the night of the seventh moon

This has been my most favorite romance novel.
Which is rare as i hated to read Barbara Cartland novels and her kinds.

I stumbled into this novel back in my guiding years...i was assign for the turtle island program and was dyingly bored as i don't feel like swimming that day since none of my colleague agree to accompany me. I can't sleep either. I guess the company that i worked for has the same way of thinking as they provide a mini library at the chalet with old books selection to save the tourist (and the guides) from attack of boredom (the corals in the island were dead and at times the water level makes it imposible to have a dip in the sea, the weather gets gloomy at times instead of sunny as we arrived around 3pm and getting into sunset).

The books selection rather odd...it was those paperbacks and the pages all yellowish and coarse. I can't remember the kinds of stories but it was so boring i decided to choose something out of the ordinary : Romance Novel.



The front page looks promising...of an interesting story ; instead of a couple wrapping each other in their arms. She only stood there while the castle and the moon stood still behind her back. Im getting ; an independent lady message out of it in which will be far more related to me.(at that time)

As i started reading it..i found it interesting: the style of writing is visionary which is very inclined to me. As i read further on the description of pine and fir trees, Christmas and legends and trolls...i got carried away in my mind and fell in love at once.
She was 18 when rescued by the almost-night-of-the-shinning armour and she had the time of her life doing extremely out of the ordinary. Getting into an exciting conversation with one of the best communicator in the world. Eating the best meal of her life and later...almost being seduced by him but thankfully rescued by the man's house maid. I like this dialog most :

Hildegarde : No. I'll not have it. Your women...if you must, but not a young innocent girl from Damenstift (all girls convent)

Siegfried (not his real name) : You're worried about the old nuns.

Hildegarde : No. about innocence.

But Helena (the girl in the book cover) has made a wished that night; for them to meet again. Later she returned to the convent and finish her education and resume her barren life. After that...well i forgot haha...and that is why im reading it for the second time.

Im not sure...but it struck me odd...that this book may be appeared into my life just before i met my husband. But i remember this from the book about Helena description to the so called Siegfried : Tempestuous, irresistible, overwhelming, yes. Tender, self-sacrificing - no.
That person sounds familiar.

Anyhow...as i read on (skipping a few or...a lot of pages)she was dumped for awhile although accidentally and became a victim of an ugly plot. The guy turns out to be a prince...yeap a prince but they all caught in a power struggle among the royal cousins and relatives. She was almost killed, reunited with her son and finally made their marriage public....Its a happy ending ^_^.

Eat breakfast like a king, Lunch like a prince. Dinner like a pauper

Eat breakfast like a king,

Lunch like a prince.

Dinner like a pauper (beggar).

I found out that this is not just simply a principle in Money Saving or a principle in modesty. But also a great principle for your diet plan. Its because most of our activities will be in the mornings and our body will need energy and somehow even we have extra energy it would be consume due to our activities.
Having a moderate lunch instead of large lunch is a wise action because large meals at lunch will caused us to be sleepy or sleepier than usual. Its natural ; our body system even activities slows down after lunch hour or approaching night time
And so taking a lighter meals at night is the best part in losing weight or maintaining weight. This is because all we suppose to do at night is sleeping and taking a large meal or even moderate meal will only turn to fat due to our slowest metabolism will be at night time when sleeping.

Imagine...these wisdom came all the way before we have diet consciousness and deeper awareness in health...wow...

To have a slimmer body!

always find the good in something

is it really that good? or is it really making your way to more mistakes.

I could not find a good example as for this subject but just last night my subconscious mind lead me to it.
Alice in Wonderland.
This girl always find the good in something...She was trapped in an enchanted not to mention creepy environment but reassure herself that she's in her dream.
She met with two fat and bald boys in which one of them thought of marrying her without any look of disgust and talk in courtesy with them although they may not have much to offer.
She befriended the Mad Hatter who has evil dark side and even almost into romance.
She manage to find her way through the Red Queen and regarded as guest.

All because she always finds the good in everything. But...this also lead her to a lot of mistakes.

She overdrank the liquid that makes her oversize including one time that she almost has no clothes to fit in, lucky the Mad Hatter made a tiny dress for her.
She was scrutinize by the citizen of Wonderland.
She have to be left alone in the forest and fall asleep inside Mad Hatter hat.
She almost being married to a nerd...good thing the Wonderland experience happen to her before she agrees to marry him.

Finding the good in something may become a sort of justification over your misadventure or adversity.
The Up side is that your mind stays positive and assured that you will soon find a way anyhow, anyway and any soon.
The Down side....it is also your subconscious mind telling you that you wouldn't mind getting into more adversity though you will come out alive.

