Unusual Photos

Got these pictures from a friend through email. Each photo is taken at a very specific angle to create an illusion, enjoy...

Officially 1 Year Old!

My blog is officially ONE year old! My first post was on 27/6/08. Time really flies...

Chicken a la Carte

A friend sent me the link to this video. When I watched it I thought that it was just another sad story meant to make us feel guilty about not finishing our food, but the words at the end of the video (at 6:02) made me feel grateful that we have food to eat at all.

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Synopsis: This film is about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization. There are 10,000 people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who live on the refuse of men to survive. What is inspiring is the hope and spirituality that never left this people

Where Is The Remote Control?

I was looking for some line dances on YouTube and found this video (don't know how that happened because it is totally not related to line dance!)...this is REALLY hilarious. If you play a musical instrument you will appreciate how difficult it is for the orchestra to keep changing songs like that and to do it simultaneously! (watch for the 'mute' part)

9000 visitors

A few days ago the counter on my blog showed the number 9000...wow! It's been almost a year since I first started blogging and it has been fun keeping a record of all that has happened in my life in the past year. As I write, I find that it's a great way to de-stress and put things into proper perspective, especially when my kids drive me up the wall!

THANKS to all of you who have come by regularly, I'm quite amazed that you would want to read all the [weird] stuff that I write about!

I Judged A Book By Its Cover

When I was in Cameron Highlands, I had bought a few cactus plants to replace those that I had on my kitchen window sill which were dying (remember I mentioned that I have a black thumb?!). After choosing 6 little pots of different kinds of cactus, I left them on the payment counter while I went around the shop to look at other things.

By the time I returned to the counter the cashier had already wrapped up my plants with newspaper. There were two sets of plants, mine and someone else's and I recognised my plants because it was put together with the pot of rosemary that I had chosen as well.

When I reached home, I took out all the cactus from the newspaper wrapping to find that the cashier had mixed up my plants! 3 of them were the ones I chose, and the other 3 were not! These were from the same variety of cactus...which I thought were kind of ugly...one of them even had 2 extra parts extending from the main plant like 2 ears.

Well, I couldn't return them (unless hubby was willing to drive 4 hours back up to Camerons again!)...so I arranged them on a less conspicuous spot in my kitchen...like behind my water filter.


After a few days, the 2 ears turned into 2 flower buds and I was quite excited to see the flowers open a little during the daytime and closing again at night.


Every day the flowers would open a little more.


Now this cactus is the prettiest of all my cactus plants.

The thing that I once thought was ugly has become something beautiful, and each day I look forward to seeing the flowers bloom. This reminds me of how God can take our life, no matter how difficult our circumstances can be, and turn it into something beautiful, something good.

Like the old saying goes, "Don't judge a book by its cover"...

Look Out Point Western Food

My brother told me about this place up on a hill where there are 4 restaurants and the view of Kuala Lumpur city is breath-taking. So last Saturday we brought my mum-in-law there to celebrate her birthday.

Hubby looked it up on the internet, got the address and used his GPS to get us there. We took the Cheras Batu 9 way, turning into the road that goes to Hulu Langat. We turned off after the traffic lights at Pekan Batu 14, going up the winding road. It had rained in the evening about an hour before we went, so there was mist as we travelled up the hill...reminded us very much of Genting Highlands


There is a small carpark at the bottom of the steep road that leads up to the restaurants. The view of KL from the top of the hill is really magnificent. We reached there about 7.20 pm and the Look Out Point Western Food restaurant was already full so we had to wait for a while. To kill time, we went around taking photos.



After about half an hour we managed to get a table. The service was quite efficient and our food and drinks arrived not too long after we ordered, although the restaurant manager did apologize for some orders that took a while longer to prepare as the place was really packed to the brim while the other restaurants didn't have as many customers.

The air is really cool, so there wasn't any need for fans although there are ceiling fans. This is definitely one place that we are going to add to our list of favourite restaurants!

The prices are quite reasonable...around RM 15 to RM 20 on the average for the chicken chop, lamb chop, steaks, fish and pasta. The fruit juices and ice blended drink are around RM 7.


CoolTeen's lamb chops with mushroom sauce


I had grilled fish


Ice blended dragonfruit juice


Miss PreTeen, our 'fish and chips expert' said that hers was the most tasty fish and chips she has ever eaten!


The steamboat restaurant next door, which we will try the next time we come up here.

Interesting Sights

I know I should have posted this earlier but it has been a busy week and there was power failure for a total of 13 hours (!) yesterday due to some faulty underground cable...and only affecting the houses on my street. TNB had to dig up part of one of the roads nearby to repair the cable. Glad that power supply has been restored...my kids can't imagine what life was like back in the old days when there was no electricity supply!

Would like to share some rather interesting sights in Cameron Highlands...


This poster was in the T-Cafe where we had lunch. The reflection of the sunlight on the glass makes it rather difficult to read so here it is, retyped:

PRAYER FOR TOURISTS

'Heavenly Father, look down on us your humble, obedient tourist servants, who are doomed to travel this earth, taking photographs, mailing postcards, buying souvenirs and walking around in drip-dry underwear.'

'Give us this day divine guidance in the selection of our hotels, that we may find our reservations honoured, our rooms made up and hot water running from the faucets.'

'We pray that the telephones work, and the operators can speak our tongue.'

'Lead us, dear Lord, to good, inexpensive restaurants where the food is superb, the waiters friendly and the wine included in the price. Give us the wisdom to tip correctly in currencies we do not understand. Forgive us for undertipping out of ignorance and overtipping out of fear.

May the locals love us for what we are and not for what we can contribute to their worldly goods.'

'Grant us the strength to visit the museums and the parks, the government buildings and all the 'musts' in the guidebooks.'

