Fish Avenue

Went to meet Christine last Saturday, needed me to take some simple photos of her maternity-wear shop located in Tropicana Medical Centre, and also some "portraits" for her cute little doggie, Fanshih.

I am quite afraid of dogs, but I do love dogs. It's just I'm always worrying that they may bite or claw at me. Mind you, Fanshih is so different! The moment she got in the car, she was like running in between me and Christine, looking out of the window. She is so adorable! That was my first time got so close with dog!!! LOL!

When we got into the house, gosh, she is so hyper-active! She just wouldn't stop running around. Hahaha. Especially when she saw my camera. She's not camera-shy at all, she is just so aware of the camera and sometimes she would just run away from me. Hahaha.

Here are some photos of her. Sorry that there isn't any music for the slideshow, as some of you are aware, the copyright thingy.

Click on the thumbnail to see the photos.

Fanshih

I guess some of you may wonder where has Ashley gone to? I normally blog pretty often, but it's been 4 days I didn't update anything. Friday was a tiring day for me, went to a seminar in Subang, after dinner and all that, I got home around 10pm. Saturday I had an appointment with Christine in Damansara. Sunday I was at home but later in the evening went to Seremban for seafood dinner. And here I am today. (More photos in the next post.)

Early morning of 26th June 2009 (local), a news shocked the whole world, from young to old. Our beloved King of Pop died, of cardiac arrest (heart attack), at the age of 50. It was only few weeks away from his London concerts. How sad......

I am not exaggerating to say myself have been living in the era of MJ. 80's was the prime time for MJ, I've been listening to his songs when I was just a small child. My eldest sister used to listen to him a lot, having to live in such a small room, how could I have missed the songs? :) I still remember 10 years ago, second elder sister bought the HIStory double-cassette album, for fear that the prophecy of MJ was going to die at age of 40 would come true. LOL!

I'm not sure if you guys have heard of his ABC song when he was still in Jackson 5. That was a cute song! "ABC... ... 123... ... you and me... ..." I think I know that song from the Sesame Street. Hahaha.

Earth Song, They Don't Care About Us, You're Not Alone...... All the great songs...... Can you deny his talent? Well, lots of talented artists out there now. But, none of them have ever written such impactful songs. When MJ was singing the Earth Song, I bet the human race would never have imagined our world indeed needed to be saved. Look now, the HOME movie. Why didn't we listen to MJ years ago?

It was sad that at the later years of his life, all the negativities surrounding him. Allegations of child sexual abuse, illnesses, business, bankruptcy...... How much can a man take?

Hitz FM was playing MJ songs for 2 days, 8TV replayed his concerts on Saturday...... For the past 3 days, I was basically surrounding by MJ's voices and faces. Andrew and I were both amazed by his voice and dance moves.

I love the tribute that the 8TV did, the name of Michael Jackson appeared on the screen, followed by his song "You Are Not Alone" with the lyrics.

The movie was GREAT! LOL! It was more disgusting than scary. Most of the time the audience in the cinema laughed instead of screaming. I did scream, "eeeeee... so disgusting!!!"

Vivian was sitting beside me, at one point of time, she was laughing so loud and hysterically. And I couldn't control myself too, I think I beat her arm for few times. Hahahahaha!!! I was basically holding on to my jacket throughout. Hehehe.

Overall, it was good. Though it's funny in some way, it's still something worth to watch. I bet you can't get those scary effect if you watch it at home, those sound effects could really get you in the mood and scare the hell out of you. Hahaha.

Hmm...... Luckily the movie wasn't really that scary. When I got home, I totally forgot about the scary parts and only remember those funny and disgusting ones. :P

Andrew was watching TV, there was a movie on too, "Be Cool", starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Steven Tyler and a few other famous actors and singers. Kind of a cool movie. I dozed off at the end of the movie! 12.30am Andrew came back from his supper, rushed me to shower and sleep! Hahahaha.

Geez... I am so sleepy now......

P/S: Mom is still sick. Dad called me yesterday and I could hear all the worries and concerns in his voice. Sent her to several doctors, even specialist and blood test, all came back with nothing, she is fine. But just that she always feels sick, couldn't eat well and sleep, headache, dizziness...... Sigh...... Going back home again this Saturday. Since Andrew couldn't take leave and next week we're going back to KT, we decided to go back to my hometown on Saturday night. I just want to see mom.

