Bye bye vacation
The not-so-summery weather is reminding me today is my last day of summer vacation. No more bumming around, no more sleeping in, and no more "Grey's Anatomy" and "Sex and the City" marathons. Look on the bright side - there are office gossips to catch up.
It is finally cooling down in the Netherlands. I was fanning myself and still sweating like a dog this time last week, but I needed a sweater this morning when I went out. Not that I am complaining because I really do need this bit of cool-down after steaming my butt off for the last two weeks. I am now just hoping against hope that it is not going to rain tomorrow so I could wear my pretty new shoes to work, fingers crossed.
Anyway, I actually have nothing much to blog about as I am still in my "vacation mode". I now have to go prepare for tomorrow - polishing my new shoes (my dad's secret recipe of protecting the leather and making our shoes last), packing souvenirs for my coworkers, picking out an outfit to boost my not-so-deep suntan, and finishing up some housework. Oh oh oh, and cooking up a storm in the kitchen (Translation: Making the simple - Clean the chicken drumsticks, pat them dry, marinate them for 3 hours with the special spices we bought from Hong Kong, bake them in the oven for 45 minutes, DONE - but yummy chicken dish that my man loves) because I am afraid I gonna be too lazy to cook after work this week. From experience, I would be dead beat at night and fall asleep on the couch at 8pm the first week of work after my vacation. I'd better make a proper dinner tonight to make up for my guilt over buying greasy Chinese takeout or unhealthy fast food later. I thought I would be slacking off today but seems like I have quite some work to do.
P.S. The picture was taken during our Sabah vacation. Can you believe this melon was crafted within 20 minutes?? I know one of my friends would really love this fruit craft thingy, but unfortunately, I failed to sneak a juicy melon in my suitcase. Jammer!!
My purple spikey plant
I thought its name was "Plume flower" but the instruction tag told me it's called "Celosia Venezuela Caracas". I don't really know the plant anyway but I was attracted by its lavish purple spikes while my man and I were wandering off a "tuincentrum" last weekend. I was worried I wouldn't have a clue about fertilizing the plant once two weeks as instructed and hence might kill it. But it only cost 1.99Euro, for crying out loud. It's a real bargain for my little "green experiment", isn't it??
I have educated myself about this plant via the Internet as I do want to see this plant live for at least 35 days (the average plant life as confirmed by a Dutch consumer test, and it could live even up to three or four months if it is in good hands). One of my spikey plant's attractions is its spikes would continue to grow while new spikes appear from time to time. I am told that the spike must be at least 8cm long but my spikes are now 7cm long on avaerage. Should I stretch it or something to make it longer?? The plant seems not particularly demanding - needs plenty of water to keep the soil moist, needs plenty of sunlight to keep the new spikes coming, needs cutting when spikes are
too long or dead, and needs
plant food once every four weeks to keep it growing healthily.
Two questions though - how long is
too long?? what is
plant food?? Yes, I gotta admit I have no green thumbs and am never into or good at gardening. That's why I have no idea when and how to cut (cutting the spike or stem??) and to fertilize (what to use?? where to buy it or home-made??) the plant.
By the way, do you know there is a heat wave in Europe?? Second heat wave in July, man!! Two weeks of heat and burning sunshine are apparently too much for me. I can't believe I'm saying this - "When is summer over??". And I can't believe I was literally jumping for joy this morning when it was Pouring (big big raindrops!!) outside. I am enjoying this coolness, the coolness that I miss so much. I love reading on the couch without having my skin sticking on the leather!! I love ironing without having my sweat dripping all over my freshly cleaned clothes!!
Let it rain!! Let it rain!! Yay!!
