boom boom pow

I always enjoy a good barbeque and I sincerely believe I rock at barbequeing. SO whenever a need for a barbeque comes up, I'm always first in line.

Recently, I was in the GoldCoast and despite the 16 degrees temperature, we had a small mini barbeque. We had practically an entire lamb, tons of sausages, prawns and of course a good side of potato salads and fresh fruits. The moment that first piece of lamb hit the hot plate and it started to sizzle all thoughts of the cold surroundings melted away into a frenzied hunger pang. I totally enjoy the smell of barbequing meat especially one that's been properly marinated. Alas, since I was Head Chef, I didn't have the chance to take many photos due to my dirty and oily fingers and I got fed up of having to constantly wash them each time I wanted to handle my phone. The first shot is of the meat on the hot plate sizzling away. The heavenly aroma filling the night air.

The subsequent shots are the "WE" that I'm talking about. I do not know anyone else who does a barbeque during late autumn when most sane people would be indoors. But then again sometimes a little craziness helps make life a whole lot more enjoyable doesnt it? We had wine and beer and even champagne as we devoured our little feast of assorted meats. The whole time laughing and shivering in the cold.

Can't wait for my next barbeque. This time in proper tropical climate ;)

goodbye

About two weeks ago, my life was thrown off course by a single piece of news that just shook my day and made me think alot about life in general.

A childhood friend of mine was killed in a hit and run. He was on his way to college but he never made it. Highway patrol found his body on the side of the road with his bike a few feet away. 

This kid used to hang in my house so much that he called my mum "Amma" as well. She became his second mother. There was never a day when he wasn't in my house. And as kids we used to do everything together. We'd imagine all kinds of things, we'd laugh about things that only kids can laugh about, we'd torture each other, bully each other, we'll hate each other and then become friends again the next minute. And back then, we had no PSPs or gameboys or superfast internet. All we had were ourselves and our imaginations. During the school holidays, when my cousins came around, we'd have a huge blast playing all kinds of games. As I think back, I realize we were quite a mental bunch ;)

I can't remember but I think he was in my life for the first 12 or 13 years. And then we sort of grew apart and never spoke again after that. His mum and my mum had the occassional calls and all but the two of us never spoke again. I don't know why. So when we heard about his death, needless to say, my mum was heartbroken. And the rest of us lived out the day with a very heavy heart. At the end of that faithful day, we all came together to go to his house to pay our respects and show our support. It was the least we could do. This guy was part of our childhood and his death has left a hole in our minds that I believe will take a long time before it's covered up. 

At the funeral, his mum kept asking him to wake up and when my mum came in, his mum started shaking him telling him to get up and that his Amma was here now. It was devastating to say the least. His brother refused to accept his death and never came out from the kitchen. His dad was crying while talking to visitors. 

And it's so totally weird how you never hear from a person for years and you think life is all peachy and then BOOM something like this hits you and life is never the same after that. And I hate this feeling. I hate it hate it hate it. 

I think about him everyday now and all the things we used to do and laugh about and the amount of trouble we used to cause. And I always smile thinking about it and I always end that smile with guilt. Guilt maybe because I should have tried harder to keep in touch? I don't know. But one thing I do know is that, God definitely works in mysterious ways and we need to always ALWAYS let the people we love know how much they mean to us. Cos once they're gone, it's too late for anything already. 

Rest in peace SunnyBoy. Thank you so much for the memories.

Photo taken from Trey Ratcliff. Thank you!

if you seek amy

My road tax expires in a month so being a good responsible driver, decided to go and renew it at the insurance company that handles my car stuff. Dragging my sister along one Tuesday afternoon, we set out on our little adventure. Neither of us knew where the place was but we had a good sense of direction between us and were both very road savvy so we figured the trip would take a good half hour at the most back and forth.

One and a half hours later, we were still in the car bickering at each other trying to figure out the road. We were positive we had made one small mistake or we kept missing the turn off from the highway. We tried retracing our steps, tried taking different routes but it was all in vain. Tried calling the company but for some reason no one was answering. We were almost at our wit's end when my dear sister said something that changed us forever.

"Doesn't your new phone have like integrated GPS system?"

I looked at her like I was seeing her for the first time and was in utter shock. And then I screamed. 

"Couldn't you have said that earlier?!!!!!"

To which sister dearest replied, "What do you mean?! It's your bloody phone!! You should know what's in it!"

And then we both burst out laughing our hearts out. It was such a dumb blonde moment. In the end, we got to the insurance company in less than 15 minutes. FIFTEEN MINUTES! 

Talk about hopelessness ;)

Moral of the day, always know what's on your new phone inside out.