Stuff I Feel Like Eating But Can't At The Moment (Because I Can't Take More Than a Few Spoonfuls Right Now)

1. Steamboat


Tak kirala, Johnny's ke or Ketam Village ke, bring it on.

2. Sup Ekor

I like the soup aje, without the ekor. Ekor tu my hubby usually takes it and I just slurp up the soup. And it can only be from those tomyam stalls tu. Weird, I know but that's the way I like it. heh.

3. Red Velvet Cake


Looks good kan? Never actually tasted it before, but I've heard (and read) people rave about it so I'm really curious. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I'd like to know what this one tastes like.

4. Tom Yam

This one sounds simple but the last time I had really good tomyam was probably 7 to 10 years ago. Nowadays, I dislike every single tomyam I've tasted, so if anyone knows of a really good place to have tomyam, PLEASE let me know.

5. Steamed Fish


I just had some steamed assam fish with hubby and my mom-in-law last week, which was tersangatlah sedap, but you know how it is. Fresh fish at restaurants tend to be pretty pricy. So I'm thinking of making some myself as soon as I get better, which I am hoping will happen by next week.

Tapi of late, since the surgery, I haven't had much of an appetite. Lapar tu lapar. And my tongue siap boleh rasa lagi what's sedap and what's not, but I basically get all muak after a few suaps. Not that it's not good. It's GREAT actually, since I really need to lose those kgs I put on since I got married, tapi tak worth it la to get/cook all those things and not even have the appetite to makan betul2. After all, beside the cake, the rest of the stuff I've listed down are basically healthy food kan? Cuz I'm actually one of the lucky few whose cravings tend to fall under the soupy, healthy category, rarely the fatty stuff. Tapi gemuk jugak, so moot point there. haha.

Oh, and almost lupa.

6. Nasi kukus
Thanks to one of my best friends, I am now seriously curious to know what nasi kukus is like. Macam sedap je. LOL. :p

The End.

P/s: The pictures aren't mine, obviously.

Close-Mindedness

On my way home from a trip with my mom and sisters, my hubby got a call from a friend. He was driving so I picked up. This was how the conversation went:

Friend: Hi, Zurin, (name) here. Is Sai free?

Me: Hey (name), sorry, he's kinda driving atm. Wanna leave a message or something? He can call you back later, if you want.

Friend: Wait, you did the same course in college as him right?

Me: Yeah, what's up?

Friend: Well, a friend of mine is interested in teaching english and she's hoping to get a certification for it. Can you tell me more about your course?

Me: Well, what do you want to know?

Friend: How long it is, what kind of requirements needed, that kinda stuff.

Me: Ok, ermm... If she wants to take TESL that's 4+1 years of studying at a local uni. I'm not sure about private instituti..

Friend: (interrupts) FOUR YEARS?!?!

Me: Ermm.. yeah, it's a normal degree programme so..

Friend: FOUR YEARS JUST FOR A CERT?!?

Me: Like I said, it's a degree, not so much a cer...

Friend: Isn't there like something else she can take which lets her study for a few months and then get the same qualification anyway?

Me: Well, there might be but you're asking about the degree programme, which takes four years, just like any other degree

Friend: YEAH BUT JUST FOR A CERT LIKE THAT ONLY HAVE TO STUDY FOR FOUR YEARS AH?

Needless to say, I seriously felt like punching her in the face many times. So, Since, according to a pot former friend of hubby's, I am a black kettle
passive-agressive bitch, I decided to write about it in my blog a few months later rather than getting my knuckles dirty with her blood and spit.

Well, 'lil miss I've-got-a-degree-in-pharmacy, just because the stuff we learnt in Uni doesn't qualify us into hospitals and clinics does NOT mean that our degree isn't a proper one. It's as much of 'just a cert like that only' as that piece of paper you so proudly display up on your wall.

Don't be so close minded. It makes you look like a total idiot. And it's friggin offensive because I'd like to see YOU do well in that 'ridiculous' four-year course with flying colours since you're so smart.

So many people think that when you take TESL, you learn English all day long. Simple kan? SO easy. Well, I'd hate to be a buzzkill but that's not all that TESL's about. Dealing with meds and chemicals may not be a piece of cake but at least those meds don't throw tanthrums and those chemicals won't make you feel like an idiot when you can't make them understand you.

And do you know why you're stuck in that dinky little room dealing with prescriptions and chemicals all day while WE get trusted with other people's children ALL FRIGGIN DAY LONG?

It's because you're close minded.

