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Archive for the ‘Pokrovsky Boulevard’ Category

Ladki Badi Enida Hai

Posted in Pokrovsky Boulevard, tagged on March 28, 2010| 5 Comments »

At 5am yesterday, I found myself sprawling in the hallway with a pen in one hand, forehead in the sketchbook and my lips wet-kissing my own writing. I could not remember falling asleep. Who can, anyway. But I remember being attacked by the overflowing-ness of my ideas around 3am as I was getting to bed.

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Since I simply could not get settled, I got up, grabbed my sketchbook and my Pilot G2-07, and just sat where the light was left switched on – outside the kids bathroom. The door was left open as well so Edrick could find his way there in the middle of the night. To get myself comfortable, I laid down on my tummy. And I simply started writing.

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The next thing I knew, there was a pressing pain on the side of my forehead. Sure enough it was the weight of my sleepy head against the binder ring of my sketchbook/organizer. The first thing that came to my mind was a song from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, that is Ladki Badi Anjani Hai.

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If that wasn’t strange enough, get this… the first person that came to mind was Hans Isaac. How’s that for sleepwriting? I must have climbed Kilimanjaro with Hans and rolled down the mountain. I probably rolled  away waaaayyy too far and landed in the hallway, in this place on Pokrovsky Hills. As for Hans Isaac… uh, could that be him waiting for me in bed?

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I need sleep.

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I need a lot of sleep.

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Oh Sheet!

Posted in Pokrovsky Boulevard, tagged on March 3, 2010| 2 Comments »

First it came down in sheets and buckets, and then it warmed up and then it melted. And after staying very slightly under zero for a few days, it came down in droplets. So by the time I put on my MOTT boots that are good for nothing else but to kill, and by the time I stepped out of the garage door to walk Edrick to school… I knew I wasn’t going to kill any Vladimir or Valeriy or Medvedev with my sexy-in-leather-boots look. All I was going to kill was my good sexy-in-leather-boots self. No go!

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I went back into the garage and put those Viking pair on. They’ve been good to me. I could go hunting in Siberia or skating in The Antarctica for all I care, the boots would never let me fall. Down.

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But I spoke too soon.

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The intersection between the Pokrovsky Boulevard and the Waterview Lane looked just fine and dry to my tropical eyes when Edrick and I were crossing it hand in hand. It happened too fast. What fall doesn’t? The next thing I knew, my behind that was tightly wrapped in a layer of Bogi stockings, a tight corduroy skirt and in a Dixie Chic RUB20K coat was right there! On the piece of sheet! Oh sheet of ice! Oh sheet!

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No Viking boots could have saved me. No Bogi stockings could have spared me. No tight corduroy skirt could have helped me. No expensive coat could have held me from falling. Nyet! None! But the saving grace was… there was no one around!

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When I went home and when it was time to take it all off… I was quietly thankful for the thickness of my cushion. It sure saved me from the sheet.

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Oh sheet! Now that I am so thankful for my tight thick bottom, I don’t feel like running that 10km to shake me bumbum.

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Coffeed Out and Snowed Under

Posted in Pokrovsky Boulevard, tagged on February 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

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My snowy morning coffee…

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Yellow Hedges

Posted in Pokrovsky Boulevard, tagged on January 25, 2010| 7 Comments »

I like everything about winter here in Moscow except for those yellow stains around trees, poles and hedgerows. The yellow stains are really yellow. So yellow that I am convinced dogs do not drink enough water in winter. Anyway, I would like to strongly urge dog-owners to bring a shovel with them when they walk their canine companions. Poop-scooping alone is not enough. Those yellow stains need to be concealed as much as concealing those lines under their eyes. The dog-owners’ eyes, that is. And perhaps Huggies should come up with disposable diapers for dogs and call them Doggies, Dooggies or Duggies. Or something!

 

 

 

 

Abang Putin! Cepatlah sikit bang! Do lah something. Orang tak tahan dah ni. Eeeeee geliii! Tak kuaserrr! Hannnchenggg!

 

 

 

 

Postlude:

Thanks to Overstated for the picture of Snow Pee. Rest assured, I would walk 5 to 10 meters away from the yellow stains and there is just no way I would stop to take photos of ’em! Peeeyyyeeewww!

 

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Pokrovsky Boulevard #9

Posted in Pokrovsky Boulevard, tagged on January 15, 2010| 2 Comments »

I knew I was going to confuse many people with the last entry. I am not sorry as it was totally intentional! Muahahaha. No peeps. I am not inchinta (pregnant in Italian). My business has seen unimaginable profit with Kitreena and Edrick and my shop is closed so that I can spend the remaining years of my life counting my profit blessings.

 

It is my friend Jo-Anne – also my neighbor I once or twice mentioned in my entries – who is expecting a little one. She lives 13 houses down the boulevard from me, if you noticed the number. Hehehe. I was just too excited about the news yesterday because I actually creepily had a dream that she got pregnant, and she did!

