no stars

Toh-day, during the 5-hour break in between classes, I drove to Bandar Utama with my mum.

And I used the fifth gear! In the right lane! It felt like riding a roller coaster.
Phew. Thank God my driving's not that bad.

Kids who are about to get your driving license, drive with a parent. They put sense into you. Common. Road. Sense. That we probably lack in the first 12 months of driving, I am not kidding.

The reason we went to BU was to collect my prizes from 8TV Quickie.
Who should I collect them from but from the hey-I-saw-you-in-GYCamp girl?
You know, the people you see on events only. And never bother to get to know them for some unknown reason. Hmm.

Petrina (under the links) was interning at 8TV and she helped me get the gifts:

That one *points* is Estee Lauder's turbo-powered-charged-mascara-eyelash-enhancer-mascara. Did I say mascara twice? Yes. This is the mascara that my mum wanted. Because it was EL and we were out of mascaras. HAHA

So Aidee tried it and it just bergetar-getar a little bit but didn't do much to the length of her eyelashes. Kind of dissapointing since EL makes some of the best mascaras.

The other one *points* is the 101-Ways-To-Say-I-Love-You CD something or the other. A lot of songs. Mostly from the 80s and 90s. Two Simply Red songs, but no Stars?!

Glory to God for these gifts!

D'amor Cottage

Somewhere during Chinese New Year, we went to this random shophouse thing in the middle of nowhere.

Like seriously, in the middle of Banting, way past Bukit Tinggi, on the way to Nilai.

Yeah. Somewhere there lah.

It's such an adorable place! This shop sells lots of decoration and furniture, mostly flowery english-y stuff. Not as over-the top as you may think.
It has a blog too! D'amor Cottage
We spent quite a while there. The Malay owners are very nice people, and I think the owner's mother speaks Hokkien!

The stuff here is sold much cheaper than other places. Pictures below (of course I asked permission first)

And my favourite picture. I wanted to get this NY Central clock:

God bless the Malaysian politicians

The term "drama queen" was possibly coined for Malaysian politicians. I'm sorry, but after so many days of watching nonsensical action on the tube and through the papers, I cannot keep my mouth shut anymore.

And apparently, Mr. Zubedy (the company that puts meaningful ads every national celebration day in major newspapers) also could not tahan the politiking anymore and voiced out his opinion on page N37 of The Star today (26th Feb 2009), which, I'm sure, mirrors the sentiments of the people of Malaysia today.
See here for the letter.

He ends with "focus on the people. Focus on the economy". Well-written, sir, very well-written.

And to think, on the day that it is published, a telenovela erupted in front of the Parliament. EEEEESSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH these people have to learn some anger management. Or time management. Like hello, American Idol is on every Thursday night, that's our daily drama intake.

I mean, I know Karpal Singh is being threatened with the mailing of the threats and the live bullets and the issue from the "celaka" bn youth, but his supporters should really take a leaf out of anger management books.

Let justice run its course.
The Parliament speaker has already assured them that Karpals' safety will not be compromised (a very wise and fair move by the way).
So, what was the fuss?
Why create drama and WASTE valuable time and resources?

If your enemy angers you, don't fight back.
"If he asks you to walk one mile, walk with him two miles"
Treat him well. Treat him with respect. Go read Sun Tzu's The Art of War, for goodness' sake!

Sheesh! Even I'm a teenager and I know how to treat those who don't like me! Why can't these seasoned and matured politicians do the same?!

Buck up!
And God bless you!

does anybody hear her?

She is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction
She is trying
But the canyon's ever widening
In the depths of her cold heart
So she sets out on another misadventure just to find
She's another two years older
And she's three more steps behind

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even knows she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

She is yearning
For shelter and affection
That she never found at home
She is searching
For a hero to ride in
To ride in and save the day
And in walks her prince charming
And he knows just what to say
Momentary lapse of reason
And she gives herself away

If judgement looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can't see past her scarlet letter
And we never even met her

He is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction


Does Anybody Hear Her, Casting Crowns

kitchen baths

When I was 8 or 9, my sister and I liked to clean the kitchen (it was outdoor and a wet kitchen then) and douse ourselves in water for fun.

When you're a kid, water is always fun. Sunway Lagoon...swimming pools...rainy days. Even plastic swimming pools. ^^

Then one of my aunts dropped by when we were cleaning the kitchen. She remarked, "Kitchen is not for bathing wan lor!" with and exasperated face like >=( and spoiled our mood for like 5 seconds.

