Is It A Blessing To Live Up To 100?

While waiting for our turn to see the doctor at HKL recently, a nonagenarian sat next to us.  The moment she sat down, she struck up a conversation with Cass in Mandarin.  Then I joined in the conversation and talked to her in Cantonese.

The frail lady was very chatty as if she hadn't talked to anyone for a long time.  The first few words that came out of her mouth were that of self-condemnation.  She told me that she felt like a burden to her family as she frequently needs someone to bring her to the hospital.  She has an age-related bladder issue and needs a urine bag.

Lady - what's the point of living so long?   A few of my sons are living overseas and I dare not ask my other children to bring me to the hospital as they are all very busy.  Only my 3rd child, a daughter is willing to bring me to the hospital.  It's a blessing to have daughters.

Me - how old are you?

Lady - I am 90 years old. I feel like a burden to my children because I am useless and need a urine bag.  I keep waking up at night to go to the toilet.

And then she kept harping on the fact that it's pointless to live such a long life.  I wanted to chat with her longer but her daughter pushed her away in her wheelchair to another waiting area.

This kept me thinking.  Is it a blessing to live up to a hundred years old?  The Chinese are fond of wishing the elderly good health and long life during Chinese New Year and birthdays. 

A good family friend of ours who's in her late 80s has been bedridden and living in a nursing home in Ipoh for over a year now. She has dementia, doesn't talk, needs to be fed through a feeding tube, and has to be on diapers 24/7.  Stick thin and looking immensely forlorn, it pains us each time we look at her.  Everyone thought that she would pass on first before her husband but her husband died in his sleep recently. He was 92.   It's very costly to keep her alive but I guess God is not ready to take her back yet.  And so she continues to suffer 😥. So do her children.

Do you think that it's a blessing to have the gift of longevity if there's no quality of life?  Would you be happy if none of your children are living with you or near you in your golden years?   Imagine yourself in your eighties, alone and in ill health.  You feel like a burden to everyone because of your failing health as well as a financial burden to your children who each has their own commitments.  

It would be ideal if we have sufficient savings to live a comfortable life till the day we depart from this earth to meet our creator and be blessed with good health, mobility, and cognition till we breathe our last breath so that we will never be a burden to anyone.  One is truly blessed if he or she has no major health issues and dies peacefully in sleep. I pray I'll be blessed in this way.

Truly Organic Cabbage

Have you ever come across a single head of cabbage with at least 10 life worms hidden inside the leaves?

I had bought a head of organic cabbage from the supermarket and did not cook it until 3-4 days later. The moment I cut the cabbage into half, I got a pleasant surprise!  Three wriggly worms dropped out of the leaves and onto my hand! It delights me to see worms and worm holes in my organic veggies. I'd be worried if my vegetables are too green and perfect.

As I sliced the cabbage, more worms started to wriggle out of the tiny crevices between the tightly packed leaves. Each time I sliced the cabbage, a few worms wriggled out.  It was really a hair-raising moment as my sink was soon filled with wriggly worms!!  Cass begged me not to kill the worms and said that she'll keep those worms as pets 👽

Never in my life had I handled so many worms packed inside a head of cabbage or any vegetable for that matter😖




I always have doubts whether the organic vegetables that I buy are truly organic as I pay double and sometimes triple for them. But my doubts are quelled. This organic cabbage from Agape Organic Farm is truly 100% pesticide-free and proven.

This cabbage had been a comfy and snug home for the bunch of worms even on the chiller at the supermarket and back home in my refrigerator.  They are a bunch of healthy worms too, to have survived such cold temperatures and without air for so many days! The cabbage was cling wrapped.



Have I told you that Cass has an affinity with vegetables worms? She had on several occasions kept a vegetable worm in a plastic container for a few days and fed them with so much vegetables and leaves till the worms looked like they were about to explode and that's when she finally released the worms  😆

Mr Too Sweet Neighbor

Remember my previous post on the surprise my bachelor neighbor sprang on me exactly a month ago?

He did it again last night!

Nothing suggestive and stirring ok. Don't get me wrong. 😆

It's another sweet surprise from a man who calls himself "too sweet".

This time, he surprised us with a box of chocolate cake that he brought back all the way from Wien / Vienna, Austria.

