Day before holiday...

Hooray…another long break! Boss is very generous…gave us an extra leave on Friday, 3rd Oct. Well, not to ALL staff but majority of us, some counterpart in KL have to work on Friday. Don’t worry guys, you’ll get paid for OT, perhaps double-pay some more. And, our extra leave is not free…it’ll be deducted from our annual leave. But, hey, I don’t mind at all.

I must admit, my holiday schedule is quite tight…with open-houses, wedding, gathering and nieces birthday party to attend. In the same time, me myself have to prepare this and that for a birthday party. Yes, my dearest daughter Vanessa is celebrating her 1st birthday. I’m planning a small and simple party with family, relatives and close friends. Also glad that hubby is in town already. Honestly, I was really surprised when he came home last nite as he said earlier, there are still a lot of works to do. I was afraid he would miss daughter birthday. It won’t be complete without hubby being around.

Hmm…this year, I’m looking forward to attend friends’ open-houses. I missed it last year as I’m still in my confinement period. But this year, I’m back with a vengeance. * evil grin * Hehehe …Beware to all the yummilicious kuihs and biscuits, especially the batang buruk and pineapple tarts. I lurve them sooo much.

To all my Muslim friends, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri & Maaf Zahir Batin !!! To other friends, Happy Holiday!! To ALL, drive safely and I’m sorry, if I ever did or said something hurtful ya.

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"Eat your plate when you've finished your food ! "

Sooner, we may utter this line to our kids. Hahaha…Bye-bye to melamine plates, say hello to tapioca plates. This may be the long awaited solution to reduced our over-dependent on polystyrene and plasticware currently used for our take away food /tapau.

10 good things about the tapioca plates:-

• 100% natural, made of tapioca/ubi kayu starch, the raw material are easy to get
• evironmental friendly : CFC free, fully biodegradable, recycable thru composting
• edible : feed them to the fishes & animals if you’re too full to eat them
• long shelf life
• faster biodegradable rate,28 days
• durable : microwave-safe,100°C
• can become fertilizers when it biodegrades
• requires less energy to produce
• allows to wide range of colours & grahics (sooner I guess, cos now only available in plain white, as seen in their website, on TV and newspapers)
• affordable price, RM0.35 per piece

BUT, it can only store liquids for about an hour! So, if your food contain a lot of gravy, just make sure you finish it within an hour ya. Otherwise, you’ll end up with additional pattern on your clothes. :p

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Tag – Difficult-to-do.

Tagged by Kadusmama a few weeks ago…only today I decided to do it. Why? Bcos it’s a difficult one. Hehehe...the title says it all. So, here goes my anwers…

[1] My roomates and I once : Locked ourselves in our room, switched off the light & fan, kept quiet and pretended not to be in our room. Went thru all that just to escape the boring college orientation. Hehehe….

[2] Never in my life have I : used my passport. After 2 yrs, it’s still well kept in the drawer. *sigh*

[3] High school was : one of the best time in my life. I’ll treasure the memories forever.

[4] When I'm nervous: I tend to talk nonsense..some time rapidly, some time mumbling without eye contact.

[5] My hair : is getting thinner and thinner, especially after having my daughter. SOS….

[6] When I was 5 : I’m in one of the Chinese Kindergarten. Being one of the few Kadazan students, I was very shy. After a few months, shy no more..we all became friends. *smile *

[7] When I turn my head left : I saw a clustered IN/OUT/KIV tray. Need to clear/file it before the Co. Auditor comes to visit after Raya. Yikes!

[8] I should be : doing research for some paper work. But now I’m preoccupied with other things.

[9] By this time next year : I’ll still be blogging. Hahahaa….

[10] My favourite aunt is : Betty Suarez (I wish…hehehe…) for being funny & resourceful. But not her fashion sense ya. :p

[11] I have a hard time understanding : Politics and Politician!!!

[12]My ideal breakfast is : a mug of Nescafe & a piece of char kuey.

