escape again

ni hao...huan ying guang ling....hahahaha

i guess i will be hearing a lot of this for one week.
yup...china specifically beijing, tianjin and chengde.
departure: 26 june 2007, via SIA. will be back on 3 june 2007.
the flight to will be midnight flight as there is a transit. and coming back...will be on the plane during day time. so one day wasted in flying.
just checked weather. omg, it is hot!!! everyday more than 30'C!!! chance to experience the dreaded desert heat?? i will take everything in my stride and enjoy myself.
so i will update again when i get back. in the meantime, dun miss me ya ;)
dun call me, dun sms me...my phone bill will sky-rocket or rather...my credit will dwindle ;)
but if you really really do miss me, one or two sms(s) won't kill ...hahaha

p/s: see my luggage tag or not?? cute mou???

pp/s: first destination tomorrow: forbidden city. go buy coffee from the starbucks in the compound to wake me up...and before this starbucks is demolished. hahaha. the chinese government do not want one foreign outlet in the midst of their national heritage.

awwwww....

how can i resist from not posting this one. i wish i was there...i wish i was there...i wish i was there...

sammi was super high as it was the last night as can be seen in the youtube video. haha...the bliss or bane of modern technology. there is talk of her music company's lawyer to remove all the clips, but so far there is no further progress. you can catch both of them in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJLLL8MLHEo

so enjoy it while you still can...presenting: sammi cheng and andy lau on the same stage, singing the same song ;)

i want to watch this!

now this is the one i want to attend!!!

pete sampras vs roger federer exhibition match in malawati stadium, shah alam in november.

woohoo!!! was so excited when i read this in the star. i am a pete sampras fan. the last time i watched him play was his last wimbledon match with pat rafter in 2000. was in england at that time but did not go to wimbledon on that final day. i went on the first day instead. however, i was kept glued on tv for the duration of that long marathon accompanied by a bucket of ben and jerry's phish food (yummy but fattening chocolate ice-cream with marsmallow!). it was a very emotional match indeed and pete really endured and bore with the pain to finish it. and finally, he won. gosh, the experience of watching him play that match is still etched in my mind. how can anyone forget.

is anyone interested to join me?? anyone knows the promoter? hahaha... can help get good ticket??

afc VS mu

who will win this one??

bro asked me if i wanna go and watch if mu is here. still considering but i doubt there is much to watch with them playing against the national team. plus...are they really coming?

went to one when arsenal was here years ago. it was more to do with really die hard fans. i dun think i am one. i will only go person watching if i go. hahaha... u know who. might as well go to the airport and catch them...provided they are not whisked off through some super VIP gates and bypass all the fans. it will depend on the price of the tickets as well. better to catch them if they have practice session. when arsenal was here, they cancelled it and left fans disappointed.

p/s: the ball is jet's.

of pirates and halo

went to watch pirates of the caribbean: at world's end on thursday. first day of general screening in malaysia. there were not as many people as i expected. maybe because it was a working day and still early.

anyway, i din enjoy it as much as i have hoped to. a bit of a disappointment after all the hype. i still love the first one best. even the second was not bad. but the third...hmm... i couldn't believe that i myself yawned a few times. the movie was about 2 1/2 hours or longer. it was a flat start and things only got more interesting when johnny depp (oh johnny, what are we to do without you?) entered the screen. his jack sparrow is really one of a kind! but the twisting and intertwining plot was a headache. maybe i was too dumb to understand all those utterances and muttering. i was in a daze...totally blank. mr chow yun fat's performance is nothing out of the world. to think that his photo is there on the main poster makes one expect him to have longer screen time. alas, no. but a friend remarked that at least he gets to kiss the girl (yucks! who wants to kiss kiera?).

i am not going to continue by writing the ending. the fighting and swords buckling skills are well-choreographed. the jokes...not as plenty. all in all, a so-so for me.

well, the night then continues at halo cafe, ipoh. the first time i go to this one. the quality of singers are not as good as the ones in kl i think. all the songs are melancholy ones only, even those a bit upbeat ones, have been tuned down. come on...rock lah sikit! a lullaby to end the dull day which was totally unprecedented.

new additions

new members of the house courtesy of brother who left for china on wednesday.

