Can consider being a plumber...

As you all know, I mentioned earlier that my apartment has finally been rented out and there are a few rectification works to be done before the new tenant shift in tomorrow. I got someone from the hardware store over to check out the plumbing and these are what he quoted:

1) Wet Kitchen Sink - Very small water flow & the handle of the tap slightly broken. Plumber quoted RM50 to replace the tap and will make sure water flow better.

2) Toilet cisten - Very small water flow & difficulty in flushing the toilet. Plumber quoted RM80 to replace the whole internal pump system and will make sure water flow better.

3) PVC Toilet Door - Supply & install, RM165.

As we still have some time to spare before meeting up with a friend to decorate a cake for another friend, I thought maybe we (mom & I) should just go grab a set of the toilet cisten internal pump and try to rectify the issue ourselves. So off we go to a nearby DIY shop, got what we wanted and headed back to the apartment.

Back at the apartment, I straightaway headed for the toilet and tackled the problem. After experimenting for about 40minutes, I ended up using the old pump. All it need is just to change the wire that is hooking up the pump to the flush and unfasten the cap to the float a little, kautim. Problem solved. Easy flush. Water flow much faster & stronger. Best part is, it only cost me RM13 and I still have a spare pump for future emergency. Saved RM67.00.

After my successful experiment with the toilet pump, with more confident now, I decided to tackle the issue with the kitchen sink. What I did was, I dismantled the whole tap, give it a little knock here and there with my meat cleaver and then, installed it back. Problem solved. Water flow strong & smooth instead of the miserable trickling for the past couple of weeks. Saved RM50.

All in all, I saved RM 117. Now I wonder, should I just go grab a PVC door myself, and hook it to the hinges on my own. Come on, how hard can it be? If I can repair toilets & kitchen sink, I believe PVC door are just chicken feets. Lols...... I am just kidding, I wont do it. I am sure I can. Just that the thought of running around town carrying a PVC door does not seem a tad cool to me... :p Seriously, don't you think they are charging a pretty irridiculous price for nothing? It is about time we think about switching profession eh?

Anyway, I am just so glad that I decided to attempt the repair myself. I learned something new. It is not that difficult. Super easy in fact. I wonder why they made it sound as if it is like some kind of World Guiness Record feat like that... please la... chicken feet.

Latest Update on a Crook's Creativity!

Wake up to another drama this morning. No, no opened gate. When we pulled open the curtain this morning, we found a bunch of security guards at our opposite neighbour's gate. We then quickly changed and went kaypoh outside.

We later found out that the old indian amma (old granny) living opposite is the latest snatch thief victim on our street. Apparently she was robbed off her gold necklace right in her car porch, with her gate safely closed. You must be asking, "How???"

What happened was, a man with a motorbike stopped in front of her gate and claimed to be a postman delivering a registered mail. He handed the amma the mail and told her to sign receipt on a piece of paper. He told the amma to check carefully and he held the piece of paper really closed to the gate so that the amma will lean forward. When she does just that, he quickly snatched the gold necklace that she was wearing and sped off. Unbelievable eh? Robbed right in the safe compound of her own porch with a strong closed gate.

Luckily she didnt fell. At that time, she was carrying her young grandchild in one arm. Sometimes I wonder, I wonder since when all these unscrupulous activities started. What motivated them to do it? A person's life is not worth the few dollar riches they gained out of it? Haizz... I dunno la...

So next time, if you see a mail man at your gate, whack them kau kau first on the head first before retrieving your mail ya...! With all these happening around us, it is not our fault that we act a little wacky...

Dramatic & Busy Week!

My mom arrived from Kluang over the weekend and gonna be staying for another couple of days. I've initially planned a long list of things to do together with her. Thought maybe we can...

1) Go for movie
2) Karaoke
3) Lunch/dinner with aunty
4) Lunch/dinner with uncle
5) Mahjong
6) Sauna
7) Dancing
8) Shopping

We did managed to do some shopping the other day when she first arrived. We shopped at MidValley where I bought her 2 really lovely bags she fancied. It is not really that expensive, so long as she is happy and kept saying "I am very happy, happy, happy!"... until when she realised that her phone is missing later part of the outing, she went "I am very sad...." :( lols... As the phone was in her side pocket of her handbag, it must have dropped out accidentally... just too bad.

Other than shopping, the other activities would have to wait as a propective tenant had decided to rent my apartment effective from 1st July. Within these two days, I would have to carry out some rectifying works before he moves in - changed the bathroom door where Sunshine chewed when she was a puppy, replace the faulty kitchen tap which somehow got stucked the last 6 months when it was vacant and etc...

Anyway, to cut long story short, these past 3 days had been dramatic. Other than mom losing her phone, there was one morning where we woke up to an opened gate. That one really freaked us out. I'll write about that another time. So now, you can imagine how busy I am. I probably wont be updating for the next couple of days. See la... see how first la... Gotta go.. I need to go toilet already... pang sai also got no time.

Awww....

I received this "I am sorry" & "I'll be better" gift day before yesterday from you-know-who :p It is the Sony's NWZ-200 series Walkman MP3 Player. No tangling or dangling cords. No need to carry with my hand while running. Just wear it. Awesome music straight into your head. Is this cool or what...? Now, haze... please go away. Come again another day (maybe never?). Cause Redbabe needs to go for a run with this blardy cool gadget of hers... :)

R.I.P. FF

Farrah Fawcett

2/2/1947 - 25/6/2009

Another icon. A fallen angel. May you rest in peace too. Don't worry, you have company. MJ is there too.