When the doorbell rang, the mil opened the door without first checking through the peep hole who it was thinking that it was Alycia who was back from the gym. She was totally stunned when she saw the man standing at the door, with a box in hand.  Haha!

I quickly ran to the door and greeted him.   Awkward!! 

Story time again from Mr Too Sweet guy, haha!

Mr Too Sweet guy told me that he had just returned from Austria a few days ago. He was there to celebrate his birthday and he bought a chocolate cake back home. After celebrating the cake cutting thingy with his parents and sisters, he was still binging on the cake each time he sat down to watch TV.  Then he told himself that he gotta stop eating as he got the diagnosis of being diabetic last year. His doctor told him that he is "too sweet" and overweight.  I noticed since last year that he had started to go to the gym and walking around the neighborhood instead of driving.  But still, he didn't shed much weight, so said Mr Too Sweet guy. 

Mr Too Sweet told me that his hobby is traveling the world and eating. Googling for the best desserts and traveling all the way to the location to get it to satiate his craving is his job. Sounds like he is a perfect eating buddy to pair with the hubs!  But Mr Too Sweet guy is dang loaded. And my man ain't.  Only 48 years old, does not need to work (we have never seen him in his office attire), always traveling the world to eat, hmmm, what could his job be?

My Drama Queen in her usual dramatic mind thinks that he is a drug dealer. The mil, with a very conservative mind and old school of thought has been very dubious over his sweet thoughts as he kept saying "I know you have 3 daughters".  She thinks he is a pervert and warned our girls not to eat the cake that he gave us.
🤭🤣

The hubs and I think he is the son of some tycoon. 


His two times sweet gifts to us have stoked our curiosity to know what he does for a living.  The fact that I always see young foreign men coming in and out of his unit at different hour of the day leaves me with a leery feeling about him.

Anyway, what he does is none of our business la. 



As for this special edition chocolate cake from Hotel Sacher, Wien, we find it too sweet for our liking.  According to Mr Too Sweet, Hotel Sacher ships their specialty cakes worldwide.  And this birthday cake that he bought cost 80 Euros.

The girls and I had a real good laugh over this encounter. The best part was when the mil did not even check who it was thinking that it was Alycia and opened the door leaving me with no time to change into proper clothing. I went straight to the door in my night gown with messy hair (I just got out of the shower) sans anything beneath the sheer night gown.  I hope he didn't see what should not be seen.

🤫

Hope this post got you in stitches.

Happy weekend all and sundry!

When Our Swimming Pool Water Turned Green

A few weeks ago, the water in our pool turned green! This had happened to our pool several times.  About 5 years ago, all the water from the pool had to be sucked out when human faeces were detected in the pool. It took days for the water to be drained out and another few days for water to fill up the pool.

Residents were told to refrain from swimming until the pool contractor came to treat the water. From a distance, the pool looked like a sewage tank. It looked really intimidating. The sight of our pool reminded me of Summer 2016 when the whole world had their eyes firmly fixed on Rio. And the question on everybody’s lips? Why did the Olympic diving pool turn green?




Photo taken from the 5th floor of our unit.




There are a couple of reasons that could cause a crystal clear swimming pool to turn green overnight, namely: algae growth and metals in the water.


When chlorine levels drop below 1 ppm, it can cause algae to grow in the pool, turning the pool water green. When this happens it is necessary to "shock" the water with chemicals to kill the algae and return the pool to normal chlorine levels. Pool shock has high levels of chlorine that wipe out the algae and sanitize the pool.

The pool contractor finally came after the long weekend. He scrubbed and vacuumed the floor of the pool and then added buckets after buckets of white powdery stuff (chlorine?) into the water. O.M.G. 😱  Imagine the chemicals that our body gets in contact with each time we swim.  The contractor dumps buckets of white powdery stuff into the pool about once or twice a week after testing the pH level of the water.



No wonder Cass got her first UTI attack in 6 years about 9 months after she started swimming lessons. Each time she spent more than half an hour in the pool, she would complain of pain in her 'down under'.  As for me, I would have throat discomfort with phlegm after each swim.  I have stopped swimming for a year and now doing strength training, exercises on the pool deck chair (leg lifts, sit ups and bicycle crunches), brisk walking and jogging 5 times a week for 40 minutes each time.