It has been a while
My vacation seems to have flown by this summer. Our 3-week Asia bound is over. Let's have a brief run-down:
We were stuck at the gorgeous 5-star resort in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah for 5 days because of the monsoon from India. But to be fair, we did enjoy a bit of pool hanging for like two hours in one of the mornings and witness the sudden change of weather - from sunny to cloudy to windy to rainy to stormy - at the coast. As we couldn't be bothered going downtown in the storm, we dined at the resort restaurant. It didn't cost us a mint and the food was very yummy (specially the prawn noodles with yellow curry), and on top of that very hygienic. Every cloud has a silver lining, eh?? Our KK stay was "topped off" with a super sunny morning on the day of our departure. Are you kidding me?? (I felt better later as I heard from the news the rain actually continued for another week or so in KK)
We arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport after a 3-hour flight, left the airport after a 45-minute queue at the customs, and reached our hotel after a 50-minute drive. It cost us only 13Euro to cab it from the airport to the hotel. We went to most parts of the city via the convenient light railway and were not that impressed by the city. It had a funky smell on the street because of the underground sewage pipes or something and the famous twin towers failed to impress us. Oh well, it was bit unfair as we were comparing the twin towers with the zillion of fancy towers of glass and steel in Hong Kong. We stayed for 2 nights in Kuala Lumpur and caught a flight to Hong Kong at 6am.
Last but not the least, a 2-week stay in Hong Kong when it was rainy, stuffy and HOT. God bless the well air conditioned shopping malls in Hong Kong. We went on several shopping sprees which resulted in an almost 10-kg excess baggage (We had left home with two suitcases but returned with four). We spent most of our time with my parents to catch up with the latest family gossips and to just hang out with them. We also met some of my friends who were still in Hong Kong (many of them had returned home or started a new adventure in another country). I couldn't believe how much things could change in two years - a marriage phobic proposed to his girlfriend whom he has been going out with for over a decade, a lesbian friend found out she actually likes guys instead, a second cousin got married and divorced, a cousin had a baby boy...
Anyway, we are now back in the Netherlands. My man already got back to work a day after our arrival and I am still enjoying my 2-more-week vacation. This is my last week of vacation and I am getting back to work next Tuesday. Let's hope the heat wave stops by then, knock on wood. So what have I been doing all this time?? It has been so freaking HOT so I haven't done much. I am entitled to slack off, bum around and do nothing anyway. It took me like a week to unpack everything because the temperature turns piping hot after 1pm everyday. We try to keep the windows open in the evening to cool down the apartment and therefore I become a Fabulous target for the mosquitoes, ggrrrrrrrr. I am feeling warm and itchy everyday, how much better can my vacation be??
Mind-numbing
I am bored out of my mind today as I wrapped up all my work yesterday. Some of you may ask how the heck I can wrap up ALL my work, eh?? I am working in a school so when all the records, reports, schedules and preparation for the new school year are done, I have nothing more to do until the little buggers are back. Blame my efficiency!! *grin*
I have all the time to waste now so let's think of what I need to do today:
1.
Last-minute shopping: Presents for mom, aunt, grandma, grandpa, two good friends, some party buddies. Chocolate and puzzle books for the 12-hour flight.
2.
Last-minute housekeeping: Ironing clothes that were washed yesterday. Vacuumcleaning the entire house. Emptying out the fridge. Transferring my lucky bamboo to a salad bowl.
3.
Last-minute organizing: Emailing friends to confirm get-together's. Calling my parents to confirm our arrival time and flight number. Calling boyfriend's parents to give them our flight information. Transferring money to our travel bank accounts.
4.
Last-minute packing: We had planned to do the packing yesterday but turnout I colored my nails and my man watched World Cup. So MUST PACK tonight!!
Anyway, I'll now go to my friend's office to chit chat a bit then I am heading out. It is gorgeous outside and the sun is shining so why the heck am I sticking around with nothing to do??
Notes: Excuse me for this boring post but what can you expect from a bored bum?? To make it up, check this chubby thing out. It puts a big smile on my face!! I bet I won't be blogging during my vacation, so HAVE A GREAT SUMMER EVERYONE!!
Green bunny
My lucky bamboo is growing (see the
before pic) and is turning into a bunny - a cheerleader bunny holding two poms!! I am loving my lucky bamboo because it is so easy (only water, indirect sunlight and shower once a week) and strong. It has not died on me yet, knock on wood!!
My lovely
hydrangea, on the other hand, has recently gone to the "flower heaven" when it was steaming hot weeks ago. I did remember to water it on time and keep it out of sunshine. But when I got back from work one day, I found the flower heads all burned and dehydrated. I do have to admit that our living room (faces west) did sorta turn into a sauna those afternoons even when the curtains were drawn. This time water no longer worked like a charm...[insert pouty face] Says who the hydrangea is easy to care for and would bloom its head off for weeks at a time??
