International Women's day 2009

Today is my day and before it ends, I would like to finish 1 post to talk about it.

I consider myself a very lucky woman because I get to experience many good things in life as woman. Things that many women are fighting to have. Sometimes the good things do come easy for me but many times I also have to fight for it.

I am grateful that I have my freedom to become what I want to be and what I want to do. I am grateful that my right as a woman is respected and I have my dignity as a woman. I am grateful that I was once a beauty queen, a model, a secretary, a flight attendant, a shopaholic, and even a waitress. I am grateful that now I am a wife and a proud mother of two beautiful children. Each title has allowed me to meet different kind of people from different part of the world. This experience has taught me to become who I am and what I am at the moment.

I praise the Lord that I live in a digital world where things are done in a touch of a button and where information is just a Google away. I praise the Lord that I have a chance to keep up with what's going on in the world yet still maintaining my role as a full time stay-at-home mom (who breastfeed) and a housewife. I praise the Lord that my life is never a lonely day for I can always keep in touch with my friends from all over the world.
I praise the Lord for giving me such wonderful people in my life who understands me as a woman (except the one whose rib I was once created from). I praise the Lord for I am quite a healthy woman (though a little bit overweight... :D).
And I praise the Lord that I can voice out my mind through my blog and there are people who care enough to read what I've written.

Yeap, I am proud to be a woman. I am happy to be me.

To all women in the world: Happy Women's day! This is your day!

World Environment Day (WED)

Today, 5th of June, is World Environment Day and the slogan for this year celebration is Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy. For more information about WED 2008, visit http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/About_WED_2008/index.asp

What have I been doing to take an active part to celebrate WED?

1. Recycling: I've done this for nearly 6 years now. I separate my household waste into recyclable materials (such as cloths, paper, glass, plastic, and other things that I can send to recycle center) and non-recyclable materials. Some of the recyclable materials I recycle at home by turning them into beautiful decorative items and re-use them. I like to use old printed papers for my origami projects. I diligently send the old newspaper & magazines to the recycle center for some pocket money.. :) Sometimes I can even use the money to pay for the newspaper monthly subscription. So, it's really a recycle thing.. :D
   
2. No Air Conditioner (A/C) when it's not an emergency: Since I don't come from a rich family, I'm used to live without A/C. My skin can cope with the hot and humid weather very well as long as it is not a direct heat from the sun. I can see a huge drop in my electricity bill when A/C is not in use.
   
3. Switch off electrical power when not in use: Every night before I sleep, I'll make sure I only use the least amount of power at home. I unplug all the electricity plugs that I don't use at night. It helps me to reduce my electricity bill and also reduce the risk of fire (from short-circuit). I'm so particular about this until I know exactly which main switch controls parts of my house switches so I can isolate them.
   
4. Switch off the lights when not in use: not only this will reduce my electricity bill, switching off the light when not in use will also help to prolong the life of the bulb.
5. Close the water taps tightly: I get irritated when I hear water drips so I always make sure all water taps are closed tightly and fix all the leak pipes around the house. It saves my water bill.. :)
   
6. No driving when it's not necessary: I prefer to walk then to drive. Driving is a stressful thing to do for me and it can burn a hole in my pocket because of the expensive petrol. Walk is a lot better. It's environmentally friendly and good for my health.
   
7. Sign up for electronic bills/statement as much as I can.
   

So far those are major things I've been doing to support the Green day every day move. Some people very close to me says I am very frugal because they get annoyed when I ask their help to do all the above. they said it's a waste of time. One person even gets very angry with me every time I ask him to reduce the use of paper. I'm just playing my part to save this earth. But unfortunately, these people think that what I've done will not give effect at all so why waste time to save the earth when the rest don't even care.
Hmmmm... I never even think like that. In my opinion, I should start every thing (especially good thing) from my part and spread the good things to others.

There is still 1 important thing that I promise my self to do: stop using plastic bag.
I've been trying to reduce the use of plastic bag as much as I can but I still need to use plastic bag to throw the rubbish. I plan to make a carton box from recycled papers (something like the egg carton) to throw rubbish so that I can stop using plastic bags to throw rubbish.

So, what have you done and will do to support World Environment Day?

Malaysia Airlines VS Air Asia

From 5th May, Malaysia Airlines has been introducing a zero (0) Ringgit fare (passenger only needs to pay for airport tax and surcharges) for its domestic flight tickets. According to the letter from its Managing Director/CEO, Dato' Sri Idris Jala, his airlines has put aside up to 30% of the seats for the these Special Everyday Low Fares.

This is an important move by Malaysia Airlines to be able to compete with Air Asia, which has been giving away zero Ringgit tickets on any special occasions, such as its birthday, since long long time ago.

