Mid Autumn Festival

I bought a box of mooncakes from The Baker's Cottage today. This is a must have in every household, even more so if we were to buy for in-laws or future in-laws. Giving gifts during festive seasons is deemed good manners and show that we have been brought up properly by our parents.

But how I wish the mooncakes would taste better. Nobody really like to eat them because they are too sweet. But we buy the expensive stuff because they are a must-have and I honestly think the box cost more than the cakes itself.

The mooncakes we bought from the shopping centers never fail to look like the dummy plastic food the Japanese restaurants put out for display. They are odourless, no real texture to chew on, the lotus paste and salted egg yolk are hard and brittle .... and only have one kind of taste... sweet.

Frankly, if I have a choice, I would prefer those fresh baked mooncakes sold from homes. The crust is crispy, the salted egg yolk is definitely fresher, and the lotus paste is hot and fragrance if just taken out from the oven..... hmmm .....

Anyway, unless we know some aunties who would do it from homes, we have to be contented with the machine-made mooncakes churned out from the factories every year.

Happy Mid Autumn Festival everyone!

Making Paper Roses

Aaahhh ..... at last. I managed to get my paper rose right after so many fail attempts last sunday.

I learn from watching how they do it in youtube. I felt so guilty folding the roses as my exam papers pile up at a corner waiting for me to mark and I have a deadline to beat! But once I started I couldn't stop unless I finish the mission.

Today is the third day I made the attempts to fold the rose, after putting in several hours of real concentration. and I have to hide in a corner at work to do it, under the pretext of marking exam papers. shame on me! What would my colleagues think of my crazy obsession during this crucial time of completing my works.

but once i did it, i was washed over with real satisfaction. I folded a few more and put in on my table. kakakaka .... now i can go back to my work. i managed to overcome my distraction.


they are also called kawasaki roses.
this one is difficult to make, because it can bloom or close
the one i folded look something like this.

Watching Fireworks Again

I have taken these photos from United Subang Jaya Forum and Art Lancer. Heck knows I shouldn't lift photographs from other people, but I really wanted to have a photo here to illustrate what I am going to write now. This is by far my most favourite burst of fireworks display. It fell down gently in a golden shower, holding us in captive with its beauty.

We were there early, starting our journey at 7.30pm. When we reached there it was raining and we took shortcuts through the wet muddy field among tall grass to get to the Sri Gemilang Bridge where they would launched the fireworks.

We huddled close under the umbrella in the rain and munched on snacks and chocolates as we waited patiently for the fireworks to start. Again, hundreds and thousands of people flocked to Putrajaya that night just to catch the probably once-in-a-lifetime spectacular sight like this.

Going back traffic was messy as ever but it doesn't really bother us much. We reached Puchong around 1230pm and there we stopped for supper... ^-^ it had been a great night.

Popular Food Guide in Malaysia

This book is exactly like the one we bought at popular bookstore near Ikea last Sunday. Our mission hence is .... jalan-jalan cari makan local food ^-^ hmmm.......

@ Zoo Negara

Mama dear came near me when I gave her some grass.

King Yeung is also trying his luck. Hahaha ^-^ .... see King Yeung's face ... and his empty hands! how to make the deer come to him with no food at all? at least must have pau yee and yee chi mah!

King Yeung the caffeine addict - APM coffee vending machine number one customer.

This baby is cute! We took his photo as we waited for the animals' show to start. We sat there for near to 45 minutes and the crowds is getting bigger.

The show only lasted for 30 minutes. The orang utan is especially cute. very adorable ^-^ ...

Zoo Negara is a nice place to hang around even at 3pm in the afternoon. the surrounding trees give cold shade and the breeze is light and cooling.

Another hungry beast. i wonder if the zoo really feed them well. The ground inside the fence is bare. Not a blade of green grass can be seen. the rusa ate them all.

Pink Flamingoes.

waarrgghh .... papa bear is ferocious. Scary. He is more than 8 feet when he stands tall on his hind legs. Guess what....he loves gardenia loti!

This little poor deer looked so innocent and hungry, but we got nothing for him.

The two swans look very elegant but their table manners is far from graceful. must teach them some.

This orang utan stretched out his hand asking for food from us. When we didn't give him any he just looked away. He got that very hau lian look on his face.

