What is wrong with it this time?

For the umpth time, I am having problem with my CPU! AGAIN! I have lost count the time my CPU falling sick!

I was online booking my flight with Air Asia and want to print out the itinerary. Then I remember I need to install the printer as it was not connect to the CPU. But I couldn’t connect to the printer as the printer itself is uninstalled! Brother! I couldn’t find the CD for the printer so in the end I did not print out my itinerary.

I switched it off and then I remember that I need to check an important email. So, you know the rest of the story. A message just popped out and it said something like this “Your computer cannot restart as the following file is missing or corrupt: system32\config\system”.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I don’t find the computer dealer helpful and it takes them ages to have one problem solved. And I definitely not look forward to send my CPU back to them! Sigh!

I was chatting with Jen using Window Live Messenger and pour out my "grievances" to her. She advised me that the hard disk is probably unstable and need re-formatting. Meaning that it has to go back to the dealer! Oh no! I am betting how long this time round would the dealer takes his sweet times to re-format it!

We know that it has some problem as recently when we watched DVD using the computer, half way through the movie, it will jam and we need to re-start the DVD. Probably it is really unstable and need some checking through again.

Whatever it is, the whole thing would not dampen my holiday mood. Worse come to worse, we just send to the dealer, and we still have our laptop to survive. Hope you guys had a better Friday than I did! Anyway, I enjoyed my Friday night last night, having a date with my girlfriend. We had a dinner then catch up with hubby and his friends for a few rounds of drinks so I overslept this morning. When was the last time I ever wake up this late in the morning?? *wink* Thank god little gal is at nanny's house, she stayed overnight there. Mummy need a break so little gal has to stay there to let mummy out once a while. LOL. Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Merdeka everyone! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

Women's world: wardrobe and shopping

I have been throwing away many things over the past few days; loose papers and broken toys, and storing away my and little gal’s old clothing and items. Oh boy, I never realize that a bedroom of around 200 sq ft sure can store many things around.

My wardrobe is still a mess. Some old clothing that I cannot fit in have been discarded away or sealed in boxes just in case I want to wear it in future. After all those throwing and organizing, my wardrobe is still a mess. Maybe it is high time to stop buying new clothing? LOL! I don’t think I can resist new clothing but it is blessing in disguise as Mega Sales is almost coming to an end! I cannot rest my eyes on my credit card statement as I know I have overspent last month as well as this month.

Talking about wardrobe, I have never knew that my gal’s wardrobe is getting out of hand as well. It is not really a clothes cabinet. We used an office cabinet (from hubby’s old office) and turn it into her clothes cabinet. She has so many clothes and stuff that I told hubby we may need to consider getting her a new wardrobe. Blame on mummy who cannot resist buying new dresses and shoes for her during the Mega Sales. Don’t all mothers agree? Some more she is a girl who tend to be more pampered. She has a lot of hair accessories, bags, shoes and other accessories to go with her wardrobe. Life is too good for our children, they simply are spoiled and pampered, don’t you think? But they worth it.

My gal's clothes cabinet. It also stores her other stuff and feeding tools.

Now that she is older, little gal started to choose her own clothes. She only wears what she approves or chooses. Even when we go shopping, I need to ask her whether she likes that dress or not. If the answer is “no”, you couldn’t possibly force her to wear that dress if you buy it. She even want to look like her mummy, putting on nail polish, make up and comb her hair in front of the mirror. *faint*

Does your children bawl or scream when you don’t buy the things they want in shopping centre?? Thank god my gal hasn’t behaved like that and I do hope that she would not become a spoil brat too. I met a mother and her son in a department store the other night. The son wanted a toy and the mother kept saying “no”. And you know the rest of the story right? The whole store filled with his scream and cries. And the mother embarrassingly has to drag her son along as she hasn’t finish shopping. Hmm, what to do if you are in this situation? How to soothe a hard-headed child that only take "yes" for an answer?

Brillante Weblog award

A very sporting mummy, Spymama who loves food and blog has passed down one of her precious awards to me! Thank you for nominate me for this award, Spymama. I am very honoured. Here are the rules that come with the award:

The rules are these:

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog

And like other awards, it is time for me to share with other bloggers as well. In no particular order, the nominees are as follow:

1. Nick
2. Jen
3. Cooking Momster
4. Constance
5. Dora
6. Nyumix
7. Baby Bok Choi

Nice piece of accessories

I have problem sleeping last night. Maybe I slept too early, around 9pm and then woke up after 10pm. There it is! Gone is my sleep. I couldnt get back to sleep. Turning one side, I have to ensure snoring of hubby, and turning to the other side, little gal's snoring keeps me awake! I tried to read a book, hopefully it will help me go back to sleep, but to no avail. I think I only knock out around 1am, and then woke up again to feed little gal.

