Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Lets share - Should I or Should I Not?

NOWADAYS EVERY MORNING, first thing, switch on my gmail account, followed by PPP account, then SS...so on and on... and finally my blog account. At least 5 windows are opened simultaneously on my pc... (crazy or not? surely it is..)

Gmail account gives me suspense nowadays, why? Because from there, I will know who has send opportunties for me to post... :) Yesterday I was very happy to receive 2 slots from SS but immediately was dampened when I read thoroughly... the opp was specially for US bloggers only. Sorry, I didnt read properly when I submitted for a slot that time... so there I was, comtemplating whether I should accept it or not. The paid post was so attractive... but alas, I didnt, I gave it up .... I didnt post about it because I am not a US blogger.

Now the question is, if, lets say IF I accept and post about the slot, will I be penalised when they find out I have not an US blogger? For one, I think its not fair for US bloggers, right? Have anyone come across this before? Or is it alright to blog for it? Lets share our comments...

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Don't See, Just Eat

My favourite 'chee cheong fun' fella has disappeared for more than a month already, I was kind of missing him, especially on Sundays cos I used to hang out there with my best buddy during breakfast time. Where had he gone to, I wondered, perhaps he has retired for good....

To me, he makes the best chee cheong fun but he is the most bad tempered seller I have ever seen. Last time he used to have his 2 handsome teenage sons to help him and he used to shout and reprimand them in front of us customers... Really pity his 2 sons then but they always keep quiet nevertheless, furthermore, they were so courteous to us customers...

Then last week, while I was driving past the stall, I just gave a glance, ho and behold, he was there!!! Wah, I was so happy leh... Quickly I parked the car and went up to him, he was sitting there, smoking away. I asked him "yau moe (got anymore)?" He said "yau....(got)"...

Before I could say anything else, he was up and preparing the chee cheong fun for me... and if most of you are wondering what happened to the cigarette he was holding.... Well, he just left it at the side of his table edge, didnt even wash or wipe his hands, he began cutting up the chee cheong fun with his bare hands, putting the onions with his bare hands, so on and so forth...... I prefer not to look, I began looking somewhere.... (I guess it is better not to look than to look and not eat... Thank God, no stomach ache....)

Monday, July 28, 2008

My Secret Place

LAST FRIDAY I attended a Praise and Prayer service in my church. One elderly lady came up front to give a testimony about her nephew. Her voice shook as she related to us... Her nephew's mother died while he was 2 years old. He is brought up by his father and when he was pursuing his degree course, his father passed away. Feeling so much anguish and hurt, he was so devastated and hurled his anger upon God...

No matter how his aunty pacified him, he couldnt accept the loss and continued to question God why...why God has taken his parents away, leaving him alone...first his mum and then his father whom he is greatly attached to.....

This had been going on for some time, his cries and anger were always upon God...... until lately, he came to his auntie's house and related to her that something out of the world has happened....

One night, while he was still feeling depressed, with tears in his eyes, he heard God...HE ACTUALLY HEARD GOD SAID IN A MOST SOFT GENTLE VOICE.... "AM I NOT YOUR FATHER?"

I was deeply touched by this testimony... when I reflect back, I have similar incidents that always distracted me from getting close to God, instead of looking up to Him for solace, I turned other ways to find my refuge...but now, all these have change...I realise God is my secret place, now and forever...

Saturday, July 26, 2008

My Simple Yummy Dinner...

DURIANS ON SALE NOWADAYS!! Bought 5 durians in First Garden, so cheap, somemore big and nice...where to get for only RM2/- each only..... irresistable... I know we wouldnt be able to finish the lot so I passed them all to my mama's place and only took back this plate here.... It would be one of the dishes for my dinner.... I know some of you are going to be disgusted with my dinner again.. :) .... Please bear with me...



my simple plate of dinner....BEST!!


water cress soup to go with it....cooling...


fuit for the day... mangosteens is a must where durians are concerned..


the mangosteen, durian's best friend...

