Quote

"... from personal experience that when the people we love make choices, we don't always understand them. But we can go on loving them, just the same. It isn't a matter of comprehension. It's forgiveness."
Jodi Picoult - Vanishing Acts

Friday, May 30, 2008

life of a pair of pants

Finding a perfect pair of pants is hard especially for women. If guys, I think it would be easier, there are many brands with good fitting, eg Dockers etc... Perfect pants equal to perfect length and also perfect fit at thigh, butt and waist area. No wonder if we have a favorite one, we’d like to hold on to it as long as we can.

I recently realized I haven’t bought new pants in years, because I haven’t found a perfect one yet! In my case, finding a perfect casual pants not work pants. I’m still holding on to my college pants which I adore very much. I have few favorite jeans which I could barely fit into. They used to fit me perfectly. Now, they’re just soooo uncomfortable to wear. I blame it on all the food and my laziness.

But back to history of my pants. I'd like to think that they had a happy life since I’m a good owner. Heheheh… There’s this one jeans that I super-adore, and I’ve been bringing the same jeans to travel wherever. So, it’s actually a very cultured jeans.

What about your favorite pants? Do you have any? What do you think about the day in your pant’s life like? Maybe you can create stories about it, and send it as video to Dockers contest. You might be lucky and end up with prizes in this Dockers contest.

Sponsored by Dockers

240x180

Thursday, May 29, 2008

the day before a long weekend

Today is the last day of working this week, as sabah gets holiday from the harvest festival. I haven't blogged this as people might think I'm a shopaholic (irk, maybe I am...) But.... I couldn't resist to buy a new SHOES two weeks ago! I've bought myself a super-comfy, super-cute running shoes. It's grey with pink! Okay, it's a motivation for me to get into the running mode. I still can't run for 10 minutes without stopping (always gasping for air).

Recently, I found out that jogging at Likas Lake is not safe at all... Especially those who leave wallets, laptops and other valuables in the car. So, I've decided to jog near my workplace. It's a good place, and I can watch the sunset after running. What a great view!

I've been shopping a lot a bit! So, if I have no money to buy food, I wonder if I can trade my shoes + shopping stuff for food. Eh, do people still accept barter system?

*** I just found out people came to my blog from google search. Some examples... a)hidden message behind teletubby (hmm teletubbies are weird, and i dont watch them), b) gossip kippc (i don't do gossipz in my blog yea! i just prefer to do that in person. hahahha) c) wrong reasons to be in a relationship (nor I'm a relationship guru! i'm a wreck myself) I guess, with google, we can search everything :)

Happy Holiday! eh for those who don't get cuti tomorrow, happy working :) hehehhe

Sunday, May 25, 2008

wedding wish

Me n aneem

Congratulations to my dear friends Aneem & Wanzaw who are tying the knots today! I wish I could be there to witness you two lovebirds get to be husband & wife. May your life filled with lotsa happiness and joy in days to come ;)


influential people

I was bloghopping just now, and stumbled into linachu's blog. I am too lazy to write on what she wrote, so you can click there and read by yourself.

I stayed up late watching these two clips from youtube.

He delivered this speech during CMU's commencement

This is his last lecture.

Passion is something that fills you from inside, and let it not be money nor material things. Also, find true love where his/her happiness is more important than yours.

Randy Pausch was one of the people in Alice's development. It's actually an educational software that teaches people how to program. People use the drag and drop tool to animate their virtual world, and unconsciously learned about the relationship between the codes and the products. 10% of US colleges have started using this software in their classroom. I wish I had the chance to use this when I was taking CS. All I had was boring visual studio where I had to worry about syntax, error, debugging, breakpoint, and all the other stuff. It becomes so technical, and taking c++, there was a big chance that your grade will be c+ as well. I'm curious on how easy it is, so might go and download it here.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

female talk

I know most of my blog readers are female... So I guess I don't have to worry so much about writing about female topics...

If you're a guy, maybe you should stop reading ...

