New Moon presents... Jacob Black

New Moon Trailer #3 from clevvertv
Link to above trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs79_5n848Q

It's officially been a week since watching New Moon.  And yet the whole Team Edward vs Team Jacob hype has anything but died down.  Honestly, despite my love for movies, only a handful tempts me to watch it again at the cinema.  While the first movie from the Twilight Saga didn't have such effect on me, New Moon did.  I left 1Borneo with a desire to go back and get me another ticket.

Twilight was more of a boy meets girl story.  How they met, how they attracted each other and an introduction to the Cullen clan.  Taking off of that platform, the second installment introduced audiences to Jacob Black and the Quileute tribe as well as the vampire "royalty/enforcers", the Volturi family.

In the first movie, I'd have to say I was a little confused at the Edward-Jacob relationship.  Why they seemed to have a mutual dislike for one another.  Having not read the book series, I just figured the tribe was guided by wolf spirits as is in certain Native American cultures.  Guess I wasn't too far off the mark there.  After all, vampires and werewolves are essentially cousins.

Jacob (Taylor Lautner) served as delicious eye candy on screen with his charming good looks and well toned body.  I read that Taylor had to start working out right after shooting Twilight for that dramatic transformation.  He bulked up but not too much.  Just right.  Hence the massive support for Team Jacob I believe.  The rest of the wolfpack were almost equally drool-worthy as well.  I feel I must add that the CGI for the wolves transformation and build was beautifully done.  The wolves although incredibly huge were absolutely gorgeous.  But then again, I could be biased, I love wolves.

Apart from the introductions, this time round, the story focuses on the relationship between Bella (Kirsten Stewart) and Edward (the love of her life) as well as Bella and Jacob (the dependable best friend).  Maybe I was a tad bit nervous at the thought of reviewing the movie that the emotions from the early parts of the movie didn't quite grip me.  However, after deeply immersing myself in the story, the dynamics of the emotions portrayed by the characters came through.  In short, Bella was on an emotional roller coaster from start to end.

I actually feel sorry for Jacob in the movie because he keeps trying to win Bella's heart but she has practically given her soul to Edward (Robert Pattinson).  The typical best friend in love dilemma.  And I love that in the movie you do get to see how deep the connection between both Bella and Edward is and how much Edward means to Bella and vice versa.  In a way it is reminiscent of the Shakespeare classic Romeo and Juliet which was ironically also featured briefly in the beginning of the movie.

I found the Volturi somewhat amusing despite their extremely brief appearance towards the end of the movie.  I was looking forward to seeing Dakota Fanning's performance as Jane but it was rather disappointing as there isn't much of her to see.  Maybe in the follow up?  Aro (Michael Sheen) seemed oddly gleeful and fascinated at Bella's abilities which is unusual for humans.  Despite yearning for a taste of Bella, he does find her to be a form of entertainment in a weird way.  Thank you Alice (Ashley Greene) for saving the day.

There is one noticeable part that annoyed me in the movie.  The camera angles in certain scenes.  After Edward left, Bella sat by her window in a daze staring out as the months passed.  The camera encircling her during that scene was just a bit much.  We were barely a quarter way into the movie and I was already developing a headache from the camera going round and round for too long.

The script was pleasantly romantic, witty and nicely written.  I love that a bit of humour was injected into the lines which made for a rather entertaining listen as well.

No guys, this movie isn't just about hot guys with their shirts off or pale romantic vampires.  This time round the movie has a lot to do with heart, friendship, love and devotion.  It is not an action/thriller/horror flick (read: 2012, Ninja Assassin) and would require tapping into the sentimental side you never knew you had.

At the end of the movie, the audience were left with a brilliant cliffhanger which resulted in a feeling of restlessness and anticipation for the third installment to the Saga, Eclipse, coming to cinemas next year.

new moon... here i come!!

it's been ages since i've stepped foot in the cinema for a good movie considering the circumstances that be. but... a little bird dropped a note in facebook and i tried my luck.  today, i've just got a wonderful e-mail from miss bobidom informing me that i was one of the lucky winners to go see new moon this friday!!

*bursting with joy.. in silence* *grins*

NEW MOON HERE I COME!!

it's just perfect timing that they're showing the first from the saga -- twilight -- on astro which i had just watched *again* with my mum on star movies. now watching new moon would be a much more, erm, fluid experience.  *smiles*

thanks to the body shop for the movie tickets!! weeee....

trove will be making a debut at lintas station flea market/bazaar...

one the many things i love about facebook is how easy it is for people to set up events and promote as well as send out invites. apart from keeping in touch with family and friends of course. *grins*


this recent week a friend of a friend posted on her status (and sent out messages on facebook) a flea market/bazaar she's organizing. after checking out the jci flea market/bazaar at beverly hills phase 3 multi purpose hall a couple weekends back, my babes nyn and i decided we'd take part in the next bazaar that comes around.

since i've already set up trove a few months back (sorry for the lack of updates), and i've already pretty much organized all the stuff to sell, this was the perfect opportunity to make a presence. i'm a sucker for packaging and stationeries so you can expect simple elegance in my stall this weekend. haha.

at the moment, trove has tons of tops, work shirts, dresses, basic tubes, jackets, jeans, pants, skirts, shoes, bags and accessories. can't confirm if there will be any guy stuff this weekend though but we're working on putting them in the mix in the near future.

the trove by elixelle blogshop has also recently been given a facelift and will be remodelled to efficiently show items as best as possible. i won't be posting item measurements anymore. if you're interested, just let me know and i'll measure that particular item for you. there'll be close up photos of details and fabric.

anyways, i'm really excited (and nervous) about my first stall experience. my lil bro will be helping me out too and one of my bff might help out on sunday since she's got work on saturday. still lots of preparation work to be done and i can't wait! plus, can't wait to see what everyone else will be selling then. fun!!

see you there! *smiles*

freebies... yay!!!

the recent weekend was filled with fairs of all kinds. my fave of course was the ict fiesta organized by the sabah computer society with support from skmm and despite the smaller crowd flocking the fair unlike pikom's pc fair, there was a good selection of products and services to browse through.

however, i must say that this time round, the main focus was on laptops. practically all stores were heavily promoting laptops of all brands (except macs) and luring in customers with their freebies. most of the stores were offering either or freebie packages, some enticing customers with 10-12 free stuff.

my baby brother was at the time looking to get a new laptop since his previous one totally died on us all and was beyond repair, so this was a perfect opportunity to scout around and get some extra add ons to our purchase. lucky us, on day 3 of the fair, as soon as we entered the hall, we were immediately attracted to a sign that was practically calling out to us "Free 25 Items. Limited. 1st Come 1st Serve." We'd actually already decided to go for another store (from our trip to the fair the day before) that was offering 12 free goodies. But 25?!?! We must've been out of our minds to let that go. The fact that we were more familiar with this shop compared to the other one we'd initially thought of buying from made the decision all the more easier. after all, the laptop was the same price regardless which store we chose. hehe.


after taking the above photo, i realized we were missing one item. i can't even recall what it was. haha.

