MIND OVER MATTER

Harry Potter comes to an end on big screen

2011-07-07T15:07:00.000+08:00

Harry Potter made it’s welcome into my life back during my university days. It was my 2nd year, and a dear friend M, introduced these books to me. I read the first book and was hooked.

Now I have to provide a bit of background. When I first started on Harry Potter and got hooked, I was going through a very difficult time in my life. I was depressed and nothing could take my mind away from my pain. But Harry Potter did just that for me! It took me to a different world beyond my imagination and was simply amazing. I would look forward everyday to come back after classes just to read this book and keep reading it till the wee hours of the morning.

I have continued to read Potter as I grew up, to holding my first paying job, getting married and having a child. I still always managed to make time to read my beloved Potter books as they came out one by one till the end.

Last year, I was fortunate enough to also make a trip to London, where most of the locations in the book are inspired by and some of which have come out in the movies. I went to one of the banquet halls where this movie was filmed and also to King’s cross where they have a little trolley half way through the wall. I have to say a huge thanks to my cousins S & M for making the time to bring me to these places despite the short trip I had.

And now we are here, at the end of this journey. I have got my Gold Class tickets to Harry Potter on the 15th July. I will be going with my husband who has also got me a Harry Potter wand during his visit to Hamley’s. I’ll bring the wand in the bag with me. It truly feels like an end to a particular phase in life. From the books to watching actors/actresses grow up on big screen. Though all good things must come to an end, and I doubt there will be anything like Potter in my life, I am looking forward to the next phase. I wonder what will be the next thing that grabs my attention the way Potter has...

Career..how far to go..when is it enough

2011-06-14T19:33:00.002+08:00

I must say I do love my job and the opportunities it has given me. But of late, it keeps reoccurring to me if this is what I really want in life. Climbing the corporate ladder has with it more responsibilities, and with that a whole load of stress.

My recent assignment has exposed me to a very fast paced part of the organization, while I think it’s challenging and has it’s perks, it also really stressed me out. My husband’s wise advice is true that I need to learn how to manage this stress. It’s probably a learning curve I need to master once again.

Now though I come again to a cross point, how far do I really want to go. When is it enough for me...I am quite contented but still feel there is more to achieve, at the same time how much am I willing to sacrifice.

Though overall work has been getting to me, I must say getting up each day and saying I can get through this however tough, has helped with some small perks.

We had this breakfast challenge at work within my department and my team came in 1st place. Yippees! Small rewards but still was a nice win.

Then during Safety day, I got myself another prize which was sweet though the rest of the work part of the day wasn’t that great. This was still another lovely memory. And so was the site visit. :D As they say, concentrate on what went right, just learn from the ones that didn't?

Reading

2011-05-28T18:44:00.003+08:00

Reading is a good habit. I love to read but lately I've been struggling to find the time to read and it's become sort of a race I need to run to finish all the milestones I've set for myself.

Firstly, I together with 2 other friends(KY &AG) have set a task in Jan 2011 to finish reading the Bible in a year. It started off really well for me, I loved Genesis as I found it really interesting. As the chapters in the old testament went on and work got busy, I slowed down and found 1 and 2 Kings a struggle to get through. By June, I'm suppose to be at Job, I have 3 more books to read Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther as I just got through 2nd Chronicles today. Though it has been really tough at times to keep at it, I must say, that I have learnt so much. I'm able to identify more easily with Pastor's sermons at church. It also helps that I have this Biblical knowledge when I speak to my kids at Sunday School. So, I still do aim to keep at this.

Secondly, I'm going to get busier second half of this year when I start studying for my project management exam. It's a lot of reading. And with work, and reading the Bible by end of the year, I do hope I have the time to do this properly and give it my best as well. For the exam, I need to read a whole book called the PMBOK(Project Management Body of Knowledge). And based on previous colleagues and those who have sat for the exam, there are more books I need to purchase and read!

Thirdly, like I said at the beginning I love reading...so I do have books borrowed from friends that are on my shelf and waiting for me to open their pages. Lately, I've borrowed 2 books from K and they are both by Malaysian writers. The first one I have finished, and I have started the 2nd.

So there you go, have I set too many goals that reading has become more of a chore rather than pleasure?

Fireflies in the Garden

2011-05-23T13:51:00.000+08:00

Lovely movie if you have not watched it. A lot of drama. But loved it, as it feels a bit that way right now.

It feels like things are not going as it should be but it will in the end.
It feels like frustration and anger but it should be replaced with patience and calm.
It feels like moaning and depression but replaced with smiles and laughter instead.

After all where can the prior get you, if you don’t keep thinking with positivity in mind.
So here I am in that phase of life, and I’m trying my best to stay positive whatever the outcome will be. I try to count my blessings as people say I should. I try to make life as fun as can be though so many thoughts are running at the back of my mind knowing that things are not as they seem to be. It’s tough but it needs to be done. I find God gives you that extra boost of strength at times like this. I’m sure it doesn’t come from me. It’s so much tougher when I’ve been feeling this way for a long long time.

My husband’s recent outstation trip, he got me these lovely really nice leather bounded journals. They look amazing. As you’d have probably observed I’ve not been blogging much. That is because I have my current journal which is still not finished.

I started my first journal as a tribute to me about to turn 30 and it has been since. Now I’m thinking when I should start my second journal, was wondering probably it would be a tribute if I do get pregnant again. A place to document my whole pregnancy when that happens. You can tell I’m really psyching myself into this positivity behaviour.

I do thank God however for all the relationships that I have in this life. Family and friends who have made this whole experience so much easier to bear with. It is still the most important thing in my life – relationships.

Cheated

2010-11-09T16:21:00.000+08:00

I feel a little cheated. Well, not a little a lot really.

I have believed in someone so much on their limitations, and today a recent action has got me questioning myself, do they really have such a limitation?

It’s not the first time this has happened. Probably harder that I choose not to mention the actual situation to allow those reading this the ability to understand the full picture.

It is relative in a way, where one may not do something due to a said limitation but may do something else even though they have that limitation or they feel it is important. The said limitation is no longer a factor and suddenly they have the resources for it.

Should I then have helped with my own resources at that point in time? Been so nice to them, that I provide in any way I can, only to realise they do have what they said they didn’t.

Turning 30

2010-09-28T11:20:00.003+08:00

I am 30. And am looking forward to it.

From being quite pessimistic about turning 30 since last year, I am now embracing it.
From not wanting to celebrate it, I must say that turned 180 degrees and I had a totally fantastic celebration, and not 1 but 3!

What is turning 30 to me? Some say the thirties is the new twenties. Some say the thirties is better than the twenties. But during a conversation someone summed it up pretty well to me.
The thirties to different people can mean different things, but to me, the thirties is when you’re pretty much more focussed in life, you have some idea where you want to be and are more settled down. The twenties was an experimental time in my life, where you go out and try everything you can, do all the crazy stuff and be done with it. The thirties is probably where you may not have the energy for it but you can also say, done that, been there.

So I am looking forward to the thirties, pretty much have some idea of what I want and whether I can get there or not is another thing. But I will take life as it comes one day at a time. Try and reach for those dreams and see if it gets there or not.

The 30’s is really not a bad place to be at, to me it is a great place to be at right now, I’m ready for it, bring it on.

Uplift

2010-07-27T15:09:00.002+08:00

I've uplifted the look of my blog simply because blogger.com has come up with some new designer templates that look simply spectacular.

I've not blogged in a while now. But I feel that I may slowly come back to keeping this online journal around for a little while longer than I thought.

That's all for now and hopefully to more blogs to come.

Wavin Flag

2010-05-27T10:29:00.000+08:00

The Hindi Version :

Wavin´ Flag! from LaOrquidea1 on Vimeo.

My Fav Version :

Young Artists For Haiti-- Wavin' Flag by K'naan from M.Meir on Vimeo.

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination

2010-02-10T10:52:00.001+08:00

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

Taking Stock

2009-07-31T11:36:00.001+08:00

It’s been very busy and I think it’s going to be for a while. Work is pilling, social life activities are increasing, lots of visitors – family & friends, and I’ve been busy, planning, planning & planning for the next 2 months or so to fit everything in.

Then a church member passed away. A 40+ old lady whom I’ve known but not very close. I’m close however to her very close friend, who has been busy in and out of hospital and monitoring her for the past years as she struggles with cancer. So the topic is close to my heart. I went for the wake service despite the busyness and I’m glad I did. I went for my friend, she seemed more broken hearted than anyone at the service.

The service was beautiful. Since this was a very active church member who passed away, she had many close friends in the church. The organist, worship leader and pastor were all close to tears and teared but still lead the service. While this lady was in the hospital, they mentioned there was once where they brought in their guitar and organ and played in her hospital room while worshipping the Lord. That really touched me, what friends did for a friend they truly loved.

This service helped me take stock of what is important in life. And what is important for me and always will be, are my family and friends. Despite being busy planning out all the activities and making time for them, I need to truly be there for them. Be their listening ear, hear them when they speak and be there when it truly matters.

It was sad that we lost this lady who is quite young to go so soon, but it’s a joy to know that she is with the Lord now and in peace. No more suffering from her illness and her friends/family can take consolation in that.

A song was sung during the service which really touched my heart. Here are the lyrics:-

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the bright and morning star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what you've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who you are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I'm calling
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling
And you've told me who I am
I am yours, I am yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

I am yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am yours
I am yours

2 notes Down and 1 note Up

2009-07-23T17:36:00.005+08:00

Q: How do I feel today?
A: 2 notes down and 1 note up.

Q: Why is this so?
A: My favourite Studio W that I go for jazzercise is closing end of this month, the smartest girl I’ve seen on ‘Are you smarter than a 5th grader’ lost a million dollars and the only new thing in life that makes me laugh is ‘The IT crowd’.

Q: Tell me more about jazzercise.

A: It’s a superb workout routine that comprises of ballet, pilates, kickboxing moves that are encapsulated into one work out to nice up to date songs that cover a whole range from country to jazz to hip hop. I had a resolution this year to make sure I exercise frequently and I joined this place since Apr 09, it’s been 4 months but that’s a record for me. And to still be interested to go, says something about this exercise which I really really like. I just went for a jazzercise party which is more than 1 hour cardio work out and it was really good. I’m going to miss it if I don’t find a new place to do it that is near home.

Q: What about that smart girl?

A: She’s currently working on her PhD in Neuroscience and she got all the way to USD500k by just using one peek. She still had her save and copy. She had the guts to go for the million dollar question but really did not know the answer. It was so sad when I felt she really deserved it.

Q: Well, at least you’ve got this ‘The IT crowd’, perhaps it would help if you watched it now to cheer you up.

A: I don’t have any DVD’s on this show but try to catch it every Monday when it plays on the TV. The recent episode was hilarious. This gay guy asked a girl out and when she finds out he is gay, he cries to her saying ‘I thought it would work with us, cause you looked like a man.’ That really cracked me up. She left him of course.

Life goes on.

Pisang Kukus

2009-06-27T00:36:00.002+08:00

I’ve been a Malaysian for all my life and today I still found out about food I’ve never heard of. ‘Pisang Kukus’ which is steamed banana. It was superb. It needs to be eaten with ‘sambal’ and coconut.

I was out with friend S & E whom I’ve both not seen for ages! We had superb conversation and E introduced me to ‘Pisang Kukus’ at a place I normally frequent yet never tried that particular dish on the menu. Amazing the things people can show you that you never knew yet it was right in front of you.

On a different note, MJ has passed away. When my friend M told me, I was close to tears but held it back. His music definitely has an impact on so many of us and the day has been a bit dreary. I can’t help remembering going to his concert year of 1996 or was it 1997, the best I’ve ever been even though I had the cheapest ticket. His life was definitely not a waste and the short time he lived on earth, he has contributed a lot that some of us may never even do in as many lifetimes as we get.

R.I.P MJ!

Busy week

2009-06-16T11:39:00.000+08:00

How did the week get so busy? Work is bustling as usual. But I’ve also got a lot of social activities!

Monday was a farewell party for a friend. Sob Sob.

Tuesday is grocery shopping which is long overdue.

Wednesday is a day of rest. :D

Thursday is dinner with Sister In Law. Something that also can’t be postponed.

Friday is dinner with cousin. Also someone I don’t spend much time with and can’t be postponed any longer.

Saturday is a housewarming party of an ex colleague which I should attend as I’ve not seen her for ages, going for that one. Also a farewell party for an ex boss which I really should attend and am still contemplating due to the already busy schedule!

This is not my average week, but I’m actually looking forward to all my appointments after all its people that I should spend time with and haven’t done so for quite some time.

Fresh Insights

2009-06-15T18:53:00.007+08:00

It’s a Sunday. I had what I could call a perfect day. I went to church and heard a sermon that completely explained a chapter in the Bible I previously couldn’t fully comprehend. It was The Parable of the Worker in the Vineyard, Matthew 20:1 – 16. Let me see if I can remember what the 4 attitudes were, that we ought to practice:

1. Be happy/satisfied with what you’ve agreed with.
2. Be happy for those who have a reason to celebrate. Do not compare and count your own blessings instead.
3. Do not give up, position yourself for possibilities.
4. I can’t remember the fourth one, perhaps it wasn’t as good as the other 3 or I’ve merged 2 of them.

My son went to Sunday School after a period of 3 weeks (each week with its own reason for not attending) while I was in church. Then my mom suggested we go to a restaurant that she frequents for free food. Apparently, the restaurant is yet again undergoing new management and this time it happened to be people who were friends with my relatives! So we went, and was pleased to also see a bunch of kids from an orphanage being entertained by a clown. It was lots of fun and the food was good.

Next was home again and off to a friend’s housewarming. Despite the rainy weather, the rain stopped later and we had a pretty good time. My son though being the only kid around seemed to have loads of fun and I think liked my friend’s home quite a bit.

I had what I would call a decent day. Perfect conversation, good vibes all around and very satisfied feeling. Was it a shift of attitude that I was experiencing or was the day really that good?

I watched Miss Potter few days back and loved the movie as well. Her gift was amazing and her ability never to give up and to proof something, was wonderful despite her mom’s constant nagging and the era that she lived in.

Then I watched Mr. Bean (the animated version), TV programmes you start to watch and get very interested in when you have a kid. This episode it was mind blowing how he never gave up on his parking place, and the different ways he tried to make sure he got his place. He never gave up.

There it is fresh insights, that you can get if you look carefully from whatever you see on TV, read in a book, or hear from someone, and perhaps many more other ways.

The Secret Life of Bees

2009-06-08T10:29:00.004+08:00

It was a bright sunny Sunday afternoon, I was moody. My son and hubby went off to sleep after our marathon shopping spree at the mid valley megamall. I was tired yet could not sleep. I decided to watch ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ , a movie borrowed to me from my sister and later I found out based on a book by Sue Monk Kidd.

It was a pretty interesting movie which I first watched due to the star studded cast of Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys and Jennifer Hudson. No doubt the movie already sounds like an all women type of movie, but I think guys who would like to watch it might help bring to them a new perspective from the other side of the world.

It was a simple story but it grasped me. It was one of those movies which made me feel like going up to a small town and staying in a cottage, soaking up in the beauty of nature and living my life like time was of no importance.

