The Daily Grind

It still hurts

2009-12-14T23:59:00.002+08:00

This blog has been dead for a while. I've just not been inspired to write since Noe moved on. Got a message sometime back that it is time for me to move on and let her rest in peace. But why do I still cry when I think of her? Why is it so difficult? Time heals? Nearly 5 months and it still hurts.

Goodbye Noeline

2009-07-27T16:54:00.003+08:00

Dearest Noe,

God has a plan and time for everything. I am so sad that He has decided to take you home today. It hurts just to think about it and even writing this doesn't seem real. But I know you are in a better place and I know you are rejoicing in heaven. Now I look forward to you greeting me when it is my turn. Thank you for being the big sister I never had. Thank you for always being so considerate and thank you for being you. I miss you so much. Till we meet again, watch over me and whack me whenever stray from our Heavenly Father.

I love you but I know He loves you more.

Love,
Elmo's owner

Tomorrow has never been promised but today is full of promises

2009-06-27T00:41:00.003+08:00

This testimony by Christopher Yuan reminds us that nothing is impossible with God if we allow Him to work His purpose. In every circumstance, God is at work. It is whether we choose to see His blessings or wallow in self pity and anger.

Sad Days

2009-06-25T23:44:00.002+08:00

The past few days have been very very depressing. Even writing this is difficult without tearing. How do you standby and see the person you care about suffer? How do you encourage someone when you yourself cannot be encouraged? How do you say it is going to be o.k when you can't even convince yourself? How do you stay strong when when you're hurting inside?

Fei Fei, I don't want to say goodbye. I am not ready to say goodbye. Dear God, please don't take Fei Fei, please...please....

Better

2009-06-10T01:01:00.002+08:00

I've been hearing this song so many times on the radio but could not figure out who sang the song. Finally found out that it's the new Boyzone song. I find the lyrics so meaningful. Totally describes how a relationship should grow.

Our love has changed
It’s not the same
And the only way to say it
is say it.. it’s better

I can’t conceal
This way I feel
For all the times we spend together
Forever just gets better

Seem what I’m try to say is
You make things better
And no matter what the day is
With you here it’s better

I stand by you
If you stand by me
I think it’s time that I reveal it
Cause I believe it
It’s better

Seem what I’m try to say is
You make things better
And no matter what the day is
If you’re here it’s better

Here's the link to the "controversial" video

This Blog Is Not Dead

2009-06-01T00:33:00.006+08:00

It has been ages since my last blog. I have to confess that even I have not been visiting my own blog for the past few months. Things have been rather crazy as usual. Trying to rush the new house renovation further adds to lack of time. For now the move in date has been pushed to August and we are still praying very hard that it will be possible.

Anyway, this is just a short post saying that I'm still alive, the blog is still alive (although it is most likely on life support now :) ) and cutie Elmo is still alive. Here's a picture of the cutie pie at 1 1/2.

He lives.

2009-04-11T09:24:00.001+08:00

It is Easter tomorrow. He died so that we may live and He is risen so that we have hope. Blessed Easter.

It Doesn't Matter

2009-02-27T01:10:00.004+08:00

I've not blogged for ages but here's a short one especially for Noe!!

It doesn't matter what the scan says, it doesn't matter what the blood test says. At the end of the day God created you and He knows you better than any scan or test can show. I trust and believe the fact that you are eating like an oink oink, just like me, and you are looking as healthy as the next person, albeit a little "cuter", you are well and He will continue to keep you well. He has a plan to show His miracles through you. So keep on eating and know that we are all there to support you through prayer, presence and food :)

Love you big time and I'm holding on to your promise!!! Keep on eating, my dear compatriot in conspicuous food consumption :)

Elmo's Song

2009-02-15T00:36:00.002+08:00

If my cutie Elmo could sing, I bet that he'll sound exactly like this. Super cute!!

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Pictures of Elmo

2009-02-10T17:07:00.008+08:00

Recently I've been trying to cleanup my pc because of my switch to my lovely macbook ( I totally love the MAC) and I found these pictures of Elmo. He's just the cutest cheeky dog ever.

Baby Elmo, when we first brought him home

He looked so much like a soft toy, don't you think.

Baby Elmo sleeping in his new room.

Elmo showing his cheeky side

Elmo at four months

"I love sticking my head into pails...but I'm afraid of carton boxes. All my daddy's fault!!"

"My first proper mug shot. Check out how big my head is."

Meaning of Life 2

2009-02-10T00:28:00.002+08:00

I'm in this melancholic mood again. Yesterday I was reading a blog about this young guy who died suddenly in his sleep. He was only 23. He maintained a blog and after his passing one of his siblings wrote a lovely eulogy about him. What occurred to me was that even thought this person was so young, he managed to do so much to impact those around him. From his blog, I gathered that not only was he a faithful follower of Chirst but he was also active in giving back to society.

The entire night I couldn't sleep and I started thinking again about the meaning of life. More specifically the meaning of my life. What is my purpose in this world. What can I do to bring more meaning to this life of mine in this world? Am I just living one day at the time eagerly anticipating the day when My Lord decides to call me home? What do I have to live for? Day in and day out we live each day looking ahead to the next. The next pay cheque, the next holiday, the next meal, the next birthday, the next new year etc. But what does it amount to? So what? What's next? So what if I've more money, so what if I have a bigger house? So what? I asked Hubbs this question and he too didn't have an answer as to how his life is making an impact in this world.

While writing this, I'm reminded of the Sunday School lesson I taught a while back. God made all of us in His image and for His purpose. Dear God, what is Your purpose for me in this world? I believe that You have a purpose for me if not I would not have been born. Please show me what is it You want me to do in this short time here on earth so that when I am called home according to Your perfect timing, You will be there greeting me, with open arms saying, "Good job, well done!".

Happy Target

2009-01-22T21:14:00.004+08:00

I saw this when I was on the way home one day. Of late there have been quite a few "energy enhancement" remedies being advertised all around residential areas but I must say this advertisement certainly conveys the message very clearly. It doesn't take one to understand the written language very well to know what they are selling. So to me that's one effective creative advert.

All you need to do is to stare at the targets and the respective arrows to figure it out. For the benefit of those innocent minds, it's solely for men and "sebelum" = before "selepas" = after. But you knew that right? :)

Marriage Fights

2009-01-22T11:27:00.002+08:00

I guess when you've been married for a while, it doesn't take much to start a fight. Take for example some of the "asking for it" fights below :

After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to
apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for
my driver's license to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and
realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was
very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later.

The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened
my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair
on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my Social
Security application.

When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my
experience at the Social Security office.

She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You
might have gotten disability, too.'

And then the fight started...

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
--------- --------- -----

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school
reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as
she sat alone at a nearby table.

My wife asked, 'Do you know her?'

'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend.
I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many
years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.'

'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on
celebrating that long?'

And then the fight started...

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
--------- --------- -----

I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some
reason, took my order first.

"I'll have the strip steak, medium rare,
please."

He said, "Aren't you worried about the mad
cow?""

Nah, she can order for herself."

And then the fight started...

Anniversary

2009-01-15T22:27:00.003+08:00

Yup today hubbs and I are celebrating our 4 years anniversary. Four years of wedded bliss? That's the million pound question. The funny thing is that this is the first time in 4 years since we've been married that we are actually in the same country. So the plan was to squeeze in time for dinner at this place I've been wanting to go for a while. But unfortunately all plans fell apart. So here I am blogging after having cornflakes for dinner. Oh well, the story of my life. I guess I should have seen it coming. Yesterday was no better.

Anyway, thanks to all who remembered and wished us. It has been an interesting 4 years.

New toy!!

2009-01-11T21:59:00.014+08:00

Happy New Year to all. I've just realised that I've not blogged in 2009 yet. So here's my first post for the new year using my new toy. Yes yes, whatever new year resolution of not buying any new toys for the year has totally gone down the drain.

After much contemplation and back and forth between Mid Valley and Low Yat Plaza, I've finally decided to give into temptation and gotten myself a Macbook. The aluminum casing Macbook. Yes, I've moved to the Mac side of things. A few years back I remember telling Hubbs that it would take a really silly person to spend so much money for a Mac just because it looks cool when one can get much higher specs on a PC at fraction of the cost. So now I'm eating my words. Why did I decide to get one? Well, like my good friend's husband said on why he got a Mac "Want to look cool cannot meh?" (by the way his mac is still collecting dust and he has switched back to PC :)). Nevertheless, I'm determined not to let my Macbook end up like his.

So the plan so far is to use my windows laptop for work and the Macbook for fun and for Sunday School, of course :) I got the 2.0MHz and 160GB hard disk version but upgraded to 4GB ram. The 2.4Mhz version with 250GB hard disk and lighted keypad was RM1000 more expensive and I figured that I should be able to live with the lower version. After 1 day of use, I won't go as far to say that I wish I switched earlier but I have to agree that doing things on the Mac, such as uploading photos, installing software and the startup and shutdown seems faster and much easier. I totally love the LED display though there's a possibility that the headache I'm experiencing now could be due to the brightness of the screen. As for the keyboard, it took awhile getting used to because the keys are spaced about 3mm apart from the usual keyboard keys on the normal pcs. But it is quite a joy to type on once you get used to it. What irks me a little is that the keyboard doesn't have a separate backspace and delete key. There's only one delete key which functions as a backspace key. The other thing is that it doesn't have an "end" key which I find can be quite a pain when blogging. On top of that the Mac can't fully sync with my Palm Treo Pro which runs on WM6.1 Apparently I've to purchase a separate software "Missing Sync" which cost RM200+ to overcome this. But for the time being I'm putting that on hold. Other than that, I have to say that so far I'm quite happy with the switch. Let's see how it goes after a week of playing around with it. Nevertheless there is certainly no doubting the "cool" factor.

Here are a few shots I took of the box and the machine.

Gotta really give it to the people at apple. Even the package looks sleek.

Even the power cord looks cool and compact.

How much sleeker can a laptop get?? I totally love the apple logo that lights up when in use.

The spaced out keyboard and super bright screen.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!!

2008-12-22T23:34:00.005+08:00

Finally finally....after so many years, we've finally got a Christmas tree, ornaments and lights!! Not only that, the house is decorated with Christmas-y decor and wreaths. Hubbs was so sweet today. When we got back, we were all prepared to put together the tree and decorate the house but we were pleasantly surprised that all the Christmas decor were already put up. Hubbs spent the entire day buying all the decor and setting it up.

Although Hubbs and I are not in our own house, it is still nice to live in a house where there's the buzz of Christmas. To make things even more exciting but stressful, this year we'll be hosting the Christmas meal with all the pastors and the usual suspects, which is usually held at SY's house but this year it will be at boy's and wifey's house. Hence the decor :)So Cow Cow and Esiotrot, we'll miss you for dinner but we've got Noeline this year making it a total of 13 this year. The group is growing each year :)

Hubbs is as usual doing up his candles for candlelight service. This year will be his 4th year of candle making for Christmas eve service and it will be his record number of candles. A grand total of 16. He's got 5 more to go before Christmas eve!! Aren't they lovely?

This Christmas remember to celebrate God's love for all because Christ was born so that we can be reconciled with God through Christ's death on the cross. So here's wishing everyone reading a most blessed Christmas and know that God truly loves you!!

Happy Birthday Son!

2008-12-19T14:42:00.001+08:00

Our son turns 1 year old today. Time really flies. Hubbs and I are already thinking back to when he could lie snugly on our forearms and all he did was eat and sleep. Since the boy is already 1 today, hubbs and I are thinking that it may be the right time for the next baby. Will update on how that turns out :)

But for now, Happy Birthday Elmo. We love you most much, you big hairy mutt! Isn't he just one huge cute monster.

GPS for wife?

2008-12-15T19:22:00.000+08:00

I've got a feeling that the advertisement above was either created by a guy or the company must be owned by one chauvanistic male. While I appreciate the need and usefulness of GPS especially when it comes to giving directions and as a tracking device for cars and maybe on certain situations even for small children.

But if you look at the smaller print in the ad they are also suggesting that the GPS tracker should be used to track your wife's whereabouts. Track the wife?!! What the?!! Why not track the husband?

While I'm no expert in marketing I would imagine the advertisement would be more effective if they appealed to the female sex advertising the device as a "GPS to track your husband's whereabouts". Afterall females are the the biggest spenders right?

Love....

2008-12-12T01:22:00.001+08:00

Today I feel loved. But does that mean I will feel loved tommorow or does it mean I didn't feel loved yesterday? To me I know love (head knowledge) in a marriage is more than a feeling but sometimes I tend to forget what truly constitutes love, especially when I get irritated by hubbs. So to remind myself about what love is when I'm not 'feeling' it, I've decided to list it down here. This is going to be one mushy post. So readers be warned.

Love is...

1) when hubbs does the laundry daily without complaining.
2) when hubbs places money in my purse without telling me when he knows I'm broke.
3) when hubbs picks up and cleans up after Elmo.
4) when hubbs doesn't complain no matter how messy I am.
5) when hubbs always allows me to pick what and where I like to eat.
6) when hubbs lets me press his nose when he's snoring and not get angry that I've woken him up.
7) when hubbs finishes everything I cook and says its yummy no matter how horrible I know it tastes.
8) when hubbs drops everything to rush home to catch 'mickey mouse' when it freaked me out.
9) when hubbs doesn't insist I do anything I don't want to.
10) when hubbs patiently waits for me at work for hours.

And finally I know I'm loved because no matter how lousy a wife I know I am (ya ya those who know me try to stop agreeing ok? :) ) God has decided to 'torture' hubbs instead of me :)

One of those days

2008-12-10T00:49:00.002+08:00

Today has been one of those days. A day where nothing seems really wrong but neither does it seem normal or right. Maybe the long weekend and getting back to the realities and frustration of work made it a little more 'abnormal'. Maybe for me it is like how one feels when you've been running and if you keep going at it, it would be fine, but when you stop your legs start to ache and you just can't seem to continue anymore. So, though long weekends are good it is sometimes too much of a good thing for me.

Then again maybe it has nothing to do with the long weekend but it is just one of those days when I'm feeling moody, frustrated with people and down for no reason.

But what made my day end on a higher note was the cute e-greeting card that I received from Noe today. Although it was a simple message it was encouraging to know that someone was thinking of me even though she probably had a tougher week than me. Sometimes we may feel that small gestures don't really matter. But today clearly proved that sometimes the smallest things can make a difference in how we remember and end each day.