It is good that hubby volunteered to send little gal to baby sitter so I can take a quick nap in the morning! I slept till 1130am. Oh boy! Now I am much awake and couldnt take my afternoon nap. Plan to wash my filthy car this afternoon but luckily I didnt get down to it! It is raining outside. Maybe after this post, I will need to get down to my reading. I have been holding it for the last 2 days. Need to finish it before the holiday started.

After a light lunch, I was cleaning up the room and of course that include my dressing table. Organising my make up stuff and jewellery. Happen to stumble upon this nice earring, which I seldom (maybe I should say, forget to) wear. It is a gift from a friend from Australia. Thank you, FS for this DIY earring. FS made this pair of earrings by herself. Isn't it nice? I love the fish and colour; it goes well with my wardrobe.

Pitayas

I started reading my handbook an hour ago and guess what? My brain goes blank and eyes turn watering. LOL! The wordings are too small and my poor eyes! Already wearing contact lenses and I have to emphasize more on my eyes to read those small words. Alright everyone. This is going to be a short post (yeah, again! If you notice, I am lazy to write long posts lately). When I have nothing to write, I will just share some photographs with you.

Dragon fruit farm on the way to Jong's Crocodile Farm

Have you seen a dragon fruit plant before?? It looks like cactus plant, grow on sand and like other cactus, it does not need much water to survive.

Dragon fruit plant

The most common dragon fruit is the red-skinned fruit with white flesh. However the red-skinned fruit with red flesh is very rich in vitamins especially Vitamin C. Now they even have dragon fruit mooncake. You try any before?

Where is my fashion sense?

When were the last time you ask your man how you look in that nice black dress?? Or how that yellow top fit you?? If the outfit is too revealing, my hubby will directly said the outfit is not fit. Not that I am not fit, but the outfit does not fit me!!

When we dated back then, as my boyfriend, he did not mind me wearing revealing outfit. Guess the ego and show-off part are the reason. Immediately after we registered in 2004, the husband instinct comes in. He started to comment on my wardrobe. Initially I didn’t mind since he was into fashion line that time. I bought (and got free) most of my clothing from his boutique. You can said I am sashaying his clothing line along the way. I have to thank him because not him, I would not be adventurous and trying other colours like yellow, turquoise and purple. My wardrobe used to be full of blue, black and white only.

Of course, me having my own fashion style, we do get into some argument but nothing serious. Slowly, I accepting the fact that when I go shopping, I would not bring hubby along, because he starting to give non-constructive comments which I find it unreliable. I prefer to go shopping alone or with my friends who can give me an honest opinion! And guess what! I went to The Spring this afternoon with my friend (ex-colleague) for lunch and shopping. It was fun to have some window shopping with her. I bought a pair of office shirt and a new court shoe at Padini Concept Store. :)

Craving for savoury pastries

Anyone care to have a cup of tea with me? What is in the menu? Puff pastries for your tea break.

(pic: Cherry Clafouti, Tuna Puff and Chicken Quiche. All RM1.60 per piece from Bread & Pastry)

We are parting but it is not a goodbye

I woke up around 6.30am today and it was actually later than my usual time. Must be the weekend air that was still hanging around my bones. If not because of the children’ noise from the school behind our house (schools re-start today), I wouldn’t be able to wake up and go to work in time.

In regardless of everything, the traffic is pretty good, not that jam. I even reached office 10 minutes earlier. It was very relaxed in the office and I already starting to think of what I am going to do for the next few days. People called it a Monday blue but the feeling of going to work this morning is very different from my other day. Why not? Today is my last day with the company. My colleagues even jokingly reminded me so.

I am very relax today, the past few days I have been passing down and hand over updates and clearing old stuff on my desks. It was easy to handover to my colleague as more or less she is familiar with my responsibility. So you can say that I leave with a lighted heart knowing everything is in order and having my colleague taking over my works. Not much to bring home as I don’t have many personal stuff kept in the office.

I remember vividly on my first day, my ex-manager conducted a meeting with staff and everyone was busy running around the office. Don’t know what was the big rush then but everyone was busy with their own things that I was left in a corner reading up a big pile of documents. Boy! All those business terms! There were so many terms that I did not understand that time. I worked pretty late that day, had dinner with my colleagues (ex now) who provided some insights on the company history. It was tiring but I learnt many things on my first day. There was one time when my ex-manager told me that he could not believe that I would last long in the company. LOL.

That was 9 years ago. It was sad to leave behind my colleagues who eventually become my close friends. We may no longer work together, but I know our path will cross again. We even promised each other to get together for lunch since my new office is just a stone throw away.

