Indispensable Poe

It's the Jingle time again!!!

2010-11-13T21:26:00.002+08:00

Yippie! Can't wait to bake my Christmas cake this week. This will be the first time we are celebrating Christmas in Singapore. Sig.Ot is quite disappointed that he won't be seeing his folks this time round. Even more reason why I should make sure the dinner does not disappoint!

This blog entry is M18:- What on earth is a disco stick?

2010-08-12T06:54:00.006+08:00

I recently read an article entitled "Children at risk of pop charts porn." Without doubt, music is one of the most accessible entertainment to all of us. When we were teenagers, we could count on the radio even if it meant only one English station albeit Radio 4. Today, there are countless English radio stations and the internet with its music on demand allows us to listen to whatever we want instantaneously, without having to wait by the radio and press the cassette record button!

Music (not MTV) escapes censorship the easiest. Lyrics are made up of beautiful beautiful words, or sometimes naughty suggestions or even outright sexual descriptions. When I was in secondary school, every Friday after school my friends and I hung out at a road side ice kacang stall which housed an ancient juke box. One of the songs we would pay to listen to was Color Me Badd's I Wanna Sex You Up which we thought was very naughty at that time. We would giggle like the school girls we were and slightly awed by the blatant sexual intention. Thinking back perhaps the song writer merely lacked literary imagination. Then there were also songs with equally sexy melody but more subdued sexual connotation such as Rush Rush by Paula Abdul. "When you kiss me up and down" ".... no one has touched me 'so deep' x3 inside" ???

We also know that certain music genre tend to contain more expletives and sexual imageries. However these days, there are more R rated materials in the pop charts which I think is most inappropriate for young children. Some of them are pretty clever with metaphors and depending on how imaginative you are, one may miss it out completely. Have you ever listened to Kanye West's Big Ego??? The melody in the beginning itself is extremely suggestive and his snickering! Or am I just way too imagitive? How about Lady Gaga wanting to ride a disco stick????? Come on!

Do share what songs you think should be R rated or M18 or PG-13.

It is Not Complicated

2010-07-02T23:13:00.002+08:00

Convicted rapists should be castrated.

Definitely not a crooner...

2010-06-28T08:14:00.004+08:00

The other night when I was putting Eddie to bed, I was trying all kinds of tricks to make sure that he stayed in his room. Ever since he has outgrown his cot, sleeping affair is a nightly challenge. He would keep popping out of his room, standing at the top of the stairs taunting me. Then I'll run up the stairs at which point he'll run straight back into his room. Repeat 10 times.

Sometimes, I would stay in his room to try to get him to sleep. He just likes my company I guess. Recently he's taken up singing. He is just not very talented in that department. His repertoire used to be Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and he could only sing bits of the song. So on that night, we were laying down in his room looking at the stars on his ceiling and he started going (in a monotone) "Bobbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb de... de... can fix" and again and again."

Only when he was doing the 3rd round that I realised that he was singing Bob the Builder theme song. And because he could not sing the entire line he only picked up the words he knew!

Bobbbbbbbbb... the builder, can we fix it?!

Aneboda- Brand New Workout!

2010-05-25T07:11:00.006+08:00

I woke up this morning with aches all over my body. Who would have thought that assemblying a chest of IKEA drawers is such a body breaker!

It took me about 2 hours in total, 70 screws, 30 nails and an extra 13 wooden pegs (resembling mini tampons). Sig.Ot came home and told me that IKEA does not give out extra parts! Well, it is waaayyyyy too late. The drawers look pretty sturdy, albeit IKEA sturdy to me.

Equipment : Aneboda- 3 Drawer Chest: Color White
Targetted Muscles : Bum, Thighs and Upper Back
Total Time : 2 hours

The extra pegs are still bugging me. I shall make an enquiry with IKEA today.

Eddie's Birthday - 2

2010-05-14T11:28:00.000+08:00

Remember what I said last year? It's all about the picture with the cake.

White Butter Cake:

1 3/4 cups (175 grams) sifted cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar, divided

2 large eggs, separated

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

White Butter Cake: While eggs are still cold separate the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl. Cover the two bowls with plastic wrap and allow the eggs to come to room temperature before using (about 30 minutes).

In a mixing bowl sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add 3/4 cup (150 grams) of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup (50 grams) of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over mix the batter or it will deflate.

Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Oreo Cheesecake

2010-03-31T09:45:00.003+08:00

Sorry I haven't got time for the picture but I just baked this yesterday morning at 6am.

Oreo Cheesecake
750g cream cheese
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
26 oreo cookies plus 3 tbs melted butter

Smash up 18 cookies and mix with melted butter as cake base.
Cream the cream cheese with sugar, then add eggs 1 at a time. Finally throw in the vanilla essence.
To answer yummymummy's question: Once the cream cheese sugar mixture becomes smooth, it's good enough to add eggs. Overbeating causes bubble built-ups which lead to cracking of the cake.
As for the remaining oreos, you could either smash it up and fold into cream cheese mixture or alternatively sprinkle them on the top of the cake for the black effect, before putting into the oven.
175degrees C for 45 minutes. But my oven's bit hot. Next time I'll just do it for 40 min under.

Chill overnight before serving.

After that, I used the remaining cream cheese (250g) to bake the following.

Mini Oreo Cheesecake (Muffin size)
250g cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
Vanilla Essence
8 oreo cookies
About 8 muffin liners, adjust accordingly to the size of your muffin tray

This one is super easy.

Cream cheese method as per above, the only difference is use half the cookie, the side with icing on as the base of your mini cheesecake.
Scoop cream cheese mixture and then top it off with the mashed up remainder of the cookie halves.
Bake for only 20 minutes.

Fast Lanes

2010-03-23T11:21:00.004+08:00

Can I please reiterate that when a stretch of road has got more than 1 lane, the foremost right lane is meant for overtaking????!!!!!!!! It is not meant for moronic drivers to stick to the speed limit despite the fact that the next 3 - 4 lanes to the left are empty.

For some moronic reasons unknown to unmoronic mortals like us, many people just don't get it. If these people drive with that kind of behaviour, there will never be enough lanes to ease congestion! Well I suppose KL folks are unlikely to have the luxury of free lanes either to the left or right but if you ever drive back to your kampungs using trunk roads, do not undermine the government's efforts in expanding the roads to 2 lanes each direction.

Thank you.

What That Defines Us

2010-01-26T11:38:00.004+08:00

I remember reading an article whereby the writer points out that each time he meets new people, the conversation inevitably always focuses on what each other does, for a living.

I agree that this topic always comes up and it works very well as an icebreaker because EVERYBODY does something for a living. For some, what they do for a living is what they esssentially live for and hence, a subject they most love to talk about.

When I stopped working, I admit that I struggled with an identity crisis. For a long time, I kept wondering to myself what I should put in the column "occupation" whenever the need to fill up a form arises. The truth is, I found it difficult to just proclaim myself as a housewife or homemaker. My past 9 working years have been a rather ambitious one looking for recognition in the form of promotion and monetary gains.

Therefore in the beginning, I used to write "freelancer." I honestly think now that is the most vague profession anyone could profess to hold! Sig.Ot used to make fun of me and asked what exactly I was freelancing at. Well, I write sometimes and I could do translation work which I have done before. Oh, I could be a hand model too! My hands were shown on NTV 7 and SBB's ATM screens.

When I stopped working, it annoyed the hell out of me when people asked me what do I do everyday. Not so much that they are genuinely interested to find out what I do daily, but I suspect they are curious to see what kind of identity do I hold now without a job to qualify me. Have I turned into an aunty who only knows the price difference of carrots in the local wet market vs. Cold Storage.

I am proud to say that for now, I have finally come to terms with my new profession as a full time mother and wife. I can opt out of having to go to the market on Tuesday and sit in a coffeeshop reading instead. I can accommodate my friends' lunch dates requests by scheduling it around my facial appointments. I can bake cakes for my neighbours as thank you gift for looking after the house when we were away.

Most importantly I get to spend time with Eddie everyday while baking 2 buns in the oven. That's productive isn't it?

"... so ancient..."

2010-01-21T10:44:00.005+08:00

Yesterday I came across a piece of news in theStar following Rais' comment on microblogging. I am not very sure what he said since most politicians these days tend to say things just for the heck of publishing space.

I have very limited adult contact these days which may have resulted in my reaction to the following jokes that were published in response to his comment. I could not stop laughing!

“Rais is so ancient, Parameswara asked him for directions.”

“Rais is so ancient, he knew Burger King when it was still a prince.”

“Rais is so ancient, he is on a first name basis with the pharoahs.”

Malaysian girl tops in S’pore O-Level exam

2010-01-13T08:59:00.006+08:00

TheStar
Straitstimes

This piece of news made the front page of the Singapore Straits Times online yesterday. This brilliant girl is not the only one who has been studying in Singapore, as there are so many more Malaysian talents who have been invited and welcomed to study in Singapore.

Most amazingly, Singapore press had no qualms to introduce this Malaysian girl in the front page of its website.

I know for a fact that schools in Singapore not only welcome foreign students to apply to study in their schools, but their principals also travel to other countries during the school break to recruit scholars to study here!

Have I ever mentioned that my cousin's husband who runs his own company in KL and have possibly created hundreds of jobs, have been living in Malaysia for close to 20 years, and his PR application is yet to be approved?

Christmas 2009

2010-01-07T12:05:00.005+08:00

As promised, this is my Christmas cake! I have forgotten to bring the decorations and the best I could come up with is a Christmas looking Thai wordings tag.

Also Tesco ran out of icing sugar, so I had to improvise with my Braun hand held musher. The outcome was not as good as a blender but what's one to do?

Marzipan...

I'm betting that it says Merry Christmas???

My long lost first love

2009-12-07T12:17:00.000+08:00

During my trip back to my parents in November 09, I rediscovered my faithful first love. It is at least 16 years old, which my mom bought for me to replace manual labour. When I baked my first cake which was a Marble Cake, recipe courtesy of Reena's mom, we beat margarine and sugar using rice scoop and a huge metal basin!

Then I had my first cake mixer, which is a National. Unsurprisingly, it still works perfectly fine today. In fact, I hated to admit this to Sig.Ot, but the National is more user friendly than my giant Kenwood. To top it off, I suspect that the cake quality is also better with the National!!! Maybe the secret lies with the double beaters and the smaller sized bowl also allows all the ingredients to be mixed in better.

Tag

2009-11-18T07:30:00.002+08:00

1. Adakah anda rasa anda hot?

Tentu sekali! Kadang-kadang boleh kedengaran "sssssssssssssssssssss"

2.Upload gambar kegemaran anda

Semuanya Eddie. Biar saya cari gambo dari dulu-dulu dan scan.

3. Cerita pasal gambar?

N/A

4.Bila kali terakhir makan pizza?

3 minggu yang lalu

5. Lagu terakhir yang anda dengar?

Virtual Insanity - dalam program Singapore Idol semalam. Laki yang nyangi lagu tu sangat bangus. Yang lain semua tak leh pakai.

(Disclaimer- Itu kali pertama saya menonton Singapore Idol)

6. Apa yang anda buat selain menyelesaikan tag ini?

Baring di atas katil (7.25am)

7. Selain nama sendiri anda dipanggil nama apa?

Yes dear. (tak tipu! suami tak panggil saya dear, tapi "yes dear")

8. Tag lagi 6 orang

Maaf kena repeat sebab para pembaca saya terhad.

a. Yummymummy
b. N/A
c. Kechik
d. Khemy
e. N/A
f. Elise

9. Siapakah orang No.1 pada anda?

Kawan baik sejak sekolah.

10.Kata sesuatu mengenai orang no 5

N/A

11. No.3 ada hubungan dengan siapa?

Hubungan menyusu dengan munchkin.

12. Bagaimana pula orang no.4?

Ini komplikated sikit. Saya tak tau kalau dia ingat, tapi kali pertama kita berjumpa adalah masa kita di Darjah 6 main bola jaring. Masa tu, khemy sekolah lain.

13. Pesanan kepada orang no 6.?

Mulakan blog.

Delia's Fool-proof Xmas Cake

2009-11-10T13:57:00.006+08:00

My one and only tip is that before you embark on baking 2 cakes at the same time i.e. doubling up on the recipe, please check if there is any hand folding of flour plus over 1 kg of dried fruits involved. The total of 2 hours laboring in the dining room resulted in lower back pain and pulled hamstrings in both my legs. Pregnant women should NOT stand for a prolonged period of time.

Few key pointers:-

1. Should've reduced more of the sugar. Could've easily cut off by 50g for each cake.
2. When baking more than one cake on the shelve, the cake furthest in the oven, is browner than the rest. It didn't burn though.
3. I substituted currants with sultanas. I don't like currants.
4. You could be much more generous with the brandy used to season the fruits. 3 tbs for that amount of fruits is really negligible.
5. Grating 2 lemon zest and 2 orange zest is really not as easy as it seems. Start early on that.
6. I cannot ice the cake until few days before Xmas or else the marzipan will dry out. For picture from last year's iced Xmas cake, please click 2008 Xmas.
7. Lowest shelf!!! And 4 1/2 hours is a tad too long. Maybe 4 hours is ok, and check before then. 4 1/2hrs resulted in crusty top.

(Grated orange and lemon zest)

THE CLASSIC CHRISTMAS CAKE

Ingredients
1 lb (450 g) currants
6 oz (175 g) sultanas
6 oz (175 g) raisins
2 oz (50 g) glacé cherries, rinsed, dried and finely chopped
2 oz (50 g) mixed candied peel, finely chopped
3 tablespoons brandy, plus extra for 'feeding'
8 oz (225 g) plain flour
½ level teaspoon salt
¼ level teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ level teaspoon ground mixed spice
8 oz (225 g) unsalted butter
8 oz (225 g) soft brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 oz (50 g) almonds, chopped (the skins can be left on)
1 level dessertspoon black treacle
grated zest 1 lemon
grated zest 1 orange
4 oz (110 g) whole blanched almonds (only if you don't intend to ice the cake

Method

You need to begin this cake the night before you want to bake it. All you do is weigh out the dried fruit and mixed peel, place it in a mixing bowl and mix in the brandy as evenly and thoroughly as possible. Cover the bowl with a clean tea cloth and leave the fruit aside to absorb the brandy for 12 hours.

Next day pre-heat the oven to gas mark 1, 275°F (140°C). Then measure out all the rest of the ingredients, ticking them off to make quite sure they're all there. The treacle will be easier to measure if you remove the lid and place the tin in a small pan of barely simmering water. Now begin the cake by sifting the flour, salt and spices into a large mixing bowl, lifting the sieve up high to give the flour a good airing. Next, in a separate large mixing bowl, whisk the butter and sugar together until it's light, pale and fluffy. Now beat the eggs in a separate bowl and add them to the creamed mixture a tablespoonful at a time; keep the whisk running until all the egg is incorporated. If you add the eggs slowly by degrees like this the mixture won't curdle. If it does, don't worry, any cake full of such beautiful things can't fail to taste good!

When all the egg has been added, fold in the flour and spices, using gentle, folding movements and not beating at all (this is to keep all that precious air in). Now fold in the fruit, peel, chopped nuts and treacle and finally the grated lemon and orange zests. Next, using a large kitchen spoon, transfer the cake mixture into the prepared tin, spread it out evenly with the back of a spoon and, if you don't intend to ice the cake, lightly drop the whole blanched almonds in circles or squares all over the surface. Finally cover the top of the cake with a double square of silicone paper with a 50p-size hole in the centre (this gives extra protection during the long slow cooking).

Bake the cake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 4½-4¾ hours. Sometimes it can take up to ½-¾ hour longer than this, but in any case don't look till at least 4 hours have passed. Cool the cake for 30 minutes in the tin, then remove it to a wire rack to finish cooling. When it's cold 'feed' it – make small holes in the top and base of the cake with a cocktail stick or small skewer, then spoon over a few teaspoons of brandy, wrap it in double silicone paper secured with an elastic band and either wrap again in foil or store in an airtight container. You can now feed it at odd intervals until you need to ice or eat it.

Jingle Jingle Jingle

2009-11-09T10:14:00.002+08:00

It's one of my favourite times of the year! I love it when they put up the Christmas decor in the shops, on the streets and luckily this year's Orchard Road's Christmas decor is much nicer than last year.

