latest reads

list of books i've read in the past month:
1) eat pray love - by elizabeth gilbert
2) fish: a memoir of a boy in a man's prison -by tj parsell
3) remember me? - by sophie kinsella
4) fables - volume 10
5) the book thief - by markus zusak
6) the graveyard book - by neil gaiman
7) my sister's keeper - by jodi piccoult

i wish i could travel (and write) like elizabeth gilbert. remember me is a typical sophie kinsella work, but the only "chick lit" i still quite enjoy. fish is another non-fiction, didnt quite like it; started out quite good and interesting, but surprisingly turnout more of a romantic story in the end.
the book thief and the graveyard book are supposed to be targeting "young adults" but i still love both of the books (hmm..guess a 30-something can still fit in this category then huh?).
my sister's keeper is somewhat a "familiar" read because it's about childhood leukemia and we see patients with the cancer everyday at work, but it's written in the perspective of the family having to deal with the disease, and the controversial issues about genetics designer babies , the moral versus ethical dilemma surrounding it. it's quite a moving story, i actually cried unexpectedly at the end!
i'm currently reading dry - by the funny augusten burroughs, but have to put it aside for awhile this weekend cuz i have a presentation to finish before wednesday.
thank God for the long weekend.

chasing sunsets

last week i tried a couple of times to capture the beautiful sunset from a small restaurant right by the beach at pantai puteri, melaka. both times i failed. the first because the day was too cloudy. the second day we left the house 2 minutes too late that by the time we reached the restaurant, the sun had completely gone.
then one day after work this week, i went to get groceries, and on the way back saw that the sun was setting down nicely. i knew i wouldnt be able to make it to the beach at pantai puteri, so i just drove straight towards the coast line, not exactly sure where i should go to get a good shot of the sunset and hoping i wont miss it again this time. then i found myself driving past my housing area towards another housing area that's right by the coast line. by the time i parked, got out my camera, and ran towards the beach (in my skirt and heels! i told you i was from work) the sun was already halfway sinking down in the horizon, but i managed to capture a few shots that didnt turnout too bad.

our own lil' artist

a butterfly....


a "sotong" (her words)....

clockwise fr top: teddy, an apple, a tree, a duck

amirah-the artist

my sis was woken up one morning by amirah, who wanted to show off her artwork. my sis was so surprised she sent me all the drawings by mms. i was surprised too, and immediately thought my sis must've been holding her daughter's hand or sth cuz no way she could have drawn all that by herself, she's only 3! just turned 3 in fact, 2 weeks ago.
apparently amirah drew everything herself freehand!
oh, i'm so proud.

a silent outburst

the dreaded day came.
results were out friday.
only 2 people from my university passed.
i wasnt one of them.

i was nervous the whole night before that friday.
i was praying hard that i pass this time.
please dont let me fail again.
i dont know if i can handle another failure.

i thought i could pass you know.
i felt the difference this time around. the exam was still difficult, i didnt think i did too well on the 2nd day, but coming out of the exam hall on the 3rd (last) day, i actually felt a tiny glimmer of hope that maybe this time i can pass.
so when they told me i failed, this time i was shocked.
then disappointed.
and sad.
and i felt really stupid.
how could i have even thought i could pass?
i bawled like a big stupid baby driving home from work.

of course, i hate crying in front of people, so when i reached home, i still didnt feel like talking to anybody, went up to my room, locked the door, cried some more, cried in the shower, cried while praying, and then cried some more. a few people actually called me during this time (to ask me about different things, unrelated to the results), and i was surprised i could answer all the calls without a choke or croak in my voice (i probably sounded nasal, but that's how i sound normally anyway i think).

anyway, so i was initially planning to just sulk in my room the whole night but after about 2 hrs of crying, i got bored and actually felt dehydrated! so i decided to go out with a bunch of people for dinner. these are people i dont normally hangout with, and i'm not sure if they knew about my results, and lucky me, my eyes dont puff up even after all that intense crying, and so there was nothing physically evident outside that could tell them that inside, i was actually in a pretty devastated state. but i was glad i went out with them.. they were such a fun bunch, and i had such a good time that i actually forgot about the damn exam results.
by the time i got home, my housemates were in, probably all concerned about me, and because i was feeling much better, i was finally able to talk to them openly about how i felt..at least without anymore tears.

however the next morning when i wokeup, all the sadness and disappointment came back to haunt me, and the fact that i was oncall didnt help at all. all i could do was cry a little bit more, and pray that my call would be okay (thank God it was). in a way it was good that i had to work, cuz i could somehow distract my mind and thoughts to the sick babies i had to care for.

