Can You Possibly Be Any Slower Than That?!

In light of the impending RM50 credit card tax beginning from next year, I've mustered the courage and moolah to settle all outstanding balances in my H*BC credit cards in order to terminate them. And how long does it take for the tele-banker to do the necessary verifications & data entry over the phone?- 31 minutes and 20 seconds.

I'm so glad I no longer have to deal with them.

My Boo

There's always that one person
That will always have your heart
You'll never see it coming
Cause you're blinded from the start
Know that you're that one for me
It's clear for everyone to see
Ooh baby ooh you'll always be my boo

I was in love with you when we were younger
You were mine my boo
And I see it from time to time
I still feel like my boo
And I can see it no matter
How I try to hide my boo
Even though there's another man who's in my life
You will always be my boo

'My Boo' by Usher feat. Alicia Keys

Goyah

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magnitude 6.0 - HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
2009 October 13 11:38:05 UTC

Earthquake Details
Magnitude 6.0
Date-Time Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 11:38:05 UTC
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 08:38:05 PM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 2.938°N, 128.219°E
Depth 32 km (19.9 miles) set by location program
Region HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
Distances 255 km (160 miles) NNE of Ternate, Moluccas, Indonesia
405 km (255 miles) ENE of Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia
1515 km (940 miles) SSE of MANILA, Philippines
2580 km (1610 miles) ENE of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Should I cancel my Lembeh dive trip?..... Still few more days to consider.

Tapi ajal maut di tangan Tuhan, kan?

Ngapain Ganyang Malaysia?!

"Sweep Malaysia"?

"Ganyang Malaysia"?

"Malingsia?"

Cerita the so-called 'relawan' Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat and their 'buluh runcing' plot can surely qualify as one of their sinetron episodes shown on Astro.

They should channel all these excessive energy and resources to help their brothers in Padang instead of 'penetrating Malaysia by land, sea and air'. Especially your medical team, whom I can't find any reason as to why they want to come to Malaysia instead of the disaster-stricken West Sumatran region. Inikah arti pengorbanan buat kamu?

Perhaps only a handful are infected if not born with this xenophobic stupidity. But due to our our close physical and cultural proximity, this underlying tension has already generated a seismic emotional reaction.

We didn't steal Sipadan. It was decided at ICJ. Go and Ganyang ICJ if you dare.

Neither did we direct the pendet dance for the Discovery Channel. Go and 'sweep' the channel if you are so desperate.

The list can go on and on...

Be well-read, be logical, be aware of ramifications, do not believe hearsays, and do not let emotions rule.

I still love my Indonesian friends, though. Their natural intelligence will outclass this articial stupidity.

I Know What I Did Last Raya

(bottom photo by WeelingC)

Yup, have fun. That's what I did. These faces define what Raya means to me.

Family.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf zahir batin.

Alasan No. 832 dari 1001 Alasan

THE DATE has yet to be set, still. Now we all have to wait until his parents came back after performing Haj. Call me selfish, but don't people usually want to clear all unfinished business before the leave for the sacred pilgrimage?

Our original "surprise wedding" plan failed last year when his mom threw a fit and sent us on a guilt trip. The second date agreed by both sides (excluding his silent parents) went by and killed by .... his parents' silence. And now, we were told to wait again until after their Haj.

We have been advised against marrying without parents' blessings. But nobody can advise us on the next course of action when blessing is not forthcoming and being unreasonably witheld.

I wonder what's the next 'excuse'. Sigh.

I feel like giving up. I'm full of frustration. Maybe we were not meant to be. Full stop.

My Garmin Forerunner 50

For the first time since the last of the gruelling efforts (yes, I'm exaggerating) made in the past month, I have finally managed to get my Garmin Training Centre up and running. Yay! The useful program allows me to track and record the progress of my fitness training. Not that I'm becoming a hardcore fitness buff, but there's a growing realization in me that knowing your physical strength, abilities and limits is the key to a well-balanced lifestyle.

My Forerunner 50 comes with the sports monitoring watch, USB ANT stick, heart rate monitor and a foot pod. Initially, I was very, VERY concerned about how I am going to make full use of this seemingly high tech toys. I kept postponing on reading the manual and pairing up the devices (a synchronization process) and just stick to wearing the lightweight, cool-looking watch everyday just to please Mr. B. Haha! It was actually a present from him, in an effort to stimulate my waning interest in sweating it out at the gym. I would be carrying the set to the gym every single time; not knowing how to use it properly.

