The long long long Deepavali weekend.

It's been a wonderful break from work. Planning for holidays, even short ones like this, make work and time move so much faster. You can strike off each date from your calender when each day ends and count down to your break. In this case, I took Friday and Monday off and made my first trip back to Melaka since I started working. So my dad picked me up from work on Wednesday and we took a quick dinner before heading "home". The subsequent four days were filled with eating (popiah, char kuay teow, mee goreng, mee rebus, chicken rice balls, organic food), shopping (bought 3 pairs of shoes, 1 skirt from G2000, 1 lipgloss because I lost my only one) and driving.

I really like the Kancil. It's small and parking is easy. It has no power steering so I enjoy using my muscles manuvering the car around. Plus I got lots of drive practice and seriously, M'sian drivers are terrible. I know the KL drivers are supposed to be the worst around but let me tell you, drivers in Melaka are no better. They drive like there are no other cars around, cutting from left to right, they don't signal and they seem to drive without brakes. I think S'poreans come here and get influenced by this bad driving because I have seen some S'pore cars behaving badly as well.

I got a hair wash and trim at my favourite hair salon with a super shiok head, neck, shoulders and back massage for 15 minutes. All for only RM32!!! I actually wanted to get some highlights but the girl quoted RM130 for my hair length whereas if you did a complete dye plus highlights it was RM220. I decided to get the complete job next year instead.

I didn't have a chance to go to any pasar malams this time. I was really looking forward to the food and strolling around the stalls. Next time perhaps.

Life in Melaka is slow and simple. It's similar yet different from life in Brisbane. People here take things easy and eating good food doesn't necessarily mean spending a bomb, sitting in a beautifully decorated room with air-conditioning. The best food I've had here come from tiny, stuffy coffee shops with sticky tables. Sometimes these coffee shops come complete with slippery floors and smelly drains, yet the queues are long and the food is cheap. I think only those who have really lived in M'sia will understand. Perhaps it's all about the simple life. With food as good as theirs, they could possibly expand and earn more money. But they seem satisfied to earn enough to get by. They close their stalls and shops when it's a holiday or a Sunday sometimes. It's totally opposite from what you see in S'pore. Over here, it's earn and earn and earn while you can. Money, money, money.....