Such a boring dude.

I am a boooooring person.

When I was young, Mum told me I would be reading/drawing my afternoon away silently at the corner of the living room when normal 3 year olds should be running/screaming their afternoons away.

During high school, I would rather pack my own lunch than to walk to the school canteen. And when I did, I arrived to overhear by accident, a girl who had just been transferred to sit beside me say, "Wah, I have to sit next to Loretta. It is gonna be dead boring."

And I was so boring that it did not hurt/annoy me. Meh, I thought.

As such, while my friends were super popular in high school, I evolved into a hermit (lack of hotness was another reason I guess).

In fact, I am still pretty much a boring person right now.

I love going shopping on my own - looking for bargains and trying new mall food.

I love small gatherings for intimate events like the Mooncake Festival mini-celebration last night. Normally, I prefer staying in with my big big family than to go out for a wild night or parrrtaaaaay. Yeah yeah, call me a bore.

Yiki and Daniel invited a few others to their home and cooked a meal of bah kut teh for everyone. What excited me most were the cincau drink and mooncakes.

During my last two uni years in KL, I developed a hobby of trying out innovative mooncakes with Dad - cheese and bacon, Haagen Dazs ice-cream mooncakes, five nuts. Mmm-mmm. This year, we bought some Hong Kong brand and it was so unique. Why? It was like a whole block of lotus paste with no mooncake skin (don't know what they call that) at all. Weird.

Is it boring to find this fact amusing and astonishing??

An extension to being boring, I am easily bored. Like the other day when Ray was fixing my beloved laptop at my place, I fell asleep in the living room as there was no one to talk to. Shiro doesn't talk. And I was tired of saying 'No!!' to Shiro. Shiro does bite. Guess Shiro and I mutually 'bored' each other out, we both ended up asleep.

Then Ray took this picture of us sleeping together.

Being a boring person, I again found this very amusing and have been looking at it more than 100 times.

Which reminds me of this time when my Sister and I fought on my Grandma's bed. In the end, she kept apologising while I kept ignoring her in anger. The next thing we knew, we both woke up from our slumber with the time showing 30 minutes ahead and her hand still tugging theend of my skirt. What kind of boredom was that? Until we both slept in anger and regret, respectively?

I have been trying to sleep earlier lately given my early working time. Trying to. One night, I was lying in my bed at 9+ p.m. (no night-time social life) then I realised something. Everything Mum has been buying for me have been in pink. Erm, I was crazy over pink during my kawaii-phase which was like, say a lot of years ago?

The pink bed sheets and pyjama pants. Has there been no life-transforming, lightning-inducing events in my life from my kawaii-phase until now which could have let Mum know that I might have changed? And I still enjoy receiving pinkness from her because 1) they are free and 2) maybe deep inside I am still hoping for kawaii-ness. No change = boring?

To top it all, there are afternoons I spents:

1) Filming videos of Shiro sleeping.

2) Wondering what kind of dream Shiro had to have that kind of reaction.

So amusing.

Do you think I am a boring person too?

Sigh, you do?

So I just booked tickets to Tokyo over the last few days.

:-) weeee.

Oh no Oh no Oh no

Oh My God!

I feel a million ants running up my skin and myself shivering down my spine with tingles of excitement, anxiety, adrenaline and impulse. This heart is beating so hard and fast that it is on the verge of rupturing itself. Bam.

I need to calm myself down. Wee woo Wee woo.

Shit. Not working.

Excellent tenant

Psst. This is my 400th blog post.

The state of my room + My mum = Homicide case

My room was driving me nuts. How did it end up being so messed up?

Let's see, a few day or procrastination, a few clothes yet to be ironed, a few pieces of fresh laundry yet to be folded, a few letters rotting on the desk, a few sets of wires from who-knows-where, a few used Metcards, a few too many hair clips and a few specks of dust *poof*

The moral of this story is: Never wait until the last minute when bad becomes worse.

Actually the moral of the story hit me only when our real estate agent suddenly requested for an inspection (a prospective buyer wanted to view the house) and I had no choice but to say yes and publicise my messy room to a group of strangers. Luckily the strangers they don't know whose room is which!

