Chumi Lakshmi

i really dont know wat to write anymore...

2009-10-05T08:38:00.001+01:00

should i just post pics?

or should i force myself to write like how i usually do...?

i dont want to stop writing, because i enjoy doing this...

sigh...

i think i'm finally learning to move on

2009-09-28T02:08:00.003+01:00

i've been a way from home for many years now... so it shouldnt be a problem at all for me to move on. thats wat everyone thinks... but its not that way at all

i always thought i was d odd one out in a new place. it has always been difficult for me to get used to ppl around me and the new environment. though i can adapt to anything easily... there's always something that's different.

i think i've finally mastered d art of getting used to new places, to new ppl, and most importantly, i've realized who i have to listen to.

i've found a few good friends now. i dont know if i'll be staying here for long, i dont know if i'll be able to keep in touch with them even after i leave, i dont know i'll be able to do wat i'm supposed to be while i'm here. all i know is that now i have a few good friends... whom i wish i got to know earlier

the tale of a stupid girl during the most important viva of her life

2009-09-24T16:08:00.000+01:00

Her viva was scheduled on the 7th of Sept at 2.00pm, but she was asked to be there in the waiting room half an hour before time, just like everyone else. Little Miss Stupid Girl (SG) rushed to the depart almost an hour earlier because she was too tensed. she didnt even bother studying or revising on the morning of her viva. all she did was spend one whole hour getting ready for the viva. her reasoning was that she should at least look good and impress the external examiner even if she can't answer the questions properly. i must admit, she did look good. but there's no pic as proof that she did look good that day. Miss SG is not called like that for no reason you know.

Her facilitators were worried looking at her. she must have been a sight! they tried to pacify her by telling her that it was going to be alright and that everyone else found the examiners to be really helpful and considerate. Miss SG wasnt convinced at all, but she tried to appear more relaxed and calmed. she reminded herself that her smart white skirt, with white shirt and black blazer would do the job when/if necessary.

it was finally her time and she floated in to the examiners room (i say floated cos that's how she felt before her viva started). she wanted to waste some time and like an idiot started asking stupid questions and delaying the examiners. the external examiner wasnt half as young as she expected him to be. i mean, she was expecting a 29-year-old drop dead gorgeous hunk with deep blue eyes and a sexy english accent whom she was hoping would fall head over heels in love with her at first sight and save her from the viva and all her worries. comparitively, the actualy external examiner was only slightly more than twice the age than she imagination. there goes her little bubble of dreams... sigh...

anyways, moving on to her presentation. since she only had exactly 5 minutes and not one single second extra, she made sure she had enough things to talk about within that time. and she spent a few days getting those powerpoint slides ready. she put in her best diagrams and maps and graphs to impress that examiners. but how well do you think that went? the external examiner dozed off during her second slide! that's how impressive it was!!! the bloody moron did nothing more throughout the remaining half an hour other than to doze off and munch on the cookies and fruits and snacks provided in front of him! who cares about the old man, at least her other examiners were impressed and thought it was a very good job.

Miss Sg successfully finished her presentation within the time limit. the next hurdle was the worst one ever, it was the question and answer session. everyone before her told her that they were asked many many questions regarding their dissertation, so Miss SG was kindda relieved, thinking that it would be mostly about her dissertation. little did she know that it was all going to be upside down for her. the very first question was about some stupid lesson that she learnt ages ago! yes, she messed it up royally... and that too with so much confidence.

Miss Sg's senior lecturer/examiner looked as if she was gonna shoot her and throw her out through the window! sigh....

the next question wasnt all that easy either. no no no, correction... it was easy... but we can all assume how Miss SG would have answered it. it was a very basic question about cancer in an extended family and how the medical geneticist would advice the grand daughter about inheriting the cancer from hte family members. very very simple question, but wat did Miss SG do? she completely forgot wat sporadic cancer (random mutation) and familial cancer (inhereted in the family) meant!

have you ever seen anyone who talks about X and Y sex chromosomes when she's asked to explain about how Robertsonian Translocation in Down's syndrome occurs in chromosome 21?

you're reading her now.

Miss SG was mentally preparing herself to face anything that might come her way the next day when she got her results.... but all's well end's well.... somehow the Lord showed some mercy on her and let her pass and complete her Postgrad studies.

so, Miss SG is now an unemplyed MSc Medical Genetics from the University of Glasgow gradute.

i could show u thousands of pics

2009-09-13T15:59:00.003+01:00

... of me with my camera. i was even named the paparazzi of my class. i was known as the camera queen, and camera nose and captain camera (after captain Hook) etc. etc.

but today, i've become the exact opposite of all that, i dont know why, i dont know how.. but i do know that i'm not liking it.

missed me?