Every time I tried to use it- imagine walking the treadmill with one arm held up to toggle and test the functions and another flipping through the manual helplessly- it just doesn't function well. Last week when I confessed to Mr. B that I can't set it up (the ego has landed!), he went through the setting up again with me every step of the way. That's when he figured out that the heart rate monitor and foot pod batteries were probably out.

I hate it when he's right.

So he changed the batteries and walla! everything worked out fine. So today, I recorded my training and flaunted my braggadocio rights to my trainer and gym pals. At home, I just have to plug in the USB ANT stick into my laptop and the program instantly started a wireless upload from my watch. The data and graphs were so detailed to the point that makes me feel like I'm carrying out a health diagnosis on myself.

I'll continue charting my progress, and I hope soon I'll be able to figure out what all these data actually translates to. If you wanna know more about this cool device, check it out here.

Dude, Where's My Car?!!

The delivery on my new ride is postponed again to the next day - for the third time! The first time, they had to postpone it because they did not manage to register on the previous day due to some internal reasons. The second time, the reason was because apparently, they need me to ink the HP loan agreement before they could release the car to me. This I personally went to the bank to do it yesterday. I was assured then that today, the car will be registered in the morning and should be delivered to me in the afternoon. I was pretty happy because today is 09.09.09 - an easy date for me to remember my car's ermm...'birthday'. Hahaha!!! But today, the salesman told me that they can't register my car this morning because their 'runner' had accidentally brought my registration receipt to Terengganu (!!) when he left to register another car.

When the salesman told me all these absurd results of incompetence, he was indeed apologetic. I remembered taking 3 deep breaths and as I cooled down, I resigned to the fact that this is a test for my kesabaran dlm bulan puasa ni. So in the spirit of this forgiving month, I let him off the hook without any verbal assault (pat,pat on my back), but not before he promise me that the car will be ready by tomorrow or otherwise - he'll have to tint the car with shatterproof Lumar for free. I.DON'T.CARE.

Alhamdulillah for the rezeki in this blessed month!

During buka puasa yesterday, my brother Erman said he has an announcement to make. I went, "Announcement apa? Emmir nak kawin??" to which my family laughed heartily, including Emmir himself (as if he understood!). Emmir is my 1 yr 4 mths-old nephew. Apparently, Emmir is going to be a big brother. My SIL Nyna is expecting. Alhamdulillah! Thank you God for this most precious gift!

Is It True That Exercise Won't Make You Thin?

Today is Wednesday, which is a cardio day. I'll spend five minutes warming up on the VersaClimber, a towering machine that requires you to move your arms and legs simultaneously. Then I'll do 30 minutes on a stair mill or if I'm up to it, it's 45-minutes RPM cycling. On Thursday, it's a 5.5-mile run, the extra half-mile - my grueling expiation of any gastronomical indulgences during the week. If I'm in the mood, I'll join the "body wedge" class, which involves another exercise contraption, this one a large foam wedge from which I will push myself up in various hateful ways for an hour. On Friday a personal trainer will work me like a farm animal for an hour, sometimes to the point that I am dizzy — an abuse for which I pay as much as I spend on food in a fortnight.

I have exercised like this — obsessively at times and a bit grimly — for years, but recently I began to wonder: Why am I doing this? Except for a two-year period at the dramatic end of a pointless relationship — a period when I self-medicated with lots of oily mamak food and the company of girlfriends — I have never been overweight. One of the most widely accepted, commonly repeated assumptions in our culture is that if you exercise, you will lose weight. But I exercise all the time, and since I ended that relationship and cut most of those mamak food, my weight has returned to the same 128 lb. it has been most of my adult life. I still have baby fat here and there eventhough it has been more than 30 years since I was last called a baby. Why isn't all the exercise wiping it out?


It's a question many of us could ask. I read somewhere that more than 45 million Americans now belong to a health club, up from 23 million in 1993. They spend some $19 billion a year on gym memberships. Of course, some people join and never go. Still, as one major study — the Minnesota Heart Survey — found, more of us at least say we exercise regularly.

And yet obesity figures have risen dramatically in the same period: a study revealed that a third of Americans are obese and in Malaysia, the rate has more than doubled in the last 6 years! Yes, it's entirely possible that those of us who regularly go to the gym would weigh even more if we exercised less. But like many other people, I get hungry after I exercise, so I often eat more on the days I work out than on the days I don't. Could exercise actually be keeping me from losing weight? Or has the role of exercise in weight loss been wildly overstated?

The basic problem is that while it's true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes me to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits I've just painstakingly accrued. I'm about to reach a conclusion where exercise doesn't necessarily help us to lose weight. It may even be making it harder!

