Gentle Creation

EXUBERANT 2012

2012-01-13T22:31:00.001+08:00

Spread only love for 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!

Not too late I supposed. This is only the 13th day in January 2012. Already we can feel the exuberance of the year and what's in store for us all. Be it good or bad, apocalypse what not, we need to stay positive. We fake it till we make it, LOL!

I don't care about the Mayan Calendar. I don't care if it's the end of the world or Friday the 13th. If it happens, it happens and nobody can prevent the work of God. At the same time, we shouldn't be pessimistic, live in fear and forgetting to make the best of the present. Do not waste our time. JUST LIVE, PEEP!

There were instances that broke me into pieces in 2011. I had to deal with lots of pain and heartache. I lost my beloved Mom in May, just one day after Mother's Day celebration. It was the worst episode in my entire life. Thinking of it alone brought back the pain. Then my father got married again less than 6 months after her demised. I was heartbroken. It's the end of the world for me. But life is for the living. Everyone has to move on eventually, so does my father. I forgive him for doing it so fast and no choice but to love him :)

YOU CAN CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS BUT NOT YOUR PARENTS :)

My career was going downhill in 2011. But I never regretted it a single bit. I got the chance to really find myself, be with my Mom more and discover my hidden talents. The greatest blessing was that I got a new job. One of my dreams has come true. It was the closing of a chapter in my life and the opening of another.

SOMETHING ENDS, SOMETHING BEGINS.

I have people around me who still love me in regardless of my situation. 2011 was the test of friendship, love and perseverance. My sisters were always there to support my ups and downs. They were there to share my pain and my emotional turmoil. I was lucky to have my friends to patiently motivate me to stay strong and to move on. I thank God for the blessing of good friends and so much love in my life.

GOD IS GREAT.

End of 2011 was the première of more good things to come. I am so looking forward to a better tomorrow. But for now, I just want to live in the present.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, WORLD!

11.11.11 Friday

2011-11-11T00:00:00.000+08:00

Yup. Couldn't have enough of myself. These photos are the happy moments captured from 2006 till present in many phases of my life. All of these represent very important dates, important places I visited, important events I attended and finally, I cut my hair real short for the first time in 28 years. That's important too. My latest look was the one with black shirt, short hair. I hope I look cute. LOL!

They say, a picture worth a thousand words. Very true. I love taking photos of my self because in later years, I could look back and remember those important happenings. Time flies with every blink of an eye. It was 2006. Blink blink, 2008. Blink blink blink, now it's already 2011! Everything changed in 5 years. I am a changed person definitely. Getting wiser by the count of wrinkles. Nothing to be ashamed of. I planned to be like Oprah. Looking even better at the age of 57. Wow! She's an amazing soul. When you have a great heart, it shows in your face.

11.11.11 - important Friday. Beautiful number (:

11 x 11 = 121

111111 x 111111 = 12345654321

111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

See the numbers arrangement? Ascending and descending. Up and down. 11 is an amazing number.

Simply, this is a posting to mark the 111111. We'll see what will happen next.

Deepavali Nal Valthukal

2011-10-26T21:53:00.000+08:00

Siddharth Narayan in 180 movie (2011)

Priya Anand in 180 movie (2011)

Today is Deepavali Day for the Hindus all over the world celebrating the triumph of good over evil. There's a lot of symbolism in celebrating Deepavali Day but only the Hindus will be able to correctly share it with you all, not yours truly.

Lights brighten the darkness, bring up happiness and twinkle into children's eyes. Simple and it's a reason enough to call for a celebration. YEAY!

Every year I had the honour to share this joyous celebration with my Hindu Friends. They will invite me to their house for lunch. I love Indian food especially the Mutton Kurma/Curry with Tomato/Briyani Rice. I just love it! YUMMY!

Being Malaysian, we are proud with our Open House concept. Whenever there is a Deepavali, a Chinese New Year or a Hari Raya, we will share it with everyone in regardless. A supposedly a day celebration turns out to be a month long celebration for all. Everyone is literally invited. You just go to the houses and enjoy the meal and get to know new people. They say, be open a bit. Go to Open Houses. LET'S GO!

I love Tamil Movies nowadays more than I love Hindi Movies. Although both are from India, I prefer the Tamil stream. In the 90s, the Malays were crazy about Hindi Movies and myself included. I reached the peak of my craziness over Hindi Movies during Shah Rukh Khan's era. It started with 'Dil To Pagal He' then 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hei'. Then I followed every single movie acted by Shah Rukh Khan until the early years of 2000. After sometime, it became very boring to me, so I hardly follow the industry.

Vijay and Asin in Sivakasi (2005)

Most Malays love Hindi Movies because of the beautiful and handsome actors in it. They are like a perfection and the ultimate beauty a human being can be. Nevertheless in comparison, Tamil Movies, had a better plot, much to be appreciated for compared to the Hindi's. Unfortunately they were being pushed aside because they lacked the glamour and the good looks that people fantasised. These are the obvious reasons why Tamil movies were not watched as much as Hindi movies in the 90s. Films are our main detraction and escapism from the real life, plump looking actresses dancing with not so gorgeous looking heroes are definitely not a good idea to attract international audience. But still, one exception to the rules was Rajinikhan. I LOVE HIM THEN AND NOW!

The first Tamil Movie that really got me hooked was Padayappa (1999 movie). What a touching story and a great plot. I saluted Rajni Khan and he became my favourite new hero. I was blown away with his acting in Chandramurkhi (2005). Everyone should watch this superb movie. You will not get disappointed. I watched Jeans (1998) although a bit late to find it out but not disappointing. Surprisingly because Aishwarya Rai was in it. LOL!

Rajni Khan in Padayappa (1999)

Hindi Movies are becoming boring obviously with endless typical love stories. They ran out of ideas. However, Tamil Movies have becoming better each day with rare story line. The plot will have rich cultural learning and socio-political issues weaved so gently into the film. I just love it. It's like watching a documentary of Indian cultural and historical background. You could learn so much from just watching one movie. I LOIKE IT!

Tamil Movies have come to a new phase. Hindi Movie Industry (Bollywood) is now being replaced by Tamil Movie Industry (Kollywood). The once not so attractive actors/actresses have now been replaced by the hot looking, drop dead gorgeous heros/heroins. You can see it yourselves. Beginners with Tamil Movies might get a surprise that they will not be able to differentiate whether it's a Hindi or a Tamil movie. They even had great songs that the global audience can appreciate. And watch closely, you might recognised places in the movies because Malaysia is their favourite shooting country too. KOLLYWOOD is GLOBAL!

I had great fun as always during Deepavali Holiday. Here, I would like to wish all of you Hindus out there who stumbled upon this posting; A very Happy Diwali, Deepavali Nal Valthukal. May the spirit of light illuminates our heart and life with happiness and love forever and ever. MWAH! MWAH!

When You're Gone

2011-10-09T22:21:00.000+08:00

Lotus in a lake of Paya Indah Wetland.

Today is the 5th month anniversary of my Mom's demised. The wound is pretty much still raw. I can still feel the pain. I miss my Mom so badly. Especially now when I have so much to tell her about my life. It feels so empty and so lonely not having her around. Five months ago, 2 weeks before her unexpected parting from us, I received an unexpected call from her. Instead of voicing her own pain, she was expressing her concern about the state of affair. She gave me her last advice. And all the words were implanted in my mind. She would have been really happy if she knew that I have been a better person because of her. She worried about me a lot. I had to assure her every time, that I am doing well staying away from home. So sad... I can only pray for her now. And still I felt that it's not enough.

How sad... it's been exactly five months now. If you really love a person, can you really forget her/him in an instant? I just wonder because I really don't know. One thing I really know is that when I love a person, my love is so unconditional. I love with my whole heart and soul. And if that person is gone, I will mourn that person as much as a loved one deserved to be mourned. I will treasure the memories of that loved one as much as good memories should be treasured. And most of all, I would pray for my loved one forever as long as I live.

How can you forget? No. I don't think I can forget.

How can you replace? No. I don't think anyone could replace my beloved Mom.

And yesterday, mark the day my father remarried. It was a mixed emotion. I just don't know what to call it. And I still cry for my Mom :(

I Feel Wonderful

2011-10-06T01:39:00.000+08:00

When writing this first sentence, I was thinking real hard what to write. Hahaha!

Grilled chicken burger, a treat.

Okay, I found out that blogger has given us more choices in showcasing our blogs. I am trying this new dynamic view with the new designer's template. I think it's awesome. It makes my blog look more organised and professional. Like flipping through an e-magazine. You can view it in any ways that pleases you. Check it out, folks.
Thank you, Blogger :)

Coming back from work today, I left my purse in the office. Realisation came too late because I already reached the clinic. Lucky me, it's a friend's clinic, so I wouldn't have to pay almost all the time. I got my MC so off I go home to take some rest. Not feeling well of course.
Thank you, doctor :)

Then I realised that I was hungry too. How was I suppose to buy food with no money? My mind started to think ways to get food without paying. I can simply call any of my friends but I dismissed the idea. How? How? Finally, I figured, not that I will die of hunger. I still have some rations at home. I cooked myself an instant noodle. That's my lunch. I fell asleep immediately afterwards on the sofa while watching Astro TV on 'Keeping up with the Kardashian'. Then the love song of a 'tekukur tanah' woke me up. The bird is back singing at my hanging garden, courting on females. I smiled happily.
Thank you, birdy :)

Borrowed someone's car.

Then, I went online checking my facebook. Good news pouring in. I met many of my old campus mates adding each other up via our own facebook group. It makes me happy finding them and getting their updates on life and whereabouts. We promised to organise a reunion soon. It's nice.
Thank you Facebook :)

I just got a new job. Something that I always wanted to do. This time, it's education. Yeah, I know. I did it again! Changing jobs like changing my party dress. Hehehe... I needed a change of cloth and I got it from a different shop. Not the usual one. You got what I mean. And this time....
Thank you, Jobstreet :)

While writing this, I was feeling full after eating a delicious grilled chicken burger by a friend's treat. I was saved from hunger and craving of real food. Here I am typing away my happiness using my favourite laptop on my comfy bed. I was feeling blessed and happy over the turn out of events. God sure has mercy on me. It couldn't be more beautiful than now. I owe it to many people who were always by my side in all my ups and downs. Most of all, one stood out from the rest, and that's, my best buddy.
Thank you, partner :)

And last but not least, thank you, God. Alhamdullillah for a wonderful life.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA & HAPPY 54th MERDEKA FOR MALAYSIA

2011-09-07T01:24:00.000+08:00

Loving my country, Malaysia. Picture taken during
my friend's Register of Marriage in Putrajaya.

This posting is in due respect of our 54th MERDEKA DAY celebrated on 31st August previously. I posted it a bit too late, I know but better late than never (:

I still wanted to say something about it. I am very patriotic, you know (:

This year it was a double joy because it coincided with Eid for the Muslims in Malaysia. My posting here is what little contribution from me towards unity and solidarity of our nation. I wanted all to know that no matter which class of society you belong to, in the end, we all must love the land that has given us what we call life. A place you can call home.

Who am I?
I am many pots of flavour, combined (:

Love being an Indian once in awhile!

Celebrates CNY every year and
my looks can be deceiving. Hahaha!

Loves fashion and loves Baju Kurung
I remember my roots

WHO AM I?
I am proud to call myself simply, a MALAYSIAN (:

Wishing everyone EID MUBARAK, i.e. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri & Maaf Zahir dan Batin kepada semua.

Mwah! Mwah!

Dracaena cinnabari

2011-08-14T16:33:00.003+08:00

dracaena cinnabari, originally uploaded by jan_vandorpe.

Just a quick one to share with all of you in my blog. I have stumbled into this magnificent photo of nature I've ever seen in my life. This tree is in the family of dracaena. However, I've never seen any dracaena that is as big and as old as this one!

Truly amazing! Again, the wonder of God's creation can be seen here. Because of this picture I found via googling the dracaena for my landscaping project, I inquired more about its native. It's from a place I never knew existed called Socotra. Read it for yourself. This place will be in my list of places to be visited before I die (:

Note: Photo by Jan Vandorpe. From his flickr page.

The Bird Connection

2011-07-03T15:12:00.003+08:00

Nicely snuggled within my plants

Tekukur Tanah nesting on my hanging pot

I have been noticing a trend in my life that birds love me (the real bird, mind me). Any where I go, I will have a story to tell about bird. Now like a psycho, I am but not really. It's an observation of our surroundings that made me more aware of other living things around us. When I was in Botanical Garden in Putrajaya working for about a year. I have this habit of greeting birds every morning. I love them because bird tells you time. When a person should be going out working and when a person should be going back home. Just be still and hear the sounds of bird chirping. For this, I am grateful of their existence. My morning wouldn't be cheerful without greeting them a good morning. The cheerful sound of birds chirping signifying the starting of a day.

In the botanical garden of Putrajaya, where I used to work, I had a pet bird (in the dove family) which I called Lucky Dog (because I found it during Dog Year of CNY 2006). It was still very small and bald. We found it under a tree but can't locate its nest. So I took it back to the office. Without intending to, I and nurse it till it grew all its feathers and becoming tamed. I could play with it, walking down the garden while my Lucky Dog quietly sat on my shoulder. I feel like having a hawk instead of a pigeon. It just sat there following me around with no objection. May be it thought me as its mother. Me and my Lucky Dog, the world seemed so beautiful until the tragedy. My friend took it home and it died in the hands of a naughty cat of his. I cried. THE END.

Not long after the demised of my Lucky Dog, I found another weird bird. It's very small, very black and has a tiny very red eyes. I can't figure out what type it was. Not a familiar bird to me. It was found hopping the pavement nearby my office and when I went near, it didn't go away. I touched it. It just let me. I put it on my shoulder in remembrance of my Lucky Dog and it sat on my shoulder with no effort. A bit naughty this one though, sometimes it climbed up to the top of my head and back to the shoulder again. I played with it for awhile, then I thought, what a weird little bird. I got a bit scared. How come this little bird could be this tame when I just found it not an hour ago. So I pushed it away, shooing it to fly but it didn't want to go away. It just stared at me. Determinedly I put it on my arm, like a hawk sitting on the arm. I took it far within the garden, near a bridge, I put it down and again shooed it away. It didn't move. Just stood there looking at me with its head a bit tilted like he recognised me or something. At that time, I got frightened. I ran off to my office and never look back. Superstitious belief. THE END

In Mulu, less than a week residing there, as I was working at the jungle resort, sparrow made its nest on floor mop which I leaned on a wall at the balcony. Of all the balconies near that area, it chooses mine and on top of my mop some more. However, I can not allow it to reside there, I need to use the mop very often. It just started the nest so I figured, the bird will have to relocate :) Sorry. THE END.

Now I have moved to a new place. A five-storey apartment. My unit is at the highest with one small balcony in front the living hall. I had many pots of roses and hanging pots of orchids and other plants filling up the whole space. I just moved less than 3 months ago but every single morning, my balcony already attracting birds. One particular type, a 'tekukur tanah' loves to hang out at my hanging pots. At first, only one tekukur, then came another. It seemed that my balcony has become a courting place for them. One night, I watered the pots and to my disbelieve, a bird flew out of one pot. I looked into the pot and saw two tiny eggs inside. I felt miserable about pouring water onto it. The eggs might not hatched. However, the mother came back to sit on it and always there every single day. The male will come too at times. I hope all is okay. Still I think the eggs can not hatched. And I was right, after a week, the mother left the eggs abundant. Probably it knew the eggs have no more lives. I have killed it. Huwaaaa!!!! THE END.

The tekukur is my best friend in regardless, it came to the balcony every morning and rest on the pots in the afternoon. Usually I will know the time by listening to their sounds. They made beautiful sounds, these tekukur tanah. Almost like its family, the 'merbuk' (spotted dove). Every morning from 8-10am, it will come chirping or just sat there on my pots. When I came near, it just let me. I talked to them sometimes.

One of my proud roses at the balcony
which reminds me of my mom.
I called this soft pink coloured rose, Mom's Rose.

Birds are not like men, you can talk to them any time you like. They just listen and do not talk back. Hahaha! THE END.

DEAR LIARS and CHEATERS

2011-06-23T19:27:00.000+08:00

One is lonely. Not cool.

This world is full of lies. People lied almost every day of their lives. Lied to their spouse, lied to their children, lied to their friends and what more to say, so easy to lie to strangers.

Example; a husband lied to a wife; coming back late always because he said working overtime. The truth was he went out dating another woman. That's a lie that hurt when the truth revealed to the wife. It might break a marriage and cause harm to the children's quality of life.

Another example; a child lied to his/her parents about going to tuition classes. In fact he/she was at the cinema with friends while skipping tuition classes. This is the kind of lie that is only damaging to self progression. Because the child will not have a good result in his/her exam and causes a great loss to his/her parents financially for paying the tuition fees for nothing. In a long run, it's affecting the child's own future and the parents trust towards him/her.

One completes the other.

I hate liars most of all because lies hurt people more than a dagger hurt the flesh. The scar can not be seen of course, but it was there, always. Lying only show that you are a selfish person who does not think of others. So never ever lied to your loved ones. Telling the truth hurts but for only awhile. The longer it was kept, the deeper is the wound and the bigger is the scar. Better tell your story now than leave it until it got infested with pus. Get what I mean.

Some people tried to justify their lie as a white lie. They say, we lied for the betterment of all parties concern. What so white about lying? Nothing good came out from lying as far as I live this life. I have encountered many. For example, in a relationship, not telling facts are considered not lying. Would you agree with that? People say, I did not lie, I just keep mum, did not tell anything or only telling part of the story. That's all. Well... in my dictionary, not telling in order to make people think otherwise is as good as lying. As simple as that. Liars like to twist the facts to make it look okay and to justify the negative doings of their selfish acts.

With the other half, one moves better.

The easiest example in this scenario is a Muslim husband that has another family with another woman. Simply said, he got married to another woman without telling the first wife about it. Finally the wife got to know and it hurts the marriage. So tell me, was this considered a lie or not? To the first wife, it was a lie every single day of her husband's marriage to the other woman. The truth that came out later hurt deeper than any wounds to the first wife and may be has effect to the children (if any) as well. Would you agree with me?

Well... I leave it to you all to think wisely. I will not give any more examples because it's unnecessary. Everyone should be able to understand fully the consequences of their own action, in this case about lying. Let's move on, shall we.

In my blog, my intention is always to share good stuff that is beneficial to all human kind that has the literacy of reading a blog posting. I only want to spread love and good sharing of information to all. Hope I still have followers out there. It's been such a long time that I had written any good posting. Always so self-engrossed with my own life's miseries. And the climax was the demised of my beloved mother.

One half can lean on to the other half.

My favourite colour is sky blue and white. As the beautiful blue sky and the white clouds. It sooth my heart and soul looking up all the time. I just love it. I love my roses too. It's the greatest creation by God. So beautiful and serene. The best flowers on earth.

I feel deeply about everything in this world. About life, about other people's life, about my life definitely. May be I could be a good writer one day. Great feelings should be shared and lessons learned should be taught. I believe that everyone has different life's lessons and each one is incomparable with the other. So sharing it would be the best so that others will learn something from it. I want to write a book someday. With a pseudo name, so nobody will ever know. That will be my retirement plan :)

I was never lucky in relationship so far, but from it, I learned a lot. One of the most important in any relationship is trust and never ever break that trust. Once broken, considered gone forever. Another thing is lots of love and show that love to your significant other. Loving without proof of that feeling is as good as being stupid and a loser for a fact. Knowing that the other person loves you is not enough in any relationship. You had to feel the love in order to be able to feel loved and love more. You get what I mean?

One do fun stuffs together.

Do simple stuffs like hugging with affections, listening more with empathy, remembering important dates, practising saying thank you whenever the other person do stuff for you, a peck on the cheek before going to work or before going to sleep and etc. Lots of simple and inexpensive stuffs you can do to show your feelings to your other half.

Most men think that women should be content with what they have as long as their men gave them the roof for shelter, money for her needs and other material stuffs for her amusements. Well.... the theory is very wrong. Why do you think all the stories about Mak Datin/Puan Sri or Rich People's wife go for a gigolo or have extramarital relationship behind their husbands back? Materially speaking, they all had enough, right. Apart from may be the husband is too old for them or they marry because of money, than it's obviously because they are looking for TLC (tender, love and care) outside of home. The husband failed to give that to them for being too busy getting the TLC from other women as well. In this case, you can call it equal deceit.

True love should never been tarnished with LUST. Lust is not Love. True love means being faithful, honourable and trustworthy to the other. Other commendable characters in story of true love are being accountable and protective. Like in many fairytale of a knight and a damsel in distress. Like that lah (:

Wow, look who's giving advice about love. I think I should stop now or I can never stop talking and talking.

Have a nice read. Chiow!

One is made for the other and two is actually one. Cool :)

30 days and I still miss you so much

2011-06-09T22:10:00.001+08:00

Mak during Mother's Day 2008
The Summit Hotel Subang Jaya

Today is the 30th day of my mom passing away. I can't help being a bit down. I miss her so very much. It's hard to accept her departure that's so sudden. I am not ready yet to lose her. The thoughts of God knows what's best for us and it's our duty to accept and let go, I console myself that way. Knowing that's she's in a better place. May Allah rest her soul in peace, in Jannatul Firdhaus. She deserves it. I will pray for her till this life ends.

My Mak with sister, Lyn during Father's Day 2008
The Summit Hotel Subang Jaya

The first thing when I wake up in the morning, and the last thoughts in my mind before sleep was for my Mom. She's a truly the Queen of my heart. The most genuine of hearts I have ever known. I don't want to cry because I know in my religion, it's not good to cry for the departed. That was God's will. Our time has been set in this world. I understand that, but someone please tell me, how not to cry? How not to cry for someone that is so close to you your whole life.

