Posts (page 2)
J: I want you to do an interview for me. My readers want to know about your past.
BS: What past?
J: You have more than one sordid past?
BS: Nope and my past is not sordid.
J: Ok. Whatever. So tell me about THAT day.
BS: Which day? Please explain. You want to know about the first day my M brought me to the beauty palour and pamper moi? Or the good ole days before your arrival? Or the first day I set my eyes on my M? What about the first day I found out about how human food taste so much better than that swill the maid cooks? Its so weird. She cooks for the humans and she cooks for me. Why does the two taste so different? You know....
J: Stop! Stop! We are not interested in all that. By the way, what do you mean swill? That food taste fine to me. Not as nice as the human food obviously but good enough for me.....Grrrgh. We want to know about the day betray your M and don't change the topic again.
BS: Ooooh....that day! Its not betrayal stupid! It was the greatest love of the century, of all doggy kingdom, of all universe. Do you think someone will make a film out of my love story?
J: *Snort* No. Now get to the story
BS: If nobody is making a film out of this and casting me as the lead, I am not telling my story.
J: Ok then. Someone will make a movie out of this and cast you as the lead
BS: Yay! Me movie star! Ok. What do you want to know?
J: *Muahahahahahahahaha. So easily tricked. Bimbo* Yes. Tell us how it all started.
BS: Well, it was a beautiful day and I was sleeping having my beauty rejuvenated in the living room as usual. Suddenly, I heard a loud clang and my rejuvenation was interrupted. I am a good girl and I remember grandmama telling me that I have to be a good guard dog so I jumped out of bed and went barking out of the house because I is good guard dog.
J: *Mentally to self: More like stupid. You bark when our Ms come home too* Yes. You is good guard dog. So much better than me. So, what happen then?
BS: I went barking fiercely to the front gate. You want me to demonstrate how I ran gracefully while barking?
J: No.
BS: Why? How would the film crew know which is the best angle to shoot then? I don't want to do this interview anymore because..
J: No. No. What I mean to say is you don't want to show everyone how you ran gracefully *puke* so soon right? They will be so used to it that it is no longer a novelty anymore.
BS: Novelty? You call my running a novelty? I don't want to .....
J: No. No. NO. You never let me finish. A magnificent actress never let her audience see her acting until the debut of the film. You cannot spoil the magical moment for your fans.
BS: Really?
J: Yes. Absolutely absolutely sure.
BS: Ok.
J: Now back to the story. You ran to the gate...
BS: Yes I ran gracefully to the gate and I couldn't believe my love doe-like gorgeous eyes (J: *puke*). The gate is open. Wide open! Like it was welcoming me with open arms. I looked backward. Nobody came out to praise me like they usually do. I hesitate and elegantly turn my head. Make sure they film me turning my head elegantly ok! It is important (J: O.O? Elegant? You?) So then, I took my first tentative steps out of the gate.
J: Mmmm k *fiercely scribbling in notepad* Was the smell of freedom intoxicating?
BS: Intoxicating? You mean the smell of petroleum fumes? Mmmm yes I absolutely love that smell. (J: No wonder you are stupid. Its all the fumes you smell) It reminds of the times when my M takes me out on a drive and I would always stick my pwetti head out just in case some other dogs want to admire me (J: *puke*) A lot of dogs admire me you know because...
J: Yes because you are white and dainty and pwetti *Rolls eyes mentally*
BS: Yeah and because my aunt G powders me every time I have my beauty bath and also...
J: Oh. One question. You said you smelt petroleum fumes that day. Did you smell anything else that day?
BS: Now that you mention it. I did, in fact. I thought I smelt my M. Yes. That's why I went out of the gate that day. It was all because of my M.
J: Ok. *Scribbles " So.....my MM smells like a dog?"*
BS: But.....when I went out, I didn't see my M at all! And then....and then.....I saw him...this tall dark strong hamsem hunk. He told me he was a newcomer to our parts of the world. He also said he came from a faraway place call Germany. Do you know where that is?? Is it like near where you used to live? That's very far away too right? So, he said that he was very lonely because you know, he is new here and he has no friends. So...so I said I can be his friend because I think having no friends is very sad and he has this sad puppy eyes too (J: Bitches. So naive. Tsk tsk). I don't usually make friends but you know, for him I can make it an exception because he live so far away. So...so anyway we became friends and then he said I was the pwettiest little thing he has ever seen hehehehehe. Then he ask if he can kiss me hehehehe. So I said yes hehehehehehe. So then he kissed me hehehehehehe. And then I almost fainted hehehehehe because it was so sweet hehehehehe.
