How blueberry leads to stomach-ache

I just had a terrible stomach-ache. Let me explain...

A few weeks ago we bought a few packets of biscuits/snacks. Among those was a packet of blueberry wafers. There was another flavour too (maybe vanilla, I can't remember), but I chose blueberry. But because we had a number of other things to eat/snack on, I left the packet of wafers unopened to retain its freshness.

Then today I decided to open it. I called out to WW, "Come and eat blueberry wafers!"

Now WW is a big fan of blueberry. He said, "Eh, are there blueberry wafers?" Now I had already mentioned to him that I had bought the wafers (right after buying them), but I guess he wasn't paying attention. And when I showed him the packet, he said, "Huh? It's blueberry? I thought it was pandan!"

But the thing is, the wafers are purple. So I asked him how he could confuse blueberry with pandan (which is green!). Then he said, "Oops, I meant yam!"

Then he continued with "If I had known it was blueberry, I would have opened it myself, and there wouldn't be any left by now! But I thought it was yam, and I don't like yam."

I laughed so hard...and my stomach hurt so hard too.

At least he didn't say "wrong pronunciation".

Of two very photogenic people

Or maybe I should say photo-loving instead? Well, you decide later.

We went to Gopeng Rainforest Resort for our teambuilding event. We had breakfast at the Auto City McDonald's (which also served as our meeting point). After I had finished eating, I picked up my camera to snap a few candid shots. And the first one turned out like this:

Ahem...very quick V symbol there. And while eating, don't forget! :P

Our meeting point before heading uphill to the resort was the Gopeng Heritage House, just next to a roundabout. We weren't told that the roundabout was not just any roundabout...

I didn't even notice the "Anda di sini" arrow until I got home and looked at the photo on my computer. (so I'm pointing it out to you now)

So we headed southeast...towards the rafflesia (on the rock, I mean...look at the rock). Not that we saw any real ones...though the guide pointed out a tongkat ali plant to us when we were jungle trekking.

This is what it actually looks like in the middle of the roundabout.

The road to the resort was rather steep and narrow, so the organisers arranged us into groups of three (three people in each car). Then they distributed walkie-talkies (company products!) so that we could communicate with the other cars.

The guys very happy with their walkie-talkies (plus accessories, since we're the Accessories team - see the earpieces?)

Then we reached the resort...which is a little like a small village.

The canteen/multi-purpose hall

There were games like congkak, chess and carrom on some of the tables.

At one end of the canteen there are two rooms.

The sink is where we wash our utensils after eating

And at the other end, attached to the canteen, are three rooms (upstairs). There's also a ping pong table downstairs.

See the stairs leading up to the rooms?

Beyond it is a small field, with more huts/longhouses.

A longhouse at the end of the field, with three rooms...the only ones with attached bathrooms.

This was the girls' living quarters.

On the left side of the field, you can see some clotheslines for laundry. The guys used that...because right outside our longhouse porch we already had two clotheslines.

My room was the middle one. These are the facilities we have:

A mattress, a pillow and a blanket per person.

On the right is the bathroom (behind the white wall, actually)

Our porch

That rectangular thing in the middle is actually where a flight of stairs goes down, but it was shut, so we only used the one at the end of the longhouse. (that you can see two photos above)

We have this at the entrance to our longhouse:

A wind-vane? It seemed a little heavy though; I wonder whether it can really show wind direction (if the wind isn't very strong). But then what is the "fan" for? It wasn't very windy when we were there, though...we couldn't really use this. :P

In the background you can see another longhouse... on the right of the field. The guys showed me a trapdoor at the back...emergency escape route, if you're willing to drop 2 metres down. (or was it more?)

The same longhouse I was talking about... and further back is a small hall (balai raya...hehe), where we had our teambuilding games.

Gathering in the field before lunch.

Behind the group is yet another hut with a few rooms.


That afternoon we went jungle trekking. The first hour was on a trail, and it was just a little tiring going uphill. Then we had a short rest, and the guide asked us whether we wanted to go on a more challenging route (45 minutes to the main road) or take an easier way back (30 minutes). We opted for the more challenging one... and ended up stuck in the jungle for another two-and-a-half hours. *sweat* There wasn't even a trail any more, and some places were so steep that the guides got us a rope to help us up or down (like abseiling, though I think abseiling is only for going downwards, isn't it?)

That night after dinner we gathered at the "balai raya" for games. The organisers knew we would be tired, so they let us play "intellectual" games that night. The next morning we continued with a few more games and had a "bingo" game (7×7 instead of 5×5) for the lucky draw (where everyone received a prize)

After lunch we went to a waterfall (the resort keepers drove us there because it was too far away to reach by foot). Some people opted to go white-water rafting (at their own cost - monetary as well as physical, lol). After that we just left whenever we wanted to (provided our driver agreed :P )

So here are some photos of the waterfall. (I don't have any photos of jungle trekking because I was too busy keeping myself from falling, and I don't have any of the games because I chose to leave my camera behind and leave the photographing to the experts)

The resort owner taking photos so that they can make a video to show future guests (we were "treated" to a video of another company's teambuilding event when we first arrived at the resort)

And this is what I was talking about at the beginning of the post. This was also supposed to be a candid shot, but somehow someone's sharp (and quick) eyes caught my camera. The result? Double V symbol.

