A short short Hello

Just to say hi-I-am-back to everyone. Didn’t really have the chance to write any proper post yet… currently neck deep in work. Was suddenly landed with an avalanche of paper work. Sheesh… Therefore, please pardon me for not posting any updates yet. But then again, this post can also be counted as a short update right *raise right eyebrow with a sly look*.

Actually, I am all fired up to post my first film review... can't wait to recommend it to all. This film made a deep impression in me. Watched it during my CNY week long break… and fell in love with it totally. Guess I’ll have to put this film review notion on hold for a while till I cleared my work :(


Just Random Thoughts: My best buddy complained about the loud CNY music on this page of mine due the the CNY e-card I have uploaded sometime last week. She said she avoided my site like a plague now due to the shock she had gotten when she access my blog (it was her style to have her laptop sound to the MAX) *Laugh* I think it’s pretty funny :P Guess she will have to come back here next month in order to avoid being shocked again. LOL. Sorry gal, I thought it would be fun to lit up my blog with some CNY cheer mah.

The Z-List Explained

This post is an extension to my previous post, CNY Ang Pow: The Z-List. It's a special meme I got from Ryeurn.


Hey, I just found out who is the brainchild of this amazing Z-List meme. May I have the honor of introducing to you Mr. Mack Collier from US (The Viral Garden). He had got one cool blog, go check it out.


The Z-List Phenomenon Explained:

1) Revenge of the 'Z-Lister'

2) 'Z-Lister' update

3) Methinks the 'Z-Listers' are winning

4) Need free blog traffic and links? Try the Z-List.


The first 3 links is from The Viral Garden itself. Just take a look at it and you will get exactly how big a buzz this Z-List has created. Very impressive indeed. Now the 4th link is from another blogger Dosh Dosh, I am linking this site because it has provided a very detailed explanation on the Z-List magic.

Why am I posting this? Well, let's just say I would like to credit the inventor and also to live up to the spirit of sharing. There is no delight in owning anything unshared right.

So if anyone of you are interested in joining this Z-List scheme. Just grab the link here and propagate away!

Happy Z-Listing people!

Have a Boarific CNY!

Yahoo! I am going on week long break from work starting on this Friday, 16th February 2007 *happy dance*. Since I am married, it’s an obligation for me to follow my hubby to his mom’s house (which is actually his eldest sister’s house) and spend a few nights there. I don’t particularly enjoy it, plus I still miss having Reunion Dinner ‘Tuen-Yun Fan’ with my mom, grandmamma, brother and sister – even though I have already been married for 6 years now. Sob *dab eyes with Kleenex* I guess I am still momma’s little girl afterall, no matter how old I am. Come to think of it, this is part of a necessary sacrifice a married woman has to make due to culture's demand.

Other than that, I do miss the event of tagging along my family for friends and relatives visiting... which can be a very lucrative trip if we put in extra hours to make more rounds :D Ang Pow mari, mari, mari! Oh well, that was the privilage of singlehood. Now I am the one feeling the painful pinch of the Ang Pow feat. Aiyoh… ‘Keuk-Yun lor’ (getting weak in the knees).

Anyway, I take this opportunity to wish all fellow bloggers especially those who had supported my blog thus long... A Very Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year!

( E-CARD REMOVED: Sorry my friends, I had to take down this e-card due to the fact that CNY is over now and I don't need all the commotion (noise) it has been creating. I believe most of you would agree and are delighted to hear this right. Now be frank with me ok. I know you are. )

The above e-card is especially dedicated to Gina, Che-Cheh, Stev, Jay, Ryeurn, Bengbeng, Kok, Tine, Tien Soon, Pau-pau, CC, Paris and Firehorse.

"May the golden pig brings you prosperity, and everything goes well"
In Chinese, "Jin Chu Bao Si, "Chu" Si Zu I".

Eat, eat, eat and play, play, play ok. But, do watch out for your health. Don’t be like me starting off the CNY with flu (earlier on) and now diarrhea too - must be due to my own gluttony in Mandarin Oranges. Am going to have to swear off em’ for sometime now and let my poor stomach and burning ass settle down first, before going to another bound of gluttony. LOL. It’s Chinese New Year mah after all right? We all have license to glut. *singing and shaking leg to song’s tempo, “That’s the way it is. Uh-huh, uh-huh. I like it! Uh-huh, uh-huh!”*

Bye for now folks! I shall only be able to blog-hop or blog after my long break… that would be on 26th February 2007, Monday. Unless, I get to hog my beloved brother’s PC. Grin.

