Don't let them be history

Malaysia Wildlife Conservation
Support The Camapign

I didn't realise that I can get all touche after I read articles on Malaysian wildlife getting extinct, or illegal poachers hunt and brutally skinning tigers for their testicles and skin, or China people (as in Stephen Chow's God of Cookery) cooking bear paws, or in clubbing sea lions in europe, etc. Sometimes I don't think I am able to stomach shark-fin soup after reading about suffering-finless-sharks being thrown back to the sea. Animals do have feelings too, you know. I believe deforestration (for palm oil?) has endangered our wildlife which btw looks cute to me! (in zoos and pics). Don't you think those tapir and rhino look cute and chubby!? Okay, sorry...lame...

Back to reality:

If you think wildlife in Malaysia deserves a chance, please blog about them and tell internet users (just about everyone!) how you feel, and how wildlife changed your life. Please support the campaign (click on the banner). If you don't want to support the wildlife campaign, you can support the illegal poacher. I think they have a blog somewhere for you to support their illegal hunting activities :P

If you remember my friend whom I met in Starbucks in the previous post "A Scientist Near You?", he's from WWF Malaysia (was a save-our-snails champion) and is campaigning for rhinos and tigers in Malaysia :P. Oh, no, no, no,...not the wrestling organisation.

My fungus showing the LOVE

Even my icky, green muscadine fungus is showing me the 'LOVVVE':
P/S: Don't laugh!!! It is a rare instance for a fungus to know it's Xmas next week)

"Merry Christmas everyone!! Have a blessed year ahead."

Love,
Ivy
No-bell prize winner: for producing rare green-lovely-fungi on Xmas.

A scientist near you?

If you read the book "How Starbucks Saved My Live", you will be surprised how some insignificant, everyday, routine, daily activities can change you into a better person. I could relate to that story, all the more, it happened in Starbucks right in the heart of PJ. My X'mas mood plus my daily dose of caffeine requires me to be in Starbucks at least once a week. No doubt by this time of the year, I yearn dearfully for my Toffee Nut Latte and the need to collect 17 stickers before mid-Jan to get my cute little 2008 diary.

So there I was on a Sunday afternoon after visiting an aikido friend in hospital for a fractured collar bone, ordering my ToffeeNut Latte and then filling up some Sudoku numbers. With my Prof.'s reminder haunting me (he haunts me daily by saying: read at least one journal a day), I took out two scientific journals and started reading (well, it was just browsing and flipping those pages). Not even a minute passed, I almost doze off. But I was kept awake by a really cute guy in front of me and it's definitely not science at work.

All of a sudden, the guy beside me with a laptop pat my back and asked if he could join me at my table. I thought: "Hey, you've got your own table, don't take mine! And you're not that cute!" And I blurted out rudely: "Err...yes, anything?!"

He was a Singaporean, started working a month ago with our WWF saving tigers in Malaysian jungles. He claimed he has been in Malaysia for a couple of years doing research near Ipoh, Kelantan, Pahang checking out on snails. He's a snails expert :) He couldn't help but noticed that I was reading scientific journals. Ohhh come on, what are the chances of you meeting a guy who loves biology and .....err.....have an inclination towards snails!!! (weirdo) And yes, he passed me few of his papers, published in high impact-factor journals. And of course (sob!), I have none to pass to him. Malunya! Now I can see why NUS is such a great university, he's just a master student for 2 years, and has published 4 papers (four!!!) in high impact-factor journals.

The rest of the day (and night) was history..... I had a great time, and it's been a long time since I had some nice intellectual, scientific chat with anyone. Especially when someone is interested in your field too. Did he change my life (like the story in the book)? Indeed it has, because from today onwards I swear to publish at least one paper in a high impact-factor citation-indexed journal. What a great motivator.

P/S: I should go to Starbucks more and read journals there...you will never know a scientist is just right beside you.

Josh Groban's Noel

This holiday album really did beat the hell out of celebrated A.I. 6 winner Jordin Sparks' debut album. It's a real winner. I downloaded the whole Noel album and the first song I heard from my iTunes: "Angels We Have Heard On High" was truly amazingly wondrous (give me another superlative!). His angelic voice is a gift from God. This song also feat. Brian McKnight who has a mellow voice corroborates well with Josh's, making the tune stuck in your mind whole night long. I can't sleep now. And it's 3am.

A must buy (or download :P) for everybody in this planet. Josh Groban himself have always impressed me even from his very first album 'Closer' and his hit single "You Raise Me Up". When I watch him acted in one of the episode of Ally McBeal, he sang "To Where You Are" and my eye got all teary just listening to that song.

"Noel" is a must buy album and a great gift for this Christmas season. I rate it 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

"Silent Night" really silence-off the other cool (and quite good, actually!) catchy song that keeps sticking in my mind - "Gimme More" by Britney Spears. With her life in such a mess, I think she did great with this song. It saved her face a little.

Seeing Red.

England cannot qualify for Euro cup! Yeerrrr...malu betul lah....never hear before soo 'charrrrr'. England's dismayal performance, to my honest opinion, was caused by Steve Mclaren's selection of players and no-show by any Manutd players. Well, anyway...I am not a soccer pundit, and not that I know anything about managing football. I think I will just stick to supporting ManchesterUtd alone instead of England as a whole.

