Tery`s Tall Tales

Happy new year folks

2009-01-02T08:21:00.002+08:00

how was 2008 ? ok lorrr....more ups than downs....in fact 90% more up than downs which is a pretty good ratio by any standards.

1. got the love of my life : Chrissey, miniature schnauzer extrodanaire

2. 2nd love of my life : Tudor, black mamba gangster

3. cutoff all the irritating things and folks in my life except for one. still working on that one. hopefully we`ll get rid of him soon.

cheers..........

neck brace

2008-11-06T13:06:00.002+08:00

had to visit sjmc yesterday to check on my oft-happenning neckaches. turns out that i have a medical condition called spondylotic tissues. ouch ouch ouch. did traction and physio. it hurts but hopefully in time, i`ll be better....

release tension...heheh

2008-10-30T08:33:00.002+08:00

i belong to this carnivorous plant forum. it is managed by this idiot who is insecure like crap &* has this bossy, testosterone-driven he-man attitude. he also has issues with taking orders from others & even tho he is wrong, he is blinded by his arrogance & stupidity.....

last week was the 5th time he exploded via sms over a small issue. i`ve had it with him. too bad for my hobby. i guess i can managed on my own or hook up with the other members.....my own private collection has grown tremendously over the past 2 years anyways & perhaps NOT visiting the forum will stem the flow of moolah from my wallet.

time to find a new hobby.....

to D.Tan...you are one of the biggest arseholes i`ve met....hate your loser attitude but i know you`ll maintain it at a feverish rate & it`ll affect your crappy job, relationships ( how does your wife stand you ? ) and friendships eventually. To me, you are in the same boat as the other airplant loser from Penang who is just as lame brain....

a nice weekend

2008-10-14T08:13:00.002+08:00

spent a lovely friday nite with a good friend. also the whole of sat with the same friend.....

sun morn` real early, picked up a freind for Mamma Mia at 1Utama. the movie was good. the friend was a lil` irritating. you know the sort of US educated geek whose hobbies include collecting toy cars or whatever stupid money wasting collectibles plus comics. yuks.

anyways, friend A swung by AGAIN on sun nite to chitchat & inadvertently sleep over coz it was getting late. as a result, we had to wake up real early on monday & i reached office by 7:10a.m.wheeeee.

Songs we can download

2008-10-14T08:02:00.002+08:00

I haven`t had the time to download much before this. Found my old fav like the following :

Let the music play : Shannon

Human : Human League

Move Closer : Phyllis Hyman

and lots more...........incredible.

Sold off Ralfie finally

2008-10-07T16:33:00.002+08:00

the lucky gentleman was Mr Lim who is a S`porean designer. He paid cash for it , 38k. impressive. Some idiots who wasted my time :

karen lingam : this stupid girl who stays in pj sect 5 made me drive to her house. said she was keen, then the next day told me she couldn`t afford the car. stupid. wins the award for most waste of time idiot.

tuah : nice guy who came with his family.

maniam : another idiot who asked me to fax over the car details but never bothered to reply sms. like i was begging him to buy. no common courtesy.

mr lam : decent cinapek. thot i was kidding when i told him a guy by the name of Lim was keen to buy.

firdaus : another idiot who sounded so keen with his promises to get his lawyer to sign the legal papers etc. never heard from him ever again.

maryam : stupid bitch who asked for sex on the pretext of buying the car. hello, if you are in your 50`s, drunk, single mum...i wouldn`t be keen. not even for a sympathy fuck.

Some updates

2008-08-12T12:40:00.002+08:00

I`ve not written for quite a while.....forgotten password.

My new dog Chrissey is fine. She`s showing more of her true colours nowadays which we love. I guess she now is confident of staying in our home permanently.

I am more involved in the carnivorous plant community. Planning a booth at the upcoming Calvary Family day.

I love my new car Tudor. It feels like heaven to drive but my main worry now is selling of the old one, Ralfie.

I love my life. I know I sound like a bad recording but I truly do.

Tried out Rebung. For rm43, I expected more than just kampung fare & lamb. Never again.

Work was busy but now has more or less stabilised. Still staying back a lot though.

I`ve miseed out on quite a few good movies. Too lazy to go to the cineplex. Or too scared that people might knock into Tudor at the parking lot.

my new car......

2008-08-12T12:18:00.002+08:00

here`s a pic....or 2....or more.

American Idol

2008-03-07T13:43:00.002+08:00

Wah, that David Archuleta.....what a fab singer. I hope he makes it to the final 2. Loved it when he sang that John Lennon song. But this week`s performance was somewhat overshadowed by the other singers. Another sad love song.....

Can`t wait for his next song. If he`s smart, he`ll do an upbeat number.

Turning 40

2008-03-07T13:36:00.002+08:00

On Sunday, I will turn 40. Sigh. Never thot I`d last this long. Naw, kidding. Hahaha. I`m happy with my accomplishments ( if any )

Workwise, not too much pressure

I`ve climbed up to Mount Kinabalu

I have a pretty decent car : toyota rav4 ( of course, I`m thinking of upgrading to a newer model )

My life is pretty interesting

I`m considered an authority on carnivorous plants ( specialty : sundews) on a local forum where I am a global moderator

I have a lovely dog which delights me to no end

I am happily single ( no nagging, no tempers, no argument, no tantrums, no sulking )

I make a decent living

I have a few good friends ( quality not quantity )

Shirt size

2008-03-07T13:33:00.002+08:00

I`ve switched to all G2000 affice shirts recently. Makes life easier. My size is 15/32. 15 being the collar size which also denotes shoulder width. 32 is the sleeve length.

Yesterday, the only size left for a shirt i wanted was 14 1/2 / 32...it`s smaller but i still managed to fit into it. Heheh. I thot folks were supposed to expand as they age. I must keep maintaining with my exercise & diet routine.

Some flowering carnivores

2008-02-21T12:40:00.002+08:00

beautiful and deadly...to insects laa anyways. these are pings, thinking it is springtime in malaysia. heheh.

Furniture....

2008-02-12T08:27:00.001+08:00

I went last-minute furniture shopping before CNY....lucky I drive a RAV4 and can basically just carry back on-the-spot whatever I buy.

Surpisingly, I found some `pleasant-looking` reasonably priced furniture at Giant outlet building opposite my house. On 2nd level, there is a furniture shop & I bought a 2-seater sofa (rm700) plus a 5 feet high shoe-cabinet for rm259.....they wanted to charge me rm50 for transportation but well, I told them to stuff it ! Stuff the furniture into my car....heheh....the couch is so comfy...would have gotten one from Ikea but well, I think this is more worth it.

