.:Simply Funtasy:.

I'm Home!!

2012-01-21T17:51:00.002+08:00

I drove back to Kota Bharu last Thursday with two friends and two furbrats. The weather was OK, some raining on the hilly roads, traffic was amazingly smooth!

Anyway, I've met few frustrated situations too:
1) I hate the 'braker'. Those who drive at 70-80 km/h and brake HARD every 5 seconds on all the loops and holes on the damaged road. Mek, if you want to do so, might as well you just drive at 50 km/h, give your brake disc a break lah~
2) There's a road block somewhere near Jeli. The police officer stopped me and asked a list of sounds-really-stoopid questions. Here's our conversation:

Police: Hi. Where are you going?
Nee: Kota Bharu.
P: Why?
N: ... Balik kampung.
P: Oh!? Kota Bharu is your hometown?!
..:I already rolled my eyes thoroughly on him at this point:..
P: *pointed at my friends* They are....?
N: Friends. We carpooled.
P: Oh!? Malay and Chinese can be friends huh?!
(Note that my friends are those wearing tuduh labuh kind of decent Malay girls)
Friend: Why not!? We are 1Malaysia what...
..:At this point, all of us rolled our eyes on him, and he let us passed:..

Seriously, what is wrong with them? He maybe tried to be friendly and all, but it sounds so freaking wrong. It also made him looked d*mb.

One Day Hatyai Trip

2012-01-16T15:31:00.003+08:00

Went to Hatyai for a one day trip yesterday (Sunday) with the badminton friends.

The last time I was in Hatyai when I was Standard four liddat!! They were 'amazed' as well that I never been to Hatyai once although I've been here for few years.

We departed at around 8am by car, crossed the border, had breakfast at Padang town, then headed to Hatyai which was around 2 hours driving distance.

When we finally arrived Hatyai, we parked the cars at Tesco Lotus and took tuk-tuk to a Bazaar kind of place (I didn't ask for the name -___-). Bought a lime green T there for first day of CNY, but the other theme, purple superhero, was no way to be found.

Next stop is Lee Garden. I finally stepped foot on the very 'famous' Lee Garden, where everyone's talking about when topic about Hatyai arose. Had a buffet lunch at a Japanese buffet restaurant inside Lee Garden, the name is something with Oishi...

^Kami bertiga: me, qiao wen and ha ji

We sat in front of the 'kitchen'! Here's where they serve and put all the plates of meats, veggies and stuff on the conveyor belt. It's the best seats ever as we were the first few people to take the food off the belt, so we can even choose the ones we like and what not.

^look at the meat!

^...and now, food feast begins!

It's very crowded and there's a long queue outside the restaurant. Each person is given a specific duration of time to eat. I think it's around 1 hours 50 min or something. So the tactics here is to first 回本 and stuff yourselves up in that period of time. Besides the steamboat, there's also sushi, fruits, beverage and ice cream.

After makan, shopping time at Tesco and night market. I'm always crazy about looking at the clothes at the price of RM10 (equivalent to 100Baht) and so on, so spent money like don't have to think one haha!

^Total = 2254 Baht (including food + transportation)

New Year Post

2012-01-04T14:59:00.007+08:00

After countless invitation, I finally went to Ai Ling (housemate)'s house in Penang for new year countdown and weekend getaway.

We arrived at Juru Auto-city at around 6pm to avoid traffic jam. Strolled around the place and had dinner at IceIceBaby.

P/S: The Star published the picture of the crowd with us inside on the front page!! :D

^ Dinner~

Well, it's quite a boring night I must say. It was the most un-happening and 'quiet' new year countdown event I've ever been to (this was the second time I've been to one though, LOL)

There was a Belly Dance Competition held. We fought our way to the 'front line' for a better sight, which we all regret to the max half way. The competition was kinda bored as almost all contestants were the same in all categories. So, 来来去去都是那些人, a little too plain.

^The MC and audience was playing some games on the stage

After the competition was over, we thought at least some good performance should be taken place now. NO. =.=

^A band called Aura21

.....Sigh. They totally cooled down the whole crowd. Everyone was so calm, so quiet, so speechless, and so emotionless. I couldn't hear a word from their rap, their dance was odd and weird, the music was louder than the singer, the whole thing was just so dull.

^ MJ Suren

...He lip-sync, the dance wasn't impressive, we were disappointed. :(

^ 小鬼黄鸿升

Finally a good one appeared. Unfortunately, all the songs he sang were his new songs, which I'm not familiar at all. So in the crowd, only his fans in the rock zone was all high and excited while us at the 'outside fence' were again calm, quiet and emotionless.

The worst part was we were surrounded by 'foreigners' who kept pushing themselves to the front. They squeezed themselves into the tiny empty space, one dude even put his hand on the fence in between me and my friend, which we couldn't understand of his purpose.

After the fireworks, we quickly ran away from the scene.

Happy part: Shopping!!!

Seriously, Ai Ling and her cousin Li Ling is good 'stylist'. Most of the clothes I bought were recommended and 'approved' by them! :p

^Pants

^Tops

^Banana Clip

...and some good bargain also!!

^Reebok sport shoe, 50% off :D

^Vita di Casa Paramedic Memory Pillow, 75% off :D

What Happened in 2011

2011-12-31T16:58:00.000+08:00

1) Conquered Gunung Nuang
Verdict: It's harder than Mount Kinabalu!!

2) Uniform T-shirts theme for CNY and Min Shin's wedding

3) MyMaster application was rejected.

4) CoCo Lim passed away

5) Perlis second wave flood

6) Conquered Mount Kinabalu
Verdict: Must try at least once in a lifetime.