2009-09-02T10:12:00.000+01:00

.
i'm missing myself too... =(

.

Facts of life

2009-08-16T17:42:00.000+01:00

3 people in the flat + 3 laptops = peace

3 people + 2 laptops = war!!

my OH.SO.PERFECT.DAY!

2009-08-11T11:20:00.003+01:00

it cannot get any better than this!

seriously... its so perfect i dont think anything else that happens for the rest of the day could be any better... and it's only 11.20am now! even my knight in his shining BMW cannot beat this (if his bloody GPS decides to work!)

u'r dying to know wats so perfect that i would neglect a ~~BMW~~ handsome english guy?

seriously...i mean seriously... this one takes d cake, the icing, the filling..... EVERYTHING

got a call at an ungodly hour of 9.40am from my flat agent who told me i had to get out of my current flat ASAP! it's only been 6 weeks since i moved in to this place! wat about the bloody contract and all the money that i paid as deposit and all the trouble i had trying to call those idiots to give me my new sofa?!! (i still didnt get the sofa!)

wait thats not all... he said he has another flat ready for me... its just a few block away. its freaking flat 78 where a friend of mine is in! i'm gonna have to be her neighbour!!! and i have no other choice for a flat. if i dont take that flat, they'll just kick me out from this n thats it, i'll have to be sitting on the streets with all my things through the rain and sun!

and the worst part of all is... THIS IS GONNA BE MY 4TH MOVE IN 10 MONTHS!!!!!!!! and the current flat being the least stayed in - 6 weeks!!!!!!!!! only 6 weeks n i have to move again.. i was just getting used to this place, and the neighbour and the flat..n now i have to start all over again

oh no... i cannot imagine packing n moving again! the new flat is on the 3rd floor!!!!!!!!!!! i have to pack everything, carrying it all down 3 floors, drag it to block 78 and carry it UP to the 3rd floor and unpack again!...

oh oh n there's worst part pt2... that idiot of an agent wanted me to move tomorrow!!!!!!! when i told him there's absolutely nothing i can do till the 14th cos i've got to finish my dissertation and submit it, he said then.. i'll give u time till this weekend!!!!!!!!

sticks and stone wont break my bones
but moving one more time will kill me!!!!!!

AAARRGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

sigh... d only consolation i can think of is that there must be some reason for all this... there has to be some good out of having to move so many times

why my mother is so different from any other mother

2009-08-10T00:10:00.001+01:00

time: 11.40pm
location: living room of my flat
Scenario: me walking out from the next room after washing my face and collecting rubbish journal papers from the bed, mum walking as fast as a turtle in the living room

Me: *juggling loads of papers in my hands trying not to drop it on the floor* wat u doing?
Mum: * i repeat... walking as fast as a turtle* *with the 'attitude'* exercise pannuraen *and continues to walk*

at 11.41pm, all my notes together with me fell on the floor

Will the real River Festival pls stand up!

2009-08-07T17:32:00.001+01:00

so i read d brochures wrongly n went on the wrong day... at least i decided to go again the next day... it was worth it!! me had fun! :D

we had amazing weather on the real day. dunno why there were so many fire engines... precaution i suppose

the tall ship! not all that tall.. but a very famous landmark in the West End of Glasgow. if u wanna come to my place, u just have to find ur way to this ship n u'll be 10 minutes away from my place! how cool is that, i've got my own personal landmark now.. ahahahha

the face painting artists did a very good job! i would have done if only we werent too late. i wanted to take pics of other who had already done it... but didnt wanna be rude taking pics without their permission and wasnt bothered to ask their permission before clicking away

the sign on the door said "no entry, private function" ahahahhaha... since when were poop cabins considered as function locations?! LOL

thats a real map, thats seriously ancient. it was HUGE and it was laminated.. otherwise it wouldnt have survived all these years, especially if thousands of ppl pick it up like that every year.

the new additions to the pirates... who didnt know how to be pirates! aahahha.. actually.. too good to be pirates. LOL

that's my mum fighting it out with a little girl to take over the ship. she won hands down... nah... she let the girl win

i somehow like this pic... not only because of the amazingly blue sky, but because its very erm.. different

cute little darlings trying their hand at being ship crews... i love the little girl in the striped skirt... she's got such gorgeous curls!