There were a couple of butterflies flitting around, so I snapped a few photos.

butterfly on Sean's finger

On the way back to Penang, we made a stop in Ipoh for the famous bean sprout chicken.

The beansprouts are there but not the chicken...yet.

That's all folks!

Not sure when the next post will come, though...give me material and I'll write :P

Of S-es and asses

I was scrolling through my phone searching for a name starting with S, when I noticed something...I seem to be in a team of S. Previously it was the Js, and now it's the S.....es. Um, that doesn't sound so good, does it? Maybe the S Team will be better.

Or maybe not. It's still about asses. :P

The downside of timekeeping

Back again after a short hiatus. I do hope I'll have more material to write about. Short things, maybe...since it looks like I'm too lazy to write long stuff. But we'll see.

Today I can across this image that a friend shared on Facebook. (thanks Casper) I really like it and wanted to save it for future "reference", so why not share it here? And just in case the photo gets deleted in the future, here's a transcript.

Try to imagine a life without timekeeping.

You probably can't. You know the month, the year, the day of the week. There is a clock on your wall or the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie.
Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays.
Man alone measures time.
Man alone chimes the hour.
And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures.
A fear of time running out.

That is definitely food for thought. But for all its drawbacks, timekeeping brings us a lot more advantages. Without it, imagine the difficulty we would have in communicating with each other!

On why I'm petty, sometimes

You know, there's something I don't get. You know how sometimes you start chatting with an old friend after being out of touch for years? And when you chat, you would ask each other things like "Where are you staying now?" "What are you doing?" "Where are you working?" (or studying, previously)

Now here is what happens when I ask people these questions. Any one of them (questions, I mean). They will give me a really short reply, often consisting of a single word. (or name of a place, depending on what my question was) I mean, they know that we haven't been in contact in ages, and I have no way of knowing what they have been doing all this while. Would it hurt to elaborate a bit? If it were me initiating the conversation, I'd understand...they just don't want to talk to me, I'd conclude. And then I'd leave them alone. But what about when they are the ones who started asking me stuff in the first place?

When people ask me what I'm doing these days, etc...if I don't remember telling them about my current activities, I will tell them whatever I feel they might not know. After all, why answer "I'm in Penang", then have them ask "Doing what?", then saying "Working", then have them ask "Where?", then reply "Bayan Lepas", then have them ask "What company?" or "What field?", etc, etc? WHY?!?!???

I don't get it. But that's exactly what I have to do (the asking) when I'm chatting with an old friend. It gets to a point where I get weary of asking questions (it's like I'm forcing them to tell me their secrets, ya know?)

I get the feeling that they do not want to give me any information about their lives, but seem extraordinarily keen to find out more about mine. Why? Are they trying to come across as caring? Caring about me?? Excuse me, but if you cared, you wouldn't brush aside my questions, would you?

So that's it. I always seem to be giving out information and not getting any back. So now sometimes I will answer one question, then refuse to answer any more until some of my questions are answered in return. Sorry guys, you made me so petty.

Bad lessons from TV

Wow, it's definitely been a long time since I've written here. I drafted this about 2 weeks ago...right after reading a newspaper article about some guys beating up a thief they had caught. It's a little formal, because I initially thought I would send it in to the said newspaper. But after that...I don't think my rambling is very coherent, so I'll just post it here instead.

Recently there have been cases of citizens taking the law into their own hands. For example, catching "foreigners" who tried to vote during the last elections, and beating up thieves who were caught.

These actions are clearly wrong. But what I would like to discuss is not so much these actions, but how they are endorsed, indirectly, by TV series.

In a law-enforcement series, an agent kills a man, sniper-style. This is because the man killed the agent's family. The agent's team find out the truth, that their friend is the killer. But they cover it up. In another case, the team finds out that the same agent's mother-in-law killed a man. Instead of bringing her to justice, the agent hires a lawyer to protect her interests.

We could say that this is how things happen in the real world. People are not always fully honest. But it sends a wrong message to the viewers. The young viewers, maybe I should say. These agents are their heroes, their idols. They would believe that this is the right thing to do.

In another TV series, the title character shoots and kills a man in plain view of a number of witnesses. He is arrested and goes on trial. His defense is that the man he killed was a murderer who had killed many people, including his family. (the same excuse again, did you notice?) He is found "not guilty", presumably because the jury believes that he did the right thing.

How can he be not guilty? Even if the man killed his family, he does not have the right to execute any criminal. Maybe they could have given him a lighter sentence, but letting his walk free, as a "not guilty" man...isn't that stretching it?

In yet another series, also about a law enforcement agency, two agents defy their boss on two separate occasions. Each time, they are found to have made the right decision (by disobeying orders) and in the end are commended for their actions instead of facing disciplinary action.

