It came up when Nic and I were at Vern’s little birthday do a few nights ago.
After a very filling round of Japanese style cheesecake which her mom had lovingly baked, we sat around her dining table, talking with her friends.
“Remember those days of dial-up Internet?” I asked casually.
Now that set off a round of reminiscing – I thought Vern was not old enough to know “those” days, circa 1996 when dial-up Internet was the best we thought we could have. (She does remember!)
I was lucky – I was working part-time for my professor and could use her PC and it had a pretty smooth Internet connection, thanks to USM. Still when I got back to our shared student house, I borrowed my housemate’s PC and Internet to check email (which was Hotmail then! It was so cool to have a Hotmail address).
Remember those annoying dial-up sound which told the world you were connecting to the ‘Net?
Remember how you had to quickly download your emails to Outlook so that you could disconnect?
I had an obligation to disconnect the line quickly because in those days (gosh, I feel ancient now and it was just a little over 15 years ago) if one used the phone line for the ‘Net, no one could call in! And of course, every minute I was online was costing money so it was best to read one’s email offline!
So if there’s anything to be thankful for, it has to be broadband Internet and wifi.
It has to be the convenience of all the gadgets we all own and use now which allows us to connect easily to the cyberworld which has become part of our life now. (For most people, it is a MAJOR part of their lives.)
I mean, I wouldn’t even have a business if not for the Internet! I’d probably still be slogging in some 9 to 5 corporate job. OK, I did slog once many moons ago but I actually had fun when I was in the corporate world. I’m the sort who embraces the good of anything that comes my way.
Do you remember those early Internet days? What were you doing? What was your first online experience?
Mine was in campus. We lined up for PCs in the Makmal Komputer (we each were alloted an hour only!) and we could use the Internet for free. In those early days, we had Hotmail addresses and funnily enough, we only emailed our own coursemates, whom we saw each day during classes. That was also because not everyone out there was as sophisticated as we were. Email addresses were unheard of!
Isn’t it fantastic how far we’ve all come?
P/S: Merry Christmas to you too as you have been an important part of my Mayakirana – my Internet journey. If you weren’t supportive, I’d have no one to write for! 😉
Year: 2010
What's In The Air Over There?
Over the last few months, I have heard that friends of friends have decided to uproot themselves, give up their citizenship and go away to a better place.
The first question out of my mouth is “Why?”
Then I go all silent.
I know why. We all know why. It’s not just about “better education for our kids” or “free education” or “they use English over there”.
It’s all of the above and more. More is the unspoken fear and worry because Malaysia today is not like the Malaysia we grew up with. (I assume you are in your 30s and understand what I mean.)
And more and more people are leaving, whether we like it or not.
Our southern neighbour does a great job of luring people – better pay, cleaner living, safer living. I felt so safe when I was in Singapore although my sis cautions me with “Low crime does not mean no crime”. But you see, I have that much of faith in Singapore and its governance. I cannot say the same for Penang or Malaysia.
When I was 14, I had a friend who made the big move to Australia. Her entire family upped and left. Her parents were teachers and they decided staying in Malaysia wasn’t worth it anymore. I didn’t know it then that she was moving to Australia. She told us that she was just moving to Sabah. It was a convenient cover-up, lest we all probed too much. It never occurred to me to ask her why Sabah of all places?
Once her family was settled in Sydney, she wrote and apologized for lying to me. I didn’t see much reason to be angry with her. It was easier telling a lie than having to explain why she had to uproot and go to Australia.
Over the years, we wrote and wrote. In those days, we used the thin blue paper Aerogrammes, writing till the very edges before they were sealed and posted. I could see that her Australian education was so much better than what we were doing in secondary school. Her first Sex Education class surprised her – taboo subjects (well, taboo in Malaysian classrooms anyway) – were taught openly in a mixed class of teenage boys and girls. No one flinched or giggled embarrassingly either. Pictures were shown too.
It was a truly global experience back then reading her letters of how she was coping in school. In comparison, my school life seemed rather dull!
Most friends are upping and leaving for Australia or New Zealand. Some became Singaporeans (happily).
And through it all, I wonder how it feels like to move away.
