Enter, Baby Zuma

I love Gwen Stefani. She is chic down to the core. She's the lead singer of a super awesome rock band. She did well as a solo singer. And she's the brain behind L.A.M.B collection which I adore.

Most importantly, she got married at a late age after enjoying strings of success in her career and she managed to give birth to 2 beautiful, perfect boys. Her eldest son is Kingston (who is the spitting image of rockstar hubby Gavin Rossdale) and her youngest is Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale (what a name, huh). So you see, it's not that impossible. ;p

So she just recently released a pic of her and baby Zuma who has been safely guarded and protected from the paps. I must say, what a darling little angel. I just know Zuma is as cute as (if not, cuter than) Kingston!



Gwen, Gavin, Kingston and Zuma make a happy, perfect bunch. Let's just hope that they will last and there'll be no nasty drama ala Madonna, ever!.

(Breaking News) Even Them Too?

I was reading the online local newspaper. Despite the mountaining exam papers that I have to mark, I still have to keep up with what's happening today, don't I ?

Don't judge me, but as a normal, typical human being who is always drawn to hot news (or some prefer to call them gossip.. shessh..) this caught my attention.

Pelakon Gerak Khas ditangkap khalwat

KUALA LUMPUR: Pelakon Gerak Khas yang kini rumahtangganya dikatakan sedang retak, pagi tadi ditangkap khalwat di sebuah premis perniagaan di Jalan UP 1/2, Ukay Perdana, di sini.

Tangkapan dilakukan kira-kira jam 2 pagi oleh Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais), berikutan maklumat orang ramai.

Timbalan Ketua Polis Daerah Ampang, Superintendan Amiruddin Jamaluddin, berkata pihaknya menerima laporan tangkapan pasangan itu daripada Jais kira-kira jam 3 pagi.

The actor of Gerak Khas.
Marriage that is crumbling down.
For those who has been reading the local newspaper, come on don't tell me his name did not cross your mind.

He has been denying about the rumours of his failing marriage.
His wife admitted (to the reporters) that their marriage is facing a whirlwind tornado.
They just had a baby girl, for God's sake.
And then this happened.

It surely makes me nervous just thinking about getting married! It is a gamble that is risky. You may win or you may not. For those who lose, the losses could be quite big and traumatic. Eek!

BTW, don't tell me you still dunno who that person is?

It's that actor Norman Hakim, lah.

No Escaping

When something bad happened to someone, we assume it will never happens to us. But the recent tragedy that happened to Jennifer Hudson's family proves that crime does not care who you are.

Her mother and her sister were attacked by a family member. It was her brother in law. This is an example of a family dispute gone bad. Her nephew was kidnapped and all prays go out to their family, hoping that the kid will be OK.

But sadly, a body was found in an SUV and the FBI confirmed that it belongs to her nephew.

Deepest condolences goes out to her and her family. And for us out there, be safe, be cautious. We never know when things like this could happen to us. Pray hard. Hopefully her family will be able to go through this trying time.

If I Were A Boy

Celebs usually release a catchy tune as their first single (of their new records) but not this time around for songbird Beyonce. This song is mellow. Might not be accepted by your ears the first time you hear it but chances are, when you catch up with the lyric, you'll fall in love with it. This is especially true for girls. It is right on the spot, perfectly describing us girls' feelings about relationship (most of us girls anyway ;p). And the video clip is top notch, too. Tastefully done in black & white with plots that flows smoothly. It clicks with the lyric beautifully. Do go and watch it from the start until the end. It's worth your 5 minutes time.

This song also goes out to the boys. Especially for those who find that girls are puzzling. Well, breaking news, we find you as one too.

If I were a boy
Even just for a day
I’d roll outta bed in the morning
And throw on what I wanted then go
Drink beer with the guys
And chase after girls
I’d kick it with who I wanted
And I’d never get confronted for it.
Cause they’d stick up for me.

