Models and Mortals...

November is gone, December is here!

2011-12-01T14:37:00.000+08:00

Gosh, I must have been so busy in November that there is not a single post done :(

My hands have been itching to write in this blog but as usual, many other things got in the way.

Just a simple note for now, life is good and hoping for a better tomorrow.

Happy Retirement, Mum!

2011-10-15T19:56:00.002+08:00

I'm back home in KK for 2 reasons. One, to renovate (or should I say fix) our house in Petagas and two, to celebrate my mum's retirement with other family members & mum's colleagues and students.

I know that we have been in the school hostel for a long time but when the school announced that mum has been with the school for the past 26 years, I've just realized how LONG it has been. This place has brought so many sweet and bitter memories to our family. Personally, I've grown up here. I remember when I was in my primary school, I would be woken up by some punjabi kids who were worshipping in the Gurdwara opposite the hostel. Then, when I joined the high school, I would walk to and from school with my schoolmates who were boarding in the hostel. During exam times, my mum would ask me to go to the hostel hall to join the study time after dinner. At times, I didn't feel like going but I would feel guilty too as all my other friends would be studying while I just feel like sleeping at home. I'm glad that my mum encouraged me to study there. The study hall was quiet and not distracting hehehe... ***for everyone's benefit, the study hall for girls is at different location than the boys so, no distraction!

Anyway, am proud of my mum that she has spent her 26 years with this school. I cannot imagine of any other place for her and for us, siblings, to grow up in. It has been such a wonderful 26-year and we hope that the school and hostel would continue to excel for many-many more years to come. This place will always be remembered and will always be special in all of our hearts :). Once again, mum, we are proud of you!

Blogging is long overdue

2011-09-02T13:32:00.001+08:00

Talking about something that is long overdue... Blogging... There are some moments worth sharing in this blog but time and mood just cannot sync together. Blame it to my procrastination!

Anyway, one thing worth mentioning is the success of my sister's wedding in Sabah! I think that it was one of the most beautiful weddings ever! Not only the location is perfect, but the setting is also picture perfect. Am so glad that the cake turned out fine too :D

Here are some pics to show how beautiful the wedding was:

Transparent canopy hehehe...

Family pic

Janang presentation from groom side to bride side

Thematic door gift to guests

A memorable guestbook

My creation!

Cake details

All the sleepless nights were worthwhile! We enjoyed the night and we hope all the guests had fun too!

Now, am wondering what is the next cake creation ;p I am thinking of sharpening my royal icing skills with string works etc, but that requires a lot of time. Hmmmm....

Another thing that I've been doing, or shall I say, my personal project is to renovate the house in KK - so far, Phase 1 went well :) Here are some pics of the repainted and tiling work done on the master bedroom:

From outside of the house - paint work in progress

Front view after exterior paint work

Side view - need to change the frame colour (Phase 2)

In & Out paint colours

Living Room: Marble polishing and treatment in progress

Living Room - After cleanup (please ignore the broom and mop hehehe)

Another view of the living room - love the cool blue effect

Master bedroom: Carpet is removed & replaced with tiles

Entrance to master bedroom: Love the colour combimation

Master bedroom (where at the moment, I have the freezer in hehehe): love the tiles!

Dining area: Nice :) There maybe Phase 2 work to be done here...

Next major work is the ceiling (Phase 2)

Now, am planning for Phase 2 of house renovation: Ceiling, Car porch tiling & maybe extending the dining area to have balcony? We'll see how it goes la!

Alright model and mortal readers, until next update (hopefully soon), peace!

My toughest challenge so far - "You Lost Me" by Christina Aguilera

2011-04-03T03:23:00.000+08:00

This is by far, the most challenging song for me. The technical difficulty of this song is high and to perform it live is really difficult. I have to remind myself on where should I be able to 'steal' some air throughout the whole song & I never really liked songs with a lot of ad libs / runs. Although it is challenging, I do enjoy learning it - I guess I'm one of those people who love challenges hehehe...

Anyway. here's the lyrics for those of you who would want to give it a go!

You Lost Me by Christina Aguilera
Songwriters: Christina Aguilera, Sia Kate Furler, Samuel Ronald Dixon

I am done, smoking gun
We've lost it all, the love is gone
She has won. Now it's no fun
We've lost it all, the love is gone

And we had magic
And this is tragic
You couldn't keep your hands to yourself

Chorus:
I feel like our world's been infected
And somehow you left me neglected
We found our life's been changed
Babe, you lost me

And we tried, oh how we cried
We lost ourselves, the love has died
And oh, we tried, you can't deny
We're left as shells, we lost the fight

And we had magic
And this is tragic
You couldn't keep your hands to yourself

Chorus:
I feel like our world's been infected
And somehow you left me neglected
We found our life's been changed
Babe, you lost me

Now I know you're sorry and we were sweet
But you chose lust when you deceived me
You'll regret it but it's too late
How can I ever trust you again?

Chorus:
I feel like our world's been infected
And somehow you left me neglected
We found our life's been changed
Babe, you lost me

--- End of Song ---

Now, to all my model/mortal readers, tell me how did it go with your try & wish me luck :-)

Especially for my cuzzy & A...

2011-03-29T03:33:00.000+08:00

Don't be stupid, dude! You can still change your fate to be with the one you love bah!

England Dan & John Ford Coley
Sad To Belong

I met you on a springtime day,
You were minding your life and I was minding mine too.
Lady, when you looked my way,
I had a strange sensation and Darling, that's when I knew...

That it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.
Yes, it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.

Oh, I wake up in the night,
And I reach beside me hoping you would be there.
But instead I find someone,
Who believed in me when I said I'd always care...

Oh, it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.
Yes, it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.

So I'll live my life in a dream world,
For the rest of my days.
Just you and me walking hand in hand,
In a wishful memory...
Oh, I guess it's all that it will ever be...

I wish I had a time machine, I could,
Make myself go back until the day I was born.
Then I would live my life again,
And rearrange it so that I'd be yours from now on.

Oh, it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.
Yes, it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.

Oh, it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.
Yes, it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.

Oh, it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.
Yes, it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.

Oh, it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.
Yes, it's sad to belong to someone else,
When the right one comes along.

One down, one more to go!

2011-03-27T04:51:00.000+08:00

Yes, one wedding reception is down and another one to go! Yes, that also means that one wedding cake down and another one to go. I'm excited actually! Very very excited to get the other one done too! Love the process of designing a cake and of course, to do the deco-prep and then finally, putting all the decorations together to my personal masterpiece!

The tiffany blue cake went through a long journey - from KL to KK to Sibu to Saratok. So, anyone who is into cake would understand what would that do to all the pre-prepared sugarwork and to some certain extend the shape of the cake. Anyway, at the end, all went well!!!

Here's the short story of the cake (be shocked to see some of the horror pictures):

The card designs inspired the cake design :-)

The top tier (final destination)

The royal icing frame got broken too!

Middle tier - with minimum damage (thanks to Arry who carried it well from KL to KK)

Bottom tier was the worst of the lot. Not only it weighs 13kg (luckily Boy was there to carry this from KK to Saratok, it was his baby throughout our journey)

Repair tools were ready

This was our repair station in the hotel room, Saratok.

After working the whole night, the cake is assembled. Thanks to Boy and Sis Linda who helped a lot! Love you both!

Am so proud of the finished product!

After cutting ceremony and being eaten!

At the end, like the great Aamir Khan said - All Iz Well!

Models & Mortals, stay tuned to my next cake ya! Thank God, the cakes are going to be baked my sis Linda and I will just do the decoration portion - which of course, is my favourite part in the whole thing!

Weddings and me!

2011-02-28T09:54:00.000+08:00

I just love weddings! It is simply because:
- weddings lift everybody's mood, from the bride & groom to all their family members and friends..
- weddings bring family members closer together.
- weddings take the couples' relationships to another level, a mark that they have overcome the obstacles of being accepted to be together by the families and society. Some may have to endure multiples tries to convince and 'fight' for their love while some may have walked an easier path, whatever it is, to go from boyfriend/girlfriend status to husband/wife, the couples may have shed some tears along the way and the relationships may have faced trials so wedding is the mark of an accomplishment for them.

I am happy (or rather relieved) that my sis has received the blessing to get married from my parents. It was not an easy ordeal but parental love conquers all (and of course, supportive siblings *wink*).

I love the planning of a wedding and what more I can challenge my cake decorating techniques ;p It can be very stressful since I am not doing it full-time and have to squeeze the cake decorating tasks after working hours. Despite the stress, I am surprised that I am still so excited about it! Here's what I've done so far (have to put on the bed because the room is most of the time with A/C on), and from this week onwards, I will be in turbo mode - have to leave office on the dot else my cake timeline will be affected!

Weddings just make me happy :-) Maybe I should venture to wedding planning in the future, afterall, it is sort of like managing a project too, plus I can sharpen my cake decorating skills along the way, kan? Hahaha! Hopefully, one day... *dreaming for a while*

Ok, gotta resume office work for now. Peace models and mortals!

Happy Valentine's Day to all, peace and no war :)

2011-02-13T17:33:00.002+08:00

I am sure that most Malaysians have viewed or read the YouTube video titled, "Valentine's Day - Haram Dalam Islam". My first reaction as a true 1-Malaysian was annoyed and I was wondering how come people like her still exist. But then, because of its disturbing nature, I started to think further about this topic. There are always those people who think on the extreme sides - be it on the extreme good or extreme evil. We also have those who are fanatics. Well, at the end of the day, as long as, our thoughts are well and our intentions are pure, why do we need to worry? God is Most Merciful and He is Great. Love to others is always encouraged in all religions, there is no religion which promotes hatred so why do people over-analyze Valentine's Day like this lady, Ustazah Siti Nor Bahyah? At the end of the day, everyday people are doing 'maksiat', don't blame it on a particular day like Valentine's Day. At the end of the day, it has nothing to do with people from a specific religion to do bad, come on, if we look at the criminals in any prison, they are of various races and religions - so why blame religion when a person does bad thing? Blame the person, it is his/her choice to do what he/she did in the first place!

Whatever the origin of Valentine's Day, it does matter for it is a celebration of love. So, Happy Valentine's Day to all my family and friends! Let's celebrate the day of Love by thanking God of the loving family and friends who are in our lives. Let's appreciate others for caring and loving us all this while. Let's respect each other, regardless of their nationality, race or faith. Life is too short to have hate in our hearts. Forgive and forget, life moves on :)

Happy Valentine's Day to all my model and mortal readers out there, may your 14th February be filled with love, joy and happiness.

Sometimes I wish that I could read minds...

2011-02-12T15:01:00.001+08:00

I've been wanting to post something that I just realized recently - it is a common behaviour for people to just keep what they really think to themselves but at the same time, because they are bothered by it, they affect the people around them. I, too, do this at times, but I am trying to learn to express myself more when it comes to things that bother me. If it doesn't bother me then I can't be bothered to waste my time and energy to even entertain the issue.

As the eldest in the family and as a manager managing multiple projects involving multiple vendors / consultants / biz users / IT team members, I sometimes wish that I could read the minds of people around me. This is because at times, I can feel that there's something bothering the person but he/she just does not want to tell. There are times when I actually ask whether there is anything wrong or not, and the most common answers are like "everything is fine" or "later lah I tell you". Opportunities given to express themselves but not taken, what the hell?!!!

I wish that I could have the telepathy power that Jean Grey has **having the looks and body wouldn't hurt either *wink*wink**

But yeah, if only we could read each others' minds or people could simply start to just tell what they exactly feel, then open the situation for discussion, I think that a lot of issues could have been resolved and the World would be a much better place.

Telling someone on what is bothering you may not be as easy but with the right tone and words, we can always tell someone that we are hurt or offended by them. I hate it when someone bottles up everything and later blow up and bring things that I can't even remember doing/saying. Why don't they just say it there and then when things are still fresh? Compose an email or a letter if can't voice out and if ask, tell la... Rather than finding out from someone else or beating round the bush, I would rather hear it from the source itself in a straight forward manner. I just can't understand how can someone bottle up something that is bothering her/him for so long - so stressful la like that... Just inhale and exhale, compose yourself and tell what's bothering you - less heartache and less stress. Believe me, you will feel much better after telling - how the other person takes it, is another thing, as long as it is out of your chest, you will feel better as the issue is out in the open...

At the end of the day, a person doesn't have to be a bitch or an ass when he/she tells the truth, right? Be tactful and the other person will be able to take the comments / criticisms better. Then, solve the issues like adults and close story la... Forgive and forget... Life is too short to be spent with stress and heartaches.

Peace to all my model and mortal readers out there!

Goodbye 2010, Welcome 2011

2011-01-10T05:28:00.002+08:00

It's already the 10th day of year 2011. Been wanting to blog but as usual, work got in my way after I came back from the Christmas-New Year holiday.

I'm very thankful for all the wonderful blessings and beautiful memories that 2010 has given me. Lessons learnt from the not-so-good experiences will be my guidance for 2011. For those who left us in 2010, may their souls rest in peace and may we always remember the best of them when we were together.

Christmas 2010 was great, spent the day with my extended family members. Thanks to all of you (you know who you are) for making Christmas not so lonely for me, love all of you.

I closed my 2010 book with a nice BBQ party in sis' place in Labuan :) Alamak, how come we didn't take any pics ya? Anyway, so happy to have made it there on 31st Dec itself. I wish that Dad was there and I noticed Mum was missing Dad so much too. Whatever it is, we love you, Dad and we pray that you are blessed always.

What is in store for me in 2011? I hope that 2011 will be as wonderful as 2010 or even better ;p I hope that our countrymen will start to realize that there is no point to listen to the politicians who are trying to divide the nation by playing the race/religion game. Instead, let's just learn to live in harmony with each other, just like our grandparents did. Personally, I have lots of projects in hand and I hope that all of them will be successful :)

On my cake decorating side, I hope that I could do 1 new project per month else, my skill will be rusty - really don't want all the skills learnt to go down the drain just like that, right? Big or small project, it doesn't matter. I just have to have the discipline to get it done **fingers crossed** God willing, I should be able to fit the project in my busy schedule...

I hope to close 2011 with all my family members present in my grandma's place in Linsuk - this is a mission that I've been trying to achieve and having such a big family, it is not an easy task.

To all my blog readers, I wish that all of you will have a wonderful year ahead. Just remember that we are the one who will be writing our 2011 journey, no one else. I've always liked this quote from Edith Lovejoy Pierce:
"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

Finally, to all my models & mortals friends, as Oprah has said it, "Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right."

Disappointed

2010-12-22T13:58:00.000+08:00

Here I am in my office, trying to settle my office work after the 2-week biz trip to India and at the same time organizing the big family gathering on 28th Jan. I am not complaining in doing the gathering - no, not at all, in fact I love doing it, and I hope that no one will take this wrongly but I am doing it because I don't spend time with my family often and for me, Christmas is supposed to be filled with all your loved ones. It's all about taking that special time to express our gratitude to have such a big family and a special time to ask for forgiveness before going for another 'year book' to 'write'. There are people in this World who are left with no one... I wish that I have the resources to make their Christmases better.

I cried when I found out my dad will not be there. My sis in KL will not be there, my sis in Labuan may not be there then the other sis now is saying she may not be able to help - does that mean that all of them are not going to be there? I am about to lose it! I can't believe what is happening to everybody here - is there something that I'm missing? I can see the rest are so excited to get together but my own family, who are the most important to me, are not going to be there? What the hell, man?!!! Here I am trying to make a complete family gathering and I end up without my own family during Christmas - in that case, this may be the last time that I will organize such event la. It's nothing to do with the money or time that I've spent in organizing this, it's just that my sincere purpose of doing this is that we may never know when else we can spend such time together, we never know when we will be called by God, so whenever I can, I just want the family to be complete. Grandma in the kampung said this to me and I feel that it is important, not only to her but also to all of us - we are not talking about everyday here - this is a once-a-year thing, and whatever shyness or disagreement amongst ourselves, we should be able to get passed it together because we are family.

You may think that you will not miss anyone or no one will miss you but believe this, at least one person will surely miss you especially during Christmas time - be it your grandparents, your mother, your wife, your father, your husband, your sister, your brother, your other extended family... Oh well, I think that Christmas has become less and less special for others, I cherish Christmas so much, maybe because of my own unique situation, which no one may not understand...

It may just be my personal opinion but life is short and too precious to be filled with hatred or negativity, and family is not chosen by us, in fact, God made that decision for us already. I'm not saying that family wont hurt us but we learnt from it and be more careful in the future, at least family ties will still be there, right? Oh well, I don't get it.

Whatever it is, the party will go on, I will still put my 101% in it to make it successful and to get as many family members to be there as I could - we never know that this may be the last Christmas that we could have all of us in one place kan?

To my beautiful model and mortal readers, I wish that you will have a great Christmas with all your loved ones. Like I've said, life is short so cherish all you could get out of it!

In Christmas mood but...

2010-12-11T05:03:00.000+08:00

Christmas Is A Time...
Christmas is a time when your with your family
to appreciate everything you have and your life;
parents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, kids, and wife

Christmas is a time when Santa comes for the kids
and brings them everything they ask for on their wish list
Christmas is a time where your kids get happy before they go to sleep
you cant wait to see the looks on their faces
when they open the presents they get to keep;

Christmas is a time where there's beautiful lights,
stockings, mistletoe's, snowflakes, and a Christmas tree
I wonder how this Christmas will be for me!

- copied the above poem from a site that I so happened to visit.

Hmmm, it is true, Christmas is the time where family can meet together, can spend the quality time and catch up. Most of all, we learn to forgive and forget each others' mistakes - a time to remember all the good and forget about all the bad that may have happened throughout the year.

I am organising one of the biggest family gathering ever and I really hope that it will be a big success - everyone seems to be excited about it. In a way, I was excited too until I found out that dad will not be there. I just cannot understand and if that's the reason, then I would have just cancelled the whole thing. My objective is to get all the complete siblings together as it is a rare occasion that this could happen. My wish is to let all of them be at the same place at the same time, what more would be a better time if it were to be during this Christmas season. Disappointed? I would be lying to myself and to God if I say that I am not. Angry?? Maybe in the beginning, because I was not informed before the fact but rather after. Now, the anger is no longer there, but more of guilt in a way - the what-ifs are in my mind. Like, what if I didn't plan for this big gathering? What if it were to be just a quite Christmas with just us?? **sigh** what have I done or what have I shouldn't have done???

Dad, whereever you are, I pray that you are always well. I pray that God will send His Angels to protect you always. Whatever plan that you have, I hope that we will know and whatever it is, we are always here for you and supporting you.

Till next time, my dear mortal and model readers out there, take care and peace!!!

My own domain, at last :)

2010-12-10T19:25:00.000+08:00

Finally, I actually have my own domain (sandralouis.me)!!!

Saw the availability and straightaway bought it - am lucky that it was not too expensive. I am still in Bangalore to evaluate a suite of products. Good and productive week. Then on Sunday, will be flying off to Hyderabad for another one week of work, work, tension, tension, tension... So looking forward to the Christmas holiday but am so disappointed that the most important person who should be there, won't be there! I am deeply saddened and disappointed...

Ok, will continue soon

Mega Blog Update

2010-11-30T02:02:00.001+08:00

I know, I know...

Although I made a promise to myself that I will update this blog at least once a week, I broke my own promise ;p Let's just say that life has been pretty hectic, with my Cafe World to 'run', work in the office and also new toy - iPad :) Oh ya, not forgetting the travelling that I've been doing. Nothing much has changed with life, anyway...

One very exciting experience that I had was in Aug when I presented the project status in front of 600 people in India. It was the most exhilarating experience that I've ever felt as it was my first ever presentation with such a big crowd. Will try to upload the vid as soon as I could convert it to a smaller format.

Last weekend, we had the strategic company meeting and I must say that it was also a personal realization to me. Although we were taught the concept of Passion and Core Values for an organization, I could not help myself from looking deep into myself on these aspects. I realize that I am very passionate about my cake decorating. It has always been my personal hobby but I never thought that I am deeply passionate about it. I love the art and of course, the satisfying feeling of producing something unique everytime. I had the golden opportunity to join in the hands-on classes by Eddie Spence MBE, the king of Royal Icing, and also Debbie Brown, a renowned sugar artist. We learnt a lot of sugar art techniques and I am so grateful to be able to join in the class at the last minute. Due to the limited seats, I was in the waiting list and to God's grace, I actually got a call from the institute 2 days before the class when someone dropped out. It was a crash course but we learnt the techniques from the best :) Here are some of the creations done during the class:

Talking about core values, I asked myself, what can't I tolerate that would go against my principles. Core values are the principles that you hold on to and will never let anyone take these values away from you - it is your essence and under no circumstances that you would ever go against these core values in any of your decision making in business deals or in life. I found the 2 important core values that I hold dearly - I will never 'sell' my faith to anyone or to anything. The other, is my family; my parents who brought me to this world, who sacrificed to give me my education and life. I know that no matter what I do, I will never be able to repay the sacrifices that they've made to give me my education and life. Thank you, mum & dad for loving me and for making me who I am today. You two are the queen and king of my heart.

