Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Same T-shirt...different country


We're just across the Selat Teberau....so close and so very different. The main gripe is the exchange rate. Everything's more pricey. I guess if you're travelling further from home, you can allow yourself the liberty of spending just that bit more than what you would normally spend. But a 45 minute flight away....it feels sinful to spend slightly more than twice the amount for most things. So I window shopped...and took pictures. This is me, in Takashimaya. The sales were on-going and I was surrounded by Singaporeans with huge spending power.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Need a break!


I cannot wait for the last week in December. There's christmas, a family get-to-gether, home-cooked food and ASTRO.
Posted by Picasa

Monday, December 01, 2008

What I have been up to...in the month of November

Yesterday we went Christmas Shopping at Midvalley. The decorations are up......after visiting Bangkok everything in KL seemed expensive in comparison. I bought one magazine. And spent the rest of the time window-shopping. Don't you think the christmas trees look gorgeous?
The most recent trip would be to Bangkok.We spent 5 days there...and we left for home via Suvarnabhumi international airport just two days before the fiasco at the airport. Such a shame, Bangkok is a shopping haven. Loads of stuff to buy. It's difficult to shop and take pictures. No prizes for guessing which dominated the trip. The picture above was taken at the grounds of the Grand Palace. No shops there....no reason to spend money so I concentrated on taking pictures. Loads of people including local school children....I saw 2 girls posing and asked for them to pose WITH me in this shot. These kids....they keep us young.

Some time in November,the catholic korean community pitched in for a fun raising event. There were tents pitched up in the old parish hall grounds and after mass, the next obvious stop was these tents and the promise of authentic Korean fare. And we had a taste of home-made korean kimchi...korean pancake, korean rice ball and korean sushi. The women-folk were chattering away in Korean. Too fast for me to make out any words. ( I dun speak korean but after having seen at least 6 korean serials...I should have been able to make out some words.) These ladies are making rice ball. It's rice with different types of filling.






Jimbo wrote that there's a conspiracy re number of hours in a weekend is significantly shorter than the weekdays. I have another theory, as the year ends, your system slows down ( like it knows christmas is around the corner ) and what takes 30 minutes to complete, now turns into a 2 day event. The picture above was taken in Port Dickson, that's my kipling monkey being squished into the sand. It was done cos there was nothing else amusing on the beach. And it felt therapeutic.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Presents from Friends!



I have good friends. They feed me well. Which makes it difficult to diet at times but I'm not going to complain. The tarts were from Mas...and the variety of cookies in a famous amos tin were from Sue. If it hadn't been for a growling tummy two afternoons back, I would have honestly gone on thinking the tin of famous amos cookies...contained famous amos cookies and nothing else. A very pleasant surprise...which I'm sure the friend didn't meant to...but it was.

Kerepek Bawang

How do you make this keperek bawang? Why do I ask? Mainly because it's very addictive to eat and getting your hands on a crunchy , non oily, cracker with just a tinge of onion taste is hard. The more commercially produced ones are thicker,less crunchy and oilier. This came from Pahang courtesy of Adda. ( THANKS very much....)

Friday, October 03, 2008

Little luxuries in life..




There is a reason to feel euphoric today. After just one working day we are thrown headlong into the weekend. And it rained which made it seem even more like a day to indulge self in something nice. Food was out. There is only THAT much of good food you can stuff into your stomach in less than 48 hours. And unlike cows, we've been short-changed with only ONE stomach. A nice buff , a pink-glow peppermint and lavendar scrub later..and I have nice shiny nails with a touch of pink to call my own. The holiday spirit made me chatty, so Phoebe ( not her real name ) and i chatted while she buffed my nails. She thought me some tagalog and I taught her some Malay. Barter system...
Now comes the hard part...it takes a full 24 hours for the nails to dry properly. In the meantime I'm handicapped. Hair washing post-poned to tomorrow, typing on the laptop with the pulps of my fingers is harder than I thought...plus doing just about anything is hard. I want to keep the shiny nails as shiny for as long as I can you see. Is that too much to ask?

,

Thursday, October 02, 2008

What I'm reading today...


One of the many books I bought during the TIME warehouse sale at Plaza Damas last month. A steal at RM 15. Good condition, no dog ears and no scribbles inside dedicating the book to some obscure name which you find in most second-hand books. Am at page 19.
This is the FIRST time reading this author. ( Oh oh I've only just realise this is Cheek's second book I'm reading. ) Why her? OKay I admit, the cover ( shallow, shallow ) attracted me, the paper quality was to my liking and the synopsis at the back seemed intriguing. It isn't until this morning, that I took a GOOD look at the author. Once again, the face is not ugly, so that rule of ugly auhors writing well must surely be thrown out the window at this stage.