7) BiBiBoi passed away

8) House shifting

9) Join yoga, belly dance and zumba classes

10) Making a whole bunch of new friends!!

11) Keeping two furbrats guinea pigs

12) Da Jie's wedding

13) Grandfather passed away

14) MyPhD scholarship application approved

15) passed PhD transfer with condition (still waiting for the final verdict)

***********************

It's quite a good year after all, especially new brother-in-law in the house and the new friends I've befriended! :)

Sweetest Little Thing

2011-12-29T17:25:00.000+08:00

I saw this youtube the other day, cried; downloaded it, still cries no matter how many times I watch it...

Being in a situation where the kids around me are all over iPad, iPhone, Android, Angry Bird (so freaking sien of it) etc etc etc, this cute-st and sweetest little thing brights up my day a lot.

This video also reveals there's a lot of different kind of people in the world too. There's actually people who commented that the kid is spoiled by her parents. Seriously? I don't think a spoiled brat will cry over a trip to Disneyland; they will only frown on the 'cheap' presents and request for a higher-end stuffs. (see how much I prejudice over spoiled kids...)

Also, through my 'discussion' with Theresa at FB, only girls can own this kind of cuteness. :)

Paris Caroline Skincare - Review

2011-12-28T16:36:00.002+08:00

The previous review was written in Mandarin because there's some 'emotional' contents that I feel can only be expressed truthfully in Mandarin, so pardon me for those who can't understand them.

Having an acne-prone, oily plus a little sensitive skin makes me a very very dull girl. I have been searching ups and downs for years (!!) for that perfect set of skincare products to, not ease, but at least minimize the problem. In time, I did find those effective ones, but the stubborn, ignorant, self-indulgent face of mine would literally get immune of it and the problem arose, again, and again, and again. I was seriously fed up with it.

I tried to avoid making eye contacts with the sales person on the skincare aisle in supermarkets and pharmacies because the first comment from them is really harsh :( Not to mention how much it hurts when the facialist commented about my skin problems as if worms are coming out of it... :(

Until one day, when the then current product, Nutox, was nearly finishing, I decided to try out other products, searching through Hada Labo and stuffs, and I came across this thread in lowyat.net. Providing the gigantic information given by Chloe, the seller, and the numerous amount of testimonials from the customers, I decided to give it a go (while burning a big hole on the pocket)

I bought the basic set:
1) 2 in 1 purifying cleanser
2) Skin astrigent
3) Refining cream
4) Freebies: Milky scrub, acne cream mask and UV cream

The pictures of the products, before and after thingy can be referred on the previous post.

I would like to say, my face finally find its true love. In just one week, my forehead is smooth as airport along to the nose part, less pimples (I mean, NO pimple at all up to the day), and the acne active zone, the chin, is clear of zits and acne too!! I tell you I am very shiok loh right now!!

The best tip ever is to do mask everyday. As the 2 in 1 purifying cleanser is the creamy type of cleanser instead of the common foamy type, it is suitable to be used as mask. I use it everyday from the first day I got the stuff, and it feels really smooth and clean afterwards. Just apply the cleanser to the face, leave it for 15-20 minutes and wa lah! *MAGIC*

This set of products also busts the all-time myth about scrubs and cream based thingy are not suitable for oily skin. I would say, it depends on the product itself. The scrub I got in the freebies group has very fine grain (or something) in it, so it does not 'hurt' or maximize the pores. And also, although the refining cream looks oily, but it absorbs quickly into the skin after applied, so no problem about the oily effect and stuff. It's just great! Best thing of all, is when people around me notice how my skin condition improves.

Last wish: praying hard that my skin love the products forever after~~

女人的钱真好赚之护肤篇 - Paris Caroline Skincare

2011-12-24T16:35:00.001+08:00

虽然我家有五个女人（吾娘+四千金），护肤护发的话题几乎不存在。原因在于：
1)吾娘是那种叫我用自来水洗脸，用雪花膏就够了，不用一直买护肤品的娘；
2)而且除了我和大姐，其他女人都是天生丽质，拥有浓密秀发;
3)再加上我身边友人个个都是天生丽质的美胚子；

可想而知，我是多么地苦恼无奈呀~~

一张油性敏感的脸，让我一直四处寻找最合适的护肤品。越战越勇，屡试屡败，我的荷包也跟着滴血，脸上的残缺却没有离开过。就只有那短短的神奇的六个月时间（做工的最后三个月和Degree的开始三个月），脸上突然一点问题也没有，晶莹剔透，吹弹可破，还有‘doing doing’的声音，让我爽了好一下子! 可惜就只是六个月，然后又发作了。气死人~~ 尤其在几个星期前去洗脸，那位洗脸的姐姐从头到尾一直批评我脸上的瑕疵，很hurt的好不好...

直到有那么一天，在辗转调查者一些护肤产品时，让我发现了这个产品：

^Paris Caroline Skincare

话说那个版主把这个产品说的有多神奇就多神奇，加上其他使用过的人都赞得天上有地上没有的，让我的心蠢蠢欲动。所以一口气横了一条心买了一套基本组。

我想说的是，真的很有效！！

^之前

^一个星期后

用看的确看不出有什么大不同，可是摸起来就不同故事了~

只是一个星期噢，额头上的小痘痘不见了，脸颊上比较少小红点，常常会长痘的下巴部分也没在作怪了，整个很干净清洁的说！！虽然右脸颊的色斑问题还是存在，可是这样的成绩已经让我爽很久了。

当然，自己讲出来，说服力是很弱地。目前为止，housemate和labmate都有说我的脸好很多了!! 这个也让我爽很久loh！！

小讲解：

我向LYN这个买家买的是三种东西 -
1) 2 in 1 purifying cleanser
2) Skin astrigent
3) Refining Cream
4) Freebies - Acne creamy mask, Milky scrub 和 UV cream (她人超好的!!)

