Last day of work for Ross

This morning I woke up, showered and headed out to Ikano for a waxing appointment. I had breakfast at Dome first and wandered around the shops for a bit before going to my appointment. Once that was done, I looked around a little bit more but then decided to head home.

Back at home I had a pretty boring day. I did a few bits and pieces on the computer and tried to start updating my CV but soon lost interest. I rented some movies off iTunes for the plane. I then laid on the bed and read my book until I had finished. It was a great series - all three books were good and I really enjoyed reading them. I had it when you finish a good series or book because you know the next thing you pick up will not live up to your expectations. I plan to read My Sister's Keeper next so then I can watch the movie.

By about 3.30, I was incredible bored so I text Ross to see what he was up to - no response. I sat on the couch and watched crap TV for a couple of hours until he came home. It was so nice to have some company again! We spent the night making portobello burgers, having a glass of red wine and watching Shawshank Redemption on DVD - a great show. It's so nice to have Ross back home.

Since I finished my book this afternoon, I started reading "Malaysia at Random"; a book that was recommended to us by the Millers. Maddie had gotten it as a going away present from one of her friends and it is filled with interesting and unusual facts about Malaysia such as the fine for killing a tiger is 15,000 ringgit and how to artificially inseminate an Asian elephant!

A productive Saturday

Although we slept in this morning, we were pretty busy for most of the day doing bits and pieces around the house. We drove out to Great Eastern and bought some cat litter and some food before stopping for a coffee at Starbucks.

Back at home we did some more chores and then spent the afternoon on the bed relaxing, reading our books. Of course we both fell asleep. I woke up about quarter to 6 and decided to have a shower and start getting ready for our night out. Ross woke up while I was in the shower and we both got ready to go to dinner out in Bangsar with colleagues from Ross' work.

About 7.20 we jumped in the car and drove out to Bangsar. The traffic was pretty good - we were surprised. We parked in the shopping center and then walked until we found the restaurant, Planter Jim's. A massive table had been booked and we were the first to arrive so we went down to La Bodega for a drink while we waited for the others.

After we had finished our sangrias, the table was starting to fill up at the restaurant. We sat next to Chris and Mary-Lou (Aussies) and Paul and Janet (Brits). It was a nice night with great food and company. It was good to meet more people that work with Ross as I hadn't met many before.

About 11, we headed home and again the traffic wasn't very busy. We fell into bed exhausted.

Facial day

Again this morning I woke up late. This time at 9. I watched TV in bed and got myself some yoghurt and berries which I also ate in bed before finally getting up at 11.

Around 12, I walked slowly down to Raffles City in time for my facial at SK-II Boutique Spa. I had been wanting to change my face care products for a while and I had heard good thing about SK-II so when I saw the spa, I though a facial would be a good way to see what the products are like.

The facial I chose was the 85 minute Senzational Facial. It included a 55-step face massage, eye treatments as well as hand and shoulder massage. It was pretty damn good! As I still felt like crap this morning when I woke up with a sore throat and sore sinuses, the facial was nice to relax and massage my face. The products seemed pretty good too so I asked them for some samples to try - which they gave me. The only bad bit about any facial is the extraction i.e. picking at and cleaning out all your pores and blackheads. It hurt and I was not really in the mood but she did manage to do most of my face but left my nose - the most painful bit. I walked out of there feeling relaxed and pampered.

I went down stairs and avoided the Soup Spoon today. I had lunch at the Hand Burger. It was delicious! I had the portabello mushroom burger which was basically a portabello mushroom stuffed with parmesan cheese, basil and other yummy stuff. It was impossible to pick up without it slopping all over the place so I ate my burger with a knife and fork - but it was worth it!

From there I started walking back to the hotel via the City Link mall and dropped into a pharmacy to pick up some drugs for my throat and sinuses. Back at the hotel, I spent the afternoon on the internet before getting my new book (the second in the Millennium trilogy - The Girl Who Played with Fire) and heading to the Coffee Bean.

I sat there for quite a while reading while having my decaf skim cappuccino. About 6, I decided to go on the hunt for some dinner. I really felt like spaghetti bolognaise so I settled for The Coffee Club which did a baked spag bog. It was pretty good but it came out completely covered in melted cheese so I scraped all that to the side and ate the pasta and sauce. I definitely satisfied my craving.

Back at the hotel, I watched some TV, took a nap and waited for Ross to arrive who was driving down from KL. He arrived about 10.30 and once he got up to the room we pretty much headed straight to bed.

A pretty lazy day

This morning I didn't wake up until 10 and didn't actually get out of bed until 11. The only reason I really got out of bed was that I had an appointment at 1.30. I watched some TV and took my time getting ready before walking down to Raffles City.

I went to Brow Haus to have my eyebrows threaded. They were super quick and although it was painful at least it was over in a hurry. They did a pretty good job. From there I went to The Soup Kitchen, again, for lunch. I just can't pass it up!

From there I wandered around more stores and slowly meandered my way back towards the hotel. I called into Zara and had a bit of a field day trying and buying winter clothes. I bought a beautiful black jacket and some light jumpers which will hopefully come in handy for our trip to Japan in February next year. I did feel a bit ridiculous trying on winter clothes when it was 32 degrees outside but it is best to get them while you see them.

