Not Chingay, Marina Bay is the option

... is the only option left. Cashmere just reminded me of Chingay event held in Singapore. It is a big street parade and seems to be very famous in Singapore. When I first time saw the name of the event I thought it had something with, you know... Chin-gay (CHINese-GAY??) Please, no offensive intention here =) Well afer I looked up on google about it it turned out to be just a name, I guess (I didn't really explore the history of it) and obviously nothing like what I thought or even close.

Here's a short introduction of the event:

There are innumerable religious festivals of purely regional interest in Malaysia . But in 1880, one celebration in Penang to “welcome the Spring” during the New Year season, went round George Town . This procession captured the fascination of a European missionary and was vividly recorded. Penang became famous at the turn of the century with this “Giant Flags Procession”.


In many primitive societies, a procession is one of the most basic expressions of communal unity. In the history of Chinese tradition, deafening drums, cymbals and gongs, dance and street gaiety have always been part of the way the common people celebrate any big occasions which included Lunar New Years, religious commemoration and festivities.

There is no historical record of how the word “Chingay” originated. But records show that as early as the 19 th century, Chingay appeared in South East Asia, beginning in Penang . The word was coined from its phonetic Hokkien equivalent, which means “the art of costume and masquerade”. It alluded to a Chinese styled decorated miniature stage or float borne on the shoulders of performers. This miniature stage depicts an important historical scene. It was probably the beginning of the manual float. During New Year processions in old China , such floats were carried through the streets on men's shoulders while dancers, jugglers and magicians entertained the crowds. Huge animals, both real and mythical took part in the processions, which were essentially religious in nature and aimed at honouring deities at the beginning of each new year.

more...

Anyway, so I won't go to the event which is gonna end TONIGHT!... well since yesterday =P. It's just that when Cashmere reminded me through a comment she left it was already 8pm! So I don't see any point to go now as I haven't got myself prepared and also due to travel time.

Another reason I'm not going is also the fee. It costs $30. It's not entirely the cost but how much it's worth which is not much! $30 is for a seat. A seat?? You want me to pay $30 to watch a street parade while seated??!! I would go and pay if I could walk along with the performers and enjoy the fun. lol

It does look like a big big event with lots of great dance performances from different countries, regions, cultures, etc, but I can't just imagine myself watching them while seated. What if I got an uncomfortable seat?

Since I'm not going I thought I needed somewhere else to go to maybe not tonight but tomorrow. I then remembered this big event at Marina Bay regarding Chinese New Year's celebration. I looked it up on the internet and found the info about it. I got the schedules and I think I'm gonna go tomorrow. And I think it's free =)

Here's the whole schedule of the Chinese New Year at Marina Bay:

Schedule of nightly performances, 8-10pm

• 24, 25 Jan - Hubei Art College & Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe
• 26 Jan - Performances by new Singapore citizens
• 27 Jan - Beijing opera - 'Journey to the West'
• 28 Jan - Performances by youth groups
• 29 Jan - Best Singapore Youth Festival groups
• 30,31 Jan - Local and foreign artistes:

1. Taiwanese celebrity 'Wa Wa' Jin Zhi Juan
2. Singapore Project Superstars winners Kelvin Tan, Kelly Poon

• 1 Feb - Wa Wa, Hubei Art College & Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe

The only chance I can see the celebration is tomorrow then. Let's see because I have some work I need to prepare for Monday first before I can freely go out the night before.

Hey, Cashmere, did you go to Marina Bay to watch the celebration? What was it like? Was it worth it? Wanna go there again? =D

Fried [raw] osyters

I'd just like to share one of my fave foods. It's fried oyster. I believe it's Chinese as I've always had it at Chinese stalls. I heard that oyster helps you get more stamina (I mean 'stamina') aka more of masculinity for men. Well, I don't personally like eating it because I knew the 'power' of it but I just like the taste of the cooking.

Anyway, today I had one for dinner. This time I wasn't really lazy unlike usual waiting for the food at my table but I stood waiting in front of the stall while watching the cook making the meal. I then got surprised that they used raw oysters not even boiled. I was surprised in a good way. "Ah, that's why they always taste fishy"

Don't take it wrong. I mean they didn't really fry the raw oyster but only the other ingredients like the flour and egge (yea... I also found out that the ingredients were only flour and eggs which disappointed me a bit hehe)

Hmmm... love oysters!

Vit C after shrimp causes damaged organs and even death?

No, it doesn't. So, don't worry.

Let me explain to you more of the question above. Just now I posted a question on Yahoo Answers about something that I wasn't sure about. This is the description of the question I posted:

I just got a random message from a friend on my yahoo messenger saying that there was this woman who had shrimp in her meal and right after that drank some vitamin C drink and suddenly she died from having blood coming out of her body vastly. The main cause of her death was as believed a bad mix of some chemical stuff in the shrimp (asetenic or something like that -the message has been deleted) with another chemical stuff in the Vit C drink.

Is this even true??

How would it be explained in a scientific way? Any even possibility that such thing can happen?

I was just not sure who to ask about the 'rumor' that I got. I mean it was from a friend so I didn't think straightaway that it was a spam message meaning non-sense. I do personally not really believe such forwarded 'stories' going on yahoo messenger, emails, or anywhere else but this time I wasn't just sure enough as I never really study medical stuff or chemical stuff so I thought I couldn't judge it by my own logic before I verified the truth of the rumor.

I am glad that I received comments on that question on Y!Answers quite instantly and here I am happy to share this information to you by showing the answers I got.

"shrimps are dangerous. i know a boy who ate shrimp, he turned red" by Yahoo!! President

------------
"That sounds really stupid." by Zelda

------------
"Yeahh uhh I don't think that's true because it sounds really unlikely. I mean, bleeding vastly because of shrimp/ a vitamin?? Come on." by frosh11.chickin87

------------
"Well I would not believe so as there are no negative effects if you mix shrimp with vitamin C. I usually eat shrimp with lemon juice on it and I'm still alive." by Dr Dee

------------
"Never fear, it's false!

Verified on Snopes...

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/shrimp.asp" by aletheaanderson (TO VOTE AS BEST ANSWER)

------------
"AHAHAHA!!!!!!! thanks that just made my day a million times better =]" by sweeeeeettttttt

------------
"Your body can not possibly overdose on vitamin C. You will urinate any extra vitamin C your body doesn't need.

Source(s):
Common sense, look it up if you don't believe me. Vitamin C helps with breathing and so many other things, it can't harm you unless you are allegric." by Oh no you di-nt

------------
"HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!
LOL
MAN
You guys with your high tech devices...really doesn't make you any smarter...believing anything you read.
Holy crap man if I said that if you microwaved cheetos it would expand and explode the microwave would you believe that too?

Think about it REALLY.
How many people live here on this rock called earth....for how long?
You would think that
1. people would be dropping off especially in areas of high shrimp consumption.
2. Shrimp does not have chemicals in it.
It is made up of proteins and fat vitamins and minerals.
Period

Asetenic is a made up word.
Acetic acid is vitamin C.

There is no way to be explained no possibility it could happen.
Unless the shrimp was alive and took out the broad with a switchblade going down her throat....

A bad mix of 'chemical stuff' in the shrimp?
Unless she was poisoned, deliberately or accidentally and hemorrhaged it is impossible for anything like that to happen with natural foods.
All combinations of foods have been tried again and again.

Vitamin C is inert and is not toxic especially diluted as in a beverage.

It is incredibly ridiculous nonsense.

Source(s):
I have a bachelors degree in Nutrition" by Aimee B

So, if I was to resume from all the comments I'd say that such rumor remains a rumor which is not true and non-sense. Let's just be careful with what we do, whatever it is.