the ship bell

the foghorn! it sounded so real!! like in Titanic (erm.. i dont actually remember if Titanic had d foghorn... :S.. oh u know wat i mean). 1st my mum tried it and it worked perfectly fine. we were so excited that i was jumping about clapping my hands! then my friend tried it... but it didnt work, so my mum n my friend were fiddling with it n trying to figure out wat went wrong n they broke it! the handle thing fell off!! ahahah

the crew's bunk beds in the lower level of the ship. there were 2 more lower levels below this.. but those were just boring engine rooms and storage rooms that was dark and dusty.

the pirate ship. we missed the pirate attack show cos we were late. must have been really cool

check out that lady's cap! i thought they were selling it there.. but she was d only one who had it

the peacock man!! this is my fav pic of the whole event!

he really looks like a peacock man see! he had all those helium gas balloons attached to his belt strap to prevent it from flyinf off. i wonder how he managed to stay on the ground with all those attached to him!

this was one hell of a ride.. but i didnt manage to get a good pic of it throwing everyone all over the place, cos i was too interested looking at the trampoline bungee jumping next to this. actually, i was trying to cook up a story that i was a kid so that i could go on it. if i cant do the real bunjee jumping, i wanted to at least do this... no, he didnt believe me :(

HUGE jenga!!!! i so wanted to go n play with the boys... i've never seen any jenga this big!! but mum said it was only for kids n i shouldnt spoil their fun =(

the jumping castle with a gaint balloon man skiing.... i've never played in a jumping castle before... but it was only for children again

i dont even remember d last time i went on a merry go round..not fair la.. everything was only for children

bumper cars... it was closed when we reached. but at least i've been on bumper cars before... i think it was last.. or maybe the year before. n i dunno y this pic refuse to stand straight

the navy ship had super hot, drop dead gorgeous men on it!!!!!the 1st day, i saw one guy standing outside n i was like "he's so hot!!" i still didnt overcome from the fact that such hot men exists when another guy walked out n i was like "OMG!" thank God i had my sunglasses on, otherwise they would have noticed me drooling at them! i think they did cos they were looking at me longer than they should normal do. 2 was enough to knock me off my senses so i didnt linger any longer. n i obviously didnt have the guts to take a pic of them!

this is some sort of a control tower. it reminds me of a building in Dubai. the control tower at the top of it is in a shape of a helicopter... it was so cute. i have a proepr pic of it, but i cant find it now

some more cute rides for the kids... look at that cute cars and bikes

oh oh! thats d most innovative thing i've seen in Glasgow so far. thats the Imax theater. and it plays 3D movies!! i've never seen a 3D movie before! i'm dying to go there once i'm done with my dissertation

kids playing near the Imax. it was a very hot day indeed. i kept running to shadier places while the locals were running towards the sun

I long for the days when

2009-08-05T16:03:00.002+01:00

I didn't have a worry in the world

I didn't know what deadlines meant

I knew that 11pm till after 8am was sleeping time, and 9am till 11pm was studying/eating/etc etc time and not vice-versa

I could fit into my fav clothes a couple of months/years back

I wasn't a food piggie

I had meaningful things to write (so it was only once in a blue moon... at least it existed rite!?)

I don't need to moisturize or use make up

I was at my best, with gorgeous hair, skin, and at my best size

my laptop was super fast and obedient

I used to start doing my work (especially a 6000 words dissertation with loads of original diagrams and tables and figure legends and references and annotations!!) 8 weeks before it was due and not 8 days before its due!!!

mum is complaing that i dont give her space in the house

2009-08-04T11:26:00.000+01:00

her previous study room.... (its mine actually!! and unfortunately i dont have a pic of it! just imagine that the room looks something like this okay) :

(actually, it looks nothing like this except for the floor tiles! how stupid can i be.. i have pics of my picture corner in the house, but i dont have pics of my study room where i spend most of my time in! shheesh... next time when i go back home i have to take a pic of my room)

n her current study room/wardrobe/dressing table:

that's wat she claims! but its SOOOOO NOT true! d pic is very blurry cos i couldnt stop laughing while listening to my mum's exclamations and taking the pic... hehehhe

u know u'r too old when

2009-07-31T21:23:00.000+01:00

u wouldnt even wanna try n physically sit in one of those in public ( wat u want to do in my mind and heart is all up to u)

u will by no means be able to sit in one of those n be transported around

u'r not allowed on something as harmless as a trampoline bungee.

Look how much fun that little girl is having!! i wanna have a go on it too!!!!!!!!!

u'r not allowed to drive cos u'r too old, and not too young

again.. not allowed

u can only stand near the merry go round and enviously look at the little kids on it (i cant even remember the last time i went on one of those=( )

u cant strip n jump into a wee pond in public and have fun ... in public!