During Eid 2008

When I was afraid of the dark, my Mom was there to accompany me. When I was sick, my Mom took care of me. When I feel nobody cares, my Mom showed me, she cared more than anyone else in this world. When I was losing hope, my Mom gave me courage and motivation to carry on. She never really scolded me her whole life. Instead I raised my voice many times towards her. She forgave me every time. There was never shortage of love and devotion towards her children. When I was short of money, my Mom gave me money. When I made bad choices in life, she still forgave me and encouraged me to move on. She never let me down. Where can I find another person like this? How not to cry for her? How not to miss her? Tell me.

True love. Mak and Abah during my brother's wedding in 2005

When I was small about to start schooling, I had problems at school. I was a weird shy little person. My Mom sat with me in the classroom until I was in my Standard 2 (8-year old). Two years my family had tried to get me into school but I was too stubborn and shy to attend one. I will not go unless my Mom go with me. But finally, she made me understand the importance of education and I excelled tremendously afterwards. She patiently encouraged me to be brave and and not to be afraid of anything. I got my first education from my Mom. She thought me everything about life. Her whole life was dedicated towards her children. And I will never ever going to forget that.

I adore her so much. I want my generation to know what a wonderful person my mother was. She had great character that should be amulet by anyone who is to become a Mom someday. Besides being a Supermom, she was also an entrepreneur. She had her own food business. She started a frozen food business all by her own effort and it was a great success. Many of my friends had tried her products and liked it a lot. It was sold at a wonderfully reasonable price. I am happy that now my eldest sister Along is continuing my mom's legacy in frozen food.

My Mom's frozen food business was running successfully until she started to lose her energy and fell really ill in 2009. However, the wealth that she gained from her business, never much spent on herself, instead, she was a philanthropist who spent a lot on poor people in the village she stayed in. Sometimes, we would borrow money from her and of course she would never ask it back. She always advised us in business we should never overpriced our customer. We should always be afraid of God, so never ever overpriced nor cheat our customers. She said in every profit, there should always be part of it that should go to the poor. She reminded us always to pay Zakat in order to prosper in life. This advice, I will never forget and shall preach to all my generations to come.

Mak was a funny person. Nobody jokes like my Mom.
We enjoyed all her jokes because it was spontaneous and genuine.

I miss her laughter whenever we told her silly jokes or when she made a spontaneous joke that made us all laughing like crazy. She likes to sing when she does her work. She can make a child sleep with her soothing voice. I miss that too. I miss laying on bed with her every time I came home for a visit. It was always her bedroom and beside her I lay to tell her stories and she told me hers. Sometimes, all of us siblings fought to have the best spot on bed beside our mother to catch up with news.

I miss all her nagging about getting married to the right guy that will look after me. I thought I will have the chance to snap wedding photos with my father on the rightside and my mother on the leftside. I thought she would be around to witness it. I thought I still have the time. I thought.... HOW WOULD I KNOW!

Now, it's just a thought. I feel so much alone. Never in my whole life I would imagine this time would come. I am so alone. So so lonely without my mother. I love her so much. I will miss her until I myself leave this world. May Allah have mercy and bless her soul. She deserve Jannatul Firdhaus for all the good and sacrifices she made. Amin...

Goodbye Queen of My Heart

2011-05-25T19:26:00.001+08:00

My mom looked so happy in this candid photo

I wonder how people say goodbye to their most beloved person in life. How do people mend a broken heart when losing the most significant soul that brought life onto them.

My heart ached every morning when I wake up and still I feel the unexplained pain when going to bed at night. The pain was from the innermost of depth, a place you only reserve for the most special person, one and only, there will never be another. And now that place is forever empty, irreplaceable. Finally I know what it means to lose a person forever in one's life.

My mom was married to my father when she was only 18 years old. They were married out of true love that had survived throughout the test of time. I have seen how strong and passionate their love had been. Nothing can separate these two, from Peninsular Malaysia to Borneo to Indonesia and back, they were still intact. Come what may; fortune and poverty, happiness and sadness, health and sickness, ups and down of life and whatever storm, they faced it together with devotion and stronger bondage.

A very dedicated grandma. All grandchildren loved her.

My father had his heart bypass surgery 6 years ago. My mom took care of him night and day. And when my mom fell sick, my father was devoted to her night and day nursing her to be better. It was pain itself to watch how my father struggled with his feelings. All of us family was struggling with our own pain and it was the hardest to watch our father's.

My view of love and life, always based on what I had seen and learned from my mother. She's my teacher, my comfort and my saviour. In our family of 9 siblings, not many had the chance to be breast fed fully. I was one of the lucky 3. Only 3 of us was breastfed fully. Not an ounce of dairy milk came into my body when I was a toddler. I had great bond towards my mother because of this. All of us in fact. We are a very close knitted family. Love is always the big theme. It's all about love. The Queen of our heart. My Beloved Mak.

The last Eid we spent together in 2010.
Not a complete family photo.

She had excellent talents in cooking, sewing, craft and gardening. She was like a superwoman that can do almost anything she put her heart into. I inherited most of these talents but one, i.e. cooking. I can never be as good as her. I thanked her for giving me such special gifts. God knows, I was grateful to her because out of these talents, I earned my living now.

I only have one parent now. I want to take great care of him. I want to spend as much as my time with him. He's my only comfort and joy at this moment. People say, memories are best created together with your loved ones. I understand it better now. Time is very precious. If only I could turn back the time, I would be the happiest. But such is the way of this life, we are living here merely to head towards our death. What matters are what we did while we are still living. Things that can be remembered for generations to come after us. It really makes me think deeply, person such as my mother will be remembered in our generations many years ahead of time for a wonderful, generous, loveable person she was.

She passed away exactly a day after Mother's Day Celebration. I came home on that day to celebrate with her. I brought KFC her favourite fried chicken and a bowl of chicken porridge, but she couldn't even touch the food. We were sleepless till morning arise and she gave her last breath in the arms of all her children at approximately 11am, 9th May 2011.

May my mother's soul be rest in peace in Jannatul Firdhaus. I pray for her everyday and continue to pray everyday till death do me part. Al-Fatihah. Amin.

FIX IT

2011-03-05T00:58:00.003+08:00

How do I fix it? Urghh!!!!

It's another emotional day for me when my car broke down in the middle of the DUKE (Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway) highway. I just started my day with lots of plan in mind but hadn't got to do it at all because of the incident.

It's not just the car temperature that went up. My temperature went sky high too! At first I got so panic, I called the nearest person to me because that's how women usually did when they were in distress. To let their loved ones know about it because it made them feel better by just telling them the problem. Not hoping them to solve it!!! Instead of a shoulder to cry on, all I get was a scold for being negligence and ignorance. However, I was lucky to have a good friend with me, so he accompanied me throughout the predicament. Thank God for that. I love you my friend (:

Since the day was Friday, things moved so slowly. People didn't feel like working on Friday. They lagged and they took their own sweet time. I was there since 11.00am but they only began to touch my car at 2.00pm. I had no choice but to fix my car there because it was stuck, can not be moved anymore.

Believe me, it was a long wait. A painful, most unbearable wait, ever in my life. I got the car back at 10.00pm. It's just an 11 hours wait. When all the shops around has been closed for the weekend and when my temper and patience have been reduced to nil. After much heart wrenching conversations on the phone with many people and knowing none of them could come to my rescue, after tears of frustrations and of a heart break because non of them people I called could give me relieve; finally I got my car.

It was finally FIXED! But I got more things to FIX.

SUICIDE

2011-03-04T03:15:00.001+08:00

REACHING OUT FOR... ???

I believe in miracles. Miracles happen because God wills it to happen. Just like that. MAGIC! When I am in deep trouble, I said to myself, something good will happen. IMPOSSIBLE is 'I-m-possible'. And it is true most of the times, miracles do happened.

Nothing comes easy in this life. Everyday is a struggle. Anybody who didn't struggle in any parts of their life means they do not know what real life is all about. Going to school for an instance, to some kids, it's a struggle. Why did some kids cry on their first day in classroom? It was because they were struggling with the new environment, new friends and new chapter in life. I did too during my time.

In the office, why was it a struggle? It could be the sales target is a struggle to achieve or a boss is a struggle to please and etc. Different people face different struggles or challenges in their everyday lives.

I have been thinking for many days what more can I write here in this blog. It was a struggle. I could not be writing too much about myself now because I was reminded about revealing too much on the net might do me no good. People are manipulating other people's stuff for no particular reasons nowadays. It bothers me a lot. But that's a different story.

I came back late from work today. Almost 12 midnight. I saw a commotion outside the entrance of my condo. It seemed that a lady has jumped down from the 12th floor and the forensic police were doing their investigation. So I had to enter the condo from a different door. As I was on my floor, I looked down the corridor's balcony and I could see clearly the woman sprawled on beds of spider lilies (a type of plant). So elegantly sprawled. I give her credit for landing herself so elegantly, face-up with one hand over her head. A beautiful but painful death.

I took a shower as I usually did before sleep. Then it makes me think. What struggles in life she had been through? Why she decided to end her life? Then I realised, some people just can't handle problems so they choose the easiest way out, i.e. commit suicide.

It makes me think further. Why am I still alive?

My mind went silent for awhile :(

.... and finally I got it. I am still alive, because I still believe in God. Life is something very special. It's a gift. We have no rights to take life away because it is not even a choice. Only God knows when my time will end. My story is yet to be written. I got more chapters to go. So here I am writing, still.

.... and most importantly, I believe in MIRACLES. Whatever that is. And I believe in myself. Yea... feels better now (:

LANGKAWI - Jewel of Kedah

2011-03-03T19:35:00.000+08:00

Another beach visited by the duo. We were in Pantai Chenang, Langkawi :)

Kuala Perlis Jetty to Langkawi has recorded a phenomenal amount of visitors this year during CNY holiday. About 20, 000 people swarmed the jetty to go to Langkawi and it was estimated about 50, 000 visitors in the island during the holiday (NST News on 2nd Feb'11). My group of 10 outdoor enthusiasts were among the statistics. No kidding.

On the day of our arrival, 3rd February 2011, the jetty was haywire with groups of people from all walks of life trying to get tickets. There were lots of tourists from Asian countries compared to the western tourist probably due to the end of holiday seasons in the west. We spotted groups from China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The locals, no need to mention; LOTS.

Mr. Cute aka Comel, Dean and myself in the cable car

that can fit up to 6 persons per ride

It’s not easy to buy ferry tickets. The queue was long and the waiting was like forever. From 7am, we waited more than 3 hours to be boarded. We got onboard at 10.30am and arrived in Langkawi at 11.15am. Lucky we have arranged our transportation earlier with a friend who operated a tour company in the island itself. It’s pretty usual to hire a car or a motorbike once you were in Langkawi. Since the tour operator is our friend, we get a discounted rate for the van rental at about RM80 a day and it was 10 of us travelling together. Normal rate for a van is RM120-RM200 a day depending on type of van. Toyota Estima or Alphat will cost you more, of course.

At the Kraf Centre of Langkawi. Lots of handicrafts and batik

designers' cloths. We modeled the 'mengkuang' hat.

According to our boat handler, a local, he said, Langkawi is a name derived from a Malay word of ‘lang’ (short of ‘helang’ which means ‘eagle’) and ‘kawi’ is the name of the limestones that can be seen around most of the unihibited islands, sea edges and crevices and natural canals surrounding the island at the Unesco Geopark of Kilim. However, when I googled it, 'kawi' could also mean 'reddish brown', may be referring to the eagle's colour or the red limestone in Langkawi. Other articles related it to the ancient city of Langkasuka. This Jewel of Kedah, is actually almost as big as Singapore. The main island itself is 478.5 sq.km in size compared to Singapore, 646 sq.km. However, Langkawi were made of 99 islands. True to its name, you can find lots Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus (the brownish coloured eagle) and the 'kawi' rocks around the island. There's an 18 meter high giant eagle in a place called Eagle Square where you can take photos to remember Langkawi forever (:

Pantai Tasik Tengkorak where we camped for our first night

Thus our journey in the Island of Legend begun. Almost every parts of Langkawi have its own legend especially one significant lady named Mahsuri. She was believed to be wrongly accused of infidelity and was brutally murdered, 200 years ago. Before she died, she cursed Langkawi and its people for her wrong persecution. She bled white blood which gave fear to all her executors and villagers. For 7 generations Langkawi is believed to be shadowed by Mahsuri’s curse. The island has been left undeveloped until the curse end in 1987 and the same year Langkawi was declared duty-free zone.

Miraculously, Langkawi has flourished in terms of social and economy after being declared duty-free zone and with Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia playing a huge part in it, of course. He initiated prestigious events to mark Langkawi in the world’s map, i.e Lima (Langkawi International Maritime & Aviation Exhibition) and Le Tour De Langkawi. The status of Langkawi as a duty free zone continues until present day. Most Malaysian went to Langkawi for branded household products, chocolates, perfumes and many more to name a few. Try Daim and Whitakker's Chocolate. There are the best!

Coolloop and Cumi at Telaga Tujuh, one of the waterfall there.

Mount Mat Chincang Cable Car – RM15 per person for cable car ride up the mountain. Lookout tower and hanging bridge overlooking seashores and lagoon. You can spend the whole day there.

Pasir Tengkorak Beach - it has a camp site ground and a toilet as your water source. The beach has some rocky edges and million years of rock formation if you care to look and search.

Kilim Geopark - you can take a boat ride to Bat Cave, Fish Farm and even visited nearby islands like Pulau Dayang Bunting (pregnant maiden island). Bat’s Cave, Fish Farm and Falcon Sighting/Feeding near Kilim- RM200 per boat of 2 hours ride.

My friend Dean in the sky.

Lubuk Semilang, Gunung Raya – camping, rock climbing and picnic site with 4000+ steps towards Gunung Raya peak.

Para Sailing in Pantai Chenang – RM40-50 per person for a 3km via boat tailing.

Sunset Cruise – RM100 per person for 4 hours cruise and dinner with free flow drinks onboard

Shopping in Pekan Kuah – Hj. Mohamad Ismail sells the cheapest chocolate. Recommended chocolates: Daim, Cadbury Turkish Delight and Witakkers Roasted Almond.

If you had bigger budget, you may want to do Island Hoping, 4 hours boat ride to some of the significant island which formed Langkawi. It’ll cost you about RM400 per boat for a four hours ride.

Island hoping sharing basis is only RM25 per person but had to be booked early in the morning for the last boat leaves at 2.30pm.

If you were at the Chenang Beach, a handful water sports can be had such as parasailing, jet skiing, banana boat ride or just lazing in the sun. Langkawi has one of the most beautiful sandy beaches you will ever see in the world for its very fine almost white sands and clear blue sea. It’s much much cleaner and better than the Kuta Beach in Bali. Trust me (:

All of us minus Zam on top of the Sky Bridge

Amazingly this was only my second time to Langkawi since 2002 right after the tsunami hit the island badly. At that time things were pretty much bad and it affected the people so much that very few tourists can be seen. We rented a car at that time and had been travelling peacefully around the island. Boat ride and other stuffs were pretty much cheaper. This time around, North part of Malaysia including Perlis and Langkawi is experiencing draught. We can see river water receding and public toilets without water. However, we were lucky to just camped nearby Lubuk Semilang with lots of water supply even though lesser than its usual flow.

There you go folks. My backpacking style to Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah. We couldn't get a bus ticket back to KL on the day we were supposed to go back. We had to cramped up in a budget hotel till the next morning. Phew... what a vacation.

Bat Cave in Kilim Unesco Geopark

Hablul Minanas

2011-01-26T01:54:00.004+08:00

This 5-year old Darshini Selvam. One of the unfortunate
children from House of Trinity

Every year I made a point to always do something for the society in gratitude of my humble existence as a human being. In my belief, every person is created with a given purpose and functionality. Everyday we live, it's an 'ibadah' (obedience or worship of God). We wouldn't be on Earth just for nothing.

Sometimes due to prolonged hardship and failure in life, people choose to blame God or lose faith in God. I am no angel my self and I admit to have had feelings like that too, sometimes. But when I really analysed the situation, I realised that it has hidden lessons or messages that are unavoidable. We become better with every experience.

Even if we don't believe in God, personally I take this life very simple. DO GOOD, THE GOOD COMES and DO BAD, THE BAD COMES. In Buddhism and Hinduism it is called KARMA. But as a Muslim, I do not believe in Karma as what the Buddhists or the Hindus believe. Instead, I believe in fate and destiny. Our lives are predestined or fated before we were even born. We can not run away from what is fated by God.

So I believe we do not live just for ourselves. We must live for the others too. That is called hablul minanas (human to human relationship) and our faith in God is hablul minaAllah (human and God relationship). A person's life is not just about worshipping God but also to be aware of his/her surrounding. That will make our lives complete.

A simple example is when we helped a blind person to cross one busy street. How that makes you feel? You feel good inside, isn't it. Feel good means being happy with ourselves. It's medicine for our soul. Anything to do with another human being, like feeding the poor, be good to your neighbours, helping the orphans, take good care of our parents and many more; all these are ibadah under the hablul minanas. Uppss.... too religious, you think so? Well, some lessons in school stay with you forever. Should give credit to my teachers for this (:

Try to make sense of what I am writing here, can you? Actually my beat around the bush thingy here was about the event I went on last Saturday. Every year as Marketing and PR person, I did CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) for the companies I worked with. Every festive seasons and every extra budget means my chance of doing good to others, usually orphans and old folks. Last year I quit my position in the corporate world, so I thought I would not get the chance to meet up with my usual crowd. This is foolish thinking, I know. I shouldn't be riding on my employer's budget to do charity work, isn't it. Now I feel bad. Huhu...

Well, to make it short, I got an opportunity that was unplanned for. I swear I got nothing to do with it. I went through another experience in life that confirmed my believe in God's fate. My path crossed again this time with orphans that I made CSR programmes with previously. Not one orphanage, but two! It was an amazing feeling. I had great time with the kids and towards the end of the event, it made everyone feel good, i.e. the kids, the volunteers, the organiser and myself!

The kid in the photo, Darshini, she's 5 years old. She's the latest member of House of Trinity, an orphanage in Petaling Jaya district. She has a mother but the mother was irresponsible enough to leave her in the care of a hapless grandmother. The grandmother later turned her into the orphanage just a little more than a month ago. According to the caretaker, this little girl never tasted chicken or drink Milo in her whole 5 years of existence. I was speechless. She's so cute and adorable. She looked happy to be with the rest of her new family now. I know that she's in the good hands. That's all that matters.

This is only one of the story you hear about unfortunate people. There are lots of sad stories out there. As a human being, we can not be selfish with our lives. Share it as much as you can with others in regardless of their faith or colours. Trust me, you will feel happier and better living this way.

Take care for now. Have to go to sleep. Goodnite (:

Live it Fabulous

2011-01-20T02:10:00.004+08:00

I watched a fabulous show today, "LIVE TO DANCE" the American version of "GOT TO DANCE". God I love GOT TO DANCE the UK dance show with its three fabulous judge namely Kimberly Wyatt (from Pussycat Dolls), Ashley Banjo (Winner of Britain's Got Talent Show with his group Diversity) and Adam Garcia (Australian actor and tap dancer). Now the American version, LIVE TO DANCE, Paula Abdul made it more fabulous with her charming and loving character. Kimberly was in it too, may be to retain the world audience of this show with Travis Payne (choreographer known for working with Michael Jackson on his "This is It" concert before his demise).

These two shows, GOT TO DANCE and LIVE TO DANCE are great shows that inspire, motivating and touching to the audience. It was great to see dreams fulfilled and great talents discovered. It makes us believe on dreams can become reality. It shows us that every great talents have great stories behind it. Sometimes the moments were so intense, it made you cry. Huhuhu.... well I did. May be because I am such a cry baby. Who cares.

Another fabulous thing to watch is the E Channel Fashion Police for the Golden Globe 2011 Award. Love fashion tremendously and those celebs really give you great inspiration in fashion and for myself to get more ideas of my next fashion competition (if there will be any). Haha...

My personal best dress award goes to Olivia Wilde (the 'HOUSE' star). She looks gorgeous with the Cinderella gown.

Halle Berry is the best for giving great elegant pose for cameras. She worked the gown to the admiration of all to see. Not an easy thing to do. I think, even rags will look good on her. Perfect body and perfect pose.

Another actress who knows how to work the gown and how to give great pose to photographers. Megan Fox looks stunning and confident as always.

Beautiful Catherine Zeta Jones has this timeless classic look about her. Reminding me forever of her Zoro movie. The gown complements her character natural beauty.

Note: All photos taken from justjared.buzznet.com

Malaysia without Malay, Chinese or Indian???

2011-01-14T20:36:00.001+08:00

We make good of what we've got. Breaking something that is already a foundation
will only make it crumbled to pieces that the structure will never be as strong as before.

Lately, the racial tension in Malaysia has becoming more apparent to the point that it bothers me to write it in my political-free, peace loving, nature inspired blog. As a Malaysian, I really love this country because of its moderation in all areas of life especially in religion and racial tolerance of its people. Now, I no longer feel the harmony of these things in our everyday lives.

The Chinese and Indians are making noise about equality, meritocracy, liberty in this and that, fixing of history facts and acknowledgement of this and that. While the Malays are so into themselves, not listening one pint of the complain and becoming more and more intolerant of the rest of Malaysians that are non-Malays.

Sigh.... sigh... sigh... How sad and how disappointed I am with all these nonsense.

