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Scrabulousing

I've been sleeping late like 1am for a few nights in a row.



But hey.. my 2 weeks holiday's coming. I can sleep the whole 12hours of my transit and 10hrs of my flight!



What irritated me is why i stayed up late. Playing scrabulous!! Ok that game is great, and get your brain to exercise... but why should i be losing sleep and rest and get all sleepy the next day just because of it?



Somebody help me!



Believe it or not, i'm so addicted i actually have 20 active sessions!! At first, i felt quite distressed that only a handful of my contacts play them. Even then, not often and our online time dont coincide.



That is until i actually tried to host a table and then the heat kicked in! I saw the option already when i started scrabulousing but i tot that there wouldn't be a lot of pple in there waiting to play or whatever. but the reverse is so true!

But all these international players are so much more skillful than me. Im losing like 80% of them! LOL. When i was winning 80% playing with my contacts (you know who you are hehe :D).



I've picked up a lot of tactics to score more points. Long word doesnt necessarily equate to big points.

My mega word is JUMPILY for 108. My current rating is 1164.

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I'm not just Picky and Choosy...

But also very ANAL about being FREAKING organised... sometimes. Well.. when it comes to my personal things anyways.

Do you know that i drew up a list THREE weeks ago on:

  1. What clothes to wear with what. Dividing the categories into inner wear, outer wear, jackets, whole suits, etc.
  2. What toiletries to bring. Right down to the nitty gritty pins and brooches
  3. What gadgets or books or misc items to bring
  4. What things to put in my shoulder bag.

How anymore anal can one get?

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So Many things to do... So Little Time!

You know how usually when we're excitedly waiting for something, time seems to be standing still?

Its so totally NOT the case for me.

I have so many things to do despite starting quite early and using even my lunch time to sort them out.

PACKING
7 days before my actual flight, i've already packed my clothes. 4 days before, i've completed the toiletries. Now just left with the last minute things like passport, toothbrush, hairbrush and stuff i use everyday.

SHOPPING
Yesterday, i finally went to buy my make up stuff. 3 items at $50 from SASA!

I already got the things Zubair asked me to get. But i still have a few more things to buy to bring them over. Last week i went to Mustafa but cldnt find it!

GADGETS
After a week of scouring to buy PDA, Alhamdulillah, my french colleague has an old one that he doesnt wanna use anymore. But he only has the charger and extra stylus with him. No syncing cable! LOL....

So i hope to go to Funan later during lunch time to get the cable and check the battery and sim card reader. Then on the way home, i hope to meet my long time chat friend, Ibu Aisyah to borrow her portable keyboard!! Yayyy *dance*

Ever since i got kinda cheated by Audio House about the DVD Camcorder, i've been looking around to buy new battery for my sister's JVC video cam. Audio House doesnt carry. Nor do Court. But luckily, the guy mentioned i could find it at Sim Lim. And so i went to buy it last Tues! and it works! Insya'Allah...

Money

About exchanging money to Pakistani Rupees, last 2 weeks I first looked at the rates at Mustafa. 2.30 or 2.50 like that. One is they sell, the other is they buy. Dont know which one i should take! Always had problem with currency exchange. *blush* Anyways, i decided to check out other rates before finally changing them.

The other confusion is to whether change for PKR here or there in Lahore itself. Zubair told me to change in Spore cos the rate is not good there. But my KArachi friend just told me that its better to change there. ??

Anyways, i already changed them at Arcade yesterday. The one i asked the rate in the transcript earlier? Turned out they freaking DON'T HAVE STOCK lah!!! I ended up exchanging the whole lot to USD instead! GRRRRRR...


PUNJABI Orders

I started advertising and promoting (chehhwah hehe) my services for tailor made Punjabi suits only two weeks earlier.

Quite a handful of pple expressed their interest. But i lost about 5 of them bcos of the irritating measurement form! Top it with the time constraint to get themselves measured.

I hereby extend my deadline to send measurement to 31st JAN 08! You can email it to me at julissa.adam@gmail.com But please inform me what colour and type of material you want so i can take pictures and email to you while waiting for the measurement.

Im meeting somebody to discuss details later at lunch. Then hopefully my neighbour will get herself measured tonight by my mum.


I just pray that everything will run smoothly and safely. The flights, the transit, the food, the punjabi, the stay and the Return.

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I'm SOOOO Particular!

You can say that again!


Only just now i got reminded how particular i am during lunch time when i ordered a plate of Nasi Ayam (Chicken Rice). I told the sister:

  1. Dont want cucumber, tomatoes. Just the lettuce
  2. Put the chicken to the side
  3. Dont pour the sauce on the chicken but on the rice. (The crust will go soft if they do! But Nan doesnt like the sauce on rice! How dynamic pple are~)

I almost wanted to say "No topping" (fried shallots and some green leaves) on the soup but too late. The last time i ordered and asked for all these, one of the servers commented, "Eh you go cook yourself lah!" LOL

I lunched with Hanani just now at Amoy St to give her her baby arsenal romper! So Cute at only GBP5!! It will also be the last lunch to be had with her in the year.

I havent been there for like months! Prolly since Ramadhan like mid Sept?? There are two new INDIAN stalls next to each other.

One sells rice with mixed dishes. Looked quite malayish tho they claimed to be indian. I mean c'mon typical Indians dont eat or dont like beef lung now do they? Looks nice.

Second one, is called Indian Mom's Kitchen or something. Prolly just their 2nd day in operation, looks MORE Indian. VERY Indian. With just VEGE dishes! But they have option of rice, chappati or pratha with their set meal.

They have 3 diff sets $4 Thali Meal, $4.50 Mom's Thali Meal and $5 Deluxe Thali Meal.

Only the 3rd option offers CHICKEN. not even fish, dont even talk about beef! I have a feeling, they might not make it long unless they improve their menu!

I simply CANNOT comprehend how pple eat without meat. PERIOD.

ok GTG!

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Punjabi Suits continued...

Yayy!! Finally found the other design charts courtesy of this website:





My fav is sooooooo the Mandarin Collar!!




The ones you usually see selling at Tekkah will be the Calf Length


I think mine are mostly On the Knee kind




I'm soooooo loving the boot cut can???



Now on to materials...



I can just tell you about the kinds that i have. I hafta warn you first that it doesnt look so nice hung on hangers but work wonders when worn!


This is georgette.



Characteristics: Flimsy but can be lined. Thin. Cool




Cotton



Characteristics: Stiff. Medium Thick. Good to defend against strong winds. Shapes nicely for thin females. (Not me)


If i'm not wrong this is Chiffon.



Characteristics: Medium thick. COMFORTABLE! EXCELLENT to shape your tudung!



I sooo dont know what this is called.



Characteristics: Flimsy. Thin. Cooling. Too lembik/soft for tudung.


Nor this.



Characteristics: COOL!!! THIN!!! COMFORTABLE!!



i imagine it falls nicely on me! LOL ,... but even Zubair loves it! Bcos of the seductive neck style i suppose. This is the sweetheart neck with a string at the top teasing you. hehehe


To be honest, i tot the prints were a bit old fashioned at first, but after i wear it... i simply LOVE it!! VERY traditional without looking old.





Note that most of the back neck designs are round neck and about 1 or 2 inch deep / low. I prefer no depth actually as i feel insecure like that... as though it might slip or something!





Yeah you can say i am the MOST PARTICULAR person ever lived!




Lastly, some lehnga tips. Prolly share the same principles and can be applied to Shalwar Kameez

  1. If your height is short then look out for vertical prints with U neck or else square neck cut as they give you a taller appearance.
  2. Avoid short sleeves and in fact sleeveless is a total no for short heighted
  3. For disguising your short stature, drape dupatta in such a style that it flows from your shoulder to the knee.
  4. Don't indulge in heavy work or heavy fabric dupatta.
  5. For women with extra inches on waist, the ideal is Kurti style hip-hop Choli in dark bright shades.
  6. Go in for sophisticated prints rather than complicated designs
  7. For plumpy people, multi-shaded wardrobe is not advisable <<-- LOL, never liked it
  8. Go in for a long length choli for a slimmer look with a deep neck showing a bit of cleavage
  9. If you are plump, avoid sleeveless cuts <<--- Err... not for us anyways
  10. Wear dark colors rather than going in for lighter shades and if you wish to wear lighter shades then prefer dull colors like instead of sky blue go in for dull blue or dirty blue. <<<-- i cldnt agree more!
  11. Small prints and vertical line prints give a slimmer look
  12. Heavy built should avoid cotton sarees and Kota sarees and should instead attire oneself in Chiffon and Georgette sarees. <<-- Yup, I cant do cotton either

This is from my previous research pre wedding. Unfortunately, i only saved the ones for short and plumpy stature. So no news for tall and skinny except that cotton is good for you gals.

