So I'm getting over the fact that my credit score isn't very favorable to get a good interest rate when I take out a loan. I can't really blame myself. After all, I've only 2 years worth of credit history anyway. I'll just be more aware of how to make sure that I build a good credit history from now on.
In other news, I'm getting excited about starting work soon. In fact, I'm even more excited coz the first day I start will also be the orientation for new hires! I'll be able to meet up with all the new employees and start off my job with other newbies. How nerve-racking can it be if I was the only person starting on the job while everyone else has made their groups of friends and circles of trust. I'd be the newbie doing all sorts of scut work, while being clueless on whether the person giving me the work actually has the authority to do so or not. It would be a bigger challenge I think if I was the only new hire that everyone could bully. But, that's life and I really am not the type of person people tend to bully anyway. Unless that person is really heartless. Who could bully such a naive-looking, innocent, short and eager to learn girl anyway? *grin*
In other news I'm starting to really like my new sister in law. I've talked on the phone with her when I call home and it's nice to talk to someone eager to chat too. Sounds like my parents are happy with my brother's choice too. They say she has a good influence on him. Not that my brother's all that bad. He's just the one in the family that is actually brave enough to break some rules, like driving the car without permission or staying out till 3am and was the only one in the family who took up smoking . I think most young people do that anyway. Our parents want us to be very obedient children with a clean slate to boost - innocent and all. So him choosing a nice and intelligent girl who has fun but knows her limits is a really good choice. Way to go lil bro. hehe...
Oh man, my stomach is-a-rumbling. Better go get some grub.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Vroom Vroom Vroom?
The thing about living in the US is that credit scores are really important when you want to take out a loan. The higher your credit score, the lower the interest rate will be on your loan. There's this whole mumbo jumbo about how your credit score is calculated. Basically the following information is factored into the final score:
- How you pay your bills (35% of score)
- Amount of money you owe and the amount of available credit (30%)
- Length of credit history (15%)
- Mix of credit (10%)
- New credit applications (10%)
Source:Bankrate.com
The credit score ranges from 500 to 900 and graded A to F. Man, how does that feel? Almost like grades in school. Anyway, I was thinking about getting a car. My first real adult purchase and I was curious to see what my score was going to be since I'll have to take out an auto loan to pay for the car. I thought I'd be somewhat average, if not better than average coz I always pay my bills on time (except that one late payment, my fault), and I don't have any loans (like other students who have student loans) to pay off. I even pay my bills in full, not that whole minimum payment stuff. But boy was I wrong. My score is below average and I'm disappointed. Man, so much for getting my score to bring to the dealerships to use it as a tool to bargain my interest rate down. Obviously my credit isn't good so there's not really much to bargain with. But maybe they'd try to make my credit score worse than it really is. At least I have prove to show.
I'll have to talk it over with hubby. I don't know how long it might take to actually improve my credit score. Months? Years? I'd really love to take out a loan with a better interest. Hmph, guess it's all about growing up and being independent huh. But it just makes me so mad that credit scores can really control your life over here. I'm happy that I don't have any bad records (nauzubillah). But I wish I could do so much better.
The credit score ranges from 500 to 900 and graded A to F. Man, how does that feel? Almost like grades in school. Anyway, I was thinking about getting a car. My first real adult purchase and I was curious to see what my score was going to be since I'll have to take out an auto loan to pay for the car. I thought I'd be somewhat average, if not better than average coz I always pay my bills on time (except that one late payment, my fault), and I don't have any loans (like other students who have student loans) to pay off. I even pay my bills in full, not that whole minimum payment stuff. But boy was I wrong. My score is below average and I'm disappointed. Man, so much for getting my score to bring to the dealerships to use it as a tool to bargain my interest rate down. Obviously my credit isn't good so there's not really much to bargain with. But maybe they'd try to make my credit score worse than it really is. At least I have prove to show.
