Back again

Someone sent me a story he wrote and a beautiful story it was. Suddenly made me miss writing so I dug out this old blog of mine and I'm determined to revive it.

Just turned 31. Hate birthdays now. Which is a good thing for the hubby since he no longer has to do his annual last minute oh-shit-I-forgot-to-buy-Mindy-a-birthday-card panic shopping (truthfully I stopped asking for a birthday card after going through a few oh-shit-I-forgot-to-buy-the-hubby-a-birthday-card which often results in an ugly card from Tesco).

I remember that I once said that if I could choose to be an age forever, I would choose being 26. I think I like 30 more now? That's when you are at the peak of your career, have some extra money to enjoy, still young but old enough to be respected. I shall miss being 30 ( despite the fact that I spent the whole year fighting battles)

I reread all the post in this blog. It started as a I'm-so-happy-and-in-love blog in my mid twenties which then turned depressing as I hit the realities of life towards my late 20's. Then it went dead and got resuscitated now and then. I guessed that when I reached my 30's, I made a conscious choice to try to fix the problems that I control, and accept the ones and can't.

So here's to you, 30's. I hope you don't give me as much crap as your predecessor. But if you do, I guess I just to to kick you in the butt, one lesson at the time.

And note self, remember to stay HUMBLE and KIND and never think you are better than anyone else because once you do, you'll stop learning and miss out on the free lessons that life has to offer.

I shall blog again!

Damn, I have not blogged for ages.

Sudden inspiration to start again was caused by this sudden addiction to a recent Korean drama. Was so freakishly obsessed with it that I was reading blogs for episode reviews and suddenly was inspired by the witty writings of the blogger. I shall not reveal what drama is in since I'm quite certain that when I look back, I'd be embarrassed of what I was obsessed with ( I took me 7 tries before I managed to spell "embarrassed" correctly, eshhh)

I miss blogging. I miss being expressive instead of hiding within a shell. Sigh, life can be a drag and pull you down so low that you think the hole you dug for yourself has now become the most perfect dark but comfy place ever. But, I think I'm over the boo-hoo now (at least I think so)... at least until the next boo-hoo comes along. Then I shall move back to da hole.

I have a feeling that this is a one time spark to inspiration to blog again. Oh well, let's see.

I'm so sleepy. From being obsessed with candy crush, to a sudden obsession with Korean drama, poor me has been spending late nights catering to these obsessions and feeling like a hung over piece of crap the next day at work.

Okay, that's all the random junk from my sleep deprived head for now.

Why why why why why

At work, I often have to deal with customer issues. And it's interesting to see how customers from different customers react to issues differently. For European and North American countries, they just want the problem fixed as soon as possible. For The Chinese, they will squeeze you for a better deal next time.

And for the Japanese... If you have to handle a critical issue from them, good luck to you. They are very particular about quality and if they find an issue, they will make you to apply the "5 whys" in order to find why the issue happened. Because if you ask yourself why to every answer given, you'll be able to find the real root cause of the problem in order to fix it.

My sister got fascinated by that theory. So I gave her an example.

Me: Why did your car break down?
Sister: Because the tires got punctured.
Me: Why did the tires puncture?
Sister: Because I didn't pump air into my tires.
Me: Why didn't you pump air into your tires?
Sister: Because I was lazy.
Me: So root cause of your car breaking down is because you are lazy.

My sister played it back with me.

Sister: Why did you marry YH?
Hubby: oh, I want to hear this.
Me: Because I've been with him for so many years.
Sister: Why have you been with him for so many years? How can you stand him?
Me: Because he makes me laugh.
Sister: Why does he make you laugh?
Me: Because... Because.... He's like a monkey.
Sister: Why is he like a monkey?
Before I could reply, she burst out in hysterical laughter
Sister: Because he is a result to Darwin's evolution. So you married YH because he's a Darwin evolution from a monkey.

I guess it does make sense... I think. :)

The Shoe Story

Every now and then the hubby calls me just before I leave for work. "Eh, are you still at home? I forgot to bring my badge, can you bring it over to me?" Or it's his watch, or it's something else he forgot to bring to work. Once I had to cancel my morning meeting because he went to work having to give a presentation during a meeting and he forgot to bring his laptop. And it's me to the rescue again, despite the fact that I have my own meetings that I have to rush to.

Two weeks ago, he called me the in the morning again, just before I was about to leave for work.

Hubby: Eh Mindy ah, are you still at home?

Me: Ya, what did you forgot to bring this time?

Hubby: Can you go to the shoe rack? And bring me my leather shoe.

Me: Huh? You want me to bring you your shoes? What's wrong with the one you're wearing?