Friday, July 25, 2008

Sleepless Night In IPOH

LAST NIGHT yours truly here didnt sleep well, tossing and turning like a boat caught in a storm ... I suspect it must be after 1am that my brain finally called it a night. When I was tossing around, I was contemplating whether I should get up to online or not BUT I refrained myself....I must be self disciplined and have self control, ok? When its time to sleep, SLEEP... dont let the computer 'tempt' me....(now blaming on the computer, pulak) So finally after talking to myself noiselessly, I zzzzzzz off....

The Reason : 2 posts blogged, one for free, one is fictioned.... happy like mad, (macam sudah) strike lottery....

Thursday, July 24, 2008

My Country, My Home, Malaysia


Malaysia is famous for its multi cultural community, namely the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, so on and so forth. So it is no surprise when one says he misses the malaysian food when he goes overseas. Exotic food in Malaysia can win many 'stomachs', so they say...one can find delicious, spicy, mouth watering food in almost every town.

Ipoh is my hometown. IPOH is pronounced as E-Poh, where tin miners were abundant in the early 1930s or 40s, famous for its tin mine then... Other than tin mine, Ipoh is famous for beautiful girls (not a joke) ... when you mention you are from IPOH, people will tease you, "Oh, from the land of beauties".... but of course there are some exception, as in yours truly here...

Other than the beauties, Ipoh is famous for its FOOD. The most popular delicacies are 'koay teow' (white smooth noodles} and bean sprouts, which are well known for its crispness caused by the fresh spring water in the Ipoh mountains. Besides that, we have many other varieties such as freshly steamed chicken to go with rice or the noodles, thick spicy curry mee with toppings, claypot rice, steamed crabs in claypots too, steamboat, grilled fish, etc etc.. I guess food over here is just endless....

Not forgetting our local tropical fruits such as the durians, mangosteens, papayas, bananas, dragon fruits, water melon, langsat, chikus....there are abundant over here in Malaysia too.

Besides all these, Malaysians like to speak "Manglish" (English + Malay language). We like to add in our own expressions when we speak, so its very common if you hear a Malaysian ends the sentence with a "lah" and Chinese like to add in some more with "ma", "meh", "wor"....... It is just our way of making it hilarious and more friendly....

One will find working life in Malaysia less stressful because we have the most public holidays, if I am not mistaken, due to the fact, we have different festivals all the year throughout. When our fellow Malaysian celebrates their own race's festivals, other races follow suit...we go visiting to their houses to greet them good wishes and eat to our hearts' content of the different cultural food they offer.

I dont have a Malaysian celebrity to date because I believe all Malaysians will be celebrities if we give respect to each other. I hope that all Malaysians regardless of what race we are will continue to live harmoniously and peacefully with one another. This will be the Malaysia that I will grow to love.


Wednesday, July 23, 2008

CURFEW HOUR

MY SON...the teenager...suddenly sat facing me while I was having my dinner half-way and in a serious tone said"Mi, I want to discuss something with u..." (come on..I want to enjoy my dinner in peace, son)

Still paying attention to my food, I mumbled what about.... Then he mentioned something about his friend's birthday party this weekend in MP cafe, about using the car and then the big question came.."What is my curfew hour?"

Aha...that question brought me back to my teenage days and without hesitating, I said "10 o'clock, come back by 10pm.." I peeked at him and he looked at me disbelievingly.... (hehe... now I m giving him what I had during my younger days when I asked my father that... my curfew time was 10pm then....no joke...have to be home otherwise.... imagine the worst scenerio...strict upbringing ma)

Sure enough, my teenager wont accept 10pm as curfew hour....he said how can, how can.....the prime time has just started....he said 11pm.....(negotiations has started)..... then.....after much evaluation and assessment about who and who are going, who is driving, etc etc... we settled for 10.30pm....period.

OK, SON, be home by 10.30pm .... otherwise, otherwise.. (scratch head) ......................what ah? what???

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Money Can Wait...

BLOGGING issue again... I have retracted my earlier post due to the cause that it might make others misunderstand that blogging for advertisers might be easy... well, it might, provided that one understands the rules and regulations, the terms and conditions of whoever and whichever website they are blogging for.

