The Lucky 13

A Bunch of ppl from different walk of life...met each other in pit stop called "Fitness First" for the same reason attending Steven's class & stay healthy while having fun.

Friendship blossom ever since then & one could see us together most days in the gym or outing. Is crazy, is funny yet care for each other. No commitment, no big promises...yet allowing each other to interact freely in the group.

These are the lucky 13 i'm talking about...

Wise Dragon - Rick Gan...Wise, Cool & gentle. like a big brother taking care of us. willingly host us all the time in his cozy place.

Bla Bla Black Sheep - Steven Lim...Energetic, fun to be with & like a "big not enough" as Gan said sometimes. Yet, he's a great instructor who cares bout all our needs in workout.

Baby Dragon - Steven Yong..Youngest among us...mature, easy going yet make one feel like pampering him s'times.

Featherless Chicken - Mark....Timid, mysterious & accommodating. sometimes gave us surprises v can never imagine.

Purple Dog - Stephanie....Pretty, friendly & caring...among the 4 girls, she's the most lady like person. while everyone wearing sport shoe or sandals during wkends, that the time she wears her heels.

Witty Monkey - Rinaz.... Out of the norm..a malay who seems like a chinese. She blend well with us. Sporting & fun loving person.

Handsome Doggy - Ricky...Imported from Philippines. Handsome, gentlemen & a person with little words. Yet his phrases in FB status always makes us ponder on things. A good writer.

Flying Pig - CK Yap....Cute, adorable & funny person u can never imagine. He's charm us with his jokes like Mr Bean. one will never feel bored with him around.

Moo Moo Cow - Arif Edwin Wong - A person who believed in One malaysia...insisted his name with 3 languages in it. Caring & likes celebrations.

Dr Pig - Michael - A doctor who spend most his time rescuing human in the hospital, yet get connected with us via Iphone each day. when without his Dr Cloak, he's just a young man who likes to gather & surprised me with his interest in going for Musical.

Jabar queen - Lea - A girl who can mix around easily with any of us. laugh alot most time...yet her blur blur mind sometimes makes her a cute person.

She-bangs - Terence - A quiet person with hidden talents. Accommodating & soft spoken person. last but not least....

The evil Horse - Irene (me), need not tell...haha...coz is my blog.

Thank you guys...with love & hugs.

Wish List to be added in my book collections

While window shopping in Borders yesterday...found these..now in my pending list.. ;p There's also Alexendra Potter books i'm putting in the list as well.

Updates

I've not been able to write much lately...hmm...partly is because Facebook is too easy for me to shout out & to post photos. Apparently the main reason is that i've been doing many things all together until i noticed that time isnt sufficient for me to do other stuff.

First to begin, I've tendered my resignation letter. Noticed that i've only a month to decide if i want to continue staying in construction line or venture full time in piano teaching. I've started applying jobs as well doing training under a music school now..money is an issue for me as i've commitments need to be taken care off.

Well, gym..haha...now gym is my hang out place most of the time...hahaha..I cant believe that i'm a gym freak nowadays. 5 days a wk apart from days where i need to teach piano & running. I guess what really motivates me is that i loose quite some weight ever since i joined, i've a good instructor in few different classes & a group of very close buddies. Apart from that, it's also a place where i can get rid of whatever unnecessary stress in me.(psst..i've new aim...to loose another 10kgs in 3mths....okok.. abit ambitious..maybe 5kgs)

What else, love life?? haha...that's the biggest empty part of my life which i need to fill up...but currently...luck isnt at my side i guess. But i'm still having hope that one day it will come. Someone who can accept me as who i am.

Oya, my new place....is about time to pick up the keys from the developer. I'm busy planning on things which i need to move over & what are the things need to be done. Positive date to move over? Depends, tentatively somewhere 3rd quarter of the year i guess.

Can u read this?

Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed tihs psas it on !!

Creativity in Contest Rules & Regulations...

Recently I joined a contest run by Lonely Planet..while reading the rules & regulations, i found this particular paragraph quite amusing & creative...please read the the lines in pink. ^_^

To enter you must submit your name, email address, and country of residence plus upload a photo that you have taken yourself of your travels, a description of the photo and the location in which the photo was taken via the promotional website at lonelyplanet.com/win. You don’t have to buy anything to enter. You can enter between 12:01pm AEST on 29th January 2010 and 12:01pm AEST on 28th July 2010. You can enter as many times as you like, however only one of your entries may be selected as a finalist (that means you will only be eligible to win one of the Nokia handsets in the prize description below). Your entry is received at the time Lonely Planet receives it. If your dog eats your entry, it’s not Lonely Planet’s fault. If your entry gets lost in cyberspace or doesn’t arrive for any other reason, that’s not Lonely Planet’s fault either.

