KLIA Trekking

Went to KLIA today. Was supposed to meet someone there but he was in a meeting for over 3 hours so we got fed up and left. Managed to take this photo though.



Something is not quite right about the photo but I like the architecture of the place. My feet now hurts from all that walking.

But hey, did I mention how much I'm loving my handphone camera? Haven't taken much shots on my digital camera since January. I prefer my handphone pictures.

Christian Nuts?

During Chinese New Year, it is common to see ground nuts in any Chinese home. I don't know what it means but a pack is usually given away as part of the pack with mandarins and other sweet stuff to relatives.

Now, the most popular brand is Cap Tangan.

This brand comes in 2 colours, the red packet of more superior nuts and this yellow one which, according to my Dad, is a cheapo one.

Then, the other day, I noticed this one:

KS, Jan and I couldn't stop laughing just analyzing the picture and brand. Take a closer look.


Why I say it is "Christian" is because the brand name is Shepherd, that's one. Then, the shepherd looks like Santa Claus, and there's snow all around him. But wait!! He's Chinese (long straight beard, squinty eyes)! AND he's holding his beard as though he's the Chinese God Guan Gong!

Just Twist

The other day I bought this new shampoo for my scalp. It had a pump which had to be twisted open for the first time. Upon reaching home, I tried to twist it open but it refused and remained stuck. I enlisted KS' help but even he couldn't open it.

Resigned, I left it as that but was determined to get a replacement since it wasn't a cheap shampoo.

Finally, after several days, I went back to the shop to get it replaced. Malaysian shops are notorious for not wanting to make replacements so I was a little worked up. As soon as I got in, I launched into a narrative of how I just bought it from their shop, and I tried and tried to open it like this, and demonstrating how I twisted it. And the darn thing twisted itself open. All this happened in less than 5 seconds.

The salesgirl looked at me as I stopped in mid tirade, then with a quick mutter, "Ah, it's ok now!", I rushed out of the shop in embarrassment as her laughter floated from the shop.

And the darn shampoo doesn't work. It left my hair a mop of oily mess on my second day of using it, until my colleague asked tentatively, "You put extra... conditioner on your hair today?"

Babi.

Malay Culture

There are two things which I observe and like about the Malay culture.

Firstly, whenever a husband drops off his wife to work, the wife will clasp their husband's hands and kiss it. Or when they next meet, this is their standard greeting which, to me, is quite sweet. Even in the news, when the mother of a murdered child is met by her husband, they will first do this before embracing and crying.

I'll go ask my colleague what this gesture means.

The second thing is that they are very relaxed with their children. They allow them the freedom to roam the entire kampung, jump into streams, hang out with the other kids in the neighborhood etc. My colleague took the entire week off last week to bring her kids back to her kampung. Her 4 kids had a blast, running free and wild in the jungles. It sounded like so much fun!

Somehow when I look at the city kids here, I feel their childhood is so ... sanitised. Everything they do, they are being watched, "Don't do this/that!" being a common command. This freedom given to the Malay kids is something I would like my kids to have. Of course, it's easier for me to say that now since I don't have any kids. For all I know, I'd be the most paranoid mother ever.

Besides, we don't have kampungs to go to. Again, it makes me treasure the times I was allowed to climb trees, trudge through padi fields despite snakes and scorpions living in it. Or did we have less things to fear back then?

Wedding/Uni Reunion

A uni mate of mine got married over the weekend. He boasted that it would be the largest alumni gathering in recent years and I must admit, the turnout was quite amazing! Kim knows most Malaysians at uni so it wasn't surprising he had about 7 tables just for us.

So it was a reunion dinner of sorts. Many came from Singapore, East Malaysia, with kids in tow, mothers with fantastic waistlines... it was great to see all of them again! However, we didn't have enough time to go around and catch up with everyone. The one that we tried to catch up with had the most complicated job, despite explaining it to us for 5 minutes, we were still left confused. It just shows that even though we did the same degree, you can do very diverse things with a business degree!

Anyways, back to the wedding, Kim had his wedding in Philippines earlier as his wife is from there. They had a lovely beach side wedding, just before sunset. The video was done so splendidly, KS commented that it looked like an music video! And the photography was simply amazing! I usually don't know how to appreciate wedding photos as compared to scenery or buildings shots, but one look and I could tell these were really good. The composition of many photos were very well done. Wish I could shoot like that! Sorry, I don't have access to the photos at the moment but if I do, I'll ask their permission to put one or two up next time.

Shawl

Thanks for the many suggestions on my friend's shawl which I ruined. I bought her another one, not the same material nor pattern but a plain one in the same shade. It was very affordable, so much so that I bought one for myself too. Then, next time I won't need to borrow. Heck, it's so cheap (yes, the quality isn't there I don't think I care at this point) that I can buy any shade I like to match whatever clothes I have!

Sek Cho

So while I’m waiting for KS to pick me from work, what else has been happening? Okay, I’ll tell you about my first “I really hate you” incident.

