my 2006 ...

Jan

• Gave a big blessing - which was a sacrifice to my bank account, however, giving with the right mind - is truly different :)
• Bahija was 1 year old
• Mum did her right eye cataract procedure, Bahija's boss is very supportive, he allowed me to work from home 7 days to take care of mum
• received a very special blessing :)

Feb

• Celebrated CNY quietly and peacefully in KL
• was a house-maid - cooked, cleaned - did everything that mum was doing ( she's on MC ) - tiring job

March

• Went up north - my whole department was here for meeting, met folks from Costa Rica & US
• Received my focal at a hotel conference room - the experience was scary - the room was way too huge, and toooooo cold , too quiet - luckily not a bad review , didn't get into the IR thingy ......ouuiii

April

• Celebrated my 10th yr anniversary :) - rewarded myself with Cambodia trip
• Received key and busy getting the rest of the things done

May

• Dad's 10th yr anniversary
• Attended Monica's wedding - my dinner table was no 8, very close to her VIP table and in front of the i-kei's CEO and senior managers - that shows that she treasure her friendship :)
• Watched Grease musical at KL Convention Center

June

• Learned and made dumpling ( 'bak-chang') - my hands very sakit
• Mini vacation at Datai Langkawi
• First time diving - intro fun dive
• 06-06-06 , 6 am - knocked my sweety car at the carpark poles ( at that time - the whole carpark was empty - too many choices screw up my eye-sight and judgement )
• Vacation with mummy - visited Hong Kong, China Yunnan Province ( Kunming, Dali, LiJiang, Shangri-La ) , hiked to the highest Snow mountain peak with mum - she's really amazing

July

• Completed patching up my house with all the little things , a project dragged for 3 yrs
• In-kei - redeploymnet news started , sad to say 'good bye'

August

• Emily & Benji home for 2 weeks - we had good quality family time together
• Family vacation in Bangkok
• Mum did her second eye cataract surgery - Bahija again turned into housemaid.

September

• Irrational purchase - extremely expensive, burned a big hole in my pocket - bought a dopod pda phone :(
• Accident - a big truck hit my sweety - shocking experience, but glad that 'we' were ok

October

• At work - redeployment news again ....
• Family vacation at Frasier Hill
• A work request which was pending for > 1 yr, finally saw some lights , approval granted to purchase additional SAN spaces for database backup
• Mum vacationed in India Golden Triangle - again, Bahija had the privilege to work from home babysitting Teddy Bear

November

• Bid farewell to friends and colleagues who received separation packages
• My niece Jennifer got all As in her UPSR
• Makan Toni Roma's , spent a very special night helping Ringgit to source for diamond ring
• Tinted my sweety car - I loved it so much
• Busy with children church - helped to transition the 12 yrs old kids to Youth cells
• Teddy Bear admitted to hospital for 3 days - horrible experience to sleep overnight at the hospital

December

• Participated in Vacation Bible School - helped to take care 6 - 9 years old kiddos. Cannot tahan the 'noise pollution'
• Hosted boss during his PG and KL trip. Attended Fish's wedding
• Visited KM plant ( 1st time) - Bahija like the surrounding green environment, the buildings are nicer and neat
• Vacation at Hanoi, Vietnam - 'forced' mum to experience her first kayaking - Bahija sakit tangan kayaking her :) - she only sat and enjoyed the view and breeze , while I worked extremely hard to kayak
• Celebrated my special day - Bahija is so joyful and blessed for all the wishes and gifts and kind thoughts - from all around the regions
• Christmas - this year was different than other years - Christmas to me is more meaningful - with 'isi'
• Dec 28 - my eldest niece Josephine got 8As in her PMR
• Dec 31 morning - good message from Pastor - I was nodding my head from the beginning to the end --> 'The Secret of Blessed Life' - walk the path 'intentionally' :)
• Dec 31 evening - going dinner with Sanguine and gang .... but I'll skip countdown this year - got to come back and prepare my personal mission statements :)

It's been a busy year for me, learning and growing my spiritual life, juggling between work & family commitment, plus taking slightly more vacations this year. It's wonderful to have a supportive manager - I'm just glad I'll end 2006 with a big SMILE. I'm very grateful for all the 'sweet and sour' moments .... may I be better next year

To my readers, Happy Blessed 2007 .....

Merry Christmas ....

Ringgit reminded me that this is my 2nd Christmas - the one which I don't celebrate commercially, but with faith....Christmas is not about buying and getting gifts, it's not about party, food or countdown.....it's Jesus birthday, Christmas is all about Him... what can we do to please Him ... Gift of Praise, Gift of You, Gift of Forgiveness, Gift of Giving, Gift of Commitment, Gift of Faith. Happy Birthday Father. Bahija is so happy. Tonight everyone gathered at my house, we had turkey with cranberry sauce & brown sauce, mashed potatoes, salads, steamed vegetables, organic brown rice fried meehun, non sweet longan drinks - very healthy, ice cream, and cheesecake made by my little 14 yrs old niece ( she's good). We played games and exchange gifts. Tonight was special , coz I invited everyone to stand still while I said my grace and prayers :) - things fell into place beautifully. During gift exchange, we played a game to rotate the gifts .... magically, most of the gifts landed on the right hands , meant for the right owners :) HeHeHe - wonderful evening ......... May all my readers have a blessed Christmas, and welcoming the fruitful new year :)

Today.....

Today was another busy day, accomplished many things. Plus today is special, Bahija received many many many wishes from friends all over the world , some were truly a surprise for me loh - hehe..... those who are reading this - TQ So Much , from the bottom of my heart .... the youngest call I received was from a 3 years old Little Barbie , it's so sweet, so cute listened to her talking to me. My buddies bought me a good dinner at TGIF, had a great fun time with them. I'm so fortunate, and so blessed with everything, everyone around me. On top of this , yesterday - one of my prayer was answered ( after mths of praying ) - I want to think that it's a gift from Father .....hoo hoo

some of the precious tangible gifts received so far ......

a promotion ....

Mid Sept - I was invited or asked to spend some time or help in the children church. I did. Started as a guest, then a helper. Tonight - i was asked to attend a planning meeting. So went lar - entah during the meeting, Bahija realized that she was promoted from a helper to an assistant teacher liow lah - dahsyat nya ...... how I feel ? hmmm, 'commitment' , 'dicipline', 'dedication' .... It's positive to be given more responsibilities, but then - I seriously don't qualify for this , as I'm not an obediant servant lah .... 左右为难

I'm back .....

Hi , Bahija is back again :) .... been away for a while ...Dec 4 -5 - volunteered as assistant teacher in my church Vacation Bible School ( VBS ). Wow - super duper tired to jaga 100 plus 6 to 12 yrs old kids , from 9 am to 5 pm.... by 2 pm - I had severe headacne , reached home by 5:30 - took panadol and zzzzzzzz - what an experience to taste the noise pollution :) - nightmare actually - hahaha

Then I'm off to Penang with Dee - spent quality time with Docker's Pant and Dee, visited Kulim too ( not bad wor - buildings surrounded with lots of greens ) ... Then following week - took my 2006 last vacation in Vietnam. I'll find some time to blog or post some photos.

26 vs 33

26 ..

• have dreams - always talk about owning a business or doing something
• working hard building the career empire, hardworking
• can OT till wee hours, can work > 15 hrs a day, still awake the next day & energetic
• start building wealth slowly
• loves shopping and shop often
• will follow fashion, try to dress well , looking good
• active in social life, good in networking
• indulging nice food at nice restaurants - trying out food at various places
• go discotheque, can party, dance all night till 5 am - and still looking fresh the next day
• metabolism high - can eat more food , yet not putting on weigh easily
• lots of freedom

33 ....

• treating job as 'just a job' , prefer stable 9 - 5 job
• can't OT too much , can't sleep late - else sorethroat next day
• metabolism dropping drastically - eat less, still put on extra pound
• slowing down in lifestyle - no dreams to own businesses anymore
• stop spending $$ on clothes , don't shop often anymore
• wear jeans and Tshirt to work , dressing is simple or 'ching chai'
• homely
• not willing to dine at expensive restaurants
• dislike discotheque - too noisy - too smoky - too crowded
• own assets ( but they are liabilities at this moment )
• feel like time passes extremely fast , as commitment keep increasing ....
• more mature in life

26 vs 33 - that's a huge difference ..... will 'something' work ? i already have doubt ..hehe

human relationship

Sometimes , we hear so and so not a good daughter-in-law , so and so not a good son-in-law bla bla bla ....Some cases, we do have very difficult people (eg parent, in-laws, siblings, colleagues) to live with or to work with. But generally , I think it takes 2 hands to clap. Both parties have to work on a relationship.

Eg , Ms World is a caring daughter. She puts herself in the elders' shoes, and look at things from their end. She knew 'the parents era' - they watched the famous James Bond movie. So now, as she's deeply in loved and dating this guy. She's planning to bring her own parent, as well as her BF's parent to enjoy the movie separately - treat it as family outings....

