A moment of silence

Let's observe a moment of silence for the massacre at Virginia Tech, it reminds me once again how crazy this world of ours has become. I pray for the victims and their families and friends, and I pray that a tragedy like this one shall become a symbol of how much we should not take the peace that we have here in Malaysia for granted.

A Pointless Post

Ok now, we've been reading so much (ok maybe only me) about tabloit-y stuffs right? So are you pro-Paris or pro-Nicole, it's shameless to admit but I'm on team Paris, as bimbotic and irrelevant as she is..

Papa Nara's Birthday @ Grand City PJ

teeheehee .. Mohan looking mafioso

the cake and the wifey-poo fed lovingly by the birthday boy (looked on by a pesky third wheel)

see, this is why I love candid shots!

group photo of everyone, see Niki & her mommy got same-same pose one

Had a grand old time at Grand City Restaurant, PJ.

That's where the whole gang convened to celebrated Papa Nara aka Bird Tata's birthday yesterday night. Such a hoot, so bising coz all the kids were there and running around, into each other, over each other and such. It's always wonderful to have everyone around. The mood was cheery, the ambience was warm and the best thing is that the family is all together, can never get better than that!

And ahah! I think Mohan looks so much better in the pix on top right ?!!? *points up* -- Mohan was complaining that he didn't look like his usual suave self in the picture that I posted under the Ambar's Wedding post! Being the budding photographer that I am, I like to capture the candid moments, so with candid it sometimes come together with goofy grins, wonky eyes & etc one lar.

The cake was Walnut Brownie *so yum* can pengsan dot com! Had two slices before I realized that my spare tyres were bulging out, so stopped myself before I devoured the next piece...which looks so bloody inviting, dang!

Ooopppsss a bit off topic there, so back to the birthday, after a really filling banana leaf meal of which Grand City is so popular for, we kumpuled all the kiddies together at the back of the restaurant to chaperone the cake, Ammu and I lit the candles and Yanu was in charge of holding the rather large cake while tthe rest of the kids will be walking together with the cake while singing Happy Birthday on top of their lungs. So the cake arrived safely at our table *phew* coz no one tripped (eh they're kids right and the cake was a 1.5kg one ok..) and we sang another round of Happy Birthday before than man of the hour blew out his sixty-six candles.

After cake, a long goodbye at the front entrance of the restaurant where lots of air kissing and hugs ensued before we finally said goodbye and all of us went back to our own homes really happy, I think it was partially the high that the food emitted. Coz the next thing I knew ~ me, Vicky & Niki got into our jammies and were in bed and unconscious before 11pm! Tired from eating, yo! Did I hear an oink, oink?

ps. a bit of marketing of the restaurant, they were superb hosts, all the waiters were extremely helpful, the food was scruptious and they even gave the kids a box of chocolates :-) That's a thumbs up in my book!

Birthday Shoutout

A birthday shoutout to Vicky’s Dad .. “Happy Birthday!!”
Much love from Us!

Here's Genting!

in our room

at the theme park & in coffee bean

makan @ Burger King's

the rides in the indoor theme park and niki in her ski cap

Genting Highlands baybeh!

We stayed at the FWH, which is not bad this time, we got the Superior Deluxe room a bit more expensive but worth every penny! We pernah stayed at the Standard room (double bluek!!) and then once we stayed at the Deluxe view (also bluek). But this time, since it’s Niki’s first trip I thought we deserve something nice, the picture in the website looks ok, of course I was a bit apprehensive also coz afterall it FWH, I mean c’mon!

And when we checked yesterday it I was pleasantly surprised. The room was nice and we had one that faced the Genting Hotel and the Theme Park and it was on the 21st floor so we were happy!

Niki absolutely loves the weather there, got her a white Mickey ski cap (so cute) and she looks so super cute in it!

Yesterday, we spent lots of time in the indoor theme park and was just lepaking, ate a whole lot of junk food, and then, we had our lunch at Coffee Bean, everything tastes better in this weather! I kid you not!

Afterthat I even had Assam Laksa at the Food Market, it tastes so good, I think it’s got something to do with the weather it was 17 degrees out, damn cun!

We went on a whole lot of rides as well, I think we were more excited than Niki coz she was giving us the “been there, done that” look, and was hoping we do something more exciting already! She was eye-ing the roller-coaster but her Royal Princessness was a tad too short, maybe the next time baby.

But hoo-yeah it was a wonderful trip! Pix will be posted on Monday, and guess what today’s only Saturday, we’re checking out today, and the weekend’s still ahead, have a good one y’all over and out!

Up, Up and Away

On the way up to Genting now, just passed Genting Sempah (??!!??)

It's Niki's first trip to Genting, so excited and happy clappy!