1. keyboard protector
2. LG headphone with mic
3. LCD screen protector
4. laptop skin (most useless of the lot)
5. sensonic usb speakers
6. notebook cooler pad
7. computer dust sheet
8. kodak a4 photo paper (20pcs)
9. bluetooth handsfree
10. LCD cleaning kit
11. mousepad
12. game pad
13. fm modulator (w/o remote)
14. usb mouse
15. earphone
16. eScan antivirus (never heard of it - the laptop came with McAfee)
17. 4 port usb hub
18. cd sleeves
19. dvd-r (2pcs)
20. camera case
21. notebook w/ pens (2x)
22. fossil name card holder (2x)
23. t-shirt
24. micro sd card reader (not in picture)
25. RM5 McDonald's voucher (not in picture)

this offer was limited to the first 20 customers to purchase any one of their laptops on the day. we were fortunate enough to be the last few. the laptop came with a nice backpack too!

then there was the heart of borneo exhibition at 1borneo set up by the sabah forestry department at the south atrium. too bad they'd close by the time we got there (which was about 7pm) but since it wasn't a particularly big exhibition, we managed to check it out from the perimeter and my baby bro had actually wanted to jump inside to have a look. haha. dropped by the m.a.c. counter while we were there. love checking out their latest makeup looks especially since it was halloween. haha. this year's theme was chucky. baby bro was sooo excited and couldn't resist the offer to draw a scar on his face. he left a happy camper. lol!!! the halloween makeup continued back home. so i rubbed off the scar from m.a.c. and started experimenting with my makeup collection to come up with a zombie-ish look as requested by the little boy. the results were awesome!!

i had to forego my blogger gathering cum halloween party that night cos (a) i had no costume and (b) the busy-ness that is my life. maybe next year.

ah yes. then there was the health and beauty fair in centre point. managed to browse through the booths while looking for something to wear for a wedding i was attending that night. the most interesting booth there??!!? the wig booth wins hands down. their wigs were soooo natural and silky soft. i don't know if it's made from real human hair or if it's synthetic. but the wigs were super cheap!!!! price ranged from rm45 (short hair) to RM65 (long hair) and the extensions ranged from rm25 and above. the actual shop is located at sinsuran. seriously, i would never have guessed. ooo. and if you're on a budget but love perfumes, one drop perfumes also had a booth there. their regular sets (pack of 8 tiny roller bottles) were priced at rm45 (celebrity pack at rm50) and mini sets (pack of 4) were rm27. there was also paradise perfumes (similar to one drop but with 6 bottles per pack) selling at rm35 a box. these are scents inspired by popular perfumes like gucci envy, estee lauder's pleasure and so on all pre-packed in sets for both men and women. personally, i don't think they smell anything like the perfume they were inspired by though. hehe.

i find askcleo.com.my doesn't give me enough flexibility in publishing my blog so i'll be moving blissful belle to blogspot soon. :) maybe if cleo is serious about their blogging feature for members, they'd look into other basic functions to provide to their bloggers.

on a different note, my mum's still in hospital and just underwent minor surgery again. she's been getting a couple bacterial infections in her hips and under the skin in the ankle region. since her body is lacking a lot of the essential nutrients she is desperately in need of, her oncologist has prescribed an intravenous nutrition programme to supply the necessary vitamins, minerals and diet essentials (carbs, protein, fat) for a few days. it's this huge sack with white liquid in it fueled into her body through controlled drips at 60ml/hr. at first i thought it has been a month but after thinking back, it's been more than a month already that she's been in here. most nights, the hospital is my second home accompanying my mum. when i'm off to work, my brother takes my place. some days, i don't get to go home and some days, i don't even get to see my two youngest siblings. praying my mum gets better soon.

The world is a weird place to live in...

Fortunately my bad day only lasted for a day. The rest of the days following that day were not fantastic but they were still good days.

Well, things are getting more and more neglected as we rush here and there and everywhere. Dividing time between my mum, my brothers, friends and work has been difficult still but essential.

Last weekend was my lil bro's birthday party. Funny that boy. He cleverly sent event invitations via Facebook which triggered us to organize an actual party quickly. Haha. But all went well an everyone was happy. I suppose that's what's important. :)

So anyways, today after a nice Dim Sum brunch at Hyatt, went to check out the JCI Flea-Tastic Bazaar at Bundusan with the lovely Ms Nyn and my lil brother. Obviously it wasn't as big as those done in KL but it's a start. Hehe. :) Considering to join the next time it's around. It would be interesting.

Mum's spent her 3rd week in SMC and we're hoping she'll be able to get home soon. Been spending everyday here when I'm not at work. Barely at home too these days. I miss my bed.

The Sabah Blogger's Gathering is coming up this coming weekend and I'm pretty much stumped on what to wear. It's gonna be a Halloween/Masquerade themed event but I'm not thinking of being too OTT. The hotel where the event is at is practically in a mall. I'm still a pretty low key person. Hehe. *wink*




So here I am with the now shrunken pimple on my face, sans makeup (ok... very little makeup) listening to my mum's friends visiting her in the ward room chit chatting and catching up. Sitting cross-legged by the electrical socket charging my beloved phone next to a walking frame typing away on this blog entry. Haha!

My stomach is beginning to send hunger signals to my brain. Ooo.

I had a bad day...

Have you ever had a day where just nothing went right? Or at least for the most part of the day that makes it almost impossible to feel good that day? I normally don't but a couple of days ago I met that day.

Got to work and work just won't leave me alone. Stressed out tending to work that wasn't particularly mine being asked questions about updates that i don't have cos i'd just gotten back from leave and had a bunch of things to clear before checking on updates. Haha.

Went to growarisan earlier that morning just to find that i had to come back a day or 2 later cos their system was down. TM internet prob. Crap!

Then i thought i'd take a break during lunch and get my lashes permed. No perm. I came out with my lashes looking just like when i'd come in. What a waste of time. Should've just told me the product was out of stock or something instead of me having to come back and redo it! *pissed*

Back to work. After work went to collect my bro's laptop from Karamunsing and at the same time add on my new additional 2GB RAM. Imagine my frustration when i found out they gave me a PC's RAM instead?!? Had to come back the next day!! Argh!!

Went home and my mum told me the help was going back this weekend. Bapa would be in KL for ATP the same weekend. So it meant i won't be able to go to my girl's raya open house (the only raya thing i'd be doing this year) and help her with her day the following morning. Devastated. My eyes were practically filled with tears the entire day.

Beat some stress and went back to the office to finish up more work that night cos will be in late the next day to take my mum to smc. Got to the office and guess what? My mouse wouldn't work. "USB device unrecognized". Almost threw the friggin mouse out the windows.

Went to watson's to soothe my soul and bought some stuff. Had a nice surprise when i found a lil freebie in the plastic bag when i got home. Yay! The only good thing that happened that day.

Best part, i came home and the power was out. Thank you SESB for making my day.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday...

Wow. How time really flies. Spent the most part of my raya hols at home and in smc. Had a bunch of things i'd wanted to clear and sort through during the week long break i took but had to postpone it again due to unavoidable circumstances.

So here i still sit carrying out my shift at smc while mum rests before hving lunch. Speaking of lunch, what am i going to have for lunch? Haha!

Anyways, kinda bored at the moment. Spent the day yesterday watching a project runway marathon on discovery travel & living. Haha. An entire season in a day. Awesomeness. *smiles*

Thought about asking to bring my lappie ere but unfortunately there's no wifi in the hospital *duh!* and my wireless broadband reception is crap in this room. Haha. Fortunately i have my phone to entertain me and connect me to the world.

So many things going through my mind now to do. Need to allocate time for it cos i don't think time will be making space for me to get going with what i want to do. Haha.

