passport, please?

Five Kinds of Yumminess

2009-06-03T06:23:00.000-07:00

Am trying out the very first recipe in the Innocent book - Strawberry and Banana Smoothie.

It's my absolute favourite smoothie from Innocent.

Seems pretty easy to whip up. Problem is that to follow the recipe exactly, you need a juicer (for the apple and orange). And after juicing the apple and orange, you will need to strain the juice and add the juice to the rest of the ingredients in the blender.

But I've only got a blender here. And I suspect I'd be too lazy to juice AND strain anyway.

So, what the hey!

Whizz whizz whizz. In the blender they all went.

Yums.

Brought back fond memories of me greedily drinking half a carton of the ready made smoothies in the UK.

Till the next recipe!

One Gloomy Tuesday Morning...

2009-06-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

T'was a rainy Tuesday morning.

I dragged my feet to the bus stop.

I dragged my feet to the office.

I dragged my feet to my cubicle.

And then, on my desk!

A PARCEL! Wrapped up in brown paper and tied with a bit of string!

With cute stickers on it too!

Such a lovely surprise!

With so much cool stuff inside!

More and more cool stuff!

And best of all!

Thank you so much Pui Yan and Desmond! You guys really made my day :)

I Can and I Will

2009-04-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

For some inexplicable reason, I am obsessed with detoxing my colon and intestines. Don't ask me why.

I've been reading a few articles recently about colonic irrigation and gallbladder flushing. The amazing results from those pretty-convincing treatments got me quite psyched up. In fact, I was actually envisioning the stuff that might just get flushed out from said body parts.

Till I found out all those so-called detox programmes are a hoax. Needless to say, the revelation left me disappointed.

And then I bought this book.

What better way to detox than with some good old-fashioned, healthy eating. There are 57 1/2 recipes in this book. And I intend to try ALL of them. Yes, even the ones that have beetroots in their ingredient list.

Watch this space for progress.

No, no, no. I won't be waxing lyrical about any contents that get er, flushed out from my system.

I'll just post all smoothies/veggies/fruities that I whip up here for all to see!

Double Ginger Goodness

2009-04-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

I love Nigel Slater.

Not only is he a great cook, he's also a brilliant writer. One of my favourite books by Mr Slater, Toast, isn't just a book about food. It's his life story, as remembered through food.

And then there are his recipes. If you take a look at his cookbooks, the first thing that strikes you is just how simple he makes everything sound. When you actually attempt any one of his recipes, "lo and behold" you'll exclaim, the recipes ARE really as easy to do as he says. And the results, more often than not, taste pretty darn good to boot.

So here we are, at Nigel Slater's Double Ginger Cake.

Stem ginger. Brown sugar. Cinnamon. Syrup. In a cake. Need I say more?

An excerpt from Mr Slater's recipe:

"Faintly spicy and mysterious, these dark-crumbed teatime treats are something that appeal more as you get older, like Midsomer Murders and boxes of Quality Street. Part of the intrigue of such cakes is that, despite containing both dense black-brown sugar and heavy golden syrup, they are not at all sweet. As I said, mysterious."

He also writes that the cake tastes better after we've left it to mature for a few days.

The first time I made this cake for some teatime company, there wasn't any left to "mature for a few days".

This second time round, it's for Wandernut. So I've wisely baked the cake a few days in advance, so it gets to her after it has matured.

Earth Hour. Vegetarian Day?

2009-04-03T01:52:00.001-07:00

So Earth Hour 2009 has come and gone, amidst much hype.

Hong Kong, 28 March at approximately 8.29pm (or could have been 13 February, 9.24pm for all I know)

Hong Kong, 28 March at approximately 8.31pm

In other news, came across some interesting facts and statistics if everyone in the US were to become vegetarian for just one day.

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:

100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months;
1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year;
70 million gallons of gas -- enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare;
3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware;
33 tons of antibiotics

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would prevent:

Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2, as much as produced by all of France;
3 million tons of soil erosion and $70 million in resulting economic damages;
4.5 million tons of animal excrement;
Almost 7 tons of ammonia emissions, a major air pollutant

Amazing, ain't it!

But I do see some drawbacks if an NGO were to implement a vegetarian equivalent of Earth Hour:

There are some people who just cannot give up their meat. By people, I mean mostly guys.
Even if Al Gore were to be an advocate, the word "vegetarian" is for some inexplicable reason too closely linked with Yoko Ono and tree-huggers. Aggressive tree-huggers.
Somehow, Vegetarian Day doesn't sound as catchy and cool as Earth Hour.

Till Earth Hour 2010! And Vegetarian Day 2056.

But if this is anything to go by, we'll all be dead by 2012 anyway. Sorry, was that too morbid?

7 Stages of Happiness / Drunken Stupor

2009-03-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

Stage 1: Shock and Denial
One whole bottle? By myself? After 2 beers?
One whole bottle! By myself! After 2 beers!

Stage 2: Pain and Guilt
Oh, the throbbing head. Oh, the empty calories.

Stage 3: Anger and Bargaining

Damn you, my wonderful friends, for presenting me with a lovely, expensive delicious bottle of white wine.

Why? WHY?

Stage 4: Depression, Reflection, Loneliness
Turn your heads away. Leave me alone to burp in peace!

Stage 5: The Upward Turn
Oh, is that an extra bottle of Hoegaarden I see?

Stage 6: Reconstruction and Working Through
Ok, time to drink plenty of water to wash the alcohol away.

Stage 7: Acceptance and Hope
Till next year!

When Advertising People Fall For Their Own Advertising Horseshit

2009-03-17T11:39:00.001-07:00

Chinese New Year is a pretty big deal here in Hong Kong. So when we were tasked to work up a Year of the Ox campaign for our client, Hong Kong Disneyland, we pretty much figured they'd pull all stops.

And we were briefed so, too.

Here are some excerpts I wrote* for the long-copy print advertisements:

High levels of festive spirits equal high levels of luck. Find plenty of both at the Park’s most spirited Chinese New Year procession ever! From January 25 at Main Street (3 performances daily), there’ll be a dazzling lineup of color and happiness. Leading the procession is the magnificent golden dragon dance. The good luck dragon is followed by the many traditional symbols of New Year – clouds, Koi fishes, faichun man, Gods of Fortune and others. Next, it’s Mickey as lead Chinese Drummer in the energetic drum show. Behind him are his Disney character friends, welcoming you from above the revolving parade floats. Everyone will be dancing and performing along to an eclectic music score that combines traditional Chinese music and modern beats. Come join the fun, and be there to collect the special lai see that will be given out to everyone!

*heavily edited by client*

Here is the television commercial that was shot for the event:

Looks pretty exciting, right? I mean, holy cow Mickey playing the drums surrounded by all those cool drummers? And that dragon dance? And all that CNY spirit and red packets? Bet you wouldn't want to miss that, right?

Neither did we.

So, one day after a meeting at the Park, the team decided to have lunch there and stay on to watch the oh-so-exciting parade.

This is what we saw:

Pretty ok costumes. Not too bad...

First disappointment: Dragon dance disappointingly not as long as we were told it'd be.

Second disappointment: Is that heart-shaped backdrop doubling as a Valentine's Day float? (Answer: Yes.)

Third disappointment: Only a smattering of aforementioned "dazzling lineup of color and happiness"

Fourth disappointment: Mickey WASN'T playing the drums. He was just tapping the drums along to the beat of the music blasting throughout the Parade.

Fifth disappointment: Yup, those are Mickey's fellow drummers in the "energetic drum show". The number seemed to have decreased by 90%, as compared to the TVC.

Our looks of disappointment on our faces were quite priceless.

What can I say? We were suckered.

Reminiscence of Sains Rumah Tangga

2009-03-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

The original domestic goddess, Ling, presented me with a bunch of stuff for Christmas. Among them was a pack of real vanilla beans. That's right: r-e-a-l vanilla beans, all oily, glossy and oh-so fragrant.

I grew up thinking vanilla came from a jar of Star Brand Vanilla Essence. Or vanilla flavoured essence, to be more precise. That brown, medicine-like liquid in a little bottle with its red screw-on cap. You know the one I mean.

So you can understand my jakun-ness when being presented with the real thing. I promised Ling I'd bake a cake using the beans, and capture my efforts in full technicolour glory for her amusement.

Only thing is, I don't have an electric mixer here in Hong Kong. So it was back to the basics.

And no thanks to my failing memory, I had to make 3 separate trips to the supermarket near my place to pick up something or the other. And the ingredient list consists of only 6 items. Yes, I know.

How to make a Pound Cake with REAL Vanilla Beans, by hand

1. You'll need - butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, vanilla beans.

2. With a wooden spoon, beat the butter and sugar until your arm feels like it has been dislocated from the rest of your body - approximately 2 minutes. Continue beating for another 13 minutes till butter and sugar become a creamy, white mixture. Ignore any blisters that may erupt on your palm.

3. Add the eggs, flour and real vanilla bean seeds (scraped from its pod) to mixture. I threw the pod into my brown sugar jar. Mmm, fragrant sugar.

4. Bake for about 50 minutes.

5. Remove from oven when it's done (duh).

6. Laugh at old wives' tales that tell you to wait for cake to cool before eating.

7. Best with cup of coffee.

Langkawi is Fun! (Who Knew?)

2009-03-16T04:39:00.000-07:00

I was in Langkawi last week for a spontaneous (wow, I still have it!) holiday with some friends who are turning 30 this year.

The last time I stepped onto this island was when I was still in high school. I vaguely remember a stretch of long, dusty road, lots of coconut trees and locals travelling at the speed of tortoise on their kap chais.

Well, news flash! Nothing has changed.

Long, dusty roads. See, told you nothing has changed.

So, anyway. I blew my carbon footprints to hell by flying to KL, before flying to Langkawi. And looked forward to lazing my days away under the sun, while quenching my thirst with copious amounts of Duty Free beer.

Not.

The locals. Waaait a minute...

Wow, there is island-hopping?

Whoa, there is a cable-car ride with some Sky Bridge thing?

Holy crap, there is a Telaga Tujuh thing for people to walk up flights of stairs to see trickles of water posing as a waterfall?

Still, t'was fun. But I suspect it was more from the company than the attractions itself.

And no, contrary to popular belief, I managed to stay sober throughout the trip.

OMG an Update

2009-03-16T03:03:00.000-07:00

That's right.

Will wonders never cease.

It's been almost 2 years since my last entry. Nothing much has happened since.

Well, ok. Except that I moved to Hong Kong for work. And picked up 5% more Cantonese than I did in my whole lifetime. And discovered the joy of public transportation. And began volunteering at a dog shelter. And accepted the fact that Bessy no longer regards me as her human god. And regretted taking Malaysian food for granted. And have fallen in love with running outdoors. And have unearthed the age-old secret of relieving stress (hint: shopping + money).

What can I say? Time flies when you're having fun.

Yes, I've missed you all too!

A Different Kind of Merdeka Countdown

2007-08-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

On 30 August 2007, my ex-colleague/good friend's dad passed away. He had been ill for quite awhile, due to alcohol abuse. I was told in the last few months of his life, he switched from drinking Guinness to Chinese wine (2 bottles a day).

I was at the wake last night. My friend, who is usually a picture of calm and carefree ha-ha, was anything but.

Guilt. Having just started a business with her husband, work had been unrelenting. And for almost a month, she hadn't been able to squeeze in a visit to her dad.

Regret. Just the night before was her sister's birthday. They were out drinking and partying till 4am. She stopped by her parent's home, but didn't go in to see her dad. She told her mother she would visit the next day.

Grief. A few days before, she asked me about doctors who made house visits. Her dad refused to see a doctor, and the only way to get help was to bring a doctor to him. They thought they had time, and kept putting it off.

Her family is an incredible example of contradictions. Amidst anger, there is much love. Between the quarrels, there are joyous family celebrations. From being alone, to being together.

After her marriage in March, she spent almost every day with her dad - bringing him dinner, sitting down and making sure he ate, and most importantly, spending time talking to him. Up till a month before he passed away, when work took over.

Today is another day of prayers before the cremation tomorrow. They are thinking of taking his ashes to Penang to scatter them into the ocean.

He was from Penang. And he loved the sea.

Ok, time to say hi to my folks.

