In Motion

Right now, every bedroom in our home is occupied. It's a bit of a change, but not necessarily in a bad way. The house is definitely more lively now, and it helps that both tenants are friendly, considerate and helpful. It's also super nice to be living with my best friend under the same roof. =P Amy's one of the tenants, and she's been here for about two weeks now. Over the past couple of weeks, we've caught up a lot on each other's lives and then some. It's great that I don't have to WhatsApp her if there's something I need to talk about. Talk about instant gratification! Typing on a QWERTY keypad as opposed to just verbal diarrhoea -verbal diarrhoea wins hands down. =P Coming home to good company is really not something I should take for granted. Before this, it was mostly just me and JW, and while JW is great company, female company is rather different. Conversations between me and Amy can go on for hours and we'll still find something t...

The countdown has begun. With less than 2 weeks to wrap up my life here, I've been trying to decide what to fill up my time with. Surprisingly enough, I generally feel like I've spent enough time with my friends here and there's not much urgency about seeing them one last time before I leave. Maybe that's a good thing - points to the fact that I've invested adequate time here growing relationships and there'll be no regrets. Everything is falling into place, and I am continually amazed at God's providence. Jia Wern got a job in Subang Jaya so we'll be based there for the next three years. When I look back on all the jobs we applied to during the job hunt, God's hand was evident in closing so many doors, either through never hearing back from certain companies or not even getting to the interview stage. Back then, it felt bizarre - why would anyone not consider a Duke PhD graduate for employment? JW even listed a salary way below what we were expe...

Today, I paid $25 (RM102) to have all four of my wisdom teeth removed under local anesthesia at Sarawak General Hospital. With an X-ray AND 5 different types of medications too. Take that, American dentists who charge $2500! Of course, I had the benefit of parents-in-law making the appointment for me in the first place, and even though there was a scheduling fluke on the dentist's side, I happened to know his son personally, and his son did it for me because I wasn't keen on going there again the next day. It's really  who you know, not what you know that will get things done. Side note: It's a weird feeling having someone you grew up with in Youth Group working on your teeth. =P I guess it's that season in life where all our peers are young professionals and we don't have to consult uncles and aunties as much anymore because our own friends are in those fields. All things considered, I was really blessed to have a super quick and complication-free extracti...

Sorry for the lack of updates on Kuching. I have priorities, like debating with my dad on every possible topic under the sun and steadily working through my "To-eat" list. In the mere three days that I've been home, I've checked char-kueh, yong tau fu, tau fu fah, satay, assam fish, pak lo duck and yam kueh and char siew pau off that list, and I'm not even halfway done yet. My super productive and efficient family members have also helped me check off many errands, like renewing my driver's licence, getting new specs and getting a dental checkup, among other things. In other words, it's been fun. =P I'm surprised at how easily I'm getting used to Malaysian weather. I can still sleep without turning on the AC, and a fan is really enough for those stiflingly humid afternoons. All this just goes to say that I definitely run cold instead of hot. Yay for a reprieve from the dry, chilly weather in Durham! Ironically, I also realized that I've f...

In two days, I'll be on my way back home. I'm pretty much packed already, but there are always things to pack/do that you can't until the very last minute, like skincare products and recharging your powerbank. Being me, I mentally check my to-do list and schedule every few hours just to be sure that I'm not missing anything. And then I mentally check myself - after all, my flight home is only going to take around 24 hours, so whatever discomfort I'm attempting to avoid by being prepared for all sorts of emergencies isn't going to last any more than a day. Gotta keep things in perspective, yannoe. =P Other than that, I'm pretty excited about flying home. It's going to be a great time of avoiding the cold, dry weather here, family reunions, good food and running errands. In that order. Oh, and wisdom teeth removal, although that definitely doesn't fall into the category of having a "great time". Ok, can't stay too long, gotta cr...

