Marsha Maung: I write. I love. I live

I've always been the kind of person who likes women with friendly, happy, cute faces. This explains my utter disdain for Megan F@x...bitchy faces don't work so well with me. For example, I was one of M2M (the singing duo from Norway) biggest fans. The one on the left is Marit Larsen and the one of the right is Marion Raven. Marion's got a legion of panting male fans everywhere over the world because she looks sexier. She's also the lead singer which I frankly think is unfair to Marit who has her own cutesy voice warranting the same kind of attention. But in the music business, that's the way it works. Sex sells - so with Marion's 'sexy-looking' face, the producers obviously thought it better to feature her more than they feature Marit. Till this very day, I am still a Marit kind of person, not Marion. How about you? Which M did you prefer? Anyway, here's a video of Marit performing a really good song (that I think she wrote) called 'I ...

I am thankful that the weather here is fantastically bright and sunny out there. I know some of you don't agree with me especially if you are out there, seething under the heat, melting. But hey, it's better than when you get weather like THIS, right? The sun is a force of nature, it gives life. For example, I have this transparent water filter at the sink in the kitchen. It is unfortunately on the receiving end of boundless sunny energy during the day because the kitchen was previously a balcony. The designers of the place thought it must be a great place to dry the laundry....which makes perfect sense, really. But now that it is a kitchen and my sink is there...well.... Anyway, the transparent water filter is under the sun during the day. No matter how I try to cover it up to prevent the green stuff from growing in there, I can't. As long as it receives sunshine, the green algae will grow. Therefore, you can't fight the life-giving energy of the sun. So, go...

Nice one from my aunt Angie for this! Hehehe... Tea cups Image A Chinese man and an English man were dining in a restaurant .  The Chinese man lifted his glass up and made a toast to the English man, “Gan   Bei” (Cheers).   The English man was confused but he continued eating. This happened a few   times and whenever the Chinese man wanted to drink he would always say “Gan Bei” The English man only nodded and silently continued to drink and eat. Not long after, the Chinese man once again said, “Gan Bei” whilst lifting up his glass .   . . . . . . . .   Scroll Down Please   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This time, the English man put down his cutlery and angrily said to the Chinese man,   "It’s all right if you CAN’T PAY!” I'll pay! So just shut up”.... = ) p.s. if you are confused, Gan Bei means Bottoms Up or drink up in Mandarin

Loving peace does not make me crazy. Loving nature does not make me a nutcase. Understanding humanity and the cycles that we go through does not lunatic me make. I and you....we are the link between Mother Earth and a force up there. Our job here is to have faith that our mission here will be completed. Oh no, I sound like a monk. But you get the idea, don't you? Am loving you, loving the world and loving my place here on earth. Have a wonderful, peaceful Wesak Day fellow Malaysians and a wonderful weekend to everyone regardless of race, religion, color, height, sex, sexual preference, ethnicity, etc.

So, I have gone and changed the layout a little bit. The previous one is getting old on me and furthermore, it's just a reflection of how 'ego' being human is...feature your face everywhere, including the banner, like you're a celebrity. Sigh....well, I was thinking of being a celebrity one time...when I was seven. You'd think I have outgrown that, huh? No, this blog now is going to be more about life, (yes still me - what, you think I write for money now? Well...I do, but....this is my blog), the things I've seen, my kids, cooking and basically, being thankful about the things around me. I think we take too many things that we have for granted. And when you are not grateful, you forget how to be happy about having your children around when there are parents out there who had their kids' murdered or kidnapped. You forget how fortunate you are when there are people crying their souls to sleep because they might not have enough to eat tomorrow. You know,...

Because of the kids, I rarely get to eat spicy stuff or chili. But here is the one thing that my kids can take. Japanese Golden Curry. See there? It says MILD and yes, it is mild. So, today, I shall be grateful for the golden curry that I got to eat yesterday without too many complaints from my kids.

Everyday, we should spend some time to be thankful for the things that we have. In my personal opinion, too many people bitch too much. Sure, you can bitch around once in a while and it is healthy for the soul because when you pile too many negative things inside your heart, then you become ugly and live ugly and is an ugly personality. People can be ugly despite having the most beautiful face. So, I don't care much for how people look...or how I look, really. I think too many people are too materialistic and superficial. But that is their path in life. I have no say in that. What I have a say in is MY life. So, I choose to be happy that pink teddy is sitting there ever so comfortable in the newly donated massage chair that I take refuge in. Thank you to the person who donated it to me. May you be blessed. :-))))