RIP MJ

8/29/1958 - 6/25/2009

The King Of Pop. A legend. Finally set free from his own sufferings. Rest in peace MJ.

You are free now.

Orange Cake

This is something I baked the other day. Something different from the usual butter cake. It turned out quite well. Here's the recipe to share:

Ingredients

(A) 250g butter, 200g castor sugar

(B) 5 egg yolks (large), 1/2 tsp orange essence, grated rind of 3 oranges

(C) 240g flour (sifted), 2tsp baking powder (sifted), 1tbsp milk powder (sifted), 100ml orange juice

Method

(1) Cream ingredients A till light & fluffy

(2) Add in egg yolk one by one and continue beating well

(3) Add in orange essence & grated oranged rind. Beat for 1 minute.

(4) Fold in ingredient C and orange juice alternatively.

(5) Pour cake batter into a greased & lightly floured baking tray 25cm tin.

(6) Bake in preheated oven at 180 degree celcious for about 45minutes or until golden brown.

Special Personal Note

(1) I reduced sugar to 100g for 'kurang manis'.

(2) I didn't use any orange essence cause I don't have it at home but it turned out alright.

(3) Since I don't have orange essence, I used about 5 grated rind of oranges.

Have fun & happy trying!

Of Car Alarm To Life Saver Tips

I slept at 10:30pm last night. Was peacefully snoozing away until about 1 hour later, awaken rudely by an extremely loud car alarm that went off. My better half was outside, at the living room upstairs watching some cartoon. He then went to check from the window upstairs, then down to the living hall downstairs, to see where the alarm came from and concluded that it was a house alarm of one of the neighbour cause he don't see any blinking car and went right back up to his cartoon.

After tossing & turning for about 10-15 minutes trying to get back to sleep with the alarm blaring away, I gave up. I told him I gonna go out the porch to see which house it came from. If something is wrong, how come no security guard in sight. Maybe one of the neighbour is in distress and needed help. Maybe the whole family is being tied up after the robbers had left and all they can do is triggle the alarm off, hopefully, some kind samaritan kepochi like me will come to their rescue. Leaving him with no other alternatives, he followed me downstairs. He can't be expecting me to go out by myself in the middle of the night right... wanna die, die together la... :p

The moment I went downstairs, it felt strange. How can the siren be so extremely loud downstairs? I quickly rushed to the window and immediately knew that it came from our RAV4 that is parked in our porch. I quickly grabbed the remote control but it was not able to silent it. As it is not exactly OUR car, we don't know exactly where the emergency off button is. In the end, we just dismantled the battery. Finally, 5 minutes before midnight, peace & quiet. The blardy car has been screaming away for a good 20 minutes at least.

I think last night arr, the whole neighbourhood must have cursed our father/mother/grandmother & all our ancestors.... hehehe.... gosh... it was really loud. You know, those kind of car alarm that have a few different tones - tiu tiu tiu, pi poo pi poo pi poo, ten ten ten ten... that kind la. To think of it, where got house alarm like that one?? But at that moment, I did thought maybe they have improvised the siren of house alarm to those kind.

Again, as it is not exactly our car, we never knew it has an alarm. We also never knew that the alarm sounded like that. And we never knew car alarm could go off without blinking its lights as well. Not sure what had triggered it off since the car has not been driven since Monday afternoon. Anyway, these are the things you should look out for should the same thing happen to you.

(1) Do not rush out of your house immediately.

(2) Try disarming the alarm with your car remote first.

(3) If failed, before unlocking your house door, squat down and look beneath your car right thru to the front gate to ensure no hidden intruders.

(4) If you have a security camera, better still. Go check to make sure nobody came in and hiding in the porch.

(5) When the coast is clear, carry a weapon and be alert. Program your mind to the fastest path to rush back into the house should something goes wrong so that you won't panic if something does go wrong.

(6) When one is checking on the car, the other one should be on the look out for just in case.

(7) Like us, if you don't know where the emergency alarm-off button is, just dismantle the battery by unclamping one of the clip. It's pretty easy to do it. When you free free, just take out the tool bag in your car, look at the tools, then at the battery, you'll know what to do. :p Or you can ask your father/brother/husband/mechanic to show you how.

(8) Finally, get your ear clean periodically so you can hear clearly where the alarm coming from without having the need to go out. :p

Seriously, these days robbers are getting very creative & innovative in their crooky activities. Therefore, we too must be extra creative & innovative in protecting ourselves. Never act in rash. Always think before you act. Train your mind to go into auto-life-saving-mode when in an emergency or threatening situation. You can save yourself. Don't bother about saving others. That one, we leave it to the police. That's what we need them for.

My Kluang at Night

This entry is once again for all my Kluang readers, Kluangnite who settled elsewhere as well as for readers who wish to see and know more about this little beautiful 'Bat Town'. No, we dont have bat-mobile nor does batman lives here. You see, the name of my hometown is originally spelt as 'Keluang', which is after this nocturnal animal known as 'Keluang' (flying fox bats) and later changed to Kluang. That's why it is known as the 'Bat Town' or maybe 'The Town of the Bats'. Whatever la...

