of cabbages and kings...

for me?=).

2009-11-09T13:46:00.003Z

I got a present last night from Uncle Fred. It really made my day so I had to share it with you=)

A joke book in contrast with a ghost book to neutralize my heebie jeebies. very thoughtful!=)

Bedfordshire is near their place (where I stay during the weekends). Ooh my weekend nights just got a whole lot more interesting.=S

the christmas song.

2009-11-09T13:23:00.007Z

Christmas is in the air everyone, and don't you forget it!
I have made it my personal duty to ensure that Sammie doesn't forget it either.

And how I might be doing that?
I've begun hanging Christmas decorations in the house and singing The Christmas Song to him from dawn till dusk=p

Here's the lyrics for those who want to follow suit=)

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
Jack Frost nipping at your nose,
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir,
And folks dressed up like eskimos.

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe,
Help to make the season bright,
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow,
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.

They know that Santa's on his way,
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh,
And every mother's child is gonna spy,
To see if reindeers really know how to fly.

And so I'm offering a simple phrase,
To kids from one to ninety-two,
Although its been said many times, many ways,
Merry Christmas to you.

at long last.

2009-11-08T22:41:00.004Z

after a day of toiling, i finally got a new mount for my character!!! i'm really quite pleased with myself=)

Look at my talbuk in all its massive glory as opposed to my old mount in all its punyness.

TALBUK = WIN!=))

well well well what d'ya know.

2009-11-07T15:47:00.010Z

I'm going to do some stereotypical categorizing here so please bear with me=p
I'm going to list down the understandably "expected duties" of a girlfriend/partner/wife/spouse/other half. (this adheres more to couples without kids yet)

1. Cooking your beloved his favourite food
2. Completing household chores with pride and grace (this includes laundry, dusting, vacuuming, etc...)
3. Running little errands like going to the post office and collecting that 'rent-a-dvd'
4. Basically, being the epitome of charm and a source of delight!

You'd think that pretty much sums it up yeah?

WRONG.

I was completely and utterly bamboozled when S called me from work one fine morning and said (albeit sheepishly), 'mmmmm.... honey if you are free, would it be alright if you helped me level my warrior?'

Now THAT'S not something you hear everyday. In fact, it's not really something you'll hear at all under normal circumstances.

But well, life throws little unexpected surprises for you. And apparently, not just good and bad surprises but strange ones as well!

So level his warrior in WoW I did that bright Thursday afternoon...

P/S: for those who are a little confused, S plays this game called World of Warcraft and you need to level up to be cool. So i'm the assigned level upperer for one of his game characters.

*disclaimer:
sam says: I have 6 level 80s

.....

.....

show off.

the myth.

2009-11-07T00:06:00.007Z

Correct me if i'm wrong but through personal experience, when you hear the words, 'shopping' and 'London' in the same sentence, the first word that pops into your mind is 'expensive'.

Behold dear readers for I am here to bring the light. Never, i repeat: NEVER was there a more untrue word spoken. Yes of course it CAN be expensive. But nobody asked you trot down Bond Street to Prada for a £1,500 suit now did they?=p

Now Zara, H&M, Topshop, Miss Selfridges and Dorothy Perkins are all in the reasonable range bracket. Trendy and hip, a pair of shoes of acceptable quality can cost you from £30 to £70. (similiar to Melbourne's, if not less than Pilgrim, Witchery and Country Road). And Malaysia? Even after conversion, clothes in London are still a tad cheaper.=)

Okay Primark in London, for a pair of trendy shoes (note: though not too great in the quality department), can range from £1.95 to £20!!! £1.95!!!!!!! £1.95!!!!!!!!!!

£1.95!!!!!!!!!

I've always looked at myself as a reasonable spender. (sometimes brinking on being thrifty).. But seriously you gotta admit, £1.95 for a pair of good-looking shoes is really quite cheap!!

So if you have always wanted to come to London but think that the shopping will be too expensive, fear no more. It's a myth!

Now, restaurant food in London.... is quite a different story.=S

what's not to love!.