This said, I still love swimming and plan to go back to the pool soon, when it's not so cold in the morning. It's been raining almost daily and pretty chilly in the morning.  But my first love is still running outdoors. I find so much peace during my 40-minute pre-dawn workout session everyday.

Sharing My Cakes

The Taiwan traditional cakes from Yuan Taste are my kinda cakes. I love this kind of cake that's light, fluffy soft  and mildly sweetened, unlike butter and chocolate cakes which are heavy, greasy and can make me feel cloy and nauseous at times.  My favorite flavors are pandan and chocolate.  If I want to, I can nosh down half the cake on my own in one day. Of course I won't torture my body like that.  I could afford to eat  like a wolf when I was younger. I eat so much lesser now than I used to when I was 20 years younger. Wish I could still eat like that and not gain weight and don't have  to worry about the elevated cholesterol level. I was once a hardcore carnivorous 😈 with a sweet tooth but not anymore. Not one bit now.


Each time I have cravings to sink my teeth into this pillowy soft sponge cake, I will buy it on any of the day that Cass' Mandarin tutor comes. I will then share 1/3 of the cake with her.  The rest of the cake is shared with Cass and our part-time helper who has been with us for over 5 years.  Alycia and Drama Queen don't really fancy this cake. They prefer stodgier cakes ~ Alycia loves the latest 'Messy Cake' that's all the rage now and Drama Queen loves chocolate brownies. Thus, the reason why she bakes them these days.




The more decent looking portion goes to the Mandarin tutor.

The remaining cake is usually gone by the next day. I don't like keeping it in the fridge as the taste and texture change once it goes inside. For just RM15 for a cake, I am one very happy camper and so are the Mandarin tutor and our part-time helper 💗 

Happiness is all about sharing your carbs 😆

MGS Ipoh's Century-Old Rain Tree Is Gone!

The Rain tree above is over 100 years old but today its life came to a sad tragic end.  This Rain tree  had stood majestically at my alma mater, Methodist Girls' School Ipoh and had been the school's emblem since the beginning of time.

The school's committee decided to have the iconic Rain tree axed to make way for the construction of a new hall. When my ertswhile classmates and school mates found out about the axing of the tree just today, we signed a Petition to save our beloved Rain tree but it was way too late.





My fondest memories of this grand old Rain tree is of assembling under it with my classmates every afternoon before class when we were in Form 1. We created so much happy memories under this shady old tree ~ giggling, goofing around, creating friendship that would last a life time and at times did our last minute cramming before exams. On some days, we had our PE, practised marching and played under this tree. Many of my Girl Guide outdoor activities (cooking competition, bamboo structure assembling, etc) were carried out under this tree.

When we found out today via our Whatsapp chat group that the tree had been axed, we felt as if our close and old friend's life had been snatched away.  Way too soon. 😭😭😭😭 This Rain tree had created so much fond memories to tens of thousands of girls for over 100 years.  MGS was founded in 1895 by Reverend William Edward Horley.






And this is our beloved Rain tree today, axed. Soon it will be completely uprooted.




I started my early education at the Methodist kindergarten when I was 6 years old, then moved on to the Methodist Primary School where I spent 6 memorable years there and finally spent 5 glorious years of high school at the Methodist Girls Secondary School.  Though at three different buildings, the three schools are  housed in the same vicinity.

Mum was a teacher at the Methodist Primary School upon graduating from the Teacher's Training College until she retired at age 55 years.

Good bye our beloved Rain tree. Our hearts bleed and cry for you.  Hopefully the relevant authority will have the sense to put your branches and sturdy trunk to good use. At least you will not be demolished to ash. You have definitely imprinted a legacy in our hearts, forever 😢

Sixth Sense

I have it!

Yes, the sixth sense.  And it's freaking creepy each time my eyelid or eyebrow twitches.  The more it twitches the worse off the presentiment of disaster that is about to strike us - my loved ones especially.

And it happens all the time. Well, 9.5 out of 10 times when my darn eyelid/eyebrow twitches. Scary eh?

