Too young.

Girls where I'm from are raised with one idea - get married and have babies. Get married early otherwise you'll be an old maid nobody wants. Have babies as soon as possible so you have someone to care for you when you're elderly.

Unfortunately for some of those who had taken those teachings to heart, it hadn't worked out. Because... let's face it, we're rubbish at making decisions on who we want to spend the rest of our lives with at 18. But it's not uncommon for girls from the little town I call home to be married straight out of secondary school and popping out their 2nd or 3rd child before their 21st birthday. At 18, girls and boys are too rash, still governed by hormones, lust and fantasies.

I remember the days in school when girls would plan when they aim to get married by and how many children they wanted. They even devised ways to "foretell" such dates. Harmless fun, probably, and one I did not partake in because I didn't believe I would ever get married (I couldn't stand the boys we went to school with... too boisterous, too loud, too obnoxious, as is common for teenage boys, and this is on top of the fact I didn't trust men). I read too many foreign books, interacted too frequently on the Internet, and I didn't follow local conventions. I constantly rebel against what was expected of me. And as a result, I was probably an outcast in school. I didn't notice much - I was too busy with my nose in a book or computer.

I am glad of it now.

Do you really know what you want from the rest of your life at 18? You haven't even discovered your full potential. You are going to undergo huge changes in the next few years of your life as you step into adulthood and find your place in society. You will learn a lot of new things about yourself. How will you know your love interest at age 18 will still fit into your life when you're "grown-up"? You don't even know yourself.

There are friends who are unmarried, who feels like they're left behind. But why? If it's not the right time, it's not. If it's not the right person, it's even more so you shouldn't rush into it. Because some people have, and some people are currently living to regret it. I am thoroughly sad to hear two of my close friends are having marital problems, and they feel it's due to their marrying too soon, too young, at an age when all they cared about was how "sexy" their partner is. And after a bit of growing up and maturing, they find themselves different persons wanting different things, and their partners no longer the match made in heaven they thought they were. And at age 27, they're much too old for angst and much too young to be growing bitter. If the average life expectancy is 75, that's potentially 48 years of unhappiness due to one mistake.

I'm 27, and by the time I get married (if it happens as currently planned) I will be 28. This is "old maid" category not too long ago, but SATC may have changed this perception. Even at 27 going on 28, I don't know if I'm making the right choice, this may blow up in my face altogether, but I sure am at a much better place and mindset to make that decision than I was 10 years ago.

I hope everyone will educate their children that deciding on your life partner takes time and a certain level of maturity, and even if you never find a suitable partner, it's perfectly fine and normal to be happy single. Tell them not to believe in this "other half" nonsense, a partner in your life is to enrich your life, not complete it for you. You should be complete already.

Don't mind me if I'm sounding preachy - lately all I seem to hear of is marriages growing sour and breaking up from all over the globe. *sigh*

Long update of random stuff since February.

It's been forever since I last posted. Gone are the days where I was actually committed enough to online blogging/journalling I would write everyday. Oh well.

Life hasn't been that interesting. I work most days and I sleep most days. And last I wrote, I wrote on the importance of service, and it just so happens that yesterday, I had another gentleman who insisted on personally giving me a box of chocolates. Which is really sweet. I also had the experience of a gentleman patient of mine who wanted to give me a tip (unfortunately, we cannot carry money on us at work, and it seems a bit strange to tip your optometrist, surely?).

Percy getting first dibs on the chocolates.

No, of course he didn't really eat any. I'm not that terrible a cat owner.

Speaking of the ginger monster, he has grown a lot since I last posted photos on him here. This is how he looked like at 11 weeks, 6 days after we got him:

And this is 13 days ago:

Percy at 13 months old.

