relaxing sunday

relaxing yet boring sunday bah… another “hidden camera” shot on muffin, caught taking a nap after lunch.

Why do cats sleep so much?
Because they stay up late watching TV? Yeah, not the best joke but muffin actually sleeps for more than 10hrs a day, not because she is lazy but she needs to regain her energy (after chasing so many imaginary friends) with lots of catnaps.

Background kadazandusun music: hain jasli, nobolou nangku iti tupusku (is my love blind?)

Background voice, if you listen very closely: banyak jirawat sia oh.. crash….tinguk.. (… i’ve got lots of pimples, crash … have a look [sarah showing her forehead to her sister])

Trackback revisited.

No photos this time.

Trackback in my own perspective — so that most would understand what the friggin stuff this is! So I did some reading and this post by Emily on how to use trackback really helps.

For me, a trackback is very much similar to setting a person on a cc list if you are writing an email: you want to let the person in the cc list know that you are talking about them. To do a trackback, instead of using email address in the cc, you will use the Trackback URI instead.

The trackback doesnt need to be in the same blog domain like zenoed.com (why would you?); of course, the whole purpose of trackback is to be able to tell people that you are talking about what they have written; anywhere .. as long as you know the trackback URI (given at the end of this post).

Linking to other websites, which will automatically be called trackback, means several things:

1. It shows appreciation and acknowledgment.

2. It indicates worthiness of the article linked.

3. It’s one way of expressing your reaction to another blogger’s articles.

4. It’s one way of getting comments. If you send trackbacks to other blogs, there’s a great possibility that the blogger will compliment you through commenting to your post.

5. It’s one way of building inbound links. Inbound links are used by search engines to rank web pages. Just as much as it’s a great help to bloggers, it also gives headaches to some. This feature has been a spam vector with some individuals abusing it. A trackback spam can affect the blogger attacked by it. It may “clog up” the server, which may lead to your site’s suspension. Your blog could be regarded as spam, too. It will also significantly affect your search engine rankings.

So how to prevent trackback spam? Try Spam Trackback Validator plugin.

This plugin works in two ways:

• It checks if the IP address of the trackback sender is equal to the IP address of the webserver the trackback URL is referring to and
• It retrieves the web page located at the URL used in the trackback and checks if the page contains a link to your blog.

Other trackback spam blocking methods:

• The WordPress team recommends removing the wp-trackback.php but this might not be a good idea because it blocks all the legitimate trackbacks to your site. You won’t be informed on who links to your site.
• Removing any tagging plugin might work. Blogging platforms, like WordPress features automatic pinging which sends a note to tag services that you’ve updated your blog using your tags. However, removing your tagging plugin is not good for SEO.
• Use other plugin such as Spam Karma which automatically blocks spam bots from entering your blog.

Hope this helps.

Planning a trip…

The actual dates are not determined; but just to say we are planning a trip using Yahoo Travel. This planner allows travelers to save selected travel information (including hotels, attractions, restaurants, travel dates, maps and more) to a customized trip itinerary for use as a travel planning reference and to share with the larger Yahoo! Travel audience, cool eh?

We have not used the travel journal, but i’m sure this would come in handy! The link is here

my newly washed bikini

And of course, as usual, with total disengagement from the sleeping muffin above, a tip of removing rust that we just read from around the net:

To remove rust from knives and scissors, immerse them in a container of vinegar and boil for half an hour. Great ah?

Soju is bad for ur cat

Do cats have hangover?

Soju is bad for ur cat ? Not really. No animal is harmed during this mobilephoto-taking session. Muffin was just too lazy to wake up!

Soju (소주) is an alcoholic beverage native to Korea. The main ingredient is rice, almost always in combination with other ingredients such as wheat, barley, sweet potato, or tapioca (called dangmil in Korean).

Soju is clear in color and typically varies in alcohol content from about 20% to about 45% alcohol by volume (ABV), with 20% ABV being most common. Its taste is comparable to vodka, though it is often slightly sweeter due to the addition of sugar in the manufacturing process.