2009-11-06T23:25:00.009Z

yes chaps! it's another fulfilling day in the city. Although my mood was slightly dampened by the rain... I think most of the raindrops fell into my shoes=S. I mean, it was a reservoir in there! But don't worry no drama, nothing a good dinner wouldn't fix.. and praise God, a good dinner we had! I will be forever grateful to my new friend P for introducing these rare gems of good asian restaurants in london to me.=)

They turned on the Christmas lights in the city. It was Jim Carey this year who did the honors. Apparently they have a different celebrity every year to do it. Sadly, I missed the official 'turn-on-the-christmas-lights' night=(

But that's alright, S and I are just waiting for the right celebrity. S's is kate moss and mine is.. hmm... at the moment, possibly robert pattinson=p

Girls, can i hear an Amen to that?=)

beautiful aren't they??=)

christmas is in the air. can you smell it??
i can and it smells GOOOOOOODDDDD=))))))

pin pin, nicole and i

it's so good to see a familiar face.

2009-11-04T14:48:00.007Z

Presenting: nicole, my first visitor from Melbourne!

nicole and i

mummy says.

2009-11-02T10:53:00.008Z

here's a little excerpt my daily conversation with my dearest mom. With her, always always without exception; Loved is what I feel and Incredibly Blessed is what I am to have her as a mother.

Esther says:
girl, mummy have to go washroom already and pack to go home to cook

nadia says:
ok ok ok. love you miss you kiss you

Esther says:
love you...

nadia says:
love youu

Esther says: today we chat alot already..and laugh alot too

nadia says:
good for you
go home la go home la

Esther says:
say hi to sam for me...tell him dont bully you ok

(this always cracks me up because sam gets very indignant=p... And this is not the first time she has said it either! my mom is always deathly afraid that I'll get bullied by anyone. Sigh, I must really look like a real weak wimpy girl=S)

nadia says:
okie!
bye love you love you miss you kiss you

Esther says:
love you...bye

my hot mom when in her forties

the brighton weekend.

2009-11-01T21:48:00.014Z

It all began with dinner at Bayswater on a cool Friday evening. Through the smiles on everybody's faces, it was clear that the weekend has arrived! Ooh hang on a minute... except for poor s who had to work the weekend=( The kind, considerate boy insisted that we all went ahead without him.

So we dropped him off home after dinner and proceeded to Leighton Buzzard. It felt weird without s there but I was much consoled with his endless phonecalls checking to see what we were up to. tee hee=p

It was going to be an early night for us all just so we could have an early start to Brighton the next day. So there we were; just Smiley Mikey, Fantastic Freddie and lil' ol' me, all prepared to go on the 2 hour drive to Brighton at 10.30am. We arrived just in time for lunch at Picolo Mondo ala' UK style.=) Had the loveliest gnocchi ever but could not finish it because of its overly rich flavours. Man if I knew I was going to have awesome gnocchi, i would've skipped breakfast lunch and dinner the day before.=S oh well, lessons learnt buttocks burnt I now know what to do the next time I go to Brighton.

Now after lunch it was off to the shops! Brighton is kinda like St. Kilda in Melbourne.... (i'm sorry Melbourne but...) it's just about 10033542420 times better!!!! There were vintage shops (my favourite), furniture shops, christmas shops, watch shops (fred's favourite), food shops, jewellery shops (michael's favourite) and an amusement park. Everybody had a slice of heaven that beautiful Saturday afternoon! And I learnt many new things I never thought I'd learn. One of them is; how to spot inclusions in a diamond. Not something one learns everyday I can tell ya that!=) I felt like a kid all over again: spending a day by the beach, going to the amusement park, having ice-cream, seeing sparkly things... what more could a girl want!

Home again home again to Leighton Buzzard for a hot shower and a nice change into fluffy flanel jammies.=) And the perfect ending to a wonderful day? McDonalds at 10 pm in my jammies because we were hungry=p. M and F insisted that no one would notice I was in my pajamas. (yea right, they were matching blue with white polka dots long-sleeved shirt and trousers...) =S but they insisted I had no time to change. Too hungry, too hungry.

And just when I thought my day couldn't get any better, 'Nadia, would you like to go riding tomorrow morning?' said Michael. Oh sweet music to my ears! I always try to refrain from asking to ride because I'm so afraid for troubling Michael and testing his patience with my apalling riding skills.

Sadly, riding was not to be for we woke up to a blustery, rainy autumn Sunday.=( And so, I went to the centuries-old church across the street instead. Watched Witches with Freddie and adjourned to London to pick up Sammie for a dim sum lunch at Chinatown. (seriously I love dim sum. I am very convinced I can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 2 weeks straight)

Thus concludes my weekend! Fred and Michael, you are such blessings and I am so grateful to have you in my life.

