absolut ginger

I know I’ve been rather slacking in reading these days. Gone are the days where I could finish a book in a week or two consecutively! Anyway, I did try my best to get my momentum back the past couple of months and glad that I managed to finish a few books. These are some books that a friend recommended me to read and I wish to do the same for you guys as well. Well, this is not exactly a review lah, just some short notes on what I think of the books because I am not “academic” enough to write a review!

What Your Teacher Didn’t Tell You by Farish A. Noor

With the current spate of high dramas (not to mention sickening!!) in politics, one couldn’t help but to feel utterly hopeless for the country. Reading this book is an eye opener. It sort of gives you a glimmer of hope. It displays much wayward forward thinking than you could ever imagine! I wish that those idiots who think this country belongs to them solely should at least read this book to at least know some history (the second part of Hikayat Hang Tuah seems real to me despite presence of magic and mysteries!) This book intellectually dissects and analyzes history thoroughly leaving no stone unturned and the consequences when history is wrongly twisted to suit malicious agendas. With great power comes great responsibility? There’s also a gay issue in the book which was wittily written. It’s more than 18PL if it’s being made into a movie!

Farish A. Noor blogs on this site.

Yasmin Ahmad’s Films by Amir Muhammad

As I am writing this, I am in the midst of finishing the book. Amir shared his views and feedback on Yasmin Ahmad’s movies and advertisements. For those who watched Yasmin Ahmad’s films and enjoyed them, this is the book for you. My favorite Yasmin’s movie is Sepet. That was the first movie I watched and I am a fan ever since. I have watched all her movies except for Rabun. After I read about Rabun, I wept at the end of the chapter. The book explains in minute details of scenes in the movies. I don’t know about you but I think I would have missed out some of the special moments if I were to watch the movies with only my eyes and not my heart. This book stirs emotions in your soul. What I like most in this book is probably the short notes on some words accompanying the review. They tickle your bones with irony!

Amir Muhammad blogs here and he wrote hilariously funny short stories in the city of shared stories under the initial AM.

The Law of Attraction by Michael J. Losier

I am not a fan of self help book but this one seems okay. It tells you the importance of positive thinking (Yes.. some people needs constant reminder to remain positive!) and has a guide for you to follow in order to reach your goal. I am generally a happy person, but I guess I need some booster to be even being happier! We only live once! So make sure we live to the fullest!

Did you notice that the author’s surname is only one alphabet away from being read as loser. Haha!

10 Comments | In: Hobby | tags: yasmin ahmad. | #
Posted by Gina

Since I will be away for a few days, I decided to put up stories I wrote in City of Shared Stories – Kuala Lumpur here to entertain you guys. Feel free to write your own stories and remember to share it with us here as well!

September 2006: Toothpick – Actually, I wrote this one in my old blog sometime in September 2006.

The Lioness and the Hyenas – I noticed some grammar mistakes… *cringe*

Who’s Your Daddy? – Evil me!

Thank God for Night Blindness – Ah… the innocence of youth.

Milo Fear Factor – If I can do this, I can do anything! Haha!

Enjoy. If you like them, just click I like the story too. Let me know which one is your favorite.

8 Comments | In: Drama, Hobby | | #
Posted by Gina

Guardian of the Garden

Earlier today, I visited the Great Dragon Bonsai Centre in Mantin. Mr Lim Kar Huei is the horticulturist manning the centre with years and years of experience and specialized in bonsai and herbal plants. I am not a bonsai fan but I love looking at cute little stunted plants costing hundreds of ringgit!

Why are bonsais so expensive? Each and very plant takes many years and patience to form a masterpiece. You need to have the eye and also skill to prune the plants so they would grow to be more beautiful and elegant. Well, I like gardening but I don’t think I could afford to take care of a bonsai!

Enlightenment

I got myself some stevia rebaudiana bertoni m plant which is believed to be able to relieve diabetes. It’s for my diabetic uncle. Mrs Lim was nice enough to show me how to take care of the plant and also, how to harvest them for continuous usage.

Hard at Work

I really enjoy visiting this centre as it’s very educational and you will have a great time taking photos. Don’t wear black or dark colored clothes when you decide to visit here because dark colored clothes would attract mosquitoes.

Hello, there!

For further details on how to get there, you may contact Mr Lim Kar Huei at 013-6015217 or visit him at Lot 1180, Batu 12 1/2 , 71700 Mantin, Negeri Sembilan.

