all things pink

been going through a pink overdose phase lately.

it's just that, pink's too pretty.
and catchy.





bimbo much.
rar, i'm still re-adjusting.

you spoil me silly.

i miss.

s

i long for.

Publix, where working is a pleasure.

"When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires

Will come to you..."

The magical world of Disney. an escape from reality. a fairytale dream come true. my childhood dream came true, at the age of 21, not too shabby ey? (: I love Disney. but i felt like i've grown too old to believe in the magical stuff anymore. the distinction between the younger me who used to believe in happily ever after and forever love, i've now grown to believe what adults do, the complicated world. the only constant happiness in life is Oreo chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. but i'm contented for now, because i know the world is still filled with love. and that lil' heart of mine is still very much loved. afterall, love is what makes the world goes round.

it's been around two weeks since I've left Bonita. just when i get accustomed to the quaint lil town by the beach, it's time to travel. left with a heavy heart, and took alot of memories with me. this is how life is, and it taught me how to appreciate things more than I used to.

So here's where I slaved for three and a half months. I practically live, eat and sleep there. Ok, I'm exaggerating but it's close to being it. this is where I bike 5 miles to work, and stand for 8 hours, pushing carts and bagging for customers asking, is plastic ok? :p Endurance is really the key factor, trust me. but Thank God for the blessings. My colleagues are such a nice bunch, who constantly offer rides home so that I don't have to bike another 5 freaking miles. and alot of other lil' favors that they so generously throw in.

appreciation cake. yes I actually baked.
just cause people have been so nice and generous over here.

this is will. he's the asst. customer service manager.
he's cool like that. (; sho sad he left before me.

linda! (; asst. store manager!!

who's such a darling, super motherly. there was this occasion where me and Venbee were mopping the floor and she goes, "you should twist your hips so that you get better waistline." she's just very very nice. (:

Eric. although he looks more like a Nick to me.
the store's fastest leveler. and i secretly think he looks manly.
haha. maybe cuz of his personality, and his blue eyes. (:

one of the bakery guy who whips up the best looking cakes and pastries ever. one of the contributing factor to my round face now. BOO.

Rikki and Frankie!

Janet, my mamasita.
One of my favouritest (yes it's grammatically incorrect I know) cashier. Heh, although there's some language barrier, but oh i love her. (:

Rikki. The customer service team leader.
Her laughter is seriously contagious. (: heh the coolest team leader ever. Which boss will host a drinking party after work? Rikki. and we'll all just release work stress with beer and the coin game. good times indeed.

Frankie, my customer service manager.
Thank you for always adding hours for us, and for dropping us home and all.
It's been awesome having you as manager. really.

Mary. (:
Remember the incident where I slammed my fingers between the door? That gory image you can actually see if you scroll down. She drove me to the hospital, and to Burger King to get my insurance done, and waited patiently for me whilst I get my X-ray and needle poking session done. she's also the one who take care of those new on the job.

Ann!!! (;
Haha one of the sweetest cashiers ever. She even borrowed me a cake pan for me to bake a cake. We would so often get into conversations, especially on the topic of food. When a customer checks out with a fried chicken in hand or any particular cakes or pastries from the bakery she would always tell me how good they were. Bad influence much!

Leo! ;p
tsk he's funny. going on with his chicken butt jokes and whatnots. He's one of them who never fails to offer us rides home, and that includes bringing my bike along. (: A darling much.

Everett!!

My fellow bagger friend who's already aged old but still as strong as ever. I salute you.

Crisbel!!! <3>

Leveling in process: arranging product brands to face front.
Every single day. It's a crazy OCD job, but I actually like it.
maybe cuz I have a hint of OCD in my blood. just maybe.

Kimmie, who so kindly loan me books to read and every so often would give me chocolate candiesss. ;p

Junior, my store manager. He may look very serious, but he's really nice. (:

Rodrigo and Lupe. My crazy Deli friends. ;p
Sneaking chicken tenders free for me and stuffing my tray so full when I actually ordered something. heh, i heart them so.


More bakers!! (;
Fernando, the guy on the right is awfully sweet.
He's the one who's been feeding me with chocolate chip cookies and offering rides too.
Sigh, I miss them all.

Randy, the Deli manager. :p
haha my partner for slicing his fingers. LOL.