Enjoy your lemon sauced shrimps! =D

Outram Park, Jurong Point and an angpow!!

It won't be a long post, I'll just share a couple of pictures of Chinese New Year's decorations and share a little story of me having received an angpow from a friend! Unexpected angpow! =D

Outram Park

Jurong Point Mall

So, I'm just currently helping a friend of mine with a few of his too. We met this morning and chatted a bit and suddenly he handed a red envelope and I wasn't so stupid to know that it was an angpow. I was quite surprised because I never expected he would give me an angpow as we're not even related or even have a family relation. I was confused but I couldn't refuse as I thought it would be rude (excuse!! what?)

Well, thanks, Charles, Sebastian, Jessie and Flora!

Prank on me over a 111yo first-time-dad

Just a moment ago Marcus hinted me with a story of a 111yo father who's become a big news since a couple of days ago internationally. Of course as someone with a not too-low-IQ I wouldn't just believe what he said to me. I kept insisting it wasn't true and he finally showed me the story on BBC news to prove the truth of the story. I found out after googling it that it's become a big news on other several news websites.

Oh, it's truly true! Impossible...

No, it's not. Marcus didn't tell me a lie about the story. It was all true. In fact I was the one who's been wrong. And I'm not lying to you...

Apparently the 111yo father happened to be a 111yo lizard who just had babies recently.

Read this:

A rare New Zealand reptile has become a father, possibly for the first time, at the age of 111.

The keepers of Henry, a tuatara, had thought he was past his prime - especially after showing no interest in females during 40 years in captivity.

But he mated with 80-year-old Mildred last July and 11 of the eggs she produced have now hatched.

Henry's keepers have put his newfound vigour down to a recent operation to remove a tumour from his bottom.

'Love story'

Henry arrived at Southland Museum in the South Island city of Invercargill in 1970 and, his keepers say, soon became overweight and idle.

He was known for his foul temper and had a tendency to attack other tuatara - forcing the museum to keep him in solitary confinement for many years.

But since his operation, Museum tuatara curator Lindsay Hazley said he had had a "major personality transplant".

"I have done lots of eggs before but these are just special because they are Henry's," Mr Hazley told the Southland Times.

Tuatara, which are found only in New Zealand, are sometimes referred to as "living fossils".

They are the only surviving members of a family of species which walked the Earth with the dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.

The museum now has about 70 of the rare creatures, and Mr Hazley is hopeful that Henry might provide more offspring in the future.

He lives with three female tuatara "in great harmony", said Mr Hazley, and described the hatching of the eggs as "the completion of a love story".

Well, it's not just about the tricky prank. I personally wonder how those people know the real age of the lizard. Did they cut it in half and count the rings and put the two 'pieces' together again? Oh maybe the lizard has a diary consisting of its life so far...

Never mind

Live long Henry! -Not sure why I feel tempted to say King Henry...

Right at Chinese New Year's midnight celebration in the house

I won't say anything much this time as I've pretty much shared the same topic in the previous post before this one. I'm coming up with more pictures of David and others in the house welcoming the Chinese New Year right at midnight.

Marcus came around too tonight. But since I told him that David probably would need his time with his family tonight so he probably would not invite us to the dinner tonight but another time less private. So he didn't. I tried hinting by letting him know that I was going (with Marcus) to have dinner out but he didn't say anything about the dinner. Never mind. Again, I'm not complaining as I understood that he needed some good quality time with his family while doing the Chinese New Year's Eve tradition.

I came back home at around 11pm and as expected David and others were still around in the living room watching the ceremony from the laptops shown live online. I asked more about the ceremony and watched it for a bit and 'gave up' lol. I wish I could understand Chinese language. It was a 4 hours long ceremony. David said it was a show of mixed things, from magic show to dances. I did briefly watch the magic and the dance shows.

A bit later just right at midnight time I went out to say Gong Xi Fa Cai to every one in the house especially David and his parents who were all busy either cooking or eating. They had dumplings.

(Image 1 to left: David and his parents and Marcus enjoying the dumplings. Image 2 to left: David's mum, Lily and Wang Nan cooking) Bad news is... David couldn't make his 'promise' (well it wasn't a promise actually) that he said to me earlier this week that they would make chicken dumplings for me as they knew I couldn't eat pork. They only had pork dumplings tonight so I couldn't join. A bit disappointing but it was ok I tried to enjoy their celebration as much as I could by taking some quick pictures of them doing things without interrupting them too much.

Enjoy!

My first "Gong Xi Fa Cai" in Singapore...

Looking forward to a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner held by a Chinese friend of mine, David (I mentioned him before) who shares the house with me now and whose parents are visiting him at the moment and staying in the house too. I can hear from my room they've been preparing something in the kitchen. I briefly talked to David this afternoon when he was just about to go shopping for the 'celebration' and asked their plans for tonight. He said they were going to have the CNY's Eve dinner and watch some ceremony which takes place in their home country China. He told me that it was a tradition to watch the ceremony during the night before the new year. I asked him how they would watch it and apparently it will be shown on the internet. I guess there's no excuse to miss the ceremony as they have it online (modern tradition) every year apart from being shown on tv. I don't know it's just a guess.

Well, it's almost 9pm and he hasn't banged my door. I went to Kopitiam this afternoon to get some lunch and it was closed. I went to another one slightly further and some of the stalls were also closed and I bet right now no stalls are opened as most of the owners are Chinese and are going to have a the family gathering watching the ceremony tonight.

Speak of the further-Kopitiam I went to this afternoon, it was being cleaned. All water+soap on the floor. It was annoying, indeed. I had to move tables three times while waiting for my order to come! I guessed they did that for welcoming the new year 'cause usually they clean it up when about to close at around 9-10pm. Oh you know what, they would actually close the Kopitiam today at 4pm so maybe they cleaned it up earlier because they were already closing... that's right, that's right. Never mind.

This is a new stuff for me. This is my first time to celebrate the Chinese New Year in Singapore in which most of the people are Chinese. This is exciting... yea... and making me hungry. Difficult to find food =(

Take it easy, I'm not complaining. I have my own respect on different traditions. This is one of the reasons why I don't want to go outside to check before they invite me because probably David is having his own time with his family and that is part of the tradition. As a person with very little knowledge about this tradition, I don't expect to ruin the family gathering ambiance.

Besides, the celebration will last 15 days from midnight tonight so there will be more time for me to get to know more of this celebration as the time goes.

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year's Eve! Invite me to your dinner! -hehe joking-but-if-you-take-it-seriously-I-won't-mind!

ps: I know, I know, the title up there slightly has a wrong meaning. I know "Gong Xi Fa Cai" doesn't mean Chinese New Year but it's just become the new year's trademark so, you know... =D

Something about this young 'woman'...

The picture to left is, I think, pretty clear to give you a general idea what this post is going to be about. But there are thoughts that you need to sort out first. I'm not going to talk about her (Ok, Hilary Duff) like "Oh, I'm such her biggest fan ever!". No, I'm not that 'gay' and this post isn't going to be about me fancying her as a big fan at all. In fact, I'd like to share something a bit similar but not similar... hmmm... ok, I'm fancying her but much more than just a fan. No, I'm not her fan... oh this is going to be difficult.

Well, I 'have' a picture of me with her which should mean that I have interest in her (duh!). I think she's great.

No, I'm not her fan like you being a fan of Michael Jackson, maybe, and having all your walls glued with his posters.

Anyway, yes, I think she's great. I mean she's a young 'woman'. She's super pretty (to me) and sex-y =) Yet, she's successful and looks "not-blond", if you know what I mean.

