Friday 28 September 2007

The week in summary

0 Yawns
This week has been a non-stop interesting week for me. On monday, I stayed at home and became a 'domestic helper' which means, cleaning my own room and cooked 2 meals. On Tuesday, I went to FES office at PJ to help out with the iPOTS camp preparation with Esther and Rosey. Wish to congrats Rosey on her CLP success and the dilemma of chambering choices. I've got lots to tell about my day at FES, but shall be on a different post later. After FES, (it was Mooncake festival on tues) we went to our classmate's house in Wangsa Maju and had a gathering there. Shall tell you more in the next post too.


On wednesday, went to college and tried to study but end up having more chit chats and tea time. Thursday, was whole day out very busy. I watch a concert with Dom and some friends from college, seeing our college junior perform with the KL Young Singers. The show was awesome. I always like stage shows and live performances and still remember participating in the Drama Competition during form 5 in secondary school. When watching singing competition, sometimes I wish that I was gifted with a great voice and talent and that I can perform solo and entertain the audience. But then sad, my performance can only stay in the high soundproof karaoke box.

The night is ended with a tired goodnight and now it is bedtime......

Tuesday 18 September 2007

A day out with 2 women

1 Yawns
After all the lamentings yesterday about being dead bored for the rest of my life (actually till October) and no one had time to spend with me, today I went out with Esther and Josephine. These 2 TOP students are actually my classmates previously and presently in the college. We planned our outing yesterday, with me complaining to Esther that I almost rot at home. There, she promised to accompany me for the whole day tomorrow by first suggesting that we go shopping at Midvalley, then shopping at Masjid India and her giving me some lessons how to choose quality Indian clothing and then have Nasi Briyani for lunch.

So much so, I agreed to everything she suggested and be grateful that someone is actually as free as me and is willing to lepak in KL. Hm, so I thought since we're meeting very early in college, I might as well call Josephine for breakfast at 'Starbucks' behind the lorong. Yeah, she woke up late and pretending not to hear any further, I told her, "Get dressed and see you there."


Here's how 'Starbucks' look like....(the one with the red roof) it closes during evening...where i was enjoying nasi lemak at that time. The red roof station is famously called Ho Kaw. For breakfast, they serve delicious pau, mee, roti bakar and soft-boiled egg. It's something like Ipoh Old Town but this one is more nostalgic and cheaper. You get the feeling of being stuck in the 70s.
(photo taken sometime ago)





After moments in Ho Kaw, we went back to college for some air-cond session, being a bit hot on the outside. After few chit-chats and meet up with some of the new lecturers, we proceed to the next station. Monorail. Yes, but undecided on our destination.


So Times Square is the place. And guess what, we decided to sing K! It was really Esther's first time being in a hippy Karaoke box. It's the best thing to do in order to kill time besides bowling and movie and at the same time spending less for a happier time.


Can you imagine? RM12++ for 2 hrs session if you didn't book earlier (3 hrs if booked earlier), plus lunch and free salad buffet. I can tell you, the food taste a lot better than another rival Karaoke box. But it wud have been better if they gave us buffet lunch straightaway....heheheheh....! I suppose RM12++ is an alternative to have other type of lunch that just require you to order food and eat and plainly chit chat with your friend. In such karaoke outlet, you can sing, see your friends sing, eat, laugh, and be satisfied. Or I would say, it's another way of having lunch, even if you don't sing.

Esther and Josephine - Esther's first debut performance


Oh, nice food!

We had an enjoyable and maximum satisfaction outing. Being in college, I can't see anything more that their nerdy faces. But out in Times Square, this 2 girl (woman) had certainly turned into some wild cats eventhough decently dressed. Tsk tsk!

Monday 17 September 2007

Mind boggling

0 Yawns
You know, having too much free time makes me sit and think more. It's not that I don't think a lot, but I'm now thinking more than usual. I'm akin to an old retired lady who tough she could finally enjoy the remaining days of her life with so much free time, so many things to do. Or so she thought.


It's good to have free time (free days) sometimes especially after having a tight and horrible schedule and then all you could think about is a good holiday. Yes, that's what on every student's mind after a terrible exam stress, or, a long overdue work project.


But a too long holiday might not be good if you're someone who is healthy physically and have so much vibrant aspirations in life. 2-3 weeks would be sufficient to restore the lazy bones. I am a person who dream of having short but frequent holidays. It encourages me to look forward to life every now and then. For example: after a long week of work, it's good to have 2-3 days off to do something which I missed during the week. I like being a little bit busy, a little bit full on the schedule and have a little bit time for myself. Being young, there's so much things to learn, to see, to experience. Yes? But things don't usually come the way we want it to be.


