Hubby And China Girls

This afternoon, hubby shared with me that two China girls approached him while he was having dinner at Subaidah last night.

(It is not what you think, ok. Remember, to the pure all things are pure.)

They asked him whether he knew Mandarin. Hubby confessed that he only knew "yi tian tian."

They probably thought his Mandarin was good enough for a simple assignment, which was to help them order two plates of "yin du mian" with "dan."

Hubby, thinking that he had interpreted correctly, asked the waiter whether they served Indo Mee. The waiter said "No" and proceeded to offer an alternative which was Maggi Mee.

So hubby asked the girls whether it was Maggi Mee that they wanted. They said, "No."

Hubby came to the conclusion that the girls, being foreigners, did not know what they want, so he went ahead and ordered two bowls of Maggi Mee with egg for them.

Somehow, after the order had been taken and the girls had thanked him for his assistance, hubby had a niggling feeling that something was not right. So he quickly finished his meal and drove off before the girls' orders came.

He was right to scoot off before the food was served.

I could just imagine the scene. The waiter would have brought two bowls of Maggi Mee Soup with egg to the two girls who were expecting mee goreng with egg! The girls would be insisting that the order is wrong while the waiter would be insisting that the order is correct. Meanwhile the person who created the problem is no where to be found.

The waiter had no reason to doubt that hubby did not know what he was doing. It goes without saying that the girls had complete faith that hubby knew what he was doing. The biggest joke was that hubby was the only one who did not know what he was doing.

Anyone who has heard of hubby's misadventures with Chinese dialects should know that they only "cari pasal" (his own admission) when they leave it to him to order food in any dialect other than Hokkien.

Hubby did not plan to trick them. When he told me the story he was under the impression that "yin du mian" referred to the instant mee that goes by the brand Indo Mie.

It was an innocent mistake but I doubt the others thought so.

Birthday Presents

The countdown has begun!

Last night I received my first birthday present for this year. Something curly and girly.

And tonight birthday present no. 2 is arriving at 9.20pm.

Confirm You Are Married

Received this notification from Facebook:

Kenny said on Facebook that you two are married. We need you to confirm that you are, in fact, married to Kenny.

That's so funny! It makes me think that there are people crazy enough to say that they are married to people they are not married to.

Believe it or not, at first I could not find hubby on Facebook and he could not find himself also (don't know for whatever reasons).

We are so mortified that we had to have someone "introduce" us because he had activated some privacy mechanism. That really makes the Facebook notification so appropriate for us.

Bee-zy Weekend Ahead

It'll be a bee-zy weekend 'cos my 'bee is coming back.

As usual she'll have to cram everything into the few miserable hours she has with us.

Not enough. I don't want to share. I want more 'bee time!

The Velveteen Rabbit

Children's stories sometimes speak to adults at a deeper level, very much like the parables of Jesus.

That comic strip reminded me of the wealth of truth found in the children's classic "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams.

The story begins like this:

"There was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy's stocking, with a spring of holly between his paws, the effect was charming.

The boy loved the rabbit for at least two hours, before relegating him to the toy cupboard where he was snubbed by the more expensive and mechanical toys, the latter of which thought that they were real.

Then one day he found out a secret while talking to the Skin Horse.

"The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else...

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become real. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

We live in a world of phonies and we are all phonies to some degree. One of the blessings of life is becoming real and knowing that people actually like the real you.

But we can only drop our masks and become realies with people who love us, accept us for what we are - uglies and all - and yet, care enough to nurture us to be all the best that we can be.

The latter part is very important because there is no point being a real but horrible person. We should aspire to be real and good.

That is why becoming real and good takes time and once it happens it doesn't matter what other people think of you.

When we come to God we are assured of His love, nurturance and patience with us. That's why we can all be like the Velveteen Rabbit who eventually became real. It takes time but God makes all things, including you and me, beautiful in His time and in His sight.

Let us let God do His work in us so we have more realies around.

Click here to read the rest of this delightful tale. Enjoy!