My busy week continues with several good news along with some appalling ones too. I was pretty happy with the arrival of my research equipment called the 'granulator-extruder' directly from China. I've waited 10 months for that blooody thing that is now sitting at the back of my lab. It definitely eases half of my workload and time, where else before this, I had to resort to my mum's putu-mayam maker she bought from Mydin to extrude my chemicals. And earlier, the putu maker actually broke at its handle. So much for my 'innovation' :) Thanks mum, for giving me the putumayam maker, and though it broke, I wouldn't mine replacing a brand new one from you. It's 1000X cheaper than my new extruder from China. I'll go to Masjid India this week.

The appaling news, besides England's failure, was the work I had done on my research had one small-itsy-bitsy mistake on the calculation, which my supervisor fired me kau-kau after finding it out. It was a small-itsy-bitsy mathematical mistake, but according to Dr. Tan, makes a whole lot of difference in my final results. I couldn't understand my failure in detecting it, but damage was done. Nevertheless, we fixed the problem, but my reputation has gone down the drain.

This coming week, I had to present my work at a cool conference in Penang. Hope to gain back my reputation a little. Mum is tagging along and staying at the hotel. But mum, even if you insist, you cannot enter the conference hall!!! :P I am all by myself this time.

Technorati

Technorati Profile

Bersih and such

The opposition parties put on a brave front to go ahead with the permitless BERSIH protest. I wish I were there, but being a postgrad student in a pariah local university (just try finding my university in www.topuniversities.com), I had to refrain my physical self from rallying in what I support and believe in. Malaysia has rapidly fell in many ways with regards to democracy and in protecting its people's rights. It's getting worse year after year, even by the minutes! There's no freedom of religion. Government bringing down temples - and damn - for the first time I had to support SamyVellu :P There's no expressing your thoughts in anyway - not even in cool blogs or street protest. Then where else can we express the basics of all human rights which is the right to speak out. Did you say Dewan Rakyat?? Tell we why the Speaker always deny any motion that the opposition wants to debate about? When I was presented my scholarship in Kuok Foundation not long ago, I was glad to have met Azmi Sharom, the infamous handsome, long-hair, hippy, law lecturer in UM and his vocal presentation of the governments stupidity in handling almost every matter. He's my hero!! And now, where is he now?? UM's VC basically asked him to shut his mouth and no more writing sin the local newspapers...or else....!!

The local papers are dogs; they dare not put the BERSIH rally on the frontpage!!! Instead, they put the deputy PM's face or what not portraying the govenment's 'help' in formulation a better subsidy scheme to counter fuel price rise. Helping us....tak payah lah.....we have not been helped for a long long long time. Why do we need help now?! The UMNO also said that if we chinese do not support BN in the next general election, we are shooting ourselves on the foot. You have crippled us long before; we are aready standing in one leg. Shooting another foot/leg won't make much a difference. In fact, it make us much stronger.

Well, Kenny the Law - you've done well, and you are already my hero. Let me promote your blog here in my space for once: www.darnmalaysia.com

I love Malaysia, but why doesn't Malaysia love me back?! You may advocate that every country has it's discrimination. Yes. But let me tell you...This is our own GOVERNMENT discriminating us. I've never seen in any country where the government openly discriminates with their policies.

Busy like a Apis mellifera.

....that means: I'm busy like a (honey) Bee.

This week onwards 'til end of December 2007 would be a stressful one for me as I am soooo not used to getting pumped up for writing and presentations. A whole lot of writing for me this year end for my research and one major test/interview. Because I'm soooo busy: I would like to say sorry to my dear friends: Ee Meng - for ffk all every year to your xmas choir in your Ipoh church; Beh - ffk your Aquaria visit although it brings me great interest; Chris - cannot come out yum cha at night because I'm on a diet (unless you can sponsor me HerbalLife)(Thanks for 'ada hati'); sorry for Myself - because I paid like soo much for my bloody gym but went only once this month; sorry to my labmates because I can never answer your entomology questions and pesticide calculations because I am actually not smart - I also google everything. Sorry to my parents because when they come KL, I make my mum cook my favourite petai belacan dish and forced my dad to service my car so that he pays for it :( And sorry Jon - because I wish I could change how things work here in Malaysia - bloody red tape. I love all you guys sooo much.

Bangkok - Day 3

I thought waking up late on our 3rd day in bangkok as the day before was an abuse on even my athletic legs. In wendy's guest house, we get free complimentary breakfast, but Jo woke up earlier than I to get in touch with her beau called 'boy-boy'. We didn't know where to go, but decided to go to the silk house called Jim Thompson. Well, we both do not know about the whole silk story that Jim was involved in and we didn't ask either. We plan to just wiki the whole story. The silk was rough. I guess Miss Wong from my early-days-geography teacher was right: Thai silk is actually not as smooth as China or Jap's silk.

Next to Jim's, we discovered a secret alley that led us to a part of Thai's biggest river/longkang and also the most polluted and black- coloured water I've ever seen. I love Klang River now!!! Is teh tarik colour (Klang River) better than the Chao Phyra river/longkang (black/grey)?? And this longkang ferries government (yellow-shirt locals- you will notice definitely) to work. While taking pics of the longkang, we managed to see a guy living by the longkang dumbed 4 bags of rubbish into the river without a blink of remorse. The river swallowed it immediately like as if it was its favourite lunch set.

Another river emerge faster than the Chao Phrya that Malaysia also got: flash floods in Bangkok!!! We managed to see the terrible floods around bangkok city because we were lucky??