Now that I really have to much time to spare with no one to spend with, 'holidays' doesn't sound as excitingly fun at all. I'm like this bear, tearing calendar to speed up the days.

Friday 14 September 2007

Normal Week

0 Yawns
The title above shows that I have nothing interesting going on in my life. Well basically, my parents just left KL after accompanying me here for a while. Now that my classes are schedule on the weekends for the time being, I'm really craving for some meaningful things to do besides staying at home again. It's not that I don't want to travel around KL, but transportation is an issue. At the time being, I'm scouting for a nice and convenient place to stay.

With so much free time, I was able to finish my Favourite TVB drama --> "On the First Beat". Wow~all the male actors were very 'manly' especially Ron Ng! I think it's worthwhile to note that his expressions to the female characters were superb.

Ron Ng a.k.a. Chung Lap Man, has a pretty girlfriend (Ho Fa) who was studying in Japan. My favourite part of him and Ho Fa was before she decide to leave for Japan, Ah Man persuaded her to pursue her studies despite them having to be apart. He even bought her the air tickets. So, of course she was touched.
Ah Man is a kind of guy who is filial, passionate and care a lot about friends and he also has a temper to match. During Ho Fa's absence, he made good friends with Joey,a.k.a Nim Yan while having a disturbing cousin sister. The cousin sister was acted by Kate Tsui, former Miss Hong Kong. Ok, let's run to Kate's character first because I think she's quite outstanding.

Kate Tsui a.k.a. Man Ching is a rather loud lady. She speaks loudly and her actions are louder. She is also a passionate, cheerful and a physically strong girl. During her first few episodes, I thought that she was rather irritating because she doesn't seem to listen to people and her attitude is just annoying! She also has a huge crush on Ah Man and entered the police cadet so that she can date him in the future. Though so, she still make friends with Ho Fa and constantly used Ah Man computer to have video chat with Ho Fa.
I think in this serie, Ron's performance is the best yet except for few of his normal expressions which can be found in every likely series. Or perhaps I like to watch parts where guys have soft spot for their girl pals. It's akin to Taiwanese Idol series, but Hong Kong's are more realistic.
After "On the First Beat", I don't think I can find a more enjoyable drama to watch yet. Just like Harry Potter, no book can be better than it.

Saturday 8 September 2007

What competition is this??????

0 Yawns
Well, we all can have all kinds of competitions as a sport or recreation such as swimming, debates, cleanest class, best actors etc etc. Competitions are meant to improve a person, to see where he stands, to foster good relationships in the community and to invest in new ideas. I always like a little bit of competition once a while....even healthy competition between friends in achieving the best results for studies. It's the way that we can be motivated to move further in our current position.

BUT, have you ever imagine a dog hunting competition organized by some municipal council in Malaysia? It's not even hunting of special dogs to show to the world some rare species of dogs or anything of whatsoever. I came across of this wild idea from a blog, and now all of you should see this!



exerpt:

1. Pertandingan adalah antara Jawatankuasa Penduduk dalam kawasan pentadbiran Majlis Perbandaran Selayang.

2. Tangkapan boleh dilaksanakan sama ada oleh Jawatankuasa Penduduk sendiri atau dengan menggunakan bantuan pihak-pihak tertentu. Majlis Perbandaran Selayang tidak bertanggungjawab atas upah penangkapan.

3. Tangkapan dilaksanakan tanpa menjejaskan undang-undang Kecil 10(2)(a) Undang-undang Kecil Pelesenan Anjing dan Rumah Pembiakan Anjing (Majlis Perbandaran Selayang) 2005.

4. Tangkapan hendaklah diserahkan hidup-hidup kepada urus setia pertandingan untuk pengiraan/audit. Gambar setiap ekor tangkapan juga hendaklah dikemukakan sebagai bukti tangkapan.

5. Pertandingan akan berjalan sepanjang masa.

6. projek yang bernilai seperti ketetapan yang berikut : (amount of prized money)



Majlis Perbandaran Selayang is organizing this auspicious competition for some prized money.....
Sad, I feel sad for the dogs....(eventhough i'm a cat lover).

Friday 7 September 2007

The land of the mud

2 Yawns
Now that I'm back in KL again....guess how it feels? HOMESICK! Gosh...but it also feels that I left KL the other day and now i'm coming back few days later. But in fact, it's four months since i left the city of mud. Well...I asked some of my classmate of this phenomena, and they said they felt the same way too. Perhaps we're just too used to the route to college, the environment and that it has no big impact on us whatsoever.

