Monday, May 31, 2010

Ole Ole Bali

Had dinner at a place called Ole Ole Bali in Sunway Pyramid last night and we ate the biggest meal ever. 


This is the Ole Nasi Campur - RM 33. This is one person's portion, mind you. Click on the pix for a clearer view.




And this is my drink. Honey lime papaya, it taste heavenly, compliments the heavy meal totally. And it's extremely re-freshing! Hubby had the other one, barley lime.




Truly enjoyed dinner, but it's too much for 1 person actually.


On Sat night, we went to check out The Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang. Was at their supermarket called the Jaya Grocer or something, when we came across a giant fish at the fish section. It's a real one, ok but dead la. It's called the Rock Grouper. Man, it rocks, doesn't it? It's featured in The Star today. Boy, am I glad I'm not swimming next to it alive.


Blog name - carrot head and applemint.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

3 things you can't live without











If I ever get stranded alone on Giligan's Island, and there are 3 things that I can't live without, it will definitely have to be my :
1) lip balm
2) hand cream and 
3) sun block


so that, by the time they finally find me, I'll still look like me and not look like Kumari instead.. :-D


Eh wait, if I have a choice, I'll change my mind from the sun block to a man.. ;-)


So that he can provide me the kind of services that are not so appropriate to be mentioned here, he..he..  Wait, wait.. what are you thinking? I mean, I will need a man to make a shack for me to protect me from the sun, make me a manual fan to fan me, catch me a fish and have it cooked for me, etc, etc.. too long to mention.


But then if I can't have another person to be the 3rd item, ok, then back to sun block lo... Eh wait, I change my mind again, what I need as my third item will be my lappie. Then I can continue to chat with the world. But, but if I have a lappie, I can send out a SOS for help lo.. no need to get stuck there forever, but where to find power socket in an island? Hmmm... oh wait, in the first place, how would a lappie survive the swim in the sea to reach the island, cheh..............!!!


Ok lo.., back to my precious sun block.. :P




--moon


Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Things happen for a reason


Had a truly awful day. Last week, our modem router kaput. Then I found out that my lappie had the virus.


We bought a Belkin modem router and had it configured, but up till now it's still not working. The last we check with TMNet, it seems they're having some technical problem at their side (we hope).

Yesterday I was at Subang Parade whole afternoon and evening while I waited for my lappie to be re-formatted. At night, I tried to up-date and synchronize my contacts in my HTC Touch with the outlook, only to find out this morning, that all the backed-up contacts in my PDA vanished. And the worse thing is, my outlook contact is empty still.


Despite all that I did to ensure my contacts were backed-up properly (after having gone through several experience of losing them all), I still lose them all. I can't believe it, and it's so darn frustrating. I mean, what's the point of having everything so "canggih", if we cannot even retain such important data? How could this info be totally wiped out completely, and so easily....!?!?


It was like one thing after another and I truly hope that the saying "Everything happens for a reason" holds true, that no matter what happens, something valuable will come out of this and it's the precise thing that I need, coz I was almost pulling my hair. 


Well, all is not lost, thank God. Early last year, I had a copy of my contacts printed out, and so I still have a hard copy to refer to, but if you think that I'm gonna re-key in everything, no way!

I took the afternoon off to chill out and went about doing my personal stuffs. At 5.30 pm, I hit the yoga mat, as I needed to "talk" myself out of this frustration and angry mode. I was truly upset beyond words.


As usual, I started off with the "lotus seat" pose + slow and deep breathing to slow down my body, mind and breathe for 10 mins. I can't stress enough how important it is to get ourselves in the mood, after a whole afternoon of running around. After lotus seat, I did a 2 minute of "butterfly pose" and "chest to feet pose". This was followed by 3 minute of "downward dog pose" and 4 sets of "Sun Salutation". Ended it with the bridge pose (to strengthen my spine, neck and chest & keep them flexible) and "plough pose" (this is a great pose to loosen up stiff & uptight upper back, shoulder and neck). By the time I finished, I was looking forward to a lovely dinner with hubby and to the long weekend.

Below is the butterfly pose, where you are supposed to flap both your knees up and down, like the wings of a butterfly. Need to flap it hard.













This is the "chest to feet pose", ensuring to keep your back straight instead of bending it.