Till then.



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Conversation Transcripts *dang*

Me with my cousin Yayan

Y: Kak CAAAAAAA!! I wanna order punjabi suit
Me: Yayyy ok set! How many you want?
Y: 1. Maroon
Me: Why not take two?
Y: If take two get any discount not?
Me: If Buy 2 Get Half Free can?
Y: LOL!!

****************************

I'm calling the People's Corner Money Changer, the one always sporting the longest queue at Arcade, Raffles.

Me: How much is Pakistani Rupees?
Man: Two fifty
Me: Means one Spore dollar is two fifty? Eh? *getting confused* (their smallest denomination is PKR 1)
Man: 100 PKR = S$2.50
Me: ohhhh... the other way around? S$ = PKR ?
Man: S$1 = 40PKR. You're going to Pakistan ah?
Me: Yeah lah
Man: Got bomb blast you know down there
Me: Yeah lah
Man: Still wanna go there?
Me: Yeah lah what to do. But i bought insurance already
Man: LOL!

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Easy Peasy Honey Cornflakes Recipe


I made 3 batches of Honey Cornflakes yesterday!!!
First was a trial set. Seemed ok so made another 2 batches at one go.
1 batch makes about 60pcs if you're generous with the filling. I filled almost 100pcs of the 2nd batch to bring to Pak!
Either way, i think im not satisfied with all! The first one was plain no rainbow nor choc chip... its actually ok but they dont really stick together... Should have preheated the oven a tad longer.
The 2nd one, preheated the oven too long that it seemed to be a bit burnt tho the rest of my family insisted that its not. But the rainbow and choc hinder one from savouring the honey in it.
So there~
But here's the recipe esp for Sandra. :D
HONEY CORNFLAKES
1 tbsp Honey
2 tbsp sugar
50gm butter
3 cups of cornflakes


1. Melt Butter, Sugar and honey over LOW HEAT till frothy. Keep stirring. And dont let it OVER HEAT as it will taste bitter. Thaw butter for about 30min - 1hr.

2. Pour the mix onto your cornflakes and mix them well...

3. Fill them into cups

4. Sprinkle with thousand and ones (the rainbow as it is called) or whatever that you like.

5. Bake for 5min in preheated oven at 160 celsius.

6. Leave it to cool properly before keeping it in an air tight container.



Selamat mencuba! That's Malay for Happy trying! heheheh

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Dinner with the Dearies

I have been organising this dinner for the past 3 weeks. And Alhamdulillah all but 1 of us made it including all the husbands except Zubair of course.

It's at Fig & Olive Bencoolen St. I called 2 hours earlier to book a table for 15 pple and told him to set up their rectangular table in such a way so that we can ALL sit around it.

We were soooo delighted to see that not only did he arrange just like i pictured it (5 x 2 tables), but he also laid out the maroon table cloth with a white in the middle. Just the paper napkin and chilli sauce sachets spoils the image. BUt no matter.

I told the friends to meet anytime after 6:30pm. Told the restaurant, we'll come between 7 - 7:30pm. Nan and i reached the mosque next door by 6:15pm cos (we finish early and our offices are near to it), but didnt enter the restaurant till 7:30pm. The attendance were finally 100% at about 8:30pm!!! And didn't order till 8.45pm.

I ordered Corned Beef & baked cheese. Isn't that supposed to be the baked potato? *shrug* But they came as the corned beef sandwich!! Luckily, the replacement came quite quickly but slightly disappointing cos the corned beef is soo little!!! And luckily, Nan stopped me from ordering an extra plate of Waffle Fries bcos she's not likely to finish hers from the Fish & Chips.

We had a round of updates... interrogating 4 of them about their pregnancy stage, EDD (estimated date of delivery), gynae, hospital, scanned image, weight, height, etc... Some of them are still puking at 4th month!!

They ordered desserts at 9:40pm!! LAst orders should have been 9:30pm and we didn't leave till 10:15pm? When the closing time was supposed to be 10pm. The workers were cool about it though. He even helped us to take group photos.

I dont know whether its because we were busy talking or bcos Zubair was not around, but i totally lost my interest in taking photos.

Fit drove but were going out on a date with her hub. Meaning to say we cldn't hitch a ride.. :P Ohwell.. after all it's fri night. So Hid and i took the train, while the rest of the 11 east pple carpooled between 4 cars. I reached home 11:15pm.

Oh yes, the actual reason why we organised this dinner is for 3 reasons:

  1. Nan's going away to NZ for about a year
  2. Me going to Pak
  3. Y just returned from Hajj
  4. We miss each other

I know that's 4 reasons! haha...

Thanks gals & hubbies for making it happen! It has been a pleasure organising it! We cant be complete again for the next yr or so...

Next up is a wedding in March! See ya gals then!

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Another Embarassing Day in The Office

It is Friday... and i was finalising the poll for our D&D theme.



This year we decided to give our colleagues the choice to vote for their preferred D&D theme, rather than we decide and half will come not dressed for it! Thinking thru the process to get the votes, Leng said Survey Monkey's free account is limited to only 100 participants while we have about 300 staff. And for each floor Rec Club representative to get physical votes is way too much.



Suddenly i exclaimed, "But we can do it on blogspot what~ Free unlimited" and i was assigned the job to do the eBlast (mass email announcement). Which i admit, i LOVE it.



Firstly, i need to scour the net for pictures of:


  1. Magical Fairy Tale

  2. Uniform Craze

  3. Back to School

  4. Shanghai Triads VS Italian Mafia

  5. Wild Wild west





Yup. Those are the choices available for the D&D theme. After the photos are ready on powerpoint, it's time to create a blog account and upload them along with the voting poll.



Instead of Blogspot's normal poll, i decided to get from different source bcos Leng wanted the results to be kept private which the former can't do. and besides it's funny if the poll is on the separate column rather than in the post itself.



Anyways, i searched over 15 sites and signed up for like 5 accounts to see how it will appear until i found this one host (forgot the name). can do private, restrict 1 vote per IP add but its ugly plain! But seems we have no choice and we decided to just go ahead with it.



So i created the email blast to EVERYONE in the company incl all the managers and CEOs with a link to our very own blog site!


Guess what? There was a technical glitch!!! The vote didnt seem to climb up but stuck at 1. At first i thought it might be because its set to private, so only pple with an account w the host can vote. After that, i got a call from Andrew, IT Dept. He said, "Eh your poll doesnt seem to work lah. You restrict it to IP address only is it? cannot lah the whole of our company only has ONE ip add." *jaw dropped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!* Wait a second... i think i saw some option that says limit to 1 vote per cookie (1 vote per computer)... But will it mean if we delete our cookies, we can vote again? Oh hell i doubt the voters except for IT pple, will know about it and how often would pple clear the cache and then return to the website? So i set to work.



I sent out a notice to EVERYONE incld the managers and CEOs that the poll is down and that we're working on it after i cleared it with Leng. Can you imagine my embarassment?!?!?! As i understand it, Some pple already voted... but rather than prolong the problem, this is the best way to go. Prolly 50% of the employees know Julissa as the AXA Idol... now they will know me as Julissa the AXA Idol who messed up Big time! Argh!



Anyways, i searched the net again for a FREE poll host that restrict votes per cookie unlimitedly, will not show the results even after they voted and at the very least look presentable. I came up with 15 other sites and signed up for some 5 other accounts until i cast my eyes upon Pliner.net.



At first, it seemed too good to be true. But i tested it with my 2 computers at work, with 3 other colleagues from my dept, with Leng and 2 others from her dept. Leng and another person received an error msg that says, "You've already voted." So i had to tally up the votes to determine whether or not their votes were really not counted and thank god it matched! Theirs were not counted.



I felt a bit puzzled though. How can the poll host recognise their cookie? Even if they had visited the site before, it was with another poll host. BUT, my colleagues and i who have been to the site before, dont seem to have that problem. I checked with Andrew, but he said there's nothing he could do as we're not able to control cookies but that it might have something to do with their expiry date?? *shrug*



However, seems that it only affects 80% of the network, so Leng and i decided that this host is indeed workable. Not wanting to confuse the rest, we only said in the eBlast that the poll is up but if you encounter any more problem, please contact us. Only then, we will tell them to delete their cookies! Splendid.



