Night # 76

Found this in the classified section of the online news. This is under the Matrimonial Section. I initially thought it is where you announced your engagement or marriage. There are like 145 posts, mostly (I say mostly cos I didn't look at all of them) looking for a bride. Hmm...

Night # 75

Have been wondering what they are doing out there... Maybe forming a private lagoon. Yes, there are people here who are rich enough to have their own private beach. This weather is so good to just laze around on the beach. Too bad I can't do it here... unless I have a private beach :P

Night # 74

Just the other day I was talking to another friend about the kinds of food I miss back home... and of course we mentioned chicken rice, laksa... yum yum...

I haven't found any place here that sells chicken rice yet and I doubt it is possible to have good chicken rice here. The chicken here are small, excellent for grilled chicken but not suitable for chicken rice.

Anyhow, all is not lost. I found Cup Noodles SanWa. Strangely, I have never seen this brand in Singapore but this is a product of Singapore. Well, if the free trade is established, we will soon have frozen satay too. :)

Night # 73

I have been having this strange feeling these days... I am beginning to wonder if it is boredom that is slowly creeping into my system. I found myself restless and having some difficulty in sustaining interest in some things like reading. I am also beginning to think more and more of home. I have never been so long away from home.

Perhaps I have been at this mode for too long. I need a change in momentum and rhythm. I remembered when I first arrived in Kuwait, I was so sure that I would not want to teach. I don't want to be working in a school. Yet a week ago, I was doing up my CV to apply for a teaching position. Yesterday, I was checking out the various international schools over here. Maybe it is time to start again. I ought to be quite well rested by now.

I still can't understand myself. I think if someone were to ask "what is it that you seek in life"... I would be utterly lost. I have absolutely no idea... Am I in denial? Am I lost? Have I stubbornly refused to see? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps... :)

Night # 71 & 72

Wrote something yesterday, but I didn't like it... so it was unpublished in the end. Am not going to rewrite Night # 71, so I will lump them both together.

Yesterday, I made a big boo boo in my laundry. I had a brand new top and I put it in the washing machine and subsequently the dryer. It shrunk and I can't wear it anymore. I was so mad with myself. I think it is definitely harder when you are mad with yourself... especially for me. I can't even blame anyone else for my stupidity. I don't know what I hate more... that I was stupid or that it is now a problem that I can't solve.

I figured it is my stupidity that I can't stand and I can't forgive. It is strange how one can be more forgiving to others than to self. Did I mention that my jeans shrunk together with my top too? Arggghhhhhhh...
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Night # 70

Have been wanting to change my blog template... have not been particularly excited over the red and orange combination... and somehow never quite like the layout as well. Finally found this template that is subtle yet pleasing to my eyes. Worked on it for a whole morning... I am a dodo when it comes to such stuff... but nevertheless tried to modify a couple of things to my preference.
I have a few pressing questions. One, I removed my white tulip photo as it was obscenely huge. I can't seem to be able to resize it nor does the template gave any dimensions that allowed me to change. So how can you resize the photo? At the original source perhaps?

Two, I would really like to change the size and type of fonts on this template. Again, there's nothing mentioned in the template that I can easily substitute. As we get older, I think most of us prefer to go easier on our eyes yah? So till I can figure this out... it will be this small font...

Thirdly, maybe lastly, this is where I know I have been in school for too long, I spotted an alignment that is off. How can I correct it? hahahaha.. this is terrible... I shall see if I can live with that for a while.

Anyhow, I have my old template backuped somewhere... if need be, I will switch back... I have realised that my previous entries with photos looked dreadfullly messy... I will have to spend some time to go through them again.. (keeping my fingers crossed).

Night # 69

Has been surfing the internet today... There is so much free stuff floating around in there... So much to see :)

Night # 68

I had no internet connection for almost 12 hours today.

I tried everything... well almost everything. I restarted my computer a few times, Checked my lan cable to see if it is secured properly, refreshed my lan connection a few times, waited for an hour before I tried again... Nope.. none of them worked. I thought perhaps the server is down, I ought to be patient.... yah right.