This is what I want to point out to you. I have my own type of interest in a woman. I mean that young 'woman' up there (she's just too young to be called a woman but mature enough to not be called a girl) is just what I like to have as hopefully a wife (in the future!... and not tomorrow! Duh!).

Yes, you heard what I said. She's just 'perfect'. I can't say that I want her to be the woman I want as that sounds a bit too-dreamy to date a celebrity like her. So, what I mean is a woman with a similar personality like hers. I'm not particularly saying the physical condition but beyond that. Ok, I need to stop thinking you're stupid enough to not know things like that. lol

Well, I just watched her in Youtube by accident and that reminded me of the fantasy so here I am typing this down.

ps: I've not just been having interest in her since a couple of hours ago or yesterday! This isn't an emotional-quick-lasting stuff kind of feeling but I've been seeing the same type since long time ago. I mean... ah, you're not stupid enough to know what I mean ;) And the picture up there is almost 3 years old so it is THAT long =)

pps: Hi, Hilary! Hope you read this and take this VERY seriously! =)

No more like this, Google, or...

Google really annoyed me just now. They let me confused and anxious. I was just going to post a blog and before I did that I wanted to have my website open. As I clicked on the bookmark button link to my website the page didn't load properly. "Oh what's happening?". I asked one of my housemates to try to open my website from his computer. It showed the same page saying "Google, We're sorry...". I kept on trying on opening my website but it wouldn't work!

So, I tried something different. I tried connecting to the internet by using SingTel plug-in thinking I would have a new IP address. It made difference! I could open my website normally!

Very weird.


I later guessed and was sure that it must have had something to do with my IP address. Apparently Google had blocked my IP address. I don't know who would cause the problem because the IP address is currently shared with other 6 people in the house! So not blaming anyone.

I even had to Facebook-status it. It's still now saying "Google's blocked my IP address. Can't view my own blog site... how terrible is that"

Google, I don't know why you blocked the IP address without giving any notice in advance. No warning or anything. That's so immaturely random. I asked my housemate [SMASHING NEWS: My roommate is just killing a mouse] to open his own blog on blogspot and it wouldn't open as well. So, I got 'more' sure that Google had blocked the IP address in the house.

It's fixed just now though...

No more like this, Google, or...

or...

or what? Up to you!

Fruity Thingy

About one and a half year ago a friend of mine who was just back from Malaysia brought us (including my family) a Chinese typical fruity snack thingy. Ok, I'm gonna talk about my own personal opinion about the fruity thingy 'cause I don't know what other people in my family think about the fruity thingy and I was the one finishing the fruity thingy. Don't worry this is not the point where I'm stopping saying fruity thingy. I'll let you know the reason why I keep repeating the fruity thingy thingy a bit later which is the main topic of this post. So, don't mind to not continue reading if you get bored already.

So, I really liked this fruity thingy. It was red (very red). It tasted quite sour. The size wasn't too small or too big. The texture was quite soft. The stone wasn't so big so it wasn't annoying while being eaten.

We were only given one pack and it lasted quite fast! It was my lunch, dinner and sometimes breakfast, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, today I went to a minimarket called Hong Hong. I know it sounds weird, I thought they spelled it wrong. I kept mistaking it with Hong Kong (what else?). Never mind

I saw the fruity thingy there. I grabbed and brought it to the cashier. Paid and went home.

I'm still enjoying the fruity thingy now. It's not finished yet, no it hasn't. I knew (still remembered well) exactly how it'd taste before I opened the pack. I wasn't disappointed of course. I am liking the fruity thingy.

So, why do I keep annoyingly repeating the fruity thingy namey?

I don't know how else to call it... what is the name of this fruity thingy? how to google it? search for: red fruit?

Well whatever it is, I am liking it! This isn't a good topic at all. Your generous knowledge about the fruity thingy's name is welcome though.

Thoughts for my mum

Not a while ago my niece had her birthday. In exactly a week my mum will have her birthday too. Again, I won't be there to celebrate it. But thoughts are still there in my mind even though they're not 'a piece of cake' to realize when I'm still in Singapore like this. I don't feel stuck here, that's one thing for sure. Of course there are things possible to be done from here to let her have a great day during her birthday. I have the faith but not the 'things to realize', unfortunately. She will turn 57. Frankly I never really give her anything for her birthday except one small perfume that I bought from a friend for her 54th birthday (in 2005), I guess. It didn't really happen as she was right about to leave for Jakarta so was busy with her stuff.

I just put the perfume in one of her purses. She didn't realize until she arrived in Jakarta and asked me about it. So, I told her that it was a present for her. Apparently, it's not finished yet until now. I think she doesn't really like the scent. It's ok, surprises don't always turn out to be what we want them to be, sometimes. They could be beyond our expectation though =)

I'm not saying that I've had a trauma to give my mum a surprise present since then. I don't really know what I can do for her birthday. As I said the thoughts are there but the 'things' aren't.

One thing for sure is that it's a bit impossible for me to give her something real while we're in long distance like now. Well impossible from my own hand which means... I can ask someone else in the house back at home to buy her something that I request.

But who and what?

Definitely not my dad as they're like Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Yes they fight sometimes just like any other parents in this world and they also know each other too much to hide something easily from each other.

My brother? Probably. But what?

I don't think of giving her another surprise cake as I already did that to my niece last week so it'll be a bit awkward. I don't really know what she really needs lately. Plus she's just got back from Singapore getting mostly things that she'd liked to have. I think she was happy enough with that. But still I wanna give her something...

She doesn't read books. She does cook but has enough printed recipes collected from old magazines. She loves dresses but it will be too 'risky' to buy her a dress without her trying it on first and judging everything else of the dress like the color, the pattern, the everything.

I still have exactly 7 days from now on to think about this. This isn't gonna make me hardly sleep, no worries =) Usually I don't really think of giving anyone a surprise and preparing it days before! unless it's a big surprise. As I know I can't do anything much from here to give something to my mum so I'm not that anxious. So, there's a reason why I'm already 'anxious' about giving her a present by talking about this now. It's because I'm still feeling a bit unwell and have been resting in the room all day apart from a quick lunch downstairs. I even had to cancel a meeting with someone important today. And also I have to say a big apology to Marcus that I couldn't continue the translation work today. I know it'll upset you when you read this. Sorry.

Anyway, I've been trying to find a picture of my mum. I hope I can find one to share with everyone here. Well I've been showing my niece's pic here so maybe it's time for my mum's turn to get the 'fame'! =)

Enjoy!

4th Monthly Review [2134]

This month was slightly bigger. I had my website visited more than last month. I won't word it too much but will just show the real statistics. Until this month I got in total 2134 hits on my website and that is since 21st of Sept last year. This month alone I got 788 hits. By seeing the statistic from the first month I put ClustrMap it went higher and higher and as every other blogger hopes for their blog I hope the stat will get higher and higher again. I don't wanna sound like a greedy person but hoping for something positive is not so bad.

21 Sept - 21 Oct : 355 (355)
21 Oct - 21 Nov : 418 (773)
21 Nov - 21 Dec : 573 (1346)
21 Dec - 21 Jan 09 : 788 (2134)

Here I attached both pictures of my ClustrMap; in order 21st of Dec 2008 and 21st of Jan 2009. Again, this is to notice the difference by noticing the red spots.


ClustrMap 21st of Dec 2008


ClustrMap 21st of Jan 2009
And without saying anything more to bore you here's another stats fact of the number of the visitors.

5 top number of visitors to 21st of Dec 2008
United States (US) 362
Indonesia (ID) 237
Singapore (SG) 89
United Kingdom (GB) 79
Canada (CA) 69

5 top number of visitors to 21st of Jan 2009
United States (US) 521
Indonesia (ID) 367
Singapore (SG) 136
United Kingdom (GB) 122
Malaysia (MY) 110

This review, again, is very personal just for myself. This is good as my self-archive, if you know what I mean.

