Starbucks

STARBUCKS.....my fav coffee place. Me waiting for Simon to finish his meeting so we can have dinner. Meantime, I just makan-ed a (chicken) shepherd's pie and had my usual ice-blended Green Tea with whipped cream. Although having coffee at Starbucks can be quite expensive at times, but I like it nonetheless.

Did you know that sheperd's pie was formerly known as 'cottage pie'?

Cottage pie, also known as shepherd's pie, refers to an English meat pie with a crust made from mashed potato and beef.

The term cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791, when potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor (cf. "cottage" meaning a modest dwelling for rural workers).

In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, and the pie dish was lined with mashed potato as well as having a mashed potato crust on top.

The term "shepherd's pie" did not appear until the 1870s, and since then it has been used synonymously with "cottage pie", regardless of whether the principal ingredient was beef or mutton. There is now a popular tendency for "shepherd's pie" to be used when the meat is mutton or lamb, with the suggested origin being that shepherds are concerned with sheep and not cattle, however this may be an example of folk etymology.

Hmmm, still no sign of Simon. *sien*

giat-ness

While I tengah giat to write, I thought I'd just pen down my thoughts.....on what? I also not sure. I guess I am abit celaru now. So many things to think about. So many details. So many issues. So many plans.

Ah, speaking about plans. Club Med is giving 1+1 promo again. U just need to pay for one adult, and the other goes for free. Quite a good deal since it covers meals and selected outdoor activities. My family enjoyed themselves the last time they visited Cherating. Now I am wondering if I should go. But with the other plans I have pending, I thought I shouldn't even be thinking about holiday-ing right now.

Just too many things to consider at this point of time.....

chak...here i am :D

Yes, yes, after thousand and one excuses to Sophie, I am finally making yet another re-apprearance here. After the wedding, I thought I should start blogging again now that I have a little more time to myself.

The wedding was a memorable one for me and Simon. And to have Sophie and Manlok come all the way from Melbourne made it extra special for us. Thanks you two :) Was great meeting Manlok for the first time, and even more sweet to catch up with friends some time after the wedding.

Now that the whole ceremony is over, I have some time over the weekend to do whatever I want since Simon is back in office for some urgent work. And so the first thing I did was to clean the apartment- something I haven't done in ages :P I am used to having the makcik over to clean for me since I told Simon that we were busy preparing for the wedding, and it's already tiring enough to walk round the city trying to get things done. And so the makcik, my saviour often cleans the apartment every fortnightly when we need her to. I contacted her for this week, but she is tied up with another house, and I can't stand another minute walking round the dusty place. My only option: CLEAN THE HOUSE MYSELF :( ...... With the new vacuum cleaner in hand, I started to clean. And clean. AND CLEAN. It's like never ending!!!! The apartment is only 900 sf in size, HOW LONG CAN IT TAKE TO CLEAN A SMALL SPACE???? The more I cleaned, the more I thought about this fact: Our moms had to cook, clean, wash, fold, iron, feed the kids and still maintained a career. HOW DID THEY MANAGE ALL THAT?

Maybe I am getting a taste of married life?

Lesson to Learn

Jacko is dead... DEAD! Can you believe it? I can't. I grew up with him! All through his persecutions, I always held steadfast in his innocence. I really do. And I feel really sad for him. For the way he had to live and the things society put him through just because he is so famous.

If you take a moment to think about it, if a normal person with his condition, society feels sympathizes with him (mental condition, abusive childhood, etc) but becuase its him, everyone just wants to have a piece of his flesh. Is this what society has come down to?

In my opinion, probably it's better for him to pass on than to continue his life as a moving target for today's envious society. I don't believe he molested those kids. I perceive him as a very scared and lonely person who missed out on all his childhood due to his fame since he was a kid. Can you imagine living under the spotlight since you are 5 years old? With no chance for a normal life, going to school, have a best friend, have your first kiss? Everything you do is always under the scrutiny of the media, can you imagine that?

It seems to me that he has a very innocent mind, if you watch all his interviews. All he wanted was just for people to be happy and for peace amongst nations. Perhaps you can say, he is a true Utopian. If you take some time to go through most of his lyrics, you will find that is true. And he just wants to be friends and hoping that others want to be friends with him too. Why can't society take the fact that, it's not weird to feel joy upon a smile on someone else's face?

Perhaps that's what's wrong with today's society, perhaps that's why there's so many wars raging around the world, perhaps that's why there are people who live excessively while others are dying of starvation....

Just reflect on the words from one of his songs below, mayhap there's a lesson for us to learn from the world's most misunderstood personality....

Man In The Mirror
Michael Jackson

I'm Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change

Mayhap we should look within ourselves before we start pointing fingers at others, you think?