casper the commuting cat by susan finden

casper waiting to alight the bus

casper with a bus driver

i haven't been chronicling the books that i've read recently and thought that i'd play catch up now.

i picked this up in the popular book sale in 1-utama.  casper is such an adorable cat!  he loves to travel on the bus --- something that the bus drivers knew but his owner didn't, until much later.  the thing about this cat is that he knew which bus to take and he would only ride on the first bus even though other buses would stop at the bus stop and get this, he queues up to get onto the bus!  the bus driver would say, "human, human, cat, human....." lol.  this book was written posthumously with much love.  casper is now in kitty heaven.  it's a must read if you're a cat lover.

earth hour

i observed earth hour.  i switched off all the lights.  for one hour, i sat in the dark and worked on my computer (does that count???).

candy pink

i just changed the background colour (also known as theme) of my email account.  it's now in  candy pink!!!  :)

enlightenment

i learned something new today --- RGB & CMYK.  i also learned a new word --- "gamut".  these are all new and interesting things for me.

learning

i am now learning to use photoshop and illustrator, two programmes that i have always wanted to learn but never got around to doing so.   now is the perfect time to learn.

i'm pleased to say that i am capable of a lot more than i thought i was.  thanks to the tutorials on youtube.com, i can now do some work using those programs!!!  

You Call the Shots by Cameron Johnson

i picked up this book at popular 1-utama's book clearance sale for 70% its original price.  i remember seeing cameron on oprah's show called the big give.

i found this book certainly easy to read and inspiring.  he made 50 million selling beanie babies at 12 years of age!  

certainly a recommended read (and that coming from me, someone who hardly reads any business books because i find that they are mostly difficult to read!).

Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz

i must admit that this is my first REAL Dean Koontz book.  okay, i know that i've just read a big little life also by Koontz but that was a memoir about his dog.

i have always associated Koontz's books with the more masculine gender thinking that it was more of a "boy's book", as i would refer to them.

i was pleasantly surprised that i actually enjoyed this book.  thanks mph (yup, it's another bookcrossing  find!)

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

i purchased this book in the latest big bad wolf warehouse sale.  it's also about how perception changes as you grow up and how you see relationships in your life in a different perspective.  

blessed

syukur alhamdulillah... i have Allah to thank over and over again... i still can't get over it  :)

ruin

strange how "messages" are sent to you and you need time to digest them.  now i get it --- for something new to happen, something has to end.  it's not a good feeling, it was unexpected, but i've got to keep my chin up and pray.

the housekeeper and the professor by yoko ogawa

this book was originally written in japanese and later translated into english.  i liked this book.  it's a simple story that runs deep. it asks philosophical questions along the way.  i purchased this book in the most recent big bad wolf warehouse sale. 

everyone worth knowing by lauren weisberger

my fifth holiday read and another bookcrossing.com find --- thank you mph!  i absolutely loved the devil wears prada (read it a number of years ago) and i got totally immersed in this book in record time.

a big little life by dean koontz

my fourth holiday read, another one of my bookcrossing finds thanks to mph.  

anyone who has ever loved a pet would get dean koontz's sentiment as he writes about trixie koontz, his daughter (as he refers to her).  that's trixie on the cover of the book, by the way.  every new chapter has a snapshot of trixie.  i particularly love the one where she wears ribbons in her hair --- sooooo cute! a MUST read if you're a pet lover.

brutal by michael harmon

my third holiday read purchased while on holiday for only 10 AED (approx RM8) in a book sale at borders.  it's a hard cover edition and normally retails for around 80 AED.

everyone worth knowing by lauren weisberger

my fifth holiday read and another bookcrossing.com find --- thank you mph!  i absolutely loved the devil wears prada (read it a number of years ago) and i got totally immersed in this book in record time.

a big little life by dean koontz

my fourth holiday read, another one of my bookcrossing finds thanks to mph.  

anyone who has ever loved a pet would get dean koontz's sentiment as he writes about trixie koontz, his daughter (as he refers to her).  that's trixie on the cover of the book, by the way.  every new chapter has a snapshot of trixie.  i particularly love the one where she wears ribbons in her hair --- sooooo cute! a MUST read if you're a pet lover.

retire young retire rich by robert kiyosaki

i came across this book in the bookcrossing zone in 1-utama just before going on holiday.  i found a lot of things in this book that made A LOT of sense.  is someone trying to tell me something???

born bad by josephine cox

another one of my bookcrossing finds.  the second read on my holidays :)

zen thoughts

for something new to begin, something must end.  endings need not be a bad thing.  ruin precedes development (think of rome).

i'm in Dubai now.  i was shopping in Carrefour in the Mall of the Emirates two days ago when i got shortchanged 100 AED.  my purchases came up to 82 AED, i gave the cashier (a Filipino girl) 200 AED and she gave me only 18 AED change. Now, because this is Dubai and i am not familiar with the currency here, i quickly took the change she handed me, put it in my handbag and packed up my purchases. it was only after i left the counter that i felt that something was amiss, took out the change from my bag and realised that i was 100 AED short. now thinking that maybe i was mistaken (my bag is like a big black hole sometimes), and not wanting to make an unnecessary scene, i went to the ladies room, got into a cubicle and emptied out the contents of my bag (thank God the loo cubicles here are big and clean). i was 100 AED short, that was for sure (i checked my bag twice to be sure).

i went down to Carrefour again, and asked the cashier. She had to call her line supervisor, they closed her line and instantly did a cash point check.