Just downloaded this blogging app from the app store. Testing it out. And so far it looks promising. At least i'd be able to blog on the go as well. Haha. I'm already tweeting and facebooking on the go. In fact i find tweeting on my phone to be so much more convenient (and easier) than on my computer. Of course you don't get to see the pretty backgrounds other tweeters put a lot if effort into. *wink*

For anyone interested, nestle is giving away free les mills bodyjam and bodycombat vcds with their fitnesse with fruit cereals. I went and got mine yesterday morning but haven't had a chance to check 'em out yet. Will have a looksee once i get home. Hehe. Looks like i really don't need a gym membership anymore *$$ savings!!*


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

selamat hari raya

just thought i'd give a quick shoutout to all the muslims out there. selamat hari raya aidilfitri!

aidilfitri (or idul fitr or eid il fitr) is a time of forgiveness and remembrance. it's the perfect bonding opportunity and starting anew with a clean slate. mending broken ties and relishing in amazing food.

although i must say, after 29 days of fasting, eating in the day kinda feels a bit foreign. add to that the fact that i'm terrified of gaining all (and more) the weight lost during that span of time. *cringe*

this raya is different than previous years. myself, my mum and eldest lil bro did no join the rest of the family to head back to our grandma's place but it's ok. it's been sooo long since i've celebrated or rather spent raya here. haha. technically we're not really celebrating. just spending time together at home. but it's a nice break. *smile*

so to everyone else, take this opportunity to truly appreciate the people around you and remember those who are no longer with you. embrace and renew friendships and relationships and throw away all those negativity out the window.

on a different note, i've added a link to my askCLEO.com.my beauty blog on the sidebar.

have a beautiful raya guys! *hugs*

finally a trip to somewhere...

ah yes, while my iphone syncs with my brand spanking freshly installed itunes 9 after an upgrade to os 3.1, i figured i should drop a note in my dear dear (almost) neglected blog. haha!

this year i've been pretty much grounded to dear ole kk city and cancelled my overseas travel *well, pretty much all travels* due to unforeseen circumstances. no matter. there'll always be other times to travel. but it really had a psychological and emotional impact on me. travelling to me was my way of unwinding *despite the hectic schedule that comes with travelling* and recharging myself.

although the destination wasn't anywhere quit that far nor does the travel require one to carry a passport, but it was nice to take a break *finally!* the circumstances of when i left was not what i'd consider desirable but one can only plan and does not control how to universe goes round.

our flight friday afternoon went on smoothly as scheduled and we arrived a wee bit earlier than expected. then off we went to break fast at seoul garden in ioi mall, puchong's new wing. i can't even remember the last time i was in ioi! haha.

yes.. you cook your own meal on the hot plate/soup bowl

my entree/appetizer

bits and pieces of food i picked up at the buffet spread

self-made abc.. you even scoop your own shaved ice!

haha.. an old childhood preference.. swirled mushed ice cream. yum!

well, basically the restaurant has a nice little buffet spread of mostly raw food *obviously since you're supposed to cook it at your table* and dessert. the food was nice but i wasn't too fond of the oil splattering that was going on with the hot plate. note to self: if ever there comes a time when i'd dine there in the future, remember to keep to fire as low as possible. haha!

after breaking fast, we wasted no time and went up to check out what was there. from the restaurant's entrance, looking up you are greeted with the oh-so-familiar signage for F.O.S. and although we were kinda on our way to check it out, I personally got sidetracked and almost ran into brands outlet instead which was right in front of the escalator. haha! was incredibly happy to say the least to find that they sold clothes that fit yours truly! *smiles* yay me! haha. first thing i grabbed was this simple long necklace with big red beads that costs a mere RM5 before proceeding to check out and try clothes. managed to find a pair of jeans, pants and a couple of work shirts that fit me just nice. ecstatic!

the following day we set out to midvalley. somehow everytime i'm in kl, i try to make my way there. i just love the place. it practically has everything! well, everything i need anyways. haha. *wishing we had jusco here.. sniff* kick started the shopping spree with looking for clothes for my lil bro and after about 10 pairs of jeans, we finally found the 3 that fit him best. *thank goodness* i was on the verge of giving up on the search at that point. got him a pair of nice black dress shoes and a good pair of slippers too. i made myself to the lower level to shop for more personal items and scout around looking for anything else that might catch my eye *and that i need*. was kinda rushing though. managed to get all the stuff in my list that i'd not listed as optional (including of course some optional items). i added more brushes to my makeup brush collection and bought snap hairclips *i'm hopeless. i only know where to find them in kl*.

we were supposed to head back in time for the bazaar ramadhan but the clothes hunt took too much time that we had to change our plans and break fast in midvalley. really wanted to get some nando's *yum* but was disappointed. never believe what you see. the place was pretty empty but apparently people could call in and make reservations. go figure. full house i tell ya! then we made our way to the chicken rice shop which looked equally deserted. again, the place was fully booked. no fair. needless to say all other eateries including the food court was packed and we ended up at pasta zanmai next to madam kwan's. interesting place. a japanese pasta restaurant. fusion much?!?

i had the unagi set.. unagi!!!

chicken teriyaki pizza.. how odd is the egg smacked in the middle of the dish?!?

the salad that came with the set was sick! totally in love with it.. the peanut infused dressing was awesome.. do try

after dinner we dropped by the lil japanese supermarket next door to munch on some japanese wafer ice creams

ah yes. then came sunday. our flight was to be at 6.20pm which was later retimed to 7.10pm. which meant we had an extra hour to roam the city that day. the only thing i could think of was actually to head back to midvalley and finish my clothes shopping. fortunately i refrained myself and we went to get an lcd monitor for my bro's refurbished pc after a short stop at amcorp mall. it's been ages since i've been to low yat and it has changed a bit. looks nicer with gorgeous outlets and a much more cheerie outlook. nice. my bro went for the lg w1953t monitor which boasts a 2ms response time and 50,000:1 contrast ratio despite it's 18.5" size. woohoo.


fortunately, we'd done all our packing and all we really needed to do after the lil shopping expedition was get our stuff in the car and off we go. hehe. stupid airport posted the check in counter for our flight to be at r51 and that turned out to be a different flight altogether. would you believe they sqeezed checking in 3 different flights into 2 counters concurrently?!?! insane much?!?! anyways, we managed to get through the whole check in process albeit the grumbling ground staff lady who when looking at you plastered an incredibly fake empty smile. some people are just beyond me. ignore.


*sniff* didn't even have time to get some snacks to buffer our tummies from breaking fast to the time they actually served food en flight. oh well. i was annoyed to say the least when they announced that the flight was delayed for another half hour (read: 30mins delay + 30mins boarding + 15mins take off + 15mins getting food to those who purchased online + 10-15mins for the cart to get to our seats = a very long time). we bought a couple bottles of drinking water from the store in the departure lounge and had a donut each from dunkin' donuts. i would've snapped at anyone who rubbed me the wrong way. lol!!!


all that said, i'm impressed with airasia's efforts in introducing new food in their menus. the chicken lasagna was pretty decent for airplane food. they no longer serve 1901 hotdogs but have replaced those with their own brand of hotdogs. haha. i managed to sleep through pretty much the entire flight back home while the 2 brothers were busy endulging in the psp game they were playing together with 1 psp. haha! needless to say by the time i got back home, i was drained. completely exhausted. plus it's still fasting month so had to wake up again at 3.30am to eat. hehe.

happy fasting everyone...

time to fast again everyone. haha.