The point here is that - when a boy meets a girl, falls in love - have their own cycle of life - the boy's or girl's parent suddenly feel left out - they may feel that they are losing one child, as the child is no longer spending time, focusing on them. If there is more of this Ms World, who is thoughful and also include the loved ones into her new relationship - everyone feel loved, feel appreciated - and that's the best strategy to win the hearts. It's a form of respect to the elders too ..... we live in a society consist of 'human beings' - like it or not - human relationship is important - a good positive relationship will cultivate positive energy, 'chi', brings joys and good support along the way ...........

funding expenses

One of my friend is planning on his wedding. During the conversation - he mentioned that he won't left Bahija and Wau Bulan out , as he needs us, our angpow to fund his expenses ..... hmm, Bahija is against this statement, that's wrong.

Wau Bulan replied to me :
That’s why my dad always against big wedding ceremonies for his kids (THANK GOD!!) coz for us - and I think generally any religions & races – the ceremony is to mark the occasion and sharing the joy, happiness, food etc. If u had big weddings, u grumbled coz u spent a lot of $$ and also expect people to give u $$. So it defeats all the good purposes & intentions of the ceremonies. U don’t get the ‘merit points’ for giving people the food etc, coz it wasn’t really ‘sincere’ – it was done to show off ur wealth & u expect something ($) in return

I'm same wavelength as Wau Bulan ...

getting sun tan ...

For this past 2 days and today, I purposely parked my sweety outside - so that she could get some sun tan :) .... I tinted my car ( finally - after so many many years ). Now , when friends heard about the tinted car, orang ingat I ada kereta baru ..... aiyuh, pai sek. She's still the same old car , which has been serving me faithfully for > 10 yrs. Oh, i love the tinted effect, betul2 dumb for not using this earlier. The weather is getting so hot , i beh tahan driving under the hot sun ... now it's much better, I'm so happy.....

TAR Asia repeats

Hi Hi - some readers asking when is the repeat .... TW show time is different eh :)
For Mal, first run is on AXN - Thursday 9 pm, repeats on :-

Friday 12:30 am
Friday 12 noon
Saturday 10 am
Sunday 8 pm
Tuesday 8 pm
Wednesday 5 pm
Thursday 12 am

prayer meeting ....

Lately, Bahija is slightly 'upset' with the things happening in the country .... this morning, read the article about 'Mal Bodoh' instead of 'Mal Boleh'. Tonight, I was suppose to meet a new friend from Vietnam, be her tour guide. But last minute, she decided to fly home earlier - thus my friday night was free. After stucked in the jam for 1.5 hours - I decided to drag my tired body and mind to the prayer meeting .....surprised loh, rupa-rupanya pastor also read the same article, he also brought up some points and shared with us. This week UM is hving general meeting - some of the leaders are getting slightly arrogant liow (as the group is growing), this may not do us any good. Anyway, I feel much better after prayer meeting .... hey, stood for 1.5 hours prayed prayed prayed and sang this -

Heal the nation / Mal
Heal the nation / Mal
Heal the nation / Mal
Pour out your spirit onto this land

Mal

Docker's pant passed this link to me ... to my fellow 'kakis' who care or who are still stepping on this soil - this is a good article to read , to me, makes real sense :( The global market is so competitive, yet we are rocking our own boats internally - cari pasal. I felt like Mal is losing control, I dun feel happy with the annoucement on bigger newer palace and other things too. I wish to be happy reading some of the annoucements which will benefit majority of the normal citizens ...

Last sunday - pastor preached on 'prayer for nation' - he also commented there are many nonsense folks doing nonsense things ....eg mat salleh couple caught 'kawat' , Datuk Z and a few more cases, stupid comments from various folks... and triggered people to initiate migration plans :) [ sound familiar, my readers ?? ] We ended the service with a song 'Oh Lord, bless us' - pastor changed it to 'Oh Lord, bless Mal' - may we , as a nation , has the wisdom, intelligence , strength to do the right things for all ...

TAR Asia

Hey Hey Hey ...remember to watch TAR Asia this Thursday 9 pm on AXN ....
The teams will be flagged off at our Dataran Merdeka lah . So wonderful , this thursday, I hv no cell meeting , so I get to stay at home and enjoy the first episode :) hehehehe

fun evening at TR and shopping ...

Ross, Chandler, Monica and Phoebe went to Tony Roma's tonight .... it's been a very long time since we last met for dinner ( it's hard to get full attendance - missing Joey and Racheal ). We ordered the signature appetizer TR full onion loaf, beef ribs, TR's salad , caesar salad with salmon - yum yum - dinner was great , too much for 4 of us. Our waiter was good & polite , managed to win our hearts to tip her. One thing dissappointed - this TR is halal one - no pork served , Bahija not a beef-kaki, aiiii - that means still need to go overseas to sample the juicy tender succulent pork ribs lah ....
Tonight was meaningful - it will be 'Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah' - glad to be there :) - I'll blog about this later .....

baby sitting ..

Mum and little sis are visiting India Golden Triangle now ....my boss allowed me to work from home so that I can babysit Teddy Bear. Nice eh - I reckon it's very hard to find a boss like him , so supportive and understanding. Today, Bahija very bad ...after lunch, I was suppose to give medication to Teddy Bear, yet when I received escalation on the db issues, I ditched him alone, and focus only on my work ....so much so that I totally forgot about his medication ....aiyuh. I only realized at 5 pm ( when I've settled my issues ). At 7 pm, he should be taking the dinner medication lah - so sorry T.B, for screwing up , bad bear sitter :P

Then, mum in India ... she sms-ed beh tahan the smell, hotel, water , food all ada smell, couldn't sleep at night because of the smell...aiyuh, Anti-Ringgit - that bad ker ? I'm afraid that mummy will belasah me for recommending India to her la , hmmmm .... God - please please give them some peace of mind, peace of heart , that they could enjoy their visit there lah

2nd important thing ...

I can't live without my sweety ( first on my list ) ... 2nd on my list should be internet broadband access :) - banking, concert tickets, online chats, online shopping, goggling to solve work related issues, vpn to work from home or anywhere ....

tinted glass

on my personal belonging list, the most important thing that I can't live without - is my sweety car. Just the other day - in the morning, when my sweety broke down - I was in chaotic, couldn't go anywhere nor do anything ..... felt so helpless. I can't locked myself at home for 1 day lah, lunch and dinner also ada masalah if I dun hv car :) hehehe

See la, how important is my sweety to me ...hmm, so I should have given her a good treat by installing the tinted glass la .... aiyuh , my mind entah brain apa , I could spend hundreds on make-up, on perfumes - but neglecting this little important thing , protecting me from UV and sun tan wor .... my to do list , to give 'her' a treat pretty soon ( can u imagine, sudah 11 yrs , still belum tinted - aiyuh )

Asian T.A.R episode 10

howdeeee....my readers who like TAR, we've watched many episodes, the coming one is the Asian version, premier is on Nov 9 evening on AXN. Those tak ada , sorry eh - tunggu 8tv nanti. Let's get ready and check out the Asian teams :)

Iceberg ...

The Titanic received five iceberg warnings just before it went down. When the sixth message came during the wee hours of the morning: "Look out for icebergs," the operator wired back "Shut-up! I'm busy!" Thirty minutes later the great 'unsinkable' vessel was sinking fast. What happened? They forgot the truth about icebergs. What they saw above the water couldn't have sunk the great ship. But unfortunately most of an iceberg is below the water. Do you know what? That iceberg represents your life! The 10% above the water is your reputation; the 90% below is your character. And it's what's below the surface that sinks your ship.

What is character?
(a) Self-discipline - the ability to do what's right, even when you don't feel like it.
(b) Core values - principles you live by in spite of the pressures around you.
(c) Sense of identity - a self-image based on who God, not others, says you are.
(d) Emotional security - the capacity to be emotionally stable and consistent. Your life's greatest impact doesn't come from what you own, but from what you are....The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart"

Whatever's happening today on the outside of your life comes from what's happening on the inside. God puts "being" before "doing." He prioritises taking care of the inside (your heart) because that will determine what takes place on the outside (your behaviour).

----
A few things that I hate to read about, how we wish there are more people out there have better characters :-
a) U Kay area always have landslides , we hv had very serious cases whereby many people lost their lives ... yet this landslides continue to happe, and projects are being approved , new properties are being built - wonder Y ? when bad things happen - the popular statement like tis ' a committee is setup to study and prepare the report' - aiyuh , after so many tragedies - we are still doing study and preparing report - then dissappeared ...

b) Klang Z cases, today we found out 2 more cases .... isn't it obvious that those folks within their group knows about all this 'no approval' thingy - just a matter of covering and you watch my back, i watch your back , not a surprise to me ....sakit hati-nya my tax money

c) Unethincal pig farmers - talking short cut , greed, feeding pigs with drugs - we eat - bad for us ...

c) the topic of marginalization - aiiii , 9MP and so on

I've been trying to keep myself positive - to continue to have some 'hope' on this land that i am staying .... my lunch kakies now asking this Q 'shld we migrate ?' ... I am telling them tat everywhere is the same, there is some pros and cons no matter where we are - I'm not sure how long I can keep this statement

kopi talk .....