But still, I won't stop exercising since doing something about it is still better than sitting around complaining to your girfriends over a chocolate chip mocha frappucino with whipped cream and two servings of American cheesecake.

What Is Your Favourite Smell?

Last weekend had been a terribly busy weekend for me. Usually when I'm away from home for several hours, I'll make it a point to re-apply few dabs of my pefume. But last weekend I forgot, and I feel less human.

Do you remember what was your first perfume or deodorant? Well I know of friends who had started wearing deodorant since 13. I only started using them last year. Not because I have suddenly developed B.O. at this stage of life ( I think), but because I have been spending extended hours away from home everyday. I became very conscious of how I smell at the end of the day, especially with my fiance being around. :-D

I first fell in love with those perfume concentrate variations released by The Body Shop in tiny rounded bottles during high school days. I liked most of them except Dewberry. Somehow the smell identifies with erm... "bohsia" who hung out around Pertama Complex during those days. No offense. I still remember how I would dab just a teeny-weeny bit of these concentrates because the smell can be really overpowering. But even the tiny dab lasts a really, really long time....

The obsession carried on thoughout college and university, thanks to the media exposure and peer pressure . So every now and then, chunks of my MARA scholarship was spent on designer perfumes - Acqua di Gio, Hugo Boss (where the bottle resembles a grenade - what can I say, those were the rebellious years), and when I was about 17, my father who is allergic to perfumes went to Paris and presented me with, urmm..... Dolce Vita by Christian Dior. It was so sweet of him, but I don't wanna be smelling like Eva Peron going to school. So I kept it, until now.

Working and earning my own keep has definitely heightened my sense of smell, literally. I fell in love with Sensi by Giorgio Armani, Stella by Stella McCartney, Burberry's Brit, Calvin Klein's Eternity, Armani Mania by Giorgio Armani and White Diamond by Emporio Armani.

I believe every girl is destined to find their one true perfume. One that perfectly complements her and makes her feel ready to take over the world every morning. I swear to God that Sensi by Giorgio Armani is my true perfume. Alas, it is no longer in the market. Right now, it's a tie between Armani Mania and Stella. So babe, now you know what to get for my birthday in many, many years to come. :-)

An Afternoon With GMD

Today our Group Managing Director called me up to his office. As it was my first time setting foot in his plush office, naturally, quesiness sets in.

It turns out he actually wants to hear firsthand on why I am leaving the company. So there I was, considering whether I should be flattered that he showed his concern or annoyed as he is aware that his new policies were actually driving good people away.

I tendered my resignation on 7 August 2009 after being with the company for almost 7 years. Some say it's the 7-year itch. Whatever. But I don't know what is it about resignation that makes me feel uncomfortable. Maybe because it feels like you're 'dumping' someone. Of course in this case, it's the company, a non-persona, but still the thought of leaving my wonderful friends and colleagues of 7 years stirred my emotion.

With the GMD, we went through the whole why-are-you-leaving, the-company-has-a-lot-of-prospective-careers-for-people-who-are-dead-bored-of-their-jobs, we-are-in-a-good-shape-despite-the-economic-slowdown, yadayadayada. And then when the so-thought 'right' moment came, the line "the pay the company offered me is not competitive" got stuck in my throat.

Yup, I, the notorious motormouth, chickened out.

2 hours later, sitting back behind my desk, my mind played reruns of my discussions with him. I was somewhat relieved that I didn't raise the issue about the pay. Somehow, it looks very petty now and in retrospec, it seemed like a more mature thing to do by giving him the insights on my future plans. Even then, I tiptoed with my words around him. I wouldn't wan't to ruffle the feathers of a very influential guy who might be offering me a job in the future now would I?

The truth is, I'm leaving because I need to put myself back into the market to catch up on my 'market value'. I know some companies gave substantial and impressive adjustments to their key personnel to keep them interested, but sadly that doesn't happen in my current company. In order to preserve the good rapport I had with my boss the CEO and my ultimate boss the GMD, I also told them that since I'm not leaving with a bitter taste in my mouth, I am not denying any future possibilities of re-joining the Group. But at that time, it will totally be on my terms. Insya Allah.

Goodbye...

Rise. In. Paradise.

in your

Magical Journey.....

The Vile Baker

I always thought people who make cakes, pastries and sweet-toothed nibbly bits are people who are generally happy, polite, contented and yearning for world peace. Otherwise, how would the pastries turn out to be all sugar-n-spice and everything nice?