用了这个cleanser，发现到每天做面膜是多么重要。这个cleanser本身并不是太水性，所以加了水都搓不出泡泡来，很适合做简单面膜。铺上脸后会有凉凉的感觉，放个十五二十分钟洗脸，整张脸感觉清爽起来。跟你讲噢，我晚晚都作面膜了现在！有乖没有？

Skin astrigent 也是 toner。要说的是，好像完全没有酒精一样，一点刺激的感觉都没有。以前听过的‘用toner会感觉刺刺的是因为皮肤里肮脏的成分在起作用’都是狗屁！！

自古今来，我都被‘警告’油性皮肤不适合用scrub和cream based的产品。我要大大声喊回去 “是你的产品不适合我好不好!!”
Refining cream 看起来是比较油，可是当我一抹上脸，感觉上一下子就被吸进皮肤里，很贪心的脸咯!

好在我有张可爱又怪异的巴掌脸（头很小，颈项细，高壮的身体，整个很不搭的fu~~~)，所以一次都不会用很多~

希望这次可以让我爽很久很久啦~~~

Movie I Watched

2011-12-10T19:53:00.005+08:00

It's been awhile since my last 'perasan si ai bin' movie review. One of the reason to be I seldom watch any movies lately, and I couldn't get any good idea in writing one. So here it goes...

1. Repo men

CK talked about this movie the other day following our conversation about Justin Timberlake's 'In Time' (I watched neither movie at the time), the similarity of the plot and the effect of casts' in the movie.

I get the copy of this movie from him, and after 1-2 times he asked whether I have watched the movie, being paiseh and afraid of missing a nice movie, I decided to spare a leisure Saturday evening for this one.

Oh boy this movie is just superb!! Studying Artificial Organs subject in one of my Degree semester makes me appreciate the concept of replacing our damaged organs with an artificial ones to sustain and improve our quality of life, so I am totally fascinated with the idea.

Anyway, 'The Union' in the movie, the company that sells these artificial organs (or in short term, artiforgs), put in extremely high interest rate - for the profit purpose as they won't make any money if the customers pay in full. When the artiforgs past debt due, the repo men (short term for repossession men) is sent to reclaim the artiforgs, usually leaving the customer to die lah. Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker) are the best repo men the company ever had.

********** Skips the spoiler ***************

Movies tend to have some unlikely simplified and short names for the companies or corporations. For this one, the corporation is called 'The Union'. Goodness can it be less creative?? I like the concept of this corporation is running (supplying artiforgs) but hate the part when they make money on it! (Well, that proves I'm not a business kind of person huh?)

Jake in the movie is the last type of friend/colleague I would ever want in my life. His intention of wanting Remy to keep the repo men job has gone wildly wrong when he rigged the defib unit, causing Remy an accident which requires an artiforg heart replacement and following by the ridiculously skyrocket debt. It's not like Jake is helping him pay his debt or anything, and it appears Jake selfishly wants to keep Remy in the front line with him, without even care about what is his friend's problem and all that. That is NOT what a person would do to his self-claimed best friend!
(OK I seriously hate Jake...)

When Remy couldn't perform in his job due to his emotional feelings towards the victims, and Jake was all 'Man you are totally different than before', this is the part when I insanely yell to Jake on the screen (as if he could hear me... Duh~) : "Dude you don't know anything about having an artiforgs and huge debt in your hand, shut your holes!!"

I do love the part comical touch when Beth is having her knee cap replaced at Little Alva's place.

Here are two situations I would rather die if I am... :
1) ... Beth. Although the upgrades in the artiforgs are pretty amazing; seriously, so many artiforgs inside me just freaks me out, not only the amount of debt to bear, also the pain of searching black market replacement!

2) ... Remy at the end of the movie. He suffered a severe brain damage after Jake hit him with a hook, and Jake (FINALLY) paid off his account and put him on an M.5 Neural Net system, allowing him live the rest of his life in a dream. Living in a dream is quite a good idea, out from this chaotic life, but being a half dead person is just too sad, I would rather die!!

It's a nice movie, bonus points for Jude Law's handsomeness and accent, sound so sexy! :p Going to look for 'In Time' too as IMBD's rate for 'In Time' is 6.6 while 'Repo Men' is 6.3.

2. Last Holiday

I was pressing through the national TV channels on my mini TV when I saw Queen Latifah on the screen, with a neatly tied bun and decent outfit, talking to LL Cool J. Thinking it might be a good movie to pass time with, I settled down to the channel while applying mask.

I missed the front part of the movie. When I got into the movie, Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah) was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given only three weeks to live. She withdraws all her savings and do all the craziest things she had never done: flies first class, stay in a US$4k Presidential Suite, eating the finest cuisines, helicopter rides, spa treatments and lives like there's no tomorrow.

It's not a big movie, but it's an enjoyable one to watch. Nice~

老师的孩子

2011-12-09T17:51:00.000+08:00

我发现，如果我不说，很少人会联想到吾娘是位老师；换句话说，我不像老师的孩子。

人们对‘老师的孩子’有个蛮刻板的印象：
1）要么他/她是个品学兼优十项全能琴棋书画样样能的特级资优模范生；
2）要么他/她是个学校风云人物

‘可悲’的是，我不但不是个模范生，也不是什么风云人物。加上吾娘并不是在我就读的学校教书，所以基本上我就只是我，当不上被人称为‘X老师的孩子’。

还有一点是，虽然吾娘是英文中学老师，我中学时的英文水准真是烂的可以。所以泥坎坎泥坎坎，哪来的联想呢？

最妙就是吾娘是非常非常反对她的女儿当教师，所以我们都没让她失望 :)

‘老师的孩子’万岁!!

