Speechless With Indignation

A true, heart-wrenching sob incident, happened in my neighbourhood last week.

A 21-year-old girl (Indonesian Chinese), plunged to death from her condo unit while trying to clamber down nine storeys to elope with her 34-year-old boyfriend... her maid apparently had assisted her by tying a raffea string from the kitchen balcony.

The raffea string was found intact. Police believed that the girl had lost her footing and fell to her death.

The girl's parents claimed that the boyfriend had coerced her to climb down the building using the string. The parents found a series of emails allegedly sent by the man who had, among others, "provoked" her to flee her parent's home. He repeatedly telling her that she had to elope with him. He told her to concentrate on how "you're gonna climb that rope and please make sure your maid gonna hold on tight to it".

What was puzzling was that the girl was confident enough to use such a flimsy string that could not have possibly supported any human weight. Don't you think this guy played a major role in causing her death? One questions the man's motives and sense of responsiblity. There is a growing indignation in me.

It is learnt that the parents had objected to the girl's choice of boyfriend as they doubted the man's ability to provide for her as he was jobless, was also a windower with 2 kids. The girl had twice attempted to run away from home which led to her parents lodging police reports. Following her second disappearance, the parents had issued her the ultimatum to end the affair which led her and the man to plan the botched escape.

I was completely astounded when I heard the incident and am still feeling morose about what had happened.

A shudder ran through me. I have a girl, a teenage girl. How does one deal with teenage rebellion? I asked, clearly exasperated.

Teens, a period of real danger. This time in their lives, they often face a "crisis in confidence" which makes them vulnerable to risky behaviours and these bad choices can have devastating consequences.

I admit that I used to be quite quick-tempered but has since mellowed down a lot as I aged. Now, I try to be my daughter's friend, if not, her best friend. I am constantly trying to strenghten the bond between the two of us. At times, she openly defies my advice and retorts. Even if my blood boils, I try to avoid confrontation with her. Yes, I will just take a deep breath and turn away. I will try to bring up the issue at some other time, in some ways.

I understand that we are not born with an innate sense of right and wrong. I suppose we learn the difference through trial and error as we mature. They just need the time and life's lessons to learn to correct behaviours.

It is a real daunty challenge to raise teenage girls. I learnt and am still learning how to teach her to be safe, while on another hand encouraging independence and self-confidence. Like all mothers, I will give her all the love and support so that she can pass all tests of life and can tackle all hurdles with courage.

My Oreo Moment

Twist, Lick, Dunk.

The famous catch phrase of Oreo cookies.

Dunk it in milk? This routine is central to the Oreo brand. There are many ways people enjoy their Oreo. No matter what method is used, it is always important to have milk with the cookies.

My kids are no doubt great fans of Oreo. Their fondness has evolved into intemperate love for McFlurry, Choreo, Cookie and Cream Ice-cream and ... drum roll... the Oreo cheesecake made by me!

Mind the uneven edges, I was lazy to trim it. My kids just couldn't wait to sink their teeth into this evil cake.

Every Month Holds A Miracle

What do I know about stem cells? Well, stem cells can be used to repair damaged tissues because they have the potential to become any cell in the body. The benefit can also be passed on to family members who are genetically related. With my limited medical knowledge, this is all I know. Relatives and friends who have gave birth in recent years have all opted to collect and store their cord blood stem cells. I did not have the privilege of collecting the cord blood stem cells while delivering both my babies coz technology was not that advanced at the material time.

Recently, I have been reading and hearing so much about this new discovery and medical breakthrough. The medical scientists in Japan discovered that life saving stem cells can be found in menstrual blood. These self-renewing stem cells have demonstrated great promise for future cellular therapies.

The distinctive features of menstrual fluid cell versus other type of stem cells is the ability of a woman to collect them for perservation every time she has a menstrual period.

Companies in the States have conducted researches and have since launched patented collection kit for menstrual fluid cells. According to them, it is easy to use and it helps women to collect, process and cryo-preserve the menstrual fluid cells for potential future use in clinical regenerative medical therapies.

However, this is still fairly new but definitely sounded interesting. It is definitely more convenient than collecting cord blood stem cells. However one still have to pay annual fees for the preservation of these cells.

So, do not moan and groan everytime your Dai Yee Mah pays you a visit as it is no longer an unsanitary waste but is precious and useful in cellular therapies.

