Post celebration blues

I think the best thing about a New Year directly after Christmas, is the opportunity it gives to avoid the 'blues'. Today it's time to take down the decorations, Hoover up all the stray glitter, and start thinking about how best to make 2013 a good year.

My New Years resolutions:
1. De clutter my life and give as much away to charity as I can bear.
2. Be organised and stop double booking my life.
3. Look for a new job.
4. Start my small business idea. Make something happen.

As usual, I have no doubt given myself too much to do. I'm also signing up for 2 baby groups a week, plus swimming lessons, and throwing in a gym routine as well.

Now I see it all in black and white, It's quite clear I will come unstuck.

The biggest thing to look forward to this coming year, is a happy healthy family, at home in our new house. Finally we are here, and with the ravages of 2012 behind us, I keep my fingers crossed that we remain cancer free and have a roof over our heads for the time being.

Chin chin.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Happy New Year in KL.

I'm in Kuala Lumpur this week, and next week as well. It was an economic descision, although it sounds rather an extravagant thing to be doing. It is cheeper than a 2 week stint in HK, and cheeper than a trip home - which was also a consideration. Since there is a perfectly good Chinese consulate in KL, then we opted to come here for a visa. The Consulate is closed though, which we discovered after a 2 day treasure hunt for the correct location to make our application.

It all started when we headed to the embassy on day 1 for what we thought would be a simple stand in line, and hand over forms situation. Sadly not, as after our train/walk/ taxi dash to find the embassy ended in a guard handing us a slip of paper with the address of the consular office on it and telling us to go there. Bother! we thought, and off we trudged, in the humid heat to find this mysterious address. Being at number 229 on Jalan Ampang, the office we wanted was at number 25, so it appeared a simple task of walking the length of the road and getting there..

1Floor office
OSK Plaza
25 Jln Ampang
50450 KL

HA! no so, as number 25, when we finally got there in an exhausted and hot state, was a small derelict building. Hmm. most frustrating. Number 35 was a Chinese consulate office, so we opted for the 'address must be wrong' solution to the mystery. The said office was however closed for the Chines Lunar New year, a notice on the door politely told us, and would be open on Saturday 29th. Blast. Oh well simply return on Saturday and get the job done. We remained slightly baffled to the address's reference to a 'Plaza" since the area was singularly devoid of any plaza like buildings, in fact appeared to be virtully in a ramshackle part of town close to the bus station.

Saturday arrived, and although we did sleep through the alarm, we still managed to make it back to the consular office before it closed at 11.45 (chinese lunchtime) Only to met with puzzled responses to a request for a visa application. They told us to go to the Bank of China building. Odd. This time we had no patience for walking, and jumped in a cab. Arriving at the Bank Of China in a few minutes, and seeing it is located in a big shiny building named OSK plaza. AHHH all becomes clear. The number 25 bit was just a cunning plan to confuse us right? who knows. On arrival another polite notice informed us that the offices would be closed until Tueday 3rd Feb, because of the Chinese Lunar New Year. So the visa application sits quietly in our hotel room, waiting for Tuesday. Joy.

Who really wants to know?

I was talking to A*** the other day, and he was very dissmissive of blogging. I was surprised, as being a creative writing graduate I would have thought he found it relevant and interesting. I think what he really meant was that he felt other peoples lives were not interesting and that anyone writing a blog about themselves perhaps had some inflated sense of self importance. It's a point. It made me think too, as I actually struggle - if I'm honest - with the whole blog thing myself. I mean really beyond my immediate family - who is THAT interested in little old me?

So, part of my new year resolutions is to make this blog less about me and more about other stuff. What the 'other stuff' will be - well that remains to be seen.

graffiti

graffiti, originally uploaded by Miss P's photos.

This graffitti is from a fire escape in Antwerp. The graffiti it's self is pretty boring, but what i really like is the colour of the door.
whenever i'm out i always feel compelled to take random pictures like this, for some assumed future purpose - Ideally inspiration. The only problem I find now is that I actually rarely use the pictures. As part of my new years resolution, I have decided is to do something with the pictures. even if I just stick them here - at least they have been useful for something.

New Years Eve

On New years eve I met up with my friends (presently I have about 3 friends here! - not bad going really) and we were lucky enough to have front row seats at an in-promptu firework display, thanks to a kitchen full of chefs, who appeared from a door in the wall beside the bar we were in, and set off lots of bangers in the street with great excitement, and then 15 minutes later dissapeared again into the door in the wall. The funniest part was that they all kept their chefs hats on, while running around lighting the very short fuses and dashing to take cover before the big bangs. They were having so much fun, and it was really entertaining.

This was not the only fireworks display in town, as you can imagine. There were bangs and crashes all over town all evening.

We made our way to a restaurant up the street, along with 100 or so others for a New Years meal. It was interesting, we met a few people, and then on to a nightclub. The nightclub was, well, a night club. lots to drink, a bit of dancing etc etc. I actually was not overly excited by the club, I mean it was good and enjoyable, but, not every week thank you..... well- maybe i'm just being a bit Bah Humbug. After all it was only last week that I found myself dancing on the bar in some latino place in front of all my new colleagues. I'm still wondering whether that was a clever thing to do or not...

perhaps i should give myself a rest for a while!

New Year's Eve

Today is New Years eve, and Tonight I'm going out for dinner in some kind of huge event. Not quite sure how that works, but I will find out later no doubt!

not having much luck posting pictures directly onto the blog, since the uploader always stops halfway ( very sus) so you'll just have to make do with my links to the photo albums for the moment!