'. . . currently tenanted by excellent tenants. . . ' read the big marketing billboard outside my house. Gosh, talk about living up to sky-high expectations.

Last night, Miss Lo cleaned and tidied up her whole room. It is now all neat and comfy. I feel happy and satisfied after that.

Excellent tenant. Talk about pressure to perform. Having those words printed in front of my house is like having dear Mum right here with her Hawk's Eye.

An invitation to Lindt Cafe

Dear readers,

I have just relived the most chocolicious moment of my life. Never have I imagined that the choco-dream I had in Sydney last year would come all the way to Melbourne, and soon enough to Chadstone.

This love affair started since November 2008. While on Sydney soil, we were pushed relentlessly by Miss Glyniss to visit this little cafe no matter how impossibly busy or short our trip was. Being a good friend, of course, I agreed to do so. Being the ever glutton, of course, Mr Tan agreed to do so as well. (Over Hurricane ribs, mind you)

Hence, the fateful meeting with Lindt Cafe.

And the strong bond of 'happiness' (read my T-shirt) between Lindt, Me and Mr Tan.

The Saturday two weeks ago, Mr Tan suggested for all of us to go pay a respectful visit to the Lindt Cafe here in Melbourne. It did not take much persuading or spreading of the news. For some reasons, everyone as excited. The Chocoholics, the non-Chocoholics.

Lindt Cafe here is situated at 271 Collins Street, right next to Tiffany&Co. Chocolates and diamonds are a girl's best friends, mm-mm.

All choco-goodness has a price (in addition to the literal price), so we waited in line for a good 30+ minutes before being seated. Mostly, due to our large group of 7. But we were given free Lindt chocolate squares while waiting in line!

The setting of Lindt Cafe is amazing. Bright white walls. Extensive glass panels. A mini library when you look up. Chandeliers. Did I mention Tiffany&Co being next door?

Let me introduce the stars of the day:

The cakes were impeccable. To a certified-Chocoholic like me, the burst of chocolate-yness, the richness of the accompaniments like caramel and cheese, and the layers of different texture or colour in the cake - made my day a smiley happy lucky day.

But, my all time favourite - one which made me a picky Chocolate-drinker - is: The Iced Dark Chocolate.

The first sip I took, I thought, "I missed you." With a tear in my left eye.

It is great when you go with friends cause you can order more and try more of the variety they have there.

Better still, if they are girlfriends, whom you can spend the time gossipping with.

Given the beautiful setting, one could almost always snap a magazine-cover worthy picture there. As seen below.

When the truth is, there were cakes and drinks and choco-crazy customers all around you!

A date with Lindt Cafe, a date with great company and beautiful chocolates.

So excited and crazy am I over this little gem of a store that (I mean Lindt, not Tiffany&Co with no intentions of hinting whatsoever cough cough) I think everyone should go in for a slice of chocolate heaven.

So to any readers out there who:

Are in Melbourne and need some chocolatey-company;
Will be visiting Melbourne and need some chocolatey-memory;
Just wants to be chocolatey-crazy;

You know who to call. I am absolutely happy to.

Sincerely,
Loretta

Chop?

Choppity-chop-chop.

Long Hair vs. Short Hair.

Flowy Wavy vs. Punky Shaggy.

Security vs. Adventure.

Victoria Secret hair dream vs. Impulsive cut-it-all-off.

Improving bikini-image vs. Improving boyish image.

Decisions decisions.

Impulse killing rational-thinking.

R-A-Y-M-O-N-D, got it?

Hi all.



I have a fair share of posts about my boyfriend, don't I? By now, I think everyone has a pretty good idea what kind of a person he is, what he looks like or at the very least his NAME?



Or so I thought.



Me: Yeah, Ray bla bla bla...

ZZ: Who is Ray?

Me: Omg, are you telling me you forgot my boyfriend's name???

ZZ: Huh? His name is Ray?? I thought it was Mr Tan!

That was disappointing.

Person A: Mr Tan bla bla bla.
Person B: Uncle Tan bla bla bla.

But after a few times, it became surprising....and a bit disturbing.