Turned a year Older..

I just want to say thanks to many people that gave me birthday wishes via mails, calls, sms & FB. Really touched to see all these wishes. ^_^

This year it falls on same day as Ash Wednesday, I felt blessed. Some may think "oh no! i'm getting older"...but for me "oh! i've earned another year!" ;p It's gonna be another good year ahead regardless what i'm planning 365days down the road. Maybe along the way waste a bit to be lazy on the couch...but is ok...haha

I've cut 3 cakes, gotten chances of 3 to make wishes....haha...hope it makes the one wish i've in mind a powerful one instead of being greedy & make 3 different wishes.

hmm...lost of words to write further...probably because had long journey back from home town & tired. Thanks again dear all & may the Lord bless u.

So Far Away - Amici Forever

The song that has been reciting in my head for the past 3days....a simple, meaningful & very beautiful song... ^_^

There's a land
That gave me life
That made me free
That made me proud
And someday
I will return
Home to the land
Of the long white cloud

Where is home?
I hear you say
So far away
So far away

I hear your voice from afar
It haunts me wherever I stay
But I must follow a star
So far away
So far away

In the song
Upon the breeze
And in the roar
Of rolling waves
Like the roots
Of ancient trees
That run so deep
In the earth I crave

Where is home?
I hear you say
So far away
So far away

I hear your voice in my heart
I miss you much more than I can say
But I must follow a star
So far away
So far away

Where is home?
I hear you say
So far away
So far away

Fried Arrowhead / Nga Ku Simple as ABC

Simple as ABC...All you need to do is just...


A) Clean it, Slice it...
B) Fried it...
C) Cool it & store it...

Salt? NIL...Preservative? NIL...Taste? Original/OR Recipe...

A Lazy Afternoon...

A lazy afternoon by myself....has been going places during the weekdays, decided to stay at home to do cleaning before CNY. I was hungry...so walk my way to this nearby prawn mee stall for this.

那一瞬间的感触

昨天我在神的面前祈祷时，泪流了。一直以来神都很爱我，大大小小的问题他都总是依我也为我解难题。唯一的心愿至今都还未让我实现。也许他在考验我的忍耐性，还是他有另外的打算呢？

我曾经质疑过，神啊！是你不存在或是我不够努力？有一度我放弃去教堂，放弃神与我眷属的对话空间。好傻吧？^_^ 完全望了是神把我带到这个世界的。

我是个外强中干的人，从来就不喜欢把自己的不快乐让人知道。每天都装着不在意和傻大姐的心态来让身边的人不担心我。常常把欢笑带给大家来掩饰自己的寂寞。还好我是个乐观主义者，通常都会傻傻躲着哭了五分钟后就收拾心情来面对事情。下移秒会更好不是吗？

天大地大都有神来帮我撑腰，我不该轻易放弃的。也许是该更努力的去证明自己的存在性，好让身边的人认为是值得的。神，谢谢您！泪流的那一刻，我感受道你的存在了。感激你从来都不抛弃迷茫得我。谢谢你把我带回你的家。阿门。

An Evening Talk on Travel & Photography

(best speaker of the evening...2nd from right)

Chun Man invited me to join her for an evening talk at Pudu several weeks ago via FB...Both of us totally forgotten about it until that very morning (14 Jan 2010). At first was quite hesitated to go as both of us were very busy at work, but I decided to dump whatever work left behind & went ahead to pick up Chun Man for the talk.

It was an interesting evening, the talk was conducted in Mandarin & English.. basically with 4 speakers shared their experiences of backpacking in Europe, China, Taiwan & few other destinations. Some with funny encounters, some with acquaintances & so forth.

They gave an overview about what to expect & how to take care of oneself when you are away in a foreign land. The talk open up & encourage participants to travel more in a freer style instead of following the conventional way going on "Tour".

We stayed back after the talk & grabbed a few copies of magazines from them. The photos taken by the club members were astonishing, especially those taken from their annual backpacking trip to Nepal & Xi Zhang. Oya, they organise trips for backpacking as well as photographing. Relatively cheap (ie. 11days to Nepal & Xi Zhang - All in is about RM3-4k)...hmm...maybe...hehe.

Anyway...check out the video..cheers! I'll going back for more talks if whenever there's a chance to do so. Have to thank Chun Man for recommended this to me. ;p

Satu Cupak

^_^ Funny Title isnt it?? Hardly hear anyone saying this word..it practically means 1Cupak = 675g.