Chuping, Perlis

2011-12-06T17:51:00.005+08:00

Went to Ulu Pauh the other day to submit my transfer report. On my way back, I decided to try another longer route - The one towards Padang Besar as everyone said it's nearer to go to Padang Besar, and I was too bored to be back to lab anyway.

The road was quiet, no much vehicles around, and the scenery is definitely breathtaking.

About 5km later, I reached a roundabout that says I've reached Chuping, the largest sugar cane plantation in Malaysia.

At the next roundabout, the right junction is to the sugar production factory, and I decided to give it a try.

^Milestone for a sugar factory! How cool is that~

It seems like the road is purposely made for the factory itself as there is no other buildings or anything along the way. I must say the view is superb!!

^Work here everyday with this view must be a bliss! (The square thingy is the factory)

There's few motorbikes came and went while I stopped to snap pictures, they must be wondering what did a girl do here all by herself...

Although it's bright daylight, it's kinda creepy too to be at a place so quiet. So off I went back out to the main road.

Still, the scenery is to die for!!

Wow it's like I'm back to Xinjiang's vast green field, minus the sheep, lambs etc... I couldn't get my eyes off the view while driving, which was dangerous even for the slow traffic.

I'm happy for the nice view :) Even happier that my viva for phd transfer is successful too ^^

Balik Kampung + 摆乌龙!!

2011-12-04T14:31:00.000+08:00

Balik-ed kampung last weekend since I haven't been home for quite some time (since Ah Kong's funeral on early Oct!! That is so 'long' time ago...). I mean, it was few long weekends but I wasn't be able to go back...

Well, the main reason was... ... ...

^...for this little fella lah!!

This is my dear little kai zai aka Godson, my deary friend Min Shin's son. He was born on 23rd Oct midnight. This little fellow is predicted to be quite some pain in his parents' a$$es because Min Shin suffered from labour pain for 4 DAYS just to wait for him to come out!! Anyway, according to the mother, the pain wasn't that suffering, it's the waiting part that frustrated both she and her hubby, as well as their families.

^Bundle of joy~ ^^

Promised a cross stitch pillow cover for little kai zai but I wasn't able to finish it on time (promised to deliver by his full moon). Break promise to a baby, I shall rot in hell I guess... I wasn't dare to carry him though, as I never carry such a young baby before. So I guess my first trial will go to my little new nephew/niece next year? Haha!!

The other time was just hanging around in the house doing nothing.

The hot story was this!!

I bought the bus ticket on Monday, Kgr-KB on Friday night and supposedly KB-Kgr on Monday night. For some reason, I didn't mention the date AND the day when I was buying the ticket, which I normally will, because if I get the date or day wrong, the counter person will scold me, or look me through her skeptical eyes. Sadly, I bought the ticket for Sunday night, and I never notice the mistake and still proudly carrying the ticket around, BY MY SIDE!!

Anyway, until the day when I supposedly to take the bus back to BoringLand, I boarded the bus, the driver did frozen for few seconds, checking, ticking, then off I went to my seat. By the time the bus arrived at Tanah Merah station (usually the last station to pick up passengers before heading to the East-West hilly highway), I was so sleepy, then this guy came up holding his ticket, walked to my seat and stunned for few seconds. I looked at him, he looked at me, and he said there might be some mistake at the counter, so he went down to check with the driver.

He got back up, and said the driver told him that night's bus was a full house, and it's nearly impossible the counter would have sell double tickets since they use online system. I was a little flustered, I took out the ticket, and said rather loudly:

"There must be some mistake. Mine is tonight's ticket, 27th, seat 3C."

When I said that, everyone around me turned their head around and looked at me, as if I'm some kind of an idiot.

That guy stunned for few more seconds, and slowly said:

"Ermm... Miss, I think YOU made a mistake. Today is 28th, not 27th..."
(He actually said it really slowly and softly, but I want to make a statement here, that I really looked like an idiot!!! Malunya...)

My eyes opened as large as they can be, and I quickly grab my phone to check, but the guy was fast, he showed me his phone with the right date on it.

I was TOTALLY speechless. I kept apologizing repeatedly, and worried about where should I sit since the driver said it's a full house. Luckily there's still a free seat next to me, so he settled there. The guy gentleman-ly looked for free seat for me, just in case... I said this supposedly to be the last station that the bus will stop, as the guy sitting in front of us agreed too, then this gentleman still wanna say things like this:"Ermm.. who knows maybe the driver stop by somewhere to pick people up?"

@*&#%*(#&()#*@)(#&!(* 你这个乌鸦嘴!

'Thanks' to his Ermm, I wasn't be able to sleep for the next two hours, quickly open my eyes in ultimate surprise when the bus slowed down worrying the driver was really picking up people along the way, until the bus finally leave the last town in Kelantan and sped off towards the uphill road only I could sleep worry-free.

For the past 10 years of taking long distance bus, this is the first freaking time I made such a careless and stupid mistake!! Oh my gosh...

Hair Treatment

2011-11-20T19:00:00.001+08:00

Since last year, I have an aim of growing my hair as long as I can, the estimated result would be til the waist.

Short history: My primary and secondary school forbid students to keep long hair except those in dance team/club. Never cut the hair short after SPM. Although I've been keeping long hair for ten years, it's never 'THAT' long due to fragile hair type and crappy hair scalp.