Speaking in general, the Chinese are the ones who control the economy, while the Indians are wonderfully good orators and professionals such as lawyers and doctors. The Malays are catching up in terms of economy and in professional work force due to continuous support from our Government. So now, all races in Malaysia thought that we all should be equal. Well, if given it up to me, I don't give a hoot about all these because I am the believer that all human are the same accept we are born into different families and different countries. God's creations should be proud to even be given life in this universe and shouldn't be segmenting ourselves by race, religion or status. We should practice good behaviour and do good deeds. No ill feelings towards others, never ever being greedy and stop being selfish.

Many blogs written things bad about each other. Some are quite fair and unbiased in their facts but many are so racist and degrading to the point that makes one want to scream out vulgar words of anger and hate.

Hey, Malaysians, have you all lost your minds! Why are we fighting and bickering with each other. Can't we all be nice and more understanding of one another. Malaysia wouldn't be an interesting place to live in if we were just all Malays or all Chinese or all Indians. How do you feel eating nasi lemak every single day of your lives. Bored, right. We need varieties and we need change once in awhile.

We get to enjoy our famous delicacies like roti canai and tosai because of the Indians. We know to enjoy Yong Tau Fu, Kuih Bulan and Biskut Tambun because of the Chinese. The Malays are undeniably has its root linked so closely to Thailand and Indonesia, therefore our food and culture very much similar to of our neighbours. Why want to make a big fuss about it? We all enjoy satay, rendang and nasi lemak. So lets just continue enjoying all these in peace and harmony. Who cares where it was originated from and who invented the recipes in the first place. What matters is as Malaysian, we make it taste good and everybody loves it.

If we keep on talking about our differences, definitely there will never be a happy solution because our minds are set to what we think is right. Malay, Chinese and Indian, in general terms, we all have far too much differences in language, religion, custom and even our looks which was obvious. The only way to co-exist as a country is to practice tolerance and respect via deep understanding of each other's language, religion, custom and what so ever that is needed to make it happen.

I would be happy if all school in Malaysia has one system standardised in all schools. It should teach our children the correct version of Malaysia history based on well researched facts, making language as a compulsory subject which also includes Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Tamil and English and finally to include religion subject as well to be compulsory (religion subject in scholarly term) which includes all three main beliefs that is Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism so that our children knows the foundation of all these three main religions and not be prejudiced or misunderstood. We can see many an incident whereby our society is still not understanding one another's belief and culture that we sometimes trespassed the boundaries of decorum when handling fragile matters of the society.

Enough said about what's bothering me lately. I know I am not really specific and factual in my argument but that's the point. I don't want to be too specific to the point of debate. This is just an expression of concern of what we Malaysian have become.

PEACE (:

Fun ala-Flamenco

2011-01-08T00:24:00.003+08:00

WE LOVE IT!
Sisters having fun during MARA Family Day ala-flamenco, in Spanish mode

Two days before New Year 2010. It was a grand closing. Four sisters went to Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan for a family day event. We had fun at Cape Richardo Resort flashing our own version of a flamenco dress. The theme was Spanish, so we just let our imagination running wild. It's a wild thing indeed. We designed and made our own costumes. Love every moment of it! Mwah! Mwah!

FAREWELL 2010. WELCOME 2011!

Bandung-Ceribon-Manjaleka

2011-01-07T23:59:00.002+08:00

Sigh seeing at the Tangkuban Perahu with volcano crate

A week after Eid 2010, four of us sisters went travelling together to West Java. It would have been the most perfect all sisters trip but unfortunately two can't make it due to other commitments. It was kind of sad because I wished all of us were there sharing every fantastic moments in Bandung, Ceribon and Manjaleka. Our last family vacation was in Cameron Highland in year 1991 when my parents celebrated their 30th Wedding Anniversary. All of us sisters were there with then only smaller family members.

Sisters shopping at the Pasar Baru Bandung. The youngest
didn't like the less glamour part of the city

So this trip we were taking was not just leisure, it's more to business cum leisure kind of thing. My eldest sister, Along who is often going to Bandung and Jakarta for her business needs took us for a tour this time, teaching us where to find things especially now that I too have jumped into the same business. Heee....

Cool weather at Tankuban Perahu, we were
eating red berries and strawberries,
the sweetest we've ever tasted.

Nice oil painting for RM17 a piece in Ceribon

Our first stop was Bandung. We touched down to the airport around afternoon. The flight took about 2 hours from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Bandung Airport. We went straight to our hotel in Progo Street where everything was within walking distance. Then the shopping spree began. First shopping was the bridal materials where Along took us to Pasar Baru Bandung. You can find almost anything over there at a very reasonable price. Of course way cheaper than in Kuala Lumpur. However, some of the things needed to be bargained because knowing Malaysians like to shop there, more and more shoppers were trying their luck to squeeze more out of your pocket. Can't blame them for trying (:

The most pink guava I've ever seen without worms (:

I didn't buy many things in Bandung, I only bought things I rarely find in KL, not the usual stuffs like clothings and handbags because I still feel that nothing compares to Kuala Lumpur when it comes to high fashion and quality. Oh no, not those branded factory items as well. Instead, I bought lingeries and girdle (because it is of acceptable quality and its dirt cheap), a replacement shoes (my feet hurt by long hours of walking and standing), a very nice cotton embroidered 'telekung' (Muslim woman's prayer attire) for myself and my friend who requested for me to buy and a couple of oil paintings. The rest of my pocket money went to food and transportation. It's not as cheap as people expect it to be. For food, you can't simply eat the roadside food without knowing the cleanliness and source of their raw materials. We ate only at the proper eateries which of course expensive. In regardless, we still had stomach ache.

Less than RM2 a piece. Nice and comfy who doesn't want to buy (:

Shopping in a muddied area of the biggest market in somewhere
between Ceribon and Manjaleka, I can't remember the name

I have forgotten most of the details of our journey, so I guess the pictures will tell you the story.

Model pose by our little sister and bigger sisters at each sides

We get to stay at our friend's house too (:

PEACE-LOVE-JOY. HO HO HO!

2010-12-25T03:56:00.001+08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Just a quick one. I am wishing the best of joy and the best of cheers to all my blog readers and anyone who happens to stumble into this blog.

It's the time of the year when everyone in regardless of creed and race feeling more relaxed for it's a holiday season and an anticipation of the coming New Year. Yeay!

Uppermost gratitude to the Creator for giving us good health, love, family, food and shelter. For all these that we are blessed, we should always remember to lend a hand and pray for the under privileged and the less fortunate. This is the time to love and to give.

PEACE, LOVE & JOY.

The Most Beautiful Climb Ever

2010-12-09T16:37:00.001+08:00

It's me. Before going down from the peak (:

I ended up a career in hotel line with Eastin Hotel being my last place of employment. Right after the departure, my mind was set for a goal to climb a mountain in Indonesia. In fact it has been planned for a year earlier.

Finally the day came to realised. My good friend Mahfiz whom I always went climbing with and 3 other friends from Indonesia embarked on a wonderful journey to Bali and Lombok Islands.

It's not just the climb that leaves a significant episode in my life, the journey it self was so wonderful and surreal. From the beginning till the end, it was filled with memorable insight of what Bali and Lombok were made of. I have too many photos to share here but very little space. It's so difficult to even know where to start this story from. So many things to share with all of you out there. The beauty of nature, the wonder of the people of these different parts of the world and even about climbing it self. Which one to tell first. I just had no idea. The reason why I missed writing in this blog in the month of May, June and July. Now I am trying to make it up for 2010 record's sake. This blog is my history and it shall serve its purpose.

A 6 km by 8.5 km oval-shaped caldera which is partially covered
by a lake known as Segara Anak (approximately 2000m above
sea level and estimated at being between 200m and 300m deep)
the caldera also contains hot springs.

Mountaineering in Indonesia is slightly different from Malaysia because of the different topography and geographical condition of the mountains. In Indonesia, most of the mountains are volcano mountains unlike in Malaysia. Malaysian mountains are typically starting with highly dense tropical forest vegetations on the lowland to muddied and rocky upper elevations. Therefore types of attire and equipments might sometimes differ. For Mount Rinjani climb, I invested buying new shoes, new attire and new hiking bag.

Mount Rinjani (3, 726 meters) is the third highest mountain in Indonesia after Mount Puncak Jaya (4, 884 meters) in Irian Jaya, Papua and Mount Kerinci (3,805 meters) in Sumatra. It is also the second highest volcano after Mount Kerinci.

Anak Rinjani, smaller living volcano that
exploded every 3-4 hours. Obviously emitting
plums but no lava.

Climbing volcano is totally a different challenge all together. I still feel that climbing Malaysia's mountain like Mount Tahan and Mount Chamah-Ulu Sepat are more challenging in terms of physical pain especially during rainy season. It's almost deadly and a nightmare. I feel like dying climbing those mountains but don't mind repeating the experience. Once a climber, always a climber. Ever heard stories of people who climb mountains with prosthetic limbs. Well, you can read one of them here. It's just amazing how will power and determination conquers disability and the once thought impossible. Everything is possible now, if only we want it so badly (:

The best part that I will never forget climbing Rinjani is the scenic and picturesque view all the way from bottom to top and bottom again. We were climbing via Sembalun and going down via Senaru. We made a 3-Day 3-Night journey with a forth night spent at a resort in Sembalun. Almost all the view was superb.

A woman carrying a sack of vegetable from at a village
at the foot of Rinjani where we started to climb from Senaru.

I agree when people claimed it to be the most beautiful volcano in South East Asia. One of our camp site was nearby the crater lake and I must say that it was the loveliest camp site ever in my life. Beautiful bluish green water surrounded by pine trees. It was almost surreal when you wake up in the early hours. In the lake, there's a newly emerged active volcano, and lots of fish to fry plus a place where you can bath in a hot spring. It's truly a magical place to the spiritual.

There's a lot of mountain dogs that looks like wolfs. Amazingly these dogs could really climb up almost to the peak and they can stand the freezing temperature at night. I just wonder how they adapt. You see them every where especially near the camp site because they waited for the left overs from campers. At night near the lake, you may hear howling sound just like the wolf. A bit scary at first but then you get used to it.

Going up to Pelawangan Sembalun to see the view from
another peak but unfortunately it was raining.
Nothing to be seen but thick fog and prickly rain drops.
We ran down to Sembalun Village in a record time and
slept at a comfortable guest house. Phewhh!!
That's the end of our climbing and the rest one day
was spent at a water fall and back to Bali.

Come morning hour, you will be greeted by the sound of bird chirping. Beautiful yellow bird I have never seen before. There's wild ducks swimming in the lake, so beautiful and serene. Needless to say about birds around the lake, if your are bird enthusiasts you might want to take pictures and compile it in a book. There's just endless beauty all around you. I have lost words to describe it (:

A lot of things can be said about Rinjani climb. I wish I could write about the Sasak people, indigenous of Lombok Island. Their culture, belief and so on but not enough time and research for that. Due to the limited time, we get to see very little of their life and culture. I will definitely go back to Lombok and Rinjani. This time to finish all the unfinished business (:

How to have a garden on a high rise

2010-12-09T00:14:00.004+08:00

Yellow and red blooms from
my own little sensory garden.

Orchids and roses are among flowers that I admired most in this world. However, both floras are of a challenge to grow in one’s garden. Most orchids require cool, shaded area of high moister while roses need ample sunlight and ventilated area to grow healthily.

May be women are more sentimental than men about flowers. For me, flowers generate good feelings and positive thinking to a person. Orchids are strongly exotic and rare. It makes you feel very unique and different, while roses are romantically beautiful and soft. It triggers feeling of tender love.

Once a gardener, always a gardener no matter where you reside. I can never live in a house without plants. At least if not a garden, I can put some greens in a pot or a vase. There are many ways to do it, if only ones want to do it.

If you live in a high rise, doesn't mean that you can't have a garden. Yes you can. Go for potted plants or ready made planter boxes. Arrange and decorate as per your available space at the balcony or may be your house entrance. However, the first step to be taken is to take measurement of the area. Then to study what kind of sunlight condition the area has. What direction the area faces, whether it is East or West. If on the East side, it means, you get morning sun exposure and if West, means evening sun exposure. Then you will be able to know how many hours of direct sunlight. Whether the area is blocked by shades or not. All these are important to determine what kind of plants you can have in your garden. When you gather all these information, then you are ready for the next step, that is designing your dream garden.

Scientific name: Brunfelsia pauciflora
Common name: Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow.
A lovely powerfully fragrant flower of
3 changeable colours.
First bloom is deep purple, middle bloom
is soft lavender and before it withers,
it turned into almost white
(Photo taken from Wikipedia)

Garden ideas can be had in the internet easily nowadays. So be diligent enough to discover the world of plants. If you had no idea at all and have a bit of a budget to spend for consultation, then feel free to hire a professional to do the job for you. Save you the hassle and hard work. Nevertheless, you still need to learn how to take care of the plants afterwards.

In my case, I am my own gardener, designer and contractor because I run a business in this line now. I had a very small balcony on a very high condo. I can only have not more than 20 pots and it has to be in a straight line arrangement. I am lucky to have a house unit facing the East, which means, my plants will get at least 4 hours daily sunlight from 8am to 12pm for photosynthesis which is vital for any plants in order to live healthily.

Inspired by the recent project that our company had just completed, I wanted to create some kind of a sensory garden. It has to be all flowering vegetation with fragrance of various kinds. A bit ambitious, I know. Therefore, I planned to have only a few types, i.e. gardenia, jasmine, rose and yesterday-today-tomorrow. However, it ended up more than what I had planned for. Every visit to a nursery means more plants being added because I just could not resist.

Scientific name: Gardenia jasminoides
Common name: Cape Jasmine
A lovely smell flower almost like a rose.

Furthermore, I took it very personal that all the plants that are placed at my balcony been given enough TLC (tender-love-care). Each one of them carries sentimental value. Most of it was given to me. I hardly spend a single cent. Some were given by the kind hearted people who understood my passion for plants and some by the nursery itself during my various work visit. I am the luckiest person. Thank you all. Mwah! Mwah!

Scientific name: Ixora javanica
Local name: Jejarum
I know I look funny but I was truly adoring it.

Something to share with everyone here is that, having a garden means a commitment. It is not just to have a beautiful garden that people could admire. We must know how to take good care of that beautiful garden as well. Learn a bit about plants that you have and what it takes to sustain its living. Admiration can only come after much sweat and hard work. It’s a challenge, I tell you. Not an easy task to cope with plant diseases and pests. Recently I had my roses infested by the spider mites. This is very common. Most of the leaves and flowers withered and fell. Lucky that I spotted it before it’s too late. However, it’s a continuous process of TLC. That’s why gardening can be a good therapy. One’s own distraction of this horrid world we live in.

Take care for now. Mwah! Mwah!

Crab or Crap

2010-12-02T00:49:00.008+08:00

Eating like pandi (pig), 3 pieces of whole crabs by myself.

This all that's left.

Ever heard of these; 'you talk like crap' or 'don't talk crap' and even worst 'cut the crap'. I hear these a lot of times even spoken to myself by one particular friend of mine (:

It means, I'm talking nonsense, so stop the nonsense lah. Hahaa... lots of them nonsense here, if you care to read along.

2010 is the least year of blogging for me. So far up to this posting, I only made it to 5 total posting compared to 41 in year 2009. My Goodness! This is so bad! How am I to catch up, then.

So I decided to put up more postings here before the year ends so that the difference won't be so great. It's a humiliation to my record in blogging and I am losing my reader's patience at times. I know. Sorry folks. I'll be more diligent.

All this while, I've been busy in my own fantasy world, some people like to say that about me. I've done lots of unusual activities, fun and not so fun stuffs. Later will write it one by one if you all care to read.

Eating has been my pass time hobby. I had kind hearted people to sponsor on that. Thank Allah for every morsel that goes into my stomach, I pray for double rewards to be given to the spender (:

Sometimes my eating habit goes beyond comprehension. I ate like a pig or 'pandi' in Tamil (have lots of Indian friends). I am very fussy when it comes to food. Been working with the hospitality line previously, I had the knowledge of how an eatery should be operated, how a customer should be entertained, the cleanliness of the dishes prepared and how it should be tasted. Some of my fellow friends been complaining of my fussiness in food, that they had problems in choosing the right restaurant to bring me out for fear that I won't finish my food.

When I can't finish a dish, it means something is wrong with it without saying. It could be the taste is not correct, it's not clean, found hair in it etc. There's always reasons to it. Sometimes I kept it quiet for not wanting to disturb everyone else's appetite. Later I will tell, but people who know me will immediately catch that something is not right and would often asked why.

A dear friend of mine always reminded me not to waste food. In some other parts of the world, people don't even have a choice but to eat just about anything they found around them. Of course I knew this a long time ago. But sometimes, you just need someone else around you to remind that again. I agree 100%. We shouldn't be wasting good food blessed by God on our table. We should only eat what we can, and never waste it if possible.

Because of this good advice which I shall always remember till the end of my life, I sometimes order half 'nasi goreng' or share my plate with others. I won't let my lust for food overpowering the capacity of my stomach which is very little, in fact. So, why would I want to eat full plate of rice when I can only eat half. Make sense isn't it. For mixed rice, I will asked a scoop of rice instead of letting the mamak guy put so much and couldn't finish it. Every time I got an eyebrow raised from the mamak feller. But I am more concern of the scolds I will be getting for not finishing it. And I don't want to ever waste my meal irresponsibly. Most importantly, we must think of the less fortunate people out there who struggled for food unlike us blessed in Malaysia.

Good eating habit is to eat in moderation although yes Malaysia is known as food heaven. Exercise regularly to keep that cholesterol level under control, and most importantly, try to be a vegetarian once a week. Out of respect for the animals. Give your stomach a break lah sometimes, folks. I practice this once a week, on Thursday as it is easy joining my Hindu friends and I tell you, it feels good. Bodily and spiritually, just like fasting too. Do it on Monday and Thursday like the Muslim does. It's to regulate your health actually, not just because it's religious. There's always a wisdom behind religions. Without religion, we live without rules on this earth. No dos and don'ts. We are just guide-less and clueless, don't you all think so. Well, we just need to think.

"The person I like most is the one who points out my defects."
Caliph Umar

Holy Crap! Did I sound too religious. Hahaha! That's all folks. Till next posting. Adios!

Changing The Look

2010-11-30T18:39:00.001+08:00

Hello everyone....

Yeah, I've been away too long from writing in this blog. To all my loyal readers and followers, I would like to express my deepest gratitude that a few of you out there really took the time to check here often enough. My excuse of absence in the blogging world quite sometime is due to my new endeavour in life and business.

It seemed that time flies so fast, lots of things passes by unnoticed. Then I realised that I should be slowing down a bit to enjoy the view and check on the people that really care about me once in a while. Thank you all (:

I have made a few changes to the blog. We are leaving 2010 very soon in a month time. Welcoming the New Year with new vibration, I thought of giving a fresh cleaner look to this blog. I might change it again as when and where I feel needed to be changed. May be to suit a new style and to keep up with blogger's latest technology update.

Change is a positive thing. Can't remain static for long in this life or we will be left behind.

My Burning Desire

2010-08-02T18:48:00.012+08:00

Batik design for Piala Seri Endon Batik Fashion Competition 2010

The road to success is seldom easy. You had to sacrifice things in life; tangible and intangible things. After all true to the saying, 'no pain no gain'. Once upon a time, I had difficulty in knowing what I want in life thus the job hoping thingy that people who followed my blog will noticed. I wanted to do almost everything and anything under the sun. My various interest has led me to precious ups and downs. My life is like a colourful rainbow. Therefore I had no regrets for all that rare moments and invaluable experiences.

I had a dream and I believe it to realise one day. It'll be the sweetest victory. I am so motivated and so enthusiastic about my new endeavours. Thanks to all the support and encouragement from my loved ones. I really needed it at this point of time.

Motivation is vital to a person in order to push forward with positive mind. No one can live alone. we need people around us to have meaning in this life.

Here are some of good business-minded quotes that I would like to share with everyone of my readers:

* If you can't make it good, at least make it look good. Bill Gates
* A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business. Henry Ford
* I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big. Donald Trump
* We will go forward... we will never go back. Michael Bloomberg (Founder of Bloomberg LP and New York City Mayor)
* Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.Warren Buffett(America's favourite investor)
* I have always been interested in two things: the arts and business. Bernard Arnault (Pope of fashion, i.e Loius Vuitton)

Finally, also very interesting quote here:
* A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. Albert Einstein

We get ideas and inspirations from the five senses given to us by the Al-Mighty God. The ability to hear, smell, see, taste and touch, all plays significant roles in our daily lives. We are collecting and deciphering data from things happening around us. Constantly we get stimulated by it. Our brain processes all these data gathered from our five senses and translating it into many wonderful things that we feel, perceive or react upon. That's how ideas and inspirations comes from. Heheee.... talking like I know so much. But not very much. This is talking from own experience and realisation, plus too much into Discovery Channel (:

I talk a lot. Okay that's it for now. Adios everyone. Mwah! Mwah!

My Fate is SEWN

2010-04-30T21:48:00.020+08:00

I took my chances in life again recently by deciding to do things I love doing since I was a child. Something to do with creativity, i.e. fashion designing and sewing.

The trade has been in my blood coming from my mother. She learned sewing during her adolescent years. Someone taught her to take a piece of cloth and turn it into an attire. A lesson learned in a dream. Amazing, isn't it. A supernatural true story. And it went down to all her girls. 6 of us all have this natural talent, came to us by blood.

Creating beautiful things out of my own hands, it's the greatest satisfaction. I can do wonders. That has been said to me and I always wonder how it would benefit me in my everyday life. So I guess, my destiny is to create beautiful things, share it with people and make money out of it. Hahaa...

My first project was with Tourism Malaysia, to produce traditional clothing of Tourism Malaysia Office in China. Myself and my sisters collaborated in producing some 100+ pieces of traditional attire comprising the Malay's, Indian's and Chinese's within 7 days. I immersed myself into a a different world. Another side of me I never knew exist flourished.

