Drinking mercury to the mystery

1) It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts.
Here are the facts about the three leading candidates.

Candidate A -
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists.
He's had two Mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B -
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C -
He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.



Which of these candidates would be your choice?


If you choose :

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.



2) Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics:

* 29 have been accused of spousal abuse
* 7 have been arrested for fraud
* 19 have been accused of writing bad checks
* 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
* 3 have done time for assault
* 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
* 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
* 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
* 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
* 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year


Can you guess which organization this is?



It's the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group of idiots that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of US in line.!!!


How interesting!!
Just like the saying "never judge book by its cover", there is always a positive attribute or two in a person.
It depends on what we choose to look at.

A small black dot on a clear white paper will be the first thing to be noticed when we look at it.
White is just a background, even though the fact is white is the paper.
That is how our brain is trained to operate. Negative vibes are naturally more attractive and interesting to be captured.
But I guess it's not too late to change, we shouldn't be satistified to remain within the confines of mediocrity right?


Change..yes we can!!

Friday the 13th

So this is what I did for self-love.

No, no..it's not my dream bag Mahina. I don't have the capacity to spend 5 digits RM to buy a handbag yet.

At least not for now.

But I'll make sure the gorgeous Mahina will be mine someday. I promise. * visualizing mode*

"Don't u think sometimes u are a bit narcisistic?"

"Sure, of cos I am. And I love it. Because it's me"

Tee hee.

Now, how narcisistic can one be?

The grapes ain't sour, they are just grapes

Shessh..last week was a hell full of challenges and really tested my endurance physically & emotionally.
It was too depressing to even write about.
Let's just say there was a series of unfortunate events that I have to go through alone.
I almost gave up and failed.
But I guess determination is the key of everything, I'm glad it all ended well.
As cliche as it may sound, I found the silver lining behind the clouds.
What doesn't kill me makes me stronger right?

For that, I think I deserve a reward.
I have decided to indulge myself by buying some expensive stuff as an appreciation to myself.
Already discussed a few options with my dear good friend, I think I'm gonna get it within this week.
It will give a damn huge hole on my pocket, but self-appreciation is really important.
No amount of money in this world can buy that. (though some designer items will! tee hee)

I'm going to finish all my leaves in December, so far the only plan I have is to just relax at home.
Maybe I should go back to JB and spend all my leaves there, it is the only place where I get to be treated like a queen.
I can just sit and do nothing and nobody will judge me.
I've been craving for my mum's cooking too, plus my son will be in good hands there.

Movies to watch:
1) MJ's This Is It. - of cos, it's MJ u guys!!
2) Inglourious Basterds. - from my favourite director Quentin Tarantino
3) Law Abiding Citizens - I think I'm gonna like it.

Books to read:
1) What the dog saw
2) Outliers
The last book I read was "Tuesdays with Morrie". That was like years ago. I seriously need to start reading again...I can feel that some of my brain cells are dying.

If only there is more than 24 hours a day!

Too bad they aren't the happy pills

1. I'm down with fever, sore throat, flu and body ache (the usual 4 in 1 package). Went back after lunch today and rested. I'm still not feeling any better, but I must focus my energy and minds thinking that I'm already healed. I have a one and half year old boy to look after, I can't afford to be sick. My other half is out of town and I have no maid. It's just me and the boy most of the time on weekdays. Last week Raif had fever and vomited like 10 times in a night. I drove him to the clinic in a rainy, pitch dark night all by myself. The doctor thought I'm a single mother (suka speku kan!). But, it did feel a bit like Erin Brokovich when I carried him with one hand and holding an umbrella in another hand. Only that I don't drive a wagon and not as hot as Julia Roberts (ke mak lagi hot?)..tee hee. I didn't sleep at all that night and the next morning I have a line of important meetings.
I feel like a superwoman.

2. Went for the routine ante-natal check up yesterday. Looks like we gonna have another Syam, insyaAllah. It wasn't that surprising, my maternal instinct told me from the start that it's going to be a boy again. (although I secretly hope it's a girl this time). But it's ok, we can always try again next time kalau ada rezeki. Maybe I should use this as the reference :
This Chinese conception chart is said to be 99% accurate. It's correct for both Raif and the little man in my womb. So let's say if I were to have another child at the age of 32, to get a girl we should not do it in January, March and December. Right.

