Of things that grow in the back garden

How many times have you gone behind your house to "look-see-look-see"? Do you know what's behind your house? Are there any shrubs? plants? trees? fishes? puppies? or err.... other things better left unsaid. What!?! No human remains buried behind your house? SURE? you checked? :P

Went picking rambutans in the backyard in Sarawak when I was last home. I like yellow rambutans, particularly the ones in the garden. Plucked a box full to ta-pau to KL. Last I heard, my parents mentioned that there are even more rambutans ripening now, and even being given away, there are still a lot left!

Came across this funny looking plant? vegetable? What can it be? I was initially perplexed, but finally it dawned upon me what it was. Have you ever seen a loofah in its original state? Well, here it is! My first time seeing it, and it was growing in the back garden (and I didn't even know!!).




Last Christmas (or was it the one before), I went through a soap phase, and bought lots of scented and other unique soaps to use and to give away as pressies. Actually, I don't know why soaps are so expensive, especially the novelty ones, but hey, it was a closing down sale, so whacked as many as I could (still have some unused to this day). And what has this got to do with loofah? Well, maybe I should follow through a similar kind of phase for this Christmas.. heeheee...!!! :)

The Spirit of Patriotism

The National Day is coming, where we will be celebrating our 49th year of independence. On the air, chats have been going on about how we see less flags being flown from cars this year, and the radio hosts were trying to figure out why that was so. I think it was concluded that previous years, the flags were given out free by some corporate entities, so we as Malaysians were willing to fly the flags. However, this year, we don’t seem to be getting the flags for free, and as such, not as many flags were being flown. I don’t know how much truth there is in this conclusion, but I guess it would probably be generally true based on some bias assumptions I can make.

However, what is patriotism? My dictionary defines it as the love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it. Flying a flag is just an outer sign, and some may say that if you cannot even show your patriotism outwardly by even flying the jalur gemilang, then you don’t feel for the country. Well, I have flown the flag in past years (and I think I still have it in my cupboard somewhere), but to me, the spirit of patriotism as shown by the love of country could be taken to mean the development of the country and its people in one way or another. Each individual’s contribution would be different. Whether this is via economic support and sacrifice, i.e. for the lay people, we sacrifice our hard earned dosh by going shopping and spend, spend, spend…! :), or via development of the culture and arts, as well as other charitable deeds to help others shouldn’t be discriminated and forgotten. Have you done your share to contribute to society and the country?

The flying of the flag, akin to the wearing of a badge only in August when the merdeka celebration approaches is superficial to say the least. Yes, it does call for a greater awareness of the celebration particularly during this month, but for most Malaysians I guess, it would just be another public holiday, and a serves as a good break from work. Call me cynical, but has anybody done any market research on this? Don’t get me wrong though, I am not opposed to flying the flag, I think we all should “wear a badge” sometimes, whether as a reaffirmation or reminder of the event, but should also inculcate within ourselves that the spirit of patriotism doesn’t only entail a celebration come 31 August, but is actually a year round event.

Went back to Sarawak again two weeks' back for my eldest uncle’s 70th birthday bash. Quite a big do I might add, as there were over 20 tables and relatives from as far as UK coming back for the event. Flew back with AirAsia, and I must say, what better way to advertise the country than by painting the plane with the national flag? Way to go, AirAsia!

Toast!

This post is specially dedicated to Renu, one of my ex-Uni mate, who is unique and talented in so many different ways! :)

Went to watch a play Friday night, braving the traffic as I headed back into the city to Taman Budaya after the heavy downpour. This was the first play I have ever watched (excluding musical types), and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. Was initially apprehensive of going to watch it, as I had expected to be bored (come on! it's a play!!! - no singing oh!), but I am glad I went. I did enjoy it, and I wasn't bored. And given that my funny bones are hard to tickle (I didn't laugh once when I watched Ace Ventura - Pet Detective!), but this play got a chuckle or two, as well as some almost hearty laughs out from me.

What is it about:
Young Isnin is a clerk with big dreams, but who's stuck in a dead-end job. The one thing that keeps him going in the office is Nandhini, his co-worker. Who is she? What's she doing there? Then, one dull afternoon, Isnin is told to go to the company's basement storeroom with Nandhini. What lurks in the depths of the building? What will he find out about his mysterious co-worker?