I'll have to talk it over with hubby. I don't know how long it might take to actually improve my credit score. Months? Years? I'd really love to take out a loan with a better interest. Hmph, guess it's all about growing up and being independent huh. But it just makes me so mad that credit scores can really control your life over here. I'm happy that I don't have any bad records (nauzubillah). But I wish I could do so much better.
Friday, January 19, 2007
3bay update
So I finally received a reply from 'the company that suspended my account'. And now I have to give them my full account information, home address, proof that I reside at the address (utility bills/phone bills) and a copy of my ID to prove that I am not the person the company has linked me to. How crappy. They treat me like this and now I have to share with them my personal information?! I'm so reluctant to do it coz I hate having to be so transparent about who I am. Who knows what they can do with the information they have. I already checked that this was not a spoof. But to think that the company has so much power to just suspend anyone they want and then to request for such confidential information is just so disturbing.
I read up online and apparently a LOT of people have had the same problem. The company uses IP addresses as well as home addresses to check for any linkage. So if two different users use the same computer to make a transaction, they're linked even if they're strangers. I realized that hubby's account has also been suspended. Just because we use the same computer, his account has been suspended too. I've read about a whole family having their accounts suspended because of one person in the house. How dumb. It's like saying if one person gets caught drunk driving and has his/her license suspended, everyone else in the car gets their license suspended too.
Hubby and I are thinking about moving to a different company. It's easy for him to say. I've an attachment to this company though because they're so well known and almost everybody goes to that site to make a purchase or a sale! We've had people from Malaysia even buy stuff from us! Urgh.... it's just so depressing.
Anyway on a different note, today my brother and new sister in law had another wedding reception. I just called my mom and she said that everything went well and they showed the video I made for them. hohooo malu nye. I hope it was ok.
I read up online and apparently a LOT of people have had the same problem. The company uses IP addresses as well as home addresses to check for any linkage. So if two different users use the same computer to make a transaction, they're linked even if they're strangers. I realized that hubby's account has also been suspended. Just because we use the same computer, his account has been suspended too. I've read about a whole family having their accounts suspended because of one person in the house. How dumb. It's like saying if one person gets caught drunk driving and has his/her license suspended, everyone else in the car gets their license suspended too.
Hubby and I are thinking about moving to a different company. It's easy for him to say. I've an attachment to this company though because they're so well known and almost everybody goes to that site to make a purchase or a sale! We've had people from Malaysia even buy stuff from us! Urgh.... it's just so depressing.
Anyway on a different note, today my brother and new sister in law had another wedding reception. I just called my mom and she said that everything went well and they showed the video I made for them. hohooo malu nye. I hope it was ok.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Buying and Selling
I've been an *b*y member for more than 2 years now. It's been a hobby for the two of us and we enjoy buying and selling things online. I sell all my used books and sometimes we see really cheap discounted branded clothing here and believe it or not, there are people willing to pay full price for the clothing. It's been fun going around stores to find these cheap stuff and trying them on and modeling them and then selling them to someone who has more money than us and want to look good. But today the company we do our transactions on suspended our account without any notice. No warning at all. Just suspended.
The most horrible thing is that we can only contact them through email. No live chat, no phone number - nadda! It's so frustrating. Emails tend to be ignored. And they take forever to reply. And what normally happens is that you want to reply to the email they send and ask another question, and the email cycle goes on and on! I went onto the forums they have on the site and so many other people have the same problems. Some people have found that it takes more than 3 months to reinstate their accounts! Some members have their accounts suspended many times even though they prove that their transactions have been valid and ill-free!
It's so hard to get mad with a computer! I feel like screaming to someone on the phone. All that hard work to make sure that our feedback was positive, that we followed their rules, to make sure our customers were happy - even the hard customers. All those times we had to take in losses when the post didn't do a good job delivering a package! It's been so rewarding making the odd $50 here and there. It's been such a learning experience for us. But in the end the big company can do anything they want. When someone who's had 7 negative feedbacks wins our item and is obviously a fraud, we don't get the money the company has taken from us for the sale. Nooooooo it takes them weeks and multiple emails to them before we get our money back. Those 7 negative feedback members are the ones that should be suspended! Not me! F*ck those companies who think they're all that and are making money off of us who are just doing this as a hobby.