Update more when we get there! See ya!

Niki's Hearts McD's

Like many kids in her generation, Niki absolutely loves McD's. I remembered blogging sometime back that I said that Mac-neh-neh was her first words as opposed to the norm like mama, papa or mam-mam.

Till today she still fondly refers to McD's as Mac-neh-neh, I've tested her before and she can say McDonald's quite clearly but for some sentimental reasons known only to her she rather it calls Mac-neh-neh. Last evening, we had McD's and she came and told me, "Amma I love you", when she saw what I tapau-ed home for dinner. And sat there happily chewing down her McNuggets with sweet & sour sauce and fries. Got thumbs up for the food somemore, ... eh how come I didn't get a thumbs up also when I slaved over the stove to cook her super nutritious porridge or chicken soup *rolls eyes*.

Ambar's Wedding

Niki in action

Niki's cuz (1st pic : l-r) Zach, Yanu, Jaden, Lei & Darsha

Behold the photos from Ambar's wedding last Saturday.

The lines for the buffet was humongous, and me & Vicky ended up eating the vegetarian food which surprisingly was quite delish!

Ambar looks ravishing in her wedding saree, and moi was sweating like a hog in my silky one!

The critic

Now that Niki can speak quite abit, she has become quite the critic as well.

Yesterday, we finally got our hands on Denzel Washington's Deja Vu, obviously we bought the "original" copy lar must you still ask?

So we settled in with our variety of keropoks, kuacis, water for us and milk for the girl. Half way through she says not nice CD, change, not nice, we were like ??!!?? but we just shushed her and told her to watch it anyways, yeah we're bullies.

Anyways I think Niki was kinda right coz for a Jerry Bruckheimer/Tony Scott movie it did fell short of our expectations. Denzel & Jim Caviezal was flawless as usual but I think Adam Goldberg stole the show ~ he's quirky me likes!

Poker nite

Vicky came up with a brilliant idea of having a poker nite, one Saturday of every month at our place. But we had it on last night coz of Ambar’s wedding on Saturday, the whole gang, Siva & Joey, Mohan & Barbara plus the kids all came over and had a jolly good time with money exchanging hands very quickly at every uppance. The take was like RM30 for every hand!!! That's a lot of money to make within 8 minutes (length of time per hand!)

I’m not much of a card person but I am an alkie so instead of playing cards, I played the role of the hostess to the mostest and plied my guests with glasses after glasses of JD coke and the kids with cookies (which I shouldn’t have coz then all of them got a sugar high and was boucing off the walls except for the girls whom all slept by 11 inclusive of Niki)

A true blue alkie, I mixed ‘em drinks really good. I know, so rosak right! Tsk!Tsk!

Sorry no pictures coz after all it is an illegal activity right?

A Birthday and Easter shoutout!

mum and me

A very Happy Birthday to my mom who celebrates her 59th birthday today, may there be many happy birthdays to come. We love you!

And Happy Easter to everyone near and far, God Bless !

Caffeine by anyname is still caffeine!

Aaahhhh, back from my short coffee break, actually it's a teabreak, went and bought chrysanthemum tea and seventeen mag, I know lar I'm not exactly seventeen anymore but I wanted some light read. Grown mags have grown up problems emblazoned on the cover whereas seventeen this month is focussing on super fab fashion & beauty tips with hot celeb news packed in for good measure. It's nice to turn back time sometimes, office hours is almost over, next is to think of what to pack for lunch, feel like having nyonya laksa from betty's kitchen! brilliant! well have a good weekend y'all, over & out!

I'm so sleeeeppppyyyy

God I'm blogging from the office right now and dang I'm just so sleepy might go out to get a caffeine fix! Cannot tahan man! Ok gonna go now for a bit! Be back hopefully fresher?

Ms Anbarasi's Pre-wedding ceremony

anbarasi the blushing bride to be

niki the good lil' helper & Ammu

my parents in law, anbar and me with my toothy grin

T'was Anbar's pre-wedding ceremony yesterday where all the womenfolk will go over to her house to give their blessings for her upcoming nuptials. After that of course true to Malaysian style there's food to be had. Vicky was the cameraman for the whole duration so he's behind the shutters. Niki was the good little helper, helping the bride-to-be, dispense gifts to those who came and participated in the ceremony.

Knotted

A shoutout to Vicky's mom and dad who celebrates their 37th wedding anniversary today! Here's to many, many more blissful years together!!

Home by Michael Buble

Music Video:HOME (by Michael Buble)

Music Video Code provided by Video Code Zone

for my husband

I'm bored

In the office now and feeling utterly bored!

Don't know what to do with myself.

Have pored through gossip rags and my eyes are now figgin tired coz I have my contacts on.

