3rd anniversary

Today is my 3rd anniversary with my current employer. Maybe I should get a choc indulgence for the occasion….

Nineteen Minutes

This is my current book - Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. I can’t wait to finish it soon….still 1/3 to go! Nineteen Minutes keeps me flipping through the pages… It made me think about right and wrong, and that for everything that happens there must be something that triggered it.

Nineteen Minutes

A short synopsis from Jodi Picoult’s website.

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“In this emotionally charged novel, Jodi Picoult delves beneath the surface of a small town to explore what it means to be different in our society.

In Sterling, New Hampshire, 17-year-old high school student Peter Houghton has endured years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of classmates. His best friend, Josie Cormier, succumbed to peer pressure and now hangs out with the popular crowd that often instigates the harassment. One final incident of bullying sends Peter over the edge and leads him to commit an act of violence that forever changes the lives of Sterling’s residents.

Even those who were not inside the school that morning find their lives in an upheaval, including Alex Cormier. The superior court judge assigned to the Houghton case, Alex—whose daughter, Josie, witnessed the events that unfolded—must decide whether or not to step down. She’s torn between presiding over the biggest case of her career and knowing that doing so will cause an even wider chasm in her relationship with her emotionally fragile daughter. Josie, meanwhile, claims she can’t remember what happened in the last fatal minutes of Peter’s rampage. Or can she? And Peter’s parents, Lacy and Lewis Houghton, ceaselessly examine the past to see what they might have said or done to compel their son to such extremes. Nineteen Minutes also features the return of two of Jodi Picoult’s characters—defense attorney Jordan McAfee from The Pact and Salem Falls, and Patrick DuCharme, the intrepid detective introduced in Perfect Match.

Rich with psychological and social insight, Nineteen Minutes is a riveting, poignant, and thought-provoking novel that has at its center a haunting question. Do we ever really know someone?”

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I have Change of Heart as well. It’s a story about a woman whose child needed a heart transplant and the perfect match comes from a man who has murdered her husband and daughter. Could she give her daughter the heart of a murderer? That sounds interesting isn’t it? Go grab the books!

Palm Beach Resort

Last week, a few friends and our friend’s colleagues drove up to Sematan for a weekend getaway. It nice to go to the beach once in a while, the last time I went to Sematan was on 1st January 2008! 

A few first-s on this trip:

1. Stayed at the detached chalet. A spacious room with loft.
2. Cycle to the paddy fields. The hotel staff said “After the bridge, you’ll see paddy fields. ” In fact, it was after 3 bridges (if I’m not mistaken) and 30 minutes ride. My b*tt  hurts for 2 days after the ride because the seat was SO HARD & UNCOMFORTABLE! 
3. Touch a real stalk of paddy. (Yeah….I’m sa-kai… LOL)
4. Kayak in the sea. It was fun especially when you’re kayak-ing out and the waves splashed into the kayak. 
5. Ate venison meat with skin. The skin tasted weird… like chewing on rubber.

Sematan - March 2009

And I came home a happy & relaxed person with an extra bruise and several  sandfly bites.

Twilight Series

I know I can hardly count myself as a teenager to be reading these teen love stories.  I was influenced by Tuty! Lol… She was searching high and low for New Moon if I’m not mistaken…and called up almost every MPH around her state. As of today, she has all her books and so do I. And I have just finished reading mine about a week ago.

I bought Stephanie Meyers’ The Twilight Saga: Slipcased from Amazon.com on 21/12/08 and the estimated delivery date was 20/02 - 24/03 which is about 2-3months from date of order.

amazon.com

I was pleasantly surprised when the Pos Malaysia sent a card to ask me to collect the parcel on 19/01/09. Yippie! It came early! It has been only a month!  This set consist of Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn in hardcover, and also four pieces of postcard-sized card that has the cover picture on one side and the quotes from the corresponding book. Here are some photoshoots of the books.

Stephanie Meyer - Twilight Series

I would highly recommend buying box set books from Amazon.com if you’re not in a hurry to get your hands on the books! They are usually cheaper than getting them from the book stores in Malaysia. I did survey on Twilight before getting them on Amazon and it is approximately RM50-RM100 more expensive if we get them in local stores.

For those who are not familiar with Twilight Series, these books are worth reading … if you don’t mind going over and over again about how Bella is captivated by Edward. 

Happy drooling!

3 pairs of mothers & daughters were supposed to go for a holiday in Bangkok. But unfortunately …that did not happen and instead they went over to Melaka & KL for shopping and food marathon.

Enough said…let’s start drooling over these food…

This is the most famous chicken rice balls in Melaka. Very very delicious but the chopped chicken doesn’t look that presentable on the plate. Haha!

Chicken Rice at Shop No. 1

Cendol and asam laksa at Jonker Street.

Lunch at Jonker Street

Cendol & Asam Laksa

We had the best satay ever but we didn’t managed to take a photo of them. You see…they were all down in our tummy before Ju managed to take a snap.

Dinner at some stalls by the roadside

Had some more chicken rice balls. This shop is recommended by Jason because I saw his cardboard cutout in front of the shop. Frankly speaking, chicken rice shop no. 1 is a lot more delicious.

More chicken rice balls

I sms-ed Tay to ask where is the best satay celup in Melaka. And he reply Jalan Ong Kim Wee. We took bus and walked along Jalan Ong Kim Wee in search of the best satay celup, so you can imagine how much we wanted to eat that. We arrived around noon time and there were two shops selling SATAY CELUP next to each other.  One is just a simple kopitiam and the other is like a restaurant with aircon and staff wearing uniforms. The shops were still closed so  we went back to our hotel and returned around 5:30pm. We went with our instinct and tried the satay celup in the simple kopitiam. The satay sticks were colour-coded. Skewer with red tips costed 60cents whereas the plain skewers 50cents each.

Satay Celup at Jalan Ong Kim Wee

I like the yam cake best! Chicken rice belongs to Ju…nice I suppose? Heheh!

Breakfast in KL

The mango sth sth (bottom right pic) is so yummy. Forgot what it is called though.

Lunch at Kim Gary

Had Valentine set with mum at 1U Food Court. They have this electronic device that you take with you after order has been made. And when your food is ready, the device will beep.

Korean Food at 1U

Sigh! Good food & great time spent with family & friends!