Goodbye 2010

Today is 31st December. The last day of year 2010. I was up from 4.30 am and could not go back to sleep. I guess I am a bit panicking that I am about to enter a new year tommorow. So many things I have not acomplished for this year yet.  It is like having those unmet KPIs at work. Well, I want to be more productive today! I always love what Robin Sharma says in his book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferari, "what would you do today if is your last day on earth?"..simple but it has deep meaning isn't it..It help us to look at the brighter perspective in life. Instead of grumbling and bitching about life, the people around you or any negative circumstances, DO something or a lot of things to make yourself a happier person. After all, God did not create us to be a sad person. So, let's get our happiness juice flowing today! Let's do the little things that we have postponed for so long. Let's just BE HAPPY today! It is the last day of 2010! cheers all :)

Cinderella Ballet Concert

We were at KL PAC, Sentul yesterday evening to attend our niece, Katelyn's ballet concert. The theme was Cinderella. One of my favourite stories when I was very young. Poor Cinderella has to put up with her step-mother and her two step-sisters. Of course, it has  happy ending when Cinderella finally can be together with the prince. We really enjoyed ourself. Little Katelyn was really cute. She was one of the 'bubbles' in that show. You know, when Cinderella was washing the floor, the bubbles appeared :). 

It was my first time at KL Pac. It is situated at Sentul Park, off Jalan Ipoh. It was easy to find, if you know where HSBC is at Jalan Ipoh, KL Pac is just at the opposite of HSBC. It was quite a large area. The first thing you will find there is an old antique buliding. I have no idea what they want to do with it. Then you will see the art center itself sorrounded by huge garden. According to their website, they also has Yuritei Japanese Tea House which is 2 minutes away from KL Pac. Inside KL Pac, you can find cafe and bar as well. A friend of mine invited me to go for a musical show at KL Pac this weekend. It is called The Reluctant Saint Musical. I think I should be able to go. 

KL highways

I was basically everywhere yesterday (Friday), driving my vehicle. I was using few major highways in KL.

Lets see;
from Seri Kembangan -Cheras (MRR2)
        Cheras - Puncak Jalil (MRR2 again & Bukit Jalil highway)
        Puncak Jalil - Klang (KESAS)
        Klang- Jln Imbi, KL ( Federal highway-i was tempted to use NKVE here)
by this time it was 5pm already and I needed to get to Hartamas by 6pm, so..
         Jln Imbi- Hartamas (SMART Tunnel-because it's just next to Jln Imbi  &  KERINCHI Link)
and I manage to reach Hartamas at 540pm with all the traffics! (It's Friday evening and fasting month!)


It's amazing to think of how many highways I have to use everyday. I must say I am thankful with the existence of all the highways. Though the toll fare can be expensive, I am more than willing to pay rather than getting stuck in a jam. I have no patience with bad traffic jam. Unfortunately this fasting month created massive traffic jam. Time management is crucial here. Either I leave KL (where I am most of the day) before 4pm or after 7pm. Ah well, lets hope for the best.

Movie night

Have u watched this movie Salt? Angelina Jolie is the heroine here, as usual, she is really into her character. She is so beautiful and sexy, I can't believe she actually gave birth to three children. Not to mention that she has other three adopted children. A lady would kill to have a body like hers.


Jolie was like jumping, kicking and killing furiously in this movie. She is so fierce. This is a American/French action-thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce. Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, who is accused of being a KGB sleeper agent, and goes on the run to try to clear her name. If you like spy stories, this a must watch movie. Ohh by the way, Tom Cruise was initially secured for the lead, but the script was rewritten later for Jolie. Thank goodness for that. I just dislike Tom Cruise. He can't act! so 'kayu'..sorry Tom Cruise...

Brisbane, here I come!

