Life sometimes...

We have to be careful with salt. If we put too much in our food, we render it inedible. If we use too little, it becomes bland. Much the same can be said about the pinch of salt with which we must take the various ideas and suggestions as we go through life.

We all need a degree of sceptisms. We absolutely dont need cynicism. At times our doubts are more potent than we realise. If we express them too emphatically, we may spoil a perfectly good proposition. Though we suspect sometimes that an opportunity will have drawbacks but there IS an opportunity and a rare, powerful, life-changing one too. All we have to do is recognise it and take it...!

Somethings broken...

Nowadays, when we want a piece of information, we just go to Google or Yahoo. The chances are, no matter how obscure the fact, you will tract it down in a matter of moments. Or when we have a technical problem in our blog which really puzzle most of us who are not IT savvy, we can just join Google Forum and go to the section on Somethings Broken which starts with the key word "How come....". Your questions will be answered by bloggers who are actually their maintenance guys who have names like 53North or something who states in their profile I'm a Janitor...

But its a shame really that there is still, as yet, no Google for the heart. When life requires us to search our soul, we still have to go about this the old-fashioned way.....Life experiences. We cant just click in and out. We have to dwell, contemplate and reflect. There is no easy answer to the question you are asking yourself. There is, however, a good one and a right one. Just be true to yourself and be patient...and you will find it...

In the mean time you can just cry your eyes out, wet your pillow, have dark circle and eye bags. No 53North to solve your heart problem.....!

In the end..

CHOICES

Today :

1. whether to go to a dinner date with a long time no see/no hear fren in Putrajaya

2. whether to go for sauna and a business (sort of MLM) meeting at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng

3. whether to go shopping with a cousin in Nilai - her son also getting married end of next month

4. whether to go for a teh tarik/roti nan/mee goreng mamak date with Noni

Wahh..so many dates in a day!

IN THE END...

Last minute cancel all of the above cos I cant decide which one to choose and have lost the mood to go anywhere. Stay home watching TV especially tonite Final Concert AF8 ( not really a fan actually) but still vote the winner!

IN THE END....

Tomorrow morning will be following a fren back to Muar and stay for a few days at her house but will stop by first at Port Dickson and Lubok China not sure whether to stay overnite yet.

Hope it doesnt rain tomorrow....

Konsep Baru

1 MALAYSIA 1 RUMAH 1 BINI

Konsep ni ade lah tambahan dari konsep yang disarankan oleh Perdana Menteri kita...memandangkan dah ade Kelab Poligami di sini. Kalau Kelab Poligami sudah semesti nye rata2 keahliannye ramai pihak lelaki atau para isteri yang sanggup di madu dua, tiga dan empat....Jadi rase nye konsep baru ni mesti keahlian majoriti nye, kalau tak pun, semua nye

terdiri dari kaum wanita kan...

Buzzzy or plain lazzzy...

Today I look at my garden in and outside the gate..and I found that it was in a TERRIBLE STATE OF NEGLECT! Just look at these before and after photos below...shame on me!

before

now

So was it neglect on account of my busy schedules or just plain LAZZZYYY....?!!

It was a thriving and beautiful garden for the past 4 yrs. Then starting late last year most of my time was occupied with preparing for my pilgrimage to Mecca and my subsequent absence for 45 days there. Then the beginning of this year my preoccupation or shall I say my obsession with preparation for my son's wedding in July was my no. 1 agenda every day that is to do all the decorations on my own! Bunga paha (100 pcs), gifts for the guests (100 pcs), decorations for the hantaran and of cos painting in and outside the whole house..then to the Holy Land for Umrah again in March-April and the hot weather before that...huh endless excuses. Last but not least....I AM GETTING LAZZZY!!!! But in reality my time is so occupied the minute I got up in the morning..and by 9am until evening it is SOOO baking hot outside to do gardening. But no matter what, I have to spruce up my garden from now on in time for the wedding.

last week started to prune my grape

plant n new shoots starting to grow again

frangipani still looking good though needs

fertilising for it to flower

pegaga already kaput..
daun kesum is looking too scrawny



another grape vine starting to climb my neighbour's fence

have to prune my mengkudu plant getting too tall
reaching the roof
....my late father plant them to use the leaves for

wrapping the tungku (hot brick) during our confinement

(so thoughtful of him!)

have to repaint my pondok...so shabby looking!

