Sunday, January 30, 2011

I'm loving it!

1. Did I tell you that my kick-boxing session on last Saturday afternoon was actually 2 hours? All this while I was used to training for an hour only. When I began to take up lessons, I always ended up with muscle soreness here and there. Eventually I got better and adapted to the trainings and it didn't ache that much. Well, that 2 hours gave me quite an impact, though the ache was delayed. This morning I woke up with sores at my back and arms muscles.

That is ultimate syiokness :)

2. After church, we went for a farewell lunch for Marilyn who is leaving us for Adelaide soon. We went to this fine Pakistani restaurant named Sheesh Mahal for some northern Indian cuisine. It was fantastic though it's quite Mahal also. haha :) My CG people really know where to hunt for good food la. Not too long ago we went to Bukit Tinggi for some nice roasted lamb. The whole group actually drove all the way to Bukit Tinggi on a Sunday evening for dinner. Nothing can top that passion of theirs.

So Arvind being the only Indian among us, we decided to be racist and let him have the honor to order food for the 16 of us. It was slightly drizzling outside as we feasted on our delicious meals. As you can tell, we didn't really know the names for all the food we ate. We were busy eating and talking and praising the tastiness of the food. Arvind's choices were great!

What else do I have to say? It's also an ultimate syiokness!

3. I can't help but to notice this one thing being a Malaysian, that one always talks about food! I usually will check my Twitter feeds when I'm online and if I have the time to go through all Tweets updated when I am offline. So within one offline-period (around 18 hours) there are 5 friends Tweeted about food:

(a) Tasnim: Dinner with the Bangi mateys :) (@ Austin Steak House w/ 2 others)


(b) Tasnim (again): Coz the food just now wasn't enough :p (@ Bangi Impian Maju)


(c) Hafiedz to Tasnim: sunny day in penang! Sunday bfast here is also awesome, the anthony beef kuewtiow soup! Kl shud move here!


(d) Tasnim to Hafiedz: but.. I like cold rainy mornings! :p beef kuetiaw sounds tempting tho. Especially on a morning like this. Hehe :p


(e) Lemuel Ong: Finally getting good food! SUSHI here i come. :D


(f) Marcus Khoo (who tweeted right after Lemuel): Seriously good! (@ Restaurant Pan Heong) 


(g) Aerie Rahman: Makan Ikan Bakaq dekat Restoran Ikan Bakar Pak Din. Siapa kata makanan sedap semua kat pulau?


(h) Lemuel Ong (again): Interesting stuff today: Robbing Baskin Robbins again after a month and witnessing Brangelina wannabes.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Random

1. I just came back from a free trial kick-boxing class at this training center which offers relatively cheap packages. Of course, the down sides are:
(a) the trainers might not be national champions or were in national kick-boxing teams (like both of my previous trainers);
(b) only the first 7 classes are on one-to-one basis, the rest of the classes are conducted in group; and
(c) it's in a shoplot, so the space is quite limited.

Nonetheless, the trainers are competent enough to make sure my kicks and punches are right. Besides, training in a group means I have more people to spar with in future. So I think it's not too bad. The most important thing is, it is very much cheaper than my previous packages from gym. I believe sooner or later I'll sign up classes with them. But maybe not now. I need to sort out my financial status and schedule first.

One thing that hit me was that I was only greeted by my trainer (because he had to) and an Iranian guy. The rest of the class were apparently Malaysians (2 Malays and 2 Chinese). But I only got to talk to a Chinese girl before the class started. And that conversation was initiated by myself, too.What happen to our friendly Malaysian? No, I was not pissed, but feel really irony. I was in my home country but only foreigner came and be friendly.

2. It's not the first time I had friends from my uni who were working else where came to my lab for business purposes. The first time was Shahrul (Panjang), we're his client. And then (surprise, surprise!) Joel Chong! I couldn't believe myself that it was him when I first saw him in my lab because I haven't seen him in person for around 4 years already. He did recognise me but couldn't remember my name. Of course, who was I for him to remember? Joel was a very famous and smart senior of mine. His colleague helped us to take a picture in my lab :)


3. A colleague of mine has resigned last week :( She's only with us for one month and 2 weeks before she's offered a job with the government (Health Ministry if not mistaken). And yes, that job comes with better offer, too. Anyway, we wish the best for her.