Last Saturday, my left eyelid twitched and vibrated the whole day. The whole darn day, less the hours I was in bed. I just knew something bad would pop out from the Pandora's Box.  I kept telling the girls that they had better be careful in all circumstances - what they eat and do. They know that mummy has this uncanny 6th Sense with her Twitching Eyelid.  Cass seems to inherit this special ability too. And her eyelid twitched too.  Double whammy!

About 4 days later, the evil genie finally popped out from the bottle.  First Cass was left behind in school by her van driver and she gave me a heart attack when she used her class teacher's mobile phone to call me from school at the time when I was supposed to wait for her at our condo lobby. You can read about it here.

Next, the girl's grand aunt fractured her leg during her holiday overseas and is now in a cast and homebound.

Next up, our very dear and close family friend was down with a bad bout of kidney infection. We visited her in the hospital on Sunday and I brought along packets of Izumio for her.

Several days later, Drama Queen came home from school with high fever. She has inflamed tonsillitis. This girl has been slacking in drinking water and popping her Super Lutein lately and I have been too busy to keep reminding her to drink water like a fish.  On the day we went to our church fun-fair last week, I had warned the girls not to buy sausages and nuggets and absolutely nothing deep fried.  And this stubborn girl just had to go against me and bought a foot-long deep fried Frankfurter. Double trouble - deep fried garbage. And know what? She didn't bring along her water tumbler and did not drink a drop of water after chowing down the entire crap, right out from the pot of recycled hot oil.... all by herself.  When I found out that she had inflamed tonsils, I just couldn't help repeating "serves you right for disobeying your mother!"  I know it sounds evil of me but I did warn the girls umpteen times in the car on our way to the fun-fair to NOT BUY DEEP FRIED FOOD. And she just had to do it.  SIGH, why, why, why?!!

Now Drama Queen is on Cass' diet, which comprises of an alkaline diet, no deep fried food, lots of water, lots of Izumio, 2 capsules of Super Lutein a day, probiotics, Roselle kefir and propolis with manuka honey. I hope she'll get well soon in time to attend her school's bazaar and Children's Day.

Buy 3 Tubs Of Organic Butter Almond Cookies To Help Baby Ethan Raise Funds For His Chemotherapy Funds

Last night I received my super yummy dual flavor organic butter almond cookies baked with love by awesome single mom Mary Anne Loh.

Mary Anne is selling homemade organic cookies to raise funds for her son, baby Ethan's chemo medication. Ethan has leukemia and needs lots and lots of funds for his medication. His latest pop of chemo cocktail cost over RM160,000! :( :(

Each jar comes in 2 flavors of organic butter almond cookies. Perfect as gift for Christmas, CNY or for anyone for any occasion. Mildly sweetened and not overly oily, these cookies are healthy and seriously delish!

To order, you may contact Mary Anne Loh directly or simply fill out the order form here: http://goo.gl/forms/QaLp3p3tj0 
































Thank you for your patronage.

Merry Christmas and happy new year :)

Deadly Curse

There is this particular house along the main road at my neighborhood that catches my attention each time I drive pass it.  Each time I see the placard with a handwritten  death curse hung on the lime tree outside the house, I would tell myself to make a mental note to blog about it.

There is a huge lime tree outside this owner's house.  On the tree is a huge placard with this deadly curse written on it: "Siapa you curi buah, dia akan MATI!!" which means "whoever steals the fruit will die!!" when translated into English.

I can understand how frustrated the owner must have felt each time someone plucks the lime from his tree. I remember that we used to have a very fertile guava tree planted by my late grandma outside our old house in Ipoh. Passers-by could not resist stealing those tempting fruits hanging all over the tree.  There was this pregnant lady on a black bicycle who loved to steal pluck the guavas from our tree.  Sometimes when black dots appeared on our guava fruits, my late grandma would say that it is
caused by the pregnant lady who touched our tree.  My grandma would go ballistic each time a juicy fruit that she had been eyeing on her tree went missing and stolen by passers-by.  Yep, my late grandma had loads of credulous superstitious beliefs.  Even till today, I can't seem to shake off many of the superstitions planted into my head, that originated from China. I was brought up by my grandma as my parents were at work most of the time. She was a fantastic, loving and very capable lady who came to Malaya from China to escape poverty and single handedly raised my mum.