He has somehow grown more ginger and his body stripes are less prominent now, so it just looks like he's orange all over with four white socks, a white belly and a stripey bit at the end of his tail. I've moved him from generic Whiskas to high-meat grain-free Swedish cat food. He's still a cheeky sod, attacks ankles and feet at will, bashes against the living room door every morning demanding to be let upstairs (he much prefers sleeping on our bed since we got our new bed). He has finally learnt to brake at the bottom of the stairs before crashing headlong into the front door and his 30 minutes of madness is less often now. But Boy is convinced the cat has something against him. :( Percy is the best Christmas present I ever received, and I hope I never have to give him away. He hangs around with me and keep me from feeling lonely when Boy isn't around (and Boy will be away fairly regularly due to training now). I don't know if he behaves more when I'm around or I'm just forgiving to a fault when he's got such a cute face. Both, perhaps.

I'm trying to train him, and so far he always sits when the treat bag comes out. However, being the impatient sod that he is, if you don't hurry up and give him a treat for sitting nicely, he'll hurry you up by patting your hand. I did get to the stage where he will jump onto any surface when I pat it twice and he gets a treat, but then I took a break from giving treats and made Boy the King of Treats in order to make the two of them get on better, so I don't know where that training has gone.

I know, cat, training? Percy's really a dog in a cat-suit. He plays fetch and he waits by the door when we get home from work. He specifically recognises our car pulling up. He also puts on his agressive stance when someone (us, usually) enters the house and he wasn't expecting it (because we hadn't taken the car, or we arrived home not at our usual time) and we laugh and call him a Guard Kitty.

Anyway. Enough about the cat. What's happened since February?

We had our 4th anniversary of being together in April. Boy got me the Swarovski Radiance ring from a new jewellers that recently opened on High Street. It's sterling silver and crystal, and Brother #2 thinks it's prettier than the diamond and white gold ring I got for the first Christmas Boy and I were together. Roffle.

Swarovski Radiance Ring.

Boy got a new job in June. I don't know if he likes it or not, I think some days he does and some days he's stressed out. I feel a bit guilty when he's stressed out because it's partially my fault he got a new job in the first place, mainly because I felt he was getting used at his old workplace who weren't giving him that many hours or that much pay to be worth staying on, and when he does work his arse off, they just verbally whip him harder anyway and expect him to do the job of five people. I didn't appreciate the managers swearing at the staff, and at the rate he was earning his wages, he could just about cover his expenses and not half the house bills as we agreed on when we first purchased the house. And it must be bad if he wakes up everyday thinking he doesn't want to go to work.

So here we are. New job. More hours. More pay. Less running around ragged. More praise and recognition for performing well. More chances of training and advancement. But a very, very different environment to play in, a job in which Boy didn't know much about when he first started.

I hope after he stuck it out for a year, he can consider again whether the industry is suitable for him or not, and whether he is going to risk more student debt and getting a degree in the field.

We went to Malaysia to visit my family at the end of June, and during the visit, Brother #2 asked the question of when Boy and I are getting married. Since we are now getting asked from both sides of the family (only 3 years after our engagement), I figured we may as well set a date or we'll never do it. So now it's set for 28th July 2012, and I have to get busy sorting things out. I still don't know if there is a Malaysia leg or not, and here's why.

Mum was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after I returned to the UK. She was going to be my organiser mainly because it's difficult to organise a wedding banquet when I'm physically on the other side of the world. Since she will be undergoing various treatments and therapies, she doesn't think she'll be up to the task of organising a wedding (on top of her full-time job), which is fair enough. Health is more important.

On an even sadder note, both my and Boy's grandmothers passed away, his before our trip and mine after our trip. My aunt Lily (who was the kind lady who put me up in Singapore for 10 days when I visited so many years ago) also passed away due to complications from surgery days before my grandmother did. Dad had quite a few blows at him lately, as within one month, he lost his mother, his older sister and then he heard the news that his wife had breast cancer.

All these happenings really indicate something that people have always known but have always taken life for granted, and that is Life is Short. It really is.