I finally called the internet people to inform them of my problem. They sent a couple of men to come and take a look at the problem. So this guy did exactly the same thing as I did... but he did however, stared at the lan plug a couple of times. There was still no sign of my internet coming back. So he summoned help. He called for his laptop and a BUS adapter (whatever that is). He tried to put that adapter into my laptop... it didn't seem to work... He attached the lan cable to HIS laptop but it didn't work either. He went out with his laptop and came back with a different lan cable much later.

I couldn't contain my curiosity any longer, so I asked him what seemed to be the problem. He said "We are still checking, Mdm". (Patience is a virtue - I got to remind myself) Without getting much results, he then decided to bring his laptop to the main lan cable (that is like 15 cm hanging from the wall) and tried to connect to the internet there. At last, the connection came on promptly. He called again for a wireless router and was fiddling with it, tried to get my laptop to detect the wireless network... but my laptop remained unresponsive and stubborn.

Finally he turned to my husband and said "It is your computer problem". He claimed that his laptop was able to connect using the cable and the wireless whereas mine couldn't. So it got to be my laptop that has the problem. So I asked what's the nature of the problem... he said he doesn't know. Sigh... That's always such a convenient answer to any seemingly unsolvable problem.

Anyway, with that conclusion, he left.

We rebooted the computer and we got the internet connection back on... What a joke.

Night # 67

I initially wanted to write the story related by my friend yesterday, but I decided against it. It is an unpleasant and upsetting incident.

So, am going to let the past be buried and not mentioned here....

Night # 66 - Hard Rock Cafe

Went to the Hard Rock Cafe for the British Ladies coffee morning today. Thought I should check out the place since I haven't been there.

First there's this awesome view (above) from where we sat and the place looks nice (photos below), for someone who's not much of a Hard Rock fan. Shared a portion of the "round the world" chicken wings with my friend. Yum yum :)

Over the wings, my friend recounted her horrifying experience while she and her family were residing in Saudi Arabia. Am going to do a bit of reading up on it and write about it maybe tomorrow.... I can only say, this woman has courage of steel.

Night # 65 - Power Failure

Was in the house when the blackout hit the apartment block. I was happily eating my last night's curry chicken rice when I realised that there was a power failure... Then it occured to me that almost nothing here works without electricity. For one, even my stove is electric. So I can't boil water to make myself comfortable with a cup of tea. I can't continue with my laundry... and I worry about my fish in the refridgerator.

I was actually halfway through my CV and was supposed to settle some air tickets stuff and the information was in the computer. I think I felt kind of lost for a few minutes, not exactly sure what I should do, before I decided to just laze around and work on my Sudoku.

Just when I was getting so comfortable on the couch and was all ready for a little siesta, and there was light :)

Night # 65

Don't worry this isn't our car. This is one of the many which had been left abandoned along the highway. Very often they had been totally smashed up and left to the natural elements.

I guess this is an interpretation of "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust and metal to rust"

Night # 64 - Sightseeing on the Road

Caught some sights in the car while on our way to Souk Sharq. It was a beautiful day with lovely clear blue sky.

The one above shows Sharq mall and the one on the right is the Liberation Towers. It was built when Kuwait was liberated from Iraq in the Gulf War.













These two shots are taken in the car when we drove through another souk. The shops were just right next to the alley.

Night # 63 - Friday Market that Opens on Thursday

To market to market to buy a fat urmmm... goat :)

Went to the Friday market today. It was a huge place that basically sells everything from household products, carpets, clothes, bags, shoes, makeup, accessories, furniture, garden supplies, chickens, goats... you get the idea.

I was expecting some open area where they will set up stalls and display their good on ground sheets... I think I have too low an expectation over here. I sneakily took some photos while I was there.

The photo below on the left kind of shows the place. The market is made up of a few of such buildings.



There is one section of the market that is solely for secondhand goods. The range of junk they got there was amazing... like the one below (left). I mean who buys such stuff? But I guess if you are searching for a spare part, this is one good place to start. I also discovered this strange sight of men pushing wheelbarrows around in the market. They are the alternative version of the shopping trolleys... you got to give it to them for being creative :)

Night # 62

Had waited for Lao shi to give me a little advice on this piece. So I am glad that I can finally finish this one... Well, I think I am done with it...

