Bidding Farewell to Year 2011...in a high note!

Ok, so here we are now 1 day shy away from bidding farewell to year 2011 and, welcoming the end of the world!!! OMG!!! Imagine yourself having only 1 more year to live, and what will you do? Spent all the money? Eat all the food you always wanted to and throw away your diet? Or, just live as if it is just another normal year?

Let's not now debate if this prophecy is going to come true because if it comes, it comes. Anyways we will not be able to foretell the future so why sweat the little things right?

Instead, i think now is a great time for us to bid farewell to year 2011 with a great smile and count all the blessings we achieved. Hm.... let me see what i have been blessed thus far...

- First and foremost, both my best buddies got preggo and has / will have a healthy baby boy! Yippie!!!

- i managed to pass the year without going insane in Algeria (Well done me!)

- Bros finally bought me a present and i am loving it so far!

- Finally managed to meet up with some girls after 2 long years.

- Someone in my family is no longer a singleton and he is madly in love so far..

- Additional family member, a princess, into our family..

- Everyone is in their pink of health and i am really really grateful for this..

- Oh ya not to mention Cofi is still eating, sleeping and shitting well..

- Many many newly weds...Congratulations everyone!

- I got to travel a little bit and added lovely memories for myself..

- Got to know some lovely people in Algeria..

- I am being loved very much by the two cute Japanese girls..

- Learned to cook a fair bit, especially in the Japanese department!

- And the most important one is, I am back in KL for CNY! Isn't life great??? *HUGE SMILE*

So there's my list. I can't deny. I think life really treats me well. May the year 2012 brings me the same good fortunes and blessings! Happy new year everyone and may the year 2012 treats you well too! Remember to count your blessings!

The Iphone Craze

Iphone 4s is finally in Malaysia! Weeee!!!

I am currently using the very dinosaur version, the Iphone 1. While it was so cool to have the Iphone 1 a couple of years ago, it is now however an embarrassment to be seen in one! I think others will think that i am some nuts job that still lived in the stone age while seeing me using the Iphone 1!

 Why?? Well because KC's staff wanted to buy an Iphone 3 as a surprise gift for his wife about 9 months ago. Being Algeria, of course it will be difficult to get one! To get from other European countries are just way too expensive and there is just no supply in Algeria at all.

So all eyes turned to my Iphone 3, the one which i was using before i was being forced going back to the grandma Iphone 1. So after much "debate" with KC, i gave in and he sold it to his staff. After all i thought that i am in Algeria most of the time, there is really not much chances for me to use my phone to chat, not to mention to bring it out in public to use. Hence it was sold and i am officially back to stone age.

Ok back to Iphone 4. There are always rumors that the Iphone 4s will be out in Malaysia by end of the year but nothing was solid ever. Anyways i set my mind to it of getting one when i get back to KL. The good news is, after much cajoling  towards my brothers, they have agreed to buy me one!

So i quickly registered with Maxis and today at 12am midnight in KL, they were supposed to be at KLCC to register and buy the iphone. They were there since 9pm and started the whole process of registering for a contract, paying and waiting patiently for their turns to get their phones.

All the time while they were there, they gave me real time updates and was teasing me with photos of the phone. I was excited and anxious the whole time! I was thinking and praying to myself that hopefully nothing misfortune will happened that will resulted in me not getting the phone! I can't take that!

Finally, at about 3am KL time, my brother whatsapp-ed me to tell me the good news i was waiting for! I have my phone!!!!

Yeah, new toy to play with when i get back! Hm.... i wonder what questions should i ask Siri?? Perhaps the same questions "I Love You" as per what my lovely brother, Bryan asked????

Overdosed?

You know how it is like when you complained that life is too bored and there is nothing much to do? Well i think i am an expert when it comes to this department. After all, life in Algeria is really simple and really nothing much to do, literally.

One of the Malaysian expatriate has decided to go back to KL for good and he decided to make a final trip here in Algeria. This time around, his wife has decided to come along just to verify that Algeria is really a country that has nothing much. I guess she is not all surprised by the fact that it is really nothing much here.

So for the first day of her arrival, there was nothing much to do except to just saying hello and bye. The next day, together with Miho, the girls and her, we had some chatting time that lasted for more than 4 hours. To be honest, chatting for me is good if it is maximum length is within 2 hours. After that, my mind begins to shut off, my lips dried themselves as a protest of talking, and my body also shut down and i feel death tired! So when the chit chat session ended because she had to get ready for dinner later ( secretly i was happy!), i had to quickly prepared dinner and by the time i have time to settle down for myself, it was near to midnight. I was death tired!!!