Teaching English as a Second Language.

Warning: This post may touch on some sensitive issues, so if you're the kind of person who can't take criticism, you might not want to venture beyond this line.


I suck at teaching. There. I said it. Not to say I don't like doing it. In fact, I love it. I love it when what I'm trying to teach somehow manages to get across all the barriers that seem to stand in between me and the students and enter their level of comprehension. I love that look on their faces when I say something that actually makes sense to them.

But those moments are so few and far between. Most of the time, I feel like I'm talking in a language so foreign to the hopeful (and sometimes bored) faces in front of me that they don't.get.even.a.single.word. That part of teaching makes me uncomfortable. It makes me feel stupid and incompetent. And I hate that part a whole lot more than I love managing to get through to them. I hate that part a lot more than I love the thought of conveying to these people how beautiful the language really is. That's because I want to be good at what I do. My grasp of the language, even if I do say so myself, is above average.

In fact, it's at the level where people take all kinds of liberties to make fun of the fact that I speak (and definitely write) better English than I do my beloved first language, BM. But being really good in something does not mean that you'd be good at teaching it. Not at all.

HOWEVER, I do firmly believe that to be able to teach something, you DO have to be good at it. Let's look at it this way:

Someone who knits beautiful sweaters may not be able to teach someone else HOW to knit properly. She can do, but she can't teach. BUT, someone who sucks at knitting, DEFINITELY can't teach someone else how to knit. Faham tak?

The same principle applies to teaching English. Someone who is very fluent in the language doesn't necessarily make a good English teacher. But a good English teacher definitely has to be fluent in the language.

So I cringe whenever I see educators of the English language make glaring grammatical errors here and there. Sure, it's on facebook or twitter or an online forum or a blog but I believe that standards should be set. Some of these educators have proudly added their students onto their friends list, or followers list or what have you. And they unabashedly make announcements with errors that are so glaring and so basic that my 10 year old cousin could probably detect them. And that's just embarrassing.

I believe that a lot of people will actually think of me as a snob if they read this, but I'm not talking about the general public here. I'm talking about people whose sole purpose in their careers are to teach others how to use the English language. If they can't be good at the language themselves, I believe that they shouldn't be let anywhere near the front of a classroom until they rectify their own glaring shortcomings.

Yes, I know, people make mistakes. I make them ALL the time. Sometimes, I write a status on facebook and then I realise that something's wrong with it. Most of the time, I delete said status, but sometimes, I leave it there. However, I do believe that language teachers should always strive for perfection. After all, when someone becomes a teacher, he or she automatically sets an example to be followed by students.

Honestly, it's all about credibility. Trust me, papers aren't enough. The fact you can wave a piece of degree in someone's face, really doesn't mean a thing if you can't even tell the difference between you're and your, that means and that's mean, and can't even tell that "Are you agree" is not the way to ask someone if they agree with you.

So do yourself, AND your trusting students a favour and go back to those grammar books you had to slog through in school before you make statements that would only ruin your credibility outside of class.

Maybe a lot of people think that the classroom is the only place that language excellence should matter, well, I beg to differ. If you, as a teacher, can't even convince yourself that using the language properly inside and outside of class matters, then how are you supposed to convince your impressionable young students to take you seriously in class? How are you supposed to make them care enough about what you teach to be able to take it out of the classroom context and into the real world?

Think about that.

A Quickie..

1. Im back at home.

2. I seem to be recovering faster than the last one,although

3. The scar(s) look a bit more gruesome this time around

4. I'm under observation for any repercussions

5. I'm extra2 fertile for the next 6 months (ha ha)

6. After 3 days of fluids and tak berapa lalu nak makan, selera tu dah ada sikit but eating solid food kinda makes me feel bloated, so... oh well.

That's it.

edited: Looks like I cannot take solids yet. :(

Holier Than Thou

I don't like people who go around with an all holier than thou attitude. I'm not saying I don't take advice. I realise that religion-wise, there are so many ways that I'm still lacking, and I hope to one day grow as a muslim. I value the advise given by people who do it with the purest intention of helping me become a better person. I believe that there are right and wrong ways to do it, and, sadly, SO many people lack the tact and courtesy of doing it the right way.

If you want to tell me something, tell it to my face. Pull me aside and let me know what I'm doing wrong. Let me know, with the softest and most polite words you can muster, the way it should be. Trust me, I may be tersentap at first, but when I think about it later, I will appreciate what you tried to do and bersyukur that there is someone out there, besides my family members, who cares about me so much that he/she would tegur me that way.