There are many different chapters in our lives. This movie made me think of mine. I hope that someday if I’m cut out for it, I can spend one chapter of my life in that serene quiet cottage out in the meadows by the sea with loved ones.

Blog Review

2009-06-06T16:33:00.008+08:00

I pondered the other day the reason why I blog. I think it’s simply to share stories and perceptions, obtain views and maintain an electronic log of my life to look back on. I started blogging due to a very good friend, who has great influencing skills. When I blog sometimes it can be tough; how much do I want to share with the world, how far should I go and when is it considered too much sharing and over exposing of my private life. I guess its best not to think too much of this but as I grow older I feel more conscious of my privacy, but yet a need to share a part of my life online.

Anyway, in honor of my blog, I’ve decided to look back at blogs I’ve had since I started back in 2006, and there is one or two I wish to comment on.

‘Meeting my Maid for the 1st Time’ back in July 25th 2006, when I read it now, I realized what a long way I’ve come in this relationship. I’ve more confidence and know how to deal with my helper to build a strong relationship with proper understanding of expectancies. I’ve grown so much since 2006 to now 2009.

Next, ‘Outdoor Adventures’ on July 11th 2008 and ‘Daily Devotions’ on March 12th 2009 where I did the bungee, etc, it looks like I still am pursuing these activities and have maintained a steady interest and a conscious effort to look out and participate in these events since 2008. I did Sphereing back in Feb 2009.
Participated in my department eco day and walked in muddy mangrove swamps.

Also went out to paddy fields and came on a face to face encounter with a snake.

And the latest my first attempt at paintball.

Then there is ‘Being Introduced to Motherhood’ on October 1st 2006, playing my mom role. I have a whole lot more confidence in playing my mom role and completely belief that there is no manual to being a parent. (Though I’d still say get all the help you can) Experience built slowly but surely helped me decide the kind of mom I want to be. I still have a long way to go and it’s a journey just like all my other roles in life. There is always room for improvement.

So there you are my mini review of my blog and some updates on how I’ve moved on. I must say various inputs from friends, and those who read this blog, who let me know how my sharing has helped them has been encouraging to continue to maintain the blogsite.
Thanks to my small group of readers.

Book Warehouse Sale

2009-04-30T15:09:00.001+08:00

I went for the recent MPH warehouse sale near where I stayed. And despite the already higher than normal credit bill I’m expecting at the end of this month, I still bought books! How could I not? This is my list and the why I got them:

Shopaholic & Sister – this book now completes the list of Shopaholic series that I already have.
The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho’s famous book, I’ve read Zahir borrowed from a friend and I thought I should own one of his books, and also read his famous book.
Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom, I’ve read Five People you Meet in Heaven and For One More Day, both books I borrowed from friends, so I need to have one of his books too, so why not his most famous book, and I get to read it too!
East Australia – this was picked by hubby as we’re going there later this year, not sure why we had to get the book though, hope it goes to good use.
3 Kiddie books – one on time, farm animals and word book that just teaches random words, all for my son!

So that’s that, I’m happy I went for it, wish it could have been free though it was very cheap and I spent more than I should have. But I don’t mind, I feel a sense of completeness in my book collection area now. Next is to have a lovely library in my dream house…now that is going to take a while!

Random Thoughts

2009-04-28T11:33:00.000+08:00

I need to write. I need to pen down my thoughts. I wish I could write like Paulo Coelho or Jane Austen, but that doesn’t happen to some of us, does it? Still it does not stop me to continue to aspire to be in the likes of these famous authors.

I feel a sense of calm and peace yet slightly disturbed. I read quite recently of a father and brother raping their own daughter and sister. Another instance, of a father raping his own daughter with a friend. I heard more sexual abuse cases during a talk at work. Horrible incidences unimaginable in our minds but happen. The ones who hurt us are our dearest and nearest.

To be honest, it’s human to only allow those we truly care about to hurt us. Friends, parents, siblings and the list goes on. Living with constant backbiting however small it is, incessant chatter of mindless gossip, constant negativity and pessimistic views from family or whoever you may stay with can be ingrained in our minds and in my books, is also called abuse. Living with such people could either drive one mad or we could just join them. Living away from them is my current solution.

When we are advised to occupy ourselves, as there is so much to do out there, why is there still pointless chatter? An idol mind is a devil’s workshop but some still rather choose this path. The prospects of activities that are beneficial to society or self seem unimportant in these minds. I find it hard to comprehend.

A friendship so valued but yet the other party may not value it as much. Is it too much expectancy or just blissful ignorance? Questions with no answers.

Sometimes I try too hard. I could be the one who hurts others or the one that hurts. I need to stop trying. To stop hurting and stop being the one, who hurts others, is to stop trying too hard.

Who can we trust? To have even one friend whom we could call a friend at the end of our life would be good. To stop trusting is not the solution. To be careful to the point of paranoia is not the solution. To trust with caution that we are only human is the answer. Of course, once smitten, don’t go and get bitten.

How do we know if it is we who are wrong or not? It’s all word games during arguments that turn into twisted debates, and then may the best speaker win! So how do we know? We may feel wronged but it’s the other party that is right. Or we may feel in the wrong, but we’re right. And then comes the question, is this even relevant? Does this really matter? There are clear-cut cases like the earlier examples of family incest but there are always the grey areas. Everyone could be diplomatically correct; it could almost be called a political affair.

So there it is my random thoughts, thoughts I just had to pen off.

Good Friday Service at KLWMC

2009-04-11T10:47:00.002+08:00

After 29 years and being in this church, KL Wesley Methodist Church almost all my life, I finally attended for the first time, the Good Friday service.

It’s a 3 hour service that’s held from 12 to 3 p.m. and honestly, when I first went I didn’t think I’d make it for the whole nine yards. But I did!

It was really good, really bringing back to life what actually happened during Jesus cruxification with 7 mini sermons each explaining the last 7 sentences of Jesus on the cross.
Here is Jesus last 7 sentences.

1. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. (Scripture passage Luke 23: 33-34)
2. Verily I say unto you, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. (Scripture passage Luke 23: 39-43)
3. Woman, behold thy son! Behold thy mother! (Scripture passage John 19: 25-27)
4. My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me. (Scripture passage Mark 14:33-34)
5. I thirst. (Scripture passage John 19: 28)
6. It is finished. (Scripture passage John 19:29-30)
7. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. (Scripture passage Luke 23:46)

Out of all the 7 words above, the one that touched me the most was no. 3, the Lord at the height of his suffering could still think of his loved ones.

I think and hope I will go back year after year for this service, it’s one of the best church services I’ve been to! I can’t believe I’ve been missing out all these years.

Jane Austen

2009-03-27T12:55:00.003+08:00

How little I knew about this author. I watched ‘Becoming Jane’ last night. The main reason I watched this movie ‘initially’ was because of Anne Hathaway, one of my favorite actresses. Then, I realized there was more to this movie than I assumed.

Other than the perfect English and fabulous vocabulary, this movie carried with it a story that goes deep down into the matters of the heart. I may believe this movie to be true and have fallen in love with the poise and principles that Jane Austen carries herself with. It is sad and beautiful beyond words.

I believe as Jane that “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection.” It is one of the closest bonds that we form in our lifetime and a major decision we make when we decide to share the rest of our life with someone.

The end of the story is of course the reason why Jane mentions this.

"A woman especially if she has the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can." -Jane Austen

I applaud Jane on concealing a secret so deep and in putting the needs of others before her own especially since this was a matter of love so hard to find and so close to her heart. She was a tenacious lady who was resolute despite circumstances.

Of 8 Gals

2009-03-20T14:49:00.003+08:00

I have 8 girlfriends whom I hang out with frequently and have done stuff with over the past year or so now. I’m not sure how long it will last but hope it does continue as long as we can hold out.

It started when I joined a project team and met M & S. M & S are my close friends now. M had to leave to UK though in between the project but we still maintained our ties despite the brief introduction. C joined the same project later on and then was assigned to UK for a short stint. I introduced C to M and they hooked up in UK. C came back. C, S & myself went for frequent lunches together until I had to go on maternity leave. The project team soon disbanded and we went our separate ways.

Due to circumstances, M had to come back to Malaysia. Then, M, C, S and me decided to meet up. We did off and on. We then decided on a Christmas party. C brought Se from her new workplace and M brought Su her old friend. So there we met, M, C, S, Se, Su and myself. That makes 6.

I moved on to a different project and met Sh. Sh was interesting as she liked outdoor activities which I had a sudden interest too just to spice up things in life. So we ended up on our first outdoor adventure, and Sh brought D. The 2 of them were introduced to my other 5 friends who turned up for this outdoor event. That made the 8 of us.

M, C, S, Se, Su, Sh, D and me. We’ve been on many girl trips and out door activities now and lately even managed to have a holiday together.

I’ve been wanting to blog on this girl group as they are all unique in everyway and the way we fit together really complements each other. Our different backgrounds and personalities bring a lot of life to the group. No doubt having some level of similar interest helps.

This blog is dedicated to you 8 gal friends! May our good times never end.

Credit Crunch

2009-03-20T14:49:00.002+08:00

It’s all around us. It can’t be avoided and it’s happening, the economic slowdown. My heart was quite sad when I found out a dear friend of mine got retrenched recently. I know of many more, but this was a dear friend. Then it truly hit me, how unpredictable the situation is.

I put myself in my friend’s shoes and thought, wow, how am I going to cope with all my financial responsibilities? I truly pray that my friend finds a means to an end soon.

But with all that is happening, it’s really out of our control and we can take the measures needed, but we also need not worry too much. What can worry do? And worst of all, we cannot let the fear of what is happening take a grip on us. Sometimes, this may be exactly what we need, to venture out and do what we thought we’d never do in this lifetime, and become a huge success!

It’s also important that those who are not quite impacted, support family and friends who we know may be directly impacted by this credit crunch, instead of splurging on ourselves.

I hope to practice the above and I hope we all do to get through these hard times.

Daily Devotions

2009-03-12T00:32:00.001+08:00

I’m 29 this year. I have a cute son and a wonderful hubby. I have a great job and loving it, but being ambitious I still want to do more. I have wonderful friends and have been up to a great deal of activities lately that I may not have done in the past.

My latest was tandem bungee jumping in Phuket. My last trip there I did not quite make it to doing it. But this time, hubby and me went for it.
Looking at my life overall, I must say I’m quite pleased. And here comes the big BUT, I have not been working on improving my spiritual life at all. I must say I have not given back to God much after all He has blessed me with. I miss my daily devotional times a lot, I feel like I’ve taken 10 steps backward from where I was and I don’t quite think I’ve put God in the centre of my entire life and totally surrendered everything I have to Him. So with all the achievements, it doesn’t really matter if I don’t have God in the centre of it all. I need to reprioritise God as number ‘One’ so that the rest follows after that.

My church is currently doing a discipleship campaign course and today I read an article called ‘My Heart Christ’s Home’ by Robert Boyd Munger. It’s written in such a way, that it depicts all the rooms in our life and how we treat God. If God was a real person, like our spouse, child or friend, would we be able to see God waiting for us everyday to do devotional time, as we just skip off with more important earthly things to do? Yet everyday God waits for us but we continue to do our own thing. If that happened to our spouse, we might feel guilty about it quite quickly or our spouse may highlight this to us immediately. But how does God get our attention if we miss out tuning to Him?

Therefore, new discipline regime for me in the spiritual area, spend at least ½ an hour with God each day and don’t skip it no matter what! I hope this works; I’m starting small and trying not to be too ambitious. And by blogging about it, I’m hoping that this will help me to make sure I do it, so help me God!

The Medical Profession

2009-03-11T23:58:00.000+08:00

This was suppose to have been blogged on 2nd Mac 2009 but due to confirmation needed on some facts from medical doctor it was delayed.

I have been uninspired lately to blog on anything. It is a new year and all, but nothing seems significantly different, or perhaps there is just so much in store and the anticipation of hoping all of it goes right is driving me insane.

Yesterday, I watched 2 medical doctors studying. It was amazing. Their passion for the medical profession put me in bewilderment.

If you’re not already familiar with the specialization process for doctors and the amount of time they spend just becoming doctors let me provide a brief overview here from a Malaysia perspective (Not sure how it works in other countries): -

- 5 years in medical school (basically they just graduate later than the rest of us here in Malaysia)
- Crappy salary and 1 year of houseman ship before they even can be certified medical officers and have license to practice.
- Another 3 years in the government service to be recognised as a doctor in Malaysia before they go private.
- Should they wish to specialise choosing the UK courses, sit for Part 1 theory paper after 1-year houseman ship
- Sit for Part 2 Theory after another 4 years experience in the field they want to specialise in.
- Sit for Part 2 Practical once they pass all the papers, should they flunk practical, repeat Part 2 Theory.
- Back in Malaysia another 6 months gazettement as a specialist before they are recognized specialist.

Ladies and Gentlemen, do not forget that this does not take into account, the number of times they flunk these papers and resit those papers again and again to pursue their dream. (Not all of us are A’ star students)

I’m amazed for the work they put in, the hours spent, the money to pay for all these exams; they hardly get back anything when their salary is in at the end of the month. A lot of people think that being a doctor means they are rich, but the truth is only after all those years of hard work do they sometimes get the repayment. Let me stress the word ‘sometimes’. Which to me, is easily obtained in other professions without having to go through all the hardship.

Truly medicine is a love and quite distinctly different from any other career path. I love Grey’s Anatomy, and though it’s spiced up with all the affairs and relationships, the narrator does a great job summing up a day in the life of a doctor at the end of every episode.

If you gave me a choice again, would I be a doctor, the answer is still no.

O My Sleeping Child…

2009-03-01T00:04:00.004+08:00

It feels like ages since I blogged. I actually wrote one up just a few days ago on the medical profession but haven’t got around to making sure the facts are right before I go blogging about it.

Putting my baby, Shailan to sleep, is a wonderful thing. Today, I actually wondered what goes through the mind of a 2 year old. While both of us are lying beside each other, me pretending to sleep, taking sneak peaks at Shailan to see if he has gone to sleep; he with his eyes wide open staring into open space without moving. Then I thought, what actually goes through his mind during the 30 to 40 minutes that he does that.

I don’t know, is it because my love for him is growing stronger and stronger or what it is, but I think Shailan is getting cuter and cuter by the day. And I so want to know, what goes on in his little mind. What is he thinking? Is he up to mischief? He must be wondering why mommy is putting me to bed when I want to go play.

I remember this song by Michael Learns to Rock, ‘My Sleeping Child’. It’s a song my dad loved and since then I’ve treasured this song a lot. When I hear the lyrics it reminds me of how much I want to keep Shailan safe as well.

Children, amazing wonders they are!

Comedy

2009-01-11T21:52:00.000+08:00

Sometimes comedy is merely tragedy plus time.

‘Harried with Children by Karen Scalf Linamen’

Life or Death

2009-01-11T21:51:00.000+08:00

Which is worse if left unexplained, life or death?