[13] If you visit my hometown : I’ll take you to sample the mee/mihun soup nearby. Very popular one you know…

[14] If you spend the night at my house: pls tell me earlier so that I can clear the mess ya. LOL

[15] The animal I would like to see flying besides birds is : none other than my cats ~ Pungit & Mew-mew

[16] I shouldn't have been : eating so much during lunch cos now I’m getting sleepy pulak…

[17] Last night I : woke-up a few times during my sleep. Luckily, I was able to continue my sleep after that.

[18] A better name for me would be : Emily…simple & easy to pronounce. My existing name, Elmia is too unique, some ppl find it hard to pronounce properly, especially Chinese acquaintance...it must be the “L” word ;p

[19] I've been told I look like : my late dad. Of course la wey, I’m his daughter mah…

[20] If I could have any car, it would be : one of the SUVs eg. Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV or the 4x4 Toyota Hilux…can’t decide. Greedy me… *wink-wink*

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Still standing

Cheers to our teams, Bernie & Henry and Ida & Tania for still remaining in The Amazing Race Asia 3. In the 3rd episode last nite, once again siblings, Bernie & Henry arrived first at the pit stop. Our 2nd team, Ida & Tania at 3rd place. The Thais Beauty Queens were the latest casualties. I won’t do the recap ya, as Nessa has done it :p

Finally, Natalie’s suffering was ended but I felt sorry for Pailin. It was obvious that she was the one who had really worked hard for the team. If not for her commitment…sure awal-awal lagi suda terkeluar! Pity on her for choosing the wrong partner to participate in a race like this.

Anyway, jia you (3x) to our teams. Keep up the good work girls and guy! 8 more legs to go, more adventure and suffering to endure...

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Oh my God...

That’s my reaction when I read this email from a friend. Yeah, it’s one of those spam. But this one worth a read.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

I found it hilarious..*ROFL* Mind you, it’s supposed to be an essay for the UPSR paper. Primary Six students and this is all he/she can write for a simple essay on Keluarga Saya. Hmm…I wonder how the teacher react when marking this essay?! If I’m a teacher, and my student ever write a karangan like this, I’ll faint. But I'll give the poor kid some credit for being funny especially Page 2, last para.

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Wedding 'must-have'

Attended many weddings reception over the years here in Sabah. Regardless of where it is held, be it at the bride/groom’s residence, community hall, restaurant or hotel, I noticed a few things in common.

Most obvious one is the song, Yue Liang Tai Biao Wo De Xin/The Moon Represents My Heart. This evergreen song by the late Teresa Teng is a ‘must sing ‘ song in every reception, regardless of whether the wedding couple is Kadazan or Chinese. This song has simple yet meaningful lyrics and perhaps easy to sing or memorize, making it so popular among the wedding singer. And, the wedding singer wasn’t even Chinese…Wonder if it is the only Chinese song they can sing? *smile*

Yup, this song is also sung at my wedding although it’s not in our requested song list ya. Hmmm…we listed some other Chinese song but instead we got this one. But, never mind la since it’s a beautiful song also. * smile * Now every time we heard this song, hubby and I always tease each other…”Nah, lagu kau!” LOL . Since then, we always compete whose first to point it out. Before long, it has become our personal game pulak….lol

Another compulsory song is Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton. I bet it’s popular for the same obvious reason, easy to sing. If the wedding singer does not sing it, then surely one of the guests will belt out this song. It’s also a signal that the floor is opened for couples to do the slow dance. * wink-wink*

There is one more ‘must have’, the Poco-Poco Dance. It’s a traditional dance originates from the Minahasa people of Manado, Sulawesi. Whenever the song for this dance is up, you can expect a crowded dance floor. The juniors, the veterans and children all scrambled to their feet, to get a space on the dance floor and proudly show-off their skills. Poco-Poco is a type of line dance with easy-to-follow steps. No wonder it's such a hit among the crowd.