For the past few weeks, this friend of mine, kept saying 'ageing and no caffeine' .... aiiii, Bahija took 1 cup of rose coffee yesterday at 3:45 pm, it is now 1:44 am the next day - i think the caffeine still going strong inside me, sien. Since I can't sleep , here we go - I'm goin to 'kopi-talk'. Last time, we frequent mamak stalls for teh tarik, kopi-O, kopi, milo etc etc.
Then mid 90's , came the foreign's franchising and started the era of Coffee Bean, Starbucks, San Francisco Coffee, Gloria Jean, Austin Chase ( so far I have not seen Seatle Best Coffee yet ).
Now , the trend is back to the old time kopitiam ( K ) .... everywhere in the corner, we can easily find some sort of K , eg Old Town K, Kluang K, Uncle's Lim, Uncle Kheng K , Uncle 'whatever' K ( there are many of them ) ....today , my friend recommended Winter's Warmer - another 'in' place in town to taste some interesting flavored coffee or tea, the setting is on English style and the coffee looks nice to drink. I had the rose coffee with rose bud, tasted rossy... For me, I still like the original coffee taste. With so many coffee shops around , it's just 'sad' that I couldn't smell those nice coffee aroma while I was wandering around. Could it be my nose is not sensitive anymore ?? In CA, NY , OR , my nose could tell me there was a coffee shop nearby .... in a cold weather - it's so 'ummph' to be able to hold on to a cup of hot coffee - yum yum

ribsssssss

15 years ago while I was in States, my elder sister brought me to a rib restaurant. I tasted the tender ribs in various signature sauces - which suit my taste....since then, I've tried to make it a point to visit Tony Roma's. Over in this region, the only TR nearby is in Sgp. Whenever I stopover in Sgp - i would made a point to visit TR, that place is usually long queue leh. Last year July - Docker's Pant, Fish and I had a sumptous dinner at TR, Sacramento .... Hehe, today , TR opens its first outlet at S. Pyramid mall liow - nearby my house , hahaha - I'll check it out during this long holiday ...hoo hoo ! To all my readers from up north, here is another eating place to go while u r here in town, S. Pyramid mall is newly renovated and extended - a new look with lots of new shops, and many parkings too !

quiet day ....

Bahija is enjoying the work day now .... work queue is quiet, no one IM me for issues or requests, no netmeetings, no phone calls. I switch on my itunes listening to my fav songs, catching up with my over-dued assignments and chats with friends - hooooo .... so peace of mind , wish more of this 'today' ... wish all of us a safe and pleasant holiday !!!

updates fr Janice ....

Hey hey hey .... to all my readers who know Janice - she's back online ( FINALLY) ... She has finished reading my blogs, already know things happening around me :) tested & proven, she knew i am pretending to like my pda phone, she read about TaiPoh 'wtc' with me. Brief info on her - she has gained her trust at her workplace, she's being appreciated by her students and the parents. Her sense of accomplishments - very high now...seem happy staying, eating, working, playing in TW. She's a bit nervous now as she's driving alone to a big city tomorrow, afraid of getting confused with the road signs and various exits. Hey, 1st time is always slightly challenging - the subsequent ones will be OK - enjoy the journey and the detours which come along the way. Stay tuned , finally she agrees to blog .... hoo hooo , Bahija welcomed Janice to my blog on March 22, 2005 - looking forward to reading her bits and pieces especially her new life in TW :)

birthday gift for mum .....

Tonight, brought mum to a 'dinner and dance'. We enjoyed it so much, as it's a real dinner and dance. Dinner was served first, then we were entertained by various dances such as samba, cha-cha, tango, waltz, quickstep, rumba, swing, rock & roll, foxtrot, hip hop, jive ..... the professional or rather seniors danced so well, body so soft , sexy and nice body movements .... During the open floor sessions, Bahija was so tempted to step onto the dance floor, unfortunately I don't remember the steps , and dare not try ..

When mum was young, before she got married - during her era - the 'in' thing was ballroom dances. She learned some basic waltz and tango, but she let go of this hobby for > 50 + years, as she's busy taking care of her children, being a great mum :) . So Bahija thought this will make a very special birthday gift for her. I think she truly enjoyed watching the performances - could see the smiles on her face .....

Tonight my colleague - Fin did jive dance - super-duper fast and energetic ...she completed 2nd levels , and working on her Gold level latin dances now, great job

Another colleague - nicknamed him Samseng , my first impression of him was that he seem fierce and talked very samseng , rude :) , after knowing him, he's actually ok. It's nice to see the 'un-samseng' side of him, being so 'manly' leading the female partners ....

Oh boy - we are inspired ... no kidding - at the age of 71 , mum said she wants to enroll in the ballroom class .....isn't she 'keng' ? Entah-entah next year - she may be able to perform on the dance floor eh :)

from a friend

我很感动, 朋友对我说 : "Not only coz of those help..but you did change my way of looking at life at times, Thanks a bunch from my heart! Hehehe" --- this makes my day :)

'left hand'

Interesting blog about Feng Shui in Sgp ... This dude earns $$ from blogging, quite interesting... check it out

I like the way he says "It's a pretty impressive concept having Suntec City resemble a left hand. If it were up to me, I would have built a similar "left hand" in Kuching. Except it'll have four short buildings and one tall building in the middle, pointing towards Indonesia saying "OI! Thanks A LOT for giving us the haze, buddy!"

'wtc' with Taipoh ....

Last week Bahija msn-ed with yaya ....then Bahija mentioned that she spent more time keeping in touch with her friends overseas. Suddenly Bahija realized that TaiPoh had left SF and been home for > 1 yr, yet Bahija seldom meet her or talk to her ... and never go movie with her too ....so sad huh, we are so close, yet so far, 'busy' with own life individually. Tonight, I invited her for movie 'World Trade Center' ... it was a good decision. We had great short time catching up with each other ....the movie was about Sept 11, 2001. My first visit to NY was with TaiPoh. We walked to the Ground Zero....I bet TaiPoh misses her life back in States ..she enjoyed the movie. To my readers who know her, she is still the super rajin designer , working late and rushing for projects most of the time :)

40th bday

It's Teddy Bear's 40th birthday ..... may he be 'kuay-kuay'

synchronicity again ......

Bahija spent 3 hours in the gym with Sanguine ....good workout ! so tired now. The funny things were -

a) Was rushing to the gym, simply picked a T-Shirt, turned out to be the T-Shirt I bought from Egypt
b) Attended belly dancing class
c) It's the Ramadhan fasting time
d) One of the song played during the class kept mentiong 'habibi'

Hah, all these brought me back to my Egyptian night and the party I attended 2 yrs ago. We were dressed in the Egyptian costumes, enjoyed a tradition Egyptian dinner and danced all night ... didn't manage to watch a real sexy belly dance performance, as it was Ramadhan , the culture there was not to reveal the sexy skins :P ( so wasted ). But we were entertained with a covered belly dance ...hahaha ....Bahija went to the dance floor and tried once .....si Habibi commented that I wasn't too bad leh. He was so 'hak hei' - in reality, it's not easy to do belly dancing lah, because Bahija danced so horrible today :(

thinking of me ....

1. Deboss and Docker's Pant read an article about imposing fine on people who speaks manglish - they read that, straight away thought of me :( , aiyuh - i m that bad hur ?

2. Mama Louisa called me all the way from Winsconsin, she said she baked an apple pie - she remembered me , she went to gym and saw naked women - laughing and thought of me too ....

HAHAHAHA , I am happy to be remembered :) ciao , nite2

confession

Tonight - a special guest attended my cell. Regardless, I memang sudah plan to share my 'pain' or 'shame' with my cell group and ask for prayer too....so siap shared. And special guest was Pastor GS , she came to me and passed me this verse :

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer .... Psalm 19:14

Let me go medidate harder :)

Control Your Emotions

Control Your Emotions - Cain, Why are you angry? - Genesis 4:6
Unless you learn to discipline your emotions you'll lose credibility, alienate others, and miss great opportunities. Your emotions are like a car: properly understood and directed it can take you places; out of control it can destroy you. When God asked Cain, "Why are you angry with your brother?" He was saying: "Listen up, Cain! Your emotions are sending you a message. If you don't get a handle on this you'll create a mess you won't be able to live with. Yes, you'll repent and regret it, but you won't be able to undo it." But Cain wouldn't listen. The situation seemed unfair; he felt unappreciated. He thought his brother's blessing had come at his expense. What emotions were at work here? Jealousy. Resentment. Competitiveness. A sense of victimhood. These unchecked forces caused him to murder his brother Abel and cross a line he couldn't come back from.

Most of us have an inner response mechanism that isn't necessarily controlled by the rational side of our brain. It reacts to people and events, and like a sudden storm rises with strength from within, sometimes overwhelming us. Gordon McDonald writes: "I used to pride myself on the fact that I kept my emotions to myself. I never saw myself as an angry person...Then I got married and my wife informed me that I had plenty of anger after all. While it rarely came out in words it showed itself in full colour in facial expressions (the gift of glare, we called it) I never knew I had. I had work to do. I had emotions that needed to be disciplined." How about you?

Bahija definitely need to work on this :) .....

babies mth ....

