Mom's Birthday

My mom's birthday was on Feb 18, but we celebrated it on the 19th, as she was in KL the day before... everybody was here except my youngest bro who's still in NS camp..

Many thanks to the sponsor of the celebration.. The Surveyor and The Builder...

for this yummylicious Royal Chocolate birthday cake...

and this highly addictive lychee punch....

Okay, enough! The rest of the choco cake is mine! :p

Pokok Ketam

nak semua sekali ni, tau.. semua-semua ni..and more.. Pokok Ketam & Evelyn hehehehehe.... ;)

The 2008 General Election Wave

Locality : 161 / 46 / 09 / 005 - TMN STRAITS VIEW
Polling District : 161 / 46 / 09 - BUKIT SERENE
State Assemblies : 161 / 46 - PENGKALAN RINTING
Parliamentary : 161 - PULAI
State : JOHOR
Polling Centre : SEKOLAH MENENGAH KEBANGSAAN TASEK UTARA
Polling Stream : 3
Voting Time : 08.00 AM - 05.00 PM

The above is the excerpt of my details taken from the Electoral Roll, as gazetted on February 5th, 2008. Look at my polling centre. Tasek Utara! Boy, do I have some sort of chemistry with schools at that area or what! Oh, just so you know, all my previous SPA exams were conducted at that area too. The exact geographical area . We are meant to be together, huh?

Anyway, to all Malaysians, do remember your citizenly responsibilities on March 8. Happy Voting, everyone!

4 Things Meme

This is the reply to the 4 Things Meme, by Tana. Thanks, Tana :).

Four jobs I’ve had:

1. Cashier (while waiting for SPM result)
2. Executive, Project Finance
3. Executive, Corporate Services
4. Jedi Knight :)

Four places I lived:

1. England, United Kingdom
2. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
3. Johor Bahru, Malaysia
4. Coruscant

Four movies I’ve watched over and over:

1. Armageddon
2. James Bond - The Living Daylights
3. Star Wars - Revenge Of The Sith
4. Pretty Woman

Four shows I watch:

1. A Model Life With Petra Nemcova
2. Yes, Dear
3. Friends (even now)
4. Kampung Boy

Four places I’ve been:

1. England
2. Indonesia
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Germany

Four people who e-mail me regularly:

1. My friend Jan
2. My friend Celia
3. Jobstreet :D
4. Spammers

Four favorite things to eat:

1. Spaghetti
2. Lasagne
3. Soto Ayam
4. Laksam

Four places I’d rather be:

1. Right next to him.
2. England
3. New York
4. Any beautiful island.

Four things I look forward to this new year:

1. My Mega Project.
2. Acquiring my professional qualification.
3. Trying to do Blog Advertising :).
4. A trip to the Bahamas.

Four people to tag :

Nia Azalea
Mimi Amilia
Kak Lily Haslina
Red Devil

You Have My Heart Award

I received this heartwarming award from Tana. I first knew Tana at the end of 2006. I admire her blog greatly since then. And I also admire her gorgeous, beautiful Bonnie. Thank you, Tana, for the award, and for being such a wonderful blogging friend.

And, I am passing this award to:

Mimi ~ My blogging friend, from whom I learned a lot, and whose optimism inspires me.

Yatie ~ My super artistic blogging friend, whose work of art amazes me everytime.

Strawberry ~ Another good blogging friend, whose passion and attitude towards life never fail to impress me.

Red Devil ~ My demonic Johorean online friend who is actually quite angelic.

A Visit By The Inlaws

During the CNY break, my brother's inlaws from Pahang visited us here. They arrived on Monday and stayed till Friday.

lovely ladies from left : Nieda, Sue and Kokti (my SIL)
~ they do look alike and of the same age, right?