Adious, partner.




Current Health Condition: Flu still bugging me although there’s noticeable improvement after taking some Chinese medicine. Stomach still rumbling and upset with the diarrhea, and my ass is still burning.

Mood: Quite agreeable and malleable... Could be due to long break anticipation.

Current Thought: WTF am I supposed to do with the load of Mandarin Oranges at home and also with those currently on my desk tempting me.

CNY Ang Pow: The Z-List

Got this from Ryeurn (thanks Ryeurn!) I guess it’s his early angpow for me. So I am hereby returning his kind gesture by keeping this Z-list going. I don’t see any harm of doing it and helping out other bloggers to increase their page rank and popularity. As I said earlier, search engines are suckers for links and page ranking is based on the number of linkages a site has. Page rank is especially important to those bloggers who participant in the PPP scheme. The higher their page rank the more moolah they earn from their post. So I am going to help them out by keeping this Z-list going and hope you will too.

If you are interested to be a part of this exercise (circulation of links), all you have to do is just to follow the instructions given below ok. Here goes…

**Instructions**

The premise is simple:
Write a post, and copy and paste my list from below into it. Make sure the links are active and correct. If your blog is on that list, remove it because your post isn’t about self-promotion. Don’t worry, because if your name is on mine, it’s on others and will spread. Add your favourite deserving blogs to the top of the list (not compulsory). Publish the post. People will notice the incoming links, and hopefully write their own z-list posts. The result will be that we all get more links pointing to our blogs, and more readers - got to be good!


Key Points
1) Create a new post on your blog.
2) Copy and Paste the entire list of blog links below
3) Add any blogs that you want to include near the top of the list. (Optional)
4) Include the blog where you first got the list from, on the list in your post.
5) Do not include your own blog links on the list in your post.
6) Make sure that all links are copied intact.
7) Publish the Post.

The List:

My adds:

RyeUrn - A Blog Kegful of Rye

StevBlogs... On Life

Tien Soon's Tech Blog

Not so complicated

Oh for the love of me!

Quaint Melody

Fatty Poh's Kopi Tiam


Originals:

Andy's Anything Goes

Beng Beng

A Hermit's Muse

Che-Cheh

Paris Beaverbanks

Rojaks

Melting Wok

Rasa Malaysia

Organic Income

My Mothering Corner

Mummy In Vain

Lovely Mummy

Desperate Mummy

Judy

Home Office Women

Shoppingmum

Cyberpartygal

Hochiak! Delicious Asian Food

Blueapron

Make$ Money$

Owen of Ugh

Jules is Utterly Geek

Internet. Serious Business

The Sabahan

Critical Thoughts

Blog-Op

Carols Vault

Blog About Your Blog

Monetize Your Blog

Cosmin PTR

Make Money On The Net

Successful Online Money Making

Turn One Pound Into One Million$

Work at Home Blog

Blogging For Beginners

How to earn money online?

Dosh Dosh

Money Money Money

Money Making Quest

Connected Internet

Mike’s Money Making Mission

Time to Budget

Can I Make Big Money Online

Blogtrepreneur

Flee the Cube

Blogging Secret

Blogging to Fame

Million Dollar Experiment heads Down Under

Quest to make money on the internet

Kumiko’s Cash Quest

Calico Monkey

Internet Bazaar

Shotgun Marketing Blog

BrandSizzle

bizsolutionsplus

Customers Rock!

Being Peter Kim

Pow! Right Between The Eyes!

Billions With Zero Knowledge

Working at Home on the Internet

MapleLeaf 2.0

Two Hat Marketing

darrenbarefoot.com

The Emerging Brand

The Branding Blog

CrapHammer

Drew’s Marketing Minute

Golden Practices

Viaspire

Tell Ten Friends

Flooring the Consumer

Kinetic Ideas

Unconventional Thinking

Buzzoodle

NewsPaperGrl

The Copywriting Maven

Hee-Haw Marketing

Scott Burkett’s Pothole on the Infobahn

Multi-Cult Classics

Logic + Emotion

Branding & Marketing

Popcorn n Roses

On Influence & Automation

Bullshitobserver

Servant of Chaos

converstations

eSoup

Presentation Zen

Dmitry Linkov

aialone

John Wagner

Nick Rice

CKs Blog

Design Sojourn

Frozen Puck

The Sartorialist

Small Surfaces

Africa Unchained

Perspective

gDiapers

Marketing Nirvana

Bob Sutton

¡Hola! Oi! Hi!

Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!

Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together

Community Guy

Social Media on the fly

Feeling off Colour

FLU by ~MissSpoox on deviantART

I had flu,
It’s so not cool.
Woe betide my ailing nose,
Weepy and raw from constant blows.

Watery eyes,
Runny nose.
Rubbity-rub me poor sparklers,
Drippity-drip goes me poor nosey.

Two rolled-up tissues in my nostrils,
Stop the flow it will,
Stop the breath it will not.
Pardon me for my long absence,
Blog hopping has been sorely missed.

Well I am back my dear ol’ friend,
Thou are missed.
Thou I thought of day and night.
Absence does make the heart fonder,
If not dearer still.

I wrote this whilst my eyes still waters and that persistent gooey gunk in my nose still flows as freely as a running tap. Can this be excuse enough for a lousy poem? LOL. It’s my first attempt at one anyways. And I know it’s junk so don’t call my bluff ok.

Oh and I still feels like SHIT. My eyes look swollen and fatigue – I wonder if it is bloodshot too. My poor nose’s raw and sensitive from all those vigorous rubbings. The thing is I can’t bloody &@#$% do a damn thing about it - Can’t take any flu medication to halt the flow, as it contradicts with my current physical health condition. Yeah, I had a health condition - one that has been a nuisance since I had my baby.

Back to my flu ranting… I was on medical leave for two days straight (Tuesday & Wed) and back only today, Thursday – that’s why I am not able to do any blogging or blog visiting at that period.

My first day of leave was spent on ze bed fully doped *eyes glazed and drooling* (I took those cursed flu medication of which later another doctor cautioned me against for fear it might cause a relapse of ze condition I mentioned earlier) I was like, “Wah lao ye!” Why only tell me now. Damage is done. For I now suffered mild palpitation (120 bpm - is that mild? I dunno) all thanks to the first doctor’s oversight. Geezz…

Hence, I had to swear off assistance from any flu medication and hang-on to my trusty tissue-nose-plug (use it only when no one’s around of course. What, you think I am mad enough to use it in a room full of people?) otherwise it's the ol’ blow and wrap-it method (in Cantonese: Pau-Wantan). Oh yeah, I am also now on some sort of hypertensive drug called Propranolol to counter the palpitation. Sigh… I must be more careful with what the docs prescribes in the near future. Lesson learned.

Sneeze with mouth open wide. Ah-tishooo… *RED ALERT. RED ALERT. Germs Abound. Germs Abound*

Reminiscing Childhood Play

Me and my sis had a great time yesterday making pineapple tarts for the coming Chinese New Year celebration. Reliving the good ol’ days when both of us used to sit together to help mom with this particular chore. It has been such a long long time since mom bake any pineapple tarts or any other form of cookies. This year she decided to do it while enlisting help from both of us - one 'Tai-Kar-Che' and one 'Siew-Mui-Mui' (one big sister and one small sister).

Mom cooked the pineapple jam the day before and she was also the one who prepared the dough. Sis was assigned to wield the family heirloom cookie cutter (Hahaha. I thought since it has been with our family for such a long time – eversince our childhood till todate, it befits that title right). So, what’s my mission for the day? Me, I am honored with a spoon and a fork – not for eating with ok. Need to use both apparatus to gently and delicately lay that precious golden-brown-yummylicious jam on the cut-out cookies dough. Seems like easy enough job you say. Mind you, it can be quite tiresome after some time of trying to get that sticky-like-hell jam to stay on the dough and not on the ‘apparatus’ itself. Grrrr…

At least I had fun making teasing my Sis on her inconsistent cut-outs of cookies dough – some being too thick, some too thin and some with very faint patterns on it. LOL. I do not know why, but teasing her was really so much fun *cheeky grin*. Like the Chinese says, “The big bullies the small” (Tai Har Sai – in Cantonese).

