Bye bye 2011 and Hello 2012!

It's less than 2 days before the start of a brand new year, 2012! How did the year 2011 pass by? I am kinda still in a daze how did 2011 come and is almost gone. Let's take a look at what we have done for this year? Hmmm, erhhhh, I cannot really remember anything really significant. Of course everyone in the family is healthy and well, that's the best thing we can really have. Otherwise, everything is pretty normal, I don't really recall anything significant to tell. Hmmm, probably just one thing, that I dragged my hubby to join in the Bersih 2.0 rally, :P. That's a first and hopefully there will be no need to do any more of those.

I ended my last 2 days of work attending St. John's First Aid training, which was organised by the company. That's a cool way to end the year at work ;). Now I am certified to perform 1st aid for the next 3 years! It was a very good training for general knowledge and who knows when you may need those skills and knowledge we learned in the 2 days. It may make a difference to someone's life one day.

Meanwhile, we have no plans on how to celebrate the new year's eve. The girlfriends want to have a meeting at one of their homes but I am not sure if I should join them. Feel bad about leaving my hubby and kids at home on New Year's Eve. Need to check with my hubby first.

Since I have not much to talk about this year, maybe we could say something about next year which is just less than 2 days away.  The school is reopening in a few days. Since none of the kids are going for school for the 1st time, I am pretty sure they will cope fine. Besides, hubby is on leave (fixed company leave) on that day, so I will leave them in his hands. Importantly, a new baby is on the way in April, so that will change MANY things. Probably in mid next year, after my maternity, we will look for alternate arrangements like day care for the 2 elder kids since we have an additional baby in the family. I think I would also need some domestic help, maybe engage cleaners to come once a week to keep the house cleaner. Or even getting an iRobot? Getting a live-in maid is not something we want at all, if we can help it.

I also mentioned before about getting the boys to learn swimming, which I have yet to do anything. So in 2012, I must send them for swimming classes. For myself, I had better live healthier and really reduce my weight and encourage my hubby to do the same. We are middle aged people with young kids, we had better maintain a healthier lifestyle so that we can keep going until our kids are grown. Sounds terrifying.

The election will be sometime early next year, I hope some significant change will come to this country. And according to some predictions, Dec 2012 will be end of the world, so that may but most likely will not come true, :P. Well that I leave to the hands of God.

I hope 2012 will be a safe and great year for all of us with plenty of God's blessings upon all of you. However you are planning to usher in the new year, please keep safe. HAPPY NEW 2012.

Christ is Love, have a Blessed Christmas

Christmas is just round corner. I have been busy with lots of other stuff to really prepare myself and the kids for Christmas. We do have some presents for the kids and the Christmas Tree is up. Otherwise, I am ill prepared. I would love to do some more shopping but do not have the time to. My sister and her family would like to come over for lunch on Christmas day so I will need to do some planning for a small party. I am thinking of making roast chicken, mashed potatoes and salad. Hmmmm, or I could just buy a few Ayamas roast chickens. Will think it over.

Christmas is more than just holidays, parties and presents. But as an adult, I am also guilty of no reflecting on the season and remembering what are we celebrating. Caught up by the lights and the fantastic deco in the shopping complexes and the jingles, it is easy to forget. And Christmas is always 5 days away form a brand new year, they are entwined into, basically, whole lot of happy parties and celebrations. And, for the kids, it is all about presents! This article aptly describes how most people deal with the season of celebration, I quote:

"The Christmas season is always a time of endings and beginnings. The sense of time condensing and then unfolding again is palpable. The Advent season begins, blossoms, and passes by, Christmas comes, with its joy, thick with memories, and then Epiphany, and we go on, leaving the Christmas season behind and entering into the new year. And often this entire season is a whirlwind, filled with preparations of all types. We don’t stop.

We ought to. We ought to stop and be still for a moment. We ought to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. What is it?"

The reason for Christmas is no surprise. It is to celebrate the birth of the messiah, Jesus Christ. Was is the most appropriate way to celebrate Christmas then? Definitely not with lots and lots of food or expensive presents. This is what I try to teach my kids, not to expect many gifts. If we are celebrating Jesus' birth then how do we find the real meaning in the celebration? The article linked above gave us the answer, "We find Christ through love." and "So, if we act out of love, we are acting out of the Spirit of Christ."

For Christmas, all followers of Christ should do some act, any act to anyone, whether they are for your loved ones, strangers or any people in need. It doesn't have to cost you a lot of money, but give your time, your energy and your love. Act out of love and that's the best way to celebrate Christmas as Christians. Have a Blessed Christmas to all Christians and Happy Holidays to all! God bless each and everyone of you.

Deliciously Johor

The boys are finally back home with us after two week being away at their Grandparents'. Except for the multiple mosquito bites on their legs and hands, they are fine and enjoyed their stay thoroughly. The boys are already planning to spend 3 weeks next year! But that has not been decided yet, ok boys? (I am typing this because they are watching the screen while I type).

Anyways, we are back home and somethings that the boys remember and miss is the food that Johor has to offer. My eldest now have a new favourite food, Mee Rebus Johor! I have almost forgot what that tasted and my dear father bought us a pack to try while we were there. So now, I am thinking if I should try cooking it sometimes for my son. But the recipes that I can get from the Internet are so surprisingly difficult! I never realised that a seemingly simple plate of mee rebus requires so many ingredients and so much work. Now I am having second thoughts, hmmm, am I up to the challenge or should I go find somewhere in Kajang that serves Mee Rebus Johor Style?! This remains to be seen.

Other than that, our other favourite Johor or specifically BP food are Char Chai Tua Kueh (stir fried radish cakes), 'O' Luak or 'O' Chien (Fried Oyster), Lontong (I love this for breakfast), briyani, duck noodles, etc.. Thanks to their granparents for buying all these nice delicious food for the boys and ourselves. I forgot to take pictures of them, so I only can provide some pics that I can find from the Internet.