This is a very fake looking camel with one hump. He was shamelessly pee-peeing in front of us when we take this picture

The semester is over and I can afford to take leave for longer visit. Last Saturday King Yeung and I went to Zoo Negara. Why Zoo Negara? Hmmm … I don’t know. It seems as if this is a must visit place during school trips when I was in primary school.

We met Mun Ming, King Yeung's cousin sister, and Ah Kei Kor, her husband-to-be there, at zoo negara. I must admit it is a bit weird paktoh there and meeting familiar people too. We just grinned sheepishly at each other.

But who said nobody go to zoo negara anymore? It is full of people lining up for tickets during school holidays and during the animals’ show a lot of them have to stand cos got no seats.

Anyway, it is a fun day for both of us and at the end of the day, after the long walk, we just sit down on one of the benches and snack on kacang, iced drinks and fried onion rings before heading to wangsa maju for fat man lok lok by the road side and claypot lou shu fan at one the many food stalls there.

Visitor Info - Opening Hours and Rates

Zoo Negara by Day is open daily from 9.00am – 5.00pm
Zoo Negara by Night is open on Saturday, Sunday and Malaysian Public Holidays from 9.00am – 10.30pm.

Rates
Adult RM15.00

Children (3yrs old-12yrs old) RM 6.00

Senior Citizen (60 years above) RM 6.00

Free entry if it is your birthday!
(Please bring along I/C or birth certificate as proof)

Parents make “Matchmaking Corner” for their kids

hmm ... hmmm .... sounds very interesting. read this from weird asian news. it must be a very enjoyable morning sessions for the elderly parents. something to keep them occupied and useful.



Parents in Tianjin have spontaneously created a “Matchmaking Corner” in the city’s Central Park to find boy or girl friends for their adult children.

Every morning from 9 am, parents from all parts of the city gather in the park and talk to each other, hoping to find the ideal Mr or Miss Rights for their children.

They talk about their children’s occupation, character, interests, health, habits or even whether parents have time and energy to look after grandchildren.

Some parents write on boards their children’s profiles and requirements for future husbands or wives.

AhYap’s Blog - Better than reading newspaper (Hahaha ... this guy is funny)

Ong Ka Ting, Abdullah Badawi dan Hishammuddin Hussein dalam Rancangan “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire”

Aug 27th, 2007 Posted in Force For Good, Just For Laugh

Cerita ini direka semata-mata untuk tujuan pendidikan.
Ong Ka Ting sedang berada di dalam rancangan “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” siaran NTV7. Keadaan sangat genting kerana dia telah menjawab soalan 500 ribu Ringgit dan sedang menunggu sama ada jawapannya betul!

Jalalludin Hassan, “Jawapan anda … … … … … SELEPAS INI!”

AhYap di depan TV, “Diu!”

(selepas iklan dan banyak lagi air liur dari Jalalludin Hassan)

Jalalludin Hassan, “… Jawapan anda … … … … … BETUL! Syabas dan anda sekarang mendapati 500,000 ringgit!”

(tepukan penonton)

Jalalludin, “Sekarang ke soalan 1 juta! Adakah anda dapat membawa balik 1 juta hari ini? … (air liur lagi) .. Adakah anda sudah bersiap sedia?”

Ong Ka Ting, “Ya, sila teruskan.”

Jalalludin, “Oh, soalan ini memang senang. Ini soalan politik! Tentu YB dapat menjawabnya dengan cepat!”

Ong Ka Ting pun shock sendiri apabila dia terdengar soalan itu soalan politik! Politik adalah mangkuk nasi beliau. Hadiah 1 juta sudah dekat di tangannya.

Jalalludin, “Di antara berikut, yang manakah ejaan betul bagi Menteri Pendidikan Malaysia? …

A. H-i-s-h-a-m-u-d-i-n,
B. H-i-s-h-a-m-u-d-d-i-n,
C. H-i-s-h-a-m-m-u-d-d-i-n,
D. H-i-s-h-a-r-m-u-d-d-i-n”

Ong Ka Ting, “Oh! Diu Lor!”

Jalalludin, “Apa tu? D?”

Ong Ka Ting, “Oh bukan, saya ingin mengunakan life line saya yang terakhir - Call-a-Friend.”

Jalalludin, “Siapa YB nak call?”