Anyway, back to the deadly curse written by the owner of the lime tree.  Do you think that the owner has gone overboard with the curse? Or would you have done the same too?

Crazy Chinese Bloke - Part 2

Remember my post on the crazy Chinese bloke at my condo who is obsessed with sun-bathing who appears to everyone as though he wants to turn into a Negro?

Just now I saw him walking at the pool-side. He was clothed for once. Other times, he is always in his swimming trunk.  But ya know what? As he was walking, his palms were faced up, facing the blazing hot sun in the sky.  He was also flouncing his arms.  And he kept turning his palms upward and downward as if to grill his palms to an even tone, just like how you grill satay by constantly flipping the skewered meat on the bbq stove.   Everyone whom I know in the condo is gossiping about this chap.   His skin has now turned coffee brown but he is still sun-bathing at the hottest time of the day everyday.  It's been more than a year since he started this obsession.

Ohmaigod, this young bloke sure has mental problem!  And ohmaigod, I can't believe how b*tchy and p8at this desperate housewife is LOL!!

 

Tragic News

My Saturday afternoon today has been ruined after I read the  news of a 6-year old girl who plunged to her death from the third floor of The Gardens Shopping Mall.   As I read the Facebook postings and news, I tried imagining how I would feel it I were the parents of the deceased *feeling horrified*!!

According to the news being circulated in Facebook, the girl was playing at the escalator while her father was buying pop corns and then bang, a life was lost, just in a matter of seconds :(






 


Reading news like this makes me even more paranoid whenever I go shopping with my kids.  Cass can be pretty stubborn at times and would refuse me to hold her hand.  Each time I leave the girls with the hubs while I go shopping (the hubs will either bring them to the movies or theme park), I feel tensed and worried.  The hubs can be a very careless person at times. He is definitely not as careful as me with the kids.

So to all parents with young kids, please please please do watch over your kids whenever you are out at the mall or crowded places. Never ever loose sight and hold of your child.  A moment of neglect can be your lifetime of regret.

Crazy Bloke

There is this bloke at our condo who has been sun-bathing almost daily for the past one year. On most days, he sun-basks twice a day, at the time of the day when it is hottest. He even lies on his tummy and raises both his legs and hands up to the sky so that the sole of his feet and palms get a tan too!! Really crazy overload!!

Each time Cass sees this crazy guy wearing only an underwear on the deck chair exposed like a salted fish in the hot sun, she will ask me curiously why this guy is doing this everyday.

Just now at about 3pm, Cass saw the crazy bloke again from our window.

 




Cass - mummy, look!  It's that guy again on the deck chair.  Why does he want to do this everyday?

Me - yeah, he's crazy!

Cass - I wonder why he wants to be so brown!  He is already so brown now.  Maybe he wants to be browner? (I started to laugh out loud in my heart with Cass' word of 'browner')

Me - Maybe...

Cass - I know, he wants to be black!  Just like my friend N who has black skin.

Me - You can't say that to your friend.  Don't ever ask your friend why he has brown or black skin ok?  That is very rude.

Cass - OK.  I wonder why that guy is so crazy.  Why did God make him so crazy??

This girl of mine is really funny!!

LOL!!  Yeah, I want to know from that crazy guy why he wants his skin to be 'browner'.  He has been sun-bathing for over a year and he is already as brown as a brown cow.  Cass may be right.  Maybe he just wants to have skin like a black cow muahahaha!!

World's Most Expensive Tomatoes and Strawberries?

My eyes almost popped out from the socket when I saw the price tag to some supposedly premium tomatoes flown in from Japan, sold at a supermarket. At a glance, they look like some regular tomatoes. I thought the price was written as RM29.99 but at a closer stare, I realized that the price was RM299.99! Holy cow! One sen short to RM300 for a box of tomatoes?  Crap! And they are from the land where the soils have been polluted with radiation. Who would even want to buy them?



And should you decide to buy only 2 premium Japan tomatoes to try, you can fork out RM74.99.  At RM37.50 for a tomato, I rather spend my money on some homegrown organic tomatoes. I can buy a gunny sack of organic tomatoes with RM299.99 LOL!



For strawberry lovers,would you even spend RM99.99 on a punnet of 12 medium-size strawberries from Japan?  That makes it to about RM8.30  for only one strawberry, which can me mouthed at one go!



