Pass!!! Phew...

I pass my first sem!!! Yay!

I have just returned from my 2nd semester registration and am mighty pleased with myself.

However, the uni has yet to reveal our grades / CGPA; it's still in the process... Sigh...

I had really wanted to know how I fare in my exam but will only get to know from the 20th onwards.

Am keeping my fingers crossed that I will get some sort of grade that will help create some sort of buffer zone for me... as in to help me balance out some lousy grades that I might get in the future... *no, please God, no* I wouldn't want that to happen.

For this semester, I have registered for three fixed subjects:

1. Data Analysis in Research Methodology,
2. Theoretical Bases of Language Learning, and
3. Multimedia & WEB in Education.

Registration Form
Jan 12: Post-grad Centre

My first lesson will start next Saturday, on the 23rd of January and it will be a busier semester.

I hope I will do better and finalize my proposal as well. Hopefully, I'll be able to slot in at least two weeks to gather more literature reviews in some unis in KL.

Wish me all the best!

Thank you, DD, for seeing me through the first semester and please enable me to go through the second one!

Common Sense, Where Art Thou?

Annette, posted this sarcastically well-written obituary in her FB which I thought has well-encapsulated what is also going on in Malaysia right now.

An Obituary printed in the London Times - not a joke and makes you think!

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years.
No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
Why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn't always fair;
And, maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place:
Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate;
teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch;
and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sunscreen or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot.
She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death
by his parents, Truth and Trust;
by his wife, Discretion;
by his daughter, Responsibility and
By his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers:
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I am a Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on.
If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Baked Chicken

I was very inspired by Doria's Christmas turkey so much so that I decided to create my own version using chicken instead. It is just so surprisingly easy to cook it.

The ingredients needed are:

• A chicken (medium)
• Strips of bacon
• Olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Celery sticks
• Carrots
• Bombay onions

To prepare the chicken, clean it the day before and pat it dry before putting it overnight in the fridge (not freezer). This will ensure that the skin will be dry enough.

On the side, just cube the veggies. They are for stuffing. You can pre-cook your veggies before stuffing, which I did, or you can just stuff them raw.

Before baking, just rub some olive oil and salt all over the chicken. Then, stuff the chicken cavity with the cubed veggies until full. I also stuffed in strips of bacon for taste.

Put the chicken in a baking tray and fill up the tray with leftover veggies. After that, cover the whole chicken with strips of bacon.

Your chicken will look something like this:
 

 Pre-baked chicken

Jan 10: Kitchen

Then, just pop the chicken into the oven. I do not have a proper convection oven so I just used mom's old oven which do not have timer or temperature setting. I baked it for about 1 1/2 hours until the bacon turned crispy which looked like this:




The chicken skin did not turn cripsy. It looked pale! :(

I suspect it was because the temperature was not high enough to brown it.

After the chicken had cooled down a bit, I just took out the veggies, poured the gravy into a bowl, and shredded  the chicken meat (should have carved nicely, but was too hungry and lazy).

I served this dish with mashed potato.

Yummy!

I will try this dish again and this time I'd make sure that the chicken skin will turn out crispy.

Black Day

A burnt church
Jan 9: KL

The picture says it all.

Jan 8 will go down in history as the day when some 'unknown' assailants went on a spree in the wee hours of the morning and torched down churches in Selangor. To date, at least four churches have been attacked.

I am not angry at the attackers but what truly saddens me as a citizen of this country is the flippant attitudes of those in power, those elected to power, those supposedly guardians of this nation, who have failed to take any sensible action in preventing these incidents from happening.

The writings were already clearly on the wall, yet because of the political games indulged by these elite few, their claims of inability to do something have merely spurred on the sentiments of those ignorant blind followers to complete the damage.

I am just so furious that those in power have chosen to be so blatantly selective, hypocritical, and double-faced in their governance of an entire nation. I am talking about human lives here! Can any leader stoop any lower than those seen here in Malaysia?

I am aghast at the leaders' deliberate choice to remain silent for their silence has merely given the ignoramus the green light to do as they like.

To add salt to injury, an influential 'retired' leader had further instigated these incidents through his selective writings in his blog. Reading his posts makes my blood boil.