(image googled from internet)

Don't ask me why or whether are there a lot of 'Keluang' that's why the name, I don't know and I don't wish to know. They always give me that creepy feelings that associated with images of skeletons & cobwebs & witches. It is not one of my favourite animal though I've eaten a few of them and they tasted like chicken and you'll wake up next day unable to open your eyes... erm... that's beside the point. Gross hor...? But it is good if you are weak & asthmatic. So are snakes, monkeys, wild boar, tigers....:p I don't la.. they fed me all kind of creepy stuff when I was young.

First and foremost, the 'Diamond Jubli Hall' which is smacked right in the middle of the town. This building has already been there since the first day I stepped off the train and sinked my tiny feets into Kluang's soil in 1979. This is the hall where the government held all their official functions. Inside this hall, there is a stage. On days when there are no official events, it will be rented out for Indian weddings, bookfairs, exhibitions and etc. I remembered how I used to frequent there whenever there is a bookfair eventhough most books were in Chinese, a language I don't read. Once, I found an English book there on stars and its galaxy and that is when I was fascinated with the placement of stars in the sky, the milkyway & etc..Don't know what happened to that book of mine...

Right opposite the 'Diamond Jubli Hall' there is this park known as 'Tuk Lap Fa Yuen' in Cantonese (Independence Garden?). In this park, it used to have a little pond and a fountains, playgrounds and ice kacang stalls. The little pond is still there minus the water, the fountains is gone, playgrounds still stood strong - upgraded, as for ice kacang stalls, I think replaced with mamaks already. It is also in this park that I was enticed to stay behind in Kluang with PP. This is the park where PP will take me to every evening.

This road here is adjacent to the park. Also one of the oldest road in Kluang. My memory of this road would be ankle high of exploded red fire crackers pieces on Chap Goh Mei a long time ago when burning of fire crackers is still allowed. The whole road was blanketed with a shredded red papers like that. There was so much fun. Or when I was peering down from one of the building upstairs, to watch the many procession that took place down below in conjuction with some festivals. All that was so long ago. I was just a tiny bit then.

On the roof top of this building was where music band would practise. Those days, whenever they are practising for upcoming procession, we can always hear the blowing of trumpets, hitting of drums down the street whenever we passed by. I wonder do they still practise now.

It is on this vacant land that where the old Kluang bus station used to stand, where the best satay stall used to be, where my grandparents' noodle stall used to be, where I used to lay cardboard boxes on the chairs to sleep, where Aunty Tua Pui Poh's (fat aunty) yummy prawn noodles used to be. Or where I was bathed by one of our helper while she was being scolded by PP for not looking after me cause I fell into one of the yucky drain while in her care. Those days, I always fell into the drain, don't know why also. They must have some kind of magnetic forces over me. Poor me. Anyway, the bus station has long been shifted. It is now only a vacant land filled with memories.

Opposite the vacant land is where our A&W used to be. The first and only fastfood in Kluang 25 years ago. Now, we no longer have any A&W. However, we do have KFC, McD & Pizza Hut. And above where our A&W used to be stood the "White House Hotel". It is still there after all these years. Wonder how they survived. It is strange that all these old hotels seems to be able to defy time.

This building here, used to house our first & only departmental store known as the Emporium. I remembered the ground floor would be sundries, 1st floor would be women clothings, 2nd floor would be men clothings, 3rd floor would be children clothings + stationaries and the toppest floor, would be a mini amusement park with choo choo train. Those days, if you are going to the Emporium, you can be very lansi already.... it is the coolest place to be. After Emporium, it became Parkson. I can't remember what happened to it after Parkson. Maybe after Parkson, it became this 2 Ringgit store or something... since then, few others store sprouted- Nilai, Champion, The Store....

Right next to the Emporium stood our oldest hotel - The Regal Hotel. It has also been there for a very long time and it is still running. Not sure what kind of guests though... also don't know got extra services one or not...hehehehe...

Opposite the Emporium is where PP & I used to hangout - Poh Lee Hair Salon. :p Once a week, never failed. I practically grow up here. Everybody knows everybody here. The sighboard is classic!..

This used to be one of the main street in Kluang. It still is, just that the crowds has long moved to other later developed township. Those days, if you wanna get your hair done, this is where you go. Other than Poh Lee, there are many others. Or if you wanna buy a watch, shoes (Bata), cakes (Milky & Golden), spectacles, tailor-made suits (Creative), herbs, pork noodles, sweet meat, bank (Mayban) or anything at all, this is where you find them all. Together with time, everything has changed too.

This building on the left used to be one of the bigger cinema in Kluang - The Coronation. They used to have a colourfully lighted up weighing machine right outside the cinema which will churned out a little card with your weight punched on it when you insert 20cents. They used to also have a sugarcane stall in front where I would buy a drink whenever I passes by, cassette stall by the side where PP would buy all her music cassettes. I've watched some movies in here and the one that stood strong in my memory till today would be the movie called "Batteries Not Included".

This is also the oldest main road in Kluang connecting to Mersing. If you are heading for Pulau Tioman/Aur, you will surely not missed this. When my grandparents stall was later shifted to the hawker center behind The Coronation, I used to cycle/walk across this road every evening to get to the wet market situated at the opposite side to buy raw noodles when we ran out of it at the stall. Oh, once I cycled myself into another drain here too... told you about the magnetic force. Hehehehe...