Directed by David Lim, the play was written Shahredza Minhat who also stars as the lead character 'Isnin'. Also featuring the talents of Renuka Veerasingam, Farrah Aini and Abdul Qahar Aqilah.

What I liked about it:
1. The casts were well focused, and had energy. I am no expert, but after having gone through some workshops as well as being on stage myself, I can tell you, it is not easy to break out of the comfort zones. I particularly thought Redza and Farrah were very good on stage. Good voice projections too, especially given that the play was not miked up.
2. Simple props, but effective. I liked the usage of the screen. Initially I didn't know how "the dancing behind the screen" related to the play, but was enlightened that it was a "filler", like for in between scenes. It made me laugh a bit because it was unexpected, yet entertaining. Good movements Renu! :) Come to think of it, I don't recall ever seeing you dance in all the years in Uni. Hmmm.
3. The interplay between Farrah and Abdul Qahar was quite a laugh. Dare I say it brought back some memories? :P
4. The double meaning behind words used. I am sure I didn't catch all the double meanings, but some just stick to my head... like "sleeping partner". I nearly burst out laughing at the connotation.

What I think could be improved:
1. Lighting, although I was later told that they didn't have a technical run through, as they only got the hall that evening. In short, Friday being the show, was the bump-in so to say. Some lighting boo-boos in some parts, but nothing major. Yet, the cast were in some shadows at some scenes, which muted the impact of what the cast wanted to bring across via facial expressions.
2. I liked how it ended, but I think that last scene when "Isnin" was dancing could have been prolonged by dimming the lights on stage even more slowly. It would have made it more definite, as opposed to audience guessing whether the play has ended or not.
3. The publicity - under the Kementerian's jurisdiction, but I don't think there was enough publicity. I reckon there was more coverage when the show was produced last February.

Generally, I was quite impressed with the play, and after this play, will definitely try to broaden my horizons as opposed to just catching musical type shows. Thank you Renu, for informing me about the play. I had contemplated skipping the play entirely due to traffic concerns, as well as my unfounded expectations, but I am glad I went. It was definitely worth the time. Kudos to Shahredza who wrote the play, and all the casts and crew involved. Well done!

Of things that crawl and tails detach

Recently at work, we found out that one of my colleagues has a great fear of lizards, especially the tail which could be detached and still wiggle as the lizard scrambles away. So, a few of us got our creative minds together and came up with this poem, specially dedicated to our colleague, Meme.


***********************************************

A special ode we make,
with multiple thoughts we rake.
To our Ol'dear Meme we bake,
a squishy tale to awake.

Of little reptiles lounging around,
with swinging tails plenty abound.
Small lofty eyes to assay Meme, her majesty,
minute orotund tones to soothe with her pleasantry.

As she clings upon the silvery wall,
Like an avenging arrow, she plans its fall,
She lets fling her well lubed hind.
On Ol'dear Meme's cheek it doth straight find.

Cold and clammy this little beast,
Not at all desirable to say the least.
What fashion sense this beast has, to go tail less?
Ol'dear Meme, is her majesty really fearless?

Wiggle it goes, on and on, on soft smooth skin,
Away it would go, had it not been so thick skinned,
Our whiter paler majesty, managed to jump and scream,
In a manner, never witnessed before by the CBL Team.

That fashionable beast, sauntered away to hide,
From all the fuss and noise that would have held back the tide,
With lucky stars shining ever so brightly on Ol'dear Meme,
Pigs flew, tails flew, but wouldn't stop our Screaming Meme!!

That Special Glow

Have you ever been fascinated by something? Or by that special someone? :)

I hear a lot about parents bringing their kids for a shopping trip, and that trip would not be complete without a sojourn to the pet shop! Have you ever seen the eyes of a child twinkle as they stand transfixed and amazed at the various animals in a pet shop? Most fascinating to them I would guess, would be the little puppies; abundant in energy, ceaseless wagging of their tails (the dog! not the child!!), and the constant need for attention.

I had 2 budgies before and a Doberman (Misty) who took me for walks as opposed to me bringing her out kai-kai.