‘Adapted from The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom’

Food Discoveries

2009-01-10T23:03:00.008+08:00

So much has happened and it's only been 10 days into the New Year. The much that has happened is pretty much disappointing news and I have been feeling down, but trying to keep my spirits up. My husband has been a great support trying to cheer me up and help me see the many blessings God has blessed me with, instead of looking at the tiny weenie misfortunes. Therefore, my new bible verse for the year has been put up on my blog from Hebrews 13:5.

Well, I had lunch outside today and took some pics and realized I have not blogged about some pretty nice food pics I had taken before.

The first one is this Huge Curry Chicken Bread, found at Petaling Street, as my youngest sister wanted to try something new, my other younger sister decided to get this for her. So after church, we walked down and I discovered this. I tried it out later at my mom's place since this bread was primarily for my sister, but I got to taste it, and it was pretty good! So do check it out if you're in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Street at one of those Chinese coffee shop places.

The second one, for durian fans, is superb durian ice cream. Found at One Utama, lower ground floor level that connects the old building to the newer one. Fantastic tasting ice cream, which is made for you on the spot (of course some earlier preparation is needed). Try it.

And finally, my lunch venue today was Penang Recipe at Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. We tried out their Chinese new year promotions. And I was quite impressed with it, though I must say it is an acquired taste. This comes with red dates water, rice and red bean bun for dessert.

Now am looking for a 2009 with more food discoveries since I’m living in the land of plentiful, Malaysia!

Judging

2009-01-03T12:28:00.000+08:00

Interesting word. We all do it. Judge.

It is not something very nice to do, judging one another when we have our own skeletons in the closet. But yet, we do it.

What is a definition of a good parent, a good child or a good friend? We all have our own ideals about these definitions and to each his or her own say.

I have been recently accused of a few of these, and honestly, I’m not perfect but I’m trying. I myself can be very judgmental sometimes but over the years, and as I mature with age, through my own weaknesses and failures, I take it easy on others as well.

Taking a close look and scrutinizing ourselves may help us to stop judging others.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-01T16:13:00.001+08:00

Another year has gone and another year to look forward to. Part of me is looking forward to this New Year but part of me really isn’t very excited about it. 2008 was not so great for me, there were really good times but really bad ones as well.

I just am about to complete my first new year resolution this year and then I’m going to go spend time making a few more resolutions to decide where am I heading. I spent a lot of money yesterday in my slight depression, first, all the branded shops are having good sales so I got a new pair of shoes from Massimo Dutti and some clothes for my kid from Pumpkin Patch (finally saw really cute and nice clothes for boys! It’s normally the girls who have the really nice fashions.) Almost bought a branded bag costing RM1K or more but knew it’s not going to make me feel any better about myself. Which is why, I’m now glad I didn’t get it, since I’ve got a huge credit card bill awaiting me next month and I can stop contemplating on getting the bag every hour at the back of my mind.

There is more to life than material wealth; I need to learn that sometimes. I know it but I may not practice it. During this economic instability, I need to be more vigilant in the way I spend. I’ve already booked a much needed holiday overseas so I think I’ve rewarded myself enough. It’s time to roll up the sleeves and work on my job and giving my kid a good preschool education.

This is my advice to myself this New Year.

Smile...and the World smiles back at You

2008-12-10T22:37:00.002+08:00

It was a long day at work. It has been recently for a while now. I’ve recently got my rhinitis back pretty bad that it’s affected my eyes. Believe me; having shooting pains in your eye every now and then is not fun. It somehow has not stopped me from blogging (which is what I’m doing right now) or facebooking.

I’m tired and broke. But the spirit of Christmas is here, the time of giving. Like it or not, though my health is not perfect, and my bank accounts are empty, I love this time of the year.

I drove home from work one day, and surprise, surprise I see a BIG smile in the sky. 2 stars and 1 moon. I stopped my car by the side of the road, but the pictures I managed to get always made one eye seem to disappear. It seemed like God arranged the stars and the moon to smile on us that day.

I went to work the next day and forgot all about it, till this Thai colleague pointed out on the Thai online news the picture of the BIG smile in the sky. It was simply beautiful. This was not captured in the Malaysian news though. Many people on the highways just drove right by, and I seem to be the only crazy one to stop by the side and take out my camera. As I continued to drive, I noticed another motorcycle stop by, it looked like a father and son, both trying to capture the smile in the sky on their mobile phone cameras.
It’s nice when we make time to stop and smell the roses.

Sleep

2008-10-27T20:38:00.001+08:00

If the human body did not require sleep, would you give up time for sleep?

I love to sleep, and I was watching a movie, where this comment was passed, ‘if my body did not require sleep, I wouldn’t bother with it.’

Snoozing, I could be in a bed all day just to catch up on beauty sleep. Sleep is something I could do as a hobby. Sleep is my pal when I’m feeling blue and just need some pampering. It is my excuse to do nothing. It helps me to relax my mind, put by body at ease and emotions at rest. Plus, dreaming…I love some of those dreams!

Sleep, I would not give it up.

Back or Not?

2008-10-22T14:40:00.001+08:00

My maid who has been with me for the past 2 years went back for her vacation over Raya for 2 months. Somewhere after 1 ½ months, she text me and says her mom is really ill and she won’t be coming back. So that was that. I was a bit shocked but it took me a while and I started to accept the fact.

Then 3 days before her flight back, which has already been booked and paid for in advance, she text and says her mom is well, and she is coming back. After already making all the arrangements needed and getting used to doing things myself and not having a maid, she is coming back.

As much as she is happy to come back, I’m a bit reluctant. I would have been happy had I not prepared for her not to come back but now she is. Is this good or bad? I wonder. Will she really be at the airport when I go pick her up?

God sure has a sense of humour.

Constraints

2008-10-03T09:43:00.001+08:00

We live in a world full of rules and regulations. Yet the ones we struggle with most are the ones we make for ourselves. Our very own little constraints in life of what we can or cannot do.

I have a wedding this weekend and with cousins to hang out with all night long. I also have a son without a maid who is only with me during weekends as his grandparents help out on weekdays. What do I do? I could ask the grandparents easily for help again, but an inner voice within me says I should be with my kid. My mommy voice.

I love my son a lot and yet being with cousins I haven’t seen in a while also seem important. So while I have not quite made up my mind on how late I’ll hang out with my cousins or how early I’ll leave the wedding reception to put my son to bed, I reiterate again, the constraints we set for ourselves are the most difficult ones.

I trust I’ll make the right decision and things may just work out around it. We’ll see.

Ironing

2008-10-03T09:41:00.000+08:00

Here another one of my one word titled blogs. Did you know that blog is not an official word on Microsoft Word? Every time I type blog it reads it as a spelling error. Either that or I need to update my Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office needs to get updated!

Today I spent 2 hours of ironing. Before you start thinking I did a whole load of ironing, I must tell you firstly how much I hate ironing and secondly how long I take to iron. My hubby got me a lovely iron, the latest Tefal with a super glide and auto clean system. It’s a really nice iron coming from someone who doesn’t like to iron.

While I was ironing like all other activities we do, I think I learnt something. Ironing is spending time with all your treasured clothes making sure every crease is gone and it becomes wrinkle free. It’s also a time for clothes inspection, every flaw becomes visible even the smallest speck of dirt. There are two things you can do when you find something wrong with you clothes, one get it corrected and two, innovate. Of course a third one, the toughest of them all especially for me (a perfectionist most of the time), ignore it completely if you can.

And then I realised, this can also apply to how we live life. Either get it corrected if we are totally off course, or innovate and get creative, or just have a good laugh!

Am I getting philosophical? Nah, I think I’m just bored; still it’s a discovery.

Celebrations

2008-10-01T19:47:00.000+08:00

I had just attended 3 weddings one after another somewhere end of August, and here I am faced again with weddings to occupy me every single weekend this October.

As much as I love weddings it also digs a deep growing hole in my pocket. I guess I’m at an age where friends around my age are all falling off the ‘single’ market one by one.

The year 2008 seems to be coming to an end pretty quickly. Some pretty big disappointments this year and yet a part of me feels a certain sense of achievement. It has been a thoroughly well-spent year, which I must admit almost completely satisfying, except for the inability to balance up the ledgers and afford a decent end of the year holiday.

But life is all about taking risks, while making decisions. And though my previous blog on ‘Age’ may express certain regrets, I say, with every disappointment comes a much needed education.

So celebrate, celebrate life as it is, and as it comes, never looking back!

Age

2008-09-18T22:07:00.003+08:00

Age is just a number. That’s what everyone says but really, is it?

Every year we grow older and I think to a certain extend, it does matter. Age. Yes, enjoying life one day at a time is great, but, when it comes to that “I’m 30 and am I where I thought I’d be today?” A question we do ask ourselves at some point in our life.

I have sort of sacrificed some of my hopes and dreams so that loved ones are well taken cared of and are able to do what they want to do. It’s one of those times where you step back and allow loved ones to shine while you just keep waiting for the right time.

The frustration of waiting can surmount the level of patience a person needs to do this during this period of time. And then, there is always the question, I’m getting older, how much longer can I wait? When is the right time? To which you may then ask the next question, does it really matter?

This year growing a year older was a different experience for me. I’m not quite sure why, but it just is.

Happy Birthday Natasha.

Sex & the City

2008-09-18T21:57:00.003+08:00

Not too long ago, I watched ‘Sex & the City’ the movie, with a bunch of girls. I’ve never seen even one episode of this huge hit series before, but, nevertheless the girls were helpful in helping me come up to speed to really enjoy the movie.

Being over a thousand ringgit in deficit, I still couldn’t help myself to spend a few more tens of ringgit to get the complete season of ‘Sex & the City’. My sudden curiosity to watch what made this show such a hit was way above my need to be more cautious with my expenditure.

I have no regrets. I’ve only watched half a season and have 61/2 more seasons to go, and I love it! I’m 28 and somehow have missed out on watching this beautifully put together series by none other than Sarah Jessica Parker.( I love her perfume ‘Covet’.)

So now along with Friends, Grey’s Anatomy and Rome, Sex & the City has been added to my list of favorite TV series.

Joys & Pains of being a Mom

2008-09-04T15:00:00.000+08:00

Over the past 2 weeks which seem to have flown past, I’ve gone through a whirlwind of being a full time housewife. Conclusion, no matter what I’m going to need a maid be it a stay in or a part time type. But most of what I’ve learnt is on being a mom, the kind of patience (of which I have none), and strength required.

Being a mom, requires holding your child all night; when he is having a fever.

Being a mom, needs courage that even though you’re not sure what he wants while he is wailing; you’re still there.

Being a mom, is hugging your child when he is ‘pooing’ his hardest poo; after 3 days of not shitting.

Being a mom, is changing diapers with poo all through the night when he has diarrhea.

Being a mom, is disciplining him even when it feels really hard.

Being a mom, is teaching and to keep trying even though he doesn’t want to listen.

Being a mom, can be embarrassing in public and with other moms, when you find out how little you know; but you’re still there trying.

Being a mom, is not easy and can be one of the most perilous task God has given to women.

Being a mom, is also very rewarding when you see the cutest smile on his face and the first few words spoken.

Being a mom, is to keep trying even when you want to give up; because you know how much you love him.

Being a MOM, is one great adventure you may not want to miss.

Change of Lifestyle

2008-08-30T17:46:00.008+08:00

I took 2 weeks off work to try something new out. My maid went back to Indonesia for 2 months. And I was going to fill in the shoes of my maid by being a full time mom and housewife. No doubt I had a lot of leave to clear from work, so these 2 weeks off won’t really impact my leave for this year which I’ve not used at all!!!

The first day, was quite a disaster, I was running about my home doing the housework, but my baby boy was down and sad. He was sick with diarrhea and a bit sad because my maid was not around. Someone he has known since birth and only now when he is almost 2 years old has disappeared. The whole day went by with him looking really glum, and at night, from 1 – 5 am he ‘pooed’ 3 times and did not sleep instead ended up wailing. I was really tired and completely worn out. I called for help from my hubby and he helped out with my kid from 5 – 8 am.

I could not take it anymore and asked my mom for help for 2 nights in a row, I got my act together and started firstly cleaning up the house, checking my stuff and got lots of good household tips from friend M. I did the laundry, mopping, sweeping, cleaned the bathrooms, and even cooked!

Then I got some cupcakes and went over to mom’s for tea, where I picked my boy up and had my first ride with only both of us in the car. He was quiet with the milk bottle in his mouth and looked extremely cute. Over the next 3 days he was fantastic, I think we finally got really used to each other and he slept through the night, of course I worked out a different way of putting him to sleep and took him to the park every evening. Now, I’ll be missing him again, as I send him back to mom’s place to go stay over at a friend’s place where I’m her bridesmaid for her wedding the next day.

I miss my darling baby boy a lot! What I can’t put up with is housework! It seems endless. The 2 things I thought would cause me the most pain which is taking care of my baby and cooking, seem to be the 2 things I enjoy most. Housework however never ends, the cleaning and the laundry never stops! I got to start getting adjusted to it, and learn how to take a break. I did manage to squeeze in watching a movie ‘Because I Said So’, lovely movie, especially love the wedding cake when the mom gets married and the 3 daughters in black dresses. Also, if you noticed, I still make time to blog!

I’m looking forward to going back to work, but at the same time right now I love spending time with my son and also cooking! It’s just the cleaning bit. Truth be told, I’ve gotten extremely used to having a stay in maid.However, when it comes to doing anything, it's always the mind over the matter, CHARGE!

It’s been 3 years since…

2008-08-10T00:02:00.005+08:00

Weddings! My husband and I have been 5 years legally married since the 23^rd of November 2003 and 3 years officially wedded with a religious ceremony and living together since 31^st August 2005…

I have 5 weddings to attend this month, and every year around this time I normally have weddings to attend. It is an auspicious time for Malaysians, whether you are Malay, Chinese or Indian.

This got me reminiscing about my own marriage, where hubby and I were before and now. It was never easy, tough in fact; getting together, going through with the wedding, settling our differences especially our religious beliefs and living together to top it off. It’s a lot of work and the 2 of us who got ourselves committed need to stay committed to working it out. It’s amazing when I come to think of it now, how we got through what we did, and we’re still here together despite it all.

On my 1^st wedding anniversary, I was heavily pregnant, a few days later our son was born.

On my 2^nd wedding anniversary, I attended 2 weddings; 1. Of a good old friend V to a guy who used to be in the same tuition with me. I used to tease them together, and they did end up getting married at the end, 2. My uncle who remained a bachelor until 50 and then decided to tie the knot on the 50^th Anniversary of Malaysia’s Independence Day. His wedding did come out in the papers as he was 50 when the whole country was celebrating the 50^th Independence Day.

This year on my 3^rd wedding anniversary, I will be a maid of honor. My good old friend K’s wedding is on the 31^st and she has invited a bunch of us friends who have managed to remain in touch and known each other since we were 13 to be bridesmaids. Now what better way to celebrate my anniversary! I’m looking forward to it.

There will be many more things that my husband and I will need to work out. We have just started off. Looking back, I can see how much we’ve changed and adjusted with each other while we are trying to grow up and figure things out on our own as well. Life is a journey, and we change everyday. Making it work between 2 individuals takes a lot of giving and having the best interest of the person you love at heart.

But I must say this now; I have no regrets being married. It’s a risk worth taking whatever the outcome may be in the end.