now i know fasting is something done for religion. but it can also be a chance to help in the weight loss department. of course as always, every time ramadhan comes round, there'll be the ramadhan bazaars held in many parts of the nation or more specifically in town. tempting as it is especially when you're hungry and can't wait to eat, my best tip if you enjoy buying food at these bazaars, buy something different every time you go instead of hauling the entire place each visit. hehe. there's a massive variety of food there, so spread the choices over the 4 weeks. a lot of people say they gain weight during fasting month despite only eating breakfast and dinner. but how can there be a calorie deficit if there's a binging sesh during break fast. :) key thing to keep in mind is, everything in moderation.

moving on to more geeky stuff. i can't wait to upgrade my laptop's RAM and optic drive. it's just way outdated. haha. and yes, i still have to finish recovering my data from my "lost" partition. dang.

parkson 1borneo has finally opened. and i must say i love it. haha. or maybe it's just the atmosphere. i've bought the elle laptop bag at 70% off (NP: RM239), jeans, pants and a nice casual shirt. can't wait to head back there and get me some accessories too. very affordable and simply gorgeous!! and yes, i'm still in love with sasa. i don't know why but i just can't get enough of it. my fave item from sasa? definitely the fiber wig mascara and refining herbal tissue mask!! if you didn't know, they're having a clearance sale on tigi cosmetics at the mo. 50% off. the eye shadow pallettes are intense!

recently i've been hooked on makeup. reviving my collection of makeup items and brushes. i have youtube to thank for fueling my new found love for makeup. haha. and yes, i've fallen in love with youtube too. there's just a lot of things you can learn on youtube. :) i used to go on youtube just to check out new songs or music vids. but now there's a whole different world there. haha. baking, cooking, diy, beauty, style, computers... the list is endless!

and last but not least, the sabah bloggers gathering is on again this year. if you're in sabah, and you blog, block your calendars for oct 31!

addicted to the iphone 3g & twitter...

it's been some time since my last post. i've been pre-occupied with work and home much. i know i've mentioned before that i'd be adding more stuff to trove and i apologize to everyone for not having done it yet. photos of items has been taken, just haven't been able to upload them yet. will get to that soonest.

i'm actually supposed to be sleeping at the moment cos i have an early morning tomorrow what with sending my little bros to school and all. honestly, i'm definitely not a morning person. never have been really. i think i do my best work at night, the wee hours of the morning. LOL!

anyone out there gotten the iphone 3g (or 3gs) yet? if you have, you'll understand how addictive it can be especially with the thousands of *free* apps in the app store and those web apps too. since i can't sleep, i thought i'd blog a little on it and well, share my must have apps here with everyone.

BatteryStatus by iPhone Wizards
After testing out a few other free battery status app (don't really understand why we needed to download a separate app to check battery levels in the first place), I find that this has the best interface. It not only let's you know the current battery level (5% sensitivity) but also estimated remaining time for several main activities of the iPhone.

Dictionary.com - Dictionary & Thesaurus by Dictionary.com
Having been a frequent user of Dictionary.com, this was definitely a must have app for me. Both dictionary and thesaurus functions can be really helpful. It also comes with audio for word pronounciation guide.

AppMiner (Save $$) by Bitrino, Inc
Wonderful app! Helps you get updated on the newest apps on the block as well as apps on sale. Conveniently categorized and you can filter to see paid apps or free apps only. No more browsing manually through the App Store for the apps you're looking for. Also tells you Top Rated apps and allows to Watch apps you like (in case there's a sale!). Other options are PandoraBox and Store-Extender. Actually I've got both AppMiner and Store-Extender on my iPhone but somehow I can't view Most Recent apps on Store-Extender. AppMiner works perfect except it isn't store sensitive (i.e. checks US store so some apps can't be downloaded from the Malaysian store). The thing I didn't quite like with PandoraBox is it lacks the categorization feature. But it's a good app nonetheless.

now let's move on to my fave apps. mind you, i only download free apps (or at least they were free when i downloaded them *grins*). LOL!!!

TwitterFon by naan studio, Inc.
Despite it's lack in URL shortening capabilities (available in the Pro version), I love this app for it's simple, straight forward functionalities. The app allows you to do all the basic Twitter functions like posting a tweet, replying to tweets, upload photos to TwitPic, send your location, retweeting, viewing user timelines and manage your follower lists. I've tried Twitterrific but I didn't quite meshed with it (despite it having URL shortening). I always seem to get errors updating tweets and checking out links and stuff.

Facebook by Facebook
The app let's you do a lot of the basic functions you normally use in the web version but there are some bugs in it still. I have no problems reading my inbox for messages sent by individuals but when it comes to messages from groups, I get shown a blank screen with the reply bubble. Also when I tap on notifications of responses to my wall post/status, I'm taken to the respondent's profile instead of the wall post/status page. Having said that, it's still a must have app on my iPhone. :) Having this app is so much easier than having to load FB from Safari (i.e. browser).

Wikipanion by Robert Chin
By far the best free wikipedia app for the iPhone. Being a fan of wikipedia for it's up-to-date information and open source nature, downloading this app was a no brainer. Only problem was when searching for a keyword that isn't in the database, it gives a blank page instead of page suggestions like the online version has.

iQuran & iPray by Guided Ways Technologies Ltd
I love the fact that not only does this app have the entire Quran surahs and verses, it also has the translation of the verses as well as downloadable audio for all of the surahs. However, the free version only allows 3 bookmarks.
As for iPray, it is a great guide to prayer times which you can set to whichever timezone and area you are. It also uses the GPS in-built on the iPhone to determine the qiblat location wherever you are.

Tap Tap Revenge 2.6 by Tapulous
The best game in the App Store by far. If you're a fan of O2 Jam, Guitar Hero, DDR and the likes, this is a must download game. I love the fact that there are tons of free tracks available to download and new tracks almost every week.

Frozen Lexicon (Free) by Amplified Games, Inc.
For someone who loves word games, this app is such a treat! The game play is similar to Text Twist but with a slight difference (i.e. Avalanche Challenge).

well, basically those are my top apps at the moment. i know. i spend way too much time messing around with my phone. what can i say? new apps are uploaded to the app store everyday. not to mention apps that go on sale for brief periods of time. haha.

believe it or not i've been bitten by the twitterbug. *and so has my youngest bro* what's so fun about twitter? for me, it's following celebs and other news tweets (staronline, eonline, peoplemag, etc). most of the time celebs don't respond to fan tweets but i imagine it's cos they're pretty much bombarded with tweets. *haha* i think twitter is perfect for me cos sometimes i don't really want to say much just random stuff and the 140 character allocation per tweet is perfect for that! lol!! plus it's super quick!

hurm. lately i've been experiencing some problems with my itunes. i can't seem to close it. i mean, i can shut the application but a few seconds later it re-emerges. no one seems to have an answer to that. i wonder...

there's just so many things i want to do but i feel like i'm already doing too many things (my stuff and other people's stuff inclusive) at the moment. i need a break. i need to slow down and take a breather i think. hopefully the whole H1N1 pandemic simmers down next year so i can go and take a much needed vacation. i feel so deprived. *haha* thank goodness for the internet or i'd be bored silly. i just love the internet (and gadgets and computers). *smile*

goodbye june, hello july...

well, it's the end of june already. can't believe we're already halfway through 2009. how time flies. tomorrow we'll be going into the second half of the year and there's still a lot to be done!!

