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Friday, May 26, 2006

No more caterpillars! :(

It's been three days since I last saw any caterpillars on the lime leaves. I'm afraid that they (from the smallest of the small until the medium-sized green caterpillar) have all fallen victim to either birds, wasps/hornets or other caterpillar-eating/killing creatures.

Oh well. It's like revenge of the plants. The periwinkle would have been killed if the juicy caterpillars kept up their eating rampage. It's biological warfare (I mean, control) to the rescue! And here I thought I would finally witness a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. I suppose there will be plenty more caterpillars where they came from.

I wrote an e-mail to Habib Jewels and they replied today. They clarified that I won a pair of diamond earrings set in 18k white-gold. I am certainly happy, but I had visions of loose diamonds in a suitcase, or pouch (just like in the movies!). Well, sorry bro. I don't think I can chip away a little piece to replace your wayward ... chip of a diamond. *evil grin* You know I love ya, right? No, don't answer that! Hehehehe...

I might be in KL for a few days to attend the prize-giving ceremony. Not visiting anyone as the only destinations I'm concentrating on are my uncle's house, Ampang Point and the bus station. I may get an xD Picture card to replace the busted one I have now. :( The one major downside to winning the LS755 - freakingly expensive external memory. If I had a choice in it, I'd have opted for something that uses SD cards. *sigh* RM180 gone for a measley 128MB. Oh, and I also intend to buy myself a Samsung optical mouse, which I am told is around RM20. That's all I intend to get during my trip to KL. Nothing more, nothing less.

Still no news from those A4grabs people. I really hope I haven't been scammed. GRRR! I have half a mind to torch their business (after getting the hamper that I so rightly deserve, of course).

That's all from me. Take care, all!

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

High on a Happy Vibe

I got a call at 1pm from the mystery shopping people. They need more people in KT who have internet access, proficient in English and have time to spare. I really couldn't give them any leads, as all the friends I know (...eh...DS!) are out of state. Have no colleagues either. If there's anybody in KT reading this who meets the above criteria, please leave a comment either in the tagboard (if it's working) or at the end of this post.

At 2pm, I got a call from a representative of Habib Jewels. She said I won a consolation prize in their contest! She told me the details of the prize-giving ceremony and that if I was unable to attend it, then I would have to appoint a representative.

Happy and all, but now I have a dilemma. Sis will be here and I won't have a place to stay. My best friend will be recovering from a long flight back from LA and I seriosuly do not want to impose on her and her family. I can't really appoint a representative because these are diamonds we're talking about.

Yesterday, my mum and I attended the official opening of her friend's bakery. We had samples of her buns and tarts. After an hour, we were approached by an employee of the pet shop where we had parked the car. (We had asked for permission first before parking in front of the pet shop). While waiting for the lorry/truck to move out of the way (our car was blocking their loading area), I poked my fingers into the bunny cage. They were panting in the heat of the afternoon sun. Their fur was soooo soft. Only RM15 for a cute bunny rabbit. *sigh*

It's time for American Idol. I'm off.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Hailstorm aftermath



I noticed the other day, as I looked up from under the Papaya tree, that the leaves bore proof of the hailstorm. So I snapped some. There was one leaf that was hanging for dear life.

Not much damage in our garden. I read that in some areas, houses collapsed and roofs were blown off.

The fat, green caterpillar on the soursop leaf is GONE! Where could it be? Why do I spot caterpillars one day before they go missing? Are the birds checking my blog to see where they are? *grin*

Can't think of anything else to write about. And some people have complained about the length of my entries. Yes, you, Beastie!! =Þ

That's all from me, take care all!

More caterpillars



One day after discovering those three fat caterpillars eating the periwinkle leaves, they disappeared. I'd like to think that they burrowed into the ground before becoming butterflies/moths, and were not bird/wasp food. I also couldn't find the two bigger-sized brown bird-poo-like caterpillars on the lime leaves. I think they got taken by the winged ones. Imagine, they're being eaten alive!

Anyways, after watching and clicking away at these two caterpillars, I focused on these small flowers in the grass, halfway between the lime plant and the chain-link fence. Suddenly...I heard a skritch skritch skritch sound. I turned to look at the soursop plant near the fence and spotted...