The project was completed successfully and I was so proud with myself for being able to use my hands and imaginations to produce all the pieces unbelievably. It was an exhausting work but it was worth it.

Punjabi suits collection.

Malay traditional costumes (Kedah, Johor and Perak State)

Am so proud of my creation. Yeay!

Taking Chances in the Year of the Tiger

2010-04-14T01:24:00.002+08:00

What a massive turn of event. Massive year, massive changes. Life is a gamble indeed. It's all about taking chances and you wouldn't know what the result would be. It's like a trial and error kind of thing.

The year of the Golden Tiger, 2010 is unpredictable and very volatile in nature. For most Chinese, it's a good year to make money but not to marry. Couples who tie a knot on the year of the tiger is believed to be very unsettling, lots of quarrel and disagreement and most fearful is that the man will die earlier than the woman. Huhuuu.... Do not believe this, folks.... You create your own destiny, whatever you may think it would be. So keep that head of yours covered by the positive thinking cap, always.

For myself.... the heat of the tiger year has been felt from the very beginning. Lots of turmoil and disturbances in our world at large but at the same time obvious positive changes in the world's economy which is welcome by all. True to its name, a tiger of vivacious angry yet smart nature, the year moves on extremely volatile. Changes are more towards positive than the negative. Hope it will stay that way as long as God permits.

Drastic and massive changes are in order for me. I am embarking on a new journey. I belief in signs all around me. Signs sent by Almighty to guide you along the way. I saw it everywhere. In my dreams, in the people I love, in the nature and in the turn of unexpected events that leads you to the right path.

I saw many many doves passing by in front of my car on an elevated busy highway, recently. An amazing scene. Very beautiful and almost surreal. They flew so low, like almost touching my windshield. It created wonderful feelings inside of me.

A GOOD SIGN.

Dove signifies many good things. I represents freedom. It is widely related to pure love. It symbolises peace. It is also a harbinger of hope which is very powerful in life. Always remember that whenever you are in the verge of breaking down, never ever lose hope even when there's nothing else to hang on to. It's enough just to hang on to your hope.

THEREFORE I BELIEVE.

Coming soon... H.O.P Clothing Line. My passion, my precious baby in the making (:

Looking Back with a Smile

2010-02-02T19:00:00.008+08:00

I love all those colours painted on my wall... it makes me happy to look at it everyday. I love all the dents and old look of my car... it makes me humble and reminds me stories of my journey. I love being me... and I love my old car (:

When you have reached that juncture in life; one straight highway, and one winding road, which one will you take?

I will always take that winding road. Simply because, I want to enjoy a better view. Take all my own sweet time to reach my destination and I might stop for awhile to explore more (:

I want to enjoy every moment, breath the air, feel the breeze and taste whatever that keeps me going. My heart might be broken, stolen or shattered by those I stumbled upon. But it's okay. Some living creatures made my day. It takes two to tango. I could not have done it alone because ACTION CREATES REACTIONS. When I die, I will leave a trace of my existence. Let it be remembered that I was there... on that winding road.

My ultimate purpose in this life is... to serve God and to be there for the living. I will only look back with a smile and keep on walking that winding road...

Farewell 2009. Welcome 2010!

Celebration of Life & Wisdom

2009-10-29T13:40:00.014+08:00

Fieza, Liza and Dhena @ SOHO Penang - don't you think we had an exotic combination here (Ms. Thai, Ms. Filipino and Ms. Ceylonese - which we are not (: )

Office Birthday Celebration with my Marcom team (the first 3 boys on the right and one on the left) and colleagues.

Light up your Life

2009-10-23T17:19:00.017+08:00

Deepavali means 'row of lights' is Sanskrit and also known simply as 'Festival of Lights' in all over the world. It signifies the triumph of good against evil based on the Hinduism belief. To be exact, Deepavali marks the return of Lord Raama to his kingdom Ayodhya after defeating Ravana - the ruler of Lanka in the epic story of Ramayana. It also celebrates the slaying of the demon king Narakasura by Lord Krishna. Both signifying the victory of good over evil (Cut and paste from Wikipedia about Diwali/Deepavali).

I had a great reunion with all that matters to my heart on Deepavali Day. The only thing that I regret was not having my camera with me to instill the memory of being together with the people I hardly see nowadays. I had no photos to show it here. Huhuhu...

Multiculturalism makes us a richer person if only we are willing to embrace the diversity that surrounds us. I honestly don't understand why some people are hesitant in exploring this gift that globalisation has given us to enjoy. The older this world gets, the more diverse we will be until one day all of us will not be able to recognise our true colour, race and origin. However, I would admit that one thing that might stay when you die is your religion. So choose your own belief and respect others’ belief as well.

Imagine mix marriages and migrations, what it would do to a person or a family’s origin and heritage? It will definitely create a whole new different generation. A person from mix parentage will have more than one claim to his/her inheritance. Say a Chinese married to an English. The children will have Chinese and English heritage and a whole new identity as a person. Then the Chinese-English person married to an Indian-French person. The children will have an even glorious cultural mix of Chinese-English-Indian-French. The world will be smaller than you think it is.

Thinking about it, human beings are made the same. In my belief, we are all children of Adam, the first man created by God which later disperses all over the world to become a family, a group, a race, a religion and so forth by the environment we live in. There’s no human being that is superior to the other. We are all made the same but what differentiates us is our mind set and for myself, I would add, the heart. It’s all in our mind and our heart. If you allow yourself to love, it will love, if you allow yourself to hate, it will hate.

Ever heard of these phrases, “think before you leap” and “you’re such a heartless person”. BRAIN makes you an intelligent person, but HEART makes you a humane person.

What I am trying to emphasise here is that we should get rid ourselves of racism and cultural biases. Light up the darkness so that we can see. Be a ONE WORLD… a world that embraces everyone.

Cheers!

Blog Action Day on Climate Change

2009-10-15T16:39:00.010+08:00

I am called to update my blog for a cause. Today is Blog Action Day for all things related to Climate Change. So here I am catching up to update something on the subject so that I won't miss the dateline, i.e. 15th October 2009.

Climate Change or Global Warming is one of the subject I always have interest on. I wrote a few posting about it in the past. Here is one of the most recent one, about global warming. Being a nature person who loves adventure in the jungle and going up to the mountains whichever and whenever I choose and feel right to do so, I hate the fact that climate change will one day snatch away my passion. I don't want the situation of global warming to get worsen. I am very much concern that in the near future, our next generation will not be able to experience the same things that we all enjoy now. For example lots of animals and plants will go to extinction. May be in the tropical climate like in Malaysia, we don't really feel it because it's all-year round sunshine and rain.

May be the understanding of climate change is easier be understood with the example of the ice caps of North and South Pole. The ice that aged millions of years is now melting away which increases the sea level. This then affects the Polar Bear living in the Arctic which habitat needs the ice-cold condition to sustain its living. There you go the simplest explanation to all that doesn't know what is global warming.

As for Malaysian scenario, how global warming impacts us? The most obvious condition will be the uncomfortable living in extreme hot weather or extreme wet weather. Even recently we've already seen, unexpected heavy rain which causes landslides and flooding. Then the unexpected hot temperature which kills the crops and burns the forest. We had to be living in an uncomfortable condition of haze which causes other illnesses.... Global warming will have chain reaction to all on this Planet.

We might think that its nearing THE END OF THE WORLD. Very scary....huhuhu.

Note: Photo taken from wallpapers.free-review.net

EID me to NATURE

2009-09-25T21:58:00.023+08:00

Melayu (Malay) House in Paya Indah Wetland, in Dengkil, Selangor - Photo courtesy of Mr. Stoned

EID MUBARAK! to all my Muslim friends and blog readers. It's the joyous celebration after one month of fasting and 'ibadah' (worship to Allah s.w.t). Unlike in other places around the world, Eid celebration in Malaysia has become a Malaysian tradition. The way we celebrate it is totally our own unlike the Arabic culture. It is truly a Malaysian culture by itself and we celebrated it with open houses for exactly one month.

During Ramadhan month, we have the Ramadhan Bazaar in almost every residential areas in town that sells lots of mouth watering dishes for breaking of fast. Some of the delicacies can only be found during the month itself which means only once a year. Therefore, all Malaysians in regardless of creed, race and religion will flock into the bazaar to find the things that they like most. There's surely something for everyone.

Eid is called Hari Raya in Malaysia. Everyone started their preparation of Hari Raya months prior to the special occasion. The most important thing is to have the Hari Raya traditional dresses or Baju Raya. It's a custom that almost everyone wants it to be tailor-made and following the latest trend and design. Being in the family of tailors, we are the busiest people during Ramadhan to get all the dresses sewed on time for Hari Raya.

Apart from baju raya, one more important thing is the kuih raya (small Raya cookies/biscuits). Like in Christmas and Deepavali, all houses must have kuih raya to serve the guests during Eid. The varieties of kuih raya can be as many as 20 types in one house alone. Home-made ones are always the best. Among the most preferred ones are the almond london, bangkit, batang buruk, makmur, suji dan tart nenas. Well... these are what I like.

Then the visiting part. Malaysian will open their houses to just anybody who wants to come for Hari Raya. And being Malaysian, the Malays have adopted the Chinese culture by giving away money packet to children who came to visit. It is called duit raya as a small token for children to make them happy.

As for my Hari Raya, I was sick on the first day. I did not know that I had a gastric pain, therefore I was bed ridden for the whole day unable to don my baju raya like my other siblings and parents. They were worried sick thinking that I was over-worked with the house chores and sewing cloths. My sisters all feeling guilty for getting me involved with the sewing thingy. However, I was back to my vibrant self when my close friends came to the house on second day of Hari Raya. They all took me for a trip to other friends' houses and later to the best place on earth, the WETLAND!

Being always an outdoor person, I just love the outdoor world in harmony with nature. So do all my outdoor friends. Being rough and carefree like we are, our Hari Raya celebration was also one with nature. We went to Paya Indah Wetland in Dengkil, Selangor to visit one of our friend and to explore the place since I had never been there before. It turned out to be very enjoyable and superb outing! All the pictures here are from from the wetland.

Paya Indah Wetland was initiated by the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in 2001. It is a place for nature enthusiast. Among the activities that can be done are fishing, bird watching, cycling, camping, team building or just contemplating the wonders of nature. It was temporarily closed in 2005 due to financial constrain but was relaunched again in 20th Oct'08 following the Environment Week. Lots of development work is still going on when were there. So it is obvious that it's not fully open to the public yet. As for us, we get to enter the place because our friend Amy works there. She took us on a 4WD ride around the eco-park.

I have high hopes for the Paya Indah Wetland. Being a nature lover to the bone, I will give my full support. In my next visit, I shall be able to cover more story of this wetland. It's important that the next generation understand the importance of wetland and how it contributes to the sustainability of our nature and animal species. This I must do, to educate everyone of the environment conservation and its impact on our lives.

Till then, again EID MUBARAK to all! Mwah! Mwah!

Reunited in Negeri Cik Siti Wan Kembang

2009-09-09T00:26:00.055+08:00

Cik Siti Wan Kembang with her pet antelope - Kelantan Ruler 1610-1677 (source of photo unknown)

Recently I went up to the East Coast to go to friends' houses in Kelantan and Pahang. It was a wonderful and enjoyable adventure. My last trip to Kelantan and Terengganu was like in 2001 and it was a one month non-stop travelling visiting hospitals and schools with my collegues, Amin because I was doing hospital and school advertising back then.

This time, I had the chance to go with two of my dearest friends, Azizah and Mie. It's been awhile since the three of us went for a trip together. We used to be inseparable. Four of us in fact, but that will fix itself sooner or later.

My visit to Negeri Cik Siti Wan Kembang (famous name to indicate Kelantan, a beautiful princess who became the ruler of Kelantan for 67 years. Source: 'Detik-Detik Sejarah Kelantan’, Sa'ad Shukri bin Haji Muda, Pustaka Aman Press, Kota Bharu, 1971 via Ibnu Hasyim's Blog) was very insightful and nostalgic. The famous long-winded and fatally dangerous route from KL to Gua Musang was a bit of a worry to us, all the time. Lots of people died on that road because of speeding, or simply being sleepy. We reached up to Kota Bharu early in the morning, around 6.30am. Beautiful freezing morning that makes you want to pee... heehee... but can't fine the loo. Fogs forming clouds from among the trees going up to the sky and serene looking paddy fields and kampung houses. It gives you peace of mind. So peaceful that you forgot your camera to capture the moment (:

Our first stop in Kelantan is Pantai Cahaya Bulan (used to be called Pantai Cinta Berahi or Beach of Passionate Love). Unfortunately, nothing interesting about the beach. Not much of a development for the tourist. Not even a toilet. I was trying so hard to keep my bladder. However, we were entertained by a group of goats. The offspring were all cute, jumping up and down like a clown (photo taken by Mie). It made us laughed out merrily (:

Interestingly, I never thought of what people call goat's offspring in English because in Malay Language we did not have different names to differentiate male, female or its offspring. We called the female as betina, male as jantan and offspring as anak, then followed by the name of the animal. So if it's a goat, we called it kambing. If it's a male goat, it's kambing jantan, if female, it's kambing betina and anak kambing for the offspring. Very simple. But it's different in the western culture and language. They have names to indicate gender and status. So just for everyone's info: Female goats are referred to as does or nannies, intact males as bucks or billies; their offspring are kids (Source: wikipedia).

I realised, little has changed in Kota Bharu from my previous visit in 2001. All looks the same. Hardly new building in Kota Bharu except for some slow development of new shop houses here and there. Most of the rest still remain the same. The opposition party that rules the state obviously has not put socioeconomic matters into high priority. Lots of young Kelantanese had to go out of the State to build up their career in Kuala Lumpur. But that's not a complain, we love Kelantanese in KL for they made up the colourful faces of KL. They bring us the opportunity to taste the Ayam Percik, Nasi Kerabu and Nasi Dagang (famous Kelantan/Terengganu delicacies) in KL itself! (Photo of Nasi Kerabu taken from Cooking Momster Blog).

After Kota Bharu in Kelantan, we shoot down to Terengganu State, famous for its beautiful island beaches and conservation of its turtle. Okay I'm sorry I bought the turtle eggs sold in Pasar Payang, but that was not from the endangered species. I used to eat a lot of them when I was in Sabah. That was way back in the 80s and 90s, not knowing a thing about turtle extinction. Huhuhu... not anymore, ya. The photo of the three of us inseparable bunch taken in Pantai Kelulut in Marang, Terengganu.

So, we went to Pasar Payang as I was excited to discover its famous intricate hand-woven songket and hand-painted silk cloths. I've already bought one silk in Kelantan but now looking to buy one more in Terengganu for my Eid traditional dresses but can't afford to by the original songket because it goes by hundreds and some by the thousands of Ringgit! The most expensive that we asked has a price tag of RM5000+!!! Then I can understand why. It is very finely woven with colourful treads and detailed motifs that tell you story. It's not even repetitive in some of the master pieces. I was in awe. The photo showed Mie and Azizah with some of the Terengganu Songket for man to be worn with baju melayu (Malay man traditional attire).

After Pasar Payang, we shoot down to Pahang State to break our fast in our friend's family house in Maran. We stopped to buy the never to be missed when visiting Terengganu, the keropok lekor. A mixture of flour and fish flesh to make into the most addicted, mouth watering delicacies. Ummm yummy!

Then we went down to the nearby beach to leave some footprints in Terengganu as well as to instill the moment with a few photos to remember in years to come. The photo showed all of us who went for the trip, courtesy of Nurul's camera.

We reached Maran, Pahang just on time for iftar (breaking of fast). Mawi and his family (our outdoor friend) were so hospitable towards us, by serving a lavish buka puasa spread kampung style. Just as we like it!

Thank you to Azli and Mawi for your great hospitality in Kelantan and Pahang respectively. Thank you to Azizah, Mie and Mariati for all the tears and laughters in the car along the journey. Thank you to Pantas, Nurul, Jaja and Sham for being a good buddy along our journey together to the East Coast. It was loads of fun! Yeay!!!

Bless the Children of Adam

2009-09-02T13:36:00.009+08:00

Kids and single mothers from Pondok Penyayang Raudhah

Ramadhan is here again. A month that is full of blessing, a month that is beautifully bonding and a month that is meant for sharing and giving. I am truly humbled.

Being in my position, I had the opportunity to do something for the community. Every festive seasons means lots of programmes for the less fortunate. That's one of the reasons I love my job and that's also one of the reasons that I stayed on in this line of duty.

For this holy month of Muslims, we have called orphans from Pondok Penyayang Raudhah, Batu 11, Gombak to share the abundance of Ramadhan Buffet at our famous restaurant, Swez Brasserie. A total of 40 orphans, 3 single mothers and 7 caretakers were present for the buka puasa session accompanied by the hotel management.

I was happy to hear story from the leader, Puan Ummi. She shared some information of the orphanage. They were pretty much independent for they do not get funds from the government. It was established by Ustaz Mokhtaruddin and his family. They have their own business and they are doing some kind of a farming to help ease the burden of day to day expenses. The children were taught to finish up their education and for those who are not into academics, were sent for vocational training. Orphans are aged from 3 months old baby to 20 years old teenagers.

How I wish I could be a rich person that I could give more to the unfortunate people. For the time being, my limited contribution hopefully will bring some kind of joy during this Ramadhan. Hope that Malaysians will always be charitable and giving towards one another in regardless of creed, race and religion. We all are the same red blooded human being. We do not have to see colours for doing good, ya. The rest, leave it to Allah swt to judge. That way, we will not hate, but we will love more.

A gentle reminder to those who are just about to venture into charity. Please know that, orphans, visually impaired people, old folks and physically or mentally challenged people are sometimes very eccentric people. They do not conform to our normal rules, therefore, pardon them for being different. Give with no expectation to receive.

Donation for this home can be made via MAYBANK: 564221610787 or call the home at 03-6185 2068 to arrange for a visit.

Last but not least: "Jangan lupa bayar ZAKAT"

BLACK & RED

2009-08-14T10:25:00.011+08:00

Sales & Marketing Team - Eastin Hotel on Buddies Night 2009

I just started a new job this year. Feels like doing some changes to revitalise and challenge myself for just something new. It's been a wonderful 2 years of my career with The Summit Hotels & Resorts. I had fond memories of the people and friends over there. No particular reasons for leaving my comfortable position in the corporate office, but it's just time to move on to the next level.

So as always in my career history, I started my new job with a wonderful event at the new hotel to mark a new beginning. This time, it's the secretarial club's party on 6th August 2009. We called it Buddies Club and it was 'Men in Black & Women in Red'. About 200+ guests and media attended the function. Everyone was so sporting with the team. Hardly anyone you see without a colour of black or red on their dresses and shirts.

It's a night filled with friendly gestures, laughter and togetherness. For the guests, it was fun with good food, good music, freebies, lucky draws, fashion shows by SNIPS, cooking demo by the fun Chef Veron and massage talk by Tanamera Spa. What else to say.... well it's just a wonderful event to start with.

Would you marry me? Because I'd like to date you.

2009-07-31T12:31:00.010+08:00

I was not feeling my vibrant self yesterday over a family issue. I had a date with my friend, Jasz to watch 'The Proposal' which she took an effort to buy the ticket a day earlier. Three of us girls watching, i.e. Jasz, Dr. Karin and myself.

I told her, this better be good because I really need a good laugh today. Well, being a fan of Sandra Bullock, I know she will not disappoint me.

It turned out to be the best ever romantic comedy for this year! So hilariously witty and touching at the same time.

A story about a Canadian Executive Editor-in-Chief, Margerate Tate of a publishing house, Colden Books who has her visa expired. She quickly came out with a great idea to marry her assistant, Andrew Paxton to save her from being deported back to Canada.

Andrew who was hardworking and desperate to be an editor, agreed with the condition that she promote him to be in that position with an immediate effect. So they made a pact and off they go for a three-day weekend at Andrew's hometown in Alaska to convince the immigration officer that they are a real couple and are getting married. From there on, their love story begins.

Even if the story was predictable but plot was beautiful to no fault and the acting were superb. Sandra Bullock was funny, high class and eccentric, which she made us believe her character very much. Ryan Reynolds was also a good actor. Very natural and cute, playing an assistant and a rich man's son who wants to break away from his family tradition. It makes you love this couple and follow through their story till the end.

I would say it is a modern day love story between a lady boss and her assistant. Hmm... very possible in this time and era.

Hahaha... I give THE PROPOSAL a 5 out of 5!

Malaysia's Got Talent

2009-07-28T18:04:00.016+08:00

Susan Boyle - An amazing rare singer from the recent Britain's Got Talent Show 2009

About three months ago, I thought I needed to do something exciting in life. Besides dancing and shopping, what else can trigger an excitement. I just don't know. I was feeling down with no reasons. Relationship f***ed up, needless to say.

So I feel the need to go back to my sisters. I think I should be reconnected to my family. That's the best ever solution. It was crazy and addictive. Never in my whole life I would actually believe myself being able to adopt this as a hobby. Dancing maybe, but not SINGING!

Blame it to all my crazy sisters. They all were crazy enough to find time to actually go off their work and go to the nearest karaoke centre for a break. How can they do this? Well, they all entrepreneurs, their own boss. Of course they can take a break anytime they like. But not I. I had to do it on weekends or after work.

It started when I was feeling down and lonely. Life is just not lively enough to my standard. I need a new activity. Where else to go when you are down and blue but to your own family, right. So I did go back to my family to find peace of mind. Meeting my parents always give me some kind of rejuvenating energy to my dead feelings. I feel so blessed and they reminded me of my life purpose in this world of evanescent.