Andrew isn't one that likes to watch scary/horror movie. Okay, I must admit, he was still ok to watch it with me when we just started dating. Now?! HA! The last time I watched a horror movie with him, which is like 2 years ago (I can't remember the name), he slept in the cinema!!! I was all so scared sitting beside him, he was all so deep asleep!!! Ever since then, we do not watch horror movies in cinema. It is occasionally that I'd buy DVDs and watch at home, of course, with his company. Hahaha.

Usually people may get nightmares or can't sleep well after watching horror movies. For me, I dare not to go to shower after watching horror movie. LOL! It all started with the Japanese movie Ju-On (The Grudge). It kind of imprinted in my mind even until now. In fact, I fear that every time after I closed my eyes in the shower, I'd see something else when I reopen my eyes. Hahahaha! Go ahead and laugh. :P

Okay, I'll get scarily-scared every time I watch horror movie, but I still like to watch! Weird. Andrew has said the same thing too, "feel scared yet want to watch".

Tonight, am going to watch Drag Me To Hell with some friends. Nope, Andrew isn't going. Hahaha. He's happy that I could finally stop bugging him.

Hmm... How do I shower later when I got home?? :O

As we now live in the world of cyber, English has become the common language for all. Is English really the easiest language to learn and master? I do not know. The point I want to make here isn't about the universal language barrier, but when I saw some people look down on those who do not speak English well here. Yes, when I said here, I mean here in Malaysia.

I was watching F1 a while ago. When I saw Vettel was giving his speech after he won the race, a wave of thought hit me. Sebastian Vettel is German, Kimi Raikkonen is Icelander, Rubens Barrichello is Brazilian...... English isn't their mother tongue, yet they could achieve so much in their life. Their not-so-well-spoken English can still be understood by the public, and no one ever commented on their English is bad. So, why are we here in Malaysia saying our own people speak bad English and looking down on them?

I have heard people told me that, "that person can't even speak good English! I do not wish to have any further relationship with that person!" The funniest part is, they communicate in Mandarin in their daily life, but they couldn't take it when someone is bad in English yet could communicate flawlessly in Mandarin! What on earth is going on? I seriously do not understand. When you can forgive a foreign friend can't speak good English, but you can't forgive your own friend who speak not-so-well English.

So what if you could speak hell of perfect English but you achieve nothing in life? Just take Vettel. He could probably speak 2 languages, English and German. I could speak 4 languages, English, Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, not forgetting my Hokkien dialect. So what? Vettel is earning millions in a month, me? HA!

In this world, so long as 2 persons can communicate, we do not need perfect language to be spoken.

P/S: I have even seen people looked down on those who are not in the professional field. They live in their own denial life, others may have earned or achieved more than them. But they just simply think that they're the professionals, they're the best. How pathetic and ignorant.

Today went out with a few girl friends. Didn't plan to bring my camera, but what for to keep it at home? Hence I decided to take it with me.

Before we hit KLCC for lunchie and shopping, I went to Cheras with Wan Yi to see the chinese traditional doctor, sin seh. Gosh...... I really need to take good care of my body.

We had KFC for lunch! Hahaha. The new recipe is so spicy! Mel bought something in MNG, but Wan Yi and I didn't get anything. Good for us. Hehehe. 3 of us were window shopping until we got so tired and thirsty. We went to Coffee Bean to rest. (OMG! I couldn't believe that I wrote Starbucks! Thank you Melissa for pointing that out. Haha!)

After KLCC, Wan Yi's husband came to fetch us and we went to Jalan Alor for dinner. Geez, Jalan Alor is definitely not a place for local people to have dinner. It is so commercialised now and it is so expensive. With that kind of price you could easily find other good food in town. The food we had was so-so. However, lunch in Jalan Alor is different. Been there few times for lunch, the price is reasonable and the food is good!

Really gotta thank Wan Yi and her husband, for fetching and sending me home! And the great time! Hahahaha...... I laughed so much the whole night during the dinner!

Why do we need all this Mother's Day and Father's Day? Do we show our love to our parents ONLY on these days? What about the rest of the days?

