Beauty as I see it

I read this saying today; that which is beautiful may not always be good but that which is good shall always be beautiful, as written by a Fench writer Ninon D'Enclos in the 17th century. Ok let me ponder on this and I'll write up later ..

Hey there I just got back from the sweltering heat out, and found a few more of beauty proverbs which similar to the first quote that I've included above;

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir

Our hearts are drunk with a beauty our eyes could never see. ~George W. Russell

I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful. ~Author Unknown

By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower. ~Rabindrath Tagore

You see many many years back I fell in love, it was love at first sight you see, I saw him from across the room but no our eyes never met like in so many movies, and that I'm sure will just be so cliched, don't you think. But what my eyes did was they trailed him, entranced as he walked up to the DJ console. And I knew right there and then that he is the One, he is the one for me and I knew that I must be with him, and I always joked that hunting season began soon after that fateful evening when I first laid eyes on him.

Fast forward to today, you know with AIM, Skype and all that hype and hold on a sec, I need some face time with my facebook ..there's more than one way of finding your other half, online dating, chats etc, bear with me, because I'm not gonna say that online dating doesn't work or anything like that, what I wanted to say is that how to you determine the sincerity of the person that you are chatting with, does he feel for you the same you feel for him, how do you weigh concern, love, commitment online?

Well the story below which I read in the article may shed some light, a man met someone whom he feels a connection with online, and after a couple of years of getting to know each other online and developing their relationship did they felt that it was time to take it to the next level and they decided to finally meet. The girl said that she'll take a train over and meet him at the train station where he lived. To identify each other, they said that they'll clip a red rose to the lapel of their coats. That day came, and he waited for her as promised at the train station, and his eyes rested on an elderly lady with a rose on her coat coming down from the train. Though disappointed he still went up to her and said their hellos and like a gentleman he held out his arm for her and asked her for lunch, after walking a few yards, the elderly woman stopped and took off the rose and told the man to give the rose to the young lady who was following them closely behind.

The girl wanted to see if the man she was going to meet is the type of man that she wants; a man that will see above physical beauty and even if he knows that the relationship may not work out like he hoped, whether he would still have it in him to approach an elderly woman and be kind to her. The girl was above all looking for kindness.

I asked my husband whether can this test be considered some sort of a deception, he said no if it was to be a judge of character. And I agreed.

And so back to my story, yes hunting season began for me in late of 1997 when I realized that I've met the One. But it was to be four years into our courtship did we take it to the next level because like the girl both me & the him wanted to learn more about ourselves and be sure that we are both on a look out for inner beauty that lies beneath. To be sure that he is indeed my soul mate and I his. To be sure of our love, and whether 20 years down the road, we'll still see each other the same way. To test our love and you know what we learnt through our journey together (and of course we are still learning with each passing day) that beauty is the promise of happiness. Happiness is the beauty in our relationship. And we cemented our commitment to happiness in July of 2002.

And so in life there's never the right way nor the wrong way; just that in every journey learn what true beauty is to you.

Beware the Baddies

Nowadays we should never take anything for granted, anything! And that includes safety most of all. I'm talking about women, handbags and those low-life known as snatch thieves. My mom was a victim last year when a lone motorist snatched her bag after dinner in front of a very well lit restaurant. I was a victim a few years ago when I was alighting from a metro bus right in front of starhill and he just snatched from behind, I gave chase but to no avail. In retrospect, I think I was quite lucky coz he got away with just my handbag, but I didn't suffer any physical injuries except perhaps my pride was abit bruised.

And then yesterday, Ruby and Jasmine from downstairs alerted me on some shady characters that approached and tried to get into their office during lunch hour, the two males were dressed in some religious garbs and held in their hands a tray with a statuette and burning incense, sensing danger Ruby shooed them away and refused them entry of course, which made them became more agressive. And so today I called everyone together and warned them about possible danger even in the confines of the office, because the burning incense may be some kind of a hallucinogen, we don't know, but I rather be sceptical than rendered unconscious!

A few days back when I was in the salon, Ruby the owner told me that a friend of hers whom was dining alfresco at a BKT shop got her purse snatched in broad day light during lunch hour, they really have some nerve don't they? And so I'll like to highlight some of the stuffs that I do to keep danger at bay;

1) when I get into the car the first thing I do is lock the doors

2) i place my handbag at the back seat floor rather than beside me at the passenger seat

3) if i feel that I'm being followed, I'll walk into a crowd of people rather than to the car

4) and always, always be vigilant!