But today, when I called a particular so-called well-known pastry chef to place my order for some edible image, I was treated in a very brusque manner. She didn't even bother asking me the details of my order but instead instructed.... INSTRUCTED(!!) me to place my order via e-mail. She repeatedly told me that my order will not be entertained lest I make the payment pronto. Let's see, where I came from, that's not how potential customers should be treated, unless you are really not interested to entertain small time ones. Then say it on your bloody website-lah- "SMALL-TIME ENTREPRENEURS ARE NOT WELCOMED UNLESS YOU WANT THE PHONE SLAMMED DOWN AT YOUR FACE BEFORE THE CONVERSATION ENDS" ...

or

"DO NOT CALL THESE CONTACT NUMBERS LISTED HERE COZ I'LL BE TOO BUSY BEING A B*TCH AND WON'T BE BOTHERED TO ENTERTAIN YOUR MINISCULE ORDER".

It'll make my life and yours so much easier.

Then I cooled down and decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I caught her at the wrong time when she was just rushing out to send her kids to 'mengaji' or something. Or maybe, she was having some bowel movement troubles down under and suddenly needs to make that quick dash there and then. Bearing these probable reasons in mind, I went ahead and made the payment, placed the order via e-mail and texted her afterwards. I asked for her confirmation on receipt of the order, but 4 hours later, still no reply.... and the clock is ticking.

Nevermind, the collection isn't due till Thursday and if something goes wrong, she'll know the meaning of "blog off".

Are You Really Friends Outside Facebook?

When my best friend Dee lost her mom to a tragic accident few months ago, she shared her grief online via Facebook. Almost immediately after, well-meaning friends and acquaintances instantly posted condolences on her Wall. I am not surprised she had chosen to share something so personal online.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized Facebook might be the perfect venue for tragic news: it’s the fastest way to disseminate important information to the group without having to deal with painful phone calls and it eliminated the possibility that if someone were to bump into her in the supermarket, he or she might ask unknowingly about her mom and force her to replay the story over again.

I believe that a strong network of friends can be crucial in getting through a crisis and can help you be healthier in general. But could virtual friends be just as helpful as the flesh-and-blood versions? In real life, having 700 people in your circle of friends could get overwhelming, but that’s less of an issue online. When you get a promotion on your job, a celebratory lunch with your best friends will make you feel good and make for a fantastic memory. But I feel that the boost you get from the 15 Facebook friends who left encouraging comments can also make you happy and could do wonders to your self-esteem.

I have also encountered people who has explored deep into the darker crevices of social networking. What’s supposed to be a harmless online flirting between two happily married people who got connected through a friend’s friend’s friend’s friend’s friend’s friend developed into a full blown romantic affair. But the blooming relationship was not as voluntary as they seem. Fortunately, I would say, the affair ended before they could actually figure out whether they were real friends to begin with.

In conclusion? I think Facebook works best as an amplification of a "real life" social life, not a replacement—even as time and technology progress and the lines between online interactions and real-world experiences continue to blur.

If you disagree, feel free to “throw a sheep” at me.

Lost and Found

About 3 weeks ago, I was finally in the mood to have at look at my Manado trip photos. All 1700+ of them. Folders after folders, I came to the last 500 odd photos. By then, as you can guess, my eyes were tired, my focus and determination were waning. Decided to take a break, I took a nap.

Half-and-hour later (rasanyalah..hehehe), I woke up, packed my stuff and shifted from the living room to my bedroom. Back then, I remember clutching my 16Gb memory cards with my right hand, together with my laptop. And that was the last thing I could remember about the memory cards.

I didn't realize I've misplaced it until I was prepping up for my nephew's birthday party that weekend. Panic mode on, penatlah I punggah everything out from my shelves, under my bed and emptied out my drawers and handbagsssSSssss (babe, takyah roll your eyes...), tapi tak jumpa2. So, not knowing whether I should rush out and buy another card or just stay around and be a party pooper, sweetie pie offered to lend me his 2Gb card (2Gb je?! hehehe... but beggars can't be choosers).

Fast-forward to this morning, my mom greeted me with a smile at the breakfast table.

Mama : Haritu kata kad kamera hilang dah jumpa?
Me : (sulking) Belooom. Dah puas carik...
Mama: Smlm mama basuh baju Ajiq, pastu bila mama keluarkan nak sidai, ada 2 kad dlm casing terjatuh keluar.
Me: (excited) Hah?!! Ye ke?!!!! Mana Mama letak kad tu?
Mama: Ada kat atas, depan komputer Papa.
Me: Mintak2 boleh lah pakai lagi. So it means mama dah terbasuh memory card tu sekali lah ye?
Mama: Ha'ah... Tapi takpe, insya Allah boleh pakai. Mama basuh delicate cycle je, bukan heavy duty.

