faraway in the country

i just came back from faaar away in the countryside.

i was over at aimee's for the weekend.

her family's really kind. they're very nice people.

im really tired now cause it takes about 2 hours to get there from home.

aimee picked me up from pekanham which is the end of train line and she drove us even further to nar nar goon where she stays. it's really far out. she stays at maryknoll actually. i shant describe what her place is like. im too tired. and i feel rather disoriented now.

maybe it's because i was out in the country for 2 days without really expecting it to be so "country", maybe it's because i was in a fairly different culture for 2 days (dont get me wrong, i really loved it), or maybe it's just because aimee and i got up really early today, hoping to catch the sunrise. anyway, her place is really homey and cosy. very english. she took me round applejack in the evening with her dog bonnie. her dog's adorable, she's a happy fat dog. we saw horses! and aimee taught me how to feed them :D

here, she told me how asians love taking pictures. hmm.. i know one who doesn't. haha. maybe in general, asian teenagers take more pictures than western teens. i dunno. i've never really noticed.

rosie (aimee's 13yr old sister) had her birthday party yesterday. this picture was taken in the bungalow, a small function room type place (with tv and couches and all) behind their house. she had a disco ball and a proper sound system (like the type we have at ocf) and strobe lights and spot lights and nice party food :D this picture was before the dancing and stuff started. oh aims and i didn't join them. haha.

aimee mrs matthews and i made a joint effort in cooking green curry with chicken and aubergine. is that how you spell it? haha.. i think english people call it aubergine. aussies call 'em eggplants. singaporeans call them.... i can't remember what i called them before i got here. mummy taught me to call them brinjal as a kid (now how do you spell that?). but i had forgotten that over the years and never really had to identify an eggplant so i didn't bother finding out. a few of my friends called it in chinese. i can't remember what the chinese name is now.

mrs matthews was really keen on teaching me to cook. she's the sweetest, really! hahaha.. she got aimee to scan and print a few recipes for me and showed me how to cut an onion. hahaha.. and and and she showed me how to make white sauce. and i inherited a collection of herbs/spices!! :D she's amazing.

ok so anyway, dinner was really special. we had rice and one dish - curry chicken and eggplant. it was really good. we had wine after. :) i think the best part of dinner was when we held hands to say grace. aimee's dad said grace. they're a tight family and i think they're really caring and giving.

this morning, the two of us woke up and took a short drive to cannibal hill. we climbed up to the summit in hope of seeing the sun rise, but it didn't quite wait for us. the view's great eh?

aimee drove me, rosie and josie (rosie's friend) to church today. her dad was home building something at the back and her mum was already in church. barnaby (aim's brother) went straight to the church next door from his friend's place (that's why he wasn't home on saturday). it was the smallest church i've ever been to. it looked like just about 30 people i think? just at that service alone of course. mm.. it's a nice little anglican church. today was also the first time i saw people drink wine from the same cup at holy communion. i dipped my bread though. it's nice in a small church because everyone knows everyone else. :D
ok gwen's here yay :D