Ong Ka Ting, “Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi.”

NTV7 cuba menghubungi Perdana Menteri…

Jalalludin, “Hello, Perdana Menteri? Saya Jalludin Hassan dalam rancangan ‘Who Wants To Be a Millionaire’ dan di sini adalah Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting. Dia perlukan bantuan anda untuk menjawap soalan 1 juta! Anda ada 30 saat. Mulai sekarang.”
(30, 29, 28 …)

Ong Ka Ting, “Pak Lah! Bagaimana mengeja Hishamuddin?! H-i-s-h-a-m-u-d-i-n, H-i-s-h-a-m-u-d-d-i-n, H-i-s-h-a-m-m-u-d-d-i-n, H-i-s-h-a-r-m-u-d-d-i-n”

Abdullah, “Huh? Apa lu cakap, boleh perlahan sikit?”

Ong Ka Ting, “Lu eja terus bagi saya lah”.

Abdullah, “Ok, aku cuba, H-I-S-H-A … eh ada R tak? H-I-S-H-A-M … hmmm, satu M ke dua M? H-I-S-H-A-M-U-D-D … eh, satu D ke dua D?! …ehhh … ehhh … H-I-S-H-A ….”

Jalalludin, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ….”

Ong Ka Ting, “Harlooooo… harlo? Uh.”.

Jalalludin, “YB, apa jawapan yang anda ingin pilih.”

Ong Ka Ting, “Hmmm… Hmmm… Saya mau ambil 500 ribu dan balik. Tak mau teka lah! Susah sangat ni!”

—-TAMAT—-

Tujuan utama saya menulis cerita ini adalah untuk mengajar para pembaca ejaan yang betul bagi Menteri Pendidikan kita. Jika nama Menteri Pendidikan pun tak boleh eja, macam mana boleh kita kata Sistem Pendidikan kita baik?

Jawapan yang betul, adalah … … … … SELEPAS INI!
&*%@$!

Jawapan yang betul mengikut wikipedia adalah C. H-i-s-h-a-m-m-u-d-d-i-n.
Tak ada ‘r’. Dua ‘m’ dan dua 2 ‘d’.
Tak payah malu jika anda eja salah sebab ada 741 laman web pun eja salah menurut Google.

Lagipun, dalam wikipedia Hishammuddin, ejaan Hishammuddin (dua ‘m’) digunakan 9 kali dan Hishamuddin (satu ‘m’) digunakan 6 kali.
Google punya spell-check pun tak tepat.

Lagipun, laman web Menteri Pendidikan Malaysia pun ada guna ejaan yang salah.

Mana satu yang memang memang betul?
Kita perlu check dia punya IC lor!

Teaching Job = Golden Rice Bowl .... yakah?

So teaching is easy huh? people always tell me, "sing sang hou" or "lau si hau" (being a teacher is good), only need to work half day nia. and got so many holiday hor ...

to most people, being a teacher like, ermm ... having an easy life. some can even say this to my face, if let say you take maternity leave every year, you are literally working only for seven months a year. where to find job like this. go into the classroom and blah blah blah for 35mins about 'your life ' history, (not malaysia history hor) after that teach for 10 mins. in between classes can go to the canteen for coffee breaks and more chit-chatting. life is so wonderful if everybody can get a job like this....

grrrr .... let me show you this.

according PR Web Press Release Newswire, the Top 10 Most Stressful Professions; Work Stresses and Colleague Irritations are;

TOP TEN STRESSFUL PROFESSIONS
IT
Medicine / Caring Profession
Engineering
Sales and Marketing
Education
Finance
Human Resources
Operations
Production
Clerical

TOP TEN WORK STRESSES
Workload
Feeling undervalued
Deadlines
Type of work people have to do
Having to take on other people’s work
Lack of job satisfaction
Lack of control over the working day
Having to work long hours
Frustration with the working environment
Targets

TOP TEN COLLEAGUE IRRITATIONS
Seeing others not pulling their weight
Managers changing their minds about what they want doing
Lack of support from managers
Pressure from managers
Feeling put-upon by managers
Interruptions by colleagues
Interruptions by managers
Bullying behaviour by managers
Lack of support from colleagues
Bullying behaviour by colleagues

