Life after 38

Taking care

2012-02-02T02:15:00.000+08:00

With another 5 days to go, the 15 days celebration for Chinese New Year will be over. It was a low-key celebration for us this year as a month before CNY, my mother-in-law (early seventies) who is on medication for diabetes and high blood pressure was admitted twice to the hospital for tachycardia (heart beating too fast). For both times, the doctors couldn't find the cause but managed to bring her heart rate under control. Then they scheduled her for an angiogram with angioplasty if required.

The angiogram was done on her heart 3 days before CNY and the diagnosis: 3VD (three-vessel coronary artery disease). The doctors did not perform an angioplasty on her because of the high number of coronary arteries involved. Instead they will be having a discussion after CNY to see whether a cardiac bypass surgery is suitable for her.

Although all of us are worried about her health, it is still a good CNY for all of us. There were laughter and smiles as my in-laws spend precious quality time together with the children and grandchildren. Despite it being CNY where we were supposed to gorge ourselves silly with cookies and junk food, all of us ate healthy meals that are low in salt, low in sugar, and low in saturated fat so this means no waxed meat and no dried meat.

With this, all of us are reminded to take good care of our health. Once good health is lost, one will always be on medication until the time comes for us to say good bye.

1st day CNY

2012-01-23T15:18:00.000+08:00

I just came back from visiting my in-laws on the 1st day of Chinese New Year. It is drizzling now and I am supposed to be taking a nap but I find myself blogging instead. This year, CNY is slightly different as my spouse cooked the vegetarian meal for his whole family this time and it was a success!

Here's wishing all my blogger friends who are celebrating Chinese New Year: happiness, good health, wisdom, courage, prosperity and peace in this year of the dragon!

The Magnificent Flying Dragon

Our version of "yu sheng".

I helped my sister baked these cookies!

Knowing me

2012-01-15T15:08:00.000+08:00

Today I am pleasantly surprised to see my name being mentioned in this post by M in her "Living Dizzy" blog. Thank you, M! I’ve been reading M's blog and also her previous blog for some time now and find her to be a strong lady who has overcome many obstacles living with pain and dizziness.

So in appreciation of this mention, I will participate and reveal 7 things about myself that my blogger friends might not know.

Seven Things You May Not Know About Me.

One:

I was told that when I was about 6 months old, my mother left me alone for a while in a stroller in our garden. When she came back for me, she saw a monkey hugging me (my face facing her chest) with me still sitting in the stroller. She shouted and chased the monkey away. In the haste of a quick getaway, the monkey accidentally scratched my forehead which needed 3 stitches.

So now I have a very faint scar on my forehead. No, unlike Harry Potter, it does not glow and no, I can't understand monkeys chatters.

Two:

I dislike the house geckos (house lizards) because they kept dropping onto my head from the ceiling when I was young.

Three:

I can eat a bowl of 8 tablespoons of instant oatmeal mixed with plain hot water with ease at one go so as long as there is a packet of instant oatmeal and a bowl of plain hot water, I won't die of hunger.

Four:

One night, while I was sleeping in my University hostel, I woke up from sleep with a terrible stomach pain and couldn't sleep after that. In the morning, when the pain had subsided a bit, I walked to the clinic alone and was diagnosed with appendicitis.

Five:

I have traveled 3 times in an ambulance with the siren on: 1. I was the patient. 2. I was accompanying my late father. 3. I was accompanying my spouse.

Six:

When I was young, I wanted to be the Magical Princess Gigi.

Seven:

My favourite colour is red.

That's all. Thanks again M!

New year, new life

2012-01-09T17:18:00.001+08:00

A big welcome to baby boy! May he grow up to be healthy, happy, kind and wise!

2.42kg 134067112

The parents have not registered his name yet. When I visited them, the whole family is so joyful and the mother is just learning to breastfeed him as he is their firstborn.

Here's wishing the parents plenty of wisdom and patient in bringing him up to be a well-adjusted and kind person.

2011

2011-12-31T03:51:00.000+08:00

Overall, 2011 has been a good year for us.

We completed our new project in August 2011 and were very thankful that it went smoothly with only 1 minor setback.

Similar to last year, we did not venture out of Malaysia for the whole of 2011 as we just couldn't bear to be separated from our guppy fish and garden plants although I did spend the last week of the year away from them.

I met up with three of my ex-coursemates in Penang after having not seen them for 5 years and had a wonderful time. I am happy that they made time for me.

Goodbye 2011! Hello 2012! Happy New Year everyone!

Season's Greetings..

2011-12-26T13:10:00.000+08:00

..from Penang. I will be spending the New Year in Penang at my brother's place. Just got here last night. Please recommend - any must-see places or must-eat food?

view from my room this morning

Snap away

2011-12-17T02:53:00.001+08:00

I see Christmas decorations everywhere - so what else is there to do but to take lots of photos of the pretty displays. Here they are:

Pretty lights surrounding a lone snowman

Seashell angels

Can you spot the Santa Claus?

Giant Toys

A white Christmas

What is a green rabbit doing here?

Christmas in a Castle

A Fun Fair

Giant Candy Canes

Where are Santa's reindeers?

A golden Christmas

An A-maze-ing Christmas

Lots of presents

Lovely Chandeliers

Tiny Christmas Trees

christmas wreath

A different kind of christmas tree?

An elegant Christmas tree

Alvin and the chipmunks

Santa and his reindeers

Stop at love

2011-12-04T01:47:00.000+08:00

You can find love at this traffic light.

Tasty

2011-11-24T18:22:00.001+08:00

When my family and I dine out, we make it a point to try different cuisines so a few days ago, we ended up 20km (about 13 miles) away from our home just to eat at this restaurant that serves Middle Eastern food.

Two of us ordered the set meal (a plate of Kabsa or Mandy rice with a piece of chicken, a bowl of vegetable soup and a glass of iced lime tea or syrup) priced at MYR9.90 nett.

A small pot of Arabic tea with mint (MYR6) and two glasses of iced lime tea.

Left: Special chili sauce. Right: Vegetable soup.

Left: Mandy chicken rice. Right: Mandy rice (MYR5)

Left: Kabsa chicken rice (the piece of chicken was hidden underneath all those rice).
Right: Madghoud Lamb rice (MYR 18).

Tagine Musaq'ah with lamb meat, fried eggplant and fragrant chili served with bread. (MYR 17)

All in all a delicious and satisfying meal. Not to mention affordable too (total bill for 4pax: MYR68.20)

PIP Joint

2011-11-14T00:20:00.000+08:00

Two days ago, while I was sleeping, I could feel a throbbing pain in my index finger joint on my right hand and the pain woke me up. To be exact - it is the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint. Then the pain was gone but reappeared randomly on and off. Just that one joint and there is no swelling, no redness, no numbness and no stiffness.

Just forty and experiencing the onset of arthritis so soon?

Edible?

2011-11-03T20:40:00.002+08:00

Look at what I found in my plant pot - yellow mushrooms!

Details about them (from searching the web):

Name: Lepiota lutea or Leucocoprinus birnbaumii
Edible: No, they are poisonous.
Precaution: Although the mushrooms do not harm the plant in the pot, if there is a danger of small children or pets eating them accidentally, they need to be removed from the pot.

As I have neither in my household, I let the yellow mushrooms be.

Maidstone 2001

2011-10-21T01:00:00.002+08:00

Time to reminisce: Ten years ago (21-23 Sep 2001), my spouse attended a kick-off meeting held at the Mercure Maidstone Hotel and as usual I tagged along.

While he was having his meeting, I walked to the nearby Leeds Castle with two other ladies who also accompanied their partners to this meeting. We visited the lovely gardens, the maze, the grotto and had scones and cream for tea. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me at that time so I did not get to take any photos of the lovely place.

After the meeting, my spouse and I visited Canterbury and Dover before returning to Newbury.

Leeds Castle: dinner and drinks

Hotel activities: archery

Hotel activities: Clay pigeon shooting

Hotel activities: Air rifle shooting

The Canterbury Tales Visitor Attraction

The West Gate of Canterbury

Canterbury Cathedral: Christ Church Gateway

The White Cliffs of Dover

Not too sweet

2011-10-12T02:22:00.002+08:00

I love to eat ice cream, especially strawberry flavoured ones that are not too sweet with pieces of strawberries in them. Just bought two pints of this:

and ate a third of it in one sitting so they will only last me 3 days. Do you like to eat ice cream? Any recommendation?

Sunbathing

2011-10-01T20:13:00.000+08:00

One sunny morning, I spotted three kittens enjoying the sunshine on the roof. Can you find them at a glance in the small photo below? If not, just click on the photo to get a better view and you'll see them.

On yet another sunny morning, there they are again. They really know how to enjoy life!

Hanoi 2008

2011-09-21T03:22:00.001+08:00

Time to reminisce: Three years ago (25-28 Aug 2008), my spouse went on a business trip to Hanoi and as usual I tagged along. We stayed at the Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel.

Hanoi Opera House (next to it is the Hilton hotel)

After we checked into the hotel, we walked to a nearby cafe for lunch. I find it difficult to cross the roads in Hanoi as there are many road junctions without traffic lights and the local pedestrians just weave through the traffic confidently.

The cafe where we had our lunch

After lunch we walked to Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the Restored Sword). There were many people resting or exercising around the lake. We continued walking towards the Old Quarter and when we were there, we just walked a few streets before taking a taxi back to the hotel.

Turtle tower in the middle of the lake; Lovely big trees around the lake

We had dinner at Ba Mien Restaurant in the hotel before calling it a night.

Our meal at Ba Mien; The hotel room

Day 2-4: For the rest of the days that we were in Hanoi, I would accompany my spouse to his office where we would eat breakfast near his office and then he would go to work while I would walk back to the hotel which is located about 2km away. Then I would continue to explore the Old Quarter by foot with a map in hand. When it was about time for him to leave work, I would walk to his office to wait for him and then we would have dinner together before taking a taxi back to the hotel.

I walked past the St Joseph's Cathedral one day; The many motorcycles on the road

We ate at Quan An Ngon Restaurant many times as the restaurant is near his office and it serves a variety of traditional food of Vietnam.

Quan An Ngon Restaurant; One of the stalls

Alas, I can't remember any of the names of the dishes that we had.

Need to wrap the rolls ourselves; Waiting for food

All in all it was a walking holiday for me as I did not buy any souvenirs nor did any shopping.

The many dishes we had at Quan An Ngon

Lived 14610 days

2011-09-11T23:20:00.098+08:00

After reading so many blog posts about ladies turning 40 this year, finally it is my turn today. No celebration nor gifts for me because I am trying to live a low-keyed life. I just bought a slice of chocolate strawberry jam cake because at this age, one slice of cake is all that I can manage before feeling satiated (although I love to eat cakes). So here's wishing myself a Happy 40th Birthday!

Seeing depth

2011-09-02T22:47:00.001+08:00

Succumbed to temptation and bought the following item during the long holidays (30-31 Aug 2011) - Hari Merdeka (Independence Day of Malaya/sia) and Hari Raya (Eid). As we did not want to spend too much money on it, we decided to get a smaller one just to enjoy watching 3D shows and playing 3D console games at home. Every time the 3D function is turned on, a warning message is shown advising viewers to take a 10 to 15 minute break every hour to rest their eyes.

It is fun to watch football (soccer) matches in 3D at home. With the depth effect, it is like having a small glass box in front of you where you can reach into the box and touch the little people who are running about kicking a ball inside it.