since last friday, it seems the whole world is fixated on the death of the king of pop and it's practically in every newspaper, blog, facebook, twitter, etc. you name it! despite a whole lot of controversies, allegations, speculations and such surrounding his life *when he was alive* it is undeniable that he had made a significant mark in the music industry globally. they didn't call him the king of pop for nothing. he was idolized by millions and it didn't really matter if you were a fan of the man or not, you have to admit that he was one of a kind and help shape and inspire a whole lot of today's artists. personally i wasn't quite a fan of the whole thriller-billy jean-beat it phase. i've always been more of a ballad person i guess. haha. mushy. my personal faves were "i want you back", "ben", "heal the world", "you are not alone".. haha. you catch my drift. obviously his demised stunned the world and even today there are controversies surrounding his passing. drug addiction and what really caused his death. in my humble opinion, we should just let him rest in peace. remember him for the good things and not for wacko jacko.

although i've never actually watched the original charlie's angels series, i'm sure folks of that generation are not only saddened by the passing of the king of pop, but also of farah fawcett. once a beautiful angel on the small screen whose sense of style and fashion were emulated just as jennifer aniston was in the friends era. she passed at the age of 62 after her 3 year long battle with cancer.

last sunday my family and i manage to make it to the cinemas for transformers 2: revenge of the fallen. it's been awhile since we've been out to the movies. hehe. being an 80s kid, i absolutely loved transformers. back then the graphics were still hand drawn *compared to today's computer drawn versions* and then eventually evolved to beast wars *seeing optimus prime as a purple ape/gorilla*. the first movie was entertaining. filled with all the action associated with transformers. and then came the sophomore movie which got a lot of hype *even during filming* with box offices pushing eager audiences to later showings cos all the earlier shows were full. growball had at least 4 cinemas dedicated to the movie with 24 shows a day and 1borneo's gsc had 3 cinemas showing the much anticipated movie *all packed*. so what did i thought of the movie? i've heard a lot of peeps raving about the movie and of course those who think that it was a bit over-rated. personally? i LOVED it. i HEART transformers. haha. seriously, i didn't even notice that i'd been in the cinema for 2.5 hours. shia was hot, megan was hot, josh duhamel was hot. ooo. and of course optimus prime and bumble bee were uber HOT! haha. my mum said maybe i should get the optimus prime and bumble bee figurine from toys r us and put it in my room so i can look at it all day. *haha. funny mum*

so anyways, i haven't been able to add more stuff to trove these couple of weeks but i'm planning on getting more stuff uploaded this week. lots of things to do. with another project in the making, i'm excited all over again. haha! did i mention trove is on facebook as well?


my babe, mama girl, will be dropping by this weekend for her company family day. haven't seen her since... since... since... sometime in the 2nd half of last year?!?!?! or was it the 1st half??! well, it's been way too long. hopefully will be able to meet up when she's in town. yay!! the little miss nyn is planning on coming back so that's exciting as well. shimz hunny, when are you coming here?!? hehe. miss them all!!

happy fathers day!!!

the 3rd sunday of june has come around again. and with that we celebrate another fathers day. clueless *and busy* me had no idea what to do this year for fathers day. no idea for the card either *that came pretty much at the 11th hour* and so i decided to try my hands at the famous cupcakes.

my first attempt at cupcake making

playing around with tips & icing with the leftover cupcakes

(1 cupcake missing -- eaten by my bro before i took a photo)

again, i got excited using my mum's new icing tips. haha. designs? i was stumped!!! all i had in my head were the wordings "happy fathers day 2009 bapa" and that was it. silly me forgot to go get some more colours from the store. hence the pink-green deco you see in the photos. *haha* now the original cupcakes were supposed to be 2" in diameter. again, silly me didn't check to see if we had the moulds that size to fit in the cups for them cuppies. fortunately we still had the 1" cups from my mum's cupcake adventure some time back. so i ended up with these tiny cupcakes.

i still can make roses though. or maybe we just don't have the correct tip for that yet. LOL! nevermind. in due time. my next attempt i'll prolly try a different cake recipe. this one just didn't cut it. fortunately due to it's tiny size *and delish buttercream* the somewhat hard texture of the supposed to be sponge cake batter drowned in it *yay!*. my baby brother loved these tiny cuppies and couldn't get enough of them simply i think for his love of icing. still need practice though but i'm happy it didn't come out as bad as i expected it would be. lol!!! and i can't believe i managed to pull it off single-handedly all in the middle of the night through morning. talk about last minute there.

so to every father out there, have a wonderful fathers day with your family!!

upgrade to os3.0...

to everyone who owns an iphone or ipod touch, OS3.0 is out today!!! Of course, I was privileged enough to update my iphone on monday *one of the perks of the company i work for* ahead of the release date.


there's been a lot of hype from apple that OS3.0 will be a major upgrade from their OS2.x. so what exactly is there to be excited about? for starters, the iphone supports mms integrated into their message app. oddly enough apple left out this feature in it's previous release *who knows why* and to think that even the lower end phones in the market have mms support in-built. the 3.0 also supports cut, copy and paste (as well as select and select all) which works across apps and has been a very convenient feature. used to use this feature on my omnia too *windows mobile os*. apart from that, there's a landscape keyboard that works with a host of apps, spotlight search that searches throughout the phone and voice memos!


hhmm.. what else? improvements to the the calendar, safari, app store, notes syncing, internet tethering, stereo bluetooth, automatic wi-fi login, enhanced stocks app, parental controls, shake to shuffle and new languages. new app features too: push notifications, peer-to-peer games, more integration with external hardware and more.

here's what you need to do to update:

1. make sure you have itunes software v8.2


2. connect your iphone/ipod touch to your pc


3. your device will show up in itunes (it will automatically launch itunes and sync with your device)
   
4. right click on your device and select "backup" *important step!!*


5. once that's done, in the device summary click on the "check for updates" button


6. click download and install *do not disconnect your device!!*


7. after the phone reboots, check to see if your previous data and apps are still there. if they're missing, click on the "restore" button on the device summary page and restore from backup. *don't disconnect device until syncing is completed*


8. you're good to go

wonder what other apps are worth downloading. i'm pretty much hoarding them free apps now. haha!! addicted to frozen lexicon and scramble. haha. typical dorky me.

can't wait for OS3.0...

since my mum has gotten loads of time on her hand these days, she's been getting back to her long lost hobbies (i.e. baking, re-organizing the home docs, etc). just the other day we were baking choc chip cookies *which my lil bro ate up all by himself* and made a couple of moist choc cake. my mum just bought a set of tips which i got so excited about and started testing out piping icing and stuff. had a lot of fun learning new things and playing around with the icing on the 2 cakes we baked. *muahahahahhaha*

moist choc cake with choc glaze and choc buttercream border
made for my aunty

moist choc cake with choc buttercream icing

made for mainly my lil bro *who can't keep his hands off choc*

of course the much anticipated iphone 3g is finally in my possession. *muahahahah* i know, i know. i still love the omnia but you've got to admit, the iphone does have it's perks despite it's numerous inadequacy so to speak. haven't quite downloaded that much apps yet and i haven't even transferred music to the in-built ipod though. being a geek and word game fan, i'm stuck on games like frozen lexicon and scramble *just realized i've played scramble on facebook too*. tap tap revenge 2 is fun too. kinda like guitar hero *which reminds me, the wii is sooo underutilized.. must play wii*. and i've got sudoku!! *haha. i'm such a dork!!* now can't wait for os3.0 to be available next week. *hhmm.. wonder what other apps i can download free*

my new baby!!

a lot of hype has been going round about the latest iphone, the 3g s. "s" supposedly stands for speed. apple is saying that in addition to it having the os3.0 in it, it's also going to be up to 2x faster than the current model with a 3mp auto focus camera with video recording function *currently it has a 2mp fixed focus camera* where you can edit the videos straight from the iphone and it also comes with a magnetic compass which can also be used to show direction in the maps app plus it comes in 16gb and 32gb capacities. camera function isn't any phone's strong suit. so i've hardly relied on my phone camera anyways. my lil bros are the ones making use of the video function on the phones i've ever owned. *haha* i have my trusty camera with me most of the time anyways.

