Souvenirs from the East

Yesterday I receive some "yummy" souvenirs from two of my nice colleagues. They had just got back from their holiday trip.

YF went to Hong Kong again for a holiday. Currently it is typhoon season there. She was lucky that it wasn't bad on that few days she was there. Else her holiday and plane ticket must have been wasted. She bought back some goodies and one of them she shared with me is this delicious sour plum flavor (in Cantonese is called "shuin mui") jelly (pic below). I didn't know it's sour plum flavor because I do not know how to read the chinese words on the packaging until I tasted it. One bite from it I immediately know it's made from sour plum. Right at the last bite, there is the plum seed in it. This is my first time eating sour plum flavor jelly. It's pretty creative that they came up with this idea. The taste is a good mixture of a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of sourness from the plum. Yummy.... I think kids and adults alike will love it!

Sour Plum Jelly from Hong Kong

PL went to Taiwan for a holiday. And bought this yummy cakes (pic below) which she shared some of them with me. Pretty nice of her provided we have only known each other for 3 months. The two cakes although in different shapes and sizes, they taste alike. It's pretty yummy. I can really taste the butter, honey and eggs flavors all blend in well together. And the textures is not oily too. Love it! I think I can have 5 of these when I am hungry.

Delicious cakes from Taiwan

It's really nice to have such colleagues who thought of us who are working like a bull while they were able to go enjoy their holidays.

Love Q #21 - Being Friends With Your Ex

Okay, this is last week's Love Q created by the author of Short Sweet Love Poem.

Is it advisable to maintain a great friendship with an ex? Would that friendship be worth it or would it complicates matters?

My answer:


To the first question, my answer is a strong no. Because you have once loved him/her before, and you might still be secretly loving him/her now, or you might fall in love with him/her again which could be a disaster if both already attached to some else. Further to that, if you are already dating or married to someone else chances are your partner or spouse might not like the idea of having their love ones still keeping in touch with their ex. Furthermore, not many people can be so open to accept their partner still seeing or talking to their ex eventhough it is said they are not romantically attached to each other anymore. Therefore, it is not advisable to maintain a great friendship with an ex. Well, unless you plan to stay unmarried for the rest of your life. And I think eventhough people decided to keep the friendship with their ex, I don't think it will be worth it because it definitely will complicates matters. Like I said earlier, if you are in a relationship, your partner might not like it and it might create trouble in the future. No matter how understanding and tollerant your partner is, he is just human. To continue on being friends with your ex will put the sense of trust in jeopardy, don't you think so?


Previous Love Q: First Impression

Dating 101

Yet another fun tag for me. Thanks to Catherine for passing it down to me.

Players: Ozzy’s Mom l Me,Myself + 2 l Kidd Designs l Fun.Fierce.Fabulous l Me and Mine l Little Peanut l Pea in a Pod l Creative in Me l Notable Bistro l Sugarmagnolias l Around the World l Eds Mommy Life l My Precious Niche l Just Me.. Eds l Pinaywife l Mhar’s Display l Purpled Sky l Newife Blog l Faith Hope Love l YOUR BLOG


1. When was your first kiss and where?
>> 9 years ago in my house.

2. When was your first real relationship and how long did it last?
>> 9 years ago lasted 3 years.

3. What age were you allowed to date?
>> No particular age - when I join the working world but I had it a little early.

4. What’s the craziest thing you did (for love) when you were a teenager?
>> Go home by foot with a boy. The journey is around 15km.

5. How long was your longest relationship and what’s the secret?
>> 6 years. Faith, patience, tollerance, trust, understanding, faithfulness, a desire to have a better life together and love preserver.

6. How long did you date before you decided to settle down?
>> It's quite a long years and I have not settle down yet.

7. How did you know he was the ONE?
>> I did not know at first. God reveal to me when the time is right.

8. Now, at what age will you allow your kids(s) to date?
>> At least when they are 20 years old.

9. When it comes to your kids dating, will you be a cool parent or a strict parent?
>> I will be reasonable and pray that God will guide them to be a good person.

10. What piece of advice can you give to your child when they start dating?
>> Always refer to the source of Love which is God the Holy Trinity.

Now I would like to know yours. Care to share it with me Judy and rin-en ?

I love your blog

I receive another lovely tag from Osindak. Thank you so much for this award. Really love it to the last bits (okay, I am exasperating..... but really I love it as much as I love her blog too!).

Rules:
1.The winner puts logo on her/his blog.
2.Link the person you received your award from.
3.Nominate 7 other blogs.
4.Put links of those blogs on yours.
5.Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve chosen.

