White Rabbit Candy Follies

White Rabbit Candy hasn't been in my vocab or in my mouth (literally) for many, many years. As a kid, I did enjoy several pieces of these milky candies.

Lately this candy was also dragged into the tainted Made in China goods hullabaloo. Yup, the formaldehyde incident. Philippines says aye; Singapore & Hong Kong say nay. So, is this just a random thing or should we just stay away altogether? I would opt the latter.

Made in China products is the black sheep of all things consumable at the moment. With the recent revelation of "special" ingredients in their seafood, toothpaste, cough syrup, meat@cardboard substitute in steamed buns and substandard tires, the negative list seems endless. It's one horrifying discovery after another each day.

The latest folly about White Rabbit Candy isn't the only thing that needs to be rectified. I checked out the White Rabbit Candy website after the formaldehyde incident was made public.
As expected the site is full of rigmaroles. However, their penchant for using deep words is really perplexing. Can't they just say that the candy is delicious instead of "larruping"?! Larruping, I suppose is acceptable but very Mid-Western for something delicious. Unfortunately, larruping also means to thrash or flog the living daylights out of somebody. Maybe with the formaldehyde?! :) And, why not edible rice wrapping instead of "velamen" which is way too scientific and botanical for such a simple candy. Hmm...and to say that White Rabbit is very hot in USA??? *roll on the floor laughter* An overstatement indeed. Although some WalgWal-Mart stores do carry this candy, I've yet to see it at my neighborhood Wal-Mart.

Pretty Itchy Flip Flops from Victoria's Secret

I was offered a pair of free VS Pink flip flops recently. Flip flops are great for summer and the color is very feminine, don't ya think??? So, I went to the mall last Saturday and got it. I wore in on Sunday and D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R..! I've developed a "V" shaped rash on both my poor feet! Yeah, there's something in that plastic strap which I am allergic to.

I've stop wearing them because there's no gain itching in the name of beauty. Beauty in this case ceases to exist because my feet are red with stripey lumps! How ugly is that?!

The thing is, what am I to do with these flip flops now? They're still so new and pretty but I think they'll have to go to the charity bin soon. *sigh*

Vacation! Vacation!

Slight change in our year-end plans for Canada. We've moved Montreal up to Labor Day weekend; thus leaving November solely for the Toronto wedding. Yipee! Montreal here we come! Figured we might as well do it towards the end of summer before cold weather takes over. September is just nice with temps hovering around the 60s (F that is, or 20s for C) and lows of around 40s (about 10C); which makes it great for long walks around the City with minimal layering of clothes.


We're booked up at a reasonable hotel at the Latin Quarter so it should be interesting. I'll need to learn a few simple French phrases and words but I hope Montrealians? Montrealites the locals are friendly and accommodating enough to speak English instead. I know gay Paris isn't that tourist/English friendly but that's another whole challenge next time.

We'll be driving to Montreal from New Jersey. My trusty Mapquest is all mapped out and it should take us about 6 hours. Our ETD will be early as usual as we like to take it easy on the road; making extra time for the necessary "pit-stops" and terroristic customs & immigration checks at the US/Canadian border.

Can't wait!

Countdown to Montreal

Bella Updates

It's winter down under. Bella's Mom sent me these pictures of her recently. She's a cutie who loves a cuddle or two.

Sleeping Bella is an angel,

So calm, so peaceful, so lovable,

And snuggly sweet like a sugared pretzel!

Looking at Bella just chased my cares away :) I hope she did yours too.

We're one of the millions that contributed to Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix's box office collection last weekend. Adrian has excruciatingly forgone Transformers over wizardry, so thank you dear. Not as suspenseful as the previous installments but more grown up and emotionally engaging as expected.

These days the internet is overloaded with rumors of ...The Deathly Hallows leaks and possible endings to the Potter saga. Only a few days left to the book release and soon we'll know if hacker "Gabriel" is for real or just a load of bologna. I'm inclined towards the latter.