Another caterpillar! It was happily munching away at the fresh leaves. I watched it for a few seconds and then I did the inevitable. I blew at it. It raised its head menacingly (just look at those horns! Very Darth Maul-like, minus the red and black face paint and yellow eyes). I blew at it some more, and then...



BAM! Those things that stick out appeared from the front of its head. Not red like the other caterpillar's. (I blew at the young green caterpillar in the first pic above later in the afternoon and it finally stuck out its red thingies - antennas?? I think not!) Anyways, I bugged it a few times and it made a U-turn. Mum called out from the kitchen, saying that it was hot outside. Well, it WAS almost 1pm. As I left the soursop plant, I reminded myself to avoid brushing against leaves and plants in the garden. I don't want little green/brown visitors on any part of my person, and I do not want to get an itchy rash/reaction as a result of accidentally touching them. But on the whole, I am glad I spotted another type of caterpillar in the garden. This will be the third kind spotted in the garden in the past two weeks.

At around 3pm, Mum decided to clear some of the books from the book shelves to make room for more of my brother's books. Yes, Big Bro o' Mine...we don't have any more space. You and sis better be bringing some of your stuff back, now that you're married and live elsewhere. =Þ Had to sacrifice most of the National Geographic magazines (oh, those lovely pix!), as Dad didn't want to part with his Western books. There should be a rule...once you've married, you have to take your stuff with you. While setting aside the good books, Mum found a book on butterflies. It has information on keeping caterpillars too. Hmmm...too bad I can't just uproot the lime plant and place it in a cage. I had been thinking of cutting off part of the lime plant where the pupa will be, but I read in that book that one "has to be careful not to put green material in as this goes mouldy and could kill the pupae in the box." Hmmm, what to do? Dad had earlier laughed at me when he pointed out that I had missed seeing the first butterfly emerging from its chrysalis because that had happened so early in the morning. *pout*

I hope I don't get a reputation as The Caterpillar Lady of my neighbourhood. I never realized I was going to turn out this way. Oh right, it's a preventive measure against possible discovery by certain members of the family who have caterpillar phobias. *grin* Big, fat caterpillars...there should be at least one pic in every post.

There's this diamond contest and I don't know when the results will be out. I'm anxious to know the outcome. I'd like to think that I wrote a good enough slogan (I rhymed!!!). And I wasn't kidding when I told my brother that I would chip off a piece of the winnings and donate it to him since he dropped his ring and the 0.06carat diamond fell out of its base. *evil grin* Well, if I gave him a whole diamond, it wouldn't be fair to his wife, would it? *evil grin* I am so not winning this contest. I am too evil.

That's it from me then. Take care all! Oh yes, I'll leave with a nice flower pic...to show that I don't always take caterpillar pix.


Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Juicy



As I was walking out of the wet kitchen towards the lime bush after lunch, I noticed the tell-tale signs of another caterpillar - little round droppings. I looked closely at the periwinkle plant and true enough, there was one fat, juicy caterpillar. And then I noticed two more caterpillars munching away happily at the periwinkle leaves. Can you spot all three caterpillars in the first pic on the left? I thanked my lucky stars that I never brushed against the plant on the way to the lime plant. Ewww...

Second pic on the right shows a caterpillar in the process of discarding its waste. It's a lovely shade of green and resembles a six-petaled flower. I was at the right place at the right time to shoot such a shot. I had noticed another caterpillar pooping and looked at the one closest to me. As luck would have it, it had made a U-turn and was heading down the stem. I stared at its behind with eagle eyes. And suddenly, it's butt-lips parted and produced the poop in the pic. It can crawl and poop simultaneously! The ultimate in caterpillar coolness. (Yes, in a way I think that these caterpillar pix are my way of deterring my sister from checking this blog if she finds it *evil grin*)



Actually, the third pic on the left preceeded the poop pic. It had reached the end of the plant and was reaching out for the next non-existent br
anch to crawl on. After several seconds of stretching, it made a U-turn. I took a shot which ended up blurry (it was on the lower part of the branch and I couldn't get into position).

