Last post of the year!!

This morning, Ross and John headed out to finish off the shed. ABout 9.30, Ross dropped me into the city so I could wander around the shops. It was a beautiful day and still pretty quiet when I first arrived. I looked in a couple of stores and then headed to Myer. I looked at a lot of clothes although they had been completely picked through. I did however find 3 pairs of shoes that I ended up buying - the start of my spree!

I did a bit more in Myer before heading into the Myer Center. I wandered about there for ages and bought a few pairs of shorts which I needed as my old ones don't fit anymore. I tried on some jeans but none were doing it for me. I finally stumbled back out into the daylight and down one of the side streets in the mall where I found General Pants Co. I grabbed two pairs of jeans - one Levis pair and one from Sass and Bide. I tried the Levis first - no good - but the Sass and Bide jeans were perfect! I was so excited to find a really nice pair of jeans although they were the most expensive pair I have ever bought.

By this time it was around lunch time so I had a little pit stop at a sushi train to refuel before heading to Target for everyday necessities like underwear etc. Ross rang me and said he was on his way back from having lunch with his mate Scotty and he would pick me up so I wandered around for about 10 minutes more before meeting him and driving back towards John's place.

On the way I gave John and Caz a call and we agreed to meet at DFO near the airport to do some more shopping. We wandered around the various factory outlet stores and I ended up with 3 more pairs of shoes including a pair of black boots from Rivers that I got for $20 and a pair of light weight and water proof walking shoes from Colorado. Ross also picked up a pair of leather slides for next to nothing.

BY about 4.30 we were exhausted and headed home. We sat outside with a drink and some snacks before deciding to head out to find a pub so we could play some pool. We drove to the Newmarket Hotel which didn't have any pool tables but we had a couple of drinks anyway. From there we drove into the city and ended up in the Valley where we found an Italian restaurant for dinner.

It was quite a sidewalk show sitting there eating and watching the crowds of people walk past. It kept us entertained for ages. Eventually we decided to move across the road to the pub which did have pool tables. We staked our claim on one of the tables and proceeded to play pool for hours. It was not that busy in the pub which was good and the DJ was cranking out classic 80s tunes which was great! We ended up playing 7 games of pool - Ross and I won 4 although 2 of those were by default when John and Caz potted the white after the black. One game we still had 7 balls on the table and JOhn managed to sink the white after potting the 8 ball - hysterical!

About 11 we walked back to the car and tried to dodge the incredibly drunk crowds on the streets. We got home about 11.30 and put the TV on to watch the Sydney fireworks. Ross grabbed the sparkling wine from our visit to the Treehouses which we cracked at midnight. We watched the fireworks and then all of us headed to bed. It was a great night - Happy 2010!

Second day in the Hinterland

We were up super early this morning as the wildlife woke us up. We decided to get up and make the most of it by walking in the National Park to the Kondalilla Falls. Although it was drizzling rain, the walk was still really nice. It took us about an hour to walk all the way down to the base of the falls. They were over 180m high.

The walk back up was a bit tougher but still beautiful. We ended up walking for a total of 2 hours - so a good morning walk. Back at the room we showered and headed into Montville to find somewhere for breakfast. We ended up at Poet's Cafe, a cute old cafe overlooking the valley. The food was amazing!

From there we spent the day walking around the quaint little shops in the village. We bought some liquers for the family - passionfruit cream for Ann, Chocolate rum port for Dad and Jaffa liquer for John and Caz. We also bought some fudge at Fudgebombaas for gifts also. Believe it or not they made sugar free fudge so I picked some of that up for Ross and I.

After we got sick of walking around, we ducked into the bakery, picked up some sausage rolls and ice coffee and headed back to the room for lunch. Again we spent the afternoon in front of the cricket before heading out to make the most of the brief break in rain and fog to go to one of the lookouts. The first one we went to was pretty crap but on the drive back we stopped at the top of the ridge to get great views of the valley and farms. We stopped at Mapleton for a coffee and chocolaye before heading back to the room.

About 5, we headed out to the double hammock on the porch to chat and make the most of the surroundings. I headed back to the spa while Ross watched TV and then we got ready for dinner. We thought we would try this little French restaurant we had seen in Flaxton. Unfortunately it was completely booked out so we headed back to the Bar and Grill at Montviolle where we had a great dinner of snapper before heading home.