Lontong Johor

Mee Rebus Johor

We will be back in BP for CNY next month. Hopefully we get to taste at least some of them then...

Again, the boys would like to thank their Grandparents for taking care of them so well for 2 weeks and they want to remind that they will be back again, next year end!

Feed me for a day...

I have recently not commented much about the politics of the country. Maybe because I did not find anything interesting enough to mention in my blog or maybe I am preoccupied with other things in my life. But I am aware and still read news online regularly. Today, I was browsing the Star's online portal and I read this article about action to be taken on those who cheat the government to get the RM500 aid per household. The article is here: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/12/11/nation/10076176&sec=

I am not surprise about the warning by the government to take action against cheaters because, there are bound to be people who will take advantage of any situation when they can. What I am taken by surprise is the Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni's quote: "...there were 6.3 million households in Malaysia, and the 5.2 million eligible account for 83%"

83% of households in Malaysia are actually earning below RM3K per month! So the government will be paying this one off Bantuan Rakyat 1Malayisa (BR1M) amounting to RM2.6 Billion! Also not forgetting the RM100 per school going child which had been given recently too, so the government must have paid a few billion just like that. Why? Because the election is here soon?

I am not saying giving money back to the people is not good but I really wonder how a one-time cash payout will actually help in increasing the household incomes of those affected. Instead of spending that kind of money, isn't it better to help those who really need help by providing them with a permanent jobs or skill of something? RM500 will probably help them that month but what about the rest of their lives? Reminds me of the proverb: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Also remember Badawi's time when all car owners got the RM600 plus rebate for one year because of the fuel subsidy cut? How the heck did that help? For those who use their car a lot, it's fuel money for a month maybe but for those who don't use the car much, it was like fuel for a year! And some people actually have more than one car, so their get the rebate a few times that year. How fair was that?

Coming back to the current  BR1M scheme, I am quite unsure of the process and what constitute a household? Does it mean all those living in the same house are automatically considered one household? What if you rent a room or 2 families living in one house? If you are married or single, does that make any difference? Retirees, like my in-laws and my parents, do they count?

I am sure I am not the only thinking citizen to feel this way.The scheme is flawed, the process is unclear and most importantly it doesn't help people in the long run. I am surprised that the chosen government of the day have no better ideas to improve livelihood of the people instead of giving out one time goodies right before election times. Time to get some smarter people to the lead the country.

Someone Like You...

The boys are away from home this week and seem to be having a great time with their grandparents in BP. I was wondering why my house is so quiet lately, then I realise, I miss the boys :(. We wanted to go fetch them home this weekend, but the boys wanted to stay longer, so we will let them stay on another week.

Their sister is quite lonely without her brothers messing with her but she is ok. I try to make it up to her by bringing her to breakfast in the mornings before sending her to her por por house. Also, this weekend, she'll have mom and dad to herself and so I plan to bring her to PJ to do some shopping or something interesting. I need to get Christmas presents for the kids, put up the Christmas tree, clean the house a bit, etc.. I also have to go to the gynae to check the baby. Luckily I have Monday off so a little more time to relax.

I am, at the moment, trying to compile some mp3s for my new car's player. I couldn't find a easy site to dowload whole albums in mp3. I used to do so through peer-to-peer downloads but had stopped doing so for a long time. Now, I have to do it the hardway, finding music videos from youtube and then download mp4 and converting them to mp3 :(.

My current favourite song is from Adele - Someone Like You. Dedicated to you out there if you have lost someone who loved before...

Growing

Owen and Erin, new friends.

It was really wonderful to see all my old friends in Singapore, some I haven't seen for many many years. They all look good and some didn't change much from their teenage times. So envious of that. The bride looked great and the wedding lunch was really nice. My daughter also had fun with a new friend, Owen, the 5 year old son of one of my friends. They look so sweet together :). I didn't get to shop at all because it rained on the 2 afternoons we were there, so I couldn't get anything for the boys. I think we will make another trip there with the whole family next time, maybe to Universal Studio.

After the tiring but enjoyable trip to Singapore, we are going to have another trip back to my hometown this weekend to send the boys to their grandma. They want to stay for 2 weeks but I think 1 week will be more appropriate. Don't want to tire poor grandma too much. The boys have been bugging me daily to go to BP, so cannot postpone any much longer.

I went shopping recently and I saw that the school supplies and uniforms are out on sale already. So soon, even when there is more than a month to go before the school reopens? I did not plan to buy anything so soon because in 1 month, my sons (especially the 2nd one) could grow out of their new pants and shoes! Why the heck are the school supplies on sale so early? Oh, now I am in a dilemma, to buy now or not to buy now. If I buy later, they may not be on sale, if I buy now, the kids will grow too big for them in a few months! This year, I had to buy new sets of uniforms and shoes by mid year because the existing ones were getting to tight! Arghh... decisions, decisions...

Speaking of growing, I am also growing too much in the middle lately. Looks like I cannot conceal my expectant mother status anymore. Yeah, this is motherhood for the 4th time for me, straight from the horse's mouth. As usual, my pregnancies are never planned. In fact, I was trying to avoid it but as it's God's will, I am going to be a mother for the 4th time. The doctor said we are getting a girl, not that I mind at all since I already have 2 sons and a daughter. Frankly, it has not really sink into me yet. I am not feeling the reality of having a new little one in our lives in a few more months, yet! Actually, I was kind of troubled for awhile. 4th child, how can we manage? But slowly, things become a bit better.We will just have to do the best we can and leave the rest in God's hands. God loves me and my family dearly and I hope we realise and remember this always and love Him back!

Singapura, Oh Singapura....