Well, I popped down earlier to the Mall during lunch time, and here's a special tribute to those little creatures that bring a glow to the heart.



Do you have a pet?

Banana man at work

城里的月光
In city moonlight

每颗心上某一个地方
mei ke xing shang mou yi ge di fang
Web translator: On each heart some place
Is it: In certain part of the heart

总有个记忆挥不散
zong you ge ji yi hui bu shan
Web translator: Always has a memory to wield does not disperse
Is it: There’s always a memory that cannot be forgotten

每个深夜某一个地方
mei ge shen ye mou yi ge di fang
Web translator: Each night some place
Is it: Every night, somewhere

总有着最深的思量
zong you zhe zui shen de shi liang
Web translator: Always has the deepest consideration
Is it: There’s always the deepest thought

世间万千的变幻
shi jian wan qian de bian huan
Web translator: In society myriad fluctuating
Is it: This forever changing world

爱把有情的人分两端
ai ba you qing de ren fen liang duan
Web translator: Loves human minute both sides which feels emotion
Is it: Keeps lovers apart

心若知道灵犀的方向
xin ruo zhi dao ling xi de fang xiang
Web translator: If the heart knows cleverness the direction
Is it: If only the heart knows where it is going

那怕不能够朝夕相伴
na pa bu neng gou zhao xi xiang ban
Web translator: That feared cannot accompany from morning until evening
Is it: Even if we can’t be together

Chorus
城里的月光把梦照亮
cheng li de yue guang ba meng zhao liang
Web translator: In the city moonlight illuminates the dream
Is it: In the city moonlight, the dream is illuminated

请温暖他心房
qing wen luan ta xing fang
Web translator: Please warm his atrium
Is it: Please warm his/her heart

看透了人间聚散
kan tou le ren jian qu shan
Web translator: Has completely understood the world assembling and parting
Is it: Having accepted the reunion and parting

能不能多点快乐片段
neng bu neng duo dian kuai le pian duan
Web translator: Can select the joyful fragment
Is it: Can we have more happy moments

城里的月光把梦照亮
cheng li de yue guang ba meng zhao liang
Web translator: In the city moonlight illuminates the dream
Is it: In the city moonlight, the dream is illuminated

请守护它身旁
ching shou hu ta sheng pang
Web translator: Please protect its one's side
Is it: Please guard/stay by his/her side

若有一天能重逢
ruo yu yi tian neng chong feng
Web translator: If one day to be able to have a reunion
Is it: If only we meet again another day

让幸福撒满整个夜晚
rang xing fu sha man zhen ge ye wan
Web translator: Let scatter completely the entire night happily
Is it: Please let the joy and happiness fill the night

sobsobsobsobsobsobsobsobsobsobsobsobsobsobsobsobsob

In case you are wondering, I am trying to translate and get the meaning of this song, and No!, I can't read and write chinese, let alone speak chinese well. This song has a very nice tune. So, as it stands, think it is a sad song (sob.. sob..), but not all that sure of the translation. Correct ah?

Saturday’s Rambling Log 060812

Woke up late, started reading “The Last of the Wilds” and savoured the contentment of a holiday, no matter how short. There was a birthday dinner scheduled for the evening, and there was food galore! Saw my sisters making sushi, so I helped cut up the rolled up sushis and nibbled the ends after cutting. Helped arranged the sushis on two separate plates for ease of access to the food by expected hungry hordes that evening. Over 70 people expected, mostly relatives and a few close family friends.

Won’t go into details regarding the food, but suffice to say that there was a lot of variety, and some had their favourites somehow or rather. There was also enough to ta-pau.

Helped to tidy up the place, cleared certain areas of the compound of fallen leaves, and noticed that there is actually quite a variety of plants in the garden! One I particularly note is a yellow plant (no, don’t know name of the flower), it opens its petals in the morning and afternoon, but closes the petals towards the evening. Cool! Brought back thoughts of sciences studied in class before. Unfortunately, my knowledge does not extent much to gardening (well, I can tell whether it is a yellow flower, red flower, purple flower, or other coloured flowers, but don’t know names except for the more common ones). Snapped quite a few pictures of the flowers, but there are many more plant varieties which I didn’t managed to take. Never realised my parents grew quite a variety of plants in the garden. Think my dad is trying out vegetables next, and have already sampled some of the home produce.



