Taking your fitness personally

I look at all the data that we've collected (Cindy, Harry and I) over the last 2 months and discovered :
1) only 3% of our population goes to the fitness centre
2) 80% of population do not exercise (like the way exercise is supposed to be)
3) 30% of population have heart related illness
4) 8% prevalence of diabetes
5) 50% of our respondents in surveys (which are the target market) are interested to join a gym (why they aren't already joining? Beats me.. I am one of them! Still evaluating mah..)
6) 81% prefer a flexible package due to either being a student, a senior citizen or simply do not have energy to go during weekdays
7) Location is the most important factor for choosing a fitness centre- duh!
8) 62% go to fitness centres for health reasons
9) Fitness First is the number one gym - surely this is based on location- hit the jackpot!
10) 13% cannot figure out if they are male or female

Gubra with G-ni

I just returned from watching Gubra with G-ni. It was a sequel to Sepet(right)- a love story between a sepet Chinese man and a Malay girl.



I laughed terbahak-bahak intermittently during the show and was reduced to tears at some points. It was just beautiful. I am proud that Malaysian can actually come up with such a good movie.

There was a scene that touched my furry heart. The muezzin while on his way to the mosque actually stopped to pet a dog which was sitting in the middle of the road and told the dog to move aside in case it gets knocked down by the truck again. The dog then gets up and with 3 legs hobbled over to the side....

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (not sure who this is) said:

With regard to dogs, there are three views among the scholars:

1 – That they are taahir (pure), even their saliva. This is the view of Maalik.

2 – That they are naajis (impure), even their hair. This is the view of al-Shaafa’i and is one of the two views narrated from Ahmad.

3 – Their hair is taahir but their saliva is naajis. This is the view of Abu Haneefah and of Ahmad in the other report narrated from him.

This is the most correct view. So if the wetness of the dog’s hair gets onto one’s garment or body, that does not make it naajis. End quote.

Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 21/530.

Now I wonder why all this time Muslims just simply detest dogs? No reason at all right?

Sayang... manakah gigi tajammu?

Marido has a bad case of bruxism. It's amazing the amount of teeth grinding he has done in his sleep. I would wake up and give him a shove in hope that he stops. I then drift off to slumber and not be able to hear him again. It gets especially bad when he is having a rather stressful than normal day at work. His teeth has been ground to half its length and the face has kinda crumpled (like you got no teeth)

We saw 3 dentists for him... the 1st at Bangsar but the top dentist was always away and so we never got any concrete news from them obviously.

2nd was at Bangsar too but Marido felt really odd going to a dentist who has buck teeth and talks like ELmer Fudd.

3rd was my dentist in Centre Point who was not at all experienced in this matter and so he refered Marido to Dr SIm in Damansara Dental Centre. After a year, I finally made an appointment to see Dr Sim.

Dr Sim was a very patient man who spent more than an hour assessing Marido's teeth and explained all procedures to me as if getting my approval. Finally a man who knows that making the woman happy is key!!

He took an x-ray, made 2 sets of teeth imprints and also tested with really thin foil on how good a grip the teeth made (to identify how to reshape future teeth).

We should be getting a call from him in about a month to consider what options Marido has in reconstructing his teeth. Let's hope reconstuction is possible!

A letter I dug up (written during my corporate working days)

My dearest Amiga,

I wonder when is a great time to call you and decided that writing the stuff down is better so that I can catch you at your good time. I have been silent lately as time seems to be so short to me. Just yesterday(Sunday), I was at work until almost 6pm and I went for a walk after that and after dinner, I just felt so tired that I konked out before Marido even joined me.

THe house is in a mess-actually I think that even if I had more time, it would still be a little messy cos tidiness is not on my priority- kekeke I don't know how long my silence was. Maybe you can remind me. But I really have been very quiet due to a variety of reasons. Mostly becos of the busyness of work.

I am not sure if you have heard from the others.. I am planning to resign from my work. It is a hard decision. I who have worked so long and hard in this Company that the idea of stepping away freaks me out. How could I survive not being a part of the largest trading house in South East Asia. I had become, instead of Ame the person/woman/friend/Child of GOd.., the Business Manager of Diethelm Keller Siber Hegner. I had elevated my position and my work in my company to an almost God like presence in my life. I had neglected my own Jesus who is sidelined to the peripherals of my life .. like only on weekends.

In a way, I believe that the pressures of the work lately has been a part of discipline/pruning so that my eyes are opened to the fact that I had neglected all else except my obsession with work. I had even forgotten my own husband's birthday. How can a wife forget a husband's birthday? I had commited a grave error. An error fortunately for him.. he will never know as the day after, the palm pilot reminded me and I made up for that error.

I was/am so darn scared that I am no longer part of that elephant (big company), no longer having a title behind me saying that I am of worth in the corporate world. My values of myself is so tied to the market place that I even not want to have a baby as that will interfere with my climbing up the ladder. (also when you work you kinda lose track of the baby thing)

I also very much resent the people saying things like " why are you working... your husband can support you what?" .... I sometimes wonder why I feel my hackles rise when I hear comments like that. I guess that is becos I want to be someone by my self and not becos I married a certain somebody. Marido teases me on this "of course people are going to see you differently, you married someone "of a different colour" and people will always have that 'perception'. If you wanted a normal life, you should have married one of your exes".

There is quite a lot that I have been deliberating. I know in the end that becos I had chosen to marry, I should naturally be part of the progression thereof.. ie having kids, being a super mom, and etc. My hats off to you for your courage and foresight. Marido thinks that you have planned and executed your life well.. getting married at an optimum age, had your first child and another one is on the way.

With all the things warring in my mind, I think that I need to take time off to reevaluate my life. I must be grateful that since GOd has blessed me with a husband who does not mind me not working for a while, I must take stock of my life. And I should let anyone make me feel any lesser.

Hermana arriving

Mi hermana (sister) is finally moving up to Rawang. Her marido is going to pastor a church in Rawang after being an assistant pastor for many years in Melaka. He felt that it was time to move out of Melaka and tendered his resignation in June last year. By February he was out of "work" but God gave his this church who welcomed him with open arms. They even provided him a home to stay.. at first it was an apt and then they upgraded it to a Semi-D... wow! Actually hermana is not pleased with all the space and nooks and crannies that she will have to clean. Not to mention that she will have to take care of 2 kids all by herself and cook as well... I think she will be very grumpy very soon.

However, I am thrilled that she is moving here. I will have my family close by..I think for me, it's another support that is going to be good for me. Poor Dada is back home in Melaka but i don't think that he minds very much. After all, all his friends are in Melaka and smum is there with him too. Thank God he is still healthy and still jogging around Bukit Cina... Smum joins him now too.

The journey from Rawang to PJ takes 1 hour.. actually quite far eh? I thought it would be nearer. It would be nearer if I moved to Damansara Perdana ... but at the moment... not yet.