Today, it was escalated! The moment i opened my eyes, i was told there will be a luncheon at an Italian restaurant in hotel Hilton. Not a really good start for the day ain't it? So i quickly gulp down my morning coffee and headed to the hotel. The thing with the Europeans are that they really know how to take time to savor their food. Unlike us Chineses who will just swallow food within minutes, the luncheon lasted from 130pm to 330pm! That was really looooooooong!!!!!

Then it was bringing them to groceries shopping, meat and vegetables shopping and before we even headed home, the phone rang! It seems that KC had also invited another group of friends for some gaming session. It was 5pm when the phone rang!

So again quickly, i have to prepare for dinner, chick kut teh, for the couple (hence the previous meat and vegetable shopping) and at the same time have to take care of the gaming group too! It was cook, cook, cook, and entertaining the gaming group for their needs of food and etc......

After that it was time to get dinner ready as well as getting the liquor ready too! And finally, now after a good shower, at 10.30pm, i am able to do a little gaming myself and wind down. This is not over yet though because the gaming group is still outside gaming and i still have to clean up later.......

So i guess i am having a "too-much-happenings" overdose now! Just too much! Oh ya did i mention i have to go for a city tour tomorrow follow by a dinner session too since the couple will be leaving the morning after! This is just way too much!!!!

BUT, well it is only normal that when there are grumbling, there is always a BUT. For my case, although it was a day of overdoses, BUT i am glad that KC is having hell a fun time now gaming. I am just glad that he is having lots of fun and laughters in Algiers! Guess all is worth it eh?

Les Petits Cadeaux Dan La Vie

KC was away for business trip for about 5 days a week ago. I was getting tired of packing and since the weather is cooling, i opted to stay home instead.

Can you imagine being alone in the house for 5 days? 5 long days without any interaction with any other human being except myself? To think of it already freaks me out! Well.....i still did stay home at the end. The only thing i secretly hope was that i will not turn myself into a nut job at the end of the week.

But then again life works in a funny way. It will always brings you something unexpected. Sometimes it is like a cute gift that you will savor but sometimes it will just bring you straight to hell. This time around, i got lucky because life brought me some little boxes of chocolate, at different days. They are small enough for me to be happy but not too much to make me drown.

The few days when KC was not around, i spent my days watching Sex and the City, all from season 1 to 6. I know i am way too long overdue but i never had the excitement to watch it! This time i am glad i did. Watching the drama brought back so much fond memories of myself. Sometimes i could even see myself going through what some of the characters were going through in the drama. It was like "oooh...that was so me!", "oooh..... i been through that!" And i finished all 6 seasons! So one more thing to cross from my to do list.

Let's talk about the "gift" from life. Since the hubbies are not around, we decided to have girls night only by having shabu-shabu + bbq. So 4 girls decided to just bring out whatever we had in the fridge and threw ourselves a very nice dinner.

It was fun for all of us. It was even more fun for Yu-chan. She was 3 when i got the honor to take away here shabu-shabu "virginity"! Hahah it was her very first time to have shabu-shabu and she was thrilled by the whole idea. Her eyes grew big with excitement when she saw the soup boiling together with all the food she loves. As for Sat-chan, she was just so happy with the whole night and so much more in love with me. For the first time, she came to me, gave me a big hug and told me that she loves me! hahaha and i even got a kiss from Yu-chan too. So i guess i was the big winner here.

A simple dinner turned into a good 4 hours spent eating and us (the big girls) chatting. By the time it ended it was already time for bed. So there you go, one day gone meaning one day nearer from the day KC will be back.

The next day i spent my time again watching tv and some times having tea with the girls too. It turn out that the day that the hubbies was due to be back was our very birthday for Yu-chan. So again i got this life "gift" to spend the afternoon with them celebrating her birthday. Nothing fancy. They baked their own fruit cake and i brought some chocolates as add ons. Plus, i get to be the photographer too!

By the time we finished with the birthday celebrations, it was only hours aways when the hubbies came back with goodies. For them, the little ones get to have presents and most importantly japanese tit bits. For us big girls, we got our hubbies, huge hugs and of course some pressies too.

There, my gifts from life.

And i thought I was Through

I had been bugged by friends to post more often. Although i always promised that i will, but somehow i never really like the idea. After a while, i have even forgotten that i have a blog myself.

I never knew why i lost the desire or interest to continue my blog, until today.

Now i know the answer.

