wear white if you wanna be sexy

malaysia's school uniform sexy?
aiyoh...their imagination is really running wild.

so now, everyone is not supposed to wear white if you don't want to be labelled sexy? go to any boutique now and you will see whites on the racks...after all, it is summer now and white is one of the essential colours.

the white cloth for the uniform shirt is not thick enough? my goodness, do those people know how hot and humid and stuffy it is in the classroom? students have to wear that white shirt, and on top of that, their pinafore. our classrooms are overcrowded and the heat in the afternoon is really a killer. everyone just can't wait to go home and strip of their pinafore. you have seen school girls just wearing their white shirt and shorts once they reach home right? so they are now guilty of committing seduction in their white shirt?

another party suggesting camisole to be compulsory underneath the white shirt. aiyoh...not hot kah? i have seen many in baju kurung wearing camisole but it is not common for those in pinafore. only those pervert will go and peek from the side to see the bras.

i wonder what those ppl at the education department will do now? to respond or not to respond to this allegation?

some said sexy uniforms are those worn by japanese school girls. well, you have the sailor top and the short skirt. only the skirt is sexy because some make theirs short. the top is just a top (which is not transparent). i am sure the schools in japan also have their regulations stating the permitted length of the skirt. it is only those perverts' fantasies of school girls in their short and transparent uniforms. the idea of innocence i guess. so now the top uniform in the fantasy list is no longer the white nurse uniform but school uniform?

the sale is here

all senses in the body are tingling now.
i have heard unofficial confirmation from isetan staff that isetan pre-sale for members is going to start tomorrow. gosh...i am like mentally preparing for my shopping marathon. hahahaha....

it has been a while going for all these pre-sale stuff. the last time was with cousin en after her persuasion to go. that was last year right?

helping aunt and cousin to buy their facial stuff...then i get those cash vouchers. hahahah...my incentives for shopping. zooming straight to kl after work. it is going to be a tiring friday but i am sure full of shopping esctacies.

anyone has 100% confirmation about the sale? anyone else going??

ROAR!!!

ok, i have started reading my last lecture and i have finished chapter one (mr yee, happy?).

the title of the chapter is a wounded lion can still roar....if i remember correctly.
and it reminds me of the political situation we have here now.
a wounded or retired lion has indeed roared but is its roar still as loud as it was previously? how many would actually listen to an old lion who is now out of the community? would the roar end up a whimper in the end? the lion's community now is really pathetic and sooner or later they will not travelling in a group anymore. extinction? i don't think so, they are strong beasts but how many will still be left at the end of the year? i am waiting to see the show.

p/s: not all lions are aslan (narnia). aslan's roar can wake all the sleeping creatures who have slept for more than hundreds of years in the forests. unless you are placed on the pedestal, i think sooner or later we will get that 'last lecture' from this lion.

summer blockbuster 2

summer blockbuster 2: narnia: prince caspian........watched.

verdict: not bad....eyes were glued on ben barnes aka prince caspian most of the time ;)

next movie? indiana jones.

ya tuan, no tuan

my first association with the word 'tuan' came from listening to servants at the estate calling my uncle that. as the estate manager, they had servants helping out at home and when we visited, or called, they would refer to their manager as tuan. it was a calling of privilege and of status. and to them and to us, it was just that.

where did all these calling of tuans start from? could it be during the colonisation period where we referred to the foreigners as tuans? then it brings the conotation of bowing to a superior race in the country, the controlling power.

the given names of my 2 brothers start with tuans, but do they ever get themselves to be called 'tuan'? i doubt they will ever refer to themselves as that. but of course there had been jokes about that word in their name during their school days.

and i remember we referring to the principal at school as 'tuan pengetua' when we were told to write speeches in bm. in english, there is no 'a very good morning to the sir principal'. but again, is sir equivalent to tuan or is it master?

so what is the big deal nowadays? you wanna be tuan for this and you wanna be tuan for that. why put such heavy emphasis on this word? we are taught that all humans are equal and we are all brothers and sisters in the same country. the chinese will call this comradeship. we talk about unity in a multi-racial society and integrity to strenghten the country. are these all empty vessels?