CLockwork

I am watching West Wing. I've watched the same episode at least 3 times. And like clockwork I fall asleep at exactly the same point. Stubbornly I restart the DVD from the begining, which means I'm incredibly well versed with the script right up to the point where Sam Seaborn gets interviewed re election in California.

This morning, something good is happening, I'm passed that point and can finally learn what happens after...and whether the heart-lung transplant actually gets done.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Souvenirs from Ho Chin Minh City




These pictures were bought from Saigon. It shows the traditional costume which is a tight fitting top worn over pantaloons. A cross between a cheongsam top and a punjabi bottom. I didn't see any overweight women in Saigon. Is this a sign of healthier eating? Or a sign of a struggling economy? True or fale...one in two Malaysians are overweight!! The next time you are tempted to take a second helping, just remember, being overweight is unhealthy.

Pet tupai named Poo-poo


Plucked from the jungle in Raub, Pahang, this baby tupai had the misfortune of falling off a tree. It was "saved" from obscurity by a couple of do-gooders ie my dad and his friend Uncle Sonny-boy. The journey doesn't end here, this tupai then took a trip to KL and stayed overnight at my apartment. Not bad for a small-town tupai!
It's name is poo-poo. Possibly inspired by the pooh it emanates? The do-gooders are cagey over who named the poor little tupai. Suffice to say if it was my Dad, I need to be very thankful I got named something sensible. I could have had pooh as my middle name? *shudder*

Things I have learnt from watching West Wing


1. Martin Sheen is a really really good actor. He was initially signed up to play a couple of episodes. The plan was for the story to be centered on the people working at the White House, rather than the focus being on the President himself. That didn't quite work out. On shooting the first episode, it was plain to everyone, that Sheen's role as Jed Bartlet would be central.


2. The presidential debate plays an incredibly important role and is used as a marker of who will actually win the elections.


3. The oval officer has more than two doors and is indeed oval in shape.


4.Martin Sheen had a weak arm as a child and he puts his coat on in a distinct manner. Flicks it over his head. It's done in a split second. So unless someone points it out to you ..you'll probably miss it.


5. Stockhard Channing, matches Sheen word for word in any argument they may have on screen. And it's a testament to both their acting skills.


6. Aaron Sorkin is a genius.

Tips for writing by Melissa Hill

No less than 4 minutes ago, I finished reading my fourth Hill book " Wishful Thinking". A friend ( who shall remain anonymous ) has this rule on how to decide whether an author writes well. It's a simple rule. First thing to strike most people when they choose books is the cover. Yes, go on admit it. We're shallow sometimes that way. Of course, the next step would be to read the back..and turn and possible read the first two pages...just to get the feel of the author's writing.
I'm detracting, the point is, in addition to the steps above, it might prove useful to take a look at the author's picture....the friend states and I quote " the writing skill is inversely proportional to the beauty of the author".

I no longer believe this. Melissa Hill is not ugly and she 's a brilliant brilliant writer whose plot at the end with a little twist is different and unpredictable. If you visit her website...Melissa Hill's official website there's a bit where she gives tips for writing...and it 's all sensible and inspiring. So I'm blogging today because Hill says we're not meant to think too much but just get on with the writing.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Growing grapes


Many things are just not meant to grow in the tropics. Grapes being one of them. So...finding these grapes finally taking shape in the garden ( not mine obviously ) was a big thing. It was planted a year ago, maybe longer.
A quick internet search tells me...there are three steps to grape growing
1) For the first year and a bit, you're meant to be patient in tending it.
2)You then have to confine their growth. ( They apparently tend to dominate)
3) Find some where of securing / promoting pollination.
Our grapes are sour . Not a candidate for making table wine..plus the great growth ammounted to 4 measely grapes. We were down because the nasty birds got to them before we did. I hope the birds got a tummy ache for their trouble.

Monday, September 01, 2008

Selamat Hari Merdeka


I think in the light of recent political mini turmoil, it's taken some of the thunder away from the celebration of Merdeka. 51 years ago, Malaysia walked out of the shadow and into the light of independence and with it such dreams of achieving so many good things. I have faith ...in God...and in my country.


Selamat Hari Merdeka ke 51!!

Sunday, August 31, 2008

I need to ventilate...