So this serves as a reminder to me not to shy away from gestures that may seem 'frivolous' but know that whatever little smile or simple hi may just be the thing that brightens a person's day. So lying here in bed, writing this entry, with hubbs humming his night symphony next to my ear, I'm ready to sleep and face tomorrow thanks to someone, who thought of me. :)

Elmo lost his balls :(

2008-12-04T01:14:00.004+08:00

Something really weird happened yesterday. Elmo woke up on Tuesday a perfectly intact dog, went for a short drive to the vet and came back drousy and short of two dangling members. :( Yup, yesterday Elmo got his balls chopped.It was a real tough decision for hubbs and I. We have been contemplating whether we should get him neutered or not for a while now. We initially winced at the idea, especially hubbs, being man and all, but everyone kept telling us that it was the right and responsible thing to do as dog owners. In addition, apparently studies have shown that dogs that have been neutered suffer from fewer illnesses. I guess with two less members, diseases would obviously have less places to stike. We were also told that neutered dogs were less aggressive and were less likely to roam/escape to look for a mate. Even with all these compelling reasons, we were reluctant to get him chopped. But after speaking to Elmo's breeder, his trainer and looking at the ever serene Rusty, we were finally convinced that it was the right thing to do.

Although it has been heart wrenching looking at him recover from the operation (the poor boy has not eaten for 2 days and has a cone to prevent him from licking his scars) we are consoling ourselves that it is short pain for long term gain. The good thing is that after 48 hours, Elmo is 60% back to his usual self but we feel very very guilty for removing his manhood. Hubbs asked me if we had another dog, would I agreed to neuter the dog after seeing what we put Elmo through.Honestly I don't know. So here's praying that we made the right ecision. Anyway, above are pictures of Elmo immediately after we brought him home from the clinic. Please pray that the wounds will heal quickly and that he'll be back to being naughty Elmo real soon.

Goodbye Dr Lim

2008-12-02T20:15:00.000+08:00

I think last week I blogged about this nice uncle, Dr Lim Say Wan, who was suffering from cancer. Yesterday he was called home to the Lord. I am sure going to miss seeing him in church and having this nice man remember my name.

I attended his wake service yesterday. During the service, pastor Andrew gave a very meaningful sermon on how we finish our life. This was followed by short eulogies by Dr Lim's friends. What struck me about the entire service as well as what was said about him was that it really doesn't matter how successful you are or how rich you are or even how many friends you have. At the end of the day it is how you have touched lives and how one chooses to glorify God even through the pain and suffering.

It was shared that even during His last few days on earth, through the pain, Dr Lim, though a relatively young Christian continued to be thankful to God and chose to praise and glorify Him with whatever few words he could muster. He's was also remembered as a perfect gentleman by many and how he made the effort to remember the names of the people he meets and be genuinely concerned about them.

Though this man had a superbly illustrious career as a doctor, locally and internationally and was obviously very well to do, it was to me, the 'big' things in life that he chose to do that will continue to live on in the lives of those who have been blessed by know him.

So uncle, lucky you for getting to chill with Jesus in the big house up there but I'm certainly going to miss the warm sincere "Hi (my name). How are you?".

My last goodbye, house 16

2008-11-22T02:05:00.005+08:00

Bye bye house...

Bye bye pool..

Bye bye club house..

Bye bye comfy bedroom...

Bye bye kitchen.....

Yup. After the many months of delaying and whinning we're finally spending the last night at our very first house. 16, Jalan PJU 1/46D, Aman Suria. As usual, hubbs and I have left many things to the last minute and hence we're not feeling as sad as we would if things were not as hurried.

Driving back from boy's place after unloading our boxes, it hit me that it is the last time I'll enter the community at night. The last time I get to see the park, the roads and my house...my dear dear house.

My very first home ownership. The house that hubbs and I first lived in as a married couple. Also the house that boy and wifey first lived in as husband and wife. It is also the house that Elmo has come to know as home. So many memories in just 3 years and 11 months. Sigh...I'm so gonna miss you house.

Thanks for the memories, if I could I would hug you. Ta ta no16 :(

Elmo Loves His Durians :)

2008-11-16T20:24:00.005+08:00

We have discovered what makes Elmo go ga-ga. It's durians!! He totally loves the foul smelling bitter sweet custardy fruit. He'll do anything for it. Here's proof.

Nowadays they have all kinds of methods used for dog training. I'm sure durian training beats them all.

And after having his fill of durian he shows his appreciation exactly the same way as hubbs shows his after durians....by burping and farting. Like father like son :)

Congrats Dr June!!!

2008-11-11T21:46:00.003+08:00

Great news!! My online doc, and my loyal blog reader, is finally a specialist. After 14 years slogging it out my dear friend can now have many additional initials behind her name. So many that I don't even know what it means. Dr June Sim MBBS. M.OHS FAFOEM. Occupational Physician.

Now if only she's in my part of the world it would mean I would never have to pay for medical consults anymore :)Anyway big big Congratulations!!! Hubbs and I are most most most happy for you and I'm most proud of you!!

My next aspiration for her would be that she finds a non doctor husband soon. Any takers? Post pictures on this blog if you're interested :)

Updates and Prayer Requests

2008-11-09T22:07:00.003+08:00

It has been while since I last updated my blog. I guess it is because ever since the Bali trip I've been less inspired to blog as everything seems mundane all over again. But just to keep my three trusty blog followers updated, I shall just have a quick recap as to what has been happenning since my trip back from Bali.

Work has been crazy, as usual, but I've also been busy trying to move house or rather trying to hang on to my existing place as long as possible. I was supposed to move out last week but since the buyer hasn't paid me I'm holding on as long as possible. Everything else in the house has been moved including our bed so Hubbs and I have begun sleeping on the floor. We only have Elmo, ourselves and our clothes left to move. That shows how reluctant we are about giving up the house. But saying all that I think it's going to be fun moving in with Boy and wifey. It's going to be bachelor pad all over again.

At the same time, I've also been busy trying to design the new place and do all the necessary submissions so that renovation can start once we get the keys to the new place. By the looks of it, we'll most likely be camping with Boy and wifey for at least 6 months or maybe more. So please pray that everything runs smoothly and that I don't keep changing my mind on the designs. Latest on design is that I've decided to convert one floor into the masterbed room and an entire room will be converted into our bathroom. I'm hoping stucturally everything will be feasible.

Other than that, HOOORRAAYYY..we're done with Sunday School for the year. I guess the kids will miss Sunday School but I think the teachers certainly would appreciate the break. No more 6am Sunday mornings for me for 2 months!! However, the sad thing would be missing the 3 heroes of Sunday School Kim, Ah Lan and Yu Pin. I'm especially going to miss having Yu Pin in our team and beyond a doubt going to miss Kim. I don't think Sunday School will be the same without them around :(

As for sad news, I met up with Noeline a week ago and she updated us on her chemo progess. Unfortunately, her cancer markers have gone up again and there's a possibility it has spread to her lungs and more into her lymph nodes. We are still hoping and praying that this is not so. I can't comprehend how can Noeline look so good and healthy and yet have all these horrible things going on inside her. So please continue to pray for her continued healing and that God will continue to sustain her.

Another prayer request would be for Dr Lim Say Wan. As I write this, Dr Lim is in ICU getting ready to meet the Lord. It's rather sad but I think after more than 5 years of his fight with cancer I think God is ready to call him home. So please pray with me that he isn't in pain. Although I don't know him very well but I must say he's one of the nicer uncles I've met. Everytime I see him in church or outside church, he never fails to make an effort to say hi to me and remember my name. He even remembers that we were in the same baptism class together and I can't even remember. I was hoping to see him last Friday at his house but unfortunately things took a turn for the worse and he had to be rushed to hospital. I'm going to miss this uncle.

So that's all the updates I have for now. Oh yes, one final thing. I've been told the pain in my left shoulder leading all the way to my left elbow, that I've been having for weeks now could be a sign of me having a heart attack. (note to Dr June, need online consult again :) - it's that time of the month again, told you so..haha ) So please pray I'll be alive for my next post :), most likely in my new room in boy's house.

Love to all reading this and thanks for checking in even though I've been slack. You guys are the best!!

Kobe Me

2008-10-25T12:08:00.000+08:00

Those that know me will agree that i'm game for a good steak anytime. Unfortunately there aren't any good steak places in KL or rather the choice cuts are rare and few. One of the best cuts I've ever had the priviledge to try would be the Kobe ternderloin. It is so juicy and light that it literally melts in the mouth. The poorer cousin wagyu doesn't come close.

I was told that a lot of care and effort goes into making the Kobe cattle/meat the way it is. It all begins with how it is reared. Apparently the cattle/cow lives in an environment that's stress free, surrounded by soothing music, right temperature, fed choice corn and grain, drinks beer and has daily massages. I've always wondered how lucky I would be if I'm a kobe cattle/cow..except for the being slaughtered part.

Well guess my wish has come true. For the past few days, hubbs, tt, ew and I have been living the life of a prized Kobe cow. We literally laze around the cabana the entire day looking forward to the next meal and listening to the soothing sound of the surf. Our daily highlight would be the spa sessions where we are scrubbed, massaged and soothed with milk baths. When it is meal time we are fed with freshest choice fish from the ocean and drink alcoholic cocktails, courtesy of ew.

I know for sure I'm nicely marbled but may have a slight excess of fat but the four of us are truly living the Kobe cow life. So, me Kobe.

Guess what this is?

2008-10-24T10:21:00.000+08:00

We went trekking this morning to a lovely waterfall. We saw the above along the way. Wonder whether the owners were trying to keep animals or females away :)

Lazing & chillin

2008-10-23T14:58:00.000+08:00

This is the view from the cabana that hubbs and I are chillin in. The black sand beach right in front of us and nothing to do except read and enjoy the sound of waves hitting the shore and the wind blowing in our faces.

Off to Bali on Air Asia

2008-10-22T14:47:00.000+08:00

Holiday! Holiday! Holiday! I'm finally off to Bali. But this is going to be one long trip to deepest darkest Bali. 3 hours on crappy Air Asia and another 3 hours by car/van to some secluded part of Bali. Counting the hours including travelling to LLCT I guess I could be on my way to Maldives instead :)

I've been whinge-ing to everyone about travelling on Air Asia. If I had a choice I would not be on Air Asia. Too bad MH ran out of tickets. I for one do not believe in this cheap air fare scam. In my particular case I paid rm780 for the fare. Additional rm50 for excess bagage (allowable 15kg, i'm travelling with 18kg-what decent female going on a 5day trip can limit herself to only 15kgs :) ) adding up to rm830. The average price of food plus drink on board is rm12 making it rm842. So plus the additional inconvenience and stress of having to walk to the plane lugging my laptop and handbag under the hot sun and up some steep steps to the plane would round up the airfare to rm900. Mh is around that price too. And you get the comfort of KLIA unlike the wet market environment of LCCT, 25kg baggage allowance and better crew, (less fake eyelashes-i'm hot(slut) looking, you're not attitude) friendlier and classier (they don't walk around with black garbage bags collecting trash)
service. So for me it's MH anytime. More value more frills.

I am an hour into the flight and the only good thing is that the flight is rather empty and I've got all 3 seats to myself. :) But not having anyone to chat with for another 2 hours will be a real challenge. Hence the blogging. :)

Tembok Bali

2008-10-22T00:22:00.001+08:00

I've never been a big fan of YTL resorts and now I remember why. I've been to Pangkor Laut and now I'm at their other resort in Bali and and I am still not impressed.

The rooms are super small maybe that's why it's called a 'small luxury resort'. The room's toilet is also not becoming of a 'luxurious' resort. How can a so called 5 star resort not have a separate shower stall?!! And besides, there's isn't enough room for two to stand in the toilet. To top it up the shower cum bath doesn't have a proper shower screen so when showering the entire floor including the toilet bowl ends up wet. The overall maintenance of this relatively new resort (1 year old) isn't becoming as well. Brown stains around the sink and edges of the shower is a big turn off. This is so not acceptable for a SLH resort.

I can live with a small room that doesn't have enough space to put two luggages but a small toilet without a seperate shower stall is not acceptable. But to be fair I have to say that the service staff are impecable and they really do go all out to make sure you're comfortable. They drew a lovely flower bath for us in the mini toilet but poor hubb had to clean up the petals so that he could have a proper shower. I would give the service two thumbs up. If only they could change our rooms. We tried upgrading but all the bigger rooms are fully booked.

So much for a good holiday. I think I would have been better off staying at home. As for the food, we've only had one meal and it was quite lacking. Let's hope tomorrow's breakfast will be better.

More to come.....

Update Update Update

2008-10-19T22:39:00.004+08:00

It's been ages since I've updated my blog. I've been meaning to but the past few weeks have been crazy. Nothing much has happenned since then. My new place isn't progessing well, I've still not moved out and I'm sick again. What's new right? Thanks (again) to online doc consult, I've managed to check out my tonsils and realised that I don't have pus :). Note to online consult:( time to seriously go into virtual medicine. I bet you'll make more money than occupational medicine.)

The upside is BALI HERE I COME!!!! So I'm drowning myself with panadol, vitamin C, vitamin B and all kinds of herbal tea to fight this horrible infection. I'm so determined not to let it spoil my first holiday with Hubbs in two years!! Can't wait. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is having to travel Air Asia and go to the market place airport of LCCT. Oh well, shall remain focused on the resort. Here's the link to where we're staying. Let's hope that it's as good as it looks.

Will update once I get back :) I'm so gonna miss Elmo.

My Favourite Cousin

2008-10-11T21:57:00.001+08:00

Meet my favourite cousin from Singapore. He's 13 years old and has the fairest and smoothest complextion ever. It's always a joy to have him back in KL. Best thing is that he shares the same initials as hubbs. Wkw :)

I am still alive :)

2008-10-08T00:19:00.001+08:00

I know some of my very good friends have been checking my blog at least twice a day just to keep the count up. Thank you guys so much. You guys are totally the bestest friends I could ever ask for. It has been rather hectic the past week with raya holidays and all so I've not been able to blog much. My average get home time the past week has been around 11pm :(

Anyway, just wanna thank my few faithful friends (esiotrot, siew pau and online dr june) who have taken the time to check in on this blog even though I've not posted anything for ages. Also to let you guys know that I'm still alive and kicking although my shoulders and neck have been killing me. More on that another time. Got heaps to update so keep checking ok?

Thanks and love you guys big time :)

Elmo

2008-09-25T01:01:00.001+08:00

It has been a while since I last blogged about Elmo. He's growing into a real sweetie pie. A big heavy sweetie. Elmo is 9months 5 days old today and weighs in at 27.5kgs. I took him to see the vet 2 weeks back and was told that he's at a good weight but we should be careful not to over feed him.