Right afterwards, i received a slightly angry-toned email from a certain someone CCing a few pple. She said, "Do you know that some of us do not have internet access? How then can we vote?" I explained to her that i already wrote in the first email those who dont have internet access can just email their votes to me, that they can view the site from their's friends unit or something. But i attached the pictures for their perusal anyways to base their decision on. then she replied amicably, "Thanks so much for attaching the pictures! Will vote now."



There was also another angry email that said, "The result is already 100% for Magical Fairy Tale. So what's the point of voting?" LOL! This is actually while i was resolving the technical problem. But i explained to her anyways that its 100% bcos there's only been 1 vote so far. and that is precisely why she had to vote for HER choice! LOL.



I wonder, what would YOU vote for? Would you really come dressed for it? How so? What do you think I voted for? Let me know by participating in the polls on the right!!!

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vTalkers - Cheapest rate to call Pakistan from S'pore!

The current rates are as follows:

  1. Starhub's 018 @ $1.00/min. Per second (instead of per minute block) billing
  2. Phoenix Comm @ $0.40/min
  3. Skype @ $0.20/min. From computer only

And now i've truly found the cheapest rate to call the faraway Hub!

vTalker's rate starts from a mere $0.09/min to Pakistan and $0.12/min to India!! There are other plans too that you can see at their website

Pros:

  1. CHEAPEST
  2. PORTABLE - any phone line or even from computer. Just need to sign in or key in ur a/c no
  3. Prompt reply to queries.
  4. Flexible

Cons:

  1. Sometimes down...
  2. Might get crossed lines or call drops

but who cares as long as it's cheap right? Only when they're down, then i resort to Starhub or Skype IF it's urgent. Otherwise, i just wait till they're back UP again or i conveniently email them to notify of the problem.

The first time around when i applied, I cldnt see my a/c nor password, so i emailed to them. Apparently its bcos i didnt return to their website after payment was approved.


Just two days ago, i tried to recharge my account but it says something like "Merchant cant receive funds right now" or something and i emailed to them yet again... and you know what? They creditted to me $10 to use first and pay later while they sort out the problem! =) Very nice and flexible. Not rigid like the big companies.


So, overall: 4 out of 5 stars! Way to go, vTalkers!

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$12 Poorer But Richer in the Heart

Mummy has been bugging me to bug Zubair into getting his flight tickets changed to leave on the same day as mine.


He, in turned, said that the airlines officer has changed and confirmed his flights but won't actually release the paper ticket till AFTER he received Zubair's VISA to Singapore.


OOps... i have quite forgotten about it. The last time i remembered i was in the office and the papers were at home. At night forgot. When at home i remembered about it, i wanted to bring it to the office the next day but forgot. Aiyoyoooo



Anyways, i finally applied for him at home last Sunday night. and on Wed it was already approved! Says to collect anytime Mon-Fri 8:30am - 2pm. Now why do they say 8:30am i wonder, since they actually open at 8am?



I initially asked Kak Long to collect it for me since she's not working. Bcos i can't afford to take any more leave. it's just the start of the year and i only have 8.5 days left! But i feel that I should better go personally, in case anything goes wrong, she won't know anything...




So yesterday morning, me and Ayah went out super early and reached there 8:15am (after a bit of detour cos missed the exit) and i found out that they are indeed opened and have already started taking Q numbers!



Some 20min later, my number was called. But it was only to take the filled out application form with photo and all. He told me to have a seat and they'll call my number again.



There was some confusion with the Q numbers actually. Bcos later numbers kept being called and about 6 pple went to the counter to check if their number has been called and they missed it. Apparently, they were calling for Student Pass applications. Aiyah... Why they put in the same series? Made us feel... being put aside and ignored! Like we were not important and that the students were more important? And why were they processing those students first? We're the ones who hafta get back to work!



In any case, I am very grateful to Allah that the collection went through smoothly. He's got a double entry journey for a "short stay" period. When asked to clarify what is short stay, the officer said it depends on the officer who stamps his passport when he arrives Singapore. It can be between 2 weeks to 1 month.

Afterwards, We will need to go there to apply for extension etc.

It was 9:10am when it was all settled. The mrt is very near and only 4 stations away, but i didnt wanna take chances nor stress myself walking quickly so i took the cab. Here's the breakdown of the taxi cost:

  1. KM run: 4.2km
  2. Fare: $6.60
  3. Peak 35% : $2.30
  4. ERP: $2.00 <<--- (Electronic Road Pricing that "helps" to "curb" traffic jam)
  5. Admin 10%: 1.06 <<-- bcos i paid by Mastercard

TOTAL: $11.96

I reached office 9:30am.

As promised, i stayed back to make up for the lost minutes. Ayah picked me up. Alhamdulillah

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About Audio House 60% Rebate Promotion


I have always suspected that there's something sinister about this 60% REBATE (instead of discount) going on at Audio House. I didnt really find anything under the terms & Conditions.


But this $187 DVD camcorder really caught my eye and urged me into checking it out. I have already imagined what i can do with it. Well, most importantly is to record Ammi's cooking lessons!!


They have two outlets. One in Geylang and another in Liang Court. The latter is within the city area so i thought i'd pop in during lunch time one of these days before my trip.
That is exactly what I did on Tues, after getting bubbled by my best friend! (:P jgn marah haaa) No lah, something urgent came up and she had to take leave or something. Anyways, good thing it was cancelled so i gotta do some window shopping.
After 2 buses and 30mins of journeying, i finally reached Liang Court. Well, i dont hafta worry about being late back to work bcos.....
when i asked about the $187 camcorder, The salesman said, "Oh yes, it's available. But you DO know that that is the price IF you win the 1d draw right?" You can practically hear all my hopes shattering!
Now i get it.
4D is a gambling game of striking 4-digits. Instead of 4 digits, Audio House came up with 1 Digit Lucky Draw picked every two weeks or so. If your chosen number is called, THEN you get to claim the REBATE. Although there are only 10 digits to choose from ie 0 to 9, i think it is sooo totally not worth it! Esp because the normal "Special Price" of that item is $399! WAY WAY WAyyyyyyy beyond my budget!
Instead, i asked him how much is the battery for kak long's (6 - 8 yr old?) videocamera. $69 but no stock. Bcos its an old model, they dont hold any stock for that.
Resignedly, i made my way back to the office. At least, i didnt hafta take the cab now that i dont use the 45-min i set aside for shopping. i pictured that i would be so totally crazy wanna buy everything. LOL, i even wanted to buy this $91 washing machine and ship it all the way to Pak for the dear MIL! Luckily, my Karachi friend told me its not worth it cos the shipping cost is very high. Just buy from there.
So there. I hope others won't fall for the trap too. I must say i appreciate that the staff was upfront about it lah.

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I'm Taking Orders for Punjabi dresses

UPDATE: Actually this form is better. Additional measurement places and options for neck style.


****************


Do you feel frustrated when you see a lot of nice looking punjabi suits but they are not sleeves, or the shirt too short or too small?


I sooo hear you!


And i would like to extend the opportunity to ya all to tailor-make your punjabi suits at about S$25 - $30 only. Complete with Dupatta (the Long big scarf).


Just fill in the measurement form at the end of this post (you can come by my house to get measured also if you want), preferred colour and type of material.


ORDERS WILL BE CLOSED ON THURS, 24TH JAN 08!


First, let's look at some designs.





A Modern Red & wine Shalwar w short Kameez








A more traditional Long Shalwar Kameez



Check out the straight cutting of the pants.







a Yellow crepe Churidar Kameez.


I like this kind of collar, don't you?



Of course this pants is a bit too tight for us.



You can opt for a diff type of shalwar (bottom) lah like the one above.



The more modern patterns



The shalwar looks more like a ghagra. The tops are called Churidar for short shirts



Now we come to Lehngas:



Actually, this is a bridal lehnga. But i like how the choli (top) is designed like a vest.



To make a less gawdy or fanciful lehnga for everyday wear, don't get the ones with heavy embroidery.





Ah....


Now for the measurement.


You can either print it of from this site. Or just view what you hafta do first from my description below.


Please submit body tight measurements only. At the end of the form, you have an option to select the fitting (number of Inches to be added to your body tight measurements).