Subtly veiled, cunningly crafted, with certain salient facts conveniently omitted and erroneous points introduced, he has used the power of the pen to stir the hornet's nest, knowing full well so many of his admirers / readers who do not really know the truths, will take in his words without question and thereupon act on it.

To me, by remaining silent, by claiming not able to do something, by merely condemning the attacks without any solid measures taken to rectify the problem, by presenting half-truths - these so-called leaders are condoning what is not right. They might just as well come clean and be upfront about their despicable, manipulative strategies in order to stay in power and render the masses in fear and submission.

Oh, I can't be loving my country's leaders. I can't find myself forgiving them and praying that Abba Father will bless them.

I am not that magnanimous.

Instead, I will call upon the Almighty to promote sincere leaders and to remove those irresponsible ones. For vengeance, I can only leave it all to the supreme One. May they meet their match in God, not in men.

I pray that those brethren who are blinded will miraculously see the true Allah; experiencing supernatural encounters that neither man-made actions nor carefully crafted strategies could prevent.

Officially On Leave...

Today, another surprise awaits me in the mailbox - my official letter for my study-leave!

The Official Letter
Jan 8: Home

I was deeply surprised because I had just received the letter of notification and sent the reply slip by courier the previous day. It couldn't be THAT fast!

I had expected that it would take another two weeks to a month's time for BTP to process the letter and mail it to me. It was indeed pleasantly unexpected!

Upon scrutiny, I saw that this letter was dated 14 Dec 2009 while the notification letter which I had received the day before was dated 15 Dec! Now, how could this be?

It is another mind-boggling thing to for BTP to issue the study-leave letter before they had issued the notification letter. Furthermore, the letter of notification which was issued later arrived first! Isn't that strange?

But I'm not complaining because I reckon that they had to clear my case before last year ended and not carry forward to this year. How do I know this?

Well, the dates on both letters were written rather than printed - it felt like being back-dated and also because the dates are not in chronological order.

If this is a mistake, then I'm happy that I do not have to wait another month for them to settle it.

With this letter in hand, I hope everything is now cleared and the funds will be released.

Thank You, DD. You've done it again!

Contract

The much-awaited letter has arrived! *true happiness*

Letter of Notification
Jan 7: Car

After much hooha and inexplicable, mind-boggling telephone encounters, I received the letter of notification and contract from Putrajaya in my mail this afternoon.

I had to sign and return the reply slip to MOE ASAP so that they could issue my official study-leave and bank in the money.

In a jiffy, I got everything ready and drove to Foh Sang to photostat the letter for my own documentation and to purchase an envelope, before making my way to the nearest courier service company, Citylink, which is situated in the row of shops before the roundabout to Jalan Bundusan.

That single mail cost me RM13. I didn't know that it would cost that much. I thought it was cheaper. Anyway, this was money that I could happily part with.

I was geared for a jog at Tun Fuad Park since I was nearby. The gloomy weather, however, was not in my favour. I had wanted to go home instead when I decided to go ahead with my plan.

I reached the park around 4 p.m. and it started to drizzle lightly. I still went ahead anyway and I was glad I did. The light shower stopped soon after and it was sunny again.

I was there for two solid hours and did five rounds, increasing the duration and pace of my jog with each round. Am pleased as punch because I could just feel my fats melting away!!! ^^

It was a happy day for me and on my way home, something amusing caught my attention...

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A lil toddler perched precariously on the motorcyle seat!

Though he was protected by his grandfather, I thought it was too vulnerable a position to place a lil boy in!

Something I'd Rather Forget

Going to this particular place will always send shivers down my spine and make my blood curdle - it's the hospital.

It all stems from the horrible three weeks of spending my time there taking care of dad when he was seriously ill two years ago.

I'd never forget the daily early morning journey there to care for dad in shift with my mom and siblings.

Ambulance Bay
Jan 6: Hospital

This time, I was there to visit a friend who is stricken with diabetes and unfortunately, had had her toes cut because they had turned gangrenous due to an infection. I got to know the news quite late.

It was with an extremely heavy heart that I went there. I just had to visit her and check how she was doing.