I've been obsessed reading a lot of fitness articles lately. Well, not too much until it becomes obsessive. So today, I read about the importance of good sports bra, since I've been thinking of purchasing one or two to add in my closet. Guys might not have any idea why women keep needing reasons to buy things that they don't need eg in my case a super-good sports br@.

"The importance of a good sports bra for runners: Running causes your breasts to bounce and this movement creates stress on the Cooper’s ligaments which are the connective tissues which hold your breasts up.With age these ligaments slacken and breasts begin to sag, however, running can accelerate (reallly????) this syndrome. Sports bras have been specially designed to absorb the shock of bouncing and reduce stress on the ligaments which cause breast sag."

*Info from this website

So, girls do invest in a pair of good running bra or maybe it's time to stop running. Heheh..

*Eh lana, I sounded like the person you said in your blog, investing so much from the neck down only (clothes, shoes, handbags etc), but nothing from the neck up (brain)... Gagagaga..

Secondly, I went to get a medical check up early this month for work purpose. Then, I saw an ad for HPV Vaccination on the wall. I remembered reading about it few months ago in a magazine, it mentioned that the vaccine is now given to girls 11-26 years old(preferably before having s3x) , mostly on western countries. I asked the nurse, she said the cost is around rm400++ and it's given as 3-doses vaccine. Over here, you can get the vaccination if you've had s3x or not.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a common virus that is spread through sexual contact. Most of the time HPV has no symptoms so people do not know they have it. There are approximately 40 types of genital HPV. Somes types can cause cervical cancer in women and can also cause other kinds of cancer in both men and women. Other types can cause genital warts in both males and females. The HPV vaccine works by preventing the most common types of HPV that cause cervical cancer and genital warts. It is given as a 3-dose vaccine.

Info from this website

I'm not sure whether the virus can be transmitted other than from s3xual contacts. I guess if none of the married couple had s3x before, the risk of HPV transmission is low. But if you have doubts of your partner's past (can men be trusted?), maybe it's time to get vaccinated. They say the virus is affecting more women than men (Duh, men don't have cervix!). Married and those who are s.active, pap smear is a good way to detect any infections early(I heard it's ouchy!). But as for the singletons, it's a good thing you and I don't have to worry about all of these things :)

*mel, i think i've been reading too much webmd. i hope you haven't. hehehehe...

Until then, have a fabulous weekend ;)

Friday, May 23, 2008

no turning back

During lunch break today, I finally sent in my half-marathon registration form at their office in Wisma Merdeka (Have to send in early coz I want to get the early bird fee :p). So I guess, it's finally confirmed that I have to run whether I'm fit or not on the race day.

The first running clinic will be on Saturday 7th June 2008 which will be led by Malaysian famous ironlady Dr Fiona Lim. Yea, she's the same Fiona Lim the dentist at Fortuna.So, I'm hoping I'll get some tips from all the regular marathoners and the race directors as well. I'm still amazed of what human body can accomplish.

My muscles still sore from my walk-run on wednesday, but gonna go for a walk-run again today. Tips: Do not stretch before warming up. So walk for 5 to 10 minutes before doing your stretches

Also, check out the borneo marathon blog.

** I am a first timer, so I am excited. heheheh..

classic & trendy

One of the things I do every morning is to check my celebrities gossip blog. Sheeesh, it’s my thing, so quit it… I realized how Gwyneth Paltrow always has that classic style. She always put on a simple top/shirt with a jeans, khakis, or a tailored pants on, and they look good on her. That's the thing, classic style never go wrong. My own personal style is always simple, jeans and a nice top. Of course I can’t resist cute little dresses which I’ve bought when they were on sale. A girl gotta have a little black dress, right?

Something classic or something trendy? Which one would be your next purchase? I guess a little from both of them. If you want to purchase something expensive, let it be something classic so you can wear them 5 years from now, let it be a black pump, tailored black pants, classic white shirt, or Dockers khakis. Hmmmmm, I wonder if this is a good excuse to buy that super comfortable black pump that costs rm300….

