Minta maaflah, Pak Lah. Saya tak pernah beli barang mahal-mahal. Jadi saya kurang faham ape tu ‘academic’ yang Pak Lah guna di Malaysiakini?

Boleh Pak Lah explain?

On Tuesday, Abdullah had said that the purchase price for the 12 Cougar EC725 helicopters was RM1.7 billion, and not RM2.3 billion as reported earlier.

then, the harga turun ….

He said today that the price that he should have quoted was RM1.607 billion, but because he was informed the figure was RM1.67, he had decided it should be rounded up.

and then, lagi turun…..

Earlier today, Deputy Defence Minister Abu Seman Yusop in his winding-up speech clarified that another figure - cited by the ministry’s secretary-general Abu Bakar Abdullah last week - was mistaken in that the RM1.1 billion quoted did not take into account the RM500 million derived from services charges and the ‘offset package’.

One more shopping skill that I have never mastered is, buy something without checking.

Abu Seman had said the ministry’s technical committee had decided to buy the 12 helicopters based on documents alone.

If I buy RM50 toaster, I also must check if the toaster can toast. I will ask the sales promoter to plug in and see if it heats up. If my son wants to buy RM5 plastic helicopter, I also check if the wheel or the fan blades can turn.

Just because my neighbours and friends say the thing is good, I also must try first. So, it is amazing lah…..Fantastic lah. Senang aje nak beli helicopter yang berbillion-billion huh? Tak yah sakit kepala. Pakai duit rakyat jelata senang kan? Yang tak balance, semua tu pasal academic. Academic tu boleh makan kah, Pak Lah? Ape tu academic?

“The helicopter is a proven machine. It’s already in service, used by a few nations, including France. and has seen combat experience in Afghanistan.

“Our pilots who will fly the helicopters had tried them in (Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition) Lima, so they know about the performance of the helicopter.

Haih….the news on Malaysiakini just make you go wtf?

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Minta maaflah, Pak Lah. Saya tak pernah beli barang mahal-mahal. Jadi saya kurang faham ape tu ‘academic’ yang Pak Lah guna di Malaysiakini?

Boleh Pak Lah explain?

On Tuesday, Abdullah had said that the purchase price for the 12 Cougar EC725 helicopters was RM1.7 billion, and not RM2.3 billion as reported earlier.

then, the harga turun ….

He said today that the price that he should have quoted was RM1.607 billion, but because he was informed the figure was RM1.67, he had decided it should be rounded up.

and then, lagi turun…..

Earlier today, Deputy Defence Minister Abu Seman Yusop in his winding-up speech clarified that another figure - cited by the ministry’s secretary-general Abu Bakar Abdullah last week - was mistaken in that the RM1.1 billion quoted did not take into account the RM500 million derived from services charges and the ‘offset package’.

One more shopping skill that I have never mastered is, buy something without checking.

Abu Seman had said the ministry’s technical committee had decided to buy the 12 helicopters based on documents alone.

If I buy RM50 toaster, I also must check if the toaster can toast. I will ask the sales promoter to plug in and see if it heats up. If my son wants to buy RM5 plastic helicopter, I also check if the wheel or the fan blades can turn.

Just because my neighbours and friends say the thing is good, I also must try first. So, it is amazing lah…..Fantastic lah. Senang aje nak beli helicopter yang berbillion-billion huh? Tak yah sakit kepala. Pakai duit rakyat jelata senang kan? Yang tak balance, semua tu pasal academic. Academic tu boleh makan kah, Pak Lah? Ape tu academic?

“The helicopter is a proven machine. It’s already in service, used by a few nations, including France. and has seen combat experience in Afghanistan.

“Our pilots who will fly the helicopters had tried them in (Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition) Lima, so they know about the performance of the helicopter.

Haih….the news on Malaysiakini just make you go wtf?

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I got this photo linked from Flickr.

This is the pretzel I was talking about.

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.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

I got this photo linked from Flickr.