Night # 61

You Are Apple Green

You are almost super-humanly upbeat. You have a very positive energy that surrounds you. And while you are happy go lucky, you're also charmingly assertive. You get what you want, even if you have to persuade those against you to see things your way. Reflective and thoughtful, you know yourself well - and you know that you want out of life.

What Color Green Are You?

Pinched from M who pinched from Mistipurple who pinched from Oceanskies

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Couple of nights ago, I was talking to an ex-student. The wonder of life is such that I can see them grow into sensible and well-adjusted adults despite the challenging times we had when they were in their teens.

Interestingly he commented that even when he finds a girl and is committed in a relationship, he would still very much want to pursue his own life and continue to make time to be with his friends. As we talked on, this analogy came up. I described relationships between 2 people ought to be like 2 parallel lines that moves closer and decides to meet now and then.... but they continue to be 2 distinct lines. Very often the moment we commit in a relationship, we hurriedly merged the 2 lines into one. Hence the tremendous heartache and the huge feeling of being lost when the relationship ends. We cannot find our own lines anymore. It has become so intertwined that separation is almost impossible... Now I know why they call getting married as tying the knot. :)

Night # 60 - School Visit

Went for my first British Ladies Coffee Morning today at the British School. I was told that it would be an informal setting where you can mingle and get to know ladies from other places etc. So I went thinking that it shall be a relaxing morning and perhaps there may be a bazaar organised.

It turned out to be a formal occasion. A celebration of the International Women's Day, organised by the 2 ladies organisations and the school. There was buffet breakfast and students' performances, followed by phototaking on the London bus and a Raffles draw. Wow. I had to hold back a tear when I watched the students' performances. I think at that point I realised that I do miss school. I miss being with the kids. Have I forgotten all that? Have I disregarded the feeling that perhaps school is where I belong?

Life is strange and perhaps ironic.

Night # 59 - The Bus Job

The company arranged this bus from Saturday to Thursday for the wives of the employees to go to some shopping malls or places. This is particularly useful for some of us who don't drive or owns a car. A thoughtful gesture I would say.

So this fellow friend on the bus called me this morning and asked if I am going for the coffee morning tomorrow. All thanks to her, she alerted me that it will be at one of the international school (and I knew that the school actually has pottery classes for adults). So I will be taking the bus tomorrow.

I am however, hoping that they won't take the opportunity to ask me about taking up this bus coordinating job. Well, it was how it went. The lady who used to do it, went on a holiday and she's expecting as well. She asked for volunteers to take up the job but there were no takers. It seemed that she had been asking since last October. So since I was the newcomer, I was asked by one of the ladies if I could do it. My point to her was that I don't take the bus often. This should be taken up by the ladies who utilitise the bus frequently. I was aware that some of them make a point to take the bus at least 3 times a week, whereas I only took them once every 2 - 3 weeks or so. I was told that I am the best candidate because I am not working and I have no kids.

This all sounded so familiar. Was it a human nature? That irregardless of culture and background, it is human's nature to try to push work to a rookie whom he/she is perceived to be easier to "bully"? What I do during my time is my business and I don't see why I should be doing the job.

Night # 58 - Henna

I went shopping yesterday looking for a pair of running shoes but chanced upon this pair of Ecco walking shoes instead. I must say this particular brand of shoes give good support to your feet.

This was the problem. I saw the price tag to be 20.500 KD so I tried it and bought it. At the cashier, they seemed to be not sure about price and they checked it again. Finally, they decided that it was 20.500 KD afterall and I paid that amount.

While we were looking at running shoes, this salesperson from the Ecco store approached us with his stockbook and told us that they had made a mistake and it was suppose to be 23.750 KD. He apologised and asked if we could consider paying the difference. But he left it entirely to us to decide.