I admit I’m a terrible person when it comes to being sek cho (sake-choe). Er… I don’t know what is the English word for this. I know it and acknowledge it. I can call up my father-in-law and without so much of a “how are you?”, I’d launch into the reason why I called. Not thoughtful? Self-centered?

Anyways, I am glad to know there are some people who are worse than me. If your friend wanted something really badly, and you happen to get it for free and don’t have an obvious need for it, would you give it to your friend?

KS says I’m not angry with my friend, rather I’m disappointed with myself for having such high expectations on him, that he would reciprocate my friendship as I him. That he has failed the test as a friend.

Oh well, I have already warned my friend that I will be very nasty to him after telling him exactly why I hate him. At least there’s excitement to look forward to every day.

I must really check for growing horns on my head. I’m becoming a nasty b*****! And the worse/best part is? That I’m enjoying it. That I’m enjoying not being pushed around and stepped all over.

It’s a Girl Thing

So I’ve been Little Miss Sunshine - NOT, what with PMS and my car problems and “I-don’t-want-to-work-anymore” moods and screaming at my colleagues with “I really hate you!”

So today, I splurged on something I didn’t need. It has been a want for some time now. I finally got my very first “expensive lipstick”. A Bobbi Brown. No more Maybelline or some cheapo brand called Secret. I’ve grown up!

I was almost gushing with excitement as I chatted with the sales girl that I finally finished my lipstick of 2 years. She looked at me in horror. That’s when I decided not to tell her that it was my most frequently used make up. Don’t get me started on mascara (I think it’s over 4 years old now) or my eyebrow pencil (I bought it while I was studying in NZ in the mid 90s). Well at least my foundation is new!

I’ve always like Bobbi Brown as I believe make up should never be too garish. Initially I thought that’s what everyone would think but I have met enough people to realize that that’s how make up companies survive on these other people.

But yeah, the excitement of buying something girly really perked me up this afternoon (until some idiot at work spoilt it again, hence my second utterance of “I really hate you!” for this week came about).

Car Problems

Yesterday I took the car to work, as KS was ill at home. As I was about reaching the office area after a morning meeting, I noticed my Heat indicator above the normal level and kept an eye on it. It steadily moved up as the minutes ticked by and I tried to deceive myself and pulled my vision higher, so that looking downwards, the needle was still at an okay level.

Of course that didn’t work and by the time I was less than 100m away from the car park, it almost touched the red warning levels. The many traffic lights didn’t help and by that time I was panicking. After all, all my years of driving I had never encountered overheating from my trusty car.

In the end, I managed to park my car and call my mechanic from Klang. I only serviced it 2 weekends ago and this should not have happened! He came 3 hours later and when he popped the hood, he immediately denied having touched the engine and that this wasn’t his fault. Of course I was disbelieving and am now determined that I will never go back to him again, even though his shop is walking distance to home, which helps.

The first time I sent my car to him to fix my suspensions, he failed to tighten the screws and for almost 2 weeks, I felt my tyres wobble at high speeds. I sent it to a tyre shop who immediately found the problem. Gosh! I could have gotten into a nasty accident with my wheels flying off!

All in all, I’ve spent over a grand in just 3 weekends on repairing my car. Looks like I’ll have to postpone re-spraying it until mid of this year.

Too Much Neopets

Last night KS got up to pee and when he came back, I apparently grabbed hold of his hand and started furiously tapping him in a ragged rhythm using my index finger. I was using his hand as my mouse in my sleep.

Must be my daily dose of Freaky Factory getting into my subconscious.

Magik!

I love magic. I love the people who do magic. I especially loved David Copperfield although people called him the Beast when he was going out with the Beauty (Claudia). How I love his stage charisma! His impossible tricks and high dramas.

That was so 80s and 90s. Now comes the latest trend in magic. Street magic. Just watched a couple of Cyril's on YouTube. He's now in a pilot together with a bunch of others called T.H.E.M. (Totally Hidden Extreme Magic). It's quite funny how they trick unsuspecting victims just like Candid Camera but using magic.

I wish... I wish I had the time and charisma and patience and... oh well, okay, looks like I don't really wish to be a magician. But aha! I can wish KS would take it up!

Man, I'm so glad for YouTube. And my boss actually asked me a couple of months ago when news on Google buying YouTube, "What is YouTube?". We're on such different planets.

Busy Again

Where does all the time go? These few days I feel like my life is exhibiting the meaning of being in a rat race. Why can't my body do with just 4 hours of sleep? Why doesn't my brain want to think of that piece of work that needs to be done?

Dang, it's only just reaching Tuesday. Looking forward to Friday already.

P/S: My aunt and uncle also went to watch An Inconvenient Truth. She thought it was a concert, which was why she went.

And I'll make a poor preacher on global warming. No one wants to listen when I start.

Crazy Queue

I'm just back from spending the weekend at PJ with my parents. It's been a weekend of tremendous stress for my family as we had to decide on something that will shift the axis of the world we as a family have been living in.