Now So Sibuk

Yup, everyday busy confirming friends on Facebook.

I'm still a newbie so I don't know what I am doing most of the time. Sometimes I move away from a page then cannot get back there again. Totally lost.

To tell you the truth, I'm shocked at some of the things people reveal on Facebook. Especially the results of quizzes that tell the whole world all kinds of personal stuff which you wouldn't share with anyone without turning red in the face.

I cannot take it. I read also I feel shy.

I like the photo gallery best. So many pretty pictures to look at.

Facebook

Last night I finally joined Facebook.

Now to find some friends.

Twit or Tweet

The world is changing so fast it's getting harder and harder to play catch up.

Looking through those comic strips reminded me of a chat that I had
with my babee sometime back (produced here in abbreviated form
with just the relevant info and without divulging the full content
of the actual conversation).

me: Ok then twit saying ......

'bee: mee, it's twEEt

me: Twit or tweet doesn't matter as long as you know what I mean.

'bee: Eh!
'bee: matters la
'bee: shows people you're in the know.

me: People say I very yay already. Not many moms blog you know.

'bee: hahahaha
'bee: okok
'bee: very yay
'bee: =p
'bee: haha

I don't understand. Why do you tweet and not twit on twitter?
It doesn't make sense and only serves to confuse people...like me.

Don't Flush the Tissue!

I saw this sign at a ladies' toilet today.

The sign says:
1. Please do not throw sanitary pads and tissue paper into the toilet bowl.
2. Please throw sanitary pads into the sanitary pad container and tissue paper into the dustbin.

The instructions for sanitary pads are pretty standard in all public toilets but the one on tissue is kinda unusual.

That's because this very grand and impressive, recently renovated government building does not supply toilet paper and the tissue they are referring to are actually hand towels. Being much denser than toilet paper, it is no wonder they clog up the whole system when you flush them down the toilet bowl.

You might ask, so what if someone is having a bowel movement? Well, since there is no toilet paper available, and you are not supposed to throw the hand towels into the toilet bowl, I suppose you have no choice but to use water kampung-style.

Malaysia boleh!

Slept Like A Baby

It's been a while since I slept through the night.

Our airconditioner had been acting up lately. Sometimes blowing hot and sometimes blowing cold. Whenever it gets too warm for comfort I'd throw off the quilt to cool down. Then I have to tuck myself under the quilt when it gets cool again. Very busy the whole night long.

Hubby's problem with the airconditioner was the noise level which began as a hum and gradually progressed to a stage where it's like having a motor-boat in the room.

Yesterday we fixed a new airconditioner and hubby and I slept through the night. So nice.

Crow Killers

We killed a crow today.

The stupid bird was scavenging right in middle of Gurney Drive. Normally birds would fly off when they see vehicles coming but this bird only took off when hubby's car was almost upon it. The car hit the bird and sent it flying off towards the divider.

I was following behind when I saw the disoriented bird ricocheting towards me. The next thing I knew I heard a thud.

When I looked back it was lying by the side of the road. Not moving.

Nothing Happened

The eclipse occurred as predicted but there was no tsunami yesterday.

Not even a flash flood even though it was the first day of the lunar full moon and we had a little shower in the afternoon.

22 July 2009

Eclipse chasers are looking forward to the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century tomorrow, 22 July 2009.

According to the newspapers, the duration of the instant of total eclipse when the sun is completely covered will last six minutes and 39 seconds and it will not be matched until the year 2132.

To add further drama to the day, a tsunami of email warnings of an earthquake in Japan on the same day that would supposedly trigger a series of tsunamis all over Asia have been circulated since a few months ago. Or was it since last year?

It should be interesting to see how 22 July 2009 goes down in history.

Whatever happens God is in control.

100 Plus Works!

Ever since we took heed of the advice, received via numerous forwarded emails, to reach for a bottle of of 100 Plus instead of a couple of Panadol whenever a headache strikes, we have become 100 Plus guzzlers because we found that it really works.