Fourth and final pic, I blew at caterpillar #2 and it curled its upper portion to reveal two false eyelets. I have to say that it looks kinda cute curled up like that. I can almost hear it say, "I'm shy!" I also bugged caterpillar #3 by using a dead leaf and poking its side. The immediate area I touched with the leaf flinched/winced, and so I poked it again, but in its lower regions. And that part flinched too. It seems that caterpillars are ticklish. Or maybe they hate being poked in the imaginary ribs (like I do when my real ones are poked).

Well, that's it for today. Maybe more caterpillar pix tomorrow! =)

Take care, all!

On the glass door of a bank

Went to three banks on Monday. The first was to accompany my bro. The second was to withdraw some money from the ATM, and the third was to bank in money into the A4Grabs account for the delivery charges.

There was limited seating at the third bank and my bro opted to stand. When there was less of a crowd and the seat next to me was free, my bro sat there. When Dad arrived after parking the car, my bro stood up to offer his seat, but Dad hesitated...and somebody else decided to sit there instead. Hehehe...he who hesitates misses out on a seat. On the door of this particular bank, are the words, "Authorized Personal Only". I was tempted to tell the teller about this, but when my number was called, some woman (her number was 1*27 while mine was 1*29) was standing in front of me. And the teller guy was all chatty with her *fume*. I figured that I'd let the mistake live on to entertain those who are more observant and aware.

Tuesday. The day was hot and humid...and then the skies turned dark and gray.

I was eagerly awaiting the rain. I could hear the thunder in the distance. Shot a pic of two magpie robins on the electric wires.

It started raining with a vengeance. Wind blowing like it was celebrating its 100th birthday (a lot of candles to blow out). Lightning flashed overhead, like the lightbulb in a photographer's studio. As the rain grew heavier, I decided to open the front door to admire the torrent or raindrops. And then SUDDENLY...

I noticed white bits bouncing off the paved driveway. IT WAS HAILING! In warm, sunny Kuala Terengganu! I couldn't believe my eyes! I started yelling out like I won the lottery, "HailSTONES! HailSTONES!" all the way to the kitchen, where everybody else was. It was around 5:10pm. We could see hail falling on the grass. And then my bro goes off to pick a few, getting hit in the process. It was ice, of course. But we held on to it like it was a remnant of the Gospel of Judas (yeah, yeah...buzzword of the century). *grin* The hailstones ranged in size from pebble-sized to the size of a five-sen coin (premie baby golf ball?). While all this thunder and lightning and hailing was going on, Mum gets this bright idea for me to call the Star (a local newspaper) office to report this weather anomaly. Errr, there's lightning flashing overhead, and I saw that episode of Mythbusters where they tried to recreate lightning to see what happens when you're on the phone and it strikes. Not a pretty sight, let me tell you. Think flames, think burning curtains, think a dead you with a smoldering ear next to the receiver.

And when the rain died down...

I went back to the garden to assess the situation. The bougainvillea bush had fallen over (I hope my cacti haven't been crushed), and a dead durian branch hung precariously on a lower branch. I just HAD to pull it off. Went to the back to check on the caterpillars. Only found two of them.



The bigger of the two seemed fine. The smaller caterpillar seemed like it wasn't having a good day. It was soaked and in a puddle. It must have caught a chill by now. Anyways, apparently the hailstorm was mentioned in the news tonight, but we missed it because we had to send my brother and sister-in-law to the bus station. There'd better be a mention in tomorrow's news.

My bro asked for the url of this blog and he's seen some of the entries. *g* Well, as long as my sister doesn't know about this blog, I should be fine *looks at bro* *grin*

That's all for now. Take care, all!

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Happy Mother's Day!

My brother and sis-in-law arrived at 7am this morning from JB. I was asleep, but was semi-awakened around 8 when my bro came into my room to get something.

Hmm, I was 'busy' the past week. Had a quick meet up with Daftsavant at the Japanese cemetery (was told later that it was not a good idea to do that, hmmph). We felt more at ease communicating via YM. Can you imagine, we said, "I'll chat with you online later." after the usual awkward greetings and hurried home.