I walked back to the hotel and had a coffee. I continued reading my book and it was hard to put down. Around 5 I started feeling really crappy. I had a major sore throat and was aching all over. So I decided to get room service for dinner as I didn't have the energy to go out.

I had a beautiful steak with some steamed veg and then got into my robe and laid on the bed watching TV for most of the night. Around 9 I got into bed and continued reading my book - this time I had to finish it so it was about midnight before I turned the light off.

If you get a chance, read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson - a great crime, thriller.

Off to Melbourne

Dad and I walked down to the cafe this morning for breakfast. After brekky we walked around the lakes and then headed back to the house. I spent the rest of the morning trying to get organized for Melbourne and also sort through the stuff in my room.

Once I was packed, I laid on my bed and read more of my book before having a shower and then heading to the airport. I was on a standby flight but I got a boarding pass easily. Dad and I had a coffee while we waited for my flight to board. I hugged Dad goodbye and headed to Melbourne.

I landed about 5pm and headed to the bar to have a drink and wait for Dee to finish work at 5.30. Dee picked me up and we drove home to her place. On the way, we drove down Acland Street and ran into her friend Kendra having a drink at one of the cafes with a couple of her friends. We drove home, got changed and headed back out to meet Kendra and her mates.

We chatted, had some dinner and a couple of drinks then parted ways. Dee and I headed home to her place to put on our PJs, watch some crap TV and catch up on things since last time I saw her. We were in bed reasonably early. It's nice to see a good friend again!

Out for dinner with Val

This morning I didn't do too much. I ran a few errands and then popped over to catch up with Donna before headeding home. At Donna's place, I met the newest addition to the family - Maggie (short for Magpie because she is black and white!). How cute is she! Only 8 weeks old, she came from a Border Collie breeder on Kangaroo Island. She is just adorable!

I spent the afternoon curled up on my bed reading Mao's Last Dancer. After seeing the movie, I thought it would be good to read the book. So far, it is pretty good - obviously there is a lot more detail than was in the movie and also it is nice because it is actually written in Li's own words.

We were going out for dinner with Val so around 5, he drove up to Elizabeth North and picked her up. On their way back, they picked me up and we drove over to the Maylands Hotel (again :-)). We had a drink in the front bar before heading through to the dining room for dinner. As usual, the food was fantastic but my only criticism would be that everything that comes out is smothered with sauce. I had salmon with potatoes and it was drown in a garlic cream sauce - far too much.

We chatted over dinner and Dad and Val each had sticky date pudding for dessert. I, of course, had my skim decaf cappuccino and no dessert as I am still on my detox diet. After dinner, we drove Val home and headed home ourselves. It was nice to catch up with Val again.

A super lazy Sunday

I made scrambled eggs this morning for breakfast for Dad and I. After brekkie, we walked down to Bunnings so that Dad could get a couple of things to finish his "Best Mobile Campfire Award" for his mate. Apparently, during one of the last scout camps, they had packed everything up and headed to the pub for some lunch. They went inside and ordered and shortly after they heard someone shouting about a trailer being on fire in the carpark. They went out to have a look and sure enough it was their trailer! They had been using a smoker on the BBQ and although the fire was out, obviously there were a couple of live embers that sparked up as they drove down the road. Apparently it was quite a fire! The publican even called the fire brigade. Hence the award for his mate.

So we walked down and found some paints and a plynth for the "mobile campfire" to be mounted on (see photo) before walking home. Dad headed up to Woodhouse again and I took up my position on the couch with my book and blanket (still bloody cold!). I whiled away the afternoon reading and watching the SANFL and NRL Grand Finals before Dad got home about 6. I had just put the lamb roast on to cook as he got home.

About an hour and a half later, we sat down to a good ol' Sunday lamb roast with roast pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots and broccoli, brussel sprouts and onion. Yum! So this detox diet is not all too bad when you can still eat a roast! I just couldn't add any sauces, mustards or gravies but that's no big deal.

After dinner we watched The Full Monty before heading to bed.

Although Sonja and I had played phone hockey for most of the day, she left a message to say that he was doing well but there was a slight chance that he would need to have another surgery as his lung was still bleeding. If that is the case, he will lose some of the lining of his lung.

Health and Fitness Check:

Weight: no idea but at the naturopath I was 70.6kg

Exercise:

Walking: 30mins + 40mins + 30 mins + 40mins

Reading day

Today I pretty much spent the whole day in my PJs reading my book. I finished one - A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon - and got about a third of the way through a new one - The Time Traveler's Wife. It was great to actually spend the day reading; something I haven't done for a long time.

Ross came home about 5.30 so I finally took a shower and we walked over to KLCC for some dinner. We went to California Pizza Kitchen and had their Ramadan special. We split half a miso salad and a chicken tandoori pizza - yum - then enjoyed our complimentary ice cream, dates and special Ramadan drink (basically apple juice with jelly bits in it). It was a great meal for 45 RM.

We went up to the bookstore and Ross picked up a new book (I picked up a trashy magazine) and we walked home. On the way we noticed the kiddies water area had been renovated and was now all lit up (see photo).

I read more that night before falling asleep.