it is getting sickening reading the news reports on the dailies nowadays. the more you read, the shakier you feel the ground you are standing on is. how do you tell people to work with you and to stand strong? the future does not look bright.

the four heavenly kings

dubbed the four heavenly kings at the workplace. these four are known for their fearsome reputation.

here they are seen putting up their best shot to look fierce...but are they really fierce and ferocious?

the first from the left: a petite lady and is very serious in her job.

second from left: athletic and has quick movements. so no point dodging.

third: has the loudest voice and easily turns red. so all emotions are out for you to judge.

fourth: has a stiff pose and a stiffer hand. die, must die...most common remark from his mouth.

they of course have to live up to their name. the name now preceeds their personality and of course sometimes they are misjudged and misunderstood. but it is a name that will strike fear in those they wanna scare. hence, the awesome four always win the day. ;P

i only want affection

the gate is open
feet scurrying and bell jingling
oh here comes beanie!

left right left right
wags the active tail
getting ready to jump

jump he may
with barrels of enthusiasm
watch out for his sharp nails

quickly! reach out your hand
caress him on the head
or the body will do too

how comfortable
aahh...the body turns into jelly
and he leans against your leg

scratch scratch
rub rub
pat pat

slowly the body reclines
almost down to the floor now
finally fully stretched on the ground

time to take the hand away
one step two step
time to walk away

the ritual is over
he got his love and affection
our beanie

no longer fei po

i have lost weight! i have lost weight!

big deal?? big deal for me!!! i am now at 55kg. not actually stick thin, but i am slim. the previous weight was 57/58kg and it has been that for a few years.

until recently, a few female colleagues kept remarking how i am thinner and i kept denying it...because i knew i would be disappointed when i stepped on the weighing scale.

but yesterday, another female colleague remarked again that i am thinner...so this morning, i took a deep breath and stepped on the weighing scale. i was expecting the needle to be between 55 and 60 but NO! it was slightly not touching 55 even! hahaha...i couldn't believe it really and i stepped off and stepped on again. i finally believe it.

i hope by announcing to the whole world i won't be jinxing myself. everyone at home used to call me 'fei po'. yeah...no sis name at all..just fei po do this and fei po do that.

well, just so you know, i do it the healthy way. eat in moderation (but not when it comes to desserts!) and exercise. i am not going to stop doing that...the legs still feel like elephant legs to me. well, one is never satisfied with oneself right. as long as i am healthy and can keep running those few kms lah.

i ain't gonna get on that weighing scale for a long long time again so as not to break this sweet 55 point. call it what you want but scales dun lie. ;P will make sure that i don't put on those i have lost. keep my fingers crossed.

event-filled saturday

what an early saturday night i had yesterday. i hit the sack at 10.30p.m. and slept like a log till 8 this morning. what could make me so tired and exhausted on a saturday?

firstly, i woke up before 6.30 a.m. to make that trip back from tm to bidor. we had a compulsory in-house training course where all staff had to attend. it started at 8 and ended at noon. a hearty breakfast was provided...only hearty if you take nasi lemak. so it was not filling for me lah. will never like nasi lemak because of the smell of the coconut milk rice. i just can't bear with the smell. i only had 2 pieces of papadom (love them...and i always wonder why can't they fry more? do they always allocate only 1 piece for everyone?) a hard-boiled egg and chicken rendang. the rendang was yummy. gosh, i sounded like such a big eater.

next, it was off to ipoh. we had a function for the retirement of our vice P. his retirement would not come until 19 may but we had this function earlier. it was just a makan thingy we had at hotel excelsior. no big budget so that was how we ended at this pathetic basement function room of the hotel. i heard the food only cost rm18 per head but we paid rm25 because they provided us with a 'room' instead of being put at the common coffee house at the lobby.

but before things started at the hotel, we couldn't help making a detour to kinta city for some shopping first. u know lah women. i was on a quest to fill my tummy with desserts after the breakfast. so my mind had already settled on mcdonald cornetto's dessert sundae (strawberry- rm3.70) and big apple donut. yes, you can satisfy your craving for big apple now in ipoh at the newly renovated jj food court. sales was brisk but the queue was moving too slow. i got a chocoring donut (yummy choc)...aaahh...bliss. see the lady in black behind the counter? i think she is most likely the owner...but i had the urge to tell her to plesae wear a cap for hygiene purposes while serving the customer. so what if you are the boss? please adhere to the hygiene rules.