But the phenomena of seeing my ex-classmates and who will still continue to be my classmate in CLP as teaching staffs in the college makes me felt strange and stress. It's like going to court and see a bunch of smartly dressed lawyers while myself is not even qualified yet........legal education is never ending. And we were told today, as a lawyer..reading must be a habit! So whoever passed their LL.B without reading more than 3 pages of their textbooks would not be able to get away so easily while practising.


Seriously, I wouldn't mind reading whole day if law books are as fun as Harry Potter. But law books can be fun lah...trust me.


And oh, I must brag that I saw my fatty cat in the pet shop. He's huge! I think I can transform him into a comfortable pillow.

Wednesday 5 September 2007

5th September

0 Yawns

Biu cat: Honey, don't leave me!
Karen: How I wish I don't have to leave you for now.....Do take care my dear gold cat. I'll miss your meow dearly.
Biu cat: Meowwwwwwwwwwww!!!!

Monday 3 September 2007

Sister Cora's last lesson...

0 Yawns
I love reading articles and devotionals from "The Word Among Us". Was introduced to me by Bernice some time ago. In Malaysia's catholic churches, they sell the common 3 devotional books, just like "Our Daily Bread". We have "Shalom" which is published by Prayer Ministry Office in PJ, "One Bread One Body" from Presentation Ministries (http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obobArchive.asp) and "The Word Among Us".

I would say "Shalom" is very reflective kind of devotional. Towards the end of the day when I read it, I felt very compassionate about life. Everyday when we strive to achieve our dreams, works and responsibilities, is there a meaning when we can't / bother to look around to see who is in need. Or whether we have been concerned to nourish our soul.

Next, I think "One Bread One Body" complements "Shalom". When certain bible passages are not easily understandable, the earlier explains the latter. And further, it tell the connections between bible verses. So, if you're a bible adventurer, "OBOB" if for you.

Next, "TWAU" is slightly more expensive, but it has articles to read. It has lighter reflections and make you see the positive side of negativity. Here, I found one recent article to share and which is worth reminding all of us again:



Sister Cora's Last Lesson

A powerful teaching from an unlikely source

by Barbara Kramer



"Here is something you might want to do", said my husband, as we left church one Sunday. He pointed to an item in the parish bulletin: Has your life ever been touched by the Sisters of St. Joseph? "Would you like to return the kindness?" It went on to ask for volunteers to help out at the local nursing home for the retired nuns from the order.


The Sisters had staffed the Catholic schools in our area for many years and taught all three of our children. They had also shown me great kindness when I was growing up. My mother died when I was eleven, and for the next two years, the Sisters had taken me into their boarding school and under their wing, giving me the support, kindness, and direction that I needed.

That bulletin came at the perfect time. Our last child had just gone off to college, and our family nest was feeling very empty. Volunteering at the nursing home seemed like just the thing to do.


Yes, But . . .? I had one stipulation, though, and I told God about it as I drove to the home for my first interview: Lord, I will gladly read to these Sisters, listen to them, do little things for them. But there is no way that I can help anyone with Alzheimer's disease.?

I had too many memories of my grandmother, whose final years were marked by severe dementia. She had always seemed so angry, and I was terribly afraid of her. On a deeper level, though, diseases like Alzheimer's were too disturbing to me. Why did God allow these things to happen especially to people who had served him faithfully? How could anyone who had lost their sense of identity possibly serve his purposes?


None of this came up in my interview with Sr. Sheila, the volunteer coordinator. We had a pleasant conversation, followed by a tour of the home. It was shining clean, and the residents were obviously well cared for. I was impressed and said so. "Good," said Sr. Sheila. "Can you help in the Alzheimer wing on Saturday afternoons?" My heart sank. My mind said, "No! No, I can't!" And yet, to my great amazement, I heard myself saying, "Yes, I can try."

Teacher and Student. The next week, I was shaking in my boots as I reported for duty at the Alzheimer wing. Sr. Sheila introduced me to the twenty or so nuns there. They were in various stages of physical and mental deterioration. Much to my surprise, however, they were not angry. They were welcoming, peaceful, and kind. With unquestioning acceptance, they took my hand as we walked into the activity room.


My role was simply to be with several of the Sisters to sit and talk, give them what they needed, and make sure they didn't leave the building. The work was challenging, yet satisfying. But as the weeks went by, caring for one Sister in particular became my biggest challenge.

Sr. Cora (not her real name) was a feisty, vigorous, and rather gruff woman who seemed to delight in finding ways to elude my watchful eye. At the same time, she always seemed glad to see me. I, for my part, became very fond of her.


