Kejap Ada ... Kejap Takde

I love that cookie commercial. I know its an old one but the phrase, "kejap ada.. kejap takde" (now u see it ... now u dont) seemed to have etched on my brain somehow and never fail to bring a smile to my-not-so-often-smiling-face. But oh no mem! Im not talking about the cookies now. Im talking about the internet connection or the lack of it that im experiencing since yesterday. Its so driving me crazy. Its not completely out of service but more of, well.. kejap ada.. kejap takde case. At times, id be able to chat on yahoo msgr and checking my emails but i cant seem to open my blog. Other times, Id have no problem whatsoever surfing the internet but cant seem to log in to my yahoo msgr. Im not sure if it has anything to do w the fact that Michael has left all his game making folders/softwares/whtever-u-call-them like 3dmax, maya etc on the desktop. Maybe has something to do w it and maybe it doesnt but i did ask him to clear the desktop. If the problem prolonged then id have to find something/(one) else to blame :P

Destination Truth ... Malaysia

I have to admit that im a tv junkie. Even more so eversince I moved to the US. (Maybe it has something to do with the fact that im no longer a working woman :P)

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

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.

News from Home

I come from a big family. At least that's what Michael says. Eventhough I only have 3 brothers (2 older and 1 younger) but both my older brothers (Fahrin & Nizam) have 4 kids (7 girls/1boy) and my younger brother (Rizal) has a triplet (2boys/1girl) and the wife is due with the fourth one (most likely a boy) sometime next month. I think wht makes me have a big family is because of the extended ones, aunties, uncles, counsins and their children. So basically I do have a big family and Im close to almost all of them. ;)

2 weeks ago I sent a couple of dolls to my eldest brother's kids and after making sure that they have received them, I decided to give my sis-in-law (Siti) in Kuantan a call. It was good to hear fr my nieces, my aunt (who happens to be there too) and her. After talking for a while, she mentioned that she spoke to my dad earlier in the day. And the news is not good. Besides high blood pressure, my dad broke his spine when he fell while avoiding a motorcyclist in 2005. Even after the surgery his back never really healed. He now can only walk a short distance and even then he has to use a cane. Then, last raya, he got a minor stroke after accidentally eating dodol durian. (he didn kno it has durian in it). Siti said his speech has deteriorate and its getting harder to understand him. He is also getting forgetful.

That is just the kind of news thats hard to hear when you, as the child, are living abroad, far away from home. On top of that, Rizal who is with TUDM is being transferred to Kuching end of this month. Rizal and I have always lived with our parents and after I moved to the US, he and his wife, Fara have been looking after our parents. Now that they're moving to Kuching, Im worried about my mom and dad. Eventhough my mom is, alhamdulillah, healthy, she's not young anymore. With my dad being ill and frail, looking after him is no easy task.

I feel guilty. I feel like iv failed in my task in being a good daughter. After I finished school, I promise myself that Im going to look after my parents when they retire. But Allah has another plan for me and here i am in the US, away from home and my parents. Its not any easier either when all my moms side of the family are in Kuching and my dad's in JB except for 1 aunt (Ende Li) who lives in Kajang. All my aunts, uncles and cousins fr JB visit them often but Ende Li and family, being the closest, always came over. Even Fahrin and family from Kuantan often visit especially after the arrival of the triplet. ;)

There's nothing that I want more now than to be able to go home.

USD1000/day

Ok I guess by now everybody knows tht the hilton heiress is back in "jail" or correctional treatment centre. While some people are cheering, the others esp lawyers (who were interviewed during the news) are saying its a very unfair treatment to the vip. They accused the judge of sentencing the heiress for who she is rather than wht she had done. I doubt there's anybody who doesn know wht she had done tht brings her to the mess tht she's in now but il amused you anyways. She was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) for which she was fined (1500), attended DUI classes and 36mths probation. A few mths later, she was stopped twice while driving on a suspended license. So weird since she's sooo rich and obviously can afford to hire a driver.