If you’re creative and would want to make tv commercial for Dockers contest on my chosen style, do check out the website okay. Who knows, you might be a winner for this Dockers contest.


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Sponsored by Dockers

Thursday, May 22, 2008

training updates

My walk-run yesterday wasn't too bad, I survived 3 rounds (3km) of tasik likas. It was mostly walking than running, and honestly while running I was gasping for air most of the time. Not to mention that stomach ache that I get while running. I wonder why that happened? Not drinking enough water? Eating too much? Eating less? Strenuous exercise? So, today as usual I started doing some research on running again. So fellow runners, this might be informative to you as it is to me:-

As a beginner, you're going to do two things: First, incrementally increase your weekly mileage and long run, which translates into more endurance. You'll need this in order to run for more than 2 hours. Second, you'll do some gradually longer bits of running at faster than your normal pace to build up your stamina and keep you strong over the last third of the race.

The importance of tempo run: But the point is moot if you don't train at the right pace. Run too slowly, and you'll fail to produce excess lactic acid. Run too fast, and lactic acid will build up too quickly, bringing you to fatigue before you've hit the 15 to 20 minutes necessary to gain the desired training effect.

Four Training Universals

You need to have all of these four in your training schedule.

Rest means no running. Give your muscles and synapses some serious R&R so all systems are primed for the next workout. Better two quality days and two of total rest than four days of mediocrity resulting from lingering fatigue. Rest days give you a mental break as well, so you come back refreshed.

Easy runs mean totally comfortable and controlled. If you're running with someone else, you should be able to converse easily. You'll likely feel as if you could go faster. Don't. Here's some incentive to take it easy: You'll still burn 100 calories every mile you run, no matter how slow you go.

Long runs are any steady run at or longer than race distance designed to enhance endurance, which enables you to run longer and longer and feel strong doing it. A great long-run tip: Find a weekly training partner for this one. You'll have time to talk about anything that comes up.

Speedwork means bursts of running shorter than race distance, some at your race goal pace, some faster. This increases cardiac strength, biomechanical efficiency, better running economy, and the psychological toughness that racing demands. Still, you
want to keep it fun.

Information from http://www.runnersworld.com

Thanks to all of your suggestions, now I've compiled a list of running places in kk:-
1) Tasik Likas,1 round is 1km
2) Park near Taman Fortuna, next to Arkib
3) Taman Tun Fuad (can be quite scary if you're jogging alone esp for girls)
4) Tg Aru Beach

Anywhere else?

Do you want to know how much calories you're burning from your work out? Check out this calories burning calculator, I've found out that I only burn 230 calories from 30 minutes of running at 5 miles/hour. To mommies, don't worry, if you're breast feeding, you're burning 350-500 calories per BF session day. How cool is that, now you can go skip the gym :)

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

why not change the world?

Random picture from commencement: me n mel
Today, exactly three years ago, RPI class of 2005 stepped up on the stage to receive our so-called-important-piece of paper called a degree in hoping we can change the world. After three years in working life, yes, I've found out the cold-hard-truth, that's not an easy thing to do. But in the hope to remain optimistic, I still believe we can change the world... Maybe not in a big way like inventing the first flying car or cure for hiv, but if we can make a good difference in somebody else's life that's good enough...

So why not change the world?

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

running

I've finally gotten my running shoes! So, gonna go for a short run after work tomorrow, 30 minutes of walk-run for a start if weather permits... Motivation is super-low right now, but I'm just gonna do it. Plus, I miss the adrenaline high I got from running. I also have a weird thinking that jogging somehow would clear my deep, dark n twisted head...
**I need suggestions of safe and ok place to go for long distance jog in kk. Anybody knows?

bloggerwave

It’s been my third year of blogging, so far I’ve been enjoying it. Only lately I’ve caught up with blogging for money. I even make a list in my head of what to buy with the money I will earn :) It’s so easy, I can write my opinion on certain products at the comfort of my home, and then I’ll get paid! Make money with my blog has never been easier with Bloggerwave.

