Spring Edition

1. Does your household do spring cleaning?
We clean the whole house once every 3-4 months. Of course there are daily and weekly chores as well.

2. Do you approach spring with joy for all the newly growing things and the sight of grass, or does it just scream MUDDY FLOORS AND MOPPING?
We don't have the four seasons here in Malaysia. It is a tropical country with rain and shine all year round. So we also have greens all year round. As for muddy floors, there are certain places that are hit by flash floods after sudden heavy rain and people will need to evacuate if flood water rises.

3. Do you have a garden that you will be planting and, if so, what do you plant?
No, I don't have a garden. I lived in a high rise apartment building which is not practical for planting anything.

4. What is your favorite thing about springtime?
I guess it is spring here everyday in Malaysia. It is warm.

The Guilty Pleasures Edition

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1. Food: Everyone has at least one favorite guilty pleasure food. The one that makes everything seem right in the world. The one whose caloric content no longer matters because of how good it makes you feel! What is that food for you?

Chocolates for sure. I like food with cheese too like sandwiches, pasta, lasagna and yummy cheese cake!

2. Pampering: Pampering is always good for indulging yourself! What is your favorite pampering thing? Is it a hot bath with some sinfully delicious bath and body products? A mani/pedi? A massage? Give us the goods!

I used to go for facial. It is supposed to just clean out the pores but the face massage is so soothing that I can almost fall asleep on the couch. I feel very pampered indeed. It is costly though for the facial products and the treatment. I can't remember the brand of facial products that was used now. Stuff like cleanser, exfoliate cream, toning lotion, moisturizer, etc. It has been ages since I had one.

3. TV and books: Do you have a guilty pleasure when it comes to reading or watching TV? You know, a show or a book that you just don’t want to admit you read or watch AND enjoy? Give up the dirt!

Hmm...I do read romance novels but nowadays I am more into Jodi Picoult's books. The books are showed case on my Shelfari bookshelf at the bottom of my blog. I don't watch television at all now and I don't have one for more than 6 months now.

4. Shopping: Most everyone has something that is nearly impossible to avoid buying, regardless of whether or not you need it What is that thing for you? Nail polish, yarn, shoes? Something else?!

Books and nothing else. I only buy those other stuff when really necessary. My weakness is books. I can't stop buying them even though there are still some unwrapped in plastic cover because I have no time to read them.

Flu Edition

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1. What kind of patient are you? The demanding never happy kind, the leave me the h*ll alone kind, or the grateful kind? Or some combination of them?!

I would like some tender, loving, care when I am having flu. Like have my hubby sit by the bedside and hold my hand for a while. But most of all I need sleep when I am having flu.

2. Are you a good nurse, or do sick people make you want to run for it?

I don't think I am a good nurse. When I think of how I wanted hubby to be by my side when I am not well, he doesn't want company at all. I can give him a drink of water or hot chocolate if he is up to it but mostly he wants to rest alone. As for experiences with other people, I still think I am not a good nurse.

3. What is your favorite remedy for the flu?

I just take flu tablet and rest.

Gaming Edition

1. What was your favorite outside childhood game? Kick the Can, Ghost in the Graveyard, etc.?

I am trying to recall what was my favourite outdoor childhood games. The game didn't have any name. We just got our "gang" and shoot out with makeshift blow pipe weapons using straw and green beans as bullets. In school I remembered jumping on ropes made with rubber bands, catching (ah, this has a name Police and Thief) and others which I can't remember now for sure.

2. How about board games? Do you have a favorite?

I actually wrote about my favourite childhood games in a separate post. Two of the games are called Batu Seremban and Congkak.



3. Do you play any PC games? Online or offline? If so, what is your favorite? If not, is there one out there you want to try?

I like Sudoku online ones. I like one other online one that ask to spot the difference in photos. For a while I like tetris (blocks dropping ones).

4. Gaming stations,… there are so many out there and I know jack about them! Do you have one or more and which ones? XBox, XBox 360, Playstation, etc.?

No, I don't have any of these gaming stations.

Clotheshound Edition

1. Do you have to dress for work? If so, what is your “uniform”?
No, I don't have to dress for work. I work from home now.