this morning post-call, i went for a facial, slept through the rest of the afternoon, still cried a bit, but just a bit ;) but am a lot better.
the past is done.
i need to work on the future.
i wanna figure out what my next steps should be.
this is my 6th time overall of sitting for these stupidsh*t exams!
that's more than enough to make me feel like a stupid sh*t!
right after i got the results, (i was in clinic, so i didnt want to talk to anyone about it face-to-face, afraid that my pipeworks will burst out in public and humiliate me to death!) i texted a friend who's also been unlucky in the exams department like me, and he simply said "this is it for me. i'm done with this. i'm leaving."
no doubt i'm feeling the same too. i wanna up and leave too.
but where would i go?
what's my excuse?
what are my plans?
i dont have kids to look after. i dont have a hubby that i need to worry about.
i have a turtle, but he's super low-maintenance ;)
i love my work actually (though i dont normally admit it).
i just hate these exams.
so maybe i'm not cutout to become a specialist, so what?
i'd end up a chronic m.o., or i could just leave the govt sector and be a doctor elsewhere. do locum. enjoy an exam-free life.
people would talk about me, make judgements, but i dont really care.
(anyway, digressing a bit here..i've heard of people who go to great lengths to hide the true facts about their results...sheesh..all that trouble just because you fear people looking down at you?
i came across this saying the other day in a book i'm reading "if you go through life wanting everyone to love you and no one hating you, you'll never have a happy life".
so there.)
back to me-the only other things is..i've been working with kids for like 6 years now (!)..so i dont think i can "do" adult medicine anymore. not without re-learning everything again.
and i hate these stupidsh*t exams that make me feel like a stupidsh*t. i already mentioned that.
so should i just stay on as chronic m.o. in paeds? i already mentioned that too.
will they let me?
is that what i want?
sigh.

as you can see, i still cant decide what to do next..

orang minyak

i was talking to a friend today, about being in the "honeymoon period" right now.. you know, that period after the exam's over and all you can do is just wait for the results to come out.. lucky her she's got about a month before her results are ready, while i only have a week..
one week only..
i wish the week never ends..
i wish friday never comes..
sigh.
but it's coming..yea. i know.

anyway, i wont dwell on that. we were actually talking about this "honeymoon period" right now being the best time to just do nothing but watch as much tv as we want to, but there are hardly any good shows on! why was it that just a week ago..when we had to study like mad everyday, and every second counts, and watching a whole show on tv made us feel really guilty, but all the shows on tv then seemed really good?

like tonight for instance, right at this moment, i'm actually watching this movie-orang minyak-cuz there's nothing else on that are interesting!
the movie was made quite recent..not the p.ramlee version..that one is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better i tell ya!
i would categorize this as a z-movie..not a b, or a c...but a z. it's that bad, but there's something about it that made me keep on watching, instead of just turning it off (like i said, no use flipping the channels anymore cuz i cant find anything else that's interesting, and i do have a few dvds i can watch instead but i'm too lazy to get them from the room upstairs..hee).
it's like this sci-fi/horror movie with these stiff actors whose voices dont synchronize with their lip movements most of the time (poor audio editing), and low quality cgi and special effects, unfunny lines (where it was supposed to be funny), etc.
i'm not sure if the movie makers were actually trying to make this a z-movie on purpose .. but if they were, then i would have to give them credits for it...they actually did it well!
(btw, in case you dont know, there are such things as z-movies ok, i didnt make it up).

oh..and this is funny.. i googled the movie. to find who the producers/directors/actors are. one site translated the title to english.. check this..
orang minyak is --> OILY MAN !!
hahahahahahhaa
oh..the tears..

bintulu break and a birthday-to-you

went to bintulu to spend a couple of days with my sister's kids.
it was good fun. i miss them already now.
i babysat them while the parents went off to see the new bond movie.
today the daycare/kindy that they both go to had a prize-giving ceremony, and so they had the kids all dressed up and singing and dancing. they're all so cute!
it's also amirah's 3rd birthday today, so my sis brought a cake to the event. it's funny too the way amirah uses the term "birthday-to-you" instead of just birthday.
e.g. "esok yah punye birthday-to-you.. bila cikyang (that's me) punye birthday-to-you?"
and then, to my mom when she called her: "makpah (that's my mom) punye birthday-to-you dah lepas ye? hari ni yah punye birthday-to-you.."
hehe..so cute.
as for aliff,well, he doesnt really care, as long as there's enough satay and cake for him ;)

i can breathe again..for now

pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeww!
the exam's over.
it's done.
done.

i have a week till i know how i actually did.
sigh.
whatever.
what's done is done.

gonna fly off to bintulu tomorrow to be all goofy and silly with the kiddos.

old postings recycled

so my myspace account got tampered with and now condemned. they said i could renew it but i've actually sorta abandoned it anyway, so i didnt bother. but i had a few blog entries in there that i liked and sayang pulak if they just got lost like that. and since i cant blog much these days, guess i'll just re-post them entries here. these were written circa 2003-2005 , so all events "basi" already.
i realize too that i was way bitchier back then (hehe..) and used a lot more profanities. i've repented ok..ehem.
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dont tell the world?..my ass!!