I surprised myself. I told him no. It wasn't about the additional 3.250 KD. It was the price we agreed at the shop. I didn't bargain for it. I paid the price as it was stated. They had the opportunity to check and confirm the price. I think I had my "teacher" look and was probably showing that I was going to stick to my point. But in the end, we followed him back to the store and paid the rest. My husband was the nice guy.... and of course I gave him the decision to make. He was afraid that I would have given that guy a piece of my mind... which I probably would have.
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I found this powder henna in the city centre. It is supposed to be high quality henna from Yemen. The package included instructions to add water to the powder and to work it into a paste and leave it for 6 hours. So it looked kind of like the one on the right (well, whatever that's left of it. It was full before I started)

I was trying to describe the smell to a friend and I figured this probably says the best. It is like the smell of wet grass and mud all rolled together. I shan't even try to describe how it looked like. Anyway, I put the henna onto my head... was supposed to apply it from the roots of my hair to the end and wrap my head up in a nylon shower cap or something like that for 3 hours.

Yup, I sat with that thing on my head for 3 hours. Washing up was such a mess. I think I washed my hair 3 times. But the effect was pretty good.... hair is pretty soft though I can' t see the changes in the colour except in the sun it looked brown. Then again my hair always look brown in the sun.

It had been an interesting experiment. Not sure if I would try it again... kind of prefer to let the professionals do it at the salon :) I know, I have been spoilt.

Night # 57

Today's weather: Sand storm

After days of clear blue sea, beautiful sea, the sand storm arrives. If you are here you will be able to hear the wind blowing constantly and since this is a desert, it literally picks up the sand with it. So if you are outdoors, you will get everything coated with a layer of sand. I don't usually wander out these days but if I look at the security guards downstairs, they tell me the weather. Today, they are donned in their black thick jackets and face masks (covering the nose the mouth). It's going to take days to get the temperature up again.

Night # 56

I woke up at 4 am this morning.

Feeling rather dazed at this point. Tried going back to sleep... Didn't work. Tried taking a nap, got too impatient to wait for sleep to descend. So I got up and tried to paint a little.

I have kind of given up on waiting for the person's call regarding pottery. I mean I tried to call him 3 times. He told me on 2 occasions that he will call me back. The last one he said he will get back to me on the very evening... That's like 2 weeks ago. Sigh. I am going to seek alternatives.

I am still toying with the idea of using that little room in our apartment for pottery. A couple of things are stopping me though. For one, I don't know how long we are going to be out here. Shipping the kiln and wheel may take up to 6 months. I must remember this is the middle east. Secondly, I didn't like the room. The natural lighting in the room is pretty poor and ventilation is restricted to the windows which are just over the aircondition compressor.

What are my other choices? Hmm..

Night # 55

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Those in red are countries that I have visited so far. Only 6% of the world. Oh dear... So much to do, so little time... so little money.

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On the treadmill.... The mental torture...

Last Monday I did my 5 km run on the treadmill and of course I was thinking of repeating it this morning. Just 20 min on the treadmill, I was only going slightly less than 2.4 km and I already felt like dying....

Me: Oh my goodness, not even 2.4 km yet and I am already so tired. Feel like stopping...
Me: C'mon you can do it... keep on going...
Me: Can't... my legs are aching, feel a pain coming... (whine)
Me: Focus on the time. 5 more min and then up the speed
Me: Up the speed???? Must be joking... I am already dying at this speed (pant pant)... I think I feel a pain in my stomach... Think I am going to stop.
Me: No no. You want to do this tomorrow?? Start all over again? Turn up the music... focus on the music.
Me: Tomorrow?? nooo... ok ok.. another 5 min. (turned up the volume of my mp3 player)
Me: Keep on going... 10 more min
Me: Ok ok, let's try to do at least 4 km today...

I finally got to finish my 5 km. I didn't feel anymore when I was in my last 1 km. Legs were kind of on a autopilot mode... They just went on and on and on...

That's the reason why I hate running. I have to go through this mental struggle everytime. To me it is often a mind over flesh kind of battle... but will it come a time when the mind goes overboard and pushes too far?

Night # 54

Was talking to A on Y! Messenger and he was telling me that he and his wife have been reading my blog. So nice :) We both agreed that it is more interesting when there's photos to show on the blog as well. It isn't always possible to take photos here. Well, I had a couple of unpleasant experiences and since then I have tried not to take out my camera too often.

