The PINK saga continues

The picture was taken in the garden. The niece is seen testing out her new pink dress and an old pink hate. The garden hose gets in the way of this being a perfect picture. Photoshop it out says the brother. Probably not say I. ( Too lazy )

Pink shoes for little girls

The niece is visiting. This year she is chatty and has picked pink as her new favourite colour. These are her shoes. She has rejected her older orange shoes...claiming " these shoes make my feet stinky".

Other priceless gems

" Nobody in Singapore puts cream". ( This is in answer to her grandmother's query re cream on face )

She continued on...but PorPor ( granny in singapore ) puts lipstick

"You have curly hair, you are old ". ( Directed to a very unhappy granny with curly hair)

" kanang puteh" Her very own version of kacang puteh.

" Carrie's hair is a little bit short and a little bit long". ( Carrie is her best friend in preschool)

" Dun feed me I am not a baby" ( when grandma wanted to speed the eating process up by feeding her)

" We are going to be late for church" ( as she sat in the hall waiting for everyone else to be ready)

" Hurry up the wedding has already started" ( Failing to understand the concept of a Malaysian Malay Wedding where time is very fluid)

Many more.....to come. ( When I can remember them)

A Blessed Christmas:)

 Christmas is not just about presents and christmas trees and snow. It marks the birth of Christ the Lord. And it brings joy and hope. A blessed Christmas and a Merry New Year 2010:)

Fendi and toes

LIme green is not a good color I know. I will get around to changing the colour before Christmas....hopefully.

The day I met Jimmy Choo

I met Dato Jimmy Choo three days ago. Spotted him at Starhill Plaza with two other friends having coffee. He looks ( see picture above ) exactly like his pictures. I don't own a pair of Jimmy Choos so conversation couldn't very well have gravitated to his lovely shoes. (which I have never tried on personally. This is the fault of the snooty sales persons at the shop in KLCC. ) He stood up immediately walked away from the coffee table and shook hands. Such a gracious man. And as you can see from the picture above , agreed to have his picture taken with me. I regret I didn't wear a nicer outfit:(

PLeasant surprise

I was greeted with the sight of stalls with colourful dresses en route to the mamak stall for my maggi goreng. Disappointing actually. There were less than 10 in total. Hair clips, totes, hats, soap, kiddy toys, some Sarawakian traditional fare  and iron-on cartoon characters. And....I left my book " the inheritance" possibly at the Mamak stall. Only realised it when I got home and wanted to know what else Bramble ( main character, one of the three daughters)...would do now that felicity ( another daughter) had come with the horse that she saved , (Merlin.) *deep sigh* So I will have to go to the Mamak stall today. Hands up, who thinks it will still be there!

Put on a happy face

Put on a happy face, originally uploaded by Litandmore.

I have finally finished uploading ALL the tugasan for the penilaian tahap kecekapan. ( I wonder whether the organisers have their own penilaian). Quite a few hiccups especially ( as it almost always happens) nearer the dateline. The complains range from something as constantly annoying as being unable to view the assignment files let alone upload them to slight minor ( but painful) changes to the tasks given.

It has been a humbling experience for me. And I am very glad I've finished. Have a good weekend folks. Mine will be GLORIOUSLY free of PTK-related tasks

Thank you Borders

Remember my earlier post re Nina Bell..and what a wonderful writer she is? ( Please scroll down if you missed it.) Since raving about her, I've googled her...and found the title of her only other book. They didn't have it at the big bad wolf book sale ( I know I know...but I was hoping it would be there). Book Excess at Amcorp Mall didn't have it either. MPH Mid Valley didn't have it. Self Service inquiry on pc in shop showed " o in stall...out of stock. So today, we went to Borders at the Gardens...AND I FOUND THE BOOK!!! YAHOOOOO

New obsession

I have 30 baju kurungs. ( Maybe a little more but 30 sounds like a good number to round it up to). AM currently in search of the perfect Baju Kurung made in cotton with teeny weeny flowers like the one in the picture above. Picture taken at Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman during the pre Raya shopping bazaar. The closest thing I saw cost RM 369. *swoon* I was half tempted to tell the lady off for daylight robbery. So no, I didn't buy that and so am still on the look out for one.

Bliss Is ...

Bliss Is ..., originally uploaded by *Evelina*.

being on call...and not being called at all. Or even better, if you can SOLVE all the cases coming in with no hesitation. Nobody dies on you. The on call team consist of everyone you like and love working with. Your patients live and walk out of the hospital. The patients' relatives also think you're doing a good job.