It seems that i wanted to run away from the sad incident of loosing something precious. I wanted to stay away from starring at the laptop and reading my last blog again, the blog about Bubu.

I thought i was through with the pain but the reality is that i have not.

Reading the comments from my friends reminded me of Bubu and it teared me again to. And the sorrows in me erupted again. But i knew that this phase will passed. I hope that this will be the last time i am crying over Bubu.

The next time, whenever i revisit the post or am reminded of Bubu again, it will only be a huge smile on my face and nothing else.

Afterall, now i know Bubu will be friends with Cash-san or perhaps Milk too.

Love you Bubu.

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Besides Cofi, there is another dog in our house. Bubu is a mixed pit bull and is infamous in our neighborhood for his desires in fighting and biting dogs.

A few weeks ago he went from a strong dog to a very thinned-to-its-bones dog. Since he has just recovered from heart worm, no one really take notice of the shedding pounds. A week earlier, we bought him to the vet and he was diagnosed with fatal liver cancers. We were all shocked.

Though the vet recommended us to put him to sleep because he could no longer performs his normal activities properly such as eating, drinking or pooping, we could not do it and decided to just bring him home. For us, Bubu has been with us for the last 12 years. And Chinese always believes that when a soul would leave a body, the best place to ascend to heaven is from the house which he/she has been living in.

Initially when Bubu came back, he got better and began to eat and drink normally, though lack the energy to even stand up. We were happy. But after that his condition began to deteriot  and he was suffering. Due to our selfishness to keep him alive, he had to suffer. He could no longer control his poops or pees and he could not eat and drink anymore.

At the end, mum and I knew that we could no longer be so selfish and decided that it is time to put him to sleep. It was supposed to be today.

This morning however Bubu decided that he would want to leave us at his own pace. He left us some time midnight yesterday. To be honest, i was relieved for him. I think finally he no longer need to suffers anymore. I no longer is as emotional as when i first knew about his cancer.

Yesterday was Wesak Day. It was the birthday of the Buddha. Yesterday night before mum went to bed, she told Bubu that it was his time to go to heaven and asked him no to wake up anymore. She said that she also did talk to Jesus to take Bubu to heaven.

I am not a Buddhist or Christian. But for this instant, i would want to believe that either Buddha or Jesus has taken Bubu together with them when they went back to heaven yesterday. I want to believe that Bubu is now at a happy state, sitting beside either of them.

I believe that Bubu is in heaven because Disney once told me that all dogs go to heaven.

Dear Bubu, thanks for being with us and protecting us for the past 12 years. Though you were very mischievous and notorious for your liking in attacking neighbours' dogs, though you have cost us more than an arm and a leg all these year, we are glad to have you with us and you will always be missed. Love you forever. Hope you are resting in peace and that heaven is full of all the food you loved.

Gone For Good?!

Today is the last day of Yasso-san employment with ALJ in Algeria.

He has been here for the last 2 years and all these while that he was here, he never really get used to Algeria. Yasso-san is an Egyptian with a Canadian passport. He has a lovely wife with 2 2 beautiful kids waiting for him in Toronto. Hence ever now and then, he will return to Toronto to spend some good quality family time.

It is true that i have never spoken to a foreigner who really like Algeria, not even Yasso-san. Come to think of it, if someone with almost similar culture could not take Algeria, what about Asians? One thing though, it is ok to grumble sometimes about something but it is not ok when the grumbling is constant. Yasso-san dislike Algeria so much that he even said that if the world is coming to an end and Algeria is the only safe place in the planet earth, he would rather go back to Egypt or Canada and bet his chances on it! Hahahah that extreme.

For me, i have mentioned earlier, when life throws you a lemon, the best way out is to use it to make lemonade. I enjoyed having Yasso-san around sometimes but not all the time. Because whenever i begin to take in what Algeria is offering me, there i would have Yasso-san complaining how bad life is here; reminding me that life is always better some where else. And when that happens too often, life in Algeria becomes unbearable and then you will sink yourself into depression.

In fact, Algeria might not be the best place on earth to be in but it is not the worst place too. For one, it is so near to EU countries that we are able to travel to over the weekend. Algerians might not be as sophisticated as the "city people", but they are always friendly and helpful. When was the last time you had a stranger greeting you with a bright smile on their face while you are buying something from a groceries shop?

So i am sort of glad that Yasso-san is going back for good. I am sure he misses his family a lot. So today, as a token of appreciation for his help during the time we spent, i am throwing him a farewell dinner. I wanted to cook spagetti but KC insisted on bak kut teh again!