Before I knew it, relatives started arriving. If you don’t know already, Hakka families are very loud. Normal conversations are in raised voices, probably because the past family size tended to be large (my dad had 13 brothers and sisters), and to be heard amongst everyone else, one needed to be loud. And that’s not even when the uncles and aunties get excited over certain conversational topic, and the decibels rise. At times, I needed some quiet moment, so moved around a bit. Whilst waiting for others to arrive, some played a variation of mahjong, but with cards. Was told it is similar, but don’t know how to play because can’t read Chinese, and there are slight differences. Think it is called “chee pai” in Hakka, which translates to “paper cards”.

Even more relatives came, even more food arrived which were catered. I can’t imagine how stressed my mum must have been to be able to kau tim such a large crowd. I guess that’s why they call mum’s “supermums”. For all you mums out there, a special toast to you! Younger cousins started arriving, and some, I had to recall names as I hardly keep in touch with them. At such gatherings, it is imperative to get the name callings right, like “Ko ko” (elder brother), “Ku ku” (younger aunty related via the father’s side), “Ku Chong”, “Ku Che”, “Pak Mei”, “Pak Pak”, “Po Po”, “Tai Ku Po”, etc. Whoa! That’s a lot to remember to get right. Me? I call most of my uncles and aunties in English, but sometimes, those which I know for sure (so that I don’t get it wrong and land in hot soup!), will call by the Hakka generation rank equivalent. Not only that, also need to know the order of rank, like “Tai Pak Mei” (eldest aunty by rank), “Ye Pak Mei” (second eldest aunty by rank), “Sam Pak Me” (third eldest aunty by rank), etc…Tough man! No wonder some of my younger cousins (less than 5 years old), will smile and quickly run away when asked to call a certain uncle or aunty. But then again, young kids should have better memory retention powers. Usually, at functions like these, there’s a whole range of dialects being spoken (Mandarin, Hakka, Hokkien, Cantonese) as well as English, especially amongst the younger ones. I wonder if the young ones understand what is being said, probably snatches of conversation here and there. After all, English is still used, and notable phrases like “Don’t run!, Quickly eat!, Sit still!” were pretty common that night. Last I counted, my immediate generation (99th generation of the Jong (in Hakka) or Yang (in Mandarin) from my grandfather who migrated from China) consisted of 37 of us. And no, it’s the “muk yee te Yang”, and not the “yang mek mek”. :) The 100th generation is already expanding.

At events like these, I can only count my blessings, what with the abundance of food, and the large number of family members. In small towns, people are normally related somehow or rather, which they call “fan su chin”, i.e. related via roots of potatos (because there are lots of roots branching out here and there). Speaking of potatos, I just found out what is Soo Kun known as in English. It is actually an Indonesian word for Sukun or Breadfruit. Was pondering it earlier, and one of my colleagues asked whether it was Cassava. Huh!?! Cassava? What the heck is that? Nope, it is not. Cassava (new word for me) is another name of manioc (which I have heard) or better known locally as Ubi Kayu. But I digress.

Big moment came, the cutting of cakes (no, it wasn’t my birthday, but my dad’s). And would you believe it, we had four cakes! The main birthday cake was the banana cake (baked by my mum) and frosted with sour cream and chocolate bits (my elder sister did the layer of cream) and topped with three glazed strawberries (I decorated)! There was another cheese cake which my mum and another aunty experimented on earlier. Added to that, my elder sister made tiramisu (but she went easy on the alcohol as there were kids around). A close family friend brought another birthday cake (another type of cheese cake) which was quite nice. Can you spot which is which? And yes, it was “all gone” by the time the party was over! We started dinner proper at about 6:30pm, and by 8:30pm, almost all were on their way home already.

Friday’s Rambling Log 060811

Friday came and went. Took the day off to fly back to Sarawak, as had been originally planned many months’ back. The day before, had a mini crisis in the office which I felt kind of guilty to leave my colleagues to handle. My boss was away on long leave, and my colleagues and I were holding fort. However, we go on the basis that no one person is indispensable, and somehow, the team would have to cope. I guess I would probably be picking up the tail end of issues on Monday when I return to work.