Then I was contacted via Skype by Andrew, a Malaysian studying in Singapore. He had bought tickets to Tanah Merah with a friend and decided to hunt down someone from KT to find information two days before his departure. The moral at the beginning of this story is, don't trust maps given out by KTMB. From that map, it appeared that Dabong and Kuala Krai in Kelantan was a short distance away from Kuala Terengganu. As the crow flies, perhaps. But if one to consult a road map, one could see that the only way to Kuala Terengganu would be via Kota Bharu. Andrew and Darren somehow walked to the cemetery just to see me (and give the two bottles of Florida's Natural) and even that was a comedy of errors, which I will not divulge. Let's just say that due to a communication breakdown between my mother and I, she went to get them from the cemetery, and I went to cycle (using a different route) to look for them. At 2-baking hot-p.m. Needless to say, I couldn't find them and decided to return home after 5 minutes of baking, as I had a feeling that mum had brought them home. I was right. And trust mum to not notice the bicycle gone.

When I entered the house, the first thing I said was, "If I get two shades darker, I blame you guys!" And that's when I noticed Andrew wearing a green sarong. He wasn't pulling my leg when he mentioned it over the phone after all. Sorry I couldn't join you guys for dinner, maybe next time. And maybe next time, you'll get bus tickets. Hehehehe.

The results are out at the A4grabs site. I won the Fasio hamper (worth RM500) and a haircut voucher (valid at some hairstylist's in KL). I haven't banked in the delivery charges yet.

I also won a baby-t and keychain in the Channel [V] The Ticket Failure To Launch contest. I usually don't hold much confidence in winning these e-mail contests because of the sheer volume of entries (I assume). I'm winning again. Yaay!

I am extremely hooked on Imogen Heap ever since I heard her on Pandora. If you went to her MySpace page, you can hear four of her songs. My favourite is 'Goodnight and Go'. It's very stalker-like.

Yesterday, I officially became one of three SuperMods (Super Moderator, not Super Model - unfortunately) at the Chip forum. I now have Supa Powers, which include banning people's behinds.

The days are just sweltering. I could just dig up a hole in the garden and make my own pool - if only digging didn't cause me to break into such a sweat. *g*

That's it from me for now. Take care, all!

Saturday, May 06, 2006

I survived!

I woke up at 6:01am, to the raspy singing of Bryan Adams. I set it that way. *yawn* By the time I was done with my daily routine in the loo, it was 6:10am. Heated up Mum's yam cake and tried to ignore the fact that I was using the 3-in-1 Ovaltine that had expired Nov 2005. My parents keep telling me that expiration dates aren't to be taken seriously. (If you suddenly see a news article about me donating my organs, you'll know what I ate as my last meal - something that had expired). Barely two mouthfuls of yam cake and a cautious sip of the Ovaltine, Mum was hovering at the kitchen door. "We're going at 6:30," she reminded me. I looked at the time. It was 6:20am.

Fine. I put the plate of yam cake back into the meatsafe, threw away the Ovaltine - found something grey floating in it and it DID taste a little off. *yawn* One good thing about having my laptop on my bed...I can have a nice 20sec lie-down on my feather pillows whenever I feel like it. *yawn* And by the time I was out of the door, it was 6:40am.
We used the shortcut, passing the hospital quarters and crowing roosters. I don't know why Mum didn't want to use the zebra crossing in front of the hospital, so we jaywalked to get to the beach. I opted to walk to the beach instead of the jogging track. I hoped to get a nice shot of the sunrise. Of course, with my luck, there will ALWAYS be a huge cloud in the way. It's ALWAYS like that! Grrr. *yawn* (these are real-time yawns). In the distance, I could see heavy rain (none of which arrived here). *yawn* Met a couple and made small talk in front of the A&W. Digi had something on and there were many little white- and yellow-roofed tents. Alas, the event was to begin at 10am. There was an inflatable climbing thingy (with ropes), and an inflatable jousting platform...it would have been fun, but the event ended at 1pm, so I couldn't go.

We walked around the jogging track that encircled the former MSAM2006 site, and then headed for the other jogging track. I said, "HUH? I thought we walked enough! We only start walking HERE?" Ugh...I am not a morning person, especially with two mouthfuls of yam cake and two small sips of poisoned Ovaltine.