This month, I've have a few friends who have promoted to parents or soon to be ... Pakman was a surprise to me , didn't know and suddenly received SMS that he added 1 more family member. Kim Possible is expecting hers , any time now :) HT and JT already welcomed their second baby boy ....remember the little Elmo I adore ( hope he still remember me )

Here is his latest photo - so so leng chai - wanted to pinch him. Little Elmo macam takut carrying his little baby brother eh :P

a positive news ....

Just a while ago, Sanguine told me a great news .... I'm so so so happy for her. As I get to know her , as we spend time together .....as I get to know her heart desire - it's truly a joy to hear the positive news. Wish she get the chance to step on the soil pretty soon ....... geee, that means I am losing another buddy again , oh well - that's life

fasting ...

The muslim community started their Ramadhan , fasting for 1 month. I believe most religion practise some sort of fasting. It's not an easy task.. The muslim folks have the dicipline to fast for 1 month, fasting close to 12 hours a day ( well, sun rise and set ) . This year, I did try to fast and prayed for my country during the month of August. Mine come with flexibility , eg skip one meal or skip one food or drinks that I couldn't live with... save the meal money and donate them Aiii, tat also Bahija couldn't last for 1 mth la ....hahaha. So, fasting in my dictionary - need strong desire, dicipline and not easy at all :)

My shocking friday morning ....

It happened like this .....

1. At 9:35 am, on the way to work , slowed down and took an exit ...
2. Suddenly felt car 'floating' , lost control - swayed left and right ( no 'bang' sound leh )
3. Bahija calmly tried to turn the wheel - to stay straight
4. Timing was so Great - it was red light. So I stopped, put on hand break, walked out from car to see what happened. The 'thing' which hit me from the back and side - was a huge truck - 12 wheelers fully covered truck ( seem like it came from Port Klang )
5. Bahija couldn't see the driver, the truck was huge, he was sitting high up - couldn't see him. Knocked on the door - he didn't reply ...
6. Witnesses around me - showed hand sign languages - asked me to note down the truck information
7. Bahija walked back to the car, written down the licence plate no , and the 1-800 adu number
8. When light turned green, I followed him at the back , wasn't sure what to do , to follow him, or to give up ...
9. After the right turn, suddenly saw a traffic police just finished summoned one motorcylist. ( To me, it was like God sent me an angel - hehe )
10. Bahija quickly parked her car by the road side, reported to the traffic officer
11. Traffic officer quickly jumped onto his bike, turned back and re-confirmed the license plate no , and zzzzooommm - he went
12. Bahija then locked and waited inside her car while waiting for the traffic policeman. During that quiet moment, Bahija baru in shocked. Heart beat pumping fast, hand shaking, gementar feeling. I calmed down and had a prayer - Thank God that I was safe, no one was hurt.
13. After 15 mins, traffic police came back, passed me a small piece of paper with the driver's details, including the company name and address. He asked me to go make a police report - very well mannered - responsible policeman - TQ Kapl Kamar :)
14. At 5:30 pm, I made the report. Quite impressed with the police officers and the quick process. Tak ada result yet - have to wait for the other party to report within 24 hrs

Today, I found out the impact of being 'knocked softly' by a huge truck running at 20 km/hr ...it wasn't a real 'bang' hit , my little car already out of control , like a boat floating in wavy sea. I truly Give Thanks for the protection. If there were a wall or motorcyclist or car or someone next to me, I would have hit the object or got myself killed, thing just happened in sub-seconds and i wasn't in control, very dangerous. I suspected the driver could be using handphone or day dreaming or sleepy or something ... a small little move could have brought injuries to others. Like my case, I was obediant, driving on my lane, slowing down as I aproached exit and traffic lights junction , suddenly 'monster' came from back - how la to predict .....isn't life so fragile ?

I went to make a report, in my mind - I wanted the guy to realize his mistake and not to repeat this careless mistake. However, the 'siasat' session with the sarjan - I just felt that the reasonable doubt wasn't on my side....Msia traffic rules in favor of hitting from back, plus I felt a little bit of prejudice on lady driver ( my own judgment, I dun think I'm in those typical 'dumb lady driver club' ) - I could sensed that Sarjan thought I was on the middle lane and suddenly drove to right lane, then kena hit by the truck which was coming straight on the right lane :( , plus Sarjan said I didn't have witnesses - alamak ...

I was perfectly 100% on my lane - didn't do wrong .... May the truth speaks for itself. I'm truly blessed for being able to return home safely lah :) - tu yang most important .......

something i bought and dunno why i did it .....

One super fine day , for some weird reason, out of nowhere, Bahija walked into a store kat Low Yat - suddenly bought this ..... My heart so sore from the minute I charged it to my credit card. It's a pda phone.... I guess I'm still too loyal to my butterly blue screen nokia phone ( i still like tis phone very much). My experience as a PDA user is so so nia. This baby hang ofte, in times where i need to make calls, it hang ....terrrrr. Weekly need a reboot ( the screen showing IPL - haha, in my MF world , it means Initial Program Load). The speed dial '1' as voicemail - never worked since the day I bought it. I didn't get to retrieve my voice massages for mths. 2 weeks ago - it finally KONG, totally died. Sent it to repair center I.C.U - just got a call that it has recovered, changed a new motherboard - aiyuh. This Saturday - i will go pick it up - let's see how it will behave then , please please please .... funny - i need to 'encourage' myself to like this cutie ....

Filial Duty

An article on Filial Duty --- being Bahija , I'm a strong supporter on this topic :) ...very simple rule, my parents sacrified a lot for me , for my siblings, and they love us so much. When we were young, my mom selalu makan ubi keledek for lunch, makan white porridge with soy sauce nia. I've lost one, if I don't bother to spend time , shower love to my mom, I'll be a damm fool.

My youngest sis - lalalililatappong works in a publishing company, she always get free movie tickets. Bahija and some of her friends got to enjoy the freebies :) . One of the free movie was 'Click' - the morale of the story is simple - priorities in life , and opportunity costs which come with them , i suppose ...

Speaking of movies - I'm quite dissappointed, there are no good movies this year, even Dec also blank nia - aiyuh, what happen ???

such a low pay ....

Today's star - this police officer ( lans korporal ) , 34 yrs old, a degree holder in HR Development...been servicing in the police workforce for 10 yrs and his salary ONLY RM 1,050 nia.... aiyuh, down below the poverty line. Geee, now we wonder why they have to cari makan via other ways eh. Hope those who deserve the salary increment shall get one soon ...

special visit .....

Tonight my cell leader visited me at my house....they posted a question to me, asked me to 'lead' the special kid ministry during Sunday morning at Children's church - WOW. This is something new ! scary-nya. To be a helper - i suppose Bahija is ok ...to be the 'leader' - that is such a huge role for me at this moment ....don't think I can handle that. My mind a bit 'luan' after they left :)

a) went online prepared for meeting, then immediately a far far away old friend whom i have not chatted for long time, popped up and chatted with me ....he encouraged me to take the challenge, even agreed to give me ideas and willing to meet with me frequently ( virtually ) to work this out ....talking about 'kiew' - this happened at the right time eh !

b) many moons ago , Bahija indeed had the thought of setting up a special kid care center ...but it was more on 'NATO' No Action Talk Only kind of thingy, have 'bin-ed' that idea for long time ..... now this request come , it is a real one wor - i kelam-kabut liow ... aiiiii

Landed in Tmn R ....

About 34 yrs ago, my parent had 2 choices, either bought a house in Bangsar or Tmn R. They decided Tmn R for 3 reasons ( how i wished they chose Bangsar eh ) ..... the reasons were :
1. Nearby a bus stop - public transportation easier ( back then , cars tak laku yet )
2. Primary and secondary school were nearby too - easier for kids to walk to schools
3. There was a special kid school run by NGO in Tmn R

When Teddy Bear was kicked out by the Sentul primary school's headmaster, mum had no choice to put him in Tmn R Special Kid school. Which was a good decision. Teddy Bear learned a lot of things, he could speak a few Bahasa Msia words or sentences, he knew what's mata, telinga, kaki, tangan, mulut, cikgu, mandi etc etc .... the power of education - works just great on mentally retarded kids. The school was run by a great woman, we called her Ms Tan. She's an angel to the kids. She truly gloried God - a person who practised fruit of spirit well. The kids loved & respected her, she scarificed a lot for the school & society for her NGO works.

Back then, when Teddy Bear sicked and ponteng school, his classmates would came knocked on our house & checked on him leh, so 'kam dong eh'. They had their own special world with their own body languages & laughs. I was very young then, I remembered they called each other by names, so sweet. Teddy Bear was so much happier then...Aiiii, the regulation stated that special kids over 18 yrs old had to leave the school and enrolled in Wisma H kat Brickfields. It was bad timing then, those teachers there weren't that caring, or lack of patience. Teddy Bear came back home with bruises on hand or legs, sometimes with bleeding mouth. We also heard other parents filed similar complaints. Soon or later, mum decided not to send him to Wisma H. That concluded his fun time at school .... from the age of 19 yrs old until now 40 yrs old. He stays at home all the times ( mum and dad had to work hard to provide for the family, and we the siblings were all busy growing up with our own world ) , so Teddy Bear just sit at home 24 hours do nothing - it's boring and his brain stopped working, now he forgot the Bahasa Malaysia words too ....