Mama,mama... even though you missed the point in this issue, you dispersed my horror by being so cute. True enough, the card is still OK. Thanks Ma, I love you! Mwahhh!!

Mana, Mana, Manado!!!!

Last place conquered- Manado! Oh boy, what an experience! Guess those pygmy seahorses are going blind for the next four years from the effect of my Sea&Sea strobe.... Sorry, little darlings!!!

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Duhh Moments...

Duhh Moment #1



Few nights ago, our gang was having our usual dinner/supper at the usual mamak. Nothing unusual. Then, amidst the noise of people talking (some were as loud as election campaigners on halers), girlish screams came from the direction of a 'nasi lemak' booth next to the us. Immediately after, all the Indon girls manning the booth lurched out, shrieking outloud, and hurling away their spatulas (Spongebob would not have approved of this), showing panic faces (the girls, not the spatulas). Then we saw the unusual.



Fire has spread high up to the booth's ceiling, cathing on the easily burned 'nasi lemak' paraphernelias- plastic fork and spoon, paper wraps, banana leave wrappers, plastic bags. Right before it reaches the pot containing fried anchovies, the wind blew the fire to another direction. And all this happened in less than 10 seconds. Then only we realized the danger of sitting so close to the fire. From where I was seated, I can't see where the fire started from, but a few little blow-ups later coupled with the emanating intoxicating odour; the reality hit us- there's a gas leak!



Bart quickly grabbed my hand, and we started running away from the scene. The other mamak-goers also started to pick-up their bags and ran into random directions. In that moment of chaos, I remember seeing some idiots who actually went closer to the blazing fire while ignorantly lighting up their cigarettes. Talk about some people's deathwish.



Among the three of us, Tapir was the first to reach the car. Then, with our heart beating like how it does after 45minutes of RPM class, we stood from afar, watching and waiting expectedly for an explosion,...well, honestly, what we really wanted to see then was which one of those smoking idiots will catch on the fire first.



And then we sort of realized.."Hey, doesn't the valves on cooking gas cylinders allow for a one-way flow only?" So high unlikely that when it leaks, the whole thing will blow up like what you see in the movies.



Duhh,..no explosion ala Hollywood tonite. And since the mamaks managed to put out the fire and the odour has since dissipated, there won't be few less idiots in this world either. Major letdown. But thank God the anchovies were safe.

Duhh moment #2

How many lawyers does it take to figure out which one is Hall 2 at GSC?

Obviously, from our experience last weekend - it takes more than 3. Hahahaha!!!

Yup, the three of us decided that we should dump our brain for one day and watch a feel good chick flick that doesn't require us to think one bit. Little did we know that we actually left our brains at home earlier on.

The sign outside the cinema hall states:-

[ Hall 1]

[<---Seat 1-9 Seat 10-18---->] .... Or sumthing like that.

We were allocated with seats 13, 14 & 15 in Hall 1. I swear to God there was no Hall 2 sign on the right door that we went into (or are we suffering from acute myopia of some sort?). And I am thankful to God that all of us had enough common sense to check our movie tickets again at the back of the hall after seeing that our seat was occupied by a couple of burly guys. I am even more glad that we sought the assistance of the staff to chase those burly guys out of our seat, or otherwise we wouldn've have known that we were supposed to go through the LEFT DOOR that says "seat 1-9" as, despite the obvious mathematical incongruence, WALLA!- it will and it does lead us to our seats 13, 14 & 15.

Well, duhhh babes!!! Some things in life will remain a mystery. No wonder when we went into the wrong hall, a full blown gun-shooting showdown was showing on-screen. Duhhhh!!

Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies

I came across this article today. In my case, it is quite true to a certain extent. Old fog pun old fog lah.... mengaku je lah.

Hahaha...
___________________________________________________

Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies

Illustration by John Cuneo for TIME

Facebook is five. Maybe you didn't get it in your news feed, but it was in February 2004 that Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, along with some classmates, launched the social network that ate the world. Did he realize back then in his dorm that he was witnessing merely the larval stage of his creation? For what began with college students has found its fullest, richest expression with us, the middle-aged. Here are 10 reasons Facebook is for old fogies:

1. Facebook is about finding people you've lost track of. And, son, we've lost track of more people than you've ever met. Remember who you went to prom with junior year? See, we don't. We've gone through multiple schools, jobs and marriages. Each one of those came with a complete cast of characters, most of whom we have forgotten existed. But Facebook never forgets.