Let's see how long the novelty will last. In the meantime, I better take extra good care of my eyes.

The box

The reason

Teamwork

2011-08-23T07:56:00.000+08:00

I often buy items that need assembling and will assemble them myself. For bigger items, I seek the help of my spouse. This is one activity that both of us enjoy doing together. As it requires us to work as a team, it brings us closer to each other. So far, we have assembled many items such as cupboards, tables, sofa beds, chairs, kitchen cabinets and trolleys.

Once we had a very difficult time trying to fix two cabinets with doors to a free-standing kitchen console according to the step-by-step instructions given in the guide but we did not give up. In the end, we had to rearrange the steps to get the job done.

So if you have run out of things to do with your spouse, why not try assembling some items together?

A recent small item that I assembled on my own

Done!

Trees

2011-08-14T23:05:00.002+08:00

I like the look of the trees below and would like to plant some near my house but I do not know the name of these trees. Any idea what trees they are?

Neat row of short trees

This is how the leaves look like

A call

2011-08-05T13:26:00.022+08:00

I was out when I received a phone call from my "empty" house. Something or someone has triggered the alarm system so I rushed home only to find that everything looks to be in order so did the system malfunction?

Before I installed the system, many people told me that there would be many false alarms and that it is not really useful but just because I do not want to wake up in the middle of the night to find an intruder standing over me, I decided to go ahead with the installation. I prefer to be awakened by a false alarm in the wee hours than to wake up groggily staring into a stranger's face but I can't say the same for my neighbours.

While there are many types of home security system out there, it is not easy to design a configuration and settings that will inform the owner of exactly what triggered the system if different types of sensors (contact sensors, shock sensors, motion sensors) are grouped together in one zone. Even a 10-zone system does not provide me with the granularity that I desired but due to a budget constraint, I settled for it. So now there is no way for me to tell what triggered the system.

So is a home alarm/security system a necessity nowadays? Or is it just there to provide home owners with a false sense of security? What do you all think?

Leuven, Belgium 2003

2011-07-25T09:14:00.000+08:00

Back in Sept 2003, my spouse went for a business trip to Leuven, Belgium and as usual I tagged along. Leuven is known as a university town for one of the oldest university (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is located there. From the airport, we took a train to Leuven and then walked to The Novotel Leuven Centre hotel to check in.

Hotel room and view of the Stella Artois Brewery from the window of our hotel room

Then we walked to the main market square (Grote Markt) which is about 1.5km away to do some sightseeing. After a while, it was time for dinner. As my spouse prefers to eat "South East Asia style meals", we found a Thai restaurant (Krua Thai) and had our meal there. I don't remember the dishes that we ordered. All I remember is that the food there is delicious.

Krua Thai restaurant where we had our dinner

2nd Day

The next day after my spouse went for work, I was left to explore Leuven on my own. I walked to the main market square again and took photos of the town.

Left: Town Hall Right: Saint Peter's Church

Then I walked to visit the Grand Béguinage of Leuven (Groot Begijnhof van Leuven), a restored historical area which originated around the 13th century to house a community of unmarried, semi-religious women (Béguine - definition from the oxforddictionaries.com : "(in the Roman Catholic Church) a member of a Dutch lay sisterhood, formed in the 12th century, and not bound by vows"). The area consists of streets, squares, gardens, parks, with houses and apartments built in traditional brick and sandstone style. Now students and staff of the Catholic University of Leuven live there.

Groot Begijnhof van Leuven

After all the walking, I was hungry. Since my spouse was not around, I was free to eat non "South East Asia style" meals. The previous night, I found great online reviews for this restaurant - Restaurant-Bistro Timory - so I made my way there by foot with the help of a street map. Had an enjoyable meal there - I don't remember all that I ate but I knew I had a waffle with ice-cream for dessert. Back then, I do not take photos of my food. The only downside about eating alone is that I had to carry all my belongings into the washroom with me and there was no one to "guard" my table.

Restaurant Timory

After a satisfying meal, I continued to wander around Leuven and noticed the many statues standing or sitting here and there so I took photos of them. Below are the photos that I took of the statues. The description and name of the statues are copied from this pdf file "A guide to the statues of Leuven" that I found online. This guide even states the location of the statues and has a map marking their locations. The guide contains many more statues than the ones I saw.

De Kotmadam - by Fred Bellefroid built in 1984 in honour of the kotmadam. “Kot” is Flemish slang for a student room, and the “kotmadam” is the landlady of the building, who would prepare meals for the students, tidy their rooms and help them when help was needed.

Renée - Reading a book entitled “Loveniers Armand”, the name of the sculptor. This statue is meant to represent the active female students in Leuven, built near Atrecht College, the first to offer university degrees in teaching to women. It was named after René Depret, head of the Merchants Association of Leuven and the Friends of Leuven Museums, among many other associations.

De Bakkers (The Bakers)

Dit Beeld Werd Geschonken boor - In memory of those drafted into the crossbow corpse (always 60 men strong) who trained along this pathway, outside the inner wall

Paep Thoon - an organist/jester at the Holy Sacrament of St Peter’s church in the 15th century, who used to tell the truth through dark humour;

Fons Sapientiae (Fountain of Wisdom): a university student who pours wisdom into his head by reading a book.

3rd Day (also the last day)

On the 3rd day, we checked out from the hotel early in the morning and my spouse left for work with all our baggage. I then took a train to the Brussels-Central railway station to do some sightseeing around Brussels. I've been to Brussels before in 1999 during a 2-week Europe package group tour but that was a short stopover so this time I bought a ticket at the Central station and got on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour around Brussels. I sat on the upper deck of the open-top bus.

Hop on hop off sightseeing bus

I did not get off at most of the stops (got down at only two stops), just sat there and enjoy the city sights. At Stop 9 - Heysel, I alighted from the bus and bought tickets for myself and my camera to enter the Atomium (built in 1958). Since my camera has a ticket, I took many photos inside the Atomium.

Atomium - ticket counter and close up

Exhibition hall inside one of the steel spheres

Escalators or stairs inside the tubes connecting the center sphere to the other spheres

More escalators and stairs in the connecting tubes

Observation deck and view from the deck

After boarding the bus again at Stop 9, I alighted at Stop 12 - Bourse-Grand Place (Grand Place square) where I walked around looking at the various buildings around the square, searched for the famous Manneken-Pis and had my late lunch there - a bowl of mussels broth.

I think this was where I ate my late lunch - the sign says "Poisson Viandes Fruit de Mer" (Fish, meat, seafood)

After lunch, I took my own sweet time walking around window shopping looking at the chocolate displays until I lost track of the time. When I realised it, I quickly walked to a bus stop and waited very long for a hop-on-hop-off bus to appear. I was so afraid that I missed the last bus and had to take a cab back to the train station. Fortunately a bus appeared after more than half an hour and I hopped on, only to find it crawling as the traffic was congested.

Traffic congestion

When I reached the train station in Brussels, I quickly bought a ticket and boarded a train to the airport. Met up with my spouse at the airport and took a flight back to UK.

Lesson learned: when sightseeing alone, must remember the time at all times.

40 years ago...

2011-07-17T14:51:00.000+08:00

...you were born.

Now it's time to wish you a very happy 40th birthday!

Goats vs car

2011-07-07T01:10:00.007+08:00

One day, on my way home, I saw this peculiar sight - the goats were running in the middle of the road and the goatherd was nowhere to be seen. Instead of the tortoise and the hare, it is "the goats and the car" - who do you think will win the race?

Being old

2011-06-28T22:20:00.019+08:00

Recently I have been thinking of old age due to seeing the many elderly people who live on the same street as my in-laws - who takes care of them and how they live their lives.

1. One old lady (around 80 years old) lives in her marital home with two young Cambodian maids (20-25 years old). Her son and daughter (mid 60s) visit her during the weekends. I have never seen the old lady outside her house - only the maids.

2. Another old lady (75ish) lives in her younger brother's house as the caretaker with rooms let out to tenants. She is sweet and polite and very independent. She dares to walk alone to the nearby shops to get her grocery.

3. My parents-in-law (early 70s) live on their own in their marital home and we visit them regularly.

4. An old lady (70ish) lives with her son and his family with a maid.

5. An elderly couple (late 70s) lives on their own and occasionally the wife will shout very loudly at her husband and her shouts can be heard down the whole street even though she is shouting from within her own house. *Update (29 June 2011): I was told that the wife shouts at the husband because the husband is hard of hearing and she has to ask him to do things around the house because her legs are weak and she can't walk and move about*

6. There is one widow (mid 60s) who lives with a maid and babysit 4 grandchildren (2 from her daughter and 2 from her son). Her son lives in his own house with his family a few doors away and will send his children over to her house everyday. Her daughter lives further away but still send her children over to her house everyday.

So it sets me thinking, will I be like the old woman who shouts at her spouse when I am old and grey? Or will I live alone by myself should my spouse passed away before me? Can I be independent when old?

What about you? Have you thought about being old? Do you expect to live with your children and their respective families or do you expect to live with your children who are still single? Or do you plan to treasure your independence and live on your own for as long as you can as long as you are able to care for yourself? What's your plan should you need a carer - hire a maid or check into a nursing home or expect your children to be your carer? I told my spouse, if he needs a carer when he is old, I am checking both of us into a nursing home because I do not have the confidence that I will be able to take good care of him when I am old myself.

Speaking of the elderly, my maternal grandmother is going to celebrate her 95th birthday soon. She lives alone and still cooks her own meals. Can I be as independent as her? Once again, only time can tell.

A recent photo of my grandmother

Jakarta 2005

2011-06-19T01:46:00.000+08:00

I've been to Indonesia only once - and that is to Jakarta for around 3-4 days in mid May 2005. My spouse went there to attend an exhibition and I tagged along. His employers' business partners brought us out for dinner on our first night there and I can not remember the name of the restaurant now. Apart from that dinner, I stayed in the hotel - Jakarta Hilton (now known as The Sultan Jakarta Hotel) the whole time for the rest of the trip so I did not see much of Jakarta.

Every morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and then I walked with my spouse to the Jakarta Convention Centre which is connected to the hotel via an underground air-conditioned tunnel. Then I would walked back to the hotel alone and strolled around the hotel's lush gardens before going back to my room to read a book. I ate all my meals at the hotel restaurants but did not use the other facilities. So should I visit Jakarta again to make up for the sight seeing that I missed the first time round?

Hotel's garden

Our room with two balconies

View from one of the window/balcony

Reuse a phone

2011-06-10T16:51:00.000+08:00

A few days ago, my cell/mobile/hand phone started having a will of its own. I was keying in a text message and it interrupted me by sending the incomplete message to a random number from my address book. I pressed the cancel button a few times to no avail and then it proceeded to send blank text messages to a few other random numbers so I had no choice but to switch it off. I suspect this erratic behaviour is due to a "sticky-keys" problem.

This 4.5 years old phone is a hand-me-down phone from my spouse so I will not be sending it to be fixed. Instead I am now using another hand-me-down phone from my brother which has many other functions that I do not need as I only use my phone for sending text messages so any phone in working order will do. Let's see how long this 3 years old phone will last me.

P/S I love using hand-me-down items because in this way, I feel that I am doing my part in adhering to the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" motto.

Bye k618i! Hello HTC Kaiser!