And that, bring us to the end of my entry for "My Kluang At Night". To end it off, here is a photo taken of me & my mom, sitting on one of those classic granite bench sponsored by the general public at the "Independence Park" in Kluang. You know those bench right? They would have the names of the sponsors inscribed at the back of the bench... those kind lor... I am not sure if the names are still there though. They used to have it long ago. :)

Happy Father's Day

This year, I learn a whole new meaning to this special day where most people called Father's Day. Though it is one of those many overly commercialised day like Valentines Day, Boss' Day & etc to generate more profit for businesses.... for once, I don't mind it at all. I didnt realise it was today until this afternoon when we were out having brunch with my in-laws. It is not that I am unfilial or that I am an ungrateful daughter... just that, the term 'Father' or any other term that shared the same meaning such as daddy, dad, papa & etc and everything that is associated with those words were never programmed/registered in my system.

I never have the luxury to know how it felt like to have a father in my life. The luxury of never ever have to worry about anything else but me myself only cause everything else would be provided for. Or the luxury of being reprimanded if I misbehaved or had some mischief up my sleeves. Or being spoilt and pampered rotten by one who would entertain my every whine and wants. To think of it, no wonder I am a such a good kid when I was young, cause no matter what I do, there is nothing to provoke. So might as well just be good & boring... lols... Anyway, if you are reading this paragraph and feel kinda lost, then you should read this too. http://redbabecc.blogspot.com/2007/11/father-is-source-of-strength.html. Then perhaps, you would understand better.

Since I was a kid, I always picture father like a sturdy tree with strong tree trunk and large canopy of leave that spread over a large area. A strong tree trunk that I can lean on when I am tired. A large canopy that I can take shelter from rain/sun. Leaves that rustle comforting rhythm when I am troubled.

This year, Father's Day is special cause I am finally experiencing what I have all the while been picturing. Although it is not yet exactly like what I have pictured, but it is good enough for me and it sure felt good - the feeling of a strong sturdy tree over my head. It is shady & relaxing.

No, my father was not resurrected. What were you thinking??? :p... what I meant was my relation by marriage and that is, my father-in-law. If you never experience what I never had, you would never be able to understand the feeling of appreciation & contentment that I am experiencing and I treasured every moments of it and hope it will never end.

The day started off like any other Sunday, a casual brunch together and headed downtown after that for shopping where father-in-law bought himself a watch. Yeah... he bought HIMSELF a watch... we were too poor for his exquisite taste... hehehehe... Anyway, we later pick up the tab for a perfume he had his eyes on when we were over at Vancleef. But of course, even that was shared amongst my husband & his 2 siblings. :p Yeah... I know what you are thinking... el-cheapo mah... But then again, it is not the value of the gift, but the valuable quality time spent together whole of today. :) That much, I certainly enjoyed. Lols...

The thing is, I've a lot to write. But I am somehow feeling a little overwhelmed by all these new emotions within. But I think the gist of it all is just that I am feeling very grateful for still being given a chance to experience something which I thought had slipped thru me and which I thought would never ever happen to me in this lifetime ever again. And with this new experience, I can now safely say that, fathers are not any less greater than mommies.

"Happy Father's Day"

to all fathers, daddies & papa alike...

you are, also, the best!

Petunia or Mushroom?

My old mushroom wilted the very next day after it bloom. 4 days later, which was yesterday... another 4 sprouted out. Now it makes me wonder, did I bought a petunia pot or a mushroom pot in the first place?

Happy Weekend!

It's finally 5pm. Though I can go off anytime, but i prefer to stay a little while more in the office. Nothing much to do back home anyway. So, what are you guys gonna do for the weekend? Here's a list of things that you can do:-

1) Sleeping in late
2) Watch midnight movie
3) Clubbing with bunch of hip friends
4) Teh tarik with bunch of boring friends
5) Movie marathon at home - Horror/Comedy/Sci-fi
6) Bake something - cake/cookie
7) Sew something - a green recyclable bag or something
8) Go watch the moon - if can find one la...
9) Go people watching - Bintang Walk or your neighbourhood cafe
10) Go visit orphanages/old folks home
11) Late night supper cause no need to wake up early next day
12) Afternoon tea with bff to catch up on gossips
13) Look for mushroom to plant
14) Look for eggs laying insects
15) Read a book
16) Do research on a certain subject that interest you - Karma/Gardening/Disease & etc
17) Sleep, sleep & sleep
18) Painting

If you still cant find anything to do, go somewhere far for a drink or lunch or dinner. Going to & fro will kill off quite lot of time already. So you dont need to think of too many things to do. Furthermore, get to spend some quality time during the travelling time. Kill two birds with one stone. Or is it three birds - the killing time, the faraway lunch + the quality time??? Dunno la...

Anyway, you have a great weekends ahead while I go figure out what I wanna do with mine. Ta ta!

My First Masterpiece - "The Leaves"

Taa daaa.....!

You can say whatever you like, but it is still my 'leaves' and I love it. Not happy? Go paint your own.... :p

An Observation: One Shot 49 New Lives

Something gross to share. This photo is taken many weeks ago. As I pulled up the curtain, found this weird looking insect in the midst of laying eggs on the outer side of the window. Don't know what insect is this. Must be some kind of beetle.

