Tuesday, July 26, 2005

beautiful water lilies


calm & serene
www.pbase.com/dbh/lotus

Our pink 'bud'dy ... sweet n simple
www.pbase.com/dbh/lotus

brilliant colours
www.pbase.com/dbh/lotus
water lily turning to lotus pod
www.pbase.com/dbh/lotus
the pink lotus

lily in red
www.pbase.com/dbh/lotus

nice colour
www.pbase.com/dbh/lotus

Lotus seeds


www.pbase.com/dbh/lotus

Tried fresh lotus seeds before? Those fresh peel from lotus seeds pods. It’s one of my favourite fruit (mm…think it’s a type of fruit gua). Used to buy them in small town in Perak for instance Pusing, Kampar, Tapah or Batu Gajah. Usually selling at RM0.80 to RM1.00 for a bunch of 4 or 5 pods.
Young seeds are sweet, however mature seeds tend to be bitter. To remove the bitterness, we just need to remove the dark green shot in the middle of each seed.
Wonder where can we find them in KL? Do anyone of you happen to know?
Last time during college time, I know there’s an aunty selling this on her bicycle near Petaling Street but I don’t think she’s selling there anymore. Most probably she’s enjoying her life as a grandma now =)
lotus seed pod - side view
www.dwpicture.com.au/ gallery.asp?cat2=Flowers
lotus seed pod
this is another variation ... however me don't know whether this one can eat =)

www.faculty.sbc.edu/ simpson/Lotus/images/Pod1.jpg

www.nhbirdsnest.com/.../ lotus_seedpod.htm

water lily & little lotus seed pod
now only me realised water lilies are beautiful =) it gives people calming effect =)
yellow white water lily ... beautiful =)
I'm mezmerised =)

手放开

李圣杰 lee shen jie

手放开

我把自己关起来只留下一个阳台
每当天黑推开城门对着夜幕发呆
看着往事 一幕一幕 再次演出你我的爱

我把电视机打开听着听着别人的对白
也许那些事情可以给我一个交代
你要的爱 我学不来
眼睁睁看情变坏 眼睁睁看情感慨

不能给你未来 我还你现在
安静结束也是另一种对待 当眼泪留下来
伤已悄在 分开也是另一种明白
我给你最好的疼爱是手放开
不要一张双人床中间隔着一片海
感情的污点就留给时间慢慢漂白
把爱收进胸前左边口袋
最好的疼爱是手放开
不想用言语拉扯所以选择不责怪
感情就像候车月台 有人走就有人来
我的心是一个车牌 写着等待

我把收音机打开听着别人的失败
哽咽的声音彷佛诉说着相同悲哀
你的依赖 还在胸怀我无法轻易推开
我无法随便走开
感情中专心的人容易被伤害

source : http://8ka.com

another lee shen jie song I'm learning currently. If only I can approach any other matter with the enthusiasm I have for learning songs =P
" 我给你最好的疼爱是手放开" very deep meaning. Sometimes it's best to let go =)

ps. wonder whether this sentence applicable to parents too ... =)

Fail

Read in the newspapers the other day that british classrooms think
the word ‘fail’ should be banned from use.
The objective is a good intent to avoid demoralizing students.
Now they have a better phrase "deferred success’ that sounds nicer.

Failure, last last time I may look at it as though it’s the end of the world (err … maybe not as bad as end of the world lah)… however, now it’s no longer that way.
It’s life’s little mishaps that help me learn & grow. After all, no one is perfect.
So what if I had failed and failed miserably, life wouldn’t be great if it’s linear =)
sometimes success is achieved when we least expect it.

Out of the norm = Abnormal ?

Last Wednesday 20/7/05, I attended a ‘Tea-talk’ session on ‘Mind mapping’ organized by my company.

During the initial interactive session, each of us (participants) were given a piece of paper (drawing block size) and colour pencils. We were told to think and imagine ‘holiday with family’ and put in on paper in whatever way we like.