he is safe and sound in shanghai now stationed in the factory. haha...his lodging is the 3rd storey of the factory. first and second storeys are the production floors i think. even the manager stays there. weather according go him is cool...in the midst of transition into summer. lucky him. there will be many lakes and gardens to visit. it will surely be beautiful with the flowers in full bloom. can't wait to get his photos.

ok..back to the new members. the youngest brother at home is wondering who is going to do the cleaning! hahaha!! definitely not me. i think the task will fall on mom again. they have even bought new additions. i heard there was only 1 fish left when bro brought it home. jet (the youngest) bought 2, and then mom also bought 4! there are 2 snails and a few prawns! the prawns are so cute and transparent. difficult to capture on screen so gave it a miss. the fish will breed fast i heard...so you guys wait for my updates ya!

fridge yeah :~

oh shoot!

most of those answers come from the people who have been to my house.

the first reaction from ppl who saw the little antique fridge was "is it a washing machine or wat?" hehehe...imagine washing machine in the middle of the kitchen.

this fridge has been with the family for donkey years. i think it is more than 30 years old now. dear uncle bought it for grandma when he started working. the blue paint was sprayed on when i moved it to this rented house. the pic above is the icebox...literally because ice will gather and the process of cleaning it is just switching off and wait for the ice to thaw. you will need to check it often and get rid of the dripping water in case it overspill. not an interesting thing to do and the ice needs to be thawed fortnightly.

i have received offers for the fridge in case i decide to get rid of it. we will wait and see if the fridge decides to give up on me first of the other way round.

what is this??

everyone takes a guess at what this cute box is whenever they come to my house.

what do you think??

show mi

my idol is having her concerts at the moment in hk!!! all those photos and reports are really tantalising. i can't wait for her to come to genting highlands. it won't be as explosive, impressive and high as the one in hk i am sure. concerts in hk are totally different from the ones staged in the mini stage in hk. sigh. and we are paying more!! the most expensive concert ticket at the coliseum hk is only hk$480. VIP seat in gh is RM390! cut throat!! somemore no band!!

what to do...

wonder if all those costumes and dance moves will be brought here.

just for laugh

the ugly malaysian

is this what u want to see once u land in a new country??

urgghh....what an ugly photo. what will the tourists think?

we have a big and spacious airport...but it is so quiet and deserted.

we have staff standing everywhere in their uniforms...but they do not bother to make any eye contact nor greet you nor welcome you.

we have toilets and attending staff inside... but the cubicles are all wet and paper is strewn on the floor.

we have shop assistants standing at every corner of the shop...but none bother to shout out a welcome or thank you for browsing in the store.

when will we reach a clean state status and can walk around feeling clean and tidy? the thought of this being far away is giving me a feeling of nausea.

malaysian students too passive, incurious

in today's star: malaysian students too passive and incurious.

so are we going to start the blame game now? who are we to blame if we want to point fingers?
the education system again??
are we thought to think and to voice opinions in school??
imagine the time when u were in school...were you penalised for voicing out? did teachers hold discussion sessions where you argue and and support with facts?
notice that the minister in the article did not give any opinion on that issue except repeating the result of the survey.
i personally think that the classroom is the place where students can be encouraged and nurtured to form the thinking and questioning culture. what is wrong with asking questions when one is curious? teachers should not be too defensive when students ask questions or query the information given because it is part and parcel of learning. it is not a shameful thing to be corrected or to admit one's mistakes. be open to suggestions and grow together with the students. the society will miss out a lot if the future generation is made to shut up and only accept things spoon-fed to them. where is development if there is no inquisitiveness and curiousity?
maybe the syllabus needs another revamp. hahah...make it more project based where students have to write papers discussing subjects or carry out surveys or make it more communicative like what we had in the 60s.
the language factor might be one which hampers students from voicing out. so yeah, improve their language grasp first.

back from a seedy place

i am back!!!

feel so refreshed. i guess some time away from work is ok. and plus the coming holidays are something to look forward to.

let me show u some of the photos i got when i stayed in klang. the area is nothing to shout about lah. the first word that came to my mind when i reached was 'seedy'. yeah, how could they put us up in such an area?? it was quite old and rundown and did not look safe. i was so worried when i drove up to the parking bay, all the while looking at the peeling paint and dark driveway.

i was quite lucky though, the room i got was quite new. i think they were in the renovation process and one of the newly renovated rooms was mine. phew. so i had new carpet in my room with river view (sludgy one) and a lot of space. that was a relief.

