny thing was Sue shouting out 'Amen! Ok, four yellow!'

Playing taboo... the clue given was 'Guys have two of these...' and Michelle guessed 'penis'... what???

Didn't have my camera with me but here are a couple of photos that I stole from Mr Vince...

Yin Ru, me and Phui Yee. Yin Ru says she would marry me if she was a man... heehee...

Mr Vince and I. He's a bit sweaty from playing rugby, football and frisbee... boys... whatever... heehee...

Eeks...

2006-10-23T23:00:00.000+01:00

Well, well... the big fat scary mama interview is tomorrow. I have to leave the house at 6:45am in order to get the Edinburgh with enough time to spare for getting lost. When your sense of direction is as good as mine, you need to leave at least 45 minutes for wandering around, having no idea where you are.

Anyways, I think that I'm pretty well-prepared and if I don't get the traineeship, then at least I can still say I tried my best. I've practised my presentation in front of my brother (who said it was very impressive but I talk too fast) and Mr Teddy Bear has proved to be a very good mock interviewer... yes, it's always good when the interviewer "asks" the exact questions that I have the perfect answers for... hehehe... yeah, so I'm a freak and propped a little teddy up on top of some books so I could make eye contact with it while I pretended it was interviewing me... oh my gosh, it sounds so much worse when I have that down in writing...

Anyway, pray for me guys...

2 Peter 5:7 - "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Joshua 1:9 - "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

A bit of maths...

2006-10-22T23:31:00.000+01:00

Always thought that the answer to 1+1 is as simple as 2?

In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals nothing...

Yes, I'm in a slushy mood...

Bad interview

2006-10-20T23:34:00.000+01:00

Yes... the interview with Vestry went pretty badly... but not on my part!

I couldn't believe it when the interviewer started blurting out to me, 'I'm filling in for the manager while she's on maternity leave... this is the first interview I've ever done so I'm really nervous... I thought I was really prepared for this but I'm obviously not...'

Oh my goodness... what was I supposed to say?

She eventually got her act together and asked me some relevant questions like 'Who do you think our biggest competitors are?', 'What can you bring to our company?', etc.

Then she lost her nerve again and came out with, 'Gosh, it's only been 5 minutes and I've run out of questions to ask you... um... let's talk about your university life for 5 minutes even though it's not really relevant to this post...'

What????

So anyway, I thought the answers I gave were pretty impressive, considering I've been reading 5 million books on how to give successful answers at interviews to prepare for my scary law firm interview... but I doubt that I'll get the job. After all, would you hire someone who you embarrassed yourself in front of? Man, it's so unfair... why should I be penalised just because the person interviewing me wasn't prepared? Yes, I'm feeling bitter... raar raar raar...

Hobo no more?

2006-10-19T23:54:00.000+01:00

A little update on the job-searching front...

I didn't get the Beaverbrooks job. Oh well.

Tomorrow, I have an interview with Vestry, a clothes shop in Braehead. I don't know what to wear...

Then on Wednesday, I have an interview with Royal Mail. Hopefully I'll get the job with Vestry so that I can just dress up and look pretty for work rather than having to sort out letters and parcels... bleh...

As for the 'proper' job-hunting (ie. looking for a traineeship that will provide me with the path to becoming Ally McBeal), I have sent 10 applications. So far, I have had one rejection. Eight acknowledgements of my application but no decision as to whether or not to interview me yet. And ONE INTERVIEW! Woohoo! It's on Tuesday and I'm very nervous. I need to do the evil psychometric tests to see if I have fantabulous numeracy, literacy and analysis skills. Followed by an interview. Followed by me doing a presentation. I am going to die.