My lungs are choked with smoke. I was surrounded by smoke during breakfast this morning. There was seriously no place in the restaurant not occupied by a SMOKER.
And so this morning, I'm ranting and raving about smokers in general and smokers at THAT mamak stall in particular. At this very moment, I have very little, in fact NO SYMPATHY for COPD sufferers who chain-smoke their way to death...bringing US along with them. It's not the actual smoke that I'm bothered about..but the wheeze which follows the immediate exposure.
And so to those who smoked around me today...I hope you rot. Or at least have some form of scare so you'll kick this disgusting habit. I'm back home in my smoke-free zone...taking deep breaths..while waiting for the tighteness to dissipate.
Smokers..please be considerate to those around you. Some of us really can't be surrounded by smoke. Never mind the higher risk of cancer...I'm more concerned with more immediate side effects.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Book Sale !!!




For the folks out there who read ...TIME is having a warehouse sale at Plaza Damas..and no they're not paying me to say this on the blog. ( If only ). I found a knock knock joke book. *laugh* Here's a sample.......
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Atomic
Atomic who?
I got atomic ache

The picture was taken with a weird lense...my head isn't usually that shape.

Friday, August 22, 2008

You know you're old when...


You know you're old when everybody else in the "waiting room" is as relax and calm as you are agitated and nervy. Also if you happen to be the tallest structure in the room. ( Even more significant if you happen to stand at 5 feet nothing in your stockinged feet.) Welcome to the ABRSM exam center for the greater part of Klang valley...IMPIANA hotel near KLCC. The lift will bring you to level two...where there is this long corridoor with doors on either side...and makeshift counters outside these doors with the signs indication venue number. As you walk down ...you hear various tempos and pieces being played. And seated outside these rooms..are solemn looking kids waiting their turns. I'll spare the details of the exam. Suffice to say, it was an experience I didn't enjoy too much ...but which I think was useful. *fingers crossed* I hope I pass.

The West Wing!


"Actor Martin Sheen has registered as an arts student at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway, taking classes in English Literature, Philosophy and Oceanography." Fancy that? So Sheen and I would have at least this in common...UCG. West Wing is such a great serial I wonder why everyone isn't hooked on it like I am.


Thursday, August 21, 2008

D DAY!!!


If I could SOUND as good as I look..tomorrow's exam would be breeze!!!

New books....



On the pretext of looking for Impiana Hotel ( the venue for the dreaded exam tomorrow ) I got into the car..and drove to town. Naturally, ( you would agree ) it seemed natural after locating the place for the journey to proceed to KLCC and onto a spot of shopping. There were throngs of people lurking...the same people who have very little understanding of body buffer zone, adults pushing buggies ( with no kid in it ) and kids running about the place with no leash.
I'm a great fan of Ms read...am very excited to find this two new titles in Kinokuniya. Starbook is a gamble. The book called out to me ( quietly..it sisn't quite shout out to me...BUY me Buy me ) as I walked past it tothe magazine section. The reviews were so good, I couldn't resist. This weekend will be a reading-laden one.
( There's a void to be filled since I completed the last DVD of West Wing Seventh season.) BOOhoohoo

Review as promised

Certain paragraphs in Petite Anglaise reads like my diary....the honesty beams through the words. Petite is potrayed as a not-so-nice person ( she admits it as well ) in the first half...and in the latter part, she acknowledges her weaknesses. It's a change from the other work of fiction where the main character is either very very evil...or very very good. Instead we have a human very real main character..with faults and warts and all. So yes I enjoyed reading Petite Anglaise very much. ( I was afraid I wouldn't..after all the hype ...so I was pleasantly surprised.).My mother has her hands on the book now. I just got off the phone with her...she seemed eager to continue reading....so I got booted off line.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Thank you Hamdi!


The week has been filled with loads of legwork and quite a bit of brain work as well. The internet service at work stinks. ( It's slow and you may attach ONE file per email only.) I fail to see the rationale behind this but I'm sure there's a reason for eveything.
For comic relief...these are the following things done...
1) Petite Anglaise ....reading very slowly to savour the book for as long as possible. I'm almost finished. Boohoo.
2) My friend and I hooked up for a photo shoot. Long overdue....comments welcome.
3) Listening to music CDs for inspiration. I've moved on from Mozart to....eeerm...Vivaldi.
4) I'll be giving a review of Petite Anglaise when I'm done. Which will be midweek I think. So many deadlines...and ignoring them doesn't make it go away. DAMMM

Sunday, July 13, 2008

IT 's ARRIVED folks!!!




