Monday, February 18, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Pot Luck Lunch With Friends
Last year I got to know quite a few Malaysians who live in greater Seattle. We've been in Silverdale, WA for almost four years now and for the first three years, I've not met any of my fellow country mates except one, and she lives in Lacey, WA, which is about 60 miles from here. Part of the reason was definitely because of where we are. The Malaysian community in Washington is mostly concentrated on the other side of the water. Although I have this love-hate relationship with Facebook, but thanks to it, I was able to make new friends that I would otherwise, never would have known or met.
My friend Farina and I got invited to a pot luck get together last Thursday, at one of the Malaysian girls' houses. Farina just moved from California three months ago. I was introduced to her by my high school friend via Facebook a few weeks before her move so it was great to have someone from home that lives nearby (it's only 10 minutes away from my place!). It certainly does alleviate a little bit of that homesick feeling that I always have.
We rode the Bremerton ferry to Seattle. It took us an hour to get there and I think it was too long of a ride for my squirmy baby.
It was a pretty foggy day. It got worse towards the evening.
Meeting Kak Rossie for the first time. She's my latest friend from Facebook and it was such a pleasure to meet her in person.
Sofia and Sarah are buddies! Sofia is our host Niza's youngest daughter.
The pretty ladies. From left: Farina, Niza (our gracious host) and Rossie. All of us are from Malaysia, except Rossie. She's a Singaporean.
Our lunch spread. These were so delicious! FYI, I didn't make any of these. I brought steamed caramel pudding, some fruit and rojak sauce which I made with Farina the day before. I totally forgotten to take pictures of them though.
Close up of our main dishes
One of my favorite Malay desserts - Kuih Sagu made from pearl sago. It has been years since I've had this.
Some serious discussion is going on here.
Sarah is infatuated with Sofia.
So sweet!
Friday, January 4, 2013
Happy New Year 2013!
Happy New Year everyone! Wishing that this year will be so much better for you in so many ways especially in health and happiness. Hopefully you'll strive to meet your resolutions, if you have any. I hope we'll get to see more happy faces around the world. That people will still care for each other, regardless of their differences. That greediness does not push us into the wrong direction not only in our lives, but also in other people's lives. That we are still able to feel safe wherever we are. And empathy and compassion will still play major roles in our lives.
"If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it." Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
And here are some pictures from last week :-)
We got so many presents from Daniel's side of the family. The kids especially had so much fun opening their gifts. Thank you so much! We would have gone to Oregon to spend some time with Aunt Dottie and her family on Christmas day, if it hadn't been for a gig that Daniel had to play on Christmas Eve. Bummer! So it was just us, spending some quiet quality time together.
I love what the boys made for us.
Ezzat's drawing of a nutcracker. Definitely a keeper for me.
And then it started to snow!!! It didn't really stick at first. More of a mix between rain and snow.
But it got heavier.
And I'm loving it!
"Do I really have to take a nap?"
"What if I do this, aaaaaaaa?"
Our lunch. Unfortunately I didn't feel like cooking for a feast. So just a quick teriyaki chicken on sticks with carrot rice and whatever that you can see in the picture above. We just hanged out after lunch, watched a couple of movies and basically just being couch potatoes all day. It was great.