I am excited because I shall be baking my Christmas cakes today! This is 3rd year in a running, with a fool-proof Delia's 31 years old recipe. Of course the anticipation of finding out whether the cake is tasty or not (on 25th Dec) adds to the whole zing as well.

Wish me luck! Will post pictures once they are done.

Ignoring which couple of bad apples?

2009-11-05T07:48:00.003+08:00

In response to the recent announcement by PM asking us to ignore the racist remarks made by certain politicians, I came across a very good commentary on this issue. The Nut Graph is an independent news portal with no political affiliation whatsoever. Do read.

http://www.thenutgraph.com/umno-not-racist

The Case of the late TBH

2009-10-22T10:20:00.004+08:00

I know that an independent inquest has been going on for months but honestly I no longer know what it is to achieve. Perhaps I am so sceptical to the point of not believing that justice is ever going to reach beyond the grave of this poor man who will never get to hold his newborn.

I may be wrong but from all the legal dramas and CSI I have seen, I am not convinced that this man has voluntarily jumped off a building simply because he was being "investigated" for a few thousand ringgit. Mind you, he has not been convicted of anything yet. On top of that, he was due to get married and he is going to be a father!

Therefore I read with interest when I realised that the famed Dr. Pornthip (I remember her from National Geographic) has been invited to give her opinions. To her credit, she has conducted over 10,000 autopsies in her career. It is most astounding that she was able to conclude there is 80% probability that TBH was murdered simply by reading the reports and looking at the photographs. Just imagine what else she could have concluded and told us if only she had the opportunity to conduct a post mortem on the late TBH.

I read with amusement another commentator's remark on Dr. Pornthip's testimony:-

by drrafick
4. What does this testimony means? To some it may means that TBH was murdered by MACC officers. To me it means a lot more. It means that the entire system which consists of the MACC, Police, the doctors (from Klang and UHKL), and officers in Putrajaya is now on trial.

The Yacoubian Building... by Alaa Al Aswany

2009-10-21T15:27:00.000+08:00

Just by reading the prologue, I was won over immediately. It has been a very long time since I read a good book. Each page that I read, I pored on each word very slowly in case I miss any of it. Every word is so important and crucial to this great literary work and I just wanted to drink it in. (Unlike some other books which you can speed read and still get the gist of what is happening).

What inspired the writer to write this book, he wrote it exactly how he was inspired in the first place. One day while walking through downtown Cairo, he saw a building which was in the process of being torn down. The buidling was being dissected and was to be torn down in sections. The walls of the building had been stripped bare and he could see into the different apartments and the various personal effects which were left behind by the previous tenants.

Al Aswany wrote about the inhabitants of Yacoubian Building which represented the different segments of the Egyptian society. As I am no expert of modern day Egypt, I suspect the building itself was symbolic in its representation of Egypt. Yacoubian Building which by the way a real landmark in Egypt, was fictitiously dressed up in the book. The writer talked about the building in its heyday in all its glory as it was inspired by French architecture just like most buildings were in the 19th century. Prominent people used to live in this apartments but as time passed, the building begun to lose its shine and deteriorated. On top of the roof, there were individual rooms which were allocated to each apartment owner for use as storage (think parking lot). However it now had been sublet to poor families which used the tiny store rooms as their homes.

The book talks about corruption, social changes and religion, among many other things. It is something most of us could identify with, despite our differences. The one thing I found most striking about this book is the order among chaos.

The Scare Tactic

2009-10-21T12:24:00.002+08:00

I have not read up much on the subject of bringing up children but I am quite sure most experts warn against scaring children into submission.

Most of you while growing up would be familiar with "bad people will come and catch you" or sometimes the police would come catch you too depending on your locality, and in the past some politically incorrect terms were used too.

This I remember from my childhood and I think it is quite funny. "Police come catch you and put you into prison, and you will have to eat curry rice." I am not quite sure how scary curry rice is supposed to be. Maybe as a kid, you wouldn't like spicy food or the prospect of eating rice with only curry gravy is quite pitiful.

The issue that I am faced with today is whether I too should employ a scare tactic. Honestly, as much as I would like to adopt all the idealistic approaches of raising children but being in the state that I am in today; WHATEVER that works to keep my boy from harm, who cares.

I have been telling Eddie there is a dinosaur outside the house and I always accompany that statement with a roar. It worked for about a week. This morning he ventured out when I was not looking and realised for himself that of course there isn't one. It is very tiring to have to consistently outsmart your children.

CNY Flight Added!!!!! brought to you by Fireflyz

2009-10-09T21:34:00.005+08:00

I have been checking the website daily to see if any miracle has been performed, regardless whether there is news announcement or not. Neither did Fireflyz wrote back to acknowledge receipts of my countless emails. For Hari Raya this year, the flights were added only a month before Raya. Today has been a busy day for me and I only managed to go online this evening at about 8pm.

To my delight, I saw the added flights to Ipoh during CNY period!!! My heart rate increased, I was told off for running down and up the stairs (fetching credit cards) and heart beat even faster as I needed to do 2 lots of booking since there are varying departure dates. What if the other ticket sold out while I am still processing the one for Sig.Ot???

I am so pleased that I have managed to secure the flights eventhough I can't help but to wonder whether the tickets would have been cheaper earlier today as ours cost RM 700+ per person. Nevermind, point is we will get to be with our family for CNY which means alot to me. For that price, I don't mind at all if it means I don't have to sit on the bus for 8 hours or 3 hours from KLIA excluding the CNY jam factor.

Moral of the story is, never give up. Be creative. I am not sure if those emails I have drafted for my friends to send from their emails worked, but I am so pleassseeeed that WE ARE GOING HOME FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!! Thank you also to my dear friends who have wished me well.

CNY Flight Sold Out!!!

2009-10-07T11:21:00.003+08:00

Oh what a bummer, it appears that I have left it way too late. All flights to Ipoh have been sold out for the CNY holidays. I have written to Fireflyz in hope that they will add a couple or more flights to enable more than 80 people to fly back for CNY!

If you haven't got anything better to do, please do write to fireflyz and ask them to add flights from Singapore to Ipoh next February. You could attention your email to Eddy Leong, MD and send it to contactus@fireflyz.com.my

Help send poe and family home. If you've got kids, do feel sorry for me as I will have to travel with a toddler for 8 hours on a bus, as opposed to 1 hour on the plane!

1Malaysia F1 team to be formed

2009-09-15T21:22:00.002+08:00

Of course I am patriotic but I am equally tickled. Read article from theStar

Even the pit-stop team consists of Malaysians
1Malaysia Team would identify a suitable Malaysian driver
If we want to export the Proton, we must ensure that the brand is strong

If you read the article, all the objectives and strategies seem sound. However take a look at the Digi yellow man ad campaign. The ad was successfull in terms of popularity but it never achieved the objective to increase sales and conversion. This is simply because what the ad shouts out to be could not be delivered by the product. Digi simply does not have the best coverage, period.

Old Fashioned Cooking Shows

2009-09-10T16:49:00.005+08:00

Despite the fancy arrays of cooking programmes on AFC, I find myself attracted to the Malay language ramadhan cooking shows! It reminds me of childhood. When we were kids, there wasn't much cooking shows except for Sunday afternoons. Then comes fasting month and everyday at about 4pm, I would watch the yummy shows despite the garish decoration, terrible lighting and clothing. Each time after they cook, there is always recap of recipes and cooking instructions which I will try to copy down as quickly as possible! Of course modern cook shows do not publish ingredients or instructions on their shows. Bleah...

Oh goodness where are we 52 years on?

2009-09-07T21:00:00.003+08:00

I stumbled upon some videos on Youtube which showed the dialogue sessions between the residents of Section 23 with the Selangor MB.

I didn't put the sound on. However based on what I saw, please heaven I pray, that those are merely a bunch of politically motivated paid goons. If I haven't got any Malay friends, my perception of them would be perpetually skewed!

Whatever happened to harmony, tolerance and respect? The Standard 1 book we learnt to read where Ali, Mohan and Ah Meng are playing ball in the playground?

My dear main 3 readers, lets promise each other that we at least, will raise our children well. No matter how different we all are, they will learn to respect the difference. Of course, we will still crash Taman Hijau for Laksa Johor whenever the occasion permits it!

Favourite Dance Scenes

2009-08-28T16:20:00.004+08:00

The wonders of Youtube. I just remembered the unforgettable dance scene from Rocknrolla with Thandie Newton and Gerard Butler and managed to view it on Youtube. That led me to think about my favourite and the most memorable dance scenes from all the movies I have watched since young. I can only think of one other, which is tango scene with Al Pacino in Scent of A Woman. The whole setting; in a beautiful tearoom, a beautiful young girl and most impressively him being blind.

Feeling Good

2009-08-28T13:17:00.004+08:00

Last week I rediscovered the fun of watching movies in the cinema. Total darkness, no distraction and did I mention, alone?

Up
(I did not know what to expect as I have never seen tralier of this cartoon.)
First of all, it is more suitable for adults. It will sure tug the heartstrings of people who have experienced relationships.
Moral of the story:- Letting go and moving on does not mean forgetting.

The Proposal
Funny, there were few moments of laughing out loud. I fell in love with the beauty of Alaska and the warmth of the people.
Moral of the story:- Too cliche to mention.

Harry Potter
Finally I have managed to catch the show. As per the book, but I was struggling to remember if Snape was innocent in the end.
Moral of the story:- None yet, but Good will overcome Evil

Coco Before Chanel
Despite some choppy development of the storyline, it is an extremely beautiful story. Not that I know of many French actresses, but Audrey Taotou (from Amelie) was perfectly cast as Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel.
Moral of the story:- If you want to fight convention, be persistent and thick-skinned.

Miss Universe 2009

2009-08-24T10:28:00.006+08:00

Whichever way you want to perceive it, either I get to watch telly on Monday morning or why am I watching Miss Universe???

The past 10 years or so, many people particularly women have argued the irrelevance of beauty pageants and how these pageants belittle the true value of women. (That perhaps explain the quality of contestants we get in Malaysia and Singapore.)
As I watched the final 15 (no Asian) parade which was swimwear, I did not think anymore of it. If anything at all, having watched reality shows such as ANTP, Miss Universe is definitely a more dignified version of a beauty show minus catfights.

Oh and check out the irony of the swimsuit event. They got rapper 'Flo Rida (pronounced rider)' to perform 2 songs DURING the swimsuit parade. This has got to be a rapper music video wet dream!!! He started his performance surrounded by 83 women in bikinis who had to dance to the song "Jump." Poor women, especially those who couldn't dance.

Even though no Asian made it to the final 15, Ms. China won Ms. Congeniality while Ms. Thailand took Ms. Photogenic.

Anyway the evening gown event took my breath away. Ms Kosovo and Ms Venezuela were absolutely stunning! Ms South Africa has got this hot sexy thing going for her. Ms Venezuela looks like a Hollywood movie star from the 40s and Ms Kosovo has got the elegance of Audrey Hepburn. Ms. Kosovo is so gorgeous. You have got to see her strut down the runway in that blue dress and the hairdo. It took my breath away. But I don't think Kosovo nailed the interview. Sigh... if she does not get it, lets hope Venezuela does.

Is it just me?

2009-08-19T10:02:00.004+08:00

When I was a kid, I used to watch Ms Universe on telly with my cousins and 6th aunt. Forget about feminism, sexism, demeaning women etc. We just watched it purely out of admiration for the beauty of the women and their dresses. My aunt used to marvel at South American beauties with their very exotic looks. In those days, mainstream media was limited to local papers, RTM 1, RTM 2 and TV3. The event gave us a glimpse into almost 100 different cultures at the same time, eventhough a distorted one!

Today I went through the list of contestants. My aunt is right, the South American beauties are gorgeous. I also look at our Asian neighbours' representatives.

Well, is it just me? Everytime when I see an Asian girl posing, or trying to pose with a sultry expression it just reminds me of bad soft porn (think Asian FHM). Very few does it well, or perhaps I expect Asian women to represent a more wholesome image; smiley with warmth and sincerity. Or perhaps they just can't quite carry it off. Perhaps to look sultry, you need to have a certain look.

Anyway if you haven't got anything better to do, do browse through the contestants. I did not realise that they are ranked for popularity even before the finals, and our country's rep ranks last.

What A Hole

2009-08-15T11:38:00.004+08:00

In my whole life, I have probably encountered only 1 or 2 people who do not swear, at all. Swearing is so common, even my mother swears. Her favourite phrase is "dog poo" in hokkien. Most of us have our favourite words or phrases. (Please comment and share)

Most of the expletives we use have been uttered so freely for years, we no longer pause and think what it actually means. Take for example somebody cuts into my lane without signalling his car and I say "asshole!" If you actually visualise an asshole (albeit a real one) it is actually quite funny. Why asshole? I suppose it's rather self-explanatory being the exit point of our waste system.

How about "f***" and its various uses as an adjective, noun or verb. Why ever "f***"? I find this rather odd seeing that humans are sexual beings.

However I do take offence when swearing is directed at someone's family. I strongly feel that if you are upset with someone, just take it out on the offending person. There is no need to involve the rest of the family. I did make an exception to this rule once when someone on the bus stole money from my bacpack 12 years ago on metro bus ride from Kota Raya. I cursed the thief and his next 7 generations. I must have been inspired by the legendary Puteri Gunung Ledang, or was that the Langkawi legend?

We or most of us swear so regularly that most cuss words have lost their effectiveness or oomph. For example "oh s***" is so common to express unpleasant surprises and "f***" to mark the beginning of deep s***. In fact deep s*** is funny. Imagine standing in a puddle of poo!

Language in my opinion also determine the oomphness of a swear word. Until today, I still find hokkien words to describe the male and female reproductive organs to be outrageous. I generally reserve the use of those words for exceptionally pissing off occasions ("piss off" is a recognised phrasal verb in English).

Well, my swearing days are numbered since Eddie is picking up words very quickly these days. I will soon resort to spelling, if not in English will then be "p-u-k-i-m-a-k."

Country Curry Fear Factor Style

2009-08-03T15:53:00.005+08:00

In my first year of living in England, the Accommodation Office assigned me to an apartment with 5 other Thai postgraduate students. I thought it was rather odd, considering that the whole point of studying abroad is to be exposed to a wider spectrum of culture. Well perhaps the Accommodation Office presumed that we Asians like to stick with our own kind. Or perhaps they wanted to protect me from the wilder side of university life.

Do not get me wrong, I loved my Thai housemates. The assortments of Thai food they used to cook were lovely. Of course not all Thai people like spicy food. Only Fai, whose mother is a Cantonese (there are Thai people who are of Chinese descent, mainly Teochew e.g. Thaksin), loved really spicy food. She used to get shipments of yummy ingredients from her mother. She used to cook one type of Thai southern curry which I found vaguely similar to our Penang Assam Laksa. It was so spicy, fishy and extremely pungent when mixed with bamboo shoots. Each time she cooks that dish, she would always offer me a portion of it. Both of us dug in while everyone else complained about the smell in the kitchen.

Since then, I came across that curry once in Phuket when we were experimenting with the Thai written menu. The one I had in this lovely seafood restaurant in Phuket was SO spicy. I do not think I have ever eaten anything that was so spicy that I just could not eat it! People who know me would know about my high spicy tolerance level. In fact I do not know anyone who could eat anything more spicy than I, except for Sig.Ot. Each mouthful of the curry was followed by huge gulps of water plus the cool condiments that were served with that curry dish; cucumbers, long beans etc.

This time round in Samui, I ordered Country Curry with fish. It tastes vaguely similar to the one Fai used to cook, but a tad too sweet to my liking. That was not the bad bit. There was no fish to be found in the curry except for unidentified bits of stuff inside the curry. I swear I have never ever seen anything like that.

Item A

It was not fish stomach, because it was chewy and very “flowery” in appearance. Reminds me of sotong that have been carved to bloom when cooked, but much more complicated patterns.

Item B

This is the bit I could not get over with. They were a bunch of bubbles, like oversized pearls stuck together. Sig.Ot thought that they may have been the insides of the lungs of something, because of those bubbles. I reminded him that this was supposed to be a fish dish and fish don’t have lungs!

Left (Item B) Right (Item A)

Sig.Ot ate those stuff, and I could not bring myself to eat them. They looked way too gross (some may disagree due to the horseshoe tick eggs!). In the end, I did bring myself to try the bubbles. Sig.Ot described the texture to be similar with the horsecrab eggs; chewy. We decided that the bunch of bubbles were perhaps the eggs of a giant fish. Must be one hell of a fish because they taste nothing like my favourite salmon roe, and I doubt these eggs, if they are indeed eggs, will ever feature in a fine dining menu.

