Of course, my Malay needed further improvement as I'm only capable of using it for normal conversation, not on debating against another. Nonetheless, people should check things out for themselves and make their own decisions, instead of listening to me or others.
Malaysia’s Taxis are horrendous, either in their driving, attitude or by “extorting” for payment for charging fix price instead of using the meter. Though not all, but one can certainly hears horror stories more than frequent these days.
It is considered “a driver’s common sense” to avoid or give way to taxi drivers on the road as they are aggressive and won’t be bothered should their vehicle collide with yours. If accident should happen, either they will disappear in speed of lightening, or they will bully their way into telling you it’s your fault and you should compensate them for the damage. As none bothers to lodge complaints against taxi drivers for fear of hassle, they have gotten brazen and even more dangerous on the road.
Today however, I intend to do something about it. On Persiaran Surian (23/04/2014 @ 7.35am), this taxi bearing the plat HBA8458 was so reckless that he almost collide against my vehicle several times. I was on the left lane, and without any indication, he served into my lane taking a sudden left turning from the right lane towards Persiaran Bukit Utama. And that is not all. This driver was serving from left to right, unable to either decide or maintain on his side of the road while kept emergency braking for no particular reason. Shocked and angered, I decided to lodge a complaint only to be disappointed that there isn’t any way to direct the complaint to the right department effectively.
I was directed to the main government website (http://mygov.malaysia.gov.my/) but was more than disappointed with the unhelpful layout as the link for Public Complaints (PCB) is not working. Later, I visited NCCC portal (http://www.nccc.org.my/) to which a complaint has been lodge, but I’m not too sure how this issue will be handled as they may not be the right department to handle such complaint.
Nonetheless, I finally understood why Malaysians has this “tidak apa” attitude and not bothered to do any official complaint. Just to find the right channel to place one’s complaint is a hassle, with the main government portal lacking significantly in this area. For all the money invested into improving the governmental websites, it is highly disappointing that such is the result of the announced improvement.
I met Brenda years back, when I was part of a self-development seminar - that I attended by pure chance. As I was short-listed in an interview for a coaching company, attending this seminar was part of the process. Little did I know that I would have meet some great people, and made some good friends along the way.
Brenda was one of the two coaches, working alongside Robert Chaen. Both of them have the most dynamic personalities, and their honest nature make it easy for many of us to open ourselves to them. The non-judging environment and just being able to share the hurt hidden deep inside, helped many of us to heal - and continue to heal.
Brenda is a no-nonsense type of person, who say just what she needed to say without sugar-coating her words. She will not say things to hurt, rather wanting one to change for the better with honest feedback. She is sensitive to everyone's needs, and cares deeply to those she just met. Her heart and soul so deep, it is hard not to love her.
She is so amazing with the words she say to each person, as every word spoken rings to heart and soul. She just has that ability to touch people's soul. The words that she has said and written to me, still rings as a conscious reminder to love myself and everyone around me more.
While her early demise has shattered many, memories of her and her loves still lives on. Perhaps she has a more important role now, to be an angel to touch many more.
To learn more about her: http://chaenbrenda.wordpress.com/
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**Here are some of the pictures of the seminar, our outings and gatherings**
When I saw this post by Miss Representation, I am elated! While I don't personally agree with some posts by them, this one definitely makes my day.
Since high school, I have proudly proclaim myself as a feminist - without knowing the real or definite meaning behind it. Feminist in me then, is about protecting my fellow females from being bullied in schools, speaking openly about crimes against women and children, telling or fighting my ways against some dudes - who thinks they rules because they have a penis. Except if size matters, my boobs are bigger than their balls so they can freaking kick it.
As I matures and experience more in life, I learn that feminism is about:
- protecting the weak
- speaks for those who can't speak for themselves
- allowing women to choose who they want to be without being labelled
It is not about us women, dominating over men or even hates men - as pointed out by some really "small" people. It is to create a platform, where people speaks up against racism, sexism, and against crimes or abuses. It is to allow people to be the best of themselves without being limited because of their sexuality, or race, or religion.