Wanted to wear my brown ones but accidently wore the grey ones and super clash with my top.

What I've learnt is, when one's bored, one has the tendency to talk bull as well.

On the bright side, gonna go home in 15mins! hooray! >_<

My Androgynous Name

Your Androgynous Name Is:

Lynn Quincy

What's" Your Androgynous Name?

A Niki Mix

Niki came up with her own mixing of 2 rhymes, ie. sing-a-song & twinkle, twinkle little star. An MC in the making?

How nice it is to be driven

Vicky don't quite agree, he prefers that I drive myself but I'm too darn lazy and its always nice to be driven ain't it

Hilarious

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny that is, it was movie night last night and that's what we watched. rotfl.Total non-sensical and check the tagline in the poster.

An anniversary, wedding and birthday looms

Happenings this week;

Thurs, 5th April : Vicky's mom and dad's wedding anniversary

Sunday, 8th April : Vicky's close neighbor's wedding

also on Sunday is my mom's birthday, she turns 59, and yup does not look a day over 40!

Chores and Whatnot

I have a slight problem with cleaning the house, my problem is I'm kinda obssessed in keeping everything spick & span and will freak out at a mere sight of a strand of hair on the tiled floor. After a hard day's work I'll come home and stress myself out more by finding things (yes you read it right I find things) to clean. So this my personal own OCD! And so Vicky said enough was enough and that he couldn't take it anymore and personally neither can I, and he made me plan out a schedule of chores. I'm pretty happy with the results and I simply adore the chores schedule that I drew myself with some help from Niki's colour pencils.

My weekends are now free from any cleaning and I can't even touch a duster if I do Vicky's gonna get me! So now, I'll do most of the housework on Mondays which includes sweeping, mopping, dusting and cleaning the bathrooms. Laundry days are Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays only. The rest of the days are doing nothing days except spending Q-time with Vicky & Niki.

I started the "chores schedule" yesterday, our home is sooooo clean coz I scrubbed, dusted, swept and mopped everything properly (I think cleaning gives me a high!) and I now feel pretty good knowing that I don't have to do anything much for the rest of the week. I guess this was what I really needed to curb my obssessive compulsive behaviour on cleanliness. There must be a stop to this coz at the end of it if I do it like what i did previously it's only make me all exhausted at the end of the day. So I must thank my bunny for helping me see the light at the end of the broom.

Today, well today it's nothing to do day!

Niki Gets Jiggy

Nix gets jiggy with a short ditty

Mondays

My boss is not in today, but there’s a tender thing I need to kowtim by today as well. Today’s Monday, and Monday never starts off on the right foot have you noticed? Anyways, I’m feeling sleepy and not so high-powered today. My hair’s all wrong (damn bad hair day) and my tea tastes funny. I’m ranting without a subject and I have 2 meetings this afternoon and an exhibition to organize and look into, costings need to be made up & such. So if you can woop-dee-doo in a melancholic manner, yup that’s how I feel.

On the bright side I’m wearing a new watch today (perks up a bit).

And my sis is starting her new job today (mental note: to call her & find out how’s it going).. so Good luck and break a leg at the new place, well technically not that new but you know what I mean!

A Munchkin weekend

Our munchkin is now 29 months old & more mischevious than ever!

here we are at PD last weekend watching an elvis impersonator

Alert for Potterheads

I'm a HUGE Potter fan, in fact when I was expecting Niki I was totally hooked on them! So of course I'm waiting with a bated for its final installment, read more here (sourced from Showbiz Today)

Final Potter book jacket unveiled

The world's most famous wizard is seen lunging over a pile of treasure in the cover of the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series.

Potter's best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, also feature on the children's edition of the book, which was unveiled by publishers Bloomsbury.

The adult version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows shows a pendant embossed with a jewel-encrusted 'S'.
Author JK Rowling's previous six Potter novels have sold 325 million copies.

'Impossible task'
The writer had always planned seven books, each following the characters for one school year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Rowling has revealed that two characters die in the final book, prompting bookmakers to take bets on whether Potter could be one of them.
But the text on the book covers gives nothing away.
"Harry has been burdened with a dark, dangerous and seemingly impossible task," reads the back of the adult version.
"He must leave the warmth, safety and companionship of The Burrow and follow without fear the inexorable path laid out for him."
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is due to be released on 21 July.

Weekend is 'ere

Yay! At long last, this has been a loooooong week!
45 more minutes and it's home free!
Yay!

Pirates 3 @ World's End

A movie that I can't wait to see, so here's the trailer to whet your appetite before the real one hits the silver screen in May!

