My Worst Nightmare

.... came true. Today I found out something that just broke my heart and I really dont know what to do. I know my instinct was almost always right and today its proven again. You know tht funny feeling that you sometimes had? At first I was numb. Then I started shaking. 2 hours later the tears finally came down.

Truth, hurts ...

*******************************************************

Sudan

Sudan: Bombing Blocks Access to New Refugees

20 February 2008 (Posted to the web 20 February 2008)

Dakar

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is warning that its teams in eastern Chad that have been providing assistance to 10,000 newly arrived refugees from Sudan's West Darfur region have been forced to withdraw because of aerial bombing across the border, close to where the refugees are located.

"Aerial bombing overnight and this morning in West Darfur, Sudan, close to the border with Chad, has forced UNHCR to withdraw its team caring for newly arrived refugees in the Birak area away from the insecure border," UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis said in a statement on 19 February.

Read more on all.Africa.com.

Images of Darfur by Jon Nicholson

Take Action


On Valentine's Day last week, my brother was sent to Sudan as part of the UN Peace Mission. When I called him on the day that he was leaving, he didnt know yet where in Sudan he was going to be posted but he is going to be there for a year. I still remember when my mom told me about it last month, I think my heart stops beating for a few second. Im sure as hard as it is for me, it has to be harder for the wife with 3 toddlers and 1 infant.

Long Weekend and Jumper

Another long weekend and this time its for President's Day. It seems like this year, a lot of holidays fall on Monday and since Michael works with the government, it means that he gets ALL of them. Some of you (esp in Msia) may start saying, "whts the big deal?". Well, it IS a big deal since here not everybody gets off on ALL holidays. Most companies only close for Xmas, Thanksgiving and July 4th (plus a couple others) and they have floating holidays where you have to choose whc holidays you want to be off and which you dont which means that you have to come to work.

Anyways, we decided to watch the movie Jumper despite the not-so-good reviews that we'v been hearing. I mean, after watching Cloverfield, im up to watching anything! :P It turns out to be not as bad as the reviews say. It's a bit childish-like movie but nevertheless still entertaining.

One other thing that I like about going to the cinema to watch a movie is that I get to know what movies would be coming out soon. So far Im excited about Hellboy II, Prince Caspian The Chronicles of Narnia (yes i love Narnia!), Indiana Jones and Angelina Jolie's new movie Wanted.

But is there any M.Night Shyamalan fan out there? I know I am. Huge fan of his movies to the point that I think I tend to be biased when it comes to his movies. At least thats what Michael told me. He knows that at a mere mentioning of M.Night Shyamalan, id be telling him, "oh we'r definitely gonna see that!" in a heart beat. Dont care wht its about or whos in it. All I care is that if it comes from the him then I must watch it. Anyways, his new movie is called The Happening and its coming out on June 13th this year.

Michael told me that we should wait for it to come out on dvd (gasp!). I dont think I can wait that long. From my past experiences, his movies usually take a long time before they finally come out on dvd and I cannot (read:would not!) wait that long. Lagipun sini mana dvd ciplak bukan macam kat msia, kan? Trust me, Im definitely going to the cinema to watch it. With him of course! ;)

Strawberries Cookies for Valentine's Day

Tomorrow is a Valentine's Day. Wikipedia says that, "In North America, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. The holiday is named after two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished."

Im not too crazy about valentine's day especially the over-charged flowers. I mean I dont have to have flowers that cost 3x more than the other 363 days (they usually start jacking up the price 2-3 days before valentine's day) in the year. A card or even just a wish expressing his love to me (though he says it a few times a day) is enough to make me happy. Yup, its easy (and cheap too!) to make me happy. lol!

Anyways, I just thought its appropriate to make some cookies for this day. Im still new with baking and have yet to have a collection of cookie cutter thus my cookies are just plain round but I like the buttery texture. The strawberry topping compliments the taste nicely. *note to self, go to michael's to get some cookie-cutter*

7oz butter (softened not melted)

1/2 cup sugar

2-2 1/2 cups multi-purpose flour

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Strawberry jam (for topping)

Preheat oven at 325F

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth.

Add the egg, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Continue beating for another 2min.

Gradually add in the flour and stir using a wooden spoon until well blended.

Roll the dough about an inch in diameter. Flattened it a little bit by pressing the top with your index finger to create a 'hole' for the topping.