The date has finally arrived. After a few weeks of planning, we are finally going to board the midnight train to Georgia... oops, I mean Singapore. Passports for my hubby and daughter were done about 2 weeks ago (mine is still alive), train tickets and hotel booked last week. Now I need to go back from work to pack some clothes before we set off to the train station later tonight. My sons will be taken care of by their por por for the weekend at my house, which is good because por por can also help feed my dog and tortoise.

My colleague was surprised that I am going without my sons but I think I have no choice. To drag 3 kids along will be torture, to their mother :P. Anyways, the boys will have a week stay at their Grandma in my hometown which they are so looking forward to, so they kind of agreed to be left behind this time. I think moving forward, when we go travel, we will take the kids in turn. This will

I made some itinerary for our visit but I am not sure if it will be practical. Also I have to slot in some ladies' time with all my old friends who have settled in Singapore. So probably I should be less ambitious and just go with the flow. Anyways, Singapore isn't that far away, we could always come back another time if we want to go touring. This time is about my good friend's wedding and meeting all the ladies whom I might not have seen for many many years. Really looking forward to meet them and learn about their lives there.For the record, the last time I was in Singapore was for a week's training, I think 6 years ago.

We have also been thinking of how light to pack because, there will be some time we have to drag our luggage along because our train home departs late at night on Sunday. And we are thinking that maybe we can get new clothes from there as I heard the clothes are nice and cheap there. I am planning to shop a bit too, since things available may be unavailable here. I have done some pre-tour study of the MRT route, the interesting places and I think we will do fine.  So Singapore, ready or not, we are coming!

School's Out, My Headache Starts!

It's Friday again. This week I was extremely busy since my colleague went for training. Didn't have time at all to blog or Facebook! Luckily, I am able to take half a day off today to attend my sons' school academic prize giving ceremony. Pretty boring, the prize giving hasn't started. So many speeches and 'doas'. So I thought I could blog a bit on my iPhone.

I remembered when I was at school, there were Islamic elements creeping in to schools then when the numbers of non Muslim kids were more in the kebangsaan schools. I remembered feeling uncomfortable about it even though I was still young. Now it looks like this is even more so now with only like 10% non Muslim students in such schools. When I 1st send the boys here, I was quite shocked and doubted if I made the right choice for them. After awhile they seem to be getting on ok and have friends, I was a bit more relaxed. But I am not so sure if I will send my daughter to the same type of school although I dislike the chinese school way of teaching which puts too much pressure on young kids. We'll see, still have a few years to think about it.

I really think the education system needs to be reformed. I am a support 1 school type for all! All children should go to the same type of schools no matter what race and creed. This will truly sow the seeds of a real 1 Malaysia. But one of the changes that needs to be in place is to make schools secular, this will make non muslim parents more at ease to send their children to these schools. Any religious teachings or ceremonies should be extracurricular. Of course just as important, increase the quality of the education and the teachers. One day when the stupid politicians can stop setting policies for their political gains, we may have such a system. It is an chicken and egg issue, when we start having quality education, we may be producing smart politicians with conscience. We will have to live with this for quite a bit I suspect.

Anyway, today is also last day of school and I quite dread it because the kids will be bugging their grandma for full day every weekday instead of half day. And you can bet I will be getting calls from the boys in turn complaining about each other. And my girl, who without her brothers is an angel, will turn into crying and shouting monster! I got to get the boys to their BP grandparents for 2 weeks! At least I can have some peace and quiet time until school reopens next year.

BTW, I have also gotten the RM100 for each boy from the school, although I think it is a bloody stupid idea but what the heck, it's like a tax rebate!

Apart from this, I am getting my new 7 seater car tomorrow to replace my Matrix which had been a very good car except it has bad 2nd hand value. We will miss her but we have to get a bigger car for the growing family both in our sizes and in our numbers *wink wink*. More on this soon...

11.11.11: Beautiful Date

11.11.11. a beautiful date and many got married! The PM announced the day will go by without the Parliament being dissolved. Well, it was expected. Looking at how things are, BN is not ready to give back the mandate to the people yet. But it won't be that far off after all. In a few more months at most, early next year. With so many things not going well and Bersih & Co demanding electoral reform before the 13th Election, it would be unwise to call for election now. Although I am doubtful real reforms will take place but at least, there will be some cosmetic stuff to make the illusion of some sort of reforms. However, if the will of the people is strong enough, even though there could be some rigging and dirty tricks, I think and hope that it will still lead to change!

This week, a good friend of mine from primary school invited me to her wedding in Singapore. I did not hesitate to accept because it has been so long since I saw her and also all our other friends will be there too. So I am going to Singapore in 2 weeks! Lots of planning to do, buy tickets, book hotels, etc. Sincerely, I am so glad to hear she is getting married and told myself I won't miss her wedding. When I got married years ago, they all came down from Singapore and BP to attend my wedding too (in Kajang).

I am keeping it short for this entry, have many things to do. Have a nice weekend y'all.

GOD Loves All, including the Queer

I was thinking I should not talk about this because it is like an over-discussed issue. Plus, I honestly think it is not an important issue which the nation should be concerned about when they are many other more pressing problems that need our attention. This is definitely a ploy to distract citizens and meant to divide and confuse us.

But then again I can't help myself. I did some soul searching and researching and although this subject is still kind of taboo in this region, I wanted myself to have a clear stand on the matter. A stand that will satisfy both my religious view and compassion for fellow humans. It may not be agreeable to all but it is certainly put my mind at ease. So you may have guessed it, I am talking about the recent hot topic on Sexuality Malaysia. Apparently, it is an annual event that had been ongoing since 2008. So it's rather strange that now the issue suddenly becomes the talk of the town. But anyways, it is good that I take this opportunity to clear my own misgivings and confusion on the subject.