The same goes to Valentine's Day and all sort of anniversary celebrations. Andrew and I do not have the habit to celebrate on anniversaries and Valentine's Day. To us, we could celebrate our love, well, everyday. Why must we follow the trend and only celebrate on one particular day? Anniversary to us is not important. What's more important is that we love each other more than yesterday. We celebrate when we feel like it. Romantic? I don't think so. To show each other love is a day-to-day thing. It's something that I'd want to do everyday.

I love mom and dad. I do not say "I love you" to them. Guess it's the culture that we don't say it. Hahaha. I'll make sure I'll teach my children how to say it on a daily basis. LOL!

It's Father's Day this coming Sunday, but I ain't going back home. Unfilial? Well, whatever. As long as I know what I'm doing and dad knows. Hahaha.

Taking the 8pm bus later back to hometown. It's been exactly one month since I last went home. I've promised mom to go back this weekend because I've gotta help her with the chinese dumplings, or else she wouldn't want to make it. T__T For the sake of the heavenly "bak zang", I am all willing to "sacrifice" myself. Hahahaha.

I miss my little nephew, especially his cute "i-love-you-you-love-me" phrase. Whenever you ask him to say 'I love you', for sure he would say that phrase altogether. It's a package! LOL! And my niece, she grows so fast! She always looks different every time I see her. As my eldest nephew, he is so thin now, but he's getting more and more handsome. Hahaha.

Geez, I am missing home terribly now.

Reading a friend's blog, and I saw something interesting.

Finding the right guy is just like finding the right pair of shoes. (Thanks for sharing, Vivian)

I find that it is so true. I am sorry if you can't read mandarin. I would not translate them word by word to English eventhough I can do that. I'd just share what I think about it.

When I was in college, I'd always been looking for a good pair of sneakers. I walked a lot. Hence I needed a pair of shoes that could protect my feet. At the same time, I was hoping a knight in his shining armour would come my way, to take good care of me. Funny, isn't it? After reading that article, I looked back and I realised how true it is.

After I graduated from college, stepped into the man-eats-man world. I no longer looked for a pair of sneakers. All I wanted was nice sandals, comfortable yet suitable for work. I still walked a lot as I had to travel via public transport quite some distance to my work place. That time, I've already got my knight in shining armour to protect me. :) Looking back, I now understand I wanted a man that could walk with me for the rest of my life.

Few years ago, I started looking for nice high heels, peep-toe pumps...... Even now. I want to look elegant and glamorous in those pumps and heels. On the other hand, I am always on the lookout for some nice and comfortable walking shoes. It makes me realised that I am now wanting a man that can make me feel good about myself and yet willing to walk on the long road of life with me, comfortably.

I am glad that I have found both the right shoes and right man at the right time. Perhaps they're not the best shoes and man in the world, but they have certainly come at the right time.

A new pair of shoes is just like the man we've just met. I have endured so much pain in wearing those new shoes. After a while, they have become so comfortable that I would not bear to ditch even when they were torn. The same with Andrew. We both have endured so much of highs and lows, I wouldn't want to give that all away just because of some flaws. If I could go through those pains, why can't I go throught it with Andrew? :) Afterall, I made my choice.

I am now aware of how happy I am with my relationship with Andrew. Recently I hardly complain to my friends about him anymore. Of course, there are still moments which I wish he could do better. Well, maybe he is feeling the same about me too. So, why should I be the only one who's complaining and not him?

Why am I feeling this? I've never felt this before. Suddenly I feel so contented with my life and I could not ask for more.

After having some "hard time" with my Crocs, it is now as comfortable as walking on cotton bed.
After going through so much with Andrew, it is now as comfortable as having another pair of Crocs. LOL! :P (Sorry honey, I'm comparing you to a pair of shoes!)

P/S: Now I'm contemplating whether to buy my parents a pair of Crocs. I wonder if they could endure the pain. Hahahahaha. I'm so excited that I'm going home tomorrow night! Mom and dad, here I come! And those chinese dumplings that I'm going to help my mom with! Drools!!!