makan was scheduled from 3 to 6. the function officially started at 3.30. i wasn't hungry anymore so the later it started, the better. food? well, it was ok lah for the price we paid. buffet spread. we had assam laksa, ice kacang, fried cuttle fish, fried chicken, fried chicken balls, mee goreng mamak, fried rice, fried cucur, fried popiah, sandwiches, cakes, kuih, fruit rojak and coffee. as usual, i started with dessert. filled my bowl with jelly, cincau, kidney bean, cendol fruit cocktail and then only pilled on the shaved ice and finally gula melaka. my colleagues said the bowl of ice kacang looked disgusting with its mixture of unsightly colours but what the heck, my favourite toppings for ice kacang.
din try the laksa, but i had the fried noodles with chicken balls, fried chicken and fried cuttle fish. yummy. these were all i had.
many colleagues and ex-colleagues turned up, some with their spouses too but unfortunately, they were also some who din. i know some had valid reasons but the others not sure. so sad to see this happening. but all in all, it was a good first outing for us in ipoh. yes, the first one outside bidor.


the man we were celebrating. i still remembered the first time i met him. he was the one who went to pick us up when we went to report ourselves at the workplace. that was 7 years ago. he had with him a stern and unsmilling face. so deep down inside then, i was worried...would everyone be so serious and dull at the workplace? my fears were unfounded luckily, he was a really nice man with a good sense of humour. he is the role model for me and i do look up to him at the workplace despite some complaints once in a while. a responsible, dedicated, caring, approachable and friendly man, he is one everyone will speak with compliments.

i am going to miss him. i hope we won't be running like headless chickens without him. he and his wife are very hospitable too. once during the durian season, i saw him carrying a few durians into his car and i asked him if those were for us. it was meant to be a joke. then he spontaneously extended an invitation to me and a few other gals...us being the single and kuat makan ones to go to his house the same night and he would prepare a durian feast for us. he was serious with his invitation. so that night we brought ourselves to his house expecting durians but nooo....he had more durians, mangosteens and his wife even prepared fried meehoon for us. how we managed to fill everything in our stomaches, i could not remember, but it just showed us how good he was to his staff. he would always buy us chocolates everytime he went for courses in langkawi. once he went to london for a course and he did not come back empty handed. you know how expensive the exchange rate was lah. he got everyone (and he made sure that everyone got it) a key-chain of famous london landmarks. he had to get about 90 for all...so that must have been quite a bomb he spent on those key-chains. till today, this good deed is still talked about among colleagues. being half as good as he is will be more than enough for me. and i sincerely hope he will enjoy his retirement years. too bad the PM's announcement on the extension of retirement age to 58 did not come few months earlier.


the function was filled with speeches and lucky draws. there were 46 prizes to be given away and there were only about 70 of us. almost everyone had a chance. my housemate got the last give to be given away. this clay pot. and while she was busy taking photos after that of the function, we at the table wanted to play a trick on her.


we put in the pieces of cakes and cucur no one touched on the table into her pot hoping that she would discover them only at home. but our excitement only lasted for 3o mins. she decided to throw in her lucky draw number '16' into the pot as well just before we went back. sigh. plan tak jadi. in the end her pot was filled too, but with fried cuttle fish and fried chicken.


and i being one of the lucky ones as well, got my number (7) called out ...and i went back with two gifts. the food container (zirafah brand :P) was what i got. a colleague who wanted so much to get this food carrier was shouting saying what use i have for the carrier since i do not bring food to school since they know i havve my bread at home before i come. haha.a...nasib lah. and gift number 7 was given by a male colleague who already had it at home. he was the one in charge of buying all the lucky draw gifts. it is a toothpaste squeezer.
my carrier was filled with many pieces of fried chicken too. wei and jet had them back home.

so that was my saturday. reached home at about 9. had my bath, finished reading that day's papers and off to bed.

now it is almost lunch...will be meeting friends. so see you all.

snip snip

do you like going for a haircut?? i do i do ;P

haircut session has always been nice. you are treated like the king and the hairstylist goes through every strand of your hair. then there is that hair wash too with head massage. aaahh....the gentle rhythmic pressing is so comfortable.