Although his face isn't as cute as when he was a puppy, he still behaves like one. Of late we discovered that he loves being cradled and stroked on the head. The picture above shows him dozing off on my lap :)

He has however developed a very bad 'busy body' attitude. When he was younger, whenever there's food in his bowl he'll be so focused gobbling it down and be totally oblivious to his surroundings. Nowadays, not only is he distracted while eating by noises and people walking past the gate but he refuses to eat if we're not sitting by him! Such a spoilt dog. So unfortunately we can no longer put food in his bowl and walk away to do other chores. Nevertheless, Elmo is one big adorable sweete pie. :)

The Big Move part 2

2008-09-24T00:41:00.000+08:00

The boxes are growing by the day. Unfortunately, we are still not done with the tv/study room, (the first room we started packing) and we've already managed to accumulate 20 boxes.

Although I'm not much of a Milo fan, I must say that I'm very grateful for their solid boxes. Great to pack with and just the right size. Hmmm..maybe they'll give me a marketing fund for product mention in this 'popular' blog of 130 visits since march08. :( like real!! Dream on Elmo!!

Packing to be continued......

My many boxes part 1

2008-09-22T09:43:00.001+08:00

Countdown to the Big move

2008-09-22T01:35:00.001+08:00

Another 3 weeks, well to be exact another 22 days before we move out of our place. We've started packing up some non essentials such as my dvd collection, cds and books in the tv room. I thought it was going to be quite an easy process but it is proving to be quite stressful and tiring. We've only lived here for 3 years and the amount of stuff (especially mine) is shockingly much!! We are not even halfway through the room and we've already managed to fill 13 boxes and I thought moving was going to be easy :(

One good thing though about packing, I've finally done what I've always wanted to do and that is to catalogue my dvd collection. Not an easy process by it was nice being able to sort out my dvd collection by title, genre and actors. So as of today, I've got 593 titles and growing :) . Big hug and sloppy kiss :k to hubbs for patiently packing and reading out the titles to me one by one as I key them in.

Will post pictures of the packed boxes soon. Packing is stressful!! Don't be like me and underestimate the junk one can accumulate over the span of 3 years. Start early or engage professional movers!! ;)

Friday Night

2008-09-19T23:53:00.006+08:00

It is Friday night and I'm impressed with myself that I'm still up blogging at midnight. Today I feel very very proud of myself. Not only am I up blogging but I've discovered how to place smileys :) on my post. (pats self on head) Now all I need to do is to learn what keys to press to convey a particular emotion. :p Guess we learn something new each day. :z

It has been quite a good week though I started off the week feeling sick. But must say that it ended quite well. We had dinner in Senses tonight. Had my favourite seared foie grae, port jelly foie grae and super huge luscious oysters flown in from Coffin Bay in Australia. Best oysters I've ever had in a while. Not only does it not have that muddy taste but it truly melts in the mouth. Oh and I guess I've put back the 2kgs I lost from being sick last weekend.

A perfect ending to the week :L

Meaning of Life????

2008-09-17T19:06:00.004+08:00

Just a few days back, a good friend of mine called to tell me that she may be moving to China for a couple of years because her husband is going to get posted there. As she hasn't exactly made up her mind as to whether to follow her husband, she asked me what my thoughts were on the matter. Should she follow him and give up her hot shot career here or move with him and having to start all over again in a new country just because of two years. My immediate reaction was "China?!!! Go Go Go..how can you leave your husband alone in China for two years?". On one hand I reacted that way because we all know China ladies do have quite a reputation with expatriate men but on the other hand it seemed preposterous that a newly married couple should be separated for such a long time. It was only last year when Hubbs and I were separated because of his work for 3 months. Half way through his stint I visited him where he was working and when I saw him, it took me a day before I could adjust to the fact that he's my husband. For me it just felt weird having this person in my life again. And this was just 1 month apart. I fear to think what would happen to us should he be posted away for longer periods of time.

Anyway, back to topic at hand. You see most of my friends are in their mid to late 30s, married, without kids, and are all very successful up the career ladder. But unfortunately this doesn't come without a price. I do know most of them work extremely long hours to the extend that both husband and wife, though living together and sharing the same bed, hardly spend much time together. It's either one is working late till wee hours of the night or the other is traveling for work. What does it all mean at the end? Yes, they probably be able to retire in their 40s, go on the best and most expensive holidays, live in super plush houses and be treated at the best hospitals in their old age. But we all die at the end right?

So isn't it better to be mediocre? If my friends are reading this, they would probably say "look who's talking". But I think over the years whether for better or worse my approach to life and money has changed. I don't deny wanting loads of money, I don't deny wanting to have the best of everything life has to offer. But somehow it doesn't seem to be the "be all and end all" of my life anymore. Someone else will always have more than me.

So how should I live my life for it to be meaningful? What do I want out of life? For me I would like to think it would be as follows (in no particular order except for number 1) :

1) To be someone who glorifies God in all I do (very challenging for me)
2) To talk to God daily.
3) Work hard and earn all the money I can. (very challenging as well..I'm quite lazy)
4) Be willing to give it all away to God anytime.(Love to be able to do this)
5) To find people to care for. (I love doing this)
6) Not to hold grudges. (hmm...let's ask hubbs)
7) To try to forgive always ( trying...is trying)
8) To die surrounded with people who love me (no kids...how?)
9) To remembered for more ways I've touched others than ways I've hurt others. (not succeeding so far)
10) To be hugged and give hugs daily.
11) To be able to say "sorry" even when I know I'm right.(I am.. most of the time:)..hee hee)

Now that I've got it all listed out, hopefully I'll be able to put it into practice someday.

No One Visits My Blog :(

2008-09-17T18:35:00.002+08:00

Ok ok...the "kiasu-ness" in me has infected this blog. I was just reading other blogs and realised that a decent blog has at least a few hundred hits a day. Mine is averaging 4 hits a day and that includes me visiting the blog once, maybe twice a day. This is so sad. I've also recently installed this tracker by the side to see where my 4 hits a day originate from. One from Perth- my online doc :), one from Oklahoma - cow cow, and 2 from KL- me and me.

So my two loyal readers, please visit twice a day so that I can start averaging 6 hits a day :)

Current mood: Kiasu-ly lame :)

The Female Meaning of 'Go Forth and Multiply'

2008-09-15T23:57:00.000+08:00

Someone sent me this today describing the female's great ability to do more with what she is given. I believe most married men will agreed. My hubbs certainly does! Well, maybe not the first part, but he sure agrees with the final sentence. He reckons my gift for that is unmatchable :)

"Whatever you give a woman, she's going to multiply. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So - if you give her crap , you will get a bucket full of s**t "

Sick..

2008-09-14T20:19:00.002+08:00

Ok I'm officially sick. Diarrhea has gotten worse. Feeling nauseated and very lethargic. I think the lymph node below my neck is swollen so there's this bruised feeling when I tilt my head right. Missed church and Sunday School today. Missed dinner with Rev Ong and family :(

Thank God for online Dr June. She's the best. If only she was in KL then I would never have to go see crap GPs. Went to see the neighborhood doctor yesterday and apparently my lymph node is swollen because my tonsils are super inflamed. But how can they be inflamed if I don't feel any pain. Oh well go figure. So much for neighborhood doc.

Time to hit the toilet again :(

What on Earth is Happening to the Country???

2008-09-12T22:18:00.002+08:00

I'm so upset with what is happening to our country. People that should be arrested are not whereas those who probably do not deserve to be arrested are being detained. There's so much I want to let out but I know it is not possible here. I so wish I had someone to talk to and hopefully see a way out of all this!! What can I do? To blog about it could lead to severe repercussions and to keep it in makes me more sick than I already am. A friend of mine is already setting up businesses in China and has a back up plan all in place. What about me? Is anyone else feeling as frustrated as me????

To be very honest, I don't really care which political party comes to power. All I want is to be able to live in this country free of trouble and discrimination. I know this may not sit well with some die hard reformist but call me short sighted for all I care. I just want all this s**t to go away so that the country can continue to prosper and that all can live without being suspicious of each other. Come to think of it, in my little gold fish bowl world, it seems like I wish that the country would go back to the good old days where cronyism and corruption was out in the open. At least then, all the big whales were well fed and minions like us benefit from their cast offs. With all the whales satisfied, as least there was some semblance of peace and harmony!!!

Current mood: Sick, frustrated and wanting to throw something against the wall!!!!

Is Medicine Sorcery?

2008-09-07T17:41:00.003+08:00

Just last week this guy I know was complaining about having a bad back. So, me being my usual busy body self suggested that he either visit a doctor or a physiotherapist. Then he shared that he's been visiting a few physios secretly as his wife is totally against seeking any kind of medical treatment other than healing through faith and prayer. Apparently she believes that visiting doctors means doubting God's ability to heal. I've never met his wife but from what I know she's rather well educated and I was rather surprised that there are actually smart people out there that can be so misguided.

I've mentioned somewhere in one of my postings before that I know that God can do things that humanly we cannot even begin fathom but I also believe that God uses people such as doctors to carry out His healing work in the world. Sometime back I received an article written by our bishop on how some people out there, including some within the Methodist church that have been severely misguided by false prophets in our midst. I'm not sure whether there's any kind of copyright infringement here by posting his article but I'm going to risk it as I believe that the article really sets the record straight about what the bible feels about modern medicine.

Is Medicine Sorcery? By Bishop Hwa Yung (Source: Pelita June 2008)

What a silly question to ask? Really?

A couple of months ago I received a desperate call from a pastor of one of our churches. At least two couples in his church had come under the influence of the teaching, propagated by certain websites in America, that medicine is a form of sorcery. It is also taught by certain leaders of some independent and charismatic churches in our country, although they appear to be only a tiny minority. Unfortunately the effect has been devastating for some who have come under their influence.

The pastor who called told me that the husband of one of the couples had been diagnosed of suspected cancer. But he was told that medicine was a form of sorcery and to seek medical treatment was equivalent to idolatry. He should instead trust God as the true healer. The result was that the person concerned believed that he had been healed by God through prayer, but nevertheless died a few months later!

In the case of another couple in the same church, the wife had been suffering from terrible bodily pains. Following the same teaching, they refused medical care even though the wife’s condition deteriorated to the point that she was bedridden much of the time. When they finally sought medical help, it was diagnosed as a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis. Left untreated, it had given rise to intense suffering and could have even led to an early death. Meanwhile, the woman’s brother was suffering from an incurable illness, although the effect of which could have been partially arrested through a cocktail of drugs, thereby prolonging his life substantially. Yet again, under the same influence, he stopped medication and died within a short time.

I had heard such stories before and now I find myself face to face with a similar situation in one of our own churches.

This article is based on the sermon I preached at the church on that Sunday morning when I was there, seeking to deal with a situation of utter confusion and desperation! Let me therefore say right away that my concern here is primarily pastoral. Moreover, it is addressed to Christians deeply troubled and devastated by false teachings in our churches!

A case of bad logic

The immediate source of this teaching comes from an article posted on an American website titled, ‘Roots of Modern Medicine.’ The argument put forward is that modern medicine comes from the Greeks. One of the most important aspects of traditional Greek medicine is the Hippocratic Oath, which is basically pagan or idolatrous. It begins with the words: ‘I swear by Apollo the Physician, and Asklepios and Hygieia, and all the gods and goddesses that, according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this oath …’ The article argues that modern

medicine is rooted in pagan practices and therefore a form of idolatry and/or sorcery. The Bible teaches that healing comes from God. Therefore we should not go to doctors and instead should seek healing from God alone.

The first thing that must be said about this line of teaching is that the reasoning is badly flawed.
To begin with, whilst it is true that the Hippocratic Oath was taken before pagan gods and goddesses, no doctor today takes that oath and certainly not with the same idolatrous associations! We cannot therefore simply jump to the conclusion that modern medicine is associated with idolatry. Nevertheless, as an aside, it should be noted that there are many good ethical principles enshrined in the Hippocratic Oath, such as never giving anything harmful to the sick, refusing to carry out abortions and never taking advantage of patients. These remain the ideals of many in the medical profession today, even though, sadly, they have often been violated by some.

The above article actually only deals with western medicine. Doctors of old, outside the Greco-Roman world, had nothing to do with the Hippocratic Oath. At the same time it is true that in most cultures, medicine and religious/occultic practices were usually inseparably mixed together. Does this mean that, because all forms of medicine in most cultures have pagan religious associations, therefore medicine is idolatrous? Such an argument demonstrates bad logic once again. The fact is that there is hardly anything that we have today, which has been passed down to us from the past, that was not associated with religious/occultic practices of sorts. For example, astronomy began with roots in astrology. Yet we do not refer to astronomers today as pagan priests! Although they shared similar roots, over time astronomy and astrology became clearly demarcated from one another. In exactly the same way, with the advancement of our understanding of God’s creation, modern medicine became by and large separated from its religious/occultic roots. We therefore have to conclude that in general modern medicine has little or nothing to do with ancient paganism.

One more thing needs to be said. If the argument is that anything with idolatrous roots will always remain idolatrous, then I am afraid that would apply to Christianity too! What many Christians forget is that, when God called Abraham and his descendents, they were at that point of time not worshippers of Jehovah/Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament. A careful reading of Genesis will show that they were in fact pagans worshipping many gods. Any doubt about this is completely removed by Joshua’s assertion when he reminded the Israelites that ‘Long ago your forefathers …worshipped other gods’ (Jos 24:2), and his challenge to them to ‘throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord’ (24:14). But over time and through proper teaching, the worship of Israel was purified and rid of all idolatrous associations. The same can apply to medicine and all other forms of human knowledge and experience!

What the Bible teaches?

One of the great things that have happened to the church in the last few decades has been the rediscovery of the power of the Holy Spirit. But what is often forgotten in the midst of all the excitement of the practice of spiritual gifts is a simple reminder by Paul when he said, ‘Do not quench the Spirit …but test everything’ (1 Th 5:19&21), especially the need to test all claims to the work of the Spirit by the plain teaching of the Bible. Those who have been responsible for propagating the idea that Christians should not see doctors are often those with the gift of healing and have seen God healing marvelously through simple prayer! This much need not be denied. But

I suspect that often such persons forget that they may nevertheless lack the gift of teaching! Indeed, if they have a teaching gift as well, they would certainly know how to test their ideas by the plain teaching of Scriptures.

This brings us to the question of what the Bible has to say concerning medicine. First, the Bible does not teach a sharp distinction between divine healing and the use of natural means. For example, although Paul had a powerful gift of healing, he could nonetheless advise Timothy to drink a little wine ‘because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses’ (1 Tim 5:23). From time immemorial, the medicinal value of wine is well-known. Again, God had promised Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah that he would be healed of a terminal disease. Yet, this was immediately followed by Isaiah giving instructions to use figs as a poultice for healing (Isa 38:21). This example clearly shows that divine healing and the use of medicine are fully compatible.

