ooh last night we went for the buffet at the straits kitchen (hyatt hotel). mmmm yummyyyy! it costs slightly less than $40 i think. we usually don't indulge in such extravagance but it was a birthday meal! all local food. char kway teow, prawn mee, laksa, roti prata, rojak, popiah, o lua, murtabak, satay, nasi lemak, chicken rice, char siew, siew nga (duck), gado gado, naan with dunno how many different curries, muah chee (!!!!! i love muah chee!!!!), ice kachang, honeydew sago, pandan cake (hah bird!), pineapple tarts, ching teng, bo bo char char, chin chow, goreng pisang, ice cream in all sorts of local flavours like durian, soursop.... and the ice cream came with nice pieces of colourful bread like they have at those road side ice cream stands. oh the fruit corner was very different from a typical buffet cos they had all the local fruits like mangosteen and longan etc etc. i likeee! only gripe was that since it's a local food buffet, they didn't have an appetiser corner with mussels and oysters and the like. i always like to start my buffet with a generous round of seafood! hmmm but i think i'm going to avoid buffets for a while now. cos my appetite has seriously diminished and it just doesn't make it hua suan :(

anyway in preparation for my (likely) overseas education, my sister happily suggested i get a feel of what living independently is like and do a load of laundry by myself at least once a week. much to the delight of the mum. :*( the washing bit is easy. just turn on the washing machine. after that... if it's rainy/cloudy, i'm lucky and can use the dryer. if it's not, then i have to hang out all the clothes to dry. then iron. then fold. then distribute. hmph this (likely) overseas education can be a bit of a drag cos then my parents keep telling me "you better eat more of this ah... uk don't have you know" which most times i'll be quite content to oblige but they usually only say this when i'm so full i feel sick. or [when they see me diligently peeling skin and fat off chicken pieces] "how can you be so picky with food? how are you going to survive overseas?" and to that i just grin and say, "well ang moh people always eat breast meat so i don't have to worry!"

ooh and my sister got her new drum set. what fun! unfortunately my coordination needs quite a bit of work. and the neighbours haven't complained. yet.

crap. the washing machine just beeped :(