Monday, May 19, 2008

today iz holiday

little angel sleeping.. Baby Katrina 14 April 2008 ~


Photo taken from postsecret

So why don't we start our monday with a little kindness?

Friday, May 16, 2008

my cheese

I read fictions mostly, but in attempt to add a little variety to my readings, I do read some non-fictions sometimes. "Who moved my cheese" is in my books collection. It's a very simple book, can easily be finished in an hour. It's about 2 mice and 2 little people with their hunt for cheese in a maze. Cheese is a representation of money, material things, job or success in life.

The four of them had enjoyed the luxury of plenty of cheese at station C. The two little people, Hem and Haw had established daily routine and had enjoyed their cheese supplies without realizing that their cheese had depleted over time. The two mice, Sniff and Scurry however realized that their supplies have been decreasing, and they were mentally prepared to find new cheese.

One day, Hem and Haw went to get their cheese at "Station C", imagine their surprise when they'd seen no cheese at ALL. They were shocked, and angry about the whole situation and kept blaming how unfair the situation was. They both went home hungry, and hoped the situation would change the next day. The next morning, in hoping that the situation would change, Hem and Haw disappointed because still no cheese. Haw proposed they could start looking for new cheese, but Hem still feel victimized about the whole situation and did nothing.

Sniff and Scurry, instead of feeling victimized and over-analyzing the whole situation, went straight to find new supply of cheese. After looking and hunting in the maze, they had found more cheese at Cheese Station N. It was even more than the original Cheese Station C.

Feeling victimized, Hem and Haw still pondering about their cheeseless situation. They hadn't been around the maze for awhile now, they were scared of the unknown and clueless how to cope in the maze. But one day, Haw realized that their cheese-less situation won't change until he does something about it.

Haw started to question himself what would he do if he's not afraid? So he decided to look for new cheese without his friend Hem. In his journey to find new cheese, he started to write down on the walls for his friend Hem to see...

Change Happens
They Keep Moving The Cheese
Anticipate Change
Get Ready For The Cheese To Move
Monitor Change
Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old
Adapt To Change Quickly
The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese
Change
Move With The Cheese
Enjoy Change!
Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!
Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again & Again
They Keep Moving The Cheese.
Haw found little cheese here and there, and found the excitement in the journey. But he was excited when he found cheese Station N which was filled with more delicious cheese than Station C. He also saw Scurry and Sniff who had been there for awhile enjoying their cheese.He realized if he'd never started looking, he wouldn't even have found this cheese station. He'd hoped his friend Hem will found his writing and found his way to cheese station N. This time around, Haw had become more alert of his cheese supplies and are ready to change...

But... what if you "thought" you want this particular cheese sooo much, then when you have found that cheese, you realize that you're not happy with that cheese after all? I guess start looking for another cheese type...

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Death Note

Are you a fan of supernatural movies or action-mystery manga? I know friends from college who kept a collection of anime and manga in their hard disk. I’m sure they will be excited upon heading that DeathNote is going to be out on (selected) cinemas on May 20th and 21st. If I can have a supernatural power, I wish I have the power to go back in time so that I can fix my mistakes in the past. But as people say, mistakes needed to happen so you’ll learn your lesson, and prevent the same things from happening again in the future. I guess this wishful thinking is from watching too many supernatural movies. If you want to watch the movie, go ahead and book for your tickets early as seating is limited!

Unknown

Sponsored by NCM Fathom

post-secret

I've always wanted to post my secret to postsecret, I just don't know when and which secret... If you read postsecret, you might be surprised (or not) with how dark and deep some secrets are... There are just things that we can't tell the people that we love. Some secrets are best left behind, isn't it better to just face forward instead of keep looking back of what had happened?