Smiling.....

2008-02-12T08:09:00.000+08:00

she`s clean, blemish free, just got her hair trimmed and smiling......photo taken yesterday.

What Chrissey looked like at SPCA

2008-02-12T08:05:00.001+08:00

this was the face I couldn`t resist at SPCA....she was smelly, greasy, covered with some pimples & recovering from spaying...but her eyes were gorgeous...so it was basically done deal.....

AJL 2007

2008-01-28T12:44:00.000+08:00

It was the best one ever I think......my fav pop group Sofaz did not win but well, my 2nd fav Estranged did. Rich started the song a bit shaky & I was like `huh`. Guess it was a case of nerves. When he gained momentum, it was pure pop magic.

He thanked Yang Maha Esa coz he`s a Christian.

Bob forgot the lyrics...but we found out later that he was a last last minute replacement for Ajai who couldn`t make it. So forgiven.

It was an interesting nite at Bkt Jalil....

Jewel orchids

2008-01-28T12:33:00.000+08:00

After 2 years of caring for this lil` bugger, it finally flowered. Magnifique ~..the flower lasts for about 1 month or so. A close shave during the flower formation period was a chap`s son who came over to my house un-announced & knocked the pot over almost snapping off the stalk of orchid. Isk-2. Hate ill-behaved kids. But I blmae the parents. Nasty.

Some more Carnivorous plant pics....

2008-01-28T12:29:00.000+08:00

These are some older photos of my still fav plants...aren`t they gorgeous ? Miraculously, some defy dormancy even tho genetically they should be going dormant.

Another flowering sundew in the garden

2008-01-28T12:24:00.000+08:00

This was obtained from overseas as well. It`s called Byblis and has amethyst coloured flowers. It`s very good at trapping insects and seeds very well. Each leaf branch is full of trapped small insects either being digested, freshly caught or struggling in vain to get away.

A cutie pie sundew....

2008-01-28T08:56:00.000+08:00

Here is a recent sundew which i got. It really glitters in the sun and the dew captures insects. Imported from Germany.

Pet peeves

2008-01-25T15:06:00.000+08:00

I hate golf & golfers. Worst environmental damagers. These jokers only care about their game & it doesn`t matter how much is flattened or remoulded to permit them playing. Most of the golfers I met also have some personality disorder or attitude problem or think they are superior to others. Yea rite, you are dumber than most actually.

Gym bunnies. Mostly coz they are insecure & only care about themselves. i have a friend who is a gym instructor and he says that he only needs to HINT that their calf needs a lil` more work to drive them into an exercise frenzy. Crazy buggers.

Folks who have kids but don`t really like kids. The silliest of silly. Jabbing your willy into your wife and praying she won`t get pregnant isn`t going to help. Esp if it happens more than once. Then they start abusing their kids and cursing them at the slightest inconvenience. I know of a chap who complained that his arm was tired when he was carrying his newborn in the hospital , only to pass the baby to his just-delivered wife to carry. Gosh.

Renault cars.....the ugliest cars around. I`m not sure about their engines longevity but the cars are butt ugly. Really. Now you know why the 2nd hand ones are so dirt cheap. People own renaults for silly reasons...one of them being they support the Renault F1 team.

Married folks who let themselves be run by their wives. Eeeeks. These folks let their wives make all the decisions for them and dare not talk back. One chap I know doesn`t talk back coz his wife can out-talk him and also he doesn`t want to be deprived of free sex. Desperado limp-wrist.

Cats & dogs which misbehave. Stupid cats which came uninvited to my garden & dogs which bark incessantly are a menace. I blame the pet owners. Dumbasses.

there`s more but i`m too bz now.

New curtains

2008-01-24T13:05:00.000+08:00

It wasn`t that I wanted new curtains for CNY. Just that I had time during my Christmas break & went looking for curtains.

I wanted blackout curtains & finally found them at Macy`s @ Minlon. Paid rm123.90 for a 3panel curtain plus workmanship charges.

It took almost 3 weeks to sew them & I finally collected them yesterday.

It cuts out almost 90% of the incoming light & surprise surprise, my room was like nite during the hot afternoon sun.

Yay....

My staghorn has grown

2008-01-24T12:33:00.000+08:00

The small baby plant which was kinda small when it came is ow quite impressive....

here`s Chrissey

2008-01-21T12:40:00.000+08:00

this is the `girl` who has been keeping me busy for the past month. she was found walking the streets ( streetwalker oops ) & taken over to SPCA by a kind soul. when i found her before Christmas, she was a pitiful sight. She had some sores on her body, both ears had infection & she was recovering from a spaying operation. But she was the sweetest thing on four legs and her eyes were pools full of bottomless love.

so i got her. paid rm300 and took her home. we spent a few days cleaning her up & she had the patience of a nun. think she knew we were serious about keeping her & bringingher back to health.

It`s been so long........

2008-01-17T14:11:00.000+08:00

A small animal crackers welcome to 2008. hippo ewe ear.......

i lost the drive to post after my dog was put to sleep in july 2007. it was my biggest loss in the last 10 years...but well, i have recovered.

i`ll try to clue you in on what`s happened since then....

Mmmmmm.......

i spent a few months moping around, existing but not really living

my saving factors were my friends, my hobbies, someone lovely whom i was dating then....if not, sure would have krazy oredi ( i`m kidding only, rarely do i attach myself to anyone or anything coz i am very independent emotionally )

i spent time looking for a replacement toyota rav4.....the search is on-going...i would love to change to a 3-door, 1.8litre dark grey coloured beauty. but it isn`t urgent. unless the price of petrol goes up again very very soon.

i got a new dog. she was found at SPCA by me in december near Christmas, hence she was named Chrissey ( Miyake, like that fashion house Issey Miyake, heheh ) I`ll post pics soon

i became single in mid dec.....this was after 7 months of dating. No pain, no gain. Currently dating 4 diff folks at the same time before narrowing it down to 1 soon. I know i know.

my collection of carnivorous plants increased by about 45% since i got introduced to growers in Germany. A lot of moolah was spent on this. Hopefully it will earn me some back in the near future. Plants bought can be sold off as soon as they propagate but some follow seasons so it`ll be a longer wait for the flowering/ seed period.

made some new friends, got rid of some hopeless ones after forgiving them.

next post....

In the office early

2007-07-31T07:46:00.000+08:00

My Dad had to be sent for his quarterly checkup at UH and he usually wants to reach there early. So early it was. Left the house at 6:30 a.m....Yawn.

