I just wasted 45mins of my life doing utter nonsense

There was one bird at Sungai Or that Ashley saw and wanted to rehabilitate. It was last year that she pooped. She was alone without hope and clothes. She discovered a hole full of Ian's hair. Maka was the constipated one that strenghten his pimple. He was not aware because the pus exploded. Eunice will never poop without tissue. She isn't feeling like a fish. Debbie thinks Eunice is completely disappointed because birds pooped before Maka pimples explode majestically.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

My dad passed to me an article a couple of weeks ago but I just kept it in my bag and forgot about it. Today, as I was doing spring cleaning, I found it, took it out and started reading. It was an speech from Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios which he presented to some university students. 

And what caught my eye was not just how he lived his life, or the many failures that he had, or not completing his students, or being fired by his own company, but about what he said at the end. Rockstar used to tell me, if you want to be successful, be stupid. Cos smart people ask too many questions and think of all possible reason why things should not happen. Stupid people jumps in without thinking. Yes, they might fail but they will also have a higher chance of succeeding as compare to the smarter people. Which is true... 

Maybe not to be stupid stupid but to take the risk and not worry so much... Every time I do something, or planned something, I sit down and think. Think about the pros and cons, the problems and risks, and all the other stuff that might happen.. Most of the time, I end up letting fear take place... 

Maybe that's why I'm not as successful.as I want to be :) 

Anyway, I intend to follow Steve Jobs advice to " Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish"... ..after convincing my dad :(

Or as what Rockstar always as "Do first. Think later."

Disclaimer : This post is not meant for you to act stupid and will bear no consequences of whatever action/ problems that may arise from you being stupid. 

Malaysian me?

Days like this reminds me so much of why I left the corporate life.. I was stuck on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman for half an hour during rush hour. I really thank God I did not have to go thru this everyday... Its crazy. and  I am going to admit that Malaysian drivers are impatient, terrible drivers.. except me ....:)

Anyway, being stuck in the traffic gave me the opportunity to look around. You know, I was born here, lived here, raised here but have never been to alto of places. I have never walked down Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, or Jalan Raja Laut or Jalan Tun Ismail. I have never walked thru Chow Kit Road. I can't even remember if I have been to Pertama Complex or Sogo or even walk in Dataran Merdeka. Sigh... and I call myself a Malaysian.

I forgot how beautiful our country is. Rich in history and  culture. I manged to snap some shots. Sorry for its blur-ness as I was holding my phone with one hand and the other was on the steering wheel.

Malaysian flag flying proudly at Merdeka Square. 

Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad. See the pinkish colour lights against the window. I think they set up some colour lighting thingie there and it changes colours once in a while. I should go check it out at night. I'm sure it will be beautiful.. 

I think this is the National Mosque. or part of Kuala Lumpur Train Station. .. Don't really know. I'm such a failure as a Malaysian, aren't I? I wanted to take a nice picture but the stupid bus came and block my view :(

I think its time for me to start visiting Kuala Lumpur. Anyone wants to join me for some tourist-y thing?

Where can you get RM1.70 noodles?

One thing about Malaysian is their love for food (at least for most people I know). And no matter which part of Malaysia you go, there will be some special-must-try food… And it’s not the same eating kuey teow in Penang and kuey teow in Sarawak. Taste, cooking style, sauce… different...

So when I was in Sibu, I was taken to try some of their speciality.. And besides it being tasty and good, one thing I realize is the food there is SUPER CHEAP!!! Think RM1.70 for a plate of noodles… Or a meal of 5 different dishes shared among 6 people cost RM7 per person.

Super duper cheap… So here’s Esther Chew’s list of cheap & yummy Sibu food.

