Saturday, April 24, 2010
Rodents
Friday, April 23, 2010
Max Brenner!
Monday, April 19, 2010
The World's Worst Local Bank = HSBC
One fine day my mom was walking in a shopping complex when being approached by HSBC's credit card marketeer. She politely declined and told the person she wasn't in need of another credit card, and also that her application was declined before by HSBC and she wasn't planning to try again.
After much convincing, my mom decided to give it another try. And while filling up the forms, she wasn't allowed to fill up her latest address but to use the one that was on her IC. She was told that she could request for a change of address later. And so my mom informed the marketeer that the office address she filled may not be complete and in case her application was approved, they will have to call up and reconfirm the address before sending the card.
Approximately 2 weeks later, my mom received an SMS saying that her application has been approved and the card has been sent out. Unfortunately the bank did not call the verify the address again, and after one week she still did not receive the card. We suspected that the incomplete address may have been the cause of the delivery problems, and so we contacted HSBC to check and it was true that the original card was returned to the sender by Poslaju. They promised that they will send again to the right address this time.
Another week passed and yet no card was received. And instead, she received her first statement with RM50 Service Tax charged to her card!!! We called again to check with HSBC and was put on hold for more than 3 times with each hold lasting for eternity. They confirmed that the card has been sent out by normal post, and that's why the service tax has been credited AUTOMATICALLY by the system. My mom was like "WHAT??? How can you charge me service tax for a card that I have not even received??? Have you even any prove of acknowledgements that I have received the card???" And they calmly responded, "I'm sorry m'am, please wait for a few more days and if you still don't receive the card, call us again and we'll send a replacement".
And so my mom
Finally the operator apologized and told my mom what she already knew- that the card was already sent on X date by normal post, and if it still hasn't arrived by now it is probably lost. And they will send another one on the way. Again the operator reconfirmed the correct postal address and assured the new card will be sent out immediately. Another 2 weeks down the road my mom has already given up and lost all hopes of actually receiving the card. And she thought she didn't want to waste time calling them anymore until she received another statement from them. This time with an additional RM5 of compensation fee (we still haven't figured out what exactly is a compensation fee) and RM5 of late charges for not paying the service tax.
This was really absurd. My mom had already had enough, and called HSBC again and told them to forget about sending her the card (definitely not nicely I can assure you), and to reverse all the charges on the statement. The operator was stunned but apologized profusely for the inconvenience, and said that she will do the necessary cancellation of the card and charges.
And guess what? This month my mom promptly received another statement from the bank. Both the service tax and compensation fees have been reversed by the late/finance charges remains standing. Which means my mom still owes HSBC a RM5 after all the unnecessary waiting on the phone and call charges to them trying to track the GHOST card. No doubt they got another lashing, and this time the operator assured that she will not receive anymore statements from them and that the RM5 charges will also be reversed.
That's our World's Local Bank!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A Break In
In the late afternoon, my neighbour's relative came over to water the plants and feed the rabbits, and noticed something was amiss. The curtains on the side door was parted slightly, and the padlock was missing from the grills and it wasn't locked. As soon as she stepped into the house, she was shocked to find a mess and all the drawers and cabinets ransacked. Frightened that the burglar may still be in the house, she quickly left and called the police. Since the owner was not around, they could not confirm what else was missing from the house, except the rabbit (the burglar must either have a soft spot for furry animals or is considering the bunny as his lunch).
Both my husband and I have contrasting reactions to this incident. The first thing that came to my mind was I'm glad that we were not affected and Pixie did not become a victim of cruel acts. I could still recall 2 of our dogs being poisoned 3 years ago, probably done by someone with evil plans. On the other hand my husband was worried about his things being stolen if the burglar was to break into our house, and went paranoia about putting every single thing in the safe.
I remember when we first moved in, he was overly paranoid about keeping the house safe from thieves and burglars that he put locks and double locks on every single door of the house. I told him that if a burglar had any intention of coming in, we would have to lose even more money repairing doors that the burglar breaks. I also told him that if ever there was a fire, I would be burnt alive inside the house because it takes me just too long to unlock the padlocks and grills and doors to escape. And so in the end I told him off because I refused to become a prisoner of my own home, and we finally compromised on a fewer locks which were only absolutely necessary.
Are materials really so important in our lives? To me, nothing is more important than our lives and memories. I would probably be sad if somebody stole my notebook, but I could easily look on the other side and think, "Hey, it's a chance for me to buy a new one!". At least, I'm alive and still able and it won't take me long to earn enough to get a replacement. But it would completely break my heard if the notebook that was stolen contains all my work and photos that I so dearly treasure. That's certainly not something I can rewind and have another second go, can I??
I'd better go check on my backup to make sure it's up to date. If ever I'm so unfortunate to have the burglar interested in my notebook, I'd still have my backups with me.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Moves & Sorts
I was quite reluctant, not only did I have stage fright, I didn't think I was actually qualified to perform after only about 6 mths of weekly classes with Nanci. However, Nanci thought otherwise. She asked several of us, whom she thought would be able to handle improvisation and in the end, only Nikki and I agreed. A DJ friend of ours, Mathieu, also agreed to mix the music live for us on stage.
I must say I didn't regret doing this a bit. Yes, I had the butterflies in stomach moments, worried sick that I'd drop the basket, or trip and fall flat on my face (the 3 scars under my chin are proofs of my history of clumsiness), but in the end, all was well. We had so much fun in the dressing room, and improvising to Matt's music on stage. Nikki and myself were especially self-conscious, and we were overly anxious about mistakes that we made while we were live on stage - but all that was put to rest the moment we saw the video my hubby took of us from the first of of audience. Frankly we didn't look too bad after all!
Anyway, that's just another entry to my life chapters. Just thought I'd share it with the world :)