Bridge pose














Plough pose













For dinner, we had instant spicy Korean noodles with lots of fresh vegies thrown in and an egg, while we watch American Idol final and Glee, yuuuummm....!!! 

This is a great website that I follow closely. I also buy their magazine. Extremely informative and rejuvenating - Yoga Journal.

Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Friday, May 21, 2010

What's up, Doc?

I found out today there’s a kedai TNB in Subang, SS 15. Saved me the trip to Shah Alam town center.  Wanted to pay office bill in Subang Carrefour - Post Ofc since I was already at Subang Parade, but they told me that everything can be settled there except electricity. They won’t accept cheque, but  I thought I did that just last month…?!?! When I asked the counter staffs in TNB, they said they are not sure themselves, what the !@#$%?#!...!!

I think my Google Analytics Traffic tracking feature is totally screwed up. It’s report is so inconsistent that I’m not sure if it’s working anymore. How could the traffic figures go down, it can only go up, right? This is not temperature reading mah, where got go down one? One day it’s 114, next day onwards it’s 15….?!?! Virus ah..?

Hey, I like this font very much, so in love with it….., for now. The font type is Kalinga.. :-D

Just told my boss that I will need to re-format my lappie due to virus attack….. Hmmm… no comment also, phewwh….!!!

I think this Twitter thing is so cool…!! Never really understood what on earth people use it for until I incorporated it into my blog. Now I understand, and I think it’s one of the best “thing” that has ever been created. 3 cheers!

Heard this on the radio while I was driving today, a child asking dad what’s the meaning of the word “___”. Dad ask the daughter to read out the sentence, it went like this.. “She hit her head and fell “enchongkus”. What the heck, never heard of it before in my entire life.


Snapshot of my day continues..
I was at the pc repair shop this afternoon, trying to find out why my lappie's hard disk space keeps shrinking by the day, despite the fact that I've been transferring big files to an external hard disk. The guy casually told me, "It's the virus, easy, just do some scanning and remove it." and I was thinking in my head, "scan and remove". Hmm... that sound so familiar, I have definitely heard it before. I mean, how do you scan and remove. I must have had that IT girl look on me, with my knapsack and Toshiba notebook, and t-shirt and all that jazz. Then I told him, "Uh, I don't know how to do that, that's why I am here." Duhhh.... What, you think I have nothing better to do than to go all the way there to ask him to trouble shoot if I have any clue what's going on with it? Geeezzz.....


Blog name – carrot head and applemint

Thursday, May 20, 2010

The golden number





Ever since I watched the show The Da Vincci Code, and having read the book, I’ve been fascinated to no end by the subject “the golden number”, which is the 1.618.

The golden number (the symbol is the Greek letter “phi” as shown above), is a special number approximately equaling to 1.618.

This number and ratio amazingly, seem to appear in all forms of our life and in the universe, such as

1)      In our design/composition (acoustic, architecture, art, colour, music, poetry, logos, marketing, etc) - http://goldennumber.net/design.htm
2)      In our life (such as human face, body, beauty, teeth, hand, foot, heart beat, body temperatures, animal, plants, etc) - http://goldennumber.net/life.htm
3)      In mathematics - http://goldennumber.net/math.htm
4)      In geometry - http://goldennumber.net/geometry.htm
5)      In cosmology (energy, solar system, golden ratio of earth, quantum matter, quantum time, universe, etc) - http://goldennumber.net/cosmology.htm
6)      In theology
7)      stock market & foreign exchange, according to some 

If you wish to know what the golden number is all about, check out this site :

If you wish to know how the golden number affects all aspects of our lives, check out this site :

If all the above is too much for you, and you still have no clue what on earth is this “phi” number thingy all about, just like I had for a long time, then check out this site. It was only at this site that I understood further how the golden number works (for people who are math/figures challenged and impatient, he..he..) :



Blog name – carrot head and applemint

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

You put the beautiful in life

This Dance by Five for Fighting
(click above for video clip)


This is not our favorite song
but the night is moving right along
May I have your hand, May I have this dance.

I sense that you are amused,
but you just bought those brand new shoes.
It would be such a shame not to give us the chance.

And oh my love there is only so many dances we can take across the night.

So while is just me and you
I thought I might say to you
You put the beautiful in life.

I know at times that you feel alone
when I'm here and I'm never home.
You said before is the price that you pay.

