Vacation: Muar [part 4]

Woke up around 10am. Mom and mama already wide awake. Urgh! Still sleepy. Sis still sleeping. Mom told me that the owner of one of the best Bryani Gam will send the food to our room. Can you believe this? Hahahaha. Around 11am, Pak Din came to our room with 2 big plastic bags full with foods and drinks. The price was very cheap! We got beef, chicken, dhal and penchok (Penangite simply called it kerabu or acar timun nenas) and the delicious Sirap Bandung (red syrup mixed with condensed milk)! What a breakfast! Hahaha I guess Suituapui was right, I'm going to be like him soon enough :P

Then after breakfast, I checked email and chat on ym and msn for a while (I wish I knew that we got internet connection days before :( ). Then everybody started to pack.

We called the hotel management Kak Fiza to check out late around 3pm.

We reached at the lobby at 3pm sharp ;)


Then called cab and went to mama's house. Mama asked Jumalri and Najib to buy us some keropok lekor and lychee kang. Jumal told mama that mouse at pc number 16 and 17 were not working. I went to the cc to take a look. Replaced pc 18 with mouse from pc 7 and unplug and plug pc 16 and 17. Actually pc 16 mouse was not working. We need to buy new mouse soon. Lol. I will sponsor ok? :P Its a relief to see Jumal and Najib are very responsible kids and smart too. I like Jumal very much... will buy him present next time I go there.

Spent some times at the cc playing some games and ym-ing. Till 7pm we closed the cc. At least we got some income for the day even tho we opened pretty late haha! Biz is always a biz... what is that suppose to mean? Ignore that part :P

Oh ya before that, while I was having fun in the cc and mom in charge at the server and counter my sis was busy cooking. She cooked bull-eyed eggs and sambal jawa! Sambal jawa is my favorite... a mix of bilis and cili padi (what else ar sis? kindly go to her blog ok? lol). Very delicious. A great appetizer let me tell you ;)


We ate the dinner hungrily and it was ass finger licking good! Then I took shower.

Then mama was kinda upset as we didn't manage to buy mee bandung. But around 8pm Kak Ana came with mee bandung at her hand! Muahahahahaha I was speechless! I was so happy! You know... its not complete if you don't eat mee bandung when you go to Muar! (psssst! I forgot otak-otak lah! Haiyo... rugi!). I ate lil bit as I'll be in the bus for 6 hours and the driver won't stop anywhere I want for shitting :P


Around 8.45pm we kissed and said goodbye to mama. Mama couldn't follow us to the bus station as her leg was in pain and I know how hard to walk with pain leg and worst one leg! I really pity her and wish I could help her... One day mama... sure one day. Saying goodbye wasn't easy...

Reached station around 9pm and we kissed and said goodbye to Kak Ana. She was being so helpful and great hospitality from her is appreciated. I like her cooking too! As the JPJ was bit or over react at the station chased all the cars, Kak Ana couldn't wait long and drove away. 9.15pm we could put stuff at the bus. While we were walking into the bus, Kak Ana ran to mom and passed some boiled peanuts! OMG! She was so pleasant! I told mom that if Kak Ana ever come to Penang, I will give my best hospitality to her! (mama, don't jealous ar :P).

9.30pm bus started to move.

I hate the guy who sat in front of me as he was so dumb and self-centered. He lowered his seat to my knee! I did told him about it. He moved the seat for a while and lowered it again. Lazy to quarrel, I chose to close my eyes.

We reached Penang around 4.45am (from Trolak around 1.45am, imagine how fast? remember no speed trap at night?). Sharol, my bro in law took us at the station.

Reached home round 5.30am. Sis make coffee and here I am at 6.55am. Off to eat some karipaps (curry puff, haha I know we Malay make it simpler :P).

Ciao.

p/s: Oh I got another post about vacation in Muar. Click here. ;)

Vacation: Muar [part 3]

Woke up at 9am. Sit-ups as usual. Got my coffee. Editing pictures for blog. Gonna eat something for breakfast. Still got lots of foods from last night. Lol. Continue later...

Now its 12.12am. Just return to our room. Ok let me tell you what happen after the breakfast...

I rest in bed, watching House MD oon my lappy. After an hour or so battery went flat. No socket near the bed. Nevermind. I charged my lappy and filled the tub with hot water. Wait for a while, then took my book and enjoy hot tub.

After shower, we ordered asam pedas senangin and beancurd to be delivered to our room. They were yummy!


Rest in bed.

Around 8pm, everybody got ready for dinner. Haha we got surprise for my sister. Remember its her birthday? Her 18th.

Mom got plan with me.

Went down for dinner. Waited for few mins for Kak Ana and Nenek. Kak Ana bought cheese cake and put at the counter. Mom told them to arrange with me. I met one of the waiters (let me tell you, the waiters were so helpful and very friendly!) and told them the cake should be brought it after dinner and wait for my signal.

The dinner was great. I ordered sizzling mix grilled with coke float. Sis with sirloin and ice lemon tea. Mom sizzling chicken with ice chocolate. Mama with steak and kiwi juice (not the fresh kiwi tho). Nenek veggie tomyam with warm lychee. Kak Ana beancurd with plain rice and hot tea.

Sizzling chicken for mom

Sirloin steak for sis

Sizzling mix grilled

Drinks

Nenek

Kak Ana

After we have done with dinner, I gave signal to the waiter and they swtich off the light. Everybody were annoyed as its just 10.30pm even tho we know they close at 11pm! Lol. Only me and mom knew the plan. Sis was annoyed too! Then came the surprise! The cake and candle. Sis was so shock and she just cried. Too happy and speechless. I managed to snap some pictures :) We were so happy and sang the birthday song for her. Oh ya! The waiter sang together :) Thanks for the good hospitality. The cake was yummy. I love cheesecake and strawberry hehe.