So whats the difference between sake and soju ?
- Sake is brewed, making it akin to beer.
- Soju is distilled, making it akin to whiskey.

On land, at last.

On land, at last.

This was one of the days when flying is a frustating thing to do. The flight on a Malaysia Airlines B737 aircraft departing KLIA for Kuantan (KUA) was delayed for bout one hour from its scheduled flight time of 1710hrs. We departed from KLIA at 1805hrs and soared over KUA airport after about 35 minutes later: only to be told that we would have to wait a few more minutes before the pilot can try to land, through the thick dark cloud, with heavy rain and thunderstorms…

… and 20 minutes later, instead of descending, the Boeing 737 changed its direction and headed back to KLIA after two failed attempts to land. At KLIA, we were told to stay onboard while the plane refuelled: that was an uneasy 1hr 15minutes; before we taxied and flew to the original destination, Kuantan.

9:35pm – we landed at Kuantan Airport, at last. It took us another 30 minutes to reach the hotel to rest for the day.

This picture was taken from the hotel restaurant, during a very late dinner at Hyatt Kuantan. phew!! on land, at last.

two’s company, three’s a crowd

who said that one companion is better that two? probably only those with one friend?

nilai 3 – the largest textile center in malaysia (most probably)

Nilai 3

NILAI lies approximately 75km south of Kuala Lumpur via the North South Expressway in the state of Negri Sembilan. Nilai 3, a recently developed district within Nilai, has become quite well-known among locals for its low-price shopping – what locals term as ‘wholesale prices’, or something that is priced at a fraction of what you would have to pay if in the city.

Nilai 3 is perched on a hilltop and is entirely made up of single-storey warehouses offering a wide variety of goods ranging from furniture and artificial flowers to porcelain and car accessories as well as tidbits and knicknacks.

Textile dealers occupy quite a large section of the township, selling various type of local and imported fabric at low prices. Clothings too are quite cheap here and branded ones, too. And this is probably why Nilai 3 has caught on well with the middle and low-income earners.

Furniture dealers have also set up shop here selling anything from ironwood and rosewood furniture or cast iron and terracotta garden benches and tables. The wood furniture come mostly from Indonesia and Vietnam, but there also some from Thailand and Myanmar according to some of the dealers there.

Also check out clay and stonewware products. Car lovers should not miss the chance of getting their cars souped up for a fraction of the cost at the many car accessory shops here. Check for best prices. If you are a homemaker, you will like Nilai 3 – there are many shops
selling kitchen utensilsand you can find practically anything here – from saucepans to forks and spoons!

There are restaurants and hawker centres at Nilai 3, so you don’t have to worry about your meals when there. And you know what? There are plenty of local food to choose from. There are also quite a number of convenience stores there, too, including a 7-Eleven and a MarryBrown.

Textile centers

Parking is not a problem but if you are thinking of purchasing large items, such as garden furniture sets, you may have to talk to the sellers to see if transportation is included in the price. But if you
are arranging for your own transportation, then just go shop!

The best time to visit Nilai 3 is after 10am (and on weekdays when the crowd is not so big!) when all shops are open and after 3pm when the sun is not overly striking. Just bring an umbrella though as Nilai 3 is pretty unshaded as the trees planted along the streets are still young and their sparse foliage offer no respite from the heat. It can get quite hot here in the afternoons!

On weekends, parking space may be a little difficult to find near to the shops but you can always park a short distance away and walk.