Rocky

We watched Rocky Balboa recently, and I must say it was surprisingly good. A bit on the sentimental side, but it'll all good lar. I think I prefer fluff to gore. Anyways in the DVD selection there's an alternate ending. See it here. Pretty good right, I think it's much better than the one they showed in the movie. You can hear the crowd chant Rocky's name, and it was, like I said earlier surprisingly awesome! Enjoy y'all!

Myth busters

I absolutely love history, myths and trivia, so here's something to fill your senses, hope you enjoy it as much as I did (during office hours somemore!)

It is said that those who don't know history are condemned to repeat it - and as any history buff can tell you, much of history is something you would NOT want to repeat. However, many well-known historical "facts" are myths, with no basis in fact. Here (and in the next few segments) are 20 of the most common, which have misled and misinformed people for years, decades, or centuries.

If more people knew the facts, a few of the great history-makers would be recognised (anyone heard of Ub Iwerks?), some famous people would stop taking so much credit, and we would stop blaming apples for everything! Let's start with the following misconceptions...

20. Eve ate a bad apple
An apple a day might keep the doctor away, but they have still had bad publicity as the "forbidden fruit" that Eve tasted in the Garden of Eden, thereby making life difficult for all of us. Yet nowhere in the biblical story of Adam and Eve is an apple mentioned. It is simply called "the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden" (Genesis 3:3). OK, it COULD have been an apple, but it might just as well have been an apricot, a mango, or any other sort of fruit.

19. Newton was hit by an apple
Apples continued to get bad press with the famous story that scientist Sir Isaac Newton was under a tree, minding his own business, when an apple fell on his head. Just as well it provided him the inspiration for the laws of gravity, or the poor apple would never be forgiven! But while the falling apple is a good story, it probably never happened. The story was first published in an essay by Voltaire, long after Newton's death. Before that, Newton's niece, Catherine Conduitt, was the only person who ever told the story. It was almost certainly an invention.

18. Walt Disney drew Mickey Mouse
One of the world's most famous fictitious characters, Mickey Mouse, is credited to Walt Disney. However, Mickey was the vision of Disney's number one animator, Ub Iwerks. Disney, never a great artist, would always have trouble drawing the character who made him famous. Fortunately for him, Iwerks was known as the fastest animator in the business. He single-handedly animated Mickey's first short film, Plane Crazy (1928), in only two weeks. (That's 700 drawings a day.) But give some credit to Disney - when sound films began later that year, he played Mickey's voice.

17. Marie Antoinette said "Let them each cake"
In 1766, Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote of an incident he recalled from some 25 years earlier, in which "a great princess" (name unknown) was told that the country people had no bread. "Then let them eat cake," she replied. When Rousseau wrote of this, Marie Antoinette was an 11-year-old child in Austria. The French Revolution would not begin for another 23 years. The myth that she spoke these infamous words was probably spread by revolutionary propagandists, to illustrate her cold indifference to the plight of the French people.
In the next chapter of this list, we uncover a tall tale about Napoleon, and find out how witches did NOT die, whatever you might have heard...

16. The Great Train Robbery was the first feature film
When it was released in 1903, "The Great Train Robbery" pioneered several techniques, includes jump cuts, medium close-ups and a complex storyline. But the first feature film? It was only ten minutes long! Even most short films are longer than that. The first feature-length film was a 100-minute Australian film, "The Story of the Kelly Gang", released three years later. Even if you think of a feature film as the "feature" of a cinema program, the title would go to one of a number of French films made during the 1890s (but I won't name one, as that could cause any number of arguments).

15. Van Gogh sliced off his ear
Van Gogh is known as the archetypal starving artist, only selling one painting in his lifetime, and - in a quarrel with Gauguin - slicing off his ear, not long before committing suicide. Though he did face a tragic end, and his own paintings sold poorly, it is worth noting that he spent most of his life teaching and dealing art. He only spent eight years of his life painting, which helps to explain why he didn't starve to death. Also, he didn't slice off his entire ear, just a portion of his left lobe. Painful, but not nearly as bad as you might have thought.

14. Witches were burned at stake in Salem
The Salem (Massachusetts) witch trials of 1692 led to the arrests of 150 people, of whom 31 were tried and 20 were executed. But just as these trials were based on ignorance, there are many misconceptions about them. For starters, the 31 condemned "witches" were not all women. Six of them were men. Also, they were not burned at stake. As any witch-hunter would know, a true witch could never be killed by this method. Hanging was the usual method - though one was crushed to death under heavy stones.

13. Napoleon was a little corporal
Some people believe that Napoleon's domineering ambitions were to compensate for being so physically small. Not so. True, Napoleon was called Le Petit Corporal ("The Little Corporal"), but he was 5 feet, 7 inches tall - taller than the average eighteenth-century Frenchman. So why the nickname? Early in his military career, soldiers used it to mock his relatively low rank. The name stuck, even as he became ruler of France.