Have I so cruelly replaced his name with my cheap-o nicknames?

But before that, I called him Uncle Tan/ Mr Tan out of affection! How come the whole world seems to be addressing him by that as well? So you all have affection towards him as well?

Despite so.
Despite all this.

I must admit responsibility. Sincerely. Whole heartedly.

For even a brisk through my previous posts will find enough evidence to hold me accountable and guilty for this terrible offence with probably 100 years of imprisonment or more.

Manly Ray, General Tan, Uncle Tan, Mr Tan, etc *sniff*

But oh-well, Everybody Loves Raymond.

P/S: I have to insert a bit about myself haha. Nicknames, like these, once they catch on or sound nice to the ear, it spreads like virus. Amy called me Lorenta when I first knew her. Then did not bother to change after we got close. Then addressed me by that to her friends when I went to Thailand. Now, I am Lorenta to the small population of Thai people I know here.

Release!

I haven't eaten any meat or vegetables for the past 3 days.

All because of my new work-timetable of working day and night at different places. SIGH.

The only token of protein I have been taking for the past 2 days was an egg.

My diet right now consists of 95% carbo (cereal, bread, biscuits) and 5% sugar (fruits). It is not a matter of choice - alrite - more like convenience as these were the only items I can pack on the go.

But I am so gonna have a carnivorous feast tonight.

Guess what? I am going to MayDay's concert! (Psst, it is my first ever concert, malu, even Uncle Tan has been to a concert already). And the important point is! Before that, we will all be going for a nice dinner.

As in with meat and vegetables cooked in real sauce and served piping hot.

Taste of FAME!

This is Susan Boyle. If you have not heard of her amazing-ness already, please watch the video below right now.

Wasn't she amazing? I cried when I watched that video, you know. Inspiring and a constant reminder of how shallow people usually are when it comes to judging others around them.

Ever since she became famous, Susan has been undergoing a makeover. And looking at her latest pictures, made me always cry the second time. Behold.

This second picture is taken directly from PerezHilton.com and is actually the first picture I saw of Susan in a while. I almost choked on my cereal seeing that.

The reason?

. . . woot! Look Ma, my coat is famous and can sing like an angel!

Pink and Glittery

My casual work ended last Friday :-( That means I lost a day's worth of pay as I was supposed to work till Monday. Too bad we worked too fast.

That was a day when I wanted to be an angel.

So I rushed back home and made cupcakes to surprise Mr Tan.

Amazing what the pre-packed bake-in-30-minutes cupcake mixes can do. I spent only an hour to make these adorable cupcakes. Pink icing and edible glitter and all :-)

But the next time I saw my cupcakes was with Mr Tan scoffing them down while saying, "How did you know I was craving for sweet stuffs?"

A Kodak moment for me, him and 11 pink glittery cupcakes was gone in a poof.

What remains was this shot after half an hour, with four lonely cupcakes left.

Men.

Bangs

I have always wanted to look like a very Chinese girl.

When I say this I mean fair skin with long silky black hair, almond eyes and a tall lanky body. Among these characteristics, one of the most important one would be the hair.

It has to be long and straight. Long fringe pushed to the back of the ears. Ends of hair so straight and perfect it resembles a cosmetic brush.

Yes. Just like Glyniss, Eva and Donna back in high school. Just like Amanda and Su-ee back in uni.

But as my friends would know, I am far from that. In fact, I had an interesting hair history.

When my Mum first laid eyes on me, she thought I was abnormal cause my ears appeared to be pointy. Just like Legolas *hoho*. In a small, wet, wrinkly kinda way *haha*. She then realised that the 'pointiness' was actually a result of hair which were still wet around my ears. I was a hairy baby.

My Mum started applying conditioner to my hair ever since young (around age 1) cause my hair was so rough and tough that it literally stood up defying gravity.

From ever since I could remember, my Mum had been introducing me to all kinds of means of hair removal - cream, shave, wax - just so that I could work the mini-skirt or shorts.

I grew from hating being hairy to thinking it was merely inconvenient to be hairy to being thankful for being hairy.

