the untruth

It amazes me how some people are so full of BS.

Simply Pretty

Common sense?

I'd like to think that sense is common but that, sadly, isn't the case... It's important to learn to THINK.

Blessed

I was presented the opportunity to feed three stray dogs tonight. I don't normally see them when I go out for dinner but they were there tonight and they looked hungry. I bought them some food.

They were well behaved dogs. One of them came to me when he saw that I had food with me. The other two were more wary of me. When I put the food on the ground, he looked at me and waited for me to give him a sign of assurance that the food was indeed for him before he ate it.

I feel blessed to be able to share with them :)

Anniversary

Missing you Ayah :(

A Wish

I am the overlooked middle child. I travel below the radar. Things that I do aren't noteworthy. However, the exact same things done by the more favored children are deemed to be important. There were points in my childhood when I felt overlooked... I still do. I am used as a complaints board BUT my mother wouldn't dream of airing her thoughts to my siblings.

No matter what I do,  I keep being told that I am disliked. I guess I can do nothing right.

I wish for nothing else but love... 

The Importance of being Informed

The three year old YouTube video of the dog trainer walking her dogs in the morning of Eid, cleaning the dogs' feet when they get home before cleaning her own feet and later having cookies with the dogs has made many Muslims in Malaysia angry. They say that the video is insulting to Islam but is it really?

Everything put on this planet by Allah prostrates to His will (animals included) and are therefore Islam. Being kind to animals, dogs included, is a part of being a good Muslim. Dogs are loving creatures. They are not the problem... our lack of understanding is. 

Recycling Light Bulbs & Batteries

Light bulbs are something that is difficult to dispose of as it is considered as hazardous waste. If you're in the Klang Valley, you may want to know that Ikea in Ikano Power Centre provides recycling bins for light bulbs and batteries. The recycling bins are located just after the cashiers.

Cloud

This month, I gave a tiny sum to Cloud, a sick Maine Coon mix cat in need of funds for his treatments. I hope he gets better soon.

Gratitude

1. Being able to wake up when I please
2. Not having to travel in traffic jams on the way home from work this session
3. Having no problem finding a parking space this session
4. Being able to feed the kitties
5. Having the kitty walk next to me and want to just be near me

Paperbacks

I love the feel of a paperback in my hand. Ebooks, while convenient, just doesn't give me the same feeling.

Seconds

I've just opened a new bag of kitty kibbles and it was a hit with my furpals. They finished their usual serving of food and asked for seconds. They wouldn't let me touch them but following me around as I walked is okay. In fact, one of them gets really close when she walks next to me that she sometimes touches my leg.

They kept following me and weaving around me. I would have liked to believe that they like me, but the truth is probably that they were hungry and wanted more of the lip smacking good food.

The message was clear --- they weren't about to let me go anywhere without promising to be back quickly with the second round of kibbles (they understood me when I gave them my word that I would be back with more). They followed me all the way to the side of the building and had to be told to stay in the dark and wait for my return with the loot.

Yes, I have turned into a cat servant or should I say the cats' servant (since there are a few of them) :)

Being held

Many, many years ago, when things were really dark for me, I had a dream. I got very little sleep during that time. In that dream, as I struggled to make sense of why things went suddenly so wrong in my real life, I felt someone hold me tight. I was sitting down alone and then I felt arms holding me. I couldn't see his face as he held me from behind but I knew that it was someone who loved me. He made me feel safe, that I belonged. I still remember that dream to this very day despite that dream having taken place more that 20 years ago...

Uniqlo Airism The World Votes Sampling Campaign Review

I received a free Uniqlo Airism camisole (Normal Retail Price RM 39..90) when I signed up for their Airism The World Votes Sampling Campaign where they were giving away 100,000 complimentary Airism tops worldwide.

I went to the store, selected a pretty pastel pink Airism camisole, showed the cashier my downloaded coupon on my phone and that was it.

I've since worn my Airism camisole twice. On both occasions, I wore it when I went out on my daily brisk walks. I layered it under a top as the camisole is super thin and too revealing to be worn on its own. It is thin enough to be layered under other clothes. I found that it didn't feel too hot even when layered under another cotton top.