5) and you can never ever be too careful

6) don't trust anyone, even if they're dressed in an Armani suit!

Of Jammies and Puzzles

I am a lazy weekend person, which means that I can just wear my jammies from morn till night, and nope I usually don’t bath that often during the weekend, once a day is adequate to moi. If I feel that I may not smell too good, that’s when I borrow Niki’s moisturizer which has the sweetest smell and mostly because it can last! So if you’re around KK chances are you’ve bumped into me a couple of times and not recognize me coz I look so hobo. And no when I say hobo I don’t mean the chic hobo look but rather the hobo bum look, example of what I'll be wearing ..a comfy old tee which has seen better days and my hubby’s boxers. It is a fashion faux-pas, but I really don’t care during the weekends you see.

It’s when I commit such fashion crimes that I feel that I’ve had a great weekend, and most of all rested.

Today, as I walked to the office on a fine sunny Monday morning, and I caught my reflection in the mirror, and well if I may say, I do look pretty good in my gray slacks and pinstriped top, pointy pumps and my new mock-croc handbag, and concluded that I am a bipolar dresser.

The weekend went by pretty fast, and I was a bit ill for the better part of it and was achoo-ing non stop, it rained and I didn’t use my umbrella, and know for sure that my immune system is pretty bust. Me & Niki played around and she surprised me by piecing together her Barbie puzzle which pardon the pun puzzled me as I has quite a hard time piecing it together, perhaps I was a bit out of touch with puzzles but still it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside at my child’s aptitude in grasping concept toys. A mom can feel so proud of the little things you know.

My hubby and I didn't talk much, mostly because he was out for most of Sunday on a fishing thingmajig in cyberjaya, it was hot and by the times he got home he was feeling pretty fried, the weather nearing to CNY here is really hot, and so I boiled my wintermelon barley and all of us chugged down quite a bit yesterday. And since I was already in my jammies, well I just brushed my teeth, applied my moisturizer and cosied up for bed! See, if you are already wearing them it saves you the time of changing into them and hence earned you a couple more minutes of sleep!

Kiddy humor

Ok, I've mopped about quite long enough .. and I came across this .. enjoy the brilliant and yet dreadfully honest answers by children ... if only adults are able to get away with telling the whole truth, and don't get blamed for telling the truth & the people they are telling it to understand the truth as just that ... the world would be a better place ...

Kids on marriage ...

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY?

"You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming." - Alan, age 10

"No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with." - Kirsten, age 10

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?

"Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER!!! by then." - Camille, age 10
"No age is good to get married at. You got to be a fool to get married." - Freddie, age 6

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?

"You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids." - Derrick, age 8

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?

"Both don't want any more kids." - Lori, age 8

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?

"Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough". -Lynnette, age 8

"On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date."-Martin, age 10

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?

"I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns". - Craig, age 9

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?

"When they're rich". -Pam, age 7
"The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that." - Curt, age 7
"The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do". - Howard, age 8

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?

"It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them". - Anita, age 9

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?"

"There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?" -Kevin, age 8

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?

"Tell your wife that she looks pretty even if she looks like a truck."-Ricky, age 10

feels good innit ..

Stuffs films are made of

The passing of actor Heath Ledger was indeed shocking news, somehow my mind diverted to the the fact that his daughter will grow up without having known her dad. I lay awake last night unable to sleep and the song Semi Charmed Life by 3rd Eye Blind was playing in my head..

Happy moments as I remember them

There are happy moments surrounding me lately.

I am barely holding on to them all because i am still gripping onto 2007 memories. I have been thinking a lot lately. While working, while driving, while showering, it's haunting me. A phrase keeps coming to my mind. What will I remember.

Not so much a question, but a statement. what will i remember. i've come to the conclusion that life is ever-changing. and how you live your days is how you live your life. it's the daily routine that i remember. not necessarily the extraordinary parts of life, but the ordinary daily things. those things are what i remember. they are ingrained. i feel a change of pace coming on and thus, i feel that i have to capture what i have in the here & now. before it's gone.

