鼠年(08)回顾 2008 Review

马来西亚家人朋友 (1月 和 6月)

Dear English readers, please scroll down for English translation.

阳历年时忙考试，没回顾我在08年做了什么。
现在，试考了，农历年过了，回头看看，鼠年可真多姿多彩。

这两年来日子都很漂泊，去年可说是‘四海为家’的顶峰：-
在马来西亚和澳洲各住了三个月，其余的六个月则在加拿大。

和Ed在马旅游 (2月)

1月 – 大马
回马做家里的大小姐。
在爸爸店里帮忙和学习。
天天去巴刹，到处吃吃吃。

2月 – 大马
Ed第一次来马，第一次见家长。
我俩背包游新加坡，吉隆坡，槟城，马六甲和浮罗交怡。
Ed回加国工作，我回澳洲工作。

澳洲的朋友 (3月 - 5月)

3月 – 澳洲
上班。和一位好朋友住。
放工回家就和朋友追港剧。
很高兴和很多朋友相聚。
喝我爱喝的意大利咖啡和比利时热巧克力，
吃我爱吃的eggs benedict早餐。

4月 – 澳洲
继续上班。
搬进一间有三房，却只有一张床和一张椅子的公寓。
没有网络。看了很多英文小说。

寂寞的公寓　(澳洲)

5月 – 澳洲
如4月。

6月 – 大马
回马。如1月。

多伦多 (7月 - 12月)

7 月 – 加国
回加国。见到Ed给他一个大拥抱 ：“亲爱的，好久没见”。
享受我在加国的第一夏天。

8月 – 加国
阳光继续普照。每个周末尽情欢享。
Ed告诉我，我煲的汤和煮的东西已可以见人。Yay !
我这大小姐开始认真做好家务。

多伦多 (7月 - 12月)

9月 – 加国
啊！结婚吧！

10月 – 加国
开始发闷。不如去学喝茶和学泡茶吧。

Hey 先生，来个胜利手势吧 ! (多伦多)

11月 – 加国
好冷。
决定参加考试，

12月 – 加国
好冷。
拼命苦读。
圣诞和新年快乐！

多伦多　(7月 - 12月)

1月 – 加国
试考了，年过了。
2009 牛年要做什么好呢 ? ……

With Family & friends in Malaysia (Jan & Jun)

I was very busy with exam during the New Year, did not get the chance to review my 2008 year. Exam is finally over and (Chinese) New Years came and gone, finally, I have the time to sit down, to reflect on my 2008 year. Looking back, it was indeed a great and interesting year.

For the past two years, I have been dividing my times between Malaysia, Australia and Canada, and last year was my most traveled and drifting year. I lived 3 months each in Malaysia and Australia, the rest of the six months in Canada.

Traveled with Ed in Malaysia (Feb)

Jan – Malaysia
Went back to Malaysia and be pampered like a princess at home by my lovely family.
Learned from my father and helped out in his shop.
Went to pasar often and fully enjoyed the famous delicious street food !

Feb – Malaysia
Ed visited Malaysia for the first time and met my parents for the first time.
We traveled in Singapore, KL, Penang, Malacca and Langkawi.
Ed headed back to Canada, while I went back to Australia.

With friends in Australia ((Mar - May)

Mar – Australia
Went back to work. Stayed with a good friend.
Hong Kong TV series was our favourite passtime together after work.
So happy to catch up with many good friends in Oz.
Drunk my favourite Italian coffee and Belgium hot chocolate;
ate my favourite eggs benedict breakfast.

Apr – Australia

Continued to work.
Moved into a huge 3 bedroom condominium, however,
you won’t believe I only lived with a folding bed and a chair in the condo.
No Internet. Read many novels.

Lonely apartment

May – Australia
Same as April.

Jun – Malaysia
Went back to Malaysia.
Same as January.

Toronto (July - Dec)

Jul – Canada
Went back to Canada.
Gave Ed a big hug, ‘Darling, long time no see! ‘
Enjoyed my first summer in Canada.

Aug – Canada
Went to nearly all summer street festivals and events.
Surprisingly, Ed started to praise my cooking ! Yay!
Finally, I had been better with housework.

Toronto (2) (July - Dec)

Sep – Canada
Let’s get married dear !

Oct – Canada
Started to feel bored and restless. So attended Tea Sommelier classes.

Hey dude, you gonna have fun in summer ! (Canada)

Nov – Canada
So cold !
Decided to sit for exam.

