IDragon @ Queensbay Mall

This was a trip on impulse to buy books. And we had lunch at IDragon in Queensbay Mall. The Christmas deco is up at Queensbay and this year but I don't like the colour scheme - kinda dready; black and white overwhelming the traditional Christmas colours. The flavour of the day, I supposed, since the dreary world of the Cullens are dominating centre stage now.

Noticed they had chairs outside the restaurant too for people to wait. This must be a popular place. But it was quite empty when we were there.

One of the first things which came... steamed chicken rice and jellyfish; the latter is a cold dish. The steamed chicken rice came first and the smell was quite good. We thought we were off to a good start. The jellyfish came next but it was a letdown. A little too oily and not really tasty.

Another cold dish - bamboo shoots. Nothing to shout about here. Presentation was good enough but taste wasn't that nice.

Braised pork which was not too bad. It went well with the dumplings. But one can only take so much meat.

The cute bite-sized dumplings.

The xiao lung pao or dumplings steamed with soup in it. This was okay. But it's not so nice once it's cold. This dish is meant to be taken hot. My lil one got slightly burnt by the hot soup and drained the pao of its soup onto the plate. LOL!

One of the two deserts we ordered - almond jelly with fruits. Almond always has a taste which I don't quite like but it was okay. Looks made it appetizing... 8)

This is mango pudding with pomelo and sago. The mango is blended with ice but there is a generous portion of sliced pieces too so that you have something to chew on with every bite. The tangy taste of pomelo gives this desert the ooomph. Sago also compliments this desert quite well.

Well, the bill for the 3 of us came up to RM130++ and I'd say this place is rather expensive. Their dishes are not what I'd rave about. Deserts were not too bad too but at that sort of price, it had better be. But still it was a good dining experience.

Books? We ended up buying only 3. LOL! 2 Max Lucado and one on Asterix. Jusco was having a good sale and we managed to get some stuff at bargain prices; which reminds me, if the price differs so much during sales-season, then it's really not worth buying anything during the off sales-season.

Third week into the hols...

Time flies. That's how the first 2 weeks have been like. Son sitting for his exams basically means that we're all tied to his schedule. We've been reduced to being drivers! But I remember a conversation which I had with a friend's niece sometime back. She was lamenting how much she missed driving her kids around for tuitions, etc, etc... LOL! I don't think I'll miss that! Anyway, in between driving him to and fro exams, we still managed to squeeze a little thrill here and there, one or two short excursions with the Lil One.

A lot of my time is spent at the squash court, gym and the pool. Add that to the tennis lessons which have been extended, I end my days quite tired. I'm off to Zzzzland the minute my head hits the pillow most of the nights. I am teaching my girl and a friend's son squash too. I enjoy playing with them and I guess they enjoy play with me since I can send nice shots for them to hit. 8) Well, my girl's ball sense is coming along. Can at least hit the ball against the wall repeatedly. Am trying to develop her game sense now. 8) In between her swimming, squash and books, she is rather occupied too!

Also had the most excruciating moment when my back 'froze' early in the hols. Went through half a morning incapacitated by an inflamed ligament... at my back. And for the first time, I was literally semi-immobilized by bolts of pain. It's a terrible feeling. Ligaments should best be left to heal by themselves. Any form of rubbing seems to aggravate ligament injuries. Anyway, I am reminded of the frailty of life.. of how we take our health for granted.

Son still has a week or so of exam time to go... Most likely no NS for now as his name did not appear in the first list. But he's still keen to go if he gets called up for the second batch. Noticed that there seems fewer people who got called this time. Are they reducing the number of intake? Anyway, it'll be a good time for him to seek God and ponder over his future. Maybe Jeremiah School? But he seems to have set his eyes on SUSOM..... and he's been given a place. Will see how things work out in the next couple of days. Moving on to 4th week... the hols are flying by too fast for my liking...8(

Online Social Networking and Its Pitfalls..

..and many there are. Used to be tabloids which laid bare all the sordid stuff. But these days, people themselves lay bare their closets for the world to see and read. Of course those cool 'sordid' details have not quite turned to skeleton yet, but we'll never know if some of the info they post now might one day turn out to be that skeleton. After all people make a lot of hoo-hahs even about Clinton's pot smoking days!

