Thursday, April 28, 2005

"POOOF....."

There is a new device invented by one Mitch Altman, called TV-B-Gone. It's a small black device attached to a key chain, akin to a car remote control, and can switch off virtually any tv with the press of a button. It is invented with the noble intention of making people watch less tv, especially in public places.
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I guess Altman got pissed off by the current pervasivenes of tv - in busses, in airports, in bars, in clinics, in restaurants and even in govt offices. He equates tv everywhere like having second hand smoke. Its seriously dulling minds and hampering communication. And making it affordable at only $14.99, the first batch was sold out in 2 days.

According to Wired's article, Altman was inspired when he and his buddies ended up watching more television at the restaurant they were at rather then converse although they have been planning to meet for a long time and had much to talk about.

I think its a wonderful invention. I remember the time I was sooo pissed off by a cashier who had her eyes glued to the tv in her shop and totally ignored me standing in front of her waiting to pay. And about tv hampering conversation, I couldn't agree more. Just last night, during dinner I was going on and on about our next vacation and where we should be going and my dearest Don was glued to his John Mcclain on STAR Movies. UUurrghhh!!!! When will that thing come to our shores. I think I will need one.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Baiser de l'Hotel de Ville

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"Baiser de l'Hotel de Ville" - The Kiss By The Hotel de Ville

I looked all over when we were in Paris during our honeymoon for a cheap replica of Robert Doisneau's famous art piece but didn't manage to find any. This art piece has come to signify the global symbol of Paris romance. It depicts an archetypal open-air activity in front of one of Paris' most grand architecture, the Hotel de Ville - One of the magnificient sights we managed to see with our own eyes when we were there.
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Too bad we didn't get a chance to pose like that coupke in the photo ... hehehe Even if we did, nobody would have taken our photo anyway because everywhere you turn in Paris you're sure to catch sight of at least 1 kissing couple. oh BTW to those people getting married soon, go get that Paris honeymoon. Its THE place to go!!!!

Monday, April 25, 2005

Shedaaaaaapp.......!!!!

As always the trip was fantabulous!!! We reach the wedding in Seremban a little after 1pm, just in time for lunch and met all my cousins, uncles and aunts there. As soon as the ppl started packing up, we all drove down to Malacca, to the hotel. The hotel is humongous, with over 600 rooms in both the hotel and apartment wings. They have close to 5 diff pools, and quite an extensive recreation facilities. The apartment at Century Mahkota was comfy albeit the furnishing were quite dated. One room was equipped with a huge bed and the other with twin beds. Since more than expected people came to join us, The Don and I had to share a twin bed. Imagine us, both not-exactly slim people, sharing a single twin bed. When at home, our bed is a humoungous king-sized one. Still, it was romantic to say the least. In any case I slept like a baby anyway. My Don, ever the gentleman, sufferred all the inconveniences and let me have all the comfort.
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That night, we drove in 2 cars + 1 MPV to Umbai for fresh seafood. Its a must-go when you are in Malacca. Even if you are in Malacca for a few hours. Indeed they had spruced up the place and now the seating area is covered. We reached there quite late about 9.30pm but the place was jam packed. As always, we patronise Stall no 1. D'Muara Ikan Bakar. Its funny how this stall is jam filled with people while the other 9 are literally empty!!!! Service is quite bad but the food makes it all alright I guess.

The seafood are all on display, just like a wet market. You basically choose which one you want, then tell the guy how you want it done, Bakar (grill), Sambal, Sweer n Sour or Tepung (for prawns and cuttlefish). All this is eaten with a free flow of Nasi Lemak in cute small packets. Usually you only eat one or at most 2 packets of rice and spend the rest of the time gorging on the seafood. Take a look at what we had... dun drool ok!!!!!

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We spend the remaining time in Malacca shopping at Mahkota Parade, right smack in front of our hotel. I managed to get one pair of lovely shoes at a steal. (BTW Mahkota Parade is a heaven for shoe freaks like me there must be like 20 shoe shops in there, including Vincci!!!) And lots n lots of tudungs. In what was like an eternity later (for The Don, anyway), we finally left Malacca and made our way home to SG. It was a wonderful trip but tt sure felt good to get our King size bed again.....