Then someone tells me this – isn’t it very much like how our ancestors in China did it? One day they decided they had to leave for green pastures and to find a better world for their future children so they hopped on a ship sailing for this part of Asia. They heard of the money to be made. They landed here and decided to make this place their home.
Perhaps it is a new wave of ‘seeking greener pastures’. But I can’t help feeling melancholy over these news.
Will I also do this one day? Get fed-up of all this and leave, never looking back? But how about the people who are fighting against the system, hoping to change it so our future children can have a better country to inherit? Will I give up so easily or will I fight to right the problems in this current system?
It’s that one question which flummoxes me.
What do you think of emigration? Will you do it? What would make you leave and give up your Malaysian citizenship?
Ferrerro Rocher Chocolate Banana Muffins
Yeah, you read right.
And it all happened because Mary told me that chocolates never expire, especially if you store them well in the fridge. Sure, they may look a bit different but unless the white spots are fungus, you’re generally all right with chocolates.
She recounted how she dug out all her lovely imported chocolates and melted them all down in a bowl over a hot stove. Next she chunked them up into bite-size pieces and put them into an airtight container. So now she gets to enjoy her chocolates – actually all her chocolates – with one bite!
For me, I always get Ferrerro Rocher chocolates. You know, the type with gold wrapping paper? I have way too many of these chocolates in my fridge sometimes, especially with the holiday season and people look at me and think,”A-ha, I think she needs a box of Ferrerro Rocher chocs!”
So I thought about Mary and her advice.
I decided to make some Ferrerro Rocher chocolate muffins.
I always improvise a recipe when I have the time. And I like digging my fridge, unearthing all manner of ingredients I could pop into the recipe.
This time, I had some frozen leftover bananas and a box of Ferrerro chocolates. And making muffins are like the easiest thing to do on a Sunday night. You just mix up the wet or liquid ingredients; then mix up the dry or flour ingredients. After that, it’s really child’s play. Fold the dry into the wet, spoon mixture into muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes. That’s it.
I call this the basic muffin recipe. With this basic muffin recipe, you can add anything you like. Or in my case, I added anything I could find in my fridge. (I made dark chocolate and cranberry muffins previously using this recipe and it turned out fabulous.)
YOUR BASIC MUFFIN RECIPE:
Dry ingredients (mix in a bowl):
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients (mix in another bowl):
1 egg, beaten
180 ml UHT milk
125 ml corn oil
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Method:
Using a spatula, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Work quickly with swift strokes to blend them well. Add your Favourite Stuff* but do not over-mix.
Spoon into muffin cases and bake in a pre-heated oven (180 deg Celcius) for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the muffin comes out clean. This recipe makes 12 small muffins.
* Favourite Stuff
Here is where the combinations get really fun.
For this recipe, I roughly chopped up 8 Ferrerro Rocher chocolates. Don’t chop too fine or you won’t get anything to munch when the muffin’s done. I also added 3 large mashed bananas. The combination is good because anything chocolatey and banana-like is always yummy.
In my other muffin recipe, I added chunky chopped dark chocolate and dried cranberries which are also a good pairing. The dark bitter chocolate offsets the cloying sweetness of the dried cranberries.
You can make savoury muffins too. Using the same basic muffin recipe, omit vanilla essence and brown sugar. Replace with 1 teaspoon of dried thyme and 1 cup grated cheese. Then you can add everything else savoury which you like: olives, more cheese, bell peppers, nuts. It’s really about your taste and how you like your muffins.
Do try out the muffin recipe and come back with your feedback. I’d love to hear about your baking success.
A Tiger Muses…
After so long, I thought I’d start 2011 early with a new little design in my blog.
The black theme was getting on my nerves after a while. And to also give your eyes a break – the font size is a lot bigger and easier to read.
I thought of adding FUN into the blog with a splash of orange. It’s a lovely lively colour plus see those animals on the top and side of this blog?
There’s a silly-looking Tiger. And a goggle-eyed Monkey. And a pink Pig and a Hippo. And if you look really closely, you can see a tiny Panda balancing on a ball.
I’m born in the Year of The Tiger. Hence the major character is a Tiger. A cute one.
The other animals were chosen by Nic. He added the animals to complement the tagline: Life is a zoo, which animal are you?
