...........Great Minds Think Alike

Of Dreams, Vision and Coincidence

2010-04-06T10:35:00.012+08:00

Talk about dreams, vision, or coincidence?

May I just reiterate, that this is no big or major, nor an important event, but just a small coincidence in a daily life experience, that is somehow significant to yours truly, truly.

I have been 'in-love' with iPhone eversince it hits the market. That was way back in 2008. Its not even available locally here in Malaysia. But there are friends and people I know who bought it from the US or Europe and brings it back here, not to mention some black market item, you cant tell if its original or 'under the sea' product.

When it finally arrive here, 2 things that stopped me from jumping to grab it.

1. My HTC windows mobile phone was ever so reliabale. I have no problem at all with it and its applications. It was so easy to use and very user-friendly. its like a mini-computer, so to speak.

2. The phone is available only through one service provider. My family just transfered the whole family account from that service provider to a competitor because of their lack of customer service, which is another story. The bundle package was also not too attractive as I pay less on my current service.

Well, with that two major factors in mind, I decided that iPhone is not for me, at least not for a while, and I don't see any signs of aging coming from my current phone. Its like a hanging wish-list! I even wrote an entry about this a few months back titled 'Ancient Phones'. But little did I guessed (or remembered) that freaky things can happen to make things happen!

I was at a mall about three weeks ago with my little darlings, and we had lunch at Burger Kings. Well, kids will always go for fast foods, and the mom didnt object either! While eating and facebooking, I also read sms'es. Then we went to browse around while waiting for my other girl watch her movie with friends.

One of the stop was the Apple Store. The kids played with the Macs while my attention was stuck on the iPhone on display. Sighing wishfully, I put the phone back to its dock and take a copy of the leaflet, not knowing why, thinking I dont intend to get it as yet! Well, humour me, I told myself.

Then we proceeded to MPH bookstore where I planned to read some gardening or home decor books. After choosing the books and head to the member's lounge section when I remembered to sms my girl and let her know our whereabout. That's when I found out that my phone was missing!

I recalled the last time I used it was at the Burger King, and made a dash there! I felt so lost without it, like going around n...d.! (lol) But of course, the odds are, it wasn't there anymore. The cleaner hasn't seen it, and the group that sat at the table were the second batch there. For some reason, I wasn't panicky or upset, but a bit lost and sad. I loved that phone! Not giving up hope, I left my numbers to the Manager and even the Customer Service counter of the mall.

For the next 2 days, I couldn't decide what phone to get for replacement....DUH! I was half hoping that someone will call me to return the phone...double 'DUH'! LOL! Actually I know what is the most ideal replacement, but the factor No. 2 above is still stopping me. That would also mean that I have to change my 10+ year old phone number which I had retained everytime I buy a new set. I called my current phone company to enquire if the rumour that they might take iPhone soon is true, but they confirmed Not. Then I called another company who are taking 'pre-orders', but they can't tell for sure when it is coming. (btw, they're available now...hah...they just lost a customer!)

It was my DH who eventually couldn't stand it and asked me to decide what phone I want...lol! Even then I was still thinking....and thinking...or not thinking at all! My eldest son asked me to take a Blackberry, so I researched some of its features.....hmm, not bad. Then there's also the cheaper version of Blackberry called Blueberry. lol! I can get that, and play with it until my current phone company brings my iPhone in. But my DH just can't stand it anymore....!

Then, whadaya know.... I found the iPhone leaflet with the promo package in my handbag that I picked up on the day I lost the phone! "Humor me..!" I recalled telling myself on that day. I actually picked up the leaflet without realising I had lost the phone! Freaky, isn't it?

And with that, I finally decided its ok to change, that change is inevitable, and a change of number goes with it! And you can guess the rest of the story!

Haha....long story! Thanks for reading!!

Playing in the Garden

2010-02-23T12:53:00.006+08:00

catHello everyone! Happy Cots!

Its been a while since I last post the pics of my kitties here. I've a few stories to tell, but I need to rush for now. So I'll just post their latest pictures, you can see how adorable they are. Enjoy!

Sugar n Munchkin

Munchkin!

Sugar!

Honeybun - watchful Momma!

For more fun and Cats Stories, visit Gattina at http://gattinamycats.blogspot.com :)

A Friendship Story

2010-02-01T22:23:00.009+08:00

My policy has always been to forgive and forget! But somehow to be honest to myself, its harder than it seems.

I knew this friend Hazel, during my first year on the job. We came in to the company on the same day, holding the same post. Naturally we got very close to each other. She was my best friend at the time. Anything for her. Because of the nature of the job, we work separately in different states, but when there is a company event, we meet, and the two of us were inseparable. Everyone knows that!

It goes on for a few years. Although we each have our own circle of other friends, to me, she is still my best friend. I also have another close friend, Nelly, from the same department, whom I spent most of my lunchtime with.

Until that unfortunate turn of event. I was dragged into an office political situation, and retaliated, which unfortunately had put a senior manager, Delilah, a head of department, into an awkward position. Naturally she isn't happy with me. But because of 'professionalism', we talked in out, trashed it out, just the two of us. But before I left her room, happy, she asked me a question. Who is your best friend in this office? I naively, and happily, told her about these two friends.

Is it fate, or is it God's way of telling you and to let you see the truth!

I noticed that eversince that day, my lunchtime buddy, Nelly, seemed to be on very good terms with Delilah, and a few of her other friends. They even go out together after work. It wasn't a problem for me, as I seldom go out after work, anyway. However, Nelly would still always go for lunch with me, except on some few occassions where she joined that lady and her other friends. Fine by me, honestly. Unsuspectingly....

But my best friend..... In one company event where we normally seek each other out, Hazel doesn't seem to be with me this time. It was a corporate vacation. I hardly see her, but didn't sensed anything. On the day back to the city, I chosed a vacant seat for two in the bus at front seats and waited for her. I was hoping to catch her and be seated together. I waved at her and she sat next to me, but she seemed anxious and kept looking at the back. I was busily talking and updating her, but little did I realised that she wasn't listening. Suddenly she got up and said, "I'm sitting at the back!" and just left. I looked behind, and there I saw Delilah, waving at her, signalling her to sit with her and friends at the back.

Then only, it struck me, and I realised what actually happened. I suddenly understand why Delilah is so friendly with my Nelly, and now my Hazel. I sat alone in the bus throughout the journey while I hear laughter at the back of the bus. I suddenly realised that I just lost a friend! Now I know why Delilah asked me who's my close friends were in the company. She is punishing me in the only way she can. By hurting me using my friends. I cried inside the whole journey......

But my lunch buddy friend, Nelly....she passed the test with flying colours. She's friendly to people who's friendly to her, but she never leave my side. To date, even when we have not been colleagues for years, we still keep in touch! She's definitely is one of my true friends.

My best friend, Hazel, is no longer. I dont know what happened between her and that Delilah after that, but I don't care anymore. Somehow over the years she befriended Nelly. Nelly, who knew we were best friends, told me, (but didn't have a clue what happened) always conveyed to me her regards. She asked if I want Hazel's number, but I declined. A few years back, Nelly once suggested that I buy a house close to hers, but I already committed to my current house. Then I heard Hazel bought a house there too. Oh well.... (shrug)

And recently Nelly and I got connected on facebook. And then Hazel also send me a friend's request. I have forgiven her, and I accepted her friend's request. But really, I cannot forget. She said she missed me a few times, but I simply cannot say the same.... For the last tears that I shed because of her, I had burried deep down whatever friendship's love that I had for her...

Real story, fictional names.

Fun Caricature

2010-01-24T22:38:00.003+08:00

Hello my blogger friends! I am back! My apology for MIA for a while....did you missed me? I know Anya and Kareltje did! Thanks Anya for checking on me. I am doing great, except I haven't been blogging for a while. Can I blame it on Facebook?...lol! I hope to start again soon!

Just to share, if I may say, this cute LOL, caricature of moi, done this morning. Very impromptu, offered by the cartoonist, so I just oblige it for fun. I did not pose that way, in fact, i was just sitting in front of the desk....haha! Ok, see you again, soon!

We Love You Oreo!

2009-10-27T11:56:00.003+08:00

How do I break this piece of news? Oreo is one of the longest cats that have been with me, gracing my days with his sweet meows...

At about 10 years old now, he had been in my care for almost 8 years. I adopted him when my single cat, Candy was on heat. So a breeder, now a friend of mine, suggested that I take Oreo for Candy. Oreo has fathered a few beautiful cats in my household including Minty. And his grandchildren, Sugar and Munchkin. I will definitely miss him dearly.

We noticed that he'd been having difficulty going to the toilet the last couple of days. Upon close monitoring I decided to take him to the vet this morning, after confirming that he will not be surgically treated based upon the symptoms that I described over the phone. I was about to place the carrier in the car, and greeted him, but no answer. Not even a faint weak sound heard. The minute I took a look at him, I knew he's no longer around....

Words cannot describe how I feel right now. My only consolation is that he did not suffer for long, or go through any harsh treatments, as I've seen happened to my friend's cat who had the same disease. Its a normal old cats disease called PKD or renal failure.

Farewell Oreo..... We love you!

Idealess Cooking

2009-10-23T10:55:00.005+08:00

During one of those days, when you just don't know what to put on the dinner table, you don't feel like eating out, the thought of delivery orders doesn't appeal to you, and your guilt of allowing the kids to enjoy the instant noodles is too much.... How about this?

Grilled Chicken and Prawns

Nasi Lemak, Sambal Tumis Udang plus fried anchovies and Cucumber.

For this meal, you just need to marinate the chicken in barbeque sauce (instant) and the prawns in butter, pepper and salt.

The rice, cooked incocunut milk, add some shallots, garlic and ginger plus 1-2 pandan leaves. Salt to taste. Anchovies, fried and cucumber sliced. Simple prawn in sambal. That's it!

Recipes available upon request....moi too lazy to type, as lazy as the cooking...hahaha!

Fun Flipper!

2009-10-20T10:30:00.002+08:00

Munchkin playing with a cut branch in our backyard garden. What's hillarious is how she fell after the last flip. The sound of her drop may not be captured in this clip, but that's what makes the camera lady laugh her head off and fell to the ground...lol!

Happy COT's! For more fun cat stories visit Gattina's here!

Indoor Cat

2009-10-13T16:04:00.005+08:00

Is that worm is see squirming in the grass....eeewww!

I don't know why Mummy put me here.....just to have that square thing clicking in my face.

Hey, Munchkin, wait for me!! I can't move, or the worm might get me!

Thank goodness, but are we done yet? Time to get inside? Is it? Is it?

Sugar is not used to outside world yet, as Mummy is too protective about letting her out on her own. While Munchkin is playing like her second home, running around chased by the girls! Can't get a good shot of her at all! Lol!

For more fun stories, visit Gattina at My Cats and Funny Stories.

Impromptu Post

2009-10-07T15:42:00.006+08:00

I am about to break a rule.

I've been surfing around and visiting blogs and I see many beautiful family photos and happy moments. Previously, the minute my other half knew I became a blogger, he made me promise not to reveal anything about our personal life and details. I just kept quiet, not saying yes nor no.

Today I am going to bend the rule a bit, maybe one time, this time. In fact, this post might be taken off anytime as I see necessary. So don't be surprised if its no longer here in future...lol!

So here, I am attaching my recent family photo, during the recent Raya hols.

Before and Now!

2009-10-06T16:10:00.003+08:00

I really cannot imagine how they grow so fast! Sugar and Munchkin. Their birth date was early June, and now is like they are already 4 months old! Its getting more and more difficult to get their pictures as they hardly sit still. Well, whatever I can get for now...

Sugar - 1 month

Sugar - Now

Munchkin - 1 month

Munchkin - Now

For more cats fun stories, visit Gattina at My Cats and Funny Stories
(Sorry Gattina, my computer was under Virus attack last week and I lose all unsaved photos incl the COTs logo - will need to copy again later! lol)

Who Are You?

2009-10-06T01:09:00.008+08:00

You look friendly enough to be a friend
Fun enough to bring some joy
But you are not what you seem you are

You make me laugh behind my tears
You had me cry behind my smile
Who are you?

You vent upon my cheers
You glee upon my mishaps
Why do you?

I know who you are!
Someone with a cold heart
And a cruel mind....

But I am basked in my blessings
And I thank Him all the time
And I don't care what you are!

And don't worry my dear reader friends
That someone is definitely Not You ;)

Hee hee... I Made Vadai....

2009-10-02T22:02:00.004+08:00

It is an Indian snack. I thought it was called magelek. It was an old time favourite and I haven't had it for years. I don't know where to get them nowadays. I searched for the recipe online, but in vain. Somehow, I found out by accident from the images, that it was also called vadai. My friend once told me that it is so simple to make this, so I gave it a try.

After all the kuih raya during the festive season, this is a refershingly different taste. Since all the kuih raya that I made finished by the 2nd and 3rd day of Raya, either I replenish them, or just buy a few more....haha! I think I will make some some more. But not just yet!

Somehow the thought of producing something spicy and savoury seems much more inviting as opposed to the creamy yummy taste of raya cookies. Later! lol

Vadai

150gm dhal - soaked
100ml water
1 onion - diced
1 garlic - chopped
1 red chili - chopped
1/2 tbsp curry leaves - thinly sliced
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp rice flour
salt

Soak dhal for a few hours.
Blend with cumin coarsely.
Add all other ingredient.
Shape into paties and fry to golden brown.

Crispy on the outside, soft and yummy in the inside... Think about it!

Edited: 3rd Oct 2009

I just realised that dhal is not known at some parts of the world, esp America and Europe, so for the benefits of our friends, I am attaching here some info and nutritious value of dhal.

Source: Easybean.co.uk

Toor Dhal is in fact a pigeon pea and not a lentil as you might expect from its appearance. The dhal is prepared by milling dried pigeon peas to remove a thick coat and to split the seed. The origin of the plant is unclear, although they are now mainly grown in India. Young green pigeon peas are eaten in the Caribbean. Pigeon peas are noted for being highly nutritious, as well as for their delicate sweet flavour.

Typical nutritional values per 100g cooked pigeon pea dhal:
energy 496 kJ / 117 kcal
protein 8.8g
fat 0.5g
fibre 4.4g
sodium trace

Curiosity Kills the Cat?

2009-09-15T16:29:00.007+08:00

I think Not! Infact they're the cutest on earth when they are curious!

Here's Sugar trying to get the feel of the sofa. I always tell her not to climb up the sofa....its a forbidden territory. But did she listen? Lol!

Mommy: "Sugar, get down!"

Sugar: "Well, ok, ooookkk! It doesn't taste good anyway....! (The sofa after she licked it) I have other better things to do!"

Hey, that's an interesting looking box there. I wonder what is it?

I wonder what's in it? I just can't reach in!

Haaa..! I know this one! I can smell "Munchkin wuz here!" Hey, so were Mommy Honey and ....moi!

Haha...for more fun and cat's stories, visit Gattina at My Cats and Funny Stories.

Conclusion Story of Kitten Tails

2009-08-18T12:05:00.004+08:00

So, the little girl was actually yours truly. Until today I still remember that cute little kittens, I believe were persians because of the fluffy coat. Someone had left them there mysteriously because they were not there before, and there were no signs of any mother cat around. Or were there? I don't know.

How do they get fed? Being a 5 year old, it didn't occur to me that the kitties might need food...lol! I only wanted to play with them. Somebody, or the mother cat must have been feeding them, because they are a playful, active and healthy bunch.