Dec – Canada
So cold !!
Studied unbelievably hard for the exam.
Happy Christmas and New Year !

Jan – Canada
Exam is over, new years came and gone.
What am I going to do in 2009 ? …..

Toronto (3) (July - Dec)

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英雄 We all need a Hero

当我看完Dark Knight后，我不停想着一个问题 – 英雄。在电影中， Harvey 说他其实是Batman, 因为他相信真的Batman会现身救这个城市。到时，市民就会知道Batman 是个好人，是个英雄。因为，Harvey 不要人们对心目中的英雄失去信任。到最后，Harvey 虽‘变坏’。Batman知道这个城市乃善良，至少那两艘船只没有为了自我的生存而炸掉另一艘船。所以，为了不破坏人们心中的英雄形象，Harvey 坏的一面不可让市民知道。

我们都需要一个英雄，我们心中都有一个英雄。在电影如是，在现实生活如是，在奥林匹克如是。

Carol Huynh 和她闪闪发亮的加拿大第一面金牌。

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A totally BALANCE life

Oh my buddha !! I just love the following comment from Jasin :

‘Hey, your lifestyle is so special :
“Single” life for 6 mths….Couple life for 6 mths.
Working for 6 mths….Break for 6 mths.
Busy without life for 6 mths…..Carry out luxury life doing things of interest, enrichment for latter 6 months
bit extreme and funny is : Living at South of earth for 6 mths ……living at North of the earth for next 6 mths…
A BALANCE , healthy and unique life you have !’

What do you think? 🙂

And my reply to him is

Hey Jasin,
I love how you described my life !!!
Haha..I never thought of it that way.
True as you said about the extreme…heehee…
Love what you said about the balance and healthy
Yup, I love my life for exactly what it is !!
Thanks for visiting and please come again
Very happy to know you

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近况 What Have I Been Up To

循慧沁要求，和已很久没摇电话回家，让我先报告近况吧。

回来多伦多有两个多星期了。虽离开了半年有多，一切都是那么地熟悉。除了，刚开始时，我记不清公共交通路线，下错站一，两次外，这里一切如常。Ed还是老样子，家里摆饰一点也没变。感觉上，好像从来没离开过。唯一最不同的是，现在是夏天，路上没雪，不用穿得胖嘟嘟的。

刚抵多伦多的第一星期，Ed刚好病了，我则努力跟时差战斗。加上，那时天天有雨，Ed拿了病假，我俩在家看戏和呼呼大睡。很幸运的是，我们看的戏都很不错。有，Helen Miren 的Elizabeth I 短剧，Juno, La En Vie Rose 等。当然，还跑去看新鲜热辣的 Wall-E。很棒！

第二个星期，天气转晴，阳光普照。Ed病好了，我则不再半夜眼睛张大大或下午打磕睡。加上是加拿大国庆 (上图），Ed有四天假，我俩和家人朋友聚聚，到处逛逛 ，也见证了加拿大人热爱阳光的一面。

现在，第三个星期，日子终于恢复’正常’。Ed去上班，我在家里悠闲，上网和朋友聊天，做做家务，写写部落…. 其实，有很多事情要办，如：找新公寓搬家，办药剂公考手续，准备考试，等等。都在做着，只是进展不大。唉 ！

As per request from friends, and since I have not been calling home recently, let me briefly update what I have been up to.

I have been back to Toronto for more than two weeks now. Although I have been away for half a year, interestingly, I still remember the details of this city. Only when I was lost and got off at the wrong subway station has reminded me that I have been away for a while. Other than that, things are the same – Ed remains the same (haha, yup 😉 ) , and there isn’t much changes in our home, I feel as if I have never left here. Oh yes, the only one huge difference is, there is no traces of snow on the street, and I don’t have to wear layers of clothing anymore. Yay!

The first week I arrived Toronto, I was struggling with jetlag and Ed was sick. He took a sickie and the weather was rainy, so we stayed home, either watched movies or just slept like a baby. The good thing is, most movies we watched (like Helen Mirren’s Elizabeth I short series, Juno, La En Vie Rose, and of course the new absolute gem from Pixar – Wall-E) are pretty cool. So, we were happy.

The second week, the weather turned fabulous, clear and sunshine. Ed had recovered and I wasn’t sleepy during the day anymore, plus it was Canada Day long weekend （pictures above), we finally ventured out from home.  We caught up with family and friends, walked around downtown, and I saw the summer madness here.

