Waxing Lyrical About Car Waxing

I was thinking of sending my car for a good wash and polish, and was looking at the promotions in Groupon when some of the advertisements caught my eye. I never knew that people in the car cleaning industry could be so creative in their words!  Oh, and I have also learnt that a wash and polish job is now called auto detailing.

Here are some of the ones I liked:

Weary-looking vehicles seek improvements on appearance and self-esteem as car beauticians restore shine and reputation with auto detailing sessions. Car caretakers wash off accumulated dirt and grime from metallic shells before clay and wax applications protect painted surfaces from further debris. Finally, restoration liquids clear up cloudy and oxidised headlamps as dashboards and tyres shine brighter with solutions, persistent cloths, and powerful persuasion.

Mechanical babies roll into the shower to rid dirt and gifts from feathered friends, while a good carpet beating discourages dust collection and bad behaviour. Hooded husks regain baby buttocks complexion with the Meguiar’s clay mask which removes dirt prints and minor scratches. For a smooth shiny finish that lasts up to three months, grease monkeys pick out tar stains before polishing and wrapping cars in double layers of wax. Once rear pipes are cleaned out and cars left void of unwanted matter, further interior and exterior polishing complete the four to five hour makeover, after which vehicles can ride their humans home.

Three-hour gratifying session begins with dust, mud and evidence of affections being washed off vehicular surfaces. Carpet and trunk dwelling vagabonds are evicted from carriage interiors before transport technicians proceed to smoothen metallic facades with clay and expertly polish scratch marks away. Customers may opt for glass stain removal treatment, expunging water marks and hard stains but not scratches or err towards iron dry wash, leaving cushioned thrones immaculate and ready to cradle posteriors once more.

Makes you wonder if some punny person got the idea from the English idiom 'wax lyrical' and decided to write something lyrical about car waxing!

Wax lyrical = to talk about something with a lot of interest and excitement.

punny = A play on words for the word "funny". It is a pun in itself.

Beauty Drink

Of late, many 'beauty drinks' aka collagen drinks have flooded the market, with many of them claiming to fight wrinkles and help us regain a youthful appearance. Personally I have not tried any of them but I see people snapping them up in large quantities whenever there's a sale at the pharmacies since these drinks don't come cheap.

So I was rather surprised to find a 'beauty enhancing' drink with a very, very low price tag when I went for lunch at Pontian Wanton Noodles restaurant at Berjaya Times Square in KL...

See...it says "Contains natural Vitamin C.
Smoothens throat,
enhance beauty,
cooling & good
for digestion"

And the price?  RM2.50! 

Since I'm already at the age where young men are calling me 'aunty' instead of 'leng lui' (roughly translated as 'sweet young thing' in Cantonese), I wouldn't mind downing glasses and glasses of this if it can really enhance beauty as it claims!

Oppa Gangnam Style Fever

It has been a very long while since a song has rose to such heights of popularity all around the world as the recent hit 'Oppa Gangnam Style'. It has even entered the Guiness Book of World Records as the most 'liked' video in YouTube history.I first heard about Psy and his song from my kids. I suppose as a mom of 2  music-loving teenagers I have to keep myself up-to-date with all the latest k-pop songs. 

For the uninitiated, Oppa Gangnam style is a song by Korean artiste Psy (pronounced 'sai' as in psychology), and in his song he refers to the Gangnam district in Seoul which is likened to Beverly Hills, California. It actually pokes fun at people who try to behave as if they are rich, classy and famous when they are not.

Oppa Gangnam Style seems to be the next big thing since Angry Birds burst onto the scene about a year and a half ago. I hear this song every day, everywhere I go...from the TV at home, through the radio in my car, at the restaurant, in the shopping malls, and there are countless parodies of it on YouTube as well. Now T-shirts are being sold at the malls with the words 'Gangnam Style'. Personally, I don't understand how the song could become so famous since most of us don't understand the Korean language, but I guess what people say is true, that music is a universal language that everyone understands.

