Where is the recycle bins ?

I have been looking for recycle center or recycle bins since a few months ago. The old newspaper stacking at my house is now getting higher and higher.

Last week, I found recycle bins at Metro Prima - Jusco car park, but then at one look, one thinks that it's rubbish bin instead of recycle bin. Talking about how Msians tend to mis-use the recycle bins -- these people around either really an attitude problem, or they can't read.

So I went a-looking driving around Kepong area if I can find the right place to send my plastic bottles and newspapers. I even search online to see if there are any recycle centers nearby.

Why so hard to find recycle bins at Kepong area ? Anyone can help ?

Nearer to the heat

One of the few things about staying at KL - every news felt much closer, more real. The Bersih demonstration, the Hindraf protest... Back in Penang or even Ipoh, these news are as close at the newspaper. Now, gotta keep eyes and ears open ... advisory on where to go and where not to go on weekends; which roads are blocked etc. How different it felt to be near the epicenter of the heat.

Upcoming election, not sure how hot it can get ....

How KFC meals used to taste ....

I havent had a KFC meal for more than six months. The last time i had was at one of the at Carrefour outlet, and it taste really bland and not nice at all. It took a lot of effort to force that piece of drumstick down my throat. What's more the meat near the bone are not well-cooked. Not crispy, not tasty and definitely not finger licking good.

I was reminiscing with my hubby on how tasty KFC used to taste. When I was young, my parents only bring me and my siblings to KFC if we get exceptionally good exam results. The drumstick taste so so crunchy, crispy and tasty. Its really finger licking good. After every meal, I look forward to the next one. Yummy .. yummy

Now, after every KFC meal, I swear that I would never touch it for another few more months. At least not until I forgotten how bad it taste, and have no choice of other food.

I did wonder if KFC meals really deteriorated or was it my tastebuds that deteriorate ?

I wonder how much longer KFC can survive with so many other competitors like Burger King, Nandos, Kenny Rogers around the block. Nandos taste much better, at least.

Looks to die for

I have made a few friends in this metropolitan place that I am in now. Some of them are real interesting people. One of them is this born-and-bred in KL guy, call him G.

Profile of G ( like the kind they do at BAU )
- In his late 20s
- Got a fairly good job, the kind that pay quite a few k.
- Spending Habit on House : Nil. Stay with parents.
- Spending Habit on Food : Stingy. McD and KFC are consider expensive food !! Daily beverage is the - "Teh Ais" (Ice Tea) coz it cost a mere 50 cents. Teh Ais is bad for health, by the way. Will complain incessantly about a 20 cents increase for food. Not adventurous about food.
- Spending Habit on Friends : Nil. Usually will get other people to belanja him instead.
- Spending Habit on Accessories : Look good is a must - will spend without batting an eyelid. G2000 shirts. Cyma watch. Mont Blanc wallet.
- Spending Habit on car : Owns a 10-year old Nissan.

What baffles me is how extremely different spending habits on food and spending habits on accessories. I guess this would mean looks are more important than food. Looks to die for - literally. Its a normal things for girls... but for guys to go that extreme ? Wow ! I am surprise that how much he is willing to pinch and save every cent from his daily meals to readily subsidize for his expensive accesories. A guy must do that to impress girls with expensive stuff ??

Stress Test ....

Time flies... I am now entering the 4th month on my new job.

First month was uneventful.... or more accurately - boring.

Second month was quite eventful. I thought of an interesting analogy which describes the situation -- stress test. Those in engineering community would know that new products would be subjected to stress test to check the product durability. Stress test intends to filter out infant mortality units.

Stress Test 1 : Use magnifying glass in fault finding, and then openly jeered at your small little mistakes just to make you look stupid.
Objective : To test how thick is your skin

Stress Test 2 : Close door reprimanding, and making baseless accusations. Involves table banging and some level of aggresiveness
Objective : To test how one react under stress. This one was specifically designed to test the fairer sex - i was told later. Girls tend to breakdown more easily, it seems.

Stress Test 3 : Its 5.30pm. Boss come to you with a super -urgent task, and tells you to complete the task by tommorow morning. Dont you just hate that ?
Objective : To check if you can perform under limited time.

Its a little like kungfu movies where the hero has to perform some dangerous rituals to prove their worthiness. On hindsight, i find that a little amusing. But there and then, if you are the subject being tested, i assure you that it was not amusing at all.

In my opinion, it was all not necessary. If the company is not assured that they hired the right person for the job, why interview at all ?! However, boss still believe its for the best. If there happens to be "fatalities" "drop-out" "infant mortality" or whatever term he chooses to use, too bad then. To him, its no loss either.

Catching up with news... .

I was busy preparing for my brother's wedding last weekend. Being busy, i was temporarily disconnected from outside world. I had totally no inkling on how huge was the magnitude of the rally until i viewed the youtube videos today. Friends and relatives from KL complaint on the massive traffic jam it caused.

After Bersih Rally , I am beginning to believe there might be a slight tinge of hope of opposition having a huge win in the next election. Malaysians are beginning to ensure their views are being heard - in a peaceful manner. This is a good thing.

Our current UMNO leaders should really be worried. Media blackouts doesnt work much nowadays. And Anwar seemed to have set things in motion

The Seeker : The Dark is Rising

The consequences of not reading reviews before going for a movie ---- you pay 10 bucks to suffer two miserable hours in the cinema.

yes... i think The Seeker is that bad. I can only give a one star rating. It's a kid's movie - not the type anyone should pay to watch. Its kinda like Narnia ..... I swear to stay away from kiddy movies for a long long time.

My partner was more unforgiving, he slept through half of the movie. Lucky thing he didnt snore. After movie, he was complaining non-stop for the rest of the night on how boring the movie was.

Picketing ..

Lunch time today was interesting. There was a unusually big crowd outside Menara Maybank. So, my lunch kakis and I went nearer to see what's the attraction.

A big bunch of folks picketing outside the Menara Maybank. They were singing songs, waving banners, shouting logo ... and doing all sorts of thing people do during peaceful demonstration. Tonnes of people gather around to take photo, too bad I didnt bring my handphone to take a pic.

The most glaring banner was a huge yellow colour banner screaming "Bank rompak kami" - translated into "The bank robbed us". I am guessing that the bank must be a bit stingy with their increment or bonus, and thus pissed off the staff.

So far, it was a peaceful demo. There were a bunch of police around observing.

