Real Survivors

I've been blogwalking, (which I happens to do a lot lately) and stumbled on pretty amazing blogposts though..

See, all my life I live in Malaysia. So I never experienced living in any other countries (well, a one week trip could not be considered as living rite?) . My first overseas trip was to Phillipines, and back then I was already worried about food. Pinoys have pork in almost all of their dishes. It is almost impossible to find a halal eateries in central Manila. I went to an outskirt area, about 2-3 hours drive from Manila, Tabangao, where there is no Muslim at all. Strict vegetarian is close to non-existence, said my Pinoy colleague. So to prepare for the trip, my colleague and I packed ourselves loads of Maggie Mee, crackers, squashed bread and Campbell Instant soup, good for one week ;) We survived just fine.

See, I came across many blogs that belongs to Malaysian living abroad, and more often than not the blogs talk about what else? Malaysians top craze, FOOD. Living in different countries, they have shared how they managed to whipped up some Malaysian food. Most of the things that we totally take for granted. Those things that when I crave for it, it will be just a 10-15 minutes drive away.

For instance, there is this one lady who lived in Doha, made her own mee kuning!! We here in Malaysia bought the yellow mee in market, and off late many consumer reports came up with findings that higher bromic acid are detected in these products. Plus, there has been too many consumer reports exposing unhygenic premise producing such product. Now, making it from scratch is a much better options right? I think so.

I also found about a lady who made 'apam balik' , something that is available on daily basis (at least in most part of peninsular Malaysia). Just the other day, I read about some Malaysian student in UK craving some 'cendol' and a colleague just explaining during lunch time on how she used to help her cousin make cendol when she was small.

Living outside their comfort zone has caused these people to be creative, going the extra mile just to savour the exact same delicacies that we can get anytime we want. So what does this tells me? Instead of just buying it, why not try to make it?

Suddenly I feel the urge of making something, ideas?... ;)

Bluesy Monday

Its half an hour after ***** (somebody will get warning letter for blogging writing at this time, hehehe..) and I am damn bored and sleepy....Received an award from Aida, TQVM!! for beautiful blogger..lagi sekali ye..beautiful blogger, not beautiful blog...tang mana beautiful pon cek tak tau..hahaha...

1. Buat 1 entry tentang award ini
2. Ucap Terima Kasih dan letak link pemberi award pada entry tersebut
3. Senaraikan 15 blogger sebagai penerima Award.
4. Beritahu penerima Award , supaya dia tahu yang dia adalah penerima Award
5. Senaraikan 7 perkara tentang korang....

No 1: Done

No 2: Done

No 3: Very tricky as I said before, I don't have many readers, and I know one is on long hiatus (maternity leave la..but I'll try, sure tak cukup sebelah tangan jugak!!)

1. Dieya
2. Shaz
3. Nofa
4. Rahimy
5. Shin Loo

Ngam-ngam sebelah tangan, which is only 30% from the original request, nasib la...

No 4 : Will do rite after this ;)

No 5: I can really copy paste from my old long forgotten Crabbie Column, but in case I came short, I will do that..

1. Am an introvert person, that is why you see all this long winded ramblings, simply because I don't really talk much.
2. Hates guys who lingers around lingerie area, I know you are the hubby, but for God sake, tak boleh ka pi jauh2 sikit? Your spouse is not the only one shopping there, there are a lot of other women that is seriously not comfortable having men looking over what type of bra you are choosing. Guys should be banned from lingerie area, they look like pervert, all of them, and don't use that 'I'm buying a lingerie for my mum' excuse OK? (tetiba emo..)
3. Still very much loves Linkin Park songs, although nowadays listening to more downbeat, catchy pop tunes.
4. Simple minded person but always prepare myself for the worst case scenario. yup, am a complex personality person..
5. Never really consulted anybody when making decision (big, let alone small). Only tell certain key people (mum included) once a decision has been made. So actually no one has ever talk me out of anything yet..hahaha..
6. Favorite taste,smell and spices includes garlic, black pepper, lavender, lemon, and cinnamon
7. A friend once said that I could write a book, but up till now have not decided what book is it going to be, or will there ever be a book? hmm...time will decide..hahaha..