In the end it makes me feel so small and insignificant. It makes me want to strive to be a person with more power so people can't tell me how to do things when it's obviously legal and ethical. Benci tau!
The most horrible thing is that we can only contact them through email. No live chat, no phone number - nadda! It's so frustrating. Emails tend to be ignored. And they take forever to reply. And what normally happens is that you want to reply to the email they send and ask another question, and the email cycle goes on and on! I went onto the forums they have on the site and so many other people have the same problems. Some people have found that it takes more than 3 months to reinstate their accounts! Some members have their accounts suspended many times even though they prove that their transactions have been valid and ill-free!
It's so hard to get mad with a computer! I feel like screaming to someone on the phone. All that hard work to make sure that our feedback was positive, that we followed their rules, to make sure our customers were happy - even the hard customers. All those times we had to take in losses when the post didn't do a good job delivering a package! It's been so rewarding making the odd $50 here and there. It's been such a learning experience for us. But in the end the big company can do anything they want. When someone who's had 7 negative feedbacks wins our item and is obviously a fraud, we don't get the money the company has taken from us for the sale. Nooooooo it takes them weeks and multiple emails to them before we get our money back. Those 7 negative feedback members are the ones that should be suspended! Not me! F*ck those companies who think they're all that and are making money off of us who are just doing this as a hobby.
In the end it makes me feel so small and insignificant. It makes me want to strive to be a person with more power so people can't tell me how to do things when it's obviously legal and ethical. Benci tau!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Sirih Pinang
There's been a big milestone back home. Today my parents welcome their first daughter in law into the family. The last wedding in the family was mine, a few years ago. Sadly I was unable to be a part of the current celebrations, except by sending home a video greeting and by helping out with the presentation during the wedding reception.
I hear the joy in my parent's voice when they tell me about the marriage. It seems quite different from the expression that they had when I got married. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, and well, my brother's a boy. People have said it's harder to give your daughter away to marriage. Maybe it seemed like they were losing me to my husband, instead of them getting a new son in law. In way, it's been somewhat true as I've uprooted myself from my home to be with my husband in a land far away from my family. I've been home a few times, but a trip is long overdue. So many cousins have given birth, so many of them have gotten married and we need to make sure that our relatives realize that we have not forgotten about them.
Nevertheless, I'm ecstatic to welcome a sister into the family. She's always been sweet and comes across as a very nice person. I haven't had the chance to sit down for a long chat and to get to know her because when I left Malaysia she and my brother were still a few years into their relationship. She was also studying overseas at the time so I only saw her once a in a while, during her breaks and only during those times she and my brother spent at home. Most of the time they were out with their friends.
Anyway, I'm very surprised that I'm not as emotional as I thought I would be for not being back home for this new chapter of our family's life. My friends and relatives have been surprisingly understanding by accepting my absence at the wedding reception without any questions. I do hope my life will settle down and stabilize so I will be able to travel when I want to and not only when I have the necessary approval papers.
I hear the joy in my parent's voice when they tell me about the marriage. It seems quite different from the expression that they had when I got married. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, and well, my brother's a boy. People have said it's harder to give your daughter away to marriage. Maybe it seemed like they were losing me to my husband, instead of them getting a new son in law. In way, it's been somewhat true as I've uprooted myself from my home to be with my husband in a land far away from my family. I've been home a few times, but a trip is long overdue. So many cousins have given birth, so many of them have gotten married and we need to make sure that our relatives realize that we have not forgotten about them.
Nevertheless, I'm ecstatic to welcome a sister into the family. She's always been sweet and comes across as a very nice person. I haven't had the chance to sit down for a long chat and to get to know her because when I left Malaysia she and my brother were still a few years into their relationship. She was also studying overseas at the time so I only saw her once a in a while, during her breaks and only during those times she and my brother spent at home. Most of the time they were out with their friends.