There was only a small paragraph of news on The Star the next day

Tuesday September 25, 2007
Bank workers picket over wages
KUALA LUMPUR: Members of the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) picketed peacefully outside Maybank branches nationwide to demand a pay rise.
Yesterday’s picket was the latest in a series of pickets by NUBE members in the past two weeks after the union failed to get banks to agree to increase wages.
NUBE is asking for a 30% increase but the Malaysian Commercial Banks Association, which represents bank managements’ interest nationwide wants to discontinue the two-month contractual bonus.
Following the deadlock, NUBE launched a work-to-rule procedure among the 25,000 clerical and non-clerical members.
NUBE general secretary J. Solomon said they would continue to picket.

Can our world get crazier ?

First ... the tragic death of a little girl .. Nurin. The nation grieved for her.

As if their suffering is not enough, our minister Nazri says they wanna charge the parents for negligence. That statement, coming out from the mouth of a Minister from Prime Minister's office really makes one wonder if every tom, dick and harry on the street can be a Minister ? Then make me a Minister then... hahahah ! Even a man on the street has more common sense and sympathy than this fella.

Eh... this is kinda deja vu ...

Remember the case Penang Council blame NST reporter not dressed modest enough, when their staff focused the camera on her legs.

Time and again, we hear comments from those who choose to blame the girl for dressing too sexy when a rape case happened.

Seems like in our Bolehland Ministers are losing it ... getting crazier and crazier. This kind of issues seems prevalent in Bolehland though. Sad... sad...

May Nurin rest in peace .......

Yesterday, little Nurin Jazlin was laid to rest. May she rest in peace.

The news of her death and how she died shook the nation, imagine how the family suffered with the news. Her parents finally came to accept the fact of their little daughter's death.

During lunch time, some of us were discussing this tragedy. My colleague, who is also a father of two young daughters, was condemning what kind of person can be so cruel to a little child. He was determined that never to let his little girls out of his sight.

" I wont even allow them to go to the padang at our housing area without adult supervision."

That is how determined he is to protect his kids. And it is understandable, given the crazy world we lived in.

He reminiscence the childhood he had, where he was free to wander around nearby neighbours house and play around at nearby freely. Back in those days, these freedom were taken for granted. Today, children are no longer have the privilege of wandering freely.

Imagine what else that we have taken for granted today, would in the future be a privilege. Malaysia seems to be going backwards in our social environment.

Does office politics spice up ur life ?

One day, my project manager.. call her as Ms J, came up to us and started whining about how the senior manager was being difficult.



" You know ah, that senior manager Mr X ... it seems he is buddy with the VP. So, all our proposals will go down the drain if I we do not have him on our side. Then the other lady manager Mrs Y personally knows the President. Mrs Y and Mr X cant see eye-to-eye most of the time. Thats why I had to pick sides... so hard to work in this office"



Office politics is part and parcel of life. Over the years, I have come to accept that as a fact of life. I dont particularly enjoy it, but rather tolerate it.



Ms J actually wanted to sound like she is complaining about how hard her job is to get everyone from different to agree. But her facial expression betrayed her. She was obviously very excited about all this. Office politics seems to spice up her life somehow - and provide adrenaline to her system.

So ... do you enjoy office politics ?

How many mistakes can you make ?

For the past two weeks, my new job have moved from first gear to fourth gear. It has been both exciting and tiring. Gone are the days where i wished the clock would tick faster, and count the hours goes by.

I made a few blunders which I mentally slapped myself for. But then later, I console myself that being a newbie .... hitting a few walls is normal. No big deal as people tend to forgive you easier when you are still new. Got the "Free Out-Of-Jail" card still.... but I know the card has got a expiry date.

My ex-boss once gave me some word of wisdom - " Ask all the question you have, and make all the mistake you want during your first three months. After that, you don't have the privilege anymore."

My hubby's boss version is slightly more interesting
"Make as many mistake as you want... its all right. But make the same mistake twice, i call you an idiot'

No fireworks on KLCC ?

On Merdeka eve, me and my brother found a nice spot on top of the hill overlooking the KLCC view. When we reach there, there were already hordes of people gathering to wait for the fireworks display. Parents were dragging kids in pyjamas, and even carrying babies who were obviously still groggy as it was way past their bedtime.

The crowd excitedly waited for the fireworks. All eyes were directed to KLCC. I was ready with my camera in place. The KLCC was nice, all litted up. Everyone just assume that there will be fireworks at the KLCC - the pride of the nation. Imagine how nice the fireworks will be with KLCC in the background.

" papa, papa, where is the firework " one of the kids kept asking over and over again. Kids can be really relentless.

At the stroke of midnight, there was only some small sparks at the Kepong area.... but all was quiet at the KLCC. Ehh... this is not right leh.

"Maybe they got some technical issues... can't lit the fireworks... lets wait a while" one guy was saying

Wait....

Another 10 minutes passed .....

" Papa.... where is firework ?? " The kid ask again ...

" Maybe we gotta wait for Pak Lah to finish his speech first. He just started speech at midnight "
" Aiya, he should have started talking earlier mah "

More waiting...

Another 10 minutes passed ....

The crowd began to disperse...

" Chou la, jeng hu boh lui lah " one frustrated guy exclaimed in Hokkien ( Lets go, our goverment no money for fireworks )

" Tonight they are trying to relive the 31 Aug 1957 Merdeka night. They dont have fireworks at that time mah ... "

We too, slogged back to our apartment. Only at around 1pm, we could see some small fireworks from the far-away Dataran Merdeka area. What a disappointment !

Birthday Wish for Malaysia

Today is Malaysia's 50th Merdeka - Happy Merdeka !

Its almost end of the Merdeka Day. This year's celebration has been just so-so, not as grand and impressive as I would have expected. But I guess, we should be more concern about the meaning of our country achieving 50 years of independence. It is only befitting that there is a birthday wish on a birthday. As a Malaysian, I wish that

• In years to come, Malaysia will be a place where everyone is treated equally and fairly. No more differentiating its citizens by race or religion or bumi/non-bumi. As such, our MyKad should not even store such information. I wish that there wont be a 'Bangsa' (Race) and 'Agama' (Religion) section in all the forms. Just 'Kewarganegaraan' ( Nationality ) - end of story.


• Politicians would not try to wave keris around, instilling lies and hatred, and thus hurting the feelings of its citizens in the process. I wish that there would be more politicians who are sincere in looking after the plight of the people instead of self-interest.


• There wont be anymore people left behind by development, and still live in absolute poverty.


• Malaysians would become less reliant on foreign-labour. It takes a little effort from everyone to support this.


• The streets of our cities or kampungs are safe to walk at night or day, so that we dont have be constantly alert for snatch thiefs, robbers, rapist, kidnappers, road bullies or Mat Rempit.


• I wish that there would be a time where there is freedom of speech, and stuff like news black-out does not occur. A time where we can believe what is being written on mainstream newpaper. No one would threaten to silence bloggers and that information flow honest and freely.