i always come back with a light head (still drowsy after the meticulous treatment) and a tingling sensation.

however, haircut is always kinder to the guys. no matter how ugly a guy is (hahahhaha!), he is sure to come out smarter and neater after a hair cut...regardless of whatever style they get. agree mou? that is what i notice lah. and please...dun try keeping your hair long unless you are rain.

the female species have it harder with haircut. a bad one will ruin your whole month of joy. there is no use darting from corner to corner to hide it. someone will eventually notice it and 'tell' you. you will then have to swallow whatever you get. then you will pray that your hair will grow after a night's sleep so you can have it trim to a better cut the next day. cruel huh?

i am glad i dun have this experience for a long long time already. been very satisfied with the hairstylist i go to because he just gets it right for me each time. and how much do i pay? rm15 with that hairwash. so affordable.

*escape has finallly gone to trim her already long short hair. no, it is not a full cut this time around...just trimming here and there for a mid length short look. hahaha...still short.

health food for beanie

the every greedy beanie is back. this time it is healthy food choice.
choice 1: pear.
he just wouldn't let mom get out of the gate without letting him have a piece of the pear first.



choice 2: papaya
in the afternoon everyday, dad will not fail to supplement his diet with this fruit. and beanie will wait patiently for dad to scoop the papaya into his bowl. not a sound until the fruit is in the bowl. it is such a funny scene to watch.

new book

bought another book that has to do with death again. i seem to like this morbid subject. but it is not really about death in this book.

this time it is the last lecture by randy pausch together with jeffrey zaslow, an alumnus of the professor.

prof randy is diagnosed with cancer and he is dying. in august 2007, doctor told him that he only had 3 months to live. hence, he decided to give a last lecture to his students at carnegie mellon university. the talk was recorded and put online. it inspired many and then they decided to put this lecture into a book form.

i first read a review of this book in the star. i am intrigued by what a dying professor has got to say to his students. you will definitely get wise words and advice from this book...and i am keeping my fingers crossed that it is not going to be patronising.

will start reading this book as soon as i finish his dark materials...not long now.

those who are interested to hear the lecture or see the slides, you can go randy's website to download it. ....i should have done that huh instead of paying more than 30 for it. but nothing beats holding a book in hand. and i dun think i will have the patience to listen to such a long lecture. those who have watched it can drop a comment and tell me about it.

*prof randy is still alive till this days.

a fluttering heart

egypt and turkey beckon...i wanna fly halfway across the globe to see the pyramids and the ancient histories. i wanna go there end of this year...oh, i yearn for it so much. there are just so much to see.
go to www.tourismturkey.org you will be blown away by all the snapshots they put there.

the problem now is looking for a suitable travel companion. sigh...
my housemate is going somewhere else end of this year. others colleagues i am not keen to partner with...who who who? sister? cousin? friends? where are you???
join travel group?? suggestions??

remember jason (the cute 11-year-old i met in beijing)? his family is going to hk, shenzhen and macau end of this year and they invited me along. but i have been to hk a few times...it is good to get reacquainted with jason...but i dun think i wanna go to hk again. keep my fingers crossed that either i will fly to kuching end of the year or he comes down to kl.

egypt....turkey..................

let's cry for the story

have you ever cried when you read a book? or have tears trickled down your face while having your face in the book? mind sharing here? what books have made you bawled your eyes out and why?


some books which have touched me are like:

1. the alchemist (paulo coelho)- the journey really touches me. his bravery to take the chance and start the journey and his experiences is something i wish to do. really struck a core in my heart and i wrote to the author as soon as i finished reading the book.
2. the road (cormac mccarthy)- again a tale on the road. the bond shared by the father and son was so strong. his love for his son and his willingness to sacrifice for him in the bleak background is unmatchable. had to put the book down and cried before i could continue.
3. the kite runner (khaled hosseini)- the part in front of the blue mosque nearing the end of the book made the dam burst. the child who is finally found and you know he will be loved. cried watching the movie too despite knowing the whole story already.
4. the green mile (stephen king)- watched the movie also cried, read the book also cried just as hard. the tale of an innocent man being put on the electric chair. who won't be touched.
5. tuesdays with morrie (mitch albom)- the wise words that transpired between two grown men. everyone knows morrie is going to die in the book from the beginning, but when you get to his death, you cannot help from crying your eyes out as well. i guess it is the special bond you see the ex-student and professor forms and how the student sees the him in another light now.
6. the chamber (john grisham)- again a tale of a man wrongly convicted for a crime he did not do. i gues innocence has a way of making people sympathise.