ooo.. can't wait for my babe, girl, to come down ere to visit. she woke me up with some ecstatic news this morning. sooooo happy for her!! she's totally stoked about it.

now, can't wait to get trove up and running. i'm aiming to launch it by next week. *excited!!*

sun burnt in ranau...

of all places to get a sun burn, it amazes me how hot ranau can be these days. no longer is the mountain proximity town a cool place, it's relatively as hot as how kk city (then town) once was.

was off to ranau today for a day trip on work matters and am extremely tired from the trip. on top of that i didn't get enough sleep the night before either. spent the night chit chatting away with my mum in her room. *haha* but it was a night worth sleeping late. no matter.

after ranau, did some work in the office and then drove back home. as soon as i reached home, went to my mum's room and plopped myself on her bed. then it was zzz-land from them on til maghrib prayers *when i was awaken by my cute lil bro* needed to send the lil boys for tuition. got back, checked and replied my e-mails then forced my bum off the chair and onto the treadmill for a good 17mins. then it was pick up time. thanks to brother cho cho for lending his driving services.

anyhoo... i can't believe adam didn't win AI8!!!! ah well, can't wait for him to hit the airwaves though. that guy's really got talent and star power. don't get me wrong. i don't have anything against kris. he's a good singer/performer but side by side with adam and adam shines brighter with his quirky uniqueness and charisma. no matter. i'm pretty sure they're both gonna make it big in the industry.
ooo. the iphone craze is on!!! i'm considering jumping on the band wagon as well. my mum says the iphone is somewhat of a status quo more than anything else. a statement if you may. but it would be interesting *says the tech-gadget geek* lol!!

before i forget, for those of you guys and girls in kk, if you're interested in modelling (runway, commercial ads, magazines, editorials, etc), check out the newly opened estilo model & talent agency. they're holding photoshoots soon. photographers out there, they are also looking out for you guys. coming soon in june is estilo magazine set to be the sabah's leading fashion magazine and the 1st of it's kind here.

Graphics Courtesy of My Beautiful Life

underaccomplishing...

i seriously feel that there's just so much more than i'm capable of doing but have not been able to do yet. it doesn't help that i keep making excuses to justify why i haven't fulfilled my highest potential yet. of course there's always the "i don't have time" or "i'm pre-occupied with things" and the likes.

i admit i'm quite the procrastinator and looks like it's worsening these days. no matter. when there's a flaw (or so) then there's still room to improve and reinvent oneself. so i suppose if you look at it in a positive light, there's still light at the end of the tunnel. haha. now that kinda vaguely sounded dramatic init? but honestly, i am aware of my procrastination and it's implications and i am doing my best to spring myself into action.

sometimes i feel that i spend too much time planning things but taking my time actually executing them. not something i'm proud of though. again, on a more positive light, i am taking those baby *and i mean baby* steps to be a better person in general.

speaking of which, the year started a bit shaky and then approaching mid-year things are getting a bit more rocky but it should all pan out well soon enough. life is just filled with valleys and mountains *sounds better than saying ups and downs.. haha!* and we can plan, adapt to the changes and roadblocks and move on, right?

so here i am, babbling about the things that i've yet to accomplish *hence underaccomplishing...* and no, i am not complaining about the challenges blown my *and my family's* way. simply rather, a moment of expression. a brief murmur of self-doubt and frustration at my own lack of self discipline in certain aspects of my life. hhmmm... *drowning in thoughts*

happy mother's day...

this year mother's day falls on may 10th (2nd sunday of the month) which i'm pretty sure is celebrated in many ways everywhere in the world. there'll be special home cook meals or commemorative buffet dinners or simply that special time spent with mothers and grandmothers.

however, 2009 brought a different mothers day experience for my family and i. there was no preparing breakfast in bed or my occassion-only chicken fajitas and cheesy chicken bake pasta. regardless the situation, the family's personal card making and giving session is a must. it's kinda a tradition created by me and my lil bros have followed suit in recent years *their older now. haha* i'm really proud of them both. they're really getting the hang of this card making thing. *beams*

this time around, we couldn't celebrate mothers day like we used to because the situation is different than previous years. what with all the hectic rush of having my mum admitted to smc on monday due to the excessive fluid in her left lung *which had to be drained out* which was intefering with her breathing and was causing pain in her left shoulder and lower back, and i'd been assisting and accompanying her for the first 4 nights til i caught a bit of a fever and am now resuming my hospital duties tonight, several errands had to be put on hold. today some of those errands can be scrapped off the to do list: 1. buy new school bag for lil bro, 2. buy contact lenses for mum, 3. collect lil bro's kumon homework. still a few more things to get done: 1. collect mum's clothes from the tailor, 2. finish up my grandma's skirt, and the list goes on and on. *haha*

on another note, sitting in a hospital does kinda give you a different perspective on life. even at the age i'm at, there's always a risk of falling ill and there are just so many diseases out there. seems like there's no better time than the present to start reflecting on the stuff we put into our mouths and living a more active lifestyle. how do i weasel my way out of my mostly sedentary lifestyle and eating habits that still requires fine tuning and improvement. with that in mind, i'm launching a blog to keep me motivated for that sole purpose separate from this blog. it should be up soon and hopefully the online journal of my journey would serve as both a form to hold me accountable for my health goals as well as for me to share related info on diet, health, fitness and related thoughts. *smiles*

i like drugs...

i found it rather hilarious to hear my youngest brother had gotten detention yesterday. *haha* he's no trouble maker by any means. in fact he's quite the opposite actually. just a little too smart for his own good i'd say.

apparently, during science class he'd said to the teacher "i like drugs" and that must've really caught the poor teacher off guard. he likes to tease. knowing him like i do, a statement such as that wasn't as alarming to me as it was to the teacher. the drugs he was referring to is actually prescription drugs, i.e. medicine. *haha* i suppose the word drugs in itself can cause quite a stir just because of the rampant misuse of drugs by irresponsible parties.

from his stand point, drugs are good. think about it. the entire conventional modern medical system incorporates the usage of drugs. of course there are alternative medicine that uses herbs and other traditional remedies.

i'm not in any way saying that things like these should be taken lightly. drugs are always meant to be used to alleviate symptoms and pain when struck with illness and diseases. it is the misuse of these medications that are worrying the masses. *haha*

biggest loser aftermath..

my mum and i have been glued to the tv every 6.30-8pm weekdays just to watch the biggest loser. prolly at this point the only show we watch almost diligently apart from the rtm drama dari mata arisa at 11am-12pm. *fortunately the drama is available on both rtm's website and youtube. haha!*

having been inspired by the fruits of proper diet and exercise from the biggest loser show, it got me thinking about all the things that actually contribute to weight gain for most of the population. made me hunger *excuse the pun* for more info on leading a healthier lifestyle. having my track record, weight has always been a problem for me. when i was little and at another point in my life, i could eat fast food and fizzy drinks almost everyday and not gain weight. but for the majority of my adult life, i've been struggling with squeezing in those essential work outs on a regular basis. i do get food cravings every now and again but for the most part, i eat more healthier home cooked meals these days.

