Thursday, December 20, 2007
Dutch Diplomat - wht a jerk
Anyways, I found this story about a Dutch vice consul and his wife who adopted Jade, a 4mths old baby girl 7 years ago from South Korea. Nothing wrong with that right? The wrong came when those sickos decided to 'return' her saying tht they could no longer care for her because of the girl's remoteness emotional. Can you believe that shit? The couple even had the nerve to say, "Jade did not adapt to Dutch culture or food". Who in the right mind would believe such tale? The girl was 4months old when she was adopted for god's sake! Show me any 4 months old that can decide what she/he will eat and I will believe your tale. You shithead! You had her for 7 fucking years and you never even applied for a Dutch nationality for her and you worked at the consulate! You just simply 'dropped" her off to the Social Welfare dept in HK like an unwanted old pair of jeans.
Sigh... i just have to find this out today, dont i? Please do read more here and you'll see why im so damn angry.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Eid ul Adha
Monday, December 10, 2007
Our Xmas Light
It was a cold night and the rain was just starting. I actually thought I took some video of the somewhat-dancing-light but it has been a while since I used the video mode on the camera that i forgot I still have to push the button for the video to start rolling. Duh!
Anyways, as you can see from the pic, the stars didn quite go around the railing. We only bought a box with 10 stars and we thought they were enough since our balcony is small but obviously we were wrong. We are still going to get another box so we can 'balanced'out' the balcony coz we realise that our balcony looks kinda funny. ;P
Last night we went around the apartment to see who else and how many other apartments put up the light. Not many at all. There was this 3 units (1st, 2nd and 3rd) that put up the light whc makes them the most coordinated but suffice to say despite our small balcony, ours is the BRIGHTEST! yay!
Friday, December 7, 2007
Book Review - The Innocent Man
I love reading fiction. I have a few of my own favourite authors. Among them are Michael Crichton, John Grisham and James Peterson. I have read all of MC and JG's books and still trying to get some of JP's books.
Anyways, I finally finished reading John Grisham's latest titled the Innocent Man. Unlike his previous books, this one is a non-fiction. Its about 2 men (Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz tho Ron is the main character in this book) who were wrongly accused and convicted for murder and were given death sentences.
This happened in a small town called Ada in Oklahoma. Population, 16,000. Ron, who anybody in the right mind can see is not mentally stable and Dennis Fritz, was sent to the death row and spent 11 years there while fighting for an overturned. Twice he was told that he was to be put to death and has only 30days left. I just cannot even began to imagine how it felt like when one is innocent and about to be put to death for something that they didnt do. What more if you're mentally unstable. He was getting a bad deal and nobody from the cops, the so-called experts, prosecutors, judge or even his own lawyer did anything.
After 11 years in death row and with the help of DNA, he was finally exonerated and released and so did Dennis but neither had been ruled out as suspects. To add insult to injury, they receive no apologies. For that, they fought back and sued everybody. I mean, EVERYBODY. From the city of Ada, Pontotoc County, the prosecutors, the 'witnesses", the experts and etc. The case was settled out of court and the sum paid was undisclosed. Who actually had to pay for that? Of course the tax payers. As mentioned in the book, several million dollars were wasted because of their cases. Sigh ....
But when you lose 11 years of your life, no amount of money can buy back those time. For Ron, instead of getting medical help, he was sent to prison and because of that, his health (physical and mental) deteriorate. He passed on 5 years after his release on Dec 04, 2004 (the day of our wedding reception in Malaysia). He was 51 years old. The prosecutor? He is still the Disctrict Attorney though he is retiring after Jan 01.
"With every visit and every conversation, the story took a different twist. I could've written 5000 pages.
The journey also exposed me to the world of wrongful convictions, something that I, even as a former lawyer, had never spent much time thinking about. This is not a problem peculiar to Oklahoma, far from it. Wrongful convictions occur every month in every state in this country, and the reasons are all varied and all the same - bad police work, junk science, faulty eyewitness identifications, bad defence lawyers, lazy prosecutors, arrogant prosecutors" - John Grisham.
** John Grisham and Dennis Fritz are now being sued by Bill Peterson for 'emotional distress'. Errrr...?????
If you would like to get into more details, please visit Barbara's Journey Toward Justice . Please hold on to your jaw cause the more you read her blog, the more your jaw will drop.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Navy Open Day
Last Saturday Dec 01 was the Navy Open Day where civilians are allowed on board the ship. This time it was the USS Rushmore. It was huge though according to Michael who works on them all the time, its the smaller one.
We were supposed to start early as family members were allowed in earlier between 0900-0945. Unfortunately yours truly was late. You see, it was 'hair-day' for me so by the time I was all dolled-up, it was already 9am. We then went to pick Julita up and by the time we got to the parking arae, the queue was already very long. It was also very windy and so COLD! How long do we have to wait before we got to go onboard? Almost 2hrs. tsk tsk tsk. Even then there was 'traffic' inside the ship as tours were conducted in a group of 10 or something like that.
