Little Penang

It's sunday today - Sunny day with extremely hot weather. Finally, it's a day for me to rest. Yesterday I spent almost half of my day at Megamall Penang with few friends to shop for project runway clothes.... Clothes for the models to wear and do the catwalk .. hehe. Was cracking head to think who suppose to wear what, it's not easy to be a designer, now i know.

Woke up early in the morning today as I need to attend my piano lesson......Came home after my class and did some housework while waiting for the two gentlemen to come and pick me up for lunch. They are very slow as always....... especially the Korean guy :P ... Went to pick up Daniel and we headed to Sawtow lane for lunch. Here are the food we had and there were 3 foreign ladies shooting movie over there, i think must be some kind TV programme introducing Malaysia local food to their country.

"Cucuk Udang" / "Ïce Kacang" / "Movie shooting"

After that, we headed straight to Little Penang Street Market. The Little Penang Street Market was launched on 30 July 2006, and it will be held on the last Sunday of every month. Market times are 10am to 8pm at Upper Penang Road. You can find a lot of good stuff there, most of the things there are hand made by the person who is selling. Other than that, you can find live music, kid's corner and food over there. A nice place to go on the weekend though :)

Happy Holiday

Deepavali and Hari Raya celebration has just passed. I'm not celebrating the festival but still very happy as i can enjoy the holiday especially after those hectic work... long waiting holiday!!!.

During this holiday, I went to KL with my parent and my sister to visit my aunty uncle who live in Sg. Buloh. They have just moved into a new house somewhere around that area Sunway Rahman Putera (Sg. Buloh).

On the way to KL, we saw a terrible jam on the highway. I think that was the first time I saw such terrible jam. The cars were quieing up bumper to bumper and there were no space in between, from Sg. Buloh to the Ipoh toll. I felt lucky that i was on the opposite site, not joining them for the terrific jam.

It took about 4 hours for us to reach our destination. It was the first time for me to visit my aunty's new house. Wow... nice and big house with 2 ponds outside. After rest for a while, we went to 1Utama shopping complex for window shopping. As my mum and one of my aunty is vegetarian for 9 days, so they can't join us for dinner. My dad, sister, cousin sister and I had our dinner in one of the restaurant in 1-Utama. Nice food and nice environment :) I guess the pictures will tell em all... ...

"The fountain outside the house"

"The pond with fishes "

"Nice environment in the restraurant

On Sunday, I attended my friend's wedding dinner at Klang. I'm not familiar with Klang area, so I called up Jefery in order to get a ride from him. I have met a lot of old friends there, have not meet them for about 3 years after we graduated. It was like a gathering for us :)

What I enjoyed the most on that night was the music band. The nice food can't catch my attention compared to the band. The band consists of a keyboardist, a guitarist and a saxophonist. I admired the saxophonist the most, the nice sound produced from the saxophone, not forgetting to mention that the saxophonist can play flute very well too!!! Nice dinner, nice food, nice environment and of course it's nice to meet all my friends again!!!

"Congrats to Kok Meng & Jen Lin"

Pick the Right One

I got this article from a friend. Found it to be very interesting and makes a lot of sense, so put it up here to share with you all. Love is not about chemistry and compatibility only, there are others factor that we need to consider. Hopefully this could help one to choose the right one for themselves :)

With the divorce rate over 50 percent, too many are apparently making a serious mistake in deciding who to spend the rest of their life with. To avoid becoming a "statistic", try to internalize these 10 insights.

No.1 You pick the wrong person because you expect him/her to change after you're married.
The classic mistake. Never marry potential. The golden rule is, if you can't be happy with the person the way he or she is now, don't get married. As a colleague of mine so wisely put it, "You actually can expect people to change after their married... for the worst!" So when it comes to the other person's spirituality, character, personal hygiene, communication skills, and personal habits, make sure you can live with these as they are now.

No.2 You pick the wrong person because you focus more on chemistry than on character.
Chemistry ignites the fire, but good character keeps it burning. Beware of the "I'm in love" syndrome. "I'm in love" often means, "I'm in lust." Attraction is there, but have you carefully checked out this person's character? Here are four character traits to definitely check for: Humility: Does this person believe that "doing the right thing" is more important than personal comfort? Do I want to be more like this person? Would I like my child to turn out like him or her? Kindness: Does this person enjoy giving pleasure to other people? How does s/he treat people s/he doesn't have to be nice to? Does s/he do volunteer work? Give charity? Responsibility: Can I depend on this person to do what s/he says s/he's going to do? Happiness: Does this person like himself? Does s/he enjoy life? Is s/he emotionally stable? Ask yourself: Do I want to be more like this person? Do I want to have a child with this person? Would I like my child to turn out like him or her?