I think life is always like a zoo. There’s fun but there’s also a little bit of pragmatic melancholy – seeing those wistful animals looking back at you. At times I wonder who is looking at whom? Who are the animals really? The ones hooting and making noises at the animals seem more like it.
Once in a while, everyone needs a new refresh and new look. It’s a burst of energy when you get something fresh and exciting.
As always, MayaKirana.com will remain advertisement-free and clutter-free.
Catching My Breath
I have been missing. I know. I have been terribly guilty of going AWOL.
The past few weeks have been busy times for me and Nic and the studio. We’ve been involved in so many new things – new clients, consulting work, etc. that it’s been a whirlwind. Who says the year winds down as it nears Christmas? It’s literally revving up for us.
I’ve barely had time to catch my breath but I really look forward to the remaining few weeks of 2010. I’m involved in some personal projects which I’m really excited about and that is always a great reason to look forward to 2011.
This year I’ve gone travelling quite a bit – HK, India and Singapore.
Muz asked me if I am going away for a year-end trip. Nope. I am staying put. I need a break from packing and unpacking. Even Margaret hates it when we go away – she goes off to Dr Sarah for boarding and boy, does she hate being cooped up in a cage after all the freedom she gets in the house.
I was thinking of Korea next year but maybe not. Perhaps we’ll be back in HK before we know it. There’s still so much of HK we haven’t explored. In many ways, travel for us is always about business research and discovery, not so much the touristy stuff. How is business done? Why does a concept or system work in that country? All travel does is stimulate more of our brain juices.
Over the past year, Nic and I have been thinking really hard about where we want to go with this business. While we are tugged in so many directions, I know we can do really well by focusing on what we are good at.
This also means we are moving higher up the value chain. It is great for us in terms of income and satisfaction. It means we are growing up and growing out of a phase. Which for me is truly an exciting time ahead as we challenge ourselves to grow to the next phase of our business. Our roles will change for sure. I remember those days when Nic used to tell me that he’d be happy as a successful freelancer, working from home.
It’s funny to think that we both used to work from home. I never worked in my pajamas but I loved and loathed the work-at-home ethic. I loved the idea of not having to submit to regular work hours but I also loathed that I never had to submit to regular work hours – the work hours just spilled into the rest of my life. Working with Nic meant seeing him all the time. We saw each other at breakfast, lunch and dinner. We shared the same home office. It could grate on my nerves sometimes. Luckily we now have an office we can escape to. When he goes to the office proper, I am in the home office. We get space this way. Odd but it works.
My WomenBizSENSE group is also coming along nicely now – we just capped the year with a very sentimental Xmas Party at the Handicapped Children’s Centre. I am reminded how beautiful it is to contribute to a child’s smile. This year we learnt from the events we undertook and our aim is to get better at this each year. Next year marks our 5th year anniversary for WomenBizSENSE. That’s truly a milestone I am proud of.
But the Xmas Party also reminded me of love and loss – there’s a little boy who won’t have that many days to live. And yet he looks so happy and carefree. The bleakness of this truth hurts and though I don’t know his parents, I somehow feel that it’s never right to lose a child with today’s medical advancements.
Which brings me back to my blog.
I’ve so many posts I wanted to write; some are half-written. My ideas and thoughts flow faster than my fingers can fly over the keyboard. And time, yes, time.
What perfect irony that Time eludes me.
It’s really odd that we all seek more time. But a friend taught me to value my own time. She said that we all have a fair amount of time. And we can’t keep saying yes to everything because these yes-es will rob us of that precious time.
She’s right.
And so these days, if the meetings are a time-waster, I do not attend. If the people aren’t the ones I want to meet, I do not go either. I want to only be with people I like and enjoy.
And I am unapologetic about it. I guess age helps too.
If I am not my own woman at 36 (going on 37), who am I going to be? So I can be brutally honest sometimes if people demand too much of my time. And don’t even talk about weekends either. I need to take back my time if I am to honour and respect myself.
Don’t be surprised that the next time you visit, there’s a new look for this blog. I am a bit tired of this old design too.
I promise not to go too AWOL…. I have way too many stories to blog about!
What do you intend to do more of, and less of, next year? I think resolutions are overrated anyway but I would love to hear what you think of this year. Did you get what you want? Did you learn some lessons of the heart?