Giant crab for dinner

I was told that this is a Sri Lankan crab (but i think this is a fresh mud crab).
Location: Long Beach, Marina South

Steam Crab with Wine
Ingredients:
1 crab
2 egg whites (egg whites from two eggs0

Seasoning:
1/4 of an egg yolk
1 can of fine stock (chicken stock soup)
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of sugar
1/3 cup of Shaoxing/Hua Diao wine (sold in Chinese supermarkets)

Procedure:

1. Discard crab guts and organs, rinse well and chop into pieces. Arrange
   on plate and steam for 8 minutes.
2. Whisk egg white. Drain off liquid from steamed crab, mix well with
   egg white and seasoning. Pour mixtures over crab and steam for 4 minutes.
3. Pre-heat the wine, pour over steamed crab and serve.

Views from hotel window

From Swissotel Merchant Court, Singapore

This is a contemporary Resort-type Hotel set near the Singapore River, within walking distance of Clarke Quay Festival Village & Chinatown. I certainly have a great view of the Singapore river and some of the adjacent buildings. Of course, this is a city hotel, some some rooms may have just buildings in front of time (which is unavoidable).

The hotel is located next to a new sopping mall, Central. Its along the river and has a strong Japanese theme (not sure if the top investors/owners are from Japan).

Loved this hotel, the room is well decorated, very cozy. Maybe a bit slacking especially from the front desk staff — they were just too many new staff (that i encountered) that would just call their supervisor to refer to anything that i asked.

new pose?

Hmmm… new yoga pose?

(On unrelated item) our human activities for the rest of the week would be: try to understand the function of a trackback! URL like this is a trackback to this post — http://go.zenoed.com/comment.php?type=trackback&entry_id=98 yet it has been 2 months and we are still trying to figure out what is this for?

muffin

what’s worth living for?

What is the purpose of life?

A life without a purpose is, well, pointless, and yet we give amazingly little thought to what our purpose is.

If someone were to ask you, “What is the purpose of your life?” how would you answer? It’s not an easy question.

The harder one thinks about it, the worse it can get.

You might have a desire to have a family, for example. So you have children, and they have children, and so forth and so on, and then what? If individual lives have no meaning, why would making more of them add meaning?

You might see your life-purpose in terms of serving others. That sounds noble (and indeed, I think it is), but if individual lives have no meaning by themselves, then why would serving others add meaning?

Where does meaning come from?

We know, in our hearts, that such things as having a family or serving others are meaningful activities. We recognize this without trying, even if we can’t say why.

Somehow we know that loving other people is a good thing, a meaningful thing. Why? Because that’s what God made us to do. Something in us knows that, even if we’re not so sure about the God part. Loving people is a good thing for us to do because that’s what God designed us to do. That, and to love Him too.

Man’s purpose — the purpose for which God made us — is to love God and love one another.

That sounds good, and it is. It may also sound easy, but it isn’t. There is something in us that rebels, something in us that doesn’t always want to do what we know is right.

Loving others means putting their needs ahead of ours.

That’s not easy to do: it can feel like losing rather than loving. We’re afraid that we won’t get our needs met.

Being selfish sometimes feels like a better alternative, and sometimes we choose it. Actually, pretty often we choose it.

God’s purpose for man is not trivial, and we’re not nearly as close to fulfilling it as we’d like to think. We all think that we’re loving people, but all those people who you see being selfish . . . they think they’re loving people too. It’s so much easier to see someone else’s selfishness than to see our own.

But loving others is what we were intended for, and, consequently, it is what brings us and those around us the most joy and peace and, not surprisingly, the most meaningful lives.

Loving God should be easier than loving others but we’re no better at it.

Loving God requires that we love the truth, and we don’t always want to do that. The truth about ourselves isn’t always pleasing, and we’d rather avoid it.

Distorting the truth — sometimes a little, sometimes a lot — often seems like a better alternative than putting the truth above ourselves.

Sometimes we want to look good more than we want to be completely truthful.

We want to look good; we want to be first. Yet neither of those brings us lasting joy.

We settle for the momentary puffing up of our egos, missing the meaning of our lives altogether.

Living up to God’s purpose for us is both desirable and impossible, unless God helps us to do it. The good news is that He will — if we’re willing.

Source of text: http://www.runningempty.org/purpose.html