Andrew and I watched Terminator Salvation about 2 weeks ago. Now only I blog about it, because I've totally forgotten about it. Hahaha. My forgetful self is back. It has gone from bad to worse recently. Within one minute I could have forgotten what I wanted to say or what someone has told me.

Whenever I thought of Terminator, I'd think of Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous line, "I'll be back!" LOL. However since Arnold would not be in this movie anymore, I didn't expect that line to appear in the movie at all. But it did! It was a lil' bit funny to see Christian Bale saying that in a serious face. :)

I'm not a fan of Christian Bale, never really like him in whatever sort of movie. So, this time I was more into the movie than the actors. There is another man in the movie, Sam Worthington, as Marcus Wright. He is more watchable than Christian Bale. Surprisingly I find that he did well in the movie, even better than Bale.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. The only thing I don't quite get it is, Kyle Reese, father of John Connor is younger than John Connor himself! Okay...... I gotta re-watch the previous sequels...... Perhaps he travelled back to the past and fathered John Connor and now he is younger than John Connor. LOL!

Sometimes unawaringly, we compare ourselves to people around us and we whine, complain and sulk that why our life isn't as good as others'.

We see people with our bare eyes, we look at them at the surface. But we hardly know what is going on with his or her life. Someone may appear to us as strong and cheerful, but when no one is looking, he or she could be as miserable as anyone else. I've seen people wearing all branded and stuffs, but do you know that they have a whole lot of debts to bear? I, may come off as rich or maybe earning pretty well. But do you know that I have a lot of debts too waiting to be paid off? I still appear as optimistic and happy, because that's what I want others to see me, instead of a sulking and gloomy-face Ashley. In fact, I am happy. It is only occasionally that I need to rant to let go of those frustrations.

Here is a video that one of my colleagues shared with me some time ago. My tears rolled uncontrollably while I was watching it. If you ever feel like your life is miserable and painful, please think again. At least you're having all the comfort in the world now sitting on a chair and reading my blog.

Please spare some time watching this video, it only takes about 7 minutes of your life to see the life of many suffering souls in this world. You may feel disgusting, but again, that is life. THAT is their life......

Have you seen how the children's eyes sparkle when they got their new toys? Those sparkles, are nothing compared to those eyes in the film.

I am grateful of what I have now.
I am in debt because I can afford to be in debt.
I am still alive today to walk the earth.

Last night, watched this special film on TV. I asked Andrew "what is this?" The film, tells us how we, human, are destroying our very own HOME with our own hands in a pace that we now can't reverse. Oh no, sorry, yes, it says that we can still reverse it, within 10 years that we MUST change the way we live.

10 years...... Do you know how long does it take to grow a tree that is big enough to shade us from the sun? Do you know how long does it take for an iceberg to form? What can we do within such short 10 years? Is the end of the world coming in 10 years time? Now people everywhere are so intensed in fighting the world economic crisis. It's been a long time I have not heard any of the world leaders mentioning about environmental acts.

Look at the weather now. I don't remember it was this hot last year this time. Can you believe that our climate and weather changed so dramatically that we can no longer forecast it?

Please do take the time to watch the film, Home.

It is a good one and it will certainly make you thinking deep what you have done that contributed to this clamatic change. And of course, I bet you will do as much as you can to help to save our Mother Earth, our one and only HOME.

Do it for the sake of your own children, for their future.
Imagine this: to bring your own children to this world just to have them to witness a disaster which the parents brought to them. How sad is that.

Oh well well well...... I have officially ditched my single status for 6 months!!!

Looking back, 6 months isn't a long time. But looking at how time flies, that really got me thinking.

I haven't been a good wife for that past 6 months. LOL! Okay, what would constitute to a good wife? Let's leave that to Andrew to judge and figure. :P I'd rather save some of my brain juice for something else. Hehehe.

I was watching the news on Sunday night, saw that AF447 went missing, couldn't be contacted. First thing came into my mind was, "huh? lost? perhaps somewhere in the air and no signal." I was chatting with a friend on MSN too, told her the news and her reply was "oh no, sure gone de". Before she said that, in fact it never occurred to me that the plane could crash. But came to think of it, for such a big plane (Airbus A330) went missing, what else could it be?

Monday, it was still not found. Hope began to dim. Yesterday, found some debris of the plane floating on the ocean. All hopes are now gone.

