Finally..the rain has decided to make its presence felt in Gurun after almost two months of hooTTT, dry, agonising weather. Gurun almost became a 'gurun'. The air had been so dry, I get thirsty everytime I wander outside my house. No kidding!
It is so hot, my dog,Dobby,dug a small hideout in my backyard. Huh..talk about being
desperate...Well,mud is cooling... And once, the heat was so unbearable, I wished I could join little Dobby in his little hideout. I would have if, one: the hole was big enough and two: people (family included) would understand that there's nothing wrong with covering yourself with mud. Come afternoon, don't let me start with that..
Yesterdays episode of 'Oprah' discussing about stray animals was touching. About 19 000 'strays' are rescued by an animal shelter in the US in a year. Due to concerns about space and diseases, around ten to twenty dogs are given euthanasia to be put to sleep each day. Sad but with the increasing number of strays roaming the streets and the public's inept act of favouring puppies from the pet shop over the homeless strays, the authority is probably left with no other choice.
No matter what people may say about euthanasia being effective especially with cases of rabies soaring nowadays; I still think that the act can never ever be justified and remains solely inhumane in my eyes.Animals have the right to live too, don't you think so? We should do our part to help reduce the severity of this situation. Stop littering everywhere. Why you ask? Well, the increase in garbage filled centres attract strays.
Be responsible and castrate your dog. And if you love dogs, have a heart and adopt a dog from the nearby shelter. It will make a whole lot of difference.
Toodles for now =)
Lots n Lots Of Love,
Gaya
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Carpe Diem
I just got to know that my KI course will only be starting next month. Thank you so much God! I mean.. seriously.. who is this over-zealous individual going around spreading rumours that it will be on the 16th this month?? Arrrgh.. it was NOT helpful at all. Half the world ( at least the one I live in) thinks that I'll be going back to college this month.
Although Mr. Annizam said that letters will be sent to each of us concerning the course; which means that it can start either on the first or the 31st of next month, the very fact that it will start next month makes me... very HAPPY! And furthermore, I haven't received any letters yet.. which is good. The world never ceases to amaze me =)
I just got back from Langkawi, and I'm typing this as I'm recovering from what I personally may call post-Langkawi fever. I don't literally mean fever here though.. but more like chocolate fever, heat fever, food..yes.. food fever, well you get the idea. Don't get me wrong. Langkawi is a beautiful place but a little bit of everything gets to you at some point right?
When I was much younger, I'm talking 10,12 years back, a trip to Langkawi was never complete without hundreds of ringgit splurged on what else... chocolates. Guylian (they are still the best), Belgian, Cadbury, Ferrero Rocher, Hersheys, you name it. Mum even bought a box of Godiva once. Since all were duty-free, we figured they were worth it. Like I said; too much of something, however good and chocolatey it is will almost definitely get to you at some point. I've lost interest in chocolates lately and the fact that I bought just one medium-sized pack of Toblerone this time proved it. Yay to me! Instead of spending so much on these sinful pleasures, I saved and spent it on a Momoe bag I saw in Langkawi Parade.
We reached the so-called land of eagles on Tuesday evening. The 'we' would be my mum, my auntie 'baby' and me =) My mum's meeting was a great excuse for all of us to hang out in Langkawi so like how Horace famously put it..Carpe Diem..we seized the day! We were tired when we reached 'Langkawi Seaview', so we just had dinner, which was quite a distasteful experience. The fried rice I ordered was covered in tomato sauce, I couldn't taste anything else but the sauce. The iced lemon tea was dilute but I can proudly say that I finished it. Although I'm against wastage of any sorts, I couldn't help it so I didn't do much justice to the rice.
The next day my aunt and I had a dental appointment at Klinik Kesihatan Kuah. We had our teeth examined and cleaned. It was definitely worth the visit. First, because of the obvious.. our teeth were plaque free. Second because apparently I have a good set of them. The teeth I mean.*beaming* . Or 'bagus' as the doctor put it.
After a hearty bowl of kuey tiau soup for lunch, we walked around to see what Langkawi had to offer us. It was a blessing that we stayed in Kuah town itself given that the jetty is merely 5 minutes away and it is the place to go shopping for all things Langkawi. One thing that everyone should know is how hard it is to get a cab here. At least the ones that are empty. One would think that in a tourist spot like this, anyone could hail a cab in a jiffy. Ohhh waiting for so long would be an understatement. I nearly suffered from a heat stroke standing under the blazing hot sun! I don't mean to sound like a whiny pot. But AGAIN like I said before.. too much of something, especially if it has to do with sun and standing, will definitely get to you at some point.
In the evening, the three of us headed out to the town again. This time mum followed us since her next session will only start at night. And guess what? We went for 'ikan bilis' shopping! The really small, whiter in hue ones were more expensive. Mum bought some dried shrimps as well. The shrimps were sooo tiny I thought they were some kind of seeds at first! Later was our trip to the duty free stores nearby. We walked back to the hotel and it was almost eight when we reached our room. Whoever said that a trip to Langkawi would not be complete without the beach and watersports? I had fun and my visit here was complete in its own way. At least I had my share of watersorts in Bali itself =)
Speaking of Bali, I know I did promise a post on that trip. It would be too late to post a long one on that. All the Bali excitement has definitely faded away with the weeks. So here is a short post on how super wonderful Bali was!