I will be joining the new office next month, so you can say that I am going “idle” for a week time. But not that idle as I have chunks of staff handbook to read and familiarize with before I start next week.

DVD day

It is a nice Sunday! Rained and cooling morning, but afternoon the sun is coming out. It is also a family day! Yeah, we declare Sunday as family day where hubby will not go out and stay with us. Almost 6 days a week he will be busy with work and meeting clients, so Sunday is an off day and everyone get together. *wink*

Morning sky - see that plane flying away?

So, what do you do on your Sunday??? For us, we have our usual breakfast, then I cooked lunch in the afternoon. When was the last time I cook a meal?? Hmm, I can't remember the last meal. Somehow my cooking is turning rusty, chicken soup a bit oily (I forgot to seive the oil) and the vegetable too chuncky (I lazy to cut the stems into small pieces). Lol! And the beef kebab?? I dont know because I didnt taste it at all. But I think it is half cooked from the look of the colour. Still havent acquire to the taste of beef.

After lunch, we squeezed ourselves in the room catching some movies and taking afternoon nap. Hubby and little gal has not woke up from their beauty sleep, so I take the opportunity to go online and same time, update my blog! And not forgetting visiting some friends' blog as well.

Afternoon sky - nice clouds!

I said it is a DVD day today too!! We no longer went to cinema to catch movie now adays, as we prefer to buy DVD and watch in the cozy of our room. Not to mention we can drink what ever we want and stop the movie half way when ever we need to!! Look at how many hubby bought today! We already watched 2 DVDs today, namely Red Cliff starring Tony Leong and Big Stan starring Rob Schneider. Tonight we are going to watch Hell Boy II! Oh boy, there are so much things to do in one day, I think 1 Sunday is definitely not enough! Definitely not enough to finish watching all those DVD! LOL! We are going to turn into couch potatoes soon.....

How about this pose?

Once a while I love to take self-portrait in front of mirror in the room and bathroom. When ever I am bored I will take out my camera (since I lost in early this year) or borrow from my SIL and experiment with photography. Before little gal came along, I would take photos of myself (just say I am a bit of an obsession of myself, okay? *wink*) Now I am taking most photos of little gal, ask her to pose around. She has become my loyal model for the past 2 years and so without much complaint.

I came upon Mamabok’s blog the other night and find her uniqueness of self portrait. So been loved to be photographed, I tried my hand of Mamabok’s pose which is rather fun. I follow exactly Mamabok’s step and the result is like this. Hey, Mamabok, hope you don't mind I copy as I don't want to be sued for copyright! *laugh* What do you think of this pose? Look alike to Mamabok's? Why don’t you judge for yourself. *wink* And don't forget to try the pose out too!!! Just make sure you don't obstruct the traffic or don't mind the driver in the next car looking at you.

Good result from the clinic

My new manager called me up this morning, telling me that she has received the report from clinic on my body check-up. I have done the urine, blood, chest x-ray, eye, and ECG. I need to go to the clinic twice as on Saturday the doctor was not in. I went back on Monday morning for the ECG. Everything is fine, so I guess I passed their pre-selection test!! It means that I am fit for the job.

Whether I passed or failed, they are still employing me, the test is just a part of the staff requirement. If the result is really bad, then they will refer you to a more suitable vacation (should be "vacancy"! LOL! Thanks Jen for pointing out the typo mistake) instead.

Sleep like a baby

Tomorrow is a working day. I have been on leave for 3 days (actually I did not work since Saturday, so total 5 rest days). I am very relaxed and enjoyed my time with little gal. Most of morning after breakfast at nearby coffee shop, we went to my parent’s house. You can say we “tumpang” (pooling) over there but we did not get complaints or rejection from my mum so I guess she is more than happy to have us as companions.

We spent most of the time watching Olympic Games on tv. Of course once a while help my mum with the kitchen chores, but mum being mum, she never likes having someone in her kitchen.

After lunch, we went back for afternoon nap. Throughout the 5 days I have been sleeping for almost 2 hours in the afternoon with little gal. She sleeps I also sleep. I think I am getting lazier too. You can’t blame me for been one as I have all the times in the world.

Maybe because of seldom taking afternoon naps, I could not sleep at night. On Sunday night (must be my body knew that I do not work on Monday), I only manage to doze off after 12midnight! Guess what? I went to bed around 10pm, so I have been turning and tossing for almost 2 hours. In between I woke up to read a book, but it makes things worse for me. Or the disappointment of Lee Chong Wei, our national badminton player lost to China’s Lin Dan makes me loses my sleep? Not that I am betting on him okay?