Friday, April 22, 2005

Weekend Escapade

My uncle in Kuantan had to go for a very very minor operation. The operation went without hitch and he left Kuantan Medical Centre with 2 weeks MC. So now he's here along with his family and his brand new car Toyota Avanza....
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The last time they came to Singapore was during our wedding so we didn't managed to bring them anywhere. This time, he wants to visit Sentosa. So today, they're gonna fetch me from the office and off we'll go to Sentosa. Chief purpose --> to get a bird's eye view of Sentosa's latest attraction the Sky Tower.
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and the all-time fav Musical Fountain (actually I dun get it what is so exciting about watching coloured lights amidst a fountain ??)
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and as usual dinner's gonna be SATAY!!!!! at our fav stall at Lau Pa Sat. (its the stall no 3/4 with the jolly-sized, rubber-faced, uber-friendly guy)
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And then early tomorrow morning its gonna be a convoy to Seremban to attend my mom's cousin's daughter's wedding.. I guess that makes her my cousin twice removed, I think.... And since almost everyone in the family from all parts of Malaysia will be attending the wedding, The Don has so generously booked apartments at Century Mahkota Hotel in Malacca for all of them to crash the night after a long day instead of having to drive all the way home.
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And while we are in Malacca, we're sure not to miss going to Umbai for some of the greatest seafood!!!!! I heard they revamped the place so its gonna be another foodie weekend for The Don and me.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Casino... NO NO NO !!!

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So the decision has been made. The casinos are coming to town. Oh wait maybe i should use the term IR which stands for Integrated Resort since the casino is just gonna occupy 3-5% of the total land set aside, or so they say. To soften the blow (or pull the wool over your eyes) there's gonna be a theme park too. Something akin to the Florida Universal Studios.

In case you still can't feel my vibes. I am against the idea. I can see the point of it bringing in the tourists and increasing the revenue for the state. But is casino the only way to go??? Ok so their great idea of making Singapore an Arts Hub didn't work out and the Esplanade's thorns are gonna collect dust. (But in any case can u imagine the likes of Phua Chu Kang watching Les Miserables? With one leg up on the seat and a finger up his nose?? YUCKS!) But surely there are other ideas to explore.
Why not go the way of Paris (or Malaysia) and build a huge monument so people will want to come to see? Or the way of Hong Kong and Bangkok and turn Singapore into a shopper's paradise. Or build the damn theme park anyway. That's sure to bring in the crowd in droves.

But alas the decision has been made and there is nothing really you can do about it once the powers-that-be has decided for it. But truly, there are innumerable negative aspects to having a casino so close to our shore. (what more two??) Even with the so-called "preventive" measures, such as high (SGD $100 high?) entry fees and no extension of credit to locals, there are numerous loopholes and alternatives to combat it. If anything, it will cause the loanshark industry to thrive even more. Splashes of red paint on doors and incidents of glue-filled locks will be more common. So will the signature symbol of OWE$PAY$ in lifts and corridors of HDB housing estates. And when the debts go amounting, there will be more and more cases of the Simon Lee tragedy and rash acts such as the Maybank robbery

Think of casino and what do you see in your mind's eye? A scene from CSI perhaps with the bright lights, jackpot machines and roulette wheel. Or even a scene of the not-so-recent local Chinese drama. With the "high life" and "glamour" notion perpetrated by the movie industry of casinos, there is a high probability youths here will make the casino the coming-of-age thing to do. Much like how they scamper to buy a ticket to a R(A) movie on the very day they turn 21 and show up in front of Zouk when they turn 18. Unfortunately, while the decision for a movie or disco is something you can control, a casino like most other gambling activities is addictive. Very soon a once-in-a-lifetime experience will turn into a once-a-week habit.

And the 39,000 jobs or so that will be created by the IR a.k.a Casino.. did I hear a wow??? well perhaps it will help keep the retrenched people employed but have you ever taught what kind of jobs??? Before long you will see some of our Muslim female teenagers who failed to meet the cut as a model/actress/air stewardess prancing around on stage ala Moulin Rouge. Image hosted by Photobucket.com
and Muslim male youths in bow and black-tie handing out chips and turning the roulette wheel. Is that the way we want our next generation to earn their living ? And with one vice come others and there is a possibility of a rise in prostitution and drug-related cases. After all cocaine has already reached our pristine n clinically clean shores. You think I am making a far fetched conclusion?? Well I hope so too.