Hmmm.. that's quite a long list already actually. Is there a limit as to how many wish allow for birthdays ? I wonder....

Happy merdeka again ! ( before the clock strikes 12 )

Reading update

I am now reading a book - The Chinese Malaysian Contribution. Just started off with the few pages. Bought the book quite some time back when it was launched by Tun Dr Mahathir.

I'll be sharing some interesting stuff from the book. Its pretty interesting really. I just realised how little i knew.

Minister's Report Card

This morning heard on 988 on this interesting website http://www.citizenthinktank.com/ that was setup to rate our politicians. Malaysians, in general, vote for parties instead of voting for the candidate. Not much is known about what the person elected actually achieved in their term. So this is a pretty good idea. Its like a minister's report card.

I checked out the website.. its still pretty new, but its a good start at least...

Most of the time, we ( at least me ) would have visibility on those famous (infamous) ministers who

• Who shock everyone by waving keris on the stage
• Who blames tragedy on mother nature
• Who tried to avoid answering questions on AP
• Who try to make a big deal out of a teenager song

I only see a few good ministers doing a real solid work ... like our Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek. Really admire his way.

Scary Drop

Today our KLCI went tumbling down 46 points just like that. What a scary drop ! Its like bungee jumping.

Yeah... lately, I have been monitoring the share market these few days. I watched the the US market, then follow by the rest of the world markets all in red for the entire week. Few months back, a drop of 10 points or so in a single day, people already hoo-hah here and there.

Of course, i too, got burnt a few fingers myself. But is a small burnt, as compared to those big players out there. I am just ikan-bilis investor mah. My friends are different. A few of them are daring and adventurous -- who plays with futures. And here I am, sitting here wondering what is their fate. It is an area I dont have the courage nor knowledge to venture into. With futures, what you can potentially loss is theoritically unlimited ~ infinity. With stocks, the most I can lost is what I invested. Futures players gotta have strong and healthy heart.

Its quite impossible to assess how much further the market can drop. I would be rich by now, if I can predict !!

It'll be interesting to see what happens tommorow.

Surviving the first week ...

Today is my 2nd week in my new job, i survived a one whole week of mix of excitement and extreme boringness. Thanks to blogs reading, internet surfiing, yahoo games and my msn & yahoo messenger friends who chatted with me to keep my sanity intact.

I landed myself into another totally different world. It is exciting, but the amount of vocabularies and acronyms is almost overwhelming at first. I was given reading material, and for every page there is at least 20 or so words that I couldnt really understand. I was in a slight panicky at first. I couldnt understand what is CCY .... asked around and found out it is a short form for currency ! Imagine how dumb i felt. Then there was this CRM that kept repeating all over the documents ... which i assumed it stands for Customer Relationship Management. Only later found out how far it was from what it meant. Shit ! I am really in another planet.

Then I started an excel file and list down all the words that are Greek to me. One by one, I look them up at Wikipedia.... the best tool of the century !! After one week of slogging thru the reading materials, the words finally start to make sense. Guess what, after one week, i have a nice list of 100+ new words/acronyms. I havent done this since my primary school. Phew.... that was hard work.

Although i inevitably lost myself in the KL roads, so far i manage to make my way back home. So far, have not yet need to stop and ask the police to send me home.... heheh. Maybe i got some built-in homing device in me.

A small milestone ... but milestone nonetheless.

Expensive Bunga Raya

It is an sarcastic insult that our national flower has been used as a reason to justify for this kind of trip. What were these councilmen thinking when they made this decision ? Did they they think no one would ever know ......

RM70,380 bunga raya trip
By Sheridan Mahavera

09 August, 2007

JOHOR BARU: In February last year, six Johor Baru municipal councilmen took their families to Australia and spent RM70,380 of taxpayers’ money — to learn how to plant bunga raya! Ten months later, another group of councilmen, this time from Kluang, went to Shanghai on another trip paid for by taxpayers.The objective of the trip is unclear, but the councillors made the trip at the height of the catastrophic floods which hit Johor, when most areas of their district were submerged in knee-deep water.

Parking Lessons

Today is free parking today ! At least to me it is almost free. I paid only 1 buck only for parking right in front of my office for whole day. The meter feeder ate my one dollar coins and it gleefully choke up to 3 hours of car park. I suspect the meter is faulty – where got parking so cheap one. That can’t be right. But who cares anyway. I was pretty pleased with myself until my colleagues told me that nobody feeds the meter yet coz there were newly installed last week. Then, I felt pretty dumbo.

After yesterday car park ticket of RM19.50 at PWTC, which I had to pay thru my nose, and almost choked myself in the process. I stubbornly refuse to tell hubby how much the PWTC parking cost, not that he didn’t try to make me talk. He got a weak heart – that’s why I wont tell him. Anyway, that gotta be the first and the last time. PWTC parking is not safe. By the time I collect my car around 8pm, there was hardly anyone around except a few guards here and there. I had to walk a long, long way pass long, dark, eerie corridors and pathway before I finally reached the car park. By the time, I already feel my toes starting to cramp.

The day before, I stupidly parked at the 3rd party car park at Hartamas and paid RM10 (which was the maximum payable). After I nicely parked my car, then only I notice plenty of car park lots around seemed to be free.

Oh well… that all the tuition fees I had to pay to know how much parking fees cost in KL. I found this one website telling about KL open car parks – this gonna be my cost-saving tool in future. As a newbie to KL, I still have a lot to learn.

Time to blog

My blog off and on, not a very regular blogger. It pretty much depends on my mood actually.

What actually makes a conducive environment to blog ? What turns me on is ....

1. Where no people snooping around ur laptop
2. When i am bored, or excited ... I tend to blog.
3. When one is annoymous blogger.... i personally dont want my family or circle of friends to be reading some nasty comment that i made.
4. When i have a lot to express

Now is just the right time & right place & right mood for blogging. I have been itching for a day or two already. Reasons might be

• I am real bored now
• I am a stranger in a new city
• I am constantly lost ( both spiritually and on the roads )
• My boss is far far away.

Yea... i sense that the time has come.

What If ...

I have been following the hottest case around town about the Mongolian woman, Altantuya who was blown to bits. Today is only Day 4 and things are still very interesting as the story unfolds.

Quite possibly some producer will make a movie out of this crime of passion.

Supposingly Razak Baginda did order for her to be silenced, then it is really a tragic ending. I guess the reason he did not make a police report for fear his affair would be exposed, and probably his family's harmony would be at risk. His wife would definitely not be happy to hear about his affair. They'd probably fight over this, have verbal wars, or worse ... leave him bcoz of the affair.

