Show Me Urs & I'll Show U Mine...

My sister Anna's tree (Christmas 2005)

My Dad's tree (Christmas 2006)

Another angle of my Dad's tree.

India 02

The statue of Ghandi at one of the town squares. For a man revered by many Indians, this statue was rather small and insignificant.

Rickshaw rides in Ahmedabad is not for the faint-hearted as traffic there uses the 'free-for-all' system.

The youngsters of India as intelligent, which is why the ones with money are usually sent to the US to make their life worth living.

The well-to-do neighbour next to our hotel. Right next to him is a plot of land with a small hut lived by a man, his wife and daughter (?)

India

The Peasant and His Well-To-Do Neighbour

Last November, I was in India (Ahmedabad exactly) for an environment conference. Spending ten whole days in that sub-continent was enough to make me realize that I am actually very lucky to be a Malaysia. Because

i. no one can look down upon me just because I am of "lower" caste
ii. i am given every opportunity to better myself at all times
iii. no matter how lousy Malaysian-born Indians are, they are better in many ways as compared to the sub-Continent Indians

In one word, India is the Land of Survival Of The Fittest.

Thank you. I'd rather be send to Africa.

happy 7th birthday Ashleigh!

My eldest girl turned 7 on October 17th.

So I took two of her friends and her, to the Petronas' DinoTrek exhibition. Then for some food and drinks before dropping her buds off.
The family had a celebration dinner for her that night, where she cut her cake.

Simple. But meaningful.

happy birthday aidan!

today, my youngest turns 2!

and i baked some cupcakes for her as her 'birthday cake'. elder sister ash helped in putting the sprinkles. the cupcakes - vanilla flavoured sponge cake with vanilla buttercream frosting - was made from scratch, so was the little banner on top that says 'happy birthday aidan!'

I Am Working Towards This...

one fine day, you will be able to access a weblink via the logo above...

I have fallen in love again...

This time with the Samsung i7.

To date, this is the ideal gadget for me. For it is a digital camera, a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP) and an MP3 players molded onto its slim, stainless steel body.

Additionally, it also has 5 (!!!) other multimedia functions - a Camcorder, Text viewer, Voice Recorder, Protable Disk and a World Tour Guide function.

And to top if all off, the 3inch screen is Touch Screen PUI (Physical User Interface) enabled.

To fall in love like I did, visit the interactive mircosite

As the slogan says, this little gadget gives you a whole new world at every turn.

Annual Report for the Year 2006

Once again, I conceptualised, wrote, designed, edited and oversee the publication of our Annual Report for the last year; all done single-handedly due to my MBI-ISTJ character.

Maybe next year, I will be presented with more than USD 80.00 for the effort?

Trying Out For the Public Service

Recently I was given the opportunity to try my luck for employment with the public service. Actually, it was more like being given the opportunity to sit for the Public Service Exam for future employment with the Public Sector.

Sitting for the exam, which takes the whole day for 5 papers, was like sitting for SPM all over again.

For one thing, sitting for the mathematical paper left me dizzy and confused! I am so against maths and anything mathematical the whole 45 minutes I was doing the 25 questions, I felt stressed and very pressured. It was like Form Five all over again.

Nonetheless, the other four papers were a breeze.

The paper on Sahsiah Diri (Personality) was fun because it really shows the person that I am. Also, there are always repeat questions in such a paper and it is always wise to respond the way you did the first time.

Then the Minat paper was more for the determination on which post you are suited for. Naturally, all technical posts were replied TIDAK (no) by me whilst the creative questions get an occasional YA and the writing/public relations/communications questions get a resounding YA!

The Pengetahuan Am (General Knowledge) paper was a breeze also because i read a lot and it was very comforting to know that i know nearly 85 per cent of the respond to questions asked.

The BM and English paper was combined; it was int he form of article understanding and grammar. Such a breeze for me.

Though the last paper was to last till 4.00pm, I walked out the of the exam hall at 3.25pm.

Wish me luck!

A Reason to Cry, Many More Reasons To Laugh 02

More than two years ago, I put a short entry on this blog. Today, this is the answer to that entry.

My Emma-Noelle Caitlin, born 25th December 2003, was born with Trisomy 21.

At about 18 months, she decided that she no longer wants to drag her bottom on the floor. So one fine day, she got up right and stood up.


For her second birthday, she spent it in Miri at her Godmother's home.


At 2 and a half, she was showing the cheeky side of her.


At 3years of age, she was naughty, cheeky, considerate, and loving.


Now she is young lady of nearing 4years.

And that, my dear readers, is God's gift to me. Because no matter what others say, my Emma writes!

note: background noise is of sisters Aidan and Ashleigh

All I Want For Christmas...