12. King John signed the Magna Carta
The Magna Carta (Great Charter) is known as a landmark in history, limiting the power of the King of England and sowing the seeds of democracy. Paintings show King John reluctantly signing the Magna Carta in a meadow at Runnymede in 1215. Fair enough, except for one thing. As well as being a rogue, John was probably illiterate. As anyone could see from looking at one of the four original Magna Cartas in existence, he simply provided the royal seal. No signature required.

11. Walter Raleigh introduced potatoes and tobacco to England
Sir Walter Raleigh - explorer, courtier, privateer - Is one of greatest myth figures ever to come from England. Virtually every reason for his fame is untrue. Was he handsome? According to written accounts, he was no oil painting - though somehow he charmed Queen Elizabeth I, and had a reputation as a ladies' man. Did he lay his cloak across a puddle so that the Queen could step on it? No, that was pure fiction. Most importantly, he didn't return from his visit to the New World (America) with England's first potatoes and tobacco. Though Raleigh is said to have introduced potatoes in 1586, they were first grown in Italy in 1585, and quickly spread throughout Europe (even across the English Channel). Also, though people all over Europe blame Sir Walter for their cigarette addictions, Jean Nicot (for whom nicotine is named) introduced tobacco to France in 1560. Tobacco spread to England from France, not the New World.

10. Magellan circumnavigated the world
Everyone knows two things about Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. One, he was the first man to circumnavigate the world; and two, during this historic trip, he was killed by natives in the Philippines. Of course, those two things tend to contradict each other. Magellan only made it half-way around the world, leaving it to his second-in-command, Juan Sebastian Elcano, to complete the circumnavigation.

9. Nero fiddled while Rome burned
We all know the story of mad Emperor Nero starting the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD, then fiddling while the city burned. However, this would have been impossible. For one thing, the violin wouldn't be invented for another 1,600 years. OK, some versions of the story suggest that he played a lute or a lyre - but then, scholars place the emperor in his villa at Antium, 30 miles away, when the fire began. Though he was innocent of this disaster, however, there is much evidence to show that he was ruthless and depraved.

8. Captain Cook discovered Australia
Many Australians will agree that this isn't so - but for the wrong reasons. They will point out that, many years before Cook arrived in Sydney in 1770, Australia had already been visited by Dutchmen Abel Tasman and Dirk Hartog, and an English buccaneer, William Dampier. Of course, it had been previously been discovered some 50,000 years earlier by the indigenous Australians.
But in fairness to Cook, he did discover a new part of the country - and more importantly, this led to the first white settlers (an opportunity that Tasman, Hartog and Dampier didn't take). So let's say that Cook DID discover Australia! Fine, but Cook was actually a Lieutenant when he sailed to the Great South Land. The "captain" rank might be a minor point, but it's certainly inaccurate - and as he is called "Captain Cook" so often that it might as well be his name, it's one worth correcting.

7. Shakespeare wrote the story of Hamlet
William Shakespeare is generally known as the greatest playwright who ever lived, even though most of his plays were not original, but adaptations of earlier stories."The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" (1603), probably his most famous play, was based on an ancient Scandinavian story. But while it might not have been the original version of the story, we can safely assume it was the best.

6. America became independent on July 4, 1776
Hold the fireworks! As most American school children (and many non-American ones) are aware, America's founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. However, the war raged for another seven years before independence from England was finally granted on September 3, 1783. On that day, Britain's George III and US leaders signed the Definitive Treaty of Peace.

5. Edison invented the electric light
Thomas Edison is known as the world's greatest inventor. His record output - 1,093 patents - still amazes us, over a century later. Astonishing, except for one thing: he didn't invent most of them. Most Edison inventions were the work of his unsung technicians - and his most famous invention, the electric light, didn't even belong to his laboratory. Four decades before Edison was born,English scientist Sir Humphry Davy invented arc lighting (using a carbon filament). For many years, numerous innovators would improve on Davy's model. The only problem: none could glow for more than twelve hours before the filament broke.The achievement of Edison's lab was to find the right filament that would burn for days on end. A major achievement, but not the first.

4. Columbus proved that the Earth was round
It was American author Washington Irving, some 500 years after Columbus sailed to America, who first portrayed the Italian explorer as launching on his voyage to prove that the Earth was round, defying the common, flat-earther belief of the time. In fact, most educated Europeans in Columbus's day knew that the world was round. Since the fourth century BC, almost nobody has believed that the Earth is flat. Even if that wasn't the case, Columbus would never have set out to prove that the Earth was round... simply because he didn't believe it himself! Columbus thought that the Earth was pear-shaped. He set sail to prove something else: that Asia was much closer than anyone thought. Even in this, he was wrong. To further besmirch his memory, it should also be noted that he never set foot on mainland America. The closest he came was the Bahamas. Pear-shaped, indeed!

