will i am's delayed diary

Flying the Flag , swiped from williamnyk on Flickr. Does this constitute flying the flag upside down? A quick check on the internet reveals that flying the flag upside down is considered a distress signal. "...not a mark of disrespect, and in fact is considered by many to be the highest form of patriotism." Ye ke? How about the fella who met Najib at his open house dressed in the Malaysian flag from head to toe? I thought the flag was not supposed to be made into clothing? And yet we see the fella with a big grin on his face shaking hands with our Primer Minister. And it's not supposed to be draped on your car bonnet unless you're driving a coffin. And even if you were driving a coffin, it's only allowed for state funerals. For more information, looks at this flag ethics guide . Love your country. Love your flag. Don't mistake loving your country with loving the government of the day. :D

Jicama , swiped from williamnyk on Flickr. Sis organized a Mid-Autumn Festival party at my place on Sunday night. A small affair with two of my sister's best friends from Kuantan, their kids, Mel and SK. Mel had actually arrived earlier to have a talk with me. It had been ages since we met up for a bitchin' session. Haha. For several times I had to cancel due to scheduling clashes. Sorry dear! But the best part was she brought her baby Cameron along. He's a splitting image of his mother. Cute with anime-like eyes. And such a restless little worm! Wriggling here and there non-stop! Quite impossible to sit still. Seems that motherhood really agrees with Mel. Later in the evening, I fetched them to SK's apartment. They had their girl talk while I went swimming downstairs. The whole pool was filled with dried bamboo leaves... it's so not a good idea to plant Japanese bamboo near the pool. On the way back to my place, we stopped by the neighbourhood Chinese medicine hal

Beta carotene & Capsaicin , swiped from williamnyk on Flickr. My wet market excursion on Saturday took a modern twist. Instead of the traditional places, mum decided to shop at NSK , Kuchai Lama. That wholesale market feels just like a hypermarket with loads of fresh produce and other groceries. Open twenty four hours a day and hires loads of workers to man the counters and sort out the goods. Air-conditioned and clean with prices that are sometimes even lower than the pasar ! Forklifts zip around near the parking lots and they even have Zamboni-like machines keeping the floors dry. After shopping, we had breakfast at the shops nearby. Rushed home to attend a 1:30pm wedding mass. Since the bride wasn't Catholic, it was a half mass and although the rite was predominantly in mandarin, the groom made his vows in English. It was the funniest wedding march I ever saw, with the bride walking slightly like a lurching zombie. During the ceremony, an old aunty asked me, "Do you ha

Waiting , swiped from williamnyk on Flickr. This kid is all alone waiting for his grandmother outside a shop in OUG. Guess what his grandmother was doing: Buying groceries in the Chinese medicine hall Smoking a ciggie Taking a dump Buying Magnum 4D Playing mahjong Getting her hair done Gossiping with her gaggle of friends Tapau-ing breakfast Truth be told, kids shouldn't be left all alone. Some goldfish uncle could just come by and spirit the kid away. I have heard of horror stories in Disneyland HK where a parent lets her kid go into the loo alone. For a long time, the kid did not come out, so the mother went in to look. In her panic, she asked her other child to wait outside. When she came out empty handed, she found that her other kid had also disappeared... Never let kids out of your sight!

Hawk , swiped from BradWilke on Flickr. Out of the blue SkyHawk messaged me and asked about some work-related matters. As quick as can be, he arranged a lunch meeting near my office. Very efficient and decisive. Recognized him immediately. Had an imposing stature ( and a face that looks a bit like it was chiseled from stone ), but luckily that was somewhat softened by his smile. Quickly ordered and went straight to business. With that out of the way, we talked about lighter matters of love and life. After sharing each other's stories, I find that we have much in common, especially the fact that our lives are very family-centric. Although our circumstances are different, we can actually draw parallels. We both have our commitments and leading a double life in pursuit of our personal happiness can be quite stressful at times. With quality time being a premium, it is sometimes very difficult to juggle things. Most people take for granted the fact that they have much freedom in what t

September 11th Shoes , swiped from eyes of disarray on Flickr. Today marks the tenth anniversary of the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York and three other coordinated attacks. That episode elevated the word "terrorism" into a household term and cranked up the paranoia against Islam. Ten years is a long time, but I remember I was home alone watching TV. My show was interrupted and footage of an airplane crashing into one of towers was shown. Vaguely remember having my jaw drop open and scooting closer to the TV set. When a second plane crashed into the tower, I was really stunned. Do you remember what you were doing when disaster struck?

Snow Lotus , swiped from williamnyk on Flickr. Home-made enzymes are all the rage these days. Here's a documented effort at producing some snow lotus enzyme. My colleague gave me a box of those jelly-like bits as a starter kit. They're lighter than they look and will float. Smelled very much like those oils used by Chinese bone-setters. Most probably alcohol from the earlier fermentation. According to wikipedia , the snow lotus is a type of plant that is traditionally used to relieve inflammation. I don't see how the jelly corresponds to any part of the plant. To kickstart the process, one has to dilute five hundred grammes of brown sugar. Apparently, it only works with the usual brown sugar. Use any organic sugar and it fails. Too clean? Haha. Just dump the jelly into the diluted sugar with 1.5 litres of filtered water and leave it in a big glass jar for four days. Sounds simple right? NOT. My mother was complaining the whole time. The sugar is bloody hard to dilute in co