 

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Pokrovsky Boulevard #28

Posted in Pokrovsky Boulevard, tagged on January 14, 2010| 3 Comments »

 

The pregnancy news just made my year.
Come what may, I am smiling ear to ear.

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Hoots In Boots

Posted in Pokrovsky Boulevard, tagged , on November 17, 2009| 4 Comments »

I started this entry with a title, which is not usual.  I mean, my style is… ramblings first, titles last. And that unusual title was a title of Shania Twain’s song that usually comes to my mind when I see a pair of boots. I changed my mind and changed the title so to avoid questions of unusual nature, as the title I originally started this entry with was Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under.

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See what I mean? But then again, the boots in question have been under my bed. My very own boots and my very own bed. Winter just started, unsupposedly. And I had been in a tropical country where wearing boots is just for pussies in style. So the boots have been under the proverbial bed of roses.

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Anyway, after just being wetted by cold rain this past week, the snow finally came back. And walking Kitreena to school has been made a tad more challenging if I insisted on staying in those suede Scholl shoes of mine. So the boots I got for a pretty good deal in Spring came in handy… or shall I say footy?

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For the love of me footsies, I had to crawl under the bed yesterday to get the boots in question out of the questions. The crawling part, later, proved to be the easiest and the most fun of it all – I didn’t know putting on a pair of boots can be such a workout. I think I lost at least 400 calories putting on each boot yesterday (not to mention, my temper!)

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The first boot was the killer. I could not get my foot all the way in! I tried it with the sock on, of course. And when the foot just would not slide in – even after putting all the 58kg push on it – I noticed that the sock was rubbing tightly against the boot lining. Fine! Sock off, then!

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I was about to lose the rest of the 400 calories, putting another try on the 58kg push, ready to strangle myself, kick my butt, scream on the top of my lungs if not hooting like the unhappiest owl and howling like the hungriest wolf, spit my green phlegm and swear at this Bloodyvostok winter in Moscow, when  I wiggled my toes and… uh?

“What is this ball of crumpled paper still doing in me bootsie?”

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Did I tell you they were a brand-spanking-kicking-butt new pair of boots?

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Tough Cookie

Posted in Pokrovsky Boulevard on November 9, 2009| 3 Comments »

Karas bah ako!Yeah, tough cookie.
That’s what I thought I was… going on me T-scooter alongside Kitreena on her bike to school this morning with my hood off in 2.7°C. Until I came home with two tough, almost frozen ears. Burrrrr!

 

But then, as soon as I got into the garage, I was sweating like a newly baked garlic loaf in a Ziploc double-zipper bag. Though I did not smell garlicky, and instead smelled like Ralph Lauren’s Always Yours, (chewah!) I sure felt like jumping into the shower again.

 

It is cool, wet and gloomy out there.
But I’ve got sunshine tucked away in my oversized CAT luggage bag that I have not unpacked. Scroll down to see my hot stuff…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't cha wish your sunshine was hot like mine?

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Ride On Raya

Posted in Monchies, Pokrovsky Boulevard, tagged , on September 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

My kerinting Kitreena.

I was not going to write about Raya anymore today, to be frank. I was pretty content to leave it for another year before I let it get to me again. But it is still in the air. My homesickness is still affecting my moonlady-ness. Or is it the other way around?

 

I still reward myself with one Batang Buruk each time after doing dishes. Thanks, Tuan Nor! And dinner tonight was the Raya leftovers. Not to mention that all sms updates from family and friends today revolved around who went Raya-ing where. Well, I guess I’ll indulge a tiny wee bit more.

 

Baju Raya-wise this year is a re-run for all of us, The Johnsons. Yes, I am stating the obvious, rather obviously. I am glad, nonetheless, that Kitreena still thinks of the world about her dress that she herself hand-picked at a place in Bangi last year. She did make a comment about the sleeves getting shorter when she had it on yesterday.

 

I should just let her wear this Baju Raya whenever she wants from now on, Raya or not Raya, before it shrinks on her. While the long sleeves may never be short sleeves, as  I hope she never grows hands longer than 50 inches, I can almost see the dress becoming the most beautiful Jackfruit Wrap within the next two years. Imagine a purple karong nangka, with beads, labucci and glitters summore!

 

Kitreena has grown and gone through quite a bit between mid-July and this Raya, you see. Since we got her a T-scooter when we came back from Malaysia, she has been a rider. A good one at it too, I must say. So good that it inspired me to get a T-scooter for myself! Yes, these days I send her to school riding it! I see no other mothers riding anything else but their big fancy cars. I guess that’s why Kitreena’s classmates thought I was a cool Mom! Woo hoo!