food was so so...edible only.

meeting..sucked...listened to stuff that could be done in one day, and came back with plenty of work to carry out.

apparently shopping for baju kurung is really cheap here. groups of ladies made their way to bukit raja shopping centre and came back with bags of cheap bajus. some just got theirs for 11.90. dirt cheap or what? these are ready sewn bajus mind you. yeah, i also got one pair...just could not resist since it is so cheap. you can't even buy a piece of cloth for that amount of money.

so all in all it was an eye-opening trip. never been there and now i can say i have been there ;)

dazed and spinning

woke up today in a daze. the head was spinning and i could not even figure what i had to do next.
i am really getting old, the lack of sleep can just throw me off balance. just because i dun sleep at my usual time the night before, i am off course. slept a bit late last night because i had packing to do. yeah, i wish i was going off for some vacation. but reality was much cruel. i had to attend a meeting for 3 days which i think could be conducted in just one short session in one day. waste of money...they really have a lot to waste.
is it good to get some time off work? not really....there will be piles waiting for you when u get back as usual and at this time of the year, the work is really quite a lot. i won't be able to take the annual staff photo too...and this is the first year i am the head of dept where i have the opportunity to sit on the front row!!! someone suggested putting another person in my place and later we can do a cut and paste. muahahaha.
well, will leave you here now for a few days or if another letter come for another meeting which was originally scheduled for next week, i will be off for a week!!!
have a good week ahead!

happy mother's day

the restaurants are full as usual but no, we do not go to one. i just happen to drive past one ;)
grandma made popiah today because bro came back..it is one of his fav food. he gets what he wants now as he will be leaving for china on 24th this month. dunno how long he will be there so i guess there will be that farewell dinner as well. he is in kl shopping for a bag now.
going to get mom a new handphone cause hers is nearing its time. luckily her request is just a simple and plain one. phew... less than 200. so those siblings i have out there, are you gonna chip in? ;P

the star, metro, saturday 12 may 2007

the star, metro, klang valley edition (last page)

the star, metro, perak edition (last page)

i want my money back!!! every weekend also cheated. one can do the maths by looking at the differences on the number of pages i get here. if the page increase does not apply to perak, why the hike in price?? do you guys find anything extra in the extra pages? i dun find there is any articles or anything interesting to shout about compared to what we get before the price hike.
mind you, the star paper has so many pages of full page advertisements as well. minus the advertisements, i get less articles to read!

drought

dang! it is so hot nowadays. not even a drop of moisture in the air. everything is sucked dry.
a few drops of rain dropped in, then that's it.
sleeping is baaaddd.....air-cond is kaput!! the fan is not turning at all. so now have to rely on the small stand fan only. gosh...when will this end?

freedom

i read someone wrote that freedom is a state of mind. indeed it is.

when the mind is free of worry, no matter where you are, you will feel as light as feather and be at ease with yourself.

as your mind is burdened with problems and worries, your physical surrounding will not help make you any freer. a large piece of space in front of you, but everything is cluttered in your head. how free is that?

how do i feel now? i feel light headed ;) only the body is aching [due to age catching up ;(] and am looking at a pile of books in front of me. but i feel free. free like a bird flying in the big blue sky.

escaped.

carjack 2

the feature today in the star about kereta potong and people who had experienced carjack struck a chord in me. my aunt is not alone in her experience. there are many out there with similar experiences who had encountered worse and more traumatised.
why is this problem so rampant nowadays?? what is happening to the society? is this shortcut to fast money? where is the virtue and moral? life is no longer that simple and plain i guess. people have more wishes, ambitions, etc to fulfil. and they have become greedier. it is not as simple as the good old days where having 3 meals on the table and a roof over the head are enough. the desire for material wealth is far greater now no doubt. everywhere you look, posters, advertisements, etc tantalise the human desires to obtain more!
it is not wrong to have ambitions, (yeah, one can dream of owning that scarlett ferrari) but do not stir the evil side in you to harm and hurt others. it is your personal agenda and it should remain so.
having material wealth feels great, i admit, but getting them through immoral ways is not.

the star, the moon, the sun??!!

