News or Tabloid: I don't know which is which anymore

Lately, Malaysia has been having quite a number of incredulous news that I'm not too sure if I'm still living in the same country. Every news, be it a happy one or a sad one, has been sensationalized. And the funny thing is that it all turns out to be stupid. Seriously brain dead stupidity.

Holier than thou comments which ultimately show the ignorance and narrows mindedness of some Malaysians. Shameless acts done that certain Malaysians just choose to be blinded against. I don't know. The Malaysia today seems unrecognizable from what Malaysia was not long ago.

Perhaps all these dimwits and liars had been around all this while but the transfer of information had never been this fast and so the mass majority of us had never suspected such idiots existed. And to see these idiots proudly parading their vices and ignorance is just dumbfounding. It really makes the sane ones become stupider (if there's such a word, i.e. reverse learning, miseducation, dumbify)

Malaysians, please! Like what I heard on radio a while back, "please engage brain before releasing tongue!"

First step

Today I've taken the first step. Hopefully it's in the right direction. I'm excited as well as scared. But I have faith that things will work out.

Bedtime stories

I used to read Anne of Green Gables and the likes, for bedtime stories. But now, I'm reading Annual Reports before bed, to research on a company.

How ironic. But the good thing about public listed companies or subsidiaries of PLCs is that their corporate information is publicly available.

When your rejection comes biting you in the derriere

I was discussing with a friend recently about our decisions to say NO to certain opportunities. Although we both felt that we'd made the right choice, there was this inevitable wistfulness of "what if". I knew that I'd regret my decision on a bad day. But I didn't know that that day would come so soon.

Killer Shoes

My H&M faux suede pumps

I've been having this insatiable itch for shoes lately. I've bought 6 pairs in the past couple of weeks and haven't had the chance to officiate them all yet. It started out with 2 pairs of heels that I was supposed to use during the weekends, then 3 pairs of flats for daily office use and the most recent, a black pair of kitten heels for official purposes.

Learning of the day

Before I forget. Yesterday I learned a new word, well actually I learned to spell the word. It's quite common for me to use a word in speech for so long and not know how it's spelt.

This time, the word was "pored". As in 'he pored over the maps and guides in anticipation of his next trip'. All along I thought this word was spelled p-o-u-r-e-d! I don't know why I thought that, maybe the mental image of a person all absorbed in reading and like his eyeballs are "pouring" (as in the forward tilt head position) over the book etc.

Yeah, so sometimes imagination is WRONG.

Leaping to Koh Lipe

Probably my only vacation for year 2015. Our plans finally materialised - changing from Boracay to Lombok to Lake Toba and finally to Koh Lipe! It was more of a slap decision where everyone had to send their passports and by hook or by crook a booking was made.

Minimal planning and most of us had forgotten our flight date till two days before. We set out on Tuesday night, two days before the long weekend. After a weird flight and sarcasm from Captain Poovan ("some of you are slow to understand me..." through the intercom to everyone but the offenders on the tarmac), we picked up our rental car and was led to our apartment in Kuah. We had half a tank of petrol to burn and drove around finding water and supper, losing our way for a while in the process.

We took the morning ferry from Telaga Harbour, where two other couples joined us. It was an hour's journey to Koh Lipe from Langkawi.

Customs hut on Pattaya Beach, Koh Lipe, Thailand

First Bake Test

Like many Malaysians, I too had a panic buying streak right before the implementation of GST on April Fool's Day. What did I buy? My long time iWant - a Panasonic 42L Inverter convection microwave oven (NN-CD997S). Yes very "aunty", I know.

But since our previous oven (the great great great grandmother model of my new oven) of over 20 years was ruined by the big flood, I'd been hankering for a replacement but there wasn't a strong enough justification to get one. Until now.

It was an annual bonus gift to myself, besides the GST part. *plop plop* - killed two birds with one stone. KPI achieved!

Although delivery was made in mid-April, I'd only got down to unboxing the oven in late April. And finally the first bake test was on Sunday. I made the only thing I was comfortable baking - chocolate chip cookies!

Chocolate chip cookies baked with Panasonic Inverter oven

Verdict: The oven is easy to use. My baking time needs tweaking - rebaked each tray a couple of times. Taste of the cookies - suits me! Salty yums! A friend had said it tasted like a certain famous cookie brand out there! ;)

Last minute packing

It's 1a.m. and I'm still packing. Seems like I'm missing something but I'm not sure what.

Not sure what to expect in the next few days. This is probably going to be the most impromptu trip we've attempted. But our motive is to just chill. And no phones! ;)

So let's let our hair down and have a well deserved breather!

Google Earth Day Quiz

When I first set eyes on the Google doodle of the day (Earth Day), my thought was that Southeast Asia was not drawn to scale on the rotating globe. But it was a thoughtful thing to emphasise our country and region on the globe (at least in this part of the world).

Little did I know, clicking the Google doodle would take me to an earth day quiz where upon answering a series of questions, it will tell you what animal you are. I got this (see below)!

A sotong? Encouraging