Anyway, I'm very surprised that I'm not as emotional as I thought I would be for not being back home for this new chapter of our family's life. My friends and relatives have been surprisingly understanding by accepting my absence at the wedding reception without any questions. I do hope my life will settle down and stabilize so I will be able to travel when I want to and not only when I have the necessary approval papers.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Becks coming to America
woot! woot! It'd be nice to see more of the hot football (soccer if you're in the US) star. Who cares if most people think he's past his prime. He's still good looking and fun to watch.
I heard he's going to earn $1 m a week. Sheash... if only earning that much money is easy to achieve.
Bet HE won't have any trouble getting a work visa or green card like other mortals. Hmph.
More on his move here.
I heard he's going to earn $1 m a week. Sheash... if only earning that much money is easy to achieve.
Bet HE won't have any trouble getting a work visa or green card like other mortals. Hmph.
More on his move here.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
under the weather
I'm not feeling too well. Itchy throat and stuffy nose. Still I was trying to clean up our home. It was getting way too dusty. But I had to stop. The dust made my nose and throat even more irritated. I couldn't stop sneezing.
Hubby is on call so I haven't seen him since yesterday. When I was still studying I would use the time to catch up on studying.. I didn't have to worry about meals nor drinks every few hours. I would sit in front of my computer for hours at a time just reading the journals I needed to cover or writing the assignments I needed to complete. Meals were short and easy. I didn't need to spend hours in the kitchen cooking and setting the table for meals and then clearing it up. All I needed was a pot of coffee which would last the whole day and sandwiches for lunch and dinner. Sometimes I would eat the leftover meals from previous meals. I could take long showers pruning and primping myself. I liked those times.
Now that I'm on a short break, I feel really lonely. It's weird not having him at home. It's even worse now coz I feel so sick and I wish he was here to take care of me. Hopefully I'll get better. It's crappy getting a headache staring at the computer screen or the tv.
Well, I should get dinner going. Hubby will want his big portion of rice, chicken and vege.
Hubby is on call so I haven't seen him since yesterday. When I was still studying I would use the time to catch up on studying.. I didn't have to worry about meals nor drinks every few hours. I would sit in front of my computer for hours at a time just reading the journals I needed to cover or writing the assignments I needed to complete. Meals were short and easy. I didn't need to spend hours in the kitchen cooking and setting the table for meals and then clearing it up. All I needed was a pot of coffee which would last the whole day and sandwiches for lunch and dinner. Sometimes I would eat the leftover meals from previous meals. I could take long showers pruning and primping myself. I liked those times.
Now that I'm on a short break, I feel really lonely. It's weird not having him at home. It's even worse now coz I feel so sick and I wish he was here to take care of me. Hopefully I'll get better. It's crappy getting a headache staring at the computer screen or the tv.
Well, I should get dinner going. Hubby will want his big portion of rice, chicken and vege.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Eid Mubarak
Ok, so this post may be a little bit late. After all, it came before new years and I already have my new year's post up. I thought to myself that I didn't want to rush the post for Eid Adha and so, here I am writing about Eid.
Compared to the last Eid we celebrated (for Raya Puasa), this celebration was a whole lot better. The main reason is because we were able to celebrate it with family. When I made plans to visit the in-laws over hubby's new year vacation, I didn't care how expensive the flight tickets were going to be (they were $508.60 a piece due to the new year rates). I knew it would be a great holiday. Especially since hubby rarely gets vacation. Most of the time he has to work on public holidays. And he only gets time off when he requests for it, which is such a hassle coz you have to request it 2 months in advance. Hubby isn't a big planner.
Anyway, it's been a long time since I donned my baju kurung. Over here I would dress up, but very rarely in baju kurung. It's too cold. Plus I didn't feel like being the only person in baju kurung since there are no other malays at the masjid we go to. So I sifted through the ones that I had in my closet to find which ones still fit. I was so freaked out because all but one of my traditional outfits still fit! I knew I gained 15 pounds over the past 2 years, but to think that none of my nice traditional outfits fit me made me so depressed! I think it was a wake up call for me to watch my weight. I still get all creepy thinking about it now. Luckily I have *ehem ... bigger and looser outfits at my in-laws house. I had left them there two years ago thinking that those didn't look too good on me anymore because I was so tiny then. I still can't believe 15 pounds can make that much of a difference! Haiye....