Recently, I have the opportunity to visit Tokyo and I would say that it was an eye-opener. With 15 million people residing in one city (not country), Tokyo is so clean and with the hectic lifestyle, they are so well organized. In fact, at times, they are so well discipline that they look like robots hahahaha... Hubby enjoyed himself with the fresh sashimi, I, on the other hand, cannot bring myself to eat anything raw. So, I have to give it to him for being able to swallow those raw dishes!!!

On my vocal classes, I am happy to add the following songs into my list.

White Horse - Taylor Swift
You Make Me Feel Brand New - a duet with my trainer
Kailan - a tagalog song by Nina MYMP
I'll Always Love You - by Nina MYMP
If I'm Not In Love - Faith Hill
I Need You Now - another duet with my trainer
Don't Stop Believing - again, duet with my trainer (very challenging song to me though)
Impossible - Shontelle
Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough

The most recent assignment given to me is a ballad by Fine Frenzy (Fine Who? yeah, I asked the same question too... I didn't know about this other mySpace star). I am given her song titled, 'Almost Lover' to learn. Gosh, talking about slow song... hahahaha

Ok, will try to provide more updates as I have yet to rant about the happenings in the office - gosh, that's a long update for another day, hopefully. I need to be in the mood of writing about my frustrations, opps, should I say in a more positive tone, challenging moments in the office.

Good night to all of you, models and mortals out there. I am off to bed before it's too late as tomorrow is a very hectic day in the office then of course, class - scared of doing the first run with my trainer on 'Almost Lover' song - wish me all the best peeps!!!

Happy 35th Birthday to me

2010-07-11T20:21:00.001+08:00

10th July, 2010

First and foremost, I would like to thank all my family and friends who remembered this day and wished me - I am so overwhelmed by the number of wishes that I received from SMSes, emails and FB wall posts. I love each and every one of those wishes and pray that all of you are blessed in every ways possible :)

The day before my birthday, I baked Red Velvet Chocolate cake for Imran's bachelor party which was celebrated at Mumbai Se, KL. Here's the pics of the cake (before and after it was cut):

Anyway, I was surprised when I was presented with my own cake too in Mumbai Se :) Thanks to Hubby and his cousins who organised this - love you guys!!! That was my 1st cake :) Since we have a meeting in the morning, we left earlier. Hubby gave me the Guess Watch that I've been wanting to get for myself - nice :) Thanks Jaanu and love you...

On my birthday, we had to be in the office to do IT presentation to the directors. Then, just during lunch time, mummy came with a cake to the boardroom :) I cut my 2nd cake :) Love all of you!!! Here are the pics:

After the meeting was over, I had lunch with hubby @ Ole-Ole Bali, Sunway Pyramid.

All in all, as usual, my birthday is well celebrated with family and friends - God Bless all of you...

I hope that I will be able to blog a lot more after this as I miss the time I spend on blogging so much. Will try to even if I'm busy - work has not been kind to my shoulders and back either. My eating regime has not been proper either, and I am not following my own planning to diet. There goes my plan to have at least half the body of a model - hahahaha.

Ok models and mortals out there, to those of you who are celebrating their birthdays today, have a wonderful birthday and may you have a great year ahead.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy !!!

2010-06-19T14:06:00.000+08:00

To dad who is New Zealand right now, we all love you and we miss your presence in the recent Family Kaamatan Celebration... Here's something that I found on the Net, dedicated to you:

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it... Dad

Have a blessed Father's Day, we wish we could celebrate this special day with you...

Sad story shared by one FB friend

2010-05-27T09:32:00.000+08:00

There was once this guy who is very much in love with his girl. This romantic guy folded 1,000 pieces of paper cranes as a gift to his girl.

Although, at that time he was just a small fry in his company, his future didn't seem too bright, they were very happy together. Until one day, his girl told him she was going to Paris and will never come back. She also told him that she cannot visualize any future for the both of them, so they went their own ways there and then...

Heartbroken, the guy agreed. But when he regained his confidence, he worked hard day and night, slogging his body and mind just to make something out of himself.

Finally with all the hard work and the help of friends, this guy had set up his own company ..

You never fail until you stop trying. One rainy day, while this guy was driving, he saw an elderly couple sharing an umbrella in the rain walking to some destination. Even with the umbrella,they were still drenched. It didn't take him long to realize they were his girl's
parents.

With a heart in getting back at them, he drove slowly beside the couple, wanting them to spot him in his luxury sedan. He wanted them to know that he wasn't the same any more; he had his own
company, car, condo, etc. He made it ! What he saw next confused him, the couple
was walking towards a cemetery, and so he got out of his car and followed...and he saw his girl, a photograph of her smiling sweetly as ever at him from her tombstone and he saw his paper cranes right beside her... Her parents saw him. He asked them why this had happened. They explained, she did not leave for France at all. She was ill with cancer. She had believed that he will make it someday, but she did not want to be his obstacle... therefore she had chosen to leave him.

Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have. She had wanted her parents to put his paper cranes beside her, because, if the day comes when fate brings him to her again...he can take some of those back with him...

Once you have loved, you will always love. For what's in your mind may escape but what's in your heart will remain forever.

The guy just wept...The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside her knowing you can't have her, see her or be with her ever again.........hope you understand.

Find time to realize that there is one person who means so much to you, for you might wake up one morning losing that person who you thought meant nothing to you.

Tell those who have touched your heart and those whom you care about that you love them as we will never know what the future holds...

AF8 - Finals (Sat, 23/05/2010)

2010-05-23T01:00:00.001+08:00

I have to say that this final concert showed how much these kids have grown since their first concert. I think that Norman KRU needs to be given the credit as he must have some influence in making sure that these kids are guided to be the stars that they are today. The concert was held in Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil and aired live by Astro RIA (Channel 104).

Thanks again to crystle1987 on YouTube, for posting the videos at her Crystle1987 YouTube Channel.

Results - hmmm... not really happy with it although it's expected. This is a popularity contest afterall - vocal is secondary.

1st Performance = DAUS
Song Title: Doktor Pakar Cinta
AF8 - Final: Daus (Doktor Pakar Cinta)

2nd Performance = IWAN
Song Title: Rela Ku Pujuk
AF8 - Final: Iwan (Rela Ku Pujuk)

3rd Performance = MAULANA
Song Title: RSVP - Maulana's Original
AF8 - Final: Maulana (RSVP - Part 1)
AF8 - Final: Maulana (RSVP - Part 2)

4th Performance = SHAHIR
Song Title: Kebahagiaan Dalam Perpisahan - Shahir's Original
AF8 - Final: Shahir (Kebahagiaan Dlm Perpisahan)

5th Performance = ADIRA
Song Title: Tiru Macam Saya
AF8 - Final: Adira (Tiru Mcm Saya)

6th Performance = IWAN
Song Title: VIP - Iwan's Original
AF8 - Final: Iwan (VIP)

7th Performance = MAULANA
Song Title: Susun Silang Kata
AF8 - Final: Maulana (Susun Silang Kata)

8th Performance = DAUS
Song Title: Kenapa - Daus' Original
AF8 - Final: Daus (Kenapa)

9th Performance = ADIRA
Song Title: Ku Ada Kamu - Adira's Original
AF8 - Final: Adira (Ku Ada Kamu)

10th Performance = SHAHIR
Song Title: Biru Mata HitamKu
AF8 - Final: Shahir (Biru Mata Hitamku)

THE RESULTS??? Well, here's the video link:
AF8 - Final: Results

5th Place = IWAN
4th Place = MAULANA
3rd Place = DAUS (25k cash prize and more)
2nd Place = ADIRA (100k cash prize and more)
1st Place = SHAHIR (200k cash prize + a Peugeot car + NY trip for 2 and more)

Like I've said earlier, this is a popularity contest instead of singing contest. I would have expected Adira to have won based on her original song. Oh well... **sigh**

Off for now - till my next post, enjoy the original videos of the students below and peace to all my mortal and model readers out there.

Original Video Clips:

ADIRA - Ku Ada Kamu
Original Video Clip: Adira (Ku Ada Kamu)

SHAHIR - Kebahagiaan Dalam Perpisahan
Original Video Clip: Shahir (Kebahagiaan Dalam Perpisahan)

DAUS - Kenapa?
Original Video Clip: Daus (Kenapa?)

MAULANA - RSVP
Original Video Clip: Maulana (RSVP)

IWAN - VIP
Original Video Clip: Iwan (VIP)

AF8 - Konsert 1 (Sat, 20/03/2010)

2010-03-22T05:58:00.000+08:00

My rating for this concert = 5 out of 10
The youngs still have a lot to learn when it comes to voice and pitch control.
I feel that the best performance is by Adira - it is a very challenging song - I would say it was a good attempt la...

To those who do not wish to watch the individual performances, here's the recap video:
AF8 - Konsert 1: Recap

Again, thanks to crystle1987 on YouTube, for posting the videos at her Crystle1987 YouTube Channel...

Before the performances, we were shown the students' ranking as of before the concert:
1. Anum - 28%
2. Ain - 13%
3. Shahir - 12%
4. Iwan - 9%
5. Adira - 9%
6. Ema - 7%
7. Farina - 6%
8. Nad - 6%
9. Daus - 2%
10. Maulana- 2%
11. Alif - 2%
12. Shah - 2%

Guest Judge for this concert - Edry (KRU)

AF8 - Konsert 1: Intro

1st student to perform = Maulana
Song Title: Extravaganza by Bunkface
AF8 - Konsert 1: Maulana (Extravaganza - Bunkface)

2nd student = Adira
Song Title: Bertamu Di Kalbu by Jaclyn Victor
AF8 - Konsert 1: Adira (Bertamu Di Kalbu - Jaclyn Victor)

3rd student = Shahir
Song Title: Khatimah Cinta by 6ixth Sense
AF8 - Konsert 1: Shahir (Khatimah Cinta - 6ixth Sense)

4th student = Nad
Song Title: ERT by Farah Asyikin
AF8 - Konsert 1: Nad (ERT - Farah Asyikin)

5th student = Daus
Song Title: Cari Jodoh by Wali
AF8 - Konsert 1: Daus (Cari Jodoh - Wali)

6th student = Farina
Song Title: Paparazzi by Lady Gaga
AF8 - Konsert 1: Farina (Paparazzi - Lady Gaga)

7th student = Alif
Song Title: Kau Aku by Aizat
AF8 - Konsert 1: Alif (Kau Aku - Aizat)

8th student = Anum
Song Title: Aku Tak Percaya Cinta by Liyana Jasmay
AF8 - Konsert 1: Anum (Aku Tak Percaya Cinta - Liyana Jasmay)

9th student = Shah
Song Title: Bengang by Akim
AF8 - Konsert 1: Shah (Bengang - Akim)

10th student = Ain
Song Title: Hey Ladies by Rossa
AF8 - Konsert 1: Ain (Hey Ladies - Rossa)

11th student = Ema
Song Title: Yang Terbaik by Marsha AF
AF8 - Konsert 1: Ema (Yang Terbaik - Marsha AF)

The last student to perform = Iwan
Song Title: Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble
AF8 - Konsert 1: Iwan (Haven't Met You Yet - Michael Buble)

Here's the 'Menuju Puncak' performance - no stamina la...
AF8 - Konsert 1: Menuju Puncak

Till my next AF report, peace to all...

Konsert Prelude Akademi Fantasia 8 - Sat, 14/03/2010

2010-03-14T06:05:00.003+08:00

Let me start by saying that this bunch of students are talented...
Out of the chosen 12, I am proud to say that 4 of out the 6 girls are Sabahans!!!

Thanks to crystle1987 on YouTube, I'm able to share the performances during the Konsert Prelude.

The concert was started by Jimmy (still missing Aznil **sob**) and Sarimah, where they introduced the jury: Adlin, Ning and Aznil!!! yay...

My favourite from this concert is the last performance - Ain...

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Intro

First student to perform = Farina singing "Tiada Lagi - Mayang Sari"

PROFIL FARINA
Nama Penuh : Zafarina Bt. Jamhari
Tarikh Lahir: 7 Oktober 1982
Tempat Lahir: Bintulu, Sarawak
Umur : 28 tahun
Jantina: Perempuan
Bangsa : Melanau
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 162cm Berat : 50kg
Status Perkahwinan: Janda (anak 1)
Pekerjaan: Admin (Shell MDS Sdn. Bhd)
Pendidikan Tertinggi: SPM
Adik Beradik: 5 orang (pertama)
Hobi: Menyanyi
Gambar Peribadi: Periang, Mudah bergaul, degil.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Farina (Tiada Lagi - Mayang Sari)

Second student = Shah singing "Drama King - Meet Uncle Hussain"

PROFIL SHAH
Nama Penuh : Muhammed Shahril B. Mohs Saleh Hussein
Tarikh Lahir: 21 Mei 1984
Tempat Lahir: Hospital Tunku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang
Umur : 26 tahun
Jantina: Lelaki
Bangsa : Melayu
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 156cm Berat : 80kg
Status Perkahwinan: Bujang
Pekerjaan: Tolong Ibu berniaga
Pendidikan Tertinggi: Kolej Komuniti Sabak Bernam (Elektrik)
Adik Beradik: 4 orang (pertama)
Hobi: Menyanyi, main gitar, karaoke, mekap dan melukis.
Gambar Peribadi: Mudah bergaul dan suka menyakat orang.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Shah (Drama King - Meet Uncle Hussain)

3rd student = Anum singing "Pelesit Kota - Search"

PROFIL ANUM
Nama Penuh : Dayang Nor Anum Arjuna Bt. Aharun
Tarikh Lahir: 3 Ogos 1991
Tempat Lahir: Hospital Tawau, Sabah
Umur : 19 tahun
Jantina: Perempuan
Bangsa : Brunei
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 159cm Berat : 49kg
Status Perkahwinan: Bujang
Pekerjaan: Menganggur
Pendidikan Tertinggi: SPM
Adik Beradik: 10 orang (ke-3)
Hobi: Menyanyi, Ketawa & Baca komik
Gambar Peribadi: Periang, berjiwa rockers.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Anum (Pelesit Kota - Search)

4th student = Daus singing "Bye Bye Bye - N'Sync"

PROFIL DAUS
Nama Penuh : Muhd Shahril Firdaus B. Eli
Tarikh Lahir: 25 Ogos 1988
Tempat Lahir: Hospital Umum Sarawak
Umur : 22 tahun
Jantina: Lelaki
Bangsa : Melayu
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 166cm Berat : 57kg
Status Perkahwinan: Bujang
Pekerjaan: Menganggur
Pendidikan Tertinggi: Diploma (Akauntan)
Adik Beradik: 5 orang (Bongsu)
Hobi: Bermain alat muzik, menyanyi, menari dan kemas rumah
Gambar Peribadi: Periang, peramah, suka main muzik dan mudah difahami.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Daus (Bye Bye Bye - N'Sync)

5th student = Ema singing "Tiada Lagi Tangisan - Aisyah"

PROFIL EMA
Nama Penuh : Erma Bt. Suhaimi
Tarikh Lahir: 13 May 1989
Tempat Lahir: Hospital Ranau, Sabah
Umur : 21 tahun
Jantina: Perempuan
Bangsa : Kadazan / Dusun
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 154cm Berat : 47kg
Status Perkahwinan: Bujang
Pekerjaan: Pelajar & Partime A&W
Pendidikan Tertinggi: Diploma (Diploma in Pysiotheraphy)
Adik Beradik: 8 orang (ke-7)
Hobi: Suka acara lasak, makan, main game, melayari internet, menyanyi & menari
Gambar Peribadi: Cergas, periang, mudah simpati dan degil.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Ema (Tiada Lagi Tangisan - Aisyah)

6th student = Adira (Ema's sister) singing "Gagap - Stacy"

PROFIL ADIRA
Nama Penuh : Siti Adira Bt. Suhaimi
Tarikh Lahir: 19 September 1991
Tempat Lahir: Hospital Ranau, Sabah
Umur : 19 tahun
Jantina: Perempuan
Bangsa : Kadazan / Dusun
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 152cm Berat : 48kg
Status Perkahwinan: Bujang
Pekerjaan: Menganggur
Pendidikan Tertinggi: SPM
Adik Beradik: 8 orang (bongsu)
Hobi: Dengar radio, makan, tidur & berangan
Gambar Peribadi: Pendiam, pemalu, aktif, penyayang.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Adira (Gagap - Stacy)

7th student = Maulana singing "Tekad - Hazami"

PROFIL MAULANA
Nama Penuh: Muhd Firdaus Maulana B. Mohamed
Tarikh Lahir: 23 Januari 1988
Tempat Lahir: Johor Bahru
Umur : 22 tahun
Jantina: Lelaki
Bangsa : Melayu
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 173cm Berat : 64kg
Status Perkahwinan: Bujang
Pekerjaan: Pelajar (Iajazah Sarjana Muda Graphic Design UiTM)
Pendidikan Tertinggi: Diploma
Adik Beradik: 6 orang (ke-5)
Hobi: Bermain gitar, cipta lagu, designing dan menyanyi.
Gambar Peribadi: Periang, suka buat lawak, sakat orang, kadang-kadang panas baran.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Maulana (Tekad - Hazami)

8th student = Alif singing "Live Like We're Dying - Kris Allen"

PROFIL ALIF
Nama Penuh : Muhammad Alif B. Kadim
Tarikh Lahir: 20 Oktober 1991
Tempat Lahir: Hospital Besar, KL
Umur : 18 tahun
Jantina: Lelaki
Bangsa : Melayu
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 169cm Berat : 59kg
Status Perkahwinan: Bujang
Pekerjaan: Pelajar ( ASWARA - Diploma Muzik & Vokal)
Pendidikan Tertinggi: SPM
Adik Beradik: 4 orang (bongsu)
Hobi: Menyanyi, Shopping & Bersukan
Gambar Peribadi: Pemalu, tapi happy selalu & cepat kelam kabut.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Alif (Live Like We're Dying - Kris Allen)

9th student = Nad singing "Gantung - Melly Goeslow"

PROFIL NAD
Nama Penuh: Nadia Emilia Bt. Roselan
Tarikh Lahir: 8 Ogos 1988
Tempat Lahir: Klinik Damo, Klang Selangor
Umur : 22 tahun
Jantina: Perempuan
Bangsa : Melayu
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 155cm Berat : 43kg
Status Perkahwinan: Bujang
Pekerjaan: Pelajar (Ijazah Sarjana Muda International Business) Multimedia University
Pendidikan Tertinggi: SPM
Adik Beradik: 3 orang (Bongsu)
Hobi: Main futsal, dengar muzik & memasak
Gambar Peribadi: ringkas, selamba, suka ketawa & sendawa kuat-kuat.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Nad (Gantung - Melly Goeslow)

10th student = Iwan singing "Coba - Faizal Tahir"

PROFIL IWAN
Nama Penuh: Emirza Azwan B. Zulazrin Chew
Tarikh Lahir: 21 April 1990
Tempat Lahir: Hospital Besar, Seremban
Umur : 20 tahun
Jantina: Lelaki
Bangsa : Melayu
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 170cm Berat : 55kg
Status Perkahwinan: Bujang
Pekerjaan: Menganggur
Pendidikan Tertinggi: SPM
Adik Beradik: 4 orang (kedua)
Hobi: Menyanyi, berjalan bersama kawan, makan.
Gambar Peribadi: Pemalu, ceria dan kadang kala agak membosankan bila dalam masalah.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Iwan (Coba - Faizal Tahir)

11th student = Shahir singing "Andalusia - M. Nasir"

PROFIL SHAHIR
Nama Penuh : Ahmad Shahir B. Zawani
Tarikh Lahir: 5 September 1988
Tempat Lahir: Hospital Besar, Ipoh Perak
Umur : 21 tahun
Jantina: Lelaki
Bangsa : Melayu
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 168cm Berat : 65kg
Status Perkahwinan: Bujang
Pekerjaan: Pelajar Pusat Asasi UIA
Pendidikan Tertinggi: Diploma (Kejuruteraan)
Adik Beradik: 5 orang (pertama)
Hobi: Merancang masa depan.
Gambar Peribadi: Senang percaya orang dan akhirnya senang tertipu & bertanggungjawab.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Shahir (Andalusia - M. Nasir)

The last student to perform = Ain singing "The Climb - Miley Cyrus"

PROFIL AIN
Nama Penuh : Nadiawati Ainul Basir
Tarikh Lahir: 25 Jun 1986
Tempat Lahir: Hospital Duchest of Kent, Sandakan, Sabah
Umur : 23 tahun
Jantina: Perempuan
Bangsa : Suluk/Dusun
Agama: Islam
Tinggi : 161cm Berat : 45kg
Status Perkahwinan: Bujang
Pekerjaan: Beautician (On Job Training), Luyang, Kota Kinabalu
Pendidikan Tertinggi: SPM
Adik Beradik: 8 orang (kedua)
Hobi: Menyanyi, main gitar, karaoke, mekap dan melukis
Gambar Peribadi: Mudah bergaul dan suka menyakat orang.

AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Ain (The Climb - Miley Cyrus)

Here's the closing:
AF8 - Tirai Akademi Fantasia: Closing

Till my next AF report, peace to all...

Book Review - Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

2010-02-23T22:30:00.000+08:00

I have not done book review posting for some time now... Anyway, on the way back from New York, I bought a book to entertain me throughout my 15-hr flight from NY to Hong Kong. Frankly, I chose the book because of the nice picture of Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried **yes, yes... in this case, I judged the book based on its cover (guilty)** Anyway, a movie with the same title is out based on this novel. It is not a thick book so I thought that it will keep me company throughout my journey but I actually finished it in 4 hours. I was in tears as I reached the last few pages... I am not sure how is the movie plot but if they follow the novel 100% then it will be a good movie to watch. Ok, it is a chic flick movie though (so guys, you've been warned hehehe). Basically, the story is about John, a rebellious son, who doesn't seem to understand his father and then John grew up when he joined the Army. John met a girl when he came home for holiday and they made a promise. As any normal long distant relationships, they write and call each other until the Sept 11th incident which is followed by The Letter... I will not reveal too much as I want to watch the movie first and give the chance to those who would want to read the book before watching the movie. Let's just say, John's relationship with his father moved me and his love to the girl touched me (can somebody loves someone so much???). Ok, enough... Will provide more details after I watch the movie... hehehe. To those who enjoy sentimental chic flick books, add this one to your collection as it is worth it.

Ok, until my next posting, peace and have a good read to all of you...

Health vs Wealth

2010-02-22T13:18:00.000+08:00

I've come across the following image and I find that it is suitable to reflect on our lives these days.

Currently, people in general think so much on how to make more money or maybe some, how to save as much as money as they can. It is true that to live life comfortably, we will need money. Although money is not everything, but money is one of the most important needs for any human. I think that even kids are aware of this - I've seen how kids anticipate to get ang pow during chinese new year and hari raya. They are aware of the value of money. But, are they aware of the value of health as well??? Nowadays, we are exposed to more chemicals compared to the previous generations before us. We wine and dine in restaurants more than them... The air quality has also deteriorated as compared to 10 years ago. Let's face it, Mother Earth has aged too and we have not helped much in preserving nature's resources for us and our future generations.

Now, back to my title and the quotation picture above. Some may say, health is wealth but say this to younger generations and some may not agree. They will say, what's the point of being healthy but have no money to enjoy life? Now, I am not going to contradict the 'Health is Wealth' phrase, but all I'm saying is that we need to care for our health in order to enjoy the wealth that we have gained or going to gain. Therefore, do look into your health, do regular medical checkup or better (if you can afford it), do executive screening. It is better that we spend a little bit of money to maintain our health so that we can enjoy the wealth that we are building for us and our families, right? This brings to my next topic...

...to invest in good medical insurance. The other day, my insurance agent, who is also a relative, told me that I have an option to upgrade my policy to cover me until I am 80 years old. The upgrade, of course, means increasing my monthly premium. His explanation is that with the advanced technology in our medical field, people in the future will be able to live longer - makes sense. Therefore, having a good medical insurance will provide us the means to obtain the best medical treatment available without worrying about the treatment costs. We all know that the best medical treatment is not cheap but when it comes to health, of course, we want to have the best, right? As some old life insurance policies may not cover medical expenses, I suggest that you check your policies and see whether medical is covered or not. Believe me, one day, it will come in handy... It is better to pay a bit on monthly basis now than to pay a big sum one shot later, right? Before I end this paragraph, I just want to put a disclaimer that I am not an insurance agent nor do I favour a particular insurance agency from another. I am simply stating the fact that having a medical insurance to cover hospitalisation and medical treatments is important.

So until my next posting, peace to all my blog readers, where ever you all are... :)

NY and Broadway

2010-02-20T17:41:00.000+08:00

It's been a month since I last posted anything in this blog - gosh, been so busy since we returned from NY. Now back to the topic...

I was lucky to have the opportunity to catch "A Little Night Music" and "Phantom of the Opera" shows when I was in New York, just a couple of weeks ago. They are 2 different shows so I will not compare them...

For "A Little Night Music", the reason we went to watch this is because of Catherine Zeta Jones (CZJ) and Angela Lansbury. I think that seeing them performing up close and personal does have a difference. There is no cuts in broadway show so if they screw up their lines, they just have to handle it there and then... So, it is different. Now, the storyline is simple and its genre is comedy. Both hubby and myself love it when Angela Lansbury's character appear hehehe... she's hilarious. She carried her character brilliantly with her occasional smirks and sarcastic remarks. The main character played by CZJ too is entertaining to watch. I was very surprised with Catherine's vocal ability although I've seen her in Chicago but like I've said earlier, a recorded or dubbed audio may not be as good as listening someone singing live with an orchestra. Her voice projection was good - although I think that at some low notes, her volume could have been improved as at certain parts, I could not hear what she was singing. Apart from that, she is as beautiful as anyone could imagine. At first, I thought that she had a zit on her forehead but after looking closer, that was the stage microphone... hehehe. The other characters in the show are equally funny... I like the girl who acted as CZJ's daughter too. A young talent indeed... she'll have a bright future ahead of her...

As for "Phantom of the Opera", our friend really wanted to watch this show and since both hubby and I have not watched it, we decided that why not... I remember trying to watch the movie version of this and I slept in the middle of it though hehehe... So, before the show started, I was hoping that it will not be a boring show. When we approached the theatre, I was surprised with the amount of people queued up to watch the show. A lot of Japanese kids too... maybe a school trip or something (lucky kids... was wondering how come our school didn't organise such trips last time hehehe...)

To those who have the opportunity to visit NY, don't miss the superb broadway shows... They are really worth watching...

I'm not surprised - StarNews: Malaysia gets poor marks on human rights

2010-01-22T16:31:00.002+08:00

While others are fighting for humanity and peace, here we are being ranked badly for our 'excellent' position on human rights. I guess with whatever is going on in this country, I'm not surprised at all. For those who are interested to read more on the news, pls click the link below:

"Malaysia gets poor marks on human rights"

Let's start to think about each other and promote peace among ourselves. I believe in the concept of 1-Malaysia, where we do NOT have discriminations between races, religions and even sexual preferences. Enough with the talk, let's see some actions, shall we? Why do we not practice what we preach? Good concept but poor execution **sigh**

When la we can be on par with the other developed nations??? Deeply saddened, yet I can't think of anything else to do...

Until my next posting, peace to all...

101 East - Malaysia (Whose God?)

2010-01-21T16:40:00.001+08:00

Attached is the link to a YouTube video on a talk show under Al-Jazeera channel. The panel includes Marina Mahathir as one of its panel members. If you have never read any of her article or listened to any of her interviews, please watch this one. Believe me that you will be amazed on how well she replied the questions. I salute her for speaking out loud and standing for what she believes in.

101 East - Malaysia Whose God?

I hope more and more people would speak up and contribute in whatever ways they could for peace and harmony in this country.

The Word GOD

2010-01-13T11:13:00.002+08:00

There seems to be a lot of unnecessary happenings going on in Malaysia that can be regarded as stupid yet disturbing. I guess there are just some people who have nothing else better to do... As civilized as we claim we are nowadays, there are still those barbaric people amongst us - primitives???

Now, with a total of 6 (some may say 8?) churches in Malaysia attacked (the pic above is the pic of burnt Metro Tabernacle Church in KL), people are getting emotional and some may be scared. I am amazed that we still have this sort of behaviour in our country. Where is the 1-Malaysia concept now? Do they know that we are living in a multi-racial, multi-religion country? I thought that people should be sensitive enough to acknowledge and respect other's religion.

Picture above = "Neobyzantine Tryptich" by Christina Varga -> taken from Leyla Jagiella's blog

ALLAH is a standard Arabic word for GOD or The Creator. It has been used even by the pagan Meccans to refer to the superior creator. Therefore, the word ALLAH does not belong to any religion. It is widely used by all Arabic speakers, including Jews and Christians. It is not associated to any religion and it is ridiculous for any religion to claim that the word ALLAH can only be used by their religion. Only UNEDUCATED people will claim such a thing!!!

And what's with the government trying to make an appeal on the court's decision? I think that the Government should represent the whole nation instead of a particular religious segment. I just don't understand why can't they be professional and separate their own personal view to the decision that they make for the country. I guess that we have a lot to learn on how to run a country...

Attacking churches is just an act of desperation from the weak and it is so childish too. What do they gain if they attack the churches? The judgement made by the court will not change, for goodness sake!!! 'Barking' at the wrong 'tree' will not help, right? Gosh, some people just do not have brains in their heads, I guess... I admit it that I am very angry when it comes to this matter as it is something that may cause unnecessary religious tensions in the country. Why do we need to devote our time and effort on something unnecessary like this as compared to a more productive issue like the high illiteracy rate among the children at the rural and village areas? Like I've said before and would like to stress again, only people with no brains in their skulls who will dwell upon this issue - so, let's just move on and focus our energy on something fruitful for the society and country.

Till my next post, peace to the models and mortals out there!!!

2009 & 2010

2010-01-06T22:17:00.000+08:00

I wanted to post something for Christmas the other day but unfortunately, I was so busy when I was back home in Labuan and KK. So, I will lump all my thoughts into this single posting - hoping that it won't be too lengthy for the readers...

I saw this Christmas quote the other day and found that it explains the true meaning of Christmas. While many are busy with the thoughts of what gifts to buy and what clothes to wear, many forget that Christmas brings family to get together, to allow family members open their hearts and forgive the past and embrace the future together. I am very fortunate to have a big family - my dad has 12 brothers and sisters! We are a colourful bunch, with our own personalities (whether it is strength or weakness, it is very subjective). Whether we like it or not, they are our family and they will stand by us forever.

So, my 2009 Christmas was spent in Labuan, at my sister's place. For 2010 New Year, we spent it at my grandma's place. Not all could make it though so we are planning to have a bigger family gathering in 2011 New Year... Hope is still there to get all 13 siblings together with all my cousins, nephews and nieces... That will be an effort by itself, but it is worth a try.

In the beginning of 2009, I made a list of things that I wanted to do. Guess that a lot of things in the list got missed out due to unknown reasons. At least, when I reflect on my 2009, it was full of ups and downs. I am healthier at least since I overcame my hyperthyroidism. I feel that I am closer to my loved ones. I am determine to make 2010 to be better and achieve more things in life. Instead of making a list like last year, this year I will base it on a simple wish that I will be closer to God and my loved ones, and that I will be better physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I pray that God continues to bless hubby, our family members and friends.

As we are still at the dawn of New Year, let us try to be positive about it and hope for the best...

Till my next post, peace to all of you, models and mortals out there!!! Thanks for reading my blog and have a great year ahead.

"The Garbage Truck Story"

2009-12-07T13:10:00.001+08:00

An uncle forwarded the following story to me and since the content is worth sharing, I've decided to put it up here:

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.

My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.
And I mean, he was really friendly.
So I asked, 'Why did you just do that?
This guy almost ruined my car and sent us to the hospital!'

This is when my taxi driver taught me
what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks.. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.

As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.

Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets..

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so.... Love the people who treat you right. Forgive the ones who don't.

Life is ten percent what you make it... and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a garbage-free day to all of my readers, models & mortals out there!!!

Every cloud has a silver lining

2009-12-06T20:15:00.003+08:00

It has been some time since my last entry. Not because I dont have anything to write but time limits me from spending time with my blog...

I just want to share something that I find very encouraging to those who think that there is no hope when negative things happen to someone. Here's someone who just went thru some personal ordeal and managed to bring herself up and do something amazing - clothes!!! hehehe... yes, every girl's dream!!!

Daphne Iking collaborated with Eclipse to produce her own line. I have yet to visit Eclipse to see whether there is anything that I could wear for coming Christmas... But from the pics below, they are nice and comfortable - not too weird to be worn (like some designer's clothes). I'll be waiting for some more of her design and definitely provide my support as long as it does not 'burn' my wallet.

To Daphne, a job well done, girl!!! We hope to see a lot more of your collections being sold out there. Just believe in yourself and things will work out fine for you!!!

** The pics in this blog were taken from Daphne's blog: http://daphneiking.blogspot.com/2009/11/daphne-designs-for-eclipse.html **

Till my next post, peace to all of u, models and mortals out there...

A year has passed?

2009-11-25T00:22:00.000+08:00

Wow, a year has passed since I created this blog and gosh, time flies hay?

So, this blog has served as my 'virtual' journal where I ranted and shared the good and bad stories, the funny or not-so-funny stories with the rest of the cyber audience. In this anniversary, I thought, let me just put the latest favourite pic that I have - it's my current FB profile pic. Lately, I've been putting at least a photo in each posting that I am so used to it. So, here it is... Taken on last Sunday, 22nd Nov, during Desmond's and Janice's wedding reception. Love you, Jaanu...

Yesterday (Tue, 24th Nov) was kind of a tiring day but it was productive too. We attended the Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010 launch. It was good to be in the Developer Track, where the Microsoft development team showed us the nifty enhancements in Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate, ASP.Net 4 as well as Silverlight 3. I didn't expect that Silverlight would be enhanced to have the database controls too!!!... We also bought so many books as they were going for minus 30% off the retail price. We are talking abt MS Press books here so it was definitely worth it!!! After that, hubby and I walked around the KLCC and decided to go to Kinokuniya bookstore (yes, another bookstore??? well, now, I can seriously say that I am a book junkie LOL). I saw 3 books by Debbie Brown (the famous cake decorator) and I just could not decide which book to buy. Hubby decided for me hehehe, he got me all 3 of them :-D Not complaining hehehe... but I better get myself a project a month to make sure that I don't forget the cake decorating techniques. Thanks again Hubby!!!

Ok, I guess that's all for now. I have a busy week ahead with all the new MS books and work...

Till my next post, peace to all of u, models & mortals out there!!!

From 32-bit to 64-bit?

2009-11-20T00:58:00.002+08:00

I have upgraded to the Microsoft Office 2010 Beta today and installed an add-in called PowerPivot (was known as "Gemini"). Why do I have to trouble myself with a beta product, you may ask? Well, I am a SQL person but found that excel is such an easy tool for normal business users. Traditionally, I have been writing SQL statements and incorporate them into excel so that users can get the latest data (love the MS Query features for God knows how long...) On my end, once I have pulled what they need and then they can use the data for whatever they want to use them for, I am a happy camper ;-)

Now, I have to re-install my Windows 7 lappy though (from Win7 32-bit to Win7 64-bit). I just realized that although I have 5GB of RAM, and because I am going to need all the memory I could get (who complains when they are offered more memory, right?), I need to install 64-bit version. Do I really need to do this? Not really... but I want to do it anyway hehehe...

Anyway, let's leave the re-installation for this weekend. For now, I would want to try out the newly installed tools first :)

My initial assessment:

1. The user interface in Office 2010 is a bit different than Office 2007, but I think that it is easy to learn the navigations around the Office suites.

2. Installation of PowerPivot is simple.

3. After installing the add-in, Excel takes a bit longer to be launched. But, I find that it is weird when it tries to load an add-in with bluetooth (i wonder whether this is an excel thing or PowerPivot thing or just my lappy, hmmmm...)

4. The 2nd add-in (shown below) is even longer to be loaded compared to the rest of the other add-ins. This is actually for the PowerPivot...

5. Computer resources, especially memory, are high. So, it is a valid reason why I should move on to 64-bit (although I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the hardware drivers - hope all devices will still work)

Anyway, here's how Excel 2010 with PowerPivot looks like:

Ok, will try to give more feedback as I go along.

Till my next post, peace to all you models and mortals out there...

Pirate Language? Arrr, This be pleasin' to me eye...

2009-11-18T01:57:00.003+08:00

This is something that my cousin posted at her FB and I find that it is so interesting. So, I've decided to share it.

For those who are not aware of the language setting in your FB, just scroll all the way down at your HOME page and then notice the Language which will normally be in English (US) or English (UK) depending on your computer regional setting. Mine has been changed to English (Pirate) as you can see here:

Just click on the Language and another window will appear with the various different languages supported by FB. Notice that there is an option of English (Pirate), choose it and see what how some words are changed in your FB.

Here are 2 examples; my profile picture link changes to:

and the FB navigation bar:

Cool huh? This is another geeks'tuff post from me LOL

Till my next post, peace to all of you, models and mortals out there...

Dirty Humour

2009-11-16T21:26:00.004+08:00

Guess what? An FB friend was tagged with this pic and I found it to be so funny... Well, it is a dirty humour for some people but it sure did made my day. I have been so busy lately and fatigue won't be the right word to describe my state at the moment. I think that I can sleep for days - without even waking up for food. And, who has been missing her gym session??? "ME?...?" (eyes looking down and slowly raising hand). Yes, I have not gone to the gym for more than a month - yes, yes, now that I've said it out loud, I feel even more guilty. Ok, I promise that I will go from next Monday onwards - no excuse and no more procrastinating (**fingers crossed**)

Ok, till my next post, peace to all you models and mortals out there...

In need of more powerful excel...

2009-11-15T00:43:00.000+08:00

Without going to details, I have been working with Microsoft Excel 2007 a lot these days. While its predecessor supported up to 65536 rows, this version supports up to 1,048,576 rows. A lot of people cannot see themselves reaching that maximum row number. Personally, when a colleague asked for the full list of barcodes in the system, I reached the max row!!!

Tonight I am 'playing' with Excel again and I just noticed that if only Microsoft comes out with a function within Excel that Show Duplicates instead of Remove Duplicates... Oh well, we can't get all that we wish for, right?

About getting more rows in, Excel 2010 will definitely be good, especially with the add-in named "PowerPivot" (used to be code-named Gemini). I am definitely anticipating this add-in. Can't wait to get my hands on it. It will surely ease the workload on power excel users. To those who are interested, you can see its action in the official website (http://www.powerpivot.com/).

This posting maybe a lil bit different than my previous posts. In fact, I'm introducing a new blog posting label called "Geeks'tuff" where I can post anything to do with I.T. or technical stuff. Well, either we are models or mortals, it doesn't hurt to know a lil bit of geeky knowledge right?

Ok - got to continue with my financial reports in excel. Till my next post, peace to you all models and mortals out there...

Honesty and Rudeness?

2009-11-01T16:47:00.013+08:00

I'm sure that all of us, at one point or another, had contemplated on how to tell someone the honest truth but at the same time, we do not want to be rude. While some of us may have stopped themselves from saying anything at all - just not to be labelled as rude, some of us may just have to face our 'someone' to tell her/him the brutal truth. For those who do the latter, are we rude for telling our honest opinion or are we just too honest for our own good?

As for me, I'm one of those people who can't stop themselves from telling others how I feel. Of course, when I do have the time to think through, the truth can come out very tactfully. But, when I am irritated and pissed, the truth can come out very bluntly though. For me, sugar coating the truth may also not be a good idea as there are just those some people who would not be able to get it. So, at times, we just have to be direct and straightforward.

The challenge that everybody commonly face is that how to be direct and not be rude at the same time. I am not the exception here... I can't stop myself from stating my point of view, but I still need to learn the art of diplomacy. Well, most of the time, I do get away with the whole rudeness thing (I wonder why? Maybe the 'Dragon Lady' label protected me?? **wink**)

Oh well, in all honesty (pun intended), I sincerely think that beating around the bush may just be confusing and may cause more damage than good. Sometimes we just need to tell people what they don't want to hear and I will continue to be openly honest when I give my opinions. But, there is always the right time, place and approach. In the end, honesty is the best policy, isn't it?

Till my next posting, peace to all you models and mortals out there!!!

To FB or Not to FB

2009-10-28T01:52:00.004+08:00

A friend emailed me this the other day and I found that it is so hilarious to see what people post on their walls. But, I thought that the case may not be true - maybe, it is just a prank or joke that someone is trying to make about Facebook.

To my surprise, today, I received an FB notification that a friend of mine posted to her husband's wall a message to pick up something for their kid. Why do people don't understand that whatever that they post in FB is NOT PRIVATE?

I mean, there are a lot of cases where people got fired from their jobs just because they have posted a simple comment on FB. There are also a lot of people being sued over FB. Those who are not careful, please start to do so from now on...

For everybody's benefit, since the birth of Facebook on 4th Feb 2004, there have been a lot of controversies and lawsuits surrounding its existence. In fact, according to wikipedia in December 2008, the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory ruled that Facebook is a valid protocol to serve court notices to defendants. It is believed to be the world's first legal judgement that defines a summons posted on Facebook as legally binding. Then, in March 2009, the New Zealand High Court associate justice David Glendall allowed for the serving of legal papers on Craig Axe by the company Axe Market Garden via Facebook. Some may not know that Facebook is also blocked by countries like China, Iran and Syria due to its open nature.

For those who are interested to see what other criticisms surrounding Facebook, check out this wikipedia link.

At the end of the day, we will need to always be careful of what we post on the Net especially on one of the top social networking sites like Facebook. What we think might be private, may not be private afterall...