This morning however, I noticed that there was pilling on the left side of my camisole where I normally carry my bag :( I was considering of getting a couple more Airism tops before noticing the pills as I love the top that I have but this pilling bit after just two wears is making me think twice about making a purchase. Hmmm..... come to think of it, my Uniqlo Heat Tech camisoles pilled after two wears as well.....    

Blessed

The cats were really hungry. One recognized me and ran towards me when she saw me (or maybe it was the cat food in my hand). She likes having me around while she eats. I think she's beginning to trust me a little bit now. They used to dash at the sight of me when I went to give them a snack. Although they are still wary of me, two of them followed me around asking me for seconds (and later, thirds).

Watching them enjoy their midnight feast makes me happy :) Ah, the simple pleasures of life. I am blessed :)

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Ayah. I love you.

LASS (Lost Animal Souls Shelter)

I gave to LASS today.

I hope my small contribution helps with the maintenance of the doggies :)

Soi Dog Foundation Phi's Cat Care Club

I gave to Soi Dog Foundation Phi's Cat Care Club today.

Just my tiny contribution towards the care of street cats in Thailand.

Soi Dog Foundation Magic 1000

I gave to Soi Dog Foundation Magic 1000 to help out with their quest of stopping the cruel and inhumane illegal dog meat trade that is taking place in Thailand.

Every donation made towards this cause is being matched dollar for dollar by another donor (up to the total sum of 10 000 Euros). 

Frappe' Coffee Review

Frappe' Coffee has just opened in Dataran Sunway in Kota Damansara recently and I was lucky enough to sample their Iced Frappe Latte as they were giving out free coffees. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised since the coffee was rather good and their baristas were super nice which made stopping by their outlet after a long day at work certainly worth my while :)

Thumbs up for the Frappe Coffee team!

Village Grocer 1 Mont Kiara

A very unpleasant incident happened to me while I was shopping in the Village Grocer in 1 Mont Kiara on Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 2:00 pm.

While I was looking at the Olive Oil selection in the store and trying to make a selection,  a member of Village Grocer's staff came up to me and said something to me in what seemed to me as almost incomprehensible English (he seemed to be of Indian/ Pakistani/ Bangladeshi origin). 

He looked like he felt he was very important, walking around with a walkie talkie on his belt and he apparently thought that I was doing something “wrong” (pray tell, since when was taking one's own sweet time to try to make a decision on which olive oil to buy very wrong???). Anyway, because he wouldn't go away and leave me alone to make my decision, and was being quite a pest, I had no other choice but to try to understand what this annoying little Indian man was trying to say and after quite some time only did I understand that he was accusing me of doing something which he deemed was “not allowed”. 

Apparently, he thought that I was “taking notes” of the products. While I do not understand the relevance of the accusation (so what if a customer wishes to take notes of the products if that is going to result in a better purchase decision on the customer's part and since when is taking notes of products in a store a crime?), I was, in fact, being the smart consumer that I am and was using the calculator app on my phone to compare the unit prices between the different brands of olive oils to help me come to a decision (something which I'm sure is not done in the land that that ill informed Indian man comes from).

I was no doubt discriminated against (fancy being discriminated against by a foreign worker in my own country!) as I’m sure such an accusation would not have taken place had it been a person of western origin in the same situation.  Having been a loyal shopper of Village Grocer in 1 Mont Kiara, I feel that the incident that took place today is a huge disappointment.

Perhaps it's time I take my business to Cold Storage in Solaris the next time around. At least Cold Storage doesn't employ people just to stand around a accuse customers of whatever they deem inappropriate behaviour. Yes, Village Grocer employs all these Indian staff whose jobs are to just stand around and stare at you (kind of uncomfortable at times trying to shop when your every move is being monitored as if you're some shop lifter). It's a grocery store and not Tiffany's for goodness sakes!!!

Valentine's Day

Microfinance: Who does it really benefit???

A little more than a year ago, in December 2011 to be exact, I signed up to be a lender on Kiva.

You can read my initial views about it here (click on the link).

I liked the idea of being to help others who are in need to money to get their businesses up and running so that they can fend for themselves and loved ones. The money that I was giving would be a loan which would be repaid over a stipulated period of time and therefore, I would be able to help more than one person with the same initial amount of  US$25.00. over a long period of time. Sounds like a great idea, I thought.