My local library is also on the bandwagon. There will be a Harry Potter Party this Friday night. Kids are told to come as their favorite HP character and wait till 12.01 a.m. Saturday to pick up their pre-ordered books. Unfortunately, I am 20 years too late for such things. Plus, images of a certain Asian man crushing some poor kid over a Happy Meal trinket just flashed through my mind. *shudders*

I believe humans are curious by nature. Young or old, we're all just as eager to find out if Harry lives or dies in the end. No matter what the future holds for Harry, I'll still watch the last two films. Yes, my HP closure. It's very important.

Butt of the Joke

John Revolta Travolta is really bugging me these days, as a woman called Edna Turnblad in the movie version of Hairspray. This is not a movie I would pay $7.25 to see. No offense to the rest of the brilliant cast but lately, all the attention on Travolta as Turnblad is sending me into a hurl-fest. His BFF Oprah Winfrey naturally thought this is a great achievement. Heck, she even dedicated the entire Oprah Show to Hairspray; with her spending 30 minutes nit-picking Travolta's brains. Excuse me while I go hurl in the bathroom again.

Eeeeew...

Photo source: USA Today who borrowed it from New Line Cinemas

Bottom line is: Not all men are made for drag. Dame Edna Everage, we had to put up with for such a long, long time already. However, Dame Edna has a funny, witty demeanor hence her "Hi possums" persona is bearable to likable, to say the least.

Do we really need another he/she? Here's a split photo of Travolta before and after. Not much of a difference in my opinion.

Photo source: ETOnline

Even more unbelievable how Travolta during an interview with Entertainment Tonight, insisted that he isn't playing a drag-like character and that he is really trying to convince you & I that he IS a ... WOMAN!

Now, tell me. Do you honestly think that he could pass for a woman? *tsk, tsk* I say he needs to go to Thailand for Lesson 101.

Rant, rant!

I hate to say this but it's time to rant. Even though I am thousands of miles away, I still like to know what's going on with the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) 2007; which by the way is happening this coming weekend.


Imagine how I felt when I saw this headline on Borneo Post online. Ashamed for the organizer. I wouldn't even call it a snag. Snag is so tame. Like they're playing down the situation.

News source: BP Online with scribblings of an irate reader, sorry!

The CEO's pooh-pah, lackadaisical attitude that "hopefully, it'll be better next year" is downright ridiculous. Clearly, Ms. Geikie isn't familiar with the term "once bitten twice shy" or "first impressions, last impressions". Would you come back to a place that turned you away?! Would you want to be slapped in the face twice?! D-uh!

I just have to say something about Sarawak Tourism Board (STB). They're getting complacent with dire consequences for the much beloved RWMF. Instead of continuous improvement, they're practicing continuous degeneration.

For starters...
This festival has been going on for the past 10 years. Each time, with supposed major success and more attendees. Yippee, so we're proud about it and all. And then..?!! Why on earth is Damai Lagoon, a Holiday Inn chain of hotel near the festival site totally closed for refurbishment during this busy yet crucial period? I heard something about cash flow problems but that's NOT GOOD enough. What were they thinking? Business sense: zero. Lost of revenue: priceless. *with sarcasm*

Unbelievable...
Racial discrimination towards the local attendees & other Malaysians who have booked the hotels for this event. My girlfriends never missed the opportunity to go to the RWMF. Lately, one of them received a funny phone call from Holiday Inn because they wanted to know her personal profile i.e. nationality and race. Okayyy! Fortunately for my smart friend, she could smell a rat and knew that the 3 star hotel was trying to bump her off to make room for international travelers. No offense to the overseas visitors but how would you feel if someone cut you off and pushed you to the curb? Anyway, she refused to answer that absurd question and kept the room that she booked since last year. For standing her ground: two thumbs up!

This is something else I learned from my friends back home.