Now, entering my third week here, life is getting back to ‘normal’. Ed goes to work five days a week as usual, and I stay home doing not too much, cleaning, cooking, surfing, chatting online, blogging (finally) ….yup, doing them ‘leisurely’ too. Frankly, I have a long to-do-list and plenty of plans, for example, looking for new apartment to move, sending application for Pharmacy Registration exams, preparing the exams and etc. Well, I am trying hard to work on them, but procrastinatingly, as usual…..

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看天生活 weather watch

(Dear English readers, please scroll down to find the ‘click’ for English translation)

刚刚才看到加拿大的气象台预测, 这个星期六晚开始至星期天，有些地区, 包括多伦多, 会下一场大风雪。 多伦多积雪可能会高至15到25 公分，有些地区会有超过40公分的积雪！ 不但下大雪， 也会刮大风和下冰雨。 这种天气最危险。气象台特别警告人民路上一定要小心，必要时改变计划最好。

这星期天傍晚，我本来要出席一个佛教集会。我已收到通知，所有集会将取消。几个小时前，我和Ed还没看天气预测。 那时，我们还兴致勃勃，要叫几个朋友星期天出来吃点心。为安全起见，这计划可能要泡汤了。看来，我们还是乖乖呆在家里煮饭看书好了。这里的生活就是这样，很看天气’做人’。 要常查天气预测，计划要随天气更改。

今年，雪不但下得早，还下得又狂又频密。难怪前阵子有预测说，今年冬天可能是十五年来最冷的。这是我在加拿大的第二个冬天，还好我已开始可以忍受这种冰点下的生活。而且，也不坏，我去年没缘过白色的圣诞（去年第一场雪在12月28日才下）。今年该如愿以偿了。现在，整个城市是白色的，加上家家户户已装上五彩缤纷的圣诞灯饰，已经很有白色圣诞的情调了。

欣慰的是，过了圣诞的两天后，我就会回马享受太阳普照的日子。可是，却有点担心从零下十度的冬天，突然变到三十度的炎热夏天，我最好不要病才好。我该开始煮药材汤‘补补’自己了！

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两人四部电脑 Two Persons Four Computers

这一，两天忙着修整我那部老远从澳洲运来的宝贝IMAC。

这IMAC很旧了，卖不了多少钱，也不舍得卖，所以就运来了。

最近，因常各个国家到处跑，没电脑很不方便，我买了部便宜的laptop。

在多伦多，Ed已有了两部电脑 。

昨天才说环保，今天惊觉我们家两个人却有四部电脑！！

IMAC 还没到前，Ed晚上回来家时，他坐在desktop 前，我坐在laptop 前（左图)，各自上网。

现在，我的IMAC到了，更糟！我们各有各的电脑书桌。

晚上，就坐在厅的两个角落各自对着电脑。

妈有点担心，问我们是否还有和彼此说话。

哈！ 当然有啦。

尽管如此，我还是觉得这种生活有点荒诞 ！

For the past few days, I have been busy with setting up and reorganising files in my IMAC from Australia. This IMAC is quite old, not worth too much to sell, and it has lots of sentimental values. Hence I decided to ship it to here.

Ed already has a laptop and a desktop in Toronto. Including my recent purchase of a laptop for my frequent travels, we have a total of four computers at home now ! I was just talking about environmental issues yesterday and today I realised we have four computers for only two persons !

Before the arrival of my IMAC, when Ed came home from work, he would sit in front of his desktop and I would continue sitting in front of his laptop. We would surf online most nights. Now, my IMAC is here, it is even worse ! Now, we have our own desks for our own computers. So, we sit at separate corners surfing at night.

My mother is worried and wonder if we still talk to each other. Haa ! Yeah. Of course, we still do talk! Nonetheless, what a ridiculous lifestyle we have !

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Virtual World VS Reality

(Dear English readers, please scroll down to find the ‘click’ for English translation.)