The closer I was to the hospital, the more I feel disturbed by all the familiar walkways, rooms, doctors in white, staff in uniform and most of all, the distinct clinical smell which assaulted my senses.

I could feel fear gripping my heart as I reach her unit because I did not know how to face her, what to say and how to react or comfort her.

When I saw her, I was taken aback at how 'normal' she was. She was her usual self, chatting with the young houseman who was making his round. She too was surprised to see me. I couldn't get her on the phone earlier on. Only later did I know that her phone was stolen when she was first admitted to the hospital some time in October and she had lost all her contacts.

I was surprised by her great spirit. I thought she would be totally dejected at losing her toes yet she was not. I found out then that she was in the hospital for antibiotic jabs following the amputation of her toes which had been done in November. I think she has come to term with it and she seemed to be mobile and still able to walk with the aid of a crutch for the time being.

I'm thankful to God that she is so positive. In fact, it was me who was feeling overly jittery and fearful about her predicament.

Sigh... I think I was over-reacting but I really could not control my emotion. So much fear!

I hate this stairway... :(

Bye-bye $$

Payment Counter
Jan 5: Great Eastern HQ

Thus comes the time for my annual 'pilgrimage' to this particular office and cough up a chunk of of money to pay for my insurance.

Jan 5 is always the last day of the grace period when my money is due.

After paying my due for more than a decade now, the date is now firmly imprinted on my mind except for the year 2008 when I had totally forgotten about it because I was stressed out over dad who was stricken with stroke.

I dislike going to the banking area because of the jam and difficulty in finding a parking space. Therefore, I was prepared to park at Suria, since parking is free for the first two hours, and walk over.

Fortunately, as I was passing by behind Wisma Merdeka from the direction of the wet market, I saw two men heading to their respective cars. So I had an immediate parking lot which was not the norm.

I cut through Wisma Merdeka and went directly to the GE HQ and settled my bill within 15 minutes. Then, I went to CIMB to settle yet another insurance payment which had been credited to my credit card.

However, I overlook the fact that I could not transfer the amount due because of the ATM card limit and I also did not bring my bank book. Luckily, the due date was Jan 6 so I had the next day to settle it or else I'd unwittingly have to pay the late charges.

As I cut through Wisma Merdeka again, I stopped by my favourite place there - the Takoyaki outlet - and bought four sets of the deliciously hot snack.


Yumz!!! But the bad thing is the price has been increased to RM3 from the usual RM2.80.

Haiz... semuanya naik harga...

Banana Oatmeal

I've never thought that the day would come when I'd actually eat oatmeal. Well, it has!

I have started eating oatmeal for breakfast since October. This valiant effort has, however, come to a halt in December when I was distracted by other unhealthy food.

After a festive month of excessive gluttony and indulgence over sinfully-fattening and cholesterol-increasing food, I am now back to eating oatmeal.

I have discovered that banana goes really very well with oatmeal! It's delicious! I've seen pictures of bananas in oatmeal before and I just could not imagine how they would taste like together. I used to cringe at that combination.

Banana oatmeal
Jan 4: Home

This is my regular oatmeal recipe:

1. 2 tbsp Quaker Oats
2. 250 ml of low fat milk
3. Raisins

Just put everything in a pot and boil until the oat is cooked. Add in a banana or two.

I'd usually just eat it as it is.

Yup, am making a conscious effort to change my diet for a healthier life. If it's not because of health, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'd never eat oatmeal!

Oh well, eating healthier food is an acquired taste.

Tessa's Gift

When I was in primary school, there were quite a number of Eurasian students who studied in the same school. In a school which consisted primarily of Chinese and Kadazan students, they stood out with their large eyes, sharp facial features and had hair colour other than black. I thought they were most exotic and exquisite.

I can't really remember when Tessa joined our class but I think I was in Primary 3 or so. She is of mixed parentage; dad from Sarawak and mum from England.

Tessa was so petite, with huge eyes, medium-brown hair, and sun-kissed tan. She was soft-spoken with an engaging smile and had such lady-like manners! I remembered that I didn't talk much to her because she spoke in English and I couldn't then! But we conversed in BM once in awhile, I think.

I only got to know her better when I was seated next to her when we were placed in the same class in Form 1.