The early stages of her disease, Sr. Cora still acted in character. A former teacher at an all-boys school, she would inform me in forceful tones, about "going to the principal's office now. You stay at your seat. I'll be right back".And she would march grandly off, scolding me like a naughty student when I tried to stop her. But as her disease progressed, even the teacher in Sr. Cora faded and then disappeared completely.

The Picture on the Wall. Sr. Cora usually repeated the same things over and over. But one day, as the two of us sat visiting in her room, she began speaking with unusual clarity. "No one ever liked me, you know," she said in a confiding tone. "My family was probably glad to get rid of me when I joined the convent."


Stunned, I tried to protest, "Sr. Cora, that can't be. You must have had a cousin or an aunt or friends who liked you."

"Nope, no one," she answered. Then she hesitated. "Well, okay, there was one person who liked me but I don't remember his name."


"Was he a relative? A friend??". "I told you I don't know!" she replied in a loud, impatient voice. "But if you're so darn curious, just turn around. His picture is on the wall behind you."

I turned, expecting to see a photo of a favorite uncle or grandfather. There instead was a familiar picture of a man with a kind and loving look. Tears were running down my face as I exclaimed, Sr. Cora, that't Jesus!


"I told you I can't remember his name,"she said. "But I'm telling you, he was always around when no one else was. And he always took good care of me." I was speechless. Sr. Cora's deteriorating mind had not lost her sense of Jesus being with her. Suddenly, I could see that he was still with her, even as her faculties and sense of self kept slipping away.

Whatever happened, Sr. Cora would never lose her identity as a beloved child of God. And neither would she lose her ability to serve God's purposes. Without even knowing it, by bearing witness to Jesus's presence in suffering, she was still doing God's work. Sr. Cora was still teaching. And I felt honored to be her student.



Barbara Kramer lives in Portage, Michigan.

*Not intending to infringe any copyrights

Sunday 2 September 2007

Sunday at Tuaran tamu

5 Yawns
Tamu is Sabah also stands for pasar tani in the West M'sia. Different places have different auspicious days to hold their tamu, for eg: It's sunday for Tuaran, probably Wednesday for Tamparuli (see the lyrics of the song). For me, it doesn't make a difference which day it's held because I rarely shop for vege. Only if my parents need an additional pair of hands, or if's it hypermarket, then I'd join.


In tamu, fresh produce are supposed to be cheaper and fresher. Not only that, if you bargain nicely, you might get extra stuff. Sabahans are generally nice and simple people. It wasn't my first time to the tamu but taking pictures around tamu is something that I did not think I could do.


You see, people busy buying and selling vege and it's just weird for me to stand in the middle and snap something 'nice'. Those adults deal in tamu like they eat rice like it's weird to snap a pic of the bowl of rice you eat everyday. To do it without looking like a sakai is another issue.

But i manage to get these, for fun:

Fresh fishes in brimming blue, flies around it prove that they have not been chemically treated. And also, these are freshly caught.


Those next to bags of langsat are called "darab", or it should sound this way. Very nice tropical fruit, very sweet like cempedak.



The famous Tamparuli hanging bridge a.k.a Jambatan Tamparuli. And they've even wrote a song for this (the most recognised KadazanDusun song ever).....I love it!!!!





Jambatan Tamparuli Artist: Justin Lusah

Pak pak kang ku doh (Pak pak saya melangkah)

Sumunsui do jambatan (Menyusur jambatan)

Jambatan do Tamparuli (Jambatan Tamparuli)

Bakasut tinggi oku (Saya berkasut tinggi)

Sumunsui do jambatan (Menyusur jambatan)

Jambatan do Tamparuli (Jambatan Tamparuli)

Pak pak kang ku doh (Pak pak saya melangkah)

Bakasut tinggi oku (Saya berkasut tinggi)

Silaka nodi kasutku (Celaka kasut saya)

Naratu lo jambatan (Jatuh di jambatan)

Tinggal poh doh sutakin (Hanya tinggal stokin)

Nowid ku di numuli (Yang saya bawa pulang)

Ontok di hari tiga (Pada hari rabu)

Tomu lo Tamparuli (Ada tamu di Tamparuli)

Mingusuk poh hilod kadai (Saya sibuk selongkar kedai)

Mogihum do kasut tinggi (Mencari kasut tinggi)

The Star wrote: "The song actually pokes fun at a woman who crosses a suspension bridge in her high heels. One of her shoes gets loose and falls into the river, prompting her to curse her misfortune. However, the incident does not affect her much as she goes on to buy a new pair at the Wednesday tamu (market)."


Any Sabahans would definitely know this song. Whenever this tune is played, it's an auto start to a Sumazau. Ah, how i miss the days of my primary and secondary school again! It's been almost 5 long years since I left my alma mater.

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