Hobbies

2008-08-06T19:29:00.008+08:00

A simple word and topic that can spark up a conversation and help us get to know another person. I attended training recently and was asked this question, what are your hobbies?

I realized that I had one too many hobbies and most of the time I’m exhausting myself trying to keep up with doing it all cause I love all of them!(in fact I miss teaching Sunday School which is one of those I dropped due to the busy schedule.)

So here's my list of hobbies, honestly I can’t imagine dropping any, probably I’ll try to just keep them as hobbies but maybe have bigger intervals in how often I do them.

Food, I love. Here are some recent pictures of food I have tried. I’m always up to trying any type of food, and I believe sometimes, that we live to eat!

Here is one of these little piglet buns (some may find it repulsive but I find it super cute) at Canton I.Pizza Aussie style, but here the egg is fully boiled in the center, love it!

Chicken rice balls, my new discovery in Melaka, after 28 years of living in Malaysia I recently find out this exist.

2. Outdoor activities, this is a newly developed hobby. I’ve always wanted to do more outdoor activities and now that I have a group of friends who enjoy doing it and an organizer, we do this nearly every 2 months. We have a whole list of things we want to do and try our best to make sure everyone is there doing it. Refer to my blog ‘Outdoor Adventures’. Recently we are thinking of abseiling or simple camping

3. Swimming. I’ve loved this since small and it always helps me to distress provided the weather is great for a nice swim.

4. Reading. This is where I learn a lot. I love fiction mostly but for non-fiction I like reading about people, real life people and what they go through.

5. Movies. There is 2 ways I do this, one is DVD’s and the other is going to the cinemas. I think this is very common among most of the folk here in KL due to the number of cinemas we have. I recently completed watching Grey’s Anatomy Season 4 in DVD form and watched The Dark Knight at the cinemas.

6. Shopping. I shop nearly all the time no matter how much I restrict myself. This year I attended 3 branded sales and at all 3, I spent a lot. Excuses such as for Christmas gifts and so on, but really most of the shopping was all about ME.

Facebooking. My new and latest addiction. Refer to ‘Facebook Experience'. I even blogged about it!

And of course, last but not least, BLOGGIN!

So there you go, quite a number of items on my list. And I love all of them!

Me

2008-08-01T16:36:00.002+08:00

I have been tagged again, actually 2 times again but I did one. Thanks Anita. This one was quite tough, took me a while to think and do it. Here it goes:

I am: a complicated woman
I think: a lot
I know: I have a lot to learn
I have: a good life
I wish: I got a job promotion with medium amount of business travel
I hate: arrogant people
I miss: my dad and grandma
I fear: not having a strong relationship with God
I hear: the sound of the ocean
I smell: durian!
I crave: for a long long holiday
I search: for wisdom
I wonder: what the future holds
I regret: not being there when my dad passed away
I love: my family and friends
I ache: for a long long holiday (notice how many times I mention holiday)
I am not: a loser
I believe: I can do whatever I put my mind to
I dance: whenever I can
I sing: loudly in the car with the stereo on
I cry: when I am sad or feel things are out of my control
I fight: fair
I win: at nothing significant
I lose: in most outdoor sporting activities
I never: am able to fast for more than a day
I always: speak my mind
I confuse: right and left at times
I listen: to all types of music except techno
I can usually be found: at the office or at home
I am scared: of cats and dogs
I need: lots of love
I am happy about: my marriage and my son though it also can be the major cause of stress
I imagine: a semi-d double storey house in a gated community with my husband and 2 kids and myself of course, all living happily together

Also, I went for another branded sale though I told myself not to, but I did! And I got very very good buys! That's 3 for the year already, 1 - Raoul, Gap and Guess, 2 - Estee Lauder sale, 3- Karen Millen, Principles, Topshop...time to STOP!

Too much shopping, I've not got time to really update my blog recently, so here's about ME after quite a long break!

Police Roadblocks

2008-07-17T10:34:00.002+08:00

With all the political upheaval in Malaysia currently, the citizens seem to be suffering the consequences of it. One of which are the police roadblocks.

The police or government seem to disturb our day-to-day life’s by putting up these roadblocks every time they suspect a riot is going to happen. This only worsens the traffic jams, which we already have to go through. No doubt they think they are doing it with concern over our security, but really it has become annoying and also not effective.

The roadblocks are always at the same places. Those who take part in the riots already know this. How do the police know which cars to stop when everyone is dressed in their own normal clothes? Is it just to simply caution or scare the people into thinking not to join the riots?

I seriously think the police need to think of a different way to get around and getting their job done. Roadblocks like this especially in the morning when people are on their way to work is extremely frustrating and doesn’t seem to serve the purpose that it was designed for.

Outdoor Adventures

2008-07-11T23:32:00.006+08:00

I’ve been meaning to blog on this for quite sometime but never really got to doing it. I met a friend, S not too long ago and we hit off perfectly well, cause ever since we’ve been or more like she’s been organizing outdoor activities, which I’m perfectly enjoying and never thought I’d really do. However I love every second of it, and now we’ve got like a group of us who have all met randomly with one another to go out and do stuff like this together.

We have a whole list of activities which we want to do together so far 2 have come to past and we’re already thinking of our 3rd activity.

The first one that brought us together was Skytrex. This involves climbing up a tree about 15 meters high and doing all sorts of stunts from tree to tree, which includes ‘Tarzan Swing’ and Flying Foxes. Never thought I’d do it, but I loved it especially Flying Fox.

Me attempting my Tarzan Swing.
The gals whom I’ve grown to love and hang out with.
Then we went on our 2nd adventure, which was White Water Rafting. Out to Kuala Kubu Bharu, where we all got soaking wet. I fell out of my raft once and back in again, in almost an instant. One of the memorable events here was lazing down a river on our floats all the way to the exit point. That was so much fun!

On our raft.

The gang.
Important thing is we all had fun and came out alive! Now we’re thinking of caving or ATV rides?

It Feels Like Winter

2008-07-11T22:55:00.006+08:00

It feels like I’ve disappeared from the planet all together. I feel bits of me floating around still carrying on my daily task but not really knowing where I’m heading.

I got some disappointing news on a job I applied for internally within my company. I did not get it. I took it well at that point in time, but realised later how really depressed I felt about not getting the job. It was a job that was suppose to take me far far away from here, meet new people, learn new cultures and provide for my family really well. That plan didn’t go too well now did it!

So I haven’t blogged, until NOW! I was not sure how to pen it down, my disappointment. Or what was it that I actually felt. I feel like my career has come to a halt and I’ve no clue where I’m heading. Fortunately, I’ve already started talking to my bosses on other opportunities, but nothing seems to be drawing me towards anything I want to do and no right opportunities seem available. So I’m hanging in there.

My current project is at it’s peak and I’m devoting my weekend to completing my work so that I feel really good on Monday having covered all I need to do, for now that is.

Well, other than disappointment that I’ve been coping with, I went to my first real house party. You know like those American teenage parties, where people get drunk, make out till wee hours of the morning all over the place. It was fun, but I only made out with my hubby! And also, I was trying to be the DJ except that the choice available really wasn’t to my taste!

Then I got sick, and I’ve been sick for more than a week. It got really bad for the past 3 days and I feel dizzy, tired, weak, lost my voice but still there’s work to do right, so life goes on.

I’m able to cope with the disappointment thanks to my really small tiny seed of faith in God and lots of books for me to read. Not too long ago, I blogged A Saturday, where I bought 3 books. I’ve read 2 of them and the 3rd one I’ll get to later. I started instead on a book my friend gave me which is absolutely perfect looking at the current state of my feelings.

Book 1: Two Kinds of Wonderful by Isla Dewar
Review: Very entertaining, total chick flick book with a down to earth touch of how life really is and to take it one day at a time. Love the humour.

Book 2: The Earthquake Bird by Susanna Jones
Review: A mystery book that ended really weird. Good mystery but not so good an ending.

Book 3: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Review: Still not done with this, but love it already!

No Title

2008-06-27T17:45:00.001+08:00

I’ve been busy. What’s new. And I’m going to be super busy the month of July 08. Lots of work and above work I have to help in an event for my department. Quite stressed out and I’m just looking forward to a nice relaxing evening today to empty my mind. Maybe continue my work tomorrow. Hmm…yes tomorrow…whatever that holds for me…

Here is a song I really like.

Facebook Experience

2008-06-11T14:28:00.010+08:00

Technology has brought to us a revolutionizing experience with Facebook a social networking website that has taken it to a whole different level.

I was asked to join this website a few times by several friends but did nothing about it. One day, cousin A sent me a request and then I thought ok why not. At first, I found it a bit hard navigating around but then I became hooked.

Yes, I must admit I’m an official Facebook addict. I love it! I’ve managed to hook up with nearly all my school friends, uni mates, ex colleagues, colleagues and family. It’s a big upgrade from using Friendster. With Facebook there are so many applications that you can choose to have or not depending on your interest.

I’ve developed a love for Scrabble and play with cousin S who is super good at it, whom I never knew was so good at Scrabble. I got in touch with my cousins overseas and know so much more about their life now, which is great!

I’m able to share pictures and tag friends when I have group outings so everyone has a copy of them. Plus, those who are close at heart and far away, can see pics of my family easily (especially my ever growing son) and not forget how we look! Pictures say a thousand words and can bring emotion that goes beyond words.

My favourite application when I first joined was ‘Growing Gifts’. I like the way the potted gift grows over 4 days. This was followed by the eggs cracking application.
I also love the update status thing. This helps knowing how a person is, what the person is up to and so on.

Also, love the fact that I’m in touch with many happenings in Malaysia through the KLPAC groups and Cupacakes updates, etc. You can join just any group and get first hand information easily on what shows are on without having to look anywhere else. It’s a good thing a lot of organizations have caught up with Facebook and use it as means to promote their cause.

The privacy settings in this website is superb. You can set privacy to your apps and whom you wish to share your photos with. Important feature!

This experience has brought my relationships with people who choose to interact via Facebook so much easier and cheaper not to mention. You can do nearly anything on it with a click of a button just to show you care and that you’re on my mind.

My 'Zen' Place

2008-06-04T22:07:00.006+08:00

It was a Sunday. I was feeling desperately needy but had no clue of the cause. I remained at home wrestling with myself. It was raining heavily outside. Then it hit me, I need a good walk. It’s been sometime since I’ve walked and I needed to feel at one with nature. I waited for the rain to stop. Then put on my walkers and headed for TTDI Park. A park I use to frequent.

When I got there, I realized this is my ‘Zen’ place. When it feels like time out, or I need to just breathe and smell the flowers around me, this is the place. It’s a wonderful feeling to just take a look around at the trees and the lake (man-made of course) and just breathe it all in.

This walk was quite interesting; I had my headphones plugged to my ears for some music from my hand phone which lasted me my 2 rounds in the park. There were more monkeys than usual. And one rooster! It just came right out of the woods and before I was able to take a picture of it, it scurried back in. It was a really beautiful rooster.

Later I came across this black dog now which hangs around one area in the park, but it doesn’t really bug anyone. (I’m scared of dogs for those who don’t know me.)

After the walk, I had a bowl of tau foo far. There is a van which sells lovely Soya bean and tau foo far(soy milk curd served with syrup) at the entrance to the park. I went back feeling rejuvenated.

I loved every minute of my time there. This was a place I knew I could come and feel at peace. My ‘Zen’ place. I finally found it!

Beauty Secrets

2008-05-31T12:52:00.002+08:00

A girly affair…tagged by Anita

My Foundation:
Bobbi Brown.

My Mascara:
I don’t use Mascara. I can't use Mascara, Eye liners or anything that gets too close to my eye!

My Day Cream:
None

My Essential Beauty Product:
Bobbi Brown’s lip gloss and tweezers!

My Favorite Makeup Product:
Isn’t it obvious, Bobbi Brown and I also like Benefit but it’s just because of the packaging.

My Perfume:
I’m not very particular so I use nearly everything and love to vary.

My Nails:
Most of the time short and neat. I don’t paint my nails as I’m no good at it, but I do go for a pedicure or manicure once in a while.

My Feet:
Nothing. Just maybe Body Shop’s Body Butter Creams.

My Hands:
Same as above, and of course I do also use all other hand creams given as gifts to me.

Three Products to bring on a deserted island:
Tweezers, Moisturizer and my Mirror!

Women I admire for their beauty:
Preity Zinta (famous Hindi actress), Sandra Bullock(long story on this one,don’t ask), Jennifer Lopez, Dimple Kapadia (another older Hindi actress), and my latest Katherine Heigl(from Grey’s Anatomy and stars in 27 dresses), there are more I’m quite sure, these are the few.

Women with the Best Sense of Style:
Catherine Zeta Jones, Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron and Katherine Heigl.

My Ultimate Dream:
Is being able to look back and say to myself I’m contented with how my life went.

How Do I Define Womanhood:
Womanhood is ageing with grace and not having to mask too much. Being beautiful on the inside that it glows on the outside.

My Favorite Fashion Publication:
None really the only magazine I read is Malaysian Women’s Weekly consistently.

I tag Jamuna, Mala, Sara, Joanna and Sharlydia.

How Long Can One Just Hang in There?

2008-05-23T17:02:00.001+08:00

When faced with any type of stress, torture, crashed dreams and diminished hopes, have you ever wandered how long a person can just hang in there? How long can one sit down and just suck it all in?

When one wave hits you after another, it doesn’t stop and you just don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel do you just stay where you are and keep waiting?

There are just so much of responsibilities looming, other people depend on you for their livelihood and you can’t just leave though you feel like you’re suffocating. You just hang in there and wait. Wait for whatever it is life is going to hand over to you.

Personally, without the concept of imagination where you can just use your mind to create whoever you want to be it would be impossible to live hanging by a thread. Thank God for our minds that can help us escape into make believe worlds when life becomes dreary and you just lose the lust for it. The concept of a real ‘Narnia’ or storybooks you can lose yourself into is gratifying.

I love this song, it keeps me going.

Of French Movies & Chick Flicks

2008-05-17T00:48:00.006+08:00

It seems like there are loads of chick flicks out in the cinemas. My girlfriends and me have seen 2 at the cinema. ‘27 dresses’ was a must watch due to Katherine Heigl from Grey’s Anatomy who is the lead role and the not to forget the really gorgeous guy, lead actor. Doesn’t she look so good in this picture, now only she could pull off dresses like this!

Then we saw ‘What Happens in Vegas’, this was hilarious and a definite must watch for those who like chick flicks. Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher really did make a lovely pair on screen. And I guess it spells out what really happens where couples go from this…

To this...

Other than that, I watched ‘Over Her Dead Body’ and ‘Feast of Love’ which were both not very interesting.

The French movie, translated 'Tell No One' however, was a very last minute thing, and I’m glad I made it for the movie! I planned to watch the movie since I saw the advert on the GSC cinemas website, but I could not find anyone to go with me. Somehow, I managed to drag my husband. *Smile of Glee* So we went, and I loved it! It was so simple, practical and touching. The mystery was so good, it had a great balance of everything. When things got too serious, somehow they plug in humor to give it a kick. Highly recommended stuff! Plus, the French girls look very good.