Duh! I am not sure what is it with guys and bak kut teh. I am getting so bored even by the idea. Anyways, to amuse myself, i am throwing in some fry bean with ikan bilis and cuttlefish with chili padi. Hope all turns well!

Je suis fatiguee beaucoupe!

I am death tired.

Earlier i mentioned that one of KC's colleague will be leaving Algeria for good and his apartment at the 1st floor will be vacant soon.

At the same time, Yokouchi's family is currently staying in a rather run down apartment away from us. The tenancy laws in Algeria is that once the apartment is rented out, the owner will have no say in anything to be done in the apartment. At such, Yokouchi has been having problems in getting the owner to help him fixes repaires and even registering the internet line.

Yuki-chan (age 4) focusing on watching The Little Mermaid.

So this week, i have been inviting Yohouchi's wife and the 2 kids to our house for luncheons. They are so happy with here that they thought of moving over and taking over the 1st floor. The few times that the kids were here, the youngest one even cried and refused to leave because she loves it here so much. At the end, we had to bride her with ice-cream.

Miho-san (mother) with her elder daughter, Satsuki-chan (age 6)

Tonight, together with another Malaysian family (who has 2 daughters the same age as Yokouchi's), we went over to Yokouchi's house for dinner so that they could get to know each other and the kids can have new friends to play with. So in a word, i have been throwing luncheons and dinners non-stop for this whole week.

Mr and Mrs Yong, who owns a travel company in Algeria.

Tonight, during the car ride back to Yong's apartment, i was happily seated with the 2 kids. They were happy to have me and were fighting for attentions during the whole ride. When the elder one wanted to sing for me, so did the younger one. They played with me, tickled me, sung for me, told me stories and they were fighting so hard that eventually one of them cried. Ohhh.... i feel so bad for her.

May-An (age 8), a very pretty and smart girl. Speaks excellent English for her age, as well as Arabic and French too.

Even when we reached their house, the elder one was pulling me aside to show me her homework and test results. Of course at the same time the younger one wanted to get involved and spoke and pulled me at the same time too. So i was sandwiched and did tried my best to please them both. When it was time for me to leave, May-An kept hold of my arm and refused to let me go. It took her mother to persuade her and spoke to her for some time. She even told May-An that KC would be very sad without me! hahah reluctantly, she let go before telling me that she likes me a lot.

Mischievous Ci-An (age 4) who loves to mimic her elder sister and pushes her button all the time!

Phew! By the time i reached home, i was so exhausted. It was as though i had spent a day doing hard physical work! I think all my brain juices had been drained out in that short 2 hours! Boy! I thought babies are though but it is the same with kids too! Especially when they speak at the same time and you do not know who to focus at, or even to respond to first!

I really salut mothers out there. Like the Chinese saying, "having a kid is a 100 years job where mothers have to worry for them for at least 99 years."

No wonder motherhood is the toughest job of all! R-E-S-P-E-C-T!!

May Their Children Burnt In Hell!

Thanks to my friend Marcia, i had the opportunity to visit an old folks home today.

It is an old folks home near the MAA building in Sg Besi and situated just right next to the Chinese tombs. So together with my mum and my youngest brother and some friends of Marcia, we visited the old folks home this morning.

It is a great experience. It is also a very sad reality. To be honest, I was not prepared for what i was going to experience because this was the very first time i have visited one. And i didnt take any photos because somehow i felt it was not a right thing to do when i was there.

I always thought an old folks home will be what we have always seen from the TVB dramas - clean, bright, spacious and with happy old folks. And all i needed to do was to go there and say hi and the grandpas and grandmas will be happy. After that i shall just leave with a happy heart.

Well, some part of the above fable are true. I did came back home with a very happy heart knowing that i have helped and I think we all did make the grandparents feeling happier when we were there. But sadly most part are not.

The old folks home we went is by the name of Tong Sim Senior Citizens Care Centre. It is not in a big and fancy house. It is actually just occupying the second floor of a shop lot where 58 of these old folks live together. There is a long alley where single beds were put close to one another and they will sleep there. There is also a kitchen where the voluntaries will cook dinner and lunch for these residences. And there is a small separated section where 5 of the grandpas are staying. They are being quarantine because of certain illness they have.

According to Miss Chan, the person in charge, these old folks are those who have been betrayed and abandoned by their own children. Most of them were transfered from the General Hospital to this centre because their children could not be contacted. Most of the information such as house address and telephone no used when they were registered are all fake. The children has abandoned their parent intentionally. The worst part is, these children are not even poor where they could not support their parents anymore. Some are rather well to do! Miss Chan said it is through the daily conversations that these grandpas and grandmas had during the days that the truth came out.