Look what came in the post for me....*BEAM*BEAM* And if you're not jealous you're lying through your teeth. The eagerly awaited-for " Petitie Anglaise" is now on my desk to my right. I'm almost scared to starti reading it now that it's here. I'm scared I would have to read it in many stages ( due to time constraint ) and it would mar the book. BUt obviously I have little self control ( some would say none at all), so I'm just saying all this...but I KNOW I'll be reading it tonight.There is no way I'm going to just stare at the book and wait for a perfect time.
Thank you Catherine Sanderson!! You make me believe special things do happen to people.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

The Big Book List!!

The following was borrowed from Anna's blog because I found it very interesting.


In 2003, The Big Read (a BBC programme) compiled a list of Britain’s 100 favorite books. The program reckoned that the average adult has read only 6 of the books on this list.
1) Bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.(Having seen the movie does not count, of course!)


1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë
8 Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell ( read it midway as a child and got bored)
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch – George Elliot (Marian Evans)
21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh ( reading it now...stopped at first chapter..)
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34 Emma – Jane Austen
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Marquèz
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi – Yann Marte
l52 Dune – Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth ( Am looking for this book)
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60 Love in The Time of Cholera – Gabriel García Marquèz
61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66 On the Road – Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From a Small Island – Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal – Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession – AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 The Colour Purple – Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88 The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Magic Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo
:(
My count...a mere 14

Saturday, June 28, 2008

AHHH-peh-geous


Scales are boring. ( Very occasionally therapeutic) There is nothing nice about playing arpeggios. Nothing!! You practise for an hour...and when you next play it the fingers move, the pitch is off and you're back to square one. POOH!!

Yummie!!


Why is that, the minute you start controlling what you eat and shifting the fat...and feeling smug......temptation comes in the form of good friends giving your chocolates ???

Hajime Restaurant

They look very exotic. My previous experience with anything remotely like this had me chewing through the seaweed wrap. So this was different. Minimal chewing and a burst of something crunchy hits your palate just at the right time. I would recommend this to anyone who has friends who pooh pooh Japanese food. It's a good ploy to get them to at least agree that Japanese food can be delicious.

On a side note, the wasabi ice-cream would be a sure way of reinforcing negative perception. So stay away from it.

Friday, June 27, 2008

What 's in store ...


Whilst waiting for P.A to arrive, I shall be immersing self in these two books. Wodehouse is an old favourite and Johnson's Notting hell was enjoyable so I hope this Shore Hell doesn't disappoint.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Who would have thought...


And I thought today would be just like any ole Monday. Some idiot parked in my spot....making me even later for work than usual. I agonized over what would be THE most appropriate way of dealing with the situation. Blocking the car with my own car ( and risking the wrath of the owner ), removing some air from the tyres ( that would make it less economical ...using more petrol and hurting it where it would) or merely parking somewhere else. But where?
I did a bit of thinking( and a bit of cursing under my breath ) and decided to get a "higher authority" involved. Thankfully the car disappeared by the time I got back to it. Arrived midway through some discussion which ended earlier than expected.
And then off to check my mail. And THAT's where I was very plesasntly surprised. I wanted to whoop and hop about when i read it.
If only I knew what was in store for me. The author of Petite Anglaise has left a comment on my blog. BLESS Her!!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Finally...

There is no Petite Anglaise at MPH. The lady sitting behind the information counter checked for me. She also looked bored and inefficient.( But I'm sure she just LOOKED inefficient...but is in fact efficient.) So now, the direct opposite of emotions is stirred. I am now , more than ever, determined to get my hands on this book.

Wanted:
One book named Petite Anglaise
Author: Catherine Sanderson
Publisher:Michael joseph
Price:?
Due to be out in March 2008 ( UK )
Other commonwealth countries: May 2008

Malaysia is a commonwealth country isn't it? ( a very jessica simpson - bimbo question ) But I need to know so I'm asking it.

Headlines on yahoo this morning..







NO MORE PERFECT TEN FOR GYMNASTS!



Nadia Comaneci thrilled with world with the first ever perfect TEN in 1976 in Montreal. If the new rules had been applied back then ....she would have been famous for getting the first perfect 17...or is it 15. Doesn't sound as nice as a perfet ten...but I'm sure there must have been much discussion before this change. The electronic boards weren't equipt to flash a ten...so nadia got a 1:00 instead.
What do these two gymnast have in common...along with Mary Lou Retton? They're all trained by Bela Karoli.