For the grand finale… Sis and I suggested to fool around with the extra dough (cos’ we have long run out of jam to go with) and together we made a cute lil’ biscuit boy ala gingerbread man, a biscuit mama with skirt, a block of 916 gold bar, some peanut butter balls, a starfish which was supposed to be a star in the first place, a few other weird looking shapes and an obscene looking vagina like biscuit with generous spread of golden-brown pineapple jam in the center. Ahem… the latter was my sister’s idea and craftswomanship. It was really so much fun doing all this. We used to do the same thing when mom asks us to help her with the rolling of ‘Tong Yuan’ balls (A sweet desert made of glutinous rice flour rolled into balls).

Did anyone of you shares similar childhood fun?

Confession of a Betrayer

People, I have cheated. Cheated on him and on myself too. Sob! What have I DONE! This is total betrayal.

Did it while he wasn’t around. The forbidden fruit is so sweet and juice I tell you. So don’t blame me for my weakness… it’s only natural. Oh, and it really feels like I am in heaven. It has been such a long time since I feel like this.

So dark, creamy, strong and smells like heaven too… drives me nuts!

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Tada!

Hahaha… Gotcha!

Yeah, I cheated on my caffeine abstinence. But only just one small cup. No harm done right :D At least I can keep myself sane and functioning well again. Hahahaha

I have sinned yet, I have confessed - we call that even ok.

Argh… My Head is Gonna Explode Soon!

10.00am

Having one major headache right now, this moment. Must be a case of caffeine withdrawal symptom. Aiyayayayayaya… my brain feels like one raw piece of throbbing nerves right now.

This is my first day attempt to drop caffeine off my diet. Not that I haven’t tried it before. I had (many times), and I failed. So, I am reattempting again as of today. I really really got to ditch coffee for good (if I could), or at least cut down the daily intake.

Why the resolution to do it today?

That’s because I have been suffering from gastric pain for the past few weeks. If that is what the pain is about. Not too sure here. Cos’ the pain is a real killer kind – where it makes you feel like curling up and stay in bed for good. Sometimes I even feel like someone shot me with a shotgun which penetrates way to my back bone. Sure hope it’s not some other malicious disease *keeps fingers crossed tight tight*.

There’s actually another desperate reason which further amplifies and strengthen this resolution of mine… to fulfill my long time wish to conceive a second child. This has been long overdue. My son is already 5 years old and yet still no good news. Dearest hubby is getting impatient already – me too! I am so tired of false alarms.

Sigh… hope I will be successful this round. Oh… the headache #@!&%

K9 Euphoria Day

Visited Che-Cheh's blog last Friday and found out about the 4th Malaysia K9 Day which was scheduled on 14th January 2007, Sunday at Bandar Utama's Central Park.

I did a bit of hustling and managed to get mom all hyped-up to go. Hence, I succeded my plot to con mom for a ride there. Tee hee hee hee. See Che-Cheh, I can be quite manipulative when I choose to *sly grin*. Hehe. Yeah, and I brought my 5-year-old son along too. What a nice mummy I am. Kopi-O, my mom's black Miniature Pinscher was there too. Poor Ol' Susu, the family dog, a white Maltese can't go as my bro wasn't free to join us.

After written a hyper-long-winded post on Monday, I have decided to be short & sweet with this one. So I am not going into a detail reporting on what took place and all or what I thought about this event etc.. etc.... Instead, this time around I am just going to let it be a feast of K9 visuals. What do you think? Loving it already?

So here goes... feast your eyes on these (take special note on the bitches will ya. They are all especially cute - all dressed up):-

Note of caution: Some of this cute poochy might be dressed up and looked every part a bitch but, I have only discovered on that day... this wasn't really the case. As I have seen some of the boy-boy pooch with cute & fancy hair clips on. Go figure. LOL.

Top Five Favorite Movies -- I've been tagged!

“OMG! I have been tagged!”, this was exactly my first thought the moment I saw my name on RyeUrn’s blog on Friday last week highlighted in red. Why the alarm you say? Well… first, I was caught by surprise and this is the very first time I was being tagged. I am practically a Virgin-Meme-Blogger (VMB). LOL. I guess this makes RyeUrn and Bengbeng a VMB too. Hahahaha

According to RyeUrn, 5xmom said memes are good – which got me pretty curious and hopped on to her site for a look-see. There I found out… memes are actually a great way to secure links which helps to propel your blog rank up on search engines (search engines are a sucker for links). Thanks for the tip 5xmon – hence, as you can see here… I am now determined to do my part – linking as many fellow bloggers who has sportingly participated in this meme’s circulation.