We didnt finish the tour as all 3 of us were tired, hungry, cold and a bit dizzy. Yup, you can feel the ship swaying a little bit and it was not fun. So we decided to cut short the tour and left.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
I made it!
Here they are. My very own dinner roll, straight from my oven. ;)
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Macam-macam
*************************************************************
Thanks to CatCat and Gert, im now, the proud owner of the roasting pan set from LinenAndThings costing only $9.99 after $5 mail-in rebate. No, im not gonna be cooking any turkey for thanksgiving since there's only the 2 of us and there's no way im gonna cook a 10-24lb turkey! So why did i buy the pan you ask? Because its cheap. *grin* Iv also told my mother in law and RasaMalaysia about it.
**************************************************************
Did anybody watch Amazing Race last night? Its already the 12th season but without fail, there's always somebody in the race who would cry and whine and act like a freaking 8-yr old when they cant do the task. Last night it was Lorena (or something like tht). The task was to milk a camel. They were warned not to make too much noise or sudden moves and thts exactly wht she did thus resulting in the camel kicking her bowl of milk. The cry makes you wish you were there to kick her arse! To make matter worse, instead of them being eliminated, it was Marianna and Julia who got booted. They were actually the 2nd last team to finish the task of milking the camel but I think they felt sorry for the whining bi*ch that they told her whc camel to go to for more milk. THAT cost them the race coz they lose the next task by a few second and got eliminated.
I really dont understand why is it tht in every season, there will always be some whining bi*ch. They already know the drill and im sure theyv seen the previous 11 seasons and yet when they cant do the road block and such, they cry and whine. Why? Why? Why? Arrrggghhhhh!!!
Ok im feeling much better now tht iv let the steam off.
*************************************************************
Back to gas price, as of yesterday, Sunday, it was 3.25. How much does it cost in your area?
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Stirring Up the Uber-rich, Warren Buffet Style!
I have complained more than once about how high the taxes that we have to pay and its worst when you only have 1 income. Here, (where the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer) its the middle-income who suffers since a higher portion of their meagre income is taxed to support the poor. So when Mr Warren Buffet made the statement that he (i repeat, the 3rd richest man in the world) is paying a lower percentage of tax on the USD46m that he made last year than his secretary whom last year made USD60k, we know that we're being screwed BIG time. On another note, why is he only paying the secretary usd60k/p.a.? aiyo Mr WB, pay her more than that lah! :P
Apparently on his whopping $46m income last year, he was only taxed 17.7% while the secretary was taxed at 33%. I do find the tax rate for the secretary is a bit too high but im assuming the rate comes from a simple equation of gross pay-net pay which is after deducting the fed tax, state tax, health insurances (medical, dental, prescription, eye), 401k (something like epf but a lot less contribution fr both the employees and employers) and etc.
He then continued on and challenges his peers to do the same and compare their percentage of taxes with their own secretaries and/or workers. Well, they turned him down and one person even suggested that he has gone senile! :P
I googled about it and finds out that he actually made that statement in June this year at a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton. Read more about it here
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Up, up and Up!
We try to always fill up at shell station near our place since its the cheapest place in 10miles radius. As of last Saturday, Nov 3, the price was 2.99/gallon. We still have about 1/4 tank left so decided not to fill up. On Sunday, we drove by the station again on the way to Target. Michael was driving, of course. Suddenly I went, "Oh my god!" and he, "what? what happen?". "The gas went up 4c. Its 3.03 now!" and he, just shook his head. I know. I know. I didnt mean to scream or surprised him while he's driving. It just came out ok?
Anyways, we didn fill up the tank either since the price just went up the day before so its likely gonna stay that way for at least a week. Come Tuesday which is the day that we have to return the dvd at blockbuster and also the day that we really need to fill up the tank. Guess how much was the gas? 3.11/gallon! Can you believe that? It went up another 8c. An while you're at it, let me tell you something else. Yesterday, (Friday) it went up again to 3.17/gallon. In the span of just S.E.V.E.N. days, the price went up to almost 20c/gallon. Sigh.... If only cars can run on water.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sausage Rolls
Monday, October 22, 2007
Of Californian Weather
Today im going to talk about the 'colourful' California weather. It is officially fall but the only time that I truly feel its fall is the Raya week. It was raining on the 1st day of Raya (Sat Oct 13) and continued on and off until Sunday. It was actually nice coz it wasnt cats and dogs kinda rain. the temp was in the high teens and low twenties (celcius). Then from Thurs onwards, it started to change and it got pretty warm (30C on Sat). Come Sunday, it changed again and this time in terms of wind. It was so windy and humid. A few trees around the aprtments lose their 'arms' (branches, lah!) and 1 car parked under a tree was unlucky to have its windscreen smashed by it. Thank god we got the underground parking lot!