** the things that keep us sane are the people that we love

I was watching Gossip Girl last night, okaaay, first of all, stop thinking all chick flick movies/drama are shallow and superficial and sooooo fake. Serena had a deep dark secret which she didn't tell Blair nor Dan. This girl Georgina showed up in her life unexpectedly and wanted things to be the same before Serena left for boarding school. I feel for Serena, she did things that she regretted and tried to do things differently. But her secrets finally catching up with her. Yes, Dan is a super-sweet guy, and I can understand why Serena didn't want to tell her secrets. What if the moment she tells Dan her secret will be a turning point. The point when Dan will never look at her the same again or it could bring their relationship to even deeper level... So things happened in the past, should you share it with your present?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Rambo

Do you remember Rambo? I remember watching it when I was younger and found the thrill in this action movie. I even played the video game when it was out on micro genius console. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Rambo First Blood is going to be out in the cinema for only one night which is on May 15,2008! Sylvester Stallone fans shouldn’t have miss this big event because they’re going to show never-seen-before ending and also an interview with the star. If you haven’t watch the trailer, you should watch it! You think you’re a big Rambo fan, why don’t you try the pop quiz on the website?



Sponsored by NCM Fathom

training...

Training plan:-

DayWeek 1Week 2Week 3

Monday

Rest day

Rest day

Rest day

Tuesday

30 minutes easy run/recovery run

30 minutes easy run/recovery run

30 minutes easy run/recovery run

Wednesday

30 minutes easy running

30 minutes tempo running

40 minutes tempo running

Thursday

Rest day

Rest day

Rest day

Friday

30 minutes easy run/recovery run

30 minutes easy run/recovery run

30 minutes easy run/recovery run

Saturday

Rest day

Rest day

Rest day

Sunday

Long run: 3 miles

Long run: 40 minutes

Long run: 5 miles


**Info taken from this website

I have to dig up my running shoes, running shorts etc...

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Translation

One of my favorite book is the Kite Runner which I found very deep and touching. Do you know that the movie for that book is out in the cinema as well? I was excited to watch the movie as much as reading the book but unfortunately as far as I know zero local cinemas is showing kite runner the movie. Maybe because it's a foreign movie with subtitles, with little english dialogues. Most of the conversations are in Farsi, one of the popular language spoken in Pakistan.

But I am excited to wait the movie out in DVD version though. Since there’s subtitle for that movie, I’m sure I won’t have any trouble understanding it. After watching many foreign movies, I realized how important good translation is to a movie. One word wrong could bring the sentence wrong altogether.

If you are in the advertising or broadcasting company and looking for translation and interpretation company, don’t forget to ask for free quotations from IAFL translation agency. They deliver fast translations and one of the leading translation agency in India and Asia.

run while you can...

I had just spent TWO freakin hours on the road... Tired, sleepy and almost dozing off... The tricks to not get bored & pissed off on the road: think happy thoughts, make a list in your head ( I keep memo pad & pencil for my lists in the car!) and sing along to the radio!!!

blergh... tbc...

After much persuasions, I've decided to force myself into my first half marathon! I know, with my laziness much more love to sleep, eat, and laze around, this seems soooo impossible.

But... you can do anything as long as you put your mind on it, right? It takes physical and mental fitness to finish the run. From my calculation, I have exactly 21 weeks to prep myself up for the 21 kilometres run. Gawd, did I just type 21 kilometres and I don't even walk to my grandma's house which is less than 1 km away...

Route (at least if I feel I'm gonna faint, I know there are many hotels on the way that I can go check in! Heheheh)

time limit of borneo international marathon
**both taken from Borneo International Marathon website

I'm not going overboard thinking I should get all the running gears: good running shoes (important!), good running bras (important!), good running tops, running pants, pedometer,(where can I find this?), sunblock and all other accessories... Hmmmmm maybe I do NEED a new running shoes (shopaholic thinking...)

Will be reading running websites for beginners in the next few weeks and set up a training schedules. KK has been raining heavily (with heavy wind) in the evening, how to train like this? Wake up early? That's totalllly out of the questions....

Monday, May 12, 2008

Join me, would you?