The world need feminism because - if this is a men's world, like many people are saying, you need a woman to keep it in place. It is similar to the Chinese's ying and yang theory - you need both sides to keep the world balanced.
And for fun, I searched for "feminist is ___" on Google. Looking at it, I am offended and amused. Feminism is for everyone - definitely not for white women only and it is not evil. But I guess there definitely many people who are put-off with strong women and men, who stood for what they believes in.
Anyway, back on the topic of Most Iconic Feminist Moments 2013 - courtesy of PolicyMic(to read the awesome article, please click on the link here) - here are some of the videos and articles featured. Feel free to add on what you believe feminism has achieved in the comment column!
1. It is no surprised Jennifer Lawrence is an awesome chick - especially all the kick-ass stunts she did in Hunger Games. So when I found out that she told-off one of her superiors for threatening to fire her if she didn't slim down - I just gonna give her a thumb up (or plenty of thumbs, if I have more than two!). It is rare to find many women celebrating their body, or even standing up to it. And to have a girl who is watched by many millions saying this, I can't imagine the impact it will have on millions of girls around the world! 2. Robin Thicke - there isn't much I needed to say since he is, well, oh-so-famous. But I must say, I love the sarcasms in this feminist parody ~
3. Mallika Sherawat did a great job defending her comment against a female reporter. By public figures like her commenting on the dire state of her country, only then will the country changes for the better. If there are more people like her to whips her country around, it is only a matter of time that it will be a better place for the women to live in.
4. After the fatal, brutal gang rape of a student caused international uproar and mass protests, the Indian parliament passed an anti-rape bill that double the punishment for rape. While this is a huge step forward for India, more follows-up needed as their police still do not take this very seriously. 5.
6. "Fitch, Please" is a good phrase. Can't help but love Ellen. Her points are straight and hits bulls-eye on the issue. Like seriously, is there anyone who is a size 0 or size 00?
7. Malala Yousafzai is an incredible young lady. For sure, I'm not even sure that I can be as strong as she is if I am in the same situation.
8. This parody video created by All India Bakchod - just couldn't come at a better time, especially when recent United Nations reports found two women are raped every hour in India.
9. The Camp Gyno - this advertisement is pretty awesome. Kids understand it, and adults will have less issues in discussing this with their kids as well. Red badge of courage, yo!!
Spaghetti is one of the few food that I make real well. It being really simple is one, and knowing what to put in to make it taste better is another =)
The way I cook spaghetti is, it must be easy. Years back, I used to cook the sauce with puree. However in recent years, we have switched to Prego's ready made Chunky Garden - taste not as sour, and much better.
And of course, you can choose your preferred spaghetti - whether it's angelhair, pasta and such. My mum prefer the normal spaghetti and really dislike angelhair - with it being much fine, it tends to get into a big lump once its cooked. My family do not have any specific brand that we goes for, only the cheapest. Because it tastes the same to us. Haha!
The ingredients - my family preferred alot of veggies. We love button mushrooms - here you can see there's two different types of it. One fresh, the other from a can. Both are of different textures, so they bring a slightly different tastes. Obviously, you can't miss out on the tomatoes - it brings some sweetness to the sauce itself. And garlic, tonnes of it!! I love garlic-ky smells and tastes in my food. And oh, soon I'll post up some nutrients in garlic and how + why it is being used as core ingredients in Korea.
As for the meat, we tend to go for minced pork. Minced chicken doesn't bring any taste to the sauce, so it is definitely out of the question. We have tried minced lamb - and mind you, it tastes AWESOME!! So it's a must-try =D
And of course, one thing we can't miss-out - BASIL LEAVES. Basil have this strong flavor that goes really well with anything Italian, and it makes your sauce smells especially yummy!
