Things to Do in the Car (Kids, don't try any of these EVER!)

I have nice eyebrows today. And it's not because I went to a salon to have it done, but because I had to wait in the car for nearly an hour while my parents were in the bank.

I am normally well-prepared. In my car, I have stocked the following items :

i) A novel; normally fiction. Current book is "The Face" by Dean Koontz.

ii) A roll of sweets; currently Vita-C mixed sweets, but down to the last piece. Must remember to replenish soon.

iii) A bottle of waterless hand cleaner and a pack of wet wipes. Very handy after eating Jack n Jill Roller Coaster potato rings in cheese.

iv) A small travel pillow which is easily the best pillow I've ever laid my head on, courtesy of Dunlop tyres.

v) A selection of cassettes and CDs and some great preset radio stations.

vi) When I remember, a bottle of mineral water, a can of Red Bull (for my fella), the above Jack n Jill chips or any snack food I can get my hands on and sometimes a bar of chocolate..mmm.. chocolate.

vii) A map book of the Klang Valley, with pages threatening to spill out any second.

Why do I have these things, you ask, and how is it related to my well-groomed eyebrows? The answer.. I am normally waiting for people in my car. Sometimes, when I feel adventurous and we're having an extremely hectic day, I like to call myself a getaway driver, especially since more often than not, I'm peeling myself away from banks.

On a good day, I just wait for about 10 minutes per stop. That only gives me time to fiddle with the radio, and perhaps read a page or two of my book. Other times, especially when fella's delivering items to clients, I sometimes wait for at least half an hour, and up to two hours. One day, I even managed to finish my half read book, plus get my eyebrows done.

I try to spice things up sometimes, so as to not make things too mundane. Like today, I took my trusty Swiss Army Knife, took out the tweezers and did my eyebrows. I tell you, the best place to do your eyebrows is in the car. Driver or front passenger seat is fine. You take down the visor and start tweezing away. I love the fact that the mirror is at a perfect level to do my brows, and since I am horribly short-sighted, I can even tweeze sans glasses. Plus you're in a comfy chair the whole time you're doing it!

Other times I use my tiny Swiss Army scissors to snip away at split ends. Note: This is only done if I have no other forms of entertainment, 'cos fella is not happy to see little bits of hair all over his precious car.

I once ate breakfast whilst driving to work. I packed some nasi goreng/nasi lemak in a plastic container together with a plastic spoon, and proceeded to eat breakfast in the middle of a traffic jam and at traffic light breaks. I've also applied makeup, read newspapers and presentations, and even edited photos for our Golf Club client whilst in traffic!

My car is also my mini karaoke studio. My current fave radio station is Red 104.9, 'cos it plays my generation's music (God! That sounds old!). I've stopped listening to Hitz.fm about 5 years ago, 'cos alas, I'm not as current as I thought I am anymore. *Sigh* 

I remember days filled with me beltin' out gems such as Cryin' (Aerosmith), Why can't this be love (Van Halen), Gadisku (Search) and er.. Back for Good (Take That). Good days. I'm also smart. To try not to look like a crazy woman singing/talking to herself (er..which was what I was doing anyway), I normally stick my trusty handsfree earpiece in my ear and once in a while, hold up my phone in earnest. Lakonan semata-mata.

If I'm tired or sleepy, I recline the seat and lay on my precious pillow. I tell you, I need to write to Dunlop asking them where they got the pillow 'cos it's so darn empuk! I would buy that for my whole house if I could.

Other things I've done in the car: wipe the windows from the inside, clean the interior using interior wet wipes, cut my toenails, applied lotion all over my legs and arms, did work on my computer, arranged photos in albums, stuffed dvds in their cases along with covers and plastic wrappings, wrapped presents, changed clothes (okay.. totally not advisable unless you're in a moving car and have huge sunshades covering every available window. I am not an exhibitionist people!), and many others.*

To get more things done, I think I may need to upgrade accessories in the car. And whilst I'm at it, maybe it's time for my fella and I to get either an RV, bus, Renault Kangoo or VW Combi and just convert the back as a mini studio/salon/kitchen/car workshop etc.