1. If you booked your room on the web and if your name sounds Caucasian the they would do anything to accommodate your request(s) or at least put you in one of those above-average hotels within the City's golden triangle area. A girlfriend of mine is, should I say, "lucky" to have such a name so she got a good alternate deal.
2. If you're Malaysian, you will be relegated to a 2 star or lesser abode somewhere at the edge of the City.
   

What customer service?
"Service with a smile" is Holiday Inn's catch-phrase but sometimes a smile just isn't enough. Sorry but this isn't the Mary Tyler Moore Show. To avoid traffic congestion, this sod-off hotel offered a bus shuttle service from Kuching but the bus only drops passengers off at the Sarawak Cultural Village (RWMF site). What if you've booked to stay for the weekend at their sister hotel at Holiday Inn - Damai Beach? Too bad, you have to drag your bags from the Cultural Village, over the steep hill to your hotel and then, check-in. *pant, pant*

Adding salt to the wound, they also conveniently neglected to inform my dear friends that they had to collect a special car sticker in order to get through the gate.

Hotel employee (in a casual matter): Eh??? I didn't tell you about the sticker?
My anxious girlfriend: #@!^*

I don't blame her for being so riled up. Who wouldn't?! *sigh* Still, my gal pals are off to the RWMF this weekend and somehow, I know this isn't the end of the story. I just wish them all the luck dealing with them retards.

But, dealing with those incompetent hotel staff could be advantageous sometimes. When the RWMF was in its 2nd. or 3rd. year, my girlfriends & I helped ourselves to a free buffet breakfast because the hotel we stayed in was short-staffed. Yeah, short-staffed on the busiest weekend of the year. After calling out many times for the check without success (the waiter saw us but didn't even bother coming), we left the restaurant in anger but with full-bellies. Tit for tat, I say!

Before I BLog-Off...

RWMF is a precious event that generates a lot of positive attention along with other economic benefits for Kuching City & her people. However, STB and the Tourism Ministry must tighten their grip on the hoteliers to ensure a comfortable and guaranteed stay for all visitors regardless of their skin color. And please, franchise the RWMF for business acumen sake before more States come in and steal your thunder! Unbelievably lackadaisical yet snooty attitude of STB. What about staying a couple of steps ahead of your competitors?!

Fire at Chin & Sons, Rock Road (Cont.)


Last Saturday (7/7/07), I wrote about a fire at my neighbor's showroom/house. Today, I received an e-mail from Albert who was kind enough to send me a photo to complete the post. Thanks very much. I really appreciate it.


I believe the fire was in its intermediate stage when this photo was taken. Albert, please correct me if I'm wrong. My friend who lives 8 minutes away from my parents' place said that all she saw later that evening was a blackened building and only the ground floor was relatively ok. My Mom said that the back portion (store/workshop) area is completely gone. It's really sad to hear about it.

The only damaged to our part was the area nearest to the fence. A partially brown & very dehydrated langsat (Lansium domesticum Corr.) tree, a medium sized tree (voluntary chopped down by my Dad for safety reasons) and a Rose of Sharon tree bush. Of course, this is nothing compared to the emotional trauma that my neighbors went through as well as the precious items and documents lost during the blaze.

We're thankful that nobody was hurt in this fire. We can always rebuild a damaged building but our lives cannot be replaced. So, praise God that everyone is safe.

Your Name?


Name n. A word or words by which an entity is designated and distinguished from others*

What's in a name? Do you like your name? If not, why? Would you ever consider changing your name?

My inspiration for this post lamented that her name is synonymous with old people (thanks to Brit humor exposure). Curious, I googled her name and found some interesting stuff. Long before Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell & Elle McPherson came along, there's Mildred Kornman, one of the world's first supermodels in the fashion industry. She might have used an alias during her modeling days but she is still a Mildred. So there, one who's a famous trend-setter and very easy on the eyes too!

Photo source: Mildred Kornman

According to namestatistics.com, Mildred is the #60 most common female name & there are nearly 400,000 Mildreds living in the United States. Unfortunately, mine didn't even make the list.

