Home-Cooked Delights

Today, I had the opportunity to savour a rare commodity nowadays, even those claimed to be home-cooked are not home-cooked anyway, instead they are "commercially home-cooked"
The list of the above includes

1) Lemon Chicken ( batterless-stir fried chicken)
2) Steamed Medium Sized Pomfret
3) Stir-fried Siu Pak Choy and Baby Corn

Adding on to the list the dishes previously prepared:

4) Assam Fish (Blocks of 'tenggiri')
5) Curry Fish ( also using 'tenggiri')
6) Tomato-Garlic Prawns ( If prawns are economical, at RM0.99 per 100g!)
7) Fried Chicken with batter
8) Pastas with assorted sauces
9) Tomato Scrambled Eggs
10)Braised Pork (canned) and Potato Slices
11) Stir-Fried Veggies (Chinese Cabbages, Broccoli, Choy Sum, Kangkung with Belacan, Brussel Sprouts, Lady Fingers (Okra), Baby Beansprouts)
12) English Breakfast Set (hash brown, ham, sausages, scrambled eggs, sunny side up, bacon, baked beans, toast with jam and butter)
13) French toast
14) Egg mayo sandwiches

Wow, this looks like a menu from a restaurant, a fusion between east and west.

Are you drooling now??

Favourite Movies- Hollywood

The best Hollywood Movies I have ever seen

1. Pulp Fiction
2. American Beauty
3. Shawshank Redemption
4. The Green Mile
5. Sixth Sense
6. Ocean's Eleven
7. The Rock
8. Back to the Future
9. Snatch (British)
10. Goodfellas

Superb Performance by Favourite Actors:

1. Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction
2. Ed Harris in The Rock
3. Kevin Spacey in American Beauty
4. Robert De Niro in Meet the Parents, Goodfellas
5. Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones Trilogy
6. Liam Neeson in Rob Roy
7. Bruce Willis in Sixth Sense & Pulp Fiction
8. Michael J Fox in Back to the Future
9. Tim Robbins in Shawshank Redemption
10.George Clooney in Ocean 11

Voting Based on Conscience Not Allowed

If our elected representatives are not even allowed to exercise their right and to make their own stand on certain issues, then why is there a need for someone to attend the Parliament sitting?
THEY MIGHT AS WELL AS STAY AT HOME! Do not and will not discuss and debate, what is the point of stating your viewpoints when you know you have to follow the decision of the Whip?

If there are any issues to be debated, the Barisan Nasional backbenchers would have a standing instruction( like the Standing Order used in the banks) to

i. support any motion tabled by the ruling party a.k.a their bosses
ii. reject everything else as long as they do not come from the ruling party

Therefore, there is more to the reason why we should strengthen the Opposition.

1980s TV Shows

Suddenly I find myself drifting back to the 1980s.
Was schooling in Penang in the years 1985 and 1986, in Standard 4 and Standard 5.
My afternoons were mostly spent watching TV.

Those distant memories begged to recorded, lest they disappear from my grey cell deposit:

I searched the IMDB to check on the details:

My favourites:

Time Tunnel ( Great source of learning world history)
Voyage to Bottom of the Sea ( there are always monsters under the sea)
I Dream of Jeannie ( I dream of the series even now)
MacGyver (awesome, I always wish I could be like him)
Daktari (with the chimp called Judy)
Little House on the Prairie ( the theme song was great!!)
Airwolf (always shown on Monday)
The A-Team ( Mr T rules!!!)
Run Buddy Run ( sitcom borders on absurdity..but lovable)
The Girl from UNCLE ( Stefanie Powers)
Land of the Giants (always missed the show, shown during 1-2pm on the way back from school)

more to come>>>

The Importance of Being Able To Communicate Well

In February, I had the chance to go to a Bazaar in Pattaya.

Was looking and saw a shoplot selling textile and they too provided tailoring services. A man in his late 30's I suppose, of an Indian-Thai descent came up to me with a broad smile, apparently welcoming me using his gestures.
I returned his smile..(being polite)

Then , speaking in an accented but clear and crisp voice,
he blurted out, 'Is there anything that you want to buy from my shop?'

At that moment, I was taken aback at his words. What a bad choice of words!!
It is like saying, 'Is there anything I can sell to you, you gullible tourist?'
I felt like...hey man, am I obligated to come in and buy something as if it's the law that we have to buy something from you?
How atrocious..I didn't respond to him and just walked straight. Told myself, I will not buy anything from your shop even I have the chance to the next time.

Look, I am not obligated to buy anything from you, I am not even obligated to look around you silly little shop..
Can you find something to say? If you don't have anything to say, just keep your mouth shut and at least people won't get annoyed.

A polite and affable way of saying would be,
"Good afternoon sir, would you like to come in and have a look? And if you have seen something that you fancy, I would be pleased to be of help. "
Sounds much better right???

That's why, good communication skills are very important. It has been said that everyone is in customer service. Period.

PIC

Thomas Cup Fever

We used to huddle in front of the tv till midnight, cheering our shuttlers on, shouting on top of our voices, cheering for every point won and the opponents mistakes...

In the days of the yore, we have heroes like Cheah Soon Kit, Soo Beng Kiang, Rashid Sidek, the ever repressible Foo Kok Keong with his never say die antics on court, the Sidek brothers giving us the excitement, making your pulse race like there is no tomorrow till midnight..they toiled and sweat..making sure that the coveted Thomas Cup belongs to Malaysia again after the lapse of 35 years. At that time, it was in 1992.

I was virtually on the edge of my seat, holding my breath at the point when Cheah Soon Kit served at match point and finally Soo Beng Kiang sealing the deciding match with Rexy Mainaky-Ricky Subagja with a jumping smash..it was euphoric!!!


Fast forward 16 years later, I am not even in my 20s anymore, most of the players have developed a pot-belly and some well into their forties. Some have left the badminton fraternity altogether, some remained as coaches. Yap Kim Hock is the chief coach now, Cheah Soon Kit is in charge of the ladies doubles. How time have changed.

Now the Thomas Cup fever is coming back, this time Malaysia have the best chance of wresting the trophy back from China, given the promising current line-up. We have Lee Chong Wei, Wong Choong Hann, Muhd Hafiz, Chan Choong Ming-Koo Kien Keat, Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah. An impressive line-up indeed. A well-established and well-balanced squad with a number of international Open titles under their belts.

But the greatest satisfaction is not only about winning the cup..The greatest satisfaction would be to beat our old enemy Indonesia 5-0 and win the cup. Don't know why, but I feel other Malaysians would share my sentiment that beating Indonesia would be the best feeling one could get apart from winning. I'd just love it if we could kick the Indonesian asses.

Not even the thought of beating China, Denmark or South Korea would come close.
Maybe it is the animosity between the two countries in sports or is it the close ties that we have over the years or their players have beating ours for donkey years in many tournaments.

And it is up to the current batch to put them back in their own place. They used to be formidable, but not anymore now. Last time , they had Alan Budi Kusuma, Ardy Wiranata, Hermawan Susanto, Joko Suprianto, Edy Hartono & Gunawan, Rexy-Ricky and later on they had Hendrawan, Hariyanto Arbi..a team that would strike fear into any opponents.

Now, they still have Taufik Hidayat and the formidable double pairs of Sigit-Chandra Wijaya, Luluk-Alven, and new pair of Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan.

Trust me, these fellas can rise to the occasion.

Hopefully ours can too. I smell blood..

Guys,
Go and win the Cup. Bring it back to Malaysia after 16 years but don't forget to beat Indonesia along the way!!!!