My experience with people who are openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) is very limited. My first real encounter was probably with a lesbian couple living in US. I got to know them through my friend and was their house guest for a few days while I was visiting US. One of them was a Singaporean Malay (i.e. Muslim) lady while the other was an American girl. They were both nice people and I didn't think much of them being any different at all. I am sure I had many other encounters with LGBTs but since they didn't openly declare that they are so, I probably do not know. But there is a point there, it makes no difference to me when I knew not and it would absolutely make no difference to me if I knew. I would have treated them as any regular friends. That's the kind of mindset I had, you could say I was quite liberal thinking.

As some of you may know, I converted to Catholicism some years back and I believe the decision I made to convert also dictates that I need to review my thinking and practice in many things. Including my view of LGBTs. Since the subject cropped up, I did some researching and I am very relieved with the Church's stand on the matter which I fully accept. This is found in CCC (CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH) 2357 to 2359 as below:

Chastity and homosexuality
2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,¹⁴¹ tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered."¹⁴² They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.
2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

So to summarise the essence of it, it means that although homosexual acts are wrong and as Christians, we cannot in any circumstance approve of any homosexual acts, homosexuals themselves must not be discriminated but must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. For Christians (probably Muslims as well) who find themselves to have homosexual tendencies, they are called to chastity. It is probably easier said than done and I cannot imagine what a LGBT person has to go through in his/her life. No one should have the right to judge any LGBT person and it is far from my thought to do any such thing, especially so when most do not share the same beliefs as mine. Any injustice against this minority group should be abhorred because GOD loves each and everyone of us (we are all sinners by the way), although many do not love HIM back.

Lastly, Malaysians should quit sabotaging these minority groups and move to more pressing issues. If you do not know yet, our education system sucks and corruption is making us bankrupt. How about we take those responsible to task?

Happenings around the World

I am looking around for topics to write in my blog this week. There aren't many things that caught my attention, except for the usual gutter politics of more lies involving innocent family members and the audit report that had some incredible findings of how the government wasted tax payers' money. But somehow, I am not in the mood to criticise all these as others have done lots of it already. So tired of all that, what can be said has already been said. For me, I am just waiting for the time to mark the big X on the ballot. I have made up my mind and no amount of smear tactics will change my mind.

Oh yes, the world is also shocked by several events, from the massive flood in Thailand (and neighbouring countries), to the quake in Turkey and the killing of Gaddafi in Libya. The Thailand flood has brought about many issues affecting Malaysia like the price hike of vegetables and production halt of some manufacturing companies due to lack of parts from Thailand. It is the worst flood in 50 years for Thailand and I hope it will not last much longer. The quake in Turkey see many hundreds dead and more still missing while the killing of the defeated Gaddafi was a sad sight to watch, no matter if he was a tyrant or not. It is sad that people have so much hatred in them to kill a defeated man instead of taking him into custody for trial. Now I heard of some conspiracy theory on the real reason why he was killed.

We will never know the real truth, just like the many other unfortunate things that have happened, in and out of the country.

For our Children

Education is basic human rights to me. Without education, there will be no improvement from generations to generations. Nations cannot be improved and mentality of the people will be stagnant. It is commendable that Malaysia has been giving compulsory free primary education for many decades.

However, the current education system that we have in this country is not in an encouraging state. Our government had changed policies so often that even the teachers are confused. We as parents are also worried. My eldest son learns Science and Maths in English but unfortunately, his brother, who is 1 year younger, is learning it in BM. If given a choice, I would rather the teaching and learning of Science and Maths in English continues. I have signed the petition online in favour of maintaining the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) in schools. For parents who feel the same way, do go sign the petition.

Make no mistake, I am not in any way disrespecting BM as the national language. BM, as I have said before, is a beautiful language that I am proud to be able to speak fluently in (not so much in writing due to lack of practice). But like it or not English in the language of businesses in Malaysia. We encourage foreign investors to come to our country, surely they would not be interested if the locals are not able to converse well in English. Unless you are not going to be an employee (and a good one at that), you cannot run away from good spoken and written English.

I recently conducted interviews for 3 positions and I was shocked that many of the candidates cannot even speak well in English. Most of them are from places other that Klang Valley. Even with a public college diploma, they struggle to speak a full sentence in English. It was painful to be in the interview panel, I wanted to ask them to speak in BM instead to make it less painful for the candidate and myself. But that of course that would not be acceptable to the rest of the panel. After all, we are in a British University! So needless to say those who were not proficient in English were eliminated. So tell me English is not important. There are a lot of argument in the internet of people opposing the wide use of English in local education citing Japan and Germany as examples. Unfortunately, we are far far  away in terms of development from any of those countries. It is to our own disadvantage (as a country) if we do not make English as important as BM.

For me, it is highly possible to master 2 or more languages for any average person. So make both English and BM equally important. A third language is also possible to master, e.g. mandarin or tamil. If we start the kids with these languages from young, they will be proficient in all of them.

For the record, I am also not supportive of the many different types of schools that we have, there should be only one type of school for all. And for goodness sake, increase the salaries of teachers and produce high quality teachers. Make it a profession of high esteem. We are placing the future of our children in them (of course parents also play important roles), so they should deserve nothing less! If I were to be a politician, I would make that something I will fight for.

We are really in need for strong and firm education policies which are developed by experts in this field and not politicians whose priorities are not in line with the people such as parents like me. I do hope we will get the correct country leaders who can see the problems we are having with the present education system which has been getting from bad to worse. Look at University Malaya, my alma mater, which standards have been spiraling down due to many reasons.

I hope things will change soon so that my kids will not need to suffer the bad quality of local education for the next 10 to 20 years to come.

Angry Who?