One thing I've always question myself ? Am I doing anything for him ? have I done enough ? No doubt he's mentally retarded, but he's alive, a human with feeling. He understands 'sad' , 'happy' .... my exposure with other special kids - I find that Teddy Bear is quite 'kuay' and adorable.

early dream

Last night while sleeping , my conscious mind wandering - this year christmas - how and where and what ...... got to go to Dragon's hse, also my own ...then how ? conflict bla bla bla

This morning, when I came to office. I quickly checked the calender - so happy. Christmas day is on Monday. Perfect for me. Sunday - i shall have my own turkey dinner at my house. Then Monday - i can attend Dragon's christmas party :) - didn't realized my presence last year was so meaningful to Dragon ...this time , i don't have to ask who's going, who's not - I'll just be there. Also will prepare gifts for her family members too ....

nowhere to turn to .....

This article 'Nowhere to turn to' by Chong Sheau Ching, published on star sept 11....some of the stories mentioned related to the experiences I have with Teddy Bear.... sometimes betul-betul geram one ...aiii , I asked income tax officer back in 1997 - told them that the Law Act need to be amended - to give tax break for the care taker of the unwell dependant .....They acknowledged this issue for years , yet never bother to do anything, and guess what - they asked me to go adopt Teddy Bear as my child - then I'm his 'mum' and then can claim handicapped relief and allowances , nonsense !

YAH !! Wah!! Aaaah !!! Loud screams rang eerily through the neighbourhood. It was past midnight. I went up to the window to see what was going on. A few other neighbours were also standing by their window sills. Another loud scream came from the house opposite mine.

It was her. She's a mentally ill young woman. Over the years, i have see her throwing dishes into her neighbour's compound, hurling her brother's toys onto the street and screaming at passers-by. An ambulance was rushed in once because she had cut herself. The family's maid jumped over the fence on several occasions, screaming for help.

Once, she walked into my house and tried to push me to join a multi-level marketing scheme. when I politely refused, she was so angry that I thought she would hit me.

I can avoid her screams and throws things. But not her family. They often look tired and harassed. When I walk past and say 'hi', they would lower their heads and pretend not to see me. In a society filled with prejudice against people with chronic illnesses, I can understand how they feel - embarassed and ashamed - about the havoc the young woman causes in the neighbourhood.

In contrast, my Down Syndrome brother is much easier to take care of. He occupies himself with his drawing and piano-playing. He rarely gets angry. If he does, he lets out a few loud mumbles. He's only difficult to handle when he can't walk due to swollen legs caused by his weak heart. Two people are needed to lift and carry him. We are all families with dependants who need constant medical care. Expenses are high because our dependants do not have health insurance, or rather, no health insurance company will insure them. Taking them to government hospitals is not an option when one has to work and have no time to queue for hours. Once, my brother accidentally drank some chemical. The emergency unit in the hospital took a blood test and asked us to wait for the result next day. He was suffering but he couldn't tell us what was bothering him.

The next morning, the hospital told my family that his blood test was lost so a new test had to be done. Another time, the dental department didn't want to take care of his toothache because of his heart condition. That left us no other choice but to take him to private hospitals. My brother who can't talk also needs rehabilitation. so that he will know how to communicate his suffering when his health deteriorates. There is no Down Syndrome centre for people over 40. I have to pay for a private practioner and there is no insurance scheme. And no tax-break either. i am his sister. My 75-year-old parents can get a tax break but they can't take care of him.

When I read about how rich businessmen avoid paying taxes and top-notch company directors driving luxury cars bought under company expenses, I find myself asking, "how does this happen?' The rich get the tax breaks but not all those who need it!' A friend once said to me, "life is never fair. What are you complaining about? You have more than many people!"

I know. So does every middle-class family who have chronically unwell dependants. I know of families who have sold their houses, cars, jewellery to treat illness. Often, the house is their only asset.
They don't sell it because they don't want to uproot the elderly parents. Every month, they live hand-to-mouth.

One family has two adults children with a degenerateive nerve disease. The elderly parents' savings have been drained, over the past 10 years, by medical expenses. The only source of income is the parents' odd jobs. They can't afford to send the siblings for the operations and rehabilitation they need.

As a result, their condition has deteriotated over the last few years. It is sad to see them go blind, and their speech slurring with each passing year. They can't get any assistance because they are not disabled. If they do not get the required medical help, in a few years they will depend on ageing mother to feed, bathe and change them. Their brother blames them for the hard life their parents go through. He has a good job but feels that he has enough of helping his siblings. He needs money for his own young family. There is no tax break to motivate him to help. Can we really blame him for being so heartless ?

Some essential drugs have gone up 300% in price lately. Who is going to take care of them when their parents pass away ? They are not the only ones who need help, there are also others, trapped in helpless cycle of illness. And there is no end in sight. A group of us has been trying to raise funds for them. Sometimes we feel discouraged but remind ourselves of what Mother Teresa once said 'We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop' ........

motivator .....

Deboss lost 12 kg in 2 mths ....this was a great achievement. I saw his Sipadan video - he looks so good , and so light. He's so happy now ....who wouldn't eh. I hope Sanguine and I have the dicipline to embark on our exercise program soon .... Deboss is my inspirator :) hehehe

sleepless nite

Aiiiiii, Bahija got to be EXTRA careful , have to avoid caffeine after 6 pm :( , so torturing .......it's 4:35 am , and I'm still awake , aiyuh. Have an early meeting with my manager - geee - wonder how am I goin to have a fresh discussion with him .... Deboss suggested I drink some alcoholic drinks...viola - i took vodka ribena without lime , now kepala pusing, hope i can have 3 hrs of good sleep lah - geeeee - this wed will be a horrible day for me

a sweet visit to I-kei

I-Kei relocated to a new building , tonight my fellow buddies gave me a tour , indeed - it was so great to see the familiar things , and the nice 'ais teh tarik' caused me sleepless night , at 3 am now - I finally have time to blog - aiiiii ..... At the new building, there is a perfect 'F.r.i.e.n.d.s' corner , but missing 2 players liow , hmmm, not sure if I would rejoin .... lots of people asking me why am i still with In-kei - what's so great about doing support work .... I guess I treasured the flexibility and a reasonable boss :)

my old friend

I met SY when I was standard 4 , counting the years, we've known each other for 24 yrs ..... we were the girl scout group leaders, had many wonderful camping nights together. After graduated from high school, i went overseas , and she took some diploma classes locally. She's a very helpful, friendly person, always comes with smiley faces. Unfortunately, a year ago, she got a weird problem, some virus infection that destroyed her bones. Some part of her chest bones were missing now .... and worst case, the doctors were not sure of the root cause , couldn't diagnozed well, and she has to hop from one doctor to the others ....thus a lot of guessing , and this truly put her into frustration, and lots of $$$ involved....from a cheerful young lady, now she turns into an old lady who walk slowly, speak slowly , no strength , and suffer chest pain all the times, also breathing problems sometimes. She has no mood to SMS, to be on the phone or to meet with friends ....she's just too weak, too moodless to do anything. I felt sad for her , visited her - Bahija didn't know what to do , what to say , aiiiii - wish that she could recover lah

my fav movie kakies .....

Today Bahija had 8 free movie tickets ....so I quickly gathered the gang. When all tickets were taken up , then suddenly I ter-realized - my used to be favourite movie kakies weren't in my invitation list at all ..... aiyuh :P daring ......I have not movie with them for some time liow. Quick, let's do a movie soon , else out of sight, out of mind ...

my Bonnie ...

Bahija needs to 'san' ......errr . I'm handling a data issue, the scenario is very confusing and I need expert help from I-kei. So far , I have good support from I-kei USA. Despite user application issues, those folks still spent time, spent effort, gave me suggestion, verified my procedures etc etc ... ( terbalik if I were I-kei employee - I may just told customer - not much help can be provided and close the PMR - hehe ) ...In short, to me, I couldn't asked for more and be thankful for their assistance...... Now for some reason, some folk just like to 'spoil' things, her behaviour is so unacceptable and rude. In-kei has its own culture and ways of getting things done , 'Action Required' aka AR is assigned to staff with date and expected deliverable... This morning during the meeting , suddenly a Bonnie showed up, acted super duper bossy, questioning people's capability....and worst - Bonnie also crossed boundary and kacau my fellow I-kei folks .... aiyuh - I've not even sent my analysis over to I-kei - this Bonnie didn't know the whole story, so pushing, kept asking I-kei what they can do, when can they deliver bla bla bla ... my team didn't agree with Bonnie's behavior, and her action really humiliated our In-kei image. We are asking for favor and at their mercy - we should be reasonable with our action and demand .........aiiiii - bits and pieces of working with various types of people - may I find peace and joy working with Bonnie , and most important - settle this issue fast fast - too tired liow

see open .....