Onto more superficial stuff, Boy and I both got ourselves new phones of the same ilk, the Samsung Galaxy S2, which we love. He likes the fact that he can read the news, email and Facebook on his phone, and mine is all that plus I adore the 8MP camera. Mine is courtesy of Brother #2 who kindly donated monies towards the cost of the phone and plan for my 27th birthday (I turned 27 on the 27th! Of June, obviously, since we're talking about the past).

Also for my birthday, Boy bought me a necklace/pendent/earstuds combo on the flight back to the UK.

Jadeite cat necklace.

Isn't it so cute? :D The photo turned out better than I thought since it was actually taken with the Blackberry Curve 8900 days before it got decommissioned for the swanky new Samsung. Who'da thunk that Blackberry in macro mode actually have a half-decent ability to photograph jewelry? I'm genuinely surprised.

The pendent is bigger than I thought (usually not a bad thing when it comes to jewelry), so I'm not sure if I can get away with wearing that at work. But it's definitely one of the cutest piece of jewelry I own. When I was a child, green was my favourite colour and I had to have green everything from dresses to drinking straws. Sometimes I still find myself pulled towards green. And kittehs! Who doesn't like kittehs? :P

I also finally caved on and started a collection of Pandora charms and beads. John Greed (two doors away from my workplace) had a promotion on 31st August (Malaysia's National Day!) where if you spent a certain amount, they throw in the £60 silver bracelet on for you free of charge. So guess what I did?

Yep.

I couldn't resist since I've always wanted those Pandora charms but couldn't really justify the cost of £60 for a silver bracelet. Sterling silver and gold with black onyx. I fell in love with the design when I was in there looking at the beads. Some of them look really nice, others a bit cheap, but that particular bead is so pretty!

I told Boy that I'm making his job of buying presents easier, because apparently I'm difficult to shop for. :P And magically, now he can just get Pandora beads or charms to go on my bracelet!

Anyway, it's almost 2am and I have work in 7 hours. And in less than 48 hours, I'll be in Darlington doing some Maid-of-Honour-y duties for MJ's wedding this Saturday. I've got to go to bed.

Just to end this on a bright burn-your-retinas-out note...

The importance of service.

A couple was so thankful for what I did two weeks ago they bought me some carnations from Marks & Sparks. Pics of the flowers with my horrible Blackberry camera:

I like it when what I do matters. :)

Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker and No7 High Shine Lip Gloss (and other stories)

Visited Boy's nan and granddad yesterday for her birthday (and early Christmas dinner) and stayed over for a night. Unfortunately, we broke down on the A1(M) on the way there and it took around 45 minutes before we got going again. And we need a new front splitter or whatever it was that was broken off the bottom of the front bumper. *feels poor*

Anyway, since it was a special occasion, I tried out a couple of lip glosses that I bought ages ago. The one I ended up using is Soap & Glory's Sexy Mother^TM Pucker in Plum (RRP £8.00).

Surprisingly, it really did work in plumping up the lips. The pout is more defined in a beestung look compared to when I only wear normal, non-plumping lipgloss (No7 High Shine Lip Gloss in Happy, RRP £9.00, also new, as below). Some close-up comparisons:

Top: S&G Sexy Mother^TM Pucker in Plum; Bottom: No7 High Shine Lip Gloss in Happy

Quite a significant difference, don't you think? I'm also loving the colour S&G's SMP is giving me, and cheaper than Lancome's Juicy Tubes. The No7 HSLG I got for free, so it's a good deal for me, but admittedly it didn't really give much colour to my lips and just looked like clear shiny gloss. I like it because it keeps my lips looking nice and hydrated for work where I don't bother with makeup, but I might try a more vibrant colour next time and see if it makes enough difference to spend money on it.

Am tempted to get S&G's SMP in another colour to see if the colour's as pretty. :) It smells great too, even if the tingling sensation (plumping action) felt really strange to start off with. Loving lip glosses at the moment because they keep my lips hydrated, and I'm still not sure where I stand with lipsticks which gives a much more opaque colour.