We, the participants were diligently imagining and putting our thoughts to paper during the few minutes given. Imagining holidaying with family was a great thing to do after a stressful day at work. We had drawings, writings and scribbles in various colours in our ‘masterpiece’ =P

As we were peeping at other’s drawing (yah, we still do that as working adults … even some professional bankers)
Something in my piece of paper actually caught Kassie’s attention. Trust me it wasn’t written in bold, neither big nor highlighted.
" hah? You spring clean?" she asked
" yah =) it’s a fun activity when it involve everyone in the family." I replied
"see, we can have some sort of gathering too with lots of foods also (pointing on my paper)" I added


Why do most of us have a pre-notion of holidays with family means going on trips? Yes, me included because I had drawings of ‘lidi’ people and smiley faces enjoying our trips to destinations locally and overseas (a plane to represent overseas…hehe.. =P

When we were asked to draw something to represent our dream destinations, don’t know why but I suddenly had difficulty because I concentrated more on what we were going to do than where are we going to.
Ask me my dream destinations some years back and I will give answers such as New Zealand or Australia (where we can swim with dolphin) but currently, ‘where’ doesn’t really matter that much, it’s who I’m with and what we do there …


Didn’t know how our discussion venture into traveling overseas, my superior sitting next to me seemed to be very surprised when she got to know I had never been on aeroplane. With tagline such as "now everyone can fly" I felt like a ‘katak bawah tempurung’ for that particular moment =)

" ai ye, ho shum lei la, if you save the money you spent on going Cameron so many times, you can afford to take flights traveling overseas. What’s so fun about Cameron by the way other than maybe the weather?" she remarked

" hai lo hoh, pai she, gam dai go yan mo cho gor fei kei" I smiled
( yaloh, shame, at this adult age, had never been on aeroplane)


She has got her point, but I didn’t see the need (& lazy) to explain further. If only she knew …

Inflation

We are working real hard to earn money, trying our very best to clear our debts, saving real hard to accumulate for our dream car, for our dream house, for our dream lifestyle, our maybe for some of us … for our marriage and children educations.

However, it may be disheartening to learn about this :
Our inflation rate is relatively high.. has been creeping up from a low of 2.4% in January to a high of 3.1% in May (just a mere 5 months)
The rising consumer price index (CPI) has been due largely to government’s decision to rollback subsidies on petrol & diesel, as well as imposition of higher sin taxes such as tobacco & alcohol last September.
With current Fixed Deposit (FD) of less than 1 year maturity yielding returns of 3% or lower, Malaysians are experiencing a real negative return of 0.1%.
This negative gap was likely to widen further as the CPI is expected to increase to 4% in near future.

Source : Star Biz
What happen to our hard-earned money? What about our money we put in our savings accounts that may offer 1% - 2% interest return? Aren’t we getting real negative returns?


Maybe in situation like this .. "Ignorance is not bliss"

Aunty Su

I couldn’t help but wonder whether I look real old. I must admit I’m afraid of getting old … hehe =P

While waiting for ‘tapau’ dinner last Friday night, I was approached by 2 young kids perhaps brother & sister in standard 3 – standard 6.
I saw them wanted to ask me yet hesitating when finally the elder sister lead the younger brother.


The younger brother asked in mandarin
"aunty, would you like to make donation to help our school project?"


I laughed hearing myself being called ‘aunty’

" so, what school are you from?" I asked instead of "why do you call jie jie as aunty, do me look like old aunty?" (mind you, this is not the first time I’m being called aunty by children … sigh)
" we are from chung guo Chinese primary school" they replied while handing their blue donation cards & pens to me. If you can still remember those cards where we have to let donors fill their names & amount of donation.


"so what projects are your school doing with these donations?" I try to test them..hehe =P
the younger brother looked at me and then at the sister, expecting the sister to provide an answer.

" our school is going to build a new building and add library facilities" the big sister said.

" So how much should I donate?" I asked to see how these children reply
" As much as you like or you can write 2 names" the little boy said
Wow, I didn’t know children are very smart nowadays … the amount of donation can be split to a few names then they can get their job done faster … brilliant but not-so-right =D


Since they like to call me aunty, I decided to write "Aunty Su" in the name column for both cards. Well, first time writing "Aunty Su" seems weird and funny. Hope I don’t have to write that again in near future … haha …=D

There you go…
They ended the conversation "thank you, aunty"
Alamak…pengsan…haha… =D
Maybe writing ‘Aunty Su’ wasn’t a good choice after all … sigh …

Birthdays …

Thank you very much for the wishes that came in all possible ways. I may have missed replying some or replied late but let me assured you I have got all your wishes safe & sound =)

Ps. Mok, I received your sms oredi lah .. one day later.. hehe. Yalah, this is what happened when lazy people like me don’t always clear msg box loh. Thanks a lot

I’m afraid of getting old .. honest, although I enjoy celebrating birthdays (others and mine)

