New Body Extension

I am now an owner of another piece of worldly luxuries. Although the purchase did not trigger the euphoric mode like my previous purchases (lesser in monetary values), I am excited to make full use of it. I have plans. But I just do not know how they are going to be materialised. But slowly and surely, one by one will happen, InsyaAllah. I just have to believe in the power of believing.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I present you Kak Anoi, the Canon EOS 550D.

You can read the review on this camera in dpreview HERE. Suffice to say, for a somewhat beginner to photography, this is a kick@$$ unit. I know I wrote not too long ago (Are You A Photographer?) about my intention of owning one and how I felt that it will be a waste of money. However, I decided that it is in a good sense to purchase one because not only I can pursue my “devious” plans (please, Allah!) at least The Hubby can make use of it in his jobs too.

As a bonus, since The Hubby is also using Canon, we can share the lenses and other common accessories. Isn’t that awesome? He he he… I will in time put in the shots that I successfully capture with Kak Anoi.

I am also hoping with this shared interest, The Hubby and I can have more quality time together. I sincerely hope I will not be cramping his style or make him feel chained just because we are on photo outing together. ;-)

Truthfully, I am a little anxious going back home to do some shots around the house. Ha ha ha…

Maybe…

Maybe I need to be more thankful
             with what I already have

Maybe I need to be more sincere
             with every sweat I shed

Maybe I need to be more selfless
             with each expectation

Maybe I need to be more positive
             with every temptation to be negative

Maybe then I could become truly happy

A Very Tiring Weekend

Friday morning saw the two of us driving to Gombak to let Abah drove us to the airport. We were leaving for Bintulu with the 11 o’clock flight. The drive took us a little more than an hour, and then another hour to the KLIA. After a leisurely breakfast, we said byebye to Abah and off to East Malaysia.

We made the trip to Mukah on the same day and arrived at about 10pm. And 10pm over there, is almost midnight, so you can imagine the exhaustion. Having said that, I was ecstatic, like I always am whenever we go back there. Something about the country air that makes me feel calm and happy.

The trip was made to attend the kenduri arwah for The Hubby’s uncle. Though sombre mood were around, the family is nevertheless happy to see each other. And between the tears, there were always laughter. And, it was certainly no excuse not to visit Balingian, where our traditional Melanau ceremony was held. I will, one of these days, reconnect with that memory and blog about it. I am yet to blog about our KL fusion ceremony. ;-)

On Sunday, we drove for 10 hours heading to Kuching. Transportation was comfortable, but the fatigue, there’s no word for it. All of us breathe sighs of relief when we reach the house. After washing up, we had a quick supper; hot white rice with pais udang (no picture, since I totally forgot about taking the picture for I was slightly famished) and beef curry (leftover from the kenduri). Pais looks almost similar to Johor’s otak-otak.

We arrived back in KL last night. After a short stop in Gombak, we drove back home. Tres fatiguee. For the rest, I shall let the photos do the talking. If you know me, head to my FB page and browse more photos there.

The blues and greens in Balingian

Tumpik – a mixture of dried sago flour and grated coconut

The blues and cottons in Kuching
     Umai – a very traditional Melanau meal 

Mee Sapi – also known as mee kolok or mee kampua 

 Buah Keranji

When it rained heavily

I came back home last night to our very own water-bed. No kidding. The water was spread to almost half of the bedroom. We don’t know where the water came from because the ceiling looks clean and dry. The wall looks clean and dry, albeit for some watermarks.

So yesterday, we created a makeshift bed on the floor. And since all our pillows are also wet, we had to make do with spare pillows which are not as comfortable as ours. But, it’s okay, it’s an experience.

The Hubby said the handyman is coming this afternoon to take a look at the roof. I suspect some of the roof tiles are moved from its original location by the strong wind yesterday. And with the rain like yesterday, there is no way the room could be spared from being flooded. But it’s weird that the room seems to be dry…

This is another thing about living in a landed property. You have to take care of mishaps like this yourself. Condo living, it’s the responsibility of the building management. Well, pros and cons of everything, right?

According to The Hubby, this is the first time it happens. He never had this problem before. It makes me suspicious about the renovation next door. Ha ha ha…

Five Months Later…

The Hubby came back yesterday. (YEAY!) I have been planning a nice homecoming for him for a few days. Nothing much really, just a little deco here and there.

