I miss home, really.

Currently reading: Violin by Anne Rice.

I ordered ABC Special. It has been too hot and I have feeling thirsty for something cold. My order came with durian-flavored vanilla ice cream on top of ABC. I guess that's why they call it special. It has ice cream on top. It's not quite like the one I always ordered. Maybe the durian flavor in the ice cream changed the taste of it. My palette has been so looking forward to the taste of Melaka sugar that's always in Pappa Rich's ABC Special. But it's alright. It, being cold and sweet is nice. I am not a sweet tooth but when I crave for something sweet, I go for it.

Right now, the sunset reflects on my hair, I am sitting, by, the way, with the sun behind me. I can imagine seeing my hair, glistened by the sun, fiery in its fake mild golden brown color. I can only see my shadow across me,on that brown wall bodering PappaRich and stalls selling cheap clothings.

I have been reading the book and been looking at my shadow in between. It reminds me of how my students described me when I sit at the table, marking their papers. I guess there's fascination in seeing their teacher flip her hair. Little do they know I do that subconsciously when I see wrong answers on their papers. I thought about it right after they told me about either touching my hair, my temple, or when I flip my hair. I realized I do that when I see mistakes on their tests.

-Morning Has Broken- That's in the background -- at least just the instruments. A happy song. A song of hope; for someone like me who is at a state of deep night. I hear hope. Morning has broken. When is morning going to be broken? When is my morning going to come?

Why do the rest of the music they're playing sound so depressing? It's as if pulling my soul into a darker, deeper night.

I better move on. I have nothing to do here.

Anne Rice and her Violin can wait.

Then I walk along the main road where structures for light rail transit is being constructed. I have to go up the overpass bridge that connects the road from USJ 19 Mall to my housing area. I have such fear of heights, I guess. Or maybe, it's the fear of having the bridge collapse while I'm on it on the car-packed road below me. The thought just gives me shivers. I hear myself prodding me to run. Why do I fear death, anyway, if my destination after-life is with my Creator?

I think this fear remains the most mysterious of all that plagued almost all of human race. I think it's the fear of the unknown that besots mankind. I guess only people that have faith as small as a mustard seed don't fear death. I may not be one of them. Are you?

I need a reality check then. Where does my faith go after all these years of believing in our Savior?

Forgive me, Lord.

Strengthen my faith.

When it does, maybe, just maybe, my morning would be broken.




PappaRich, USJ 19 Mall

We are just blessed to have imaginative and creative minds. Every day, new ideas spring up and spark an invention. I came across this website about yoyos and I have seen how our minds can really work. The yoyo is called Spintastic spinabolo Pro Diabolo. It is somehow very different from the usual yoyos I have seen and it is a Chinese yoyo evolution. I have also read in that website that when you buy one of their yoyos, you have to read the instructional videos that come with it. So it must not be an ordinary yoyo, and I think you have to have the skills to be able to play this kind of yoyo and learn the different tricks. It did stir up my imagination as to how it is played, it is just one unique yoyo.

He is coming to town. Russel Peters is.

Russel Peters is an international stand up comedian from Canada. I first heard/watched him and laughed my head off about his Indian and Filipino story.

Anyways, below is one of his videos.




Russel Peters is coming to Malaysia for his 2012 World Tour. He's going to perform in Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam on the 12th of May.

I am pretty sure the stadium will be packed. After all, people like to be entertained with satire, racist jokes.

Legoland is coming to Malaysia! Wow! The first Legoland I heard was from Florida, USA. I have heard it's a great theme park for families. I have been thinking that if maybe, we could find
cheap flights to orlando for a family of four, we could go and visit Legoland Theme Park.

Imagine being able to go and enjoy this family-oriented theme park. And imagine being able to go because they are coming to Malaysia!



Legoland will be the first international theme park in Malaysia. The only set back is, it's going to be in Johor Baru. That's 5 hour-drive away from Kuala Lumpur. But I guess it's very strategic as Johor Baru is brodering Malaysia and Singapore. So those visiting Singapore could cross over the border in a few minutes and come to Malaysia for Legoland.

Those coming from Kuala Lumpur will just take a bus, or drive down for 5 hours and yes, we could enjoy Legoland without having to fly out of the country.

Legoland Malaysia is open to public at the end of 2012.

Malaysia, are you ready?

I am a sucker for raw oysters. Okay. That didn't come out right. But really, the thought of eating chilled raw oysters topped with tabasco sauce and squeezed lime juice makes me drool.