But when it’s time for the Sumazau dance, only a few people whose willing to participate. Most of the time, the veteran. The teenagers even kena paksa pun, still refuse. Reason being; don’t know how to do the Sumazau. Common, what’s wrong with these people?? I don’t think that the Sumazau is that difficult, is it? Surely, nothing some practice can’t fix. Tiring, yes, but nobody’s going to scold you if you wanted to stop earlier than the other.

If we can spend some time learning the Poco-Poco, why not put some effort into learning Sumazau. It’s our own cultural dance we’re talking here. If our young generation refuses to learn, sooner we’ll be loosing a part of our heritage, our culture. It’s bad enough that most of us cannot speak our own Kadazan language. Sad but it’s a fact though. Then again, it’s never too late to learn.

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Weekend Part 2

Monday afternoon, as planned earlier, we’re going to the kebun. However, there was a change of venue. Instead of going to the kebun to harvest the palm oil bunches, FIL took us to another one. Seem like this time also no chance for me to see the harvesting process.

I’m quite excited though, as I’ve never been to this particular kebun before. It was also hubby first visit since his teenage years. He and a few of his friends used to follow some uncle on their hunting trip back then. The popular catch was the civet cats. This kebun is quite far from my in-laws house and from Keningau Town. We passed thru a few kampung and other people’s kebun. At the interior part, only a few houses or pondok can be seen. There was also no electricity. The road was gravel and bumpy at some stretch. But the existing condition is far better than before, as I was told. But it is not advisable to go there during rainy season. In case, car got struck, it is such a long, long walk to the nearest kampung to get help. Hmm…don’t count on your mobile phone, there’s no signal available …

The road leading to kebun. Daughter test power her new shoes.

The surrounding was peaceful with nice, green view. Although some adjacent land has been cleared and ready to be planted with palm oil, most of them are still covered with secondary forest. FIL’s piece of land is one of them. There’s a plan to plant it with palm oil, but how soon? Not sure yet. A lot of things need to be taken into consideration eg money, manpower and time.

Peaceful and green

On the way back, we stopped by a tower on somebody’s land. Hubby wanted to have a better view of the surrounding areas. He didn’t climbed to top though. The structure looked quite old and a bit shaky. Don’t want to take a risk, in case the tower collapsed pulak. Touch wood….

Tower and the view from the tower. The young palm oil trees.

It rained along our way back to KK on Tuesday. There was a landslide in Moyog area. Some trees fell on the roadside. Fortunately, the road was not affected and me had a safe journey. Hmm…like usual, we grabbed some fruit and vege back to KK. This time it’s gourd/labu, pumpkin and the 'giant' papaya. So, that’s all about my long weekend.

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Weekend Part 1

Part 1 of my weekend was spent in KK. Started my Saturday earlier than usual, prepare daughter’s porridge, fried mihun for us adults, machine-wash & hang the clothes while hubby and daughter were still tucked under the blanket. Also planted the sunflower seed which I bought last month. All time, it has been lying on the kitchen cabinet, hopefully its still good. I love sunflower!

After energized by a plate of fried mihun & a cup of nescafe, I started my cleaning chores right away. This time it’s a major cleaning. Rolled the rug, swept and mopped the floors, get rid of the spider web at the corners before it spread and expand, cleaned the glass windows, changed and washed the cushion cover etc. Phewww…it sure was a tiring tasks but the end result it very satisfying. Well, the glass is not exactly sparkling clean, and the floor is not exactly dust-free but it’s cleaner than before. *wink * The BEST PART is I did it all by myself. *grin*

Before I was a mom, I normally do the cleaning on impulse, or in other words, ONLY when I’m in the mood. Don’t get me wrong ya; I’m not that unhygienic or lazy person…it just that I do the floor-mopping & windows-cleaning less often, twice a month only. Hehe… Well, what can I say, motherhood really changed me in some way. Now I do it every week. Can’t do it more often bcos I work full time.