Hmmm... now, I am thinking of putting a disclaimer to my blog. What do you think? Should I?

Till my next post, peace to all the models and mortals out there!!!

"Smart is the new Sexy"

2009-10-25T00:47:00.013+08:00

To those who would want to have a good laugh, this show is the answer. It is hilarious and it could make me laugh anytime, anyday... The show is about 4 brainy friends befriended a pretty blonde aspiring actress in California. The way they try to converse with each other is so-so funny. Here are the main characters:

My favourite character is Sheldon (or his full name in the show is Dr. Sheldon Copper). He is a theoretical physicist and has a master's degree, two Ph.D.s and an IQ of 187. The funny thing about Sheldon is his lack of understanding on human interaction. He needed to train himself to understand whether a remark made is a sarcasm or not. He also has OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) - a bit more than 'Detective Monk'. Now enough with Sheldon as the 4 characters in the show are similarly hilarious in their own ways.

Leonard (full name = Dr. Leonard Hofstadter) is an experimental physicist, received his Ph.D. when he was just 24 years old. He has an IQ of 173 (just slightly below Sheldon, and that's why Sheldon always thinks that he is the smartest among all of them) and has a crush on Penny (that's the blonde). Both he and Sheldon share an apartment, and they have sort of learnt to tolerate each other's habits.

Penny (she's the only character without her last name revealed in the show) is from Omaha, Nebraska, and is staying just across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon. She works in Cheesecake Factory while waiting to get an acting offer. Most of the time, she does not understand what the guys are talking about but because of her kindness (not to mention her attractiveness), the boys have accepted her as one of them.

Wolowitz (full name = Howard Wolowitz) is a Jewish engineer in Applied Physics Department of Caltech University. Although he thinks that he is the "Ladies' Man" and tends to come out with disgusting pickup lines in front of ladies, he is definitely hopeless in that department. Oh ya, he is still living with his mum (we can only hear her coarse vocal throughout the show)...

Koothrappali (full name = Dr. Rajesh Ramayan Koothrappali) works as another genius astrophysicist and also is Howard's best friend. Koothrappali has a problem to talk to ladies when he's sober. But after a drink, his behaviour changes to outgoing and has no problem talking to ladies. Occasionally, he talks to his parents in India via webcam.

I've just finished watching the latest episode (Season 3 Episode 5) and I can't wait to watch the next one... Give it a try. Here are some pics that I found on them over The Net:

Till my next post, peace to all models and mortals out there!!!

When fashion can kill you...

2009-10-23T13:51:00.008+08:00

The Chenille Robe above is one of the items being recalled in the US due to the fact that its material is highly inflammable. Apparently, there have been 9 deaths involving this robe (sold by Blair LCC).

According to a website, the Blair robe recall announcement describes the recalled robes as follows:

The Women's Chenille Robes have the following item numbers: 3093111, 3093112, 3093113, 3093114, 3093115, and 3093116. The item number is identified on a label in the garment's neckline. The robe is a one-piece garment made of plush sculpted chenille, a shaped stand collar, and horizontal chenille front and back yolks and cuffs. The robe has a full-button front with seven matching button closures, long sleeves with self cuffs, a straight bottom with self hem, and two sideseam pockets.
The robe's sewn in label states: "100% Cotton, RN 81700, Made in Pakistan".

About 300,000 units of the garments are now recalled, including the full length women's chenille robes, women's chenille jackets, women's chenille lounge jackets, and women's chenille tops.

Some robes fail to meet federal flammability requirements and present a risk of serious burns to consumers if they are exposed to an open flame. All deaths happened when the victims were cooking and their robes caught on fire. The victims are mostly in their 70s and 80s, said CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson. All nine reported deaths occurred before the April announcement of the recall. "This robe is highly flammable, flames travel quickly up the robe," said Wolfson. "It's a deadly risk to women."

I wonder whether what we are wearing when we are cooking is not 'safe' enough. When I mentioned this story to a friend, he said that maybe it is best to cook naked LOL... Well, if I were to have the body of a model, I may consider that LOL... and if I were to be living alone too... Unfortunately, the mere mortal in me may never be able to gain that much confidence *sigh* Time to hit the gym again la...

Till my next post, peace to all you models and mortals out there!!!

Creativity challenged - Part 3

2009-10-20T10:12:00.006+08:00

Another big challenge = display cake for Open House. Since I have started to decorate a cake for display in last year's open house, I thought that making it an annual thing will definitely challenge me and eventually, improve my decorating skill. This year, I thought that I should make a 'kampung' house themed cake but since my 'house' turned out to be inspired from one of the cottages in Farmville, in the end, thanks to my sis for giving her ideas, I ended up with a mini Farmville cake...

To those who do not play Farmville, here are some snapshots of the game, just to give an idea of how cool some of the items in the game that we've decided to incorporate in the cake (not 100% but ideas came from here):

Glad that it was a hit during the open house and some friends even recognised that it was a farmville inspired cake hehehe... Till my next big challenge, I will take a short break on cake decorating (if I can help myself la...). It is kinda addictive as this activity is sort of my de-stress activity...

I wonder what I should do next year... hmmmm

Creativity challenged - part 2

2009-10-11T20:52:00.009+08:00

Like I've said in my previous posting, I needed to do a few more cakes this month. So, here they are... Verdict? I am satisfied with them - 3 different cakes for 3 different special people...

First and foremost, to my dearest sister, Linda... Happy birthday again, sis and love you!!!

The cake is layer cake (kek lapis) of chocolate and strawberry. The flavours chosen to match the colour concept of the design. Forgot to do the handbag tag though... wanted to do that one last but since this is the first of three cakes that I had to do that week, I didnt get the chance to do it.

The next cake that I did is for my cousin, Julius, who celebrated his 34th birthday on 3rd Oct. Since he loves to fish, I thought that a cake with a fisherman will be appropriate for him.

The cake is layer cake of haw flakes and vanilla. The only thing not edible is the fishing rod (which I made out of toothpick and thread). The fisherman is supposed to be sleeping thus you should not see the eye colour. He's sleeping while holding a can of beer and my cousin smokes ERA, which I tried to make but since the details are too small, all I could draw is the logo... need to practice harder on drawing smaller details LOL.

Now, the next cake is kinda interesting for me as some may say that it is a lil bit raunchy hehehe... It is for a dear friend, Lyni, who celebrated her birthday on 5th Oct.

Lyni's cake is red velvet chocolate cake. I think that it is perfect for the design too hehehe... Can't really see the reddish colour from the pics but actually there's a tint of red in the cake... I really like how the strings on the corset look very real... I am very happy with this cake hehehe... Will try to do some other variations in the future ;-)

Creativity challenged

2009-09-24T10:22:00.003+08:00

After a long-long break, I, finally, am taking some time to update my blog.

It seems that during the period of Sept - Oct, there are quite a number of cakes that I will have to do. Hence, the title of this blog... Yeah, my creativity is really challenged to produce 'unique' designs for my cakes...

I started off with Danny's cake. Danny is an avid diver and therefore, a cake with the same theme may be appropriate for him. Unfortunately, I had only about 4 hours to construct his cake. Here's the verdict:

I was very satisfied to see the surprised reactions from our friends when they saw the cake :)

Now, I have a few more cakes to make... will post their pics as soon as the cakes are delivered to the people they belong to hehehe... Want to surprise my family members this time LOL

Until next time, peace!!!

The Climb

2009-08-25T08:56:00.003+08:00

This is my latest assignment, very meaningful and uplifting song...

The Climb - Miley Cyrus

I can almost see it
That dream I'm dreaming but
there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down but
No, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb... yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb... yeah, yeah

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

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

There are many karaoke / instrumental versions available in YouTube, so help yourself there ya?

KK trip (2nd July)

2009-07-02T10:02:00.000+08:00

Well, I am in LCCT, waiting for my flight to go back to KK.

Usually I will be very excited when I go back to KK but for this trip, I am going back with a heavy heart and also with great hope. Heavy heart as there is a crucial thing that needs to be settled and great hope that the settlement will make everyone happy. If not settled now, at least, I hope for a good/smooth beginning.

To those who may know or may not know what I am talking about, all I ask for is your prayers that we will be able to have a good beginning and a happy settlement for everyone...

Another sad thing is that birthday will not be spent with hubby this year :( Sorry from the bottom of my heart...

A Tribute to Michael Joseph Jackson (29th August 1958 – 25th June 2009)

2009-06-26T09:52:00.006+08:00

Today I woke up with a terribly sad news on the telly - MJ passed away with cardiac arrest in LA. Hard to express the sadness in the air as we grew up watching him and listening to his music.

This is one of my favourites, One Day in Your Life. A classic, I would say... It was recorded in 1975 for his album, 'Forever, Michael'. It was such a hit that it was re-released in 1981 and became the 6th best-selling single of 1981 in the UK.

Here's the lyrics and enjoy the karaoke:

One day in your life
You'll remember a place
Someone touching your face
You'll come back and you'll look around you

One day in your life
You'll remember the love you found here
You'll remember me somehow
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
You'll remember one day . . .

One day in your life
When you find that you're always waiting
For the love we used to share
Just call my name, and I'll be there

You'll remember me somehow
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
You'll remember one day . . .

One day in your life
When you find that you're always lonely
For the love we used to share
Just call my name, and I'll be there

Michael, may you rest in peace and may your music continues to inspire people!!!

For those who want the audio version, here it is:

Sedih yg teramat sangat...

2009-06-16T23:53:00.010+08:00

Although I've tried and I've tried to refrain myself from writing about this in my blog, I just could not help it anymore. Tonight, I just feel so sad that I can't stop myself from crying... Someone dear to me is hurting my family and the consequences will be more when this someone 'crosses' the 'bridge'. Our relationships with each other may no longer be the same, my parents relationships with the rest of the other family members may be affected and things may not be the same and as good anymore - the consequences are just too big for everyone to bear.

Family is always first, no matter what - and at times, we learn it the hard way, I know I did. We may get surrogate family when we tie the knot but blood ties are not the same. There are times when life and death situation arises and only our blood ties can assist us - this has been proven scientifically. I, for one, was one of those who may have hurt my parents so much in my life and from the bottom of my heart, I regret and deeply sorry for hurting them.

I feel that the commandment, "Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you", was made to ensure that we live our long lives with every prayers that my parents dedicate to me. I, too, have learnt that praying for them helps me to get through my days better. When they are so sad like this, I just can't help myself from being so sad too. Maybe now I am much older and my eyes have 'opened up' to see their sacrifices since I was small till I graduated up to now.

I dont know what else to do with this special someone in my life. I watched how my mother lost a son and gained a daughter but I never thought that my mum's burden was more than what I saw then. I saw how she cried when her baby was 'crucifixed' due to multiple blood transfusions, I was only allowed to visit - I remember how my dad cried when he told us to be ready if we lose another sibling. I never thought that my parents would ever share with us on those most difficult moments of their lives and I never thought there are a lot more difficult situations that they have to go through those days. Mcm org cakap, seberat-berat mata memandang, berat lagi bahu yg memikul.

Ish kalau la boleh saya kasi pusing ni masa, saya mau kasi ubah segalanya supaya daddy and mummy tidak sakit hati begini. Kadang2 ada juga masa saya blame diri saya atas apa yg sedang berlaku sekarang. Afterall, saya yg sulung kan? Saya sepatutnya lebih tahu apa yg patut dijadikan contoh - especially now, I feel that I screwed up and crushed my parents' hearts for not taking care of myself and my family better. Saya rasa macam ni jantung saya skg ni mo jatuh sija - terlampau berat dan sakit saya rasa. Fikiran pun suda terlampau bercelaru.

Ada pula yg ahli keluarga lain tu bagi support sedangkan dorang nda tau betapa besar pengorbanan si daddy and mummy to bring us all up especially to this special someone - they never stopped worrying about this special someone. I wish that the others would stop thinking about themselves and start thinking about their parents and what would their parents feel if they do the same thing. Stop and think for a while before we support something and imagine what the elders are feeling. The elders who sacrificed so much to make us where we are today, the elders who, no matter what, tried their best to ensure that we have food to eat and clothes to wear. Orang tua yg kadang2 terpaksa berhutang sana-sini utk membiaya pelajaran kita - like I've said, kadang2 kita mungkin terlupa. My parents never brought these things to me before but now that they did, I couldn't help myself from feeling so-so sad for them. Growing up, I had a grandmother by my side, and that may be the reason why I didn't bond well with my parents. At these trying moments, I just wish that mama would be here by my side, consoling me with her soft voice and wiping my tears away with her hands. Ma, kalau la kau ada di sini, mesti kau pun sedih sama2 kami kan? I visited you the other day in Papar because I wanted to feel so close to you, I went to the house that we used to spend together masa saya cuti sekolah dulu2... I used to see you cry in your prayers when you prayed for this special someone and saya masa tu tidak paham kenapa... Now, I know why... mummy suda kasitau kami semua

My parents have asked my help to carry on something but I don't know whether I have the tenacity to carry such a responsibility... I pray that I will have the strength to carry it **sigh** I guess, like my dad, I would not be able to sleep well until this thing is resolved. I pray that the resolution will be soon for dad's and mum's sake.

To my readers, you may not know what is the issue here but please pray that this ordeal will come to pass and that my family will still be intact after that...

Just got back from KK (14th June 2009)

2009-06-16T00:48:00.001+08:00

I had a blast with my family when I was in KK from 4th June - 14th June. The wedding was beautiful and the gathering was even better. Got to rekindle with so many family members and got a chance to get to know the new additions in our big family. It's been ages since we had such celebration in my father's kampung and I promise that I will attend each and every one of them in the future - I dont want to miss those amazing moments with them. I didn't get the chance to meet up with my friends though - but this trip was for the family so I hope my friends will understand...

The whole wedding and birthday celebrations were tiring but at the same time, fun!!! Great job to my parents and siblings who decorated the garden theme wedding and church with so many gorgeous ornaments and decorations - it was all worth the effort!!! Surely, this wedding will be remembered forever... Cousins Clarie and Deasy looked gorgeous as the bride and maid of honour. Andy, the groom, was teased by aunts too. All in all, it was a memorable family affair.

The day is Tuesday, 2nd June 2009...

2009-06-02T13:44:00.003+08:00

Guess what, peeps... I've decided to take the day off today as I only managed to get my sleep at 7am just now. I was preparing the reports to be given to our directors before I go back for my cousin's wedding this Thurs.

Now, I am in a hair salon in Bangsar, called Shawn Cutters. Simple and nice setting. One thing cool is the fact that they provide wifi for people like me ;-) Yes, I brought along my laptop - as I am planning to get my hair coloured so I don't want to end up reading old mags or having a 'rewind' on Hollywood goss as I am a devotee to E! Entertainment Channel...

Ok now, for the trip to KK, I have 4th June - 14th June to celebrate cuzzie's wedding as well as party with the family!!! Yes, we are Sabahans afterall... Anyway, can't wait till both Clarie and Andy get married - I mean, finally... They have been trying to get married for some time now and thank God that it's finally here. Congrats to both of you!!! Will never missed the wedding for the world...

Another pleasant thing is I will be hosting a friend who is visiting Sabah for the 1st time - Rubes, believe me, you will feel at home there... I need to plan what to show her as she has only 3 days only this trip - yes, I do hope that there'll be another trip **wink**

Back to the wedding (yes, I am so excited for them!!! and I just love weddings), I have a simple pink dress for the church ceremony and just in case, I have another bolder pink for night one hehehe...

Gosh, now I have 2 guys doing colouring on my hair and since I've asked for my hair to have 'body', I am getting digital perm as well... My first digital perm hehehe... We'll see how it goes **fingers crossed**

May Songs

2009-05-12T23:30:00.002+08:00

I received new songs for May and I think that both are equally challenging. One to work on my low note while the other one is more to improve my breathing technique. For those who know my YouTube account, stay tuned.

The first one is an older song, "You Gotta Be" by Desiree

Artist: Desiree
Album: I Ain't Movin'
Year: 1994
Title: You Gotta Be

Listen as your day unfolds,
Challenge what the future holds
Try and keep your head up to the sky
Lovers, they may cause you tears
Go ahead release your fears
Stand up and be counted
Don't be ashamed to cry

You gotta be...
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day

Herald what your mother said
Read the books your father read
Try to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time
Some may have more cash than you
Others take a different view
My oh my, yea, eh, eh

You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day

Time ask no questions, it goes on without you
Leaving you behind if you can't stand the pace
The world keeps on spinning
can't stop it, if you tried to
This best part is danger staring you in the face
(wo0o0o)

Listen as your day unfolds
Challenge what the future holds
Try and keep your head up to the sky
Lovers, they may cause you tears
Go ahead release your fears
My oh my, eh, eh, eh

You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day
Yea, yea, yea

You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day
Yea yea

Got to be bold, Got to be bad
Got to be wise, Do what others say
Got to be hard, Not too too hard
All I know is love will save the day

You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together
(fade)

The second one is a more recent song, "Thinking of You" by Katy Perry:

Artist: Katy Perry
Album: One of the Boys
Year: 2009
Title: Thinking of You

Comparisons are easily done once you've
had a taste of perfection like an
apple hanging from a tree, I picked the
ripest one, I still... got the seed

You said move on, Where do I go
I guess second best is all I will know

Cause when I'm with him
I am thinking of you, Thinking of you
What you would do if
You were the one who was spending the night
Oh I wish that I... was looking into your eyes...

You're like an Indian summer in the
middle of the winter, like a hard candy with a
surprise center, how do I get better
Once I've had the best, you said there's
Tons of fish in the water, so the waters I will test

He kissed my lips, I taste your mouth ohhh
He pulled me in, I was disgusted with myself

Cause when I'm with him
I am thinking of you, Thinking of you
What you would do if
You were the one who was spending the night
Oh I wish that I... was looking into...

You're the best, And yes I do regret
How I could let myself Let you go-o-o
Now the lesson's learned, I touched it I was burned
Oh I think you should know!!!

Cause when I'm with him
I am thinking of you, Thinking of you
What you would do if
You were the one who was spending the night
Oh I wish that I... was looking into your eyes...
Looking into your eyes
Looking into your eyes
Oh won't you walk through
And bust in the door and
take me away ohhh
no more mistakes
Cause in your eyes I'd like to stay...
stay...ay,ay,ay yeee...

Missed or Wanted?

2009-05-05T03:49:00.003+08:00

Working very late again tonight and like I've mentioned in my previous posting, blogging is a way for me to stay awake. Tonight I am still awake because the stocktake processing needs to be done. To keep myself busy, I have CSI: NY playing, mafia war games going on and now, I feel like blogging.

Now, back to what's bugging me; I hate it when I have something in my mind but I can't let it out loud, so it is therapeutic to blog about it instead. There's something that I have been thinking for some time now. I may have jotted some down here or there in my previous postings...

Have you guys ever experienced this situation? If yes, please answer my title above. If no, what do you think you would do if you were in the same situation?

Just imagine yourself having a group of people who claim themselves as family or friends but have been behaving as follows:
1 - 'These people' don't call you - actually they do, go to No. 2
2 - 'These people' will call you but not to ask how are you, but to get something out of you (could be money or any sort of assistance)
3 - 'These people' will talk among themselves about you (you will find out once you meet one of them and wow, he/she knows your progress?)
4 - 'These people' will go out / have their gatherings but could not be bothered to call or ask you to come along even if you are in the same area (of course you'll find out through posted pics / blog - internet is not as big as it seems afterall)
5 - 'These people' seemed to dislike people that you hang around with (at times, you could see jealousy but disguised as anger towards your other groups of friends/family members)

Personally, I am very honest in my feelings. If I like something, I'll show it and if I don't like something, I will still show it. For me, life is too short to keep things in your heart. Tell what you feel now or forever hold your peace - no point raising the issue way after it happens, right?

For me, no matter what 'these people' do, I still, in my own way, love them. Most of the time, when they ask me for something, they'll get it - as long as it is within my means. Being someone who cares and protective, I tend to ask a lot more questions about them from others as I do not get updates from 'these people', right? When I call 'these people', they seemed to be too busy or pretend that they are in the middle of something, so conversations are usually cut short. I have been around long enough to get the message when people do not want to talk to me. When asked about the outings done without me, 'these people' will say that it was a spontaneous outing.

Why don't people just tell in front of your face that they don't like you, they don't want to hang out with you, but they are just pretending to be nice in front of you because they may, one day, need your help??? Shameful on those who use people this way and remember, there is always karma, right? If you do not want others to treat you that way, then you do not treat others like that too... Oh well, as long as my conscience is clear, I am content. Sometimes people forget what you've done to help them before this... **sigh** I am actually not angry, but very very sad and disappointed...

Ok readers, what do you think? With all the scenario above, when 'these people' search for you, do they miss you or do they just want something from you??

What would you do next???

Sleep Sleep Go Away

2009-05-01T00:29:00.004+08:00

It's the eve of labour day and Malaysians are having long weekend this week... yay!!! But not for me though, I have to do a bit of processing in the system this weekend as users will not be using the system.