Hooray! yayy! I am so excited today. Eric and I managed to book AirAsiaX flight tickets to Brisbane next year. All in- the flight ticket is about RM600 per pax. RM 662 per person to be exact. This fare price to Brisbane is so much cheaper compared to the normal fare. We had so much fun when we went to Melbourne last year. This time around, we are heading to Brisbane for 10 solid days. Ohh, I am so going to work hard before going for this holiday. An extra points to motivate me to work harder!

The trip is going to be at the end of May to early June next year. I googled about Brisbane weather and it should be cool with low levels of humidity. The overnight temperature in the city can drop to 12 degree celcius. By day, temperature rise quickly after sunrise and reach about 21 degree celcius. Great, I don't need any winter clothes. Less clothes to buy.

There are so many things I want to see and do in Brisbane and South east Queensland. I can't wait to roam around the city, go for whale-watching, lazying around at their lovely parks and how about spending a day or two at Gold Coast?

Looking at the currency now, the rate is much better compared to when we were at Melbourne last November. Now is 1AUD=2.86 MYR. I hope the rates will be better and better. Maybe it's a great idea to start buying AUD now.

Koala, you wait for me.....

Death March-Sandakan

There was a write up in The Star today regarding World War II in Sabah. An Australian historian, Lynette Silver wrote a book ' Blood Brothers' as a tribute to World War II heroes during the Death March,  Sandakan-Ranau in 1942-1945.


I was at Kundasang early this year for a short holiday. Running out of places to go, the three of us (my husband, my sister and I) decided to drop by at Kundasang War Memorial. It was opened on 17 August 2009. Such a nice garden it was but what really attract my attention was the history behind memorial garden. When you have the opportunity to go there, try to read up on all the articles which has been put up nicely by the staff.


In 1945, when the Japanese started to realise that they may have lost the war, the  prisoners were forced to march, in three separate marches, from Sandakan to the village of Ranau in the jungle, 250 km away, under the shadows of Mount Kinabalu.

On 28 January, 1945, 470 prisoners set off, only 313 arriving in Ranau. On the second march, 570 started from Sandakan, but only 118 reached Ranau. The third march which comprised the last of the prisoners from the Sandakan camp contained 537 prisoners. The march route was extremely tough. The Japanese soldiers shot the prisoners who were unable to walk. The prisoners had to march through virgin jungle infested with wild animals. They took nearly a year to complete.


By the end of July, 1945, there were no prisoners left in Ranau. Only six Australians of the 2400 prisoners survived the "death march"  - they survived because they were able to escape from the camp at Ranau, or escaped during the march from Sandakan. No British prisoners survived. Of those who died, most were never found. The survivors manage to stay alive because they escaped into the jungle where they were cared for by the local people. 


Let us say a prayer for those souls who perished during this march. 

Footbinding

I cant sleep, still wide awake at 3am in the morning. Probably I took a nap in the afternoon. So I decided to read the current novel I am really into. It's called 'Snow Flower and the secret Fan' by Lisa See. It was such a heartbreaking story which takes place in 19th century China when girls had their feet bound. At that time, bound feet were a status symbol, the only way for a woman to marry into money. Women in these era were basically not allowed to have want they want. They were not allowed to  express their thoughts or show their emotions. The more tiny feet they has, the better chances of them marrying a richer family. In this novel, the writer talk about 'nu shu', 'women's writing' – the only gender-based written language to have been found in the world. It was in one remote county where the women developed their own secret code. The writer has done a brilliant job on bringing the readers to such a realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history which touches many hearts. I am curious to find out more on her other novels, 'Dragon Bones', 'The Interior', 'Flower Net' and 'On Gold Mountain'. 



It was very interesting to read more on footbinding. It had been practiced on young girls and women for approximately one thousand years in China. The process of the footbinding can be very eerie. The broke the girls' toes and binding them underneath the sole of the foot with bandages. Infections were very common and some died of septic shock. 

Footbinding was first banned in 1912, but some continued binding their feet in secret. Wow, can you imagine if we still have this footbinding custom now? I can't, it is so barbaric...