Alright, let's get back to the topic of my post. Sometimes I can be long-winded till I forget what I am suppose to write about. It is kind of funny to say someone is sleeping like a baby when that person sleeps soundly without waking up at night. With a baby of my own, I find this English idiom is contradicting. A baby at young age tends to wake up most of the times and frequently at night for feeding and changing. Babies would cry almost every hour to be fed and changed. I wish I would be able to sleep soundly at nights and would not wake up unfreshed and tired the next day. Like a baby, I have the tendency of waking up at nights to go to the washroom, sometime up to 5 times! I do not feel refreshed the next morning even I hit the bed very early. The longer I sleep, the more tired I am. Because I simply have to wake up at night. And more hours of sleeping does not contribute to healthy body too.

Not that I want to, but it have been like this since I was small. Seldom have a good night sleep unless I am sick. I wish I could sleep like a log instead. Do you have a sleeping problem?? Do you wake up oftenly at night?

3 tsp of oats

For those with cholesterol problem and concern about their health, following tip may be useful and worth trying. I got this tip from a friend and thought it is worth sharing with you. I have yet to try it so I cannot give my feedback to you. Anyway, I am not an oats lover, only tasted it when I was pregnant and that was 3 years ago. *wink* Anyone tried this method? Does it work?


Try 3 tea spoon of oat (require the cooking type and not instant type,preferably organic) and dissolve with drinkable room temp. water and soak overnight. (you could do it before you go to bed) Drink them all the next morning before your breakfast. It's quite nice to drink as it's already soft. Try everyday for 3 months and check your cholesterol, it should come down significantly. Many had tried and found that it works and cost effective with no side effect, if you are taking medication you can try too but don't stop the drug until you achieved good result and doctor say so. Cooked oats especially instant are very slow to reduce cholesterol, eating raw is better absorption and more effective.

Goodness in barley

At home, we would usually take barley as a cooling drink on warm day. Barley is high in fibre and cleanses our kidneys. Eating barley regularly is a preventive step against heart disease as, besides the fibre content, it is also high in niacin, a B vitamin good for lowering cholesterol. Barley is rich in selenium which prevents cancer and relieves symptoms of asthma and arthritis. It is a good source of manganese, copper and phosphorous.

I would usually cook barley together with mung beans and add sago and rock sugar and few pandan leaves (for fragrance). A doctor once recommended that barley should not be over cooked (grains should not breaking up and soup become murky) as all nutrition will be lost. Another variation would be adding fu chook (beancurd skin) and ginkgo nuts to the barley drink.
A friend recently forward a barley soup recipe, haven’t got chance to try the recipe yet. Barley soup with roasted garlic. A nutritious and simple soup that worth trying.

1 cup pearl barley; 5 cloves whole garlic, roasted; 2 litres chicken stock, steeped from 1 chicken breasts simmered in three litres water; 2 tbsps vegetable oil; 2 large onions, diced; 2 carrots, diced; 2 stalks celery, diced

150g turkey ham, cut up; 1 tsp ground white pepper; 1tsps sea salt or to taste; 1 tbsp chopped parsley

Method

1. Wash barley and soak it in a bowl of water for three hours. Drain.

2. Heat oil in pan and fry onions. Add carrots and celery, then the barley and fry for three minutes.

3. Add chicken stock, pepper and roasted garlic and simmer over low heat for at least an hour, or until barley is soft.

4. Add salt to taste and serve the soup garnished with chopped parsley.

To the workshop again

Within 1 week, my CPU has gone back to the dealer for some checking as it proved to be something wrong with the graphic card. It is a total frustration as we have been sending back and forth the same unit to the same dealer for the past months!! And not to mention the services they provided. It is SLOW and UNREALIABLE. I am totally speechless of what to say about the company again.

Maybe because the dealer is a good friend, so we bought our unit there. We bought most of our computers, hardware and software there. After this frustrating incident, we have decided to get advice from a neutral party soon. I don’t care about the warranty thingy!! Really don’t know what is wrong with the CPU. Either the technician is incompetent or the parts are not genuine. It has been good for few days when it was back last week. Everything start up well. Then suddenly last Friday, it shut down by itself. Then we cant start it up again. Ggggrrr! I am really tired of the inconvenience.

It is not over!

It is already in the 2nd week of the Beijing Olympics Games, but the sports fever is still there in my family. Athletic and field games has begun. My whole family watched the Badminton Men Single Final last night which started around 9pm. One word to decribe it....Heart-breaking!!! A poor and disappointing performance from Lee Chong Wei. A very tame match, I have to say. Must be the China crowd that proved too much for him to handle.