Nieda is the elder sister of Kokti while Sue is her younger. On Tuesday evening, Kokti (and Co.) took her sisters, my mother, two of my siblings and me to Kota Tinggi for a dinner treat at the famous Hassan Ong's Seafood Restaurant. To Kokti, thank you endlessly again, for the treat.

Kokti & Co. also took her sisters to Desaru and Pengerang, and around the City. The little one was the happiest and she stayed close to them all the time. And, in this particular photo, I specifically told them when they were having a late lunch, that I just wanted to take the photo of the Ladies In Red (on a teasing note to my niece). And suddenly, the ever-so-smart little lady in yellow stood on the chair from her sitting position, and posed, obviously refusing to be excluded from the photo. Everybody laughed out loud. Yes, she is that intelligent at one year plus!

A View Of The Istana Garden

Didn't I promise to take photos of the Istana Garden and share it with you? Well, yesterday and today, I went for brisk-walking there. Three rounds for 30 minutes each day, as per my consultant's recommendation.

The Istana, or palace, as seen from the Garden (back shot)

this is part of the palace...

this is where I start to brisk-walk.... ignore everybody in these photos, because i came here alone. they are total strangers to me. got that? i don't know anyone, so if you see anyone you like, do NOT ask me. okay? *wink*

there's a pond there.. don't really know what it's for in the old times, but i will find out. And if you're wondering what's inside, go, dive and see for yourself. and DO NOT tell me about it.

this is actually the top of steps .....

leading towards what looks like a place to hang out with friends.. well do you notice the benches?
Anyway, I wouldn't really want to 'hang out' there, alone or with friends. I just wanna brisk-walk.

great for shooting horror and mystical movies, ain't it?

Our friend from the Middle East. Yeah, in actual fact, the Istana Garden is adjacent to the Johor Zoo, and is only separated by that fence - yes, the one in the photo above. Which is why I could secretly take this photo.

the thing I love so much about Istana Garden is that it is so green and refreshing... just how many shades of green can you see in the above photos? It is so lovely and beautiful..

i took this photo from the top of the hill. the big building is the Tabung Haji Building, and on the right is the famous Sultan Ibrahim building - where most of the state government offices are situated at. In the not so distant future they will all move to Nusajaya to the Johor State New Administrative Centre (JSNAC). This is part of the Iskandar Development Region plan.

and this is where the shooting for my Salem High Country 2008 will take place..

this steps lead to a beautiful garden down there.. lots of newlyweds come here to take photos in their wedding attires..

i'll save your time - these are NOT lavenders

you know, this pond used to be full of tortoises.... so many.. but now there are only japanese carps or koi....

so many people with their families came to Istana Garden...

yeah, that's what used to be the JB Waterfront City building.. and the name of the road in front of it is the Jalan Skudai..

that green and brown building is the Customs and Immigration Complex, and the rest of the buildings - well it's Singapore!

it's getting darker now..

I'll tell you what time it is - time to go home!

Her Wedding Preparations

These are the glasses - also for wedding favors. (still not enough)

She's busy arranging the glasses in boxes according to the colors

Uh-oh, someone else is 'busy' too, you know...

Here, lemme give you a hand...

What We Did That Day

Now these, are the bunga telur for my sister's wedding (May 2008). Bunga Telur is actually one of the most common form of wedding favors or giveaways. Bunga = Flower and Telur = Egg. From the picture above, the egg would be placed in the tiny piece of transparent cloth and is tied up with strings.

My aunt made all these bunga telurs herself, and last Saturday she came with a boxful of these and two packs of shiny purple ribbons and gave me an assignment. My sole duty was to cut the purple ribbon (into 18 inches long, each) and tie the ribbon around each stem.

Sounds easy enough, isn't it? Not really. The real challenge is to do it neatly and perpendicular to the flower and the leaves. Luckily I learned the skills to do that, and my three sisters voluntarily helped me. By Sunday evening it was done. We are expecting more, once my aunts are done with all 400 stems of flowers in total. They are for the akad nikah and majlis khatam Al-Quran.

