Swingerz...

Welcome to the wacky world of 'Ozese'. Today's word: swinger

Definitions of swinger on the Web:
~ someone who swings sports implements (huh? what?)
~ a person who engages freely in promiscuous sex
Source: www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

Wow! I didn't know that...

Now for MY definition:-
Someone who fluctuates wildly between two extremes.
For example: a person who can be extremely kedekut one minute and splurges the next. Or so finicky about time one moment, yet arrives late for the next appointment. Or religiously watches her diet, but pigs out after 2-3 days.

Oh all right... am actually talking about myself. Have been crazily inconsistent these past few weeks. :( I'm getting a little worried, actually...

Manhattan Fish Market

Finally went to check out the Manhattan Fish Market in MidValley with Yumiko & my sis. Ordered the Admiral's Special, which is shrimp, calamari and fish with rice and chips plus refillable drinks. Ordered a side of chowder and coleslaw. Found the fish and shrimps very good, calamari was so-so, rice was quite plain and chips boring. All in all came to about RM69, which I thought was too much money for what we had. Had better fare at 19th St Bistro. Maybe it's our choice of food. But still, it could have been better. Conclusion: am not in a hurry to go there again. Not worth my hard earned money.

Over and out! Az

More Quakes in Sumatera

This one is real.

Was just going downstairs to settle my bills at 1.40 a.m. when the phone rang. It was Cindy, asking fr some press contacts. Apparently Tecky, who was in Acheh has informed her that there were more quakes tonight. I hope there won't be another major catastrophe like the last time.

It makes you think, doesn't it? The world is so unstable. Any major movements could destroy our well-ordered life. Is the end looming over us? Stars burst. Planets die. Would the same happen to our big blue marble? What then? Do we become just another speck in the universe, or would we be resurrected to face the day of judgement? So do we carry on with our current uncaring lives, or should we try harder to prepare for the eternal life?

You know the answer.

Just one of those weeks..

You know how it is... it's just one of those times when things don't run as smoothly as you expect. It was quite an OK week except for one or two incidences.

On Wednesday, phone decided to commit suicide by plunging itself into a bowl of water. No prizes for guessing where it is... It was quickly rescued and dried by owner who was NOT going to spend more money on another mobile just yet. But phone stayed unresponsive after being thoroughly dried. Owner sends out SOS for a temp phone, but later discovers that phone actually works - battery had been irreversibly damaged. Aahh... so des ka? Replacement batts were found and now phone works just fine... Yeaa... clap clap clap...

Today was the most annoying, kot. Actually forgot to bring laptop adapter, so machine dies after 2 hours, and I was forced to work on boss' relic which served as the office backup. Had to surf without my comfortable little settings in place and had to setup Jaring so that I could do my work. Left as soon as I decently could. Blah!

But night was nice. Went back and threw together a fudge cake for gathering at Jarina's, but forgot to put in soaked raisins. It turned out perfectly well though. The gathering turned out to be a mini food fair with reheated keropok, cake, buah salak imported from Bali (they were REALLLY good), sandwiches, teh Jawa, pizza and chips & ....bread? with the most excellent salsa I had ever had. Oh, there was a cheese dip too, but they were nowhere as good as the salsa. The Frenchies Cyril, Pierre, Agnes and Emilie brought drinks (Pepsi, not wine)

Salsa Recipe: According to Aida, it was just tomatos, cilantro, salt and a dash of lemon juice. Aida, correct me if I'm wrong, ya? But the results were fantastic! (Notice anyone raving here?)

Dear Yanti did the honours with photos and projector. At ten thirty or so, the French quartet left for another party and we gurls had a bonanza time chatting and digging up Jarina's secrets. 5 girls representing 4 all-girl schools; reminiscing on the excellent teachers we had then, and the failure to induce passion and interest for any field by the current system. Oh that was so much fun...! Let's do it again sometime...

Hot Weather Causing Stress

I saw a report in the paper about hot weather causing stress and higher levels of anger. I'll second that. Have been very annoyed with housemate lately. Especially the one who obviously believes that there are house elves in our residence. Hello...