Nikki, Nanci and myself at Actor's Studio performing in one of the slots of Moves & Sorts in Jan 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Book Shopping
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Thursday, February 04, 2010
If Only...
If only you had started dancing 10 years earlier - that was the exact words that my dance instructor said today. Well, he's actually said it many times before, I just never thought about it seriously. So what if I had started dancing earlier? Would my life have been any different?
He is normally full of praises for me; well, when you are being compared to a group who are at least 2 to 3 decades older than you, you'll stand out, no doubt about that. He thinks that I have a natural talent for ballroom dancing, except that I'm lack of the energy compared to those who are a decade younger than me. Of course not forgetting to mention that I'm a married woman, and I won't be able to commit myself to a competitive level unlike those who are still a free spirit, or has a partner who dances professionally too.
Sets me off pondering, if I did start 10 years earlier, would I have pursued dancing on a competitive level? I doubt it. Firstly, I was very very shy before, and I cannot imagine myself dancing to close proximity with another person. Secondly, I'm simply too jittery. Anything that requires me to be under the observation and scrutiny of another being will simply turn my legs to jelly. And most importantly, that my parents would never have approved of me being a dancer, at least not 10 years ago, when people's perception of a dancer was rarely positive.
Frankly I'm happy with the level that I'm at now - as much as I wished for that extra energy that would have boosted my dancing, I'm simply glad that what I'm doing is in the right technique, and I don't feel the need to be competitive.
What's important is that I look good and feel good doing it. I'll dance as long as my feet can take it :)
Thursday, December 24, 2009
I Love Holiday Season

Extra orders for those not into steamboat and for the x-tra hungry ones

Just like the stuffs you see in pasar malam - only difference is
we get to choose what goes on the truck

Birthday cuppies for my cuz complete with yoga poses :)
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Look What I Found!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Gifts from Australia
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Old Macdonald Has a Farm... E.I.E.I.O
E I E I O
And on his farm he has a pig
E I E I O

Old Macdonald has a farm
E I E I O
***
E I E I O
And on his farm he has a cow
E I E I O

Old Macdonald has a farm
E I E I O
***
Thanks to Bakerella and Cake Pops Galore for the inspiration!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
I *Heart* Cupcake Pops

Once you start you can't stop - I meant the process of course ;)
Thanks Bakerella!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Bakin' with Aunty Lyne
Before Lyne arrived, I managed to put the chocolate cake batter in the oven. Decided that it was best that I use a ready cake mix I bought from the supermarket to save the hassle. After all, it's the decorating part that was more fun *grin* While waiting for the cake to bake and cool down, Lyne searched the internet for ideas of cake pops that we could make, while I prepared lunch. And it wasn't long before our cake was ready:

Fresh from the oven, smells good!

Adding butter cream cheese frosting, a little at a time

White chocolate coated ghost cake pops

Our first attempt at cake pops - successful!

Cake pops for Lyne to bring home
I think we spent close to 5 hours (including waiting & lunch time) to complete about 14 cake pops. Yes, I know its pretty slow, but this was an experimental session, and so we made a lot of mistakes and that took up some of our time. But we learnt a lot of valuable techniques, definitely. The next time it won't take so long!

