Hang out

Today was a much required hang out with friends day.

Super delicious korean place!

Biggest dumplings I've ever had in my life!!!!!!

It was a battle finishing off this shared plate

See! Size of my hands.

Wish I could read korean. Probably says 'Korean Restaurant'

Went to the Pet Store after

You can buy this as a pet!

 

Then it was time for dessert!

Super delicious chocolate mousse and london fog...

Fall 2011

Finally, I have access to a camera so here are some pictures of fall in Vancouver.

Our front yard.

Orange everywhere...walking to the skytrain station.

Red

More red in downtown.

So beautiful

My office today..Blenz in downtown

Retreat 2011

Wow, I really haven't been blogging a lot this month. Its been crazy busy but really good, I am moving in two days time and still have to pack -.-

Anyway, the highlight of my month so far has been the NJ Retreat!!!!!!!!!! Love sleeping 3 hours per night!

Can you feel the love?

Playing telephone charades

Our word was 'Avatar'

'Fast and Furious'

 

The toilet paper game.

Ps Steve speaking

Spaghetti for dinner. The garlic bread was SO good.

This is who we are

New Joy Community Church

 Seriously, one of the best weekends ever. Nothing can beat spending time in great company. I have said this before, and I will say it again...I am so blessed to have you guys in my life =)

Land of giant things

It was the first time I've been to the states since I've been back. As always, it was super duper fun. We left Vancouver around 1ish in the afternoon and I got home at 1am in the morning. And still, we didn't find time to go to Target or Trader Joe's =(

That's ok, the gigantic portions and cheap groceries made up for that:

Yes, that is ONE slice of cake.

10 pizzas for $10

I know I post lots of photos of food and groceries but I never cease to be amazed on the stuff they have there. Seriously, I ordered a mini caesar salad at dinner (it was only $2!!) and it was the size of a normal salad. Caaaraazzzyyy... And I got a two large bottles of contact solution for $7! It's so ridiculous because that's the price I paid for one small bottle in Perth.

But I have to reduce these trips, I have been so busy the moment I arrived back. Yeah, sorry I haven't been blogging for a while. I left my camera charger in Australia so I can't take photos at the moment. I was suppose to buy one when I was in the States but ran out of time =(

Don't ask how we ran out of time after spending 12 hours there...it just happens!!

Every. single. time.

Next time I'll blog about something that doesn't require pictures...but I so wanna put up pics of Vancouver in fall. It's so beautiful..different coloured trees lined up the streets with leaves on the floor. It is SO nice....I love fall!!

No Jet lag

I wake up, once again, to the beauty of the mountains.

I don't think I can ever get sick of it! Thankfully, I am not suffering from jet lag...I managed to stay awake during the day yesterday even though my body was super tired then got second wind later in the evening which kept me up till about midnight. Now its 8am in the morning and I am jumping off the walls with excitement of being back! Better keep the noise level to a minimum though, my roomies are still sleeping.

I am still living at HoA until the end of the month before moving out. I might as well continue living from my suitcase, no point in unpack and repacking everything for two weeks. It's been so awesome being back, even in the one day I was here..everything felt so familiar again.

I AM HOME! YAYYYAYAYYAYYAYAYYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYY!!!!!

Wow..I am so super content. No where else I would rather be =)

No more long flights!!

Finallyyyyyyyyyyyyyy......... I am back in Vancouver and it feels good. After 24 hours of travelling, I can relax. Oh, did I mention I am in Starbucks because I left my keys at home and waiting on my roomies get back to me. LOL. But even that can't phase me right now.

Malaysia was awesome fun. Eat. Shop. Sleep. That pretty much summed up my days.

I love being up in the clouds

Sums up my thoughts on Malaysian food

I had ice kachang every day!

I sure do

My final feast prepared by my aunt!

Airplane food..doesn't quite compare right?

 As awesome as the food was, it spending time with my family that made my time there so memorable.

Dad's side of the family

Mum's side of the family

So adorable!!!!!!

Everybody!

And so it begins..again

I am talking about packing. The bane of my existence. I would wait until the very last minute where I had no other choice before lugging out the old suitcase. Packing is not suppose to be hard, but being indecisive by nature, it made the task extremely difficult.

What I am surprised about is how its actually possible to pack your life in a suitcase. Something I done this time last year and now I am about to do it again. As I pack, I question 'Do I really need this?' 'Would I really wear that?' 'This is cool...but takes up half my suitcase'

The plethora of cards I've collected since the beginning of time

How about my fav books? C'mon..I know you have a set too.

My soft toys

See, I don't need these things. In fact, they're not even very practical but it's just stuff I like to have. Let's not even get started on my clothes and make up.

Make up...the other half in my bathroom and bedroom. Why do I even have so much?! I barely wear any. I attribute that to my hoarding tendencies.

Half way there...

And to complicate matters even more...I found half my clothes in my other wardrobe I completely forgot about. There were times when I wondered, 'Where are those black shorts?' or 'What happened to my jeans?' but I thought I gave them away. Alas!! They are found!! Which means even more decisions to be made on what I should bring back with me!

I do find packing quite stressful actually and that's why I am starting a good FOUR days beforehand. It'd be interesting to find what I do end up bringing ;)

My decision

Exactly one year ago, I was all packed up and ready to start a new chapter of my life. There were a million thoughts running through my mind but I had an overwhelming sense of peace about it. I am so glad I picked this path, even though it wasn't an easy decision, it was one that felt right.

So here I am...one year later...I could never imagine experiencing what I've experienced - the good times and the bad, but that has made me the person I am today.

Once again, I'm at crossroads - should I stay in Perth or should I go? Honestly, it wasn't a difficult decision, I think I made up my mind while I was in Vancouver. I wanted to stay but I wasn't sure whether, because since I was there, I would naturally just feeling like staying. I thought to be fair, and give Perth a chance, I'll come back first then decide.

Once I landed and spent a few days at 'home', a place that was suppose to feel familiar and comfortable, felt foreign and different. It wasn't a place that I felt at 'home' anymore. That was when I knew.

I am going to be sad to miss out on all the engagement parties, weddings and baby showers while I'm gone. I really want to be there to celebrate those important moments with people but realistically, its not possible to fly back every time I am invited to something. Otherwise I may as well not leave Perth at all. At the end of the day, I do have my own life to live but I am so thankful to have an awesome support of family and friends in Perth.

It's been a blast since I've been back. I am having so much fun catching up with friends, going back to local hangouts (Yes, I was at Utopia last night) and pretty much enjoying the conveniences of living at home.

Some things never change...

YAY, I still have one month of enjoying this city:

Perth

Home to the best beaches in the world.

 And home to...well, my home!

And boy does it feel good to have good home cooked meals every night.

Beats my cooking any day

But best of all..I get to spend time with my family and friends. That's priceless!

It feels so strange being back; so familiar yet so different. I look around and notice that everything seems the same, the people, the places but then I think, why does it feel so different? And then I realise that I have changed. It's like I am a spectator in my own life, I feel strangely detached to what's going on around me. My brain is still trying to categorize how to label this time in Perth that doesn't feel like home nor does it feel like a vacation. It's like so weird. That's the only way I can describe it.

Well, since I'm here, I'm going to make the most of my time and enjoy spending it with my wonderful family and friends. And City Beach..here I come!!