So now everyone traveling within Malaysia is able to enjoy Malaysia Airlines 5-star service on board of a world's 5-star airlines. They just need to purchase the ticket online at www.malaysiaairlines.com, at least 30 days before the flight departure, and cannot change their mind.

With a ticket price a lot cheaper compared to the normal price, passenger is allocated 20kg check-in baggage allowance, free meal on board, and an allocated seat with seat number (you don't have to fight for your preferred seat).

Air Asia fired back this campaign by offering to pay the difference to any of its passengers if they can find any MAS airfare that is lower than the cheapest offered by Air Asia. This airlines is going to even lower the price of its ticket by introducing sub-zero Fare campaign that will be launched soon.

I personally find this battle very amusing. It's funny to see how Malaysia Airlines reacts to the hard competition given by Air Asia.
It should not feel threatened and compete with Air Asia because these two airlines are in a different class/group which supposed to serve different group of people with different tastes of traveling by air.
Why don't MAS try to focus on giving hard competition to Singapore Airlines (SIA) instead? Try to see any opportunities beyond what SIA can see.
But looks like MAS chooses to abandon the fight with SIA and admitted that SIA is a better airlines. So it shifted its focus to go head-on with Air Asia instead knowing exactly that Air Asia has to go to the battle with its own limited force.

This battle will leave SIA smiling because then SIA will be alone in its class. When there is no competition in the market, passengers will have limited option and this can't be good for them.

I personally has been an Air Asia fanatic because so far I have been able to save a lot and still enjoy traveling to my favorite destinations.
Now, I will have to consider MAS because I would love to enjoy the 5 star service with a cheap ticket.

If I fly with Air Asia, I'll get cheap ticket with budget-style service.
I have to pay more to get any services such as: my check-in baggage (15 kg luggage allowance), priority boarding, and for my meal on board) but then I will fly with new planes (safe, fast, and comfortable).

If I fly with MAS, I'll get a little bit more expensive ticket but with 5-star service.
I don't have to pay for anything extra. My luggage allowance is 20kg. I'll get to board first when traveling with my children (free of charge) and I don't have to fight for my seat.
On top of that, there's free meal on board. Hmmmmm....it sounds a better option than Air Asia.
But then, I will fly with old aircrafts.

Let me calculate again everything and see if at the end MAS will win my choice... : )

Update:
Malaysia Airlines is starting its Everyday Low Fares for ASEAN routes today, 21st May 2008 until 3rd June 2008 for travel period: 1st July - 14th December 2008. HURRY!! HURRY!! It's a very good deal not to be missed!

Maid or no maid?

As a housewife and a mother, I'm sure I'm not the only one who is facing the dilemma whether or not to have a maid (domestic helper) to assist us in our daily chores.

Personally, I do not really need a maid because I can do all the housework by myself. Thanks to my parents who have done great job for allowing me & my brother to participate in doing the housework since we were very small and we grew up to become a clean-freak.. :) (I think my brother is worst than me.. :)).

But then my other half is the total opposite of me. He can't live without a maid or a helper or someone that picks up his dirty cloths on the floor. He said he has no time to do unimportant things like cleaning up papers from his desk or do the dishes. He prefers to have someone else to do the job.

To me, having a maid is a very serious expense that a family needs to think about more than just twice. The cost of hiring a maid can already burn a big hole in my pocket, not to mention about providing her with health care/insurance and personal necessities which she can just ask for top up anytime, plus, of course, her salary and bonuses. I take it like I am hiring a professional worker but then unfortunately, the maid that I hire is far from a professional worker. She did graduate from a high-school but then just like most maid from Indonesia, my maid comes from a very remote area where electricity is something that the people there are longing to have.

Since this is not my first time having a maid, I can understand her situation. Since the first day she started to work for me, I have been teaching and coaching her so that her work performance is able to meet my standard and expectation. Along the way, I constantly have to lower down my standard and expectation and close one eye if I don't want to get depression.
Not just that. I also need to work around the budget to make sure that she won't burn more holes in my pocket because she just couldn't care less about working carefully with my kitchen & household equipments. Before she came to work with me, I had all electronic fancy household and kitchen equipments to help me doing my chores faster and easier. The expensive things I bought are supposed to last at least more than a year. Though I have constantly reminded my maid NEVER TO TOUCH my fancy equipments, it's just her habit of ignoring my instructions. So, I had to hide away those expensive stuffs and bought the cheaper version or just provide her with the simplest equipment possible.

But then, this will also present me with another problem. Since it's cheaper, the quality is also less. And since my maid works like a robot with no control, she is able to destroy things in matter of days!! Nothing lasts at least a month! So, I have to keep on buying the new ones so that she can continue her work. This is not to mention her attitude problem that I have to bear every time. Oh well, what to expect? I just have to treat her professionally in 1 direction. I can't hope to get a professional work attitude from her since she doesn't even know what it means to be a professional worker... :\

To my other half, all these things are just small matters because to him, the most important thing is that he doesn't have to clean up after his mess and can keep on creating a mess as often as he wants to.
To me, this is a nightmare because I am the one that has to deal with her everyday and I am constantly worry about controlling my expenses.