Me as an example, noticing that im just a lower clerk at work ; i would tell myself and others that it is much better as there will be less stress and responsible and therefore have a more calmer life.
But what my subconscious mind really telling is that ; although im poor im happy and this leads to a mediocre life which will soon bring its own challenge and even adversity.

I guess in a way to make our conscious and subconscios mind really works for us...we must be able to be discriminating in our thoughts and choices in life.

Like the malay old saying : Manis jangan terus ditelan, pahit jangan terus diluah.
Others said : Manis rasanya racun. Pahit rasanya ubat.

So always finding the good in something just to justify your current situation is as bad as always finding the bad in everything.
The key is to be acutely discriminating with unsentimental judgement and peaceful heart.

hmmm....i like that ^_^

The president of my anatomy

If there were a president that has power over others in your anatomy…what would it be?

For me, it shall be my bladder.

She’s the queen

The most powerful influence over my body.

 It no matters where or when this system simply governs all over my sense of urgency.

I remember my worst experience with my bladder, back then I was still in my guiding years. We went for a river cruise and I can’t remember why i ended up in that situation.

Its either I drank too much of water before or while on the boat Or I simply forgotten to make my final visit to the toilet before the program starts.

But I guess if it would have been someone else that situation will not occur as bad as how I experienced it.

The whole time in the boat, us; guides has our own water supplies as much as we recommended our tourist to do so. So there I was with my 1 liter bottle. The cruise took about 3 hours maximum.

While sitting on the boat which is another approximately 1 hour before we reach the lodge, I felt that I need to go. But I hold it and thought I could hold on to it if it’s only 30 minutes. But… I was wrong.

Within the first tinge of pain in my bladder it started to become worst instead of disappear. It gets worst even more until I started to rock my body, my feet, my legs, my neck and I started boxing the top of my knee ( I have no idea who taught me that…maybe my mom) but it didn’t go away and even worsening.

That is when I have this wild imagination.

1)      Asked my fellow colleagues to cover for me.

How : Pretend that they spot a group of monkey on the trees and I sneak out of the boat quietly while they interestingly brief the tourist about the whole family managerial system of the monkeys or they can talk about the types of trees; explaining about the scientific name and may cover the medicinal values too.

Why it didn't occur: There were no monkeys sighting. It was not a good animal sighting day and we have seen all different kind of trees along the river and pretty much none of it has medicinal values.

2)    I will go to the back of the boat and finish my business

How: I could sneak out from my middle row seat to the back and while the engine running I shall complete the process so that nobody could hear my ‘pipe-water-flow’.

Why it didn't occur: The boatman is A…man. Also there were other boats behind us and…oh come on do I need to explain?...it was a stupid idea!

Knowing that all the above is not gonna work, I started to become pessimistic and it went to my imagination

3     My bladder just explodes.

How: The tourist notice a sudden water flow on the floor of the boat and my khaki pants were wet and the amount of piss is as much as half a liter (judging from the pain)

Why it didn't occur: I prayed. I prayed that my life won’t be over just yet.

So I started to find other method. I stand and seat, stand and seat…over and over again. I loosened the button of my pants. I slap my face, bite my knuckles…I did everything.

Still not working to make it disappear I switch tactics; I begged my colleagues and boatman to return to the lodge immediately. They refuse as they want to avoid potential complaints from the tourist as there were still not much of animal sighting that day. But I beg and beg.

Eventually they give up and to this day I’m not sure if they really did it for me or based on their own reasons. All I know within 15 minutes of that last stand I moved to the front row of the boat and sat next to a tourist who I didn’t show any concern or courtesy at all as I was busy praying.

As soon as the boat approaching the jetty (Note : approaching not reached.) I jumped and ran as fast as I can to the nearest toilet. It was heavenly.

But….to my dismay….I did not think the amount of fluid match my imagination. It turns out probably less than 250 ml…and last not more than 2 minutes…well actually there may not be a factual proof or record but…so I feel..

It was the worst happening in my life in relation to my bladder and that is why it deserves to be The President of My Anatomy.

the vice president shall be my intestines…in terms of defecating. It didn’t earn it from its standard in urgency but just going through the process its almost majestic…especially after spicy food….i shall leave that subject with no explanation…

Strange but…not so strange

This weekend plan didn’t go out as planed; some activity has to be cancelled due to my husband schedule.

I insist on doing at least one, and we did go to the KK wetland Center.  We arrived at about 11:30 in the morning, it was already hot and humid as it’s almost noon. It was a quiet place and no in-house guide or whatsoever.

As we went in, there were lily ponds and my kids were fascinated by it, we saw few egrets, lots of crabs, salamanders and a Mudskipper! I haven’t seen these guys since my guiding years!