  1. Full Height: ________ feet
  2. Shoulders ________ inch / cm
  3. Around bust
  4. Around Above waist
  5. Sleeve size (Refer to chart below)
  6. Sleeve Length
  7. Around arm
  8. Neck Front style: Choice of U, V, Square, Pointed U, Deep V, Round, Sweetheart, Boat, Chinese, Split Round, Large Round Necks
  9. Neck - Front depth
  10. Kameez Style : On the hip, Hip Length, Above Knee, on the knee.
  11. Kameez length
  12. Shalwar (pants length)


Now Choose the sleeve type and length:





Then the Shalwar type, gathers (if you choose Churidar), and Fitting:





Feel free to make any changes or whatever.


For those interested, I will take photos of the material to let you see the pattern of your preferred colour and email/sms to you for your agreement or choice.


I'm sure you will like it. I will prolly make 3 of each myself!


Next time, i will post my OWN shalwar kameezes.

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IT Glitch

Remember the MS Office training in the office i was gonna conduct on Monday?



Well, I think i screwed it up!



I had printed my notes for distribution. Notebook and projector set up. Everybody in...



First part, keyboard shortcuts went well. But i kept worrying that they might think, "Er.. what is this for? I dont need to use this." and blank out.



Problem No 1: Notebook doesnt have a real mouse = troublesome / slow.

Problem No 2: Notebook doesnt have the right-click button featured on my notes!! NONSENSe!



Second part is PowerPoint.



Problem No 3: The damned notebook i used had 2003 version.



But my notes and preparations were from 2000 version! There's a HUGE HUGE diff in PowerPoint where the custom animation's concerned. So in the end, i just roughly showed them the options. and i was like in a SUPER rambling-mode. If i were them i'd prolly be saying, "So u think you're an expert huh? NOT!"



No no... im certainly NOT an expert but just wanted to share some stuffs with my colleague so hopefully they wont come to me to ask (altho its nice sometimes to be needed) all the time or at the very least be able to do on their own when im on leave or whatever.



Im so disappointed i didnt get to really show them the works! Ah!



3rd Part was supposed to be for the rest of the ladies... but the guys were still in. So all the more i feel pressured to make my "training" simple so as not to turn them off.

So i quickly went thru the list of

  1. Paste Special
  2. Copy visible cells only
  3. Protection
  4. Subtotal
  5. Average
  6. Len formula
  7. Right formula
  8. Left formula
  9. Month formula
  10. Year formula
  11. Constant in formula $A$1
  12. Insert HyperLink
  13. Validation - to create a drop down list restriction
  14. Custom filtering
  15. How to "find" / search

When it came to Protection, i had a problem No 4 Bcos even after i protected the worksheet, can still type over! Not supposed to be able to do that when i worked on it!

And i didnt even touch on Macro cos i dont wanna embarass myself further. Bcos the last time Problem No 5 occurred. When i ran the macro again, it jumped back to the row that i used for recording it! What went wrong? It worked the last time i used it. Is it bcos i use mouse instead of keyboard? But it worked before lah!

And i just rambled on Thru Len, Right and Left formulas. Tho i know they understand, not sure if they truly appreciate the value of it as i doubt they'd ever need to use it lah. But i promised to share with them this conversion formula i've created in Excel. To turn a non-date format to date format. You know how sometimes pple record date as 22.12.2007 or 20071222 and Excel just CANT capture is as date even after u formatted the cell to date? I have the shortcut to change it without manually keying in the dates all over again to reduce human error factor.

Onwards to graph.

It's really too simple that i felt silly showing it to them. Basically, click the create graph, highlight the data range and wala~

I didnt show them how to CREATE pivot table but i showed them what a pivot table can do from my existing file. From my 1000 over rows of data, it can be converted to a very simple summarised table with it for eg: to find how much of what type of business did a client give us in a certain month! Another table is to find out the exact $$ of which types of business for a particular month of your choice. Just choose the month and wala~

And before i knew it, it was 11:30am!!! So Mail Merge is skipped. Not that i intend to explain it anyway not being very proficient with it myself.

So i ended the session with, "I hope you all have benefitted something from this. and sorry i didnt get to show you much about PowerPoint." Mathieu being polite as ever said, "Oh Yes definitely we learnt something." Amos being the straight forward kind said, "But definitely we will still ask you." LOL!!

But yeah altho i could sense some tension or boredom at one time or other, i really appreciate the questions they posed to me. Shows that they were truly listening. Note to self: ask questions next time somebody gives a presentation.

What a way to start a Monday!

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Geylang Si Paku (???) Geylang..

Haha... Is that really the lyrics of that age old song?

Anyways, just wanna say My parents and i went to Geylang last Sat after Hidayah's house.

oh, Did i tell you that i dragged the luggage (with another luggage inside and a bagful of sweaters) all the way home on the MRT? Thanks Hid for encouraging me to take the train and discouraging me from succumbing to my desire to take cab! heheh It's not that bad after all, actually. Although my arm did ache a bit afterwards and they were empty! can't imagine how i'd manage when i travel. I hope Lahore airport will have sufficient luggage trolleys and then there will always be guys around to help me with them. ergh.

I digressed! haha

I'm sooooooo happy to have finally made it to Geylang after that one Fri date's cancellation with Hid & Fit. And i'm happier still that i got all i needed to buy just from 1 stall! They have just the right kind of serkop - a woolen cap (?) to wear under the tudung - stockings and tudung that i wear. Altho i would love it if they have more nicer patterned tudungs.

I spent $62 there comprising of:

  1. 3 pairs of stockings
  2. 2 outer serkops
  3. 3 inner serkops
  4. 4 x $5 PLAIN tudung
  5. 2 @ $15 PLAIN tudung!

I'm a happy girl when i know i shall have enough serkop for Pakistan! LOL. I think i will come back again this week to buy some more cos i love them and wanna restock my drawer with all new ones!

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The Tale of Finding Winter Clothes

In January, Lahore, Pakistan is still as cold as December. But the indecision is during the day is 16 - 19 degrees but at night can even get to -1 degrees celsius!

And Hidayah, having just got back from a 3-month Chicago stint, have abundant and abandoned winter clothes to spare.

We are about the same height, though she is fortunate not to share the same weight as me! haha But since i've lost quite a significant amount of fats, i tot maybe i just give it a shot lah.

So last sat, after classes, i travelled 3 MRT stops away to her house to pick them up. She had about 6 - 7 pcs worth.

Then i asked her about her luggage how many she brought the last time and before you know it, she brought them out already. Altho mummy already confirmed that the luggage Kak Long will be bringing back tmrw is the same size as her big one, i decided to just take them home just in case.

I've decided i shall bring TWO BIG ONES!! hahaha Mummy kept asking me What do i want to bring that requires TWO WHOLE bags?? I told her mostly are thick clothes like 2 shower robes, 2 towels, extra shoes, extra jacket and sweaters. She just shook her head. And then, of course, Im gonna bring back a whole chunk of souvenirs not to mention thousands of pieces of lehngas and shalwar kameezes. hehehe

Anyways, i tried on Hid's tops and sweaters. Turned out i can only wear 3 of them!! A tight shirt for inner wear, a wool sweater and this black jacket that is sooo chic i love it! She has some 2 more sweaters and 1 jacket that i can't wear cos the sleeves are too small for my comfort.

She mentioned that at 20 degrees, i can even wear my normal clothes with just a jacket and i was elated by that news! But worry if we were gonna go out till night, then i will certainly freeze! PLUS, if we were to travel on his bike.... *shiver*

Afterwards, i made a list of all the clothes i'm bringing over... and find that im short of outer tops or 2nd layer top! You see i'll be there for like 14 days? and i need AT LEAST 7 sets of DAY clothes and another 4 sets of pyjamas. and i only have 4 sets + 2 shalwar kameez and 1 Baju Kurung. *pulls hair* HOW HOW HOW HOW???

Should i shop again? Er... i'd rather shop there! Sigh.. dont know what to do.

And i havent even started planning which tudung to bring! *faint*

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An Hour of Almost Non-Stop Chattering w NH

I had the opportunity to catch up with my junior, my friend, my "coursemate", my colleague's daughter last Fri.

I had a very nice time chatting with her that 1hr seemed to pass by in a flash!

Firstly, I bought 3 pcs of clothes for $15 at that cheap store at Lau Pa Sat.

After we bought our food, i got her down talking about her new job! And then about a proposal from a Saudi!! She felt like her rights were somehow violated when her mother refused it FOR her when she hasnt even given it a thorough thought. Basically, she didnt wanna lose her daughter lah.