Stressed me enough to order 2 roti canai garing, ayam goreng and 2 teh ais. Slurped both glasses of teh ais without much ado, attacked the ayam, but surrendered just halfway into the first roti. Didn't know rotcai at Mosin's was double the usual size! Had to tapau the second one. Hope there wasn't too much damage to my cardiopulmonary system...

Speaking of cardio... My tai-kor's comment after he saw Farih's VW ad - nasib baik tak heart attack!! He he he... sorry la brader, but that's exactly why you should stop smoking...! :-p

Armors

Roses have thorns,
Cacti have spines,
Crabs have shells
Humans wear armor.

Ever wonder why...?

Me the Homebody

...something that seems way out of character, you'd think. Actually, not so. I actually love staying at home. Have been away too much the past few weeks, this week I'm glad I could actually stay home and take care of things. Oh you know, the usual stuff - kitchen, garden, whatnot. We finally bought a new vacuum to replace the ancient one that died; cleaned things up a little. Guess i could afford to lepak a little tonight, catch up with work tomorrow. Hmm, think I will finally crack the French book again, get back to speed. Or maybe bake something? See la how it goes... Aah.. so nice to be home, pottering around and cuddling the cats... This is the life!

Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe

Have just copied Naz's cheesecake recipe from her blog. He he... thanks, Mz Sunshine! Terasa lak nak share my Evil Fudge Cake recipe with you all. Tekadmons tak sempat rasa lagi, insya-Allah one day I'll make it for you guys.

What's so special about this cake?
Firstly, It's very easy to make pasal No Need To Bake. So I can make it in half an hour if I'm running short of time.
Second, it looks and tastes amazingly good.
In short, easy way to impress bakal mak mentua.. :-p He he he...



Ze Cake:
1 tsp Orange essence + 1 1/2 tbsp water
60 g Raisins
90 g Butter
2 tbsp Golden Syrup
185 g Plain chocolate
250g Digestive biscuits, crushed
60 g Glaze cherries, halved
60 g Nibbed almonds
(Optional: Rind of 1 orange)

Topping :
60 g Plain Chocolate
30 g Butter

1. Soak raisins + essence overnight
(or about 3 hours until raisins are soft and plump)
2. Crumble biscuits in a large bowl.
3. Add in cherries, almonds and raisins and mix.
4. Line triangular/loaf tin with plastic food wrap
5. In a saucepan, gently heat butter, golden syrup & chocolate until the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat and pour into biscuit mix.
6. Mix thoroughly. If too dry, just pour some milk until the mixture is wet, but not too soggy.
7. Spoon into prepared tin, wrap with plastic and compress a little.
8. Chill until firm. Turn the cake out onto a serving board and remove plastic wrap.
9. Prepare topping. Melt chocolate and butter. Stir until smooth, spread on top and sides of cake. Decorate as desired and chill until topping has set. To serve, cut into thin slices.

Notes:
i- I sometimes omit the golden syrup so it won't get too sweet.
ii- When melting the choc, NEVER LET IT BOIL. If mix gets too hot, simply lift if off the stove and stir "offline". Otherwise don't blame me for the burnt chocolate taste...
iii- Kalau malas sangat, don't bother with topping. It still tastes just as good.

Happy trying and bon apetit!

Beach-cleaning weekend

Had a good time beach cleaning in Terengganu last weekend. Left by bus on Friday night and arrived early the next morning. This is a repeat of the one we did last year. This time around we collected almost 50 bags of rubbish brought by the sea. Most of them were Styrofoam, quite a lot of glass, lots of plastic and loads of rubber shoes/ slippers. It was pretty hard work, but thankfully it was only for a few hours on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. The rest of the time was spent napping, kayaking, mandi laut, trekking, chatting, eating and lepaking. It was fun… Left for KL at 1.20 pm, but arrived only at 9.30 pm since we stopped quite a few times. I was so damned bored on the bus that I started harassing people by SMS. Har har… The last leg of the journey turned into a girls’ chat-fest which resulted in the guys cowering in fear of us bloodthirsty females… Oh dear… girl power unleashed is quite terrible, isn’t it??