A pack of ribbons

measure it to 18 inches, more or less (doesn't have to be really accurate)

take one of these, and tie it around the stem just above the cloth

there you go...

this box contains 78 stems (but we've already finished it on Sunday evening)

And hey, if you are wondering why the color is purple ~ DO NOT ASK ME. Ask my Mom, she selected the theme - purple. But be rest assured that she will have NO SAY in my wedding. None, whatsoever!

On that same day (Saturday) my parents attended like, four weddings. And they brought back so many wedding favors, some of which are displayed here:-

Candle, sweets, egg & a box of sweets

Candle (unscented, though)

this is the Telur Pindang. (dun really know what they call it in English so, telur pindang it is heheh).

Yay!

When I signed up for the weight management thing, I got this as a free gift - a tiny cosmetic bag, with a tiny mirror attached, a body scrub, and two tiny bottles of fat burning lotion and gel respectively.

*for this photo, the credit goes to my director of photography ~ Kokti

And two or three sessions later, they gave me a box of London Express Coffee, which contains 15 sachets of 'express coffee'. It is no ordinary coffee, it increases one's metabolism and helps to break the stubborn fat in one's body - so I was told. Drink the coffee twice daily, morning and afternoon. Suits me fine, since I am a big fan of Nescafe.

And in my previous session, I got another box - for free. Because I lost more weight. Yay! And after this I guess I am gonna have to buy it. For RM 210 per box, sob, sob. And that fat burning lotion and gel? Yeah, they are da*n expensive too! Which is why I plan to buy it when I am in the 'body sculpting' stage, as it would be much more meaningful. But I am telling you, that lotion is really, really effective. Once applied, your skin will turn red, and it feels kinda hot and itchy. It definitely WORKS!

Occupied

I am quite occupied with a few things. Tomorrow I have to do something and later go for another treatment. And I hate Hot Blanket. Okay? Guess I will update this blog tomorrow.

You remember Zamperla, right? The above photo is another thing that has been on my mind lately. If you want to see more, just spend One Evening in Tanjung Puteri.

Haven't been doing much updates lately. But am seriously considering to try blog advertising. Many thanks to Tana for her explanations and guidance in this matter. I still have many things to learn, boleh kan, Tana?

Okay, have to go now. See you guys later.

More Treatment

Yeah I went for some body treatment on Thursday.

Lavender Steambath

Ni memula datang aje (everytime), first thing lepas tukar baju, ambik weight, terus masuk ke steambath. The main purpose is to open up pores and unstress muscles before any treatment is done. Stay dalam steam room tu for 20 minutes everytime. But this time, sebab nak buat toxin management lagi, so kena buat dua kali. First one, 20 minutes lepas tu keluar, consultant apply scrubs yang ada dead sea salts, kemudian masuk lagi steam room for another 10 minutes. Ada masa okay, ada masa rasa macam kena masak pun ya hehehe. Tapi bila keluar tu perasan kejap la sebab skin cam pinkish allover gitu hehehe.

Detox Massage

Ni second time buat detox massage. The first time was during my last visit, end of January. Masa tu my own consultant buat, but this time another consultant buatkan. Memang diaorang ada kata detox massage ni sakit sikit sebab dia tekan your lymph nodes. Masa first time tu tahan lagi. This time memang rasa sakit sebab dia tekan kuat. I tak tahan bab inner thigh tu, sebab memang sakit. Tempat lain, kat kaki, tangan, belakang badan, tummy, semua tak kisah. Inner thigh memang sakit. Tapi tahan je la, tak pernah menjerit ke apa. Nama pun Jedi Knight, kan...Kata consultant tu, ada orang siap menjerit lepas tu terus duduk hehehe. Kelakar lak dengar.