these are all i can remember and they are fairly recent ones ah. am i getting more emotional with age or is it just the books? ;P i think the books are arranged in the order of cry-meter. if there is such thing. from the highest to the lowest.

ok, i am waiting for more suggestions on books which can make me cry. good to cuci mata.

of losing and diminishing

i have become numb to losing. i am so used to losing that i think i am slowly succumbing to it. i don't have that winning spirit or the victorious feeling in me. come to think of it, what does it feel to be winning? i dunno and i can't feel it anymore.

what do i lose? not really me, but the things we do. there is no real sense of achievement in it when you don't get the medal or position, is there?

this state is totally unwelcomed. a person needs to have that motivation, to have that sense of achievement to look forward to the next day. when losing has become so common, it is already accepted as a part of life. slowly, you turn into a loser without realising it. how sad. it is a fact, isn't it? that is how a person slowly diminishes.

and i don't want to be that person. but i need to climb out from this rut. i guess no one can help me here except myself. shit, it is just so hard to get motivated when u are in this job.

join in the fun

how many does it take to perform the task of sawing a piece of plank? not any plank but this is a piece of hard wood plank. ;P

first you see 3. one holding the plank, one putting steadying the plank and of course the one with the saw doing the real labour task there.
next, we have to change position. he just couldn't get the angle and the force right, so it was left to the lady in yellow.
now, the dog has decided to join in as well. oh, he is of use here. we needed that extra weight to hold the piece of plank steady mind you.
and again, the lady had to finish the task. and the cane? well, the dog needed some discipline. and you wanna know how he got off? he stepped to the left, he sommersaulted (1 round) and plopped to the ground. and it gave him one of the biggest scares of his life. i guess the leash around the neck caused that sommersault. oppps....his heart was beating so loudly after than and he quickly retired to the corner. some soothing and calming and massage later, he was back on his feet. phew!

wet beanie

this is for those who have missed beanie. ain't he cute? he has grown...not so chubby anymore but still a puppy.

he has a special bath tub for his weekly bath and he is still bathed in warm water. this job of bathing him always falls to mom or jet. i dun have an inkling of an idea on how to do this.

we still dare not cut his toe nails. i heard it is not easy. so is there any volunteer who has experience there? and we need that special nail cutter as well right?

to watch speed racer or not?

question: shall i go to catch speed racer or not?

in the previous post, i said i was going to catch all the summer blockbusters. but when i saw the trailer for speed racer, i have more than second thoughts. soooooo ffaaakkkkeeee!!! how? this is one summer movie i will skip i think.

there will be others like narnia, indiana jones, batman, ????

i am not watching the hulk. not my fav super hero. watched him when it was shown as a series on tv long long time ago. i think the series was better than all the movies now. without all those cgi he looked more real.

the drive into sunset...

back from the supposed drive into the sunset....the three days meant for a course turned out to be more of a jalan-jalan makan angin trip. of course i paid my utmost attention while attending the course but the interesting stuff only happened outside the ballroom. not so interesting also actually... what can one do at lumut, sitiawan and seri manjung??? so it was more of a relaxation trip for me to get away from work...aaahh....so glad that the course came at these dates.

the landscape reminded me of the journey from phnom penh to siam reap. but this stretch was just a small one to lumut. i wished i got to see more of this serene greens all along the way. a sight for sore eyes. and i din expect to reach lumut so soon from bidor...only 90 mins. too bad the beach there is not attractive to lure me back.
and i drive into teluk batik resort. the pool is the nicest. the rooms are apartment style so it was quite barren and spacious. a very isolated place where mobile phone coverage is to the minimum, go there if you dun want to accept any calls or sms. food sucks at this place. i love the pool....had a dip on the first day. the only one in it...how lucky.
this is teluk batik beach. have to cross a road from the resort to get to this beach. you can't even hear the waves from the resort. not many ppl were there. it was a monday anyway. monkeys were abundant searching for food.
on the left was my dinner on the first night...call me choosy but they only had 4 lauks to choose from. and i got myself few helpings of fried chicken. lucky i had my mcdonalds earlier at seri manjung. that was tea time. had early lunch before i left to lumut, hence the growling stomach at four. lucky i had that fast food meal. i would be starving that night. the others course participants also complained about the food. so i was not the only one for the record.
aaahhh....and what is a trip to the beach without some nice poses. hahahhaha...me and my escapade. but it felt really good to be stretching there on the beach. my pink attire stood out huh???