Though hair were all standing up on my arms (due to its' gross-ness), I just sat there and watched this creature as if I was in a gold class cinema, systematically laid it's egg, one by one, in two rows forming a straight line. When the whole process is over, I calculated a total of 49 eggs!!!! Incredible. Such small insect can formed 49 new lives one shot. So next time, if you feel like smacking/crushing some insects, it is absolutely alright. No matter how many we smacked/crushed, we will never drive them into extinction. That's for sure!

p/s: Guys, one shot, 49 new lifes wor.......

ppsst..! I ran another 3 laps yesterday... hooray!

The Smurfs Are Here!!!

Looks like it is not only me that felt the lethargicness of the whole hazy episodes. Even my pot of petunia is sprouting mushrooms! Maybe the smurfs have migrated into my petunia pot.

13/6/2009 - Photo taken at 12noon. Look a bit like *ahemm*...

13/6/2009 - Photo taken at 6pm, same day, when we got home from galavanting.

Noted that it had grown a little taller & slimmer on the stem.

14/6/2009 - Photo taken at 2pm.

Imagine my look of surprise when I was greeted by the sight of this. I didn't know it will opened up like an umbrella like this. It is so cute and pretty. I thought it gonna look obscene and stay obsene till it wilt. At least now I know a little about mushrooms. One thing I know for sure is, colourful mushrooms are poisonous. So becareful if you have small children at home. You surely wont want them to eat it as snacks.

Pssstt: After the heavy downpour yesterday, I went for a run in the park nearby. I ran for 3 laps :)

FengShui & Karma

This is my personal experience with FengShui and what I gathered about it. This whole experience that I gonna shared is strictly based on my personal interest only. Just bear in mind that FengShui is very much like medicine. What is good for you may not be for me and vice versa.

A very good friend of mine (also a FengShui Practitioner), warned me in 2007 that I should shift out of my apartment by 2008 to prevent relapse of my thyroid. As usual, I didnt take her words seriously... I am that kind of person that will only scratch when there is an itch. When there is no itch, I won't bother to take any preventive actions to prevent the recurrence of it. You understand what I mean? Just understand it la...

Then come 2008, I was too busy preparing for all our wedding events. We were supposed to shift over to my in-laws old place right after our wedding in May 2008, but with my 2 furkids, it was a little inconvenient. Therefore, we waited for them to shift out first to their new house, before we move in. As the renovation works over at their new house was unfortunately delayed, we were only finally able to shift out of my apartment in Nov 2008.

The thing is, we do have a house of our own which was due to complete in 2006/07 (can't exactly remember). Unfortunately, till now, it is still not completed yet. The best part was, it was suppose to be Ho Hup's benchmark project. Let's just say that it is also supposed to be above average property and there is no way it gonna have problems. Ho Hup. Who would ever thought cash rich Ho Hup would faced problem? I still remembered a banker friend once told me "Don't worry... Ho Hup filthy rich.. will never have problem one...". And strangely, Ho Hup faced just that... cash problem... directly opposite which supposed to be impossible. Otherwise, we would have shifted out of my apartment long ago... Sometimes I do wonder, dont know if it is our luck that brought Ho Hup down...lols.....

Anyway, when we finally shifted into my in-laws old home, my father-in-law insisted that we should moved into the middle room instead of staying in the backroom as it is the only square room in the house (square rooms are usually deemed as having better FengShui compared to irregular shape room). So off we went, lugging all our belongings, from the back room and settled ourselves into the middle room, i.e. the square room.

From day 1, I was not able to sleep well in the middle room. It's always either headaches/migraines or it would be so difficult to fall asleep. Even when I finally fell asleep, I would wake up several times a night. Then, I began to feel the symptoms of my thyroid condition all over again. Since there is an 'itch' now, I mah scratch lor. I consulted my FengShui friend and all she said was..."what makes you think you shifted into a better FengShui house?"... that really left me scratching my head instead...lols. What she asked is true. I also don't know what makes us think this house has a better FengShui than my aparment. We had just all along assumed it should be better. Assumptions. Anyway, after giving her some info on the directions, she did some rough calculations and cross references, she confirmed the worst. It is indeed worst :p. Not only that the house in general have a much worst FengShui for us, of all the rooms, it is the middle room that harbours the 'illness star' of the year. You see la... suey or not??? Anyway, as there is no other possible houses to shift into, she taught me some cures to hopefully counter the negative effects of it.

Since we also have a room over at my in-law's new place and as the new place is generally good in every aspects of FengShui, Harrison said we should spend our weekends there and hopefully it will help to improve my health and everything. So for the past 6 months, I am sure you guys knows we have been doing just that for our weekends.

Until recently, a FengShui master and his team was brought in by a relative to audit our home. After taking measurement of all the directions including our room, the first question he asked was, "...can you sleep well at night???" with a very surprising look. With that one question from him, I suddenly felt a whole tonne lighter. Felt the dark clouds which has been enveloping me this past couple of months has finally been lifted off me. Someone finally understood what I've been experiencing. Someone is finally jiving my music!

To cut long story short, from our place, the FengShui team proceeded to my in-law's new place and the best part is, our room there share the exact same bad measurement of our room at our own home. Doubly suey hor? Anyway, the FengShui master and his team did some changes in our house and shifted us to another room in the house. *keeping all my fingers & toes crossed* So far, so good la... I slept very well. I've never rested so well for a very very long time.