For one, I cleaned the balcony area. The house has a nice large balcony that it is such a waste if not put to good use. I bought a pair of chairs and a garden table, and set it up at the balcony. Assembling the garden table was a really funny moment. I grumbled that the manufacturer put the stopper for the screw inside out, when I inserted the screw from the wrong side; and wasted about half an hour of my time. :-p And when I got it right, it only took me 5 minutes to finish the job. Ha ha ha…

A house that is not vacuumed everyday will collect dust. So, a weekly session is really needed however lazy I feel. One of the reason I prefer condo living, because the area to take care is smaller…

Yesterday afternoon just before leaving for the airport to pick him up, I put the bread maker machine to work. Cocoa bread this time. The time taken is just nice for us to have tea when we came back from the airport. I had poured in the liquid and flour into the bread pan when I realised I did not attach the blade at the bottom of the pan! So I had to pour the mixture out into the bowl, attached the blade, and poured the mixture back into the bread pan. Luckily, the bread still turned out very well and fluffy.

So, that’s my story for yesterday. As for today, we’re catching a movie later on with my friends from Alliance Francais. A French thriller adapted from Agatha Christie book, L’Heure Zero (The Zero Hour).

And today, we celebrate our five months anniversary. It feels a little weird. Ha ha ha… It doesn’t feel like five months! Maybe because we spent three of it apart. Whatever it is, HAPPY ANIVERSARY MY LOVE!

Award Time!

Few days back, Momster gave me an award. This is so far, the second I’ve been honoured to receive. :-)

Thank you Momster for this. It made my day. He he he… According to her I write my mind out. Regardless whether it’s main stream or not. Well, not exactly in those words, but I’m improvising to make me sound awesome.

I knew Momster since we were in uni, although were were not exactly close friends back then. We have a mutual friend, Toonie who is now lost from the blogging world. We started to share our life happenings after we started working. And throughout the years that I’ve known her, I admire Momster. She has this beautiful boy who is just adorable. And when she has more, I’m positive they will all be just as adorable. Momster makes me want to have babies right this instant. Ha ha ha…

The Rules are as follows:

Step 1. Accept the award and put it on your sidebar.
Step 2. Describe 7 things people do not know about you.
Step 3. Award the Award to 7 other Beautiful Bloggers and describe why they deserve the award.

Step 1 :
Done.

Step 2 :
7 things people do not know about me?

This is a bit tricky, because I’m pretty much an open book. And the things that people do not know about me, there might be reasons why it’s that way. Ha ha ha… so, let me just recap 7 things about myself that probably made me have a bunch of good friends around, people that I’m thankful to have in my life.

1. I am not a religious individual. But I believe I am a spiritual being. I believe that everything that I do will take me a step closer to Allah SWT. And whatever choices that I make in my life, there will be rewards and lessons. And all these just ask me to communicate more with my Maker.

2. I believe that happiness is a continuous state as long as the things that keeping you happy keep on happening. So, I believe in doing things that make you happy. And avoid things that makes you sad.

3. I love cooking. I haven’t got the chance to arrange a get together with my friends and just stuff them with food. I’m a good cook, but not a chef material. But I wouldn’t mind taking that direction as oppose to what I’m doing now.

4. I love books. I love reading. I like writing. And I hope that one day I will gain something out of this passions.

5. I love photography. And I do believe the reason that Allah made things happened between The Hubby and I is so that I can pursue this interest. Because taking pictures make me feel happy. And having someone to share this common interest is a plus.

6. I have an awesome bunch of people whom I call friends. I’m sure they know who they are. And these people, they are irreplaceable lot. I love you all!

7. Lastly, I mean what I say, and I do my best to be an honest person all the time. What you see is what you get. I am a nice person. But I suffer fools and evils badly. So.

Step3:
I would like to award these bloggers:

1. DNAS – one of the hot awesome working mother cum blogger out there.
2. melisamuhd – she’s my friend AND neighbour and she and her husband are The Hubby’s close friends
3. acitnadey – she’s one of my closest cousin, we practically grew together
4. bleepit – this woman is the boss, and she’s on a journey.. ha ha ha…
5. dakwanie – one of my closest friends since skool, she’s now serving the country in NYC

So there you go.

Le chanson de jour - You Gotta Be

This is the song of the day for me...