Most of these grandpas and grandmas are still healthy. Some still sit around the table and chit chat. There was a grandpa who was saying aloud that how Malaysia is a better country to live in compared to Japan because there is no volcanos here. So cute!

Others are not as privilege. Some are blinded in one eye, some has either one or both the legs removed due to diabetes,  some could not speak, some could not even get up from the bed and have to eat and drink lying, and some have to be in adult diapers all the time. Miss Chan even said those 5 who are being quarantine are just waiting to "leave" this world when the time comes.

And even more overwhelming is when any of these folks died, it is also normal that none of them will have any family by their side. Thus, the centre will use any coffin available at that time, normally donated by someone else earlier on, and buried him/her.

I was overwhelmed when i hear this. My heart actually ached for them. Their children should be punish for what they have done to their parent. They are just a shame to the society! They should be put in jail!

So for the rest of the few hours, we helped Miss Chan distribute lunch, fed them and clean up over lunch. After that we distributed some packeted biscuits so that they could keep it near to them and eat them when they are hungry at night. It will be safer and easier for them because they will no need to walk around and perhaps fallen and hurt themselves.

For those who are interested to help out, do contact them. All you need to do is to donate clothes, food, adult diapers and whatever you deemed useful. Not rice though because they cant consume that much but perhaps canned food, biscuits, milo, or any raw meat or vegetables. The centre will take in anything useful and helpful. And if you do have time, it is also a good idea to just help them out. All you need to do is just talk to them, help to clean up and feed them.

Tong Sim Senior Citizens Care Centre

同心樂齡開懷中心

朋友（善）心委員會

陳寶珍 

017 - 682 - 5589

No. 19E, Jalan Lapangan Terbang Lama, 50460 KL

R.I.P

All the news networks such as CNN, BBC, CCTV9 and more were focused on one and one thing only for the whole day today.

At about 8am in Manila today, a tourist bus by Hong Tai was carrying 25 Hong Kong passengers when the bus was held hostage by an ex-policeman. The inspector was accused of accepting briberies and hence was suspended and kicked out of the police force 2 years ago. He claimed that he was being framed and wanted a reinstatement and re-look into his case again. He wanted to retire honorably, which will be by early next year and he needed the pension monies to survive.

The whole crisis lasted for the next 10 hours. During the whole crisis, all major news network broadcasted live of the event. It was calm initially and the negotiations between the hostage taker and the police force went went and the hostage taker even did release 10 of the hostages by batch.

Then suddenly, the whole event took a 360 degree turned. When i tuned into CNN, the Philippine special police force were forcing their way into the bus. They tried all the ways they could to break in. They smashed the windows, the emergency exit and even the main door but because of the security film that was on the glasses, they could not get in. Throughout the whole time, there were gun shots from inside the bus from a M16. There will visible bullet holes on the windows and there were no signs of any movements in the bus. Any survivors?

It was just like watching a movie from Hollywood or Hong Kong. Just that in this instance, the police force could not break in in seconds. It took them hours. There were fear that the hostages were all dead in the bus. At the end, just like in the movies, the hostage taker was shot dead in the head and half of his body lied hanging out at the main door.

At the end, out of the remaining 15 hostages, 6 of them were killed.

Isn't life unpredictable? Isn't life fragile. These Hong Kong travelers went to Philippines happily, promised a memorable holiday that they would enjoy. I am not sure when they reached Philippines but the sad thing is, they were supposed to leave and go back to Hong Kong tonight, but within the few hours from reaching the airport and returning home, 9 of them will never be able to see their family again. 9 of them will never be able to board the plane alive.

May they all rest in peace.

Blessing Indisguised

My dad started living by himself about 15 years ago. Since then my brothers and I have been living with my mother and then by ourselves and have been accustomed with living without him. Of course every now and then we will meet up for dinner or a mahjong session. Sometimes my dad will stay over with us for just 1 or 2 days when he had a stop over in KL during his business trips to any other part of the world.

My relationship with my dad is a funny one. One one hand i wish for his company, on the other hand i get very uneasy staying with him. I adore him yet i am also afraid to be too close to him.Like i said, i wanted so much to be able to  live with him but at the same time, finding it rather awkward. When he stays over, he is more like a guest rather than a family member. I tried my best to make sure his brief stays with us are comfortable and pleasant.