Careful examination of the Bible shows that it not only speaks of the use of medicine positively, it even uses medicine as a metaphor for healing spiritually. For example, the Prophet Jeremiah clearly refers to medicinal remedies (qeha in Hebrew; 30:13; 46:11) as a metaphor for the deeper spiritual healing that Israel needed. In fact, when Jeremiah told the Israelites to ‘Go up to Gilead and get balm’ (46:11), it is a specific reference to the ‘balm of Gilead’ (Jer 8:22) for which the place was well-known. Similarly, the ‘salve’ for the healing of the spiritual eyes of the Laodicean Christians (Rev 3:18) was a metaphorical reference to the eye ointment for which Laodicea was known in the Greco-Roman world. Most importantly, in the eschatological vision of the ‘Holy City’ the Bible asserts that the leaves of the tree of life ‘are for the healing of the nations’ (Rev 22:2; cf. Ezek 47:12). Herbal medicine becomes a metaphor for the means of spiritual healing! If indeed medicine is sorcery, would the Holy Spirit have used various forms of it so freely as metaphors of salvation in the Bible?

Some pastoral considerations

The above shows that the case that medicine is sorcery becomes totally unsustainable in light of clear reasoning and, especially, the plain teaching of the Bible. What important pastoral considerations follow?

First, illnesses and diseases arise from different causes: genetic disorders, bacterial and viral infections, sin in personal lives, emotional disorders, and even demonic attacks. Ultimately all healing comes from God. But this does not mean that He cannot use different means—prayer, repentance, a loving community, medicine, surgery, etc. Certainly, we should seek God for healing in all cases. But we should also use all other proper means that He has ordained freely and joyfully!

Second, nowhere does the Bible promise that all would be healed. Again some clear thinking helps here. If God intends all to be healed, then there is no need for anyone to die physically. But that would be absurd! Even Cho Yong-Gi, the pastor of the largest Pentecostal church in the world and who has had a powerful healing ministry, clearly states in his book, How can I be Healed? (Seoul Logos, 1999, pp.135-143) that not all would be healed. The reasons he gives are, first, unrepentance, second, it is God’s time for these persons to return to Him, and, third, that God has some special plans for them. Wise words indeed!

Thirdly, those of us who are in the healing ministry must be careful of what we teach and say. As noted earlier, God may have given us a powerful gift of healing. But do we also have the gift of teaching to go with it? If we lack that, we must ask God for it so that our healing ministry is not compromised, or even negated, by bad or false teachings on our part. God has given us the Bible as our guide and if we do not use it properly then we will be severely judged for our failure (James 3:1).

Fourthly, in whatever ministry we are involved, there must be integrity. Without truthfulness and integrity, our ministries and churches will eventually implode! Many who have believed the teaching that Christians should not seek medical treatment have died or seen their loved ones die. The simple question is: How many more must die before we honestlyface up to the fact that this teaching has no real biblical support?
Sadly, those who have gone round advocating this have not been forthright about the numbers that have died under them or because of their influence. And unfortunately their colleagues and supporters appear to have maintained a conspiracy of silence as well! We only hear their success stories, whilst others are left to pick up the

broken pieces of their devastated lives and shattered faith, more often than not on their own without any help from those who had promised so much!

Space prohibits me from elaborating further. The reader may sense that this has been written with a certain degree of anger. But members of our church and others have died needlessly. How can we remain indifferent and not be angry! This matter confronts us with two urgent final concerns. First, the church must make serious efforts to rediscover its ministry of healing through prayer and fasting. We should pray earnestly that God will raise up many with the gift of healing in our midst. That is one sure way by which many will be brought to Christ and God’s

saving power manifested to the world.

But, secondly, at every level of the church, we must reemphasize the centrality of the Bible’s teaching. It is when we know our Bible, then and only then will we be set free from the bondage of erroneous teaching and satanic deceptions which are often, as this particular case shows, literally quite deadly!.

Living Off The Good Graces of Others

2008-09-06T22:49:00.007+08:00

Recently there has been so much talk about race and religion in the country that it started me thinking about my future in this country. When I read about how the Chinese are "lucky" to be allowed to stay on in this country, it really got my blood boiling. The thing is that I've never felt that I don't belong in this country that I was born and raised in and certainly I've never felt like an immigrant. I guess I've been naive all along and this recent incident really made me realise the attraction of moving to greener pastures. I mean if you're going to be told in your face that you're living off another person's good graces, and that the time will come when such good graces will expire, why not move on? Whenever I hear of a friend moving to live in Singapore, US or Australia, I've always been the first to expound my feelings of how great our country is and how silly of them to move to another place and be treated like a 2nd class citizen. Have I been foolish?

Did my grandparents not contribute to building this country? Did my parents not work hard and pay their taxes? Am am I living off the good graces of others and not contributing in any way to this country? In addition to working hard, paying taxes, contributing to the needy of society, what more can I do to prove that I more than deserve to be a worthy enough to call this country, my country, my nation and my home.

Current state of mind: Depressed, confused and disillusioned

Nut job!!

2008-08-31T00:36:00.002+08:00

I just read the following story in The Star today. How desperate can one get? IMO the headline should read as "Welder's plan to screw got screwed" :)

Welder`s love plans unscrewed
By MEERA VIJAYAN

JOHOR BARU: A welder who tried to elongate his penis with a nut found himself in a pickle when the nut got stuck after he had an erection.
The victim, from Taman Sri Skudai, had apparently been trying to increase the length of his penis ahead of his engagement next week when disaster struck.

t is learnt that the incident occurred on Thursday and the 20-something-year-old victim went to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital here to seek treatment when he was unable to get the nut off himself.
Unfortunately, hospital authorities were at a loss and had to call the Fire and Rescue Department for assistance.
A department spokesman confirmed that they received a call from the hospital yesterday, and sent seven firemen to help out.
They, too, were unable to remove the nut.
At press time, the nut was still firmly attached to the base of the man's genitals.
This is the second case in the past week involving objects stuck on penises. On Aug 25, firemen were summoned to the University Malaya Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur to cut a steel ring from a patient's penis after numerous attempts by doctors failed to dislodge it. It is believed the patient, in his 20s, had slipped the ring onto his penis to increase his sexual prowess."

I think anyone silly enough to resort to such measures either has a disastrously small member or a pea sized brain. Maybe more of the latter.

I also wonder as to how well trained our public sector doctors are since they had to call the fire department for help in dealing with such a small matter (no pun intended). Or maybe the steel ring actually worked so well that a scalpel couldn't do the work and they needed an axe. :)

Update on Crap Doc

2008-08-24T21:31:00.007+08:00

Last Thursday, I followed Noe to see her doctors. I met her oncologist (I'm surprised how young the doctor is..a little too young for my liking to be treating Noe and speaks with a wanna be accent) as well as the "world renowned" surgeon who messed up her chemo port, who also speaks with a "keh ang moh" accent. What is it with people who have been overseas to study...there's no need to show off your accent!!

I don't know about you but I have a certain expectation of what doctors should look like. And trust me, this surgeon looked more like a market pork seller than a surgeon. Prior to the visit, Noe took our advice and met Prof Y for a second opinion on her chemo port. As expected, Prof Y said that the port had to be taken out and what more it was infected/swollen and sweating from the scars. Unfortunately, the "world renowned" surgeon had to take it out since no one would want to touch his shoddy work. We were rather upset because that would mean Noe would have to get him to operated on her again. Poor Noe.

When it was our turn for the consult with crap doc, he was shocked to see that Noe brought friends with her and if I noticed correctly, he was trembling. And I must say that was quite satisfying. To his credit, this time he actually apologized for the non functioning leaky chemo port. But I was rather disgusted that he touched Noe's hand in the midst of consoling her. I was so tempted to tell him to take his hands off my friend but I had to control myself because he still had to work on Noe. Crap doc had the audacity to suggest that maybe Noe should let him carry out more test on the port. Come on!!! What other test are needed? The scars are sweating, the surrounding area inflamed and she was already burnt once by the chemo. Just get the bloody thing out before things get worse!!

One would think that rather than risk being sued, one would try to salvage what is left of a bad situation by suggesting that the following operation would not be charged. So when we clearly stated that it would not be right for Noe to have to bear the cost of any follow up operation, he agreed that he would not be charging her for his work but she would have to pay for other related medical and hospital charges for the operation. This got us fuming mad as it certainly wasn't by choice that Noe had to undergo another operation under GA. And guess what? Crap doc again had the audacity to suggested that maybe he should do the operation under the Government Wing rather than the Private Wing to save her money. Can you imagine how insulted we were!!!What balls!!!! (forgive my language- just so fed up with crap doc) Come on!! It's isn't about the money but the sheer principle of the whole thing. Doesn't he know that a leaky chemo port is solid grounds for a lawsuit? And to think he would rather risk his already "world renown" reputation over 2 measly thousands?!! All he needs is to do another 2 crappy operations on an innocent unassuming patient and all the cost would be covered.

To further reinforce his crappy-ness as a surgeon, he missed what I would think would be a rather standard procedure to check on especially with a cancer patient. As Noe just finished her first week of chemo and as expected according to her oncologist, her white blood cells were rather low and susceptible to infection. Noe clearly informed him twice that her WBC were low,(around 2.4) but he didn't even ask to see the blood test report and immediately scheduled a surgery the next day for the port to be removed. Thank goodness when we went back to see the oncologist and informed her that the operation would be the next day, she had the presence of mind to call up "crap doc" to suggest that he do the operation few days later when the WBCs improves. Is he crap or what?!!!

Anyway, Noe now has to wait for her WBC to improve and may only be able to remove the infected chemo port early this week. Guess what? Crap doc didn't even prescribe anything for the infection. The oncologist had to do his job for him!!

Please help pray that when Noe goes under this crap doc's knife again, he won't mess anything up and that her new line will be done much better by another doc in SJMC. (where I personally think she should have gone to in the first place)

Is It So Difficult For Doctors To Say Sorry?

2008-08-15T23:47:00.005+08:00

Ok before I start griping about how unprofessional some doctors can be I just want to clarify that I do acknowledge that God has a purpose for everyone and truly there are some doctors who are put here on earth to be God's healing hands. Unfortunately, there are also some who have gone ahead of themselves and think that they are god and that the rest of the world owes them a living.

In my opinion, I believe that any doctor that goes into the profession for the money do not qualify to be doctors. If money is the motivation then truly these doctors are doing an injustice to mankind. How can a doctor look at a patient and only see dollar signs and not the welfare of the patient? How can a doctor look at a patient and not empathize with the suffering and pain that the patient is going through? How can a doctor look at a patient and not want to do their best to heal or easy the patient's suffering? I know everyone is allowed an off- form day but unfortunately I think when it comes to dealing with anothers life there aren't second chances.

When someone chooses to be a doctor it comes with the job that they are expected to live up to a higher standard of care. Clearly no one is perfect and mistakes are made. But when you are dealing with a life and a mistake is made, there is even more reason why doctors should learn to apologize. I understand doctors find it very difficult to acknowledge that a mistake has been made for fear of lawsuits but as the saying goes there are many ways to skin a cat. One need not apologize for the mistake but at least be empathetic and acknowledge the pain that the patient has to endure for the "unexplainable" event/ situation.

So what caused this ranting? I've blogged previously about my friend Noe. As mentioned in my earlier post, her last scan results were not good and she has to undergo a much more intensive chemo treatment, this time 3 sets of 5 daily session in a row with a gap of one week in between sessions. When she did her earlier round of chemo, it was decide that to ease the pain of all the poking and vein finding, she would insert a chemo port. So she went to see this doctor, Dr C Ng, who is supposedly a surgeon at the hospital she's being treated in. From what I understand from my cousin, a chemo port is usually inserted close to the neck region where there is less flesh. For whatever reason this is done I'm not too sure. Anyway, this "brilliant" doctor decided to charge my friend $4,000 to insert the port. But after her surgery, when she woke up, she noticed that the port had been inserted just above the swell of her breast. When she asked this "brilliant" Dr C Ng, he said that he did it for cosmetic reasons, in case she wanted to wear any low cutting tops.

Come on!!!! Here's my friend trying to fight for her life and he's telling her about cosmetic reasons. How idiotic can he get?? So when she went for next cycle of chemo, as expected the port did not function well. So C came (note he doesn't deserve to be called a doctor) he twiddled with the port and lucky for him got it to work. Unfortunately, that was the first and last time it worked. So poor Noe had her veins poked for subsequent sessions. When the first cycle was completed, she returned to see C and all he could say was to wait for the scan results in order to decide how to proceed. The best thing was that for that so called "consultation", C had the audacity to charge her for the visit. Not a word of apology!!!

Unfortunately, as mentioned, the scan wasn't encouraging hence this new chemo session. Since her forearm veins can no longer be poked, she returned to C and went under GA for him to put in a new port. Mind you, the old port still remains. This time he charged her $2000 to correct his shoddy work. Just last Tuesday, Noe began her latest series of treatments, and guess what?! the port didn't work again. Not only did it not work but it leaked. Noe was in such pain and was crying as the nurses took the line out as the chemo leaked and burned her surrounding tissue. As expected, C was no where to be found. Even the oncologist couldn't reach him!! It is so frustrating to see someone who is already suffering to have to suffer more because of another's incompetence. So now Noe has to be poked day after day through whatever feasible vein on her hand.

I'm sharing this because not only because I want to vent but to warn others out there to stay away from this doctor. He doesn't deserve to be a doctor. Like my friend put it, he was more interested in reading about some anal probe allegation on his desktop than looking at her breast :) That truly shows how committed he is as a doctor. The shocking thing was that apparently he's know among other doctors as a con-man. I'm not upset that he made the mistake, what I am pissed off about is that he didn't even apologize to my friend for putting her though all this. So dear people, be aware and be careful when choosing doctors!!

Sad week

2008-08-01T01:37:00.001+08:00

It has been a rather sad week for me. First it was regards to my GM's mother who was recently diagnosed with cancer and had a hysterectomy. We visited her mom early last week and were very surprised that she recovered so quickly for a person of her age. She was extremely chatty and happy to see us when we where there. But lately, my GM shared with me that her mom over the weekend did sillythings like taking all her sleeping pills, drinking clorox and refusing to talk and eat. I visited her with a friend to pray for the mom and unfortunately it was so obvious that the lady I saw a week earlier was no longer the same. All she wanted to do was sleep and ignore us. I called my doctor friend and was adviced to get her to see the psychiatrist immediate. My GM immediately took her in the afternoon and the doctor prescribed some anti depressents and did a brain scan. The results came out and confirmed that her brain has shrunk. How is this possible? How can a perfectly sane
lady become senile just over one month? Apparently nothing much can be done except to hold the old lady and her family in our prayers as they face this new challenge in life.

The other sad news is about my friend Noe. She has just completed her 2nd round of chemo and apparently her latest scan doesn't look very promising. The doctors are now trying to figure out the next course of action. If you are reading this, even if you don't know her please please pray for God's healing to be upon her. Everytime I think of her I can't seem to control my tears but she with God's grace is so strong and cheeful. Please God, please heal her.

