Not bad ah?

As a regular Malaysian, we sometimes use certain terms which only another Malaysian would understand. One of them is the "not bad ah?"

Although it sounds like a negative statement, it actually serves as a compliment. I don't know how this term came about. I mean why can't we just say, "wow, that's awesome!" or "that's great!" or "I'm impressed!"? Instead we had to come up with "not bad ah?", like an outright compliment is too hard to give but a glimmer of a compliment is good enough for you.

How odd! And even more odd that we actually understand it! Not bad ah? ;)

The Pedigree of Love

It is true that we only realise how much we love someone or something when we lose or are about to lose them. For me, this 'realisation' occurred a couple of weeks ago.

Paw in hand

Morale

It takes very little to boost or deflate morale. Sometimes it really isn't the ultimate message but the method of delivery that causes the effect. But sometimes it is that push that I need to start taking a step forward. To do something to spur change. Whether or not this change occurs, the disruption in settling into my comfort zone forces my mind to rethink things. To weigh the pros and cons. To re-evaluate my relevancy.

Let's see where this leads to.

Reading too much into things?

When someone keeps popping up in your path, is it coincidence or deliberate? Circumstances do warrant for crossing of paths but when you hear from a third party that this person has been discussing your employment status with another boss, the only question is "Why?".

The closest encounter I have had was an internal interview from last year where I couldn't see myself taking on the role in his office, so I declined politely. During the interview, this person had hinted that there would be a high chance of promotion as the role directly reported to him. Perhaps now that the increment and promotion letters are out, he was curious why I was still where I am. Nevertheless, my status should not be of any concern to this person since I do not work for him. So the question again, "Why?" and why talk to someone unrelated to my department who would've been the last person to suspect that I'd been shortlisted for an internal interview?

And to hear it from another colleague means that a vine has been created.

Temptation of Reward

The long wait has ended. Many times I thought I would not last, but I did. And now that the moment is finally here, I am torn on whether to go ahead with what I had planned or just continue on and bear with the situation just for the reward.

I know no one can actually guarantee that the reward would be the same every year, but it is very tempting to assume nevertheless. My personal track record has shown improvement in the two years I've been eligible for bonus and increment. 

It is funny that I was so set on moving on and all this resolve was so intense while I was in a state of anger. But now when things are going fairly quieter, I am double guessing myself. But a part of me still wants to try. Like a last try before I decide whether to settle into this line. 

Happy Endings - A Poppy Tail

Poppy came to us as Puppy, a young but fully grown mixed breed. One of the neighbourhood dogs whom appeared out of a sudden and created quite an impression on the residents. She was the neighbourhood rat catcher and in return some of us would feed her and give her the occasional pat.

As with many of the dogs in our lives, she literally crawled into our lives. Starting with daily visits to our gate with friendly smiles duly rewarded by treats and meals. When we were sure she was tame enough, we invited her into our garden and she was more than willing to stay locked in. Her wild side would occasionally come calling and she found her way out by digging under the wire fence. It puzzled us initially until we peeped on her in the act. Of course we quickly rectified that loophole so that she and other dogs wouldn't be able to come in and out as they wished.

Benefits of Singledom

Chinese New Year means family reunions and the expected small talk and asking when is your turn. But let's look at the brighter side! Ang pow abundance for the unattached! ;)

Lunar New Year Ang Pow

The Dress - I see Blue and Black!

So this dress has broke the Internet.

Screenshot of the dress

I first saw this dress on my FB feed where Business Insider had an article on it and then few posts down, Mashable had covered the same dress. I clicked the link out of curiosity from the title "dress" and "viral". What was the big deal with this dress? It doesn't even look stunning or professionally taken.

No matter how I look at it - at different angles, different devices, different screen brightness, different distances, refreshing the page - I still see it as blue and black! And not a hint of white and gold! I sent the link to one of my group chats and some saw it as white and gold while most of us saw blue and black. A slew of debate followed.

I showed it to my family and they saw it as white and gold. This was getting a bit creepy. We can't trust our eyes now?

Long story short, the real dress was indeed blue and black, according to the reports. It is plain to see that the lighting in the photo was dubious and it seems to be washed out (overexposure). Many versions of explanations popped out and I'm not too sure which is true - left/right brain activity, sensitivity of rod and cone receptors on our retinas, split second decision of the brain. Apparently in one article, 3/4 saw the dress as white and gold while the rest saw blue and black.

Funny how non-important stuff like this can garner such a crowd in a short span of time. For the record, I see the dress as blue and black, 100% of the time!

What Causes Browning?

"Bake till golden brown" is something commonly found in cookbook instructions. But what does that actually mean?

Crust lover or hater?

I remember while growing up, we used to fight over the cake crusts - especially when mom was making black forest cakes for order. She would apportion the unwanted crusts to appease us and sometimes cut a little extra cake with the crusts.

Lunar New Year 2015

A little late, but Blessed Lunar New Year to everyone!

My Goat card for you! Only 10 hardcopies for distribution to closer relations and friends

It's already Day 5 of the Lunar New Year festivities and Days 1 to 4 were filled with family reunions and random meetups with friends. It's been a mix of laughter and awkward moments, eating and well, more eating. Festive seasons always leave this kind of mixed impressions and a topsy turvy tummy.

Again, my greeting card came out pretty late. This time I made 10 and still have yet to deliver two of them. Thinking of ideas to suit the current zodiac year is getting harder and harder. This time around my card looks pretty kiddish, but it was the brightest and cutest I could think of in between of all the rushing.