If you dont know it already, whenever we get the hot weather and strong/warm winds, there will most likely be fire. And on Sunday night, we got it. So far, more than 90,000 acres have been burned by the bushfire in SoCal from Malibu all the way down to San Diego. If im not mistaken, more than 250,000 ppl have been evacuated or asked to leave their homes with affected city as close as Irvine which is only 10min away fr us. though if im not mistaken, the fire in Irvine is caused by an arsonist. (Oh yeah, theres a lot of stupid ppl here in the US too) The sky is orangy (is tht the correct spelling?) and the air smells of smoke. You can even see ashes floating in the air. A few of the Universities were also close due to the smoke. It is really really bad and this is what Mitch Mendler, a San Diego firefighter, said as he and his crew stopped at a shopping center parking lot to refill their water truck from a hydrant near a restaurant, "It was nuclear winter. It was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world."
SoCal is now under State of Emergency.
Read more about the fire here .
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Somewhat Back to Normal
Iv been very busy the last 2 weeks with my friends here and also for Raya. I have to admit that I see more of SoCal and also do more the last 2 weeks than the 14 months that we'v been here. I finally went back to Disneyland and Universal Studio (US) for the 2nd time though Michael has yet to go to Disneyland since he has to work and we went there during work days. Oh well, maybe next time I'l get to go with him.
We went to US on a Sunday during the long weekend of Columbus Day. It was a very nice day eventhough the day started pretty chilly. The sun started to come out roughly around 10am and boy was it hot! Since it was a long weekend, you can imagine how crowded the place was. We decided to take the front-of-line pass which cost ard $50 more on top of the entrance ticket. Yup, they cost a bomb but when you see the queue is like 100m long, you know you'd have to get them. It saves time and back-ache too. Alternatively, go middle of the week rather than weekend.
Anyways, my friend Su and Harith took the Jurassic Park ride, sat on the front row and came back soaking wet! There goes the salon-done hair. lol! I persuaded Michael to take the ride since iv taken it a long time ago and didnt wanna do it again. He went alone but was smart enough to sit on the middle row instead so he was saved from getting drench. I waited for him outside the ride with a camera hoping to catch him wet but unfortunately i missed him since he was sitting in the middle row. dang! hehehe.
We spent almost 9hrs there and by the time we left, we were both very tired but we had so much fun.
Su and family left for Seattle on sunday morning and back to Msia that night. It was really tough seeing them leaving our place on their way to the airport. We hugged and cried. This morning she called me to inform that they have arrived safely on tue evening. She also told me that once the plane took-off, Harith started crying. When her husband, Hazree, asked him what's wrong, he said, "I miss Aunty Farina and Uncle Mike". So this morning, i cried again.
So im dedicating this post to them. Harith and Dinara, "Aunty Farina and Uncle Mike also miss both of you and Insyaallah we'll see each other again next year!". Hugs and kisses!
Friday, October 5, 2007
Soto Ayam - Updated
This is what I made for buka puasa a few weeks ago. Soto Ayam! I promised MsJ that I will share the recipe with her a long time ago but only now I made them. The last time I made them was for Xmas dinner last year. Sorry MsJ.
For today I'll let you enjoy the pics and will write the recipe when have more time ok?
************************************************************************************
Ok, here's the recipe for soto ayam. It'l be in Manglish because its easier for me. hehe :)
A.
1 piece chicken thigh,bone-in (u can also use 2 pieces for this recipe)
4 cardamon seed
4 cloves
2 start anise
2in cinnamon stick
4-5 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup santan (coconut milk)
B.
4 shallots
1 onion
4 garlic
2in ginger
Blend items B. Heat the oil in the pot and add the cardamon, cloves, star anise and cinnamon sampai naik bau. Masukkan bahan2 B and stir for about 4-5min. Add in the chicken and water enough to cover the chicken, about 1.5-3 cups. 2 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Keep flipping the chicken and continue boiling for abt 15-20min.
Once the chicken is cooked, take it out and let it cool down. Add another cup of water and the coconut milk. (The blended items are wht making the soup look thick and thts wht we want. So make sure you dont add too much water ok?) Let it boil and then only you add the salt and sugar to taste. Banyak mana tu, up to your own tastebud.
Shred the chicken and put the bones back in the soup. You can also put the shredded chicken meat back into the soup if you like. Thats how I make the soup for my soto ayam.
I dunno how to make nasi impit fr scratch since i always buy the nona brand (or any other brand) tht comes in small packets where you just boil them for an hour and cut when its cooled down. Alternatively, you can use meehoon or both. Back home, id def use both.
For the sambal kicap, blend or tumbuk a handful of cili padi. Add a pinch of salt, lemon juice and sweet soy sauce. If ur in Msia, use kicap habhal. If ur like me in the land with no kicap habhal, kicap abc pun jadilah. :P
For garnishing, use daun sop, bawang goreng, soohoon goreng (just deep fry and crash them on top of your soup) and of course beansprout.
Selamat mencuba ye kawan-kawan!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Me got visitors fr Kuala Lumpur!
Anyways, I will try to post something in between when I have the time. ok?
p.s. Thanks Gert for the seunding daging, mooncake and belacan. ;)
Also thanks to kak Ram aka Cath for he gift fr Virginia.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Arwah Nurin and Amber Alert
I am not going to go into further detail abt 'whose fault is it?' but I feel that I have to share this one with my readers.