And I love the following blog:
A Moonlight Rendezvous (U.Lee)
Dad.Mom.Chat (Tot's mom)
Jo-N
Judy
Magical Milestone (Sting)
My Memories, As Time Goes By (Martini)
Nobody tells me (Yling)

Love Q #20 - First Impression

This question is a fun and easy ones created by the author of Short Sweet Love Poem.

What are the things that you tend to focus on when it comes to sizing up a potential mate during that crucial first encounter?

My answer:

Here are the things that I intend to focus on when it comes to sizing up a potential mate during my crusial first encounter (in no particular order)

1.) His eyes must be attractive enough. Not necessary must have big perfectly shaped eyes, it is the way he look at me that capture my heart. I always believe that his eyes is the window to his soul.

2.) His height. I am 159cm tall (not a very tall girl) so, ideally he must be at least 5 inch taller than me. Short guy is a strong turn-offs for me.

3.) Must have a nice personality.

4.) He must look cute and manly enough. I would know whether he is good for cuddling based on his overall outlook.

5.) The way he talk. Must not be rowdy.

6.) They way he dress up himself and the shoes he wear.

7.) His hair. Must not have long hair or look like a girl.

8.) No tattoo or piercing.

9.) Must not be a smoker.

10.) Must not have a wedding ring on his finger (VERY IMPORTANT!!!)

Previous Love Q: Sensitive Topics

Brillante Weblog Premio 2008

I got this lovely award from Martini. Have not been receiving any award for quite some time now. And it's wonderfully nice having some blogging friends who thought of me.

Here are the rules that come with the award.
The rules are these:

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

I am nominating
Chenille
Michelle
rin-en
Osindak
YeeLing
David
God's Little Angel

Love Q #19 - Sensitive Topics

Another good one from the author of Short Sweet Love Poem.

Do you think avoiding a touchy topic helps or hinders a relationship?

My answer:

Well, I think it depends on whether the touchy topic is important or not. I will usually try to analyze every angle possible for the topic deem as touchy which I feel like bringing it up to my partner. Analyzing whether it will bring positive or negative impact in the relationship is an important point to take note of. I do not want to be like those people who utter blatant remarks which easily hurt people's feelings. Well, at least I try not to. If it's something either one or both of us needs to change such as bad attitude problem for instance, then this touchy topic must not be avoided because it is not healthy to the relationship in the long run. I know many people will keep quite to avoid arguments and for the sake of keeping peace in the relationship. But thinking in a broader perspective, avoiding some touchy topics might hinder a relationship whether we realize it or not. I believe avoidance is the start of something bad where having it done very often will not teach us to be a good responsible person. Because when something uneasy sets in, you avoid and avoid until it has become a spontaneous reaction where at the end when your tolerance level reaches it's peak, everything exploded. And by then, both you and your partner will be there thinking... what's happening here? Because avoidance can very easily makes us forgets the true reason of the problem.

Previous Love Q: When A Woman Wants To Get Married

Love Q #18 - When A Woman Wants To Get Married

It's been quite a while that I miss doing the weekly Love Q created by the author of Short Sweet Love Poem. So, here am I catching up on those missed QA.

How do you feel about a woman proposing to a man? For those women out there, would you be comfortable doing so if you truly feel you are ready for marriage?

My answer:


Woman proposing to a man is a modern reflection of todays world. It proves that the acceptance of man and woman are equals is increasingly true. Woman who makes the first step in the subject of her love or either proposing to a man certaintly has a strong character, brave and knows what she wants. However, some man might feel intimidated because generally, man is the one having commitment issues which seems to be such a big problem in the turning point of their life. To simplify, most man just too afraid to grow up and face the responsibilities which awaits them and so now days woman takes the lead instead of man. Some people likes to call it "Girl power". I would say it's evolution of the gender equity. Hey, if the thing has been sitting there for so long with no progress as to where it is going and instead of waiting for things to happen or get rotten, someone has to make the move right? As I can see, these days the world lack of macho, courageous and responsible man, so woman has begin to take the leading role to adjust to the changes around them. Same goes with marriage proposal, I think.


However, no matter how modern I am, I am quite traditional in terms of my view on marriage. I will never put myself in a situation where I would have to be the one proposing to a man. Because to me, a man who does not propose to me is not sincere to have me as his wife or it means that he might have someone else in mind that he wants to marry. If one fine day I truly feel ready for marriage, I won't feel comfortable proposing to him either because I really still prefer man to do their job and I will do mine.

