Happy Halloween

I haven't been able to update my blog as frequently as I could. Been busy helping my Mom take care of my Grandmother & catching up with friends. A couple times, I have left the house in frantic excitement without my camera. I must remember to do that tonight!

Anyway, this latest photo of my godchild in New Jersey is too cute not to deserve a short mention. Alex is growing up fast. He is now about 7 months old & celebrating his first Halloween.

The "little monkey" & his Jack-O-Lantern candy caddy...awww!

Pride & Joy and Bundle of Joy

Dogs have been part of my family's life for many, many years. My Mom owned a variety of breeds since childhood. However, our favorite breed for the past 20 years has been the dachshund or better known in the U.S. as the wiener dog.

Shortly after I left Kuching this year, we had 2 new addition to the family - Bruno & Lizzie. Yesterday, they had their weekly bath & I took the opportunity to photograph them.

Bruno getting his special "spa" & massage treatment from my Mom. Ahhh...contentment.

Cleaned & towel-dried Bruno

Lizzie waiting patiently for her turn

Lizzie was wondering...."What is she doing with this odd thing pointing near my face???"

All cleaned & ready to go

Back to blogging

It has been almost a week since my last entry and 6 days since I arrived home in Malaysia. I probably should create a new blog site for my Malaysian/Kuching entries but I'm too lazy to do so ;)

The weather is still a little bit hazy but not as hot as I thought it would be. Thank goodness for the afternoon rain showers.

I have also recovered from jet-lag. I am really glad to be able to sleep (Malaysian standard time) and not having to resort to ironing my clothes, early morning snacking & watching ASTRO at 3.00 a.m.

Will update more about my stay in Kuching later...

Going Home

In exactly 24 hours, I will be on my way home to Kuching. Dreading the long haul flight but keeping my spirits high knowing that I will be seeing my family + 2 additional new members of the family (the four legged kind). Yes, my Mom has 3 daschunds (2 of them which I haven't met) to keep her busy these days & I am looking forward to spoiling them. I can't keep pets in my apartment so I have been rather deprived of pet affection. Time to get some!

"Home Sweet Home" for the next 2 months...


Soaking in familiar sights of my hometown once again...

Meanwhile, Adrian will be enjoying his "single life" once again minus the daily perks of home-cooked meals & my "Armstrong" heater now that the weather has turned colder ;) Sniff...sniff! He says he has Bubba to keep him warm. Awww...


Bubba my faithful friend who came all the way from Perth to Kuching and now to New Jersey.

Firemen, fire trucks come to town

We had a short thrill of seeing a Fire Chief Parade passed by right in front of our apartment yesterday. The modern trucks didn't catch our eyes that much compared to the older ones. Here's some interesting fire trucks we saw.

The Grand Marshal of the Parade

Fighting fire in the early 1900s

1920s fire truck

Another antique fire truck

An unusual white fire truck

One last antique truck

An interesting statistic on house fire

A Toast to Jo-Anne & Luis

This has been a year of wedding parties for us. What a delight! We enjoyed a day at WESTBURY MANOR earlier on. Rain showers or rather showers of blessing greeted us when we woke up this morning. It was still drizzling when we reached the Manor and were quickly ushered to a room on the second floor. We had danish pastries, coffee, tea, juice, etc. for breakfast. After mingling for a while, we were asked to proceed to the opposite room.

Jo-Anne's niece & nephew: the flower girl and the ring bearer

Here comes the bride!

Luis & Jo-Anne exchanging their vows

Doves in white baskets all ready to be released in this special ceremony to remember Jo-Anne's beloved mother & as a symbol of spirit, peace and love.

Later, we were fed a large spread of pre-luncheon cocktail while the wedding party went to another room for the Chinese "tea ceremony".

30 minutes later it was time to eat again. We had seven different entrees to choose from. I had the....the...

Long Island Duck Marnier

We paused momentarily for Jo-Anne & Luis' first dance as husband and wife - Mr. & Mrs. Luis Ferreira. How sweet!



Ready, set and eat!

Jo-Anne's sisters: Gerry, Esther and their Dad

Luis reaching for the garter

Bouquet toss

Garter toss. The little boy caught it. Wonder what he's gonna do next???

Michele who sat with us cheekily said they had to keep it "PG rated" so the boy had to choose an older single male person to do the good deed. Haha!

Adrian & I with the beautiful bride. Hey, where's Luis??? We wanted a photo with him too :(

A lovely party favor from the bride & groom.


Note: The only thing we regretted not doing was stroll around the Westbury Manor estate. Because of the rain, we missed going to the gardens and the opportunity to photograph this beautiful Victorian mansion. Maybe next time.