Cleaning Up My Wardrobe

Mom keeps a lot of old things at home - outdated textbooks, old clothes, old kitchen utensils, and so on and so forth. I tell Mom to throw away all those stuff. But she keeps saying that she may need them some time later. I think Mom has a tendency to hoard. But so have many people out there.

I surely do not wish to be like Mom. Hence, from time to time, I force myself clear out my wardrobe. Many women's magazines provide guidelines to declutter the close. Basically, clothes that have not been worn for a year or more should be thrown out. One should also remove items that do not fit anymore.

Hence, this morning, I went through my closet to pick out unwanted clothes. Some are worn, but there are two brand new pieces in the lot which I had never worn ever!

So what do people generally do with those discarded clothes? Well, I know of a few friends who would give them away to close friends and relatives who do not mind hands-me-down and are able to fit into those shirts and blouses. Some would give them to the underprivileged.

This time, my clothes would go to the church, where they would be collected and distributed to longhouses in Selangau. I suppose the people there would find some use for the clothes. For me, it's just wonderful to have the closet cleared of clothes that I no longer wear.

Reply from MAS

Today, I received my reply from MAS. This is how it goes ...

Thank you for your email.

Appreciate if you could clear caches, clear cookies and delete some files under the Internet option tools before proceed with our online booking. Please use a new browser for a new transaction and kindly re-do the transaction as we do not have any issue from our end.

As for the payment does not go through, can you kindly revert back to your issuing back due to certain bank does not allow to purchase ticket from Malaysia Airlines.

Regards
S*******
Business Support Centre
Malaysia Airlines

Well, in case any of you have problems like I had in booking a flight online, you can perhaps take note.

For me, I do not wish to try booking anymore.

Dinner @ 99 Cafe

S**** and I went for dinner at 99 Cafe recently. I ordered Seafood Noodles, and the vendor lady warned me that there were no shrimps, in case I wanted to change my mind. Not knowing what else to eat, I told her to proceed with the order.

Well, the noodles came with fish slices and fishball halves and blanched crinkly mustard. The noodles tasted good, but they were a tad too dry.

Seafood noodles

S**** had dumplings. They looked kind of miserable, floating in clear broth. However, she assured me that the dumplings were good. Hmn. Must give them a try in the future.

Dumplings in soup

Besides that, we ordered some finger food from the stalls outside the shop. The barbecued chicken wings were RM2.00 each. The wings were ordinary, and the colour looked a bit artificial.

Barbecued wings

We also had deep-fried mushroom meatballs and miniature Taiwanese sausages.

Mushroom meatballs & miniature Taiwanese sausages

Hmn. I think I preferr the mushroom meatballs sold by the uncle in front of Yong Le Cafe, opposite 99 Cafe. It's just that the uncle starts his business quite late - 8.00 p.m. These ones sold here were a bit salty. The Taiwanese sausages were standard, though.

Well, there were a lot of people dining here every evening, and actually, I do not mind hanging out here to snack and catch up with friends. ;)

Dinner @ Chicago 7

Well, the first thing I noticed about the guy who took my order was his nails. Gosh, they were longer than mine! To my common sense, anyone who works in F & B has to keep his/her nails trimmed. Hmn. How could his managers let him get away with long sharp nails. It's so unhygienic and it really puts me off!

Chicago 7 had a new outlet at Merdeka Mall here in Miri, and last night, S**** and I decided to have a meal there (despite the scary nails). We stood in front of the counter a long time, trying to decide whether to give it a try or not.

Frankly, the menu on display did not seem very tempting. After debilitating for a long time, we finally decided to go for it.

S**** ordered the Double Cheese Cow; we were both actually fascinated with the name. Lol. Cow? I ordered the Broaster chicken - which was supposed to be more tender, juicy and flavourful because they were cooked in a pressure fryer.

So how was the food? Well, S**** was not impressed with the burger. She thought the patties tasted like those frozen ones that can be easily brought from the supermarket. A thumbs down from S****.

Double Cheese Cow

The chicken, however, was alright. I told them I did not want breast meat, and at least they complied. They gave me a wing & a drum. At KFC, I told the girl I did not want breast meat. She said ok but gave one piece to me anyway. That KFC girl must have thought me stupid or something. Terrible, terrible. It happened to me twice at KFC already, and I've stopped going there for fried chicken.

Anyway, back to the Chicago 7 Broaster Chicken. Well, I must say that the chicken was not really that great, but it did taste alright. The chicken was served with coleslaw and mashed potatoes. I thought the coleslaw was too sour, but the mashed potatoes were quite nice.

