WTF moment
I went shopping last night for something for Mr A. I was paying for some cologne and waiting for the lady to gift wrap it for me (its his birthday coming up) and I see this rather nice looking guy come in… as I am waiting I notice that this guy is clearly an Arab…
So I watch him smelling fragrance after fragrance… I watch his other half (I am assuming as the wife – lets take a positive approach here people) who looks like a heavily made up Egyptian actress (seriously, I like black liquid eye liner as much as the next ethnic girl but this looked like she was trying to give Amy Winehouse a run for her money!). My theory on them being Arabic is proven correct as I hear him say something to her (in Arabic)
Anyway he is now paying for said cologne and I see on his arm a huge… TATTOO!!
That read: Mahmoud – his name (I knew it was his name as he’s wife/partner had called him that)
I mean really!!
What can I say?
I mean why do you need a tattoo of your name on your forearm?? In case someone thumps you over the head (I was more than bloody tempted) and you get amnesia at least you’ll know what your name is?
Disclaimer: Susi, before you even think about saying that I have a sticker on the back on my car that has my name on it so really I am not one I talk let me advise that this sticker has aided me on many an occasion in finding my car in a crowded car park – that’s my story and I am bloody sticking to it!
Then I start to wonder – what would his mother think? I mean, he has this ‘thing’ on his arm which essentially will be with him forever… of his name…
He should have tattooed “twit” instead.
No, I’m not going on a holiday
I spent my Saturday with my mum; I swear that she acts totally older than what she really is… and although I believe that with getting older you do forget that my mum is making it seem worse that what it is.
I spoke to my uncle the other day about mum heading off to see them for Ramadan and Eid; he was totally ok with it and told me that my cousin was coming over from Qatar so it’s going to be a full house (he has 5 kids and my uncle has 4)! I had told mum that I would be looking at tickets this week and making sure that it was an open ticket (as per her request) so she could come and go as she pleased.
Imagine my frustration when my mum says “is work ok with you going on holiday for maybe a long time?”
I sat there thinking ‘what the?????’ and asked her what on earth she was talking about; she explained how it was going to be really nice the 2 of us heading off on holiday again together…
“Um, mum – I’m not going… remember? I said that I was spending Eid here and that Mr A and I were going to go to the mosque all together; the 3 of us – but that since you don’t want to come with him there you thought it was better for you to go on holidays? So I said I’d organize it all? Remember how you said you wanted an open ticket”
Mum: so you’re not coming with me? Why?
Me: no mum – you know this already….
Mum: oh… ok then – so when do I go?
Sheesh!
I’m sorry but I couldn’t resist…
I took a risk at lunchtime today and decided to brave the elements and head into the mall for a little walk/window shop…
About a week-ish ago I bought some basic long sleeve tee’s (the perfect scoop neck) in that gorgeous knit style cotton and wool blend. They are perfect with jeans and rather nice in the black for work. I saw a few of them on display again today and thought maybe I should grab one more; I mean they’re a staple – I’ll wear them this winter and next winter and even on some cold spring days… really – I’d be a fool to not buy another one!
So I go to the counter to pay for the top (in gray – yes, another) and the shop assistant tells me that tomorrow the shirts are being marked up by 50% because sales at this price have been really strong…
I hate to admit it but I ended up walking out with three instead of one…
I now own 6 of the same shirts in 4 different colours!
Sheepish about my shopping!
My ‘lil Ode to Jakarta, Indonesia…
Growing up I used to go to Indonesia more often that I can count; I grew up eating and smelling Indonesian foods and now that I’m not living with my mum I’m amazed at how much stuff I have managed to pick up from just watching her.