Des'ree

You Gotta Be

Listen as your day unfolds

Challenge what the future holds

Try and keep your head up to the sky

Lovers, they may cause you tears

Go ahead release your fears

Stand up and be counted

Don't be ashamed to cry

You gotta be

1-You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold

You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard

You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger

You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm

You gotta stay together

All I know, all I know, love will save the day

Herald what your mother said

Readin' the books your father read

Try to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time

Some may have more cash than you

Others take a different view

my oh my heh, hey..(repeat l)

Don't ask no questions, it goes on without you

Leaving you behind if you can't stand the pace

The world keeps on spinning 

You can't stop it, if you try to

This time it's danger staring you in the face

oh oh oh

Leather S.O.S

I don’t fancy leather couch. It’s difficult to make it look homey. You can’t really put cushions on it and get away with it. In our weather, adding a throw would be asking for a home-made sauna. So, no, I don’t fancy leather couch.

My old couch, it was not expensive branded couch. But it was an extra large size, faux suede like fabric L-shape couch. It did it job. It was comfortable and homey. And I did add throw on it, because I was renting an eight floor apartment, which means I can let the sliding door open and get fresh air; unless it was the haze season. I miss my old couch. But it served its purpose to me, and now it’s making my parent’s living hall snazzy. My brother call it the modern area of the house.

Leather couch tends to be impersonal. Even when  you have personal items on it. Leather tends to separate itself from the rest. Why am going on and on about leather sofa, I don’t know. Maybe because I AM sitting in one? Can’t put it away, because it’s not mine to begin with.

And I think, that’s the underlying issue. Not mine.

There are a lot of things that you cannot do when some things are not yours. You can’t change the way a project is managed because you’re not the project manager, which means, the project is not yours. You cannot raise objections to your neighbour about the renovation they are doing because it’s their house. There a lot of things that you cannot do when you are not in control.

So, what can you do? Well, for starters, to get an insider that you know to help to raise the issue. You cannot solve everything on your own. You need to ask help. Some things, yes, you can settle it all alone. But a lot of things, need outside assistance. So don’t be shy to ask for help.

Next, timing. Like it or not, you need to find the right time to ask for help. First of all, if it involves emotions, and you’re feeling upset, the best way is to take time to cool down. Then only ask for help. Otherwise, the call for help will be delivered wrongly. Trust me, I did this mistake before. :-p

So. What was it that I was babbling about? Oh yaa… I don’t fancy leather couch.

You are Beautiful, Dark Skinned Woman!

A pretty girl looks out the window from her second floor hotel room. She sees another pretty girl coming out from a chauffer driven car. She recognises the girl as one of the local celebrities. Reporters and photographers are crowding the famous girl as she walks into the hotel lobby. Pretty girl suddenly had an idea and quickly dresses to the nines. As the celebrity comes up the stairs, the pretty girl descends it. All the reporters and photographers attention is switched to the pretty girl. Even the celebrity stops in the middle of her ascend and stares at the pretty girl. Everyone looks mesmerised by the pretty girl. Pretty girl smiles with a satisfied smug on her face.

That is a cramped version of Lux’s latest advertisement to promote their shower cream; Lux White Impress. In a nutshell, everyone is in awe looking at the FAIR pretty girl including the tanned celebrity.

Advertisement like this is very popular in our country. Probably all Asian countries. Ironically, original Asians are not fair, milky white skinned people. They will be a little yellow or a little brown. Except maybe Japanese. Anyway, let’s talk about Malaysians. UNLESS you have mixed blood from Arabic bloodline or other pale skin genes, you would be less fair. A little hint of yellow or just brown.

I personally feel that ads like this is ridiculous, demeaning and insulting. Ridiculous, because our country is a melting pot of cultures and people. Demeaning, because there should not be double standard because of our skin colour. Insulting, because whether we are brown or pale or yellow or black, we are beautiful creations of God.

When children see ads like these, what kind of message are we giving to them? The fair skinned will feel they are superior in the looks department and the dark skinned ones will feel deprived. Name callings will start. And they grow up having a set of belief that does not promote harmony.

Let me tell you a story of my own experience.

When I was in primary school, I beat up a boy because he called me “hitam” (black). Yes, you read it right the first time. His mother knows mine. And after that incident, she never talks to my mother again. I wonder why. When I was in secondary school, I started to learn what inferiority is. Just because, being fair skinned was considered (still is) more beautiful. I did not know then how strong this belief will later affect my confidence and romantic relationships. Suffice to say, it scarred me and only in my mid 20s that I managed to take control and love myself thoroughly. I still have relapsed moment once in a while, because the feeling never really leave you. But I’m lucky, because now I have someone who really loves me for who I am… (ehem…)

So, again, I ask you. What kind of messages are we giving to our young ones?