Was out last nite with some plants friends & dropped by a house to visit. It was still early then at 9:30 p.m. but the chatting dragged on until almost midnite. My constant yawns did nothing to speed up the exit. Alas, I had no time to do my own stuff at home. It was just a quickie supper of yoghurt & fresh fruits and then to bed.

This plant hobby thingy is becoming a time consuming money-wasting passion. I was invited by a friend to assist him in a new nursery he was setting up. He was going to bring in a tissue culture expert from Taiwan & build a plant/nursery in Bkt Tinggi area. I was to help in the international trade, promotions & relationships matters. He figured that since pitcher plants were a native to Malaysia ( and the Asia region) , why should foreigners like those folks in Sri Lanka, Australia, USA be selling it worldwide ? He has a point....

But that`s gonna be my post retirement job. Not now. Not yet.

I made it..........

2007-07-23T08:30:00.001+08:00

Made it through a whole week without feeling too sad about Chico. I miss him lots but life has to go on. Luckily I have taken some very good photos of him before he left. Cherish them I shall.

Had quite a busy weekend. Met up with Adrian on Sat, who is a pitcher plant kaki & lives nearby my house. We took turns to visit each other. When he came over, he was kinda gawking at my plants. Him being the novice & me being a more experienced grower. He went home with 2 pots of plants. $$$.

Then Khairi & his friend came over to buy some plants. $$$. Also 1st time meeting up with him. A long chat ensued of plants, diff genre` etc as he is quite good at non-CP plants. He is a lecturer as a local college and knows quite a bit.

Then Sunday I went to visit 2 other plant kaki`s. One had grown pitchers for 30 years but we were so disappointed with his collection. Evidently, years of know-how & head knowledge amounted to zero for him. All his plants were pathetic, wrong conditions etc etc. The 2nd home was Lau`s, a good friend. I`ve been there before so I`m used to his plants. Huge, impressive. It was more for the others who tagged along.

It was an eventful weeekend.

Good free gift

2007-07-19T12:31:00.000+08:00

When I took a day off to unwind & relax on Monday, I initially wanted to watch a movie. Scanning thru the STAR, i noticed that Harry Porter was showing at TGV at 11 a.m. 1 Utama. It was 10:08 a.m. when I read it. A quick shower plus quicker b`fast ensued.

I reached 1 Utama at 10:51 a.m. then didn`t feel like watching that kiddie show so I just walked around. Saw this DC Comics shop which sells original T shirts from the comics. The Superman t`s look might good but for rm79 a pop, well, I thot thrice.

Next was a shop which sold hermit crabs. They have different sizes & the price range was rm5, rm8 & rm12. Cute little fellas but I didn`t buy any. Then it was off to FOS. Thank god there wasn`t anything nice to buy coz I was on a tight budget as gaji belum masuk. I walked over to the Old wing and as I passed Guardian, a shop assistant called out to me. They were giving away free Blackmore`s Billberry pills worth rm78.90. The trick ? You gotta exchange it with an empty vitamin bottle. I went into Guardian, got a bottle of Blackmore`s vitamin C time release ( it was buy 1 get 1 free ), emptied the bottle and got my Billberry. Heheh. That was 3 days ago. I swear my eyesight has improved since then.

I also picked up a pot of African violets coz I needed some cheering up.

Obituary March 1997 - July 2007

2007-07-18T08:21:00.000+08:00

The love of my life is gone. After a 10 year `romance`, he left me. Cradling him in my arms at the vet`s and seeing so much pain in his little eyes, I decided to put him to sleep.

I got a call from my Dad on friday afternoon that Chico was in pain. He was vomitting blood and also had blood drips from his penis. His back legs was also paralysed. I rushed back thru the lunch crowd & as I drove up to my house, I could see him trying to drag himself using his front legs to greet me. He was howling in pain. It was a sound I never heard from him before. I picked him up. He didn`t look good.

Took him to the vet`s at B`fields after the sembahyang crowd had cleared. Dr Lim cleared the whole clinic to attend to him. 3 Doctors and 2 nurses immediately took blood, did scans etc. He had a sharp bladder stone which was bruising his insides and causing the bleeds. They also guessed that he might have had a stroke which paralysed his back legs. Sigh.

I left him there for the night and came back on Sat a`noon after his blood test resuilts came out. His liver was almost 90% damaged. And his condition was the same as yesterday. The vet counselled me and told me that even if they could flush out the toxins in the liver and regenerate it, it would take time and also cause him pain. Also there was the issue of his bladder stone. And paralysis....he said that even if we could extend his life via surgeries etc , the quality of it would be suspect. I knew what he trying to tell me...

I called up some friends to tell them. Had dinner with a good friend then went back. And thot real hard.

Sunday morn at 8 a.m. I was there at the vet`s. I asked to go in early to see him. As soon as he heard me calling him, he started whinning. I picked him up and cradled him for almost 2 hours. In between sobs and talking to him, I decided. He was in too much pain. I told him we were going to bury him in the garden and plant a strawberry shrub on top as that was his favorite fruit.

At exactly 10:16 a.m., he was put to sleep in my arms. It was fast, less than 10 seconds. He stopped whinning in pain.

I took him home and started digging. And digging. Then it started raining. Really hard and heavy. The hole I dug was now a small pond. So we dug further. My Mum and I cried as we dug. We buried him after saying our goodbyes. He was placed in a small box with a cushion for support and his fav bone.

Adios my good friend. Will remember you for life.

My new car......Mercedes SL400

2007-06-26T08:53:00.001+08:00

Got this on Sunday....special delivery. Not sure how / when i`m gonna drive it yet.

2007-06-26T08:47:00.000+08:00

Some super high performance cars in my workshop......cool or what....

Ralfie in the workshop

2007-06-26T08:42:00.000+08:00

Took Monday off to run soem errands. 1st on my list was the service Ralfie. Arrived at my workshop at 10:30 a.m. Ralfie got new spark plugs, soem high tech coolant, Mobile 1 engine oil...plus the nornam fluid changes. She seems brand new after that. Been neglecting her for a bit since April so thot it`ll be nice to re-charge.

The week so far...........

2007-06-22T09:16:00.000+08:00

I can`t believe it`s Friday already.

I was half, no make 3/4 dead on monday & tuesday coz of our Tmn Negara trip.

Wednesday, had a movie date....Fantastic 4 wasn`t that fantastic.

Last nite, had lovely Japanese food at Rakuzen, Chulan Square.

This evening after work will go hiking to look for some limestone chips for my plants. If it doesn`t rain that is.