Let me break this thought-process down.

my life as a whole looks like a series of stages. yes, in my mind, my life can be broken down into sections. when i was younger, the sections consisted of years in school. And when i think back to secondary school, i think of the classes, the teachers (the nice ones, the really scary ones and yes there were pervey ones too, afterall I was schooled in Convent), the boys I liked that I never had the guts to say hello too cos I was way too cocooned in my shell, the silliness, the happiness, the insecurities, the carefree freedom. but if i had to flash to one solid memory of school, i mainly remember walking to my dad's car after school or walking down the school path which was lined with palm trees which surrounded the school padang's green grass beyond it. i have my backpack (the one my daughter uses now to carry her daycare stuffs every Monday to school, yes I kept it all these years..) on my back and my handcarried books, a friend or two by my side. my hair is done in a messy ponytail. the sun is shining through the windows of the stained green windows of our library. my friends and i are laughing at an inside joke, because my whole school career was sewn together by a thread of inside jokes.

Fast forward slightly to the stage of life, just a few years ago when we before we were married lived in sunway, in our rented apartment, the times we shared in each others' arms, the awesome al fresco malay tomyum restaurants, reading or wading by the pool. so many discoveries, so many happy days filled our time there.

Yet, my solid memory: us as in me & vicky walking together in the mornings to catch the bus to work. it sounds like a memory living in the city. but those were my days, the true beginnings of my career life. it is a scene that i flash to, the way i noticed everyone talking on their handphones before work and the way i prepped myself before my daily entrance into the chaotic world of Pelangi's KL Sales Office. the traffic didn't bother me like it does so many, if you plan for it, it's not so bad. you just have extra time to think. and think. and think. that is what i remember.

We watched movies after movies, had dinners and enjoyed the company of our friends then ace&andrea. ace & andrea has since chosen their own life paths but will forever remain as our friends. i feel fortunate that my life so far remains such a good memory for me. wholesome, simple and happy.

I wonder what my daughter will remember about the home that we created for her. The days pass so quickly. the stages of life turn and evolve before we are even ready. i have decided i have to engage myself into my life more fully. so that what i will remember will be colourful and rich and without regret. i want to learn and grow and remember and unfold myself into the best self i can. because i believe we aren't changing, we are simply unfolding who we are. the potential is already within us. this is my goal for 2008. And there's also one that I share with my hubby, that's our nocturnal secret ..

on another note, I am happy to have found this calendar by russel + hazel. it's a perfect downloadable little beauty wherein i can circle and note and scribble all my important days of the new year. am happy that i had one when vicky and i were falling in love. it was a calendar similar to this and i circled all of our momentous occasions and i drew lines out saying first kiss/ i love you's / fights / proposal / etc. i mean, yes of course, he had me at hello, but all the days which followed were just as blissful.happy remembering.happy making the most of this day.and all the days to follow.

I haven't

been doing the following of late:

1) blogging regularly, as you can see sometimes many days go in between posts

2) been eating my vitamins regularly

3) reading

4) reading my favourite blogger Marina Mahathir

but what I have been doing are:

1) spending more time with my hub and Niki

2) reading to Niki instead of reading to myself

3) playing the X-box

4) eating more than my share of desserts!

Blue

It's a rainy Friday today, and I'm feeling blue ..

Yes occassionally even cheery me can feel down ..

Why..because ..

1) someone I love was mean to me .. and I just take it in .. maybe it's my fault but it feels really harsh when you are on the other end listening

2) someone whom I loved as a friend once upon a time, has since moved on with life, how did it get this way, or was it just I who cherished our friendship .. well one of those life mysteries

3) it's drizzling out

..ok that's it .. no I don't rant incessantly ..maybe I should ok here goes *silent scream aaarrrggghhhh*

Snubbed

ps. I Love You

a treasure box filled with HP hardcovers

Yes I was shushed by my daughter coz I interrupted her when she was reading, whadaya know .. it runs in the family, I damn pantang also when someone bothers me when I'm reading .. Talking about reading, well recently I purchased not one but two sets of the Harry Potter saga from Books 1 - 7 (hardcover with its own chest for storage, chest looks like something out of POTC!!), it's from Scholastic and not Bloomsbury so the spelling's undoubtedly yankee .. anyways, like I said I have two sets and if there's any Potterheads out there whom would like to purchase them from me, do feel free to contact me ok ..! And it looks just like the picture just larger in real life la ..

