Saturday, February 28, 2009

Some Law of Attraction - An Observation

I write this without prejudice nor condemnation. I write from a general observation. I may be right, or I may be wrong. Therefore, if you are reading this, please read with an open heart, and a clear mind. This sharing is intended as a valuable lesson to all of us, including moi!

When one lives in a secured area, with gated and guarded 24 hour security, its easy to forget that even that do not ensure that you or your family will be saved from any harm. It could be a false sense of security feeling, as one also has to acknowledge that there are other stronger forces, be it from fellow human, or even greater intervention, our God Allah almighty. HE will determine whether to allow or dissallow any untoward incident to happen. Thus, we must always pray and wish for him for our safety and blessings...

A house was recently robbed at 4 am in the morning. The couple and their maid in the house was tied and the house ransacked. The robbers gets away with valueables, which at this point, I do not have any amount to report. Suffice to say that they managed to locate the jewelleries and escaped scoot free with the loot. And this house is located is a 24 hour guarded and gated security area.

I am feeling apprehensive over this matter. I am very sympathaetic to this couple, and I wish that neither my family nor any other family have to go throught this scarry incident. However, as someone who has been exposed on some little knowledge about the Law of Attraction, I would like to review this case. And I must insist that I do this without any prejudice to anyone, especially this victim couple.

This couple is known by the neighbourhood, to be newly married, less than a year. A second marriage for the husband. Wife, I don't know. But what saddened the community is, the way the first and ex-wife was treated before they end their happy marriage of 20 odd years.

The husband divorced the wife with 'talak 3' after a heated argument and sent her out of the house that very night with her clothes thrown out the door and a garbage bag to put the clothes in...not even a suitcase that they have lots of which are branded and expensive. Then he ordered the son to give her her wallet with whatever amount she had in there so she can get a cab to anywhere she wanted to go. She wasn't allowed to go through her neighbour's house, but was ordered to go the other way, where there are no other houses as theirs was a corner lot. And he let her go just like that...!

In fact, before the argument started, earlier that day he asked her to transfer her all ASB money into his bank account in the pretext of using it for a certain reason. After years of her taking care of his well being, growing up his children, preparing fresh chapatti almost everyday for more than 20 years!

Three weeks later, a new wife moved in to that very house. An affair secretly woven? Otherwise how do you explain a sudden marriage like that? And to think one of the reason the ex-wife was accussed of having an affair with a pakistani carpet salesman that she did business with???

A few months later, he wanted her her back. The ex-wife refused as they got divorced by talak 3, no way can they ger married again without a series of awkward arrangements. He claimed that he made a mistake and didn't understand the talak 3 concept. He even asked her to lie in court so they can be married again. The ex-wife refused and he got mad. She's unperturbed as she is more afraid of God than him or the court.

By advise of good friends, she started to look into her rights as his wife for 'harta sepencarian'. Since she was thrown out of the house litteraly without any means, now she is seeking legal actions to claim what is rightly hers. And the ex-husband, seeing that, tried to offer her with a compensation of Rm 270k to solve the matter and keep her mouth shut. Luckily this lady is not stupid. They have, in their 20 odd years together, accumulated assets of about RM 2-3 million. Why should she settle for less than 10% of the deal when she actually entitled to at least half of the amount.

That was 2 months ago. I haven't heard anything since then, until the day of the robbery.

In conclusion, while my heart goes to the ex-wife, I am not passing jugdements on this couple, except for some personal opinion which I will keep to myself at this juncture.

My point is, the robbery happended at a 24-hour guarded and gated housing area, which supposedly be safe and secured, but by will of God, it still happened, and to this very couple. There were probably, I said, 'probably' (and i may be wrong) a lot of negative vibes hanging around which attracted and invited some other negatives vibes in. And the stollen jewelry, were probably belonged to the ex-wife.... or not!

Other possibly negative input, the house was put on sale recently and is probably sold by now. And he admittedly and purposely did not pay the instalments since last year for this intended reason.

Some may ask, should he sue the security company? Well, for the record, he has not been paying the security fee for the last 3 months!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Honeybun's Baby Pictures

Cats on Tuesday
Honey was born on the 6th of April 2008. So in human years, she is about 10 months now. In cats years, I am yet to dig out the cat book I have nicely arranged at the book shelf even though it is just a few steps away downstairs for me to reach. Lol! Well, it didn't really matter that much, right? What's important, she's still the baby of the family, apart from Coco and Brownie the Hamsters, and Jason and Colby the turtles...hahaha!







