When I was down in PJ attending the medical check-up and visa interview three weeks ago,  went for dinner and saw”Money no enough” with my sisters. Last week, saw Babylon A.D alone. And this weekend, met up with my good friend SP for farewell, we went for lunch,  spent the whole afternoon yakking, then watched “Mamma Mia” before we moved on to her house to say goodbye to her mother and sister. SP made a resolution to visit me  in IL next year. :-)

It certainly takes a lot of thick skin to do hard sale like this, what can I do but to serve her a cup of tea and let her talked my ears off. What would you do in such situation? Would you just tell her off or tell her you are busy and open the door?:-)

If you are selling physical goods, you would probably use a warehousing service that can fulfill your warehouse and distribution needs. For instance, if you are distributing clothings, you may need climate controlled and protected facilities. Many companies actually outsource this part of their business to the fulfillment solutions experts that have automated warehousing and inventory system that takes care of your products and make sure you will never run out of stocks.

She really enjoyed the traveling opportunities she got through her flying career. But, as a diva who is not used to serving others, she doesn’t really like the nature of the job, thus did not stay long. She quited after working as a flight attendant fortwo2 years and went back to work on the ground.

For young people who aspire to fly and are attracted to all the traveling opportunities that come with a  flight attendant career, you may want to check out this flight attendant blog for many insider perspectives and real stories from real flight attendants that give you true pictures of the profession.

What can she do in this situation? If they want the marriage to continue, she has to make some sacrifices on her part. They sold the Manhattan real estate they owned. Though the real estate market was not fantastic, they were able to get out before the subprime crisis.

They were able to do it within a short period with the help of the real estate company. In fact, statistic had shown that people are able to sell their property consistently at a higher price by engaging a real estate company like Prudential Douglas Elliman !

A few of the members in the bible study group are medical doctors and accountants and they live in huge bungalows. But this house that we gathered last night is something else, it’s a mansion! Anna’s son the joker asked:”May I speak to the manager please”, pretending that he is at a posh hotel. :-)

Indeed, it’s almost like a five star hotel, swimming pool, Balinese open bathroom with jacuzzi and expensive looking bathroom faucets , AV room with theater system and screen that cover the whole wall, motorized shades that cover the pool, the yard, the bathroom when it rains or the sun gets too hot.

We were impressed all the way when the host brought us around for a tour. It’s luxury, even to the rich doctors who live in big houses.

This photo is taken from the second floor showing the kitchen, dining area and the living hall on the ground floor, which is easily the size of a normal single family home.

The host is a medical doctor in his 50s, but he makes most of his money from stock investment and proper management of the wealth accumulated from his medical practice. He has retired from medical practice, divorced and remarried few years back. When you talked to him, he doesn’t sound like a medical doctor, he certainly sounds like one of the wealth management experts from Northern Trust, the company that provide banking, asset management and asset services to affluent families and individuals. :-)

However, this worked out really good for me, after all I didn’t have to skip lunch like I planned to. I was planning to go out at about half past nine to meet all the mummy bloggers at Pantai Puteri. Though I didn’t know where exactly Pantai Puteri is, since Miche said it’s near Klebang, I drove towards Klebang from my parents’ house. I have not traveled much on this route in the past ten years. Oh boy, the roads have changed a lot, they built a new highway that cut through some of the old towns. All the old shop houses along the way were demolished and the old towns disappeared, replaced by new housing areas.

I had to make a few U-turns and to finally got on the right track. Luckily, when I reached Klebang, there were road signs pointing towards Pantai Puteri and it was easy to find the place. Chinnee, Jesslyn and Miche were already there when I arrived, and Joanne arrived a bit later.

The children were happily running around playing with sand and picking the pine cones to create patterns on the beach.

I had a great time tasting all the different types of pineapple tarts that Chinnee and Miche brought along. I also learned to differentiate the ones made from margarine and the ones that made from butter. :-)

I forgot my camera in a hurry to rush out of the door in the morning, so I would go steal some photos from all the mummies later. :-)

They are five of us, two work and live in Klang Valley and two work in Singapore, but all are back to our hometown. We were all singles for a long time, one of the reasons that the gatherings were able to go on for so long, as we do not have to deal with the in laws and out laws issues. :-) Two of us got married 3 years ago and the rest are still singles. The only status change this year:  one is pregnant with her first child. We were wondering whether she can make it to the gathering next year with a young child in tow.