Until today, I wonder where the kittens had gone to, because I don't find it reasonable that they left on their own. Someone must have taken them somewhere. Or was it actually a dream....? I don't think so.

Anyway, not until a few days ago, after I related the story, it struck me like a lightning bolt. The three little kittens that I missed so much is actually already here in my home! They're Oreo, the Cream Cameo, Minty, Blue-smoke, and Honeybun, the red and white bi-colour cats! Of course they are not the same kitten that I found, but somehow, here at this stage in my life, I have them all! All 3 of them!

And I believe this is partly, the power of dreams and visualization. How these furbabies entered my life can be read here. The rest is the law of attraction, and most importantly God's will.

For more fun at Cat's stories, visit Gattina at My cats and Funny Stories.

Kitten Tails

2009-08-11T14:08:00.009+08:00

"...it was a beautiful day. A five year old girl had a mission. She was really excited. The day before, she was playing in an empty house just vacated by her neighbour who just transfered to another district. It was a government teacher's quarters and the garage was unlocked.While playing hide and seek there, she saw three little kittens! It was the cutest cats she had ever seen! They were so fluffy and rounded she just had to hold them. She remembered vividly, that the colours were creamy white, grey and orange. But she also scared them away! They all hid in the drain under the drain cover. And the cover was really heavy. She waited for the kitten to come out, but, it just wouldn't. It was getting dark, and already time to get home. So she decided to come back the next day and play with the kitties.

Upon reaching the empty house, she quietly open the garage door, and the kitties were playing with each other. It was so fun watching them play, but as soon as they sensed her presence, the kitties hid under the drain again. The little girl only managed to see glimpses of the three kittens here and there when they sneaked out to check her whereabouts. She spent a few hours there before realising that she got tired and need to go home. But she was too happy indeed.

The next day she went to the empty house again hoping to play with the kitties. But they were no longer there! She looked everywhere, but there were no signs of their whereabout at all! The kittens dissapeared as mysteriously as it appeared. Heartbroken, the little girl went home. Everyday she will go to the empty house to check if the kitties had come back, but they never did!

So one day, after several hopeless visits, tearfully, the little girl vowed, "I'll find it someday...." And every now and then, the girl will remember the three little furballs which sometimes made her smile, and sometimes made her teary, thinking of that brief sweet encounter.

For more fun and cats stories, visit Gattina at My cats and Funny Stories.

Edited: The conclusion of this short story will be on next week's COT. Stay tuned! :)

The Wedding

2009-08-09T17:41:00.005+08:00

The 'Pelamin'
The red carpet to the 'pelamin', where the bride and bridegroom seated throughout the ceremony.
Live music, an entrancing traditional melody called 'Gamelan'.

Believe it or not, these are some of the flowers left after they dismantle the decor. I took it first, then informed my neighbour later...lol!

My sweet neighbour gave me this fruit basket and 2 'Bunga Telur' as a token of appreciation for being a 'cooperative' neighbour...awwwh!

On top of it all, the caterer sent us these dishes, nasi beriani, ayam tomato, dinding daging, dalca, acar buah and kueh puteri 2 sebilik just before the dinner setting. So sweet and thoughtful of them!

Caramels and Weddings

2009-08-02T07:49:00.008+08:00

So, what's with the caramels and the weddings? They're both so sweet! And what is the connection, again? Simple! I love both! I love caramels to indulge in my not-that-many sweet tooth cravings, and I love weddings' food! Lol!

I was excited when my neighbour put up this gazebo lighting for her son's wedding tonight. It was beautiful! They had the lights on for testing last night. It was a garden wedding concept. Simply a fairytale sight!

The tents put up in front of my house and several other neighbours too. A total of 10 houses, maybe.

Ahah...! This morning view at 7.30 am. Simply refreshing. Its also starting to get busy with workers arriving and on with their duties. I know for sure, the electrician worked from last night until at least 5.45 am this morning, when my phone alarm rings.

Its going to be even more beautiful and extravagant tonight on the main event. If I can justify it enough, I will blog about it, or at least put up some pretty pictures here! :)

Ok, now, what's with the caramel? Actually, I just made the most splendid caramel myself yesterday! Haha! One that I actually enjoyed eating, that is!

And as usual, I can only manage to paste a blurred image of the pudding here. Actually its not meant to be sharp, so you don't have to drool over it...hahah!! (As if....)

Well, this happened 10 minutes after it gets out of the steamer. Still pipping hot! Now barely a quarter left in the refrigerator..! (I should get there fast, before it went completely missing..!! Lol!)

It was truly simple and easy and delicious recipe. You should try it!

CREAM CARAMEL PUDDING

(Source: Friend's Eat.com)

Ingredients
Eggs-6

Sugar - 6 tbsp

Milk - 1 glass

Vanilla essense-1/2 tsp

Sugar -2 tbsp

Directions

Caramel:

Make caramel out of 2 tbsp sugar. Dissolve the sugar in a pan until it turns brown, and pour directly into the bottom of the pudding dish. This has to be done quickly as the sugar turns hard very fast.

Caramel pudding:
Beat the egg, 6tbsp sugar and milk with a beater.

Add vanilla essence.

Pour the mixture on top of the caramel and steam for 20 minutes.

Let it cool, refrigerate and serve it cold.

Mommy's Playtime!

2009-07-28T10:30:00.006+08:00

She cannot decide! To be a nagging mommy, or a playful bunny! Lol!

At one moment she calls out after everyone, telling them to behave and stay at one place. Another time you'll find her chasing after each of them, and wrestling them! It was so funny!

Let's share some fun time here!

And another!

And oh!... There are times when you hear one of the kids meowing much too loud for your comfort, that you just have to check it out. So you can guess, who's the bully?

For more fun and COT's visit Gattina at My Cats and Funny Stories.

Pampering Honey

2009-07-21T12:02:00.005+08:00

Eversince the 3 new musketeers aka darlings arrive, most everything is centered around them. They're so cute and adorable! Everyone wants to play with them, hold them, baby-talk to them, so much so, that I personally feel that my others heros and heroin is feeling the beat.

That is why now I take extra effort to make the others still feel loved and cherished.

Last week, Oreo, (much to his disgust) gets a great hair cut! Lion cut. LOL!! Now we are anxiously waiting for his hair to grow back into its original majestic fluff and shine.

Minty gets extra playtime every now and then, because that's what he enjoys most.

Honey? The new Mommy! She is still the apple of my eye!

Playing.....

Hide n Seek!

Time-off from the little ones...!

For more fun and COT's stories, visit Gattina at My Cats and Funny Stories!

Lion King

2009-07-14T17:53:00.004+08:00

Who's that white lion king?

Roaming about in seek of truth and justice.

Claiming a stake in this deserted herbal land.

Oh...its Oreo, just came back from the barberland.

For more fun and COT's Stories, visit Gattina at My Cats and Funny Stories

Kitty Colours!!

2009-07-07T09:15:00.006+08:00

Sugar!

Munchkin & Waffle

Apparently, Persian kittens are quite popular among my friends and relatives. They go goo-goo gaa-gaa when they saw Munchkin, Waffle and Sugar. And that includes moi. Well, they are so cute, indeed! And some of them actually wanted to adopt these darlings! I don't know. I don't feel like parting with any of these kiddies, but then again, can I upkeep them all?

Then there's a question of, who to give which? Then one friend even suggests that I should let Honeybun 'do-it' with Oreo! And he's taking a pair! And that's final. OMG!

With all these still at the back of my head, out of curiosity, I serched the web for this color chart. Its supposed to tell you what kitten color will be depending on the parents. Well, it was definitely accurate for most of my kittens, including the three new darlings. The link is here at Cats4U.com.

Msg from Cats4u.com : Hope you did not go cross eyed looking at the chart! (lol)

So, let's say Oreo is the sire, the the kitty colours would be just like Honey. Red, cream or red and cream. Interesting!

Well, I don't know yet. Whatever it is, Honey has to have a good rest and take great care of these 3 furballs before I decide on the next course of action.

For more Cat's Stories, visit Gattina at My Cats and Funny Stories!

Ancient Phones

2009-07-02T15:32:00.008+08:00

Lol...I was laughing as I write this post. I'm not sure if any of you find it funny, or relate to my story, but as its my own personal experience, I can still smile or laugh at the thought of it.

Its about my first phone. I believe it was in 1995. It started when my boss suddenly came into the computer room, (yes, those days you have to share computers in a computer room...lol!) and suddenly there a phone ring. Oh, he was just showing off, then. Maybe the first few personnel in the company to use handphones.

Soon after, I 'managed' to my own a handphone as a birthday gift. It was huge! Remember those days when handphones were so big, and your handbags trend, were small? Well, I was in that era during my first job. Contrary to the fact that I was then, so delighted to have a handphone, where less than 2% of the population in Malaysia have it, I was a bit 'shy' to carry it around.

So one day at lunchtime, I brought my handphone along with me for the first time, and it can't fit my bag. So, to conceal it, I put it in an A4 envelope. Suddenly in the lift, the phone rang! And everyone (about 10 of us) were looking about to find the source of the ringtone. It was a loud piercing sound. And it wasn't fancy enough that you can choose the nice ringtones. And on top of that, I haven't read the manual on how to put it on silent or discreet tone...haha! So imagine, initially I wanted to ignore the call, but later on, I just had to pick up the call and took out the phone out of the envelope! hahaha... I was so embarrassed, so the next day I bought a bigger handbag. Lol!

So, this was the picture model of my first phone. It wasn't mine. I just googled for the image. After so many years, and so many phones, my current model is the HTC pocket pc mobile phone which has been very reliable for the few years.

I believe there were about 7-8 phone switches before this last one. And I am not even a handphone freak. (Right?)
1. Nokia ___
2. Motorola ...tac
3. Motorola ...(microtac?)
4. Nokia (yellow interchangeable skin)
5. Nokia
6. Nokia
7. Sony Ericsson
8. Htc Pocket PC
9. ........
(To be edited as and when I remember. For my record purposes only)

I am actually eyeing the new iphone. Finally it is here! The only setback is that only Maxis carry it and the promotion is not attractive enough for the switch. I'll probably wait, then get 'someone' to buy me for my next birthday, or wait for a faster and better model with more attractive promotion....lol!

Love and Passion

2009-06-30T09:09:00.005+08:00

Is it love, affection, obsession
Is it warmth, adores or possession

Could it be communication, or vibration

Maybe a part of visualisation

Friendship, tenderness, fondness

Passion, care and all

Visit Gattina for more Cats Stories.

Meet Lolly, Waffle and Munchkin!!!

2009-06-23T12:18:00.005+08:00

The latest addition to the family are really cute! After a week plus, two of the little kitties are already opening their eyes and start having their vision. The colour is blue, and will change after a while. Only Loly is yet to open her eyes.Their size is almost doubled now!

Chow-chow time!

Honeybun has been a great mom so far. She always gives in to her litter's demand for milk and never abandoned them. Once in a while, she 'requested' for a playtime in the garden. Ooooohhh.....she's still so young and seems like a little girl, playing with the leaves and chasing after the bees. And now, she's a Mom!

For more Cat's Story, visit Gattina at My Cats and Funny Stories.

And a Big Thank You to Katztales and Target and Au for the International Bloggers Community Award for Minty and Honeybun (and for saying that we are cute.....lol!)!

Edited: Update. Lolly's name is changed to Sugar. Lol!

Three Calicos

2009-06-17T14:17:00.002+08:00

Honeybun appears in my life out of tragedy, sheer luck and I believe, to an extent, visualization. And of course, on top of it all, God's will. I have repeatedly write this story in several entries, among them, Cat's Story Untold, and a very recent entry, Minty and Honeybun.

But now she is blessed with another surprise that caught me off guard totally.

She is such a sweet tiny little kitten, a baby to the family and we never thought of her other than that. However recently one morning, I almost jumped out of my skin when .....

I heard a loud meowing, not from Oreo, Minty, or even Honeybun. They're little kittens. I looked around and it comes from Honeybun's 'apartment'!

She gave birth to 3 little kittens, 2 Calicos and 1 Diluted Calico. The father is Minty!

First Outdoor Masterpiece

2009-06-14T19:49:00.009+08:00

It may be not a big deal to most of us, infact, not a big deal to moi either...lol. Except, this is my first effort to arrange 4 different plants in a medium-sized pot. The name of plants, please don't ask me. I am the type who appreciates and admire them, but when come to names, especially the scentifically botanic names, I won't even bother to memorize.

Back to my 'masterpiece', this is actually a maiden effort to enhance my garden further. After moving to this house for more than a year now, I feel that this place needs some improvement and more artistic layout. Its time to redecorate and implement new ideas and concept to an already not-so-bad garden....haha!

The other day I invited a landscape designer to plan my garden. She was full of ideas. Among other things she mentioned was this concept, "...don't plant just one plant in a pot, put 3-5 plants together!" So, guess what, at the earliest opportunity we made our way to Sg Buloh and choose some plants as well as some other indoor plants.

Well, I think its a brilliant and refreshing idea and the outcome is beautiful. And if you haven't tried it already, you might want to adopt this concept for your garden! :)

Minty and Honey Bun

2009-06-09T10:06:00.000+08:00

Quite a number of things to cat-update! All are cute and exciting! I don't know which one to write first!

Ok, ok, I choose this one first, because its more important in sequence, but not in event. So, it will be the finishing of Minty's misAdventures. This time Mommy will finish the story for him because 1. He is out playing right now, and 2. He was not too happy about it to tell you despite the fact that he did find home, at last.

Excerpt from last 'episode';

Mommy...! (Meeoow....meeooww....meeooww!)

Minty? Minty? Is that you? You're not a ghost, aren't you? Is it really you??!!

Mommy...! I am so happy and excited! Oh, I missed home. Home, at last!

But...what's that furry orange little thing doing there? What is it?? What is it doing here??

To be continued....again!

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Here goes! On the day Minty was missing, I was so upset and angry with the vet and their staff. The vet was conveniently not around, so the staff gets all my ventings. I was teary and went out to the back lanes to search for Minty for more than half an hour, but he was nowhere to be found. When I came back to the shop, they told me that they would take responsibility by replacing my loss.

It's not the same, but what else can I do? Sue them? I was tempted! However, I am one who believes that everything that happens, happened for a reason. So, initially I wanted a cat as closest to Minty. Blue smoke male persian. But they can't find one.

So I called my breeder friend, and she has available, a Red and White Bi-colour flat faced female kitten. I gave the contact to the staff and they got her for me for about USD400. And that's how I got Honey Bun!

Honey Bun arrived at our home the day before Minty found his way back! Yes, that was the 'orange little thing' that he discovered when he got home!

It was still early in the morning when I went downstairs to see this very strangely familiar cat entering my front door. The cat was meowing loudly and he looked like Minty, but of course I wasn't 'expecting' him. I thought it was a different cat until he looked right at me and ran towards me! OMG, it was Minty! I just couldn't believe my eyes. He was rubbing himself against me but suddenly all his hairs stood up! When he saw Honey Bun!!!

The End! :)

For more COTs, visit Gattina at My Cats and Funny Stories.

Strawberry Jam

2009-06-07T21:34:00.005+08:00

Suddenly I realised that I had too much strawberry in the fridge for me to be able to finish it before it gets spoilt. Oh dear, I can't be eating them too much since its not exactly sweet for normal consumption.Then I remembered seeing Anna Oleson on Astro doing strawberry jam.