Then we return to our room. Mom and mama slept as soon as we reached our room. Me here writing this on notepad as the insecure connection here in the room is unstable. I don't know whose wifi is this but big thank :) Me and sis still awake. Still lots of foods to eat and this is our last night in Muar. Pretty sad to leave... but we got to go. Tomorrow night at this time we will be on the bus. Great time in Muar really...

Will be writing about tomorrow when I reached home. Guess I can't post anything when I'm on vacation as the lobby has no socket to charge my lappy. Nevermind, at least I can write about what had happen on the exact day rather than go home and forgot everything :)

Ciao.

Vacation: Muar [part 2]

Woke up around 10am. Mom already ordered breakfast to be delivered to our room. Sausage and baked beans with 2 half boiled eggs. Some cucur udang and bilis too! Man, I was totally full!

After breakfast, took shower and went out to meet nenek. Then went to Malacca to meet relative. After the visit we went to Hang Tuah's Well. Took some waters from the well. Drove home. Searched for satay but sadly they had not opened yet. Drove to Kak Ana's house and she took us to hotel. She bought us some johore rojak. We called it pasembor in Penang. Weird thing was its a Penang Nasi Kandar restaurant but selling different thing from Penang. I wonderred if this is a real Penang nasi kandar restaurant or they just selling the name instead of the food?

About to go ;)

Hang Tuah Well

When we put petrol, we found this... yummy you know :P

Drove to the hotel. Got ready for dinner.


Went for dinner around 9pm and we ordered Asam Pedas Pari (stingray) Johore, bean curd and cuttlefish fried with flour. A plate of noodle too. Sad thing was the stingray got smell. We couldn't even finish our small bit of it. Complaint to the hotel and they said this stingray does smell like this. Mom told us that stingray got menstrual like human and thats why sometimes we will be unlucky. Good thing was they only charge half price and we also got 10% discount for the dinner. Not bad then :) Surfing while enjoying coffee. They closed earlier than usual. Around 10.45pm we went to our room.

Asam pedas pari

Coke float

Cuttle fish

And here I am... writing using notepad haha this is so boring as we don't hhave internet connection in the room. Ok, I'm going to wish birthday to my sis!

Nite guys!

Vacation: Muar [part 1]

On 26th Dec at 10.30pm, my mom, sis and I took bus (Mayang Sari) to Muar. The bus moved at 10.45pm and reached Butterworth at 11.30pm. Can you imagine 1 hour journey we should reach somewhere else instead of Butterworth? Around 11.45pm continued the journey.

I just closed my eyes. Enjoyed the peace...

Reached Muar around 6pm. Still blur. Took our luggage and took taxi to my mama's house. Still fresh when reached there. Mama ordered few packs of coconut rice (nasi lemak) with delicious sambal. Sis fried ommelete for us. Yummy! Then after breakfast we fell asleep. But mom and mama didn't sleep long as they woke up early to open the internet cafe. I woke up around 12pm, took shower and had a look at the internet cafe. Kak Ana sent us lunch. Guess what? Plain rice with Asam Pedas Daging Johore and ommelete! OMG! I've been craving for Asam Pedas Johore for so long. I ate a lot. Then after lunch, I went to the internet cafe room and checking email and playing some games. Internet was quite slow. Internet in southern was down? I don't know. I couldn't change players for my fantasy football too :(

Omelet

The beef (tulang part :P)

The delicious asam pedas!

Closed internet cafe around 4pm and my Kak Ana took us around Muar by car. We went to one of the recreation places in Muar called Tanjung Ketapang. It was like our Botanical Garden in Penang. Full of monkeys! We even feed some monkeys there with crackers.


Then we drove to Tanjung Mas for ice cream and rojak petis. I never try rojak petis and the name is unfamilar to me :P


Went to Seri Pelangi Hotel. My sis and I went to the shopping mall nearby and to buy some snacks and drinks. Some instant coffees too. I realized that my sandals is almost tear apart. The front side. We searched around but couldn't find any that I like. Sigh.


Went back to hotel and got ready for dinner.

Went down for dinner at the hotel and I took my laptop too. Dinner while surfing. I ordered lamb chop with kiwi juice.

Mom & Mama

HSP

Plain rice & bean curd

Sizzling steak

Lamb chop

Kiwi juice & coke float

Coffee

Noodle

Salad

Me & sis

In the elevator :P

After dinner we went back to the hotel. Pretty tired tho. Mom and mama fell asleep as soon as we reached to our room and only me and sis stayed awake for a while. Watching tv and eating noodle. After the supper, I watched tv for a while and started dreaming. Lol. Maybe because the chinese comedy on tv was crappy haha!

Outing on Christmas

Its almost 2am and I just finish packing. I like to write down the items list and tick those already in the bag. I hate to know that I forgot to bring this and that when I'm on vacation or away from home.

Why so late?

I went out with my best friend again. You know, we are counting days for him to go to Sarawak. So, since I have things to buy too we decided to go to QueensBay Mall. The plan was at 1pm but then I texted him to tell that we should make it later as Backstreetboys live on TV! Lol. He replied ok.



About 2pm drove to his house and fetch him.

As I assumed, it was crowded. Not only in the mall, but outside! Parking was full and we were lucky enough to get parking near the white building. We stuck in the traffic jam for about an hour. But luckily he got lots of jokes to tell!



First thing we did, went to Converse. It was just a small shop. I suppose the one in Gurney is bigger. But I still need to buy shoes today. So, took a look and walked away. Went to some other shops to check some other brands. Others sucks.

Went to Jean Station to find something nice. The brown faded jeans was cute. But the cutting from Lee was ugly. After fitting, I decided not to buy.