I read somewhere about the essential for the last 15 cm of our hair ends. Along the way of keeping long hair, hair treatment is one of my important to-do thing, to make sure the hair can grow long without breaking or rosak-ing. So I've been eyeing for saloons in Kangar for a good treatment. Switching saloon/hair stylist is a BIG thing for cutting/styling your hair, but treatment is still ok lah.

On my search of saloon, I found this banner hang up on a shop about free stuff for a treatment. How can I resist free stuff right? So I went and asked about the treatment. When the lao ban niang looked at my hair, she kinda carefully stated:"I think you need the hair loss treatment..." My scalp needs help because I have the obvious !? M shaped hairline which I would say it looks kinda bald. How can a tree grow up tall and strong if it has a bad root right? Same goes to hair.

^This is sad for a 27 year old you know? :(

The saloon uses Shiseido as their shop brand and the hair loss series are really nice. I bought the buy 5 free 1 package with the free stuff - Shiseido Fuente Vita Voltage Tonic.

^Ini...

This is the third tonic brand I've tried, and I would say it's the nicer and most convenient tonic to be used. I like the cold-cold feeling too after spraying it on the scalp.

The uncle went all blah blah about how little my hair shed when he was washing and applying stuffs on my hair. I hardly see any significant effects yet but I hope the product really helps. Or else I shall sigh loudly again...

The Sense of Belonging

2011-11-20T14:59:00.000+08:00

Nowadays, I have this feeling of staying in outer space or concentration camp for the past three years in my undergraduate life. This is why... ... ...

1) There's one pasar malam at the town stadium every Wednesday. I always visit it to buy fruits and 'alang-alang' (顺便 or conveniently) dinner, and now to buy veggies for the two furbrats. It's almost 1-2 months I never visit the place due to time constraint and stuff. When I finally got the chance to re-visit the place, I went to the usual stalls for my usual food routine. The first sentence the hawkers said to me:"Lama tak nampak! Mana you pigi? (Long time no see! Where have you been?)" And yes, I seriously felt so touching!! Because...
The thing is, there's another pasar malam at Kuala Perlis every Tuesday, and although it's a smaller scale, but the usual stalls are there, which I would visit when I stayed in Kampung Wai hostel. This never happen!!
The best part is, I get extra fruit too if I buy from the same abang :) That is so nice of him~

2) I join the belly dance, yoga and zumba classes (and have been actively involved too!) which I only know about when I started postgraduate. So bloody slowpoke~ Thanks to the classes, I finally have the chance to know some of the local friends.
You see, it's like I've been here for three years but not even the food stalls' tauke recognize me, the car accessories shop tauke said never see me before though I have been walking pass his shop almost weekly. So sad -___-... Unlike my housemates, who the WHOLE food court knows their name!
From there, comes the other extra activities - routine badminton sessions (FINALLY!), have some kinda out-of-the-mind events like going to KL for concert, etc etc... Due to my grandpa's funeral and some other stuffs, I skipped classes for almost 3 weeks. The first time I finally attended the class, everyone (I close to) shouted:"We miss you!" :)

This is enough to make me feel I finally belong here, not just some alien who come to this place to study and not having someone local smile at you because they know you. That's so foreverarone~ I'm glad and contented :)

The Chronicle of M&M - Epi. 2

2011-11-13T17:22:00.000+08:00

While everyone is 'bragging' :p and celebrating the arrival of their babies (yes, I am surrounded by newborns and pregnant ladies nowadays), I can only brag about my two extra furry kids.

Forever arone spotted =.=

According to friends, they have grown so much! It's like from half-palm sized up to one-palm. Up til 10th Nov, Mozzie weighs 547g and Manny 532g. The number is not quite accurate though as they struggle when I try to put them on the weight.

Watching them grow rounder and longer is satisfying, but the disappointing and frustrating part is that they still afraid of me. Although they wheek for food and eat from hand-fed food, but they still run away when my bare hands approach them. This is really saddening...

Earlier October, I noticed some black spots on their white fur. Thinking that it might because of mites infection, I prepared a vinegar bath for them, while cleaning their cage with vinegar and Dettol solution.

^Sitting at the edge of the cage...

I tried to modified their mansion by adding a second floor for them, but they don't seem to understand the purpose of the stair and the compartment, so I put it away. Instead, the former shirt tunnel was put back. They just love to play with it! Especially now that they grow so much, they have some difficulties moving around in the tunnel.

^It's like a little mice moving in a snake's stomach!

I tried a few bonding techniques that are taught on the Internet, but it still yet to see the effect. Not sure if I actually frightened them or whatever. Sigh :( The routine bonding time is available, but my patience has run out!

^The mischievous and glutton Mozzie

Lately, Mozzie has caught up with a behavior when eating: Bite the food away from the food bowl and eat at the far corner of the 'eating hall', just like dogs and cats. Not sure where did he learn/know the trick, but he does it everytime the food is served. It is adorable! Anyway, Mozzie has become more and more stressed than before. I must have scared him somewhere and sometime ago. He is in full alert even on the 'creaking' sound when I stand up from my chair. How can I earn back his trust? :(

^Manny looks at the camera!! :D

On the other hand, Manny is less alert and will more likely to frozen on the spot when he senses any odd movement from his outside world. He runs slower and more in the idle position too. It's easier to catch him than Mozzie, and he will stay still without struggling when handle. Cute~

They have a nickname too:一个，两个. I read about this joke somewhere in the Internet. It says that a man has named his pets 一个，两个. The reason is because: 当‘一个’死了，我还有‘两个’。" :D Anyway, it suits them too because everytime I come back home, the first sentence I would shout towards them and the cage would be "你们一个两个小胖子/小朋友啊~~~"

Along the way, they has some extremely cute expression/小动作 that I always can't manage to take picture of. One of it would be when they 'bundle' themselves in a ball/round shape, which is extremely adorable. Another cutest behavior would be when they yawn!! It is the cutest when they yawn while I am holding them on my body, stretching themselves and rest their head down. Too cute~

Another thing that I frustrated would be them being picky on food. They starting to eat less carrots, capsiums and some of the leafy veggies. :/ Luckily they love their hays and pellets.