The recovery

This morning I got up and considering it was raining, I jumped on the cross-trainer for 25 minutes. It wasn't easy and I had sweated up a storm by the end of it. We had some breakfast and then headed to Chermside Shopping Center to hopefully go and see the new Sherlock Holmes movie.

We walked around for a while and then tried to get tickets but the upcoming shows were sold out. There were seats available at the 3pm show so John, Caz and Hazel headed home and Ross and I stayed to buy the tickets, wander around a bit more among the throng of Boxing Day bargain hunters and ended up in the pub watching the Boxing Day test match.

Just before 3, the rest of the family arrived and we headed upstairs for the movie. It was a packed cinema and the movie was pretty good. It left itself open to plenty of follow-on movies.

Back at home, we had (surprise, surprise) ham and salad for dinner. We played some Wii in the evening before heading to bed about 10 after a lazy Boxing Day.

Sunday roast again with different friends

We woke up late this morning and pottered around the house for a few hours. We then walked over to Pavillion to have a look at some furniture and also to pick up Ross some new shorts from Espirit. From Pavillion we walked via the convention center in time to meet Debbie and Dan at Chinoz for lunch.

It was nice to see them again as it had been quite a while - since the rug auction. We spent about 3 hours, chatting and eating outside. It was really nice. In the morning I had made Debbie a bracelet as a gift for Christmas. Coincidentally, it matched the top she was wearing. About 3.30 we parted ways and promised to catch up in the new year.

Ross and I walked home and spent the afternoon on the couch watching TV. Well, that lasted about 10 minutes before Ross fell asleep. I went and did some more beading and managed to create a pair of earrings that I had been wanting to try for a while using wire and beating it with a hammer to make a matte finish. I think they turned out quite well.

In the evening, we dropped over to see Sonja and Brian to give them their gift. We didn't stay for too long before we walked over to KLCC to look around for some DVDs and to buy some books and magazines. We ended up having dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen but we were both so exhausted that by the time we got home, I was ready for bed.

Ross packed for his trip to Vietnam and I laid in bed reading my news mags before falling asleep.

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.

Lunch with the girls

This morning, Sonja and I went walking around KLCC. We did a few laps and then headed home as Sonja had the moving company coming for a quote. After a shower, I drove over to Pavillion where I picked up a couple of things before stopping at The Coffee Bean for a coffee and scone.

Just before 12, I left and drove to Delicious. I was the first one there but before long, Kiki and Rimma turned up. Sonja was next and we moved to the table to catch up while waiting for Julia to arrive. Julia text her order through before she arrived so by the time she got there, the food was almost ready.

We spent an hour or so chatting over lunch. The place was completely full so it took forever to get our food. It was nice to see the girls again before the end of the year. We hardly see Julia now since she has started working and it would be the last time that Sonja would get to see Kiki and Rimma. I gave the girls their earrings that I had made for them which I think they liked.

Julia headed back to work and slowly we all made our own separate ways. Sonja and I didn't have anything else to do for the rest of the day so we thought we would go and have a look at the craft complex which despite being just down the road, neither of us had been to. It was basically just a bunch of shops selling traditional Malay crafts but there was also a small museum of textiles and ceramics. We wandered around for a while before heading back to the car.

From there we drove to AmpWalk mall to have a look in a couple of houseware stores and then finally we ended up at Great Eastern where we had a coffee at Starbucks before driving home.

Ross made us spaghetti for dinner and we didn't do too much for the rest of the night.

Working on "the list"

In preparation for the end of the year and also before we head back to Aus for Xmas, Ross and I have been making a list of all the things we need to do. This morning I did a few things on the list around the house before picking Ross up at 12 for lunch.

We drove over to Pavillion and went to a photo store so that Ross could have his picture taken for his work passes and things. The guy took us in the back room, pulled down a white backdrop and pulled out a dodgy old digital camera and took a photo of Ross, of which most was white background! I asked him if he could take one with a professional camera and with less background. He pulled out one of the display Nikon digital SLRs and snapped off a photo with awful lighting, shadows and still too much background. So we just left. I knew I could do that!

So after our misadventure, we went to Yo Sushi for lunch then bought Ross a hairbrush - also on the list - before I dropped him home.

I went home and did a couple of things before driving over to KLCC to pick up a present for Sonja and Brian. I ended up buying a pewter hand in a gesture signifying protection (hard to explain). But I figured it was Asian, from Malaysian and also pretty meaningful. I also picked up some Christmas cards - not easy to find - and a bit of food shopping before heading home.