Yes, I am one shopaholic girl, no doubt that shopaholic series is included in my favorite books of all. But after coming back home few years ago, I just realized that books are expensive here. I can’t afford to buy more than a book a month. Reading has always been a passion of mine and my bookshelf is filled with books which are mostly fictions. Just recently, I have just changed my cleo magazine subscription to readers digest since I can find more interesting articles in the magazine. When I were small, I thought someday I could be a writer (paid writer), and maybe now my dream could come true!

I have taken the opportunity to write and get paid by advertisers because I just joined SocialSpark. I finally get to write and also get paid by writing my opinions about certain products. Other advantage is I can get more involved with the blogging community worldwide and subsequently drive more traffic to my blog. I also found out that SocialSpark is a great place to build networking on the internet and learn more from each other.

Good thing about joining social spark is you can express 100% of your opinions without having the obligations to write of what is expected of you. The 100% transparency and audit-able in-post disclosure are part of SocialSpark code of ethics as well. Also, it is very search engine friendly which is exactly what we need! If you want the opportunity to blog for money, don’t hesitate to join SocialSpark


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Sunday, May 11, 2008

tv shows season finale

Are you ready for 3 months of no tv shows? I guess we have no choice as season finale of most shows are almost here...

Grey's Anatomy
May 22 - 2 hours season finale (2 episodes left)
Desperate Housewives
May 18 - 2 hours season finale (2 episodes left)
Brothers & Sisters
May 11 - Season finale (1 episode left)
Gossip Girl
May 19 - Season finale (2 episodes left)
One Tree Hill
May 19 - Season Finale (2 episodes left)

Enjoy it while it lasts...

Are you up for it?

Ms Ulai ym-ed me about a website. I thought it must've been about food or some outdoor activities or hmmm food. Heheheh..

The website is for Borneo International Marathon which will be held on 12 October 2008(Sunday). I'm surely going to join, not full marathonlah, since that is freaking 42 kilometers. I could barely walk without hyperventilating from the car park to my office. So my target is maybe just to run 10k within the time limit. I doubt that I could join half marathon (that's 21 km, 3 times of 7km sunset charity run for sutera harbor), especially september is fasting month, so can't train during fasting month. Don't blame me, I want to enjoy all the pasar ramadhan food :)

If your 2008 resolutions is to lose weight (like mine), this is the perfect motivation to do so... Plus, some of the registration fees will be donated to charities, so know it that you're doing it for a good cause.

They also have running clinic for beginners near likas sports complex, so might be good opportunity to learn from the running seniors ;)

Early bird registration is before 31 May. So if you want cheaper registration fees, do send/fax your registration form asap okay?

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Birthday pressie

Thank you all for the birthday wishes!

Will update birthday pressie pictures! Oh, including the ones that I got for myself :)

to be continued....

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

I can't quite believe...

She turns 25 today...

Thursday, May 01, 2008

materialistic girl in materialistic world

Wishlist non-stop...

I want a 50mm lense. Haih... I'm so itching to get this for myself special for five-more-days-to-go event. Why I need this? I don't have a steady hand, and I hate using built-in-flash for my camera. I mean, who likes their face to be super-shiny right? Nobody... I need a lens that be used in low-light conditions and can make people's faces to be flawless (hmmm...) But the thought of having no pay for the next hmmm 3-4 months stopped me. Maybe I'll wait till things become more stable... In 5 more days, I'll be having a true quarter-life-crisis. *age is just a number..* age is just a number...*. And stop asking what is my 5 years plan, maybe my 5 years plan is to have "a 5 years plan figured out". Well, something good happened tho, when I went to JPAN few months ago to meet my aunt, some auntie asked me whether I wanted to pick up the (post-SPM) scholarship form. So I guess I still pass for 18 years old.. Hahahaha..

Another ticket to Bandung for another shopping spree. I didn't get to go to a lot of FOs nor having dinner at Kg Daun or Dapur Sangkuriang. I heard these places are beautiful.

A ticket to beautiful Bali.

*I wonder if preggie Hormones are contagious from hormonal mommies... (***trying to stay sane***). I just found out that miss A is going to be a mommy soon, congrats! I guess it right last time :)

***** Quarter-Life Crisis Mode ON *****