Hector De Jesus. ;p
My silly friend. who do crazy things. and makes me laugh. and for being my guardian angel. and so many other things. Gracias.

I wished I had pictures with the rest of my co workers. ): It's so sad I left so abruptly just like that. It had been a great three months, although the job wasn't the best job in the world, the people made it enjoyable. this is my locker, the lil remnants I'm leaving behind as an imprint. ;p

My working chapter in the US was a crazy one.
One of those fun unique chapters in my life.
with many lil' tales slit in between, I hope I'll be able to remember and share them one day.

Finding comfort in a foreign country

I miss my piano, the black and white keys my fingers used to run along every alternate day. Even though those fingers aren't the most agile ones, they look pretty great together, good enough. Although now if they were to reunite I'm quite certain it might not blend in as well as it used to. Not till they find more time together. The question is.. will they find time? Or will they just let time fade the special bond they once use to have. No one knows. No one will find out, not just yet. Only time will tell..


Been meaning to update this space here since ages ago. Like how I meant to update my thoughts on bidding farewell to Bonita Springs, my experiences in the USA, happy thoughts, travelogues... but I've been procrastinating aside being busy. In short, I think I've grown alot these past few months being here, mental wise. Being a bachelorette can be tons of fun, but with freedom comes responsibilities. For now I'm ready to be pampered again. I miss getting pampered. At the very least we're getting pampered by Ju's aunt now, who's been so hospitable towards us. For once in the US this is the closest we're getting to taste that bit of homeliness. Seeing the day we arrived the temperature in Maryland was freezing, being welcomed by a brimming hot bowl of home cooked Penang Hokkien Mee after a crazy flight was one of the best thing anyone could ask for. :p

Anyway, if all goes according to plan, tmr we'll be going for a massage session (I'm so looking forward to it!) followed by breakfast at the Dutch market, mmm I can already imagine that beef with cheese wrap in a pretzel (Ju's craving for three days in a row). :p That said, we might even be heading down to the outlet malls to do some decent shopping since DC has one of the lowest tax rates compared to the other states we're visiting. I am pretty pumped up for tomorrow's plans, albeit the body is a lil' bit reluctant cuz it's defense mechanism is slowly falling apart at the moment.

Tata for now. I need to do some justice to my body.

sweet

(:

Things I appreciate in life.
Lil' things.
Muchas gracias.

"So, what's your dreams?" He asked.
"Honestly, I don't know. It's blurry now. Nothing's clear anymore..."

I just want to live life one moment at a time.
For now.
Enjoy the beauty of a sunset, and soak in the hardship of life as a platform to climb.
After all, nothing's definite in life.

You're my inspiration.

transition in progress.

it's a love hate relationship.
1o more days.
Time flies, doesn't it?

who would've known?

So I've heard about ppl complaining about how hot the weather back in Malaysia is, and I am, opposite the globe, complaining about how cold it is. Literally. Freezing. Sunshine state is never supposed to be that cold! As I'm typing this I'm bundled up under my Snuggie (Haha, yes Ju and I actually bought it) , with two layers of clothings on.

Work has been pretty good. It's such a repetitive job, the service industry, but the people and positive thinking makes the day pass by. For all who don't already know, I'm on a work and travel program, catered to university students who're interested to learn about the US culture. There's two companies in Malaysia who offer this program at the moment, Speedwing and Out of The Box. I came with the latter, but do check out both companies to score the job that best suit your interest.

Right now, I'm stabilized in Bonita Springs located in the state of Florida. Currently attached to Publix, a grocery outlet. I work in the customer service department, as a bagger, or a nicer name would go as a customer service clerk. Ha ha. My job involves putting groceries in plastic/ paper bags for customers, pushing carts back to where it's supposed to be, basically, customer service. Don't go 'omg what kinda job is that' because people here grocery shop ALOT, and I meant alot to the point the groceries sometimes equate to two cartfull. The store is currently very busy lately because all the snowbirds are down here, and it's a cluster of human jam. It's nice to be kept busy though, working hours seems to pass faster. One day I will post up the picture of my uniform, which isn't too shabby but i would love to do without the apron.

