Hybrids in my life.....

It`s funny that life is so full of things which are not in the original form i.e. hybrids. My car is a hybrid of a 4WD & a normal vehicle. A lot of my plants are hybrids of the original species from the wild. The music that I listen to is a also a mishmash of different typoes of hybrid genre`s like pop, hiphop, r & b. The latest craze I have as far as music is concerned is Keith Urban aka Mr Nicole Kidman. He reportedly serenaded his wife after the wedding ceremony with `Make Memories of Us` & she cried. So did a lot of people apparently. It`s a good love song, not overly icky or cavity-inducing sweet. One line goes ` I`ll wake you up with a big wet kiss`. Haha. His music has been criticised as not being country enough but well, who cares really, it`s bloody good. He has also been criticised for having a more pop image than country & wearing jeans which are too tight. Aiyo. BTw, my white daisies are going into overdrive these few days coz of the hot weather. It looks like the hotter it gets the more flowers it produces.

Bags getting bigger....

This plant is stashed in a shaded corner of the garden & I don`t really notice its progress until today when I have the luxury of time. I`m on leave you see. It seems to have grown quite a bit on its own. The flowers are insignificant but a cute red. It`s also seems to have self propagated itself via seeds. The last time this happened a family of snails trickled by & ate the delicate baby plants overnite. I hope this doesn`t happen again coz it`ll be nice to have extra plants to either give away to friends or plant elsewhere in the garden.

Extra storage space....

Our office PCs come with limited hardware space. A friend mentioned that Low Yat was now selling external hard disks @ rm220 for 40GB. Wah, that`s not too bad. Went over on Wednesday & shopped around. It`s pretty time consuming to go from shop to shop making price comparisons so the estimated 30 minutes time I gave myself to purchase the item quickly became almost 80 minutes. I got what I wanted though & more. More meself a 1GB thumbdrive for my personal use. RM85, Kingston brand. Gotta start saving my precious important emails now. You would think that after experiencing PC crashes twice at the office I would have gotten the thumbdrive sooner rite ? But naw.....I have lost quite a lot of precious emails which just basically means I can`t retaliate against office mates who fake blurr-ness on being informed of certain things in the past via email. My loss.

Pasar malam Nite

I`m praying it won`t rain this evening. Also hoping that DBKL officials don`t become active & decide to go on a raiding spree. Gotta change 2 cds I bought from the Sri Petaling pasar malam last week. Shakira`s ` hips don`t lie` & Lee Ryan`s cd don`t seem to play in my car or house or anywhere else. Lee`s cd is a pretty good effort, nothing groundbreaking or fantabulous but very listenable pop, after all that`s chap got a pretty easy listening singing style & voice. Since i`ll be going to Melaka on 8th July 2006, I probably need to get some new cds to listen on the way there too. My friends are single late 30`s women and a malay workmate/ friend from the bank. What do these folks listen to ? Ada Babra Streisand / Ungu combo cd tak ? Haha. Sometimes I analyse a person`s speech / actions etc to try & predict what kinda music they listen to. I`m about 85% accurate usually. People who do not listen to music at all are a sad lot I think. What`s life without music I wonder ?

More VROOM power......i hope

My car clocks in at 7.7 km per litre of petrol which isn`t good. On a full tank of rm90, I only get as far as 350km. Bad yah the FC ? Yeah, tell me about it. A neighbour sells this engine oil treatment which she claims is good. So I`m testing it out. Will let you know the results in 2 weeks time. It`s supposed to increase power, reduce engine wear & lower fuel consumption. Btw, I just found that a Toyota RAV4 actually costs more than a Camry. Wah. Standard nyerrr...Beamer 3 series pun around the same price I think. Hee hee hee. The new RAV4s` laa. Not mine though.

There`s more to Ikea than furniture....

I had a really bad first date on Saturday nite. Luckily for me, some friends were nearby in Ikea shopping so I kinda tricked her into going there to meet them after a dinner treat from me. You would think that a person having Filipino/sarawakian/chinese blood would look more exotic but naw....I`m not into looks ie pretty etc but I prefer malay features.Anyways, we ended up having a swell time in Ikea. Lotsa new things to see, touch, test, prod & sit. It`s Ikea after all. Btw, the picture shows a yummeee orange flavored milk chocolate filled with rice crisp cereal & almond caramel. On offer now for rm3.50.

Set Tangan percuma....