Actually, I have been delaying my blogging because I just don't have time to do it. There are so many things that I've told myself to write about and they are all at the back of my mind - some may be stale news already though - so, sorry peeps...

I just remembered that I will miss my cousin sister's wedding in Labuan on 2nd May. Gosh, sorry Linda, I wish I could be there - really, really want to go but there are so many things to do in the office...

I have not been sleeping well for the past few weeks, the system is up and running but we have so much of backlogs in the stocktake that we need to catch up. So, less sleep but need to stay awake... How do I do it? Here are some tips on how to stay awake (without drugs, without the illegal stuffs):

1 - Don't eat too much for dinner - the less food you eat, the longer you'll stay awake.

2 - While waiting for processing to be done before going to second step, you can leave the processing on your laptop but in order to stay awake, you can put up a movie or box-set on your TV (make sure that you are really-really into the show though - else you'll feel sleepy).

3 - Play some games. Ok - this is a bit tricky. You want to play a game that would not distract you from checking the processing progress from time to time. So, it's best to try the short games. I have the Mafia Wars on Facebook that helps (a lil' bit) and the free games on www.king.com. Try them out especially the King's games, they are short and easy.

4 - Bake cake and do cake decorating while the system processing is going on :-) This could be messy though thus I usually think twice before doing this. Already you'll be tired with the no-sleep thing, you don't want to be swarmed with the cleaning up due to the baking and decorating, right?

5 - Blog... At least, with this, your brain will be busy writing and your fingers can't stop typing because you may lose those 'nice' moments where the 'brain juice' just keeps on flowing with ideas. I do hate those moments as when I type too fast, I tend to mis-spell words or miss out a word in between words that I have to backtrack and may lose the main idea.

Now, until my next posting, I will need to continue with my proessing. Forgive my spelling / grammar as I am keeping my eyes open and brain functioning longer than normal here...

April Song

2009-04-19T01:35:00.003+08:00

Warwick Avenue by Duffy

When I get to Warwick Avenue
Meet me by the entrance of the tube
We can talk things over a little time
Promise me you won't step outta line

When I get to Warwick Avenue
Please drop the past and be true
Don't think we're okay, just because I'm here
You hurt me bad, but I won't shed a tear

I'm leaving you for the last time baby
You think you're loving but you don't love me
I've been confused outta my mind lately
You think you're loving but I want to be free
Baby you've hurt me

When I get to Warwick Avenue
We'll spend an hour, but no more than two
Our only chance to speak once more
I showed you the answers, now here's the door

When I get to Warwick Avenue
I'll tell you baby that we're through

I'm leaving you for the last time baby
You think you're loving but you don't love me
I've been confused outta my mind lately
You think you're loving but you don't love me
I want to be free, baby you've hurt me

All the days spent together, I wished for better
But I didn't want the train to come, now it's departed
I'm broken hearted, seems like we never started
All those days spent together, when I wished for better
And I didn't want the train to come... ohhh...

You think you're loving but you don't love me
I want to be free, baby you've hurt me
You don't love me, I want to be free
Baby you've hurt me

This is the version that I am listening to now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0gWKN5evUA

Check it out!!!

Earth Hour, Sat, 28th March 2009

2009-04-04T14:57:00.016+08:00

The Earth Hour 2009 has been publicised so much that I'm sure everyone must have heard about it. I thought that everyone must at least care about the whole activity and was taken by surprise when I was forwarded by a newspaper article with a reader's opinion that is sort of negative towards the whole Earth Hour thingy... Here's the snippet:

Click the image in order to read it ya?

Anyway, I was taken aback by this person's view but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, right?

So, what did we do? I accompanied a friend to somewhere in the deep side of Klang for her cousin's wedding - sure lucky that there were 2 of us because it rained (or shall I say stormed) so heavily and we got lost. Garmin didn't help either as the place is a new place. After the whole wedding thingy, we rushed back home to join the rest of the people in the house. Since we had friends passing Kajang, we ordered satay and got together in our house. 5 minutes before the 8.30pm, we lit the candles, turned off the lights and went up to our open rooftop to have the view of the city. We saw how KLCC turned its lights gradually from top to bottom. KL Hilton and Le Meridien also turned off their logo lights. Most of our neighbours followed, leaving just a couple of houses well lit... maybe they forgotton about the whole thing. After taking some 'dark' pics, we went down for our dinner. Even 8TV turned off its service during that hour... The thought of millions of people doing the same thing at the same time is so cool!!!

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure:

KLCC just before lights off

Poses on the rooftop

Enjoying our candlelit dinner together - pics with flash hehe (as if no Earth Hour ya?)

Enjoying our candlelit dinner together - pics without flash

I hope that the rest of you had fun during the Earth Hour 2009, we had so much fun talking etc that we actually spent nearly 2 hours with the candles hehehe...

Till next time, peace!!!

Misfortunes and Friday The 13th

2009-03-17T20:57:00.003+08:00

To my readers, I am sure that it is odd not to see my posting on the last 2 episodes of American Idol Season 8. They are now from Top 13 to Top 10 as Jasmine Murray, Jorge Nunez and Alice Grace were voted out. I was sad for both Jorge and Alice as I think that both of them have potential.

As for the reason of why I have not been watching AI for the past 2 weeks:
1) Been very-very busy - up to the point that I could not even catch the repeats. Been swarmed with tons and tons of work. The main problem is the teams are going to be slow if I throw more tasks to them at this point in time. Plus, of course, there are too many scriptings involved this time of the year. With integration to the coming WMS to the scripts needed to migrate older branches to the R1 system. It does not help that during the day, I am following up on the projects handled by various IT teams in the department. I believe that if we don't update each other and if I don't keep track of the progress of each and every projects on weekly basis, the projects will not move. At the end of the day, they are resources that need to be watched because there are many other tasks that they will be required to do apart from the projects that they are handling. People tend to get side-tracked and being a meticulous person that I am, I just need to ensure that each tasks are completed properly instead of just completed.

2) We lost our Astro - the weather has been crazy nowadays with thunderstorm every now and then. We came back one day and there was a blackout, basically a power trip. The rain was pouring like cats and dogs (is there anything worse than that? hmmm need to find one). We could not open the gate with the remote control so pour hubby had to go down to open the gate manually - this is not an easy task with the rain and it was dark (I think that it was after 8pm or something). When we finally stepped into the house, we found out that the TV, VCR and Astro in our master bedroom were not working. Basically, all these equipments were connected to Astro. We got the electrician to check the next day and he told us that most probably, the surge must have come from the Astro equipment as our house wiring is fine. We have not gotten the replacement TV (thinking of buying an LCD TV as the price that we got is pretty good) so Astro can't be checked on until TV is around. Well, it's not as if we have the time to watch TV but at least, I will try to catch AI again **sigh**

Now, I'm not sure how many of you knew the fact that we had a Friday the 13th this month, March 2009. I thought that there will be no disaster going to happen on that day. In fact, I even sort of forgotten about that Friday being a Friday the 13th until...

Yes, I just have to do a Purchase Order purging exercise on that day, right? Well, I had been doing this since early March and since it was a Friday, I've decided to run the function against all our franchise branches. On the next day, suddenly, we received calls from franchises that all purchase orders that they have created the day before are missing. How could that have happened? The weird thing is the function is within the system and it is designed to delete only completed or cancelled purchase orders up to a specified date. I searched hi and low for each logs created by this function and found nothing that states the function was run for 2009 orders. All the logs point up to Dec-2008 and since the branches claim that the missing orders are neither completed nor cancelled, the function will not pick them up. But why are they gone from the system??? Creepy but true - from now on, I will avoid doing anything major on any Friday the 13th. I believe that it is naturally jinxed. I even had to explained myself to my Boss on the mistake and Friday the 13th, as I do not have any logical reason to why the orders went missing from the system. Gosh... my biggest opps ever!!!

So, now you guys may understand why I have not been blogging for the past few weeks - even my Facebook was neglected. I went in for the first time after a month and found:
1) They have changed the HOME page. Got to learn the new navigation on this page - grrrrr...
2) I had, like, more than 100 notifications which include about 85 of various types of request. I took 2 hours to IGNORE and ACCEPT the requests, reply my Inbox and Wall messages. Sorry friends for the delay...

Ok - looks like this has turned out to be a long posting. I better stop and continue later... In the meantime, support the coming EARTH HOUR on Sat, 28th March 2009 from 8.30pm - 9.30pm. Hubby and I are planning to do the same thing then will go to our rooftop and look at the surroundings - see whether others in Bangsar and KL are supporting this event.

Bye for now...

New Songs to practice for Mar/Apr 2009

2009-03-12T00:50:00.004+08:00

The songs that I got this time is a bit mellow compared to Katy Perry's 'Hot n Cold'.
I would say my teacher really knows how to pick songs for me:

1st song - Honesty (rearranged by Jaya, a Filipino soul queen):

If you search for tenderness
It isn't hard to find
You can have the love you need to live
But if you look for truthfulness
You might just as well be blind
It always seems to be so hard to give

CHORUS:
Honesty is such a lonely word
Ev'ryone is so untrue,
Honesty is hardly ever heard
And mostly what I need from you

I can always find someone
To say they sympathize
If I wear my heart out on my sleeve,
But I don't want some pretty face
To tell me pretty lies
And all I want is someone to believe

CHORUS:
Honesty is such a lonely word
Ev'ryone is so untrue,
Honesty is hardly ever heard
And mostly what I need from you

REFRAIN:
I can find a lover
I can find a friend,
I can have security
Until the bitter end,
Anyone can comfort me
With promises again,
I know (I know), I know
Woh, woh

When I'm deep inside of me
Don't be too concerned
I won't ask for nothin' while I'm gone
But when I want sincerity
Tell me, where else can I turn?
'Cause you're the one that I depend upon

CHORUS:
Honesty is such a lonely word
Ev'ryone is so untrue,
Honesty is hardly ever heard
And mostly what I need from you

Only you...

To listen to the song, please copy and paste in a new browser the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AELD4ag-D7s&fmt=18

My 2nd song is a short one, titled 'How Did You Know', originally sang by Gary Valenciano but this one is by another Filipino singer, Aiza Seguerra.

INTRO

I remember so well
The day that you came into my life
You asked for my name
You had the most beautiful smile

My life started to change
I'd wake up each day feeling alright
With you right by my side
Makes me feel things will work out just fine

CHORUS:
How did you know
I needed someone like you in my life
That there was an empty space in my heart
You came at the right time in my life

I'll never forget
How you brought the sun to shine in my life
And took all the worries and fears that I had
I guess what I'm really trying to say
It's not everyday that someone like you comes my way
No words can express how much I love you

Repeat Chorus

Here's the video found on YouTube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrxKAGtg2O0&fmt=18

Enjoy the vids and tell me what do you guys think?

AI8: Here's the Top 13 Contestants

2009-03-08T02:12:00.005+08:00

So, here's our Top 13 (I think that one of the weeks, we'll have 2 eliminations):
1. Adam Lambert (from Group 2)

2. Alexis Grace (from Group 1)

3. Allison Iraheta (from Group 2)

4. Anoop Desai (from Wildcard, previously performed in Group 1)

5. Danny Gokey (from Group 1)

6. Jasmine Murray (from Wildcard, previously performed in Group 2)

7. Jorge Nunez (from Group 3)

8. Kris Allen (from Group 2)

9. Lil Rounds (from Group 3)

10. Matt Giraud (from Wildcard, previously performed in Group 2)

11. Megan Joy (from Wildcard, previously performed in Group 2)

12. Michael Sarver (from Group 1)

13. Scott MacIntyre (from Group 3)

We'll see what will happen next week...

AI8: Wild Card Episode

2009-03-07T23:53:00.010+08:00

Interesting group tonight, I thought that I would miss this episode but finally got a chance to watch it over in 8TV.

The night started off with:

1. Jesse Langseth - “Tell Me Something Good” by Rufus and Chaka Khan

Bad first verse... but she has this soulful thing going on and actually I had fun watching her.

Randy: It was an interesting song to choose but I don't think that you sang it that well. There were some interesting note choice but it wasn't anything great, just fine for me.
Kara: You definitely had some notes that were definitely not on key but I like about you is that you just got a swagger and you really come alive, like Sacha Fierce or something.
Paula: I'm just so impressed with your tenacity and determination tonight. You picked a song that's hard to sing and I'm really impressed.
Simon: You were totally last minute when we made our choice and I'm glad that we did. You did a lot lot better than we first saw you the first time. But, I thought that the song and performance was slightly indulgent though and it was more about you than anything else and actually you really have a good voice.

2. Matt Giraud - “Who’s Loving You” by Jackson 5

He could sing but I think that he likes to overdo songs... He should not overdo his performance as it becomes too much for me.

Kara: Thank you for bringing back the bluesy soulful Matt. You can rigg amazingly, little bit over the top performance but it was great.
Paula: This is the right zone for you. Don't go against what you're great at.
Simon: It was a billion times better than last week. I hate what you're wearing because it looks like a bit of try-hard and I saw bits of Taylor Hicks coming through.
Randy: You made everyone sitting in this room scared and made them run for their money.

3. Megan Corkrey - “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” by KT Tunstall

Close competition to Jesse, in my opinion. Very fun to watch her and she had that soulful voice in her...

Paula: You look beautiful tonight and you picked a song that fits your personality.
Simon: I've always liked you and I still like you. You’re terrific and what I like about you is that you are current, you have your own originality, you're quirky. It's not the best vocal, but it doesn’t matter because you're terrific.
Randy: I could see you making this kind of records, nice choice.
Kara: I think that we need you because you give some variety to what's already up there. You're different, you're unique and I hope you would stay, you do.

Yeah right, Kara... This is judges' choice so Megan is really going to be in!

4. Von Smith - “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” by Elton John

Funny starting... Could see that he tries so hard although he changed the song to show the high notes (which he didn't really hit well)

Simon: I love that song but you started to be boring. There were something that we like about you when we first saw you. So, I'm not crazy about that.
Randy: It looks like you started to be serious.
Kara: I wasn't crazy about the song choice either. You have what it takes but you haven't dialed it in yet.
Paula: You started thinking too hard.

5. Jasmine Murray - “Reflection” by Christine Aguilera

She has improved so much - not as pitchy as before.

Randy: 100% improvement, there were some great bright spots
Kara: I am confused, I didn't know she had that big voice
Paula: You picked a beautiful song, you were determined although there were some bad notes somewhere
Simon: It was a very very brave song choice and I think that you've just put yourself back into the running

6. Ricky Braddy - “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder

Fun song - this guy can sing!!! Only lack of stage presence...

Kara: Good job. You can sing your butt off, you held your own
Paula: You nailed it and you had fun
Simon: I think you sounded good. For me, it's a bit karaoke and the performance was a bit clumsy. I'm a bit disappointed
Randy: That song is not quite the song for you

What's wrong with Simon and Randy tonight??? Gosh, were they in some sort of vacuum space that they could not hear properly???

7. Tatiana Del Toro - “Saving All My Love For You” by Whitney Houston

Gosh, even her intro video was annoying for me... Another Whitney number??? I know that she is trying to show off her big voice - which she did very well... Annoying, annoying, annoying...

Paula: You started off shaky then you went to the big voice and I thought she could sing
Simon: We heard you sang this song for the 3rd time already. Drama... drama... drama... gosh, enough Tatiana...
Randy: It started off really rough, it’s a mixed bag with you.
Kara: At least, she's not crying...

8. Anoop Desai - “My Prerogative” by Bobby Brown

Interesting song choice by Anoop. Started off shaky with the low notes but he did well after that. Very well performed and Paula was enjoying herself...

Simon: You’re like an enthusiastic dog. Not the best singer we had, but people like you, that’s important
Randy: You did better this time than the last time you sang. Anoop Brown Dog
Kara: I want to get up and dance
Paula: You’re whipping out moves that are a little nasty there. I’m glad you picked the same song

Wow - the judges decided fast:

1. Jasmine - Randy confirmed that she's IN (I do not like it)
2. Ricky - Kara: Tonight you showed a lot of your personality but not enough

3. Megan
4. Tatiana

Paula: We all decided that we are going with Megan. Tatiana, we love you.

5. Jesse - Simon: Jesse, unfortunately you didn't, you nearly did...

6. Von - Paula: Von, I really enjoyed you and I believe that you would be a recording artist unfortunately you didn't make it

7. Anoop
8. Matt

Simon: Matt, you made it through to the final round. Anoop, we decided recently we are going to make this a Top 13. That's a shocker.

Overall, I find the judges' choices tonight are not spot-on. I would trade Matt with Ricky and Jasmine with Jesse... Oh well...

AI8: Top 36 (Group 3) - Results

2009-03-06T23:49:00.004+08:00

Tonight's show started off with all Group 3 participants singing Katy Perry's "Hot and Cold" - nice rendition

Ryan mentioned that they will announce the names who will perform for the wild card episode.

Here's the announcement order:
1. Lil Rounds - IN (definitely...)

Next, one will make it from the group:
2. Arianna - OUT
3. Taylor - OUT
4. Alex - OUT
5. Kendall OUT
6. Scott - IN (I am so proud of him)

7. Nate - OUT
8. Kristen - OUT

9. Felicia - OUT
10. Von - OUT

awww... I was hoping both of them would make it through... But, both of them are equally good, so I have mixed feelings abt this.

11. Ju'Not - OUT
12. Jorge - IN

Next, judges' wildcard picks...

Randy announced first:
1. Von Smith

Kara announced:
2. Jasmine Murray

Paula brought:
3. Ricky Braddy

Simon aka 'Darth Vader' announced:
4. Megan Corkrey

Next 4 to join the wildcard episode are:
5. Tatiana Del Toro - OMG, she's so annoying, pleasseee stop talking and crying
6. Matt Giraud
7. Jesse Langseth
8. Anoop Desai

Gosh, I was hoping for Ju'Not to be in the wildcard. Oh well, what to do la...

Aiyaaa... the thought of seeing Tatiana really is killing me. I wish that she could just NOT do anything or say anything. Just sing and it would be ok...

AI8: Top 36 (Group 3)

2009-03-05T08:31:00.013+08:00

I am so anticipating this group as there are some more people there that I want to see them perform: they have Scott MacIntyre, Taylor Vaifanua, Jorge Nunez, Ju’Not Joyner and Felicia Barton. Interesting? Definitely...

1. Von Smith - “You’re All I Need to Get By” - by Marvin Gaye

Simon says that Von reminds him of Clay Aiken, and that Von sang well.

I personally don't like Von - nothing special - although not pitchy compared to the rest of the contestants from previous 2 weeks.

2. Taylor Vaifanua - “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys

I've always loved Taylor's tone - but I think she picked the wrong song here - started off a bit shaky with the low notes. Disappointing and boring, next... She started crying after she ended her performance.

All judges said that they know she has strong vocal but they are disappointed with her performance tonight. Simon said that her performance was not terrible but just generic. She didn't show her personality tonight - that was Randy's comment.

3. Alex Wagner-Trugman - “I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues” - by Elton John

I call him The Geek for this season - don't you guys think that he looks geeky (I mean in a nice a way). Anyway, I feel like I am in a karaoke lounge tonight. Alex tried to do the husky rock voice and it sounded so weird for the song. He actually dropped the microphone stand hahaha...

Paula said that he was entertaining and glad that Alex managed to show his inner rock star in him. Simon said that Alex's growling was ridiculous and stupid. Randy agreed with Simon too, saying that Alex screamed in that song.

4. Arianna Afsar - “The Winner Takes it All” by ABBA

The first ABBA song ever in Idol... Scary song to sing because some parts of this song is high. Arrggghhhhh.... why???? She changed the song until it sounded so bad - she should have sang the original version. When she tried to reach high notes, it was so bad.

Simon said that the arrangement was dreary and it was Arianna's worst performance by a clear mile. Randy said that it wasn't right song. Kara said that the performance was so depressing. Paula said that a song like ABBA, sometimes it is better to just stick to the melody.

5. Ju’Not Joyner - “Hey There Delilah” - by The Plain White

I like his rendition of this song - he could be one of the Boys II Men guys, man... The first performer tonight who didn't disappoint me. Very good R&B tone there.

Randy said that Ju'Not switched the song up and Kara said that he was so smooth there. Paula liked it while Simon said that he thought the performance was actually better than what he thought it was going to be although Ju'Not could have trashed the song more to have some good moments.

6. Kristen McNamara - “Give Me One Reason” by Tracy Chapman

I like her vocal - she can sing. But I don't like the re-arrangement of the song though.

Kara said that Kristen should do rock song. Paula said that she has the range. Simon said that the song choice is odd although she has a great voice. Randy agrees with me on the rearrangement of the song too.

7. Nate Marshall - “I Would Do Anything for Love” - by Meatloaf

I was a bit scared that I heard the song title. It was not bad at all but for me, the whole performance was weird. From Nate's dressing to his performance style. At least, he didn't really destroy the song.

