Slowcatchupkuan - Part 3
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Steve Jobs

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Steve Jobs
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It’s funny how a person could be even more famous and appreciated after they have passed on. Odd but that’s how the world works. I’ve read more than my share of articles in these 2 days and now know more about Steve Job than i had before.
 


 

I’m not an Apple user, never own an Apple in my life because i’m always the one wanting to be different so i wouldn’t be caught dead owning an iPhone or iPad. That doesn’t mean i’m not tempted by the sleek designs and the works, oh yes, i’ve always secretly wanted one.

So here’s to Steve Jobs who tantalized and tempted the people worldwide. May you R.I.P.

Oh, and i’m really glad for Pixar. That i’m a fan.
 
 

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Contagion

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Contagion
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I’m pretty surprised that Contagion actually earned rather positive reviews from many.

On the other hand, it was such a boring experience for me. The movie is not what we actually call action-packed. In fact, it is very slow-paced, not exactly the kind of heart-thumping, nerve-wrecking, dramatic kind of movie that i would have expected considering Contagion is about the outbreak of epidemic (i think the correct term should be pandemic instead) worldwide and the effects on ordinary people as they struggle to stay alive – you know panic, confusion, hysteria and all those stuffs.
 


 

The star-studded production didn’t do the magic. There are just too many leading characters, too many tales to tell and too little time. Spells weak character development to me.

Gwyneth Paltrow appeared only in the first quarter of the movie; she was the one whom contracted the disease in the first place and few scenes into the movie she collapsed with severe seizures and died – erm i apologize for the spoiler. Matt Damon plays the husband who coincidentally is immune to the disease but struggles to keep her daughter safe (his son also died from the disease). I expected a more grieve-stricken and compelling character for someone who had lost his wife and son and is perhaps on the brink of losing his daughter but instead the character failed to make an impact.
 


 

Marion Cotillard plays an epidemiologist traveled to Hong Kong to find out where the sickness originated then got kidnapped to exchange for vaccines. Again, no impact; we only get a sketchy version of the character. What i waste, i love Cottilard.
 


 

While this could have been a poignant movie, it did nothing but droned on monotonously with too much focus on the leading cast instead of emphasizing on the reaction of the citizen at risk.

All the while the government is trying to keep the citizen under control and come out with the vaccine, people begin to panic, they thrash the supermarket, they rob the shops, and they become paranoid. But instead of building up on the fear and distress, we see Kate Winslet’s scene after scene of dull but endless plight to quarantine the infected areas.
 


 

Also occupying too much unnecessary screen time is Jude Law. Remind me of never buying tickets to any movie with Jude Law in it… besides Sherlock Holmes that is. He was atrocious and extremely annoying in the movie that kind of makes me want to stand up and leave the cineplex.
 


 
 

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Hiatus

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Hiatus
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Ah… what is it with year-ends that makes one procrastinate and so very sluggish? I’ve been sauntering around doing nothing but day-dreaming and abusing my brain with NCIS re-runs, in between spacing out and staring into space. Someone please smack the back of my head before my brain decides to shut down due to lack of activity.
 


 

Sigh… so many stuff piled up on my to-do-list, i think i’m going to regurgitate. I need to process my IN tray and earn some extra moolah again since i’m really no good at investments.

Ever since we’ve started discussing about investments (stocks, bonds, mortgage, commodity…) and we’ve actually invested on a really small amount on gold, i’ve been obsessed with the world’s market. The good thing is i’m trying to keep abreast of what’s happening out there especially keeping an eye on the business news. The jargons are killing me by the way. The bad thing is my aging brain no longer could digest new stuffs fast enough so there are lots of things in the finance world that leaves me scratching my head and i’m really not good in predicting the trends.

Speaking of finances, ours are on a rocky patch. My online baby shop is a flop so to speak. It’s really difficult when you don’t have enough capital to start things off and with zero knowledge the feasibility is next to zero. No matter how i look at it, it’s a loss cause; wholesale prices and shipping to high, profit margin too low, market overly competitive. Project is put on pause for the moment while i decide on some products that might work.

The boyfriend is in stress zone because of work. The company is going to be taken over by another hence there is no telling what might happen. Hopefully he will be secured and the change is going to be a positive one.

So now i loiter around the house with glazed eyes and wait for Christmas to arrive.
 
 

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Congratulations to Bryann & Ailene!

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Congratulations to Bryann & Ailene!
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Went all the way to Klang last night to attend a friend’s wedding. I’ve known her since college years and am really happy that she found her perfect gentleman. To the lovely couple, “Congratulations and may you guys have a blessed and loving life together!”

Taken  at her R.O.M.
 


 


 

Taken during the wedding reception in Klang.
 


 

Regrettably we didn’t snap much photo with our cameras but Ai Leng looked stunningly gorgeous especially in the cheongsam styled gown. Envy!
 


 
 

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Little Baldy Nephew

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Little Baldy Nephew
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Dear baby munchkin had his hair shaved already. Rahul looks really good bald, don’t you think?

Before.
 


 

After.
 


 


 

It’s a Chinese tradition as well as Indian to shave the baby’s head on or after the full moon. For the Chinese it signifies the shedding of birth hair (hair from the womb). The hair is then wrapped in a piece of red cloth and then sewed on the pillow to calm the baby. The later is rarely practiced today, although most baby still have their baby shaved because it’s common believe that the hair will grow more healthy and luscious after that.

Hindu tradition on the other hand dictates that shaving of the hair (during Mundana) signifies freedom from the undesirable past and moving into the bright future as well as stimulates proper growth of the brain and nerves.

Does the Malays and Western culture have such beliefs?
 