My Love Will Get You Home

This is the second time I watch the Hong Kong award winning drama series Heart Of Greed 溏心風暴 now being shown on Astro CH311. I just love the English song that featured whenever 常在心 (starred Linda Chung) and Alfred 程亮 (starred Raymond Lam) came onto the screen.


The turbulent relationship between them is so touching. The pair get together and break up for a total of three times, if not more. It may sound dramatic, but I think in reality, there are many couples did go through ordeals like those. Despite the tumultuous and heart-breaking relationship, they both appreciate the experience of being together. It has helped them grow. They also learn that in a relationship, it's crucial to "be yourself." Changing yourself just so you can be with other person is just painful and not long-lasting.

If you wander off too far
My love will get you home
If you follow the wrong star
My love will get you home

If you ever find yourself lost and all alone
Get back on your feet and think of me
My love will get you home
Boy, my love will get you home

If the bright light blinds your eyes
My love will get you home
If your troubles break your stride
My love will get you home

If you ever find yourself lost and all alone
Get back on your feet and think of me
My love will get you home
Boy, my love will get you home

If you ever feel ashamed
My love will get you home
Whenever it's only you to blame
My love will get you home

If you ever find yourself lose and all alone
Get back on your feet and think of me
My love will get you home
Boy, my love will get you home

Wedding Blessing

Tong Leung & Carina Lau

21st July 2008

The Kingdom of Bhutan

Two lives joined together

Two hearts that beat as one

As you begin your life together

May all your days be filled with love

And may all your dreams come true

Congratulations

Shepherd's Pie or Cottage Pie

Got a special request from my daughter to make Shepherd's Pie for dinner. I make this pie quite often as it is a favourite of both my kids. Rummaged through my freezer, I found a tray of minced lamb. Hence, I happily obliged to her request.

I used minced lamb, hence it is called Shepherd's Pie. The variant based on minced beef is usually called Cottage Pie. There is no hard-and-fast rule about the fillings, but chopped onions, minced carrots, peas are the traditional ingredients. This pie is without pastry, topped instead with creamy mashed potatoes. Browsed through Gordon Ramsey's 'F-word', found out that he adds Worchestershire Sauce, dash of red wine and tops it up with Parmesan Cheese. I skipped these caused I have none in stock.

While I was preparing the pie, I recall reading this on English newspaper:

"A row over the correct way to make shepherd’s pie ended up in court after a disagreement between two brothers turned violent".

Yeap. The story went like this : M made his brother J, a shepherd's pie. J insisted that it should be topped with a layer of tomatoes. M, being a chef, claimed not necessary and responded by hitting J over the head with a shovel. J then threatened to blow up the flat. Both ended up in court. J admitted a breach of peace. The judge told the defendant that, in his view, there was no need for a layer of tomatoes on a shepherd’s pie.

Delia Smith’s shepherd’s pie recipe makes no mention of tomatoes... but... a layer of cheese-crusted leeks!

My version looks like this:

It was definitely a nice warming dish with it feeling like snow will fall at any minute.

Roadblock on a Monday Morning

Already suffering from blues on a Monday morning, I couldn't believe my eyes when faced with police roadblock while approaching Jln. Parlimen. Damn! It is a Monday morning! Everyone is rushing to school and work. And it was bearly 6.30am! Senseless or what?

I was forced to divert, went round half of KL, wasted half a tank of 'precious' petrol before I could safely wheel my two kids to school, albeit late. Spotted police at corners of kakilima around Sogo area. What was going on? I was blur coz I didn't catch the news last night.

Then the traffic news came on the radio. Police are setting up roadblocks on several routes leading to KL. A possible debate of no confidence against the PM might happen in the House today. The close of Jln. Parlimen is to deter people from entering and witnessing the debates.

Oh, great! The people house will be closed...ahem, to the people. Anyway, no comments.

Why roadblocks? Why on a Monday morning? Why can't they just block that small road leading up to the Parliament?

Chaos, traffic jams... on a Monday morning.

Can You Gas It?

Yes, indeed. There was a gas explosion in a luxury condominium in Mont' Kiara last Thursday morning.

I was in my office and suddenly there was a loud bang, and the door leading to the air cond ledge shook for a couple of seconds. Could that be an earthquake? I went and opened the back door and peeped out. Hmm... calm as usual.