As for me, I dont really understand how it works, as long as I get an opportunity to post about, I am satisfied...but then it is not the correct way. In order to make money online, one has to have a good ranking so that advertisers will come looking your way. One slip, it will be a failure...

Anyway, as my fellow blogger said, we learn as we go along not let the slip stands in our way, we will continue to blog as we please and enjoy doing. If there is an opportunity along the way, I take it. ...if none, the Money will just have to wait... (sob..sob...sob..)

Monday, July 21, 2008

I HAD A DREAM...

PERHAPS I HAVE NAGGED too much on my son about his studies that caused me to have a 'nightmare' last night.

Dreamt that I was sitting for Add Maths examination in the hall together with a few of my old friends and Son... Vaguely, they have finished doing the papers and I was still looking at the questions which seemed to be so alien to me!! (Never learn Add Maths before) A Teacher was coming to collect back the papers...

To cut it short, I did what I shouldnt do.....

I TOOK MY SON'S ANSWER PAPERS AND JUST WANNA COPY TO MINE...
BUT NO MATTER HOW I WRITE, NO INK COMES OUT AT ALL....

(sweat)

Blogging Rewards

WELL, well.......this afternoon I went to check my credit card balance with the bank....guess what?? Yes, the money from the PayPerPost is in !! How do I feel?? I felt kind of relieved, great, wonderful... cool.... Hey, its not a big amount actually, but the feeling of being paid to blog, it is just, just great... The effort of putting in and feeling excited when it gets approved...well, I m sure many bloggers here would know what I mean...

So for those who have yet to try, I would recommend this PPP



ALL THE BEST TO YOU!!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Honour Mi, Honur U

BRINGING UP KIDS is not as an easy task when a 'mama' is not at her best mood and the 'kid' is not as her best look for that day. Stress...stressing...stressed....

From my 20 years of 'mama-ing', I have learn plenty but cannot remember most of them except those happening in recent days and months. Lately I asked my son what makes a child honour his/her parents....

He replied in a solemn serious tone these words... THE parent must first respect his child first, THE parent must also learn how to listen to the voice of the younger generation, THE parent must communicate in a nice subtle way, like I am talking to my own friends and colleagues and not one tone higher with the child....in other words, treat a child like equals to parents... ie ME = KIDS.

He further stressed that communication is important too, and in doing so, I, ME, must invest quantity time with them kids to achieve a bonus in quality time later on....

So much for honour....

Thursday, July 17, 2008

King Of The Dinner

AARON WANTED to eat more durians before he goes back to his secluded isolated campus... so being a 'responsible' mama (ahem!), I went to buy a few nice ones, just nearby my house. Aiyah... should have taken a picture of the durian stall, the malay boy selling durians is a very pleasant guy, seeing us, sure smile one...('water fish' is coming ma...)

Ok, coming back to the durians, I bought 4, costing RM11.00 only, very cheap and very delicious..... King Of The Fruits...good smell (foul to some others) and its so nutritious that one can fall sick after eating a lot... chinese say too heaty...english people (angmo) will say too much nutrients and too smelly..

Introducing the King of Fruits ... The Durian aka Smelly Fruit


Nearer version of my all-time favourite fruit


Somebody out there will surely comment "yucky" when they see my dinner for tonite...

rice with durians, steamed chicken drumstick and long beans...
PLUS
ABC soup (potato, carrot, tomatoes, big onions boiled with chicken)

Delicious? Yucks? Please comment... :)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

All I have To Do Is Blog...

CONTINUATION of blogging obsession....

After blogging about HO CHI MINH City, I received many positive comments from my fellow bloggers here... they make me so happy, thank you very much, my buddy bloggers... Blogging online really has its many benefits, one of them of course is "getting-to-know-you" from people all over the world.

One Blogger even offered to take me around WHEN I go visit Manila.... I m so overwhelmed when I read her comment, I believe she is really sincere about it, thank you.... See how 'song' to blog? It is really wonderful to reach out to people through blogging....

But above all, dont let blogging occupies our minds all the time... leave some space for our love ones who are always beside us, behind us all the way.... dont't be like me....