After being caught by a policeman not too long ago for answering a call while driving, I went looking for a reliable hands free set. I drove out to a not-so-nearby pasar malam & got meself 2. One for the car & another for use at home in case a good friend from Penampang calls me. Heh heh. I get dizzy spells & throbbing when I chat for too long over the phone but wearing the handsfree eliminates that.

Getting what they deserve

On my way to work on Friday morn` along Sg Besi highway, I patiently Q-ed up to wait my turn at a turn-off shortcut. Many idiotic motorists were using the emergency lane to fast track to the exit and causing a jam further up. Tsk tsk tsk, I thot to myself. As I reached the turnoff in 5 minutes time, to my everlasting joy, the law-breakers were being booked by policemen !!! Hahaha. How I wish this would happen more often. Last month I paid rm150 for a speeding fine. Then discovered I had another which I never received notice for. Then I got booked for using the handphone while driving. But well, if I had made the mistake, I`m willing to pay up.

More Adidas stuff.....at a discount

Wallet : rm14. The pleasure & thrill ? : Priceless.

Frenz new apartment....

A good fren Beatrice bought a swanky new split-level apartment in PJ. It`s not anywhere near swanky yet but I`m told it will be once it`s completed. She practically dragged me there to see the progress. She also wanted to check out the hunky indonesian workers ( her words I swear ! ) coz she spotted a few shirtless ones the last time. She`s not married, I think she`s got a thing for tanned guyz. Desperado. Whatever gets her goose I always say. Haa haa....here are a pic of the work-in-progress. Indon workers : not one in sight, hunky or otherwise. Think it was lunchtime for them. Mebbe Beatrice should`ve brought some chicken rice as a treat. I really dunno what Indon people like to eat. Neither does Beatrice apparently.

Almost instant chicken pie

I cheated. I`m so ashamed. At 11 p.m., I suddenly had a craving for a chicken pie. I wuz too lazy to actually bake one from scratch at that time, so I opened a can of Dinty Moore`s chicken stew & pour some of the contents into 2 aluminium-lined cups. I whipped up some flour + milk + butter for the crust , using only the finest from USA: Betty Crocker`s Bisquick flour. In exactly 12 minutes, I had my yumeee mini chicken pies. Delicious. The one on the right doesn`t look as nice but tastes better. Hee hee.

Cool battery operated device....

Another impulse buy....was oredi almost out of Tesco when I spied on this nose & sideburn trimmer set. It being Father`s Day, Watson was having a 20% discount on it. I couldn`t resist coz I had read about folks owning one. I want my own. It`s a nifty little device. Does its job very efficiently & painlessly. I recommend that everyone gets one. That`s a close up of the blades. I imagined that it`ll hurt a little when I insert the twirling blades into my nostril but you know what....no pain at all, just some super efficient trimming.

A sweet wedding reception

A workmate got hitched at Royal China Restaurant, Jln Ampang. It was a cozy intimate yummee affair. Apparently it`s a good day to get married coz 1 plus 7 ( the date 17th ) = 8 which is a lucky number. All the best Jack & Meng Choo.

Adidas Addiction....

After stopping myself for one whole week, I couldn`t resist going over to the Section 14 Adidas factory outlet to get my wallet & other stuff. I picked up a fren for bfast & we dashed over to shop by 10 a.m. when it just opened. Parking was relatively easy to find at that time, in fact , we even managed to park in a shady spot away from the blazing morning sun. The outlet still had stock of the wallet I wanted but more than that, it also had other wallets, a half cap for rm20 & a jogging pants for rm28. Adoi, I bought them all.
Who can resist ? They also had Adidas travelling bags for rm80. Or even small knapsacks for just rm20. All original marked down Adidas....

Can`t fight the moonlight.....

I`ve been sleeping early this whole week. Early means 12 midnite. This funny friend keeps sms-ing me at past 12 midnite for 3 consecutive days. Always the same mssg ` Kat mana ? `. I respond accordingly the next morning but yet again I get the same sms. What`s so difficult about understanding my reply ` I tido awal sekarang. Bila ko off-day, let me know laa, I bleh ambik cuti to meet up`....I sleep early nowadays coz I need to wake up early for work. I`m tired of traffic jams & my 2-litre car isn`t exactly easy on the pockets when it comes to fuel consumption. So the less jams I get stuck in , the better. I think my health has improved as well from the early nites. I`ll try to re-start my exercise regime again. Hopefully, it`ll be 3 times a week like I used to do.

www.velcro.com/tips

Nifty device.....while looking for copper wires at the huge D-I-Y shop at new wing 1-Utama, I saw this velcro section. It has about 50 types of velcro stick-ons in all types of shapes, colours, lengths & designs. I just couldn`t resist & bought 2 types. Didn`t even know for sure then what I`ll do with them yet but I`m sure there`s some practical usage for them in the house. So far, I`ve hung a plastic container below a glass shelf in the car porch. I`ve also hooked up / cleaned up / hidden some hanging wires in my old Kembara. Btw, the url is on the velcro pack, so I`m sure it`s a valid one. Go try & see what`s there.

