my quaint world

Try the test! Its funny.

I failed miserably though. I know I know, I am asian but but but...

I can tell from the accents though :)

AllLookSame?

Just as I was feeling a wee bit low down, I had the most interesting flight ever.

Well, going out here is taking a slight toll on me due the barrier of the languages. For I am no longer the chirpy person who makes being silly, laughin the loudest laughter, makin funny faces and constantly trying to create entertainment yet forming bonds between human.

Here, I felt I am just an invisible soul. Lost in the languages, I let myself drift away under the sunshine, dreaming of land where there is only beauty and perfection.

Well, I felt a bit lost in the web of friendship, or so-called friends or friends because we hang out quite a bit or in my own correctness, friends that I can't connect. Front that I can't be the real Jaymy because of the barrier of communication. Language!

And I started to doubt myself. Well, have I grown inwards? Have I become passive? Have I turned into a boredom? Or am I just a smiling manequin? A chinese one, for say.

Just a painting of a face on the shell of an egg. (You know, we use to paint faces on egg shell, but does it represent what is in the egg?)

Nevertheless, just as the saying goes, winter never fail to turn into spring.

On my way to Lisbon today, 3 whole hours flight, where 2 hours was spent debating within myself to challenge myself to prove that I do not have a communication defiency. That I am normal. That I can talk to people. That I communicate. That I still connects.

Well, after 2 whole hours, and with a very interesting and curious musing girl beside me, I couldn't resist but to offer a piece of chocolate. That started a smile.

30 minutes later, I popped the usual 'standard' question, "Are you going for a holiday?" She answered. Then it was non-stop machine gun questionin, words, expressions, sharing, smiles, laughter and twinkles in the eyes. Yes, she has beautiful eyes. They talk silent words. She's a sorta theatre actress cum independent producer, passion for living, driven to bring smiles to people on the street, to strike them out of normadom. A person with a big 'YES' for life. A girl who is constantly writing her dossier, no matter where.

Then a book in the hands of another caught my eye. Titled "Buddha". Out of real curiousity, pathed the way through my doubts, my fears, my twisted tongue, I asked, "Why do you read this?". And again, it sparked off a connection that I can't explain. A bonding. A relation.

Beautiful person she is. Young, vibrant, happy with strong jest of life! And a looker. She was Miss Belgium 2005. In all the truest form, I think she represents very well the title. Apart from being almost a Julia Roberts with african/ india blood, its a full package she is. At least, that is one very good first impression I had.

And that's where I was. Inspired again. Ready to take the world. To spread the smile. To bring happiness wherever I am.

Also, I realised, that is the basis of me. That is the cause I proclaim. Happiness.

"Happiness is the joy in others!"

And no, no barrier there is for me. Only of a mind limitin the self. Be it for even with body language, I will speak out to the world.

Err, yes, we ate a horse steak on Friday night.

I had a colleague from Singapore who was in town. He asked to be brought to a real Belgium restaurant. Being a nice belgian, Mr D brought us all to a restaurant - Horse House Restaurant.

Apparently, this restaurant in Vilvoorde (small town where I live), specializes in lean, sweet horse steaks and has been popular for 4 decades. Have to queue to eat!

Its not the typical kind of horses - special breed called 'Belgium Draught Horse'. They are use in the fields normally. Very strong and hardworkers.

It was pretty good but err... I am not sure if I will eat it again.

Its all in the mind though.

As she drove herself with the unfamiliar vehicle all over at wrong sides of the roads, her heart was beating with pure anticipation. To meet with strangers whom yet she knows of those familiar warm hearts and glowing faces.

A drive so short, felt like miles away.

The joy felt on the rythm of the chanting, those voices which speaks words she do not yet understand are those same voices which she hears the unison of the hearts.

When I arrived, I was pretty nervous. Ain't sure where to park my big mama car. Managed to squeeze myself in a little corner, just enough not to block the garage of another. Took a peep thru my door just to see if I did give the car behind a bump. Lucky no. But a funny guy was laughing at my antics.

Then we found ourselves knocking on the same door.

I said, "Hello, am here for the meeting". He laughed even louder. In fact he was estatic. "Its our first meeting. You are standing here - our very first new member. How wonderful!"

