Hello me Lovelies!!! A whole year of NOT blogging! Happy Belated New Year!  I've missed being able to pour out all my mental diarrhea online!! Hah, not quite what was expected in terms of adjectives but it works for me!  Well it takes very little to make me happy!

Something my close friends tend to do,  the phone was ringing incessantly off the mobile network system (can one say hook if it's a mobile?..) I finally pick up after the third call as NO ONE leaves messages anymore, by the way I do like voice messages, it's more comforting to hear a voice than to have to read *where are YOU?* or *CALL ME*.
 "Oi, how come you're not picking up our other calls " purrs Gina down the phone "I am a very busy and important person and have other things to do like go to the loo" I said. "well anyway, get over here now, no need to gear up, you look beautiful anyway and we're only going for drinks at the usual place" Gina says trying to charm her way around my surprise at having to up sticks and go meet them at such short notice.  "you have half an hour, see you in a bit" and she rings off.  I stare at my mobile for a sec.  Right.. war paint on, battle gear on and arghhh where are those ear rings that go with the blasted dress!

Another call comes in 15 minutes later, "I AM on my way out!" I say to Kina on the phone as I know they are tag teaming me on the calls.  "Well hurry up, we're here!" says Kina. "Ok Ok, COMMINGGGG!"

I walk in to our usual hang out and unplug my headphones as I see the two most beautiful women I know perched at the bar.  Smiling at them I, lean over to greet Kina first, then Gina.  They are both giving me appraising looks .. "yesss??? " I say to them, raising my eyebrows.  They both smile and Gina gets the waiter to pour me some wine.  "So what's up girls?" I ask them, "It feels like the end of school and we're all about to leave for different colleges!" I say.  "It's the new year" says Kina, "makes you feel like that".  "Damn, it's already Feb, can you imagine it?  2012 has started fast!' I exclaim.  We catch up with each other, Gina's just come back from a month in the States and Mexico and Kina from Cambodia.

Needless to say, the conversation turns to me and my singleness... it's begins with "the problem with you D is..."  I'm inwardly groaning, here we go... .  I remind myself, you love them, you love them, they're only saying this for your own good, grin and bear it.

I finally manage to get them off the topic and we talk about work, their boutique and my show.  Gina says "we're just wondering why you're still pushing ahead with season 2 of your show?"
"Why not?" I say.  "well we think you should do something more fun, more you!"  says Kina.  "Well real estate is a good subject, and I enjoy it" I retort.

My show finally went to air in Jan 2011, after two years of lobbying to get it up and going.  It took every ounce of determination and push from me and my team to get it on air.  I was very proud of it and also of the fact that I'd done what I had set out to do.  Now it was about figuring out if I wanted to keep at it or switch subjects.  I had come up with two more concepts for shows and was waiting for some legal paperwork before submitting it.

Gina and Kina both start pitching some ideas to me, I should have gotten someone to take a picture of my face, hah, the ideas were quite out there bless them!  However there is one that might work..  As I watch them get into a debate on which idea would work better, I think to myself, yes we've really come a long way in the one year, but our friendship still remains the same. . Dx

Second to last France Post!

Sigh... My last bottle of red from the Luberon valley, my last dinner in France, .. everytime I think of having to get on those planes to go back I start to feel nervous.. but Malaysia is calling.. I have to go back, have to face my life there. I've had a tremendous time, more than I had expected..

the Provence  interior gardens are very similar to balinese and thai houses, all you see are cement facades and big wooden carved doors, but once the doors are open it's like eden inside.. they really know how to landscape their bit of earth. give me a beautiful house of wood and glass by the beach, with drift wood pieces and I'll be happy or a ranch style house nestled in a lush valley with aztec carpets and throws on big overstuffed couches with terracotta floors on the verandah and varnished wood flooring inside...
Downloading all my songs that Ana likes on to her pen drive (once a DJ.. etc)

It's 11.42 pm. and I'm sort of waltzing in and out of Ana's house looking up at the stars and quaffing more wine and piddling arund on the puter.. a bundle of nerves, whilst she looks on at me and laughs but at the same time is saying what on earth is she gong to do as I will not be on line for a couple of days!!
I don't think 'll be sleeping on the plane like I did coming in from KL as I was really exhausted when I boarded and slept most of the way, so now WHAT bleedin book or movie to watch????

I am listening to latin tunes and both of us are looking at the full moon on her patio.. luckily the dogs haven't started howling yet!
I love cooking, but I haven't done much lately, but I did quite bit here, as I have people who appreciate the effort, so will take that back to Ka Ka Town and see if the sprogs like the new found cooking energy!
Dx

New Year! Hello 2010!