But again, I am thankful if my life is destined to be surrounded by guys (good looking ones I hope!).


3. Going to attend a Business Writing Skills course tomorrow to polish my non-existence writing skills. Hopefully I wont fall asleep in the class, all the medications prescribed to me can cause drowsiness. Must go to bed early tonight.

Blah!

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

" I think I'm ready for Botox"

"Huh?"

"Babe, kita nih di ambang 3 series (30s), it's about time we do something about it..trust me, before we know it we might have turn into an old, ugly wrinkly fat lady"

"But I think u look fine, plus it's a painful procedure and expensive"

"Yeah u may want to run the economics on the Botox vs plastic surgery. I think at certain stage, Botox wont work and u need to actually go under the knife to get rid of those nasty wrinkles . Better have our dose of Botox now, I know this doctor..he works wonder I tell u"

"Tanakla, aku takut..nanti kang muka aku jadi mcm ada bini menteri tu. Senyum pun pipi tak gerak"

"Just let me know if u change your mind"

I went back home and think of what my friend said.
I looked into the mirror.
Yes, my life lines are getting more obvious and they seemed to have duplicate themselves in an exponential rates.

I've been following the basic skincare regime religiously since I started working.
Very seldom I went to the bed without putting on the eye gel and some moisturizer.
But I guess there's no way to stop the nature.
My stressful lifestyle and limited free time don't help much.

And now that I'm knocked up again, I have to be prepared to be fat for another round.
Losing the extra pounds will not be that easy, it requires disciplines and strong determinations.
Going fat and slim for few times definitely will effect the skin elasticity, hence speeds the ageing process.
Not that I'm complaining, it's a price I have to pay to get other things I want (read: kids).

It's just that, I cant imagine myself being the ugly old, fat, wrinkly lady with breasts on my lap.
Don't get me wrong, getting old is fine with me. I'm always realistic, age has never bother me.
But "ageing not gracefully" scares me.
(I think all the women out there share the same sentiment with me...we are so accustomed to the expectations designed for us -can't be fat, must have perfect hair and complexion, not supposed to have hair at certain places etc.)
And I don't buy the idea of putting something foreign into our body.
It's damn expensive too....ok, maybe it's affordable.
But I wasn't born with silver spoon in my mouth, I have to work my ass out to earn my living.
For that, I'm a bit particular when it comes to spending.

So Botox is out.
Ok, maybe not totally out. I should put it in my KIV file, just in case.
I guess I should just stick to the traditional, boring "healthy lifestyle with balanced diet" or the yoga, pilates whatever u call it.
Whether I'll have time to do it, is another question.
Will cross the bridge when we come to it.

Blah!

...and the water I will test

I was supposed to be on MC for 3 days for a full bed-rest because apparently I moved too much and my uterus was not happy about it.
Staying at home, doing nothing but lying on my back was really fun but after half a day, I felt enormously bored.
I called up my sister to gossip and bitch around, thankfully she was in town and we had a long, fun conversations.

My sister and I, we have a unique, non-conventional sister-sister relationship.
Although we came from the same sources and grew up in the very same environment, we are so different in every ways.
I think some of Adler's theory on Birth Order could be true.

Alfred Adler claimed that birth order influence personality. According to him, the first born is usually the conservative, power oriented while middle child is always the attention seeker, achievement oriented who always set unrealistic goal that often end up in failure.
The youngest, tends to outdo other siblings in various accomplishments.

My sister is the classical case of the middle-child syndrome.
She always think that the whole world is against her.
She thought our parents love my brother and I more because we were both straight As students and she was average.
And she was always annoyed with how I can get away with my super laid-back attitude (yes, u have no idea how lazy I was as a person, but hey, that's the privilege of being the youngest, right?).

But very little that she knew how much I adore her.
Physically, we were both tall and slender (then la) but we don't look alike...at all!!
Very fair, big eyes, sharp nose, straight silky hair, she makes heads turn, a traffic stopper.
I, on the other hand is a total opposite. I look like a bibik when sitting next to her.

