Yan - Breathe Easy

It's day two today in Yan, Kedah. Everything is so calm here in this quaint town not far from the majestic Gunung Jerai in Kedah. Life is aid back; the refreshing sight of green paddy fields stretches as far as the eyes can see. An old farmer and wife suddenly came in view; carving a friendly smile that could melt one's heart.

Paddy fields and Gurung Jerai

Tukang jahit shop....they still do it the old fashion way

Fifty cents for a packet of nasi lemak!! No way you'd find these in KL

Yummmyyyy.....(just too bad that I don't take rice in the morning)

No rush, no queues at the traffic light. An old Pak Cik came to us and patted on one of my team members. He asked us what's our business in this small town; distance away from where we hail. Upon relating to him our mission, came a satisfied look on his face; indicating that he was ever so grateful with our efforts in helping the local children in their learning.

Yes, that's our mission here - to open the children's eyes to technology and the wonders that they can explore once they overcome their inhibitions.

Yan children....believe in yourself. Yes, you can do it!!

On the Road Again

On the road again
Just can't wait to get on the road again.
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again.
On the road again

Goin' places that I've never been.
Seein' things that I may never see again...

Gonna be singing that tune by Willie Nelson like a broken record.

I'm doing a trip up north tomorrow. Destination this time - Yan, Kedah :) Will be there till Saturday. Gunung Jerai & laksa Kedah here I comeee :)

Bake & Celebrate

I hardly bake, actually. But work related stress had me trying my luck - sweat dripping by the oven sometime last week. Tried making cookies from a recipe I googled on the Internet. I still have a long way to go, that's for sure.

Anyway, these nutty chocs turned out not too bad and kids finished the plateful at one go.

Last weekend, the "crazy feeling" to bake came again. The many pictures (which most of the time made me drool) posted by superb bakers on FB, got me taking out my baking stuffs. And result of the hard work were these cuties (puji sendiri lah kan....).

We named them "Lil Pink Buttons" - plain butter cup cakes with sugar icing on top.

These was also another reason to celebrate. Our anniversary; as usual, it slipped my mind again this year. Only remembered it when I was driving the girls to their activities on Saturday. I could have sworn I entered important dates to my BB. Err....perhaps I did, but I did not save after doing so (which is very typical of me....)

It wasn't possible to do much of a celebration on Saturday itself as girls' program got us occupied till late afternoon. So how did we celebrate? Were there fireworks? Blimp across Shah Alam sky? Oh tidakkk....no need for that lah. Instead we opted to go do our favourite pass time -makan-makan :)

Dinner was here on Sunday evening.

The girls...

The shy guy....

The couple... (of 23 years & many, many kilos heavier and centimeters wider)

The couple back then (ohhh how to get back to that size again???)

Say What???

If it hadn’t been the workspace being such an open office, I would have slammed down the phone with all my might. Trying to look cool and demure as blood gushed to my face was something I could no longer do. I wanted to scream at some one. And I wanted so badly to shake the person on the other line too. I wanted to be expressive and demonstrative, but the “good me” stopped myself from doing so.

No scream, no hair pulling, nothing. Disappointed? Yes, that too. But there was no point making a fool out of myself. In this case, it was just not worth it.

So now what exactly happened? And why did earth shake? And why was I so bl*r*y annoyed?

Bureaucratic, none other then the bureaucratic crap with a capital B (yes, allow yourself to be creative and descriptive when figuring out the most appropriate “B” word).

I assume that’s just how the culture is at some work place. YOU work for us, WE are the boss (and make things difficult). Just my bad karma that my team is stucked with such stiff characters – the typical by the book, “no way Jose I’m gonna accommodate you” mentality.

Yesterday was such a frustrating day for my team and I. We spent the entire day tracking PIC - persons-in-charge (well we thought they were coz their names were clearly printed in the memo). And after being given the wild goose chase, we were told that, “Oh…A is not the person you should be talking to. It’s actually D, but D is away and F is the one helping out but F is also away attending training!! And there’s nothing that can be done till mid next week.”

Tell me now how not to blow your top. From 8 in the morning till office hours ended, our effort went futile - such a waste of time.

I was so tempted to write one long lengthy email to voice my concerns, but ruffling feathers may have other consequences later. Anyway write email I did, but when comparing my first draft to the actual one (less fiery, less exclamation marks) I sent out, I wonder if the persons concerned got my message. What puzzles me is that how come these PICs have failed to remember that their main responsibility is to serve the people.

So much for “rakyat didahulukan, pencapaian diutamakan” huh?

Angie's Tag

Yes, Cat-in-Sydney, I’m doing your tag now. Bet you must be thinking that I had forgotten about it.

Angelina dear, no, I have not forgotten about it. Tag is fresh on my mind, just that time didn’t permit me (yahh…good excuse kan!!) to google my external hard disk for that number 8 photo folder and select the 8th photo.

Anyway, I finally got hold that 8th photo.

This picture of a floating home was taken during my visit to Siem Reap couple of years back.

The floating village is found on Tonle Sap Lake - a popular tourist spot, 20 - 30 mins drive from Siem Reap. Only accessible by boat, Chong Khneas is a community literally living off, and living in houses floating on, the edge of the great lake. As soon as one enters the village, houses such as these will come into view.

You need to have really strong tolerance to the smell and sight as the boat takes you further into the lake. The smell surrounding the area is definitely not for the weak heart. If fish is not your pleasantry (Angie, you are an exception lah) , you may need to plug your nose through out the boat ride as strong fish stench lingers (heavenly??) in the atmosphere.