Being a VMB and clueless about it… I visited most of the links provided by each blogger on the participants of this meme just to get a general idea of things - of which, ultimately served the 2nd and 3rd purpose of a meme i.e. to get higher hit-count and exposures. Wow, do not underestimate the power of memes you guys.

Alrighty-then, back to business… here is my Top 5 Favorite Movies (in no particular order, as I still can’t decide which one I like most).

1) Farinelli il Castrato (1994)


Farinelli, was a famous opera singer in the time of Handel, the famous German composer. He (Farinelli) was what we call a castrato… in his case; he was castrated by his own brother during childhood in order to preserve his singing voice – it was a popular practice back then in the 16th century in Western European chapel choirs as the Roman Catholic Church had traditionally banned females from singing in church.

This movie was actually an accidental stumble or find. I am an ardent fan of Anne Rice a famous author of many bestsellers of gothic theme fiction books and one of them was Cry to Heaven – it’s an intriguing book about castrati in Italy during the 18th century. This book was what has started my fascination with the mystery and allure of a castrato, which had lead me to this wonderful film of breathtaking sights and sounds.

I was overjoyed when I found this film some years back in a store while browsing for some movies. At last! I shall have the chance to witness the supreme singing of a castrato again (this phenomenon of castrati has happened centuries ago and there aren’t any form of recording available back then (what I pity), it was in fact a lost art… as part of the arias sung by a castrati are so complex and difficult that they cannot be performed today... unless you decided to lose your manhood to preserve this art. LOL!). This film uses both male and female voices in a unique reconstruction to recreate the sound of Farinelli’s singing voice.

I was totally swept off my feet by the beautiful singing combined with the romantic baroque settings. This film shall remain forever special in my heart.

On another note, I was delighted when I spotted a fellow lover of this film, Paris Beaverbanks… during my inspiration-seeking-link hopping which I mentioned earlier on this post.


2) Interview with the Vampire (1994)


This film was a movie-tie in for one of Anne Rice’s bestsellers – it was this one book that propelled her to fame. To me, this film was the one that had gotten me hooked on her books thereto and later on... fascinated with the gothic world and all things paranormal or supernatural. For her, I outgrew and abandon chit-lit and romance novels.

This film is a about a vampire telling his epic life story of love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger – centering on themes of immortality, loss, sexuality and power with heavy influence on Goth culture. It was a Hollywood blockbuster starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt as the main characters Lestat de Lioncourt and the protagonist Louis de Pointe du Lac, respectively.

I fell in love with the character starred by Brad Pitt… hmmm… until now, I wasn’t sure which one I fell in love with... the character or the actor. LOL. But, I am sure of one thing, both are just as endearing. This film has also introduced me to Kirsten Dunst… she starred as Claudia, a vengeful and manipulative but heartrending child vampire. Her acting was so credible that she could rival other strong actresses. I quite adore her since, even before she had rise to stardom. She is now quite well known as Mary Jane, Spiderman’s girlfriend or object of obsession.


3) My Fair Lady (1964)


I believed I shouldn’t have the need to elaborate on this famous piece of all-time favorite Broadway musical. Audrey Hepburn was absolutely radiant and charming in it. Oh yeah, this was the first film which got me acquainted with her. The song ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?’ sung by Eliza (the lead female character played by Hepburn) was my most favorite song in this flick. I am a fan of Audrey Hepburn ever since this film. Am still trying to locate and collect the all of her work especially Roman Holiday (1953) – I think it’s her debut Hollywood film which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.


4) Strictly Ballroom (1992)


I can’t exactly remember how I came across this film. All I remember was how badly I wanted to own this video and scoured hi and lo for it back then, until I found it along with a newfound suitor i.e. later boyfriend and sometime later after that… ex-boyfriend (sorry, not going to go into this).

Right, back on this film… it’s about a champion caliber ballroom dancer, Scott Hastings who was inspired to dance his own steps which was an idea the Australian ballroom dance community shuns at… at all cost. Together with a beginner dancer and a somewhat ugly duckly, Fran... they were ready to set out to prove em’ wrong for not believing.