Then we continued playing. Because deep down we were aware that it was the only time in our lives we could play water in the kitchen without anyone calling us insensible. Except maybe that aunt. xD

just some thoughts passing by

just because i look happy don't assume i've got nothing on my plate! =D

i'm only blogging cos ebscohost doesn't want to load

Sooo I was browsing through the e-boutiques one day when I stumbled across this one selling couple tees. The guys' one says "ROMEO" while the girls' one says "JULIET". And that got me thinking, awwwh, isn't that so sweet and literature-y of the couples, paying homage to one of Shakespeare's greatest hits.

Then I thought about how tacky it is. (sorry lah)

Then I thought about the story of Romeo and Juliet. Didn't the chick kill the guy, and killed herself in the end?

Woah! What kinda twisted idea is that, wearing the shirts? It's like a walking "The Pact" by Jodi Picoult.

Now here's a pair that don't take themselves too seriously:

CUTE




image is result of google

friday

"If there was a controlling power outside the universe, it could not show itself to us as one of the facts inside the universe-no more than the architect of a house could actually be a wall or staircase or fireplace in that house. The only way in which we could expect it to show itself would be inside ourselves as an influence or a command trying to get us to behave in a certain way."

-C.S. Lewis

have you devoted time?

picture from here

If you don't do your devotion everyday, I wish you'd read Zlwin's devotion posts on his blog. Here's an excerpt of his most recent one, To Put To Naught The Things That Are:

Do not let the enemy to convince you that you are not good enough to be used by God. Do not let the enemy tell you that you are too weak, you can’t speak well, you are not good with people, you are shy, you are not rich enough and you are not talented enough or not influential enough. Let me tell you that the lesser you are, all the more better it is because God will be able to use you more to demonstrate what He can do with weak people like you and me. If only we would lay down our lives at the foot of the cross and fully yield our life to God, we would not be able to see what God can do.

start product, end product

Be joyful always, pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
-1 Thesselonians 5:16-18

monday

Talentime trailers are out! Click here to check them out.
Ish. The 2nd trailer makes Ipoh look so desireable. (Food trip in April people!)

Yasmin Ahmad also recently made a little commercial for SPCA here. The synopsis with it sheds some light on the true story that inspired the ad.

"No he can't read my poker face"

Poker Face.mp3 - Lady gaga

The first time I heard Lady Gaga's Poker Face, I thought the lyrics were saying "P-P-P-Pump up the bass" but as it turns out, it was "P-P-P-Poker face" Hahaha

Musically, Poker Face sounds a lot like Just Dance. Poker Face has a less superficial meaning.

JD was just about an intoxicated clubber who probably got drugged and still wants to dance to increase her blood circulation, thereby increasing her chances of getting a stroke in a nightclub she doesn't know the name (that's why they always tell you that beer/durian/massage is a bad combo). PF is about gambling in casinos and with a person's heart, which, I guess is kinda superficial too.

dreams happen in rem and non-rem sleep

after psychology class last week, where the lecturer talked about REM sleep and dreams, i've been having more dreams and remembering them more!
the theory that what you do in the day affects your dreams works. but not that nicelah. cos when you just wanna sleep blankly these funny and rapidly verocious dreams come and eat up your brain cells' functions.
hahaha

Economics is such a "chim" subject to learn.

My dad was singing Beyonce's If I Were a Boy the other day. Suddenly, he said,

"What kinda song is that? Make me confused only. 'If I were a boy...' but I AM a boy!"

E-Foong had a funny comment on the song. "Imagine if someone came up with a remix of the song with a manly man with a deep voice singing 'If I were a girl...'"

xD

save up money to get a paella pan from Aeon.

from www.chefscatalog.com
These are awesome pans! You use them to cook Paella, a Spanish delicacy. In a paella, there's rice/risotto, meat and vegetables. Gwyneth Paltrow was on Oprah last week with chef Mario Batelli, and the recipie they used looks pretty simple.

And buy a grill pan, if affordable

image taken from here
Isn't this the most functional pan you'd ever seen? One can grill capsicums, potatos, onions and garlic on it. Or even bacon. Or grill a cheese sandwhich.
=D



And, happy birthday Wei Wei~!

problem

In The Star newspaper today (16 Feb 2009 page 27), it was reported that there is a rise of juvenile crimes among secondary school students in Kelantan, who have no religious groudings.

The news brought my thoughts back to my school's Christian Fellowship. It has, as long as its establishment, been illegal and underground. The community of brethren (big word xD) in STAR school was limited to a small group of people who share the same faith and the same passion.

As far as I can remember, the committee never fails to submit a petition or a letter to request to make the CF official in our school, in order that we may have some sort of recognition so that our activities could take place in a designated area at a designated time, guided by a teacher. Our requests are always accompanied by prayers.

Year by year, our petition is rejected. Being a normal student, I have no idea why the school would reject our simple request. Is it because our school isn't a missionary school like Convent or La Salle? That doesn't make sense, because the CF in Kwang Hua is official and legal.