But then, I have to admit, the maid helps me so that I can do other things such as updating this blog and taking care of my child and my self.

Oh what a dilemma!!Only I and those having the same experiences like me will understand how it really feels... :| Definitely not my other half. We are in a different boat... :(

Malaysia General Election

On the 8th of March, I joined my husband to drive all the way to Penang just to vote. Oh well, I was kaypoh (busybody) lah abit..:) I wanted to see how the election went on in Malaysia. As a foreigner, of course I am not allowed to vote. I just came to watch and compare with the election in Indonesia.
Along the way to Penang, my husband explained so many things about political situation in Malaysia and about all the parties involved in the general election. After he voted, we visited our friend's house in Penang. They all discussed and predicted the result. I was just trying to chip in as much as I knew about politic in Malaysia (definitely not much).
The next day we read the news that the result of this 12th general election was quite surprising with the ruling party (Barisan National) lost its two-thirds' majority in the Federal Parliament. In Penang, Kedah, Perak, and Selangor, the opposition (DAP,PKR,PAS) won the state legislature. In Kelantan, PAS (the opposition) still ruled.
I personally quite surprise with the result. To me, it shows how the people of Malaysia took the election seriously and realized that every vote could make a different. The internet took a great part to open up the eyes of Malaysians.

In my opinion, it was a pretty quiet general election day. I was trying to remember the last election I witnessed in my country but it was a very long time ago when the late President Suharto was in power and there were only 3 parties involved (PPP, Golkar, and PDI). I didn't even witness 1998 the 'reformation' tragedy led by the students to topple President Suharto. I have left the country a year before. Since then, I have not been really following the news about political situation in my country. It's getting more and more confusing for me since I don't live in the country anymore. What I know is that life is getting tougher in Indonesia. Take Jakarta for example (because this is the only city I've been visiting), every time I go back there, the traffic jam and the road condition are getting worse. The city development with no proper planning has made life in Jakarta is getting more and more difficult. I thought after the reformation in 1998, the situation in Indonesia would be better but unfortunately, the Indonesian people were not ready with the change in power.

I believe Malaysians are more ready for the change in their country and hopefully the country will not go down the same line as Indonesia.

This is for men

It's already October. I have not been very active in the virtual world for the past 2 weeks because I have lost my motivation and my mood completely. I thought I would never post any more stories in my blog until yesterday when I read The Star newspaper.

There is a small article written by M.Krishnamoorthy which is titled "Listening to wives more curbs nagging, says expert".
Wow! Just by reading the title, I felt so motivated right away to bring up this subject to my blog.
Wow! I said it again because I am so amazed by the article...:) Thank God finally someone understand us (women). I feel so empowered..:D

Click below to read it online: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/10/8/nation/19104769&sec=nation

Print it out, frame it, and hang it in the room where you and your wife spend time the most so that every time your wife nags, you'll remember what to do.

Based on the story in that article, to have happy marriages, men need to listen more to the wives to restraint nagging.
According to Dr. Leonard Yong, an educational psychologist, Malaysian men do not spend enough time with the family, listening to the wives and children.

I think this does not only happen to Malaysian men but it happens to almost all men with big ego in their heads.
The most common reason thrown by men is men need to work to lay bread on the table. Men have to work hard 24/7 to meet the minimum standard of life.
Ok, I agree. No one denies that. But men have to remember that they work hard to make some money for the whole family; wife and children are part of the family. But if you work hard for your own satisfaction or you are just a pure workaholic, don't get married then if you are still so selfish thinking about yourself all the time.

Just like what Dr. Leonard Yong said, "Paying attention to the wife can reduce the level of nagging and result in good marital relationship. Good focused listening to the wife when she is troubled is the best way to resolve any misunderstanding in the family."
In my own word: your wife is NOT part of your house decoration. When she makes noise, she wants you to remember that she is your partner in life. You ought to listen to her.

Most men walk away or talk back when their wives throw so many words per second just like a machine gun because they say they can't stand it.
This action won't solve the problem but escalates it instead and this is not a creative solution to relationship. According to Dr. Yong, creative solutions to relationships come from being able to challenge yourself. So, if you choose to just walk away or argue back, you don't challenge yourself. Oh well, I thought men like to challenge themselves so men should be able to stand still and listen to the nagging.