Happy Weekend!

10 Comments | In: Hobby, Travel | tags: bonsai. | #
Posted by Gina

What more is better than attending Joey Yap’s seminar on the outlook for 2009 to prepare ourselves for the Ox year? I was given two free tickets so I roped in Datin for the treat.

Although I am not an avid feng shui practitioner, I was there as one of the many curious people. You get to see all kinds of people while we were there. I think most of them are lazy people. Why I said lazy? It’s because they were too lazy to read their own bazi to determine the “map” for their lives and want someone to show it to them. Also, it amused me when I saw one lady calling up her friend – I believe also wanted to sign up for a course or perhaps buy the entire set of books from Joey Yap. She kept mentioning, our luck is being determined by 33% man’s luck, 33% feng shui and 33% bazi. She kept on repeating the statement over and over again till I could actually remember them.

I found Joey Yap hilarious and he couldn’t help jabbing his famous “competitor” with a tongue in cheek statements. Like, if your toilet is on the good sector in your house, you would flush away your good luck. Toilets don’t flush away good luck. It flushes away shit. Man, that was hilarious! LOL!

So, since I am such a generous person *ahem*, I would like to share with you the good dates and bad dates for the year in general. * Disclaimer- I hope I didn’t copy wrongly lah. If something went wrong, please consult Joey Yap personally. LOL.

Good dates to start work:

28 Jan 2009 – 11 am to 1 pm except Rabbit
30 Jan 2009 – 7 am to 9 am except Snake, Ox and Rooster
2 Feb 2009 – 7 am to 9 am except Monkey
6 Feb 2009 – 9 am to 11 am except Rat

Bad dates for the year – avoid making big decisions on such days.

31 Jan 2009 – 1 pm to 3 pm Bad star, will go bankrupt. Do not start work on this date. Not good to pay friend a CNY visit too.
25 Feb 2009 – 7 am to 9 am – loss of wealth, relationship, bad time to travel including business travels, don’t send important e-mails
17 Mac 2009 – 7 am to 9 am – for people who are in extreme bad luck may consider having it turn around today to end bad luck
7 July 2009 – 11 am to 1 pm. Destruction day

Peach blossom luck
19 Mac 2009. 11 am to 1 pm – you may want to activate the South sector in your house.

I think Joey Yap gave a very sound advice towards the end: Don’t do what we cannot do but do what we can. And yet, there were still hapless people asking about their pets living in the bad sector of their house. Tsk tsk tsk.

5 Comments | In: Hobby, Tips & Reviews | tags: feng shui. | #
Posted by Gina

I think you guys would have to bear with me the next few weeks as I would be talking incessantly about Canon Powershot Pro S5 IS till all of us get sick of it. Lol.

I guess one has to go on a photobug trip to really test any cameras. For the time being, since I am broke and feeling somewhat homely, I stick to taking pics around the house. Today, after the rain, the sky has a blue orange hue which is beautiful. I tested aperture mode… you know.. big and small lubang thingy to let light enter the camera lens. On your left, that is using f3.5 and right, f8. See, now you guys know what the heck is aperture. How to use this to take better pics? Well, I don’t know. I will get back to you on this.

Next, this is also taken at the back balcony of my room- where the phone cables are stolen numerous times for the past one year. As you can see, there is one small black dot in the middle of the picture in between the white and orange painted house with a drain pipe. That is a cat.

With 12x zoom, here is the cat. Forgive me for the shaky hands. Seriously, whatever camera that offer Image Stabilizers is purely bullshit. Sorry for the low lighting as well, as the sun sets too quickly and I don’t want flash to scare away the kitty.

Using wonders of picasa, you can actually make a cool artistic picture with the kitty. Here’s a sample.

Errmmm…Ok.. I know this looks like return of a ghost cat with a vengeance for more than a can of tuna. Well, never mind. So far, so good.. what I like so far about the camera is the fantastic zooming capabilities. Here are some other kitty pics of the day, using 12x to 19x zoom. This camera can go up to 48x zoom, it seems.

They couldn’t sit still at one spot, so you have to take them real quick.

Here’s two more cats.

P/S All pics were not altered or edited except for the ghost cat. No cats were hurt in the time of shooting. Forgive me for the lack of composition and quality for the pictures. Will try to improve.

14 Comments | In: Hobby, Tips & Reviews | | #
Posted by Gina