The cute five mascot little gal has, a gift from her aunt

During the match, little gal was showing off her 5 Olympic mascot dolls to me. I totally forgotten about the mascot dolls. Aren't they adorable? A gift from her aunt. While we were stumping our feet at every points Lee lost, little gal just ignore us, playing and arranging her 5 dolls.

Peace sign from little gal

Malaysia may have lost a chance for a gold, but I believe the most important thing in every players is that they are able to come and compete in an Olympic Game. It is an experience of lifetime. Olympic is where everyone comes together regardless of race, nation, political background and ages to compete in the game of peace and harmony.

Feast & Friday

Time really flies fast. Without me realizing it, it is already middle the month. In less than 2 weeks I will be leaving my company.

We had a farewell lunch today at The Banquet. About 20 minutes drive from our office. I have been to The Banquet for its dim sum for breakfast, but never try its lunch and dinner. We had its All-You-Can-Eat Ala Carte promotion, around RM30.00 per person. Check their website out. Overall, the food portion is just nice for 5 of us. Presentation is great and so is the taste, although some of the dishes overly flavoured for our taste buds. I enjoyed my lunch very much and it was wonderful to share it with my colleagues. When it comes to food, everyone is always in their jovial mood; joking and chatting from food, family to happenings around Kuching.

Mini abalone

Look at my bowl of shark fin soup

Steamed Tilapia ala Hong Kong

The first 6 dishes are compulsory, but you can change to other dishes. Then you can order other dishes from their impressive menu as much as you want!! As it said, you can eat all you like!! We ordered additional 4 dishes, namely hot & sour Midin, stir fried venison, deep fried eel, and jelly fish with baby octopus. Not forgetting our 2 desserts dishes. Total 12 dishes.

Deep fried eel

Prawns with curry leaves

Deep fried soft shell crabs

As for dinner, I had my seafood fried rice around 8pm something. Delicious but sinful right? I don’t know about my blood test result, but judging from the amount of seafood that I had today I bet my cholesterol level would not be of satisfactory result. Need to fast tomorrow morning as I am going to do my medical check up.

Another event worth mentioned here is our Number 1 national shutter, Lee Chong Wei is through to Final and expected to play against Lin Dan from China. It is going to be a good match for both as Lee in bid for 1st gold for Malaysia and Lin having the ground advantages. I watched Lee's semifinal this evening and I was a bit disappointment with his performance, especially in 2nd game. He is having a kind of lapse and lose of concentration from time to time? Hope he is in good form this Sunday and gives his best for himself and the country!!!

Household tag

When Dora ask me what household chore I hate the most, my immediate answer is IRONING without any hesitation! No second thought. I just hate the heat and process of ironing. It is even more frustrating when there were big piles of clothing for me to iron, especially hubby’s office wear. Bulky and heavy. I cant blame hubby as he is a plus size man.