I will take it nice & easy over the weekend. Perhaps watch some dvds at home, perhaps catch up with some friends, or do light shopping. I`m on leave on Monday so that`s something to look forward to as well.

Wheeee..........

Way cool wallpapers....

2007-06-18T08:17:00.000+08:00

Downloaded these from Digi website......

My new fav car......

2007-06-18T08:03:00.000+08:00

Saw this on the internet many months ago & never thot I`d see it in M`sia as they were not bringing it in. Toyota Rush, 1.6 litre, 4wd....said to be the replacement model for the Kembara. Love it coz it saves fuel yet still has the 4wd looks & capabilities.

I almost broke into the car to try & hotwire it to test drive. In the 3 days we were in Tmn Negara, the S`porean owners were nowhere to be seen.

Woodlands Tmn Negara

2007-06-18T07:50:00.000+08:00

It was eventful.......out trip tp Tmn Negara finally materialised. June 15th.....we started from KL at about 8:30 a.m. The memorable events were the nite jungle walk ( we saw 3 deers ), the canopy walk ( cool elevation ) , the rapids shooting ( we drank quite a bit of Sg Tembeling, Hali took in about 1 litre I think ), Negrito settlement....and of course, the office folks. I didn`t bring my Nikon so didn`t take many photos. Our guides who made it memorable were Shahidan, James, Cornelius, Aida & Adang.

A photo of the lodge, the sg tembeling which we drank from during the rapids shooting & the floating restaurants, one which floated away to the opposite side of the river bank overnite due to heavy rains.

Flooded

2007-06-14T08:15:00.000+08:00

When I went for a meeting in Sheraton Imperial, this greeted me at the car park. Yuks, it was muddy & stank. Luckily my meeting was only 2 hours long, otherwise I`d be worried in casein rained. KL big city, flood prone. Bad image.

My new pitcher plant

2007-06-14T08:13:00.000+08:00

I temankan a friend to see a pitcher plant seller in subang parade. In the end, I also ended up buying this baby. It`s a nepenthes veitchii. Gorgeous colour & unique pitcher. The price....2 pots for rm75.

A cutie pie mini torch lite for rm2.90

2007-06-14T07:59:00.000+08:00

Got this from ACE....it`s made in china but wait.....for rm2.90, it`s ok as long as I ain`t consuming it....very bright for it`s size. Practical for searching for stuff in the car, blackouts etc. I bought it coz we are off to Tmn Negara tomorrow. We means us office folks.

Buy buy buy....

Little House on the Plains

2007-06-08T08:51:00.000+08:00

This is a neat looking lodge / house. It faces Mount Kinabalu.

A weird handbag like plant

2007-06-08T08:43:00.000+08:00

This was spotted in a highland nursery. I`ve seen it used in some flower decoration baskets before but never seen the actual plant.

Wild strawberries

2007-06-06T12:47:00.000+08:00

I couldn`t believe my eyes. A strawberry shrub which had clusters of 7 or 8 fruits per bunch. Found in KK Park, but apparently available everywhere I was told. I was so impressed as I love strawberry plants & as far as my own knowledge stretches, s/berry plant are creeper like. Not a 7-foot high shrub. Zoweee.

Pretty slipper orchids

2007-06-06T12:40:00.000+08:00

Protected species they might be, they still get poached & sold off. This is a lovely slipper orchid, collectors item. Prized for their ability to create hybrids. Snapped this photo from a side stall. They were selling this for rm100. Other stalls I checked were for a quarter of the price.

Cuban club

2007-06-06T12:36:00.000+08:00

We wanted to have some beer so went into this pub with a Cuban band..the beer was cheap ( rm20 for a jug ) but the singing was lousy. It was still early at 9:30p.m. but the place was very very empty...nice set up tho, pity about the music. Sexy singers but can`t sing.

A place with a horny name

2007-06-06T12:34:00.001+08:00

I knew this place existed from my last trip to Sabah but finally managed to locate it while having bfast....

A funneee toilet sign in Menggatal

2007-06-06T12:31:00.001+08:00

All I can say is Eh ? But I did not do as told laaa.

Food there

2007-06-06T12:27:00.001+08:00

The 2 dishes which I found extra lovely there are the Sabah vegetable & the Tuaran mee. The veg was very sweet & the mee was unique. Can`t find in KL....

Memorial park

2007-06-06T08:40:00.001+08:00

This was pretty interesting...a memorial park in Kundasang. It had motive gardens from Australia & England plus our own Malaysia. Lotsa plants, flowers, nice view & of course, splendid cool air.

Kundasang.......here we come.

2007-06-06T08:23:00.000+08:00

Mr R`s friend Lawrence ( of Arabia ? ) swung by to pick us up early Thursday morning & we had bfast at another friend`s place ( Gilbert ) before starting on our journey. The roads were a lil` busy as it was still Harvest Festival & people were having gatherings here & there.

Kundasang is actually at the foothill of Mount K. A holiday place in the hills for folks in Sabah as the weather is cool ( cold even ) and the scenery & flowers are impressive.

We had trouble locating the lodge we stayed at as it was offroad & the directions given were wrong. Personally, I`ve never been driven in such tough offroad conditions before & we were in an Iswara ! heheh. I`m talking about 45 degree inclines & really bad village roads. But phew, we made it.

I met up with Mr R`s other friends.....Johan, Robert, Ken, Aaron, George, Jerry, Alex plus Lawrence &amp; Gilbert and Ritchie & me makes 11 folks. Hey, Ocean`s 11 !Quite a large group. It was an effort to make sure everyone was free for the trip but it being a holiday in Sabah made it easier.

Kinarut........the experience....

2007-06-06T08:04:00.000+08:00

It`s always nice to go for holidays. Diff places. diff people, diff cultures....even if it`s still within the same country.

I landed at KK airport at 7:42 p.m. on 30th May 2007. Ritchie was already almost there to pick me up. After getting my luggage, I was the one who kept him waiting.

A lovely seafood dinner awaited me. I think it was a lil` expensive but mebbe coz the portions were huge...enough for 3 folks but only I was eating as Mr R is kinda sick of seafood already. Or perhaps watching his cholesterol levels ? Mmmmm....

A short tour of the town ensued. Then we went to his home. Kinarut is about 20 mins away from KK town. Quiet but not too. The `village` house was impressively big. It was cool at night & decently airy in the daytime. Mr R`s 2 dogs & 4 ( is it 4 ? ) cats plus his parents made up the numbers for house occupants.

We turned in early as we had a roadtrip early tmrw morning......yay !

Here are pics of his butchy car and his huge spacious double storey house.