I agreed to say what a waste and indulged in a little bit of daydreaming. C'Mon, who DOES NOT want to like in Mekah??? Furthermore, the guy is well established, travels widely and has had an australian education. The only setback is that, she's got to be prepared for the guy to take another 1 or 2 wives!

Nonetheless, She said she's happy to hear, at last, somebody who supported her idea, or at least, see the reason why she felt somehow elated. I told her, "Hello? You're talking to a person who married a foreigner herself. Of course i'd totally support the idea!" LOL


But quite funny actually. She is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO into Indian stuffs! She likes to wear punjabi suits, she eats Indian food, she learns Hindi from her neighbour and prolly has watched every single Hindi movie ever made! hehehe

She gave me a tip to play any Hindi movie on the background while surfing and stuffs and listen to their conversation and it will subconsciously go into my head! haha

Just a few metres from we were excitedly discussing how confused we are with Main, Mujhe and Mainney - the diff varieties of the English equivalent pronoun, I.

So i told her... Ok Let's meet up next fri and i will bring my book and will discuss this again ok?

*winks*

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A Wonderful Fight.

Have you ever had an argument with your significant other and felt utter despair and disappointments? Like the future looks bleak and all?

I had loads of that of course. Last night was just the same. But the ending somewhat different.

It started from the word hello when i called him last night. In return to my hello he said, "kaisey ho, bhai?" which means, how are you bro?

Actually the story is very long. To cut it short, just say that i took offense that he called me BRO and it led to other bigger arguments with him realising how different we are and how we're ever gonna survive the future together.

We hang up bitterly with me keeping mum towards the end not saying a word. But he called again trying to explain that Bhai is like Singapore's Lah equivalent (altho at first he said he was just joking with me). and wanted to make up which we did but it was shortlived when he passed the phone over MIL. I was still crying and very much emotional so i cldnt take the call well and it was ended abruptly.

Not 5 mins later, he called me again. I asked, "You're using home line? I tot u said its expensive?" He said yes. and i began to say, "So why... (are you still calling me?)" and then his lovely words, "Yeah lah... and u still think that we dont love you and care for you."

I noticed his use of plural but whatever. Only then i truly realised that he does indeed love me. He can't bear to argue or be angry with me for long. He wanted to end the day in peace. And suddenly, the dark clouds were gone and the sun was shining bright. And i was smiling and laughing away. Like they say... the making up part is the best. =)

I love you. Despite your quirks. Despite our differences. Despite our distance. Despite our history. God willing our marriage will stay strong.

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Flight Preparation

Alhamdulillah, I have confirmed my flight to Pakistan!

My boss has also approved my two weeks holiday! Alhamdulillah wa skurulillah. Just that he cldn't accept my request to take 3 days of unpaid leaves out of the 7.5 annual leaves citing that HR might raise an eyebrow about it. I seriously don't know why HR would mind.

As the day of departure is fast approaching, i find myself very busy with things to do!!

  1. Finish all my pending tasks at work
  2. Meet Hidayah to borrow winter clothes
  3. Meet my 11 Best GFs
  4. Meet Gynae
  5. Pamper myself at Spa just before meeting hubby
  6. Shop for travel toiletries or anything else i would need to use over there in Pak
  7. Make a list of items to bring
  8. Prolly go buy PSP? Video Cam? Shop at Audio House. They are having 60% discount!!!
  9. Finish reading my "Learn Urdu in 2 months" which i started MORe than a year ago!!!
  10. Get some more prescription for slimming pills and sinus.
  11. Achieve my target weight. Maybe 3 more kgs to go?
  12. Borrow books/DVDs to bring over

I hafta remember NOT to eat so much over there! But i heard a lot of pple are going to invite us over for a treat (read: meal) arghhh how to maintain my weight like that? LOL

Ok focus focus.

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Lovely Projects

Ok right now, im swamped and i LOVE it!

Normally at the start of the new year, we would like to start keeping data properly when we begin afresh, right?

I have already done the new data-entry template for my colleague which she has started using and doing well.

Next on the list is Clients Contacts List.

Currently, we do have an excel spreadsheet with the information but it was very poorly designed that i can't exploit the data for other usage for eg Mail Merge.

So my intention is to do some housekeeping on the existing spreadsheet. And then export it to MS Access to include email add, Names of Officers and their departments that is tagged to the company name.

The biggest picture will be to incorporate the "sales" figure and payment feature into the Access too. But the last time i messed around with the prog, i realised i had forgotten how to make a query! Oklah.. i suppose i CAN manage it, but its the data entry part that needs to be correct first. Aiyah... im just rambling!

Secondly, I suggested to my office manager to conduct a basic PowerPoint lesson to my male colleagues. It will increase their efficiency when they need not hafta wait for my return email of the fully animated slides everytime they have a presentation to show.

and then I will also share the extra functions and formulas in excel, graphs and keyboard shortcuts with the rest of the ladies.

So im currently busy compiling all the things i wanna share and putting together notes for them so that, hopefully, they can remember the features available and need only take a look at that note. haha

I am looking forward to this session actually, bcos i really do feel they are very useful! Remember, the key feature is the HELP button. You dont really hafta remember ALL the formulas and actions Excel or any other software can do. Just press F1!

I'm quite sure if the Manager who taught/showed me Excel many years ago knows this, he would be proud of me today.

Our filing cabinet is full!!!!!

I have a LOT of archiving to do to clear up two shelves or maybe four. And then Expansion... changing of cabinet labels. Major reconstruction!

Oops i still owe 5 minutes of meeting from last year! Hafta finish them too

Fortunately, Boss is away and won't be back till next thurs. So i can focus to finish all these.

I might write less too... just to warn you.

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Syifaa' "Possessed"

Kak Ly, Abg Fai and Mummy were from Geylang and picked us up.

We all reached home around 6:50pm yesterday.

I set about having a quick dinner before going to class. Ayah was carrying Syifaa'. Then Kak Ly wanted to let Ayah take his dinner so she took the baby from him. But Syifaa' refused as hell!

At first we thought she's still blur from her nap in the car or that she cldn't recognise her Ummi who has just had an image-changing haircut.

She kept on crying and crying, we thought, "Is she just cranky because of the fever?" She just came back from a $70 doctor's visit, you see.

That is.. Until Ayah realised that...

Right after we came home, while ayah was carrying Syifaa', Ayah did what he always do to entertain her ie Take her to the window for people/nature watching. Note that it was 6:50pm and dusk was approaching in approx 25min.

It is said that during this time the jinns / spirits come out to play before the calling of the athan at dusk which scares them away.

Syifaa', Kak Lily claimed, looked very fierce when she refused her own mother. It was like she had a split personality, crying at one time, fierce at another, then a bit of laughing when we tried to play with her.

Ayah then took an advice from his friend to read the athan (call for prayer) on her right ear and iqamah on her left ear and read Ayatul Kursi and all other verse from the Qur'an relentless until she fell asleep.

She woke up at about 10:30pm and started to cry non stop again. We did the above step again but this time she really struggled very hard for some time. Ayah thinks this is the part where the spirit was truly on the way out of her system.

My poor darling Syifaa'. Syafakillah and May Allah always protect you and all of us too.

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Eventful or Uneventful Tuesday

I was supposed to have a movie date I Am Legend, 6 o'clock show at Ang Mo Kio with Lina yesterday.

I fixed the appt with her some 10 days earlier, and reconfirmed with her again 3 days prior to yesterday. and said yes yes, ok. But at 3.35pm she smsed me asking if i had bought the tickets cos it seemed that she cant make it now.

Well, lucky for her i didnt book the tix.

I scrambled to find somebody to go out with but could only think of Hidayah. Unfortunately, she has a class that night.

The thing is, my family are going out for class that night and i sooo dont wanna be at home all by myself. Well you should know why lah. So i decided to go watch Alvin and the Chipmunks at causeway POint instead. Alone. But better than at home alone. Causeway Point has a lot of pple.

When i reached home, I asked Kak Ly, "Ly, are you going to class?" She asked why and i said, "If you're not going then i shan't go out, but if you're going then i go out lah." She said, "Aiyah you go lah..."

Divine intervention came, we got a call from their teacher saying that tonight's class is cancelled. She had to go settle some administration issue. Yayyy, i have my family at home and i dont hafta spend a single cent going out. It would have been about $13 worth of damages if i did catch that movie. $7 for movie ticket and $6 for my beloved Nachos combos!


