Chapter : THE MATTERHORN BURGER

Just few days ago, the boyfriend and I plus 7 other people went to Euro Deli, Damansara Kim to try the MATTERHORN BURGER! 

Basically it’s a HUGE ass burger weighs about 2.75kg and you need at least 5 people to finish that ONE burger. Well, I guess I shall put up the video for you to watch it to understand and pictures from that day itself. The pictures are from the boyfriend’s camera...

The video where I found out about the Matterhorn Burger. My mom told me that the guy taking on the challenge was my dad's friend's son...Small world. Anyway, the challenge is that if you are able to finish the burger within 45 minutes (?) then you will get RM 100 and get your picture taken to be put onto the WALL OF FAME! So far only two challengers have succeeded!

Our first picture together in MALAYSIA

While waiting for our burgers

The boyfriend trying to eat a mini Matterhorn

The MATTERHORN BURGERS

Group one

Group two

See how much stuffs they put inside the burger?

This was MY piece and I managed to finish it!

Jason taking a huge arse bite from a huge arse piece

Playing photo hunt after Matterhorn

Playing Bishi Bashi

Chapter : Food List

Been back for a while now and constantly eating all the food that I missed during my stay in Brisbane. Haven’t been catching up much with my friends but managed to spend some time with the boyfriend. The boyfriend fell ill not too long ago and visited him then and bought Strepstils and constantly nagging him to drink loads of water. Then another friend of mine, his girlfriend also fell ill and I told him, “Make sure she drink loads of water!! Make sure you know!!” Seriously, I don’t know how I turned into such a naggy person...

The funniest thing is that when I am back and people ask me, “What do you want to eat?” I couldn’t answer most of the time. Maybe it’s because I have so many things that I want to eat to the point that I couldn’t decide what to eat OR maybe it’s because that I just don’t know what I truly miss the most...

So far, I have managed to eat

1. Chilli Pan Mee
2. Cheese Naan
3. KFC Hot and Spicy (I know but in Brisbane, they don’t have HOT AND SPICY!)
4. Fried Kueh Teow
5. Claypot Chicken Rice
6. Sushi (Sushi in Brisbane is expensive, okay!)
7. Porridge (I don’t eat that often in Brisbane)
8. Claypot Lor Shi Fun
9. Hokkien Mee
10. Fish Head Noodles
11. Nyonya Food
12. Korean Food

I can’t think of anymore...but the next time I would probably eat...

1. Banana Leaf
2. Steamboat
3. Bak Kut Teh
4. Dim Sum
5. MALACCA SATAY CELUP

Err...I know I have loads more but nothing pops to mind...Did you know that my friends and relatives said that my body is slim whereas my face is chubby?! 

My sister was right. I am turning into Tweety Bird!

Chapter : Facial Session

I have been back in Malaysia for a week now and am settling around nicely. Still have to meet up with my friends and find a job. Anyway, today for the first time I actually had a facial. My mom decided that I needed one since I had some allergic reaction which started from my chest up to my face. It’s better now, just that the scars on my body and face would take some time to heal.

So the lady came to the house in the morning with her daughter (3 years old) and her maid. Her daughter was so adorable! Dressed in Ultraman clothes and Spiderman slippers while carrying a pink Barbie bag, she stared at me as though I was someone from another planet or something. I smiled and asked her, “Harlo, how are you?” she ignored me. Then I found out that she only response to Mandarin instead of English. She was really excited to be in a ‘new’ place because she was skipping around the house until I suggested whether she would like to go to the playground.

After guiding the maid and the little chickadee to the playground, the facial lady began her work. Funnily enough, she was speaking to me in Mandarin all the time and I was struggling to converse with her. I understood most of the stuffs she was asking but I couldn’t reply back. So I replied her in English, but I carefully chose my words because English wasn’t her main language.

First she slathers some cream on my face and massages it. Then she would wash it off with two sponges soaked in water and continued the same procedure twice. After that, she steamed my face to open up the pores so she could pinch all the gritty blackheads on my face. I have no idea what she used but it was painful! My eyes were closed but I could feel my tears all building up from the pain. At least now my face is clearer now…red but clearer. Then she put another cream on my face which hardens then she put a cooling mask and let me rest there for 20 minutes while she gave me some shoulder massage. 

She left me there while she went to see her daughter at the playground. Soon after she was back, but it wasn’t time to remove the mask. Even though I had the mask on, I could “feel” my surroundings…her daughter was so curious she stood nearby me and said in Mandarin, “Is she sleeping? I want to see” I wanted to laugh but I couldn’t. After 20 minutes, she removed the mask and put on some more cream on my face and gave me a facial massage PLUS a scalp massage. Then when everything was completed, she gave me a quick BACK massage. Then while she was massaging me, she said, “Why are you so skinny? Don’t you eat?” Why is everyone saying that to me? I DO eat. 

After the facial lady left, my mom called asking me how was it and stuffs…Well, it’s okay actually though the only painful part was the ‘extracting’ of the blackheads. Other than that, it’s fun…I have no idea whether my mom wants me to have a monthly facial session but I do know that my mom does have it every single month and this is what she said, “Your mother not that young anymore, so she needs facial session to be pretty.” 

