Monday, December 26, 2011

Decade

Sometime in 2001, probably in March (I can't exactly remember when, but definitely earlier than May), I received a phone call from my mother. Never have I thought that that particular call would bring a major change in my life.

Forward to May 2001. That phone call is basically what the Malays termed as 'merisik'. Although, in my case, it was kinda reverse-merisik since it should be the guy's family recceing the prospective bride. So, I got engaged with my wife until December of the same year. I didn't know at the time but she told me that my decision to accept her hand in marriage is similar to Lord Wellington's summary of the Battle Of Waterloo : "A damn close-run thing" as there is another family who were also asking her hand for their son at roughly the same time. So I guess Field Marshal von Blucher arrived just in time!

What makes our marriage unique (more or less) in modern times is that it is a family-arranged marriage.  Heh, even the clerk at the Religious Department expressed her wonder. Whilst I do know my wife previously as our families are very close (if not actually related - I'm still not sure myself!) I did not have feelings toward her then. Somehow I have the feeling that is why our love is stronger, as the saying goes 'bercinta lepas kahwin'.

Thank you sayang for being a faithful, devoted and loving wife and mother. The last 10 years was among the best in my life. Sure, there are some incidents (sedangkan lidah lagi tergigit!) and I look forward to more happy days together.....till death do us part. InsyaAllah.

p.s. this was supposed to be posted on 22 December, the 10th anniversary of our wedding but, ah you know the rest!

Monday, December 05, 2011

1,000,000 IQ Drop!

I have a confession : I'm a gameshow junkie. Ever since 'Tekaria" aired on RTM some time in the 1980s, I'm hooked enough that I 'participate' in the shows. My wife even suggested that I auditioned whenever the producers are considering the next season of the show(s).

However, having watched RM1 Million Money Drop a few nights ago, I wonder if there is a conspiracy behind the scenes (so that nobody can win RM1 million) or that the participants are really well, "general-knowledge challenged". I mean, consider these facts:

1. The Malay idiomatic expression "Lari macam lipas kudung"
2. The late Biduanita Saloma's real name was Salmah Binti Ismail
3. Masak Lemak Cili Padi originates from Negeri Sembilan
4. Dondang Sayang is a traditional song/dance of the Babas
5. Kenyir Lake is in Terengganu

However the contestants' choice for answers were:
1. "Lari macam semut"
2. Salma Binti Hayek (which is, actually Salma Hayek of Desperado fame and definitely NOT Puan Sri Saloma!)
3. Johor
4. The Minangkabaus
5. Perak

Extremely easy questions, yet the contestants FAILED!

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Heavy Metal Is Good For You!

In my previous posts, I have mocked some so-called 'health products' for their outrageous and ridiculous claims of health benefits. Now I have come across some other products (one is salt (salt!) and the other, let's call it 'magic water'). Now both of them claimed that their products contains '72 (the other claimed 84) minerals needed by your body' and listed down 61-71% of the elements in the Periodic Table as 'needed' by us. Now it's either they really have all those elements in their product (which in turn implying that they are actually idiots) or that they just write of all of them down in order to sound more 'scientifically' authentic to the general public (which also make them idiots and worse, scammers)
Now, let's see what are the elements they claim to be beneficial to us, shall we?
Astatine, Radium, Plutonium, Uranium- radioactive
Manganese, Arsenic, Rubidium, Mercury, Lead, Cadmium, Barium, Beryllium, Thallium- toxic

So, consuming radioactive and toxic elements is good and that our body need them huh? And by the way, most of the other elements are not actually needed by our bodies!