We have thought of getting stay-in maid when we move into new house. Meantime I do all the ironing myself, although most of the time, hubby sends his clothing to laundry for ironing. *wink*

~~~START COPY~~~This meme is pretty simple.
Here are the rules:
1.) List down the household chores you hate and why. Do you think you can survive without helpers and nannies?
2.) Copy the image.
3.) Tag as many girlfriends you want, the daddies and hubbies can also join.
4.) Add your blog’s link in the domesticated divas linky love. You can add all your blogs.
5.) Leave a comment at Stripe and Yellow to be added to the masterlist.
DOMESTICATED DIVAS:
Living the Healthy Life / Sripe&Yellow / Vanity Kit / Mind Bubbles / Something Purple / Em’s Detour / Me,Myself+2 / Kidd Designs / FunFierceFabulous / Ozzy’s Mom / Insights from the Grocery Cart / Living A’ La Mode / God’s Best Gift / MommyAllehs Up-Close And Personal / My Precious Niche / Just Me.. Eds / Eds Mommy Life / Aggie Shoots Aggie Scraps / All Kinds of Me Stuff / The Salad Caper / Winding Creek Circle / InkBabyStudios / Joys in Life / Me and Mine / Little Peanut / Creative in Me/ Pea in a Pod / Sugarmagnolias / Notable Bistro / Around the World / I am Mommy / All About The Memories / Enchanted Play / In Depth / A Housewife’s Journal / Life Together Starts / As We Face Forever / My Happy Place /Iam Dzoi / Suburban Sass / To the Moon and Back / Raising Sandy / Walk on Red / All Things Me / Because Life Is Fun / Feels Like Home / Growing up with Bea / My life… my own piece of heaven / Around the World / Hobbies and Such / My life in this Wonderful World /My Online World / / My Virtual Closet / My Views On My So Called Life / The Real Deal The Real Me / Changing Lanes/ Pit Stop/ Around the World / The Fountain Of Happiness / The Joy Of Life Forever / Love Is / Phtographic Memories / My Colorful World / Strawberry Gurl / Quicker8 / Mommy’s Little Corner / The Dawn That Shines / Journey to Prosperity / Homelife / Sheng’s Simple Thoughts / Coriander Dreams / Gorgeous Traveller / A Traveller’s Domain / Lemon Iced Tea / It’s My Party / My Wonderful Life / Simple Life, Simply Me / Sassy Finds / All things Yummy / Shangrila Journey / My Charmed Life / Mommyhood and Me / Crissy’s Zone / Crissy’s Library / Vis Vires /Crissy’s Haven / My Daily Thoughts / Abby’s Way of Life / Princess Bela / Women Xplore / Our Journey to Life / My Planet Purple / And so I am / Arlene’s Random Ramblings / Life’s All About Lourdes’ Mia / Faery Dancing / Purpled Sky /Mamakshop /Almanac Queen / Caramel Corn / Sunny Side Up Foodie / Zooropazoo / Life Is Mysterious / Rose World/ The Lings
I would like to tag the following people:

Nick, Jen, Didi, Agnes and Sue

Beating "dub dub" very fast

Have you ever wake up in middle of the night finding your other side of the bed empty? Notice your other half not home yet, and it is way late at night. Would you start to worry about his where about and wondering if he is fine?

When ever I find that my hubby is not home yet, I will start to think something not right, why he shouldn’t be back by now and what if something really happen to him? I thought I can hear my heart beating fast in the silence of the night. I will call his handphone. It would be a relief to hear his voice on the phone, but what happen if he did not answer phone or call goes into voicemail? I would be frustrated and worry even more. And I start to think something happen to him. And the next thing I know I couldn’t fall asleep. And hubby will just dismiss it saying I am been too paranoid, over-reacted and worry for nothing. Shouldn’t I as his wife worry about him?

She has more freedom

My SIL has finally resigned from her current company and last Friday was her last day at work. She will start her new job next month. Don’t know who follow who, but it is coincidence that both of us resigning from our respective companies this month.

My SIL is a very independence woman and loves traveling and outdoor activities. She can travel alone from one city to another. Just recently she went to KK to meet up with few friends. When she feels like it, she can just buy the ticket online and pack her bag instantly without much thought. Me and hubby have got used to her style. When weekend comes, she will just disappear without a trace and few hours later (usually when she is at the airport to catch a flight) she will leave a SMS or call to tell you when she is heading.

SIL gone back to Kapit over the weekend for a week. Missing her hometown and the fresh air, she said. *laugh* She will be coming back to Kuching on 15 August before heading to Sydney, Australia with few good friends on 21 August. Wow! She really enjoyed herself before starting afresh in new company. Guess it is easier to do what you want when you are single and with no commitment in your hands, don’t you think so?

Car goes havoc

I was supposed to go for a medical check up and do other personal errand this morning but my car broke down when I on the way sending little gal to babysitter’s house.

My reliable car of more than 10 years has finally broke down (first time case) and it is just couldn’t get any better. It broke down once last Saturday. After my dad checking and starting for almost an hour, in the end everything was fine. I drove it to work yesterday. It was fine then and no indication of breaking down again.

Well, it was still in my dad’s workshop for the time being, heard that the switch board fuse burn. If you ask me about car, sorry to say I am naïve. Don’t know anything about any car care except driving it around. If anything spoiled, I just send to my dad’s workshop. So much for me being a mechanic’s daughter. Before this, I don’t know how to change tyre or checking on oil and radiator condition. But after last Saturday incident, I have learnt how to maintain a car. *blushing*

Luckily I got my dad’s car (a Pajero old model) to spare, not sure when my car will be ready. So much for the whole morning, I didn’t get to do my stuff. Medical check up got to postpone till this Saturday. I have been fasting since last night, so I was too hungry to do it. So frustrating....