This is the pretzel I was talking about.

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2. Taiwan .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment {…
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Niamah.

So in touch with the soul, go yoga yourself into a pretzel lah!

I say I think yoga is against my Christian faith and I won’t do it. I never say I am the Pope and I issued the order. So, why get so worked up over what I personally feel wor? Niamah.

Cilaka. Actually, I saja no support yoga because I don’t see why I want to sit down in the same position and do nothing.

If I want exercise, I might as well bring my camera for a walk in the forest or hills.

If want to be in touch with my soul, I can do many things like :

a) read a cookbook while shitting. You know…you have to alleviate yourself to a higher level to be able to enjoy and drooling over foods in a cookbook while the pile of shit is swimming in the toilet bowl. See? I am the master of my own soul. There’s the mind and the arse.

b) blog and stir shits and enjoy when the shit hits people’s faces. You need to be able to detach your feelings to enjoy a good shit stirrer moment.

c) go to some quiet place like the sanctuary and dwell in the presence of the Holy Spirit. After all, isn’t that the best way to be in tune with our inner self?

Go yoga and don’t spam my blog with your disagreement.

I personally feel that none of us who are not Muslims ought to questions whatever fatwa because it is the polite thing to do.

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We Chinese are very strict with how we treat our foods. Chinese eats everything because of hard lives and poverty. Give them a pig and they will eat every part of the pig including the intestines, testicles, kote, brain, ears and even the snort. Oink, oink, oink.

So, as children, we are not supposed to waste foods and not supposed to equate our foods with anything. If my mother is around, she will probably take a rotan and chase after my sons for the kind of things they play. And definitely she will give me an earful for not being respectful to food.

I have a sudden urge to make Jamie Oliver’s gnocchi. My eldest and second son always joked with each other about Jamie Oliver.

“Man, your ma has a crush on Jamie Oliver.”

“Man, your ma’s bible is Jamie Oliver’s cookbook and Jamie Oliver is your ma’s Jesus.”

I normally do not read recipe thoroughly. So, I just glanced through and get an idea of what needs to be done. After I popped the potatoes into the boiling water, I went, “OH SHIT! Jamie Oliver said to bake the potatoes, not boil them! Shit, how now?”

So, the whole kitchen disaster begins.

The freaking potatoes seem to ‘leak juices’ and no matter how much flour I added, the dough keeps getting watery. So, I added all the flour I can find at home. Flour was all over the place. It is almost midnight and my Jamie Oliver gnocchi looks like a major disaster.

I even bought this potato ricer to mash the potato for the gnocchi. But shit, the thing won’t work because I undercooked my potato. In the end, the potatoes have to be mashed by hands and then, stuffed into the blender.

While Jamie Oliver looking smugly at me, my blood is boiling already because the blardy potatoes cannot be formed into dough! Argggh..and my eldest son told me his recipe from KDU only uses 150 grams flour while I had added like 400 grams of flour.

In the end, my son helped to pipe out the sticky dough and we cut some into the boiling water.

But meanwhile….in the living room, the other monkeys were laughing like mad in the living room.

And this is what they did with the rest of the dough because I am too pissed use all of them. They tried boiling the two piles of ermmm…something…

Sigh….so much fun with Jamie Oliver.  Luckily the gnocchi turned out very tasty and yummy.  If you want to see the whole recipe for Jamie Oliver gnocchi, it is over on my food blog.

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I have been meaning to rant about this but never got around to it. Now, I am too lazy to pick up the news on the media so you have to rely on what I can remember. Few weeks ago, I read that Education Ministry is still eenie-meenie-mini-mo on whether to stick to English in the teachings of Science and Mathematics or to revert back to Bahasa Malaysia. Later on, they are pondering if our primary school children should learn History or Sejarah. Back in my time, I studied Tawarikh and yet I do not know what a hartal is (because history is ‘what the ruling government wants us to know and not what history actually is’). Some days back, they wanted to introduce the social contract study. I do not know what is a social contract. Oh ya, if I am not mistaken, there was also a proposal to teach Muslims children some interfaith subjects to make them better understand other faiths.