2. How would you describe your style when dressing for yourself, rather than work?
I like loose fitting clothes. I only wear Punjabi suits for going out now.

3. I have noticed that there seem to be two kinds of dressers in the winter months. Those who love turtlenecks and those that abhor them! Which are you?!
Neither because there are no four seasons in Malaysia. Nevertheless, I think I would love turtlenecks. I can put a scarf even on sunny days so I would not mind covering my neck if it is cold.

4. It’s lounging time on the couch in the evening. What are you wearing?
T-shirt and shorts for sure.

5. Describe your favorite “feel good” outfit!
I don't quite know how to describe it. Let me show it instead. It is also a Punjabi suit. The trimmings and pattern of the neckline are shown in the photo on the left.

The High School Edition

1. What was your high school decade?
I went to high school in the 80's. It counts from Form 1 (1983) to Form 5 (1987).

2. Are you still friends with your high school friends?

Sadly no. I have lost touch with all of my high school friends. I have not kept in touch with any of them and neither are there any high school reunion that I go to. I am not sure if that is even a practice here in the first place.

3. What was your favorite thing about high school?

I would say joining the uniform society. I was active in the St. John's Ambulance and there were lots of activities to attend to. We have foot drill in the hot sun in our uniforms, some girls actually fainted instead of assisting others. We participated in mock accidents and how to attend to injured casualties. We learned nursing skills like bandaging, made slings and tourniquets to stop bleeding, made hospital beds solo or with a partner, took tests and went for competition. That was fun. I was even on duty at a real religious festival celebrated here in Malaysia where there are many folks cramped in a cave. So we St. John's Ambulance were called in to assist those who fainted or had injured themselves.

4. Your least favorite?
Dissecting frog and insect at biology lessons. Ewww...I was praying hard that I wouldn't get such assignments for the real exam. My prayer was answered. Phew!

5. Did you have a high school sweetheart? And how did that work out?!

Yes, I had. Even though I was in an all girls' school, I managed to get to know a guy through these gatherings of uniform society members. He was a scout. So we met at one such gatherings and both our schools also organized outdoor trips. We dated for a few months and I was not ready to go further. I broke it off.

6. Would you do the whole high school thing again, or is it better left in the past?!
I would go through it again if I had the choice minus the dissecting frog or insect part.

The Windfall Edition

1. If you were to get a unexpected windfall, what is your first thought on what to do with the money? Were you practical or not?!

If I suddenly get some extra cash, I will get another laptop and get faster mobile broadband speed. It is on my mind now anyway. Since I use the computer a lot for my work, I do consider it a practical move rather than a whimsy expenditure.

2. You have $1000 to spend on yourself. What do you buy? With $5000?

I will get a treadmill. I desperately need exercise and I feel my body is so weak that I might passed out if I walk in the field. Besides I can't stay outdoors if it is too hot or my skin flares up with eczema. If it is $5000, I will get a better quality treadmill.

3. You have $1000 to spend on something for your home. What do you buy? With $5000?

I think I might get a sink and nicer table top for the kitchen.


4. You have your windfall and you realize your car is older than you. So what do you buy?

I like the model of my car now. It is called Viva by Perodua. It is not that old but if I have the spare cash to spend on a new car, I will get the same model again. The features are very user friendly and takes into consideration the needs of the driver or owners and the passengers.

5. You decide to buy some books with your windfall at Amazon. What 5 books would you get?

Paradise by Judith McNaught

Almost Heaven by Judith McNaught

The King of Torts John Grisham


The Summons John Grisham

Playing For Pizza: A Novel

Yummies Edition

1. What is your favorite guilty pleasure yummy food?

Oreo Cheesecake from Secret Recipe. The photo I have here is not from Secret Recipe but as you can see from the coffee behind it, it is from Starbucks.

2. It is snack time. What do you reach for? Chips? Ice cream? Something healthy?

Sometimes I take biscuits, Jacob's High Fiber and Low Salt ones or cookies. At other times I do take chips. Ice cream is not that high on my list of snacks. The type of ice cream that I like is the soft sundaes which is not too good kept refrigerated for long.