The latter part was because I had a surgery on my head when I was in Primary 5 where I had to shave off a small part of my hair. Although the doctor said I might not have hair growing from that spot, the strength and zeal of my hair genes defied all norms and science by not only sprouting more new hair over there but in greater volume. (What the doctor said did not affect me a bit back then, but if I were told I would lose a patch of hair now, I would cry, man, seriously)

Despite so, I have always wanted the long silky hair Chinese girls are supposed to sport!

So as soon as permanent straightening was in the market, I went for it! I did a total of 3 times in a year, but they always regained their curl and volume within a month or so.

In the end, I gave up on this quest. Sniff.

I spent the next few years, curling, colouring, cutting short, making it spiky. Until this very year, I thought - I want very Chinese Girl hair again.

So I straightened my hair again and waited for the fringe to grow. After less than 3 months of no haircut (save money haha cause I made a silly promise to not to go for a haircut unless I land a job and since I got the internship, I thought I could have a fringe only cut), I looked like this.

. . . . Not Chinese Girl at all. The 'feeling' is not there geh. In fact, I looked like Aaron Kwok back in 1990 yet again cher. (I was even smiling without showing my teeth to look more 'si men')

So I went in for my fringe cut after my internship for the day ended. When the hairdresser suggested a side sweep fringe, Miss Berani Lo said she wanted blunt bangs. Thick blunt bangs. I wonder why I said that cause the hairdresser shot a polite stunned look before proceeding to tell me, she would give me something similar to what I wanted which would suit me better. Not mentioning in a sweet Japanese voice.

Ta-da. I was wearing something formal, so I looked like an over-grown school girl with those bangs. Doesn't help that I am 'a bit' shorter than the average people around me.

In fact, this bangs enhances the Mickey Mouse-ness of the Mickey Mouse T-shirt my Dad bought me. And the Astro Boy-ness of the Astro Boy coat I have.

And there I was telling everyone that I was changing my image from 'cute' to 'sexy'. Trust me, the failure lies in this new fringe ONLY.

Randomness galore

I have been working from 8.30 a.m. till 5 p.m. every single day. Sunday, my only rest day. And I am spending it playing Restaurant City on Facebook. Gosh, anyway, please gimme more ingredients and free furniture my Facebook besties :-)

I have so much I want to blog about!

So this is a random post dedicated to updating everyone about me Me ME!!!!

I miss eating crabs *sniff* Saw these big luscious (drooled even though they were uncooked) ones in Springvale last week. Gone were the days when I never appreciated seafood. Being from Sandakan, it had never been a problem to have crabs weekly or even every other day.

Some of my favourite crab dishes, which I think everyone should try, are:

- Butter crab with fried mantau at City Star Seafood Restaurant near Dataran Prima.

- Crab with Salted Egg Gravy at the late Extreme Park Chinese Restaurant.

- Crab with noodles at Pacific House near Richmond.

You know, I have a reputation for being an extremely attentive and clean crab eater (no meat left anywhere for sure!)

**********

I have departed from my dormant lifestyle for the past month. Having to work everyday now, I noticed a few other changes I made:

- Waking up at 7 a.m.

- Waking up several times at night to check the time (kiasu not wanting to be late)

- Going out without any make-up :-(

- Wearing the same coat and jeans every day.

- Skipping breakfast (a very big deal to me!)

- No snacking throughout the day :-(

- Lotsa hand movement and injuries throughout the day *sniff sniff*

- Standing at least 7 hours a day.

- Seeing a cute boss 7.5 hours a day :-)

**********

The weather is Melbourne is still as indecisive as ever. See the dark and bright clouds here.

I am still wearing the same jeans and sneakers walking to the same bus loop.

But I am no longer taking the free Monash shuttle to Caulfield for classes or exam. It dawned upon me that, things certainly have changed. I have started a new chapter in life, away from the comfort of being a student, protected by the university from the society.

Sometimes staring at that very bus stop while waiting for the bus, I can still see an image of me waiting for the free shuttle bus there, handful of lecture notes, earful of Glay.

**********

Yesterday night, was a very special night :-)

I treated Ray to dinner for the very first time using my own hard earned money *tears* And it was so good that or in a more accurate manner, we were so hungry that we finished all the food without any snapshot of it.