at least I trim the mulberry bush monthly

though outside needs weeding badly
the weeds are as tall as my yellow n white tunera

yellow tunera or 8-o'clock flower

blooming profusely cos I trim them regularly

mulberry bush looking healthy...too healthy

in fact I have to trim regularly or else they overshoot

the house roof

behind the pondok along the mulberry bush

sireh plant creeping wildly
...of cos I dont chew them but planting them

reminds me of my gandma's house in Sitiawan

limau purut planted to make use of the leaves

when I make rendang..needs to fertilise

gajus (cashewnut) tree growing taller and healthy...I slice the shoots

thinly when eating laksa penang but nowadays

most people add daun selom or mint leaves instead for additional flavour

curry leaves..have grown into a tall tree need to be trimmed too

Ok from tomorrow...or may be the next day....or at least by this weekend definitely (procastinating again!) I will start my gardening again hopefully. Though I need to buy some seedlings from the nurseries in Sg Buloh for planting in between the tunera flowers may be a few colours of kemunting china (catharanthus roseus) and pink/white rain lilies to add varieties to break the monotony of the green of my mulberry bush. Here we go round the mulberry bush...the mulberry bush....PLISS PLISS PLISSS...dont let me be LAZZZYYY!!!

Diet..yet again!

Food, food, glorious food!

watermelon - 92% water...eat this for a day

as much u want

balance food

my indulgence








anti oxidant food - my favourite veges

mangoes..love them!

Im embarking again on another diet program starting 3 days ago. I think I have over indulged myself since I got back from performing my Haji last December where I lost a bit of weight while staying there for 45 days. I still love my food too much. Actually I have lost quite a lot since I started my morning walk with Noni every morning 2 years ago. While Noni will walk every day without fail rain or shine, the slightest excuse will prevent me from walking. Got up late, slight drizzle in the morning, cat is sick or something...But still I can see a big difference when I started the morning walk. My left knee not painful anymore, Im more flexible in my movement esp when walking up and down the steps, Im more springy in my steps and of cos I feel lighter. But...my big apetite for food is gaining on me fast! So I need to go on a diet and a strong will to go with it!

I read about this diet somewhere or was it sent to me through email by someone..where you can loose up to 17 lbs (abt 8 kg) within 5-7 days! This program was developed by a company for its employees for their wellbeing and fitness. I love it cos I can still eat food that I like as much I want to and still loose weight!

I can still eat lots of fruits, vegetables and meat (chicken or beef) and of cos to drink at least 10 glasses of plain water every day to wash all the impurities in your system. The effectiveness of this diet is that the food eaten burn more calories than they give to the body in caloric value. First day is to eat only watermelon..as much as you want without going hungry. Second day eat other fruits plus any vegetable. And so on so forth...other days you eat only meat (beef) or chicken plus vege and fruits again even burger is allowed. By the seventh day you are supposed to loose at least 7-8 kg. I find that I have lost 2 kg by the third day! And I dont feel hungry all the time..isn't that great! You can repeat this program as often as you like without fear of complications or side effects. It will not only make you at least 10 lbs lighter but you feel good too. Light exercise like walking will do you no harm and it helps the weight loss even faster and permanently.....So why not try it for those who have weight problem and still be healthy and energetic. Good Luck!

Mothers celebrate

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOTHERS!!!!!

My celebration was double...Mother's Day and my birthday that came one after the other.

Not really a big bang but just went out for a family dinner. But when we reached

home my three handsome sons took out a Secret Recipe cake

and a small gift as a surprise! So sweet...

Thank you my sons and may Allah bless you all.

They turn out alright after all...Im blessed!

Im one happy mother...

Flower Eater

banana flowers -jantung pisang

blue flower - bunga talang for food colouring

red ixora

white rose

Flowers are not only pretty to be seen but also can be eaten. Maybe some of us will pooh..pooh n ewekkk..when I said that. No way I can eat flowers! Im not a caterpillar or locust (belalang) mind u...But our ancestors were herbivorous before they know how to use tools to hunt meat.

They say if u eat a rose petal a day u can be sweet, beautiful n glowing like a rose! So the next time u want to eat one please choose a white rose cos they say white rose is better than the other colours....