I imagine these home owners go about leading life like any normal household on land. As we toured the village, we saw them using water from the lake for washing and bathing. Looking at the murkiness, you realize that it’s not even remotely clean. But such is life with these village people where many of these stateless ethnic Vietnamese, are grindingly poor.

Okay, tag done. And am I gonna pass the baton after this??
Tak kot.... Reason nya, I like the eights to be just "88".

Angie, tak pe kan??? You tak marah kan....
Ooohhh.....jangan marah, nanti kena jual :D

EARTH HOUR 2010

Five minutes before the designated time for lights-off, everyone was ready with candles. As always us girls were more excited than the guys at home. Nissa was authoritative enough to stick by her strict orders that we MUST observe Earth Hour tonight. Even the cats she said must observe and show respect to Mother Earth.

My challenge....the blue waters vs Me

Getting ready.......

I was out the whole day today running errands and managing the girls Saturday activities. We left the house at 11am. By then, the heat was blistering hot. And there was no better way to cool off than taking a dip in the pool at the club. So while the girls were busy painting away at Art Class, Mommy was making good progress with her laps; doing as many as she could during the entire hour she was in the water.

We didn't get home till almost Maghrib. Then there was the rush to prepare dinner. Spaghetti would be the simplest, considering I only have less than an hour to complete everything, from cooking to getting everyone eating dinner and finally cleaning the kitchen (done by the maid lah, of course).

"Collect your candles please", she said.

The entire hour with just candles dimly lighting up the house felt so, so long. Halfway into the hour, we had no choice but to turn on the AC and fans. Kids said it was like a sauna and the mosquitoes were irritating us all. Next was the TV coz one of them wanted to watch a documentary on NatGeo. Guess we just can't live without these essentials.

Cat - Manis wanted to be part of Earth Hour too

Any how does everyone feel after the hour of lights-off?

Cool...we should do this more frequent, maybe like once a month - only the lights however, AC and fans work like normal. And kids if we do this, do you think we'd probably hear less of Daddy's complaints of high utility bills? *big grin*

Lady GaGa vs Lady Boss

Deep in my thoughts on my approach for a proposal to a potential client, a buzz came via YM. Plucked in my ears are earphones that stream light music to help ooze the much needed brain juice. The buzz sound was so loud that I almost fell of my chair. Haa...siapa suruh dengar lagu kuat-kuat lagi kan.

Anyway, the person buzzing me was a friend who works across town. Again, the wonders of technology. As we work, we are also reachable by our loved (and not so loved) ones. No lip movement, just rampant knocking on the keyboard. Talk about dunia dah berubah kan?

Our YM conversation went like this.

TB : Buzz

Kay_Noor : Yezzaa...what's up??

TB : Help...help!!

Kay_Noor : La pe sal?

TB : Paparazzi....

Kay_Noor : Huh?? Ko kena kejar ker?

TB : Kejar?? Tak ahhh....

Kay_Noor : Then, what? Tak faham..nak beli camera baru ker plak?

TB : Tak lahhhhh.....Ni si Ashi**n kat sebelah aku ni dok lah berbunyi sorang-sorang "pape..pape..pape...razzziiiii...." Wish I can make her stop!! Already giving me a headache.

Kay_Noor : Laaaa......heh..heh...heh....kelakar lah pulak ni

TB : Iyer...she's been singing that song since morning. It's been hours!! I am going nuts with her irritating tune.

Kay_Noor : What u want me to do?

TB : You boss mahh....you can ask her to stop. I give you her YM ID.

Kay_Noor : Ade pulak nak buat cam tu. Silap-silap I'd be the one yang kena pulak.

TB : Alah ...pls lah...ko kan kawan aku. Pls lah... I am going insane here. You wouldn't want to visit me at the crazy people ward kan....

Kay_Noor : Laaa...kesitu pulak dah. No emo(tional) blackmails pls. Aku tak lut...

TB : Tolong lah....tolong lah.... really cannot tahan the sound...argghhhhh!!!

Kay_Noor : Isshhhh...budak ni. See how lah, but no promises.

TB : I love you, babe.... Her YM is Jazzy_Gurl. Pls yar....

Kay_Noor : She's in my list, I have her ID. No promises tau. Now shoo...I wanna continue with my work daa..

TB : Ok..ok...byes :)

An hour later....

Kay_Noor : Salams...

Kay_Noor : Buzz

Jazzy_Gurl : Yes...

Kay_Noor : Babe...kak TB sedih tau....

Jazzy_Gurl : Why?

Kay_Noor : Err...kalu cakap dun be mad okay.

Jazzy_Gurl : Why?

Kay_Noor : Coz' you dah tak you. You nak jadi Lady GaGa. TB likes you just the way you are.

Jazzy_Gurl : Ohhh....saya tadi nyanyi lagu Paparazzi. She tak suka ker?

Kay_Noor : Err...you go ask her lah. But kesian kat dia, she cannot do work lah.

Jazzy_Gurl : Heh..heh...I baru download that song. Tu yang dok nyanyi sakan today :)

Kay_Noor : Nyanyi dalam hati sudah lah yea....

Jazzy_Gurl : Baik lah Lady Boss....

Kay_Noor : Thanks :) (dalam hati dok kata pada diri sendiri...haaa padan muka coz sibuk hal orang lagi...)