Happy Mother's Day

A large shoutout goes to all moms today!

Especially mine.

Too bad I'm not home to celebrate Mother's Day with her this year and last year, but I know that to her, distance does not matter. 

She provided us with much tough love and the type of education that we can't learn at schools.

Mini Ash & Mom

She taught us that we can't always get what we want.

That life is hard and you have to work for things you want.

That eating too much potato chips and chocolate will result in horrible episodes of tonsillitis (my life story as a kid).

That you will wake up from a fainting spell after hearing her yell the house down out of concern. Fainting freaks her out.

That no matter what, family will never desert you.

That most men can be assholes.

That Mozart and Beethoven are awesome.... and Bartok is not spelled as "Buttock".

That a talented person will not get far or pass his/her exams if he/she doesn't practice.

That going to orchestra concerts is one of the pleasures of life as a musician. I used to wish I lived under the stage at the Malaysian Philharmonic. She took me to my first orchestra concert and I loved it.

She's also our cheerleader, helping us sail through rough patches and dark episodes.

Our lawyer, when we need some support and back up through unfair times.

Our teacher... no, literally. She teaches music for a living. Tough on us when she needs to.

Our friend.. when we have our gossips sometimes and laugh about silly things. She laughs till she cries sometimes. It's really awesome.

Our coach.. pushing us to strive to be better, so we get far in life.

She's the wisest person and my inspiration to be where I am in the music field. I'm living both our dreams of learning music on a tertiary level and I could not have done it without her. There was doubt, and even some arguments because I thought the dream was too far fetched.

Here I am now, in New Zealand, learning in a music conservatory, blogging about what a terrific mother I have. Happy Mother's Day, mom. I love you so much!

Happy Mother's Day to mothers out there!

If you haven't called to wish her yet, you're welcome for the reminder. :P

xxx,

Ashley Mah.

Back here and again

It's been a week since I've made my return to Wellington with the time to sit down and the energy to write. It's summer now, and very quiet compared to the KL life. Nonetheless, the first few days back here was hard on me, as there were so many things that needed to be attended to immediately ; right after arriving to my doorstep from the airport. I guess there's just no rest unless every thing is done, despite the expected heavy feeling of homesickness and inevitable jetlag.

The airport gang ^

I've had the most eventful 3 months back in KL. It wasn't countless parties or events this time, but mostly family time. Being abroad has made me value my family even more, and I've been given the chance to come back and spend more time with them for 3 months. The memory of arriving in humid & hot KL is still very fresh in my mind. Into the welcoming arms of both my parents at the airport, Doug included. Revisiting that memory makes it feel like it was a very long time ago that that happened, especially when memory of the recent airport day at Changi Airport has sorta overwritten that. 

My first visit to Shaun Cutler was quite a way to start my return to KL, and then a few weeks ago, I left Shaun Cutler again, and KL, this time with a daring bob. 

Raymond and I

I've had quite a number of shocked reactions from friends and family ..my dad actually didn't notice it until I told him that I cut my hair. LOL. So typical. I was quite scared to cut my hair this short... The last time I had my hair short was when I was 10 and boy did I regret looking like a mushroom for the whole year then. Raymond assured me that it would be much much different this time, and I trusted him.

It turned out well. It's growing now and I like it much better than my long hair in the wind. That way, I get less of the splitting headache I used to get in Wellington when my hair was in a heavy ponytail. Felt like my scalp was gonna tear off my head.

Other than the hair, my most recent do was Valentine's Day with Doug. There are a few types of reaction to V Day ; the anti ones, the must-have-roses-and-the-whole-shubang type, the forever alone ones, and then there were the ones who simply think that V Day is a marketing scheme for restaurants to jack up their prices for dinner and florists' big day to earn lotsa moolah. Doug and I fall under the latter. V Day shouldn't be the only day you treat your significant other special, blablabla. Despite that, he insisted to come visit me in KL that weekend, which was pretty sweet of him. We exchanged gifts, and had a royal clash of gifts. Tell me if Superman trunks and a Supergirl T shirtfrom DC Universe are not more than a coincidence. Apart from a pretty handbag.. Doug has good taste. I never once rejected his taste in clothes/bags/shoes... That's what you get when you've a guy who loves to shop. Maybe that's why we both get along so well. We both have equal amount of shoes at home & in NZ. Haha!