鳳梨酥 (Pineapple Cake)

2011-06-02T01:35:00.005+08:00

********* Updated on Sunday 5 June 2011 *********

I realised that I couldn't tell the size of the pineapple cakes from my photos here. Just for the record, in general the dimensions of a pineapple cake are: 2 inches (length) x 1.5 inches (width) x 0.8 of an inch (thickness). Of course there are exceptions, some are smaller by 0.5" and some are larger by 0.5". So far, I have not seen one bigger than 2.5" x 2" or smaller than 1" x 1".

Adding to this list, these are the pineapple cakes bought by my brother from Yu-Jan-Shin pastry house in Taiwan. As I did not get to taste them, I am only noting down what I was told about how they taste.

Website: www.yjs.com.tw

The box with the round tag on it is the gold award winning pineapple cake.
Normal Price: TWD440
Discounted Price: TWD 410 (~RM43 or USD14) for 20 pieces in a gift box (~RM2.15each).
Notable Taste: The pineapple paste is darker in colour and the taste of the fillings is similar to Malacca nyonya pineapple tarts.

Note the darker fillings in the cake on the right

The other box:
Normal Price: TWD400
Discounted Price: TWD 370 (~RM39 or USD13) for 20 pieces in a gift box (~RM1.95each).

*End of update* Updated on Sunday 5 June 2011 *

My mother just came back from Taipei and she gave me all these pineapple cakes that were made in Taiwan. I am making some short notes here so that I know which ones to buy when I go to Taiwan.

Website: www.pcake.com.tw and www.dawncake.com.tw
Unlike the rest of the pineapple cakes which are square in shape, this one is round. It is also known as Native Pineapple Cake and according to the FAQ on its website this is because "It’s made from genuine Native Pineapple and is totally different from so-called Pineapple Cake made from squash or artificial scents and flavoring."
***My note: the common pineapple paste in pineapple cake made in Taiwan is generally made out of pineapple and lots of winter melon so please check the ingredients listed on the box if you are looking to buy pineapple cake with fillings made mainly with pineapple.***
Price: TWD430 (~RM45 or USD15) for 18 pieces in a gift box (~RM2.5each).
Calories per Serving (30g): 135.75kcal
They cater for international delivery to China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and USA (too bad Malaysia is not in the list). Notable taste: The pastry crust tastes like it has cheese in it. Will I buy: Yes

Website: same as the one above. Name: 17th Pineapple cake (I'm not sure why it is named this way). Square in shape. Price: TWD530 (~RM56 or USD18) for 14 pieces in a gift box (~RM4 each). Notable taste: The pastry crust tastes like it has salty egg yolk in it. Will I buy: Maybe (due to the expensive price)

Website:www.food168.com.tw
Square in shape (as shown in the following photo). Price: TWD300 (~RM32 or USD10) for 20 pieces (~RM1.6 each). Notable taste: The pastry crust has a strong milky taste which I like. Will I buy: Definite yes

Source: http://www.food168.com.tw/poducts-list-1.htm

Website: www.chiate88.com
Square in shape. Price: TWD520 (~RM54 or USD18) for 20 pieces (~RM2.7 each). Notable taste: The pastry crust has a strong buttery taste. Will I buy: Yes

Website: www.royal-family.com.tw
Square in shape. Price: TWD220 (~RM24 or USD8) for 16 pieces (~RM1.5 each). Notable taste: The pineapple paste is too sweet and does not taste natural.
Will I buy: No

As my spouse does not like to eat food items made from butter or milk, these are all for me so I will eat one every other day to ensure that my sugar intake does not go up too much in a day.

Shopping companions

2011-05-23T17:07:00.001+08:00

They are my 3 green reusable shopping bags. Since I want to go green, it is not enough for me to just use reusable shopping bags - they must be green in colour too.

Nah, I am only joking, not using plastic bags is a good enough move. The government is also doing its part to encourage us to ditch those plastic bags by getting retailers to stop giving out free plastic bags on Saturdays in their nationwide "No Plastic Bags on Saturdays" campaign. Unfortunately the results are not all positive. I overheard this conversation between a couple on a Saturday.

Man: Oh, I think our rice at home is running low, let's go and buy a new pack.
Woman: No, today is Saturday. They will not give us plastic bags. Let's wait till tomorrow.

I guess there is still a long way to go before it becomes a habit for people to use reusable bags. Especially when reusable grocery bags need to be washed carefully and regularly to minimise bacterial contamination.

My green companions

Donnington Castle 2000

2011-05-16T23:32:00.001+08:00

Time to reminisce - one weekend in Aug 2000, we visited a ruined medieval castle situated north of Newbury, Berkshire. Details about Donnington Castle can be found at the English Heritage website.

We left home passing by our neighbour's house with its lovely garden

We passed through narrow roads lined with tall trees

We had to walk a short distance to reach the remains of the castle

Posing in front of the gatehouse of Donnington Castle

The view from the site of the castle

Souvenirs

2011-05-10T02:14:00.001+08:00

My brothers and sister-in-law just came back from visiting my 94 years old grandmother who lives in Taiwan. They brought back some gifts for me. One of them is an ocarina, a musical wind instrument that is somewhat like a recorder. I will learn to play a simple song on it. For a start - I am working on playing "Twinkle twinkle little star". It is quite challenging as the ocarina is small and sometimes there is a need to cover only half a hole. Nevertheless, I will try to do it.

The ocarinas that they bought

My mother who is still in Taiwan has requested them to pass to me two packets of soft chewy date walnut nougats which I love to eat when young. She always buy them for me whenever she visits her mother. It has been many years since the last time I ate them. I did not even buy them the few times that I was in Taiwan because I have totally forgotten about them. This time I asked her to get some for me so that my spouse can have a taste of them. I like eating those that are not so sweet and I hope my spouse will like them too.

date and walnut nougats

Substitute dog carer

2011-05-01T01:07:00.001+08:00

Taking care of two thirteen years old dogs requires the carer to have lots of love for them. According to this "Dog Age Calculator", if our dogs were human they would be around 80 years old so their diet needs extra care. Twice a day, they are fed Eukanuba dog food that have to be soaked to soften the kibble. In addition to that, they are also fed steamed rice with shredded chicken breast meat and the whites of hard boiled eggs.

Now that my brother who takes care of them is away on his well deserved vacation, a substitute dog carer has been appointed. Her daily activities include feeding the dogs twice a day; scooping their poo and flushing the poo down the toilet; brushing their teeth with special dog toothpaste; and hosing down the dogs' "urinal". As the dogs are confined to a large area where they can run around freely, she does not need to walk them but the teeth brushing and poo disposal tasks are enough to keep her fully occupied. Further to that she needs to take care of the eleven year old cat too so she really has her work cut out for her.

My brother insists that the dogs' teeth are brushed daily and the poo are flushed down our toilet. Searching for other ways to dispose the poo, I googled and found this guide with the title "What to Do with Doggy Doo". Guess my brother is right, one of the responsible and correct ways to dispose the poo is to flush it down the toilet. So how do you dispose your dogs' poo?

Sleepy cat

P/S I am just the companion to the substitute dog carer because I just do not have what it takes to take on this important role.

Twelve years

2011-04-20T14:47:00.001+08:00

It has been 12 years since we said our marriage vows in Cantonese in front of the Registrar of Marriage at the National Registration Department of Kuala Lumpur.

Here's wishing us a very Happy 12th Anniversary! May we be together for many more years to come and get to wish each other many, many more happy anniversaries.

Blue sky, green grass

2011-04-14T00:59:00.000+08:00

Some photos of Ching Jing (清境) farm in Nantou (南投) County, Taiwan that were taken during my 2006 trip there. A very nice place to take a long, leisure walk.

Alone but not lonely

Feel the clouds

A burst of sunshine

That's me (in red)

Parents be aware

2011-04-05T00:49:00.001+08:00

I am not sure whether parents are aware or not that when they are carrying their children in their arms in a restaurant or near a food stall where all the dishes are laid out openly on the counter, that the shoes of their children are on the same level as the food. In some cases the shoes are hovering over the food.

To me, it is very unhygienic for food to be so near to the toddlers' shoes. I'm not sure what parents think. Sometimes when I am sitting and eating in a restaurant or a coffee shop, suddenly a pair of tiny shoes will float by and pass me closely near my head and over my food. When that happened, I will have no choice but to abandon my meal. In the case of the photo above, the shoes of the toddler almost touched the plate of rice that the father has in front of him and he was oblivious to it.

Can you find..

2011-03-28T17:19:00.001+08:00

..the cat in the photo below?

There it is!

Life goes on

2011-03-17T02:22:00.000+08:00

I am very busy these days as my project shows signs of nearing kick-off but now and then I can't help but think about the people in Japan and Libya who are seriously affected by what is happening now in their countries.

A green apple?

2011-03-07T10:50:00.001+08:00

When I first saw it from afar in a local supermarket, I thought it was a green apple. Then my mother told me that it is a fresh date (jujube / Ziziphus zizyphus / 蜜枣) and that she used to eat them during her growing up years in Taiwan. So I bought a pack of about 6 (500g) at about RM15 to try as I have never tasted a fresh date before. It is crunchy and tastes slightly sweet. Will definitely buy them again.

A walk in town

2011-03-01T03:40:00.000+08:00

Once in a while, I would venture into the city center to have a bowl of my favourite beef noodles. This time, when I was there, I noticed something different. Lorong Kasturi, a lane along Kuala Lumpur’s Central Market has been turned into a covered walkway with retail kiosks along it.

Kasturi Walk - the covered walkway with giant Wau Bulan (kites) forming the structure of the walkway.

As it was still early, the retail kiosks were not opened for business yet.

Kasturi Walk from afar.

After taking photos of the huge kite structure, I proceeded to have my bowl of beef noodles at Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist (新九如牛肉粉). The type of noodles I like to eat at this place is "loh see fun" (老鼠粉 - Malaysia and Singapore) or known as "silver needle noodle" (银针粉) in Hong Kong and Taiwan. At RM6 for a small bowl, the price is considered reasonable. After a satisfying meal, I took a walk around Central Market and then it was back home.

My favourite beef noodles eatery - a man is seen in this pic taking photos of the place. It is that popular until many people like to take pictures of it.

Lara's sidekick

2011-02-23T22:36:00.000+08:00

From today onwards, I have to report for sidekick duty for at least 1 hour daily until the mission is completed. I play Totec in "Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light" and I have to assist Lara in her adventure. So far, Lara has taught me how to handle my spear, jump and walk on her rope and carry my shield above my head so that she can stand on it to jump to higher places. I am not skillful yet so I get scolded by Lara quite often. When there are many enemies around, I get too excited and forget how to fight so I simply plant and detonate bombs until I blow up Lara. Ah, the joy of cooperative game play between a skillful and an unskillful player. And who says playing games together strengthens the relationship?

The Guild

2011-02-20T16:05:00.000+08:00

My spouse got me hooked on this web series entitled "The Guild". If you are a gamer or know someone who is a gamer, then you may be interested to watch this show. It is a comedy about a group of online gamers and each episode takes only about 5 to 8 minutes. We have been watching season 1 to 3 on youtube and season 4 on www.watchtheguild.com during the weekend.

The story behind this web series is very inspiring. It is created and written by Felicia Day, an avid online gamer and struggling actress in Hollywood. The first few episodes were self-funded and then the money ran out so the next few episodes were financed by donations via PayPal. More information available here. What's important is that some people are inspired by what she has achieved to start doing something about their dreams without waiting for external funding.

