Today on my ongoing project day, I met with a friend who I have not seen for months and to my surprise there was a little baby in our group. I asked her whose child it was and she said "mine" I thought she was joking 'cos my other two colleagues were claiming the baby to be theirs (they love babies- now nicknamed baby nappers!) After much chatting and my self thought, the baby is indeed my friend's and her husband was there too. This was hilarious cos I did not know she was expecting nevertheless I congratulated her on the arrival of her lovely little bub. Being a silly person as I tend to be, I asked my friend if the baby was a boy or a girl. My colleague who was 'claiming' the baby said to me "he's wearing blue so baby boy la~" I laughed, why didn't I think of that, stereotyped colours; boys wear blue and girls wear pink. My brain probably just thought "yeah the mum can dress her child in any way and coloursshe wants." Silly me.
Her little bub was an angel, throughout the crazy loud noise(his mum, my colleagues and all of us really are LOUD people) he slept peacefully; he's going on two months and his mum says that the noise keeps him at ease because he knows there's people to keep him company and will be upset if its quiet. I was very impressed at what a mother can assess from her child's behaviour even at just a month and a few weeks after his birth. ( I have yet to know, I haven't had any children of my own yet. My lovely nephews, nieces and students receive my doting.) I find the bond between parent and child very intriguing; and speaking of which her little bub already has a list of god mothers to be in line. The lucky baby, I pray that he grows well and be a well to do human being in the future.
And another thing about toddlers, my friend shared this link which I find hilarious. It's about a father trying to convince his daughter that "dad is better than mum" but his child thinks otherwise.
My internet has been terrible so I can't seem to let the embedded link load at all. Here's the link :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWFfDyupGpQ&feature=share
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Entry 11: Children talk
Two days ago, I went to visit an aunt and having some free time my mum and I decided to stay and have a chat. Much to my delight my lovely nephews were there, they live elsewhere but stay with their grandparents at noon because their parents have work. The older one is 3 and a half years old and goes to JIS in the morning, my younger nephew is going on 2 years and will soon be joining his brother in the same school. Now because my nephews don't see me much they were not familiar with me, so it took a while for them to settle with me. Sam*, my younger nephew just woke from his nap and looked at me with a skeptical face thinking " Who is this person?". He stuck close to his care taker and was afraid of me, funny enough in just 20 minutes he was tapping my leg (I was sitting on the carpet with him) and urged me to play with him. The little angel has yet to learn how to talk, but he understands very well what everyone else is talking about.
I think because we were talking out loud, my older nephew Will* woke up from his nap and came downstairs to see us. My uncle then carried down Will's toy truck with huge Lego like bricks.Will took a seat next to me (he hasn't seen me for some time too) assessed me for a bit and then talked to me. I was surprised, I rarely heard him talk even on family gatherings cos he was shy and here he was telling me about "building houses" and tools like his "spanner" and even let me wear his safety hat after I told him how handsome he looked with it. He kept talking about construction and said "make a hole, let the cement dry and then go Boom, boom!" He was so so cute. At only 3 years old he's already showing what he liked to do, possibly from shows of Bob the builder! and I can't help but notice that all the toys designed for boys are of the construction kind. Let's face it : LEGO, Car Wash and service play toys(the one you build on your own) and also Puzzle type toys. Girls tend to have dolls, kitchen sets, cooking sets, and I was surprised when they even have a kid's sewing machine. such stereotyped toys but the kids loved it anyway, its like they already know that's what they would like to do in the future through the nurturing of toys.
I did find it difficult to find what gift to buy for my niece when she was born last year.Baby toys have to be safe in case of choking hazards and I was not fond of soft furry toys in case it might cause allergic reactions from the dust that collects on it. (Babies put everything in their mouths!).
We'll see if I get to design and make baby friend-lier toys in the future.
(* = nick names )
I think because we were talking out loud, my older nephew Will* woke up from his nap and came downstairs to see us. My uncle then carried down Will's toy truck with huge Lego like bricks.Will took a seat next to me (he hasn't seen me for some time too) assessed me for a bit and then talked to me. I was surprised, I rarely heard him talk even on family gatherings cos he was shy and here he was telling me about "building houses" and tools like his "spanner" and even let me wear his safety hat after I told him how handsome he looked with it. He kept talking about construction and said "make a hole, let the cement dry and then go Boom, boom!" He was so so cute. At only 3 years old he's already showing what he liked to do, possibly from shows of Bob the builder! and I can't help but notice that all the toys designed for boys are of the construction kind. Let's face it : LEGO, Car Wash and service play toys(the one you build on your own) and also Puzzle type toys. Girls tend to have dolls, kitchen sets, cooking sets, and I was surprised when they even have a kid's sewing machine. such stereotyped toys but the kids loved it anyway, its like they already know that's what they would like to do in the future through the nurturing of toys.
I did find it difficult to find what gift to buy for my niece when she was born last year.Baby toys have to be safe in case of choking hazards and I was not fond of soft furry toys in case it might cause allergic reactions from the dust that collects on it. (Babies put everything in their mouths!).