All in all, this film was an emotional stimulating watch. Plus, it had introduced me to Paso Doble (a lively Latin style of dance modeled after the sound, drama, and movement of the Spanish bullfight). This dancing style is absolutely exciting to watch. The rhythm of its music has the power to captivate one’s soul and body. You could really feel the strong pull of this music and start instinctively moving you body in tune.

Oh yes, I was of course, again… drawn to the lead character - this time being a handsome and chiseled, Paul Mercurio. I literary swooned at his perfect dancing skill and good looks. Ahemm…


5) Viva Cuba (2005)


Watched this film with Gina a good friend of mine sometime back in October 2006 last year during the latest 5th Ibero American Film Festival (a celebration of Latin American films). We had both enjoyed it tremendously even though it’s in Spanish with English subtitle.

Bits about the story… it is a tale of two good friends, Malú and Jorgito. They had made a pact with each other that they would remain friends for life although both their families are constantly at odds with each other. The girl is from an upper-class family while the boy is from a family of poor but proud socialist. One day, Malú’s mother had decided to leave Cuba thus, Malú would have to be separated from Jorgito if she does. Hence, begin the adventure of both children traveling with each other as company in a loooong soul searching and friendship testing trip to seek for Malú’s father help to prevent her mother from leaving the country.

The close bond between these two children is a joy to watch. There are many funny and touching moments which both Gina and I enjoyed very much. It was a refreshing watch, apart from the normal over-commercialized Hollywood films – it was a light yet playful film with a touch of Cuban bureaucracy.

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Whew! That was it. I had a tough time deciding on which 5 films should make it to this list of mine, as I had quite a long list of favorites. Deciding to adhere to the rules of this meme to list only 5 favorites I had to forgone the rest albeit reluctantly. Pardon me for my lengthily account on each film. I had at first wanted to do a short and direct post like Ah Pek did except, I just can’t help myself but to feel obligated to pay my tribute to each one of these fantastic films.

As to keep the ball rolling, I am officially declaring my tag on Gina, Pau-Pau, Che-Cheh, Stev and Tien Soon.

RyeUrn, thanks again for the tag. Though I sweat big time doing it but, I had fun. *Wink* there, I linked you again. Ahahaha

Oops I Did It Again! - Another Clueless Sotong Episodes

“What on earth was I thinking!” this was what I exclaimed in my head early this morning when I found out I managed to repeat the same ol' blunder again – for the 3rd time. Sigh… must be getting old.

What was I babbling about you say? Well it’s just that I found out a minute ago... I truly stand out from the crowd in my company’s yellow uniform for a change, when everybody else in the office are parading about in their own fashionable genre today.

It total flew out of my mind that today is a Friday. On Fridays we are allowed to wear whatever we fancy to work – of course, something with common sense… meaning suitable office wear. Jangan-lah mengada-gada sampai cleavage pun terkeluar macam itu Gong Li in ‘The Curse of the Golden Flower’ – not that I have any to show in the first place :P

This wasn’t the first time I did it. Although the last two times wasn’t exactly the same scenario. Right then, it was the wrong color uniform for the wrong day i.e. instead of wearing blue I wore yellow instead on a Wednesday (on Wednesday we are supposed to wear a different set of uniform which is blue in color instead of our usual banana yellow uniform). Yeah, I know, the color scheme sucks! Heck, even the design sucks too :(

I am feeling pretty awkward right now. Luckily, I can opt to lay off the yellow jacket which leaves only my flowery beige blouse plus the long side slit dark blue skirt – not as obvious this way. Whew!

Sigh… when would I ever get the hang of it (uniforms routines) – I wonder.



Gossips: I heard the next new batch of uniforms is going to be RED in color. It’s going to be implemented somewhere this year – I guess. Red, is it any better than yellow or blue??? Why can’t it be corporate dark blue or black – it’s more practical right. Geezz… the way people complicates things.

Back from Holiday Hibernation

Just a short post to say Happy New Year everyone. May all of you have plentiful of joyous events throughout the year.

I just came back to work today from my week long leave (started on 29th December 2006 till 3rd January 2007). Actually, I had wanted to post a notice on being away for such a long while, unfortunately the net disruption thing upset my plan to do so.