I went to this Low Yat plaza ...had to paid $0.50 for every visit to the restroom. It was too expensive, I was very angry because the restrooms were very smelly, dirty and wet .... i reluctantly paid $0.50 ....then walked in , and not in good mood (geram for paying high cost and using the super dirty restroom). When I completed my business, flashed water and walked out - zooommmmmmm, I terslipped and jatuh on the floor - AIYUH , my 'pet pet' so sakit ....and because of the fall, i hurt my back. Currently, trying to massage, to recover from back pain...and trying to reason and learned from this incident :-
1st, dun be grumpy - for a small 50 cents - not that i can't afford also - must let go la, if i chose to pay, then try to be calm and use the facility ( else I should boycot and walked away - that's a choice here - aiiiii) ....
2nd - always wear good shoe - those non-slippery punya .....
3rd - slippery floor extremely dangerous - we ought to be extra careful - no kidding !

sad sad sad ......

For the past 4 yrs, I had to say good bye to my overseas co-workers average once a year ...... Last friday, from the same office , one colleague left from phase 1 annoucement. Today , another name was annouced from the phase 2 activity. Aiiiii - it was indeed sad and emotionally hard to accept, the person is someone I know. Last Friday - i was telling my friends that he is a nice person.... Aiiiii - Bahija wants to work from home tomorrow - as I get depress, sien hearing all the negative things in the office. Haze is back, war in Israel & Lebanon, oil prices are going up, and some businesses are having difficulties - all these will bring more damges to us - more social problem, more financial difficulties, aiiiii - must pray for everyone and peace in everywhere !

my house ....

After 3.5 yrs , I finally managed to patch up all the little things (the first contractor who did the renovation was a very bad person, very irresponsible - nasib baik tak kenal-kan to Ringgit - else I forever felt bad or pai sek )

Here is the photo of my home sweet home - still missing the kitchen and bedroom cabinets :) - which I don't intend to buy already .....anything could happen - since I don't need them yet - don't buy first lah, never know plan B may be on the way pretty soon....

howdeeeeeee

Wow, dah lama tak blog - almost close to 1 mth ...hehehe. Bahija took annual vacation from June 10 - 20. Then busy with work loh, plus fixing my house ...busy sikit, but I'm still here... back on track soon .... banyak backlog till baru upgraded my Konfabulator to Yahoo Widget :) - brb !

world cup - 4 yrs ago .....

World Cup 2006 starting soon at midnite.....I just teringat - 4 yrs ago - a bunch of us were at a restaurant @ Hartamas - I was wearing my blue batik dress. The company were Emily, Monica, Ross, Chandler, NLK & hubby, OFK ...not sure about Joey though. We were having dinner , and the conversation involved world cup as well .... NLK and hubby were big fan back then .....this whole scene flashed back into my memory :) because that night was my farewell dinner. I received a very nice blue colored scarf ( prepared by NLK leh ) ...... My last day at I-kei was so so sad. I even cried at the earlier department lunch. hehehe - sudah 4 years liow - so fast. Soon, I'll hv to blog about my anniversary at In-Kei .....hoo hoooooo

**** Updated July 6 - my mistake - RotiTelur was there that night too :)

06-06-06-06:00

some said 666 is auspicious, some said it is the devil's date or sign ..... so what happened to me leh ? June 6, 2006 - was in office at 5:30 am, aiiii - it's my own fault la, careless - too many car parks to choose from, being greedy - drove around looking for the best carpark ( this is padam muka - call kiasu mentality ) .... when I finally decided one nice spot - could be still sleepy, tired - careless was the keyword - terlanggar the wall on my left pula , my sweety 'kemek' - so kek sim - so at 6-6-6 6 am - I was sitting at my office desk - feeling so kek sim , and mad at myself for the carelessness ........ I would want to treat this incident as a reminder to me, Bahija - drive carefully, be alert on the road - if body too tired, then plan well, plan ahead, adjust my schedule :)

my first diving experience ......

June 6, 2004 - Bahija spent her valuable time at Mt KK's summit watching sunrise - it was such a memorable and rewarding trip ( though very 'sin kor' ) - 10 of us went thru the journey :) . I have mentioned a few times that 06-06-06)- I wish to spend my time at the summit again eating my breakfast and drinking coke.....oh well, the plan tak jadi, but June 4 , 2006 - I managed to try another new thing ....i did the introductory dives. At first was very scared- kiasi. The dive master gave me a brief training - theory. When I jumped into the sea - and started my dives, wau - the pressure caused pain in my ears - so amazing how God created us - human, we have all the ways to adjust our body :) Langkawi is not a good place for snorkeling or diving - that is a fact ....to my readers - lain kali no need to waste $ and time doing diving there yeah ..... However, as my first experience - I was indeed greatful - managed to see a lot of wonderful creatures down under the sea. Life is so great - there are so many things around for us to appreciate , to explore .....

one of the top 10 beach

June 3 - 5 .... Bahija took a mini vacation or visit to this place - it is listed as one of the top 10 beaches in the world ( rated by Travel channel ). The relaxing time was very nice. But to spend that high price on this place, as a local, I rated this as not worth it. In my humble opinion, the sand , the beach , the coral, the sea environemt in Redang is better. This place is purely targeting Europeans, everything is super expensive. Plus, it is a place for honeymoon or couple thingy lah ... It is zero chance to meet a single guy - alamak - hahaha.

Dumpling ....

Last week, I helped mum balut the dumplings ( in hokkien we call it 'chang' ). It is nice to learn from mum how to prepare this, a tradition. The picture was taken using my mobile phone (quality not too bad eh ) ... looking at the 'chang' - so hodoh, can tell siapa punya masterpieces :)

Kancil - u so far far away, miss this or not ? yummyyyyy .....

fortunate kids

When I was small, I had no toys or 'masak' ....mum always put us inside a box to play ...I wondered what we play with huh ? may be we makan angin, day dream, eye contact kuah. Once mum brought me to wet market, I remembered that day very well, because that was the day I received my first 'masak' set - which had a pot, pan, bowls, cups, teapot --treasure ! hmm hmm, this is why Bahija tak suka toys, as I didn't grow up with toys lah , kesian nyaaaaaaaa

My niece and nephews from HK sent me their wish list, so went to check out - conclusion is next generation are so lucky ..the games they play - so advanced, their toys are changgih ... I spent a few hundreds for 3 items. I learned who is Janice and Jill ( the HK pop star now ) , also know how or where to buy PSP now ( at first thought people cheating me as the price is so expensive ) ... some folks told me that they as parents jimat-cermat tak erti spend, buy shoe also cheap2, all their money goes to the children - children get branded shoes, games etc...not easy to be a parent now , be able to teach the kids to appreciate things, not to be materialistic , not to be influenced by peers .....

free trip ????

Last year or so, a friend from Northern part told me about an all-expense paid trip to Europe, and the condition is to help purchase branded goods. Back then, I was curious, was that information reliable, sound too good to be true ? Bahija & friends want to enjoy the overseas trip, we want to be able to stop at places we like to see, do all the sight seeings, rather than being tied down with the shopping trips. Thus, we decided not to participate. Last night read the Star Cloned Credit Card Scam –aiyuh yuh – the story fit 100% , I am just glad we didn’t participate and do the illegal things … it is using cloned credit cards to purchase the branded goods. Thesedays, it is very rare to have ‘free lunches’ – we have to be careful, not to 贪小便宜 ….

Hospital G

Today, Bahija went to this hospital @ Ampang , opposite the GE Mall. Hmm, may be I 'suaku'. There are a few 'neat' things about this hospital ( to me la ) ....There are presidential suites ( just like hotel standard), there is a hairdressing salon, valet service, concierge service ( the bell boy dressed in red uniform ( for a min, I wondered did I enter a hotel or a hospital ??) .....Also, there is also Spa services such as facial, massage, scrub services for the patients who are warded. Imagine, a woman could ordered facial services after her child delivery, then had a hair cut or hair wash at the salon.... macam-macam pun ada eh - innovative ideas on serving the rich & famous. masuk hospital also ada mood to enjoy those services...at my level - i tak faham.

2006年 5月 1日 星期一 农历 丙戌年 4月 4日

今天 2006年 5月 1日 星期一 农历 丙戌年 4月 4日 = today is May 1, Monday and chinese calender is the 4th month, 4th day. Today mark another special moment for my family. My beloved daddy passed away 10 years ago on this date. We are gather together today, for a simple memorial services. 10 years ago, Bahija got her first paycheck , only managed to buy dad one meal using my hard-earned money, didn't know that was the last meal that I ever could bought for him. 10 yrs from now , how different would it be ? this just remind me again to appreciate everyone, everything around me :)

Happy Birthday to my sister ....
Happy Worker's Day too ....

fun shoppng nite...

