Murdered with a Spoon

This is too funny not to be shared!

Grounded!

Last night I reached home after a wonderful meeting with an old friend from high school days. What started as a stressful day ended in great joy with loads of laughter and catching up with Steph whom I last met 17 years ago.

Upon reaching home, I happily released Ang Ku from her cage and secured her on the leash to the shoe rack as usual. Then I went to accompany KS for his midnight dinner for about 20 minutes.

When we came back, to our shock and horror, the cat was missing along with her leash. Somehow it unhooked from the rack and she had made her great escape. We found her at our neighbour’s porch and despite pleas and cajoling, she refused to budge and remained out of reach from whatever brooms and poles we tried protruding at her. We used a spray and drenched her from head to tail but she remained stubborn and glared at us.

KS wanted to climb the fence but we didn’t have the proper chairs/ladders. At about 1:30am, we decided to sleep and catch her the next morning when our neighbour awoke. At 5:50am, KS woke up and asked me to help him search for her since she disappeared from the neighbours’ porch.

Not able to see clearly, we stumbled around the neighbourhood, calling out to her to no avail and decided to return to sleep. I woke later to get ready for work, eyes swollen and brain woozy from the lack of sleep and heard a stray cat behind the house calling to another cat on the roof. We ran out but were disappointed to see a grey cat staring back at us from above.

However, within a breath, we heard her calling us from under a parked car. Even then, she resisted being dragged out and KS had to crawl on all fours under the car to reach her.

Today, we both are grumpy and tired. All because of her defiance. She is SO grounded for a week at least!

Kelentong Queen

I am horrible at recognizing people. Needless to say, I’ve had my share of people coming up to me and calling me by name yet I can’t even place which chapter of my life they crossed path with.

There is a new skill that I seem to be picking up with regards to this inability.

The first time it happened, I called the wrong person and complained about something. The poor girl on the other end was bewildered, “I thought I settled everything to do with your case already!” When I realized I called the wrong person, I complicated the story so in the end she was even more confused so I hurriedly told her I had to go somewhere.

Last week, I bumped into this lady at my office and thought she was from Supplier A. We chatted and then she said she was supposed to come back to me on one of the jobs we’ve done together. I went on to explain to her something completely different and continued to talk until a look of utter confusion crossed her face. When she mentioned her colleague’s name only then I realized she was from Supplier B!

So, in the midst of her bewilderment, I carefully twisted my conversation to make it relevant to her. She didn’t know what just happened so I left it as that and walked away.

I dont' think I'm the only one, all-ye-who-are-smiling-now, right?

My Favourite Incredible Things

Here's another website I subscribe to called Incredible Things. Some of the things they have range from amazing to totally impractical but cute to I-want-one-of-those.

Here's some of those I-want-one-of-those especially now that I'm looking into house stuff:

My current headache is trying to fit more than one toilet roll in the toilet so that when one runs out, you won't be caught with your pants down trying to duck walk to the cupboard where you keep stock of your toilet rolls. No, I don't want one of those cloth hanging ones but am considering putting double toilet roll holders. But because I'm anal as to how the roll is supposed to roll, KS usually leaves the fitting to me. This device, however, would solve both storage and being anal.

I love the clean look and the simple yet think-out-of-the-box design of this toilet roll holder.

Then there's decorating walls. Paintings are common but what about these?

These Shadow Art pieces are amazing. But can be creepy too. I certainly wouldn't put any of them in the bedroom!

And how many times have you had the yucky feeling for pressing down trash to compress the waste to fit more stuff into your bin?

Ta-dah! No more yucky hands with this trash can!

What about furniture you can assemble in seconds? No nails, tools plus it's made from eco-friendly materials.

Only thing is, I don't quite fancy the protruding edges of these Ecolock Furniture.

And this one really takes the cake. I've been trying to figure out where to put my kitty litter in the new house and have yet to come up with an easy place for her to use it. Bathroom is too small, kitchen and kitty litter don't mix and putting it in the living room makes the room unlivable whenever she goes. The solution?

My only concern is that my cat may not be smart enough to use the door to this Kitty Litter Box Cover.

And here are some interesting clocks although the bottom one you probably won't be able to tell accurate time.

Okaylah, don't want to bore you too much. Go check out the website if these had fascinated you too.

Colourful Neighbours

It just struck me this morning when I spoke to my housemate that our neighbours are quite colourful.

One worships the Japanese Coffin thing, with frequent chantings coming from the house. Another is an Ah Beng who works night shifts at, what we imagine to be, a nightclub. He would occasionally thumping Ah Beng music loudly from his room and once had a screaming match with his girlfriend/wife at past 3am with her slamming doors and he stomping out of the house while still screaming back at her.

Then another is a naggy wife who shrieks frequently at her taxi driving husband during the late hours of the night and early hours of the morning.

And the other neighbour who has caused us to call the cops twice now. This neighbour once had a wedding party with a tent erected across the road, causing a road closure and played thumping Indian music at full blast until past 3am. KS couldn't take it after a while and had to call the cops.