Adidas.....the brand.

I hate walking into discount outlets. Really. *Wink Wink* While waiting for my cousin at Jaya supermarket last week, I chanced upon an Adidas factory outlet. I thot `sure why not` ? Uh oh. Didn`t find anything I liked initially but after 2 rounds of pusing-2, I saw some wallets. They carried the original Adidas logo....the price was really low....rm8 - rm18 ! I bought 2 of this velcro interlocking mini wallets & am currently using it now. I had to dispose of my other not-used-so-often cards & stuff as space is limited. I like the size & the zipped coins-compartment. The material`s not too bad as well. My cousin bought a way-cool ladies` flat-square credit card purse for rm18. It`s red in colour & is made of leather & has got small little adidas logos on the bottom right hand corner made to look like hearts being blown by the wind. If it wasn`t in red, I would have gotten one for meself as well.

Snickers Attack....

I have resisted you for so long ! About 2 months I think. Haha. After filling petrol at Caltex & paying, I noticed that they were selling Snickers bars at rm4 for 2. That`s pretty cheap. It was early in the morning & I was weak. I`m trying not take too much sweet stuff nowadays as my exercise regime has more or less been abandoned in favor of short naps before dinner. Which means I`m getting podgy. That`s not good. But I do wonder if having a little extra fat when we get older is a good idea. I`ve seen senior folks who are too thin & when they get ill, they look even more emaciated when they recover. Things to consider.

Haircut.....

I rushed off from the house at 9:15 a.m. to Carrefour Subang Jaya to get my haircut. Been going to the same place for the last year. It`s CutNGo. Just get a rm15 ticket at the vending machine & you get a professional hair stylist attending to you in a jiffy. No additional charges, no fancy hair treatment. Today I wuz lucky, no customers yet! In fact the shop just opened. I was attended by Jenny, she`s quite good. Other stylists there are Audrey, Michael, Sandra, MsLee & Tony. I don`t have a fav one coz I`m not fussy. I ran off from the hairstylist at 10:05a.m., did some lite shopping at Carrefour ( their 1200 items markdown prices is really good, my fav yoghurt now retails for rm5.70 instead of the normal rm6.99 !), stopped by the nearby nursery & wuz back home by 10:45 a.m....in case you are wondering why I like to rush so much, it`s bcoz I hate traffic jams.

Where`s the rodent ?

We kept finding half apples, maggie mee packets with holes at the bottom, bread with teeth marks in our kitchen. After 3 days of trying to catch it, we are ain`t getting anywhere. The bait always disappears but the rat trap remains empty. Next step is to use the sticky type of rat trap.....Grrrrr....

Scrumptious.......wade`

I don`t actually know how to spell this indian delicacy but i think it`s `wade`. Forced myself out of bed early Sunday morn` to fill up some petrol for the car. It was raining & the weather was still very cool at 7:30 a.m. I`m a strong believer of the thinking that cool weather = more petrol as the petrol is more condensed in cool weather. Anyways.....the wade`s turned out to be more delicious than I thot. It actually still remains crispy on the outside & soft on the inside when it is cold. Yumeee.....I prefer the one which has a hole in the middle.

Funny Fern.....

Most ferns propagate via spore sachets below the leaves when they are matured. A friend gave me this fern which has plantlets growing from the leaf itself ! What`s even more unusual is that the leaf feels & looks like plastic. Way c-o-o-l. Hope that the plantlets I put into the soil just now will survive. It`s a pretty weird plant & I would want it in my house as a piece of plant-topic conversation. Hope you can see & make out the plant branch, its close-up shot & the plantlet.