I mentioned about Amber Alert on Nuraina's blog without realising that i didnt even mention about it in my own post so im doing it now. I know not many people read my blog but if all bloggers put it up on their blog, im sure it will get the attention of who's who (maybe even Shahrizat) and we will finally see the same or similar alert get adopted by Malaysian authority.
Besides that, society must also be educated on making sure that safety (within means) comes first. Children and adults, both, must be taught on what and what not to do.
These are among what we and the authority should do:
1. AWARENESS on safety
2. adopt Amber Alert or Nurin Alert (or whatever they want to name it)
3. make public the list of known paedophiles and frequent checks to their home (this is done here in the US where spotchecks are done frequently in making sure tht they dont have/keep/have access to sex material or live within certain miles of schools or playgrounds)
4. make sure the children know what is wrong and not supposed to be done to their bodies (birds and bees and wht not)
5. making sure children are accompanied by at least 1 adult esp at night
6. always follow buddy system of more than 2 kids and teach them to scream and run when approach by strangers
7. always know where your children are and if suspected of missing, report it IMMEDIATELY!
8. if you see a child being dragged, approach (nicely) and ask if tht person is in fact the parent or relative (dont start assuming tht they'r kidnappers)
9. if you didnt get the chance to do no.8, take down the license no of the vehicle and call the police. Whatever it is, do something IMMEDIATELY.
Once we have done all that we could to protect our loved ones, then the only thing left to do is tawaqqal. Not the other way around.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Al-Fatehah to Nurin Jaslin
My first thought when i read about her disappearance was, "why wait before reporting it to the police?". Now it just doesnt matter anymore because the damage is done. An innocent child is gone and Nurin Jaslin is no longer with us and nothing is going to bring her back.
BUT, maybe if there's anything that we can learn from this sad, horrific incident is that we can be more careful when it comes to our little ones. Dont let them out of our sight. Letting an 8 yr old out to the night market alone is 1. not the smartest thing to do (if im being nice with my choice of word), 2. the dumbest thing to do. (now im being straight forward). Why would any parent let their 8yr old walk alone at night rather than take him/her with them? Why? Why? I cant help but blame the parents on this one. They waited for 3 days before reporting it to the authorities. Which parent in their right mind would wait that long? Would you? When a child goes missing, the first 48hrs are critical. In most cases after 48hrs, the chances are that they're dead.
Im stopping now because this news just break my heart especially the condition that she was found. My prayer for her soul and may the beast get arrested soon and punished severely! Al-Fatehah Nurin Jaslin.
Read when it all started here.
Read how she was found here.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Ramadhan
Some of my non-muslim friends would even fast on the day that we'r breaking fast together or at least wait until its time to break the fast rather than start eating before everyone else as a sign of respect to those who fast the whole day. Though you are bound to see ppl who are not fasting and started filling up their plates and gorging down the food when the rest of the ppl around them are still fasting. sheesh! insensitive like tht. :P
Anyways, besides the rm30-100 (usd8-28) buffet, there's also the ramadhan bazaar where you'll find hundreds of stalls selling all the goodies for breaking of fast. Most of them started selling the food as early as 2-3pm until the food are gone or until the time to break fast, whcever comes first. THIS kind of bazaar is my fav. here are the list of my fav for buka puasa:
1. Murtabak
2. Ayam percik
3. Popiah basah
4. Nasi kerabu
5. Kuey teow goreng
6. Nasi tomato
7. Lala goreng
8. Tepung pelita (a must to have everyday!)
9. Sugar cane juice
What are your fav Ramadhan goodies?
Monday, September 10, 2007
10 Questions Tag
Q1. What were you doing 10 Years ago?
1. Was in HK for our company trip
2. Was in Tioman for our company's family day when we received news abt Princess D's death.
3. Partying waaaayyyy too much.
4. Trying to lose weight. (i was pretty big then)
5. Paying off my ex-fiance's debts. (grrrr)
Q2. What were you doing 1 Year ago?
1. Driving 4d/3n across USA fr PA to CA
2. Getting used to being a full-time hsewife yet again
3. Meeting some of MyB members for the 1st time.
4. Cramming our stuff into a smaller apt.
5. Getting used to sun-burn
Q3. What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
1. Asam
2. Kerepek pedas
3. Mamee
4. Pisang/keledek goreng
5. Keropok lekur
Q4. What are 5 songs you know the lyrics to?
1-5. Errr... none actually.
Q5. 5 things you would do if you are a Millionaire?
1. Buying properties for investment outside California
2. Pay-off both our parents houses
3. Give to charities in Malaysia
4. Go home for a nice long holiday
5. Visit my bestfriends in NZ
Q6. 5 Bad habits?
1. Spending too much time getting ready
2. Snacking
3. Spending too much on perfumes
4. Always persuade ppl to eat more incl hubby and guests.
5. Too trusting tht more than once ppl took advantage
Q7. 5 things you like to do?