'And if perchance we skip a historic monument to grab a sleep after lunch, have mercy on us, for our flesh is weak.'

FOR HUSBANDS ONLY

'Dear God, keep our wives from shopping sprees and protect them from 'bargains' they don't need or can't afford. Lead them not into temptation for they know not what they do!'

FOR WIVES ONLY

'Almighty Father, keep our husbands from looking at foreign women and comparing them to us. Save them from making fools of themselves in cafes and nightclubs. Above all do not forgive them for their trespasses for they know exactly what they do.'

If this is Jalan Pecah Batu...

Then this must be 'Jalan Pecah Kepala'...right next to the golf course!

Seen in the toilet in a restaurant. Heard of garbage enzyme, right? How about garbage air refreshener?

Camerons Getaway Day 3

Had a quick breakfast in the apartment and then did some cleaning up. PreTeen and CoolTeen helped with the vacuuming...if only they did that at home! Washed the bedsheets, pillow cases and floor mats, then popped them into the dryer and went sight-seeing.

Camerons isn't as cold as I remember it to be. In fact I had to slather on lots of sunblock to keep from getting sunburnt!


There's also lots of traffic and it wasn't much fun getting caught in a jam (dad-in-law made a joke about jams - the traffic kind and the strawberry kind!)

By the time we came back to the apartment, the sheets were all nicely dried. We tidied up while hubby struggled to stuff everything into our tiny car boot. Had a light lunch and left for home using the old winding route. Saw wild durian trees with lots of durians hanging from the branches :D

Stopped by hubby's aunt's place to return her apartment keys. She lives near Zoo Negara and told us hilarious tales of how the flamingoes drop by the fishpond in her garden for free lunch, and how snakes and frogs love to snuggle up in her children's shoes!

Camerons Getaway Day 2

CoolTeen wanted to wake up at 6 am to go jogging...ended up with me waking him at 9 am to go for breakfast at Tanah Rata town.

Went to the morning market a little further after Brinchang town. Mum-in-law bought some vegetables. Our boot-space isn't too big so hubby wasn't keen on buying too much. We almost couldn't fit all our luggage in. PreTeen and I bought 2 matching T-shirts.

Visited some farms after that...the usual thing to do when in Camerons...







Had lunch at T-Cafe in Tanah Rata town, a cosy little cafe above the Marrybrown outlet. They serve western food at very reasonable prices, their specialty being scones and chicken pie.





Strawberry scone served with cream and strawberry jam.



I like the dainty little pot of milk that comes with the tea.

Bought some delicious cheese and blueberry tarts on the way back to the apartment...only RM 1.30...so cheap compared to KL prices!



Went to this place 'Strawberry Moment' where they have strawberry strudel, quite costly at RM 7.50 per slice...maybe I'll try to make my own when I get home. Bought some very tasty mushroom chips there.

Had dinner at this Chinese restaurant in Tanah Rata, same block as the Maybank. The price was rather reasonable, considering that we had a large steamed fish, mutton rendang, chicken, a tofu dish and green vegetables...only RM 70 plus for the 6 of us. Maybe the owner gave us discount because he's Hainanese and so is my dad-in-law XD

Camerons Getaway Day 1

Went on a short 3-day holiday to Cameron Highlands last Monday to escape the hot weather in KL. Brought along my parents-in-law. Took the new, more scenic (although longer) route up to the mountains.

Stopped for lunch at Bidor.


I had curry chicken mee. My dad-in-law had pork rib noodles which he said was quite good. Too bad I didn't snap a photo of it. The rest had wantan mee, which my mum-in-law said isn't as good as it used to be.


Took a slow drive and reached Camerons around 3.30 pm. Hubby's aunt has a fully furnished holiday apartment in Tanah Rata which she so graciously let us use, provided we clean up before we left.






Had steamboat dinner at the Water Cress Valley restaurant where they use charcoal instead of a gas stove for the steamboat pot. I suppose that was the only unique attraction besides their watercress juice. The herbal soup was rather bland and dinner for the 6 of us came up to RM144...ouch!






Went to the Brinchang pasar malam after dinner. CoolTeen and PreTeen bought some T-shirts while my in-laws bought lots of snacks for supper until hubby reminded them that we might not be able to finish all that food...

Garbage Enzyme Cleans Really Well

My first batch of garbage enzyme is finally ready after 3 months of fermentation. I was all eager to use it and see whether it is really as effective as what people tell me.

The first thing on my to-do list was to mop the floor. The result was really beyond what I had expected...my floor became sqeaky clean...really, no kidding! I was also amazed at how fast it dried compared to commercially produced floor cleaners.

Next, I cleaned the bathrooms. Soap residue on the tiles and shower screen came off easily. I poured some into the toilet bowl and it was as if I used bleach...the dirt just melted away without much brushing with the toilet brush. My mirrors became sparkling clean.

Man, this was too good to be true...so I went on a cleaning spree. The next thing on my list was to see whether it would clean the grease from the little plastic container that collects oil from the cooker hood. This would be the ultimate test, and I was really pleased with the results. It's just as effective as the Eco-Pro Oil Removal product that I used a few weeks ago, only much much cheaper!



the grease in the plastic container


a few drops of enzyme liquid and a quick wipe with some tissues


tada! clean like new!

I must say that I'm really pleased with the cleaning power of the garbage enzyme. It only cost me less than RM1 to make a liter of it...just the price of the brown sugar. The other ingredients didn't cost anything - the fruit peel and water.

But I found out the hard way that I really must dilute it before use... because without proper dilution the skin on my hand started to dry out and peel!

Dilution: 1 teaspoon of garbage enzyme to 500 ml of water for general cleaning purposes.

Can't wait to mix another batch!(smiles)