Being curious, I searched for a translation of the lyrics and if you're curious to know what Psy is singing about, take a look at this video (courtesy of Onsemiro who has a detailed review here if you're interested)





There's also a video which shows the making of the Gangnam Style video, something which I appreciate since I had tried filming a music video for Mother's Day celebration in church last year and found that it wasn't as easy as it seemed, made all the more challenging as I was working with young children. Please bear with my amateurish first attempt at making a music video, I hope to do a better job the next time round :)

Amazing English

Most people, especially typists, would know that this sentence contains all the 26 letters of the alphabet:


THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG


But did you know that there are also numerous other sentences? I didn't, until I did some research on the internet:


Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs. 


Crazy Fredericka bought many very equisite opal jewels.

Amazingly few discotheques provide jukeboxes.



Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow!


Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz.


A quick movement of the enemy will jeopardize six gunboats.


Wafting zephyrs quickly vexed Jumbo.


Today, a cousin of mine posted this on Facebook and I found it so amazing that I just had to share it:


"I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting; nevertheless, extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality counterbalancing indecipherability transcendentalizes intercommunication's incomprehensibleness." 
(found in MedicalHumour on Facebook)


This is a sentence where the first word is 1 letter long, the second word is 2 letters long....the eighth word is 8 letters long and so on... and the twentieth word is twenty letters long! The person who made this sentence must be a vocabulary genius!

Lately, I have been enjoying the funny "Oh My English!" advertisement clips aired on TV. Here's one mistake that my kids and I frequently (and intentionally) make when we speak to each other at home:

Giant Piano

I was browsing through some piano video clips on YouTube when I found this. Wow, how I wish there was one of these in KL - I would really love to hop around on it!

Random Pics

Since it's the last day of February and also the extra day in 2012, I thought I would just put up some pics  instead of writing a long post.

A spider the size of a 50sen coin (no kidding!) ran across our
living room floor causing panic among my family members,
so it got flattened by a rolled up newspaper.

I wonder if dogs could read this sign and
stay away from this rest area along the
north-south highway.

Seen on a list of kitchen utensils provided at
a holiday bungalow in Langkawi - it's supposed
to be 'Corning Ware'

The wonders of nature - there's a crab camouflaged
perfectly against these rocks...can you spot it?

Huh?

It says "Taukeh sudah gila! Cincai cincai jual!"

I saw this rather funny banner announcing a clearance sale at a shop selling lamps and lighting fixtures for the home- it's a mix of Malay and Chinese words. 
Although I understand the meaning of it (as only a Malaysian could!), I am at a loss for words as to how to translate it into proper English.


Anyone has any ideas?

Bus Stops Around The World

A friend of mine knows that I like creative photos and I received an email from her today with pictures of creative bus stop designs around the world....

Futuristic design seen in Curitiba, Brazil




A bit of swinging fun in London



Beautifully decorated bus stop in Cornwall, England

Delicious-looking bus stop in Japan



Unusual shaped design in Estonia




A comfy bus stop in Germany

Fully enclosed and air-conditioned - Dubai

Made from parts of an old bus in Georgia, USA

Play some football at this bus stop in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Colourful shopping bags above the bus stop in Singapore

And of course our very own Malaysian bus stop...simple but practical design

Designed to protect commuters from the heat and rain, but the bus stop itself was not safe from thieves...




huh? where did it go???

 

Egg Standing On End

My friend MK sent me an sms to tell me that she managed to get a few eggs standing on end, and it only happens on February 4th each year. I tried it without any success at first, but after keeping at it for a few minutes this is the result.....tadaa!

21st Century Char Kuay Teow

I love char kuay teow. A new char kuay teow stall has opened at a food court about 5 minutes' drive away from my home. This is no ordinary char kuay teow stall - the owner, Jacky, gave his business card, and says we can call up and make our orders then come and collect it. No need to find parking or wait in line when there are many customers, how convenient.

Not only that, he is pretty IT savvy too and has a Facebook account and even a blog - he runs a few stalls at various parts of the city and he informs his customers of his whereabouts. How's that for a 21st century char kuay teow stall!

What Any Problem?

Saw this notice posted on a parking payment machine.

It says "What any problem coogaa plz call 017******* thanks you!"

I frequent this place quite often and this machine turns faulty every once in a while, so I understand what it means... but I wonder if anyone, seeing it for the first time, can decipher this message?