My 10km Run/Jog/Walk/

2007-08-13T06:32:00.000-07:00

Firstly, congrats to Nut for finishing a 21km run!

After I-Can't-Remember how many runs I signed up and not turned up for, the PJ Half Marathon 10km run was my first run this year. Actually, it was my first run in 3 years. (Funnily enough, my last run was the PJ Half Marathon in 2004.)

10km is actually not that far a distance to cover manually. If you log in enough runs regularly, it's quite a nice, easy 1 hour plus run.

Problem was that (a) I had not logged in enough runs, (b) ok, let's not make general statements - I had not done any decent form of exercise in more than a week before the run, and (c) for some reason, the only memories I had of my last 10km run was of me panting miserably and questioning my sanity.

But what the hey. I paid hard-earned Ringgit to enter. So there I was, registering at 5.30am at the Kelana Jaya Stadium on a dark, humid Sunday morning.

I found Nut, and we sat down by the curb to wait for the run to begin. Meanwhile, some hard-core (read: crazy psycho) runners were warming up for their 21km by running laps up and down past us. Geez, show off some place else already.

About 10 minutes before we were flagged off, I drank/ate/swallowed my pack of Power Gel. I am now thankful I consumed that thing in the dark, because Nut later told me the colour of that stuff is as funky as it tastes. That's all I'm saying.

The 21km category was flagged off before the others. And us others were flagged off about 10 minutes after.

The first 3km of the run was quite nice. Easy, semi-flat road down the Federal Highway. And then I approached the first slope and walked. Why? Because Slopes=Death.

I kept up a moderate pace for the rest of the run, only stopping to take a drink or at Slopes=Death areas. Run, jog, run, jog. Before I knew it, a policeman (who was helping to direct traffic) told us it was just another 2km to go. Wah, so fast! And again, before I knew it, I was turning into the road leading to the stadium. And hey, there's the stadium! And hey, there's me running the 200m to the Finish Line! And hey, there are the crazy Kenyans who ran the 21km and finished it in 1 hour!

I apparently finished in 1hour 5mins. But I highly doubt the accuracy of whatever watch that timed me. Either the dude was snoozing. Or the route is shorter than 10km (my hunch). Based on my (un)fitness level, there is NO WAY I could have finished a 10km run in that time. Then again, I did take some funky tasting gel that contained 2x more caffeine than the average artificial energy.

I'm glad I brought my own bottle of Gatorade because the organizers kindly did not plan any drink stops along the route. During the run, I saw an old man who was clearly tired from lack of hydration. I offered him some of my drink, which he accepted.

Side effects from the run? Slightly sore legs (no thanks to my brilliant act of forgetting to stretch after the run) and a nauseous feeling (no thanks to funky Power Gel).

That said, would I take funky Power Gel again before a run? Hell, yeah!

I Don't Geddit

2007-08-09T04:00:00.000-07:00

When I was small, I read Enid Blyton's "3 Golliwogs". I used Darkie toothpaste. I watched cartoons where Chinese people were drawn with slits for eyes and coloured with pasty yellow skin tones. I read Asterix comic books where the native Africans were drawn with chocolate skin and huge red lips.

Remember these stuff from our childhood? Of course, this largely depends on
which age group you currently fall in.

I remember back then that no one kicked up a fuss about the images being "racially sensitive".

So why the hoo-ha over Tin Tin being racist? His own country Belgium is now investigating the comic for racism after complaints by Congo students.

Mbutu Mondondo Bienvenu, a political science student at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, has taken legal action claiming Hergé's controversial Tintin In The Congo "constitutes an insult for all the Congolese".

This follows the British controversy when British race watchdogs pulled the book from children's shelves and attacked the Tintin cartoons for making black Africans "look like monkeys and talk like imbeciles".

Sheesh.

Moulinsart, Tintin's publisher, argues that the book "must be seen as a document of the time". "In his portrayal of the Belgian Congo, the young Hergé reflects the colonial attitudes of the time. He depicted the African people according to the bourgeois, paternalistic stereotypes of the period".

There is a lot of stuff in the article about how Congo used to be a Belgium colony, and that modern Belgium is very sensitive about bringing up its colonial history.

Yes, that's why it is called history.

If we could read those books and see those cartoons years ago and not have feelings of "racial sensitivity" back then, what makes us different now?

I don't geddit.

My Neighbours: Part 1

2007-08-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

Taking Bessy out on morning walks every day has elevated (or downgraded, however you choose to see it) me to Aunty levels of kepoh-ness. I know a bit more about my neighbours than I used to, sans dog.

Today, I will tell you about my neighbours who have done a good deed to the tummies of many Malaysians - my hawker neighbours.

Just as I am leading Bessy out from my house at approximately 6.45am, a man and his daughter are loading their car with trays of eggs. They stay a few doors away from my home. Now this is no ordinary man. He is none other than Robert, the semi-famous char kuay teow man who has a stall in what used to be Chow Yang kopitiam.

A few doors away from Robert's house is a corner lot undergoing massive renovation. One morning (yes, during one of Bessy's walks), the new owners were surveying its progress. And I recognised the pot-bellied man at once - the owner of Sun Hin Loong kopitiam.

In my next episode of neighbours, I shall share with you the mental case weirdos.

Till then!

Kiasu Backfire

2007-07-22T06:56:00.001-07:00

I blogged this here. But depression has led me to repeat the post for further wallowing.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. After waiting for 2 years, this book was the Book Highlight of my year.

When an ex-colleague asked if we (Nut and I) were interested to pre-order the book from Kinokuniya, we jumped at the offer. Our kiasu instincts went into overdrive. 30% off, RM30 savings! Someone to pick up the book for us! No need to jostle with screaming, crazed 12-year olds!

And then it was the eve of the book release.

I opened the newspaper and saw hypermarkets advertising the book at RM69.90. That was a whole RM7 less than what we were going to have to pay, even with our nifty 30% pre-order discount. RM7!

This was against every kiasu rule we knew (not that we know much). Same product, lower price. There was only one thing to do: we cancelled our pre-order. And rubbed our hands and wallets with glee.

And then it was the day of the book release.

Newspapers reported about major bookshop chains pulling the books off their shelves in protest to the "deeply discounted prices" the hypermarkets were offering. Meanwhile, the hypermarkets sold out all their books by 11am that day.

So where does that leave us? No discount. No Harry Potter Book 7. No place to buy the book from.

Don't say it. Just don't.

Café Café: Cruel Cuisine on the Menu

2007-07-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

I went to Café Café last weekend. Beautiful deco. Really, really beautiful. You can tell a lot of thought has gone into every aspect of the restaurant. Including its menu.

They proudly boast of foie gras as their signature dish. When the waiter proudly told us that, I put my menu down and told him "That's really cruel". He smiled and said its the best-selling item on the menu.

I asked to speak to the manager (did I really have to make a scene about this? For the love of tortured geese the world over, HELL YEAH!) The manager came by, and tried to convince me that the goose liver they purchase are from farms that treat their birds "humanely". SYEAH RIGHT.

I had to walk out. Still, knowing the attitude of Malaysians who care about their stomachs over anything else, their business won't suffer much. And who was I, anyway? Just a nut case tree hugger to them.

I also wrote a letter (which I happily plagiarized from my earlier blog entry about foie gras) to the restaurant. Of course, no reply.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I highly respect your restaurant. And I think it is a bright spark in the Malaysian food industry.

However, I have a personal opinion regarding your "signature dish" - foie gras.

The means of producing goose liver are cruel. You may fool yourself into thinking that the farms that produce foie gras are "animal friendly". Many of these farms that claim such fallacies were spied upon by animal activists and journalists. And I can assure you, the footages that were recorded did not meet the PG-13 mark.

However, maybe, just maybe, there is the possibility that you are really unaware of the cruel methods behind the production of your signature dish. Here are some facts:

* An 8-10 inch steel pipe of the feeding machine is attached by a long hose to a hydraulic machine. This machine shoots several pounds of food directly into the stomachs of the birds in just a few seconds.

* A farm worker force-feeds the birds by shoving the steel pipe down the birds' esophagus, up to 3 times a day.

* 80% of birds used in foie gras production are kept in tiny, box-like cages.

* Force-fed birds with engorged livers have difficulty balancing, and every step is a struggle.

* Rough handling during the force-feeding process results in bloodied birds, many of them with broken bills.

* Birds who die from being force-fed are dumped in bins. Common causes of death includes burst stomachs, choking on their own vomit and aspiration pneumonia where the food is accidentally forced into the birds' lungs.

* In a Foie Gras factory in New York, workers receive a “special bonus” if they caused fewer than 50 burst stomachs a month.

* In that same factory, spy video cameras recorded ducks trying to "walk" using their wings because their legs had given out.

It is too much of me to ask you to consider taking this item of your menu.

But at the very least, I do hope that I have brought to your attention the cruelty and savageness of foie gras. And that these acts of barbarity will continue as long as there is a demand to satisfy pretentious palates with this "delicacy".

I apologize in advance for any rudeness or harshness. But I feel it necessary to voice out my opinion.

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
Ms Yue-Li Gan

Vain Pot

2007-07-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, been tagged by Geek again. (My blog content seems to be made up entirely of tags.)

Not just another tag. It's another Beauty Tag.

I've always been rather skeptical about quizzes of this nature. I mean, What's Your Jellybean Personality? What Ice Cream Flavour Are You?

But this one. This one is real. It speaks the truth. Behold, my Vain-O-Metre results:

You Are 11% Vain

You don't have a vain bone in your body - almost as a matter of principal.
You demand to be judged on who you are, not what you look like.

How Vain Are You?

Accurate results aside, the girl in the picture even looks like me! Heck, I sit like that in the office!

The questions went like this:

1. You check out your reflection in windows.
Sometimes. To see if I look presentable. Or if there's snot in my nose. Or veg in my front teeth.

2. Your closet is chock full of the latest styles, even if your credit card suffers for it a little.
Never. My credit card suffers from other things called bills.

3. You buy tons of personal care products, from expensive moisturizers to specialty shampoo.
Rarely. Actually, come to think of it, my Biotherm face moisturizer was a gift. And I don't really have any other expensive personal care product... hmmm...

4. You dream of being a movie star or model.
Never. Be a ~~bimbo~~ ~~floozy~~ entertainer? No thanks.

5. If you started to lose your looks, your self esteem would likely suffer.
Rarely. Sure, I have my down days. But it brightens up when I smell coffee. Or when I see Bessy. Or when I think about my next holiday destination. Or when I go to the gym. You get the idea.

6. If you weren’t happy with your looks in some way, you would consider cosmetic surgery.
Never. I can think of other better ways to spend all that moolah. Like a beach holiday. Or surf lessons.

7. You wear designer underwear.
Never. I don't even own designer goods. Not even a keychain.

8. Besides showering, it takes you at least 20 minutes to get dressed and primped for the day.
Never. Jeans and a top don't take too long to slap together.

9. You enjoy getting your picture taken.
Sometimes. I have a signature camera pose - shock horror expression. That's fun!

10. If you see someone of your gender who is hot, you immediately start silently critiquing them.
Rarely. The only thing I would "critique" would be the size of her brain. Ok, ok. I'm stereotyping. So sue me.

The Rainbow Bridge

2007-06-27T02:51:00.000-07:00

I frequent an online Rottweiler's Forum website. It's a community of Rottweiler owners, filled with posts categorized under different topics like Nutrition, Grooming, Behaviour and etc. There is also a category called the Rainbow Bridge. This is the explanation of what the Rainbow Bridge is.

*sniff

Just this side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies - one that has been especially close to someone - that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food and water, sunshine and cozy beds, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they each miss someone very special, someone who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his eager body quivers. Suddenly, he breaks from the group, flying over the green grass - his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain on your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet - so long gone but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together.

Author Unknown

Meme! Me! Me!: I Owe Geek

2007-06-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

I thankfully thought I had escaped having to do this meme. I mean, me? Doing a meme on beauty thingies?

Then Geek puppy-eyed me to do it. So ok lah. Since she puppy-eyed me.

What Five beauty products could you not live without?
Sunblock SPF 12 (any lower I'll get a heat rash, any higher will take longer tanning time)
Aloe Vera gel (helps keep the tan on longer)
Biotherm Aquafresh Moisturizer ("ah, finally a REAL beauty product", I hear Geek mutter as she rolls her eyes)
Are tweezers considered a beauty product?
Uh... what about dental floss?