Speaking of pretty, Boy's grandparents gave me a John Lewis fluffy spotty dressing robe for Christmas. It's tres cute and very comfortable. Even Boy is tempted, except the spottiness is too girly. :P

A bit of an update on Kitt, henceforth called Percy (after the cat on Sinfest.net). He's insanely cute but also a little bastard at times. When he's in a feisty mood, he leaves a lot of destruction and blood trails behind him. But when he's in a cuddling mood like, he's the cutest thing on Earth. Except he also likes to sit on my laptop which also makes it pretty difficult to get any typing done.

He didn't like the snow we've had but was very curious about it anyway. More pictures here. It was pretty funny because from what everyone's told me, none of their cats fancied going out in the snow either even if they're dying to do their business. :P

Oh well. We're hoping to get a puppy soon as well, so Percy will have some company, even if it might be company he doesn't approve of. I don't know if he will, actually, because Percy's acting a lot like a dog sometimes... maybe they'll hit it off? Doubtful though. Heh.

Introducing... Kitt the Ginger Cat!

As some of you may know, we recently adopted a kitten from one of Boy's friends. He's been in our house for a week now, and he's gaining a lot of confidence around us compared to his first day when every little noise sent him running for cover (his hiding place when he's frightened is behind our couch). We can open the door to the living room now without him shooting into hiding.

He's also growing a lot bigger too!

Day 1:

Look at how tiny he is!

So... so... tired. First day is so stressful.

Day 2:

Still nervous and hanging around near his hiding spot.

He even sleeps there with a giant version of himself. :P

Day 6 (officially 11 weeks old):

Ginger flash!

And it's the Pole-dancing Kitty!

Look how big he's got in 6 days! His head doesn't look too big for him anymore. :P

Doing what cats do best - "innocently" sit on your computer when you're trying to do something.

Day 8 (today):

In his cat cave. Ignoring me because I said he couldn't have any of my supernoodles.

So yeah. You can see he does more and more things the longer he lives with us, so he's no longer scared of us. Nowadays he even waits by the door for us to open it and come spend some time with him, and every morning when I come downstairs, I'm greeted with his really loud purrs and rubbing. :)

We brought him to his first vet visit on Thursday and he behaved absolutely fantastically even when we was getting his shots. He was also pronounced to be fit and healthy, so we're both very happy. Bought him a couple of toys for his good behaviour and cut some holes into a couple of cardboard boxes for him to play with, so he's a happy cat generally. ^^

Stuff and London Day 1

It's almost been forever since I last wrote. Between then and now, I've got my Macbook Pro (which I love), completed our moved into the new house that we now own (partially, on our bank's charity of 5.99% APR), bought £200 worth of food and drinks and had our housewarming BBQ in our backyard (which a lot more people turned up to than I thought they would... which is nice, considering I'm pretty much a social recluse most times), attended CG's wedding afterparty thing, went to London...

Oh yes, London. :) It was ace! Boy and I had been toying with the idea of going down to London for months now. Initially I just thought we should have a mini-holiday just the two of us and booked the first week of September off from work to enjoy the last of the British summer. And I was going to suggest a driving holiday because Boy loves driving, has just got his RX8, and apparently some of the best driving roads were up in Scotland somewhere. But he said he didn't feel like a driving holiday because of the fuel consumption of his car (though thinking back I think the amount we spent in London would've refueled his car at least 20 times!). So we decided we'd go down to London instead and do really touristy things.

Which we didn't end up doing much.

Instead, we spent most of our three-day break eating. I think I tried to cram too much into three days - I forgot the bit where we actually have to sit down and catch our breath a bit before heading for the next "scheduled" activity. And we kept changing our minds what we felt like doing...

But anyway, this is what happened.