Amcorp Mall

I took this picture as I waited patiently to be let in. The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is on. Last day today. Small tip, you may not find too many books left if you head there today. My trip was disappointing. I left with only 6 books. Didn't fancy the venue very much. It was stuffy and the  lay-out of the place was odd. We were forced to go one direction and I felt there were less books compared to the last sale. Of course it didn't help that I arrived with a nagging headache having cried my eyes out the night before watching my sister's keeper.

I want Nina Bells' book " The Inheritance" , and I suspect nothing else will do.

Finished!!!

Where have you been all this while Nina Bell?? That is what I thought when I was midway reading this book. Never judge a book by its cover. How true, how true. I've seen this book in the chicklit section at TIME bookstore for a few months now. The cover doesn't appeal to me. ( It still doesn't so I am using the present tense). Now that I've finished the book, I agree with the title. What a waste, I could have been introduced to Bell's wonderful writing earlier had I chosen to ignore the book cover and gone for content instead. My mistake folks. And this is something I do not want happen to you. So please go right out the door now and buy a copy yourself. You will not regret it. I promise you.

My sister's keeper

This is my first and only Picoult book I've read. I remember being emotionally disturbed ( not in a bad way ) midway through and emotionally drained by the end of the book. That put me off Picoult because if you read the books I post, you'll know my taste is strictly chicklit. It was only after the third trip to the DVD shop ( and running out of movies to buy) that I finally decided YES I would buy and watch this.

And so this evening, ( to officially mark the weekend proper) I watched " My sister's keeper" and cried so much I ended up with a damp sleeve on the right and red eyes. I've showered now, so I can sit back and write this review.

I guess at this stage, almost everyone who reads has read one Picoult book and surprisingly most folks I've talked to like her style. Maybe I'm unfair. The movie was set with a narrator, different ones throughout the movie. Nice that way. Cameron Diaz was a convincing mum fighting desperately to keep her child alive. And so, yes I enjoyed the movie a lot. The little girl who played Anna was good. ( I've forgotten her name now) She reminds me of that actress who played Marie Antoinette. Can't remember the name now. Damm! And I like the judge as well as the lawyer who represented Anna. ( All famous stars cos I've seen them before, I just can't name them now) I'm sipping my second glass of water. To replace the tears earlier this evening. It's very tiring to cry so I think I'm going to lie down now. Final word, watch this movie! You'll be sucked into an interesting problem which tugs your emotions like crazy crazy.

violin practice

violin practice, originally uploaded by jubewong.

Lesson at half three...which leaves me 3.5 hours to get them scales right. 3rd position 5th position ....and bring out the nasty metronome to play in tempo. I can't wait to get better. It's a pity I have to wade through all the boring finger exercises first. Why can't there be a short-cut?

Books I'm currently reading

 Expect a review the first week of Dec:)

"things to do" list

Julia's "things to do" list, originally uploaded by inky.

I am back to making my "to do" list. Worked pretty well yesterday. So I'm busy making my list for this morning. 4.5 things to do so far. ( Hasn't ended!) Hands up those who are aware of this "Ta Da list account site"

PTK completed

It has been a busy and tiring ( brains were definitely used ) 6.5 days. I am referring to the PTK course which  I just completed. PTK stands for Penilaian Tahap Kecekapan. ( My malay has improved by leaps and bounds, courtesy of being made to write about 10 reflections in Bahasa Melayu prior to this course) It is a course to assess one's competency at different levels used by the government as a tool to decide who is eligible for promotion. We no longer have automatic promotion up the scale based merely on longevity of service. What I intend to do is to compile all the reflections into a small book, only because that was a work of sheer art. After a lapse of more than 10 years, we get immersed in lectures, small group discussions done in Malay. Sometimes a change is good....a challenge really. Although the lectures are officially over, the tasks are far from being completed. We have been given 2 weeks to complete it. So...there's WORK to be done. Procrastination is not allowed. No no no!!!

Things to put on the I WANT I NEED wish list

KBCovers Photoshop Keyboard for iMac, originally uploaded by nkpix.

Isn't this cool? I want this innovative, colourful keyboard protector for my own.

"How Time Flies"

"How Time Flies", originally uploaded by DagsDownunder.

