New House and New Year!

2008 is the year of new beginnings for me. New country, new life, new ventures and recently, new house! That's two new houses in a year, how about that!

There are two reasons behind this move. Firstly, the contract for the previous house was only for 3 months, and we had to inform the landlord much earlier if we wanted to extend it. The reason we didn't extend it is also the second one, which is that Dzaid wanted personal space (maybe I smell bad) and I kinda agreed with him too.

So yup, lemme show you around. I'll make a YouTube video of the place when I have time.



So welcome to Hazmeria! The front design is almost the same, entrance hallway with kitchen and toilet on its sides. The kitchen is still damn small :P

Hey wait, who's that taking my picture?



Why, it's Senyo of coz! They came up with the idea to have this housewarming party. The deal is that I cook Malaysian food and they cook Korean food, then eat dinner together. Is it ok for me to be this happy? ^__________^

It's interesting to talk to them, coz they can't speak English, I can't speak Korean either, so we had to rely on Japanese to communicate. I could imagine the neighbour laughing his ass off listening to our broken Japanese XD

Oh I was too busy cooking, so all pics of the house were taken by Senyo. (Thanks!)

Also super big thanks to Fabian for providing the Malaysian ingredients!



Senyo took two pictures of the room, so I combined them. The room is considerably more spacious and comfy than the previous one. Unfortunately, the room was initially unfurnished. Bought the furniture from Ikea, thought they'd match well with the nice wooden flooring.

Also, they're quite cheap. The bed frame is cheaper than most second-hand bed frames out there. Amazing, isn't it? It doesn't have a backboard, just a bunch of flat wooden planks, but the colour and style suit the room perfectly.

That glowing thing in the middle is a heating stove I bought from Bic Camera. The cheapest of its range :P Also, last month's electric bill was quite high, coz Dzaid and I switched on the aircond heater. So far I'm very happy with the "Hot style Far-infrared rays", whatever that means :)



Ok back to the party! Thank god the tomyam, telur bungkus and sambal turned out good. Well tomyam is actually quite Thai isn't it :P But it's watered down, so it has been Malaysianized!

Oh if you have any korean friends, ask them to pronounce "telur bungkus". Damn cute!



Doohee made this small little pizza thingie called Kimchi Puchimgae, using flour, cheese and kimchi (duh). The amazing thing is that it's like our Roti Canai, but it can be eaten cold and raw :O But she said heating it up a little would bring out the taste more.

And it was delicious!!! I usually hate Kimchi, but the spiciness was toned down by the cheese. Now that I think about it, if it didn't have that subtle Kimchi taste, it won't be as nice.



It was interesting how Senyo and Doohee introduced the sauced mee: "It's actually a Chinese dish, but you can't find it anywhere in China, only Korea." Um, what?! XD

At the end, I knew where it drew inspiration from: Hokkien Fried Mee, coz the sauce is black and the mee is thick. The taste is totally different though, but equally delicious! :9



Whoa, am I in a dream? Two girls in the kitchen? ^___^

While I was cooking the Tomyam, they decided to help me cut stuff and wash the pots and pans. Maybe I cooked too slow :P I can already imagine my mom nodding furiously. Oh c'mon, all males can't multitask, right?!



And there you have it! Thankfully, everything turned out well, the winner being the telur bungkus. Chou Oishii, they said (very delicious).

They didn't take much of the sambal ikan bilis though, but that's the instant version so I don't mind if they don't like it, kakakakaka.

Too bad Senyo took this picture *before* she cooked the mee. We exchanged recipes, so I already know how to make it. A picure of it next time!

And that ends the housewarming party. Doohee and Senyo, please come again!

Next up is the countdown celebration with Dzaid and Daim.



Cool dudes go to clubs and discos for loud countdowns. We're not them, so we went to a temple near Tokyo Tower for a more traditional new year celebration.

Can someone tell me what they're burning there? Whoa, I see a spirit in the fire. Kewl.



Protip: Do not eat dinner before you come here. Alah, I wanna eat Takoyaki too!



Mmmm, fried squid. My sotong fanboy sense is tingling.



Here, anyone could come up and hit the mochi (rice cake) with a big hammer. After a few people hit it, they gave some to the audience to sample its texture.



Alright, now we're in the temple square and suddenly the lights went off. 2009 is close!



Everyone counted down, then bam! Wow, just check out the quality of that photo! Actually, the audience was given a transparent balloon earlier, so they would release it when 2009 arrives. We were quite off from the center of the square, so the picture shows a bunch of balloons travelling in the distance.... yea =_=



Argh, might as well show you the video of the entire event, filmed by someone else :P



There you have it, new year in Tokyo. Admittedly, I was a little disappointed. There were no fireworks and the screaming wasn't exciting enough. I guess Malaysians know how to par-tay!

But I LOVE the balloons flying though. Added a lot to the magic :)



2009 is also the beginning of Dzaid wearing contact lens! More handsome now, rite?



Alright then, I would cover more of my 2008 summary, 2009 wishlist and of course (you think I would forget?) ahbonk.net anime awards 2008! Happy new year, everyone! AkeOme!