Our tut-tut tried to avoid the huge banjir water all over the city. I love him. My tut-tut driver is cute and he's also 26 years old. And he said he would accept any amount we quote him, because he's already gotten gasoline subsidy from factory after we bought jewellery from the jewellery factory earlier! Of course, why shouldn't he?!

In Bangkok, there's organization in chaos. And in chaos, there's beauty - the beauty that is sooo hard to grasp in just one trip.

More pictures with captions and storyline: Click HERE.

Bangkok! - 13 and 14 Oct 2007

reporting from Bangkok!!! - from our ciplak hostel - wendy Guesthouse! see: www.wendyguesthouse.com near Rama Road I.

It's day 2 here in bangkok. weather is almost the same as malaysia, and it rains every evening too! well, it didn't spoil our trip to patpong in first day. we actually went to watch the ever talked about 'ping pong' naked act by those fat naked girls, and i am still wondering how they blew off those candles using air from their servical openings. we drank in the same pub that showed us the performance and got cheated by giving too much tips (we enjoyed the show, that's why!). Patpong was very happening - we ate authentic thai food by savouring hawker/stall food = phat thai, barbequed chicken liver and pork, and try to refrain from fast foods restaurant and starbucks as to maintain our primary purpose of learning only thai culture. The night crept in tooo quickly.

The tut-tut were crazy, drivers, and worst than me, so nuff said! :P

Chatuchak market was the best thing that ever happen in our lives! This weekend market is not for the faint hearted as it welcomes you with its spiciness and glaring heat, but slowly warms you down with the smiles of amazingly friendly thai people. EVERY local is basically friendlier than your door-to-door salesman in Malaysia. Yes, my ultimate aim was to purchase and bargain, but i finally gave up as haggling had caused me to lose my breath literally. I bought everything without reducing the price. Didn't buy much things, but bought much food instead.

Then we both went to do something I considered 'constructive' - visiting tourisy places! Visited the grand palace. Very GRAND. Well, was hampered by GRAND heavy rain too. To shed ourselves from rain, bought some jewellery from an authentic jewellery factory. Then, sorta regret it. But it's for my parent's 30th year of anniversary this Dec. 2007, so can't blame my dire urge to get something for them. Spent RM1500 there!! Don't ask me. Ask Jonie the whole jewellery story. She was the lucky one.

Went shopping til our feet sore and our asses sitting on every bangku available in any area. But, my best purchases was the very cheap authentic Levi's jeans! Plus, their new shopping centre Paragon is super nice. Nicer than KLCC indeed.

Til, tomorrow. See you all......sob sob ...in Malaysia.

Surprises during hair cut

I went for a hair-trim to trim-off the ends of my hair and also to shorten my fringe. And the most amazing comment came out from the hair-dresser's mouth: "Girl, your hair is quite healthy". OMG, I can't believe what I've just heard but there's this instantaneous smile carved out of my face!!! Well, either she doesn't know what hair is all about, or she doesn't know these truths behind my unhealthy(??) hair:

1. Swimmer since...hell knows! I remembered swimming EVERYDAY in month January 2005. My hair is browning due to excessive chlorine exposure.
2. Teached swimming every alternate day for 2 years already.
3. Innately, my type of hair is categorized as DRY and frizzy.
4. Wash hair almost everyday because cannot tahan sweat from Aikido.
5. I don't use conditioner.
6. May use 4 different shampoos in one week - shampoo from gym (unknown cimplak brand), shampoo in UKM pool (Dove), shampoo in the main bathroom at home (Rejoice), shampoo from my parent's bathroom (Pantene).

So, here you go. I should visit this hair dresser next round just to boost my ego a bit from her compliments. I'm happy somebody actually complimented my hair when nobody has. Ever.

Birthday Potluck

For all those mahjong-ers out there, to me, nobody is comparable to Chris Thoo! As of now, you are a born walking mahjong calculator. Fipink's house on a night ago was a "swimmer's" paradise. But I won like soooo many rounds of mahjong that I deemed was SKILLS (ahem!) rather than LUCK. Chris must be eating his brains off trying to beat me , but I would like to thank first and foremost - my sifu of mahjong since secondary school - Fipink!

Those not playing mahjong resorted to watching DVD entitled "Host". It's about a GM-mutated, giant, absolutely carnivorous, walking fish (read:tadpole) eating up the whole Korean town. This movie reminded me of "Black Sheep" but in Host, the mutated tadpole was working singly in mutilating everyone in the town. It's a movie for the 'pure-entertainment' seekers. Verdict: Lame.

I brough my home made salad and coleslaw to Fipink's place. Some bought pizza, chicken, satay, etc. but the ultimate crowd puller was mahjong sifu Chris Thoo's rectangular lasagne (but Chris insisted it was NOT lasagne). Whatever it is, it was this powdery sprinklets on top of the lasagne that cause a lot of suspicion!! :P And we all girls protested it was THAT powder that caused our instant addiction to his dish. Chris, you've made all those women out there looked like they can't even cook half-boiled eggs.

Thanks Fipink & Kenny for opening their homes and messing their place. And hi to Ee Soon and gf.





Next up: Aquaria, sleep overs, Serendah, Chris' b'day (yeah, Chris is cooking) :P

For pictures of Fee Peng's b'day party, please click HERE .

Yes, YOU..reading my blog.

Thanks for the comments everyone! Sometimes I do wonder if people do read my blog :) but those comments are the very proof that someone does actually read all my crap! Hahaa, I have wrote about 50 blogs (and counting) and those comments are the very thing (or moment) that I hope for once I post anything online! I DO need all your support to keep myself blogging (i love it) and thanks for not minding the bad english and uncreative writings.