I had this friend (note the past tense) who's married to this idiotic moron aka moronic idiot who's simply a creep whom I've never put a liking to ever since we first met. And before they got married I did try and put some sense into my friend so she'd wake up and realize what a jerk this guy was. But love is so damn blind deaf dumb and numb (the jackass did hit her!), my words meant nothing to her, and she married the dumb brute.
I continued being friends with her for a while.. and to keep in touch, had to do it through the shitface husband.. cuz they shared handphones. Until one fine day, after she delivered their 2nd kid.. he confessed that he has always been in love with me (I puke evrytime I had to relive this) and that on the day of their wedding, which I attended for the sake of my friend-the bride, he had wished that he was actually marrying the both of us!(yes..double barf!!)

So I told him off lotsa times, and when he still wouldnt stop harrassing me till I was almost buleimic.. I told the wife. And apparently she already knew!!! He had told her! She made the husband apologize to me and we didnt contact each other for a while. Then .. the psycho was back at it again. I just ignored him. Even changed my number, but since we share the same group of friends (and I felt sorry for the wife at the time I didnt tell anyone who also knew them), and the wife seemed totally ok with contacting me again, we continued to occasionally chat on the phone. By then she already had her own phone , but at times called me up on the husband's phone, so he got my number too. Thing is .. she seemed to have really forgiven his sorry ass, and even invites me to their house and stuff. As if nuthin happened! I find that really weird. I declined evrytime 'course and never call her anymore.
The dumbass husband in the meantime, continues to sms me. I never replied. He would ask me out, tell me he's over me so can we be friends again and meet?, even wanna matchmake me with his friend so I would come over to his house and meet the guy (as if!), then scolds me for denying his rights to have a 2nd wife (hello?what about my right to deny a creepy-mangkuk hayun-lunatic as a husband?shheesh), told me he wants me as an idol for his kids, told me to call him "abang" (vomit right here!!), told me his father died, told me his kids (they have 3 or 4 now)were sick in the hospital, etc etc..just to get me to reply. Oh.. and had the nerve to tell me not to tell anyone who knows him about all this cuz "bad image la for me"-->his lousy words. To all which I ignored (and I've told almost evryone).

3-4 days ago, after spending 2 hrs at a restaurant hoping I would actually showup and dine with him(he actually came down to melaka..told u he's psycho)..I was actually in KL for my exam but 'course the loser didnt know this.. he called me up and I didnt answer.. he sms me to tell me he loves my "soft sweet voice" he heard on the voicemail ..to which I wanted to puke blood to but instead got so damn mad that I sms him back: U stupid pathetic piece of shit.. if u continue to contact me again, I'll tell your wife again I swear. I dont even consider both of u my friends anymore so I have nuthin to lose. Get the hell out of my life!

Too nice?
So far it worked.He hadnt sms me for 3 whole days now. His atropic brain probably got the message then.
I tell ya.. there ARE such sickos in this world.

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pissed!!

So I went to get groceries today with some friends, and we saw something unbelievable.
There was this woman, crouched in between two cars parked in a row right in front of the row I was parking.. and she had this boy with her...who looked to be around 3-4 yrs old.. and she was making him pee right there in between the cars!!
That's just not right.
I mean.. what was this woman thinking?
What was she teaching this kid? It's ok for a boy to piss anywhere..as long as they're outdoors? I mean.. it wasnt like we were on a grass field... she made him pee right there on the cement floor!!
Argh.. and I didnt get to tell her she shouldnt have done what she did. I had just parked my car at the time and this was at an underground carpark at a store that's really not doing well that they couldnt afford airconditioning and apparently lighting for the carpark as well.. and so we had to wait awhile for our eyes to accomodate to the dark too. By the time we realized what just happened, the woman had long zipped up the boy and gone. All that was left was the pool of fresh urine.

At least she didnt make him lift his leg up and aim for the tyre.