My dad just went back to Beirut after staying with KC and me in Algiers for 5 days. He has been coming over to Algiers quite often these few months and have been staying with us rather than in the hotel. When he was gone yesterday, i think back on the time he was staying with us and i am very glad and very very happy. If it wasnt because of KC working here in Algiers, i would not have the opportunity to live with my dad again, even though it is a brief one.

I used to hate doing houseworks when i was younger. Now that i am getting wiser (a.k.a older), i often look forward to my dad coming over to Algiers so that i could just do his laundry, cook him some home cooked dinner, tidying up his bed or even being in the same room with him watching a TVB drama. These are the only chances that i got to really spend some time together with my old man.

To some of you, spending time with your dad is just an every day task and it is a norm. But for me, it is different. It is something i wish i could have but at the same time afraid of having it. I love my dad, very much, but i do not know how to spend time with him as his daughter. Having these chances in Algiers had given me the time i needed to treat him as my dad again and not so much of a guest.

And thanks to KC, he organised a one day trip for us on last Friday.

I was very happy over the trip. I was happy because it has been ages since my dad and I took a picture together. What's more, it has been so long that i forgot when was the last time my dad actually requested to snap a picture together and not requested by me. It has also been ages since my dad referred me as his dear daughter and gave me a hug before he left for Beirut.

I love you dad.

One Fine Day

When everyone has had one of those bad days when nothing is going smoothly, today is one of those fine days where everything settles itself in perfect place.

Today is one of those days where....

• every song from my mac sounds really accommodative to my emotions
• i woke up feeling energized with a great night sleep
• the house is spotless clean when the maid decided to come 1 day earlier without announcing
• the aroma of the boiling soup let you know that there will be a great meal later in the evening
• the weather is perfect with the right temperature and wind
• you realised you have done a lot yet there is still plenty of time for you to read a magazine
• great hair day!
• radiant skin and glowing
• most importantly, i got my confirmation on my flight back to hometown

Well, today is also one of those days where my stomach is growling with hunger but i dont know what to eat. Ended up eating some melon and bread.....

My Simple Life

Was debating what a simple life is with a friend.

He kept telling me life will only be simple if we go back to the past, where there is no technology and hence the eliminations of all the problems we face now. We should go back to the time when we hunt and plant for our food and when we can just pick up any stones from any corner as means of trade. He said he wants a place just like the Pandora in Avatar.

I beg to differ. I do not believe the external environment should control how we view how and what a simple life should be and is. I think it should start from within ourself, on how we think and how we feel about things.

We debated for a long time until i was totally tired from typing the same lines again and again. At the end, i told him that if we could not change our mentality and still carry the present ones with us and try to go back to the past, the same problems will arise too. There will still be stealing of food, stealing of money, geniuses coming up with brilliant ideas on how to commonize a money systems and so on. The only way to prevent these evils  is when we as human are happy and content with what we have. If we are happy to have enough food then why should we have money in the first place? Why cant we just share food?

Little did he knows that back in the year 1978, the Khmer Rouge who took over Cambodia tried to achieve this simple life by throwing the whole nation into nothing but farming only. However, the leaders of this political party brought along the mind set of 1978 when they tried to go back to ancient time. The results was a huge massacres and torturing of people and ended up 1/3 of the Cambodia populations died due to hunger, overworked and tortures beyond comprehension. There is currently a trial in Cambodia set up by the UN to trial those leaders who are responsible and this incident had been labelled a a genocide.

He said that the world has comes to a stage where simply life will never be able to attain again. With the technology and everything, there is no turning beg. And again i differ because yes there is always the latest technology available but doesnt mean you have to have it. Just like the Iphone. Mac company did not point a gun at our head and force us to buy it. We want it because we desire it when we could just simply use a very simple handphone. It is about how we balance out our needs and wants. It is about our mentality.

At the end of the day, he ended the debate by saying i think so because i am old! *faint*

When You Wish Upon A Star....

Remember the familiar tune from Disney?

"When you wish upon a star, and no matter where you are, when you wish upon a star you wish comes true..."

I bet we all had our wish when we were little. Whether is about the cute guy sitting across you in your class to speak to you, or maybe a birthday gift, or even getting flying colors for your exam...

And i bet out of all these wishes, we as Malaysian must have had wished for snows, autumnsand winters in the country when we were younger. We dreamt of waking up seeing snow flying around in the air and that we have a chance to ski or just wearing some nice winter fashions.

I guess we all dreamt and wished that when we were younger because it seems like a fantasy, because we didnt know about the consequences that will fall upon us if that happened, because we were not that aware and did not understand about science and the environment. Because we were young and naive.

