Hello hello baby you called? I can't hear a thing.
I'm attempting to arrange a quick trip to Taiwan this Saturday and then fly off to London on the 31st December to spend a month in Europe, more towards the Eastern Europe and Nothern Europe side.
I don't know if I can pull it off and it would certainly cause a teeth-clenching amount of damage to my bank account, but by the Gods, I'm going to try!
I have been so good this year. Well, maybe not, but with Christmas around the corner it's time to write the letter to the good ol man up North and ask for the things that you want for Christmas!
I'm totally serious. I would love to have a partridge in a pear tree. It would be remiss not to ask for this. How many people have actually gotten a partridge in a pear tree?
Christmas used to be all about turkeys. Well, not anymore. Turkey is so '90s. The thing to have on your Christmas dinner table this year is the turducken. What exactly is a turducken?
Well, put simply, it's a chicken stuffed into a duck which is then stuffed into a turkey. Now how about that!
I love to travel and though I've been to Europe, Korea, China and several other SEA destinations this year, I would love to spend more time at each place…taking my time, going through every nook and cranny of the places I step foot on.
I'm particularly interested in doing the Trans-Mongolian Railway, which no self respecting traveller can call him/herself that until this ritual is complete. Starting at China and going all the way to Russia. I'll send you a postcard from Russia (with love).
I'm not one for material possessions and love experiences more than anything. However, my old car has been through a lot of…er, vehicular mishaps and it seems like EVERYTHING is wrong with it. I probably should send it to a workshop but I fear that it would cost more to fix than to purchase a new one.
I'm so broke right now that 5 gold rings sounds (no pun intended) just about right.
Somewhat related to the above, I know that the industry is hard to break in and not as glamorous as it sounds. It's often a low paid job where you most likely have to top up the balance yourself and you spend a lot of time writing and compiling and doing good ol fashioned legwork. I even hear the Lonely Planet writers have to take a course in self defence before they even get sent out.
However, despite all that it's something I would love to do. It's not about the money, it's about setting your own hours and doing what you like.
I must admit, with my family scattered around, it's hard to have the traditional annual family vacations that my father set a precedent for ever since I was a kid. My sister is married with a baby daughter in New Zealand with my mom and my dad is in Sarawak while I'm working here.
Blood runs thicker than water after all. The warmth of having family and giving and receiving support is, pardon the cliché, invaluable.
My dad and I used drink together and my mom has been known to have a pint or two herself. She actually can drink the two of us under the table if she sets her mind on doing it. Heh! It'll be good to have a family get-together where we can just sit around the living room, nursing a pint of Guinness.
No, not the ones made from trees, I have come to the conclusion that while having a 17" widescreen notebook is great when you're at home, lugging all of it in its 2.7 kg glory while travelling is decidedly not.
One thing on my wish list would be for a small and compact notebook where I can write, access the net and run Photoshop while travelling.
I've always wanted to get another tattoo – I even know what I want it to be but I've put it off for years, going for piercings instead. I don't know why I'm procrastinating on this since it's not on public skin e.g. visible so it's not a work related issue.
I want a full color piece on my left leg, starting from the ankle up to the knee. It would be a rotting female corpse hand reaching up from the grave and gripping me, raking her fingernails and drawing blood down as a reminder. I guess the subject of the reminder is personal since I've subconsciously put it off for so long but I want to get it done soon.
I would love to have more personal time for me to do the things I like. I love reading and have recently completed the Millennium trilogy – a series of novels which centres on Lisabeth Salander, a rather unique and likable character whom I can relate to.
Since my family won't be together during Christmas, I'll love to have a nice Christmas dinner with friends complete with several pints of Guinness. Christmas is all about sharing, gift exchanging, letting them know how much they mean in your life and nothing beats a good dinner recounting with your closest friends – sharing stories, spending quality time (which all of us lack with work and everything) and just being together with good food and drink.
On the same note, Guinness is having some consumer promos on their Facebook so it'll be a great place to find an outlet to have pre-Christmas and Christmas events where you can celebrate the festive season. Surf over to Guinness Malaysia Facebook for more details.
There is also going to be games (Merry Mat anyone?) and surprises at selected outlets starting from 17:59 (the year Guinness was founded). That's one minute before 6 pm.
Well, since I'm not going home for Christmas this year, I figured I'll grab 4 of you and we'll throw our own mini-Christmas bash instead! I've arranged for a cosy dinner for the 5 of us at Backyard in Hartamas, KL on the 22nd December at 7:30 pm.
It's that time of the year again! The time where shopping malls are decked out with Christmas decorations and refrains of Hark the Herald Angels Sing echo through the centralized speakers. My friend Mel dropped by KL this weekend and we decided to have dinner at Finnegan's.
I bumped into Jolene there who sagely commented that I always seem to have a beer in my hand whenever she sees me. Heh! It's true, I've grown quite fond of Kilkenny lately and they have a RM 50 for 3 pints promotion going on in some outlets.
Dubbed the Cream of Irish Beers, Kilkenny has an interesting history – it didn't originate from a traditional brewery but from the holy cellars (I presume) of St. Francis Abbey in the 14th century. Put simply, it was Franciscan monks who started making this particular beer.
Kilkenny is an Irish cream ale that's smooth and rich – qualities which I rate highly. I'm a huge fan full bodied beers and stouts. It's perfect for the festive season, although we don't get very cold weather over here.
We shared a stew, open sandwiches, and a pork knuckle which nearly killed us (too much food for two people). I guess overeating is also part of the festive ritual.
Kilkenny promotions are available at selected outlets throughout the country. I'm going to try my hand at "Cooking with Kilkenny" (has a nice ring to it, eh?) next! I plan to use Kilkenny in a recipe to see how it goes.
Find out more about Kilkenny here. I have a feeling this beer is going to be big in the coming years! You can get it at most Irish pubs (Finnegan's, Delaney's, Malone's) and it's also available at on tap in WIP, Sid's, Royal Oak, Bulldog, Laundry and Jarrod and Rawlins. Here's to more festive seasons with Kilkenny!
Fa la la la la, la la, la la!