This isn't going to be a blog on how time flies despite the title. It will concentrate instead on the failure of my two alarum clocks in getting me up and OUT of bed. I was late this morning. Despite proudly proclaiming the night before that I would drive and pick a friend up at 7:00am in a feeble attempt to arrive earlier, I woke up at seven AM. Directly after the right eye peeked and caught the time on the clock, there was a MAD mad mad rush to get things sorted. I left the house with no breakfast, no coffee, a damp body and hair which looked like I had just woken up. Have you ever realised, when you sleep with slightly damp hair ( bad habit I'll surely suffer from rheumatism in 2.3 years from now ) you run the risk of having an oddly 1980s rock punk hair style?

Work work work

MacBook Pro, originally uploaded by Spintwig.

I have typed a lot of words the last 3.5 days. Mostly in a language which is not my mother tongue. Bahasa Melayu is our country's national language. And as the course I am attending is a course meant to assess the elligibility for promotion, it is a reasonable request that we write our thoughts and reflections in Bahasa Melayu. I am handicapped severely. BM is not my first language. The 11 reflections which we were required to pen down were HARD to do. After the first few attempts, I abandoned the initial plan of writing in English and getting it translated. It felt weird and the end product ( if I can gone through this path ) would have been disjointed. So I opted, rather optimisically to write in BM.What helped was the MAC. Not grammatically but my lifting the mood each time I typed. GAWD I love this piece of machine:)

Refleksi

, originally uploaded by Shelba.

Setelah menghabiskan masa hampir dua hari setengah menulis refleksi, saya berasa bangga dengan pencapaian saya. Menulis refleksi adalah salah satu tugasan PTK yang wajib dibuat. Leceh....

What you Should not order when at Delicious

What is worth ordering at delicious is
1) Pate Plate. Although the portions of both pate and bread have been scaled down. On the upside, the pate still tastes divine. So got for it.
2) Banoffee pie. If you're looking for a desert which is not too sweet and you dun abhore bananas, this is just the ticket.
3)Duck confit , which I'm sure at some point has been everyone's favourite. I tend to shy away from it recently.

Things not to order
1) Avacado chicken sandwich. In a sorry attempt to be adventurous, I ended up wth this sad looking sandwich for dinner yesterday. The chicken chunks were huge. My suspicion of tasteless chunks was confirmed when I chewed diligently on my cube-sized chicken laced with sauce. The avacado was a sorry excuse. And so, here's my tip, do NOT order this particular sandwich. It's quite unpalatable.
2) The cupcakes. Tasteless and small. I won't waste more words on it.
3) The flourless cake. ( Not the exact name but it has the word flourless in it ) Absolutely a chore to swallow. Hard work. So yes another one firmly placed on this list.

Thank-you

Thank-you, originally uploaded by Anna Malie Design.

I would like to thank my patient Madame V for helping us out in the exams this morning. You travelled from another state ( possibly bringing along the husband and leaving the house unattended for a good one week) and you stayed in dusty smog laden KL. Nobody likes being away from home for long. And certainly staying over is hardly the same as staying in your own home, sleeping in your own bed. So thank you, for making this sacrifice. I appreciate it very much

Red Velvet

Frosting: Gourmet Filled Cupcakes, originally uploaded by Frosting:Gourmet.

I want red velvet cupcake...with a mug of hot coffee ..milk no sugar. THANKS

Vietnames food is healthy!!

My Saturday started horrendously late. *ahem* Around 10:00am. By the time I showered and did a round of laundry I was feeling peckish. Traffic was pretty okay along the highway until I drove into the basement car park. Then the great hunt for the ever elusive parking spot started.A very silly lady took my parking spot. ( A sure sign of maturity...I experience 1 minute of anger after which that abated and I moved on). Found a place to park after another 2 rounds of driving aimlessly about. The picture is of the dry vermicelli noodles ( vietnamese style) which I had for lunch.

What a place to put a book

French Kissing has arrived! Priced at RM52. Guess where I found this little gem? At the crime and mystery  part of MPH One Utama. *roll eyes* What is a chic lit book doing there? Is it any wonder I found the book at all? Thank goodness I was determined to go through all shelves and keep an open mind re....book to buy.

a big headache

A Little HEADACHE by Mickey Smith, originally uploaded by Jen Bekman.

What happens when you survive Monday unscatched? Lemme tell you. YOu get a nasty dose of chaotic sequence of events on Tuesday just so you KNOW you cheated fate on Monday and are punished now. My list on things to do started becoming incredibly disorganized when I attempted to be more productive by sticking post its on various different objects. ( psst this only works if you have a good memory and if the post it is of a different colour to the rest of the surrounding objects. I started off crabby ( perfectly justified btw ) and mid way through I slipped into this calm persona. In an attempt to survive the day. Got home at half ten this evening. I hate Tuesdays...possibly more than Mondays now

Yesterday we found out a dear friend lost his father. All very sudden. The funeral is this afternoon.