I wish them good health, long life and I love them dearly.

Private Yoga Class

2011-11-13T16:46:00.002+08:00

Last Tuesday, no one showed up to the usual Tuesday yoga class other than me. When I thought the class would be cancelled, sporty Theresa (the yoga instructor and buddy :) ) suggested we try the hip opener steps and some other stuff.

It's like a private class, but more like play time among friends hehe... Tried all sorts of steps and positions, plus personal instructor! What else can beat that :)

Although it's bad for Theresa's business, but I hope this kind of classes are more to come :p

Bad/Rude Driving Behaviour

2011-11-13T16:29:00.000+08:00

Note: This is a ranting post. You have been warned.

Having sufficient drive time (more than 1 year) in KB, PJ/KL, and Perlis, I must admit I have the most frustrated experience here in Perlis. And I am not the only one who feel that way!! Anyway, it's not fair for me to blame Perlisians as I prefer to ride motorbike in KB and I curse on the road while driving in PJ too.

SO, here, I would like to list out the most common driving misbehavior that I face nearly everyday.

1) 'Right Turn'

Ever since we moved to the new house, there is an increase amount of turning right, mostly on the traffic light turn. There is this particular road that although it's a cross junction, 99.9% cars turn right on that traffic light. Normally, turning right from a two-lane to a two-lane common-sensely should be as below:

^... ... ...right? Very simple~

Anyway, for some reason, most road users in Kangar 应该是 pay more road taxes than anyone else, because they will do as below:

-_____________-

You see what I mean? As if they own the road... OMGoodness...

2) 10-2 hand position on steering wheel
If you still can recall (not sure about other driving school, but mine did), this is the default hand position when we tarted learning to drive car.

In normal situation, it's still okay, but totally impractical when it comes to turning, because it uses the push-pull technique, which you are in a BIG trouble when the car has no power steering. This was why even my instructor resented this technique and simply asked us to do whatever we like.

ANYWAY, in real life, I saw not only once, but thrice!! I mean people actually use this technique to drive on the 'real world' road. Sadly -- but not surprisingly -- the drivers are all women.

There was one moment when I was totally speechless and felt funny on this driving technique. I was waiting to cross the road while waiting for a car to U-turn. The road is like a dead end and you either U-turn or turn left to go back to the main road. I felt weird wondering why did the driver need to take such a long time to simply U-turn a cheeky cute Kancil. I was like
=_______________________="
when I saw the driver was turning her car with this technique. It's like she turned only 10 degree everytime she moved. (sorry I don't know how to produce an animated picture, so please imagine it yourselves.)

Seriously.

So, ladies, this is not practical at all in turning your car okay? improve!

3) Snail speed on fast lane
This is really common in Perlis. You need to come experience it to believe it. They can drive at 40-50km/h on the speed lane, even motorbike can own the whole fast lane for themselves with 30-40km/h speed.

4) 'Meaningless' signal lights
Red color signal lights - most common meaningless signal lights I've seen on the road, nationwide. It's too confusing for other road users and dangerous! Where is all the JPJ/traffic police/whoever-who-is-responsible??

5) Road bullies
I met once, and my friend met once. I'll tell my tale here.

It was grandpa's funeral, after his cremation, we sent his name plate to 佛教会. After the hassle and stuff, me, da jie and tino were in one car, going to a vegetarian restaurant for lunch.

There is two ways to go to the restaurant: one slightly big round but only left-y road; one nearer but need to 'turn right' on a busy junction.

Da jie chose the 'right turn' route, and we were waiting to cross to the opposite. Tino and I were chatting so we didn't notice the cars. When da jie finally crossed, she went:"Oops, there's car behind us..."

The Perdana, heavily tinted and modified, honked our car and followed tightly behind us. Out of sudden, the car drove past us and blocked our way, just like in the movie. A skinny Malay guy came down from the car and started cursing and assaulting us, even kicked our car door! When da jie rolled down the window to apologize !?, the guy suddenly stretched his arm through the window, seemed like wanting to take out the car key!!!

After some exchange of harsh words, he got on his car and went off. We weren't harmed physically, but emotionally slight unstable.

**************************

End of story.

Relative Visiting Short Break Getaway

2011-11-08T13:04:00.003+08:00

We had quite a long weekend break, thanks to Raya AidilAdha, so Mom and aunties at KB planned a road trip to Bukit Mertajam and Parit Buntar to visit my maternal grand-uncle and aunty (My maternal grandma's brother and sister).

Lim Tino came to Perlis by train, SEATING CLASS! Poor her, sat for 11 hours!!? Fetched her from the train station, went back for some rest, then head out again when the zhang beis passed Grik.

Relying on Tino's GPS, I managed to go pass Kepala Batas for the first time (as indicated by GPS to take that exit, wondering why...). When we arrived Bukit Mertajam's seem-to-be town centre, her HP's battery went off! OMG!! So we had nothing else to do but to find some significant landmark to wait for the zhang beis.

------ the 'heartwarming' reunion part ----------

Granduncle suffered from stroke, and he has been laying on bed for the last 5 years. It's really regretful that I am not aware of his condition all this while, I only hold memories of playing in his house when we were small and he was such a nice looking uncle. Some says it's the nemesis and he has to pay back all his 'debt' before passing (which reasons are not inappropriate to say it out loud here).