Decided to hangout that day anyway, taking him to a few of my favourite spots in KL. We both love coffee, so I thought I'd introduce him to Podgy and the Banker's Flat White. Yum. 

After that, we went over to Publika, where we had lunch at S.Wine. No price hikes for lunch so it's all good. I've only been there once, and I thought the food was fantastic. Since we weren't too hungry, we had the meatball spaghetti & the pork bun. Pretty sure the names were fancier than that. Lol

S.Wine

Salivate to this.

Such sexy pork. Get into my mouth. Now.

(Ok very silly of me to forget to include the meatball in the picture but they did exist!)

Ever had 2 kinds of meat in one meatball? I loved how one meatball was the size of my fist!! It's an understatement if I said this gives the Ikea meatballs a run for its money. Sidetracking here, but Ikea meatballs are so yucky nowadays. Had some recently with my family and they looked horrible. No thanks. I'd like to tapao a packet of chicken rice to replace that please.

Foodgasm. That pretty much sums up our meal at S.Wine @ Publika. The best part was, we didn't leave the restaurant overly stuffed. Oh yeah, the B.I.G group gifted us with "Edible Body Paint" as a Valentine's Day thing.

Didn't know what to make of it until I decided to dip my finger in it and put it into my mouth. Chocolate. I'll just continue doing this Doug until we get home. Haha

Spent the evening with Kim who's on the hunt for her futsal shoes, and then at night hanging out some more, watching movies and having a greasy Chinese supper. Best Valentine's Day ever? No fuss, it was perfect like that. 

Oh! And another surprise on Valentine's Day this year was that I was featured in the Malay Mail under the Weekly Runner section, many thanks to my mate Kelly Siew who recommended me to them for an interview. <3 Love you girl. Oh yes, she's also in the papers for reviewing a Nepalese restaurant. How awesome is that! Being in the same newspaper as your buddy and on the same day too! Heh. Once in a lifetime. Her website is www.kellysiewcooks.com . She blogs as well as shares awesome recipes on her site. If you're a Paleo dieter, you'd enjoy her recipes for sure.

That was a few days before I said all my goodbyes to my extended family and friends in KL and made the flight to Singapore for the next couple of days before flying off to NZ. I had so much fun with my cousins and their kids over in SG for the few days. Catching up, shopping and playing with the kids ; it was so good.

 It was especially good to see my mom take a break and enjoy herself this holiday. 

Mom enjoying the famous bread ice-cream at Orchard Road.

And Miss Piggy Kimmy.

Met up with Doug and his family in SG and did a bit of shopping ourselves. 

Before it was time to leave, there was the huge fuss about luggage. ALL of us spent a good 2.5 hours packing strategically...and still exceeding the baggage limit. It was too much. However we managed to fix this problem and all went smoothly. I had to give it to Doug's mom who did a fantastic job at packing. 

Missing you guys and dad and Tito.

After a long, but comfortable flight with Singapore Airlines, we're back in NZ. Quiet and cold, but ready to take on what this year has to give us. 

Till the next post,

Ashley Mah.

Twenty One

It's been a week since I've turned legal and I've to say, it has been quite a week for me. It all started with a Muar trip with my family. It was so nice to go on a family trip again. Albeit short, we all had a good time. No stress, no yelling, just some good old fashion family time. With Doug's family too.

That's that. :)  Came back home the day before my birthday to go out for a family dinner to also celebrate my parents' 22nd anniversary ; my birthday fell on the same day as their anniversary.

After dinner, we came home and as usual I followed my mom to run errands just to come home to one of the largest surprises ever. Came home to the house fully dark.... I thought that Kim would be coming out of the kitchen with a cake and candles and stuff.

I was wrong.

Saw this laid out on the table. Then the next thing I saw was glow in the dark stickers that led upstairs, I was told to follow the stickers.. which led to my room. OK. Room was lighted up, card sitting on my dresser. 

Opened the card, recognized the handwriting and read the contents. It was from Doug. He's not around on the real day of my birthday but it was cool cos we had an upcoming Singapore trip in 2 more days. So, I suppose he snuck the card to Kim. The card told me to get something from Tito's collar. At this point, I was like, "What...is going on?" And Kim was happily pushing me around in the dark to go with it. 