We have started the annual gathering ever since we went our separate ways after sixth form. Even though we joked that we should meet at places like Sea Pines rentals so that we didn’t have to meet all the relatives who were concerned about our marital status, we usually just gathered up at one of our parents’ house. We make sure we would be free to meet up on the second day of CNY.

]]> http://leahschrader.com/2008/02/second-day-of-cny/feed/ http://leahschrader.com/2008/01/get-in-touch-with-long-lost-friends/ http://leahschrader.com/2008/01/get-in-touch-with-long-lost-friends/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2008 02:02:13 +0000 LCS http://leahschrader.com/2008/01/get-in-touch-with-long-lost-friends/ I have been really terrible at keeping in touch with people that I used to know when I was living in VA. After few years of not contacting them at all, I finally picked up the phone and called this morning.

Managed to talk to J for a good 40 minutes. His wife H was not home, as usual busy volunteering at different places.:-)Would have to call back some time in future to talk to H and the little girl whom I was teaching Mandarin years ago. She is 9 years old, a big girl now! I really missed her.

Was quite a shock to learn that both of them have contracted Lyme disease in the past few years and were not in good health. Despite of that J is doing really well in his river conservation work.

I remembered J asked me whether there is a clean river in the town I live (not in the jungle or up the mountain) that you can swim and canoe. Shame to say, we have none. The Melaka City Council had spent a few millions to clean up the river, but it’s still as smelly and as dirty as ever, may be they should consult J or learn something from his education, conservation and restoration work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U4Oajk3V00

Some of you have met me. Can you tell that I don’t warm up quickly with people? Once I get to know you or you get to know me, that’s fine, but I am not the sort of person who can act like I am your best friend the first time I meet you. :-) I have not make many new friends since I moved back to this small town 7-8 years ago. It has been great to meet more people online through blog hopping. Chinnee and Miche had initiated a gathering for us to meet at Pantai Puteri, if you would be be in town or nearby, you are welcome to join us.

Date: 9 February, Saturday
Time: 10am
Venue: Pantai Puteri

Was able to meet all my good friends and updated each other with what’s happening in our lives. I am not sure when will we see each other again, so this trip will be a farewell if I don’t see them again before I leave for IL next spring. I was too excited to finally met up with them and we were busy talking, I forgot totally about taking photos. Though I had the camera in my handbag the whole time, didn’t even take one photo!!

We are going to meet up for a farewell lunch or dinner once they book and confirm their flights to New Zealand. They were my ex-colleagues in the university, we have been close friends for the past few years, they are going to be missed dearly.

My friends came to visit with their two and four years old boys, the boys are quite a handful. They run, fight and climb, everywhere we go. The two years old is a great explorer, he touches and takes apart anything and everything that looks interesting to him.

They are cute and adorable, but need a lot of energy to watch or babysit them. My aunt once said having a boy is like having a dozen children, I guess my friends have two dozens now.:-)

This cheeky boy is a professional actor, he can do any face you ask him to! When I gave him a good night kiss, he kept saying “Mummy, auntie kissed, faint” and then pretended that he fainted, lying on the floor, not moving, just to delay the bedtime.

Their two year old is going through a “terrible two” stage, it was like fighting a war during dinner. He is such an adorable cute boy and speaks so well. But, during dinnertime he would climb up and down, bang the spoon and fork against the table, throw the menu and acrylic display on the table to the floor. TJ had to eat first, let WT chased him around, then WT sat down to finish his food, and TJ brought the child out for a walk.

The two years old has this cheeky look on his face, when he smiles sheepishly to you, he is up to something!

They have invited us over to their house for the house warming party and we were there admiring their tastefully decorated new house. Well, should I say mansion.:-) It’s a 3-storey bungalow with six bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and many other functional rooms i.e. exercise room, rooms for jacuzzi and sauna and dining room. They also have a mini bar complete with some very unique Bar Stools between the living area and the dining room.

Anna actually found these bar stools at the secondhand recycling store, you won’t believe it! I know, they are rich and they probably can afford the most expensive imported name brand, but they like to look for bargains at the second hand stores. They have quite a lot of antique pieces that they have spent more money restoring them than what they paid for. But, I would say they really have good taste, the old junks were totally transformed and they are indeed looking gorgeous and blend in beautifully with the theme of decorating in the house.

I know we all are vulnerable to a certain extent and am not here to judge my friend, just a little puzzled why she would get into this mess since she herself was a victim of extra-marital affairs. She divorced from her husband 8 years ago because he had an affair while he was working abroad. It sounds to me that she’s afraid of being alone and needs another person’s presence to validate her worth. I am afraid being a third party is not going to be easy too. Like Princess Diana said, it’s a bit crowded to have three people in a marriage!