Walking along the plank walk, surrounded by mangrove trees..it has a creepy feeling, its not as pretty as other forest though…my mind started to wander…

Me : what if…what if..we saw an….Anaconda

Husband : Impossible! if there is the fisherman who look for seashells would’ve killed it by then…whats more it’ll only hurt its bodies from these mangroves roots….(he’s phobia to snakes…)

The place looks strange…creepy…but to some…its…mundane…I bet the fisherman or kids who play along the riverbanks only sees it as I saw tall buildings…but to me its strange…to my kids and I guess most of us.

the opened house.

Its 13 September... meaning its been 2 days after my Raya Open house...

Current status : my dining table

 is still in a mess, plates (clean ones, thank god) still scattered on top of it, glasses and paper tissues, the water dispenser still contained cocktail syrups.

Current status : my living room

I just sweep the floor this morning, one table went back inside the room, floor has an oily feel not yet mopped, table mat removed need to wash before went back into the storage section, chairs still in open house position need to send back to storage soon.

Current status : my kitchen ; sink

The sink is full of dirty wok, plates & glasses (at least from last night)

Current status : my kitchen ; floor

Almost no room to move around, stack of plates and glasses (washed by my husband…thank you again god) pots, spoons and forks.

Current status : my laundry section

Pails unorganized and new laundry still inside the washing machine.

Current status : my storage section

This may need at least 2-3 hours to organize, Raya utensils will need a big bad box and will need to go by stages and stack one after the other…

Main agenda for the weekend : Dusting and mopping.

Last night I was supposed to find a box for the plates and glasses after wrapping it with tissue and paper…but, at 7pm…I did fall asleep. Hearing noises I opened my eyes and saw my husband were sitting on the computer chair and asked me am I coming to buy pillow for my younger brother and a short visit to my parents in law…im not so sure if I answered but deep at the back of my head I noticed that my husband and two kids went out and I resume sleeping…still in my working attire.

The celebration is exciting as this year I’ve done almost everything on my own. I organized the house, I made the cookies and I…cooked everything…except the rice which is helped my mother in law. But above all I did my dishes alone the entire day..^_^ that part im proud the most…it wasn’t so bad…the only down side is that…there were no picture taken at all.

None at all….my DSLR sits in the closet.

The compact…hmm I still have no idea.

Well…no click-click has been done for this month…I was hoping to get lucky on the 16^th September…soooon! And I will take at least one photo of my darling living room.

So I cooked and so I served…im all out of planning and glad now its time to laid back and there shall be no more heavy responsible hanging over the back of my head…until later…until next year ^_^

As for my daughter birthday next month, I preferred to celebrate it at least at Secret Recipe or…..at home after I fulfilled my own promise of learning to bake my own cake.

But now…its time to relax….enjoy the view, watch a funny movie or simply sleep all day long ^_^

ntah hapa2...

Tadi ada telemovie tv3 : Kuih Makmur...ntah hapa2...langsung teda kena mengena dengan kemakmuran atau kekuihan...

patut dia tukar tajuk jad 'Kuih Makmur Mak Mentua ku'....baru ngam...best tengok makcik seorang tu berlakon sebijik macam mak mentua ku...dengan mulut2 menjuih dan badan dia yg gendut-gendut asyik tergedik-gedik hahaha...tiba-tiba teringat, mak mentua minta batang buruk....ooopsss....kena pi Giant lagi ni...

Hari Raya Eid Ul Fitri

i spent the whole day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital 2 on the 1st of September.The previous 2 days covered by eating, shopping...yeah i still shop...i dunno too...
My husbands younger brother involved in a car accident, few stitches on the forehead,broken arm but yeah thank god he's alive.

fall asleep on a bench and complaining about the flies...there were lots of them....creepy.
Just a few days later when he was discharged from the hospital, we were passing some of the ward rooms and there were a strong smell of....blood...creepy some more!

Well this year's raya may not be as much as the raya before or maybe insyaAllah the raya after. My husband while multitasking dealing with his brother's car insurance already making plans for next year that we will be out-station and not in KK.

Me...on the other side were missing my living room....yeah since the last day of Ramadhan my heart is where the home is ^_^.

I added some flowers, a matching cushion cover and a matching table mat and refrigerator mat...oh and a matching floor mat for the bathroom and toilet too...^_^

After 4 years owning an apartment this is the first time i hearted of having a home hehe...

Well Syawal is a month long, i must say the celebration is not quite over yet and so the next agenda is really to make sure that i could pull off a menu for our raya open house this coming sunday...im cooking....im about to...cook.

And so i kept reviewing the recipe and shopping list...hey its just some party where you invite people to eat right!...what so anxious about it?i mean come on!hahaha...(well....hmm...the fact that im a 'newbie' in cooking really killing me dang...)

But just wish me well....there's always KFC by the way...