Mr. Potty

I have a new best friend.

His name is Mr. Potty.

I have been away for awhile. Not by choice really. First it was due to examination week. With my promising 1st semester results, I opted to take extra papers for the 2nd semester thinking that if I just push myself a little bit more, I could finish my course in a shorter duration of time. At the end of the day, I find myself buried beneath piles and piles of assignments and series of tests and furthermore, as it was a shorter semester (because of the Ramadhan and Syawal) we even had classes on weekends to ensure that the syllabus can be finished within the time stipulated. In other words, my days were filled with either work, classes or group discussions. My social life for me, in short, was sacrificed in the name of education. Furthermore, I had registered for myself to take the MUET exams - a pre-requisite by the Ministry of Higher Education for all uni students to sit for this exam while pursuing tertiary education.When the exams timetable was published, to my ultimate horror, I find myself
squashed back to back up to 3 papers in 2 consecutive days - and they were all core papers
which means if I were to fail any of the two papers, I will certainly be dismissed from the course.

Bloody hell, what in God's-green-earth have I gotten myself into?!!!

Long story short, after my exam week was over, I got myself pretty sick. First, from
shock - apparently just as my exam finished, the sale at Jaya Jusco Deparmental Store had just started and I thought, naively at that time, that I would buy myself some things just to make up for all the outings I have sacrificed while studying. At the end of the day, after 3 consecutive days of shopping, I had spent more than half of my savings and my bank account is very well on its way of being depleted of its resources. All the nice, warm and fuzzy feeling that I had experienced while busy shopping around, working through the merry crowd of crazy shoppers quickly turned my stomach into knots and left an awful feeling in my mouth - I was literary going to throw up at when I saw the amount of balance left in my account!!!

What I had not anticipated was that the stomach churning and the nausea would last me up to 3 weeks!! My stomach could not keep any food in for long. It's either I would throw up after 5 minutes after my finished meal or I would run straight to bathroom - to answer the call of nature. Apparently, it was a rather looonng call of nature and it was routine for me fort he next three weeks until there is nothing else left in my tummy to be thrown out. That is how I found my new best friend, Mr Potty. Without fail, I would be spending most of my time with him, especially at night - moreover after every meal. ( I would like to think that it is a male - just because I think a male potty would have a stronger resilience and durability rather then a female potty).

God, what in the world am I talking about here? Going on and on about my experience with the
toilet?!@#$%^&*!!! Aarrghhhhh. Gross!!!.

By the end of the 3rd week, after being screamed at by the family for my determination not to seek medical treatment from the specialist ( I was actually feeling quite happy as the diarrhoea had made me loose 5 kg in one week ) and after my bottom has resembled somewhat like the bottom of a baboon, I then got myself admitted at one of the prominent hospitals in Subang for further tests. Frankly speaking, I really think that they - the hospital - should start a reward program for all its patients. By the looks of it, my clan could very well be one of the reasons why they prosper so well. Practically almost everyone in my family has at one point in their life been admitted there for a all sorts of sickness - from my late grandfather, to even my nieces. I would like to suggest that they award us points everytime we visit them or get ourselves admitted and the points in return, would allow us to redeem gifts - a free meal, or discounts on admission and medicine. I really think that it would be beneficial for all - a win win situation, wouldn't you say so yourself? :)).

After 2 days in the hospital, I got discharged for good behaviour ( I am, of course referring to my bowel, what else?). The doctor concluded, after running a series of tests, that I infact had a severe case of infection which caused the Irritable Bowel Syndrome. After tones of medicine and a long list of diet intake, I returned back home after promising the doctor that I would utilize the medical leave that was given to me and take due rest for the whole week until I feel better again. I left the hospital with a smile and thoughts of reading my Jane Austen collection and relaxing at home by the pool for the rest of the week, basking under the sun.

Unfortunately, all my hopes and dreams went down the drain as I find myself back in the office the very next day, after finding many messages sent to my mobile phone and one was from the boss asking me when I will be coming back to the office. My incoming tray (not to my surprise of course) was in a very dire state and cracking from all the weight of the pending works all piled up on top of it - and this was all accumulated while I was away from office which was only for 3 days!!. Forfeiting my leave, I went head on tackling my job to complete all of my
pending tasks and I am happy to report that by the following day, it was my boss's incoming tray which was stacked up with all the reports, read proof and arranged - ready for his authorization.

My bowel, unfortunately, was taking its own sweet time to recover. Whilst at work, I still find myself now and then making trips to the ladies so much so when a call for me was left unaswered the receptionist automatically informed the caller that the reason I was unable to take the call was because I was at the ladies. She must be gifted with ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) as my workstation is on the 2nd
floor whilst she is on the ground floor. She would not have known where I was unless there is a hidden spy cam in the office monitoring all the staff and their activities (errrr, is there???). I really have to give her credit for her efficiency and professionalism :).