4. My friend Arvind introduces some eating places around my area so that I have more options to explore for dinner. I've had an interesting week because of this, and managed to make myself NOT standing on the weighing scale for a while. Anyway, I am in love with Mandarin oranges *munch*munch*munch*

Happy Chinese New year, everyone! Have a safe trip for those who are traveling.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Free Falling - John Mayer

I feel like breeze is brushing pass my cheeks and the nature is whispering in my ears every time I hear someone plucks the acoustic guitar. It makes me smile. That's the reason why I love performance of (country) live band in restaurants. Boy, I feel like chilling out in one right now! I like songs which have meaningful lyrics, not some disco dance songs that only have overly repeated phrases in their lyrics.

This is the song which prompts me to write this post :) Maybe I should look up John Mayer's albums when I'm considering to add some new songs to my music library.

Wall Post

One day I'm going to spend so much money buying books that I cannot afford to build a wall.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

The People Factor

After our Young Adult Cell Group makan-makan session in Bukit Tinggi. Rudi thanked God for the fact that we got along well with each other in the group. It struck me that it was indeed a great blessing which many of us seldom thank God for.

Getting along well with the people we interact closely is very important. It greatly influences your happiness level at certain place or moment.

Whenever I go out for a meal or drink with my housemate(s), I thank God for the peaceful moments we share. Having lovely people around is a blessing. Having lovely people whom you feel comfortable and joyful to hang out with is like the double of that. I am glad that we have many things to talk about when Lee Hwa and I are at home.I can't describe how grateful I am whenever Hie Ching knocks on my door and get me to have late lunch/ dinner/ supper with her, irregards of the time. I've lost count of the time Luo Tze, Michelle and I went out together and have great time laughing over meals. I am glad that we like each other's company. I smile every time Wen Wen and others ask me to join them for dinner.

"Hey we're going out for dinner. Do you want to have dinner also? Jom, jom!"

Somehow eating out in Subang Jaya seems bearable than it was previously :)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Taste - Roald Dahl

No summary can do Roald Dahl's stories justice. The joy of reading Roald Dahl's writings lies in actually reading and digesting them in the original articles. We go word after word, follow the twists and turns of each stories, and finally arrive at the most unexpected ending which most of the time leave readers the freedom to paint their own ending for the stories.

I was reading Taste, here is a part of his writing which I truly appreciate:

(Richard Pratt, a famous gourmet in the story, was tasting wine. This was his description of  the wine he was tasting as he's on a bet with his host, Mike Schofield, about the origin of the wine.)

... Margaux? No. It cannot be Margaux. It has not the violent bouquet of Margaux. Pauillac? It cannot be Pauillac either. It is too tender, too gentle and wistful for Pauillac. The wine of Pauillac has a character that is almost imperious in its taste. And also, to me, a Pauillac contains just a little pith, a curious dusty, pithy flavour that the grape acquires from the soil of the district. No, no. This - this is a very gentle wine, demure and bashful in the first taste, emerging shyly but quite graciously in the second. A little arch, perhaps, in the second taste, and a little naughty, also, teasing the tongue with a trace, just a trace of tannin. Then, in the after-taste, delightful - consoling and feminine, with a certain blithely generous quality that one associates only with the wines of the commune of St. Julien.

Now you feel like taking a sip of that wine, too, don't you? The satisfaction of reading, however, still depends on reading the entire story. I was reading this story as I was waiting for my dinner to be served in a mamakstall. When my food arrived, I still couldn't put the book down! So I finished the story when I absent-mindedly feed food into my mouth.

And I grinned as I read the ending. Brilliant ending :) Yes, no spoiler. Go read the story yourself!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Stiff Neck

On the scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest score for stubbornness, I think I can be ranked 9.5 because getting full marks only happens in objective questions.

I stayed in KL for 5 years plus and had never owned a Touch 'n Go card. I traveled to places like nobody's business. I took monorail to work every morning when I was with previous company for one year and three months and that still didn't manage to make me get a card. I went through the buying ticket process every morning and I was fine with it. People who really know my whereabouts would know how much time in my life were spent commuting on LRTs. Many friends asked why didn't I get the card or monthly pass already. I just smiled and gave loads of excuses: no time to get one, difficult to top up the credit, don't know how to use ATM to top up, troublesome to keep checking how much credit left in the card, sometimes the machine will over-charge, and etc.

Last December, I finally got myself a Touch 'n Go card after I saw that it'll be easier for me to (offer to) pay the toll fee with the card if a friend's kind enough to give me a ride in his or her car. I was finally considering it after Lee Fang sent me home after a debate training camp in Bangi. And finally bought it, when Jun Hoe had agreed to drive both of us to Fea's wedding in Penang.