 

And within the last 2 weeks Kitreena has also been riding her bike without the training wheels. This girl is funny when it comes to milestones. She had been riding her bike (training wheels and all) since her 3rd birthday. Yeah, pre-Edrick era! Recently when we saw that she could balance on the T-scooter well, we nudged her into losing the training wheels. She got so scared and was so not willing to try that she totally abandoned her bike!

 

We then coaxed and cajoled her with a pair of roller-blades. Within just two hours of putting the fresh-from-the-shop pair of RBs, she was already gliding down Pokrovsky Boulevard leaving me green with envy! (I have mine too since 2003, but had been too scared to fall on my big 72kg butt back then. I admit that I am now so motivated by the jealousy towards Kitreena’s ease at picking up the speed and balance, I’ve signed up for ice-skating class! Yes, my butt is almost 15kg lighter now. And yes, I digressed!)

 

To cut another of Kitreena’s riding stories short… one late afternoon about two weeks ago, Daddy just lost patience with his daughter’s fear. He took the training wheels off of Kitreena’s bike, put her helmet on and just forced her to pedal it! As though she had been practising all these years in secret, Kitreena just rode off! Yeah again, gliding down Pokrovsky Boulevard leaving Daddy with his jaw dropped to the ground and Mommy with her eyes rounder than a rounder’s field!

 

We should not have been surprised, really! Kitreena had done the very same thing when she started to walk. As a baby, she was extremely cautious and got tremendously easily frustrated when she kept on falling. So cautious that she refused to even try to walk. It took her 2-3 months before she got tired of sitting and crawling. One day, she just picked herself up and started walking!

 

Keputat kakak kepada Melang!I hope she wouldn’t just pick our car keys tomorrow and start driving around Moscow looking for the Malaysian Embassador’s house. After all, she was very disappointed yesterday for not getting her Raya’s servings of Keputat! Did I tell you she wanted spaghetti with Sambal Tumis Udang for her school lunchbox today?

 

Aaahhh my Malaysianized Canadian monchie!

 

 

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The Rendang Rendition

Posted in Makan-Makan, Pokrovsky Boulevard, tagged on September 20, 2009| 2 Comments »

Salam Aidilfitri from Moscow with love.

 

Salam Aidilfitri from Moscow with lotsaluv!

 

Things that could go wrong, of all days, had to go wrong today. On my Raya. It would be a perfect “Rain On My Parade”, if I were to put a title on my day. I thought not having to cook for this Raya was going to be the best decision yet, for I was about to pig-out at the Malaysian Embassador’s Hari Raya Open House. (Excuse the animal, but really… what other animals eat more, in quantity and in vulgarity, than those oinks? If you can name one, do let me know. I shall lobby against the term ‘pig-out’, for oinking outloud, and rewrite some English dictionaries. Bah!)

 

Well, it started late. The Raya. All of us slept in so that we would have breakfast around lunch time, timed just right for the Open House which was going to be our lunch+snack+supper+dinner = schnackupslunchschner. But by the time our little clan was all nicely donned in Baju Raya, Be and Kitreena were still coughing like there was no Raya Kedua! I knew then, that I wasn’t going to drag two walking phlegm machines to some embassador’s house! Na’ah! So after a collaborative effort with Be making a Salmon and Scrambled Eggs on Toast brekky, it all became very clear to me that Rendang was easier made at home than going to some embassador’s open house for.

 

Ingredients for Enida's Krazy Lazy Serba Kekurangan Beef RendangWhile thawing out the goulash beef which I bought some time ago in a very ambitious  attemp to make Russian Goulash (of course the ambition remains an ambition), I grabbed whatever spices I had accumulated over the last 2 months here in Moscow. And with only two stalks of lemongrass, some old old old old frozen galangal, some onions to substitute shallots, and can you believe it… no kerisik, I dumped everything into the slowcooker and prayed really really hard that the next four hours when I opened the cooker, I would have a Krazy Lazy Beef Rendang.

 

Apa saja lah Labuuu!

And oh, good thing I had this little jar of curry powder. Though it is not what I’d  usually use, sprinkling it all over the beef coating it for a little flavor might help, I thought. I was just so ready to be gone hoping (for a tasty magic Rendang)! That’s right. I did not even bother opening the recipe book, as I knew I had nothing but beef and whatever you can see in this picture, to make Beef Rendang out of.

 

At the end of it all, honestly… it still is the thoughts that count when I counted what I put on the dinner table for my family. And so, at the end of it all and at the end of the day I did change the title of my day to “Raindang On My Parade”.

 

Selamat Hari Raya, luv!

 

What matters this Raya, or any Raya for that matter!

 

 

 Dinner's readyyy! Plateful Raya dinner. 

 

 

Lesung batu = mortar and pestle setGlossary for Neil:
kerisik = grated desiccated coconut kernel, pan-roasted until golden, and pressed to get greasy fine coconut crumbs (usually pounded in lesung batu)

lesung batu = mortar and pestle

Raya Kedua = second day of Eid celebration

 

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