Cutie Mahjong vs. Designer Mahjong

Mahjong, the favourite Chinese pastime. I know the game, but I am definitely not a compulsive gambler.

The following caught my attention:

Look at these, aren't they just cute?

And these.

The shimmering golden tiles. Reminds me of the HK movie, "Kung Fu Mahjong" where Roger Kwok was spotted playing with the shimmering golden mahjong.

Come complete with the board, rulers, chips, dice as well.

And the monogram carrying case.

I want. I want. I want.

I heard the golden set is going for RM1200. The original price was less than RM500. Though I hardly play mahjong nowadays, I just want it as a collectible item.

In conjunction with the Beijing Olympics, Gucci has come up with a special collection, the "8-8-2008 Limited Edition" including a luxurious mahjong set covered in red 'La Pelle Guccisima'.

As the name stands, it is priced at USD3,150, equivalent to a whooping RM10,000!!!!

Tribute to the Chinese Nation

An 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Sichuan Province on 12th May.

Images after images of the devastated stricken area were being screened on the box.

The world weeps for Sichuan.

People are deeply grieved by the terrible suffering.

I can't find words to express myself over this montrous disaster.

My heartfelt prayers.

I pray that the nation remains strong in the face of this adversity.

May God grant the fortitude to bear their irreparable loss.

Also my highest respect to the rescue teams, the medical personnel, the relief workers, the philanthropic groups, those that bring us coverage and the courage of the whole Chinese nation.

Hope that conditions will improve as soon as is humanly possible.


May all the lost lives rest in peace and the living be given strength to carry on.

Thank You

It is now a week since my father has left for a better place. I am still trying to swallow the fact that I lost him.

But, don't worry. I still have strength to carry on. At least I think I do.

I thank each and everyone of you for calling, sending sms, leaving kind comments and words of encouragement. It is especially heartwarming to hear from friends from places as close to Ipoh and from places as far as U.K. All these support, caring and encouragement, somehow makes going through the past few days a little bit easier.

I thank you all for giving me strength to get through this very very difficult time.

Thank you.

Final Farewell

My Dad passed away on 12th May 2008 at 6.30am.

He left peacefully. There was no pain.

According to the Chinese calculation, he is 101.

Unlike the norm, red lanterns, red canopies, red chairs etc were being set up.

We were to dress up in red. And we were told not to grieve over it.

Talk is easy. But, the last few days has been heavy, both physically and emotionally, to see the man who raised me up leaving me forever.

Every life has its end. My Dad has worked very hard during his younger days, but he had time to taste the fruits of his labour, and had enjoyed life to the fullest. And there was no struggle nor pain when he left, which is most comforting.

Chanting by the Buddhists and saying my prayers certainly helped instill tranquility in the face of grievance.

We were overwhelmed by messages of condolences, banners and flowers we have received. Even the MB sent his condolences and the State Exco came to pay his respect. It just goes to show how much a great man my Dad was.

I am thankful to the many nice relatives/people around helping us with the wake, the service, the funeral arrangements, logistics and ensuring everything went on smoothly while we were mourning.

Watching my Dad before they closed the casket lid was the most heart-wrenching thing I have to endure. I left beside him his personal copy of his collection of poems for him to bring along.

My Dad is now in a better place, his Pure Land of Eternal Bliss, and our hearts. He will be missed dearly.

What to Get as Mother's Day Gift

The time of the year has come when everyone will be asking the same question. Yes, it will be Mother's Day this coming Sunday as Mother's Day falls on the 2nd Sunday of the month of May. The question on everyone's mind would be : What to buy for mother on this special day?

Mother, being the most important person in our lives, choosing a suitable present that will show our love towards her, is a daunting task. In the western part of the globe, gift or a flora bouquet is the tradition. Whereas in this part of the world, showing appreciation means bringing mother to a nice cosy restaurant for a hearty meal.

As for my mom, being in her eighties, she is one of those old-fashioned, conservative, give-only-and-no-take, everything-keep to herself, non-demanding type. She does not care about Mother's Day, let alone she cares about what presents she is going to get. She would be just as happy with a card and may be a phone call, as long as it is something from the heart.

For those of you who are still cracking your brains, I have a suggestion. Since a great numbers of our mothers are already turned grandmothers, I think a Digital Photo Frame would be a big hit with our mothers. You would have probably jumped up by now and thought : What? A digital gadget for the seniors to handle?

Nowadays, even the humble photo frames are turning digital. You will find in the market the High Resolution Digital Photo Frames, come in different sizes ranging from 7", 9", 10". You can display pictures either direct from whatever digital/electronic sources or from a memory card. It is an ideal way to show and share your digital photos and are packed with interesting features such as automatic slide shows, movie player and audio.