Glasgow River Festival Day 1

2009-07-29T21:18:00.000+01:00

the brochure and the website clearly said that the River Festival wasfrom the 24th till 26th of July, and it was bigger and better this year... but all we saw on the 24th was a major let down for all my expectations

yes, i'm a daft... i got too excited when i saw that it was a festival, and it was near my place and i hadnt missed it yet, and for once i knew of a festival before it was over! hence the misreading of 25th as 24th! :S

wat do u expect to see when u go a day before the actual festival?? ppl setting things up, closed booths and drop dead gorgeous navy crew!!!!!!!!!! (too bad i couldnt manage to take a pic of them!! sigh)

an empty and quiet ship instead of one full of life and laughter and fun

everything was so quiet and dead

all we could do was hopelessly, and aimlessly and not forgetting, shamelessly, take pics

at least, we had decided to drop by the next day to see if the river festival was really bigger and better this year... i wasnt too sure about it at all... but i'm glad we did make it anyways!

Learning cooking from my mum

2009-07-27T21:48:00.000+01:00

*this is just a sample of one of it, and this is why i never learnt cooking from my mum but went to my aunt instead!*

at 12 noon

Mum: i'm gonna cook today, so u concentrate on ur dissertation. we can have lunch whenever u want to

Me: okay, we'll have lunch at 1.30pm. is that ok? do u need any help in the kitchen?

Mum: no, i'm fine... i know my way around the kitchen pretty well now, i can handle it. we'll have lunch at 1.30pm

Me: cool... i'll go n do my work.. i'll be in the living room if u need anything

at 12.40pm

Me: wat r u doing? how's the cooking coming along

Mum: the curry is almost done... i just have to make the mushroom and cauliflower

Me: oh, u made curry out of this? how do u make curry? i never knew how to make curry.. i always end uo making a gravy or a so-called gravy with it

Mum: its very simple. i'll tell u later.

at 2.00 pm while having lunch

Me: tell me, how did u make d curry today?

Mum: just heat oil, stir fry the washed green beans, add some water, chopped onions and tomatoes, chilli powder, coriender powder, and salt to taste. leave it to boil and then its done.

Me: oh.. so simple.. i must try next time

Me: how did u do the cauliflower and mushroom??

Mum: bla bla bla... (simple recipe)

at ~300pm while washing dishes

Me: ma, didnt u add the tamarind in the curry today? u usually add tamrind rite?

Mum: of course i did

Me: see.... me never told me this!!!! if i hadnt asked u about the tamarind now, i would have made the curry without tamarind! how do u expect me to cook well then!!

Mum: u have to come n stand in the kitchen when i'm cooking... otherwise u'll never learn properly....

Me: i dun wan... u cook so many things at the same time.. i never know how to follow

after 20 minutes

Me: didnt u add butter to the cauliflower...? u said u were gonna add

Mum: yea i did *she turns n looks at me with the 'u have to stand here n help me in the kitchen' look*

Me: * raises n eye brow* see... this is y i never learnt cooking from u... ur sister taught me so much better n gave me step by step guide some more!!

really... this is one part of why i never learnt to cook much earlier.. n especially not from my mum

Guess wat these are!

2009-07-25T21:17:00.007+01:00

#1

#2

#3

#4 (the cream n maroon stripped thingy)

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

Answers shall follow in the next post (which might be in a few days time).... do give it a try n see if u can guess it rite!

Coming up Next:
1) You know u'r too old when...
2) Glasgow River Festival Day 1 ( i never fail to proof that i'm such a daft!)
3) Glasgow River Festival Day 2 (the actual day)
4) learning cooking from my mum

my inboxes have never been this empty before

2009-07-25T10:45:00.011+01:00

i dont know wat got into me last nite... .

wat started of as a harmful msg reading-deleting-if-unnecessary turned out like this.. cos i got sick of reading mails from year 2004!

n i'm not one to cherish the same forwards which 1000s of ppl would have sent to me. it would have been different if the mails were personal ones from a special someone... but since that doesnt look like happening anytime soon... all the forwards and mails from half a decade ago can go n sit in the rubbish bin n not in my inbox

25 pages of mails + >500 mails + 5 years = deleted in 30 minutes... impressive huh !

but now when i think about it, maybe i rushed into it... but then again... it had to go some day anyways rite...

now i only have my student account to take care of, which is gonna take me AGES!! cos this account doesnt have forwards n mails from 5 years ago! just d ones since Oct '08, but it has hell lot of important mails... sigh... so not looking forward to clearing it up... maybe i'll leave it for another 4/5 years ??

totally unrelated... but am lovin' my current desktop... hehehhe

behold the war has started!