[Chorus]
If I were a boy
I think I could understand
How it feels to love a girl
I swear I’d be a better man.
I’d listen to her
Cause I know how it hurts
When you lose the one you wanted
Cause he’s taken you for granted
And everything you had got destroyed

[Verse]
If I were a boy
I would turn off my phone
Tell everyone it’s broken
So they’d think that I was sleepin’ alone
I’d put myself first
And make the rules as I go
Cause I know that she’d be faithful
Waitin’ for me to come home (to come home)

It’s a little too late for you to come back
Say its just a mistake
Think I’d forgive you like that
If you thought I would wait for you
You thought wrong

But you’re just a boy
You don’t understand
Yeah you don’t understand
How it feels to love a girl someday
You wish you were a better man
You don’t listen to her
You don’t care how it hurts
Until you lose the one you wanted
Cause you’ve taken her for granted
And everything you have got destroyed
But you’re just a boy




P/S - I used to want to be a boy so much when I was younger. *ha ha*. Like, literally.

That's Bloody Rude!

I came to know about Malaysia being one of the rudest country in the world about a year ago. We actually ranked third out of the 35 countries that was put on the survey. I know some Malaysian would definitely flipped out when this achievement*ha ha* is mentioned to them. But, honestly, don't you see it coming?

There are many factors that contributed to this achievement. We seldom say thank you after we receive the balance from the cashier. We don't hold the door for the next person behind us. What if we left our handphones in public places? The chances of you getting it back is as slim as our Ringgit having the highest value in the world. Don't even get me started on our driving attitude. You and I both know how ruthless we can be on the road :D

So where did we go wrong?

I think the most important thing here is for us to change ourselves for the better. Being courteous doesn't hurt. Treat others how you want to be treated, because there's this thing call karma baby, and what goes around comes around ;). When we have become a better and polite person, it would be time to teach the young ones through modeling because talk is cheap.

Don't forget your thank yous!

Flu + Fever Alert

What do you do when you have fever + flu ?

Admit it, there are times when you don't feel like going to the doctor, for whatever reason it might be. So during those times, you usually fall back to the medication that you bought when you last met the doctor.

This is what I usually do. Take the antibiotic.

But apparently, according to a friend, you have to be cautious in taking antibiotic. It is more suited for bacteria-caused sickness (such as cough). However, for flu, which is caused by viruses, it is quite unsuited. In other words, it is quite useless, really. Besides, the microorganism will become resistant to the it. Therefore, when you really need one, you might gonna need an antibiotic with a much higher dose.

However, there is one habit that is apparently proven good during those fever + flu times. That is, to drink plenty of fluid. This includes water and also isotonic drinks such as 100+ and Revive. When you are feverish, you lose plenty of fluid as well as electrolytes. So that explains why you are recommended to drink isotonic drinks.

Well, my work is done here. I'm feverish atm so that's why I went all medical for this entry :P

It IS The Best Medicine

I read about it couple of times on how it works tremendously well in making you feel better.

What am I talking about?

It is laughter.

Do you know that there are even laughing-yoga-like classes in the States? In that class, you'll learn how to cope with your stress by laughing. Geez. People nowadays even need a lesson on how to laugh.

Anyways,

It hasn't been a great day for me. My immune system is acting funny (I'm feverish) and I realized that I am still fat and still hasn't managed to get rid of the fats that I gained during Raya.

So I have been driving for almost 2 hours while doing some thinking.

And I could literally feel my face developing some wrinkles. I felt old and cranky.

As I was approaching my home, there was this bunch of kids standing at the side of the road. I saw a very strategic cow's poop in the middle of the road and I wanted to avoid it. But, I did not.

So, splat it went.

And I heard one of the kids screamed loudly

"Eek...look at the cow's poop."
They giggled uncontrollably.
And I couldn't help but laughing too.
I couldn't believe that it is relatively easy to make kids laugh.
And I couldn't believe that I felt much better after that.

Guess it's true,
laughter IS the best medicine! And if you can't bring yourself to laugh about something, pretend it. It sounds silly but it actually works. I know, I learned about it from Oprah.

They Didn't Last Too

It is just impossible for Hollywood celebs to stay married, isn't it?

The news of their marriage being on the rock has circulated for months. The news about them announcing their divorce began swirling yesterday and now, it is apparently confirmed that our Material Girl and her husband is going to get a divorce.