*Note to JPJ and PDRM: I have not done things in said paragraph whilst driving, so please don't come after me.

The Dino..It Attacks Again!

I made another dinosaur cake for my friend, Pye's son's 2nd birthday party. I thought I'd colour it a Tiffany blue, and cut Sugus sweets in halves as spikes on its back & tail. Wanted to use Hershey's kisses, but decided the plain chocolate colour seemed too dull. The cake was chocolate. The legs were pure fondant.

I should learn more about dinosaurs. Don't think my dinosaur existed in real life! To all you paleontologists & dinosaur enthusiasts, please don't send me hate mail.

Check out the March "It Girl"!

No..it's not me, unfortunately. Though, I'm thinking that should be my next mission. As soon as my wish for that billion dollars comes true (re : previous post)

Anyway, Malaysia Tatler has Chris Abishegam, one of our favourite clients, as their "It Girl" for the March issue. Check out the magazine spread on page 76. We only take credit for the above photos (minus the cover).

....

I'll start with the good news first. I'm happy and proud to announce that my sister-in-law won her first election and is now the DUN for Kampong Gajah, Perak. The bad news is, we never thought this would lead to her suddenly becoming part of the "Opposition" in Perak.

The election results shocked and saddened me. While some part of me was glad that for once, BN could see for themselves that the public aren't happy, I wish it didn't happen at the expense of the five states. And I also wish that a certain party didn't win that many seats. And I wish that the PM had advisors who actually had good and useful advice. And while I'm wishing, I wish for a billion dollars!

Well.. what is done is done. The public has spoken. Now I hope they start demanding that the Opposition make good with their promises, because there are a lot of promises that need to be fulfilled. And I, for one, am scrutinising their every move to see if they are actually up to the challenge.

I hope that BN fixes whatever is broken to restore the public's faith. Most of the votes were protest votes, so that means that BN still has a chance, as long as they listen to the people.  A word of advice to BN : It's time to make radical changes to modernise BN's outlook and approach, and sacrifices have to be made. Only then can BN have a chance to recapture the people's trust. And only then, can BN hope to get these states back.

In the meantime, allow me to grieve for Perak.

I'm Only Slightly Talking About Politics, Honest!

This weekend (more accurately, March 8) is bound to be a hectic one. Not only is it Election Day, it's also my niece, Elise's 8th birthday. Hopefully it'll be a double celebration, because Elise's mom, Dr. Wan Norashikin (or Kak Shikin, my brother's wife), is also standing as a first-time candidate in N49, DUN Kg Gajah, Perak.

My brother chose well. See, my family has always been active in politics, starting from my late grandfather, and followed closely by my mom and my uncle. Unfortunately, it appeared to skip a generation, as neither my siblings nor I have ever seemed interested to join politics. When I was younger, I hoped to join politics, but marriage and work kept me so busy, I couldn't even find the inclination to even join a political party. Luckily, my sister-in-law found her calling in politics, and is now my mom's favourite daughter (at least politically-wise), which my sister and I are quite happy about by the way!

As a young woman and a fresh candidate (and the only woman candidate in the Pasir Salak constituency), she has her work cut out for her. That, I must say, does not make me envious at all. But I am thoroughly amazed by her determination and her ease in meeting the people and making the rounds. As a former dental officer at the Kg Gajah government dental clinic, it must make her proud to be given the chance to represent her former patients, their families, and the whole Kg Gajah population as a whole.

Aaannywaay.. I'm hoping to make Elise a cake for her birthday this weekend, and thought I'd make Kak Shikin one too. Besides the election, her birthday's on 11 March, so we're hoping it'd be a triple celebration this weekend.

I'm thinking of making Elise either a Barbie cake, or something fairy-related, 'cos she loves fairies, and has tons of fairy story books. Kak Shikin? May need to rack my brain a bit. Either way, I hope I have the time to make the cakes, 'cos work is really killing me at the moment.

