Everything In Pink

The pink-pink things that was deleted from my album archive.

Pictures of fresh and fake flowers that I managed to retrieve...

KL Invaded By............Tom Yam

( wiki search )

Malaysian tom yam originated from Thailand . This Siamese soup is chilli hot and sour with pungy smell of kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass . It is a healthy food , not oily and the main ingredients are prawns, chicken, cuttle fish and sometimes fishballs with fresh vegetables such as cauliflower, carrot,  onions , fresh tomatoes topped with coriander leaves ,fresh lime and fresh chillies.

Even some of the mamak restaurants that operates 24 hours offer tom yam as part of made to order food during night time. Tom yam is the kind of soup that can cut off oily food such as roti canai or beriyani rice that is served in the restaurant throughout the day.

Tom yam has its own class depending on where it is served. If it is in hotels or posh restaurants, it becomes very pricey, especially if it is seafood tom yam. There's also tom yam mix which include prawns, cuttlefish and chicken as the main ingredients.

The ever popular is tomyam in ordinary restaurants or stalls. It tastes the same as the one that is served in hotels. The only difference is the stall tomyam is very cheap and it consists of a few shrimps and a few shreds of chicken and more of lemon grass, onions and tomatoes with a lot of soup. It is also for takeaways.

Tom yam anyone? People won't refuse the offer, people love tom yam at any time - breakfast, lunch, tea , dinner or supper. To those who have sensitive stomach, or their stomach lining is thinning... take tom yam sparingly.

An Eventful ( Uneventful ) Day

Got stuck for 3 hours in Uncle Sam's Emb .

Our appointment was at 920, we arrive at 845, there was already 2 long queues outside the gate.

Instructions:
When should I come to the Embassy

. The time on the appointment letter is the time to arrive at the Embassy gate. It is not the time for your interview with consular officer.
.You are only allowed to come to the gate 15 minutes before appointment time. If you come too early, you  may be asked to leave the gate.

So we don't want to come too early , we might be asked to leave the gate. So  I thought 845 is the most appropriate time to arrive for a 920 appointment . Not realizing that everybody's appointment is at 920, so it is on first come first serve basis . I got no 103 and it was 9 to 12 wait. My head began throbbing, I felt lethargic and my eyes watery due to withdrawal syndrome ( didn't have time to  fix Nescafe this morning ).

Suddenly at 1100 the fire alarm triggered off, all of us had to vacate the building - it was such an excitement for me! I had the chance to stretch my legs and breath some fresh air outside the waiting room . After about half an hour later all of us were  called in and just before 1200 it was our turn for the interview. It went in a jiffy and we were given autorisation to entre'e US... 

Unlike MF who got a lot of wrong info in the net like she has to produce house grant to be able to get the visa. It made her so stressed up and sleepless the night before she went for the interview . But the interview went well for her and she got her passport with the the US Visa stamped on it in 2 days.

I think the consular officers are trained to read faces and differentiate people who are just visiting and who are going to get lost in the vast country of Uncle Sam's. Sometimes they may be quite prejudice in the judgement of bearded guys and  the name  Muhammad . Many young  guys who has been assigned by their company  to work short period in the US has been denied entry or given visa just for 6 month . Some of them may appear rowdy, may have Muhammad in front of their names , may come from religious school - but they are not Muslim terrorists.

Hish had a hard time when he was assigned - the journey was long , it was scorching hot summer with a long day and it was fasting month, he said...if he were to be assigned again, he  will not except it.  He had a bad time and it was such a hassle to enter US!

Pandai Mengurus Hidup!

Seorang kawan menyewakan rumahnya pada sebuah keluarga, dia tak sangka pulak keluarga tu adalah keluarga besar . Anak dah dewasa dan ramai yang dah bekerja, menantu dan cucu duduk sekali. Setelah beberapa bulan menyewa mulalah buat onar tak bayar sewa rumah. Setelah beberapa lama tak bayar, tuan rumah minta mereka pindah, tapi punyalah susah nak keluar....ambik masa berbulan-bulan pulak nak boleh keluar tuh! Dok ramai-ramai, kereta berderet dok ada  tapi rumah tak bayar sewa. Susah jugak!

 Berbeza dengan R yang terpaksa bertungkus lumus bekerja untuk  menyara anak seramai 10 orang dan seorang ibu yang tua. Dia bekerja membersihkan ruang pejabat dan pada hujung minggu dia akan buat kerja sampingan menggosok baju dan mengelap rumah. R seorang yang rajin bekerja dan sangat amanah . Lama kemudian dia tidak lagi buat kerja sampingan kerana kurang sihat .

.Apabila saya berjumpa dengannya dia memberitahu anak-anaknya dah besar dan telah bekerja dan tidak lagi tinggal bersamanya di rumah flat sewa beli yang telah menjadi miliknya . Mereka pindah ke rumah lain kongsi adik beradik bayar sewa dan hidup sendiri. Jadi R pun ringan tanggungjawabnya,dan tak perlu bekerja lebih masa untuk menyara anak-anak. Malah anak-anak mula membantunya serba sedikit sekadar yang mereka mampu ( walaupun mereka tidak bekerja besar sebab ibubapa tak mampu menghantar mereka belajar tinggi-tinggi).