After bidding farewell, we headed to Parit Buntar to visit my grandma's youngest sister, who I have no memory at all about her =.=" We successfully found our way to Parit Buntar Hospital with the help of GPS, and her daughter-in-law lead us to her house (and I finally know where is USM Nibong Tebal engineering campus branch too).

She provides the best hospitality ever! First the homemade lunch, then city tour, pasar malam tour, dinner, supper, breakfast, and the list went on!! Despite the lack of communication all this while, there's hardly any awkward silence in between, especially us the young ones as we brought up almost everything we can think of.

During the night they brought us to a pasar malam, where I bought a pair of sandal. You cannot deny the 一见倾心 effect! Then a fish porridge supper on our way back. We were brought to Dim Sum breakfast the next day, where they 'stuffed' us with a lot of dim sum and fried stuff. Before leaving, ah Kim brought us to buy 香饼, which is the exact factory that produces the biscuits! Jin Jia authentic feel! Also, there' a river called Sungai Kerian that divides 3 states: Kedah, Perak and Penang, they call the place '三角州'.

I would conclude this trip as a very 'FULL' trip (quoted from Lim Tino). Due to their hospitality, I'm sure I want to go there again yay! :p

Things I've been up to

2011-11-04T19:30:00.000+08:00

1. IPCE 2011: It's Uni's 2nd Postgraduate Conference. As a Bursary co-chair, my life sucks to the max. Sponsorship, fee collection, and the awful messes, plus all the aftermath-sh*t I have to help clean up!! FML to the max (again). Luckily it's over, and our uni Bursary works so slow, I can only wait.

2. PhD transfer report: 不知不觉, it's been a year now!! I need to submit the transfer report as part of the conditions, while waiting for the viva to come. The submission date should be on the 18th, but the boss need to amend and amend again, so the final draft is still in progress. Gah~ Blame my procrastination too though...

3. M&M:

Well, what else but this two furballs who make me so occupied. Not blaming them though, they are too adorable! Except the part where they still scare of me to hell :( The most satisfying moment would be when they wheek for food! :D
Friends say they have grown so much! Good news. Recently they have some mites problem, used up one day to bathe them and clean their cage.
Never know I can be so 'routine' too - the day starts with preparing their breakfast while hearing them wheeking, refilling the hay and pellet; after I come back from lab in the evening, replacing the newspapers on their cage, sweep their poo, 把屎把尿, then preparing their food again, sometimes trimming their nails; bonding time in the night.
Although sometimes they drive me crazy, I still love them with all my heart :)

4. Things for the small ones:

^For my kai zai and my kai niece/nephew! :)

Lately I've been 'surrounded' by pregnant ladies! Shin, Jas, now da jie! (Oops, hope that doesn't scare my future niece/nephew away! Please please!)
Purchase a few cross stitch stuff as a gift for the babies too. Yet JR's wedding stitch is still soooo pending. LOL

家有喜事2011

2011-10-29T12:24:00.000+08:00

It's so freaking backdated.... -____-

Finally, our family's very first wedding. Finally, one more male in our family LOL

The wedding was held on the Malaysia Day, 16th September. It was in chaos as it's the first time in our family, but it all went well up till the night.

I took a week off just as a good excuse. Then everyone teased me for coming back early as if I am the bride instead. I wish!!

The daytime session was held at home. Tents were set up in front of our house, parents ordered buffet from The Ritz restaurant, everyone was kinda clueless (or just me...).

Long story short, it was a quite chaotic day, but we found some ways to cheer ourselves up, since it's a wedding. We should be happy!

In the end of the day, everyone was worn off yet happy. I'm happy finally there's another guy in our family! ^^

Lack of Updates!!!

2011-10-19T11:12:00.003+08:00

Seriously, after all this mess(es) (transfer report, conference, this and that), I am so gonna update my blog ASAP! It's so dead, even the owner sounds breathless =.="

It's been a busy October, especially when the PhD evaluation transfer report is around the corner. Mom crossed her finger for me! Wish me best of luck...

Rest in Peace, Ah Kong Po

2011-10-05T22:36:00.004+08:00

Ah Kong Po (Ah Kong as in grandfather, Po as in town, in Hokkien) passed away on Friday 8.30pm peacefully at home.

It's my first time watching death arrive upon one person. Grandpa's room was too gloomy for me to handle at the time, I excused myself to the living room while mom and other adults were in the room with him.

Grandpa was always the lenient one, while grandma was the super fierce one. An aunt presented this following theory: "grandpa was a snake and grandma was a dog (in Chinese Zodiac). Although the snake was fierce, the dominant dog was watching over the snake." while I added, "and it's not any other dog, it's a Rottweiler!" :)

He lived a good life, and I hope grandma and him can live happily ever after in the other world (reminiscing their heated-up conversation now...)

Charlie Bite Me + Bonding Time

2011-09-13T13:15:00.004+08:00

Unlike the cute thing going on between two brothers (go Google for 'Charlie bite me' youtube),I was 'eventually' 'get in touch' with Charlie the bug.

I've known this bug for quite some time, and wrote the 'somewhat' famous post about it. (LoL beh paiseh...)

Ever since I moved to the new place, the bugs and insects and mosquito came visiting me batch by batch, especially during the rainy days, and that's the time I first encountered the orange-y color Charlie.

I thought I was careful enough, until I felt a pinch-y pain on my thigh one day. The pain persisted until the second and the third day, so I asked my housemate and senior to take a look at the blister, in case they knew what it was.