No.3 You pick the wrong person because the man doesn't understand what a woman needs most.
Men and women have unique emotional needs, and more often than not, it is the man who just doesn't "get it". The unique need of a woman is to be loved - to feel that she is the most important person in her husband's life. The husband needs to give her consistent, quality attention. Sexual intimacy is always on the woman's terms. Men are goal-oriented, especially when it comes this area. As a wise woman once pointed out, "Men have two speeds: on and off". Women are experience-oriented. When a man is able to switch gears and become more experience-oriented, he will discover what makes his wife very happy. When the man forgets about his own needs and focuses on giving his wife pleasure, amazing things happen.

No.4 You choose the wrong person because you do not share a common life goals and priorities.
There are three basic ways we connect with another person: 1. chemistry and compatibility 2. share common interests 3. share common life goals
Make sure you share the deeper level of connection that sharing life goals provide. After marriage, the two of you will either grow together or grow apart. To avoid growing apart, you must figure out what you're "living for", while you're single - and then find someone who has come to the same conclusion as you. This is the true definition of a " soul mate". A soul mate is a goal mate - two people who ultimately share the same understanding of life's purpose and therefore share the same priorities, values and goals.

No.5 You choose the wrong person because you get involved sexually too quickly.
Sexual involvement before the commitment of marriage can be a big problem because it often precludes a fully honest exploration of important issues. Sexual involvement tends to cloud one's mind. And a clouded mind is not inclined to make good decisions. Of all the studies done on divorce, sexual incompatibility is never cited as a main factor. It is not necessary to take a "test drive" in order to find out if a couple is sexually compatible. If you do your homework and make sure you are intellectually and emotionally compatible, you don't have to worry about sexual compatibility. Of all the studies done on divorce, sexual incompatibility is never cited as a main reason why people divorce.

No.6 You pick the wrong person because you do not have a deeper emotional connection with this person.
To evaluate whether you have a deeper emotional connection or not, ask: "Do I respect and admire this person?" This does not mean, "Am I impressed by this person?" We are impressed by a Mercedes. We do not respect someone because they own a Mercedes. You should be impressed by qualities of creativity, loyalty, determination, etc. Also ask: "Do I trust this person?" This also means, "Is he/she emotionally stable? Do I feel I can rely on him/her?

No.7 You pick the wrong person because you choose someone with whom you don't feel emotionally safe.
Ask yourself the following questions: Do I feel calm, peaceful and relaxed with this person? Can I fully be myself and express myself with this person? Does this person make me feel good about myself? Do you have a really close friend who does make you feel this way? Make sure the person you marry makes you feel the same way! Are you afraid of this person in any way? You should not feel you need to monitor what you say because you are afraid of how the other person will view it. If you're afraid to express your feelings and opinions openly, there's a problem with the relationship. Be on the look out for someone who is always trying to change you. Another aspect of feeling safe is that you don't feel the other person is trying to control you. Controlling behaviors are a sign of an abusive person. Be on the look out for someone who is always trying to change you. There's a big difference between "controlling" and "making suggestions." A suggestion is made for your benefit; a control statement is made for their benefit.

No.8 You pick the wrong person because you don't put everything on the table.
Anything that bothers you about the relationship must be brought up for discussion. Bringing up the uncomfortable stuff is the only way to evaluate how well the two of you communicate, negotiate, and work together. Over the course of a lifetime, difficulties will inevitably arise. You need to know now, before making a commitment: Can you resolve your differences and find compromises that work for both of you? Never be afraid to let the person know what bothers you. This is also a way for you to test how vulnerable you can be with this person. If you can't be vulnerable, then you can't be intimate. The two go hand in hand.

No.9 You pick the wrong person because you use the relationship to escape from personal problems and unhappiness.
If you are unhappy and single, you'll probably be unhappy and married, too. Marriage does not fix personal, psychological and emotional problems. If anything, marriage will exacerbate them. If you are not happy with yourself and your life, take responsibility to fix it now while you are single. You'll feel better, and your future spouse will thank you.