Enjoy!

President of the United States Barrack Obama

The 44th one, to be exact. "Wooo... yea, Obama!" I'm just now watching his inauguration on streaming TV. I took some pictures just after he gave his speech. I didn't 100% understand what he said but it sounded 'peaceful' to me =) Hey there's nothing wrong with giving him a good hope. The inauguration wasn't that long as it seems to be finishing already. What I noticed and surprised me was the amount of 2 million! people attending the inauguration. I didn't think it was 'people' until I realized that it was (lol). It's good that the president's got so many supports from his citizens. Let's just hope that it's a good sign of a better global situation as the US has been the most significant country in this world and very affecting to many countries a.k.a powerful.

I also heard that he's now become the most famous President of the US compared to Bill Clinton. Again, I hope the hope that has been given to him will not be misused or taken in a wrong way. I hope the hope will be very much respected and used as a motivation for him to drag the world to a better condition.

Let's not care about his skin color or blood. Not everyone is sinless. Whoever it is, it always depends on the person. By giving him good hope, chance and support, let's hope this is going to be the beginning of the world peace.

We know we are dealing with serious things; war, killing on TV, hates, etc. The world has slightly changed. Hope this is gonna be the time for the world to have another change; a good and better change.

I'm not saying that the world situation is entirely the responsibility of the President of United States which is currently Barrack Obama. He's still the president of his own country but as I mentioned above the country has been so affective and powerful to other countries so he has that power to make a significant change to the global situation.

Through this post I also want to congratulate Barrack Obama to be the President of the United States.

PS: I literally woo-ed. No joking =) Did you??

Surprise dinner and more!

One of my housemates, David, is having his parents visiting him for this Chinese New Year. They've been here since few days ago. We don't really talk to each other as they don't speak English (I don't know why I blame them for not being able to speak English not blame myself for not being able to speak Chinese! Hey it's my blog!) So, after few days, finally this evening David banged on my door. At first he introduced me to a typical Chinese bed math made of bamboo. I didn't ask him what the thing is called. It's thin and helps the bed feel cooler. We discussed about the warm temperature in my room the other day and he mentioned about a Chinese bamboo bed math that could help to make the bed cooler, so he thought I'd been curious about the math. After a quite long talk he finally invited me to have dinner together with his parents. So, what's so bad with having free food when your stomach is empty?!

I didn't know what each of the food was called but David did tell me. There was one food called 'robot' (that's what I heard and repeatedly asked). "'robot' as in robot?". He convincingly said yes. It tasted slightly sour and spicy. It was also a bit salty so rice would be a good company. There was no rice on the table though. I then ate it as it was.

The whole meal was really nice. I don't know if it was just my empty stomach, maybe.


Top-bottom: fried rice flour (roti), the 'robot', dumplings
Honestly they offered me to eat their homemade dumplings. But then I made sure what meat they used and I figured out it was pork so clearly I had to refuse the food even though it seemed a bit rude to them but they seemed to understand after I explained my religion situation.

His mum then asked me if I was ok to eat chicken and amazingly and kindly she quickly cooked chicken saucy for me! I was honored. I couldn't believe it. I wished she understood English 'cause I wanted to let her know how kind she was. So, I just said "sie sie" =)

Oh, anyway, Marcus joined the dinner too.

Later after the chicken, they came up with something else. More food! This time she made us fried rice flour (like the Indian roti), actually to replace the 'missing' rice. It was nice and a bit sweet even though it was also a bit too chewy to me.

I enjoyed the meal and talk. To enclose the dinner we had the fruits that Marcus brought for us. So, thanks, Marcus!

Oh do you wanna know something else that David told me? He said they would make chicken dumplings this weekend so I could join them too =) Of course for the Chinese New Year. He even said that I could see the cooking process so I could learn to make the dumplings too! Right from the hand of mainland Chinese people! I have to admit I love Chinese foods!

Let's see!

L'Amour Reel

Il y a beaucoup de choses représentant l'amour. Elles peuvent être un poème, une lettre, une histoire, une photo, ou une peinture.
Je me sens que j'ai perdu une façon comment on la représente. Une façon un peu differente.
J'en ai choisi une enfin. Je vais l'écrire avec mes mains.
Je vais pas salir mes mains avec l'encre. Elles ne sont pas salies encore.
Un papier sur la table est encore blanc. Si j'utilise un encre commun, quelle est la partie intéressante?
Cette fois je vais utiliser quelquechose unique et nouvelle. Cette fois je vais utiliser mon sang reel
C'est l'evidence de l'amour reel.
Having studied French linguistics for almost 4 years allows me to be able to understand more than basic structures of the language. Even more I can make up some good grammatically sentences. I'm not that perfect though. I have to be honest that my English is much better than my French. The problem is also that not so many French people or anyone speaking French come to where I live compared to foreigners speaking English, so it is a bit of a challenge to practice my French apart from practicing it with my professors and classmates.

Well the small poem above shows that my French is OK =)

PS: This is what happens when I lack of ideas... =) Please don't mind

Hmmm...

Today was another nothing day. I barely looked out to see the sky except going down to kopitiam (local Singapore's food court) buying something to eat for lunch. That was all. The curtain has been closed all day. Mostly in bed or on the floor resting or online. Been feeling still a bit unwell since the sleeping problem a couple of days back after 'sushi'. Have barely touched water since waking up apart from brushing my teeth and peeing and the other one.

If I was back at home now it would have been slightly different. I would take my niece out for her birthday. I called my mum yesterday asking if she'd bought the Blackforest cake I requested for my niece. I found out later that she had bought one for her.

My niece said thank you on the phone. I was happy she was happy =) She told me when I came back home later that we would go swimming together as I had planned last week. Sure, I like swimming as well.

I'm not really bored here actually. I've just not been feeling 100%. Not sure if it's the weather or just me. But definitely after sushi.

I noticed the last few days since I arrived here it's been quite windy and colder than the last time I was here over one month ago. It's not really been raining either here but just windy. A bit strange, it is. Although I also have the fan on all day and night to keep me not-too-warm in the room.

Feeling like going out but my body doesn't feel like to agree. I could just go out but I know I'd feel worse at the end.

Well, that's the reason I have not had an idea what to blog the last two days since I've not gone out somewhere further than 1km and done something slightly different and interesting. Let's see!

I'll Kill Her - Soko

A kind of song that sounds natural and not too pushy (you know what I mean by pushy when the singer sings the song by making up tunes and pushing him/herself beyond his/her limit of making good voices) is one of my most fave types of song. The song that I'm sharing with you all here is one of those types. The singer sings naturally and not too pushy. I just saw the review of this song from one of random Facebook friends I have. I turned the video on and I liked it instantly. I'm not gonna review a lot of this song since I know nothing more than this video about the song and the singer. I'd like you to play the video without feeling obliged to leave your comments on the song or video here as I only want to share some of my faves. Althouh your opinions are welcome =) Enjoy!

Oh anyway clicking this link will take you to the lyric of the song =)

Happy Birthday Eve, Audrey!

As I've mentioned before in a different post, my niece Audrey will have her 9th birthday tomorrow (18th of Jan). I did talk about what to buy her and stuff but I am now already back in Singapore. I left home on 14th so the day before that I planned to take her out cause I knew I wouldn't be able to be there with her for her birthday. It couldn't happen. It rained all day and evening. She was disappointed a lot =(

I had some great plans that she would have loved. I told her about my plan to take her out while helping her get prepared to go to school in the morning.