And he didnt stop chuckling. Throughout the meeting. A buddha he is, bubbling, glowing, warm and happy. As everyone else there. Even little sweet Emily.

Well, indeed a great start to my journey for sake of kosenrufu in Europe.

Finally, this Saturday morning, I managed to get up earlier than usual, did the usual grocery shopping at the morning market and then rushed to the kaikan, near Midi Station in Brussels.

And there, it was the right Saturday because coincidentally they were having just the monthly Youth Meeting (every 2nd Sat of the month, 9am-12noon). I met the YWD Chief, Joelle and Vice Chief, Kazuko.

Also, got the contact for the district in Vilvoorde. My 1st discussion meeting will be this Wed. And its just 10 mins walk from my place :) Yay!

Also, also, the Vilvoorde district was just formed 2 weeks ago, consist of only 4 people. I will be the 5th... small he... but something always starts from nothing.

That's what I call the right timing!!!

I am excited! Also very much looking forward as one of my goals is to do kosenrufu in Europe!

Friday night, had a lovely dinner at 'Kuala Lumpur', a Malaysian restaurant in Antwerp with a group of Singaporean girls. We found each other thru the expat site. Sound desperate me? Hehe. But they are cool girls and in fact we had a great conversation going on that night.

Ms Monica - Freelance TV producer
Ms Jenna - Au pair for 4 terrors ;)
Ms Jai - new mommy n aspiring nurse

And grreeat food! So yummy especially the satay with peanut sauce :)

Well, well, this is what I have to do - building a new social circle. I made the decision to come living here, so I will not sulk around at home, complaining of boredom.

Happiness in oneself is everyone's own responsibility.

Ciao, enjoy ya sunny weekend!

I think living in Singapore for the past 10 years had turned me into quite a city girl. Or was I always one? :)

My little garden was in a mess, so I started picking out the weeds. With rubber gloves. *blush*

I can't help. In my imagination, there are bugs, worms, leeches, spiders all ready to jump on me!

But I only got stung by the "stingin nettle". And its a plant. *grin*

Anyway, here are my growing "xmas" trees (not sure what are they really called). I wanna grow some lavenders between them next summer.

Mmm, a new hobby?

4 Sept 2006 - Madonna's Confessions Tour.

I remember listening to her ever since, childhood, teens and till now, she till rocks. And she rocked Amsterdam Arena that Monday!

Woa, the lady was in command of her stage, turned the entire stadium into a discotheque-dance-club. It was a Powerful. Vibrant. Energetic. A gggrrreat show.

And she's still a hot hot hot babe at 48!

Whats in Amsterdam? Canals. Chinatown. Tulips. Prostitution. Drug.
Concert in Amsterdam? Bars. Drinks. Beers. Hotdogs. Ciggs.

No kiddin, one can drink and smoke! And bars are at every corners. Cool eh!

The evening started with DJ Tiesto spinning. People were migling, dancing, anticipating her arrival... And there she was, emerging from within a huge disco ball!

In fact, tickets for the standing area would be fantastic (which is more costly). Just feel like being at a super huge dance floor of a club! I got tickets with fixed seating cause I expected a chaos. 60,000 people maa!!!

But I was nicely suprised - No fuss, no rush, no pushing. Everyone was cool and happy. Dancing, drinking and smoking away. Hehe.

The lady was in good mood. She was smiley, chirpy and relax.

She said, "I've been smelling a lot of funny smoke around here *smiling* It's bad for my throat!"

Everyone screamed. 60,000

She chanted, "We are one, we are one, no more war, we want peace, no more blood, we want love, we want love, we want love, we are love...."

Everyone chanted. 60,000

She said, "Do you know that there are 34 wars going on in a world right now, and if I could stop only 1 I would do anything but I know that's not possible but I want to show them that it is possible to be all together, no matter what country you are from or what religion you are under the one roof like we are now in one big harmony!" And she asked everyone to hug the person next to us.

Everyone hugged. 60,000

She stucked her ass to the camera and then stucked her middle finger in between.

Everyone went wild. 60,000

Unforgettable!

I am bored. Can't find some interesting blogs to read. The ones I like are either updating too infrequent, or having holidays or not writing anymore.

I have been reading her blog, Girl. She writes very well, witty, funny and yet sexy. Recently, she even published her very first book. Then, her identity was spit out by the nosy paparazzi. Well, I guess it was a hardtime she had to go thru so she stopped writing for a while. I hope she'll be back soon!