J: Errr why do you keep giggling? What is so funny? Are you sick?
BS: Hehehehehe no. *Sigh* hehehehehehe. *hides face in paws*
J: Errr *backing away* ok. So then what happened next?
BS: Hehehehehe so then I told him he is very sweet and so hamsem hehehehehe. *Sighs* Then he ask if I want to make babies with him hehehehehehe. So romantic you know. Asking a girl such a question. So I didn't reply him hehehehehehe but I hide my face with my paws and peeked at him and then I nod my head hehehehehe. So then you know we decided to make babies because I don't know when I will ever see him again. I said we should do it soon before anyone stops us. I think our babies would have been really cute hehehehehe. Right? Right? Right?
J: Errrrr right.
BS: *Sighs* And so we decided to not waste time and make babies straightway. And then we almost got away with it but then Grandma came out of the house and saw us. *Sniff*
(To be continued....)
I know all you uncles and aunties out there are super 38 (Mandarin for busybodies). My M says she has had a lot of people asking her when I was going to write again and it is driving her nuts. That's also why she was sick for so long (M: Still am) but personally, I think that is because she hogs the computer all night long. Probably surfing pron.
Anyway, I promise all you folks that I will be dishing out the dirt on my bimbotic sibling, sniffing out the deep dark secrets in her closet, uncovering the skeleton that she buried all these years, giving you a glimpse of the most far end corner of her soul, dragging her dirty linen out for view in public (M: Get on with your story can?)
So yeah where was I before I was rudely interrupted? Oh yah. Here 's the secret my bimbotic sibling been hiding all these years and it is that she is not a whole bitch (M: He means female dog. Not the other kind). Hell, I am not even sure she is a bitch anymore. This is because she had her essence of bitchiness snuffed out by my MM years ago. The story goes that my bimbotic sibling who was kept sheltered and protected all her life, decided one day to just venture out beyond the heavenly gates of protection by herself to explore the world.
This being her first taste of freedom, she was obviously too excited by everything to look out for trouble. Probably too high on the adrenaline rush too. Trouble found her instead not more than 5 houses away, in the form of a big bad stranger. Being bimbotic, she was easily charmed. Being stupid, she didnt run back home straight at the first sight of danger. According to many eye witness that day, she just stood there and let big bad stranger do *ahem this part censored* to her in full view of all the neighbours. Not even one tiny cry of help or anything. Geeesh! Obviously if I was around then, I would go rescue her from big bad stranger. Afterall, nobody except me is allow to take advantage of my own sibling, bimbotic or otherwise.
The ending to this sad sordid tale was that my MM was so disgusted by her wanton act of betrayal that my bimbotic sibling was brought to the vet to have her essence of bitchiness snuffed out as a punishment. As with all stories, there is always a lesson to be learnt by us doggies. Either train your M well so that they learn that copulation with anyone you fancy is the norm or else be very very very faithful to your M so that you will not get your essence of bitchiness or doggyhood snuffed out as a punishment. I trained my M well which is why my doggyhood is still intact to this day.
Next week, we will bring you the never been published first hand interview with the victim herself.
I'm a depressed dog these days. There, I said it. DEPRESSED!
That's why I haven't been writing in here even though this blog is now mine. I was going to let everyone know that they have wet doggy kisses waiting to be collected from me when they next visit my M but I was too depressed to even make that announcement. I was even planning to dish out some deep dark illicit gossip about my bimbotic sibling too but I was too depressed to write about it.You guys want to know why? Its because my M, in addition to taking up photography as a hobby, has now taken up baking as well.
I didn't complain when my M took up photography even though it meant that she was frequently rushing out of the house most Saturday mornings at some stupid ungodly hour and not returning home to give me hugs and kisses til late at night. Mostly it was because photography is something that I dunno what to make of it. It smelt metallic and was all dark and scary-like with one big single eye. It has 3 long thin legs that it could attach itself to and when it is resting, it sleeps in this black box that blows out some weird smelling air that dries my nose in an instant. When my M plays with it and try to include me in their games, I always look away because I don't want to get cursed by it or be given the evil eye or something worse.