The only challenge is, I didn't write down the recipe. I only remembered that she used 4 cups of sugar and how many strawberries? I tried googling her up but can't find exactly what I was looking for...(not fast enough) as I already cut the strawberries into pieces and put several spoons of sugar on the stove.

So I found the recipe below from All Recipes and its simple enough to follow. Except I didn't follow it 100%. Things like the sterile jar, the runny test, etc...haha. No patient for that. In fact, I can't exactly recall the amount of sugar I put. But you can definitely follow the recipe below.

Well, for tomorrow, you bet, I am having fresh strawberry jam with bread and butter for breakfast! Yummy!

Strawberry Jam

Recipes from: All Recipes.com

2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled
4 cups white sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
In a wide bowl, crush strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of mashed berry. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C). Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process any unsealed jars in a water bath. If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don't bother with processing, and just refrigerate.

FOOTNOTES
To test for jelling
Place three plates in a freezer... after about 10 minutes of boiling place a tsp of the liquid of the jam onto the cold plate. Return to freezer for a minute. Run your finger through the jam on the plate... if it doesn't try to run back together (if you can make a line through it with your finger) it's ready to be canned!

Bitter Gourd in the Backyard Garden

2009-05-29T10:40:00.005+08:00

Bitter Gourd Plant.

This plant replaced my Butterhead Lettuce which had overgrown (due to gardener's lack of experience. It was supposed to be replaced by another bunchof salad plants, but due to some 'error' it becomes 'brinjals' after it sprouted and later changed to Bitter Gourd...lol! Go figure how!

When it grows, it dominates! My tomato plant was the first victim, then the fighting basil. They even attempted to conquer the chinese spinach and laksa leaves nearby.

Current harvest. Still in the fridge.

Over ripe melon.

I normally prepare the simplest dish for this vegetable. Some shallots, bird's eye chillies and dried shrimp and salt to taste, stir-fried. I can just take it alone with rice. :)

Info source from: Juicing For Health

Bitter melon is one of the best vegetable-fruit that helps improve diabetic and toxemia conditions.

The bitter melon (also known as bitter gourd) looks like a cucumber but with ugly gourd-like bumps all over it.

As the name implies, this vegetable is a melon that is bitter. There are two varieties of this vegetable: One grows to about 20 cm long, is oblong and pale green in color. The other is the smaller variety, less than 10 cm long, oval and has a darker green color.

Both varieties have seeds that are white when unripe and that turn red when they are ripe. The vegetable-fruit turn reddish-orange when ripe and becomes even more bitter.
Bitter gourd thrives in hot and humid climates, so are commonly found in Asian countries and South America.

Westerners may not be so used to bitter melons, so may find them more difficult to consume. But if you can generally take bitter taste, you may be able to take this too. Try it, at least for all its healthful virtues!

Nutritional Benefits
Bitter gourds are very low in calories but dense with precious nutrients. It is an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, and B3, C, magnesium, folic acid, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, and has high dietary fiber. It is rich in iron, contains twice the beta-carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, and twice the potassium of a banana.

Bitter melon contains a unique phyto-constituent that has been confirmed to have a hypoglycemic effect called charantin. There is also another insulin-like compound known as polypeptide P which have been suggested as insulin replacement in some diabetic patients.

Health Benefits
Few other fruits/vegetables offer medicinal properties for these ailments like bitter melon does.

Blood disorders: Bitter gourd juice is highly beneficial for treating blood disorders like blood boils and itching due to toxemia. Mix 2 ounces of fresh bitter gourd juice with some lime juice. Sip it slowly on an empty stomach daily for between four and six months and see improvement in your condition.

Cholera: In early stages of cholera, take two teaspoonfuls juice of bitter gourd leaves, mix with two teaspoonfuls white onion juice and one teaspoonful lime juice. Sip this concoction daily till you get well.

Diabetes mellitus: Bitter melon contains a hypoglycemic compound (a plant insulin) that is highly beneficial in lowering sugar levels in blood and urine. Bitter melon juice has been shown to significantly improve glucose tolerance without increasing blood insulin levels.

Energy: Regular consumption of bitter gourd juice has been proven to improve energy and stamina level. Even sleeping patterns have been shown to be improved/stabilized.

Eye problems: The high beta-carotene and other properties in bitter gourd makes it one of the finest vegetable-fruit that help alleviate eye problems and improving eyesight.

Hangover: Bitter melon juice may be beneficial in the treatment of a hangover for its alcohol intoxication properties. It also help cleanse and repair and nourish liver problems due to alcohol consumption.

Immune booster: This bitter juice can also help to build your immune system and increase your body's resistance against infection.

Piles: Mix three teaspoonfuls of juice from bitter melon leaves with a glassful of buttermilk. Take this every morning on empty stomach for about a month and see an improvement to your condition. To hasten the healing, use the paste of the roots of bitter melon plant and apply over the piles.

Psoriasis: Regular consumption of this bitter juice has also been known to improve psoriasis condition and other fungal infections like ring-worm and athletes feet.

Respiratory disorders: Take two ounces of fresh bitter melon juice and mix with a cup of honey diluted in water. Drink daily to improve asthma, bronchitis and pharyngitis.

Toxemia: Bitter gourd contains beneficial properties that cleanses the blood from toxins. Sip two teaspoonfuls of the juice daily to help cleanse the liver. Also helpful in ridding jaundice for the same reasons.

Consumption Tips
Choose unripe bitter melons that are firm, like how you would a cucumber. Avoid those that have turned orange or have soft spots. Ripe bitter melons can be excessively bitter.

Store bitter melons in the vegetable bin in the refrigerator which has the right temperature. It should keep for three to four days.

Keeping bitter melons at room temperature or with other fruits and vegetables will hasten the melon to ripen and become more bitter, due to the emission of ethylene gas.
Clean your bitter melon under cold running water and brush with a soft vegetable brush. To prepare, slice the melon length-wise and scoop out the seeds. To lessen the bitter flavor, soak it in salt water for about half an hour before juicing/cooking.

The smaller variety is more bitter than the bigger one. To help make bitter gourd juice more palatable, take it with honey, or add carrot or apple juice. For diabetics, drink the juice with green apple juice.

Caution
Do not consume more than two ounces of bitter melon, or more than two melons a day. Excessive consumption may cause mild abdominal pain or diarrhea. Diabetics taking hypoglycemic drugs will need to alter the dosage of their drugs if they consume bitter melon on a regular basis. Please consult your doctor.

Pregnant women should avoid taking too much bitter gourd or its juice as it may stimulate the uterus that may lead to preterm labor.

Minty's Adventures Part II

2009-05-26T11:10:00.002+08:00

It's getting cold out here. The breeze is getting chilly. But I can see the beautiful full moon. And I hear Mommy singing me a lullaby. Thanks for the song, Mommy. I know you're crying. And I can hear you....

'Somewhere, out there,
If Love can see us through....
Then we'll be together...
Somewhere out there,
Out where dreams, come true..!

Another morning breeze. Its refreshingly cool. It should be okay if I stay here! There's plenty of food....all I have to do is to catch it! (Eeewwww..!!) There are friends....fellow furry friend, big and small. I can run around here and there everyday. I don't need to do my duty call when Mommys sent me back to my 'apartment' at home. I'm free! Totally free!

But wait, there will be no Mommy to comb my hair. I don't like the routine bath, too, but its not too bad. Only once a while when I get too dirty. No Mommy calling me for food! No herbal garden for me to jump around...No cheery 'Good Morning Dearies' for me and Oreo every morning...

Oreo? My father? I wonder why... He doesn't like me anymore. He'll always put up a fight with me. We were not like this. I just don't understand why? But I missed him, too! But Mommy always managed to stop him and keep us from scratching our eyes out. Maybe its better if I stay here, and Oreo will get the house to himself.... Naaah! I'm headin' home, no matter what!

The only problem is, where do I head? No, don't say problem! Say 'Challenge'! Its a challenge to get home, and I will find it. Imagine, visualize...."Mommy..., I'm home...!"

Well, there some houses over the hill. Let' see...

Nope, this one's not mine. But the human is nice. They gave me food and water. Biscuits, at last! Niiiiccee..! Well, I am tired. Maybe I'll take a nap here for a while. ZZzzzzzz... But no, don't you came near me! No, No! Get your hands off me! Time to go! Thanks for the food!!

Well, how many moons has it been now? I see the moon five times alraedy. Yikes!! 5 days away from home? Mommy must be worried sick!

Hey...what's that I hear in the distance? Is it rain? No. Its very bright here. Sounds like water. Yes, water flowing! Is it a river? Mommy's house is by a stream, a few meters away! Beside that tall fence and thick bushes and tree across the other end. Hey, if I follow the stream, maybe I will find my house? Will I? Well, what have I got to lose...I'm lost anyway..lol!

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream..
Well, mine is no boat, just my four furry legs..haha!

(Readers, friends please bear with me, k. I can't help it..lol!)

Its getting nearer! I can feel it. Its also getting dark again. Oh no! Never mind. I'll take a rest here under the tree. Its raining? Oooh...what's another rainy night. I'm so used to it already! Once I'm home, I'll never be wet again.

Great morning fellow furry friends! I'm going to be home today! Wish me luck!

Now, let's see! Doesn't this place looked familiar? It is! I was here before when Mommy let me out to play! Hey, that's the river bank I used to hang out at! I'm home! Am I?

I am? Look at that familiar trees! And the shady street! My house is oh so near already! Now, there it is! There it is!

Oh..I am so excited! Mom must be very happy to see me! Oh, I missed her so! Ahah.. the door is open!

Mommy...! (Meeoow....meeooww....meeooww!)

Minty? Minty? Is that you? You're not a ghost, aren't you? Is it really you??!!

Mommy...! I am so happy and excited! Oh, I missed home. Home, at last!

But...what's that furry orange little thing doing there? What is it?? What is it doing here??

To be continued....again!

New Hobby To Stay

2009-05-18T13:39:00.008+08:00

My newfound hobby is here to stay. I have been busy in the kitchen after sending the last maid home. I have not been applying for a new maid yet, but it has to be soon. Getting to feel the stretch now. In the meantime, I'm still enjoying my kitchen all to myself...haha. Who said you don't need a break from a maid? Lol...lol

I just read Mamafami's blog this morning and saw this mouth-watering sardine rolls. My favourite! And looking at the ingredients, check! All are available. Actually I just did a round of sardine rolls 2 weeks ago. But you can never have enough sardine rolls if you are a fan like me.

Different sizes rolls! :)

SARDINE ROLL

Source : Mamafami (Kak Teh)

PASTRY

250 gm cold butter

500 gm flourA pinch of salt

Chilled water from the refrigerator

Method :

1. Rub butter and flour with a pinch of salt till it resembles breadcrumbs.

2. Add in chilled water until a soft dough is formed.

3. Cover the dough with cling flim and keep in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

FILLING

1 can of sardine in tomato sauce!

onion ~ diced

Red chillie ~ diced

Lemon/Calamansi juice

Salt to taste

Method :

1. Mashed the sardines and mix with the diced ingredients.

2. Add in a bit of tomato sauce if you find it too dry.

3. Squeeze some calamansi juice.

TO PREPARE THE ROLL

1. Place a portion of the dough in between two plastic sheets.

2. Roll the dough thinly.

3. Cut to small squares.

4. Place the filling in the middle.

5. Roll it and arrange on the baking tray.

6. Egg wash the rolls. (Better use egg yolk. Mine looked pale)

7. Bake in a preheated oven at 170C for 4o minutes or till golden brown. (Mine takes about 20 minutes)

Well, over the last two weeks, I've been experimenting with some cookies with some repeats of success as well as not-so-successful attempts, gearing up for the next festive Raya season. Still a few more months to go, but I just need to 'practise' and ensure that the recipes are workable. If not, bulan puasa penat2 tak jadi...alahai! This year most of my cookies will be home-made. That's my last Raya resolution that I intended to keep. Haha...Seriously!

And here's my XXL Pizza!

Its the size of the width of the oven. In fact, it is the oven tray..lol!

As usual, my blurred result. I think I need a DSLR camera now! Haha!

And seriously, I don't have a clue what this DSLR camera is all about except it can take good close ups. Time for googling again! (And maybe do a DIY food studio I saw in one of the blogs food photography....oooohhhh, get real, Ydiana! Lol!)And there goes the cute colourful Sony camera that I've been eyeing, (can't decide if it should be red, pink, or green) small and slim and handy for the handbag...

"My (mis)Adventures...'' by Minty

2009-05-12T09:19:00.007+08:00

I'll never forget it. The day I got lost...

About almost a year before, Mommy sent me to the vet for grooming. I don't know why, Iam already so handsome! I can always wash myself clean. She can save the money to buy more food and toys for me, but....she still sent me there. She just came back from a vacation, so she assumed I have been naughty and dirty and decided I needed a thorough wash.

She took me to a neighboring vet that had just been operating for less than 2 months. I never like the vets, or their assistants for that matter. Oh well...

She reminded me to be good just before she left. Ok, ok..... She'll come back late in the afternoon to fetch me home. Oh...hurry up, Mommy!

Then the assistants started to do the job. I really, really didn't like it. I hated how they handled me. What, they think I'm just another furry things to be washed, like a car? Hey,....easy, easy! I hissed at them. Where's Mommy?

eewww...what shampoo are they using? Smells like medicine! Get away there! Oh no, wet time!

They opened the door! Hey, I can get out through the window! I think its not too high for me to climb! Its still morning and I hate to wait for a few hours more here. I'm outta here.....bye bye humans! Don't miss me...I'm going home!

One of them tried to grab me, so I scratched them. And what do you know, the next thing I know is the sunlight from the back alley. I'm free!! Now lets find my way home!

Let's see, there's a few houses not to far from here... Which way should I take? Across there's a busy street. Behind are the hills. Lets head for the houses.

Nope, doesn't look like my house..! Doesn't smell right. Move on!

Oh no, where am I? Oh dear! I am lost, and hungry....! And its getting dark.! Mommy...!!!

Maybe I can sleep here under the shade for tonight? Hope the home owner doesn't mind, Its only for one night..! I'm sure I will find my house tomorrow. Hope Mommy is not too worried about me. I am okay.... I think!

Aha...daylight! Lets see..which way should I take today! Its gonna be a great day. Affirmations! I am happy, healthy, handsome, and grateful! I will find my house soon!

Houses, houses, and more houses... Nope, nope, nope, not my house! Hey there a few kitties, here too. But not my house. Where's Oreo? I miss him already...ooops... did I really say that? WHERE IS MY HOUSE...??!

It must be across the street, then. Whoa! So many cars? I just have to dash it! Hey, I made it! And I am still alive! Now, lets head on.

Not my house, not my house, no, no, no! Mommy! Oreo! Where are you? Where am I?

Maybe its beside the forest? Hey, its cool in here! So many trees! And Birdieees! Gothca! Hey, its fun playing with real birdies!

Its getting dark again. Looks like I had to find shelter here under the trees. Whoa, there so many animals out here. Don't you all have humans at all? No? You don't like them? Well, I love mine, and I am looking for her!

Is that food? No biscuit? No fish from the can? I suppose this will do. Yikes! I'll just take a little... .thank you!

Its cool and breezy here.. I wonder what Mom is doing now? Hey, did I just imagine it or did I hear her singing 'Somewhere Out There'? Did I hear her cry? No, Mommy, please don't cry..! I am ok!