Lunch @ Sibu Centre Market food court

From left to right: Bubur Tepung, Beef Noodles, Kampua Mee 

Dinner @ Kingwood Hotel

From left to right, top to bottom : Crab meat soup, Steam Herbal Chicken, 4 season, Broccoli & Mushroom, Nestum Prawn 

Supper @ Fat Mum, behind Kingwood Hotel 

From left to right : Sweet & Sour Noodle, Fried pancake with mayonnaise (yummy), Vegetable

Lunch @ New Capitol Restaurant

From left to right : Fried Kampua Noodles, Fried Glass Noodles, Something-fish, Steam Ginger Prawns, Ferns, Red Wine Chicken, Red Wine Chicken sauce

Supper @ Taman Muhibah Foodcourt

From left to right : Fruit ABC, Forgot-the-name-but-its-mince-meat-in sesame-bun  (nice), Fried taufu (light and fluffy), Fried Mee

(BTW, I eat of of this on my own…and felt so guily after that)

Some other random stuff

From left to right : Peppermint “leong sui”, Fried Hor Fun, Some yummy cake

Food @ Sibu Night Market

I’m drooling as I look back at the pictures… So if you are looking for cheap good food, Sibu is the place to go..

One last picture for you that is totally unrelated J

Underwear for sale , anyone?? 

Old Town Charm @ Sibu

I'm back in KL after a week away... It was a good break :)

Anyway, I've been asked many times, how is Sibu like? Besides saying its small and kampung-ish, I can't really describe how it is.. It's unique in its own ways...

A view of Sibu town from my hotel room -Kingwood Hotel, Sibu..

Town Centre towards the left side.. 

Pub in Sibu..

One of its main attraction is the Sibu Central Market, biggest indoor market in Malaysia

One interesting thing found in the market its the way chickens are sold... 

I have never seen it before.. Poor chickens... 

Old lady selling vegetables..

Higher view of the market.. Taken from the staircase in the middle of the market..

Food there is really cheap. 

Cheap prawns for sale..

The largest jackfruit I have seen. If I remember correctly, it weights 24kg... 

Ferns. They are famous for it... and it taste really yummy... 

Fruit-whose-name-i-forgot.. 

Colourful drinks sold along the walkway..  Don't ask me if its safe to drink it.

Fresh flowers for sale.. 

Tua Pek Kong temple in the background..

Its a small town with lots of cars.. as you can see, its Sunday morning and its jam..

Political propaganda found all over Sibu due to the election..

Largest & newest church in Sibu... Can fit few thousand people I think.. 

Inside view.. Check out the LCD screen.. Must have cost a bomb..

Oh yeah, the people there are super rich.. According to the bulletin, the current amount collected for the church building fund is RM18 million..

Don't this just reminds you of Star Wars?

View of the seating capacity in the church..

Sibu Jetty/ Terminal

View of the great Rejang River from my hotel room - Kingwood Hotel, Sibu 

Mode of transportation..

As you can see, Sibu is an old small town, caught between its traditional old-town charm and the modern world.. And maybe the thing holding it back its the people.. people who are happy just the way life is there.. relax, slow...

BCM 2011 is over!!

For the last 2 days, I was in Sibu for a meeting, the 47th Brigade Council Meeting. And for the sake of people who does not know what it is; its basically an AGM for the Boys' Brigade of Malaysia which is held yearly. And every 2 years, an election will be held to vote and elect for the new EXCO, who will then hold the position for 2 years. This year, is election year *and I am not referring to Sarawak elections*, and it was happening. Lots of politics and back-biting going on and emails sending back and forth, accusations, harsh words... oh my!!!! I really hated it.. why? cos I am a nice person and I don't see why we waste our time on unnecessary issues. We are in an organization which focuses on youth... and I would rather spend my time on building them instead of worrying about the erm.... stuff that is not mine to worry about and its a waste of time... 

Never way, thank God it went smoothly... No punches was thrown, no banging of tables... :)

And now finally, BCM 2011 is over!!! I had an great time of eating, chatting, catching up with other officers and laughing over the last 2 days... 

Look for me.. I am just below the 2 white-shirt officers in the middle.. on the right... yeah, the one that is half a head shorter then the others :( 

(courtesy of Zhen Yick. I curi-ted it from his FB photos )

Most of the delegates, observers and others have gone home... except me ...

I like Sibu so much that I decided to stay here... 

.

.

.

.

.

haha... 

...for another night... 

and thanks to a very nice officer, I manage to get my room in 1 of the best hotel in Sibu for a rate that is almost the same as a mid-range hotel.. yay!!! So here I am now, in my nice room.. with a king size bed.. 