But you know what? I had a truly fabulous time with my very long chat friend, butterflyrubrics, during lunch earlier that day.

I was invited over to her office "lounge" aka the-place-where-she-sleeps for lunch. and you know how i LOVEEE to see other pple's office! haha weird.

We compared notes on how we exercise at the gym... I discovered that she goes to this custom made shoe maker (called something Lizard!) who sells pump shoes starting $60! It's like retail price of the smae kind of shoes (if u shop at Metro or Takashimaya)! Nice right~

Unfortunately, i wont be able to make it to her wedding! Which was the purpose of our meeting up ie for her to pass the invitation card to me. She's so understanding about it. She said its ok and that this sending of invitation card is a good way of catching up with friends! Cos its not like she'd be able to chat with all her guests on the Big day!

And i am soooooooooo looking forward to pamper myself to this Harem spa that she strongly recommends. 2.5 more weeks to go!

To my dear friend, Thank you.

So though i didnt manage to catch up with Lina... I had Butterfly with me for Lunch whom i hadn't seen since Syawal 06! I feel loved. *beaming*

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New Cab Fare After The Highly Debated Increase

For the past yr or so i havent been taking the cab as frequently as i did previously.

It's prolly due to:

  1. Its not an available option for me if i wanna eat till end of the month.
  2. I arrange my outing to coincide with Ayah's schedule so he could send or pick me up
  3. If i'm late for work, then im late for work.
  4. I realise that cab can take quite longer than train esp during peak hours with traffic jams everywhere
  5. I now mostly go out w Hubby, so even if we hafta take the train, we have each other and i have his shoulder to lean on for a wink.

However, to go to my Sat class, if nobody could send me then i'd normally take a cab down Bcos it's a good 10 - 15min walk from home. Though i can easily do that leisurely, i dont wanna reach there all sweaty and out of breath to teach! Train will take abt 10mins or even up to 15 including walking n waiting time and to think that its only for 1 stupid station! There are a lot of buses that go to my student's place BUT bcos i'd be taking from the bus interchange and not a regular bus stop, the bus berths are all over the place, it'd be silly to be running around to catch the first bus that departs.

In any case, It's been a long time since the last time i had to take a cab down to that class. What used to be $3.20 or at the very most $3.50 if we meet a red light at every junction is now $4.50!!!!!!!!! It was the SilverTaxi

The flag down rate used to be $2.70 now is $3.00. Per km rate has also doubled.

The only good thing that has come up out of this is that, it's a LOT easier to catch a cab now. I didnt even hafta wait 1 min two empty cabs already passed me by. Sighh... tit for tat huh? But the govt's right. We shldn't be taking advantage of cab and that it SHOULD be a premium commuting option instead of an alternative public transport.

So, it's trains only now for me lah.

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FREE FULL Versions of Games for keeps. NO time limit!

Hi peeps!


I'm quite sure i have written about how to get your favourite games for free before. But nonetheless, lemme just write again.


DON'T be scared or LAZY to get and cancel those trial memberships!!


Shockwave offers 10 days unlimited games when you apple for their Shockwave Unlimited membership. Remember, these are FULL Versions and not the kind with 60min limit. Just login to your unlimited membership to gain access to the full version after you've downloaded and installed the game.


Pros: very portable


Cons: Only 10 days


Realarcade on the other hand, offers 1 free FULL Version for keeps when for every email account you sign up for a gamepass trial account which you must cancel within 30days to avoid being charged. First, you need to install their Realarcade software though.


Pros: get to keep the games forever. can redownload at any other computer. 30 days trial.


Cons: Need to install software


The only catch is you would need to use your credit / debit card to secure your trial membership. and that you hafta remember to cancel it!!



Now, i hafta tell you that i own a grand total of 32 full version games that i have acquired over the past 2 years. This is only on RealArcade and not even including scores of other games i've played on Shockwave.



There are several types of games that i like to play:

1. Search and find. Eg: The Scruffs




List of items you need to find are on the right. Click on the dog's bone to get a hint of where the item is if you're stuck. As for me, if i dont know the meaning of certain words or can't picture what they look like, i just search for their images at Google!


These type of games have further variations like:


a) Various Short games after you completed a round including jigsaw puzzles, spot the difference, unscramble words etc



b) Instead of words, they give you shadows of the items u need to find



c) Hints are awarded in diff manner. Eg: find the bone or click once n u hafta wait for the bar to fill up again before u can click on it again.


And they will always include a very nice story line. The Scruffs story started after the father lost his job and need to sell the house to get by. Turned out the grandfather has some treasure hidden away under double triple clues that they hafta solve....







2. Fast finger wins!



You hafta react to customer's orders quickly to fill them, get the money and achieve your sales goal.







The Apprentice Los Angeles





Cake Mania 2





The Apprentice Los Angeles came to a close 2nd behind my all time favourite Cake Mania 2. Actually maybe they are a tie lah. Both are number 1s in my book of games!





The thing i like about Apprentice is they have 3 or 4 different scenarios / shops and while its not exactly easy, its manageable. But stages towards the end of Cake Mania is very unnerving and intense! But I like Cake Mania for their colourful animations, their delicious looking cakes with different icing and toppings and for the machine UPGRADES! It's like working hard to buy your car or house, only instead of car or house, they let u upgrade for faster ovens and icing machines, faster shoes! Faster muffin oven to soothe the impatient customers, upgrade for more and diff toppings as well as faster ones.

I have to say though that i DONT LIKE! I repeat i dont LIKE Diner Dash. It's so mundane ok. seat ur customers, preferably according to their colours, serve them menu, collect their order, send their order, give and collect the check, clean the table. As another bonus, u get more points for chaining (doing one action eg serving menus to multiply customers in a row).


3. Strategy

Build-A-Lot


Build a town and achieve the mayor's specified goal before the deadline. You will start off with, let's say, $10,000 and 3 workers. Firstly, you hafta buy the blueprint on how to build, for eg, a Manor, an Estate etc. If you build a construction office, your employee will be more efficient and you can employ new workers at cheaper rate. Then if you build a bank, you can earn money. But if you donate the profit to charity, then you will get tax exemptions etc. So you need to strategise, really!

Just like Holiday Island, remember Ayah?


Fairy GodMother Tycoon


Fairy GodMother is another strategy game. But the difference is there's competition and you hafta kick them out of business! The storyline for this one is also cute. and before the start of a new business day, you hafta buy supplies, set your advertisement budget and method, read the weather forecast. In the forecast, they will say how many % of pple will get a certain sickness the next day, so ur supplies to make curing potions, shld be able to accomodate the Ill.


At first, only Kak Lily joins in the fun and joy of these games. She even subscribes to Big Fish Games which she pays monthly!! After a year or so, then Kak Long started to get hooked mostly on Search & find games only. But she prefers chatting to playing these games lah.


And now, i've got Mummy addicted to it too! I dont know to feel happy or guilty! Happy that someone shares my interest. Guilty that im responsible for her time away from her other responsibilities. hehe I've only introduced her to the Search & Find... Over the past week or 2, she's already finished 5 or 6 games twice each!


Anybody interested yet?

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Getting to Know Pakistan w a Personal Twist


Now down to the real story.



I had the opportunity to borrow a thin Young Adult's book about Pakistan.



Most of the facts in there, i have already heard from Zubair previously. But it kinda got legitimated by this book (written by a non-native! LOL) but additionaly, it details the background of how things came about.







The Aryans were the early settlers of this region of which most Pakistanis are descendants of. They were tall and fair. and thought they were superior to the dark-coloured natives of the Dravidians and invented the caste system putting the latter at the lowest called Untouchables and themselves at the top as Brahmins. They were also the one who developed Sanskrit, from which a lot of languages are derived from including, Urdu, Bengali and even Malay! Why the name Singapore originally Singa (malay for Lion) + "pur" (City in Sanskrit).





It's funny how when we were learning history in Seconday school, i had never associated the Aryans and the Indus Valley as modern day India and Pakistan! It's mind blowing when i discovered it recently.







If you had watched the movie Little Buddha starring Keanu Reeves, you would know that Gautama Buddha was an Indian Prince who fled to find divination and fasted for days and weeks until he was bony skinny. One thing that always confused me was whether Buddhism is an Indian or Chinese religion. Ayah ever attempted to enlighten me on this topic but i never got it.



Only after i read this book, did i know that although Buddha was indeed Indian and preached there, the great Emperor Asoka helped to spread it to China, Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka where it remained to be the dominant religion in some of these countries, i believe.



