Wish it were true...

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Seriously now, is that even a name??!!

Check this out:



Winning Notification to claimsoffice1

LYCOS ONLINE LOTTERY UK.8TH FLOOR,
1 STEPHEN STREET,
LONDON W1T 1AL, UK.

FROM: THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT.

RESULTS FOR CATEGORY "A" DRAWS

Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice, the results of theFirst Category draws of LYCOS ONLINE LOTTERY. We are happy to inform youthat you have emerged a winner under the First Category, which is part ofour promotional draws. The draws were held on Wednesday 27th October 2008.Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from123,032 internet websites and from 1,502,099 email addresses ofindividuals and companies from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe,Middle East, and Oceania as part of our International Promotions Program.
Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number 50941465206-38, with serialnumber 5772-054 drew the lucky numbers 01-04-06-15-22-31-41 andconsequently won in the First Category in our UK Lottery(Euro Millions).You have therefore been awarded a sum of £500,000.00 (Five hundredThousand pounds sterling) as charity donations/aid from the Lycos OnlineLottery 2008, which is the winning payout for Category A winners. This isfrom the total prize money from 1,000,000 Pounds sterlings shared amongthe 2 winners in this category.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Contact our Claims Department immediately for due processing andremittance of your prize with the following details.Name/ Age/Address/ Occupation/ and Telephone No.

***********************************************

Dr. Richardson Simon,Executive Secretary,Claims Department.
Email: claimsoffice1@lycos.co.uk

***********************************************

NOTE: For easy reference and identification, find below your Pin andIdentification numbers. Remember to quote these numbers in every one ofyour correspondence with your claims agent.

PIN NUMBER: 21556770827633
IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS LYC/UKB/3522

**Note: All replies, queries or questions concerning your claims shouldbe sent to claimsoffice1@lycos.co.uk.
Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being partof our promotions program.

Sincerely,

Prof. Firas B. Alomari,
PROGRAM CORDINATOR.

Screwed UP

Would you look at this????!!!

"Huh, what is this? Why are you even considering to help Barack Obama? This man is our enemy. He has every intention of destroying our First Amendment rights and possibly even putting us in jail. We should not be giving him advice out of some naive sense of “objective analysis.” Barack Obama deserves to be treated like some sort of secular “Anti-Christ.”

How much does it take for America, world's richest country, most powerful, to drop the race issue?

How much WILL it take for Americans to look beyond Sarah Palin's incompetence (who by the way was so soundly beaten by Joe Biden I still wonder why people show up at her rallies - she makes our own leaders look vastly competent, and that's saying something), John McCain's rhetoric, and the legacy of George W. Bush?

WAKE UP, AMERICA!!!!!

You're losing your jobs, your 401k's, your children's futures and you're worried about Obama being an Anti-Christ???!!

Us Malaysians, Australians, Pakistanis and Japanese know Obama is not Arab, and he's not Muslim. But some of you still do. You run up all that debt living your unsustainable lifestyles, taking out 120%, 150% homeloans and you can't even bother to pay attention to the details about your future leader? What did you buy that made-in-Japan/Korea big-screen TV for??? It's amazingly, breathtakingly, stupendously ridiculous, laughable, and above all, sad.

This is the country that gave birth to moonwalking, to the Internet, to Google, to the light bulb. I would say that this contrast, chasm of knowledge, is worst than the poor-rich gap anytime. Because, sadly, even when resources ARE available, where (too much) food is on the table and credit cards have no limit, where there is so much, so much press freedom, you can't even educate your general population. I will use another word here - appaling. One more - disgusting.

Racism has created the Rwandan genocide, is creating the Darfur one unfolding as we speak. Racism is ugly. We should never allow ourselves or our children to see colour, to make judgements on our fellow human beings based on colour.

You created this crisis, America. I'm surprised Russia, Japan and Iceland haven't launches missiles at the White House yet.

Slowly, slowly

Have been getting my life back together.

1st progress made today - got my SIM card and ATM cards back.

Funny how it takes 30 minutes to get those but 30 days to get back my ID and another 30 for my passport.

The universe doesn't want me to go to Singapore, it seems.

Well, it does also lool like the universe wants Barack Obama to win the US Elections.

Go Obama!

The Truly Unexpected

There is a heart, that hurts.
But it's not mine, my dearest.

Our home got broken into, and I was declared the biggest loser.

But I have someone who is with me, who has been with me.

Sure, I cried. But I'll get over it.

Hold on, I am over it.

Because life is bigger than a new Zara handbag, than a month-old Canon Ixus 90.

Because, as Miranda Bailey said, It's not the things you have, your looks. No matter how successful you are in your career.

It's about having people around you who love you and care for you.

And it's true.

So to the guys who stole my stuff, I hope they make your Hari Raya a little sweeter, a little better. You probably needed the money more than I do.

So let me tell you, dear reader, this.

There are many, many things I want, but, truly, I have everything I need.

This is Me; My Heritage and I

I have always been (a little) proud.

My mum, Madeleine (no Chinese name) is Eurasian-Chinese. Or Chinese-Eurasian, if you're particular about the dads coming first.

My beloved Grandpa was Hakka who spoke English to his nine children. Probably because my Grandma spoke no Chinese. Come to think of it, I, who spent years of my childhood (from the time I could walk to the age of fifteen) living with my grandparents, can't even tell to this day whether Grandpa spoke anything other than English.

My Grandma is Eurasian, I suspect of Portuguese descent. My only clue of this? She cooks (cooked - she's chair-bound now) some mean Devil curry and we (my mum, Auntie and I) bake pineapple tarts and sugee cake for Christmas. Grandma has a really cool surname too - Jalle.