Not only the pain persists, the blisters are kinda growing too, so those who looked at it advised me to go see a doctor for an accurate 'diagnosis'. So I went, and indeed it was Charlie! Anyway, 'bite' is not really the field of expertise for the Charlie bugs, so I might have sat on them or something. Darn~

Plus, since the blisters are all below my thing, and the doc told me to wear loose shorts and even better, sarong, I had to declare MC myself =.=

^See!! Cannot even sit properly because of those blisters

For the spare time, I had a bonding time with M&M on the lazy sunny evening. Carried both of them out of the cage, laying them down on my chest while I was laying too, watching movie and listening to the radio while both of them explored curiously above my chest.

^They found that laying their butt on my neck was nice...

They are still as cowards as they naturally are, anyway, it's pretty impressive when they suddenly quiet down and even sleep on me when listening to 费玉清!! =D That was too darn cute!!

The Chronicles of M&M

2011-09-06T23:02:00.000+08:00

After years and years and YEARS of thinking and wanting and wondering and imagining, I finally made up my mind to finally own one pair of guinea pigs and getting prepared for it.

Yup, it's been a desire since 2004!! 7 years... Funny thing is, some people asked why didn't I ask from the (ex) loved one; that fella didn't even remember he knew guinea pigs because of me! =.=

It took me around 2-3 days to make and modify the cage. The moment the cage is ready, I get nervous and eagerly wanting them!

^Cage layout

The square part is their dining area, where the water bottle, hay rack and food bowls are placed.

Took them from a breeder from Penang. It was a long drive down, and the painful part was the traffic jam at Seberang Jaya because of broken tree trunk!

^Manny the elder brother

^Mozzie the little brother

I thought of their name - M&M months ago LOL. Both of them are of the abby breed, so they have rather messy hair. It's like the pusar thing on our head, but they have a lot more.

Their first night was quite a bliss, except we scared the crap out of them and they hide in their hiding tunnel the whole night. Fortunately, the hungry bug finally came out to grab a bite of the carrot!

^Look who's out~

It is a challenge too. It's totally different from imagining it and actually owning it. I have to deal with their behavior, their pee and poo, their meal etc. It scared me as both of them never take a sip of water for the first two days.

^12 hours worth of poo =.=

As a first timer, it is a whole new experience for everything, and I get frustrated most of the time too. Apart from them being so scared of me, the bedding and cleaning after them are the most pain in the ass. Since both of them start to drink a lot, they pee a lot too. The sad thing is they seem to be clueless of the concept of toilet in the cage, they just pee whenever they like.

^Fighting for a piece of carrot stick (there's still more though)

^Cute lil Mozzie munching the lettuce

I must admit, I am a little bias towards Mozzie as he is the cuter one. His facial marking and color are nicer than his older brother, plus he is the bolder one too in the beginning.

^Do you see what I mean?

^See? SEE?? How cute is that!

Anyway, ever since I grabbed them for a bath, they seemed to be traumatised, and return to the timid type again.

^Scared the hell out of them...

^Avoiding me at all cause... :(

After one week, this boys show some dominant behavior against each other, as there are more purring sound and attacking between them. It is quite amusing to see all this behaviors of them.

^After a fight, the big brother successfully gain his place at the bigger shade while the little brother has to take the smaller shade...

Up til now, the experience is great one! Hope they will not die young pleaseee...

P/S: although they look super cute in this cloth tunnel, they hide in it too much, so I remove them to reduce the timidness.

Cocozbelly Dance Night 2011

2011-08-27T19:15:00.003+08:00

After weeks and months of practicing and rehearsing and frustrating (not me), the night has come finally.

The venue of the dinner was at Khoon Aik hall. It was a full house, about 30 tables overall.

We headed there in the noon to have a final rehearsal, position arrangements and stuffs. All performance would be done on the floor, which means the same level as the seats, so we needed to adjust and readjust our position so that it won't seems too blank, too near, too far etc...

Had my hairdo at an in-house saloon (which was a little overpriced since all she did was curling up my hair with some sprays) and makeup done by our dancemate Lee Ching.

Luckily for us, our table was right next to the dance floor, so we could watch the show conveniently. Unfortunately, since the dinner's arrangements went haywire, we had to be prepared and standby most of the time. Anyway, fortunately for me, I had my usual appetite :)

It's around 30 dances overall, including the solo dance by the 'grand belly dance master' Miss 许雪玲. It was breathtaking! The body, the dance, everything! Our dances were the 6th and 27th.

After the grand finale - JaiHo dance, it was the happy hour time, the hall turned into a disco dance floor. There's a lot of aunties uncles in Kangar who can dance really well!! Impressive! We had our crazy fun too :)

When the waltz music going on and on, we got bored and decided to call it a day. Went back to Lee Ching's house to remove our makeup and chit-chatted until 2am :p

Maybe, we gonna challenge again next year? :p

^How come my smile so fake!? =.=

Generation Gap

2011-08-15T23:48:00.001+08:00

This post was inspired by the FB comment on my friend's wall. She talked about the conversation of a bunch of 4 year-olds' (she mentioned some are not even 4), which are all about iPad, iPhone, apps and stuffs.

Slowpoke me, again, I started to watch CSI NY Season 7 (just started... -_-) episode 2 tonight, and it's about a murder witnessed by Adam from a chatting network, and it's truly internet savvy episode.

I notice the significant generation gap from the kids in this generation and what we've been through 10, 20 years ago.

I was still using a bunch of 3.5" floppy disk during my Diploma time, and it's just 6 years ago~

Look at now, iPad, iPhone, high-performance laptop, and the lists go on.

I had a chat with housemate about this topic, and he said that's how the world evolve, and imagine what would it be 30-40 years later? We might end up lose track to the new technology then.

Sigh~ Well, I pray for world peace. :)

Pathetically, I don't even know what is 'WhatsApp'. -_-