Then my sister told me that she wanted to go karaoke. I asked, what's that all about and who's going? She said, all my sisters going. They've been at it for months, singing together. I was surprised. How come I was not invited. They said, because I was always busy with my own life and career. Never wanted to attend any of their functions. I had no idea, what I've been missing.

I was impressed. Then the rest of it is history. I was a karaoke addict ever since.

One good thing about this activity was that it connects me with my sisters. It makes us closer like never before. We have found one activity that all of us like in regardless of our age difference. Six of us girls and all love to go for a karaoke. I even get to see my 2-year old nephew often enough to make him recognise me and remembers my name too. If not because of this, I would have not known my own nephews and see them growing up. I had 7 nephews and one nice. Eight of them. They grew so fast. It amazes me sometimes. Huhuhu...

Romancing the Rainforest of the Past and Present

2009-07-23T18:21:00.003+08:00

This posting is rather late. I know. But I want to write it anyway.

I went to the recent 12th Rainforest World Music Festival 2009 which has been held from 10th- 13th July 2009 in Sarawak Cultural Village, Santubong, Borneo Sarawak. It has been a very unique experience, I wound say (:

Before we move on further on the festival, I would like to reminisce my earlier visit to Sarawak in Year 2005. I went for a leisure vacation to Kuching with a dear friend. We had a great time in the Cultural Village. We enjoyed the cultural performance which to our opinion was of an international standard. It was a three-day brief visit to Kuching and I wish I would have stayed there longer.

Back then in 2005, I put into my schedule of places to visit and authentic things to try in Kuching. Among many things on my list was the Bako National Park since I am so into national parks and wonders of nature. Some of my career decisions were made based on these reasons alone. Example, Botany and Mulu. In my life, I always think that it would have been something amiss if I didn't go to check out the flora and fauna of any unique places that I came to visit.

So my friend and I went to Bako National Park and the Semenggoh Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre with a rented Proton Saga which we paid RM100 a day. I drove the car all over the city. The road was not so difficult to maneuver. In Bako, we took an impromptu jungle trekking, choosing the shortest distance possible just to have a feel of the place. So we took the 1 half hours trek that goes to a beautiful bay, Teluk Pandan Besar. It was so nice but unfortunately, we didn’t know how to get down to the beautiful secluded beach down below. It's just an appreciation of a scenic sandy bay overlooking the South China Sea. I wish I could just jump the cliff!

I would not forget the boat ride experience of Bako. It’s all bouncy, reverberated, wavy and wet. I love it to pieces as it gives me that kind of adrenaline rush. What a happy feeling I had. All soaked from head to toe. Then we bought our tickets and off we go to do the trekking as what I have described above.

Now back to the rainforest of Santubong. It’s totally another unique experience. The much anticipated event in my ‘this year’ list. I went there with high hopes and expectations. Of course most of my friends, whom I intended to go with, can’t make it. I managed to get an old friend to get interested, so off we go.

Instead of going with my usual free spirited friends on a loose. I was tamed by going with a friend and her family which included with them one small kid of 4 year-old. She's a bubbly kid with great enthusiasm for life. Her name is CINTA or LOVE in English. True to her name, everyone who came to be in contact with her, will immediately fall in love with her. It was totally a different atmosphere and style chilling out with this family. I enjoyed the experience and it makes me see things through a different perspective. Thanks to all of them.

*Here are some of the photos of my memorable journey to Kuching and Santubong. Words can’t describe a moment that is within your heart (:
*will upload photos later.

The eyes see and the heart feels. A thousand words unspoken because it is better left that way. Let it be instilled in the memory of thee and me.

Adios!

L.O.V.E to all the greats

2009-07-08T00:57:00.014+08:00

Video courtesy of fonrims32 from YouTube.

This is the original L.O.V.E song by Nat King Cole recorded in 1964, his last album. One of the great musician in history. Well... This is a distraction of Michael Jackson memorial service that I am watching right now. An escapism. I shall write about him some other time. Not now.

Nat King Cole, a sad story in history. Why do people want to hate other people because of their colour? I just can't get it. What makes you so superior than the other. Cut yourself and the blood comes out the same red!

In his musical history, Nat King Cole was a victim of racial prejudice in America of that era. He would have been bigger and larger than life with his great talent. You can listen to all his songs now and find its remakes by many artists. It's truly magnificent and evergreen. UNFORGETTABLE, NATURE BOY, WHEN I FALL IN LOVE and MONALISA to name a few.

Video courtesy of loveblue15 from YouTube

Now this is L.O.V.E song remake by Joss Stone, an English fabulous singer which I adore. She sang this song with Nat King Cole own daughter, Natalie. It's the most beautiful song that will be remembered forever. Coco Mademoiselle used this song for their commercial which has delighted the whole world. If you all can remember that beautiful feeling when watching Keira Knightley in it (:

FLOWER POWER

2009-06-19T20:15:00.009+08:00

“We are born owning many qualities; some we may never know we possess. It all depends what kind of run God gives us” – Colleen McCullough in Morgan’s Run

If you feel ill inside, do not let your head or heart clouded with negative auras that’ll only weaken the body. Go out for some air. It means you need to breathe something that is fresh. Fresh means new and new means change. Let’s take another run.

Whatever that rambling is, I am a happy woman today. A flora and fauna aficionado, I am a flower girl on a loose. I bought flowers of many colours and textures. It makes me so happy just to look at my creations. I am like a proud mother.

Even artificial flowers can give me that happy feeling, needless to say with fresh ones. I will fall in love, unable to take my eyes off it for days. That’s the power of flowers men should know. The importance of giving flowers to a woman was to make her happy. The smell, colour and shape of every soft petal give positive effect to human senses.

Not the artificial flowers though. It’ll only tell the woman that you are a cheapskate and an artificial person with a boring character (:

Animal Instinct in the Zoo

2009-06-11T22:10:00.001+08:00

Animals on the loose in Madagascar 2

A couple of months back, I went to the zoo with a friend. My initial plan was to participate in their tree planting campaign in conjunction with Earth Day. It was stated in Zoo Negara’s calendar. I called a week prior to my visit to enquire about it. To my chagrin I was informed that the event has been called off due to non-participant of sponsors for the trees (why hadn’t they updated the website for God’s sake). My intention to volunteer on the tree planting finally became a visit that was insightful to share here in this blog.

My last time to the zoo was somewhere in Year 2007 when I brought my ex-colleague from Royal Mulu Resort for a tour. At that time, our Zoo Negara still has its aquarium collections (though awfully in need of maintenance), which consisted of fresh water fish and they also had the penguins. Where did all these animals now? I wonder. I went to see the Orang Utan show as well. At that time they had huge collection of monkeys. Hmm… why did I call the animals in the zoo as ‘collection’? Animals are not supposed to be a collection. They are species that need the same humane attention, tender care love and affection. Above all, we need to respect them. They have feelings so therefore, they can feel pain and they get hurt too.

Okay, forget about collection. There are many types of fish comprising tropical species and many types of snakes during my previous visit. The dwindling numbers of monkeys in the cages and even the snakes makes me so upset. Existing few that they have now were like impoverished, very sad and depressed looking. All the animals were looking like that! E.g. the sun bears, the Orang Utans, the chimpanzees, the cougar and the leopard. Thank God, the lions and tigers were well fed and looking fine if not bored. It makes me think, for the sake of education, we enclosed these animals against their will. How does that impact their lives? Huhuhu… I am thorn in between the right and the wrong of these animals living in captivity.

My heart aches. It reminds of Madagascar, the cartoon. How the Penguins lead the animals to flee the zoo.

Living in a place that is out of their natural habitat some of the animals shown signs of depression. No matter how much I tried to console my self that the zoo keepers are giving their best to sustain the animals in the most comfortable condition, I still feel sceptical about our zoo’s capabilities. In my opinion, Taiping Zoo fare better than our National Zoo. Not to mention, Singapore Zoo. It’s so far off to even compare! Huhuhu…

Looking around, the surrounding areas, obviously Zoo Negara was doing some kind of upgrading which was good. They had new trams driving visitors around the zoo which is commendable. There was some construction going on which I wonder what it’s all about since it’s like abandoned and no one was doing any work. What a messy scene. An eyesore to us, visitors.

The Safari was a sad thing as tall grasses left uncut, mosses found on the cemented floor, and it’s so disorganised. The Giraffes, Zebras and Rhinos, all looking like they were out of place. The theme ‘Safari’ did not meet up to the name. You just didn’t get the feel of it. Imagine what the animals had to suffer! Ahh!

I made some kind of summation in my head. Do we need the zoo or not. And the weight falls to YES we need the ZOO for the sake of education for our city folks who had never been to the jungle, who had never seen those animals from different parts of the world. But at least we need to make these animals live as comfortable as possible in exchange of them being caged and displayed for us human being, the caliph of this world.

The easiest to understand animals was from our own pets like cats or dogs for instance. They need to be treated like our family. Every cats and dogs are special with their own personality just like humans. They need, tender loving care. If not, cats and dogs will go into depression or behaviour disorder. Have you seen a depressed cat or dog? Well I have. And I hate people who tortured animals! I think, they will go to HELL.

Back to Zoo Negara, the issue now is obviously that they do not have enough financial aid from the government and the full support from the public itself. The entrance fees of RM15 (adults), RM6 (golden citizen and children below 12) and the tram ride for RM3 per round for me was reasonable for the upkeep of the zoo. Being a caring society, please support our zoo.

I’ve seen a lot of write ups been published by our local media to promote the zoo. Kudos to our good reporters. Keep up the support. The only thing now is for the management of Zoo Negara to look into matters pertaining their human capitals and quality deliverance of services. During peak season like school holidays, they need to have enough staffing to handle big crowds and to ensure good customer service to attract people to come back. Good products and good customer service come hand in hand. These should be looked into seriously. Hire passionate and experienced people to be in the front liner such as the PR and Event side. This is vital for the image of the zoo as it has been scrutinised by the public lately.

Oh dear, I am not in the position to tell people what to do. I love our zoo and hope it will fare well in the future and get to achieve its goal of becoming a world class zoo. Amin…

There is a Soulmate for Everyone

2009-06-07T23:26:00.011+08:00

"Who doesn't long for someone to hold. Who knows how to love you without being told"

This is a beautiful song. I dedicate it to all my young readers out there who are still looking for their soulmate :) I know it's not easy. Sometimes you think that this is it, he/she is the one but in the end, it's not the permenant one. Do not despair, all my dearest.

I've gone through that road. I have failed but still I believe there is a soulmate for everyone. You just had to be patient. Some will find him/her soon, some will have to go through a lot before finding one.

About four years ago my ex-colleague passed away because of colon cancer (and she's not the only one). She's in her 50s but she was like a mother to me. We were really close back in Year 1999. She was a Chef for one of the most prestigious food manufacturer in this country while I was an executive in the Business Development Department, helping her with new recipes for new products. She was a widow for 10 years and more at that time.

I had many fond memories of her. She's the fairest lady in her 40s back then. Her beauty was inside out. A beautiful lady with beautiful heart and beautiful taste in everything. I got to know from her, that she had many admirers asking for her hand but she refused. I asked her why she rejected all the proposals. She told me because her soulmate was with her, watching over her. She can feel his presence and his love still. Many a night, he will come into her dream. They will meet each other on top of a hill, with flowers in his hand and he will hold her without saying a word. She loved him every single day.

It made me humble listening to her love story. Theirs was like a movie material, really. Looking at the old photos of them together, the love was obvious in every expression and every pose. They never had children, but they had an adopted son. I will never forget her. Their love is an example of the existence of soulmate for everyone.

The husband died because of brain cancer. And she died because of colon cancer. It sounds tragic to people like us but in heaven who knows, they are happy together. May their loving spirits rest in peace for they had loved and had been loved. May Allah bless their souls. Amin...

My Goodness... lovey-dovey-head-in-the-clouds. Must be the full moon. I'm supposed to write something about the zoo!

Well... cheers everyone. Enjoy :)

The Importance of Customer Service - an example

2009-06-04T12:31:00.004+08:00

I called a florist today to make an inquiry about flower arrangements for my friend’s wedding in December. These are what transpired between us:

Me: Hello… is this Ms. Eliza, the florist.
Eliza: Yes! Wait ha! #@($#$ *))*# (in Chinese)
Eliza: Yes, hello! (with an angry tone)

Me: Hi, my name is Liza, I got your phone number from Mr. Lesley the bungalow owner of my friend’s wedding venue. I am calling to inquire about the flower arrangement.
Eliza: When is the wedding? (answering with no patience)

Me: In December.
Eliza: If it’s in December, then don’t call me now. I am very busy today. Call me in December!

Me: Okay, then can we at least meet up to discuss this matter (was shocked with her reply).
Eliza: If you want to meet me, not during weekend. I am not around. Meet me weekdays only.

Me: What time do you close?
Eliza: We do not operate from office. We are 365 a year, 24/7 a week (saying it out proudly).

Me: In that case, can we meet you up after 7pm since my friend and I are both working people.
Eliza: Nope. I am not available at night time (with an arrogant tone).

Me: How can I meet you up, then?
Eliza: Now is very hi-tech. There’s a thing called email (saying it sarcastically).

Me: Why are you being so sarcastic? Is this the way you speak to your customer? It’s like you are so angry when I call you up to inquire more on doing business with you (in disbelief I was getting angrier by the moment of her rude behaviour).
Eliza: No…. You must know, that today, I am very busy. I have no time speaking to you (how would I know, right… and she’s denying of being rude).

Me: Even if you are busy, this is no way of treating your customer. Well then, we speak some other time.
Eliza: Ok. (she hung up the phone with no feeling of remorse)

There will not be some other time for sure. I shall never call her again nor would I keep her number for future reference. Period!

SMILE (:

2009-05-26T17:20:00.000+08:00

What a challenging day yesterday. My car punctured twice in a week's time. Leaving me with no spare tyre to replace the second puncture. So I left my car at the petrol station to be at work on time.

Then my predicament started. I realised that it's just so difficult to find a taxi that will take me to work willingly. All refused to head to my work place, reason being, the traffic jam.! I had no choice but to take the bus. So I waited about 30 minutes for the bus to come. And I had to stand some more. Huhuhu... With my prim and proper attire plus three inch high-heels, I look so out of place. The Indonesian guy standing next to me were staring with one kind of a stare . I prayed to God, please let the bus speed up so that I will be off the bus asap.

Unfortunately, the bus didn't go to my office location. I had to go down halfway and take a cab. This time I managed to get a taxi with the condition that I agree not to use the meter. The taxi driver said, because of the jam and to cover the cost of returning without passenger, the fare is RM10 for a less than 5km ride. Oh dear... reasons, reasons, reasons.... I had to conform to the norm in order to survive this predicament. What ta heck.

Nothing in this world should bring your morning spirit down. The start of the day will determine the end, so it better be good. That's my mission and I had accomplished it with flying colours. I wore a mask that nobody knew what the trouble that I had to go through to be at work on time in one good smiling piece. Towards the end of the day, a magazine who's supposed to write stories about something else wanted to cover a story about myself in the Personality Page!

What a luck :)

Smile and the world will smile with you.

GREEN EDUCATION - The fun way

2009-05-24T17:20:00.007+08:00

Treasure hunters... you all may want to join this hunt which focuses on environmental education. Symbolically teaching you about your carbon footprint, recycling and how you can actually contribute towards a Green Nation.

It is organised by MENGO (Malaysian Environmental NGO) and the COC (Clerk of Course) is Purple Antz. You may get more information by clicking to their respective websites. I won't tell so much about it.

Those who have never been to a treasure hunt before, you may want to try this. It does not involve any cars like usually done in a normal hunt. True to its name, Green Hunt, it requires participants to take on public transportation.

I would suggest students, families, executives, retirees and even physically challenged person to participate as this hunt is suitable for all walks of life. There are more than RM20, 000 worth of prizes to be won. Participation fee is only RM50 per person and proceeds from this income will go to MENGO fund for the continuation of their existance in research and as a voice of environmental sustainability in Malaysia.

When? 27th June 2009 (Saturday)
Where? Half Day Walk and LRT Hunt in Klang Valley only
Who? Families, Students, Physically Challenged, everyone!
How? Log on to MENGO
Why? BECAUSE YOU CARE!

For more details, you may want to contact:
MENGO Support Unit
Unit 30-2, Jalan PJU 5/16
Dataran Sunway
47810 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia

Tel: +603-6157 5708
Fax: +603-6157 6707
Person In-Charge: Mr. Awang Muzaiddin Ahat

Please show your support :)

The Dire State of Blue

2009-05-21T15:13:00.002+08:00

Fight no more. Hate no more. Troubles you bring unto your selves. The dire state of Blue. Sigh… I need to cool myself down. Anger is not victorious. Hence come this posting. Here goes…

Our planet is called the Blue Planet. Why? Because from out of space, it’s the clearest blue of all. The atmospheric layers and the 70% water that covers the earth, earth is like a blue orb. Imagine how small the land area is. Only 30% and not all of the 30% are habitual. Minus the mountains, the dense forests, the extreme of Arctic (North Pole), Antarctica (South Pole) and the extreme deserts. We occupy not halve of the above sea level land area.

With the world population of 6.7 billion as of May 2009, a data from US Census Bureau, we are fighting for our own survival on this planet. All of us are only one speck of dust compared to the massive scale of Earth and its organisms that co-exist. No one should ever think that they are exclusive. No one should ever think that they could do whatever they like because the power that they have. No one is saved.

If Mother Nature wants to wipe us all, in one second, it can happen. We can’t control the amount of death caused by the rage of nature. For example, the Asian Tsunami in December 2004 (wiped out an estimated 230, 210 people – Wikipedia.com), Hurricane Catrina in August 2005 (about 1,836 death - Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, April 18, 2006), Sichuan Earthquake in May 2008 (estimated death toll of 70, 000 – from Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2009). The positive side is we do not have to worry about over-population of the Earth. Mother Nature has its own control mechanics :)

Back to the statistics, something interesting I found and would like to share. In a year, this world celebrated about 137 million of human birth and we mourn about 56 million of human death. World population is increasing obviously. Since births outnumber deaths, the world's population is expected to reach about 9 billion by Year 2040. Find all the data here. Can’t be putting data without reference, right :)

We should look after the ecological balance of this world. If Earth loses its balance, we all will pay the consequences. Having said that, my point is, no power is mightier than nature itself. We must take great care. I fear the wrath. Do you not feel the same?

So what ails our Blue Planet? GLOBAL WARMING! Everyone, this is very urgent. All individuals, families, communities, states, countries and the whole wide world must be aware what Global Warming is all about. This is because Global Warming causes ecological imbalance which causes the melting of the ice in the south and north poles which will lead to decreasing of land area (the rest you can imagine), the increase of average world temperature which causes bush fire and over-heating to us (unpleasant to live in a hot pot), the extinction of certain species (like the polar bears), the spread of diseases and many more unexpected situations.

We should have all these knowledge because knowledge is power. With knowledge, comes change. I’ll be writing more about this topic of my interest :)

Note: Photo taken from www.ablueplanet.org.

Lovers' Impasse

2009-05-20T21:21:00.008+08:00

This song sounds heartbreaking but somehow it makes me so happy :) Because I've done just that! Taking back my love and never ever going to give it back! Plus the throwing thingy as well. It feels great! The music makes you want to move your body, like you wish you are in a dance club at the moment. Letting go of your feelings and frustrations.

I am so happy for all my friends, i.e. Yoge, Josephine and Dinesh for getting married this year. I am so excited for Josephine that she has found her dream wedding venue. The bungalow is just perfect for her kind of wedding. After a month of headache searching for the right one, we found it at last. Thanks to Dinesh for sharing with me the contact. It's just perfect :)

Take a break everyone. True love is not material, not sex, nor external beauty. Think about it. Enjoy the song!

A Good Read when You Need One

2009-05-17T12:00:00.000+08:00

I am writing this at my parents' place. I seldom went home to stay overnight any more ever since I officially moved out in 2007. However, I made a point to go back home at least twice a month. My parents will surely miss me if I failed :)

I still have all my things in my room. One big wardrobe of my clothings, my desktop and my whole book collection which I didn't take with me due to no space to store them at the moment in my place.

Browsing through my book collections, I can see my all my favourite autors, i.e. Anne Rice, Diana Gabaldon, Paulo Coelho, Steven King and many more. I pick up one book for I need it to kill time during my long wait for an important appointment. I wanted The Alchemist but realised that it's with my friend. Hmm... need to get it back.

The Alchemist is an easy read. A very short book with deep message that can last you a life time. For some of us, it could be a life changing knowledge when you come to understand how things work in this universe.

Lots of people have read it, I am sure. For those who have not, please run to the book shop to get a copy. You will never regret it :)

ALL THIS TIME

2009-05-13T22:15:00.013+08:00

I am emotionally feeling down today, therefore I need to do some kind of a distraction. A few days back I was trying to locate my music library for Berlinda Carlisle, a famous pop singer in the 80s and 90s. I still remember I had her greatest compilation of hit songs starting from La Luna, Run Away Horses, We Want the Same Thing, Heaven is a Place on Earth and many more. I listened to these songs during my study days. She's such an inspiration. I love beautiful woman who has great talents and her kind of music is evergreen :)

I am searching in my music library for something soothing to console my soul in replacement of a box of ice-cream or a Cadbury chocolate in order to make me feel happy right now. No endorphines via food. Not when I am trying so hard to be like the Biggest Loser. My decision is to listen to good music and get swayed by it :)

I tried to think of great singers of the yesteryears to match Berlinda Carlisle's. Then I remember Tiffany. She's famous with All This Time. I wanted to find the music video of this song via You Tube, but a lot of other song entitled All This Time of the now came out. Not bad that I discovered Maria Mena and Michelle McManus. Mena is a young singer from Norway and Michelle is a UK based singer, winner of Pop Idol 2. They are great singers and their musics are worth listening to. I sure will get their original CDs soon :)

Such a refreshing music and it makes me feel much better. Enjoy!

