The one about more birthdays...

Before I continue on with my usual ramblings, I would like to wish Jo's sister Abby a very Happy Birthday - 16th October. Hope it was a great day for her.

Now on we go...

Tuesday, 10th October - my other aunt and uncle from Australia, Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Walter arrived for a holiday. Uncle Walter's mum passed away last year and he's back for a special memorial mass and to help sort out things here. They booked themselves into the Paradise Sandy Beach Resort.

The coming Friday was the tentative date for Stacy's birthday celebration. On Wednesday 11th October, Mel went to the Bee Won Korean Restaurant to organise the dinner. Jo went along to help out and she then went on to catch a movie with a few others. I had bowling league again. Nothing particularly eventful.

Friday 13th October, the day went by quickly as the anticipation of the night ahead ushered the otherwise routine day along. Jo and I headed home earlier to maximise our time with Ethan before getting dressed and off again to the dinner.

As usual, we were the first ones there. Getting a little fed-up always having to be the first ones to arrive. Anyway, the others trickled in slowly with the birthday girl and family the last to arrive, a good 35 mins after the designated time.

The food was fairly quickly served up and we enjoyed the usual banter during the meal. Korean food wasn't really the favourite of a few of them there but I must say it was fairly tasty although a tad expensive for what it was.

I took the opportunity to take many photos and will let them do most of the talking.

Tucking in...

Some serious talk going on...

Birthday girl enjoying her food...

Naomi wants more?...

Present time! Stacy's new coin pouch...

Relaxing after a good meal...

After dinner, we all adjourned to Jinny & KH's place for cake cutting, coffee and games. Most people chilled out then and some even changed into more comfortable clothes. We continued with the drinks and soon the "Chocolate Cheddar Cake" was brought out. The mix was unusual but not bad at all. With the compulsory Happy Birthday song out of the way and the cake well digested, we brought out the board games. "Cranium" was the choice as we hadn't played that for ages. It turned out to be the perfect choice as we laughed ourselves silly throughout. It certainly was a hoot to try and figure out Yan's humming of "It's Raining Men" or seeing Jo doing kickboxing! Needless to say, we all went to bed with smiles on our faces.

All chilled out...

Happy Birthday Stacy...

Fussing over the cake...

Er... It's raining men? Yan's version of beat boxing...

Takes a woman to hum "It's Raining Men" says Jo!


Saturday 14th October was the calm after the storm as Jo and I had a very restful day and night. Dinner after Mass was at Koca Steamboat and we had coffee over at Starbucks in Island Plaza thereafter.

The next day, Sunday 15th October, we were invited to Wendy Lim's birthday lunch at the E&O. Wendy's Sue Khoon's friend who had gotten to know Jo well. It was a nice relaxed lunch as Wendy invited Sue & Yan and also a few other of her friends. One of Wendy's friends was Andy - a lifelong Liverpool fan. We had a good chat about the match the previous night. For the record - Liverpool drew 1 - 1 with Blackburn at home.

Jo gracing the hallowed hallways of E&O...

The party in full swing...

A lazy Sunday...

This coming week has started pretty mildly. Nothing much happening as we head towards a long break with the Deepavali - Raya holidays. Most of our friends are off on holidays and it looks like a quiet time ahead. Still, I could do with a good break. The end of every year is always a busy time at the office. I would want to re-charge in time for the madness. But then, there's always Ethan...

The one about new feelings of love...

It's been as usual a busy busy fortnight since my last blog entry. Really must blog more often since in my haste to record all the activities, the quality of my writing has suffered, or so I was told! So I'm going to attempt to provide detail, clarity and entertainment within these pages. Like real.

Anyway, picking up where I left off last, Wednesday 4th October, Jo went for a movie at night - "The Banquet". I had my bowling league on, so had to miss it. Lucky me. Jo gave it a thumbs down but these arty farty chinese dramas aren't my cup of tea anyway.

Friday, 6th October was also the Chinese 15th day of the 8th month. Mid-Autumn Festival. Time for lanterns, moon cake and weddings. In the morning, driving past France & Taipei Bridal Salon, traffic was held up for a mass wedding. Strange anomaly that. We had planned that night to take Ethan to Stacy's parent's place where they were going to the Traffic Garden in front of Bodhi Avenue for a "lantern carrying" fun time.

That morning, I had noticed the return of an old enemy - the Haze. By mid afternoon, its intensity has not dissipated and although I checked with the Department of Environment website, by 5p.m. the Air Pollutant Index on the island was around 69, we decided not to take Ethan out that evening. So his mum and dad got all the necessary materials out, lanterns, candles, matches... and we had our own little fun time.


Later, after getting Ethan ready for bed, Jo and I headed off to Jinny & KH's place for our own little grown-up mid-autumn party. Having said that, Stacy & Mel did bring Naomi there. We just sat around, chatting, having moon cake and other strange traditional tit-bits. It was the first time I had ever seen the so-called "dragon's horns" - a black, decidedly evil looking nugget which revealed a white nutty centre. Nothing to die for.


The next day, Saturday, 7th October was spent at a relaxed pace. That night, Jo's dad had a dinner for her visiting aunt from KL and also Abby was back for a break. So we decided to join them for a quick dinner before adjourning to Bagan for drinks. We were meeting Celina, her new boyfriend JESÚS (that's pronounced "he-SOOS") and their friend Fran (no pun intended). Mel was to join us too and also Carolyn was going to be there with Peng Onn.

As we arrived at Bagan, it was just as well we had booked a table. The place was busy and fast filling up. Carolyn and Oon were already there having dinner, so we left them alone and took our seats in front of the band. The rest arrive in trickles and we were soon introduced to Celina and Chus' (their shortform for JESÚS) friend Fran. The two Spanish men then rattled off in their mother tongue which was pretty much drowned by the band anyway.

Mel, Jo, Onn & Carolyn

Chus, Fran & Celina

We did have a good time, with Onn puzzling Mel with his "two-cork" trick - not a bodily disfigurement but rather a sleight of hand using two wine corks. I must say here that the diva that is "Roz" the in-house singer at Bagan has built up a formidable repetoire and as such has become fairly entertaining.

Sunday, 8th October, would be a memorable one for most of us. We had lunch at the Spice Market, the brand spanking new restaurant at the newly re-opened Rasa Sayang Resort. Guess we will always remember the first time we laid eyes on the new Rasa Sayang. It has certainly gotten a face-lift and truly befitting its resort class status. However, the hotel seems to have priced itself out of the reach of the locals. We may be able to afford the odd buffet lunch at over RM70 per person, but it won't be a regular exercise. The spa there, named "Chi", had a distinctly oriental feel about it. Looking at the menu there, one can't help that the hotel had indirectly taken a no-locals policy. It's very unlikely that any local person would pay RM600 for any kind of treatment. Sadly, nearly 50 years after our independence and we still have this western elitist attitute.

The early birds at the Spice Market...

Celina & Jo...

The gang on the way to Chi Spa...

What!? Six Hundred Ringgit ah?... In Bangkok can get...

Jo and the gong...

One for keeps...

Corny as it may seem, I left the Rasa Sayang feeling no love whatsoever. The place just felt cold and untouchable. Sure hope these people know what they are doing.