What’s the worst beauty mistake you’ve made?
Not planning my tattoos properly. I want to get more tattoos on my back, but to avoid looking like a tattoo rojak, I now have to consider carefully the type of design that will complement the one I already have.

What’s your skincare regime consist of?
Morning: Wash face with cheap cleanser. Put moisturizer.
Night: Wash face with cheap cleanser. Put moisturizer.

Favourite Beauty treat?
Uh... does putting more moisturizer count?

What’s your favourite beauty store?
Guardian Pharmacy

Favourite Budget brand?
Dove - I'm currently using the facial wash (it came free with the body wash... heh)

Favourite Premium brands?
Biotherm, Clinique

And what about Skin Care: Favourite Premium and Budget brands?
Premium: Biotherm After Sun moisturizer
Budget: Nivea Intensive Moisturizing Milk

And Hair Care?
Sunsilk for Long and Strong Hair!

What’s your ’every girl must own one’ item?
A compact mirror. For veg stuck between front teeth, snot in nose... that kind of thing.

And finally, best beauty tip?
Aloe Vera gel helps your tan to last longer, with no peeling skin. Really!

Wow, that took longer than I thought.

And now the fun part. I tag the vainpots I know:

Mowpea

Fruit of Eden

Think Tank

A Lil Bit of Bessy

2007-06-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks in the office have been madness. Piles and piles of work. Non-stop phone calls. Late, late nights. I felt as if I was being pulled in 10 different directions - all at the same time.

Needless to say, I had very little time to spend with poor Bessy.

Bessy says goodbye this way every time I leave home for the office.

So last week, I had a brainwave. Bring Bessy to work! Which was exactly what I did.

After a particularly late production meeting at 8.30pm, I swung by home on the way back to the office. I took Bessy for a walk to let her empty her bladder and intestines (or wherever poop hangs out in the body).

I packed her bone, and her emergency poop kit - old newspapers, bleach in a spray can, kitchen towels and Fabreeze. And then we were ready to go to work!

I had to park in the Basement car park of my office block to avoid the guards, who prowl the Ground Floor, from taking pot shots at Bessy. I smuggled her from the elevator and into my office without any problems.

Bessy under my table

Once in my office cubicle, I tied Bessy's leash to my chair, and she settled down quietly. Until word got out that "There's A Dog In The Office". Bessy received an unprecedented number of visitors - and she entertained them by going into hyper mode (pulling at leash, nearly choking herself with leash, jumping up and almost knocking glass jars over) at the sight of the many faces to lick.

Fortunately for me, everyone realized that I wouldn't be able to get any work done while they were lingering around and fueling Bessy's excitement. So they dispersed. (See, dog lovers are smart people.)

Bored Bessy

Bessy soon settled down again. She looked around curiously and saw a grubby looking pig cushion on my partner's chair. "grrr.... WRUUUFF!" I hushed her and pulled her under my table.

Am glad to say that apart from the above mentioned incidences, I worked efficiently (really!) while Bessy lay quietly chewing her nylon bone. With the occasional "thunk clunk" of the heavy bone hitting the wooden floor of my cubicle.

And. Bessy didn't even pee or poop! Not one drop! (Euw!)

Super bored Bessy

I think Bessy has proved that she is a Bringable-To-Work-Dog.

Whaling: A Refreshing Perspective

2007-06-03T06:25:00.000-07:00

"Shocking Asian delicacies!" "Disgusting Chinese will eat anything!"

I hate how gwailohs so self-righteously criticise the way we eat, the things we eat, and how we kill what we eat. If they could look in the mirror. Foie gras, veal, to name a few.

That's why when I stumbled across this article, written by a gwailoh about how different foods are really a clash of culture, I thought it an immensely interesting read.

I don't agree with whaling. But it's refreshing to read another perspective.

Some highlights of the article:

In front of me was whale meat, from an animal which it is simply unthinkable to eat in Britain - so unthinkable that I had to promise my daughters I would not touch a morsel of it during my time in Japan. Yet once in Japan, nothing seemed more normal.

There is a popular view that all whales are endangered - and many species are, but by no means all. And it certainly was not Japan that drove some species towards extinction. The Americans, Brits and Norwegians did that, with a bit of help from the rest of Europe and its former colonies. Has it become convenient to blame Japan?

Then I thought of the battery farm I had visited as a child in England - the hens cramped together five to a tiny cage, trampling each other in order to win a few cubic centimetres of space. I thought of halal abattoirs where cows are killed by draining out their blood, of fish impaled on steel hooks in the open ocean, of deer caught in snares waiting only for the relief of a huntsman's bullet, the peeled but still twitching frogs that I had seen in a Bangkok market years before.
Who decides, and how, which cruelties are acceptable, and which not?

At its 2006 meeting the International Whaling Commission saw a fascinating vignette played out.
Australia's environment minister was laying into the Japanese delegation in forthright style, casting them as ignorant slaughterers of cute and special creatures. The Japanese delegate replied by asking about Australia's annual "slaughter" of two million kangaroos.
Later I chatted with one of the Australian journalists who tend to write about whaling in pretty stark language, using phrases like "barbaric cruelty" whenever there is an opportunity.
Not only did this particular environment journalist see nothing wrong with the kangaroo slaughter, but they had actually been on the annual hunt, shot some "roos", and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The full article is here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6695885.stm

I highly recommend it.

Bessy Passes Basic Obedience Exam!

2007-05-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

Every Saturday and Sunday for the past 5 weeks, Bessy and I have diligently been attending Puppy Basic Obedience Classes in Pet Safari, Ikano. Besides the twice weekly classes, we've also been having 10-minute training sessions at home every night. Our homework, so to speak.

Bessy and Luna nervously await their turn on Exam Day.

Bessy has learnt to "Heel", "Sit Stay", "Down Stay", "Stand Stay", "Wait" and "Recall".

Bessy waits with the other doggies for the results.

Her Bad:
As the youngest in her entire class, Bessy's "Heel" is really, really bad. She is a certified busybody, and feels it is her responsibility to sniff out anyone and anything. Worse, she makes it a point to poop during the "Heel" routine in every class. Every. Class.

Her Good:
Bessy's "Stay" and "Wait" is surprisingly very, very good.

Luna passes!

Out of a maximum score of 60, Bessy scored 45. Even though she pooped during her "Heeling" exam.

Once past the naughty, cheeky, rebellious and headstrong furry exterior, deep inside there's a good little girl who tries her best to make the people she loves happy.

I mean Bessy, you meanies!

Bessy Has Friends!

2007-05-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

Enough of being growled at by Grumpy Uncle Spitz, Fierce Blackie, Snarling Corgie and Aggressive Auntie Poodle in our neighbourhood. Bessy has finally made a few furry pals of her own!

First pal is Shy Uncle Winston. Bessy loves annoying him with her paw, and running circles around him till he gets fed up and WRUFFS at her to go away. Which she does. For about 5 seconds. And then she's back for more.

Next pal is Pretty Sunshine Che Che. Bessy loves her lots. But Sunshine isn't too fond of Bessy always trying to lick her pretty face and biting her tail. Sunshine has tried telling Bessy to cool it, but that doesn't seem to have deterred Bessy from following Sunshine everywhere.

In Bessy's Puppy Class, she's firm friends with Lovely Luna. When they first met, Luna was really apprehensive of Bessy pawing her face. But now, they love boxing and jumping on each other.

Bessy also has another Puppy Class pal - Chubby Scruffy. Poor Scruffy was told to lose weight, which she did over the few weeks. We think Scruffy has dropped out of Puppy Class 'cause she hasn't turned up for the past 4 classes.

In addition to all her new chums, Bessy has also sniffed the noses and behinds of numerous other dogs in Pet Safari.

But she would dearly love to sniff the noses and behinds of Mow, Pea and Mandy. So, when ah?

Meet: Jihadi Mouse

2007-05-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

He's the extreme version of Mickey Mouse. And his name is even singable to the tune of M-i-c-k-e-y M-o-u-s-e.

Jihadi Mouse made his debut on Palestinian TV last month, and he calls on children to help Muslims become the “masters of the world” and "violently resist Israel".

And Jihadi has a young, female assistant named Saraa.

In one programme, transcribed by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Saraa asks a young viewer by telephone how she would “sacrifice her soul for the sake of al-Aqsa” mosque in Jerusalem. “I will shoot,” says the young viewer, “we will annihilate the Jews... I will commit martyrdom.”

In another clip, which has appeared on YouTube, a viewer speaking to Jihadi Mouse by telephone recites a poem referencing an AK47 assault rifle. As the poem is read out, Jihadi Mouse pretends to shoot a rifle.

And Jihadi's idea of 'happily ever after'? To become “masters of the world”, which requires all children to be happy with Arabic, which “once upon a time ruled this world”.

I wonder if there will be a Jihadi Mouse Club with their version of young Britney, Justin and Christina dancing to poems of AK47 and suicide bombings. Worse, I can imagine their version of Jihadiland.

What is this world coming to?

A Life Among Whales, by Roger Payne

2007-05-08T04:38:00.000-07:00

A Life Among Whales has to be one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. It chronicles the quest of whale biologist, Dr Roger Payne, who spent a lifetime in his efforts to conserve whales.

Dr Payne, by the way, is the man who introduced the "songs of the whales" to the world.

In 1971, he upped his whole family (wife and 3 kids) to the coast of Argentina. And at night, sleeping in army tents pitched a few yards from the cliff, the Payne family would hear the snore of southern right whales who had migrated there to mate.

Some key highlights of "A Life Among Whales":

Watching the biggest joke in the Whale Conservation movement, where giant whaling tankers are slaughtering whales "in the name of science"
Hearing Dr Payne speak about the majesty and grace of whales

Watch this documentary! Or download it.

Saint George

2007-05-04T01:15:00.000-07:00

Jack Russell against 2 pitbulls. Guess who died?

George

A plucky foot-high Jack Russell terrier named George saved five New Zealand children from two marauding pitbulls. But little George was so severely mauled in the fight he had to be destroyed, according to his devastated owner.

George was playing with the group of children as they returned home from buying sweets at a neighborhood shop in the small North Island town of Manaia when the two pitbulls appeared and lunged toward them.

One of the children was quoted as saying George fought with the pitbulls to keep them off his four-year-old brother.

The two pitbulls ripped the skin from his throat and chest and down his back. The vet had to put George to sleep.

A dog died for you! You better grow up useful, young lady!

The pitbulls' owner surrendered the pair to dog control officers, and demanded they be destroyed, claiming they had launched unprovoked attacks previously. Gee, thanks Mr Responsible Owner.

Moral of the story? Dogs are better and more useful than kids. Heh.

R.I.P. George!

This Week On "I've Been Had"

2007-04-27T05:38:00.000-07:00

Ewe've been had.

Gosh, I love puns. Hee.

The latest hoax to hit rich (and stupid) Japanese women comes courtesy of an online company, 'Poodles As Pets'. Their instant-million scam was selling lambs disguised as miniature poodles. Seriously.

A Japanese movie star, Maiko Kawakami, has been left looking sheepish (hee!) after she was told a miniature poodle she had bought online was actually a lamb. The movie star complained on a talk show that her new poodle refused to bark or eat dog food. She showed a photo and was devastated when told it was actually a lamb.

And it appears she is not the only rich Japanese woman to have the wool (double hee!) pulled over her eyes. Hundreds of dog loving women then contacted police to say they had also been sold the young sheep instead of pedigree poodles.

The police believe up to 2,000 women were fleeced (triple hee!) in Sapparo, Japan. One customer only discovered the hoax after a dog beautician said she could not clip the poodle's claws - because they were hooves.

The price for the lamb in poodle clothings? £630.

'Poodles As Pets' has since shut down.

But hats off to those guys. As if the idea of selling fake poodles wasn't wild enough. They actually found a market!

Now, I only need to find enough rich, stupid people to sell some Gourmet Fertilizer to.

Mother Nature Says "NYEH NYEH"

2007-04-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

First, a little background on Canada's cruel seal hunt.

This hunt is the largest slaughter of marine mammals on earth - yes, even more than the shooting of ~~stray~~ dogs by our beloved municipal councils. For the past 3 years, more than one million seals have been killed for their fur. The hunters target baby seals - the babies can't run as fast, and their fur is softer. Their preferred killing method? A swift club over the heads of the seals.