Then, I got around to wondering how it all really works and this is where I got disenchanted with the whole microfinancing idea.

I spent time going though pages and pages of people who were in need of loans on Kiva and finally made my choice of funding someone who I thought whose loan I would help fund along with 24 other people around the world (Kiva has loads to mugshots of the people in need of loans from various parts of the world on their website).

Here's the catch --- most of the people whose profiles and mugshots are on the website have already been approved for loans by Kiva's field partners. So what does this mean, you ask? Simple, Kiva's field partner will manage and disburse the loan should Kiva  fail to raise the funds from Kiva lenders, people like you and me. However, if enough Kiva lenders are able to raise funds for the loan, the Kiva field partner is spared of disbursing the loan themselves and instead uses the funds raised by Kiva lenders. So, that simply means that the lenders are really funding the already rich Kiva field partner instead of the needy person whose profile we see on the website.

To make matters worse, I discover that the field partners charge very high interest and fees on the loans. Case in point: the person that I chose to lend money to had to repay the field partner 46.28% in interest and fees while I, on the other hand, only got my US$25.00 back after over a year, with no appreciation on my initial loan sum. It needs to be noted that I was lucky as I got my full initial loan amount back as not all loans are fully repaid by the end of the loan term.

So while you may think that you're giving the chosen person whose profile you see on the Kiva website a helping hand, in reality, you are really helping the field partner by giving them an interest free loan while they laugh all the way to the bank at your and the needy person's expense. A 46.28% portfolio yield is waaaaayyyy better than what anyone will ever make on the stock market.

The person that I thought I was helping by giving an interest free loan is really being charged a hefty sum of  money and I get no satisfaction knowing that my interest free loan is doing nothing by way of helping this individual in need but instead is helping fund the field partner's financial interests. For this reason, I am withdrawing my funds from Kiva.

MooGoo Edible Strawberry Tinted Lip Balm Review

This is my second MooGoo Edible Lip Balm purchase. The first purchase that I made was the MooGoo Cow Lick Lip Balm which I purchased over a year ago and reviewed it here (click on the link). Incidentally, I still have a little bit more to go on that tube of lip balm even though I carry it in my handbag and have been using it almost every day. I guess that just goes to show just how little lip balm I use each time I apply it.

Anyway, back to the MooGoo Edible Strawberry Tinted Lip Balm... I've been meaning to purchase this lip balm for the longest time but have been putting it off as it was, until recently, only made available online and I didn't want to pay the RM10.00 delivery charge on a lip balm that costs only RM16.90 to begin with. I finally dragged myself down to the local supplier's office recently to purchase this tube of lip balm only to discover a few days later that it was selling in Watson's in 1-Utama!

The reason why I stopped using lipsticks and use safe lip balms is because "what goes on the lips gets eaten" and who wants to eat chemicals??? :O

The no nasty chemicals ingredients list. MooGoo's claim is that they are proud to list all the ingredients they use in their products and not just the safe ones.

The tinted color of the lip balm which may appear to look like it's pretty dark but really, once on the lips, it is not really that visible. It gives only a touch of dark tinted color to my lips.

What I liked about this product:

1. It's a safe natural product that contains no nasty chemicals.

2. It smells really sweet ... like strawberries!

My reservations about this product:

1. I found this product to be a tad on the dry side when compared to the Cow Lick Lip Balm, which I prefer in terms of texture.

2. The color wasn't really what I was expecting but hey, it's difficult to get vibrant colors when you're limited to using natural products. The color is more of a dark brown rather than a red (the color is from beets, by the way, in case you're wondering and so, I guess, that makes it also a vegan product).

Popular Book Vouchers

This is how I fund my reading habit: First, I earn reward points each time I use my Maybankard 2 credit cards  which is pretty easy to do as I pay for most of my shopping by credit card (which I make sure that I pay off in full at the end of the month). When I have accumulated enough reward points, I redeem them for Popular Book vouchers!!! :)

You can read more about Maybank 2 credit cards in my earlier post  here.

To stretch out my buying power even more, I normally wait for Popular to go on sale  (when I get to enjoy a 20% discount on books) before I use my vouchers to pay for my purchases.

It always feels like a treat when I go shopping for books without having to pay for them in cash :)