I wanted to know more about how she is living with her success now so I found and read two articles: "Farpoint 2010: A Conversation with Felicia Day" and "How Felicia Day Recruited Millions for Her Guild". Very interesting.

Sunday dim sum

2011-02-20T11:21:00.003+08:00

My spouse woke me up at 7.30am today to go to eat dim sum so I got up but was quite bad-tempered as I am not a morning person. Got to the dim sum place (6.6km drive) at about 8am and the place was quite full but we managed to get a table.

I took photos of all the dishes we ordered so that I could remember what we had eaten but somehow left out a bowl of congee. We did not order any fried items as I wanted to refrain from eating oily food. The bill came up to RM54.60 inclusive of 6% government tax and 5% service charge. The dim sum dishes were categorized as small (RM 3.6), medium (RM4) and big (RM4.5) and we had 1 pot of tea (RM 1.5 per person), 2 small, 3 medium and 6 big dim sums but we did not ask which is which, we just sort of guess.

Overall, the savoury dim sums are a bit too salty and the pork taste is a bit too strong for me but my spouse said his bowl of century egg, salty duck egg, and lean pork meat congee is nice. No second visit for me.We ate the following:

L: Steamed prawn dumplings (4.5) R: Steamed pork ribs (4.5)

L:Chives pork dumplings (4.5) R: Steamed pork dumplings (siew mai - 4.5)

L:Lotus glutinous rice (4.5) R:Scallop prawn dumplings (4.5)

L:Red bean pao/buns (3.6) R: BBQ pork (char siew) pao/buns (3.6)

L: Fish paste balls (4) R:Glutinous chicken rice (lo mai kai - 4)

Restaurant 錦選

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-12T17:48:00.000+08:00

It does not take much
to express your love
to your loved ones.
Just a phonecall,
an email,
or a whisper in their ears
to let them know
how much you love
and cherish them

everyday.

A delightful find

2011-02-12T01:10:00.003+08:00

While cleaning the house recently, I came across a long-forgotten item. I couldn't even remember its existence so it was a surprise when I found it. It was a handmade Valentine's Day card given to me 18 years ago by my then one-and-only boyfriend (now my spouse).

Looking at it, I wonder what would it take for him to hand make a card for me this coming Valentine's Day. Showing him the card, I asked him this question and he told me jokingly that he hired someone to make the card for him then. I know it is not true because I can recognise his handwriting. He even painstakingly wrote

all along the edges of the card. Like me, he also does not remember anything about this card at all.

After being together for 19 years 3 months 1 week and 5 days, I honestly do not expect nor want a meticulously handmade card from him anymore because our love for each other has grown and moved past this stage. Now, we focus more on mutual respect, open communication and acceptance of each others' shortcomings without wanting to change each other.

So for this coming Valentine's Day, we won't be going out for any meals. We will just eat a simple dinner at home, enjoy watching a movie together in the comfort of our sofa-bed and share a heart-to-heart talk before calling it a day.

To those who love and those who are loved, may all of you enjoy a Happy Valentine's Day on 14 Feb 2011!

P/S Although I aim to keep my belongings to a minimal because I do not want to become a hoarder, I'm glad that I kept the card because it does bring back such fond memories of the time when we were young and love struck. So I am putting the card back into my "sentimental treasure box" so that I can look at it again when I am old and grey.

So are you a keeper or a thrower when it comes to things like cards and sentimental gifts?

人日

2011-02-09T00:38:00.118+08:00

Today is the 7th day of CNY. It is known as "人日" (人:people, 日:day). From what I gather, according to one of the many Chinese legends about the creation of the world, the world was created by 女娲 (Nuwa - a goddess) and on the 7th day, she created human beings. Therefore, the 7th day is known as mankind's day or mankind's birthday.

For dinner today, I went over to my mother's place and we ate a homemade modified version of 鱼生 (鱼: fish, 生:raw, Yusheng , yee sang), a raw fish salad. We did not include any raw fish slices in our version. Our dish consists of shredded apples, chinese pears, yam beans, japanese cucumbers, carrots, daikons, pineapples; slices of pickled ginger; crushed peanuts; sesame seeds; pomelos (flesh); cornflakes; fish crackers; plum sauce and sesame oil.

I had only this dish for dinner and it was enough for me. So maybe I'll eat this dish minus the oil, cornflakes, fish crackers and plum sauce for dinner every night.

The dish before the "tossing" starts

The "tossing" in progress - mix 'em all up!

Flesh of a pomelo - my contribution: I cut the pomelo and remove its flesh

Taking a breather

2011-02-07T22:59:00.000+08:00

Today is the 5th day of CNY. I have not switched on my netbook for the last 5 days because I was busy shuttling between my in-laws' and my mother's place which are located 3km apart. I was barely at home. When I was at my mother's place, I can't help popping her home made cookies into my mouth as they were made with less sugar and less butter so they are just right for me. Got to remember to take care of my health and not overeat. Ten more days of eating and merry making to go before CNY is officially over and then it's back to the daily grind.

CNY Home made Cookies: cashew nuts, oats, peanuts, almonds

CNY countdown

2011-01-31T09:07:00.005+08:00

Another 3 days to go before CNY. Here's wishing everyone:

May all of you enjoy the best of health, lots of happiness and prosperity in the year of the Rabbit!

Gong Xi Fa Cai! 恭喜发财! (May you be prosperous)
Shen Ti Jian Kang! 身体健康! (May you be healthy)
Cai Yuan Gun Gun! 财源滚滚!
- (May your financial resources overflow)
Wan Shi Ru Yi! 万事如意! (May things turn out as per your wishes)

Long Ma Jing Shen!

(May you have the spirit and energy of a horse and dragon)

Bu Bu Gao Sheng! 歩歩高升! (May your every step leads to success)
Xin Xiang Shi Cheng! 心想事成! (May all your wishes come true)
Xin Nian Kuai Le! 新年快乐! (Happy New Year)

To all those who are travelling for the holidays, have a safe journey!

Year of the hair

2011-01-24T12:48:00.006+08:00

1993 was the year when my all one-length hair was at its longest. I kept it at almost-waist length for a year only as taking care of it was time consuming.

I don't even remember how long it took my hair to grow to that length. Now that I have decided to keep my hair short forever, these photos are all that remains of my longest hair days.

Update: My spouse just read this entry and said that my long hair looks like those ghosts in traditional chinese ghost movies, hahaha!

Ang pows - how much?

2011-01-20T12:58:00.002+08:00

During Chinese New Year, it is customary for Chinese married couples to give 红包 (red envelopes containing money) / ang pow (Hokkien) / hóng bāo (Mandarin) to children or unmarried people as a way of wishing them good fortune for the new year.

This year, I have my red envelopes ready but I am still undecided on how much money to put into them. Is there a market rate for ang pows? Min RMx per ang pow? Do you give your relatives a different amount than your friends' children?

For those mothers with children receiving ang pows, do you let your children keep the ang pows themselves with the freedom of using the money anyway they like or do you save their ang pows for them for their education?

When I was young and on the receiving end, my parents allowed me the freedom to use my ang pow money anyway I like and I usually buy books with the money. Now that I am on the giving end, I just need to think of how much to give.

Some people said to me, you are on the losing end because you have no children to receive ang pows, you can only give out money but not receive so you should have children. Have children just to receive ang pows!?

Can you spot the rabbits in each of the ang pow below?

Ran into Redbabe

2011-01-14T16:16:00.002+08:00

Since Redbabe has written about it here, I want to return her the honour. :)

Yesterday there wasn't many people at Ikea when I was there. At the cabinets section, I suddenly noticed a slim and tall lady looking at a cabinet near me. She looks familiar to me. Then it hit me - Redbabe. As I have only seen her photos on her blog, I am not very sure whether it is her or not.

I nudged my spouse, asking him whether I should approach her or not. Then I decided not to, what if I am wrong. In the end, I decided to try to catch her eyes. To see if she can recognise me or not when she sees me. So I moved across the hallway. Then from a far she saw me and she mouthed "Mun"? I nodded. She walked to me, we exchanged some pleasantries, shook hands and then went our own way.

What a nice surprise to meet her in real life. This is the first time that I have met a blogbuddy so it was a memorable moment for me - to be kept in my "Hari in dalam sejarah" (today in history) file. :D 有缘

Hi, Redbabe, nice meeting you (face to face) too! Do drop by her blog and read her version of this chance encounter.

So to all my blogbuddies, one day we may run into each other too. When that happens, please do say hi to me, ok?

In the mood for CNY

2011-01-11T00:38:00.004+08:00

While surfing the net, I suddenly found myself humming the evergreen Chinese New Year song "恭喜恭喜". Guess I must be all ready to celebrate CNY. Let us all sing along!

If you don't know the song, you can listen to:

1. a classic rendition by the late Theresa Teng
2. another classic rendition by Huang Xiao Jin & The Stylers
3. or a modern version by artists of TV8

I notice that in verse 3, the 3rd phrase between the modern and classic rendition is different as I have indicated in the lyrics below. I have also tried my hand at explaining the meaning of the lyrics in English (words in italics are not the meaning of the song but further details from me).

In a nutshell, I think this song expresses the joy the people felt upon the passing of winter and the coming of spring and to congratulate each other for surviving the ordeal of a harsh winter.

I have yet to find out who wrote the lyrics and music and when was the first time this song was sung.

歌曲：恭喜恭喜

Verse 1
每条大街小巷
In every street and lane
每个人的嘴里
见面第一句话
the first sentence everyone will say to another person when they meet another person is to wish them

就是恭喜恭喜

congratulations (in this context could also mean wish them happiness)

Chorus

恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀

congratulations, congratulations, congratulations to you

恭喜恭喜恭喜你
congratulations, congratulations, congratulations to you

Verse 2
冬天一到尽头

真是好的消息

It is really good news when it is nearing the end of winter
温暖的春风
就要吹醒大地

when the warm wind of spring will awaken the great earth

Chorus
恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
恭喜恭喜恭喜你
恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
恭喜恭喜恭喜你

Verse 3
浩瀚冰雪溶解

vast amount of ice and snow melted away
眼看梅花吐蕊
see the plum flowers blossoming showing their pistils

Sing this phrase
慢慢花也活络 (modern rendition)

slowly the flowers become alive and active

or this phrase
慢慢长夜过去 (classic rendition)
slowly the long night passes by

听到一声鸡啼
hearing a cock crows once

Chorus

恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
恭喜恭喜恭喜你
恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
恭喜恭喜恭喜你

Verse 4
经过多少困难

After going through hardships
经历多少磨练

After experiencing many hours of honing of skills
多少心儿盼望

in their hearts, many children long

盼望春的消息
Long for the news of spring

Chorus

恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
恭喜恭喜恭喜你
恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
恭喜恭喜恭喜你

Repeat Verse 1 and chorus
每条大街小巷
每个人的嘴里
见面第一句话
就是恭喜恭喜
恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
恭喜恭喜恭喜你

New year wishes

2011-01-03T14:41:00.007+08:00

Once again, here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year! May all of us face the challenges ahead in 2011 with renewed courage and optimism.

Just one more month before Chinese New Year. Time for me to start buying CNY goodies for my parents-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law. This time I aim to buy all the goodies in one go at one shop so that I do not need to make many trips to the shops.

For 2011, I requested my youngest brother to give me a hair cut - to cut it as short as he dares to cut and this is what I get. Do you think he should have cut it shorter? :D

2010

2010-12-31T00:27:00.006+08:00

Overall, 2010 has been a good year for us.