2 years ago, Bahija bought 2 nice simple black evening dresses from Amerika - very cheap lagi ...at Target , I love those 2 dresses.... masalah here Bahija seem to pakai those 2 dresses whenever I was attending wedding dinners. I tried to add different accessories from time to time, but still the same dresses mah .... Bahija feels pai sek friends will notice why I kept wearing the same dresses. Tonight, to my surprised, I had a great shopping time with Sanguine. She brought me to this nice store , within 30 mins, she found me 2 nice dresses, and of course, pocket burned liow. It's so amazed that whenever I walked into this store, usually i walked out empty handed, my eyes just couldn't pick up any nice clothes --> that concluded that I'm have no fashion sense or gene lah. This Sanguine - I consider her as shopping expert, she walks around, can easily detect the nice items liow.....I know how to better utilise my time, next time whenever I need anything, I'll pick on Sanguine to go along with me , hehehe...

addicted to volka-ribi-lime

My 2 dragon friends visited my house :) . One dragon prepared a nice drinks for us ....vodka, ribena and lime .... superb :) tasted great !! very easy to prepare , try it out lah

Bahija, Cambodia and her synchronocities

Hehehehe, I'm a fan of synchronocities .... during my last trip, 3 signs which caught my attention...

April 1 - while I was waiting for my flight at the new low cost carrier terminal, buka newspaper - saw the article 'The children of Siem Reap' ..... preparing me for my trip :)

April 3 - at Siem Reap airport, again waiting for my flight - saw a very huge clock , and I just laughed, quickly took my camera to snap a picture. Here is the clock --> guess Mido is saying hello to me & AR :)

April 3 night - at home , before went to bed, read a magazine, entah-entah - flipped to this page 'The Road Less Travelled' - described a 23 yrs old Msian living behind his good life in Msia, and spending his time in Cambodia helping the less fortunate folks ... I respect him for his courage & great works !

My Cambodia trip

Arrived at 11:30 am, checked in to the nice little La Villa Lotti hotel. It only has 8 rooms, small, quiet and surrounded by greens. The staffs were very nice, humble and friendly. I am glad that we checked in to this quiet cozy balinese style guest house.

We spent the first day lepaking around Siem Reap town, visited Old Market, Central Market, Angkor Shopping Mall ( we tot it is a shopping mall, entah it is just a multi-storey shops selling souvenirs only). AR and myself went for foot massage, hmm , not up to our standard, thus decided not to waste money on body massage liow. The weather there was hot & humid, and roads were so dusty. We were happy to find the ONLY free wi-fi cafe in old market - it is the Blue Pumpkin bakery cafe ...the lemon tart there was very very yummy

At night, we went for a cultural dance and dinner show. The food and dance weren't that great either ...

Day 2, woke up at 4:45 am, met our local tour guide - the legendary Pon Heary. She's a petite strong woman, speaks softly, and very patriotic to her country, doing many things to help the poor children, as well as doing her part to preserve the temples...Both AR and myself have heard many good comment on her, we were glad to be guided by her. While she was telling us her stories, I thought of Habibi too, both of them are proud of their country, doing what they could to represent their country :)

We visited Angkor Wat for Sunrise, too bad it was too cloudy, couldn't get a good sunrise. Then, visited Ta Phrom - the temple in the jungle, Tomb Raider was flimed here. We prefer this temple, this temple was abandoned for a while and the strong bayon tree roots ruined the temple since then. Next, visited Angkor Thomb, then Bayon temple. Then, climbed up high to Bakheng temple for sunset, again, it was too cloudy, we didn't get sunset too :( , but it was OK, we have seen the temples .... Then, dinner with my PG's friends, yeah, great to meet my friends here , and had a sumptious dinner @ Old Market. Bahija cycled about 2 kilometers to the restaurant at Old Market - it was exciting for me, as I had never cycled so far in a busy car road leh , was nervous all the way - but it was fun cycling around town in the cool breeze , collecting dust on my face too , hehehe , and a bit of exercise too.

Day 3 - woke up late at 9 am, had a nice eggs and bacon breakfast, relaxed - and then said sayonaro to the nice hotel staffs, and headed home ....

My comment is that Angkor Wat as a World Wonder is not as magnificent as I'd thought. I would prefer Egyptian or China's civilization. It's great to be able to visit this third world country, and see how poor this country is, there are many young kids/children who have no education, life is generally difficult for majority of the population. But on the other hand, there are many corruption and the rich is getting more wealthier ...... sad to see this, a lot of hospitals, schools, facilities are 100% built, sponsored by the foreigners, temples are preserved by foreign countries ( including Msia ) , whereas those rich Cambodians did nothing or less to help their own country .....

ten anni

Today, Bahija entered double digit celebration. April Fool day 10 yrs ago, I started my first working day :) with I-kei. Hehehehe, time flies .... a few of my buddies are getting their 10 yrs service awards soon .......too bad, Bahija already quit half way - no service award from I-kei, but I hope to receive one from In-kei though. To celebrate - I'm going to visit Angkor Wat - the lost city, it is super hot now at 40 degree celcius. Hope I'll have a great trip. Have engage a local tour guide , Bahija wish that he is 'Mido' look alike loh, good in story telling, and fun to be with :)

Enjoy , Have Fun & Happy Anniversary .......................

无良心

This afternoon, I participated in the Community Service organized by In-Kei. This time, we visited a place which is housing old folks, handicapped & mentally retarded kids. Youngest is 7 years old, and the oldest is 96 years old. Each of them has a sad background. This home is like 'alam flora'... abandoned folks are being cared for here. Eg, when Aunt A was sick and admitted to GH, after she recovered, she was abandoned by her children, she has no place to go..... Second example, an uncle who speaks good english, his eyes turned blind after a cataract surgery, since then , his family in Ipoh decided to dump him - until today, he still ask the volunteers to send him home to Ipoh, and he said he will pay for the transportation costs. I can't comprehend how the children can do such thing ..... sad sad sad !!

good influence...

1) Bahija went to check out Nokia phone, wanted to buy a sexy newer phone ....but the nice salesman advised me to repair my phone and continued to use , so tak jadi buang duit

2) Bahija went to check out Canon ixus i-zoom, it is ight and nice looking .....so tempted to buy - but the salesman said my old Canon S45 is a better camera, no need to buy a new one ...... so, again, tak jadi beli

3) Bahija gatal - thinking to upgrade my sweety car , discussed this topic with my lunch buddies - like a lunch forum, talked ...talked...talked.....at the end, everyone still voted I shouldn't upgrade ...hmmm, so even though car prices are slightly cheaper now , guess I still tak jadi beli yet ....

inflation

last week hit topic was '192' .... $1.92 for 1 litre of petrol. my friend said his kancil's full tank is close to $40 now, as if he is driving a proton. I suppose I can really taste the 'inflation' now , going thru various stages .... it is sickening that we buy a brand new house, yet the water pressure is so low, so useless .... burden is passed down to the house owner 'again' - in this country, many costs are pass down to the consumer, always kena buli most of the time. My residential area, i believe all my neighbours have installed a water pressure pump - else we may have to spend hours bathing. Back in 2003 - one had to spend RM1,100 for a good German brand 'Grundfos' pump - with installation - may be total up to RM 1,600. Yesterday, when I visited the store, the manager told me it will cost RM 3,000 to install it. The cheapo pump I bought in 2003 for $350, it is now $700. The manager also said the electric wiring cost have doubled. Air cond has increased 20% too ...... see, thesedays, I object those fancy restaurants for $50 dinner or so - why ? I am fighting against my personal inflation rate which is directly caused by external factors la ...............so kesian :(

message to me ....

just now at 9:48 pm - Bahija was super geram with herself ....now at 11:30 pm, when I had my QT - so kiew - the message was "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection" .... 'Good health habits are important, but spiritual disciplines are far more important'..... 'In the beginning we make our habits; in the end our habits make us' ..... wow, I received 2 key messages sekali. Yes, I need to kick away N.A.T.O and adopt W.A.N.T.O ( With Action Not Talk Only ) - please please please .....not easy - but please do something .... tata - sweet dream

Self-control

GB = Good Bahija EB = Evil Bahija

GB : you, you, you ...... what is the point of doing yearly healthcheck yet NATO ( No Action Talk Only) - not doing anything to improve ?

EB : got lah, ada sikit-sikit improvement, at least uric acid sudah turun a lot ...

GB : Rubbish, your cholesterol never drop since last 3 years, in fact it increases 0.2 yearly , u think this is salary increment kah ? siow - you tak rajin exercise too ....earrr

EB : aiyah, no time exercise la

GB : Doctor also teased u , still tak perasan, aiyuh !! What is the point of working hard to achieve debt-free, financial-independence - yet don't have the opportunity to enjoy life later ??

EB : hmm

GB : now, you even feel bad about yourself, sudah so fat, yet never take action to slim down ? malu betul .....langsung tak attractive at all

EB : hmmmmmm

GB : also , what is the point of growing spiritually, yet never take care of your 'body' ? shame, shame, shame .....

Bahija is very frustrated with herself now .... she is obviuosly lack of 'self-control' or lack of 'dicipline' .... she seriously need to think thru this ...this is no brainy work .... so geram with her , should consult AR - hire him as her image consultant ....

Bahija pray for fruit of spirit no 9 - 'self-control', please help her work thru this .....

how old am I ???

So kiew, Bahija met 2 guys at 2 different locations, different time and date. Both asked me the same questions.....like this :-

1) Berapa lama kerja kat i-kei ?
2) Berapa lama kerja now ?