Trash vs. Arrakis

2009-08-02T20:50:00.007+08:00

Gone were the days when I could read a book a day during my holiday break. My record was 15 books in Phuket 5 years ago.

To be fair, this time round was not too bad considering that I have Sig.Ot and Eddie to look after. I managed to read 4 books in 15 days. Two of my choices were quite horrid. I did not realise Louise Bagshawe writes trash. I thought terms like "spearing" could only be found in Mills & Boons. Maybe being a wife and mother changes you. I am no longer as interested in the copulation description as I am with the plot.

Dune by Frank Herbert
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
A Kept Woman by Louise Bagshawe
Married Lovers by Jackie Collins

I know, such contradictions. I am a big fan of Dune. I rarely, very rarely re-read books. However Dune was worth every single page. It is so spectacular how great one's mind could be to imagine such possibilities and to create an alternative universe with this gift.

My HeartBurns

2009-08-02T15:54:00.008+08:00

My trip to Thailand always include outings to the local market. The treasure, oops I mean food, you could find there is absolutely heavenly.

This is also the opportunity I take to stock up on my curry paste collection, especially the super spicy version of everything (red, green, sour, panang) which not only leaves your mouth tingly but with a serious heartburn too.

On top of that, I was going to buy all types of curry paste as a present to our neighbor down the road, a 90 year old great grandmother whom Eddie visits every morning. Since she loves cooking and occasionally share with us her delicious nyonya specialities, I thought the gift of curry paste was befitting. Furthermore, I will be visiting my family next week and I am sure my parents would enjoy the curry too. I ended up buying 11 bags of individually packed curry paste from the market and was so pleased with my curry haul!

And why oh why did I not think of the stupid airport???

I hand carried them all in a paper bag, and they were confiscated at the gate scanner. The lady told me I could not bring them on to the plane, as they were like "lotion that you put on your skin." What kind of a stupid comparison was that?! Yes I understand what she was trying to say but her choice of example merely infuriated me. I did ask her whatever happened to the 100ml allowance in clear plastic bag because they were all in clear plastic bags. She told me there was no such thing eventhough I swear SIA allows lotian and toothpaste in the approved quantity of course, on my long haul flights.

My heart burns and yearns for my lost curry paste.

The Crab which is not...

2009-07-31T23:29:00.010+08:00

Each trip to Samui is not complete without a trip to our favorite seafood restaurant on Bangpo beach. It is a local joint which we stumbled upon 4 years ago. Our restaurant choices are usually based on the 'local' factor. Obviously the more locals there are, the better it should be in terms of authenticity and price. The restaurant which we still do not know of the name, is on Bangpo beach and there is nothing fancy about it except for the superb priceless view. The restaurant consists of simple attap roofs and they used to make tables out of old doors! I am not joking.

This time round, the tables have been replaced with new bamboo tables. But oh my, there are also 'farangs,' lots of them! Yes, I am such a hyprocrite considering that both my husband and I are not locals either but we prize our discovery. There were so many of them I was afraid that the restaurant may lose its local touch.

On the plus side, the menu has improved somehow with better English translation. However, there is one page of food listing in Thai with no English translation from which we always randomly pick an item. Unfortunately there was one main item that was not listed in the menu, and the waitress could not understand what we wanted. After much hand actions including using pots and pans to explain the color of my desired dinner, the waitress finally figured out what I was trying to order.... horseshoe crab.

When we first ordered this dish 4 years ago, it was merely out of curiosity with a high cool factor. I mean look at the guy! The armour was just awesome. It was prehistoric. When the dish arrived, we did not know what to do with it. We turned it upside down, trying to do the regular dissections as per your regular crustacean. In the end we figured out where the opening was. To our shock, there was no crab meat to be found. There were just hundreds and hundreds of green beans lookalike in that little armor. Sig.Ot and I dugged in and ate them all. The green beans lookalike are actually the eggs. Taste wise, it is a little bit fishy and the texture is chewy.

This time round, when the English speaking waitress finally figured out what I wanted then told me that it was not crab. So I thought perhaps it is not called crab in Thai. I googled horseshoe crab and discovered that it is more closely related to ticks than to crabs! I told Elise about this and she was so grossed out by the fact that I was eating thousands of baby mites. I am thinking right now, "Wait till she sees the picture!"

Do give it a try if you ever see one. It goes very well with papaya salad on the side.

22degree Halo

2009-07-29T12:15:00.003+08:00

I have witnessed this for the first time today. It was HUGE. It looked like a rainbow which formed a perfect circle around the sun. Sig.Ot was sun lounging and reading when he saw this in the sky and called out to me. He joked that it must have been that hole in the ozone!

The halo around the sun is caused by ice crystals 5-10km up in the sky. Sunlight is then refracted in hexagonal ice crystals.

Anyway it was spectacular and so perfect, it must be a good omen for all of us.

Pure Simple Joy

2009-07-26T14:55:00.003+08:00

You can always tell who are the people who have just arrived for their holidays. The most obvious tell-tale sign is when they start racing down the beach towards the sea like some crazed maniacs! Of course even without the sprint and hurdling of the waves, the usual suspect would be the skin color. The pale pallid, as white as sheet. Or at later part of the day when the skin turns bright lobster red, which only happens to most people who have not been in the sun since the previous summer. The worst case of sunburn is when the skin turns a tinge of dark purple. I feel so sorry for them. That must hurt, really really hurt.
I wish I had managed to capture some of the moments of these people who were running towards the ocean with joy. I am also very sure that many other onlookers like me, observed it with a grin on their faces.

Food that binds...

2009-07-25T18:01:00.006+08:00

When I first started dating Sig.Ot, we ate alot and we still do. I figured that the love of same type of food bound us together, like the sticky rice we eat with bbq meat on the beach or noodle soup in makeshift stalls by the side of the road.

I thought that I have at least seen if not ate most food in SE Asia, such as those fried insects or whatever Chinese stew with unhalal contents. So 5 years ago, he introduced to me a heavenly appetiser called Kung Chay Nam Pla at a Thai restaurant in Telawi (I think it's called Laana), I was swept off my feet. Since then, each trip to Thailand is accompanied by a daily dose of this yummy dish.

As the name suggests, it is a prawn dish, eaten raw. Yum yum... the peeled raw prawns are usually arranged in fan shape with various accompaniments. I noticed that it is done differently here compared to Phuket. For instance in Phuket, the prawns are arranged with sweet basil, raw garlic and chilli padi. The special chilli sauce is served on the sides. Over here in Samui, the raw prawns are served with shredded raw cabbage and thinly sliced bittergourd! I personally prefer the raw garlic and chilli since the 2 give each other a real good kick.

Summer in Samui

2009-07-25T17:35:00.004+08:00

Entering into the final week of our family holiday, I am sure it is going to fly through very quickly. The weather has been a mix of very sunny spells and thunderstorms, but overall I have browned quite nicely.

The journey to get here was rather stressful with the botched early check-in, then rushing home to get everyone and the never arrived taxi and a forgotten employee pass which was needed at the airport. As we got onto the plane, I kidded myself into believing everything would be rosy since it was the beginning of our holidays!

Guess not, Eddie got very upset because it was his bedtime and he could not settle down. So he got himself crying and did a projectile vomit on me while I was standing right at the front of the aisle in full view of all the other 100 odd passengers. (Airbus 319 with 3:3 seat configuration, single aisle with total seatings of 120)

Sig.Ot thought it was hillarious, I was dead embarrassed and of course the toilet had to be situated right at the plane tail. As I made my way down the the very very long aisle, there were sympathetic murmurs, there were people who shrunk back into their seats should they made any contact with both Eddie and I and a kind lady handed me more wet wipes as I walked past her seat.

Mind you, the flight was a very short one but I decided to hang out in the toilet with Eddie. At least the changing table, mirror and all the stuff inside the toilet kept him occupied for the other hour or so.

Dream on...

2009-07-25T17:30:00.003+08:00

For serial dreamers like me who remembers dreams every night, there are 3 broad categories of dreams:-

Dreams that don't matter
Dreams that you wake up from and thank goodness they were merely dreams
Dreams that you wake up from and wish that you have done it because it was only a dream!!!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2009-07-10T12:40:00.005+08:00

A friend of mine is going through a buying frenzy in preparation for the arrival of the little one. Someone wisely said that you don't really know what you need till the little one arrives. Of course, different baby needs different stuff. In this article, I have compiled things that I have bought in the last one year which I consider to be excellent buy and those which are money-wasters!

Long term Investment - Things that I have used and still using since Eddie's arrival

Avent Bottles - Excellent!
Sterilizing tray - To be filled with a little bit of water and pop into microwave for 8 minutes
Baby Cot- The one that I bought is bigger than standard size cot, and can be converted into a bed when he is older. He is supposed to be able to sleep in it until he is about 3 years old.
Ozone swimming costume - Eddie's been wearing this for a year now, and the suit will be making its second appearance in Samui this summer!
Fisher Price Rainforest Peekaboo Leaves Musical Mobile - I am so surprised that Eddie hasn't wrecked this because I am supposed to take it off his cot once he could stand up, which was bout 7 months ago.

Mid-term Investment

Medela electric breast pump - I used this for the whole 6 months
Philips-Avent bottle reheat thing - Well no more extra milk to keep now but at that time, I love using the reheat thing. You could never overheat or underheat, you don't need to keep checking or boil water separately etc. It has various settings for type of food, temperature and volume. Very intelligent indeed.
Babybjorn Babysitter Balance - This was a bouncy chair that was good for day use, BEFORE he could crawl.
Philips Baby Monitor - When he was a baby this was great use but now his voice no longer require any form of amplifier

Money Waster

Bumbo Baby Seat
The First Years Close & Secure Sleeper - I bought this for the 1 month Eddie was supposed to sleep with me at my parents, as he didn't have a cot. We then got him a big nice bouncy bed. The product is an excellent product especially if you are visiting friends or relatives for couple of hours. It is like a carry on bed for baby which could be put on floor, or sofa.

A Matter of "When" not "If"

2009-07-07T09:00:00.007+08:00

H1N1, Swine Flu, whatever you call it.

Since it first surfaced or reported in Mexico in April 09, the flu has spread to more continents and more people have caught it. Even in Singapore, the first reported case was on 27 May 09 and 39 days later, the number of cases have passed the 1000 mark.

The media has played a big role to promote vigilance and awareness amongst the people. At the same time, such awareness is also created based on the foundation of fear of H1N1. When you first have 1 or 2 people catching the virus, perhaps you could still afford to ostracise the person, finger point and go "eeehhhhhh.... swine flu" but now that over 1000 people have caught it in just slightly over 1 month, the flu IS getting very real. You could very well have it. Think zombie movie scene; 3 normal human beings trying to run away from 1000 charging zombies. (I often wonder why don't they just join the zombies, no more senseless running away).

Singapore's 48th case was a German man who flew back from US. Upon reaching Singapore, he went on to a formal function, shopping, Clarke Quay and concert, before checking into the hospital. That created a huge outcry from the public who accused the man of being irresponsible. Maybe he was really feeling fine until the party was over?

My point is nobody wants to be sick, especially NOT of H1N1 for couple of days worth of MC. Unfortunately the success of the media campaign has inadvertently created a stigma against people who caught H1N1. Lets hope at the end of the day, common sense and sympathy prevail against the masks on our faces and thermometers in our handbags.

p.s. In Australia, there is no H1N1 hype despite over 4,000 reported cases. Apparently their normal seasonal winter flu is more deadly than H1N1. Life goes on down under.

p.s.s. I dreamt I had the flu, and I was sent to a quarantine centre in Butterworth.

bersambung... Tag - 2

2009-07-04T22:01:00.004+08:00

TAG 2

1. Apakah perasaan anda sekarang? Saya terasa lapar

2. Saya nak makan? Assam laksa!!!

3. Saya tak suka? Orang yang tidak beradab, khasnya laki yang tak buka/pegang pintu untuk perempuan mengandung / dgn anak-anak

4. Impian saya? Kereta saya ada pembesar suara:- "Boleh matikah kalau bagi saya lalu dahulu???!!!" / "Jangan ingat u pemandu jantan saya akan takut pada u. Saya tau bertinju ala thai" / "Saya tangkap gambar kereta kau dan paparkan di laman web saya!!!" Tapi masalahnya, mereka tak kan paham bahasa melayu lah...

5. Haiwan yang saya tak suka? Kuching!

6. Saya harapkan? 2 lelaki sial kurang ajar yang berkulit gelap dengan nombor kereta johor yang menghalang kereta saya tengah hari ini, akan terkentut sambil terberak semasa mengurat perempuan malam ini. Lepas tu bila mereka pergi tandas, takde kertas tandas ataupun paip air.

7. Jika boleh putarkan masa? Saya akan mengulangi semua yang telah saya lakukan sekali lagi.

8. Saya pada 10 tahun akan datang? Berehat di sebuah rumah pantai di Thailand bila-bila saja saya teringin melapangkan hati.

9. Handphone saya adalah sebuah? Sudah HILANG!!!!

10. Saya pernah bercinta sebanyak? Alamak, kan dah cakap. Hanya sekali.

11. Kawan-kawan saya? Berbagai-bagai.

12. Pernah dikhianati? Belum lagi, harap-harap tidak akan dikhianati.

13. Apa yang hendak anda lakukan terhadap orang yang mengkhianati anda? Rasanya saya akan menyumpah orang tu. Kalaunya laki, biasanya sumpah tu berkaitan dengan zakarnya dan penyakit kelamin. Kalau pompuan, hmmmnnn... biar saya pikir

Howl At The Moon - 2nd July 09

2009-07-03T22:36:00.007+08:00

It has been a very long time since I've gone clubbing on a weekday, well not that it makes any difference to me. (In fact if I want to, I could drink anytime of the day, any day! Ha) A friend of mine turned 31 yesterday and we took her to this place called Howl At The Moon at Emerald Hill. Frankly speaking, I did not know what to expect. After all, most places are so pretentious these days, and I mean both the bars and their patrons.

When I got there around 8.30pm, I was very surprised that the band(mainly Caucasian but 2 locals) was already playing. On the stage they had the usual setup; drums, guitar (?) actually I don't think there was a guitar.

In fact, the band stood out simply because they had 2 baby grands, drums, saxophone, trumpet (?) and perhaps a couple of other musical instruments. And at ALL times, the stage have 2 singers on piano singing. Towards the end of every hour, all the other band members get on stage to perform before replacing the first 2 singers on piano. This means that in order to qualify to join the band, you have to play ALL the musical instruments. How impressive is that? I met one of the guys and he told me that he learnt the piano in 8 months! They made up songs as well, rude of course.

It was very spontaneous, entertaining and engaging. This is the first club that I have been to that plays ONLY live music. The band does not take any breaks, you don't have to listen to stupid techno. Not to mention that they get patrons to play games. Birthday girl had to do crazy shot, then with another friend they had to dance to "I'm a Little Teapot," and I had to compete with 3 other people and say the phrase "Suck it to me" as many times as possible in 60 seconds. My friends had high hopes for me, unfortunately after a bottle of Cloudy Bay, my tongue was tied and I burst into laughter. This other guy was pretty good but when he said it quickly, he sounded like he was saying "sodomy." His friend went last and he was good. All he said was, "suck me suck me suck me," which was both smart and funny.

I was chatted up by a guy and when I told him that I am married, surprise surprise, he owned up to being married too. *Men*. No swapping of phone numbers, instead we were comparing our kids' photos! That's a first in a club.

I suppose we all have the most fun when we least expect it.