Tito had a key around his neck. Puzzled me even more. Kim shoved me into the music room. More glow in the dark stickers on the table this time, surrounding a small wooden chest with a lock on it. I turned on the lights and opened it. I was breathless to see a necklace in it. It was gold, and had a dolphin and anchor charm. I was almost in tears, wondering how Doug managed all this to make up for not being around on the real day. There was a note in the chest asking me to show this necklace off to my mom in the living room. 

I went to the living room. Cake on table with candles. Doug suddenly hugged me from behind (WTF he magically spawned from the darkness) and they all started singing Happy Birthday. I was speechless. This had to be the surprise of the year.

Mom & Kim were in on this surprise do. So were Doug's family and my dad. LOL for the first time I was oblivious to everything. Good job, guys!

One more surprise from my mom & dad. This one's a tradition but was unexpected. So, so touched. I feel so lucky to even have one of these. Thanks mom & dad. I love you guys.

 So touched by everything. <3

Mr Lee ; the cherry on top.

I was so overwhelmed by the effort, the thoughtfulness and surprises tonight. I did not expect it in any way, and I am more than grateful to have such a lovely family and boyfriend. Went to bed with a huge smile on my face.

I could not have asked for a better way to start my birthday.

Stay tuned. 

xxx 

Ashley Mah

Happy Birthday Baby Josh!

It is finally 2014. A little slow on the update because I've had a rather busy New Year's Eve and New Year's, and fallen sick during my Penang trip after Christmas. Being busy and sick is definitely not an ideal combination, but the show had to carry on, no? :)

We had early start on New Year's Day to help out for little Josh's race car-themed birthday party. He's turning 1 this year!

Usually, babies would say words like "mommy" or "daddy" first. I know mine was "dada". However, Josh's first word was "CAR". He also coincidentally shares the same birthday as Michael Schumacher ; 3rd of Jan. Hence the race car theme! Quite impressed with my cousins for coming up with this creative idea.

Josh's birthday party was held at the Royal Selangor Golf Club.. no thanks to the stupid GPS that took us the wrong way. However we still managed to arrive early to lend a hand to set up the place. 

To start off, I was given this cool "crew pass" so that we can go in and out of the banquet hall while setting up. Was quite excited to see my name on it! Personalized pass! Gonna keep this. :)

The colour theme was red, blue and white. So Kim being the proud godma of Josh, came as a cheerleader. Hahahaha! Also, check out the little race track carpet we had to welcome guests and especially our VVIP for the day, Baby Josh.

Looking handsome in his Ferrari top. #cutenessoverload

There was a mini technical fiasco that happened, which Doug and I attended to immediately. We (mostly him), saved the day and managed to get some Classic Disney songs playing. Man, did that bring back so much childhood memories... The one particular song that stuck to us was the Gaston song by Beauty and the Beast. We both had a good laugh.

Which came to mind that cartoons nowadays are getting dumber and not as nice or intellectual as they used to be back then. 

How cute is this! A Pit Stop sign at the buffet station. 

Time to make a stop to stuff my face.

There were definitely more food than that, but I was still a bit occupied with Josh and the sound system volume, which was pretty inconsistent.

Before I knew it, it was already time to cut the cake! :)

A big #1 cake!

My most favourite picture of the day. :) 

In one more year, he's gonna want to cut his own cake and blow his own candles. Lol

Marie Jiejie & Baby Josh.

Doug & I proudly wearing our crew tags. Hehe

Candid picture of Mom playing with Josh.

Cutting the cake for guests with Doug and Kim.

Our tired faces from having only a few hours of sleep since my NYE performance. Of all times for me to get a red and irritated eye, it had to be today. So... bespectacled Ashley for New Year's. 

Funny how Doug and Mum were looking at this camera while Kim and I were not.... Hmm.

It was a nice party. Family and friends attended the party and dressed according to the colour theme. I was happy to be there to celebrate Josh's 1st, before I go back to New Zealand again. He was pretty well behaved that day, and was quite cheerful until it was his naptime and the poor thing got tired.

Kim was on his back and call. No surprise there, when you have an overly attached godmother like her. :P Just kidding. She just really loves kids.. and food.

Unlike her, I could never get a decent photo with my nephew. He kept wriggling out of my arms until the moment he saw Doug... and he smiled almost immediately. Without any cooing or high pitch voice talking... or taking time to get used to a new face. He grabbed Doug's finger and laughed. Grr. So unfair.

Happy belated birthday Joshjosh! 

Ee Ee Ashley loves you always! <3

xxx,

Ashley Mah.