Updates on my Dental visit:
So, here I am… still in one whole piece, apparently. LOL - Despite, my phobic visit to the dentist last Friday. Gotten that cursing hell hole patched up by a nice lady dentist. She ever so gentle, mild manner and jovial – she puts me at ease… errr.. more or less :D Throughout the whole process I was gripping my own hand bit too hard that it turned red - and was trying very very hard indeed on not kicking the dentist accidentally while she drills away.

I am so relief it was all over in a jiffy. She did great – I wasn’t as traumatized as my previous encounters. Plus, I let her clean my teeth – It was a good sign. I shall now stick to her for my future dentist visits.

With my chopper back in biz, I am now looking forward for a Chomping-Chinese New Year with mountainous food to devour!

Heading for the Torture Chamber

Tomorrow I am finally going for that long overdue Dentist appointment. Yeah, it has been postponed for like 5 months now *Grinning sheepishly* What to do, I have got no nerves when it comes to dentist visits.

I think that hole (the one I mentioned in earlier on my blog about the filling dropping out while I was brushing my teeth) is getting worst. Ouch! I now noticed several more cavities as the days months goes by… yeah, serves me right you say – for being such a chicken. Cluck cluck cluck!

That large cavity has been such a nuisance – food getting into it (yucky, I know but I always gargle after food. Humph!), trying to avoid chewing on my left side (where the cavity is), wincing each time anything cold or hot or sweet passed through my mouth. Really do not know how I managed to live with all this for such a long time. I am such a laugh right? I can live with the pain and trouble of not having it patched but, can’t survive a simple visit to the dentist. LOL. I am such a wimp! Luckily I am female, which makes it my right actually to be so wimpy and yet not be too embarrassed by it. Hahahaha…

The thought of that syringe and drill (the murder tools) already gives me the goose-bumps. I am crossing my fingers that I might come out from the torture chamber in one piece – in body and mind. Wish me luck people!

Mental state: Very anxious and borderline neurotic. My mind kept singing the song “I am going to the gallows, I am going to the gallows. Oh save me, oh save me from the gallows…”.

Have yourself a Merry Lil' Christmas

Saw this cute little Snowman Snowglobe last 2 weeks back at a local shopping mall.

I have always wanted a snowglobe of my own since young, but never gotten one before. I just don't see the point of purchasing one for myself - it would be meaningless. I feel that it needs to come from someone dear, like family, a lover or even a dear friend to complete the special-ness of owning a snowglobe.

My fascination was once again perked when I saw this cute snowglobe and I couldn't help myself and hence made the purchase immediately. But this one's for my son - I thought of him as soon as I saw it. At least now he has his first snowglobe – one with special meaning and filled with a mother’s love for her child.

As to why I didn’t buy one for myself? Yes, I still feels strongly that snowglobes should be a gift from somebody else and not collected on our own - Weird sentiments? I know.

I am still waiting for my very own Snow Globe :D


I figured since I love snowglobe so much, I should at least learn more about it. So, I did some light research on it just know. Here’s what I found:-

( This Santa Clause Snowglobe is amazing eh? It looks so magical.
Found this amazing pix just now. Will be setting it as my wallpaper for this Yuletide season ;D )

The first snowglobes are said to have come from France in the eary 1800's. Many believe following in the footsteps of the paperweight. The earliest known snowglobes were made of glass and were part of Victorian upper class lifestyles in the 1870's. Made popular by those who had a love of such eclectic decor. As early as 1879 five manufacturers were shipping them all over Europe.

In the 1940's, snowglobes were used for advertising by many companies. They also became popular religious gifts for children. The snow inside sometimes gold glitter or even soap chips. Now days, the glass is thinner, and oftentimes, plastic is used for the globe, while the "snow" is actually small pieces of plastic. The water inside is a mix of water and glycerin. They abound in all shapes and sizes, especially during the holiday season. Plastic domes made their mark in the 1950's.

Today's snowglobe ranges from very ornate, musical, or mechanical and lighted, to simple plastic domes. Some even are battery powered so one doesn't have to shake it to see the snow whirl around inside the globe. Then there are the many found on webpages abounding the internet. It really doesn't matter where it came from, be it a tourist stop, the finest store, a graphics program, or a garage sale find.....snowglobes have a magic all their own, wonderously transforming the everyday into a miniscule world of swirling flakes falling, as the wonder of snowfall and winter's hush surround us.