Some friends told me that my writings are cool to read, but I guess you can't just compare any blogs per se. It's incomparative. While you throw your craziest thoughts in it, you tend to be YOURSELF. And because YOU are YOU, so are your blogs :) Get it?

Support my blog and Burmese monks! Pity those monks....sob! sob!

I woke up early to get ready for school and work। I suddenly came to my conscience that my car has exceeded it's 5000 mileage. Went to my fav. car workshop to get it service. They claimed the timing belt needed a change since it's never been change before. Anyway, got it changed with a price of RM350. Plus service: RM450. Goodness! sigh sigh sigh....

Then, went to pick up a stand fan that has exceeded it's lifespan too! Paid RM35 for the repair। Return home with the so-called-fixed-fan. Came back home - put it to test - works really well. But, not even 15 minutes, the fan went dead again! sigh sigh sigh...What's the damn problem with this fan?!?

As I was preparing to leave for UPM, a phone call came: Maxis broadband wants to come this afternoon to install the whole set of whatever! Sigh....afternoon????!!!! I asked if they could do it some other time, but of course, I wanted a broadband connection ASAP too। "Tomorrow", he said. Nah, today will be better. Just throw everything to me TODAY.

When do I ever get the chance to go to the lab?!

Another phone call came। Yes, never had soo many calls in one day in my entire life. A good friend from Sabah plans to come this November. I love her!!! She's coming for a week with his son to KL and Singapore as a vacation for her son who would have finished his PMR by then. Okay, another long conversation on the phone. Bla bla bla bla.....til' i lost track of time. I do admire her 'matriachal air' or aura. You can actually sense her aura from the phone {shiver}.

Not to forget, just spend a little over RM1000 (*#!$*&) for a return ticket to Bangkok Peak period. No discount. No RM8.00 goodie. The coming month and November will be pretty busy for me in the lab, but I can't help myself from travelling if the time permits. And when the opportunity arrives, I'll jump onto it without much thought. It's totally backpacking for us both. And yes, we don't have an itinerary (yet). No place to stay (yet). I'm basically googling everything! Nope, I don't believe in Lonely Planet guides. Makes it tooo tourisy. Not really going shopping, so please, please, please (esp. mum & dad and aunties & uncles, neighbours & labmates) - I don't take requests on souvenirs or Zebra stainless steal woks and pans, jeans, or bedsheets or Wacoal bras or underwears. A BIG CRIME for backpackers. I hate souvenirs so I might only bring back photos, postcards and memories :P

Souvenirs are only for once-and-for-alls. I promise to return to Bangkok as I would for Sabah, Perth and London.

Death by frying...!

My body was heating up like a cake baking in an oven without a timer. Burned! I was a walking time-bomb at that moment. When my supervisor told me this, his tone was a pity one. Yes, you do know why I hate it here. My feet are on the ground of one of the most absurb places on earth - Malaysia! I reckon this was the deciding juncture that made me a quitter AS WELL AS a leaver (hint: Singapore 2002 national day). Nevermind what the problem was (and is to come). I am not going to absorb all this s**t like a piece of sponge. Naive I was, but not anymore. 2 more years and I am gone from my so-called country that does not love me in return.

On a lighter note...whew...(take a deep breath)....Ratatouille was the most hillarious, absurd (I had to used this word again), most entertaining cartoony movie of the year. Those rats and their habits reminds me of Pooi's story about her resident rat in Wangsa Maju. I used to have ONE rat (a resident?) back in my house in Ipoh. Guess what? It even dig and ate our powdered detergent (there were poo). My mum passed the death sentence by frying the poor fry under the fiery sun. It screamed pleading innocence for a crime it was born to do: steal.

I recommend not Ratatouille but Black Sheep to everyone that needs a piece of cheap entertainment. I give it 4 stars (out of 5) for their (good) slapstick jokes. Sheeps are not considered pest even if they are multiplying like rats in NZ.

My first concert (does Disney On Ice count?)

Never would I thought of going to any gwen’s concert. As many of you have known, I have fewer likings for female singers. As a female myself, innately, male singer seemed more appealing. My preference lies on hot bodes like Justin with his slick moves and hip-hop stuff, Kanye, or any rock band for that matter. I am also not girly enough to sing-along to a Gwen’s say…Four In The Morning :P.

Gwen concert started with a nice little queue at Putra Indoor Staidum. The queue gradually turned into a hideous snake-like formation (there were confusions at the start of the queue!). Quite inevitable. Hey, even those paying for RM340++ seats had to queue darn long too! Gwen was ‘practically Malaysian’ so she followed Malaysian time too. She started half an hour late, but I believed she was waiting for Beh to arrive before she starts her show. No kidding - Gwen turned out the lights right after Beh sat his ass on the seat!! Hah..!

It’s hard to believe that our seats turn out to be amazing because our tics were comparatively cheap. We could see her quite clear from our angle. Thanks Kenny - you’re the real genius here. And the concert begins – all songs from her ‘Sweet Escape’ album were amazing. Never would thought buying an album from Gwen, but errrrr…yaa, I am beginning to download her songs now that I love her. In the concert, I sang a long though I think I did forgot her lyrics a little (embarrassing!). Some songs are even unheard of :P Flashback: Hitz.fm was virtually a Gwen.fm (you’re right, Fipink - on that Tuesday!), so I did some practicing on the lyrics (sing along with my car radio) before the concert so that I wouldn’t be accused of being a bad ‘fan’ in the concert. Her songs are quite rap-py, so it’s difficult to follow her the whole time despite my effort to learn some songs. Plus those screaming crazy fans, I realized my voice actually didn’t matter.
Hey, try singing to a Hollaback Girl song for instance….bet even a fan of Gwen can’t remember those wordy-lyrics (I may be wrong) – All I could remember from that song was ‘ba-na-nas na-nanas” and ‘ain’t no hollaback girl’. If I were to go another concert of anybody, I think learning the chorus would be sufficient. I am sure to remember any of Justin’s lyrics though.