Trip to Sabah

2007-05-29T08:19:00.000+08:00

I`ll be off to Sabah tmrw onwards for about a week. A good friend invited me over to enjoy the Harvest festival & I said yes. That was last year...finally I`m going.

Looking forward to makan-2 sessions, meeting Ritchie & his gang of friends, finding some pitcher plants & generally enjoying Sabah. The last time I went there was about 7 years ago.

Much too long ago....

My cousin Sharon

2007-05-28T08:34:00.000+08:00

This is a side profile of my cousin during dinner time. She just walloped 6 dishes & from the look on her face, she`s planning what to `down` next.

Movie time

2007-05-28T08:25:00.000+08:00

Went to watch I don`t want to sleep alone at Cineleisure which was quite a decent effort. The leads were interesting, I especially liked the cashier lady who was a bit kay-poh. The Curve is pretty festive on Sat nites, with their flea market.

We just hung around Borders then went over to a friend`s house in Kepong to see his carnivorous plants ( what else yah ? ) and also to plan our upcoming Camerons trip. Tbe whole small gang was there....

A wedding

2007-05-28T08:17:00.001+08:00

A friend`s wedding at Putrajaya....quite lavish. The food was so good.....the bride was very pretty. It was a very very hot day though & with a toddler aroudn, we were not able to stay until the bersanding ceremony. Photos will have to do then.

Things to do for the weekend

2007-05-25T08:27:00.000+08:00

I have a movie to catch with frenz at the Curve. Going to watch that local release I don`t want to sleep alone...reviews say that it is good.

Some folks are coming over to the house to purchase carnivorous plants. They have booked the plants & are swinging by to collect it. The side income is a welcome...I get to buy more carnivorous plants.

Then there`s a wedding to attend on Sunday afternoon. It`s in Putrajaya area.

Also got a friend overniting due to late movie watching & he`s got no transport & I`m too lazy to send him home.

Sunday evening is an uncle`s birthday. Given a choice I would not go as he went ballistic the last time when we were late & we ended up having a shouting match. Cis.

Last payment

2007-05-21T08:07:00.000+08:00

Looking forward to salary time this month coz it`ll involve making the last payment for a RM10k loan I took 3 years ago. I`ll be getting about rm300 extra next month onwards. Wheeee. Time to save up more money. Hoping I won`t end up spending it instead. Hmmmm....

Been so busy

2007-05-17T08:16:00.000+08:00

Life has been full of activities for the past 2 weeks especially.

After joining a local plant forum, I have been besieged by plant orders & trading. Have spent quite a lot of time re-potting plants for it. Also wrappping boxes to deliver via Poslaju to the outstation folks. Bz Bz.

Went for My Fair Lady musical on Tuesday. I managed to get free tickets y`see. Invited a friend who works nearby to watch it with me. It was nice to meet up with Ezan, Yatie & hubby. The musical was such a HUGE disaster. Script was so limpid. Singing was so-so but forgettable. There was nothing to cajole` you to want to know more or stay on to watch. Out of 10, I give it a 2.....

I also have quite a few DVDs to catch up on, not to mention Desperate Housewives Season 3 in my PC. Wheeeee.....and also Heroes, episodes 18-20.

My part time job.........

2007-05-15T08:35:00.001+08:00

After 2 weeks of being in the local carnivorous plant forum, I`ve sold off about rm300 of my plants. The garden is almost empty now except for adult plants. Mmmmm...time to purchase more varieties !

Things I`ve learnt :

Poslaju is reliable. It`s promise of next working day delivery has been tried & tested by me. I`m quite impressed.

There are quite a few other carnivorous plant ( CP) enthusiasts out there. And they are friendly, helpful & generous. Some offer free plants. Some sell or trade. But all are nice folks.

Women like CPs as well, which is a surprise for me. In all my 5 years of CP cultivating, I`ve only met guys.

Mmmmmmmmmmm......

The SMART tunnel

2007-05-15T08:20:00.000+08:00

I`m not sure if it lives up to its namesake. But I did reach Old Klang Road in a record time of 11 minutes yesterday from office. It was normally take 30 mins at least. It seems to work for me when I go back but not when I`m going to the office as the exit point is blocked for us veering off to our office. The U-turn is just too far off & very very jam.

This morning outside RHB Bank where the exit point for SMART heading towards KL is, it was very x 100 jam. Crazy situation but luckily we were not affected.

Let`s see how it progresses........

A cutie pie carnivorous plant I got....

2007-05-14T08:15:00.000+08:00

This was a nice surprise. I just joined a local carnivorous plant website last week & there have been quite a few exchanges & purchases made via member-to-member.

Among the cutest plant I exchanged was this drosera Binata, which is a rare ( to me anyways! ) form of sundew. It catches prey via their sticky fluids. I have other varieties but not this one.

It wasn`t a good Sunday

2007-05-14T08:00:00.000+08:00

What started out as a lovely hiking trip ended disastrously.

We went river trekking at sg chlling in Kuala Kubu Baru area. Reached there at about 10 a.m. Parked the car & we started on the trekking. It was lovely & we saw some changes.

For one thing, the local Fisheries dept has taken over the rivers there & had populated the place with fish. Lotsa of it !!! I`m talking about a few thousand.

Trekking along, we found a lot of pitcher plants & other jungle plants which were interesting. A lil` tired out & cos it was raining, we ran out of the jungle at about 2 p.m.

To our shock, someone had smashed my fren`s passenger side car window & stolen a few things. A wallet, bag & new handphone went missing. It was lucky that my own bag which was properly hidden was intact as it had my one & ONLY car keys. If that was stolen, I would have to call Japan to get a replacement.

We trotted off to the local police station. 3 hours went by before it was settled. I guess folks in small towns move slowly.

We figured that the cause of the crime was an exposed bag left in the bottom front seat. Sigh. Should be more careful.

Here are some pics I took. It`s of the new cable bridge & also the waterfall & a cute slim pitcher.

Last week......wow....

2007-05-07T08:23:00.000+08:00

One would think that withb so many holidays last week, I would have exercised, got fitter etc. But naw, was too darn lazy.

I spent may 1st & 2nd at home , too lazy to go out except to the nearby hypermarket to get groceries. I tended to my carnivorous plants, trimmed off my front tree ( which was a huge effort, seeing that I had to climb up to the roof, shimmey up the tree, dangle from it & cut off the branches. The thickest branch was the size of my thigh ), did osme more gardening, watched a lot of DVDs, called up Digi friends, sent out a lot of MMS and became very active in a local carnivorous plant website.