"I'll pick you up and bring your swimwear and also some snacks for lunch to have at the pool"

As she loves swimming a lot she agreed with no single doubt. She was really excited.

(Image to left: Audrey in her new bought Hannah Montana dress. I made her pose =D) I picked her up and it was raining heavily. I was a bit upset too and knew she would be as well. I was right. She kept asking me to go swimming as promised even if it was still raining. I had to let her down cause I didn't want any of us to get sick to swim when it rained and clearly my dad who didn't know any of this would have never let us go out.

We waited. I tried hard cheering her up by playing her fave musics and encouraged her to sing along freakly. It worked. I managed to make her less disappointed. Although she still kept asking about the swimming plan.

She finally asked me to make it on the next day. I didn't say anything to respond to that idea as at the time I hadn't told her or anyone about me flying to Singapore in the next early morning.

My plans were to take her out to a swimming pool and have a small lunch brought from home, take her to her fave playground in Alfa hypermarket, and at the end of the day buy her a small Blackforest cake with a "Happy Birthday" on it. I saw it the other day.

I just didn't know it'd be raining that hard and long.

Well I told her all my should-be-surprising plans and she understood and got less disappointed eventually.

Due to the fact that I'm in Singapore, I called my mum this afternoon to please get her the Blackforest cake that I planned to buy. She said OK so now I feel less guilty =)

Well let's see tomorrow if she'll be having a great birthday =)

Happy Birthday Eve, Audrey!

Sushi makes sicky-sleepy

I had quite a long day today. This afternoon I had a job interview at one office in Chevron House, Raffles Place. The job is what I've been wanting so long so I really hope I can get it. However they said they already had other 3 finalists so my chance to 'win' isn't easy either. Fingers and toes tightly crossed! After the interview I met up with Marcus to have early dinner. This is the main part of this post.

So, we went to Orchard walking around first, bought a big gulp of Coke while he had a super big gulp of mixed grape juice and ice tea lemon (lemon ice tea, ice lemon tea, lemon tea ice, tea lemon ice... oh you know what I mean. 3 nouns all together confuse me a bit!). Yea, I agree with you, what a mix! hehe. Oh, no, we had dinner first before having the gulps.

We went to Sakaesushi and had a buffet of sushi served on the revolving table. I liked it a lot! Although generally I don't like raw fish but it was slightly different, I enjoyed it much.

I don't remember what we both had but it was quite a lot. There were some sushi that I only ate the topping and left the rice behind. I got warned by the waitress to not ever waste the rice again next time. Sorry!

We decided to go back home at around 6.

During the journey back to home I was freakin' sleepy and full! You must seriously have no idea how bad it was. Yet, I was also starting to feel sick in my stomach; big mix of raw fish, big gulp of coke, full feeling and full MRT with people who were just getting home/out after work. I couldn't stand it. I was barely awake on the MRT. I didn't get a seat until 3 stations away from Boon Lay (station where I always get off to get home) and there were more than 15 stations during the journey! The distance between each station was also various.

As soon as I arrived at home, I went to bed and fell asleep quite quickly. I woke up and found out it was 11.30. I thought "Oh, still 11.30... good 'cause I don't feel hungry yet so no rush to wake up to get some breakfast".

I later found out that it wasn't 11.30 in the morning!! It was still the same day, 2 and a half hours ago to be exact! I realized that when I looked at the curtain covering the window to outside.

I had a very strange feeling at the time. It felt so confusing.

Now what I'm worried about is if I can't get back to sleep now. I have to try to, otherwise I'll have another strange day tomorrow of sleeping in the morning until probably almost evening.

Now I don't know exactly what to do =(

Back in Singapore and sorry to Foongpc and Cashmere

Flew from Jakarta to Singapore yesterday morning. Had to wake up at 4am! and didn't sleep early enough the other night. I guess I only slept 3-4 hours. Yep, got so tired once I finished the journey in Singapore. Took a short nap and woke up to a call from my mum who'd been in Singapore asking me to meet up with her and her sisters in their condo. Yet, it was quite far from where I stay right now. I would excuse myself to not be able to meet her but my dad kept calling me as well to meet her before she left.

It won't be a long post. Just wanted to update my blog a bit.

So, we met, talked and had dinner together in their condo. I also helped them pack a bit while spending the time together. I went back home at around 10pm. I was so tired and still had to take 2 MRTs (train) which took almost an hour.

This morning I woke up to a text from my mum saying that apparently I accidentally had an important paper in my bag for the motorbike that I left back at home which would be needed by everyone there. Basically it was the paper proving that the bike was not a stolen one and bought legally by matching the registration number on the bike and on the paper (in Indonesia the paper's called Surat Tanda Nomor Kendaraan (STNK)) So she wanted me to go to the airport (Changi Airport) to hand the paper to her as she was heading home already so she could hand it to everyone back at home later.

Now here I am writing this blog just wanting to share some of what's happened since I arrived yesterday.

Not just that honestly. Apparently in my previous post titled My First Blog Award I made a quite majorly embarrassing mistake in which I tagged my blogging friends to receive the award and described a bit of what they write and who they are as authors. I mentioned Foongpc as a girl and Cashmere as a guy which was badly wrong. They are in order a guy and a girl, not the other way. Peace, guys! I didn't mean to not really be careful on that.

Enjoy, everyone!

My first Blog Award

I just got this award from a blogger friend of mine, Purple Cashmere. I was surprised and certainly am happy. So, thanks a lot! =) The award is called Honest Scrap. I'm honestly not really good at writing serious stuff so I guess I'm just gonna copy the award description from what Purple Cashmere wrote in his blog. Oh, anyway he chose my website out of other 6 much better websites and this was how he described my website: "A personal blog with occasional random musings.."

Here's the description of the award:

Honest Scrap Award Rules

When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!

So here are my 10 Honest Things other than my 7 Facts ;):

• My first porn was when I was 12 (No, it's not that I started my first job as a porn star when I was 12 or ever!) Kids, don't follow me. Wait 'till you get much older than 12 if you wanna watch your first porn!
• I do get naked when taking a shower! (Who doesn't, Rad??! Wake up!) Hey at least I'm honest about that ;)
• I'm leaving for Singapore tomorrow but haven't told anyone yet in the family. Sshh... (Hope my bro won't read this until tomorrow =P)
• I have a cool t-shirt that I still wear till today that I've had since I was 12 years old! (Yes, it still fits me ok)
• I'm not a confident guy at all. Don't expect anything much from me =)
• I don't smoke but I do drink. Hey drinking is 'healthier'! =P =P
• A good friend of mine before he died (last year) once gave me a mini car and I glued it just on this computer monitor. It's almost 2 years now! Well, thanks, mate =) We'll always love you.
• I bought a webcam and connected it to this computer but have never used it! I followed a trend =(( Anyone wanna exchange stuff with me??
• I don't like Tequila.
• I like wines tho' (I know they taste very different but it was getting too difficult to fill the number 10 so it was a desperate honest thing)

That was all. Hope you enjoyed reading them =)

Well it's now time for me to tag my blogging friends (I'm not sure if I can make it more than 6 as I don't really have many blogging friends hehe) Oh you know what I'm gonna do. I'm just gonna list them all and put my personal description about their blogs regardless the award.