Took the AirAsia flight scheduled to depart at 11am, and glad there was only a slight delay of about 15 minutes before actual take-off. Actually, booked the 11am flight as I didn’t fancy waking up early to got to the airport, but went early anyway, as I was sharing a cab with my elder sister who was going on an earlier flight. No, we didn’t fly together (contingency planning, so to say). So what time did I get up? I dragged myself out of bed at 5:45am to depart for the airport at 6:45am! Definitely suffering from sleep depravation. As it is, I haven’t been getting enough sleep during the past week, as had been busy with something or rather. The night before, had rehearsals and a discussion session with WP, which lasted until slightly pass 11pm. Got back, showered, prepared what to bring back to Sarawak, checked emails, and nodded off closer to 1am. No wonder I slept in the plane. At least it gave me some “rest” time.

What did I do at the airport? Had a “Big Breakfast” at McD (LCCT), read the news for the day, and tried for the very first time, a game called Sudoku. My younger sister passed me the puzzle which consisted of numbers, and required logical thinking. Have heard of the craze before, but this was my first time trying out this number game. Took me a while (slightly more than half an hour) to crack it, with some peeping of the answers when I got stuck! And then, my younger sister told me that she gave me the intermediate level puzzle to solve, and very kindly also mentioned that there are some school competitions going around where “kids” took about 3 minutes only to solve the intermediate puzzles. Shit! Maybe I should give up my job and go back to school to be able to solve numeric puzzles quicker! I noticed my puzzle was quite messy with me trying to work out the various permutations possible. It appeared to be an addictive game, so I had better stop there! No sir-ee! Don’t want to get hooked and spend even more time not “resting”. Thinking so much gave me a headache anyway.

Still had time to pass before my flight. Came prepared, and took out my music score to learn and memorise while waiting for my flight to arrive. Found a quiet spot after checking in, and I think I managed to memorise Loch Lomond finally! Will only know for sure when I put down scores and sing with WP again for this song. Very haunting tune, but beautiful all the same. One of my favourites actually. Brought along another set of music score to memorise, but slightly more difficult. Will see how it goes over the weekend. Somehow, I never seem to spend enough time learning music. Have usually relied on my sight singing skills. Memorising things come difficult to me, as I have always gone on the basis of understanding stuff, as opposed to pure memorising for answers in exams. Unfortunately, need to memorise for the upcoming concert, and has to be done to improve interpretation and feel of music, otherwise will always be reliant on looking at music scores.

Yep, also read a bit in the plane, but felt sleepy. My body shutting down after a hectic week, and nodded off in the plane. And yes, have finished Adiamante by LE Modessitt Jr. Took a while to get going with the story, but I enjoyed it better than The Parafaith War. Brought two other books back to read over the weekend as a form of chilling. Don’t want to think about work. Can’t escape though, got a couple of sms-es from market peers about work related stuff. Oh well… of course, this was not during the flight. My handphone was off. That reminds me, I don’t have a digital camera, and am reliant on my handphone camera to take photos. Sometimes I am tempted to take pictures whilst in the air, especially for certain spectacular views whilst looking out the window of the plane, but am restricted because I am not supposed to switch on my handphone due to possible flight system interference. Bummer! Getting an extra camera is not feasible, and would be redundant as I have my camera phone. Good though as it is, it does have its limitations.

Arrived at Kuching International Airport. What’s the first thing we do? EAT! We went for lunch at this Hainanese Chicken Rice place near the airport. Not bad! Actually, have been blogging a considerable bit about food lately, and am trying to steer away from food topic, but it is hard!, especially since I have almost been eating non stop over the whole Friday – chicken rice, and then durians (humongous ones!) when I reached home. Had some home fried local snacks (soo-kun) which I absolutely adore (but not good to eat too much – will probably get a sore throat later), and then dinner at Tebakang with the whole family, and close family friends. This was the same place I blogged about before which had the big prawns! Needed preordering though, which my parents did. Had 13 big prawns (3.4kg) which cost about RM129.20 just for the prawn dish. One soon-hock fish (1.9kg) costing RM72.20, which I have been told is very cheap, considering it costs about RM110 per kilo in KL! Had other food too, but am resisting temptation to post pictures of the food. Also had deer meet, wild boar, and er… turtle stew (I only had one itsy bitsy teeny weeny bite) as well as other veggie dishes. Dinner came to RM320 for 13 pax, which was quite ok for the dishes ordered (especially compared to KL!). I picked up the tab for dinner, but found I was short RM50. Had to borrow from my elder sister! SHY! Don’t normally carry much cash with me.