Then again, considering the hot soup he is in now.... the wrath & fury of his wife & family may seem trivial after all.

What if he had come clean with the affair and make a police report about the threats he has been receiving, he might be better off.

What if would not help him now...

What if ....

A Doctor's Whining

I visited doctor today for my gastric problem. Doc was in good mood and decided to give me a long lecture on how to take care of my gastric and how not to get myself a stomach cancer.

After the long-winded lecture, and me responded mostly by nodding...Can't wait for the lecture to be over. Doc finally turn to lighter topics .. phew.

Well, I thought so many ppl out there aspires to be doctors. But my Doc started whining and complaining about his job. Doc was jealous that I am officially jobless and lazing around. For no apparent reason, he unloaded his heart's content to me - as if he desperately needed a listener to understand how much his job sucks.

• Bcoz he got no time to go holiday even though he got loads of money. Gotta keep his clinic up and running.

• Bcoz he gotta keep up with the reading, and attend seminars to constantly keep up with the latest medical knowledge.

• Bcoz he is a doctor, he gotta make sure his kid is a doctor too -- you know, children are expected to carry the family legacy. So he gotta allocate enough money aside to support medical education.

• Bcoz he has to live in a high-end residential area befitting his status as a doctor. Can't live in a little condominium coz it damage your reputation, it seems. Morever, he planned to give a house as a gift to his only child as a graduation gift. That again, of coz, have to be up-to-standards.

• His wish is to retire early and have a nice long vacation by the beach. Wake up late every day and sip coffee by the sea.

To be honest, it sounds like bragging more than complaining.

But Doc is a nice guy, I am sure he didnt mean that way .. although it sounded to me as a bit arrogant.

I guess I just want to tell Doc ... Count your blessings !

Book Review : The Island

I got this book as a birthday present - The Island by Victoria Hislop.

And to answer the question that you may have, this book is NOT related to The Island movie.

The book is a good read, very vivid and touching story. Story background was at Plaka, a small village at Greece in the 1950s. They have this Spinalonga island - a place which used to be a colony for the lepers. Then... a terribly dreaded disease. Once you get it, you become 'untouchables'. You can imagine the psychological pain is greater than the physical pain itself. It is a very sad story, but has a happy ending though.

It reminds me of Pulau Jerejak, the little island on the right hand side of the Penang bridge. My mom tells me that it used to be a place for leper colony too. Must have many suffering souls who spent their last days on the island. It was closed in 1969 fortunately. Leprosy is now curable disease.

Now Pulau Jerejak has a difference face, it is turned into a tourist destination.

Make money on internet ... not as easy (Part II)

As promised, I have read Chapter M ( A Malaysian's Guide to Profit from Clickbank and Paypal).


The author Gobala, pretty much summarizes the gist of it - the sound of it is quite disheartening really

" The best way to overcome your problem is apparently to stop being a
Malaysian and start being a Singaporean"

Haha... initially I thought this guy want all of us to migrate to Singapore. Hey, the little island down south can't fit so many people really !

Make money on internet is not as easy if you are a Malaysian.

Actually, he means "virtual Singaporean" by the way ....... setting up virtual office in Spore and bank account in Spore.

Ain't no cheap and easy way out though. I haven't decided yet if I wanna invest $$ into all these setup stuff. Will the returns be worth it ? Or it might just be my interest will fizzle out ..... hehe .. who knows...

I am still seeking for alternative ..........

Pak Lah's Wedding

PM to get married on Saturday News Update by V.P SUJATA AND MAZWIN NIK
ANISPUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has announced his marriage to Jeanne Abdullah in a private ceremony on Saturday.

Surprise, surprise .. .Our prime minister Pak Lah is getting married this Saturday. Few things came to my mind

• The rumors earlier this year about Pak Lah remarry, which was vehemently denied in one of the press conference, was true after all.

• Hmm... will Pak Lah emulate Raja Nazrin's wedding and foot his own bill for the wedding ?

• His marriage to Jeanne Abdullah ( the ex-wife of his late wife's brother ) ... wouldn't it be consider as marrying your own sister-in-law ? Although it is not blood relation, still relation by marriage. But i guess who cares anyway...

What's in a name ?

I like the name Bahasa Malaysia better -it implies it is for all Malaysians. Yeah !!

Was reading Kit Siang's blog on the decision to change the name of our national language from Bahasa Melayu to Bahasa Malaysia by our Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin.

Another example of our Ministers try to out-do each other by doing something which will bring them to the headlines of the papers. Vying for visibility ?

While, not to say it is not good, but rakyat would be more pleased if the headlines made are more meaningful like "Steps taken by Ministry to guarantee no more leakages, or ceiling falling off, or pipe bursts". Attack real problems with real solutions, you know what I mean.

Freedom Of Religion

Do these people understand what the word 'religious tolerance' means ? We seem to be heading towards extremism, if not already.

It gets scary when you see this kind of head-lines at The Star

PAS wants apostasy to be made a crime in FT
KOTA BARU: PAS wants the syariah enactments amended to make apostasy a crime in the Federal Territory, the only state not to have such a provision. The imposition of heavier penalties to deter Muslims from renouncing their faith was among five resolutions passed during the PAS assembly here yesterday.

To be exact, if you are a Muslim born in Malaysia - too bad, you are not entitle to freedom of religion. Wikipedia says

" Freedom of religion is a guarantee by a government for freedom of belief for individuals and freedom of worship for individuals and groups. It is generally recognized to also include the freedom not to follow any religion (irreligion) and not to believe in any god (atheism or agnosticism). "

That's what happen when religion get mixed with politics. Everyone tries to out-do the other by some shocking propositions.

Movie Review : Next

Last weekend, went to watch Next.. the one with Nicholas Cage. At best,, I can only give it 2.5 star rating.... pretty boring story line, especially for those who have watched Deja Vu earlier.

Movie wasn't fast pace enough for an action movie. It was not interesting enough to be sci-fi either. It's just those kind of so-so movie for movie-goers who wanna see Nicholas Cage. I used to like Nicholas Cage's movie, especially the City of Angels. But after this, i think i dont feel like wanna see his face for a long, long time.

Songs can hurt...

" I listen to classical music and church music mostly nowadays. Stay away from songs these days "

My friend, JP, told me one day.

" How's that ? You dont like pop songs or oldies or love songs "

I queried. After a while, she answered

"It gets to my emotions too much."

I understood. Songs can hurt.

JP was still hurting, still recovering from the wounds of her last relationship which made her lost faith in men.

For a moment, I was transported back to my past, reliving that kind of emotional pain. I was very depressed then. When I happen to hear songs broadcast over radio, it kind of touches a raw central nerve and you feel pain rippling from your heart. Tears will begin to flow uncontrollably.