If you lose me...

2009-05-12T17:05:00.001+08:00

"If you lose me then you know, you're just a bit too slow, I only go up!"
~The Saturdays in 'UP'~

In my experience of being in the rat race, I only believe that you give your best in order to get the best. You've got to stand out in the crowd in whatever that you are doing. That's the only way, no exception to the rules. This world is no place for mediocre. It's either you be on top or be at the bottom. Being in between means you don't know what you want in life and you are close to nothing.

Why do I say this? Because I just got fed up with people who has no ambitions or people who are scared to wish for the stars . I'm sick with people who give reasons for their failure. I loath, those who are complacent and happily satiated with whatever that is coming their way. Even when things go smoothly for them, they don't even bother to appreciate it. Until everything is taken away. Then, come the self pity. Blame it to the other person and bla bla bla... I will say, MOVE ON.

In my line of work, I have opened up a lot of opportunities for other people to move along with me. I love to see progress in people for their own survival. Nothing for me to gain but I expect commitments and enthusiasms that match my own. No doubt it's not as easy as ABC. But hey, every success comes with a price, isn't it. Take the opportunity and give the best. That's all the requirement is. Was it so hard to do? No, right. But people being people who have many kinds of excuses and attitudes will always think otherwise. Do doubt I am really mad at this moment.

What more can I say. If you lose me, then you know, it's your own doing. I do not conform to anybody who is trying to bring me down. For now, I only go up.

You are your own destiny. No one can help you.

HALAL CONSUMPTION

2009-05-08T16:26:00.007+08:00

I had the honour to participate in MIHAS 2009 this year. It was launched by our Prime Minister, YAB Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. This is due to one of the group subsidiary company participated in the showcase of Halal food during the exhibition.

What is the definition of HALAL? Some of the non-Muslim surely have asked this.

Answer taken from Mihas website: In the Quran, the holy book and guide for all Muslims, there exists verses that call for Muslims to seek provisions that are ‘halalan toyibban’. The English equivalent for this phrase would mean lawful and wholesome. Therefore, halal is actually about everything from the food we consume to the businesses we conduct to the transactions we perform in our daily lives. It is the responsibility of a Muslim to ensure that what he practices and consumes is clean, hygienic and not detrimental to either his health or his well-being. Halal is an all encompassing concept which encourages a Muslim to seek and use products, ventures and services that promote cleanliness in all aspects of a person’s -that a product or service is safe for consumption, produced in a clean environment and health. Halal is the next benchmark for quality. Read more here.

Hadhari Catle Industry Sdn Bhd is now under the same group of company that I am attached with at the moment. So I had the chance to learn more of this business in the Marketing side. Hmm... very interesting. I realised how big the market for Halal Food is. It's not just for the Muslim, for the non-Muslim too because similarly to the Jews which they called it Kosher Food, is clean and save for everyone. That's the upper most teaching of Islam.

Hadhary Catle first operated in 2006 is now growing faster than a baby could walk. Malaysia as the World Halal Hub has helped a lot in promoting this business. At the MIHAS 2009 International Trade Exhibition, you will see more of the catle produce from Hadhari Industry and all can have a taste of Hadhari Beef as our Executive Chef Faizal from The Summit Hotel Subang USJ and his team are working hard at the Halal Kitchen. You can find them at Booth No. D58 - D65.

Hadhari Industry has brought Celebrity Chef Ismail to do cooking demonstrations and giving tips in cooking different types of beef. Don't miss the chance to taste what Chef Ismail has in store for the visitors. He will be at the Hadhari Food booth from today, 8th-10th May'09.

Try the special Hadhari Burger for RM3 a piece and you can also buy the beef produce available at the booth. Anything beef that you can think of, it's there for the taking. I begin to learn different types of beef and from which part of the catle they come from; like the ribeye, tenderloin, hotpot, striploin sinews, highrib and etc. There are different types of sausage and salami, different type of burger meat as well. Real burger meat without much fat in it. Amazing! It's educational for food enthusiast. Many types of steak meat to test your cooking ability as well.

How I wish I could be a great cook. Not my forte, though :)

International participation this year is very encouraging. You may learn a lot of halal product coming from countries like Egypt, Iran, Palestine, Republic of Serbia, Tunisia, UK and many more. Learn of their products and you will see how big the market is. Halal is not just the food. It includes, healthcare and beauty products as well.

Decorum Everyone!

2009-05-08T12:27:00.002+08:00

What happened in Perak State last night and even since the last election makes me sick! I avoided writing about it because I hate politics and I don't want to tarnish my blog with sick political stories of our now to become sick society. Will you all just stop acting like we were born without proper decorum and ill background. Like we were never taught of good manners, respects and tolerance. Urggg.... there goes my frustrations :(

In regardless of what your political beliefs are, the thumb rule is, 'GIVE RESPECT-EARN RESPECT'. Decorum everyone!!! How can you be a future leader if you yourselves can't set a good example for the society. Do you think you fit the shoes you want to wear? Or was it a size bigger than your own feet. Answer this simple question and you know your credibility. Stop making fun of our country to others in the name of power and your own political agenda. I am so so so sick. It's damaging everyone of us. It's making me want to puke to see what happened on TV last night.

I think our society need to look into other areas of life that will generate positive thinking and healthy lifestyle. Look at our global warming for example. Everyone need to care for Mother Earth. Our government should impose more environmental friendly rules and regulations in all areas concern. Make it our priority now! It's getting hot in here. Weather changes have triggered unpredictable floods and droughts. No political powers in the world can save us if Mother Earth is destroyed. Who can go against nature wrath? Don't you see the urgency.

Our world is changing therefore we move in line with the changes in a positive way. Enough with political battle, wear your thinking head for matters like, health research, children education, conservation of the environment, elimination of poverty, empowering of the disabled people or OKU (Orang Kurang Upaya) and many other battles in this life that is vital in sustaining our existence in this world of evanescent.

STOP NEGATIVITY. Use your time to the best of all things that will generate love, happiness, unity and stability. How will you be able to do this? Simple.

Think positive, and the outcome will be positive. Think happy, you get happy. Think love, you get love. Fill up your time with positive activities. For example this weekend is very significant to most of us. It's going to be Wesak Day on the 9th and Mother's Day Celebration on the 10th. For a family activity and education, you may go for the Lupus Event as per my previous posting. Show that you care. Our children will follow this good example. And you can also go for the MIHAS 2009 Exhibition at Matrade. Something educational and may be a business opportunity for some.

Tons of activities that is healthier for your well being and family can be done if only you will it to happen :)

Note: Photo courtesy of Tourism Malaysia

LUPUS

2009-05-05T22:22:00.002+08:00

Butterfly rash - common indicator of lupus (photo courtesy of MedicineNet.inc)

What is LUPUS? I am sure many of you out there are not aware of what LUPUS is. I myself only came to know about lupus last year when my colleague told me that her friend is suffering from an unknown disease that makes her weak and sick without knowing exactly what it is. Later she made a research on this matter and we have been talking about it.

A few months later, miraculously an association came to approach me, i.e. Lupus Malaysia to help support their event. Then, I remember about my colleague's friend and I did more research to understand it further. If not because of that, I would have not known about this type of sickness at all.

So what is LUPUS? Lupus is an autoimmune disease characterized by acute and chronic inflammation of various tissues of the body. Autoimmune diseases are illnesses that occur when the body's tissues are attacked by its own immune system. In a layman term, Lupus is a type of sickness that has no cure at the moment as we do not know in particular the cause or the right medicine to eliminate it from attacking one's body ammunition system. Read more here.

The easiest way and the most common symptom to identify lupus is the butterfly rash. A kind of red rash that appears on the nose and spreads like butterfly wings on the face. The rash is not itchy like pimples. It can be treated and healed without scars. However, lupus is a chronic disease, not to be taken lightly. Other common symptoms are joint pain, fatigue with no reasons, fever, photosensitive (sensitive of sunlight) and even hair loss.

Everyone has their own immune system that will fight diseases automatically via natural antibody. With lupus, your antibody will attack healthy tissues unrelated to any diseases. It can cause you problems of the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, joints and even your nervous system (brain). Well... I am trying to explain this is a layman term because the article that I've read seems complicated enough and boring for some :)

The sad thing about lupus is that we do not know the exact cause of this disease. And we do not have an exact medication to treat the patient. I was amazed to know that some patients have to be wheelchair bound because their joints were too week to function anymore. Direct exposure to the sun will make the disease even worst for the patient. That leads Lupus Malaysia to organised the Walk-a-Payung on December, 14th 2008. With that event, I think a lot of Malaysians came to know about lupus.

In support of another of their event, I would like to urge all Malaysians to attend to their "Colours of Hope" children's art event as the following:

Date: 9th May 2009, Saturday
Event: COLOURS OF HOPE - Art event to mark PSLEM's World Lupus Day 2009
Venue: Ground Floor, Promanade (in front of Burger King & TGIF), 1 Utama Shopping Centre
Website: www.lupusmalaysia.org
Contact: 03-7957 7672/013-383 8644

The Climb

2009-05-03T19:09:00.019+08:00

Looking back about a year ago, I was living in a dream. I imagined myself to be with someone that I love and willing to let go of my personal interest in life for the love of giving. I never wanted anything more but to be with THE ONE. I believe in THE ONE in regardless of what people preach or say to me. My mind says, home is where my heart is. I am still in that state of hard-to-believe naivety. Nothing will ever change that. However, my direction and enthusiasm towards life have changed. All for the better!

I began blogging when I first bought a laptop and a digital camera. The reason being, I wanted to be always up-to-date with technology and be independent in doing my own business conveniently. True to my plan, I achieved all that with flying colours. I never knew about blogger.com or blogspot at the beginning. All I know is that, I spend a lot of my time reading and I wish so badly to be able to put my thoughts into words like those successful authors that touches the hearts of millions. I feel things intensely which sometimes turns to pain. It would be a stress-relief to be able to channel it out somewhere.

After almost living life as a failure previously, or only in my mind, I thought myself as one (wrong mentality), I rise again to be at the top. Lucky enough in this life, God gives you second chance for everything. The choice is yours to take and I am taking it. Time that has been wasted for indefinite causes, now being utilised to the fullest. Not all of my loved ones understand my doings. I don't expect them to. Won't give explanation as well. That's my own choice and am responsible to my own action. Questioning me would make me mad.

I am building back my self, rebranding it to the next level. My inner side has been reformed. The gear has been set high. I need a compatible engine to match up the speed. Therefore I have done some upgrading. Limited resources teaches me to improvise here and there. Oh well... Patience is the word.

No one should understand this posting. This is my own ranting of a messy heart. For now it makes me erase my facebook and multiply account. I found it irritating and anoying at the moment. I need to disappear for awhile. Try find me :)

Listen to Miley Cyrus folks. She's cute and can pass as beautiful young lady soon, marvellous and just genius with her new song, THE CLIMB. It suits my mood at the time of this posting. Enjoy!

Penang, Pearl of the Orient

2009-04-18T09:12:00.041+08:00

I've been to Penang Island many times in my life. It's one of my favourite getaways. It has a very unique culture, climate and most of all I love the food! However, my latest trip to Penang Island recently was like a maiden visit. Like I've never been there before :)

Here goes the story...

My friend Awang, who's working with MENGO (Malaysian Environmental NGO), a non-profit organisation formed in 2001 funded by the Danish based association to look into matters pertaining environmental issues in Malaysia, he invited me and my friend Jasz to volunteer for Water Day Penang held in Penang Botanical Garden on Sunday, 12th April'09. The event was launched by the Chief Minister of Penang, YAB Mr. Lim Guan Eng. It was the kick start of our adventure in Penang Island.

Getting to Penang

There are many means of transportation, however, we decided to take the challenge of express bus instead of driving. So on Saturday, 11th April'09 at 9.00am we started our journey from Pudu Bus Station with Transnational Coach to Penang. The ticket priced at RM35.00 per person for one way.

We arrived at the Sg. Nibong bus station at around 2.00pm. First thing first, we needed to check in to our hotel in Jalan Kebun Bunga, nearby the Botanical Garden. We saw taxis waiting outside the gate of Sg. Nibong bus station waiting for their prey, I think. True to my assumption, our predicament started thereon.

Penang Taxis

We realised that all Penang taxi does not use meter. The charges were fixed according to zones in regardless of the distance. Waterfall Hotel was only about 10km away from Sg. Nibong and the charge is RM30! The taxi driver explained, it’s their normal practice. No wonder the locals don’t bother to use taxi as means of transportation.

In my opinion, Penang taxi drivers should review their system and learn from KL to get better image from visitors and increase their income in the long run. Being expensive will only give bad image to the industry and eventually killing the business itself. I wonder why they can’t see the logic. So no argument, we paid our fare of RM30 and check-in at the hotel.

The next thing we need to do is to get our lunch. We wanted something authentically Penang. We asked the hotel reception, where we could eat. The answer we get was so cold because they wanted us to eat at the hotel’s restaurant which only served western food! She told us that all eateries are so far away from the hotel. Getting the cold and unfriendly respond from the second person we encountered was not a pleasant experience, but we didn’t want it to spoil our spirit. We still insist in getting the taste of Penang, so we decided to walk.

The walking part was fun. We took the wrong turning where the road was long and endless. We were happy and playful. At the end we hailed a taxi, no choice if we were to make the best of our limited time there. A less than 5km distance to Pulau Tikus, the taxi charged us RM10. We didn’t argue this time knowing very well that it was their culture.

Eating in Penang

We had Nasi Kandar for lunch. It’s very rich and delicious. You have you own pick of the servings from fish, eggs, chicken, mutton, beef and veges. Just name it and it’s yours. I had a kurma mutton with spinach. Umm… yummy as always!

After Nasi Kandar, we checked out an ice-cream outlet. We wanted to taste the ice-cream first before buying, but we were told, we can’t taste it. Not their practice. Huh! Okay, we had to respect people’s way of doing business. No worries, we selected our flavours and off we go to Gurney Drive area.

Walking gives us better view of Penang Island and its architecture. We noticed a lot of new high-rise, high-end condominiums under construction. New shopping malls too. Hmm… not bad as if the economy is booming. The walking and observation part was fun.

We ate some more at Gurney Drive before taking a bus to Feringhi Beach. Let's makan :)

So full with Nasi Kandar and Ice-cream, we want to check out the famous Gurney Drive hawker food centre. We saw these beautiful exotic snails they called Siput Duri, translated 'Thorny Snail' which I thought can only be found on beaches to be made of souvenirs. They were too pretty to eat. A full plate of beautiful snails was only RM10. It tastes great! We ordered some Chinese dumplings and a Yam Cake as well. Both cost us only RM4. That’s reasonable.

Feringhi Beach

Going to Feringhi via Rapid Penang is only RM1.50 from Gurney Drive. We were advised by two good Samaritan of policemen who were having their meals. The bus driver was a kind person. I was accompanied by a good-hearted elderly woman on the bus telling me things about the beautiful beaches of Feringhi and where to stop. We stopped ourselves at the Shangri-La Penang Beach Resort.

The beach was awesome with lots of people and activities. Since it was unplanned, we didn’t bring our swim wear. Nevertheless we had great fun riding on a horse which has a funny name and an attitude, namely 'SAY YES'. Hahaha... We were running in the water, lazing on the sand observing the crowd and finally the sunset. It was a beautiful and special moment for the three of us.

Gifts & Souvenirs

Usually I will buy Buah Pala (nutmeg) or Asams (preserved fruits) as gifts from Penang. However, this time around, I was not interested on those. I wanted something different. We browsed through the Feringhi night market for souvenirs. Most of the items were China-made, nothing authentic of Penang except for water-colour paintings of Penang scenery by local artists and t-shirts. Very disappointing because I would expect trinkets, handicrafts or anything local as we should promote local products as souvenirs to tourists. Finally I bought a dreamcatcher even though it is not authentically Red Indian’s. Someone used to give me one, so I just want to buy one for someone :)

Night Life

We took a cab to the new clubbing area near The Garage. The charge was RM15 from the hotel. It housed a few happening clubs like SS (Slippery Senoritas), Fame, Mois, Momo, Uptown and many more. We tried Momo. Clubbing in Penang was more expensive than in KL. On Saturday’s night, most of the clubs were patronized by youngsters of local Penangites. We took a cab back home at a bargain charge of RM25.

If I were to rate clubbing in Penang in terms of the crowd, pricing and delivery of quality services, it was 6 points out of 10.

Sorry folks :)

Places to Visit

There are many places you can visit in Penang. They have beautiful sandy beaches of Feringhi, beautiful UNESCO heritage buildings which features colonial architecture around the city, toy museum, snake temple, Bukit Bendera (Penang Hill), Penang Botanical Garden and many more to name just a few here.

Since our Water Day was the reason we went to Penang, we had a chance to walk around Penang Botanical Garden. It was beautiful although in my opinion, more can be done to it. It’s not supposed to be named a botanical garden at all. It’s not like Singapore Botanical Garden or even the Putrajaya Botanical Garden. There’s no learning centre or interpretive elements expected out of its name to the visitors. How I wish it could be a place whereby our future generation could learn something from the world of plants. Instead, it’s just like The Lake Garden in KL, a place for recreation activities.

However, I do love some of the trees I found over there such as the Canon Ball Trees, some low big branches trees which I didn't get to check the name and the Tabebuias (yellow coloured flower trees commonly found in Penang road sides).

Like wishing for the stars... but still wishing. I wish the local government could invest more in creating a real Botanical Garden with visitor’s interpretive centre to showcase our wide range of vegetation and create awareness of the conservation and research in the areas of botany.

After the Water Event, we went for a vegetarian lunch. Nice one :)

Then we went to Snake Temple near the Bayan Lepas area. Quite amazing. Lots of green coloured viper snakes coiled around man-made pillar branches passively. Not even a slight movement. It just sit there oblivious of people who came near them. Our friend, Hong told us that the snakes have been charmed by the monk at the temple. But it can also be the incense smoke that made them dizzy and passive like that. I am not sure… not enough time to really research on this matter.

In terms of architecture, the temple has many unique features. From the deity statues, to the bells, and the paintings. If only we had an expert to explain more of their meaning, it would be wonderful. Since we had so little time to catch on our coach back to KL, we made the visit short.

We went for a round to the USM campus. Hong showed us the Twin Towers of Penang. Hahaha… it’s actually a high end condominium with connecting bridge in the middle. Very expensive, it seems. About a million over a unit! I can do a lot of things with RM1mill.

Penang twin tower and Penang Bridge from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) view

Back to KL

So there you go my adventure in Penang Island with two good friends. It really feels like a maiden visit as we went to places we never been before, with means of public transports which gave us a different kind of experience. It turned out to be fun and adventurous :)

If you want something that is not boring, do it differently!

MAD WORLD

2009-04-10T15:15:00.002+08:00

MAD WORLD
Singer: Gary Jules
Song Writer: Roland Orzabal

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere

Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying, are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take
When people run in circles, it's a very, very
Mad world, mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen

Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying, are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take
When people run in circles, it's a very, very
Mad world...Mad world...Enlarge your world
Mad world

To Kill a Mockingbird

2009-04-09T16:12:00.002+08:00

A mockingbird is a common bird species that can be found in across North America from Southern Canada to Mexico and expended to Hawaii as well. Asian may not be familiar with this bird species. We have lots of crows, pigeons and may be swallows, now that it's been rared for its valuable nests in empty buildings or abandoned houses :)

Back to mockingbird, it is a common bird found in any kind of habitats, be it the forest up to the city. Meaning that it is so very common in America and can be found just anywhere. It is the state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas. (Source: 50 States.Com)

What's so interesting about this bird that makes me want to elaborate? You might ask :)

The scientific name for a common mocking bird is Mimus polyglottos translated as "many-tongued mimic'. Why? Obviously because this bird can mimic other bird's sounds including the sound of insects and frogs so perfectly. You may not tell the difference. It loves to sing, night and day. Some think it's wonderful. Some think it's an annoyance. I think, it's amazing!

Nothing much to say about looks. The bird is gray and boring looking, I might say. However, much to be said for its singing and mimicry talent. More and more came to admire. These are a few examples:

"Oh Mockingbird have you ever heard words that I've never heard" ~ Bob Marley quotes (Jamaican Singer, Composer and Guitarist. 1945-1981)

" No; we have been as usual asking the wrong question. It does not matter the hoot what the mockingbird on the chimney is singing. The real proper question is: Why is it beautiful?" ~ Bertrand Russel quotes (English Logician & Philosopher (1972-1970)

Nature Poem - Mockingbird
By William R. Jantzen

A little feathered angel
perching high in a towering dominion.
Sweet throated messenger,
delivering his sermon
from an array of twigs and branches.
A songster preaching from his leafy pulpit,
awakening his congregation.
He calls to us.
His magical enrapture carries on the wind.
A hermit of song,
yet a choral orchestration of a thousand voices.
His balled comforts the wandering
and the lonely heart.
He embraces the enlightened soul,
bathing in the first light of the day.
A child draws near as lovers pause
and delight in his endless melody.
Awaken to him and listen.
For his joyous song,
lives within all of us.

I love birds. I wrote many postings in the past related to birds, didn't I :)

Back to the real reason of this posting is "To Kill a Mockingbird", a phenomenal book by Harper Lee. GO GET IT NOW!

A one time wonder masterpiece by Harper Lee. Her only book and a proven must read by anyone who likes literature and just anyone who has soft spot for children and anyone who care about the society we live in. You must grab this one and read. You will never regret it.