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Wicked Witch of the near South

So.. somebody told me some time ago that I'm really "wickedly funny". I just met the girl that day.. she's a friend of a friend's friend (oh yeah, we're THAT close). I remembered saying something funny....or I believe it was funny cuz evryone..my friend, his friend, and his friend's friend, were all laughing. So this joking around and laughing went on awhile, and I thought evryone was having a good time.. until it was time for my friend's friend to leave with his friend.. my friend's friend's friend said it, not directly to me, but to my friend.."hey, your friend ni is really wickedly funny." And she was stressing on the word "wickedly" too.
So..um, I'm not sure now.. is that a compliment? Or the opposite? Am I funny in a wicked way, or wicked in a funny way? Cuz..well, the joking around that we did (mainly led by moi) was mostly directed to my friend, teasing him about his latest girlfriend. I know my friend didnt mind at all, cuz we do this to each other all the time. But what about the other two? Were they just politely laughing hysterically (can that be done?)..and secretly feeling sorry for my friend? Or were they just absolutely amused and enjoying the really funny things that I said?
So.. am I wicked in a funny way, like Lord Fuckwaad in Shrek (I know that's not how u spell the villain's name, but I'm not sure how it's actually spelled) or funny in a wicked way...like those remarks/praises the critics give when they rave about some new bestseller fiction just out in the market? Is one better than the other?
Huh.. maybe not. So why do I care then?
O well. I don't remember now.
Do not confuse others as thou hath confused thyself. heheh.

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que sera sera

I dont usually.. but right fuckin' now, I wish I'm someone else..

I wish I don't have to study for this exam..
I wish I'm a genius, so I dont have to study for ANY exams, and still pass..
I wish I got tons of money so I dont even have to work, and so I dont even have to sit for this exam..
I wish I'm elsewhere in this world, travelling and havin' a blastin good time..
I wish I'm talented..
I wish I could lose some of this baggage and fit into my ol kebaya again....
I wish I'M the one married to that ugly-fat-chainsmokin-but extremelyfunny guy that I've been flirting with earlier this year (well we were flirting with each other!), and thought was makin good progress,only to findout later he was getting married.. like a month before his wedding! Gah!
I wish I wish I wish..

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sad sad story A 2 yr-old boy, ate mi goreng, found that it was too pedas, went to look for water, found "water" in a cup, drank it... and the poor, poor, unfortunate little fella.. didnt know it was actually KEROSENE in that cup. Mom saw but it was too late, child already drank the whole cup (the mi was obviusly really2 pedas, for him at least). Mom made the child vomit (which is a big NO-NO! But she didnt know), and rushed him to the hospital. But too late, child already aspirated.. he was admitted to the ICU, and died a week later. Grandpa couldnt accept the fact, passed out right there on ICU when told that his grandchild is gone. And to add more misery to it all, some stoopid mo-fucker actually stole the parents' car tyres (all 4 of them!) at the hospital parking lot, just a day before their child's death. Kesian sungguh. Another sad story.. a 2 yr old boy, was with parents on a motorbike, mom was pregnant, both parents had helmets on, of course, but not the boy. The whole family unfortunately got into an accident.. dad walked away with few minor scratches, mom had a broken arm, baby in womb was ok, but little boy had severe head injury, died few days later. It's so frustrating when u hear of stories like these. Deaths are inevitable, it's part of life. If God says it's time for u to go, then off u go. But accidents are preventable, we should try harder. Especially when we have sweet innocent little ones who really depend on us adults to look after them, to make sure that they're safe and happy. *sigh*

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Crap!..and a whole load of garbage..

Literally!!

It all started more than 2 months ago. I spilled my miniature bottle of Burberry Touch in my gym bag and so all my clothes that was in there got parfum all over. Which is fine, no one's complaining, not to my face anyway, and so it was fine.

Then, a week later, I realize, that I keep bumping into the garbage pakcik at my work place evrytime he's pushing the huge garbage tong. And walking behind him is plain nitemare, what with the smell of the fresh garbage coming out from the tong and all. At first I thought it was merely coincident, but then I realize that I'm bumping into him at different times each day. And it's not the same pakcik evrytime either, just any one of the garbage man pushing the tong, be it the regular green tongs, or the toxic yellow ones. I even bump into them at midnite, if I happen to be working then. They sometimes even cross in front of my car as I'm leaving/entering the carpark!

Then I thought.. ok.. mebbe it's just at the workplace.
But then.. I even bump into them when I'm not working, like at the shopping malls. Friends who were told about this at first would take it lightly, laughing at me, till they witnessed it themselves! One time, a friend and I were waiting for another friend outside a surau, and a huge green garbage tong was wheeled right in front of us! Then, on the sameday itself, we were trying out shoes in one of the shops in the same mall, another green garbage tong was wheeled and actually stopped right in front of the shop that we were in! My friends just couldn't believe their eyes.
Another time, I was hanging out with a few people at a sidewalk cafe, and this was way past midnite already, and the street was quiet except for a few cars/motorbikes buzzin thru once a while, and suddenly a huge garbage truck passed by!

