Easter bonnet project

Had to make an easter bonnet for Rahil's school easter parade.

So here is what we came up with:



It's made from a straw hat covered with cotton balls. Turned out great and Rahil is very proud of it.

Windows utility tool

I download a lot of shareware and freeware programs on my computer all the time. If I don't like it or the trial period runs out, I just remove them. The problem is that in several case, there are always some traces left.

Just reviewed Macecraft Software's Windows optimization suite called jv16 PowerTools. This tool may be just what I need. It contains a registry cleaner, software uninstaller, file cleaner, history/MRU cleaner and lots of other features.


I am sure a lot of you don't want to buy software without trying it out. Well that's true for me too. Macecraft allows users to to download a fully working trial version (valid for 30 days). It was quite effective in removing all traces of removed software from the registry.

In case you are interested, jv16 PowerTools 2006 costs US$29.95. One plus point is that they have a really active support area with online forums.

Click here to get a discount coupon. A cookie will be saved in your computer on clicking the link and this will give you a 20% discount when you purchase any Macecraft Software.

Cat on the roof

We have an extra toilet outside which we have converted partly into our storage shed. Cats have decided to make the roof over it as their sunbathing place. So far we have identified 3 cats but it seems that there is some short of cat hierarchy as there will only be one at any given time.

Caught this cat as it was yawning. Picture taken from our bedroom window.

Anyway, among the three cats, there's one particularly fat cat and apparently it got stuck one day and was trying desperately to get down. trying one side and then the other.

I was reminded of the incident after going through a post on Lattégirl's blog "Inner Dialogues", when her cat got stuck on their back porch. Read her post here.

Coming back to my story, I went out hoping to help the cat get down but it was so scared when I opened the back door that it jumped right down from the roof and ran like it's tail was on fire.

Can you speak BM

For those who are not aware, Malaysia is made up of three main ethnic groups - the Malays, Chinese and the Indians (mostly Tamil) and other smaller ethnic groups. The national language of Malaysia is Bahasa Malaysia (BM), mother tongue of the Malays who form the majority of the population. 

The Chinese are made up of different Chinese dialect groups. This includes Hakka, Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, etc. Most of the younger generation of Malaysian Chinese can speak Mandarin too, due to the fact that most of them went to Chinese schools where Mandarin is the formal medium of education. National unity is issue of concern in the Country and also controversial because there are a lot of different views on how to go about it. 

Anyway, read an interesting piece of news on The New Sanctuary blog. The post titled "Chicken and Duck talk", discusses a new Malaysian TV series where most of the characters are ethnic Chinese but they speak BM. According to Anthraxxxx, this is a bad idea. He says,

"It’s fine if these casts are good and fluent in Bahasa Malaysia but if you read the article properly, most of them are not good in that Bahasa."

I haven't seen the series, so I can't really comment. What do you guys think? Would love to her the opinion of guys who have seen it.

Alcoholism and drug addiction treatment

Nobody needs to talk to me about the horrors of drug addiction or alcoholism because I have seen the ill effects with my own eyes. I have seen families torn apart and even people dying because of these two diseases.

The problem with many addicts is the denial. They refuse to accept that they are addicts and will give excuses like "I am only a social drinker".

I was going through Watershed.com's and found this interesting article titled "The Signs & Symptoms of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction". If you have the symptoms listed, you better seek some professional help.

Baby boy taking one step at a time

Taking care of a baby is not easy and I can totally relate to Ami-chan when she writes

"I remind myself part of learning is falling down, getting bumps and bruises, and apparently givng your parents heart failure on a half-hourly basis."

Read the full post here.

My son crawls so fast that before we know it, he's either in the kitchen or trying to climb up the stairs. We have put in door-safety hooks and stoppers. Right now we are shopping for used stairgates.

A few days back we were in the dining room and heard a thud followed by loud wailing. We guessed that he was standing up against the sofa and had fallen backwards on the wooden floor.

We nearly had a heart attack. And this was not the first time. Fortunately the living room is carpeted but we now take take the extra precaution of putting a thick comforter on the floor near the sofas. My wife also bought him a woolen helmet for extra safety but he hates wearing it and we gave up after the first day.

Car boot sale online

I am sure that most of my regular readers are aware that going to car boot sales has become our favourite family weekend pastime. iBootSale.com is UK's online version of Car boot sales, where sellers put up their unwanted possessions on their pitches. Buyers can browse, haggle and purchase the items just like in a real car boot sale.

The only difference is that this is one car boot sale is open 24/7 and is not affected by rain, snow or sleet.

If you have unwanted stuff stored in your attic or garage, just go over there and register. Right now the charge for pitches are currently FREE! This is for 90 days and 25 items. However in the future, there will be a simple charge for each pitch.

Just checked and found out that there are a lot of items at incredible prices. Better hurry before they are gone.