When the hubs came back from Thailand, he surprised me to a Japanese eat-all-you-can meal at Shogun Restaurant in Sunway Pyramid. My eyes almost popped out at the sight of raw oysters. Then I realized there's no tabasco sauce. :( That's a really sad part coz raw oysters is nothing without tabasco sauce. But I ate almost 20 pieces anyway. Hehehe.

And while checking out my groupon emails - I have been a member since last year - I realized Holiday Inn had a an offer of 45% off their International meal that included raw oysters as one of the appetizers.

I am truly tempted to buy one.

And if ever I buy the voucher and claim it, I make sure I have tabasco sauce in my bag - just in case they don't serve it with tabasco sauce.

I think that would be a great deal.

The husband has been invited for a trip to Brazil. Before you get so excited, hold it off before I finish this. LOL. It is very expensive to go to Brazil. If I want to go with my husband, I need to save for a few months before I can come up with just my return airfare.

And besides, I have nobody to leave the kids with if I go. That, or a promise of a family trip for our next trip. So there's no way I can go with the hubs, financially-wise and kids wise.

Is my husband going tough? That is still yet to see. There are too many things involve if he confirms to go.

Anyways, it would really be nice to go to Brazil, considering it's once in a lifetime opportunity.

And so we'll just settle with a plan for a family trip somewhere nearby. And if we can get one of those cheap egypt holidays, why not, right?

You can tell my feet are itching to travel again. It has been such a long time. Wait. The most recent family trip was in December. Not too long ago. It feels that way though.  But I want to keep the promise of taking the kids with us on our next trip.

I hope by the time I am ready to go, we still get the opportunity to go to Brazil, with the kids.

Easter Sunday 2012

From my diary:

Here at an International Church in Kuala Lumpur. Our Chinese neighbor invited us for Easter celebration. It's like being transported to a different Malaysia. More expats. Rich Malaysians.

Looked for our neighbor who invited us. Husband, when spotted him, went over to greet him. I followed. He introduced us to their pastor, who was an American man. Then, he just left us. Had a quick chat with the pastor. He's very friendly. He basically wanted to know what we do. Then we were left alone on our own.

We looked for our neighbors again. Spotted the family having fellowship with their friends at the other table. So this was it. We're invited just to watch them having fellowship among themselves.

Somebody came to greet us Happy Easter. Hope rose. I recognized the accent. It made me smile. No wonder there's such hospitality from this lady.

After breakfast, we went inside the church. Since it was still early, the music team was still practising. Beautiful voices, I said to myself. The song leader spoke. I recognized the accent. Again.

There's something about my people that is so different. So different it makes you smile. And proud.

The service went well. It was contemporary for a traditional church like that. I enjoyed the service though. Hymns were sang. Reminded me so much of my childhood days where I was  part of the choir.

One remarkable moment was the communion time. Saxophone and piano in the background. It was so beautiful I almost cried.

Came out of the church and came home without seeing our neghbor who invited us. He's supposed to be introducing the hubs to the convening committee. I felt funny.

I enjoyed the church nonetheless. It was good to be singing songs for the Lord in a straightforward manner. Songs that you don't guess the meaning between the lines. Songs that truly glorify God the Father.

It was beautiful regardless of being neglected by the neighbor who invited us. Will we ever go to that church again if he invites us back? If we see good reasons for leaving us on our own, then probably, yes.

After all, when we go to church, we don't look at people. We don't look at the circumstances. But we do look up to the God who invited us to His Kingdom first. And that's the most important thing.

That was my Easter Sunday.

Har-har! Finally, I was able to purchase from Groupon Malaysia. I had been wanting to do this but I said I wanna reserve it for something special later. And I think what I purchased is something special, with a 79% discount.

Imagine if I could buy vouchers from Groupon for my house' garage floor coverings, it would be great. But for now, I am not sure if there's any company that would offer discounts so great like for a garage floor coverings.

Anyways, I need to spend a few days to finish this project. Once I am done and the product delivered, I am going to blog about it. Promise.

I am now stoked. :D Grin.

Schenker goes for piano lessons once a week. No he doesn't go to a Yamaha school or any music school. He goes to our neighbor to learn how to play piano. Schenker is musically inclined. He's also interested to learn how to play drums and play guitar. It would be good to invest on one of those Richmond by Godin Guitars for him. I am pretty sure he's going to need one when he learns how to play guitar.