Weekend for Moms

2008-05-12T23:06:00.003+08:00

The weekend is over! And it was truly a weekend for moms for me. I spent the entire weekend honouring moms with running around for what was supposed to be a ‘simple potluck high tea party’.

I had 5 Moms at my potluck party, my mom, and my mom in law, my aunt (who is my mom’s sister and is like a mom to me at times), my helper (who is a mom and is also my son’s caretaker) and myself of course. 5 Moms, this was truly a celebration!

Let’s get back to how this was done. On Saturday, I went to the wet market with hubby, got all my fruits for my fruit salad, and then we visited another wet market for fresh flowers. We went back home, left all the wet market stuff, and took my helper and son to Tesco. After grocery shopping and more stuff grabbed for the potluck, we had lunch and dropped my son and helper home. Off we went again, to Ikea and Living Quarters, this time to get serving dishes, odds and ends that I thought was necessary to make the party better. Finally, headed off to collect the cup cakes and had our tea break there as well. Thanks to my hubby for keeping me company all day.

We got home, and I sent my son and helper down to play, while I started setting up the place a little bit and putting out the stuff needed for the potluck on Sunday. Hubby was flat out on the sofa till my son came back home. Once that was over, I went out with my mom, sisters and aunty for some wine and jazz. I picked up and sent everyone back home.

Next morning, went to church for Mother’s day which was very refreshing with son. Came home, fed son and off he went to sleep so I could start preparing for the potluck at 5pm. Started rearranging the furniture to make it more warm and party like to fit everyone so they could easily mingle. Then I set up the table for the food, and took the cupcakes out from the fridge. I took out the ingredients for the fruit salad, and got my helper to cut the celery and carrot sticks. All was done by 3.30 pm. I was ready!

Wow, all that for a ‘simple potluck high tea party’. I think the party was a success, the food was great, and everyone brought something. It was worth the effort. They really did mingle. It’s been sometime since we had a family gathering. A much needed event that helped everyone to catch up with each other again.

Family vs. Career

2008-05-06T11:15:00.000+08:00

I’ve made 2 important decisions over the past 18 months after having my son about my career. Now I’m onto my 3rd one, ‘3’ now that’s a lot in such a short time.

1. Quit a project that involved a lot of travelling all over the world because it would take a lot of my time away from my son and husband.

2. Did not pursue my further studies, as hubby is in the midst of doing his further studies now and it would also mean no time for family again.

3. This is another one, which I will share once I’m sure of my decision.

I know my family means more to me than my career, but what do you do when you’re bored out of your mind, and you know you could do more, but it’s not yet time to make that move. Patience? Hmmm…I think I need to stop looking at closed doors but open windows instead?

Anyway, since my life seems a bore right now, after Friends and Rome, I’m really addicted to Grey’s Anatomy. It’s pathetic but at least I find some life watching this series. Never thought, I’d find season 4 so interesting, after watching 3 previous seasons. There is just so much work that they do, but then again it’s a series! Love it; love the narration and the background music, and the whole concept. I don’t mind the sleeping around bit much at all, there’s more to Grey’s than that. Thanks to Friend M, for her contribution of Season 4 Part 1, I’ve already watched 11/2 out of 3 DVD’s. Gives you some sort of idea what time I sleep now every night. There’s one part in season 4 which is just superb, it’s when Mc Dreamy tells Meredith, how much he loves her and wants to marry her, in front of the lifts at the hospital. Beautiful!

My Daily Routine

2008-05-05T14:13:00.003+08:00

I’m tagged again by Anita. Like this one though.

What time do you usually wake up?
7 ish then I snooze it till I’m ready to wake up again!

What’s the first thing you do?
Go to the loo.

Breakfast?
Milo, on occasion eggs, oats or cereal.

Do you go to work/school?
Work at the office and sometimes from home.

Do you like it?
Not always.

If you stay at home, what do you do all day?
I wake up, run errands, grocery shopping, play with my kid, swim, read, blog, watch TV/ DVDs, hang out with hubby and friends.

When’s lunch and what you eatin’?
Lunch is not that important, I eat whatever is available at that point.

What time do you get home from work/school?
6 – 7 pm usually, other times (if project time peaks), 8 – 9 pm.

What do you do?
An IT business analyst – till now I think this means whatever no one else wants to do in a project team.

Dinner: When and what?
Dinner normally cooked at home by my lovely helper, once in a while outside in the many nice places we have around.

What do you do to unwind?
Blog, read, watch TV/DVDs, swim, try something new.

What is your favourite part of the day?
1. Snuggling with my hubby. (As he is hardly around this is sometimes very hard to do)
2. Hugging my son and watching TV. (As my son hardly keeps still, the 20 or so minutes he sometimes sits with me on my lap is heavenly, love it!)

Who’s your favourite person to interact with?
My husband and friends.

When’s bedtime?
10pm to 2am

Who’s bedtime with?
Hubby or just me

So anyone else who wants to do it, go ahead and do it, drop me a note so I can go read it on your blog!

The 11th Hour

2008-05-05T13:23:00.002+08:00

I had to drag my feet to work today. Maybe it’s time for a change?

Hmm..

I just finished reading my 1st book from the book fair. Two Kinds of Wonderful by Isla Dewar, was just the kind of reading I needed, light, funny, approaches life simplistically and lovely vocabulary. Since I took a day off work and with Labour Day I had a really long weekend.

I’ve been struggling personally with issues to do with, what’s enough? How do we know we have all we need and enough is enough? This is from a material wealth point of view. I’ve committed this to God as I realise I keep wanting more and it seems never enough. Sometimes it becomes exhausting, surely there is more to life than this.

The 11th hour was a wonderful documentary that I watched with a few friends over the weekend. It was sponsored by YTL (one of the largest companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia) who was having a Climate Change week. This documentary was more than just making us aware of the environmental issues and the environmental age we live in, it went deeper.

What can we as humans do to make this a sustainable world that we live in? A few words stood out to me.

1. Well-having vs. Well-being
Having a lot of stuff does not mean that we are leading a good quality lifestyle. Most of the time unknowingly, we chase for the well-having. Work harder, earn more, buy more, more financial commitments, until we get stuck in a loop we’ve created on our own.

2. Narrow minded thinking
We get up, we commute to work, we’re at the office thinking when we should get a good pay raise, are we due for a promotion? When should I take leave for a good holiday or when am I going to get that lovely designer bag? We are trapped in this narrow mindset of thinking, bigger car, and bigger house without looking outwards to the world we live in.

The 2 points above result from the selfish inward looking behaviours of humans, which is one of the core reasons, we’re in this environmental mess. The economy is most important and change that needs to happen now for the environment is not taking place. Governments and political leaders, great powers all have their own personal agenda at hand.

The documentary moves forwards stating we are the result of our own destruction. From a scientific point of view, theoretically the earth will survive, as it has been all this while, it is we who may not make it.

So what is the hurry in the chase of wealth, money and success? A tornado, hurricane or typhoon may just wipe it all out overnight. Would it matter then? Making a change and impact that leaves a clear footprint that shows a caring and loving society, is that even possible anymore?

It’s tough. I’m still struggling with it, but I want to change, the question is when?

Cupcakes

2008-05-01T23:30:00.003+08:00

The hottest selling cakes in KL town, Cupcakes. I went to order some for Mother’s Day and had to get this cute little box for sampling purpose of course. Friend S who came over for dinner that day was pretty impressed with them as well. It’s so cute that you don’t want to eat them, but when you do it’s like little delights just melting in your mouth that you just can’t get enough of…hmm..me looking forward to Mother’s Day.

Star Letter of the Month (Malaysian Women’s Weekly May 2008)

2008-04-25T16:02:00.005+08:00

Woo hoo!!! I’m ecstatically happy. It’s one of those small victories in life that matter to me. I read a lot of Malaysian Women’s weekly and today I won something from it for the first time! My feedback on one of their articles not only got published but won the Star Letter of the Month.

Here is May 2008 month’s cover.

Here is the page it was printed on.

And here is my winning feedback.

This has made my day!

Earth Day

2008-04-24T15:53:00.002+08:00

My recent ignorance to global warming has been dissolved after watching 'An Inconvenient Truth'. Loved it! and going for more...I should be watching '11th Hour' next week. With honor to mother nature, I've included in my side bar 10 simple ways to save the earth.

Friday Lunch

2008-04-19T15:29:00.006+08:00

This place was recommended by friend S. We went to check it out with a bunch of friends. It was suppose to be a place that is also friendly for kids, having kid’s meals, kids stuff to play and all that. Unfortunately when we arrived there, we found out, they don’t do much kid stuff anymore. But still, I think it’s a nice place to go for a meal and bring your kids if it’s for lunch or tea.

‘Bijou’ which has another restaurant near Damansara Perdana, PJ (caters more for kids), was a really nice place. The interior is all pink and white with tinges of orange. Quite tucked away, in the corners of Mont Kiara, Hartamas, it was certainly quite refreshing from the norm.

One of the highly recommended to eat, would be the ‘risotto’, it was simply delicious. (Look at that fork all ready to dig in.)

And also, they had lots of cakes for desserts, cupcakes, nutella marble cake, brownies, the works. Don’t miss out on those!

There is a kid’s playground right beside the restaurant and you can choose to sit outside, or inside.
It also overlooks a swimming pool, which would be great if the kids decided to go out and play. You could just sit have a drink with a friend and watch your kids from where you are.

As you can see, I’m now trying to find more kid friendly places, so I can bring my son along wherever I go! Anymore recommendations?

My Special Doll

2008-04-17T14:01:00.002+08:00

I bought this doll somewhere in 2000 to 2001 with my good friend, J.

Before I bought this doll, I had to think really carefully if I should buy it. I don’t normally have such an affinity towards dolls but this was really different. I even talked about it with my university mates in general at that time. Some thought I was nuts to buy a doll at that age and some saw the bigger picture.

There was one Uni mate, an older man in his forties who somehow could tell me the reason why I liked this doll so much. I was going through what seemed to be the most depressing time of my life. I’m not going to say much here about that, all said and done, it worked out for my own good or I won’t be where I am today.

Well back to the doll, his conclusion on it was something like, I liked that this doll gave me some sense of peace, sereneness. There was something this doll had, that I hadn’t found at that point in time. And I found it by just looking at the doll. After he told me that, I drove out and dragged friend J along to go all the way to KLCC (about an hours drive from my Uni with the traffic) to buy the doll.

Till today, even after marriage it sits beside my bed. I just took a good look at it last night, and realised it still gives me a really warm fuzzy feeling every time I look at it. I named my doll ‘Aquene’ which means peace. Origin is Native American name for girls.

Here is a picture of how she looks; the pic doesn’t do her much justice though. Has anyone else had any queer moments like this? Where you just had to get something just because?

A Saturday

2008-04-12T22:17:00.003+08:00

It’s a Saturday, a very interesting and full of new learning’s day. I went to the wholesalers market compared to my normal morning market which was the first change to my norm. And found out, how superbly cheap (or should I say good value for money) fish is over there!!! Plus the variety…

The day went on, and then my sister in law and I decided to go to a book fair. In the midst of the heavy rain and rummaging through people we made it to the fair. We were quite disappointed initially as the books that were selling didn’t exactly appeal to us and didn’t seem to be catering for what we were looking for. But then, we cheered up as we come to one or two stalls that were selling exactly what we were looking for and at good prices! I got myself 3 books, lots to read for myself now. Any inputs on these books are welcomed, without of course spoiling the plot of the story.

1. Sushi for Beginners – Marian Keyes
2. Two Kinds of Wonderful – Isla Dewar
3. The Earthquake Bird – Susanna Jones

After that we headed for Starbucks and got a hot chocolate, and lucky for us, there was a promotion going on, free usage of iPod for 2 hours to listen to music. How cool is that, and we got to check out the touch screen iPod which looks very much like iPhone except that it doesn’t have a mobile phone feature. So while listening to music, I picked up a very interesting magazine called ‘Tell’ and it had amazing articles that were really good, honest and very to the point. Definitely ‘un-glossed’ news!

One of my favorite articles was on young women politically aware but not necessarily politically involved and how they may be treated like kindergarten kids when they are in political parties, the title of this article ‘Crouching Tigers in Malaysian Politics: Young Women and Their Chance to Lead’. Crouching tigers, hidden dragons indeed are these up and coming young women, men be on the look out!

Jazz Evening

2008-04-12T21:46:00.003+08:00

It was a Friday evening. Initially, I was a bit stressed and in fact as I’m blogging this write now, my nose is irritating me, I have what is known as Rhinitis. Anyway, I can live with it.

Hubby and I went for a live Jazz show at Alexis Ampang where Mr. Gwyn Jay Allen was performing a Tribute to Louis Armstrong. The pianist was hands down superb and the performance was lively and friendly. It was not an overwhelming performance for me, but a change from the norm. The crowd was great and obviously Louis fans. Gwyn’s rendition of ‘Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen’ was lovely, and so was ‘Mack the Knife’ and of course the famous ‘What a Wonderful World’.

It was a lovely evening, with Champagne cocktails, and indulgence in delicious Tiramisu and Pavlova. (I would highly recommend the Pavlova, even my hubby who doesn’t like desserts, finished this one!) We went home contented. And I slightly de-stressed!

I Love These Songs!

2008-04-11T17:04:00.004+08:00

I love these songs!!!..feeling bit emotional..To all my friends out there, I miss some of you very, very much since some of you are far far away. Hugs! Plus, I can't wait to see Season 4 of Grey's Anatomy!

Pains A Mom Goes Through

2008-04-10T13:56:00.000+08:00

My son could be one of the most spoilt kids around (being the only kid and grandkid among all our siblings with no sign of any to come in the near future), and no one to blame for that except for all the people taking care of him. That would be my maid, Turi, my mom, my dad and mom in law and myself. I would not put my hubby in the picture, as he seems to be doing quite a good job disciplining him from time to time.

Just the other day, I was put to the test. I keep telling Turi and my mom how they should discipline my son, like don’t put up with him when he cries after doing something wrong, let him cry and teach him it’s wrong, don’t let him bite you, pull him away and put him on the couch, etc. However, in my case, it was preaching what I myself am not practising. (Hard to resist that cute little face!)

My hubby was home that evening, and my son put up one too many tantrums. First, I pulled away a box of ear buds from him, and he burst out crying. Then I took away some pencils he was playing with (afraid he would chew on the lead or something), he burst out crying again. So this time, my hubby intervened. My son was left to cry, for quite awhile, then we put him in his cot. I stood outside his room by the side so he couldn’t see me and waited. Hubby did the same. It was painful.

He cried and cried, and all I wanted to do was go and grab him. But hubby said “No, according to Dr. Spock (renowned pediatrician), leave a child to cry for 20 minutes when they do something wrong, then only distract with something else (Hubby’s interpretation after reading the book).” Child will start to learn that what he did was wrong. It was a long 20 minutes wait, excruciating, but eventually my son started to cry less and less. Then later when the new object was given to him (diversion created), he stopped crying all together.

It worked, but it was painful. I’m sure there will be many more painful things to come (much more excruciating ones); this is just the start of what it takes to be cruel to be kind!