Brrr. Hurricane Matthew ushered in a cold spell, and I've been bundled up like nobody's business for the past few days. Even Jasmine spends most of the day hibernating, so it's not just me and my whiny self. A part of me is crying blue murder since I can't believe summer's ended. I even checked the weather forecast for the next 10 days, hoping desperately that it's going to get warmer. You can't blame me - hurricanes don't happen every day and this colder weather might just be a temporary thing. =P This week's not going to get much better, but I see a few spots of sunshine (read: >70 degrees Fahrenheit weather) next week. The last remnants of summer! I just bought some nice summer outfits on sale, so I'm still hoping for a chance to debut them. Speaking of which, end-of-season sales are the best time to shop for summer outfits. Summer clothes are really the only outfits that I should buy at this point, given that we're planning to go b...

A lot has happened since I last blogged. Jia Wern was away at a conference for four days, my toothache has finally stopped, and it is SO HOT nowadays. All I'm doing right now is sitting on the futon and blogging, and I'm sweating. Perhaps it has something to do with being on the second floor, closer to the sun and all. =P On the upside, I'm hoping we also stay warmer during the winter. I can handle the heat, but not the cold. The past few days have been pretty eventful even though JW was gone most of the time. I'm so thankful for friendships. Check out my schedule for the past few days: Wednesday : Dropped JW off at RDU Airport, movie night at small group. Thursday:  GoMentor with my mentee, dinner at Alice's with two other friends. Friday night: Completed my weekly Coursera homework, made pineapple tarts. Saturday: Went shopping at the Tanger outlets with Alice and Guan Wen, hung out with Jane and her husband later that evening. Sunday:  Went to the Brier ...

One of the running jokes that Jia Wern and I share is about how poor we are. We aren't POOR poor, but we definitely can't eat out a lot or buy expensive items. Ask any graduate student surviving on a stipend and they'll tell you it's definitely not a way to get rich quick. To be honest, though, I must say I lead a pretty comfortable life here. It's devoid of luxuries like leather couches, sophisticated artwork (paper flowers, anyone?) and name brand clothing, but being able to survive on one (low) salary at my age? Not something Malaysians can usually do in town areas without some serious penny pinching, I think. Lately, though, I've been focusing more on what I want that we don't have yet. When I start thinking of the number of things I would like to get, I feel a little despondent that I'm not bringing any money to the table, which in turn makes me discontent. Then I start researching all the stuff I would like to get for the best prices, which gives...

I had yet another free day today (way too many of those nowadays), so I decided to, on a whim, learn how to make tissue paper flowers! My whims aren't very random. I was inspired by the fact that I had some tissue paper from Victoria's Secret that I didn't want to waste or throw away. Purchases wrapped in tissue paper always give me the impression of luxury, so I'm inclined to think it's a marketing trick. =P It also leaves me with tissue paper I have no idea what to do with, since Christmas is still 7-8 months away (and I have no friends to exchange presents with anyway =P). So today, I had this brilliant idea to learn how to make paper flowers. I never learnt how to do that before this, simply because I have no good reason to buy tissue/crepe paper, being the severely art-challenged person that I am. While other people take joy in creating beauty, I take joy in optimizing the usage of everything I have, oftentimes at the expense of beauty. With free tissue pap...

My family (as in the Yap family) has never been big on celebrations. We don't make a big fuss out of birthdays, what more festivals like Chinese New Year. Being 80% introverts (dad's really the only true extrovert), we've always been happy to celebrate it on a tiny scale  meaning we buy the tidbits for our own consumption . =P We didn't get new clothes during Chinese New Year either, mainly because shopping during that period was a nightmare. Just to clarify, even the slightest congestion is a nightmare by our standards, and that's why we hardly ever go to malls on weekends. In addition to that, mum's philosophy was "Why limit yourself to new clothes now when we can buy them all year round?" I must say I agree with that philosophy wholeheartedly. =P Giv en how  blasé we were about CNY in Malaysia , being here in the States where CNY isn't a holiday isn't a huge deal to me. I do miss the tidbits, though, and the family. Rene's back home...