But discretion doesn't seem to be exercised in many cases. You can read all kinds stuff... from a guy who chronicled his drug habit, suicide online, videos of online gang rape, bedroom conquests.... it's just quite sickening. And many get caught up by this 15-minute of fame thing.

Many of our not so judicious young people put their private lives up for all to see - from their partying frenzy to private antics everywhere. I guess the future doesn't seem to feature much in their minds now cos it's kinda like going on a I want to enjoy my life the way I feel it and everyone else either just sing to my tune or don't at all. Somehow too, it feels to me like our Pendidikan Moral and Pendidikan Islam which are compulsory for all students for the years that they spend in school are not leaving an impact as hoped.

It's frightening how easily the young embrace such culture; with that kind of openness that announces their escapades, conquests and dares. And many of their friends embolden them by cheering them on. Folly at youth.... I'm beginning to understand better too what the Philosopher meant.

There seems to be a lack of netiquette education. What many of these young people seem to have failed to take note is digital information leaves trails. And these trails can be resurrected and embarrass us later in life. There are so many mirror sites that store the information. You think you've deleted one but if you dig long and hard enough, you might still find those things which you might want to be forgotten. There is a need to educate our young how much they can reveal about their personal lives to the world. More to safeguard their own future.

We used to do crazy stuff too in our youths... but the info on them was very localized and there weren't any trails, except in the memory of those who knew us well. But mostly, they get forgotten. Today FB and all the other social networking sites seems to do the job of keeping alive sordid details very well.

Youths need to be educated. Some sense of modesty still need to prevail here. Bare all for all to see... that's a dangerous thing to do.

Bahasa Mencerminkan....

This was quite a while ago. I was having a nap one evening when my phone rang. As soon as I picked up the phone, the voice over the other end greeted me with an Assalamuailakum... to which I replied yah! He repeated his greeting... and I said yah again! Still he continued with the same greeting... and this time I switched off my phone thinking that it was some prank call. The phone rang again.. it was the same number and I answered... the same guy... the same greeting first.. but this time he asked for me by name. I asked him to identify himself. He was someone from the Department but I didn't know him.

He immediately went into a tirade cos apparently to him I was supposed to send him some data. I am struck by how egoistic men in the gahmen offices can be. And also how their world is only one colour, one 'language'... one everything. And the way these men talked to ladies.. they probably expect ladies to cower and shake in fear each time they invoke some name of people in authority to back their demands and request. The language this particular officer used that evening... if really 'bahasa mencerminkan budaya/bangsa... then I'd say this... the way he talked, the way he greeted.. he's one uncouth fler; tidak mempunyai budaya.

What did his bahasa reflect about him? I think he sounded like a bully. He didn't realize that certain names are universal - Chinese can have 'English' names which are also used by Malays but obviously his world is kinda rigid. I think he's a male chauvinist cos I think if I were a man, he'd talk to me differently. Then when he realized that I wasn't Malay, he toned down a bit... does that mean Malay men think lesser of their women? Cos I get that impression quite often in my dealing with my students and some of my colleagues. Or is it just a male thingy??? The ego and need to show they are in control thingy?

Bahasa mencerminkan...... even in the young people's language today, I notice the free use of 4 letter words, swear words, words with negative meanings. I supposed it's no longer cool to use polite words. Bahasa mencerminkan.... well so many things, doesn't it? Our parents didn't teach us, our teachers didn't stress on the importance of good language, our friends' language taking root in us.... take your pick.

Christmas Muffins....

... Yuletide is in the air. 8)

Muffins get prettier these days too. Other Half came home with this a few nights ago and I must say the muffins look really pretty.

And Christmas colours to match too. These days, cakes, cookies and muffins are all quite beautiful.

My favourite is this little Santa Claus... but because they used so much red, this Santa didn't get eaten. I didn't eat any of the muffins either because chocolate flavoured ones aren't exactly my favourite. But still, they were nice enough to be admired. But these days, cake deco has become easier with all the ready-made stuff.