Now, baking. That's something you all think that I will be happy that my M is picking up because my M gets to stay at home, its food, it smells good and I can eat it right? Well yesh its food and it smells superbly yummy and my M stays at home but its not meant for me!!!!! It is never meant for me. My MM gets to eat it, Auntie G (MM's sister) gets to eat it and even Siti gets to eat it but not me. How absolutely unfair is that? I was the one who sat patiently by the kitchen door and kept watch so all that yummy stuff don't get stolen by mice or ants or lizards or birds and I was never rewarded for my effort and hard work. My only consolation is that baobei doesn't get to eat as well but it is still cruel to tempt me with those smells and not give me a taste.
So anyway, I have decided that I need to show my displeasure to my M so I peed on her bookshelf yesterday.
So. Seems like there have been heaps of requests for Junior (my dog) to take over this blog space...
GARGHHH! Can't believe you people actually prefer my dog's writing to mine. *Sobs*
So anyway, yeah. Will be letting him host this space from now on...
I'm moving the blog again
Yes yes I know. I am just fickle that way but I know quite a few of you who occasionally read about what is happening in my life are just too lazy to get an account with vox and leave comments. I also want embed-able sidebars!!! :P
Anyway, the new blog is here and the lombok trip narration will continue on from there.
Am sitll going to keep my account in vox though so that I can keep up to date with the blogs here.
End of public announcement.
Its an early rise and shine day again. 6am to be exact. Not that I mind because I didn't sleep too well with the cold feet. Its so cold outside that I can feel my usual wake-up pee urge subsiding fast once I put my head out of the tent. Speaking of pee urges, I realised I only had one urge yesterday in spite of the amount of water downed. Yikes.
Camera still dead so there were no rush to slot in photography before breakfast. Breakfast for today is banana pancakes again but drenched in chocolate condensed milk. Yummm. I don' t think I have ever seen chocolate condensed milk being sold before. After the quick breakfast, it was pack up and go again.
Trek schedule for today reads as follows.
Down crater rim - 2hrs, short break
Across crater lake - 2hrs
Sidetrack to hotspring and waterfall, break for lunch
Up crater rim to camp site - however long it will take. We took 4~4.5 hrs.
Down crater rim. I had looked around the night before trying to see if there was any obvious path down the rim, didn't see any and wondered how the heow we were supposed to get down. So, I found out this morning. Straight down. It was half walking down narrow paths that extended out from the sides of the rim and half inching down on my butt, rock climbing style. I have never ever been more grateful to my parents for gifting me with long legs.
As usual, Daniel had already gone half way around the globe by the time we did 1/5 of the route. What can I say? That guy did not even have one ounce of fat on him and he is probably superman in disguise. Too busy trying to see where to place my feet to take note of the scenery but the rest caught stuff that I missed on digital. That's the good thing about travelling with photographers. There are always plenty of cameras around to capture all the action and nobody complains when you want to stop for shots. On the way down, we bumped into a huge bunch (60) of malaysian climbers. These people are planning to climb 3 mountains (Mt Rinjani, Mt Agung in Bali and some other mountain that I didn't quite catch) in 6 days. Hats off to them I say. I think I have trouble coping with just this one mountain. The oldest of the group is a gentleman of 60 years of age and who looked like he was only 45. He is also the fastest of the group. *Worship* Being friendly neighbours, there were plenty of greetings and well-wishes. It does not bode well on us to hear them tell us "Good luck. You will need plenty of that getting to the summit." Eeeeeek. So, whose crazy idea was it that we climb this mountain again? Reaching the bottom of the rim, we took a well deserved rest. Looking in amusement at the rest of malaysian group straggling past us, we took a group photo with one of the only 2 chinese in the bunch. He was pretty happy to see us for some reason, chatted at great lengths with us, gave us some tips (Don't, at any time, drink water from the lake because it contains traces of sulfur and if possible, bring a thermos flask of hot water up the summit) and left his contacts with us should we ever want to climb any mountain in Malaysia. Hur hur hur. No offence but do we look like seasoned mountain climbers? I don't think so...