1. Scubear (He's an intelligent student from England studying in Singapore. Oh we're best friends. He writes cool stuff. He started his new blog just one month ago but he's got quite plenty of posts already and they're cool! Our 'tag line' between us: "Let's see! Up to you!" So if one of us says "let's see" the other must say "up to you". Well not must but automatically we do =P)
2. The Ikmal (This guy lives in Malaysia and is still like 16yo but he writes crazy stuff like his experience with his bffs and school mates (well I guess his bffs are also his school mates haha) I'm actually going to help him with his blog layout so let's see if I can make it good)
3. My Bug Life (I just started following her blog and found it very nice. She takes pictures beautifully. I admire her shots. She seems to be talented on taking pictures. One of the main reasons I follow her blog is to see her updated shots)
4. Foongpc (I also just started following her his blog around the same time as My Bug Life. I think they're also blogging friends. She writes stuff like I do; mostly about our own life experiences. Oh, she's got plenty of people reading her blog and yet she just started blogging last year! Ain't that so cool?!)
5. Purple Cashmere (I honestly just started following his her blog recently. He also writes about his life experiences. I need some more time to say more about his blog here as I just followed it =))
6. Es Jeruk Nipis (Oh, this girl is studying at the same campus as me. We met there and sometimes chatted. But not now anymore since I don't really go to uni the last one semester as I've finished all the classes I needed to take before I can graduate. Well she writes in Indonesian language and seems to be busy now as her blog isn't really updated at the moment. She's a fun girl tho'. She's my junior anyway)

Well I don't think I can make the list longer. Hope what I described above about your blog is all fine. Please let me know if there's anything slightly wrong esp if you don't agree with what I described.

Oh, for those who were tagged above, please don't feel obliged to send the award back, but it's all up to you though. I'm already glad I have blogs I can read and blogging friends who'd like to spend some of their free time to read my blog so that's already a great appreciation and this award is hopefully meaningful and worth it =)

Enjoy! Have a nice day!

It's a boy!

Ok, chill out, nobody has just given birth (not in my family. Although my sister is pregnant but it's due July). Anyway, we were given a wrong information about the new coming tenant. They said it was gonna be a girl but instead it turned out to be a guy. We all were surprised but obviously not disappointed. We're surely happy to welcome him in our house. It never matters whether it's a girl or guy. We always welcome everyone renting our room =)

His name is Wilson (hope I'm spelling it right) from Seattle, Washington. He's cool and friendly with everyone in the house. My brother took him out yesterday and spent last night together having some beers while chatting and using the computer. No I didn't join them as I'm not really into drinking much even though I socially do. It depends on the mood and atmosphere. So, I hope he can get along with everyone here and feel happy as I know what it feels like when you travel and stay in someone's house and you don't feel welcome.

It's not gonna be a long post as I just wanted to clarify that it isn't a girl. Once again, it's not about a girl or a guy, we were just surprised. No more than that =)

Oh there's one more thing I need to say here. So, the guy apparently read my blog last night and found out about the 'panic' I had before he arrived. I just found out this morning and I felt embarrassed. So... sorry, mate, the room isn't really perfect. We do apologize. Well I do, it was my fault =(

Hope you have a nice stay! Enjoy!

Oops, it's Victoria Secret

Today one of our rooms is going to have a new tenant; a girl from Washington. Before I explain more, yes, we do rent some of our unoccupied rooms rather than leaving them empty all the time. Anyway, she's coming probably this afternoon. We're not sure yet. We're excited to have her in our house but there was a small problem this morning. As she's going to use my room (only for few days and then move to a better at-the-moment-still-occupied room) I still slept there last night. I mean not because she's coming so I sleep there. It's my room where I always sleep in every night and she happens to be going to use it. =P The problem was I almost forgot about her coming this morning!

I don't always wake up at 6.30 in the morning but this morning when my eyes were just slightly open checking out whether it was already morning or not I jumped out of the bed. "Oh, God, I haven't prepared the room!"

It was untidy, clothes almost every where, my nephew's toys, and most importantly a bit stinky! Before anything else I quickly moved every thing to another less convenient room which wouldn't be suitable for the girl (that's why we decided to use my room!). All the junks I put in the junk bin. I opened the window and door so it got some air circulation to give a natural fresh scent. And one last thing, I thought the room needed some more fresh air from an air freshener of course! lol. I looked around the house and figured out that we didn't have such air freshener apart from one attached to the wall downstairs. "Oh, no, this is not good!"

I went to my mum's room and found an "attractive" bottle of perfume. It was different than the others beside it. It looked more Hey, come here and get me. As 'requested' I grabbed it and ran back to my room. I sprayed it around the room to give a good smell in it; to the curtain, the pillows, the sofa, the bed, etc. I used quite a lot.

I got then curious what perfume it actually was. It turned out to be Victoria Secret. And I was "Ouch, if I knew it I wouldn't use it that a lot". Hope my mum won't notice much =) (I'm not worried, she's not reading this stuff hehe)

Well look at the bright side, my room now smells better than ever =D

Ooh, I don't think I can't introduce her to my website as she's probably going to read this and finds out that the room was stinky! Although I'm tempted...

P.S: In case "you" are reading this, we did change the bed sheet and also the pillows' =) It's just that my room is most of the time used for emergency if I stay in the house.
P.P.S: Nah, I don't use sort of perfume. My fave so far is Axe Phoenix (or Zync -same stuff)! It smells like yeaa!

2009 First New Layout

Been busy on the computer since yesterday trying to modify my website layout. There was nothing wrong with the old one. I just felt like it was a bit... hmmm a bit... not so personal yet =) So, I browsed some random websites the last four days to get an inspiration for my new layout. After I gathered the ideas I'd gotten I started making the new layout, or should I say I restarted it from the scratch?

As always it wasn't an easy work for me. To rebuild the layout I had to restart from a default template which was then entirely modified. So instead of writing the HTML codes from zero I used what was available which later I modified as I wanted.

("before" image to left) I did all the modification by myself. I'm not showing off, just saying that... hey I'm not really knowing HTML codes that much. Never take any relevant course. At the end I created a new layout from simple things. So what I'm saying is that even a not smart person like me can make a new layout, so can everybody else. I'm really happy to look at new change of layout on blogs I read. It's an exciting thing to me and also 'useful' as I learn modifying layouts from browsing some cool designed blogs around the world.

It's not been a while since I changed my website layout. Less than the last 2 months I changed the layout for three times already (including this time). I do get bored quite fast of anything. But don't think bad yet. I honestly just felt that my layouts so far were not really 'me' yet and badly I couldn't do much as I didn't have the mood, the time, the skill etc. That's actually the main reason I keep changing the layout. I'm honestly happier with this one. It looks, at least, a bit different with the ones before. To me it looks simpler and not too confusing, I mean more 'centralized' if you know what I mean.

("after" image to left) In the new layout I did reduce some of the widgets to keep it tidy a bit. And honestly I have become unsure if I still have to put my Google ads back. The problem is there's not really 'enough' room left (it is expandable) but also... do you really click on the ads except myself (by accident!) and my understanding friends and family (even that is after I 'push' them) ? I'm still thinking of putting my Google ads back on the layout. Let's see! ( @ Marcus: Up to you! ;-))

Ok ok I won't say any more boring story =) So, anyway, I just shared the before and after layout captured image above with you all. Naw, it's not the Spot the Difference game... hehe.

Please enjoy and I hope you find this new layout better =)

My Culinate

I've been a member of Culinate since months ago. I was interested in joining as a member because I was following one tv show on Discovery Travel and Living channel hosted by Andrew Zimmern called Bizarre Food. He's a food traveler. He's very famous as well as his show so I'm pretty sure you've heard of him if you're into traveling and eating! LOL

Just yesterday I updated my account there; changing my old display picture, giving more details about myself, and also posting a blog there for the first time. Yes, I just found out their new feature of blogging there. It also has News Feed showing whatever you currently do plus a status update.

Anyway, this morning I was hungry but didn't know what to eat. I then remembered a recipe that I made on my own a couple days ago and gave it another try this morning for my breakfast and I made it!