No regrets for the concert and because I did have a great time, it felt short. Still had some voice left for next day’s swimming class to scream at those kids. I thought those Japanese harajuku dancers were excellent. I didn’t feel short changed at all. Gwen also had a good rapport with her fans. She was still very sexy even she wore black tight leggings. The word here is ‘tight’. Nahhh, not even an issue! - the media had made a huge buzz about nothing.

Justin’s next. NO cameras allowed?

Minneapolis Bridge collapse.

When the news broke thru' CNN, wooohh (sweat), I thought it was from some hollywood film or some Steven Speilberg behind it. It was exactly like Die Hard 4.0! Collapsing bridges! After I've read the accounts from survivors, I guess it's really too bad something like that happens in a place I thought was generally safe when we speak about engineering and science. This bridge over the Mississippi River was under construction when the collapse occurred. The bridge couldn't hold the weight of the many vehicle on top of it, but wouldn't the engineers have calculated that?!

There's this bridge over Bandar Utama, as you come from BU 11 and 10 towards Centre Point and Sunway Damanasara just in front of Sony building. Before it's under its current construction to widen it, I have never felt save on top ot it while waiting for the lights to turn green. All the cars are bumper to bumper crawl towards Damansara uptown.... it just feels scary and unsave, dunno why. Then the controversial, cracked highway in Kepong (I thought would have collaspe one day - touchwood!!!) is also scary because you can totally feel the vibration of the road (and my car) when any large trucks/lorry passes you.

Anyway, speaking about cars...I thought my bloody small Kelisa couldn't conquer Camerons, but I was wrong. Though at certain inclination I had to change to 3rd or 2nd gear, I guess my car could take it quite well. Hey, with extra weight behind (we girls bought tonnes of stuffs back to Ipoh) and someone sitting behind (no mentioning names here!), my car felt draggy but managed to pull through the whole journey. I think the trip to Sg. Palas BOH plantation was the most interesting as there were swearing involved and some exciting manuveres too!

We should do this more often. Next year maybe: more trips. Next time I'm not driving :P I can't drive airplanes, u know.... (hint hint: Bangkok!)

Singapura, oh Singapura!

On 21st July, I went to Singapore for a reunion with 21 of my SIF fellows. Can't believe it has been 5 years and everyone looked just the same as they were 5 years back!! Well, there are some minor changes though - Man became thin, Dat is sooo built and Claudia is 5-months pregnant. Otherwise, everyone remained the same as who they were 5 years ago. Our childishness has not disappear either - playing all those crazy drinking games (thanks Dat!).

Jo Nie, Boon King and I watched this silly, comedy, low-budget New Zealand film called "Black Sheep" (what else could New Zealanders do but to film their own sheeps...sigh). From the title, I knew it would be hillarious. Jo Nie and I burst out laughing each and every minute! Non-stop. But there were many bloody scenes too. Imagine you are in New Zealand and there's nothing there but sheeps, and this crazy GM sheep comes attacking you by munching at your flesh and then you turn into...ya....a sheep too!!! Oh, soo bloooooody and bloody funny!!! Good entertainment.

I missed my Harry Potter 7 dateline because of this Singapore trip. MPH man came right to my doorstep but I wasn't there. When I went to MPH to collect my book and free gift, MPH said that no transaction was being made and my name was not in their list of bookings. Ohhh...sooo sucky...First, I realised that MPH priced their HP7 book RM99.90 while Tesco was at RM69.90. I could have just cancel my online booking months ago and purchase the potter book from Tesco instead. Then, I had to go allllllll the way to MPH Midvalley twice to ask them about my transaction that has already been debited to my credit card. I became furious because they couldn't fix my problem. Money paid, but no book! So expensive some more..... Alas, MPH claim there was a mixed-up and finally after all this silly hassles, I got my Potter book.

First thing I did was to run through the epilogue - the last 7 pages. So, Harry Potter is alive. And that's it! That's all I need to know!!! I haven't open the book since. I shelved my Potter away and continued reading my other book that I have started since last week - Middlesex. Seems I am not a Pottermania anymore.

Girls, girls, can't wait to go Cameron Highlands. Camerons will be my final trip for this month or two. Saving money for overseas trips, and my parent's 30th anniversary this X'mas.

Months of movies

The month of June and July have been movies-month for me. Transformers was good. Watched it twice somemore. Even Titanic - I just watched it once on big-screen. And then there's Die Hard 4.0, but it was not as good as expected. Maybe because my expectations were a little too high. Die Hard 3 was the ultimate Die Hard. Die Hard 4.0 had no climax; the villain was a sissy computer guy and the scene where a jet shooting on this big truck that Bruce Willis was in looked entirely wrong and irrational. I prefer if the truck would just turn into Optimus Prime or something. More believable than a bunch of empty, falling highways. Samy Vellu would not like Die Hard 4.0 because the damaged highways would remind him soo much of our Malaysian ones.