It seems that, anywhere I go, anytime of the day, it will happen, this bumping-into-garbage tongs/trucks episodes.. on a daily basis..without fail! I dont look out for them at all, I usually dont even remember, until I actually bump into them.
On a daily basis! For the past 2 months! oh.. except for ONE Sunday, when I wasn't well, and decided to stay home all day, not one foot out the house. Only then did I not see any of them garbage tongs/trucks. And that was the ONLY day so far that was garbage-free for me. In 2 months!

So now it has become so obvious that my friends started to make up some sort of horoscopic/astrologic reasons/predictions as to why this is happening to me. Like.."nak murah rezeki kot".. "nak kawin ngan garbage man kot" .. "u smell too damn nice that u need a daily dose of foul smell to neutralize evrything kot" (whaa..?).. etc.etc.

I started off with the spilled perfume bit there, not that it has anything to do with this, mebbe..but .. o well, whatever..

It's still funny, but somewhat weird too I think. Why cant I bump into nicer things tho, like a nice fancy car, or a nice (smelling) hunky man? Cet!

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it's just melanin!

eg 1) TV ad about a whitening product:
There's this dark-skinned girl, who for this reason wasnt noticed by this guy before when both of them were attending the same college. Girl then used the whitening product, became "white" and guy immediately notices her now that she's "white", she's like oh-so-beautiful-I-got-to-ask-her-out-for-a-movie-even-tho-I've-seen-the-movie.
Girl then gets excited when guy asks her out for a movie, which she has also seen before, but so what.
They went for the movie, and fall in love, and end up together.

eg 2) A "healthy" conversation with an ex some time ago. I think we were talking about vitamins, cant remember how it later turned into facial care:
Jrk: So, u dont use a lot of make-up do u?
Me: Nope.
Jrk: Wash your face?
Me: (huh?) 'course.
Jrk: What type of soap dya use?
Me: (HUH?) U mean like the brand?
Jrk: Yeah.
Me: Why?
Jrk: Saja nak tau..I wanna know all about u (wide charming smile ON)
Me: (rolling eyes, named the brand I was using at the time)
Jrk: What about mosturizers?
Me: (holy crap-oly, is this guy for real?)Yes actually and I use **(whatever brand it was I was using at the time)
Jrk: Oh, is it one of those whitening cream stuff..?
Me: O-no, biasa je..
Jrk: Hmm.. mebbe u should try one of those. I think it works quite well.. My sis uses ***(brand) and now her skin's really cantik, dah putih. It might help with those pores too.
Me: (mouth opened in disbelief. He didnt notice cuz we were in the car and he was driving)
I should've told him to buff up his scrawny ass! See how he feels about that.
We broke up in the end, but it wasnt because of my skin. I think.Heh.

It's so interesting that over in the west, they make tanning products and bronzing creams like there's no tomorrow, while over here, women (and maybe men too) go crazy over whitening products. I mean, good facial care IS important (I DO wish my pores are smaller and I never get breakouts) but why the obsession with skin color?
I know people have discussed the un-fair-ness of this issue before. People are just never happy with whatever we already have, and always want something more, something less, or something else.

Nowadays the TV ad I mentioned above keeps coming on, romantic lines and all, it's driving me up the wall. Gag.

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i dream of Genie....

Say u were walking on the beach..
Say suddenly u tripped over something and fell... (this may be familiar to some people..hehe..)
Say u looked at the thing u tripped over n found that it's an old broken lamp...
Knowin' the drill.. u rubbed the lamp..
and "poof!", there's the genie u were hoping would poof out of the lamp.. (whether it turns out to be a big, blue, bloated genie, or sexy blonde genie in a bikini, I leave it to ur imagination)
The genie says "U may have 3 wishes...blablabla..."

What would u wish for?