Some suprises this birthday

Tortoise : I’ve got a pair .. a male and a female tortoise. How I know which is which? I was taught to look at the design below their shell. Well, I remembered telling my clinics friends last time when work there, that I would like to keep pets but I forgot tortoise can be pet too. Why tortoise oh? me slow like tortoise last time? me ‘shok tao wu guai’? =P
According to them, tortoise easy to take care, no need big space, very long live and can survive ‘worst case scenarios’ … like you loh ‘man thun thun geh shok tao wu guai’ they say =P


Handbag : my close bunch of friends are like psychic .. they seem to know me very well. They got me something I’m looking around for quite some time but didn’t get to buy one. The handbag is very nice … don’t know me lady like enough to use or not? .. hehe =P Even my sis like it saying "lei friend zhen ha ya ngan gong, pan nai gan. Hai gu tang lei gan, mm zhi mai mat yeh fan lei" – translate : you friends really got good taste, good at selecting. If you are the one selecting, don’t know what you’ll buy back home.
Haha … true, true … my fashion sense is real bad =D
(don’t believe … haha …ask those who had shopped with me =D )


Earrings : A pair of nice dangling earrings with pearl. Yah, I was told to try something new .. change my earrings once in a while to suit what I wear … (haha…..please don’t remind me that I had been wearing the same one since I got my ear pierced =D it’s embrassing )

Why do we blow off the candles only after we make wish? It feels like blowing off those hopes & wishes. Perhaps we can try make wish first then light the candles … then it will be like lighting up hopes & wishes =) as to whether to blow it off later..that depends =)

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

痴心绝对

李圣杰
lee shen jie
想用一杯Latte把你灌醉
好让你能多爱我一点
暗恋的滋味 你不懂这种感觉
早有人陪的你永远不会
看见你和他在我面前
证明我的爱只是愚昧
你不懂我的 那些憔悴
是你永远不曾过的体会
为你付出那种伤心你永远不了解
我又何苦勉强自己爱上你的一切
你又狠狠逼退 我的防备
静静关上门来默数我的泪
明知道让你离开他的世界不可能会
我还傻傻等到奇迹出现的那一天
直到那一天
你会发现 真正爱你的人独自守着伤悲
曾经我以为我自己会后悔
不想爱的太多痴心绝对
为你落第一滴泪
为你做任何改变
也唤不回你对我的坚决

one of my fav song. now learning
would also like to dedicate this song to someone (you know who you are) =)
ps. got time try download listen =)

My days being a rebel

Don’t know who came out with the idea? Or whether they have better suggestions?
Come one day and were told that have to decorate our area with teddy bear.
Please forgive me, but personally I don’t feel teddy bears and office make a good combination.

Well, because those sitting around me had teddy bears displayed at their workstation and not mine, my boss actually came and questioned me in front of my other collegues

Boss : ei, how come you don’t have teddy bear at your place? See the rest of them have already.
Me : ei, now only I realized only me don’t have. But I can’t bring cause I don’t have any at home oh. (smile)
Boss : come on, I’m sure you have one or maybe your sisters or your cousins. Else ask your boyfriend or your friends present one to you. Worse come to worst, you buy yourself la…those small small one very cheap only.
( she said it jokingly .. but don’t know why I didn’t want to ‘kow tow’ to her)
Me : haha … need to ask them (referring to my collegues) whether they got extra, can donate to me or not loh. People like me no money to buy teddy bear lah … haha…

( I could have say many other sarcastic remarks but I didn't want to break my rice bowl)

e.g.

  • I’m sorry but I’m allergy to teddy bears.
  • You know, I think teddy bears distract me from my work .. so can I be excuse and put in more effort to be productive instead.
  • Teddy bear tend to give sense of sleepiness, I’m sure you don’t want me to feel sleepy during work right?
  • Well, or would you like to buy me one? It will definitely motivate me to perform better.
    Aiya, sorry, I thought decorate area with teddy bears. Each workstation also have to put teddy bear is it?
  • Is putting teddy bear compulsory, will it affect my performance review? If yes, I’ll need to force myself to buy one. Does size matter in this case ah?