I wonder what this supermarket will do with these premium tomatoes and strawberries should there be no takers say after a week. Maybe some Japanese will buy them when the prices are slashed by half.

Water Rationing?

With daily newspapers headlines on high possibility of  starting water rationing in many parts of our country (it has already started in some areas), we are not taking any chances and wait till the eleventh hour to buy pails and containers.  After dropping Cass off in kindy, I zoomed to the mini mart to buy a pail.  Back home, I asked hubs to buy 2 huge water containers with covers to be placed in each of the bathrooms.

For landed houses, owners can rely on external water tanks for water storage. Living in a condo, you need to have your own water containers inside your unit.  In 1998,  the neighborhood that I lived in was hit hard by the water rationing that lasted for several months. We are still living in this neighborhood and this area is a hard-hit area whenever there is a water rationing.  During the rationing exercise in 1998, we had water supply to our houses every other day.  I remember that on days where the areas were to get their water, many of my colleagues took leave to stay home to do house chores! I was stressed to the max throughout the water rationing exercise, though I had no kids back then. With 3 kids and more chores now, I may very well land myself in the hospital with stress of having no water!

I read that in this impending water rationing, there will be 2 days of water supply and none for the next 2 days. I think this is not practical. We would need at least 10 water containers in our house should we be living without water for 2 days. Bigger families would need more water containers. We need at least 5 water containers for a day and that itself is not sufficient. We would have to eat out on days when we have no water.  Dirty laundry would have to be sent for laundrette service. Writing this is already making me stressed! Oh God, please send the rain to the entire country right away and let it rain for days to fill up all the dams!

If you are living in high risk areas, don't wait till the eleventh hour to scramble with everyone else to buy your pails and water containers. Go get some now before the traders jack up the prices. These water container traders will be the only ones laughing throughout the drought. And I still don't understand why our dear water management companies can never ever solve this recurring issue even after more than 16 years!!

Awesomeness From A Bunch Of Siew Pak Choy!

Nature's awesomeness...








Well, in case you want to know how I got this cute little baby veggie sprouting out from the veggie head, I just snipped off the bunch of siew pak choy head with a pair of scissors and tadaa... a baby inside!

Random Events

The weather for the past few days has been awesome and just too good, well, at least for me, who is absolutely terrified of being hot and will literally melt under the sun. For the past three nights, I have been sleeping sans air-conditioner and sans fan.  Thankfully the hubs has no complaints as well and he went sans blanket.  Just a month ago, the temperature was hovering at 33 to 35 degrees Celsius and it is now about 22 to 23 degrees Celsius at night and during pre-dawn hours. Jogging at 6:30am is such an exhilarating time for me as the air is crisp and cold and I find so much peace exercising in the stillness of the pre-dawn darkness. Perfect for emptying all negative vibes from my mind and to absorb positive ones.

All in the name of charity, I paid RM10 to have this picture taken with these Star Wars characters at Bangsar Village on 1 September 2013.  The donation went towards the Society For The Severely Mentally Handicapped.  The 'package' also came with a copy of the picture and 3 badges. If I have the financial means, I would love to continue to donate more to the needy, like I used to when I was in the corporate world.

Finally...

It took the Management of the condo that I am staying in 4.5 years to do what they were supposed to do, finally.  4.5 years ago in November 2008, Cass and I met with a terrible accident that I thought would cause serious injuries to her and to myself.  If you were already a reader of my blog back then, you would have read that Cass and I had an awful stroller accident, just a few days after we had moved into the condo.

On that fateful morning, I had strapped up Cass in our Peg Perego stroller and I was ready to bring her for a walk outside.  As we were approaching a downward slope, I had to half jog down the slope.  There was a drain at the landing of the slope, which was covered by those drain covers with vertical bars.  As there were gaps between the bars, the wheels of the stroller got wedged inside the gap (size of gap same as that of the wheels) and before I could even stop in time, the stroller with baby Cass in it was thrown almost in the air and landed on the road. I tumbled and fell onto the hard and rough tar road too. I was injured on my hands, which had scars up until now. Though I was in numbing pain, all I could think of was to check how serious Cass was injured.  I quickly and shakily unstrapped Cass from the stroller, carried her and tried to soothe a wailing 7-MO baby.  Both of us were very traumatized. Thank God she only had a bloodied graze above her nose and some scratches on her forehead.  I had a deep gash near my elbow, knees and palm.  Up until today, I still have phobia of pushing a child in a stroller.  Since that incident, I stopped using the Peg Perego stroller (which was very costly and under utilized) and eventually gave it away.  Wherever I went, I carried Cass in my arms. This incident would forever be etched in my memory.