Growing up my mum was the major influence in my life. I was taught to be, for lack a way of saying it better, almost Anti-Chinese. We watched the Cosby Show, progressed to Friends and shouted the answers to Wheel of Fortune and A-Million-Dollar-Chance-of-A-Lifetime. We spoke exclusively English at home, and thought that was normal. My brothers and I couldn't even order food in Chinese (Hokkien) until much, much later in life. Daniel was sent to a Chinse medium primary school but hated it. It was almost as if he knew it wasn't for him even though he was seven, or twelve. When mum wanted him to go to similar high school he went ballistic and cried every day (and I mean every day) until he got into St Xavier's, where he thrives now.

Thanks to mum, we love Christmas more than Chinese New Year because, well, she did.

Somehow, we were programmed to bring out the tree and buy presents for each other. To eat turkey, sambal and sugee cake. To sing the Golden Oldies (actually that's more Pa than Mum), and to watch all the American sitcoms. To hate steamed white chicken and to be snooty to people who didn't speak English as well as we did (ok, that was mostly me, and I had some peer influence there no doubt).

I can truthfully say that I only appreciated, accepted my Chinese heritage when I was in University. That was when I was the only Chinese out of 20 who spoke none. That's when I learnt to order food in Mandarin. That was where I realized that there were some Malaysians who spoke no English almost their entire life.

I dabbled, wet my toes in the Chinese- gang for a while, mostly because they were my coursemates. But I soon found some people who were more like me and they have been my closest friends, and still are. But I learnt - and changed quite a bit. I now look forward to good Dim Sum, roast crackled pork when I never accepted as a child. I would rather have chocolate cookies and chicken pies.

Why am I writing this? Because I am wondering about my own descendants. What sort of heritage to I pass down? What kind of memories shall I create? How do I want to be remembered?

It's the nostalgia speaking, excuse me. But one word comes to mind though, whatever it may be - delicously.

A New Home, Soon

My dearest,

I have an announcement to make.

I finally have a chance. A real chance.

To have a place of my (our own).

You see, dear housemate has gotten a job in a faraway island just south of the Peninsular.

Which means AK and I, we'll be officially house hunting pretty soon.

I've been a bit crazy about home decor and am absolutely thrilled. A chance to choose my own sofa (has to be the softest, most plush I can afford - is a couch potato priority); to buy big white plates and scrolled silverware; to finally bring out some of the things I bought but never dared to use; to hang up our photos; to finally be able to bring our beloved Baby into the house.

You know what they say, buy what you love and it'll all come together.

Well, he is my wish list of things I have fallen, head over heels, big-sigh-I-reaaaally-wish-I-had-my-own-place with:-

1) Lascurain's joyous Celebrate! and Secret Place paintings, I'd place them in my bedroom. Too beautiful for words.

2) Big martini glasses or glass tumblers

3) Fancy cookware from Le Creuset, cast-iron frypans, silicone bakeware

4) Nigella Lawson's pastel blue mixing bowls

5) Venetian mirrors! Sooooo......jaw-droppingly expensive

6) Dare I - chaise lounge!

7) Small copper bowls and dishes, for Indian banana leaf meals (still hope AK!!??)

And then there are the simplest pleasures I found living here that I plan to make the effort to bring to anywhere I live next, next and next:-

A bathroom that allows views of the foliage outside. Our current bathroom has a window with panes that tilt upwards and inside (so we can see out but you can't see in :) ), and there is a wonderful pleasure to shower and "pretend" to be in Eden.

Eating in the most comfy queen sized bed in the world. Yes, eating in bed. One of life's ultimate pleasures.

Yes,yes, we shall.

You need some Brains for Bread

Finally, a cooking post after almost a year of grumbling and mumbling about work!

First of all, let me say something - it's the oven's fault.

Sigh. What went wrong?

Reminder to self - I need an oven thermometer. Fresh yeast. Half a brain.

Here is my lousy version of the olive oil No-Knead bread, much better versions found here and here.

Is it because (and here is why, looking back, I said half a brain) I:

- Piled the toppings on the dough like a pizza but baked in at a lower temperature?

- ignored the instructions to "Stretch surface of dough on each side and tuck under, creating a round, ball with a taut surface. Flatten dough ball a little. Keep the dough covered until ready to use." I kinda just spooned out the dough from bowl to tray and used the back of a spoon to smooth it out, like cake batter *blush*

- left the dough out only for one hour when the recipe said two?

- really messed up the water measurements (1 cup = 16 tablespoons, 3/4 cup does NOT equal 3 tablespoons)?

But I really, really believe, that it was the oven that did me in. You see, like so many of you, I have an oven which lies to me...(highly suspects that the 200 degC on the oven dial wasn't really 200 degC)

Sigh. Where can one get an oven thermometer in Miri?

Note:

I really like the toppings though. I roasted five whole unpeeled cloves of garlic in butter with some rosemary (yeah baby, I actually used the dried rosemary I brought all the way back from Penang - finally! It came out smelling a bit like toothpaste but the when spread on the bread and went really well with the ham) in foil parcels. I then mashed the soft roasted garlic with the melted butter and spread this on top of my bread. In the middle of the sheet of dough I made a little indentation with my oiled tablespoon and cracked an egg into that. Studded the loaf with chicken loaf and sprinkled the whole lot with dried parsley.

So I would do this again (heh, not that I have a choice, I still have 3 batches of dough in the fridge to play with). Maybe with the same ingredients but as a stuffing like this lady did?

Wish me luck..!