I think about the next time I’m going to head over there and am so excited at the prospect at bringing Mr A there; of showing him the places I go to each time I’m there; walking down Jalan Sabang; a street known for all its little restaurants and roadside vendors; taking him not just to all the pretty malls and they have but also the ghetto part where things are so cheap! Eating satay at a stall by the side of the road… having bubur ayam (chicken rice porridge) for breakfast… eating at the Padang restaurant… having pempek with udang goreng (fried shrimp)
Whilst blog surfing (I was actually looking for a recipe for an Indonesian layer cake – the search is continuing; I am asking mum for her recipe this weekend) I stumbled across this blog: http://selbyfood.blogspot.com/
Her pictures had me YEARNING for us (Mr A and I) over to Jakarta NOW!!! To soak up the atmosphere and taste the foods… while looking at some of the pictures I was transported back there… it had me on the phone to him right away
But before all of that here’s a small taste of the Jakarta that I can’t wait to show Mr A;
We’ll start with Jalan Thamrin:
Jalan Thamrin: i have NEVER seen it this 'quiet' before!
Remember I mentioned Jalan Sabang?
jalan sabang; i can already smell the foods & hear the noise!
And some food:
Bubur ayam (chicken rice porridge) for breakfast anyone?
The Bubur ayam cart - this is fresh!
How about some Mie (noodles) for a quick snack?
& here's the cart it came from!
How ‘bout we stop at a Padang restaurant for lunch – my treat?
Padang restaurant selection: where you only pay for what you eat!
Some fruit to ease the heat/chilli on the tongue?
I am craving Rujak Buah (fresh cut fruit with a chilli, peanut and palm sugar ‘chutney’)
How’s this for a portable/small business? Jalan Sabang is great!
Some freshly made serabi cakes to take back home?
Let’s get 10 ‘kue ape’ (ape cake) to share? They’re so delicious!
Then later on we’ll have ‘pempek’ after dinner?
Don’t even get me started on all the shopping malls…. Maybe I’ll do them next?
Here’s one to get you started – Plaza Semanggi (at night)… *sigh* ahh shopping; how I miss the Zara store…
Plaza Semanggi (at night)
Bring on “the search”
Jeans... glorious jeans!
I think I need a new pair of jeans – let the searching commence…
Has anyone else noticed how hard it is to find a decent pair of jeans when you’re looking for them? You try on pair after pair after bloody pair and still nothing! So much so that you need to commence the search for said jeans before the current pair are past said expiration date!
Hence why I need to start the search from now; so it’s not a mad ferocious “this’ll do” pair that I will unhappily wear for a week before recommencing said search (again)
So what are your favorite pair of jeans? Do you have a brand that you swear by fit every time? How about a cut or wash?
Mr A is extremely fussy with his denim; its actually a little funny and perhaps a little disturbing at the amounts of ‘moolah’ he is willing to dish out for a decent pair of jeans! The last time he bought jeans he paid (AUS)$350 for a pair… which is probably why he thinks the last pair of jeans i bought were more than reasonable! Lets not even get me started on how many pairs of jeans this guy owns…
For the longest time I loved bootleg and could not be swayed from them – to try on a pair of skinnylegs seems madness; I was certain that they would not look right on me. And now; although i still love my indigo bootlegs and my ‘distressed’ bootlegs (which work so well with everything) there is something that lures me to my skinnyleg jeans (especially when teamed with some ballet flats and a slightly longer & looser top).
What’s your demin preference?
All this & she cleans too!
Well, well; what a weekend it has been – hope you’re all happy this Monday morning people. There is some possible good news to come this way very soon so stay tuned. I will say that it’s not a set wedding date (as I assume this will be what you’ll all jump to) BUT I will say that this news is probably as momentous and brilliant as that!
Now onto my Sunday; I went and caught up with one of the girls I had previously worked with. We had a lovely time eating a delicious Tapas style lunch and finished off with a steaming hot cup of coffee then did a little walking/shopping/talking.