Any other blogs to recommend to me?

Btw, Kenny's comments about Merdeka Day is hilarious - especially the part about our dear King and the funny pinch about flowers at the end.

Its still cloudy here but I can already see the shy sun peeping thru the big grey puffy clouds. I think he should be brave enough to shine for this weekend. He better be!

Its a long weekend for me - 2 house parties on Saturday. SGI-Belgium Monthly Meeting on Sunday. Hop, wiggle and dance in Madonna's concert on Monday @ Amsterdam. Yay!

Bon weekend!

Well, ma first attempt and it was a success! Of course, its cooking with assistance - a faraway phone call to my ma + Julia :)

Long Bean Rice

Ingredients
4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 large onion (finely chopped)
1 bowl of haebee (dried small shrimps)
1 bag of long beans (cut into pieces of 1 inch)
7 dried mushrooms (finely sliced)
1 piece of chicken breast meat (diced)
10 pieces of medium peeled shrimps (cut into small pieces)
3 cups of uncooked rice
Salt, Sugar, Pepper, Light Soya Sauce, Dark Soya Sauce

Instructions

1. Heat up wok with adequate amount of olive oil (healthier!)
2. Fry garlic, onion till light brown
3. Add the haebee and fry till fragrance
4. Add long beans and dried mushrooms. Add chicken meat and shrimps
5. Add salt, sugar, pepper, soya sauce and taste
6. Add uncooked rice + 1 cup of water
7. Add dark soya sauce to get preferred color :)
8. After this, put everything into rice cooker and add water and cook as per normal

Serving

This portion served 3 of us + 2 lunchbox for lunch at work next day :)

So yummy till I forgot to take a commemorative picture!!!

Feel like cooking :)

Never did I thought one day I will feel this way.

I just wanna cook cook cook and make great dishes.

STILL I am just cooking-day-dreaming.

Oh by the way, its great having a guest. Even greater when my guest is a good cook.

Julia sure can cook. Also, she's Cantonese so she make great yummy rich and healthy soup.

We have 2 visitors this weekend - Julia and ma sis, Kelly.

We cooked teochew porridge for lunch yesterday. My sister tried to give a hand in helping. This is what she made.

Well, we had a good laugh!

Oh, I've been to Nice and the Isle of Greece while I've sipped champagne on a yacht
I've moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo and showed 'em what I've got
I've been undressed by kings and I've seen some things that a woman ain't supposed to see
I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me

I love this song.
There were moments where I felt that way during my trip.
Then I'll sing to myself, softly in my ears.

One of the days
(Stop keeping track of days because it was a holiday!)

We drove for an hour or so to Monaco. Its a small country ruled for 700 years by the Grimaldi family.

Area : 2 sq km / 1 sq miles
Population : 32,150

Sun. Glitz. Glamour. Rich. Famous. Expensive. Tax Free.

The very beautiful and impressive Monte Carlo. Damn, lots 40 bucks to the stupid slot machines. But now I dare say that Ms Teh was there, cashing "out" at Monte Carlo.

I'd say we have to have a drink there, in a very loungy bar just in front of Monte Carlo. Parked right in my view are rows of Ferraris and Maseratis and many others which are too expensive that I don't even know em ;)

Just wanna checkout if the drivers are cute.

Well, who knows, maybe I'd get to blink an eye with Brad Pitt, Prince Harry or err Paris Hilton. But it wasn't my night. Damn, 30 bucks for 2 drinks.

Day 3

Went to Nice! Walked around for a couple of hours before we join the usual crowd at the beach. Ehehe!!!

All kinds of mushrooms @ Saleya Market.

Old town Nice.

Crescent beach of Nice.

Abstract cactus. My sister say you can see an image of a deer in this art. Muaahah.

Nice harbour for the rich and famous.

In the late evening, we took a long drive to the top top of Vence. It was of nothingness. Cold. Silence. Me.

Day 2

This day we went looking for real sandy beaches. Drove right up to the centre of Antibes but well, it was another narrow long beach full of merry-holiday makers. So can you imagine the noises surrounding you while you lay there looking at the blue blue sea! Fiewww - NOISY!