Went to Converse again. This time I bought the red stripe. The salesboy told me that the green one is the latest but I still prefer the red one. Green to match with jeans? Eww! Paid.

Went to shades shop. Looked for something similar like what Michael Scofield wears in Prison Break. Lol. Found exactly the same from the same brand. RM700+. After consideration, cancel the plan.

Went to Levi's. One of the 505 looks nice. Grab one. Fitting room. Paid. Then we were hungry.

Before that I need socks for my shoes. I want a short one. Went to House of Socks. But they were pretty expensive. Ajil suggested me to go to Jusco. Found some cute ones. Bought. The queue was damn long. Just to pay for the socks. Sigh.

Then went to TGI Friday. Lucky it was not packed yet. You know... Christmas. Everywhere were overloaded with peoples. We managed to get the booth seats. Yay! I ordered fish and chips and chocolate milkshake. Ajil ordered burger and strawberry milkshake. Damn, he didn't tell me that ice lemon tea and soft drink can be refilled forever! Lol.


Went to Borders Starbucks to get some info about countries. Only latte for the discussion.


Went to Jusco to grab toothbrush and some items for Ajil. Then took him to Bayan Lepas and drove home.

So, these are what I bought.


I'm still full now but I have to eat Nurul's cooking before go to bed. I love her foods and I don't want to upset her if she knows I don't eat.

Will be leaving tomorrow in the evening after work by bus. Off to Muar! Will find time if I can be online but if I don't, see you when I'm coming back on 31st.

Take care all!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it :)

Which one should I give to you? Lol.

I wish Malaysia is snowing now ;)

All service staff absent

I went to work today. Eventhough I was still in pain, I need to go to work to get things done. I want to make sure everything is done and I can have a good holiday in Muar start on 26th.

Before I go any further, in administration there are 2 sections. One is service and another one is finance. Service staff are the one who in charge for report duty documents, leave, staff data, punch card and guarantee letter. Finance staff are the one who in charge for medical billing, salary, asset, mileage claim, allowance, overtime claim, purchasing and store. Guess what? None of the service staff come to work and left one in the mailing room. There was no operator too! I was so shock. Its closing account, as its end of the year. People called asking for leave, punch card and even to submit different kind of forms and we were kinda confused. Lol. Why not? We are only specialist in finance. We know lil bit of service thingy but not in detail. Plus we don't have ID to log in to help them! Then aunties around mumbling, nagging, murmuring around about who was behind this and who was the one approve the leave. I laughed out loud in my heart. Lol. Who cares?

Luckily, I was busy with the claims. All in sudden staff want to claim December's claim in December. Yes, pretty confusing. It works like this, you can submit the claim for this month before or on the 5th next month. In other word, you submit claim for this month on 5th next month. Got it? Lol. I will finish them all by Friday. No problem.

My lucky day, our board director bought us lunch. Guess what? Kari Ikan semilang (saltwater catfish curry)! Haha. Its my favorite! Together with bean sprout cooks with coconut milk, crunchy dried fish, some ulam (raw veggie) with sambal belacan (shrimp paste with chilies)! Finger licking good let me tell you!

After eating lunch, no mood for reading today. Shooting some enemies on LAN (Counter Strikes) with not-so-sweet sirap (syrup with red preservative) till 2pm.

Oh btw, we had blood donation today in the office. This time I didn't donate. My condition didn't allow. I really wish I can donate but with some advises from family and friends, I didn't do it. What I like instead of helping people, we can go home 2 hours earlier. So, I won't be stucked in the traffic jam as its not a good idea stuck in the jam with my backache.

5.30pm mom called. She needed to stay till 5.30pm. Need to get done things by today. Great. Stayed till 5.30pm and drove to KOMTAR to fetch her. Luckily the traffic wasn't bad.

Reached home cit chat with mom (I tried not to think about the heartache) and off for shower. Mom went out with sis and on their way, they bought dinner. Char koey teow for me.

Was too tired. As usual, when too tired. I fell asleep right after YMing and SMSing with some friends. Awake at 4am. Switched off light and continue sleeping.

Now its 7am and my mind not 100% concious.

Traditional massage

Before I go to sleep just want to share about what had happen today. Ok, I woke up and I had this backache. I couldn't move at all. Nothing much in my mind other than going to the private hospital. Mom wanted me to see doc at the clinic first before consider to go to the private hospital. I just agreed.

After a while I could walk, and took shower and got ready for meeting the doc. Bro in law wanted to take me there. I agreed. Afraid that I will bang some other cars because it seems like I couldn't move much.

Met the same doc like yesterday at Penawar Clinic. The one replaced Dr Akbar. I didn't care much. Told him bout it and that was it. He showed me some pictures in his laptop and he had no problem with me looking for traditional massage. He said its just muscle pain. I asked him whether its related to slip disc and he told me no. Then he told me about thousand of people outside if we do MRI he could promise me that half of them got slip disc. You got what I mean? (that was exactly what he said to me). Meaning slip disc is just a term for it. Slip disc can only be detected by MRI. Whatever... I didn't really like him anyway. Not that he wasn't friendly, but just the way he checked was too mild. You know... its like this is not my clinic. When its time to go home, I should go. This kind of attitude... I don't know. Maybe just my stupid instinct. Then he gave me 2 types of painkillers and that was it.

Went back to the car and my bro in law drove here and there searching for traditional massage. Do you realize that its pretty hard to find traditional massage in Penang? I mean real traditional massage. Not the one with whooker around! You know... old man with great skills?

Then after some help from colleagues, we found one in Permatang. My friend Takdir had suggested me to eat pill from pharmacy (is it remitend? don't know the spelling) rather than make it worse with traditional massage. Bro in law wanna do massage too there, so I just follow. Reached there and we had to wait almost an hour. A family was there for the massage too.