Don't worry Mommy! I'll find my way home. Soon... good night!

To be continued....!

Down the Memory Meow Lane

2009-05-05T10:54:00.009+08:00

A few entries ago, when Anya and Kareltje awarded me with the World's Best Cat Mom award, my thoughts suddenly ran through all the cats that have touched my life, some of the happiest times in my life, some briefly, and some deeply. Suddenly I missed them all so much.

This morning, I managed to dig some old photos stored in the boxes (now on the shelf) from my college and university days, and hey presto! I found two of my favourite cats, Gumiaow and Titanic. Their brief story here.

Gumioaw.....the pretty lady!

Gumiaow, is named after a mandarin word that we learnt in class. "Gu" if I'm not mistaken is a word for 'cat' and 'miaow'......well, take a guess! She appeared at the doorstep one day, and we were taken to her almost at once and adopted her immediately. Loving and adorable baby.

Titanic!! Handsome hero!

Titanic, or 'Titan' in short and a real handful and playful fella. We picked him up among the siblings for adoption because he was the naughtiest looking and screams the loudest at 2 weeks old. We wanted to take 2 kittens, but the owner, probably known us as foreign students, only allowed us to take one. But we thanked him all the same. Wise guy...!

THE MOST DANGEROUS CHOCOLATE CAKE!

2009-04-30T10:20:00.001+08:00

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

Source: Chain E-mails

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

A small splash of vanilla extract

1 large microwave safe coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to a large coffee mug and mix well.

Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous)

Why is it the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?

Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night! LOL!!

Sweet & Funny

2009-04-28T09:10:00.006+08:00

Well! What can I say...aren't they the sweetest! Cats are funny and interesting, and they sure have lotsa stuff up on their sleeves...errr...furry legs! We'll never know what they're really thinking,...sometimes...

But this video had me laughing off my seat!! LOL :)

Its easier to let go....But!

2009-04-24T09:12:00.003+08:00

Laksa Mint Plant - June 08

Sometimes, its easier to just let go...

But I somehow just can't. Its too special, even though it doesn't look any sepcial. I still love it. I want it to grow. I want it nourished. Its a challenge.

Three weeks ago, a dear elderly lady gave me a plant. An herb. I already have it in my garden, in bushes. (Pic above) And I also have another potful. There is plenty. Too much for my own personal use. But I like this one.

When I got it, the leaves are big and healthy. Mine, maybe because of abundance, is getting smaller. I want it to be big, but I procastinate in nourishing it with fertilisers. I still am... .. Soon...!

I was happy to receive it. I place the pot in my frontyard, under the palm tree. I intend to find a better place for it and maintain its beautiful healthy state. Because its a gift.

Its not a new plant, I gathered. There are old twigs, and new branches sprouted from it. Sentimental value. So the challenge level is increasing.

However, last week, it was dying! Oh my gosh! I must have been neglecting it!

So during the weekened, I made a resolutuion to save the plant. I cut off the dying twigs, and leave those with some green leaves on. Then I took off the dired leaves from the remaining twigs. Next, pick off the weeds that is sprouting all over in the pot.

Water it well, morning and evening, or at least once a day. On hot days, towards evning, the plant is wilting, so another dash of watering needed. Spray it with organic food plant once.

I am happy today that the plant looked lively again! It wasn't as bushy as I first got it, but it looks life there's some life to it, again. New twigs are sprouting, the leaves greening, the stalks stand tall and strong.

My laksa mint plant.

With continous care, this will go back to its healthy bushy state better than when I received it!

Just like the hamsters and the turtles story. Two weeks ago, James the turtle looked weak. He's not been eating and growing, as compared to Colby. Sad to say, he died a few days later...

Colby, alone...

Then Almond the Hamster seemed to be following the same pattern. Weak and motionless. We were so worried. He looked like he's leaving us anytime now. But I am not giving up hope. Prayers and positive thoughts at this time, is the best answer. Visualisation that he will soon be climbing up the trail and play with the rolling wheels again. And to our delight, the next day, he started moving around, still weak. And the next day, he's back to his old self and climbed up the trail and started rolling on the wheels! He's back to his normal self!

Almond in the 'bathroom'!

Honey Bun and Tortie

2009-04-20T09:34:00.006+08:00

Cats On Tuesday

Whenever it rains:

1. No need to water the plants

2. Easier to pick the weeds off later on

3. Honeybun will play inside. Here's one of her favorite toys....(actually its a basket cover..lol!)

And my sweet neighbour just dropped over to pass some of her homemade wheatbuns. It was lovely!

Warm bread and hot coffee. Life is a bliss..!

Apple Green at Work

2009-04-16T11:24:00.010+08:00

Suddenly I am in the mood for baking.... And it happens one after another! Looks like I'm on a roll! Lol!

And I've added it as another interest or hobby. Must have something to do with some motivational reward? Apple Green?

See what's been cooking the last 3 days!

Potato Bread

Sugared Bread Rolls

This one needs no introduction.

Melting time...!

Gone in 15 minutes...!

Recipes are available upon request! Lol! (I'm serious...!)

Minty's Story

2009-04-14T09:00:00.001+08:00

CATS ON TUESDAY

Mommy, are we done yet? I hate my bathtime.... Come on, lets get it over and done with! Get me outta here.....!!! This is the most yucky thing in the world!

Well, whadya looking at?? I am not happy! Stop laughing at me. Its Not funny!! Go watch something else.... like the goat-chasing ghost goat... ! Whatever!!

Mommy : Sorry friends, a bit out of topic. But I'm sure some of you will enjoy this piece.

Cheers!

World's Best Cat Mom Award

2009-04-12T02:10:00.013+08:00

Wow! How do I start this? Let's see.....

Kareltje...., and you too Anya! I am so honoured to receive this award. You guys are so sweet!

My loves for cats started way back when I was a child. I practically grew up with cats around me. I don't remember my mom being a cat enthusiast, but I am pretty sure she was just kind enough to adopt visiting cats that in turn become permanent resident aka part of the family. In particular, my favorite was Peter and John. Once we had some visitor with two young boys who played with Peter and John. I somehow heard the adult conversation that these two loonies also loves cats and my aunt suggested that they can have them. I didn't wait any seconds longer....! I practically 'grabbed' my cats under their noses (hahah!) and took them to my room and locked the door until these people leaves. I survived a few generations of cats after that...

When I was in college, in a hostel, I adopted a female cat and we called her 'Gumiaow'. She was so adorable. She gave birth to 5 kittens and I was so estatic. I kept them in the store room and everyday I would take them to my room and play with them and Gumiaow. I really doted on them. However, one day, when I got home from class, my hostel mates was just looking at me, not saying a word. They didn't know how to break the bad news to me. The kittens were all eaten-up by the Tom cat! I cried so hard for more than two hours...! The minute I saw the Tom cat, I chased him out of the building with a broom and teary eyed. I was really 'violent' with 'murder' in mind...lol!

In the US as a student, my roomate and I illegally adopted a cat when we saw an advertisement for 'free kittens'. We were staying in a student apartment block where pets are not allowed. So we sneaked 'Titanic' in and secretly raised him to be a handsome tom cat. Titanic loves to race me to the bathroom. He prefers to do his 'thing' first before I shower. The only problem was his poo was really stinky for a few minutes that I had to wait before I can go in the bath. And he would only do it after I wake up, and no sooner. So we always raced to the bathroom. Sometimes I win, and he will scratch the door from outside. But when he wins, which is most of the time, because he runs faster, he would then come out with a smirk on his face, telling me, haha... you lose! One day, I tricked him by quietly sneaking out of the room while he still asleep, thinking I can get the the bath first. So the first time, I win. He scratched the door. But on the second day, he got smarter. I sneaked out again, quietly not waking him up, but upon reaching the bath door, he realised I was up and quickly ran into the bath before I can close it...ggggrrrr! That goes on until the day we parted when I graduated and went home. My remaining friends took care of him.... :(

There are other cats! But too many to be telling about them all here. Maybe next time. But then again, you will be hearing about my Oreo, Minty and Honeybun adventures and misadventures and funny stuff for now.

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my furball friends, namely Peter and John, Gumiaow, Titanic, Sheera, Miki, Smokey, Candy, Toffee, Pepsi, Muffin, and all the rest, some are nameless, some I forgot the names (but too few to mention...). Most of them were no longer around, except for Sheera and Toffee, which I have no idea of their whereabouts since they never come back. You are dearly missed, but your memories will stay in my heart...

Also not to forget my dearies who are here that light up my life, Oreo, Minty and Honeybun. You guys are so special to me, and in different ways, but I love you all the same.

To Anya and Kareltje, thank you so much for this award. You are such a sweet with loving hearts and caring soul, and I would like to also award you with this very same World Cat Mom award. Yes, you are also a receipient! Thanks again, dears! :)

Edited: Hello Friends.
I just realised that I can actually award this Cat's Best Mom Award to a few other friends and spread the joy and fun further!!

1. Gattina
2. Katztales
3. Julie
4. Mo
5. Tricia
6. Luna
7. Catsynth
8. Snowflake
9. Obsidian Kitten
10. And any cat moms who happen to drop by!

Have fun furriends!

Confession of an Amateur Bread Maker

2009-04-02T08:52:00.011+08:00

Haa..haa....the topic does sounds heavy! Heavy as the bread...no, just kidding!

My first time ever baking bread. I've done cookies and cakes, but first time in bread making.

Somehow its not as hard as I woul have imagined. It is much simpler than a cake, provided you get over all the jargon ingredients like high protein flour, shortening, and yeast.

Officiating the new mixer!

The buns before it doubles in size.

In the hot oven.

Hot from the stove, and a spread of butter topping.

The finished product

ROTI NAIK / Buns
Source: MamaFami Blog

Ingredients :

700g high protein flour
50g shortening
200g lukewarm water
200g evaporated milk/fresh milk
100g castor sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 packet instant yeast (11g)
2 nos egga bit of margarine

Method :
1. Sift flour into a mixing bowl. Add in yeast, sugar, salt and eggs. On the mixer.
2. Pour in evaporated milk and lukewarm water a bit at a time until just mixed.
3. Add in the shortening and continue kneading till a soft and smooth dough is formed. Add more water if needed.
4. Make into one round ball and leave to prove till double the size.
5. Punch down the dough to release air and make into small balls. Arrange in a greased pan and let it prove again till double the size.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 20 to 30 minutes.
7. Once out of the oven, brush the top with margarine. Serve with curry or serikaya or jam or whatever to your likings.

Verdict:

I think my bread has like 85-90% success rate.
Nothing wrong with the recipe. Its a tested and proven recipe. What I didn't do right:
1.Its not as fluffy as it should be. Maybe because it did not let the dough in the mixer long enough. Hey...this is my first time! Later I discovered you need to knead for about 9-10 minutes.
2. I missed out the salt as I was distracted when measuring the amounts of various ingredients. ..haha
3. Infact, I added the shortening earlier with other ingredients, and upon realising my mistake, took it out with all the flour and yeast stuck to it...hahaha. Then put it back again later.
4. I was a bit panicked when I saw the bread browning faster than I thought it should be. So I meddled with the temperature and the heat distribution of the oven. I even opened the oven door to take a peek or two. Once, I took the tray out and put it in back. Lol!

Overall, its ok, a bit crusty on the top, but inside is soft, but still not feathery as I'd like it to be. No worries. This morning we had this as breakfast with butter and kaya. Later I'll fix some chicken curry for tea.

I am so proud of myself...haha...! And it'll be better the next time... Cheers! :)

Gardening Oreo

2009-03-31T14:36:00.010+08:00

My, my.....Mommy must be pretty busy lately! Look at all the weeds growing everywhere! Wonder if I can help?

Tsk, tsk...what a scrawny little fig!

Somehow it does smell interesting....

I wonder if I can take a bite? It does smells good? What is it? Tumeric plant? Emmm...

Haa...haa.... Bet Mommy won't find me here! I can hide here all day!

Mommy: "Actually Oreo is hanging out there to escape bath time.......LOL!"

Apple Green Reward

2009-03-30T09:32:00.008+08:00

Been thinking about it! Too long, I would say. What should I get?

At the moment, maidless, happy, tired, job satisfaction...haha! 1001 kind of mixed feelings.

I think I need to reward myself.

And looking at Mamafami's blog with lots of recipes give me enough excuse to end my long overdue decision and almost life long procastination.... But...is it Kenwood, or KitcheAid??

The moments of truth! What is the outcome! Another one more series of decision-making research, friends and on-line......!! Here it comes!

Welcome to my kitchen!

The camera and lighting is not doing justice to this beauty. A nicer shade of apple green, my reward for working so hard these 2 months....haha!

Edited:

After browsing online, this is the nearest color to my latest kitchen addition. Yummy color..!

Honey Is Gorgeous Again!

2009-03-24T15:24:00.002+08:00

After about 2 weeks since the eye surgery, Honey has regained back her normal beautiful eye back to its healthy condition. The vet said that she has recuperated well, and in fact, the sewing (ouucchh!) on the eyelids were already partially opened mainly because she is an active cat.

The vet had delivered his promised that Honey's eye will be back to normal. As you can see, if not for the fact that she did undergo a surgery, no one would have suspected anything amiss with eye. I am so glad and relieved and happy for her.

I must thank all my cyber friends and their furry friends, namely the COTS, for the well-wishes and hugs and care that you have extended to Honeybun. Thank you all!

Virtual Chicken Pie Turns Reality!

2009-03-23T15:10:00.005+08:00

I've said this before, and I'll say it again!

I just love the world of internet!! LOL!

Recently I visited MamaFami's blog and discovered a new recipe that I've been mentally trying to cook, but never did until then. (Mentally here means thinking, thinking, imagining, thinking again, but no action taken...haha). She got this recipe from McKantin, and added a few tips here and there. I linked their web address on their names. The result, a Yummy Chicken Pie, a reality! Haha..!

CHICKEN PIE

Filling :1 packet minced chicken (I use Ramli's ~ 340gm)

1 can mushroom soup (I use campbell)

300 gm mixed vegetable

300 gm onions, diced

2 tablespoonful of butter

2 tablespoon plain flour mix with 1/2 cup water

salt & white pepper

Method :- Heat butter in a pan & saute diced onions till soft.

- Add mince chicken, stir to break the lumps and all the chicken turns white.

- Stir in the mixed vegetable.

- In another bowl, mix mushroom soup with one cup water, stir until smooth.

- Pour mushroom soup mixture into the chicken, add more water if necessary.

- Add in flour that has been mixed with water. This is to thicken the filling.

- Cook at slow fire.

- Add salt & white pepper to taste.

Line chicken pie dish with pastry (I used the instant pharata)

Spoon in enough filling, cover the top with another piece of pastry.

Bake @ 160 deg C for about 30 mins or until done.

You can visit MamaFami and McKantin blog here for more recipes.

Mommy Off On A Short Vacation!

2009-03-17T10:54:00.006+08:00

CATS ON TUESDAY

Dear Oreo, Minty and Honeybun

Mommy is going off on a short trip nearby. Its just a 45 minutes drive from home. Mommy is so sorry coz cannot take you guys along.

So, Honey and Minty, please put on you best behaviour while visiting you 'not-so-favorite' friend, the vet, ok. He will take good cae of you. Plenty of healthy food and grooming time, just like a spa! In no time, its time for you to pack and come home, before you even know it!