At home I got busy organizing Xmas presents. I sorted out Dad's and Ann's as well as the Miller's going away present. I knocked up some gifts for the girls as we were having lunch tomorrow at Delicious and I wanted to give them some of my jewellery.

By this time Ross came home and we tried again to take a photo of him. I set up the tripod, pulled the curtains so it was dark and posed him in front of the white wall. We did quite a few shots (as you can see from the photo) but in the end we had a good one.

For dinner, I had made salmon patties which Ross cooked for us. They were pretty good and also used up more stuff from the pantry. In the evening I did some research into how to take good photos of jewellery. I realised that the best way was to have a light "tent" or box so I will have to get Dad onto this when he comes over in January.

Not much happening today

Today I felt a bit low so I hung around the house for most of the day. I watched crap TV, laid on the bed and generally just kept to myself. I did manage to get some things done like book our return flights from Japan and pay the deposit for our Cambodia trip.

About 3 Ross came home to meet the workman that came to look at the lights in the bathroom. As usual they were useless and basically after 30 minutes they left saying that they needed to get an electrician - no shit!

I dropped Ross back at the office and drove to Great Eastern. I picked up some contact lenses and tried to do some other things but it was all a little to hard so I picked up a sandwich from O'Briens and a coffee before driving home. I spent the rest of the day on the bed or on the computer.

Ross came home and cooked a tuna pasta bake for dinner while I busied myself with organizing my new beads. We watched TV and I did some more work on my jewellery blog (www.cheriesbeads.blogspot.com) before heading to bed.

Today's photo is of my earring tree.

Rainy Friday

This morning was supposed to be netball but we didn't have enough players and by the time I woke up it was pouring rain so we wouldn't have played anyway. We did however make plans to meet for breakfast for one last final goodbye to Sam.

I drove out to Plaza Damas early and did a quick bit of grocery shopping before heading to the Blue Cow to meet up with the girls. There were about 8 of us who made it in total. It was a nice morning and Dino, the Kiwi guy who owns the Blue Cow, sent us over two bottles of champagne because he knew Sam was leaving - how nice! Needless to say, breakfast lingered on until lunchtime.

As you can see from the photo, Sam liked her caricature that we had organized. It really is a great gift for someone who is leaving!

After "brunch", we had a walk around the shops as Sam wanted to buy a Korean medicine chest from one of the stores so we all traipsed down to look at the furniture with her. From there we all went our own ways.

It took me about an hour to get home - traffic was nuts! Normally it would take 15 minutes but I forgot it was Friday prayers. Anyway, I finally got home and for some reason I was exhausted. I put my PJs on and got into bed to read my book. Obviously this led to me napping for a couple of hours. I finally woke up about 4.

Ross surprised me by coming home early - about quarter to 5 - and we made chilli con carne for dinner. During dinner we watched Ross' favourite show - Wipeout Australia - and then played a long game of Upwords (which I won) before heading to bed.

A great day watching New Moon

I woke up with Ross this morning and text Sonja to see if she wanted to go walking around KLCC Park. I met her just before 8 and we walked for about an hour before having breakfast at Chinoz. We did a couple of errands before walking back to the apartment to shower and then head out again.

I met Sonja again about 10.30 and we drove over to the Gardens to go and see New Moon at the Gold Class cinemas. We bought our tickets and then went to have coffee at the Starbucks in Borders. Just before 12, we headed back up to the cinemas, made ourselves comfortable with our doonas and pillows and settled in for the movie. As you can see from the photo, we were the only ones in the cinema.

Basically, the movie, just like the first one, followed the book pretty well. This movie had a lot more action than the first but the acting and script writing was still pretty crap - laughable at points. But it was still a pretty good show.

After the movie, we looked around a few shops and then headed to Yo Sushi for some late lunch. We did a few more bits of shopping before heading back to the car and driving home.

I didn't do much in the afternoon and when Ross got home I was too tired to cook so he picked up a salad from California Pizza Kitchen for us for dinner.

As usual, we watched some TV before heading to bed.

Bits and pieces in Chinatown

This morning I woke up around 8.30 and got ready to head out. Before I went, I caught up with Daisy to ask her to do a few things around the house. Then I drove over to Pavillion where I had some breakfast at The Coffee Bean. All the Christmas displays were up. After breakfast I picked up some batteries and some vitamins for Ross before heading back to the car.