So Mum banished me to one of the empty benches. I watched other people exercising. And then I looked up. No, I didn't see a UFO. I saw a cloud that looked like a face in profile. Bushy eyebrows, jutting nose, maybe a moustache, and a small chin. Maybe I just have an active imagination. =)

Speaking of UFOs, I was thinking that if a UFO has been identified as a UFO, would it then be an identified flying object? Yeah, that was the Ovaltine talking. *yawn* The idea came to me after the newspaper report in the New Straits Times yesterday of an alleged UFO caught on camera by a tourist in Penang. Report here. I don't know how long the item will be there, so best check it out now. On one hand, I don't think a tourist (who declined to be identified) would have time to procure a copy of PhotoShop to UFO-ize the photo. On the other hand...is it a coincidence that the hotel Public Relations officer's surname is 'Scully'? Where's Mulder? *eg* So yeah, my taking that sunrise-hidden-by-clouds pix was also an attempt at capturing some UFO of my own. But I guess the aliens are just day-trippers. A quick whizz by Penang and Malaysia is crossed out of the list of countries to visit. Maybe the aliens should have taken the time to answer the Tour-sm Malaysia survey.

Noticed a group of senior citizens yakking away in some Chinese dialect. Mum identified them as the 'swinging' group. No, it's not what you think. They swing their arms (I think) to exercise. Or I could be wrong and they swing that way too. *evil grin*

Saw Mum walking several rounds with another woman. Waited...felt tummy starting to growl (my inner Tiger). Waited some more. Felt sleepy. I've had gastric problems in the past, and I wasn't going to wait until I had unbearable stomach pains before looking for her. I walked towards her and her friend and said that I was getting hungry. The 'auntie' commented that I was thin and didn't have to exercise (yaay! Some logic at last! I know, she's one of those people with the incorrect assumption that if you're skinny, you don't need to exercise - but I LIKE her). So we started walking back. We crossed the road in front of the Istana Nur Nadhirah and I found some lovely flowers to snap at.

We arrived home at 8:50am. I ate the rest of the yam cake and drank some cold water and I was in bed by 9:20am. I was awakened for lunch at 12:50pm. Had lunch, transferred my photos and here I am now.

*yawn* What should I do now? Hmmm...Zzzz...I don't think I will be invited back for early morning exercises any time soon. *evil grin* *yawn* Excuse me for my incessant yawning. I didn't sleep much last night. Tossing and turning was the main activity between 1am and 6:01am (hmm, I suppose that is already a form of exercise!). I should have just stayed awake until 6am.

That's it from me. Take care all!

Posted by Picasa

Friday, May 05, 2006

The Tourism Malaysia Survey

Two nights ago, I discovered this link at the Tour-sm Malaysia site. It's tough to ignore something that says, 'Win an Apple iPod!'. Anyways, to my disappointment, I found that Malaysians or those who haven't travelled in over five years are not eligible. Or maybe I just picked the wrong occupation to have.

So what did I do? I voluntarily 'assisted' an online friend to answer this survey. Some of the survey questions are listed below. Sometimes I wonder what Tour-sm Malaysia are doing. Are they trying to sell the fact that Malaysia is not popular with the tourists?


Which of these destinations do you think is a great place to go shopping? Please select all the destinations you think this statement applies to.
Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, None.

And which do you think has great beaches? Please select all the destinations you think this statement applies to.
Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, None.

And which do you think is a great destination for diving and other water sports? Please select all the destinations you think this statement applies to.
Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, None.

And which do you think has friendly people? Please select all the destinations you think this statement applies to.
Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, None.

And which do you think has very good cuisine? Please select all the destinations you think this statement applies to.
Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, None.

And which do you think has great night time entertainment? Please select all the destinations you think this statement applies to.
Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, None.

(the one that takes the cake)
And which do you think isn't overrun with a lot of other tourists? Please select all the destinations you think this statement applies to.
Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, None.


Hmmm, server seems to be down now. No matter, when it's up again, I'll share some of the other questions and one of my best answers yet. *eg*

So, is it just me who gets the wrong impression from the last question? One would have to think hard about it, as we all know how overrun with tourists the other countries are. Why couldn't they just say, "Which country do you think still remains undiscovered by tourists?" Then again, with those Malaysia, Truly Asia ads on CNN...the real answer should be 'None'. *eg*

Update: It was my streamyx acting up. Let's continue with the survey!

Note: If you say you're from 'Kuwait', Malaysia is top of the list. If you're from Australia, it's Singapore, and if you're from the US, it's the Philippines taking the top honour.


