So Freaking Hot!
It's soooooooooooooooooooo freaking hot these days! My whole family is drinking liquid by the jug loads! Be it ice chilled Milo, orange juice, plain water.... We're taking in by the jugs! Glup Glup Glup Glup!!!! Even my hamsters are drinking more water than usual! LOLOL Aaaahhhh~~~~ refreshing to the core~~~~ Drink more liquid people, the weather's been pretty chaotic lately, sure don't wanna hear any news of fellow bloggers suffering from dehydration of any sort. Man, it's so hot, you can just sit perfectly still and feel your sweat trickling down. Phew!

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What Makes A Woman Successful
A lot has been said about what makes a woman, be in in terms of feminity, culture, traditions, responsibilities etc. What is a woman? What makes a woman successful? And how is a woman considered a successful woman?

We are all different. All women are different. We have our own dreams, our own goals in life. Some women are contented with raising their kids and devoting their entire time to their families. Others are full-time employees/employers with their sights on the corporate ladder. Now there's a growing breed of women choosing to run small businesses at home to be with their kids. So how is a woman categorised as successful?

There's always a constant debate to whether or not a woman's role is solely to look after the family, or be part of the working force and play dual roles: mother & worker. Can there be a balance? Some women would say yes, of course there's a balance. That's where the issue of maids/babysitters/grandparents come in. And then there are others who say the balance is virtually a very thin line and that you can't have both worlds. Is a working woman being thought of as a "power hungry, career first, just-dump-the-kids-with-the-maids" person? Is a Stay-At-Home-Mum (SAHM) being thought of as a "oh-she's-only-a-housewife, less exposure/educated" person?

I'm writing this because I've just read a short article about 2 women living next to each other. Both women have kids, only difference is... Jenny was a high flying corporate figure, Claire was a dutiful housewife who spends all the time in the world with her kids. Jenny was always comparing herelf to Claire because she felt Claire was doing a much better job raising her kids. Despite the number of time Jenny tried to spend time with her kids, she gets frustrated and loses her patience and felt she had far more important things to do. And each time Jenny watches Claire with her children, she gets even more worked up and felt there's no way she could lose to a normal housewife. One day, Claire's husband gave Jenny a letter his wife had wrote to her. In the letter, Claire had actually confessed to admiring Jenny and all her achievements as a high flying career woman and how she wished she had to guts to go forth and conquer to world just like Jenny does. But due to her responsibility to her children, Claire didn't venture out. Claire also said her last goodbyes to Jenny as by the time Jenny read the letter, Claire had already passed away due to a terminal illness.

So ladies, before you start admiring how great other women are doing as compared to you, remember this... They could also be admiring you from afar.

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Dry Skin?
The tips of some of my fingers are revealing little bubble-like cracks. It's as though a tiny bubble had burst and left a tiny hole at the centre, with some loose skin surrounding it. It doesn't hurt at all, no pain. probably my skin's just dry due to the terribly hot and dry weather conditions we're experiencing for the past few weeks leading to Chinese New Year *wipes sweat* I've been consistently applying body lotion to moisturise the skin after taking taking my bath... Cos even after showers I still feel myself sweating like a cow (if cows sweat at all). My lips have also ben dry and chapped, so have to apply lip balm.

Looking at the tiny potholes on my fingers, I recall what my grandmother used to say to me when I was a little girl. Whenever I saw the skins on my fingers are dry and peeling off, I would show her. And she would say that skin peeling off from the fingers is a sign that money is on its way to your hands. And it's not just any skin peel. The dry skin had to be in a circular motion, with a tiny hole at the centre. The loose skin should be surrounding the tiny hole, 1 small circle in the centre, another bigger circle around the smaller circle. Get the picture?

I don't know if my grandmother was just saying it to keep me from freaking out looking at my own skin peeling off. But it's the little things like this that keeps her alive in my memory.

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The Lion Dance
I've always looked forward to Chinese New Year because that's the time I get to catch the lion dance performances. The beating of the drums, the agile movements of the lion dance troupe, their jumping skills and the life-like movements of the lion. *dong dong chiang dong dong chiang* Who can forget the melody of the lion dance tune? It's powerful, it's lifting, it's loud.