We'll see if I get to design and make baby friend-lier toys in the future.
(* = nick names )
Entry 10: Wikipedia Editing
Making a Wikipedia account was not a first for me. I had created one a few year back but could not even log in.I think its dead now. Funny enough for class we get to make one and edit it as part of our coursework! I find this a fun challenge and still awkward to show all my edits, people are judgemental afterall.
I was more than glad to edit our university page and add in more details about our student affairs section. I used two days for data collection and had about an hour and a half to type and sort the fonts, settings and such. Proud of my work, after plenty of edits, I left it be. After finishing the slides and re polishing them up, I decided to check the wiki article I created if there were any edits by other users,so I can edit it on my slides. The most disheartening thing that happened was that my article page was taken down and I was left in a sad state wanting to cry but did not. I continued to read the deletion policies , why it was deleted and everything which made me upset but also a good learning process.( Honestly I think, I've been directed to odd ways to learn things. whichever works as long as it doesn't hurt anybody.)
I am still appealing for my page to be returned . Hope they reply.
I was more than glad to edit our university page and add in more details about our student affairs section. I used two days for data collection and had about an hour and a half to type and sort the fonts, settings and such. Proud of my work, after plenty of edits, I left it be. After finishing the slides and re polishing them up, I decided to check the wiki article I created if there were any edits by other users,so I can edit it on my slides. The most disheartening thing that happened was that my article page was taken down and I was left in a sad state wanting to cry but did not. I continued to read the deletion policies , why it was deleted and everything which made me upset but also a good learning process.( Honestly I think, I've been directed to odd ways to learn things. whichever works as long as it doesn't hurt anybody.)
I am still appealing for my page to be returned . Hope they reply.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Entry 9: Durian,The King of Fruits.
“A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy...” -British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace describing the taste of a durian, 1856
Randomly my parents decided to have durians and satay for a snack. I'm not a fan of the fruit for a number of reasons. It's a 'heaty' fruit, has a strong odour and tastes chemical- ish. Since its out of the blue I decided to have some, true enough it's chemical like flavours don't really appeal to me but it's once in a while so I couldn't bother.
The thing about the king of fruits are really funny. It's a green fruit with spikes. It takes usually abut 7 to 10 years for the plant to bear fruit, with the help of bats to pollinate it. (We have 2 durian trees which are over 10 years of age, I've been pestering for it to be cut down. Some plants apparently try their best to bear fruit when they are threatened. Probably the same way how some people say that your plants and flowers will grow better when you talk to them. It has yet to bear us any fruit. A durian tree is said to be extremely sensitive, once it is planted on the ground, it must not be moved. The roots are very sensitive and the plant will die if it gets moved too much.) When it is ripe the fruit will drop on its own, it can kill you if it falls on your head. The fruit may come in different colours from yellow, white and reddish pink. It ommits a strong smell that is hard to remove, hence it is banned from most places, especially hotels.
Ok that's facts, now with the funny part about them. Here are some traditional remedies passed down from the times of old.After eating durians, the smell may retain on our hands and having too much can make us unwell. Apparently the remains of the fruit (the husks) can help with the problem. Simply use the husk, but not the spiky part use the insides of it and run water from it to wash your hands, this apparently gets rid of the smell.
Resolving the heaty problem: Use a section of the husk and fill the shallow part with some salt and drinking water. By drinking this concoction it removes the 'heati-ness' from eating the durians.
Do you do the same when you eat durians? How do you get rid of the smell Or possibly you dislike the fruit?
Do share your views if you please. I find durians an awfully weird fruit despite growing up knowing what it is. I still wonder why it's the king of fruits and the mangosteen is the queen. Strange, no?
Quote citation: http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Durian
Randomly my parents decided to have durians and satay for a snack. I'm not a fan of the fruit for a number of reasons. It's a 'heaty' fruit, has a strong odour and tastes chemical- ish. Since its out of the blue I decided to have some, true enough it's chemical like flavours don't really appeal to me but it's once in a while so I couldn't bother.
The thing about the king of fruits are really funny. It's a green fruit with spikes. It takes usually abut 7 to 10 years for the plant to bear fruit, with the help of bats to pollinate it. (We have 2 durian trees which are over 10 years of age, I've been pestering for it to be cut down. Some plants apparently try their best to bear fruit when they are threatened. Probably the same way how some people say that your plants and flowers will grow better when you talk to them. It has yet to bear us any fruit. A durian tree is said to be extremely sensitive, once it is planted on the ground, it must not be moved. The roots are very sensitive and the plant will die if it gets moved too much.) When it is ripe the fruit will drop on its own, it can kill you if it falls on your head. The fruit may come in different colours from yellow, white and reddish pink. It ommits a strong smell that is hard to remove, hence it is banned from most places, especially hotels.
Ok that's facts, now with the funny part about them. Here are some traditional remedies passed down from the times of old.After eating durians, the smell may retain on our hands and having too much can make us unwell. Apparently the remains of the fruit (the husks) can help with the problem. Simply use the husk, but not the spiky part use the insides of it and run water from it to wash your hands, this apparently gets rid of the smell.