The latest crap/sad new I had to deal with this week was with regards to one of my manager's baby. The poor baby who is only 4 months old has been sick over a month and after being transferred from one hospital to another and after having been poke probed and puctured, the doctors can't seem to figure what is wrong with him. First it was suspected leukemia and then all the many test came out inconclusive. Today after being passed on the phone from one nurse to another in SJMC and all sounding rather reluctant to accept the child,they finally agreed to admit the baby once beds are available. Please pray that God will send capable doctors to help to help give this baby a fighting chance at life.

My prayer for this week is that God's peace and grace will be upon all those afflicted and that God will show me how I can help them and not feel so useless.

New House

2008-07-22T18:47:00.000+08:00

After much contemplation and delay, I've finally signed the sale and purchase agreement on my new house. I know I should be feeling elated that we're moving to a bigger house but somehow this nagging feeling of how are we going to make ends meet continues to bug me. I would like to think I've made the right choice so i'm not sure why I am feeling this way. I guess for now all I can do is hope that all plans fall into place.

Now the tough part on renovating and doing up the house begins. With construction cost going up like crazy I may be better off moving to live with my parents indefinetely and save money till I have a million bucks before I start my renovation works. Oh well, this year is indeed a year of change. Pray for me :)

Elmo Abuse

2008-07-14T23:28:00.000+08:00

This is what happens when Elmo goes mad. He just totally loves me and will start chewing and pulling on my arm. Hence the many love bites. I'm praying that he grows out of it. Today I introduced the hanger to him. It worked in scaring him for all of 5 minutes that was it. Maybe I don't scold him enough. Shall bring out my fierce side soon.

People have been asking me about my marks but no one believes that it was Hubbs that inflicted it onto me. Their immediate response was a big hearty laugh. Looks like I can't count on anyone for sympathy when it comes to Hubbs :( I guess Hubbs really does come across as a sweet harmless guy. Just my luck!!

Jokes aside, please pray that Elmo stops abusing me and that my bruises will dissapear soon.

Elmo's First Grooming

2008-07-07T19:20:00.001+08:00

We sent Elmo for his first grooming session last Saturday. It was really exciting for him and he came back looking like 130 bucks. Which I believe by a dog's standard is very 'hot' looking. He had his nails done, facial hair removed and a super neat hair cut.

The only unfortunately thing from the whole session was that he played hang man as well. You see when these professional groomers groom dogs, they put a thin noose around the dog's neck and let them stand on a table barely big enough for a big dog like Elmo and the table is elevated at least 4ft from the ground. The poor boy was so excited to see Hubbs and I after the groomer was done with him and lost his balance on the table and fell off. So he was literally hanging with the noose around his neck and his four legs hanging off the table. Luckily the table toppled if not poor Elmo would be no more :( Thank God everything turned out fine but Elmo was super tired after the entire session.

The Handsome Boy..

Polling on kids

2008-06-30T10:02:00.000+08:00

Dear Friends,

Of late I've been receiving no less than 5 not so subtle probings a day as to why Hubbs and I are not having kids. Even my gynea who I've only seen twice has nagged me about this. But that could be for other reasons. Anyway as both of us are truly indifferent, though if Hubbs could carry the baby for 9 months I'll be all for it, I've decided that the best way to go about this would be to set up a poll.

I know many reading this would have some kind of vested interest in me having a kid, but I do request that you limit yourself to one vote per person. I would also request that should you vote "Yes" to please include in this post 10 reasons why I should have a child. At this moment I won't commit as to what Hubbs and I will do with the results of the poll but I am sure that it will push us over one side of the fence.

Nevertheless, someone did mention to me that bringing another child into this fallen world only brings suffering upon the poor child. Especially given the existing food crisis. Think of all the many unwanted children without anyone to care for them. So think carefully before you vote ok? Polling ends on 30/6/08.

Happy voting!!!

Houseless

2008-06-19T23:08:00.002+08:00

Yup it's official, I'm houseless. Today we sold our house. I know I should be very happy with the price that it was sold at, we more than doubled the price we paid for it, but unfortunately to I'm not. After the buyer left I actually cried :( I guess it proves again and again that money cannot prevent sentimental feelings or emotional detachment. The buyer was so eager for the place that they paid the earnest money even before looking at the house. After spending 3.5 years, living in this house it's really sad that we have to move out in 4 months. So until the new place is ready Hubbs and I will be houseless and and homeless and that could mean anything from 4 - 6 months depending on external factors. I guess it is not easy to be leaving a place where Hubbs and I shared so many memories of the start of our life together. If only we could move all those along with us :(

The upside to this whole thing is that I believe God is leading us to a newer better place and He has plans for us that we may not comprehend. Maybe this is part of God's plan to move us to a bigger house so that we will feel the need to fill all the empty rooms :) I'm grateful to all who helped pray for the right decision and I know God will lead the way.

This remind me of a passage from Proverbs 6:13 "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans" I trust that this step we are taking is part of God's plan for Hubbs and I, just as He has promised in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. "Jeremiah 29:11

Bye bye house...I will miss you. Thanks for all the memories :)

Decisions decisions decisions.

2008-06-18T00:21:00.001+08:00

Someone mentioned in the cbox that my blog is as dead as hers. Yes I am so guilty of not only neglecting my poor blog but to be honest I've not visited it for over a week. Things have been so hectic at work and domestically as well.

So finally after such a long hiatus, I've decided to post from my phone. Please forgive the spelling and gramatical errors. (what's new right?!)

The past week has been full of having to make decisions. On the business front it has been about whether to increase or not increase our menu price with the escalating costs. It has also been a week of making tough decisions as to whether to proceed or not proceed on certain pre committed outlet sites given the current economic situation.

On the domestic side, things are a little more exciting. No..I'm not pregnant or anywhere close to being pregnant. Last Friday, Hubbs and I attended a small father's day gathering at Lin & Alan's new house. Somehow the thought of how great it would be to live in a bigger house (semi-d) in a better postal code (kiara) and to top it of having Lin & Alan as neighbours creeped into my mind. What's more Elmo would finally have garden to run around in!! So since Friday, Hubbs and I have been thinking, cracking our heads and contemplating finances as to whether we should move to be neighbours with on of the nicest couples we've ever had the priviledge to know. We've also been busy seeing houses around that area and calling up real estate agents for recommendations on semi-ds within our budget. So far we've not managed to find any semi-ds in kiara going for under 2million.

So the tough decision is this - sell the current house (I totally love the current environment but the house is too small ) or buy a super good value semi-d for 1.45mil (bigger house, the surrounding isn't great but we get great neighbours)

Any advice or comments that would ease our decision would be most appreciated. We're both praying that God will show the way. Pray with us ok?

Summary of Last Week's Events

2008-06-08T20:08:00.005+08:00

It's Sunday. The weekend is as good as over. I've been wanting to update my blog about the happenings of last week but somehow could never get my brain around to typing out proper sentences. Too tired. Anyway here's a brief recap of what has happened last week and what's on my mind.

Mummy's scope
Mummy went for her first stomach scope. It was quite scary as she didn't know what to expect and with the prevalence of cancer everywhere we didn't know what to expect from the results. She decided to go for the scope because of the recent happenings with her elder sister. My cousin insisted that she do a scope, with his friend Dr Ranjeev as the incidence of cancer in her family seems rather high. She initially did a Helicobacter pylori test and it came out negative. However when the scope was done the doctor decided to do a biopsy to check for abnormalities. Thank God from the scope everything seemed normal except that she had a few stomach ulcers that explained why she would get hungry so fast. As for the biopsy, everything was ok according to the doctor but he was surprised to find that there is presence of Helicobacter pylori in her stomach. He said that this was the first time he has encountered a blow test (which is supposedly 98% accurate) negative only to show up positive in the biopsy. Anyway, he put her on some combination of antibiotics to kill the H pylori and some medication for the ulcers for 2 weeks. Apparently the super potent antibiotics may cause nausea and super discomfort but thank God, so far mummy is feeling like normal. All in all we are all glad that there's nothing serious with mummy.

Fuel Price Increase
The price of petrol has gone up by 41%!! Apparently the government can no longer afford to subsidize fuel. I personally think that yes, we cannot expect subsidies forever but I think the government should not have suddenly increase fuel prices so drastically for the following reasons :
1) They promised not to do a fuel price adjustment before the election and I guess those that voted for the ruling coalition have been duped once again.
2) We are a net exporters of petroleum. Don't compare the rates we pay with those of Singapore and Thailand. How about comparing our fuel prices to that of Brunei and UAE? Just imagine you own a restaurant and then telling your wife and children who've helped you build the business "too bad I can't give you a discount on the food, pay full price" Ridiculous!!
3) As usual I don't think the government has fully thought through the impact of the increase especially when the country is already facing crazy price increases with basic necessities such as rice, chicken, cooking oil at historically high prices. Businesses will suffer, unemployment will increase, government tax collection will be reduced, the already high crime rate will further increase and the overall consumer sentiment will be even worse than after the shocking elections. The economy will be faced by stagflation.

Personally I am already feeling the pinch. My full tank used to be RM120, with the increase I will be paying RM50 more for a full tank. I'm more prudent in my spending, becoming rather tight fisted with money, driving less and thinking of selling my car. Anyone interested in buying a 4year old 2.5T XC90? Time to buy a MYVI.

Electricity for Businesses to increase by 26%
As mentioned everything is going up. With the fuel increase the government has also decided to increase electricity by 16% for households and 26% for businesses. Rice price has gone up by more than 100% chicken has gone up by 40%, logistic cost will go up with the fuel increase. All in all this all translates to a super double whammy for us. We can't pass on the increase to consumers through price adjustments as consumer spending has already dropped and all our costs have increased. So at the end of the day we are squeezed both from bottom and top. Anyone interested in buying the business? I'll stay on as an employee :)

Kung Fu Panda
This was the highlight of the week. Kim gave Hubbs and I premier tickets for the movie. It has been a year since we've stepped into a cinema and we are truly thankful that Kim gave us the tickets to get us off our butts to do something different in a long while. It was a nice break to the depressing events of the week. The movie was hilarious. "Po"- the panda, reminded me of Elmo. They are both motivated by food and will do anything for food :) It's so ironic that when we had to pay for movie tickets I would watch a cinema movie at least once in 2 months. Now even with a GSC VIP pass that entitles me to 2 free movie passes anytime, any movie I've never used it. So Thank You so much, Kim for the invite!! Note to Hubbs if you're reading this - we need to make an effort to watch Indiana Jones ok?

Boom Gate Situation
This is a follow up from my previous post. Last Friday the residents of my area had a meeting with the developers. It didn't start off too well because there was this silly guy (a resident) that was totally disrespectful towards our Committee chairperson. Both were fighting to speak first and another resident got involved by shouting asking the guy to shut up and it nearly escalated to a fist fight. I guess that wasn't too great considering the residents were supposed to be united on this matter. Thank God for cooler heads prevailing in the room to calm the situation. It's rather unfortunate to see residents fighting. Anyway, when the meeting finally got started, I felt that we were rather gentle towards the developers considering we were misled and duped by them. No one actually grilled them that badly that was until one silly developer's representative had the audacity to say that we should not be complaining as we have made a lot of money out of the place. He truly opened a can of "whoop-ass". As usual, the developer did not admit that they are at fault but rather they were working with MBPJ on a "goodwill" basis when the plans were approved. It was hillarious when one resident asked how much the "goodwill" cost. Anyway the residents repeatedly asked that the developers commit and acknowledge in writing their responsibility in ensuring that the boom gate issue is resolved favorably. As expected none of the representatives dared to agree. Nevertheless, the residents set a dateline for them by next Friday to get the letter or else we will demonstrate in front of the developers office and begin legal proceedings. I doubt they will produce the letter so look out for us in the Star metro ok? (The chief editor of The Star lives here as well)

So that's it for last week. Please pray with me that the coming week will be better and that God will grant Boss and I the wisdom and ability to face the challenges and uncertainties ahead.

Finally One Weekend At Home!!

2008-06-06T21:49:00.004+08:00

It has been a crazy two weeks. First it was camp and then last weekend I had to do my "tour of duty"in the south. I guess the real reason we had to go down south was because we had to attend our QC manager's wedding in Kota Tinggi, Johor. But I must say it was nice being able to spend time with Hubbs, Boss and Dad arguing about the current political situation of our country. Knowing how particular Boss and I are when it comes to accommodation, we decided that it was certainly a safer bet staying in Singapore even though most of our "activities" were in Johor.

On the way to Singapore we stopped at Batu Pahat to visit the two outlets we have there and because of that the entire journey down to Singapore took 8 hours instead of the usual 4.5. I guess the horrible traffic at the 2nd link didn't help. Last weekend was especially bad at both the Tuas link and the Causeway because it was the last weekend before foreign cars are banned from filling up petrol in Johor. The entire weekend was a blur because of all the travelling up and down between Singapore and Johor so I only remember a few things. The wedding, the "kampung" and of course the hotel.

The wedding was in some Felda estate that took us deep into Palm Oil plantations. It was a nice 2 hour journey. Being born and bred in the city my only encounter of Kampung life has been through the media. It was nice to finally get to experience Kampung life even if it was for only 30 minutes. I noticed that instead of having house numbers plastered in front of each house, they had the owner's name written on a sign. I guess it really shows how close knitted the community is. Unfortunately, being the lousy blogger that I am, I forgot to take pictures. But I did manage to take pictures of the bride and groom.

The happy couple...

Because we were surrounded by palm oil trees throughout the 4 hour journey to and fro, Boss and I started fantatizing about how great it would be if our forefathers had to foresight to buy land and plant palm oil. Life would be so different. We would literally have money growing on tress now. Oh well I guess selling chicken would have to do for now.

The other highlight of the trip last weekend was the hotel. When we are down in Singapore we usually stay at the Grand Hyatt right in the heart of Orchard Road. So this time was no different although we got upgraded to a bigger room. This trip however, was the first time I truly appreciated the hotel, especially the toilet. After each use of the shower I would come out and say to Hubb "This is so much better than camp...I can't believe I survived camp". It comes to show how scarred I am from the PD camp.

The hotel room...big because it had a separate living area.

The toilet...wish I took a picture of camp toilet to compare :)

So after the two hectic weeks of non stop traveling and running around, I'm glad I managed to wiggle myself out of a trip to KK this weekend. It is truly nice to be at home resting and of course updating my blog.

My Area Can No Longer Be Gated?

2008-05-29T22:24:00.003+08:00

Yesterday Hubbs and I received a notice from the resident committee that MBPJ has given the management of the community 14 days to remove the barriers from the entrance of the area. Apparently no gated communities have ever been approved in the PJ area. How crap is that? That would mean that kids can no longer run around freely without their parents and the pool and gym would have to be opened to the public.