I know Winne did not sew the sachets but not sure where they got the sachets. My best guess is: Jeff got the sachets from China during his recent trip there.

What a lovely sachet/pouch/bag!

Guess what is inside?

Takda!

Baby carrots and potatoes! :-)

Winnie and Jeff coordinated the outing, they are so super organized, they sent us dinner menu by SMS a few days before the event. They even have us divided into groups for the bowling games! I busy eating, forgot to take pictures of the food. But, I did take some pictures at the bowling alley since I didn’t join the games due to back pain. Will try to upload the pictures later.

They do not just play for fun, as they are high achievers, they are quite competative, they play in the tournaments. I heard two of them even have the hole-in-one records and won some lucrative prices for that. I think they would be delighted to know about this sports golf software which they can stay home getting their own USGA handicap card for use in official golf events. Should I or shouldn’t I let them know about the software? I may risk being hated by their wives who already are very much golf widows.:-)

They kind of told me that I am lucky to be married to an American and could migrate without going through the loops. The thing is, it’s not my first choice to live in the States. True, it’s a great country to live. But, it has also a lot of restrictions of what I can do or cannot do as an alien who speaks with an accent. It’s not easy for me to change the way I speak though it’s not impossible to get rid of the accent with immersion.

Leaving my motherland also means uprooting myself from a culture that I am familiar and learning to adapt to a new culture, getting to know new friends and establish a new social circle. I won’t say it’s an easy thing to do, but it’s probably a necessarily step to keep the marriage going. I just don’t see how the marriage can survive with two people living apart for long term.

Jess said she was not the last, which mean I am the last to blog about this meeting. :-) Some more I am “stealing” the picture from Chin Nee’s blog. I am too lazy to scrap the pictures, Chinnee’s Photoshop skill so good, why reinventing the wheels right? (Laziness and lame excuse are cousins, don’t they?)

I am so glad I drove downtown to meet Miche, Jess and Chinnee on a Saturday (I always avoid the tourist mall during weekend) Really want to thank Chin Nee for initiating the meet. We hit it off like we have known each other for years. Our meeting reminds me of the one that I have with my schoolmates during every Chinese new year.

The daddies were really good. They were keeping the children occupied and allowed us to yak, yak, yak, we actually yak away 3 hours, I couldn’t believe it when I finally looked at the watch! I must have refilled the drinks 2-3 times to replenish the saliva. Whoever decided to go Burger King with free flowing drinks is so clever!

Malacca is a small town or more like a big village, it turned out that Miche and I met before, I was able to recognize her hubby but only recalled I did meet Miche too later. Sorry lah, that was 6-7 years ago! Jesslyn and my mother were from the same place and have the same surname. I am pretty sure some of my uncles may know her family. But, we didn’t get to trace our family trees and ancestry roots because we were busy exchanging blogging tips and information. :-)

Some of you may have read on Chinnee’s and Jesslyn’s blogs about the meeting, if you have not check them out. Miche also did an introduction of who is who on her blog.

Seriously, the Russian girls are really beautiful, they are usually tall and slim, I have not seen any fat or short Russian girls so far. Sometime I wonder should my my friend who is single in his 40s try his luck with the Russian girls. (Ok, call me busy body) He learned Russian in college and can still speak a little. So, communication should be easier and he would brush up his Russian in no time if romance blooms.:-)

Got a phone call from her last night, she told me she just checked her emails and know I tried to contact her. She said the reason she hasn’t replied my email is because she was in the hospital. She was having some allergy reactions to some drugs she was taking for her flu. The reactions was so big that she was having breathing difficulty and had to be wheeled into the emergency room in an ambulance and hospitalized for 3 days!

I was quite shocked to hear the news. As SP is always very healthy and active. May be age is really catching up with us, both of us are dealing with some health problems now.

They have indeed tried to apply for Canadian and American residency, my ex colleague even got an offer for the position of research fellow in an American university, but he couldn’t get a visa to go there. I think the conflicts and the terrorist threat have affected many of the ordinary people from middle eastern countries more than we could imagine.

They uprooted themselves, left their motherland, living in a foreign country, often being taken advantage and have to accept unfair treatments for being aliens in their host country. They worry about the safety of their loved ones who are left behind, hope that the wars that going on will stop soon.

They have been living outside their country for years, they have a country that they can’t go back to and they live like people without roots. Every few years, they sold their furniture and belongings, uproot themselves and move to a greener pasture. I really wish that they find their greener pasture in New Zealand and starting a new life there.