I've been asked to present about Malaysia to the international spouses at the IHouse on November 6th. For the past month or so, I've been piecing together my presentation and doing lots of research on Malaysia for this purpose. If I were back in Malaysia, this would have been unthinkable. Among Malaysians, I'm the last person you want to ask about Malaysian culture, seeing as I'm not very culturally knowledgeable about the gazillion ethnicities and hybrids that Malaysia boasts. I am Chinese, but I hardly know any Chinese traditions because I was brought up practically anglicized. Being Christians, my parents didn't subscribe to superstitions and old wives' tales, and neither did we. Being mostly introverts, we didn't celebrate festivals on a large scale, much less know about the background of these festivals. Granted, I did pick up some Chinese history and mythology from the Chinese primary school I attended, but knowledge doesn't stick when it isn'...

I know you're dying to see pictures of our new place. Or maybe I'm just projecting. =P But here they are anyways! The living room. The study/extra table for miscellaneous junk in the corner of the living room. The 'end table' there which also doubles as a bookshelf is a converted laptop table. Close up of the coffee table. Some flowers to make you happy! Now, I'm a self-confessed really bad photographer, and I don't have the patience (nor the aptitude) to edit photos to perfection. So what you're seeing is truly "no filter", "not that tidy" and I even left out the dining table because it was cluttered haha. As you can tell, the place is so spacious that I can't really get everything into one shot. That was just the prettiest part of the apartment, and I haven't even shown you the dining area, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom yet. Granted, I'm pretty sure no one's really interested in the bathroom (or maybe th...

Here I am, at long last, blogging from our own place. For the past six months, we had been sharing an apartment with Jameson. While the stay has been lovely and the company's been great, it's great to finally get a place to ourselves. Beyond the obvious benefits of privacy, the temperature regulation(the air-con was always too cold there), and so much more space, it also feels like a milestone - this is our first apartment together since our marriage. So exciting! Right now it's summertime, and today the temperature is going to hit 34 degrees Celsius at some point. That's like Malaysian weather, but it's still bearable because it's not as humid here. For my Malaysian friends who have little to no concept of what a "less humid" place is, think of it this way - if you're in a shaded place, it's much cooler than being out in the sun, even if the light is just 1 foot away from where you're standing. No such thing in Malaysia, I know. =P ....

Road trip to the beach tomorrow! I'm excited 'cause it's a change from the usual. It CAN get boring when you're stuck in one place for too long - I see now why some people have the itch to travel. For me, though, the hassles of travelling usually far outweigh the fun, so it isn't much of an itch for me. Just as well, given the fact that we're far from rich. =P Anyway, it's exciting to be able to see a new place and soak in more pretty sights! I was doing a bit of research this morning about places to see, and then got sidetracked into looking up places to eat and menus...and then ended up craving beef rendang and nasi lemak and all things Malaysian. The bad news is, I'm not sure they're available in that town where we're going to. The good news is, apparently Merlion restaurant in nearby Chapel Hill has them on the menu! For an exorbitant price, that is, but hey, that "anniversary/my birthday/his birthday" card is still ver...

One thing I both love and hate about groceries in the States is that they always come nicely packaged. A lot of stuff come in plastic containers, paper boxes or glass jars, but I feel that THIS amount of packaging cannot be environmentally-friendly. I mean, buy a jar of spaghetti sauce for 2 dollars, and you get a glass jar. Keep buying that, and you'll end up with tons of glass jars, some of which will inevitably end up in the trash because nobody needs SO MANY GLASS JARS. (Back home I never had this dilemma because store-bought spaghetti sauce was too expensive, and we didn't eat pasta all that much. But when something is so cheap...you just can't help it. =P) I guess this puts the onus on the consumer to be aware about the environment and recycle whatever's recyclable. Personally, I make it a point to recycle everything I can because the little efficiency monster in me doesn't like to waste things. I love that the recycling bins are just next to the trash disp...