Extracted from Intimate Expression Gifts
For further read-ups on Snowglobes

Found a simple poem on Christmas to share with all too…

I love winter! Winter is cold.
It's Christmas with sleds.
It's warm snuggly beds.
It's silver snowflakes.
It's skating on lakes.
It's snowmen that stand In a snowy white land.
It's bluejays that feed On sunflower seed.
It's angels that pose In wintertime clothes.
It's a polka-dot sky.
It's winter. That's why....... I love winter.

Merry Christmas everyone, and don’t forget the spirit of sharing – spread the joy and happiness far and wide ya! Remember we don’t need special days to do so ok.


P/S: Actually I wanted to embed a media player here to play the song, "Frosty the Snowman" on this post - it was one of my favorite Christmas song. Unfortunately, my limited knowledge on html proven to be a major set-back :( Anyhow, I shall still continue my further exploration on it *wink* I shall hold dear to the notion that no one's too old to learn.

A Tango 'Asunto Del Amor'

This is my RM40 ticket :D - worth every pennies

Wooo hoo…. This show was absolutely mind-blowing (see my previous blog on it). Whew! It was hot, hot, hot I tell you. It was and affair to remember for a lifetime. Hence, I gave this post a Spanish title, A Tango Asunto Del Amor (Asunto Del Amour means Love Affair in Spanish)

Despite having to literally wrestle our way through the horrendous traffic jam all thanks to the heavy downpour. And poor me having to tahan (bear) with my mom’s constant complains on other rude and inconsiderate ways of other fellow drivers as though it could have make things any better by gesticulating wildly while admonishing these fools harshly - in the end, it’s only me who had to suffer for other people's stupidity. Sigh…. I was like thinking loudly to myself, “Duh… could we just focus on where we are going please, we’ve made a few wrong turnings already” – I want to pengsan liao (faint).

Irregardless, me and my mom made it just on time… ok ok… we were just a wee bit late – we arrived at 8.10pm and the show is supposed to start at 8.00pm sharp and the audiences are expected to be seated by 7.45pm. Fat-chance with that downpour – and I was right! The show didn’t start till about 8.45pm, having to wait for the auditorium to fill up with wet and disgruntled audiences (Ahahahaa… that’s just my gist anyway).

As this show was also jointly organized by The Embassy of Uruguay, there were quite a number of foreigners amongst us – almost half of the auditorium. This show was a total sell-out it seems – the whole auditorium was fully packed.


The Performance

Ms. Laura Legazcue was a joy and pleasure to watch. The crowd was absolutely enthralled by her mastery in tango. She was a natural, a true born dancer. She had successfully put a charm on all of us and etched the beauty of Tango in our hearts forever.

I love all her six (6) tango dances including the soul stirring tango music – I found my heart dancing to the tunes of these mind evoking music.

Ms. Laura dances with so much passion, vigor and skill. We were simply in awe of her and her partner’s skill in synchronizing their moves to the music with perfect precision and unison. They both were like two souls entwined in one body.

I bet Ms. Laura is ‘Plastic-Woman’ in disguise cos’ she has got such a supple body especially her legs were so flexible that’s it was quite scary. It was like she has no bones in her legs. Yikes! – LOL. Sorry, I can’t help myself from injecting some humour in all this. Ahahaaaa…



Below is the programme of that night:-

PROGRAMME

Pata Ancha. (Facing with courage) – Tango by Mario De Marco (the music)
La Puñalada. (The stab wound) – Tango by Pintin Castellanos (the music)
San Telmo. – Tango by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez (the music)
Melacólico (Melancholic) – Tango by Julián Plaza (the music)
La Comparsita. – Tango by Gerardo Matos Rodríquez (the music)
Mala Junta. (Bad company) – Tango by Julio De Caro (the music)

There are also performances by SGM Galaxy Chamber Orchestra and SGM Renaissance Choir in between the Tango performances. They were all quite good actually.



The Conclusion

I ended up with two very red and sore hands from clapping too enthusiastically – non-stop. LOL.

I was so pleased when the dancers obliged to the crowd’s mad calls for encores – the commotion was like we were in a singing concert. Aiyoh, very malu-lah (embarrassing). Please be informed that I was in no way involved in that noisy encore calls ok. But, I was grateful however *grin*.

Overall, it was a memorable experience. As I said earlier, it was my one-evening-love-affair with Tango.