Meeting Gorgeous Geeks
I was in KL last week – you can find out more in this post “Meeting the Gorgeous Ones Last Week”.
It was a very last-minute plan to go to KL but I am really glad I did.
Although some meetings did not materialize, I still had a grand time. And travelling on Aeroline was comfortable. The bus was fast without speeding crazily and I enjoyed the time (4.5 hours in the bus) amusing myself with Paul Theroux’s travel book on China called Riding The Iron Rooster.
I didn’t forget that my India posts are still on the back burner. I have so many more tales to share.
Perhaps one day I can be as prolific as Theroux and write these amusing stories into a book.
And to the brave souls who are doing the Penang Bridge Marathon this Sunday, good luck!
Beware of This Maybank Email
I am prompted to blog about this because I think this is really getting out of hand. Personally I’ve known people who have actually clicked on the links in their email and got scammed.
Now previously I wrote about the SHELL scam which came via SMS. If you look at the number of responses/comments to that post of mine, you will know how many people get that stupid SMS. And if more people know of these scams, the less chance these scammers will have of cheating people of their money.
I wonder why Maybank can’t do more for its customers and prevent all this fraud.
But when people get an email or SMS that sounds too good to be true, they go online to verify it. That is good too because everyone does this kind of background research when they want to buy a product or try out a restaurant or new service.
So here is that stupid email from Maybank (or at least the scammers pretending to be Maybank).
=================================
Their subject line: Security Notification
Please note: This is a service notification from Maybank2u.com.my
regarding important to your accounts or services.
Dear Customer,
We have checking account billing information as part of our ongoing effort to protect your account and our relationship, we monitor your account for possible fraudulent activity.
As a result,we require you to confirm and verify your account information By Clicking Here and completing the confirmation process.
If you spot a transaction you don’t recognise call us immediately on 03-5891 4744 as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Maybank Fraud Prevention Department
=================================
If you get anything like what’s above, just delete it. It’s always a scam.
Most people get worried if their bank sends them email. Well, you can always call the real Maybank hotline to verify and check. Or call your local bank branch.
Never ever call the number in the email. It will be answered by someone who sounds like he’s from the bank.
Also, never call mobile numbers. One stupid scammer actually tells people to call his landline but gives a mobile number!
Scammers play with your emotions like fear and worry. In this case, your worry that your account may be hacked is the reason you will click the link. And when you do, it’s just a matter of getting your actual login details.
I wonder why Bank Negara or Maybank cannot do something to get these crooks. Everything done online leaves a trace and if the authorities are smart, they can trace these links back to the crooks.
I am doing this so that in event you are checking to see if your email from Maybank is real or not, most likely you’ll find this post and be more alert.
Please alert your friends and families too.
The more aware we are, the less likely we fall for the hoaxes and scams of these criminals.
My Kerala Trip: Animals In The Zoo
One of the best experiences are the ones where I glimpsed how Indians live and work in the towns.
Of course I cannot generalize because we got to see only 3 towns – Pulpally, a tiny town minutes from Vanamoolika; Irinjalakuda which was near the Ayurvedic centre we stayed at and finally downtown Kochi on our final day.
But each town gave me a lovely insight into how India really is. It is also telling that these towns aren’t the types of places tourists usually visit so we caused a bit of excitement wherever we went!
After all it isn’t common to see Chinese and Caucasians walking about their towns. While we ogled at them, they ogled right back at us! Kids were the friendliest – they’d wave and say hello to us each time we smiled.
Everyone wanted to take a photo especially with Bastiaan (whom I had nicknamed Brad Pitt just for fun!), Marcel and Ingmar. When the guys went off to see the Athirapilly waterfall, a magnificent jaw-dropping fall (which I’d missed because I wanted to go exploring the town with Uma, Yvonne and Gwen), the Indian men and boys were falling over themselves to take photos with these ‘white gods’. (You can see Bastiaan’s video of the waterfall here.)
Pulpally town was the smallest of the three towns but it had a lot of character. We had a quick 45-minute stopover in this town after we visited an organic farm not too far from the town. Like dazed tourists, everything we saw was curiously interesting. I didn’t know who watched whom; the townfolk were spilling out of first-floor balconies looking at us.