Nowadays, the lions come in an array of colours like purple and green... which in my opinion, are sucky colours. I've always like the classic colours on the lions: red, black and gold. Red represents prosperity, Black was the fierce colour to drive off evil spirits and Gold symbolises wealth. These days, big organisations like hotels and multinational corporations would hire a lion dance troupe to perform during CNY (or other auspicious events). The purpose is not just to provide some entertainment to tourists & employees, such a dance is also said to help make the premise "ONG" or in cantonese, "WONG": which means wealth. I'm sure you've seen the lions being guided into the hotels or office rooms to give their blessings in hopes that the company would have an abundance of wealth in the coming year.

Last weekend, there was a lion dance in my residential area too. This time it was a gold & copper lion. By the time I went down with my hubby to see it, there was already a good crowd waiting for the dance to start. Kids were particularly very happy and excited over the still "lifeless" lions. Then the beating of the main drum signified the start of the performance and the lions came to life. Mandarin oranges were first distributed to the fellow residents before the lions went on the continue with their high jumps on poles. But during one of the attempted stunts, the young man holding the lion head slipped and fell from the pole. It was a pity as the performance was pretty good, but the lion was left without a "head", But the drums went on... can't possibly just stop beating abruptly. The young man probably had a minor sprain but as a precaution, he was not allowed to go up the poles again by his sifu, so he grabbed the lion head (amidst the cheers of the crowd cos everyone, especially the kids, were happy to see his good sporting nature), gave a few whirls on the ground and ended with a simple finale.

Oh, I know some kids are also terrified of the lions. I know someone very close to me who's also afraid of the lions :P Heck, she doesn't have to see the lion to be afraid. Just the beating of the drums is enough to terrify her ROTFLMAO!!! *blek*

Happy Chap Goh Mei everyone :)

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I Am Frus...
There are times I just want to be by myself, alone with my thoughts and the PC. But I don't seem to be getting that at home. Not when people with blood relations are in the house with you. It's either I'm using the internet too long, I'm not doing things right, I'm opening the door too slowly, I'm using the kitchen utensils wrongly, I'm not smart enough... heck I even get lectured just cooking my own simple lunch.

I thought I have left my frustration behind when I resigned from my previous company. Looks like I got another dose of frustration from people with blood relations now. I know what I'm doing. But it looks like I may be forced to simply take any job that comes along just to get out of the house.

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The Days of Dorkness
I was sitting on my bed nursing a stomach cramp the other day when I suddenly had a thought of flipping through some of my photo albums. I sometimes tend to have some nostalgic flair at times and just like to dig up old stuff like photos and anything visual just to reminisce the past. So I opened up the small cupboard door and promptly took out some albums and began to flip through them. Most of my old photos are kept in my parents' room (malas to get ladder and climb up), the albums in my room however are at most 8 years of history only. And a lot of the photos in my albums actually consist of hubby's photo collection :P

Even so, when I look back at my picture taken years back, I can't help but laugh at my face!!! OMG! I so looked like a dork! Did I actually look like THAT last time? Aiyo, so *yong-sui like that lah. So ugly! AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAA!!! I was so skinny! And pimple faced! Alamak! Is it any wonder why I was single? Who would love a scrawny looking pimply faced girl like me?!? Plus those glasses... man!!! Talk about innocence! Even as I looked back at myself in the year 2001, oh man... my hair was way too long and flat, making me look even thinner. And my college days? Oh wow, even more to laugh at! The dorkness! I look like a dork man...

But I'm pretty sure all of you out there would think the same as me... look back at your old old photos and you can't believe that the person in the photo is actually YOU! Right? Right? Right? Slap yourself on the face and say "Good grief! Is that me?!?" Ahahahahaha, so funny. I look so funny :PpPpP Blek! Now excuse me... I'm going to tease my hubby with one of his old photo when he gets back from work. He took some photos where you know, you hire some so-called "professional" photographer, you dress-dress nice nice, then the photo got effect wan, got gaussian blur in the photo, got camera angle semua, macam glamour-glamour :P He is so gonna grab my feet and tickle me kau-kau!!! LOL

*yong-sui : Cantonese, meaning your face very ugly.

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The Davinci Code
I had just completed reading Dan Brown's captivating book recently. Yes, the very same book that I suspect caused quite a major uproar among its readers regarding its content and authencity (heard it's going to trial or something? Seems the Roman Catholic church and Vatican are pissed as well). I am aware that there has been several debates going around the WWW since the book was published and well... readers just discuss openly on whether they agree with what was published and do they think everything is merely some kind of fraud/fiction to capture readership.