It was time well spent. Cheap too. Saved petrol, saved the car from wear & tear & sun exposure.

I bought this full car cover for Ralfie. It works quite well to protect Ralfie from the sun & rain but the quality isn`t great. It tears too easily. For rm35, I would have expected better quality. It`ll have to do for now I guess.

A Healthy Hearty Breakfast

2007-05-07T08:11:00.000+08:00

This is what I always have on Sunday mornings at about 10 a.m. after I do the laundry, bathe Chico, water my plants, iron my clothes & clean up my fish aquariums. About an hour before that, I would have downed a glass of freshly juiced fruit vege goodness.

I think fresh vegetables & fruits are very important to our diet. Usually I soak the vegetables for about an hour before to hopefully rid it of pesticides. It`s wishful thinking I know coz of the amount of pesticides used but well, I at least tried. I can`t find organic vege packs in the local hypermarkets in my area. Would prefer that.

Classic Corolla

2007-04-30T08:36:00.000+08:00

This is being sold for about USD13,000 in USA. Very classic toyota. It`s a pity it most probably won`t even reach our shores. And if it does, it`ll probably cost at least rm100k. Looks like a vios except it`s a hatchback.

Jangan Pandang Belakang

2007-04-30T08:16:00.000+08:00

The movie was so scary, in a bad way. Using cheap shock techniques from amateurs i.e. loud music with sudden scary faces, it`s really sickening. I wanted to leave way before the 1hr39mins was over but was persuaded by my friend to stay. Definitely NOT for pregnant women or kids bcoz of the silly scares. Yuks. My rating for it would be 2 out of 10.

Sunset

2007-04-27T13:45:00.000+08:00

We are experiencing some heavy downpours during the evenings, then suddenly after that, it`ll be sunny. As a result, we get sunsets like this. Pretty awesome.

RALFIE at Bkt Jalil LRT station

2007-04-27T13:39:00.000+08:00

Picked up a friend bkt jalil lrt station on wednesday to watch Jgn Pandang Belakang at IOI Mall. We were supposed to meet up at 5:30p.m. but even at 6 p.m., there was no sign of him. He had told me at 5 p.m. that was still stuck at Sg Besi as it was jam. Finally saw him at 6:10 p.m. Folks taking public transport tend to be either late or early so it`s no biggie as long as they call or sms.

Ralfie waited at the roadside but I was a little wary of the taxis weaving in & out as I was parked right in front of the un-official taxi stand. Unbeknowst that is.

Tesco ice cream

2007-04-27T13:34:00.000+08:00

Part of my shopping at Tesco was this delicious ice cream. UK Made ( motherland !), it`s a bit pricey. Unfortunately, even tho the ice cream tasted great, the wafter cones were a bit soft for some the ice creams.

Cool handphone wallpaper

2007-04-27T13:31:00.000+08:00

A friend sent this over to me last nite, knowing how much I like carnivorous plants. This is an artistic venus flytrap photo. I`m currently using it for my phone.

My brand new 2nd hand handphone

2007-04-27T08:42:00.000+08:00

Courtesy of my aunt. She gave me 2, but wasn`t sure if they were working. This one turned out ok for basic functions ONLY i.e. receiving calls & making pre-selected calls as the keypads has gone bonkers.

Tea time snack

2007-04-27T08:40:00.000+08:00

They have the soft cookie version & crunchy. Both are delicious.

My new dvd player.........

2007-04-27T08:36:00.000+08:00

After having to use the home pc to play dvds for about 3 months, I thought it`ll be good to re-buy a dvd player. I looked for a branded player with the cheapest price tag.....Phillips rm169 at Giant. After buying it & then walking around in Carrefour, I actually found another model of Phillips with a nice display panel ( mine doesn`t have any ) for an extra rm10. Hmmmm....it pays not to rush into buying things.

Tidied up the garden...a bit

2007-04-27T08:29:00.000+08:00

Since we are having so many days off & I`ve got so much time, I decided to cut down on the jln-2 & sleeping ( around ? heheh ), and tidy up the garden. My aim is of course to create a structured garden with the theme being Carnivorous plants but well, for now, it`s just to make it neater.

Glorious Sunrise or Sunset

2007-04-16T08:21:00.000+08:00

Mmmmm........it`s actually in the evening. Lovely scenes like this brings a smile to my face. Driving with one hand & trying snap this photo is quite another ( dangerous ! ) feat altogether....

Mum used to say that with evening skies like this, the fishermen would catch a lot of prawns. Yea rite.....

Time`s Up !

2007-04-16T08:18:00.000+08:00

Incredibly, this was the time I reached home last week during a normal week day from the office. Traffic was so good that day.

Wished it could be like that EVERY freaking day....

Damansara Specialist Centre

2007-04-16T08:13:00.000+08:00

We made our now weekly sojourn to the hospital to see my aunt. We were there visiting alone when we reached at 4:30p.m. so after an hour of staring at her, I got a lil` bored & left my parents in the room while I wandered around.

Gee, I didn`t know hospitals were `pantang` about the numeric `4` ....233B instead of 234.

And I didn`t know the fertility lab was just next door to my aunt`s room. Mmmm, it`ll be interesting to see how they store the semen, screen for deformed sperm cells etc.

Dream pitcher plants container

2007-04-16T07:56:00.000+08:00

This is a photo from my Savage Garden book.....it`s actually an antique bathtub which is used to plant carnivorous plants. I`m trying to find one in M`sia, the closest is a wash basin. Mmmm...which doesn`t look too good when displayed but I`ll keep looking. The other choice I have is a wooden tub which retails for rm50 but doesn`t quite have the `look` I want. The searh continues.........

Sometimes I run Sometimes I hide

2007-04-10T08:09:00.000+08:00

What happened to Britney Spears ? I was hooked when the song Sometimes appeared many years ago & was pretty much in love with most her songs & music videos. Then she grew up, got married ( a few times ), went crazy, slutty, druggy, bald etc

I do understand that life for the stars are different. Small problems are magnified. A simple issue like wrong-brand mineral water given can lead to sulks, tantrums, refusal to perform etc etc. Aiyo. I remember that Mariah refused to come out the plane in S`pore until they promised her that she could swim with the pink dolphins in Sentosa Island ( or perhaps it was the National Zoo )

But anyways, my fav songs from this lass would include Stronger, Sometimes, Crazy, Oops I did it again, I`m not a girl Not yet a woman, Born to make you happy, Don`t let me be the last to know.

Hopefully she won`t end up like Whitney. Marriage & love problems are perhaps the biggest downers in life.