anyways, i've had a listen to one of jillian michaels radio shows and while promoting interesting facts from her new book "master your metabolism", something rather interesting hit me. how even products we use like facial cleansers, toners, moisturisers, lotions, bodywash, etc contain a whole bunch of toxins that pollute our bodies and mess up our hormones. so our hormones aren't functioning properly and it contributes to the dreaded weight gain despite all our efforts. one of the things she highlighted was to stay away from products containing parabens (propyl-, methyl-, butyl-, etc) because parabens that get absorbed into our bodies apparently have estrogen-like effects and too much estrogen in the body has been said to lead to certain types of cancer especially breast cancer. *gasp!*

it seems that organic is the new rage these days. and there's probably good reason for it too. should we all jump on the organic band wagon as well? price-wise organic & earth-friendly food and household products can be a bit pricey in comparison to regular stuff. but i suppose maybe we should take those baby steps and think about our long term health as well as of those who are dear to us.

while checking e-mail online just now, i stumbled on an ad that obviously caught my attention. i haven't quite gone through the link much yet but thought i'd share it with everyone. click here to check out smallstep for tips and ideas to a healthier lifestyle. *smile*

earth day... little steps to preservation...

i remember there was a time long long ago *during primary school* when i was in this "nature" phase. was into everything from the school's nature lovers' club to wwf. after realizing certain phobias of mine, i began shying away from those outdoorsy nature stuff. haha. to those who are passionate about it (nature), i salute you.

the fact that climate change is becoming increasingly apparent, the global population seems to be more aware of the global warming phenomenon which has been going on for quite some time in fact. the seasons are changing. the weather is not what it was. sea levels are rising. temperatures are outrageously high. i remember when i was a kid, the normal temperature during the day was around 27 degrees celcius and 20 degrees and below at night. these days however, while we still do get cooler nights as we have before, our days are a whole lot hotter. average day temperature is above 30 degrees celcius. the weather is no longer predictable. we used to forecast rainy and dry seasons just by putting the timeline up against the monsoon seasons. nowadays the line separating the two seems almost non-existent.

in conjunction with earth day, a lot of programs are carried out around the world to better educate the public on being green. people are going organic, recycling, saving energy, planting trees, protesting chopping down of trees in cities and stressing on the importance of forest preservation. some ideas on catching the "green" bug:

• use energy saving bulbs -- they're friendly on your wallet and the environment
• avoid printing emails unless necessary -- saving paper means saving trees
• eat organic -- organic means less pesticide and toxins were used, a healthier choice for you and the planet
• recycle -- if there are recycling bins or centres nearby, use them. some recycling centres even do house calls to pick up your recyclables. you may not earn much from recycling but it helps reduce the amount of trash dumped in landfills and dump centres
• recreate new uses for old items -- get creative and create new stuff out of old items that you have at home. the possibilities are endless
• composting -- this may not be for everyone but if you're curious, you can try googling it *wink*
• use earth friendly aerosols -- check the can to see if the aerosol is cfc-free. cfc is one of the components breaking down the ozone layer
• use less plastic & paper bags -- opt for a reusable shopping bag instead. most plastic bags are non-biodegradable and will take up to 1000 years to decompose
• go biodegradable -- biodegradable products are earth-friendly. kudos to jusco for using biodegradable plastic bags *if you've notice, their plastic bags will crush and fray by itself if kept stored too long*
• don't pollute -- this may be a bit hackneyed but important, whenever you can, make a conscious decision to avoid adding more pollutants to the environment. make sure vehicle engines are in good condition *not emitting black or white smoke*, throw rubbish in the designated bins and refrain from any open burning

those were just some ideas off the top of my head. honestly, i'll admit i'm not much into the earth-saving mode these days but i'll do my part whenever i can. saving the earth isn't about making those drastic changes like making your home a 'green home' with fancy earth-friendly contraptions. a little change can go a long way. so it's ok to start small.

if you're into saving forests and endangered species, get a wwf passport and look at ways you can help wwf's efforts to preserve our flora and fauna. help them in their campaigns from your own computer and make a difference across the globe.

happy earth day everyone!!

beep, beep -- i'm still around...

i always seem to feel i'm pressed for time. there's just so much to do and so little time to do them all. especially with my habit of biting off more than i can chew. haha. serves me right i suppose.

anyways, i've been shuttling myself everywhere!!! from home, to the office, then back home again, then sending and picking my little brothers up from school or kumon or tuition, running errands and stuff. my daily routine in itself is a severe balancing act. not that i'm complaining. but sometimes it can be overwhelming. whenever i can i'd steal some time off to myself. haha.

now with all the things that's going on, my travelling trips have taken a backseat. was going to enrol in another course at the academy *haha. another chance to go to kl* but decided against it due to unforeseen circumstances. but the course will be on regularly anyways so no worries there. then there's the already paid for bandung trip in july that i'm suppose to go with my mum and her officemates. she says i should go even though she won't be able to go with me. i don't know. it just won't be the same. hhmmm...

there's really not much going on these days to blog about. or maybe just to much of it. haha. well, off i go again to start reformatting my lil bro's laptop. huhu.

are you the biggest loser?!?

lately i've been really inspired by the reality show the biggest loser on hallmark (7pm weekdays). they're only just showing season 2 at the moment despite it progressing into it's 7 season in the US. it's amazing to watch the show and see how these individuals who'd gone on the show weighing 200lbs (~90kg) up to more than 400lbs (~>180kg) and come out of it 50% lighter!!!

now that really got me thinking. losing weight really is hard. the amount of effort they had to put into it and the joy of losing those double digit pounds each week. on the show, they are taught about nutrition, how to prepare healthier meals for themselves, calorie counting and budgeting, resisting temptation, and most importantly exercising and working to build up strength, endurance and stamina as well as facilitate weight loss.

every time a person is eliminated, they'll show the family reactions when that person goes home and also show the audience how that person looks like now. they may not have the perfect body if in a relative sense, it's amazing how much they'd lost and that they were able to maintain (if not lose more) after leaving the show.

in fact, if you look at season 5 and season 6 winners, ali and michelle, they've completely trimmed down and are so well toned you won't believe that they were over 200lbs before!!

while watching the show, i just couldn't shake the words of one of the trainers out of my head:

"i don't care if you die on that floor, you better die looking good!" - jillian
michaels

those words really stuck with me. one, for the witty humour i see in it. and two, for how much it embodied the effort you need to put into effective weight loss. there are no shortcuts for sustainable weight loss it seems. and it has to be a balance of good nutrition and diet with at least a moderate level of activity.

jillian michaels has been dubbed tv's toughest trainer and by the looks of it, she delivers. having trained 5 out of 6 winners on the biggest loser, it's hard to doubt her credibility as a trainer. with that in mind, i went out to get myself one of her home videos, 30 day shred, (after some online research) which contained 3 levels with increasing difficulty and intensity. i'd had a look at the videos on youtube prior to purchasing and it seemed fairly simple and basic exercises. her 3-2-1 method (i.e. 3-mins strength, 2-mins cardio and 1-min abs) is said to be one of the most effective ways to get your body to change.

so here i am super excited to get started, mat and weights all set up in the living room. switched on the tv and pop in the dvd, feeling all set and ready to go. acknowledging my lack of fitness, i started with level 1 and paid attention to the modified version of each workout for beginners (lower impact). after 2-mins warm up, the 1st circuit begins. each session consists of 2-mins warm up, 3 sets of 6-mins workout (3-2-1 method) and a 2-mins cool down. as simple as the movements looked on youtube, i was already struggling by the end of circuit 1. *haha* i knew and expected it wasn't going to be easy but believe it or not, only 6-mins of the modified workout non-stop and i felt woozy, nauseaous, and felt like passing out right then and there.