The reason I am telling you this story is not because I am supertitious (I am to a certain point and trust me, that certain point is pretty low), but from my own observations, I understood something else. And, that is what I wish to share.

All Incidents Observed

1) Delayed in the completion of our house cause Ho Hup bankrupted - which is really strange. Talam was a more bankruptable as compared to Ho Hup that time.

2) In-laws new house renovations delayed - which shouldn't be too cause there was nothing much to reno except for fixtures & fittings. Just that contractor was dilly dallying.

3) Shifted into an assummed better FengShui house from my apartment which turned out to be worst.

4) Shifted into a supposely better FengShui square room from our back room which in the end turned out to be the worst too of all the 5 rooms in the house.

5) Spending weekends at in-laws' to avoid bad FengShui at our own home which in the end also have the equally same bad FengShui for us.

I came to realise that when one is meant to go thru an experience, one is meant to go thru it no matter what. No matter what one do to prevent a certain mishap or unfortunate situation from happening, it will still happens no matter how. What is in your chart, it is in your chart and it will always be in your chart. No matter what one do to prevent unfortunate events from happening, it will still somehow happen one way or another.

What I have to say here is important. One thing though, will make a difference in the severity of one's misfortunes or one's good fortunes and personally I think that is what we all called 'Karma'. If one is meant to have a heart attack, he/she will have a heart attack no matter what kind of FengShui aspects have been taken into consideration priory. It is "Karma" that will determined the severity of the heart attack. It is "Karma" that will determined if it will happen with people around so that you'll be saved or left to die. It is "Karma" that clears the traffic for the ambulance that rushes you to the hospital or jammed it up with nasty traffic jam. It is also "Karma" that determine the cardialogist is on duty at that particular odd hours or snoozing away in some faraway land vacationing with his/her family. You get what I mean?

To apply this into my personal example would be, if I am meant to have a relapse, I will have a relapse no matter how many houses I shifted. It is "Karma" that will determined how severe my relapse would be. It is "Karma" that determined I meet all the right people at the right time who offered me right advises instead outdated medical information which could've make my situation worst off. It is also "Karma" that destined me to have a good FengShui practitioner friend across the border to pre-warned me of possible relapse and advised me on possible cures to cushion the negative effects which could've been worst for my relapse. It's also "Karma" that allows me to understand all these so that I would not feel frustrated or even depress of myself.

The most easy example to illustrate would be, all of us are meant to die someday, somehow & someway. That is our ultimate destiny. There is no such thing as the elixir of longevity which the Qin Emperor had wanted so badly and ordered the whole China to make him one and yet he still die. That only proof one thing and that is, death is anything but evitable. Same goes for bad luck. It is anything but evitable. Fengshui might be able to pro-long our life a little (I said 'might', I don't know exactly if it can...) but we would still die eventually. Just like bad luck, it may be delayed a little, it will still come. And I believe that it is 'Karma' that determine whether we have a peaceful exit or a suffering one. Just like bad luck, it is 'Karma' that will determine whether if we escape an accident with a tiny scratch or permanent paralysis.

So conclusion is, of course FengShui is important. But I felt that accummulating good "Karma" is even more important. Since we are not able to change what we are destined to go thru, why not do more good deeds and hopefully with all accummulated brownie points, it will automatically lessen the negative effects of our destiny by setting us on an 'auto-cruise' mode to make all the right decisions, meet all the right people at all the right timing? Does this blabbering of mine make any sense to you?

Me & My Maggie

I left office early yesterday after finishing all there is to do. On way home, I suddenly feel like eating maggi curry + telur again (that's lunch ok..). Again cause I had that also few days ago. Then I remembered a friend commented in my FB ... "no vege"? Hmmm.. the "vege" part of it sounds very yummy. So on way home, I stopped over at a mini mart nearby and headed straight to the fridge area. I picked a small cabbage that has already been cut into half - RM1.50, then I thought why not add some fishcakes too... so picked fishcakes too - RM1.30. Hmmm.... I could almost smell my maggi curry + telur + vege + fishcakes.... yummilicious!

As I was walking away from the fridge with my loots heading towards the check out counter, the vision of the whole cooking process like somehow flashes before my eyes. The cutting, washing, boiling, cooking. After that, washing up the wok, bowl & etc again. And on top of it, I've to pay RM2.80 for the vege & fishcakes.

I turned around, put back the stuff and walk out the mini market. Get on my car, drove myself to the nearest mamak stall and ordered myself a maggi goreng + limau ais. All for RM5.20 only. Other than fishcakes & vege, they also have taugeh, taufu, cucumber & lime.... I am so closed in drowning myself with unneccessary chores....lols...

The Fruit of My Frustrations

As promised, here you go... my half-done artwork for your critism... hehehe... So how? Look like leafs or chendol? Lols...

(or maybe, even look like unriped potatoes... lols)

Anyway, early this evening at MidValley, after dinner, as we were on the escalator heading towards the carpark, I asked my other half.... "darling, when will you next be on leave?"... cause we just walked passed RedBox and I thought maybe we can go karaoke together next time during off peak hours. I just asked for fun one lar... where he can take leave one... asked for the sake of blabbering only. And you know what the fella answered arr...?

"I am now on escalator. After this, wait for me to get into a lift, then I'll be on lift..."

Then, he just cracked up laughing his heart out until I also forgot to tell him why I asked... sigh...