When it comes to traffic jams in Malaysia, it used to be in KL. You love sitting behind the wheel? Head out to Kuala Lumpur, the heart of Malaysia where all the cars outnumber the people. Well, that isn't entirely possible, but it was a stretch I had to make because I hate traffic jams. It outranks roaches any time. But I live in Petaling Jaya, so, no worries. I like(d) it here. Loved it. Born here, lived here, schooled here, romanced here, married here, gave birth here, raised my kids here and kinda was thinking of growing old here too. However, things took a turn for the worse in recent years because of over-development. Bloody hell, every-bloody-body wants to build something here. A shopping mall, more homes, more large buildings, bigger parks, more homes, more apartments. It's crazy here! Go build somewhere else for crissakes!!! So, now, instead of having to drive to KL for the jams, we get our very own jams here in PJ. Thank you, very much! We are no longer a dead ...

You wanna know when you're old? It's when you look at a picture like this. This is Jared when he was like 2 years old And then to take a picture of him again much later.  Jared on the left of this picture during our recent Penang outing THAT is when you realize that you need a glass of strong vodka. :-)

I feel really sad for Bangkok people right now. From a bustling city, wonderful with sights and sound, now reduced to ruins.  It started with me, strangely, having a bad dream that I was right smack in the middle of the warzone....wearing a RED shirt. I had a child with me, who was strangely (once again) not my kid. Big ears, goofy smile. In that dream, I was panicking about finding a place to hide but walked right into a MEETING. Oh, I don't know which side's meeting, everything was a blur.  I told them I was just passing by and looking for hotel room. In my hand, I held a hotel room key and then they let me pass. Just as I closed the door, there was a thunderous boom and....THANK GOD, I WOKE UP.  Then, as I got started at work, I twitted that I woke up late because of a Red Shirt dream and my friend who is in Bangkok right now replied that 'thank goodness it was just a dream. heard that today is THE DAY'. I was like Oh no . THE DAY as in THE DAY? I followe...

In a recent issue of a Food and Lifestyle magazine, I saw this recipe for Seafood Baked Rice that I thought was pretty neat. It looked good enough to eat, so, I wanted to give it a shot although I was on unfamiliar territory. So, armed with the recipe, I proceed. The recipe told me to melt some butter, add flour and then slowly mix in the milk. I found this to be a bit funny because usually, we make sure that there is enough liquid in there before adding the flour, but hey, the recipe is there and I have to follow just in case that is THE winning formula or something. FYI, you have to precook the rice hor. Not just dump in uncooked rice. So, I melted the butter, put the flour in (congealed flour here, ok?) and then stir the milk in. I have a bad feeling about this thing, already. You need to add a little chicken granules in here too. If you like it a little peppery, add pepper. I tasted it and it tasted alright although a little heavy and thick. So, I add water too. Finally,...

If she is nothing else, she is simply dedicated to her job lah. I am talking about this MPPJ (or something) woman who goes on her rounds of issuing summons to the people around my area. The reason why I am posting this is because I see her in the morning. I see her in the afternoon and sometimes, in the evening too. It's like she has nowhere else to go for her 'ronda-ing' rounds. But there is something good and kind about this summon-ing woman. She goes a couple of rounds. First round, she will honk, honk and honk, warning those who did not put parking tickets to quickly pay for a parking ticket. The second round, she honks again, this time, a little more urgent. The third round, she stops and starts issuing summons liao. Got to give it to her. At least she's kind enough to issue warning. Not a lot of them do this. It costs only RM0.60 to park for an hour over here in Klang Valley, I wonder why some people refuse to pay for the ticket and wait for this woman to c...

I am a little crazy in the kitchen, seriously. I like things natural because I believe that nature has a way of giving us what we need. Without all the crazy chemicals that commercial stuff pumps into our system. Well, although we can't avoid those chemically-made stuff, we can surely be more selective about the things that we choose to feed into our bodies when we are at home. Being a Nazi about food means that I am also a little bit of crazee when it comes to salt. Salt is a staple. So, I prefer to be careful and pay a little bit more for natural salts. FYI, I think himalayan rock salt rocks! It's just got so much more iodine and natural minerals in it. Or maybe I like it because it's got that slightly pinkish tinge. :-) And it's quite cheap too. The other thing that I like is lake salt. Once again, it's got essential minerals that are removed from normal table salt. I am beginning to wonder why these normal manufacturers remove such good minerals from the...

