dailyramblings101

To all Buddhist around the world, Happy Wesak Day.

Wesak is the most important of the Buddhist festivals and is celebrated on the full moon in May. It celebrates the Buddha’s birthday, and, for some Buddhists, also marks his birth and death.

On Wesak Day, Buddhists all over the world commemorate the Birth, Enlightenment and Nirvana of Sakyamuni Buddha. This sacred day is purely a religious festival and all Buddhists are expected to reaffirm their faith in the Buddha Dhamma and to lead a noble religious life. It is a day for meditation and for radiating Loving-Kindness.

Wesak Day is a public holiday for Malaysia. Have a joyful Wesak Day!

Something I got in the e-mail, which rang very true for me.

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn’t worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn’t want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn’t stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn’t know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn’t know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn’t know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn’t know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn’t know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom …

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

For those celebrating Labour Day on May 1st, Happy Labour Day and enjoy the long weekend.

A three-day off from work/school is sure nice and I’m looking forward to a nice time spent at home with my family. Not planning to go out and join the hordes of people thronging the mall. It’ll just be too crowded for us.

What are your plans for the weekend?

I was born in Raub, Pahang. A small town just 2 hours’ drive away from Kuala Lumpur.

I lived there for 12 years (I went to primary school in Raub but I spent my weekends and school holidays at my grandparents’ house in Shah Alam) then I moved out of Raub to attend a boarding school in Kuantan, some 5 hours away. From the age 13, the longest time I’ve been at my parents’ house was 1 month (and that was during my confinement, after I gave birth to my Son!).

Raub was a gold mining town back in its heyday. Remains of its colonial past are evident in the old shop lots and the old police station around the town, especially in Mason Road (now known as Jalan Tengku Abdullah).

Apart from the colonial buildings scattered around town, you can still see buses that seem to originate for the WWII era here (photo above: Keat Bus plying the Bukit Koman route. It’s been in service in this town like, forever…)

Legend has it that the name of the town: “Raub” was derived from the way people would scoop up gold. Raub = scoop.

Raub is very different from Hubby’s seaside hometown in Marang, Terengganu. Raub town is predominantly Chinese as do the Tras area (where our old home used to be) and Sungai Lui (my parents’ current home). But there are other major villages which is a predominantly Malay like Semantan Ulu, Sega and Dong.

Furthermore, Raub is located between the mountains; the Titiwangsa range (Banjaran Titiwangsa) and the Benom mountain range. Instead of nice hot seaside, we have plenty of cooling forest and waterfalls here.

Some of the popular waterfalls here in Raub:

• Lata Jarum which is about 30 km from Raub town
• Pulau Chekas which is nearby Lata Jarum
• Lata Lembik which is our favourite waterfall spot, about 40+ km from Raub town
• Jeram Besu which is popular for its challenging white water-rafting activities

Trivia: the new Tourism Minister, Dr Ng Yen Yen is MP for Raub.Woman power!

There are two Earth Days observed. United Nations (UN) celebrates Earth Day on the March Equinox (around Mar 21), a practice founded by peace activist; Mr John McConnell in 1969. Earth day is held annually during spring in the northern hemisphere, and autumn in the southern hemisphere.

The second Earth Day, which was founded by US Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970, is celebrated by many countries on Apr 22.

Earlier, we had Earth Hour; an event organised by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) which was held on the last Saturday of March, where people around the world switched off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for an hour starting from 8.30pm to 9.30pm.

Irregardless of the dates, both Earth Day are held to inspire, raise awareness and appreciate the Earth’s environment.

Counting down to Apr 22nd’s Earth Day, what can we do to help our planet? By looking at how we do things in our life and changing them, for a start.

• Monitor our electrical and lights usage; and switching them off when not is use. Change your lightbulb and use compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Instead of using the drier, hang your clothes on the clothesline on sunny days. Don’t leave the bathroom lights left on.

• Don’t leave the water running while you brush your teeth. Try to save water while you are doing other household chores too. Do you really need to shower for half an hour? Conserve water - you can save water and save on your monthly bills too.

• Recycle and reuse. Donate extras to relatives and friends instead of throwing stuff (good, usable stuff) away.

• Use less plastic bags. If you can, eliminate your usage of plastic bags entirely.

• Ditch the car and walk to your neighborhood shops or your nearby Pasar Malam instead. Don’t leave your car run idle for too long, switch the engine off. An idle car burns fuel, is costly and generates greenhouse gases.

• Use less paper - don’t print that e-mail, just save them. Use recyled paper, and save trees.

• Plant trees or make a contribution for any organization to plant trees.

• Get your children involved too.

There are so many ideas and ways we can do to protect our planet. What’s yours?

Earlier on Monday, I wrote a post about Basic courtesy gone MIA and how sometimes people will think nothing of cutting in front of you.

But for yourself, how long are you willing to wait in queue? I hate long queues, be it at the cashier counter, buying admission tickets to theme parks/movie theater/concerts/whatever, for a seat at a restaurant, for my turn to see a doctor at a clinic and I particularly hate to queue just to pay the toll at a highway!

Sometimes, I can be a bit unreasonable in a sense that I like to be served immediately. (Like I am such a VVIP. LOL). The other day, I went to Maxis Centre to sign up for a new broadband package and I was a bit miffed when I was made to wait 15 minutes before a consultant was available to attend to me. Hubby, on the hand, waited patiently. I am such a diva, I know. Patience is not one of my strength.