My wish list:
1) To be able to speak and understand many different languages other than Malay n English (ie:Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin/Cantonese, Tamil/Hindi, French, Spanish, German, Tolkien's Elvish)

2) To be able to play several musical instruments (drum, guitar, piano, violin)

3) Have better hair and skin, weigh 7kg less, and stand 4cm taller

hiyaa.. I know.. I know... What about world peace? See, what I'll do is, I'll put the lamp back into the sand, send a beauty queen-with-brains-who-already-has- evrything-she-needn't-wish-for-anything-else, to stumble over the lamp, and SHE wishes for world peace

I guess my wishes are valid only if the genie would consider one sentence as one wish.

late latte

my roomate and me were "trying" to study (hee..) and the tv was on (how did that happen?) and this show latte@8 is on, the one jason lo hosts live from a starbucks cafe somewhere in the klang valley, i assume..i've actually never watched it, (it's friday nite and we're not oncall..if it wasnt because of the damned exam just around the corner-we wouldnt normally be at home in front of the tv at this hour!)
anyway, i dont have much time here(hee..) but there was this interesting segment we saw on the show just now which i thought i'd share here:

they had this list made up : top 5 things-what will happen if a ufo landed in malaysia?
#5) the immigration office will have a real alien problem
#4) they cant actually land in malaysia, because there is never any parking!
#3) we'll have "cuti-cuti ufo"
#2) the mamaks will start making "roti ufo"
#1) the alien will get immediate datukship!!

ok.. that #1 thing, is really funny i thought..we both ended up laughing. chances are the datukship will be from melaka too..ha-ha!
(i am based in melaka right now by the way ;))
so anyway, i thought that was kinda cool too, about the show i mean; there were quite a number of jokes that were only funny to malaysian or at least to anyone aware of all things malaysian.
the only other comment i have about the show is that everyone seemed to be so obviously sweating all the time! were they outdoors? if not then, no airconditioning meh?

ok, back to the books now!

raya scenes

raya has gone, but the month isnt over yet, and i dont really feel like narrating about it, (plus i'm limiting the time i'm spending on the net) so i'm just gonna post a few photos. there are a lot more photos btw, i took a LOT this year, mainly because .. i just got myself a new camera!!yay! gave the old one to my bro as a raya gift.

to lis with love..

i was going for my facial last week when i felt maybe i should send lis, my car, for a wash. it seemed like a good idea since 1) i was gonna be at the facial a good one and a half hours 2) the carwash is right at the mall carpark so i could just leave it there and not worry about finding a parking space 3) lis hasnt had a good wash for.. umm.. more than a year now (yikes, i know) 4) the recent couple of encounters i had with ..um.. baby roaches in the car is a strong indication how dirty lis is..

so, i sent her there, and just before i got out i thought maybe i should just throw the pieces of paper all over the floor over at the side passenger seat. and lo and behold, i found the gold ring i just bought and lost (on the same day) about 2 weeks ago! yay! another indication that i've made the right decision to wash her.
now when i talked to the guy at the carwash, i asked if a polish and a wax are still possible for the car, seeing as it hadnt been washed for a long time. he asked how long and i told him, and when he raised his brows, i quickly added "yeah, i lent the car to somebody else and he obviously doesnt care for it at all!". heeee...i was too ashamed to admit my own negligence.

when i went to pick lis back after the facial, i was really happy to see her gleaming shiny body, till the guy pointed to me that the paint on the top of the car was already damaged that the first spray of water from the hose ripped a few spots right off it! that really made me feel guilty.. especially when the guy said " you should get the guy to pay you for a new paint", referring to the imaginary borrower i made up earlier.

so yeah, i'm sorry lis, i plan to repaint you soon and vow never to neglect you again, and take good care of you..

freakin' out

holy guacamoly!
the exam's less than a month away.
i might fail..again.
i'm trying to convince myself that it's not the end of the world if i do.
argh.
why did i put myself through this?
why?
why?
*curses*

is this my anak? lemme see...

this is also an overdue entry of mine, but it happens from time to time.

there i was doing rounds in the ward, i see a kid, i thought the kid might look a bit dry, with what looks like sunken eyes, so i ask the mom just to be sure..
me: puan, is this your anak here?
the mom: yes, this is my son..
me: are his eyes usually like this?
the mom: huh? what dya mean?
me: well to me they look a bit sunken, but what do you think? are his eyes normally like this?
the mom: hmm.. (looking at her kid).. i'm not sure-lah doctor..
me: okay, do you think your kid look different to you? or macam biasa je ?
the mom: um..entahla doctor, i'm not sure..
me: okay (losing some patience).. siapa jaga anak you ye? do you see your kid everyday?
the mom: not really la doc, i work see, so morning when i leave for work, he's not yet awake, evening when i comeback, he's either asleep or playing in his room..
me: (being kepoh-chi) oh.. dont you feed/play with him in the evenings?
the mom: no.. i have a maid..
me: (still being kepoh-chi) weekends?
the mom: oh yea-lah sometimes weekends, but he prefers to be with the maid, cuz he's used to having her around him everyday kan.. and myself, i only have the weekends to rest cuz i'm usually very busy with work the rest of the week.
me: o-kay (losing some more patience) .. maybe i should talk to your maid then huh?
the mom: oh yeah.. (obviously not getting it).. do you want me to get her then doc?