Chapter : I'm BLIND.

Whenever I see someone wearing glasses, I will always ask them the ever famous question, “How high is your power?”

You see, I was diagnosed with the lazy-eye, also known as Amblyopia (just found that out today) at the age of four. It all happened when my parents noticed that their beloved daughter was watching the TV in a very funny way. Her head would be turned in a 3/4 view and she would peer at the TV with the corner of her right eye. This went on for quite a while until my dad decided to bring me to see an eye specialist. 

So after finding out that I had the lazy-eye, the doctor recommended my dad to bring me to see another doctor that specializes in the treatment of the lazy-eye. I remember that after seeing that doctor, I had to wear this particular eye patch over my right eye and I didn’t want to go to school because I was so embarrassed that I had the huge eye patch over my right eye. I got teased a lot back then…

Then I also remembered that after school or during the weekends I would go to the clinic and they would put me in a room where I had to trace some pictures of Winnie the Pooh characters and some others. Maybe that’s when I developed my passion for art, who knows? 

Now I’m cured from the lazy-eye condition though my power on my left eye is currently 700 whereas my right eye is currently 400. It actually went up by 50 last year and my eye doctor told me to see him when I return to Kuala Lumpur. I hope that this time, my power is currently stable and would maintain that way for the rest of my life. 

When I tell friends about my glasses power they would go, “Jessie, you’re blind.” Yes, I am. Steal my glasses and I would be helpless. 

To show you how blind I am, see below.

This is what people with perfect vision see. I hate you guys. Nah, I kid. I'm just jealous and want to have your eyes instead.

This is what I see without my glass or contact lenses.

The moral of the story is...those with perfect vision, TREASURE it! You don’t want to end up like me unless like someone decides to sponsor me to go under laser surgery or probably just wake up one day and realize that I have perfect vision again! Hey, one can hope, right?

Chapter : My Dad

Today is Australia’s Father’s Day. So this would be a short post…I think.

My dad has always played the “bad cop” role in the family. My siblings and I are scared shitless of my dad because he was the one that would discipline us whenever we did something wrong. Whenever one of us gets into trouble, he would grab his belt or cane and would whack us and the ones that were not in trouble hides in the room and pretend to be angels. I also remember the time that when we know that we would get a hell of a beating, we would run to our rooms, wear extra layers of clothing so the pain on our bums would be lessened. Before you go, “it’s child abuse!” I must say, it’s an Asian thing where parents hit their children. Have you not watch Russell Peters?

My dad is also very harsh with us when it comes to education. He believes that if his children receive good education, they would get better jobs in order to support themselves in the future. So whenever one of us fails an exam, we would be afraid to approach him to tell him our results. Well, mainly me because I was the least studious one…and I remember the one time when I failed my Math’s exam, he would ask me to do all the corrections on a piece of paper and he would look through it and then ask me to re-do it so I would remember not to make the same mistakes again.

Also, my dad isn’t the kind that forces his children to pursue something that they didn’t like so I was pretty grateful that my dad allowed me to pursue my interest in arts. I have friends that their parents weren’t supportive and forced them to do something that they didn’t like. Even though my dad doesn’t talk to us that much, but we know that he truly cares about us and takes personal note on our interests. For instance, my dad would find out whether he has friends in the animation industry and would ask to see whether they could offer me an internship or like he knows that my sister is into musical stuffs, he would buy all the musical CDs for her. 

I remember my friends would always say to me, “Jessie, your dad is so SCARY!!!” whenever they meet my dad for the first time because whenever they would greet him, he would just grunt in return. He always has this (what I call) the “bull dog” face because he is always looking so bad tempered. But I know, deep down that my dad is a softie at heart because once he is used to your presence, he would open up to you and talk to you more…he would tease you from time to time. But he is much better now because he can actually greet and talk to people and this was proven when my boyfriend met my dad for the first time and they talked a little and eventually my dad asked him to stay for dinner. Then when I asked him, “So, scared or not?” He replied, “Nope.” Or maybe my boyfriend has awesome people skills and is genuinely not afraid of anyone.

My dad can be pretty amusing at times because I remember when I broke up with my ex, he tried to give me a “talk” to tell me that there were many fishes in the sea and I shouldn’t be hung up over him and stuffs. I didn’t know what to react when he did that but nevertheless I was happy that he did. Also, when I found out that I failed my Masters, I cried shit loads and he would sit down with me, calm me down and said comforting words like everyone fails at least once in their lifetime. When my self-esteem was really down that time, he said this to me, “I know that you can do it, you just have to put your mind and work hard.” Those words gave me my confidence back and I managed to complete my resubmission on time.

So, to my dad, thank you for everything. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be the person I am today and even though I would get frustrated with you from time to time, I love you.

Happy Father’s Day.

Chapter : The Eldest

Being the eldest is hard. Well, I’m not speaking from experience, I’m speaking from observation. You see, being the eldest in the family requires a lot of responsibility. Not only that, if you are the first son of the family, you too bear a lot of weight on your shoulders cause you’re carrying the family’s name and stuffs like that, you know?