Im not going to comment on tht since i dont know how many days would u have to spend in jail for dui nor do i want to experience it myself. God forbids! What I dont understand is, why does it cost 1k/day for her treatment when the same treatment for other female inmates would only cost 99/day? Whos carrying the cost? I doubt they can charge her insurance for the "medical treatment" tht shes getting in jail so obviously it's coming from the tax-paying-middle-income ppl like us.

Harvesting

Its such a joy to eat something that you planted yourself. ;) Iv already used 4 of my Thai chili for my sambal belacan and ate 1 of the ripe tomato with sambal belacan and rice. As my friend Bert says, "its harvesting season".

Hiking

Before I came to the US, I was pretty active. There would be almost daily visits to the gym, early Sunday morning run with the gymrats (after a night of drinking at HRC) and hiking. I wasnt keen on running until I climbed Mt Kinabalu in 2003 (pics are at my fotopages). Somehow after that, my friends managed to persuade me to enter the 10km run during the KL marathon and that was the beginning of my love for running.

Then I moved to the US and things changed. Nowadays I hardly do any walking wht more running. So a few weeks ago we decided to do some hiking. Since we are fairly new to CA, we dont really know any good nearby place to hike. After doing some online research online, we decided to check out this park in Anaheim Hill. I dont remember the name but here are some of the pics tht we took.

Seeking more info

Looking for a job? Want to find out more about the company that you're applying to? Go to masterseek.Masterseek’s global search engine provides quick and free access to company profiles, contact information, and descriptions of products and services from more than 45 million companies in 75 countries. You can also search in your own country or worldwide and find business partners, sales opportunities and new avenues to expand your business and increase your company’s profitability Enter your company profile and showcase your products and services to the global community

She's out!

Yes the socialite Paris Hilton was release from the prison this morning. How I found out about it? Im watching The View now and they just announced it. So what do you think? Is it fair?

Opportunity

I found out about Bloggerwave through kayatan.com recently. She is kinda a wonder woman and always finding ways to make extra money. I would say her forte is in investment and gold is her favourite. I, on the other hand, being a fulltime housewife, dont have the capital for that of course. But I found bloggerwave very easy to use and free! they are currently looking for bloggers and all you have to do is register with them and start making money.

The best thing about them (besides being free) is that they are still new so like any other thing, your chances of making money is greater.

Current Buzz in Malaysia

Berita panas macam pisang goreng.

Its everywhere. In local newspapers, other Malaysian's blogs and even on Bloomberg.

Yes, our Prime Minister is getting married. This Saturday!

Congratulations Pak Lah and Jeanne Danker Abdullah! Selamat Pengantin Baru.

Hunting

No! no! no! Not that kind of hunting. :P Where to go hunting in the city lah wei?! lol! Last week we received a memo from the mgt of the apartment tht we'r renting now. Basically reminding us tht our lease is up and if we'r gonna continue staying here or pack up and leave. Cant believe that we'v been in CA for almost a year now. (Cant believe tht the rent is going up either! yikes! )

We're seriously thinking about moving somewhere closer to his work place in Seal Beach but since Seal Beach is so freaking expensive, we're looking for nearby places withing 5-6miles radius. So last weekend, thats what we did. Finding all the apartments within our budget and nearby his work place. We must have seen at least 10-12 apartment complex. Most of them, unfortunately, are either fully occupied or look more like a motel than an apartment. When we started the day, i was really phyched or as we Malay say it, "semangat berkobar-kobar". I tell you, I actually thought that it was going to be fun. But after 2hours, i felt anything but. I cant believe how tiring, both physically and mentally, apartment hunting can be. Not to mention how bad some apartment can be in CA. To add insult to the injury, some of the apartment managers didnt even return our calls.