On matters of clarity
is not secret you are carrying me.
But you disguise thoughts of fall
I will keep you safe.

And oh my love there is only so many dances we can take across the night.

So while is just me and you
I thought I might say to you
You put the beautiful in life.

And oh....
oh...oh...

This is not our favorite song
but I wish it go on and on
it's moments like these
singers do all they can to stop time.

So let me just say to you
before the DJ changes the tune
you put the beautiful in life
you put the beautiful in life.



Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Laughter - the best medicine

I was blogging about good oil for our body the other day, when I paused for a moment to re-arrange my thoughts. Then as I was typing in a certain word, something came to mind, that I thought I must share.


Many years back, my niece told me that she followed the grandmother to the grocery shop to buy stuffs for cooking. The grandmother was walking ahead of her or something, came to this Indian grocery shop, becoz she wanted to buy coconut. She walked up to an Indian man who was shaving the coconut on the machine, and told him confidently, "Thambi, bagi saya kepala satu."


I could imagine the Indian chap's face when the word finally register in his mind, if it did at all. I was (like the person in the pix) almost rolling on the floor after hearing the story.


--moon


Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Monday, May 17, 2010

Thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs

Fireflies - by Owl City
(click above for the video clip)

You would not believe your eyes
If ten million fireflies
Lit up the world as I fell asleep

Cause they'd fill the open air
And leave teardrops everywhere
You'd think me rude
But I would just stand and stare

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems

'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs
From ten thousand lightning bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance

A foxtrot above my head
A sock hop beneath my bed
A disco ball is just hanging by a thread

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep

Leave my door open just a crack
(Please take me away from here)
'Cause I feel like such an insomniac
(Please take me away from here)
Why do I tire of counting sheep
(Please take me away from here)
When I'm far too tired to fall asleep

To ten million fireflies
I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes
I got misty eyes as they said farewell

But I'll know where several are
If my dreams get real bizarre
'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep


I'd like to make myself believe
That planet earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams



Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Sunday, May 16, 2010

World Cup fever begins tonight

Finally bought my copy of the World Cup Guide. Am gonna pore over it from tonight onwards. My favourite section is in the legendary players (since my interest in world cup only started like 8 years ago) and the future superstars (let's hope that there are some good looking hunks in this category, now that Beckham is gone and Ronaldo C has been black listed by me due to ethics and principle matters). Classic encounters & cup controversies would be an interesting section too.


Ok, off to my air-cond room to study now. Cheerios!


Like my mom used to say, "Even exam time also she doesn't see me as hardworking as during world cup." Hmmmm... that shows what great hunks are capable of doing to a person, eh? They should just put hunks as teachers in class, and I'll be a Grade 1 student without effort.. ;-)


Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Saturday, May 15, 2010

An ant's quote

The Anggerik Aranda's community has been trying hard to garner support to have a 24x7 security guard at the entrance, manning the boom gate. Unfortunately, the support that came in wasn't enough to sustain the effort. We've finally been informed that the 24x7 security will end after May, and the guards will only be on duty at specific time. Does that mean I will have to be a self appointed security guard during the day time at my row of house from then on?


I really cannot understand some of the house owner's mindset and thinking. Here we are trying to boost up security within the area where we live, rest and sleep so that we could have a peace of mind for the family, and you have some owners having all sorts of thoughts about the security guards themselves. If you have no trust in others, how do you go about with your life out there, I wonder. And haven't the current 24x7 guards proven themselves this 1/2 year, as we haven't had any break-in at all? So sad that some people can chose to live in their own world, without a care about what's going on around them.


In this modern era, where technology, ICT and multimedia rules, it's amazing to see there are still some people preferring to think all this info are lies. How do they go about blending in with the global village concept, I wonder, if they cannot even participate in a simple community effort for the sake of the family & the community. 


As the saying goes, "no man is an island." In fact, even an island is linked to the rest of the land underneath the sea, if only people see that, or do they?


Hubby has been ill after the "heavy duty" MetalTech (hey, the 2 words compliment each other, don't you think, he..he..) and is still coughing like a choo choo train. Never seen him sleep like a baby day and night, well, yeah, only when he falls ill like now.