I believe that they are trying to send the message that disobedience shows character. It might be true, but disobedience in this field can also prove disastrous. Especially if it's a hot-headed young recruit trying to act smart. And isn't that what might happen to some young and impressionable viewers?

The end of the roll

I found this on Facebook. It is so good that I decided I should post it here...with a translation for the definitions which do not really require French for understanding.

To be at the end of the roll: A very uncomfortable situation, especially when one is in the toilet.

Facebook: The only place where you talk to a wall without being ridiculous.

GPS: The only woman men listen to to find their way on the road.

Bus: A vehicle that moves twice as fast when you are chasing it than when you are sitting inside.

Key-chain: A very practical invention that allows you to lose all your keys at once instead of one by one.

State: The best mafia system ever organised.

Tie: An accessory used to indicate where a man's brain is.

Carla Bruni: Modern Snow White who prefers one of the seven dwarfs: Grumpy.

White House: At the moment, black barrack.

Car: An ingenious invention, making it possible to have 110 horses in the motor and a donkey at the wheel.

Parents: Two people who teach you to walk and talk to later tell you to sit down and shut your mouth.

Toe: An appendix used to detect door corners.

Equality of the sexes: A new concept created by men to no longer pay in a restaurant.

Any favourites? I especially like the ones about the toilet, the keys and the toes. :P

My (temporary) pet

I know, I know, I've been lazy. So let's talk about my pet.

Remember this post I wrote at the beginning of the year? (oh wow, seems that this is a year-long project) It seems that I have lots of case-making clothes moths in my apartment. But I had never seen the actual moth before...only the larvae and the cocoons. (or maybe I had seen them...and did not recognise them)

So I decided that I would "raise" one of those babies in captivity...and see the moth it would grow into.

I caught one at the end of May or beginning of June. I saw it moving around on the floor...and scooped it into a plastic container. I happened to have one that had a broken cover, so it suited me just fine...air could go through and yet the crack was too small for the insect to get out.

1st June - It's already hanging from the top of the container.

I fed it with hair...I picked up stray hair from the floor and put it into the container. (and yes, the hair disappears after a while)

5th June - It had moved in the container.

6th June - It was moving around rather actively.

Sometimes it would move around so much, I would wonder whether it was already a moth and was trying to get out. (though, in the end. I didn't see the "getting-out" process)

8th June - On the "wall". We can see its legs! (okay, it's not such a big deal :P )

9th June - Feeding time! (It doesn't mean that I gave it food and it came to eat it, just that I happened to see it eating.) And I think you can see its "waste" lying around its home.

Then for some time I couldn't see any progress...sometimes I wouldn't see it come out of its cocoon for so many days that I would wonder whether it wasn't dead (whether I didn't feed it enough). But it still came out once in a while. The last time I saw its head outside its cocoon was on the 15th of June. It looked pretty much the same as it did previously.

1st July - Transformation! It's finally a moth! See the bottom end of the cocoon from which it came out?

3rd July - And there you can see it properly.

In the end, I still don't think I've ever seen this moth around. But at least I know what it looks like now.

And that's it for your latest nature lesson. :P

A walk to remember?

The Penang Starwalk was held on the 17th of September this year. So I guess it's time I wrote about it!

The week before the walk, we had to go and collect our goodies at Penang Times Square. (we paid RM10 to participate) Here's what we received:

t-shirt

food

sunblock, shampoo, and medical aid (in case we get injured from too much walking? lol)

coupons

and a walker's guide

While walking we came across some wire art (I call it wire art but it's more like steel bars)

See how high up this one was

tok-tok mee seller

We received wristbands (which were actually hairbands) at the starting point and at another checkpoint.

We could participate in the lucky draw only if we had both bands at the end of the walk. (but they ran out of hairbands so some people only had one. So I guess everyone got to participate in the lucky draw. Not that it mattered much to me, I'm never lucky in these circumstances :P )

We also passed by one of the famous wall paintings. There were too many people posing with it, we didn't even bother.

I was lucky enough to get this photo without anyone there.

Then I saw this cute little Doraemon bag :P

And then...the finish line.

After 6km and 2 hours.

That wraps up the news on Starwalk; there'll be more photos of the wire art and wall paintings...but that'll have to wait a bit. :P

Snake fruit

Do you know this fruit?

A friend gave it to me, saying that it was from Sarawak. (though I later found out that it can be found in Peninsula Malaysia as well) When I first saw it, I exclaimed, "It's like a snake!" And no kidding, it really is called snake fruit. (buah salak in Malay)

This is what it looked like, being peeled:

There were three lobes inside, this being the largest (there were two big and one small):

I didn't like the taste at all...I'm not sure whether it was because it wasn't ripe enough (how do you know whether it's ripe enough?) Anyway it was a bit sour, a bit...strange (haha, not really sure how to describe it), and it left a rather dry aftertaste in my mouth (the kind you get after eating pisang tali, which is why I don't eat that particular variety of banana)

So, I guess I won't be buying this. :P