It took me too long to get into this book because so many books out there to pick from. Sometimes you need a friend to suggest to you to make you read one good book. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is one of those good books by suggestion because it is an old book written so long ago. First published in 1961. Then made into film in 1962 for its tremendous success. It is now sold more than 30 million copies! It won't sell that high if it's not good, right. So believe me :)

I will not write the synopsis about this magnificent book for I want everyone who loves knowledge to read this book and understand. Harper Lee tells a story from the eyes of a little girl. She brought forward a very sensitive and heavy subject such us civil rights, education system, family institution and racial prejudice into her book with a simple understanding of children.

I must quote this one:

"I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." ~ Scout's father, Atticus, tells Scout and Jem when they told their father that they wanted to learn shooting with a gun.

And this one:

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mocking bird." Ms. Maudie explained to Scout why her father said it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.

'Mockingbird' here is an allegory used as the novel's title and in the story telling to explain good, innocent people who are destroyed by evil. In this book, the metaphor is for Boo Radley and Tom Robinson as they are the mockingbirds of the society they live in. They had been treated wrongly for the crime they did not commit.

Want to know more... please read this book!

Photos Note:
1. Bird photo : State Symbols USA website
2. Book cover photo: Harper Lee.Com
3. Film photo: Harper Lee.Com

Keep the Magic Secret

2009-04-06T16:29:00.008+08:00

I love Sundays and Tuesdays because I would wait infront of the TV to watch Merlin, a fantasy series featured in TV3 and Astro Hallmark Channel 702 right now in Malaysia.

Recent episode that really captured my attention was the 'The Labyrinth of Gedref' a story about a mythical animal I always adore, the UNICORN. Well actually not exactly a unicorn story, but related to it. It's more like a curse of a unicorn.

I love horses, and unicorn is like a fantasy ultimate horse of mine. It is a legend or it is a fantasy. Nobody knows. But a unicorn stories will never ceased to enchant me :)

It is said that a unicorn horn has many magical powers to cure illnesses exist in this world. The horn was called 'alicorn', very sought after in ancient time. They say, if the animal did not exist, how come the horn exist. You may read here for more of the alicorn existence. Some extra knowledge for you :)

However, to get an alicorn is not an easy task. You have to capture the unicorn first and the only way is while it lay asleep in the lap of a virgin. Unicorn will only appear to the the purest of hearts, therefore only a true virgin will be able to lure it near and a hunter who lurks behind secretly will shoot an arrow to its tragic death in the name of it's magical horn. Ahhh... No matter how you may twist and turn, retold or rewrite the story, it will always sounds so romantic. Isn't it :)

That is why poets and artists relating unicorn with romantic love.

Back to Merlin. I am a sucker when it comes to epic and fantasy movies. Anything to do with Merlin, King Arthur, The Chalice, Excalibur, Knights of the Round Table, Lancelot, Camelot, Lady of the Lake and especially Unicorn; I shall have an interest towards it. Those who read history and fantasies, will understand :)

In my opinion, Merlin kind of series is very suitable for family watch. It has a lot of moral values that is good to develop children's understanding of good and evil, family and foe, rich and poor. It has all the elements of life explained in an entertaining manner that most of us can understand. Everyone knows that it is a fantasy, but still it is very inspiring and intriguing enough to make you want to watch every episode. I wonder if I am the only one. Hehehe :)

"When one proves he is pure of heart, the unicorn will live again" - Merlin Episode 11

Note: Pictures taken from Wikipedia, Scifi Pulse.net and Carania Island website page.

Guerrilla Gardening

2009-04-04T11:29:00.006+08:00

This is real cool. I would give the news 10 out of 10. I love it! Love it! Love it!

I would say, I first got the video from my friend's blog, Mushtaq Ali, a Marshall Art Guru in the United State. He's an awesome person, which I always admire :)

This is a video about a new revolution of young hearts who wanted to make a difference to this world. A group of people who wanted to contribute to the betterment of our condition of living and who had proven that they have done a commendable thing that should be a great example to the rest of us.

I am truly touched and inspired by this group, Guerrilla Gardening. It was founded by Richard Reynolds since 2004. You may see all the videos of Guerrilla Gardening around the world in his blog. It was very impressive. And a story of an old grandma who picks up rubbish in the park. What an awesome grandma! I am truly impressed. God bless her.

In Malaysia, we may not need to do this kind of Guerrilla Gardening because we already have beautiful greenery all over our cities and town. And our authorities are very strict in terms of the landscaping which we had Landscaping Department under the Town Planner to handle the matter. But still, I support fully gardening in everyone's home and office buildings. We still need to fight the filth. Malaysian needs to be more aware of littering habits like throwing ciggarette buts out of a car window. I just hate that! Most of my friends are doing it like it's just okay because it's the norm. I would rather filth my car, than the environment!

I have written earlier about Malaysian littering nature in this posting. Please have a look as you may learn something from it. But it was written in Bahasa Malaysia, so not all will understand :)

Plants makes our living space more bearable. It soothes the eyes and the soul. Hard to explain but it does that to me :)

"LET'S FIGHT THE FILTH WITH FORK AND FLOWER" - Richard Reynolds

"LET'S STOP FIGHTING AND START DIGGING. MAKE THIS WORLD GREEN" - Me :)

DATING ABUSE. STOP IT!

2009-03-21T11:25:00.007+08:00

This is a video made by dosomething.org. A non-profit organisation that is running a campaign to educate teenagers in America against 'Dating Abuse', following to the incident between Rihanna and Chris Brown'. I supported this campaign and I think Malaysia should have this kind of campaign too.

These are facts you should know about DATING ABUSE taken from New Beginnings a Women's Crisis Centre based in Belknap County, US:

What is Dating Abuse / Violence?
Dating violence is physical, sexual, emotional, and/or verbal abuse between persons who are now, or have been in the past, in a casual or serious dating relationship.

What to do if your friend is being abused...

BE THERE - Listen to your friend.
ACKNOWLEDGE THE ABUSE - Let your friend know that you are concerned.
ASSESS THE DANGER. Ask your friend if s/he feels safe?
REMIND - Your friend of her/his strengths
IDENTIFY - Options and resources.
EMPHASIZE - That the abuse is not your friend's fault.
KEEP YOURSELF SAFE!

What not to do if your friend is being abused!

Don't ignore your friend or say you'll only be a friend if s/he leaves the abusiverelationship.
Don't put down the abuser. Your friend may still care about their partner.
Don't talk to your friend about the abuse in front of her/his partner; it may not be safe for your friend to talk about it.
Don't tell your friend what to do.
Don't blame your friend!

In a healthy relationship, each person is entitled to:

Have their needs be as important as their partner's needs.
Be able to voice their feelings, thoughts and opinions.
Be free from emotional, sexual, verbal, and physical abuse at all times.
Spend time with their friends and family and not feel pressured by their partner's jealousy.
Live without fear and confusion from their partner's anger.
Be treated with respect and never called names.
Negotiate conflict and make decisions about the relationship together.
Enjoy each others' dreams.

If you are or have been abused, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

The abuse is not your fault.
Perpetrators are always responsible for their actions. Approximately 30% of teenagers will experience violence in their dating relationships.
Relationship violence occurs among every race, ethnic group, sexual orientation and socio-economic level. The US Bureau of Statistics reports that 95% of assaults in relationships are committed by males.
If it feels scary, it is abuse.
Get some help and support for yourself!

Does your boyfriend or girlfriend...

Tell you what to wear?
Isolate you from friends and/or family?
Say who you can or cannot talk to?
Threaten you with force, words or weapons?
Get Extremely Jealous over just about anything?
Call you Names, Swear, or Yell at you?
Make you perform sexual acts that you do not enjoy?
Make you feel there is no way out of the relationship?

More for you reading pleasure here.

Be it MENTAL abuse, VERBAL abuse, PHYSICAL abuse or SEXUAL abuse. You must GET OUT! That's the message and I would like to share it with all of you precious soul out there. THE ABUSER and THE ABUSED. Please STOP IT and GET THE HELL OUT of it!

My personal statement:
"I hate men who lay hands on women in regardless of what their reasons are".

No one should get away with abusing. They should live their life in guilt and cast out from the society for their own stupid sins. We should not give them what so ever pity, second chance or believe in their act of repentance, on what so ever reasons. You are responsible for your own action. Dare to do it, dare to pay for it. Period.

Life precious pieces of mosaics

2009-03-20T16:43:00.008+08:00

Life is like a mosaic. Preciously made up of fragile pieces. You don't want to break them.

No one should live alone, we need a friend to share life like the colours of rainbow that always made you smile.

Life is so beautiful. You only wish you could freeze it forever like in your happy photos.

After all ups and downs, family is best. They are truly yours forever.

If you'r a loser, you'r a winner!

2009-03-19T12:31:00.014+08:00

Sam Rouen, 20-year old winner of The Biggest Loser series: 154.8kg to 82.9kg

Michelle Aguilar, 27-year-old, winner of The Biggest Loser series: 110kg to 50kg

Last weekend was a very long one for me because I took a day off on Monday just to rest myself after a very long weekend previously. It was like sleeping, eating, and reading, sleeping, eating and reading all over again like a cycle.

I went out only once, to check on my parents on Sunday and came back home to continue sleeping, eating and reading. My Goodness, I can’t believe that I can sleep so long. It felt unhealthy not moving my body enough. It makes me feel FAT!

That’s the subject of this posting. Our weight obsession. In three days that I was resting at home, like a bear going into hibernation, every now and then, I will wake up from my long slumber and stood in front of the mirror. I looked at myself all over to check if I had gained any extra pounds. Lately I’ve been engaging myself too much into reading weight related materials and additional to that, I watched ‘The Biggest Loser’ series in Hallmark Channel which I found very interesting.

I locked myself in my room, watching tv like an addict but for me it’s a good thing. I believe in tv education. Switching on to other channels, surprisingly more on obesity. Discovery Channel showed ‘Extreme Bodies’. It’s about how far a human body can take to the extreme. One subject was an ex-sumo wrestler who put on weight simply because the nature of sumo sport that requires you to be heavy. However, after retirement, the ex-sumo wrestler is risking his own health with obesity. Oprah Show at 8 o’clock showed the same issue but tackling it differently via the right way of healthy living.

By Sunday, I had finished reading a fiction entitled ‘All of Me’, about an African American woman who had tried to commit suicide due to her failure in life and her struggle to lose weight to fit into the weight conscious society which affected her career in broadcasting.

I think in within three days of hibernation, I had covered all things obesity. Educational and inspirational tv series and a touching story from a book. My Goodness, the knowledge amazes me and at the same time it bothers my peace of mind.

Every human being wants to be beautiful. Being girls or boys, women or men, once in awhile we wanted to be appreciated or admired for our physical beauty. It feels great when someone came to you and says how nice you look in your new dress or new shirt, isn’t it. Have you ever complimented anyone who’s obese for looking nice? No, right. I am talking about being fat aka obese. Chubby, plump, curvy or rounded sometimes do not fall into obese category. They are just as pretty and cute on some people :)

We say beauty should be from within and it will show through the outside. We say a lot of comforting things about being beautiful is about being true to yourself. It’s not your physical that counts but your heart and bla bla bla…. Doesn’t matter what your size is. Bulshit! Being human, the truth is, beauty is seen from the eyes of the beholder and most of the time, your eyes have a standard shape and size of what to be called beauty or pleasant to see. We are talking about normal human being, not those who think they are into a different category of above average kind or abnormal human being. Hehehe…

So back to being obese. It is very sad. No one wants to be fat. You will lose self esteem and you are jeopardizing your own health. Obesity means, diabetes, heart diseases, respiratory complications and so on. Pushing your body to the extreme will make your body system go haywire. It’s like a machine that has been overheated and burned out. It means you are cutting your own chances of good and happy life.

Obesity happens in my family as well. It’s not easy to tackle the issue when you love that person to pieces. You can tell them to slim down but it is not easy to slim down without a life style change. I know this well enough. You can’t say much to an obese person unless you will hurt their gentle feelings and no point of being cruel towards another just because they don’t fit into your ideal shape or size.

All I have to say here is that, exercise regularly and eat modestly are two main ingredients of living a happy and healthy life.

Like I always said, YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!

Tell me... Why do you love me?

2009-03-08T18:38:00.019+08:00

They say, friendship is like wine. It appreciates throughout time. Likewise, friendship too appreciate throughout time. The longer it is the better it feels and the more valuable it becomes.

I was blessed with great friendships of diverse nature. True friendship is of course hard to find, once you found it, it is PRICELESS.

A true friend won't be judgmental of you. They will stand by your side through thick and thin. They have no reasons to be your friend. It's like when people ask you, "Why do you love me?". If the answer is because of your beautiful eyes, your long hair, your smooth skin and etc of thousands other reasons, then he/she does not love you for real. You don't need a reason to love. Love with reasons won't last. Once the reasons ran out, the love is gone. Huhuhu....

I am talking friendship here. Friendship involves love too. A different kind of love. It takes time to build up true friendship. My philosophy is that, friendship has to be earned by merit. It has to be tested. Friendship and acquaintanceship are totally two different type of relationship. Acquaintanceship is someone you know or befriended for certain reason. A simple know you or know me kind of thingy. A relationship that has no deep meaning. I had many of those too . So does everyone else, I presume :)

In friendship, there are certain levels. You might want to categorise it as 'best friend', 'good friend' or just a mere 'friend'. These people complement your life in many ways. There are friends that are good for activities, there are friends that are good for confession, there are friends that are good for being helpful. Only you can tell which one is which. In regardless of which category they fall, all of them are equally important in one's life.

My Goodness, I could go on and on about this subject in many ways. I am writing this piece because I feel so grateful having all my friends who supported me throughout my journey in this life of evanescent. I feel gifted to have people who I could share my joy and my sorrow. It brings meaning to my existance. Nobody in this world should live alone. Every human being needs another human being to communicate or you will be called a pyschopath.

I had great time chilling out with my ex-colleagues lately. The photo above is of Jazs, Awang and myself. They were my colleagues during my employment in Taman Botani Putrajaya and Taman Wetland Putrajaya. What a magical meeting we had. What a life changing experience for us. I am glad for these two great personality for their company lately. A friendship can help you build up a better life. We learn from each other and hopefully we don't abuse this good relationship for many more years to come.

I have many other important friends in my life which I did not mention here. I cherish and value each one of them truly. Everyone is special in their own way.

Dance Your Age Away

2009-03-05T17:28:00.012+08:00

I love dancing. It's the liberation of you mind and spirit with the movement of your body following streams of sound. I just love to dance. It doesn't matter what moves you can make. Just move your body. Follow the rhythm.

During my visit to the Old Folk's Home in Kajang last February, I was touched with the spirit of these golden aged people. How they seem to enjoy dancing so much. They can sing and dance to the music truthfully. Entertaining us with their performances. I was truly humble and touched. My heart was bursting with emotions :)

I wonder, what my old age would be. Would I find a partner that will grow old together? Would he dance with me forever? Would he understand the importance of sharing and caring through tick and thin?

I just wonder, would I have children that will take good care of me or would I end up being dumped in an old folk's home like these people. Living my golden years with strangers. Waiting day in and day out for visitors to cheer me up during a charity visit. Ooo... so painful to event think about.

My parents brought me up in a very conservative manner. I grew up under a strict supervision of my mother. She would insist us girls to take care of our skin, our appearance and our conduct in front of other people. She said, being girls, we must always look pretty so that we will get a good husband. We were taught good manners as a Malay girl should be. Never to shout to people, always bow low when walking in front of older folks, kiss the elderly hands to show respect and always treat our neighbours kindly. These are the Malay culture I grew up with.

My parents are in their 60s now. They are still together and alhamdullillah, still healthy. I am thankful to my parents for giving me all the necessary education needed in life. I have a good career and a good life now. Being an independent metropolitan girl, I am no longer living with them due to my career. Whenever, I visited them, I see how time flies. They are no longer strong like before. Their skin have more wrinkles and pigmentation. My heart aches. It's making me sad. How many more years will I have with them? Huhuhu... I reminded myself never to abandon my parents like what I see in the old folk's home. I don't want to be ungrateful daughter or 'Anak Derhaka'. Whatever goes around, comes around. Your deeds in the past will come back to you. That's what we call Karma.

Back to the old folk's at the Old Folk's Home in Kajang. I love to see them dancing. They put big smile to my face. Seeing them happy makes me happy. I realised that no matter how dire the circumstances are, we still have hope. Never to lose hope if that's the only thing that keeps us alive. The littlest thing is the thing that matters. I want to dance like that, when I grow old. My partner shall never say no when it comes to dancing with me :)

Have a nice day folk!

Staff Gathering

2009-02-10T13:09:00.008+08:00

I've been tremendously busy since the wake of New Year 2009 with events and meetings. January and February were filled with CNY preparation. Thank Goodness, we did not proceed with the plan do CNY Charity Dinner at the hotel. Instead we went for an Old Folk's Home visit as part of the CSR programme.

My days were filled with Lion Dance Performance for hotels and media as well as Yee Sang tossing. Ate Yee Sang almost every single day :) But it was a good thing to do. To wellcome New Year with good wishes and high hopes as high as the tossing. Hahaha...

On 3rd February 2009, we had Staff Gathering to honour staffs who have done great job and received good comments from our hotel guests of their services and votes from the Head of Departments. It was done every quarterly whereby all the upper management will mingle with rank and file staffs. This was the time, the staff getting to know the management even closer as a person, not just as a boss. They were given cash incentive each time they won an award of best employee of the quarter with certificate and later they will compete to win the Best Employee of the Year. The prize will be annouced during Staff Annual Dinner on 12th March 2009.

For the 4th Quarter last year, the winners were from Maintenance Department and F&B Department. These two will compete with other quarter winners this March.

Chamah-Ulu Sepat...Mud Me Mad

2009-02-07T17:29:00.032+08:00

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Triumphant jump from the three of us, my climber buddies

I mentioned in the previous posting to write about my climb to Chamah-Ulu Sepat. Two peaks that'll make or break you. When I started my climbing history, my first mountain was Mount Opir, or famously known as Gunung Ledang. Like all things FIRST TIME, the memory sticks for a life time.

I didn't go through stenuous training session for this mountain. Because when you are young, you are almost always fit and on the ready to go just anywhere. It's like a week decision without much thought and consideration. I said, "Let's do it, girl!". And that's what, us, young hearts did, then.

If people ask me if I ever set target to climb all the mountains in Malaysia. I would say, NO. I am not keen to conquer all of them. I am not an avid climber who sets target of mountains to climb in within certain period. I am only a nature lover and a tree hugger. I do it when my heart feels right to do it. Meaning the timing and the feel has to be right. I am not proud of ever climbed any of the mountains too, because climbing to a peak does not make you a great person. It is the journey and what you did during the journey that can make or break you as a great person. And that is what I am writing here.

A journey that make or break you at the Chamah-Ulu Sepat expedition. MUD ME MAD

When you go for a long expedition in the deep jungle. A meticulous preparation needed to be done, starting from planning of route, logistic, equipment, costing, rationing, man power and etc. The most important thing also is safety and contigency plan to back up any mishaps. In doing so, a group need to have a good leader. In choosing a good leader, a few criteria needed to be set upon to ensure the leader is well chosen as leadership is not just about popularity. It's about accountability and responsility not to be taken lightly. Choosing the wrong person means risking your success level or even lives. There you go. It pisses me off dealing with so called leaders who wear shoes bigger than their feet. Got it!

Okay, back to Chamah-Ulu Sepat 7-day climb, in my history of climbing, this was the most unpleasant climb I've ever had. The feeling stays until today. An eye opener to certain human being true character and a test of frienship. It made me smile in a cynical way now.

Gua Musang Train Station - Just got down from the train. Nice view of a breathtakingly, peaceful town.

Mount Chamah Peak - Don't be decieved by the pose... it's not as easy as it seemed to be on top. Our trade mark for this trip was strawberry umbrella, sun glasses, working shirt and neckties.

Mount Ulu Sepat Peak - No view on top. It was almost nightfall, so we were in a hurry to decend. Cold, cold... freeezzzzzzzing!

On the faraway down from Mount Ulu Sepat. Taking happy photo with Tok Batin, leader of the village :)

Chamah Mountain was situated in the State of Kelantan. It was the first we climbed and Ulu Sepat in the State of Perak, 3 days later. We started our journey from Gua Musang train station on Christmas Day 2008. I managed to wish my Christian friends Merry Christmas during the 13 hours train ride from KL Sentral. I would say that KTMB should look into a better maintenance of their rail track, train compartment and airconditioning especially going eastcoast. Our train stopped in the middle of no where because the wheel went off the rail track, and the airconditioning was faulty all throughout the journey!

Later we took a 4WD that would take us to the first Orang Asli Camp. However, the journey that suppose to be only 4 hours, turned out to be 8 hours as we only ride 2 hours in the vehicle and the rest of the journey, we go on foot! The condition of the road was just too bad following the raining season. Even a 4WD couldn't take it.

The nightmare was when the whole team of 45 people were being separated. Some far away infront, and some so far away at aback. It can't be helped when you travel with a big group and when fitness level is not in unison. Those fit can't be slowed because of those who were not. Therefore training is vital for long day expedition. Some of the team members were not seen at all until we reached our end point of going back to KL. Amazing, isn't it. But good to know that all was back in one piece

The worst part is yet to come. Imagine having to walk for 6 hours without water. Then when you don't eat enough. Then when you had to track that long undulating road like everyone else who don't care enough to ask if you are okay or not because they too are not okay. I tell you, it was true hell. I can never forgive this part of the expedition. The mention of it feels unpleasant enough. However, we got through it proudly, I would say :)

Mud me mad! Lots of mud, lots of madness.