Everyone was asking me , 'where are you goin to be celebrating NYE D?' I had initially promised James (e gads months ago actually!) and so when the invites came pouring in I kept wondering what I really wanted to do.

Well as we get older I guess we prefer to spend it with people that mean a lot to us, and I didn't want to be trapped with a bunch of strangers in any sort of party, be it at a house or club. I was also not really in the mood as it had been a pretty horrendous couple of months financially and emotionally draining, even though I was doing my best to press on. I mean, geezz even I was getting tired of all the gloom and doom of my mood and general life.

Feeling like a shrew, I just wanted to sit in my little "safety zone" and not have to bother about being nice to anyone.... one accidental slip of the tongue, and "ooo wazzup with D, she a total biatch these days" then again I was also getting fed up with my own company.

So on Christmas day, unlike most Christmases that I have with only family, I had my extended family who were ol school chums of mine from waaaaaaayyyyyy back when come over with their kids, can you imagine cooking for 17 people?!! Well I did, and it was brilliant, it was also going to by my last Christmas here. The table was groaning with turkeys (yes two, and both cooked differently!), stuffing, roasted spuds, baby potatoes, mixed green veg, Brussels sprouts, mushroom gravy sauce, cranberry sauce, mince pies, Christmas pudding and not forgetting the yummy Christmas log that my gal pal had brought along.. deeelishh oh and of course I made mulled wine (gluh wine) but of course only I drank it, people here aren't used to it.. so we carried on with some great Merlot.

Much later, much much later.. when everyone could heave their bodies around, we had a music flashback, "who knows this song!" "it's Prince!" "ok ok how about this one" ! "o my god, that's not rappers delight is it!!" yeahhhh. Heh Heh, its was the most tiring but one of the best Christmases I've had in a long time.

So when I went for my quiet round of drinks with James and his family for NYE, it was just right, I didn't feel I needed to be with tons of people, I enjoyed the convivial atmos of the restaurant and we most certainly did give the DJ heaps when he wasn't playing our music!!

And to top it all off, I went home early, fell asleep as I was waiting for the kettle to boil, woke up with a start at 6.30am , ran to the computer and flicked on my skype, and true to my word and hers, Ana and I celebrated her NYE countdown, it was the loveliest bottle of Prosecco I'd drunk in a long time! albeit the earliest ! he he he rock on!

I really feel this year is starting out so brilliantly, I've started my master cleanse detox diet that my lovely friend Chrissy gave to me. We went to school in Hong Kong together and she lives in Bali now, the invite is open to head over there , and I'm most certainly going to take it up! When she came over a couple of weeks ago to see me, (and I haven't seen her for 25 years!!) she looked bloody terrific! So I'm on my third day of the detox and I'm still hanging in there!



He He He... I'm thrilled with 2010 so far!
Dx

the weekend

hey D, did you just get up?" my brother Bob enquires down the phone.
"Well sort of, I'm just watching Friends in bed" I croak back. I love watching Friends, over and over and over again. It puts me in a "happy" place. Just like watching Black Adder when I need to go to sleep, I know it so well, that the moment Rowan Atkinson says "Baldric!" I'm in the land of nod.. don't ask me why but it works!

I'm quite amazed at the amount of invites that are pouring in for this weekend, a hen's party, drinks at trendy bar, dinner for two , bbq at my bro's house (which is why he called)... I guess being in hibernation for the past few weeks has made everyone wonder what I look like now! heh heh. Ah well, the hen's party it is, as my best buddies are goin with me and I promised them first a week ago. Last time we had a hen's night the male stripper/dancer (yeah whateverrrr) kept dancing near me and sitting on my lap.... errr ok... cute but please go hassle the Miss who's about to be a MRS ... Wonder what the entertainment will be tonight.. the theme is Arabian nights.... uh huh... my thoughts exactly.. (look take the thought of 40 odd nebulous women in scantly clad see through clothes posing on cushions being fanned by eunuchs in a large tent like room with scalloped curtains and tassels.. being served Turkish delights and sugared almonds.. Out of your mind.) it's in a restaurant in town...

I'm most certainly not going to be going in some type of floaty number that's for sure! Wonder what the girls will be wearing..
Dx

Finally!

Ok, so no one frog marched me to the exit and said "RAUS!" (which means OUT!). In fact we had a little giggle at the information counter when I went to get the documents. They need a certificate of good conduct.. yes that was my reaction too... I giggled so hard.. and then when I managed to take a breath I asked where and whom would give me said certificate, and I was told from the Police.. which made me grin even harder, the lady behind the counter cought on and was grinning back at me. She waived me good bye when I said thank you and I thought to myself , at least I made someone laugh today!