No.10 You pick the wrong person because he/she is involved in a triangle.
To be "triangulated" means a person is emotionally dependent on someone or something else while trying to develop another relationship. A person who hasn't separated from his or her parents is the classic example of triangulation. People can also be triangulated with things as well, such as work, drugs, Internet, hobbies, sports or money. Be careful that you and your partner are free of triangles. The person caught in the triangle cannot be fully emotionally available to you. You will not be their number one priority. And that's no basis for a marriage.

~Moody~

hhmm... Mood was not really good for the past few days. A lot of things happened recently and tend to get more emotional to small matter. I have tried my best to control my emotion, anyhow i'm a patient person, so won't get angry easily :) Keep saying wuuuu saaaaaa for the whole day already :P ( you should know what i'm talking about if you have watched the movie Anger Management before)

I remebered I read from not sure whether was an article or magazine on the tips how to make people happy. According to the article, one of the ways is by eating chocolate, you will feel happier. Believe it or not? :P hehe.... I don't know if this will really work, may be only will work for those who loves chocolate :) My house's chocolate always running out of stock because I have a hungry ghost at home :P hahaha ... (can't let her see this, she sure will kill me)

Share with you the chocolate that I like - I like the seashell shape of the chocolate :)
Just a simple chocolate, as simple as me ... ...

Influence Edge

Yesterdy (Thursday, Oct 12th) I attended a Personal Development training called Influence Edge in my company. It was an interesting training. The training is about how you can get your work done without authority and how you can influence a person to do something, to say something and to give something.

Influence skill is important to get work done faster, reduce conflict, relieve stress and etc. There are strategies and tools to assist you in the development. There are a lot of activities through out the training to keep the class lively and interesting so i never felt sleepy in the class :)

Share with you some of the Influence Edge Situational Facotrs:

Goal
What do I want?
What will make it clear to the other person?

Self
What assumption am I making?
What is my mindset?

Other
What is their mindset?
What is important to them?

Organisation
What is going on in their organisation?
What is the history?

It's good to refer to these situation and take some time to think about yourself in relation to the other person and the other person's sitaution, in short put yourself in others shoes. Influence always work in two-way, so please take the other person's view into consideration. It might work well for you.

So, why are you still hesitating? Start practicing your influencing power now :) I would strongly recommend you to attend this class, you can actually gain a lot from the class.

Japanese Tea Party

"Instruction on how to take the Japanese Green tea"

" Tea set and the sensei who taught us how to make the tea"

Last Sunday, I went to Japanese tea ceremony (Ocha) with my sister and Guat Ching. The ceremony was held at my sister's Japanese teacher's house. The event last for about two hours. In the ceremony, the Sensei taught us how to make green tea, how to hold the tea cup and how to take the tea in the correct way.

The photo above depicts the necessary decorations needed for the Japanese Tea party. The decorations are important to welcome the guess and to show your respect to the guess. Basically, the decorations include a calligraphy hanging on the wall, a green fresh plant and a small Pipa (Chinese Lute). Inside the Pipa, sometimes you will find the aroma incense stick. The incense stick was used by the Japanese if they are using the charcoal to boil the water instead of the stove. When they use the charcoal, they would throw the incense stick in the fire to let the aroma smell to fill the room.

Overall, it's a good experience for us to understand the Japanese tea drinking style and the proper way to drink Japanese tea :)

Penang Old Folks Home Visit

MoonCake Festival is a festival when we can have all the family members to gather around and have a some sort of reunion dinner. According to my Korean friend, this is a big event in Korea and same for China, that's why they have Golden Week Holiday.

When we were enjoying the delicious mooncake and the full moon, have you ever think of the lonely old folks in the old folks home? Did they have a chance to enjoy the mooncake and the moonlight?

ACS High 5 team has organized a home visit to Penang Old Folks Home last Saturday, to distribute the mooncake and some daily necessary products to the old folks. Thanks to the KTBR team who has donated the money to help the old folks as well as to support this event for this event to be carried out successfully.

The event was very successfully and we were happy to see the smile on the old folks face. Everything is worthwhile and I can felt the appreciation and the joyness on everyone's face.

Yeah!! My first blog :)

Wanted to start my blog long long time ago but always think never do.... Finally, i have taken the action :)

Will post more updates soon .... ... To Be Continue ... ...