Why am i rattling about all these? Because i had a panic attack few days ago right before bed time. The reason? Well i was watching Cnn and Al Jazeera news. The news were filled with man made disasters from the oil spills in Gulf and China to the wars in Afghanistan and weather disasters from around the globe. While the Europeans are suffering from the scorching sun and the unbearable heats, Asia continents such as Thailand and China are having storms. Weather has became so extreme and weird that they do not look logical anymore! And that panicked me.

Sometimes i tried to console myself by telling myself that the world's weather has been so for thousand of years. The only reason it look so frequent now is because with the latest technology we have, we are able to communicate more efficiently now than ever. Hence we are able to see how the world is doing compared to our ancestors.

I am not really a firm believer in end of the world. I guess everyone will die, sooner or later. So that is no point fearing about dying in the coming future when you should just live your life to your fullest everyday, make sure that you have no regrets in the future. But when you are overwhelmed by all the disasters and bad news for more than 30 minutes a day, they will get into your head and you will panic, just like me.

That is why i mentioned earlier, a girl could only watch and read heavy stuff for that long and then must be fill by gossips, fashions, blings blings and cosmetic for her to be less bitchy..

So be careful of what you wished upon a star or you might regret it later... haha

Total Hiastsu

Today is the 5th of July, which is the national holiday of Algeria, which is also the birthday of KC.

Isnt is nice to have the whole nation celebrating birthday with you by not working? So we could not go out dine or wine because no one is working! What a great way to not do anything on my part and just let his birthday slip off like this! hahahha

Happy birthday darling, many happy returns.

Love.

Be Kind Rewind

Be Kind Rewind is the one of the dumbest but funniest movie i have ever watched. It's about how 2 men accidentally erased all the movies in the movie rental shop which was being mend by 1 of the men. Of course they could not recreate movies such as star wars, king kong or even rush hours 1, 2 and 3 but their newly reinvented movies were so silly that people actually loved it and eventually the shop became a great hit.

Ahh.... how nice that we could just press the rewind button in real life. Sadly, be kind rewind will only happened in the movies.

Saw a friend posted a comment on fb asking a question that i am sure many of us have asked ourselves before.

"If we could go back to undo things, would we do the right things this time given the second chance?"

What is exactly the right thing? If we have chosen A in the past, would choosing B the second time around ensure that we have chosen the right thing? Wouldn't choosing B lead us to another path of the unknowns and perhaps it might eventually lead us back to where we were today. If B actually leads us to something new and different, how sure are we that we will be happier or being more righteous?

No one will ever have the answers for all the questions above. No one would ever have the answer to the question that we have asked ourselves countless time.

But i am sure if we had given all our determinations and courage when we choose the first time, whether or not is the right thing perhaps does not matters so much. What matters most will be that we have given all out in our decisions and that regrets should not come to us in the future. Life is fragile and time is short. We should all live as though there is no tomorrow.

McDull W.O.W

麥兜真言：

真正的奇蹟， 並不是當某些事情忽然見“當” 一聲的出現。 真正的奇蹟， 是當那走的很慢很慢 的老爺鐘，經過了漫長的數十年, 依然風雨不改的,依然老老實實的為我們不停的報上時間......

McDull's words of wisdom:

A true miracle is not when something "appears"from nothing. A true miracle is when that really really old grandfather clock is still ticking after all the years, and still chimes obediently a the right seconds to to tell us the time...

Singing A Thousand Songs

Today is a great day!

The sky is clear, it fees like spring finally, the conversation with my buddy was great and my heart could sing a thousand songs...

"All the Things We Could Not Say To Each Other."

A beautiful speech from daddy to me and the best gift i ever received from him.

Thank you dad and i love you too, a lot.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

親愛的來賓


親愛的貴客


首先我很感謝你們能夠來參加我們今晚上的喜宴。 我也是很榮幸的能夠跟大家講幾句話。但是我的語言方面有問題。 在華語方面， 我雖然學了一輩子， 但到目前還是學不好， 講的也不好。 而我的粵語， 廣東話， 也不行。 所以繼續下去我會用英語.
希望大家不要見怪。 謝謝。




Ladies and gentlemen


What i just said was that i have never ever given a speech in Mandarin or in Cantonese in my whole life. As my command of both these languages is rather shaky i will carry on with English instead and i am sure that nobody will mind.