I dread to think that the reason CF isn't officialised in my old high school is because the teachers fear an interference or outburst of Christians in our school. As it is, the CF members are limited, and our meetings have not disturbed anyone, neither have we dirtied the compound of our school during meetings.

I do not have to list out the kebaikan memegang kepada prinsip agama or the kepentingan memberi kebebasan berucap (freedom of speech. sounds wrong in bahasa) kepada pelajar dan guru, because the school has been preaching it through the syllabus of our numerous subjects.

There is simply no point in not legalising the CF. We do not condone morally wrong behaviour, we do not support smoking/drinking/premarital sex/cheating/bullying/etc, we encourage the spiritual growth of students who are Christians and we do not force anyone to accept our religion as theirs against their will and clearly, very obviously, we do not pose a threat to the school's intergrity or image.

What is the problem here?

the views expressed here are entirely my own

picture post

I saw this men's shirt at FOS.
Must be for single guys.


Khadijah sent me this for Vday =) through MMS


A hand made card =D


Puppy love

credits to aidee for this picture

valentines is unwarranted fuss

1. Sooow there i was again in the room, holding the phone, chattering to the hosts of 8TV Quickie nervously. I won the prizes! It's the second or third time winning stuff from them. This time it was embarassing (i wont tell why) but the prizes are great, cos my mum was eyeing one of it (i wont tell what).

Glory to God! This could not have happened without Him.


2. Iona, because you didn't bring your pendrive, I'm posting pictures of you here and on Facebook.

This is an excellent photo to promote Valentine's Day.


3. Valentine's day is a time for unscrupulous (?) vendors to mark-up the price of roses, chocolate and champagne (well, mostly roses) outrageously.
Blessed is he who buys the flowers after valentines.


4. Last year, I celebrated Valentines being criticised by diners and patrons of the cafe I worked in. Emo-nyer...

So, there were 2 floor staff, two supervisors, one of whom was doubling up as barista, and a couple of kitchen staff.
That night, the couples came in droves to the cafe. It was horrendous! It was like, because TGI and Italiannies aren't accesible, they had to settle for the next best, Dome. Riiight...
Customers were downright inconsiderate that night. Families, I think, were the worst. The dad would be all mad for the food not coming on time and start demanding for the manager, etc etc.
Single people are the next. They have all that angst from being single on 14th of Feb, and spending it in a restaurant full of couples, they start taking it out on me. "Your service very bad you know! Terrible!" declared a prim and proper (most likely single) lady with her four friends nodding in agreement. I was giving my 100% to everyone there-there must've been like 50 customers and two servers.

I broke a couple of cups that night. On the bright side...I didn't break my heart.

The experience was great, though. Priceless. Macam Mastercard advertisement.

Fruitful in the midst of Affliction

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. Then my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name.
-John 15:16

It's almost a month and a half into 2009. Resolutions can be made and broken in a few minutes, but let the theme stay on your mind: Fruitful in the midst of Affliction. How has your life been in the midst of affliction?

For me, it has not been smooth sailing. Come to think of it, it never was! But I know I can make it through if I know where I'm heading. The next time you see me at church and you don't get a straight answer from me for the question "how are you?" please don't worry about me, just pray for me.

jamjam

I still don't get why people choose to declare that they are in a Wifi-ed area when they are, in their blogs. Does it up their cool ante? Maybe. But then again, it's fun to blog from somewhere that's not the PC. Kinda like me now. Ha. Ha. Ha.

The Klang jam was, well, still on, so my mum said why not go to Centro to wait it out. We've been here since 7. Sitting in Starbucks. Using the Wifi. Waiting for the bad traffic to go away.

Eh...I'm going to miss american idol.

Toodles!

bring out yer pineapples, girlies

image taken from here

Coldplay's Viva La Vida tour in Singapore on 23rd March

Dear Pineapple Concerts' CEOs, Mr. Razalis,

Coldplay is scheduled for their VLV tour in Singapore on 23rd March.

The Sunburst festival is on the 21st.

Don't tell us what is going on! We already know your schemes! 1+1=2!

Honestly, it's just a two-day GAP IN BETWEEN. Would they pass up the opportunity to perform at a music festival? (Coldplay is known for preferring small gigs)


Now, I don't know what kinda "marketing gimmick" you're throwing at us.

But with the blogging community thrashing the line-up, I hope it will rain on Sunburst.

I. Seriously. Do.

Signed,
slightly ticked off coldplay fan who will be forced to fork out additional rm50 plus ticketing charges and lose face if she turns up to sunburst IF coldplay appears.

pet cat

aidee says Katy Perry's pet cat name is...