Then when it was our turn, we had to take off our clothes and only wore sarung. The massage was really painful. Hard to describe by words. I wanted to scream but I closed my mouth tightly. It worked... After he had done with me, then it was my bro in law's turn. He got accident before and he suffered more than I do. He screamed!

After the massage, we went to petrol station then straight to Pak Husin for our late lunch. Yes it was 4.30pm. I was starving and its not good as I had sensitive stomach since the food poisoning. Ate then went home. Took shower as my whole body was full with oil from the massage.

Tired. Aching. Then... I didn't take the painkillers as after the massage he gave me 2 pills for the nerve. So, I didn't want to mix up everything.

Woke up at 9pm. Felt fresh a lil bit but the pain was still there. Touched that part, still pain. Frown. Mom bought nasi goreng but I have no appetite. Ate a lil bit then took my pills and here I am. Chatted with few buddy on YM and replying SMS on cell.

I need to get well soon as I have meeting on Christmas about next year plan and will be in Muar on 26th. I cannot cancel the plan as hotel already booked and bus ticket already bought. Sigh. God please help me :(


P/s: You have made up your decision. We are not going to meet anymore. Enjoy your vacation with the love one. Ciao.

Back ache

I'm not feeling well today. Yesterday (since the night before) I had diarrhea caused by the food poisoning. Not only me, but some other colleagues too who went for a wedding at Sungai Dua.

But I got another weird thing happen to me. My body is aching badly. Yesterday, I was hardly move. Mom and sister helped me by doing some light massage. I hoped the pain will just go away.

Last night after eating dinner and took my medicine (for food poisoning), off my laptop and went to bed. I fell asleep even though I couldn't move much and still in pain.

About 7am, I was shock to see the sun is rising and I realized that the pain was still there! I was hardly move as the pain was killing me. Grab my cell and called mom. She told me that we can't go out to work as usual as my dad's car battery is flat. Oh... that's great. I did not go to work yesterday and I want to go to work today! I will be on leave on 30th and 31st but will be leaving Penang on 26th at night. I am not afraid of workload in the office as I have finished them all before 10th. That is my dateline anyway... I am not involve with billing stuff.

I simply texted mom that I want to go to clinic as soon as possible and check what is my condition now. It is really killing me and I hope I will be ok soon. I don't want to go to Muar with back ache like this.

Now, everybody is still sleeping and me in front of laptop with the pain that I am hardly bear :(

My workstation

I can't remember how many tag in my list but Nurul keeps reminding me to do her tag lol.

Not in the mood to write about anything... so just do her a favor. Food poisoning from Sunday wedding (oi Syam... whole office involved ok!). The foods were yummy as I never eat yellow rice with dates before. Love the chicken and beef too. Sorry no picture. It was crowded :) Not going to work today, drowsy, body aching and sore ass. What's better you can get from food poisoning? Damn.

Here we go:

This is my pc in the office. On the left Man Utd's picture... which always give me inspiration and on the right are key-chains from friends who went vacation. This is how I show my appreciation. Hey, mind you... my place has been announced as the most cleanliness and tidy. Some peoples might say "Do you have works to do?" and hey... remember this, I'm doing your work now and I can still maintain my clean workstation. Any other excuse pal? Lol. Ignore my organizer and book that I'm reading now. Yes I read when I have free time, anytime, anywhere.


This is the environment. Ignore the ugly carpet ok? Not my fault but this old building is going to collapse soon. Trust me. Don't ask me how many time it shaked and we had to run down the stairs. Simple type in the search box: earthquake. Its a video recorded by my buddy.

P/s: Nurul, are you happy now? ;)

Hang out with best friend

I planned to go shopping shoes, shades and jeans with my best friend who is just coming back from Turkey with his lover ;) but the plan had been canceled because his lover insist to meet him right after a bad news occur.

What was the bad news? Ok, he had been going through an interview, a course and practical for teacher. He passed all of them and he was hoping to get posted somewhere in Peninsular. Not Borneo of course. Sadly, the result was not on his side. Instead of me being shock, his family and lover were absolutely in despair.

So, it is ok to cancel the shopping plan and let him meet his lover.

Around 7pm, he texted me asking whether I still want to go out for coffee. I replied "Ok. Make it 8.30pm and I fetch ya". He replied ok.

I haven't eaten dinner and nothing in my mind except Old Town (even though I hate their too spicy Asian Delights!).

Fetched him at 8.30pm and had to pass the wedding invitation cards to my 2 aunties. From relative who I don't really know... even pronounced their name wrongly to auntie lol.

Reached Old Town about 9pm and I ordered Hor Fun with cold white coffee and he ordered butter kaya toast with hot white coffee. It was windy and as usual I prefer to stay outside rather than inside eventhough I don't smoke.

While waiting for the foods and drinks he passed me 2 albums of him in Turkey. Turkey is such a beautiful country I'd say. So, he told me the whole experience while he was there... we had a good laugh.

Then came to the depressing part, posting.

Nothing best I could do was to calm him down. I just told him that he needs to take it easy and do not forget about Venice and Paris trip next year. Then he smiled.

Then the conversation changed to my boring work and his boring course.

I ordered another cup of coffee, hazelnut coffee. The name is sweet but the taste was so so. He just need sky juice as he said the coffee was too sweet. Neutralize so he said. Lol... I know the neutralize part just a good excuse for your brain to accept that it is ok to drink sweet thing but the fact is the amount of sugar still remain the same in your blood :P

Without we realized, time flied so fast. It was 3 hours of cit chatting and mom texted me to buy them nasi kandar with chicken and veggie.