Met up with a friend at Sentral and went to Brickfields for a bite of dinner before going home for much needed sleep. Was so clumsy that I messed a simple hug and then knocked the air-freshener right out of the car… whooops… *Blush* Okay… I obviously need proper rest; I tend to be very clumsy and forgetful when I’m tired. Sigh!!

Me is sick...

Ooooohh... I don't want to go to work.... Am suffering from a blocked nose and achy head... sob sob... Been sick since yesterday.

Heading off to T'ganu tonight and I haven't packed or shopped for essentials yet. Promised to send niece to sekolah agama at 2.00, since brother is in China and sis-in-law wants to go visit. Have a meeting at 3.00, got to pick up Anis at 5.00... hmmm... got time in between... Oh well, will just have to finish work as fast as possible and go off early la. Simple, right...?

Ciao, guys. Me off to free holiday this weekend!! :-) Oza

Fuckwittage

Popular usage: in Bridget Jones' Diary and by netizens in cyberspace.

Formal Definition: A stupid person. i.e. a person who refuses to accept clue (as in advice). Example: Someone who repeatedly posts annoying ads in a mailgroup even after being told that it is against the group charter. (And flames the one telling him off.)

Really? Have always thought a fuckwitter was someone who messes around with your head, leaving seeds of ideas which will grow on own free will, but quickly disputed if ever mentioned.

Example: TQ... owe you dinner.
Meaning: He is stating a fact that I am well aware of - that he owes me dinner. It does not mean that he will ever honour that promise. Am not holding my breath, will surely expire long before he even thinks of the location of this fictitious dinner or picks up his phone to invite me.

Guys... why makes promises you don't intend to keep?

*annoyed*

Just checking in...

Just came back from meeting the girls. Had spent the weekend in Tg Tuan for MNS Raptor Watch. It was 2 days of being tired, but it was okay. Left KL on Friday night and got there by 10.30 pm. Went to sleep, next day started early, setting up. I was with the Natureguides, taking people on guided walks on the trail up the hill. Each trip takes about an hour, through a trail that is pretty interesting, involving clambers up and down pretty steep slopes. Even more interesting in my slippers, since I only remembered my shoes halfway down a very congested Federal Highway...
Took only one group out on Saturday with my trusty 'sweeper' Khalis. Later just took naps and hung out. At night joined the dinner, but it was so measly the 3 of us; Ja, Li Li and me went foraging for more food. Had funny mee bandung and atrocious mee sup at some stall along the PD road. The otak2 was good, tho'. Next day (Sunday) we had a somewhat larger crowd, went out twice. The birds flew in well after 4.00 pm on both days. On Sunday, they appeared just as we were packed and ready to leave!!! Talk about last minute performances... I was pretty exhausted by the time we left and headed back to KL. Arrived, sorted things out, had dinner, called Inas, and went out again!!! Am amazed I can still type...

But just wanted to check my personal mail and blogs. Other stuff can wait. Night guys, I'm totally spent! :-p Oza

Sepet Review

Went back sekejap after visiting a friend who had busted his shoulder, then off again to MidV to watch Sepet with bosses Cindy & Teck Wyn.

Had heard loads of good comments about this movie. Inas loved it. Bernie, our MNS S'ngor treasurer, also enjoyed it very much. Had tried to 'book' Sali to plan for next week, but she has been incommunicado. Outstation kot... So when Cindy called ajak tengok petang tadi, jumped at the chance la. Am crazy to do that because I have (literally) loads (read: of washing) to do at home. Some things do grow exponentially, you know... Anyway, tried to back out but was already too late. So I went, and I had a good time! The 2 kids were sooo CUTE! And for once everything - script, cinematography, storyline wasn't stilted. It was very natural and smooth flowing. Kudos to the Director, actors and actresses and the whole team. Loved the final part where ???? answered the phone and spoke to Orked. ???? because Jason aka Ah Loong was already lying on the ground in a pool of blood at the time... Sad, but 'unavoidable' from the way he was driving the motorbike. Weird thing was there was no crowd of people at the scene, as is the norm, unless he fell off in a deserted area. The injuries and blood were very realistic too. All in all, the movie was a delightfully refreshing change from the silly stuff on offer for much too long on the local movie scene. Kudos again to all!