Oreo, I entrusted you with the house. Please guard the house to the best that you can. I have plenty of food and drink ready from the dispensers, just make sure it didn't get toppled off while you playfully chase after the dried leaves!

Mommy didn't have enough time to say goodbye to my COTS friends, but will certainly visit them when Mommy gets home and post lots of pictures to share. Audieu!

Updated: March 18th, 2009

Hi! I happen to get some internet connection from my hotel, suprisingly!

Just to add a action picture of Oreo, the warrior on patrol duty, just before I left....haha! Bet I can count on him to do his job very well....Lol!

Honey Bun Had An Eye Surgery!

2009-03-10T11:31:00.011+08:00

CATS ON TUESDAY

My honey has a mishaps.

The other day we noticed that she had excess eye secretion. We tried to clean it up but it still comes out excessively, and the left eye more than her right eye. And to make things worse, she did a little bit more of scratching than she ought to. The minute I saw she can hardly open her left eye, off she went to the her not-so-favorite friend, the vet.

Apparently, her eyes got an infection from her scratchings, and had turned into an ulcer. And the vet told us she had to do an eye surgery! "Nooooooo.....!" I exclaimed. "I can't let you do that! Don't touch her eye!" I was more than panic! I cannot let the vet took her eyes out...ouch!

"Don't worry," the vet said. I am not taking her eyes off!" He later explained patiently by a drawing on a white board that they only need to remove an outer layer where the ulcer is. Then they will sew the eyelids (ouuccchh....ouccchhh!) together and within two weeks, with supplements, a new layer will be formed.

I definitely do not have a choice. The consequences of not doing a surgery is, the ulcer will turn into a bigger infection and then, she might lose an eye...oouuuccchhhh!

With a heavy heart, but a 'forced' positive mind, I let the vet took care of her eyes. I picked her up the next day, and her eyes looked terrible. Oh dear, what have I done? Her beautiful eyes!! My heart goes out to her. How can I make it up>

I need to give her 2 eye supplements a day, an eye ointment, and whatever other blue capsules on a scheduled date. She looks better after almost a week.
Please pray for Honeybun!

P/s. If anyone has Persians and experienced how to best take care of their excess eye secretions, I'd appreciate a tip or two! TIA!

Gingerly Ginger!

2009-03-05T09:58:00.005+08:00

Just a short and quick update! I was unexpectedly excited!

I planted this ginger root sometime in May-June last year. I've been wondering when I can harvest it, and online, it says between 7-8 months. After that I totally forgot about it except the frequent watering.
Yesterday afternoon while preparing to cook my stir fry mixed vegetable, I found out that I was out of this ginger! OMG!! Then I remember my little backyard garden...haha! Not knowing how to harvest it, I just took a kitchen knife and head towards my kitchen garden. In the process, I slice the roots underground.

So here it is, harvested ginger root! Nice young ones. Not too professional a result, split into 3-4 pieces and some still left underground.... for future needs!

Here are some wonderful info about Ginger from Wikipedia. You can click to learn more

Usage

Culinary uses

Pickled ginger
Young ginger rhizomes are juicy and fleshy with a very mild taste. They are often pickled in vinegar or sherry as a snack or just cooked as an ingredient in many dishes. They can also be stewed in boiling water to make ginger tea, to which honey is often added as a sweetener; sliced orange or lemon fruit may also be added. Mature ginger roots are fibrous and nearly dry. The juice from old ginger roots is extremely potent and is often used as a spice in Indian recipes and Chinese cuisine to flavor dishes such as seafood or mutton and vegetarian recipes. Powdered dry ginger root (ginger powder) is typically used to spice gingerbread and other recipes. Fresh ginger can be substituted for ground ginger at a ratio of 6 parts fresh for 1 part ground, although the flavors of fresh and dried ginger are not exactly interchangeable.
Ginger is also made into candy, is used as a flavoring for cookies, crackers and cake, and is the main flavor in ginger ale—a sweet, carbonated, non-alcoholic beverage, as well as the similar, but spicier ginger beer which is popular in the Caribbean.
Fresh ginger should be peeled before cooking. For storage, the ginger should be wrapped tightly in a towel and placed in a plastic bag, and can be kept for about three weeks in a refrigerator and up to three months in a freezer.

Medicinal uses
The medical form of ginger historically was called "Jamaica ginger"; it was classified as a stimulant and carminative, and used frequently for dyspepsia and colic. It was also frequently employed to disguise the taste of medicines. Ginger is on the FDA's 'generally recognized as safe' list, though it does interact with some medications, including warfarin. Ginger is contraindicated in people suffering from gallstones as the herb promotes the release of bile from the gallbladder.[5] Ginger may also decrease joint pain from arthritis, though studies on this have been inconsistent, and may have blood thinning and cholesterol lowering properties that may make it useful for treating heart disease.[6]

Diarrhea
Ginger compounds are active against a form of diarrhea which is the leading cause of infant death in developing countries. Zingerone is likely to be the active constituent against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin-induced diarrhea.[7]

Nausea
Ginger has been found effective in multiple studies for treating nausea caused by seasickness, morning sickness and chemotherapy,[8] though ginger was not found superior over a placebo for post-operative nausea.

Folk medicinal uses
A variety of uses are suggested for ginger. Tea brewed from ginger is a folk remedy for colds. Three to four leaves of Tulsi taken along with a piece of ginger on an empty stomach is an effective cure for congestion, cough and cold.[citation needed] Ginger ale and ginger beer have been recommended as "stomach settlers" for generations in countries where the beverages are made, and ginger water was commonly used to avoid heat cramps in the US. Ginger has also been historically used to treat inflammation, which several scientific studies support, though one arthritis trial showed ginger to be no better than a placebo or ibuprofen.[6] Research on rats suggests that ginger may be useful for treating diabetes.[9][10]
Local uses

Oreo - Not the Biscuit!

2009-03-03T10:24:00.006+08:00

Like I said, Oreo is not a biscuit. The colour doesn't even come close....except maybe the center cream. Maybe that's why his previous owner named him after. The cream in Oreo biscuit..haha!

Ok, Oreo is my other handsome hunk. I suspect he must be about 6-7 years now, and I will need Gattina to translate his cat years...haha! He is father to Minty! He was married to Candy, Minty's mother...but of course! Candy's colour is almost like Oreo biscuit...but that's another story.

Oroe has a sweet personality. He's so adorable, loves neck and head massages, and love to rub against your feet. But don't, I repeat, don't ever try to carry him! He'll scratch and he'll wriggle away to get down. He will fight against you to get down like his life depends on it. I really cannot explain why, as that was what the breeder told me when I got him. Our suspicions was, may he had experienced falling down before... Oh well!

Here's Oreo!!

Some Law of Attraction - An Observation

2009-02-28T15:11:00.007+08:00

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!

Honeybun's Baby Pictures

2009-02-24T08:47:00.008+08:00

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!

Monday Morning Dilemma

2009-02-22T19:27:00.007+08:00

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....!

Of Yoga, Gymball and Dumbells

2009-02-20T12:12:00.014+08:00

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!

Meet Minty the (Lone) Musketeer!!

2009-02-17T08:33:00.009+08:00

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?

Cooking Herbs From My Kitchen Garden

2009-02-16T15:42:00.014+08:00

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!

Cats on Tuesday

2009-02-10T20:11:00.005+08:00

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

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

2009-02-08T22:28:00.011+08:00

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?

Survival Instincts

2009-02-05T15:07:00.004+08:00

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???

Milk Tag

2009-02-02T10:55:00.009+08:00

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....?

Great Herbal Discovery (From an amateur gardener's experience)

2009-01-27T12:51:00.009+08:00

I just have to share about this wonderful plant which I grow in my herbal garden. When it was planted, I knew it has great medicinal values, yet, I only knew it was good to treat diabetics and cholestrol level. Yes, another on of those home remedial source, one of my collection. But little did I know that I'm going to love this plant so much now, and so excited to have it in my herbal garden!

This plant was about one month old.

In english, this plant can be directly translated as 'Continue Life'...LOL! In Malay, its widely known as "Sambung Nyawa"! In wikipedia,it is classified as below;

Alam: Tumbuhan
Divisi: Magnoliophyta
Kelas: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Famili: Asteraceae
Genus: Gynura
Spesies: G. procumbens

Since its too scientific for me to explain, so I'll leave it at that, up to your discretion.

The leaves of this Sambung Nyawa is suprisingly and delightfully delicious, unlike other herbal medicinal plants. It has this tangy light smell and crunchy to every bites. I just love taking it raw with our local sambal belacan (shrimp paste chilies) with rice. I can just finish 5-6 leaves easily in a meal.

This plant, apparently is widely used in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. However, it is actually originated from Mynmar and China. It can be easily planted by cutting off its twigs. The leaves shaped like an oval with sharp edge and ridges at the sides.

This herbal plant chemiccally contains, flavonoid, glikosida kuersetin, fenoleat asid, triterpenoid, alkaloid, saponin and tannin. Thus, for what it is listed wth, it is said to be a great source for antineoplastik, treating high fever, skin diseases, lowering high blood pressure, sugar level in blood, antimicrobial, anticarsinogenic to cancer cells, hipertension, stroke, lungs, high cholestrol, diabetics, coughs and sinusitis, among others (jargons here..hahaha)

I replant these twigs so it can be given away to friends and relatives who is interested to either plant or consume it.

Basil, Coco, Almond, Honeybun....and Brownie

2009-01-09T12:01:00.005+08:00

Last week I had some not-so-good news, but couldn't bring myself to update it, until today, when I feel that I have the strentgh to deal with it objectively. I spent good amount of time gazing at this beautiful plant and its flowers. Some are flourishing beautifully, at its peak of beauty, while some tends to look drying, almost becoming lifeless in the process. That somewhat reminds me that any living thing in this world would not last forever.
A few of weeks ago, when we feel that the two hamsters, Syaoran and Sakura, renamed as Almond and Brownie when we found out and confirmed that both are male hamsters, might get lonely without a she-hamster. So we add another member and called her Coco. The three of them seems to live happily ever after.
But one day, somebody accidentally left the cage not securely fastened, and Almond as well as Brownie escaped. Almond was found in the kitchen after one day, probably out to look for food, while Brownie, the night after in the guest bathroom.

A few days later, Brownie died. He was weak and rather tired the day before, and the next morning, he was gone. Well, for me I've gone through losses of pets several times now, so its nothing new, right? Wrong! The only difference is this time, you manage to stay cool and pretend its gonna be alright. Like when I stared at my basils just to calm down, you have to let go. People you love, pets, even friends...

However, on a more positive note, Coco looks as though she's pregnant!. Now, Ridzzy, if you're reading this, don't get any ideas, ok..! She looks like she's gained weight, and this morning she can't even climb up the trail to exercise...hahaha... Presenting the clipse

Haha...!Actually she managed to climb up after all, after much effort, determination and a strong will to exercise. Don't we all need to learn from that?

But whatever it is, this furball is still the apple of my eye! ;)

Primary 1 First Day at School?

2009-01-08T17:54:00.006+08:00

Kids nowadays....

On the first day of school, for the first time. No more crying for mamas or papas. No more looking around for familiar faces. Teachers are just another human beings. Not bothered by new surroundings, new environments. Knew no fears, uncertainties, nor doubts. Whatever lays ahead will soon be conquered!

Looking forward to new things. Make friends easily. Practice taekwandos even before lessons begins....

I Learned This Online

2009-01-03T19:05:00.006+08:00

While surfing the net to look for gardening tips, I was sidetracked and found some recipes too. That's often happens, and reason why sometimes you can reallly spend hours online, as I'm sure some of you agrees with me.

I stumbled upon a photopage entry on this traditional malay cake, Serimuka. Hey, it lookes pretty easy, and the writer also mentined she used the pandan leaves behind her house. And guess what? I also have lots of pandan leaves in my backyard. Sorry I forgot to save her web address, but I think her name is Liza. Here is the recipe.

SERIMUKA

Layer: A

2 cups glutinous rice

2 1/2 cup coconut milk

A pinch of salt

Layer: B

2 cups of thick coconut milk

2 cups of pandan juice (+ some green food colouring)

1 cup of sugar

3 tbsp flour

3 tbsp custard powder

1 egg

A pinch of salt

Ingredient A

1. Clean the glutinous rice and soak for a few hours.

2. Steam until the rice turns soft and cooked.

3. Press the cooked rice until it becomes nice and solid.

Ingredient B

1. Mix the top layer ingredients together. Sift it out to get a smooth blend.

2. Pour nicely over the bottom layer.

3. Steam again for about 30 minutes.

4. Once cooked, cool it first, before cutting into pieces.

Ta daaa..... almost half eaten entry! Not too perfect result, but delicious all the same. Actually the bottom layer is a bit too soft and doesn't cut well. I guess you need to lessen the liquid content, or maybe its just still too hot to cut. Everybody was hungry...lol!

And here's the source of the pandan juice that graced the top layer of the cake. So far, it had helped me to cook nasi lemak, bubur caca, bubur kacang hijau, pandan chicken, etc.

And yes, when one of my cabinet got this certain musty smell, I just place one or two leaves there to get rid of the smell. And when I took home a whole loads of durian from my friends house/orchard in the car, this leaves helps eleviate the strong odour from tha car faster.

This special plant also have some medicinal values. It was used as bath extracts for women under confinement, and also good for hair. Also used to treat diabetics, joints and muscle pain. Some mid-wife adds this ingredient to their massage oil for that aromatic and medicinal qualities.

I just noticed that there are new sprouts of young batches at the bottom of this plant. Cool, because some of the plants I see end up growing tall and skinny after repeatedly being harvested. Then I learned that what you can do about it, is to cut off the top portion and replant it on the ground, while the stump will regrow with new leaves. You will end up with two plants, too!

My Lemon Grass Had A Haircut....And More!

2008-12-29T12:58:00.005+08:00

It was quite intimidating at first. And to some extent, quite intriguinging. I just don't know how to harvest my lemon grass. And it is growing like nobody's business.

So I remembered reading a book, entitled, I Can, You Can Too! by M. McCullough. I remembered a phrase she wrote, "if you don't know how to start, just start!", or something along that line. In other words, if you want to do something, and doesn't know how to do it, just do it anyway. Start doing something to get started. So, for someone who have a tendency to procastinate like me, that phrase really have an impact, everytime I get into a situation.

So I start googling again...(instead of just harvest them...haha!) Found some good sites and some information. Some even suggested that you should wear gloves and eye protector. Gloves, makes sense. The other day, when Chahya suggested to trim the lemongrass, first try, and I got a sharp blade cutting my fingers and some skin irritation on my arms.

So, my lemongrass had a haircut last weekend.

This morning, i 'braved' myself and get the gloves, the trimmer (yes, the one that cut the bug) and a spade. Hmmm...... they said, get a bulb at a time. If it's in clump, just pull it anyway. And I tried pulling and sepearting a bulb, but it moved a clump. I pulled it, and hey presto! I got a few twigs harvested! Finally!

Hey, that's not so bad! Quite easy, actually. Then you just need to clean it up a bit by removing the outer layers and cut off the top grass part.

My first lemongrass harvest! There's still a few stalks in the refrigerator from the supermarket. So, I guess I'd make the simplest recipe I have on lemongrass. Just steep a crushed bulb or fine cuts into a hot water and you get Lemongrass tea! Simply aromatic and delicious!

To read some of the great benefits of lemongrass tea, click here. The rest of the benefits, hey, just google it!