Honey exploring her new home...!
Honey loves to pose for the camera, unlike Minty and Oreo. Its quite difficult to take a nice shots of the hamdsome hunks, but Honey is like a born model. These are some of her pictures on her first day at her new home, She was about 2 months young then!


Sunday, February 22, 2009

Monday Morning Dilemma

One good friend suggested that I join her line dancing practice every monday at 10am. I am quite interested, as the one I joined (but quit...haha) was an advanced lot, I had difficulty to catch up. Actually I didn't even joined yet, but went to trial classes a few times. Moreover, it starts at 7 am....way too dark for me to get out of the house for comfort even at 6.55 am.


The practise session this friend have, is formed by a small circle of friends. So she can teach me step by step line dancing at beginner's level. Just perfect!


Its a very good form of exercise that actually uses not only your energy, but your memory, too. Believe it or not, there are so many steps to remember and each song have all the different steps that you have to memorize. One lady claimed that she lose 10 kgs just by doing line dancing for 3 months! Amazing!


However, yesterday, another good friend/neighbour invited me for a swimming lesson at her house. Oh my god, I really needed a formal training on swimming. The way I swim now is like a hippo adopted by a fish! Can stay afloat, and swim short distance, but only where I can still stand on my feet in case I panic or gets tired on the way there...haha! I did attempted to join swimming lessons twice, but then, I was phobiatic about submerging my head in the water. Now I can swim, only because I visualize that I can! And I can! But not enough to save myself if I were on Titanic and the ship sank....touch wood!


The only problem is...its also on monday morning! So, which should I go for? Its a very busy day for me too, because I also go for a tafsir and mengaji session in the afternoon!


Well. either way, obviously I won't have Monday Morning Blues....!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Of Yoga, Gymball and Dumbells

We had so much fun at the yoga session today, as usual. Apart from the regular exercising, someone, somehow will make us laugh with their antics, or even unability to do certain poses. And eversince a few months ago, when yoga was being questioned and banned in certain states, we as a group still continues with our regular exercise, as we know really well that nothing is wrong with our sessions, plus Dr D is now introducing a few more varieties to the class, so as not to seem to be too much into yoga'ism and create controversies, although nothing is wrong with our previous practice other than stretching and twisting our limbs to near impossible postures.


Gymball Exercise

The gymball tones all the muscles in the body, improves flexibility, and also great for stretching and warm up activities and different muscle workout. The round shell of a sphere is an unstable surface, so when you lie, sit or lean on it, you must continually rebalance yourself. These subtle steadying adjustments help isolate and activate the deepest muscle layers in the core. Whether you are conscious of it or not, your abs are working overtime whenever you are on the ball. To learn more you can read it here.


Dumbells Exercise


Dumbells are wonderful fitness training tools because they can be used to strengthen nearly every muscle in your body. This is one exercise that is great in strengthening your neck, back and shoulder muscles.

Thus, to me, everything always, always have a blessing in disguise. And everything happens for a reason. With the recent controversy of Yoga exercise, now we even have more fun playing with the ball and the dumbells! Its heavier to carry your stuff to the class now, but hey, no pain, no gain......Lol!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Meet Minty the (Lone) Musketeer!!

CATS ON TUESDAY

Minty is a handsome Blue Smoke Persian. His late mother was Candy, a Black Persian I adopted from a friend who was 'forced' to give one to me, and his father is Oreo, a stud I got from a breeder who has one too many, that I have to acquire when Candy got on heat.
Minty is the firstborn of this couple of 'husband and wife'. I 'married' them the day I bought Oreo home. Or is it, I got them married? They never proposed to each other.... They just 'did it' the same night they got introduced! Haha..... But that's another story. Whatever...!

Technically, Minty is four years old now. In cat's years he is..... (to be updated once I check the book)

Minty has an interesting and adventerous life in his 4 years. I will relate his story soon. But for now, let's enjoy a video of Minty when he was 2 weeks old. The kids are teaching him how to walk...err, rather, crawl! Till het got tired and complaining..meeoww! Haha..!



Sorry about the quality of this video. It was taken spontaneously from a PDA with only 2 megapixels. Glad I manage to save this to my computer before the PDA went 'kaput'....is there such a word?