2. We're no longer bitter about high school. You're probably still hung up on any number of petty slights, but when that person who used to call us that thing we're not going to mention here, because it really stuck, asks us to be friends on Facebook, we happily friend that person. Because we're all grown up now. We're bigger than that. Or some of us are, anyway. We're in therapy, and it's going really well. These are just broad generalizations. Next reason.


3. We never get drunk at parties and get photographed holding beer bottles in suggestive positions. We wish we still did that. But we don't.



4. Facebook isn't just a social network; it's a business network. And unlike, say, college students, we actually have jobs. What's the point of networking with people who can't hire you? Not that we'd want to work with anyone your age anyway. Given the recession — and the amount of time we spend on Facebook — a bunch of hungry, motivated young guns is the last thing we need around here.


5. We're lazy. We have jobs and children and houses and substance-abuse problems to deal with. At our age, we don't want to do anything. What we want is to hear about other people doing things and then judge them for it. Which is what news feeds are for.


6. We're old enough that pictures from grade school or summer camp look nothing like us. These days, the only way to identify us is with Facebook tags.



7. We have children. There is very little that old people enjoy more than forcing others to pay attention to pictures of their children. Facebook is the most efficient engine ever devised for this.


8. We're too old to remember e-mail addresses. You have to understand: we have spent decades drinking diet soda out of aluminum cans. That stuff catches up with you. We can't remember friends' e-mail addresses. We can barely remember their names.


9. We don't understand Twitter. Literally. It makes no sense to us.


10. We're not cool, and we don't care. There was a time when it was cool to be on Facebook. That time has passed. Facebook now has 150 million members, and its fastest-growing demographic is 30 and up. At this point, it's way cooler not to be on Facebook. We've ruined it for good, just like we ruined Twilight and skateboarding. So git! And while you're at it, you damn kids better get off our lawn too.

Myristica Garden Villa - For Sale

We have made up my mind - we are going to sell the house.... We had some people viewing it yesterday, and pray to God, they will make the offer soon. In the meantime, it is still open for viewing.

T

The house is sheltered in a Green Street Concept at Precint 6, Setia Alam, Shah Alam; a gated community most would love to own a home in. The Myristica Garden Villa (34' x 75') is a specially designed linked Semi-D with each cluster interconnected on the ground floor's yard area. The design allows direct ventilation and natural lighting with a large living and dining area right at your doorstep. It has a floor height of 11ft for ground floor and 10ft for the upper floor. Space is further enhanced by an open dry kitchen to the dining room. The 24ft wide-frontage car porch is refined with textured concrete. Our unit is next to the corner lot and 50 metres away from the 24-hr duty security guard post. We received the key in Feb 2008. And no one has lived in there.

T

The house has 4+1 rooms and 3 baths with a built-up area from 2,679 sq.ft on freehold land. Buyers are entitled to free maintenance and security for the first 2 years. It is also worthy to note that Myristica was built in an environment-friendly development, i.e. the Green Street Concept with concealed underground cables and broadband access.

The house faces a small hill few hundred metres away, separated by a huge moat. Almost everyday around 11am, a brood of jungle fowls will make their way down from the hill to the small pond below the hill to quench their thirst. Every evening, the billowing breeze brings out the feeling of being in a relaxing private retreat.

We are direct owners of the property, and the price is negotiable. Feel free to contact me or leave your contact info at this blog if you are interested. Direct buyers are most welcomed.

I Put What?! On My Face?

Location: Beauty supplies shop, Sg Wang Plaza, Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL.


Auntie: Yes, can I 'hepchu' (help you)?

Me: Yeah. Auntie, I want to try out a new shampoo. Can you recommend a good one for me?

Auntie: (after analyzing my dry hair) Sure! Why don't you try this one? This one 'vely''(very) good one. It's imported from Amelika (America). Very guuuuud (good) for dry and damaged hair..

Me: But Auntie...

Auntie: Please aa...you can call me Glace (while handing out her business card. It actually reads 'Grace')

Me: Okay Glace, I mean ...Grace. But Grace, my hair is not damaged. It's only dry.

Grace who was formerly known as 'Auntie': Haiyaahhh...see, dry meaning its damaged 'lah'. Actually aa, I see your skin also needs help. See, got 'black, black' (I think she was referring to my spots). Sayang (dear), you know, You must take care of your skin (as if!). I have this cream, vely (very) good for your 'black, black'.