It turned out to be a good day anyway, and somehow it turned into a very Parisian like day, where lunch time was accompanied with a wine, and a visit to best friends shop was also accompanied with wine, and when I spotted the owners of an outlet I did some events work for, there was .. wait for it.. more wine.. ! Fasicaniting stuff eh..

Now all I have to do is get all the docs ready, and pool in heaps of cash..
Dx

Fuzzy

I've been meaning to go to the consulate for the last three weeks, somehow or the other I've managed to procrastinate or make excuses not to go. The question is why? It's not like going to the dentist is it? heh heh.. well my dentist is a sweetie so that's a bad analogy! OK OK so it's not like going to see (oh this is a good one) a government officer who is disbursing the funds from one's late husband's estate... hah!

In fact every time I've gone to the consulate, they've been nothing but helpful, kind and really pleasant ...so what's with the mental stumbling block I say? Could it be that I'm really quite disturbed (yeah yeah you all know I am mental) by the thought of finally getting that final document that is required to blow this pop stand? Is it?

Well today is the day, I'm going in, (says she who's still on the computer... sigh) I have half an hour to have my coffee, to get ready and put my war paint on (any more of those comments about it would take forever are SO uncalled for!) hop into the tank and roar off into town. Can I do it?

OF COURSE! I'll let you know later...
Dx

catch up Time

"what is wrong with your connection babe!" I shout into the phone
"Are you sure it's my connection? I've got full bars" answers Karl
"OK where were we, ah yes, you were saying you could not believe he asked for that amount for the drama show" I continue our conversation that was constantly being cut off (all this technology and still we have bad lines!)

So Karl fills me in on some information he had gleaned tonight at an open house party he was attending for one of the productions he had recently been working on. This specific one, which was a TV drama, had given him more publicity and fans!
We were both dying to see what the film that he recently acted in would look like once it was edited for show next year.

We share a quiet chuckle about the person in question that Karl is talking about and then Karl says "so whatcha up to? Did you get enough sleep?"
We had been out last night and ended up going home in the wee hours of the morning, luckily it's the weekend otherwise I'd be a basket case. I told him I'd had a good 5 hours sleep and that I was stuck into a book as I'd not have much time to next week.
"Anyway darling, get back to to schmoozing with your production mates and have a great time, we'll catch up next week as we've got to plan your birthday party OK" I say to Karl, who rings off with a promise to have lunch next week.

I pick up the book that I was reading,  but instead get lost in thoughts of my other outings!

On Thursday I had a girls night out at Aileen's house with my former work buddy Evil. Poor Pierce had to be kicked out of his own home so the girls could bitch and gossip with total abandon, however loving boyfriend to Aileen that he was, he made the baby mozzarella and tomato salad , plus the green salad and put a few bread rolls in the oven for us before he left, to accompany the steamed crab that was going to be delivered later on for dinner! Yum, and was it good!

4 bottles of wine later, and the girls had concocted some kind of TV program that involved wine which they wanted me to host , drowning out my vehement 'NO I WILL NOT DO IT" cries with, their incessant talk about how they'd come up with an award winning show..

Thankfully Pierce turned up at the end of the night, as the talk was escalating into a bullying match of blackmail and gentle goading. He put a stop to it by laughing his arse off and explained in a very patient *we've done this before* manner why it wouldn't work, which then led to the girls picking on him..
Well he was brave is all I can say, most men wait till the women have gone then stagger home!

Karl had taken me to the showing of a short film he was acting in that was held at the Actors Studios on  the Wednesday before the girls dinner.  Interesting stuff, not sure about the horror flick, but then again I am a complete coward when it comes to all that heavy breathing, wall a-sweating, doors slamming, heart thudding, finger nail biting ... well you know what I mean(you see I can't even write about it) I remember the very first horror flick I went to see was Exorcist, it scared me so bad, I kept crawling into my brothers room every night for almost a month to sleep with them, much to their horror and disgust ( I was always their personal horror flick). The nightly ritual of checking under my bed and sleeping with the lights on was certainly not worth it, so now if anyone wants to go see a horror, it's without me.

Anyway we ended up at a lovely Italian restaurant/bar in the heart of town for dinner and drinks and caught the Dj and live percussionist show on the roof top later on. Needless to day we bumped into some good friends of ours,and the night carried on till I had to be the responsible adult (who me?) and call it quits!

Tuesday I was at a launch of a new Food Guide Book and I had taken Aleco, not to impressed with the canapes for a Food Guide launch, however it was an eclectic bunch; and we managed to network with some very interesting people

I always think to myself how it is that in a town like this we manage to either see the same people over and over again or not see a friend for years and then bump into them consecutively for the next few days... coincidence or the laws of the universe?
Dx