And if you are one of the believers that the recent spate of earthquakes and tsunamis are Allah's sign of the end of time, then do you wonder what will happen should such catastrophes unleash itself on this puny island with such maksiat going on? Truly I shudder to think how life will be like for my family and for my future generation in this land of Kafirun. Maybe you should too......

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

9 Years or 4 months???....

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Nine years ago to be exact......was the day we had our first date. After school, at a fast food joint 10 mins away from the school gates. I still remember the havoc the butterflies created in my stomach on that day. I must have gone to the restroom nothing less than 10 times that day to check how I look. Still, we must have made a good impression on each other cause we never looked back since.

Over the years I learnt what made him clam into a rock and he learnt what made my fire alarms go frenzy and we both learnt to avoid them like the plague. We saw each other through peaks and valleys during these 9 years - my father falling ill and subsequently leaving us, his coming of age in the National Service, getting his driving license, his first job, my first job, his first car bought from his own sweat n tears, etc etc. You could say we grew up together.

I guess we're lucky. We never had to experience most of the heartaches that came with teenage love - the "grass is greener on the other side" syndrome of college-going girls with poly-going boyfriends, the drifting apart during National Service, the "let's break up for a while to see if we are really meant for each other" crap etc etc. We had a solid, firm commitment and not once did our confidence in each other and our relationship falter. Sure we had our fights n bickers but breaking up was never an option and we always knew we'd get to where we are now someday.

And now, here we are, 4 months to the day, into a marriage more satisfying than even our wildest imagination put together. Marriage has brought an intense intimacy to the understanding and love we have already been sharing for the past 9 years. It has brought us to the next level altogether. Every waking second, I am eternally grateful for the love Allah has bestowed in my heart for him and in his for me. And may this love blossom forever more.......
Happy Anniversary Darling !!!

Monday, April 18, 2005

If you had read the New Paper on Sunday, you'd have read this article.....

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Jurong family survives on only ONE meal a day
April 17, 2005
-By Zubaidah Nazeer

HE was in unusually high spirits that February morning last year, when he left home to spend the last working day with his employer. Service technician Kassim, 38, had got another job which would pay him a few hundred more than the $1,700 a month he was earning.(We cannot use his real name because of a pending legal suit.)

He was relishing a dream holiday with his wife and four children and that cherished pilgrimage to Mecca.But fate intervened to dash his hopes. The motorcycle he was on was involved in a collision with a car. The impact sent Mr Kassim flying and left him with severe head injuries.

Today, he is bedridden and depends on his wife, Siti, (not her real name), 35, a housewife, to keep the family together.Other than her three boys and one girl, aged from 8 to 14, she has to care for her 79-year-old uncle who lives in their four-room flat.

More than a year has passed since the accident but Mr Kassim is still bedridden. He cannot control his bowel movements and has to use adult diapers. Said Madam Siti: 'Now, every time he needs to go to the toilet to wash up, I have to help him. I also help him bathe and that takes some time'.

Madam Siti recalled that fateful day. 'I had just spoken to him about an hour before that, and he seemed cheerful because it was his last day of work. He had also sms-ed me sweet words earlier, saying he would come home and massage my leg because I had complained of a pain. He is always sweet like that.'

It was a friend who informed her about the accident. Madam Siti collapsed. Her memory after that became a blur. But she remembers being helped onto a wheelchair in hospital, wailing with inconsolable grief as she tried to sign a consent form for her husband to be operated on.

She said of the moment he was wheeled into the ICU of National University Hospital after the operation: 'The only way I could tell it was him was when I saw his goatee. The rest of him was bandaged up. It hit me hard... I felt my whole world was gone.'

Mr Kassim was in a coma for a month. Looking after him and their young children full-time has taken its toll.Her husband has since undergone four major surgeries - two on the brain, and two to insert tubes into his head and chest.

Doctors have told Madam Siti that her husband's cognitive abilities, which include thought and logic, are permanently gone. His right vision is partially damaged. Doctors said he would probably be 'dependent on others, for life'.

He gets numerous seizures. In an attack early this year, he turned bluish and was frothing at the mouth and had to be hospitalised for four months.There are also thrice-weekly visits to Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital for rehabilitation sessions.

On a good day, Kassim utters a few words and breaks into smiles. But he still hardly talks. He can move his hands and legs and can feel pain. Madam Siti says she is grateful that her husband's condition has improved as he can now recognise her, glance at her and mime words.