Anyway, whatever our names are, be it chic to the ear or exotic to the lips, we'll all grow old one day. So...

Even the beautiful Nicole Kidman must live with Nic (as her obnoxious ex-TC used to call her) when she's old and shriveled as she matures.

It's best to have a name that you can grow old mature gracefully into. An adjective-derived name like mine or some other funky ones just doesn't cut it.

For example:
Kid 1: Is that your Nana?

Kid 2: Yeah, my Nana's Lil' Kim.
Kid 1: Shudn't it be Old Kim, instead???

* As defined in Free Dictionary

Hot Dogs!


I love dachshunds. They're cute, have a lovely temperament around people including children, plus they're good watch dogs.

Earlier today, we went to a dog show just for dachshunds, organized by the Dachshund Club of NJ at Bridgewater. We enjoyed looking at the different breeds, as well as getting to know the local breeders.

The one on the top left was a champion before but didn't compete today. Her "brother" on the top right was a finalist in the adult smooth category. Those pups absolutely melted our hearts. The tan coat in the cage? So precioussss.

More cute dachshunds. The black & tan competed in the puppy category and was in the top three.

Judging began with the junior handlers' category. The wire haired dachshunds were so well-behaved!

Proud owners and their little wieners winners from the various categories. I spotted a shy little fellow who stayed closed to his mommy. Aww..!

It was a heart-melting afternoon with a melting weather to match. Yes, the heat is ON!

Another Fire News from Home!


Just barely a month after the Serian incident, another fire broke out. This time it hit close to home. My home.

My brother called a few hours ago and promptly informed me that my neighbor's showroom/house was razed to the grounds. Only the concrete frames are left standing. My neighbor is in the car business. The blaze started at about 3 p.m. (Malaysian time) and it took the fire department almost 2 hours to completely douse off the flames! What's new, right? This is M'sian public service in action.

My house is ok. Thank God! Fire happened to the right of this photo.

It was a scary moment for my family with a minor explosion from the storage/workshop area and the partial collapsed of the rear concrete roofing. In the midst of the inferno - the structure was three stories high (U.S. definition), my Dad somehow still managed to chop off one tree near the fence in fear of the spreading flames. He said the flames was so hot, he had to ask my brother to spray water all over him. Completely drenched, he continued hacking the tree. Aiya! Sorry no action photos here.

My Mom was busy at the phone as rellies kept on calling our house to ask if they were ok. Then, the door bell rang repeatedly for no apparent reason.

A couple of middle age women (who had nothing better to do!) pressed our door bell furiously and wanted to come into our house to look at the fire at close range. Shiishhh!

Now, what did our parents tell us about opening the door to strangers??? NEVER. So BUZZ OFF, ladies!

The traffic was jammed up on both sides of the road. I could only imagine a sea of cars just like Courts Mammoth's grand opening 6 years ago or a rock concert scene outside my house. My brother said that the water pressure was so weak (as usual). No surprise. I think all houses in Kuching should start digging their own pond since the hydrants are useless!!!

Auspicious or just another day?

Everyone is cashing in on 7-7-07. Numerology is big amongst the Chinese but lately everybody has their own justification about this particular day. All good, of course! It's a good day to get married, go to the casino, buy a couple of lottery tickets, etc.

7 seems to be a lucky number, as far as it's perceived by most Westerners. Chinese people, on the other hand adore the numbers: 8 and 9; as well as other combinations of 3s, 8s and9s.

fh20 saw 7 sampans (boats) and couldn't resist it. Nice photo, btw! Another National Geographic material :)

So what's the big deal to Serenity? Today (7/7/07), Papa (in-law) leaves for Kuching after spending a month plus with us in NJ. His aircraft? Bowling Boeing 777. Hee..hee! Don't forget to pest press the call button if you need any resistance assistance. Enjoy your fright flight! Sorry, I have CS Airlines spill-over effects. I'm sure MAS announcements are comprehensible.

Bon voyage & see you in Kuching. Maybe next year?!