See, education is ranked 5 among the top 10 most stressful jobs. Although it is least stressful compared to doctors, IT, engineers (hey, lawyers are not on the list!) ... but it doesn't mean that teachers and lecturers are having an easy life and living in cloud 9 all the time. we always suffered from burn-outs, stress from handling discipline problems, the endless piles of papers with bad handwriting waiting to be marked all year round and hey ... our pay is so pathetically low!!!

it is getting harder and harder now to teach in the schools and private colleges. maybe one day, androids will take over the classrooms. at least they won't get angry and pissed off if the students sleep in the class, make noises and not doing homework.

who said caning asses is fun? leave me out ....

welcome to the traffic jams culture

Last saturday night, after dinner with king yeung's parents, king yeung suggested going to putrajaya to see the fireworks competition. i was a bit tired after that fair bit of traveling. but i did really want to go there as i have never been to putrajaya before. .... sorry for my kampungness.

so i asked him, how far is it from PJ? about 45 minutes, he said. initially i thought that was a bit far. by the time we finished dinner it was around 830pm. and he warned me beforehand, the car must be filled with petrol and we must go to toilet first, because it seems that putrajaya is a place without petrol stations and public toilets. i looked at him with disbelief.

so, we stop at a petrol station in puchong. after filling the car with petrol and going to the toilet- even though i don't need it at that time - and also after being fed with a lot of notorious stories about puchong and klang valley, we headed to putrajaya, together with hundreds and thousands of cars, heading the same way.

we didn't know where was the exact place the fireworks would be held, and king yeung insisting on showing me the beautiful bridge.... only one set back, he wasn't sure if the bridge is in putrajaya or cyberjaya. so we follow the crowds, heading towards places which were most jammed.

the traffic jam started the moment we pass the putrajaya tol. and from there onward we move at snail pace speed, inching our way slowly into the city.

finally, we were there. many cars parked by the roadsides and many people walking to don't know where. we found a parking place around 10pm. after standing by the car and mulling over for about 2 minutes on which way to go, we finally started walking. we weren't sure where we were supposed to go. we just followed the crowds and headed to where there were the most people.

after 10 minutes of hard walking - my heels' straps broke, and my soles burned - we reached the dataran where more than 100,000 people were gathered to watch the fireworks. and there we manage to catch our first glimpse of the beautiful fireworks swirling and bursting in the mid air. it was 10.15pm.

we didn't stop at the dataran. we walked further up, much much further up, hoping to get better glimpses of the fireworks. and guess what? everything ended less than 5 minutes. we didn't know the fireworks start at 10pm. it lasted only for 20 minutes. we were still panting from the brisk walk. can you imagine that?!! we got stuck in the traffic jam and the tiring walk for a less than 5 minutes spectacular burst of fireworks!!

in the end, we sat on one of the many benches by the beautiful walkway and look at the people and the flowers and the impressive road furniture. i was too tired to walk further and king yeung would have to carry me back to the car if i refuse to budge from the bench. anyway, i spared him that superman feat.

it was a beautiful night. i even get to see the beautiful bridge that king yeung wanted to show me, and two boats cruising on the dark lake. we didn't bring camera with us. even if we did, we wouldn't do a good job catching those beautiful scenes on the camera like a pro.

thanks god for creating photography enthusiasts in this world, i found some wonderful photos of the fireworks display in putrajaya on the internet the next day, where i get to post it in this blog.


going back was the same story. it was another slow crawl back home and i was tired. i fall asleep in the car while holding on to king yeung's hand...

Shopping Around For A Digital Camera

the camera that i forget to take out from the house during flood in Johor last year. Canon Ixus 50 - it was only one year and three months old and cost me rm1499 (plus a rm50 special case). oh ... hou samtong ar! even right now when i think about this I still feel very samtong.

Now i couldn't see it selling in the shops anymore and i was rudely shock when i found out that Canon Ixus 60 is selling for rm999 last month and Canon Ixus 70 is now selling for rm1079 at the same shop where i previously bought my camera.

... so i am thinking now, should i spend rm1000++ for a digital camera? i don't take landscape pictures or fast speed photos. other brands would do just as nice, fuji, panasonic, olympus, exilim, sony .... to name a few. but why canon?

i think they look stylish, small, dainty, elegant .... so i am shallow minded huh? but check out out the pictures here. the pink one look absolutely gorgeous.

When we were young