An Ode To Coffee

Java Chip Frappucino

My fav drink in Starbucks...that is until I found out that a grande cuppa of this potent stuff contains...GASPS...460 kcal. FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY!!! Trust me, that's a lot of calories for just a cup of coffee. Hhhmmm, if I hold the whip cream (which is what I do anyway because whip cream is essentially creamy milk (blah!!!!!), ain't it?), would the number of calories then fall to 60? Yeah...wishful thinking!

People who know me well will know that I love coffee and all kinds of fruity teas (fruit infusions...not the black tea kind). They would also know when I am running low on caffeine by my glazed and blurry eyes...and they know well to stay away. Funny thing is, they also tend to stay at arms length when I am pumped up with caffeine. Something about the way I bounce off the walls.

And lucky me...I have a partner-in-crime at work who shares this love for coffee. She makes the whole drinking experience more enjoyable...it's just not as fun drinking coffee alone. So anyone who would like to join us for a cuppa can normally find us huddled beneath the umbrella at BESTA first thing in the morning. If you miss that slot, no worries...there's always the after lunch coffee, and the before UMSC clinic coffee...and the occasional 'emergency' coffee...

Netball? But It's Been 15 Years!!!

I reckon that Mei was a little desperate when she put me down as part of the netball team for our 'Hari Keluarga' games. I rephrase that...I reckon that Mei was VERY desperate for any sort of homo sapien that fitted her basic requirements of being able to run (short spurts will do), jump (5 cm from the ground also accepted) and grunt (very important to psycho the enemy...ooops...opponent).

Thus, this Saturday morning saw me waking up early and rushing to the UM Sports Centre (was a tad late). In total, our team played four games and though we did not emerge champions (like our volleyball team...congratulations by the way), we came in 3.5. Nope, no mistake there. Apparently, the organisers bought similar prizes for the third and fourth placing and so, we didn't bother to battle it out. The sun was glaring and despite the spf 45 sunblock I slapped on, I could feel myself turning shades darker. But it was a fun experience...the last time I remember holding a net ball was in SMSS where I of course held the position as a GK (goal keeper). The pictures posted up here were taken of the guys in our zone during their first game...which was simply hilarious as most of them did not know the rules of the game. So, it ended up being a mix of basketball, football and galah panjang. I don't recollect ever laughing so much during a netball match. Yikes, is that the time...I'd better run. Christie's 'house blessing/warming' barbeque is on this evening and I have to get the ice and bring along (must wash first) the 'zebra' stainless steel water dispenser that's been sitting in a corner in my kitchen for many years now. I really do hope that it is not rusty or falling apart.

Post Potter Blues

As I turned each page of this 604 paged book (may not exactly be 604...but somewhere there la), I am compelled on by the curiosity of how it all ends. At the same time, I am sadden by the knowledge that THIS IS IT! The last Potter book! No more pre-booking. No more getting up early and fighting our kiasu way through the mass of kids (woe to those who got in our way!). A chapter in my life has come to a close and I am inflicted by what Jess calls the 'Post Potter Depression' syndrome or PPD for short...only that I have never liked the term depression and am opting for the word blues instead.

And so I have reached the end of the book (a few days ago actually). My verdict: TERRIFIC! I could not have imagined a better ending and as I turned that last page, a nostalgic smile appeared on my face. Good bye Harry...it's been a great ten years of growing up with ya!

PS: Manju...I don't believe that you refused to have dinner with me on the account that I finished the book first. Hurry up already so that I can have my munkee-bud back. Imagine all those bowls of tom yam we are missing.

Potty For Potter

Right then. The awaited book. After much drama about the price war between book stores and hypermarts...the 21st of July 2007 trotted along. The anticipation was just too much to bear. After all, it has been TEN years since the appearance of the first book and the end was near. Does JK Rowling kill off Harry...or was this meant to be the end of Hermione...or even Ron. Someone 'central' in this book had a death sentence upon his/her head and I could not wait a moment more to find out who the victim was. So being the crazy and impulsive person that I am...and blessed with many likewise friends and family members...that Saturday saw the four (Jess, Azlan, Manju and yours truly) of us tripsing downtown to Kinnokuniya in the wee hours of the morning in hopes of landing one of three special edition books offered free to the first three eager beavers. The next ten peeps not fast enough will however receive the books for free. Now, my brother had already promised to line up at his local Tesco, buy the book and post it back to me the very next morning (it's released in the UK at 12:01 am). I think that he gets it for a ridiculous price of FIVE POUNDS. So there wasn't really a need to not sleep and line up with three hundred other crazy people at 4 am. Hah, guess again! This is after all me you are talking about...and since when did I need a good (or sane) reason to do anything fun (though many would disagree about this expedition being fun). No siree...the crazier the better. However, there was a limit to my 'will try anything once' attitude. The crowd in front of Kinnokuniya was unbelievable. I was very much willing to admit defeat...there was NO WAY we'd be the first three...much less the next ten lucky lads or laddies to walk away with free books. I did not even want to be the next two hundred to rush up the escalator and risk getting trampled on just to get a 30% discount. It turned out to be a good decision to not join in the crowd. As the doors opened...the crowd frantically pushed their way into the two doors and ran towards the escalators. Part of the crowd unfortunately rushed into the automatic doors that automatically did not open up. People were hurt. I just could not bear to see how 'desperate' we could all be when allowed to. So we walked back to our cars and headed to Tesco where I am proud to announce that the waiting folks were lining up in single file. Anyhow...we finally managed to buy the books (bought two; Ratha's birthday and the other for Lauren) and the anticipation of the ending took us to McDonalds where we purchased our breakfast and proceeded in an anti-social manner to read our books. There we were, four adults...four Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Should I?

For a long time now I have wrestled with the idea of creating a blog using my real name and allowing friends to visit and even go as far as allowing them to make comments. Of course, I am not very 'perasan' to think that I am going to get many hits (many of the people I know do not have internet connection and even fewer have blogs or know what a blog is) but the idea of 'putting it out there' seems to be rather scary. People talk about predators and stalkers and what nots...and well...yeah...those people talking really freak me out!

But the lure of being me and not having to have an alias or think up of aliases for friends and family that I blog about is rather...well...alluring. I actually have a blog that I created many years back. No one knows about it (don't even try doing what I think you are starting to think of doing!) and I liked it that way. It (the blog that no one is thinking of looking for) contains a lot of what I thought and felt...deep stuff which I guess I was not ready for anyone to read (don't ask me why I felt the urge to put in on the internet). And if certain unamed people were to stumble upon it...I would really be in somewhat a large amount of trouble.

So, anyway...that is it then! I have decided... Welcome to my blog...this is ME...the great (yes I know that is debatable) Lisha Ng. I vow to blog the truth, the imaginary, the stupid and the lame in a frequency that can only be described and predicted as erratic.

Warning: expect spelling and wonderful grammatical errors when low on caffeine, hypoglycaemic and lacking sleep.