A Great Loss

They are 51 years old...They are well-respected legends...They passed away in year 2009!

Michael Jackson (29/08/1958 - 25/06/2009)
Yasmin Ahmad (01/07/1958 - 25/07/2009)
Yoshito Usui (21/04/1958 - 11/09/2009)

First it was the King of Pop. He succumbed to cardiac arrest and left the world three months ago. His death shocked the world because he was perfectly healthy at that time and was preparing for his 'This Is It' concert.

Then the death of Malaysia's prominent director shocked the nation. She was in the midst of a meeting for her upcoming project when she suffered a stroke and collapsed due to hemorrhaging in the brain. She is not any other director but a very special down to earth lady famous for her thought-provoking, multi-racial commercials and films. She never fails to produce soul touching commercials annually in conjunction with nationals day and her death a month before nationals day is a great loss to the nation.

Recently, the passing of re-kwown manga (japanese comic) artist shocked loyal Crayon Shin Chan fans. I grew up reading Crayon Shin Chan and has been collecting each volume since I was eleven years old. Although I am in my early twenties now, I am still a big fan of the manga. I lost my appetite when I knew that he accidentally fell 120 metres from a cliff while mountain climbing. His unfinished work will be left unfinished and there will never be an ending for the manga.

They are only half a century and a year old, they still have so much to teach and show us. Yet they left us suddenly, leaving us in a state of shock. The three of them are legends in their own way, they touches our heart in different ways and they are simply irreplaceable. Maybe legends are never meant to stay too long here because they are angels there.

(Photographs courtesy of Google images)

Yummy Discovery

As soon as I got back from my Ipoh trip, my dad decided to treat my family dinner. We went to a restaurant called the Tsunami Village. Since I just came back from Ipoh, where I took loads of pictures, the photo-taking bug was still in me. So I took photographs of our dinner too (my blog is becoming a foodies blog. So it's gonna be monologues on food).

Anyway, the seafood is fresh and tasty, not too oily too, but most importantly it's reasonably priced. It is really difficult to get reasonably priced, tasty seafood with sea view in Penang and this is the place where we can get all of the above plus thirty cats. Yes, cats! They actually belong to a fisherman and they are all really tame as well as good poser.



The aftermath of the year 2004 tsunami.

Floating mosque at Batu Ferringhi.

Breathtaking sea view with fishermen sampan.

Yummy seafood :D

Cheers to a great dinner.

Ipoh @ Perak

I am suppose to wake up at 5.45am later. Nope, I am not waking up that early to break fast or to pray (it's Ramadhan month for the Muslims now), but I am going for a holiday with my colleagues. Yay!! I feel great being able to travel out of town every weekend.

Last weekend, I was back at my maternal grandmother's house for a family gathering cum Malaysia Independence Day celebration. Once my mum and I reached Ipoh, my aunt took us for a reasonably priced and yummy set lunch. Then we went for a Buddha relics exhibition. It was an eye opener and even international actress, Michelle Yeoh was there to officiate the event.

This is from Tibet and it seems that if you turn everyone of them, your luck will change.

Later in the evening, my cousins from Kuala Lumpur arrived and we had the must-not-miss Ipoh delicacy ~ Bean sprout chicken.

Yummy but oily (This photo courtesy of my cousin's girlfriend)

After dinner, we had Fruit ice for dessert. I love the dessert very much because it's healthy yet thirst quenching and able to satisfy my sweet tooth.

There are seven types of fruits. Some more got ice-cream :D

On the next day, with the aid of technology (my uncle's GPS), we manage to savour the very famous and must-wait-very-long Ipoh Yong tau fu at a place known as 'Big tree trunk'. Despite the long wait and we were starving since we sort of skip breakfast, it was worth it because it really lift up to it's fame. Then at night, we had our official family gathering dinner at a chinese restaurant. Things started to heat up after dinner. My cousins and I as well as my very sporting aunts played some childish but really fun games.

On the next morning, we woke up at 6am to go Foh San dim sum, a must try if you ever go to Ipoh. The restaurant opens at 6.30am and we were there at 6.35am but there are only three tables left. Since there are only four of us (my cousins and I), we shared a big table with another family. We enjoyed the really delicious dim sum and snap photographs as though we have never seen a chinese restaurant before. Although the four of us only slept for four hours, we had so much fun waking up early for dim sum.

Foh San Restaurant at Ipoh.

The double-storey building.

The crowd at 6.35am at Foh San dim sum restaurant.



Some dim sum that we ordered.

More dim sum.

A claypot of really yummy porridge. My favourite dish for that morning.

Overall, this family gathering is a very different one because we visited all the famous eateries in Ipoh, which is our first time although we have been to Ipoh umpteen times. It was a totally refreshing experience, especially with great companies.

I Feel Blessed......

I feel blessed to live in a place that is free from natural disasters,
I feel blessed to be born in a country that is war-free;

I feel blessed to have my rights as a human and as a woman,
I feel blessed to live in a diplomatic country where I can voice my opinion freely;

I feel blessed to have mum and dad who try their best to give me the best in the world,
I feel blessed to have a brother with whom I share many fun and memorable moments;

I feel blessed to have the ability and money to pursue my tertiary education,
I feel blessed to secure a job in a happy working environment;

I feel blessed to have a large circle of relatives which make family gatherings fun,
I feel blessed to have friends who are there for me, no matter rain or shine;

I feel blessed to have water and electricity supplies at a reasonable rate,
I feel blessed because there are always food on the table and I have never suffered starvation;

Lastly and most importantly,
I feel blessed to be healthy mentally and physically in order for me to enjoy all the blessings bestowed upon me.

Bro

A pillow, a Garfield toy and a wallet in exchange for a Baby G watch. This was the things I offered to barter-trade and he obliged. Twelve years down the road, we don't trade things anymore. We simply give each other whatever that we want and we often buy each other dinner.

We used to pretend to operate a video-renting shop, be bank tellers and even detectives. But my favourite was when we pretended to stage a circus. We had rehearsals and even invited our parents to watch us as we sing and dance, as I host the show and perform magic shows and he pretends to be lion and tiger, jumping from chair to chair. We also played toys together, my barbie doll will be his batman's girlfriend and we will fight the dinosaurs together. Long before GPS system was invented, we will draw a mock map and imagine that we have some really high-tech machines stuck to the car's backseat that could navigate us to our destination and along the way, we will meet and eliminate many baddies. Then came video games and play station. We never fail to work together to win most of the games and most of the time, I simply enjoy watching him play RPG (role playing games).

As we grow up, studies occupied us and we played less. We begin to have our own friends and dreams. We were too busy working, studying and socialising. However, our bond is as strong as it used to be. We talk about everything and we still 'pretend'. Two working adults, behind closed doors, we pretend to be actors in some classic action movies and act as vampires. But my favourite is him being a fish monger slaughtering a cat fish played by me. It's seriously childish but we laughed and had a fantastic time.

If I am given an option, I will not choose to be the only child or to have a sister to share fashion and beauty tips with. If I am given an option, I will still choose this same old brother with a mole to be my little brother, the Best Bro on Earth !