Marsha Maung: I write. I love. I live

I didn’t blog last night because I was too busy…..this time not because of work but because I was busy watching leng-chai (hunk) acting in a Korean drama! :-) Hee hee hee….which drama series this time? 8TV is showing this show Korean series called ‘ Witch Yoo Hee ’ at 8.30pm and my friend who told me to watch it over the phone. More like she was gushing at how handsome one of the lead actors was and how she wanted to ‘order’ someone like that and asked me if I could help her ‘order’ one and have it ‘delivered’ to her address! Ha ha ha ha! Anyway, I love watching series, be it Hongkie, Jap or Korean, there’s something about the continuity of a series that makes it so….chase-able. I realize that with my current schedule, I have placed my love for watching series and movies in the backseat. It’s working, emailing, blogging , cooking, ironing, writing, cleaning, washing, doing helping kids to do their homework. The value of my time has become so high that I count every second I spe...

Today….it’s a day for walking, walking, walking and more walking. From the hotel, we took the free charter bus to Times Square which is where we spent most of our time that day. Whole day, in fact. From sun up till sun down, we shopped and shopped and shopped. Thankfully, not a lot of people now because it’s a weekday. Had yummy wanton porridge and one of the best barley drinks I’ve ever tasted with ginger and a kind of dates! We tried to figure ou t how to make that drink. Still confused with the complicated buildings and structures. So confused that I left the girls at Esprit to find a toilet, got lost, wandered into the next building, went outside and walked back to original business. It’s strange, you know, but when you keep your eye level straight ahead, you see all those very high class places. But the moment you look up, you see undies drying out in the sun.….very strange. I wonder how these people take naps or sleep with all that noise downstairs? Especially when there are pu...

Ha ha ha ha....here comes Monday Ha Ha therapy from Marsha again. I tell you....when watching this video, get ready to clutch your sides! About the video - a group of people get together for therapy whereby they learn how to deal with their fears. They introduce themselves and tell others about their fears. Somehow or the other, they keep triggering off each other's fears and everything ends up so hilarious. I don't know what language they're speaking in but there's English sub-titles. Go watch it! Click it, let it load while you work your Monday blues away and by lunch time, it should be ready for you to watch!

As mentioned earlier, I had a huge momma-sized bag which I had to drag from the hotel to the ferry terminal in Macau , from the terminal to the ferry, from the ferry to the disembarking terminal, from the terminal to the taxi, from the taxi to the hotel and then to the room. Shit man, almost broke my back dragging the bag because there are absolutely no lifts in Macau . No bloody lifts in the whole of Macau ! They can’t afford to build lifts so even if you have a pram with you or a thousand KGs of mushrooms or heroine, you have to haul them up and down the escalators! Don’t say I didn’t warn you… Slumber inducing ferry ride & benefits of knowing someone rich in HK I slept in the ferry as the rocking motion of the ferry invites slumber. But that was befo re I found out that a couple of days before we arrived, two ferries collided because of heavy fog and some of the passengers were quite seriously injured! Ack! A friend later revealed that he was on one of the ferries ...

Why the hell is my life (hence, blog) so eventful I don't know. As mentioned, I went up north with my siblings for my grandmother's funeral. Well, there's nothing much to be said about the funeral but I'll probably blog about it a little after this. But today, here's what is bothering me. Me, my sister (Karen), my brother (Damien) and brother-in-law (Chris) left Sg. Petani around 2.30pm or so heading back towards KL. After two stops, we reached Tanjung Malim about 5-something-ish. During the funeral, we didn't much sleep so we were all kind of tired and decided to take turns driving. At Tanjung Malim, I took over the wheel. From afar, we started seeing all those flashes of lightning. VERY LONG and HUGE ones, therefore, I braced myself for a storm. True enough, there was a storm, so, I slowed my brother's car down to a crawl. And you know what? The traffic was really at a crawl. I was only meters away from a traffic accident . As we crawled towards the ...

