EGGS, glorious eggs!

I just hate it when people tell me that eating eggs everyday is bad for my health.
Hello.. check your facts will ya? If you still think that eggs will raise your cholesterol, you would be subscribing to the research done in the 60’s or the 70’s or you could be living in the Ice Age. Eggs have endured bad press far too long and I want to do my part in setting the records straight.

Eggs happen to be my favouritest food and there is a good reason for that. Heck, I’ll give you 8!

Reason #1
You can boil ‘em, poach ‘em or fry ‘em quickly. It’s the healthiest fast food.

Reason #2
It’s the cheapest source of protein. Go to the supermarket and compare prices with chicken and fish.

Reason #3
Eggs provide a number of heart healthy nutrients, such as folate, vitamins E and B12, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, as well as antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin, which are important for good eye health. Eggs also contain vitamins D and A, iron, phosphorus and zinc. (source: www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news)

Reason #4
It is an excellent source of choline, essential for normal function of cells and for early brain development. Eggs are brain food! (info from National Academy of Sciences USA 1998)

Reason #5
Eggs actually lower the risk of heart disease. COOL! Thanks to this substance called betaine. (info from Archives of Internal Medicine Sept 11 2000)

Reason #6
One egg has little total fat - just five grams, of which 1.5 grams is saturated and 3.5 grams is healthy unsaturated fat. (info from Alterni Times 10/2006)

Reason #7
Eggs are nature’s perfect food, containing every known nutrient except vitamin C.

Reason #8
The Harvard School of Public Health's research showed the dietary cholesterol in eggs does not have a negative effect on blood cholesterol levels of healthy people. (info from Alterni Times 10/2006)

There you have them! Oh, if you can, try to get kampong eggs. They are organic because they are produced by free range chickens so kampong eggs are far superior than the commercially available ones. Kampong eggs are also free of hormones, steroids and antibiotics. (info from Alterni Times 10/2006) . The thing is, they lack proper supply and pricey too :-(
Doesn't it make your mouth water?

So folks, enjoy your eggs. I like mine soft boiled with soft to medium yolk. Sedap giler! And no, I don't own a chicken farm. Not yet anyway :-)

Watch out for this one

Good dramas are hard to come by.

Thanks to new blood in the entertainment business, we will see more good dramas. I'm particularly fascinated with this producer/director Shahrulezad Mohammeddin of Radius One Productions. He did the famous Sutun telemovies(shown on RTM and later on Astro Ria), a funny telemovie Abang! Mak Panggil Balik, Kerana Cintaku Saerah (I cried watching an episode) and Sindarela on TV3.

There's a new title coming to Astro Ria this Nov 27th : Rona Roni Makaroni. Adorable title, yes? It's about Rona a kampung bumpkin who arrives in KL searching for her father. As luck would have it, Rona got her bag snatched and was later rescued by Jess whose brother Roni runs an Italian restaurant. Yup you guessed it, Roni gets a job at the restaurant and she whips up wonderful dishes when she's feverishly under pressure from Roni. The catch is, she cooks the best dishes ONLY when she panics! The award-winning actress Sharifah Amani plays Rona and Bront Palarae plays Roni. Amani is super adorable as the very kampung minah, she's so talented giler!

Every drama by Ezad will always have a nice poster, designed by his good friend Isma Yusoof. Isma is a regular actor in Ezad's dramas and telemovies. I think he did a fantastic job packaging the drama with the designs encompassing posters (6 versions), postcards and OST CD sleeve.

The drama poster. Isma is first on the left.

Ezad also features the Rona Roni Makaroni's OST composed by Amylea AF3 called AKAN TIBA sung by Alif OIAM. A breezy and catchy feel good song that will hit the local charts soon, I'm sure. But really, the extra effort by Radius One Productions goes to show how passionate Ezad and Isma are.

Make a date with Rona Roni Makaroni every Thursday 9pm beginning Nov 27th exclusively on ASTRO RIA.

That twinkle in his eyes

Can't remember the bird species name. I only remember how fascinated Biyan was, though

Sham and I took Biyan to KL Bird Park last weekend.