After coming back from the wedding, there are some credits remain in the card. I kept it and sometimes went on with purchasing ticket from the LRT counter when I was traveling. I told myself I will use it only when it's really necessary, such as long queue at the counter or I really need to catch the train, etc.

SO, there were times I used the card. And as you've guessed, slowly I am using the card more frequently now. It always comes to my mind that: Aiya, you don't have to queue up, you have the card! Oh the pleasure of convenience and queue-free travels!

Now I can't remember why would someone who travels very much like me didn't get a Touch 'n Go card and still survive in KL.

Oh, stubbornness :)

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Comfort Zone: A Blessing or A Curse?

Cyril and Kumar were talking about the defrost feature of  the freezer in our lab.

Me: Hey hey, English please :D I can't understand lar *grin*

God knows how rare and how hard it is for me to manja like this for the sake of a serious issue like this which has been on my mind for the past 2 months.

Cyril rejected the idea and laughed it off.

Me: But I can't learn from my surrounding working environment if I can't understand what you guys are discussing in Tamil.
Cyril: If you're asking me to change that means you're a dictator! You dictate what language I use to communicate.
Me: No, I am asking if you would take the initiative to speak in English when you guys are talking about lab stuff so that I can understand and learn, too.
Cyril: You can ask me to translate for you.
Me: But isn't that more time-consuming? I have to ask you to translate for me everything about lab stuff every time you talk about them in Tamil. I will miss out so many things to learn simply because I have to depend on translation.
Cyril: Hey, I am being kind to you already by willing to translate for you. I can choose not to bother at all!

That is part of our conversation. Today is the day I finally plugged in my courage to bring up the language at work place issue to them, after two months plus of working with them, with the presence of other colleagues as well. In case you don't know, I have debated with myself on this issue for countless of times already, and cannot get pass the idea of creating more conducive working environment vs serving the whims and dictatorship of the majority.Call me kia su, because that's probably how Chinese are in terms of learning. Being the only Chinese there, I shouldn't have expected to be understood.

So back to the conversation above. Guess what was the response from other Indian colleagues present?

Laughter and scorn.


I rest my case.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Kids say the darn-est things, sometimes.

It's 1:15am now but I die die also must finish reading this post and share it here. From a friend's blog :)

Classics from kids:

Here are some interesting interpretations of nature from test papers and essays submitted to science and health teachers by junior high, high school, and college students around the world. Spelling has been left as is.

"When you breath, you inspire. When you do not breath, you expire."

"H2O is hot water, and CO2 is cold water"

"To collect fumes of sulphur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube"

"When you smell an oderless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide"

"Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water."

"Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes and caterpillars."

"Blood flows down one leg and up the other."

"Respiration is composed of two acts, first inspiration, and then expectoration."

"The moon is a planet just like the earth, only it is even deader."

"Artifical insemination is when the farmer does it to the cow instead of the bull."

"Dew is formed on leaves when the sun shines down on them and makes them perspire."

"A super-saturated solution is one that holds more than it can hold."

"Mushrooms always grow in damp places and so they look like umbrellas."

"The body consists of three parts- the brainium, the borax and the abominable cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abominable cavity contains the bowls, of which there are five - a, e, i, o, and u."

"The pistol of a flower is its only protections agenst insects."

"The alimentary canal is located in the northern part of Indiana ."

"The skeleton is what is left after the insides have been taken out and the outsides have ben taken off. The purpose of the skeleton is something to hitch meat to."

"A permanent set of teeth consists of eight canines, eight cuspids, two molars, and eight cuspidors."

"The tides are a fight between the Earth and moon. All water tends towards the moon, because there is no water in the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight."

"A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is."

"Equator: A managerie lion running around the Earth through Africa ."

"Germinate: To become a naturalized German."

"Liter: A nest of young puppies."

"Magnet: Something you find crawling all over a dead cat."

"Momentum: What you give a person when they are going away."

"Planet: A body of Earth surrounded by sky."

"Rhubarb: A kind of celery gone bloodshot."

"Before giving a blood transfusion, find out if the blood is affirmative or negative."

"To remove dust from the eye, pull the eye down over the nose."

"For a nosebleed: Put the nose much lower then the body until the heart stops."

"For fainting: Rub the person's chest or, if a lady, rub her arm above the hand instead. Or put the head between the knees of the nearest medical doctor."