What could be the reason? Will have to wait and see. Was it because of work? Madge's tour? Guy's latest movie? Our material girl is finally sick of trying to be the English rose? And are we going to see more of Madge and Alex Rodriguez?

It makes me hyperventilating just to think about the possibilities. And the stories that surely will come pouring out, they make me anxious!

Anyways, here's to another end of a Hollywood marriage. 8 years, man. That seems like forever in Hollywood years!

Down With The Craptacular Menu!

One disadvantage of working in school is that you have only one place to go to grab a bite during your brekkie. That is the canteen.

And if the food in the canteen sucks, you just have to bear with it. Or pack your own food from home. But I rarely see that happen. And even if the teachers did pack some food, they will still go to the canteen anyway.

I have no choice but to eat the food that are available in the canteen. It's not worth the energy, time and money to prepare my own food.

So it's pretty heartbreaking to see the same ol same ol menu every time I go there! It's always the same. I can practically name the menu that they will serve each day. I can even tell the taste, in details.

I feel like starting a strike. Down with the craptacular menu!

But I'm afraid I'm gonna be alone, claiming my right as a customer, to be served with more taste bud-challenging menu. The thing is, the food would always be sold out by noon.

Gah.

I wish the school would adopt the survey technique in hope of being better. Better education, better surrounding and most importantly, better food.

I would gladly volunteer to create the survey form.

And I know what my personal respond would be.

It's not that I want to sack the kakak who runs the canteen. It's just that I hope, by doing so, she could offer a better service (and of course, a better menu too). But it's somewhat like a culture here in Malaysia to keep on going through the dark tunnel, hoping that it will end soon or a light will magically appear. It will not. Unless you do something.

For now I guess I'm gonna have to settle with questioning the teachers to provoke their unsatisfied taste bud.

To The Baby Whale Who Didn't Make it :(

I have a soft spot for animals so that pretty much explains why I'm typing this entry.

Yesterday, I read an article on the local newspaper about a baby whale that was fighting for its life. It couldn't get back to the sea because of the low tide. I'm sure it was a very rare sight for the locals there. Not sure what was their initial respond (I have a feeling it was stop-n-stare) but when the reporter came, naturally, everyone looks busy, trying to save the baby whale, keeping its body wet.

Interestingly, one of the locals claimed that the organization (I'm not mentioning what, take a guess) who should take immediate action to save this baby whale did not do so. The only thing they did was take pictures of the whale for, ahem, studies perhaps? That's craptacular.

They managed however to get the baby whale back into the ocean at night (after God knows how many hours the poor baby had spent fighting to survive) but it was found dead at the shore, this morning.

It is pretty much expected, isn't it?

So to all those mama whales out there, hold on to your babies tight should you swim nearby the shore of Malaysia. Warn you babies. They are doomed if they are stranded here. It's not everyday that we get to take pictures of a stranded baby whale, you know?

For All Your Juicy Gossip Need

The kids in Upper East Side of New York can log in to Gossip Girl.com for their juicy gossip need. (uh-huh, avid fan of GG here ;P)

And we, the normal lot who don't own an only 2 grand LV bag can also get an access to know what's happening in Hollywood. I've been hooked to this site ever since I was introduced to it by a friend. I need daily dose of it now. Talk about being addicted.

The site http://x17online.com/index.php is updated daily, with kick ass paparazzi shots. Aside from pictures, you can even watch videos of the celebs respond to the paps' questions (watch them, they are awesome). And if you are into Britney, this site has almost every update about her here. I watched her latest vid (in case you didn't know, it's called the womanizer) here (and she is so smokin' hot in it, y'all!).

So, for all your juicy gossip needs, go to http://x17online.com/index.php . Just one reminder though, you are likely to get addicted!

You've been warned ;)

Lower Petrol Price in Malaysia

I bought my car early this year. Some months later, the fuel price reached the roof and it affected me greatly because I travel quite a lot. For some time, I drove about 80kmph. I searched the web for tips on saving fuel.