Thinking about Malaysia, what should Malaysia do to make it a more appealing leisure vacation destination?
Find Bigfoot (and yes, that was my answer on behalf of my friend. Bye-bye iPod!)

Imagine that you were the head of tourism promotion in Malaysia. From what you know about Malaysia and other destinations in South East Asia, how would you best promote Malaysia compared to those destinations?
(gee, maybe if you paid me, I'd tell).


The rest of the questions after that were more personal (marital status, salary). That's it from me. Take care all!

p/s: I hope I don't get busted for doing this. *grin* Maybe I should misspell Tour-sm M'sia. Hehehe.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

The day of immense inner rage

Maybe my mum took a placebo instead of her usual HRT tablet. Maybe something else set her off yesterday. Why the 'Maybe's? Well, I earned an earful just because I left the sandwich maker out the previous night. When I was just done with it, it was really hot. So I left it open to cool down and switched it off. When I was done eating my bread-butter-kaya, I promptly washed the plate and cup and put them aside where they usually go. Now, the sandwich maker is behind me. My line of sight is, sink, wall, door out of the kitchen. It's not that difficult to overlook it. And to put it away is really just three steps and push it between the microwave oven and the convection oven. No ladders, ropes or pulleys were needed in this operation. Mum lamented that it was the SECOND time I did such a crime. For one thing, she never mentioned my first offense. Had she done so, I would have been extra sure that I wouldn't do it again. And by the way, I've used this sandwich maker more than eight times. I told her that I tend to be a little forgetful and she accused me of not being thoughtful. And I shot back, saying that yes, I really enjoyed her nagging me and do this for my pleasure. That kept her quiet.

And Dad...wasn't really any concern of his, and I don't know why I tried to explain. What did I get from him? "Enough! I don't want to hear any of your excuses!" That REALLY got my inner Tiger-Leo steaming. So fine, I stopped talking and ate my lunch (I had it away from the table, in front of the TV). Mid-way through my lunch, I'd leave to go get a tissue in my parents' room. That's when the rash thoughts came to mind.

"Don't want to hear any excuses, eh? I'll show them! I'll...I'll cut my tongue!" And then I thought of possible cutting implements. Razor? A pair of scissors?

And then I thought some more. All that blood in my mouth seemed like a bad idea. And not being able to enjoy food for awhile (if a mouth ulcer is bad...imagine a cut tongue! Ouch!), well...that was torture in itself.

What if I made myself deaf by putting on my music at full volume? I wouldn't have to hear any nagging again. And then I thought about my CD collection, and my buying that MP3 player at the PC Fair. I wouldn't be able to listen to music! Or even watch Prison Break! Horrors!

Well, it looks like I won't be doing any harm to myself (or my organs). Best to inflict harm on others. Just kidding...I'm not like one of those crazy Japanese kids who got nuts and bludgeon their parents/grandparents to death as a result of excessive nagging. No offense to any Japanese who might stray here via PhotoFriday or Interfacelift.

I found a few interesting sites/blogs while googling for my street. One is devnullnikita and the other is Kecek-kecek. I like the bits in Kecek-Kecek where the blogger reminisces about the old Kuala Terengganu, when roads didn't have names of Sultans.

It occurred to me that if I left my url while leaving comments, I'd better have something interesting to write. *grin*

The Star Mother's Day contest is over. Will I not win again, as I did last year? Only time will tell. I'd be happy just getting the RM500 consolation prize (to be given to Mum in her quest to buy a good mattress after 30 years). It's not really a mattress anymore, more like a lump. *grin*

That it from me for now. Take care all!

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

The butterfly has flown

I checked the pupa just before lunchtime and as I looked down, I saw that it had changed in colour. I squatted down to realize that the butterfly had left its chrysalis. Awww...I bet that if I had checked on it at 6am, I would have found it with crumpled wings.

It wasn't until I detached the two silky strands and tugged at the bottom of the chrysalis that I realized there was a brown liquid oozing out. I left it and had lunch.

After lunch, I referred to the big butterfly book we have. It stated that during this pupal stage, it doesn't drink or eat and due to the outer layer, it can't get rid of its bodily wastes. Yup, I'm sure that butterfly had a nice time expelling its waste as it got out of its chrysalis. Ewww. I think that butterfly was the first one to ever make it to adulthood. I've never seen a single chrysalis before this one. And the next time I see one, I'm going to isolate the chrysalis. Or just wake up early. It took nine days for it to change from pupa to adult. I'll be ready next time. The book also stated that a butterfly lives between 25 and 30 days. If it doesn't get eaten by a bird or a gecko first.