Red Velvet Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (15 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk (I personally find vinegar better than lemon juice)

2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda (please note baking soda, not powder!!! i made this mistake few weeks ago. it still turned out alright)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 ounces (113 grams) cream cheese, room temperature (i didn't bother with the rest, only cream cheese and some lemon juice)

(And the writing in yellow is simply because I ran out of other colors, and the icing ran)

4 ounces (113 grams) Mascarpone cheese, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (60 grams) confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted

3/4 (180 ml) cup heavy whipping cream

Poe di-tag

2009-06-24T22:41:00.005+08:00

Tag Bahasa Ibunda

Saya telah dicabar oleh Khemy untuk melengkapkan tag yang berikut:-

TAG 1

1. Bekas kekasih saya adalah : Tiada sebab saya suci. Suami saya adalah kekasih saya yang hanya satu.

2. Saya sedang mendengar : Bunyi penyaman udara dalam bilik tidur.

3. Mungkin saya patut: Pergi tandas sebab sakit perut.

4. Saya suka : Berpacaran dengan suami saya setiap hari Jumaat

5. Sahabat-sahabat baik saya : sesiapa yang sudi membaca blog saya, rasanya 3 orang kut.

6. Saya tak paham : cara orang Singapura memandu kereta

7. Saya kehilangan : N85 saya semasa membeli belah di Robinson.

8. Ramai yang berkata : tak sangka saya kahwin dan beranak

9. Makna nama saya : sentiasa muda

10. Cinta itu adalah : untuk remaja-remaja yang gilakan NKOTB, ryan giggs, keanu riggs dll

11. Di suatu tempat, seseorang sedang : cuba meluahkan hati kepada kekasihnya, "Masalahnya bukan anda, tapi saya."

13. Ayat SELAMANYA membawa maksud : kesan-kesan regang perut yang tidak akan pudar

14. Telefon bimbit saya : sudah hilang!!!! (2 bulan yang lalu)

16. Saya paling meluat apabila : berdepan degan orang yang kurang ajar.

17. Pesta/Parti adalah : apabila saya berumur 20han dan menari di atas meja di Rohas Perkasa

Blueberry Cheesecake Gateau

2009-06-23T16:46:00.009+08:00

Oh it looks so heavenly, and I hope it tastes as gorgeous as it looks. Thanks Reena for the recipe. For those who are interested, you can find it on bbc.food.

Ingredients
255g/9oz self-raising flour (I made my own self raising by using cake flour mixed with b.p.+ salt)
1 tsp baking powder
225g/8oz caster sugar
225g/8oz butter (softened)
4 large eggs
1 tbsp milk

For the icing and decoration
400g/14oz light soft cheese (I used half mascarpone half cream cheese)
200 ml whipping cream which I folded into the cheese
grated zest of 2 limes and the juice of 1
110g/4oz icing sugar
225g/8oz blueberries

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a deep 18cm/7in round tin, and line the base with greaseproof paper.
2. Put the flour, baking powder, sugar, butter and eggs into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on slow speed until everything is mixed together. Increase the speed and whisk for 2 minutes. Stir in the milk. I thought this step was a joke. What's with all the creaming stage we've learnt from baking 101???
3. Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the top, bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the centre of the cake springs back when lightly pressed, and the mixture is starting to come away from the sides of the tin. To avoid dome-like appearance, I should've separated batter into 2 separate tins. Domes are so amateurish!
4. Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool before decorating. This cake keeps in an airtight tin for 2-3 days.
5. To decorate, split into three layers.
6. Beat the cheese until soft, then beat in the lime zest, juice and icing sugar. Sandwich the cake back together with two thirds of the cheese mixture, and spread the rest on the top.
7. Arrange the blueberries in tight circles around the top of the cake, starting in the centre. Keeps for one day in the fridge. I left it under the aircon for few hours and ate it.

My Father My Hero

2009-06-21T20:16:00.004+08:00

My earliest memory of a conversation with my father was probably when I was 5 years old. It was a sunny Saturday morning, my brothers and I were being babysat by my dearest grandma at my uncle's shophouse @ No. 3, Jalan Lumut.

Growing up with many cousins, there was peer pressure and there was a need to be like everyone else. My female cousins from my mother's side of the family are all very petite and pretty. I stood out as I looked very different from them, and in terms of size, they refer to me as fat. So I probably worried that I was not pretty like the rest of them.

That morning, when my father came to visit us (my father's shop is opposite my uncle's shop), I asked my father if I was pretty. My father told me that being pretty is not important. He said, "Being smart is so much more important than being pretty."

I thank my father for his wisdom, foresight and most of all, for being my father.

The Honest Muffin

2009-06-19T14:43:00.007+08:00

Children are brutally honest. Yesterday I baked red velvet muffins, topped with mascarpone cream cheese. They were very delicious, at least in my opinion. I usually bake muffins in a batch of precious 12. So for each muffin I give out, I first contemplate the recipient before deciding whether he/she is muffin worthy.

Yesterday when I went to pick Eddie up from the park, there were 3 kids there. So I thought that precious 12 - 3 were ok. I offered the muffin to this little boy who eagerly accepted but a minute later he decided that he did not like it. The other 2 kids told me that the boy wanted to throw the muffin away! Such audacity, but he is only 3 years old.

Imagine if the world is filled with people who are honest and speak their minds, no mincing of words. Just imagine the delicious words that could flow out from your mouth in pure sincerity with no care in the world.

Mother in law
You will never think that I measure up to your standards. Guess what, neither do you!
Disclaimer: My MIL and I think that we are both great, at least that is what we got each other to believe.

Boss
Your jokes were never funny and the laughter was mere obligation. Everyone in the office pretends how wonderful you are but truth is, they bitch behind you all the time. Your pet so-and-so whom you think is so great, she calls in sick each time you go on leave.

(Neurotic) friends
*no, the honesty would be way too brutal*

For the Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe (the top one)
http://www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCupcakes.html
I used Noel red which resulted in the darker red color, will try cherry red next time. And note the baking soda, not baking powder which I got wrong!

For Vanilla Cupcake Recipe (the blue ones)
http://www.joyofbaking.com/VanillaCupcakes.html
I left 1 egg out and found it only when I was cleaning out. Still ok but abit dry. Muffins look great tho and the blue icing helped it out alot. I added lemon juice to the butter icing.

Finally...

2009-06-08T19:19:00.001+08:00

Published: Monday June 8, 2009 MYT 4:24:00 PM

Firefly to fly Ipoh-S’pore route from July 12

By CHRISTINA KOH

IPOH: Firefly, which billed itself as “your community airline”, will take off from Ipoh to Singapore route starting July 12.

The all-inclusive promotional fare is RM88 one way, going up to RM300 depending on the time of booking.

FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd managing director Eddy Leong said the route would “open up Ipoh to the world.”

The one-hour-and-20 minute flight will be available on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays It departs here at 4.45pm, arriving at the Changi budget terminal at 6.05pm.

From Singapore, the new 72-seater aircraft takes off at 2.50pm and lands at the Sultan Azlan Shah airport here at 4.10pm.

”We have been in discussion with the Perak government since 2007 to provide accessibility to exploit the untapped and hidden treasures of Perak,” Leong said after a briefing with the state, tour agents and hotel operators at the state secretariat here Monday.

He said Firefly would provide free refreshments and snacks, assigned seats and free 20kg baggage allowance for check-in baggage.

To a question, Leong said Singapore was the only destination from Ipoh for now, but added that one possibility was an Ipoh to KLIA route in the future.

The RM88 promotion is available for booking (www.fireflyz.com.my or call 03-7845 4543) from now until Oct 24.

Other Singapore destinations that Firefly would be flying are Subang (July 1), Kuala Terengganu (July 14), Kuantan (July 22) and Malacca (Sept 1).

Heart Breaking News

2009-06-03T20:51:00.001+08:00

Tragedy at Beachy Head: Shocked parents from around the world flood five-year-old's website with messages of sympathy

By Sam Greenhill, Julie Moult and Luke Salkeld
Last updated at 1:46 PM on 03rd June 2009

Tragic five-year-old Sam Puttick's website has been flooded with messages of sympathy after his parents leapt off Beachy Head clutching his body.

Hundreds of stunned parents from around the world have posted comments, many of whom have lost children themselves.

Sam's parents Neil and Kazumi Puttick committed suicide consumed with grief after their little boy - who was crippled since a car crash in 2005 - died of meningitis last week.

The cheery youngster was their world, and the devoted couple simply could not bear to live without him.

Scroll down to see a video of Sam...

Sam Puttick before he was paralysed from the neck down after he was hit by a car and, right, after returning home from hospital following the accident

Sam was just 18 months old when he was the victim of a car crash which left him paralysed from the neck down and confined to a wheelchair.

Mr and Mrs Puttick gave up their careers to devote themselves to the care of their fragile little boy.

But last week Sam lost a brief battle against pneumococcal meningitis, contracting the disease on Tuesday and dying peacefully at home on Friday evening, with his devastated father, 34, and Japanese-born mother, 44, at his bedside.

They simply could not face life without him and, last Saturday, left an 'extremely emotional' typewritten note and drove 150 miles to the East Sussex cliffs and flung themselves to their death.

By lunchtime today there were almost 500 heartfelt messages of condolence on Stuff4Sam, the website set up by his parents after the car crash left him a quadriplegic when he was only 16 months old.

Family friend Hugh Huddy said: 'They were an amazing family and we are so devastated by the news. The response to the Stuff4Sam website has been incredible.

'The number of posts that have come in from fathers and mothers and parents of children who have lost their children, and who wanted to share their condolences, has totally stunned us.'

An update on the website reads: 'Thank you all for your overwhelming love and support, all your kind words are greatly appreciated. People always say how messages of support are a comfort and they truly are.

'Many of you have also asked where you can make donations and we know of no better place than Spinal Research. We will update the site in due course with details of how we wish to remember the Puttick family.'

Sam, pictured with mother Kazumi, 44, and father Neil, 34, was discharged from hospital and died at home after contracting meningitis

Sam, whose brain worked normally despite his body being confined to a wheelchair, was the 'happiest boy in the world', according to his parents who were immensely proud of his bravery.

He always wore a smile on his face and they were optimistic that a 'miracle' scientific breakthrough would one day allow Sam to walk again.

In the meantime, they used Stuff4Sam to raise money for their little boy and keep him cheerful. A 'Hi Sam!' page on his website featured dozens of friends and supporters posing in pictures of themselves wherever they travelled, holding the greeting on a piece of paper.

The cheery five-year-old was physically disabled but there was nothing wrong with his brain, and he derived enormous pleasure from seeing his name in all the pictures.

The 'Hi Sam' photographs were snapped in places including the Arctic, Antarctica, Afghanistan, Borneo and Newfoundland.

Another part of the site is dedicated to the legions of Sam's fans who rowed, ran and cycled to raise ?30,000 to buy him special equipment to stimulate and help him develop. The website also has links to the Christopher Reeve Foundation.

In a post in 2006, Mr Puttick explained: 'Ever since the injury last year we have been trying to get Sam assessed to use a Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) bicycle.

'It was pioneered in America with Christopher Reeve and his physician Dr McDonald and basically stimulates Sam's legs with electric currents to rotate the cycle legs and provide Sam with the only "exercise" he will be able to get. Basically no child in the UK does this and in America there are only a handful.'

The Puttick family home in Brokerswood, above and below, was specially adapted to meet Sam's care needs

In another post, Sam's father wrote: 'Sam is quadriplegic and can't breathe as a result of the car accident. He was a normal, healthy, active boy before but because of someone's careless driving, he is now as he is.

'We are so very proud of how he has survived, who he now is and how he continues to smile and be so damn strong in spite of everything. He is simply amazing.'

A friend of the Putticks, Alex Knott, wrote a few months ago: 'Most importantly Sam is living life to the full. He has grown into a happy, intelligent, strong three-and-a-half-year-old that has survived a devastating injury and is amongst the few people in the world that are truly extraordinary.'

Sam's little body was found in a zipped-up rucksack alongside his parents' bodies.

A second rucksack nearby was filled with his toys.

Enlarge

Yesterday, as police said the couple had committed suicide consumed with grief, horrified friends told the unbearably sad story of how the family's once-perfect life was torn apart.

After meeting at university in the UK and marrying 12 years ago, Mr and Mrs Puttick moved into a cottage in the chocolate-box village of Bratton in Wiltshire.

With a trout stream flowing through the back gardens, the row of cottages was once named by a national newspaper as one of the most idyllic places to live in Britain.

A neighbour said: 'They were the perfect neighbours, they really were. They were deeply in love with each other and when Sam came along, they lived for him. When he was born they were so happy and brought cookies round to all the neighbours.

'Neil used to walk around the garden showing Sam the wild ducks and rabbits. Sam was such a sweetheart and he loved it. He was so cute, he used to giggle with delight, and never seemed to cry.

'I never once heard them have an argument either. They did everything together. They loved the garden and spent years doing up their house, converting the loft, to make it the perfect family home.

This people carrier was towed away from the scene

'Neil was caring, calm, gentle and loving, and his voice was soft. He used to work long hours in London but came home every night at 7pm to his family. Kazumi was petite and shy, but utterly devoted to Neil and Sam.

'She used to take him to mother-and-toddler singing sessions at the church. If you could imagine bottling up the perfect, dream marriage, that was what they had.'

Then one day in 2005, their lives were shattered in a split second. Mrs Puttick, who worked as a Japanese translator at the Honda plant in Swindon, was driving Sam through the Somerset lanes to visit friends when a Volvo coming the other way careered into their path.

According to one report, the Volvo driver was distracted by her dogs in the back.

In the resulting smash, Mrs Puttick broke her legs and her pelvis, while her son suffered devastating injuries.

Two passing doctors, both anaesthetists, stopped to help, bringing Sam back from the brink of death twice.

Sue Capon, centre, who runs a park near the Puttick's home, is consoled by two colleagues as they place flowers outside the house

But he had a catastrophic spinal injury akin to the one that paralysed Superman actor Christopher Reeve, and then contracted MRSA while being treated in hospital.

The family moved from their cottage, which is down a narrow sloped path, to a more suitable house seven miles away, the ?1m Wishing Well Farm, in the village of Brokerswood.

They fitted it out with a hospital suite and physiotherapy equipment using insurance money, Mr Puttick gave up his job working for a charity in London and a small army of carers was hired to work shifts around the clock.

Sam was unable to breathe by himself and was fed with oxygen but had a specially adapted wheelchair that he steered by blowing through an air tube. Although he was physically disabled, there was nothing wrong with his brain.

One charity site devoted to the cheery youngster even featured a 'Hi Sam' page on which supporters posted pictures of them greeting him, from Antarctica and Afghanistan to Borneo and Newfoundland.

A video of Sam playing a Lego computer game was also posted on the internet just three weeks ago.

The toddler's infectious smile appears in a series of heartbreaking family photos.

One shows him window shopping with his mother, and in another his proud parents flank his wheelchair with all three grinning.

The bodies of Neil, Kazumi and Sam Puttick are taken away after being found at the bottom of cliffs at Beachy Head, Sussex

Sue Capon, 51, whose home in Brokerswood Country Park is opposite the Putticks' house, said: 'They were totally, totally devoted to Sam, who was adorable. Sam would often come over to the park in his wheelchair.

'He was a very happy child despite everything. His favourite thing would be to come and eat chocolate cake in our cafe.'

She added: 'I can only assume that losing Sam was just too much for them. All of us here are just shattered. We feel very honoured that we were friends with them.'

Another neighbour, Sue Hawkins, 41, said: 'Sam would visit our orphaned lambs and he used to name them, bless him. His parents adored Sam and he was all they ever talked about.'

A spokesman for the Bath and North East Somerset NHS Trust said: 'Samuel Puttick had been receiving treatment for pneumococcal meningitis at the Paediatric Intensive Children's Unit at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

'When it became clear that Sam had no hope of recovery from his severe infection, he was discharged to his family home on Friday, May 29, at his parents request to die peacefully.

Rescue services at the scene recovered the three bodies, including Sam's found inside a rucksack

'He was certified dead at his home by a doctor at approximately 8pm that evening. We offer our sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of this family.'

Mr Puttick, from Frome in Somerset, has elderly parents whom police were yesterday believed to be trying to reach on holiday abroad.

Detective Inspector Ian Williams, of Sussex Police, said: 'I am satisfied that Samuel's grieving parents Neil and Kazumi appear to have taken their own lives. This is a tragic incident and we extend our sympathies to their family and to the large number of friends and carers affected.'

The 600ft cliffs are popular with walkers - but are also a notorious suicide spot

A spokesman for Dover Coastguard said: 'It is really horrific and incredibly sad. In my four years with the Coastguard, I have never known anything like this.'

On Monday forensic experts were lowered by a helicopter winch to examine the scene, before the bodies were taken up on Coastguard stretchers.

A recovery truck towed away the family's caravanette away.

The suicide spot lies close to Belle Tout lighthouse. The clifftop at Beachy Head is lined by small crosses placed where others have fallen or jumped.