And back to reading I have read the Deathly Hallows book till page 47 only, can pengsan .. been so overwhelmed of time lately that its been ages since I settled in and read more than 2 chapters in one sitting! How le!!

Still on the topic of reading .. I read Cecelia Ahern's Ps. I Love You (thanks to Aunty Daph and that book has since became my harta!) during my confinement three years back .. and it's gonna be a film starring Hilary Swank .. I thought it was good as a book but I'm not too sure how I feel to see this book adapted to a film, well have to wait and see I guess .. And the males leads are not too shabby with Gerard Butler as Gerry & Jeffrey Dean Morgan as William.. well that's an additional two reasons to watch it, eh?

Toodles for now ..! :-x

CNY is coming!

x-box comes in a limey green box

the makings of a poser

We're officially 16 days into the New Year, feel old just typing that .. so 16 days what have I done.. other than eating quite a bit .. well a lot actually, work is like piling in like .. errr, work .. and to top it off CNY s just 3 weeks away which means alot of angpows will be flying out soon .. need to rehearse Niki to say Gong Xi Fa Cai, Angpow Na Lai (Happy New Year, and where's my angpow at?)

Bought her a super cute cheongsam yesterday from the most unlikeliest places .. its a warm hue of red and well I can't wait to have her wear it on the first day of New Year ..

Here's a few photos of us last week buying Vicky's new toy .. the X-box 360 .. ok I'm not much of a gamer but that dang thang is pretty nifty!

Niki's New school year

I was driving home yesterday when it hit me! I forgot to blog about Niki’s first day in Nursery..oh my gosh!! Ooppsie? *sheepish smile*

My Niki all grown up is now officially a Nursery level student at her kindy. She’s got a green pinafore and oh my she looks so grown up in it..Her teachers are Teacher Laura (who’s pretty hip with a nose stud) and no nonsense Teacher Alice who was with Niki since her Pre-nursery days.

Niki started her school last Thursday 3rd January after a weeklong break where she was back to Alor Star and even managed a short trip to our PD apartment! All pooped out from holidaying I guess going back to school was a welcomed change as she excitedly said hi to some of her old friends and some new ones as well.

This morning when I dropped her off I sent her to her class, I love to see her when she’s in class or have you guessed that already? Yup like most parents (who are a wee bit too over-protective, with a small doze of neurotic-ness) I can get a bit too excited with the whole school going thing .. ;-) I watched her for about a minute of two only fearing that her school principal might shoo me off for fawning over her too much! Her friends and her were sitting around Teacher Laura as she launched into their lessons..

And also this morning, Niki drank her milk from her cuppa, and finished it too! Wow!! I told her that every morning her milk will be brought to her in a cup starting from today..and consoled her to the fact that her night feeds will come in her favourite pink bottle .. she’s ok with this new arrangement, and happily gulped down her milk with a bit of encouragement mid way through from her daddy. Niki being Niki ..a big satisfied burp followed ..

Lazy Saturday & even lazier Sunday

We proclaimed last Saturday & Sunday as a lazy weekend, which means the three of us didn't do anything productive at all and instead just lazed about at home in our "cineplex"! Bought a whole lot of non pirated (yeah, right!) from Raguletto to watch and the movie galore began with

1) The Game Plan

This is a Disney movie, so expect a lot of mushy & gushy scenes that's set to warm the heart. All very sweet seriously and plenty of feel good, and The Rock has slimmed down some, and actually looked pretty good, yeah I'm a visual creature la! The story was so tweet and I loved Roselyn Sanchez in it .. plenty of spunk with a dash of warmth as the love interest of both The Rock and The Kid. I've been brought up with a healthy staple of Disney and so I highly recommend this for kids aged from 8 - 80!

2) The Great Debaters (a Harpo Film production) for the uninitiated that spells a film by Oprah Winfrey y'all! Great lines, and overall a thinker's movie. Aplenty with civil rights and justice for all. Set during the era after the Great Depression in the south, where the african american were more than oppressed! Also a feel good movie with a heart. Great acting and directing from denzel .. I tell you the man can do no wrong! Go see this .. Oscar material from the word Harpo!

