African daisies

A workmate spread some cheer around the office by giving each woman staff a gorgeous African daisy. These are the super large showy ones which grows in colder climates i.e. Cameron Highlands. The colours were a variety of red, orange, yellow & pink. If you look around the office right now, it looks like a mini flower expo of sorts. Errrm, I got one too. Heh heh. Let`s see if it lasts until next week. I`m trimming it daily & changing the water & adding sugar. Tricks of the trade learnt when I bought meself a rose each Monday morning.

How are you ?

After almost 2 weeks of feeling the flu blues, I`m glad to announce that I`m almost regained my health. Have started my aerobics sessions once again, mainly coz the fortnight of inactivity has caused my mid-section to develop a slight bulge. I think being exercise-less also brings with it a certain amount of lethargy, moodiness, restlessness & body aches. Without the workout sessions, I do not sleep as well or as soundly. I wonder how folks who live sedentary lifes manage to maintian their fitness levels. If they are tall, their BMI`s might still show a positive score. Too bad for short folks who are on the podgy side. Haha. I`ve not done my physical for a long time but I`m confident that my lifestyle & diet would assure me a certain enviable ( ahem ) level of health & fitness. I just bought a cd by Train. It`s their new release & it sounds good so far. Last week a good friend handed over 2 cds he managed to get me from pasar malam : Nikki & Radja. mmmmm...sedapnya those 2. Nikki doesn`t have her own style yet but I know with the right amount of tutoring, she`d be pretty good. As for radja, I still prefer peterpan. Ariel`s a blooody good songwriter & singer. He shouldn`t have to resort to taking off his shirt during concerts. *smile*

People are not reliable....

I note with a sad heart that some folks I consider friends are merely a product of my own efforts. I set out to prove the validity of a friendship by making no effort at all in contacting or making plans. This went on for weeks, then months. The friendship which I thought existed was reduced to a simple hi or bye. I guess I figured out how important the friendship was. There was no argument or misunderstanding between us. I was just made to feel invisible & a stranger. While I find other people / activities to occupy my life, I am embittered by how lightly people treat friendships nowadays. I`ll move on but this has taught me to be a lot more cautious on who I deem as a friend.

Jewels.....

Took these orchid photos in Cameron Highlands. It`s weird that cold weather can still accomodate orchids. I`m not a big fan of growing orchids but I can appreciate their beauty. Gorgeous yah ? Their beauty is fleeting & temporary though. A week of viewing pleasure at the most. I prefer things that last & may not be that beautiful to look at. Give me substance over style anyday. I`m not talking about orchids anymore, you DO realise rite ? *smile*

Excuse me, can you sing ?

Truth be told, I`m kinda sick of watching talent shows on tv which require audience participation via sms. I partially agree with Zainal Abidin when he rants about how sms votes are gonna kill the music industry. He also goes on to say that he DOESN`T need our sms votes to survive ever, is going to create a new world record for his new album & a lot of other crap. E. What`s wrong with that mamat ?

Anyways, I happen to watch the promo for this Singapore-based talent contest called Project Superstar. Apparently it`s divided into male / female contestants & this week, it`s focusing on the final 4 women contestants. My wicked take on them:

1. Brandy : decent looks, can sing. Hope she wins.
2. Kinki : looks like what the cat dragged in last week & left under the couch & you just found it when sweeping, sounds screechy ( err, like a cat in heat )
3. Meishin : looks like she got hit by a runaway pram. Should be renamed Machine coz she`s so rigid & robotic
4. Shyan : all I can say to her when she tries to sing is Shhhhhhhhhh Shyan.

I won`t part with my precious rm1 to vote for them but Brandy deserves to win.....btw, I still follow Survivor & American Idol but I don`t bother to watch the result show for the latter anymore coz it`s too late. I just log on in to the website to find out later.

Chicken soup needed.....

Aaaaargh...that`s generally how I feel when I fall sick. It started innocently enough with a sorethroat on Thursday. By evening, I was already woozy as the fever kicked in. It`s Sunday now & the fever shows no sign of losing its momentum. I`ve taken lotsa liquids, medication, Vit c, rest etc...dunno what else to do so might get warded on Monday to test if it`s dengue or something more serious. My temp is 37.9 Celsius & my whole body, head, joints aches. What`s the positive side of being sick ? Errr, I can`t think of one....