Despite this, her morning ritual is to greet him, kiss his cheeks and have conversations with him, though he may not look at her or respond. She tries to be cheerful, but is worried about the mounting hospital costs and the family's daily living expenses...................

(This is an excerpt of the article.... read the full article here)

Heart-wrenching right??? Its even more so when you know the people personally like I do. They are clients of my firm and the case will be up for trial at the end of this month at the Supreme Court. I can't divulge much since the matter is an ongoing one but trust me that the reporter only managed to scratch the surface of this family's plight.

The victim (let's call him Kassim like the reporter did) was riding his motorbike when he was flung off upon impact and landed beneath a stationary lorry some 10m away. No one knows exactly what the circumstances of the accident were as Kassim was unconscious immediately after and now can no longer talk much less remember details of the accident. All we have are the car driver's words and circumstantial evidence that do not exactly amount to much. I managed to pay a visit to their place sometime in the beginning of this year as I had to collect certain confidential documents from the wife. (Let's also call her Siti) The one who answered the door was an elderly frail looking old man, presumably the uncle mentioned in the article. He looked like he needed taking care himself. The couple has 4 kids, most in their teenage years and if the situation is hard on the wife, imagine what it must be like for the kids already in their turbulent years. I really hope and I pray that everything goes well during the trial and that at the very least, while no amountof money can lessen the pain nor reverse the accident, the settlement money will help them tide over these difficult times.

Shopping Haven

It was another shopping weekend for me n The Don - this time in JB. Almost every time we go to JB it's for groceries and we always end up at Giant Hypermart. And usually we dun quite get to go anywhere else as we usually stay at Giant till they closed the shutters and literally shoo us out. So this time, since we didn't have too many groceries to get, we hit City Square instead. And of course I wouldn't miss my chance of visiting my most fav store in town - Living Quarters
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We went to see a few cars in town. The Don is thinking of getting a Malaysian registered car for his business in Malaysia. And this time, we are done with Jap cars...remember the movie Taxi (1, 2 & 3)(the French one not the crappy Hollywood one!!!) We fell in love with that car watching the movie then when we were in Paris for our honeymoon, everywhere we turned, we saw cars of that make. And we fell in love all over again, with that car. It's a petrol guzzler like most continental cars so it doesn't make economical sense to buy one here. But in Malaysia... we just might.... So perhaps it will be our Malaysian car. Then The Don will be the next Samy Naceri....

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And dinner was a sumptious one at Secret Recipe and we ended dinner with a delectable slice of Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake.
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Suddenly, The Don's plan to move to Malaysia is starting to make sense to me.....

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Wan Ton.. Two Ton...

Though I try to make it a point to make sure there is home cooked food everyday for The Don, sometimes when I have to stay late in the office or when I am just not in the mood, we wll either eat out or buy from the Banquet food court just behind our place at Vista Point. Inadvertently The Don will come back with his fav --> Roasted Chicken Noodles basically Wan Tan Noodles with chicken instead of the little dumplings. He can even wolf down 2 plates of those yummy noodles.

Despite my modern outlook on life, I am a traditionalist when it comes to food and hubands. I don't mind cooking after a long day in the office just as long as my hubby eats food that is cooked by me. "air tangan isteri" goes a long way ... belief me, despite there being no scientific evidence whatsoever. So anyway my womanly pride was slighted seeing how my hubby is enjoying the food so much yet I didn't have the slightest idea how to cook it. So I set out to learn how its done and by the miracle of internet I succeeded. Hehehe
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And you know what my dearest Don said ..... "The Banquet stall should close down. I'm never going there again. From now on I'm only gonna eat your Roasted Chicken Noodle."

I felt my head spinning and my knees wobbling. A truly dry-ice melting moment.
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Wednesday, April 13, 2005

The Last Minute Phone Call

Day: Friday 8th April 2005
Time: 4.45 pm

The Don: Darling, is it too late to apply leave for Monday?
Mrs Don: Leave? Why? What's on Monday?
The Don: I was thinking.. since my meeting is on Monday afternoon, why don't u come along with me to KL tomorrow then maybe we can squeeze in Genting on Sunday or Monday morning ?
Mrs Don: Really?? (big grin) Then wat about the BBQ on Saturday?
The Don: It's ok. After the bbq, we leave straightaway for KL.
Mrs Don: YAHOOOO!!!!!!!!