But well, I no longer have to worry about finding my hydrangea a plant-sitter then. I now have only two survivors left - my lucky bamboo and purple cactus. I am thinking of putting my lucky bamboo in a bigger tank of water so it has enough water for the three weeks we are gone. Do you think that would work?? And I would give the cactus a bigger drink before we head off. Cactus is supposed to be tougher and can stand not having water for a while, right??
One more day and we are flying out. Packing, packing, last-minute shopping, packing...
Wuppie, wuppie, wuppie...
The Netherlands has been in the grip of soccer fever lately. See that fuzzy little ball in the picture?? It is a "wuppie" produced by a local supermarket, Albert Heijn, to boost the Dutch soccer fever. You get a little wuppie for free after you have spent 15 euros at the supermarket. There are 4 kinds of wuppie - orange wuppie, white wuppie with red antennae and blue feet, blue wuppie with red antennae and light blue feet, and red wuppie with red antennae and blue feet (I don't need to tell you they resemble the Dutch flag and orange team, right??).
My favorite little wuppie is this white one but I do want to buy (3 wuppie coupons plus some cash) the big orange wuppie. Unfortunately there is also a "wuppie fever" in the Netherlands as the big wuppie sold out already. The supermarket is not ordering any more wuppies either because they are afraid World Cup will be over when the order comes in. Grrr. My coworker is showing off her three wuppies by displaying two of them on her desk and hanging one on the wall. Another Dutch coworker is all dressed up in orange and wearing a wuppie on his head. Yes, most Dutch people wear orange during World Cup and on the day when the Dutch team is playing.
The Dutch team is playing against Argentina tonight. When I talked to my friend today, I found out both our men are secretly praying that the Dutch team will lose tonight. It is said that tonight's game is not that important anyway as it only determines when the two teams are playing in the next round - if the Dutch team wins tonight, they are playing again on Saturday when our men are busy. My boyfriend and I are flying out this Saturday, need I say more?? And my friend and her man are having a short trip away this weekend, again need I say more?? As I told my friend, our men are so loyal to the Dutch team they have to betray them tonight.
[Update] It seems that the "wuppie fever" is still going strong. The big wuppie sold out at the supermarket already but they are still selling like hot cakes on the Net though a wuppie could cost more than 100 euros. My man also read in the paper that people broke in cars to steal not only the car audio system but also the fuzzy big wuppie. Some of my friends have taken out the car audio system to avoid their cars being broken into, maybe they should remove any wuppie-like items too...
I'm eaten alive by little monsters
My summer vacation is just around the corner...only 3 more days to go, yippeeee!! Vacationing in Malaysia and going on a shopping spree in Hong Kong, yay!!
I miss blogging so much but as it was the last weeks of school, I had a hectic schedule and was dead beat when I got home. It is now much mellower at work as the kids are gone. I thought I would be jumping for joy working in an empty school as my toes would not be stepped on and my workplace would finally be nice and quiet. But hell no!! I felt a feeling of complete isolation once I entered the school on Monday - no more chaos in the hallway, no more screaming in the playground, no more kiddo's getting in and out of the office. Oh I miss those little buggers who always brought loads of energy and joy (and noise) into the office...
As I now have some free time, I have been surfing on the net for information of Kota Kinabalu (KK). Someone said it somewhere KK is a "mosquito's paradise". Nooooooo!! Please tell me it's not true!! Please tell me mosquitoes/mozzies/mossies are not allowed in our 5-star spa resort!! I hate mosquitoes but unfortunately these freaking insects love me (or my sweet blood). How much love are we talking about?? Let's see. I had six mosquito bites that almost formed an hexagonal pattern on my butt two weeks ago after I had sunned myself at our balcony during weekend (have I mentioned we painted our balcony rusty orange??). And now three mosquito bites have "integrated" into this nasty big bump on my arm.
I woke this morning scratching the big bump and couldn't go back to sleep hearing the mosquitoes buzzing. We did not open the door or window in the bedroom, where the heck did the mosquitoes come from?! I am desperate to find some anti-mosquito stuff as I can't stand finding new mosquito bite(s) every morning!! And does anyone know of any remedies for mosquito bites?? I have tried ice, toothpaste, soap, and baking soda paste but none of them works!! In other words, it's bloody itching and swollen!! @#$%&?!!