Tai Chi-ing Frustration To Inspiration

I am finally back to work today after rotting at home for 6 days recuperating from my H2N3...lols. Visualize this.... me, sitting in front of the idiot box, with mushroom sprouting out all over me. That's how rotted I am. My boss has been an angel. I called in sick last Friday and told him that I will go in on Monday instead. And on Monday, I got an early sms from him saying something about if I am still feeling under the weather, I dont need to go into the office as there is nothing much to do and I replied with an 'Ok. See you tomorrow' and continue with my slumber. Then, come Tuesday morning and I received another similar sms. This time round, I just pulled up the quilt and continue to snooze without even replying it...:p

It is not easy to crawl out of bed to get ready for work after rotting for 6 days especially with an aching right shoulder resulted from a sudden inspiration to paint yesterday. Nevertheless, I have to. Otherwise, I'll be blogging about more frustrations today and I don't think my frustrations are that interesting to read.

Decided to channel all the negative energy accummulated from those senseless frustrations to better use and that is when the inspiration to paint more or less surfaces. If you still don't know this, let me enlighten you with something I know and that is, music, painting, dancing, exercising, have special power of transforming negative emotions to positive emotions. So if you are in the lousiest mood next time, instead of start screaming down the street terrifying innocent beings, just simply listen to your favourite music cd & sing along or vending your anger on your guitar/piano. It helps really. It helps to prevent disasters. Try it.

So I grabbed a pencil from upstairs and started to sketch on the small canvas which I bought couple of weeks ago for experiment. When I said for experiment, it doesnt mean that I am using it for some mad scientist experiments on how to turn the canvas into meatballs and etc... :p It is just because I've never painted on a canvas before and I need to experiment how acryllic paints would react to canvas. Get it? Anyway, I decided to paint leafs. Just plain painting of leafs. Remember I mentioned that I couldnt find any of those in Bali cause most of their leafy paintings usually have stupid birds/flowers in them? Well, I decided to DIY this one. No stupid birds, no stupid flowers, just green leafs. :)

Since it is a relatively small canvas (slightly bigger than A5), it is 60% done now. The verdict at this point of time is, I think I like painting on canvas and acryllic works well with it. I should have prime the canvas priorly though but I was too lazy therefore resulting in unsmooth surfaces. And I have yet to decide on what to do with the background and my leafs look more like chendols than leafs....hahaha... but then again, art is art. There is no right or wrong in art. You just need to apply your artisticness when viewing one. Betul?

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll post up my half done artwork later this evening to share. Then you can tell me if it look like chendols. Lols.

Crappy Hazy Days

Things has been rather crappy lately. With my flu almost gone, comes the haze which aggravated my already existing sore throat and set off another coughing frenzy. And just last night, after we got back from a late porridge supper nearby, I have to down a quarter of the ventolin pilll to ease my breathing. Damn haze. Where did it came from? There is not a word written of it in the newspaper or do they thought their country is turning into 4 seasons and have this misty thingy now? Stupid. Got newsworthy news they don't write, but write about who is having affair with who or who was caught sleeping naked... oh ya, cause our Malaysian government have good political ties with the Indonesians and they have to protect the Indonesians. Just like how they would protect mentally disturbed Indonesian maid who had purposely inflicted burn on herself and sentence the poor innocent Malaysian majikan who paid tax to the Malaysian government, to hefty fines and imprisonment. That is our government. Protect their face value with our backside. Or when your runaway maid is found, you have to pay a fine and her deportation expenses and not deducting a single cent from her salary. I think our gov must have love Indonesia so much... oh, the land of their ancestors! ...tiew......

I am just very frustrated la.... frustrated cause my knees is finally stronger after 6 months of thyroid treatment, and finally I can resume my running, but this stupid haze have to come. I think I am destined to be a couch potato engulfed in lark.... tiew....

With the haze, that limited me to indoor activities only. Also frustrated. Frustrated cause my stupid sewing machine started to act up halfway thru my sewing projects. First, the needle broke. Then the thread kept getting stuck in the replaced needles and finally bought another batch of needles with bigger numbers, still, doesn't work. In the end, I just packed up everything including my half done project, and stored it back into the storeroom. I give up.... tiew......

Then, I've been following closely on this news about these 2 American journalists, Euna Lee & Laura Ling, who was caught by the North Korean's guards near the N.Korea & China border and sentenced to 12 years 'hard labour' for a "grave crimes" against the country. This one really got me hissing venom. What kind of "grave crimes" could this two girls possibly do to a strong communist country who is developing nuclear that they have to be punished to 12 years of hard labour??? And best part is, details of their capturing have been so vague. Were they really in North Korea's soil or were they grabbed off China soil, a deeper political conspiracy? Here are some info I found on the internet of this "hard labour" camp, also known as 'Kwan Li So".

"People are starved to death, worked to death, frozen to death over a period of time, and it's just absolutely horrific, reminiscent of what we've read coming out of the old Gulags under Stalin,"

"They beat people regardless of their sex or age," says a one-time prisoner. "My lip was split and I had such severe internal bleeding my excrement turned black with blood."

"You couldn't even lie down," a former inmate says. "The back of the person in front of me touched my chest. There was no room to move."

The report describes hard labor at the camps involving mining for coal, iron deposits, gold and other ores, or logging and wood-cutting in nearby mountains. Inmates often work 12 or more hours a day, seven days a week, with time off only for national holidays.