Despite the short duration that we were there, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Biyan really loves animals and he hates seeing them getting hurt.

Sham & Biyan walking to the amphitheatre to catch the bird show

We caught the bird show at 12.30pm and finished just in time before it rained. It felt so great to see Biyan cheering enthusiastically when the macaws did their tricks and when the eagle swooped near him. I saw that twinkle in his eyes.

He has been begging for a white rabbit for some time now. That's something I can't have in the house since Sham and I are way too lazy and we don't want any stinky, neglected (or dead!) animal lying around in the house.

I might reconsider when Biyan is older, though. Having a pet will teach him about responsibilities, because I am definitely not cleaning a stinky cage full of rabbit poop! Ugh

Meanwhile, I'm having this notion of getting Biyan educated in animal science. Who knows? He could be a zoologist in 20 years. Or be another Steve Irwin. Anything is possible. Of course I dont have high expectations for Biyan but I know it's a bonus to have an occupation in a field you are passionate about. And I think Biyan will enjoy having a job handling animals :-)

Physiognomy (huh?)

Isn't it fascinating how the Chinese perfected the art of face reading (or physiognomy, for those wanting to add new words to their vocabulary)?

Not only can the expert find out about your hidden personality, he will uncover your past history and current situation! Pehhhh!!

A senseh would use this information to aid his diagnosis and treatment.

Now that is uber cool, man.

If you're fascinated as I am, check out "Feng Shui Lecture with Master So" on ntv7 Saturdays 2pm!

A slice of wholemeal bread, anyone?

We women so deserve this!

Ahh I would give anything for a course of facial treatment!

It's been ages since I last had it and now my skin looks like, erm....a slice of wholemeal bread.

I shall and will do something about it.

Happy Birthday, November!

I like November!
I like it mostly because it’s my birth month and I’m sharing it with other November babies in my family and circle of friends. This year is super special cos I think I grew wiser up a notch.
I didn’t expect people to wish me, I didn’t expect any birthday cakes, balloons and presents. And you know what? I’m okay with it. My life didn’t crumble just because my birthday wasn’t celebrated by the whole wide world.

My birthday is no big deal and I mean it in a good way. Yeah I’m a year older. But being a year older is not an achievement unless I gain some wisdom.

My birthday was an ordinary day made extraordinary when Biyan sang the birthday song when he woke up and Sham gave me a hug. And that was enough. Of course, birthday wishes from family and friends that came throughout the day were definitely a bonus!

When I realized God’s Gift of Life, I realized that I didn’t need anything else. I thank God for Life, Love and Blessings.

I’d like to share this with you since this lovely dzikr (remembrance) says it all for me:

Hasbi rabbi jallallah Ma fi qalbi ghayrullah
My Lord is enough for me, Glory be to Allah
There is nothing in my heart except Allah.

Enjoy your Gift from The Almighty :-)

Of Reunions and Reflections

These past few weeks since mid October there has been a series of reunions with my ex schoolmates of Sekolah Sultan Mahmud Kuala Terengganu (or fondly known as SESMA). I managed to attend 2 out of the 3 events and boy it feels good to meet friends you havent seen for 21 years!

The first gathering (October) I went to was hosted by the SESMA sweethearts Karim & Za, in Bukit Jelutong. Imagine they have been an item since Form 2!

SESMA mini gathering at Karim and Za's. From left: Karim, Za, moi, Fadzrul, Anuar

The next one was just last Saturday 8 Nov hosted by Amiza and Azam in Bukit Setiawangsa.

@Amiza's Setiawangsa home. From left:Engku Fadzrul, Zamilah, Abdullah, Amiza, Nuhairi, Amran, TeeJay, moi, Wan Fatimah Azdee, Zunaini, Norhasmani, Hasliza, Adini

21 years of catching up in a few hours. Of course it wasnt enough.

We were laughing at how each of us has turned out... the guys now have receding hairlines, double chins and bellies, the girls have put on weight too. No wait, that's just me. Hahahaha! Seriously the girls have blossomed into luverly ladies.