Walking in a mall, I saw this quite neat game being sold for a relatively cheap price. Yes, I know it's a Chinese-made product. However, I need to say that the quality of the game wasn't too bad. I think it might survive three months of rigorous playing. :-) As usual, the Chinese found it unnecessary to hire a professional copywriter or someone with better command of English to write the copy on their product packaging which resulted in some amusing stuff being written. I know it's hard to see what is written there. Here's what it said. 'The product contain mini parts and provide against the children to eat'.  Wow. I don't know what it means, man. Hehehe... This one says 'You can find out the fun!'. Not as funny but still...it's kinda a lame tagline, I think. To be fair, like I said, the quality of the game board and stuff isn't too bad, really. Have to give credit where credit is due. Toodles

...about whether people comment on my blog or not. If I did care, I know exactly what to do to bring people in. Whether you believe it or not, this blog is merely somewhere for me to share things with people. I don't track it, I don't promote it, I don't sing songs about it and most importantly, I DON'T MAKE MONEY OUT OF IT. So, if you see me writing something nice about a product or something, I am not advertising it. I am not a professional blogger, mind you. You want a funny, adventurous and hilarious blogger? Head over to Kenny Sia . If you like people who think they are uber cute and likes fashion stuff, head over to Cheeserland . Hence, this is just a simple blog of a mother, daughter, person, human being, and writer. If you comment and share your stuff with me, I appreciate it, tho. :-) Coz that's love all around. If you don't like me, don't come back. And remove me from your list of RSS feed. I really...no, seriously, I mean it from the botto...

I could have been a mean-assed brat when I was young but I would never, never, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER call the cops on an adult or an authority. Unless it was a real murder or something, right? I mean, it's inconceivable, isn't it? These are people who love you and want the best for you. Yeah, they don't share your same opinion about using the 'F' word but you have to respect them because they put a roof over your head, give you your allowance and put food on the table for you. They also spent the first seven or eights years of your life kissing you to death and hoping that you would turn out to be a really good person. At least a good person. At least not a bad person. I am talking about this useless brat of a teenager over here who called the cops on her grandmother because the grandmother slapped her across the face. Why? The teenager REFUSED TO FINISH HER HOMEWORK. So there. Felicia, you are a disgrace to teenage girls. I would love to say that you are a d...

It's raining outside now but it was sooooooo hot this afternoon when me and the kids were at their school's charity carnival. Yeah, it's one of those lame ole things but I spent about RM75 on stuff that I don't need except for the food which I needed. But I did it basically because it was a charitable thing - if not, I would not waste my time going to something like this when it is so DARN HOT!!! But the thing is that the sun is a beautiful thing. It is the very thing that charges us beings up. So, instead of saying that I hate the sun and it's making me sweat ten thousand buckets of sweat, I should be happy that it isn't snowing or storming (like it is now) outside when we were there.

To say that I wasn't the best of daughters during my teenage years would be an understatement. I was a hell-raiser. I appreciate the fact that my mom actually survived my torment. But I've said it before: I repented. Anyway, for mother's day, if I were to have one wish, it would be so that my kids, your kids, all kids around the world stop growing so fast! They grow up so fast that I literally can see the added centimeters to their hair every morning. I was looking at my kids' baby pictures one night, leafing through the photo album is one of my favorite past times and I told my kids about how wonderful they smelt when they were babies. You know, the milky smell of a newborn baby that you want to bottle up and keep forever. That bottle that you want to stick your nose into and take a good, long whiff? No such bottle. Now, they smell sweaty and...well, not so nice. :-) My kids didn't take too kindly to my description of the way they smell now compared to when...

Sometimes we are frustrated with our kids when they can't read or we get frustrated with them whenever they can't get good grades. I have a dyslexic child and I have often wondered WHY WHY WHY can't he see what I see? And I also wonder about what he sees and why it is so difficult to read the fecking words when it is so clearly there. OK, now I have a general idea. Tell me it's easy to read that. :-) OK, that one was hard, I'll admit. But then again, it would take you a few seconds too to read this one. OK, now imagine the words in a book are all like that.  Faintz!!!

Took the kids out to Penang for a short-short holiday and for the kids, it was a great to be doing something different. And it's good to hear something different apart from, 'Two more minutes to homework time' and 'Have you practiced your piano?' The beach - they were soooooo in love with the beach. The moment they open their eyes, it's 'Can we go to the beach?'. It's a pity that we only have such a short time to enjoy the beach. Really. Here are some pictures that I took. No pictures of me because I forgot to bring my makeup bag so....too bad. :-) There. Son 2 is totally enjoying himself! But I can't help it but think that he needs a haircut when I look at this picture. The other son belongs (funny to say this) to my cousin, the boy's name is Ivan. Adorable guy. Sigh sigh sigh....what's not to love about a scene like THIS!!! Awesome, love it!