Well I havnt tasted a rose petal or a hibiscus (yaks!) before but difinitely I have tasted papaya flowers , banana flowers (jantung pisang), bunga dedap (very deep red colour), sawi flowers n of cos cauliflower my favourite...hehehe. Mind you back in my kampung when I was small, my grandma used to have all ulam2 (local herbs) and those flowers that I mentioned as part of our daily meals. Since then I have become an ulam eater all my life as my grandma used to say u must eat all those for your awet muda so that you can look young n dont age much! I can vouch for that cos people say I look much much younger than my age..hahaha (angkat bakul sikit!). Well anyway nowadays a lot of research have been done on the ulam2 n other herbs esp in Malaysia n they are found to have medicinal value for all sorts of ailment. No wonder our grandmas used to plant them around the house or gather them from the jungle nearby.

Usually the flowers or buds are made into kerabu, our local salad n they are very delicious indeed. When I stayed at a cousin's house in Sabak Bernam, the main road there was lined with pokok bunga dedap with lots of red flowers in season. My grandma made us picked the buds n flowers to cook! I was surprised bunga dedap can be made into kerabu n it was so yummy too! Then of cos there's kerabu bunga betik (papaya flowers) n jantung pisang (banana flowers)... Besides kerabu, banana flowers can just cut them into quarters lengthwise n boil or steam them to eat with sambal belacan. Bunga betik can be a bit bitter but when u boil them u can just throw in a few young leaves of guava (jambu batu) to lessen the bitterness. For me I like it bitter just like bitter gourd (periya) . But now I have come across recipes for ixora n melur (jasmine) as kerabu too! You can never run out of materials to make kerabu or salad now. Just pick them from your own flower garden! And of cos another flower which is edible is bunga talang. It is used as food colouring esp in making nasi kerabu n kueh nyonya which give the colour blue instead of using a food dye. So there..dont say you have not eaten a flower before!

R&R

Hey Im back in the pink!

Arini nak mereleks kan badan n go for rejuvenation therapy dengan bersauna di satu pusat kecantikan dan spa di jalan yap kwan seng.Last week dah pegi ngan Noni FOC pasal kawan ku Normah dah jadi member. So aku pun sign up as a member gak la cos nak enjoy all the benefits like free sauna kalau aku bawak new frens, 50% discount utk facial n spa yang ade kat situ. Bila dah sign up dapatlah voucher free utk pegi sauna.

Sauna tu adalah sebagai therapy kalau kita ade penyakit at the same time boleh memutehkan kulit, anti-aging, detox dan kecantikan (iyo la tuuu!)....kadang2 sceptical jugak ngan bende2 ni.

Aku dan Noni dah try dah last week. Mula2 tu memang rase panas bila masuk bilik sauna yang boleh memuatkan dalam 10 orang sekali masuk tu. Tapi dah duk dalam 10 mins dah biasakan diri dengan kepanasan nye. Boleh duduk, telentang, menerap, kuak kupu2 ke hape kat dalam tu utk maximum exposure kat bahgian2 yang sakit atau nak di baik puleh....hehehe...Of cos la bilik sauna tu di asingkan antara pompuan dan lelaki. Dalam setengah jam dah boleh keluar tapi tak boleh mandi selepas 3 jam takut demam pulak nanti. Tapi tak selesa la jugak bila dah keluar peluh jantan merecik2 dan mengalir bagai air terjun, tak dapat mandi nak bersihkan diri walaupun dia orang bagi tuala mandi utk lap badan. Anyway bila dah keluar dah kena ekon kering la badan dan berasa segar balik...

Kat sana dia orang ade bagi makan dan minum free, tak kesah la kalau kita bawak 1 lori kawan2 atau keluarga.Tak la makan berat, macam light refreshment like mee/meehoon goreng ke, nasik goreng ke dan minuman jus atau air mineral. Lepas tu sape yang nak join jadi member boleh la isi form pasal skrang ade promosi Hari Ibu sampai hujung bulan Mei ni. Aku sebenor nye nak pakai product basic make-up dia org, pasal ade menggunakan kaedah Bio yang aku rase lebih murah dari product2 branded yang kat luar tu.

Anyway, selain dari tu, aku boleh join bisnes ni selepas aku jadi member..tu pun kalau aku rajin dan tak sebok pasal kenduri kawin anak aku. Rumah dok tengah cat, luar dan dalam tak habih2 lagi sampai hujung minggu ni kot..Rumah aku dah macam tongkang pecah tak lalu nak tengok ari2 naik feningggg....! So today Im going to relax n enjoy urutan jari2 lembut di muka dan badan ku...

Im blue...

So I look blue? No..but definitely I feel blue, grey, black n everything else....


Who cares..nobody cares..do u? Hmm...as expected!



Ok see if I'll be pink, yellow or red tomorrow...