Not even done unpacking from Hong Kong trip and here I am packing again! Damn sien, man. I don't know how people who travel a lot take this kinda bullshit! But this time not for holiday lah.... This time, me and my siblings are packing for my grandmother's funeral tomorrow (Friday) in Sg. Petani in Kedah where she stayed. My two boys are all like, " What ?! Again?! But you just came back !" Amidst all the protest, I had to do some explaining too - about grandmother, about who she was, how come they're not going (boring, dry, school and somber mood was my explanation) and when I will be back. I damn stressed out, you know! I have a mountain of work to do as a result of my absence during Hong Kong trip and here I am packing off again and adding more to the load! Stressed out. I can feel my blood pressure climbing the scale again right now. I need my meds, man! Anyway, wish me a good and safe trip back to Sg. Petani and hope that I am not crazy by the time I com...

The curtains flutter and there's an overcast outside the window....the sun is hiding shyly behind a curtain of clouds....you know that rain or a storm is imminent. You watch the birds flutter south in a group, black crows spreading their wings towards a new destination and you know you're ready for rain. You're emotionally ready for it as you sit by the window, watching the sky darken and the clouds grow heavy. Yet you're NEVER ready for the first rain drop. The sudden splitter splatter of raindrops break your concentration and you feel the unexpected feeling of surprise and awe. " I thought I was ready for you ", you smile outside. " But I guess one is never ready for something like this " Like death. Many of us have spent years waiting for it to happen. We knew it was inevitable and that one day we would have to face up to the fact. Some of us wishing it would come sooner and let the axe fall because it's been a painful and torturous jou...

As mentioned earlier, before I left for Macau-HK, my kids were suffering from a major flue and cough virus thing. On the day I left, their temperatures were still heaving up and down the scale. When the plane landed in Macau , there were two things that I felt that were very intense. One, the cold. Two, a headache. The temperature was somewhere between -1000 to –1,000,000! I don’t know…that’s what it felt like because my sinus was acting up, my nose was blocked and there was a massive fridge lodged inside my Medula Oblongata (part of the brain, in case you’re curious). I had a massive and old luggage which was inherited from my in-laws. It was a sturdy thing but it was massive as well. I mean GIGANTIC. It wouldn’t fit into just any normal car booth, OK and when every taxi I had to fit the luggage into went like, “Give me the giant one first!” or “Wah….who’s one is that?” It’s big for a very good reason….it’s pretty damn tough. But it takes Air Asia staff to put a dent into it and ...

I am back and have not touched computer for long time. Forgot how to type liao. Sei lor. Tired. My ear is blocked....so's my nose. I cough like a horse. Drink, party, walk too much. Very happy to see low rise buildings again. Mati terpelanting looking at my luggage. MISS MY KIDS LIKE BLOODY HELL. Pokai liao. Write tomorrow. Zzzzzzzzzzz.....................

Being a mother is a highly demanding job….any one can tell you that. Being a mother-AND-freelancer if even more difficult. One moment you’re wiping milk off the table, next you’re cooking lunch, then you dash off to fetch your kids from school and then you come home to answer some emails and work out the skeleton of today’s articles. Then you feed the kids, wash the plates, then write the articles. Before you know it, you have dash off to fetch your OTHER kid from school and then dash home because you have to cook dinner liao. Life is like a mad house over here. And yet, call me crazy (I’ve been called lots of offer less favorable names, anyway) but I STILL wouldn’t change it for the world. But here’s the thing. Leading such a fast-paced (and here we are, thinking that office work is the only kind of work worthy of that term) lifestyle, I inch closer and closer to a burnout every day. Therefore, I need time out. Not the sit in the corner and reflect kind, mind you. I need t...