这几天, 感觉很奇怪。因为，突然有许多马来西亚的中学朋友加入Facebook, 和他们的联络突然多了。

我加入Facebook 有好几个月了。刚开始时，我也有相同的奇怪感觉。因为，我在Facebook遇上了七年前在尼泊尔旅行认识的英国朋友，还有当地的朋友。那时，我好兴奋，我们也吵着要搞一个尼泊尔七年之痒加重聚之旅。当然也只是说说。

这十多年在外国的生活，我虽从没有和中学朋友失去联络。可也只是我一年回马一次时，出来吃吃，见见面。见的也只是较相熟的几个朋友。偶尔一，两次大型的聚会，可人多，也很少真的聊到什么。平时，大家忙大家的，电邮也很少。现在，大家在Facebook, 虽也没真的聊到什么，感觉还是较‘贴近’了。要‘见’他们也较容易，也不用担心他们的电邮地址有没更新。

刚好也发现有几个中学朋友有写部落。去拜访他们，看看这几年来他们的生活，好像在重拾一些遗落了的时间。

往另一 方想，我和几个有写部落的朋友，也已少写电邮了。想他们时，就上部落找他们。我们有时懒得重复，就会说：上我的部落格看就知道啦。可也是，有些每天生活的细节在电邮也未必可以详述。只是，偶尔会搞不清，到底网际生活是拉近了，还是疏远了，彼此的距离。

在这几个月来，如有时间，我也会读读其他人的部落。因而认识了几个朋友。通过一些留言，我也知道有几个我在现实生活中不认识的朋友常上我的部落。突然间，生活中多了几个部落世界的朋友。

现在，我也常用Skype。虽远在它方， 我可以与家人朋友聊天，可以’见’到他们。 感觉像他们就在我身边。我也听网上电台。 虽住在多伦多， 我听的却是LA的电台。有一天， 心血来朝开香港电台来听，我还以为我已到了香港。 想念澳洲时，只要时间配合好，我可以听到我爱听的澳洲电台。要知道马来西亚或澳洲的新闻，一上网就知道。

有时会疑惑 ： 我到底身在何处? 这到底是我虚拟的世界，还是我真实的生活？网际的生活和真实的生活再也难分。

我想很多人过着这种生活已很久了。我却是刚开始体验。

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Cottage Weekend Away

(Dear English readers, please scroll down for English translation)

Cottage的中文翻译可能是’茅舍’吧。它是间建在郊外，通常是近水或靠山的小屋。当然有些有钱人爱把它建得又大又夸张。有些地方政府会制止这种设计，因为认为会破坏当地清静葱绿的环境和人民优静的生活。

Ed的朋友的父母在几十年前以低价买了湖边的这块地。这么多年来，放了许多心血建这精致的小屋，装饰它，买游艇等。现在，两老在此退休。成年了的孩子们和孙子们周末爱来休息，接触大自然。还好在这里没太多太夸耀的cottage, 环境还很清静。

Ed的朋友乘两老到外地旅游时，请了我们来玩。我去了一趟cottage总算了解到为什么叫优闲。我们看看书报，坐在湖边发呆，坐游艇逛逛，钓鱼游泳，走走小树林。晚上天气好时，就在屋外起火团围坐聊天。可惜，我去时天气不好。我们一起看翻版Sicko也不错。

真的很优闲，很舒服。

这就是小小精致的‘茅舍’。

This is the cottage.

Cottage旁，也有一个boathouse。
有两层，下层放游艇，上层有几张床，沙发给小孩或客人用。
楼上的阳台向湖，风景很美。

There is a boathouse built near the cottage.
Two stories – ground floor for storing the boat,
the upper story has a few bunk beds and
simple furnitures for guests or children.
The balcony upstairs has beautiful lake view.

我坐在湖边发呆。

Siting there, I was thinking nothing.

Julian钓鱼很棒 ！

Julian is very good at fishing !

我们坐游艇出去逛啦！

We were out in the boat !

Generally speaking, cottage is a small house in a country, usually built near the water or mountains. Of course, there are super rich people like to build exaggeratingly large cottage. Good local council usually rejects such proposal of design, to avoid disturbing the natural environment and local people’s simple lives.

Anyway, Ed’s friend’s parents bought this piece of lakeside land with very low price over 30 or 40 years ago. They have put lots of effort building and maintaining this little comfortable cottage. The parents now are retired here. Their children and grandchildren love coming over the weekends to spend some times with them, as well as the nature. Thankfully, there aren’t too many ‘showing off’ huge cottages here, the environment is still intact.

Ed’s friends invited us over for a weekend while the parents were away. Spending a weekend here, I finally understand what is cottage life. Surrounding by the nature, we were extremely relaxed. We read, we sat by the lakeside, we went into the boat ventured out to the lake, we went for a walk in the nearby small forest, the little kid like fishing and swimming. If the weather was clear, we could have set up a fire outdoor and chit chatting around it. Unfortunately, it was not the case, we ended up watching pirated copy of Sicko. It was pretty good too.