Hot Blanket
Lepas detox massage, badan kena bungkus dengan plastic and towel, and covered with a hot blanket for 20 minutes. Dalam banyak-banyak treatment, inilah yang paling I tak suka sekali. Sudahlah panas, tak boleh bergerak, sebab dah kena bungkus. And then my body's sweating like hell, lepas tu rasa gatal-gatal. Sebab masa massage tu dia guna some scrubs, so rasa berpasir tu yang buat gatal sangat. Cannot scratch, itu yang geram, sebab tangan tak boleh gerak. Consultant akan masuk every now and then to check, and to wipe my face. Selalunya 5 minutes sebelum habis consultant akan masuk and beritahu ada 5 minutes more. Itulah yang paling lama I rasa nak habis. Sakitnya hati, but what to do..

Shower
Lepas habis hot blanket treatment tu, consultant tak kasi bangun terus. Dia suruh rehat dulu kemudian duduk, baru boleh berdiri. Takut pening and headrush sebab panas kan. Tapi so far I okay aje. Jedi Knight lah katakan.. Paling best lepas tu masuk shower, hot or cold it's up to you. But for me, always cold. Tak tahan, dah la steambath, then hot blanket. Panasnya tak terkata. Selalunya I berlama-lama sikit la hehehe. Dah siap kena keringkan rambut betul-betul sebab nak ambil weight sekali lagi. Masa ni taulah berapa dah kurang.

Slimming Machine

This time around, dia gunakan machine to break fat dekat thigh, tummy and arm. Last time tu machine yang press lymph nodes, tak kuat sangat. Yang ni memang rasa drilling gitu. Sama dengan slimming machine yang specific for tummy. Everytime, dia akan guna different machine with different purposes. Tapi before machine treatment ni buat detox massage lagi. And needless to say, it was OUCH! again.

That's all for Thursday. Masa nak balik, as usual dia beri minum calcium drink, macam quaker oat tapi chocolate flavor. And I dapat slimming coffee for free again sebab banyak lose weight. Yahoo!

The Best Friend Award

I was awarded with this by Tana. (Can I call you that, Sultana? Cute.) And I, too, am in complete agreement with her. It is one of the most wonderful things in my life - to find good blogging friends. Thank you so much, Tana.

I hereby pass this award to my other good blogging friends, who, like Tana, have added beautiful colors to my life :-

- Red Devil

- Strawberry

- Cwazy Wabbit

- Mimi Amilia

- Nia Azalea

- Wira

- Shida Aziz

- Yatie

Alcoholic 'soft drinks'?

From The Star Online, January 31st, 2008

Kids being sold alcoholic ‘soft drinks’

PENANG: Alcoholic “soft drinks,” some with alcohol content as high as 5%, are being sold to children in supermarkets and bakeries.

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) said that the alcohol content in these drinks was higher than that in beer.

CAP president S.M. Mohamed Idris said the law prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages to people below the age of 18.

He said CAP had received complaints from parents who said their children were consuming these drinks, adding that these drinks had also become popular among partygoers.

He said CAP had first exposed the hazards of a certain trendy intoxicating beverage in August 1997.

“Now after 11 years, the same type of drinks, designed and packaged like soft drinks, are once again invading the Malaysian market,” he said in a statement Thursday.

A CAP survey showed that members of the public might consume the beverage without knowing that they contained a high level of alcohol due to misleading labels with names like tropical fruit, ice lemon tea and orange juice, and with pictures of fruits.

He claimed that the alcohol content was printed in small letters that could hardly be seen.

Mohamed Idris urged the authorities to impose an immediate ban on the sale of such drinks.

I wonder, could this be what this article is talking about? Because there was this one day, I was reading a local english newspaper and there's the ad about this drink - and I didn't really notice that it was actually alcoholic. Because it really looks like just another ordinary soft drinks. The color of the can is really typical and the most natural one. Green and Red. Like Lime and Strawberry-flavored.

Just be very careful, okay.

You might wanna read more about The Alcohol Problem In Malaysia here.