I do get the sinister feelings that our politicians are using our kids to wipe their shits. When something feels wrong, they will immediately point out that it is something to do with our kids. Like say for example, there is not semangat muhibbah, they pump in some projects and studies. Like when we failed to measure up globally, they pump in the teachings of English.

It is actually good when our policy makers take a proactive stand in improving and developing our nations. But as a parent, I feel they are not doing it for that purpose but rather, to use it to make right their wrongs. If we rakyats complained the Government is not doing something, they will quickly quickly stuff some fancy proposals to be implemented in our schools.

I think it is time we stop blaming the problems we face on our children and the education system. The children needs only the basic education. The rest is for us parents to rub it on them. So, to do that, just give us better ‘feel good’ feelings about our Government and we will sing the praises into our children. You want history? Give us real facts and not distort it to favour one political party over the other. Want us to be more understanding and accepting other faiths? Stop all those political lies, twisting God to favour their political party. Want us to be more competitive globally? Stop implanting fears to the citizens that knowing English or Mandarin is going to kill off the whole race (nay, like the stupid debate on what language to use for road signs).

Sekian. Terima Kasih. Sila datang lagi.

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Hmm….does hair grow on balls, ma?

Terence/JT, can you answer that? I am not sure. Well, at least I didn’t do enough experiments and dissection to know that.

Actually, I have a lot of things to do but I am too stressed out, thinking about them so I didn’t do anything! So, I took out some kiwi fruits and cut them and take pictures with my Nikon micro lens that costed me RM2.6K. The lens that is soooooo under utilised because I found out that it is not easy to take macro shots with a DSLR micro lens. It is nothing like those point and shoot camera where you just switch to the ‘tulip’ button and thiak, thiak, thiak.

See? It is hard to focus. So, I need to use manual focus. But one of my hand has to hold the cut fruit so I cannot focus as I need both hands. What I did was to shift the distance of the kiwi fruit from my camera lens to make the image sharp. *roll eyes* I know I should use a tripod but I was too lazy to do so. Moreover, how am I going to suspend the cut fruit in midair?

Then, I have to finish two kiwifruits after taking the photos. My eldest son saw me crouching by the window (to get ample light), on the floor with two kiwifruits, a sharp knife and a camera and he told his other brother, “Man, your ma is playing with two hairy balls.”

So, back to my question. Does hair grown on balls? Laugh what laugh? Serious question, wei.

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I didn’t go to Mt. Miriam on Deepavali because I figured that the patients would spend their days at home and those who are still in the ward will have lots of friends and relatives visiting them. Normally, on public holidays, the place is deserted. The last time I went during Merdeka, there was no car except for mine and a few others. I ended up talking with Jesus (in the chapel) because there was not many patients around.

So, I ponteng work and slept till late. But when I woke up, I saw an SMS from someone who told me that the CM is expected to be in Mt. Miriam. Ish, I missed my stalking chance. Anyway, even if I go, I have no right to run around the place because I am only a voluntary worker and my place is in the wards and not running around the conference hall. So, it doesn’t matter.

BTW, there is a memorial service on November 8th at Mount Miriam. It is at 9.30 am in the morning. It is an interfaith memorial service for those deceased patients’ families. I will be there, to remember two wonderful women whom made my voluntary work felt worthwhile. They have passed on but they are still in my heart as they were the first few patients who gave me the confidence to venture into this pastoral care work (which is mighty depressing, scary, challenging but enriching and worthwhile).

Anyway, another announcement, from the CM’s staff.

Wireless@Penang Forum
Organized by:Penang State Government / MCMC
Time: 2-5Pm
Place: Dome Komtar
Admission :Free - just bring your own makan if you wish.
Date : 8 November 2008

Forum is organised to address health / social issues related to WIFI/WIMAX implementation. Please forward to your friends.