The first time was in September last year when I was in a shopping mall. I took out my camera and started taking the decorations in the building. We had so little knowledge of this country and I wanted to show everyone back home that it is more modern and developed than we think. This guy ran after me to tell me that it was not allowed to take photo of the place. So I quickly kept my camera but not without taking one shot.

The second incident happened this year in January. I had decided to do this walk from home to this mall (which took me almost 2 hours). I wrote about this walk in my earlier entry but I left out this incident as I didn't want family at home to worry. I took a photo of this hotel and to my horror, 4 security guards came charging at me. They in turn asked me why I took the photo and demanded to see what I had taken on my camera. I felt like a criminal and it didn't help that I was alone.

Though I was allowed to leave without further questioning, I was quite traumatised by that incident. From then on, I have been extra cautious about taking photos especially when I am alone. In other words, I won't be sticking my neck out for those photos and if I do have a few to show you... they are a luxury ;)

Night # 53 - Bird Flu

I have this daily routine of reading the newspapers online (both locally and back home) first thing in the morning. And this headline caught my attention. Allow me to restate this headline so that I can share my worry and panic with you.

Woman with bird flu dies in Iraq; H5N1 mutating … millions at risk

I thought "Oh my god. It is heading this way. It is mutating already!!!" Then as I CALMLY read the article, I realised the woman with bird flu and the H5N1 mutating refers to different parts of the article. Yes, the virus is mutating steadily and MAY eventually acquire the changes it needed to transmit from human to human. Talking about gripping headlines.

This is one issue, we all got to keep an eye on... Kind of remind me of a short story written by Roald Dahl.. about how a town was wiped out by the attack of the crows and subsequently other birds...

Anyhow, a reminder for all of us. Cook our poultry well.... and sorry guys, no more half boiled eggs, they all got to be fully cooked.

Night # 52

I woke up early today (like 7 am) cos it is Sunday and I was hoping to talk and see my family on webcam. I waited all morning and I saw no one online.

Started to do my watercolour (am now working on some rocks) and waited as I paint. Still no one.

Oh well...

Night # 51

I forgot to blog last night :P I was caught up with my computer game as usual.

Well, yesterday was a good day... I finally ran my first 5 km. Yeah! My first milestone... Next week, I got to try to run 4 times a week...

Night # 50 - Camel Alert!

We finally saw the desert! There are still parts of this country that are bare land with little vegetation... I was told that if we keep driving for 60 km, we may reach the borders of Iraq... Of cos we didn't try to make it there :)

What was interesting was that we noticed a number of tents set up (as above right) which reminded me of nomadic tents. Not too certain about the uses of these tents but it seemed like it was for herding purposes.

Alot of people had asked if I had seen the camels... Yes, I have finally seen them today. I thought they were horses as they are single humped :-S ... Anyway there are herds of them as well as goats and sheep and we stopped by the road just so that I can take some photos.

Night # 49

For the few weeks that I have been here, I have been mistaken to be a Filipino. Generally the asians who work here come from Philippines and India. So when I was out shopping in some malls, I had been approached for assistance by other customers... even though I was dressed nowhere like the uniform.

There was one particular day when I was shopping in Sharq mall, dressed in my t-shirt and jeans with a coat and my bright orange bag slinged across my shoulder. This arabian lady kept waving at me. I gave her a puzzled look. She pointed to a dress on the rack and asked me for assistance. I shook my head and she said "Oh, you don't work here".

They look but not see...

Night # 48

The instruction on the package said " To thaw, leave it in room temperature (20 degrees C) for 2-3 hours". This was how my box of prawns looked like after 5 hours. Still stuck and buried in some chunk of ice.

Dinner was supposed to be ready in an hour, so armed with the salt shaker and a dinner knife, it was ice excavation operation. I tried to chisel the ice block gently so that the prawns remained intact (as far as possible) and that I can remove the prawns quickly. No such luck. The only thing I was thankful for was that the prawns are headless.

So much for my attempt at making cereal prawns.
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Decided to get some ice cream across the street. Was waiting at the roadside to cross the road when this vehicle pulled up. Driver even reversed so that he's right next to me and he beckoned me to get into his vehicle.

What in the world??? I am so irritated... He seriously think that I am alone and I will get into his car when I don't know him at all? My goodness...