sheessh..
well obviously the majority of parents are the total opposites of the one i'm describing above. most are able to notice even a tiny red dot"..that was never there before" appearing somewhere on their kid's body and will demand to know what and why is the dot there.

i remember the years when my mom was working overseas, and we only see our parents like once a year or sometimes less frequent than that..and this one year that i went to visit them, i just had my ears pierced-for a 3rd time- and i thought my dad will never notice, cuz he never said anything the year before when i had them pierced the 2nd time, and cuz i thought he never notices these things anyway.. .. then that first night i arrived and we were having dinner, suddenly he said "so, last year 2, this year 3.. you plan to add one every year are you?" referring to the piercings. i was surprised that he actually noticed, but even more surprised that i actually loved the fact that he did!

on with the hospital scenario-cont'd (1-2 days later)..
me: okay.. your kid can be discharged today..
the mom: oh alright.. can i have an MC then doctor?
me: for your kid?
the mom: no-lah doc.. he's in kindergarten only, they dont care. for me-lah.
me: (straightfaced) but then you're not sick..

long story shortened, the mom wasnt sick of course.. so i explained to her that as a matter of fact we dont giveout MCs, not even to our paediatrics patients. they and the caregivers (in this case it was actually the maid that was taking care of the kid in the hospital half the time anyway!) get a memo/letter that states that the kid has been in the hospital.

moral of the story?
i need to stop being a kepoh-chi..

an overdue cacing story

yup.. it's a worm@cacing@ascaris. where did it come from?
a 1 yr-old org asli kid was coughing away in the ward and "phuit"-out came the worm !
and it was still alive i tell ya.. tho i didnt know it till i opened up the container and was aiming my camera phone to take a photo of it, and then saw it moving.. hee.. ;)

fairytales

Cinderella's on her bedroom floor
She's got a crush on the guy at the liquor store
Cause Mr. Charming don't come home anymore
And she forgets why she came here
Sleeping Beauty's in a foul mood
For shame she says
None for you dear prince, I'm tired today
I'd rather sleep my whole life away than have you keep me from dreaming

[Chorus:]
'cause I don't care for your fairytales
You're so worried about the maiden though you know
She's only waiting on the next best thing


Snow White is doing dishes again cause
What else can you do
With seven itty-bitty men?
Sends them to bed and calls up a friend
Says will you meet me at midnight?
The tall blonde lets out a cry of despair says
Would have cut it myself if I knew men could climb hair
I'll have to find another tower somewhere and keep away from the windows

[Chorus]

Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom
Man made up a story said that I should believe him
Go and tell your white knight that he's handsome in hindsight
But I don't want the next best thing
So I sing and hold my head down and I break these walls round me
Can't take no more of your fairytale love

[Chorus]

I don't care
I don't care
Worry bout the maiden though you know
She's only waiting spent the whole life being graded on the sanctity of patience and a dumb
Appreciation
But the story needs some mending and a better happy ending
Cause I don't want the next best thing
No no I don't want the next best thing
...................................................................................................................................
i like this song by sara bareilles.
mostly cuz it's a nice song but also cuz i'm a fan of modified fairytales or alternate life stories of comic book characters, esp the superheroes.

rambling on dates

it's september 16th. ma's birthday!
happy birthday ma!

years ago when we were younger, the 3 of us--> me, my sis and my lil brother,listed the family's birthdates and realized that there was a pattern.

starting with the dates: sis was born on the 14th, bro on the 15th, ma on the 16th,and pa on the 17th.
then the months: pa was born in may, sis in june, ma in september, and bro in october.
then the years: pa in 1948, ma 2 yrs later in 1950, sis in 1978, then bro 2 yrs later in 1980. (nice ring to it too, ie. 48-78, 50-80).

so um..that left me as the odd one out.. being born on 1.1.1975.
so my adiks concluded that there's only one reason for that.... i must have been adopted! reasons being:
- as the kakak, i was there to witness and remember their births.. but they werent there to remember mine (!).
- my birthdate was probably just a made up one, since noone actually knew when exactly i was born, so the 1st of january was chosen by default, and so that it'll be easily remembered (!!).
- my name's totally different from theirs (both of them have the same first names, just different middle names) (!!!)
made a lot of sense at the time hah?!

but like i said..that was yeaaarss ago, when we were reeeaaallyy young (and had really creative imaginations)..and no, i'm not adopted (phew!). the minute we told ma about the theory, she dismissed us with her usual "ish, ish..cakap yg bukan-bukan". hee..

anyway, so later sis got married (her hubby's bdate is 28.4.76) and amirah was born on 8.11.05... and we couldnt find a pattern anymore. then aliff was born..on 30.3.07.. and altho there's still no obvious pattern to it, i was proud cuz it actually matched my car number (3037). yay!