i feel cheated! the price of the weekend issues of the star has increased from rm1.20 to rm1.50 but all i get is extra 6 pages of 'semetro'..their metro edition. some pages from the star mag/ variety are missing..what happen to the best dressed list?? how come i dun get it this sunday??? or they left mine out??
can those in kl tell me how thick your metro edition is? i know your usual metro edition is way thicker than what we get here.
when they first announced about the price increase, they were saying how ppl have more time during the weekend to read their papers thus the increase in pages. i was in fact quite looking forward to it...if i have that much time in my hand lah. but this weekend, i had some things in my hand, and i only read yesterday's paper at 5p.m. and i was cursing away while trying to finish each page. i know some busy folks only read their papers during the weekend (mon to sun papers!), so is this a good thing?
i have no problem with the previous issues of the weekenders. for me they are enuf for weekend read already.

;(

heard shocking news before i even managed to step into the house today.
an aunt was brought for a terror ride by three youths who tried to rob her car. it was in damansara and the time was around 8pm.
it the nightmare started when her car was banged from behind. she saw a youth and so went down to check. she forgot to pull her car key out from the ignition and when the door closed, it locked automatically.
then she was dragged into their car (she din see the 2 others earlier) and brought her for a ride. luckily they dumped her at a housing area and only snatched her necklace. i think she was unharmed. then she tried to knock on the doors of the houses there to get help, but as you know, city dwellers do not open their doors easily to strangers. luckily one of the doors knocked was her student (she was a teacher) and she managed to lodge a report.
by the time she got back to the scene, police were already there and some passersby as well. passersby saw the incident and they reported it.
man, what is happening to the society of today? i am so glad that she was unharmed. things could be worse. thank god.
what would you do if your car was knocked? sit in the car? drive to the nearest police station?
i am scared....

sweat it beijing

omg, beijing experienced one of the hottest days of the year this week....
31.9 C was recorded. still not as high as in malaysia but it is totally different with the heat in malaysia i heard.
keep my fingers crossed...beijing in 3 weeks!!!
aaarggghh......global warming!!!!

something that put a smile on my face when i looked at the paper at 7 this morning. ;)

1. footballer of the year
2. player of the year
3. young player of the year
4. portugal's sportsman of the year
   

;(

i am sick...booo hoooo hoooo...
i think the super hot and dry weather has taken its toll on me and i am finally withering under the heat.
the nose is running non-stop, the throat is damn dry and the fever is kicking in. even the tip of the tongue wants to participate and swell with glee. how cruel.
and it all started with the throat inflammation. i guess i am just not made for shouting. been raising my voice on the field for one week. although the few days of public holidays rested my voice till thursday, it was full blast on thursday. i woke up in the middle of that night and knew i was in trouble with my throat when i could not even utter a sound. the throat felt as coarse as sandpaper. on friday it was only whispers and a trip to the pharmacy to get the anti-inflammatory lozenges (difflam). mind you, they are not your usual strepsils, they set me back rm9 for only 8 lozenges and i have already finished this 8. today got mom to buy me another 8.
i am taking in water like a fish now. a bottle of herbal tea has been downed (1.5l) and my lips still feel so dry and red.

Aah, the bliss of carbohydrates and fat. ;)

It is not easy being a woman when one has to take care of the appearance. Please, dun tell me you dun care. That will be a lie.
Sugar and carb are the things to watch out for or the things to cut off from the diet. Too much intake of sugar will accelerate the ageing process as it has been found to create wrinkles faster and make one look older. That includes the intake of carbohydrate too as one knows carb is converted into glucose when digested.
So where does that leave us? Can we just live by gazing at those heavenly desserts peering from behind glass displays? No way man!!! I am going to miss tasting all those heavenly cakes sis makes!

Here I am with my doughnut (…) on one hand and two scoops of delicious…… ice-cream on the other. This is liberation! And I am testing the wi-fi connection provided here at the Tapah rest area (heading south). This is just what one needs to relax…how long? Until the battery drops dead ;)

So will the glucose stay long in the body? Hope not. Been running and shooting hoops 2 mornings in a row. Tomorrow is another early day for running and then will follow with a round of basketball. The thighs and the ab are feeling taut. Yeah, that feels good. The new pair of running shoes has been put to good use. It looks rugged with blades of dried grass and soil on the sole. I love exercise! But please no injury or muscles strain…no, no, no. that is one thing that must be prevented.