I returned to the rat race but left on my own accord after 1 month and 1 week due to an unforeseeable situation and a difficult personal choice.

We completed the process in April 2010 but got into another project in August 2010. This new project will keep us busy for the whole of 2011.

We did not venture out of Malaysia for the whole of 2010 and were contented just to rest and relax at home.

I completed the process to release the hold back to someone who has come of age 5 years ago.

Goodbye 2010! Hello 2011! Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas time

2010-12-24T01:10:00.009+08:00

It's time to sing Christmas carols again.

1. Silent Night

2. Joy to the World

3. Good King Wenceslas

4. Deck the Halls

5. Jingle Bells

6. We Three Kings Of Orient Are

7. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

8. God rest you merry, gentlemen

9. Silver Bells

10. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

冬至快乐

2010-12-22T01:31:00.005+08:00

Happy Winter Solstice Festival! To Chinese people all over the world celebrating this festival, here's wishing all of you a happy time getting together with your families and eating Tang Yuan (glutinous rice balls).

Glutinous rice balls made by my sister: Small ones without fillings. Big ones with black sesame fillings.

We eat the glutinous rice balls with red bean broth (sweet).

Goodbye sofa set

2010-12-15T14:21:00.004+08:00

"Pertubuhan Amal Seri Sinar" (www.recyclecharity.org) came to pick up my sofa set (2+3 seater with a coffee table) at noon yesterday.

As the year is coming to an end, for the 1st time in 11 years, I suddenly realised that I seldom sit on my sofa so I do not need a sofa set. Therefore I decided to call the recycle-for-charity-organisation to come and collect them.

If you have wearable clothes, shoes, bags, toys, newspapers, magazines, plastic, glass, aluminium, electrical items and usable furniture that you do not want anymore, you can give the items to this organisation. They provide pick up service for bulky items like furniture and electrical goods (free of charge). The number to call is 03-9021 1888 or you can email them at serisinar at recyclecharity.org .Currently they are also raising funds for Study Aid 2011.

Above: My sofa set which will not be replaced because the living area (foyer) is easier to clean when it looks like the photo below. \\(^v^)//

Nature or nurture?

2010-12-07T23:16:00.002+08:00

Cornwall 2002

2010-11-27T00:30:00.009+08:00

Time to reminisce - during the long 4-day holiday weekend (1-4 June 2002) to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, my spouse and I drove down to Cornwall for a holiday. Many people have the same idea too so we spent many hours stuck in an almost non-moving traffic. There were many caravans/motorhomes on the road, something that we do not see at all in Malaysia.

Since we seemed like not moving at all, we turned off the road at the Jamaica Inn hotel to have our breakfast.

When I was young, I love reading the novel, "Jamaica Inn" written by Daphne du Maurier, the dark romantic tale of smuggling and love in Cornwall so I had to take a picture of myself standing in front of the inn.

Then we stopped by Bodmin town. This is the Shire Hall in Bodmin which houses the Tourist Information Centre.

It was nearly evening when we finally reached Penzance, Cornwall and checked into the Tarbert Hotel.

The next day, very early in the morning, we took a boat to the island of St Michael’s Mount.

St Michael’s Mount Castle high up looming in the background of this photo.

Guns at the castle wall. We did not enter the castle, only enjoyed the view from the castle wall.

View from the castle wall.

Having lunch at the Island Cafe looking at the cause way.

In the afternoon, during low tide we were able to walk from the island back to the mainland via the cause way. It was a very nice walk and we had to avoid stepping on seaweeds lying in our path.

In the evening, we walked from Penzance to Mousehole, a small picturesque village and harbour. Little did we know that the distance is 4km and we had to walk uphill part of the way so we were really glad when we finally reached Mousehole.

The harbour at Mousehole. If you click on the photo above, you can see the words "1952 ER 2002" - marking the Golden Jubilee celebration.

We saw many wild seagulls there that were quite tame and even fed one seagull, an ice-cream cone. Only after that we noticed a sign that says "Do not feed the seagulls" ooops! Tired with walking, we took a bus back to Penzance

We then drove to Land's End and checked into the Land's End hotel in the photo above.

The clear blue sea at Land's End, Cornwall.

A windy day and a lovely view.

I love walking on hanging bridges, especially one with a great view.

Evening dinner at the Longships Restaurant at the hotel.

The famous Land's End signpost. We had to take this picture during the night as during the day, tourists queue and pay a fee to have their photographs taken professionally at this signpost.

We rented and drove this small and cute red Renault Clio car all the way from Newbury to Land's End (around 425km).

On our way back to Newbury, we passed by many wind turbine generators in a field and stopped for a photo.

We wanted to visit the Minack Theatre but sadly our schedule did not allow us to do so. Hopefully one day we will visit Cornwall again.

An anxious week

2010-11-18T10:28:00.005+08:00

Last week was a very busy and emotional week for me. Someone close to me discovered a small lump in her breast and I accompanied her to the hospital to have a mammogram done.

She went into the mammography room by herself - I did not go into the room with her. While doing the mammogram, the person-in-charge of handling the machine sort of mentioned that the lump couldn't be seen clearly and that the doctor may ask for an ultrasound to be done. We then waited. Before the doctor could see us to explain about the results of the mammogram, one of the nurse asked us to go and have the breast ultrasound done. At that time, we were kind of in a daze so we went to queue up to have the breast ultrasound done.

After waiting for some time, we were called into the ultrasound room. This time I stayed with her. The radiologist could see the lump which was about 1.2cm by 0.7cm clearly through the ultrasound image. She then mentioned that a biopsy need to be done to test whether it is cancerous or not and it could be done immediately by her.

As we were still in a daze, we agreed and signed the necessary forms in the ultrasound room. I sat there watching the whole core needle biopsy procedure. It was not a pretty sight. First the radiologist disinfect and numb the area to be cut. Then she made a small cut on the breast near the lump and then poke the core needle inside. With one hand on the ultrasound scanner scanning the breast to provide her with the image of the position of the lump to guide her needle and one hand on the core needle, the radiologist dug around inside the breast and tried her best to get 4 samples from the lump.

At last it was done. A small plaster was placed on the small wound and a huge plaster was wrapped around half the upper torso to prevent bleeding. We were advised to remove the huge plaster after 9 hours and the small plaster after 2 days. If there were signs of bleeding we would need to go to the ER.

The biopsy result would be out in about 2 days. I thought a breast surgeon would talk to us about the result of the mammogram but no, we were not seen by a breast surgeon and at that time, we did not ask to see one as we were tired and would just want to go home. As it was a Thursday, we were told that we could leave and were asked to call the hospital next Tuesday for the result and to collect all the images and result reports if they were ready by then.

For a digital mammogram, ultrasound, core needle biopsy procedure, biopsy lab test, and misc medication and about 4 hours spent in the private hospital, the total cost was RM1388. A small price to pay to get the result.

On Saturday, the hospital called me and told me that the result was out. The lump was not cancerous. On Monday, we went to collect the reports and images and were advised to consult a breast surgeon on follow-up actions for the lump.

We were glad to hear the result but there are some questions remaining such as since the lump was small, it was quite difficult to collect tissue samples from it via core needle procedure so were the 4 tissue samples collected for the biopsy came totally from the lump or some were from the tissues around the lump?

Everything happened so fast on that day that we did not have time to think much before doing the core needle biopsy. Somehow I felt that everything was rushed and to me, the core needle biopsy was an invasive procedure which we need more time to think and to decide on whether to have it done or not and where to have it done. There could have been another biopsy procedure which we could have opted to do.

On hindsight, there were risks on what was done. First, something could have gone wrong during the core needle biopsy as the general health of the person was not known - her blood pressure was not taken to check her health situation before the biopsy was done. Second, there is always a risk of infection for the small cut that was done for the biopsy.

A better way of handling this situation would have been:

1. Perform the mammogram.
2. Wait for the result of the mammogram and consult with a breast surgeon about the result.
3. Go home, read up on mammograms and breast lumps and think.
4. Go back to do an ultrasound.
5. Consult a breast surgeon on the result of the ultrasound.
6. Go home, read up on core needle biopsy and other procedures of doing biopsy.
7. Talk to people to find a doctor who is very skillful in doing biopsy.
8. Consult with that doctor and perform a full check up to ascertain the general health/well being of the person.
9. Find out which biopsy procedure is recommended to be done.
10. Decide on whether to do the biopsy or not based on information gathered.
11. Schedule for the biopsy.
12. Then only have the biopsy done.

So now we are monitoring the lump in the breast and will not act so hastily as before.

In general, for women above 20, it is recommended that breast self examination to be done every month. For women above 40, it is recommended that they undergo mammography once a year.

Oct 2001

2010-11-09T18:13:00.010+08:00

Time to reminisce - 6 October 2001 (Saturday), a day trip to London. First, we went to the branch of "Royal China" restaurant at Canary Wharf to eat dim sum. Then we just wandered around London sight seeing before eating the much-talked-about lobster noodles at Mandarin Kitchen (Queensway) for dinner. Lastly it was to London Paddington to catch a train back to Thatcham (the journey takes around 45 mins).

Canary Wharf Tube Station

London Eye and the Great Clock of Westminster. I have yet to take a flight on the London Eye.

The delicious lobster noodles at Mandarin Kitchen.

Happy Deepavali!

2010-11-04T13:14:00.004+08:00

Deepavali/Divali/Diwali will be celebrated tomorrow. Happy Deepavali! Happy Holiday!

Cleaning craze

2010-10-21T15:56:00.004+08:00

These few days I have been on a cleaning spree. I usually clean my place once in a while and sometimes my sister comes over to help me. Truth be told, I don't like to do house chores that consist mainly of sweeping the floors and wiping the dust off every object in sight. Of course, I could hire professional cleaners but since I lead a sedentary life, I figure doing the cleaning myself would give me that much needed exercise. I also remind myself constantly to maintain a proper and good posture when doing the cleaning, e.g., keep the back straight while mopping the floor.

So why the craze for cleaning now? I think I have been cleaning my place furiously in order to distract myself from the drilling, hammering, knocking and thumping sounds coming from the renovation being carried out next door. As I forsee the renovation to go on for another 6 months, I guess I will have to continue to clean daily for that period of time. Below are some of the tools that I use to help me clean my place.

Just us siblings

2010-10-02T01:54:00.004+08:00

September 30th, 2010 is a day to be remembered by me. It was a day when all four of us siblings went shopping together in one car. It was just the four of us - without our beloved spouses (for two of us). A very rare occasion indeed as we seldom get together to go shopping now that all four of us are grown up and earning our own keeps. I'm not sure whether we can call it a shopping trip as it was just a quick one hour stop at Low Yat Plaza to grab some gadgets. Adding up all our ages resulted in the number 140 (average = 35 years old). Gosh, we are getting old but good to know that we are still close to each other. I wonder when will we do this again. Honestly, I don't think we will ever be able to do this again - just the four of us siblings shopping together.

中秋节

2010-09-22T01:02:00.002+08:00

One good thing about living near to my mother is that we get to spend more time together and also to celebrate more festivals together. Driving from my place to my mother's house which is also my childhood home takes only about 10 minutes (8km).

As today is the Mid-Autumn Festival a.k.a. Mooncake Festival, we had dinner with my mother and siblings. Since we are all grown-ups, we did not light any lanterns nor did we play with candles. We just ate a simple meal and sat around talking into the night.