My most distinct memory of those days is the number of admirers that Tessa had. Whenever we went to the toilet together, there would be wolf-whistles and "kissing" sounds made by the boys in the classes that we passed by. Of course it was meant for Tessa. I was merely the invisible sidekick :)

We got to know each other better, stayed back after school doing nothing, tried to join the tennis club which was non-functioning, tried to cheat during a Commerce subject pop-quiz (but it was more of my idea :P).

There was no hanging out at shopping centres in those days. We just talked - gossiped, talked about boys and crushes (what else do 13-year-old girls talk about?), about period and period pains and we talked about religion (she was a devout Jehovah Witness and I remembered that at such a young age, she knew so much about her belief than me about mine!).

It was because of her that I improved my English. I had wanted to speak to her in English rather than her switching back and forth in BM while conversing with me. I remembered borrowing English novels from the school library and made conscientious efforts to learn more of the language during lessons. And of course she was my guinea pig (without her knowing it) - patiently enduring my much less than fluent spoken English.

It was, however, only a short one year of really getting to know her for her dad was migrating the whole family to England for good.

There were the occasional letters and a few close friends tried to keep in touch with her and vice-versa. Those were the days of snail mail - no emails, Internet or handphones.

However, one year, her brother, Tim, visited KK and he came to school. I was in Form 4 then, I think. He passed us letters and gifts from Tessa.

Mine was a Body Shop pink bath salt and bath oil gift set, all the way from England! There was no Body Shop in KK yet. I did not use it because of its sentimental value and instead put it on display in my bedroom.

Somehow we lost contact after that. Occasionally I would try to search for her on Facebook since two years ago when I've started using the site but to no avail.

Whenever I clean my cubicles and come across the gift set, I would think of Tessa and wonder how she was doing.

Lo and behold! On new year's day, I received a short message on Facebook from Tessa!!! I was overjoyed that she had found me through FB! It's only been three days and I am still ecstatic :)

It is so good to find long-lost childhood friends. Now I don't have to wonder where Tessa is and what she is doing when I see the pink bath set.

Tessa's gift nearly 20 years later
Jan 3: Bedroom

Steamboat Buffet

After waiting for ages for Kenny to treat the family to a meal, he had finally consented to buy us dinner. Poor man. He finally succumbed under pressure and had to part with his hard-earned money :)

We went to a steamboat buffet at Man Yuan Steamboat Chinese Dishes, Taman Dixon. After turning left at the traffic light junction to the Luyang Hospital, take the right turn and drive about 400 meters down the residential road. It is the second block of shops after the hospital and it is a corner shop situated just beside the road. You will definitely not miss it because it is painted in an ugly (my perception) green and its walkway is full of tables.

This eatery has only been in operation for just a few months (less than half-a-year according to bro) but many already know about its existence because of the irresistible offer of a cook-it-yourself buffet for only RM20 per adult and RM10 for children. I was here just a few weeks ago with some high school friends.

This outlet is so popular and is always filled to the brim. It's advisable to make reservations or if you could make it, go there earlier, preferable around 6 p.m. or much later at around 8.30 p.m.

We were late and reached there at 6.30 p.m. and all the tables were already taken or reserved. We had to wait for awhile to let the worker set up tables for us and for another family of seven.

The food are displayed hawker-centre styled with one section for the fresh and raw food and another for hot items served from the kitchen. It is self-service and customers help themselves to the various food and different dipping sauces.

I was ecstatic when I saw sambal among the various dipping sauces. However, I was sorely disappointed with this version because it was too spicy and did not have that special sambal fragrance that I like. I wouldn't call it sambal though it looked like it; it's just cooked chilli to me.

Each table will be given a platter of prawns, which is the more pricier item, depending on the number of people per table. I find that the prawns are not too fresh and they are so small.

There are four flavours of soup to choose from - tom yum, chicken, fish, or Chinese herb. We chose the former two.

For dessert, there are Nestle ice-cream and cut fruits such as watermelons, honeydew melons and papayas which are also self-service. They were running out of ice-cream and did not replenish it so I took these unidentifiable flavours over strawberry.

