Heartstrings

Dad and sis left Christchurch at 1.00 am today. Although I know it won’t be long before we are reunited again, the separation feels unbearable right now. It wasn’t so bad when mom left in July cos I knew dad was coming over for a visit. True enough, when dad came in August, I was back to feeling high.

The whole time he was here, it felt like I was back at home. It has nothing to do with the home cooked meals I had every day. Rather, it's the warm, fuzzy feeling I get when he's around. I have hubby and the kids with me 24/7 but from time to time, I miss being with my family.

When sis, Carol and her mum came over to join dad in September, I was ecstatic. Sis and I were both so psyched about this trip cos we've been talking about it for months. Although she only stayed for 3 weeks, we had an awesome time catching up. What I enjoyed most was having our midnight chats, talking about our childhood and just goofing around with the kids. She’s only been gone for 17 hours but already I’m missing her.

These are some of the pictures I was looking at while trying to pull my heart out of this gloomy state. They were all taken yesterday while we were at John and Kathy’s for lunch.

There’s a huge contrast between what I felt yesterday and today. Funny how I get to experience the same emotion every year. I cried when Alden, hubby and I left for Christchurch in 2008. In 2009, I cried when my family went back home after staying with us for a month. In 2010, the same thing happened when I had to return to CC after spending two months in KK. And then there was last night. It was so sad saying goodbye to dad, sis and Carol. I really felt like asking sis to stay for a while longer. 

Last night's farewell is probably the saddest I've ever felt. But never mind. I'll recover from this momentary depression sometime soon, if not later.

Waiting in Wellington

Because of the February 22nd earthquake, I was granted an extension of studies from the university and my sponsor. With this extension, my family and I are required to extend our stay in NZ and submit a visa extension for another 7 months. The application for Alden and Alva is quite straightforward but for me and hubby, the process is quite tedious.

We have to provide a medical report from an authorized NZ medical examiner, support letter from my sponsors, a new financial affidavit, my study progress report, hubby’s job offer letter, a statutory declaration for spousal support and last but not least, a certificate of good conduct from the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

When did I find out we have to provide a certificate of good conduct? Two weeks ago, when I made a call to NZ Immigration. The ones we submitted 3 years ago were considered obsolete so a new police certificate was needed for our visa extension. Now if we were in Malaysia, we can easily get this document in a month. But because we’re overseas, the process could take up to 3 months. That’s what the staff at the Malaysian Consulate told me.

Let’s not get into the “kenapa la kau tidak check awal-awal?” bit okay? I am quite exhausted at the moment. Anyway, the only possible way we could speed up the process is by doing a declaration at the Malaysian High Commissioner office in Wellington. My response to this was “WHAT???Wellington? We NEED TO FLY ALL THE WAY TO WELLINGTON??!!”

If you recall, a year ago, I had a similar problem with Vava’s travel document. So you can imagine my panic when the consular mentioned the word W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N. I couldn’t believe I was going through the same crap all over again.

That happened 10 days ago.
At the moment of speaking or in this case, writing, hubby and I are in Wellington city in pursuit of this certificate of good conduct. We have already submitted the declaration forms etc but it takes 5 hours for them to get the cert done. Why does it take 5 damn hours to get the cert done? Beats me. I guess it has something to do with getting a certain VIP’s signature on paper.

Anyway, my stay in Wellington has been okay so far. The weather is surprisingly warm but I haven’t been able to loosen up as much. All I think about is our visa application and this certificate we need so badly. Few nights ago, I dreamt that hubby and I missed our flight to Wellington because we got the dates all wrong. Apparently, in this dream, it was all my fault. The moment I woke up, I checked my hand phone to see what day it was. It was Monday. Phew!

Last night, I had another nightmare. It was our appointment day with the consular and we were supposed to meet her at 9.30 am. Things went horribly wrong when the hotel receptionist gave us a wake up call at noon! I was devastated. Thank God it was just a dream.

This visa thing is really driving me nuts. Until I get it done, I don’t think I’ll stop having nightmares. Another 40 minutes before hubby and I can finally get the stupid cert from the high commisioner office. When that happens I think I can relax a little.

Hubby doesn't seem to mind the chaos. At the moment, while I am pouring all my frustrations in this entry, he is enjoying a nap at the hotel's lounge. Nap yang berbunyi ah. Hehehe. I really envy him. I am tempted to wake him up by pinching his nose, but nah, I don't think I'll be cheeky today.

I have 35 more minutes to kill before the cert is done. How time flies when you're blogging! I think I'll end this entry and start packing my stuff now. Wish me luck with the certs! :)

Cath-j.com giveaway : The Recipe book

On the scale 1-10, I'd say I'm a 6 when it comes to cooking. That's my biased opinion of course. Hubby does most of the cooking at home so I don't really spend much time in the kitchen. I mean I can cook a decent meal like fried eggs, corn soup and fried chicken nibbles but fine cuisine is beyond me.

Having said that, I believe that with a good recipe, anyone can cook. That Gusteau guy in Ratatouille said so too. Cooking is a skill not a talent. Hence, it is learnable.

Although cooking is not my passion, I am more than keen to learn. Someday, I'd like to try cooking some great meals to impress my family and friends. That is why I am writing this entry - in the hope that I could win Cath's awesome 500-Italian-recipe cookbook :) 

* Harap si boboi cabut nama sia hehehe 

Guilty Pleasures

Have you heard about the latest BSTC virus? I read about it on my friend's FB WALL a few days ago.

*WARNING!!! WORST VIRUS EVER TO HIT FACEBOOK! The BSTC Virus (Butt Stuck To Chair). The virus glues you to your chair for several hours at a time! No housework will be done, children will starve, the cat will not eat, and the dog will not get its walk. You lose contact with the outside world; your butt goes numb! Put this on your status to warn all friends ~ it's too late for me ~ SAVE YOURSELF!!!!*

Sounds familiar? Hehehe. Because of this message and the fact that I have less than 3 months to complete my thesis, I  decided to deactivate my Facebook account 2 days ago. That's the time I've set for myself, not the official submission date.

It wasn't easy clicking the confirm button but in the end, I managed to go through it.  

Now, my only form of virtual contact with the outside world is this blog. And oh, email and twitter. But anyway, I don't tweet that much. When I told hubby I don't facebook anymore he started applauding and said "Baguslah, cepat siap tu thesis". I knew he'd be ecstatic cos he always said I spend too much time on the net.

A few months ago, he gently suggested that I spend less time blogging. I responded by talking about how women lead more stressful lives compared to men and how talking about their lives reduces that stress. I went on babbling about how women are emotional and how they don't have a filter. Because of that, women tend to throw everything out. I need to throw eveything out. After hearing my melodramatic debate, hubby said I over-reacted blah blah blah.

He also said I  love you to shut me up.

So. For the time being, blogging and blog-hopping remain my guilty pleasures. That plus watching Pretty Little Liars, reruns of Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girls and SATC on Channel C4.  Oh! Before I go, I've got something to show you.

Presenting you my polka-dot nails!

My dad borrowed my camera so I had to use the PC cam. Now that I don't snoop around Facebook anymore, I've got more time for my nails. I owe this new-found therapy to Chegu.

Looks like I'll be blogging more about nails now :)

Wordless Wednesday: Chegu's Influence

That's the best I could do after two hours of trial and error. I'm not showing the other hand cos it looks like Alden's painting. So what do you think Kay?