Green Police

You are still using plastic bag to load your groceries? If you do, you better look around before you ask the cashier for one because the Audi Green Police may not be too far behind. *smile*

Who exactly are these fearful Audi Green Police? They are a fictional Green Police unit created by Audi, the German manufacturer of exquisite automobiles. The Audi Green Police, as described in their website, are “caricatures of today’s “green movement” and “a humorous group of individuals that have joined forces in an effort to collectively help guide consumers to make the right decision when it comes to the environment”. The Audi Green Police are here to facilitate our decisions-making, helping us to make a smarter and well-informed decision. As Audi says, “They’re not here to judge, merely to guide these decisions.”

Nevertheless, their Green Police commercial which made their television debut during the 4th quarter of the Big Game on 7th February, received different reaction from the viewers. Some find it amusing while others find it offensive. Either way, the ad is definitely memorable. In it ordinary citizens are arrested for using plastic instead of paper, throwing away batteries, not composting orange rinds, possessing incandescent light bulbs and setting their hot tub thermostat too high. That’s how serious those Green Police are.

Now, are there real Green Police in real life? Yes, there are. Numerous of them. In Israel, the main arm of the Ministry of Environmental Protection in the area of enforcement and deterrence is called “Green Police”. New York has officers within the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation that are affectionately called the “Green Police”. The “Green Police” is what Vietnam Environmental Police Department is popularly known as. And in the UK, they have a group who dresses in green as part of the Environment Agency’s squad to monitor excessive CO2 emissions.

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Bathing tantrums

Bathing time used to be Vanessa’s favourite time. She used to love it that bathing twice a day seems not enough. But, not anymore. The fun are over. Lately, she doesn’t even want to step a foot in the bathroom! Let alone taking a bath. *sigh*

Before this, her bathing time is around 09:30 in the morning and 5 o’clock in the evening. Now she will only take her bath at 11am and 6.30pm…and not after she put up some tantrums. Bila saja sampai time mandi, misti mau berperang dulu … She'll scream and struggle when her clothes are removed. *sigh* I pity Mom and maid because they have to go through this tiresome task everyday except on the weekend where I will take over the task.

We tried various ways to persuade her. Talk to her, let her do it herself, let her bath with her rubber deer … macam-macam la. Did it work? Yes, but only for a day or two. After that, we have to find another way to persuade her…and we are running out of idea already. *faint* Ntah apa lagi cara mau pujuk ini budak kici…When soft-talk doesn’t seem to work, then we had to force her. She’ll end-up screaming, crying and throwing whatever item she can get hold of until the whole bathing process is over. It’s not a pretty sight and I would very much like to avoid it.

But some day when she feel like taking a bath, she will stay in the bathroom for an hour…nda mau keluar2 dari tu bathroom la pula. Eventually, we had to persuade her to leave and get dress. Aduii..this little girl is causing me headache…

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Famous name

Have you ever read a book by Steve Berry? If you had, I’m sure you are familiar with the name Cotton Malone. Cotton is the nickname of the protagonist in his book. A former top operative for the U.S. Justice Department turned bookstore owner, Cotton was first introduced to us in The Templar Legacy. Now after reading another three of Mr Berry’s latest books, I am still wondering how Cotton got his nickname. It is still a mystery. *smile*

Out of curiosity, I browsed for the name in Names Browser and voila! There are 200+ records of people having that name. That get me wondering, did any one of the Cotton Malone listed have ever receive phone calls asking if he is indeed the famous protagonist in Steve Berry’s book? *smile*

Anyway, if you want to reconnect with old friends, find a long lost relative or need to verify a person's contact information from your e-mail address book, Names Browser can help you. By using their reverse e-mail lookup, you can get names and address (including city,state and zip code) of any e-mail address.

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CNY 2010 Recap

Here are the recaps of how we ushered in the Year of the Tiger. Please be warned that this is a long and winding post that may bore you. :)

Reunion Dinner @ 13th Feb

It was more meaningful this year bcos FIL’s elder brother and one of his daughters, J, came all the way from Canada to join in the celebration. They had planned their vacation perfectly to coincide with the CNY celebration. The weekend before, J together with Hubby had conquered the Mt Kinabalu via the Mesilau Trail. Too bad for Aunty F and daughter, K, they didn’t succeed in their attempt.