Exhaustion & Movies

2008-04-05T13:54:00.004+08:00

It’s been a while since I’ve felt so exhausted. Work has been a roller coaster ride. So many new things came and went, late nights and weekend working, plus all my other extra social activities, which I refuse to part with. Though I’ve learnt a lot, I know I can’t go on like this.

So, it all worked out eventually though not the way I foresaw it to be. Work was redistributed again, and I’m more comfortable now with what I have to do.

I’m so happy the weekend is here. Spent the last 3 nights watching movies. First night was a movie called ‘Juno’, watched it with hubby and the both of us fell asleep on the couch half way through, second night, watched a movie called ‘Flawless’, same thing happened again, although this time we told ourselves we have to revisit this movie it had a great plot. So on the third night, we watched ‘Flawless’ again, superb movie! Then we continued on with ‘Gone Baby Gone’, towards the very end of this movie, I sort of drooped off again. So I watched the end part of it the next day, as this was another not to be missed movie, with Ben Affleck’s brother acting the lead part.

I’d highly recommend watching Flawless and Gone Baby Gone. Though in the movie Gone Baby Gone, I’m not sure what I would have done in Casey Affleck’s position? I have no idea. Sad but true some people just don’t appreciate what they have. Do we then play God?

Nothing is what it looks like

2008-03-21T15:05:00.003+08:00

Easter approaching and I feel a need to blog about it. It is one of the most important events in Christian history and the base of our faith.

This Easter my church invited a speaker. Out of the many speakers that have come and gone, this one appealed to me most. I have heard him speak only twice. But both times I could really fell that he was truly God’s messenger to the church. Kent Reynolds is a very dynamic speaker. His sermons are not lengthy, to the point, simple and the message comes across loud and clear.

Then I get inspired by a movie, ‘Taare Zameen Par’, this Hindi movie lent by my sister, helped me to tie this Easter message together.

Nothing is what it looks like. That is the message this Easter to me. In Luke 7: 36-50, a woman viewed by society as ‘immoral’ has a cleaner and more genuine heart than one who depicts himself as a devout church going Christian. He could have followed all the laws in the Bible, but his heart was not with God. He had no mercy or love shown to those who need to be loved.

People across the world could seem like they are doing the right thing on the outside, but what really matters is what’s in our hearts, minds and soul. No one can see that but God. When we are filled with God’s love, then we can truly love another person.

The Hindi movie I mentioned above shows a father who is so caught up in the rat race that he overlooks what his son really needs. A teacher comes along and takes great interest to help decipher the real problem and helps a child overcome his difficulty. One person, coming out to help another to save a life from falling into depths of depression and a life that nearly could be discounted as null and void. One person can make a huge difference when we choose to invest our time in a life of another, to go out of our way and help those who are more in need. That is God’s love.

God’s love is portrayed in every volunteer at the poor, sick or needy home. A mom who worries when her child is sad. A doctor who sits by his patient and holds their hand through their illness. A teacher who looks at every pupil as an individual and not a bunch. A colleague who notices and tries to cheer another who is having a bad day. This is God’s love.

Let us not skip by life but rather catch it by always looking at the big picture. I have a long way to go myself, but let’s not give up, but keep trying to care and love others.

A Change of Mindset

2008-03-20T15:03:00.003+08:00

It has been a very busy time at work. And through that I feel sick with food poisoning. I had to take one day off on medical and pump myself with enough drugs to keep me back at work the next day. Of which, I paid off dearly over the weekend.

Well, I decided I needed time out. And so friend S and I headed out for some drinks at a local pub. I love this local pub, it’s very Malaysian, you don’t find too many of a race in it. We had a lovely Malay band, where they did a great job singing both English and Malay songs. It was nice when everyone in the pub sang the Malay songs together, regardless of race, it showed how truly Malaysian we were. Songs like Belaian Jiwa, Mungkin Nanti and others of which my friend S did not really know of. Therefore, I dedicate this you tube clip to her.

Now let me turn the tables around to talk about what I really want to blog about, aren’t married women with kids allowed to go out and party in Malaysia? I love music and dancing. And once in a while, would it hurt if I did go out for a break with my girlfriend?

Well I do realize a few things about the clubbing scene in Malaysia:-

Lots of guys from various age groups are out, no one questions them what they do or why they are out.
Most guys (Not all) seem to be hanging around at clubs to pick up girls.
Girls seen at clubs are expected to be single and not hitched especially if they are in their own group.

Reason for all this is, a guy simply stated, ‘Your husband let you go out at night is it?’ Stop and pause. Now what is that suppose to mean.

Firstly, I am a free woman, my husband and I have a healthy relationship. Why would he not let me go out at night with friends of mine that he knows as well? Question back, do men get permission from their wives to go out?

Secondly, there is no logic in asking this question except that I simply note that there needs to be a change of mindset here. The clubbing scene should not just be confined to the 3 bullet points I’ve stated above, but also to.

People going out to let their hair down with their friends and have clean fun.
Girls seen at clubs need not be single and can be there just because they love music and want to unwind.
Guys need not look so pathetic and expect to hook up with a girl every time they go to a club.

With a slight change in mindset of what a clubbing scene is about, perhaps we can all hang out more safely and without feeling like we need to succumb to the way things are. In fact, more family pubs should start existing, creating a healthy safe environment where music is truly enjoyed and drinks are taken in moderation.

All in all, it was a lovely night out, friend S and I came home safely. I back to my husband whom I love now even more for giving me the leverage to go out, and not having the same mindset as other local men here in Malaysia may have.

3 Different Topics

2008-03-08T10:24:00.005+08:00

Vote
All Malaysian Citizens a plea to go out and vote. I have voted and it sure feels good! A pic of a reporter at the place I voted.
Toaster Strudels
Something I found at Cold Storage. Instant, quick, clean and delicious. Just place the strudel in a toaster. Once toasted, take it out, and little icing bags are provided to place the icing on the strudel. The white icing hardens up very fast. This one was strawberry and banana.

My Baby Boy
Here is a long overdue pic of my baby boy. He really knows how to get angry very, very well. Must have learnt from his mom!*winks* He is one and a half years old now.
This is what I call blogging when you really want to but don't have much time. Enjoy folks!
Final message, go out and vote, Malaysians!

I Exercised!

2008-03-03T08:55:00.001+08:00

I finally did go and do some exercise. Swam 10 laps at my pool. (Keep in mind my pool is not Olympic size) Anyhow, it was some sort of exercise and it felt good. I hope I keep this up!

Also, love this Christian song, Here We Are, sang it at church on Sunday.

Of Nothings and Everything

2008-03-01T22:17:00.003+08:00

I feel energized all of a sudden. It was a long day. Then after a long day, I receive a call from friend J. Friend J, great hearing from you, missed you and it was lovely to hear your voice again!

So anyway, decided to go online and blog my long overdue updates on Shailan.

He has 4 teeth on top and at the bottom; he still doesn’t really allow me to see the back ones. He runs around quite a bit now. He can count 1 – 10 with really bad pronunciation and only when he wants to. He is getting cuter by the day. You know, when they say every mom thinks the world of their kids, well, it could not have been said better, that’s exactly how I feel right now. Sometimes I wish I could spend loads of time with him, just me and him alone. I’m going to get loads of that when my helper goes back for 2 months this year. I look forward to it at times, but at other times maybe not. She is a great helper, and I care for her loads. Without her, I’m going to need an extra pair of hands and legs to run my home!

Updates on my exercise plan, it didn’t work out. I really wanted to go to a park and just sweat it out. This did not happen. Why? It rained the whole day. Amazing, in the morning and all day till evening around 7 pm. Just when I was resolute about doing the whole thing. Well, at least I managed to get all my other stuff done which is fine. Wait, I think I hear the rain again. Yupp there it is again.

I also saw a really interesting bumper sticker last Friday on my way to work.

1 SUAMI = 1 ISTERI

Interesting isn’t it? Translation, 1 Husband = 1 Wife, but that is not always the case these days infact we have other equations such as

1 Husband = 1 Wife + 1 Mistress

1 Husband = 4 Wives

1 Wife = 1 Husband + 1 Toy boy

Hmm, well, whatever works, I’ll stick to my 1 husband. *Winks*

Last but not least, if you’re a Malaysian citizen you should know the elections are coming, make it a point to vote, your vote counts wherever you're residing!

Updates on Me

2008-02-28T12:26:00.003+08:00

I’ve been busy. Super duper busy! No doubt I’m enjoying it. I love work now that it has picked up speed, and I still manage to make time for family and friends. It’s crazy man!

Yesterday, I went for a Preview sale, got myself some much needed items and some unnecessary ones. So here is my splurge on makeup, something I normally would not do. But it just looked so sweet, sigh.
I’ve got some new pics of my baby Shailan, hope to get it up soon. He just changed his shoe size. Amazing how these kids grow.
Well those are my updates, I think I need some exercise, have to get my butt to the gym or to the tracks for a good jog!

Happy 29th Feb 08 tom!

Pink Nails

2008-02-17T15:20:00.009+08:00

Valentines this year was great! Hubby really did manage to surprise me and also teach me something very valuable. For further details, contact me *wink*.

Well, let's say it was nice enough that I decided to paint my nails pink. So pink infact that it scares me!

I had 2 shades of pink one for the toes and another one for the fingers.

Here's my pink nails out to get ya!

Six Unimportant Things About Me

2008-02-15T15:39:00.001+08:00

I’m tagged yet again this time by my dear blogger, Anita.

Rules
1.Link to the person that tagged you.
2.Post the rules on your blog.
3.Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4.Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5.Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6.Let your tagger know when you entry is up.

Six Unimportant Things About Me

1.My age.
2.What I had for breakfast (I hardly ever have breakfast.)
3.What brand of toothpaste I use.
4.What car I drive.
5.I would never sit on a squatting toilet seat.
6.I can’t bicycle for nuts.

To these six, hope you do it.

1.Jamuna
2.Sara
3.Chen
4.Sharlydia
5.Joanna
6.Mala

Pic of Flaming Sambuca

2008-02-14T12:59:00.003+08:00

I had to post this, no pain, no glory! I know its a bad picture, but look at how blue my mouth is!

Flaming Sambuca

2008-02-12T11:37:00.000+08:00

The CNY weekend was a blast. Things still vague at work due to the big boss still on CNY holiday. But I’m getting around.

The highlight of my CNY weekend really was CNY eve out with hubby’s friends.
It was suppose to be girls and guys, but unfortunately most of the girls didn’t turn up, and it was just me and one other.

Due to that, I decided I shall not spoil my night out, and started getting slightly crazy.

I had first 2 cocktails, which I’ve never tried before at Souled Out Café.

a. Spicy Martini – a concoction of the normal Martini with the addition of basil leaves.
b. Soul Sensation – a concoction of vodka with ginger and chilli. And this is a real chilli just slit open slightly and placed in the glass.

How did it taste? Not bad. Though the guys thought it was.

Moving on from there to another pub, I tried what I might not have done in my right mind, ‘a flaming Sambuca’. Now trusting completely a bunch of guys who I thought would have known better what a flaming Sambuca should be. After doing their version of the flaming Sambuca, I looked up the Wikipedia and here are 2 techniques of what a flaming Sambuca should be:

1. A flaming Sambuca is typically made by lighting the drink in a shot glass and allowing it to burn. The flame is then extinguished and the Sambuca is quickly drunk while still warm. One popular method of extinguishment is placing the palm of the hand over the top of the shot glass, where suction is created causing the shot glass to "stick" to the hand. This is also potentially dangerous; if the flame is allowed to burn for too long, it will heat up the shot glass also - resulting in burn injuries to the hand.

2. Another technique is to pour a shot of Sambuca into a wine glass, and then to light it, swirling the shot continuously. Pour it into the original shot glass, then cover with the wine glass to extinguish the flame, remove the wine glass but still keep it upside-down. Take the shot, then, using a straw, suck out the alcohol fumes of the wine glass, allowing you to fully taste Sambuca. This is similar to a drink where Blue Bols is mixed with Sambuca, all the steps above are followed but after the fumes are sucked out of the wine glass, the last drop of the mix is poured onto the base of the wine glass and then snorted up the nose with a small straw.

However, we did the most fun and dangerous version of the flaming Sambuca.

Our version (Highly Recommended)
3. Place shot of Sambuca into shot glass. Put shot of Sambuca in mouth, and dab a bit of Sambuca on lips. Do not swallow the Sambuca but retain it in mouth like a gargle. Open mouth wide and light the Sambuca with lighter. Mouth will have flames coming out of it. Once it gets too hot to resist, gulp Sambuca down the throat.

Yupp, one of my most wildest experiences ever. Consequence, the next day, roof of mouth was slightly burnt. As they would say in Malaysia, ‘Padan Muka!’, translated Serves you right!

I have no regrets though, amazingly none whatsoever.
Maybe because I came out of it alive!

Happy Chinese New Year!

2008-02-06T15:33:00.000+08:00

Sleepy, tired, sleepy.

First 3 days on the new job. Not much clarity but coping.

Telecons till 8 pm and next day at 9 am. Shailan sick. Did not sleep, every 1 hour gets up.

Me did not get sleep too since baby was not sleeping.

Looking forward to Chinese New Year (CNY) hols, am glad the next 2 days is a public holiday in Malaysia. The extremely free roads this morning to work really helped, since I was late.

Of course since it’s a long weekend, lots of social activity planned out.

Suppose to meet friend J and E this weekend.

Having friend F and A over for lunch as well during the break, looking forward to this since I think I haven’t seen them since 2005. I think.

Meeting friend C,M,S and S for CNY…and thinking of visiting friend K as well for CNY.

Hopefully collect ang pows on Shailan’s behalf and also hoping he gets well soon.

It’s really hitting me now the tiredness….zzzzz….

To all my Chinese friends out there,

On a different note, what do you think of the decision by some Catholic churches to observe Ash Wednesday at a different time due to the Chinese New Year eve dinner that coincides with Ash Wednesday this year? Can’t seem to find anything solid on google though just rumours I’m hearing.

Taking Chances

2008-02-01T14:18:00.001+08:00

This tune has been ringing in my ears. It kinda explains how I feel. I'm not sure. I leave you with the original singer of taking chances. And I've also bolded the words that speak to me.

Don't know much about your life.(this is more like my own life)
Don't know much about your world, but
Don't want to be alone tonight,
On this planet they call earth.

You don't know about my past, and
I don't have a future figured out.
And maybe this is going too fast.
And maybe it's not meant to last,

But what do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there's solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say,
What do you say?

I just want to start again,
And maybe you could show me how to try,
And maybe you could take me in,
Somewhere underneath your skin?

What do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?

Never knowing if there's solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say,
What do you say?

And I had my heart beaten down,
But I always come back for more, yeah.
There’s nothing like love to pull you up,
When you’re laying down on the floor there.
So talk to me, talk to me,
Like lovers do.
Yeah walk with me, walk with me,
Like lovers do,
Like lovers do.

What do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there's solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say,
What do you say?

Don’t know much about your life
And I don’t know much about your world.

Liquor Storage

2008-01-30T17:35:00.000+08:00

I’m into keeping at least 1 or 2 bottles of liquor at home these days. And I have many questions as to how to store or keep them.

I goggled this today and here’s what I found out.