It is called Creggkers with Thousand Island and Sambal Bawang. I will only show you the pictures here of the process of making it. It's only a snack anyway. More details about the ingredients and the method of making it is neatly written in my Recipe Box. Have it a check if you're interested =)

Pictures of the ingredients. I put the result picture at the top of the post.

Speak of Culinate itself, I kind of like the website. The way they help the users to write their recipe is very helpful and easy! And it's pretty interactive as you can interact with other recipe posters or just food lovers there.

If you're already a member there, let's be friends! Here's my Culinate profile.

So, what did you have this morning? Whatever it was, hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed mine =)

Abacus is so easy

... to play with. I just finished my dinner and went upstairs and found my niece asking me a lot of random questions. Result, I couldn't use the computer 'peacefully'. The other night I invented a small game using an abacus (sempoa in Indonesian language) and asked her to play with me. Since I'm not that genius as a good uncle for her, both of us didn't really know what to do with the abacus, properly. Well we knew it was a manual calculator used when calculating something, of course! Hehe. So we ended up just playing with it, instead of 'using' it, and it was honestly really fun.

And just now she decided to play the game again. She seemed bored so I had to listen to what she wanted or I wouldn't be able to use the computer without her loads of questions.

Let me explain a little bit about the game. Each of us has to create a word or any random set of letters by moving the abacus pieces -secretly, so no peeking or cheating. Once created the other person has to try to read the word (if readable) or letters (spelling letter by letter). The first time we played it it was very easy as either of us weren't really exploring with difficult words/letters to guess.

Tonight we didn't just use letters but also numbers and even symbols. It got a bit more difficult.

The pieces can be confusing. We do have some kind of an agreement how an S should be and also some other strange shaped letters and symbols.

Here are some pictures I quickly took just to share with you so you're not too clueless what exactly I've been trying to say here =) Hehe. Enjoy!



They are SILK, BRA, BALE, HUT, I *heart* U, and SOLE

Durian followed by craze with niece

When I was using the computer chatting my dad shouted asking me to go downstairs thinking there was something really important or at least urgent. I was slightly wrong, he called for durian although it could mean something urgent for me as I wouldn't wanna miss it. I had heaps of it, too many to recall how many. You must think I'm joking.

Of course I am! I guess I only had 6-7 pieces. Hope you know what I mean by pieces. For you who don't, you don't eat a durian like you eat a mango or an apple which you can slice in any size you like. Durian fruit and the way you eat it are like having a jack fruit. Piece by piece or maybe you can say seed by seed.

So, anyway, I had 6-7 seeds. Only me and my dad had it because my niece found it very smelly so she'd rather stay away from where we had it and hid in the bedroom. I then decided to take some pictures of the fruit and share a couple here. Hope it works to make your mouth watery! =)

After durian and having my hands washed, I stopped by where my niece was hiding. She was alone preparing herself to sleep. We talked briefly. I then had an idea. I asked her to get my camera that was left outside and before she came back in I quickly turned off the lights and yes I managed to scare her! Yay!

I stopped her from reaching the switch button which was already higher than her own height so basically she needed a chair to reach it so it wasn't difficult to stop her. How smarty I was! Haha silly me...

She gave in. She convinced me to 'defend' no more but under one condition (kids now are weird!) and I had to say Yes. She wanted to borrow my phone to watch her music video clip (she requested one day asking me to download Demi Lovato "Get Back" from Youtube on to my phone). I let her use it then.

Not for a while!

I grabbed (yes, grab not crab, Marcus! lol) it back and started to take pictures! 'Drunk' ones! a.k.a acting like we were drunk. Laughing for no reasons, showing off teeth for no reasons, nothing we did was for any reason. We were totally 'drunk'!

The room was totally dark so she was too afraid to run away to the door. I don't even think she could locate it either! Haha. I had to use the flash even though both of us were complaining cause the light from the flash was too bright. Yes, we blamed the camera (which was my own phone!)! LOL

Here I attached some of the pictures. I am embarrassed but I am eager to embarrass her more!! Hope you didn't enjoy the pictures, cause if you did, you had to be more 'drunk' than us! LOL

Oh, God, what's wrong with me (us!) tonight!?

PS: Oh yea I do love her! =)
PPS: Hey, most importantly I managed to cheer her up from loneliness!
PPPS: Trying to use the default font for the post hoping it looks fresher in a better way.
PPPPS: She's only 9 but already wears bras. Hot! Oops my own niece =P

Hmm... what to buy her?

She's going to have her birthday in less than 2 weeks. I tried to talk to her just now what she wanted but then she replied "surprise me!". I explained to her that I wouldn't want to waste the money if she didn't like the surprise gift so it would be better for her to tell me what she really wanted. She just went quiet. Hmmm...

"A doll?" -No
"New dress?" -No
"Shoes? I just got you a pair" -Not shoes again
"So, what then?"

It didn't really stress me out, I was just trying to discuss it with her so she would be happy with what she'd get and I wouldn't waste my money as she would like the gift. I said it would have to be something not-so-expensive and used for quite a long time, not just one week or even one day!

She didn't say anything to respond. It left me a bit confused, frankly.

Her name is Audrey. Just soon-to-be 9 years old. My niece =) My favorite one!

Anyways, she did say something that she wanted so bad. All of the boys and girls at her school are fancying so called Naruto, Japanese cartoon TV series. She wanted a binder with Naruto as its full body cover. I had to tell her off as it had to be something, at least, different with what she'd had a lot!

I then said "what about a massage?". Apparently that surprised her! Haha... I don't know why I said so, I've been a bit tired physically so a massage has been haunting my mind lately =)

Hmm... what to buy her? A fancy car? An apartment? A private jet? Haha... I don't even have any of those! LOL

Why is there such a question "do you believe in marriage"?

Marriage isn't something that you believe but try to remain once you have one. I don't agree it is similarly related to other kind of relationships. Say a seeing. A seeing is a phase before marriage when you have strictly unlimited time to know your partner before you decide to marry her/him. So, why "do you believe in marriage" then?

In a seeing you 'can' break up (strongly not adviced) but not in a marriage. At least you're not supposed to. A marriage is more serious than a seeing and in fact they are slightly different things.

No I'm not talking like I'm mister-know-it-all. And no I'm not married yet. I'm not patronizing either. Again just sharing what I think is true. It can be wrong but also... well acceptable.

So, before you get married (legally!) think a lot if it's your own decision and is right and best for both of you. If there's a hesitation that's too difficult for you two to solve then think more and harder before you decide to bring your relationship to the "final and most memorable" step.

Not saying if there's just a little hesitation that you two positively think can be solved you're supposed to delay your plan to marriage so long. If it's only a very light hesitation (or probably called nervous feeling) then it should be ok and is normal.

I think don't think too far/much either. Even though you think you're at the right time to get married to your partner and have no more hesitation inside and out, it doesn't mean you won't have any single argument in the future in your marriage life. But that's good. Thinking too much will probably delay or even destroy the bound between you two.

So, solve every problem you have inside and out. Get rid of all the hesitations. Be honest with each other. Try to not keep any secrets. Don't just think of sex, obviously! (hehe, sorry). Tell your partner what you don't like and like about her/him and vice versa. Oh don't forget to get settled first. Meaning you have to have a good financial situation and a fixed for a long term one. We can't deny we live only with love, money has to be strongly involved. The problem is not with two of you but with who and what you live around. If you can produce your own food and building materials and everything else needed to build a good and stable family then you won't need money to live. But that's impossible. You need money so you can buy foods, at least.

If all 'clean' then marry your partner quickly! Hehe...