Minutes later, I could hear series of sirens. Then, I started to get uneasy. My curiosity led me downstairs. I saw a group of Plaza maintenance men gathered at the back of the Plaza, looking out and talking loudly. I looked out and saw black smoke and flames leaping into the air from a condominium behind Garden International School. OMG! There has been a gas explosion. Standing there, I could still hear the sirens coming from Sprint Expressway. Later in the day, I came across few people who was at Mont' Kiara at the material time and told me that they also felt the blast.

The following day, I learnt from the papers that the particular unit on the 6th floor of the condominium was completely gutted by fire with shattered windows, blew out doors and balcony railings. The impact of the blast has also damaged 10 units in the opposite block. A maid and a cat were seriously injured, suffering from severe burns. BTW, may I know what was the cat doing there in the first place? One is not supposed to breed cats/dogs in units according to Condo's house rules.

The explosion was definitely caused by gas leakage, but why was there leakage? Was the gas installation faulty? Or was the gas appliance left unattended due to negligence of the maid? I suppose the developer is now doing all he can to cover up the incident.

Whatever the cause behind it, I hope all developers of high rise condominiums with central piped gas will conduct regular safety checks on the incoming and riser gas pipe and also hope that the occupants to be more wary, to ensure safety of all residents.

Weekend ... blah blah

Haven't really got any plans for the weekend.

Wanted to sleep until 9am but have to wake up to attend to my girl as Saturday is a full day for her in school.

Wanted to upload photos onto Facebook but could not find the cables.

Wanted to make scrambled eggs breakfast for my boy but ran out of eggs.

Wanted to go to Low Yat Plaza to get the Chinese Handwriting Recognition Tool but the thought of getting stuck in the jam at the Edinburgh junction put me off.

Wanted to make an Oreo Cheesecake but later found out that my kids have eaten all the Oreo biscuits.

Wanted to finish the book I was reading but realised that I have left it in the car and lazy to go down to retrieve it.

Well, so much for my planning and intention. Everything ended up in smoke.

Instead of sitting at home twiddling my thumb, might as well go and pick up groceries at Mid Valley.

Passed by MNG, thought of going in for a peep and found out that their range of jeans were on sale, and some 75% off. It was at a steal! My girl has been pestering me for a pair of slim-fit jeans. There were lots of size 6, I rummaged through the shelves and eventually managed to find a pair in her size. Phew!

I personally prefer wide-legged jeans. However, the slim-fit and straight legs seem to be the trend.

Also bought myself two pairs of shoes. Cheapo, bargain!

Tried to make a call but kept failing. Later realized that someone has sent me a corrupted message thereby causing my phone to hang! Wa liao, handphone can also kena virus. Quickly pick up some groceries from the supermarket and went home to avoid any possible police road blocks in view of the PROTES (Anti-fuel price hike protest) scheduled to be held the following day.

A Touch of Japan

Gosh! It takes me ages to exhaust my photos of the Berjaya Hills trip.

After the Botanical Gardens, we turned the other way to the Japanese Garden.

That led us through a beautiful Japanses garden to a waterfall, over a bridge spanning a koi pond and up to a Japanese Tea House.

Kimonos are available for hire from the Tea House and tea ceremonies are scheduled at fixed time of the day.

How I wish Lee Hom were to come through the bamboo grove singing 竹林深處. Oops! Day dreaming again.

Yukes! What a messy web.

Sound of water cascading, colourful koi moving happily in the pond, cool mountain air, rejuvenating. Although the stress and guilt of holiday procastination will nag at me all month, but day like this is meant to be enjoyed.

Naff!

Old Buddies Get Together

It was yet another fun filled gathering amongst the class of 1982 AMC this year, albeit a short one. The impromptu dinner gathering was held last Thursday.

Here is how it all started. One of our buddies, Pauline who has since migrated to US, was planning a trip back to M'sia. Coupled with the fact that it has been years we had a gathering, we decided to organise this little get-together. However, due to the fact that Pauline was on her month long Silk Road Expedition prior to home-coming, we were not able to find out from her the actual schedule. Only two days prior to her arrival in KL, I managed to communicate with her online. She was planning to stay in KL for a brief two days before proceeding back to Ipoh.

One can imagine trying to get friends to meet up on a weekday, is a daunting task. On my end, I was cracking my brain trying to think of a venue which was convenient to everybody, having to take into consideration that they might be travelling from different parts of KL/PJ. Initially I had Red Ginger of Plaza Damansara in mind, but after a few phone calls from friends, not knowing how to get to Bukit Damansara, I changed my mind.