Yesterday Mr A’s uncle arrived from Queensland (he’s here for the next 4 or 5 days) and I thought I would create a delicious but quick meal for their family; so I got to Mr A’s place at about 4ish (PM) and let the creations commenced; I made 2 mains – a chicken curry (which had to have potatoes in it as the last time I made a curry Mr A was all sad that it didn’t have4 potatoes in it) served with fresh parata’s as well as rice (so people have some choice) and a seafood mee goreng (so quick and easy; fried Indonesian style egg noodles). I then quickly wilted spinach & Choy Sum (Chinese veggie) in a pan with some oil, fried onion and sliced garlic and popped in a little fresh chilli (*hhmm; I love the fresh flavours this has when I serve it with a squeeze of lime; but as I didn’t have any last night we had to go withoutL*).
I even made an entrée – can you believe it? I was totally in the zone! I made some little fritters with a dipping sauce made of palm sugar, crushed garlic, with chilli and a bit of tamarind paste).
Well as you can imagine the uncle loved it – and Mr A sat there enthralled that I had managed to cook all of this within such a short space of time! The meal was a huge success with everyone helping themselves to seconds; we all helped clean up and then chilled for a bit. I got up from watching TV about ½ an hour later and got started on a delicious Arabic date and semolina dessert with delicious rose water syrup (thankfully I had already made that earlier and it had been sitting in a bowl cooling down.
I got given a wonderful compliment from Mr A’s uncle at the end of the night that was actually given to Mr A that he later told me about;
Uncle: when she cooks does she always cook like this?
(*note: I will happily cook for Mr A and the family about twice weekly and always make sure I’ve cooked enough for Mr A and his folks to have seconds + leftovers for lunch the following day*)
Mr A: Pretty much; I think she made a little more than usual because you were coming
Uncle: And she makes dessert too?
Mr A: Yeah – she likes cooking; sometimes we’ll make something together though…
Uncle: Does she clean up after?
Mr A: Yeah – she’ll wash the pots and pans while everything is either simmering or in the oven; she doesn’t really use the dishwasher.
Uncle: Congratulations son; you’ve done well!
Hehehe – I don’t know if you’re going to want to slap me across the head for moving the feminist movement back about 50 years but I was literally actually rather happy by this comment… Mr A told me that he was stoked that by it also saying that he was more than happy with his future ‘wifey’…
What can I say; in some ways I’m a traditionalist… I guess when its in you; its in you…
washing ‘the straight’ out of my hair
I went to the hairdressers yesterday (I left work a little early so I would beat the hordes); I spoilt myself and totally enjoyed their massage chairs *bliss* and got my hair cut (just trimmed with some new layers put into it), colored (not as red as I thought it would be so I will need to do it again soon as I now have an image in mind of what I want – finally and will be steadily working towards that!) and blow-dried out so that I now have a side-swept fringe and slightly wavy on the bottom.
So I went to see Mr A after; his only stipulation about going to the hairdresser was to not get it cut; to trim by all means but not to cut the length out of my hair. I seriously do no understand why he gets all worried at the thought of me having short hair… its madness I tell you! its so funny because now that I have the courage and gusto to want to cut it off he’s telling me that he knows that I don’t want short hair for the wedding… damn him for knowing that that would stop me for going anywhere near my hair with scissors! As I was saying; I went to go see Mr A and he didn’t like it L
He liked the colour (thankfully) and he liked that I kept the length but he didn’t like how it was dried straight and NOT curly…poor guy wanted to know if I would be washing it out that night! I was like “I just paid $130 for this… I am not washing it out tonight…”
Apparently he dislikes my ‘straight’ hair so much that he is more than happy to give me $130 to wash it out tonight… bless him; I told him that if he dislikes it that much that I will wash it out tonight after work (and that I don’t want his money clearly the hair colorant has gone to my brain) – I’m not too sure if I really like it myself (the straightness of it) so am not particularly phased about washing it out… that and the fact of having to take a (hair) straightener to it every morning for the next few days fills me with dread (not to mention the fact that I will be walking in fear of rain ‘kinking’ my hair into a frizz-ball when I go to lunch); what can I say – I am not as high maintenance as you imagine!
Meanwhile if I did cut my hair I would want it to sort of look like this;
- I like the way it looks curly!
SO low maintenance!
But I would not have a ringlet dangling from the middke like that – that would totally annoy me!
What do you think?