Coleslaw

Mashed potatoes

Broaster Chicken Meal

Well, Chicago 7 is nothing to shout about, but it's alright if you just want to give the food a try.

Darn MAS

Last night, I went to the MAS office at the airport to pay for a flight which I booked online. However, at the airport, the price they asked for was different than that was offered online. Hence, I could not get my ticket issued. I was advised to try booking for the same flights again.

This morning, I tried booking - for the sixth time, mind you - and I could never get past this page.


For your information, I have tried booking since 13 October. The system recorded me booking 5 times already!

The MAS staff told me last night that there was a problem with the server. WTF!! Problem with server for the past 2 weeks? Why isn't anything done to rectify the problem? No wonder MAS records losses year after year.

This morning, I lodged a complaint at the website. I wonder what they would advise me to do, for I'm getting really annoyed and frustrated!

MH = Malaysian Hospitality? Urghh!! My foot!!

Trip to Niah Caves

My colleague, M*** organised a trip to bring a group of Form 3 students to Niah Caves. Why? Well, it's just because that they had not been there ever before. 31 students signed up for the trip; but because he was the only one teacher-in-charge, M*** started asking around for other teachers to go along. He needed help and support to watch over the students during the trip. I volunteered because I wanted to wanted to trek, P*** went because she had never been before, and I** wanted to bring some friends along. So in the end, there were 4 teachers to 31 students. Joining us on that day was a reporter for See Hua Daily, A****.

Well, it's not my first trip to Niah. I'd stayed 2 nights there for a camp years before. Plus, I'd trekked into the Caves once before this. I remembered enjoying myself tremendously previously, and hence, I did not hesitate to volunteer this time around.

We reached the National Park at around 9.00 a.m., registered ourselves, and bought tickets. Each student paid RM5.00, and us teachers paid RM10.00 per person.

At the park grounds

Besides that, we had to pay for a short boat ride across Sungai Subis. It was RM1.00 per person per trip. We thought it was a rip-off. The ride was took less than a minute! Lol.

Had to get over to the other side to start the trek

Crossing Sungai Subis

On the other side of the river is the Niah Archaelogical Museum. It displays artefacts that pertains to the pre-historic site that is Niah.


After that, the trail begins. The distance to the caves is clearly depicted. We went in about 9 a.m. and came out about 2 p.m. Hence, we were actually quite slow ;p.

Well, the distance looked manageable

Members of our group leading the way ...

Well, it was a hot day, but the thick foliage and the canopy of trees provided adequate shade. I was sure glad as I hated being in the sun.

The first cave that the trail took us to was the Traders' Cave, where birds' nests were traded or sold in the olden days.

Inside Traders' Cave

200 metres later, we reached the Great Cave. Indeed by then, everyone was tired. Lol. We were really unfit!! Some did not want to proceed further to the end of the trail, where the Painted Cave was. However, us teachers made everyone walk - albeit slowly.

The infamous structure at the mouth of the Great Cave

Well, the trail inside caves were pitch dark, and seemed eerie to me. There were so many steps, and I climbed till my legs ached. There were times when I thought my legs would buckle and I would roll into the abyss! Lol. It was also slippery, and many of us almost slipped. Luckily I remembered to bring my torch light. Otherwise, it would not be easy navigating in the darkness.

Anyway, we managed to reach the Painted Cave. After resting for a while, we made our way back.

It's the birds' nest harvesting season, and we witnessed a skilled collector strung mid-air, poking his long bamboo pole at the ceiling of the cave in a bid to scrap the nest off. On the ground, a few men stood by to collect the nests that dropped.

It was a dangerous job indeed, for the man was only strapped to a rope. We were sure that he would lose his life if he fell! M*** said there were rituals to perform before they would climb up. I wouldn't know, but I suppose it was true. I would love to stay longer to watch him do his job, but we had to make our way back to the Park HQ already.

Everyone was glad when we reached the boat jetty as were all really tired. It was sure a fulfilling day though!

He Made My Day

Last Saturday, I**** won a hamper at the school cultural nite dinner. When he passed me on his way out of hall, I pointed to a mango pudding inside the hamper and told him jokingly that I wanted one.

And indeed, this afternoon, he presented me with a mango pudding.

"Teacher," he said. "This is from our class," he said, indicating the pudding in his hand.

Well, it was such a simple gesture but I was really very touched, simply because he remembered that I wanted the pudding.

So far in my experience, most students attack the goodies in hampers like a pack of hungry wolves and don't give two hoots about anyone at all.

The fact that I**** took the trouble to save me a cup of pudding really touched me.

Thanks kiddo. You made my day.