Last night I had to call the cops too because they had a visitor who came at about 2am and they had a huge argument, shouting at each other on the street with threats of death. The "visitor" used the gate to smash against the owner's parked van just outside the house which ensued more shouts.

Looking forward to a quieter (fingers crossed) neighbourhood soon.

You Cybertrooper, You!

The day after after Sibu by-elections fell to the Opposition party, a friend who is pro-government commented a neutral statement on his Facebook status. In reply, there were about 60 comments with all the pro government folks bashing the Opposition party.

I couldn't stand it, reading about the accusations hypocrites and misuse of taxpayers money to fund cybertroopers to weave "destructive" tentacles into the web. After all, who is the bigger culprit of hypocrites and misuse of taxpayers funds?

So I commented that hypocrites don't just belong to the Opposition (and I'm not denying it) and there are bigger misuse of the taxpayers money elsewhere. And of course I got immediate and childish feedback.

Anyway, one also asked if I were one of the paid cybertroopers. Wow. I didn't know I could earn side income but no thank you. I only speak the minds of a lot of Malaysians. We are no longer blind and don't need to be paid. I also immediately started blocking my FB details and informed my loved ones that I don't have suicidal thoughts if I am ever found to have "jumped" from a 14 storey building, just like a certain case.

Now, since the government lost in that by-election, it would be interesting to note whether the Prime Minister will follow through with his promise of funds being offered to the Chinese during the campaigning. Like a friend said, "He will lose both ways". By not giving the money, this would be blatant bribing "I'll pay you only if we win" but if he does give, then he's giving the funds to a state that just fell to the Opposition. Ooo, this is going to be interesting to observe.

Kampung Girl

When my parents were purchasing furniture for their old house, Dad lamented that Mum had this Kampung Girl mentality and “destroyed” the look of the house. They would buy this nice looking sofa and after placing them in the hall, Mum went out and bought a plastic deck chair like this:

Yup, the trusted chairs in old folks home all over the nation.

After they shifted to the current place they are staying, Mum bought yet another one for this new house. Dad grumbled and complained of her “lack of taste”. She insists they were very cooling to nap on yet she has never used them after she bought them.

Fast forward, now that I’m renovating my new house, I find that my design sense is no better! Well, okay, I draw the line at that chair but this is what I got my parents to buy for me since I find it practical and my parents also have it:

Now, my architect/interior designer friend finds out this is going to sit in the new glossy pristine kitchen, he’s going to have a heart attack. When I suggested to place metal shelves somewhere, his eyes widened in disbelief and he vehemently said, “You can use the existing cupboards, please don’t put in more shelves in this kitchen (which is going to be lined with cupboards)”.

With my little sense of design, I now know it looks kinda out of place. And very kampung, which is totally not the theme of our house. Plus my parents decided to give it to us as a house warming gift. Uh. Oh. Perhaps we could hide it when our architect visits later.

And what does KS say to all this? He says, serves me right for not listening to him in the first place when he disagreed to get it. :(

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Hahaha! Last night we met up with our architect friend and told him we wanted to hang brooms somewhere in the kitchen. His eyes nearly popped out of its sockets and his jaw hit the floor. "Wha... wha... WHAAAT??? Hang your brooms in the midst of your expensive kitchen cabinets???" In the end, he succumbed and just said, "When I come over for a visit, just use something to block it from my view".

Interesting Videos

Just came across these two interesting videos. And since I have nothing to blog about, here's for your entertainment.

Eco Ideas Around The World

I love receiving my weekly newsletter from Springwise. Every week, KS and I would exchange notes on which idea excited us most. We have yet to come to a stage where we can emulate any of the ideas although we tried one idea but the initial feedback from a corridor survey revealed that it would be extremely niche and hence not profitable.

Perhaps what resonates with me are the many eco ideas that people are developing all over the world. It’s small but it’s budding. For example, this week’s newsletter highlights are Boxes made of cardboard laden with seeds. Once you receive your parcel, tear up the box into pieces, plant them and they will grow into trees!

Last week they featured seed “grenades” which you can buy off a vending machine, throw it onto any land and it will grow into a tree! I can just imagine someone dressed like a spy, hands in their trench coat pockets, flicking suspicious glances through dark glasses and throwing these “grenades” into unsuspecting yards or parks.

Then there’s another eco idea on greeting cards. To be honest, I dislike receiving greeting cards because most of the time, people just write your name at the top, let the printed message say what it needs to say and usually followed by an unrecognizable scrawl as a sign off. And what can you do with these cards after that? I throw all my Chinese New Year cards and feel terrible for the waste.

Now, this idea allows people to change the content of the card, encourages the receiver to use back the same card and send it to another person. Every recipient can even write their names at the back so you know how many hands they have passed through when it reaches you.

It’s so refreshing to see all these great ideas that are blooming all over the world.

