Yes… I have been looking forward to school break.. Need a break myself.. it’s a holi-holiday.. More snorkelling perhaps.. yay!

Women likes compliments, that is genuine of course. Sometimes, compliments are given just to please or “bodek” someone and not because he/she really deserves it. There was this party which I attended a couple of months ago. The lady host although is a millionnaire, somehow is not a fashionista and had a terrible mismatch of accessories, dress, shoes and make-up colors that night. I can’t believe it when I overheard some guests passing her compliments in front of her and then talked bad about her fashion sense behind her back. Really hypocrite! Isn’t it better to shut up than to pass an insincere compliment?

My Little J is a born “complimentor” (is there such a word in Oxford?). Whenever he sees me wearing a new dress, new accessory, new hairstyle and even new colored contact lens, he would give me a compliment. He is the most observant in the family. Even hubby never notices whenever I get a new hairstyle, the same goes with Big J.. haha..

In this techno era, everything seems to be online-popularized.. social networking, e-learning, business deals, meetings, shoppings, etc etc.. I have been an online freak, skyping, instant messaging, facebooking, online meeting, subscribing e-tuition for Big J, shopping online etc..etc.. Online no doubt saves a lot of time but lately, I realise that doing things online lacks personal touch.

I have experienced buying things online and it turned out to be not authentic and a blouse I bought did not fit and had got poor tailoring! The e-tuition I subscribed for Big J wasn’t comprehensive and he needs more coaching, and ends up attending enrichment classes in the neigbourhood. He is happier attending the classes as he has friends to discuss with and a coach to answer his questions.

And myself? Haa.. I have been using those online social networking to network with friends. Still nothing beats offline meet up, just for a cuppa of coffee or teh-tariking, in another words, nothing beats personal touch.. A good friend recently pulled the plug off Facebook, citing personal touch aka offline networking is till the best. A phone call or even an sms means so much, compare to just an email.. that’s what she said. I have another friend who solely depends on online to socialise, haha.. I wonder how much he has missed!

Well, I guess there must be always a balance to everything. Online if you must, but never neglect that simple personal touch…

Everyone would have some body parts which are uneven. My sister has 2 different sized feet, one size different to be exact! She is size 7 on her left and size 8 on her right! My uncle’s left leg is longer than his right leg, so at times, you can see him “limping”.  A good friend has double eye lid on her right eye and monolid on her left. So, her eyes are kind of one big and one small. And me? I just realised that my left eyebrow is much higher than my right… Kind of weird.. and how come I have never noticed till now????

A couple of days ago, I learnt that a very, very close family member is filing for divorce after enduring her abusive husband for 25 years. There was never any sign of her being physically abused and she had been suffering in silence. I learnt that on days when she was severely abused, she would not come out from her house and will not visit other family members for at least a month, to nurse her bruises. That explains why we never saw her severe bruises although we did see some minor bruises which she claimed that she fell or knocked on something.

While I am still trying to get over the story of my close family member’s domestic abuse, I was told another story involved another family member this morning. This time, it is the wife who abuses the husband. What shocked me was that the abused husband is a professional, a medical doctor to be exact and the wife is a teacher. Both were living in Australia and had come back to Malaysia for good. It is really unbelievable! He has since filed for divorce and has moved on.

I can’t imagine the feeling of living in fear with someone whom you love dearly, whom you have the trust and looking forward to spend the rest of your life with and has overnight become a monster. It is a myth that domestic abuse happens only in poor family and its association with drugs or alcohol. In both my family members’ cases, they are educated, well-to-do and no drug or alcohol. Sigh… it can happen to anyone, any time, any where…

Received a surprised phone call from my former boss this morning. We worked together for about 6 years when he was assigned to head our department, and eventually he was promoted to become the Executive Director of the company and I was promoted to head the department. Ever since Little J was born, I had always wanted to leave the company. I can say that because of him being so supportive and understanding, I managed to juggle well between my work and family. In fact, he is the most open-minded Japanese that I have ever worked with. Probably because of his long-term posting overseas and having been located at US for most of his career live.

I left the company 5 months after he was re-assigned back to Japan. Not long after that, he left the company and joined a different industry and moved to Chicago. After that, we lost touch. And it was indeed a surprise call from him. He is now in Japan and asking my help to check the demand of the industry in which he is working on now. We would most probably cross path again, especially after his company lifts the travel ban due to the A Flu. Takao-san, I look forward to seeing you again.

It’s the mid-year school assessment season. Big J was doing some extra school exercises when I overheard him reading, “My mother loves to “siu” new dresses.” When I asked him to spell out the word “siu”, he spelled S-E-W. I then told him that the correct pronounciation for S-E-W is “so” and he argued with me that the teacher taught them to pronounce as “siu”. I do not blame the teacher for the wrong pronounciation. Afterall, the school ”forced” a Mandarin-specialized teacher to teach the English subject. I was told that this particular teacher is the best Mandarin teacher in the school and was “forced” to teach English as well because of lack of English teacher. If the government wants our children to master in English, by teaching Maths and Science in English would not help. Our children really need good quality English teachers!

Big J is down with severe vomitting and diarrhea. I haven’t had a good sleep for 2 nights. Though the vomitting has stopped, he still has diarrhea. Poor boy.. hope that he gets well soon…

I have been a very loyal Citibank card member for many, many years. Every month, when I receive the e-statement, I don’t really bother to check it thoroughly because I trust Citibank. This morning, I happened to login their website to check out a particular transaction I made recently. I was surprised to find a Metrojaya-Bukit Bintang transaction in my recent activity and the transaction was conducted on a Friday. I have never stepped my feet at Metrojaya-Bukit Bintang nor have I ever shopped on a Friday (unless it is a Public Holiday) because Friday is when the kids have their enrichment classes. I have made my dispute claim with Citibank and goodness, they need 45 days to investigate!

I will definitely check my transaction item by item from now on..