More sarcastic remarks

  • I do have teddy bear at home, but I think I prefer them to be at the comfort of my home rather that this cold office. I don’t want them to be a sacrifice… hehe

It has been quite a long time I felt this type of don’t know whether consider anger or frustration. Well, this time I really enjoy being a rebel. I foresee I’ll continue being one too.. =P
Please forgive me if my this post sounds harsh.
At least I’m happier now.
" what doesn’t kill me will only make me stronger"
" throw me lemons, I’ll make nice lemonade"

Influence

Bernard … the fresh grad just back from Australia finally got the job in our deparment .. another section.

I still remember him .. of course. He was nervous even after the interview.
The other day, after his interview, I met him at the door having difficulty opening the door because doesn’t know have to press the button to open the door.
As I was heading to the washroom, I opened and held the door for him.


As ‘kepochi’ as I’m always am, I asked him a few questions … which maybe make him think he’s going through 2nd round interview ..hehe
Questions were like :
How was the interview? Fresh grad? From where? What field? 1st job interview? Any practical / apprentice during semester break?
Can let me know what questions they asked you in interview just now?


I even had the gut to ask the guy for his handphone no. (well, who know who this guy will be in future? Maybe I can recruit him? Maybe he can be a prospect)
He wanted to offer me his pen for me to write down his number. Haha..maybe shocked that I asked for his no., he had difficulty pulling the pen from his shirt pocket.
" alamak, panic till pen also can’t take out ah" I teased
" don’t worry, I’m not in the interview panel"


I ‘sms’ him as promised and this was his reply
" hi su, nice meeting you too. Sorry, was a bit nervous just now. Do you think I stand a chance to join the bank?"


Today 12/7/05, he reported work and when he was being introduced by boss, he said "Thanks a lot, Su"
" Hah?? Why??" was my reaction.
He just raised his eye brow, didn’t dare to say much as boss is there. Boss also wondering how he know I’m Su even before boss say my name.
Only later I got to know, he thought I had a part to play in him being recruited … maybe through some recommendation. I assured him that I had no ‘say’ at all (that I’m just a small prawn) and he got the job because management sees the potential in him.
Although I personally may not like working there, it’s not right for me to spoil the enthusiasm of a fresh grad.


I had contacts of some interviewees that come for interview.
Wonder what happen if my boss find out what I’m doing … trying to recruit.
Either she’ll never know or even if she does, so?
I’m not afraid.

Practices

Last time I was taught by my baby sitter
  • To remove bitterness from cucumber (without peeling the skin), we can cut a small portion of the cucumber top and rub the 2 surfaces till it produces white foam.
  • To avoid heaty after consuming durian, we drink from emptied durian skin. Also a pinch of salt is usually added.

Although I couldn’t explain, but I think the first one works cause I’m still doing it. Though I seldom eat durian nowadays, but I still practice it… don’t know why … perhaps lazy to wash cup gua ..hehe =P

I’m addicted

I’m an addict. People kept telling me to stay away from it.
Too much of it is no good.
It will harm me, they say if I continue to be addicted.
But I can’t seem to get enough of it.

It is making frequent appearances in my mind.

Yup, I have to admit I’m addicted to cookbook and recipe.
I couldn’t imagine myself spending about an hour at Popular bookstore after work on Saturday flipping through cookbooks .. all sorts.

I don’t used to do that.
I didn’t pay much attention on the steps of preparation but I enjoy the pictures (yah.. I know how silly I’m =P

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

one two three four

a nice story ...
make me wonder whether I'm thinking too much sometimes

(story was told in mandarin)

Once upon a time, there were 2 good friends Mr. Too Smart and Mr. Not-So-Smart. They heard that there is a stone at the top of the hill that can give sure strike 4D numbers (lottery).

Near the stone, they waited for numbers to appear when suddenly they hear
" SATU DUA TIGA EMPAT " (translate ONE TWO THREE FOUR)

Mr. Not-So-Smart was very happy that he rushed downhill to buy 4D : 1234

Mr. Too Smart don't think it's that easy. To him, there must be something behind those numbers given. After spending some time pondering, he thought he finally got it, he finally managed to break the code.
Mr. Too Smart happily betted on : 2444 (well he even bought 4244, 4424 & 4442). He refused to share this finding with Mr. Not-So- Smart.

Guess who won the lottery prizes? assuming one of them did lah.
It is 1234. 1234. 1234 .....

This story got me thinking AGAIN ... sigh
why do me sometimes tend to think too much & complicate simple matters.
sometimes, it might be good to be naive & straighforward.
In cantonese, there's a saying that goes
" so yan yao so fuk " translated " dumb people have dumb people happiness"
what do you think?