2009-07-23T14:20:00.005+01:00

mum has finally started cooking in my kitchen... now i wish i hadnt pushed her so much !

last thursday, she took over my clothes cupboard

last friday, she took over my bathroom

last saturday, she started rearranging stuff in my kitchen. i found onions and potatoes sitting on the kitchen counter rather than in the cupboard. the rice container was sitting on the floor just next to the microwave table (i never had rice in my flat before, so it doesnt belong anywhere).

on sunday i found all my biscuits and cookies and munching stuff happily hiding in the cupboard together with my breakfast stuff n cooking stuff. and my new cans and unopened packs of food went missing from its place!! cos my mum hid it all in a corner (according to her, those dont need to be visible everyday!)

on monday, there was some more changes in the kitchen

on tuesday, my stuff in the freezer were all hopping about

on wednesday, i couldnt find anything i wanted in the fridge, cos they were all hidden behind one another.

in short, mum spent the entire week rearranging all my stuff and i spent the entire week cooking for her cos she wasnt used to my kitchen yet. i didnt mind it at all actually, cos i've never cooked for her before (ignore the fact that i tried to cook for her when i was back home last year). when i cooked on wednesday afternoon last week (just after mum had reached), she didnt complain much (i'd like to think she didnt complain too much cos she was too tired and the jet lag was taking its toll on her) but the food was really good according to my standard.

everday since then has been a bit of a tension cos mum doesnt like my cooking ... cos she wants every dish to be different, with the exact amount of salt, spices and variety but i dont give a damn if there's enough salt or if there's enough spices. as long as something goes into my stomach when i'm hungry and as long as my tummy behaves itself and not embarrass me in public by making noise, i'm happy. i couldnt be bothered to taste the food while i'm cooking and i couldnt be least bothered to have a variety of it all!

so i gave mum time till monday to learn everything around the kitchen and then she can start cooking. guess wat she did... she switched everything around in the kitchen and finally started cooking today.

we've been going out almost everyday since sunday, so mum never really had the time to cook. it was me who did all the cooking. mum promised that we'll stay in on thursday and she'll cook so that i can concentrate on my dissertation. she entered the kitchen at 11.30am today. at about 12.30pm she said lunch will be ready whenever i'm ready to eat. so i told her i'll be done by 1.30pm.

at 1.40pm i still wasnt done with my work and i still hadnt heard from mum yet. i walked in to the kitchen cos i was starving, and was greeted by a hurricane-run-kitchen, with most of my utensils and pots and pans on the counter (this coming from a mother who used to complain that i use up too many things unnecessarily for the simplest needs back home). that aside, i thought she had finally finished cooking, but all i saw that was ready was the curry that was almost done more than an hour ago, and some chopped tomatoes and onions. oh, n the rice was cooking in the rice cooker.

i didnt quite understand wat took her so long, and wat she was doing all along... i was gonna ask her that, but then thought the better of it and kept my mouth shut! (thank God i did!). she wasnt in one of her best moods. she had been struggling her way through in the kitchen looking for the things that she needed and she wasnt happy at all cos she didnt have wat she always uses at home. i quietly ate some biscuits and helped her around in the kitchen.

n then lunch was finally done slightly past 2pm. see... i am needed for everything!! if i hadnt entered the kitchen when i did, i highly doubt lunch would have been ready even by 3pm! (sshhh.. dont tell my mum i said that!)

even though mum takes a long time to cook, lunch was amazingly heavy today. i had to take a break from eating n go for a walk in the house before i could finish the food on my plate! n then i spent the next half an hour digesting the food by cleaning up the mess my mum made in the kitchen!

our roles have switched ever since mum came here. I do the cooking, cleaning, sorting out, arranging and being a perfectionist, while mum does the complaining, eating, non helping part :S

now that she's finally happy (as happy as she can get with a close to well equipped kitchen), she's gonna take care of the cooking herself (while she makes me do all the washing, of course), for which i'm very very grateful, but not too thrilled about .... cos i wont be able to fit into my graduation dress by the end of the year if i eat like i did today!!!!

excuse me, i got to go now... it's time for dinner... i got to go n stuff myself with some yummy homemade tomato cutney n thosa (i wonder how those turned out, especially when mum had to use my sauce pan (i dont have thosa cooking thing.. watever u call it) n no lid big enough to fit it)

i got burnt by hot ginger garlic paste

2009-07-20T00:36:00.001+01:00

that explains wat i've been up to the past few days!

there's nothing else better than

2009-07-16T22:43:00.000+01:00

seeing ur santa clause sleeping on ur bed.. it doesnt matter even if u had to spend an uncomfortable nite on the dirty, ugly, old couch in the cold living room... MUM IS HERE!!!!!!!