3. Gandhi liberated India
To westerners, Mahatma Gandhi is easily the most famous leader of India's independence movement. He deserves credit for promoting the ancient ideals of ahimsa (non-violence). However, most historians agree that Indian independence was inevitable. Gandhi was just one of several independence leaders. The Indian National Congress was founded as early as 1885, when he was only 16. Gandhi's much-publicised civil disobedience was only a small part in the movement, and some historians even suggest that India would have achieved independence sooner if they had focused on the more forceful methods that they had used 50 years earlier, and which were still advocated by other independence leaders, such as Gandhi's rival Netaji Chandra Bose (who is also revered in India).

2. Jesus was born on December 25
Christmas is meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but there is no evidence whatsoever, biblical or otherwise, that He was actually born on that day. Nor is there anything to suggest that He was born in a manger, or that there were three wise men (although, as any nativity play will remind you, three gifts were mentioned). There are differing views as to why December 25 was chosen as Christmas day, but one of the most interesting is that the day was already celebrated by followers of Mithras, the central god of a Hellenistic cult that developed in the Eastern Mediterranean around 100 BC. The followers of this faith believed that Mithras was born of a virgin on 25 December, and that his birth was attended by shepherds...
Which brings us to the number one historical myth - something that is drilled into the heads of nearly all American schoolchildren...

1. George Washington was America's first President
Everyone "knows" that Washington was the first of the (so far) 43 Presidents of the US. However, this isn't strictly the case. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress (or the 'United States in Congress Assembled') chose Peyton Randolph as the first President. Under Randolph, one of their first moves was to create the Continental Army (in defence against Britain), appointing General Washington as its commander. Randolph was succeeded in 1781 by John Hancock, who presided over independence from Great Britain (see myth #6). After Washington defeated the British at the Battle of Yorktown, Hancock sent him a note of congratulations. Washington's reply was addressed to "The President of the United States". Eight years later, as a revered war hero, Washington himself became America's first popularly elected President - but strictly speaking, the FIFTEENTH President!

By: Noivedya Juddery. Noivedya is a writer and journalist based in Australia. A member of the Sri Chinmoy Centre He can be contacted via his website: http://www.markjuddery.com/

Vicky & Claudine sitting on a tree..

And so Mr & Mrs Vicky went on a date last evening, and it was sooo much fun, we sat, we talked, we ate, we strolled, we shopped. Even thought there was a tinge of guilt it went away when I realized how much we need "us time" sometimes. Went home and watched Little Miss Sunshine on dvd, and laughed till we ached on the sides. T'was a wonderful evening.

Date Night

Tonight it's just me & Vicky coz it's date night.

:-)

A TV Post

Once a upon a time I was a telly addict. My dad used to scream at me for my vice. I mean c’mon I was a kid, and there was nothing much to do as a kid anyways right? But since adulthood I have been watching less and less at each passing year. Now I hardly watch tv, coz my weekday will probably be like this;

7.30am : wake up & mad rush
8.30am : out of the house
9.00am – 5.45pm : in the office
6.30pm : have dinner
7.30pm : feed Niki her dinner
8.00pm : bath time for Niki
8.20pm : bath time for me
9.00pm : catch up with the other half on what happened during the day
10.00pm : read some and then put Niki to bed while reading her a story or a rhyme
10.45pm : time for the adults to hit the sack

So the telly has been left out of our lives equation and only on Tuesday and Wednesday nights will we be watching something, and that something is Las Vegas or CSI. They say tv’s bad for you. I disagree, I think you should supervise the kids’ TV time, and not just let them watch aimlessly for hours. That said, if it was a toss-up between TV and a book, I’ll choose a good book anytime.

Trivia : Apparently, Madge does not believe in telly either and does not allow her kids to watch any. Wonder how’s that going?

The Gang @ Kianti's PJ

A while back we were invited to this nice eatery in PJ, we went again last Saturday to Kianti's to try out their other stuffs. So it was me, Vicky & Niki and we ordered the pepperoni pizza (yummy!), the spaghetti bolognaise (yummy, too!) and the stir fried sausages thingy (yummy as well!). Came to the conclusion that their food is yummy but their drinks not so. And the portion was HUGE, good if you are really hungry, and we were! Finished up everything, and didn't manage to even photograph it coz we were too busy chewing!

Vicky and Niki under the weather

Both my lovelies were under the weather last weekend, and I played nurse to both of them. There was lots of veggie soup, barneys and sleeping for those two!

Vicky and His La-la impersonation

This vid is from last Sunday, here you can see Vicky doing his Lala the Teletubby impersonation, Niki however was not too impressed and rather not be in the frame!