La Petite Anglaise


Blogs are mushrooming in the bloggo-sphere...so how do you choose which to read? You know, a good example of how you get information when you least expect is this experience: reading a dog-eared magazine and finding out...about petite Anglaise. What is appealing is that this lady is living the dream of almost every blogger ( including self). Who wouldn't want to be offered a book deal?? Speared out of obscurity right into the limelight following an interview on the telegraph.
This 35 year old English woman, a graduate in French and German from Bath university, living in France finds herself terminated from her job when the boss finds out the existence of her blog.
There's an attempt at being protecting names, ex-husband is known as Mr Frog and daughter as "tadpole". Nor does she use her own name...but the by uploading her photograph and describing her daily life with snippets of work-life ( you can't avoid talking about work surely ) ...this qualifies her to have her post terminated. Gross Misconduct?
The bookcover looks very chic-lit...but it promises to be entertaining and with such an interesting start to the book, wouldn't you want a copy yourself?

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Co DO

I was going to talk about bibimbap but there's no picture available. Didn't bring camera yesterday night. So this is...in its place a bowl of vietnamese dry vermicelli noodle. I'm not sure whether it's a typical vietnamese meal. Wikipedia failed to answer this query. Have you noticed vietnamese food is not oily? And that you don't suffer so much from the horrible sluggish after meal lethargy ??I vote they sell these at local canteens. We'll have more productive people nation-wide then

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Father's day 2008

It's THAT time of the year again. Since I found Cellicakes I have been partial to that shop. Banana cake with spots on them. But instead of a picture of the cake, this time, I decided it would be more fitting to upload a smiling dad instead.

Picture taken after the first bite. Must have been tasty. The man rarely smiles.

Happy Father's day 2008.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Ho Chin Minh , Vietnam

The reason for being in Saigon.


Spoilt for choice. Coffee galore


Good reproductions for a fraction of the price back home

Notre Dame Cathedral



The general post office

The locals at work....or is it resting?





Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Damai Puri


Red Sky shepherd's delight. Within minutes the blue sky turned a warm red. Picture taken at the balcony at Damai Puri resort Kuching. Overlooking south china sea. ( the quotation was 100% accurate). The following day was MIGHTY hot.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

A change in restaurant


I'm pissed the cockroach incident has happened. Not so much because we didn't get a free meal after ( which as gnightgirl rightly pointed out ) we SHOUD have, but because I can no longer bring myself to eat there. I settled for Thai food last night. Because of a bout of sniffles, I couldn't appreciate the tom yam soup. But I suspect even if I had my full sense of smell, the meal would still have been a mediocre one. Boo Hoo!!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Is this a fair deal?


What would you have done....if a friendly visitor Mr Cockroach paid you a visit during your dinner?? I shan't exaggerate so may I correct myself and say a weeny cockroach but still a COCKROACH nonetheless dropped from the ceiling ( I think ) or popped out of the plate ( which would have meant it was there throughout the first part of the meal..PUKE PUKE ). I pushed the chair back...and leaned away. The waiter came..and ( stoopidly I thought ) took the plate away after which time he just stood there looking. Thankfully a more senior person ( much more sensible ) decided to diffuse this potentially embarrasing situation. He swiftly directed us to a new table...apologies with just the right tone of voice and gave us new meals.
Of course the meal was spoilt. For me at least. Having to wait an additional 15 minutes while my burger was being cooked kind of took the edge of the hunger pangs. At the end of the meal, we got a 10% discount for not making a fuss. Is that the politically correct thing to do??

Monday, May 19, 2008

Reading material update...


Initially ( to be more specific I'm referring in particular to about 7 to 8 days ago ) I'd been feeling like I was in a rut. ( reading-wise). I'd just finished Melissa Hill's " last to know", which for those of you out there looking for a fast paced chic-lit type of book...this is IT, when I realised I didn't know what I would like to read next. There was a definite anticlimax.


Then slowly ( it's always when you're not trying too hard ), the momentum picked up and like magic I found (in my pile of second hand books ) JUST the book to cheer me up.
I've tried googling John Verney. This is what I do when I like a book. The sudden , urgent need to know more about the author. Where have you been all my life? You know, that kind of feeling.
Here's a list of books he's written..
1) friday's Tunnel
2)Going to the wars
3)Fine day for a picnic
4)Verney Abroad
5)February's Road
6)Look at the houses.
BTW, the book I'm reading has exactly the same cover as the picture I found on the net. Published by Puffin Books in 1969. I wasn't even born then. Now if you will excuse me, I'm off to enjoy the book.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Aaaah to be appreciated


My year 3 students ( who are now in year 4 ) send 7 tokens of their appreciation...for teaching them. Thank you very much.