Ipod Touch... and Reading

... and this time it's mine. I 'fell in love' with the Touch... LOL! I was 'borrowing' Other Half's to read an e-book (Have A Little Faith by Mitch Albom) and I realized how much I missed reading. I truly enjoyed it so much that I finished the book in no time. And that is also one of the main reason why I have not been updating here... brain too tired. Did 5 books in 2 weeks! Haven't done a marathon like this for a long time....

Last week I decided then that I would get my own Ipod... a smaller capacity one; 8GB. Enough for me to read and fiddle around a bit. And I've done another 4 books! In slightly over a week. He Chose The Nails by Max Lucado and Twilight, New Moon and Breaking Dawn. Twilight, New Moon and Breaking Dawn need no introduction as they're best sellers and many young people I know seem to be swooning or drooling about one thing or the other from the books. My reason for reading them? I wanted to know why it's so popular. However, in my ignorance of the order of the series, I overlooked Eclipse. Anyway I'm giving that a miss. Have had enough of vampires and werewolves!

Harry Porter is mild compared to this vampire series. Are the books interesting to read? Yup! But deception, compromise, recklessness, endangerment, selfishness, I see all throughout the novel. In Breaking Dawn, we read about Bella using illegal means to get travel documents. Illegal is okay to the Cullens... kinda like the ends justify the means. The vampires are portrayed as good vampires but they kill without mercy too. Snarling, hissing.... these seem the cool words. Bella gave up her soul for immortality, to be with her Edward.. Vampires are looked upon as seraphs, angels.... Evil endeared.... entrapment in its finest form. If our life is to be used as comparison, I think many of the compromised values, morals, thoughts... they're are reflected in the novels. Decadence in a refined form!

Though I can appreciate some literary aspects of the story, I am also reminded that the occultic nature is made to sound so acceptable and right all throughout. To me this is a matter of concern as what we put into our minds do influence us. And for the young, it's just so easy to blur the lines. Even we adults blur the lines all the time to justify what we want.

I just realized my kid has gone through 2 major 'dark' series... Harry Porter and Twilight. Whatever happened to books which contain all things noble and honourable???? Those kinds of books don't seem to be making it to the best seller list these days.... *sigh* And such is the world that we are living in today.... compromises after compromises; the ends justify the means...

I guess maybe next will be a series on how Lucifer was just a misunderstood fallen angel..... and something endearing will pop out about him as well...

Anyway, I think I should read something else that will remind me the need to watch out for my soul... after all this dark matters. Anyway, another 5 more books and my Touch would be worth every sen that I spent on it... 8)

Clueless...

...that's what parents are. Bumped into ex-neighbour recently. And when neighbours bump into each other, of course we'd talk about each other's kids since we watch them grow up, and sometimes even play with them.

So, as the conversation went in and out of that topic... I enthusiastically said, "Eh! Your gal has a bf ade?" Mother stared at me blankly. Father was just as clueless.

They asked me how I knew... I said, don't they read the blogs??? Oooops! Forgot! Could've kicked myself. I'm in the habit of following blogs.... most of those in my and the older generation don't. So I asked the sister who was also there but she made some excuses about not knowing and it being not accessible and all that... Aiya! I keep forgetting, parents today don't read about the happenings in their kids' lives digitally.

Kids also don't tell their parents what's happening most of the time. That hasn't change much. But in the old days, the siblings would serve as informants plus also the parents' friends. These days, siblings don't play much of an informant's role. Secret keeper more like it. And parents are too busy. Their friends are also too busy to notice!

Parents... if you are interested to know about what's happening in your kids' lives, spend some time following them digitally also.... Clueless is how I'll describe most parents now. Their kids announce events in their life to the whole world... the whole world knows but their parents remain ignorant in their own little cocoons. Aiyo!

Then over lunch yesterday. Bumped into friends. We had such a good laugh when Mom said she is often clueless about the relationship status of her son. But at least Dad keeps tab of his FB. So Dad tells Mom... Mom calls Son to enquire... at least one parent in the know. But this type of parents, at least where I am are still the minority.