Night Owl

Niki played the night owl last night, and stayed up with his dad, and granny for a 3 hour long Tamil movie called the Godfather. Amazingly she stayed awake thru out the whole movie, and came to bed only half past midnight. I was in bed yonks ago coz I needed to get up early for work, but wow my baby can work it if she had to. Was wondering whether she's ready to hit the cineplexes already and Shrek 3 is coming our way in May!

Shopaholic strikes again

Since I've been so busy haven't actually been to the mall for like ages, and then I have people telling me about La Senza sales and what not! I have to contend that at least since I can't shop live, I can shop online or through the catalogue. Hurrah for variety!

10 Years

While in bed a few nights ago, we were just talking before we drift blissfully into dreamland and we realized that we met & became an item exactly ten years ago; yup ten years has flown by just like that. I first met Vicky when I was 22 and he was all of 19 ~ I readily admit I was and still am a cradle snatcher! But c'mon ten years!! So much have happened and today more than ever I am grateful to have found in him a partner, a best friend, a husband and my personal joke and happiness dispenser, but most importantly a soul mate. Here's to ten years and many, many, many more years to come.

Stand Up!

Yeah, stand up for what you believe in.

That's what everyone should be doing, no matter whether it's a huge ass matter or a tinsy winsy one, it is pertinent that one stand up for themselves, coz if you don't defend your honour & dignity no one is going to for you! You are your own boss, and this next line is plagiarized but what the heck, why be a supporting actor when you are supposed to be the lead! So stand up and take your life into your own hands.

Ad sense

Hi Niki, wanna be in a toothpaste ad?

Well, I guess not!

Weekend @ Tiara Beach Resort

the musketeers

roti canai breakfast at a shack by the roadside

gaming also runs in the genes

Fa la la, just came from a super relaxing but fun time at Tiara Beach, this time it was just the trio Musketeers (ie Vicky, Niki and me!)

I can't tell you enough how much Niki loves the place, read more about it here *click*


Here are photos after photos, see I'm making use of my new cam properly ok!

Oh yeah,and Niki just loves the games arcade, and loves the shooting games best, the force is strong with this young padawan.

Ikea!

The gang at Ikea yesterday

I'm convinced Ikea is evil!
Once you step into the place it's all like everything's soooo nice, everything's so cute, and how many of you have ever walked out of Ikea without any purchases, tell me how many?

You will always end up buying something! Yesterday we spent nearly sixhundred bucks within 4 hours that's like RM150/an hour!!!! Of course, we were there for a reason and therefore our purchases are justified or at least I think so, Vicky was asking me what I'm gonna do with the colourful palstci boxes that came in threes that I bought and I actually said that we'll find a use for it somehow, we can store small knick knacks, nails and screws and stuffs, that when it hit me that I'm simply spellbounded by Ikea and their swedish meatballs! Ergo, Ikea is evil!

Loads and loads of fun but evil nonetheless!

But we did thoroughly enjoyed shopping there, OMG I do need help!!

Trivia : Did you know that prisons in Sweden are furnished by Ikea?

Vicky the House-husband

Vicky played the role of house-husband yesterday coz he wanted to do something around the house. I of course went off to work so that I can blog! Anyways, on the way back last evening it was raining so didn't feel exactly like wanting to go out for dinner, so I tapau-ed dinner instead.

Have anyone realized how costly it is to tapau ku lou yok and fried vege from a tai chow place nowadays? The bugger charged me RM17! Whilst waiting I texted Vicky to start cooking the rice so that we can eat once I get home at around 6.30pm, yeah we're pretty chinese in our eating times, which is very good for digestion, mind you!

So Vicky cooked the rice, or shall I say *wink!wink!* *nudge!nudge!* the really soft rice, so had teochew porridge ooppss I mean rice with the dishes, and we whipped up red dates & vege soup as well. It was nice and with the rain the hot food really tasted good! Love you honey, just pulling your leg-lar, I like your rice cooking skills. But your landscaping skills are so much better! Vicky did up our front lawn so I can finally park my jeep inside. Thanks Hon, and tweety really likes his new parking space!

Niki Is 28 months & 14 days old!

Niki Sings A Song

Bye, bye dear old ping!

to the pacifier that is!

I don't know how this slipped my mind but...

Niki no longer needs her pacifier which she fondly refers to ping! don't ask me why she calls ping, ping

She had ulcers about one month back and didn't feel the need to use, so when we were back home in Alor Star, around that time, I just told her that I forgot to bring it, and well, she sleeps fine without it. Since then everytime she asks for it I told her I don't have it, guess I'm lucky coz she's not the insistent type, and eventually she stopped asking her mom about it.