Basil can easily be grown - just buy the seeds and it will grown to take over your garden.
Once you have all the ingredients ready, the whole process is actually very fast.
First off, to cook the spaghetti - boils a pot of water. Once the water is boiling hot, put in a teaspoon of salt first. As it dissolve, put the spaghetti in and allows it to cook for 5-10 minutes. To ensure it is fully cooked, cut one to see whether the core of the spaghetti is the same color with its outside. If it is, turn off the fire and pour out the water. If you prefer to have the cheese inside the spaghetti (mind you, it will get sticky and icky once its cool), now is the time to put it in the spaghetti so it melt.
Now, the sauce. Once the wok is hot, pour in a reasonable amount of oil. Let it heat for a while, then pour the chopped garlic in. Once the garlic turned a little brown, place the meat into the wok. While you are cooking the meat, once it is about 80% done then it is time to put the mushrooms in. Let it all cook together for a bit, then put in both the basil leaves and tomatoes. Cook it all together for another 5 minutes, the pour in the Preggo. Put in about 1 glass of hot water as well, else the sauce will become too thick as it cooks and dries up. Usually I'll put in 1 teaspoon of salt, but I've known some friends who put sugar instead as they doesn't like the sauce being too sour, so it is a matter of your own preference. Let it boil for another 5 minutes, and voila, you are done!
Enjoy some basic things today - rambutans peeling!
As usual, me and mum laughed at the 'orang putih' for calling rambutans as "That hairy red ball of a fruit!". Very asian jokes at its best :)
My nephew and niece several years back, who came back to Malaysia for a holiday visit were shocked with every little thing - and rambutans caught their very interest. Both giggles and kept throwing the rambutans at each other, and truly loved the sweet taste of it. They can be so cute when they are not being a monster!
Anyway, did my best to peel of one and a half bag of rambutans. It took me an hour while leaving some for the maid, and nip my fingers in their process of cutting into the skin with a knife for a speedier process.
Simple task makes me happy :)
Two busy-doggies running around me while I'm at it :)
Getting started!
The finish work!
Looks very yummy, right! But my mum commented that it looked more like baby (or quail) eggs than rambutans, so I have to do a 'somewhat' professional shot at it. Haha!
"Professional Shot" - Which speaks and shows very clearly
that it is rambutans, not quail eggs!
The little 'nip' on the middle finger ~
Cute Whiskey with her puppy's eyes <3
Kepochi Maya - this baby is almost blind in both eyes :(
I know many concerned friends aren't too happy with me 'wasting' my time away in working from home - yet, I have learned to enjoy the simple pleasure of enjoying time with family and myself, away from the rat race. Usually people will reach the point of life, where they realized life is more than all that - I think I've reached this conclusion way earlier than many of my peers. Which ain't that great at times - cos I'm bored to death. So I kept finding ways to keep myself busy - such as finding more means to bring more dough into my bank account, paying bills, and such. Certainly, it can be pretty entertaining at times :)
With the current situation in Malaysia, where everything is finding its way to hike up - my way of living ain't easy, that's for sure. So, lots of planning on income and expenses are coming into play. Working my way to understand handmade crafts and such - sewing, design, creativity... yet ideas seems greater in what I have in my mind that what I sees as the last effort. LOL.
To be honest, I did went for interviews. Unfortunately, none interest me much - mainly because potential amount I'll be earning with these jobs [ salary - (petrol, toll, food expenses) ] ain't that much of a difference from what I am currently doing. So for the amount of time needed to slave myself, doesn't seems to make much sense - at least to me. So I'll have to push harder! Seems like I'll have to push more on giving extra classes than online business now, because the cost will rise further on my side as recent hikes are certainly taking a toll on my earnings. Because of all these, I'm taking serious consideration to work in the UK. And the sudden thought of saving to own a farm in New Zealand sounds very attractive. It will be interesting to see me handling farm animals. Haha!