So says the girl who is just about to buy a dryer for her new home in perpetually hot Malaysia. My excuses will take another blog posting another day.

Kopi in an Espresso Cup

Last week when we met up with the contractor to discuss on his quotes, he brought along his right hand man. Let’s call him Ah Tan (as we were never introduced to him). Ah Tan communicates in Hokkien and is a typical Chinaman contractor who talks very loudly on his phone. Occasionally the contractor, Jarrad, will throw him a question or ask his opinion in Hokkien and he would mutter something in reply.
Anyway, we met at a restaurant that served fusion, not very fancy. He uncomfortably perched on the edge of his chair and glanced at the menu. When the waiter came, he ordered “Kopi!” and proceeded to quietly sit and waited for instructions from the main guy.

Unfortunately for Ah Tan, his coffee came in a somewhat fancy manner. The coffee was in a small metal container which looks something like the picture below, the milk in another container and a tall glass filled with ice.

From the corner of my eye, I observed him as he poured some coffee into the glassful of ice. He tasted it and didn’t like it. In the end, he spooned up the coffee carefully with a teaspoon from the little metal container. So kesian! I never checked if he finished it, poor chap.

Hence for our meeting today, we are going to McD’s. At least the coffee there isn’t complicated and hopefully he would be a bit more comfortable there.

Now Everyone Can...

Malaysians companies don’t seem to be very creative. When the banking site www.Maybank2u.com.my came up and became highly successful, we started seeing other companies following suit, amway2u.com or some-company-name2u.com. Every time I came across another one, KS and I would look at each other and roll our eyes. It became THE trend of website names at one point.

Now, ever since AirAsia started using the tagline “Now Everyone Can Fly”, everyone else has been following the same tagline. The recent ones I’ve seen are:

Now Everyone Can Ride Horses (for a Turf Club offering horse riding classes)
Now Everyone Can Drive (car rental)
Now Everyone Can Donate (some charity thing)
Now Everyone Can Swim (swimwear for Muslim women)
Now Everyone Can Have a Maid (for a part time maid service)
Oh well, it used to be that every company wanted a tagline that would match or top Nike’s Just Do It. Like real. I guess all those countless meetings of bosses strutting up front, trying to do a William Wallace/Aragon of stirring up their troops’ morale prior to going into a war “You can come up with something better than Just Do It! It’s just three little words! Think out of the box!” never really bore fruit. God knows how many of these meetings I myself have been through.

Lebanese "Billionaire"

In the news for a couple of years now, a self-proclaimed "billionaire" called Elie who is a Lebanese has been splashed on the front covers of the daily here. As far as I remember, here are the things that has brought been brought to our nations' attention:

1. First cast into the spotlight was when he pledged to donate USD1mil to the National Cancer Centre. Of course the folks there were elated to have such a huge donation and made a press conference. But...
2. Many people started coming forward when they saw his face on the front page and claimed they were conned by this guy and had lost lots of money. A background research also found no such billionaire listed from his nation.
3. Found out he was staying in some apartment with a teenager for a "wife". Religious Departments said she was underaged to be married and questioned the authority of the "Imam" who married them.
4. About a year ago, he was staying in a hotel in KL and had given the lady who cleaned his room a USD100 tip. She was over the moon but when she tried to convert it, she was told it was fake. Police busted his room and found loads of fake notes stashed in suitcases under the bed.
5. About a month ago, he was still in the limelight for threatening to "destroy" his "wife" (this is a different wife from before) and her family if they spoke to people about him. I think there was another teenage wife who mysteriously fell to her death from a high rise building.
6. It was here when he declared himself a "Christian" but all his wives are Malays. Doesn't our Syariah Court have something against non-Islam spouses who MUST convert? I know of so many Malay girls who have married non-Malaysians yet the husbands all had to still change their religion. Remember, this is the Syariah Court that sentenced caning to a woman who was drinking alcohol.
7. Even more recently, he was caught with his pants down with a prostitute in a hotel. Bail was only a RM2,000.

Incredible, no? My question is, why is this guy still walking freely around Malaysia? Are we a nation that allows criminals to roam freely? This alone is like an advertisement to all criminals out there. "Hey, if you have the cash (or promise to have cash, or doesn't matter if it's fake either), just come to Malaysia. You can marry sweet young things, destroy them if they don't succumb to you and still be a free man". 

And they say USA is a land of the free. Malaysia Boleh!

A Day of Downpayments

Today was a busy day. We have confirmed the kitchen cabinet supplier and the sofa set by paying downpayments for them. Plus we have also finally confirmed the contractor who will be doing the renovations. We're losing steam but need to plough ahead, with more stuff like paints and lights and electricity points...

Unfortunately, we have to hold back quite a bit of renovations as most of our budget is going into stuff that won't be seen like insulation, wiring and piping. So, at the end of June (fingers crossed), I'm not expecting a huge transformation of the house.

Really just looking forward to shift in and call it home.