There you have it, from the beautiful blogger of the day....(*mode perasan nak ma**us) hehehe....;)

Life is a Long Series of Drama...

Its been a while that I started following on new drama series, probably because not many new ones that makes it our way. Am right now watching 'Mercy'. Saw the ad like one month ago and quickly intrigued to watch it. This is yet another medical drama. Come to think of it, there are too many of them. I used to (still am) crazy over ER, well, because of them I know how they detect internal bleeding from an uninjured body ;) Then there is Greys' Anatomy, which there has never been one single episode that I did not shead a tear.

Not just medical drama, law and police kinda drama also flood the small screen. When that happens, what else can compliment that? CSI type would do. Used to be only the original Crime Scene Investigation that dominates the screen, but now we have NCIS, Criminal Minds, Without a Trace, etc..etc..

I used to say to my bos, they have all kind of professions turned to drama, but have we ever watched one about engineers? Not talking bout software engineer but the core 4 mainstream engineering; Civil,Electrical,Mechanical and Chemical. A full season, maybe 13 or 26 episode? Well, there is one that came close to that, Micheal Scofield of Prison Break was a Civil Engineer and the knowledge that was applied to escape the prison was damn superb!!

Well, my bos respond was that all of these profession that gets to be in drama actually pays so bad, that they have to create more ways for people to be interested to actually do the job (sort of like promoting the profession via drama). Well, that is one way to look at it, although am not sure whether that is entirely true (doctors and lawyers gets good pay though, later in their career).

I think its maybe that the job is too demanding and interesting at the same time, and it pays to show public to what extend did they go in their line of duty. Most of the stories, although its just a fiction, worth sharing and educational at some point. And maybe the public would appreciate more (we always hear about people complaining about doctors' services in govt hosp, or how bad the police at catching the ever increasing snatch thieves). I know things could be better , if we compared what we see on TV (mostly American drama by the way) to what we actually experience live in our daily life, but I guess on some part the job dilemma is pretty much the same.

So what do I think about Mercy? Well, it maybe not the most medically educational drama, the content maybe 30%, or 40% top contains medical facts, the rest is just plain drama with all emotions wrapped up. The most action pack medical drama to me is still ER. Will I still watch it? Of course ;) Mostly for the drama..hehehe....

p/s: dieya, any TV series about a bunch of accountants? just wondering...

In Sickness and In Health...

We (my colleague and I) have been going to KPJ Seremban after work for 2 days in a row already. Hopefully we don't have to go there today. Two of my senior colleagues were admitted. One due to chest pain, and after diagnosis, it is a heart attack. Apparently one of the veins has two blockage. She underwent angiogram and was disharged yesterday. The same day another senior colleague was admitted due to abdominal pain. After check up, it is confirmed she had kidney stone in her urinary tract and she is now pregnat. Therefore the Dr could not conduct x-ray to determine the exact location and size.

Nowadays, we see people dropping like flies, mostly due to common diseases. My colleague, the one with the heart attack is actually an active person. She always ride bikes, jog and she rarely eats out. But still, she gets it. What is the determining factor to stay away from all this illness? My thinking is combination of good lifestyle, healthy eating habit (yeah...cut down on the seafood y'all...that will settle in your veins) and last but not least pray hard!!

I am for sure struggling on the lifestyle bit. Its very tempting to use the elevator instead of staircase even just one floor away. I arrive to work quite early and always park at the nearest spot, so why not park a little bit further, and walk a bit? hhmmm...worth a try..

Something Sweet ;)

This is indeed the sweetest thing I read today;)
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/16032010/58/champions-league-mourinho-inter-send-chelsea-crashing.html

I feel the satisfaction as early as 3rd para when Drogba was sent out...hahahaha...(gelak jahat!!)