But sometimes I’m willing to join the mass just because there’s a promotion and some savings are involved. I may not queue for a seat at a particularly good restaurant but I’ll join the queue if the place has a promotion!

Here I was in a queue for some average sushi just because they were having a RM2 per plate promotion (normal price may be as high as RM8 per plate). I may wait for an hour for a promotion, but I draw the line against queueing for hours just to get something free.

I want a break. I want to laze around somewhere where someone else do my bed instead of me. I want to order my drinks instead of me making them myself. I want to laze by the pool with a book to read and have someone sending my food and drinks over to me. I want my break now!

Of course, we will have a short holiday during the coming school holiday in June. We’ll be going to Singapore for 3 days. But June is still such a long way to go… I even started dreaming about spending a night in a hotel room. (Am I sad or what? ) I think living with the in-laws (even just for the weekdays has taken its toll on me).

My sis texted me earlier this morning. She wanted to stay in a hotel nearby my office and she wanted to have a good deal for her room. (Yeah, call the older sis only when you want something. Sheesh… That’s what family is for, right? Hahaha) I don’t know why some people seem surprised when they were told that a hotel can be fully booked when they call up to reserve a room just one day before the intended check-in date. OK, luckily older sis (moi, that is) got connection that may be able to help and with a lower room rate to boot than the one advertised - but no guarantees!

I’m tempted to use the room myself tomorrow before she arrives. After all, she’ll only be in Kuala Lumpur at 8.00pm. I’ve got 6 hours to play around in the room! LOL

Actually this post was supposed to be on yesterday, but my rant took precendent agains this somewhat frivolous post so I put it up on Tuesday instead. 

I wore a bright red blouse to office today. It was part of a pact with  a few colleagues  of mine to liven up Monday which is usually associated with Monday blues. No somber colour for us today! We all wore red today.

Me and my bright red blouse drew plenty of attention today and most asked whether it is already nearing Chinese New Year holiday. LOL

Here, where I live, we associate red with the Chinese New Year celebration. Hence, when Chinese New Year is drawing near, you will see people wearing red as red is considered an auspicious colour by the Chinese community.

Talking about colour - yellow is known as the Royal colour for the Rulers.

Since I wore red today, I better not be near any fierce bull, lest they come charging after me!

What happen to basic courtesy among us?

I was queuing patiently to weigh some fruits and letting a lady in front of me check the prices on her vegetables first and not wanting to push her out just so I can complete my transaction.

Then came a lady bustling over and immediately put her stuff on the weighing machine. Of course, the staff (like most Malaysian supermarket staff I met) didn’t ask the lady to queue but just proceeded to weigh her vegetables much to my annoyance. I for one am not a pushover and I told the lady off.

Her answer was an unbelievable “Nobody put anything on the weighing machine so I put mine”. Excuse me, didn’t you see me standing in front of you. I told her so and her answer was an unbelievable “Keep your mouth shut”. How polite of her. Her children must be so proud of her. (And that’s what exactly I told her too in front of about 6-7 Jusco staff).

What was so earth shatteringly important that one can’t wait an extra two seconds to finish one’s transaction?

Of course, today wasn’t the only time someone cut my queue. I don’t know, maybe I look too damn meek that people think I won’t say anything when they did that.

There was one time during the Ramadhan month, and a lady had the gall to say to me that she cut my queue because she was fasting. Eh? So was everyone who is a Muslim during Ramadhan month. I was fasting too! What makes you so special that you can cut my queue?

It is always “interesting” that I usually end up looking like the bad guy (or gal) for standing my ground. It is always “What’s the big deal?” or “Aiyoh, get over it already” or “Macam Mak Datin (translates as: like a diva) or like today’ very nice “Keep your mouth shut” retort.

What happen to a simple “Oh! I’m sorry”?

Am I teaching my son the wrong values by being polite in today’s seemingly selfish society?

What do we usually do while in Terengganu? Usually, we make a beeline to Pasar Payang in KualaTerengganu. At Pasar Payang, you can find everything (well, almost everything) you want to find associated and special to Terengganu.

At the ground floor of the market (Pasar means market in Malay), you can find wet market selling fresh produce, spices, fruits and traditional cookies and plenty of food items for sale. One of the famous product of Terengganu is Keropok. You can find Keropok Ikan (fish crackers) both the uncooked and the ready-to-eat varieties in abundance. There are plenty of other types of crackers such as prawns crackers available here too, not to mention plenty of dried seafood to choose from.

And don’t forget about Keropok Lekor too! Keropok lekor may look nasty, but they are delicious.

On the floor above is where you can find local handicrafts such as batik, songket, textiles, handbags (as per photo below) and also touristy souvenirs such as your must have T-Shirts, key chains and many more. The prices here are quite affordable too! Don’t be afraid to haggle the price with the shopkeeper - that’s the fun part of shopping here.

Around Pasar Payang is where you can find alternative mode of transportation that may not be found in other cities like Kuala Lumpur.

The trishaw in the photo above is not for the tourist. It is pretty much used by local people (especially elderly women) to get around the area.

Two very colourful Bot penambang (ferry boat) to Seberang Takir.