Okay, quiz time.


You Are a Powdered Devil's Food Donut

A total sweetheart on the outside, you love to fool people with your innocent image.
On the inside you're a little darker, richer, and more complex.
You're a hedonist who demands more than one pleasure at a time.
Decadent and daring, you test the limits of human indulgence.



This is SO true! Hehehehe...and so is this next one.


What Your Sleeping Position Says

You are calm and rational.
You are also giving and kind - a great friend.
You are easy going and trusting.
However, you are too sensible to fall for mind games.



Hmmm, more mild that wild? Maybe I need a name change from Tigrrr to Tig-Zzzz. Hehehe. But hey...at least I'm still attractive. Teeheehee.


You Are More Mild Than Wild

You're confident, and you really aren't concerned with how "hot" you are.
Other people's ideas of what's sexy don't concern you. And this is exactly what makes you attractive.


You Are Not a Cook

You know cooking isn't for you, and you wouldn't even consider trying to make a homecooked meal.
And this is a very good thing. You've saved all your friends and family from unintentional food poisoning!


So, so true. Unfortunately. Well, if I had utensils of my own and didn't have somebody to remind me that I was doing everything wrong...I would have turned out differently. *grin* That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :Þ

That's it for now. Take care all!

Famous


They say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. This burberry plaid pattern is from a cheap cd holder. I only chose this pattern because the other patterns and colours were ghastly. I've submitted this for the PhotoFriday challenge. The theme this week is 'Famous' and who doesnt know the Burberry plaid? I remember years ago, before Burberry was known in Malaysia, seeing this ubiquitous pattern in the American mazagine ads at the library. I kept thinking, "Why is this pattern haunting me? It's everywhere!" Because it's famous, that's why! :)
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Brief recap

The days just whizz by, especially when they're swelteringly hot. Let's see what happened.

I touched the pupa, it wasn't soft. It didn't wriggle either, but I wasn't intent on examining it in detail. It's still there, attached to the stem of the lime plant. I think it's getting darker now. I wonder how long the metamorphosis takes.

The 'Minggu Saham Amanah Malaysia 2006' ended and according to the news reports, the response was overwhelming. They predicted 200,000 visitors and they registered over 250,000 visitors (that's counting me and mum going three times), but I didn't register the last time. Mum handed me her id card and I thought it was mine (not thinking straight). No wonder the girl looked at me funny when I handed that card to her. Yet she said nothing. Imagine if people didn't register...there could be more visitors. To emphasize the scale of this response, I looked up the population of Kuala Terengganu online (2005 figures: 262,340 people), so imagine almost the whole of Kuala Terengganu converging at Pantai Batu Buruk. Imagine trampled grasses, chaotic traffic and parking.

And I got a blender to show for it. =) I looked online, at the Pensonic site. It's a nightmare. The links don't work on the page after the entry page. Here's the blender page. My blender is the only one with the dual jugs. (PB-325 DJ).

I got my Donor card in the mail the other day. Wasn't laminated or embossed. Just a plain printed card where I had to fill in my full name, date, signature and mark what I intended to donate. The card is similar to those free printed calendars meant for wallets, as thin and flimsy. I'll scan/take a pic one of these days.

In other news, the games at all4grabs (Season 6) have ended. It all depends on the management what prize they want to offer me. What a letdown. The only game I ever played was Puzzler. I was only tops in the other two games because of the referral points. I couldn't care less about those (2-month gym membership and RM60 haircut), second for the Xtion Paintball UFO shootout (voucher for three people).

I guess we shall have to wait and see. I don't intend to play anymore because I'm supposed to give a chance to the other players, and I don't like the fact that there are cheaters. And it's not fair if the prize I really want isn't given to me because I won other games. Why give me something I can't use? I will happily pass those other prizes to the other players. Grrr.

That's enough ranting from me for now. Oh, and I updated the post about the Online Chat With Ian Wright as well. Don't forget to check that and follow the link to the full chat transcript.

Take care, all! *Hmmm, was this a brief recap?