Then, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (mouth-full!) was saddeningly not even to par with the other Potter movies. No quiddith, hate the maturity of all the casts, too much junk at the end and the movie ended abruptly. Well, it was the weakest book (and story line) so I guess it's the weakest movie soo far of all Potters.

I still believe that the British movie Hot Fuzz was the best soo far this year. Unexpectedly, the british humour did work well on me! The partnership between the 2 polices worked sooo well too. The whole movie had a good combination of humour, action (soo good!), and well-created script. I think the whole occult thingy that existed in the small 'crime'-free village is a little absurd though. I recommend this show to everyone!

I am now watching the season finale of Desperate Housewives 3 on 8TV! Wow, time flies..

Break-up and break-free.

I am sitting in a Starbucks cafe near the Jab. Pendaftaran & Imigresen at Pusat Bdr Damansara waiting for my passport to be renewed. I have to applaud the swift service by the pegawai(s) there as it takes less than 3 hours to get a passport done. Syabas! Five years ago, I still need to come back in 3 days time to get it, which had cost me addtional expenses on petrol, parking and time.

I will be going to Singapore this weekend to reunite with my SIF friends (yay!) and Camerons in the next to be with my best pals (yipee!). I also took a 2-week leave from my uni to concentrate on my writing and my comprehensive test. I guess I just want a break from everything this month.

I have to apologise to many of my close friends and (busy-body)relatives who has been wondering how I've been after my breaking-up with him. I know you guys/gals have been most supportive but I don't want to share sob stories of how it happened and what not because I just cannot explain the whole situation in mere words via the phone or blog. Thanks for the concern for those who called. I would love to be in the gossip pages (at last!) but truthfully, I am fine. And girls, we will meet up soon. So, no speculating on my story!!

Some of you know about my Brit beau Jon (ahem: Cal, Pink, YP). Well, Jon is superbly great (any other superlative that I can add?) but he's back at Imperial. He will be returning to M'sia soon. Love him. But still, no speculating!!!

I think I just need a break. See you all in Singapore and Camerons.

Writer's block.

After attending a seminar on 'Publishing for Postgrads' last week, I think I need to revamp my whole Ph.D. research. It's more like little changes here and there to cater for my publishing needs. To publish in citation-indexed journals is like...impossible (with regards to my research), but I think maybe I need to brush-up on my English and make it more professional/business-like. My grammar is quite good (chhe....!!), but I definitely write like a 5-year old! Many people do not realise that despite flawlessness in my spoken English (cheez....my scholarship interviewers were defeinitely impressed), I write English like a kindergarten kid - no 'flowery' words, no puns. And depite my hobby being reading (I read A LOT) and watching American movies (that's how I indirectly improve my English), I still cannot write professionally. It's like there's a 'barrier' in my brain that...okay, seeeeee.....I cannot find the exact word to say it (sigh). I cannot express anything properly in writing! How to publish?

(come to think of it, blogging is also a form of publishing)...nevermind...

I also had this 'writer's block' this month. I wanted to express myself but I just can't. Not in words and not verbally too. Not sure about the science behind 'writer's block' but I hate it. There's soo many stuffs that I want to say - about my country, my life, my friends, my studies...but cannot pour out to anything and to anyone. Nm. After my publishing seminar at UPM, I went to Camerons. And there, I got hooked up with this lady from MARDI, who knows almost every farmer in Camerons. She's an expert in this pesticide thingy, and she is tactful in asking pesticide questions when interviewing farmers (sensitive issue leh)....god, she knows like millions of languages...I just adore her.

When I was down from Camerons, I had ppl waiting for me to celebrate my birthday...not that I don't like my birthday...it's just like another day to me. Thanks all who celebrated for me. And just THREE DAYS in Camerons, I didn't know soooo much have happen down at lowland Selangor. I didn't know: "Pak Lah got married?!! Bird Flu in Sg. Buloh area?! Some landlord set-up hidden cameras to spy on naked tenants?!" Camerons is soo dead and un-cold (blame it again on global warming?) that you just don't get any breaking news there. Nobody talks about anything, but vege, flowers, pesticide and contaminated water. Cameron folks just do their thing and forget about the world beneath them. But I believe that being ignorant about the world is good at times. Carefree.

(okay...er...err....er...I dunno what to write!)...Writer's block syndrome coming back!!

Pui Wah came back from Taiwan to be with here family here for a month. Welcome back, Pui Wah!!! Glad you are back. We will meet up. Tell me about bird flu...or the chicken research you are working on (not!).

Hei, this SMART tunnel is not too 'smart' after all. Now, don't tell me it's to save KL from STORM floods and not FLASH flood?!!? So what is it EXACTLY built for, hah?! Also, there will never be an end to this flash floods in KL centre as long as SemiVallue still reigns his JKR throne.

So much has happened

So much has happened!

I finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. Pigs rule! Anyway, I am now reading Orwell's 1984 book too....guess, i will be finishin' it in 2 weeks (no time to read these days).

Watched 'Rent' the musical. It was brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. I was in tears at the final part of the movie. So freaking sad. Broadway/musicals is not my type (except Sound of Music, of course!) but, 'Rent' somehow manages to convey it's message that living unconventionally is OKAY. And then there's this theme song 'Seasons of Love' played in the background...reminds me of my SIF friends!!! Don't worry, will see you guys/gals in our reunion on 20.07.2007.