I remember when we grow up it was all about comparisons on how different we look.
People would go like "eh lawanya anak awak ni Milah..blablabla" and when they saw me they would say " tapi adik dia lain sangat ye".
(Luckily these things did not affect my self-esteem ...ok, I lied. Maybe a little)

I wanted to be like her. She always has a good taste in fashion.
I used to wear her clothes when she was not around, pretending to walk and talk like her.
Sometimes I would use her makeup (which turned up as a disaster as we don't share the same skin tone..kelabu asap hokay!)
She sings and dances better than me, and way more artistic than me.
In short, except for the ehem, brains, she is all ahead of me.

But unfortunately she did not realize it all.
Being the middle child, she was always feeling insecure and rebellious.
I remember she used to tell me about bad karma that has been lingering her life. How she had no interest to further studies to tertiary level.
She ended up being an air stewardess, something she really wanted.
And she earned more than my brother and I, who graduated and have printed name cards with some superficial designations.

And I still adore her. She is one of the strongest woman I've ever known.

My sister is a type of person who dislikes to ask for favour, she would try her level best to do everything by herself. Of course, as a woman she has limitations and sometimes she failed. It makes her bitter and blame the karma all over again.

But I would say she has achieved a lot and her capabilities of coping with life is really impressive. She has fell many times and managed to stand again all by herself.

I wish I am that strong. But because I'm the youngest, I always have a little sense of dependency no matter how much I try to portray myself as an independent woman.

Most people don't understand the relationship we have. Often, we were mistaken as "tak ngam" or not close to each other.

Well, if being close means asking for money from each other at any possible time or showing affection physically like hugging in public, maybe we don't comply to it. We are not the type of siblings who live in a twisted, confused universe thinking "mengepaw" is cute and a way of showing love and care.

Our love and understandings go beyond monetary value. We have been each other's support system for as long as I existed.

Sure, we had our differences a lot of time, mostly because we have different views of life. But the beauty of being related by blood is that, nothing can be damaging enough. We settled our differences immediately.

She is always there for me when I have issues and during the lowest point of my life. She is the one I turned to for things I cannot discuss with my parents.

It's a sad thing that both of us are too busy to catch up with each other more often.

I hope she will get all the happiness in the world, because she really deserves it.

Gosh, I miss my family.

Carta makanan di open house

Presenting...my findings for the most popular dishes served for Hari Raya open houses. This chart is the result of one month full of makan events (which has contributed me additional kilograms *cries*)

Top Ten Food

1. Satay

Semua open houses that I attended ada satay. I must say it's a must have dish for any kind of celebrations

2. Lemang and nasi impit with rendang and kuah kacang

Naturally when there's satay, they'll be nasi impit as well. And lemang became more popular probably because it is very easy to get nowadays

3. Roti jala with kari ayam or kuah durian

Kuah durian because we are in durian season, normally it's just kari ayam.

4. Soto

I loikee...

5. Laksa Penang

Very appetizing, easy to prepare and very seldom tak menjadi.

6. Nasi Tomato / nasi ayam / nasi minyak

Mostly from catering service. I think this year, nasi tomato topped the nasi ranking.

7. Mee berkuah - mee bandung, mee rebus, mee kari

Yup, there will definitely be at least one dish of mee berkuah.

8. Mee / Bihun / Kuetiaw goreng

Not as the main dish, just to add variety.

9. Pasta - spaghetti bolognese or carbonara

Easy to prepare, easy to eat and many people like

10. Ayam goreng

What more can I say? It's not an occasion without ayam goreng.

Drinks

1. Sirap

2. Teh tarik

3. Oren

4. Sirap bandung

5. Sarsi

Desserts

1. Fruit cocktail pudding

With or without the milky gravy

2. Agar-agar

All types, many colours and shape. Kadang2 ada nata de coco

3. Jenis2 kuih talam - seri muka, talam ubi, keladi

Biasanya jiran sebelah bagi

4. Kuih raya

Almond London wajib ada

5. Cakes

Choc, cheese, sponge, tuan rumah yg kaya sikit ada cupcakes

Sekian penemuan saya untuk tahun ini. Harap berjumpa lagi di tahun hadapan.