Monday, February 16, 2009

Cooking Herbs From My Kitchen Garden

Reading your friends blog can be inspirational. Correction. It is very inspirational. Like the other day I visited Chahya's blog with her 'Lazy Cooking' tips. So I went to my kitchen garden with a pair of kitchen scissors and cut some daun cekur, daun kunyit to make her signature dish udang gulai lemak cili api. The serai was harvested earlier last week and in desperate need to be used up fast. Fantastic!

And the result below. Dont know if it taste the same and as good as hers, but, I'll probably get some feedback after dinner tonight. By the way, while cooking, I realised that I am out of coconut milk. So it was substituted with the evaporated milk. Hahaha..... You can get the recipe from Chahya's blog here.
Then, another dish is a 'on-the-spot' recipe. It could be a combination of Blackpepper Chicken and Chicken in Soysauce, because it has both ingredients. The recipe:


Chicken (as much as you like, this one a quarter)
5 Shallots
2 Garlic
15 Fresh Basil Leaves
2 tps Blackpepper
5 tbspSoysauce
2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 Potato
1 Tomato
1 cup Water

The portions are actually an estimation only as I normally throw-in the ingredients in without measuring them. Salt and sugar is not required as its already in the Soysauce and Oystersauce. But its up to your tastebuds.

The tomato used is the first harvest from my garden. Its still half red/yellow after one week plus after I plucked it. So the next batch, I will wait for it to rippen on the plant.






Ok, now the vegetable, I havent't cooked it yet. I most probably cut the kangkung from the garden too before it gets all yellowish.














And this is the Daun Kunyit (tumeric), Daun Cekur and Basil leaves I used for the dishes. Wish you could join me for dinner tonight!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Cats on Tuesday

CATS ON TUESDAY

Hi Friends!

This is my first Cats on Tuesday! Isn't this a great idea or what?

I have cute little Red BiColor Persian 10 months old furball which I fondly call Honeybun. I also have two more male cats of father and son named Oreo and Minty. I will write about these two hunks later. For now, its Honeybun story!

On mornings when I do my gardening, I will be accompanied by my hairy friend. Honeybun just loves to spend time in my herbal garden. She will chase after bugs, smell the fragrant plants, or just rest under the shade of the pandan leaves. When its time to get inside, she would look at the garden longingly, wishing she could stay there longer. But there's always another day...!


I wrote a poem about what Honey does at the garden. I already posted it earlier, but just for the fun of it, I'll paste it again here.

Honey at the Herbal Garden

Honey loves the birds,
Honey loves the bees
Honey loves chasing the bugs
Among her favorite things

Under the basil tree
Besides the lemon grass
Honey doesn't leave any leaf unturned

Once she spots on vision
Honey gets in her position
Pouncing on her unsuspecting prey

Eyeing, positioning, pouncing her way
Alas, the prey is never a prey
Because they always gets away

Sunday, February 8, 2009

....you say tomato, I say tomahto....

Whatever it is, its the same fruit, or vegetable, depending on how you like it to be. Its up to you. I won't argue about it. Because we can argue till the cows come home, fact is, its the same fruit. Read my lips....tomato!

Anyway, for those perfecionist out there, this is what the Wikipedia says....

Pronunciation
The pronunciation of tomato differs in different English-speaking countries; the two most common variants are /təˈmɑːtəʊ/ and /təˈmeɪɾoʊ/. Speakers from the British Isles, most of the Commonwealth, and older generations among speakers of Southern American English typically say /təˈmɑːtəʊ/, while most American and Canadian speakers usually say /təˈmeɪɾoʊ/. Many languages have a word that corresponds more to the former pronunciation, including the original Nahuatl word "tomato" from which they are all taken.
Source: Wikipedia

It started sometime in October 2008. When I finally feel that I am ready and green finger enough to grow vegetables. So I started by shopping for some seeds at the supermarket. Looking at the picture on the packaging, it looked like cherry tomatoes. Hmmm.....I love cherry tomatoes for my salad. I'll get the normal tomatoes later when I am succesful with this one.. So I grabbed a packet.

Then the 'gardener' began her mission. Because there were a few packets of seeds to be planted, I knew I had to label it religously.
But after a few days when it sprouted, I found it it was wrongly labelled. Now I am mixed up which is which. After a couple of weeks, I somehow discovered which was it without having to wait for its fruit. By googling online and visited some blogs about tomatoes. It was labelled as bittergourd.....hehehe

Then I learned that you need a vegetable bed for the tomatoes. My first futile attempt here. The 'bed' keep sliding down and show the roots.