What do I think of the book? I liked the book. In fact, the moment I started reading the book, I couldn't put it down. The content was fascinating, the book was intriguing, the use of words were precise and well thought of. And of course, the fact that the content of the book was also talking about Christianity and the long buried "truth". I cannot imagine the amount of work the author has put into, the amount of time to do his research to get all the facts correct, the people who have helped him along the way.

The Davinci Code touches on several subjects, many of which may be sensitive to certain groups. First there's art, then there's religion, then the lies which have been told for centuries, the deceptions, the conspiracies unearthed. As I was reading the pages, all I could think of was "Wow!" Sure makes you see things in a completely different perspective huh? But there were also several words, terms and historical elements which I didn't quite catch because everything was quite "christ related", a knowledge which I know very little of. But Dan Brown's use of words and writing style sure makes you think! And you think deep!

One line which I do agree is that the religions we practise today, be it Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism etc... the knowledge we know are passed down from our parents, and what they know were passed down from their parents and so on so forth. Every generation may have practised what they know differently, and somehow someway, religious practises may have taken several versions along the way. There's no wrong or right to any version. We may never know which is the authentic way of practise. We may never know what is the true belief.

Read this book with an open mind.

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Dialup Blues
The good thing about being at home now is that I have all the time in the world to do anything I want. Watch tv, catch up on my reading, surf the web, look for jobs, blog, kacau my hamsters all day, eat/snack, etc. Only problem is... I'm using dialup at home. Sigh~~~

One reason why I'm using dialup at home is... well... many years back, my dad subscribed to the Jaring line (forgot which package), and the package payment is kinda like we topup the amount every few months, depending on our internet usage. Normally we topup the account every 6 months or so, sometimes up to 8 months. That's because we rarely use the net at home, hence we didn't see the reason to subscribe to a broadband line and pay a fixed monthly amount. A lot of times, the topup amount we make (RM 300) can last us up to 8 months of net usage. That sums up to approximately RM 40/month. That's like half the amount of the cheapest broadband subscription to date right? My area is also under Time's Webbit but it's a little costly, and like I said... we don't use the net often at home.

So, eventhough I have all the freedon right now to use the net... it's a hassle... because it's still dialup... and dialup is S-L-O-W. Watudoo, beggars can't be choosers. Have to tolerate the slowness lor. Since I menganggur now, the net is my only means of seeking some company. Sure I have loads of DVDs at home, but tak syok watch ler, my parents are at home. I watch tv sure my dad come ka-ka-ciau-ciau wan. Cuts the fun in watching movies :P

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1st "Balik Kampung" Experience
Wah! Some of my readers actually asked me me about my balik kampung experience as someone's wife :PpPpPp Ahahahahaha!!! I guess maybe I'm considered a "freshie" in the "sudah kahwin" category, so they wanna know how I fared in my quest kua :P LOL I've been to hubby's hometown several times liao, so am quite accustomed to his family members, the immediate ones anyway. Hubby's family is very large, spreads across 3 main branches, so there are probably many relatives I have yet to meet, same goes for hubby too! Hahahaha!!! But let's just leave the distant ones out for now yar?

Probably the biggest factor I'm stuck with is the communication part. Hubby's from the northern state, and the people up north normally converse in Hokkien. My hokkien is pretty much limited to simple phrases and profanities :P My Mandarin sucks as well, kinda like a few drops in a pail. Let's not start with Teo Chew cos I get Teo Chew mixed up with Hokkien all the time (hubby said he wants to try to teach me Teo Chew cos his family is Teo Chew, but I don't think he has the patience to guide me. Hehehe...). Like when he teaches me to say "buttock" in Teo Chew; the word is "kah-cheng"... but I keep saying "kah-ching kah-ching" like a casino jackpot machine. I'm lame I know... ROTFLOL. It's kinda tough to have a decent conversation with any of his family members cos... I can't speak good enough to start a conversation. And hubby said his family really wants me to join their conversation, or at least they wanna talk to me and get to know the new family member better. I'm trying to pick up the dialect but... well... it's kinda tough lor :( Luckily his stepmum speaks English so can talk to her *phew*. But during our pak-toh years, his family is ok with me, even told hubby quietly that I seem like a good girl :P *shy shy* Eh, I am good stuff ok *grin grin* I'm a good girl you know.