Photo source: Boeing website (www.boeing.com)

Laughter the best medicine

We all need a good laugh once in a while. Sadly, this usually occurs at the expense of others. I always laugh at myself when I'm in an embarrassing fix or when I do something dumb or stupid. Nobody's perfect, right?!

However, nothing cracks me up the most than Mainland China English - be it spoken, written or translated. I do not proclaim to be an English language expert nor an aficionado of the said grammar; and I'll probably land in hot soup with Mainlanders and with those "holier-than-thou" sympathizers for admitting to this.

Today is one of those days. I received the e-mail below this morning.

Come on! Don't tell me you didn't even chuckle???

So, out of curiosity I "googled" China Southern Airlines and the web site (www.cs-air) was "not found". Then, I thought maybe my Firefox browser was acting up and switched to Internet Explorer. Same result!


I chose another link and went into the Skytrax airline forum and read their passengers' reviews. (Hi-light: I like the one whereby one fellow wrote that the pilot nailed the landing sideways and still didn't kill them.) From here, I also learned that China Southern Airlines is China's biggest and "best" airline. As we know, big isn't always good and "best" in China is questionable elsewhere. No offense, but the track record of Chinese imports has been downright scary off late. For a start, the CSA website is down. Based on the reviews, it seems that good customer service on board this airline is just pure luck and the exiting procedure? Pushing & shoving. Hmm...

Blame in on the lame jaw

An update from yesterday's post: true enough, Kobayashi's lock jaw problem was too much of a hindrance and he came in #2 at the Coney Island Nathan's hot-dog championship today.

He lost to a nut.

Joey Chestnut

Happy Birthday America

It's that time of the year again. All day BBQ, 9 p.m. fireworks (Macy's or the one organized by your local borough) and Coney Island's Nathan's hot dog eating competition.



Can he eat or what?!

Is it possible for this pint size Japanese man to win this competition again tomorrow??? He has already won it 6 years in a row. However, he has hit a stumbling block or so. He has what I had 6 years ago that landed me in the hospital ER. A lock jaw. Har..har..har! Sure it's funny come to think of it now. I somehow managed to lock mine after a big harmless yawn.

A case similar to mine except it took 2 doctors at one famous "private hospital" in Kuching to figure out what to do with my stubborn jaw! I was put under GA in the end coz I was in a lot of pain by then. 1 hour in the ER without success. Could have sued them for incompetency.

I still get lock jaw nightmares from time-to-time. Could it be that I'm suffering from lock jaw PTSD? Anyway, the orthodontist I saw later on said that my jaw muscles might be weak or the jaw joint damaged. I'm supposed to do jaw exercises to strengthen its muscles and to re-educate my wayward jaw to close properly but sadly, have neglected it for quite a while. So far, I haven't had any unflattering episodes (touch wood!) but should it happen again I am told to wrap my two index fingers with a towel and push the jaw down further until it re-tracts back, just like a spring! Ever since this unfortunate incident my first-aid code word for this particular emergency is: "tuala" (towel in Malay). *sadness*

Anyway, so much for lock jaw and hot-dogs.

******HAPPY 4th. of JULY******
EVERYONE :)

Remember not to stuff too many wieners in your mouth tomorrow. Hee..hee! What?!

A reunion after 20 years!

Papa had a great reunion with Grand-aunt & her family yesterday. He hasn't seen Grand-aunt since her last visit to Malaysia in the late-80s. They had a great time catching up and it was an afternoon well spent :)

My secret shame revealed: it's time for me to brush up on my Mandarin. Let's just say, I suck at it & I'm truly ashamed. I'm a "banana". Those who are Malaysian will understand this term.

Lovely photos from our family gathering...

Top left: Grand-aunt & Papa
Group photo (top right): Uncle David, Rebecca, Aunt Jane, Sarah, Grand-aunt,
Papa, Me & Adrian
Group photo (bottom): Dinner at Grand Shanghai in Edison, NJ