Sit blog, eat blog, sleep blog and dream blog, blog, BLOG!!!

(wah..wanna count how many 'blog' wordings I used in this post?)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Blogging Obsession..

THESE DAYS whenever I am sitting down at home or in the office, my favourite place will be in front of the computer, fully engrossed ... doing my rounds for my blog, going into PPP and SS for open opportunities, writing up blogs and checking my gmail account for approval and rejection blogs. Bloggers will know what I mean when I talk about these.

Now I am asking myself, am I now addicted to this so call cyber world? No doubt all these are pretty fascinating especially earning some USD dollars online (I have yet to look into my CC account to check), but I hope I wont be really obsessed with it. At this moment of time, I am still very interested in blogging, so much so that anything, anything that happens, it will become the blog of the day.

Walk and talk becomes my blog.... for those who are my 'real friends', please do knock on my head if I am just nodding or shaking my head, it means I am not 'right'.... :))

Monday, July 14, 2008

Who's The Boss Today?

BEST MONDAY so far... why? what other reasons than the upper hand is not around.. (hee hee) Of course work still have to go on, my table is full of work, work and work.... most of the staff have gone for 'holiday' with the upper hand, leaving er...er...4 of us around...at last, peace and serenity....Only the sounds of telephone ringing now and then, other than that, it is bliss working today, tomorrow and the day after... ya...hoooooooooooo....

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Scenerio In The School....

IT WAS AN OPEN DAY in my son's school yesterday whereby all parents have to go to the school to meet up with the teachers and at the same time getting the report cards from them...

As I was walking slowly past the school gate into the compound, I was surprised to see ladies, or should I say, mothers everywhere and these were the remarks that I heard as I passed them by...

Scenerio A-Mummy that walked fast

Mummy : .....Ok, today onwards, no more computers and handphone........hear me..no more!!

Son : Aw...aw... how can mum....no..no........ (grumbling away)

(I was thinking, hmmm..must be no good results)

Scenerio B-Mummy that lingered

Mummy 1 in loud voice : What did your son get ah? My son's position in the whole form is 35th la.. not that good also..... (wah, like that also not good ah??)

Mummy 2 responded : Not bad ma... my son is also around there............

(hmmm....not bad, these 2 mothers comparing their sons with each other)

Scenerio C - Yours truly here...

I walked up to the teacher, said good morning and sat down...

Teacher : Oh, your son is ........... he needs to pay more attention to these subjects... (pointed out a few subjects).....He can still catch up...there are 4 months more to go before the finals...

Me : Yeah, if less computer and less sms, he CAN SURELY do much better.....

Then Teacher looked at my son and said : When your mother can sacrificed so many years for you, can't you sacrifice JUST 4 months to do well for your exam?

Me : (speechless... so touchy)
Son : (smiling and nodding his head)

On the way out, I was thinking about the scenerios earlier, I feel kind of amused.. ... Should I be walking out fast or should I be lingering around to talk to other mothers??? Well, I walked out fast .... not because of his results .....but to rush back to the office!

As for my son, he is big enough to understand ... and if he doesnt, I hope he will read this blog... :))

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Ho Chi Minh (conclusion)

OUR LAST NIGHT in Ho Chi Minh was spent on the ship cruise along Saigon River. When we arrived at the riverbank, there were 3 big ships awaiting with red carpets and beautiful vietnamese ladies were standing by to welcome guests to their ship. All of us were fascinated by the charms and the colourful lights around the surrounding.

Dinner was served on the ship, ala carte style, seafood was abundant there... unfortunately, my pictures didnt turn out well ... I hope my frens' cameras do better than mine...I have yet to see them... Anyway, I would say, the experience being there on the ship while it 'sailed' along the Saigon River was indeed special and spectacular...

the entrance to the ship...red carpet all the way...


scenery from the ship above..


relaxing to the music and a performance after the dinner..

one of the dishes we ordered...

steamboat vietnamese style...

The next day, it was time to say sayonara to Ho Chi Minh City. Before we left, I snapped a picture of the hotel which we had stayed for 3 nights.