I have an older sister. Even though she and I are always not on good terms but nevertheless I still respect her. Lately she has been through a lot of pressure from work and other personal stuffs. She has to plan her wedding, pay bills (mortgages) and all the other things. Well, being the second eldest in the family, I don’t really get all the responsibilities but I still do have my share and stuffs. At times, I wished I could play a bigger role…

I’m used to be on my own when I’m at home, content with my laptop and shows that I have stored. Being branded “anti-social” by my family because I don’t talk much with them (it’s better now, I talk to them from time to time, mostly my mom) but it actually gives me a chance to observe my family. 

This is how I noticed that my sister is being through a lot lately. She may not tell it to me or my brother…but I know that she’s has a lot of weight on her shoulders. My mom said that she is adjusting to the life having to think about paying mortgages, and if she wants to start a family she too has to think about savings and stuffs. The only people she could tell her problems is her fiancé and best friends.

So, that’s why I try to help her out from time to time. The only thing that I could do is helping her out when she is preparing dinner and washing the dishes. Simple stuffs like that and also, try to not get in her way. But seeing her juggling her work life and her responsibilities makes me respect her a lot more. I remember the last time when I was way younger, I’m always quarrelling with her because she would always throw her temper at me when she’s in a foul mood and I would fight back. But now, I learned to be more tolerant and would just accept it. 

This is what I observed about being the eldest in the family…it may not be accurate.

1. Taking care all the younger siblings
2. Show good example to the younger siblings
3. Handle all the “affairs”
4. If the younger siblings are under your care, you bear full responsibility as the guardian
5. All family affairs will be discussed with YOU first then only to the younger siblings

Well…there are more but currently these were the few things on top of my head. So my sister has been bearing all these responsibilities and also with her long strenuous working hours as a pharmacist, she is still able fulfill her role as an older sister and daughter.

I hope that when I encounter these responsibilities in the future, I too will be able to handle it just like her.

Chapter : Freedom

Man, so is this what freedom feels like? After working for the past month on my Master’s work resubmission, I’m DONE. FREE. Maybe I should run around naked to celebrate my freedom or something. Now, I have to wait for my results which I would only know on the 1st of September…hope that I will pass this time. 

Originally, my deadline for my resubmission was on the 31st of August but out of the blue my supervisor sent me an email saying that my resubmission date was pushed forward to the 26th of August and guess what, I found that piece of information on the 24th of August. Boy that certainly made my day.

So on the 25th I met up with my supervisor and she was amazed on how calm I looked. She said this to me, “Jessie, I’m amazed that you are so calm. If it was me, I would be panicking! I’m proud of you seeing how you handle this so well!”  

Then when she left for her class, I started listing down the things I have to do to prepare myself for my presentation in front of two examiners the next day. As I was listing, suddenly I started panicking and was like SHIT! Can I complete all these things on time?!! 

At that moment, my mom called (she read my Facebook status and was worried). So we started talking and she was asking me about my boyfriend. This is how she asks about him, “How’s things with you and your boy boy?” I find it amusing as she refers him as boy boy instead of boyfriend. Also, normally the term boy boy (in my books) meant a guy who is younger than you…well, he does look younger than me even though he is the older one.

Anyway, so my mom called to calm me down and gave me some encouragement (I love you, mom) but I guess these past months I’m closer to her because she calls me more often now. I always joke with her by saying,

You only call me when jie (older sister) is working or not free or the younger one (my brother) is at school or not answering your phone calls. I’m the last resort. (Insert dramatic sobs here)

To this she replied,

Excuse me young lady, your mother here call you just to talk to you. You think phone calls to Australia very cheap ar? (Chinese slang all the way!) Your mother misses her children okay, so far and only one to keep me company here in KL. 

How am I supposed to reply to that?

Moving on, the day of the presentation…I knew that one of my examiners is my lecturer that taught me before and the other was an external examiner that works in a games industry and is also teaching in the university part-time. I was nervous as hell and on top of that, I didn’t sleep a wink that night because I was rushing for my work. I texted my mom and my boyfriend that I was really nervous and my mom called me straight and the first thing she said to me, “Did you pray to God? If not, go pray and ask Him for encouragement.” 

Well, my mom is a religious person so I guess that was expected from her. After that, I called my boyfriend and talked to him for a while and I managed to calm down a little. Then while Kelsie was doing her presentation I was sitting in the corner reading through my little speech that I wrote down like moments ago which I didn’t even use it at all. When Kelsie’s presentation was done, it was my turn…my hands were shaking and I said a silent prayer, “Dear God, please help me get through this. Thank you.”

During the Q & A session, I was amazed that I could answer all the questions from the examiners and what really made my day was one of the examiners (my lecturer) actually liked my game concept! Compared to my previous presentation with a different set of examiners (the first time) they said that it wasn’t even worth doing. So that really meant a lot to me. 

Now that I’m finally free, I should start doing all the stuffs that I have neglected...reading, drawing, playing games and my freelance. In few weeks time, I would be back in KL. I just can’t wait!