Women of Independence : Day 2

Day 2 was kicked of quite aggresively when the chairperson introduce Major Patricia Yapp as the presenter. She came in second after Dr. Noeleen Heyzer Executive Secretary for United Nations.
Major Patricia's presentation was the most interesting as she took us with her journey on embarking a career as jet fighter pilot. She even taught us on how to symbolise F-18 and MIG-29 at the training ground ;) . She is very much entertaining, but does carry a big message. Anything is doable as long as you put your hearts and minds to it and mother's support is sometimes all that you need to succeed. So to all mothers out there, (if there are any), support your child in any field that they ventured into, even how impossible it may look. At least they have tried.

Another speaker that wows everyone was a teacher from Philipines that gets a planet named after her. Dr Josette Biyo gets the recognition when she won an education fair in US. The thing that commands people respect is that, after receiving her PhD, she was offered to teach at major universities in the US, but instead, she continues teaching at middle school in her home town in Iloilo, a rural part in Philipine (not even a city). She is determined to teach the students from young, and care less about the monetary reward.

Here are some pics from the two days ;)

Us with Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar

With the flying girl from Sabah bah..

With Dato Nooryah

All of us

The event was meant for networking, but I did not bring my name card, so I just collected along the way ;). I do have one though in my purse, and that one I gave to Houzan Mahmoud, when she promised to send the report of human trafficking and prostitution in Iraq. Below is the link to the organisation that she is with :

http://www.equalityiniraq.com/activities/117-prostitution-and-trafficking-of-women-and-girls-in-iraq

Its suprising though to see that most of these women do not have their own wikipedia entry. Considering they are the pioneer for women in general to be in their position. If you search for an artist name, you'll get the whole length of their career history, which is sometimes not really that significant, if compared to these wonderful women. That shows how society in general view women and how they achieve women's achievement.

I'm It!! : Tagged by Cik Aida

I was visiting my regular blogroll and it turns out that I'm it. Have been tagged by Cik Aida yang kini berada di bumi Espanyol. So here are the rules...(lama weh tak jawab tag-tag ni...)

1. Go to your photo files…Select the 8th photo folder.
2. Select the 8th photo in that folder.
3. Post that photo along with the story behind it.
4. Then challenge 8 blogging friends to do the same! "...

Soklan : Apsal 8? 6 tak bole ke? mesti orang yang invent tag ni suka no 8..bnyk soklan plak...nak jawab, jawab je la....hehehe...

So here goes...

1. Done : Kenduri Kakdik Jan 09
2. Done
3. Done : as attached;

The story:

This was taken during my younger sister's (Kakdik that celebrated her birthday on the 6th March) wedding on 3rd Jan 2009. No, that was not me in the picture. The one wearing kebaya on the left hand side is my younger sister, Ayang. The one in white baju kurung is her best friend, Alin. To Cik Aida, my sis met her best fren when she was schooling in Pahang...hahaha.. adik kite Sekolah Teknik Chenor. Actually Pahang is quite close to my heart as I was born in Temerloh, back in those days a lot of Kedahans move to Pahang, and my late grandma move to Temerloh, Charok Puting in particular. The whole village was opened by Kedahans, so eventhough I was born and raised until 5 years old in Pahang, I could not speak Pahang dialect, because the whole village, the first generation is Kedahans...I still have two aunties in Pahang, one in Bera, and another in Kg Awah.

Ooppss...lari tajuk. hahaha...The receiption was held in Dewan DBKL in Bandar Tun Razak, the whole family theme was green + peach. Alin and Ayang was the one who helped me prepared the high table dish. I think Ayang has already told Alin about the theme colour, and she brought baju kurung that is in the same colour tone. Alin has a boyfriend named Ali (funny rite..hahaha..). She is a tru blu Pahang gurl, but which area, koi kurang periksa ye Cik Aida.

So there you have it, its a coincidence that this story ade sangkut paut ngan Pahang..hahaha..

4. Tag other 8 blogger friend...

Hmm this is the tough part. Nobody really reads my blog except for few people (kalo kira tak sampai sebelah tangan..hahaha) So whoever is reading, YOU'RE IT!!! You know who you are....hehehe....