I believe many men think that standing still and listening to wives nagging are signs of surrendering their pride (and ego). In fact, it's the total opposite. If you, as a man, stand still and listen even if your wife asks you to go away, she will realize how important it is to have you in her life and she will stop nagging eventually. Even better if you come closer to her and embrace her when she starts to cry. Oh...man...you are actually winning the battle together. Your wife will love you more and more and you are the most precious thing in her life and you will realize that this is what men should do; stand by her and protect her because she was created out of your ribs to be protected and to be on your side for better for worse. So, listen to her woes...she will appreciate you more and you will have a happy marriage.

Where is your dignity?

When I clicked on the links my good friend forwarded me on her email, I felt so embarrassed that I thought I would vomit if I continued reading the content of a website that 'promote' the Indonesian women (in a degrading manner).
That friend of mine felt the same way, and I believe, all respectable Indonesian women will feel the same way as I did.

It's disgusting and it's a disgrace to Indonesian women every where. That's my comment to my friend. Why? because I am Indonesian woman and I fought for this better life I have at the moment using my brain and my talents, while still upholding my dignity.

If only Kartini were alive, she would feel very sad reading this news.
All her efforts to educate Indonesian women were full of ups and downs.
Even so, there are many Indonesian women who continue her efforts so that Indonesian women will have a better life with good reputation and good names every where in the world.
Unfortunately some women have no patient and chose to do the shortcuts (the easy way out).
They are willing to 'trade' their dignity with s*x. They can be reserved just by paying £200.

True love and a better life are something that you have to look and fight for. They don't come easily and cannot be found anywhere these days. But you have to keep your spirit up and use your brain and good talents while upholding your dignity. Don't give up easily!

But then at the end, everything comes back to you and your own good judgment. Only you know how much you're worth.
I hope you'll find your true happiness even if you have to chose the shortcuts.

Where is your humanity?

I'm glad I finally can start writing more posts for my blog after a 12-day trip to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It has been quite a busy and hectic life for me when I was away from blogging world. There are many stories and photos I would love to share with you. I will try to post them slowly and I hope you keep coming back checking my blog.

I will start from what I have left on the previous post, a story from my trip to Jakarta.
There are good and bad things I experienced during the trip to Jakarta. Meeting some old friends and family that I haven't seen for the past 7 years is one of the good things I had.
Witnessing how difficult life has been for those whose family member died because of Levina II incident and Garuda accident and also for my sis-in law who just lost her beloved mother is one of devastating experiences for me cause I really could not help much other than just some comforting words to lift up her spirit a little bit.

My ears turned red when my sis-in law told me about how she was cheated by the travel agent in Pekanbaru. She had paid some money to the travel agent but they never booked her on her requested flight. So when she arrived at the airport after a long 4-hour journey through the jungle, she was refused to checked in because her name was never there and the travel agent refused to help saying that they never got a call from her to confirm the booking. How could these people take advantage on her when she just lost her mother, her son had very high fever, she had a high blood pressure herself and her husband and her other son were waiting for her to come back home soon? She's gone really mad at these people. She was about to call the police to report them but at the end they agreed to issue her 2 tickets for her and her son.

Damn! How could they do that to their own people? I thought the jungle is 4 hours away but looks like the jungle way of life is not in the jungle but in the city.
Too many tragic things happened because people take things for granted. They do not care about other people. They only learn when tragic things really happen and the worst part is some people can still take advantage over your miseries. Oh God! Life is harsh in Indonesia.
If you can survive today, you'll better pray hard that you'll survive tomorrow too.

Valentine's day and Chinese New Year

Today is Valentine's day. Today is supposed to be day for us to express our love but unfortunately, today, I really feel that I don't have 'love' at all. It's weird I know. I am such a loveable person and today on Valentine's day, I am loosing the love feeling... :-\

Today I just don't feel anything special. Today is just another ordinary day for me. I don't know why. Is it because I'm married already? Is it because I'm just tired of all the rubbish things lovers do to express their love? I don't know really. I even feel extremely lazy to send love greetings to all the people I love. I have received many greetings today though since 4am. I'm glad people still love me. I just hope that they won't feel neglected if at the end of the day, I really don't send any greetings to them. I love them still.

Last night my hubby told me that there wouldn't be any bouquet of flowers to me on the Valentine's day because he has no budget for that but he did ask me to have a special dinner tonite.
It's fine by me. I haven't even prepared anything for him anyway. So, this is definitely not the cause of me feeling sooo ordinary today.

I don't know what makes me feel so flat today. Is it because I didn't have enough sleep (because I watched Valentine's day movie till midnite)? Maybe, because I'm abit dizzy today. I love sleeping so having not enough sleep is a disturbance for my mood.
I really feel sooo lazy waking up in the morning today. I feel like I want to stop the time so that weekend doesn't have to come so soon.