Since returning to Sarawak, what have I heard as updates on local news? Apparently, there was a robbery-cum-murder in one of the kampungs. The thieves were caught, but one escaped and remained at large! So, the locals in the kampungs and surrounding areas are kind of worried and fearful. Crime seemed to be on the rise, what with the influx of foreigners into the area.

My dad finally managed to shoot the monitor lizard “hanging around” our pond area eating up the fishes. He needed only one shot! Wow! And no, the meat didn’t go to waste. It was given to someone for a good meal. I don’t even want to think about how they cooked it. Have you ever seen a bat or a wild animal being skinned? Not a pleasant sight, that much I can say!

Saw some chickens at Tebakang, and initially thought they were the stringy healthy kampung chicken types, but later found out they were actually fighting cocks reared for commercial purposes. Those that “don’t make it” apparently ended up in cooking pots! What gave it away, was that the cocks were individually tied up a distance apart from each other, which was kind of strange, but given the circumstances, logical. It’s a cruel, cruel world. I suppose one never really see real cock fights in the city, but only hear about it in the papers or by other means. I recall seeing one such fight when I was young, and the people attached sharpened knives to the feet of the cocks and watched them battle for their life. Nasty, nasty, nasty.

What else did I learn today? Heard stories about the soon-hock fish. Yes, it is a fresh water fish, but didn’t have the “seng” smell or taste, as it was usually smothered by the ginger and other toppings before steaming. What was more interesting is that in the past, this fish was unwanted, and the locals call it the “soo koo” fish (translated as “stupid” fish). Apparently, it’s hunting skill is to stay motionless while a prey approaches and will open it’s mouth wide and gobble up the prey. It doesn’t go chasing after the little fishes. However, if a predator comes along, it also stays motionless as a defense mechanism, as opposed to swimming away. Hence, it’s name of “stupid” fish given by the locals. Not sure how true it is though, but over the years, the prestige of the fish has been elevated, and is now sold in restaurants at a hefty price.

Being back in Sarawak is a good thing, to see the family and relatives, and not forgetting eating the food! Still, will put more rambling logs later, especially on the big gathering planned for the Saturday. Incidentally, results came out during the week for the exams I took in June. Out of 58 people who took all four papers in one sitting, only 29 got through one shot. Passing mark was 75%, so definitely some pressure there to get through. Yes, am glad I passed and it is over and done with… Pheewww!

Weekend… Part 2 (Sunday)

Sunday came, and slept in as late as I could. Did a bit of house chores, before going out to meet friends for lunch. Yeah, went to Sri Neela’s again in Taman Desa for their banana leaf rice. I like the banana leaf rice there for the deep fried bitter gourd. Normally don’t eat bitter gourd, unless it’s cooked this way. Had mine with mixed chicken and fish curry sauce. Also ordered a small plate of sotong, but didn’t really like it. I think the batter is too light, and not crispy enough. Still, I had second helpings, and decided to skip dinner to compensate for over eating again.



Makan-ed mine with a set of fork and spoon, whilst my friends ate theirs the traditional Indian way - with their hands. Have tried eating with my hands, but never got used to it. No paper tosai this time for me, not that I didn’t order, but the eatery’s cook has a break from all these roti thingies between noon and three.

The thing I like about banana leaf rice is that it is “all you can eat” - for the same price. Particularly popular on Fridays when most would go vegetarian. When you finish, there’s apparently a meaning in the way you fold the banana leaf. If you fold the banana leaf down towards you, it means you liked the meal. If you fold the leaf upwards to the table, it means you didn’t like the meal. I was told there are other meanings as well, particularly during Indian wedding celebrations. The other place I like to go for the banana leaf rice is Restaurant Kanna along Jalan Gasing. The different types of curries there is simply superb, and they do a mean deep fried sotong dish!