So it felt really great to know that the price is decreasing. It started with a mere 15 cents, followed by another 10 cents and now, an awesome 15 cents. (Please correct me if I am wrong, am typing purely based on memory here). So from 2.70, it will now become 2.30, as of tomorrow (15th October 2008)*

It is pretty much expected, looking at the global price of fuel.

One question though, will the rebate still be on after all these? It was decided that it will be continued until April, but I'm kinda worried that it will end much sooner. That wouldn't be fair to those who has yet to get it.

And that will trigger even more wrath from the people.

*price differs, according to fuel. RON97, diesel and RON92.

Datukship for Shah Rukh Khan

My bad, that should be Datuk Shah Rukh Khan, right?

HA- HA - HA.

Back when I was a kid, being a Datuk is a big deal. Everyone looks up at you, people wants to be closed to you and many will claim that they are your long lost relatives. It was not easy to get that Datukship. You got to be a really successful person or really filthy rich.

But unfortunately, it has now become a joke.

Not only that there are tonnes of Datuks nowadays (hence stripped away the 'special' factor). I am also confused as to what criteria are being taken into consideration in order to honour someone with a Datukship. It has become so common that when you yell "Datuk!" in your local shopping mall, chances are, many will answer your call with a "YES?"

And the latest joke has something to do with Bollywood (Boley-wood?)

I saw a friend's Yahoo Messenger's status that was something like this "In Bolehwood, even Shah Rukh Khan gets Datukship." I thought that must be a real joke. You know, the joke joke. But apparently it IS the real deal. He was honoured with Datukship from Melaka. HA - HA.

And apparently the main reason for him getting the honour was because he helped promoted Melaka so much in his movies. Actually, in one movie. I couldn't recall knowing other countries in the world that honour someone else (not their citizens) with a grand title (Datuk is almost like Sir in England. Almost.) because that person had promoted that particular country.

It is not confirmed yet when Datuk Shah Rukh Khan will go through the ceremony but I have a feeling that it is quite likely that he won't even be there. He is a busy man, promoting countries and all.

Well, I suppose this is like a free promotion. All the hype maybe, maybe could promote Melaka although I'm afraid it could be for the wrong reason. Oh my beloved hometown.

virus / spyware scare?

I was surfing the internet as usual. No new routine, no new website, nothing unusual. But suddenly a pop up appeared and then it just seem to duplicate itself. Really fast. Before I knew it, there were 50++ of them and I got disconnected from my internet service provider. You bet I nearly wet my pants.

I cannot close the pop ups because each time I attempted to do so, it came right back on. And I cannot click the shut down computer from the start menu neither, as well as choosing the CTRL + ALT + DEL. Exactly NOTHING happened. So, what a girl to do?

I switched off the laptop all right, by pressing the on/off button for a few seconds.

When it's right back on and I'm on the internet again, it's just natural to search for an anti spyware installer. So I stumbled upon this site, http://www.filehippo.com/ and there are heaps of installer! Glad I found it because now I know a cool place where I can download beneficial installer :)

I hope I won't get another scare after this. It's not nice to wet your pants on a relaxing, Sunday morning :P

And The Winners Are...

I have an uncle with a wicked sense of humor. He's a sharp man with comments that could sometimes make you want to hide yourself safely under the blanket. He could extract any information that he wants from you simply by asking several questions that build up from simple to tricky. So you got to to know when to twist your answer. You got to be street smart :P But he's fun, nonetheless. Honest.

As a proof, I am going to type out here the recent txt that he gave me just about hours ago. It has to do about the Malaysia current political scene. Something that almost everybody can talk about for hours because we have so much to say about everything :)

Here is the result of 2008 karaoke finalist,
9 - Tun Mahathir with the song "My Way"
8 - Pak Lah with the song "Dream Dream Dream"
7 - Najib with the song "Your Cheating Heart"
6 - Tengku Razaleigh with the song "I Believe I Can Fly"
5 - Khairy with the song "Money Money Money"
4 - IGP with the song "I'll Be Watching You"
3 - Anwar Ibrahim with the song "Winds of Change"
2 - Saiful with the song "I Swear"
1 - Syed Hamid with the song "Oh Carol (I'm But A Fool)"

I must say, kudos to whoever make this thing up. Probably got inspired after tired of reading the newspapers and watching the news. Read the joke, comprehend it and you'll get it eventually.

my latest baby

No, not the baby who cries and wakes me up late at night :P

It is my latest project, hopefully something that enables me to share the knowledge and experience that I've gained from my career with others. I've thought about writing them here but after much consideration, it is probably better to record them somewhere else, where it is not jumbled up with other aspects of my life that I write about.