P/S - additional reason to watch was that we know the guy playing Jason's father. No wonder la he had a poster outside his bookshop~! Har har... am going to tease the old man tomorrow... wife beater and womaniser, eh???

To Love and Be Loved in Return...

Inspiration taken from Izreen, Naz & Jack.

I Have a Cat
His name is Jack
He loves the welcome mat
As well as rubs on his back!



Jack is part of my life. He wakes me up by demanding for breakfast. Follows me and more often than not, try to trip me up as I descend the stairs to the kitchen. He drinks milk, eats "beef in gravy", sometimes cat biscuits. At times he'll tolerate sardines. "Real meat" like chicken and fish is a rare treat since I don't often cook. He'll be on my lap whether I'm on the rocking chair or sitting cross-legged at the computer. Sometimes he would settle for a nearby seat if I was working at home the whole day. He would come home as soon as he sees my car drive up to the gate. He'd jump in as soon as I open the door and scratch the back seat, marking his territory. He loves car rides and would never bite the vet. He will come and greet any visitors and make friends with them (even those who are afraid of/ allergic to cats); some say he's a dog trapped in a cat's body. Yes, he's a lovely cat.

But is he perfect? Hardly. He's a common cat, a shorthair in white and ginger with a stumpy tail that looks like it had been cut off. (Well, I got him from a mamak shop. Do you think that.... could it be...?)Anyways, he was scruffy and small and trying to commit suicide by sitting behind the tyre of a van. Soon after I cleaned and fed him, he developed blisters on his leg; they turned ot to be abcesses. He has always had one medical problem or another; his vet bills is about 5 times what I pay for my own medical visits. Currently he has gingivitis, a condition that makes him drool a lot sometimes. Quite disgusting, really. It also makes his fur rough and icky. He can't eat hard biscuits, which is why he gets milk and soft food. He is a nightmare to pill. And he quickly gets wary of any food that might contain 'medicine', even cod liver oil and vitamin gel. And he would rather starve himself than eat these 'suspect' foods. And his manja-ness can get too far when he insists on sitting on the prayer mat while you are praying...

But I still love him to bits. I'd budget out money for his vet visits, get him 'special' food; suffer scratches and bites to pill him; the list goes on. WHY?? While others would put this 'problematic' cat down, I chose to suffer the inconvenience. For the simple reason that I love him because he loves me. You may say he loves me/ is manja because I feed him. It might be true. That leaves just me loving him. But I'd still not put him down. Because knowing does not make me love him any less.

Now let's put this theory on parallel with humans. After decades of trying to be the sweet, modest, ladylike, etc girl I am not to try to be on the good side of the male gender; I have decided that it does not matter after all. Men have loved women who had been used, abused, poor, rich, fat, skinny, nice, nasty, etc etc for reasons that only they know. It's the same as women loving men who are too old, too young, bald, poor, rich, abusive, etc etc as long as they like the combination. Men or women can be womanisers, swingers, playgirl, married, divorced with kids, etc etc etc, and it would not make a difference as long as they fit your needs. It's as simple as that.

You love someone and you accept him/her as he/she is because he/she is there and that's the way he/she is. You live with their shortcomings, their history, their paranoia, because they are part of your life, and you can't live without them. So the next time your significant other rubs you the wrong way, think again about picking a fight. You'll be living with each other for a long time still, hopefully...

Musings by The Dodgy Kerang.

Gambar Tekad

Finally got Tekad photos from Yuz. He transferred a few gigs of photos onto my notebook. Aiyaa... Ni nak kena edit ni... But as long as no effect on processor speed, later oso can lah.

Kalau boleh nak upload semua, tapi dah banyak sangat, tak boleh la... So, here's a few untuk tatapan umum. Sesapa yang ada photopages tu, upload ler...

D3KAT girls having breakfast prior to arrival of champs


Champs signing in


Scoop, scoop, roll...


Yuz and his adoring fans

He he.. have to ambik hati camera owner la, kan...

:p The Dodgy Kerang