Nope, I have no relatives or friends on that plane. But I do feel sad too, tears are in my eyes too. I wonder why, recently I've been quite emotional over the news. I've never felt like this before.

228 lives were lost. 2 and 8 are my favourite numbers...... Yet they've become such unlucky numbers now......

What a sad week......

I must say I'm not a good listener. Most of the times I have to keep reminding myself to listen more instead of talk more. At times I forgot all about it and I talk talk talk...... LOL! It is hard for a talker like me to be a good listener. Being such a talkative person has often got me into problems and troubles. Hahahaha......

Sometimes friends just need a listener to listen to all their problems and complaints. But me being such "Ashley-ness", I'd often add in my own thoughts and advise. That, isn't good. Sometimes they just do not want any of my advices, they simply want me to "shut up and listen for heaven's sake". LOL.

I have done my very best recently to listen. Gosh, it's so hard to hold back my tongue. Hahaha. Sometimes a few words did slip out. However, keeping my "golden words" to myself isn't all that good either as it seems.

People around me has got used to the talkative me, when all of a sudden the noisy-Ashley becomes quiet and listening, all the arrows start pointing at me. Ta-da! I become the bulls-eye then. "Why are you so quiet? Why didn't you say a thing? You're not you anymore. You used to talk a lot. What happened? Don't you like talking to me? You don't like me anymore? Why?" @__@

I am talkative since I was a child. When I was waiting for the school bus to come, I would talk to my mom who was taking the laundry out to sun, or through the window to her room when she was sewing clothes, or when she was sweeping the floor. After school, I'd continue my talking act. My neighbour once said to my mom, "your daughter, why on earth she got so many things to talk? She seriously loves talking." Wuahahahahahaha...... Even now, whenever I go home, I'd talk to my parents till 1am, about everything that happened in KL! Hehehe. :P

The best listener I've ever met is, ANDREW!!! Hahahaha. He is really good at listening to your problems. He would not give you advice, but he would definitely say something that makes sense that you think it is silly to whine and complain. Haha. Talking to him is like a dose of lift-me-up.

But guess what, sometimes I talk too much and he doesn't talk enough. He knows everything about me, but I know very little of what's going on with his life. He rarely talks about his work 'cause to him, there's nothing worth mentioning. I only got to know a little bit about his work when I attended dinners with his colleagues, I had to listen to their conversations. So, what does Andrew talk when he's with me? Well, nonsense lor...... Hahahaha...... Mostly would be the things happened around me. :P Or our future.

Well, my conclusion, it is bloody hard to be both a good listener and talker. If you happened to know one, please do let me know. Hahahaha!

P/S: My iPhone baby is back to life and normal!!! YAY! A day without iPhone = mad boring day! I do not know what happened to it. The screen was all white, couldn't click a damn thing, couldn't even off it! Then Wan Yi told me it happened to her iPod and asked me to drain the battery and let if off by itself. Yesterday afternoon before Andrew went to work, the iPhone's battery went dead and the phone was off. He recharged it, on it back and everything back to normal! Stupid lah!!! Real stupid! Grrrrr......

Went to Ipoh last Saturday, with Andrew, Wan Yi with her hubby, and Melissa with her hubby. All 6 of us, 2 cars. It was so much fun. We stopped in Bidor to have the famous duck noodles.

Around 4pm, we reached the hotel that Melissa was staying. Mel and her hubby stayed one night over there, while the rest of us rushed home on the same day after Nicole's wedding dinner. Andrew's gotta work the next morning.

The hotel is new, Tower Regency, everything still looks clean and new. Mel got the apartment suite, RM140 per night, with 2 rooms, 3 beds. It was kind of cheap. We went there to refresh ourselves and changed for the dinner later the evening.

We enjoyed the trip and the night a lot, we were having so much fun! Laughing and chatting during the dinner. Hahaha.

P/S: My iPhone crashed yesterday!!! The screen went blank, home button is not working, couldn't turn off the phone as well. It is only 2 months of using and I swear that I am not a heavy user!!! *Sobs sobs* Gotta send it in for checking tomorrow. My lovely iPhone, life without you is definitely miserably sad and bored.