Ok, enough said on the cleaning. The next day, we went to Wisma Merdeka. It's been a while since our last visit. Missed the Hainan Steamed Chicken Rice sooo very much. During my pregnancy, nearer to the end of 2nd trimester, I used to bring hubby there, like every weekend. Each time, I can finish 2 plates of rice…LOL. I was craving mad about the food. My weight before I deliver is 67kg…crazy man! Luckily, I managed to shed the extra kilos…now @ 50kg. Still, heavier than before pregnancy but I’m not complaining. I just need to shed a few more kilos lagi but... exercise/jogging is just not my thing. So, I guess diet is the only solution. By the way, cleaning the house is consider an exercise also mah right?! * grin *

Back on track, Wisma Merdeka was packed with people on Sunday, most of them shopping for their baju Raya. We went home after grabbing a few shorts. In the evening, we packed and went off to Keningau.

That's Part 1 of my weekend. See ya in Part 2.

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Quikie post...

My long weekend is over, now back in the office. Me, so malas…Wonder why, after a long break, we tend to be lazy? Anyway, it’s freezing cold in here. It’s been raining outside since morning. Hopefully, it’ll stop later.

Fortunately, there was not many case came up during my absent. But, still I need to follow-up some outstanding cases. Better settle it soonest possible and give the update before I get the call from boss asking this and that… not in the mood to do all the talking.

I’ll write something about my long weekend later ya.

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Weekend is approaching….

Hey, it’s Friday again. It’s going to be long weekend for me. *grin * I’m on leave next Monday, and Tuesday, Sep 16th is also a public holiday in Sabah. Yippee!! This time, the celebration of the TYT birthday will be postponed to Oct 16 bcos of the fasting month.

Came in to the office this morning with sleepy eyes but in a good mood. Slept quite late last night. Did some reading after baby Vanessa dozed-off. Another bestseller, thriller by James Patterson. I was eager to finish it last night, can’t wait to see how the story ends *grin * Must have been too absorbed into the story that I didn’t realized it was already half past midnight…Aiyoh, so fast the time go, got to get some sleep. So, I hit the pillow anyway, even though my mind and eyes still wide-awake. Still enthusiastic to get to the last page *grin* …but I was nowhere near the end when I stopped reading…LOL. Don’t know what time I dozed-off. Last thing I remember, I was rolling left and right, struggling to sleep…

Not much happened today, nothing much to do also. Just sitting in front of the computer, answering the phone. Boring. Earlier, I’ve prepared all necessary doc on one supplier for the HQ to process the payment. It is the only significant task for today. Can’t avoid glancing at the time every now and then. Isn’t it funny that when you are enjoying your time, it tends to go by so quickly? But when you are feeling bored, it’s the other way around pulak. There goes again, another yawn, probably the 100th time ..hahaha…

So far, no specific plan yet for the weekend. If hubby comes back from Bintulu, then we’ll go to Keningau. Pay my in-laws a visit and help them out in the kebun. I never had the chance to see palm oil bunches being harvested before…

Ah, finally, it’s time to go off. Have a nice weekend you all. See ya.

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A big hole in the wallet…

*Sigh * Old folks say it’s not good to sigh, but don’t know what else to do. Seems like it is the best and the easiest thing to do now. It helps to ease the pain…(erkk, really??! )

What happened was this. We’ve sent our ol’ faithful Kancil to the workshop last Friday..to have the gear box replaced. It has been ‘sick' since January, been having problem to switch gear every now and then. But only now we decided to send it to see the ‘car doctor”… after it start emitting this funny sounds. Don’t want to take the risk of having it break down in the middle of the road pulak.

So alang-alang, also got the clutch disc and oil seal changed. Now, gone are the funny sounds, dear Kancil is healed from illness. Well, here’s the breakdown of the cost: -

Gearbox = RM680.00
Clutch disc =RM 62.00
Oil seal = RM15.00
Labour charge = RM220.00

The air-cond gas was all drained up; it feels like being in a sauna when driving during the noon. That refill cost an additional RM80.00.