One of the main reasons I bought this place was because of the guarded and gated concept. Over 5 years, the place has also appreciated more than 100% because of the guarded and gated concept. So you can imagine how upset and I was and still am to received such shocking news. Today I called up the resident committee president and apparently the developer did not obtain the necessary approvals from MBPJ. That would mean all the residents in this community were duped into buying the place because of their gross misrepresentation. I believe all of us living here were willing to pay a slight premium for house solely because of the guarded and gated concept. How irresponsible can the developer be?!!!

To rub more salt into the wound, there's a rumour going around that a certain ex-politician just sold the house in the community not long before the letter came. Would that mean that this ex politician knew what was going to happen and decided to cash out? How unfair is that?!!!

At this moment no one knows what is going to happen and what recourse we would have against the developer if MBPJ actually succeeds in removing the barriers. All I know is that this place will not longer be safe and our houses won't be worth as much anymore. So much for having foresight and living in a good piece of investment. I also wonder whether this is the work of the newly elected state government in their attempt to digg out corrupt practices of the previous state government. I guess if that's the case, those living here that voted for the opposition better start regretting!!

Sunday School Camp 2008 is Over!!

2008-05-27T20:53:00.003+08:00

Sonforce Special Agents 2008...Joel is soooo cute!!!

I'm so glad to be home. As mentioned in the previous post, the PD Methodist Center really needs a make over. When we were leaving for home yesterday, I figured out why the place is so dirty especially the toilets, other than the place being old. Just as we finished the final session yesterday, a group of youths from Jerantut were waiting to check into the place. Given that there are not more than 10 workers living in the Center I would imagine that it would be impossible to clean up 6 dorms, 4 chalets and 1 bungalow and the dorm toilets in time for the next group. So it was obvious that the caretakers don't clean up the place immediately after one group leaves. A few groups probably sleep on the same sheets and use the dirty messed up toilets before each cleaning cycle. Super yucky. I wanted to take a picture of the toilet to post it here but I figured I didn't want to have any memories of the place.

However, saying that, the camp itself was excellent. The kids had a blast and I hope that they managed to get to know God better and make God more personal in the lives. As for me I think it was nice to do something for God. While driving back yesterday, dangerously half asleep, I felt a sense of achievement, not of pride but the feeling that you've made someone happy and in this case, God. Although compared to a lot of the other teachers I didn't contribute much but I truly felt great that I managed to serve God albeit my many complaints .

The only thing that was a downer in the camp was the stealing incident and the notebook incident after the camp. To be honest I was a little depressed after finding out about the notebook because it just seemed as if we have all labored over the weekend for nothing since the message didn't get through that one child. To make things worse there were some parents who were rather bossy when picking up their kids. It was as if they paid us to take the kids to camp and hence had the right to boss the teachers around. Good thing was that this attitude was only limited to a few parents.

All in all, I was glad that I went to camp and managed to serve God in my little way.

I wanna go home

2008-05-24T20:48:00.000+08:00

Ok. Methodist bungalow in pd officially needs to be re built. The place is so run down, old and the toilets are beyond dirty. What to expect from a 40 plus year campsite right? Good thing that day 1 is over. Another 36 hour to home. I can't wait. Forcing myself to be constipated can't be too good.

Other than the camp site the sessions have been very good and i'm sure everyone felt the presence of God during the sessions. The kids and some super "on" teachers are having a blast.

Another 36 hours and counting. As for Elmo he's having a great time at doggie camp as evidenced in the picture above.

I wanna go home!!!! I wanna go home!!!!

Elmo's Off to Doggie Camp

2008-05-23T23:43:00.001+08:00

The weekend that I've been dodging for over a year is finally here and there's no escape for me. Yup Sunday School Kids camp 2008 is here. We've got 130 primary school kids under our care for 3 whole days. How exciting! Camp this time round is at Methodist Bungalow PD. Apparently the place is super runned down and rat infested. One can only imagine the condition of the toilets :( poor me!! Oh well like our organising chairman i.e boy, continues to remind us, we are doing this for God and I guess for God everything and anything is bearable. So please pray for God's grace to be with me.

As for Elmo and Rusty, since no one will be around to care for them we have placed the two cousins with Elmo's trainer. Looks like they too are off to doggie camp for 3 days. I bet they'll have a great time with the trainer. Boy's wife and I commented right after the two boys were picked up that now we know how it feels to be empty nesters. Ha ha!!

I'm already missing Elmo. Will blog about kids camp 2008 when I get back. Remember to pray for me ok? Oh ya, please vote as well. The poll isn't doing too well :(

Crazy Days Ahead!!

2008-05-19T21:12:00.004+08:00

This is going to be one crazy 2nd half of May. Tomorrow we will be doing our very first full commercial. It's going to be exciting but I know I'm going to be so tired. From what little experience I have with commercial production, I've got a feeling the shoot will drag way past midnight. So I guess it is a good thing that today is a holiday.

The coming weekend isn't going to get any better. I'll be off to Sunday School Camp 2008 with 100+ kids in PD. I know lame tortoise is looking forward to it. I guess I am too except I just wish camp wasn't in Methodist Center PD but instead in some 5* resort. One can dream right? The upside to it is that I've apparently been placed in one of the "better" accommodations on site. Oh well, I guess I just have to grit my teeth and close my eyes when using the toilets or either that be constipated for 3 days. At this moment, being constipated sounds like a plan.

The camp isn't the end of my crazy month. The weekend after that we'll be making a trip down to Singapore and along the way stopping by at few of our restaurants along the north south highway. Somewhere along the way we will be attending my colleague's wedding in Johor. And to further add to the crazy 2nd half of May, I've got to find time to make a trip to KB and another trip to KK for the opening of 1 Borneo. By the way, my last trip to KK which was last Friday took me 5 hours to and fro by air (of course) and I only had 3 hours in KK running between 3 different locations. Sigh, just writing about it is making me tired.

So again I say, with my life, having kids just wouldn't be fair don't you think? :-)

Cancer It Is

2008-05-14T21:25:00.003+08:00

I saw my aunt today. Unfortunately the doctor at UH has confirmed that it is 99% likely that the tumor, that is a size of an egg, is malignant. How sad. In the afternoon she visited my cousin Tim to do a biopsy just to confirm the 1%. He will be doing the masactomy on Monday. Good news is that the tumour apparently hasn't spread. Now we can only hope and pray that everything will go well and that this horrible disease will be contained.

Current mood: super depressed.

You Will Never Walk Alone

2008-05-14T21:22:00.002+08:00

This was posted by lame tortoise in response to my previous post. Thanks esiotrot!!

You Will Never Walk Alone

Point of Grace

Verse 1:
Along life's road
There will be sunshine and rain
Roses and thorns, laughter and pain
And 'cross the miles
You will face mountains so steep
Deserts so long and valleys so deep

Pre-chorus:
Sometimes the Journey's gentle
Sometimes the cold winds blow
But I want you to remember
I want you to know

Chorus:
You will never walk alone
As long as you have faith
Jesus will be right beside you all the way
You may feel you're far from home
But home is where He is
And he'll be there down every road
You will never walk alone

Verse 2:
The path will wind
And you will find wonders and fears
Labors of love and a few falling tears
Across the years
There will be some twists and turns
Mistakes to make and lessons to learn

Pre-chorus:
Sometimes the journey's gentle
Sometimes the cold winds blow
But I want you to remember
Where ever you may go

Bridge:
Jesus knows your joy, Jesus knows your need
He will go the distance with you faithfully

Words and Music by Lowell Alexander
© 2001 Word Music, Inc. / ASCAP

Doc Says All Clear

2008-05-13T21:33:00.003+08:00

Went for my follow up gynea visit today. According to the lovely Dr Tang (again I have to say what a friendly and understanding doctor she is, if only all Malaysian doctors are like her, seeing a doctor wouldn't be such a dread) all is clear. Apparently the medication did work and the polyp/cyst (don't know the difference) is no longer there. So I was told to go forth and multiply.:) But I doubt I'll be doing that anytime soon. Thanks to all who helped pray. As always God is faithful. All praise and glory be to Him.

Today has been a weird day. Although I'm glad that my "oven" is clean, my mom and I just received news that my aunt may most likely have breast cancer. It's really so sad that cancer is so prevalent nowadays. The scary thing is that it seems to be happening to those close to us. Somehow nowadays, it seems that one either dies from cancer or heart attack or stroke. What happened to dying of old age? I've been moody and depressed the whole day about this as it made me question the purpose of life. To make things worse, I've not been able to talk to anyone or I guess more like I don't feel like talking to anyone, hence this post. Hubbs has been super busy of late and 3 nights a week I'm left alone at home, tired and just needing some companionship. And to make things worse, the nights when he's home early I'll be working late or in the case of this week, travelling for work. Am I suffering from depression or am I just tired? Go figure..:(

The silver lining to the whole day is Elmo. Thank God for the golden fur ball. Here's a picture of him that I just received from the trainer. Isn't he cute?

Elmo's Losing His Teeth

2008-05-04T20:14:00.004+08:00

According to the few doggie books that hubbs and I have been reading, a puppy will have his teeth fall out and grow new permanent teeth around 4-5 months. Looks like it has finally happened with Elmo. Two days ago, hubbs realised that one of Elmo's tooth was slightly shaky. And before that one dropped out another one began to wobble and then another and then another. So yesterday night while playing with him 2 teeth fell out. The other two miraculously disappeared so we figured that he probably swallowed it. Being the good "parents" that we are, we decided to keep the teeth. Maybe hubbs may want to put it under Elmo's bed and wait for the tooth fairy to arrive :-) Here are some latest pictures of Elmo chewing his favourite veal rib before his teeth began to fall and Hubbs favourite keepsake, Elmo's fallen teeth.

Elmo has got slanty eyes

This is how big Elmo is fully stretched out.

Elmo's teeth. Quite disgusting.

Sick..finally

2008-04-28T20:47:00.004+08:00

I've been spoiling to fall sick for more than a week now. And finally after a super tiring and hot weekend I'm officially sick. The throat is gone, body is aching, the chest is feeling congested and the head hurts. Funny thing is that I don't actually have a runny nose. My parent's are worried that it could be dengue but I doubt so. Anyway it was nice staying at home and just lying down the whole day. Tried sleeping but could sleep much so ended up watching 3 movies.

1) Lust caution - interesting but crap ending. Certain scenes were a little too graphic
2) Juno - Great show. Funny in a dark comedy way.
3) Penelope - Boring but saved by cute guy. The guy in the Last King of Scotland

Anyway this post is not going too well. The brain isn't thinking and hand mind co-ordination just isn't there. I've had to retype each word at least twice. Shall stop for now. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

Challenging Times Ahead

2008-04-25T19:48:00.002+08:00

I don't know whether anyone else is in the same situation as me. It has been a challenging few months for the business. Ever since the election things have been rather soft in the retail sector. It is probably worse in April since taxes are due at the end of the month. And to add coal to fire or more aptly to pour more cold water onto an already frigid economy, inflation is soaring but income remains stagnant.

I guess at times like this it truly pays to be an employee. Being an employer is tough as you always have to think first of others as well as how to react in such uncontrollable and unpredictable situations. So what does it all mean to me.

One thing for sure is that I've begun tightening my belt (unfortunately not due to weight loss but if this persists who knows). No more unnecessary new toys like the centro. No more watches and no more extravagant 5* holidays. Unfortunately, such prudent mentality only further contributes to the downward spiral of the retail trade. So what now?

As always in such circumstances we begin to see the greatness of God and the limited ability man. For in all things and in all circumstances God has a greater purpose that we cannot yet see or recognise. So it does not mean that we resign to hopelessness but we should seize the opportunity to seek God's will and allow Him to use and mold us for the future.

Just like a phrase I read somewhere "all sunshine and no rain causes desert". Please pray for God's will to be clear and that things will turn out for the better in the long run.

Powderful Engrish

2008-04-22T18:35:00.013+08:00

As China prepares for the upcoming Olympic games, the government as well as some ingenious retailers have decided to make their signs more tourist friendly. The results are as follows. Totally hilarious. Wonder how much it would have cost them to get professional translators.

Now, who would willingly accept a strangler's invitation

The poor pool boy will have to take a break

Yes, I'll treasure it and keep it safe. China souvenir.

A challenged buffet.

This is where you meet stranglers

If only our rears are that juicy.

Yes, especially those stranglers

Like they say, it is good to tie up loose ends before dying

Users beware. If you insult it, it will turn around and s*%&w you!!

...cooked with a lot of heart :-)

Pregnant women above 70 should certainly get special treatment. Maybe in the Guiness Book of World Records?

Please don't unless you're into kinky stuff.

Be serious at all times.

Hmm..maybe the books contain a detailed description of what LOTR hobbits do in their spare time?

Yes...especially when in China as not everyone is as tall as you.

Huh?

Yes yes, please market this to all the wives out there. Beats saying "I've got a headache dear".

Oh don't be so harsh on the Chinese.....if we had to translate to mandarin we'll probably get it wrong as well.

Safe for export. Who says China toys are poisonous to American kids ?

Please try to be in trouble if not the poor receptionist will be bored.

Drink and be merry. But refrain from sex after that. You may produce cubs.

Who says you need translation to convey a message. A graphic picture says it all.

Think of the kind slip to execute before slipping. Choose the careful type.

Stuck in KL traffic

2008-04-21T17:44:00.000+08:00

There are some things that never change and KL traffic coming to a crawl when it's pouring is something that's extremely reliable. Yes I'm caught in horrible peak hour traffic and it's pouring. Good thing that I've got my relatively trusty palm to do some mobile blogging.

Received some great news yesterday. Sue and Jeff are officially together and engaged. I'm so glad that those two have finally decided to get their act together. I'm really looking forward to their wedding.

Can't really think of much to blog about. Been having bodyaches and a slight headache all through yesterday and today. I'm hoping it's just a flu bug and not dengue. I'm feeling so tired and would love to crawl into bed but we're recording a new advert today so will have to be at the studio. Oh well..no fun being your own boss.

Current mood: tired and unwell :(

Elmo Is Exactly 4 Months Old

2008-04-19T10:29:00.008+08:00

Elmo is exactly 4 months old today. He was born on 19th December 2007. Unfortunately, he doesn't look anything like my profile's picture anymore. But he's still cute as ever. Hubbs and I showered him this morning and boy, has he grown!! I believe he's verging on obese just like his owner. Ok Ok his owner isn't just verging on obese..she IS obese :)

Anyway, here are pictures of him after his shower. Isn't he a cutie?

Elmo with a toy bone in his mouth

Elmo right after blow drying

Hubbs carrying elmo. At the rate Elmo is growing Hubbs won't be able to carry him much longer.

Is Honesty That Difficult?