I don’t know about you. But I am disturbed by this phenomenon. Do you know that in India, the parents actually said that it’s better to be dead (or something like that) than to have a dark skinned daughter? How bizarre is that, when their gene pool does not really allow their generation to be anything else unless they have albino trait! They associate fair skin with beauty and success.

Surprisingly, the most affected by this belief and social standard are women. Sad, but true. So, dark skinned women are socially pressured and we ended up buying those beauty products that promise us fairer skin in 4 weeks! How much do you think we can mutate our cells?

And to be more bizarre, I have fair skinned friends who absolutely belief that they are dark skinned! And they buy whitening products too! Unbelievable! But true.

So there you go. Malaysians are COLOURIST! We are so backward thinking that skin colour becomes an overlooked issue. I personally feel that advertisers that is creating such demeaning advertisement should be sued. And the products companies? They also should be sued for false advertising which resulting in false expectation.

This is such a long post. I just hope someone will read it, and see it as a REAL issue. It’s not healthy making people inferior. Just because we have something which is God-given. And to all tanned women out there who are still feeling small, chin up girls. Truth be told, coloured skin is beautiful. As a a good friend commented before; it adds character to the owner. And trust me when I say that if a man looks down to you because you’re not fair skinned, he is NOT worth even a second of your thoughts. Move on because you are worth so much more than him. Seriously.

At Work Today

I am now enforcing comment moderation. Please don’t let this de-motivate you from commenting. I have noticed these past weeks that I am getting spam comments from weird sources. Upon translating the comments using free translation tool, my jaw dropped, because it refers to some naked, nude and ill websites. Hah! I shall not be one of the agents! So, comment moderation it is. I am fine with no feedbacks from my readers (hopefully I at least have those) but comments of this nature are totally unwelcome in Looneypuff’s dream world. If I need to see actions, I now have The Hubby to refer to. Ehem.

So, what am I going to babble about today? Few things happened up to the moment I decided to put in the comment moderation today. So, I am going to choose to talk about WORK today. It is a never-ending story.

 When I arrived to the site today and checked my email, I received an instruction to perform a task. Which I’m elated to do, except for the fact, not enough information is being provided. So I called up related people to get clarification on the matter. When words began to form shapes in my mind (I do mind map in my mind, apparently) it occurred to me that the task was independent of the server or the database. All that is required, are the script, the list and the moderation files. Three files. And a shell script container. And voila! you can run the script.

So, the problem is that, I only have the list. While the moderation file is back in the office. As I said, I am at the site. So, I requested the related person to copy the HUGE sized moderation file into the external hard disk and put the disk on my table. Since the script is independent and I am going to the office tomorrow, I shall do it then. To which the related person who is the Project Manager for this project said, “Oh, in that case, you send me the list and I ask them to execute it in the office today, lah”.

I seriously don’t have an issue with that. My geram state is because, this activity could be completed since two weeks ago maybe? But it’s as if no plans are being made. It’s like, do the activity when you remember to do it. Hmmm… And these people call themselves “managers”. And shall I say, proudly, signing emails with the position. Or exclaimed loudly that they are “managers”. Haiyaaaa…

In this new era there is such thing as sucking up to the boss. There is such thing as double-standard in the office. There is STILL exist the so called “big boys club”. Yes, I am idealistic. But I support when you reward people because they deserve it, not because you feel like it. Is that being idealistic or just plain honest? And I do realise that expecting honesty in day to day life is just the same as being idealistic. Well, we are the ones who make the choices. So, if we choose to be ideal, then there’s no reason to have the “idealistic” term at all!

No, I am not angry, Just a little miffed. You have not seen me angry yet. It is ugly. Anyway, these days, I see the job as a mean to an end. It pays the bill. I believe the path that I am on, has been determined by The Almighty because of the choices that I made in the past. And for every choice that I made there are rewards and there are lessons. This is part of the lesson. And when the time is right, when the state is at its equilibrium, I will be given choices again. And when that happens, a new path is set for me, and new rewards and lessons will be waiting for me.
I am totally accepting my every day experience as a way to remind me to be closer to God. If I have everything now, I might not remember him, right? So, TIME and PATIENCE. I have to learn to be more patient. And this current job? It’s just another set of rewards and lessons. Nothing more, nothing less.