Took at walk in the evening at the harbour of the riches and their boats.

I did take some good shots eh?

Each morning, we walk to the centre of Vence to go to the bakery and market for fresh deals to make our meals.

Homecooked meals! Budget holiday la... but it was cosy and relaxing!!!

My most ingenius buy is the portable hotplate for cooking - just 25 bucks and it cooks our food well for the entire week, outdoor. Smart he!

The place we rented has a small terrace in front with a BBQ pit. I've never done so many BBQs straight in a week in my entire life!!! :)

Yummy! Yummy!

Day 1

St. Paul is a beautiful medieval fortified village perched on a narrow spur between two deep valleys.

A view around St Paul.

Olive trees everywhere!

Pretty tiny wild flowers growing on the pathways.

Ooh, the willow trees always give me a sentimental feel.

The wall enclosing the village.

Typical pathway in medieval towns.

Hmm, enjoying the sunshine.


We went to the 'pebbles' beach at Antibes to laze and enjoy the sun. But it was very crowded!!! Imagine sunbathers lying less than 1m apart from each other!

But the colour of the sea - deepest blue I've ever seen, and above the line of the horizon, clear skies of a lighter shade of blue. Breathtaking!

With that in mind for consolation, we also squeezed ourselves in between the sardines of humans.

This picture was taken after the crowd has left though. I didnt wanna seemed rude because there was many boobies exposed earlier on.

There was a fireworks display that night on St Paul. After the fireworks, they lit up the entire village with red flames.

This pictures gives an eery feeling, as though people are trapped in a fire but if you look closer, all smiles on the people! Look closer!

Ah, all the little things in life that brings smiles.

The drive to find the sun.

It was a long drive but thankfully, we arrived all safe and excited.

I think starting off a long driving trip at 6am is an excellent idea. Supposedly to start at 5am but you-know-me :)

Anyway, 6am is perfect - one can start off driving with enthusiasm, 2 hours later as the boredom creeps in, one will feel the pang of morning hunger.

After a hearty breakfast on board, one can continue driving with fulfilment for another 2 hours till boredom kicks in again - then its lunchtime!

Eating is the trick.

Then before you know it - we have covered 700km :)

Well, we picked the wrong week - too many tourist heading to the same way. In fact, this week is a big holiday week so we were stuck in the jam for almost 4 hours.

But we were close to our destination!!! Damn.



Anyway, when I saw this I was estatic :)


When we finally arrived, the night has fallen.

We were tired but safe.

Didn't have a gps but the manual gps (me!) navigated almost perfectly :)



It was a total of 15 hours LONG ride!

Oh yea people, I will be on a week holiday.

It'll be a 13 hours driving tour to South of France. Yes, its a long way BUT we just have to go to the sun. Its freezing here. Bbbrrr!

Will be exploring the region of the east French Riviera - Cannes, Nice, Monaco...

Found a small nice cheap (hehe, got a last minute deal) place to tuck ourselves in for a week, Maison de l'Ara @ Vence - to re-vitalise, to re-energise, to discover, to wander and to get a tan :)

So folks, see ya in a week!
Meantime, have a blast this week!

Last Saturday, I went to the Pole Pole, Latino Festival in Knokke with 4999 other people :)




We camped at a friend's garden. Arrived at noon, beers, pitched our tents, beers, beers, beers...




Afer couple of beers, it was real fun to try to upturn each others innards by jumpin on the huge trampolin. But it was fun!!!

Although I feel really woozy after 5 mins :S



Then we hop by the Surfers' club (where all the riches are) and had couple more drinks.



And people oogling. Then we went back to our gartel (garden hotel) and started our BBQ and had the most delicious ribs and salmon I ever had. Yuummyy!




At about 9pm, we moved on to join the crazy party at the beach till 4am!

Sometimes it just take a single lit of fire to start a catastrophe.

Well, well, that's how I feel. Just a teeny weeny stupidity of another, starts the volcanic eruption within me.

Now the world looks bleak and black. Just like the weather outsie.

And I have long grouchy face :S

How do we maintain to be in the state of high spiritness and above all these little insignificants that always seems somehow to affect us, bring us down?

This is the challenge.

For now, I try to smile, I try to wipe out the words, the deeds and the feeling of angers from within me. I try to make a reset. I think I'll eat some chocolates :)