A wedding...at Jln Syed Putra

2007-04-09T08:14:00.000+08:00

It was held at the Thean Tou temple off Jln Syed Putra on a lovely not so hot Saturday afternoon. The wedding was surpisingly short & sweet as I thought that the blessing ceremonies would take the normal 1 to 2 hours, but it didn`t. At about 12:45p.m. lunch was already served. Lovely spiced up food......courtesy of Little India caterers. Congrats Sandhya.....

A funeral.....

2007-04-09T08:13:00.000+08:00

A good friend`s Dad passed on last Friday....it was on Good Friday itself. We visited Cindy`s home on Friday nite. It was warm & dry when we arrived. After expressing our condolences, we settled down to chat with some other friends who had gathered. In no time, it rained crazy. In the midst of the rain & strong winds, we chatted & chatted....I left at 10:30p.m. as I had another appointment that nite, after all it was Friday nite. Ahem....these were the sweet boxes which we got there....

To Mr Matthew Tan....God bless your soul & may you rest in peace.

Garden spring flowers

2007-04-09T08:11:00.000+08:00

It bloomed on friday morning & continued to have new flowers during the whole weekend. One of my Mum`s auntie plants but quite a nice colour.

Tesco chocs

2007-04-09T08:08:00.000+08:00

Here are some nice ones.....it costs only rm5.29 i think, am confusing it with another ice cream chocs i saw. Finished it during the weekend.

Wild chicks....

2007-04-09T08:01:00.000+08:00

We have one in our backyard.......this wild female ayam serama which suddenly apperaed from nowhere & called our backlane its home. It runs when we come near but joins the cats for food when we feed them.

My Mum found one egg on Sat, then another on Sun. I told them not to eat it coz the food this chicken consumes might be a whole load of rubbish from the drains = poison.

The week just whizzed by

2007-04-06T08:28:00.000+08:00

I can`t believe it`s already Friday. With 3 meetings out of the office this week, time just flew.

I also had a good 1st date on Wednesday ( sempat !).....it was a partial blind date. Y`know sometimes when you go for 1st dates & you are not sure what the person looks like, you tend to look around to see who it might be, hoping the date will be good looking or someone you`ll like. But most often, it won`t be true. Last Wednesday, I got lucky...Heheh. My date was as gorgeous & as sweet a person as I could hope for. And nice & humble.....

There`s a wedding to attend tomorrow, near Mid-Valley area. Looking forward to it.

I also plan to go on my 2nd date with that Wednesday date....mebbe on super date nite i.e. Saturday night.

A friend is also suppose to swing by to collect a carnivorous plant from me. He`s the recent convert, used to be orchid kaki until he met me.

I`m not sure if we`ll visit my sick aunt at D`sara Specialist Centre again this weekend coz my Dad might not be free.

The car is doing very well petrol-wise this week. It`s already done 331 km on $70 and still has some petrol left for at least 30km...good, all that morning traffic-free driving at 6:45a.m. to work has paid off.

Adios, have a good weekend folks.

Hate these responses

2007-04-02T08:55:00.000+08:00

Present pet peeve statement :

Tahu tak apa ( which is lijke so rude )

****************************************

And when I was working in Kulai, my blurr staff used to say this on a daily basis with a blank look :
Poo thung ( `dunno` in Mandarin )

I wouldn`t mind if it`s `poo thung` i`ll find out for you` tho
*****************************************

My current fav sitcom

2007-04-02T08:10:00.000+08:00

I was hooked from the 1st episode onwards. Pammy playing a quasi intelligent blonde is priceless. It does however contain a good dose of adult jokes so it`s now been alotted the 11:45p.m. slot on Tuesday nites @ TV8.

The sitcom is about Pammy working in a bookstore when she doesn`t really know much about books. Imagine the humor when people ask her for book recommendations. Her boss is this dorky guy who tries to resist her charm but we know better. Most of the women in the show hate her except for her co-worker who she is sweet to.

I remember her vaguely from Home Improvement when she was playing this low key set assistant. Then suddenly, she hit it big.

Way to go.........

The 1st of April

2007-04-02T08:04:00.000+08:00

I woke up early on April Fool`s day & wanted to play a joke on some friends. Some sms` which were sent out :

****************************

Where r u ? We are already waiting for u at the dimsum shop for bfast. Don`t tell me you forgot or are late again ?

******************************

We are otw to your house. Hope you are ready for bfast & us

******************************

W%$#@ gave birth yesterday. Twin boys ! I couldn`t believe it myself until I went to see last evening.

*******************************

Hey, where r u ? I`m oredi at IOI Mall waiting for you for our midnite movie.

********************************

This were mostly targetted at people who forget appointments anyway except for the baby joke.

One which got me was :

Have you bought the latest Cleo magazine ? It`s got the 50 most eligible bachelors. My bf is there.

When I responded, she said it was contestant no 51.......mmmmmm.

The other was from one of my victims regarding a screwed up report....that was a low blow Licia......

Damansara Specialist Centre

2007-04-02T07:51:00.000+08:00

We paid my 2nd Aunt our 3rd visit at the hospital on Sunday nite. She had a major stroke about 20 days ago & up to now cannot speak or move. It was painful to see her in discomfort & yet not being able to tell us what it was. The left part of ther body is paralysed. I guess it`s a good thing that her late husband left her a fortune when he passed on 2 years ago. Otherwise, things may been worse.

We continue to pray for her recovery, quick or otherwise.

It`s weird that hospitals can bring people together. I bumped into cousins I`ve not met in donkey years & we ended up chatting for 3 hours. Chatting quietly of course.

Hate getting sick

2007-03-29T08:26:00.000+08:00

I monitor my health & it`s ups & downs. It`s nothing to be proud of as I seem to get flu or fever quite often. My determination to NOT skip work is somewhat thwarted by the fact that it takes quite an effort to drive to work every morning so with a fever, no matter how slight, it`s almost mission impossible....

Was on mc for half day on Monday & the full Tuesday....yuks.

Pan`s Labyrinth

2007-03-29T08:01:00.000+08:00

After reading some good reviews on this show, I decided that this Spanish surprise warranted a viewing. So I called up one of my good movie buddies Yazid & we watched it at Summit last nite. The cineplex was amazingly cold. Brrrr.....the movie ? Not too bad actually. A little like Harry Porter I`m told ( coz I never watched any HP shows ) but more macarbe....I liked the storyline & special effects. Some parts were quite gruesome & it meritted the 18PL rating as kids would have screamed at the shooting/ killing scenes.

My rating out of 10 would be 7.5

I was surprised that the cineplex was almost full as the show was in Spanish & not heavily promoted.