then my mum told me that she needs me to send her to work cos my stepdad got a bit injured accidentally falling into a drain last night. *gasp!!* not one to disappoint and understanding my duties, i mustered whatever energy i had left in me and tried to make breakfast for myself before sending my mum off. my arms felt heavy and i had to make an extra effort to reach into the pantry to grab some food. lol! while sitting at the dining table, i was still feeling super woozy and felt like i'd pass out if i'd close my eyes. i'd even felt like throwing up, so i rushed (sorta) to the bathroom but nothing came out. took a little breather and lay down on my bed taking it easy and concentrated on my breathing. it helped. so i went to finish my shake, but just didn't feel that i could *i did managed to guzzle up 90% of it though*, took a few more breaths, grabbed my keys, phone and wallet and plopped myself in the drivers' seat.

like i said, i acknowledge my lack of fitness, so this really wasn't much of a surprise for me. i was kinda shocked at how intense the workout must've been to have that effect on me so fast. haha. the push ups and weights really got to me. so looks like it's gonna just be a session on the treadmill tomorrow morning if any. lol! the last time i almost passed out from working out/exercising was when i did a physical evaluation at a centre in lintas plaza. after exerting myself, i practically just curled up (or was it lay down) on the floor even before the evaluation was done. i was lying there for about an hour or so before i was positive i could drive home.

the moral of the story is, if i have to exercise rigorously outside, i better have someone drive me there and back. haha!

fish bones... those darn things...

while having lunch today, i'd accidentally *duh!!* swallowed a fish bone. i usually only eat the fleshy parts of the fish (i.e. the tail quadrant) which is generally bone-less. in fact, if i had a choice, i'd always opt for fish fillets or fish with very little bones and are easily removed prior to consumption.

now, there's a reason why i've become quite obedient *for lack of a better word* and generally abide by the rules/law. more often than not, anytime i decide to break the rules, i usually experience certain repercussions associated with why you're not supposed to go against the grain when it comes to rules and laws. so in other words, i'm born to abide and hence have never been much of a rebel.

so back to the fish bone. *ggrrr* so as soon as the fish bone snugly placed itself in my throat, i panicked!! 25 1/2 years of my life and never had i had a fish bone lodged in my throat. then and there i regretted even attempting eating fish parts out of my norm. ironically before that my mum was saying how i'd never survive living in the village or eating in a village home. *how true... oh nooo!!*

i tried the first logical thing that came to mind -- coughing it out but to no avail. then my mum asked me to sit down, straighten my chair, turn my plate around 3 times and swallow lumps of rice 3 times and then drink from the rice cooker lid. unfortunately the bone was still snugly lodged in my throat still causing me discomfort and pain. the floodgates were still wide open and i was bawling like nobody's business.

now there's another traditional way of getting the fish bone out and that is to drink the water dipped with the hands of someone born breech. supposedly, when you drink the water, the fish bone will dislodge and go done with the water. now where can you find such a person?!? my aunty had just gone back on sunday and we didn't know anyone nearby born in such condition.

then i was told to swallow bananas. well, i wasn't exactly told how to do it exactly. so i sort of munched a bit on the bananas. that didn't work either. i found out later online that you're not supposed to chew on the bananas. haha. after downing maybe 2-3 bananas, the problem still persisted and i ended up throwing up.

frustrated and in pain, i rushed to the toilet and continued my throw up fest. i was literally pi**ing my pants and was feeling faint using up all my energy to get the darn thing out. i tried downing another banana and wash it down with a couple glasses of water. still stuck. annoyed much, i stuck my finger down my throat in search of the dreaded thing. my finger kept brushing against the top of the bone but just couldn't get it out. instead i did what naturally happens when you shove your finger down your throat, puked exorcist-style.

my mum tried calming me down but i was borderline hysterical. having her tell me that if we went to the doctor the doc would have to cut my throat open to remove the fishbone freaked me out even more and i was adamant to get it out that much more.

no longer crying my eyes out but exhausted, i went back to the kitchen, grabbed a box of ferrero rochers (haha. only 2 left) and a container of pineapple tart and a glass of water. well, i figured maybe try something harder to swallow. after all, i sort of repositioned the bone to the centre from my probing. so munched an entire ferrero rocher and swallowed, *ah.. finally felt a wave of relief* muched a couple pineapple tarts and swallowed. downed it with a glass of water and problem was solved. praise to the Almighty!! ate the last piece of ferrero rocher for good measure. haha.

post-trauma, i did a quick search on the fish bone-throat issue and read that you can even swallow bread to help push it down. well, looks like a couple ferrero rochers and some pineapple tarts seem to do the trick too. but my throat is still sore from the poking (from both the bone and my finger a presume) and my whole body feels all weird from channeling all my energy into getting it out right side up. i hope i never go through any of this again. and i hope no one else has to go through it either.

all hail avg...

the thing i really don't like about viruses are the fact that they're extremely disruptive and annoying. today i just realized that my company laptop had a virus trendmicro office scan identified as CRYP_DOWNAD-2 which in other words meant that there was a friggin' worm in my laptop. unfortunately i have absolutely no clue how it got there but i can't believe i'd been ignoring the office scan result pop-ups since last friday (i think).

anyways, it appears that the virus was also in my thumbdrive *darn* and that annoyed me even more. today i had to force shutdown my laptop twice before i came to my senses and suspected a virus was causing my frustration. my MS office applications kept halting and just wasn't responding. and the best part was i can't even view anti-virus websites. imagine how viruses are evolving these days they can even block you from getting those definition updates or even downloading anti-virus programs.

since i couldn't download the latest avg because the smart a** virus wouldn't let me, i installed the 7.5 version instead. i just happened to have the installer on that particular lappie (a.k.a. laptop). would you believe i couldn't update the virus definition files? *ggrrrr*

in the state of annoyance and frustration, i slapped my head once again for being dumb enough to not trouble shoot in safe mode. haha. silly me. so i restarted *ahem* force shutdown my lappie again and rebooted in safe mode with networking so my internet was still on. the virus made it impossible for the system to shut down proper or even restart which prompted me to do a shut down by force. *sorry laptop!!*

now, office scan couldn't heal or do anything to the infected file. it detected it but was completely useless at solving the problem. then i tried the avg 7.5 that i'd just installed prior to rebooting. it was having problems and an error message popped up telling me that i should re-install it. *wth?!?!?!* so i ditched the 7.5 and tried once again to download online. magically in safe mode i was able to get to the avg website and download version 8.0. *yee-haw!!!* download done, installed the software, and found out that 8.0 only works in command line mode in safe mode. so i did a scan of the identified infected folder. no miracle there.

crossing my fingers, i logged out of safe mode and returned to normal mode. ran avg again, updated the virus definitions and did another scan. this time the virus was detected. *yes!!* i tried healing but that didn't work so i moved the file to the vault. office scan kept informing me about the virus but was still useless in my opinion cos it can't fix the problem. after sending the virus to quarantine, i did another scan. came out clean this time. no office scan pop-up either. so i tried accessing both trendmicro and avg's websites again (which was blocked by the virus earlier) and voila, it's accessible again.

this wasted practically a whole day's work. *gggrrrrr* but at least the problem has been resolved thanks to avg. thank goodness it didn't require any reformatting or calling for it support. that would've been such a hassle. ooo and i did a full scan on my thumbdrive too. clean. *yay*

so if you're planning on installing an anti-virus on your computer, might i recommend avg? click here to download the free version of avg 8.5 build 278.