1. Travelling w hubby
2. Be there for my mom
3. Be able to watch my nieces and nephews grow up
4. Help less fortunate kids
5. Walk into any stores in Rodeo Drive and can actually afford to buy them
Q8. 5 Favourite Toys? I dont really have any fav toys. These are more like necessity stuff. ;)
1. Notebook
2. My digital camera
3. DVD player
4. My books
5. TV
Q9. 5 things you would never wear?
1. Bikini
2. Bikini
3. Bikini
4. Bikini
5. Bikini
Q10. 5 things you hate to do?
1. House cleaning
2. Laundry
3. Lying
4. Ironing
5. Thinking of what to cook for brakfast/lunch/dinner
I wont name anybody to be tagged but anybody is welcome to continue this 10 questions tag.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Prawn Curry Kapitan
for the recipe. Since I have lady finger and eggplant, I add them to my curry too. The only thing that I didn have then was the buah keras but it still turned out very good.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The Heat is Back!
Anyways, last Sat we went to a beach party to celebrate among other things, a belated birthday and Merdeka in Seal Beach. Though it was hot in Orange, it was surprisingly nice at the beach. We had a great time and actually spent 6hrs there. (I will post some pics later). After that, even with a full stomach, we just couldn say no to an invite to have laksa johor and assam laksa so off we went to Long Beach. Suffice to say that we came home full-bellied and also made new friends. ;)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Merdeka August 31,2007 - A daring one!
I have always like ads fr Petronas. Be it Hari Raya, Chinese New Yr, Deepavali or Merdeka.
This year, they came out with yet another ad that carries a very strong message and I mus say a very daring one indeed. There is a saying that goes, "If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day so instead, teach him how to fish ".
In this new ad, the message is clear. When you are asked to do something, do it properly from the very beginning or the lost is nobody else's but yours to live with.
To my fellow Malaysian, Selamat Hari Merdeka!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Aquarium of the Pacific - Long Beach
Hey sexy!
Yours truly
Me and my baby.
Long Beach pier.
OK. I dont know how to fix the pic and caption so thts just how its gonna be for now until I know how to.
Monday, August 27, 2007
A Lot Better
Last week, Diana and baby Zara came to my apt twice. Tue, for assam laksa and Thur for kari kapitan udang and sweet and sour tilapia. I got the recipe for kari kapitan from Gert . I think that was the first time Iv had kari kapitan and oh my god, it was so good. Ya ya ya. I know it sounded a bit like 'masuk bakul angkat sendiri' but what can I say, it was really good. I took a pic but have yet to download the pic. Il do so sometime this week.
Today, I got an email from Gert saying that she sent me some kari/curry leaves. I rushed down to the mailbox coz I realised that I havent check it since last thur. True enough, there was a package for me from Gert. She not only sent me the curry leaves but also some other goodies that I wont mention here for I know some of u nanti jealous kat I. hahahhahahha. U guys have to call me to find out what she sent me. ;P
On another note, I watched 60 Minutes last night about the dangers that the Iraqis who worked as translators for U.S army in Iraq are facing now. Read/watch about it 60Minutes and let me know what you think.
P.S. Daphne, thank you for the here and here thingy! hehe..
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Its hot
Anyways, once in a while CA will get the heat wave. (Like right now!) We have been getting it since sunday and it will continue at least until the weekend. So what, you asked me? Sama aje macam KL/Msia you say? Well my dear readers, most of the apartment complexes here dont have air-cond. You heard me right. They cost an arm and a leg yet they cant even install the a/c unit! Its like sauna all day/night long. They have this cetralised-water-cooling-unit that basically does nothing to cool even our studio apartment. bodoh. grrrr...
Oklah. Im gonna stop now before i say anything stoopid. See y'all when the weather goes back to normal CA weather!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Disgusting Act - Human Trafficking
1. child prostitutions in Cambodia (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20186675/),
2. to catch a predator (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10912603/)
and last night's to the rescue, a story about a filipino woman rescued from human traffickers in Malaysia ( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20185681/).
Last night's show was the reason why im writing about it in my blog today because it happened in my country, Malaysia. Please click the 'Watch the Broadcast' section since the write-up doesnt really give a full account of what happened.
Human trafficking is a horrendous act. Unfortunately it happens everywhere. Ranked any countries all you want but its all about supply and demand. Until and unless we punish the culprit severely, its not going anywhere. We might not be able to completely stop this horrendous act from happening but im sure we can minimise it.
As for Malaysia, Id suggest that the punishment for those traffickers be as severe as drug traffickers i.e. HANG! Too cruel? We'v already made those drug traffickers think twice before they make our country their heaven with our 'punishable by hang' punishments so why cant we do the same to those who are into 'flesh' trade? Obviously its very lucrative therefore a fine and jail time (why should we, the tax payer have to pay for their stay in jail anyway?) is just not enough. On top of that, in cases like this (trafficking), the victims (legal or illegal) must first and foremost be classified as, well, victims rather than their status. Unless of course if they'r in the 'business' out of their own account than thats another storylah.
We need female cops who are well-trained (and empathetic) to this kind of situations. Not to mention a list of translators who should be made available 24/7 since most of the victims are of different nationality thus definitely wouldnt know how to speak Bahasa or maybe even English.