In 1997 a man took his children, aged three and nine months, over the cliffs to their deaths after he had attacked his wife.

In 1990, Elizabeth Kentish drove her two children over the cliffs.

The body of her daughter Emma, two, was found strapped in the car. Her other daughter, five-year-old Kate, was found in the sea.

Faking It

2009-05-28T14:23:00.005+08:00

I am watching Ellen talkshow as I am writing this. You know how the more successful talk shows usually have gifts for all its studio audiences? (Obviously not Jerry Springer). I suppose it is a good marketing campaign for the product considering the millions of viewers these popular talkshows have. However, you never know what is being given out until during the show. In Y2004, Oprah actually gave out cars to ALL her 276 studio audiences.

So imagine you finally get the ticket to go watch the show which I believe has got a very long wait list. You turn up for the show and unless they have got a hunk on the show (Hugh, Christian or George), you are pretty much all hyped up for the mystery gift.

Imagine today, the gift revealed to the audience is 1 year supply of all natural washing detergent. I suppose the "1 year" bit kinds of give it some oomph. But just imagine the sheer disappointment, in fact a collective disappointment of over 200 hundred people. Nevertheless they could not express what they felt, but to cheer on as per the studio instruction, haha. Just imagine as these people cheered the revealed mystery gift, all their heads were thinking the same thing, "Damn, all the trouble just for washing detergent!"

Torn between the truth and political correctness? We have all been there; told the lies but wished we could have been more honest about that dress, the hair (don't worry reena, your hair is really hot!), the weight, the bags (ahem) etc. Of course, some of us were mere bitchy and told the lies out of malice or insecurity.

However it is tough if someone gets you a present with total sincerity but you absolutely hate the gift. I suppose in this instance, you could just be totally honest and be appreciative of the person's kindness and thoughtfulness.

Hunt for the Elusive Words

2009-05-27T11:11:00.003+08:00

It kills me not to be able to think and channel my thoughts towards anything specific. This is what we call "tak tentu arah" in Bahasa Malaysia. Perhaps this is what separates us mere mortals from the great thinkers e.g. Aristotle, Confucius or Socrates

Why do we mere mortals need daily routines and jobs? Is it to keep us unthinking? Is that what drive people nuts in asylums or prisons? When people have no distractions whatsoever and all they have to themselves are their thoughts alone. Perhaps our minds have been so conditioned to operate with pre-programmed routines that when the use of your brain exclusively to think for a prolonged period of time may drive one insane? Or in my case, I do not know what to think!

Perhaps to be a great thinker, apart from intelligence of course, would be one's ability to be at ease with one's mind and do nothing else but to think.

Cliches

2009-05-23T20:36:00.005+08:00

During most parts of our growing up years, our mothers said alot of "you will understand when you grow up / become a mom" etc. How true it is. In fact for the past 12 months I would have eaten back so many words that I would burp enough alphabets to last Sesame Street for one whole season.

When you have a child, I think most parts of your wedding vows have been renegaded on. At least that is true for me. When I got married we did the whole "in sickness and health thing", but when I had Eddie the equation changed somewhat. Yes of course I would stick with him through thick and thin, but when it comes to the drowning question (the trick question about 2 people drowning and who you would save), I would have to leave Sig.Ot behind this time round to swim back to shore.

As for the value of my life, I lived through the earlier part of my prime* i.e. 20s believing that I was invincible. I would not think twice about bungee jumping, sky diving or getting a 500cc bike. I mean when I drove and the lights turn yellow, what did I do? Not slow down but made a quick check to see whether there's any traffic camera before stepping on either the accelerator or the brake. These days when I drive, I wear the seat belt not out of fear of the local traffic police but simply because I would not want Eddie to lose his mother.

If I were to travel out of the country without Eddie, I tend to have irrational fear of 101 things that may happen to me. There have been a couple of times when I wrote last minute wills in the event I perished during the course of my journey. Speaking of which I'd better see a lawyer to get the will fine-tuned.

Finally, do you remember Madeleine McCann or this Chinese boy from Perak who went missing more than 15 years ago? (The Chinese boy's posters could be found everywhere at that time). I felt very sorry for their parents when they were kidnapped but only now, I can truly truly understand the phrase "mad with grief." If anything happens to my child, I too, would go mad with grief.

*N.B. I am still in my prime.

Will the Real Perak MB please stand up...x3

2009-05-22T17:22:00.001+08:00

Friday May 22, 2009

Court of Appeal: Dr Zambry is Perak MB

The Court of Appeal has declared Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir the rightful Perak mentri besar. In a unanimous decision on Friday, it granted Dr Zambry, his appeal against the High Court decision on May 11, which had declared that Datuk Seri Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin was the rightful Perak mentri besar.

What a joke, no wonder Firefly flights from Ipoh still not finalised because they probably do not know whom to seek favors from.

Happy 1st Birthday Eddie!

2009-05-14T07:49:00.005+08:00

Motherly love has been written about so much and whatever I am thinking of writing probably would not be anymore different. Unconditional love, apple of my eye, etc.

All I know is that 1 year ago on this very day, I was so afraid of taking on motherhood. Now I will not trade it back for the whole universe!!!

What a very quick first year and the many years that will follow. Moral of the story? Don't miss any second of it!

Will the Real Perak MB please stand up...x3

2009-05-11T17:08:00.001+08:00

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/11/nation/20090511154813&sec=nation

Nizar is rightful MB: High Court

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here ruled on Monday that Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin is the rightful Perak Mentri Besar, and not Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

............

Eddie's 1st ever Birthday Bash!

2009-05-10T21:16:00.004+08:00

I did it! I held Eddie's first ever birthday party. We invited 5 kids who turned up and had fun, I hope. After much debates and contemplation and long distance phone call and msn, I decided to bake the carrot cake after all.

My pride and joy; I kept telling who ever that paid me any attention that I baked the cake, from the pizza delivery guy to the lady who worked behind the counter. For days I was worried bout the icing as I am not very good at it. Sig.Ot also added to my misery by telling me that Eddie could not have daisies on his cake. According to him, boys should have rockets or fast cars. I told him that the problem with drawing a rocket is that if it goes wrong, it could look very rude. So I came up with an excellent solution. Thomas Tank Engine!!!

Eddie does not know Thomas but at least it is cool enough to show off to his friends. I went to buy Thomas in the smallest size they had and drew train tracks on the cake. Of course my blue daisies lined the sides of the cake.

I even had gate-crashers, a grandmother with her sleeping grandchild who were mistaken by the venue staff as our party guest. Of course the aunty did not realise that we have booked the whole venue. We did not mind a bit and offered them food and drinks as well. The most surprising kind gesture from them to top off my kind gesture was that some time during the course of the party, the grandmother's daughter snuck off to buy Eddie a birthday pressie! And guess what she bought? A Thomas Tank dvd! She must have seen the cake and assumed that Eddie liked Thomas. Honestly that was such a thoughtful gesture. I hope I see them again and thank them properly. But then again I was very kind too, I gave them door gifts and balloons as well.

Birthday parties and everything fancy

2009-05-02T10:49:00.005+08:00

I have been wondering for the past week whether I should hold Eddie his 1st birthday party. Honestly he wouldn't know any better. Neither would he have any memory of it in the future.
Reasons why a party is in order would be either for photographic memory (literally) or an excuse for parents to get together for a beer or two. Ever wondered why there are so many kiddy birthday parties on Sunday afternoon at Bangsar Chili's?

However since my parents are coming down to celebrate Eddie's birthday, I shall throw him a party. Not a boozy one but a kiddy one. I came up with a brilliant idea to hold a party where all his friends meet everyday. That would be our local playground, a very nice local playground where Eddie has made more friends than both Sig.Ot and I combined, in Singapore. That way I do not even have to do an invite and just turn up with birthday cake, food and drinks for the children and their nannies. Their parents will not be obliged to turn up or bring presents. Honestly that is a superb idea!!!

As much as I would love doing that, Sig.Ot reminded me of the recent weather unpredictability. Furthermore if my parents will be attending the party, humidity in Singapore is something you need time to acclimatise to. Otherwise not only will you be soaked through the moment you leave the air-conditioned car, you can almost hear the sizzles of sunlight as they give the surrounding trees a hand with photosynthesis.

Therefore I am settling for an indoor party at a play place called Bambini Playclub http://www.bambiniplayclub.com/ It is pretty cool and consists four levels of obstacles. Think Funhouse. Obviously there is a big market here for places like this. They have packages you could select complete with theme options. The shocking bit (to me at least) is the price! The cheapest I have encountered is $350. You could invite up to 25 kids. Nevermind the price, I don't want to invite 25 kids!!!

I saw another place with an advertisement of $100 discount. Upon closer inspection, in 10 font sizes smaller, it says that usual price is $750 which brings the total to $650 for a bloody kiddy party. There is not even booze!!!! If they were to throw in free flow beer it would be a different story.

Well I am not going to take up any packages. I am just going to select 1o nice kids from the playground i.e. the polite ones who greet me, and bring them to this play place. I will bring my own cake, packet juice and order 1 for 1 Canadian Pizza. After all, what matters at the end of the day is that one photograph of Eddie sitting with his 1st birthday cake.

Firefly to fly Ipoh-Singapore route

2009-04-16T15:30:00.001+08:00

The Ipoh-Singapore flight route that is expected to become operational in the middle of the year would be a generator of investment and tourism between Perak and the island republic, said Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

He said Malaysia's first community airline, Firefly, was expected to begin operations from the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport (LTSAS) in Ipoh to Singapore in June if all goes well.

He said Singapore authorities had approved landing rights and the state government was having discussions with related parties to realise the matter.

"This is a good venture to ensure that investment and tourism between Perak and Singapore can be enhanced. I thank all who have worked to make this happen," he said after the state executive council meeting at the Kuala Kangsar Town Council building here today.

Zambry however did not tell of the frequency of the flights or provide other details.

The Ipoh-Singapore route would provide much-needed breathing space to LTSAS for being under-utilised. - Bernama

An Unofficial Spokesperson for Baby Lulu

2009-04-16T10:11:00.007+08:00

I would like to make this posting on behalf of yummymummy, and I know at least one of her friends may like to see this picture (courtesy of Lis).

Mummy and Lulu are doing fine and they are going home right now, as I am writing this. I haven't got her vital stats but rumor has it she's hot! Well obviously we've got mummy to thank for that and perhaps daddy could contribute to the height. There you go!

The Arrival of Baby Lulu

2009-04-14T09:53:00.001+08:00

Since yummymummy is unable to make any posting today, I shall write this on her behalf.

SHE IS HAVING A BABY ANYTIME RIGHT NOW.

A Darn Good Fantasy

2009-04-12T15:57:00.007+08:00

I often wonder what I would say in a job interview should I be posed with the question on why I left my previous job.

A. It was the most logical choice in both financial and business sense.
B. The organisation was not supportive of me becoming a mother.
C. My ex-bosses were too busy saving their pot-pots and sold out their staff instead.
D. I did not see the point of having to prove myself all over again since the department was going to have its 3rd boss in two and a half years.
E. I could not leave my baby under the care of strangers.
F. The money was not worth it.

Even though all the answers above are true, I know that the politically correct answers would be either A or E, but it is nice to know I have scripted 4 other choices.

HIV

2009-04-11T20:48:00.003+08:00

I remember the first time I went for HIV test, the wait for the results was absolutely terrifying. No, I am not a drug user, prostitute or homosexual. I am an ordinary person who works in the corporate world.

It does not mean just by having a university degree or a good full time job would exempt you from the possibility of contracting HIV. I mean it could have been from that tattoo needle, that blood test or just anything, and you never know would you? These are all the scenarios you will keep playing at the back of your head while waiting for the results.

I recently spoke to a friend about this and she was very surprised that I have been for HIV test because she did not know anyone else who did. Of course the most probable reason why many people would not do the HIV test is due to the stigma of this infection.

To me, the simplest reason why everyone should get tested is because there is no cure for this disease and if you do have it, you should know in order to protect your loved ones from it. I did the test when I was pregnant with Eddie and when I am pregnant with my next baby, I will do the test again, without a doubt. I was also an AIDS ambassador in my previous company to help raise awareness of this disease.

Of course this led to a more interesting discussion:-

Would you inform your ex partners?
How would you break the news to them?

So if answer to question (1) is yes, these are the options:-

Hi, it's me. I'm HIV positive and you probably are too.
Hi, you b*&%^$*. You gave me HIV and I hope you die soon.

Not my intention to scare you but I think it is funny

2009-04-11T20:33:00.006+08:00

"Magazine ideal of birth as 'big, beautiful adventure' can increase risk of baby blues when reality sets in" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1169186/Magazine-ideal-birth-big-beautiful-adventure-increase-risk-baby-blues-reality-sets-in.html

Haha... I promise that I am not trying to scare moms to be. I just could not help it when I saw this article because I believe that it is absolutely true. First of all, I never subscribed to this whole "birthing is a beautiful" experience nonsense.

I still remember when I was in my final trimester, when having a baby was getting very real, I spoke to my friend about this. I did not understand how it is when you are doubling over in pain, sweaty, dishevelled, accidental poopsie with legs sprawled wide open in full view of strangers and all these could be described as a beautiful experience.

But one thing my friend and I concluded was perhaps months/years after, you will forget about all these ugly nitty gritty details. One day when you look back at that special day, all you remember is the creation of this beautiful life. It has got to be true, no?

Temptation

2009-04-11T09:56:00.004+08:00

I hope no one took a bet on me to see how long I could last without working.

Yesterday while I was browsing the internet, I came across job vacancies in areas which I have always been interested in albeit NOT retail banking.

Well I am not going to start working anytime soon and plus job market is very tough at the moment. So I thought I just polish up my resume and submit it for fun.

An Oasis Concert Fraud

2009-04-06T08:18:00.006+08:00

When I first bought my Oasis concert tickets 2 months ago, I was so excited as I was going to see them live in action for the very first time.

Few days before the concert, I started googling the only Oasis album I ever owned (the cassette tape has probably degenerated by now) which was (What's the Story) Morning Glory. I looked at the list of song titles and thought I'd better do some homework before the concert, such as -confession- memorising the lyrics. As I went through the lyrics, I could not recall the melody at all. Surely some of you know what I am talking about. The times when you are desperately trying to recall a song, lyrics usually could lend you the melody? Well they eluded me.

So the next best thing was YouTube. The moment the performance came on, the lyrics just came rolling off my tongue. Memories came rushing back, fond secondary school memories of my fanatic Oasis-fan friends. We could sing every single track of the album then, and I still can, well kind of, but with the occassional mouth gagging literally lost for words.

But what I did not know when I first bought the concert ticket was that Oasis had subsequent albums. Oh bummer, too late now. I just kept my fingers crossed that they would sing their older tracks from that one particular album.

The concert started at 8.30pm. Concert started with a song I have never heard before, and continued with more songs that I still did not recognise. When I looked around me, there were many other people who looked just as lost but trying to get into it by swaying their bodies to the melody. My friends and I occassionally screamed, and jumped up and down pretending to recognise the opening bars of some unheard of songs. Each time when a song finishes, I do not think I have ever clapped so enthusiastically in hope that the next song would be one that I know of.

Finally, oh-sweet-banana-chocolate-cake, they sang Morning Glory (song order may be wrong). You remember when you used to study for 2 whole years to prepare for an exam which consisted of only 3 essay questions? During your revision, you were bound to downplay the importance of certain topics thinking it would never appear in your exams paper. So all you did was memorise about only 5 facts of that topic. Then when that darn topic does appear in your exams, you kick yourself wishing that you have revised and memorised more facts to fill up an A4 page. That was exactly how I felt when they finally played a tune I knew!

After that, there were more obscure songs, but they did play Wonderwall, Don't Look Back In Anger and Champagne Supernova. I called Reena when they played the Champagne because it is her most favourite Oasis song. After all what are the chances right?

So when the concert finally ended, I thought to myself that I should have invested the ticket money to replace my phased out Oasis cassette tape instead. Don't get me wrong. They are an excellent band but I knew only 4 songs in the 90 minutes long repertoire. By the way, so did hundreds of people around me judging from how they suddenly came to life when Don't Look Back In Anger came on. The band did not even have to sing the chorus!

To Shame or Not to Shame?