I drove to Chinatown and parked in the Central Market. Julia had asked me to get a caricature done of our friend and netball captain Sam who is leaving KL in a couple of weeks to go to Abu Dhabi. I found the caricature guy and dropped off a photo of Sam and also an example of a caricature netball player for him to copy. He said he would drop it off tomorrow at my house.

From there I walked to Peter Ho and picked up a couple of presents before going to a new bead store. They were selling tiny Chinese crystals so I picked up a bunch and also bought a display for my earrings in the shape of a palm tree (sounds cheesy but it is actually pretty good). I then headed down Petaling Street to try and find a back for my friend Kate but without success. It was like Xmas had thrown up in a lot of the stores along the back streets as they were all selling tacky Xmas decorations and gifts.

On my way back to the car, I picked up some orchids and had some lunch at Central Market. I drove home and spent the afternoon doing some beading before Ross came home about 6. We made mushroom and onion pasta with the 2 leftover portobello mushrooms. We watched some more TV and then headed to bed about 9.30.

Getting ready for the long weekend

This morning I slept in and then drove out to Ikano to do a couple of things. I went up to Strip to make a booking and had to wait a couple of hours for a slot. So I spent my time walking around the mall. I bought some underwear and socks for Ross at Debenhams and a pair of 3/4 denims for me at Espirit before stopping for some lunch at The Coffee Bean.

I walked across the road and stocked up on cat food and picked up some snack foods for the trip on the weekend. I dropped everything off in the car and then headed back up to Strip for a bit of maintenance.

I drove home and spent the afternoon not doing too much just waiting for Ross to get home. He was pretty late home from work so about 8 we drove over to KLCC and had dinner at the Thai restaurant. It was pretty good.

We drove home and pretty much went to bed.

Chinatown

This morning Ross headed off to the Singapore office for a few hours and I headed out for a walk. I thought I would go and try to find the beading stores in Chinatown. I walked up a couple of blocks until I got up to North Bridge road and then walked south until I crossed the river onto Sth Bridge Road.

Just over the bridge I found numerous beading stores. They were all quite good but more expensive than those in KL. They did have some different beads though so I bought some cloisenne beads and some Swarovski crystal beads as well as a few other bits and pieces.

By this time, the rain had started so I headed into a mall on Clarke Quay. I had lunch at a Japanese restaurant overlooking the river while the rain poured down. Luckily, the mall connected straight to the MRT system so I caught the train back towards the hotel. I walked through the Citylink mall and picked up a little black skirt before getting back to the hotel about 4.

Ross got back about 4.30 and we chilled out for a couple of hours before going out for dinner. We thought we would walk down to the Robertson Quay area for dinner. We ended up at Indochine - a cool Asian restaurant with Thai, Laos, Vietnamese and other types of SE Asian food. We shared a great salad and some noodles overlooking the river.

We walked back to the hotel via the Esplanade and I ducked in to Mango to pick up a couple of little cardigans I had had my eye on. We got back to the hotel about 9 and watched TV until we fell asleep about 11.

Today's photo is of the ceramic mosaic in Dhoby Gaut MRT station.

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.

First day by myself in Singapore

Ross headed to the airport really early this morning. I stayed in bed until just before 8. I lazed about the room doing a few things online and having some breakfast. Before I knew it, it was midday. I walked down to Raffles City and had lunch at... wait for it... the Soup Spoon! It was getting a bit ridiculous now! From there I went up to the carpet shop to tell them where I was staying and when they could drop off our new rug. I had a look in a couple of shops before heading back outside.

I had looked up a few bead stores this morning so I went in hunt for one that I had read about. I found it and had a look around. It was a lot of the same stuff that I could buy in KL except they had quite a few different natural stones but they were quite expensive.

I walked back towards the hotel and had a coffee at the Coffee Bean while reading the new guide book on Tokyo that I had bought. I got back to the hotel and laid down for a couple of hours as my shoulders and back were sore from yesterday's workout - I think I over did it.

About 6.30, I decided I should go and find myself some dinner. I toyed with the idea of getting room service but it was just too expensive. I walked over to Marina Square and found the Food Loft food court. I bought some noodles with chicken for S$4.80 and a bottle of water for S$1.50 cheap as chips! I found a seat out on the balcony which had a beautiful view of the harbour.

After finishing my meal, I spent time walking around the mall. I bought some Luxe guides for some of the cities that I want to travel to next year and also bought one for Singapore. I had a coffee at Starbucks (which cost more than my dinner!) and read through a few of the guides before heading off again to look around the shops.