I despise the fact that people are so inclined towards using public channels to preach to someone personally. Joking or serious, doing it this way is annoying and wrong, especially because most of the time, it's embarrassing and hurtful to the person it's intended for.

Statuses on FB seem to be the favourite medium of preaching. Not their own statuses, no. Heaven forbid they'd just post a general status on their own page that would subtly educate the people it's intended for. Usually, these holier than thous target other people's status updates For example, someone I know posts a status about how frustrated he was that he overslept throughout his nap (from noon until 6). Some holier than thou bugger decides it would be amusing to question "mana zohor?". Obviously, the original poster got offended because, si idiot ni failed to read between the lines and grasp the fact that this person was lamenting his mistake of over-napping and missing all the vital things that should have happened in between.

OR, (and this is a HUGE favourite among local holier than thous) someone posts a status about how they're confused and disoriented or rasa tak tenteram, asking their friends for help or suggestions that might help with their problem. the holier than thou will inevitably comment "Sembahyang". How do you know they haven't done it? And why is it necessary to give those one-word answers just like that? Kalau nak bagi nasihat, bagi elok2.

Just imagine it this waylah, imgine FB tu real life. You go up to a friend, you tell her your problems and ask her what she thinks you should do. She looks at you, says "sembahyang." and walks away. Rude tak? Rude kan?

So nak bagi nasihat, tolong la bagi elok2. Languages and common courtesy were invented for these very purposes. If you HAVE to comment on someone's status update with religious words of wisdom, do so in a way that doesn't offend or humiliate them. If you want to tell them to pray to god for guidance, tell them in a way that isn't akin to a slap in the face. If you HAVE to. Alternatively, do it in private. FYI, FB is not just about public wall updates. There is this little thing called the 'inbox'. It's a marvelous little invention on FB's part, where you can, (amazingly) personally preach all you want to someone without it being obvious to every other tom, dick or harry that's on their facebook friends list.

Bukan tak boleh nasihat orang. Boleh. Tapi buat dengan cara yang baik. That's all I'm saying.

My Darlings

These beautiful girls are my sisters. I know they look older than me, but they're actually younger than me. Perasan kan? Biarla, It's not everyday I get to be perasan. Siapa suruh diorang pegi jadi lagi tinggi drpd saya?

Anyway, I digress. I love these two girls sangat sangat sangat. One is pursuing her degree in the east coast, which is as far away as i hope any of them will ever be from me. The other one decided to surprise me one fine day, all finished with SPM, all fabulous and tall and beautiful and not the little annoying baby with pudgy cute little fingers anymore that i used to stare at whenever she was asleep.

Sure, we had our little sibling fights dulu2 sampai baling kotak tissue and pukul2 and "bodoh"s semua, but they're still my bestest ever friends and I sayang them with all my heart. :)

A Special Shout Out

Yesterday, I went to Low Yatt to help a friend buy his new computer. That's not the point of this post.

The point is, whenever some idiot or asshole did something stupid, he'd look at me and say "Zurin, you should blog about it". And whenever HE'D say something silly, he'd look at me and say "Zurin, don't blog about this ah?" as if I blog about everything that happens in my life.

It got to a point that he mentioned my blog so many times, that I decided, he deserves a special entry.

So this shoutout is to Lampi - one of my best, albeit blog-paranoid friends. :)

Happy Lamps? HAHA.

P/S: PLEASE utilise that new customised PC of yours and update your blog a bit more.. Dah bercobweb kot.

A Really Quick One

My husband said: "nanti when we have a baby, I'm thinking of getting a netbook and a USB modem so I can video chat with our baby from work".

I have no idea whether he'll feel the same after having to wake up in the middle of the night to a crying, hungry baby, but for now, sweet tak? I think so. Hehe :)

Dah Nak Kiamat kot.

There are a few reasons why I'm not too fond of reading newspapers nowadays:
1. I couldn't be arsed to know what's going on, politically in the country. Not because I don't give a shit, but because it's all fucked up. It scares me how ignorant some people can be, and it pisses me off too, so I prefer not to know about it.

2. I hate reading about all the assholes who think they can run around and do whatever the hell they like. I hate reading about victimised people and how they can't do anything about their predicament, and I hate reading about the empty promises from certain people that never seem to bear fruit anyway.

That said, there are a lot of things that have happened lately that basically leaves me infuriated and angry at how horrible people can be. Dah nak kiamat agaknya. It's like the concept of compassion is so lost that SO many people think it's alright to commit acts of idiocy and malice to innocent people.