Last Sunday, my Aikido friends and I drove to Penang to find/eat good Penang hawker food. I love the cendol, the mee mamak, and the ice kacang. Managed to sapu 5 DVDs that is just RM4 a piece near Batu Ferringhi. Good deal. Next stop was Taiping - see the lake gardens and manage to catch the antics of some wild monkeys. Called Yeng Pooi to ask her where the public toilets are (you saved our lives) and together we went to market area to drink leng-chi-kang.

I didn't know Ipoh had 'Rum Jungle'. It was at Sunway City (I am more like a KL girl already, kinda foreign to Ipoh now) So, thank you uncle Ah Lieh for taking us there, and belanja-ing us the booze. Brian, Mhong, Sheaushin, Leong and I were dancing like mad ppl. Ipoh ppl really don't dance!! The band that was playing that night was extremely good, but, the Ipoh ppl were like separuh mati when it comes to partying. Weird Ipoh ppl.

Next morning, we went Gua Tempurung. 50 ppl went in at one-shot! So many ppl! Holiday marrr. Pity the tour-guide that had to manage 50 ppl one by one - especially at the lubang part, where he just pull our legs (sort of like impatient already!). I got my head banged onto a sharp end of a stalectite (wrong spelling!) and instantly that part swelled and there was this painful throbing after that. Not good. Can't comb my hair now. Actually, this is my 4th time in gua tempurung already, but each time, the experience is different because the ppl I went in with are different. I could go again - for the 5th time!!

Back at KL, we all went karaoke at Red Box @ The Curve. I was kinda tired, but manage to sing my lungs out at some of my favourite songs. Who could ever miss the 'Pang-yau (Friends)' song by Alan Tam. I think Mhong and I did very well in 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua. Hehehe. And sensei did impress us with one of his oldies that was pretty hard to sing - something about 'A dog name Boo'!

Just wanna thank some ppl that were kinda concern about my mum: Callie, Beat, Yeng Pooi, Bun and many others. My mum came back with her test results and she was cleared-off all diseases (it wasn't cancerous)!! My mum's second (opinion) doctor confirm that. I am thankful that my mum is okay, because she doesn't seemed so well lately. The doctor said that she's just getting old (not a word any woman wants to hear!) with pre-menopausal symptoms. Thank you Lord Jesus for listening to our prayers.

'Brave New World'

My form 3 tuition teacher (Mr. Low, who lives on the same street as I 'til today) have always talked about 3 books that have to be read by everyone:

1. Alice In Wonderland by a Reverend (?! wow) Louis Carroll, also a mathematician & logician.

2. Animal Farm by George Orwell, an anti-Stalinism.

3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I read Alice in Wonderland..like..years years ago...when I was still a kid. Well, I read it uncritically and thought of the story as boring and weird or 'just-another-fantasy kinda story'. Now, it's is the most mathematically profound (exaggerating..) book I've ever read!! (okay, because I DON'T read maths book!).

I've read Orwell's Animal Farm also like....years years...ago whereby pigs, chicken and all sorts of domesticated animals playing politics right at your backyard. Hmmph...I actually totally forgot what it's all about right now. Guess I'll just go to UPM library to pick up this book and read it all over again...when I have the time.

At present, I am reading Brave New World. Well, it's like a science fiction thingy (dystopian fiction, they call it) but it's inconceivable that our world would be divided into two worlds in the future as 'humans' search for 1) stability and/or 2) freedom. Which world is utopian? Which world is dystopian? U decide. A 'civilised' world -where people literally worship the maker of their world (they depise God), nobody gets pregnant, nobody becomes old, everyone is squeakily hygiene, babies are hynotised to live in their unquestionable own castes when they grow up, little girls taught to be promiscuous, no families, kids asking "what is a 'mother'?", hormone therapy everyday, etc. etc, etc (nighmare!). In 'civilisation', stability is achieved. No clashing, no fighting, no wars. Everyone is made to understand their own role in their respective castes. No questions asked.

The dystopian world is the one we currently live in. Women conceive viviparous-ly, people do get old and fat, worships God, stinkingly unhygienic, wage war against one another, there is such thing as 'family' and 'mother' and 'father', and there is such thing as 'romance', etc. etc.....all those things you own/have today. In Brave New World - these are percieved as wah lau...'uncivilised'.

Come to think of it, I prefer THIS world - overwhelmed with abnormalities and oddities. Makes us more human, right!?

Remember the movie - "The Island" starring Scarlett Johanssen? Something like that lorrr.....but, of course, different plot la..

House

Searching for a house in Klang Valley is not easy. I have been asking for advice from various people and parents. I used to have knowledge about houses and apartments in Klang Valley as I was doing some real estate brokering after I graduated.

I have set my mind to get a landed-property. Condos and apartments sounds terrific - with their amenities and gym and swimming pool (!), but it is not a good buy/investment because of the maintenance fees. Even after you've payed-up the whole sum for the condo/apartment in say...15 years, you still have to keep paying the maintenance fee. Sometimes, a condo or apartment may be priced even higher than a landed one. The downside of high rise is that you may somehow get stuck with ppl you don't like, and you cannot avoid their disgusting or irresponsible antics (Thanks Sensei for this advice).

So, I'll get a landed one. But where? Puchong? I heard Bandar Puteri Puchong is real good. The place is superb. But, since the high demand for the houses there a couple of years back, the prices of the house there has shot-up tremendously. Puchong is great as it is a very convenient, the place is growing like hell, and it's on the way to my uni. I stayed in Puchong for 3-4 years already. I love Puchong, but I had to pass the bloody Sunway toll to get to town/aikido (downside).