I know, technically, there's really nothing funny about affairs but let's just hang that hangup up for a bit and just enjoy the joke(s) I have for you today. You know, something to roll your Monday off with from the right side of the court. *** 1st Affair A married man was having an affair with his secretary. One day they went to her place and made love all afternoon. Exhausted, they fell asleep and woke up at 8 PM . The man hurriedly dressed and told his lover to take his shoes outside and rub them in the grass and dirt. He put on his shoes and drove home. 'Where have you been?' his wife demanded. 'I can't lie to you,' he replied, 'I'm having an affair with my secretary. We had sex all afternoon.' She looked down at his shoes and said: 'You lying bastard! You've been playing golf!' The 2nd Affair A middle-aged couple had two beautiful daughters but always talked about having a son. They decided to try one last time f...

For One More Day Mitch Albom Paperback 197 pages ISBN No. : 978-0-7515-3753-6 I don’t remember the last book that I read that made me cry. As in….really cry. I don’t remember. But this one…..huiyor! The ending was really killer….had me bawling like a friggin’ child for a bit. But Mitch Albom is known in the publishing world for doing that – digging into the human heart and makes you squeeze all the nasty juices out until you cry. OK, that’s the summary of what I feel about ‘For One More Day’ by Mitch Albom. I totally dig it. The story is about a broken man, someone who did everything wrong, couldn’t live with his mistakes, cast aside and have given up, emotionally. Very common lah, right? Many antagonists in books are like that, right? He drinks like hell, gets sacked, is divorced and his daughter doesn’t invite him for her wedding because she was afraid he was going to embarrass her. What’s a man to do now that the tide is against him? He decides that since life is ...

I thought working from home means that I don’t need to fight the morning gridlock that Malaysia is famous for. I was wrong. Now, I have to fight the traffic many times throughout the day as I become an Ahmat (driver) to my kids, fetching to and from school. Gawd…..I don’t know how to tell you how much I hate the morning traffic and the lunch traffic snag. But I take comfort in the morning (usually I am stuck in the car between 7.30am till 9.00am) when I listen to Hitz.fm’s morning crew.... Rudy and JJ . Although at my age, I should be listening to Light & Easy for some soothing music but I tell you, you must kena their crazy kind of humor in the morning and it perks you up big time, right or not? Like this morning, I woke up late and started barking at my kids from 7.30 onwards (7.30 supposed to leave the house but today 7.30 only WAKE UP!) and then we reach the car, I bark some more. Like a bitchy mom. Then in the car, I heard Rudy & JJ’s ‘I got it from my Mama k ’ (origina...

If you’re a foreigner who has never been to Malaysia and you’re planning a trip here and wondering what is a classic Malaysian cuisine you should try, here’s one. Nasi Lemak. Let me take some time to explain what the Nasi Lemak is, ok? ‘Nasi’ means rice. ‘Lemak’ means fats. In essence, Nasi Lemak is a kind of rice that will make you fat! Ha ha ha ha! While the Nasi Lemak is named in one of the most unattractive and unappetizing way possible, it’s absolutely delicious. If you’re here in Malaysia for a bit and want to try something that you can’t go wrong with, go for Nasi Lemak….it’s a classic. The reason why Nasi Lemak is called precisely that is that the rice is fragrantly cooked with pandan leaves and the curry (yes, it can get bloody spicy) is cooked in POTS and POTS of coconut milk. Fattening? Yeah….a little. But it’s worth the extra inches on the butt. For some reason, Malaysians like to eat Nasi Lemak a lot especially for breakfast. You can get Nasi Lemak, the smal...

It's only Wednesday ???? But tomorrow's a holiday and I didn't even realize it was a holiday. Eh, I observe US holidays instead of Malaysian holiday, so, you can't blame me lah. So, you won't find me working during Thanksgiving and Boxing Day, you know. LOL. Anyway, here's a joke to beat your Wednesday after-lunch sleepiness! I consider this to be one of the best feminist joke in the world! Love, Marsha *** A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed: 'Dear Lord: I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through, so please allow her body to switch with mine for a day. Amen. God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish. The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman, without any say about it... He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, set out their school cl...