It was a time when many song lyrics could wreak havoc on my emotions. It was like raw wounds expose to the air - no skin to protect it. The slightest breeze can hurts.

Maybe it happened for a reason, I had this thought. It made me able to emphatised with other people's pain now. Else I wouldn't have understood how songs can hurt..... if I hadnt experienced it myself.

Like Meredith said in Grey's Anatomy, many of us are emotionally battered and damaged in some way.

Informatics with a new strategy

Last weekend, I was at Informatics Penang for the CUTE exam.

I was bored, waiting for my driver to come. The receptionist seemed bored too. So i kinda chat with her a bit. The used to be an Informatics center at the Taman Inderawasih at Seberang Jaya. The last time i passed by, was surprised to see it no longer there. Even the signboard has been removed. Later, rumors says that Informatics is going out-of-business soon. So I decided to ask the receptionist about this.

According to the lady, Informatics nowadays changed strategy - they will move away from offering courses for individuals. Rather, the penang branch will concentrate on providing corporate trainings courses. The courses for individual students will be all gradually transferred to KL branch and only available there.

Guess it was a smart move coz the margin is typically higher for corporate business as compared to individual business. For those which are HRDF claimable, it wont be surprising if it is priced even higher.

With so much competition around, colleges, institutes, learning center.... It seems to me that Informatics is struggling for survival. Glory days no longer.....

Make money on internet ... not as easy

Make money on internet ... not as easy as I thought . I have recently been trying my hands on those "how to make money on internet" stuff.... and keep banging myself on the wall. Sigh.... anyone out there wanna give me guidance ?

Clickbank problems, Paypal problem.... and no US bank account problem ... whole laundry list of them. I bumped into an ebook named ChapterM - which claims to be help resolve all these woes. Well... i just bought it today, and can't wait to see what great tips it has inside. I'll update once i finish reading.

Just can't understand why Singapore is on the list, and Malaysia is not on the list for Paypal or Clickbank. I saw names of many other countries which does not necessarily a more developed nation than Malaysia, but they got into the list ?? Wonder how they came up with the country list....jeeezzzz......

Piece of advice for local graduates ...

Today i hear a friend complaining about the quality of our local graduates. She happen to be doing some interviewing. Complaining is rather an understatement actually .......

A few year back, i gave my two-cents to a junior who was happily gained admittance to the university

• For those of you still studying in local university, if you decide to waste 3 years of the university days to just "get by" .... and think you would get hired after that. Think again. And by the way, its taxpayers hard-earned money.


• Nobody will hire a person who lack even the most basic communication skills. So brush up your English, especially. If you are not able to converse during interview, chances are ... you better pack your bags.

Today, i know that she probably didnt get my message at all.

Now, she is on her own to survive in the job market. I hope she will manage to stay afloat amongst all the competition out there. If she dont, she only have herself and our education system to blame.

Its still never too late to learn, if she is willing to learn.

Not very smart ......

For someone from the entertainment industry, I would assume that he would know what to say, and what not to say. This actor turned businessman obviously made a big mistake to anger his customers. He should have known better than making such wrong, and arrogant statement.

The Star Online Tuesday May 22, 2007

HK actor’s baseless remarks upset restaurant owners

HONG Kong actor Mark Cheng has come under fire for making rude remarks about Malaysian steamboat, reported China Press.

Cheng, who owns nine steamboat restaurants in Malaysia, was reported to have said that most Malaysian steamboat was made from “rotten meat and carcass” during a recent interview with a Hong Kong magazine.

He further claimed that local steamboat restaurants used stale ingredients and a soup base made by boiling water with two slices of ginger and spring onions.

China Press received many calls from readers and steamboat restaurant operators, expressing their anger and dissatisfaction over Cheng's remarks, saying they were baseless and exaggerated.

A caller, identified only as Chew, said the actor's unfriendly remarks would tarnish the good image of Malaysian restaurants and affect the country's tourism.

“Why did Cheng set up his business in Malaysia and marry a Malaysian girl when he sees us as such a bad country?” she asked.

Yeah... the steamboat restaurants that he owns maybe a little classier than most, nicely air conditioned and all. But we do have many other good steamboats around too. It is definitely nothing like his description of Malaysia steamboats as made from “rotten meat and carcass”. Make us sound like cannibals devouring the carcass dripping with blood ! Yuckssss......... Serves him right if his customers decides to boycott his flame.

Level playing field .... ?

My cousin of mine recently graduated from local universities. Yeah... no big deal. And she has engaged me to help her in her job-hunting pursuit, and so she sent me her resume. Being a fresh graduate, she honestly listed out all her SPM results ... all the As, Bs, Cs, Ds, Es. My goodness, with so many C, D, E s also she can make her way to university ! Something must be wrong somewhere - that was my first thought.

Hey, i've got friends who have a nice list of As & Bs only but still cant squeeze into university, you know.

I was told she got in bcoz university need to meet "rural area quota". Since she is born and bred in a small kampung ( village ), there ... she got some advantage of being a rural folk. This is part of the effort to bring up the level of education in rural area, it seems

-----------------------

Her resume was disappointingly poor. Hadnt she learn anything from the 3 years in university ? Yeah... i admit i can be mean and demanding sometimes, but this is really too shocking....

• Personal particulars written at the end of the resume ?
• Multiple obvious and very eye-sore spelling mistakes all over the resume
• A sexy personal photo attached that look more suitable for "Malaysian Idol" contest ...
  
• Have your own uncle as the referee ...... what else can happen ? List your father, mother, granpa, granma as your referral ?
  

What did I do ? I made big red circles all over her resume !! .... kidding :)

i nicely told her to make changes, and after like three rounds editing, it finally look slightly presentable. I was grumbling all night over resume.

Someone : Come on, you gotta be more understanding, she doesnt have the advantage like the city folks.

Me : Sure or not ?? Surely she should have upgraded herself during the 3 year university education. If she fail to do that, she got no one to blame except herself.

Someone : We should exercise some leniency and be more forgiving on her flaws, given that she doesnt have the advantage of living in the city.

( Eh... this sounds like our NEP subsidy mentality )
( no no ... this sounds like those specific group of lawyers who needed favors from one of the GLC bank )

---------------------
My conclusion :
It seems that we not only dont have level playing field between bumis vs non-bumis.
We are also promoting a different level of playing field btwn rural vs city.

No time to rest & enjoy .... ??