I've really been chilling out this whole week. First 2 days was a big blur, as we were both so tired mentally and physically. It's been a week of heavenly Bejeweling.. :-D


I've been tinkering with my blog this whole week. Trying out some widgets and gadgets to add to the blog without knowing what are some of them, and in the process, added some stuffs which I don't know how to remove (and I don't even know how it ended up there). My blog guru is busy, (hint, hint, hello sifu, you still busy?) and still haven't rectified my earlier request. Still trying to figure out, I guess (a cup of aromatic brewed coffee for me if I'm right).. ;-)


My blog name - carrot head and apple mint, mystery solved, eh?


Why carrot head? Becoz my eldest niece used to call me carrot head and still does (and i retaliate by calling her tomato head. uuh.. what kind of an aunt am I eh?). And I like the name applemint. Cheers!


I really like the LinkWithin widget that I added recently. Cool...!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Peak time of the year

Last week was a crazy week for us. On Monday we were scrambling around to buy whatever stuffs that is required for MetalTech (cloth to cover the box that holds the machine, clips, etc). Tuesday was set-up day at PWTC. From Wed – Fri, everyday, we will be up around 6.45 am, prepared & took our breakfast and left the house at 8 am, to beat the normal peak hour jam to get to PWTC. On Thurs, the jam was so bad, that we only arrived at PWTC around 9.45 am (the exhibition starts at 10 am). And we normally get home around 9 pm – 9.30 pm. Had to leave early to battle through the jam and also to ensure we get better parking space (like near the staircase and near the exit of the parking so as not to get caught in the peak hour rush out in the evening, coz the stupid building owner only opens up 1 counter for payment collection, reason being  - their other counter machine rosak – according to hubby this seems to be their same yearly excuse).

In comparison to those exhibitions that I’ve participated before such as PC Fair and MATTA Fair, the crowd at MetalTech is not so crazy, as in, you don’t get a non stop stream of visitors to the point of over crowding at most times. It’s manageable and pleasant, as it is targeted to a very niche market. But the other side to this is that, where there is a lull in the visits (which is quite often), the boredom sets in. So, this is the time when I go snooping around for freebies and to take a look at all the McGuyver tools available for sale there (like those super terror torch light with a magnetic rod built-in that cost RM 68, electrical measurement tape that cost RM 100 over, etc).

Lunch was mostly tasteless and expensive food, needless to say, at the café on the first 3 days, whereas, on w’end, I had more energy to walk over to The Mall to pack McD for everyone, not that it’s healthy and good anyway, but more of a matter of no choice but at least something different.

Knowing that I’d be having problem getting my doses of vegies during lunch, I stocked up on my fruits and brought them to the exhibition to munch on when I needed a mid afternoon boost, or when we’re about to leave the place for dinner. There were no issue of coffee availability, as the organizer had the liberty to set up a huge “hospitality corner” that provides free flow coffee from the start to the end. On weekend, when I walked over to The Mall, I indulged in my favourite Starbucks coffee.

And since the hardest event in the year is finally over, it’s time to sit back and relax and prepare for ……….. the World Cup, of course!! Ole, ole ole ole…..  Speaking of which, I need to get a copy of my World Cup magazine/guide book.. :-D

I don’t know why people always seem to associate the image of massage and spa with pampering, rewarding yourself, enjoy, heaven and all that jazz. I just had one, and it was more like a torture session. Press the upper back and shoulder – pain, I understand la, but, but, press leg - pain, press hand - pain, press palm also pain, how like that? You mean, I went for the wrong kind of massage ah? And just as I was about to fall into a blissful sleep, listening to the sound of pouring rain outside, the lady had to say, “Misssss… massage finis oleli..”   !@#$%?#!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Did you have some nuts today?


Though it’s important that we ensure to leave out all the fat and bad oil from our diet, it is equally important to ensure our bodies get plenty of good oil (natural oil).

Without good oil, your body will not be able to function properly. The body needs good oil (such as Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids) to perform many important internal processes such as brain function, body/tissue repair and regeneration as well as skin elasticity.

Nuts are rich in fibre, phytonutrients and antioxidants, such as vitamin E and selenium. Nuts are also high in plant sterols fat but mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (the good fat).

Sources of good oil include :
a)      nuts (almond, walnut, macadamia, hazel, brazil nuts, pine nuts, peanuts, cashew nuts)
b)      fish, salmon and any oily fish
c)      seeds (flaxseed, sesame seed, pumpkin, sunflower seed)
d)      avocado
e)      olives
f)        soybean
g)      low fat milk
h)      coconut oil, and the list goes on

I would normally add in some almond nut, walnut, sunflower seed and pumpkin seed (NOT those fried and with salt added one please) into my oat during breakfast.