2009-04-01T09:04:00.005+08:00

This morning while driving Sig.Ot to work, I came across a very very rude driver. This happened at South Bridge Road, at the traffic lights just before One George Street building (North Canal Road junction).

By the way the traffic lights were red. All of us were driving in the middle lane, as you could only switch into the Bus lane (left) towards the last 20 meters before the traffic lights. This stupid woman behind me switched lane the same time as I did, but she did it illegally (double solid lines) while I changed lane only where the dotted lines started. Of course I indicated my signals, and guess what she did? She sped up to cut me off to only then changed back to the original middle lane. Did I mention that the traffic lights were red? So after all that, it got her nowhere.

I was so furious that I wound down my window, whipped out my mobile phone and took a picture of her car. I cannot believe the ugly behaviour she has just displayed. I had to stop Sig.Ot from confronting her for her atrocious and dangerous driving. (Well I thought when the lights turn green, we would look really stupid. )

Well, I am no longer as upset as I was this morning. I suppose she is probably worrying about a picture of her car being published in the paper tomorrow and that is good enough for now.

One for the Selangor's ex-MB wife

2009-03-31T10:51:00.008+08:00

We are just 2 years short of the 100th International Women's day celebration.

Sadly, I read in the news headline today, "Ex-MB’s wife: I voted with the others for dissolution." read on at the bottom of page

Excuse me, this is Selangor's ex-first lady. In this article she went on to say that she has voted for a dissolution without knowing the purpose of it, but went ahead to vote for it anyway because everybody else did so.

Well she either did it to absolve herself from any criminal intent or she is just a major bimbo. Either way, it is bad news.

Article Source: The Star

Ex-MB’s wife: I voted with the others for dissolution

SHAH ALAM: Selangor Umno liaison chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib’s wife Puan Sri Asbi Rohani Asnan told an inquiry that she did not know why the Wives of Selangor Assemblymen and MPs Welfare and Charity Organisation (Balkis) was dissolved but voted for the dissolution because everyone else at the meeting did so.

She also told the Selangor state government’s Special Select Committee on Competence, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) that it was agreed at the meeting that the association’s monies totalling RM9.9mil would be transferred to another organisation with a similar agenda.

(The money was eventually given to the Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers (Bakti) after Balkis was dissolved.)

Asbi Rohani was Balkis president until 1997, while at the time of the dissolution former mentri besar Datuk Seri Dr Khir Toyo’s wife Datin Seri Zaharah Kechik was the president.

The Curious Case of Edward Kirby

2009-03-27T10:53:00.005+08:00

Eddie has always been popular with the neighbours, the aunties in the markets, waitresses in restaurants and fellow strangers in general. This is because he is a very friendly and smiley boy. He would not mind being picked up by a stranger and being passed around. On top of that, he is also a very independent baby. From the age of 4 months, we could leave him in his room at 7.30pm, switched off the lights and he would go to sleep in his own time. We would not hear from him until 12 hours later. All changed when we went to Cairo for the 10 days.

When we were in Cairo, Eddie suddenly developed a serious case of total dependence on me. I could not leave a room without alerting him in advance lest he freaked out when he realised that I was gone. Each time when I moved from the living room to the kitchen, I had to get his attention and he would plod on all fours and followed me where ever I went. Reena had to trick him each time I sneaked off to have a shower! Poor boy.

He was also toilet trained since the age of 6 months and he's got his own little babysit on the toilet. When we got to Reena's apartment, he refused to use Safeia's baby toilet seat! Perhaps he was distracted by the extractor fan in the bathroom or maybe he is just like some of us who like our own toilets.

I recently read that babies do not develop long term memory until they pass the age of one. So I was very worried that when we got back to Singapore he was going to continue to cling to me and not use his own toilet!

Well the 10 days of clinging to me for life came to an end as soon we stepped out from the airport. He saw his father and went straight into his arms. When we got home, he forgot all about me and reclaimed his territory. What a little traitor!

Oh, and he's back on his own toilet seat.

Cultivating Rat Culture

2009-03-26T14:03:00.004+08:00

One of the local papers here publish photos sent by its readers on a daily basis. Sometimes readers send photos of accidents, natural phenomenon but ALWAYS, there is a picture of ratting on someone else. This morning, a MRT commuter took a picture of a lady eating her sandwich while standing in the train. Well you see, eating or drinking is prohibited on public transports in Singapore. Yesterday, another reader sent a photo of a man lying down on the seats of MRT as he has taken up 3 seats for his nap.

Of course what these people have done were wrong, but just tell them in their face. Don't secretly take their photos and then have them published on the newspaper in order to shame them. It is such a cowardly behaviour.

This reminds me of a time when I was driving and signaled to change lane. I did have enough space to change lane, but because I indicated my signal light as courtesy, the where-the-sun-never-shines or this piece of what-dungbeetle-eats, sped up his car just to cut me off! I was furious. Mind you my lane changing was perfectly legal as I was heading towards my destination. As he sped up to cut off my lane, the lights happened to turn red and his car was right next to me. I stared at him hoping to deliver him the finger gesture, but he just pretended not to notice me and stared right ahead of him (probably his heart was thumping hoping the lights would turn green soon). Boy was I mad. These people bully other drivers behind the wheels of their cars but they would never dare look you in the eye for their inconsiderate selfish behaviours. Such gonad-less illegitimate spawn!

My Sig.Ot has gotten over incidents like this and he takes it with a pinch of salt. Therefore each time if I happen to be driving him and someone cuts us off, he will literally turns his body to face the window and stare at the driver in the car next to us because he finds it funny. Of course they would never dare look back at us after doing their cowardly deeds. One time, Sig.Ot went as far as to winding down the window, leant out of the window and pretended to take a photo of them with his phone. Of course he never really took the photo but it was a very funny sight as he tends to exaggerate his action.

But perhaps since we can't beat them, might as well join them! So drivers here, beware of a woman with a camera should you ever speed up to cut off her lane.

Boulak Fabric Souk

2009-03-25T16:03:00.008+08:00

On Reena's recommendation, we tagged along the Boulak Fabric Souk (pronounced Zouk which means bazaar) tour which was organized by the local Community Services Association (CSA). It was a guided tour and we had a Canadian guide who took us there. She definitely knew every nook and cranny of the intricate web of streets and little stores. If you are a first timer on your own, you will most probably get lost.

Even though I am not familiar with fabric shopping (as the only fabric shop I have ever been to is Kamdar) I have to say that there were A LOT OF TEXTILE!!! All kinds of textile, even those stretchy materials that you thought are only specially made for clothes manufacturer. What do you call it? Yeah, lycra like materials.

There were various stores specialising in different types of materials, and also purpose specific; clothes, bed sheet, curtains etc. There were even a number of specialist tassel shops. No kinky thoughts here, please.

What impressed me the most was that within the souk, you could find end to end service. As long as you have the measurements of either your beds or windows, they could advise you exactly how much materials you need. Once you get the materials, there is a shop which sew them up for you in less than half an hour! Of course I am not sure about the quality but for the speed and low cost, it was worth doing it if you are not too fussy with the details.

The shopkeepers are very helpful. However I must caution you that their design recommendations could be outright gawdy and loud. Unless you are into burgundy velvet curtain with gold trimmings and huge tassels with baubles, then by all means go for it. If not, please have an idea of what you really like.

I did not think I was going to buy anything but I came back with bed sheet materials totalling 12 meters and 2 meters of blouse materials. They were truly gorgeous.

The Gynormous Pointy Triangles

2009-03-24T09:32:00.009+08:00

As I stepped out of the car, I could not possibly believe that I was standing in front of the only remaining one of the original 7 wonders of the world. I mean, it cannot possibly be. I thought I was going to cry and before I managed to take a step towards the pyramid, I was swarmed with a horde of bloody camel touters.

Luckily Reena told me beforehand the expected price to pay for camel rental was 30 Egyptian pounds. Therefore I was not surprised when I was offered an overly inflated camel rental rate of over 100 Egyptian pounds. I told them that I could rent a limousine WITH a driver to go round the pyramids with that price! As I realised that the tourists season was low, I offered to pay only 20 Egyptian pounds (E.P.).

Of course they scuffed at my offer with the obligatory expression of insult on their faces, telling me that I was crazy. This particular camel guide who called himself Mickey Mouse pointed to a nearby couple and told me they paid 120 E.P. each to which I retorted, "That's because they are suckers."

After I thought we have finalised the price of 20 E.P. per camel, they brought us through a maze of cemetery which was used to bury the workers who built the pyramids. It was quite creepy since there was nobody else there apart from us 2 women and the camel guide. I could imagine it as a scene from a movie; being led to a secluded area to be gang raped and killed. Thank goodness we were only led to our camels.

I was super annoyed when after all that, he extorted more money from us, and throughout the camel ride he kept asking us to tip him later. I was so pissed off so I told him to shut up and to stop talking about money.

The most unfortunate thing was he rode one of our camels with us which we then found out was wrong. He was supposed to lead us on a separate horse or on foot. Of course he did not do anything to us but it was still very cheeky of him. Rebecca suspected something was amiss when each time another guide passed us, they would exchange comments in Arabic which made her felt very uncomfortable.

I was later told that if I were to inform his boss of his behaviour, he would have been instantenously sacked but not before a slap on his face by his boss, right in front of us. Oh nevermind, whatever thrill he got from us sitting behind him was to be considered as charity work.

Anyway, the pyramids were truly marvelous but the trip was marred by the unscrupulous bunch of camel touters. Next time, bring your own camel.

N.B. Touting is expected anywhere in the world where there is high concentration of tourists presence.

CAUTION: Camel riding results in sore bottom and sore thighs (inner) but I suppose it all depends how fit you are, posture, and camel ride distance. We were on the camel for over an hour. I could not walk properly for days.

Khan el-Khalili

2009-03-23T13:26:00.005+08:00

Khan el-Khalili is the epitome of the greatest bazaar ever, in fact I would call it the mother of all bazaars. Well, it's not that I have been to many bazaars in my lifetime since I am not a shopper anyway. One thing for sure, whatever little I have seen, I was very impressed.

I went there without knowing much about the history of Khan but I have since found out that it was established in 1382. It used to be called Turkish Bazaar during the Ottoman times.

Due to time restriction, I was only there for about 2 hours. I am not sure exactly how big Khan is, but I believe that I have not even seen 25% of it. If anyone thinks that Petaling Jaya is impressive, Khan is at least 100 times the size of Petaling street.

Its narrow streets with tiny shops are amazingly disorganisedly organised into different sections of goods. Of course as you enter, you see shops selling mostly souveniers but as you dwelve deeper, you come across goldsmiths, brass, sheesha, copper lanterns, clothes, spices etc. Towards the end of the bazaar which I never made it to, that section contained shops selling household fares mainly for locals. I find it very romantic and most beautiful for photograph taking.

I did not buy much since goods there were more expensive compared to other non touristy parts of Cairo. When I was in Khan, security was very tight ever since the bombing a couple of weeks ago. This must have attributed to the lower than usual number of tourists in Khan. In fact, I thought there were more shopkeepers standing on the street (trying to woo shoppers), compared to tourists themselves. And since that same types of shops are lined up next to each other, the shopkeepers had to say alot to attract your attention. Of course because I am Oriental, I was constantly badgered with "ni hao" (how are you?) followed by "wo ai ni" (I love you). Then some would ask me if I were Japanese. When I told one shopkeeper that I was from Malaysia, he said "apa khabar" (how are you?) and proceeded to tell me that he knows Abdullah Badawi. An American friend who was with me, always got the Obama comment whenever she told them that she came from America.

It could be a little bit irritating when some of the shopkeepers kept pestering us as we walked along the shops. In fact I found out that it is was something they would not dare do to the local women. It was really like going into a bar, and be bombarded with 100 different pick-up lines all at the same time!

Two very memorable ones were:-

"I may not know what you are looking for, but whatever you are looking for, I have it for you."

"I will kill my wife for you."

The second one was said to my American friend, Rebecca. I could not stop laughing when I heard that one. hahaha...

Playing Moms in Cairo

2009-03-21T12:45:00.005+08:00

10 days in Cairo playing moms with my dear old friend Reena was truly amazing. We have known each other for 17 years and have never even been on holidays together before. I have not seen her for over 2 and 1/2 years and to see her standing at the arrival gate with her almost baked bun in her tum tum, how could one not be overcome by emotions.

It was even weirder when we both went out with Safeia and Eddie, and there you go, we are both mothers! Yes I love downtown Cairo and the pyramids, but this trip was really about seeing my very dear old friend. Next time round, I will do the real tour, and those who are interested, please sign up because that's when we do the whole Egypt plus Indiana Jones in Jordan.

N.B. The poor kids looked absolutely stoned from lack of sleep. This photo was taken during our transit in Dubai hence the "Property of Emirates" label on the strollers.

Hail Nefertiti!

2009-03-04T21:59:00.004+08:00

I first came across Egypt in Standard 4 when I was a librarian in SRK Methodist ACS. It was a book about world mysteries, two of the stories in the book were Bermuda Triangle and the mysterious disapperance of Nefertiti. I was so intrigued and fell in love with Egypt since then. All programs featuring Egypt be it the building of pyramids or mummifcation process, I watched and read them all.

I was also totally crazy about Wilbur Smith's River God and the subsequent books that followed. How cool was that to have fiction set in ancient Egyptian times. When I was in college, I contemplated studying Egpytology until I realised that being immersed in sand pits in the middle of deserts won't make me lots of money. It just was not a very attractive proposition, R:E = 0, to my education financier i.e. my father. Honestly, if I am going to spend my hard earned money on my children's education, it'd better be medicine, law, engineering, architecture or accountancy. If not, he can open a Kedai Motor Eddie. How old school is that??? And how we vowed never to be like our parents. hahahaha...

So Egypt and yummymummy, I shall see you both next week!!!

We can't have it all or can we?

2009-03-03T09:57:00.006+08:00

With international woman's day looming around the corner, you get the usual doses of features on great women in magazines, newspaper etc. Nothing much has changed in the past decade. There are still talk about women juggling between their careers and being mothers.

I was a career woman, then I was both a career woman and mother, and now I am a full time mother. This I suppose lends me some credentials for the purpose of this topic discussion.

Honestly I do not see what is so complicated about this matter. You either are a full time career woman cum part time mother or no career woman cum full time mother. It is your choice at the end of the day and what is the big deal about it?

What irks me the most are those who make the decisions but at the same time guilt-ridden. The guilt ridden part is understandable, but it pisses me off when the guilt is manifested into anger/jealousy targeted at 3rd party. Hmmnn... perhaps one day when Eddie grows up and pisses me off I will say something like, "I've sacrificed those years of my life not working just so that I could look after you!!!" Well that won't work because Sig.Ot will surely butt in and say something like, "Yes Eddie, those years of your mother not working, she was going for massages and holidays etc."

Well for most women who choose full time career, someone else will need to stand in to look after the children. The luckiest ones would have their parents or in laws to help look after their children. If that is not possible, domestic helpers are the next most popular option or maybe nurseries?

Of course even if there is a domestic helper, most mothers on their off days will take over all the looking after of the baby. This is a chance to bond with the babies. After all on weekdays, you probably won't get to see your baby because when you are off to work, baby might still be asleep and when you get home, baby is already asleep!

There are also mothers who refuse to let the helpers get emotionally close to their children. This is the part that I do not get. When you have another person working and living in your home, it is not similar to an office job whereby when you walk out of the building you could separate work from your personal life. When someone else lives in your home and look after your children, it is definitely more than just professional work relationship. There are definitely emotions involved. So if there is even the slightest doubt or mistrust towards your maid, do not hire her at all, or fire her now.

Some women who may be feeling a little bit guilty for not being able to spend as much time as they would like with their children, may feel a little bit resentful towards the other woman who gets to i.e. maid. This guilt sometimes lead to jealousy and possessiveness. So it is very bizarre how on weekdays, the maid may be playing the main caretaker role and when the mistress of the house comes home, the maid tiptoes around the house and pretend that there is no relationship going on with the poor confused children. The most extreme case which I have heard is that the helper is not allowed to appear in ANY photograph with the baby! Obviously the mother does not want the child to have any memory of the maid. Or when a 5 months old baby started babbling mama in the direction of the maid, the mother got jealous, suspecting that the maid had been teaching baby to call her (maid) mama.

N.B. Babies do not know the meaning of mama until much much later. Eddie used to call everybody including our family dog "mama" as well at that age.