My eldest son has been asking me if his Angry Birds bed sheet is done yet. We went shopping some months ago and saw this Angry Birds motif cloth that both my son were excited about. I had to buy it! But after buying it, the cloth sat in the plastic bag near my sewing machine for months! I finally started work on it a few weeks ago but it is still WIP. This is the first time I try making fitted bed sheets, so made a few miscalculation and it was too loose. So now am trying to rework to make it fit better. So boys, be a little more patient, will get them sewn up soon, mummy promise!

Angry Birds, they are everywhere! On your phones, your iPad, on T-Shirts and bags. I can see them sold in supermarkets, pasar malam, pasar pagi, everywhere. The game is fun, I finished the free version ones but am too cheapskate to pay for upgrades, so I am done with Angry Birds games. But it will not be the same with other Angry Birds stuff like toys, puzzles, t-shirts, stationery, bed sheets etc. Some of them have already made their way into our home, ;). Not that I mind, they are pretty cute.

Apart from the bed sheets in progress, I still have plenty of cloths that I bought but never got around doing anything with them yet. Still pending some PJs and shorts for the boys and their dad. Even bought some pretty checked cloth that I planned to make into a pretty dress for my princess. But *sigh*, they are still packed away in a corner. When am I going to find the time (and the mood) for all that!

Oh, I think I totally forgot to mention about the Budget that our PM announced recently. How could I? Let me see, hmmmm, weeeeeeeeeell, errrrrrrrr..... There is nothing to talk about because none of the goodies are coming my way! Except maybe saving around RM30 for school fee per child, RM60 per year, big deal! Furthermore I do not see how the budget can help save our slowing economy or provide long term solutions to problems like inflation. Disappointing. Because of the impending election, there is a lot of handouts (but non for people like me) in this budget. But once the election is over, there will be GST and subsidy cuts! Oh well, spend and save wisely for rainy days.

My Computer History

Was looking forward to a nice lunch today but that didn't come true because I forgot I had to attend a meeting during lunch time. So I ended up having vegetarian food at the canteen, somewhere I haven't been in for months.

This week, we are sadden by the demise of Steve Jobs. Remarkably talented, creative and visionary man and only 56 :(. He succumbed to cancer. More facts and story about him on wiki can be found here.

Looking back at how I started using computers and later work with them daily, it is amazing how much the world of computers have change during a relatively short span of time. The first computer I used was in secondary school when I was a member of the Computer Club and even help wrote the school computer magazine which we named COMTEK. We have to start the computer with a floppy disk (the big flappy ones) and the language used was BASIC. And of course the screen were black and green only.

MAC Classic Color

Later on, I was introduced Mac in the Uni and it was in colour! It was nice to play with them in the computer lab. I still remember that I was so envious of my friend whose parents could afford to buy her an IBM PC, a 486 at nearly RM5K at that time. Probably with a 16MB RAM and a few hundred MB of HD. I was finally able to get a PC (a clone one, Pentium I only) when I was in my final year (I think it cost like 2K) and it was great. Spent hours on it using a dail-up to connect to ICQ and stuff. I was really getting into computers then. I was doing a Genetics Degree and my professor would always come asking me for help on his PC when he has trouble using his software on his great new PC. I was more than happy to help him out. Once, he even advised me to get into computers which I eventually did. I went back to do a PG course in Computer Science and after years of part-time study completed my Masters in the same field.

Now, many years down the road, I still deal with computers on a daily, only that the specs have improved, a lot, like a ton! Computers are getting faster, the colour screens are getting better, lighter & thinner, the storage are getting a whole lot bigger, so talk about terabytes now instead of MB. RAM goes into gigabtyes too.

For many years I dealt mainly with PCs, and very little with Apple stuff. Until recently, I got hooked on iPhone and iPad. Both are marvelous products, beautiful and work perfectly. So it's extremely sad to hear that Steve Jobs is no longer with us, God bless his soul.

Work, bags and xxx

Woah, another week just zoomed by. Hectic week at work, feeling tired and sick, gald the week is over. However next week will be even more busy with problems piling up. I just realized sometimes you cannot be too trusting in others' work and have to follow up & check up on their work constantly. Which also means I would have to spend more time doing that instead other more important stuff. Maybe that's the difference between executives & non-executives. Let's not delve in the past but look to improve the future. I will have to be more stern. I have a few new staff coming in next week so that would give me the help required. I just hope the new staff won't be shocked by the amount of work ahead of them on the first week of work.

Enough about work, it's the weekend! We visited my sister today and had a long shopping trip at One Utama. Finally got myself a new Guy Laroche purse which was at 40% off and then a handbag which was at 50% off caught my sister's eyes. So I ended up with a new Guy Laroche handbag too. No regrets, they were a great bargain. Hopefully they can last me longer than the purse and handbag I bought at Harrods about 2 years ago. I am also still thinking about letting go of my LV brand new handbag that my brother-in-law helped me get in Europe recently. I posted it on Mudah (1st time ever posting on Mudah) and was extremely surprised that I have been receiving smses and call from interested ladies. Boy, the ladies are certainly into branded handbags. Still haven't decided if I should sell it or keep it.

I want also to share this very very amazing talent that caught my ear and my heart. He is Josh Krajcik who auditioned for X Factor, Simon Cowell's talent show. He blew Simon (and me) away! Amazing voice which you wouldn't expect to hear from a guy looking like Josh. Utterly, incredibly great performance! Please see for yourselves here and prepare to be impressed.

Undilah, Registerlah.

TGIF! A week flew by, just like that. We had a busy week at work as the new students start to come in. It will be the same for a few more weeks before they settle down into their routine. Really glad that we have and will have new colleagues joining us. I am relieved that I do not have to go through throngs of resumes again to pick out candidates for interviews.

On the home front, one kid was sick after another these past weeks, so had many visits to the clinics. Otherwise, it was as usual.