We stayed at the jaw-dropping Ulin Villa. It was a two bedroom villa that came with a private pool and a state-of-the-art outdoor kitchen.We spent about five days there. Every nook and corner of the island was filled with intricately carved statues and boulders. The place definitely exudes an aura of hospitality and culture. Most Balinese people are Hindus. So you will, without fail, find javanese offerings at the entrance of almost every buildings and temples. These offerings are small square baskets made out of banana leaves. Fruits and flowers are kept in them.
Shopping is an ease here as there is always something being sold at every corner of the streets. We went to a palace in Ubud and shopping at the town afterwards. We also went around Kuta town where the fmous Kuta Beach is. You could see all the six-packed surfers, some.. well most with bandages on their faces walking around carrying their surfboards. The waves here reach almost two times my height, maybe more...
We went cycling around Seminyak town and stopped at a few shops to splurge on some balinese handicrafts. Didn't I say every corner? Since my sis and I wanted our share of the trip.. coughs.. watersports...so much, so we went to the Nusa Dua Beach which was at considerable distance from our villa. Flying fish was fun and jet skying was even more fun! The lifeguards or whatever you call those guys handling the watersports equipments are so damn lucky. At least that's what I think about people who are paid to go wind-surfing and scuba diving. Mum was never the type to try out anything that's got to do with water more than two-feet deep, so she spent her time watching us, paying the fellow in charge and taking shots of herself beside the stationary jet skis... ( note stationary ;)) After having a splash at the sea.. quite literally.. we went to the Uluwatu cliff-top temple. It was such a beautiful place and the fact there were big and small monkeys everywhere didn't even bother me a bit! My cousin sister was so impressed with the place ( who wouldn't?), that she started snapping away at almost everything, till the point that a huge monkey almost grabbed the camera from her. Haha. We had a good laugh about that. And I was happy that mum had her share of the trip too that day. Love you ma!
The day before we left for Malaysia, all of us had Balinese massage. My sis and I had a hair treatment for two hours. I rarely had massages before, if massages at hair saloons in Malaysia could even pass off as an actual massage. But I know for fact I've never felt so relaxed before. I had one of my best sleeps in my life that night.
So there you had it. My own personal post about Bali and Langkawi as well. About what I'm doing at the moment.. I'm still crawling through 'The Afghan'. It was a little draggy in the beginning but it got exciting as I read on.
PS : Chenies if you're reading this, I'm still waiting for the recipe ;)
Toodles for now.
Loves,
Gaya
Although Mr. Annizam said that letters will be sent to each of us concerning the course; which means that it can start either on the first or the 31st of next month, the very fact that it will start next month makes me... very HAPPY! And furthermore, I haven't received any letters yet.. which is good. The world never ceases to amaze me =)
I just got back from Langkawi, and I'm typing this as I'm recovering from what I personally may call post-Langkawi fever. I don't literally mean fever here though.. but more like chocolate fever, heat fever, food..yes.. food fever, well you get the idea. Don't get me wrong. Langkawi is a beautiful place but a little bit of everything gets to you at some point right?
When I was much younger, I'm talking 10,12 years back, a trip to Langkawi was never complete without hundreds of ringgit splurged on what else... chocolates. Guylian (they are still the best), Belgian, Cadbury, Ferrero Rocher, Hersheys, you name it. Mum even bought a box of Godiva once. Since all were duty-free, we figured they were worth it. Like I said; too much of something, however good and chocolatey it is will almost definitely get to you at some point. I've lost interest in chocolates lately and the fact that I bought just one medium-sized pack of Toblerone this time proved it. Yay to me! Instead of spending so much on these sinful pleasures, I saved and spent it on a Momoe bag I saw in Langkawi Parade.
We reached the so-called land of eagles on Tuesday evening. The 'we' would be my mum, my auntie 'baby' and me =) My mum's meeting was a great excuse for all of us to hang out in Langkawi so like how Horace famously put it..Carpe Diem..we seized the day! We were tired when we reached 'Langkawi Seaview', so we just had dinner, which was quite a distasteful experience. The fried rice I ordered was covered in tomato sauce, I couldn't taste anything else but the sauce. The iced lemon tea was dilute but I can proudly say that I finished it. Although I'm against wastage of any sorts, I couldn't help it so I didn't do much justice to the rice.
The next day my aunt and I had a dental appointment at Klinik Kesihatan Kuah. We had our teeth examined and cleaned. It was definitely worth the visit. First, because of the obvious.. our teeth were plaque free. Second because apparently I have a good set of them. The teeth I mean.*beaming* . Or 'bagus' as the doctor put it.