Simon said that the majority would be verging on excruciating and Simon said that he likes Nate as he is fun. Randy said that Nate definitely could sing but can't imagine what kind of song Nate should be recording. Kara wants Nate to be her karaoke buddy.

8. Felicia Barton - “No One” by Alicia Keys

I am waiting for her as I could not really remember her in the Hollywood weeks. She has strong vocal but she was trying to be Alicia Keys too much la... But, she is pretty - maybe, she will be forgiven for some of the glitches.

Paula said that she hopes that Felicia will come back. Simon said that it was a bit copycat. Randy said that it was a great performance. Kara said that she noticed Felicia for the first time tonight.

9. Scott MacIntyre - “Mandolin Rain” - by Bruce Hornsby

Great song choice - very strong performance. Emotional and all... I love it.

Randy said that it was not a perfect vocal but overall, it was great and job well done. Kara said that Scott moved mountains when he was on stage. Paula said that she can't wait for people to see him play his piano. Simon said that he's not crazy about the song choice but among all the contestants tonight, he would remember Scott. What shocked me was when Simon said, "I'm going to be amazed if you don't sail through to the next round, young man". Wow, a pretty strong indication there...

10. Kendall Beard - “This One’s for the Girls” by Martina McBride

Kendall looks like she is Carrie Underwood in the making. She can really do country - someone like

Kara said that Kendall is definitely a country girl but she had some issues with her notes etc. Paula complimented her to have the best dress. Simon said that she did the right thing tonight but she was shrilly towards the end. Randy said that the real issue is that the vocal wasn't Kendall's best.

11. Jorge Nunez - “Don’t Let the Sun go Down on Me” - by Elton John

Puerto-Rican Jorge gave me goose-bumps - he hit the notes so perfectly. He just sang accordingly to the notes and didn't overdo the song. I think that this was the best performance so far tonight...

Paula said that she's so proud of him and she noticed how hard he worked with his dialect. Simon said that he has a good voice and that Jorge should be who he is. Randy loved it while Kara said that Jorge is born to sing.

12. Lil Rounds - “Be Without You” by Mary J. Blige

Since the very beginning, she reminds me of Fantasia. She looked good, she sang so well and talking about big vocal and personality, she is the one!!! Goose-bumps all over, man!!! Definitely Top 12 candidate...

Simon briefly said it was brilliant and that she has great-great prospects in this competition. Randy said that Lil Rounds is one of the best they've found, hands down... Kara said that she is a powerhouse while Paula said that Lil Rounds was first class and that she has this feeling that we are going to see her for many more 'lil rounds to come.

This group is far better than the previous 2. There are so many potentials here and very difficult to choose 3 out of the 12, so I am going to pick 4 instead of 3.

My picks:
1. Lil Rounds - how come the last performer is always the best one? Danny & Adam...
2. Jorge Nunez - why not, he's the best guy in this group
3. Scott MacIntyre - people would want to see more of him
4. Ju’Not Joyner - another fine performance

AI8: Top 36 (Group 2) - Results

2009-03-02T09:47:00.003+08:00

Well, as expected Adam Lambert and young Allison Iraheta got through to the next round.

Kirk Allen is not a bad choice too although I think that it would much more interesting to see Mishavonna Henson in the show.

Oh well, let's see what will the Group 3 offer us.

AI8: Top 36 (Group 2)

2009-02-27T02:30:00.003+08:00

I missed the 8pm show tonight **sad face** and ended to wait till 12.30am to watch the show. I was excited with this group because of Allison, the 16-year-old girl and the rocker, Adam Lambert. Plus of course the AI8 singing comedian, Normund Gentle or Nick Mitchell…

Anyway, I am going to type as I watch the show so bear with my English ya?

1. Jasmine Murray - “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles
All the judges didn’t like the performance while Simon started by saying something nice about her, saying that she has everything except for voice. He looked so disappointed and he thinks that she’s a few years too early for this.

She was off key – OMG!!! What happened? I wonder whether she could listen to herself on stage… For me, there was not even one good moment and I don’t even like her arrangement for this song. First one to perform and screw up her song choice.

2. Matt Giraud - “Viva La Vida” - by Coldplay
Unanimously all the judges were not satisfied with his performance as he didn’t show much of his voice capability with this song. Simon used the word HORRIBLE…

I think that he has so much potential but he just didn’t get this one right. Again, another wrong song choice.

3. Jeanine Vailes - “This Love” by Maroon 5
Again, another wrong song choice. Paula started off with her great legs and all the judges just started saying the same thing first – nice legs, great legs, nice lips? It seems that they have nothing nice to say about her performance. Randy even said that, “It would have been nice if it was in tune”. Gosh, for Randy to make such a remark, she is bad.

I was cringing from the beginning to the end of her performance – my dear hubby entered our room and made a face when he heard her. OMG!!! I am so surprised with this week’s performance. The first 3 contestants performed and they failed miserably.

4. Nick Mitchell - “And I Am Telling You” by Jennifer Holiday
After seeing the first 3 bad performances, Nick, who performed as Normund Gentle, was a breath of fresh air. He was hilarious but at least, in most part, he was in tune. He will definitely get to perform on another type of stage – maybe a comedy musical?

Simon said that he prayed Nick will not go through to next round and that his performance was the most atrocious performances we’ve had at this stage. Randy said that he was funny. Kara said that at least people will remember him, he is not a terrible singer and she was entertained. Paula said that he is fun while Ryan Seacrest stated that this is the first time that a contestant went to second base with the logo.

5. Allison Iraheta - “Alone” by Heart
Natural talent is definitely there. There were some pitchy times but after the horrible performances before her – she’s forgiven. To think that she’s only 16 to feel so comfortable on stage, definitely a Top 12 candidate!!!

Randy said that she blew it out of the box and the hottest tonight. Kara said that she has serious chops. Paula said that it is refreshing to see a 16-year-old who could work with the mic and mic stand so professionally and compared her to Kelly Clarkson. Simon said that she’s the best tonight by a mile with the confidence that she has although she was so boring when she was interviewed by Ryan before she sang.

6. Kris Allen - “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson
Uh oh… bad start but he sort of worked it out until the pitchy chorus. He is one of the better guys to watch as his voice may not be the best but it is not below average either (compared to the rest of Top 36 guys).

Kara started again with her Hollywood week comparison, saying Kris picked a wrong song. Paula disagreed with Kara, saying that he nailed the song and charming up there. Simon, surprisingly, agreed with Paula, saying that the effort and confidence are there, the chics would love him. Randy said that Kris proved that he could sing without the guitar…

7. Megan Joy Corkrey - “Put Your Records On” by Corinne Baily Rae
Not perfect but not bad either. Nobody seemed to perform with the right tune and pitch tonight – very disappointing for me as we are talking about the Top 36 out of hundreds of thousands here **sigh** But, I may put a vote on her. So far, she is ranked 3rd in this group for me…

Paula said she did everything right, from the song to her style. Simon described her as a funny little thing and gorgeous. She started off good but may have gotten over-excited in the middle that she oversang the song. Randy said she did a nice job. Kara said that with the right song, she could be a break out artist in the radio.

8. Matt Breitzke - “If You Can Only See” by Tonic
First person to have the least pitch problem but it was not great. I didn’t like it at all except for the fact that he was not pitchy.

The judges were frustrated with his performance saying that he was boring because he chose the wrong song.

I don’t like him when he talked back at Simon’s comment.

9. Jesse Langseth - “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes
I like this song. She was pitchy when she started off the song but picked up later – at least someone knows how to listen to herself with the loud sound system. But I really wish that she uses a stronger tone to sing this song…

Randy said that the song was cool and the performance was okay but not really exciting. Kara said that her look tonight is her best and there are some moments that she liked in that performance. Paula found her captivating throughout the whole show and that her phrasing is very unique. Surprisingly, Simon said that she was forgettable, although she has a good voice but the performance was too cool for school.

10. Kai Kalama - “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” by Jimmy Ruffin
I would call Kai’s performance as enjoyable… Whether he is good enough to go on to the next round? I am not sure.

Old fashioned is the description that all the judges used. Simon said that he could be a very good backup singer though.

11. Mishavonna Henson - “Drops of Jupiter” by Train
Another girl with good tone of voice for an 18 year old. She is not as good as Allison in terms of stage presence but I think that she could step up the challenge. Tough choice for the girls tonight…

Paula said that she can sing but she doesn’t like the song choice. Simon said that something left him very cold with that performance, that she acts as if she is a 50 year old. Randy said that she should sing something young while Kara commented that she should loosen up a bit. Overall, all of them said that she is a good singer.

12. Adam Lambert - “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones
So goth in terms of appearance!!! What a range of vocal shown in one song… Wow… although there were some parts where he sounded like he was screeching but there are some parts that are so amazing. He is the best among all the guys tonight.

Paula loved it saying that Adam is on his own league. Simon said that this is one of the love-it or hate-it performances and that Adam will get through to the next round. Randy loved it too. Kara said that his vocal technique ability is outrageous.

Hmmm… all in all, tonight’s show is a bit below last week’s with so many contestants screwed up with the song choice and pitch.

My picks:
1. Adam Lambert
2. Allison Iraheta
3. Mishavonna Henson

Being Sentimental...

2009-02-25T13:49:00.000+08:00

I am not sure why, but today I seem to miss my hometown so much. Maybe it's the weather (it has been raining since I woke up this morning) but as I was driving to work today, I couldn't help but feeling homesick. Maybe also because of the hectic and stressful situation at work these past months. My mind maybe is telling me to take a break and do a bit of visiting to my grandma and relatives in kampung (village).

It is hard being away from hometown as I don't get to meet up with the rest of the family members as often. Since I am not much of a phone chatter, it is even harder... I rather be there for a gathering, whether it is for anniversaries or weddings, and we will be able to get everyone together. As I browsed the Christmas pics uploaded by a cousin over the Net, I missed the open house because I was in Sitiawan, Perak, attending a wedding... I could see I missed the family gathering this year... I am sure certain nieces and nephews may not even know me when I see them, vice versa... Sad but true... One day, there may be time when I bump into them and we may not even recognise each other... Hate that feeling!!!

Whatever it is, I know that I would do anything for any of my family members and relatives. Whatever persona that we put up when we meet each other, the feeling is always there and will stay true. Maybe, they are not aware of this but they are important to me...

One In A Million Week 1 - Immunity Winner (Esther Chin)

2009-02-23T00:05:00.003+08:00

Check out this Sabahan...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irkX0LFpvfQ&fmt=18

I think that it is fair to say that we can see who is the winner of One In A Million Season 3... She is talented and she has the strong powerful voice. Will see how far the voters agree with this... I hate it when the voters are not fair though...

Be Careful What You Wished For

2009-02-22T22:32:00.007+08:00

I finally got to finish my first book for 2009 - 'Be Careful What You Wish For' by Alexandra Potter. This is my first book by this author. It was a coincident that I picked it up after my vocal class. I was searching for books to read so I went to Popular book store after class - they have a discount section so I went through it and found this book - the blurb was funny so I decided to give it a try. It is a paperback copy with 368 pages - just nice for light reading :-)

I find that the book is nicely written, fun, fast pacing and manages to answer a few questions, like what if indeed every wish we made came true, would that necessarily be a good thing? The book's main character, Heather Hamilton is always wishing for things and we are not talking about the 'big and impossible' things like world peace or for a date with Brad Pitt, but also small-small things. In fact, she's so used to make wishes that she does it without even thinking... Some of the things that she wishes for, "I wish I could get a seat on the tube...I hadn't eaten that entire bag of Maltesers...I could meet a man whose hobbies include washing up and monogamy..." She knows that there is no way that luck will be on her side so she keeps on wishing knowing that they will not come true. Until... one day, a gypsy sort of 'forced' her to buy a lucky heather (I forgot to tell that this is a British Lit. book). Suddenly, she finds a seat in the subway, finds place to park in front of her flat/apartment, a handsome American answers her ad to sublet her flat, the shoes she fancies is in a great sale (and she got the last pair in her size) and most of all, her neighbour that she's secretly been having crush on, takes notice of her, James aka 'The Perfect Man' who sends her flowers, excels in the bedroom, and isn't afraid to say "I love you"... Now, could there be a catch with all these wonderful things? It appears that there is...

It is an interesting book - chick lit. but interesting... I enjoyed reading it and as I finished the book, I realize the habit that humans have - always wishing for things without looking at what they already have... Well, people always think that the grass is always greener on the other side, right? At the end of the day, we should be thankful and appreciate of what we have now as whatever things that we wish for, may not actually be as wonderful as what we think they'll be...

Now peeps, I wish... hehe, I wish all of you to have a good week ahead - have to sleep early as tomorrow is Monday!!! Work, work, work.... And can't wait to watch the AI Grp 2 to perform on Wednesday!!!

AI8: Top 36 (Group 1)

2009-02-19T22:36:00.007+08:00

Hey peeps!!! Since I'm very-very busy but still do not feel complete if I don't write something on AI, I will try to post as many as I can. Well, the Americans have chosen their first 3 finalists to move to Top 12.

Before I list the names down, here's the summary of what happened during their performance night (in the order of appearance) and since I think that there are times that the other judges' opinions were off, I rather put Simon's comments here. At times, they were all having the same opinions and when they were not, I agree with Simon though... Simon means well and he speaks from the heart - although sometimes, he's too frank and not tactful but he gives his best opinion as much as possible...

1. Jackie Tohn - “A Little Less Conversation” by Elvis Presley
Simon used the words "ungainly" and "gimmicky" to describe her performance, saying that she may have blown a great opportunity.

For me, her performance was so forgettable...

2. Ricky Braddy - “A Song For You” - by Leon Russell
Simon said that he does not have star quality or charisma.

I think that he is one of the better singers in this group but yeah, his stage presence is not there...

3. Alexis Grace - “Never Loved a Man” by Aretha Franklin
All the judges loved her rendition of this big song. She even put her own 'thing' in the song, which shows her confidence in herself. Although she is just 21 years old, she sings as if she had been singing all her life...

Simon even said that she may be the little dark horse, comparing her to Kelly Clarkson.

4. Brent Keith - “Hicktown” by Jason Aldean
Simon said that he picked the wrong song but what I made me don't like Brent is the fact that he talked back, by saying, "Well I think that the country fans won’t think that’s forgettable"... Bad, bad...

5. Stevie Wright - “You Belong to Me” by Taylor Swift
Simon said that it was terrible and that she has zero chance making it to the next round.

She was off key and pitchy from the first note, and she didn't recover at all although deep down, I do hope that somehow she would...

6. Anoop Desai - “Angel of Mine” by Monica
Simon said that the song choice is a bit too grown up for him.

I think that he has a good voice - it would have been better if he picked soul type of song...

7. Casey Carlson - “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” by the Police
This one was just a horrible disaster, from the choice of clothes to the choice of song. Then, I didn't like the performance - she was making weird moves... ewww

Simon said that her singing was just atrocious and that she couldn’t have picked a worse song.

8. Michael Sarver - “I Don’t Wanna Be” by Gavin DeGraw
“We like you,” says Simon and he hopes that people give him another chance.

The song was fun but I think that he could have shown more range and dynamics in his voice by picking a more challenging song.

9. Anne Marie Boskovich - “Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin
She picked a song that was just too big for her... I think that even if Alexis Grace picked this song, she would have not done so well either... This song is a no-no song unless you could make it so much better than the original because to attempt to reach the diva Aretha's stage, it would be a suicide...

Simon labeled her as a 'hotel singer', saying that she may have ruined her only chance.

10. Stephen Fowler - “Rock With You” by Michael Jackson
Wow... this is another bad one. He was off tune and he attempted to do falsetto and didn't make all the way so the whole thing went down the drain.

Simon even wished that he had forgotten his lyrics and that both song and arrangement were just terrible.

11. Tatiana Del Toro - “Saving All My Love For You” by Whitney Houston
Simon said, "You are completely and utterly a drama queen". To add to that, he also said that she is desperate to be famous. Gosh...

She tried to show a different image though, she tried to be more calm and controlled. Paula even called her demure... What was very surprising to me is that this drama queen could actually sing. She performed so much better than the other girls in this group.

12. Danny Gokey - “Hero” by Mariah Carey
What can I say... he's one of my favourite and he will definitely make it through.

The other 3 judges just went over the top with the praises though while Simon's comment was more real saying, "It wasn’t fantastic but it was good".

Now, with the summary above, let's move on to the results. The 3 lucky contestants who got to move on to the next round are (in the order of announcement):
1 - Alexis Grace (I was really happy with this result)
2 - Michael Sarver (For a moment there, I thought that Anoop could have been the one... Ryan even announced later that the vote difference was just 20,000. That's a close one for Michael)
3 - Danny Gokey (This was predictable...)

As for chances to be chosen through Wild Card, here are some potentials:
1 - Anoop Desai (Because he deserves another chance)
2 - Tatiana Del Toro (Because the producers may get better ratings and that she does have a good voice)

Here the line-up for Group 2 next week:
1. Megan Corkrey
2. Kris Allen
3. Mishavonna Henson
4. Matt Breitzke
5. Allison Iraheta
6. Matt Giraud
7. Jasmine Murray
8. Kai Kalama
9. Jesse Langseth
10. Adam Lambert
11. Jeanine Vailes
12. Nick Mitchell or Norman Gentle (which one will he be performing as???)

Until my next post, have a good weekend. I am planning to go for massage this Saturday... The past few weeks have been so hectic and stressful, my shoulders are stiff and my back is hurting. Arrggghhh!!!

AI8: Top 36 Chosen

2009-02-15T18:44:00.051+08:00

I have been watching AI8 but could not post anything as I have been so busy with late nights of work **sigh** What to do la... the system is 'sick' so required a lot of work to sustain it.

Next week, the Americans will have the chance to vote for Top 12 contestants. For 3 weeks (18th Feb, 26th Feb & 4th Mar), the 36 semi-finalists will take the stage. On 5th Mar, there will be a Wild Card night. Then, from 11th Mar till 20th May, we will be entertained with AI Season 8 Top 12.

First and foremost, I am disappointed when Jamar Rogers was eliminated during the Judges Mansion episode. I feel that he is so much more talented as compared to some who made it... Here's a bit about Jamar:

Name: Jamar Rogers
A Filipino American
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Age: 26

Songs Performed:
Auditions 14th Jan 2009 - California Dreaming by The Mamas and The Papas
Hollywood 1st Show - California Dreaming
Hollywood Group Show - Somebody to Love by Queen together with Danny Gokey and Taylor Vaifanua
Hollywood Last Day - Hey There Delilah by Plain White

Here are the Male Semi-Finalists:
1. Kris Allen (born June 24, 1985)
23 year old from Conway, Arkansas
Auditioned in Louisville, Kentucky

2. Ricky Braddy (born February 1, 1983)
25 year old from Nashville, Tennessee
Auditioned in Louisville, Kentucky

3. Matt Breitzke (born July 23, 1981)
27 year old welder from Bixby, Oklahoma
Auditioned in Kansas City, Missouri

4. Anoop Desai (born December 20, 1986)
22 year old from Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Auditioned in Kansas City, Missouri

5. Stephen Fowler (born October 12, 1982)
26 year old from Beachwood, Ohio
Auditioned in New York

6. Matt "Jamar" Giraud (born May 11, 1985)
23 year old pianist from Kalamazoo, Michigan
Auditioned in Louisville, Kentucky

7. Danny Gokey (born April 24, 1980)
28 year old church music teacher from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Auditioned in Kansas City, Missouri along with his best friend, Jamar Rogers. Four weeks before he auditoned, his wife, Sophia, passed away after she had suffered a congenital heart disease. He is one of my favourites this season...

8. Ju'Not Joyner (born November 6, 1982)
26 year old from Bowie, Maryland
Auditioned in New York. He previously auditioned in Philadelphia for Season 7 and made it to Hollywood Week, but he was cut in the second round.

9. Kai "Jackie" Kalama (born January 8, 1982)
27 year old from San Clemente, California
Auditioned in San Francisco, California

10. Brent Keith (born November 6, 1979)
29 year old from Blanchester, Ohio
Auditioned in Louisville, Kentucky

11. Adam Lambert (born January 29, 1982)
27 year old stage actor from Los Angeles, California
Auditioned in San Francisco, California. He is also one of my favourites... just hope that he is versatile!

12. Scott MacIntyre (born June 22, 1985)
23 year old pianist from Scottsdale, Arizona
Auditioned in Phoenix, Arizona, who is almost totally blind.

13. Nathaniel Marshall (born September 19, 1989)
19 year old from Malone, New York
Auditioned in New York. A bit of a drama queen as well but not as bad as one of the girls - check out Tatiana...

14. Nick Mitchell aka. Norman Gentle, (born April 24, 1981)
27 year old from Brookfield, Connecticut
Auditioned in New York - check out my previous posting of him...