A-ha!I think I know why I'm like this today. Let me repeat the sentence above "I feel like I want to stop the time so that weekend doesn't have to come so soon."
Yeap! That weekend thing! That's damn weekend thing!
This weekend is not just another weekend. It's the Chinese New Year weekend! I think I know why suddenly Valentine's day is just an ordinary day for me. It's because the coming event this weekend is just too humungous to ignore it. Even the decorations in all malls are about Chinese New Year, not so much about Valentine's day. The event is so great it sucks up all the energy I have even far before the D-day.

I have spent 2 days making many house decorations from unused angpao packets (the red packets). I really hope someone isn't going to criticize my decorations saying that hers are far better than mine!! I have bought new red cloths (No! Orange actually) and every member of my family has a new hair style for the Chinese New Year. As my hubby and I are married, we are obliged to prepare the angpao packets to be given away. Though personally, I prefer to receive the angpao...whe..he..he..
Well, who doesn't? It's some money in there...:D

For me, it's my 3rd Chinese New Year celebration. I am not Chinese but I'm married to one so, I need to learn and accept the culture.
Since I'm still learning, I have many things about Chinese New Year that I don't have a clue why I have to do this and that. I did read about it in the website alot! You might be wondering why don't I just ask my other half who is Chinese, right? Hmmmm...yeah..I could..but unfortunately, he is just the same like me, clueless...:D and the worst thing, many times, he just gave me alot of false information about his own culture and I believe him still (because I can't even see difference whether the information given is true or he just made it up)..:) D'oh!

This weekend, we HAVE TO visit my hubby's parents and stay there to celebrate Chinese New Year. This is part of the culture. The traffic has started to slow down because many people go back home to their family and friends. Don't even think about driving in Penang Island! You'll be trapped in traffic jam for hours!!

Yeah...the coming Chinese New Year celebration. If you live in a Chinese predominant place, you will learn to like this 15-day celebration. The celebration is so huge it makes you forget about other celebrations such as this Valentine's day and even my dad's birthday. Luckily, my dad understands my situation. He is happy even if I can only call & sms him on his birthday.

Yeah today is just an ordinary day for me because of what I have explained above, but nevertheless, I shall still greet you all "Happy Valentine's day" and I hope you embrace all the love that you get. Enjoy the heart chocolate cake I made especially for this 'love' day! I hope you like it...;) Oh, you can get the recipe here.

Flood in Jakarta

I've been sick for the past 1 week, coughing and sneezing. I went to visit a medical officer at the hospital near my house last week but up to now, I'm still not cured yet.
The cough medicine is useless. It makes my throat extremely dry after taking it. I had to drink many glasses of water and it really disturbed my sleep.
The medications for my running nose is quite powerful. It stopped the 'leakage' on my nose but the problem is, everytime I took that medicine, I could hear my heart pumping so fast as if I just drank 2 glasses of black coffee. I could not sleep at all. I became very restless and anxious over anything. So, I decided to stop taking those medicines on the second day. I return to my Panadol to help me to sleep and rest. Up to now, I still cough and cough. Everytime I cough, I feel pain on my chest. I hope I can get well soon. I have so many things to finish.

Since yesterday, I've been receiving bad news about flood in Jakarta. The situation has worsened in the southern part of Jakarta. Many families are trapped inside their flooded house and the water level is reaching the second floor of their 2-story houses.
Click here to read the news from detik.com.

The latest news I received that the phone lines are disconnected and the mobile networks are jammed.
Luckily I managed to talk to my parents on their mobile and they are ok. Thanks God!!
My dad informed me that the flood is as bad as the flood in February 2002. I was in Jakarta in 2002. I experienced and witnessed the worst flood in my life.
Oh...it is always like that in Jakarta every February each year. The flood is getting worse every year because of the bad drainage system in all parts of Jakarta plus the 'tidak apa' (never mind) attitude and definitely the never ending corruption.
I can only pray so that the situation will improve and the flood water recedes. I hope by the time I have to be there, Jakarta will be back to normal.

Johor (Malaysia) is still recovering from the big flood and so is Medan (Sumatera, Indonesia). Now Jakarta has its turn to deal with the flood.

I think this is more about the enviromental issue than the weird weather pattern.

I really do hope people starting to pay attention on how important it is to love the Earth and have a good drainage system in your area. Please do not clog the drain! Do not throw rubbish to rivers and drains! Do not even try to cement your drain to get extra land for your parking area! Love the environment! Recycle as much as you can!
I've got people starred and laughed at me and thought that I am cheapskate trying to recycle stuffs at home. Never mind! I will get my turn to laugh later. I know I do something good to green the Earth.

December

December has always been a busy month for everyone. A long holiday to celebrate Christmas and New Year has made people go crazy with all the plans on the best way celebrating these important events of the year. This December, my husband and I have planned to spend our holiday in Malacca. But unfortunately, due to floods, we are forced to cancel it. You can read more about floods in Malaysia from The Star Newspaper.