"In your time of sorrow, my God comfort you.

May God be near at this difficult time, and in his loving way May he comfort you and guide you through every future day."

Happy and grateful

Happy face, originally uploaded by - Maeva -.

I passed my violin exam. ( By the skin of my teeth...and with the grace of God) Here are the people I would like to thank ( wooo this is giving a thank you speech at the oscars.)
God, for giving me the grace and patience to play
My parents who despite pooh pooh-ing the idea of music exams, deep down support this odd and still relatively new obsession of mine
My neighbours for putting up with the same three songs, with inconsistent tempo and wrong notes the two weeks preceeding the exams.
My violin teacher who has since become a friend. For motivating at just the right amount and right time.

It is a brilliant feeling.And the euphoria will last for many months to come.

Reading bug...

writing on the walls, originally uploaded by nardell.

Am reading " A family affair" by Veronica Henry. Expect a brief review when I'm done.

Rough guide to surviving MOnday

1. Sleep early the night before. Do not, I repeat do not assume you can get by with less than 8 hours sleep. You're not a teeny bopper teenager any more. Live with it

2. Chant to yourself ( softly if you're taking public transport, as loud as you want if like me you drive alone) the mantra is " Don't think, just do". This is the time, when the depressive thoughts start popping in and out of your mind. Fight it!!!

3. Smile, even though you feel like death itself. It makes a difference. Your dark mood would have moved up a notch or two by the 5 th smile you bestow. ( Do not smile at your enemies, this will make you come across as a flaky individual, do however, maintain a slightly less aloof manner when in contact.)

4. Think happy thoughts. If that means thinking of your best enemy's toes rotting. So be it.

5. Set a target to head home on time and even if you have the usual euphoric drive from having survived Monday, please head home to get your rest. It is after all, the start of the working week.

I had a very productive and good Monday. ( Today wasn't so good )

Picture from theresa thomson's photostream

Now reading...Donna Hay

This is the second Donna Hay book I'm reading. First of all, Lola is a silly name. I sympathise with anyone who's had the unfortunate luck of being saddled with this name. The cousin went out with a"Lola" before and that's the closes I've gotten to knowing a real-life Lola. Whoops, isn't Madonna's daughter named Lola? Well there you go then. Ms Hays ' pace is exactly what I like. Allegretto. The previous book by AP was painful and rather pointless. I'm glad I finished it. It will be relegated to the back of the bookshelf.

( picture of Ms Hays' book and my breakfast this morning)

WHat about this one?

Shoes that get you in shape.Wear this for 30 minutes every day and you get fantastic legs ( yay), toned bum and stronger core.

style spy

Crocs in Parma, originally uploaded by Zé Eduardo....

Some misinformed individual ( nameless of course) said she heard a rumour that crocs was closing down. I immediatedly promised self I would finally go out and buy one of them infamous ugly clog-like rubber thingies with holes all around. It is hard to look good in them. Light, casual and functional they are. Sleek and chic it is NOT. Three days back, I visited the local CROCs shop in KL and tried just about every colour possible. ( I stayed away from the newer designs to keep things simple). The most beautiful of the lot was a soft (dark) violet number. Watch this space:)

I'm with the band:)

Blood is thicker than water yes? It'd better be .On Oct 12th, I shall stand (or perhaps sit ) in front of a crowd of potentially critical audience and play two humble songs in celebration of a wedding of a very very dear cousin. ( Who may choose to disown me directly after the recital.) Pride and ego, is the driving force for furious virtuoso moments of practise. Please keep your fingers, toes, braids and anything else cross for me. May there not be tears:)

A thief amongst us?

Somebody stole my lunch yesterday. And that somebody obviously is illiterate. Otherwise, the name written on the top of the box would have been sufficient to say "HANDS OFF ". It was bought and left at the pantry....and left unattended for *count*count* 2.45 hours. I shall not wish  the culprit ill health ( in the shape of torrential diarrhoea) I shall instead wish, that you needed it more than me. 

Read this....