My maid Juvy loves Eddie to bits, and Eddie loves her in return. The way I look at it is we are all so blessed to have so many people loving Eddie. There is never too much love to go around, don't you think?

Poo-litics

2009-03-02T14:26:00.002+08:00

When will the government realise how stupid they look in foreign press whenever they announce a not-much-thought-about decision and then change their minds about it a week later?

Surely any person in a position to run a country must know that whatever decision to be taken; be it business, financial or religion, must be thought thoroughly and analysed FIRST before being finalised?

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_344806.html

Aren't We What We Are?

2009-03-02T09:43:00.003+08:00

In the past few days, the media has been focusing on the labelling of "old people". There was also an articled entitled, "Don't Call Me Old" featuring a grey hair woman in fashionable top paired with tights and pumps. Today, a reader wrote in to say that her late mother was offended when a doctor referred to her as "old lady".

So is aging paranoia a new thing or not? Lets see, when I turned 30 early last month, I talked about buying beauty products to delay the aging process. Both my mother and late grandmother have always been complimented for looking much younger than they really are. Obviously I did not bag the same genes hence the talk of SK II etc. Last week when I was walking in Botanics Garden, there was an Indon tai tai sitting next to Eddie and I. I kid you not, her skin was more supple and smoother and more glowy than Eddie's bottom!!! This tai-tai has got to be in her 50s but she looked damn good for her age. Undoubtedly, her doctor has done an excellent job.

I read a very good article last week which talked about accepting aging and fight social negative labelling of aging. Point #1 in the article was, "Stop telling people that they look younger than they do." I have to both agree and disagree to this point. First of all, you are what you look. So if you look younger, it is a fact. And if you don't, live with it. Too bad you haven't got the good genes. Too bad you have smoked a pack a day for the last 10 years. Too bad you were drinking a bottle of whisky every other two days and getting 5 hours of sleep while working in a super stressful environment. The only reason why I would agree to this point is for the sake of the weaker minded people who are so influenced by mainstream media. We already know that this group of people generates a multi billion dollar industry.

When we were growing up, I am sure all of you would agree school was one of the most cruel places. Children spoke their minds and gang up against the odd ones out. I am sure most of us were teased for being fat, skinny, ugly, pimply etc. Guess what? We grew up accepting our differences and moved on. And the same should apply too when we reach that juncture and accept the fact that we are old.

It is true that the general pre-conceptions about being old is weak, sick or wrinkly. If you cannot fight all 3, at least then do what you can and stay fit. And if you cannot, accept what you are that you are old; weak, sick and wrinkly.

Death by Association

2009-02-27T09:54:00.004+08:00

It was in the news that Saks Fifth Avenue will be dropping Posh Spice's DVB denim range. Hahaha... to think that it was actually newsworthy.

It is common for companies to sign up celebrities to promote their products. The coolest campaign I remember is one which has got so many famous sportspeople in just one advertisement. Not the pepsi one, but it is set in the dark and everyone was kicking a football. Please refresh my memory if you know what I am talking about.

How many of us are naive enough to buy a product simply because it is endorsed by a certain celebrity. Plus some of the pairings are really odd. I think Amber Chia has probably endorsed a full range of household items. Rice - check, massage chair - check, butt firming salons - check, and the list goes on (some of you may wonder why not lip collagen). Oh not to forget the space tourist aka angkasawan (in Malaysia), I remember seeing a poster of him on the highway back to KL from JB. He must have endorsed something weird too.

Not just that, but do you really think that these celebrities use the products. I am sure Revlon is an ok product but surely Cindy Crawford had a whole range of upper market face paints arriving by the truckload as gifts for her to use. Hmmnnn... SK II is probably more believable but you get my point.

So as I was saying, do you actually buy a product simply because a company has spent millions of dollars to sign on the celebrity who then pretends to use the product? Marketing cost is of course then passed down to us poor consumers, which is probably the reason why SK II is so bloody expensive. They have geography-specific celebrities promoting their product! Sammi Cheng for the North Asia, Angelica Lee for Chinese in Malaysia - HK market etc.

I know for a fact that I would boycott a product if it is associated with certain celebrity. It is the same mentality as I would not bother to vote for a song to be on the Top 10 chart, but I wish I could vote for a song NOT to be on the chart. (Makarena, Chicken song etc). For instance I would never buy perfume made by any actress or actors no matter how famous they are. They are blatantly cashing in on their status and further exploiting their poor fans. My Sig.Ot refused to use the Gillette shaver which was endorsed by David Beckham. So who gives a hoot about DVB denim?

Reinvention of a Grocery Shopping List

2009-02-25T15:19:00.003+08:00

Every Monday, I write down a list of my grocery requirements. It is beginning to get a little bit boring and even then I still manage to miss out some ingredients. Therefore I am going to start a system. I am going to create ingredients flashcards and file them.

Once I have that in place, instead of having to write down every single item on the shopping list, I need to only plan my weekly menu such as:-

Monday - Stewed Bittergourd with pork ribs in black bean sauce, stir fry kailan, steamed egg with mince
Tuesday - Roast chicken, mash potato, salad
Wednesday - Pad kaprow, Stir fry broccoli / cauliflower etc.
Thursday - Grilled salmon, creamed spinach, roast potatos

Then, my maid just need to look up my flashcards and then make up her shopping list. This is what we call process re-engineering!

Hope

2009-02-25T11:59:00.005+08:00

This morning on the way into town, there was a truck of men heading in the same direction from the East. It is common sight to see a group of immigrant labourers on their way to work at the back of a truck. Of course this is not a very safe mode of transport but such is life.

So you must be wondering why did this group of men stand out from the rest? For one, they were all dressed in suit jackets and they had suitcases with them at the back of the truck. Most importantly, all of them looked so fresh faced, so full of hopes.

They must have all just arrived this morning and were picked up from the airport by their prospective agents / employers. I cannot help but feel so touched by the journey they have just made. When they left their homes and families, they must have felt so excited about what laid ahead. Going to a foreign land, the much talked about and sophiscated Singapore.

Dressed in their Sunday best, they made the journey to the airport, a journey which may have been 10s of hours away from their homes. For some, it may have even been their first flight. Their families must have been both sad and proud of these men. Going to make money and better their lives.

(Will take a photo next time I see another one so that you could relate better to what I am describing)

Social Branches

2009-02-24T11:47:00.004+08:00

I am a self professed anti-social. I am probably more sociable than Sig.Ot but compared to most of my friends, I am so much more fussy when it comes to meeting people. Friends I keep in touch with are friends whom I treasure so dearly.

First of all I do not or rarely do threesomes. This means I would rather be hit with a spade at the back of my head than attend any GROUP gatherings. I loathe reunion dinners / gatherings etc. In my opinion most people attend reunion dinners merely to gossip and their inquisitiveness has nothing to do with genuine concerns as they are mere busybodies.

I like one to one interaction with my friends. As a result, during the past 12 years I have formed social branches rather than social circle. My friends do not meet each other. The only times they have come together were for my KL farewell party, hen's night and wedding.

One very odd co-incidence is that over the past 12 years, I have met 3 very good friends who do not know each other but share the same birthday i.e. 12th August! They are also of very different ages, 30 -32 -44, and races, Malay - Chinese - Caucasion. Most importantly, they are very wonderful friends, just like all of you are.

Eddie at 8 months

2009-02-24T11:34:00.002+08:00

Self Tagged

2009-02-23T20:47:00.003+08:00

I am volunteering to do this. All my answers to the following questions are to begin with "P" for poe.

What is your name? Poe
A four letter word: Piss (-off)
A boy’s name : Penfold
A girl’s name : Petulia
An occupation : Pirate
A color : Purple
Something you wear : Pants
A type of food : Pizza
Something found in the bathroom : Pantene (conditioner, not that great)
A place : Paris
A reason for being late : Poo-ed (eddie)
Something you shout : Pukimak!!!
A movie title : Pulp Fiction /Pontianak Sundal Malam
Something you drink : Pina colada
A musical group : Pink Floyd
A street name : Penarth Road
A type of car : Porsche
A song title : Purple Rain
A verb : Piss

Food is love

2009-02-20T10:47:00.006+08:00

Growing up in a conservative Chinese family, physical affection is unheard of. I used to marvel at my Muslim friends kissing their parents, thinking how westernise and cool it was. Well, I have never hugged my parents what's more to kiss!

It is not that we don't love each other. My parents, my brothers and I love each other, we just go about showing it very differently. When it comes to my father, since long ago I noticed that his way of showing his love towards us was his cooking. By the way, my father is a FABULOUS cook!!! Since we were kids, he would make us very expensive Chinese goodies soup such as abalone, dried scallops etc. Even my mom did not get to eat them! And of course my dad never eats it either.

Or how he would wake up at 3am to make agar-agar (jelly) so that it will set in time for us to take the school. Why not the night before? Overnight food is considered unfresh and taboo in my family. And right next to the jelly compartment would be special fried rice. One time he made us burgers to take to school. In order to prevent the bun from going soggy, he packed ketchup separately in a plastic bag, fashioned after an icing piping bag. I still remember him instructing us how to cut the end of the bag so that the ketchup would come out smoothly and neatly. He would also wake up so early in the morning to make us steak or chicken chop for breakfast!!!

When I left home to attend college, my trip home was always met with a huge steamed fish which my dad knew was my favourite. The only problem was fish that size is normally consumed by at least 8 people, and not just one.

Oh how we vowed we would never turn out to be like our parents. Here I am 4 hours before my trip, I have cooked up sambal fried rice, chicken white wine casserole with mushrooms and roasted half a chicken so that my dear husband has food for the weekend. By the way, coffee shops and Cold Storage are just 5 minutes walk from our home.

Leaving Eddie

2009-02-20T06:20:00.003+08:00

I will be driving up to KL this afternoon without my little bub. This is going to be the very first time I will be separated from him for more than 15km and more than 6 hours. Haha.. Singapore is that small and I used to work half days at the office.

I do not think that he will be quite upset because he is used to seeing me leaving in the car every morning. Plus he will be looked after and spoilt by our helper Juvy. Looks like I am the one who will be having separation anxiety.

I love you very very much, my little rascal.

Beautiful Bummy Day

2009-02-19T15:13:00.005+08:00

The haze has finally cleared and the sky is blue again! So today I met up with my Sig.Ot at our local swimming pool for lunch. He got there early since I had a prior appointment for massage. The thing about Singapore is that everything is so clean. The public swimming pools may be at least 20 years old, but the condition is excellent.

Depending on the location of the pool and which day of the week, you get different crowd of people. On weekends there are definitely families and children attending lessons. On weekdays, you have students who go to the pool as part of their P.E. But everyday, there are definitely four to five guys; gym going guys, metrosexual looking guys, who are there not to swim but to sunbathe. I often wonder what do they do for a living. Don't they have to work? Anyway when I got there today, there were about 5 of these guys scattered around the pool. They are all physically fit but not my cuppa tea. They wear speedos, proper speedos.

Remember about 3 years ago, very low waist jeans was all the rage. I still recall going to Levis to try on a pair. I was very offended that the biggest size they did was 28 or 29. Anyway, I tried to squeeze myself into a pair. Oh crikey, the jeans wouldn't even go pass my thighs!!! I was amazed at how those girls fit into these jeans. So I started observing girls who wore those type of jeans. They are very very petite. Don't mean to stereotype but you know those Chinese girls with straigtened hair and usually very very slim, they wear them. And the other thing I noticed was girls who wore these jeans and could fit into them, they had no bum!!! Yes it is true. You cannot have bum to wear these jeans or else your butt crack would show.

So back to the swimming pool. These metrosexual men wear extremely extremely tiny speedo. They can carry it off because there isn't an ounce of fat on their bodies. My Sig.Ot commented before how could these guys fit into the tiny swimming trunks. (He carried on with some other jokes which are not suitable for posting) I kid you not. the height of the trunk is about 3 inch tall, which means it JUST reaches the top of the guy's butt crack. It then made me realise that in order to wear these, you cannot have bum!!! Clever isn't it? These pants make you look like you are so super sexy but in actual fact you haven't got any bum. (If you think James Bond's trunk is tight and small, you need to further divide his into 2. That's how small it is!!!!)

Anyway a newcomer arrived and was sauntering from the changing room to the other side of the pool. I could not believe my eyes. His trunks were soooooooooooooo small and soooooooooo fitting that he had not realised that the front of his trunk had slipped down. So in full view, or my view, was the bush of his pubic hair. I am not insinuating that all of you readers are familiar with the male anatomy, but we Chinese are quite hairless people. So when a Chinese guy's pubic hair is in public display, you are very sure that it is his pubic hair! You cannot even think, "Oh that is just part of his body/stomach hair."

I had to stop my Sig.Ot from waving at the guy. He is always capable of doing silly things like that. The last time we were holidaying in Samui, there was a naked man in the villa next to us who did not realised that we have moved in. He was on the phone when he finally noticed us. My husband instead of looking away, raised his hand and waved at the guy. He is very embarrassing like that.

Blank State of Mind

2009-02-18T15:41:00.003+08:00

This is probably the most unproductive week of Year 2009. I am in procrastination mode. I have not been going out of the house apart from driving my Sig.Ot to work in the morning. I suspect that the reason why I have been sitting around doing nothing except for watching telly, is watching telly. I read in the papers the other day that teenagers who spend alot of time watching telly will grow up to be depressed adults.

I generally tell people not to take first dates to the movies because that is the most anti-social activity. Similarly watching a telly box is equally passive and anti-social. To be fair, certain programs could be educational but I think after a certain number of hours facing a plasma screen, your body starts going into hibernation mode. You feel lethargic and lazy. Any physical activity requires so much effort; you put on hold toilet trips just so you could go through another episode of drama series. I bet if a study is done on people with UTI, lots of them probably contracted it after watching Korean drama series.

I must snap out of this. Truth is I have been watching Boston Legal day and night. Bad poe. Will snap out of it!

The Imaginary Horrors of Childbirth

2009-02-16T12:38:00.004+08:00

This entry is dedicated to Lis.

The final weeks leading to the birth of my son, I had all sorts of thoughts, fearful thoughts, which were keeping me awake at night. It was made worse by the fact that I was off work 2 weeks before my due date. And it is true what they say, an idle mind is a devil’s workshop. With no work to distract me, all I did was conjure all kinds of agonizing thoughts and fear. The agony of waiting for the infamous contraction, whether it was going to come while you are asleep or out having breakfast at the local coffee shop. I have heard so much about it, read so much about it and obviously I was preparing myself for the worst.

I am the sort of person who tends to have a very different perspective of things. For example, fainting is a romantic idea but not if you land oddly and your underpants go on show. Or if I see a motorbike accident with spilled food on the road, it makes me sad because the food never made it home to the table. My friend fell down a flight of stairs and I could not stop laughing because she fell down the flight of stairs on bended knees.

In those final weeks I did wonder how anybody could describe childbirth as beautiful. I was huge, I had a backache, my pelvis bone clicked each time I turned from one side to another . I am not joking, you could hear the clicking and the sensation is so odd. This is caused by a condition called Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction. Also, I had perpetual (meaning it was there 24/7) pins and needles in my right hand (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) which had been present since the 4th month. As far as I could see or imagine, childbirth would be excruciatingly painful, tiring, messy, unattractive and gross.

I am also very particular about my personal hygiene and where I go to get it done which is the reason I cannot go camping. Wherever I visit, my main priority is the condition of the toilet. This is why as much as I love China, the mere thoughts of the toilets make me retch.

During childbirth did you know that you may accidentally do a poopie? So I did some research and found out that doctors do give you suppositories to clear out your system. However the other problem I had was with the toilet at the doctor’s. So I came up with a brilliant idea of asking the doctor for a suppository in advance! After all, when you first have your contraction, you have a good 8-9 hours (if you are lucky), before the baby pops out. And apparently a suppository works within 15 minutes, in the comfort of my own washroom!!!

After all that, this is what we call a party pooper. I was 1 week late, my water broke, I had no contractions, I was not dilated (maybe just 1cm), and I did not use my suppository. I woke up on a Wednesday morning at about 8.30am when my water broke. So I had my shower, washed my hair and drove myself to the doctor’s. After weighing the pros and cons, the doctor recommended C-Section. By 10.45am, all was well and good. I had my new little bub whom I have grown to love more and more each day.

Crooks by any other name...