n look wat goodies she brought for me!!

loads of colourful tablets .. oh goody! :S

bling blings!!!
i've never worn these things before... but it all looks so exciting and interesting now.. and surprisingly i seem to like it too.... actually, it's all hers..but i'm gonna help myself to it if i'm ever feeling like it (which might be in another decade i think)

one of my fav food stuff.. i was thinking of asking her to bring it, but never asked her.. but she brought it!! mothers know it even when u dont ask!

my bday present!!! seriously..i never thought about bday presents (yes, its presents, cos i always get a lot) this year ( i swear... for a person who starts listing out the things she wants for her bday, and christmas a year in advance... this year is a miracle, cos i didnt think about it at all...)

but my mum did!

Original Guess

made in Japan

with Diamonds ( i dont think so la... but aparently thats wat the salesmen said... n thats wat the price suggests also! )

Jealous or not?!!!!!!!!!! AHHAHAHAH

u know what.. i got to tell u d story of how stupid i was when i saw the watch box in her suitcase while unpacking!

*flash back to about 2 weeks ago* since my mum was leaving her company after 14 years of working there, all the staff decided to get her a watch, cos my mum's a watch freak, n they even let her choose it herself.

when i was talking to her over skype, she told me about the watch hunting story.. (it's a long story, but i'll keep it short, if i skip it, u wont even understand) 1st she said she chose one from Polo. i told her to go get one from Bonia cos she already has enough Polo-s. d next day mum told me that she didnt like anything from Bonia cos it was all too common and plain, and then she chose a Gucci.. i still wasnt happy with it... a few days later she picked out a Guess watch.. paid for it, and walked out.. n then walked back in and returned it cos she wasnt happy with it at all. she finally got a Bonia watch. (see.. i dont understand y mothers dont to listen to their children in the first instant. i knew i was right all along, and it was a Bonia that she ended up with in the end!). she went on and on and on about how beautiful it was, and how gorgeous it was (n it was waaaaaay over the budget that her staff had planned but they still paid for it!)... naturally, i couldnt wait to see it (being a watch freak that i am also). while waiting for the cab in the airport, i finally saw her watch.. n i understood y she fell in love with it.It.Was.Amazingly.Gorgeous!(for that price.. it had better be gorgeous! her friends paid for that unreasonably expensive Bonia! y dont i have friends like that?!)

*back to present* so when i was unpacking mum's suitcase, i saw a watch box, n it looked very classy... like a modified hard paper bag thingy, n i thought it was her watch's box. so i was like.. 'oh, wow.. is this ur watch's box.. it looks so cool', n while talking, i was fidgeting with it, and trying to open it.

that's when the small Guess booklet fell on my lap. like an idiot i picked it up and flipped through the pages claiming that even the booklet looks so cool and has so many languages bla bla bla... then all of a sudden, i realized that one of the pictures of the watch in the booklet didnt look like her watch. i flipped back to that page and started talking about y d pic was so different from her watch, n infact it wasnt even her watch. i thought the shop owner gave her d wrong booklet and even my mum didnt realize.(even while staring at it all along) it took me 10 whole minutes to realize that i was holding a Guess watch booklet and box and not a Bonia! n then i turned to stare at my mum like an idiot and finally realized that it wasnt my mother's watch box but it was some other watch box...n that i was supposed to open it. there it was... my bday present staring back at me.. while sitting majestically on her comfy pillow

i can be such a turtle sometimes cant i! even my mum said it today, "honestly Chumi, u'r very slow in the head department these days" LOL

oh .. wait wait.. thats not it...

mommy also bought me graduation dresses (yup.. its dresses.. cos i've got 2 dresses for my graduation now!! as long as i dont freeze in those .. i should have thought about graduating during the summer rather than winter.. nvm.. i have 2 dresses!!! ahahahah) but i'm not showing u pics of my dresses now.. (its bad luck!) wait till Dec!

ok fine.. i'll show u the earrings... this is currently my favouritestestestest earrings!!!

the only downside of having ur mum with u for 6 months is that:

she doesnt like ur place as much as u might have expected her to, and d only think u hear from her is that it isnt the same as ur own home back home... (i'm giving her 2 whole weeks to get used to it all here.. she has no other choice, and she cant even go back home before dec, cos i'll only make her come back all the way on the 3rd of Dec!)