So bye,bye to ping, thanks for being a buddy to my baby during those times she needed a bud! I'm forever grateful!

To PD we went!

view of the Resort from our room

goofing around the resort at night

healthy stuffs u can do whilst there!

yum food at Come Pai Mai!

Went off the weekend to PD!

With .. Vicky's Mom & Dad, lil'sis, Niki, Vicky and me!

Had a great time there and came back damn tired.

Lots of photos

And yeah, we were in Tiara Beach Resort, needless to say Niki had a blast.

She can now say Niki want to go swimming/pom-pom or the like and can tahan in the pool until she turns pruney.

I especially enjoyed the dinner we had in Come Pai Mai, siap with live band, the food was fusion Malay & Thai but yummy! Tucked in a hefty meal, we ordered like tomyum, lala,sotong,chicken tikka, telur dadar & kangkong belacan and finished everything. Note again there's only 5 of us! Again, this is testament to a malaysian's ability to stretch the limit with their tummies!

It was fun!fun!fun! Fun with everyone (a ditty from barney's)

And yup I rode my first ever tandem bike, I know jackoon right?

Swamped!

I'm swamped, cannot breathe!!!! But can still manage to blog tsk!tsk!tsk!

Taihoyo

While we were driving around last weekend, me & Vicky discovered a new toystore right here in KK @ Roundabout 1. It's called Taihoyo, don't get thrown off by the Jappie sounding name coz they're stocked with toys and babystuffs from Germany, better still they throw in giftwrapping for free and when we got Niki her Marbulous toy, they gave her a nice sippy cup complimentary! Really, they got me at Hello!

I Did It!

Teeheehee, I'm a genius see, see the quality of the photos, "so clear" right? A bit shaky tho' coz my jeep is the bumpity-bump type!

Me .. yeah I'm illiterate

Okie now

I’m trying out my new digital camera, I’m trying to download all the software stuffs and will try to download the pictures, success =to pix which will be posted on top that will love mega watts clearer that my mobile phone cam! *fingers crossed*

From this post you’ll learn that I’m no whiz at software or pc-stuffs!

Bobby Soul Live!

This year’s annual dinner affair was certainly memorable and making it harder for me to plan for next year, how the heck am I gonna top this year’s show. I was the MC for the night and on that afternoon itself my boss called to say that he’s invited Bobby Soul of The Platters to perform! I was like *what!* To top it off there's also a live lion dance to bless the logo after the launch. How's zat, I think my team and I did a heck of a good job pulling the whole show together, so last minute!

Like many in my generation we’ve only heard of The Platters but hardly know anything about them, so I did a quick google so that I can introduce him to the audience properly! I mean he is a celeb, in his own right, right?

To cut it short it certainly was a pleasure hearing the sweet vocal tones of the Platters Mr. Bobby Soul!

This was what I googled up, Mr Bobby Soul began his career in the 50's as a solo artist for a while, then as lead vocalist in a few groups. In 1967, Bobby was asked by someone in a club he was performing, if he would consider working for another group. The person was very impressed with Bobby's voice and wide vocal range of bass, tenor, lead and even falsetto. Bobby accepted the job as a stand in vocalist and began working with the original Platters. Since the early 80's Bobby has been back to his solo career, having toured Japan, the Philippines and across Canada and the US. He has made Toronto his home base for about ten years and has a CD out. The crowd enjoyed his shows at the festival and the memories he invoked singing songs like Only You, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Twilight Time and so many more.

Bobby performed like 16 songs on Friday and the “older” crowd certainly enjoyed his performance, I was kinda blown away, coz he still sings strong for a gentleman his age! It was all very reminience of yesteryears and quite fun! Me & Vicky even got a photo-op with him, thanks to Danny our photographer!

Anyways the man himself was very nice, no airs about him whatsoever, I kinda didn’t like the way his “handlers” were handling him, and if you’re reading this I think you have gotta take a crash course in Manners & Etiquette lady c’mon now!

To Bobby, Good luck in all your charitable endeavours in Asia and it was a pleasure for me & Vicky to meet you!

Wedding In The Sky Photos

Here's the photos of the wedding we attended in KL Tower, it was way up there and apparently for any emergency you have to take the staircase ??!!?? Need to have a talk with the consulting firm in charge of the facility.

But 'nuff about that, here's the good bits...*look up*

A Wedding in KL Tower

Got a wedding to attend tonight, its gonna be at the KL Tower,

the venue is is definitely original.

Pix tomorrow.

And to top it off my company dinner is tommorrow and yet again I'm saddled with the task of being MC for the night! And this is what, the sixth time I'm hosting the event? Time to get some cash renumeration for the stress. And by stress I mean I'm the main coordinator as well! Pengsan!