Across the Crater Lake. It was an easy walk to Segara Anak, the crater lake, where we saw some local fishermen fishing. I wonder who they think they were going to sell their fishes to.
After a short rest and some photo clicking, we made our way across the lake to the next rest point and lunch. I thought we would be heading towards grassland but no, we had to go across the lake perimeter, upon pointy wet rocks.
The slippery wet narrow path was handled with extreme caution by all present. At one stage where we had to scramble up some slope, KC was heard to exclaim rather loudly "HAR? You call this a path?" KH, who was next up, went "HAR? You call this a path?" 30 seconds later. The rest of us collapsed in laughter. Yep. The path was about 2 feet width wide and had this gaping hole that one had to jump across. Some path indeed. The lake perimeter was where I got my first major "battlescar". Miscalculating on where to anchor my walking stick for support, it slipped on a loose rock and I banged my legs against the sharp rocks as I try to avoid falling into the water. Great. I can just imagine how colourful this bruise is going to be. It was with sighs of relief that we spy the path that was going to take us to the lunch spot and away from the lake.
Sidetrack to hotspring and waterfalls. Being a little behind schedule, Sar suggested that we veer off to the hotspring and waterfall instead of dropping off our bags at the lunch spot as planned earlier. With promises that the hotspring was only 5 minutes away, he cajoled us 4 tired travellers into walking a little bit more instead of stopping at the rest point. I'm glad he did. The hot water was soothing, the waterfall was magnificent and as we sit soaking our feet, the clouds rolled in from below us. It was at times like these that I wished my camera hadn't died. Of course, the little episode of our guide, Sar, taking a well deserved full body soak in the hotspring was still the best view we could ever wish for and a mad scramble by all to take photos.
I wonder if he would still take his soak in the hotspring if he had known how many pairs of eyes were oogling him that day at the waterfall. After the soaking of tired feet, it was time to head back for lunch. The quality of food never cease to amaze me on this trip. We had fried noodles with vegetables and shredded chicken and pineapples for dessert. Licked my plate clean again. The singaporean couple whom we kept bumping into on this trip offered us some fish that they had bought freshly caught by the fishermen we saw at the lake and fried into perfection by their porters. No trace of the mud taste that is usually present in fresh water fish at all. Apparently the cost of the fish were pretty reaonable too, about 10,000 baht (I think. I can only remember that we did the calculation and it was very reasonable) for a total of 1.8kg of fish.
Up crater rim again. After lunch, short rest and toilet break, it was time to head out again.The going got really tough at this point. This is what the route up looked like. Yes. Straight up to the top. The pretty little blue flowering shrubs that I noticed the previous day are back again. I really wished I could stop to take pictures of it but I had no camera and we had to keep moving. The first part was alright but the second two hours started to feel like rock climbing. A never ending series of rock climbing. At this stage, it was rest every 15 minutes. At the last leg of the trek, Sar asked if we wanted to take the shorter (but heaps more tiring) 30min route or the longer (but apparently less tiring) 1.5hr route. The vote was unanimous. We will take the shorter route even if it will kill us because we just want to get it over and done with. After Sar had verified that the shorter route was do-able, we set off again. The route turned out to be a series of more scary rock climbing. I finally relented, surrender my camera bag to Sar and just concentrate on climbing and breathing. It was with smiles of great joy when we spotted our camp for the night. After a long rest, the girls set out to explore the surrounding and to *ahem* "communicate" with nature. We ended up as photographic subjects for KH and the whole flickr community knew exactly what we did when we were at the camp but I'm glad he took the shots because they were my favourite from the whole set.
Tonight, we had vegetable curry with rice. It was all inhaled in a matter of minutes, as usual so no pictures. I was to find out later that our porters had carted a whole coconut up and grated it to make fresh coconut milk. No wonder it tasted like ambrosia. The heat from the curry spice and hot soup made a very welcome guard against the cold winds blowing outside. It was even more windy here than on the crater rim. At times, the tent was almost bent over from the strong gusts of wind. It was lights out as usual after dinner since I was still debating (half-heartedly) about making that trek up to the summit at 2am, depending on muscle condition. KH has long decided that he wasn't going to join us so I think he slept in peace and much happiness.