Prisoners are provided only enough food to be kept on the verge of starvation. Hunger yields large numbers of informants among the prisoners, leading to a prison culture of distrust and hostility. Prisoners fight each other over scraps of food or over the clothing of deceased inmates. The fate for those caught stealing food or attempting escape are quickly sealed.

One camp survivor recalls a public killing of an attempted escapee, who was tied and dragged behind a car in front of assembled prisoners until dead, after which time the other prisoners were required to pass by and place their hands on his bloodied corpse. Another prisoner shouted out against this atrocity, and he was immediately shot to death.

Sad hor? Laura Ling is the daughter of a family friend. From the CNN coverage, he looked like he had aged a hundred years overnight. My heart goes out to him and his family, as well as the family of Euna Lee and hope Laura & Euna would be reunited with their love ones soon. God bless.

Note: Photos googled from internet.

Summary of my lightning speed week

You must be wondering how come all is quiet over here for the past week. And, here is the reason why.

Sat - Tue

1) Attended Abigail's 1st birthday party which was held at her daddy & mommi's coffee shop in Puchong, called Hai Siang. Her daddy & mommi had the shop closed for the party that evening. Harrison & I had swell of a time catching up with our friends, eating all the yummy food, irritating the kids (i.e. Christian & Thea) and absorbed in the cheery atmosphere that surrounded us. I managed to curi some beautifully taken photos from a friend's FB. Here you go...

This is one hell of a cake isnt it....very very lovely & colourful..

(errm, is colouring good for kids???)

The little princess of the night, the birthday girl, Little Abigail, got hynotised by the burning candle, oblivious to all that's happening around her. Birthday? What birthday? My birthday??? When?????

2) Played host & entertained some friends from Singapore and had a great time pigging out. We had pork chop + loh mee + hainanese noodle @ Yuk Kee, KL, banana leave rice @ Nirvana, Bangsar, hokkien mee + pork soup @ Jalan Imbi and many many more.... I think I put on some weight. Must send them Marie France's bill.

3) Watched Alien & Monster or was it Monster Vs Alien. Whatever la....

4) Had a low-keyed 1st anniversary. Can you believe it that we are married for 1 year already???? It felt like not too long ago only.....

Wed - Thurs

1) Work. Say say only go work la... reached office at 10:30am, went lunch at 12:15pm, back to office only at 4:00pm (4 hours lunch!!!!). Then go home at 5:15pm. Work? What work?

2) Went Garden City for Terminator Salvation. Halfway walking around to kill some time before the movie starts I suddenly remembered that I have an appointment at a dance school nearby my house to assess my dancing to see which class should I join. I had it totally wiped off my mine. Unbelievable. Anyway, called them and had it rescheduled to the next day. The show was not too bad. Just a little confused of the who come from future and etc. Must watch all of it again to refresh memory.

3) Went for dance assessment. It was horrid. I was thinking the instructor will be dancing with me to assess me. Instead, he had me joined one of the beginner class. I almost died of boredom. It was their 4th lesson and they are still doing the underarm turn, spot turn, intrufa.... my god. Anyway, I spoke to the principal after that and he said he will speak with the instructor of the class to understand how i did and they will call me. The thing is, the instructor didnt even dance with me, how the hell would he knows how I did? Seriously, I think he also ma-ma tei only.... better dont call me la....waste money & time only.... better sit at home and dance with rumba & sunshine & husky.

4) DIY my hair colour. Whenever I needed a hair colour touch up, I would always head to the nearest salon and paid RM100 for it. Now, I only paid RM30+ for the hair colours, which can last for at least 3-4 touch up. Made a savings of RM370+ ....

5) Sewed some fabric mug coasters from some leftover fabric pieces. An idea I got from a Japanese restaurant I frequented. Fabric mug coaster is very useful cause it not only absorbed water & most importantly washable.

5) Hangout with my uncle at one of the club near MV that has slots machine and yak till 9pm talking about some grandfather stories & golf. Yeah, you hear me right... golf. Am planning to try out golfing and see what so interesting about it (Golf = Golongan Orang Lupa Famili).

Fri - Sat

1) Overdid the yakking on Thurs, flu symptoms set in later that night. Watery eyes, body aches, coarse throat, lethargic. No, not H1N1. H2N3...lols

2) Seen a doctor nearby on Friday and was presribed some medicine for flu, fever, sorethroat and some antibiotics too. I am not a big fan of antibiotic. I prefer to fight it off with my own immune system. Don't like to be dependent on this kinda of stuff. But the body aches was a little overboard. So that left me no choice. The flu medicine knocked me off completely which is rare. Was just mentioning to Harrison earlier, that, the doc didnt give me flu medicine but instead tranquiliser. Lols... Just yesterday, when I was back at my in-laws, while waiting to help my mother-in-law to prepare dinner, I took medicine. 10 minutes later, I was knocked out completely. Instead of helping, I crawled back to our room, and slept thru dinner.

3) Finished two books - 'She Woke Up Married - Suzanne Macpherson' & 'My Best Friend's Girl - Dorothy Koomson'.

I did have more photos to share - my new fabric coasters, anniversary flowers, outing with my guests from Singapore.... just that, I just took the tranquiliser about an hour ago and am finding it very difficult to keep my suddenly hundred tonnes eyes o.....p....e..n......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz