Project: Spring-Clean

Reader,

Project: Spring-Clean officially kicked off somewhere last week, and those who follow me on Twitter would be well aware of my over-whelming obsession passion to produce a spick-and-span house in time for Chinese New Year 2010.

I was pretty surprised to find myself being the main initiator of this project, judging by the well-known fact that it's my mother who has this OCD about cleanliness, hygiene and orderly arrangement(!), while I, on the other hand, am not too particular when it comes to neatly folding my under-garments or putting pens and papers in places where they ought to be.

To put it in bluntly, I (together with Shauna) contribute to 90% of the accumulated mess that occurs around the house, most of the time.

Hee. (shy)

Despite my un-refined terms of cleanliness, what my mother and I DO have in common, is that we both DISLIKE clutter in the house, which lead to the the main (and only one) objective of Project: Spring-Clean -

To throw, throw and THROW!

The (only) one setback that deters us from our ideal mission and vision, would be my father. -___-"

Among my immediate family members, my father has a pension for collecting memorable souvenirs throughout the years, and naturally, is very unwilling to part with items that carry significant memories along with it.

He keeps them; hoards them like a mynah protecting it's treasure, and practically snarls at the mere suggestion of giving things away.

How lah like that?

Being peeved by this trait of his, and due to my growing dislike for all the dust that keeps accumulating amongst his rubbish treasure, I decided that this year has got to be different, and I persevered and negotiated, until he finally relented.

(Evil laugh)

Not that he fully agreed with getting rid of everything, of course, but, we still managed to clear a substantial amount of mess that gathered all over the years, and when I look at our achievements to date, I am surprised at the potential amount my space my home actually has!

Cleaning up the house is somewhat therapeutic, as it somewhat gives me a sense of accomplishment to be able to instantly find whatever clothes I need from my wardrobe, walk over squeaky clean floors, and inhale the smell of fresh bedsheets when you close your eyes at night.

At least, you know that you would be able to peacefully entertain your guests that are bound to pai nian at your place next week, without constantly worrying about them commenting about dusty floors, dirty windows, that sorta thing.

Now that all the major cleaning is close to being complete, we can now concentrate on more important matters at hand, like stocking up on meat floss (yeay!!!), soda cans, and pistachio nuts.

After all, what is Chinese New Year without food, family, food, friends, and... more food. :D

Quote #46

Reader,

"For friends that matter, it is not that you do not have time; it is that you need to make time."

- Carmen Kong; my best friend.

Blessed

Reader,

Wednesday; 3rd February 2010.

It all started with an unexpected phone-call that woke me up the morning before, and the next thing I knew, there she was; an ancient friend standing before my father and I.

I emphasize ancient, not in terms of age, but, because the both of us go all the way back since kindergarten, and I am startled by just thinking how long ago that was.

Everything feels so... surreal...

Yet, again, there she was. With us.

She was not just a friend of mine, but also a friend of father's, for there was once upon a time where we were like sisters, and my father treated her no lesser than how he treated me as a daughter. :)

We reminisced old times, and more importantly, caught up on all that we have lost out within the years that we lost touch with one another. The beauty of it all, was how little I thought she has changed, for she was still the same in looks, and personality-wise, she is still the bubbly individual I remembered her to be, fourteen years ago.

What touched me was the warm hug she greeted my father with upon hopping out of the car, and the smile he gave in return to that gesture, was one I had not seen in a very long time.

My encounter with this old friend of mine, brought me to this profound realization,

Of how blessed I actually am when it comes to friendship.

Throughout my whole life, I have made friends with many, many people, and what touches me most, is that nearly all of them have stuck by me after all this years, or like her, re-emerge during need times, even after all those years of absence.

I am touched.

So much, that I have this feeling of embarrassment growing within me, when I think of how little initiative I put in to show my appreciation towards these people whom I call my friends today.

Which, for the first time, leads to an eleventh addition to my ten resolutions for the year -

I resolve to always keep in mind, the feeling of happiness and contentment my true friends have given me, and how they have stood by me through periods of challenges and sadness. May I be able to seize every opportunity that I am granted with, to show my utmost appreciation and love, like how they have been giving me all this while.

I thank you, my friend, for inspiring me that day.

Headache

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Macau

Reader,

Rightfully, Macau was already scratched off my places-to-visit list, since there didn't seem to be a enough time to slot it in. THEN, with the help of Ser Siang, we actually managed to con persuade Amanda to go together, since I've practically covered most of Hong Kong already.

The day before I returned to Malaysia, the three of us hurriedly took breakfast and rushed from our hostel to take a ferry from the Macau Ferry Terminal that will take us straight to Macau.

Ticket prices vary according to different ferry companies, and you also get many third parties selling off ferry passes at slightly cheaper rates. Ours were approximately HKD300 and the journey took us about an hour, I think.

Okay, I have NO idea why, instead of dozing off in our seats like how NORMAL PEOPLE would be doing, we were acting like hyperactive kids who have never sat on a ferry in our entire life!

Since we didn't exactly have a travel plan, the first thing we did once we reached the island was to get the tourist map, and figure out how to get to that famous Portuguese restaurant Siang was talking about.

From the ferry terminal, we hopped onto a free shuttle bus that took us directly to The Venetian Hotel over at Taipa Island! :)

Eventually, we did locate the restaurant that we were hunting for, and settled there for lunch. A Lorcha was a pretty quaint place that serves authentic Portuguese cuisine, and we all came out feeling very satisfied. Hee.

I personally found Macau a more tourist-friendly area, with lesser people, more breathing space and cleaner streets. While there seem to be new hotels continuously sprouting everywhere we went, there were also many of it's old buildings carefully preserved and still used as shops, restaurants and residential areas.

Instead of trying to be ambitious, we took our time to stroll along the streets, take countless pictures of whatever sights we saw and when we felt like it, we popped into random eateries to try out Macau's legendary Pork Burger and Portuguese Egg Tarts! :D

There are so many things to see and do along these little lanes; there's shops carrying clothes' brands that encourage people to stop and take a look, right down to outlets that offer free samples of food and biscuits for you to try and feel the need to take home some!

We took the time to enter a few of the many churches we pass by, as these places of worship are after all one of Macao's greatest heritage sites.

Our walk eventually lead us to none other than the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral; the most famous landmark of all.

This was where we kinda/sorta lingered the longest just to take countless mou liu photos that I will abstain from posting all of it up here due to feigned embarrassment. Hee.

Another place we managed to squeeze in was the Mount Fortress, which was located right next to the ruins. This was the place that reminded me exactly of Malacca's A Famosa back home, with all it's canons, weathered stone walls and weird-looking windows.

Unlike back home, however, the place was surrounded by a walkway, or a garden of some sort, where you could enjoy the chilly winds, or, like us, you could take an abundance of happy-looking pictures.

Upon reaching the top, you get a full view of all that is below you and also some of Macao's famed hotels and casinos in the distance.

For a fee of HKD15, you also get to explore the museum which I enjoyed thoroughly. There was quite a number of artifacts and objects that were worth seeing, and of course, the history of the country and famous people that came and went during all these years.

And that, everyone, pretty much sums up my day-trip to Macao. Together with the lamest friends on Earth, I had so much fun, really. It's a pity though, that there was no time to explore other places located on the tourist map. It would have required a few days to at least cover a substantial amount.

Oh well, it gives me a good reason to come back. :D