I recently burned a big hole in my pocket. I indulged in a very expensive branded bag. Probably won't happen again for a very long while after this. After getting it, it is sitting in my closet inside its' dustbag. I am still hesitant to use it. But since I already bought, I really should be using it. Feeling guilty about it, though.


Back to politics for a bit. I saw that matters regarding Hudud law is being played up again in the news. This is another sign of the General Election looming. As always, this is seen as the main source of discourse between parties in the opposition coalition. Personally, I think there is no point discussing about this when the opposition still remains as oppositions. So whatever is being reported  is just propaganda to stir up fear amongst the non-muslims, trying to make them afraid of PAS. I totally don't buy it, it is no big deal. There is a Chinese saying that goes something like this: the ship will be straight once it gets to the harbour, so what is the point of worrying about something that hasn't happened yet and probably won't happen for a very long time? I admit, I don't know enough about Hudud and how the implementation will affects non-muslims in the country but don't we have more pressing things to take care off? Like rampant corruption, abuse of power and human rights violation under our noses, just to name a few. So don't get too hype up about non-issues. First things first.

Don't forget to register to vote if you haven't and check your voting details on the SPR site if you have registered. So when polling day come, go out and UNDILAH, JANGAN TIDUR! For a better Malaysia! Cheers!

On ISA and Nasi Lemak

For the last few days, the hype was all about the PM's announcement about abolishing the dreaded ISA (and a few other laws)! This is definitely a positive development although I wouldn't pop the champagne just yet. One thing is for sure, the election is looming round the corner. The PM is sure fighting for his survival, after his popularity went downhill because of the handling of Bersih 2.0.

It also shows that the ruling government is indeed aware that it is the demands of the people that such unfair laws be repealed but it also shows that the same government had been adamant  about keeping these laws until now! Why?! Basically, I think it is because these laws are to their benefit, so doing away with them was far from their thoughts. But the situation has changed drastically from 10 or 20 years ago. More Malaysians have access to information and alternative opinions in this information age. People are no longer as gullible as before, believing every word the authorities says. This is definitely a big win for the rakyat!

Oh, 16th Sept was Malaysia Day and we celebrated with a movie, Nasi Lemak 2.0. The kids did enjoy it a lot, still singing the songs they heard from the movie. My personal opinion, the movie was so so only. But it was still a commendable effort from Namewee and all the guest local celebrities that helped him. I am not really Namewee's fan, not at all. His songs to me are too vulgar although the tunes are okay. Nevertheless, I still think he has good potential. I was further impressed that the movie was shot using a Canon DSLR! Amazing! Adibah Noor and  Adflin Shauki were so lovable on screen, as always. The script, the cast and the cinematography were quite good, only the plot is a bit stale. However, I will still recommend it a watch, firstly to support Namewee's effort and secondly because there were many funny moments that were so Malaysian in the movie. So go watch soon.

About Moods and Moon

Haven't been feeling too swell for the past few weeks. Gosh, hate to admit I am not young anymore. What takes so little effort before now seems like an uphill task for me. Each time I go up the stairs, I can hear crackling noises from my joints and bones! I think I am paying the price of not taking better care of myself when I was younger. So to those who are still young, do pay attention to your body and keep it in tip top condition all the time!

Life is the usual busy-busy. Haven't got time to bake or make clothes lately since hubby been working late. Besides, I didn't really have the mood. So every evening it's TV, and then off to bed.

Lately, the thought of getting into business to sustain our children and lifestyle beyond our working life has been cropping up often. I remembered I mentioned several times before about investments. I have delved into it with little success so far, my stocks are making losses and I think the Public Mutual Funds we started are also suffering. I guess I will just continue to hold on to the stocks and continue to invest monthly to the mutual funds for long term gains, like 5 to 10 years. So basically I have learn that trying to make money, especially in stocks ain't easy! To make faster and significant gains, we need to buy in more volume. To be very safe, we need to buy blue chips stocks which cost too much for small investors like me. Also, the stock prices are subjected to sentiments out of our control, small fry investors like me, are mostly the ones to suffer and pay the price. Frankly, it's like a gamble. Maybe it's just me, but looks like mission impossible, sadly.

So back to the drawing board for me. I have been trying to do some rough costing for a few 'businesses' that I have interest in, on paper they all look pretty good. But in practise, well, we can just say it will be a very different story. But both my hubby and I agreed that ultimately, we need to move towards it, somehow.

Moving to a lighter mode, the Mid-Autumn/Mooncake Festival is next Monday. As usual, we will have a small feast with the in-laws and put up some lanterns for fun. Will need to go get some mooncakes this weekend. Hopefully can also 'songlap' some from the office (gifts from vendors) so I can save some money. Mooncakes nowadays cost an arm and a leg. Last year, I did mention about making them myself but like I said, not in the mood lately, so will have to settled with the expensive ones on sale. Besides, I couldn't find the mould.

Penang Escapade

Alternate Dim Sum Shop that we went to, Fu Shan was impossible.

We set off before 5am and reached Ipoh at 7.30am. We looked for 30 minutes in Ipoh town and finally found the famous Fu Shan Dim Sum. And it was indeed famous, at 8am the place was jammed packed. People were lining up outside and around the tables, I could see people standing beside tables waiting for others to finish their food so that they could sit themselves on those tables. Even the one opposite it Ming Court was crazy crowded, so we settled for one that is less crowded around the corner. The food was quite ok, and the best thing was the price. The bill came up to less than RM30 for 2 adults and 3 kids. Way cheaper than in KL.


After breakfast, we went our way to Penang. By 10.30am we crossed the Penang Bridge. Since it was pretty early still, proceeded to Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera). The crowd there was crazy too. We lined up for more than 30 minutes to get tickets for the train up the hill. There were only 2 counters opened?! I was surprised that they didn't have a more efficient queuing system or opened more ticket sale counters. But it was worth the wait. Tickets for malaysians are priced at RM8 for adults and RM4 for kids (3 and below is free) and students, there was also a family special for 2 adults and 2 kids at RM18 which we bought. It ride took less than 15 minutes and it goes all the way up.