Best of luck, Kak Shikin!

And the GK* Award goes to.....(Warning! Political Post Ahead)

I am normally a semi-laidback person. Whatever issues I might have, I vent to people close to me (whether they want me to or not!). And this blog is supposed to be very impartial and to concentrate on cake.

However, some statements issued during this General Election have been ludicrous, to say the least. And I take great issue against a certain political party, which to me, has only one agenda: To turn Malaysia into a dictatorship run by a certain "wronged" person.

I don't deny that the present government has many flaws, and much more that needs to be delivered. And I don't deny that I long for the days when Tun Mahathir was still the PM, and whoever the next PM is going to be, would still have Tun's shadow hovering over him possibly until time immemorial.

However, when a certain "leader" suggests that his wife, his clearly inexperienced offspring, as well as a loyal supporter to run for seats as PROXIES for his "political comeback", that is way worse than whatever promises the government has failed to deliver. At the rate he's going, would it be wrong to assume that any seats won by his party would eventually be HIS seats once he is eligible? Am I the only one who sees this as a potential dictatorship? I mean, if his party wins (which at this point I hope to God it doesn't!), would Malaysia be then called A****sia?

It's bad enough that the way his party works is by sending supposedly potentially "influential" people to contest seats for the sole reason of contesting against the ruling coalition's candidates, without caring whether or not these "ideal" candidates even know where that particular area is. Plus they're fielding young candidates, who, I believe, may not even have known how to run for their school elections, much less the country's election.

I am miffed. I am angry and disappointed that qualities which we abhor in our culture are visibly apparent in this election. Again, I don't deny that all the parties contesting have some sort of flaw I have issues with. However, for this party to blatantly flaunt these qualities, and try to reason them with hopes of a better government, makes me sick to the stomach.

That said:

I hope voters will use reason and logic when making their decision on 8th March.
I hope voters won't use emotional sentiments plied by certain parties to influence their decision.
I hope that whoever wins the election realises that they are there because we put them there, thus they are then answerable to us.
I hope that the candidates and their supporters fight fair and square.
I hope people understand that these thoughts are all mine, and mine alone.
I hope to no longer write politically influenced blogs.
I hope that these next 11 days go by like the wind.

*GK = Gila Kuasa (Power-Mad)

Polling Days Are Here Again

The elections are coming. Parliament's been dissolved, politicians have started touring the country, and speculations and rumours are on the upswing.

Who am I voting for? That's a secret of course, as is my right, although those who know me would know which way my vote would be. It's fascinating, though, to see politicians, whom we'd never have seen otherwise, suddenly coming out of the woodwork, pleading for support.

My ideal government? The list is as below:

1) New faces. Enough with those who refuse to quit; make way for the younger generation to take their place in the administration. Although, saying that, I hope some certain new faces don't get fielded, 'cos boy are they annoying.

2) Old faces. Experienced people who were left out of the last election due to certain other people's agendas. These experienced people are more capable than the current government, have great track records and are well-liked and respected in their respective kawasan. They should be called back to serve, and hopefully guide the somewhat misguided government back to the right path.

3) Definitely not anyone who has been investigated and found guilty by the ACA. Why some of them were called up during the past election is beyond my comprehension. I mean, these people had nicknames and everything because of money politics, and yet, they are looked upon to be our leader? I can give you six million reasons why that is just wrong.

4) More corporate leaders. I'm not against veteran politicians and the like, but corporate leaders have better know how on how to run a smooth administration.

5) People who want to do the job well. It's probably a rarity now, and perhaps this optimism may change once they're in power, but if they got into politics for the right reasons, hopefully some of this idealism will stick.

That said, my ideal government probably won't become a reality, but it doesn't hurt to hope. And meanwhile, I will just wait for nomination day, thrust my thumb out during polling day for the wonderful new indelible ink to be applied and hope that I don't cross the wrong name.

Happy voting people!