What you should avoid – full cream butter and dairy product, palm oil (palmolein), animal fat.

Not all fat, when consumed, makes you gain weight. You can only get fat if you consume more calories than you burn/use. Unsaturated good fat which is low in cholesterol actually helps to increase metabolism and promote good health. The best advise is to consume moderately.

Always go for un-extracted oil compared to extracted oil, probably due in part to longer digestion time to get them out of the food. Unrefined oil is always better than refined because minimally processed oil tends to be high in antioxidant. Coconut oil is medium-chain saturated fat, which is good. Avoid processed food at all times (food that has gone through the more processes, the worse they are for you).



Monday, May 10, 2010

Body Pamper

Going for a well deserved body & feet pampering tomorrow. Time to recuperate after the 5 full days of exhibition. 


What a relief the MetalTech is finally over! 5 full days is truly no joke!! 

Will be taking it easy this week. Going out to meet a friend for lunch today.. :-D 

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Snapshot of my day




My first participation in MetalTech 2010 in PWTC


























Saw something that I thought I must try on..

Found the perfect apron for my kitchen. It's a stainless steel apron, which even a knife will not be able to penetrate through, for someone as clumsy as me.. :-D


The cost? RM 500.. S-)






Had a surprise visit from one of my ex-student from Dasein Academy of Art at the exhibition (Low Kooi Ming) who is now working with a company that's also participating in the exhibition. Small world..




Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Beautiful day is just a thought away

Timon @ Sakai - resting & hiding from the sun beside the home pillar in the afternoon heat (above), (below) keeping me company while I was working on my lappie.




Tabby @ the energizer bunny, doing one of her silly pose inside 1 of my basket (above), and (below) napping on the bed looking like she's enjoying a piece of fresh salmon fish.


They just cracks me up for the day...!!!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

A candle loses nothing, by lighting another candle


Year end is always a time for reflection, a time for us to count our blessings, a time to slow down and enjoy life, to catch up with old friends and a time to share. It was at this time last year, that I recalled back, some of the past events/moments in my life and wondered how or what would I have done, if I had been born in Ethiopia, or Afghanistan, or closer still to home, in a situation where I have illness which requires me to frequent the hospital all the time in life, and worse still, doesn’t have the financial means to do so.  I wouldn’t have the luxury of enjoying a simple good meal of nasi lemak bungkus with teh tarik with a peace of mind, or going for holiday, or spending a wonderful weekend with my families, or chart my career plan, or enjoy my new car/home, etc.

Putting myself in their situation, I wonder, wouldn’t it be called having an angel around, if a person who has kidney failure for example, who needs to go to the public hospital for dialysis frequently and pay for it’s service, suddenly gets his/her kidney replaced with a healthy one. It would have solved a major problem of this patient and his/her family, and enabled him/her to start living a normal live. Imagine, people who are suffering from terminal organ failure which can cause death, if they cannot afford to seek medical treatment.

It is with this in mind that, both hubby and I decided to sign up and pledge our organs for donation, when we came across their promotion booth (organized by the National Transplant Resource Centre) in a shopping complex end last year. I know, death and organ donations are difficult and sensitive issues to think, let alone talk about in our society. And if it’s hard for us now, imagine how it might feel during the death of a loved one. 


I signed up with a clear conscience, thinking only of the legacy of the renewed life that a donor can leave behind, and the ultimate gift of life that I have the power to give to another fellow human in need, when I am no longer around.

Organ donation allows for various organs (kidney, liver, heart, lung, bone, skin and cornea) to be donated, in the event of death, for the purpose of transplantation only. A person can choose to select which part of organ he/she wishes to donate, or he/she can check all the above.

Organ donation may not necessary be a bad thing. For donors, it is  the thought of the renewed life that a donor can bestow on someone else; to recipients, they have their hope and life fulfilled; and to the families of the donors, it is the possible comfort in their loss of their loved one.

As the saying goes, a candle loses nothing, by lighting another candle – Erin Majors


You might be interested to read this - Doctor begins a solo track to promote awareness on organ donation. 


Blog name - carrot head and applemint

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