15. Jorge Nuñez (born May 12, 1988)
20 year old from Carolina, Puerto Rico
Auditioned in San Juan, Puerto Rico

16. Michael Sarver (born February 9, 1981)
28 year old Oil Roughneck worker from Jasper, Texas
Auditioned in Phoenix, Arizona

17. Von Smith (born June 15, 1986)
22 year old from Kansas City, Missouri
Auditioned in Kansas City, Missouri. He gained some success via his YouTube videos that garnered him a national attention, leading to an appearance on The View in 2007. Soon thereafter he was offered, and eventually signed, a recording contract with Kon Live Distribution.

18. Alex Wagner-Trugman (born September 20, 1989)
19 year old from Studio City, California
Auditioned in Phoenix, Arizona

While here are the female semi-finalists:

1. Arianna Afsar (born October 22, 1991)
17 year old from San Diego, California
Auditioned in Phoenix, Arizona. When she was 12 year old, she founded a program called "Adopt A Grand-Friend", where teenagers go to a nursing home and spend time with the elderly and perform for them.

2. Felicia Barton (born March 6, 1982)
26 year old from Virginia Beach, Virginia
Auditioned in Louisville, Kentucky. She made it to the Top 54 and was eliminated, but was brought back to replace Joanna Pacitti, who was disqualified.

Joanna Pacitti has been removed from American Idol 8 because “It has been determined she is ineligible to continue in the competition,” according to Fox. She has been replaced by Felicia Barton. That news was at the bottom of a release sent out early this morning, and it offers no further explanation. While she was criticized for being a ringer, in recent weeks, rumours have also circulated about her relationship with executives in the company that produces the series.
She “is friends with Roger Widynowski, the VP of Music and TV Publicity at 19 Entertainment,” as Vote for the Worst reported, while Star Magazine reported that she was also close to another 19 executive, Michelle Young. “Joanna has referred to Michelle as her ‘manager’ and ‘best friend,’ and credited Roger with ‘helping me get where I am today.’ Plus, the three of them even lived in the same L.A. apartment complex for several years,” Star said.

3. Kendall Beard (born October 18, 1984)
24 year old from Austin, Texas
Auditioned in San Juan, Puerto Rico

4. Ann Marie Boskovich (born February 11, 1986)
23 year old from Nashville, Tennessee
Auditioned in Jacksonville, Florida

5. Casey Carlson (born April 29, 1988)
20 year old from Minneapolis, Minnesota
Auditioned in Kansas City, Missouri

6. Megan Corkrey (born August 5, 1986)
22 year old from Sandy, Utah
Auditioned in Salt Lake City, Utah

7. Tatiana Nicole Del Toro (born October 17, 1984)
24 year old from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Auditioned in San Francisco, California. She has been known to create a drama queen, as shown in Hollywood week, and has been provoking hate groups around the internet. I am annoyed with her too - if there is a hotline to vote her out, I'll be one of those people to be spending money to vote her out of the show. She should be out while Jamar Rogers could have been in.

8. Alexis Grace (born June 9, 1988)
20 year old from Memphis, Tennessee
Auditioned in Louisville, Kentucky

9. Mishavonna Henson (born July 25, 1990)
18 year old from Irvine, California
Auditioned in Phoenix, Arizona. She previously auditioned in San Diego, California for Season 7 and made it to Hollywood Week, but she was cut in the second round.

10. Allison Iraheta (born April 27, 1992)
16 year old from Los Angeles, California
Auditioned in San Francisco, California

11. Jesse Langseth (born April 13, 1983)
25 year old from Minneapolis, Minnesota
Auditioned in Kansas City. She is the sister of blues singer Jonny Lang.

12. Kristen McNamara (born August 5, 1985)
23 year old from Napa Valley, California
Auditioned in Louisville, Kentucky. She was a sixth place finalist on the fourth season of Nashville Star.

13. Jasmine Murray (born March 14, 1992)
16 year old from Starkville, Mississippi
Auditioned in Jacksonville, Florida

14. Lil Rounds (born November 14, 1984)
24 year old from Memphis, Tennessee
Auditioned in Kansas City

15. Jackie Tohn (born August 24, 1980)
28 year old from Silver Lake, California
Auditioned in East Rutherford, New Jersey

16. Taylor Vaifanua (born January 12, 1992)
17 year old from Hurricane, Utah
Auditioned in Salt Lake City, Utah

17. Jeanine Vailes (born September 22, 1980)
28 year old from Sherman Oaks, California
Auditioned in San Francisco, California

18. Stevie Wright (born June 5, 1992)
16 year old from Phelan, California
Auditioned in Phoenix, Arizona

Now, there are quite a number of them who are below 20 years old and they are very talented bunch... I feel that this season, we will see some good competitions between them!!!

AI8: Hollywood Week 1

2009-02-06T10:02:00.003+08:00

Well, it's the time of the year where I can watch and comment on American Idol potentials. Usually, I will wait till Top 24 to start writing something but then, I find that the Hollywwoed week is kind of entertaining. There are talented people among the 147 contestants chosen from the various audition states. There's a funny guy who stands out though, Nick Mitchell aka Norman Gentle. For the benefit of those who do not watch AI8, here's a pic of him.

Believe me, when he is on stage, he's funnier than his look. But the weird thing is (even the judges agree with me here) that he can sing. I wish that he could just sing without putting on the clown moves etc else he will be out in the next round. So, by end of Hollywood Week 1, 40 contestants were sent home, leaving 107 to the next round - mostly because the chose the wrong songs to sing. It is true, song choice is very important - it does not mean that the song should be difficult, but if you can feature the dynamics of your voice in that short song, you've chosen the correct song.

Until tonight's episode... we'll see what will happen next :)

For Party Or Person

2009-02-05T08:07:00.003+08:00

Firstly, I am relieved that finally the virus attack has been eradicated... Not without damage though **sigh**

Now, to the hottest news in Malaysia, or specifically in Perak... What's with these politicians and their 'jumping' trend? I remember a case in Sabah way back when the Opposition (PBS) won for the 2nd term and suddenly, God knows for how much, the politicians started to become 'frogs'. I also recall the song "Katak si Katak lompat" song (a children song which translates to 'Frog oh Frog Jump') being used to ridicule these politicians.

Personally, I think that as an individual, the politician has every right to jump party, but the votes casted should not follow the politician because (right or wrong) I feel that public, in general, voted for the party instead of the politician. At the end of the day, voters have made their choices in terms of which party they are voting for. If, for any circumstances that, the politician changed his political stand, the public has spoken, acted and voted for the previous party that he was in... To be fair, since this may be a loophole in the regulations, we should really consider having another small election for the seats where the winning politicians have changed their party, right? Manifesto belongs to the party instead of the politician so if he jumps to another party after his winning, what guarantee do the public get that the politician will still execute the same set of manifesto that he campaigned for in the beginning?

Again, instead of dealing with national issue, our government has to handle this unnecessary issue... I can't help but wonder, what's next?

More N More Jinx

2009-02-01T00:29:00.003+08:00

What a hectic week we had... More "fire-fighting" in the office today...

We don't normally get virus in our network as we do get notified of upcoming threats happening somewhere before we get hit. The problem was that this time, the Conficker Windows virus managed to penetrate our anti-virus and network. This Conficker virus (aka Downadup or Kido) has infected some 3 million machines since Thursday (29th Jan) alone. We realized it on Friday when suddenly our servers were acting weird. The symptoms: taking over the administrative access of a machine and denying users' access. Our application mapped drive was suddenly not found and users can't seem to get connected to the drive. So, the application was inaccessible. The virus is not easy to be found as it will break in to machines by randomly using weak passwords such as 12345678 and Password. After the break in, it will then trick Windows by embedding itself as part of a file in the machine. The machine will not know and therefore, will eventually run the infected file...

So, the situation went worse on Saturday as the virus was not only in our HQ but also to the branches. We were trying to clean and disinfect as many machines as we can but of course, there were so many infected machines around including our POS system... Application support and technical teams were working hand in hand to counter the attack. Enough that the business users just started to use the application due to the database fiasco, now, they can't access the application until we combat Conficker. There is a Microsoft patch available to be downloaded to fix this (MS08-067)so I recommend the Windows users out there to install this patch if you haven't.

I wanted to count and list down the number of 'bad' incidents we had so far but I stopped myself as I remember someone said that if we start to list bad things, there will be more to come... Gosh, too many 'tests' in the beginning of the year that I feel that I need another holiday break hehehe...

Oh ya, talking about more jinx... I noticed that sales are going on... but since I am still so busy with office things, I have not gotten time to buy shoes hehe...

Ok, got to go to bed as I am so-so tired. Till my next post, go and patch your Windows machines !!!

This or That

2009-01-28T22:29:00.004+08:00

**sigh** I have not written anything for some time. This is not because I don't have anything to write about. Those who know me will know that I can't stop voicing out - sometimes too much for my own good... hehehe. Lately, we have been experiencing a lot of "fire-fighting" incidents to the many systems in the company. It does not help that we are also in the midst of more than 1 major system projects (in fact, we are talking about 5 major projects). So, to have time to post 2 per week will be an achievement for me. Even my gym membership card has been misplaced as I have not been visiting the gym **sigh** There goes my new year's resolution... Will put that back on track soon.

Now, back to my subject of "This or That"... I am actually in dilemma to decide on something for 1 of the projects - either we make it or we break it with the partner... Well, I always feel that having a group of auditors is always good - especially if the auditors are from renowned company. But, at the same time, I feel that we should always listen to the other side of the story. So, in the beginning I was head strong to vote against the partner based on the auditors' recommendations but after listening to the partner's side of the story, I actually have doubts of the initial decision... What do we do when we are in such situation?

I always listen to my instinct when I am in dilemma... But, there are times when I doubt my instinct especially when I put rationale or logic into it. This is so difficult, what more when we are talking of million ringgit project here... Hmmm, I think that as usual, when I can't come to a conclusion right away, I will sleep on it and pray that when I wake up, I will be in a better mindset to evaluate my options either with logic or gut-feel. Sometimes, I will actually dream of the solution... hmmm, this time, I hope so... hehehe

Jinx Jinx Go Away

2009-01-24T05:26:00.005+08:00

It has been a very tiring 2 weeks... Work is so hectic mainly because there are just too many bad things happening in the office.

It's 5am now and I still have not slept since I woke up yesterday at 6.30am. To make long story short, our old system database crashed last week (13th Jan) - now, I may be a bit cautious with the number 13 la... Anyway, Microsoft managed to salvage whatever they can out of the crashed database but not without losing some data. So, of course, when the system was up, not only some data was not there, the system was also very slow and the application was acting weird... So, we've decided to do some 'magic' to it... which means, late nights la... We have till this coming Sunday to bring it up (ie: 25th Jan). Then, one of the branches server also went down to the point of can't be booted up - luckily, somehow we brought the server up but we also lost 2 days of data, which we are trying to get as well.

I thought that we have been tested enough as both cases above are still in progress and not closed yet. Then, my project team for the new system came to highlight a serious issue with the partner vendor's application - which means a very BIG RED flag to the project!!! Gosh... this is really really a trying moment for all of us. But, my Managing Director still can make a joke out of all these disasters - he sms'ed me saying that "Feng Shui masters say that it is better to have the bad things to happen early in order to get a good ending" - I hope that he is right as there are still so many projects coming and these problems will need to be resolved as soon as possible. If they do not get solved, I think that we will have a lot of outstanding issues to handle apart from our projects!!!

I wonder whether all the bad things should happen before the Chinese New Year so that no jinx will be carried forward to the next lunar year... Hope the Ox year will be better... Wow, it just occured to me that Obama has taken control and hope the Ox year will bring him as much luck as I need here in the office... **sigh**

January Songs

2009-01-20T08:49:00.002+08:00

I have been given 2 interesting songs to work on in January 2009

Hot n Cold - Katy Perry

You change your mind
Like a girl changes clothes
Yeah, you PMS like a bitch
I would know
And you always think
Always speak cryptically
I should know
That you're no good for me

'Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
We fight, we break up
We kiss, we make up

You, you don't really wanna stay, no
You, but you don't really wanna go, oh

'Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down

We used to be
just like twins,
so in sync
The same energy
now's a dead battery
Used to laugh 'bout nothing
Now you're plain boring
I should know
That you're not gonna change

'Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
We fight, we break up
We kiss, we make up

You, you don't really wanna stay, no
You, but you don't really wanna go, oh

You're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down

Someone call the doctor
Got a case of a love bipolar
Stuck on a rollercoaster
Can't get off this ride

You change your mind
Like a girl changes clothes

'Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
We fight, we break up
We kiss, we make up

'Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
We fight, we break up
We kiss, we make up

You, you don't really wanna stay, no
You, but you don't really wanna go, oh

You're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down

Say It Again - Marie Digby

The thing about love
Is i never saw it coming
It kinda crept up and took me by surprise
And now there`s a voice inside my heart that`s got me wonderin'
Is this true, i wanna hear it one more time

Move in a little closer
Take it to a whisper
Just a little louder

Say it again for me
Cuz i love the way it feels when you are telling me that i`m
The only one who blows your mind
Say it again for me
It`s like the whole world stops to listen
When you tell me you`re in love...
Say it again

The thing about you is you know just how to get me
You talk about us like there`s no end in sight
The thing about me is that i really wanna let you
Open that door and walk into... my life

Move in a little closer
Take it to a whisper
Just a little louder

Say it again for me
Cuz i love the way it feels when you are telling me that i`m
The only one who blows your mind
Say it again for me
It`s like the whole world stops to listen
When you tell me you`re in love...

And it feels like it`s the first time
That anybody's ever brought the sun without the rain
And never in my whole life
Have I heard words as beautiful as when you say my name

Say it again for me
Cuz i love the way it feels when you are telling me that i`m
The only one who blows your mind...
Say it again for me
It`s like the whole world stops to listen
When you tell me you`re in love
Say it again, Say it again, Say it again (3x)

When you tell me you`re in love
Say it again

oh~ oh~ oh, oh~

Inhumanity 'N Gaza

2009-01-17T20:14:00.003+08:00

Now, everyone is talking about the war in Gaza. When I say everyone, I think that the whole world is talking about it. Only the ignorants or those who stay under their 'own shells' will not know that it is happening...

Yesterday, when the PM came over to our company for the launching of 'Buy Malaysian Products', there was one particular booth that showed the awful pictures of the war. There was one that caught my eyes; a pic of a baby's head on the road... so sad to see that this sort of violence is still happening.

The sad thing is the fact that the whole war thing is being associated with religion. I do not agree with that at all. For me, I will be going against the war on the basis of humanity and not religion. By mixing up religion into the Gaza war, people will be provoking another set of problems. As we all know, the innocents killed in Gaza are not only Muslims but also non-Muslims. There is no way that we can differentiate the religions in those innocent faces. Whatever the reason behind the war, innocents are getting caught in the middle. The baby's head did not say that he/she is a muslim or not, but an innocent child who had become the victim of cruelty.

To cut this posting short, war is inhumane, no matter what the reasons are. Problems can be solved without killings... Wars should be stopped PERIOD

I also can't help but wonder, whether boycotting US products will do any difference in this cause to stop the war... The booth that I mentioned above actually displayed banners to urge people to boycott US products. Guess what, one guy at the booth was having a Dell laptop and was doing a presentation slide using Microsoft Powerpoint... Talking about being ironic, huh? For those who would want to boycott US products, think twice before you start preaching this as Microsoft, Dell / HP PCs and Apple (eg iPhone) are US products... Just for info, to those who may not know this, Michael Dell (founder of Dell Corporation) is a Jew from Texas. If want to boycott, do it all the way then...

Like I've said above, I think the war is inhuman and should be stopped...

Coconut Oil & HypoThyroidism

2009-01-12T22:37:00.006+08:00

Of all the things to start the new year with, I am now having Hypothyroid. I guess, in a way, it is expected since I did the RAI (RadioActive Iodine Treatment). But, I am not actually prepared for most of the symptoms. So, I googled the term Hypothyroidism and one of the first few results is http://www.endocrineweb.com/hypo1.html which states:

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

* Fatigue

* Weakness

* Weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight

* Coarse, dry hair

* Dry, rough pale skin

* Hair loss

* Cold intolerance (can't tolerate the cold like those around you)

* Muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches

* Constipation

* Depression

* Irritability

* Memory loss

* Abnormal menstrual cycles

* Decreased libido

I have already started to get most of the signs above and I really-really don't like it. My endocrinologist is now prescribing 100 micro-gram of thyroxine to me in order to replace the lack of TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) that my body may need. Before, I was on anti-thyroid for 2 years and now I am taking the opposite type... I am sure my liver really needs some detox because of the amt of drugs I am taking **sigh**

So, for those who may have survived this, please give me some tips on what to do with the awful symptoms that I am suffering now... Well, before they get worse, I better start doing something about this. There are some articles that mentioned maybe coconut oil may help... hmmm, is it??

Obama & Bond?

2009-01-11T01:06:00.006+08:00

I heard this from the newly "improved" (I reserved my comments on the improved part) The Breakfast Show few days back and just got some time to search over the Net for the news/gossip. Found the following article posted on http://www.sify.com/ and a similar article on http://www.hollyscoop.com/

Talking about Obama effect... P. Diddy actually spent that much of money to land himself as the first black Bond...

I wonder what will be next? Care to give your comment on this?

2008 & 2009 - Part 2

2009-01-05T16:21:00.003+08:00

With the beginning of 2009, there are a few things that I would like to achieve... Hopefully, a year from now, I could come back to this posting and see how much I have done. New year resolutions are made to NOT to be rigid but I believe that if we use them as guidelines then, our year will not be aimless. Some say that they don't believe in new year resolutions as we won't know what the new year will bring us. My view is that regardless of what the year will bring us, unless we make the effort to have some sorts of goal or objectives, we will be living aimlessly... There must be something that we may want to achieve, regardless on how the year is, right?

So here's my long list of 'objectives', some of which may be beyond my control, but if we don't try, we won't know, right? They are not in any order ya?

1 - Break my bad habits hehe... <- for me to know and for all of you not to find out...

2 - Lose some weight haha... this has always been in my list!

3 - Get my health to be a-ok and try to, at least, conceive (God willing...)

4 - Successful implementations for all the systems at work

5 - Have a blast in Krabi, Thailand - heard the place is beautiful and ideal for de-stressing

6 - Read at least another 12 books (trying to read an avg of 1 book per month)

7 - Improve sugar artistry skill by going for the Squire Kitchen Diploma

8 - Learn how to solve the Rubik Cube hehe...

9 - Be happy and spend more time with hubby, family and friends

10 - Spend more time to 'thank' God for the daily blessings received

11 - Increase my savings... With the economic crisis, it is even more important to try and save as much as we can.

12 - My vocal teacher asked me to put this as one of my new year resolutions - to perfect my vibrato technique...

Overall, I hope that I could be a better person, mentally, physically and spiritually. Life is short so enjoy it with your loved ones and live it to its fullest!!!

Until my next musing, I wish all of you a very happy new year, have a productive and fun year ahead!!!

Hmmm, I should do something with my blog header...

2008 & 2009 - Part 1

2009-01-02T10:55:00.005+08:00

Sorry for not being able to post for some time. My Hell Laptop has been so moody that I can't do anything much with it... Dell engineer just came and changed the motherboard as well as memory. **Fingers crossed** I hope that it will not freeze again...

2008 passed so fast... and with no regret, I have achieved a lot this year.

In terms of work, we have successfully deployed a warehouse system in our main distribution centre, we have initiated upgrades for all our systems, from finance, supply chain, point-of-sales and even business intelligence. All in all, it has been a busy yet interesting year in the office.

Adventure-wise, Hubby and I had the opportunity to travel a lot more this year. The new places that we've visited are: New York(US), Berlin(Germany), Madrid(Spain), Omaha(US), Seattle(US), Hyderabad(India) & Chennai(India). Like I've said, we have been busy this year. For the very first time in my life, I experienced 1 month of continuous travelling, went to 4 countries, with a total of 11 flights caught in that 1 month.

Health-wise, I went for Radioactive Iodine Treatment for my hyperthyroid after some time of being on anti-thyroid medication.

Personally, I have read more than 10 books and am proud to achieve this since I've always been busy. I have also accomplished something that I thought I would never do - I am a certified Level 3 Sugar Artist!!! Yes, the weekend classes were tiring but they are worth every effort put in. Now, I can at least decorate cakes for people... I have also passed my Level 1 out of 3 in Vocal Training, another thing to be proud of...

Before I end this part 1 posting, as promised, here's my jingle-bells christmas tree picture (thanks to my cousin for the photoshop tips):

Jingle Bells, My Dell & Aramai-ti !!!