Some of them told us that they'l only know if they have anything available in the first week of July and even told us to give our 30-days notice for the apartment that we're renting now and only start looking then. How lah like that? What if there's no apartment available after we give the notice? Where are we going to live while waiting for any vacancy? Not very smart are they? If we have a family here oklah but we're both "anak dagang" in CA. Mine in KL and his in PA.

So right now, I memang tengah pening kepala. Thats why instead of writing in English, im writing in Manglish (Malay/English). Kepala tengah serabut and with my tongue keep touching the chipped tooth, definitely doesn help.

On a different subject, I have lotsa pics that I took during the bday party, more durian and of my red tomatoes waiting to be d/loaded. Not to mention that I havent done the laundry yet. Or think of what im supposed to make for dinner tonight. You see now why i pening kepala?

Oh no, not again!

After a few weeks of following Michael to the dentist, my time has finally come. Im supposed to go back to the dentist for a while now but Michael for some reason didn want me to have my tooth done at the same time when he's getting his done. But yesterday my tooth broke/chipped while i was happily munching my newly fried keropok belinjau. That was the second time i had my tooth broke/chipped while munching something thats not even hard. The first time was when i was having, would you believe it? ... mango? and it was my front tooth, mind you. grrr!

Oh well, I have to wait for next monday before I can see the dentist. Not that I couldnt go earlier but we only have 1 car so I can only go when he goes next week.

In the meantime, i have to keep remembering to munch on the right side for i dont want to make it worse.

Surprise Bday for Hubby

Update: Since I finally d/loaded the pic, im moving this post to the actual date of Michael's bday.

I like organising things. Be it birthday parties or just a party. I remember back home when I was still working, my friends would ask me to organise them. I dont usually pick the place, time and what not but what i would do is send the memos/invite to all the invitees and making sure they rsvp-ed me. Trust me, id practically hunt each and everyone in the list for their answers since rsvp is really not a Malaysian thingy. :P And im very persistent!

Michael's bday is not until this fri but with the dental appointments/works, he's only free fr taking the medicine last week and can finally consume alcohol. So I decided to surprise him with an early birthday party last fri. Since it was on a friday, (working day for most) I can only invite a few friends who live in close vicinity with us. I apologise to those who werent invited. Not that I dont want to but I know its impossible for you guys to come right after work if you live more than 10miles away from us.

Anyways, I thought it was going to be easy planning the 'surprise' thing for him. I mean, its just getting a few friends to come over and make sure they dont tell him anything, right? if only it was that easy. For one, we live in the same apartment (we are afterall, married :P) Secondly, we only have 1 car so its not easy being discreet in buying stuff. Lastly, he usually leave work at 4pm and got home around 4.20pm so i told everybody to come around 4. At 2.45pm, his co-worker called to let me know that they're being released from work 1hr earlier. OMG! I started to panic since Shirley & Kevin were only coming at 3 to take me to the store to get some stuff. I called BeeYinn, and she too couldn come earlier since she was making egg tarts for the party and they're still in the oven. I called Shirley and she told me to get Michael to go to the store and get something just to buy some time. The problem was, I have to wait for him to call me since i wasnt supposed to know that he's coming home early! So, that cant work. And he didnt call since he wanted to surprise me. The call finally came at 3.20 asking me where I was since I wasnt there when he got home. lol! He didnt suspect anything until the guests started coming.

I made nasi lemak (sambal udang, fried ikan bilis, boiled eggs and cucumber) and beef satay (marinated w onion, ginger, coriander seed, salt and sugar for 36hrs and grilled on the electric grill). Kevin and Shirley brought the cheesecake from cheesecake factory (yummy yummy) and BeeYinn brought some homemade mini egg tarts ( i want more!). Unfortunately nobody remembered to take pictures of the food before we ate. Duh me! lol!

I did take some pics of that night and going to upload them on my fotopages (with the same username as my blog) when Iv sorted them out. It was a great day and Michael and I had such a great time. I hope everybody had a great time too. Thank you to all my friends who came to the party and helping me in organising the party! I love you guys/gals.