I like watching movies and drama series. So long as they meet up to certain standards level, I am okay. So, one night I was watching Hong Kong drama series with my mom & dad. At the end of the one-hour, my dad let out a guilty sigh and complained.... " Sigh... i wasted one hour watching this crap. I could have done so many other things.. "

I gave him a side-way glare ... and was tempted to make a not-so-nice remark at him. But I held my tongue. He is now retired, got plenty of time on his hand, and yet he made this kind of comments. Makes me think maybe he had some obsessive compulsion thingy. He feels that he has to fully utilise every second and every minute of his life. Entertainment, like tv, radio, or cinema, dont fall under his list of "positive meaningful activities". He is compelled to slog himself on-and-on-and-on. In the process, he make others who are standing still trying to catch their breath looks like lazy bumps.

Let us all not forget that we need to rest, so that we regain energy to travel down the long journey ahead. So the chinese saying goes.

Intrusive questions....

I have been in job-hunting mode for about a month. And I got lots of intrusive questions from interviewers that quite baffles, annoy and IRRITATE me... ! Yeah... i am pretty irritated & upset at the way some people ask questions which have no relation whatsoever to the position I applied. I dunno why we allow these people to ask intrusive, rude & invading questions like that.

Number one irritant ... Are you married ?

• Why does one know if I am married or not, unless you are my secret admirer or plan to be my lover. Does being married or not married make me a better or lesser performer ? Why do I get the feeling i get is that married folks, especially ladies, have a lower value in the job market ? Or does employers stereotype folks who are single as potential workaholics that they want to hire ?
  

Number two irritant .... Do you have kids ?

• Does it matter at all ?? This is kinda pretty personal question to ask someone you met for the first time.To this question, i was pretty pissed off and retorted coldly with "Why do you need to know?". The interviewer meekly explained to me that they just wanted to know if I am able to do some light travelling. So should the question be changed to "Can you travel ?" instead of "Do you have kids? "
  

Number three irritant ... Spouse details

• This is usually one of the columns on the applications form you are required to fill up upon arrival at the interview venue. What the heck ? Tell me... are you hiring me or hiring my spouse ? Why do you care at all ? I am just so so very curious that I really would want to know who designed these forms and exactly what intention is behind this question. I tend to leave it blank, as I do with all those fields that I consider irrelevant such as Race, Religion etc. I am just tempted to put Religion as "Havent decided yet"
  

I am not sure if this is a norm in Malaysian job market, but I seriously think this should not be the way to recruit employees. Lots of company claim to have "equal employment opportunity" policy. Why bother to ask these questions then if you do not discriminate against gender, marital status or race/religion ?

Finally somebody stopped them ......

This news about Maybank's dumb decision to require law firms with bumiputera stake thing really stunt me. Maybank - one of the largest bank in Msia, blue chip company and had the best online services seemed like a very forward-looking bank to me. This makes me doubt what kind of management team that approves this kind of decision. In Malaysia, there is already a long list of unfair practices and they are happily trying to add one more to the list. What really prompt a profit-oriented organisation to mix politics into business ?

After a whole round of protests and fury, The Cabinet finally spoke !! End of the whole episode of hoo-haa .... However, damage may already been done. Some of its customers claimed that they will refuse to do business with this kind of bank.....

I hope there is lesson learnt from this episode....

On cough remedy ...

Cough remedy .. anyone ? This was from one of the junk mails sent ... anyone tried and verify if it works ?

It works 100% of the time although the scientists at the Canada Research council (who discovered it) aren't sure why. To stop nighttime coughing in a child (or adult as we found out personally), put Vicks Vaporub generously on the bottom of the feet at bedtime, then> cover with socks. Even persistent, heavy, deep coughing will stop in about 5 minutes and stay stopped for many, many hours of relief. Works 100% of the time and is more effective in children than even very strong prescription cough medicines. In addition it is extremely soothing and comforting and they will sleep soundly.

It was a surprising finding and found to be more effective than prescribed medicines for children at bedtime, in addition to have a soothing and> calming effect on sick children who then went on to sleep soundly.

An adult friend tried it on herself when she had a very deep constant and persistent cough a few weeks ago and it worked 100%! She said that it felt> like a warm blanket had enveloped her, coughing stopped in a few minutes and believe me, this was a deep, ( incredibly annoying!) every few seconds uncontrollable cough, and she slept cough-free for hours every night that she used it.So, if you have kids/grandchildren, pass it on. If you end up sick, try yourself and you will be
absolutely amazed.

I havent tried the Vicks remedy, but my mom had a lot of traditional remedy which works

1. Orange

Cut off the top of the orange, and place a few sugar rocks inside the orange. Put the orange cover back. Steam the orange for half and hour. Then eat the meat of the orange and the juice inside.

2. Bird's nest

This is usually the last resort coz it is pretty expensive. But it works too.

3. Cordyceps

Boil cordyceps with red dates and water. Drink the water.

A defining day ...

Today is a by-election day for Ijok. In this wee hour of the morning, I am wondering if the result tonight will hold any surprises for Malaysian. Or Malaysians are so predictable and gullible that we deserve the government we elected for ( so our ex-PM Dr M says )

Then again, anything can happen. Just like President Bush was so sure that he'll be able to get congress support to continue war in Iraq.

We'll know by tonight.

Its a tough world for kids ....

Who says childhood days are innocent and carefree ? It is no longer true nowadays.... at least not from what i hear.

Their little world expands once parents start to place them with day-care centers or pre-school or kindergarten. They will be expose to teachers, bullies, and all the likes of them. Kids coming back from school with bruises on both body and heart are so common that it is scary.

How would you teach your kids ?

a) Would you tell them .... dont fight for toys with other kids, dont argue with the teacher, be a good timid child .... They'll grown up thinking that it is right to let circumstances control them, rather than taking control.

b) Would you teach them karate, judo, taekwondoe at a young age so that they can fend off bullies ? Would you approve and praise them for hitting back at other kids in self defense ?

A parent that I know teaches his 3-year old daughter this an-eye-for-an-eye policy
"Thou should not hit others first. But if they hit you first, you must hit them back"

Was that too drastic, or was that a necessity to teach our kids the survival skills ?

How to get MC ...

There was a very interesting call-in program at 98.8 radio station the other day. The topic was about false MC ( medical certificate ) .... and guess what, lots of listeners enthusiastically called to the station to brag about their techniques to outsmart the doctor... hehe.

1. Drink coke with an empty stomach. Get to the clinic fast, and tell the doc that you have stomach upset, diarrhea etc... When doc put the scope to your stomach, he'll be convinced when he hears a lot of growling and bubbles...

2. Take an extended walk under the hot sun and feign fever. Sure enough, your body temperature shoots up...

3. If you have low blood pressure, just say you feel giddy and try to look pale.

Malaysians are a creative lot....... there's probably much more to the list, but i dont remember .....anyone wanna add on the list ?