I had no mobile signal at this camp either but Sar did since he told us before dinner that he had just received word that his grandfather had passed away last night. I felt really sad for him. Must be hard remaining cheerful and upbeat for work in the face of such awful news.
We woke up early today. Breakfast (Banana pancakes with coffee) was at 6am in Awenk's office a little further down and we headed off to the Senaru Trek Centre. On the way over we found out that we were expected to carry our own belongings on the trip but looking at the shock on our faces, Ardenn (this guy we met who works for WTO and is helping out with upgrading of services provided by the locals) decided to allocate another extra porter to us at no extra charge. So, boys and girls, if you do decide to do this trek, please be reminded that you are expected to carry your own belongings up and down the mountain otherwise, letting your trek organiser know that you are hiring another extra porter to carry all your barang barang (belongings) up is highly recommended by this author :D
The trek schedule today reads as follows.
POS I - 1.5hrs from the trek centre, last civilisation outpost for the next few days
POS II - 2hrs, Lunch
POS III - 2hrs,
POS IV - 2hrs, decision to be made if camping overnight or proceed to crater rim
Crater Rim - 45 mins, dinner, camp for the night
POS I was relatively easy to get to, gentle slope with cultivated fruit trees on our left and the dense tropical jungle on our right. A few cows and goats looked at us in amusement as we hurried past the trail but other than that, it was pretty deserted. At POS I which is where the local village ends, there is a little thatched shop that sells snacks and drinks and this huge tree formed thru the inter-twinning of 3 trees. Our guide, Sar, made a beautiful walking stick from the nearby trees for KL here. After a short rest, we headed off again. Smsing works fine at this point.
We got to POS II at 11-ish and waited for our porters to catch up and cook lunch (Mee soup with egg and vegetables, pineapple for desserts).
Shot while waiting for the porters to show up
Daniel (This super-human, super-fit swiss guy who was sharing our cooking equipment for the trek) was already there. He started out later than us since he came from Gili Trawangan island and he had already surpassed us before POS II. He was carrying his own single person tent and sleeping bag too. Trek to POS II started to get a little tougher. Higher steps and overgrown roots. Sar told us it was easy peasy at this stage. Boo hoo!!! Twittered and then sms S to let him know I was still alive at POS II. The wait for lunch was a little long and we kept asking Sar if we would make it to the crater rim in time for sunset. He assured us that we had plenty of time. As it turns out, he was pretty spot on the timing despite our doubts.
POS III. Trek to this point got tougher. The steps got higher and higher and there were more overgrown roots. The walking sticks came in real handy as we used them to propel ourselves up. At POS III, the jungle met grassland and the temperature dipped. Met a caucasian couple who have set up camp here with their porters. The lighting at this time was really nice for photoshoots and the tall grasses made for a real scenic backdrop. Wished I was camping here too but nope it was time to move on again after a while. Didn't twitter here. Too busy catching my breath.
POS IV. The clouds were below us. The sun was shinning brightly above.
Imagine 45 degree grassy slopes that looked like the above. Now imagine us climbing. We were taking short breaks every 30 minutes now, huffing and puffing. What we thought was bad before was nothing compared to getting here. Never have I ever been so glad to see the rest station that says POS IV because it means that I can have a longer rest and I am just that one step closer to the final rest point for the evening. POS IV was also where "OH SHIT!" happened. Go read the story here. Super hilarious and that gave us the extra adrenaline to make it on to the final point.
Crater Rim. Met a couple of Dutch who were making their way down just as we reached the camping ground. They had made it up to the summit the day before and hearing about our attempt the next night, they wished us all the best. I was the last of the group to reach the crater rim but that was alright by me. Sar was right. We were just in time to see the sunset. It was the most brilliant sight I have ever seen in my life.
The crater lake with the elusive summit was just right behind me
The porters had set up tent by the time we excited photographers finished shooting the sunset and every nook and cranny possible in the fast fading light up on the rim. Dinner was tomato fried rice with fried chicken and keropok, washed down with tea. Was most impressed with the quality of food and inhaled every grain of rice on my plate.
My 350D, at this point, had decided to give up the ghost. I found out much later (many days after the trip) that the batteries were just totally flat up on mountain. GARGHH! Stupid stupid stupid stupid camera!