These past few days have been nothing but tiring. Sure enough, school started liao and I can now have a few hours a day free from arguments, screaming, and mad-cap running around. But this also means that I have to wake up at 6am and feeling like dosing off in the middle of the day. Then there's the non-stop cooking and cleaning. That's why, now, I am very strict about my "official' working hours. After toiling inside the kitchen, on the computer and cleaning up after the kids, it's time to sit back and relax. I am a fan of this herbal decaf tea which they claim to be 100% natural called Celestial Seasonings. I also like the herbal tea from Marks and Spencer's as well. Very rich and aromatic. On Celestial Seasoning ' s box, there's this really nice quote that I want to share with everyone. There are three material things, not only useful, but essential to life. No one 'knows how to live' till he has got them. These are pure air , water and e...

Man…..I probably deserved it. Looking at how my elder son is now in a Private School, I didn’t need this teacher’s Chinese school methods of teaching anymore. So, lasts Saturday, I suggested to her that we end the sessions. She said that I needed to give her one month’s notice. But to me, since it wasn’t working and school started already, what I did was try to negotiate with her. “ We come to a compromise lah. You give Joshua 4 more lessons instead of 8 and I pay you half month fee, can ?” She said, “ But you should tell me earlier lor. This way, how can I survive now? I have to look for other students to take up his place ” I paused then said, “ I am sorry about that but we came to the decision quite suddenly. I think half a month is OK to look for new student to take up your slot ” She seems a bit angry at this point. Can’t blame her but you cannot blame me as well mah. Joshua hates her teaching style which includes a bit of a ‘ Woi! Concentrate! I ask you to write here lah, no...

It takes more than just writing articles to get your website to rank well in search engine. I know it sounds complicated and you’re not even going to continue reading this because this article sounds like a very technical article already. But hang on a minute here, it’s not complicated, I promise you. On top of just writing your articles and posting in your website (click away if you have a blog system running or a content management system going for you) because there are many things that the search engines can see that you can’t unless you go into the HTML codes underneath. There are not a lot of things you have to concerned about in all those HTML codes. After planting your article into the web page, there are three things you have to look at before it’s properly search-engine optimized. It sounds tedious but trust me…..it gets easy after a couple of times. Hey, I studied law and was working legal documents here! And I sing on stage and do clown shows, ok? So, if I can work this H...

Declaration: “I live out the DIAMOND principle” I live out the Diamond Principle . Inside of me, I am like a precious diamond. Like a diamond, I am unique because there are no other diamonds in this world exactly like me. In fact, there are no other diamonds in this world even 10% like me! I am, therefore, precious to the world. I have a sense of worth because I am unique. Like a diamond, I reflect light, I bring warmth to the people around me and color to the lives of people who appreciates me. If each of us work hard every day to be appreciate life and the person who we truly are, we will all be living happier lives. You wouldn’t believe me, some time ago, I had a friend throw himself off the condo opposite my house . I was traumatized and lived in anxiety and fear for a long few months. The road to recovery was a very difficult one as I walk past where he died all the time. For many months after, I asked myself why but I got my answer after doing some soul-searching. He didn’t k...

Are we talking about public funds here? Are we talking about money taken from our income tax here? If we had a say in how our money was spent, shouldn’t we spend it on people who really need it? As sorry as I am for Bienda, I feel sorrier for women who have lost their husbands, with kids to feed, and are unable to find work! These are the people who really need the money to survive. I am sure, Bienda being a popular singer and have good family background should be able to raise the funds for herself. Why should the nation pay for the surgery of someone who is capable of finding the funds on her own? Explain, please? Does she have family members who are working? Does she have savings? Compared to widowed mothers, divorced mothers or abused wives with armies of kids who cannot find work because they cannot leave the kids unattended while needing to find work. I could be wrong, though, because I don't know if this is public funds we're talking about here. How they go a...