We celebrated eid on Saturday instead of Sunday. The prayers were held in the downtown convention center since the islamic center where the in-laws live could not accomodate the thousands of people who were going to perform the prayers. In fact, there were 2 prayers on that day. We attended the first round at 8:30am and by 10am we were asked to leave the hall to make way for the second group of people. The prayer was short, the qutbah straight to the point and brief and the breakfast superb (starbucks coffee and donuts! - Take that for a hari raya breakfast!). After prayers we went to the Malaysian community eid open house. It was nice meeting up with all the other malaysians. Everyone had nice congratulatory wishes for me since mum-in-law had basically broadcast the fact that I had graduated and did so with a job offer. Alamak malu lah. Macam menunjuk2 pulak. But I think she was just proud of me. The rest of the day was spent at home where we had our own little raya feast.
I'm so glad that we were able to celebrate such a special occasion with family this time around. And it's so so nice to be able to properly celebrate eid the whole day with hubby. If we had stayed here we would have probably spent only the morning at the masjid and then do our own thing later in the day. The day came and went so quickly too that I didn't have time to feel homesick or wallow in depression knowing that my family back home were celebrating eid to the max while I was alone with hubby. I think having any type of family around you helps make the holidays a more cheerful occasion. MIL and FIL had a nice conversation with hubby too, stressing the importance of observing our holy celebrations and to try to take time off from work to celebrate the different occasions. Hopefully when hubby is finished with his training and can be more flexible with his work hours, we'll be able to spend eid with his parents more often.
I hope everyone else had a good celebration too, being with family or not. Eid Mubarak to all
Compared to the last Eid we celebrated (for Raya Puasa), this celebration was a whole lot better. The main reason is because we were able to celebrate it with family. When I made plans to visit the in-laws over hubby's new year vacation, I didn't care how expensive the flight tickets were going to be (they were $508.60 a piece due to the new year rates). I knew it would be a great holiday. Especially since hubby rarely gets vacation. Most of the time he has to work on public holidays. And he only gets time off when he requests for it, which is such a hassle coz you have to request it 2 months in advance. Hubby isn't a big planner.
Anyway, it's been a long time since I donned my baju kurung. Over here I would dress up, but very rarely in baju kurung. It's too cold. Plus I didn't feel like being the only person in baju kurung since there are no other malays at the masjid we go to. So I sifted through the ones that I had in my closet to find which ones still fit. I was so freaked out because all but one of my traditional outfits still fit! I knew I gained 15 pounds over the past 2 years, but to think that none of my nice traditional outfits fit me made me so depressed! I think it was a wake up call for me to watch my weight. I still get all creepy thinking about it now. Luckily I have *ehem ... bigger and looser outfits at my in-laws house. I had left them there two years ago thinking that those didn't look too good on me anymore because I was so tiny then. I still can't believe 15 pounds can make that much of a difference! Haiye....
We celebrated eid on Saturday instead of Sunday. The prayers were held in the downtown convention center since the islamic center where the in-laws live could not accomodate the thousands of people who were going to perform the prayers. In fact, there were 2 prayers on that day. We attended the first round at 8:30am and by 10am we were asked to leave the hall to make way for the second group of people. The prayer was short, the qutbah straight to the point and brief and the breakfast superb (starbucks coffee and donuts! - Take that for a hari raya breakfast!). After prayers we went to the Malaysian community eid open house. It was nice meeting up with all the other malaysians. Everyone had nice congratulatory wishes for me since mum-in-law had basically broadcast the fact that I had graduated and did so with a job offer. Alamak malu lah. Macam menunjuk2 pulak. But I think she was just proud of me. The rest of the day was spent at home where we had our own little raya feast.