Penang Bridge with little traffic.

Penang Hill view from the train downwards.

The top of the hill was quite cool. The view from up there was really nice too. The indian man selling kacang putih was doing brisk business at RM2 a pack. We had some steamed chick peas which I had not have for a long long time. Tasted so great. Also had ice kacang and some other snacks. The weather was cool and nice, so we enjoyed it there. We were supposed to meet my brother and his entourage in Ipoh at 8am and later at Bukit Bendera at 10.30am but they missed both meeting times. So at about 1.30 pm, we lined up for the train to come down the hill.

Flower Power!

Kacang Putih!

Asam Laksa @ RM2.50, tasted great

Then it was time for lunch, we drove towards Georgetown and found a little lane with some hawker stalls which had locals eating there. So we parked our car and had our taste of authentic Penang hawker food, assam laksa at RM2.50 (albeit small portion), char kuey tiow and many others. When we had our fill, it was time to check into the hotel. Even with our iPhone google map, we had difficulty finding Berjaya Penang Hotel. Finally, past 3pm, we found it! The hotel room was pretty nice although the upholstery looks a bit worn and old. But the size of the junior suite I booked was nice, with a small living area separated with a sliding door form the bedroom with a king size bed.We all bathed and rested. But at about 5pm, we went out to the Toy Museum and finally met up with my brother and his family and my mum. The entrance fee was a bit steep, RM10 for adults and RM6 for kids, 2 and above. Inside, we saw models of many many toys and cartoon characters. Personally, I didn't think it was worth the money but if the kids enjoyed, then I guess it's ok. 

KungFu Panda (my favourite!) with the kids and their Grandma.

After the visit, we went to Gurney Drive for a stopover but we have already decided not to eat there. So after a brief stop, we drove to find another place to eat. My brother saw a restaurant called Kapitan Kopitiam and we stopped there for dinner. Food was quite ok and the ambiance of the place was pretty nice for families like ours. After dinner, we retired for the night promising to wake up early and meet at Kek Lok Si next morning, at 7.30am.

Beautiful View of the Pagoda.

The next morning, we woke at 6.30 am got the kids up and ready and we reached Kek Lok Si at 7.38am. My mum, brother and his family, who stayed in a different hotel at Batu Ferringhi, were running a little late, so we parked our car near the market and begun our walk up. Later we regretted this as we saw cars driving all the way up! My 2nd was already crying because he was tired but I pushed them on. When we were nearly there, my dear brother drove passed us! So we ended up at Kek Lok Si at about the same time! We walked around, took some pictures and went out the hill. My two sons took a ride on my brother's car while my hubby, my little princess (who would not follow them in the car) and I, walked down. Walking down seem to take a much shorter time and less effort. We met my brother and had breakfast at some hawker near the market place. It was the usual char kuey tiow, lor mee, har mee, etc.. By then, I think I already have an overload of mee and kuey tiow. After some shopping of tau sar perng, buah pala, etc. we moved on to our next destination.

The last stop was the Snake Temple which is in Bayan Lepas area, quite a little way away. My brother used his GPS and after like 20 minutes drive we found the temple. There were not that many snakes there but the kids saw a few of them and that seemed good enough for them. Then it was time for us to rush back to check out from the hotel, we managed to find our way back, had quick showers for everyone and checked out. We stopped for a snack of apom before we drove around Georgetown, with the thought of going shopping again but we ended up on the road to the Jetty. My brother had suggested earlier to take the ferry back and my hubby thought it was a great idea because they may stop the ferry service in future and we will have no such chance anymore. Since we found the jetty, we drove in and waited to board the ferry. I was pleasantly surprised the ferry service was free (Note: I found out later that getting off the island is free whether on the bridge or the ferry, pardon my ignorance!) and it was surprisingly the highlight of our trip! The kids enjoyed it so much, my eldest even got to drink some sea water as he stood right at the front of the ferry when some sea water splashed up.

Ferry Ride was most fun!

Overall, it was a nice trip. Two things I dislike about Penang. Firstly, it was the traffic jam which was caused by the long public holidays we have timed our vacation. Secondly it was the the people asking for money from you when you park your car in any tourist spots. I don't mind if we are paying the local government but I would hate for some drug addicts or some gangsters making their living off tourists like us, illegally. Now for the things I like about the island, it's very clean! And it's very historically looking, with many old and beautiful building from colonial times. Of course, the food is really good and cheap. And we have missed trying out some others like nasi kandar, etc.. Maybe another trip can be planned but I wouldn't know if it would be soon, hopefully not as long as another 5 or 10 years.

Long Raya Break

The Raya is just around the corner. I would like to wish all  my muslims friends Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir and Batin.

 Yesterday, my eldest turned 8. On the same day I met with his English teacher who complianed of his horrible writing and absent-minded attitude although he is smart. This is the first time I have to go meet a teacher to hear complaints about my children. Felt like I was reprimanded for not doing enough, :(. Anyways, I told the teacher I will check his homework more often and make sure he does not tear pages off his exercise books. Teacher even encourage the use of the cane! I am already a very strict parent when I take time to look into his work but maybe I don't do that often enough. Anyways, Happy Birthday boy and please buck up.



8 years old today!

Our plan to Penang next week will be more fun now since my brother and his family will join us together with my mother. Now I am trying to draw up a schedule since we will be travelling in 2 cars. I am thinking about travelling very early in the morning and stop for breakfast in Ipoh before proceeding to Penang. Hopefully the traffic will not be too bad. Will write more about our trip next week.

Recycling starts with YOU!