3) Mr Magoriums Wonder Emporium

Check out Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman and Jason Bateman in this. Again a movie for kids 8 - 80, wonderful premise and storyline. Quirky and funny chapters in the movie, can help but love the boy "Eric" in the movie who also doubles as the movie's narrator! Makes the hard edged adult in you feel the joys of being a kid again, and sometimes a kid's innocence and the way he sees the world is so unspoilt. Niki enjoyed the movie coz' afterall it's set in the wonderful magical world of a toy store!

Still have one more movie to go which is Charlie Wilson's War .. well that's one for another day.

Nuts about Donuts

J.Co @ Sunway

I'm ready to lick the glaze off the donuts!

Aunty Daph & Niki waiting in line while I sat ;-) somebody have to "jop" a table .. I volunteered!

Ever since J.Co arrived at the KL Pavillion I've been hearing rave reviews about this donut shop, my friends have been telling how wonderful it is and how they have to queue 45 mins in Pavillion just to buy some. So me, Niki & Aunty Daph decided to check out what the hoolabaloo is all about .. thank God they have one outlet in Sunway Pyramid's new wing so we needn't go all the way to KL for some donuts!

And so the things we hear are really true ..

1) Yup there was a queue

2) And yup we waited in line for 30 mins before it was our turn

3) the donuts were priced pretty ok la .. about RM9.60 for half a dozen that's pretty reasonable by Klang Valley standards .. afterall Dunkin's like RM2 for one!

4) the donuts were indeed mouthwatering & so colourful with really quirky names ( me like!)

5) its warm and soft (unlike Dunkin's) and they are made with really generous amounts of toppings and stuffings (ie. Coco Loco)

6) the beverages there are priced really exorbitantly so be ready to cough up a good amount of dough (no pun intended) if you wanna eat in .. which we did!

Ok la .. thumbs up for J.Co, packed some for Vicky who gobbled down three in a single seating *wow*

Alor Star Christmas Roundup

chica @ McD's and Hup Seng

Grandpa's backyard

the poser and her equally posey dad

old town with my old chums (l-r : Dr Reet, Grace, Carol and me!)

christmas eve party @ Dr Rajen's

christmas eve @ uncle jeffrey's with my mom & dad, my sis Daphne and my honey

Ok .. phew, where do I even start ..

Well went back to Alor Star for our Christmas holidays and stayed until the 28th. We stayed long and we ate all the while whilst we were there. Hey it aren't our fault that AS is a foodie's haven .. and so we did not even have to wear watches and our time there was divided into 4 parts which is breakfast time, lunch time, tea time and dinner time.

Christmas eve was the best, earlier for tea time I managed to catch up with Carol, Grace and (Dr now) Reet my school friends from Convent. It's been years and years since we last saw each other and I say, we haven't actually changed a bit, still as gila as when we were school girls except that we can talk about copulation and made raunchy jokes now without being embarassed .. heeheehee ..We hung in Old Town but time passed really swiftly and before long we had to say our goodbyes, but if all's well we shall meet again come CNY when I go back again to AS.

Later in the evening we had two parties to attend first we hopped off at Dr Rajen's in his mom's Pokok Sena estate, and I when I say estate I mean it's an estate as in the family homestead was huge and the grounds were larger .. Niki was running around without much care in the world.. and played with the "cher-chers" there .. It's amazing what school has done in terms of her social skills and she played and mixed really well even though the kids were much older than her..

Next stop Uncle Jeffrey's *as usual* .. and stayed on for the countdown till Christmas which was marked with a lot of boom and bang from the immense amount of firecrackers that was litted that night .. Most importantly, we were all together for Christmas .. my mom & dad, my sister Daphne and Vicky, Niki and myself .. and I'm really feel blessed that I get to celebrate Christ's birth with those closest to my heart ..

And yeah not to forget my dad got two new pups .. yet to be named coz that's Niki's assignment .. which I may have to remind her .. I thought Gucci and Galliano would be cute .. no?

The rest of our Christmas hols were a blur of eating events .. and yeah I finally managed to try the laksa from Bandaraya as recommended by Ann, another old chum from good ol' Convent .. it was pretty good and it smelt real bad .. just the way I like it :-)

Happy New Year 2008!

Received this via text message from an acquintance, just thought it sounded right in the world we live in today where so much of it so far gone. So 2008, ready or not here we are!

You & I,

He & she share the same God

The only difference between all of us is the ways to which we pray

Let's make this a better world and safer for us to live in

When we respect the existence every living human being

Happy 2008

May we all live in peace, and may goodwill reign supreme