We checked into Crowne Plaza St James and it was fantastic. I think Boy really liked the hotel. ^^ Good job me! It's in the West End, walking distance from Buckingham Palace, 2 minutes from a tube station, 10 minutes walk from Apollo Victoria theatre. Heaven. Location was perfect, and the quality of the bedrooms was what I'd expected from a hotel like theirs. The room was fairly large too, which I was really surprised about considering the location - most of the time you pay mainly for the location and the room will only just about fit a bed and a desk (for example, Corus Hotel Hyde Park, a 4* hotel). Actually, I thought with the price we paid we might be shunted into a broom cupboard!

So, piccies of the room we paid £356.71 for 3 nights for:

Comfy double bed was a bit too comfy for us - we had no motivation to get out to explore London at all after getting into it!

Other side of the room with the TV, minibar and walk-in wardrobe.

I don't know why I always take pictures of the toiletries...

However, I was all excited because I've booked us to eat an early dinner at the restaurant next to our hotel called Bank Westminster. This is an attempt to get to the theatre as well to watch a musical, which was one of my must-do-whilst-in-the-West-End list. I didn't really care that much about visiting museums or getting on the London Eye.

Our hotel room's balcony overlooks a fountain right outside the restaurant we were going to be eating at that first night. It was quite pretty, but Boy said that every time he heard the fountain he thought it was raining outside!

The fountain and the Bank restaurant.

Inside Bank Westminster.

It had really good atmosphere, and the waiting staff were excellent. Very attentive but not overbearing, sincere smiles and quick to top up on our drinks whenever we were running low. We were never kept waiting. Of all the restaurants we dined at during our three-day stay in London, this place offered the best service by far. The food was very good, but not the best.

King Prawn Tempura, chilli & lime jam.

Smoked haddock & leek risotto, poached egg.

8oz fillet with peppercorn sauce.

Eton mess.

Chocolate fudge brownie sundae.

Everything looks yummy but I guess my tastebuds just weren't blown away. The tempura just tastes fairly standard, no special batter nor did the sauce taste any different from the sweet chilli sauce. The risotto was okay but a bit on the bland side... the best smoked haddock risotto I've ever had was still at the Lincoln Grille and they've stopped doing it. Oh well. Fillet steak was good and tender, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Eton mess. :)

All in all, pretty good restaurant and I will probably visit again and try some other dishes to see if they are any better. I think a lot of restaurants can take their notes from Bank on customer service, because that's the main reason, if I'm honest, that I will visit again.

We then took the cab real quick to Apollo Victoria to watch... Wicked The Musical!

Ceiling prop for Wicked. The dragon moves and smoke comes out of its nostrils sometime during the show.

It was bloody fantastic! So so so funny, even Boy enjoyed it, and he doesn't like musical as a general rule and he only agreed to go to this one because he wanted to make me happy. :P And the voices... amazing. I want to go to another musical now. :P

Anyways... I'll write more about day 2 in London when I next do another entry because methinks it's bedtime now!

Ill.

Boy: You clearly have a bad cough. Take some Buttercup (cough medicine).
Me: No, it tastes icky.
Boy: You know what they say, the worse it tastes the better it works.
Me: Said by people who don't have a choice but to take it.
Boy: Well, you don't have a choice.
Me: I do. My mum's not here!

So yeah, I am suffering from quite a bit of a chesty cough since Tuesday, following the sore throat I had since Saturday. Yesterday, it walloped me with a 3rd and 4th symptom - congested nose and headache. Falling ill v...e...r...y... s...l...o...w...l...y. Past two nights I've been coughing so hard and so frequently, I woke myself up multiple times at night (so I've had rubbish sleep!) and now my tummy hurts from coughing so badly. :( It doesn't help at night that it's so warm as well, so it's hard enough getting to sleep!

I don't feel too bad today though. Still have congested nose and cough but sore throat is not as bad as it was and headache is almost gone because I took some ibuprofen before sleep last night.

Hopefully I'm on the road to getting better. It's rubbish to be ill on my weeklong holiday, but it's worse to be ill enough to feel horrible but not ill enough to be off work.