This year I bought only 9 moon cakes - some new flavours such as red yeast, ginkgo and others but found that I still prefer the traditional flavour of pure lotus paste and salted egg yolk. I wanted to buy those with double egg yolks but left it too late - they were all sold out when I tried to purchase some yesterday. So next year, I will make sure that I buy them earlier.

Although it drizzled for a while at around 11.30pm, the bright round moon was smiling at us before that and we had a good look at the rabbit in it. It was truly an evening well spent with family.

Happy 1st Birthday...

2010-09-11T01:20:00.004+08:00

... to my blog. Time flies when we are not paying attention to it but it crawls when we are looking forward to something. So one year is up and I am counting my blessings that I have some good blog buddies who leave comments on my blog now and then. You know who you are so thank you!

Meanwhile age is catching up fast. I find myself having difficulty reading fine prints and I tend to forget things that happened a few weeks ago. Thus I remind myself to live happily everyday and not to sweat over small stuff. And to treasure each moment as if it is the last. As always, easier said than done but at least, I'll try my best!

Wishes

2010-09-09T23:46:00.003+08:00

Here's wishing all my friends who are celebrating Hari Raya tomorrow:

Selamat Hari Raya
Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Leaves messages

2010-09-02T00:56:00.005+08:00

Zig zag scribbles on a leaf.
Is it a message for me?
Alas, I know not what it means.
Much less who left it for me.

A 7pm appointment

2010-08-20T00:39:00.004+08:00

There is a new item in my schedule now. Normally I don't watch long-winded drama involving family squabbles so I didn't watch Moonlight Resonance (溏心風暴之家好月圓) when it was first shown on Astro. But upon hearing that it won numerous awards, I have decided to watch every episode of it this time round on 8TV to see what the fuss is all about. So now on every weekday at 7pm since last week, I can be found glued to the TV watching Moonlight Resonance.

A new hobby

2010-08-09T15:05:00.005+08:00

My spouse and I started this hobby together. Now he is the one diligently tending to it while I just provide emotional support.

Are you a good neighbour?

2010-07-28T22:44:00.003+08:00

Today I saw and talked to my new neighbour for the first time. She has just received her keys to her place. Although it was just a short talk, I think she is a nice lady. She hopes to move in before Chinese New Year next year.

Speaking of neighbours, I found an interesting article on how to be a good neighbour. It states that:

"...taking the time to establish good terms with your neighbours has numerous benefits. The community will be friendlier, the neighbourhood safer, and the area a nicer and more comfortable place to live."

So are your neighbours your friends?

10 years ago...

2010-07-17T17:15:00.001+08:00

...we celebrated your 29th birthday with a simple meal.

Now it's that time of year again.
Here's wishing you a very happy 39th birthday!

A workaholic nation?

2010-07-08T19:33:00.008+08:00

The sentence below is a requirement that often appears in local job advertisements:

"Applicants must be willing to work extended hours and under tight deadlines"

What about Work-Life Balance?

Is it possible to have a well balanced life when local employers expect employees to work extended hours?

An article entitled "Spotlight on working time" published by The International Labour Organization (ILO) and issued in 2007 states that:

"Attempts to reduce hours in developing countries have been unsuccessful for various reasons, including the need of workers to work long hours simply to make ends meet, and the widespread use of overtime by employers in an effort to increase their enterprises’ output under conditions of low productivity."

It further states that:

"Among those countries with the highest incidence of long working hours for 2004–05 (defined as more than 48 hours per week), Peru topped the list at 50.9 per cent of workers, the Republic of Korea at 49.5 per cent, Thailand at 46.7 per cent (in the year 2000), and Pakistan at 44.4 per cent. At the other end of the spectrum, developed countries such as Norway, the Netherlands and France, as well as transition economies such as Hungary and Estonia, reported the lowest incidence of long hours."

It also mentions the proposal that decent working time arrangements need to fulfill five inter-connected criteria:

1. they should preserve health and safety;
2. be “family friendly”;
3. promote gender equality;
4. enhance productivity; and
5. facilitate worker choice and influence over working hours.

Well, Malaysia has its own Labour Law but how many of us are well versed with the Employment Act 1955 and what the regulation states about hours of work, overtime and work on rest day? Even if we are familiar with the Act, we will still obediently work long hours when our employers expect us to do so because .... well, I honestly do not know why ....

Pro-choice & Pro-life

2010-06-29T16:57:00.008+08:00

I was watching an episode of Boston Legal the other day where a young girl seeks a judicial bypass so that she can get an abortion without parental approval since her mother refused to give her consent. I then looked up the terms pro-choice and pro-life on the web.

From the online merriam-webster dictionary, pro-choice (1975) just means "favoring the legalization of abortion" whereas pro-life (1971) means "opposed to abortion".

Then wikipedia on pro-choice and pro-life states that:

"Both "pro-choice" and "pro-life" are examples of political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light ("Pro-choice" implies the alternative viewpoint is "anti-choice", while "pro-life" implies the alternative viewpoint is "pro-death" or "anti-life")".

The neutral terms to use are the terms “in favor of abortion rights” and “opposed to abortion rights”.

I also came across this informative webpage that summarises the abortion laws of most countries in the world. It has charts that show for what reasons and under what conditions abortion is legal in each country. The reasons it lists are:

Life: to save the life of the mother
Health: to preserve the physical health of the mother
Mental: to preserve the mental health of the mother
Rape: in cases of rape and incest
Defect: when the unborn child has medical problems or birth defects
Social: for social and/or economic reasons, (cannot afford to support a child)
Demand: available on demand, no reason need be given

From its tables, I am surprised to see that China and Singapore (1974 Termination of Pregnancy Act) have very liberal abortion law. For Malaysia, its penal code was amended in 1989 (Act A727 of 1989) to allow abortion in the first trimester if the woman's life or physical or mental health is endangered by the pregnancy.

For reference, I copied the following tables (please click on the charts for a larger image) from the webpage above as follows:

After my reading, I would not want to use the terms pro-choice and pro-life because while I am all for life, I am also very much in favour of women being given the choice to choose what they want to do with their lives and bodies. How about you?

Our very own tepui?

2010-06-23T01:50:00.012+08:00

Open our eyes
and we shall see
the beauty that surrounds us

端午节

2010-06-16T03:47:00.008+08:00

The dumpling festival is celebrated today. Last week, my mother made around 40 dumplings (zòngzi 粽子). The fillings she used were chestnuts, Chinese black mushrooms, salted duck egg yolks, deep fried chicken breast meat, dried oysters and black-eyed beans instead of mung beans. All the above fillings except for the salted duck egg yolks have to be precooked so it really took a lot of time and effort to make the dumplings. She learned how to make these dumplings on her own from recipe books. I didn't help to wrap the dumplings because I do not have the skill to do it. So thanks to my mother, I get to eat delicious home-made dumplings for the whole of this week.

Jumping for Joy?

2010-06-06T15:20:00.004+08:00

Last month, I bought a rebounder (mini trampoline) after reading on jo's blog about how easy it is to exercise using it. For someone who leads a sedentary lifestyle, I seriously need some form of exercise and since I prefer easy exercises which can be performed at home, I thought this would be the thing for me if it is as simple as mentioned.

With some helpful information from jo, I went shopping for it. After looking at 3 different rebounders, I bought one that costs MYR288 because it looks more sturdy than the other two which costs around MYR 167 and MYR 238 and it comes with a one-year warranty for the various parts. The rebounder that I bought uses springs instead of the sophisticated high elastic bungee bands which is said to be better and of course it is much much more expensive.

For 30 minutes each day, I have been doing the basic bounce as mentioned in this online article entitled "How To Do Mini Trampoline Exercises". There are many other exercises that can be done on the rebounder but I think I will stick to the basics for the time being.

According to this website, the first rebounder was patented in the US in 1975 and by 1981 it became a fad which soon faded. I hope I can keep this up because to me, a little exercise is better than none at all - actually is this true?

*paragraph below added on 8 June 2010*

Below are two photos of the rebounder I bought. Those feet belong to my spouse. The diameter is 36 inches and the height is 8 inches. The springs can be seen in the 2nd photo when the feet landed on the rebounder.

What's your answer to this?

2010-05-27T21:12:00.004+08:00

I was forwarded an email from Susie and Otto Collins (Relationship Coaches) mailing list by a friend and found the question very interesting so I thought I would post the question here for comments. What would your advice be for this lady?

***QUESTION FROM A READER (of relationship articles by Susie and Otto Collins):

"Hi Susie / Otto, Please could you advise me on the issue
of partners meeting friends of the opposite sex one to one.

My rather Asian and conservative belief is that husbands
should never go out for a movie/late dinner with a female
friend. The reason for my belief is that regular one to one
contact with a female friend could (potentially) lead to
(at worst case) an affair. And that men (and women) should avoid putting themselves in that situation, ie temptation.

My boyfriend sees where I am coming from but disagrees
and thinks that it stems from me just point blankly not
trusting him, given that he has never done anything to
not be trusted. He is insulted that I am unable to trust
him to resist temptation even if it did come along.

Not only does he think differently on this, he is a very
reserved person - and therefore, in any situation, he
genuinely finds 3-somes very difficult and pointless : one
can have a better quality catch up when it's one on one

To be fair to him, because of his reservedness, he meets
these individual friends 3-4 times a year(each) - which in
the grand scheme things isn't a lot.

I would very much like to get the stage where I am laissez
faire with whoever he sees ..... how can I ?? And what is a
fair compromise given that neither does he want me to
intrude in his time with his female friends?

Thank you in advance for your help.

I find your articles very helpful by the way."

M.

Source: email from Susie and Otto Collins (Relationship Coaches) mailing list

Balls, balls, balls everywhere

2010-05-21T22:42:00.004+08:00

For the past one week, my spouse and I have been kicking a football, virtually that is. We have just finished playing one round of 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament on PS3. For the group stage, with 4 teams in 8 groups, we played 48 matches to get to the Round of 16 where we played 8 matches to get to the Quarter-finals where we played 4 matches to get to the Semi-finals where we played 2 matches to get to the World Cup Final. So we played a total of 62 matches over one week which means I played around 7 to 8 football matches every night with my spouse until I was kicking balls in my dreams. For completeness, we even played the 3rd place match. At last, we reached the Final - which was between Brazil and Spain. My spouse was Brazil while I was Spain and Brazil won just because I kicked an own goal :( but anyway I am hoping that Brazil will win this 2010 World Cup for real!

So with HD on Astro, we are all ready to stay up at 2.30am to watch all the matches in June 2010. Just can't wait!

Winchester, Hampshire

2010-05-16T22:19:00.004+08:00

We didn't get to visit many places in England while we were there but one place where we visited twice was Winchester. The gardens of the houses beside the river were very well kept with lovely flowers.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T23:41:00.006+08:00

My dearest mother,
Nothing I do can ever repay you for all that you've done for me
Nothing I say can really express how deeply I love you
All I can do now is to be there for you always
All I can say now is "I love you, have a Happy Mother's Day!"

彩虹

2010-05-02T23:59:00.004+08:00

The Rainbow

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

- William Wordsworth

Happy Birthday!

2010-04-21T21:56:00.000+08:00

Dear sis,

Thank you for holding my hands all these years,
Thank you for looking out for me,
Thank you for putting up with my snappiness,
Thank you for always being there for me.

