2 books and a green tomato

Book 1: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

A story about a couple during the 60's. Husband was a doctor, wife was a typical wife of the 60's. Wife was in labour with twins and when husband saw that his baby daughter had Down Syndrome, he asked the nurse to take the baby away and lied to his wife that the daughter died. The story goes on from there.

I enjoyed the book, though I was kinda expecting a more dramatic ending.



Book 2: A Thousand Splendid Suns

I loved this book. ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. I know I'm loving a book when I read it until late into the night, then wake up the next morning and continue reading it before even getting out of bed. The last time I loved a book so much was Marley and Me.

The Kite Runner revolved around the relationship between 2 Afghanistan boys and this time the author wanted a story about 2 Afghanistan women. The story resolves around two women with very different backgrounds who found themselves in a unlikely beautiful relationship due to the twist of circumstances. The book gives a picture of the sufferings of Afghanistan women living under the terrible Taliban era. Their pain, their desperation, their fight to cling on and survive.

All I can say, I'm glad I'm a woman here and not there. Read the book and you'll start counting your blessings as well.

And not forgetting of my precious growing green tomato. If the doggies want to live long lives, THEY BETTER NOT TOUCH MY TOMATO.

Ian came into my cube yesterday, bent down and stared and me. Then later after work, Looi came over to my cube, bent down and stared at me. Both seem equally fascinated my hair.

I went to the saloon last weekend to cut my hair shorter. And when Yin How came to pick me up after my haircut, his first reaction was, "You look like you didn't cut your hair" making me geram that I spent RM44 for Yin How to say that, then spending the next hour trying to convince him why it looks different.

Feeling geram that my new hairstyle didn't look new, my itchy fingers found a scissors and started snipping. And pretty soon, I had short fringe. I learned a few lessons here.

1. Don't cut your own fringe
2. Don't cut your own fringe at night
3. Don't cut your own fringe at night under a soft yellow light.

Yin How says I look like Ah Wong. I don't care. My fringe is just misunderstood and needs some getting use to. And I like my new hairstyle and I don't care whether Yin How thinks I look like a China doll.

In the cube again

I disappeared from the cyberworld for 2 weeks. 1st week was because I was too busy at work. 2nd week was because I was too busy enjoying my holiday.

How fast can a week pass. And here I am, stunned that the holiday has already passed and I'm back here in my gray cube. It's almost like I'm that guy in the movie Groundhog day, where no matter what he does to change his day, he always finds himself waking up to the same morning to the same repeating day over and over again.

Still in shock, I try to remember what I did during the 9 days of holiday. I remember being very happy. Meeting up with old friends. A trip I made just to prove to myself that I could. A new haircut. A lot of reading. A sick hubby and an overly worried mother-in-law. A salted chicken from Ipoh. A growing green tomato. Too many donuts. Sudoku. Two doggies who haven't had a bath in two weeks.

And that's about it. I honestly can't remember anything else.

Will blog more about 2 books and a green tomato later.

Much nicer than Gurney Drive

 

 

I love my hubby

I love my hubby.

I love waking up next to him on Saturday mornings.
I love hugging him from behind.
I love placing my head on his chest listening to his heartbeat.
I love staring at him sleep, memorizing every mole on his face.
I love how peaceful he looks when he sleeps.
I love doing all these things because I know all these are not permenant and there maybe one day when I wake up and he's no longer there anymore.

BUT.... when the hubby purposely sets his alarm clock to 7.30am on a SATURDAY morning because he doesn't want to waste his Saturday sleeping, and when that annoying alarm of his rings and wakes me up from my precious Saturday morning sleep. And when he switches off his alarm and goes to sleep until 11am while I'm now awake since 7.30am with a headache unable to go back to sleep while he refuses to wake up...... I'M NO LONGER IN THAT LOVABLE MOOD ANYMORE.

How many times has he done this already.

Cis.

The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself

I'm sure everybody has heard of the Sunscreen Song. But if you haven't heard it for a while and are going through a difficult time, go back and listen to it. Makes you feel a little stronger after that.

Also, you may not realize that simple gestures you do for other people can mean so much. To you it may be just a simple everyday thing like patting somebody's back, or just listening, or just smiling, or just waving to say hi (or just buying a bag of candies), but to the person who's going through a difficult time, it's these little gestures that say, hey, someone still cares. So thanks a lot. :)

Anyway, enjoy the song below. :)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99


If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering
experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….

You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.


Enjoy your body,
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

Life lessons from Morrie

I'm currently reading Tuesdays with Morrie again. The first time I read it was when I was just out of college, a fresh graduate too busy chasing so many things at that time and I only read the book halfway and tossed it aside where it got lost under my bed.

6 years after graduation, 2 jobs, a wedding and a new home later, I'm finding time to read again. And I found this little book hidden among the books in my bookshelf.

I wish I could see the world as how Morrie sees it. I realize that all he says is true, yet I still to continue to hang on to things which are not important. I only hope that as I grow older, I'm be able to let go of certain things and cherish the things which are really important in life.

These are some of my favourite quotes from Morrie.

“Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it.” (p. 18)

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” (p. 43)

“I don’t allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each morning, a few tears, and that’s all . . . . It’s horrible to watch my body slowly wilt away to nothing. But it’s also wonderful because of all the time I get to say goodbye.” (p. 57)



“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” (p. 52)

“What if today were my last day on earth?” (p. 64)

“Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” (p. 82)

There is no foundation, no secure ground, upon which people may stand today if it isn’t the family. (p. 91)

“Don’t cling to things, because everything is impermanent.” (p. 103)

“ . . . If you’ve found meaning in your life you don’t want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more. You can’t wait until sixty-five.” (p. 118)

“Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness.” (p. 125)

“ . . . love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone.” (p. 133)

“ . . . the big things—how we think, what we value—those you must choose yourself. You can’t let anyone--or any society—determine those for you.” (p. 155)


Be compassionate. And take responsibility for each other. If we only learned those lessons, this world would be so much better a place.” (p. 163)

Rasa sayng sayang eh

Ahh... the famous Rasa Sayang buffet.

Is it good as what all the blogs say? Well, it's good when it's buy 1 free 1. Otherwise, paying the full price isn't worth it leh. After hearing so much about it, I was kinda expecting more. The only really special thing about this buffet is the desert section. Otherwise, the buffet I had at Parkroyal is comparable.

But what makes is special is all the wonderful touches here and there. Like the spices displayed on each table

And I must say that Rasa Sayang is absolutely beautiful.

Just walking around the hotel makes me feel like I'm on a holiday far far away from work.

So relaxing that I was tricked into believing that it was already the weekend..

 

I made the mistake of wearing my RM23.70 halter neck dress to the dinner (yes, I'm always extremely proud of myself whenever I find a pretty dress on sale and I have no shame bragging about it). After one hour of stuffing myself, I felt that the slim fit halter neck dress was stranggling me. I had to losen the string around my neck in order to breath.

The the worst was my goldfish tummy was clearly bloated and and proudly showing off.

Overall, I think it's worth the RM60 per person to dine in such a beautiful place. I had a wonderful time.

Until I remembered that it wasn't the weekend yet, and there's work tomorrow. Aiii...

Doggie IQ

Hmmm... how to get the ball out of the basket leh?

Think Russell, think!!

 

Seems like it's the same in the doggie world, the females do all the work while the males just stand and stare ;)

One day later....

 

SUCCESS!!!

Put my ball into the basket again and DIE!!