Anyone interested, please go lah. Me? Who cares if the thing can cause health problems or not. All I want is something that can kick Stimass. The internet at night is awfully slow.

So, good night!

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There are some people who pronounce ‘you’ as chew, just in case you don’t get it.

I am not much of science person so I do not care whether it is the sun or the earth that shifted position but every year end in the mornings, the sun rays will shine right onto my head while I am still fast asleep. You know lah…nowadays TNB play cheat and refused to reduce electricity tariff eventhough petrol price has reduced (maklumlah, if not who is going to feed the IPPs except us poor taxpayers) so we pun menjimat elektrik and don’t turn on the aircond unless it is absolutely sweaty hot.

So, the sun was shinning very, very hot on my face while I was still dozing. I was dreaming of swimming in flood water that is as high as my neck level and there is a rainbow over the horizon. Lately, after some psychology courses, I am into dreams interpretation Sigmund Freud’s style. The priest who taught us psychology told us, “Don’t bring your dreams to the older generation of priests or they will call you crazy.” The priest also told us not to get obsessed with dreams because many of them are merely our hidden desires or unachieved ambition or inner fears. So, I take the swimming in flood water, watching rainbow as the ‘give me a lemon and I will make lemonade’ attitude.

Mighty pretty buns my son baked last midnight. We walloped them all before going to sleep.

Talking about before going to sleep, I did some reading on Utusan and I wish to tell you guys how racist they are. Pak Lah is sending his Deepavali wishes to all Malaysians and Utusan managed to fill the whole story about not adopting violence. I am so pissed with them. This is implying that people have been violent.

Elak cetus ketegangan

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi mengingatkan rakyat Malaysia supaya tidak sesekali memberi ruang kepada sebarang kumpulan ataupun individu pelampau melakukan apa jua tindakan yang boleh mencetuskan ketegangan.

Perdana Menteri berkata, perkara itu dapat dicapai dengan berbekalkan semangat Deepavali, dan dengan keyakinan bahawa nilai-nilai yang baik akan sentiasa memperoleh kemenangan.

Source: http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=1027&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Muka_Hadapan&pg=mh_01.htm

Next, Utusan featured another story like Penang is turning away from the usage of Bahasa Malaysia and going against the constitution. WTF, man? How can Utusan be allowed to twist facts to stir up racial uneasiness like that?

”Status tapak warisan dunia di Pulau Pinang tidak sesekali boleh menghalalkan tindakan untuk pasang papan tanda nama jalan dalam pelbagai bahasa. Mungkin ada berlaku pada masa lalu papan tanda bahasa lain digunakan tetapi keadaan kini berbeza.

”Kalau kita mahu pegang hujah secara lurus bendul atas dasar warisan seperti itu, maka bolehlah disamakan dengan meminta Pulau Pinang diserahkan kembali kepada Kedah,” katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia hari ini.

Beliau diminta mengulas tindakan kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang meluluskan permohonan Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang untuk memasang papan tanda nama jalan dalam tulisan jawi, Tamil dan Cina bagi tujuan warisan di jalan-jalan tertentu di Georgetown.

You got to read how ridiculous the news is. It is so, so, so small-minded.

http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=1027&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Muka_Hadapan&pg=mh_07.htm

Of course, I could just ignore news on Utusan. But then, hey, how many people’s mind have been poisoned by all these hidden sentiments planted in them? This is like the white horse with black tail kind of story. If I ask you not to think of a white horse with black tail, what will be on your mind? If the papers keep talking like there is a racial tension amongst us, what will these people think? They will think there is and they will get paranoid. Utusan keeps pumping to our brothers and sisters that certain races ingin mencetus ketegangan and certain races are going to wipe out our national language.

I hate chew, Mr. Sun. And all the irresponsible people who sow the seeds of paranoia, hatred and misunderstanding. The power may be in your hands but God has power over the world.

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