In every place I go, I like wandering in towns and looking at their supermarkets or shops. (Oh HK supermarkets were absolute cat’s whiskers which I know, I know, I have yet to blog about).
It was the same in Pulpally. Nic and I looked into their tiny shops, the size of our Penang ‘ottukedai’. Everything was cheap to us – I bought some sliced fruit cake at a mere 30 sen.
In Irinjalakuda which was a slightly urban town, we still got stares. There we were, 4 women walking down the streets and stopping ever so often to snap photos while greedily munching on our chicken kebabs. The kebabs were like god’s food to us the moment we spotted them. We had by then started craving for meat because throughout our stay, we had vegetarian meals mostly. Spotting a kebab stall outside a shop elicited delighted screams from me, Uma, Yvonne and Gwen. And at 40 rupees (RM2.80) each, it was a steal.
In Irinjalakuda too we walked into a no-aircond Indian supermarket. The interesting bit is that it had a whole shelf of Ayurvedic medicines and oils. I went a bit nuts buying camphor oil, neem oil and herbal soaps, utterly forgetting how much I was allowed to check-in to AirAsia.
In Kochi, again we walked about with no intention whatsover to buy. It was more of seeing what went on in the town. I think Kochi is a city so it was a lot more cosmopolitan. When you see a place with shopping malls, it is definitely more than just a town.
Again, the action was happening outside the malls; I saw a roadside tattoo artist with a customer! Of course, to all Indians, we were Japanese. They kept asking us “Konnichi wa?” and waving their wares at us.
It was good that we had Uma with us. Uma helped us bargain and put on her “touch-me-and-you’re-dead-meat” grouch face if the vendors tried to raise prices (which they did when they saw us trailing behind Uma).
Do you love exploring towns and poking your nose into what people are doing?
I know I do! That’s the best bits about travel!
My Kerala Trip: Women Power Indeed
VanaMoolika is an interesting story indeed of women who work.
This is an organized group of women who lead other women to improve their lives and their families’ lives. I had a glimpse of how courageous and insightful they were when we met them the morning we arrived in VanaMoolika.
After a quick breakfast and shower, we assembled in the main hall where some Indian women were sitting shyly. They wore their finest sarees, each a colour more vibrant that the next. In no time, the blue plastic chairs were filled up. These women stared at us just as we stared at them. As guests, we had the honour of being seated in front of the hall, facing them.
When every woman representative had arrived, they stood up to sing a song. Though I didn’t understand a word, it sounded very calming and beautiful and seemed to give them strength. It was a prayer song.
I didn’t know how much they understood when we introduced ourselves. We must’ve looked and sounded strange to them. For a moment, I realized how far from Penang I was. To these women, Penang was just a word, not a place.
Women are often thought to be shy and quiet in accordance with our feminine nature. It isn’t true. A woman can speak her mind and be vocal, no matter what education one has had.
One by one, these women farmers were eager to pick up the microphone and tell us proudly what they’ve done, what they dream for and what they really need. They were quietly confident and ready to articulate with pride their work as herb farmers.
They were proud that their herb farming gave them a chance to raise their families and allowed them to contribute to their community. Although they spoke in their local language, one could sense the hopes they had for their own village and future. They had big dreams and why not? They knew they had to have better in life and farming herbs could be one way to reach those lofty dreams.
Their herbs are used to produce Ayurvedic medicines which are helping the sick. Besides medicines, their herbs are also used for beauty care, the natural way, without chemicals or synthetic materials.
VanaMoolika also runs a shop which sells its own brand of herbal powder shampoo, herbal hair oils, balms, facial masks, even organic pickled chilies and organic vanilla pods. All these are made based on the 5,000 year-old system of knowledge called Ayurveda. (Kerala is famous for its Ayurvedic treatments, hospitals and clinics. Good health, simple food and close family ties are incredibly important.)
I had travelled a long way and I found that women everywhere are the same.
We know what we want. Sometimes we have different means of getting what we want but in the end, it is still the same.
Women power indeed.
A salute to these courageous women farmers of VanaMoolika.
My Kerala Trip: When You Need To Go, You Go
The 12-hour car journey from Bangalore to our destination, VanaMoolika, was an experience to savour. I say ‘savour’ because it will be something I will remember for a long time to come.