New packaging...old product

Last Friday I was summoned to a briefing at our PJ training centre. It involved branch managers etc. I arrived on time but was told only then that the meeting had been postponed to a later time that day which meant I had like an hour & a half to kill. Uh oh. Not good coz PJ state is happy hunting ground for food, vitamins & more food. I couldn`t resist going into Tong Woh which is a neighbourhood pharmarcy of sorts. I ended up spending rm200 on multivitamins, Vit E, Vit C & some other stuff. I was pleasantly surprised to see my old favorite manuka honey propolis lozenges there. New packaging some more. Soothes the throat like nothing else on mother earth. I kid you not. Made in New Zeland. I bought the 3-pack promo for rm31.80. Each pack actually retails for rm14.90. Two designs. Wunnerful.

Wild orchids.....not the movie

As I`m clearing the garden, I look for plants which are sun-sensible or sun-friendly & this batch of wild orchids purchased from Sg Buloh or the Bamboo River 2 weeks ago was a good choice. I bought 4 colours but only 3 are flowering at the moment. I can`t even remember what the other colour was.....red i think. Anyways, they seem to be very happy to be in my garden & have been producing new flower stalks. Orite ! My future plan to to fill this small patch with other wild orchids...you know the species which grows along the roadside when you go up Genting or Cameron highlands & have blue / white flowers & are kinda tall ? That`s the one I`m looking for....

A huge sigh of relief & some money saved.....

After having the car for slightly more than a week, I can finally sleep soundly. The mechanic who was supposed to change the timing belt gleefully told me that the current timing belt is actually almost brand NEW ! s-e-r-i-o-u-s. So I wuz only charged for labour. There`s nothing major for me to change in the car except mebbe for tyres later on. Yokohama tyres would cost about rm300 a piece. I`ll start saving. Today someone came over to my parking lot to put sealant into 3 small cracks I had in the windscreen. I`m not totally happy about it as I can still see the crack for the biggest hole but well, that`s something to think about as well. A friend managed to insure the glass after she bought over her RAV4 and still managed to make a claim to change it. Eh, I must find out how she did it....

My favourite local fruit.....

It`s been a long while since I had the king of fruits. The funny thing was everytime durian season wuz in full swing, I would be down with sorethroat. So this time, I bought the fruits at the BEGINNING of the season when the weather still wasn`t too hot & hasn`t affected my ahem, delicate throat yet. I wuz at PJ for a training session today and passed by a frequented cafe`. This one has a pastry called `durian bomb` which is actually a pastry wrapped up in flour & having potato and durian filling. There`s no smell before you bite into it but once you take a chomp, the `bomb` explodes ! And then the durian smells wafts thru the air.....yummeeee.

I wish it would rain sometime.....

After getting my wind shield wipers changed, I can`t wait to test it out in `real` driving conditions. After days of super sunshine, it continues to be super sunny. Storm clouds came & went today without even a whimper of raindrops. Bah. Where`s the rain when you need it ? If you ask me, I prefer rainy days to sunny. I`m kinda allergic to heat. Blame it on my fair skin. Blame it on my melanin count. Whatever..... anyone knows of any rain dances or rain inducing chants ? or has a really terrible singing voice ? I need a volunteer. Haha.

Interesting colours.....

Here are some car colours I picked up. I wonder which one mine is. I know which ones it ain`t though.

Confetti Blue Metallic,
Deep Jewel Green Pearl,
Millenium Silver Metallic,
Mystic Teal Mica,
Prussian Red Pearl,
Quicksilver FX,
Sedona Sunset Metallic,
Venetian Red Pearl......

I wish mine was Artic Sea Metallic Blue ( my own colour creation ) Heh heh.

Choosing a name.....

I never had the desire to pick a name for any of my previous cars but going thru the Toyota RAV4 forums, I discovered that a lot of folks actually name their cars ! A friend from the office also affectionately calls his car by a cutie pie name. Mebbe it`s bcoz this is a non-proton / perodua car. Mebbe coz it`s a lil` on the high end side & I`m paying a lot more for it so I gotta personalise it. I dunno but anyway, here are some ideas I have :

1. Speedy G
2. Speedo
3. Froggy
4. Froggy EyeZ

Somehow or other, the names don`t quite feel rite just yet. Mmmmm..........

Car porch.....

After a week of moving around pots, throwing out a lot of plants etc....i finally have space to park the RAV4 inside. There`s only about 2 feet or less of walking space. Luckily all my family members are slim people. I like my new garden design, it ain`t creative or anyting but it`s a lot neater now & I intend to keep it that way.