It's http://redhotcikgu.blogspot.com/

sorry, you're gonna have to copy and paste if you are curious. Tried to link it but I failed. Or you can click the link at the right hand side of this page, below the read this section.

And as the URL suggest, yes it's about teaching!

tickle that thick, funny bone.

It's Friday, alas :)

Next week is sorta a trying week for me, and the week after that. Heaps to be done and to think about and time just seem to keep on ticking. Before I know it, it's already Friday.

Well since it's the weekend, I guess we ought to let all the stress to evaporate. And what better way to do it than to laugh =))

So here's a story that I've heard over and over. But it differs from one source to another. Some changed the name, location and so forth. Whatever it is, it still is funny, in a perverted kind of way ;)

There was a Chinese lady married to an English gentleman and they lived in London . The poor lady was not very proficient in English, but managed somehow to communicate with her husband. The real problem arose whenever she had to shop for groceries. One day, she went to the butcher and wanted to buy pork legs. She didn't know how to put forward her request, and in desperation, lifted up her skirt to show her thighs. The butcher got the message and the lady went home with pork legs.

The next day, she needed to get chicken breasts. Again, she didn't know how to say, and so she unbuttoned her blouse to show the butcher her breast. The lady got what she wanted.

The third day, the poor lady needed to buy sausages. She brought her husband to the store....... ... so what did she do?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

........

well, ahem, she asked her husband to request for the sausage in English, of course.
what were you thinking? ;)

Have a great weekend!

the post raya blues

I face this problem every single year. And I'm sure most of you (assuming that you are Malaysian) face this problem too. We eat a lot, especially during festive seasons. We just celebrated Eid / Aidilfitri / Raya and being a true Malaysian, I ate like there's no tomorrow ;P.

Gone are the glorious days that I celebrated my few lost kilos. The fats that I managed to get rid of during the fasting month probably had duplicated itself since the first day of Raya. To think of the yogurt diet that I gone through few weeks before Ramadhan, I feel ashamed of myself now.

The thing is, once we started to eat a lot, it's hard to stop.

I kept telling myself that it is only for the 1st day of Raya. Then it continued to the second and the third. Managed to stretch itself to the fourth Raya too, what the heck, it was the holiday and my tummy deserved a break from food restriction.

And it is now the second week of Raya and I'm bloated like a well fed whale.

So, what do you do in this situation?

Feel sorry for yourself, hate yourself for being a big easy *ha ha* and chow down even more food to ease the pain?

I'm tempted to do that routine. But, I'm getting older and I want to get better as I age. I want to be like the female George Clooney. You know, just like Jennifer Aniston :)

So as from tomorrow (I had to prepare my tummy to be ready, first. It's a sad thing to depart from plenty of food)I will go back to the diet that I think was working quite well for me and it involves a cup of yogurt every single day (to help with the digestion and it also provides plenty of vitamin!). And there'll also be less intake of rice. Although it is kind of uneasy to explain to other teachers in the canteen when I just have my lauk sans the rice,

"What, no rice?"
"Can survive ka?"
"How can you be fulled with just that?"

It's just so tedious to explain to everybody why I ditch the rice every now and then so I usually just nod and smile. I've talked way too much in classes already :)

To readers who are still in the mood for Raya (what with the open house and all), consume food responsibly :P Your tummy had a really nice one month vacation from working endlessly and just like anything, too much of something in one go could cause a breakdown.

And oh, in the spirit of Raya, would love to wish all readers SELAMAT HARI RAYA and MAAF ZAHIR BATIN.