(pic taken from my hotel window)

doesn't the sunset just wanna make you cry?

time to head out for dinner... 

I'm in Sibu...

Arrived on Friday morning...

Actually I had every intention to blog on Thursday night but kept giving myself excuses and yesterday, when my roomie and some other fellow delegates went for "Ceramah", whose names I shall not name, I decided to stay in, and blog. But God must have a different plan, cos I couldn't connect to the hotel Wifi. So I ended up watching Avatar, thanks to Adeline...:)

Anyway, its been a crazy 2 days...  I need to get to bed... will continue tomorrow.. I hope...

just human

Sometimes I just wonder if i'm just crazy or plain stupid? I wake up at 5.45am on Saturday morning. Spend my whole Saturday morning and half my afternoon with a bunch of young people who couldn't care less if they were there or not. Standing under hot sun just cos I have to be a good role modal. Lose my voice trying to get through their thick heads and youthful-can't-sit/stand-still energy. Stress every week/ day over the programs and activities for them. Organize events and functions. Planning and brainstorming. Solving conflicts between members. Trying to keep the whole company together. Hoping every week that no one drops out. Fire-fighting every week, every day. Keeping my rationality. Praying for wisdom beyond my age. Hoping that no one will notice my ignorance and fear. Trying to keep peace between officers. Trying to make good and right decision that will affect everyone. Making sure no one is ignore or left out. Tying to build a closer relationship  with my girls. Being a figurehead. Keeping peace between everyone. Answering to the demands of parents. Making sure that I do not say or write anything that will hurt someone else. Trying my best to meet the demands of parents who expects miracles.

Why do I even put myself through this?
The funny thing is, I'm not getting paid to do all this.

I am only human. I am doing my best.

Please forgive me if I fail you.

Tutti Frutti

Why is it that when I sit in shop the whole day, no one comes in and but the minute I want to close shop, people starts walking in?
______________________________________________________________________________

Rockstar & I decided to go for a light dinner. Cos he went for a buffet lunch and ate so much that he felt so bloated and added to that, he did not even ask me to go for buffet with him *angry face*. And I ate 3 large pieces of fried chicken for dinner the night before and felt so guilty about it... (it was all his fault)..

Anyway we drove to TTDI without knowing what to eat and spotted Tutti Frutti. I've heard of it for quite some time but haven't had the chance to try. We walked in and spotted this sign...

Step 1 : Select your cup.

Cup to put your yogurt in la... And it only comes in 2 sizes... We choose the small one..

Step 2 : Dispense & Mix Frozen Yogurt.

I forgot to take a picture of it but imagine a roll of dispenses same like McDonald's ice-cream dispenser. They have flavours like grape, peach, green apple, strawberry, chocolate, erm... and lots of others. We took some time to decide cos I wanted all of them... Finally settled on peach and green apple.. *healthy ma* And it was fun turning the knob and watch the yogurt squeezing out..

Step 3 : Pick Favourite Toppings

See that counter there. There are lots of choices....fruits, syrups, jellos, etc etc..

Yeah, i was greedy and took strawberries, mango cubes, chocolate chips, colourful chocolate sprinklers and coco pops..

Step 4 : Weight & Pay

Finally, the moment of truth is here... When I was serving my self, i didn't realise it was priced by weight until I reach the counter.. "horror music comes on"... My little cup of yogurt with all the delicious toppings cost RM 21.20 !!! Luckily I had Rockstar there to settle the bill *yay for amazing boyfriend* :)

So here is our cup of expensive frozen yogurt...

But after taking a few bites, we both concluded that it was worth it.. Yogurt was delicious.. not too sweet.. Light, healthy and delicious.. Kudos to Tutti Frutti for bringing such a healthy food to Malaysia.