I saw a TV programme last week where they were discussing about recycling and what can we do as normal folks. A few important things were suggested by this learned Dr who is holding a position in Penang government (so sorry I forgot his name).

The use of plastic bags, was high on the list to reduce. As we know Selangor and Penang have started the no plastic bag day on Saturdays. But some of the shopping places I see in Selangor are not really doing so. It's probably because of their customers complaints. Businesses cannot be blamed because naturally, making money is their priority. If their customer are not happy, they will not be making money. Therefore I think, recycling needs to start from oneself, from the mindset of the people. When there isn't a demand for plastic bags, they will die a natural death.

There was also a discussion about those so called biodegradable plastic bags. Apparently, bags that are said to be biodegradable in Malaysia are not certified to be really biodegradable. They are only disintegrating physically, meaning that they break into pieces with time or when exposed to the outside weather factors such as sun and rain. The problem is they do not break up chemically, so the bags have broken into smaller pieces of plastic but those pieces are still there to pollute the environment. This is something I didn't realize. So biodegradable plastic bag are no go too.So people, bring your own bags when you go shopping, not just on Saturdays but everyday. If you do take home plastic bags, make sure you use them repeatedly until they are unusable.

Most people are aware that paper should be recycled. So we often see the old newspaper collectors coming to do their round in our neighbourhoods. Apart from that almost all type of waste materials can be recycled. Plastic water bottles, aluminum and tin cans, beverages  packs, packing materials etc.. For more facts about recycling, this is a good site to visit. Even styrofoam packing materials can be recycled. But from my knowledge, the recycling centres in Malaysia usually do not accept them for recycling as the effort and maybe cost to do so are too high. So if you can, one of the first thing you can start immediately is to minimise or stop completely the use of styrofoam packings. Bring your own reusable containers when you go pack food outside.

I am sure most people have heard "reduce, reuse and recycle". Very importantly to note, is that the sequence of activities should be as stated. Firstly, you need to reduce your waste. Use less and therefore waste less. When you do have waste, reuse them. Like using paper on the other side, or reusing plastic and glass container, etc. Then, finally when you really need to throw them away, you recycle them. The last one is done by separating your waste right at the point when you discard them, usually this means at home. I have started to have a recycling corner at home for more than 6 months now. We have 3 big bins, for paper, glass and tins/plastics. Then, we also have our regular bins for things we cannot recycle. By separating your wastes, you reduce the amount of rubbish that will end up in a landfill somewhere. This is very very important, do not expect some other human to go through your thrash for you to try and salvage recyclable materials. Either you do it or they will end up polluting the environment in some landfill.

Our recycling corner at home.

For the materials that you have separated, you have a few options to get rid of them. You can sell them at many recycling centres that I can see everywhere, you can also give them to the rubbish collectors who will then sell them and get a little pocket money or you can do like we do, we give to a charity organisation that give a strong emphasis on environment protection work. Every few weeks, we will send our items to their centre.

I have heard people complained, why do we only do this and not that? Why do we stop people from using plastic bags when there are more horrible pollutants in other wastes. My answer is very simple, start small, every bit counts. Cultivate the habit and start learning more about the different types of wastes and how to recycle them. If everyone can just take responsibility of his/her own trash and do the 3 Rs, we can reduce a substantial amount of the 19,000 tons of rubbish Malaysians produce daily.

What’s Up and Coming Up

There were disturbing news about the riots in UK this week. It is sad to see even a country like United Kingdom can descend into chaos (albeit not at a scale that would cause long term effects). It just goes to show that dissent can appear even in one of the world most advanced countries. From my readings, the riots and looting are the actions of unemployed youths trying to steal or rob stuff that otherwise they cannot afford. Leaders of countries should be proactive in battling issues that are affecting a big group of their citizens. More damage is done when actions are implemented after the frustrations of this group exploded. Yeah, you are right, it's easy to say that in one sentence but nobody said being elected leaders is a walk in the park. It's not a job for people with underdeveloped brains or guts (which we have a bunch of them in office here).

Apart from this, we also have the stock market massacre! All over the world, the stock markets, led by the US' Dow Jones, have been falling like crazy. It recovered a bit yesterday but who knows what will happen next. Here lies the opportunity to earn money and also to lose money. Looking my past experiences, I would be extremely cautious. Stock investment is really a hard ballgame to play. Oh well, we'll see.

Locally, we hear of the raid by Jais in a dinner at a church building. Won't really bother myself about it. It's not the 1st time ridiculous things like this happen here. But Malaysians have to remember, Malaysia is a country that we should all love and cherish. The government, the ministers and the laws etc., they are not Malaysia. These may come and go, government and ministers may be voted out, laws may be changed but Malaysia is country, my country. Please do not be frustrated with her, it's not her fault that things are getting from bad to worse. She is not the enemy, she is in need of her beloved citizens to make the right choices at the ballots. Oops, got carried away and a bit emo. You people know what you people need to do.

Now for something more relaxed. Planning to have a 2D 1N trip to Penang with the Brady Bunch. Booked a hotel already and come Raya holidays, we will be on our way. Been a long long while since I last went to Penang. In fact, I don't even remember it. So I am so looking forward to see the island again. Definitely will try to find all the famous authentic Penang food and see Kek Lok Si, Bukit Bendera, etc.. Maybe meet the Chief Minister at the same time in Komtar. If I do, I will make sure I snap a picture with him. Only worry now is who can help feed our dog which by the way is recovering nicely from her 'operation'. I am now looking for automatic dog feeder, will try to find out where we can get one.

 
There is a MATTA fair going on this weekend, maybe it's a good time to grab some cheap tours, planning to go somewhere over the sea with hubby end of the year. Short trip somewhere but haven't decided on the destination yet. While waiting for all that, I will be busy finishing my project runway - PJs (pants and shirt) for the boyz.