So, there should not be such a question "do you believe in marriage". Marriage should not be a cheesy and easy thing to decide. It has to be difficult, in a good way, so you feel ready what you're gonna have to face and who you're really going to live with. Even if you "can't" have children (for women who can't get pregnant, men who are impotent, and gay couples). Marriage should be sacred so respect it a lot.

Divorce can still happen in a happy marriage for sure. I agree there's always a limit for everything. A limit that one should not cross. I'm straightly talking about cheat affairs, crimes in partnership, major secrets kept (transgendered partner, for example. No offensive intent at all), major mental problems that completely change the entire personality of your partner for a very long term that she/he has lost interest in love (in this case you can still take care of your partner but you can't deny you need sex and a proper family unless you still love him/her which is very lovely and so unconditional).

So, for such obstacles be ready if you're about to get married to avoid going to places where you think you can get flirted, know your partner deeper and really well if she/he has some problems with doing harm when upset with someone or yourself (if you think you're the one having 'the' problem then let your partner understand it really well so she/he can decide whether she/he can accept it). Nothing you can really do to avoid your partner or yourself from having a major mental problem. Just eat healthy, do sports regularly, and don't work too intense.

Well, I don't know why I felt like talking about marriage now and... this long! it's just something that I noticed on TV just now saying as its tag line...

"Do you believe in marriage?"

NO, I'm not getting married so soon! LOL. This is also important for myself when about to get married even if there won't be anyone reading this post till very end. =)

I salute to anyone who manages to survive from reading this very long and boring post from the start till this very end! And thanks!

P.S: Or should I hand you $5 if you really manage to read the whole post??... stand back, Ikmal. Haha jk!

Bitter Surprise

Reaching the sky with one finger
Height is the hesitation
Understanding I'm a learner
Getting back down is not an option

Watched, underestimated, questioned
Strong confidence has no price
Shameless, fearless, confident

So long becomes too long...

Watched, underestimated, questioned
Strong confidence has no face
Shame, worry, temptation

Getting back down becomes an option
Realizing I'm just a beginner
Height becomes the question
Turning back down the finger

No expectation confidence had its price
After all, I hated the bitter surprise

Worldwide Headline News: I just cooked!

... totally on my own! Can't believe it I managed to make a nice meal! Hehe. So, since my sister and her son are away in Surabaya, her husband is working in the rig and while my mum is in Singapore, the only ones left in the house are my dad, my niece and (why!) me. Hummm first time becoming the 'mum' in the house. So, I cooked for everyone today...

I planned to make fried chicken today. It turned out more than just that =)

I quickly went to the supermarket to get what needed for the meal such as fresh cut chicken, flavored flour and... that's all! =) I did have the rest of the ingredients in our kitchen hehe.

So, let me just share with you how I made the meal.

I washed the chicken while boiling about 1 liter of water with heaps of Oyster sauce, a bit of salt and two tiny pieces of turmeric in order to get rid of the chicken smell. When clean enough I then put the chicken in.

I stood... waiting. Getting a bit boring...

I checked the chicken quite often to see if it'd cooked well already. After several checks suddenly I thought about an idea. "Let's use the chicken curry!"

Yes instead of wasting the curry, I thought of re-using it to make a soup. So, I checked my refrigerator to see what we had. There were carrots, eggs, macaroni, chillies, and everything else I can hardly name here =P

"One carrot, macaroni and an egg should be enough" for some reason I spoke to myself.

Washed the carrot, peeled off the skin slightly and cut it into smaller slices. I honestly don't really like carrots in any way. So, I sliced it into four different 'styles'. The purpose was to make it look cute and 'edible'. It seemed to work =)

Once the chicken was cooked enough and taken out of the pan, I then put it in to a bowl full of the flavored flour before then I fried it.

In meantime, I put the sliced carrot in to the left curry with the macaroni and egg. Not just that I also put in a secret ingredient too... hummm, French bread butter! Haha, I didn't even know it was in our refrige. I know it was for the bread but who would know? I was alone in the kitchen. Ssshhhh...

I am so not good at writing a good and organized recipe. Just hoping you can at least enjoy the pictures.

Here are the results! =)

Q: Why boiled the chicken first?
A: The chicken bought was still raw and if cooked wrapped in flour it was better to cook the chicken first in a boiling water for about 30mins while I could flavor it at the same time so the inside part of the chicken would be well cooked and also flavored. Theoretically, when fried in flour the flour will get cooked/fried first before the inside of the chicken. If the chicken is not boiled first, it will result a raw chicken inside because the flour outside cooks faster. And do fry under a low fire.

Enjoy!

Are you also on StarPeace?

Marcus introduced me to this old but very cool online game. It's called StarPeace (SP). Did you play it? Are you? Or have you heard of it before? If you're clueless let me remind you of Sim City (SC). SP is pretty much similar with SC. Only SC is an offline game and SP isn't. Still clueless? Never heard of Sim City either?

Well, either SP or SC are a type of game that allows the players to build whatever such as stores, bars, restaurants, offices, houses, apartments, roads, factories, farms, and many other whatevers. Not just building them but also managing the prices, places from where you get supplies for your stores or factories, having your own company(ies), beautifying the city, facilitating the city with public facilities, and even demolishing what you've built.


StarPeace
The only difference that I learned so far from playing SP for 3 days now with SC is that there's not an option on SP to build airports or even ports, water pipes underground, big water pumps, and most interesting the 'destroyers'! Yes, on SC the players are offered to demolish what they've built with a list of different types of destroyers such as a tornado, a huge freaky robotic Alien with its super hot laser!, fires everywhere, floods, aggressive riots, and a strong earthquake. Yes, you can choose your own disaster to demolish your city! Ain't that cool?! That's what I could remember so far since the last time I played SC it was around 2004! So, anyway, if you play SC, SP should be easily understandable for you.


Sim City
Back to SP. When starting the game you are given $100.000.000 of loan from the local bank. That money you can use to start your business by building whatever you want to start with. Of course I suggest you start with small stores placed in crowded areas a.k.a city centers. I don't need to tell you why =)

You can't make any more profits and your money has gone to not-just-zero but minus? Put the knife down and take it easy! =) There's always a loan you can borrow. It is quite much so you should still be able to survive from the bankruptcy.


Just install the game, guys! There is not such a major difficulty. As you might have guessed or known, this type of game either SP or SC teaches you how to have a good strategy in having your own company before you have one in real life =P

I mostly learned from playing it myself and also asking the other players who were online. It's fun!

P.S: I personally still prefer SC to SP but they're both from the same 'species' so I enjoy playing SP as well! =)

First morning of 2009. Merapi says Hi!

I had to wake up very early today (5.30am) because my sister and her son needed to catch up their early train to Surabaya (East Java). Or to be exact I was waken up by her...

Still sleepy now but a bit difficult to get back to sleep as I've been awake almost 2 hours so the will to go back to bed has slightly gone. I looked out from my 'Internet' room window and saw a quite pretty nice view of peace and silence. I then thought... hummm not bad for the first morning of a new year. Here it goes the picture I captured for you all (please don't mind the quality as my phone (camera) was still waking up so you know... like the phone like the owner! lol)


Yes, that's a mountain. We live in a lucky house because we can see the national famous mountain Merapi from our house plus a green rice field in the back of our house.

Closer look of the mountain (source Wikipedia)

It feels so good. I can feel the morning soft wind from the open window behind me. It feels fresh and somehow clean. I can't really judge whether it's truly and scientifically clean but I just feel it is.

So, it's not so bad to wake up so early like this.
Nawww, doesn't mean I wanna wake up every day so early like this either! Haha... joking =)

Good morning, everyone!