And after all that fried oily stuff, what better way than to cleanse with cups and cups of Chinese tea?! Yeah, we adjourned to my friend’s house for some tea. She has this new Chinese tea set which she wanted to try out, so we tried at least four different tea flavours. There’s the “Sleeping Beauty” which didn’t contain any caffeine, and has a slight bitter after taste. The girls told me it was more herbal rather than tea (huh!?! Like I would know). There’s also the “tik kun yam” tea, and another two flavours. Looking back, I am actually quite ignorant of a lot of things. First, don’t know differences between fishes (except for the obvious ones of course), then trees, now teas! Probably a lot more other things I don’t know if I were to think about it. Bummer! As though lunch was not full enough, and drank massive loads of tea, had two slices of cake to go with our Chinese tea session. Last I heard, there will be an English tea session coming up sometime. How quaint! One of them (who is holidaying in Europe at the moment) is supposed to bake a butter cake (her specialty apparently – and have proven very popular from what I have heard). Another has plans to experiment with Tiramisu, while I will be doing my apple crumble! Not sure when though, actual day has not been fixed. Oh boy!

Trotted off to church after that, and had to song lead. Good thing is that I had a full stomach, so had energy to burn while singing (I wonder how many calories I lose by singing one song. Hmmm!), but the bad thing is that I drank too much tea, and had water retention issues! Need toilet break! Need toilet break!

Evening came, and although I wasn’t feeling very hungry, trotted off to busy Menjalara for what was supposed to be a light dinner at D’Fortune Western Café with a friend. Started off with a super sized glass of watermelon juice (actually wanted mango juice, but tadak!), my friend had carrot juice (also super sized). Hey! Was feeling thirsty despite all the tea earlier due to the hot weather. Would just need to go to the toilet more often later! The place was quite packed, and I think understaffed that evening. The poor waiter was almost solo-ly handling the entire room, and as a result, service was kind of slow, but as my friend kept reminding me… PATIENCE…. So what did I finally eat? Gave in to temptation and tried the grilled short beef ribs with sweet BBQ sauce, served with flavoured rice and some vegetables.



The portion was not that big, but sufficient, considering that I wasn’t hungry in the first place. I still whalloped the entire plate. The meal was very tasty, and I particularly liked the BBQ sauce. And the damage to the wallet? Not too bad actually, prices were not exorbitant, but slightly cheaper comparatively to outlets in the heart of KL itself. How ah! How to lose weight before the concert in November? Need to target for a trimmer me before then, but this weekend certainly hasn’t helped. As a matter of fact, the next two coming weekends will also be “food”-filled, with two big dinner celebrations being already pre-arranged!

Lepak-ed “a bit” after dinner, and got home late again, tired out from my weekend. I definitely need a break – both from work, and from my weekend adventures! Need to find some “my time” for me to relax.

Weekend… Part 1 (Saturday)

What a week! Been makaning again, starting from Friday lunch. Went to the Thai restaurant, but didn’t really fancy much. So, was being really “Cina” and ordered sweet and sour fish! At least they gave some Tom Yam soup to go with it. Also had the Thai ABC as opposed to my usual Red Ruby dessert. Stuffed myself silly, and felt guilty after that. Promised myself no dinner – and sort of kept the promise, but had some “light” snacks instead.

Saturday morning came, woke up early for my singing class (class is usually at noon, but swapped with another student for her 10am class as I had something else on for lunch). The previous few times I went to class without eating, I couldn’t last the session, as it involved a lot of energy – especially for those dramatic type of songs. So, there I go makan breakfast at Sri Neela’s. Had my paper tosai (but forgot to take picture again!) and a cup of teh tarik. After finishing, still felt hungry (no dinner the previous night muh!), and whacked one roti pisang! I never had roti pisang until I came to Kuala Lumpur. My hometown in Sarawak did not have a large Indian community, so was deprived of Indian food. One of my ex-uni mates introduced me to roti pisang, and I think the first one I tried was either in Subang or Shah Alam (forgot already) a very long time ago.