(30 Years Old Book - Front cover...after repaired)

I loan both my aunts recipe books for a month before returning back to them this coming Lunar New Year. One of it has been with my aunt for more than 30years (all hand written). As I'm scanning & translating recipe by recipe to my cooking book, i found some of the wordings in kampung malay & mandarin appeared in her book..lovely!

(The Old & The New..All Handwritten)

This 30years old book is like a treasure map, it has always been seen during new year lying in the kitchen while my aunt busy baking cookies & cooking. It contains lots of good food that i had since young & lots of childhood memories in the wooden house where i used to stay during preschool days.

Now my aunt willingly loan this book to me, i'll get to learn up most of my favorite recipes. I'm really happy over it. Atleast i know, when they are older & no longer able to cook. There's someone at home inherited their recipe & cook for the family when festive season comes.

Who knows probably one day i may have a small cafe to serve these foods...Love that thought. ;p

Temptation

It has been contineously 4 mornings that there was this same worker slotting leaflet into the mailbox around my neighbourhood. One must be thinking, what so big deal about it..He might be hardworking to earn more...ha!

What makes me curious was that, these leaflets were from the same source promoting this fongsui/luck charm master claiming that he can turn you into million"aires" if you put a bet on the number he gives. Apart from that, he also have added service to arrange your house according to fongsui & makes you prosper for this year.

As for me, I just picked it up & put it to the pile of recycle papers thinking that is sort of unfriendly to the environment. But then, how many people will actually call & fix an appointment with him? Many may not fall for the 1st time, some will start to curious about it on the 2nd day & make calls..& so forth...

Is a business strategy as I noticed..haha...nowadays, fongsui master also not easy to earn money! Like Lilian Too & Joey Yap, they are the lucky ones. They get to go on stage & TV programs to promote themselves, thus many turn to them for advice. As for these small players, leaflet is the easiest way to promote. Some can be quite accurate, some might just "con" man. It's all depend how we look at things.

I see this as a temptation, especially now for those having hard time to earn a living. But in the end of the day, will we gain more or less from this? Is up to idividual to think about it. ;p

God Says

YOU SAY	GOD SAYS	BIBLE VERSES
You say: 'It's impossible'	God says: All things are possible	(Luke 18:27)
You say: 'I'm too tired'	God says: I will give you rest	(Matthew 11:28-30)
You say: 'Nobody really loves me'	God says: I love you	(John 3:1 6 & John 3:34 )
You say: 'I can't go on'	God says: My grace is sufficient	(II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)
You say: 'I can't figure things out'	God says: I will direct your steps	(Proverbs 3:5- 6)
You say: 'I can't do it'	God says: You can do all things	(Philippians 4:13)
You say: 'I'm not able'	God says: I am able	(II Corinthians 9:8)
You say: 'It's not worth it'	God says: It will be worth it	(Roman 8:28 )
You say: 'I can't forgive myself'	God says: I Forgive you	(I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)
You say: 'I can't manage'	God says: I will supply all your needs	(Philippians 4:19)
You say: 'I'm afraid'	God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear	(II Timothy 1:7)
You say: 'I'm always worried and frustrated'	God says: Cast all your cares on ME	(I Peter 5:7)
You say: 'I'm not smart enough'	God says: I give you wisdom	(I Corinthians 1:30)
You say: 'I feel all alone'	God says: I will never leave you or forsake you	(Hebrews 13:5)

1st Post in 2010

This is the 2nd week of 2010 & i noticed there are several things that i've yet blog it out. (haha...one of those is my trip to UK & Budapest) ..But this post i'm dedicating it to my cooking...haha...nothing special, just feel like blogging it.

I've been cooking almost every other day lately for 4 reasons...1) working in Hartamas, the meals are relatively expensive due to the so called "higher class area". 2) i'm really short of cash due to mum's 60th birthday, Chinese New Year, getting ready for new house, up coming trip in September & etc. 3) trying to learn up my * aunties recipes before they are old enough not to guide me anymore. 4) health.

Somehow, I enjoyed cooking...I started exploring new recipes like steam buns, steam cakes, achar, otak-otak & etc. The fun part doesnt stop here, i started adding my own ideas in the recipes once i learned up the original taste...haha...thanks God, the guinea pig at home aka housemate yet to experience stomach discomfort after food testing.. ;p

One other good reason of cooking is also I like to see ppl enjoy eating the food I cooked. Now i understand why my poh poh used to tell my aunts, having to cook for family & friends is one of the happiest thing to do. It is through food you share loves & cares for those you cooked for. It may not be tasty, but is the thought that count.

This CNY, my aunt has promised to teach me how to make chinese sausages..not easy according to her, but definately going to have fun together...haha. I'm blessed that staying with my grandma & few aunts whom I grew up with love to cook. They are like my GPS for cooking, whenever i have doubt on certain dish..they are just a call away.