Ms Moriarty writes in a fluid manner with minimal pauses. She manages to keep her readers wanting more as we read on and on. I finished " Keeping it in the family" two days back. I'm not good at writing reviews  so I won't . At random, I'll just list the things I like about this book. The irish names Niamh, Nuala, Siobhan....the Danny Boy doorbell, speaking gaelic despite not being understood , the Ceili....! It's every father's worst nightmare; your child announces she's going out with a black older agnostic.  Moriarty is as sharp as can be in the workings of the human heart.  Current book is Agatha Christie's Mary Westmacott novel entitled " Unfinished potrait". Am at page 175. This is a different book from her usual whodunnit fare. A serious novel with nobody dying ( nobody being killed I mean ). The pace is decidedly adante and the mood one of sombreness.  I'm liking it so far. What is next? "French Kissing" by Catherine Sanderson. You may remember, Ms Sanderson allowed me to believe that nice things happen unexpectedly, when she ( BRILLIANT kind soul ) sent me an autographed copy of her first book "Petitie Anglaise" in the post. It's so amazing I have to tell just about anyone who is kind enough to want to listen to be jabbering on. Gosh I wish I could write half as well as these folks...it's a gift.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri 2009

I ate a lot today:) You know how sometimes you yearn for something....and you wish really hard you'ld get it...and you're prepared for disappointment and yet...there's a little glimmer of hope? Well I got my wish...there was roti jala today:) And I ate A LOT OF IT:) Thank you WNN for having me over....

Nail art..on my very own toes

A month of fasting

There are few things more indicative of One Malaysia than seeing Malaysians celebrating Hari Raya Puasa. That's what I shall be doing tomorrow. And that's what most everybody else regardless of race or religion will be doing tomorrow. It marks the end of Ramadhan, the end of a month-long fast and sacrifice. Food features a great deal in any Malaysian festival. I would like to eat; rendang, ketupat, roti jala, Satay and kerepek bawang. May I perhaps, take this opportunity, to wish my friends Selamat Hari Raya Puasa. 

Glorious long weekend

Malaysia must have one of the most number of public holidays. This is not evidence based. It's a personal opinion. We get two extra days this weekend. I'm all smiles this morning. The weekly laundry has been done. The dreaded hoovering too. And in addition ( because I felt extra chirpy) I even arranged the books on top of the piano. ( Which has been haphazardly sitting one on top of the another for at least 3.4 months now. As a reward, I found my missing note-book.  What's left is a lie-in this afternoon. Hope it rains later, I love the wet season.

Spot the mac

Strictly no photographs. ( Read that sign two minutes after taking my shots..okay that's a lie...read that 3 seconds after my first shot..and 10 seconds before my second and third shots). But I'm not posting the designs up. So surely I shan't be sued for not adhering to request. Plus, I do no cup-caking so it'll be a cold day in hell before I steal any designs and profit off it. Stare in between the bars, and you'll see an IMAC on the desk. Woooohooo! THAT excited me more more than the cupcakes. Oh I forgot to mention, this is the super-expensive cup-cake shop at the Gardens. We were there for dinner and left late. The shop looks much better with the lights on. Although the folks there seem a tad snooty. *roll eyes* 

nailart

nailart, originally uploaded by Christel Weixelman.

I had lovely flowers drawn on my big toe...on both feet this afternoon. A first for me. And a good experience. Am in awe of the lady who did it. I'll blog a picture of the nails after a shower. In the meantime, I've borrowed a picture from the net.

NO 58

If you're a rice -person ( ie one of THOSE who simply must have rice as a meal) then the next time you're at the GARDENS, pop by the restaurant named ( weirdly ) "the flying chillies". Look at the menu and pick number 58: THAI BELACAN FRIED RICE W SUNNY SIDE UP. There's no little heart symbol beside this. Which goes to show, a non-favourite for them...could very well be a fave for us customers. Happy Eating.

I need mittens

cutie, originally uploaded by nathan waterhouse.

I felt a sharp distinct pain when I washed my face this morning. It took me one and a half minutes to identify the exact source. Two scratches on my face. These certainly were not present the night before. So it means, I cheerfully did it during sleep. On closer inspection, I have 4 scratches. And will have to head to work tomorrow, looking pretty silly I think. Oh dear oh dear

How I spent my Saturday

The series of lectures ranged from basic facts on H1N1 , targeted I suspect to the General Practitioners in the audience...and this was repeated in slides from different speakers. This reflects ( what I think) the MOH's decision to make the public aware that GPs are being updated in a big way. What was odd was there was not a single respiratory physician represented in the panel of speakers. 90% of the H1N1 infections lead to respiratory related symptoms. Not that we're complaining of the lack of attention. Horrors NO! The GPs voiced their observation that they weren't represented. ( the resp physicians in the audience were too busy updating self with more personal gossip)