But for now, he's focusing on learning how to play piano. We do have an electric piano at home but I guess it would be nice if we can have a real piano. I hope to be able to invest on that, too.

One of my molar teeth has been loose and I just left it like that until recently, I've started feeling the pain in my gum and now it's extending to my ear. And now I am thinking whether to pull it out or go for root canal.

I think it has been infected. I am not sure if I want an extraction. I heard it's painful to do root canal treatment because they have to drill under the tooth, fill it with a substance to sterilise the tooth. I am quite nervous with the idea.

The easier alternative is just to extract it. And never feel the pain at all after that, no fear of infection later.

But then again, I will have to leave it toothless coz I don't want to use a fake denture for my molar.

Things like these require one to learn more so we know what we're up to and not regretting of any decision to do things.

We'll see how. I need to ask around on what better to do coz root canal treatment in Malaysia costs a bomb!

I know it's been a hype for a long time now. I saw the trailer when I was about to watch Sherlock Holmes in December last year. I thought it was interesting to watch. The Hunger Games. But I never had a chance to watch it in the cinema when it came out in Malaysia. Then I realized they made the movie out of the book written by Suzanne Collins.

One of my students was reading that book in the class... which of course, I reprimanded coz she's been so engrossed with the book and slowed down her work goals in the process. I told her she could read but only after class.

Funny because she told me, you also must read, teacher. You will be happy if you do. She said she watched the movie after reading the book but it's nothing like reading it first coz they removed a lot of scenes and changed some, too.

And so I said yes and she gave me the book to read.

It took me awhile to start coz I was too busy with work.


Then when I was a bit more free, I started flipping the pages. It's so beautiful I never asked for spoilers when reading a book before. But I did ask my students who have watched the movie and who have read the book. They never told me what happened to Peeta.

And so while enjoying my read, I started finding God in The Hunger Games. I am not too sure if I personalized things so much these days... but I did just that.

The book opened with Katniss and Gale into it. I wanted so much to write the summary of the Hunger Games book but I guess you can read it everywhere in the internet. So I will just talk about how I feel while reading it.

Panem, the country they were at, used to be North America - you should really read the book so you know what happened and why they have to do the Hunger Games.

Katniss apparently volunteered when her sister Prim was chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. Each district should have 1 boy and 1 girl representatives. The boy that was picked was a baker's son named Peeta.

I tell you, I could relate the boy's sacrifice for Katniss' safety in Jesus. He was willing to lay down his life because of his love for the girl. There's just a lot of things the boy did while in the arena for the Hunger Games to save her life. And remember, he is a baker's son.

Back to the story where they were still young, when Katniss' father died at the coal mine explosion and Katniss stood up to be the breadwinner for her mother and sister coz her mother withdrew from them when her father died, Katniss almost lost hope when this boy, Peeta, threw bread in her direction for her to eat.

I thought it was a symbol of Jesus giving us bread... a hope, a life. Katniss was almost dying with hunger and hopelessness then... but after the bread incident, it gave her much hope and life.

I still dunno the significance of the dandelion everytime Katniss comes in contact with Peeta. It's probably in the second book.

But Peeta truly symbolizes humility, sacrificial and loving unconditionally in the story.

I finished reading the book last night, -no, this morning at 2am- and truly, I am glad I read the book.

What about you? Have you found Jesus in the Hunger Games?

Now I am ready to watch the movie, no matter how they did it.

Catching Fire is on queue now. Will read it on the weekend.

Getting accurate information is necessary in all things, from all things. That's especially when it comes to health and getting a health care provider.

We should be able to find and get accurate information of the right doctor for the right treatment.

Imagine having to contact a doctor who is not the right one to cure a disease. It is not only a waste of money, but also, a waste of time, at your health's risk.

At Doximity, you try keying in Stephen Daquino DO and it will give you the right information of a physician that you need.

When our health is a concern, it is definitely an utmost priority to get accurate information.

My husband and daughter arrived yesterday from his out-of-the-county meeting. He and my daughter were gone for almost a week. That means for almost a week, it's just work and home for me and my son. So today, after church, it's going to be shopping day. Yay!

I need to shop for a new pair of shoes. Have I told you already? Women can never have enough of shoes? LOL. Anyways, I wanna go to Sunway Pyramid. Not sure whether they use pcamerica for their paying system. But I am sure going to get those pair of shoes from Charles and Keith I saw last month. I hope they're still on the shelf.