Those in Malaysia, particularly in Penang, anybody knows who these Dr.Ng or Kenny Kang are? Im not sure abt locating this kenny guy but im pretty sure its easy to locate the doctor. Holler to Health Minister! How about the cop/detective in I assume, 1 of the police stations in Penang? He was 'accused' by the ex-fbi guy of taking a bribe. I said accused since there's no prove whatsoever of him taking a bribe.
As for Chris Hansen, a good reporter can make a good report about other countries without insulting the countries main religion or their general population. Some of your remarks were un-called for. Its funny since in all your other reports, be it in your country or other countries, you never mentioned their religion but somehow you find it relevant to mention, "Despite its reputation as a conservative, predominantly Muslim nation, Malaysia has a thriving sex industry". What exactly are you trying to say? Its as if you forget that sick-minded people come in all shapes, colours, nationality or even religion. Shame on you.
For people trying to make money overseas to support their family, be very wary with the so-called agents who offers lucrative jobs. Its a basic rule of thumb, if you dont have the experience nor qualificatons, you will not get paid a lot, unless of course its your own company but if it is, there wont be any 'agent's involve will it? If you cant sing, dont apply for a job to be a singer.
Summarizing the story. A filipino woman sent to a nursing school in the philippines by her aunt and her american husband so she can work in the united states. she failed the exam thus her dream was put on hold. Offered a job as a singer in Malaysia when she was in a church. Trapped in the human traffic ring. Saved by her uncles' ex-fbi friend gung-ho styled. Returned to her family in the philippines and she seems happy, according to the interview w chris hansen with her limited english. Not mentioned in the story is whether her dream of coming to the US is going to be materialised or not. Its a matter of time.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Jackie Chan on Regis & Kelly
Its funny though coz as we all know, his English is not really good and they esp Regis, tried very hard to understand him. When he was asked if RH3 is a good movie, his answer was, "I dont know"! hahahahha. Very typical (in general) asian, humble that is.
Anyways, all I can say is that he is just a funny-as-hell man. Not to mention a very good actor.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Sambal Tumis Udang
A. 10-15pcs prawn, de-veined
1/2 onion, sliced
B. 1 bottle of sambal oelek (theyr available at regular supermarket too)
5 fresh red chili
1 onion
3in ginger
vege oil (abt 1/4cup )
1/2cup water
1 teaspoon powdered tamarind (or 3tablespoon of fresh tamarind juice)
2 tablespoon salt
1 cup sugar
1. Grind all ingredients in B.
2. Heat up the oil in the wok (med high) and put the B ingredients in. Keep stirring for about 10min.
3. Add water, tamarind powder/juice, salt and sugar. Continue stirring for 4-5min. Taste and add salt/sugar if necessary.
4. Put in the prawn and sliced onion, stir a little a bit and cover for 3-4min.
5. Uncover, stir and taste. Let it set for another 3-4min and serve.
6. Enjoy!
When I made them last week, I made enough that I had the nasi lemak for 2 days and 2 nights straight. Im not kidding you. I did! I also put half of them in a tupperware and freeze them so the next time time I crave for nasi lemak, I dont have to trouble myself. All I have to do is, make the rice and re-heat my sambal tumis.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Nasi Lemak Sambal Tumis Udang
Friday, July 27, 2007
So sweet
"Regis is sweet and funny and confused. So he made me feel wanted and needed"
- Joy Philbin on being asked abt her husband, Regis Philbin, host of Regis & Kelly show on Friday July 27 show.
Owww... isnt that so sweet? ;)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Love (not) thy Neighbour
Anyway, yesterday I had an incident with 1 of our neighbours. I dont exactly know who that person is but Im gonna call her "bitch" in this story. Im also assuming that its a, her. Before I start, let me just say that when it comes to laundry and/or clothes, Im a very particular person. I have my own "system" in washing, drying and folding them. Especially folding. I fold them in a certain way and will not be satisfied until and unless its done exactly that (my) way. Maybe 1 day I will tell the story when I was in UiTM but today its about the bitch neighbour.
There are 2 washers and 2 dryers in the laundry room on each floor. Unfortunately for the past 2 weeks, 1 of the dryers have not been working properly which left us with only 1 functional dryer.
So yesterday as usual 2 loads of laundry. With only 1 dryer to work with, I had to do them 1 by 1 (obviously!). When I was putting the 2nd load in, I saw that both the washers are already being used and somehow I had this feeling that that person is going to mess with my clothes in the dryer after she's done with the washing. I dont know why I felt that way since Iv never had any problem before but I did. True enough, 45min later when I went to the laundry room to pick up the clothes, they were all on the folding table and the dryer was being used with the time saying 32min left. My clothes were not just taken out from the dryer but they were taken out before the 45min were up! I was so furious. In my head i was already thinking of;
1. taking the bitch's clothes out and put them on the floor and step on them.
2. putting them into the dustbin (in the laundry room)
3. putting them into the rubbish chute (goes down str8 to the big dustbin in the basement)
But Im a good person/housewife/neighbour so I let the bitch go easily. I only opened the door of the dryer.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Chicken on a skewer a.k.a. Satay Ayam
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Presenting... Darwisy!