Honeybun at the Herb Garden

2008-12-28T02:20:00.005+08:00

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

Hahaha....bad poem! I know, I know! Just wanted to try rhyming a few hymn. Whatever!

This is what Honey normally does whenever accompanying me gardening. She really enjoys being among the plants and bugs. Ain't she a beauty now?

Home Sweet Home 2

2008-12-22T09:57:00.010+08:00

Haah...just came back from another travelling. This time more of visiting relatives kind of vacation. No pictures, coz I didn't even go out much except to one mall, more of a stay home and get pampered as a guest treatment...hahaha. Nice, but its great to be home...again. :)

First thing after getting home, a quick trip to my backyard! My beloved herbal garden!! Oh, I missed it so, this time. Thank goodness, everythings alright.

Then to the vet to fetch the adorable hairballs, Minty and Honeybun from the hotel, er, hostel stay. Honeybun was said to have gone through diarrhea and depression, but the vet took care of it. First time boarding away for her. Oreo is left to guard the house, we left him with the food and water dispenser enough for the duration. So far he's risen up to the occassion. The house was intact, eerr...except some cream furs lying all over the grass at a few spots. Evidence of territory protections. And a couple of territorial markings, suspected from the alley cats that Oreo's been chasing.

But back to my little green haven. Some have really grown!

Aaahh.... the much amissed corner.

The ladies have transformed into beauties!

Yummy spread at the vegetable bed. I wonder when will it be ready for my table?

Something's been eating this one. Just you wait, ok!

Ok, this one, the slimy culprit is is caught red handed. It didn't live much longer after this pose. I cut it with the trimmer together with the leaf.... eeewwww.. urggghhh....@#$&!*+!!

On a happier note, a latest addition to the family, donated to my garden collection. The whole pot! Tq! Tq! Tq!

Herbal Talkings

2008-12-10T11:27:00.014+08:00

Hi there! Aauuuwww..is it getting too crowded for you? I think I have a solution. I should eat you up! Eeerr... I should harvest you and cook you up! Same thing....haha!

Ma cherie la tomato! You grew so fast, I didn't have time to set the trainer for you! That's why you bend to your likings. I will still do it for you, soon...hehehe!

Ho ho ho! You guys sure couldn't wait to grow up and stand tall, aren't you? Too late with the sticks, you're already all over the fence. Come give me some Brinjals, quick!

Aiyoo......and you! I thought were were supposed to be a row of Salad Lettuce....for my Garden Salad. But you turn out to be ..... another row of brinjals?

My Lady Fingers. You're another speedy gonzales, aren't you? You sprout in no time, and now you're ready to fruit.

Upclose pose of Ladyfinger. Why you blur up? Don't be too shy!

Hello Cucumbers! You finally decided to sprout out and see the world! For a moment, I thought you're really shy. But your previous friends almost sprung overnight...beautiful and flowering.... until that fateful day when Honeybun decided that it made a great leap fence but landed on it instead. Don't worry, I'll watch her next time. She's just too fond of chasing after the bees and flies away from me when I do gardening.

Moi Butterheads! You certainly take your own sweet time, huh!

Dearie, you have to decide, are you growing, or are you 'going'? Maybe I should take more effort to strengthen your bed, ya. I'll see if I can find some planks at the hardware store tomorrow, just for you, so that the soil won't slide down everytime it rains, ok. Mini landslide...? noooooo

Basil Beauties! Growing well, aren't you, with flowers and sprigs and germinates! You certainly keep me busy with Basil Tea, Beef Basil, Chicken Basil, Fish Basil......

Are you guys comfy there? Enough space for the four of you? You gotta make do ok? You guys are so precious and beneficial to upkeep, from diabetes, to gout, high blood pressure, high cholestrol, and migraine, you name it, you can help to ease. I just need to find out how.

Hello there, you crawly Mints! I know you like to crawl around, but I have to curl you up so you stay together ok. We'll leave some space for the others, right?

C'mon guys and gals. I know you can do it,.......faster! Is the soil way beneath you too hard? I'm sticking some bamboo's from the old oil lantern around you to protect you from the pouncing Honeybun, Minty or Oreo. Not to jail you up, k!

Wow, that's a whole lot of herbal talking. And, that's only halfway through. Now for the rest of the plants.....

Not My House!

2008-12-09T16:37:00.007+08:00

Yet! At a different location. And different, too. Metropical and slight Balinese concept. Homely. Welcoming. A happy home....!

Love the pool view! Wonder where should I locate my herbal garden?

Ask, Believe, Receive!

Home Sweet Home!

2008-12-04T08:10:00.004+08:00

Its always great to be home after being away for a while. Not that you did not have a great time vacationing, but.... a home is, home sweet home! Period.

This vacation is a simple one, rest and relax. No tour packages. Just a map, a GPS, and the car. Have fun, will travel. The activities centers around visits to various parks, aquamarine, a ferry ride, downtown drive through, beach walk, seafood dinner, and even..... a visit to a mall! Haha...! Then back to the hotel to hit the pool or the recreations area.

Just so not to bore you with the attractions that we went to, I'll just share some breathtaking views from the hotel stayed in for 4 days and 3 nights.

Night view from the 21st floor

Town view

Day view of the beach

Window view from the bath...ehem, of course you need to draw the curtain when doing 'business'..haha

An internet freak exposed! Red handed! Wonder whose blog was it?

Replacement Cactus

2008-11-28T12:05:00.004+08:00

Last September when I first arranged the cactuses in a bowl, I had high hopes for it. It was actually a trial project to see, 1. whether cactusses brought from Cameron Highland can lasts in KL climate, and 2. whether it can survive as indoor plants sharing a bowl amongst them.

Well, as you can see from the left picture above, the finished project of Cactus in a Bowl and on the right is the bowl after almost 3 months. When one by one a few cactuses started to die, I was clueless on what to do. I still am now, but yesterday when I shop around, I saw some cute cactusses for sale. And they're pretty cheap too.

So I bought four new cactusses to replace the ones that didn't survive the project. I'll probably do it after coming back from my vacation next week.

.

The Hamsters Have a Bathroom....Can You Believe It??

2008-11-20T18:42:00.012+08:00

Its raining again this afternoon. That means for 2 days in a row, I cannot do my gardening, except for taking a peek at what's sprouting and what's not.

The Bittergourd is still shy, so is the cucumber. Oh, I didn't update, the earlier healthily flowering cucumber died when I transfered it to the vegetable bed. I suspect Minty or the other cats must've jumped on it. Oh, well....

However the brinjals are sprouting 2 strong twigs almost overnight, and the okra is steadily and slowly growing. I also tried to plant red chilies fresh from.... a red chilli. It's also sprouting now. Amazing!

Since I'm not taking pictures because of the weather, I'll post these ones instead. The hamsters have a bathroom....can you believe it?

The Orange Bathroom........ and Hi Sakura!

Waiting room while the 'house' is being cleaned...Hello Syaoran! Tell Sakura not to climb over, k.

Eeeeekkkkk......! i just killed a bug!

2008-11-11T10:57:00.003+08:00

Its the grasshopper who's been eating my Pandan leaves.

And I don't want to talk about it.

Garden Garbles

2008-11-07T09:10:00.009+08:00

So far, I am quite happy with the overall progress of my herbal garden. However as you go along, there are things that you learned and discover and discovered that you need to learn more. If you know what I mean...

My tomato plants need to be grounded, but according to the net, you need to build a vegetable bed, ie. create a higher ground for the plant. Where? And how? Will this work?

The kesum or vietnamese mint, or laksa leaves, some called it, is nice and bushy, but somehow the leaves are getting smaller in size. Or am I just imagining it?

The Thai Basil is flowering and germinanting but some leaves are getting yellow and aged. What do I do about it? What I do now, I pinched off some of them and crushed them and hang them at random on the plants prone to pest attack, like the lime families. And if I get mosquito bites while gardening, I'd just rub the leaves on the skin and it would heal fast and good repellant for further attack, I think. Mint seems to be ok but I wonder why the leaveas are so small compared to the ones in supermarkets. Is it of different species? By the way, this plant started from a stalk pinched off from a plant the seller gave us as she tried to convince us to buy it and said that this is the easiest one to grow just by sticking the stalk in the soil. We got convinced. She didn't sell us the plant, but we convinced her to give us a stalk.

My cucumber needs a trainer but I haven't had a hoot how to do it yet. So is my okra. It has to be soon before the poly bag and pot became too small for the plants.

My Pandan and Lemongrass, Galangher, Tumeric and Ginger is growing beautifully but I don't know when they can be harvested. The onion leaves are getting wilty.

My chilli plant looks so thin and well,...thin. I am wondering if it is dying a slow.....very slow death. Seems to still flowering and produce one or two chillies.

Curry, ok.

Lime families, Kaffir Lime, Kasturi and Lime is getting better and less invasion from the leaves eater, whetever it is. I just crushed some kesum leaves and stick it either at the thorns or in between leaves to ward off these pests. The fragrant from the kesum leaves supposedly confuses these bugs from the lime fragrant and they will leave these plants alone. So far, in this last few weeks, it seems to be working well. No more eaten leaves.

Pineapples, ok. Long wait of 1-2 years.

Papaya, grounded. All twelve but left with 10 now as 2 died. Eventually only 2 will be maintained once I determined the male/female plant.

Piper leaves and Betel leaves is growing slow and steady at a shady spot. The Piper leaves tend to have some orange/black spots on some of its leaves, but I haven't find anything online for the causes. The Betel looks ok, but still some infested leaves.

My daily vegetable attempt, lettuces, Butterhead and Salad, not working. Bittergourd, next round.

Oh, my friend also presented me with a house warming gifts of 2 plants and some seeds from Mardi. So, there's additional collection of Nona and Tenggek Burung. And recently I managed to stick a couple of Sambung Nyawa stalks in the ground. Looks ok. Next to Mas Cotek we bought from the nursery.

And my front outside garden, sometimes forgotten because, well... it is outside, is unkempt. This one need bigger mental struggle to do...hahaha!

Well, I am listing all these so that I won't forget the list of things to do or to find out. Its still a learning process for me, but the wonder of discoveries is out of this world!

Bye Bye My Friend..!

2008-10-20T10:20:00.011+08:00

I'm so gonna miss you. I missed you already! Even though I am with another new friend who is also very good to me which I am so grateful for, I still love you. The long years we have been together may not be replaced with another. Hope you'll be good to your new friends as you have been so good to me. Its final now. In two weeks time, you'll have a new name. My name will no longer be there.

This is where we spent time when I did my occassional cooking, normally desserts and puddings. It was also our family dining.

I spent good hours here watching TV, read newspaper, books or magazines, entertaining guest, family time and at far left corner, was my precious hours of practising on the piano.

The garden which I never tended, because I didn't like the sun and the dirt then. I still didn't like them, but I got over it for the love of gardening now.

The koi pond which housed 8 koi fishes, used to be 9, but one died of old age, probably. 4 fishes about 6 years old and 1 foot long and another 4 about 2 years old, 7 inches long.

I saved a fish once when it got distressed and jump over out of the pond on the sun hot tile. Quickly took a fish trap and carry it back into the pond. There is no fishes anymore, given away and adopted by a friend and neighbour.

I hope you be good to your proud new owner as you have been to us. I will never forget you. Farewell, dear friend!

Relabelling...and whadya know...I got Tagged!

2008-10-15T12:15:00.006+08:00

As I was about to write this entry to share my 'frustration'..hehehe..online, although like DJ said, for all you know, only the moon and the sun reads what you wrote, I discovered that Cakapaje guy, e.r..I mean 'Datuk Aje' (he was conferred 2 days ago by Snowflake, you know..) had just tagged me on Piano by Ear, again. Actually this tagging thing is new to me although I've started my first blog for more than a year now. Maybe then, my circulation of friends were very, very limited, and really, only the moon and the sun read my entries.

Ok lah...I believe I am a sport. But before that, let's hear another one of my garden misadventures...

I thought I labelled them good this time. The last incident when we plant some seeds in a nursery bag, I forgot what plant it was. Later it was assumed that it might be chilies and ground it next to the birdeye chilies plant.

So last week when I sowed some seeds which I got from the hardware store, six of them consisting of tomatoes, okra, bitter gourd, cucumber, butterhead lettuce, salad lettuce and chinese celery, I know I must label them. Especially being an unprofessional gardener with different available recycle containers, which should be easier to identify, but yours truly doesn't trust herself and cannot guarantee to remember which is which after a few days. Even worse, she labelled it wrongly, minutes after sowing them.

I thought it was tomato, and it sprouted a day later. But somehow the growth was stunted and it is still in its seed form with a little sprout. I checked the growth everyday. Quite estatic when the cucumber, the bitter gourd and the ladyfinger (okra) is sprouting nicely. The butterhead lettuce is taking some time but as of today you can see tiny leaves coming out. But the tomato is still stunted.

Clockwise from left: Ladyfingers, Bittergourd, Cucumber and Butterhaed Lettuce

So I took out again the leftover seeds, and luckily I had enough brain to keep them in the original packaging respectively and not throw them away. Took out the tomato...and suddenly realised that the seeds are not the same. Upon checking all the other seeds, the stunted one was actually the bitter gourd seed. Now, which one is tomato? What about the rest? Are they correct? How do I know which plant needs the stick and frame to climb?

More work here. Later I will need to compare the plants with online pictures to find out which is which. I love the internet...!

Ok, now back to the tag business. 15 random facts huh? Here goes...

1. I am a hopelessly positive person, and I tell myself that I am always happy.

2. I love to play piano. I started with two fingers on the right hand, move to five finger still right hand and only recently I played with both hands, and 9 fingers! Hey presto!!

3. I love gardening....from planting plants to weeding out weeds. But I just hate the worms and the frog that I found under the pot. If they know what's good for them, they'll run away as fast as they can or risk getting an ear piercing scream the whole neighbourhood can hear.

4. I go to yoga class once a week and ponteng once a month.

5. I wanted to visit Korea once again and this time to meet Bae Young Jung. Sighhhh...!

6. I look forward to drive to Ampang and meet my cousin. A fun secret rendervous, supposedly..

7. Given a choice, all my cats will sleep in my room. But that only happened many many moons ago.

8. I love comedies. 'Friends' top the list, though they're no longer on air. I have the whole DVD collection of the entire 10 seasons, but still haven't got the time to watch it again. The rest, not much, can't remember. In fact, I am hardly infront of the TV nowadays. Its either the garden, the piano, or the PC! ;)

9. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a scientist. So when we found some strange soil, we thought we could light it up and make fire crackers. Then a six year old unknowingly torched it to my finger and the mark is still here.

10. I once fell from a cherry tree about 15 feet high from a broken branch. Passed out for 15 minutes. No other injury, except a mark under my chin.

11. When I first drove a car, I didn't know where the brake and the handbrake were. My 'tutor'got panicked when I drove and pressed the foot brake with his hands when he asked me to brake, and I asked 'where'?

12. My curiousity got the better of me when I kidnapped my brother's huge street bike and I almost got into a drain out of control and but was saved by God and it looked like I just did a stunt in front of some rempits and they really salute me after that. Not that I know them, but before that they always make whatever remarks or whistles whenever I passed by, but after that incident, they were strangely very quiet.

13. My friends and I almost got detained as illegal immigrant by the US Immigration at the US-Canada border when we accidently left the country through the highway and made an illegal U-turn when we realised we were heading towards Canada with no passport on us.