"You're very pretty"

My sis and her bf went for potrait (more like caricacture) drawing at genting.
She was very excited when she came back and showed me the drawings (which is pretty good ..looks alot like my sister's face)
however, it's not the drawing that she's excited about.
It was what the artist said to her, I later found out.


Sis : ah jie, you know, before we leave, the artist told me that "you're very pretty"

well, she was elated and very happy until her bad sister (that's me lah, who else? ) poured cold water

me : how you know that he (the artist) is not telling every customer that?
sis : yer...where got ah jie like that one? you let people happy for a while cannot wan meh?
me : ok la .. he didn't tell every one, just tell a few only include you =P

Starlight Cinema + Pink Cotton Candy

Saturday 2/7/05

First time experience watching movie under starlight (hehe.. there were no stars twinkling that night actually).
It’s good for a change.
Me like the cool air and open air atmosphere. Contrary to what I thought, there were no mosquitoes / insects ( or well, may be they don’t like me..hehe)

Watched Miss Congeniality 2 with chai yee, cindy (chai yee’s collegue), keef, mai & bf.

Nokia booth was offering free pink cotton candy made on the spot besides photo taking & printing and games (such as toss a ring, darts & etc..)

Mesmerised by how the cotton candy was created from pink sugar, I selamba asked the guy who’s making the cotton candy whether I can try ‘gulung’ my own cotton candy.
Unfortunately, due to the long queue waiting, I didn’t get the opportunity to do the ‘gulung’ing


perhaps it's good that he didn't allow me to try, else if the mesin rosak, don't know how =P

… sad movies always make me cry … (as the song goes)

Last Friday, I watched ‘Titanic’ over TV3.
Watched the movie before and knowing the storyline will not make me cry, or so I thought.
However, how wrong was I to think so.


… Sad movies always make me cry …… (as the song goes)
and my tear ducts kept producing tears non-stop especially nearing the end.
( as though I’m peeling & cutting onions .. hehe..)

Through the movie, me discovered that
there’s so much we can do for the people we love, how selfless love can be and how we can love someone unconditionally.
" The best thing in my life was winning the tickets. It brought me to you."
" Promise me you’ll never give up no matter what and promise that you’ll never let go that promise"
(something like that lah .. can't remember the dialogue word for word =P

the most beautiful part was when Rose let go off Jack and blow the whistle to get the boat to come back to save her. She didn’t give up and live her life the best she can.
The other is when Rose turn back to rescue Jack although she had very good chance to escape and survive the ‘sink’

Another credit to James Homers too for his music really brought out the movie =)

Friday, July 01, 2005

PIOF

PIOF
…. Public Islamic Opportunities Fund
The latest fund launched by award winning unit trust management company, Public Mutual.


At a glance

Fund category : syariah-based equity fund

Fund objective : aim to achieve capital growth through investment in companies with market capitalization up to rm1.25 billion (syariah compliance)

Distribution policy : incidental

Equity exposure : 70% - 80% of NAV (similar to Public Small Cap Fund)

Initial offer period : 28/6/2005 – 12/7/2005

Initial offer issue price : RM0.25 per unit (enjoy additional 1% free units for investment during initial offer period)

Minimum initial investment : RM1000

Minimum additional investment : RM100

For more info, log on to http://www.publicmutual.com.my

Feel free to e-mail me at suanne.low@gmail.com or contact me for any enquiries. Welcome all enquiries.

" Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago"
" It’s never too early or too late to start"

No more shy little girl

Do I used to be a shy little girl?
I don’t remember being one but Hong Ling (old schoolmate) say I was one, when I met her recently.

Well, I assured her need not worry as I’ve grown to be a ‘brave big wolf’ =P hehe…
Don’t you agree?


Here’s what she has to say (Cantonese)
" may be because the shy little girl stay in the dangerous jungle, she can’t afford to be as what she was. She needs to be a brave big wolf now to survive"


I do agree =) and
here I’m … the ‘BRAVE BIG WOLF’ … hehe


coincidentally,
This evening when I meet Zarul, he told me about the same thing too
That I has changed. that I'm so different from what I had been in school.
according to him I used to be a quiet girl who always study (as if me really studying= P

and speak only when required to
but he is suprised when he meet the 'talkative' me
he couldn't imagine how I've changed


perhaps it's true that "change is the only constant in the world"

Question : have I really changed that much? serious
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