PS : I need an oven so that i can bake cookies, cakes & roasted pork. ;p

* aunties recipes - yerr...i think is a grammar mistake loh...

Is The End & The New Beginning

On the last week of every year it is always special occasion for many of us to celebrate Christmas till the 1st day of new year...I dont know about others, but I've mix feeling about this.

Christmas is the time to celebrate the coming of Christ with lotsa love together with our love ones. Nothing too fancy, but simply just having everyone around us for dinner & being in Church to pray. I feel blessed this year that I had a good one to remember.

Where as for new year..it is time to bid goodbye to another year by welcoming a brand new year.There are doubts if I can make it through and to look back what I've achieved last year. It is also the time to say good bye to family & friends when they are due to return to their work after a long holiday break.

What have I achieved in 2009 & what have I fail? Other than travelling, new job, new friends & healthier lifestyle...what else? Did my Christian Faith grow stronger? What is my rating for 2009 if is 1-10?

How about 2010? What do I really want? A companion? new travelling destination? earn more so that i can do more things? hope that my parents are in good health? i have to keep praying so that God will answer my prayer.

Is the End & the new Beginning...time to move on eventhough we reluctant to let go certain things. I believe as long my heart still beating, there will be miracles everyday & God will make a way for us to continue our journey ahead.

Happy New Year Everyone & God Bless!

Going Places

In less than 48hrs I'll be flying off again...it will be for 2wks long break this time to UK & Europe again. I guess this time is more like filling up the gaps that I've missed out during my previous trip there & attending some seminars.

I'm glad that my boss is so understanding & sporting to grant me the 2wks off despite the tight schedule of what i'm handling now. (Big Thanks BOS) In return, I was rushing like mad to complete as much work & reports possible to keep him ready for reporting in case the top management need them while i'm gone.

November for me is really eventful. 1st begin with my job...I'm now working in a new company, with new boss & his team members. New way of managing work, great Bos & gang, tight schedules & Budgets has freshen the passion on my career...Nonetheless, I've sleepless night worrying that I'll disappoint my boss with his expectation. But I'm not complaining, bcoz I realized that this is what I've wanted ever since I left Gamuda. Crazy isnt it? haha... ;p

Then it was Lee Bee Ku Ku's wedding (Kelvin's sister). Her wedding day was memorable, the contras between morning tea ceremony & garden evening dinner were so beautiful. (doh...I nearly missed her wedding due to my outstation assignment...pheww)

Then now...the last two wks of the Nov...Yippee...I'm more than ready to stamp some footprints in UK & Europe. I'm happy as i'm achieving some but not all in my "to do list". ^_^

So, see ya in Dec...signing off.. ;p

Friends list "ZERO"?? huh ?!

What happened to my friends list in Facebook???? My contacts in friends list & status are all gone!! I've sent a report to them & they said is in the mid of fixing it...sigh! cross my fingers, it will be ok "SOONEST"!

My 2nd trip to Taiwan

Being a lazy bum bum lately in my blog...I've not gotten my fingers on the keyboard to write anything about my 2nd trip to Taiwan. I did my first trip in late 2007 with two gal friends & this year i did it again with two guy friends instead..I guess the differences between two trips apart from different companions, the priority of the trips were different as well. (in 2007 was more on shopping spree ;p)

I wont be doing much of the writing this time as my two buddies have done a great job in their blogs..so please feel free to click on the links at the end of these photos...haha.

These are the 3 photos that i like most: (1st taken in Jiu Fen, 2nd & 3rd were from YehLiu) ...Taiwan is really a scenic place that one must see for yourself if there's a chance...I'll go again in future to cover more.



VIP contributed in these links are :
Alden Yap (London)
Raymond Hee (Hong Kong)

Oh Boy...

I've just lost a friend after she gave birth to her long awaited baby boy.. She's only 34. Those of us that are closed to her cant accept the fact that she has gone.

The duty of giving birth to baby boy has always been a so call "very important" thingy in the Chinese community. Eventhough we are living in the modern world, this is something many Chinese still cares about. So do Melanie. Despite of her health problem, she risk her life conceiving this baby boy.

Is that really matter if a woman dont deliver a boy?????!!!!! Either a boy or a girl, they still your flesh & blood...dont they?? I'm sad & angry of the lost. Because of the responsibility of having a boy, we lost our friend...the 3yrs old daughter & a new born son lost their mother. What more?? It was supposed to be good celebration welcoming the baby, it turned to a funeral to send her away...5ft under.

My dear friend, I know how much u love your childrens. Your duty in life has fulfilled, may you rest in peace.