I drove to Makbul nasi kandar in Bayan Baru and bought them what they want. Then drove him home. Surprisingly he gave me a sourvenier. Guess what? Yes it is a cute grey shirt written Istanbul at the front :) I was so happy and the word "thank you" had been repeated for thousand of times.


While driving home, I was thinking of overnight at "timun's" house but then I guess it was too late. Just simply wanna keep the romance out of dullness, boredum and lust. I don't know... don't even want to think about it. Let it be...

Ciao.

Male circumcision lowers cervical cancer risk: Study

WASHINGTON: Three studies published on Wednesday add to evidence that circumcision can protect men from the deadly AIDS virus and the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

The reports in the Journal of Infectious Diseases are likely to add to the debate over whether men -- and newborn boys -- should be circumcised to protect their health and perhaps the health of their future sexual partners.

Dr. Bertran Auvert of the University of Versailles in France and colleagues in South Africa tested more than 1,200 men visiting a clinic in South Africa.

They found under 15% of the circumcised men and 22% of the uncircumcised men were infected with the human papilloma virus, or HPV, which is the main cause of cervical cancer and genital warts.

"This finding explains why women with circumcised partners are at a lower risk of cervical cancer than other women," they wrote in their report.

A second paper looking at US men had less clear-cut results, but Carrie Nielson of Oregon Health & Science University and colleagues said they found some indication that circumcision might protect men.

The circumcised men were about half as likely to have HPV as uncircumcised men, after adjustment for other differences between the two groups.

In the third report, Lee Warner of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and colleagues tested African-American men in Baltimore and found 10 percent of those at high risk of infection with HIV who were circumcised had the virus, compared to 22 percent of those who were not.

"Circumcision was associated with substantially reduced HIV risk in patients with known HIV exposure, suggesting that results of other studies demonstrating reduced HIV risk for circumcision among heterosexual men likely can be generalized to the US context," they wrote.
Studies supporting circumcision to reduce HIV transmission had all been done in Africa and US studies were less clear.

Dr. Ronald Gray of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and colleagues said they found the reports encouraging.

"In the United States, circumcision is less common among African American and Hispanic men, who are also the subgroups most at risk of HIV," they wrote in a commentary.

"Thus, circumcision may afford an additional means of protection from HIV in these at-risk minorities."

But they noted that the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend routine circumcision for newborns.

"As a consequence of this AAP decision, Medicaid does not cover circumcision costs, and this is particularly disadvantageous for poorer African American and Hispanic boys who, as adults, may face high HIV exposure risk," Gray and colleagues wrote.

"It is also noteworthy that circumcision rates have been declining in the US, possibly because of lack of Medicaid coverage."

Medicaid is the state-federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

Thirty-three million people globally are infected with AIDS, which has no cure and no vaccine. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world, with 20 million people in the United States infected. It causes cervical cancer, which kills 300,000 women globally every year. - Reuters

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I got this article from lelucon.
Are you ready guys? Lol!!!

Prawn Mee

Ahhh... nothing beats the prawn mee (read: noodle) in Teluk Kumbar. Instead of typical prawn mee which usually it comes with soupy-like, they also have fried mee and fried rice (also with gigantic prawns - A Grade). I tried the typical one before so this time I tried fried mee.

Mom has been craving for this prawn mee for so long and I just couldn't manage to take her there because of my hectic timetable.

So, today I used all the energy left just to make her happy! (oh please don't give me compliment as the one gives critic is my friend and the one gives compliment is my enemy haha). Instead of mom, daddy, dayah and dy joined the dinner too.

To those who live in Penang if you know where is Perikanan bla bla located then make sure you turn right as soon as you reach the front gate of that Perikanan. Yes, the restaurant is a living house. Don't be surprise ok?

P/s: Cahaya don't tell me you are craving for this as you pushed your luck away few days ago! Haha.

H2O + CO2 = H2CO3

What do you understand from this formula? Yes, I know its a simple chemistry reaction. Let me explain a little bit.

CO₂ (carbon dioxide) + H₂O (water) ⇌ H₂CO₃ (carbonic acid)

I have read an article (sorry the article is in Malay) about we can't exhale into the water as it will produce chemistry reaction like vinegar (acetic acid). Carbonic acid and Acetic acid are totally different. Even though I'd agree with the article that H2CO3 is acidic but H2CO3 won't harm us. Good example of H2CO3 is our soft drink.

Is there any doctor or chemistry professor who can help me in this? I know there must be an answer about this.

How to become a MILLIONAIRE LANDLORD

Finished reading this book 2 days ago (guess what? I've finished reading this one in the toilet again!).

First question, why should you involve with property? Is there any better investment that can give you these criteria:

1. give a decent return (above inflation rate)
2. requires minimal work on my part
3. requires minimal time
4. finance by other people's money
5. within my control
6. has acceptable risk
7. gives tax reliefs
8. gives peace of mind

Great isn't it? If you can suggest other investment that similar like this I'd greatly appreciate.

Yes, I hear you. Some mates asking me about what kind of house is the best for investment? I'd say medium cost flat or apartment (low cost is great deal but often has problem with maintenance and they are hard to sell because of the agreement stuff). Why not semi-d or terrace? I won't say you cannot buy those house, but for investment (rental) the best is you get yourself an apartment or medium cost flat (Azizi says condominium and apartment... but I know that many of you can't afford to buy one with the average salary between RM1,000 to RM3,000 and other debts around and I know the condominium price in big cities like KL, JB and Penang are simply impossible) because we are talking about the best way to rent.

If you have to move to somewhere let say Penang for work purpose, will you rent a terrace house or apartment? Based on the rental price you will definitely rent an apartment. If you do that, do you think others will do otherwise? Plus, with busy schedule working from 8am to 5pm everyday they surely have no time to go some other place for sweating themselves. So, apartment has always provide some facilities like pool and gym. Not to mention tennis and basketball court. What's better than this?