Believe it or not, the seal hunts are subsidized by the Canadian government, who insist this is just like any other animal production industry. They also claim that their methods of killing are humane.

However, a group of independent veterinarians have proved otherwise:

79% of the sealers did not check to see if an animal was dead before skinning it.
In 40% of the kills, a sealer had to strike the seal a second time, presumably because it was still conscious after the first blow or shot.
42% of killed seals examined were found to have minimal or no fractures, suggesting a high probability that these seals were conscious when skinned.

Mother Nature also disagrees with the Canadian government and their hunters.

In the most recent hunt, foul weather left several boats trapped in thick ice off the country's Atlantic coast. Several of the boats were threatened with damage or sinking and five crews had to abandon their vessels in conditions fishermen described as the worst for more than 20 years. As many as 500 men were stranded off the coast of Newfoundland province.

A boat stranded in the ice.

As one hunter said, "I have never, ever experienced anything like this."

Ok, so maybe this is really caused by the impact of global warming.

But I like to think it's Mother Nature's way of saying "ENOUGH!"

Foie Gras: Tak Nak

2007-04-17T23:49:00.000-07:00

Murder most fowl. How much cruelty can you swallow?

Ok, I'll stop with the puns.

Foie gras. Fatty liver. Or the Delicacy of Despair.

Firstly, why would anyone want to eat liver? It tastes feral, crumbles into powder in your mouth, and… did I mention it tastes disgusting?

Secondly, eating duck or goose liver that has been specially fattened by force?

Here’s how it’s manufactured:

The 8-10 inch steel pipe of the feeding machine is attached by a long hose to a hydraulic machine. This machine shoots several pounds of food directly into the stomachs of the birds in just a few seconds.

A farm worker force-feeds the birds by shoving the steel pipe down the birds' esophagus, up to 3 times a day.

80% of birds used in foie gras production are kept in tiny, box-like cages.

Force-fed birds with engorged livers have difficulty balancing, and every step is a struggle.

Rough handling during the force-feeding process results in bloodied birds, many of them with broken bills.

Birds who die from being force-fed are dumped in bins. Common causes of death includes burst stomachs, choking on their own vomit and aspiration pneumonia where the food is accidentally forced into the birds' lungs.

In a Foie Gras factory in New York, workers receive a “special bonus” if they caused fewer than 50 burst stomachs a month.

In that same factory, spy video cameras recorded ducks trying to "walk" using their wings because their legs had given out.

Liver on the right has been fattened by force to make foie gras, as compared to the size of a normal duck liver.

Here are some defensive comments made by Foie Gras manufacturers, when questioned about the inhuman methods of production:

Force-feeding mimics natural gorging of birds before migration.
FACT: Ducks used in foie gras production are of a species that does not migrate. No duck in the wild would ever consume as much food as these ducks are forced to consume in a day, let alone for two to three weeks.

Force-feeding does not injure the birds because they have hardened esophagi.
FACT: Ducks or geese do not have hardened esophagi. And there are no records of these animals ever evolving to adapt to these cruel methods.

Ducks enjoy being force fed because they run to the feeders.
FACT: This is the most offensive of the many lies appearing in Michael Ginor's book, "Foie Gras, a Passion." There is simply not a grain of truth in this statement, and it is all the more offensive since Ginor keeps most of the ducks at Hudson Valley Foie Gras in isolation cages so they can't move anyway.

We have so many choices of food to choose from. Why create a demand for food that has been produced so cruelly?

And liver? Euw, gross.

Weekend Dog Blogging #81

2007-04-15T02:51:00.000-07:00

Busy days. Yes, even too busy to blog about Bessy, I'm ashamed to say.

I recently did this little compilation of photos I took of Bessy when she was 8, 10, 11 and 12-weeks old. With the most recent being her age today, 16-weeks old. This was really for my sister in the UK, who has never met Bessy and wanted to see how much she has grown in 2 months.

The pics are also for Geek, who has yet to come to KL to shake hands/paws with Bessy (*hint hint!).

Bessy attended her very first Puppy Training Class today. She wasn't the best student in the class. In fact, she was the naughtiest. I wasn't amused, but the rest of the doggie owners were when she:

Pooped during one of the heeling routines.
Decided to exert her authority by firmly holding the leash in her mouth while we walked, as if to say "I'm walking YOU".
Jumped up numerous times to bite my jeans while we walked.
Tried to steal another dog's treat.

Still, it's only her first class. 9 more to go. So there should be progress by then.

I hope.

For more doggie pictures, head over to Sweetnicks who is doing the roundup for this week's Weekend Dog Blogging!

Meme! Me! Me! : Episode 4

2007-04-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Think Tank.

9 parts of me? Wow, I've always thought I only had 8.34 parts.

Part 1: on the outside
name : Gan Yue-Li (yes, there really is a hyphen in my name)
date of birth : 28 March 1977
current status : Happily single
eye color : Dark brown
hair color : Brown ends, black roots
right of left handed : Right
zodiac : Aries

Part 2: on the inside
my heritage : Uh, Malaysian?
my fear : Cockroaches
my weakness : Coke Light
my perfect pizza : Thin crust, with broccoli and brown rice topping (What?!)

Part 3: yesterday, today & tomorrow
your first thought waking up : I get to sleep in cos I worked till 4.30am last night
tomorrow : Yay, another day nearer to the weekend
your bedtime : So far away
most missed memory : Waking up at 5am with my grandma when I was about 5-years old, and going with her to the padang near my house and watching her do tai chi

Part 4: your pick
pepsi or coke : Coke Light!
mcD or burger king : Macs the one with delivery rules!)
single or group dates : ish
adidas or nike : Adidas
lipton tea or nestea : Lipton
chocolate or vanila : Vanilla
cappuccino or coffee : Both

Part 5: do you..
smoke : No
curse : You bet your %#!! I do

Part 6: in the past month
drank alcohol : Yes
gone to the mail? : Does DHL count?
been on stage : No
eaten sushi : Yes.... yuuum.... sushiiii

Part 7: what were you doing
1 minute ago : Doing this meme
1 hour ago : Making coffee
4 1/2 hours ago : Being rudely woken up from much needed sleep by servicing who thinks the whole world revolves around their account
1 month ago :Wrapping up Fruit Of Eden's birthday present!
1 year ago : Bumming around and leeching off my sister at her place in Norwich

Part 8: finish the sentence
i love : Sleeping by the beach
i feel : A bit dazed and blur from lack of sleep
i hate : Being depended upon by stupid AND spineless people
i hide : My cereal from my Dad who is as much a cereal monster as I am
i miss : Sleeping in (I have been waking up every morning at 6.30am for 2 months to feed my dog)
i need : To be more nasty and mean

Part 9: tag five people
Mowpea (and this means about YOU clare, not Mow or Pea)
Ooj (who's probably too diver-cool to do memes)
Fruit of Eden (sorry, another tag.. haha!)
Wandernut (even though you have already been tagged)
The Box (yoohoo? where are youuuu?)

Ah Geek, I didn't tag you so that Nut can ;p

Meeting An Old, Wise Man

2007-04-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

Mt Kinabalu. How beautiful art thou.

While making my way down from the mountain, I kept up with an old Australian man who was trotting down the mountain at a brisk pace.

Actually, he was walking down at a far quicker speed than I was comfortable with. But we were having a very interesting conversation. And despite protests from my quivering hamstrings, I forced myself to keep up.

He told me stories of his younger days, when he had visited Laos in the 1960s, spent months in Pattaya before it became the seedy town it is today, travelled Vietnam with just a little knapsack, got robbed in Phillipines in the early 1970s, and spent nights at a roach-infested hostel in Angkor Watt before the rise of accommodation with any form of star-ratings.

"And where have you travelled to?" he asked me.

"Erm, nowhere interesting," I replied, already over-flowing with paiseh-ness.

Here was this old Australian man, who has visited and travelled to far more places in my own region than I have. And during the days when travel was not half as comfortable or cheap as it is today.

"Well, you should start with the countries in South East Asia," he chirped. "I really don't think there are more beautiful countries anywhere else in the world."

The conversation ended there. I had to stop at a rest hut to stretch my leg muscles, which were trembling from bearing my lump of weight all the way down.

The old man showed me a few stretches I should do.

"Catch up with me after," he said.

Then the old man, easily more than twice my age, went on briskly walking down.

Needless to say, I never managed to catch up.

On Turning Old-er

2007-04-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, so there I was. At 1 minute before midnight, on the eve of my birthday.

As the minute hand reached 12, I closed my eyes. And then opened them. I looked up, down, and all around.

Where was the cloud that would bring forth the rain of wisdom and riches? Hello?

Kena con.

Some key highlights of my 30 years here on this planet.

My first ambition was to be a doctor. Like the other brainwashed kiddies, that was my answer to the teacher's question of "What do you want to be when you grow up?".

My first car crash happened when I was 10-years old. I wanted to wash my mother's car (1980s, solid iron Volvo). As the car was parked in the porch, I sought ways to push the car back a little, so it was outside in the garden. All attempts that I knew of (short of turning on the engine) - release handbrake, push till I burst a jugular - failed. Then my dad enlightened me: release the handbrake and free the gear. So I dutifully followed my dad's advice - and the car rolled down the slope of my driveway and hit my neighbour's car. A Mercedes.

I failed my ballet Grade 5 exam. I did it on purpose, so I could get out of ballet classes. My plan failed. I had to endure another 3 years of prancing around in leotard and tights before my mother finally realized her lump-of-a-daughter would never be a graceful ballerina.

I was caught for cheating in a school exam when I was in Standard 3. I remember the headmistress remarking to another teacher how I "looked like an angel, but am so capable of So Much Badness".

When I was about 9-years old, I was the proud owner of 3 kittens, kept illegally in my room. I diligently took care of them for one week before getting busted by my dad. He immediately drove off with them and dumped them at a bus stop in Jalan Gasing. My last memory of the 3 kittens was of their little faces pressed against the side of the pink plastic bag my dad threw them in.

I loved playing with matches. When my mother found a stash of burnt matchsticks, I told her my sister did it. Later, when I was slightly older and wiser, I questioned my logic in keeping a stash of burnt matchsticks, instead of throwing away all evidence.

In Standard 4, I was hauled by my teacher for trying to forge my mother's signature on my report card. While the strokes were almost professional, my choice of stationery wasn't. I had used a blue coloured pencil. It wasn't even sharpened.

Sigh. The memories of childhood.

Seemed like only yesterday when, in the heat of an argument, my sister pulled out a fistful of my hair.

Thanks for the birthday wish, Nut!

A Contract On Their Furry Heads

2007-03-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

Lucky and Flo, 2 black Labrador Retrievers (Midnight and Jeff Boy!), are trained pirated disc sniffers. Their noses are sensitive to polycarbonate, one of the main ingredients in the manufacture of the discs.

Their recent major bust was a RM10million pirated disc discovery in Johor Bahru. I'm sure most of these DVDs are probably being circulated among the authorities, but that's another story.

Anyway.

As everyone knows, the local pirated disc industry is run by syndicate gangsters. And now, syndicate bosses have offered an "undisclosed amount" to have Lucky and Flo eliminated.

Apparently, Lucky and Flo aren't the only dogs to have attracted a bounty. In 2004, a drug cartel in Colombia placed a US$10,000 price on the head of a golden Labrador Retriever named Agata, one of Colombia’s best drug-sniffing dogs.

Lucky and Flo are now being shuttled from safe house to safe house, in efforts to protect them. They are only here in Malaysia for a month-long working trip, and will be going home to Belfast after.

Poor doggies.

I guess I should be thankful the only things my dog knows how to do are to poop and pee. Both of which she's not very good at, either.

Sigh.

How To Kill A Baby

2007-03-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, I plagiarized a headline. So shoot me.

Or shoot this baby polar bear. With a lethal injection, no less. That's what animal rights activists are currently campaigning for.

His name is Knut, and he is currently being nursed at the Berlin Zoo after being abandoned by his mother. After his bottle-feeding, he is apparently getting lots of cuddles.