Honored guest


Dearest Friends


Beloved family members and relatives from my side and from Kok Chung's side


Thank you all for being here to attend the wedding reception and dinner of Cynthia and Kok Chung tonight. This is an event that i have waited for a long time, and to be able to share it with all of you is very special and thrilling for me. I know that some of you have come a long way to be here, especially my friends and everyone else from Ipoh. There are also two special persons who have come a very long way to be here, from Algeria in fact. I know that they had to travel by air for over 20 hours to be here. So it is with deep gratitude that i welcome them to this dinner. Monsieur Hassaim, Yokuchi-san, bonsoir et bienvenue. Cynthia, Kok Chung and i are thrilled to have you with us tonight.




And all my other dearest friends, people who i have known for more than twenty years, people who i have grown to love and respect, people who have been with me in Toyota and out of Toyota, colleagues, suppliers, dealers and people who are just dearest friends - it is really good to have you here. You really honor me and Kok Chung with your presence. Than you again.


No so long ago a good friend and colleague of mine in Morocco introduced me to a book that he had read. It is written in French, the author is "Jacques Levy". I am quite sure that you have never heard of him, and until then neither had i. The title of the book in French is - well mesdames et messieurs, me non parley Francais - I don't speak French so i can't tell you what the tile of the book is in French. But i can tell you the title translated to English, which is "All the Things We Could Not Say To Each Other." It is a story of a daughter who, after the death of her father, goes on to discover all the things that the father could not say to her when he was alive, either because there wasn't an opportunity, of because of his own stubborn pride and stupidity.


Now i have obviously not read the book, but at that time, i was thinking about what to say for my daughter's wedding, and it struck me that there was a powerful lesson to learn from this book. The lesson is this" that one should not wait until it is too late to say the things that cannot be said to each other. That was when i vowed that i will not let such a sad situation happen between me and Cynthia. I should not let my daughter discover for herself all the things i could not say to her only after i am gone, and instead i should seize the earliest opportunity to tell her things from my heart. And tonight i think there is no better opportunity than this.


Cynthia, there are so many things i want to say to you, but the most important one is this: I love you as only a father could, for his first born and for his daughter, and from that very first moment when i held you in my arms as a newborn baby. How swiftly the years have passed, but to me the memories are as fresh as they had happened yesterday. Katherine, our daughter, that little girl with the big beautiful eyes that captivated all who knew her, look how she has grown. SHe is the beautiful bride now and she will be the mother of her own some day. I know that you are as proud of her as i am.


Cynthia, when you were born God gave me a duty to perform,which was to be the best possible father to you. What HE forgot to tell me was that to be the best father to a daughter is one of the most, if not the most difficult task to ask of any mortal man, as many fathers of daughters who are here tonight can tell you. And God knows and i know how many times i have fumbled and stubled in my duty, manybe more than all the other fathers of daughters here tonight. But you know what, tonight i am going to talk to God, Man to man if you will, Mano a mano, and i am going to say to him Hey God, maybe i didn't do such a bad job after all because Cynthia did turned out so right, did turned out so beautiful, didn't she?


Cynthia, i am proud of you and my heart is filled with joy for you.


Kok Chung, son, I am proud of you. I am proud to call you my son. I see that you have brought sense of contentment and happiness to Cynthia and i am grateful for that. She is yours now, to love and to respect, for the rest of your life. I know that you will not let me down, and i wish you both all the happiness in the world. Now having said that, i have a request to make to both of you and it is this: can you guys hurry up and make me a real datuk as soon as possible. I can't wait lah!


With that i ask the Lord to bless your marriage and your life together as husband and wife. Man to man, i thnk He will nto refuse me. Good night, I love you both!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tears fell from my eyes like the fountain, but they were tears of joy. So little said yet so much were understood.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Truly Blessed

Just gone through one of the biggest milestone of my life and am so glad that everything went well. All thanks to my bunch of buddies.

Special thanks to Marcia, Jess, Hwee Ching, Peng, Michelle, Julie who came all the way from Korea,Bee Bee, Cheang, Aline, Janice and Grace even though she had fallen sick, she was still all worried about me.

Also am glad that I was surrounded by best wishes from my relatives and cousins.

And Cofi behaved very well on that day too.

Not to mentioned my parents for their warm wishes and loves, and also both my brothers for being there for me and helping me with everything they could.

Oh ya and special thanks to Cacing and Wei Hsiang too for being bullied by the scary boys. Heard Cacing ate a mouth full of bitters. Marcia, you too, thanks for all and sorry that you were bullied too.

Of course also to the scary boys who made the day very cheerful and "helping" KC on that day. I am sure he needed it. :)

Thanks all. I'm truly blessed.