day 2, got a local to bring us to makan at dinner time. first, it was to buying some local biscuit first. this is the famous one. very nice when eaten fresh. crispy and so fragrant. this one sells fillings of onions. there is another one that sells fillings with meat.
yummy seafood at kg cina (opp kg koh). there are many similar restaurants but we had ours at villa. my mouth is watery now looking at this pic. we had marmite crab, prawns, steamed fish, shell, and fish soup. add the coconut water...full.

the third day, the course ended...so early...before 12. so decided to make a detour...and what a long one it was...all the way to ipoh from lumut. again first time driving on this stretch of road. pass small towns like seri iskandar, ayer tawar, bota., menglembu,...cannot remember the rest. what did i do in ipoh? watch ironman! yeah one of the first to watch in malaysia...and in the world also. robert downey jr is da man! he fits the role to a t. brilliant. prefer the first half of the movie to the second half. plan to watch all the summer blockbusters now...here i go. first one done.

and then i did some shopping. haha...felt so light on the feet. lalalalalllaa....necklaces that i have been looking for a while. the styles i mean. yippeeeee..two somemore...a happy gal

ok...have to go now....chao

i have written once how i felt about writing and how words are one of the most important things in lives. without words, there will all be silence and everything in us will be supressed. this week, i got my monthly newsletter from paulo coelho's warrior of light and it strikes a cord with what i feel about writing. starting this blog was initially about doing something that everyone is doing...but soon i get the hang of it and am enjoying the process of writing whatever i think of (of course not everything is shared here). it is a good outlet to just express ourselves. don't even bother if we are being read at all, the sounds of the keys on the keyboard as you let your feelings and opinions flow are soothing enough. this is my space to ESCAPE after all ;) sorry about the pun...just can't help it. ;P

and so i leave you with the words of paulo coelho........

As the pen traces out words on the paper, your anguish disappears and your happiness remains. For this to happen, it is necessary to have the courage to look deep inside yourself, disclose this to the outside world, and be even more courageous to know that one day whatever you write could (and should) be read by somebody.

And what if it’s something very intimate?

Don’t worry. Thousands of years ago, Solomon wrote the following words: "Whatever has been is that which will be; And whatsoever has been done is that which will be done; And there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

In other words: if thousands of years ago there was nothing new, just imagine now! Our feelings of happiness and anguish are still the same, and we should not hide them. And even though there is nothing new under the sun, there still remains the need to translate all this for ourselves and for our generation.

Jorge Luis Borges once said that there are only four stories to be told:

A] a love story involving two people

B] a love story involving three people

C] the struggle for power

D] a journey.

Even so, throughout the centuries men and women have continued to retell these stories, and it’s time you did the same. Through the art of writing you will come into contact with your unknown universe and eventually you will feel like a far more capable human being than you thought you were.

The same word can be read in different ways. For instance, write down the word “love” a thousand times and each time the sentiment will be different.

Since letters, words and sentences are traced out on paper, there is no reason to feel tense. The hand that writes eventually comes to rest, and the heart of the person who dared to share his or her feelings smiles.

If you pass by a writer who has just finished a text, you will feel that he has an empty expression on his face and that he seems distracted.

But he – only he – knows that he has risked a lot, managed to develop his instinct, maintained his elegance and concentration during the whole process, and can now afford to feel the presence of the universe and see that his action was just and deserved. His closest friends know that his thought has changed dimensions. Now it is in touch with the entire universe: he goes on working, learning all the positive things that his text has yielded, correcting any mistakes and acknowledging its qualities.

Writing is an act of courage. But it’s worth taking the risk.