Most of us would know that Pakistan was part of India once upon a time. But what Zubair didn't tell me was Pakistan and India share the same date of independence! Well almost. They were declared independent by the British officially at the stroke of midnight on 14th Aug 1947. While India celebrates on 15th, Pakistan does do on 14th. This part i have yet to ask why :)




Roughly, this is what happened. During the Mogul dynasty ruled by Muslim leaders, that Islam flourished and being embraced rather widely all across the board though some may be for reasons other than true revelation. However, there were times and places when a Muslim Sultan reigned and at others an Indian Maharaja governed.




This, in a way, caused confusions and tensions. Esp in tolerating and respecting each other's beliefs. Islam and Hinduism are very contrasting religion. For eg: Cows are sacred to Hindus and therefore they cannot kill nor eat beef. On the other hand, we celebrate our Eidul Adha by SLAUGHTERING and feasting on them. Another eg and i quote from the book, "Sometimes these riots occurred because HIndus staged noisy processions near mosques".




These brought the likes of Dr Mohammed Iqbal and Muhammad Ali Jinnah aka Quaid-i-Azam to come to the conclusion that it is just too impossible to even try uniting faithfuls of these two religions together and so they worked on dividing the peace of land into two: India and Pakistan.




Sections where the dominant residence are Muslim became part of Pakistan and vice versa. This, in turn, led to the disputed territory of Kashmir. While it is dominantly Muslim, the ruler was an Indian Maharaja. For fear that the King would get military assistance from India to oust the Muslims in order to maintain his reign, the people rioted and caused exactly what they feared to happen, happened.




Now, i've heard of all those names before but could never relate who they are and what they've done for the country. For eg: i didnt know Muhd Ali Jinnah and Quaid-e-Azam is the same person! *slap forehead* Masya Allah, this book has helped me to understand a lot.




I remember laughing when Zubair said that during his grandfather's time, there were a lot of abandoned houses with treasures inside or buried underground! He simply said bcos during that time was partition was in the making and the Hindus migrated over to India and the Muslims to Pakistan.



What he missed out though was that, there were war like scenes going around, riots everywhere. the people of those times literally fled for their lives! So that's why they had no time to sell their lands nor pack their valuables with them. Poor them. But i'm sure the Muslims in India suffered the same fate as well.




I used to think that Karachi is Pakistan's capital because that's the city i frequently heard or read about being the heart of the business centre and near the sea. Well.. i wasnt totally wrong. Karachi was indeed the city of choice to be capital right after independence. However, the govt found it to be too overcrowded with refugees, businessmen and the lot that they decided to move it temporarily to Rawalpindi and i quote, "partly so that the govt could not be said to be influenced by business interests".



in 1967, after 6 years of construction, Islamabad was born and is till now the capital of Pakistan.





Zubair ever mentioned in passing that Bangladesh used to be a part of Pakistan too. Well.. it was the first time i heard about it and i just took his word for it. But i finally got to know the details from this book.




Bangladesh used to be known as East Pakistan. They are separated by 1,600km of land that is India. They speak a slightly different language called Bengali. They only thing that kept them together was Islam. After Pakistan became independent, East Pakistan had lots to complain about. For eg: Why should the capital be in West Pakistan when East Pakistan outnumbered their counterpart in population? So on and so forth. Until at last, Pakistan recognised them as a separate nation of Bangladesh (dont know on which date).

Apart from these chronological events, i also learnt that:


  1. Pakistan has a lot of desserts. I mean deserts. haha! They have sandy, rocky earth and not much greenery.

  2. Bcos Lahore is a more inland plain, it is about 20 celsius in the day but can drop as low -1 degrees at night. I suppose that is why it will be diff to snow on the plain w the day going up to 20. But there sure are a lot of snows on the mountains!

  3. I knew Pak means pure. but i just found out that "istan" means land in Sanskrit


This has been from the book of Major World Nations. Written by John C Caldwell. Published by Chelsea House Publishers.




Before i got married, i surfed scores of websites to get more info about Pakistan. Somehow, it felt either too limited, or shallow, or too boring to read. I resorted to Lahore Metblogs to know how the modern pple live in the now. But i still felt like i dont really know Pakistan yet. Not to mention having NOT seen it yet. I was hungry for pictures!!




This book has quenched my thirst to know my husband's country of origin. (Well, actually i have always liked Pakistani / Indian guys. So im not exactly just interested in it bcos my husband happens to be a Pakistani. LOL)



It has even conjured some national maybe patriotic spirits for this country. I want to contribute something. I fantasized working at the Singapore embassy there. Setting up one management model not just to be envied of, but to be adopted as well by other organisations.



Still, not wanting to be in politics, i want to help to reduce poverty, increase employment rate, abolish bribery or favouritism and the incumbent terrorism, increase efficiency and order. Plant more trees and grasses, develop the farms, promote tourism. OMG... a long list of aspirational things i would like to do there.



Just two things are hindering me from doing just so. My monthly financial commitments payable in SGD and the Ex. Go figure.


Note to Pakistani readers: Do feel free to correct me if im wrong or to add any other info

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Lazy Weekend

The last weekend has been "wonderful".

Just lazing around at home.

But i got a bit frantic after i gotta know that Kak Ly was going out to a wedding dinner, mummy & ayah overnighting in Malacca and of Course Kak Long's not in Spore, that sat night. I dont wish to stay at home alone while Zubair is away. Dont wanna get caught in the gloom.

So i went out to buy my "happy food" for break fast. 1 large Twister Fries, 1 apple pie, 1 McFlurry, 1 bag of vegetable crackers (keropok yg putih2 tu).

While at Tom & Stefanie's, i found a nice winter pyjamas! Pants @ $3.90, turtle neck shirt at $3.90 and this cute pink sleeveless thick vest @ $5.90.

I'm loving it.

Watched Amazing Race Episode 12 on AXN and kinda zapped out into a daze of game playing. till 3am. Talked to Zubair for 40mins and didnt sleep till 4:30am!!

Even then, i woke up at Syifaa' banging at my door at 10:30am and cldnt go back to sleep.

ok this post soo has no purpose whatsoever. I beg your pardon.

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Female Drivers

Well.. I am a female driver and im proud of it.

So what if i'm slow at parking, or scared to change lane in a busy traffic?

Too bad you are not gentleman enough to give way.

Listen up people, I have decided that YOU hafta wait. Period.

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Why nobody told me Aquafreshed's closed down?

I went to 2 Guardian pharmacies yesterday, NTUC on New Year's EVE and UO in JB on 22nd Dec, i simply cldn't find ANY AquaFresh toothbrushes!

Not a single one was on the rack!

What? Did they have a product recall or something? what happened? I just googled them, there's no bad news or announcement whatsoever.

Did they merge with Oral-B or what? I cldnt see nothing except Oral-B or Colgate or the store's brand.

Oral B's standard of "soft" is definitely NOT soft in my opinion!

Besides, i LOVE Aquafresh's feel and brush design.

Where are you my love? Please come back soon. I'm dying without you. hehe

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Silly Nightmares

Just a very short note before i go off for the day...

Last night i had a silly nightmare where i finally let myself be pricked on the ears to look pretty. Translation: Ear piercing.

While waiting for it to heal, Syifaa' came and pull the stud off!!!

Then we finally shifted office. And we were all placed on school desks!!! Mine was pretty and has a small wall. But still not enough to cover my computer screen!

Shows u what im actually scared of! LOL

But on a serious note, I have been hearing things in the middle of the night. The other time it was something heavy stumbling to a fall just near the door. I was actually jolted to a wake bcos it was so loud! I didnt even glance to that side of the room. Just buried myself under the blanket and went back to sleep.

This morning, clicks on the windows. But i assume the later were just sounds resulting from the rain.

God protect me.

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Whirlwind New Year

WOW!

Today went by in a whizz!

With the start of the new year, there are plenty to do!

  1. Monthly reports that has tighter deadline end of the year.
  2. Expenses to claim
  3. Files to archive
  4. New files to set up.

Additionally, I spent a good half of the half day on Mon creating a NEW excel template for my colleague's data entry. The old one just didnt make any sense. With spaces in between, it was simply IMPOSSIBLE to generate reports without a THOROUGH cleaning up first.