The initial plan was only for The Don to go to KL to meet his prospective Malaysian business counterparts but I ended up tagging along as well. The eventual drive to KL only happened on Sunday morning due to the BBQ ending later than we planned. (officially ended at East Coast at midnight but for the rest of us it unofficially ended at 3am Sunday hehe)

The drive up to Genting was much steeper and much more dangerous than I remember. We decided against taking the cable car and drove up all the way to the peak and The Don had to negotiate corners like this one....
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and this one...
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We spent almost the entire Monday morning at the Outdoor Theme Park. While some of the rides were pretty lame(dun bother with the unconvincing space simulator!), the roller coasters were quite fun. We sure had a helluva time on the double loop roller coasters (and we sat in the front!!!) Image hosted by Photobucket.com
and the "adult version" of merry-go-round
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We had so much fun The Don was even late for his 3pm meeting but he didn't seem to mind the slightest bit. And thanks to our cousins Abg Wan n Kak Ida we did managed to taste the famous Satay Kajang even though we only got as far as the Sungai Buloh exit.


Despite it being a super short n impromptu trip and no shopping time whatsoever, it was truly a wonderful weekend getaway....

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

BURNT OUT

Since we had an hour to spare before we met Jenny and Ruthern at Swensen's Crown Prince Hotel after work yesterday, we popped into Challenger @ Funan to have a look see at the X-box games they had. Luckily for me EA was having a promo 2nd X-box game at 10 bucks less so my dearest DON gave in to my hints of getting two games at once. Together with some computer accesorries and some PC softwares, we walked away with quite an armful of stuff. A real shopping treat!!!

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Burnout 3: Takedown is seriously the best game we have ever played. Its a racing game like no other where you get points for crashing your car, especially if you also crash a rival's in the process. I love racing games but I'm not very good at it. Whenever I play Project Gotham Racing I always end up with a crashed up car so at least Burnout allows me to get points for my "no-skill". The graphics is wonderful and the game is easy to play. I simply LOVE IT !!!!!
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The Urb:Sims in the city is a tad dissapointing. The PC one is so much more fun at once glance. But I've yet to explore all parts of the game so who know's I might end up as addicted to this one as I used to on the PC.
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And yes!! finally we got our 2nd controller. Now we can play multiplayer games. No doubt my nieces and nephews would be the one most excited about this. Now they can compete among their cousins whenever they come over.
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Dinner with Jenny and her hubby was simply lovely. We both brought our wedding albums so we had a fantastic time going over the photos. And we brought our Paris honeymoon photos too. Jenny and hubby ooohed and aaahed over the Paris photos so much so they are planning their next vacation to Europe. hehehe. We adjourned our tete-a-tete to their lovely place at Klang Lane, a mere 10 mins from Orchard Rd. How lovely to have a place so near town although they have to bear the "aroma" and noise of Serangoon Area and its inhabitants. And they have a marine fish tank, something The Don and I plan to have someday. But hearing Jenny and Ruthern explain the intricacies of maintaining one and the high set up costs looks like it won't be so soon. But we loved looking at their marine fish, especially the cute little shrimp.
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Time was definitely too short for us to catch up so we adjourned it to Sunday, this time at our place for lunch. It's sure great to meet old friends and to find that both our spouses get along famously as well.

We reached home close to eleven and even though we could barely open our eyes by then, we just had to have a test-run of the games, hehe. And this morning, we contemplated taking the day off just to have our fill of Burnout again. But alas....

Monday, April 04, 2005

Dun Leave Home Without It

I need some of that memory enhancement product. I am so forgetful these days I must be like an old lady. I accidentally left my ATM card at home this morning and was horrified to know that I didn't have a single dollar note in my wallet. And it was one hour to lunchtime. What's a girl to do?

Called The Don to ask if he would kindly go home to take my ATM card for me (since he does go home in the afternoons) but instead my knight-in-shining-Lancer sped to my rescue with his spare cash and his ATM card too. I vaguely remember a gentle warning as he handed me his ATM card but I dun remember his words exactly, hehehe.

My colleagues who overheard my frantic conversation with hubby started conspiring to kidnap my hubby. hahahaha HANDS OFF GIRLS!!!!!!! HE'S MINE !!!!!!!