It was a very relaxing weekend away.

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‘Pasar’ Life

(Dear English readers, please scroll down to find the ‘click’ for English translation.)

巴刹 (pasar) 是个马来词，意为市场。马来西亚华人也通用此词在日常对话。

巴刹对马来西亚人来说可是生活中不可欠缺的一部分。当然，在许多庞大购物中心林立后，巴刹可能已不是大多数人的最爱。可是，我家还是保持着对巴刹的偏爱, 我家还是巴刹的忠实支持者 🙂

巴刹有两种- 一为早市(pasar pagi)，另为夜市 (pasar malam)。通常，早市每天都有，一大早至中午。夜市则只一星期一次。马路会被封锁来给巴刹小贩摆档摊。

我家一早醒来，就会到巴刹吃早餐。家里的新鲜肉菜都是从巴刹采购。虽然未必符合先进国的卫生标准，可我们已习惯了，也很少有食物中毒之事。

晚上，工作后则会到晚市巴刹逛逛解压。吃小食，买便宜货，捡些盗版电影等，不亦乐乎。虽然，我家附近的夜市巴刹一星期只一次。在其他的夜晚，我们有时会跑到邻近花园的巴刹逛。

在澳洲住了那么多年，我对巴刹仍未‘忘情’，尤其是夜市巴刹。可能是我太爱它的小食了。我不管吃相如何不雅，我还是忍不住，一边逛一边吃 😉 其实也没什么大不了，反正很多人也如是。

通常我不爱拥挤的人群，也不会想买什么，可却爱逛。因为吵杂的叫买声，讨价还价的声浪，小食的香味，耀眼的灯光，让我感觉到勃跃的生命力。

所以，我很喜欢墨尔本在夏季举办的街头节庆 （street festival) 或夜市场。在马，就如每星期都有，可唯一不同的是没有拉阔音乐，可算美中不足吧。

Ed说，多伦多在夏季也有许多街头节庆, 让我好期待！

我妈妈买肉 My mother is buying some fresh meats.

顾客等待着他们的炒面。Customers are waiting for their fried noodles takeaway.

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两个旅行箱的日子 （2）Life with Two Suitcases （2）

[Continue from Life with Two Suitcases (1) ]

(Dear English reader, please scroll down to find the click for English translation)

几个星期前，我从朋友A家搬去朋友B家。

因为朋友A要去南美洲旅行了，而且也不便住得太久。

把两个旅行箱一提，很容易地就搬到了朋友B家。

这两个旅行箱 ：一个装衣物和日常用具，另一个装课本和文具。

重量共不超过三十公斤。

在朋友A家住很像一家人。她父母把我照顾得无微不至。我天天有住家饭吃。

在朋友B家住很方便。

她的公寓就在市中心。搭个电梯到楼下，就什么商店餐馆咖啡室都有。

5至10分钟就可走到图书馆。这正适合我苦读的日子。

现在，考试过了，正适合我泡咖啡店的日子。

知道我只在墨尔本几个月，这些朋友不但不肯收房租，还处处照顾我。

心中很感激。

其实，有时也会厌倦这种居无定所的流浪式生活。

可往积极一方面想，这种两个旅行箱的日子却也很简单，很方便。

衣服就那几件，出门前不用多想，有什么穿什么。

反正就要离开墨尔本了，日常用品就只是需要的。

没什么多余的，也没什么需求。

少需求，就少烦恼。

这种生活，还不错。

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两个旅行箱的日子 (1) Life with two suitcases (1)

四个多月前， 我从澳洲寄出了我所有的“财产” – 共七箱的物品。

内有我心爱的书本，衣服，用品，照片，纪念品等等。

还有妈妈千吩咐万吩咐一定不可丢了的烹饪用具。

我只带了两个旅行箱去多伦多生活。

船运公司说， 那些物品三个月会到。

我在这里已等到颈都长了，冬天过了，花儿就盛开了….

我也就快要回澳洲了，它们还没来。

打电话询问时，总是有种种原因。

这四个多月来，我就只有重要的文件， 几件随身的衣物， 和一些中医课本。

虽买了一些冬天的衣鞋，可是现在是春天，已不适用了。

我看，那七个箱子可能要在我回澳后才到多伦多吧。

虽很想念那些我很爱的东西，同时，我也开始了解到 –

原来， 生活可以这么简单 –

只两个旅行箱就够用了…..

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