'Sigh, but at the rate you're going, I don't see how you can improve your riding', was Michael's parting lament at my doorstep. Why yes I am quite aware of that but alas, it's not my fault that I can't control the weather now is it?=S

amusement park on the pier

ooh! i wonder what they taste like...

random shop

*this is the point my camera ran out of battery.=(

On a completely different topic, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tried calling you but your phone was switched off or something. will call you tomorrow! miss you please come quick. here's another place to make our 'must-go-if-have-time' list.=)

blog revamped.

2009-10-29T18:08:00.005Z

well as you can see, I have revamped my blog! It now fulfills every one of your (and my) girly desires.

1. it is pink
2. it is delightfully stripey
3. it has a flower
4. it has lacy looking borders
5. it has ribbons on it

nadia = win

=)

ooh guess what came in the mail today??=)).

2009-10-29T16:19:00.004Z

my pretty ribbons in a golden box! I feel as if Christmas came early!!! weeeeeee!! =)

All this for 2 pounds can you believe it? I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. This is by far the BEST 2 pounds I've spent in my life. Along with M&Ms and lollipops!

where are my ribbons?.

2009-10-28T18:19:00.005Z

I placed an order for some ribbons last friday and they haven't arrived yet=( I am usually quite a patient person but I paid £3 for delivery charges when my ribbons were only £2!

Something is not right...

Oh where are you my pretty ribbons? I hope you have not lost your way...=(

oh no i'm lost!! (oh well, what else is new).

2009-10-28T17:30:00.007Z

Yup that's right! Some things never change and me getting lost is one of them. Be it in Melbourne, Malaysia or London, it makes no difference to me! I was on the way to Kilburn today to view a property with the mindset that I will NOT get lost if it's the last thing I do. Sammie has doubted my navigational skills for the Last Time I tell you!

As I arrived at my destination, (note: without getting lost), I silently hooted with triumph and danced a little victory jig. So great was my joy that I completely ignored the flabergasted glance thrown my way by the parking attendant on the street.

Upon viewing the property, the agent brought me to this other property. Not too far away i don't think.... And when the moment came for our goodbyes, he asked if I needed a lift anywhere. With dignity and pride, I replied, 'Why no thank you kind sir. I think I'll be able to find my way just fine'.

Oh boy was that a mistake...=( And so I walked... and walked.... and walked... and walked... when the streets became decidedly dodgier and after being approached by the 467th crazy person, I finally called Sam at work and sobbed. The poor dude had to cyberwalk me to civilisation and wallah! I'm home nowwww hallelujah!!!!!

There are many things I am embarrassed about and I have decided that this is not going to be one of them. I figured, 'hey! this is a MASSIVE improvement from my Melbournian days where I got lost 22 times in the first month.'=)

finally!.

2009-10-27T17:31:00.003Z

I'm feeling better now!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE=)))))))) sigh I do tend to fall sick easily.

to love is to let go.

2009-10-27T16:47:00.011Z

I have been having many many thoughts lately. Mostly about family, friends, life and love. And I've come to a point once again of counting my blessings.

I have been so blessed to be in the midst of people who have let me go with words of blessing, hope, encouragement and best wishes though they sometime do not fully agree with what I do. Yet instead of holding me back, they bid me farewell with the assurance that they'll be there to catch me if I fall.

I remember telling my folks that S and I wanted to work things out again and they asked me ,'How girl? Your life is in Melbourne and his is in England', and I replied, 'Well I guess
I'll have to move to England then don't I?'... And all they did was smile at me with worried eyes. It sounds like such a simple story, yes? But you might appreciate it more if you knew that it was these very same parents who I had to beggggg for dear life to go to Genting Highlands for ONE NIGHT with my friends. And here they are, allowing me to make my own choices to travel halfway across the world to start a new life.

Ann & We-Ki, who are also my parents (albeit aussie ones), had similiar reactions. Though they are more fierce. haha

Ives, Sue, Pheebs, Val, who made time to catch up with me every single week before my departure, always saying how much they're going to miss me yet never making me feel guilty for leaving because they know how it will pain me so. Not to mention, planning the most awesome farewell party for me ever.

My siblings, whose very presence of support makes me calm and reassured.

You are all such blessings to me and I love you all so much. Please know it=) can't wait to see you all!!!! it might be sooner than you think *wink*=)

ann and we-ki

the siows=)

pheebs, samantha, me and winnnie

charles with the guitar!

speech by sarah-ann

aidan soh

the soh and siow boys=)

sarah soh

isaac and nick

jamie, ann and pheebs

aaron. sarah and devon

when in london, please visit :

2009-10-24T23:42:00.006+01:00

Portobello Road at Notting Hill. Please I beg you I'm not kidding. It is the prettiest, bustliest place and no amount of rain will dampen your mood. I can testify to that because rain was what we had today and it didn't dampen my mood one bit at Portobello Road!