Need A Good Laugh?

Yesterday as I was looking for some cake recipes, I stumbled upon this very funny blog:

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

There are lots of lovely photos...like this cute little dinosaur sitting on a cupcake...
But there are mostly photos of badly decorated cakes which will keep you rotfl...like this cake with very unappetizing frosting...

The name of the blog is Cake Wrecks and the blog description is "When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong", so I think you get the idea.

Have a look at all their photos...laughter guaranteed.

Multi-Purpose Vehicle?

There are many types of cars....

sports car

sedan

convertible

luxury car

sports utility

minivan

and then there's this....

Saw this funny scene as I was driving home this afternoon...someone sunning all their matressses and rugs on this car. Miss PreTeen wondered if it was safe for the owner to leave all the doors open like that, but I think no one would even plan to steal this car...unless he had the time and energy to lift away all the mattresses first!

Weddings To Remember

I have been to quite a number of weddings...church weddings, Chinese wedding dinners, Malay bersanding...in fact, I was a bridesmaid thrice (ever heard of the old saying "Three times a bridesmaid, never a bride?" Well, I'm living proof that it's not true!)

Weddings are such happy occasions. A friends once mentioned that she loved looking at wedding photos because everyone looked so joyful.

I have been to a wedding where the groom sang "I've Finally Found Someone" (by Barbra Streisand) as the bride walked down the aisle...awwwww. Then there's another wedding where the groom did the "YES!!!" pumping action with his fist just before he kissed his bride...wow!

I remember my own wedding where my teenage cousin videotaped the tea ceremony and church ceremony for me for free (so nice of him)...but he ran low on battery just before the church ceremony began (!)... he recorded me walking down the aisle (then switched off the camera to save battery), recorded the exchange of vows (then switched off the camera) and recorded my hubby and I walking out together...all the important parts (smart fella!)

Here are videos of some very unforgettable weddings...anyone want to try this on your wedding day?

Anyone Know What This Is?

My friend MK gave me a jar of this live culture drink she got from her dad in Ipoh. It seems that it's very much like the fruit enzyme drink that I make except that the fermentation process takes only 24 hours compared to the 3 weeks needed for the enzyme drink. MK doesn't know what it's called and neither does her dad, but they know that it's good for health.


Don't know what this spongey stuff is, but it's alive and will multiply when water and black sugar is added to it.


Black sugar...the kind used when we boil herbal tea (the leong cha that the Chinese drink to 'cool' the body)


Lots of bubbles appear after 24 hours.

According to MK, this is the process:

1) Pour the live spongey stuff into a plastic sieve and rinse it under the tap until the colour fades to a very light brown.

2) Spoon the spongey stuff into a clean glass jar.

3) Add black sugar according to this ratio 2:1, that is 2 spoonfuls of spongey stuff to 1 spoonful of sugar.

4) Add water according to taste, less water means stronger taste.

5) Leave uncovered for 24 hours. (I covered it with my sieve so that I wouldn't find an insect floating in it!)

Note: Do NOT allow metal to come into contact with the spongey stuff or it will die.

Can anyone tell me what the spongey stuff is and what this drink is called? By the way, it tastes good...a little like red wine (no kidding!)

So Cute!

Today the Sesame Street gang is on the Google homepage...




Yesterday I found this interesting website http://www.bakerella.com/ via somebody's blog. Aren't the cake pops (variation of lollipops) simply adorable? I must try making them one of these days...

Fish Head Art

When eating fish, most people would just eat the middle portion between the head and the tail. Some people, however, also like the head...especially the eyes. I have a friend who would even go to the extent of cracking open the fish skull to pick out the brains...!!

So let's say you buy some fish but you just want to cook fish fillet...now what can you do with the discarded fish heads?

Here are some ideas...

A friend emailed me these photos today...don't know whether to laugh at them or find them repulsive!

Amazing Cakes

A friend emailed me photos of some very pretty amazing cakes created by Zhanna Bakery in St. Petersburg, Russia...every single thing on the cakes is edible...these people are really talented!

it looks so real, someone might accidentally put his feet into this cake!

now this is one cake you don't see very often!

Too pretty to be eaten, don't you think? See more pictures here.