You must always make sure your rental give you a positive cash flow. That means, you are not paying for your property but the tenant does. Let say you pay bank RM500 monthly for the housing loan and your tenant pay you RM600, this is a positive cash flow. Ok I hear you saying what about the maintenence fee? Nowadays the maintenence fee is 10cents per square feet. That means if let say your apartment is 900 sq/ft then it will be RM90. Still you get RM10 for the positive cash flow. Better than negative right?

Now, when we are talking about positive cash flow what criteria do you need to look at before buying a house? The answer is simple. LOCATION. Most people buy the wrong location and then whining why it is hard for them to get tenant and worse they get negative cash flow every month. Example of good locations are near to school and office, shopping malls just nearby, in town, near to hospital and near to public transport such as bus and train station. These are good example to be considered before you buying it. Again I'd suggest KL, JB and Penang are the 3 best cities for you to buy (bear in mind, do not buy properties that are too far from you as it is easier for you to look after it). Do not buy properties in Sungai Petani as example as the price is very slow to go up and the rental is so cheap. But if you are looking for a house to live, then go for it. Cheap and spacious. Many of my colleagues complaining that the rental is way too cheap and they simply can't make money out of it!

Another good thing is buy the property below market value. You can get good deal at the auction! I haven't tried this one but my friend did and Azizi would suggest us to buy through auction too. Before you go into auction, you must check on the house you are interested about the market value. If the house value is RM150,000 and you buy it at auction with RM160,000 then you have lost RM10,000 in a blink. Usually peoples in the auction will have some groups that will keep rocket up the price and please don't be fooled by them. Get your fact right. Get some info and books before you jump into auction ok?

Financing your property. Most peoples hate debt. I know, I'm having the same problem. To me, if you don't afford to buy thing cash, meaning you are not afford to buy it at all. But it is not the same with property. It is fine if you buy house for living but if it is for investment then it is other way round. I you rent the property you can claim interest portion of the mortgage as tax deduction. This is a significant deduction as the interest of the mortgage is extremly high during the early year (as much as 90% of the payment). For example, if the mortgage is RM1,000 a month some RM900 of it will go for settling the interest portion only! This mean that you can deduct RM900 off from the rental income received when calculating the tax due.

Other than the tax deduction buy financing your property, you can also buy more properties. Let say you have RM100,000 in hand. Instead of buying 1 RM100,000 property you should just pay RM10,000 for the down payment and you can finance your property for RM90,000. That means, you can have 10 properties by doing the same thing instead of buying only 1 property. But that is only an example to give you a clear picture. Do not do that! Remember you must have at least 3 months salary in your bank account ok? 4 or 5 properties is more than enough as you can rental as your business income for income tax. Meaning, if you have less than 4 houses, you will be listed under 4A section and get taxed but if you got 4 houses, you will be listed under 4D section and you even can claim money from them! Life is wonderful... isn't it?

You are a millionaire landlord when the tenants:

1. pay rental on time
2. pay rental automatically
3. handle all minor problems themselves
4. happy to have you as the landlord

The most imprtant thing is the Tenancy Agreement. You must have this in order to make sure everything is going smoothly. Most of my friends say that it is a waste of money when you have to pay for stamping and you will get taxed when they know you have rental as your side income. Mate, listen... if you do not have this Tenancy Agreement, you are not only risk yourself when they tear apart your lovely apartment like what tsunami does but they can also stay there for free! What prove do you have against them? Let make it as simple as it could be. My dad has experienced this before and so does my colleague's mom who didn't get rental payment for a bout a year simply because the tenant is in financial problem and need sympathy. Ouch!

There are more keys that will lead you to be a Millionaire Landlord but you need to get yourself a copy of this book. It is worth it! (ah RM39.90 for a great book like this? you spend more than that for your retail theraphy! liability!).

Where wealth is concerned, direction is more important than speed
-Azizi Ali-

Nurul & Daddy's birthdays

Grandpa = Dec 11.
Sister (Nurul) = Dec 12.
Daddy = Dec 13.

What say you?

Yes. They were born in a row. Nobody is going to miss any of these birthdays.

So, early in the morning of Dec 13 (we planned to go before midnight of Dec 12, they are not good in planning lol) we went to Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC - I know to us Malaysian we would know what is KFC about... I just explain to those who ain't Malaysian :)) to celebrate 2 birthdays at once. There is once KFC which is very near to our house and opened 24 hours. Cool isn't it? :)

When I reached home from work I was too tired. Reached home, lock my door and went naked, jumped onto bed and passed out.

Woke up at 9pm and I felt fresh. My head not so heavy as earlier. Head was full with craps -- works and my own little love story. Love story? Craps.

Then mom told me that we need to go to sister's house as none of them were awake including my bro in law and niece. Oh sleeping beauty and the sleeping parents :P

I was still blur. Went to shower. Get some cold water (my heater was kaput since ages ago!) onto my smooth athletic body :P and my mind starts thinking. Thinking about things that happen lately. Why love someone who can't love you back 100% and have to divide the love to 2 persons? No. This is me. I will try my best to get what I want, but if the thing keep running away from me or resist to make it happens then I will get fed up. Enough is enough.

Ok, enough with what I was thinking in the shower.

Done with shower. Drove family to sis's house and Dayah and Dy went up to knock the door till they get up. Not that hard though.

Then we drove to petrol station. I need to get some cash. Petrol station was closed. Went to Maybank in Bayan Baru, the machine was out of service.