Blackout in kuching

There was some interruption to electricity supply for Kuching city this evening. It happened around 7pm and stretched till around 830pm. We just got our electricity back. Phew!

We were actually watching live telecast of Olympic Swimming event when suddenly we were deprived of the power supply.

Little devil touches the glow-in-the-dark horn. Are they real, she thinks...They are for the Halloween party in October

Gosh! It seldom happened in the area we stayed and it was agony as the weather was hot and with candles lit in the house. While waiting for the return of the eletricity, at least we have someone to entertain us in the dark.

All eyes for it

This is actually not my first post on sports. I did make a comment on Australia Open early of the year. I love to watch tennis matches and my favourite man and woman tennis players are Roger Federer and Justine Henin (unfortunately Justine suddenly retired from professional tour this year).

I have to admit I got the sports watching genes from my mum as through her, I grow fond of watching basketball, badminton, swimming and athletic sports. However due to other family members that are fighting for television channels, she seldom has the time to indulge in watching sports in recent years. She was complaining to me the other day that she was the one paying for the ASTRO monthly bill and yet she did not have the time to watch it at all. Poor mum!

Back to sports. Tonight is the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games. As mentioned in an earlier post, I am looking forward to the much anticipated Olympic Games. I may love watching sports, but unfortunately I am not a very sporty kind. In schools I were not an active person, only joined badminton club. During those days, badminton fever was all around us and everyone was taking up badminton either as a sports or hobby.

There wouldn’t be any late night watching during the Olympic Games as I wouldn’t want to look like panda, showing up like one to work every day. I will just catch up with what ever shown in television in the evening, provided my little gal permitted me to do so. It is getting harder to watch our preferred channels each day as we need to reason with her. Most of the times she wins and we just let her watch her favourite cartoon channel.

Hubby is also influenced by me as he starts to enjoy watching tennis matches with me. I told him that one day I would love to visit any of the Grand Slams just to feel how it is to be sitting in the arena with thousands of people watching 2 players playing. Don’t you think it is going to be a fantastic experience?

The replica of Olympic Games at The Spring shopping mall

Swearing and sighing are not a part of me (before)!!

It is getting out of hand. It is not my nature to swear or sigh but lately I am getting cranky with works and family. When I get cranky, I started to feel irritated even by tiny things.

Everything I do does not seemed right, or I easily forget this and that. God!! I even started to swear. Telling you the truth, I seldom swear in my whole life (alright, frankly speaking I can count my fingers, and it is not up to 10 times I use any vulgar words). Just say that I am a decent and educated woman that do not swear at other people. I do have colleagues and friends that for them, swearing is part of their vocabularies. You would lose count of how many times they use bad languages in front of you.

My colleagues even started to comment that I have been sighing a lot lately. Good or bad sighing, but it is still sighing. I did not realize it till my colleagues pointed it out to me. When I am happy, I heave a relieved sigh. And when I am not or under pressure, my sighing is becoming like a groan. The worst part is that I even write the word "sigh" (indicating a sigh from me) when I write an email or type a SMS. Oh dear, I need to be careful, don’t want it to turn into a habit.

I remember that when I was small, my dad would scold me for sighing as he said sighing is not for girl. It considers improper for girls to sigh. I still remember my dad's words till today. Sigh! Oh no, here I go again. Heave a sigh of relief that I have finally come to the end of this post. Time to get some sleep too. Tomorrow is another working day. So, sleep tight, everyone. *Sigh*

Unwind after a day

After a long day, I am looking forward to relax in my own room with radio playing my favourite songs. Today is no exception, but when I reached home, the first sound I heard was my neighbour playing his musical instrument. Oh boy! He and his drum instrument. He is a new neighbour that move in about two months ago. I was complaining about his music beating (it sounds like beating than playing to me) to hubby but nothing has stopped him from continue with such noise pollution. Everytime he is playing, it sounds like hitting the drum madly without any rhythm at all. It sounds like he is releasing his frustration on the drums instead. Hmm, what a way to unwind, don't you think? Luckily the playing last only 1 hour.

I seldom go out at night. Most of the time after picking my little gal, I would be heading back home, have my dinner and get ready the room for the night. So a way to release stress and chill out would be listening to songs and music. I love listening to the radio after back from work every day. It is a soothing music to my ears when I tune into my favourite radio channel, Lite FM. The best music from today and yesterday, that what its tag line said. I love to listen to the oldies and the 80s era songs especially from Abba and Air Supply.

I only have preference of listening to Lite FM in the evening while I am relaxing in bed reading novel, playing with little gal or cuddling cozily with hubby. On other times, I would tune to Mix FM, especially while I am on the road. I used to love Richard and Shaz during the breakfast show, but Pietro and Serena C’s show is entertaining too. Always make me giggle with their funny antics.

So which radio channel do you like to listen to? Who is your favourite artiste or group?

Buns for dinner