(before you suggest it...no..i dont play the lottery ;))

good news for me ?

Coffee may lower risk of uterus cancer: Japan study

AFP - Monday, September 1

TOKYO (AFP) - - Women who drink a lot of coffee may have less risk of developing cancer of the uterus, a Japanese study said Monday.

The study led by Japan's health ministry monitored some 54,000 women aged 40 to 69 over about 15 years, during which time 117 women developed cancer in the womb, according to the medical team.

The researchers at Japan's National Cancer Center divided the women into four groups by the amount of coffee they drank.

They found the group of women who drank more than three cups of coffee every day were more than 60 percent less likely to develop uterine cancer than those who had coffee fewer than two times a week, the study said.

"Coffee may have effects in lowering insulin levels, possibly curbing the risks of developing womb cancer," the study said.

The medical team also studied the effects of drinking green tea, but did not find any link to uterine cancer.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control, uterine cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women.

....................................................................................................................................................................

yup, i usually take (ie need/crave) 3 or more cups of coffee per day. if i dont, i get a headache (withdrawal?). one of the reasons puasa month is a challenge for me.

rain rain come again..

the us open has been delayed due to unfriendly weather.
i love rainy days. especially if i get to sleep in on rainy mornings.
sigh.
btw, that rubber froggy is so cute, if only i could add it to my collection. got the photo off the us open official website.

tennis talk

Murray – Del Potro: Bad Blood?

Tuesday, September 2, 2008
By Neil Schlecht

In a promotional bit before the start of the US Open, boxing promoter Don King staged a pugilistic-styled “Grapple in the Apple” weigh-in of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Perhaps those two mild-mannered players weren’t the best choice for the event.

Wednesday afternoon’s matchup of sixth-seeded Scot Andy Murray, 21, and the 19-year-old Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who’s riding a 23-match win streak, comes against the backdrop of a supposed feud that has piqued interest in an already anticipated encounter.

Del Potro and Murray, 16 months apart, have known each other since junior days, but it was their May match in Rome earlier this year that has the two of them, and others privy to their playing history, talking.

In a testy match, Del Potro allegedly launched a ball at the feisty Murray’s head. At a changeover at 5-4 in the second set, the two engaged in sideline trash-talking that the umpire tried in vain to extinguish. The sit-down squabble began with Murray complaining about the attempted beaning, to which Del Potro retorted, somewhat elliptically: “You and your mother, the same always.”

That set Murray off, incensed that the Argentine would dare invoke his mum: “If you ever speak about my mum again!” The umpire pleaded with both players “to save it ‘til later.” “That is unacceptable!” cried Murray.

Del Potro sat stoically, staring straight ahead.

Murray was asked whether there was some unfinished business between the two in his press conference, after defeating Stanislas Wawrinka to advance to the match against the 6-foot-6 Del Potro.

“I haven't spoken to him since, so whether there is or not, for me it's another tennis match,” said Murray. “When you get on the court you've got to put your emotions aside and get the job done.

"I've known him since we were really young," continued Murray. "I wasn't great friends with him before. I don't need to be friends with him now."

Murray won that first and only bout in a TKO. After Murray split sets with the big Argentine, Del Potro was forced to retire with an injury.

Looking forward to today's showdown, Murray said, “Whether I like Del Potro or not really doesn't make any difference. When you get on the tennis court it's another match, and you've got to win.”

For the curious, there’s charming YouTube video evidence of the incident (complete with amusing Eurosport commentators advocating for a throwdown then and there):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=muM-UQc_Tnk

Round 2 between these two combatants – technically the quarterfinals – is coming up Wednesday on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Be there!
.....................................................................................................................................................................
that was from www.usopen.org

i thought it was interesting.. didnt follow the rome masters back in may (exam time-blech!), so didnt know about the feud that was going on between these two players (great young players too may i add). the tempers match their young blood i guess..hehe.
btw, i missed the match totally -even the delayed telecast! it's a 12 hr-difference between ny and msia!!:( heard the commentators saying it was the best match they've seen in the us open so far..grr..
anyway, murray won over del potro already, and will be meeting nadal in the semis.
meantime, caught the williams sisters playing against each other (for the umpteenth time!), and this time serena won, but what a great score (7-6, 7-6) !!
hopefully can catch fedex vs muller while sahur later, then delayed cast of roddick vs djokovic (who actually announced that he's gonna stop imitating other players now, and become -gasp!-more serious!!!oh no..;))