No matter how much we argue and fight,
You'll always be my big sister and
I love you very much!

Here's wishing you a very Happy Birthday!

Spring 2003

2010-04-17T20:45:00.004+08:00

It's time to reminisce. We visited the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on 5 March 2003 and the vibrant colours of the flowers were just too wonderful for words. Photo below: Wisteria.

Choices

2010-04-10T22:48:00.004+08:00

"We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us"

-- Andrew Ryan (a character in the game BioShock)

The above quote sounds very powerful but what exactly does it mean?

If the shoes fit

2010-04-03T23:02:00.002+08:00

I do not look forward to buying shoes as I have a hard time finding a pair of comfortable shoes that fit both my feet. This is because my right foot is slightly bigger than my left foot.

For the shoes below, the left side fits my left foot beautifully and they are very comfortable to wear but after walking for a while I find that my right foot hurts because the right side is just too tight and squeezes my right toes. As you can see from the picture below, it is a UK size 2 shoe. So into the shoe cabinet they went never to be seen again.

When I first tried on the pair of shoes below in the shoe shop, it felt great so I bought them but when I came home, I found that the left side is just too loose although the right side fits nicely so I bought some insoles to pad up the left side but still find it not comfortable to wear so for two years now this pair has never been worn even once. As shown in the picture below, it is a size 3 shoe. I am not sure whether the size refers to a UK or US size. What a waste of money.

This pair below is my favourite pair of sandals. I tend to be heavy on my right leg while walking so the right side was worn out way before the left side and I have to say goodbye to them. This pair is a size 4. I am also not sure whether it is referring to the UK or US size. They only served me for less than 1 year but I wore them almost everyday everywhere I went.

The sport shoes below are slightly larger than my feet as it is a UK size 4.5 but they are very comfortable to wear and they have served me well as I wore them for the whole 15 days of my Kyoto-Osaka trip last year. They were the only shoes I brought on the trip and I was really walking a lot then.

Now it's time for me to buy a new pair of shoes as I have no other pair of shoes apart from those displayed here. I am just wearing slippers from the night market as a temporary measure for the time being. Hopefully this time, I will be able to buy a comfortable pair that fits both my feet not only in the shoe shop but also when I come home. With US, UK, and EUR sizes, I really do not know what my shoe size is. I suspect my left foot is a UK size 2 and my right foot is a UK size 3. Now where can I find a shoe shop that is willing to sell me mix and match sizes, I wonder.

10 to 6

2010-03-27T21:23:00.003+08:00

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
- Benjamin Franklin
US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)

So from today onwards, I will go to sleep at 10pm in order to wake up at 6am and still get 8 hours of sleep. Hope I will be able to make this into a habit.

Non-stop battles at home

2010-03-22T00:17:00.004+08:00

Barbaric, brutal, bloody, gruesome, violent, savage, horrific. The battles go on and on.

Source (Images above are copied from): http://www.gamespot.com/

My spouse has just got his hands on God of War III, a third-person single-player action-adventure PS3 game and has been enjoying himself playing it for the past few days. This game concludes the God of War trilogy. The ESRB Rating for this game is M (Mature) so that means it is not meant to be played by anyone below 17 of age (ESRB = Entertainment Software Rating Board) but I don't think parents here adhere to this guide though I hope they do. This type of game (bloody battles) is not for me but I enjoy the overall story and the superb visuals. In God of War II, I even helped to solve some of the puzzles. This time, I have informed my spouse to let me know whenever he encounters any puzzles. Let's see for how many weeks this game can keep him occupied.

No MATTA Fair for me

2010-03-14T15:36:00.004+08:00

The first of the twice-a-year MATTA (Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents) Fair 2010 is on this weekend, from 12th-14th of March 2010 (10am to 9pm) at Putra World Trade Center (PWTC) Kuala Lumpur. I wanted to go and get a good travel deal but with no clear idea of when and where I wish to visit this year, it is no go for me this time.

Since it turned out this way, I just have to be contented with sitting at home and looking through our previous travel photos. Here are some photos from my 3-day Copenhagen trip from 3rd-5th of October 2002. We went there because our airmiles were going to expire so we used them instead of wasting them.

We stayed at the Ibis Triton Hotel, room 518. The above photo shows the view from the main door.

It has a very big bathroom.

We did not get to try the famous traditional Danish open faced sandwiches, "smørrebrød" because we were too full from dinner when we came across them but we managed to take a photo of them. They looked delicious so it was really a pity we did not get to taste them.

I am standing in front of the Kronborg Castle in Elsinore. This castle is the castle mentioned in Shakespeare's Hamlet and we spent a fair amount of time looking through each room in the castle. We also visited the Frederiksborg Castle but did not pay to go inside as there was not enough time to do so.

We went on a river cruise and admired the little mermaid from the boat. We did not manage to visit the Tivoli Gardens because it was closed during the 3 days that we were in Copenhagen.

As we went on our own, we spent most of our time walking to the castles from the train stations so we were very, very tired at the end of each day. But looking back now, it was a memorable short trip.

To admit or not to admit

2010-03-07T07:58:00.002+08:00

For the past few days, I have been going daily to a government hospital to visit a relative who was admitted for tests and observation. It was a few days into CNY that my relative felt that her heart was beating too fast and after meals, she would have pain all over her upper torso. She self-medicated for a week before deciding to see a doctor and get a referral to be admitted to the hospital for tests. One year short of 70, with diabetes, high blood pressure and a history of heart disease, she does not look sick at all but she can tell that something is not right with her body this time.

The main thing that struck me during these visits was the sheer boringness of a hospital stay for the patient. Once visiting hours were over, there was nothing interesting for the patient to do except to lie there and wait for more tests to be carried out by the doctors. Sure, the patient could read a book and watch tv but the mind is not there and it is not enjoyable to read a book or watch tv lying down on a hospital bed with machines sticking to one's body.

Seeing this, it does not surprise me that some people would endure pain and discomfort to avoid a hospital stay and having tests done on them. Now I wonder which category do I belong to:

A. Someone who will consult a doctor and go to the hospital for tests when feeling some pain.

or

B. Someone who will endure pain and discomfort for as long as they can in order to avoid going to the hospital for tests.

I couldn't decide but I believe that there is a kind of pain that is so excruciating that one would not be able to endure it at all and would be forced to go to the hospital whether one likes it or not. But for everyone else, I would prefer them to be in category A because it is better for them and also for me if they get admitted to the hospital when they could still do it than for them to be found unconscious by someone else and be admitted then. For in the latter case, the condition would be serious and perhaps even fatal.

So it pays to make extra effort to take good care of one's health by exercising regularly and eating healthy food in moderation. Not to achieve eternal life but to avoid the sheer boringness of a hospital stay.

Bye bye CNY

2010-03-01T01:20:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was the last day (元宵节 yuán xiāo jié / 十五暝 Chap Goh Mei) of the 15-day CNY celebration. Initially I planned to visit i-City Shah Alam at night with my family after seeing the pretty photos taken of the lights display by blogger Family First.

After I have visualized the trip in my mind, I realized that we would probably spend more time travelling in the car than admiring the lights. I also do not know whether the lights display was still on or not. There was no information about the lights display on i-City website. So I just googled for all the blog posts with photos of the lights and showed them to my family. All of us agreed that we have been able to experience the beauty of the lights through these photos so we do not need to make the actual journey there. I just have to say a big thank you to photo bloggers who enabled us to do so. Therefore, the trip was cancelled but everyone was happy to end the CNY celebration this way.

However, we are all looking forward to next year to celebrate CNY again as it is an important festival to ethnic Chinese all around the world. Although it is not a public holiday in many countries, Chinatowns around the world would still celebrate it in their own way, sharing this significant event with people from other cultures.

I was in London Chinatown during CNY 2000. There were many makeshift stalls in the street selling CNY goodies and the street was packed with people. All the Chinese restaurants were opened for business unlike here where many of the Chinese restaurants would be closed for the first two days of CNY. Chinatown was just bustling with activities. Good for Chinatowns worldwide for celebrating CNY!

1st Photo: CNY 2000 in London Chinatown

2nd Photo: A closeup of the little boy in the 1st photo. He is playing with a toy dragon as the year 2000 is the year of the dragon

CNY activities

2010-02-21T00:27:00.008+08:00

The countdown continues. 7 more days to go before the CNY celebration ends. My top 3 CNY activities are eating, eating and eating.

Instead of going to the restaurant for "lau sheng" (捞生), my family prefer to eat home cooked food so my mother and sister made vegetarian "yu sheng" (鱼生) from the existing food they have at home. They managed to come up with the following ingredients for the dish - shredded white radish, shredded carrot, pomelo sacs, shredded cucumber, shredded chinese pear, home preserved vinegared shredded ginger, chopped peanuts, and sesame seeds. They even went to the extent of making their own crispy and crunchy crackers (薄脆) from scratch which turned out to be extremely crunchy and delicious. Their hard work paid off because all six of us have fun tossing the "yu sheng" and eating the yummylicious and healthy home made vegetarian "yu sheng". I hope my "lau sheng" this time counts because I was tossing the salad with the chopsticks in my right hand and snapping photos of the "lau sheng" with my point-and-shoot camera in my left hand. Not fully participating to toss the highest.

My mother and sister even made some time to bake a few types of cookies. When I was staying at home, I used to help my sister with the baking. Now I just help her with the eating.

When I was about 4 years old and my sister 8, we used to play "pretend baking" where we made an oven from a cardboard box and for the cookies, we drew various colourful patterns on mini pancake cookies on art paper and cut them out to put into the oven. Just for old times' sake and in celebration of our younger play days together, my sister baked the following cookies. They looked exactly like some of the cookies I drew during those days but sad to say I did not get to taste them because my sister can't stop herself from gobbling all of them up since they reminded her so much of her younger eating days. So 7 more days to go before my eating spree can officially stop.

One more day to CNY!

2010-02-12T21:45:00.004+08:00

It seems that this food is a must during CNY. As it is, I have to join the queue and wait patiently for my turn. I don't eat this at all but just need to get one packet for my parents-in-laws. Can't buy it early as it cannot be kept for a long time unless I get the vacuum packed ones which my parents-in-laws do not like. So I have to queue.

Here's wishing everyone (who celebrates CNY) a very happy Chinese New Year! For the rest, happy holidays! Enjoy yourselves but don't eat too much! ;-)

Colourful shooting stars

2010-02-08T22:37:00.005+08:00

When I was about 8 or 9 years old, during Chinese New Year, my father would buy many types of fireworks. My favourite firework is the Roman Candle that shoots flaming colourful stars into the sky, one at a time.
As we were young, we were afraid of the sparks so while my father went to the garden to light up the Roman candle, we would hide safely behind the window, waiting in trepidation for the colourful display of sparkling and dancing stars.

Then we would watch in wonder and awe as each star shoots out of the tube and arcs through the dark sky leaving a colourful trail behind it. We would also count the shooting stars as there would be a pause between each shot.

There was one time, the Roman candle fell on its side and shot flaming balls into our house. The flaming balls hit the walls and ricochet off them making it seemed like the flames were everywhere. It was such a terrifying moment. We jumped onto the sofa and screamed our heads off. Luckily our house was not burned down.

Remembering this incident, I can understand why consumer fireworks are banned. Worldwide, there have been many injuries and fires caused by fireworks. So although fireworks leave me with many happy and memorable memories, I have not bought any fireworks. Come to think of it, I have also never lighted any fireworks till now and I do not intend to do so in the future.