What do you do with a mummy so cute? Eat it of course!
Lyne didn't want to take too many home, and it was impossible for me to eat 10 of them! Plus I didn't know how long these babies would last. So I gave them all to my neighbour's kids who were just two doors away and happened to be playing outside at that moment :)

The last 2 cake pops - for my breakfast tomorrow!
I still have some cakes in the fridge, waiting for me to decorate them. I'll try to mix some orange colour tomorrow and see if I could make pumpkins out of them. Here's the recipe to the butter cream cheese frosting:
Ingredients
As for the coating, I simply used white chocolate with some oil based food colouring. Becareful not to accidentally mix water into your chocolate (especially if you are using a baine marie). Other materials I used include mini M&Ms, pretzel sticks, chocolate chips and coloured sprinkles. You are free to use whatever you need, you are only limited by your imagination!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Too Early for Halloween?
Last Saturday Nanci organized a small gathering at her place with a few members from the belly dance tribe and 2 from the yoga tribe :) It took me almost an hour to find her apartment - I'm completely hopeless when it comes to looking for places other than in Cheras :P
When I arrived, several of them were already busy in the kitchen preparing some ayurvedic food for all of us to munch on before we work on our belts and tassels. And I did help too! To eat of course! :P The yoghurt mushroom was a favourite among all of us...mmm.. I'm drooling just talking about it.
As soon as our tummies were satisfied, we took out the belts and yarns and embellishments and we discusses on ways that we could decorate our belts. While we were busy spinning our yarns on the DVD boxes, Nanci demonstrated to Deda how to make her very own tassel, which she in turn help the rest to make theirs :)
Deda helping Nikki to make her tassel
Our very first tassel! (Mine's not trimmed yet)
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
What have I been up to?
1) A friend of Joyce's who owns Indulgence @ Tropicana City Mall asked if she could get her students to perform at their opening ceremony. Initially I thought it falls exactly on my mom's birthday, so I didn't agree to go. And I was roped in just the day before after realising the miscommunication! I simply didn't know any of the steps except for the primera copla of the Sevillana, but I participated anyway. Just hid myself in between the rest who were more well-versed with the steps but it's tough since I'm quite tall! :P Made quite a lot of mistakes throughout, but who cares? We had a great time! :)

Arte Flamenco students @ Indulgence, Tropicana City Mall
3) While SS was back in KL sometime in July, we went for a cake decorating class at ICCA. It was supposed to be a 3 hours session but we end up spending close to 5 hours at the center! Both of us brought home 4 cakes each decorated with fondant. Haha... when we asked the rest of the family members to guess who decorated what... they immediately pointed out the correct ones! Wanna know why? :P
Mini wedding cake decorating class @ ICCA
5) And since I'm so obsessed with dancing, I took up belly dance too *grin*! Nanci Traynor, who also teaches yoga is now conducting Tribal Belly Dance class at KLPAC. I really enjoy attending her class, and so eventhough I live miles and miles away from the studio, I didn't mind travelling there every Saturday during the busiest time of the day. It's a good thing that she always start the class with a Savasana pose first :D
6) I finally found the heart to throw away my collection of miniature bottles. They are at least 15-20 years old, probably even more, and some of the contents have already turned into a different colour, leaked out or simply deteriorated. Instead of continuing to keep them and add to my already unbelievable amount of collector's trash, I've decided to just keep photos of them instead.

A small sampling of my miniature bottles/samples collections
7) My new blog, craftee guiri was launched sometime last month. It's dedicated to all my crafty moments and my passion for DIY gifts. I thought it was best to have a focused craft blog rather than cramping everything in here. Now you know why I've been so quiet :P I can't split myself into 2~!
OH dear...and I still haven't updated anything about my last Europe trip yet. Bummer.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Mango Lime Sorbet
Ingredients (makes slightly more than 1 pint)
1 large mango (about 1.5 pounds)
A pinch of salt
Juice of 3 limes
1 tablespoon of tequila (or Choya plum wine)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
Lime zest (a little would do)
*Note: Adjust the ingredients to match the size of the mango you use
HEAT sugar, water and lime zest in a small saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.
CUT the flesh out from a mango. Here's a great guide on how to do it properly - How to cut a mango.
PUT the mango pieces, syrup, salt, and lime juice into a blender. Blend until completely smooth. The last time I tried this recipe I had to use a strainer to get rid of some fibrous pieces, but this time the mango I used was really nice and and smooth, so it wasn't necessary. Pour the puree into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill it overnight in the refridgerator.
ONCE chilled, pour it into an ice cream maker and add in the tequila. Process the mixture according to the manufacturer's instructions. The alcohol helps prevent the sorbet from being too icy. Transfer the almost frozen mixture into a container and freeze in your freezer for at least 6 hours (or until firm) before serving.
Another note: Although the amount of sugar syrup to put in is not meant to be to taste, do check before you pour it all in. At times you may get mangoes that are already sweet, and you may risk having your sorbet too sweet. Also be aware that if you do use less sugar, the texture of the sorbet will tend to be a little icy too. Just experiment and see what fits you best :)
Good luck!



