Then last Saturday, at the office, while I was cursing at my computer for its bloody mood swings (it kept popping out the blue screen especially just when I need to save a report), I received a call from my good friend Lia who is in the same class as I am.
I knew that today she will be attending one of our classmate's wedding in Tanjung Karang. Perhaps
she has called to check with me whether I am joining the convoy to the wedding, I thought. Still cursing under my breath, I clicked the answer button on my mobile phone and took the call.

" Reane, result dah keluar ( results are out ) ... " she said.

My heart must have stopped beating for a second and my hands grew cold as the realisation of her statement hit me right smack in the face.

Damn, how I wish I was still back in the hospital.......


to be continued.....

A Hari Raya Tribute

The saying goes, " If Muhammad cannot go to the mountain, then the mountain shall come to Muhammad".

The norm for our family would be that on the morning of the Aidilfitri, we would all go to the graveyard to say our prayers for our departed love ones. And just as last year, cousin Alif is not with us again to celebrate the Aidilfitri celebration as he is in London, furthering his studies.

Therefore,being the ever dutiful cousin as I am, I have decided to make this little video just for him, for his viewing pleasure - a tribute to our love ones who has since departed from us.

Our love and prayers are with them.

Al - Fatihah.

The Departure

This a 'rather' long overdue video presentation. I promised dear cousin Alif to send the recorded footages to him after his departure to London. But alas, personal agendas and other matters arising got in the way of fulfilling the promise made (yeah,I know. Excuses, excuses).

As I find myself with no pressing matters to attend to today, I had decided to complete the much delayed work. As we are in the midst of the Hari Raya season, I thought it would be best to edit the footages and make it as a hari raya presentation all together.

Dear Alif,

Selamat Hari Raya sayang. We've all missed you terribly... :(

Love,
From your clan.

The Promise

Last week I finally managed to spare some time to make a very much overdue visit to see the lovely and adorable baby 'Ash' (leave it to me to 'orang-putihkan' the baby's name. Note to the very proud parents - jangan marah ahhh ;p). After the numerous 'janji-janji kosong' of meeting up and the many cancelled appointments, I finally secured an evening off and took the opportunity to visit Ina & Mir at their lovely crib in Bukit Jalil. This time I took my small little 'entourage' with me, consisting of Patti, Nana & Nino, since hubby is away AGAIN in the eastern cost of peninsular Malaysia in the name of, what else, work of course. After work on Friday eve, I made a quick stop at Bukit Jelutong to pick up the ladies and made a dash for the kesas highway as to avoid the ugly traffic jam over at the Puchong area. Safe to say, my aunts now have very, very high regards over those people commuting in and out of Kuala Lumpur in their cars. The 'pesta lampu merah' over at the Kinrara route to Bukit Jalil really opened up their eyes to the possibility of the existence of life 'outside' the safe haven of Shah Alam town.

I once made a promise to Mir that I would cook for him again when time permits me and I guess Mir has decided to claim for the said promise. Furthermore, I needed to make it up to Ina & Mir for not being able to attend to baby Ash's 'cukur jambul' ceremony a couple of weeks ago in Ipoh due to my commitments. So, there I was that evening, with entourage - ever so ready to bring down the house with my signature dish - what else, PASTA of course!!

Spicy Seafood Spaghetti

Ingredients:

Prawns and Squid ( cleaned ) – you may substitute for chicken meat if you want to.
Olive oil - 4 spoonful Spagetthi (500 gm) - 1 packet
Processed chili (cili boh/mesin) – 1 spoonful (add more if you want it hotter!)
Garlic (crushed with the back of the knife) - 3 cloves
Large Onion (roughly sliced) - 1 pc
Ginger (peeled and sliced) - 1/2 inch
Bird's Eye Chili (cili padi - sliced in two)- 7 pcs
Vietnamese Mint Leaves (daun kesom) - 5-7 pieces
Kaffir Lime leaves (daun limau purut, roughly torn) - 3 pcs
Ripe Tomatoes ( roughly chopped ) - 3 pcs
Baby corn (sliced) - 4 pcs
Snow peas (ends taken off) - 7 pcs
Red Capsicum (sliced thinly) - 1 pc
Carrot (sliced) - 1 pc
Straw mushroom (sliced in half) – 1 can
Oyster Sauce -1 tablespoon
Sweet Soya Sauce - 3 spoonful
Light Soya Sauce - 2 spoonful
A dash of pepper & mixed herb

Method:

1. Prepare the spaghetti as per instruction on packet(boil with a little bit of oil and salt until a la dante).
2. In a large hot wok (kuali), heat up the oil.
3. Add in garlic, onion, ginger, cili padi and fry until fragrant (or onions turn transparent).
4. Add in daun kesom and daun limau purut).
5. Next, add in cili boh and the seafood, followed by the chopped tomatoes.
6. Add in the vegetables – baby corn, snow peas and capsicum. Lastly the mushroom.
7. Then came the sauces – oyster, sweet and light soya.
8. Add in the spaghetti. Mixed it up well.
9. Serve it hot with a dash of pepper and mixed herb.