"For dog bite: put the dog away for sevral days. If he has not recovered, then kill it."

"For asphyxiation: Apply artificial respiration until the patient is dead."

"For head cold: use an agonizer to spray the nose untill it drops in your throat."

"To keep milk from turning sour: Keep it in the cow."

The beguiling ideas about science quoted here were gleaned from essays, exams, and classroom discussions. Most were from fifth and sixth graders.

"You can listen to thunder after lightening and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it, you got hit, so never mind."

"Talc is found on rocks and on babies."

"The law of gravity says no fair jumping up without coming back down."

"When they broke open molecules, they found they were only stuffed with atoms. But when they broke open atoms, they found them stuffed with explosions."

"When people run around and around in circles we say they are crazy. When planets do it we say they are orbiting."

"Rainbows are just to look at, not to really understand."

"While the earth seems to be knowingly keeping its distance from the sun, it is really only centrificating."

"Someday we may discover how to make magnets that can point in any direction."

" South America has cold summers and hot winters, but somehow they still manage."

"Most books now say our sun is a star. But it still knows how to change back into a sun in the daytime."

"A vibration is a motion that cannot make up its mind which way it wants to go."

"There are 26 vitamins in all, but some of the letters are yet to be discovered. Finding them all means living forever."

"There is a tremendous weight pushing down on the center of the Earth because of so much population stomping around up there these days."

"Many dead animals in the past changed to fossils while others preferred to be oil."

"Genetics explain why you look like your father, and if you don't, why you should."

"Vacuums are nothings. We only mention them to let them know we know they're there."

"Some oxygen molecules help fires burn while others help make water, so sometimes it's brother against brother."

"Some people can tell what time it is by looking at the sun. But I have never been able to make out the numbers."

"We say the cause of perfume disappearing is evaporation. Evaporation gets blamed for a lot of things people forget to put the top on."

"To most people solutions mean finding the answers. But to chemists solutions are things that are still all mixed up."

"In looking at a drop of water under a microscope, we find there are twice as many H's as O's."

"Clouds are high flying fogs."

"I am not sure how clouds get formed. But the clouds know how to do it, and that is the important thing."

"Clouds just keep circling the Earth around and around and around. There is not much else for them to do."

"Water vapor gets together in a cloud. When it is big enough to be called a drop, it does."

"Humidity is the experience of looking for air and finding water."

"We keep track of the humidity in the air so we won't drown when we breathe."

"Rain is often known as soft water, oppositely known as hail."

"Rain is saved up in cloud banks."

"In some rocks you can find the fossil footprints of fishes."

"Cyanide is so poisonous that one drop of it on a dog's tongue will kill the strongest man."

"A blizzard is when it snows sideways."

"A hurricane is a breeze of a bigly size."

"A monsoon is a French gentleman."

"Thunder is a rich source of loudness."

"Isotherms and isobars are even more important than their names sound."

"It is so hot in some places that the people there have to live in other places."

"The wind is like the air, only pushier."

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Because you worth it

There's this colleague of mine, and maybe some other friends also, popped this question to me a few times already: "So when are you going to look for a boyfriend?" Well, my mum's is more of an order: "It's time to look around already."

I always jokingly reply: "You ask God lah~" or "Ok, ok!"

Crushes happen. But it's only matter of time that the feeling is gone. I believe to really meet that special one is beyond my capability. Why would people use the word "find" in the first place? It's not like we can flip over the carpet to see if he's underneath, waiting for us to find him.

Honestly, I do long to find that person soon. But before that, I must really learn to put God first in everything in life, to remember to go to Him before to my him.

Another part of the answer is, I'm not sure if I am ready for this man. The said colleague told me that these days girls can take the first move, too. I am aware of this trend, but I'm not sure if I want this to happen, for now. I have grown very comfortable with being with myself that I am not sure if an intimate company is welcomed. I even have problem making time for my remaining two kick-boxing sessions, among other things I enjoy doing. Committing into a relationship is really a big issue, and time is only one of the things we have to sacrifice for each other.

But to explain these to my colleague is too much of a trouble. So I'd just tell him my bottom line:

If a guy thinks that I am worth it, he will come for me. If he doesn't think so, then he won't, and we don't waste each other's time. But if he thinks that I am worth it yet he does not have the gut to make the first move, then forget it. I won't give my hand to someone who doesn't dare to pursue his desire.

I thank God for blessing me with contented life being single while waiting to meet this man, one day :)