I'm so glad that we were able to celebrate such a special occasion with family this time around. And it's so so nice to be able to properly celebrate eid the whole day with hubby. If we had stayed here we would have probably spent only the morning at the masjid and then do our own thing later in the day. The day came and went so quickly too that I didn't have time to feel homesick or wallow in depression knowing that my family back home were celebrating eid to the max while I was alone with hubby. I think having any type of family around you helps make the holidays a more cheerful occasion. MIL and FIL had a nice conversation with hubby too, stressing the importance of observing our holy celebrations and to try to take time off from work to celebrate the different occasions. Hopefully when hubby is finished with his training and can be more flexible with his work hours, we'll be able to spend eid with his parents more often.
I hope everyone else had a good celebration too, being with family or not. Eid Mubarak to all
Pics
I promised to put up pictures. And here are the better ones that came out. Actually most of them turned out really dark. I'm quite disappointed but hey, at least we have some pics. :)
Here's Las Vegas at around 4:30pm in the evening. The streets were still open and we were able to park our car at Mandalay Bay, which is one of the hotels that is closest to the end of the strip.
This was taken after we had dinner. The sun had just set and the roads were closed so I was able to stand in the middle of the otherwise busy street and snap a picture of the strip. The hotels on the strip are all 'themed' and each one boasts very intricate designs. I love the mock Eiffel Tower of the Paris Hotel. :)
By 11pm we were standing in the front of the barricades the police had set up. Across the street was a band performing on stage. We didn't want to get crushed by drunken people, so we stood on the other side of the street.
The countdown began at 20! Luckily there was a screen right in front of us.
I could've sworn that the fireworks started before the countdown reached '0'. Very odd timing.
A very diverse group of people rang in the new year with screams and laughter. I'm amazed at the diversity of people working and touring this city. But no matter what, you'll always get people who walk in big groups and search for people they can taunt. It's the same everywhere.
One of three firework displays that we were able to watch from where we were standing. The other two were right in front of us and and behind us.
The cleaners were all waiting to get into the strip as soon as the fireworks stopped. As people started walking away from the strip, they came in and started cleaning up.
Here's Las Vegas at around 4:30pm in the evening. The streets were still open and we were able to park our car at Mandalay Bay, which is one of the hotels that is closest to the end of the strip.
This was taken after we had dinner. The sun had just set and the roads were closed so I was able to stand in the middle of the otherwise busy street and snap a picture of the strip. The hotels on the strip are all 'themed' and each one boasts very intricate designs. I love the mock Eiffel Tower of the Paris Hotel. :)
By 11pm we were standing in the front of the barricades the police had set up. Across the street was a band performing on stage. We didn't want to get crushed by drunken people, so we stood on the other side of the street.
The countdown began at 20! Luckily there was a screen right in front of us.
I could've sworn that the fireworks started before the countdown reached '0'. Very odd timing.
A very diverse group of people rang in the new year with screams and laughter. I'm amazed at the diversity of people working and touring this city. But no matter what, you'll always get people who walk in big groups and search for people they can taunt. It's the same everywhere.
One of three firework displays that we were able to watch from where we were standing. The other two were right in front of us and and behind us.
The cleaners were all waiting to get into the strip as soon as the fireworks stopped. As people started walking away from the strip, they came in and started cleaning up.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Peek-a-boo
I've been missing for a while. Ever since the semester ended I haven't been posting the 'at-least-once-a-week-' promise I made to my blog. Guess the change in schedule and responsibilities since I finished with university has made me a little bit on the lazy side.
Plus I went through a bout of mild depression. I was disappointed to learn the advice my international officer gave to me about leaving the country for a vacation was wrong. So now I can't fulfill my plans to spend a bit of time with my family back home. I'm glad my family understands. It might be a year before I get to see them again. Sigh...