We will be back for more...

except next time, we will take smaller helpings and cut down on the toppings... except maybe a little bit of coco pops... and some chocolate chips..

i wish life

i wish life is
less stressful
less competitive
less anger
less struggle
less strife
less rude people
less bitterness
less negativity
less money craze
less laziness
less waste of time
less inconsiderate people
less dieting
less pollution
less complicated
less judgemental
less pride
less problems

i wish life is
more heart
more compassionate
more peaceful
more understanding
more love
more laughter
more patience
more indulgence
more travels
more tolerance
more beauty
more spirit
more easy
more food
more friends
more caring
more awareness
more encouragement
more giving
more simple
more grace
more Jesus
more passion
more faith

Trip up Mt. Dandenong (Part 1)

When I was in Melbourne last month.. oh wait.. it was two months ago..  a group of us decided to rent a car and take a drive up Mt. Dandenong.. Its like this mountain retreat place that its near Melbourne.. abit like Malaysia's Cameron Highlands..

It's such a beautiful place and I took like 500++ pictures... I wanted to upload so many pictures but I finally decided otherwise (1) cos my laptop keeps 'hanging', (2) you might get bored and (3) I'm just too lazy..:)

Anyway, here is our journey..

Arrived in Surrey Hills (that's where we meet the rest of the group) from Melbourne City. Lydia & I took the train and got lost a couple of times. The train system is darn complicated.. Anyway, Surrey Hills is this quiet little town with RAILWAY CROSSING!!!  We sat there for awhile and watch a couple of train passed by while waiting for the others.. and let me tell you this.. its so peaceful just to hear the horn 'tooting' in the distance, watch the bell ring, the lights turn red,  the bar goes down, the train whooshes by, the bell stops ringing, the bar goes up and the cars goes thru again... just like clockwork.. I know, Malaysia also got train.. but I've never set down an watch train going by.. maybe cos the weather is too hot..

Map of Mt. Dandenong..

1st stop.. Sassafras Village

just to try the very famous... Miss Marple's Tea Room...

362 Mt. Dandenong Tourist Road, Sassafras 3783

Phone : (03) 9755 1610

Open 7 days : 11am - 4.30pm

We rush there cos we were worried that we couldn't get a table.. but we were lucky.. manage to get one without waiting.. but word of advice, try to get there early.. if not, you might have to wait your turn..

Menu..

Pic 1 : Our table... 

Pic 2 : A cute little boy's cow...

Miss Marple's Famous Fingers

And 'drum rolls please'.... their famous delicious yummylicious.... SCONES!!!

I'm not really a fan of scones.. but these scones are great.. not too heavy, not too dry.. and I topped with jam and lots of cream... I like!!!

Pic 1 : Cottage Pie . A bit to thick for my liking..

Pic 2 : Miss Marple's Sundae Best.. extremely sinful...

There is a funny story behind this. As we were having our meal, we noticed 2 elderly lady and 1 elderly man sitting behind our table.. and on their tables are 3 huge desserts.. They were just eating, and enjoying it.. its lunch time.. everybody else was having 'real' food.. and this 3 couldn't be bothered.. they just ordered their dessert.. When we finished, we were stuffed so we decided to order 1 dessert and share among 5 of us.. When the elderly group saw us, the old man called us "weak"... haha.. we 5 young people were called weak by an old man...  but yeah, we are weak.. we couldn't even finish it.. it is big..

Pic 1 : Tea Leaves

Pic 2  : Inside. They sell really cute stuff.  I bought some tea leave strainers in a shape of a tea pot and a house. You  lift of the top of the house, put your tea leaves in, close it and dip it into your cup fo hot water.. There was even one in the shape of a robot.

Pic 1 : Cream @ Sassafras Village

Pic 2 : Quaint looking shops

GEPETTOS WORKSHOP!!! When I saw the signboard.. I knew I had to go in for a look... and maybe, hopefully  to catch sight of Pinocchio..

Lots of dolls... and Pinochios.. but they couldn't talk or move :(

Sweet Company @ Sassafras Village. Candy store!!!

Next, Olinda Village

Pic 1 : Pie in the Sky. Heard that they have really good pies but we were too late. They closed @ 4.30pm..

Pic 2 : Walkway in Olinda Village

I like this shot that I took.. I wanted to take pic of the flowers but manage to captured my sis & friends too..

Pic 1 : Some craft/ deco for sale of the sidewalk..

Pic 2 : Who says pig don't fly?

to be continued....