We started out buying 10 bottles of 100 Plus per trip to the supermart but our stock ran out so fast that we have progressed to stocking up 100 Plus by the crates. One for the office and another for the home.

No, we're not that headache-prone. We also consume 100 Plus during our badminton games and whenever we feel dehydrated. The latter is to combat any impending headache.

We're not into the weird yellowish or greenish stuff.

Only the original flavour will do.

Hazy Days and Scratchy Throats

Lately hubby and I been having scratchy throats which I attribute to the haze.

I'm sure my suspicion is correct because we're talking about the air we breathe here. Dirty or not we still have to breathe and end up clogging our airways.

Soon we'll have no choice but to pay for clean air by investing in an air purifier indoors and donning a space suit whenever we go outside.

So you can imagine my consternation when I woke up to another hazy morning.

Could hardly see the sun and the mainland was lost in the haze

Thank God the haze cleared by lunch time and we have clear skies in the evening.

Edwin's Wedding

The last of our Song nephews got married last Saturday (11/07/09). It was a beautiful wedding. His mommy would have been smiling down from heaven to see her baby getting married.

Exchange of rings and vows

Lighting the unity candle

Edwin and Grace Song

Plump and Pretty

I am so happy! I received 3 compliments over the last one week and all the compliments came this way:

First they said they could not recognize me.
Then they said I'm looking prettier than ever.
Then they commented that I was too skinny before.

Conclusion: I look better plump than skinny.

Like that there's no need for me to lose weight. Just have to make sure I don't gain more!

Gifts From Godchildren

Yesterday we received Mother's Day and Father's Day from Josh and Jewel.

All wrapped up and colour coded for godfather and godmother

A dri-fit T-shirt. The perfect gift for badminton-crazy godfather.

The back of the T-shirt. All charged up for badminton?

A Mother's Day gift to wow me. It succeeded.

Thanks for the thoughtful gifts. We love them.

More Contagious Than H1N1

It all started with Pastor Lawrence singing the praises of the food at Ananda's on Sunday.

On Monday night we decided to go the Ananda's (actually name is Sri Ananda's Bahwan) for dinner. After our first bad experience, we thought it wise to seek Vive's advice on which dishes to order.

Then last night I received an sms from him telling us that he's having dinner at Ananda's. He told us he had not been to Ananda's for quite some time and yet he went there the day after we consulted him on the restaurant's specialties.

That, my dear ones, is the power of suggestion and Vive yielded to temptation.

This Ananda's Fever is definitely more contagious than H1N1. Hmmm, I wonder who among our friends would be having dinner at Ananda's tonight?

Bridging The Generation Gap

I bought a weighing machine for our babee today so she can check her weight. She's on a weight gain mission but photos seem to indicate that she is losing weight instead.

There were a number of cheaper weighing machines which were only calibrated in kilograms. I was brought up to think in terms of pounds so I decided to pay more for one that's calibrated in both pounds and kilograms.

I thought I was doing 'bee a favour, mana tau in my chat with her she said:

I'm KG girl lah.

in school we don't learn lbs
hahahha

Thank God there weren't any that were calibrated only in pounds 'cos that probably saved me from a big blunder.

This simple weighing machine has now assumed an important role in helping to bridge the generation gap. It's calibrated in kg so it makes sense to her and also in lbs so she can let us know her weight in terms that make sense to us.

A pretty pink weighing machine for 'bee to match her pink bathroom

Vive's Recommendation

After a long time, hubby and I decided to go back to Ananda's at Hillside because Pastor Lawrence was full of praises for the food there.

The first time we were there was more than a year ago. The food was lousy. The Biryani was some unpalatable greyish mess. Not like the usual fluffy golden yellow rice we're used to at Alhambra's.

Alhambra's was our usual Northern Indian cuisine eatery which has ceased operation.

The fried fish was all mushy, much like the consistency of cheese spread. We suspected that's because the fish was stale.

Anyway, this time we decided to get Vive's recommendation before we ordered and that resulted in a very satisfactory meal for us.