But hey, i enjoy it lah! I'm looking forward for a job expansion for me coming July 08 with this hush hush news. If i didnt get any substantially more work to do, then i'd do serious job hunting. After the July Profit Sharing that is. Or... by then i should wait for AWS in Dec... then i would like to wait for profit sharing... then the A.X.A Miles... LOL

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Things I wanna do in 2008:-

  1. Fly to Pakistan
  2. Master cooking skills
  3. Master baby skills
  4. Continue my studies
  5. Perform Haj in what to be the last yr it will fall in Dec! Until the next 30yrs or so that is.
  6. Have a baby
  7. Fluent in Urdu. or at least manageable lah right.
  8. Read more inspirational books
  9. Go for more courses under company

My Studies.

As i get very encouraging comments about my Acturial pursuit, i tot, what the hell?, just cont my studies. I have paid it already. Even if i dont continue, i still hafta pay (unless i go thru the taxing legal procedure ergh). Hopefully, if Zubair's got that Bike license already, he can ferry me to n fro. i WILL do it. i WILL get that degree!!

Haj.

My parents are going. The musafir (traveller) rate is SGD6,500 per person. Frankly, i dont know how i will ever make it there. But i leave it to Allah to arrange it for me. Its not just the money... but what if i'd be heavily pregnant by then? Am i fit enough to do all those? My exams would be around that period.

As a young girl, i've always tot its scary to go there bcos of the frequent stampedes in the crowd. I've always imagined that i'd do Umrah first to get the feel of things before going for Haj.

I changed my mind after reading Ahmad Thompson's The Difficult Journey. I realised that you will only appreciate it if u faced difficulties trying to get something. Besides, the author also described how he felt overwhelmed by the Greatness and Beauty of Islam, of Allah when he saw the amount of pple gathering at one place in the name of the lord! to praise him. Doing Umrah first when its not packed, would somehow decrease the nikmat of seeing the Kaabah, the house of Allah, for the first time.

Why i NEED to do it this yr is because i would wanna go to Saudi in winter... when the weather is tolerable. I dont think i can bear to wait 30 odd years for Haj season to reach winter time again. Im afraid the feeling would be lost!

Urdu

Should i attend some courses? Buy some more CDs? Online learning? I hope to buy a pictionary or something when i visit there to help build my vocab. And need to practise constructing sentences!

The best of luck to all in achieving their targets for this yr. May it all be smooth sailing.

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Ewan McGregor in Miss Potter

I first fell in love with Ewan when i watched Moulin Rouge.

He is sooo cheeky.. and he sings well. He is like Rosyam Nor Hollywood version. Will always engage audience into his sincerity and depth.

A few days ago, i watched Miss Potter starring The perfect chemistry Movie Couple, Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. They acted very well together in Down with Love.


I didnt think Miss Potter would be entertaining, but i just played it since its Ewan McGregor and i have mostly finished the rest of watchable DVDs from Kak Is' Collections. It caught me unawares when i find that i was glued to the screen... totally living in the beauty of country side... putting myself in their shoes.

Needless to say... I cried towards the end of the movie. But liked the ending, Altho the adult character of William Heelis (Her neighbour in the country) is soo unjustifiable!

While im still mooning over this movie, I reached office in the new year. and found that my boss' voice is EXACTLY (ok that's exaggerating) like Ewan's. Prolly its just the accent. but still... sighhh... heheheh

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Officially Certified to Marry!

In other words, "Aku dah boleh kahwinnn!!!"


Wait a minute! Oops, i forgot, I'm already married!


No lah.. just that we Malays have a saying that if u cant cook, u cant marry yet. And today, i have officially COOKED from scratch without any help nor supervision! Yayy


Browsing thru Zu's Kitchen, i stumbled upon this Corned Beef Kheema recommended to eat with Chappati. I have always LOVED corned beef but mummy NEVER cooked it, so this is my chance! PLUS, we still have that ATTA flour we bought long time ago! LOL. and what better meal to learn other than my hubby's fav n staple dish!


I warned mummy many times to let me do this on my own. She told me yeah she'll be out when im cooking. But on the day itself, she took a nap. Fair enough. Good thing i went thru the method w mummy yesterday while buying groceries. She told me, that for the garlic and shallots, just take 2tbs from the blended one she's prepared in advance. Ginger, 1/2 tsp. Lemon juice i can use lime also (limau kasturi). press them on top of a strainer.


I planned to do the Chickpea Chappati from Zu's recipe but after going thru w mummy, we decided against it. As a beginner, i think i'll start with a simple plain chappati first lah.

Sifting the flour.

Normally, its not required to sift flours in packet, but bcos the packet was left opened for some time, we tot it best to sift. (Plus, actually it said Best before sept 07! Shhhhh)

The flour mix is simple enough. Just add 75ml for every 100gm of flour. I made 500gm. Zu said to put the dough aside for 1 - 2 hrs, covered in cling wrap. So in the meantime, i fold the laundry, lest the cooking smell will stick to the clothes!

First problem encountered: How to open this Corned Beef can?

So complicated! Luckily, Kak Ly was around and she's used this corned beef before. She told me to take off the key, remove the paper label, twist the key along the start point. Then it broke half way!!! After staring at it for some time, finally decided to use the can opener to stab around it. *dangerous!*

Second Problem: Err... where is the blended shallots and ginger and meat powder? Kak Ly showed me where. How come the shallots not as green as usual? and the juice sort of separated into two with the "hampas" or residue on top. *shrug* Meat powder is the packet right below there unopened. and ginger is in that small container at the side.

So there, everything's prepared. In the transparent bowl is the corned beef already mixed with ginger and shallots. In the black bowl is the not so cubed potato. Mixed vege. and the meat curry powder with some water to make a paste.

Put in the Oil, spices, Meat, potato, mixed vege, curry paste, chilli sauce (lots of!!), tomato sauce. and this is where i made a mistake. i pressed the lime but forgot the strainer! I tot, "Ah nevermind lah, when they eat, they can put it aside on their own lah." Okayed by Mummy.

While waiting for the potatoes to cook, and mind, it takes quite a while, i got the chappati ready.

Problem No 3: How come the dough stubbornly stick despite putting flour all over it? Could it be cos the dough's too soft/lembik? Should we use the normal flour (tepung gandum) for this?

I finally had to ask mummy how. She said, no the texture's fine. But put a brown paper on top of the chopping board (yes i was using the chopping board to roll out the dough! LOL), and dont press too hard.


The golf ball sized dough ready to be rolled out.


And there you go... my very FIRST CHAPPATI!! Hooray!!!

Ammi will be proud of me i hope.


One thing u must know is, making chappati creates a hell of a mess!

At first, my chappati were very lopsided... Mummy said that we should turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it out on that side, so u can have a nice round chappati. but some people, dont need to raise the dough to turn it, just turn ur body and rolling pin!

Problem No 4: My dough is so soft n fragile that it cant help but stick on the paper. When it sticks, my nicely rolled out dough breaks/koyak!!! Sometimes, i hafta do it all over again, but if its not too bad, i just dump it on the pan.

It's amazing how chappati doesnt need a single drop of oil on the pan to cook! While I like mine thin and crispy, Mummy like hers thick and soft! Darling, how do u like yours, honey?

I started cooking about 1pm. and finished at 3pm!!! Its the chappati that takes a long time! that 500gm can make round about 10 - 12 pcs, didnt really count tho.

There you go. That's my plate of Roti n Kheema.
I was too famished when i finished that i only remembered to take a photo after i started eating already! LOL


Dont forget to clean the kitchen afterwards!

But hey, isn't it only fair that the one who cooks get to rest? *cheeky smile* So Xubi, can you help me with these, baby?

So there... Since i'm already married... i hereby certify myself Able to Live on My Own. hahah See... now i can cook... I like to use the vacuum now.. and mopping is easy with the wet tissue on the japanese stick. Aiyah dont know what its called. And i already know that washing clothes is easy.

I just hafta overcome my hatred for ironing clothes. As long as u dont give me diff material like silk or whatever (that the crease just wont disappear!!!) and if u dont mind not having that line in the middle of ur pants, that ironing is manageable.

Also, i still hafta prove that i can take care of a baby on my own! Ergh... being the youngest one, ive never taken care of a baby before. Even for Syifaa', tho i always play with her, entertain her n teach her stuffs, I wont know how to make her milk, nor change her diaper. OMG! How to bathe a baby????

Well.. that's another chapter in my life, that is still mysteriously out there in the far future. haha..


Now, in the near future, or more specifically, this weekend, i hope to cook again! Im loving it lah!

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