she doesnt understand a single thing around the kitchen, especially when its shared with a friend. i've been doing the cooking n cleaning since mum came (okay, it;s only been slightly more than 24 hours since she came... :P) and i dont mind it for now cos i'm finally capable of cooking n cleaning, and my mum is surprised big time! this morning i gave mum a good lecture about dripping water on the kitchen floor and i felt so good, cos she keeps throwing out a 1001 conditions at me back home (those were the days when i only entire the kitchen when i wanna sneak something from the fridge) LOL. and the cooking n cleaning was all worth it, cos mum finally approved of my cooking!! aahahhha... well it was about time actually... (PS: when i told her that, she reverted it to me and said it was about time i learned cooking n cleaning!). btw, i'm only giving mum time till this weekend to get used to my kitchen, and then i'll happily let her take over the kitchen department.. i've had enough of it for the past 10 months!

till yesterday.. when i was all alone here, i had all the cupboard space and storage space and the entire bedroom and bathroom to myself. from today onwards i've got to share it all with mum. i dont mind sharing anything except for my cupboard, cos i spent hours n hours sorting my clothes out and arranging it in a managable way in the no-shelf-only-one-metal-rod-hanger-cupboard that i have now

the 1st thing my mum attacked was my scarves!! look wat has become of all my beautiful scarves! i love of all it and i took care of it with tender loving care all this while! now it's gonna be sitting in this congested little suitcase

and i wont even know wat scarves i have and what i dont! :( and mum was laughing away to glory all along! she can only dream of my sharing my scarves with her now! hhmmpp!! =( =( =(

heights of laziness #unknown and consequences of not combing ur hair for 2 weeks.. n seriously.. its christmas already for me!

2009-07-15T21:57:00.000+01:00

stacked up dirty dishes, and empty dish drier

not bad eh... not bad at all i would say.. i'm not gonna comb my hair at all from now onwards n hope that i have this kindda good-hair-day (which only happens once in the bluest moon ever) everyday!

celebrating christmas in July

2009-07-13T01:33:00.002+01:00

it felt as it was already Christmas lat nite.

my flatmate and i kept talking about giving cookies of sweets or something at all to all our fellow 70 Ferry Road residences since we moved in two weeks ago as an excuse to getting to know everyone... but we never got about doing it.... till last nite.

my friend and i baked a cake... (okay.. my friend baked a cake and i did the testing part as usual), which was a bit too much for us to finish. so we abruptly thought of giving that cake to everyone.

instead of just cutting pieces of cakes and putting it in plastic bags or watever simple way there is, we (I) wrapped it up in foil paper like it was a christmas present,

had it all lined up (had to line it up cos different sizes of cakes for different flats according to the number of ppl that we estimated),

wrote a note and stuck it on all 7 little parcels,

and went sneaking out at 1am to hang it on our neighbours' doors so that they will see it in the morning.

it really felt just like christmas..

its been 24 hours since we did all that... our greedy neighbours havent even bothered acknowledging!!! we even spent time thinking of appropriate things to write u know!

uninspired

2009-07-09T13:30:00.006+01:00

i've settled in my new flat comfortably now... too comfortably i suppose cos d only time i leave my flat is on sunday to go to church. i'm literally hibernating during summer!

i havent taken proper pics of my flat yet... still waiting for the new sofas to come in. i dont wanna take pics of the old sofa in which i refuse to sit on, cos... errmm.. i just dont wanna sit on it, leave alone take a pic of it! so, as soon as the new sofas come in, and as soon as i rearrange everything in the living room, u'll see y i refuse to leave my flat!

but here's a sneak preview:

my scheduled posts arent working i dont know y. last week i scheduled something to come up while i was busy moving n and unpacking, but it didnt work. even d last post didnt work.

i've got this sudden urge to read all my posts so far... i did start, n then i got bored! i wonder how so many of u managed reading it all along... or were u just scheming through??

whenever i see a shop (be it jewellery shop, clothes shop, restaurants, etc. etc) with my full name on it (which is very very often), i proudly tell ppl that its my shop. but i've never see a shop with my pet name before. never... till yesterday!

I've got a shop in Zermatt now! i'm so famous!!! HAHAHAHAHAHHA (its almost the same, just ignore the space between M and I) Apparently this shops sells backpacks n things of that sort. Abu said if i were to really open a shop of my own, knowning me i'd be selling handphones! and it'll be called CHUMI FIRST cos i'd use all the handphones myself first n then sell it! HAHAHAHA!!! (the materialist me never fails to show up!)

oh, i'm thinking of a change in carrier. i just realized that i've had the potential to be an excellent chef all along... and i'm soooo good at following cooking instructions! ahahaha. i seriously have to talk about my cooking skills... its been pending since last Nov....cos thats when i started serious cooking for the 1st time ever in my entire two n half decade of life! and talking about following cooking instructions, y cant recipes online or in cookbooks be as simple as Abi's!? Abi, u should write ur own cook book u know!