Among those heinous crimes:

1. This was made very public and with good reason: A man broke into a kindergarten in Muar, pepper-sprayed the teacher and bludgeoned three little kids with a hammer while they were having their breakfast. My initial thoughts was that he was crazy. I mean, who would target innocent children? And then I read about how he kept his helmet on and the fact that he brought the pepper spray, which meant that it was all premeditated and extremely well planned enough that no one knows how he looks like.

2. 30 (correct me if I'm wrong) assholes broke into a woman's home while her husband was out performing his Subuh prayer at a masjid and proceeded to gang-rape her. Macam babi? Yes, I think so. Wait, no. I don't think babis gang rape their own kind. 30 people tapi sorang pun takde otak. Or maybe their brains were just located on their other head. I hope they get caught and castrated. Tak pun tolong lah belasah sampai jadi gila. And by belasah, I do mean repeatedly sticking them up the ass to emulate what they collectively did to the poor woman. Different orifice, but way more humiliating and painful i'd say. Biar padan muka.

3. A man forces his wife to have sex with 50 odd strangers (foreigners, no less) and recorded those acts. Why? Because he suffers from erectile dysfunction and needs to see his wife fuck other men in order to satisfy his perverse needs. Guess how old he is? 60-something! Come on la uncle. Dah nak mampus pun still thinking with your other head? tsk. tsk. Dah tua pun tak faham the concept of marriage lagi? When you marry a woman, you don't own her, dumbass. You just won the right to be responsible for her health, confort and well-being. And by those, I don't mean making her have sex with other men and filming it. What are you, retarded?

4. A housewife got drugged and raped while she was job-hunting. She went for an interview with an agent, and then said agent decided that he needed to get laid, with the housewife. He drugs her, brings her over to a hotel and decides to rape her over the course of 11 days. Luckily, as he was taking her to Segambut (presumably to get rid of evidence or possibly to share his conquest with other like-minded friends) a friend spotted her and alerted passers-by, who managed to detain the culprit. Castration, PLEASE.

5. Several girls are lured into houses and whatnot and are gang raped. I read so many of these I can't even count them anymore. Girls, please don't be so naive. You know those guys you read about in fairy tales or watch on tv? Those chivalrous, knights in white armor? They don't exist. And even if they do, you won't meet them through chatrooms or chance. And if you think you just did, despite my warnings, do me a favor and don't go anywhere with them alone. Use those brains of yours.

haih.

Of butchers and hair.

I chopped my hair off yesterday. Or rather, I let my trusted hairdresser cut it off butcher it for me. And then I had a nervous breakdown.

See, I wanted my hair cut short, but I trusted her enough to know the limit according to me face shape, etc, etc. And trust me, usually she DOES. She'd tell me stuff like how she's gonna do it like this or like that, or stay within a certain length because it would suit me better and whatnot. This time around, she showed me a picture and because I liked the shape of the cut, I said yes, knowing, in full confidence, that she would alter it accordingly.

What happened?

1. The final product looked absolutely nothing like the picture, i.e: she chopped my bangs when the cut called for my bangs to be left untouched and the shape was totally different from what I had seen in the picture.

2. She ignored my repeated calls of "I don't want my face to look round" and must've heard something like "PLEASE make my face look as round as you possibly can. The more spherical, the better. Don't spare the roundness!" and thus I looked like a globe from the sides, front AND back.

3. She cut it WAYYYYY too short. And i mean TOO short. Like almost unsalvageable short.

Naturally, like my mom and aunt before me who also made the very same mistake, I panicked, had a nervous breakdown. And instead of the usual gradual getting used to new hair process that usually happens within the same day that one chops their locks off, I had this urge to kill myself whenever I happened to see a mirror.

I called my aunt and she directed me to her usual hairstylist, an Alvin of Peek-A-Boo, the guy who salvaged HER hair chopping mess when she went through it, and I made an appointment right away.

Just as I thought, the first thing he said when I told him of my plight was: It's too short. He refused to make it shorter because it doesn't suit me and instead, suggested a body perm and merely reshaped the style into a less-helmet-like look.

I guess it's too late to do anything about the length now but it's a whole step up better than the walking disaster that I was yesterday.

I'd say it's time for a new butcher hairstylist.

Bye bye Julie, I know you styled my mom's hair and mine for so many years, but this recent fiasco totally broke my trust in you. Hello Alvin.