14. I went jogging once with my cousin at 3 am in the morning, thinking it was 6.30 am.

15. Once my cousin and I were 'budding' teenagers and we were sitting in front of the house. A car approched and being 'modest and shy', we quickly stand up to run inside. But our bums was caught at the half opened door and we can't get inside. You know, like Winnie the Pooh..'.the car drove off because it was only making a u-turn, and not visiting. Hahaha... And we were stuck for the longest 20 seconds ever.

There, a few excerpts of my life, at random. What I fondly remember, what I am passionate about, and what tickles me.

Now, who do I tag next? Really! Definitely I do not 15 names, especially most of my friends are already taken. Well, I guess, ...

Eskapisminda, Raden Galoh and Daphne!! Forgive me, but you're IT!!

Sweet Basil

2008-10-12T18:09:00.006+08:00

One of the most satisfying activity that I find lately is gardening, especially when you looked at the fruit of your labour. Sweet basil, as I understand the name is, in English, is a really sweetie plant. Malaysians call it Selasih. So far, it is quite easy to maintain and I have harvested it more than once during the Raya festive season as a garnishing for one of my delicasies.

And recently, I was suprised to find some small seedlings sprouting all over the plant on the ground. Initially I thought it was some weeds, but as I pinched a leaf, it smells fragrant just like the basil plant. Wow! There were at least a dozen of these seedlings. Apparently, the flowers germinate itselves into these seedlings.
I learned from a site that you're not supposed to let this plant flower as it will stop producing leaves and will eventually die. So the flowers must be cut off. But really, they just looked so lovely, I don't have the heart to chop it off. Especially when the plant itself looked so healthy. Maybe I will wait and see, and do damage control once it starts to happen. (I really hope it'll not happen). Anyway, if its any consolation, the seedlings may replace the parent?

Another thing about the flowers, they can actually turn into a drink. We normally have it in a syrup drink. I am yet to try it out, with my own plant. Also, I am yet to learn how.

Naturally, the next step is to either let the sprouts grow there on the ground, but they were randomly scattered all over. So I scooped up the bigger plants, and place them into a nursey pot from my old cactus, and I can give it away for anyone interested to grow it in their backyard!

Tips online:

Basil has been known for many years as an herbal remedy for diseases of the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, and the bladder. It is primarily a digestive and nervous system aid. Infuse basil and use it as a tea for indigestion. Inhale basil tea to relieve cold symptoms. Basil has uplifting, energizing, anti-depressant properties.

The dried leaves are used as snuff to relieve headaches and colds. Basil is also used as an insect repellent. Place a pot of basil outside your door to repel flies. Use basil essential oil on a bee sting (use only one drop, more than one drop may irritate the skin) or crush the leaves and rub on cuts, insect bites and stings.

Some of the ailments basil can treat are: anxiety, concentration, indigestion, respiratory problems, colic, tight coughs, asthma, nervous headaches, migraines, muscle tension, nerve pain, memory loss, insomnia, infection, a stuffy head, colds, sinusitis, sore throats, bronchial congestion, appetite loss, gas, diarrhea, and nausea.

Use basil flowers and leaves for an invigorating bath. Basil adds luster to hair: brunettes, add it to a rosemary rinse, blondes, add it to a chamomile rinse. Combine basil essential oil with other essential oils to make perfumes and toilet water. Blends well with: Bergamot, geranium, hyssop, neoili, marjoram, melissa and lavender.

Basil is very aromatic. Add dried basil to potpourri and sachets. Lemon basil and opal basil are good choices.

Use basil as an ornamental; not because of its beautiful flowers, but because it has beautiful shiny leaves that can offset other flowering plants.

Last but not least, basil is very compatible with tomatoes. Basil is known as the tomato herb. Use sweet basil in your pesto and tomato sauces. Sprinkle dried or cut fresh basil over salads and sliced tomatoes. Basil also goes well in soups, salads, eggs, fish and meat dishes.

* The information in this article should not replace the advice of your medical practitioner.

Into the Veggies

2008-10-07T09:12:00.010+08:00

My tiny meeny herbal garden is growing pretty well. I have already experienced the sweetness of harvesting from your own backyard, and it was really satisfying. No wonder why so many people keep planting trees and plants at their backyard, and I've come to understand the concept now.

Ok, now I'm about ready to take my own gardening 'skill' to the next level. This time, edible vegetables like lettuce and cucumbers. One that needs more attention and care. Unlike the pandans and the serai where you can totally 'ignore' them while they grow, these group of plants can be fragile. But with proper care, they will grow and fruit beautifully.

Gardener at work..!

This time, they must be labelled.

The growing collections.

Furball spy watching out for insects.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA

2008-10-01T00:37:00.001+08:00

To all my Muslim friends online and offline, Maaf, Zahir & Batin!

My First Harvests!

2008-09-30T19:53:00.008+08:00

I am so excited as I harvest my first cooking need from my herbal garden today. Sweet basil and balsam leaves. Well, maybe not exactly my first harvest since I've cut a few pandan leaves for my desserts and my cabinet fragrancer. But still, I'm very excited about it.

A few stalks of Laksa leaves and Sweet Basil ready and waiting for my Laksa Johor

Laksa Leaves (Daun Kesum)

Sweet Basil Leaves (Daun Selasih)

And I've got company....my fellow herbal lover appreciating the onion leaves.

Minty Had a HairCut!

2008-09-19T10:44:00.005+08:00

I had to do it last week. Eversince he came back from his six-days adventure a few months ago, travelling through forest, rivers, roads, fields and residences, he also adopted and invited some fleas home and had his hair ruffled probably from rolling out in the fields. Well, the flea part was quickly treated by the vet, but the matted hair remains and gets worse, especially after applying the vet's oil treatment. S I took him to the vet again for grooming, in the hope of bringing home a handsome and shiny coated cat. Instaed, shortly after dropping him off, the vet called and explained why they need to shave his hair.

I asked how long will the hair grow back? In two months he will start to look good, and fully grown hair in three months! Wow, that's a long time, isn't it? And Raya is just around the corner!I wasn't too sure. "It'll grow back beautiful..." the vet assured. I finally gave the greenlight.

It was a heart wrenching experience when I took him from the vet. He was still half-asleep from the drug to make him sleep. When we got home, he tried to walk limply, probably feeling funny at the same time. I don't have the heart to take his picture and humiliate him by posting it here. But if you want to imagine how he looked like, imagine a sphinx cat, with a rounded hairy head. Or just have a look at the picture I googled online.

Well, I guess I will need to get used to his scrawny looking for a while, unitl he grows new shiny hair. Just like the shaved cat in the pix, Minty is white underneath.

And by the way, say hello to our new friends!

Flowers Again!

2008-09-17T09:44:00.011+08:00

The other day when I had my first flower arrangement done, I was yet to get the other set arranged because I missed out and short of a vase. And last week, made a point to buy the vase, and started arranging. Somehow it looked uncomplete to me, maybe because I see some empty gaps, so I decided to buy some filler flowers, like the tiny white little bunches. So, head out to the florist again during the weekend, and ended up buying a few more petals.

Naturally I have to buy a couple more vases to house the flowers.

Once I got the fillers, I continued to finish-up the arrangement. Somehow I still feel unsatisfied with the result. Maybe I should just take out the fillers and leave it as it is? Or maybe I need to rearrange it further and this time cut the stalks, instead of just bending it (shortcut..!!) to fit the vase and use the foam as professional florists do..hahaha.

Lillies, and Cala Lillies

Ok, the third arrangement. Going by the book this time, I have to use the foam. Cut the foam to size, and stuck the flowers in. Actually this is another shortcut job, as I did not buy loose petals, but two ready-made hand bouquets to stick in a vase. But....it doesn't work and it looked weird. So, no choice but arranged it accordingly. Still doesn't looked right.

The attempt to 'copy' the hand bouquet.

So, out of desperation, I have to loose it out and try to arrange it using the book I bought. It doesn't have the selection that I wanted, but enough for me to follow some 'rules' and principles.

Pink Roses...sweet colour!

Haa.... Now the last one. Phew..!! This time like a pro, used the foam and cut the stalks. And again, using the same principles. You need to arrange the main flower first, then the secondary ones, and lastly the fillers and the leaves. In fact, (tell you a secret..!). The flowers I bought were an attempt to replicate the ready made bouquet at the shop which costs about Rm220. I chose the same or closest flowers available there and try remember the arrangements.

Initial result, it still looked weird. And I also cannot remember how the bouquet from the shop looked like. I had to gaze.....d it for about half an hour. It was nice, but lots of gaps, doesn't look full or complete. Doesn't make sense to buy more flowers for a medium small vase. Flipped through the book again. What was wrong? (Somehow I didn't read the book, just look at pictures and visuals..couldn't be that, right?) Aaahhh...then it struck me right in the nose. The stalks I cut were still too long. Haaah!

Patiently and obligingly I started to cut all the stalks one by one..again. My hands hurts as they're quite thick wires covered with plastic. In fact, I cut them all apart this time, and not leave them in bunches, which was another shortcut attempt. And finally, its done!

Well, I suppose all of them look decent enough, if not gorgeous! Once I'm up to it, I'll go back to the green vase and rearrange the lillies the way it should be...and no shortcuts!

Cactus in a Bowl

2008-09-09T06:30:00.002+08:00

Cactus as an ornamental plants is rather new to me. I haven't been paying much attention to it until a time when I saw this beautiful cactus display in a glass container which looked like a miniature green house at either a gift shop or a garden exhibition. They were beautiful! And that's about the interest level that I have in these cactuses.

Ok, so I got this glass bowl from the florist during the weekend, and the small cactus plant from Cameron Highlands in June. If I'm not mistaken, all the eight cactus costs about Rm10 and the stand is Rm5. Its a trial buy, to see if this cactus plants from a cold climate could survive here. And they turn out to be okay.

Now I'm ready for the next step. So I'm going to transfer all the small cactus plants into the glas fish bowl.

I start by filling up the bottom of the bowl with small white stones. I see some ready made ones even make it colourful with green or orange, but in this case I prefer whites.

Then I plan on the layout of the plants in the bowl, and rearranging it to the most suitable positions pleasing to the eyes.

Empty the pots and arrange the plants according to plan. At this stage, we can still change the positions.

Fill the bowl up with the soil to cover the neck of the plants.

Add some decorative pebble stones to make it look 'natural' and artisitic.

There! Now it looks like a miniature desert. The one I saw at the shops have all the black soil covered with another layer of white stones, but I kind of like this look. I may or may not buy more stones to do this. :)

Next step would be maintenance. Here are some tips online.

Cactus plant care

Potting
Cactus should be placed under adequate sunlight.
They should be sowed in pots having a good drainage system.
Remove one inch of soil form the top. Replace it with gravel.
The soil should be a mixture of sand, peat and perlite.
Cactus growing vertically should be sowed in container whose diameter is half the height of the plant.
Cacti that are growing breadth wise should be grown on containers, which are having 2 inches of diameter extra than the plant.
Recently sowed or repotted plants have more chances of getting rot.
The soil should be dry enough while the sowing or repotting is been done. Watering should be done after a week so that the roots are healed within the time.

And lastly, a word of advice from a non-expert.

Hello...! Happy cactussing! Meow, meow!

Flowers! Flowers! Flowers!

2008-09-07T08:35:00.008+08:00

My first successful (I think) attempt at flower arrangement!

I am so proud of myself...hahaha. This is the case of 'get into the basket in a lift and press the button yourself'! Just like gardening, I used to limit my own capability, that I'll never be good at flower arrangements. I always envy those who can effortlessly create a beautiful masterpiece out of the floral pieces. Not that I want to be a professional florist, although that is not a bad idea, but I'd like to create one or two I can call my own.

Actually the one I did was fairly easy. Nothing to shout about. You just get some combinations of stalks of sticks, and flowers on sticks, and just stuck them into the flower pot. That's all!

And in view of the coming Raya festival, I decided that my house needs more floral touch, as the only decent bouquet that I have is over 7 years old! And that was from a hand bouquet I received as a welcome gift. Then I just got the old white vase and stuck it in without any foam inside. If there's a strong wind, the whole bouguet will fall off...hahaha.. no kidding!

Then I got this 2 pastel pale rustic looking flowers from a wedding door gift, I just don't have the heart to throw it away, so I stuck it in a small decorative basket and it became another floral piece until now. 5 years old!

Another simple arrangement was an idea from my friend when we went to a floral shop, bought 3 stalks of red tulips, a simple glass reactangular vase and glass pebbles, and walah..! 3 years old!

Another is a 12 years old basket arrangement, still beautiful but I put it in my powder room, I'm not even gonna show the picture here.

And last June when we went to Cameron Highlands, I was persuaded to buy some dried flowers, which I just stuck in the vase. It looked funny and unkempt. Only this morning I rearrange it nicely, and cut some stem off so it fits in the vase nicely. Not a professional result, but I think...OK la...

Yesterday when I bought the stalks, I also bought some ready made flower arrangements in case the one I intended to arrange doesn't look presentable.

There's another set of flowers that I need to arrange, but I haven't got a suitable vase yet. And there's a fish bowl that I am yet to arrange the small cactus plants from Cameron Highlands later. And I got this book on floral arrangement and hopefully in future I will be making my own bouquets instead of buying ready made ones.

Brillante Award

2008-09-04T16:15:00.007+08:00

So one day during a long weekend, I read a comment from a good cyber friend, Shah Cakapaje that he's giving me an award! Wow! This is my first online virtual award. I am touched!

If I have it my way, I would renominate him again, because I do feel that he does has a brilliant blog. He's also kind, funny, supportive...you can count on him for encouragements, and among the few regular patrons to always say 'Hi' or rather, 'Salam' in the comments section of my entries. His postings are also very interesting and about life and like Cikgu KataTakNak said, very 'soul searching'. Anyway, this award is called BRILLANTE WEBLOG, and the rules are as below.

Brilliant Weblog is a prize given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design.The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogspere. Here are the rules to follow:

1.Put the logo on your blog

2.Add link to the person who awarded you

3.Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4.Add links to those blogs on yours

5.Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Well, the instruction is simple enough. My only qualm is, am I qualified enough to award this to anyone else? Like Shah mentioned, would my nominees take kindly to this? I suppose I wouldn't know until later. But to me, as long as I give it in full sincerity, it doesn't matter what the outcome is. I am awarding to these listed seven friends below because I love going to their blogs and read their minds and learn a thing or two at the same time. They are not in any particular order and so, here ......(drumroll please)....are the receipients!

1. U.Lee MoonlightNightStarySkies

My very very experienced cyber friend who has seen the world. He pens all his life experiences and romances and now whilst most of his friends spend time at coffee shops or 'vegetate', Lee spend his time in front of his powerful Apple iMac 24", somewhere in Torornto, Canada, relating back all the stories for us to enjoy. He also opted not to have any handphone, because he got no girlfriend to call now and I think he is out of this world! Lee is also very charming with words and really knows how to sweep a woman off her feet. His stories are very funny, yet wisdomful. Now, how can you beat that?

2. Cikgu Kata Tak Nak

I don't know how Cikgu is going to react to his award, but as long as he doesn't get his cane out, I'm alright. To me, he is a Big Shot blogger, and I am this tiny meeny newbie who loves his sense of humour, creativity, out spokenness and direct as well as indirect postings. He is so creative, he can make you laugh over matters that you are angry about. My humble award goes to you, Cikgu.