Animal activists are arguing that being a predator, it is highly inappropriate for a polar bear to be snuggled and cuddled, then turned out into the wild when he is an adult to fend for himself. The most humane thing to do would be to put it to sleep. And to keep Knut in the zoo all his life? That is a "gross violation of animal protection laws."

The Berlin Zoo's chief vet, on the other hand, argues that by keeping Knut at the Berlin Zoo, the baby might just grow up to be a stud bear to increase the population of polar bears, who are under threat of extinction.

In situations like these, I feel animal activists do get a little extreme.

I choose "Life".

Isn't that the whole point of animal rights?

Hmm...

Weekend Dog Blogging #77

2007-03-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Today marks Bessy's 1-month anniversary at her new home, with me.

Here are some key highlights of our first month together:

Week One
Bessy has diarrhea everyday. Every. Single. Day.
She ends her first week with severe vomiting, and an emergency trip to the vet's.
She also scores a "hospital" stay at the vet's.

Week Two

I drive (like mad) through lunchtime traffic from Kelana Jaya to the vet's at Brickfields, to visit Bessy.
Despite a lampshade collar, Bessy still manages to bite off the IV tube attached to her front leg. The vet isn't amused.

Week Three
Cautious days!
I anxiously examine the condition and texture of Bessy's poop, everyday.
She gradually descends to new levels of stinkiness - no baths for her as she is still sick.

Week Four
Happy days!
Bessy turns 3-months old.
She gets a bath.
She gets her 2nd vaccination.
Everyone is happy.

For more doggie tales and pictures, head over to Sweetnicks who is doing the roundup of this week's Weekend Dog Blogging!

Not Kiasu Enough

2007-03-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

Nut and I heard from Geek about Starbuck's 2nd Annual Coffee Break Day, on March 15th (that's today). This day means a free Tall (12-ounce) cup of coffee to anyone who drops by Starbucks Coffee between 10am - 12pm.

Being the kiasu people we are, we schemed to be at the nearest Starbucks outlet (at the Giant Hypermarket in Kelana Jaya) at 9.45am today. That gave us enough time to walk around Giant, so we don't look too hard up for a free cuppa joe.

At 10am, Nut and I went up the Starbucks counter. And then, paiseh-ness kicked in.

Me: "How ah? We just ask for the free coffee ah?"
Nut: "Erm... ya loh. I was thinking the same thing. A bit not nice hor."
Me: "Maybe we buy the cheapest cake they have?"
Nut: "Ya ya... ok, I will have the citrus poppy seed muffin."
Me: "Shit... that's the cheapest and nicest looking thing there. Ok, I'll have the same."

In conclusion, Nut and I have agreed that we are the kind of people who will never get rich.

Not kiasu enough. Not thick-skinned enough. Not mean enough.

How like that?

Look Ma, 24 A1s!

2007-03-14T02:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, maybe I am being sour grapes. But I have never, and will never, see the point of sitting for 21 subjects for SPM (that's apparently the maximum number of subjects you can sit for).

So it really tickled me to read this article in the Star about how this 53-year old man and his 13-year old son claimed to have sat for the SPM exam together, AND scored 24 A1s.

Me thinks other people are getting fed up of reading about SPM results, and kiasu students scoring 16 A1s too.

Heh.

Claims of father and son getting 24 1As in SPM false, says official (oh, the horror!)

IPOH: It was a first of a different kind for Perak when education officers were alerted to a report of a father and son who claimed to have obtained 24 1As for their SPM examination.

The 53-year-old man, seeking publicity in the Tamil Nesan daily, claimed to have sat for the exams at a well-known school here with his 13-year-old son and both achieved 100% marks in all the 24 subjects.

State Education director Datuk Mohammed Zakaria Mohd Noor said his officers had investigated the matter after S.B. Bala, the Tamil Nesan Ipoh bureau chief, asked the department to verify the results.

"This is the first time we have come across such a case of falsifying result slips. It is also possibly the first such case in the country," he told reporters on Wednesday after announcing the performance of Perak students in the 2006 SPM examinations.

"We believe the man was trying to gain publicity and glamour," he added.

"Maybe this case reflects the negative aspect of students focusing only on academic performance," he said, adding that the proposal for SPM candidates to take only 12 subjects was timely.

Zakaria said the department's initial investigation showed that the result slips were fake.

"There are no such candidates for last year's SPM. The format of the result slips is more or less the same as the original ones, except the font is different and certain subjects are wrongly spelt," he said.

He added that it was impossible for a 13-year-old and a 53-year-old to be sitting for the SPM.

"There are 108 subjects for SPM students to choose from. The maximum number of subjects that a candidate can take for the exam is 21," he added.

Zakaria said his officers would have to conduct further investigation into the case and he would be informing the ministry about the matter.

"It is a serious offence to falsify your academic results," he warned.

Zakaria also thanked the media for taking the correct step of verifying the matter before publishing the case.

He also urged students to be careful when applying for university entrance online because they could be penalised if they keyed in the wrong results.

My Friend Got Married and I Wasn't Invited to Her Wedding!

2007-03-11T05:23:00.000-07:00

Nisha Khirudin has to be one of the best producers I've ever worked with. Not that I've worked with many, but this girl shows maturity and experience beyond her years.

She also loves eating crabs, but that's another story.

Her most recent feather on her cap is being part of the team that won the Best Film in the recent BMW Shorties - a competition held by BMW Malaysia for the best short film.

Directed by her boyfriend, Abdullah Zahir, their short film K-Hole can be viewed at the BMW Shorties website.

As for the caption labelling Nisha as the film director's wife? She claims to have been very drunk that night, and made incoherent replies to the reporters' questions.

Ok, as long as I really do get invited to your real wedding, Nish! Congrats babe!

Weekend Dog Bloggin #76

2007-03-11T04:48:00.000-07:00

Inspired by MowPea, here is a MeMe titled Me Doggie for this week's Weekend Dog Blogging, hosted by Cate of Sweetnicks!

Date of Birth:
18 December 2006

Breed:
Black and tan Rottweiler

Favourite food:
Anything that can be swallowed, including grass, pebbles, and flowers.

Favourite Activity :
Eating grass, pebbles, and flowers, and playing fetch.

Favourite Toys:
Twirly rope toy and my old jacket.

Favourite annoying yet cute habit:
Thinking she is safely hidden under the car, but she never goes far in enough - so her legs are sticking well out for the whole world to see, and for me to drag her out with.

Sleeps in:
Her crate.

Barks when:
The neighbour's dog barks, she has just pooped.

Likes being:
Tickled on her tummy.

Tickle-Me-Bessy

When meeting people, likes to:
Do a little nervous peeing, then run up to you and lick your nose.

Often seen:
Sleeping on her back, with legs up in the air.

Knows how to:
Sit, shake, down and come when called.

Fancies having as a boyfriend:
She hasn't met any other dogs, so no potential boyfriends. Yet.

Has travelled to:
Brickfields Veterinary Clinic

Scared of:
Loud noises like car alarms, still gets a little scared of men.

And now, Bessy would like to tag:

For more adorable doggie pics, head over to Sweetnicks who is doing the round up for this Weekend Dog Blogging #76!

It's That Time of the Year

2007-03-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

Income tax. Borang BE. J Form. Calculations. Book receipts. Medical bill receipts.

Funnily enough, I'm actually looking forward to filing my taxes this year.

Last year, I was "freelancing" for 7 months. Hence, I wasn't getting an official income.

I get to shortchange the government this year.

I will be filling up my Borang BE with much glee.

Heh.

Weekend Dog Blogging #75

2007-03-03T17:46:00.000-08:00

Since Bessy went through the trauma of getting terribly sick and enduring days of jabs and IV Drips, I have decided to give her her 5 minutes.

"Woof woof wruff wruff woof woof"
Translation: The bald patch on my front right leg is where the vet shaved off my fur to put in the IV tube.

This is Bessy, my Rottweiler puppy. She is 10-weeks old. I brought her home when she was 8-weeks, and within a week, she was admitted to the vet's for being very, very sick. Detailed report of her sickness can be read here.

Brought her home from the vet's a couple of days ago, and am glad to report that she is doing A-OK!

She has recently learnt to "Shake Paws", but for some reason she shakes with her left paw. My dad taught her. I think he wasn't too fussy about which paw she brought up to shake paws with him.

For more doggie pictures, head over to Sweetnicks, who is doing the round up of all doggie pictures. (If doggies aren't your thing, head over for drool-worthy food pics.)

Nut, Geek, MowPea, Jess and all doggie owners! Take part too! For fun lah ;p

Update: Bessy Is Home!

2007-03-01T07:55:00.000-08:00

I brought Bessy home today. Vet said she is doing Very Well and Eating Like A Horse. She is very alert and active - a far cry from her weak state pre-treatment. Her blood test results show a marked improvement from her first test, although still below minimum levels.

Her poop isn't milkshake anymore. It's nice and formed, although on the black side because of the internal bleeding in her intestines, caused by the parasite.

I will have to take her back for continual blood tests. But it's such a relieve to have her home.

Fed her rice with special canned meat, and she gobbled it all up greedily. Yay.

She pooped nice, formed poop after her meal. Yay.

Took her out to play, and she ran around my garden like a greyhound. Yay.

Played "Fetch" with her and she ended up ripping a hole in my pants. Not-So-Yay.

Thanks Nut! For going with me to bring her home, and risking your hand being bitten by her.

Thanks Clare! For recommending me Dr Lim and Dr Prem and the Brickfields Vet. I can't think of any other people I will take Bessy to, anymore.

Thanks Jess! For giving ideas on how to get back on Mr Don't-Give-A-Shit Siva.

Thanks Geek! For always asking about her and giving me moral support. Bessy is waiting for you to visit her here so she can shake your hand and thank you too. (Mental note: Must teach Bessy to shake hands.)

Thanks Puiyan! For thinking about her, even though you are so many miles away. Bessy will shake paws with you next time you come back. Hopefully, she will know how to by then.

Thanks Lucy! For your thoughts. Bessy is thinking about you, too. Yes, even when she is peeing.

Bessy is so lucky and blessed to have so many people thinking about her, asking about her and praying for her.

Thank you everyone. You have no idea how much your support meant to me.

:)

B is for Beautiful is for Bessy

2007-02-27T04:50:00.002-08:00

Ever since I was knee high, my one wish was to have a dog. Yea, sure I had a few "adopted" ones. Duke, my aunt's dashchund. Blackie, my neighbour's mongrel. And a few strays here and there.

But my very own.

On February 17, I brought one home.

Her name is Bessy, and she is a female Rottweiler.

Bad luck soon followed. Or, as I choose to see it, a test of how much I really want and love a dog.

Bessy had a bad case of diarrhea. She would poop milkshake poop at least 6 times a day. Cleaning it was a bitch (pun!) and soon became a nightmare.

About a week after homecoming, Bessy began vomiting. I rushed her to the vet's, together with a (milkshake) stool sample.

Her stool sample tested positive for Coccidea (a parasite that attacks the intestine walls, causing diarrhea, vomiting and loss of appetite) and blood sample showed her positive for tick fever (which causes parasites to multiply and eat her red blood cells and platelets).

The vet's gave his prognosis, while shaking his head rather gravely: Guarded.

I held her tight as the vet took her blood for testing.

I held her tight as the kind doctor gave her jabs.

I held her tight as the nurse force-fed her tablets and hooked her up to an IV Drip.

I held her tight as I carried her to her "hospital bed" - a cage in the vet's hospital.

I told her I would gladly clean up all the poop she wishes to poop, as long as she gets better, stronger and happier. And let me bring her home.

I'm glad to say she has agreed to my request: She's getting better by the day.

See ya soon, Bessy!

Meme! Me!Me!: Episode 3

2007-02-16T00:43:00.000-08:00

Like I told Nut, the first time I attempted to do this MeMe, I was in a foul mood. And most of my answers had the word "stupid" in it - either as a verb, noun, or adjective.

Today is the eve of a long holiday. So yes, I'm in a much nicer, friendlier mood. Heh.