Yes, you read it right. Stepmum. Hubby's mother passed away several years ago. I'm sure she's a wonderful woman and mother to her kids. After her death, hubby's father was in a very depressing stage before picking up the pieces and moving on with life. FIL remarried a few years later to a lady from Penang, so she became the so-called stepmum. Contrary to what storybooks always say, not all stepmothers are evil. This lady is ok, plus all the kids are already grown up, and I guess hubby & his siblings would also hope that someone can take care of their father.

I've asked hubby before, if his mother were alive today, would she have approved of our relationship. Hubby said of course she'll be fine, she'll give her son to all-good approval. Hubby said when it came to matters about the heart, his parents normally leave it to their kids to decide. They don't go bickering to their sons about which girl their sons should go for, must have big backside, signs for fertility, must be soft spoken, must be rich or intelligent etc etc.

Big backside : *check check* Don't have ler, got small cute butt. Someone once said I don't have a butt *ahem* Who ah who ah?

Big breasts : *check check* Oso don't have. Small small nen-nen got lah. Desmo & Chiq stared at nothing the last time. Should've stared at Chiq's instead :P

Soft spoken : Me? Soft spoken? I tend to speak my mind at times. Ain't no soft lady you're talking to. Of course I don't go cursing in every sentence lar, that's way too much for anyone. I don't pretend and I don't fake.

Rich : Errr... material wealth, no one can get enough. I'm ok lah, not rich, not poor.

Intelligent : I can be smart at times, and a blur sotong the next :P

Overall, my quest was good :) Had a good time. Probably the next time won't stay so long cos according to chinese customs, 1st few days of the lunar year spend with husband's family, then the next few days have to go back to the wife's family right? Something like that lah. But's it's nice to get away from KL once a while, go back to your roots and just soak up the good ol' days.

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Ayam Back!
The notorious hamu is back! Nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh :P I hope everybody's doing fine this Rooster year. May the new year bring you lotsa joy, happiness and good health ya.

I spent my new year with my hubby's family up north, in his kampung Sg Petani, Kedah (River of Farmers). Actually I've been to his hometown several times liao, but this year first time during CNY mar. Maklumlar, sudah jadi olang punya isteri... So must follow the tradition where the wife follows the husband *balik kampung :P And since I *menganggur now, hubby decided to balik kampung earlier this year to avoid the traffic jam. We drove back to KL yesterday, instead of returning on Sunday... Sunday sure the highways all super jam cos the people are returning to town. I heard lotsa people were stuck in massive crawls huh?

The atmosphere in SP (Sg Petani) is a little different. You can really feel the mood cos every house is decorated with red lanterns and crackers and etc. And the MP (Majlis Perbandaraan) also issued memos asking all shops to decorate their premises to usher in the new year. And fireworks!!! Woohoo!!! Everything that is supposingly banned, well... hecklah!!! *BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!* Too bad I didn't bring the digital camera with me, otherwise can take some nice pictures. Even before the clock struck at midnight, people were already playing fireworks. Sounded like some neighbourhoods were competing whose crackers can boom the loudest! The night sky was filled with colours, a wonderful array of fireworks display. Something which I've never seen for many years, sure brings back a lot of memories :D And just about every house will lit the long red crackers. *PRAP PRAP PRAP PRAP PRAP* I called back home to wish my family a happy new year, and they told me they're also watching some fireworks display coming from the other block's penthouse. Later, my hubby, me and his parents took a short walk to a nearby Tuo Peh Kong temple to do some prayers and walked back. The temple was really crowded & smokey cos of all the joss sticks. Overhead, I saw several Kung Min lanterns up in the sky.

Oh, we got some angpows from some of his relatives as well. Hehehehe :P My hubby said this is our last year to get angpows, so much collect as many as possible!!! LOLOL As tradition goes, once a person is married, he/she will no longer be "qualified" to receive angpows, but instead will be on the other end of the angpow chain: to GIVE. So now, we are qualified to GIVE angpows, but disqualified to RECEIVE angpows lor. But since we have just registered but have yet to go through the official ceremony, we just gave angpows to our immediate family members. The rest ah? You wait lah :P


*balik kampung : a malay term which means 'go back to your hometown'
*menganggur : malay word, meaning 'jobless'

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Gong Hei Fatt Choy
I will be away from Feb 6 - Feb 15, 2005. I will be spending my CNY at my hubby's hometown this time around. So odd, must get used to calling him "hubby" instead of "bf" now :P He's been teasing me nonstop since we signed the papers. We got some nice photos as well, I will post them up later cos need time to crop them. Till then, thanks for all the well wishes people. Really appreciate them :)

Yalor, sudah kahwin liao. Naik pangkat jadi "Mrs" liao lar. Have to psyche myself that I'm married, fill up forms oso must circle "married" or "kahwin" liao. Akakakakaka!!!! Aiyo, does this mean one step nearer to auntyhood?!? Eeeekkkk!!! Wei, I very fashion wan ok. I don't wear colourful flowery shirts with strip pants. I don't go to markets and complain loudly that the vegetables in stall A are expensive. At least, not yet anyway... HAHAHAHAHA!!! And geez, people are demanding angpows from me liao, WTF?!? Shoo! Shoo!