Purple Lilies

It`s always breathtaking for me to find a pond full of flowering purple lilies. This picture was taken in Lake Gardens Orchid Park on a slow Monday morning when I was on leave. No camera tricks, the close up of the lily actually looks as if it`s got lights emananting from it. A beauty like this flower only has a lifespan of one day. Seems like a waste for all the effort but well, that`s the deal.

Little bursts of sunshine....

These tiny dainty little daisies have been in my garden for quite a while. They`re annuals which means that I have to keep replanting them after their flowering period ends ( they flower for about 4 months on average ). I love the colour & the fact that they remain in full bloom even at nite...I call them my 7-11 yellow daisies coz they are always open. Don`t they make you smile ?

I scream anyone ? .....rum & raisin flavored

Plse ignore the title of this posting. My overactive uncanny sense of humour has gone into overdrive. Anyway, my auntie who loves trying out new foodstuffs stumbled on this ice cream 2 weeks ago. She offered me some & I was hooked. It`s made in Thailand & retails for rm3.99 for 500ml. For my Muslim friends, do look at the close up shot, it`s halal. only rum flavor. I love the texture & taste of it. I finished the whole tub in one sitting. Another tub was waiting its turn in the freezer. I`m becoming a veritable PIG. No wonder I`ve got sorethroat & a slight flu now. I remember consuming the following last Sunday afternoon : wise potato chips, one pkt of cashew nuts, one box of rumraisin ice cream, half a pkt of muruku, wasabi coated peanuts......all bcoz i had to watch Friends season 10 dvds. Alamak. Adoi. Atchooo.

I can`t wait for.......Gubra !!!!

9th March was my special day....my birthday. I took the day off to just laze around. It so happened that Digi was having a Gubra promo / roadshow at HELP institute so I went. Warning : there are 3 HELP colleges in the Pusat Bandar Damansara area. I went to the wrong one initially. Ouch coz it was a bloody hot day & I`m not tropical climate friendly. I was almost scorched by the sun. Drama i know. Anyway, I managed to get this free tshirt & some other stuff like keychains, handphone straps, a bag & posters. Wow. The tagline for Gubra : why do we hurt the most, the ones we love the most ? very true for me. If you can see the photo, Orkid seems to be hugging someone who looks like Jason. Eh ? thot she married someone else in the movie. The plot thickens. I can`t wait !!!!

Wasabi alert.....

What`s the down side of having too many not watched dvds in the house ? I gotta buy lotsa snacks to accompany myself while I watch these movies. My current fav is anything that has wasabi in it. Yum yum. The potato sticks are kinda nice too. Imported from good ol` USA, it retails for rm2.99 & is in a small can. Good if you need a light snack. Wasabe alert might soon lead to sore throat alert. Uh oh.

Hiking IS fun...... not!

I went hiking last Saturday morning after receiving an sms late Friday nite. A good friend wanted to try out my fav local hike near Tmn Melawati. Sure, why not I thot, I need the exercise. We started out a bit late and the sun was a-blazing. The hike is a combination of 5 small hills with the 1st being the toughest. As I climbed the 1st one, I looked behind to check on the friend & was pleased that he was keeping up. As we reached the top of the 1st hill, he was rewarded with the sight of the Klang Gates Dam. I remember him saying `Wow, cantiknya` then suddendly he grabbed hold of my arm & said `Saya nak pitam!`. A split second later, he slumped unconscious. I managed to break his fall although he weighs about 10 kg more than me. It was scary coz if he had fainted while on the slopes, he would have fallen to his death. Ouch. He awoke after about 10 seconds and we chatted & rested for an hour under the shade before turning back. He`s only 27. See what all work & no exercise can do to a person ? Brrrr....i`m keeping to my 3 times a week aerobic schedule.

Learnt something new today

I always tell myself that if I stop learning new things either on a daily, weekly, monthly etc basis, I might as well stop living. Today, I learnt how to make banana muffins. It`s incredibly easy !!! Recipe was courtesy of a ex-pre school friend ( yep, i`ve known her since i wuz 6 years old & we`re still friends !!!)Preparation time about 15 minutes. Baking time : 20 minutes. Taa daa. Here are the results. Tastes as good as it looks. Recipe will be given upon request coz I`m too lazy to type it out here. Wink wink.