Me: But Grace, I am looking for shampoo, not face cream!

Grace: You want shampoo you take this one 'lah' (shoving 4 bottles of hair care stuff into my arms). but this face cream you have to try also. I see you wear a lot of 'pancake' (?!). Haiyah,..don't wear pancake, it 'bites'(she gets scarier now) into your skin, making it dry.

Me: 'Pancake'? You mean compact powder?

Grace: Yes 'lah', the powder like the cake that one (excuse her *Manglish).

Me: Don't want 'lah'. No thanks. I like my 'pancake' better. I'll just take these stuff (a.k.a. the shampoo, etc. Those stuff later set me back RM250!)

Moral of the story: Never lose control eventhough people say you look like you put 'pancake' (of all things!) onto your face. Your patience maybe your saving Grace. You are as beautiful as you think you are.


*Manglish = 'Malaysian English'.

Access Denied?!

Access Denied (policy_denied)

Your system policy has denied access to the requested URL (www.facebook.com).

For assistance, contact your network support team.


....Excellent. Now what am I supposed to do in the office?....*&%@#

For The Fallen Soldier...

Around this time every year, an especially cheerful birthday card usually arrives, wishing me another year of happiness and joy.

But since last year, I kept reminding myself that the card will not be here.

A truly caring person, he touched the lives of people around him in his own special way. The last I spoke to him was years ago, but still, the routine birthday and Hari Raya cards never fail to show up at my doorstep every year.

Everything happens for a reason. And I believe his was simply because God loves him more.

Al-fatihah and may you rest in peace.

My name...is Hygieia

20 Things I Didn't Know About ... Hygiene

Gee, I didn't know that dirty hands killed a U.S. president...

1. Hygiene comes from the name "Hygieia," the Greek goddess of health, cleanliness and ... the Moon. Ancient Greek gods apparently worked double shifts.
2. The human body is home to some 1,000 species of bacteria. There are more germs on your body than people in the United States.
3. "Not tonight dear, I just washed my hands": Anti-bacterial soap is no more effective at preventing infection than regular soap, and triclosan (the active ingredient) can mess with your sex hormones.
4. Save the germs! A study of over 11,000 children determined that an overly hygienic environment increases the risk of eczema and asthma.
5. Monks of the Jain Dharma (a minority religion in India) are forbidden to bathe any part of their bodies besides the hands and feet, believing the act of bathing might jeopardize the lives of millions of microorganisms.
6. It's a good thing they're monks.
7. Soap gets its name from the mythological Mount Sapo. According to legend, fat and wood ash from animal sacrifices there washed into the Tiber River, creating a rudimentary cleaning agent that aided women doing their washing.
8. Ancient Egyptians and Aztecs rubbed urine on their skin to treat cuts and burns. Urea, a key chemical in urine, is known to kill fungi and bacteria.
9. In a small victory for cleanliness, England's medieval king Henry IV required his knights to bathe at least once in their lives -- during their ritual knighthood ceremonies.
10. That's their excuse, anyway: Excrement dumped out of windows into the streets in 18th-century London contaminated the city's water supply and forced locals to drink gin instead.
11. A seventh grader in Florida recently won her school science fair by proving there are more bacteria in ice machines at fast-food restaurants than in toilet-bowl water.
12. There's no "five-second rule" when it comes to dropping food on the ground. Bacteria need no time at all to contaminate food.
13. The first true toothbrush, consisting of Siberian pig-hair bristles wired into carved cattle-bone handles, was invented in China in 1498. But tooth brushing didn't become routine in the United States until it was enforced on soldiers during World War II.
14. Please don't squeeze the corncob. In 1935, Northern Tissue proudly introduced "splinter-free" toilet paper. Previous toilet paper options included tundra moss for Eskimos, a sponge with salt water for Romans, and -- hopefully splinter-free -- corncobs in the American West.
15. NASA recently spent $23.4 million designing a space-shuttle toilet that would defy zero gravity with suction technology at 850 liters of airflow per minute. That's a lot of money for a toilet that sucks.
16. In 1843, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. campaigned for basic sanitation in hospitals. But this clashed with social ideas of the time and met with widespread disdain. Charles Meigs, a prominent American obstetrician, retorted, "Doctors are gentlemen, and gentlemen's hands are clean."
17. Up to a quarter of all women giving birth in European and American hospitals in the 17th through 19th centuries died of puerperal fever, an infection spread by unhygienic nurses and doctors.
18. TV kills! University of Arizona researchers determined that television remotes are the worst carriers of bacteria in hospital rooms, worse even than toilet handles. Remotes spread antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus, which contributes to the 90,000 annual deaths from infection acquired in hospitals.
19. It is now believed President James Garfield died not from the bullet fired by Charles Guiteau but because the medical team treated the president with manure-stained hands, causing a severe infection that killed him three months later.
20. What on earth made them think manure-stained hands were remotely acceptable to treat anyone?