Sitting, counting, waiting

2010-02-01T13:38:00.003+08:00

Today is Federal Territory Day, a state holiday for the Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya) in Malaysia. As there will be many people in shopping malls today buying new clothes, new shoes, new bags and other goodies in preparation for Chinese New Year, I spent the day at home to avoid the crowd.

Even garden centers and plant nurseries will not be spared by the crowd. Many are shopping for CNY plants such as 四季橘 sìjìjú (citrus madurensis/calamondin) and 金钱树 jīnqiánshù (zamioculcas zamiifolia). There are many other popular CNY plants. As long as the name of the plants in chinese or the colour or the shape of the leaves/plants can be somehow linked to good luck, wealth, prosperity, good fortune, gold, being fruitful, or any auspicious meaning at all, one can be sure that the plant will be heavily marketed as CNY plants with expensive pricetags. I am all for plants and I don't care about the symbolism or why people buy them. As long as there are plants around, I am happy.

For this CNY, there will be no new clothes and shoes for me because I have decided not to buy any new clothes and shoes for the year 2010 until all the clothes that I have (not that I have many) are all worn out. This year I adopt the motto of reduce, reuse and recycle. So not buying new clothes fall under the category of reduce and reuse. One of the guidelines to reduce waste at home is to "buy only what you need". And I have decided that I do not need any new clothes because I can reuse my existing clothes for CNY.

But I still need to buy some CNY goodies for my parents-in-law and elder sister-in-law. I buy the same type of things for them every previous year and since I hear no complaints from them, I will be buying them the same things this year too. So right now I am sitting at home, counting down the days to Chinese New Year, and waiting for people to go back to work so that I can shop in more favourable conditions.

Losing my wisdom

2010-01-26T01:55:00.004+08:00

In my mind, the year 2002 will always be associated with my teeth. That year, I suffered the most painful toothache I have ever experienced in my life. It was brought on by my wisdom tooth that had only partially erupted. The eruption caused an opening in the gum which allowed bacteria to enter around the tooth in front of the wisdom tooth and caused an infection.

I have to eat antibiotics and wait for the infection to heal before removing my wisdom tooth. Luckily, the extraction of wisdom teeth was covered by the private medical health insurance plans (Bupa UK) provided by my employer. I only had to pay GBP100.

The dental surgeon I consulted with advised me to remove all 4 wisdom teeth at one go. He asked me whether I prefer to do it under local anaesthesia or general anaesthesia. I asked him which one does he prefer. He said general anaesthesia so I agreed to it.

The operation was done as a day case. I checked into the hospital and was given a single private day room. The anesthesiologist visited me before the operation and asked me if I have any concerns. I told him that the previous time I went under general anaesthesia for an appendectomy, I vomited when I woke up. I also told him about my fear of anesthesia awareness where some people wake up during the operation, paralyzed but fully aware of their surroundings. He assured me that he will give me the correct dosage of drugs to ensure that both events do not happen.

I was given a combination of inhaled anesthetic gases and intravenous drugs and I promptly blacked out. For both times I underwent general anaesthesia, I was completed "out of it" - no dreams at all. It was just black out and came to. Nothing in between. I wonder if death is like that. Just black out and no coming back. Well, I digress.

Back to the removal of my wisdom teeth. When I came to, my whole jaw was sore and painful. I then slept until the drowsiness wore off. Then I was discharged from the hospital.

The recovery took a few months. The lower part of my face around my jaw swelled up big time. There were stitches in my mouth and it was painful. It was soup and porridge for me everyday for what seemed like eternity.

Before the surgery, I asked the dental surgeon to please keep my wisdom teeth intact when he removed them and he did. You can see for yourself, here they are:

They are so big. I can't believe that the teeth were fully formed and hidden in my gums. I still have them with me today. Perhaps I should string them up and wear them around my neck in order to keep my wisdom.

Mine, Yours, Ours

2010-01-19T00:36:00.005+08:00

In my early days of marriage, I have often wonder how other double-income married couples manage their money. After talking to a few friends, I find that anything goes as long as both parties are happy about it. Here are some of the methods:

1. Popular Method.

Have a joint account for household expenses.
Each of them holds a separate individual account for personal use.
The challenging thing here then is to decide how much each contributes to the joint account.

Does each person deposit:
a. an equal amount (e.g. each person deposits RM600 monthly) or,
b. the same percentage of his/her net income (e.g. each person deposits 30% of his/her net income monthly) or
c. as much as/as little as he/she likes
into the joint account?

Then the other question is what are the items classified under household expenses.

If the husband wants to replace the old but functioning TV with a state-of-the-art TV, can this expense be considered part of household expenses and be paid out of the joint account? If not and if the husband is unwilling to fork out money from his own personal account but yet he is forced to do so due to his desire for the new TV, does he have the right to disallow his wife from using this new TV?

If the wife likes to eat out but the husband does not but gives in to her, who pays for the expensive meal? The joint account or each pays for his/her own meal or should the wife pay for both because she is the one who wants to eat out.

These are some of the things brought up by my friends as examples of the many things to decide in this method.

2. Share and Share Alike.

In this method, there is only one joint account. Everything goes into this account and all expenses come out of this account. At a glance, this is the easiest method to manage but then it is rather difficult to control who uses how much.

3. Wife = Financial Controller.

The husband puts everything he has into a joint account whereas his wife maintains her own personal account. The wife has the final say on what expenses get paid out of the joint account. This is the method used by my maternal grandmother but I don't think this method is popular with husbands nowadays. I have not come across anyone telling me the reverse where the husband is the financial controller. Perhaps this is because I only ask the wives.

4. Each to Each's Own.

Each of them has his/her own individual personal account. No joint account at all. They then decide who will pay for what. Surprisingly a few of my married friends use this method.

So the above are the four methods that I can recall. Does anyone have any other methods to share?

The most important thing here is that both parties must be willing to be honest with each other and to discuss about each spending and saving habits. No point having separate accounts but poor financial management and then needing one's spouse to bail one out in times of financial difficulties.

A new pet for 2010

2010-01-12T20:33:00.006+08:00

My spouse bought me a pet for the new year. I chose it myself. When it gets dirty, I will give it a bath. Here it is (isn't it cute?):

Yes, it is a bag. It is to be my always-carry-bag. I always carry only one bag for almost all occasions. The bag has to have many compartments with zip fasteners. I used my previous bag almost everyday for 10 years until the colour of the leather faded away and the stitches attaching its handles to its body slowly became undone. It was my constant companion and sturdily carried many heavy loads for me. It has even gone through 4 winters with me in UK. That bag was also given to me by my spouse who was my boyfriend then.

In loving memory of my previous bag which has served me well, here are some photos of me and the bag. Photos below (right to left): taken in 1997 when I first visited Tokyo and in 1998 when my employer sent me to Hong Kong to participate in a project meeting.

Photos above (left to right): Bag came along with me to Shanghai in 2003, look at how the colour has faded (at my coursemates graduation in 2006), please don't ask me why I contorted my body that way while hanging onto the bag for dear life at the Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai (2007).

I really have many fond memories of the bag but sad to say although I wanted to keep it for the rest of my life for its sentimental value, I only kept it for another 2 years. I had to throw it away while clearing my things at the end of last year as part of my decluttering exercise.

I hope this bag will serve me for just as long as my previous bag. It does look a bit big on me (middle photo below) but then I like my bag to be able to contain many things. It even has a removable compartment for my netbook.

There are other colour choices as well such as sweet pink or refreshing green but I chose brown for its earth tone. I have started using it on 1 Jan 2010. Let's see whether I am still using it on 1 Jan 2020.

Wishing you a happy birthday!

2010-01-05T00:22:00.005+08:00

Happy birthday to you, dear brother! May you be healthy and wise always! Here are some photos to recap the good times we shared.

Though distance separates us now, I will always remember the day that you were born into this world. At that time, I have just entered secondary school. How time flies. Now I am much older and you have grown to be a young independent man.

May you have a wonderful celebration with your lovely wife. Enjoy your big day!

2009

2009-12-31T22:03:00.006+08:00

Overall, 2009 has been a good year for us.

Freedom was finally gained after seeing the light one day in early 2009.

We finally made it to Japan to enjoy the Sakura season after talking about doing so for many years. Travelling at our own leisure for two weeks without having to adhere to a tour schedule was fun, fun, fun!

We finally received what was due to us 3 years ago and making full use of it.

We welcomed an addition to our extended family in Aug 2009.

We made it in time to sign the official documents in Dec 2009 and started the process.

Goodbye 2009! Hello 2010! Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas 2003

2009-12-23T16:34:00.000+08:00

We were in Beijing on 24 and 25 Dec 2003. My spouse was there for work and I just tagged along for fun. It was our first trip to the country of our forefathers.

We stayed at the Century Golden Resources Hotel 北京世纪金源大饭店 (now known as the Empark Grand Hotel Beijing). The above photos were taken in the lobby of the hotel and its underground mall.

On Christmas eve, after my spouse have left for work, I took the local public bus to the nearest subway station (Xizhimen). Then I took the subway train to Tiananmen. I have taken subway trains in Hong Kong and Tokyo but this really takes the cake - the whole train was jammed packed with people - my whole body was stuck to everyone elses bodies around me and I couldn't move at all. It was a horrible experience.

Then I alighted at the Xi Tiananmen stop but I didn't go into 故宫 Gugong (Imperial Palace) as I wanted to wait until my spouse could go together with me. I just walked around outside and took photos. Since I was alone, many Chinese came up to me to offer me their tourguide services. I had a difficult time saying no so many times. They were really persistent.

While I was walking slowly and enjoying the scenery, daydreaming in my own world, I suddenly realised that someone was shouting at me from behind. I turned and to my horror saw that a group of people were marching behind me and their troop leader was shouting at me to move away from their path. I quickly jumped aside to let them passed. I was so embarrassed. They must be thinking, who is this stupid tourist who is blocking our way. Luckily I managed to snap out of my daydream in time or else I would have been trampled to death by the marchers.

Then with a map in my hands as my guide, I walked all the way to the main Quan Ju De 全聚德 restaurant located in Qianmen (famous for its Quanjude Peking Roast Duck) to meet my spouse and his customers for dinner. It was very, very windy and cold but not snowing. I had to struggle to walk against the force of the wind. The above photos were taken along the way. I walked through rows and rows of bare naked trees in the grey wintry weather.

This photo was taken in the lobby of the restaurant.

On Christmas day itself, my spouse had to go to work as it was not a public holiday in China. As we were leaving Beijing on that day for Shanghai, I didn't venture out of the hotel for anymore lone-sightseeing. Instead I just did some lone-shopping in the huge underground shopping mall of the hotel.

It is good that for this year, we are going to spend Christmas with our extended families. Nothing beats singing Christmas carols with all our family members around us. Here's wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas!

庆祝冬至

2009-12-22T23:16:00.004+08:00

After dinner, we went to my mother's place to eat glutinous rice balls (汤圆 tāngyuán) because today is the winter solstice festival (冬至 dōngzhì). My sister and mother made two types of fillings for the tang yuan, peanut paste and black sesame paste. The glutinous rice balls were served in ginger syrup. My sister also made thick spring onion pancakes with less salt (葱油饼) for me to eat because she knows that I like to eat them that way, thick and not salty. I feel so loved after eating all the delicious food my sister and mother cooked for me. A big thank you to both of them!