Duc Vuong Hotel... 24 hour security at night..


the room where 3 of us have spent our nights... snoring away....haha..

A very cheap affordable tour
Air Ticket RM350.00
Hotel RM100.00 (3 nites)
Ground tour RM60.00 (2 days)
Food less than RM80.00
Shopping expenses?? (shh...shh..)

Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from 10 July 2008

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me without bias or influence from others. While this blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation, it does not publish in a way that is contrary to my personal integrity. The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. I am free to reject posts that I do not agree with or approve. My writing represents the truth and I do not write about items that I do not personally support. This blog does not contain any content that might present a conflict of interest but it does follow international ethical guidelines and best practices for the internet and online advertising.


Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Ho Chi Minh (Part 4)

SECOND MORNING was spent touring Mekong River. This day cruise started at 8am till 5pm in the evening, we stopped at certain islands to look see, look see, I guess coming here once will be enoughfor me cos I dont like water so much, especially the sampan rowing one.. (water phobia)..... actually not so much to see in the village...perhaps it is a common sight over here in Malaysia...




the ferry that took us over to the islands..


wanna know what this is? its coconut candy fresh from the kuali..


wanna try one? I did...


the girls doing the packaging...their salary is 150usd per month, so it seems..


the candies on sale...bought 2 packets..20000dong each


this is another island, horse ride thru the village...


poor horse.. 6 of us.. hope we didnt wear him down..


Final Destination... (not the movie one, of course)

the ultimate boat ride...scary..i kept clinging to my fren's handbag strap..haha..


any crocodile around??

our lunch...this fish cost us 95000dong...almost 20rm..not cheap leh..

see the lady in red? she is the singer...entertaining the tourists...

.... last chapter tomorrow...(roundup)

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Ho Chi Minh (Part 3)

THE NEXT MORNING, WE VENTURED OUT TO CU CHI TUNNELS, about 70 km from our hotel in Saigon... started our journey around 8am, the bus came to pick us up and these are the passengers that it 'accumulated' here and there... I was at the very front, just behind the driver, top seat some more.. so can take some 'nice traffic' from that position... :)

passengers are from all over..singaporeans, british, americans n of course, malaysians..


nice hot weather..can see the sun shining??


busy narrow street leading to town...


how the driver manuvoer... i dare not look at times..

ok, we reached Cu Chi...now walking into the jungle where the NLF hid (Viet soldiers)


one of the booby traps once upon a time..

for enemies to fall in....yucks.. sure die one..

tour guide explaining how it works...


this fella trying out a trap door...


this lady also got guts...oops..hope she didnt get stuck...


an 'abandoned' tank...real one.. really..


what is this? topiaco dipped with nuts and sugar... eaten by viets those days in the jungle..

but on that day, it was our turn to eat... see the donation box? we donated a bit after eating...

Oh, the most interesting part is going into the tunnel..sorry, no pictures, i tried taking, it turned out nothing..just dark images cos it was really very dark inside... I was the first one to go in, I thought I would be very safe crawling just behind one military man in front, but little did I know, once in, he was nowhere to be seen... haizzz... so I was more or less leading the others through the narrow dark tunnel with only one or 2 dim dim lights at certain corners.. quite frightening actually cos we need to bend and not knowing what was in front...phew.. but a very very interesting experience... do try it out when you are there... you wont regret going..

Monday, July 7, 2008

Ho Chi Minh (Part 2)

AFTER SEVERAL HOURS SHOPPING in the Ben Than Market, it was already evening... time to walk back to the hotel to rest for awhile and then adjourned for dinner... While walking back, all of us started to snap pictures about the traffic jam over there... I really must salute the drivers in Vietnam, really must honour them...

There are 3 million motorcylists 300,000 cars in Ho Chi Minh City, so it seems....cant imagine how they drive round the city.. we being the pedestrians do not get abused by them when we crossed the roads, no doubt they keep horning at each other but then no flying fingers or abusive words come out from them... fantastic drivers...











see our treasures?? haha..very happy lot ...

now i wonder how we managed to cross all those roads... anyway, peace unto u all..

to be continued...

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