This is the "Tag of Three", and Nut tagged me to do this MeMe a few weeks ago. Here goes:

Three things that scare me:

Cockroaches
Bratty Kids (I’m scared I will kill them)
Poltergeist

Three people who make me laugh:

Ricky Gervais
Ben Stiller
George Bush

Three things I love:

Sleeping
Travelling
Reading

Three things I hate:

Stupidity
Selfishness
Irresponsibility

Three things I don't understand:

Stupidity
Selfishness
Irresponsibility

Three things on my desk:

The Far Side 2007 Daily Calendar
Tin of Quaker Oats
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

Three things I'm doing right now:

Waiting till 5pm so I can scoot off home
Thinking about my almost-puppy
Trying not to touch the pimple that’s beginning to sprout on my forehead

Three things I want to do before I die:

Write for a travel magazine
See my dad talk to my dog, affectionately
Run a marathon (without dying at the finish line)

Three things I can do:

Smile at people I detest, and make it look damn genuine (my PR face)
Identify a person by hearing how he/she walks
Make an almost-accurate guess on what time it is, or how much time has gone by, without looking at a watch

Three things you should listen to:

Raindrops falling on your roof, while you are dozing off to sleep at night
Leaves rustling
Your gut feel (only if you are a woman)

Three things you should never listen to:

Stupid people
“Advice” from feng shui “masters”
Boy bands

Three things I'd like to learn:

How to make a few million with as little effort as possible
How to perfectly pull apart a pair of those disposable chopsticks that come glued together
How to tell a proper, believable lie, on the spot

Three favorite foods:

Brown rice
Broccoli
Mushrooms

Three beverages I drink regularly:

Water
Nescafe Gold Blend
Coke Light

Three TV shows/Books I watched/read as a kid:

Jem, The Cosby Show, The Electric Company
All Enid Blyton, Charlie Brown Encyclopedia, Peter and Jane

Ok, as soon as you're done laughing at my answers and have picked yourself up off the floor, read on and see if you're one of the 3 people I have to tag:

1. Think Tank

2. Jessica Fruit-Of-Eden Koh

3. Clare (myspace got blog, right? :D)

Hey, it's 5pm!

Snail Mail, Long Time No See

2007-02-12T05:28:00.000-08:00

These days, the only things I get in the post are credit card bills, ASTRO bill, Streamyx bill, maybe a bank statement or two. And other miscellaneous junk mail.

Until last Friday.

Aiyee! A spongey envelope!

Not just a mail. But an almost-package! It was thick. It felt scrunchy. It had a BY AIR MAIL sticker on it. Yowza!

I ripped open the envelope.

Inside, there was a card.

Aiyee! A card!

Inside the card, there were CDs! And a handmade toy! A handmade toy with my name sewn on it.

Aiyee! A toy with my name sewn on it!

(I know, I very jakun. Long time haven't get so exciting a package already mar...)

THANKS PUIYAN! :D

CSI, Malaysian Style

2007-02-02T06:42:00.000-08:00

My house was robbed a few days ago. On January 31st, to be exact.

No one was hurt (thank God). Nothing taken.

I was at work when it happened, and dashed home as soon as I found out.

When I arrived, there was a police car parked outside my house. Inside, 2 cops were talking to my parents about the incident, writing down the report. The usual formalities.

On the table were my almost-stolen laptop and PSP. Covered in a thick layer of black powder. A man in plain clothes and wearing a pair of latex gloves (Encik CSI, I rightly presumed) was hovering near the almost-stolen gadgets.

"What da hell is all this...," I asked (you could tell I was relieved my stuff weren't stolen).

"Don't touch! The man want to get finger prints," yelled my parents with some sense of importance. They had, after all, been the ones who stumbled upon the robber. They had returned home while he was busy rifling through my Dad's drawers. This was after he thoroughly, I mean thoroughly, ransacked my room and turned it into a natural disaster zone.

I sat down next to my parents, while my Dad finished rattling off some details:

"Ya, itu orang dia lari tau. I kejar dia lah. Then dia lompat itu pagar... tu... I buka pagar dan kejar dia lah. Tapi ah, dia ada motorbike so I tak dapat tangkap dia lah."

I was barely listening to my Dad. My attention was fixed on Encik CSI, who was gently tilting my laptop looking for prints. Encik CSI looked at the cops and gravely remarked, "Tak ada fingerprint lah. I ingat dia pakai glove... ya lah, dia pakai glove."

The 2 cops nodded solemnly at each other.

After a few more questions and some advice for us (one of which was to let my Dad know it's never a wise decision to run after a robber, especially for a man his age), the cops and Encik CSI left.

It was only later that day when I realized a really strange thing: No fingerprints? Not even mine?

Meanwhile, no thanks to the ultra-fine fingerprint powder, my white PSP has now beome a black PSP :(

One Day in September

2007-01-31T21:10:00.000-08:00

I have a semi-obsession with the events surrounding the 1972 Olympics Munich massacre.

Maybe it's the terror-sounding names of the organizations involved, like Black September and The Mossad. Say it: "Black. September." How cool did that just sound?

Maybe it's all the readings of the hush-hush conspiracy theories that surround the events after the massacre.

Maybe I'm just plain morbid.

Anyway, my simmering obsession boiled over to the point of me downloading, yes downloading, the documentary examining the Munich massacre - "One Day in September". It's directed by Kevin MacDonald, and narrated (although in a somewhat detached manner) by Michael Douglas.

The great thing about this documentary is how it doesn't sit on any political fences. It blatantly alleges the poor rescue operations, the bad, bad, bad security control and post-events conspiracy theories.

The producers even managed to track down and locate the last-surviving terrorist who is hiding "somewhere in Africa" (of the 3 that survived, 2 were assassinated by The Mossad). This man gave his account of the incident, alongside others like the wife of an athlete who was murdered, Zvi Zamir (yet another cool name!) who was The Mossad chief at the time, and even one of the surviving athletes.

And then there is the superb editing. Gripping, tense scenes of snipers marking the building where the terrorists held the hostages, are juxtaposed with happy, cheering crowds and triumphant athletes.

The film also takes you through a tour of the building where the athletes were held hostage, at 31 Connollystraße, at the Munich Olympic Village. Vivid, mentals pictures I can add to my future readings/research.

The documentary felt like a movie. Which made it all the more chilling when you remember that this incident really happened. It's a part of history.

Brilliant. 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. With an Academy Award to boot.

Only snag was that the subtitles were in French. And some interviews were conducted in Hebrew, German and Arab. (Free mar, cannot complain.)

Yet, I remained transfixed till the end.

Ok, ok. Like I said, maybe I'm just plain morbid.

Busy? Or bad time management?

2007-01-30T04:26:00.000-08:00

Ok here's how I spent my last 14 hours:

10 minutes drive to gym
1 hour in the gym
10 minutes drive home from gym
30 minutes breakfast and shower
1 hour sleeping
10 minutes drive to work
1 hour surf net and "pretend busy"
1 hour brainstorm
2 hours working lunch
2 hours research (real research, really)
2 hours brainstorm
20 minutes recuperating from brainstorm
10 minutes rambling nonsense on blog

I don't even have the energy to add up all that time.

Where did my minutes and hours go?

How to be more efficient with my time?

I know!

I should drive faster to and fro gym and home, office and home.

Ok, issue settled.

:D

Shark Fin: Tak Nak

2007-01-20T17:51:00.000-08:00

This post in inspired by Geekchic, for choosing NOT to serve shark fin soup at her wedding dinner. In her words:

The way they farm for the fins is inhumane. Only brainless fucked-up egoistic folks still serve it. And, yes that is a generalization, that is a sweeping comment and I’m making no apologies for it.

Unfortunately, people like Geek are far and few. Shark fin soup is so deeply ingrained in our culture as a dish that gives you "face".

Is this due to ignorance on the way shark fins are harvested? At this day and age, my guess would be no.

Shark meat is often too low-value compared to the more lucrative species (like tuna) so 95-99% of the sharks are thrown back into the ocean, after their fins are cut off, to conserve hold space on the fishing vessels. Sometimes, they are killed "just for fun".

It is a widely known fact that the most efficient way of obtaining shark fins is to first catch a shark, then haul it on deck, then have a team of crewmen swiftly slice off the fins with razor-sharp machetes, then toss the rest of the fish, still alive, back in the sea. The shark sinks to the bottom of the ocean, and there slowly drowns to its death.

Some popular remarks regarding the debate about eating shark fin soup are:

"The restaurant already got the supply mah. Might as well order lor."
Ordering a bowl of shark fin soup means there is a demand for it. The restaurant will then further buy to supply for the demand. And the endless cycle continues.

"Think about the poor fishermen who will be out of a job if the shark fin industry were to collapse."
Indian fishermen only earn $6 per pound of shark fin. A bowl of soup can cost $100 in a Hong Kong restaurant.

"Sharks are a danger in the ocean. Better off in my tummy than out in the open water mauling people."
10-15 people are killed by sharks each year. But in comparison, over 100 million sharks perish at the hands of humans annually. The chances of being attacked by a shark are less than being struck by lightning.

"It is already on the table. Shouldn't waste it lah."
Eating shark fin soup shows you agree with and support the industry.

"Yiyer, you don't give face."
I give face to the sharks, that are cruelly killed so you can get fatter.

Ok, last remark was bordering on bitchy. (Hee.)

My next question is on the taste and nutritional value of shark fin. Is it like a bear's paw that has medicinal value? (Note: the "medicinal value" of the bear's paw is actually the bear's saliva, as the bear is always licking its paws - so you are actually eating bear cooties.) Or monkey brains that are eaten as medicine?

Fact: Shark's fin provides gelatinous bulk in shark fin soup, but it has no taste – the soup has to be flavoured with chicken or other "superior" stock for it to be tasty.

Fact: The procession method for shark's fin include drying, bleaching and drying again. All nutritional value and taste are stripped.

Here's my conclusion:
Sharks are cruelly killed for their fins, for a bowl of soup that has no nutritional or independent taste value. To date, there is no scientific evidence of its medicinal efficacy.

So why are we still eating it?

Further reading:

Tech Tags: shark+fin animal+cruelty

A Letter

2007-01-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Midnight,

How's heaven?
Are the angels feeding you on time?
Does God take you out for walks?
Does He know how to pull you away when you start sniffing at other doggies' poop?
(But maybe you won't get sick from eating dog poop in heaven?)
I guess we don't need to tell Him what a sweet, gentle giant you are.
How your heart only knows love and loyalty.
We all miss you here.
But we know you're at a happier, better place.
Be a good boy ok?

Love from,
Your human friend Yue-Li

Obscene

2007-01-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

£128 million in 5 years.

£1.96 million a month.

£490,000 a week.

£70,000 a day.

£50 a minute.

The crazy-insane figures David Beckham will be earning when he transfers to LA Galaxy. £50 every freaking minute! And there I was, while in London, standing in Monsoon for a good 20 minutes thinking five... no, six times... about whether I should splurge on a £28 top.

I want to be obscenely rich too!

As I Grow Older

2007-01-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

I find myself:

Being kiamsiap and questioning the Tesco cashier why the price I had to pay for my Coke Light was 12 sen more than the price on the display shelf. (All this while holding up the line at the checkout counter.)
Using more moisturiser.
Flipping past articles like "How To Tell If Your Best Friend Is Lying" and stopping at articles like "Are You Organizing Your Time Properly?"
Saying things like "Be patient young boy" to the little kid who tried to push past me and run to grab seats while lining up to board an Air Asia flight.
Leaving my car keys in my car, with the car doors locked.
Searching longer through "Bargain Bins".
Tsk-tsking when I see young girls wearing skirts that skim their ass.
Taking my time to read fine print.
Sighing about the "Good Old Days".
Being philosophical about growing old.

Happy 2007!

Joy. And Hope.

2006-12-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

My glass is usually half full.

But after reading about how Joy the dog was beaten till his jaw was broken beyond repair, any bit of fullness in my glass is now slowly leaking away down the monsoon drain.

Joy, after surgery. His jaw was beyond repair from the beating he received.

Joy was beaten continuously by a group of Indonesian workers, while they yelled "Haram" at it.

The poor dog's lower jaw was so badly injured that it had to be surgically removed, but his tongue was saved despite having lacerations and blood clots. Joy still manages a friendly wag at strangers, despite his injuries.

Injuries caused by ignorance.

Ignorance because dogs are not "haram" under the laws of Islam. I did a little research about this, and found some information at an Islamic scholar's website. Here are some of the key points he highlighted:

1.
It is NOT haraam to own a dog, though it is not hygienic to keep a dog in the house.

2.
It is NOT haraam to touch a dog or any other animal. If the saliva of a dog touches you or any part of your clothing, then it is required of you to wash the body part touched and the item of clothing touched by the dog’s mouth or snout.