Hubby usually returns home around 9pm every weekday. Most of the times, he will has his dinner before heading home, so I would need to take care of my own dinner. It is impractical to cook for one and I am lazy to eat outside, so I will usually buy bread, cook instant noodle or make simple meal for dinner. There go my resolution to be healthy this year. *laugh*

For last night, I were having buns for dinner. Big pau from Foochow Café, Jalan Padungan. RM5.00 for my buns, the smaller one is chicken with egg bun (RM2.00) and the big one is pork with egg bun (RM3.00). If you are wondering how big the bigger bun is, the diameter is 12cm. Big or not? 1 is enough for me, but I am greedy. Of course I couldn’t possibly finish both buns, luckily I have little gal to help me with them.

With RM5.00, I can order Chinese economy rice with 1 fried drumstick, 1 meat dish and 1 vegetable but once a while, I am bored of eating the same dishes. I usually take away from the same stall near to my work place.

Jen, these pics are for you. Missing those big paus?? :)

Happy Kuching Day

Have you been to the Kuching Festival?

Well, I have been there. It started over the weekend and hubby has a booth there. We dropped by last night, checking on hubby's staff around 9pm.

It was jam as usual and packed with crowds. We parked our car across the road, right in front of Kurnia Insurance office. The walking distance is about 5 minutes to the venue. It was a cooling night as rain the whole afternoon yesterday, so it was a nice walk to the festival venue. Thank god the rain stopped, giving way for the Kuching Fest which started around 6pm.

We spent almost 1 hour at the booth. Nothing fancy about this year festival, as almost the same set up and agenda like every other years. Food, fun fair, stage performance and other booth exhibition. From the distance, we could hear some Indian songs, much to my amusement. Sorry, Sorry, I seldom hear Indian songs in Kuching as Indian is consider minority group in Sarawak so it was rather weird listen to one in Kuching Fest. Again, I guess the important issue here is integrity and unity, everyone is under the same nation regardless of race and religion. I took some photos with Sony Ericsson handphone but the photos turned out rather dark.

We just browse around the booths after that, did not buy or eat anything as we have our dinner at home earlier. Food is not that cheap at the festival too. Most prices are marked up but varieties are there.

Cutting my tresses short

It is high time I do something with my tresses. The last time I permed and highlighted was back before Chinese New Year. Boy! That was more than 6 months ago.

Before I start my new job, I think it would be good for me to cut it first. Furthermore, I grew bored on having to style it every morning before going to work. Not to mention the money of buying all those mousse and hair spray.

I just went to the salon this afternoon. I leave the expertise to the salon guy as I just want to cut away the curl locks that has grow out of "style" and get rid of the split ends. *wink* End up, he cut it way to short to my dislike. I told him to cut till shoulder length, but he commented that it would curl and wouldnt look nice. Oh well, guess I have to settle for it since all my long tresses have gone. Now I feel relax and my head also feel light. It has been ages since I have such short hair, so I guess it needs some time to get used to it. *wink*

What's in store this month?

7 months have gone down the calendar, with 5 more months to go in 2008. Wow! I must be anxious, as I am counting the days especially this month.

I believe everyone around the world is counting the days to 080808. What an auspicious number for the Chinese. It means luck and wealth, so I guess I must buy those 6-D see whether I have luck this month. And yes, that date is actually marking a historical sports calendar in China with launching of Beijing Olympics Games. After the 2 tennis’s Grand Slams that held in June and July (which I were rather disappointed with the results, reason being my favourite player lost on both Finals), I am looking forward to this sports event. Just want to see how well China performs in preparation for such big sports event.

August is also the 7th moon of Chinese calendar. I believe you know what that mean right? One of the not preferred months of the year, it is what we called the ghost month. Coincidently the 1st day of 7th moon falls on 1 August, so we will be having the Chinese All Soul’s Day on Friday the 15th. There will be praying to the deceased and burning of incense around on that day. Usually weddings or special occasions would not be held throughout the 7th moon as it is not an auspicious month.

Growing up in a Chinese family that holds highly on old belief and practices, I had always been receptive to ghosts. I have never seen or encounter one (sorry, not that I want to) but I enjoy watching and reading ghosts or supernatural movies and stories. I believe in those things. I believe in their existence. I believe that there are some forces that we cannot see or explain but they exist for a reason. Boy, now I sound like the detective in the X-Files movie. Do you believe that they exist?

August also mark a special month in me as nearly 31 years ago I was born in August. I may be turning 31 years old soon but I don’t feel 31 years old at all. I am still very much doing the same things like when I were in my 21, minus the clubbing and partying of course. *wink* I may have married and have children of my own, but I still don’t feel like 30 plus year old woman. I still enjoy reading those teen magazine (my range has expanded to female, parenting and health magazine now) and romance novel. Once a while, I miss going to KFC and McDonald’s and buying those seasonal toys. Gosh, now I feel very immature. *laugh*

Exactly a day after my birthday, I will be leaving my current job. Some friends have been inquiring on my choice of career and I have to say they are pretty surprise on my decision to venture into sales and service line. *wink* I guess they never expected me to move into something so different.