Friday, July 13, 2007
Kaiser SUCKS!
Medical care in the US is so different from Malaysia. Although I have never needed a gynae then, I do know that if you're trying to get pregnant, you just go and make an appointment to see one. So after telling the customer service what I want (to get/go thru fertility treatment), I was finally given a date, a month and a half away from the day that I called. I was told that they would send me a reminder about my appointment. Did they? NO. Fine ......
On the day of my appointment, June 25, i found out that I was seeing a certified nurse midwife (CNM). (Can someone please highlight me if a cnm is a gynae? Im serious. I really need someone to tell me if there's a diff between those 2) Since Iv already done my paps smear 2 mths earlier so I didn need to take another one. All that she has to do is put my name in the computer to sign me up for the fertility class or something like that. (for that we parted with $30 for our co-pay) Iwas told that somebody would call me to set the appointment date for the class. Sounds familiar? Of course nobody called.
So earlier today, I called the customer service (her name is Angela) again hoping that THEY will do something about it or at least let me know what the hell is going on in their multi-million dollar facilities. I am not easily angered if I get the service that I expected. And that's the key-word. SERVICE. When I pay for a service, I expect that I would have to do the minimum and THEY, do the rest. Imagine how I felt when i was told to call the CNM myself to find out what happened to my appointment and that the call never came? I let all my dissatisfaction known to her. She, on the other hand told me to contact the CNM myself. Basically telling me tht its my duty to make sure that THEY give me a call so that I get the appointment that I needed. Does that even make sense? And to make my blood-go-upstairs even more, since I keep questioning her why I need to do all that, she rudely just said to me, "im going to tranfer your call to the doctor's voicemail now" and thats it. She just transfered my call. Anak haram sungguh! Pardon my language.
Dealing with the insurance/medical here is like walking in a maze. Its just so frustratingly frustrating. And I still dont know what is it that we have to do or need before we can actually get the treatment that we want. Or if even need any treatment.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Dapurku Masih Berasap
Being lazy-me, I got the basic idea fr her foodblog and then made my own sauce. I just sauteed the thinly sliced ginger with some olive oil, add abt 1.5 cup of white wine and half-cup water until it boils. Add the clam and cubed tomatos, cover for about 3-4min. Uncover, add salt, sugar and pepper to taste and stir for another 1-2min. Pour on top of cooked fettuccine.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Polis oh Polis!
The OC Register's special section last Sunday reported that law enforcement & fire-fighting are among the top government occupation in OC (Orange County) . The hourly rate was given while the yearly figures were calculated at 40/hrs a week for 52 weeks. (For those esp in Msia, you might wanna kno tht for every hr after the 40hrs/week the o/t rate is usually at 1.5x. )
1. Police/sheriff's patrol officers - $35.30/hr @ $73,424.00/pa - Moderate-term-on-the-job training
2. Civil engineers - $34.55/hr @ $71,864.00/pa - Bachelor's degree
3. Rehabilitation counsellors - $17.09/hr @ $35,547.20 - Master's degree
4. Detectives and criminal investigators - $39.65/hr @ $82,472.00/pa - Appropriate work experience
5. Fire fighters - $24.22/hr @ $50,377.60/pa - Long-term on-the-job training
Now lets go back to Malaysia for a second. If im not mistaken, the starting pay for police personnels in Malaysia is around RM900/mth or RM10,800/yr(?). Yes, they'r not as good as other police personnels in other countries but as the saying goes, "pay w peanuts and you will definitely get monkeys". With crime rates going up, I seriously think that our government should do/invest more in our police force. If I have any say at all this is what I would have them do prior to being hired:
1. Do a thorough background check to be sure that they dont have any criminal records.
2. Strenous physical training & martial arts classes- we need cops who can and WILL chase after those snatch thieves and actually catch them!
3. Be at least bi-lingual (Malay/English)
4. Pass the necessary exam papers required
5. Take empathy class/test - anybody dealt w those attitude-macam-s**l??
Once they've passed all of the above, then only they'l be interviewed for the job. By then, hopefully we'l finally have a police force that we can really be proud of and trust.
Next topic, im gonna venture on what we, Malaysian are expecting from our very own Polis DiRaja Malaysia (PDRM). ;)
Monday, July 9, 2007
Banned by PBS - Muslims Against Jihad
Taken from FOXnews.com:
Banned by PBS: Muslims Against Jihad
Friday, July 06, 2007
Saturday, July 7 at 8 p.m. ETHosted by E.D. Hill
Tune in this weekend, as FOX News Channel presents the documentary the Public Broadcasting System didn't want you to see.
It's a film about the difference between moderate Muslims and the radicals who want to kill us. It asks where are the moderate Muslims and why aren't they speaking out against the jihadists? And it was financed with $675,000 of taxpayers' money.
It was commissioned as part of the PBS series "America at the Crossroads" about the post 9/11 world, but PBS executives rejected it.
PBS claims the filmmakers were "alarmist, overreaching and unfair."