Back to the Reunion Dinner prep. As usual, all dishes were cooked by MIL aka Chief Cook…hehe.. The rest of us did our bit of helping as and when required. The guys were assigned to chopping the meats and fish, while we girls (SILs and a few cousins) were in charge of peeling, slicing or chopping onions, garlic, potatoes, vegetables etc. This year’s dishes were more or less the same as last year’s (Sweet & Sour Fish, Chicken Curry, Rendang Daging, Ayam Masak Merah, Mixed Vege, and Chicken Soup) except for the Stuffed Toufu which made it first debut. Dinner was great and the foods and drinks were enough for everybody. :)

While waiting for the clock to hit 12pm, Hubby and another cousin barbequed some chicken wings. When midnight finally came, the guys went busy launching their firecrackers. Soon the entire Keningau Town came alive with ear-deafening sound of firecrackers everywhere and the sky was showered with colorful fireworks. Some sounds like dragon. Well, at least to me, that’s how a dragon should sound…LOL..

My only regret is that I was unable to capture the spectacular view in photos. Vanessa who was so grumpy by then, insisted to be carried by Mommy only. She refused everybody else including Daddy. Her grumpiness had to do with her being tired of playing the whole day and inability to sleep. How could anybody sleep with all the noise outside? She was actually mesmerized by the fireworks but not the firecrackers. She hated them and covered both her ears at the sound of it. After all the noises subside then only she was able to sleep. *relief* The gambling downstairs continued until 2am the next day.

1st day of CNY @ 14th Feb

Most of us woke-up quite late, around 8am. After an express breakfast, we were busy again helping MIL and FIL in the kitchen. While we were busy at work, suddenly we heard the loud drum of the Lion Dance troop. We were like, “Huh?? Why so early??” It was only 10am. Normally, they’ll come in the afternoon when all the guests had arrived with their children. Nevertheless, we went out to watch their performance. Upon seeing only a few of us spectators, the troop or rather, their leader was de-motivated. After some photography session, they did their brief performance. It ought to be the briefest performance ever, barely 5 minutes and they’re done…much to our disappointment. However, there was somebody who was so relieved when the Troop left. That person was Vanessa. She was terrified with the pair of “Lion” that she refused to be photographed with them. Needless to say, she cried out loud when I took her near them. She covered both her ears the whole time when they did their dance..hehe..

Then another unexpected event came in the afternoon, the Junior Lion Troop came to perform. Their debut performance. Except for their leader, the troop was made up of kids/teenagers.

The guests were pretty much the same crowd as the years before. Some came and go after a while but there were also those who stayed long enough to test their luck in gambling. The games of choice are 21 and Lap-Lap Fu for the adults and the Katam-Katam for the kids. No gambling for me this year...was kinda lazy to participate…hehe…

2nd Day of CNY @ 15th Feb

Stayed at home most of the time. Doing some cleaning and tidying up around the house. And also washing the dishes and cups. There were some guests; friends of SILs’ and BILs’ came to visit. Hubby was disappointed that none of his friends came over despite their promise to come. :(

In the afternoon, we went to Hubby’s ex-classmate, M’s house. Once again, Hubby was disappointed as his other classmates had already left when we arrived. He was hoping that he might catch some of them there. Nevertheless, Hubby was glad to meet M. It w as the first time the two classmates met each other after completing their SPM. M is now a happy mother of three kids. When two old friends meet, there were soo many things to talk about.

However, our visit was cut short when all of a sudden Vanessa throw-up in the living room. Too much mandarin orange, minuman kotak and cookies…everything campur-campur. I felt guilty for the mess and helped M to clean it while Hubby took Vanessa to the bathroom. After distributing angpaus, we left M’s house.

In the evening, we left for KK. Hubby’s cousin, J needed to do her shopping before she leaves for Canada.

So, like that la our CNY celebration this year. :)

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The hunt for Chinese costume

I’ve learned my lesson. Next year, I will decide early on whether to buy ready made cheongsam or custom made cheongsam for my girl. This year, I wanted to dress her in a red cheongsam but because of my indecisive/procrastinating, I couldn’t find one that fit her well. Yeah, I know, procrastinating is bad but like they said, bad habit dies hard. *smile* Next year, Mommy will get you a cheongsam, my dear.

After searching high and low at all the shops in Donggongon, Segama , Centre Point, Wisma Merdeka , I still couldn’t find her the right one. They were either a size too big or too small or they were not red in colour. Finally, we found this samfu at Servay Hypermarket, Putatan on 12th Feb. Just in time. Well, it’s not cheongsam but I guess, we were lucky enough to find this red samfu and the size is just ngam for my little girl…phew...

Though it’s not mandatory to wear Chinese costume during CNY, but children looks so cute in them. Besides, even without them saying so, I know FIL and MIL would love to see their granddaughter in one. *smile* It’s not everyday that you get to see them wearing such costume…

Alright, answering Just and Mouren’s bonus question, “How much angpau did Vanessa get this year?” *smile* Not as much as last year. But, I’m not complaining. Whatever the amount is, I am grateful for Vanessa’s rezeki. No doubt that all her angpau money will go into her saving. Most (if not all) parents will do the same, right? Or, you have better idea on how to manage your kids’ money? *smile*

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