Hubby: I wore the brown one and the black one

Me: *confused*, Huh? What do you mean?

I walked over to the shoe rack, saw one side of the brown Croc shoe and one side of the block leather shoe.

Me: You..... hahahahaha... wore.... hahahahha.... one side..... hahahahah..... of each shoe..... hahahahaha..... to work??????

Hubby: Ya.... quickly come over and bring me my shoe. Or not I don't dare to leave my cubicle.

Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Hubby: Quickly come ah okay,I'm in a meeting now. Bye.

Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I had to cancel my morning meeting again to deliver one side of my husband's shoes to him. But this time it was worth it. I was practically crying from laughing too much the whole journey to work.

And just when I finally managed to calm myself from laughing, I saw the hubby running out of his office, wearing his brown croc shoe and black leather shoe. Hysterical laughter started again.

I love my hubby. After all the years, he is still so entertaining.

:)

I'm no fake okay

The hubby recently told me that there's a stall near his mum's stall that sells fake branded handbags. He asked me whether I wanted one. I told him that I rather carry a cheaper Vinci or Charles and Keith bag rather than carry a fake branded bag. I'm not brand conscious. As long as it looks nice and it's not a fake, I'll be happy with it. And I always only have one handbag which I use until it's torn and tattered before buying a new one.

I went into the Coach shop in Gurney for the first time, curious to how much a bag would cost, so that I had something to compare to when I go to the Coach shops in U.S. next month. I'm already getting orders from others to bring back Coach bags and I just can't understand why women are so in love with Coach. I looked at the prices, almost RM2K for a bag, ridiculous!! The small bags cost RM725, my sister bought me one in U.S. last year for around RM100.

Anyway, yesterday morning the hubby pissed me off in the morning and then he left to help his mum at the stall. I went back to sleep and woke up to a over-excited jetlagged sister barging into my room who just came back from at a 36 hour journey from Chicago. She bought me this nice denim Cotton On shorts for guess how much..... USD2~~~~ * squealing and jumping in excitement over the bargain*

While I was sitting in her room watching her unpack all the goodies she brought back from U.S., the hubby came home. Soon after, the excitement died down and I was on the sofa watching T.V. The hubby suddenly passed me a plastic bag with a bag inside and said, "Nah I bought this for you".

I opened it and there was a Coach bag inside and I was like, "Huh???". The hubby never buys me anything, and suddenly he buys me this fake Coach bag from the stall next to his mum's? He asked whether I liked it, said he bought it for RM55 after bargaining from RM80 and asked whether it was worth it. At that very moment, many thoughts were running in my head.

 "Crap, he bought me a fake bag"
"How can he buy me a fake bag after I told him I don't like to carry fake goods? Why doesn't he listen to me?"
"It's probably because he felt guilty for making angry this morning"
"Awww... he looks so proud of himself for buying a handbag for me"
"Nevermind, smile and pretend you like it. Then chuck into the cupboard once he forgets about it"

Through my fake smile I said, "Yesss.... very worth it". Pretended to pose in front of the mirror with the bag to make him feel proud that despite being a male, he still has the ability to pick a bag which his wife would like.

Then I started getting fascinated with how much effort the manufacturer put in to make the bag real. "Wah, they actually bother to put in a manual on how to look after the bag" and then I left the manual on the sofa. "Not bad ah, they actually can fake the leather smell so well".

I went into my room to take out the small Coach bag my sister bought me last year which I never used and started comparing the two bags. The style of the stitching was identical, and I was impressed. But then I looked into the bag and saw loose threads and was thinking, "Ha, they make the outside look so real, but inside it doesn't look so real".

After a while I suddenly notice the hubby and sister looking like that were going to burst from laughter. The hubby asked me, "What if I told you the bag was real?". I said, "If the bag is real, I'll kick your *toot* for spending so much money." I saw both of them crack up in laughter and I suddenly got confused.

I challenged him back, "If the bag is real, it will come with a Coach paper bag. You gave it to me in some market plastic bag."  The hubby went into my sister's room and came out with a Coach plastic bag. I, thinking that Coach plastic bag was from my sister's previous U.S. trip last year, was still convinced that he was lying. I turned to my sister and saw that, she had a strange look on her face.

I suddenly put two and two together. The hubby asked my sister to buy a Coach bag from U.S. for me and they had planned this over the last few weeks when my sister was still in U.S.

Suddenly there was light shinning on the bag in my hands and it started sparkling in beauty. And I went to the mirror and started posing with the bag for real. I quickly went back to the sofa where I left the manual and put it back into my bag. Eh... the manual is also authentic Coach okay, no longer just a normal piece of card.

