As I posted on Twitter, today is the first time I used my umbrella in 2010. Nothing to celebrate but it meant another miserable day. According to BBC weather forecast, it seems like there will be no more snow but rain is to come. No wonder some of my colleagues are already planning for their next holiday destination. Hmm… Outer Banks vacation rentals seem nice but none of my colleagues has dealt with it before. In fact, I have never been to the United States before, thanks to a clever document called visa. And thanks to the unique system again, one can only apply the relevant visa in their home countries. Anyway, I will not be planning any holidays or vacations until after the Malaysia trip in February.

Just had a sudden thought. I have taken some pictures of the meal that I had for Christmas lunch. The restaurant is called Café Rouge. The environment was not bad with all the not so modern furniture but I thought the lighting made me felt sleepy. I was considered to be the last person to arrive for the Christmas lunch but still, I was on time. Overall, the food was good but it was a little too cold.

Starter

Main Course

Dessert

The weather that day was wet and it was just two days after the big snow before Christmas. I did not drive and Mee went to the town centre with me by bus. We were lucky to catch the bus few minutes after we arrived at the bus stop. Others who were waiting before us had waited for almost an hour.

The weather in UK, as you may have already known, is a mess. The snow and ice have caused a lot of problem here. The college where I work was closed for the last two days. It opens today and here I am, working now. My car is covered with snow and the snow has now turned to ice. I should have cleared the snow after the snow stopped. I will need a great deal of time and strength to clear the ice and that is what I am looking forward to doing this weekend.

I have been browsing my brother’s blog lately. He has some pictures of his new home which was published some time ago but I have not looked at them until recently. I believe that he must have spent quite a fortune in renovating the house and getting new furniture; sofa, tv stands, kitchen and the likes. Someday, I hope that I will have a house too. How nice it would be to go back to our home every day?

Selangor is one of the states in Malaysia. On 2nd January 2010, it had its first ‘No Plastic Bag Day’. Upon reading the topic, I thought it only lasted a day but it was a good beginning to educate fellow Malaysians. After reading the report, the Selangor government actually encourages every retailer to promote ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ every Saturday.

Most of the European countries have started charging customers for plastic bags. Sadly, retailers in UK seem to have different opinions. The only place where I know that charges customers for plastic bags is Lidl. In Morissons, some of the checkout operators give out plastic bags depending on the quantity of items purchased. However, some adamant customers just demand more and more plastic bags even if they only bought a few items.

Anyway, as much as I dislike the many things that are implemented in Malaysia, no doubt that ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ is a very good move.

Tomorrow, I will be back to work. The feeling right now is lazy. I wonder if I will be able to wake up on time because the weather right now just make me even lazy to wake up in the morning. Anyway, I will have to face it and I am expecting myself to be in the bed earlier than usual today.

Christmas and New Year are over and the tv advertisements that we get are about sales all over the places. The goods that have the most discounts I believe are furniture; Minka Aire, Dfs, Wickes, Homebase, B&Q and the likes. Unfortunately, they do not apply to me but hopefully, some day, I will be looking forward to these discounts.

The weather is cold as usual. I went to the gym this morning and it was business as usual. I did some weight lifting but not too heavy since I have not been doing any exercise for the last couple of weeks. Everything will be back to normal now; work and gym.

Sometime next month, Mee and I will be back in Malaysia for a few weeks. Hopefully, it will not be as stress as our previous trips. I have also been searching insurance online but most probably; I will buy insurance from my friends in Malaysia. Hence, I will be meeting my friends to discuss about various insurance policies that are suitable for someone living abroad like me. I am not sure they will be able to explain it in detail through email but I have already asked them to prepare a quote for me.

Two days ago, we had a bad experience with our neighbour. At midnight, they were kind of noisy and had turned up the volume of the television set to quite loud. It was unbearable. So we went next door and asked them politely to turn down the volume. The guy who answered the door agreed so we went home. However, they had not turned down the volume. Hence, we went next door again and before we even started saying anything, the lady owner who answered the door started to say that we have no rights to ask them to be quiet as it is only once a year and blah blah blah. From that moment, we knew that they thought that they will always be ‘RIGHT’ and there was nothing we can say.

We have spoken with the lady owner several times before and she seemed nice even though her husband does not even bother to look at us at times. But after that incident, we will keep our distance and we will report it to our landlord when he comes.