3.
It is haraam to keep a dog or any other animal on a short lead for long periods without food, water, and shelter. Dogs need exercise and are social creatures who form organized “family” structures in nature.

Traditionally, and through age-old customs (customs only - not Islamic law), dogs are seen as impure. Unfortunately, many Muslims have used this view to justify the abuse and neglect of dogs, even though cruelty contradicts the Qur'an's view that all animals form "communities like you."

So back to my glass. Slowly leaking whatever liquid to keep it half full. Till I saw this picture in today's New Straits Times.

It shows a stranger rescuing two dogs, stranded in the Johor floods.

There is Hope for dogs yet.

:)

An Ode

2006-12-14T23:55:00.000-08:00

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee warm or chilled
I love thee in can, or in bottle
For it matters not thine climate, nor thine vessel.
I love thee purely, for thine is a taste that transcends infinity
I love thee freely, mixed with single malt or with brandy
In my happiness and grief, giddiness and soberness.
I love thee with a passion put to use
The first sip brings calm
The rest puts a smile on my face
That cannot be wiped away.
With a childhood faith, I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears
Of all my life!

Tech Tags: diet+coke undying+love elizabeth+barrett+browning

2 Nights of Partying, 1 Observation

2006-12-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

Yes, you read right. TWO nights of partying. Within 2 weekends. In a row.

A personal record for me. I usually stay away from these places because they’re too expensive, too far away, I’m too old. And I usually end up drinking far more than I should.

True enough, both nights left my wallet decidedly emptier. But I also picked up a rather interesting observation.

Night 1: Hen Night at Chyna Bar, Asian Heritage Row
Apparently, the place where the “beautiful people of KL” hang out. I must have greatly disturbed that exquisite balance when I went there that night.

We were really only there because we didn’t know we had to reserve a table at the other joints at the Row (bar side also must reserve ok?!).

Being a huge fan of People Watching, I unashamedly scrutinized the people around me. (Not that beautiful also?) As in most trendy bars, most of the girls were dressed to kill (each other, I can only presume). They stood all well groomed by their tables, with immaculate makeup, perfect hair, and in beautiful dresses. And that’s how most of them remained the whole night.

Or for as long as I observed in my sober state.

Night 2: Post Wedding Dinner Party at Hard Rock Café, KL
In all honesty, this place now looks like a popular hangout for SPGs. Lots of old gwai lohs, and other old men of miscellaneous types.

The girls? Mostly in jeans and casual tops. And all having the time of their lives. No “oh look at me” self-consciousness about them. No “are my false eyelashes still on?” look of fear on their faces. Nor any “can anyone see my Chloe bag under this dim light” type glances.

Good fun, great music and a comfortable crowd.

Conclusion:
So if I were to go out partying again, where would I go? Definitely somewhere on Asian Heritage Row or some other pretentious place lah, of course. The guys there cuter.

:D

Us with "Let's-Go-For-Claypot-Loh-Shee-Fan-Now" look on our faces.

Tech Tags: KL+nightlife

Meme! Me! Me! Episode 2

2006-12-07T22:10:00.000-08:00

Tagged again by Wandernut, who seems to be the only blogger I know who does memes. Then again, I don't know a lot of other bloggers. Hmm.

This time, titled "5 Things To Eat Before I Die".

Let's see:

1.
Siew yuk from Hong Kong. According to Wandernut, it's "best in the world".

2.
Vietnamese beef noodles. From a real Vietnamese stall.

3.
Songtham. A Thai green papaya salad dish that is really difficult to find here in Malaysia. And too much of a hassle to make.

4.
Muar otak-otak fried kuay teow. Only because we didn't get to eat this the last time we were there.

(I guess I should include one gwailoh food on my list.)

5.
Freshly baked wholemeal bagel. Freshly baked bagel is difficult enough to find here. Wholemeal?!

As you can see from my list, I'm definitely not in the same foodie league as Wandernut. So I tag anyone who reads this, even if you are or aren't a foodie.

*Burp*

Tech Tags: food list

Case Proven: Dogs ARE Intelligent

2006-12-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

Awhile back, I read a really funny story about a dog in Battersea Dogs Home in the UK. More than just a funny story, actually. Shows how intelligent dogs are. Here’s how the story goes:

The staff at Battersea Dogs Home were baffled when, for several mornings in a row, they arrived at work to find several dogs frolicking in the kitchen amongst upturned jars of dog biscuits and spilt food.

Determined to find the culprit, a video surveillance system was set up. The next morning, there was again the doggie chaos and havoc in the kitchen. And boy, did the staff get a surprise when they viewed the video from the surveillance.

The video showed a lone figure of a dog, Red the lurcher, sliding back the steel bolt of his cage, tugging open the cell-like door and slipping out.

Red in action, having games and a good time with his pals... and getting caught.

Even more astonishing was the sight of him then moving swiftly from kennel to kennel performing the same trick to free other dogs. And not just other dogs, but his choice of preferred canine companions for an illicit midnight feast. A yappy Jack Russell is left to linger in solitary confinement, for instance, while Red's brother, Lucky, is the first to be let out.

The canine Houdini himself.

After this incident was broadcasted on national news, Red received over 400 requests from new owners clamouring to give him a home. But the staff are scrutinizing the applications carefully to choose the best owner. Meanwhile, Red remains in Battersea Dogs Home. In a cell that is double locked behind him. Just in case.

Tech Tags: Battersea+Dogs+Home

Yay for Slouching!

2006-11-27T20:24:00.000-08:00

To my Standard 2 teacher who used to yell at me to sit up straight. To my dad who would hit the back of my chair when he caught me slouching. To that weird girl I saw sitting upright, eating char kuay teow in a kopitiam. To my piano teacher who told me my playing will improve if I were to sit up straight.

I say to you all: "HAH!"

Slouch - it's the safest way to sit
David Rose (from www.timesonline.co.uk)

Your mother probably told you, as her mother told her: sit up straight. Whether at table, in class or at work we have always been told that sitting stiff-backed and upright is good for our bones, our posture, our digestion, our alertness and our general air of looking as if we are plugged into the world.

Now research suggests that we would be far better off slouching and slumping. Today’s advice is to let go and recline. Using a new form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a team of radiologists have found that sitting up straight puts unneccesary strain on the spine and could cause chronic back pain because of trapped nerves or slipped discs.

The ideal angle for office workers who sit for long periods is about 135 degrees. It might make working at a computer impractical but it will put less pressure on the spine than a hunched or upright position, the researchers say.

The study at Woodend Hospital in Aberdeen involved 22 healthy volunteers who had no history of back pain or surgery. They adjusted their posture while being scanned by a movable MRI machine, assuming three sitting positions: a slouch, with the body hunched forward over a desk or video game console; an upright 90-degree sitting position; and a relaxed position where the patient reclined at 135 degrees but kept their feet on the floor.

By measuring the spinal angles and the arrangement and height of spinal discs and movement across the positions, the radiologists found that the relaxed posture best preserved the spine’s natural shape.

Waseem Amir Bashir, from Edinburgh, lead author of the study, said: “When pressure is put on the spine it becomes squashed and misaligned. A 135-degree body-thigh sitting posture was demonstrated to be the best biomechanical sitting position, as opposed to a 90-degree posture, which most people consider normal.

“Sitting in a sound anatomic position is essential, since the strain put on the spine and its associated muscles and ligaments over time can lead to pain, deformity and chronic illness.” Dr Bashir, who now works at the University of Alberta Hospital in Canada, presented the research yesterday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago.

The study was the first of its kind because MRI scan- ning has previously required patients to lie flat.

Back pain is the cause of one in six days off work and about 80 per cent of Britons are expected to suffer from it at some point. Office workers and school children may stave off future back problems by correcting their sitting posture and finding a chair that allows them to recline, Dr Bashir said.

He added: “We were not created to sit down for long hours, but somehow modern life requires the vast majority of the global population to work in a seated position, The best position for our backs is arguably lying down, but this is hardly practical.”

(I have conveniently deleted the rest of the article where some other doctors refute this theory. :D)

Tech Tags: slouch health

Funniest Quote of 2006

2006-11-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

Overheard at this year's Kancil Awards, at Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel ballroom.

"Kancil Night must be sponsored by Toyogo (plastic goods brand). Everyone so plastic."

Lessons From a Doggie Party

2006-11-13T23:28:00.001-08:00

3 happy doggies, originally uploaded by yue-li.

Once upon a time, there were 3 dogs: Sunshine, Midnight and Adam.

3 different coloured dogs. Of different sizes. Of different genders. With different intensity of tail wagging. One even came from the dog pound.

Yet, they got along real well.

Adam, being the smallest, was kept in the cage at first. You see, the 2 big ones might pounce on him and hurt him.

Or so we humans thought.

When said humans eventually let Adam out, we all saw how gentle Sunshine and Midnight were with little Adam.

And we all saw how well the 3 dogs got along.

Regardless of colour, size, gender, level of tail wagging or whether they come from a dog pound.

After this profound moment, we humans continued with our more important role in the circle of life – by gobbling up the party grub of curry chicken, mee hoon, fried chicken and fruits.

Yes, survival and enjoying life more important. You think what?

Hee.

Tech Tags: pets dog+party life+lessons

See: My Portrait

2006-11-06T00:23:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago, I volunteered at a camp for orphans. I wasn't much help, I thought. Just hung out with the kids, talking to them and listening to them talk to me.

Something we all had to do at the camp was to leave "affirmation" notes for the new friends we made at the camp.

One of the notes I was privileged to receive was this one. Drawn for me by one of the kids.

So cool, right? I love it!

Gap: Made in Malaysia

2006-10-31T03:19:00.000-08:00

Today, I found out that one of the many manufacturers that produce clothes for this iconic American brand is in Malaysia.

Not just in Malaysia, but in Batu Pahat.

Not just in Batu Pahat, but in Perusahaan Chan Choo Seng. For over 20 years too, so I heard.

Perusahaan Chan Choo Seng.

I find it hilarious that the garments endorsed by the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Eva Herzigova and Missy Elliot are made by Perusahaan Chan Choo Seng in Batu Pahat.

After picking myself up from the floor (from rolling with laughter, you understand), I surfed the Gap Inc. website.

Wah, strict quality control when it comes to producing their products.

In Perusahaan Chan Choo Seng.

Hee.

ps: Surf Gap Inc. to find out about how they give back to the community, their firm belief and support of the arts and their long standing contribution to the global fund to fight AIDS.

Tech Tags: GAP Malaysia+Boleh

Meet: Pepe

2006-10-26T04:15:00.000-07:00

Pronounced "pay-pay". It's his nickname. And it's Spanish, he informed us with a flick of his hand.

He runs Lanta Resort, a cool chalet on Long Beach where I stayed during my recent super-excellent Koh Lanta holiday.

Pepe is friendly, kind and very generous. He's also very gay. In fact, Pepe was once a winner of a beauty contest in his district. (No, that's not a typo.)

On our last night in Koh Lanta, Pepe and his friend (and resort staff) Gung, threw us a little farewell party. Squid thai salad, BBQ-ed fresh pomfret and lots of Samsong (killer Thai whiskey).

A farewell party that was financed from their own pockets.

Pepe is one of the coolest people I know. No, not because of the free food. But because he's completely comfortable with himself. No inhibitions. No trying to be overly-cool. He's just himself.

He wore short purple lycra tights and a too-small purple shirt (with purple stars) when he played beach volleyball. He did a perfect mime of Anatascia singing. He told my friend she didn't look "very fresh" when she had a hangover from too much Sangsom. He took a photo of me with his camera phone, and insisted he takes another one because in that first photo, I looked "very ugly".

If you don't like him, he doesn't care.

We liked him. And he cared.

Tech Tags: Koh+Lanta

Disgusting

2006-10-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

This is a letter written by a 17-year old student in condemnation of a disgusting, barbaric act that was carried out. In his school.

Published in The Star, 2 October, 2006.

SHOCK SCHOOL SHOOTING

I AM a Form Five student in an Ipoh school. On Thursday, a disgusting show of inhumanity was seen in my school. It highlighted the depravity of humans.