3. What is your ideal breakfast?

My usual breakfast of muesli and milk which I think is ideal and healthy. (Photo on the right)

4. What are you craving right now?

Hmm...perhaps the cheesecake.

Home Edition

1. Do you live in a house or apartment?

I live in an apartment (photo on the right). Sorry I don't have a better view/photo to show.

2. What is your most used room in your house? Does it tend to follow any kind of design theme?

My study cum changing room. (Photo on the left)

3. Which room in your home would you most like to change? What would you change in it?

Perhaps the third room or a store room but it has windows and is big enough for someone to use or sleep in. Just felt that it is a waste of space to put stuff in it. I would really like to simplify more like throwing or giving away stuff that hubby and I no longer need or use and make the third room more presentable and more comfortable. Right now my library is in there but it has no chairs or fan to make it a proper reading room.

4. If you could add a room to your house, what would it be used for?

I don't think I would want to add another room. I would rather do something to the third room as mentioned above and make it more comfortable. Another room means more stuff to add and more cleaning to do.

5. Find a real estate listing online of a home that could be your dream home and share it with us. It can be anywhere in the world and totally not realistic!

Nothing fanciful. This is taken from a trip to Penang last month.

Penang Hill

Wrapup

1. Did last year fly by for you or did it seem to drag?
I think it was gone with a whiz.

2. Was it a fairly calm year, or full of events and big happenings?
A fairly calm year.

3. What is one thing from last year you hope does NOT hold true for this year, too?
Me living a sedentary life. Hahaha...nothing has changed yet.

4. Got any moments or events coming up this year?
Besides the usual anniversaries and annual religious conventions, I can't think of anything extra yet.

New Years Edition

1. Resolutions: Do you keep them or are they an exercise in futility?
I think it does give a good start to the year but as for keeping it, that is another story altogether.

2. New Year’s Eve: Stay at home or go out and dance the night away? Any special traditions?
Stay at home. No difference here.

3. Let’s not call it a resolution, but what are 5 things (of any importance) you would like to accomplish in the upcoming year?

• Read the whole bible
• Exercise more
• Learn about codes for blog
• Be more techno savvy
• Learn to cook

Friday Friends

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1. Best friends were all the thing in my high school days. You were only allowed to have one best friend, but, ever the rebel, I had several! What about you? Tell us about your high school best friend(s).
I am one of those who had one best friend in my junior high (13-15 years old) but several close friends when in senior years (16-17 years old). Hmm...those were the rebel years, alright. Nothing is more important than friends. That one best friend during junior high decided to join gangs and play truant at school and I have decided that that is the limit. She finally left school before graduating and threw her future down the drain.

2. Are you generally better friends with those of your own gender or those of the opposite? Or is it balanced between the two?
If this is still about school days, I came from an all girls' school so all my friends were girls. Nowadays, I would say that I am generally better friends with girls but I have a close online guy friend more than a decade younger than me.

3. As you get older, are best friends still important or does having a best friend get less important to your life?
Best friends are still important but I find that they take on different roles as time goes by. Meaning that my best friend could be my husband and mentor, my other best friend friend could be in another country whom I have not seen face to face before. The friendships somehow have more substance as our views and qualities that we cherished shifts. It is no longer someone whom you just share gossip of other students or teachers, etc.

4. Have you ever met any of your online friends offline? Did they match your mental picture of who they were?
Not yet but perhaps I will meet one soon.

5. Do you have a few close friends and more acquaintances? Or are you the opposite, with lots of very close friends and few casual ones?
I have more acquaintances than close friends. Perhaps I am sociable but at the same time a private person and therefore have fewer very close friends.

6. Are there any friends of the past that you would like to reconnect with?
Not really. I feel that friendship is a mutual thing and when our values or priorities in life changes relationships and friendships changes as well. So if ever a friendship is deteriorating and I have lost touch with certain friends, it means that it is time to move on. In this regard, I am not that sentimental about it.

7. If you could become insta-friends with any celebrity, who would it be and why?
I really have no idea. I can't imagine having any common ground with anyone famous who would have the time for the likes of me.