After a hearty bowl of kuey tiau soup for lunch, we walked around to see what Langkawi had to offer us. It was a blessing that we stayed in Kuah town itself given that the jetty is merely 5 minutes away and it is the place to go shopping for all things Langkawi. One thing that everyone should know is how hard it is to get a cab here. At least the ones that are empty. One would think that in a tourist spot like this, anyone could hail a cab in a jiffy. Ohhh waiting for so long would be an understatement. I nearly suffered from a heat stroke standing under the blazing hot sun! I don't mean to sound like a whiny pot. But AGAIN like I said before.. too much of something, especially if it has to do with sun and standing, will definitely get to you at some point.
In the evening, the three of us headed out to the town again. This time mum followed us since her next session will only start at night. And guess what? We went for 'ikan bilis' shopping! The really small, whiter in hue ones were more expensive. Mum bought some dried shrimps as well. The shrimps were sooo tiny I thought they were some kind of seeds at first! Later was our trip to the duty free stores nearby. We walked back to the hotel and it was almost eight when we reached our room. Whoever said that a trip to Langkawi would not be complete without the beach and watersports? I had fun and my visit here was complete in its own way. At least I had my share of watersorts in Bali itself =)
Speaking of Bali, I know I did promise a post on that trip. It would be too late to post a long one on that. All the Bali excitement has definitely faded away with the weeks. So here is a short post on how super wonderful Bali was!
We stayed at the jaw-dropping Ulin Villa. It was a two bedroom villa that came with a private pool and a state-of-the-art outdoor kitchen.We spent about five days there. Every nook and corner of the island was filled with intricately carved statues and boulders. The place definitely exudes an aura of hospitality and culture. Most Balinese people are Hindus. So you will, without fail, find javanese offerings at the entrance of almost every buildings and temples. These offerings are small square baskets made out of banana leaves. Fruits and flowers are kept in them.
Shopping is an ease here as there is always something being sold at every corner of the streets. We went to a palace in Ubud and shopping at the town afterwards. We also went around Kuta town where the fmous Kuta Beach is. You could see all the six-packed surfers, some.. well most with bandages on their faces walking around carrying their surfboards. The waves here reach almost two times my height, maybe more...
We went cycling around Seminyak town and stopped at a few shops to splurge on some balinese handicrafts. Didn't I say every corner? Since my sis and I wanted our share of the trip.. coughs.. watersports...so much, so we went to the Nusa Dua Beach which was at considerable distance from our villa. Flying fish was fun and jet skying was even more fun! The lifeguards or whatever you call those guys handling the watersports equipments are so damn lucky. At least that's what I think about people who are paid to go wind-surfing and scuba diving. Mum was never the type to try out anything that's got to do with water more than two-feet deep, so she spent her time watching us, paying the fellow in charge and taking shots of herself beside the stationary jet skis... ( note stationary ;)) After having a splash at the sea.. quite literally.. we went to the Uluwatu cliff-top temple. It was such a beautiful place and the fact there were big and small monkeys everywhere didn't even bother me a bit! My cousin sister was so impressed with the place ( who wouldn't?), that she started snapping away at almost everything, till the point that a huge monkey almost grabbed the camera from her. Haha. We had a good laugh about that. And I was happy that mum had her share of the trip too that day. Love you ma!
The day before we left for Malaysia, all of us had Balinese massage. My sis and I had a hair treatment for two hours. I rarely had massages before, if massages at hair saloons in Malaysia could even pass off as an actual massage. But I know for fact I've never felt so relaxed before. I had one of my best sleeps in my life that night.
So there you had it. My own personal post about Bali and Langkawi as well. About what I'm doing at the moment.. I'm still crawling through 'The Afghan'. It was a little draggy in the beginning but it got exciting as I read on.
PS : Chenies if you're reading this, I'm still waiting for the recipe ;)
Toodles for now.
Loves,
Gaya
Monday, February 9, 2009
Life
It's funny how most people almost always realise how valuable something is only when it's gone.Like how beautiful the rain was when it's scorching hot outside. Or how wonderful the warmth of the sun felt when it's minus ten degrees. How yummy mummy's cooking is when all you have for lunch, breakfast and dinner are takeaways.
My dad's uncle passed away last week due to cancer. He was a strong man and he is deeply missed by all of us. It was agonising to see what radiotherapy did to him in just a few months but he fought hard.
He always had such an addictive smile plastered to his face everytime we came to visit him at the hospital in Penang, it would have been hard to believe the pain that he was going through.Our last visit was a few weeks back. He's at a peaceful place now and that's all that matters. God bless u 'tata'. It's extremely comforting to know that he has what many would yearn to have at his age; four wonderful grandchildren, and the very fact that he got to see and spend time with them.
My dad's uncle passed away last week due to cancer. He was a strong man and he is deeply missed by all of us. It was agonising to see what radiotherapy did to him in just a few months but he fought hard.
He always had such an addictive smile plastered to his face everytime we came to visit him at the hospital in Penang, it would have been hard to believe the pain that he was going through.Our last visit was a few weeks back. He's at a peaceful place now and that's all that matters. God bless u 'tata'. It's extremely comforting to know that he has what many would yearn to have at his age; four wonderful grandchildren, and the very fact that he got to see and spend time with them.
The boundaries which divide life from death
are at best shadowy and vague.
who shall say where one ends,
and the other begins?
Edgar Alan Poe
Loves,
Gaya
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