I love love love my weekends spent with Michael and Fred. I really really do. Nothing defines the term 'good company' more than these two gentlemen. Michael, an antique lover is a man after my own heart. And fred, oh freddie freddie freddie what else can i say than i love you to bits. BITSS i tell you BITSSSSS!!!

And S, well i'm sure you all know how I feel about S by now=).

michael and me

sammie!

by the river

and by the river again

the gherkin on the right!

sammie and i at borough market

spot fred, mick and sam

cheese, anyone?

sam, fred and i

one of the loveliest church i've seen in london.

it's in notting hill!

reliving a hobby.

2009-10-22T12:55:00.007+01:00

is how i spend some of my free time in London=) I'm not good at it but I do try because i love it so. I'm still quite rusty though. But here's hoping that practice makes perfect! Here are some of my practice sketches along with explanations of why the random selection of subject matter.

sketch 1: hed kandi art
reason: because sam likes hed kandi art
technique: tentatively using hard lines and soft lines with minimal shading. sorry ar still scared. never use pencil for so long=p

sketch 2: copy of internet sketch of nude
reason: because i suck at nudes and i need to practice because i think good nudes are a true work of art
technique: expanding my use of hard lines, soft lines and shading to accentuate body contours=)

sketch 3: sketch of eye
reason: because chuenie said that if a person has nice eyes, he/she is automatically good looking and i have to admit that it is true
technique: less with the lines and more of the shading

sketch 4: horse (digby)
reason: because michael likes horses and digby is gorgeous
technique: ooh my first attempt after a long while with watercolours! though i used the colour pencil watercolours because i didn't bring any of my paints to london due to the lack of baggage space and the cheapest medium i could find was colour pencils and beggars can't be choosers!

more to come! unless i find something more interesting to do=) in which case, art might just have to wait.=p

yet another wonderful weekend at leighton buzzard.

2009-10-18T20:08:00.004+01:00

Thanks to Leighton Buzzard, I'm back in London now feeling like a fairy! I had such an excellent time there yet again=) Spent the whole of Saturday morning sitting in the front of a horse box with Fred and Michael. (it's a giant lorry to fit a horse)* (sammie was still fast asleep so he missed it but he wouldn't have enjoyed himself anyway)** We were on our way to pick up a horse. Lost our way and ended up having breakfast in the horse box. Truly we were too ravenous for words.

Spent the afternoon napping away weeeeeeee! and take it from me, there's no better way of waking up than to the fresh smells of a home cooked dinner=) had a lovely couple over for dinner and i had my first very very light wine. it was alright... quite yum. haha

Alas, this time around, there was not enough time for horse riding. =( but no matter, there's always next month!=)

walking in the fields

me and my favourite person

at deadmau5.

2009-10-15T15:04:00.006+01:00

pronounced; deadmouse NOT dead-mau-five, a mistake commonly made by many including myself in the early days.

me, sam, and jessie

sammie's bestie mally and penny

s and i

hmm.. not sure who... plum dj maybe?

s and i

sam, jessie, malcolm and penny

deadmau5

deadmau5 again!

the end

k in london.

2009-10-12T23:20:00.006+01:00

sam and i have greatly been anticipating krystina's arrival since the day we heard she was coming to london for a one-miserable-night stopover. well, one's better than none i suppose=S

a rooftop with unbelievable views somewhere off oxford st.

drinks after dinner

drinks before dinner

at dinner

l to r: jessie, malcolm, krystina, me, sammie and phik wern

something out of the ordinary.

2009-10-04T20:06:00.008+01:00

It seemed like a perfectly normal Sunday morning. You know, where you wake up, brush your teeth and wash your face, put the kettle on, make yourself a cuppa tea, open the fridge for milk, say hello to the crabs scuttling around the fridge compartments, get dressed for church, slap on some lip gloss, grab your keys and off you go.

wait a minute..........

did i just see 2 live crabs in the fridge compartment??!!!!! can't be... lemme go check again. chilli, crab, chilli, mayo, crab.........

CRAP!!!! IS THIS SOMEBODY'S SICK IDEA OF WHAT'S FUNNY?

well here's a newsflash for you, it's NOT!

chilli, crab, chilli, mayo, crab.........CRAB???!!