The filmmakers say they were censored because of liberal bias at PBS.
On a topic this important, we think you have the right to decide for yourself.
Im still not sure how to get youtube on my blog and there are 8 parts of them on youtube. Here are part 1 & 2 of the show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGkrnDpH6sg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_HVZrDdt4o
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
SayaSaya
5 Things found in your bag
1. A set of keys - Back in PA, we were locked out of the apt when Michael forgot to bring the key after making a call to his mom. Yesterday, we went to the apt's office to renew our lease and he didn bring his keys again! Wht I learned?.. to always bring my keys even if i dont bring my handbag.
2. Cellphone - so tht Michael can call me or in case i sesat. Maklumlah stil new in CA.
3. Purse - well, who doesn bring purse when they go out? :P
4. Old receipts - dont ask me why but sometimes once theyr put in my bag, they stay there for a while.
5. Ciggie - im a smoker and i smoke 2 brands.. marlboro lights and djarum menthol (they dontv sampoerna here)
5 favourite things in your room - (since we live in a studio apt, its gonna be my fav in my room back at my parents place)
1. Queen size bed - i need to sleep on something!
2. A bottle of water - i always keep 1 within an arms length.
3. Remote control for tv, hifi, a/c
4. TV, hifi, a/c - since i need to use the remote controls on something, right?
5. Books, cellphone, hse phone & notebook - Long distance relationship needs a notebook to see each other, phone line to get connected, cellphone to talk to each other while online and i need to read a book when we were not online. ;P
5 Things you have always wanted to do
1. Go back to school to study finance
2. Learn how to sew - so tht i can make my own pillow cases and curtains
3. Give a huge monthly allowance to my mom
4. Introduce Michael to my best fren Lin & Stu in NZ
5. Get back at my ex-fiance and his whole family - yes im very bitter but they'r the worst kind of all!
5 Things you are currently into
1. Prenatal vitamins - hahahhah... but we are trying to get pregnant :P
2. Reading other ppl's blog
3. Looking for a job
4. TV - did i say im a tv junkie?
5. Surviving
5 People you want to tag
Well, since im new to the blogging world and very bad at doing this tagging 'sayasaya' thingy, im gonna leave it to others to continue the tagging.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Kejap Ada ... Kejap Takde
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Destination Truth ... Malaysia
Let me give you a dose of my daily ritual. My fav channel in the morning would be ABC. At 8am there would be Good Morning America (GMA), followed by Regis & Kelly at 9am and then The View at 10am. I do have to say tho that I enjoyed The View better when Rosie was 1 of the hosts. After that it will depend on what sci-fi channel has to offer. Yes, I have to admit that I like watching 'weird' shows. From Twilight Zone to Outer Limits to Ghost Hunters to A Haunting and series like Medium, Eureka, The Dresden File, CSI, The 4400, Bones and lots more. Funny when it seems like everybody I know are into the likes of 24 and Grey's Anatomy, I, on the other hand, dont even like those 2.
Ok, back to the topic. On scifi channel tonight, they'r showing Destination Truth and the destination for tonight's show is where else? .... Malaysia! Before I get to it, let me tell you that I get excited at the mention of Malaysia/Malaysian. When I found out that Malaysia was 1 of the pit stops during the last Amazing Race, you bet I was glued to the tv! I get all teary eyed and nostalgic when they showed the twin tower (my fav place for shopping), Kg Baru (ah those nasi lemak a'bangsa and rice porridge) and even those, "surat khabar lama". So when I heard that tonight's episode in Destination Truth is about Bigfoot in Malaysia, I of course get excited. The Bigfoot thingy doesnt sound exciting to me. I mean, come on.... Bigfoot? Its not really a Malaysian thing, is it? Tho i have indeed read about this guy who found the foot print some time early this year or maybe it was late last year? But anywho, previous episode in Thailand was about naga and they also showed him trying to catch 'ghost'. That's wht really got me excited about tonight's episode. I think Malaysia is so rich with her ghosts stories and personally i find Malaysian (or any asian country) ghost scarier than the western ghosts. (have any of u guys watch Thai movie "Nang Nak"?) Not that iv seen any of them with my own eyes (as much as i like watching and hearing the stories, i dont think i ever want to see them) but I have heard so many stories from friends and relatives.
Im stopping now but I will definitely update after iv seen the show tonight with either a thumbs up or down.
************************************************************************************
Update
Well, here I am for the update on last night's episode. Sadly I have to give a thumbs down ... sigh. There's nothing much to say actually besides what i wrote yesterday.. bigfoot? :P
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Kucing Tidur
Recently I bought a whole durian from the asian supermarket. Its definitely not cheap. For a 3.3lb, I had to fork out about USD17. I didn realise it was that pricey until I was at the check out counter. But I told myself, "takpelah. bukan selalu dapat makan durian". Hehe.. And I also chose it myself, doing all the things that ur supposed to do in choosing a good durian e.g. smelling them.
Anyways, in my family, 'kucing tidur' is the term that we use to describe when there's only seulas durian in each of the pangsa.