Put about 1/2teaspoon of strawberry jam on each of the cookies and lay them on a non-stick cookie sheet, an inch apart.

Bake for 20min.

Assam Pedas

Recently Rasa Malaysia made laksa penang which looks so mouth watering that I have to have something sour myself. Since making laksa is a bit too time consuming for me and not to mention that I dontv half of the ingredients, I decided to make Assam Pedas. I took the recipes from drNo and Jun and then changed them a lil bit according to wht I have and my level of malas-ness. Yes, this is the somewhat easy(/lazy)-edition of Assam Pedas.

1-2 piece of fish (anything except salmon)

1 cup water

daun kesum or polyganum leaves (thanks RM for the translation)

7-10 okra/ladyfinger/bendi

4-5 tablspoon tamarind juice (1tablespoon tamarind soup powder)

salt and sugar to taste

3 tbspoon vegetable oil

Blended ingredients;

2 shallots

1/2 red onion

1 garlic

2in ginger

10 tbspoon of sambal oelek (chili paste)

1 teaspoon of tumeric powder

2 teaspoons belacan

1. Heat the oil (medium heat) and add the blended ingredients. Stir for 5-6min

2. Put in the water and add the rest once its boil. Flip the fish one or twice.

3. Cover and simmer for 10min.

This is how I eat my assam pedas. With rice, cut tomatoes and cucumber for salad and sambal belacan. Not seen in the picture is the sweet soy sauce. I cant eat my rice without them!

Gong Xi Fa Chai

Wishing all my Chinese friends and readers,

GONG XI FA CHAI!

p.s. Drive safely and if you're gonna be away from home, make sure all the doors and windows are locked.

Tagged

Kerp tagged me last week on using photobucket. I, being so blur didnt know wht the hell was he talking about thus had to embarass myself and ask him. Thank god the explanation was simple and the tag was easy enough to do though some of the answers dont come with any picture at all or relevant picture. Anyways, here is how it goes;

1) Answer the questions below
2) Take each answer and type it into Photobucket
3) Take any picture from the results

1. What is your occupation?

But what I aspire to become is...

cum

And eventually

2. What is your mother's name?

3. What kind of car do you drive?

5. What kind of car do you want to drive?

5. What do you like to do in your spare time?

6.what thing do you collect?

7.what is your father’s first name? (dont ask me why this pic)

8.describe your mood right now

9. what is your biggest fear?

10. Favourite word?

A Lil Bit of this A lil Bit of that

Its still a lil bit cold here and it has not been raining since Tue (I think) though you can bet thats not the end of it. According to the weather forecast, we'd be seeing some rain on Sun. Well, we'll see. ;)

Now is there American Idol fan out there? I am! especially during the audition period. Hehe. Anyways, on Wednesday the trio (Simon, Paula and Randy ler) were in Miami. The usual stuff, some good singers some horrible until the duo Brittany and Corliss's turn. They really caught my attention (and Michael's!). I know its still early in the season and there're still a lot of auditioning to be done but these 2, i tell you, great voice, great personalities and are just simply fantabulous! They are my personal favs so far.

*************************************************************

Today is Feb 1 (or yesterday if you count the time diff) which is a Federal Territory day in Malaysia. A public holiday for KL, Labuan and Putrajaya. So Selamat Hari Wilayah peeps! Not that it means anything more to me (then) other than its another cuti (holiday). Yup. I dont discriminate cuti. I take them all. Theres more holidays in Msia then it is here. And recently Thaipusam was also declared a public holiday. Its about time id say. ;)

Now that we'r on the topic of holiday, lets talk about Chinese New Year thats coming next thurs. I know some of my friends who are not going back this year are already feeling sad. I feel for them. Living overseas, being far away from home, family and friends is especially hard during festive seasons. Be it CNY, Raya, Deepavali or Xmas, whcever one you'r celebrating. I miss seeing the street decorations, mall decorations, the shopping buzz and the open houses. Usually this time around, my friends and I would already be busy talking about whos gonna have open house. When. Where. Planning of how to get there which we would usually convoy in several cars. Being single then, we also get to tumpang sekaki with the angpow. ;) And then there would be the yee-sang dinner w clients and bosses. Well, the list of activities would go on and on. Here in the US, the only 'decorations' ud see now would be the valentine's day deco. Guess I just have to pretend and imagine (real hard!) that those are CNY's decorations. sigh..