Beer and Wine
- Considered Live products
- If it goes bad with age, it’s because of second fermentation

Liquor
- No shelf life, only a half life
- An opened bottle can be kept at long as you’ll like it, as long as it’s not exposed to extreme heat or extreme cold. Basically any extreme temperature. Room temperature should do?

Dairy Based Liqueurs (my favourite type)
- Once opened, keep refrigerated and consume within 30 days

Any more inputs on this?

What Else Is New?

2008-01-30T15:15:00.001+08:00

Glittery texts by bigoo.ws

At some point in life, I guess we have to go through this phase…boredom.

To be fair to myself, I haven’t started my new role yet, and perhaps it’s just the work and handing over right now getting to me. Nothing much happening at home except the usual DVD watching.

Shailan is growing up. Friends getting married. Chinese New Year around the corner.

What else is new?

I’ve been experimenting with pasta a lot these days. It’s so super duper easy to make if you get Prego sauces, no need to make the sauce from scratch. I had penne with clams and celery and yesterday I tried, macaroni with sausages and mushrooms (these mushrooms are the really expensive kind, Chinese mushrooms that you would normally get in your veggies when you attend those course Chinese wedding dinners.) Both times I would say my pasta dishes were a success.

I need to start going Asian soon. I just can’t get my head around the spices and the right amount to put in and get a good curry going. Will keep trying.

I finally got my wine glasses from Ikea. I’ve been serving people wine in cups and mugs, and have started feeling ackward about it. So finally, got my wine glasses. All this wine and dine, started due to external influence, all thanks to friend S, who has made me appreciate wine. I’ve still not opened my Dalat wine; think I’ll keep that for a special occasion.

President Suharto has passed away, some big scandal going on in the Malaysian papers these days, and I heard Heath Ledger passed away? Do you remember this cute hunk whose smile was to die for? Wow, amazing how these things just happen.

I’m hoping something fun will surprise me right now, right this minute. Hmm..Do you think it will?

I’m going nuts. I think I’ve gone nuts. No worries I can still be saved, since I’m sane enough to still blog about it. Hah!

I get bored easily. Part and parcel of me. I should find life more exciting and not wait for life to surprise me, but that is ‘me’ at times.

Me, me, me…is that all I think about? Yes!

Now that we officially know I’ve gone nuts, welcome to the club if you wish to join it. If not, any updates what else is new?

Hanoi – My Humbling Experience

2008-01-26T14:38:00.000+08:00

This last minute spontaneous trip was planned at the spur of the moment. My husband and I spent 4 days and 3 nights in Vietnam, and for the first time agreed we should come back to see more.

Day 1
We arrived at 8 am in the morning. After checking into the hotel, we started to walk around the old quarters. As our hotel was quite central to this area, we had no problem accessing shops. The main trade in this area was tourism. Surprised at the extreme cold temperature, 10 degree Celsius, we got ourselves coats then headed off to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, one pillar pagoda and temple of literature. After which, we had a proper fine Vietnam cuisine dinner and watched the famous water puppet show. The water puppet show would be a must see to enjoy the Vietnam culture. There was this instrument with only one chord that could hold a tune all on its own.

Day 2
Next day, off to Halong Bay, one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites. This was an amazing experience. We were lucky to have a luxury junk boat all on our own. A boat that could have 14 people only had us. So there we were with our personal tour guide, chef and crew on the boat off to Halong. At Halong, we visited caves, kayaked a lot, and climbed over 400 steps to the top of a hill. Our tour guide could very well be a gym coach at that moment, as he was superbly fit and kept challenging us to keep pace with him. Flat out by nightfall, we had a sumptuous dinner with a unique variety of prawn. The highlight of Halong, was husband and me up on the deck with a bottle of Dalat white wine (Vietnam wine which tasted so good, I got a bottle to bring back home.) We were all padded up due to the cold, looking at all the boats lighted up and just talking.

Day 3
Heading back to the port, we then went back to Hanoi. Our tour guide then took us for dinner at a place that is famous for crocodile meat. Our trip there was by the local bus to and fro. The crocodile meat made our stomachs slightly queasy but we were glad we tried it. It tasted like chicken attached to uncooked bitter gourd.

My humbling experience
On our walk back to the hotel, my camera got stolen. It was amazing. Why?

I have never lost anything in my whole life since birth. (if I do, it always comes back)
I have never been mugged before.

Thinking I was invincible to this sort of thing, I broke down in tears when this happened in the middle of Hanoi Street. All my pictures of Hanoi and Halong for 3 days were gone in an instant. I walked my trail back though I knew what happened thinking I may have dropped it. But, NO, IT WAS STOLEN. The zip on my bag was opened and my camera gone. I was only glad I had already downloaded all the previous pictures I took and only those of Hanoi and Halong were gone. Though this glad feeling came, much, much more later on, after the cursing and swearing. Apparently many people lose their cameras, video cams and passports here. So we were told.

Day 4
Refusing to let one rotten apple spoil my trip, my hubby and myself woke up the next day and took a walk at Hoan Kiem Lake. My handy Sony Ericsson phone helped me take a few pictures of my last day in Hanoi.

I’ve never personally known how it feels to lose something valuable but now I do. May whoever who stole my camera be judged accordingly!

Out of all the Asian countries I’ve been to, I like Vietnam the best, it is sad that at the same time I’ve had to have this humbling experience there. Now I know, it could happen to me just as it would to any other.

HBO Series:ROME

2008-01-17T15:23:00.000+08:00

This series has got me sitting at the edge of my seat. It is captivating and intriguing at the same time. I’m at Season 2 now with another 8 episodes to complete this experience.

Aspects of this series that attract me are:

1. Despite the vulgarity and obscenity, I find it amazingly tolerable.
2. The minds of the Romans expand far beyond our time.
3. Speech of the Roman leadership full of ‘vim’ and ‘verve’. (As they put it)
4. Friendship that outweighs the test of endurance of hardship.
5. A leader who reigned victoriously, died painfully.
6. Due to the detail and research put into making this film, one can learn lots about the Roman culture (Ex. Upon Caesar’s death, his wife request a breastfeeding mom to express milk on his lips.)
7. Politics, this is really politics.

What Should I Do?

2008-01-15T12:52:00.000+08:00

After making my decision last night, I woke up today feeling miserable. I sent out a few mails and I still feel miserable. I decided to let go of what I planned to do due to all my other commitments at this point in time.

I think people don’t understand me, or the decisions I make, and the reasons I do it.
Is it important that they understand? To me, it is important for loved ones to understand.

My new reporting role starts on 4th Feb. I’m looking forward to it since it will be for 2 years and I think I’ll get a cubicle for myself. It’s something permanent, which I like but of course I still have no idea what is expected of me though I do know what kind of work it entails. After 2007, which was shifting between projects and moving around a lot, this will be a good change. I’ve heard the work is a lot but I’m game for it!

I also am in the committee this year for my department’s teambuilding and annual dinner. Something else to look forward to and requires lots of planning and time. We’ve already had 2 meetings and it looks like loads of work as well especially if we would like to create a good impression.

My 2008 definitely looks well loaded with work and baby caring, can’t forget Shailan and my plans to start spending more quality time with him.

So before I plunge myself into all this, I think, do I require a holiday? I’ve already taken 4 days of leave the week of Thaipusam with still no where to go. What should I do? Any ideas?

Family

2008-01-10T19:01:00.000+08:00

Another rainy day, it’s 10th of January. After going to the market, cooking a sumptuous meal, having hubby’s friend over for lunch, the rain started pouring again.
…………………………

How important is family to you? Are they really the people we truly love?

For me, that's the case, I do love my family very much. But do I show it in my daily actions and speech? Or most of the time, do I just take them for granted? The awakening for me to appreciate my family only came when my dad passed away, and since then, I do my best (or at least I’m still trying) to show them that I love them very much.

I received a beautiful forwarded mail on family yesterday, and though I’ve read it before, it was nice reading it again. It speaks of how we treat strangers, colleagues and friends better as compared to family. It’s strange that we know theoretically we do value and love our family, but yet, fail to sometimes show it in our daily actions and pursuits in life.

Most pursuits can be for the well being of the family or for selfish needs, and when we look back which is normally when we’re really old we realize,
1. Success is not everything.
2. Happiness is.
I love this saying on a bookmark, which friend J gave me,
‘Let success be measured by the happiness in your heart.’

I watched a movie entitled ‘Shortcut to Happiness’. As compared to ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ which was a beautiful picture, this one was a bit more shallow but brings the same message across.

When we go all out to chase our dreams, do we leave our loved ones behind? As I think about important decisions I need to make in life, this thought keeps coming back to me. I hope whatever it is I end up doing, I’m making a decision I won’t regret, and that it will be worthwhile doing.

Pictures of family

Hubby and son at the zoo, with close family friends.

Hubby and me at Bintang Revolving Restaurant Christmas eve.

The family on my youngest sister’s 21st
birthday.

A Mighty Heart

2008-01-07T13:13:00.001+08:00

It was Sunday. I took down the Christmas tree and all the decorations. I was starting to come to terms that it is 2008 and starting to make fresh new plans and resolutions for the coming year.

Once I was done with rearranging things around the house back into place, like how it used to be, I decided to watch a movie. This movie was one of those that my hubby and sisters refuse to watch with me after many requests.

The title of the movie is ‘A Mighty Heart’. I’m not too sure why I have been drawn to watch this movie, but finally decided well, if no one wants to watch it with me, what’s stopping me from watching it on my own.

It was pouring rain, the home was quiet as hubby was on call at work, Shailan and my maid had gone to sleep. I played the movie.

At some points, this movie was more of a documentary than anything else. I t tells the story of a Wall Street journalist who was kidnapped and died in 2002. The story seemed to be told as it is. No over melodramatic or heart wrenching scenes but just as it is. The true essence of this real story could be felt and the message that needs to be told was impeccably lucid.

Mariane Pearl acted by Angelina Jolie, simply could not have composed herself better. At both times when she is interviewed, she speaks with elegance and poise. A woman who upholds herself to what she truly believes in and in no way was deterred of her beliefs despite what had happened to her. She holds no resentment. To top it off, this woman was pregnant when this happened, the hormones didn’t even get to her!

Isn’t it hard to be that way when something awful happens to you and you have someone to blame for it? Even in our day-to-day lives it’s so easy to blame instead of appreciating the little things. Applause to Angelina Jolie for a wonderful performance!

I'm tagged - Pick Your Month

2008-01-03T11:17:00.000+08:00

Thanks to Sharlydia another 6 of my friends will end up getting tagged as well. What a lovely way to start the new year.

Here it goes:-
1. Pick the month of your birth.
2. Bold the 5-10 things that most apply to you.
3. Underline out everything that doesn't apply to you.
4. Place the list of all the months under a cut.
5. Tag 6 people from your friends list to do the same.

My birthday month is

Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

The rest of the months.

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

NOVEMBER: Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.

DECEMBER: Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

I shall tag:-

1. Anita 2. Chen 3. Jam 4. Joanna 5. Mala 6. Sara

Welcome 2008!

2008-01-02T16:06:00.000+08:00

It’s 2008! I’m really looking forward to what is in store for me this year. Oh yes I am.

Back from my break, back to work and to my normal routines.

I just watched The Brave One starring Jodie Foster. Some might consider it a bit of a morbid movie or plain boring. To me it was interesting to see how one unexpected event can change a life and bring about an amazing experience.

True that none of us know what is in store for us this year no matter how much we try to plan it out. Things happened to us last year, which we never knew could happen as well.
It’s what we choose to do with these experiences that really matter, whether the event that happened to us may be good or bad.

Most of us have probably heard of the Pareto Principle (a.k.a 80-20 rule) where 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Then we have the 90-10 rule, which is a hedge of the Pareto Principle. 90-10 rule states that 90% of our lives are determined by 10% of our actions. Or another way to look at it is 10% of life is made up of what happens to you and 90% of life is decided by how you react. I prefer the later explanation but anyway you look at it, it boils back to the same thing. Our attitude to the different circumstances we find ourselves in, matter!

Happy New Year! :D

Thailand Trip 07

2007-12-27T15:25:00.000+08:00

My recent trip to Thailand left me with many newly formed opinions. I spent a week visiting Phuket and Bangkok. Some facts about Thailand that amazed me:-

An undying reverence to the King, a very prominent and obvious statement.
Beautiful markets and lots and lots to buy. ( you can get everything from A to Z, no kidding)
Massages available at every turning point and also being very affordable.

These were probably the 3 main things that attracted me to Thailand. I loved the elephant trekking and the canoeing. As well, as the gorgeous Emerald Buddha temple, simply amazing architecture!

The week away in Thailand also made me appreciate Malaysia, my home land and my family. I missed my hubby and son a lot. It was amazing that such a short stay away could make me feel that way despite I was in the presence of friends with lots to do.

Now I’m back with still a few more days of holiday left to go. Looking forward to the New Year and I suppose resuming my normal day to day responsibilities!

Here’s a picture of hubby and me at James Bond Island, Phuket.

My First Pair of Specs

2007-12-02T15:13:00.000+08:00

Just decided to post a pic of my first pair of specs.

O Christmas Tree

2007-11-29T12:26:00.001+08:00

I'm so in Christmas! Tat's my tree! and basically tat's all the chirstmas decor I have. Don't think I'll do anymore or my hubby and mom will be nagging me for spending too much money. I think I just might do a decent christmas party next year..with all the decor and everything. This year, I'll just leave it as it is!

Scent of Christmas Giving

2007-11-28T12:20:00.000+08:00

I was out yesterday to watch a movie with my hubby. While waiting, we ended up going to Metrojaya (One of the famous department stores in Malaysia). It was one of those previews for member’s day. To be honest, I already looked through the magazine of the Christmas offers they had and had my eye on particularly one thing. Keep in mind, this was not planned and was meant to be avoided. (Trying not to spend too much)

So I casually walked right to the perfume section, where I thought to myself, well if the offer is still available I’ll consider. So I asked the sales girl and wa laa it was still available. There was an offer to get 2 Incanto Dream 100ml by Salvatore Ferragamo for RM300. Normal price of 1 is RM285. This offer is limited to 12 per outlet. I was standing there slightly shocked. I thought it would have been bought out already and was quite surprised to find myself standing at the counter in this predicament.

So she sprayed some on a tester stick and I smelt it. Then she started showing me more perfumes. All of which I knew about as I had already flipped through Malaysian Women’s Weekly December 07. I loved all those lovely perfume bottles and the designs they come in. Perfume bottles have come a long way. The smells were beautiful. I liked Covet by Sarah Jessica Parker and Daisy by Marc Jacobs but the offer wasn’t so good since these were new perfumes.

Every year, I tell my family (mom and sisters), I’m not getting them any gifts for Christmas, and unfortunately every year when it is Christmas, even at the last minute, I’d end up buying something for them. Maybe it’s the way the malls are decorated, the music playing and just the spirit of giving.

So there I was looking at my choices, the sales girl offered me the Incanto Dream offer, the Live Luxe Perfume by Jennifer Lopez at original price with 3 add on’s in the same line of products, a free bag and a miniature Covet. I think she ran out of miniature Daisy’s or I would have negotiated one of those in as well.