*Note : If its lacking sweetness or saltiness, just add in a bit more sweet or light soya sauce. End result, there should be a harmonious mix of sweet and spicy with a lttle of 'zing' from the Vietnamese mint leaves.

I asked Mir to buy a bottle of sparkling red grape juice, just to get us in the ' Italian' mood (yelah, since we cannot consume alcohol kan, asalkan botol die nampak macam wine pun jadik la). I cannot very well tell you if the dinner was a huge success or whether the pasta turn out to be everyone's cup of tea, or not. What would anyone think of me then if I were to rate my own cooking? Sungguh tidak professional betul.

Instead, I shall let the pictures speak for themselves ;p..hehehehehhe

Aiseyman.....

Had a test just now. A problematic question concerning the Law of Torts. Unlike the last time, I am determine to make it through this semester with flying colours!! My goal is to achieve the ultimate score of 4.0. for my final exams and making the dean's list. Well, a person can dream, right ?

What I have discovered from my previous exam is that I have a problem remembering case names. The storyline, remedies and judgement granted, not a problem. But remembering the names is a different story altogether. So this time, I vowed never to repeat the same mistakes again! I have taken preventive measures to ensure optimum result - studying, making extra notes, even having group discussions with my future lawyer friends until we got chased out of the library (apparently the librarian wanted to go home already as it was already late night). I wanted to make sure that this time I am more prepared - physically, emotionally and mentally. I wanted to become a good lawyer, and to be one, I would need to be able to cite the right cases to support my reasonings and my conclusions. Furthermore, who wants to deal with a forgetful lawyer, ehh?

Long story short, when I finally receive the question for the test, I smiled away. A huge 'ear-to-ear' grin, just like a Cheshire cat. I was so relieved because my group and I had just discussed a similar case just last night during our group study. The moment we got the signal from our lecturer, all of us got busy writing down our answers. For the first time, I am able to answer a question with my head full of answers. And the words keep flowing over the pages as I wrote my answer quickly, fearing that if I am not fast enough, the answers would dissipates into thin air. i have got all the answers at my fingertips. The issues, the application of law, citation of the relevant cases, remedies and etc. It was as if god gave my hand a will of its own to write down the answers, and by god, they all made sense!!

By the end of the hour, I had actually written more then 2 pages worth of answers to backup my reasoning for the case. Out of habit, I recheck my work, just to make sure I've got the spelling right, dotted all the 'i's and crossed all the 't's. Somehow, there was a feeling of unsettlement as I quickly scheme over the page as I read my answer. I knew that somehow this is the correct answer, a classic textbook case which I don't have a problem dealing with. But somehow there was that nagging feeling at the back of my mind, just as if I would have the feeling of missing somethin, but I just could not determine what is it that I am missing. Putting aside the feeling for sheer anxiety, I submitted my paper with confidence.

Back home, I was about to go sleep just after a light meal and a hot shower. I felt tired and sleepy as I have been lacking the rest which my body requires for the past week, busy studying and preparing for the tests. I closed my eyes and wait for the sleep to come and enclose me in the blanket of slumber, but somehow, sleep never came. The nagging feeling that I had earlier on kept coming back to haunt me. My heart says that I should just make a quick check on the answer that I have submitted while my head says to just forgo it as it is already over. At the end of the day, my heart prevailed.

Came down to the library and I went online to check my mail and at the same time making a quick search on Wikipedia on the cases that I have cited.

The test was a classic case of negligence of misstatement resulting to economic loss and I knew immediately that one of the relevant cases that needed to be cited here is of Hedley Byrne v Heller. The other, is for the case also on economic loss due to negligence misstatement. However in this case, the judgement differs from Hedley where the court held that the defendant was not liable as he did not know that the statement he made would be relied upon by the plaintif. Oh, let me tell you how proud I am of myself for being able to cite cases such as these as if I was reciting my A,B.Cs . Just as the Malay proverb goes , " Masuk bakul angkat sendiri". But alas, truth to be told, yes, I can be vain sometimes. :D

My happiness did not last for long, though. As I scanned through the article on the monitor screen, I immediately saw the mistake that I have made. I just sat there staring at the monitor, rereading the case again and again, until my eyes start to water. I closed my eyes and took a long deep breath. Then, unable to handle my frustration, I knocked my head on the table a couple of times. Although, not hard enough to fracture the skull, but definitely the pain is enough to act as a reminder for me. I just don't know if I would ever learn from my mistakes. Apparently, it looks like perhaps, I might never will.....