Dvds.....

2007-03-26T07:51:00.000+08:00

While taking my Sabahfriend out for dinner last week, we happened to swing by a pirated dvd shop in SS2. It had lotsa unusual & rare ( to me lah anyways ) dvds & movies, stuff you can`t get elsewhere i.e. opera, live musicals, documentaries. It wasn`t payday yet so I could only afford to get 2 dvds but Saturday last, I went back to get what I missed.

The Secret Life of plants has an episode whic focuses on c arnivorous plants. That`s why I got it. The other Dvd which I went for later is Live Aid 1985. I was just a kid then but still remember watching Madonna, Tina Turner etc performing live. Never thought I`d get to see it again.

A lunch treat

2007-03-26T07:43:00.000+08:00

An old friend called up a day before my birthday to see if I was free for dinner. I wasn`t. So he swung around last Friday to take me out. He`s a hardworking lad, we go way back when we were still clerks in the bank & going for banking courses together.

Anyways, we went to have lunch at this cozy place tucked in a corner of Kg Pandan. Reasonable set lunch ( hey, money is hard earned ) & it was my choice for a treat as to me, it was the company & effort made by the friend rather than how much the meal costs.

We chatted about his recent change of status from single to married, how he`s trying to get a kid, cars, insurance ( a bit !), life in general. It was good. The next time I see him it`ll be about diapers, baby food, milk powder I guess. Mmmm.....

A BIG rat...........

2007-03-23T15:25:00.000+08:00

Putting down rat traps did not help to catch that rodent. Having a dog which lives inside the house apparently did not deter it as well. Finally after seeing iot round around our kitchen for the past 3 weeks, I finally managed to clobber it to death last nite. It was more out of geram than anything else.

I read somewhere that the mere sight of a cat would actually freeze the blood of the rat & they would literally go limp. Last nite, this big rat also froze when it saw me with the long stick. I whacked it, and then some more. Yippeeee...no more funny smells from the kitchen.

This is the 2nd big rat i`ve whacked.....

The movie...........300

2007-03-21T12:41:00.000+08:00

Pretty awesome movie that 300..........it was a simple story on bravery. The special effects were classy & the acting was commendable. What more could one ask for in paying rm9 ?

It is however on the other end of the scale compared to our local production Mukhsin. That movie was slow paced, dreamy, funny.....a very typical Yasmin Ahmad movie. If she ever makes

movies again for local release, it`s gotta be of a different genre` as I`m kinda too used to her usual fare already.

REM

2007-03-20T12:15:00.001+08:00

According to the sleep scientists, to achieve good restful sleep, we have to reach the REM or `rapid eye movement` stage. At this point, the body & mind refreshes & recharges itself...

Last nite, I know I experienced it. Sleeping in a superbly spacious hotel bed helped a lot. The fact that it was raining outside & I could hear the pitter patter of rain drops also helped. The cool and super-dark room was perfect for sleep. I only slept for 5 hours or so but when I got up at 6 a.m., I was very well rested.

Lovely.

Gorgeous.

More plse.......

Staying with my Sabah pal for 3 days means my home pets might be neglected.

Chico my doggie will be wondering where I am & why I`m not back at nite. My Mum swears that he sits by the front door of the house the whole nite until morning waiting & listening for my car. He usually falls asleep from fatigue. His 10 year old body no longer possesses the fitness it had when it was younger. But the determination & love for its owner still remains. I admire this selfless trait. That`s the difference between a dog & a meow meow.

My fishes will be fed. They are fat enough to last a day or 2 without food anyways. My plants however could be in trouble as water is not something my parents will remember to pour into the pots.

That`s why I have to swing by the house tonite. To say Hi tio Chico, grab some office clothes & some other toiletries.

Zoom zoom zoom.....

Boulevard Hotel....

2007-03-20T08:10:00.000+08:00

I`m once again staying at the boutique hotel Boulevard at Mid-Valley. A good friend from Sabah is in town for training & I am bunking with him for 3 days. It`s a very nice room & so much closer to the office so why not ? Anyways, i only get to meet him once a year so this is a good chance to do some catching up.....

We went for dinner at SS2 glutton square last nite. It was also pasar malam nite so we ate & ate quite a bit. There`s this pretty well-equipped pirated vcd/dvd shop there. You can find rare concert dvds ( Live Aid 1985) & musicals etc . I didn`t have much spare cash so I only bought David Attenborough`s Weird Plants documentary. It has an episode on Carnivorous plants. Wheeee....Can`t wait to watch it when I get home on Thursday

ribbons

2007-03-19T13:08:00.000+08:00

A lovely gift from a close friend.....it was a nice surprise....all nicely wrapped up in ribbons & coloured see-thru paper....it was an unusual carnivorous plant from Australia. I haven`t taken any photos of it yet as its recuperating in a cool part of the garden.

Thx for the making the effort my fren, hopefully i`ll know what to get you come Sept 15...heheh.

Lovely pitcher

2007-03-19T12:58:00.000+08:00

One of my best friends,Zan,has been converted into a pitcher / carnivorous plant fan like me. The `conversion` took about a month. Heheh.

Initially I was influenced by his slipper orchids so I spent about rm280 buying the dam plants & after 6 months of trying, none has flowered, 3 plants have withered & the rest are just surviving.

His new carnivorous plants however have flourished. Due to his better environment ( more sun, cooler at nite temperatures, more detailed care ), some of his plants actually grow bigger than mine. Happiness is sharing a hobby...

He sent me over this photo...telling me that his pitcher is more than 6 inches long already. Good for him.

A Christmas present 3 months later

2007-03-19T07:32:00.000+08:00

I met up with my childhood kindergarden friend last Sat for brunch. Another 2 primary schoolmates joined us.

After the 3 hour session which included babytalk, owl attack, cars, being single, gossip about other schoolmates, re-unions, life in Beijing...........she passed me my Christmas present. I was supposed to get it from her months ago but never found time. She actually ordered the sunblock I wanted from USA....gosh, it was so nice of her. I had used it once in her place & mentioned that it was nice but was a lil` disappointed that we could not get it locally....

I`ve known her for more than 30 years & the bond is still strong as we are both single, independent adults with nothing more than friendship between us. She`s not interested in having kids & loves her single life. She teaches special kids how to read & also takes summer camps in USA. One of the coolest people I know. We`ve supported each other throughout the years.

Chico says Hi.........

2007-03-12T09:22:00.000+08:00

Taking a pic of this little dog of mine is never an easy task. He moves like lightning, even at the age of 10 years.