MAN vs WILD by Bear Grylls. Have you ever watch it in Discovery Channel? I think everyone should watch this for their own survival. You might not know that simple knowledge will save your life. It sure motivated me during the journey. No need to mention what I did to survive the predicament along the way. At some point, you had no friends to help you. They left you behind for their own survival. I got through it. Everyone in fact had their own tale to tell. Drinking water from mosses, leaves and puddles. Shamelessly surviving on the charity of the Aboragines (Orang Asli). We ate and slept at their hospitality. We devour the topiocas from their garden and we drank and ate their coconuts. Allah bless the aboragine people for their generosity and humanity. The experience was surreal in some ways. I had nothing to complain, really :)

In the course of our predicament, we did had fun. We enjoyed posing for cameras the most and having to fulfil our dreams to wear a necktie with working cloths on top. We did it on both peaks, i.e Chamah and Ulu Sepat :)

I am resting from climbing a few months to heal and rejuvenate. Mud still makes me mad. Hahaha... Now is the time to see other areas in life that need my attention. I shall come back soon with another feat in my climbing history, i.e. climbing Mount Bromo and Mount Semeru in Indonesia. I want to do it because it feels good at the time I made the decission. Not because everyone elses have done it and I too should do it. We do what we dream of doing at our own pace and own capability. That is the only right way to reach up to your dreams.

Going home at last after stranded one night at the Aboragine Village. It was on the eve of New Year 2009. Everyone was in dire state to rush home for various reasons :)

All photos are courtesy from my multiply friends. Thank you all. You know which one is yours. Mwah! Mwah!

OX YEAR - Lucky is Me

2009-02-04T20:43:00.007+08:00

Lucky Gold Coin for the Year of the Ox from Weighton Coins Wonder

Today, 4th February marks the first day of a New Year of the Ox, the year I was born :)

I am a person who likes to learn other people's culture for the joy of understanding and for self empowerment. No harm in learning because knowledge is power. What you do with it is what differentiate us, human being.

Even when all of us are busy thinking of the uncertain economy situation for this year. Most of us are worried about our own survival for 2009. Myself, I started 2009 with a blast. And I hope it will end with a blast too. Now in Chinese culture, New Year supposed to be celebrated on the first day of Spring which falls on the 4th February 2009 (different day each year). It is called Lap Chun. You may do your own research on Lap Chun. I don't want to elobarately explain it here. Let the Chinese tell you what it is, ya :)

What I wanted to share here is that a lot of people told me that you can stand an egg on end during Lap Chun, or the first day of Spring. I was at one of the hotel in Damansara Heights having an event with Lion Dance performance there. Myself and two of my big bosses were talking about it. I told them that I've seen photos of the egg stand on its end with nothing to support it in many publications in the past. Then suddenly it clicked in all three of us to give it a try.

Photo taken from About.com

It was around 11.50 a.m. I tried, it didn't work. Then my boss tried, it didn't work. By 11.55 a.m.-12.00 noon my Group GM tried, and without effort, the egg stood! I was totally in shock. All of us, in fact smiling to ears. I was so happy, clapping hands like children. Then it dropped down within less than 10 seconds. Not enough time to snap photos to post it here as a proof. Sigh...

We've tried to do it again afterwards, but it just didn't stand. It is said that it can only stand a few moments during equinox when the sun stood directly align with the earth axis of north and south pole. Meaning, the earth will get equal amount of night and day. The explanation is that, during equinox, the pull of gravity is stronger, so the egg easily can stand. You all can read about it to understand better.

May be you all can also try to get the egg stand. Who knows you might be able to do it. I believe you can. But it is easier during equinox, may be. I will definitely try it again next year and take photos as a record :)

Today is my Lucky Day :)

Hawaiian Night and Unwind

2009-02-03T17:59:00.007+08:00

From Left: El, Myself, Azwan Ali and Yasmin
Amboi.. Amboi.. Amboi... Azwan Ali the most controversial, outspoken, outrageous, happening and famous celebrity in Malaysia

I had a great time last year climbing one of the hardest mountain in Malaysia, i.e. Chamah Ulu Sepat in the border of Kelantan and Perak. Will write about this expedition in my next posting. The 7-day expedition started during Christmas time and ended right on the New Year Eve Celebration. Lucky that I had time to celebrate New Year 2009 with my dear friends. It was a perfect closure of 2008.

And 2009 began with a bang as well with lots of happening events. I had a blast time, Staff Annual Dinner party of one of our hotel in Damansara Heights. The theme was Hawaiian Night. So everyone were sporting enough to lighten the event with beautiful floral island of the sea kind of thingy. You know... Trying our level best to bring Hawaii to Malaysia. Hahaha...

As always, Azwan Ali, best friend to my colleague, Yasmin were the MC of the night. It spiced up the night even more with the presence of Paper Dolls imitating Sharifah Aini, Aishwarya Rai and a belly dancer. The photos are too sexy to post here :)

I had great time... we partied all night long, leaving behind all sorrows and pain, welcoming the New Year with bright thoughts and positive thinking.

Small Hand that Matters

2009-01-17T12:00:00.014+08:00

MERCY Malaysia appeals to the public to donate to the PALESTINE RELIEF FUND

We've heard it everyday, we've seen gruesome images of the victims, we read opinions of every parties in the world. BUT HOW CAN WE DO MORE???

People just wait, wait, wait.... People just watch, watch, watch... People just argue, argue, argue... Blame, blame, blame.... silent, silent, silent... don't care and even blaming or some might laugh! I wonder who dare to laugh in this matter of life and death. Could be a person with a heart made of stone! A person who should one day live alone with no friends and family. Then that person will learn the meaning of humanity and compassion towards others.

As we all busy with our own lives planning for our next holidays or maybe planning on how to spend our bonuses as most will get it this Chinese New Year, please do not forget others that are not so fortunate in this world. The Blue Planet is home to all of us in regardless of continents, countries, states and whatever division we have made. Mother Earth is dying with global warming. Let's not make it more unbearable with war among human race.

The situation in Palestine. ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS!!!

I salute those few who dare to come to the fore and make the difference. The least all of us could do is give support and prayer to those who had the compassion to act. One of the organisation that I have great respect and supported since the 2003 Iraq War and the 2004 Asian Tsunami is MERCY MALAYSIA. I have great admiration to Y. Bhg. Datuk Dr. Jemilah Mahmood the President and founder of Mercy Malaysia. She's one great hero of mine!

The Photo and Story in RED are taken from THE STAR ONLINE

Dr Jemilah, who returned from Rafah, Egypt, yesterday, told a press conference that the Security Council and leaders should be held accountable for the Israeli aggression and massacre in Gaza.

She was with Mercy‘s three-member logistics team which went to the Egyptian border

town on Dec 31 to assess the situation and deliver US$100,000 (RM360,000) worth of medical supplies.

“We have witnessed children being shot in the head by sniper fire. You can say that you bombed a building and there’s collateral damage but when you target kids (with) bullet holes in their chest and their heads, this is not collateral damage,” she said.

“It is now a question of accountability and I think we need to hold (world) leaders and the Security Council accountable to this.”

Dr Jemilah slammed the international community for taking too long to act, while the death toll and the injured increased daily.

HERE IS HOW YOU CAN HELP:
(taken from www.mercy.org.my)

Jan 12, 2009

On Dec 28, Gaza Strip was ravaged by a brutal assault by Israeli forces that left most of its 1.5 million people unable to access its most basic rights – including medical supplies. Hospitals, bursting at the seams, find it difficult to cope as infrastructure was destroyed by bombings.

MERCY Malaysia initiated an emergency response assessment team on the 30th December 2008 to Egypt in response to the humanitarian crisis which has killed about 900 people and wounded close to 4,000. One third is children, and the number is rising.

As a result of generous contribution by the public, MERCY Malaysia has to date managed to push through more than 50 tonnes of medicines and medical equipment. MERCY Malaysia has also procured four ambulances and a mobile blood bank unit – expected to be ready between 10 and 14 days. MERCY Malaysia is awaiting permission to send highly-qualified surgeons into Gaza and have 20 volunteer surgeons on standby.

We appeal to concerned Malaysians to send in cash donations.

MERCY Malaysia's basis of assistance to the beneficiaries relies on the support and generosity of individuals such as you to contribute to the PALESTINE RELIEF FUND.

It will support our efforts to procure emergency surgical kits, additional medicine and hospital equipment which will be channeled to the affected communities in Gaza.

PALESTINE RELIEF FUND Cheque payable to MERCY MALAYSIA CIMB Account No : 1424-000-6561053

For more information please contact 03-2273 3999 or email MERCY at
info@mercy.org.my.

Mount Bunga Buah-Berangan

2008-12-23T16:31:00.029+08:00

From Left: Apit, Ti, Baung, Azizah, Forever Yours and Mahfiz
Courtesy of Mahfiz's camera

A true friend is one soul in two bodies. ~ Aristotle ~
People say, nobody should live alone in this world. We need at least a friend or a family to support us emotionally if not financially. Hahaha... that is out of the subject.

My posting this time is not about the summit that I've recently conquered. It is more about the journey that brought bonding of friendship that goes stronger because of hardship. This is also a mountain story but not of 'Mount of Agony'. This one is called Mount of Bunga Buah-Berangan :)

Unlike my previous sojourn to Mount Chabang, I shared a tale of suffering while climbing one of the toughest mountain in my list as per that moment. The next mountain was Mount Bunga Buah or Mount Flower of Fruits (direct translation in English) in Genting Highland, Pahang. This one tells a different side of mountaineering story :)

Here goes....

Azizah & I taking a break 30 minutes away from the peak. Beautiful view at the back :)

The rest of the gang, arriving a few minutes after us. More at the back. We were always infront :)
Mount Bunga Buah was only 1,500 meters in heights. To go there, you may just park your car half way at the entrance near the road leading up to Genting Highland. Then take a walk using the old paved road that is now covered with all sorts of vegetations and swarmed with leeches. Yikes!!

Generally speaking this mountain was the easiest to climb. The trek was fair, going up and down giving you a variety of feelings. The weather was cold at the time we were there; it was around 21-14 degree Celsius because of the constant rain from day of trekking till the wee hours and till morning and till we got back to the starting point at 1.15 p.m. Sigh…. Mahfiz was diligently checking on the temperature from time to time :)

The most memorable thing about the climb was Buah Berangan or Chestnuts in English, bought by Azizah at the Genting Sempah rest area. It was our savior because we were mentally down due to growling stomach and uneven ground to sleep on. We were out of food supply. We were trekking non-stop, skipping lunch. We ate at 6.30 p.m. and we were not motivated to even go to the peak which was only 5 minutes away! Huh! The Chestnuts which were forgotten earlier lifted our spirit and woken our gastronomical senses. Thank God!

We were like nuts talking under the fly sheets. Because our eyes just can’t be closed with the condition we were in. We were angry for we were hungry and the stories kept us going. Buah Berangan which we ate divided equally to all, helped us drifted to a dreamless sleep for awhile. Then heavy rain came at 4.00 a.m. to leave us sleepless again till morning came because we were wet with drops of water coming through the non-water proofed fly sheet. Sigh…

The next morning… due to sleepless night, we decided to pack up early and shoot down without going to the peak which was only 5 minutes away. For Azizah and me, this was not our first time climbing Mount Bunga Buah, so I was not motivated to reach the peak as well. Surprisingly, Mahfiz, Apit and Baung all agreed not to go too because all of us were not motivated by the night’s ordeal.

However, after breakfast, our spirit started to soar just like when we first started to climb. We were back to our jolly selves but still stick to our decision not to go to the peak this time. We will repeat next time in a better condition. We headed down fast enough to catch up with our next agenda, i.e. to visit Azizah’s new apartment :)

The three of us missing Mie because he was not with us in this trip :)

The moral of the story here was that, when we go through hardship together, we become closer to the person who shared it with us. Through hardship, we get to know each other better. And through hardship we learn to appreciate little things we do not usually care in our every day’s lives. Hardship is good once in awhile. It kept us grounded and more humble.

That’s all folks. Till the next posting, I want to wish everyone MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!!

Mwah! Mwah!

Mount Chabang - The Summit Dream

2008-12-06T11:20:00.021+08:00

Magnificent light from the first ray of sunrise from Mount Chabang
All photos courtesy to Mahfiz

“It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe”. ~ Muhammad Ali ~

What people do for fulfillment in life is beyond comprehension. Everyone has their own dreams to reach up to whatever they wish in this life of evanescence. I love everything that is from the creation of time immemorial. Animals, people, jungle, rocks and mountains, it all has something to teach us. I love a balanced ecosystem whereby we all could live with peace and harmony. I go to the jungle often enough to find my peace. It makes me happy, it makes me humble to the great creation of the Invincible.

My recent mountaineering adventure was in the State of Perak. I joined Azizah and Mahfiz for a meaningful weekend climb on 28th-30th Nov’08. The mountain is called Mount Chabang situated near Pos Selim, Simpang Pulai, Perak. It is at the heights of 1,711 meters (5,612 ft) from sea level. We started our journey from the Orang Asli Village of Pos Selim on Saturday, 29th. As we passed through, children and adults greeted us with smiles and curiosities. We took the opportunity to snap a few photos with them. Always fascinated with their original ways of living :)

From the starting point - Pos Selim, The Orang Asli Village

The suffering started there and there soon after a river crossing. It was an ascending trail all the way up and up and up endlessly! As we progressed… the terrain got higher and higher. Lots of bamboos and thorny rattan trees. The ground was slippery due to recent rain. One wrong step means kissing the ground, struggling and crawling was the way to do it as stand up would be quite difficult. Muddied and not much trees to hang on to. My Goodness…This mountain has no MERCY!

With much difficulties, sweats, scraped calves and arms, heavy breathing, twisted ankles and etc., we reached our campsite, ‘Kem Botak’ (Bold Camp) to spend our night before shooting off to the peak. It took us almost 7 hours of hiking. We didn’t shoot to the peak just yet. We saved it for the next day to regain back the lost energy.

Botak Camp was a great place indeed. It offers the best view of the surrounding mountains. You can see all of them in their best glories. We had great time on top with lots of photos as evidence of our almost conquest of Mount Chabang. It’s only 45 minutes away from the summit. But it can wait for a little while :)

As always the case in the jungle, I can hardly sleep. It was real cold sleeping under a fly and a ground sheet. But I dozed off at the end, I think. Except for our friend, Mahfiz. He couldn’t sleep till the wee hours. He took photos of the night scene. Very beautiful.

Morning glory - Camping at the top was awesome!

Then morning came, with all its glory. Soooooo beautiful. The first ray of light. We all ran out to witness nature’s wonder. A magnificent creation! I was truly humble by the magnanimous beauty!

After breakfast, prepared by our designated Chef, Ijan and Fiza, we shoot off to the summit. Nothing much to see but the beirut to mark the summit and the marking stone. We took crazy photos of victory. That was real feat when you know that you have reached the highest peak.

Faces of triumph - we've made it! Malaysia Boleh!

Everyone say Hahaha....

Just about 30 minutes after, we shoot down the ‘Mountain of Agony’. Again, it was not easy to descend as the trail was steep, muddied and full of thorns, that you can’t simply touch anything. However, it was much easier than ascending. Hehehe… it took us only about 3 half hours to get back to where we had started. That fast! Yes! Because we were sliding and gyrating down the mountain like a rotten jackfruit or “macam nangka busuk jatuh” from the tree.Yes, that bad lah!

Tired, hurt, sweating, spent but triumphant - back to the Orang Asli Village

We took bath at a nearby river, under a bridge. Who cares anymore. Changing clothes in the open conveniently and off we shoot to Cameron Highland. We want to buy strawberries and roses. That’s the aim. And we got what we aimed for.

It was started to rain. We have our strawberry umbrellas for shelter. Nice… :)

We drove back home around evening, Sunday, 30th Dec’08. I requested for our team to cut short the rendezvous because I had another important one in KL :)

Thank you to Mahfiz, I got to reach home just nicely to drop my hiking bag and flowers from Cameron Highland. Then off I go to my next rendezvous :)

18 members of climbers, i.e. myself, Mahfiz, Mie aka Adam, Along, Azizah, Mie-G, Fasha, Ijan, Fiza, Bad, Sue, Kechik, Ijoi, Lela, Ben-Kerex, Salam-Kerex, Nazri, Naza, Salman. The guides were Botak, Omar & Amir.

Please note that I appreciate all whom has helped me during the difficult climb. Firstly to Azizah and Mahfiz for the tears and the laughter. Next to Mie for temporarily exchanged his bag to mine which was much heavy, to Along for being sporting with us all, to Sue who had passed me the stick to ease my climb, to Omar who kept me company, sang and tied my shoe laces twice on the trail, hehehe….to Fitri and Salam for accompanying me on the trail to Botak Camp, to Nazri and Naza for great photo seasons, to Ijan and Fizah for the fantastic cooking, and not to forget all the rest of the gang Mie-G, Bad, Kechik, Ijoi, Lela and the guides for being sporting throughout. Thank you all for making it an enjoyable and bearable experience :)

The Road Not Taken

2008-11-23T15:55:00.012+08:00

Bamboo tree of Kenaboi jungle in Negeri Sembilan

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost 1874-1963)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I have this mood today for reading poems. Lots of poems of old and new. You just pick any subject that suits you for free in the world-wide-web. Sometimes I like to read classical master pieces and my true favourite is Emily Bronte (1818-1849) because she wrote Wuthering Heights. A famous classical novel but very sad one. Reading it was like pain itself. You got what I mean :)

It is her one and only novel in her 31-year short lifespan. However, she was a very gloomy person living in a gloomy world. I wouldn't want to attract gloomy spirits into my life. This is according to The Law of Attraction. We all are our own destiny. We choose what we want in life. You wish and the universe will conspire to make it happen for you. Hahaha... Some of you might understand what I'm talking about.

Just to share with all my loyal and new readers in blogspot and multiply, this ever famous poem which has been a source of inspiration to many of us in this world. Here is the complete text of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.

SKY WHAT?... Sky Fruit Babe :)

2008-11-07T15:31:00.004+08:00

This is Sky Fruit babe...

Having great interest in botany, my family always search for special herbs for remedies of ailments. We have been practicing natural cure, alternative to modern medicines since as long as I can remember. If can be avoided, we do not go to hospitals. Since child, I had great interest in knowing what nature could offer and always it leaves me amazed and full of wonder of the greatness of creation.

In my journey to happiness celebrating Eid Festival in north part of Malaysia, namely Kedah and Perlis, my sister pointed to me a tree which my father explained as mahogany. It is a type of timbre tree that is widely sought after for furniture industry for it has a wonderful wood colour of reddish brown. My father recognised the tree immediately for he has been in the logging business before in Borneo (but not anymore, ya). My sister told him, that it is called Sky Fruit Tree or in Malay, Pokok Buah Tunjuk Langit. She said, a lot of people who knew of the tree will go and get the fruits for its medicinal value.

What interests me the most, however is the name of the fruit, i.e. Sky Fruit or Buah Tunjuk Langit. Why is it so-called? Then I see the answer clearly with no assistance. The fruits all pointed up to the sky and it only appear at the shoots, clustering at the end of each branch. True to its name, Sky Fruit shoots up skywards. A good name and very suiting, isn’t it :)

We were so lucky that it was the time of the year when the fruits were maturing. It has a unique shape as you can see in the photos. When it is matured, the fruit will split and all the seeds will fly like a helicopter fan, flying away following the wind. Actually, botanically speaking, this is how big trees spread their genetics to other places and territory. See the logic :) The intelligence of God’s creation. I took one seed from the ground and demonstrated to my nephews and only niece, how the seed spins in the air like a helicopter wing. They all learned something interesting that day :)

Then my mother started nagging for my sister to show her where she can pick up the fruits in quantity. We were lucky because we found that many roadsides in Kedah actually were planted with mahogany to give shades. This is done during Tun Dr. Mahathir’s time, our 4th Prime Minister. He has this vision of planting timbre trees along stretches of highways and streets for its timbre as well as preserving timbre species and future supply. For example, you may notice Teak or 'Pokok Jati' (a type of timbre tree for furniture) being planted along the North-South Highway. Apart from landscaping purposes, it is also planted for research and timbre harvest. Another kind of intelligence from a person I most admired. During his rein, a lot of progress and new ideas came into our landscaping scene :)

Back to Sky Fruit (scientific name: Swietenia macrophylla), it has a tremendous amount of medicinal value. You may read it in the internet search of this fruit later and be amazed by it. It is almost like a magic fruit :) To keep it short, here is a cut and paste miracle explanation of SKY FRUIT:

"In 1996, a team of renowned American biochemists had encountered a major discovery during their research that there are abundant of Flavonoids (found in Citrus, Gingko, Tea and Red Wine) and Saponins (found in Ginseng and has a bitter taste) in SKY FRUIT." Info from myskyfruit.com.

Flavonoids have antioxidant activity. Flavonoids are becoming very popular because they have many health promoting effects. Some of the activities attributed to flavonoids include: anti-allergic, anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral. The flavonoids quercetin is known for its ability to relieve hay fever, eszema, sinusitis and asthma. Taken from this site.

Saponins have many health benefits. Studies have illustrated the beneficial effects on blood cholesterol levels, cancer, bone health and stimulation of the immune system. Read more at this site.

Needless to say more. Here are the summary of the benefits:

- Revitalize sex drive
- Revitalize energy
- Increase strength
- Rebuild tissues
- Increase pregnancy rate
- Supporting healthy energy
- Reactivate cells
- Beauty agent
- Anti-aging
- Strengthen stomach, heart, lungs, liver, spleen
- Replenish blood and strengthen arteries
- Regulate blood sugar
- Restore healthy heart and brain, etc.

Now do you see why it is called MAGIC FRUIT!