An explanation was due and and explanation was what I was gonna get! Well basically, Sam's auntie bought live crabs for us to eat. They were placed in a loosely tied plastic bag. Unbeknownst to her, all live things held in captive have one thing and one thing only on their minds; how to escape. So woe is us who had to find that out the hard way.=(

Lessons learnt, buttocks burnt: Never show an ounce of leniency to your next meal, dead or alive.

Now that they're safely in the garden, in a bowl, underneath a ton of bricks, I'm actually finding the whole ordeal a little amusing. tee hee!=p

like chocolate cake.

2009-10-04T01:03:00.003+01:00

hmmm was just looking through old photos where i was suddenly awash with nostalgia and warm and fuzzy feelings. like chocolate cake!

oh pheebsy dearest do you remember this?? i can't believe it's been 2 years. missing you heaps

i can't believe i'm 24! seems like a ripe old age. i keep reminding myself that it's well and truly time to grow up. but with s around, i feel like i never have to.=)

with the wind and the fields and the horses at bay, i think i might just fly away, be a dandelion for a day.

lis and i always wondered what's with the kissing pics??! but i've discovered that it's quite fun lis. hahaha... bring on more kissing pics i say!

mos.

2009-10-03T02:28:00.012+01:00

as in the Ministry of Sound, is where I was last night. You see, s loves progressive music and i've agreed to accompany him to the ministry of sound for this event called above and beyond. Well, a promise is a promise!=) And so we headed to the ministry promptly at 10pm.

It was alright actually!.... at the beginning........... But as the clock ticked the minutes away, I started having thoughts like, 'i KNOW i should have fished out my earplugs!' and 'oh my... i wonder where all that fog is coming from?!' and, 'omg man with the white cap, you did NOT try to shove past me for the 12467th time!!!' it was very claustrophobic.

s on the other hand, was a happy camper! so as long as there's good progressive music, you can abandon him anywhere.

At 1.30am, I was ready to call it a night. I've been pushed for the LAST TIME I TELL YOU! Chivalrous Sam promptly caught a cab to take us home despite my fruitless attempts at convincing him that i'm alright, really!! I really am truly sorry for making you miss most of above and beyond. Never again I promise=((

All in all, I conclude that the clubbing scene is not one i feel most comfortable at. I'd much rather be at home with a warm mug of tea listening to KT Tunstall. i did try though! (some credit please)

Mummy, I know you're numb with relief over my self dicovery of not liking the clubbing scene.=p don't worry laa

love you too much!=)

the line.

we were on our way out=p

in the box

with the laser lights

and more

more of the line

i can't believe it

mos

more of the box

the gallery

the gallery again

the homesick blues.

2009-10-02T00:19:00.008+01:00

I'm having a tummy ache=( i hate having tummy aches but i refuse to allow it to hinder me from doing stuff i would normally do. eg: coming online and blogging.

I'm feeling a little disgruntled at the moment because of a few reasons:

1.) if my calculations are correct, this is the 3rd time i've caught a cold since arriving at London. I think it's the sudden weather changes that's doing me in. Though, I do still stand by London's weather being absolutely Perfect most days=p

2.) and a more painful reason is, I'm feeling a little homesick. As I was setting up my facebook account, I had to go through all my photos to select which to upload. Needless to say. the whole process was a little more painful than i thought it would be.=(

Everyone is a little prone to homesickness, no? And that's why i thank my lucky stars everyday for fred, michael, sophia and sam who makes this process so much easier to bear.=)

i miss ann and we-ki beyond belief

i miss playing games and reading the faraway tree books with joshua and justin

i miss josiah rolling around trying to take his first steps

i miss giggling away with samuel siow about everything and nothing

i miss aidan's, faith's and reuben's antics in the church's creche room

i miss catching up with the girls over tea

i miss the lively chats with s's dad over tea and cookies

i miss dinner and drinks with s's family back in kl

i miss samantha's sunny presence and sarah's kindred spiritship (is there such a word?? ah you know that i mean=p)

i miss holidaying with aaron and sarah at sabah

i miss my family everyday

i miss fancy dress parties in melbourne

i miss community

nadzy.

2009-09-30T14:33:00.004+01:00

is Sam's new game's character. You see, there's this new game called Aion which he is quite into at the moment...

I must say, creating a character is tremendously fun! The features of this game allows you to create your character in miniscule detail. So hotness extremo, here we come!

introducing, Nadzy

i'm liking the eye-makeup and blonde hair

not too sure about the dress though... but that's the one thing that's beyond our control=p