December is also the best time to go for shopping as many shopping malls will have beautiful Christmas and New Year decorations. The shops will offer many year end sales (such as Year End Sale in Malaysia). There will be loads of Christmas and New Year activities on the shopping malls to attract more shoppers.

When December comes, every one suddenly seems so important to me. Some will make sure that I remember them during this month... ;-)
Surely this will make it more difficult for me to decide what will be the best present to give them. The worst part is that I believe in my own translation of 'best present' to give to people. The gift I thought was unique, would turn out to be weird to their eyes. The gift I thought was simple and modest, would make them think I am a very cheapskate person. The gift I thought was thoughtful, would actually offend them. It is really not easy for me to meet these people's expectations when my head goes to a different direction.

I personally don't care about what people give to me. It's the thought that counts. The fact that they have made an effort to put my name in their list is something that should be appreciated. To tell you the truth, I really want to have a friend as my Christmas gift. Yeap, just a friend/s, a true friend/s that is always ready to forgive and forget, never expects anything in return or never expects me to give more than what she/he has given me.

Christmas is about sharing and forgiving. Unfortunately, many people remember that Christmas time is a time to exchange gifts only, so, if they don't get the gifts like what they have expected, they are ready to NOT forgive for the whole coming year. It's sad really. I'm sure when Christ is born, He does not to like to face this kind of attitude from the people around Him.

For me, the month of December indicates the start and the end. December indicates the starting of preparation for my heart and my mind for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ by learning to forget other people's mistakes and forgive them and also by learning to accept people just the way they are though I always find it hard to do.

December also indicates that this year is nearly end. It indicates that all the good and bad things that have happened in my life this year will or may have to come to an end so I have to get ready for a new chapter in my life with new exciting things in a different roller coaster ride.

And today is just 2 days before December ends. Already have many things been going on in the country I live in. The floods in Johor, Malacca, and other parts of the country, have forced many people to end the year with a bitter memory of this year, losing their most precious things in their lives. The disruption of the internet world because of the earthquake in Taiwan, has forced many netters feeling numb as they don't know what to do without the internet forgetting that the people in Taiwan are suffering more because of the earthquake.

With so many ups and downs going on in our lives, many of us hope for a better year this coming new year. As for me, I hope to become a better person who deserves a better roller coaster ride this coming year. In the meantime, as the clock ticks approaching midnite of the last day in December this year, I am trying to cherish every moment I have with all people that I love where ever they are, near and far, as they have become beautiful part of my life in their special way.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERY ONE! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORTS IN 2006.

ALL THE BEST FOR YOU ALL IN 2007.

Just google it...

The first time I heard about google was in 2000 from my husband's friend who was doing a research with Stanford University.

At that time, google was unheard of. So, when he used google as his main search engine, I questioned him why he chose to use not-so-popular search engine with a weird name and a boring homepage. He told me that google was just a search engine. Though it looked super simple, it used a very good search algorithm and even ranked the results so it's easier for you to see which result match your query best. He particularly liked the "I'm feeling lucky" button.

Oh well, I just laughed at his explanation. Inside my heart I still did not believe that google would successfully take over Yahoo's popularity for the search engine.

But quitely, I tried to use google. At first, I did not like it because I was not used to it. Slowly, I found out that although the homepage looked so boring (with just 1 textbox and 2 buttons), this search engine was very efficient and gave me the exact result to my query, not just some websites with missing links that relate to my queries. Since then, I understood my husband's friend explanation about the power of google. I 'demoted' Yahoo and 'promoted' google as my main search engine. I even used google more than my husband whom at that time got so used to Yahoo as his main search engine and reluctant to use something that he was not familiar with. Soon, the phrase 'just google it' (at that time people still thought I just didn't know the english word for 'search engine') became my favourite phrase.

When I moved out of Sillicon Valley to continue my study, I continued spreading the news about this powerful search engine. Until one day in 2004, I read a news about this company going public and offering an IPO of USD85 a share. I was very surprised because I thought USD85 for an IPO was a very expensive price. I doubted (again) that the stock price was going to go up much higher because it already started at a very expensive price.

But then, just 2 years after google's IPO, the stock price has gone up not just triple but 'multiple' from USD85 (a quick checked on Yahoo finance showed the price is at USD484.11 per share now). Google has become a successful company and has been offering more than just a search engine now. Even the word google has made it to the dictionary as an official word.

I shouldn't have doubted it in the beginning when I first found out how powerful their search engine algorithm was. Until now I still use google alot and I also use other products from it. So far I am quite satisfied though I'm a bit disappointed when I can't attach my program files (though they don't have .exe extention) to my gmail.