Sorry, I can't reveal much as my family wishes it to remain private within the immediate family for the time being. Will reveal more when permissible as a respect to my parents. Promise!

Anyways, today was a rather happening day for me because I bought my very first government shares! I queued from 8:30am even though the counters where scheduled to open at 9:30 and managed to get 1st spot for opening a new account. Even so, I only managed to get through at 11am as the systems were jammed.

It is well known that the shares are HOT property and many stories such as only the first 3 people in the queue would get it.

But what I learned today was that, if you want to buy ASM or ASW:
1. Fill up the form provided
2. Bring cash or your bank book if you have an account with the agent/bank
3. Photocopy your IC
4. Wear comfortable shoes
5. Take leave if you really really want it

I did neither of theses and only found out about the top three just 5 minutes before the doors opened so there was a flurry of panic for a while.

It was a great learning experience as to what it was all about and I had fun standing being first in line.

Stretchy Wool

For my dinner last week, I borrowed my colleague's lovely soft shawl to match my dress. Even though I didn't use it, it absorbed all the cigarette smoke in the room so I didn't want to return it as it was.

I insisted on taking it home to wash, which I did over the weekend. And discovered it was wool. And that you should NEVER put wool into the washing machine. That wool shrinks dramatically (in this case, 1/3 of original size). And the texture changes from soft to coarse. And that you can't iron wool if you hope it would help straighten it. And no amount of www.chacha.com with a guide can help you.

Stretching it the whole night only brought about uneven edges and well, it's no longer rectangular. Of course my colleague was sweet about it and refuses my offer to replace an exact one by not telling me where she got it. But I can see she's upset about it so my hunt for a similar shawl starts real soon.

Global Warming

I wish I could say my week was filled with loads of exciting things which would explain my week long absence. But other than church meetings, I finally managed to go see An Inconvenient Truth on Thursday at the KLPac. YTL gave away seats for 2 nights and I was one of the first hundred kiasu fellas to register for my 2 tickets.


My ticket, taken with my phone while waiting for KS.


The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac), Sentul. Beautiful place.

The first thought that struck me was, why the heck didn't Al Gore think of doing the movie much earlier? He's done his slideshow over a thousand times but he's only doing it one town at a time. This involves the whole world and the earth would have melted by the time he touched down to Malaysia.

Anyways, to me, the facts were unexpected but the urgency became more apparent. Now we're more conscious of the things we need to do (change our light bulbs, save electricity etc).

The frustrating thing was as we drove home to Klang, the smog greeted us as usual. And today at work, I tried to tell my colleagues about the show, I was met with rolling eyes, "Oh, the political Al Gore show". KS has heard someone call it "The natural disaster show".

Believe It Or Not

In the recent weeks, I've encountered two "prediction" methods which, as I attempt to describe, sounds and looks as bizarre as when you actually see it being conducted. Both need two people to conduct the tests.

1. Allergy Test
Person A is supposedly allergic to something, say pineapple.
Person B is the tester.

Person A stands, feet slightly apart with the right arm stretched out to the right while the left hand is left hanging at its side. Person B faces A, right hand on A's left shoulder and presses down A's outstretched arm. A is supposed to resist this force.

Now, Person A holds the allergic material (in this case, the pineapple) in the left hand and Person B repeats the step above, using the same force as before.

Apparently, if you ARE allergic to the substance, you will not be able to resist the force.

2. Gender and Quantity of your Future Kids (I KID YOU NOT!)
Take a strand of Person A's hair, string a gold ring and Person B is to hold the ends of the hair with the ring hanging free. Cupping A's left hand with palms facing upwards, B is to dip the ring three times just beside A's upturned left thumb. Then, B holds the ring above the open palm with a steady hand.

Now, if the ring sways up and down, A's first born will be a boy. If it swings left to right, it is a girl. After a bit, the ring will stop swinging and then continue again. Hold as long as you can to know how many kids you will have and what gender they will be.

Mine is said to be a boy followed by 2 girls.

Told ja it was bizarre!

Peeves

1. I hate it when I bring samples of what I think is one of the best pineapple tarts for my colleagues to try and they say things like, "if butter is used instead of margarine, it would taste better", "it's a bit too rich for me" or "I only like the crust". Yet they keep coming back for more without wanting to place their orders.

2. So a colleague who just recently got married is already pregnant and someone goes, "tsk, tsk... and you've been married how long again?". My response was a swift, "Say that again and I'll kick you upside down"

Missing In Action

Been away from the computer for the entire week. Stayed 2 nights over at PJ and had my in-laws over for one.

I went for an annual dinner held by my business partner. My CEO came along but I was spared from talking to him as I sat across of him, with a fairly large bouquet as a centerpiece. And for once, I didn't feel like an Ugly Betty neither did I feel like a Plain Jane. The difference? I washed and blew my hair straight for the evening and removed my glasses. Hahaha... I never knew that would make a difference! When I arrived with my colleague, my bosses didn't recognize me and thought she brought a friend. I'm rather tickled by that.

However, the photo we took that night didn't turn out well. So, sorry, no photos to share.