It's been two months into the job now, and I've experienced the good and bad of the job. Things like pushing carts around sunset simply is amazing, because the splendors of colors in the sky is beautiful at that time. Occasionally you get to chat up with nice customers who tell you about their plans in the evening with the groceries they bought, and these things makes your job more interesting than it usually is. Getting tips is sweet even though I'm not officially allowed to. Cleaning the store at night ain't that fun, but walking pass those aisle of goods while mopping isn't all that bad, I love America's grocery shopping. Everything is so instant, so easy. The coffee aisle is one of my favorite to mop, the heavenly smell of fresh ground coffee is intoxicating. Mmm. Biking to and fro from work is honestly pain for me, but I guess it's giving me the exercise I need for the amount of food I'm consuming over here. And occasionally lifts home from colleagues are cool. (: Just y'day we packed three bicycles, a scooter and six people into a MPV, just to get us and our bikes home. How cool is that. ;p

Being the workaholic I am, I scored a second job at Burger King, just to pass my off days, and earn extra dough. I work as a cashier in Burger King, and it's honestly pretty fun. I actually like my job. I love how busy the food industry can get, how demanding it is, but how you can put satisfaction in people's face, because there's this invisible bond between people and good food. It's a multitasking job, especially when you're working the drive thru. It involves filling up the right drink in the right cup size for the customer, getting the right food (picky customers, no lettuce, extra tomatoes, no mayo... ) , collecting money... at the very same time you have to take the order of the next customer in line at the drive thru. Pretty insane during busy hours. The only thing about Burger King is all the employees speaks Spanish, gosh I feel like I'm exposed to Mexican culture more than the US culture over here. It's so diverse. Which reminds me, I really need to buck up a lil' bit on Spanish if I want to make the effort to know my colleagues. Best perk of this job? Getting a double cheeseburger with bacon and mayo, add onions no pickles (yes, I'm picky too) at only a whopping 53 cents!! :D Es Bueno!

I've been enjoying myself at the expense of my sleeping time. Just yesterday night we had a game of poker with a twist, the bet being sips of beer instead of the regular poker chips. It was pretty insane when the bets were raised to crazy amount of sips. The worse thing is when you lose. But it was all good fun. Even got to drive on the left hand side to McDonald's at 4am to grab our one dollar breakfast burrito, although I wished they had sausage Mcmuffin at that time.

Another thing about living on your own, you have to settle your own food. Either you eat out, or take frozen, or cook. Since I came here, I've been cooking more than I've ever did in twenty years. Dead serious. I think no one can imagine me and Ju dissecting a whole chicken. It was pretty comical watching us do it. You should've seen the squeals and expressions. Haha. But look at the end product of one of our cooking! Doesn't it look pretty good?

Baked Chicken

(for two)

Cooking time: 30 mins

2 leg quarters
1 packet of Baby Carrots
1 packet of Spinach
Italian Seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce
Barbeque Sauce

If you're tight on budget and tight on time, this would do good. (: Marinade the chicken with salt, pepper, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, barbeque sauce, italian seasoning.. anything you prefer, to your own liking.

Place marinated chicken in oven dish, and pour the excess marinade into the dish. Throw in carrots and spinach. Potatoes would taste good too. Heat oven to 300 degrees, and just wait patiently. Don't forget to turn your chicken over from time to time so it won't get burnt.

Glaze with butter or honey when it's cooked.

Voila, bon apetit! (:


Ju and I were just randomly talking about opening a restaurant with the name: Everyday's a Suprise! to which we'll serve whatever we feel like cooking. Haha, pretty ambitious for two ppl who know close to nothing about cooking. Tsk. Well, at the very least the kitchen is still hanging in there, not burnt yet! ;p

Turrah for now! I'll try to update more from time to time, if work isn't dating me all the time! :p

A million miles away...

... from home.

My first CNY away from home.
A valentine.
Long distance phone calls.
Mailss. ;p
Webcamming with the family makes me smile. (:

I have so much thoughts to share.
For memory keepsake.
Or just to open up that reserved self.

But I'm so drained doing my daily routine.
Taking two jobs is tiring, as much of a workaholic I can be.
I'm not complaining.
I love life.
Traveling starts in two months time.
Bliss.


Here's a pretty gory picture of the price to pay for being clumsy.

The other side of the finger is in worst shape, but I'll spare you all the details.


Cute picture to remove the gory image from your head.
After Valentine's sale. USD 1 toy. Sho cute.

G'nite world.