I love lobster now...

Lobsters - i have never fancy them too much. They taste kinda bland - quite tasteless to me compare to prawns. At least, those are the how the lobsters serve at Victoria Station or any chinese restaurant taste like. But I prefer prawns.... yum yummy, tom yam prawns, fried prawns, stir-fried prawns... i love all of them

After last week, i changed my mind entirely. Lobster can taste great too. This is the first time of my life i tasted such tasty lobster - and i mean real, real nice tasty lobster. We went to this place call The Lobsterman in SS2, PJ. A nice, cosy restaurant at an obscure corner which was highly recommended by friends.

The serve fresh lobster by weight - you can get to choose 500gm, 700gm or 800gm. Two of us choose the 800gm and decide to share. We picked two different flavour, one was steam, the other fried. The thing i like about this place, lobster is serve with lobster only - not distracted by side dish like potatoes or corns or salad stuff like that.

And oh, all i can say that it is worth the price. It taste wonderful, very sweet and juicy. Imagine when you chew into the meat, it squirts in every direction. I am not very good at describing food, but KL folks should at least try this place. Pricey a bit, but worth every penny.

Generation gap

I was down in KL last weekend, and had a great time catching up with old friends. Old friends, such that you never meet for years but can still chat on-and-on-and-on for hours. It just felt like time freezed - there was no time gap. We talk about our work, our family and everything else under the earth. I had a real happy time.

Maybe it is a coincidence, but I think the timing gotta have sth to do with hitting 30s. A few of my KL friends made a change in career direction recently too. My decision about my career was not understood by my family. My parents didnt really freak out, but they dont feel comfortable about me leaving a good job at a good company. They couldnt understand why one need to leave a job if boss is fine, work is fine, pay is fine......

Guess what, my friend J, was telling me about similar problem she had to deal with her family too. Her parents does not understand her career decisions. They would prefer she stayed on her job with a prestigious company even though the prospect is not so good there. I guess parents secretly want their kids to work in a big-name company, where everybody goes " oh... that one". Not the kind that would generate response like "huh ?.. what company again" ...

I dont blame them for not understanding.... we live in different era, we have different values altogether. We see the world thru different glassess. Maybe thats why we dont see eye-to-eye on some matters.....

Stability is the word. My parents did not have to worry much about career prospect. They join the teaching profession, and they become teachers till they retire. In between, there would be worries about how much yearly increment they get - either "melintang" or "mendatar" thingy. My parents married in their twenties, and plan to honour the marriage by "till death do us part". They buy a house, and make it their home for the rest of lives. They spend every effort and every dime to make the house a better place to live.



I perceive life today has much more variable factors, and much more decisions to make. Constantly on crossroads. Ambiguity is the word. Most of us have to think about career prospects, plan our career movements. How do you know if you current job is what you want to do for the rest of your life ? I have to manage my marketability and ensure my skills will meet market needs. This time, i took a brave step to make myself available on the job market. Try something new, something different..... Maybe too many options is not a good thing.



For my personal life, I dont have unshakeable faith that my marriage will last forever. My policy would be hope for the best, try my best to make the relationship work, but always be prepare for the worst. After all, marriage is another gamble right. Who knows when either of us can have a change of heart .....

Our current house, I call it my first house. Meaning, we plan to have second house and so on ... Having this in mind, sometimes we dont spend so much on current home. My mom keep nagging me to do this, do that house improvement ideas... while i would like to remain status quo for anything that will cost $$.

I guess all this sums up to generation gap. Something that i need to learn to deal with better.

Braces... Her Story ....

I met up with a friend YY on last Thursday night. We havent met for quite a while, so i was busy drilling her about her boyfriend. We were chatting all the way while headed towards Juru AutoCity - the latest favorite eating places.

After we seated ourselves down, only i notice she had braces on. It seems that her boyfriend persuaded her to go for the treatment. No wonder la... :) Such is the power of LOVE ! To me, her teeth looks pretty okay.... doesnt look like the type who really, really need dental braces. I had dental braces too -- but back then i didnt know what i was signing up for. The pain and hassle that I had to go thru was unforgettable. I had porridge as my diet for a whole month, and even drinking water causes much pain. Shudder ....


Pic taken from http://www.studiolo.org/Mona/images/BracesHallmarkA.jpg



I consider myself a slow-eater. But this time, I had to wait for YY who had to chew slowly. She used to gobble-up everything on the plate with an amazing speed. This role reversal is pretty amusing, given that she used to tease me about having to wait for me to finish the meal.

I gotta admire her courage, it will be another three years before she can say bye bye to those braces and flash a perfect smile with perfect row of teeth.

Retreat...

I have made a retreat from the corporate world. It may be a temporary retreat, but i dunno for sure. So, now is celebration time ! No more waking up early mornings. No more dragging my tired feet after work. Yeah !!

For now, I have plenty of time on my hands and I have promised myself that I wanna do things that i hadnt been able to do. One thing for sure, i'll blog more often :)

I am almost excited now that I have a new life to look forward to.

Missing le tour de langkawi

Yesterday afternoon, as I was turning into the main road, I spotted a two policeman at the petrol station - with the area cordon off with yellow tapes. Hmm... could be accident scene, I thought.

I was off to run some errands in town. As I was driving towards town, hmm.. i spotted another policeman... and then another, and then another.... there was practically one policeman every 500 meters. This is creepy. This is very not normal. Is there a riot or something - but not yet election time mah ? Or some big shot coming to town ? What has happened ? I quickly turned on the radio to see if there were any BIG news that i was not aware of. Nothing in the radio.

Finally as I was nearing Kulim town, I saw this big poster - le tour de Langkawi - 500meter to end point !! Haha... no wonder policeman everywhere. I really have too much imagination. I dont read newspaper much, especially the sports section i practically skip thru all the time. Cant blame me for not knowing that it was coming to Kulim.




Suddenly I was all excited, and then i started to notice that there were people everywhere -- motorcyclist trying to get some shade under trees, school children waiting with umbrella beside the road, some guys hiding behind billboards ... all waiting anxiously for the event. I guess it is not everytime that Kulim folks get to see this kind of events. For the next half an hour, I was trying to find a nice spot to park my car so that i get to take some nice pics too. Guess what, in the end, I was caught in a one-hour jam under the hot hot sun as the police close off some roads. Too bad, i didnt even caught a glimpse of the event. What a disappointment !!

More info on le tour de Langkawi at http://www.tdl.com.my/route.htm

Its Thaipusam again...