Later on, I moved the whole batch, about 8 of them, to a new location at the corner, so I could at least control the 'bed'. I should have just used the bricks, as I later discovered. And soon after, I discovered that tomato plants need to have supports, because of the nature of the stems. Read the wikipedia link above to know what I mean.

While attempting to set the trainer for this plant, I accidently broke the largest branch of the healthiest plant.....oh no....! So I 'bandaged' it together with a leftover green tape from my flower arrangement project. Somehow it grew. In fact some little roots sprouts at the broken and bandaged stem.

And to my delight, my tomato grew big so fast, and started to bear fruits last month! And believe it or not, its from the broken plant on the exact branch! I am goooood!!!

And today, I victoriously plucked my first harvest of tomatoes. By the way its not even cherry tomatoes, but a full sized plump medium sized tomatoes you can find in the supermarkets. Its about 4" in diameters.

Now, posing at another angle with my 'continue life' leaves for salad.....LOL! See how bright the colour is.......and I am a show off! But can you blame me?

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Survival Instincts


We were encountered with a suprise incident yesterday evening. A little bird fell off its nest! No, I am not kidding!

A little hairless, maybe less than a day old birdie fell into our garden compound and the juniors exclaimed excitedly..."Can we keep it, can we keep it!!!! Well, on top of the 3 cats, 2 hamsters, and a turtle, I'd say..."Why not??!" What's another cute little creature in you home.

Actually we have no choice but to keep it. The poor little thing just cannot take care of itself. Motherless, homeless, and so fragile. I'm just thankful that Minty or Honeybun were not around when the little birdie fell...

So we make a mock nest out of a recycled plastic container, and coincidently just mowed the lawn, so we have some grass hay handy. And tissue paper as blanket.

Never had birds as pet before, this is going to be a new experience. At least, until it is strong enough to fly on its own. It will chirp out loud when hungry, and once fed, it can just collapse its body and off to sleep. So funny.

Not knowing where to get worms to feed Birdie, (I knew we have lots in the garden compound, but we were not up to dig some for it), we figured that maybe rice or papaya would be a good substitute. Crush the rice using a finger with a little water, and fed to its big open beak, and birdie is easily satisfied and went back to sleep. The only small challenge is it will chirp hungrily every few minute...haha!


I really need to learn how to take a good close-ups!!

So hopefuuly, Birdie will survive this misadventure, and we all pray that it will be well and healthy soon. No one can tell for sure, just hope.

Just as we see this lovely and healthy 'indoor plant', it didn't survive past two weeks. Its a baby pandan plant, but didn't survive long enough to grow its root to last much longer. So we can never tell, can we?


Updated: 7th February 2009
Tweety, as we fondly call her, did not make it through yesterday. She had her last meal, and suddenly collapsed soon afterwards. May she rest in peace.

An unusual observation. While she was under our care, lots of birds are flying above the house at random directions, as if looking for her. We dare not place her outside due to unforeseen danger for such a fragile helpless creature. When she died, she was buried near a plant in the backyard, but not long after, her 'grave' were dug by the birds, and her remains taken away. How do we explain that???

Monday, February 2, 2009

Milk Tag

I was at the supermarket during the weekend for the weekly groceries. I've notice something before, but either I was too preoccupied with other matters, or it was insignificant enough for me to think about it. But this time, it bugged me. So I questioned, why is the powder milk packet is tagged, while most of the rest of the other things were not?

Of course, the answer is to prevent from theft, or rather, shop-lifting. Then I asked again, just the milk powder? Why? There are a lot of other more valuable things in the supermarket to shoplift. Not that I condone the act, but why milk powder? Its only between Rm10-Rm50 per packet or tin. Then it occured to me,..... oh no! Most milk powder is for infants! That means, these people steal for their child.....their hungry child! Oh my god.... suddenly I feel so teary, big lump in my throat! I still feel it as I write this post?

While we send millions to other needy world, which I fully applaud, little did I realised that there are so many other needy people right here in our country. Well, we do know that there are still some unfortunate homeless people around, but to think of their hungry children......!

By right, there shouldn't be anymore poverty in our beautiful and blessed country. But somehow, somewhere, these people are living without their basic needs, the first level of th 'Maslow Hierachy of Needs' are still not met. Where are they? Where are our funds for the needy channeled to? Where is the sincerity....?