The Chicken Kuttu Paratha was delicious although a tad too rich for my taste. The Paper Thosai was good although I still prefer the common Dhall curry at Subaidah's.

Hubby ordered Set 2 comprising Biryani, 2 pieces of Tandoori Chicken, one whole hard-boiled egg and a glass of mango lassi. All for RM12.00. The Biryani has improved (cannot comment on the colour 'cos it's too dark) but still not the best we've tasted.

Thanks, Vive, for your recommendations which helped redeem Ananda's reputation.

Again no pictures 'cos I was too busy stuffing myself to even think of taking photos. I'm beginning to sound like a glutton. But I'm not, I'm not!

Anyway, the little corner we were in was too dark for us to really see what we're eating, much less take photos. Excuses, excuses.

Pastor Lawrence Is In Town

Pastor Lawrence Seow was preaching today. He is one pastor who is crazy over durians and since we are right smack in the middle of the durian season we gave him his heart's desire for lunch.

Walking up to the house at the durian estate

At first we didn't know what these were. Then the smell
gave them away. They are little balls of solidified rubber.

Some rubber making paraphernalia at the back

Ice cold water piped from the hill. Reminded me of my
grandmother's house where we had a huge tank of water
just like this to collect water which was used for washing
and bathing. The bathroom is behind the wall on the left.

Water overflowing from the tank goes into an earthernware pot
before trickling over the ledge into the ground

Lowlying durian. Durians are not plucked but drop when they are ripe
so there is no fear of people stealing lowlying fruits.

Pastor Lawrence and Hooi waiting for the experts to open the durians

You have to use these little lidi brushes to get rid of
the leaves stuck to the durian thorns before you open them

Pastor Lawrence enjoying his durian feast

Upon expert advice, we ate just enough before the 'law of diminishing returns' sets in. After that we went to Pulau Betong for Hokkien Mee.

Lunch turned out to be quite an excursion.

A Rare Occasion

It's a rare occasion 'cos I cooked dinner tonight!

Steamed cod fish, long bean omelette, oyster sauce yau mak and chicken soup.

I was so keen to enjoy my own cooking that dinner was over by the time I thought of taking some photos of my cooking.

Lazy Saturday

Woke up late.

Went to market.

Worked on tomorrow's video bible study.

Lunch.

Worked a little bit more on video bible study.

Napped.

Getting ready to cook dinner.

A Gift From Vietnam

I love gifts and I just received a gift from a friend who has just came back from a vacation in Vietnam.

To think that she thought of me when she was there. That's so sweet.

Hand-embroidered bag from Vietnam

I looked through her pictures. The 5 hour trek down the mountains took them through lovely scenery and Halong Bay is simply breath-taking. But she came back very tanned 'cos it's very hot there this time of the year.

If we ever go to Vietnam, we must pick a cool season for the trip.

People Follow People

Have you noticed how a popular food stall will draw a bigger crowd than one that is not so popular? It doesn't matter whether the food is better or not. As long as we see more people patronising the stall we assume that the food is better.

Take today for example.

This morning we were having breakfast when the otak-otak seller came around to sell her wares. None of the customers in the coffee-shop bought from her. They either rebuffed or ignored her.

When she came to our table, I bought two packets of otak-otak as a treat for my maid who likes her otak-otak. Mana tau, after that the people sitting at the tables around us started purchasing from her.

2 packets of otak-otak that started the buying frenzy

So if you are in business and you want to create demand, just plant some "customers" to show you have a following and people who follow people will flock to your stall, which will in turn draw a bigger crowd.

That's the power of suggestion.

Too Much Of A Not-So-Good Thing

After a break of some months, we decided to go to Hai Oan coffee-shop for our favourite three-quarter boiled egg breakfast with toast.

The eggs are as good as ever though both us limited ourselves to one each – cholesterol reasons for me and breakfast being too near lunch time for darling hubby.

As always, the toast came with too much "butter." The "butter" is actually margarine and they really pile it on.

See how much gunk I had to scrape off? And there was still plenty left on the toast.

Too much of a not-so-good thing