2008-04-17T23:02:00.001+08:00

I've blogged about this before and it pains me to have to blog about this again. Somehow it really does seem as if being honest is extremely difficult for some people. This time around it hurt even more as the person that was being dishonest was someone very close and dear to me. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that the person has lied to me.

Again I ask. Am I that gullible? How am I supposed to trust anything that comes from that person's mouth if lying seems to be a default reaction of the person when stressed? Don't people ever realise and learn that lying catches up with you? It also seems that nowadays feigning forgetfulness or ignorance is a way to salvage an uncomfortable situation when caught lying. Again I ask..am I that stupid?

Why can't people just own up when mistakes have made rather than retreating to the sinful convenience of lying!! Although I've blogged recently on not wanting to have any similarities with a particular ex minister I must say that at least he had the decency to own up to his short comings (no pun intended) when he was literally caught with his pants down.

Lying only adds distrust, multiplies your immaturity and subtracts any goodwill from any relationship. And for those who are inherent serial liars I hope you do realise that apologizing no matter how profusely or how genuinely isn't going to salvage anything until your attitude and approach to being truthful is fully embedded into your very core and nature and unfortunately such "reborn" attitude will last up to the point that you've have been caught lying again. So save your effort and the ears of the wronged party until you have truly decided to change.

People please grow up and be men/women that God intended you to be - men /women of truth and integrity !!

Current mood : very hurt.

New Old Look

2008-04-16T20:04:00.001+08:00

Yesterday I changed the look of my blog and today I did something even more drastic. I chopped off my hair! After 6 years of long hair I've decided to revert to my short boy cut. For those that know me more than 6 years, yes helmet head is back. Leslie will be pleased. Hubbs still doesn't know so it's going to be a surprise to him. Hopefully a plesant one.

The benefits of having short hair as wifey has clearly pointed out is that i'll save on shampoo, conditioner, serum and of course water. But the best part is that I get to look like I'm 18 again. Now who doesn't want to look forever young! Let's see how long I'll stay with this new old young look. To my friends out there be kind and try not to laugh ok?

Change of Template

2008-04-15T19:33:00.004+08:00

It has just come to my attention that a disgraced ex health minister uses the same template for his blog. As such I've decided to change the template in mine. Although it doesn't affect me in anyway I am not too keen to have any similarities with any politician let alone an unfaithful adulterous man. So here's the new template. Although, it isn't as vibrant as the old template I guess this will have to do for now.

Eyesight test

2008-04-14T18:43:00.002+08:00

I saw the above eyesight test on another blog. I'm proud to say that I passed the test with only one look with my surgically corrected eyes. Hmm..so if I have surgically corrected perfect eyesight how do I interprete the results of the test? :) or if my eyes have been surgically corrected and yet my eyesight is not perfect does it mean there's no hope for me? :(

For those unmarried people out there if you are hoping that your 'eyesight' improves after marriage do continue to hope but be warned it may just be a pipe dream :)

Those under age reading this, I hope you fail this eyesight test miserably.

Picture Blog

2008-04-12T21:59:00.001+08:00

Testing whether I can post pictures on my blog using email. Here goes.

Elmo's Not as Cute Anymore

2008-04-12T11:08:00.001+08:00

I guess there's a day when a parent wakes up only to realize that their kid has grown up into a teenager and instead of being cute chubby kid, they've become an ugly mutt. In my case that day is today. Elmo is officially an ugly mutt.

Hubbs woke up early to shower him today. Usually after a shower Elmo is at his cutest and I was looking forward to seeing him in his cuteness when I woke up. But today when I saw him after the shower he didn't look like Elmo anymore. He's begining to look more like a grumpy old man that's stuck in a boy's body. I'm sure you can imagine how disjointed he looks now. Isn't that so depressing?

Well I guess just like any parent we will continue to love him no matter how ugly he becomes. But it won't stop me from bringing out all his younger photos and begin to wish "if only...."

Mobile Posting

2008-04-12T10:01:00.002+08:00

I've finally figured how to blog on the go. Thanks to gmail (the only email that I'm able to access on my palm centro for the time being). So here's my first posting from my phone!!

First Gynea Visit

2008-04-09T22:35:00.002+08:00

I had my first gynea visit to day. I was rather worried about it but I guess it turned out ok. All I can say is that I'm glad I decided to consult a female gynea compared to a male. It would have been so awkward. The doctor, Dr Tang Boon Nee from SJMC was super excellent and I guess she made the whole experience much easier, no pun intended :-). She's probably one of the friendliest doctors I've ever met in my few doctor encounters (thank God) and she doesn't make you feel like you're asking stupid questions. Best thing is that she bothers having a conversation with you rather than a Q&A session. I would strongly recommend her to anyone looking for a female gynea. However, as with any gynea, be prepared to take half a day off if you plan to see her. Anyway, I'm back on medication and hopefully things will be better in a month's time and I won't have to go for a minor operation. So please keep me in your prayers!!

Rusty Is Better!!!

2008-04-09T22:29:00.004+08:00

I happy to report that after 4 days from having super diarrhea to being super constipated, Rusty has finally pooped normally tonight. His stools are back to the usual brown colour albeit a little runny. I guess the make-believe vet in me reckons that it's a good sign and that he's on the road to recovery. So glad that I can stop feeling guilty and worried mad about him being sick. Thanks to all for prayers!! Boy sent me picture evidence of his poop but I don't think anyone would appreciate me posting the picture :-)

New toy!!

2008-04-09T21:33:00.005+08:00

I've got another new toy. After 2 months of contemplating whether to get the new Palm Centro or in the very first place whether there's a need for a new phone, I finally got the Centro yesterday for RM1399 including a 2G micro SD card. I must say that it was extremely daring of me as this was the first time in my "toy" buying history that I've bought something before even laying my hands and my eyes on the actual thing. Although, I must say that the Dopod hanging on me the whole of yesterday gave me the additional push to get a new phone. Prior to yesterday whatever I knew about the Centro was either through talking to people or the internet. Nevertheless, I'm glad to say that I'm quite happy with my impulsive purchase. Apparently it was launched at 6pm yesterday and I got it at 6:30pm :-) Talk about "kiasu"!!

Phone and Box

After using the Centro for 24 hours I will say that the phone is quite easy to use. Certainly very straight forward to setup and configure as compared to my previous Dopod. I guess it helps that I'm not new to the Palm OS. The other excellent thing is that now as compare to the palm handhelds that I've used previously, this can sync with MS Outlook. So I don't have to go through the hassle of figuring out how to convert the Outlook files to Palm Desktop. The size of the phone is a big plus factor as I can now carry the phone in my pocket and not have to put it in my handbag all the time. Helps especially when I have to help out at the restaurant.

However, because of it's small size the QWERTY keypad took a while to getting used to. At times I've had to use my nails to press a key. The size of the keypad was one of the "maybe not" factors in deciding whether to get the phone. Someone told me that the small keypad wouldn't be an issue unless I have giant fingers but Hubbs actually saw it in the US and said not to get it because the keypad was hopelessly minute. I figured that I don't think I have giant fingers hence the purchase yesterday. But seriously, I would advice the guys to really have a test drive on the actual phone before buying it. What is lacking in terms of text input is that it would have been great if it came with a predictive text input function. Helps prevent cramming of thumbs.

Another downside to the phone is the fact that it doesn't have wifi and doesn't run on 3G nor HSDPA mode. It only has EDGE. Hubbs reckons that I've downgraded by buying the Centro because the Dopod has all the above plus GPS. However, I must say that the net surfing speed on the Centro is just as fast or I dare say maybe slightly faster than on the Dopod on EDGE. I reckon this has got to do with Blazer being more efficient than IE. If only it has wifi...

Prior to buying the phone I've heard die hard palm users touting the stability of the Palm OS. Maybe it's just my luck but in just 24 hours of owning the phone, it has hung on me no less than 5 times. Of which I've had to soft reset twice by removing the battery. (Centro doesn't have a soft reset button) As I said maybe it's just my luck but other than that, the speed of switching from one application to another is certainly faster and not as lagging as WM6. I'm hoping that the "hanging" experience today was just part of the "getting to know you" process and would actually stabilize once we've gotten to know each other better.

Overall, I'm happy with the phone. I'm glad I bought the phone but I wish the nagging feeling of having downgraded will pass with time :-) For now, I'm still carrying my Dopod on a prepaid Celcom line just in case. ;)

Rusty's Not Well

2008-04-06T19:10:00.004+08:00

It's officially the end of my 1 week break and somehow I feel that I need another break. Maybe I'm suffering from work depression. Is there such a thing? I bet there is and I'm sure a lot of people out there also suffer from this type of depression. Think of work get depressed. Work depression!! :)

Yesterday was eventful. Rusty and Elmo got re-acquainted. It was nice seeing both of them trying to out do each other for food.

Elmo and Uncle Rusty waiting for treats

Rusty unfortunately ended up with diarrhea today. Had to rush him to the vet because he vomited as well. I can't figure out exactly what upset him but according to the vet it was most likely the mixture of too many new types food. He refused to eat so we had to mix some chicken breast meat and Prescription ID into his usual vegetarian meal. I'm so upset with myself and I am truly praying that his bout of diarrhea will get better in a few days. Currently the Vet has put him on replacement salts, antibiotics and some kind of digestion pills. So please help pray that he gets well soon.

As for Elmo, his diarrhea is still persisting but the vet reckons it could be due to the deworming pills we fed him on Friday. So, no fun today. Both dogs down with diarrhea. Hopefully the week ahead is brighter.

Disc Prolapse

2008-04-03T17:55:00.005+08:00

According to my online medical consult, I've got Disc Prolapse. Apparently the layman term for it is a slipped disc but I would imagine mine isn't too severe since I've managed a month without much complaining. Anyway, I was given 3 options to resolve the problem 1) take pain killers, anti inflammatory meds and see a physio 2) See a bone doc and get 2 jabs in the back 3) Surgery. I think at this moment option no.1 seems the most attractive. Ok....ok before anyone gets funny ideas, I would like to emphasize that this back pain has nothing to do with my Hubbs being back. He is not the cause of it, so no funny looks or questions ok? Anyway, thanks msnMD for the free consult.

Well, it's already Thursday and my week off has nearly ended. Unfortunately, I've not been able to sleep in as planned. I guess once you reach a certain age, the luxury of sleeping in goes as your inner clock just wouldn't allow it. Nevertheless, it has been nice waking up early, having breakfast with Hubbs (today I had pork ball noodles soup and chee cheong fun, yesterday was ttdi nasi lemak) and not having to rush anywhere. We have also been letting Elmo out of his room more often so that he can roam around the house. He getting cuter by the day. Now if only we can fully toilet train his pee-ing then he'll be easier to let around the house. Today we watched "I Am Legend" (crap show) and "Why Did I Get Married" (excellent show) - a must for couples. Don't worry guys, it quite a balanced guy/female show. Even Hubbs being sooo guy reckons its a good show.

As you can see the week has been a week of sloth and gluttony. My appetite has return (not that it was really gone in the first place) but I seriously doubt that's a good thing. Note to self, have to start walking Elmo so that I get my exercise as well. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day of running around so I'm going to enjoy the rest of today ending with AKC's yummy popiah!!

Hubbs is Back

2008-04-01T22:31:00.006+08:00

We've entered the 2nd quarter of 2008. I'm not sure about you but I find that 2008 is flying too fast . Good thing is that Hubbs is finally back. I didn't think that I would be so happy to see him since the last time when he was away for 2 months, I didn't really miss him that much. This time I felt the same before he came back but seeing him today made me realised how different life is when you've someone special to share it with. It's great having him around!

I guess the many gifts he got for me from the US helped as well :-) Hubbs got me a new watch for my birthday (the Hamilton watch that I've previously blogged about), a new digital camera - Canon powershot sd790is (10mega pixels), 2 belts from Banana Republic, 10 packets of eclipse chewing gum- to chew till my teeth drop off and 4 oral B battery operated toothbrush (can't find anymore here). I will try to take pictures of all my US gifts using the new camera and post it here when time permits. Thanks so much Hubbs for the lovely gifts!

Elmo too was so excited to see Hubbs. Hubbs got him two new toys as well. It has been a eventful day for Elmo. Hubbs showered him and later in the evening, we took him for his very first play date. We took him to Boy and Wifey's place to meet uncle Rusty. Elmo had a blast and I think Rusty really showed him who's boss although it was rather obscene seeing Rusty trying to hump Elmo. :-) As Boy and Wifey's neighbour clearly pointed out "so gay". But I'm sure everyone enjoyed seeing Rusty chase Elmo and Elmo constantly retreating to the DMZ - safe zone. ( small fenced out area in boy's car porch) When Elmo got back he was so tired, all he could do was pee and then he just "plopped" himself down and refused to move. He could barely open his eyes and Hubbs had to carry him into the back room.
I've taken some pictures of Elmo using my new camera. Enjoy.

Elmo taking shower

On the way to Boy and Wifey's place (elmo has scarey green eyes)

Uncle Rusty and Elmo (both taking a breather from playing)

Finally on Leave!!

2008-04-01T22:29:00.001+08:00

(this posting was supposed to be up on 31st of March but my streamyx line died mid way)

Today’s the start of my 5 day leave. Finally I’ve managed to take some time off after 15 months of wanting to do so. It was weird seeing the today screen on my phone being blank without any upcoming appointments. Now my phone looks rather naked J Unfortunately, I had to go back into the office for what I thought would be a short meeting but ended up stuck in the office for half a day. Nevertheless the highlight my day was lunch with SY and Noe at LeMeridien’s Middle East restaurant. Food was interesting but the company made it excellent. I wonder how often I’ll be able to do this weekday lunch thingy. Would I ever be lucky enough to become a “lady that lunches” aka “tai tai.? Hmm….got to stop dreaming!! Don’t think that will happen anytime soon for a few reasons. Firstly I don’t think Hubb would be able to support me and secondly, if today was any example, by 5pm I was totally bored and didn’t know what to do with myself. Nevertheless, the 2 hour illusion of being a “tai tai” was fun.

Here’s a question for those that know me. Do I come across as being a “spoilt brat”? I was told today that I am. I would appreciate honest comments as to whether I am and why. The reason I’m asking is that I was told I am by someone who apparently knows me well that I do come across as one. Please help post either a comment or a message in the Cbox ok? Ok..ok..quote examples other than the fact that I cannot live with a dirty toilet ok? Which by the way is a phobia that I seriously think medically falls under the category of having OCD.

On a separate topic, Hubbs will be back in 10 hours. We’ve been apart for 5 weeks ( not the longest, last year was 2 months and in yr 2001 was for 3 months) and I must say I’ve kind of enjoyed being alone minus the drama with my parents. However, since he was gone for so long I think I’ve moved from being a “slight” extrovert to being quite very introverted. Oh well, if he goes away longer the next time I think I’ll turn into a hermit J I am really looking forward to spending the next 4 days not doing anything and chilling with him. Let’s hope and pray that nothing comes up in the office. So far I’ve managed to wiggle my way out of 2 appointments that my boss would like me to sit in. Hopefully for the next few days my phone will be silent!!