Later that night, we went for Fast and Furious. And it was special cause - I put on make up and wore a dress for the first time the whole week! It was such an amazing moment :-) I absolutely love dolling up. That was the very moment I was definitely sure about this fact T.T

Btw, I am loving Paul Walker now. I hope my Ray O'Connor can have facial hair like his :-(

**********

I love staying in my Marshall house.

It is always bustling with people, voices, activities - just like a very big and happy community centre :-)

Yiki and LiLet stayed here for a month when they were looking for a house. Daniel stayed over a night in the living room when his house was a bit too noisy. Oli, Ray, LiLet and others always come over for dinner together.

Other than people, we always receive stuffs - food, presents, random everythings. So this is a happy place :-)

I received a cute nightwear from Peter Alexandra from Yiki *yay!*

'We' received a box of very nice chocolates from Lindt Cafe Sydney from WooHsian *woot woot!*

The beauty of chocolates. I remember a certain lecturer saying this:

"Seeing how chocolates are so addictive and even helps release feel-good hormones (endorphin), it would probably be banned and labelled an illegal drug if discovered only now".

Inherited Taste in Men?

Over the years I have realized that me and my Sis share quite a similar taste in guys.

Together our first crush was Mamoru Chiba from Sailormoon. I fantasized myself as Sailormars getting together with Tuxedo Mask while my sister. . . I am not sure what her storyline was :-P We would spend hours talking, drooling, dreaming Tuxedo Mask. And sometimes cursing Sailormoon, our arch nemesis.

After that, together we fell for Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi. Watching religiously every weekday at 5.30 pm on AXN and screaming like schoolgirls the moment Tamahome appears during the opening song.

However, after that that, we both had enough of falling for the same guy and fighting over it. So, subconsciously we tried to differentiate our own individual choice for guys . . . sometimes, deliberately.

The first sign was when we both went crazy for the UK boyband 911. I immediately announced my crush on Lee Brennan the lead singer and told my Sis she could only choose between Spike or Jimmy. Wahaha, don't torture yourself trying to remember who these two other were, in fact you might not even know my Lee Brennan oops. Anyway, my Sis settled for Jimmy.

Sis: At least he can dance and rap, rite! (HE can meh!?)

Me: Yeah, Jimmy not bad mah. But Lee looks so cute and young despite him being far older than me, we will still look almost of the same age when we get together when I get older.

The point here is: I did not allow my Sis to fall for the same man!

The next sign of this happened when my Sis declared her undying love for Rukawa Kaede from Slam Dunk. Complete with cheerleading and the chanting (you know what I mean). I professed my love for Sendoh instead. In an equally enthusiastic way. But let me reveal a secret here *ahem*

Actually I liked Rukawa initially and not Sendoh T.T But. Just because my Sis liked him first, I decided to 'like' Sendoh instead. Then after a while, I watched the episode where Sendoh took down team Kainan as a one man team and poof - I really love Sendoh already suddenly. The point here is : I avoided liking the same man as Lowena.

After that, it came to Westlife. I went for looks first and liked Nicky. My sister, don't know why (cannot be something deep like voice or personality), liked Shane. After submitting two drawn portraits of Nicky for art class in high school, I came to realization that I loved Shane actually - that amazing voice and cute teddy bear smile. Slowly I converted la. Then my Sis bailed out of Westlife haha. "See I told you Shane better la!" said she. The point here is: Now my Sis avoided liking the same guy as me!

After all this fictitious encounters, of course, came the real life deal. I think due to years spent 'differentiating' ourselves, our first boyfriends were totally different. Skin colour la, language la, background la, height la, school la, whatever la.

So, 'differentiation' process successful?

Her brief encounter with Glay saw her liking Hisashi instead of my Teru. (tick)

Her later obsession with American TV hunks while mine with Japanese stars of all kinds. (tick)

Her love for Tidus from Final Fantasy X and my love for Cloud from Final Fantasy VII. (tick then untick)

Her Sasuke, Me Kakashi. (tick)

Successful?