Read the article here.

Money, money, money

This morning, after my car broke down again for the umpteenth time, I did a quick math about how much I have been spending on my car and in general in the past year. The result was not at all good. I had a rude awakening.

As I was browsing some sites on personal financials, investment, etc, I came across an article about financial independence and since I know my beloved friends are like the White Rabbit , I summarized it for you with the hope that you take some time off to read it and share its wisdom with others:



8 Secrets To Achieving Financial Independence

1.Income Is Not Wealth

Wealth is the part of your net worth (asset minus liabilities) that generates capital gains, income and dividend without your labour.

2. You Must Have Surplus Funds To Invest

The only way to have more money left over at the end of the month is to either increase revenue or decrease costs.

3. Taxes Matter - A Lot

The basic premise is that those with little or no wealth generates a lot of taxable income, while those who end up financially independent generate large unrealized gains in the form of real estate appreciation, unrealized capital gains and profits made through tax-advantaged accounts.

4. True Wealth Is Control Over Your Time

You are truly wealthy when you have complete control over how you spend your day, i.e. by doing what you love. As the blog suggests, you should feel like you are unwrapping a Christmas gift when you turn the key into your office every morning. (AB: I know HL, I know,...This was what you have been nag, I mean telling me...)

5. Grades Have No Correlation With Wealth And Financial Independence

Creative intelligence can push you further in life rather than relying solely on artificial intelligence. According to a study, the grades earned in school have no correlation with economic wealth and success other than in the medical & legal profession. (AB: A penny for your thoughts, legal eagles?)

6. Financial Intelligence Takes A Complimentary Spouse

No matter how successful you are, unless your spouse is equally disciplined, frugal and investment-oriented, your efforts towards a better, financially independent life are going to be like struggling in quicksand. (AB: Bart, looks like we have to put the 24-70mm f2.8 and the 70-200mm f4 L lens on hold, dear.. hehehe)

7. Niche Markets Aren't Glamorous - But They Are Lucrative

Did you know that most of the big money is in industries such as waste management, pizza, clothing stores and candles?! Highly paid professionals tend to be pressured to buy status symbols to convince people that they are successful. As a result, the will put less money into their retirement account. (AB: Makes a lot of sense.)

8. Support Your Productive children, Not The Losers

Parents who want their children to be financially independent should give more to their children who successfully invested and grew their wealth. "You are a damn fool if you give more to the unsuccessful ones because you have successfully managed to effectively turn them into a financial and credit junkie. It is unlikely they will get over their addiction. You become, in effect, a crack dealer providing one more hit". (AB: Ouch. Not that I have any kids yet, but I think this will put more stress on a luckless, underachieving kid.)

The article can be found here in detail.

I'm gonna whip up my calculator and buku 555 now...

Pointless New Year Resolutions

My Pointless New Year Resolutions for 2009 (PNYR):

1. Shed the last 8kg which seemed to have found its final resting place on 'specific' areas;
2. Actually love what I am doing professionally;
3. Start saving for retirement;
4. Rarely skip the gym (and swapping it with the karaoke hub conveniently located next door. Remember PNYR#1);
5. Never to use my bursting vocabulary of profanities again whenever stuck in horrendous traffic jams, especially when trying to carry out PNYR #2;
6. Never to buy another gadget just because it comes in a stylish glossy white finish which I can't take my eyes off from (Must always remind self of PNYR#3. Never to justify such desire with "but I need it for my PNYR#2");
7. Drink less 'teh ais'. Detrimental to teeth (and waistline. Embed PNYR#1 in memory. Wait, what was PNYR#1 again???);
8. Watch less Spongebob except on Sunday mornings when TV3 is not doing reruns (note: carried forward from last year's PNYR);
9. Read intelligent stuff more often and not because it's the only thing you can find on the toilet rack while doing you-know-what ( but how can I get enough time and energy if my life will be mainly focused on PNYR #1 to #8, and oh yeah, the you-know-what too??!);
10. Get married (note: also carried forward from last year's PNYR. Well, these ARE Pointless.New.Year.Resolutions anyway. So, unaccomplished past PNYRs are allowed to be carried forward).

I hope you all have better luck with your PNYRs this year!