One thing I regret so much up to now is that I didn't buy the stock at the IPO price. Now, I can't afford it anymore... :-(

Oh well, it shows that I am only human who has no power to tell the future. What I can do is keep on saying my favourite phrase "just google it" and do the action too.

Start your day with a laughter

I love reading a newspaper. Every morning while having my breakfast, I normally browse through all the pages and read the big title news.If there is an interesting news, I will remember the page and will return to it after I finish browsing all the pages.

One of the pages I always love to read first is the comics page. Garfield comic will be my first choice, then the rest of the comics, and I finish it with the horoscope section.

Friday, 1st September 2006 newspaper is quite special because when I read the comics section, Hagar the horrible comic (by Chris Browne) caught my attention first, instead of my beloved Garfield. After I read the Hagar story, I just couldn't stop laughing for the whole day.Even when I slept at night, I still remember that funny Hagar and started to laugh quitely.

Hagar was talking to his son, Hamlet.

Hagar: "Hamlet, when you marry and have your own home, you must always be on guard againts the hidden enemy! They will invade your home, eating and drinking and helping themselves to your money and your possesions unless you're very careful!"

Hamlet: "Who will these people be, daddy?"

Hagar: "They're called in-laws."

Whua..ha..ha..Even while typing this I still can't stop laughing. If you don't know what's so funny about it, get married and soon you'll be ROTFLYAO (Rolling On The Floor Laughing Your A** Off) just like me. Whua..ha..ha..It's so good to start the day with a laughter.

How hard is it to stay with your marriage commitment?

The answer is VERY HARD. I really do find it hard if I have to keep the marriage commitment by myself and my other half doesn't even bother to help. In a marriage, it takes 2 to tango. I can say this not because I want to break away from my marriage commitment, but because I found it that many people in this sinful world just cannot keep their married commitments. There are too many married people or shall I say almost all married people have betrayed their other halves because of the marital problems they experience in their marriage life and then this betrayal usually will lead to a break up in the marriage. This is a very sad situation especially if there are innocent children involved.

According to my own little survey, married people get bored with their marriage situation after a certain period of time so they start to go for a 'little adventure' outside their marriage life to challenge their spirit and of course their other halves to see if it is worth to keep the marriage commitment.

Gosh! I wish that these people could understand that a marriage is NEVER a game in your life. it involves a lot of innocence people when children are present in the marriage. If at the end you just can't stay being married to the same person, why the hell in the first place you dare to take the vow and say "I do" after all the conditions of marriage being mentioned in front of your face?

One sentence during my wedding I remember the most is "Do you X take Y as your beloved wife/husband and stay with her/him for better for worse, in sickness, in health, in rich and in poor, till death do you apart?" (or something like that).
This sentence carries the heaviest part of your wedding vow. Most in love couple that are getting married will just say "I do" without even listening to the important question being asked. It's so easy for them to say "I do" without realizing that they are making a VOW in front of God and His witnesses. That is a VOW! Not just an ordinary promise. It's not supposed to be broken just like that.

By saying "I do", you are not just making a vow in front of God and His witness, but you are also agreeing to meet your wedding commitment to be with the person you are marrying with for what ever the marriage conditions are. This is not an easy commitment to make and to maintain and this is not a joke or a play. That is why you need to be mature enough to get married. You need to be strong enough to face all the challenges in your marriage life and you need to be able to understand that marriage is a union between 2 different people with different background and living style. There is feeling involved too.

But unfortunately and sadly, many people just simply forget about that VOW/commitment. Some of them may not remember saying "I do" because they were soo tired during the wedding or they were so nervous, blah blah..many other reasons.
With the strong reason of "irreconcilable differences", a couple brakes their marriage without even trying their best to work out the differences and to mend the relationship. Well, you know you are married to a person with a different head, don't you! So, why did you marry that person then? You should never 'punish' the other person by breaking the marriage and hiding behind those differences just to have a go to another different person? Do you think you'll be successful this time? Unless you are marrying to YOUR CLONE, I don't think it's fair to say that your new relationship with new person will work out because you will still have differences with that new person.

Rather than wasting your energy, age, money, and time to deal with a new breed, why don't you try to focus on working out your differences with your used-to-beloved other half? Give yourself and your other half a chance to adjust the differences between you. Try to remember how you 2 started to fall in love to each other and try to remember that you have VOWED "YOU AGREE TO TAKE YOUR OTHER HALF AS YOUR BELOVED WIFE/HUSBAND FOR BETTER FOR WORSE (this include if you other half is getting fat or bald or not sexy or disfigure), IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH, IN RICH AND IN POOR, TILL DEATH DO YOU 2 APART."