Overall, it is worth it. If you are a big eater, then you can eat your money's worth. However, do not expect first class service because it is just too crowded and the workers are just too preoccupied to attend to you within a reasonable time frame. It is better to just help yourself unless it is to change the gas can in the stove which could run out at anytime. It happened on the two occasions I was here.

In fact, if you want to pay the bill, just walk over to the counter. Don't bother to wait for them to come to you because they are just too busy to notice that you wish to settle the bill.

Verdict:
Food variety - 5 / 5
Service - 2.5 / 5
Pricing - 5 / 5

40 and Above

Spinxie posted this forwarded e-mail which she had received on her blog. It's humorous. Still a few more years away but being 40 and above is not that bad after all!

For those ladies over 40, THIS IS PRICELESS!

In case you missed it, this is what Andy Rooney, Correspondent of 60 Minutes (CBS), thinks about women over 40:

As I grow in age, I value women over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, 'What are you thinking?' She doesn't care what you think. If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting.

Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40.

Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk or if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year-old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, 'Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?' Here's an update for you.

Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why?

Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

Black & White

I'm currently in the process of getting to know and to handle the love of my life better - the 'new' Yamaha S90ES synthesizer which has only begun to see the living daylight about a month ago.

It was bought nearly one year ago but but was kept in the safety of the church office. It was a premature buy; there was no suitable home for this large and heavy baby so that was the reason why she has been kept under wraps for so long.

88 weighted keys
Jan 2: Church

I had pretty much given up hope of ever seeing her when finally a steel cabinet was built by the joint committee in which to keep her under lock and chain, and that was after much red-tape and meetings.

I reckon this baby is shunned at the moment because I think the pianists and keyboardists of the other two congregations are not keen to get to know her better. Maybe it's because they do not want to be involved in such a complicated affair since she is so demanding - she has so many buttons on her and it is a headache to learn which button to press.

Initially I didn't know how to handle her in order to maximize her potential and the sounds produced were just so horrible because I did not and have yet to read the manual. The manual that comes along with her is a headache for me.

I'd much prefer to keep our relationship laissez-faire.

I have just spent some quality time with her after practice today - just to get to know her better; what turns her on and what puts her off.

I must say that I am beginning to love and understand her better, though there is still much to be discovered and explored.

And so, my love affair with her has officially begun and will continue until she gets cranky and moody like the previous, much-abused Roland but I don't think that will be happening so soon.

Hope she'll be a good baby for a least a good ten-year. We'll see...

How I wish she's a 'he'. That will be more exciting ;)

Doughnuts? Yes, please

A kindred spirit has just moved apartment and needed to stock up her brand new fridge. We went for a major grocery shopping spree at Giant, City Mall before ending up at Old Town to have dinner.

I had my usual White Coffee Gao and tried the Hainanese Chicken Chop.

Walking by Big Apple as we made our way to the car park, I just could not resist the temptation of walking into the outlet.

Feasting my eyes on those creamy and colourful doughnuts behind the glass panel just won't do it. I ended up buying half a dozen to be shared with Ma and Kenny. Besides, it has been more than half a year since I last had these sinful treats.

Upon reaching home, I gobbled up two of them. Ma didn't want any and Kenny is not at home so there are another four left.

Can you hear them calling out to you to eat them all? I can...

Rain

I love rainy days. Listening to the pitter-patters of rain is comforting.

(Photo credit here)

It always brings back memories of my childhood when I would sit on my late grandpa's chair at the porch and read my novels. It was so cooling.

Sometimes when it was raining very heavily, strong gusts of wind would blow tiny droplets of rain and land on my skin. Distracted, I would sit there and just look at the dark, stormy sky and the torrents of rain pouring from the pregnant clouds.

Rainy days bring back memories of the warmth of my family's tiny house; a bowl of warm Bovril soup, a cup of hot Milo and the safety and comfort of my bed when lightnings stroke and thunders roared.

Today is the first day of the new year and my favourite natural phenomena has occurred. It rained in the afternoon and is raining now. Many would have had their new year's day bbq or outings ruined.

But for me, it is a good sign because I love rain. Droplets of huge, fat raindrops from the sky above showering the land on earth, nurturing all its inhabitants; just like God's abundant blessings pouring down from the heaven above.

Droplets of rain on the leaves of a potted plant
Jan 1: Backyard