Travels must be accompanied by humour and curiosity – only then will the journey be as memorable as the destination!
I was like a child in a sweet shop – for India is a bit like candy, multi-coloured, multi-taste!
It is, like Nic says, a feast for all five senses.
As unfamiliar as it was to me, it wasn’t all together new to me.
I grew up with a best friend who had acclimatized me to everything Indian.
I used to hang about her home during Deepavali. I had Indian neighbours – I grew up playing with them. I love exploring Little India in Penang especially looking at trinkets and stuff at my favourite Indian mini mart, Ramani’s on Penang Street. And eating Indian food is something I don’t have problems with. (I used to proclaim I must’ve been an reincarnated Indian princess much to my bestie’s amusement the way I drooled over her mom’s chicken sambar!)
The 12-hour journey would not be so uncomfortable if the roads were not so pot-holed or dark. Sleeping was out of the question. I dozed off part of the way but it wasn’t a fitful sleep. We stopped a few times for toilet breaks. Our local driver had no problem just doing his little business by some bushes near the road. OK, we’re Malaysians so we didn’t want to do anything by the roadside.
The funniest toilet break happened when we stopped near a mosque. It was almost 5am. We were told there was a toilet behind the mosque so all of us women went in search of that elusive loo. We were sleepy and grumpy. The loo consisted of three low cubicles sans doors! In India, squat loos are common. I didn’t mind the squatting type of toilet.
Imagine…our bladders are bursting, it’s dark (no electric lights at all) and the loos have no doors! This is where I couldn’t give a damn. I had to go so I had to go. As it was dark, no one could see our privates anyway. The water from the tap was a mere trickle so my hand sanitizer gel came in handy! And just as we got out of the dark toilet, the morning prayers from the mosque sounded. That was quite a moment!
Our bladders were full because a few hours prior we had our ‘snack’ break at a shack which looked like it catered for truck-drivers and bus drivers. At 12 midnight (India time) which was 3am Malaysian time, we were sitting in a tumbledown shack in the middle of nowhere having Bombay toast, chapati and a thick dhal parapu curry. It must’ve been something as we look like wide-eyed aliens in a shack full of truck drivers! Almost everyone stuck to their bottled water though hot coffee was available. We were scaredy cats and didn’t want to take chances.
Coffee in India needs a bit of getting used to. It’s the pure thing where it’s just kopi-o (coffee and sugar). Unlike our coffee beans which have been roasted with margarine and sugar and what-not, theirs is just made from pure coffee beans. (Speaking of which, you cannot find Coffee Bean or Starbucks in India, according to Jegan, our guide as India does not allow foreign coffee chains into the country. The local coffee chains are either Coffee Cafe or Coffee Day.) The Indian coffee is not thick and black like what we have in Malaysia. Theirs look like tea which has been brewing forever.
After another 2 hours of driving, we finally reached VanaMoolika in the Wayanad District. (GoogleMap says the distance from Bangalore to Pulpally is about 4 hours. Now we know that is not right. Google thinks all roads are American freeways?)
Before reaching this hilly area, we drove past the town of Pulpally. In the early dawn, many Indian men and women were up and about, carrying steel buckets. I later found out they were walking to milk cows.
If I had to wake up, walk a long way to get to the cows and milk them or get milk from the farmer, I wonder if I’d want to drink milk. It seemed like a lot of work. Do I consider myself lucky that I drink milk out of a carton instead of milking the cow? Not necessarily.
The people of Pulpally seemed relaxed, with all the time in the world. They retire early to bed, as early as 9pm and are awake before dawn.
I cheered internally when our convoy of Innova’s drove into the curved driveway of VanaMoolika. It was 7am then and the morning mist was slowly dissipating.
After a whole night’s journey, we had arrived in VanaMoolika. VanaMoolika is a centre which supports a community of women farmers. These women are organized under a woman leader each to plant herbs which are then sold to the centre for making Ayurvedic medicines, hair care, skincare and body care products. The centre comprises dormitories for men and women, mess hall and some special stand-alone chalets within the forest surrounding this hilly area. It also has its own HACCP certified herb processing facility.
We would be spending 3 days here before we leave for an Ayurvedic centre near Kochi.
To be continued…