Once I had had enough of window shopping, I walked back to the hotel. I ran myself a bath and enjoyed a bit of quiet time reading my book in the bath before heading to bed.

A lovely Sunday in Singapore

We slept in this morning until 10 which was incredibly rare but not surprising considering tthe room had complete blockout curtains. We lazed around the room, had some breakfast and finally started to get organized to go out about 12.

We walked down to Raffles City and had a look around the stores. Again we had lunch at The Soup Spoon - it's just too good and easy! After looking around almost all the shops we wandered via the underground walkways to the Esplanade to go to the Cookie Museum which was shut yesterday because of the APEC summit.

We managed to get a seat at The Cookie Museum and ordered tea and a sampler plate of fruity cookies. They were really nice! Less sweet that normal cookies and much more natural flavours. The cookies also came with a side of fresh fruit. While we waited for our plate to arrive, a lady came over with a complete trolley full of mini cookies for us to try. We tried flavours like chocolate, orange and ginger, rose, lavender, nasi lamak, rum and raisin, and paw paw. We did get told off for taking photos inside the shop but by this time, I had already taken about 5 photos.

We walked back to the hotel in the open air rather than in the underground walkway. Back at the hotel, we rested for a little while before heading down to the gym. I tried the stepper/cross-trainer machine. It was tough but I worked hard on it for 20 minutes before doing some light weights. I then did some stretches which felt great. We were down there for about an hour.

Back upstairs we showered and got dressed and slowly walked back to Raffles City to have a drink at Brotzeit - a German restaurant and bar. Then we went next door to Double Bay, an Australian restaurant were we had amazing fish and chips, lightly battered barramundi (yum!) and a glass of savingnon blanc. We followed that with sticky date pudding. It was a great meal.

We slowly walked back along the road to the hotel. By this time, I was ready for bed so we read for a while before falling asleep.

A day in Singapore

This morning we took our time having breakfast in the apartment and looking at more hotels to stay in. But soon the noise was getting on our nerves so we headed out. We caught the MRT to Raffles City to find the rug store where I bought the rug from at the recent auction. Although I love the rug, being silk, the cats are going to destroy in no time flat and it is also a pretty small for our bedroom.

We found Eastern Carpets and I explained to the guy our situation. He said that he would be happy to exchange the carpet for us. We looked through a huge amount of rugs before picking two that we loved. One was just gorgeous but I knew it was too expensive for us. Such a shame because it was beautiful! But the other one we also loved and was much more realistic in price. So we arranged with the guy to have the new one dropped off and the old one picked up once we worked out where we were moving to.

We wandered around the mall and had some lunch again at The Soup Spoon. We caught the train back to the apartment and finally managed to find a great deal at the Pan Pacific hotel in the Raffles area. So Ross went to get our money back from the management and I packed up the bags ready for us to move out.

We jumped in a cab and headed to the hotel. They were a little surprised I guess because we had literally made the booking online 10 mins earlier but we were soon in our room - and it was so quiet! A great decision!

We relaxed in the room for a while and then about 4.30 we headed out for a drink and something to eat. We walked to the Raffles and had a Singapore Sling at the outside terrace bar before walking around the marina area ending up at Clarke Quay. It was too early for dinner but Ross and I were hungry so we had a bit of tapas at The Tapas Tree. We walked around the Clarke Quay area for a while before deciding to walk to the Esplanade Theatre area to try out The Coookie Museum - a place I have been wanting to go to for ages.

It took us forever to find out how to get to the Esplanade as all the roads were blocked due to the APEC summit. Even when we found a way in, the whole Esplanade was closed to the public - not happy! Just because Obama was coming in to town, the whole place was shut down.

So we started walking back to the hotel and ended up in Suntec City - another mall. We wandered around for ages deciding what to have for dessert. We stumbled across the Fountain of Wealth - the largest fountain in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. We were just in time for the multimedia show. It was pretty cool actually. They shined lasers on the fountain and showed a movie about Earth and the solar system. Not bad. It was over pretty quick and we moved on to find an icecream at Swensons before walking back to the hotel.

We had a nightcap in the lobby bar before heading upstairs to our room. We watched some TV then again I was exhausted and fell asleep.

Off to Singapore

This morning we woke up and got ready to go to the airport to catch our flight to Singapore. We had arranged a car to take us to the airport and we arrived a couple of hours early. We checked in at the computers and then dropped our bags and went through immigration to find Ross a book and to have some breakfast.