I was watching news on TV. Tommorow is Thaipusam in a Visit Malaysia Year. Tourist interviewed were impressed with the colourful event and all. Hmmm.... shh... let me tell you something, i ... errr... as a malaysian... have never been to the Thaipusam event before. Nope.. i have never break coconuts before. Hehe.. this is a bit embarassing. ( Dont scold me for this ... )

Sadly, in my entire life, my exposure towards Thaipusam is only from text books and TV, Astro mostly. If I were asked to explain what this festival is all about, most likely the fellow will get a blank look from me. As far as I remembered, I have always been interested to witness this religious festival ... how they carry kavadi and march through the streets, and how folks piercing their skins with steel rods, needles and not feel a pinch. It certainly is very interesting...

When we were young, my mom forbids us to even get anywhere near the thaipusam celebrations places. DISCLAIMER : This is strictly my mom's version. Dont know how much truth in it, or where she got the idea from.

We were told, there are spirits around. We were told the spirits are invited into the body of the devotee and thus protecting them from feeling pain. For people with a weak minds and children especially, the spirits could decide to "take over" the child and thus making it a "not-safe-for-kids" event. So that explains why my siblings and I never got to go for this yearly event.Back then, parent's word are as good as the law. Any objection are overruled.

When I grew older, none of my friends seems to have to interest to accompany me to go watch the celebrations. Avoid the traffic jam, the weather is hot... and a whole long list of other excuses more. My husband is even worse, the adamantly refuse to go anywhere slightly crowded. Sigh.... I know I could have gone by myself if i were persistent enough. But its no fun, right ...

I guess this year, another year passes - this item will still remains as one of my To Do List.


Some readings on Thaipusam
http://allmalaysia.info/msiaknow/festivals/thaipusam/
http://www.tvsmith.net.my/picturestory/thaipusam.html

Gems from toes

These kind of news i would expect from gossips magazine, dont expect to see this on a mainstream newspaper - must have some level of truths from it then. Many unexplainable things in this world. I wonder how the girl feels about this sudden attention.

In the 4400, those ppl freaked out when they got to know they have special powers. All they want is to be a normal person. They wish it to go away. When they lost their powers, they felt the loss.

Of Restaurants and croaches

Over the weekend, I had been able to find time to enjoy restaurant food. One was the Chef & Brew at Crystal Point. After we stepped in, I notice a change. We no longer had to guess if the person serving us is a waiter or waitress. They seem to be replaced by students now.

I order one of the sizzling dish, and it actually taste good. Too bad i forgot to take a pic. Well it is not the food that I am complaining about. Halfway thru eating, a big cockcroach quietly crawled up my friend's shirt. He instinctly reacted by sweeping that "Siu Keong" (a nickname for cockcroach) away.

Among my other phobias, cockcrach-phobia is one of them. I stood immediately stood up and step back a few steps. Our commotion attracted the attention of the waiters there. They quickly came by, and stared at the litte creature who was still on the floor unmoving. It is defintely not dead, dazed maybe. Well, none of them did anything until the supervisor came by. He proceed to crush the Siu Keong with his shoe and then clean away the mess.

However, despite their quick termination of the little creature, none of them offered an apology to us. Not even the supervisor. Rude bunch of ppl. Dawns to me whether this is a customer should expect from them. There are many flies, rats and croaches in the roadside stall of Penang. Can't they keep the restaurant pest-free ?

Something brewing...

A quiet Friday ... and here is the big news - Jeff Ooi & Rocky Bru being sued by NSTP. Looks like there is real little room for dissent or disagreement here in Msia. Thinking about speaking your mind ? Think twice, and think over and over again. Sad, isnt it ? I have been a follower of Jeff Ooi's blog, and really appreciate the way he opens our minds and our eyes.

Too bad Jeff and Rocky are here in Malaysia, and when they step on someone's toe, they are into trouble. So what if one day Jeff & Rocky migrates to Europe and keeps writing whatever they are writing now, can our government still take action against them ? What I am trying to say is... some arrogant folks in Msia thinks they can shut Malaysians up whenever they feel like it. But with the internet, they can't shut out the entire voice of the world.

I smell something brewing, and I hope bloggers will win against Juggernaut.



Read here for more
http://www.jeffooi.com/2007/01/bloggers_sued_in_malaysia_2.php#comments

Orange Alert ...

yeeekkss... Orange ALERT ! Frog in the house !!



How in the world did this orange little frog get into my bathroom ? No No, I am no friends with wet creatures. Or rather, i am terrified of toads and frogs and whatever other slimy creatures.

I quickly grab my camera and zoom in on the frog. Hehe... i was very careful to stand far away from it.

National Geography : Rule of the jungle - The more colourful, the deadlier it is ...

Errr.. this frog has a nice orange streak... does it mean it is poisonous ? I am not planning to find out. I lock myself in the room for the rest of the night, and hope Mr Frog will leave my house by morning. What a relieve next morning to find that he is no longer there.

Good guys around...

The world is not lack of guys who are jerks, and I think many can agree to this statement. Having said that, I met two guys who are anything but what i call as nice guys.

I am usually quite an independent person, but i was feeling quite lazy to drive, and decided to get the guys to give me a lift back after annual dinner.

My friend who was the one driving, didn't even blink his eyes when I ask him if he can give me a lift on such a short notice. He didn't ask any questions at all, just a chirpy "Ok, sure". He didnt even ask where i stayed -- ( haha, who knows maybe i stay at the other end of the world). This is such a refreshing for the soul.

Nowadays, some of the normal response would be
- Where do you stay ?
- I dunno that place
- Your place is too out of the way, sorry, find someone else.

A "no questions ask" response is such a relieve.

After the function, both guys send me back to my apartment. As like many of Msia's apartment, when night falls - the two way road would become a single way road when those who don't own a carpark lot begin to park at both side of the road. Practically make it impassable to two cars, when the two cars meet from different direction, one would have to do the reversing. So .. you get how bad is the traffic condition outside my apartment.

I suggest him to drop me by the roadside, coz it is really a short walk from the road to the guard-house. They wouldn't even hear of it and insist on sending me to the doorstep. Dropping off at the guardhouse is the normal way, but the other guy colleague insist on accompany me to walk into the building, accompany me to into the lift, and see me safely go into my apartment. Wow, this is really something... and it is really touching to have someone take such effort to do that. It was not that late, not even midnight yet. See.... that are many good guys out there yet - guys who are truly gentlemen. I am not talking about guys who do it bcoz they have some sort of "personal interest" in you. These are guys who do it bcoz they feel it is the right thing to do.

In contrast, few years back I went clubbing one night with friends and drunk a little bit more than I should. The guy just drop me off at the guard-post without much thought. I struggled and stumbled towards the elevator, and finally managed to crawl back to my apartment. How I wish someone was there to hold me at that time... A simple act at times like this would have meant a lot.