All I Want for Christmas is

Peace

Love

Hope

Patience

Strength

and ....

these

At Play (01)

My girls love going back up country to where my parents live. Because there, they get to play outside the house and not be confined in doors. Here, you get to see what happens when they are let 'loose' ...

Circle of Friends

Some people, I will always treasure their friendship and association. Many people whom I know, especially through my former employment, are people of great character. Not to mention, well-known in society for their work and thoughts.

Without mentioning names - cos I really don't have to esp. if you're Malaysian - I am grateful for their friendship and to be called a friend by....

The trick is, always be sincere and not be afraid.

When Thank You Is Just Not Enough...

The last time I counted, I have been working at my present employment for 26 months. And within that 26 months, I have had only one increment. Actually, it was more like an adjustment I got on my salary when I was confirmed at my job.

Two months later, I was re designated.

I was re-titled Manager.

And my take-home pay check is less than USD450.00(equiv.)

My pay slip makes me want to cry...

Because

... after making sure that the organisation's Annual report is of international standard....

... after burning the midnight oil to salvage the damage done onto the souvenir booklet of our first international conference...

... after diligently coming to work early and going back late...

... after squeezing out all forms of ideas out of my head to come up with articles so our newspaper column is sustained...

... after designing the organisation's library system's logo....

... after designing the logo for our first international conference...

all I got was a 'thank you' cert and a check for (equiv.) USD88.23

Didn't people say designers/creative persons are well-paid?

Please help me...

get these I-Want-It-Although-I-Don't-Really-Need-It-Stuffs


the Apple iPhone
because I never bought any fancy gadgets, and since I am to own one, I might as well have the ULTIMATE gadget... More info here

the Samsung SGH F300,
the dual-faced mobile-mp3 player. One side mobile phone, one side mp3 with the full works. More info here

the Creative Zen Vision:M
to put all my kids' pictures, my fav songs as well as funny mini-videos to keep them entertained while I drive them to pick their father after work and in heavy-carzy traffic. More info here

a Sony NW-A800
because I would like to be entertained while I drive me and the kids. More info here
{me wan the black one...}



a Canon camera ...

either the A640
so that I can be in front of the camera for once becuase the LCD display panel swivels.

or the S3 IS
so that whoever takes MY picture won't unnecessarily ruin it because its functions are dummy-proof. More info here

a Belgian waffle maker from Black and Decker
because my kids prefers hot food for breakfast and waffls are the easiest, freshly made food I can prepare in the limited time there is available for breakfast before they are off to school. More info here

The Palm TX pda
because I need an organizer FAST before I loose my grey-spaghetti-like-matter. More info here

theCICAK

I support all efforts to make Malaysian youths think more important things instead of just the latest mobile phones or fashion.

Therefore I support

A juxtapose of every day irregularities

While on an outing to Semantan (the seaside) one weekend, I came across this amusing sight of a lady enjoying a swim in the sea. can someone recommend her a tube of Boots Sun Protection cream. Make it SPF 50 while you're at it!

There are a lot of 3-in-1s in the market. So why not three-picture-in-one photography as shown here of Ashleigh taking the pictures of the trees whilst also taking pictures of herself taking the picture.... ?

Like this war-time aircraft at Pangkalan TUDM in Kuching, maybe all our aircrafts should be grounded too due to the many crashes that occurs. Or maybe its just our (sic...incompetent) pilots.

No wonder sea food is cheap in Kota Kinabalu!!! Look at where they are caught! Right there next to the Sutera Harbor Resort golf course!

The Person You Are Trying To Reach Is Not Available....

I am off to KK in sabah tomorrow for a business meeting.

I love this trip because I may potentially meet my brother whom I have not met since 1989! Having worked and married the local there, he never came back after that. That's the Prodigal Son in the family....

I hate this trip because this will be my 2nd travels within this month alone. And I am tired. I also hate this trip because traveling drains my personal finances, no matter how much we avoid buying unnecessary stuff. But buying food to feed your stomach on a strange and new place is enough to burn a hole in your pocket. And somehow, McDonald's seems more 'expensive' in these strange and new places compared to home.

So will I have a good trip or one that I wish I didn't embark on. Only time will tell...and that will be Friday pm when I return once again to update this blog....


**St Christopher, please look over me**

Photography 02

My kids are officially Chindian-Bidayuh (if Jabatan Pendaftaran allows it). But having been exposed to so many things Bidayuh, I am proud to say that they are well versed in all things Bidayuh...

Kih kih kih....

don't blame me! Hubby should do his part to promote his Sino-Indian cultures.