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Well yeah, until everyone started saying since this year -

"Wah, Ah Kah (me) and Ah Lok's (my sis) boyfriends look very alike oh!"

Apalah.

Seriously, do you really think they look alike????? [Click here for my Sis's boyfriend and scroll down randomly for a pic of my Mr Tan :-)]

Moomba Waterfest 2009

Moomba Waterfest 2009

This the weekend for Melbourne's very own Moomba Waterfest! Although I am not sure of the origin of this jolly festival but I sure enjoy it every year.

Like every other year, you get game stalls and soft toys, hot dogs and jam donuts, fireworks and concerts! The money paid for the games is for charity, so those are money spent for a good cause! The time spent there is with friends, so those are time spent for another good cause!

This year, we went there in what seemed like an entourage of students - padahal only one of us is still studying. As usual, we went there by train until Flinders Station then just walked over to the huge playground.

A familiar sight! This year there were a few additional and cuter toys! - Baby Mario, Baby Luigi and some deliciously coloured big teddy bears! As soon as we saw the first stall, the girls started oozing their "Yer. . .that doll is soooooo cute!" while the guys shed their first drop of sweat. Like every other year.

But I must say that having such an event is perfect for fundraising. Game stalls encourage:

Ego (male): "Don't stop me, I must win one big Ducky for you, darling."

Manja-ness (female): "That unicorn is so cute, can you please win it for me, please?"

Tantrum (female): "Look at that guy over there, 3 dolls already, 3 dolls! You??"

Tantrum (male): "I'll win you that damn Panda even if I have to empty my wallet, you get it?!"

Determination (both): "I promise I'll win something tonight after 3 years of trying!"

Persistence (both): "Maybe the next game I will win leh. Okay, trial #136."

Admiration (female): "Oh my gosh, you are so good at this, baby."

All these lead to: more money for charity!

It is also a great place to catch up with friends and expect to see a few familiar faces. It is also a great place to remind yourself annually of how you suck in games :-(

Here is a pictorial depiction of a stressed boyfriend. So stressed that the background is getting blurry.

Everyone had quite some fun that night, although evidently not much luck. But I was the luckiest. Luckiest of the luckiest, man!

But before that, lemme show you the fireworks :-)

Now you know why I was the luckiest on that night?

I got the doll I wanted!

And I got it from someone else!

And it wasn't my boyfriend!

The story behind this is pretty funny. The only game in which I had some sorta chance in winning was the lottery game. $3 for 5 numbers and if one of the numbers matches one of their lucky numbers, then you win a doll! So I tried 3 times! Got nothing. Then Vincent tried once and I said I'd definitely be angry at him if he gets it the first time. And pinpon, he got it!

He asked me which one he should get as he really did not need a doll. So I gave him my 'wise' opinion and he got that one and being nice, he gave it to me! Jeng jeng jeng.

Am I lucky or what!

Lost 3 times, no skills for other games, not even single/pretty enough to be woo-able by Vincent - and yet! I got a doll from him! Bwahaha.

While writing this post, I decided to look for our Moomba pictures from last year and did some comparison.

1. We had so much more dolls last year! Reason for the decline? Recession, lack of training/motivation among the guys due to aging, lack of manja-ness from girls due to aging (maybe?) Jess, Yiki and I were eating rather than wanting dolls.

2. Last year was grilling hot and this year it was freezing cold!

3. Most noticable difference? The missing of Mr Tan. Halfway through the event, I suddenly realized why he was not able to make it due to 'commitments made earlier'. He saved the stress of having to win something for me, saved the money he would probably need to spend trying, saved his time to watch some anime instead. But I got a doll, so cher.

But the most exciting thing to have happened that night was not during the festival itself. But during our trip back home on the train. A fight occured on the train!!!!!!!

There were some kids playing around with aluminium foils, scrunching them up into balls and throwing them around. This finally got onto the nerves of a fellow passenger and soon a verbal fight started. Then suddenly!! An older guy appeared and started physically pushing the passenger and more suddenly, he took out a knife and threatened the other guy with it! As soon as this happened, two guys rushed to tear both of them apart. It would be scary to imagine what could have happened.