A Timely Reminder

2008-03-30T22:04:00.003+08:00

Today's meditation from Daily Bread is taken from 1 Corinthians 3:7

"It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow."

Sometimes we tend to think that all our accomplishments are because of what we have done. i.e we've worked so hard, studied so hard or practiced so hard that's why we deserve to be good or successful and to be complimented. I honestly do at times fall into such a trap although it may be masked with feigned humility.

The verse serves as a timely reminder to me that whatever compliments I receive be it about the business or whatever else I've done, is not due to me but clearly and truly due to God. I pray that I will always be reminded of this - that everything IS about God and from God and I am just an instrument in His macro purpose.

All glory and honour to Jesus!

It's Official. I miss Elmo more than Hubbs!

2008-03-29T09:40:00.004+08:00

Although Hubbs may not be too pleased with this posting, there is no point denying the truth :-). Sorry Hubbs. Since Elmo was sent for boarding 3 days ago, I've been thinking about him so much that I'll go into my blog just to look at his cute pictures. I've also called the trainer to check up on Elmo, probably more often than I've spoken to Hubbs through the phone during his 5 weeks away. I guess this is what happens when people have kids right? The Husband gets bumped into 2nd place, or maybe 3rd, or maybe 4th....(kidding hubbs). Good thing hubbs is coming back in 3 days but Elmo is back today!!!

So what's the lesson in this? Don't have kids? Ha ha. I hope Pas. Ong doesn't read this if not I'll be hauled up for a mini sermon on the need for a family ;)

By the way, I've learnt a new term. Hubbs and I are known as "DINKS" = Dual Income No KidS. So empowering right?

Is Honesty A Difficult Policy?

2008-03-25T20:10:00.002+08:00

It was a challenging day for me today. In 8 years of business, today was the first time I had to tell off a senior manager for being dishonest. Don't people realise that one lie leads to another and then after a while you'll lose track of the original lie and get caught? Especially when it comes to work, how am I supposed to trust the person now that I know he's capable of lying with a straight face even after being confronted. (the guy admitted to lying after much probing) I certainly learnt my lesson when I was 9 when my parents beat me with a cane so badly that I don't think I've told a lie since then.

I know that this may be a loaded statement but from my experience men tend to be more daring liars and yet less convincing ones. Do you agree? Also, are there any justifiable reasons to lie? Let me know what you think either in the Cbox or in the comments.

Elmo's First Boarding

2008-03-24T22:59:00.005+08:00

Wet Elmo

This Wednesday till Satuday Elmo will be sent for his first boarding. It's going to be a crazy week for me with day trips to Kuching followed by another day trip to Kuala Terengannu the next day. I wish I didn't have to put him in boarding but I guess it just wouldn't be fair to him as I don't foresee myself having time to spend with him.

Luckily, his trainer has agreed to take him for RM25 a day. I've decided to place him with the trainer so that at least there will be someone to practice with him daily versus placing him in a dog hotel. I hope he doesn't miss home too much but I'm absolutely certain that I'll miss him. Just thinking of being without him for 3 days is already quite dreadful for me. I think I'll probably miss him more than I've missed hubb. :0) Note to hubb if you're reading this -(good thing you'll be back in 9 days or else Elmo will certainly replace you as THE man in my life)

Elmo has certainly grown since the last picture post. He's now as least 10-12kg in weight and 1 and a half foot tall. Good thing is that he's still looking cute. Like his owner, I think he'll grow up having a fat face. I will try to take some pictures of him so that I can add it to this post. Can't wait to take him out next week for his first walk about the park.

Elmo taken on 25th March 08

First Near Death / Serious Injury Experience

2008-03-24T22:41:00.007+08:00

Today was an eventful day. My boss and I decided to take an unplanned trip up to Ipoh to visit the outlet at Tesco. As usual immediately upon entering the outlet I headed straight for the kitchen to do my rounds of product testing. After spending 10 minutes in the kitchen speaking to the chef and the Area Manager who was also there, I walked towards the section where the upright water boiler was situated. Next to it was the deep fryer. Suddenly sparks started flying from a wire connected to the water boiler which was less than a foot before me. It twitched wiggled and more sparks started bursting out. This was followed by a bright yellow flame and a mini explosion. All this was happening right in front of my face and yet I didn't move and inch. I think I just froze. Now on hindsight I should have just run out of the kitchen. Thank God the wire did not fall into the deep fryer which had at least 5 litres of hot oil in it. If that had happened combined with the gas stoves in the kitchen I'm sure something really severe would have happened and I would not be blogging about this now. Truly God was with us then.

After the commotion died down, I discovered that the chef was trying to be "smart" by connecting a 13Amp wire plug to a 15Amp wire leading to the water boiler. The best thing was the connection was secured together by some flimsy black wire tape. Who taught him such silly things I've got no idea. If only he could apply his ingenuity to what he's actually employed for. All in all I'm just glad that nothing serious happened and I hope the chef learnt his lesson. Again, thanks and glory to God for His protection upon the outlet and all of us in the kitchen.

My Very First Traffic Offence

2008-03-23T23:50:00.005+08:00

Today was the first time in my 15 years of driving that I got stopped by the traffic police. A truly historical and memorable event in my life :-) It happened after I dropped HH back at her house in Kiara, along the SC road. I think I must have been so tired and keen to get back that I forgot that the road was prone to speed traps. Apparently, I was travelling at 90km/h and the speed limit on the road is 80km/h.

Once I got pulled over I immediately took out my purse to produce my IC and driving license. I think the police thought I was trying to bribe him. The first thing he said when I wound down my window was " so miss, how? You were speeding on an 80km/h road. What do you want me to do about it?" (of course this was in Malay) so I replied " So how? If I was speeding, saman (give me a ticket) lah." The police man was truly surprised and taken aback by my reaction and said "Oh mau saman ah? (oh, you want a ticket?)" He obviously expected me to plead with him and offer him some money. So I replied "Ya Encik, salah mesti saman (yes sir, if wrong then I deserve a ticket) ". I think he wrote the ticket reluctantly. Guess today was not his lucky day. Too bad he stopped the wrong person.

And that my friends, is a RM300 lesson on how to make our police force less corrupted!! (the "saman")

The Lord Is Indeed Risen!!

2008-03-23T23:17:00.008+08:00

Today is Easter. How wonderful it is for us that Christ is truly alive and living in all of us. Although it has been a tiring week with daily church services and super early prayer virgils, the week has certainly drawn me closer to knowing what God's purpose and plan is for me. It has also reminded me what is truly important and what our focus should be in our short stint on earth. Even while writing this ,the joy that I feel knowing that God is with me, is so overwhelming that I can't find the right words to express it. It is one of those feelings that you have to experience to fully comprehend.

Easter service today was one of the best services ever at KL Wesley. The choir, the band and Kent Reynolds truly led us into a meaningful time of praise and worship to God and I could feel that the congregation for once was truly one in spirit worshipping God. I pray that our worship was pleasing to God. I would also like to share below the blessing given by Kent Reynolds during the benediction.

"MAY THE BLOOD OF JESUS CLEANSE YOU FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.
MAY THE LIFE OF CHRIST BE LIVED THROUGH YOU AND THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST BE CONTINUED THROUGH YOU.
MAY THE LOVE OF CHRIST BE IN YOUR FELLOWSHIP AND IN YOUR RELATIONSHIPS.
MAY THE POWER OF CHRIST BE MANIFESTED IN YOUR MINISTRY.
MAY THE GLORY OF CHRIST BE IN YOUR WORSHIP.
MAY GOD GIVE YOU THE DESIRE OF YOUR HEART AND MAKE ALL YOUR PLANS SUCCEED. (Psalm 20:4)"
© 2007 - Kent Reynolds Ministries, Inc.

I'm posting a picture of 8am service on Easter Sunday taken on my lame phone camera. Though it doesn't do the service justice I hope it gives you a feel of the congregation this morning from the gallery.

Picture taken during sermon delivered by Kent Reynolds

Birthday

2008-03-22T01:16:00.004+08:00

Just for the record, nothing exciting happened for my 32nd birthday. But I received excellent presents for HH, PasOng and MK. Was also truly touched by boy and wifey's surprise of a butter cake. On eve of my birthday EW and TT (welcome back TT!!) came by to spend time with me, knowing that I'll be alone since Hubbs is away. They gave me a lovely bouquet of daisies. It was so sweet of them to wait till midnight before leaving.

Butter cake surprise by boy and wifey Flowers from EW and TT

Elmo biting again

2008-03-22T01:00:00.004+08:00

Elmo has gone mad again. He has started biting me and quite aggressively now. He tore my shorts as well as my shirt tonight. I tried standing still and not moving hoping that he'll get bored and stop but it didn't work. I now have 5 new bruises on my knee and thighs. Finally I was so frustrated that I decided to take up the wifey's advice to whack with a rolled up newspaper. Guess what...it works!!! So effectively that now when I raise my hand he automatically goes into a sit position. But I must say it pains me to hit him and that I'm not too sure how good this would be in the long run. I don't want him to grow up being afraid of me lifting my hand.

Guess it shows that sometimes we still have to resort to the old school method of raising a dog. Instilling a certain degree of fear of authority is good. Let's hope I won't have to whack him too often. Good thing is that in exactly 11 days hubby will be back and Elmo will be Hubbs' problem. Ha ha!!

Purpose Driven Life in a Nut Shell

2008-03-21T12:33:00.003+08:00

Got this email on Rick Warren's recent interview. I believe is sums up what life is all about.

Rick Warren (REMEMBER HE WROTE "PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE" )
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having "wealth" from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, "Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California. In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said: People ask me, What is the purpose of life?

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,"which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do,

II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72. First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD

I put up this post not only to share but also as a reminder to myself.

Maundy Thursday

2008-03-20T12:01:00.002+08:00

It is Maundy Thursday today. Today I realised something so true about the bible. No matter how many times you've read and re read the same passage, God always has something new to say to us each time. I've read the following passage so many times but today the message really hit home. It's especially appropriate as I begin my 33rd year in this world that God has placed me.

"My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matt 26:39

How more sacrificial can God be that He allowed His only beloved son to die for us. And although Jesus pleaded for it not to happen, He acknowledge God's will and obeyed every step till the end. How do we compare to that? How do we respond that? Do we acknowledge God's will and plans in our life?

It has made me realised that no matter what problems we are facing now, no matter how lonely we feel, no matter what obstacles we face, no matter what illness we face, as long as we walk close to God, those obstacles and situations that we face is just a glimpse into God's bigger purpose for us and those around. Are we willing to allow God to hold our hand and lead us through our difficult times and say yes God may your plan come to fullness and may Your will be done in my life.

*thinking of Noe*

Getting older

2008-03-20T01:06:00.000+08:00

Oh well, I guess this is the time of the year again. The time where once when I was under 21 it was something to look forward to but now way past 30 it's something to dread. If I'm feeling this way now I wonder how I'll feel like when I reach 40. Oh no!!!

This year is made worse by the fact that Hubbs isn't around. But I know he really wishes that he's here with me on this forgettable day. So far the day before didn't begin that well. I had my first major fight of the year with my boss. No fun. Then had to eat my cake on the go. And to cap it off I received bad news regarding Noe's battle with cancer.

Considering that the day before was so crap, am I looking forward to the actual day? No. But I do thank God for the many blessings and provision for the past year and I do look forward to walking closer to Him each day and I'm waiting with eager anticipation His many plans for me in the year ahead knowing that He'll be with me each step of the way.

As for my birthday wish this year, I pray that God will heal Noe and give her the strength to undergo the necessary treatment and that He will continue to use her to bless so many of us.

Who Is In The Driver's Seat?

2008-03-17T23:22:00.001+08:00

As some of you may know this week is holy week. And as mentioned in my earlier post we have this pastor, Rev. Kent Reynolds from Asbury Theological Seminary at our church to conduct services for the entire week right up to Easter Sunday. Although the traffic was horrendous today from PJ to KL, I'm glad that I braved the 1.5 hour bumper to bumper traffic to get to church.

Now this pastor is a giant of a man. And I literally mean he's a giant. Our home pastor who is relatively tall around 5'8" is only up to this guy's shoulders. So you can imagine how Rev. Kent sticks out in the congregation. I wouldn't say the visiting pastor is a very charismatic "rah rah" preacher but he certainly gets the point across. Although I cannot remember exactly what all the key points of his sermon were tonight, there was one point that I think for those of us who profess Jesus as our savior, should take some time to meditate over.

It is always easy to say that Jesus is my Lord and Saviour. The easy part is professing He's our saviour. But though it is easy to say that Jesus is my Lord, how many of us actually fully acknowledge His Lordship in every aspect of our lives? Is He Lord of all the decisions that I make? Is He Lord of my relationship with others? Is He Lord of my time? Is he Lord of my finances? Is He Lord of my actions and words? Do we say "Hey Jesus, why don't you come along for the ride and bless me wherever I'm heading?" or do we say " Jesus you drive and I'll sit behind and let you drive me wherever you want."

I don't know about you, but I certainly struggle with giving Him Lordship over more than 1 of the above mentioned aspects. What is it that makes it difficult for us to give Him Lordship? Note that "give" being the key word since God has given us free will. So we have a choice to give over to Him lordship over our lives or not. Is fear of the unknown holding us back or has it got to do with trust? Do we not trust God who has promised to prosper us and to give us every good thing? Or is it because we want to say to God, you show me what you have in plan then I'll decide whether to give you Lordship over my life. I for one am truly guilty of both.

So where does that leave me? Am I to only say that for the time being that Jesus is my Saviour and not fully my Lord? I guess the most honest answer would be yes he is my Lord and no he is not fully Lord of my life. Yes, because I have chosen to give Jesus the key's to my car and I will sit behind and no because I know at times I will be a naggy back seat driver but with His grace working in my life I will learn each day to fully trust Him and His will for me.

So who is in your driver's seat?

Thank you Hubbs

2008-03-16T23:04:00.001+08:00

Thanks to Hubbs for adding to my watch collection. Hubbs got me an automatic Hamilton brand(owned by Swatch group that makes Tag, Omega and others) watch yesterday. I've been eyeing it for a year now but have been restraining myself. Although Hamilton isn't exactly one of the more popular brands, I'm into collecting any swiss movement mechanical/ automatic watch. It does help that for a swiss made automatic it is relatively cheap especially buying it in US . Again, thanks to Hubb for always thinking of me.

With this latest acquisition, my dream watch purchase of Jaeger Le Couture will have to wait. But I can still dream.