So, that add-up to the whopping grand total of RM1,057.00. *pengsan* Can u believe it? So expensive la wey, especially the gear box…and mind you, it’s only an 850 Kancil…if bigger the car, I bet the higher the price it will be…*faint again *

I didn’t fork out the cash from my own wallet though, bcos hubby paid all the cost. But kesian la hubby, really burnt a big hole in his wallet….Now, it’s only the 10th day of Sep…another 19 days to go before payday. Have to ikat perut, can forget about buying unnecessary things…

Anyway, the bottom line is, do regular maintenance on your car. It will save you a great deal and ease the pain in your wallet.

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No pain, no gain...

Warning: Contain images/graphic that are not suitable for the faint-hearted.

Are you a fan of body art? Doesn't matter la what type..body-piercing or tattoo. Used to have multiple earrings on my ear lobe and auricle, on both ears. Being the rebellious teen, I did exactly what mom told me NOT to do. Really gave mom a nightmare last time...*wink* Now with a daughter of my own, I will DEFINITELY tell her NOT to follow my footstep of getting multiple ear piercing when she grew up. By then, I guess I'll know how mom felt last time...*sigh*

I aslo like tattoo. Been interested in it since my uni years...always thought of getting one. A small one will do. Now after 5 years, I'm still stuck with the thought...LOL. Never had the guts to go under the needle. Looks like that thought will stay...a thought after all. Hubby is strongly against it. IF only I managed to get one, it will look something like this.

But, for those die-hard body art lover out there, tattoo is just ain't enough. They are doing skin carvings now. I mean real skin carving. It's an ancient form of body art, the exact term is scarification . Like those on the Maori warriors. The outcome is quite interesting and beautiful don't you think? Tempting...wait until you see the work in progress.
All the pain you have to go through, ouchh...no, thank you. Can't never, ever drag myself to do it. Don't want anybody to carved on my skin. By looking at these pics, is enough to give me goose-bumps already. Can almost feel the scalpel penetrating my flesh...yikes!! No matter how beautiful the outcome, skin carving is NOT for me. Cannot bear the suffering.

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The driver and the mysterious fruits…

Story #1:
Talking about irresponsible driver, here’s one example. It happened yesterday during lunch time, this car was parked at the middle of the road. Didn’t see the driver though. If he/she was in hurry and no parking space available, fine, I can understand why he/she did this. BUT, see, there were plenty of parking space available mah…only inches away. Why can’t he/she park the car properly? Apparently, this driver don't give a damn on other drivers. After an hour the car was still there. Luckily, there was not many car passing by.Otherwise, will have to bear the ear-deafening honk from other driver. Even worse if somebody bump into it...

Story #2:

Went to the tamu nearby, this incident caught my interest. A few schoolgirls passed by a stall selling one particular type of local fruit. One of them was really curious to know what fruit it is. Obviously none of them know the name of it. Suddenly, one of them came up with a “brilliant” answer- "Ini lah buah STRAWBERRY " *LOL

I only know the local name, lumbi. Even the seller introduced it as lumbi also. A bunch of them is sold at RM2 only. Seller was kind enough to share these info, lumbi is used as ingredient in cooking, especially fish dish aka pinasakan in Kadazan, can be eaten raw, just peel off the skin and dip into ketchup or asam boi (hamoi). I’d tasted it before but didn’t like it though. It’s too sour…even more sour than the young mangoes….

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Can go home early…

Fasting month has started for our Muslim friends. Therefore, the Mgmt of our company has shortened the working hours by 1 hour, so that Muslim employees have enough time to prepare for breaking of fast aka sungkai. (Hmm, don’t know exactly the origin of this word; maybe it’s Bajau or Brunei? ) So nice of the bosses, EVERYBODY is allowed to go off at 4.30pm. Yippeee, we, the non-Muslim can tumpang dua kaki…can go off early also. * grin*

To all Muslim friends, Selamat Berpuasa !

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