Then I just drove to KFC and hoping that they accept Visa as my Maybank debit card (don't you know the latest Maybank ATM card?) can work as Visa credit card too (nice trick yo to clean up the mess in our account? lol). When reach there, I saw there's a sign at the counter saying they accept MasterCard. Damn. Went to the cashier and asked her... ok fine Visa can be used. Fuh...! (while I'm writing this it rains all in sudden... replace my tears eh?).

I ordered some foods (mom wanted more, told you mom that we are tend to buy more than we needed when we are hungry... so girls please eat before you buy groceries or even shopping!). Then we waited for sleeping family to come. About 20 mins they reached and we started the party.

I got myself 2 drumsticks (hey! I know you don't eat drumstick lol... remember we went to KFC at 4am? there you go again) and ate some cheesy wedges, fries, whipped potato and some coleslow. The party was fun and followed by giving out presents.

I was busy playing with my niece. She loves me a lot... (does she knows she is going to get anything she wants when she grows up? haha).

We went home at 3am.

Reached home, got my toothbrush and facial wash and then jumped onto bed again.

Happy birthday sis and daddy! (we should go to steamboat restaurant, but who is gonna open till that late?)

Argh!

Don't ask why I choose these two songs.

Speechless.

Right now, I just miss AMA, BCW, ASC, KVC, JNLM, SSSH, A, R and K. I don't know. All the feelings just mix up.

Take care.

P/s: Today is my grandpa's birthday. He is not "here" with me anymore.

DVD ROM is fine now

Remember I got DVD ROM problem on Sunday? Good news is I got it fixed up. No no... not me alone. My online game friend (read: Ragnarok Online) has helped me! Thanks to Wan aka Cimox! (read: Lowyatt Forum).

He helped me with the improper signed drivers such as SM Bus, Coprocessor and Unknown device. I'd say he is just the best man I ever know for laptop. Not only for those conflict drivers but he helped me fix the audio driver too! I could hear sound before, just that I couldn't use my mic. Now, the mic is on! Haha I am more than happy and I'm writing this right after I'm done with 4 episodes of Season 2 (read: Prison Break).

Ops! I didn't tell you about the DVD ROM is fine now?

Yes, he simply sent me Power DVD! I guess my codecs for Real and Divx were corrupted. Haha what can I say now? I keep saying thanks to him whenever I see him online on YM or MSN. He just brights up my day...

Anyone who got problem with your Compaq Presario V3713AU drivers, kindly email me alright? I will be more than please to help you. By the way, if you wanna buy a laptop you can let me know as he can give you best price together with the drivers! You know you won't get full set of drivers at some shops (ok ok if you got them, you are just total lucky :P). Plus, he will help you at anytime anywhere (of course via MSN and YM lol).

Thank God for the faith I have and thank Wan for the help. Believe in karma... "what goes around, comes around". Thanks again buddy!

Leech project course

Anyone looking for a course for leech project? I know many of you have heard about this handsome income project. You don't need big capital to start. First you need a course on how to start. That is basic :)

I am helping my friend to spread this good news to my fellow bloggers :) If you really need this course you might click here. No harm click on it in case you wonder what is this about.

Ok, now here come the interesting part. If you want a great package, here is the deal:

1 person = RM350
5 persons = RM325 each
10 persons = RM300 each

But not to forget you have to mention my name in order to get this great deal :)

DVD ROM is not working!

The device manager. Can you see some items that are not installed properly?

DiVX problem.

Real Player...

Kindly click on the pictures for bigger image.

Great! My friend do not have much time to go shopping and he has limited time until 4pm. I don't like to choose thing in hurry and to run here and there for stuff that I need not really my cup of tea. So, I cancel the shopping plan and told him maybe we can go some other days. I know he needs to entertain his fussy grandma (even though he is just arrive home from Kangar) decorate the house with his grandma style (eww, I hate when someone tells me what to do!). Not to mention she love nagging and yelling. Typical. Plus, I understand he is kinda hurry to pack things for his honeymoon in Turkey! Enjoy the honeymoon mate.

Instead of going out shopping all by myself, which I plan to hang out at Starbucks after shopping (nothing much to shop just some shoes -- Yonex badminton shoes, Power jogging shoes and Converse casual white shoes to match with my jeans). I can't imagine me alone in Starbucks drink while talking to myself (miss the blueberry cheese cake). Crap.

I choose to stay at home. Ok, DVD time! But my plan gets stuck. Why? The DVD all in sudden could not be played! Can you imagine that? Told you before that I borrowed Prison Break 3 seasons and almost done with the season 1. Yes, the 6th DVD ending for Season 1 the two last episodes when he pointed the gun to the warden. Last week the DVD ROM was fine. Weird... very weird! Sigh. I start to hate Compaq laptop. Let me know if anyone wanna buy it... gonna change to Mac Book. Grr...

I hope someone could help me solving this problem. I have sent question to forum and asked around in YM but seems like I didn't find any answer yet.


P/s: Off... continue reading after cold shower. It's pretty hot here!

Happy Eid Al-Adha

Happy Eid Al-Adha to everybody (I don't want to get blame for greeting only one race again :P)! I hope this year it will be the grandest Eid Al-Adha ever! To those who do not know what is this celebration about or the history of it just simply click on the hyperlink alright? It is not a good idea to copy paste from wikipedia anyhow hehe.

Maybe some of you want to share the sacrifising experience and the ceremony? I know a lot of you got story or stories to tell. Come lets share them :)


P/s: I do not mind if the comment is longer than my post. It keeps my mind working hehe.

Teddy Meme by Mariuca

The Spirit of BEAR-iuca

-START COPYING HERE-

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a powerful Genie Princess named Mariuca who was known throughout the land as the friendliest, most popular blogger in the blogosphere kingdom. Adored and admired by international visitors and commentators from around the world, the Genie Princess travels the blogosphere on her magical flying carpet, always looking for ways to share her good fortune with others.