But life has to go on and I can't wallow in my sorrow. A trip to visit the in-laws helped lift my spirits. Hubby managed to get a 5 day vacation and we took the opportunity to spend raya haji (eid) and the new year with family members. I'm still here with them. We're flying back to our home later tonight. It's been so much fun. MIL has been feeding us non stop and I'm too scared to weigh myself. I'm sure we've gained at least 5 pounds each. The first day we arrived we had daging masak kicap, udang goreng, sambal belacan, kari ayam and loads of salad. As usual MIL cooks waaaaay too much for all of us. We have the leftovers from that meal still in the fridge (it's been 3 days!). The second day we went for Persian food. They're serving is way over the top too. Then we had a hari raya bbq since we had all the normal raya food at other msian houses on the morning of raya. Steak for each person, 2 pieces of lamb chops each, potato salad (from 10 potatoes!), 2 types of salad, baked cauliflower and two types of desserts! Tak larat nak makan ok. But it was soooo good! We were so full that we felt sleepy by 10pm and went to bed early. MIL and FIL stayed up to watch a movie.
The next day was new year's eve. We decided at the last minute to usher the new year in Vegas. So off we drove to Vegas. We had an early dinner (started lining up at the buffet at 4:45pm and got seats at 5:15pm. Duduk makan, tak ingat dunia! The buffet at Vegas is always so superb. Especially since the variety is plenty. Normally a lot of places don't have a lot of seafood so I don't enjoy eating (since the poultry and meare not halal). But this was gooood! I even had cotton candy. hehehehe.. imagine cotton candy at a buffet. I felt like a kid again! :p
Anyway, right now I'm waiting for the dryer to end so that I can pack all our clean clothes into our luggage to bring back home. That way I won't have to do them at home. How nice right?
Woops hubby is calling. I'd better go see what he needs. I'll try to post some of the pics we took on our trip to Vegas sometime soon. Till then, Happy New Year everyone!
Plus I went through a bout of mild depression. I was disappointed to learn the advice my international officer gave to me about leaving the country for a vacation was wrong. So now I can't fulfill my plans to spend a bit of time with my family back home. I'm glad my family understands. It might be a year before I get to see them again. Sigh...
But life has to go on and I can't wallow in my sorrow. A trip to visit the in-laws helped lift my spirits. Hubby managed to get a 5 day vacation and we took the opportunity to spend raya haji (eid) and the new year with family members. I'm still here with them. We're flying back to our home later tonight. It's been so much fun. MIL has been feeding us non stop and I'm too scared to weigh myself. I'm sure we've gained at least 5 pounds each. The first day we arrived we had daging masak kicap, udang goreng, sambal belacan, kari ayam and loads of salad. As usual MIL cooks waaaaay too much for all of us. We have the leftovers from that meal still in the fridge (it's been 3 days!). The second day we went for Persian food. They're serving is way over the top too. Then we had a hari raya bbq since we had all the normal raya food at other msian houses on the morning of raya. Steak for each person, 2 pieces of lamb chops each, potato salad (from 10 potatoes!), 2 types of salad, baked cauliflower and two types of desserts! Tak larat nak makan ok. But it was soooo good! We were so full that we felt sleepy by 10pm and went to bed early. MIL and FIL stayed up to watch a movie.
The next day was new year's eve. We decided at the last minute to usher the new year in Vegas. So off we drove to Vegas. We had an early dinner (started lining up at the buffet at 4:45pm and got seats at 5:15pm. Duduk makan, tak ingat dunia! The buffet at Vegas is always so superb. Especially since the variety is plenty. Normally a lot of places don't have a lot of seafood so I don't enjoy eating (since the poultry and meare not halal). But this was gooood! I even had cotton candy. hehehehe.. imagine cotton candy at a buffet. I felt like a kid again! :p
Anyway, right now I'm waiting for the dryer to end so that I can pack all our clean clothes into our luggage to bring back home. That way I won't have to do them at home. How nice right?
Woops hubby is calling. I'd better go see what he needs. I'll try to post some of the pics we took on our trip to Vegas sometime soon. Till then, Happy New Year everyone!
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