For me it was a time to reflect on my life.

A lot has happened between SPM 1987 and 2008, and some of the milestones in my life aren't something to be proud of. Sure we make mistakes, we face the ups and down in life. We pick ourselves up after a failure. Some friends are fortunate not to make stupid mistakes, some are unlucky to learn the hard way (yup folks that's me).

But that's life. All we have to do is to accept and be grateful for who we are, strive to improve ourselves, submit to Him and keep looking forward coz if you keep turning back, you will miss fantastic opportunities lying ahead of you.

I watched a good episode of Oprah a few weeks ago, Oprah was talking to the author of the best-selling book "Eat Love Pray", Elizabeth Gilbert. The book is about Elizabeth's struggles in healing herself from post divorce depression.

What I remember most about the interview was when she told Oprah about her Indonesian Guru. He challenged her to smile. Not just slap a smile on her face, but to smile inside out till she could get her liver to smile! I said to myself "Whoa! That's hard". That takes a while. You can always fake a smile but there's no way you can make your insides smile unless you mean it.

I'm still trying to make my insides smile when I'm down in the dumps. It takes practice, I tell ya.

What I'm saying here is that although you went through the fire and storm, you must be strong enough to pick yourself up, SMILE INSIDE OUT, LET GO of the past and keep moving FORWARD. You decide how you want to go about things. No one else does it for you. This serves as a reminder to myself too.

So folks. Take some time alone to FEEL GOOD about yourself, SMILE INSIDE OUT and keep moving FORWARD. Remembering Him helps! :-)

Photo credits : Karim TheBlueTie and Engku Fadzrul. Thanks guys!

Clearing the mess

No this is not my desk

We have to clean our desks soon cos people of "the law" will be making their rounds to issue "messy desk tickets" to offenders this Wednesday.

Aiyah that reminds me of my mess at home!

Thank God there's no mess police coming to visit.. at least not till my mother comes over!

"Laptopmu laptopku juga" said the thief

Sham's lappy looks like this. Lebih kurang la

My hubby's Apple lappy got stolen from his car in Kelana Jaya recently. Kesian Sham. I suspect that a pro did this using a laptop battery detector with a some sort of a master remote control to unlock the car.

a lappy batt detector

Do you have any idea how we could avoid our lappies be detected by the thingy? Yes it is very leceh to take the lappy around. Especially when you really have to do quick grocery shopping after work, before getting home (this usually applies to working mommies). Takkan kena hangkut lappy gak? So the leceh one. Since the lappy I'm using is company property I'd better not risk it!

If you have useful tips on avoiding detection, keeping the lappy safe etc, please share them okay..

I love my Li'l Biyan!

Yesterday, my Biyan received Anugerah Kecemerlangan at his school for being the best in his class. Alhamdulillah. Pic: from left- Cikgu Mazdiana (Biyan's class teacher), yours truly, Biyan and Sham.

I certainly didn't expect him to receive any award. He is autistic, you see. And so I've learnt to love the person God has crafted him to be, not to have big expectations and be grateful to be with him each day. Any other mom will be sibuk and worried about how many A's her child gets, but not me. As long as Biyan is happy and eager to learn, I'm happy and contented.

Nevertheless I continue to pray that my Biyan will live a happy and fulfilling life, insya Allah. I hope he will learn about his Creator and to be His servant, possess living skills, being responsible, compassionate and being capable to love and help others. Hope that's not too much for Biyan to handle.

I love my Biyan! :D

TA DAAAA!!!

Yeah it's a matter of time till I start my own blog.
I've been thinking about it and thought "heck why not do it now?".
The blog page design isnt exactly what I fancy but it will do for now until I learn ( and find the time) to tweak the layout and whatnot.
I used to be an extrovert, interesting person. But I have evolved into an introvert person that I am now. The good thing about being introvert is that I'm more observant and patient (though I MUST continuously improve to be even more patient, knowing that I have an extremely short fuse!). I'm not too sure about "interesting" though. Hahaha!
I'll try to update this blog with my observation and my perspective of life -- as often as possible, okay.
Feel free to share your views!