3. Me...Only Better

This fiery lady is really something else. She writes faster than I read! That is, when she is in the burning fiery mood, I would say. She is full of passion, very, very out spoken, and her big red letter words can sometimes really 'wake me up'. I love her writings because it is true and honest describing how she really feels and I can relate to her and her concerns most of the time.

4. Eskapisminda

Although very new to blogging world, this lady is very creative with words, and like her blog's name, it really describes her entries. Very mind boggling, mind escaping, hehe or mind escapades, rather. I think if she ever decide to become a writer, which she did mentioned she would love to, she can be a very good one. Excelante!

5. Jaffpoint

Ah... Dato Jaflam who very humbly asks us to call him by name. I'd rather call him DJ. DJ has travelled the world, being a mariner. And for someone who has seen the world, he has potrayed great views on life experiences, be it in life, corporate, politics, or simply his lovely garden.

6. Snowflake

A very myterious lady, who weaves a cloak around her web. She loves sharing her views on religious knowledge and hates politics. Must be the current Malaysian politics, I figured. I learn a thing or two from her blog and she is also an ardent cat lover. Love to ciplaq her cat photos, too.

7. Shirzad Lifeboat

Hey, I don't know when this guy will be online again. For all you know, he might only read this next year! Still, I feel he deserve this award because he is a Brilliant Writer, very creative. One needs to really ponder his writings to understand, very mind boggling. I really need to put a thinking cap when reading his blog.

There, I managed to find 7 online friends to give the award to, and this also goes to Shah Cakapaje, I thank you for this and your kind thoughts of my blogs. The other great thing about this, I feel, is like extending your appreciation to your friends and how they have impacted your Cyber Life.......! Let's have a great blogging days and years ahead!

Garden Adventures (?)

2008-09-03T09:51:00.008+08:00

Its a beautiful Wednesday morning and as usual I would do my rounds of morning gardening. Today I made a point to really do something about my front compound, especially on the weeds. They are getting beyond control, so before it really reach that 'horror' stage, like it or not, I had to do the weeding off from that area.

And I discovered another 'horror'. There are insects eating my plants! I don't know whether it was a caterpillar or such, I haven't seen one yet. But I just have to do something about it. Right now I am still at unease as I am yet to find out which pesticide to use. Maybe later I will go to the hardware store and ask if they have any suggestion. Or maybe I will google after completing this entry.

Who's eating my Bunga Kantan Plant?

Then the third 'horror' decided to appear! I was weeding out at one area and I saw some small white pebbles in the soil. I thought it was my white stone decor pebbles and wonder why it was so small and who put it there? Then when I touched it, it was soft. They were eggs! God knows what eggs. Its about the size of a 10 cents coin. I got scared and immediately stop whatever I was doing. Don't want to bump with the 'eggs' mother', whatever it is, if you know what I mean?

Bad cameraman at work! There seven of these unknown eggs in the plastic container.

I asked my maid to scoop them up and put them in a plastic container. What to do next, God knows. Whaetever it is, I am not about to let any wild things breeds in front of my house!

On a happier note, in spite of all these, my pineapple plant is growing well! I have another pineapple crown soaked in a glass and already sprouting roots. Haven't decided whether to ground it or keep in as indoor plant.

And I just can't resist Honeybun's picture who just woke up from mommy's call!

10 Years Younger, Anyone?

2008-09-02T10:50:00.007+08:00

I normally put a link like this to my Healthbiznbuzz blog or Beautiful Skin blog, but today, I intentionally put it here because I have an interesting story to share.

The weekend before last, someone remarked that I have a reason to smile for a whole week. In fact, I have been smiling until now, but not for that 'reason'. Just the fact that I am basically a happy person, or some people described me as 'happy-go-lucky' person. Of course I do have my share of bad days and sorrow, but most of the time I choose to forget it and get on with life. Life is too short to mourn for too long.

My brother in law just bought himself a new weighing machine because he is now into golf. Well, excercise,... you know... Well,what's the big deal? This weighing machine has a BMI indicator, and an additional feature that tells you your 'real age' based on your age, height, weight and BMI. Real age here, in layman terms, means where your whole body system is, in terms of health.

Well, guess what! I scored ........ not gonna announce my age here. Hahaha..... But my score is well below 13 years of my real 'real age'.

Well, it wasn't a suprise for me, compared to everyone there! The result caused a small racket amongst them, but I just smiled knowingly. Not to brag here, but if any of them notice, which I doubt, that I have been into healthcare, positive thinking and exercise for quite sometime now. I have, once in a while, gave tips and information about the subject, but I suppose its not important enough for them to take them seriously.

For example, all of us (most, if not all) love to indulge in food, and most of the time, its not a healthy solution for our waist line and more importantly, heart. We can, once in a while, do, but also when we do it a bit too often, like Raya time, then we need to take supplements to ease off the heavy stuff like fats ansd cholestrol. I normally take a Carbohydrate Blocker, then Lecithin E and Beta Carotene to address this. Daily multivitamins is a must. I do miss taking them sometimes, but will make a point to really do it after that.

Exercise, most of us are guilty of not doing it, including moi. But lately I have seriously look into it. Still not enough, but getting there...!

And heres a link I got from an e-mail subscription on Health issues and I post it here for your reading plesure and knowledge. You can even subscribe to them yourself, if you'd like to get health updates. Real Age.

How to Be 10 Years Younger

Nope, it's not a time machine you need if you want to be a decade younger. It's a treadmill. Or a bike. Or just a good pair of sneakers.

That's right. The most physically active folks in a recent study showed signs of being as much as 10 years younger on a cellular level.

Go Long on Protection

How does exercise do that? By keeping your telomeres long and healthy. What on earth are those, you ask? Simple. They're like the plastic tips on shoelaces. But in your body, they cap the ends of the DNA strands (chromosomes) in all your cells. Over time, your telomeres can shorten to the point where cells stop regenerating, and even die (think accelerated aging). Shortened telomeres also leave your chromosomes vulnerable to the kind of damage that may trigger diseases such as cancer.

YOU Tip: Protect Your Shoelace Tips . . . Uh, Your Telomeres

Your chromosomes, those little rascals, have small substances on the ends called telomeres -- like those plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces. Every time a cell reproduces, the telomere gets a little shorter. Over time, once the protective covering on the tip wears away, your DNA shoelace begins to fray. The cell stops dividing and can no longer replenish your body. Each time a telomere retires, you age a little. So, get this: The telomeres of people who feel more stressed are almost 50% shorter than people who say they’re less stressed. Since scientists have a rough idea of what the average telomere length is for a specific age, they can estimate how much older the higher stress group is biologically: a whopping 9 to 17 years! You get the picture. Stress ages you. So cut your tiny telomeres some slack by cutting some for yourself. Practice daily deep breathing and meditation, make stress management techniques part of your everyday life, and when you’re about to blow your lid, do this instead.

Here’s a list of a few more things you can do to keep your telomeres lovely and long:
Don’t smoke.
Keep your blood pressure under control.
Watch your waist.

Walk every day, and do our YOU2 Workout, this chi-gong routine, or the 20-Minute Workout

Yoga Lessons

2008-08-29T12:52:00.006+08:00

It was a busy morning today, but the yoga session, after 2 weeks absence, was good. Yeah, one was that goner case, then last week, 'ponteng'. In fact, I wonder if any of them also forgot like I did two weeks ago? I will not raise the question, though.

I never realised it before, but it seems that Dr D will instruct us to do between 12 - 15 poses per session for the whole 1 and half hour there. I only started to count it today. Let me see, if I remember the poses. I wanted to write all the diffrerent poses he taught us in a notebook, but never did get to get around it. Once you're home, there's just no time to write it down. Ok la... I admit, actually, it just slips my mind. Especially everytime after the session, a few of us will go for our second breakfast, or brunch, and catch up on sizzling girly stuff. Hahaha..!

After the warm up session of 15 minutes, which I described in my earlier entry, we were asked to lie down and rest for about 2 minutes, as it was quite a vigorous exercise non-stop. Then start all the other poses. Some of the poses we did as illustrated below. Each of these poses will be repeated at least twice or more, and sometimes longer than the first time.

This is actually 3 different poses that we did, suppose to be good for your back, and.... another one I cannot remember.

From the two pictures above, we started with a pose like the upper one, then move our hands to the side on the floor, then on to the third pose as in the lower picture.

We sat like this to concerntrate on breathing. 4 counts of breathe in, 16 counts of 'hold' and 8 counts of breathe out.

Well, those are some of the poses I can remember and find the pictures online for today's lesson. Soon I will have to make a point to write or draw out all the poses that we learn. Dr D stressed that we're supposed to practice them at home everyday, but till today I am yet to 'put it in practice'. Soon.......!

Battle of the Greens ..... and Life

2008-08-18T11:15:00.014+08:00

It's going to be a cool day, with a rainy monday morning today. With this kind of weather, I don't even need to switch on the fan. Just let in the fresh air from the open doors and windows. I am actually taking a rest after a hectic weekend and especially yesterday where I spent the whole day visiting relatives at two different hospitals down south and here in PJ.

Early in the morning we made our way down the NSE about 2 hours plus drive. My aunty who is already quite elderly was admitted as she could not get up and refuse any food. Thus they had her on drip, and latest news I heard this morning is that she has cancer in her lungs and critically on 50/50 for recovery. At her age, the specialist said that it is spreading fast to her other part of the body.

I remembered this lady, all her life, if I look back, is sad. But somehow she managed to stay cheerful on most occassion and worked very hard to support her life and her only son. She was seperated from her husband long before when he went back to Sumatera, and has been on her own for a long time before one day, about 20 years back, she was match-maked with an old divorcee. However, she had been so used to being single, that she couldn't cope with married life and they got a divorce after one year. From then on she went on her usual life and various ways to find an income. She stayed with my parents until both of them passed away, and she continues living in our home till now. Her son passed away a few years back.

She has been part of our family eversince I can remember and has been very helpful in many ways that she can. I am so indebted to her for her continuos and tireless service to our family when she was an able person. The only thing I can do for her now is to make sure that she has a comfortable life and provide her with the medical attention she needed now. Dare I hope for her cure? Only Allah knows.

On the way back, we stopped by at a nursery to check some plants for my garden. I was flipping through a magazine I bought a few weeks back on the way, and got a few ideas on how I could further enhance my garden. I also noticed that my cyber friend, CakapAje's brother was featured in that magazine. Haha....small world. Back to the nursery, we figured it must be cheaper there, and since our car is empty, we can buy some plants to bring back. And true enough, the price is easily 50% less than Sungai Buluh. I bought 2 big helliconias with big wide leaves, 4 kannas, a few bag of soil and a herbal plant said to be good for diabetics and high blood.

The new batch of plants waiting to be 'grounded'.

And this morning, surveying my greens, as usual I will be on my rounds looking for weeds amongst my grass. It is my daily routine to pull out these weeds especially on the older (recycled) grass at the back. My front yard, with the new set of grass doesn't have much weeds growing. So every morning, or late evenings, I will pull out a handful or two of these weeds. I figured it would be sometime before all the weeds are gone. If they are too small to be pulled out, I'll let them grow until I can easily pull it next time. Hahaha...

The recycled grass.

This weed looks healthy and beautiful when 'young' but once it grows big, it will dominate the ground around it with big spiral leaves.

I'm not a good cameraman, but if you can see there are actually 3 different weeds in this picture.

And apparently, there are areas that is forgotten. My front compound. Hee hee....

He he he

2008-08-15T10:07:00.000+08:00

Of late, on Friday mornings, I normally have to perk myself up and force myself to get ready for the yoga class. Not that I don't like it, but its more comfortable staying at home, tending to my garden, or just sitting on my bed with my laptop, as I am doing now. (There are tables, chairs, sofas....but...he he he)

But I seem to enjoy the class more, and earlier this week, or was it less than 48 hours ago, I wrote an entry on yoga. That alone is like a self affirmation. I was really looking forward to go this morning class. After completing my chores, took a good breakfast, and happily make my way there.

Upon reaching the destination....hey, where are all the cars? None of my friends' car were there!

Then it hit me, last week, I was informed there were no class today.....hahahaha!

p/s. Hope none of my yoga friends read this post. ;)

What Was It?

2008-08-14T10:12:00.000+08:00

As I was asleep last night, suddenly I heard some faint but disturbing noise. I didn't know the time, but I can safely say between 2.00 to 4.00 am. It wasn't too loud, but sounds like some paper rustling. I wondered, did I leave my work on the bed again? I must move it so I could sleep. I wanted to get up, but I can't move. I forced my eyes open, and there it was right in front above me like a black sheet. I can't even called it a figure, because it was shapeless, all I can say is, it was totally black. There were sound effects too, like if you were watching the movie. Sound of wind blowing things up. Papers or leaves.

I was scared, but I manage to recite some Quranic verses starting with the Al-Ikhlas. Then I remembered a good friend telling me that when at times like this, read the surah Kursi, and when you get to the last verse, read it 3 times. Wa la ya'uduhu hifdhuhuma wa huwal 'Aliyul adhem. True enough, and Alhamdulilah, everything dissapeared immediately. Even the sound effect. Things got back to normal and quiet, and peaceful again.

SubhanAllah!

But I still wonder...what was it!?

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Ayat Al-Kursi has always been my 'protection verse' whenever I sense trouble or hard times. ever since I can remember. I've heard numerous stories about the strength of this ayat, but last night really proves it right, I feel, from my own personal experience. I just found this site on the ayat for further knowledge. Ayat al-Kursi, the Verse of the Throne.

Yoga

2008-08-13T23:13:00.001+08:00

Breath in and bring you hands up and stretch to the back.
Breath out and bend down and hold your ankle.
Stretch your right foot to the back.
Strecth your left foot to the back.
Knee down, chest down, chin down.
Do the cobra.
Do the mountain.
Bring your right foot to the front.
Bring your left foot to the front.
Stand up and stretch your hands up to the back.
Bring your hands to you chest.

That's the weekly routine that Dr D will start us with at the yoga class every friday morning. I had just joined the group about 5 months ago, not long after I moved to this neighbourhood. There's about 11 ladies and 1 man in the class. The warm up session lasts about 15 minutes. The speed will depend on what Dr D instruct us. Sometimes he'll tell us its gonna be slow and will gain speed and will slow down again towards the end. It all depends on what pose he'll give us later on during the 1 and half hour session.

For the first few classes when I first joined, I would have body aches for the whole weekend. Doing the solat could be painful too. Over time it eases, unless Dr D gave us a very hard pose. Last friday, we did the cobra for 1-2 minutes per pose, and I am having pain in my ribs till about yesterday. Ouch...!

It was a fun class, actually. But to get ready to go could be a really trying time. Getting out of your comfort zone to do workouts, doesn't seem to be a great idea. But once you start with the session, you would start to enjoy and glad you made it to the class. Some ladies in the class has been coming to this yoga for more than 4 years now! Wow...even during ramadhan. I still can't imagine how or whether I would turn up during puasa next month.

I decided to take up Yoga as part of my exercise routine due to the fact that physically, yoga is considered to improve:
1. muscle flexibility
2. tendon strength
3. stamina
4. health and internal functioning of the body

The other thing I need to improve on is to try to do yoga at home everyday for 5-30 minutes. Not once..hahaha...have I been disciplined enough to at least practise some of the poses at home. I need to visualize doing it! And do it!