Previous Love Q: Buying Gifts

Healthcare is important

Girls usually like to skip meals for the sake of dieting and beauty. This has becoming quite rampant in this modern day world. If I am not mistaken, at least 95% of woman has envisioned them to be thinner or wants to be thinner than what they are now. We all love beauty. Who doesn’t is a liar not only to others but also to themselves. I am no promoting beauty here but what I am trying to say is we should not overlook the importance of having a healthy body, mind and soul. We should not endanger our health just for the sake of beauty. It is not worth it because when we gets old, only our health is left for us to be worried about the most in life. Constant dieting and skipping meals can result to minor sickness that can turn into major sickness if we are not careful. The most common form of illness is Gastric and stomach ulcer which occur to some people who constantly have unhealthy eating habits. For those who are not so lucky, they might have Peptic Ulcer Disease.

Sometimes visiting a doctor and you might hear some big medical terms they use to describe your illness or prescriptions. Perhaps you can check through the internet for medical information to help you understand more on what you are having. Below recommendations is very suitable for healthcare practitioners but also to non-healthcare professionals.

Free Online Clinical Solution from Epocrates
Checking for drug interactions with oxycontin? Not sure what lymphogranulomatosis is? A quick visit to Epocrates Online free drug and disease resource could answer these questions and then some for safer prescribing and more confident diagnosis.
Epocrates, Inc., developers of medical software used by over 500,000 healthcare professionals, has introduced a new web-based application. The free Epocrates Online product provides clinicians with rapid access to practical, evidence-based content, including:
• New disease database – condition overview and risk factors, treatment approach, tests to order, national medical society guidelines, and more
• Integrated drug reference guide – critical prescribing information on more than 3,300 drugs, including dosing, interactions and health plan coverage.

Clinicians seeking information online or patients interested in learning more about their health care can visit www.epocrates.com/online for access to this free resource.

**** This announcement was paid for by Epocrates.

Had a long busy week.....

Oh, I am sooo..... glad last week is over. It was a really busy and unwelcome week at work. I did not have time to blog for the past 1 week due to having to work late. The Australian boss a.ka. my direct contact client who supplies me and my team of programmers with projects, came over to our Malaysian office for a 4 days long visit from 2nd - 5th of September. Oh did I mention his a guy? Well, speaking about having an Aussie guy comming over to our office, it made the rest of the girl colleagues go a little crazy. From two weeks before he was schedule to be arriving, my girl colleagues kept on asking me "is he a hansome good looking guy?". I honestly don't know how he looks like because I have never met him before, that's my answer to them. But I can tell, judging from his voice I know he is a young man.

Unlike my other colleagues who had nothing to do with him, they seem pretty excited having know his comming, I am feeling less excited about that because it means I have to work like a cow to plough through my work in organizing things, agenda and preparing my team for his arrival. He did sent through his little agenda on what he want to do/see during his 4 days visit here and I've got only 1 week to prepare them. So, there goes all my free time preparing PowerPoint presentations slides during the Merdeka Day holidays. He wanted to know every little details and every processes we do especially how our QA processes is being done. I feel like his main motive here was to audit our work.

I have been the only one in my office who has constant teleconference meeting and email correspondence with him all this while. Judging from his demeanor over the phone and through emails, he does sound a bit judgemental and kind of stingy in the way he wants everything we send across to be strict to perfection. So, I honestly do not welcome his visit very much but on the first day when I met him, I said "Welcome!". Haha... what a hypocrite I am. Well, I certaintly should not be showing a sour face do I?

Okay, after reading all the boring stuff above you probably wonders at this point, how does he looks like? Well, those who likes Caucasian guys will be dissapointed because he looks very Asian besides his thick Australian English accent. His parents are actually Vietnamese refuge. Apparently there was a war in Vietnam back then and they we given a choices to choose the country they want to live in. So, that is how he and his family came to Australia and became Australian citizen since then. He has been living in Australia since he was 3 years old. He is now in his early 30s. Yep, he's a young man with military like hair cut and he looks kind of good looking - average kind of good looking I mean. He has a Chinese like complexion, people here can easily mistaken him as Malaysian Chinese. He's also single, young and kind of loaded with cash, loves ski-ing and travelling.

Okay, I think I'll stop here before anyone thinks I'm checking him out or promoting him to others single desperate woman. Well, it's just something we chat about during lunch time on all those 4 days while he was here. Oh actually, him comming over here for a visit is not all bad. The best thing is, I got the eat FREE LUNCH everyday! Having steak for lunch on one of those days was the best! Lunch bills are all on the company.

Currently away from blogging.......