2008-12-23T09:58:00.004+08:00

This Christmas, I am going to chill with Hubby as the next day we have to drive up north to attend a close friend's wedding ceremony. It's hard to explain but Christmas just brings out the warmth feeling and homesick to me. I think that Christmas is always the time when we get together with our large number of family members in the village. When I was a kid, I remember looking forward to Christmas so I can play with the rest of my cousins while our parents just chat around. Then, when I was older, I had to take care of all the younger cousins while our parents do their shopping etc. As all of us (me and my cousins) grew much older, we look forward for a good catch up session with each other while having drinks (well, of course, alcoholic ones - we are Sabahans, right?). Now since most of us are married and some with children, it is so difficult to keep in touch unless you stay in close vicinity. I've missed a lot of birthday parties, weddings, funerals and gatherings because I am kind of far from home. So, harvest festivals (Kaamatan) and christmases & new years are the time to make up for the long lost time. I do try my best to go back as much as I can but sometimes, with the busy working schedules and business trips, I can still miss the gatherings **sigh** What to do... So, this year, we are going back to KK on the 30th Dec 2008 and will be back in KL on 3rd Jan 2009. Short trip but at least, we get the chance to see the family members for New Year... Yes!!! Oh ya, I've put up a Christmas tree at home and managed to decorate it. I think that I bought too many bells ornaments though hehe... So many types and sizes of bells that my tree should be called a 'Jingle Bells' tree lol... Will put up the tree pics in my next post (hehehe... after we fix some more things) ya?

In the spirit of Christmas, I actually stopped myself from 'killing' an engineer from Dell (not Hell ya...) I have just changed my laptop to a Dell Latitude E4300, with 250GB of harddisk drive and 4GB of memory. Pretty powerful laptop and it is so lightweight. At first, I was so happy to get it because I don't have to carry like a tonne of stones in my bagpack. Then, it started to act up. First, it freezes so I have no choice but to reboot the damn thing. So, the first thing that I did was to get it downgraded from Vista to XP Pro. But the freezing does not stop and one day, there was a loud clanking sound so we suspected that it was the harddisk so I had to swap my harddisk. After that, I thought that my nightmare from Hell (yes, Hell now...) is over but now, it freezes and makes some noise. Yesterday, the Dell engineer came again after we logged a call to the helpdesk. It seems that they need to change my motherboard and memory sticks, which I told them to do whatever it takes to make this laptop stable. When he came, he found out that the parts that he brought together with him are not the correct parts -> talking about wasting his effort and time **sigh** and not to mention my hope of getting this thing fixed before next year. Ish!!! Very frustrating. So now, I have to bear with this laptop and its mood swings until 5th Jan 2009. I did suggested to Dell to just give me another unit because most probably, this unit is a faulty unit but I think that they want to try to change every single parts in this laptop before doing that. So, I hope that this Hell Laptop will be able to stand until then **fingers crossed**

To those of you who are celebrating Christmas, have a very Merry Christmas - cherish the good times and forgive the bad times. Life is short so do not live it in regret. Spend time with your loved ones and it is time to forgive each other (although I think that we should do that on daily basis). Have a safe journey and don't drive if you are not sober!!! Aramai-ti!!!

Bloodsuckers 'N Twilight

2008-12-15T20:46:00.011+08:00

I am an avid reader and have been reading all sorts of story books (from what some may call boring, Kublai Khan, to the hilarious Shopaholic series). One of the many interesting books that I've read is the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer. When I first read it, I didn't know that the novel is going to be a motion picture. So, obviously, after finishing the whole 4 books and I found out that they are making a movie out of the 1st book, I was one of those people who are so excited to watch the movie. The next paragraph will reveal certain things from the movie and I suggest that if you are a fan of Twilight Saga and have not watched the movie, SKIP the NEXT paragraph and go straight to the 3rd paragraph... I will not be responsible if you continue reading... Basically, read the next paragraph at your own risk.

***** DO NOT READ IF U WANT TO WATCH TWILIGHT THE MOVIE *****

I went to watch the movie with hubby, friend and cousin. I was the only one who have read all the 4 books while my cousin had read the 1st book. I was anticipating a good movie as I love the storyline so much although I was not hoping that it would contain 100% of scenes in the book. For those who have not seen the book, it is a thick book so to fit everything in a 2-hr movie, it would be an impossible task. So, I think that my expectation was reasonable. In short, the movie is so disappointing from the 'dynamic' storyline up to character building. To name a few flaws (of course, this is my personal opinion):
** Bella's character should have been more clumsy and bubblier in some situations. Bella should be more comical than how she was portrayed in the movie
** Edward's character should be more relaxed, funny and more suave
** Rosalie's character should have been more bitchier
** The Cullens should have cooler cars and grandier house (why did they omit the part where Edward shows Bella the study room with the others' pictures) <- this will be important for future scenes in other books

** La Push should have been more rugged <- this will also affect future scenes in other books ** The meadow scene should have been more beautiful than what was portrayed

** The whole James & Victoria hunting and the Cullens protecting Bella should have been done better, more tensed and shows Edward's regret for being with Bella <- this will be very very important for the sequel, New Moon

Well, all in all, the whole movie didn't do justice to the book. Sorry to disappoint the other fans but I am not satisfied with the movie at all. The director should have read all the books before directing this movie. Thank God, she is not going to do New Moon...

***** END OF TWILIGHT THE MOVIE REVIEW *****

Talking about bloodsuckers, I really think that I got ripped off recently by a car workshop. Please look at my bills below and for those who are familiar with prices of car parts, please tell me whether my gut feel is correct or not? These different types of bloodsuckers should not be doing business if they are into ripping people off!!!

On 26th Nov, I sent my car for service and I asked for fully synthetic engine oil to ensure that I have that 10,000km till next service:

Then suddenly on 29th Nov, my car temperature went to HIGH when I was on the way to work (this was before I drove down to SG) and the mechanic told me that my car thermostat burst and they have to change it. I told them to do what they have to do as long as I can drive my car down to SG that very same day. Then, they told me that the car is ok but when I come back, they will have to do further work. So the 2nd bill looks like:

After I came back from SG, I sent my car to them on 10th Dec and the 3rd bill looks like: In total, I spent more than RM1500 for my car. Bloody bloodsuckers!!! If only I have the knowledge of reading minds, I would have known whether they have ulterior motive when they billed me like this... But, I am a mortal afterall **sigh**

Cake for In-Laws' 35th Wedding Anniversary

2008-12-15T00:55:00.010+08:00

I did this cake in just 2 days due to the fact that there were so many events to attend to and therefore, just managed to get the roses ready the day before the anniversary dinner. I did a 3-tier cake (bottom cakes = vanilla and strawberry sarawak layer cake with organic sugar for the health conscious folks, while middle and top cakes = banana and chocolate sarawak layer with normal caster sugar for those who love the original taste). Since the theme colour chosen was pink so the cake was easy to decorate with all pink things hehehe... Happy 35th Anniversary to my parents-in-law!!!

So, here are some pics of the cake: The cake was a hit (phew...) - we were left with only half of the top layer by the end of the night... Another successful attempt :)

For another dinner, I attempted to bake a healthy Sugarless Cinnamon Banana with Walnut Cake:

This cake does not even have a single grain of sugar in it - I know... it would not taste as good but surprisingly the cinnamon and banana combination actually worked - I've decided not to cover it with anything else other than banana pieces and cinnamon sticks so, it was very plain. One of our uncles actually said that for him (who does not take sugar), the cake tastes good!!! Well, for someone like me, who can't live without sugar, the cake would have tasted better with sugar hehehe... Oh well, as long as the health-conscious people love the cake, I am happy *wink*

The Heels Are Alive & I'm Content

2008-12-10T11:26:00.003+08:00

Yes, I am in Christmas mood... I have bought a 'tree' and many ornaments but have not gotten myself to decorate the tree. Next, I should be in one of those moods where I will be playing Christmas songs everywhere - hubby will need to tolerate this though hehe...

I was in Singapore recently for an event with the in-laws' community and it was, as usual, fun and vibrant. Although I was tired but I couldn't help myself from feeling appeased - hmmm, this is something that we don't feel everyday ya? Shall I say that people may have felt this but somehow can't explain the feeling. It's hard to describe peace and serenity anyway...

Talking about events and celebrations, I had attended a-week long of events, then an engagement, later Raya Haji lunch, then my in-laws' wedding anniversary. Everything in a span of 2 weeks, gosh... talking about being tired, I think that I am beyond that - I need to collapse for 2 full days without doing anything other than be on my bed. Now, as I was cleaning my house with the maid's help, we rearranged the shoes area. We have 3 racks of shoes so I told her to organise the shoes according to their owners. So, we have hubby's, mine and others' sections. As my maid was classifying the shoes, I noticed that MY SHOES was sort of empty - apart from my slippers, gym shoes, 2 pairs of sandals and another 2 pairs of boots, I don't have anything else there... Whereas on the OTHERS' section (which is filled with, we-know-who's shoes), it was overflowing. Now, that has made me realized that I don't have that many pairs of shoes compared to anybody out there (even mortals have more shoes than me! Forget about those models as they are definitely showered with shoes) - I am sure that there are some guys out there who would have more pairs than me. This is embarassing!!! Since this realization came at a wrong time (with Christmas expenses etc coming up), I think that I have to wait a lil bit longer before I can catch up with an average person on the shoes department... But, I will not resist any shoes sales from now on as I am in desperate need to, at least, keep myself at par with the rest of the mortals out there, right? **wink**

Now ladies, if any of you know of any crazy shoes sales, please keep me informed as you will be doing me a favour to keep my heels alive!!! Will keep you peeps updated with the progress of MY SHOES hehehe...

Body Of Lies & Relationships?

2008-12-05T11:46:00.007+08:00

After such a hectic week in Singapore, we took the opportunity to watch 'Body of Lies' at the Cineleisure. Naturally, I enjoyed it as it is action-packed. In order not to reveal too much, for the benefit of those who may not have watched it, I won't say much about the storyline other than, if you love to read Tom Clancy's (The Hunt for Red October, anyone?), you would definitely enjoy this movie.

I've decided to add Relationships in the title of this posting as I think that the movie teaches us that in no matter what type of relationship we have, there is only one thing that will screw it up big time - LIES. Well, it is easier said than done, right? I am sure that we have told white lies to our parents, siblings, friends and even our other-half’s, with the thought that the little they know, the less disappointed / hurt they'll be. It is human nature that if you care for someone, you will want to ensure that they will not be hurt by you.

So, with that said, when will a lie be a 'black' lie? I think that it will only be a real lie when we lie to gain something out of it or to avoid from being punished for something that we did. For example, I was raised in a very catholic way of life (the whole family members are required to pray the rosary together every night - this is so true ya!!!). Now, of course, going for a date during high school is out of the question. So, instead of saying that it is a date, I say study group, hehe... Is that a 'white' or 'black' lie? Depends on how people look at it, right? I did it because I won't be able to go out for the date if I tell the truth (guilty of personal gain) but also I will know that my dad will be very-very hurt (good intention) and also I will not be able to stand my mum's nagging (another personal gain). Verdict? When 2 personal gains and only 1 good intention, I told a 'black' lie... Surely, some can relate to this. As we grow wiser (not older ya...), we may be able to weigh this better...

Although we say that relationships need honesty and trust, how much of those is enough? I'll leave you people to judge as this is so relative. With a show like 'The Moment of Truth' (which I don't enjoy watching), people tell lies all the time. Even psychiatrists or counselors say that children learn how to lie when they reach the age of 3, human nature can't be stopped. Personally, I think that the degree of lies needs to be measured though. If we tell lie at the expense of others, I don't think that this is acceptable. Law offenders are definitely a no-no, the rules / laws are there to protect general masses and if someone lie and cause catastrophic damage, I believe that they deserve the worst punishment...

Ok peeps, will try to post again soon!!! For now, I am trying to finish some work here and we will be driving up to KL tomorrow morning - missing home already.

Show Worth Waking Up For & Psychopath

2008-11-28T23:24:00.004+08:00

Today, I managed to watch TBS (The Breakfast Show) on NTV7 as I have to go to my doctor after that. So, instead of sleeping in a bit, I woke up early just to watch this show as today's show is the last show for this year. I'm going to miss the show though and will surely wait for the 1st Jan 2009 big bang comeback show. If for any reason I can't watch it instantly, then my good ol' VCR will do the job of recording it for me hehehe... For now, we will all miss the team of Dynamic Daphne Iking, Nutty Naz Rahman, Appealing Alia, Elegant Elaine Daly, High-Reaching Hansen Lee, and Jovial Jonathan Putra. For the final episode, I like the idea that the whole team members were there, the flashbacks as well as the interviews of other NTV7 behind-the-scene staffs. They did a bit of Q&A, and here are my thoughts:

1. Best Hosts
Of course, Daphne and Naz as they are the pioneers. They have better experience and more comfortable on cameras. I think Daphne loves the limelight so she is a natural!!!

2. How do you describe the show in 5 words
Informative, Entertaining, Happening, Refreshing, Wacky

3. Improvement suggestions for next year
Actually, nothing much to improve, the show is already great as it is. But, since I love to read, maybe a segment to introduce a good book (not necessarily a new book). I know that the hosts will hate me for this but I wonder whether each of them can take turn to showcase a book that they have read and why do they think that the book is worth reading...

Psychopath??? No, I don't mean TBS hosts or crew ya.

Well, I was waiting for the pharmacist to dispense my medication so I saw the November edition of Malaysian Expatriate Lifestyle Magazine. One article caught my attention and it was simply titled, "Are You A Psychopath" and no, it is not a questionaire to see how psycho can you be. Basically, the author narrated a short story (I think that it is based on a true story). Two daughters were mourning at their mother's funeral with other family members and friends. In the midst of being consoled by others, the older one noticed a very handsome stranger. To her disbelief, she started dreaming about this stranger. She started asking around about him, going through the guests list who attended the funeral. Everybody said that they noticed him but no one remembered his name. After a few months of fruitless search, she killed her sister. Now, who can guess her motive? The clue is psychopath...

I actually didn't guess the real reason until I read it... Apparently, she killed her own sister so that she can have another funeral and meet the handsome stranger! Like I've said before, I didn't think of this reason at all and I think that it is good as I deduce that whoever may have thought of that as a reason may have the tendency to be a psychopath... hehehe. I'll leave you guys with this point to ponder, hmmm...

Till next posting, I am going to pack for my SG road trip tomorrow and oh yes, some cupcakes to prepare too. Yes, I will be joining hubby there (been missing him for a week now... huhu). Once I am in SG, I am not sure whether I can go online or not. Not that SG is so backward in technology but free time may be limited for me to blog **sigh**

Chaos and Yoga

2008-11-27T09:02:00.010+08:00

Here's the headlines of one of our local newspaper today (local section):
1. PM clarifies — yoga okay without chanting (yoga related)
2. Malaysians stuck in Thailand
3. MAS and AirAsia cancel flights to and from Bangkok
4. Travellers urged to monitor situation
5. Tunku Naquiyuddin: Restore royal privilege to safeguard constitution
6. Negri Regent: Fatwa council must consult us (yoga related)
7. No yoga ban for now, says Selangor MB (yoga related)
8. Perlis Mufti shrugs off ‘smear campaign’ against him (yoga related)
9. Sultans flex their muscle (yoga related)
10. Deadline for honouring word
11. 2.1 million foreign workers here
12. Nik Aziz: Pakatan young and immature

** note that near 50% is yoga related **

Now, here's from World News section:
1. Bush, Obama condemn Mumbai attacks, U.S. offers help
2. Mumbai attacks kill 86, police shoot four gunmen
3. Iran signals nuclear work expansion, rules out halt
4. Weak enforcement hurting child sex abuse fight
5. Thai PM refuses to quit, mulls protest "measures"
6. Castro tells U.S. actor he open to Obama talks
7. Rice says Venezuelan opposition is alive and well
8. Plumes from Saturn moon may come from liquid water
9. Laos still paying the price of Vietnam war
10. Somali gunmen kidnap Western journalists
11. Thai court orders protesters to end airport siege
12. No deal yet in Iraq parliament on U.S. troop pact

I was shocked to hear abt the Mumbai attacks, mainly because when we were in Hyderabad recently, we stayed in Taj Deccan Hotel and found the Taj and Oberoi hotel chain is excellent and will support them the next time we go to India. Now, with this, it is scary to stay in American hotel chains as well as Taj and Oberoi's too??? I read that they have British Indian in the hotel when the attackers came into the hotel asking for people with American or British passports... Scary...

With all the worldwide chaos going on, where does yoga fit into the picture???
Now we have some fellow Malaysians are stranded in Bangkok due to the airport closure and the attacks in Mumbai, so compared to those news, our local section, hmmm, seems too trivial to even call the section news, right? (of course, this is my personal opinion). Our PM is busy clarifying the ban against yoga, for goodness sake... That's the 1st headline for today!

I don't do yoga, simply because I think that my body does not have the kind of agility that it needs. But I see a lot of people who benefited from this form of exercise. All fitness clubs offer at least the basic yoga as one of the classes offered, other than, salsa mix, hip hop and other routines. As if there is nothing else better to do to improve our country, these people are making issues out of yoga? I am sure that there are more illiterate and poor children in this country than the number of muslims exercising yoga right? I am not going to be preaching about religion here as I feel that faith is something personal, something between you and God. At the end of the day, we are the only one who will be accountable to all our actions and only us, right? Oh well, I just wish that people, in general, will concentrate their effort on something that will benefit the country... eg: improving the rural areas & educating the poor children???

The Americans chose Obama as a sign of moving forward (although expected, but I was not sure whether the Americans were ready to have a non-white president), and here we are, moving backward by listening to our authority figures arguing the notion of banning yoga for Muslims... Come on la **sigh**

I really couldn't help but wonder if we (the tax-payers) are the ones who are paying for the salary of this person or group who first came out with this idea of banning yoga... There goes my mortal money, and all the yoga models' out there too, right?

Why "Models & Mortals"...?

2008-11-26T12:30:00.007+08:00

I am sure that many must be wondering why my blog is titled "Models & Mortals", some may be able to relate to the reasons why though...

Some may know that I was a long term sufferer of Hyperthyroidism and have just recently gone through the Radioactive Iodine treatment (RAI). Well, yesterday, I went to see my doctor for follow up and she told me that I may no longer be in the Hyper category but because I gained a bit of the weight that I lost, I may be in the Hypo category... Gosh!!! Gain weight??? Yes, that bothers me more than being re-categorised as Hypo-thyroid sufferer... Now, call me crazy but when my thyroid was very high, I was losing weight effortlessly - I think of it as a blessing in disguise **smile shamefully**

Now, my whole day was sort of ruined by the thought of gaining weight and how can I avoid that. And my mind 'travelled' to the thought of whether overweight females can actually look attractive or not. This led to an episode of one of my favourite shows, "Sex & The City", where the girls were talking about Modelizer (ie: Men who date only models). Even someone as sexy as Samantha was not considered as a model?!!! Anyway, I am sure that each of us have our own preferences abt the people we date / engaged to / married to, and I couldn't help but wonder if physical body is one of the many criteria / preferences. There are times when we would go through pain and suffering in order to maintain our beauty, or the lack of it, and when will we be satisfied.

What I love most abt the whole episode was when Mr. Big talked to Carrie abt the Modelizer topic and he said, "A man just wants to be with the one that makes him laugh". Hmmm, like Carrie, I was also thinking whether beauty is fleeting and whether something genuine is forever. Now, the title of this episode was "Models & Mortals".

So to those out there who can relate to me and my thoughts of MODELS or MORTALS, we just hope that our friends and our better halfs are looking at us for something more genuine than just pure beauty... But, deep down in our hearts, we may not always be satisfied of ourselves, regardless of what our better halfs say (well, at least, that's what I feel). Now, time to hit the gym!!! I'm a mortal afterall **wink**

First blogspot entry

2008-11-25T22:53:00.005+08:00

Well, I guess that I am on blogspot now... Why? Well, my previous blog (http://sandralouis.blog.friendster.com/) was dated way back in June 2005 and it was under friendster (obviously, with the URL like that...). I am afraid that friendster may limit what others can view or do if they do not have a friendster account - maybe soon, they may want people to have friendster account to view it (who knows ya?). I am one of those people who do not like to have another blog knowing all my other entries are somewhere else and dont want to end up having to post all over the place. Enough effort needed to maintain both friendster and facebook accounts updated, I do not want to do the same for my blog too - so, I am officially closing my friendster blog and opening this one instead.

I am still thinking of the right title for this blog because I do not have any ONE specific thing to write about - this blog will basically contain anything that I am doing at any given point of time - be it my baking/sugar artistry obsession to my travelling and of course, during PMS (if I ever get one), a place to let go of my steam - hehehe, I guess I am normal afterall... So, for now, I would call it "Models & Mortals..." - will elaborate more in my next post - so, stay tune peeps!!!

So to all the readers, friends, family members, I do have to pre-warn you that this blog may contain some not-so-ladylike words (although I will try my best not to use them often) ya?

To my dearest loving hubby, I love you and thanks for being my rock and for being there whenever I am sick or down. Love you so much!!! I know that I dont normally openly declare my feelings hehehe... it's just me, I guess... Not so romantic and sentimental Sandra... I am learning though...

If you see many fonts are used in the next few early posts, it would be because I am trying to decide which one is the best - ok, I am fickle-minded too hahaha...

Right, let me put this first blogspot entry to rest...

I couldn't help but wonder, is the title "Models & Mortals" suitable for this blog, or should I come out with something better and more original... hmmmmm