Resolving the heaty problem: Use a section of the husk and fill the shallow part with some salt and drinking water. By drinking this concoction it removes the 'heati-ness' from eating the durians.
Do you do the same when you eat durians? How do you get rid of the smell Or possibly you dislike the fruit?
Do share your views if you please. I find durians an awfully weird fruit despite growing up knowing what it is. I still wonder why it's the king of fruits and the mangosteen is the queen. Strange, no?
Quote citation: http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Durian
Entry 8: The AMO Times
I was pretty impressed that there was such a news blog the AMO Times for Brunei's youth by Brunei's youth. And many thought Facebook was one of the ultimate newsfeed other than Twitter. Who knew we had such craziness going on in the virtual world. The team are run by Abdul Malik Omar, founder and CEO of the AMO times.
Interested ? You can also join in to make a change. Info below:
Other than that it's nice to see Blogger finally updated their features on publishing.
Interested ? You can also join in to make a change. Info below:
Other than that it's nice to see Blogger finally updated their features on publishing.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Entry 7 : Racism and assumptions
I always hear about Monday blues because its the day after Sunday and everyone has to go to work, school, etc. What I don't get is Saturday night blues, and some people make a big deal of it for not going out and enjoying the night life on a Saturday night. I know else where there are bars and night clubs that I don't know why appease to the public; I don't drink, smoke, gamble and strongly dislike crowded places. Even in Brunei, the night life is quite alright, I'm appreciative of the no alcohol policy - no bars and what not places that lead to trouble.- everyone else just goes to Gadong and crowd at the Mall. Many foreigners complain that Brunei is boring cos it lacks bars, casinos, etc --what they dub as tourism.
This came to light when news about suggesting to make alcohol readily available in our little home country (like when they used to a long time ago) in 2010? My friends had this discussion in our office and were saying the topic is stupid to be even addressed and then realising that I'm the only non-muslim in the room, they quickly apologized to me. And I asked why, just because I'm not Muslim that makes me associated with alcohol and gambling?(a.k.a I can take 'haram' things) A friend then answered that, "Isn't that what Chinese people do?" I did not feel insulted, I agreed with them that allowing such contraband's to be allowed in our country is a bad idea, but I also couldn't help but feel that some of them were daft in the way they see the world. ( Muslims in other countries such as Morocco consume pork and alcohol and own dogs!)It's so judgmental and its the similar way how westerners assume that every Muslim is a terrorist and that pisses everybody off. A wise man once said "We have no choice but to deal with stupid people" even if you wanted to slap him one time or another.
Then I think, racism lead to assumptions of particular groups of people, and people blame one another for bad things that happen- say in an argument with a black and a white man - most would think the white man is innocent but it could be the fact that the black man did no wrong and it is the white man that started the problem.
People always blame those who are weak, of a lower status because they assume with their so called 'higher status" they can get away with things. This occurs a lot in Brunei too, saying how they know this VIP or member of the royal family when its pure bogus. I find these people stupid, suggesting who you know and what threat they can do to you is CORRUPTION and plenty of people don't know this shit.
People are always talking about changing the mind set but when the mind is set for change, they protest citing traditions and whatnots. I apologize but I don't see this as a way for development, if we want something done we many have to step on some toes and probably kiss some asses, because in this world, We can't please everyone.
Such as this story:
"This happened on TAM airlines.
"This happened on TAM airlines.
A 50-something year old white woman arrived at her seat and saw that the passenger next to her was a black man.
Visibly furious, she called the air hostess.
"What's the problem, ma?" the hostess asked her
"Can't you see?" the lady said - "I was given a seat next to a black man. I can't seat here next to him. You have to change my seat"
- "Please, calm down, ma" - said the hostess
"Unfortunately, all the seats are occupied, but I'm still going to check if we have any."
The hostess left and returned some minutes later.
"Madam, as I told you, there isn't any empty seat in this class- economy class.
But I spoke to the captain and he confirmed that there isn't any empty seats in the economy class. We only have seats in the first class."
And before the woman said anything, the hostess continued
"Look, it is unusual for our company to allow a passenger from the economy class change to the first class.
However, given the circumstances, the commandant thinks that it would be a scandal to make a passenger travel sat next to an unpleasant person."
And turning to the black man, the hostess said:
"Which means, Sir, if you would be so nice to pack your handbag, we have reserved you a seat in the first class..."
And all the passengers nearby, who were shocked to see the scene started applauding, some standing on their feet."
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Entry 6: Correct translations
Some colleagues have also mentioned about the word "tegur" in Malay and the problem of translating it in to English. To "tegur" someone may mean to greet (bertegur sapa), to be told off (kena tegur) or even used as ignoring (inda di tegur).
I find it tricky to explain words that may not have an exact meaning in another language. I think it would be like the word "kiasu" (afraid to lose) the word is somehow coined and used as it is. Funny enough I came across this Tagalog word "gigil" which means being irresistable to hug or pinch something incredibly cute; and there is no word in English to describe this particular behaviour!
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