Weeks later, I spoke to the Management of the Condo to request that the drains be fully covered with drain covers without any bars and gap but they took my request lightly.  Finally a few days ago, I noticed that all the drains that have residents frequently passing over them covered with stainless steel covers with no bars or gap. I think there must have been similar accidents caused by those drain covers that propelled the Management to take action, finally, after 4.5 years.  That is typical Malaysian mentality. If not for loss of life and serious accidents, people just won't budge and implement preventive measures to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.

Do You Check The Eggs Before Paying Buying Them?

Yesterday morning at the mart, I saw a lady who was doing grocery shopping with her Pinoy maid. This lady was seen telling her maid this "check the eggs, I said check the eggs..." in a demanding tone (well, she was loud in nature from my observation), to which the maid (who seemed to be a new maid) was struggling to understand what her maam meant by checking the eggs.  So the poor maid took a box of eggs and struggled to open the plastic carton box. Moments later, the maam (in her late 60s) said "not like this check haiyoh! Like this check... check one by one!!" ... and then told the maid to take out the eggs one by one from the plastic carton to check if there was any crack or dirt on the eggs, GAWD!  When the old maam walked away to look for other things, the frustrated and super pissed off maid was rolling her eyes and grimacing her face in anger and mumbled to herself softly, as if to curse the fussy maam.  She was also telling other foreign workers at the mart how fussy her maam was.

I may be pretty fussy too but I have never opened up the carton of eggs to check the eggs one by one.  Firstly, I think this would embarrass myself and secondly, I have no time and am always in a rush to complete my shopping.  Unless I am buying eggs from the night market where eggs can be selected, I don't do a check on eggs in carton boxes bought from supermarkets and mini marts.  I know that this is a good practice as sometimes, there would be one or two cracked eggs inside the carton. I had in the past also seen some customers exchanging eggs slightly coated with chicken poop with clean ones.

I check kiwi fruits placed in punnets before buying them though and I exchange squashed or very soft ones with firmer and nicer ones ;)  Oh well, kiwi fruits ain't cheap. It costs between RM1.50 to RM3.50 each.

Do you check each and every egg sold in cartons before buying them?

Pure Coincidental?

The other day, during one of the quiet me-time mornings that I have, I suddenly realized that 3 of my  suppliers have the same surname as mine. These 3 suppliers are by far my most trusted and reliable suppliers whom I have worked with for over 3 years.  The Chinese have this superstitious believe that the people who are close to you like your spouse, parents, siblings, business acquaintances, etc. are perhaps related to you in your past life.  Nah, I do not really believe in this sort of supernatural philosophy.  The Chinese old folks also strongly believe in reincarnation and all that jazz.  I used to believe in all these too, as a result of being influenced by my late grandmother and from watching those TVB serial movies that I used to go crazy over before the kids came along. But this school of though is not in the Christian's bible and I am a Christian.

Now, how do you explain such coincidental incidences in my life then, that my closest business acquaintances all share the same surname as me?

Looming Thunderstorm

Love my Samsung Galaxy Note!   It can perform an even better job than my Canon digital camera.  See how sharp this picture of a looming thunderstorm turned out... with nice view of KL Tower and KLCC some more!

Picture snapped from the 5th floor of my condo on 8 May 2013.



These days, it pours cat and dog shit in the evenings but during the day, it is so freaking hot that a 5-minute walk to Cass' kindy to pick her up at 12 noon can grill my skin crispy and make me drench in sweat. Thus, I need to shower at least 3 times a day on such crazy hot days (hair washed twice a day everyday), I kid you not!  To my readers who live in cold countries, I'll bet you almost fell off your chair when you read that I wash my hair twice a day every single day eh? lol!