These are not complicated gadgets, trust me. My advice is, upload your family entire year's pictures onto the memory card that comes with it and unwrap the packaging and get the frame programmed, i.e. choose your slide show mode, pixelating/jigsaw effects. Make sure everything has been programmed, so that your mother can view it right away without any technical difficulties as they are not all that savvy with gadgets.

It is truly a great invention, pictures with great transitions at a turn of a button.

A Close Crop by A Prodigy Stylist

I was supposed to bring my boy for a hair cut, but it somehow did not materialize. I kept putting it off until he could not stand it. He went to his sister and complained about mama.

Guess what?

My girl leaped to her feet and grabbed a pair of scissors and started to cut his hair. I stared at him in blank disbelief but he happily went under the scissors. Eight minutes later, faster than what the famous X-cut vouched, "15 minutes cut and style", and here is the end product.

Not bad, huh? Some more touched up with mousse and gel to give it an "in" look!

Round of applause to this up and coming young talent who emerged from our family.

Hah, eat your heart out, Ms. Winnie Loo.

The Circle of Life

We went back to Ipoh on Friday evening.

Dad was not well. According to mom, he has been throwing his tantrums for the past few days. When we arrived home, he was watching tele. He looked alright to me, still could recognize us, which was a relief.

The next morning, we woke up early, and took Dad to Foh San for Dim Sum. It was such a hurdle for him to climb up my 4WD SUV, I suddenly felt so bad for being so inconsiderate for buying that stupid tanker-like car.

After breakfast, we went home. Dad started to act abnormal, kept saying he knew that his time has come and that he has to go. But then, he looked perfectly well to us, albeit being a bit weak around his knees and coughing up some phlegm. He kept reiterating being 100 years old. But in fact, he will only turn 98 this coming July.

One minute, he could impress us by jotting down in perfect handwriting about some sensible issues. Next minute, he could waffle on senselessly. We could only nod as though we knew what he was on about. Dad has done considering well, only gone senile during late nineties. Physically, he does not suffer from anything, but his engines are almost worn out. We are so helpless, can't do much now, but will try our very best to fulfil whatever his wishes.

Received an email recently about The Circle of Life. I opined it was meaningful and very appropriate. It went like this:

What is success?

A simple explanation ...

1. At the age of 3, Success means : Not shitting in your pants.

2. At the age of 12, Success means : Having friends.

3. At the age of 18, Success means : Having a driver's licence.

4. At the age of 20, Success means : Having sex.

5. At the age of 35, Success means : Having money.

6. At the age of 50, Success means : Having money.

7. At the age of 60, Success means : Having sex.

8. At the age of 70, Success means : Having a driver's licence.

9. At the age of 75, Success means : Having friends.

10. At the age of 80, Success means : Not shitting in your pants.

There you have it.

The vicious Circle of Life.

Day of Rest

Labour Day.


"Take a break. Have a Kit-Kat."

My sister-in-law Kim and my pretty niece Minnie had just returned to L'don from their holiday in Japan. From their pics posted in Facebook, I spotted Minnie holding a limited edition type of Kit-Kat, and it is Japanese Green Tea flavour. But this Jap version is double the size of our previous released Cappuccino flavoured version, not fair! Oh, this remind me of the Lemon Cheesecake flavour, oooooo, yummilicious. Oops, I just got carried away when the word 'chocolates' came to mind.

As it is a special day off, I decided to postpone all my household chores to the day or the week after. We went to Times Square as Yassie wanted to pick up some teeny stuff. We ended up buying a few pairs of flip-flops in vibrant colours, getting prepared for our forthcoming vacation by the beach.

For lunch, we went to PJ SS2 for noodles. It was already 2pm and the noodle shop was literally packed. Why uh? Was it because of Chui Ling's recent recommendation? Hmm, this charming petite lady from Hong Kong is very influential indeed among the Malaysian 'epicureans'. I managed to 'fight' for a table. Josh went for his usual-never-want-to-adventure Wantan noodles, Yassie went for Beef Brisket noodles and I opted for Herbal Duck noodles in soup.

Nothing to shout about, really. The noodles, compared with others, are relatively thin, very much resemble the Italian's Angel's Hair. The portion of meat that came with it was only two-mouth full. The beef broth had a Hong Kong touch, very gingery, and quite good. The herbal duck soup was refreshing. But, the prices were darn steep. RM5.50 for a Wantan noodles! The shop was not even air-conditioned! You won't expect me to return for a long long time.

After the excessive sweating at the noodles shop, went home, had a shower and took a nap. A very long nap indeed coz when I woke up it was already 7pm! I must have passed out! Too exhausted, I suppose. The kids minded their own business. I just plonked myself down on to the sofa and caught up with the latest HK series on Astro-On Demand. Easy day.