Another sneak peak:

FRIED VEGE NOODLES

1. Boil noodles and vege (d only remaining vege i had in my fridge was frozen spinach n green peas) for 3 minutes only, strain under cold running water (to stop the noodles and vege from cooking[i seriously didnt know that vege can continue cooking even after straining it!]) and keep it aside. 2. In another wok, heat oil, add onions and ginger garlic paste (either one if u like it that way), chilli powder, soy sauce, tomato sauce (according to taste). 3. add the strained stuff and cook for a couple of minutes. 4. u've got health friend noodles in 10 minutes. this one turned out PERFECT!

GREEN PEAS SAMBAL

1. Heat 4 tblspoon oil, add onions, ginger garlic paste, tomatos and green peas. 2. Cook till goldern brown, then add 1/4 cup of water, 2 tblspoon chilli powder and salt. 3. Cook for a few more minutes and its done. this one also turned out PERFECT (but i modified a bit myself. i didnt add water cos i used canned tomatos that already had tomato liquid)

PASTA

1. Boil pasta, strain n cold water and keep it aside. 2. Heat oil, add onions and garlic, tomato and green peas. 3. Add strained pasta, salt, chilli and maggie powder (if none nvm) 4. Can add chilli sauce and tomato sauce according to taste. this one not perfect cos i accidently added more oil to this thinking it was for the green peas sambal! :P but it still tasted really good, coming from a cook like me who buys ready made pasta sauce in bottles!

with the flat hunting, packing, moving, unpacking, sorting out, settling things, buying things, cooking, i've forgotten about my dissertation! ok,... it's not like i completely forgot. i didnt realize i spent 1 whole month not working on it seriously.. i've only got another month now. according to my planning (which i've quite obviously abandoned), i should have finished my entire research now, and started writting it last week, and complete it by the 1st of August, so that i can double check it n make changes here n there, and have it printed out and bound and ready for submission on the 14th of aug. wat have i done till today? i havent finished my research, forget about starting to write it!

next week today mum's gonna be here!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D

for an uninspired person, i did write quite a lot today.

this inspired me! :D (from Zermatt again)

the following paragraph says (almost) all about me

2009-07-06T20:50:00.001+01:00

I see myself dressed in Vera Wang, wearing Tiffany jewelery and Rolex watch, a Prada handbag filled with Louis Vuitton purse, Citibank credit cards, Iphone, Christian Dior sunglasses and make up kit, and BMW car key resting next to me. I'm sitting on a majestic high chair, made of platinum, gold, bronze and silver and decorated very expensively with carvings like those produced by Royal Selangor pewter, my head tilted upwards looking at the glorious sky with my mouth wide open, swallowing hundreds and thousands of Euros and Pounds and USDs.

no wonder my parents didn't have any other kids after me.

i just realized that i never spoke about my darling niece Nivedha

2009-06-30T22:09:00.001+01:00

ok, i promise i'm not gonna go on blabbering... its just the pics n ur own imagination. actually.. she doesnt need any explanation or talking , her pics will speak for themselves. but because i'm such a big mouth n because i cannot not talk, u'll see captions of my own here n there

PS/Disclaimer/Information: April pictures are of my own, while all the other pics have been shamelessly and unethically stolen

April

where's my ride?? i'm gonna be late for my fashion show!

i believe i can fly

i believe i can touch the sky

*sayang*

Tug of war!!

latest method to relieve tension while watching tv

the reader

do not disturb! i'm busy reading!

standard passport photo

looksie looksie

i swear her mum did something to her eye lashes! how can it be longer than mine!!?

healthy daily vitamin supplement

ooppssie... caught in d act!

Random pics/events/places

tights @ 6 months! amazing fashion sense

Santa's little personal elf

a few days old

i tot i saw a tweety bird!

shy ade ;)

Victoria Secret's next top Model

Victoria Beckham *seriously.. she has better class than some wanna-be*

Good morning, my little sunshine

Bagun pagi, gosok gigi, cuci muka, pakai baju

she likes d doll *yays*

*smile*!

June

peekaboo!

the little bookworm

dont mess with me when i'm sleepy! :( *puppy face*

Hepi bday to u, hepi bday to u, hepi bday dear gramma, hepi bday to u

baby steps

she pouts @ 10 months!! beat that! LOL

MY niece!! :D

somebody pls shoot me

2009-06-26T23:10:00.002+01:00

8 months, 3 flats n all this!