2009-02-14T14:47:00.001+08:00

Once upon a time, a bunch of businessmen must have sat down and thought to themselves, “Lets find ourselves a new group of suckers.” Hence the invention of St. Valentine’s Day.

Well let us give the opportunists a break. Where there is no demand, there is no supply. It is pretty obvious by now I am not a proponent of this Lurrrve Day. In the past some may have said that because I was single, I was bitter about this special day.

No, the fact is I just simply cannot stomach cuddly toys with tags which reads “I love you,” “Forever Love,” and the tags go on. I cannot get over the fact how you pay 100 bucks for a pathetic thawed bouquet when on normal days, 100 bucks could get you such a gorgeous bunch of fresh flowers.

Restaurants are the worst! How could they compel patrons to order their Valentine’s Day meal set, at a ridiculous price as well. Point is, crooks by any other names ...florists, restaurateur... would still be crooks.

8 Things You May Want to Know about Poe

2009-02-13T10:41:00.004+08:00

I have been tagged by khemy and this is a free flow anything goes:-

1) I go by the name Poe because it is non gender specific. I hate people who pre-judge me, especially at work, based on my gender and age.

2) It irks me when people associate my name with Teletubby but it flatters me when people associate my name with Edgar, which I can assure you is very very very rare. Those few men who did, definitely scored a date with me.

3) I travelled 8 hours to go back to my hometown Sitiawan to give birth to Eddie so that when he grows up, he can explain to anyone who sees his birth cert / passport where Sitiawan is.

4) I considered for a very long time whether to call my baby Edward Rhys or Rhys Edward. It was all resolved when my Sig.Ot (Significant Other) said that if baby grows up to be President of a bank, the name Edward would be more befitting. Ataupun Kedai Motor Edward pun bolehlah.

5) I started cooking at the age of 16 (as in proper cooking rice with 4 dishes and soup) for my family and never owned a cookbook. I believe that cooking is both common sense and creativity. Then recently someone bought me a cookbook for my 30th birthday. Of course, never told never knew.

6) I love my late grandma very very much who passed away 5 years ago. Until today I still dream of her. One dream which I remember very clearly is when I asked her where heaven was, and she pointed to the sky and said it was 6km from earth.

7) The most famous person I have encountered is Andre Agassi. He was sitting next to me in a restaurant in London. My friends bribed the waiters just to take home the napkin and the glass (?) he was using.

8) I have a house in Kota Damansara (Villa Damansara) which I would like to rent out. Please contact me if you know of anyone who wouldn't turn it into a brothel.

There Must be a Kennel in Heaven

2009-02-12T21:02:00.011+08:00

I am an emotional wreck when it comes to sick or dying animals. This is the only reason why I do not watch movies which feature animals such as Eight Below or Lion King. When we were kids, my aunt made us watch this famous Hindustan film, nevermind we did not understand the language, about an elephant. In the end the elephant died because he protected his human friend from the fatal gun shot. Evidently until today, the movie still has an impact on me.
Growing up in a small town, there were stray dogs and cats. If I were to see an injured dog with a missing leg, I would feel so sad and sometimes cry. Or when my puppy died, I came up with a ritual which I conducted on every Wednesday to make sure that she ended up in heaven. I was only eleven. Anyway you get the idea.
First of all, my heart goes out to the those who lost their loved ones in the horrendous bushfire in Australia. It also made me very sad to learn that millions of animal may have perished too. In the news today, there was an article about the poor creatures which have been saved. One baby wallaby had his nose cooked, whiskers singed and his poor ears fried crispy because he must have stuck his head out of his mummy's pouch. There was a koala, Sam (pic above), whose paws have been burnt, probably from walking on the very burnt ground. Thank goodness there is still much kindness to go around in the midst of such devastation. My heart goes out to those who will have to carry out the most unenviable task to euthanise thepoor animals with extensive injuries.

Put Your Hands Up....

2009-02-10T07:28:00.005+08:00

Last Saturday, my friends and I went out for my belated birthday celebration. I have always and probably will always dance to only hip hop and rnb. So for the whole of last week, I was researching for a good rnb club to go to. Unfortunately, house is still all the rave. and that's what they play in most clubs. Then we finally decided on Attica which was apparently a little bit better than Butter Factory in terms of crowd factor.
When we got there, it felt like college days all over again. In fact I felt like I was in a School Union bar. The kids, mostly international college kids, were swarming the place. The odd few late 20 something and early 30 s0mething (like us) stood out like sore thumbs! I have never seen so many cleavages in one place ever. Sadly, most of these barely-out-of-puberty girls think that the way to look older and sophisticated was to wear low cut tops with push-up bras.
Nevertheless it was very entertaining to watch a group of boys with their leader (turn-up collar) who thinks that he's the most suave of them all making a move on a couple of girls sitting by the bar. It is something that you see in grown up bars, something like Beach Club, minus the prostitutes with much much better music. Not that I am a really old seen-it-all aunty, but you could easily spot the don juan wannabes, and the girls who are trying so hard to catch attention of the boys. It is almost comical. I remember this boy who kept undoing his belt and show his bottom to girls. Just in a span of an hour, he has taken off his pants at least 3 times to show 3 different girls. I suspect that he has probably gotten a tattoo although piles could have been equally an attraction, not!
Truth is ,we definitely felt out of place. That club was definitely way too young for us. No, we do not wish to be that age again. Been there, done that. Thank goodness we then found another club with a live band which played Bon Jovi and Blur. We were not that old after all, we got home at 4am.

SPPS- Self Preservation in a Plastic Sense

2009-02-09T10:22:00.007+08:00

As I was growing up, I learnt to accept the way I look. I may not be drop dead gorgeous but I am really happy with the way I am. Of course when I was younger, i.e. early teens, I would wish for certain things such as non-frizzy hair, slimmer hips, narrower face etc but as I grew older I came to love the way I look. Honestly, I do. Back then in school, plastic surgery was perceived as something so shocking, and usually related to inflated boobs, like Dolly Parton. N.B. My Sig.Ot has recently told me that they all real.

My perception of plastic surgery started to change when I began to watch Nip Tuck 5 years ago. It got me thinking and I realised that most of us do alter or enhance the way we look. For example, skin preservatives you find in pots such as Creme de la Mer or SK II. Or lightweight thickening plus lengthening mascara, or in recent years, fake eyelashes which is glued on to your eyelids strand by strand which in my personal opinion make some look like they have got caterpillar resting on their eyelids.

Therefore most of us in the name of vanity do, to a certain degree, try to resist what nature does to the way we look. I admit that I may not wish to alter the way I look, but I would want to preserve the way I look. I do not want a new nose but I would like to keep my skin taut for as long as possible. I do not want my cheeks to sag or my jaw area to develop jowls. However, perhaps with time I may grow to accept how they will wrinkle, like how I grew to accept the way I looked in the first place. After all, aging does not happen overnight anyway.

So if my next pregnancy ruin my boobs, I may not rule out plastic surgery to restore them. Read restore, not upsize. My Sig.Ot said that there is no point in plastic surgery then. Haha... that's his humor for you.

The point is, most of us do want to look good by way of enhancing or changing or preserving. It is to what extremes are you willing to go. Be it a jar of Creme de la Mer or Botox injection. Therefore before one professes to be a saint and swear never ever to change the way she looks, do think again.

A Tale of a Tailor

2009-02-06T12:30:00.010+08:00

As if the posting of a secondary school photo of me at somebody's blog isn't bad enough, I have also been threatened with a tell-all silly crush I had. I hereby have an announcement to make. I shall beat you all to it, and tell it all myself.

When I was 16, I had a crush on this tailor. All the guys who worked at this shop are the chinese samseng type, which are considered cool, ok maybe for my standard; ponytail, smoking, cool dressing, modified Honda 3-door Bullet, you get the idea. Yes I actually went there to get my shirts tailored just so that I could see him. And the hours and the money I used to spend at the cassette shop opposite the tailor just so I could catch a glimpse of him.

There, I have said it. While I am on the subject, don't you guys dare snigger and stand on moral high ground. As if you have not done something silly while fancying yourself being in love, be it with a real person or some boyband or Ryan Giggs. hehehehe...

The good thing is we can now look back and laugh about it, threaten others with it, make some money out of it if someone becomes a Datin one day, and to have done all those silly mistakes when we did, and move on since then.

Phew... Aren't we all glad that we have outgrown our silly crushes.

30 Rock-s!!

2009-02-04T07:08:00.003+08:00

Yup, that's me. I've crossed the much fretted about 3-0. Big deal, yes it is, I suppose. But I did not really fret about it. Why is that so? I think I have mentally prepared myself for it since 3 - 4 years ago. It was also helped by the fact that most of my friends are older than me and each time one crosses to the other side, I have always come up with some original consolations for them, which I have then convinced myself to be true, hahaha.

Well I was quite mean to Eni who turns 30 one day after me, telling her that 30 is not just a number because it is also THIRTY or TIGA PULUH! hehehe... well it is and there is nothing wrong with that. It all boils down to what exactly you have achieved come this age. I am pleased to say that for now, I am very happy to be 30 and to be happily married and to be a mother to my wonderful bub and not to be stuck in a job I hate. For this realisation, I dedicate it to dear Reena who got me thinking years ago when she got married and had bubbles.

Made of Honor with KFC

2009-01-18T21:18:00.002+08:00

When you first meet a prospective boyfriend, you would usually run through a checklist in your head. Cute *Check* Funny *Check* Smart *Check* Things in common? Check for now.

Yes, it is important to have things in common so that you could both hold a conversation. In fact that's how a date is nailed in the first place. Something to talk about. Things to do together.

My Significant Other is away in Jakarta for work. So I decided to be adventurous and went to our local dvd rental shop (haha). I picked up Made of Honor, a movie I would have never gotten to watch with Sig.Ot. He hates romantic comedies. FYI, our movies selection last weekend were Death Race (Jason Stratham) and Death Proof (Tarantino).

I then realise that it is a good thing if a couple does not have EVERYTHING in common. There should be things that your partner has no interest in which you could do by yourself or with your friends. For instance, I love watching a romantic comedy while having KFC at the coffee table. Or movie nights with my friends at the cinema. Or drinks with my buddies. This is the reason why it works perfectly well for me that Sig.Ot is anti-social! I would rather have drinks with my friends without him.

But of course there are times that I wish he would take me to social events. When we were dating, he promised that he would take me to 2 social events per year, then we got married. And the wedding registration and wedding reception counted as 2 events in that year. Unfortunately since then, there isn't anymore events to go to.

In the mean time, I am eating my KFC. FYI, KFC in Singapore can't beat Malaysia's KFC.

Gastronomy Porn Galore

2009-01-15T08:00:00.001+08:00

Asian Food Channel... yum... it is definitely my most loved channel on cable. One of the reasons is because they hardly/never repeat any shows. Also you will not believe how many cook shows are made these days! In fact I am so inspired that I want to buy a Sonycam with tripod to record me cooking my daily family fare.

However the point of this article is to propose a limit to be put on certain gastronomy exploits on telly. I personally disdain arty farty self proclaimed nouveau young chef. Of course, this is not solely a jealousy motivated attack, but rather, I seriously doubt the quality of the food they put on show. I can recall at this immediate instance 2 chefs I dislike. They are both Jamie Oliver wannabes. One attempted to make Thai green curry which will never fool a Thai food enthusiast like me. The other cooked for a kid's birthday party and the chocolate dessert he made to entertain the kids looked like a pile of horse poo. (Clarification: I have no opinions with regards to Jamie Oliver because I do not watch his shows)

I then realise that a production house could actually hire an actor to pretend to cook since that there is no way telly audience could tell what the food taste like. Most of the time when they open the oven to put something inside, they ALWAYS simultaneously pull out another dish which they claim they have made earlier. Whether they have or not doesn't matter anyway because as I have said earlier, there is no telling whether the food tastes good or not. The food just have to "look" the part.

Again I repeat that I am not jealous simply because they have got a tv show while I do not.

Having aired my grievances, I have to say that there are cook shows that even my hubby loves to watch with me. Our favourite would be Escape / Return to River Cottage. In this show, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall moves to a village in Dorsett and farms his own food. Every episode, he will be cooking something which he has raised, grown or killed. I like the show's down to earth, gore and no fluffy approach. E.g. When he had to slaughter his poor piggies (which by the way can only be done by EU certified abbatoirs if one intends to sell the piggie produce), he made sausages, smoke ham and cooked all the piggie innards including black pudding. I can assure you there isn't any fancy pancy food presentation.

The other show we like is Scandinavian Cooking. I personally think that the food is a little bit bland but we watch it for the comedy. My hubby thinks that the cameraman is either drunk or high on some illegal substance due to his habit of zooming in and out repeatedly on the cook's hands.

All in all, AFC is a good staple channel to have.

The Bump Divide

2009-01-14T13:57:00.005+08:00

Since I have opted to leave my previous employer a.k.a. Oppressor Muka Dua, I enjoy telling people about my new unemployed status (however I am working on a different title). I have noted that the responses I receive vary greatly. The one main difference is the ones with children and those without. Among female friends who are either married or unmarried (by choice) but WITHOUT children, the most common response I received was, "Why did you leave?" / "Aren't you worried you may have burnt bridges with Oppressor Muka Dua?" / "Wouldn't it be difficult to go back to the workforce if you are out of the market for 2 years?" and many more along the same vein.

On the other hand, mothers with children, even the women I rarely know such as the foot reflex shop owner down the road, would respond to me with spontaneous envy on being able to spend more time with my baby. It is so true what our mothers used to say to us when we were rebellious teenage brats, "When you become a mother, you will understand." I suppose maternal instinct is universal and knows no color, social boundary or nationality. Like I have said before, even I am surprised at how happy I am with my decision.

Christmas Holidays

2009-01-13T21:18:00.012+08:00

My favorite time of the year is Christmas. Somehow a warm Christmas just doesn't quite seem right. Ideally snow would be great but not quite so in Wales, UK.

My 3 weeks holiday in UK was very good. The flight there was a bit stressful since that my Significant Other flew in a week later. Therefore I was on my own with Eddie on the 13 hours flight plus 3 hours drive from London Heathrow. We got a Volkswagen Passat which is a very good drive. Then again, most cars have got to be better than our current Tuscon.

A very good friend of mine Tabea flew in from Germany to see me for a day in Cardiff, which was really really sweet of her. I also met up with a Malaysian friend of mine who migrated to Cardiff 5 years ago. She took me to a curry house which served seriously spicy curry. I promise that you will never get curry as spicy as this in either Malaysia or Singapore!

Christmas day was spent at my SIL's house in Lechlade. It's a very beautiful quaint village near Oxford. We had turkey (which I dislike) and all the trimmings for Christmas dinner. My husband gave me wonderful pressies such as this spanking new Toshiba laptop and an oven! Of course he did not haul the oven all the way to Lechlade but he presented it to me in the form of a brochure wrapped in bricks laden gift box.

And of course, the very much anticipated Christmas cake that I baked in November. I have been worried that I might have forgotten to lug the cake but thank goodness I did not. Delia's recipe is foolproof - now 2 years running. It's very moist but I wish I have put more brandy into the cake.

Things to do in my leisure time... Part 2

2009-01-13T16:19:00.005+08:00

# 2 Charity

When the opportunity to leave my job came up, my Significant Other was extremely supportive. He then encouraged me to be involved in charity works as he has always wanted to do so. One of the things that he has always felt strongly about is child abuse. As for me, having Eddie has definitely enhanced my maternal instinct. These days any stories or images I see of children being neglected or abuse automatically reduce me to tears.
Today, I looked up childrensociety.com for volunteer works which are available. One volunteer work which I thought suited me best was to look after vulnerable witnesses in court. Eventhough the job scope was not detailed, I believe that the volunteer is required to accompany the child to court and speak on the child's behalf. I honestly believe that I am perfect for the job since I am an eloquent multilingual speaker with a law degree.
So I called up the society and told them about my interest in volunteering. The lady then asked me for my details e.g. age, qualifications and nationality. The moment she found out that I was only a PR and not Singaporean, she told me that I was not qualified and said goodbye. So I was quite surprised at her bluntness. Here I was thinking how saintly I was to want to help someone and she just cut me off. At least she could thank me for my interest and offered me some other kind of volunteer work which also suited me. So my first attempt at offering kindness had been shot down. But I will not give up and I shall try for another charity tomorrow. I shall keep you lot updated.