Gong Hei Fatt Choy everyone. May the new year bring lotsa prosperity, happiness and health too all :D Gong Hei Gong Hei.

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Sign Away!
I'm nervous. I should be... I'm getting hitched! Oh dear, do all about to be married people feel the same way I'm feeling right now? I'm feeling kinda nervous, like some butterflies flying in my stomach. Peple first time mar, sure sked-sked wan mar :P As some people would put it... You're signing your life away! LOL

Registration is pretty simple. We're not making a big deal out of it. Just our immediate family members as witnesses. We got our rings, made arrangements for a small hand bouquet. I had wanted lilies, but the fresh lilies that came can't bloom in time for tomorrow, so pink roses will have to do. I don't mind, just keep things simple. Some girlfriends had asked me why we chose a weekday to seal our union. We have our reasons, heck with what they say or think. I don't need to explain to anyone. It's between us, and us alone :)

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Angpow Giveaways

Angpow aka red packet. Image from here.

It happens every year. Banks will issue new crisp notes, people will queue to get those crisp notes, children will help adults slip the new crips notes into red packets, adults will decide who gets how much and etc etc. The time has come for another money giveaway-cum-collection event: Chinese New Year (CNY). *pokpokpokpokpokPOOOKKK* Now chicken year mar, must make some "hei-fun" or mood :P.

Being a Chinese, there are several so-called rules and regulations to follow in order to preserve the age old tradition. Come CNY, married couples are required to hand out angpows or red packets to children and unmarried couples (unsold sugar canes - term taken from Papi). The amount in each red packet is predetermined by the married couple who's giving out the angpows. So, let's say you're a very close niece/nephew, you'll most likely get a higher amount... say RM 10. If you're a not-so-close relative, you'll get a lower angpow amount... say RM 5 or RM 2. Basically, the rule is the closer your relationship is to a person, the bigger your angpow. Some couples (like my parents) may choose to have a fixed general amount for all, irregardless of relationships. This method actually provides the giver less headache as to decide who gets how much. So everyone gets the same amount, no need to compare who got more/less. But some couples may not agree to such arrangements as they might feel the pinch in their pockets. The more kiasu ones might think if they give a fixed amount to everyone eligible for angpows, but in return get less than what they gave, it means a loss.

Angpow giving and collection has evolved to be quite a ruthless form of business. I term it "business" because in a way, it has become one. Parents have to decide who gets how much. Children understand that they closer their relationship is to any relative, the bigger their angpows would be. "'Better be nice to 3rd aunty this time around, she's freaking loaded!" The tradition of angpows has taken whole new turn, at times a very disgusting turn. Kiasu parents will be observing which couple gave how much by peeking into their children's angpows. If they see their kid getting a small amount from a certain relative, their kiasuism kicks in and the following year, they might just give a small angpow to that relative's kid or worse, boycott that relative.

Angpow giving is actually a tradition. But over the years it has become a competition. And many times quite a pain to some people. It sickens me to see how some kiasu parents actually compete to see whose kid got the most angow collection! And if a relative gave a slightly lower value compared to theirs, that relative will be labelled stingy or a miser. And this act in return will be transported to their children because the parents will tell their kids "This uncle very kiamsiap wan. Don't have to be so close to him." And kids will grow up thinking all that matters is who gave how much inside the red packet, not the relationship.

Chinese New Year is actually a year for all family members to gather around and be together. I think it's very sweet to read stories about how some members of the family would fly all the way back fom foreign lands to meet up with distant relatives and everyone just gather under one roof and celebrate the festivity. CNY is a time for togetherness, to be yourselves and to be with family. Things like angpows are just secondary issues and should not be thought of as some business-like trade. It's a tradition. What's inside doesn't matter... It's the sincerity that matters. Don't judge people through denominations.

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