Kitty Purry

xD

sunday

Reading through Rachel Yau's blog is like reading a comic. (i found her blog while googling tony romas. what, i'm hungry!)

Her post on Bleeding Love is LOL.

She's been to Japan to celebrate Kumon's 50th anniversary last year!

1 corinthians 13

image from flickr, credits to national geographic society

Cover of love, a collection of thought-provoking pictures on love by National Geographic.

understanding, sweet people are a delight

anyway. i hope i've lost my blogging mojo. it takes up a lot of time. time that should be spent reading psychology textbook T.T psycho oh psycho.

after reading the psycho class e-mail: that's the way uh-huh uh-huh i like it! uh-huh uh-huh

tomorrow shall be spent at the church! i still cannot decide if i can work with kids or not. "it matters not the intentions, but the results and the consequences" says mr chia of moral studies (MPW 2153) but then again, how do i go about with a clear conscience? my secret is that sometimes i do not like kids. there. only sometimes though.

the sunburst 2009 lineup is horribly dissapointing. there's only nerd and a whole bunch of SEA artists, like hujan, estrella and nidji.
if pineapple concerts pull a fast one on us and say coldplay's coming, i will throw pineapples at their head office. what kinda marketing gimmick is that? it's the recession for goodness sake. be reasonable and give us the early bird prices if coldplay's coming.

there is an email sitting in my junk inbox by the Irish Lottery entitled CLAIMS REQUIREMENT!

i had a horrible stomach ache today =( it must be the pms. or that fishy sambal in my nasi lemak.

mum sent me this from email:


Mass Migration of Stingrays


Looking like giant leaves floating in the sea, thousands of Golden Rays are seen here gathering off the coast of Mexico . The spectacular scene was captured as the magnificent creatures made one of their biannual mass migrations to more agreeable waters.

Gliding silently beneath the waves, they turned vast areas of blue water to gold off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula . Sandra Critelli, an amateur photographer, stumbled across the phenomenon while looking for whale sharks.

She said: 'It was an unreal image, very difficult to describe. The surface of the water was covered by warm and different shades of gold and looked like a bed of autumn leaves gently moved by the wind.



'It's hard to say exactly how many there were, but in the range of a few thousand'

'We were surrounded by them without seeing the edge of the school and we could see many under the water surface too. I feel very fortunate I was there in the right place at the right time to experience nature at its best'


Measuring up to 7ft (2.1 meters) from wing-tip to wing-tip, Golden rays are also more prosaically known as cow nose rays.

They have long, pointed pectoral fins that separate into two lobes in front of their high-domed heads and give them a cow-like appearance. Despite having poisonous stingers, they are known to be shy and non-threatening when in large schools.


The population in the Gulf of Mexico migrates, in schools of as many as 10,000, clockwise from western Florida to the Yucatan .

In His hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind.
-Job 12:10

last christmas, i gave you my heart~

Last Sunday was free-so Gabby Sarah Jian Quin Joyce me went to bukit raja to watch Bride Wars! I thought it was going to be a funny and memorable chick flick, but it turned out to be soggy, slightly dissapointing and not funny at all.

One reason why I didn't like it is the whole issue that Bride Wars tries to sell-a very SHALLOW one-the idea that women are more interested and engrossed with the WEDDING than the MARRIAGE.

Even the only redeeming quote from the movie was used twice (and a good line is a good line when it is said only once), which meant its effectiveness wasn't well.

"You don't alter Vera to fit you, you alter ourself to fit Vera!"
-on Vera Wang wedding gowns

Although I have to agree with Jue Lyn, the soundtrack is not too shabby. It has happy songs like Colbie Caillat's Something Special.

Bride Wars reminded me of Four Christmases. That wasn't a good movie to watch. It was painful. And not at all Christmassy. And I didn't learn any lesson from watching that.


But both movies cannot beat P.S. I Love You in terms of cheesiness and quality. P.S. the movie does not do any form of justice to the beauty in the book. Though Gerard Butler was an eyeful, the whole movie was a wreck! Oh goodness. You can practically taste the staleness of the movie in your mouth.

Personally, I am dissapointed with PS the movie. I expected to cry BUCKET LOADS with my friends while watching the movie, since reading the book itself costed me a whole tissue box. The acting was sAAAAAD. Hilary Swank was terribly underutilised.
Maybe House Bunny would've been a better choice.

Or maybe I'm past the rom-com chick flick age.

*images were results of Google

bunneh

Wee Han, you're totally allowed to shout about it. I mean, accounts is pretty hard in Form 4 you know?! And yes it feels goooood to balance accounts. Take THAT form 4 accounts!

And loook what i got in my mail today:


"What? WHAT?!"