Over the past two years of blogging, Mariuca has met so many new people, from all walks of life and all over the world, each one bringing a little of their culture and lifestyle when they visit and comment on Mariuca’s two sites. So on her 2nd Blog Anniversary, Mariuca wanted to celebrate with all of her international blogosphere buddies by hosting a bear-naming contests at Wishing On A Falling Star and Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery and to pass her two lucky, cuddly teddy bears along to the winners who came up with the best names.

On the opposite side of the world, from the moment Roxy (the prolific Roxiticus Desperate Housewives blogger) and her sweet daughters London and Maddie saw the teddy in his personalized t-shirt and blue muffler at Wishing On A Falling Star, they knew that he needed to come to live with their family in Mendham, NJ. The three New Jersey girls named him immediately and burst into a wonderful song for BEAR-iuca:

BEAR-iuca, BEAR-iuca, amazing teddy cheer.
BEAR-iuca, BEAR-iuca, we’d love you to come live here!

Mariuca received 16 possible names for the Mariuca Teddy Bear, making it hard for the Genie Princess to choose just one…then Alakazam! A bolt of lightning delivered the perfect way to share BEAR-iuca’s good fortune to bloggers around the globe. While the soft, stuffed, cuddly BEAR-iuca is on his way to live with Roxy, London, Maddie and Rex in the Roxiticus Valley, the Spirit of BEAR-iuca is racing through the blogosphere to bring happiness, holiday cheer, and beary best wishes to everyone who welcomes him into their online home and passes along the BEAR-iuca good luck charm to ten friends.

Please play along with us by following a few important rules:

1. Add your site(s) to the list once you have received the Spirit of BEAR-iuca badge of teddy bear cheer.
2. Pass along the Spirit of BEAR-iuca and his cheery badge to as many people as you like.
3. Leave a comment HERE once you’ve passed on the Spirit of BEAR-iuca.
4. Once Roxy and the Genie Princess have visited your site to make sure your links are complete and proper, you will then be added to the Master List.
4. To ensure everyone receives equal link benefit, please UPDATE your list regularly!

BEAR-iuca LOVES

1. Mariuca 2. Roxiticus Desperate Housewives 3. Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery 4. Roxy’s Best Of... 5. Bay Head Blog 6. Roxiticus Best Blogs 7. Emila's Illustrated Blog 8. Metz - Empty Streets 9. The Spirit of Blogging 10. Speedcat Hollydale Page 11. Snapshot 12. purplefrogcat 13. Turn-u-Off 14. Simple Life 15. A Little Girl Talk 16. Life in the Lapadula House 17. Spicybugz World 18. The Mom With Brownies 19. Our High School Homeschool 20. Our Five Dangerous Boys 21. The Big Dog 22. Life is too short to be ordinary 23. YOU ARE NEXT!

-END COPY-

Lets join the meme and get to know more blogger friends around the world ;)

Yahoo Maintenance

I simply hate this -- Yahoo Maintenance (click on the picture above for larger image).

I wonder why Hotmail or Gmail never have this kind of situation. What if you need to use email urgently? What if you need to check some old emails to refer on something urgently? I wonder.

You have to tell the person who needed the information that your Yahoo is down due to server maintenance? If I am that person, this is such a lame excuse. I do not accept excuse :)

So, here we go. I need to check some important emails everyday and when this happen nothing else I could do rather than smiling (remember I have changed and there is no more anger or stress?).

Have you ever experienced this before? Share with me :)

Bottom Top

BOTTOM TOP is a story on Bertha, a 52-year-old mother, who is about to re-marry. Secretly, Bertha is trying to find a seating partner and ultimately a partner for her single gay son Melvin, and suggests men in her life. Starring Dato’ Faridah Merican & Mark Beau De Silva.

Who wanna go with me?

Presenter
KLPac
Dates & Times
12 - 13 Dec @ 8.30pm
TICKETS
RM25 / RM15 ONLY (students, sr. citizens & the disabled)
VENUE
The Actors Studio @ Greenhall, Penang
BOX OFFICE
04 263 5400

A Mighty Heart

I have finished this book last week. I am glad that I have bought this book from Rozella. It is such a wonderful true story. Thanks Rozella for the great price :)

This book is about a man named Daniel Pearl or well known as Danny Pearl a Wall Street Journal reporter who went to Karachi with his pregnant wife Mariane Pearl. He was kidnapped by terrorist in Karachi and then found beheaded days after the kidnapping. The reason was because he is a Jewish! It was so tragic :(

When I think about Mariane and her son I cry. I really salute Mariane as she was so brave, strong and never give up till the end. I do not think I would have that strength if I was her.

To those who do not know anything about this you can simply google or surf about it in youtube. I did not know there is “A Mighty Heart” movie acted by Angelina Jolie as Mariane! I will get a copy of it for sure!

Here are the interesting excerpts:

Don’t lose your smile okay? We’re going to get bald and fat and old, but you can’t lose that smile –Danny Pearl-

This excerpt really touches me. Someone has said this to me before. When I reached this part, I just couldn’t help but having watery eyes.

How can anyone live without hope? – Mariane Pearl-

Objects inanimés, aves-vous donc une âme
Qui s’ attache à notre âme et la force d’aimer?
Inanimate objects, do you possess a soul
That comes to our soul, and demands to be loved?

-Alphonse de Lamartie-

Words of farewell to the house that Danny and Mariane stayed when there were in Karachi.

My love life needs a double-click. Sometimes in the process called life, my document titled ‘love life’ has been lost. And, like a cyber-crime investigator, I am trying to recover the lost file from the formatted hard disk of my heart – Dost-

I like this excerpt the most. Feel like it is just about me.

Thanks again Rozella!