For some time, a dog had been sleeping behind the school toilet. By nature, this dog was loving and showed no aggressive behaviour.

It was generally well-liked by the students and was easily ignored as all it did was sleep. It never approached anyone unless they first approached it.

On that day, the Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh (MBI) came into the school grounds and shot the dog in its abdomen in front of our chemistry lab. It upset the girls deeply as the dog did not die immediately and wailed as it bled to death.

The MBI did not shoot it a second time, instead they allowed it to die slowly. Then they carried it off by a hook when it was not completely dead as if it were a carcass at the meat market. The MBI men also waved jovially in the midst of all this as if they had not done something completely barbaric.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. I think the general way animals are treated here is appalling. Countries like Australia, New Zealand and England do not shoot dogs as we do yet I never saw a single stray on the street when I was there. This tells me there is something wrong with our system and the general mind-set of the average Malaysian.

DISGUSTED,
Ipoh

Tech Tags: animal+rights animal+abuse

MNS Belum-Temengor Campaign 2006

2006-10-16T22:42:00.002-07:00

This forest has been around for over 130 million years, making it older than the Amazon or the Congo. It holds such a vast number of flora and fauna that every scientific exploration means the discovery of a new species.

Yet, the Belum-Temengor Forest is facing threat from, who else but, man. One little corner of the forest has been reserved as the Royal Belum Park. Although reserved, it has yet to be gazetted. And this Park is just a fragment of the entire forest - 117, 800 hectares compared to the total area of 300, 000 hectares.

Please, please help save this forest.

The MNS Belum-Temengor Campaign aims to do the following:

Gazettement of the Royal Belum State Park
Extension of the Royal Belum State Park to include the Temengor Forest Reserve
Protection of a stretch of natural forest flanking the East-West highway from conversion to plantation

And here's how you can help:

MNS is distributing postcards addressed to the YAB Menteri Besar of Perak and the YAB Prime Minister of Malaysia for the public to sign. This set of postcards conveys your concern and support to save our natural heritage to these 2 very important decision makers. Just pen down your signature and some simple details about you and send them to the MNS HQ on the prepaid envelopes that are provided.
Buy a Candle of Conscience from The Body Shop outlets throughout Peninsular Malaysia. Choose the candle with the MNS logo; the contribution will come straight to the campaign.
Sign on the online signature form to support MNS’ call to stop all logging activities in Belum-Temengor and to protect this forest complex.
Write letters to the Malaysian dailies urging the Federal and State Government to take immediate action and to stop all logging activities in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex.
Donate to the Malaysian Nature Society (please direct all donations to the MNS Belum-Temengor Campaign 2006).
Look out for events that promote this campaign and join them. Your presence will make a big difference to the campaign.

Visit the Malaysian Nature Society website for more details on this campaign.

If you would like a stack of postcards, let me know. I'll get them for you.

Your voice, even if it's just a little peep, CAN make a difference.

Tech Tags: nature conservation Belum-Temengor+Forest MNS

The Coolest Mural In The World

2006-10-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

While wandering though the streets of Madrid, with nose firmly stuck in Lonely Planet, I heard ThinkTank exclaim, "Check out that mural!"

I looked up. What mural? She's nuts.

And then realised the side facade of the building, which I thought was real, was actually a mural. It was painted in accurate perspective to look like the side of the building. Its facade was painted the same red brick wall, tall windows and wrought-iron rails. There were even delicately painted plants on a few mural verandas.

Spectacularly lifelike.

The only thing that betrayed it was the ugly grafitti some vandal monkeys sprayed at the bottom of the mural.

If it weren't for that, this amazing mural would have gone by unnoticed. So real was the effect.

In fact, I might even have waved at the old man, standing on his verenda, leaning against the rail.

It would have made me look real stupid, of course. But definitely a compliment to the artist.

How do you say, "Wayyyy cool mural!" in Spanish?

Tech Tags: travel, art, curious+observations

Happy Deepavali

2006-10-11T01:13:00.000-07:00

If I were Muslim, I would have just done grave wrong.

According to Takaful Malaysia's Syariah department head Fauzi Mustaffar, Deepavali is a religious festival where Hindu deities were worshipped. Thus wishing Hindus was like syirik (practising polytheism - that's the translation, I swear!) to Muslims.

Quote. Unquote.

This was hurriedly decried by someone in the Prime Minister's department as being not fatwa (Or edict - I've always wondered what fatwa meant. Sorry for being ignorant.)

Speaking of ignorance, I also recall the (dare I say it) "controversial" (I said it!) decision by the National Fatwa Council about Muslims not being allowed to conspire (they used that word, not me) to join in the celebration of the festivals of other religions, including Chinese New Year.

(Never mind that Chinese New Year is a cultural celebration, not a religious one.)

Both issues, of course, were followed by a barrage of Letters-To-The-Editor, Tell-Us-What-You-Think, Public-Poll and So-And-So's-Opinion type articles. Each bellowing the writer's vehement outrage at such audacious decisions.

"We live in a multi-racial, multi-cultural nation." "We must respect and tolerate each other's beliefs." And so on, went the comments.

The debate raged for a few days/weeks. And then, like how most issues do in Malaysia, died down.

But some damage had already been done. One that ran on a deeper level. It hovered on our subconscious. Suddenly, we were reminded about each other's skin colour. On how we must Respect Each Other's Belief. Living In Harmony became hard work. It became a conscious effort.

When we say this or that, will we be insulting our friends from other religions?

Should I do this in front of my Indian colleague?

Oh no, I am eating a meat of suspicious origin in front of my Muslim friend.

When I was little, about knee high, I had a Malay best friend. (Her mom also happened to own the kindergarden I was attending. But that's another story.) We would run around in the playground during recess and climb the monkey bar. We shared our packet of UFO rings. I copied her homework. Happy childhood stuff like that.

I recall lots of friendships like that. Even now, as an adult (ok, ok - I am trying to be one; stop twittering), I have friends who are Malays and Indians. Not because I am putting on a pantomime to prove to them naysayers that I am Living In Harmony.

But because, let me see, how do I put this? Because they are my friends.

Many people I know don't look at skin colour when making friends. Or think thoughts like, "Ok, let's see. I need 3 more Chinese and 2 more Indian friends to Live In Harmony."

They just see the other person's smile. Warmth. Friendliness. Generosity. Intelligence (where applicable).

When did living in harmony become a conscious effort?

Hmm. Maybe I do miss writing festive/Merdeka scripts after all.

Meme! Me! Me!

2006-10-09T00:21:00.000-07:00

My first "meme"! (Why is it called a "meme"?)

I've been tagged!

I've been mentioned on someone else's blog!

Ohmygawd! I so jakun!

Ok, on to the "meme".

I've been tagged by Wandernut. According to her, a "meme" is something you answer so other people can get to know you better.

So this "meme" is titled 8 Things About Myself. Which means I have to write 8 things about myself.

1.
I still read Enid Blyton books. But only Famous Five, mind you. None of those childish Secret Seven rubbish.

2.
My first bicycle was given to me by my grandmother when I was 8-years old. She stole it from a kid who lives down the street from me.

3.
I want to be a boatman when I grow up.

4.
Or a vet.

Umm...wow, this is harder than I thought.

5.
My fastest time to complete an EVIL Sudoku puzzle is 5 minutes. And some seconds.

6.
I have an attention span of a goldfish. And it's getting worse. I can't even finish watching a whole episode of CSI Las Vegas in one sitting.

7.
I threw up my breakfast of sardines on my friend, after singing Negaraku when I was 10-years old. I'm not sure if she's still my friend.

8.
I just realised I'm not a very interesting person.

Ok! Now for the fun part. Tagging! I tag Think Tank, The Box and Makanologist. And Clare, Walter, Nisha... wait, they don't have blogs (hint hint).

The Coolest Merry-Go-Round in the World

2006-10-03T23:54:00.000-07:00

www.carruselecologico.com

The "carriages" are old rubber tyre, cut and fixed together into shapes of animals.

The "motor" is manual, worked by a man who pedals to work the machine.

The "music" comes from an old stereo, propped up nearby.

The "bright neon colours"... er, none.

But from the gleeful laughs and shrieks from the little kiddies, it sure sounded like they were on the best ride of their 6-year old lives.

We stumbled upon this cool merry-go-round while in Granada, in a little square outside our hotel. Being wayyyy too big and wayyyy too old to have a go, we sat and watched.

A long line of little kids, with their parents, were standing and waiting for their turn. Before the ride, the man picked up each kid, placed him or her onto a rubber-tyre animal, strapped on the seatbelt and made sure they are secured in.

When all the seats were filled, the man hopped onto his own bicycle-like seat and began pedaling. The music began. The merry-go-round started turning. The kids were all laughing and waving at their parents. They were having the best ride of their lives. (I mean a real ride you sick, cynical adult.)

Value-Added-Service: Before the ride ended, the man handed out a lollipop to every kid, which they grabbed by stretching out their chubby arms as they passed him.

The music winded down, the merry-go-round slowed down, signaling the end of the ride. The man jumped off his bicycle-like seat and the kids waited patiently as he unfastened each of their seatbelt and lifted them off their seat. And he repeated everything all over again, for the next line of kids waiting.

Check out the cool animal shapes, made out of old rubber tyres!

Popular business ,ok. The merry-go-round was turning all day, the seats always full of happy kids.

A few days later in London, we saw a carousel in Camden Market. A brightly coloured (read: 1000+ lightbulbs all over), elegantly painted machine, with carriages of haughty, porcelain horses and those candy-cane like pillars coming up from each horse.

It was also empty. No kids. No laughter. No free lollipops.

Long live Carrusel Ecologico!

Meet: Evil Roman Kitty

2006-09-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a little Roman thug any nice mouse or birdie would want to avoid in dark alleys.

At the foot of the stairs to the Roman Forum, I saw it. A Cat. And a particularly nasty one, at that.

It. Was. Mauling. A. Pigeon. To. Death.

Blissfully unaware of its audience, Cat played a horrible game of, er... cat and bird, with the poor pigeon.

With a paw resting on the pigeon's body, Cat waited for the bird's attempt to freedom. Which came in the form of desperate squirming and violent wing flapping. Once or twice, the pigeon actually managed to escape. But in just a few leaps, Cat would gleefully pounce on the already weak bird, lay a heavy paw on its body. And the whole game would begin again.

But.

I couldn't bring myself to stop Cat's evil deed. Hey, it made interesting footage for my Sony Digital Camera Cybershot 4.0 Megapixels with Rotating Lens by Carl Zeiss. (Heh. Am I a true Malaysian or what?)

And also because, even a Cat - a poor, hungry stray one at that - needs to eat, right? It's the law of nature, food chain etc. That kind of stuff.

God rest this poor pigeon's soul.

Meet: The Black Sheep

2006-09-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

Yes siree. I'm the scowler on the right.

Not too sure how old I was.

4? 5?

(My head sure looked too big. It's the hair. Yes, must be the hair.)

Cut to 25 years later.

Head, more in proportion to body.

Hair, slightly less messy.

Scowl, only appears at appropriate moments.

But. My role as black sheep of the family? Hasn't changed.

Thanks, Doctor Sis.

Meet: Super Monkeh

2006-08-30T04:18:00.000-07:00

It's a bird. It's a plane.

You must be blind.

This is Super Monkeh. And he sure ain't flying nowhere.

Hand stitched and carefully, lovingly put together from... a pair of socks. With his blue suit and red shorts and cape from someone's old t-shirts.

Chekkit! Hand-sewn details.

Impressed? Ah-hah! I bet many of you never guessed this girl had it in her to sew. Or, come to think of it, do anything domestic.

Actually, I kinda surprised myself at how mighty Super Monkeh turned out.

So what's next?

Maybe Wonder Wo-Monkeh.

Stay tuned!

Welcome to Pulau Yue-Li

2006-08-21T03:27:00.000-07:00

Here in Pulau Yue-Li, the sun always shines.

(Except when it's night of course. D-uh.)

Ok, the sun shines most of the time.

Maybe with the occasional thunderstorm. Cats and dogs type rain.

Lightning, if you're lucky.

But just like every thunderstorm, the sky here in Pulau Yue-Li is fresh, clean and blue after.

Like it has been freshly laundered.

Way cool sky.

Uh-huh. Welcome to Pulau Yue-Li.