Bukit Jalil is great too. I love the bypass, which seldom gets jammed. Then, the LRT station in the stadium is good for commuting to town for work. And it's near UPM. I teach swimming in Bukit Jalil too. But no new development there. Kinrara is nearby and there's this hill near the bypass that is currently developed into a large housing areas, just behind Kinrara Golf Club. But seems like another 3-4 years (I can't wait) for the developer to finish the estate. Sentul is great too. But, no new landed properties in Sentul.

Many things to consider before getting a house. Lots! Cannot think now. Talking about 'house' - hmmphhh...reminded me of my fav. Dr. House.

To be continue....

Post Mt. Kinabalu

At last, I’ve ascended Mount Kinabalu and climbed to the highest peak – ironically called Low’s Peak at about 4000++m. The weather was good throughout the 2-day hike up (and down). It was physical and mentally strenuous because I was not particularly okay with the altitude change and couldn’t take the cold. Physically, it was easy for me going up, but coming down was bad because first, descending the mountain just right after you’ve reached the peak all in a single day is terribly tiring, and secondly, there was no motivation/drive anymore to descend. Nothing to look forward anymore.

I kena altitude sickness – symptoms such as heartbeat rate at 90 beats/min while resting in bed, slight dizziness, and breathing difficulties. But, my Milidon helped me a lot. I think I often go to the toilet too because….hmmphh…. I drank too much and I ate too many bananas at one go!

I was quite surprise the weather was great during our ascend – the sky was clear (you could see the whole load of planets and stars), and not a single drop of rain. I was expecting the worst because it had been raining every evening in Kota Kinabalu park at the foot. The moon was almost full and there was no need for torchlight when we climbed up.

There are things that I left behind:- my red beanie fell off my head somewhere during the ascend, and it was too dark (opps..I am contradicting myself with the bright moonlite I’ve just mentioned), and I didn’t want to fall right into some valley or something, so I presume some lucky person might have found my red lovely beanie. Sob Sob. I also left some of my waste behind a real big secluded rock, because I couldn’t stand it anymore when nature calls. Silly, I actually said “Sorry, sorry ahhh…I am sooooo sorry Mr. Rock, but I need to do this right now!” Hope the penunggu of the rock did not blame me or even follow me back to KL!!! Mount Kinabalu is known for their spirits and myths. Something like dat.

So I thought KL has traffic jams. Wait ‘til you see the peak. Soooooo many climbers want to be on that small little Low’s Peak! Human traffic jam! My SouthAfrican mate almost fell-off the peak because he lost his balance while snapping pictures!

I’ll put up some pictures in the next time. Have to collect pictures from other cameras. Cheers.

Cellulite or no cellulite, that is not the question.

Never is a thousand years would i thought of going to a gym. I basically hate the thought of enrolling myself in a fitness centre because I heard that there are many 'aunties' there working out. Well, I don't want to be labelled 'Auntie' marrrr. Another reason why I loathe fitness centres was because I knew it would be a dull thing. You are alone doing your stuffs, using the equipment. Nobody is your friend when it comes to fitness. All alone. I have always prefer pure sports such as swimming, badminton, and martial arts like Aikido because competition, contact and skills are involved. We make many close friends in sports. In short: not dull.

I went for my first class of aerobics. Wow, I thought I can do aerobics, because I presumed that my swimming and aikido would have made me fitter than any other ppl. Once the class got started, I realised that I was soooo lost! Lost & blur. People can just jump, leap, and dance and dance and dance non-stop for an hour, and here I am drinking a whole bucket of water and resting on the bench all the time.

Then, I tried bodycombat. Bodycombat is like kickboxing and dancing in synchro. Okay, I know Aikido, so I again presumed that I can do this like a piece of cake. I almost died. These 'Aunties' are 10 times better than me in terms of fitness. They kick-box (and shout kiai) like they have just murderlized someone in the hall. I can't do kick boxing at all! I have no strength to continue. What more: I am suppose to climb Mount Kinabalu on 1st Feb.

Peak of Kinabalu

My Personal Trainer did not make my day either. He said that he has climbed Mount Kinabalu 3 times, and people like Ivy Chai will 'suffer' their way up. He assured me that in 2 weeks, I would be the fittest and the first in the group to reach the mountain. Okay, he make me do push-ups 30 times. I died. He made me run the treadmill and cycle to check my endurance. I died. I died in almost everything he asked me to do. I am not fit. Aunties with cellulite also can beat me. In 2 weeks, hopefully this will change for the better.

Gym is boring. Period. I have NO friends, no motivation. My personal gym trainer is my only friend and motivator. Almost everyone's goal is either to be fit and toned (that's my ultimate goal) or to lose weight (not my goal). Almost after every run at the treadmill, or after kickboxing or after aerobics, I will still return to the swimming pool in the gym to swim my favourite backstroke. And then, in the evening, I love a piece of good whacking, rolling, shomen and flips in Aikido.

Resolutions that can be kept.

I try not to make NY resolutions because I just can't keep them all these while. But well, I have one this year and I'll try to keep it:

1. Climbing to the peak of Mount Kinabalu this February.

Then, I thought...hmmphhh...maybe I'll make another resolution which I can keep:

2. Go to a F1 race this year.

Last year, I bought two F1 tickets and finally have to give it to my brother because of the bloody appendicitis on that week.

So, that's it for this new year's resolution. One requires fitness, one requires money. Both are my passion though.