After all the excitement of the day, we decided to rest early as its going to be an early rise tomorrow again. Too tired at this point to consider cleaning myself up properly so I just gave myself a few quick swipes with the wet wipes. It was cold and windy at the crater rim. The sleeping bag provided didn't seal the cold out too much but luckily I had the foresight to put on thermal wear and an extra pants. Only had 1 pair of socks though so the feet stayed cold. Tried twittering and smsing the husband to let him know I was still alive but there were no reception. Gave up after a few tries and went to sleep instead.
The Lombok trip was conceived over a year ago after a few of us flickr folk saw Chkese's beautiful photos at a flickr sg gathering. Not realising the fitness level required, we naively made a tentative pledge that we will go climb the mountain and come back with the exact same beautiful photographs, thinking it will probably be similar to climbing a few Bukit Timah hills. We were so so so so completely wrong :P
Sidenote: Not that the whole experience was truly awful because I count this very high up on my list of wonderful experiences of my life so far and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone thinking of doing the same. In fact, in many ways, this trip was a lot of firsts for me. My first mountain trek, my first flickr overseas trip, my first time not taking a shower for 2 days, my first time really roughing it out and my first time pushing my body to its limits. The sights, stories and friendship forged on Mt Rinjani will remain imprinted in my mind for years to come and now that the pain of climbing the mountain has subsided, maybe I might make another trip up the mountain again and make it to the summit this time. Brave words indeed from this author sitting in the comfort of her chair with the air-con blowing but going back to Lombok and the mountain will be like going back to visit old friends again.
And so I digress. We arrived in Lombok 28th April, midday, after a short flight on Silk Air. It was hot, so hot that I thought to myself...Oops. Should have brought spag tops here instead of tees. The drive to Batu Koq, Senaru, where we were staying for the night before the trek up made me sigh in relief as the mercury dipped down to a comfortable low 20s.
This is where we dropped our luggage and made ready to head out for a spot of photographic fun in nearby padi fields because we are such fanatics afterall.
Dinner that night was at a traditional Bayan village where we got to try the local traditional cuisine (green leaves of the poinsettia plant) and their local drink of choice (for the men at least), Brem. Its a rice wine that is sweet for the first 2 weeks of brewing and then gradually turning more and more sour/bitter and alcoholic as it ferments.
Did a quiz. Its eerily accurate. (via tetanus)
Your view on yourself:
You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.
Yes that's how I like to operate. Look at both sides of the coin first.
The type of boyfriend you are looking for:
You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.
Yes smart definitely do it for me more than good-looking.
Your readiness to commit to a relationship:
You prefer to get to know a person very well before deciding whether you will commit to the relationship.
Yes but then it gets cancelled out by being soft-hearted
The seriousness of your love:
You like to flirt and behave seductively. The opposite sex finds this very attractive, and that's why you'll always have admirers hanging off your arms. But how serious are you about choosing someone to be in a relationship with?
Really? Moi flirt?
Your views on education
You may not like to study but you have many practical ideas. You listen to your own instincts and tend to follow your heart, so you will probably end up with an unusual job.
Yeah hate studying because there are too many other more interesting things to do. Unusual job? Hmmm
The right job for you:
You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.
True except finding a regular job that I like to do is next to impossible.
How do you view success:
You are confident that you will be successful in your chosen career and nothing will stop you from trying.
Eh...
What are you most afraid of:
You are concerned about your image and the way others see you. This means that you try very hard to be accepted by other people. It's time for you to believe in who you are, not what you wear.
Yeah. Spot on! I think that's my weakness too.
What is your true self:
You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather your head needs to solve.
Yeah the part about "...my heart rather than my head needs to solve." is pretty true.
Akang Datang or in plain simple english, I will be BACK!
Anyways, I promise to give a full detailed report on my climb up that mountain and how I actually made it down alive and in 1 piece. In the meantime, I seem to have a whole backlog of social events and what-nots to fulfil first. Such is the sad sad sad life of someone who has a short attention span and so tried to compensate by finding all sorts of stuff to do and then suddenly realised she has just committed herself to a whole truckloads of events. Not that I'm complaining but you know...
In the meantime, just enjoy the above scenery brought to you by moi, k!