I looked around for my hubby to help me make my final decision for this buy. He was not around. I thought, I looked, she looked at me. Then I looked at her again. I looked around one last time for my hubby, could not find him. So I went ahead and got it!

3 perfume bottles, 2 Incanto Dream (this I think is a very good buy and not to be refused) and 1 Live Luxe J Lo set with a free miniature Covet and a free bag. After purchasing the goods, I got another RM20 metro voucher and another free bag from Metro. Plus I got 2 entries on what I would like perfumes and if my name gets pulled out of the box, I’d win it!

So there goes my supposedly none spending day. I splurged. But really, it’s for the people close to my heart, and they are worth much more than that. It’s just a little something to show them how much I love them.

Here is the list of perfumes and their descriptions from my fav list for 2007 (the first 2 being the good buys, the second 2 being the nice-to-have’s)

1. Incanto Dreams Perfume by Salvatore Ferragamo
Introduced in the year 2005, Incanto dream is an exciting blend of fresh fruits, blossoms and sandalwood. Beautifully invigorating blend of pineapple, mango, pink lady apple, freesia, blackcurrant, peony, and sandalwood.

2. Live Luxe by Jennifer Lopez
Live luxe by Jennifer Lopez was introduced in 2006 as a feminine scent. Top notes include peach, pear then blending into freesia, honeysuckle and muguet. Finishing off with amber, musk, sandalwood and vanilla.

3. Covet by Sarah Jessica Parker
Covet is an ultra feminine fragrance created with a seductive blend of precious fragrance notes. Top notes: wet greens, geranium leaves, Sicilian lemon, chocolate. Middle notes: honeysuckle, magnolia, muger, and michella yunnanensis. Base notes: musk, vetiver, bois de cashmere, teakwood, and amber.

4. Daisy by Marc Jacobs
It starts with fruit (wild strawberry, red grapefruit), neither heavy nor overly sweet, tempered by a touch of greenery (violet leaves). The floral notes in the heart (gardenia, violet, jasmine) are well blended and sheer, and while daisies themselves have no scent, Marc Jacobs Daisy does a pretty good job of evoking a sunny, breezy meadow of random flowers. The base (musk, vanilla and white woods) is pale and clean and middling warm, and only lightly vanillic.

2007

2007-11-21T15:00:00.000+08:00

It’s the time of the year for me, where work slows down, Christmas is in the air and I’m reflecting as well as looking forward to the year ahead. (Sounds a bit too early for this but that just shows I really don’t have much on my hands at this point in time!)

The year 2007 may be one of the best years I’ve had so far.

2007 was a beautiful year because I feel like I’ve spent it well. It was a fulfilling eventful year in every aspect of my life. It could be that I was proactive, in going out and doing all sorts of stuff that I couldn’t do when I was pregnant. I spent most of 2006 being pregnant, and though it is a wonderful experience it did limit my movement. So 2007, I was let loose! No more physical constraints or excuses.

2007 was all the more meaningful with my beautiful baby boy in my life. A new addition to the family, together with (not to forget!) my lovely maid.

I feel like I’ve achieved so much at work this year as well. (And it better reflect in my bonus next year!) There were many family occasions this year and also time with friends. I think as a couple, my hubby and me caught up with nearly all our old friends back from school and uni that were relatively close to us. It was a change from the quiet 2006.

We also did quite a bit of travelling together and enjoyed ourselves very much. And there is more to come, with our most awaited end of the year holiday, which I’m looking forward to. I’d most probably come back, hoping it would never end.

Well, I better get prepared for 2008 and be willing to let go of 2007 soon. It’s been a blogging, facebooking, travelling, digital picture taking, partying year!!!

Sunday School

2007-11-07T10:58:00.000+08:00

Amazing enough, I just realised that I’ve taught in Sunday School (SS) for 5 years now. What started off as something I just joined cause of the lack of teachers, turned into a passion and a part of my life that I’m going to miss. Now the only reason I realised it’s been 5 years, was because I’m planning to take off a year to spend more time with Shailan and also due to other household matters.

I was never really a very active member of SS; I did my part but not as much as the leaders in SS did. I’ve always admired the amount of planning and work it took to ensure that these children not only had a good time but to make sure that we were doing God’s Will in grounding the Word into their life’s.

Being a teacher in SS, helps to give me self worth in doing something I think is noble for the children, and also in making sure that I maintain a good Christian lifestyle. Though of course, I think I’m still far from it.

I really want to thank the SS in taking care of the teachers as well, and helping us to keep our foot on the ground, disciplining us when necessary and for all the hard work it takes to make sure the kids have a good time. It’s not easy keeping kids these days entertained and holding their attention. Kudos to the SS Teachers!

Here’s a pic of the last batch of students I taught this year.

And of course, Thank You God for giving SS the strength and the perseverance it takes to pull everything together!

(P/S: this is my 70th post this year!!! Yippees! My 70th post on the 7th Nov 2007! And my lucky number is suppose to be 7!)

Drained from My Most Social Weekend In A Long Time

2007-10-29T11:07:00.001+08:00

I never thought a mom like me, would have such a hectic social life like last weekend. It was fun and it all seemed to fall into place, though by the end of it I felt drained. And getting up this morning on Monday was a real drag. I asked my hubby when we woke up, isn’t it still early?

My weekend started on a Thursday, with 2 old school buddies having dinner and chit chatting at my home. Friend P, who is living and soon getting married overseas and friend K, whom I haven’t seen in sometime though she is here in KL (you know how it is right, our hectic rat race lifestyle) made some interesting conversation and we also had some interesting food! Yum Yum!

The next day, went out with friend M for a lovely Hindi movie, something I haven’t done in a while, watching a movie with another girlfriend. And later that evening met up with 2 uni mates, friend J who has been trying to organize this since forever, and friend E, whose husband, my hubby seemed to get along with really well. This was a ‘mamak’ hang out reunion. We met other uni related people as well passing by, while we sat out at Bangsar Street in the open air. Enjoying the smell, of car fumes and smokers, ha ha!
With 2 late nights in a row, came Saturday, a day to sleep in but also catch up with chores for the family. Left to church to help out with something, and then went out again that night (this time bringing the baby along as that was the main request made by the other attendees), to meet up with my hubby’s old uni friends. It’s been sometime since we met 2 or 3 of them, and it was a comfortable sit down dinner and chitchat. My baby Shailan I think stole most of the limelight. And Mount Kiara, after the renovation has a beautiful space right in the center where kids just run around and get wet with the fountain they have smack in the middle. Since Shailan did not have a change, I could not let Shailan get wet, though I’ve realised he is not much of a water boy.

Saturday was a really late night, we continued from there to have them over at our place again, for some wine and beer while Shailan was put to sleep. Then we started, sharing our fond memories of our wedding with these uni friends who could not make it at that time. Out came the photos and wedding DVD’s!

Sunday came, and we had a wedding to attend!!! I love to attend weddings. Shailan fell asleep during the wedding though and that was strange, considering at all outings, it’s always hard to keep him still with his little curious mind. After the wedding, hubby and me thought we should do some Deepavali shopping and so off we went, busting the budget but making 3 women very happy, my mother in law, sister in law and myself, of course!

Now here I am dragging my feet at work, trying to see how much I can accomplish. I realized one thing though and I’ve been told this through various ways time and time again, what my priorities in life are; Love, Family and Relationships!

Bordertown:Rape Victims

2007-10-22T15:28:00.000+08:00

Another one, of my emotionally, involved, heartfelt moments with a movie. I was truly touched and disturbed by what I saw. It was just a movie but it was inspired by true events.

I’ve watched the Sierra Leone documentary on Oprah twice on young girls being raped by army officers. That was disturbing. I’ve read books like ‘Princess’, how women in Saudi Arabia are treated or ‘Do They Hear You When You Cry’, on female genital mutilation in Africa and that was disturbing as well.

I’ve found out what my passion is and this movie confirmed it. “Bordertown.” A movie on Mexican girls being exploited because of some free trade agreement where everyone makes tons of money, and young girls are overworked. In addiction to that, their security is not a concern, but the continuous rapes and deaths are covered up, to avoid any exposure that will affect the free trade agreement.

Money is one up on humanity here, and sadly influential world leaders are involved. What do we say to our young when they are supposed to be leaders to look up to. Leaders are supposed to lead; instead when put in a tight spot they succumb. I would have lots of trouble sleeping at night, let alone live with my conscience if I made the call that these leaders have decided to do, or choose to ignore.

It’s sad but true; can we make a difference where we are? Yes we can!

Family Ups and Downs

2007-10-09T13:53:00.000+08:00

Well, I don't know quite what to say, except I think my son is going through a phase in life. He sort of refuses to come to me lately. This morning topped it all.

I went to hold him and kiss him good bye before leaving to work, and he just suddenly screamed, like an adult. He screamed, his fist were clenched and he screamed, it was long. I looked at him, didn't dare go near him anymore, and just walked out the door.

When he sees his dad though, he goes all goo goo gaa gaa, he'll follow my hubby everywhere he goes, and demand every bit of attention from him.
With me, it's the opposite side of the coin.

I'm just assuming this as a phase, but I'm definitely going to get more worried if this continues long term.

What's it about me he doesn't like?

They are Bald!

2007-10-04T10:52:00.001+08:00

Shailan and his dad went bald about 2 weeks ago. As part of the Hindu tradition, Shailan went bald and it was quite an experience. For this little balding ceremony, we went to Penang. My hometown!

I love Penang though I was only there when I was a child and have very few memories of the place. Of course, what it was before and now has changed, as it's a busy busy place and much more congested than I remember it.

Before leaving to Penang, I got myself entangled in Grey's Anatomy Season 3. I watched it all night long till about 4 am and then left for Penang a few hours later. Totally hooked on it, I got a DVD player at where we stayed and watched it for the rest of my stay. It's really good..and I love it!

Shailan looked so cute after going bald, like a little monk boy! Dad looked cute too..haha. We went to the beach for a while, but Shailan did not like the sound of the waves and so we couldn't bring him too near the water, just the sandy bits.

Being a Penang born, I love food! So I had to get my hands on the famous 'Sister's Kuay Teow'. Some say it's overrated, and in fact there is new competition for them now, but for me having it was just familiarity and it tasted super delicious. We went to Ayer Itam as well for the famous 'Penang Laksa' and got some 'Tau Sa Peah' to bring home. I even got Yam cake for my mom. That's what I love most about Penang, the food.

I came back sick, and spent a week being sick. Coming back to work, had two stressful weeks, but everything seems to have turned out fine. And I can't help but feel a certain sense of accomplishment at work, which initially had like 1001 issues to deal with. Now I'm just closing out and looking forward to a good end of the year break, and also what's in store for me at work next year.

In between Bible classes which I just started at church, a book I'm reading on building a great family and planning out holidays plus getting ready for Shailan to go to nursery for next year, this quote really struck me. It was from a book friend, P gave me a while back when Shailan was just born.

'So small - the fulcrum of our lives, the pivot of our universe.'

Helen Exley

On a different note, I got myself a new haircut, a new look! Seem to be getting a few compliments, and I'm really liking it. I think I'm going to stick with this for a while...

Having a Best Friend, Not Cool?

2007-09-14T14:29:00.000+08:00

Flipping through thestar.com online, and I saw this article on ‘Having a best friend is so not cool…seriously’. The title just stood out. How many of us feel this way?

I know as a young kid, I’ve always wanted a best friend, someone I would know and grow up with from young right up till I grow old and grey. Till I realized this was a fantasy concept. Not everyone would be able to maintain such a relationship due to the circumstances that we are in.

People have to move on and grow up. This would be change in interest, new hobbies, moving places where distance becomes a hindrance to a close relationship we would like to have. Well, I agree we have chat, we can always call and Skype, but it’s just not the same anymore.

Having said that, learning to embrace this fact really helps. I’ve become close to many friends over the years, and I keep making new close friends on my journey. When I was a kid I had 2 close friends, friend P who was from Thailand, and when my family had to move to KL, that friendship drifted apart and I had friend M, who also later drifted apart when we moved to different secondary schools, and thereafter she migrated.

In secondary school, I must say I still have many of my close pals here in M’sia. I tried to have a best friend again, but it didn’t work out. There was my best bud, friend F, which lasted till form 3 and she went to arts stream and I went to science stream. Then it was a new set of friends again. Also I had a close friend, P who has now moved on and migrated elsewhere.

In Uni, there were a few. Mainly friend M, whom we’ve both been through quite a bit together. She’s now migrated as well. And my friend J, who has recently left to pursue her further studies. Friend V is still around thank God! At work, I’ve got a new group of close friends now, whom I’m going to celebrate my birthday with, friend S, M and C help me in not feeling so lonely.

I still keep in touch with all my friends mentioned above, but we’re not as close as before. Still just being in touch, helps not miss them so much and hopefully still keep the bond we had while they were around. So can we really have a best friend for life? Whether it’s cool or not really doesn’t matter. It would be lovely to have a best friend. But it’s also nice to have many close friends. Keep in touch anyway so that you won’t lose those treasured friends whom you’ve shared a part of your life with. Friendship is like wine, the longer it’s kept the better it taste. That’s my motto.
Do you identify?

Quotes:

We shape our lives with a circle of friends. –Unknown

Where your friends are, there your riches are. -Plautus

Friends are the family we choose for ourselves- Emily Dickinson

Talking about Shailan

2007-09-10T15:12:00.000+08:00

My baby has turned 1. He celebrated his birthday 3 times and has got really used to people singing Happy Birthday to him now. He would clap his hands at the end of the song.

His first birthday celebration was following the Hindu calendar, which was on the 26th of August; my in-laws had some prayers or more known as ‘pooja’ for the baby. After which we had lunch and Shailan’s 1st birthday cake. Shailan however did not cut this cake cause he was busy crying at the back of the house. So the 1st cake was cut by his parents. My hubby and me were pretty shy.

The 2nd birthday happened on his actual birth date. Immediate family and few friends about 12 of us got together at our home and cut a cake. That day Shailan was extremely well behaved. He was really happy walking all over the place, clapping his hands and touching everyone. We had tea and cakes. This time he helped cut his cake!

The 3rd birthday celebration was as per the sneak peek pictures attached in my blog ‘He is One’. On that day, Shailan clung to his dad and refused to go to anyone. He did not cry during the blowing of the candle and cutting of the cake, which was a relief. But Shailan was not at his best though. However, the guest turned up, and all went well. We had beautiful weather for the party.

Shailan has grown. He now says Ma Ma….!!!!! Ya hoo…and he started saying it on his actual birth date. That’s going to be memorable for me. He walks a lot now.

Shailan is just my beautiful baby whom I love very, very much! I will however balance that out, with how spoilt my baby is getting, he loves lots of attention and wants everyone to let him do what he wants or he would pull a tantrum. One of his latest I don’t want to be touched is, when he bends over while standing with his head to the floor. And you know he doesn’t want to be carried but wants to move on, on his own. He definitely has a mind of his own, like his parents! All said, he is just soo cute to me! I’m starting to really enjoy being a MOM!

He Is One!

2007-09-09T21:20:00.000+08:00

A sneak peek into Shailan's 1st birthday party which happened over the weekend. He walks now!!!