The hubby and sister spent the next half an hour laughing over the stupid comments I made. When I said, "they can fake the leather smell so well", my sister had to rush to the balcony so that I couldn't see her laughing.

The hubby said it was so funny that it was worth the money he spent on the bag. He said, it proved his theory that woman, including his wife who just a while ago boosted that she is not brand conscious, still in fact go for branded stuff.

It's okay, I'll let them make fun of me. I just had a stupid grin the whole day because my hubby bought a real Coach bag for me.

:)

Good food, gorgeous view

The weekend

Siri Argument

This is funny. If you don't know what Siri is, I sigh and shake my head at you.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6648229/siri-argument

Unchanged

The most tiring weekend ever. Travelled to Kuantan for a wedding while having a fever and gastric. Ended attending the church wedding but skipped the dinner because fever wouldn't go down. Then the next of the whole was spent traveling back.

However it was worth it for the sake of childhood friendship. It's strange how life can change so much, we get married, have children, focus on our careers, go through the ups and downs of life and get just so busy, yet some things remain the same as if time has left it untouched.

I stayed over at my friend's house and it was me and her on the bed talking and talking through the night. Her baby was sleeping by her side.

Yet when I closed my sleep deprived eyes while talking the night away, we both were 14 years old again on one of the sleepover parties we had.

Hopefully we will still have moments like these when we are grannies. :)

Bali - Kajane Mua Villas

Bali is about street market shopping, beaches, spas and beautiful villas. Staying in a nice villa is part of the holiday itself so I booked Kajane Mua Villas after reading lots of good reviews on Trip Advisor.

The moment you step into this villa, you'll be treated like royalty.

This is the view from the Lobby.

We booked Beji Giri and paid USD285 (RM870) for one night. 

Once you enter the villa, you'll be greeted by this beautiful sight. I had this sudden urge to hide in Bali forever. The hubby who was complaining that I booked such an expensive villa when we could go shopping with the money, shut his mouth after he got dazed by the beauty.

There are two sun beds for you to relax by the pool

And an outdoor shower for a quick shower before entering the pool

 And on the deck, there's a table and chairs where your breakfast will be served to you the next morning

The bed was most comfortable. I loved it for oh so many reasons.

Come on, even if you're 80 years old, you'll get turned on by this bed,

 There a LCD TV (which the hubby was happy to see) and a DVD player.

This is the beautiful outdoor bathtub. Opposite the bathtub, there's a beautiful landscape of plants and flowers. I forgot to take a photo of that because I was too excited taking photos of other things in the villa :(

The wonderful sink and toiletries

 In the afternoon, they will see tea/coffee and some local deserts to your villa

 The hubby set his alarm to 6.30am the next morning. And when it rang, he took his pillow and slept on the day bed outside. I follow him with my pillow as well and we both squeezed onto the bed together. It was wonderful to enjoy the view from there, listening to the birds waking up.

 They have several breakfast sets to choose from. I had the Daily set and the hubby had the Japanese set. I have to say I was a little disappointed with the breakfast because I expected more after the grand breakfast I had in Nefatari Villas last year.

 After breakfast, we explored the surroundings. To get from one villa to another, you'll have to walk up and down stairs like these. So imagine the stuff bringing breakfast to your villa.

This padi field is just next to the villas

They have a common area with chairs, a rocking house and a pool for you to use (I forgot to take a photo of the pool). No one around since each villa has its own private pool. 

 This is one of the traditional music instruments, made out of bamboo. No matter what you simply play, it still sounds beautiful.

Overall, Kajane Mua Villas is wonderful wonderful wonderful but a little pricey though. If you are willing to spend on a little luxury, I definitely would recommend this villa.

Pros

1. Beautiful beautiful beautiful (Did I not say enough through this whole entire post already?)
2. I love how they place flowers on the tables, bed, even in the toilet.
3. I really like the outdoor bath tub. Spent an hour in there. :)
4. The private pool is big enough to swim around
5. Very very nice staff who aim to give you the best service
6. Free shuttle service around Ubud and they provide bicycles which you can use for free
7. Very good location, it's strategically located along Monkey Forest Road, opposite the Laughing Buddha restaurant
8. From their website, seems like they can arrange for all sorts of activities for you to do during the day time. I didn't try it though since we had lots of other things to do ourselves

Cons

1. The breakfast was too simple for the price we paid for the villa. But it's a small tiny complaint
2. The villa I stayed was right next to another villa. And at night, I would hear the TV from the other villa.
3. In Nefatari Villa, everything in the fridge is free. This villa charges you for the drinks in the fridge (except for the mineral water)

For more information, visit their website

http://mua.kajane.com/