So, as a matured grown up, you have to be able to fight the evil in you and never let evil interfere in your marriage life which is already challenging enough for both of you. Open communication is the key. Look at your children's innocent eyes. They will learn how to love from both of you. Have a cup of coffee/tea (not any alcoholic drinks, because alcohol will just blur your mind), sit down and discuss your differences with a cool head and an open mind. Please do not blame each other for whatever bad things in your marriage life but instead, unite as one to fight the 'unwanted evil guesses' that come and go to disturb and to test your commitment. As I said before, it takes 2 to tango, work together as 1 so neither of you will be blamed for 'inviting' bad energy into your marriage.

NOTE: This article doesn't apply to people who are abusive (verbally or physically) to their partners.

edited by Coffeeliqueur: Wed, 02 August 2006.

Tag: marriage commitment wedding vow irreconcilable differences

In the name of “Bureaucracy” – story from Jogjakarta

Everyday I try to keep on updating myself with the news from Jogjakarta by reading newspapers and internet news, by watching CNN/BCC, and by calling my parents.
Though I prefer to get the news directly from the affected people but it’s not easy to call directly to Jogjakarta from overseas. So, I can only call my parents who are getting news from my family members at the affected areas.

All the news I read and hear is just like a sharp knife piercing my heart deeply. Everything in Jogjakarta and other affected areas such as Klaten, Prambanan, and Bantul is so familiar to me. I just went there 2 months ago. Everything was very beautiful. The people were happy and friendly. I could always see their beautiful smiles on their faces. Never did we know that for some of them, it was the last smile I saw.

Today, it’s been 3 days since the disaster struck. It’s been 3 days these people have no proper place to stay, no proper food to eat and no proper cloths to wear. The only cloth they wear is the one they have been wearing since the doomsday. They stay under a piece of plastic just to cover their heads from the rain water that adds to all the pains they have been trying to cope. Some of them are a little bit luckier they get 2 boxes of instant noodles to be shared with their 19 family members for 3 days. They have to put so much water to make the noodle just like a bowl of thick porridge.

I thought the aids are pouring from all over the world. I thought the world has pledge to help by sending all the basic needs such as food, cloths, medications, tents, and some cash. But unfortunately, all of these have not been distributed yet in the name of bureaucracy. Can you imagine, my friends? These people already have enough suffering still they have to produce any kinds of proof that they belong to the affected area just to get the food. For god sake, these people are starving already. How the hell they have to remember to bring their identity cards when they have to evacuate so that they can get some food later? They don’t even know where to look for their identity cards. Their houses don’t exist anymore. It’s ridiculous!

Since these people are desperate for something to eat, they are forced to BUY some food on their own. They swarm 1 supermarket that has survived from the earthquake. Some people who survived are trying to make profit from the situation by increasing the price of basic needs. Oh well, I believe this story sounds familiar to you. If you remember Aceh – the Tsunami story, you will understand what kind of bureaucracy I am talking about. If you want to help the earthquake victims in Indonesia, I suggest you make sure your donations reach the people who need them the most A.S.A.P. But unfortunately, it is not going to be ‘that’ easy. I don’t even know how to help my own brother and his family who are in desperate need of some food and milk for his 2 sons. It’s hard for me to swallow the food every time I eat when I know my brother, his wife and his 2 children have nothing to eat. I hope God will help us to help these desperate people.

One moment in 100 years

What moment is that? It is 01:02:03 04/05/06 or 1 hour passed midnite at 2 minutes and 3 seconds on the fourth of May 2006.
The Star newspaper has highlighted this moment and is organizing an sms contest for the readers to tell what they are going to do during that 1 moment in 100 years. The contestants have to send sms at that exact moment. I wonder how many people will be successful to send their sms to a number dedicated for this contest. The network will be very busy.

Anyway, how many of you think that 01:02:03 04/05/06 or just plain 010203040506 is a special combination number? For those who are addicted to gambling may find it to be lucky numbers. But since I don't gamble, to me is a very ordinary combination. I can't use it for password because people will find out very easily.

After the Star newspaper mentioned that exact combination number will only happen once in 100 years of our lifetime, I begun to take that combination seriously not because I want to join the sms contest, but I think it's a good idea to use that combination to start something different in my life. Perhaps something meaningful to do so that it is easy for me to remember when I do that thing.

To tell you the truth, I have no idea what important thing I want to do at that exact moment. I can't propose or be proposed cause I've already married. I don't want to pop up a champagne either cause I am sober since 5 years ago. Hmm..what should I do? That moment will be just an hour passed midnite. I'll probably just continue sleeping.
Oh wait the minute...as a religious person, I think I will just wake up and pray. I pray to say thank you to God for everything I have, for all good friends I have, for my perfect body, for the brain that still working properly, for all the people that I love and that love me, for the best son I have, for husband that loves me, for being able to create this blog and my other blogs, for the readers like you. And of course, I will pray for...the world peace...just like those miss world contestants.

You are welcome to share your story or comment on this post and tell me what you think about this special moment.