We had breakfast at Dome before taking the train back to the main terminal to go to our boarding gate. When we checked the board, we saw that the flight was delayed half an hour. We had a cup of tea at Harrods then finally managed to board our flight.

Once in Singapore, we headed to the Somerset apartments on Cairnhill Road. They had upgraded us to a premium 1-bedroom apartment which was nice. We went up to our room and sat down. It was so noisy! There was construction going on right outside the apartment and the windows and sliding doors did not seal properly. We weren't too happy. Ross went down to complain and see what they could do. They said that they had no other rooms but they would check with the other Somerset properties.

We had to get away from the noise so we walked around Orchard Road for a while and had a late lunch/ early dinner at the Soup Spoon - our favourite restaurant in Singapore! All of the Christmas decorations were out on the streets and also each shopping mall had been decorated in its own style. By the time we got down to ION, the lights were starting to be switched on - it was just beautiful! Singapore really know how to do Christmas!

We had a coffee at Starbucks and tried to use the internet to search for somewhere else to stay in Singapore but we had to pay for the wireless so we didn't bother. We walked back looking at all the lights - it was just gorgeous.

The APEC Summit was on in Singapore so the traffic was a bit nuts as they had closed off many of the roads for all the diplomats and leaders. We were hoping to run into Big Kev and Barack but no luck!

We walked back to the hotel and thank god the construction had stopped for the day. We watched some crap TV before heading to bed really early at 8. I was exhausted so I fell asleep soon after.

Poker-keno day

I went walking with Sonja at Lake Titiwangsa this morning. It was such a nice morning and it is a beautiful spot. We had a quick breakfast at Dome before I had to head home to do a hot turn in 20 minutes to walk out the door again to go to the chiropractor.

Today, Nick managed to crack my back really well and it felt much better. 15 minutes later I walked out and drove to Julia's place and pulled up at the same time she did. She raced in the door, got changed after her morning at Riding for the Disabled and we pretty much walked out the door again.

We drove out to Alison's place (a girl from netball) for a Poker-keno morning. We had breakfast and two glasses of champagne and orange before starting to play. We split into 3 groups of 9 with each person having a game card. The game is pretty much like bingo using playing cards - not exactly rocket science! They played it a little differently from what I was used to - basically the first one who got a line of cards won the round.

Alison had arranged 9 prizes per group. For the first round, whoever won got to pick a prize. On the second round, you got to steal everyone else's prizes if you won. I ended up with a metal Christmas wreath - not bad but definitely not worth the 150 ringgit it cost to play! The champagne was nice though.

We finished up about 1 and drove back to Julia's place. From there I headed back out to the Curve to exchange Ross' golf shirts then I drove straight home. I spent the afternoon doing nothing much before Ross got home just after 5.

We walked over to Pavilion and had dinner at Tony Roma's. I was craving a burger so we both had these massive burgers! Yum!!

We walked home and did some packing for our trip down to Singapore tomorrow before heading to bed.

Beading and Ross home!

This morning I got organized in time to head out to my second to last beading class. It was nice to see the other girls again and we spent 3 hours creating a wired pendant and some gypsy hoop earrings.

From beading, I drove out to IKEA again and had a look for some ideas to display my jewellery. I ended up buying some black frames and some off-cuts of fabric to cover the inside of the frame as well as some Christmas decoration hangers which I can use for displaying bracelets and necklaces. I also picked up a wire trash can which is an easy way to hang up my earrings for now.

I also dropped into the stationary store and found some plate stands, acrylic sign displays and a few other bits and pieces I thought would come in handy. The only thing I didn't find was a hot glue gun.

By this time it was 3.30 and I raced home to meet Ross who had just flown in from Vietnam. It was so good to see him again! He hadn't traveled for ages so having him gone for 6 days was actually quite long. We spent some time catching up on things before we had to head out to our golf lesson.

Out at golf, Eric worked with both of us on different parts of our swings. I was finally starting to get it now and hit some beautiful shots! Ross wasn't doing too bad either. Eric took me out on the putting green and showed me how to putt. This was the first time I had had anything other than a 7 iron in my hand since I started taking lessons. I was pretty proud when I got two balls straight in the hole!

We were pretty pumped after our lesson. We drove to KLCC and had a pizza at California Pizza Kitchen then headed home. We pretty much fell into bed. So nice to have Ross home again!