Haha, whenever guys asked me this 2 questions, I sure maintain eye contacts with him , nak see his reaction. Ingat I tak tahu ker he is trying to check out my age ..haahaa

So far, after i replied, their facial expression didn't look positive :) aiyuh, I'm not that old lah ...they are too young nia , problem is not me leh :) heeeheee

courtesy

Every year, Bahija attends a yearly CNY gathering with the i-kei's senior folks. I'm the youngest, most of them are way older than me, and senior managers in i-kei or in another company. This year, the organizer asked me to help by sending emails to all the folks. 1.5 weeks before CNY - I sent out the details. They are working in IT companies, all of them cannot live a day without 'emailing'. Yet, for 1.5 weeks - no one replied to me on their availability..... On the gathering day, I received 2 emails from 2 of my favourite seniors that they couldn't make it. I then cancelled the gathering. After I sent the cancellation email - I received a few 'angry' emails from the senior manages - that they were looking forward to attending the dinner and were dissappointed....there I was , felt cool and replied to those folks - saying that 'none of you confirmed your attendance until I called off the dinner'.......... I don't care if they are senior managers , they have no courtesy to respect my time, my effort. Silence doesn't tell me that they are available. I care less about them, it is absolutely not worth of my time to entertain these folks .....

Happy Valentine .....

For God so loVed the world , that He gAve his onLy begottEn soN That whosoever believeth In Him should Not perish , but have Everlasting life." John 3:16

The key message from my church this week is that - today isn't the big day , 'love' is very 'chimp' ( in hokkien) ...a couple is put on challenge to test their love only after they get married, goin thru ups and downs & adjustments, no more lovey dovey sweet thingy during dating or courting time - the ideal case is they can grow their love together after marriage....

Mr Perfect + Ms Perfect = 'Wonderful Marriage' ---- but there is no Mr or Ms Perfect

Pastor emphasized 'Mr Right + Ms Realistic = Workable Marriage' ..... still a challenge for Bahija to find the Mr Right ... However, am I a Ms Realistic - i surely hope so, if not - may I have the courage to learn to be one - hehehehe

my old friends

Hmm, I'm glad that my far far away friends are keeping in touch with me via my blog. See, blogging is not a waste of time, coz no matter where my friends are, how busy they are/were .... they can read my blog anytime and catch up with me, know what is happening to me...so so, my friends, please lah, start blogging lah - make it two-ways mah ....

Today, I met Janice. She balik kampung for CNY, arrived on CNY day 2 - since she started working in TW, we hardly talked to each other liow - her working hours is quite long, luckily she is making a change soon, good for her.

Today's gathering, Janice mentioned a few things about me, eg - my dream car - she saw my dream car in KL, now she knows which one is Nissan Murano. She knew I can baked cookies, buat tiramsu, the Uncle's story etc ...I just feel she's still close to me loh... but I could only find out little little things about her when we met or when we phoned each other (this we dun do often). I wish my far far away friends could start their blogs, so I could read about things happening around them.

BTW, we mentioned Rotitelur, HT, Yaya, Little Elmo a few times - u guys ada perasan mata pejam more frequently tak ?

新年快乐 Happy Chinese New Year !

Last year christmas was on weekend, new year was on weekend, now chinese new year also fall on weekend :) great timing eh, more time to prepare, to lepak. This year the master chef is taking medical leaves, so each of her kids cooked some dishes - and viola - we had sumptuous reunion dinner. Welcoming Dog year ! .... to all my readers, especially those who are far far away - Happy Chinese New Year, may we enjoy this year :)

Dream car

Someone mentioned about Usd 199 mthly instalment to own a brand new Honda Accord :( ..... aiiii - my heart so sore , so 'kek sim' ...and I dreamt of my dream car ... Deboss once said this to me 'if one can afford to buy a car, it is not a dream car anymore ....it is an affordable car'. Hmm, quite make sense also lah. The kesian part is Bahija cannot afford any car now :( - tu lah, can mimpi of my dream car nia .. My dream car is a splendid SUV - the Nissan Murano ... I fell in love with this dude last year July when I was in USA. Thesedays, I can see quite a few on the road .... it is about RM 258k here. In USA , it is only USD 30k. USD 30k - people there is buying high end luxury car .... RM 30k we buy kancil nia ....

book vs movie

I finished reading Memoir of Geisha last year October, last friday went to watch the movie. I truly enjoyed reading the book with the details, with good description .... movie is a short version and not the same ... I think one who read the book will find reading the book is more interesting than watching the movie .... Next, I'm waiting for 'Da Vinci movie - to test my liking. Currently, I'm reading 'the broker', let see if Hollywood will make this into movie or not ...

first experience with rehab center

Jan 12 Wednesday night when I read about this article, my heart straight away signalled me to help donate food to this rehab center. Went for grocery shopping Saturday night. Sunday , I drove to the center, not wanting to be alone, I brought Teddy Bear along - he sat behind the driver seat. Bahija has done multiple donations to various homes, this was the first time to rehabilitation center.

When I arrived at the center, and when I saw those men walked towards me to collect the food, some of them have tattoos, some of them are very huge - geee - Bahija actually got scared. I know everyone deserve a second chance, yet my normal human mind injected 'fear', 'second viewpoint' about them in my mind .... I decided not to walk into the rehab center, not to leave my contact, plus was in a rush - everything happened so fast .. the guys kept saying 'thank you' and smiled at me....I just replied my usual smile and zoomed - got into my car and drove away from the center.

Now, when I relook at them, I'm indeed glad to see the co-ordinator who was a drug addict - is serving God, and giving helps wholeheartedly to those who wants second chance. Some of the residents are good looking, well built. I think Bahija will return to the center in future, may be next time I'll be more 'open' and more prepared to at least communicate with them :)

I'm wireless ....

Dec 17, 2004 - Bahija got her broadband installed....

Jan 17, 2006 - Bahija managed to setup her wireless router....yahoooo - so great, can carry notebook anyway , now I'm blogging from bed leh - hehe. However, I feel that the wireless speed is slower wor

Feb 17, 2008 - something will have to happen to align with this auspicious date :P

Jan 16

Today I'm 1 year old :)
Today is my eldest niece Josephine's 15th birthday
Today my mum did her cataract surgey
Today start my temporary housewife job taking care of mummy and teddy bear
Today I received a new set of furnitures

..............

Oven

My sister has this oven - still packed in a box for years, never been used. I took it out from the box, and started using it ...hehehe, i learn to like oven liow. It's so useful ..... thesedays, I bake salmon, cod fish, chicken, prawn using that small portable electric oven...very efficient. Marinate the fishes or meat, then set oven timer and bake them for 10 - 15 mins, 'multi-threading' can multi-tasks while baking food, watch TV, clean dishes, shower etc ...then DING, food cooked and dinner is served. I also started baking cakes and brownie - of course not expert yet, just using the ready made cake mix nia. Tonight, I baked chocholate walnut cookies - wow , as I'm blogging now, my whole house is full of Famous Amos's 'smell alike' punya aroma :) .....

Thanksgiving ....

Today, Bahija received a very good news - I finally accept the fact and believe that 'this thing' is real :) , sometimes I don't believe what others told me until I see it , touch it with my own hands or eyes.... today , I just want to give thanks .... Thank You So Much. Bahija is indeed grateful.

2005 sms from Habibi

Dec 31, 2005 Egypt time 9:55:26 pm , KL was 7 hrs ahead - this sms message is directed to Ringgit, Anti-Ringgit, Ms Peace and Bahija.

'When a greeting is sent from distance, u can't hear the wishes, u can't see the smiles, but u can sense the care that truly comes from my heart. Happy New Year"

My 2005 .....and 2006

2005 was an amazing year for Bahija. Been thru a blessed great year - I'm truly thankful for that. Family thingy - all went well - had the biggest party for Mummy in August :). I've fulfilled my promise of spending more time/focus with my ageing mummy. At work - I've had the opportunity to grow into new area, and worked with nice, supportive folks. In terms of traveling, I've been to a few new places / countries this year - the reason why I felt that 2005 went pass so fast , coz I had great things to look forward to...My friends around me were mostly doing well. Janice got married and migrated to Taiwan, TaiPoh came back home for good, Yaya got her status. Sanguine was passionate about her new job. Ringgit in cloud 9. My F.R.I.E.N.D.S' gang, Miow Miow, Teddy, Kancil, Dockers' Pant - all of them are doing so well. My Bulatan friends - have babies and happily married, HT and JT settled down in OR with jobs ....Actually, the most important event happened to me in 2005 was my reborned - awesome experience walking the path to taste/to learn what 'faith' is ? ... words can never described what I've gone thru ..as a baby here - I want to start 2006 - being thankful for the blessings, the inner peace that I've had so far, and to continue growing my faith...

Abstract from Chong Sheau Ching's article - "When we bring gratitude back to our lives, it sparks an inner joy and heightens our perspective. Gratitude is a very simple concept.If we're not grateful for what we have, it will never be enough - or good enough. When we don't feel grateful for our lives and for the people in them - and when we don't articulate and share the appreciation - our loved ones and others feel it and know it. If you are able to incorporate a deep sense of gratitude into your life, you'll notice an enormous difference. All it usually takes is looking at things a little differently. Instead of the flaws, focus on the beauty. Marvel at the gift of being alive." Happy New Year to ALL :)