RH suggested this place that she used to frequent. So, it was set : 7.30pm at Ka Soh Seafood Restaurant at Medan Damansara, I have made allowance for those who was coming after work and inclusive of traffic jam wait. I sent out a timely email depicting the details and directions. I left the rest to WY.

Word of mouth worked! The event was well attended, with eighteen of us. Surprisingly, most of them managed to find the place, albeit some twenty minutes late.

The night was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Particularly good to catch up with old friends. Some of whom I haven't met since I left AMC in 1980. There were 'special' guests who travelled great length to join us, LH from Dubai and SK from Jakarta. Of course we were delighted with the 'special appearance' by our YB Datin.

There were photograph taking, tons of laughter, mountains of jokes, plentiful of bitching... I took a lingering look at our group. So much have changed. Many are now very successful in whatever they are doing. Congratulations to all. Some has lost weight but some has put on a pound or two. As for some, time has not taken any toll on them. But at our age now, staying healthy and happy are on top of everything.

Didn't manage to snap the food, coz was too busy chatting away and at the same time giving directions thro' the phone to those late-comers.

We stayed there till almost 11pm. We were making so much noise because we were overjoyed to see each other. Just felt sorry for other patrons who were trying to have a decent meal.

It was indeed a wonderful meeting with old friends who have shared special memories. Many thanks to WY for calling round gathering everyone. Last but not least, thanks to all of you who have made an effort to attend and have made this a very interesting and enjoyable event.

Cheers to our two decades of friendship, or three, for some of us.

Hope next year gathering will be a bigger group.

Love my buddies.

The Botanical Garden At 3500 Feet Above Sea Level

In the last post, I did mention that we went to Berjaya Hills during the last school break. I have just managed to get all the photos from my girls as I did not want to disrupt her revision and exams during the past two weeks.

It was not a planned trip. During the two weeks long break, my kids were bored and I haven't much to do in the office either. So, we decided to go for a day trip to Berjaya Hills, or better known as Bukit Tinggi. After filling our stomach with some Char Siu Bao at Jalan Ipoh dim sum outlet, we headed towards this highland resort in Pahang.

The drive was pretty short and uneventful. Two thirds of the journey was on the KL-Karak Highway, same route as one gets to Genting Highlands. Soon after passing the tunnel, instead of turning to Genting Highlands, we headed straight until the next exit to Berjaya Hills. Only a short distance involved careful maneuvering as the road started to get winding uphill. However, the bends are not as acute as those along the route to Fraser Hills.

Our first stop was the Animal Farm where the kids spent more than a good hour.

After much of the chasing, cuddling, saying "cheese" to the little animals, we continued uphill. A short drive away, is a booth where entrance fees are collected for entering the resort. RM16 for adults and half price for children.


Approached a junction, we turned up to the Japanese Village. We left our car at the makeshift carpark, walked up the slope and came to yet another junction. We made a choice to go left to the Botanical Garden.

It started with some cool looking pine trees. The air was cool, fresh and rejuvenating.

Followed by some ferns.

Walked down a flight of stairs, there is a Japanese restaurant. The price of the food is slightly higher than the norm. Well, what do you expect? Tucking into your unagi don, sipping sake in the heart of a rainforest. But then, it was not lunch time yet.

The restaurant is surrounded by beautiful flowers and some water features. Listening to the sound of dripping water, the chirp of the birds, the sound of the insects, breathing in the mountain air, it was a great feeling.

The jungle 'trek' passes the age old rainforest. Some of the routes are quite steep, but they have laid concrete steps to ease the visitors.

A big bunch of don't know what. Of course they have name tags to each of plants, I was just lazy to jot them down one by one.

Plenty of flowers in bloom.

Love the lilac hue of these flowers.

The busy bee was in action.

It was really beautiful, with moss clinging to the rocks and trees.

It was a cool and foggy morning and although the fog doesn't really show up well in these pictures.

After an initial downhill walk, it was mostly uphill climb on the way back, more difficult than we thought.

Some massive thousands year old trunks.

Admiring and embracing the nature's beauty. Magnificient!

Thousand acres of lush greenery.

My son had a big catch in the Japanese souvenir shop.

My girl was buzy mastering her macro-photography with her new toy Canon IXUS.

I needed to catch my breath.

After testing our stamina in this Botanical Garden, we headed over to the Japanese Village.

The Botanical Garden was not quite up to the expectation, but it was a nice day nonetheless.