After class, went to Sing Kee Chinese coffee shop to ta-pau food for a potluck lunch thingy at my colleague’s house. Bought siew yeok, char siu, siu cheong and pai kuat, and asked for extra sauces to go! Yummy! There were other dishes there, and yes, over ate again.


Also had a birthday cake (which was meant as a surprise for one of my colleagues, but at the last minute, she couldn’t make it). So, we called her up, put on speaker phone, sang a birthday song, took pics, made a video recording of our sing-a-long session for our show and tell on Monday. Actually, the purpose of the lunch was to go to buy a plant as a house warming gift. The previous time we went, it sort of drizzled, so plans to go buy the plant was KIVed until last Saturday. Helped to repot plants (well, my contribution in terms of help was to take pictures! Definitely don’t have green fingers!), and sort of bumped around after that for a bit. Some wanted to watch “The Maid”, but I chickened out (verdict was that it was ok, but not as spooky as Shutter). It’s a story set in the Chinese seventh month thingy, so no dearie, thank you very much, not for me.

Actually, that night, I had a photo shoot session on for my singing group at 9pm, and before that there was supposed to be a BBQ session, which I opted out of. Must control my food intake somewhat. Wasn’t planning to eat dinner, but my sister cooked a simple dish of some chicken, preserved meat and vege and bunked all into the rice cooker. Nice, but I ate in moderation. Still full from lunch, and didn’t want to look bloated for the photos (not that I didn’t already look bloated, but hey, I can hope…).

The photo session was quite good, in that this was the first time I saw how two or more images can be captured in one shot. It’s as though in the first shot taken is like the normal type, and the second shot taken, it sorts of becomes like the soul or spirit shot. I think it is the use of lights, where a torch light was used to shade or colour us for the second shot. Not entirely sure of the mechanics of it all, and it was initially spooky, but had a very nice effect. Photo session got delayed a bit during the process as the camera battery went flat. Had to wait a bit to continue. We did some “jamming” sessions and sang some songs from our upcoming concert, and man, could we feel the energy! By the time the battery was recharged, it was fast approaching midnight. So, didn’t manage to finish everyone’s individual shots, but did get the group shots done. Kind of interesting. Finally got home after midnight. Tired out and half my weekend is gone.

Stress Management

I couldn't resist this - too cute!













MUAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Book Sales

Have you ever gone nuts over a sale? The last time I did was last year, over a sale conducted by MPH for members. That time, I had lots of book vouchers which I redeemed from my credit card reward programme. My credit card annual fee was falling due, and I wrote in nicely asking for a waiver but hinted that I would terminate my card if it was not approved, but still they rejected my application! So, before I terminated my card, I redeemed my reward points and got lots of MPH vouchers to use.

This time, MPH just had their members' sale, but there weren't many books which I was looking for. Only bought 3 books as a continuation of various sagas I have been following. Got 15 percent off my purchases. And you know what? I only found out about the sale recently. About 2 weeks prior to the sale, I bought 2 books at normal price! Bummer! Should have waited, but being a bit kiasu, quickly bought them on the spot when I wandered into the shop during lunch time! What was worst is that I bought 3 heavy duty X-men collection comic books in MPH 1Utama about one month back, which cost me quite a bit! Hmpphhh!

The last book I finished reading was L.E. Modessit Jr's "The Parafaith War". It's more futuristic science fiction type, as opposed to the fantasy science fiction which I prefer. Am currently starting on "Adiamante", but struggling through it at the moment due to time. Too tired out most days, only when I get some "my" time, or just before bedtime. However, I note that reading just before I sleep only gets me past a few pages before I totally conk out. Why aren't there enough hours in a day?

Which authors do I read? I read various actually, but skewed to the science fiction genre; David Gemmel, Raymond E. Feist, L.E. Modessit Jr, R.A. Salvatore, Terry Brooks, Trudi Canavan, Robin Hobb, David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, and many others. My all time favourites at the moment are David Gemmel, L.E. Modessit Jr, and Raymond E. Feist (in this order!). Buying books can be real costly, but I guess I am now lucky enough to indulge occassionally (like during sales period). When I started working, had to sometimes rent books to read because I couldn't afford to satisfy my reading hobby. So cham!... sniff, sniff! (wiping away a tear).