On the case which the Judgement differs from Hedley, when I should be citing the case as Caparo Industries PLC v Dickman, as how the makers of the law demands that it should be, this was the answer that I gave instead, with such confidence and dignity.

Instead, my answer was :


'Cannavaro' Industries PLC v Dickman.


Hiiiyaaaaaaaa, ini buka Forzzaaa Italia 2006 World Cup Champion la kak!! Ini macam punye perempuan aaaa , how to become lawyer like this laaaa.....???

*Sigh......Die laa, die... :(

'Tis But A Small World After All, Isn't It Darling?

I am a firm believer (well, sometimes not. I can be fickle minded at times) of the theory that everyone is separated by 6 degrees and all. The theory is proven just two weeks ago during hubby's cousin's wedding in Kuala Lumpur.

I love to read. Seriously. It's just nowadays I don't have much time for this hobby of mine as most of the time my nose is buried way, way deep in my law books. I guess that is what attracted me into taking up law ( though I suspect the main reason is because I wanted to feel 'smart' as most of the time I am a coconut head - according to someONE la kan ;) ). I love to read books, magazines, articles, notations, diaries, reports, thesies and eversince the world of internet was discovered, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE reading blogs. I have read, if not all, some of the blogs that have been posted online. Most of the blogs that I have read are by my friends - its a good way of keeping track of their progress and of their development, i.e. status, families even gossips. Other times I read blogs written by people that I do not know - strangers really who share the same passion as I do - writting. I have a few of which are my favourites and one of it I stumbled upon by coincidence, literary.

Back then in 2005, when my sister informed us of her intention to get married, I was automatically (or did i volunteered? Can't really remember now) elected as one of the committee members for the preparation of her wedding, a.k.a the younger sister-cum-event manager-cum-minah despatch-cum -trouble shooter-cum physchiatrist. Yes, planning a wedding can be QUITE stressful, if you know what I mean >;).

Anyway, I was surfing the net, looking for any websites or pictures of the 'pelamin' by Istana Kanopi (the same people who did mine) for along's wedding . A search through Google returned pages of result and one of the results returned was for a blog written by young lady named Izreen, mostly on her everyday adventures, work, family, friends. Basically it is about Izreen and her incidental issues. Now, mind you I have read quite a number of blogs but I have to say, hers is one of the most entertaining that I have had a chance upon - in my perspective anyway. Not trying to kiss arse here, but I just love reading her blog. The way she expresses her views, thoughts and stories are very entertaining. The words flow beautifully on the screen and I just cannot stop reading from one post to another. Indeed, I actually got to know Izreen even before I met her!!

When I saw her at hubby's cousin's wedding in KL two weeks ago, I could not believe my eyes. I mean, what are the chances of me bumping into her at this particular wedding, of all places? I had to pinch myself, just as a reminder that I am not dreaming and that no, I am not in front of the computer reading her blog, AGAIN!!. She was sitting just across from where I was, obliviously to the fact that I was gawking at her with my mouth hanging open and my eyes almost popping out of their sockets. I deliberated a few seconds, actually telling myself the pros and cons of introducing oneself to her and telling her," Hey, you don't know me but I know almost EVERYTHING about you and i think you're a GREAT writer." Of course the chances are that she might just freak out and sue me for harassment (she's a lawyer by the way) or she might just think I am one nutcase, going about striking up conversations with strangers. Long story short, I finally introduced myself to her and we had a good, but short, conversation. She looked very pleased when I told her that I am a fan of her blog and she gave me a few pointers on taking up law and such. Although, I have to tell you, what amazes me most about her is that she is EXACTLY as how I thought she would be, reading from her postings in her blog. Open, friendly, exuberant, glowing. *Sigh..next to her, I look like a bloody ogre with my panda like eyes and my pale sickly yellow skin :( .

Oh, yes. The six degrees of separation thing ? Well, hubby's cousin -the bride, is one of Izreen's best mate from high school. Imagine that, huh?


It is a small world after all, wouldn't you say so yourself? ;p


*p/s: Izreen darling, I hope you won't mind but I've put a link to your website on mine :) . Think of it as a Promotion : Free advertisement sempena Meyambut Hari Kemerdekaan Negara yang ke 50 tahun....heheheh

Red Hot Mama Alert!!!

Myriam Fares - Haqleq Rahtak (مريم فارس - هقلق راحتك)

Waallaauuweeyyyy, ni yang nak buat den belajo nari 'gelek' ni....hehehehe ;p