 

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Goodies from Book Fest 2011 and Pre-loved Books For Sale

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Goodies from Book Fest 2011 and Pre-loved Books For Sale
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We are in a huge dilemma – there is no more space to store our book collections!

So we decided to keep some books that we had gotten too attached to and find some new owners for the others.

But first, let me proudly present our goodies from Book Fest 2011. Taa daa!
 


 

We kind of overspent this year because we had to get The Adventures of Tintin hardcover collection which stretched out budget to unimaginably infinity. We had been storing hope for this collection for ages and coincidentally it was on sale so we grabbed it.
 


 

There is a total number of 7 volumes to this edition (the latest edition has 8 volumes) but unfortunately the first volume was nowhere to be seen. We managed to place a special order at Borders the next day. Anticipating the day it arrives!
 


 

Ok, as for the pre-loved books, here’s a few that i am selling at a low price. Most are newly bought (within this year)  and in extremely good condition.
 

Kindly note:

- Items are in good condition unless stated otherwise.
- Price stated does not include postage.
- Good(s) sold are not exchangeable or refundable.
- Seller is not responsible if damage and/or loss of package during delivery.
- Items will be posted on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday (after payment is confirmed).
- Payment to Maybank only.
- COD not available (Sorry i’m running on a busy schedule so there’s no time for me to COD! Hope you understand)

Payment Method: 

- Payment to Maybank (pls leave your email address at the comment box or email me at slowcatchupkuan@yahoo[.]com for details)
- Postage: Registered post – RM4.00 nationwide (for Pos Laju pls leave your contact or email me)
 


 

 Title: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything

Author: Gilbert, Elizabeth
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs | Non-fiction | Travel Memoirs
Book Condition: Very Good Condition (no wear & tear)
Original Price: RM37.50
Selling Price: RM15.00

Description: Elizabeth is in her thirties, settled in a large house with a husband who wants to start a family. But she doesn’t want any of it. A bitter divorce and a rebound fling later, Elizabeth emerges battered yet determined to find what she’s been missing.
So begins her quest. In Rome, she indulges herself and gains nearly two stone. In India, she finds enlightenment through scrubbing temple floors. Finally, in Bali, a toothless medicine man reveals a new path to peace, leaving her ready to love again.
 
 


 

Title: McCarthy’s Bar: A Journey of Discovery in Ireland

Author: McCarthy, Pete
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs | Non-fiction | Travel Memoirs
Book Condition: Good Condition (slight worn on the top right corner and dog eared on the corner back else still new)
Original Price: RM37.70
Selling Price: RM24.00

Description: Despite the many exotic places Pete McCarthy has visited, he finds that nowhere else can match the particular magic of Ireland, his mother’s homeland. In “McCarthy’s Bar,” his journey begins in Cork and continues along the west coast to Donegal in the north. Traveling through spectacular landscapes, but at all times obeying the rule, “never pass a bar that has your name on it,” he encounters McCarthy’s bars up and down the land, meeting fascinating people before pleading to be let out at four o’clock in the morning.
Written by someone who is at once an insider and an outside, “McCarthy’s Bar” is a wonderfully funny and affectionate portrait of a rapidly changing country.
 
 


 

Title: American Gods (SOLD)

Author: Gaiman, Neil
Genres: Fantasy Novel
Book Condition: Worn
Original Price: RM34.90
Selling Price: RM5.00

Description: After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the days, then the hours, then the minutes, then the seconds until his release tick away, he can feel a storm building. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in apparently adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr. Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But they are being pursued by someone with whom Shadow must make his peace… Disturbing, gripping and profoundly strange, Neil Gaiman’s epic new novel sees him on the road to finding the soul of America.
 
 


 

Title: The Hidden Oasis: A Lost Legend, A Terrifying Secret, An Explosive Race Against Time

Author: Sussman, Paul
Genres: Thriller
Book Condition: Very Good Condition (no wear & tear)
Original Price: RM38.90
Selling Price: RM20.00

Description: The Hidden Oasis begins with the murder of Alex Hannen, a former CIA agent living in Egypt. Her sister, Freya, a world-class mountain climber from the United States, travels to Cairo to help bury Alex, and once there immediately becomes suspicious of the doctor’s news that Alex had taken her own life. How, she asks, could Alex have injected herself with a lethal dose of morphine, given her lifelong fear of needles? The mysterious circumstances surrounding Alex’s death lead Freya on a search for the truth. She soon meets her sister’s dear friend, Flin Brodie, a world-renowned authority on predynastic Egypt searching for a mythic hidden oasis deep within the Egyptian desert and supposedly housing a valuable, mythic stone untouched for millennia. In this propulsive, fascinating thriller, Freya and Flin are led on an extraordinary adventure—sometimes violent, often dangerous, always thrilling—for the answer to one of archaeology’s greatest mysteries: the location of the legendary lost oasis of Zerzura, and the key to the astonishing, terrifying secret that lies at its heart.
 
 


 

Title: Saving Fish From Drowning (HARD COVER) (SOLD)

Author: Tan, Amy
Genres: General Fiction
Book Condition: Very Good Condition (no wear & tear)
Original Price: RM57.00 (but i bought it on sale at RM16.90)
Selling Price: RM5.00 (registered post will be RM7.00 nationwide because of hard cover)

Description: On an ill-fated art expedition of the Southern Shan State in Burma, eleven Americans leave their Floating Island Resort for a Christmas morning tour – and disappear. Through the twists of fate, curses, and just plain human error, they find themselves deep in the Burma jungle, where they encounter a tribe awaiting the return of the leader and the mythical book of wisdom that will protect them from the ravages and destruction of the Myanmar military regime.
 
 


 

Title: The Five Greatest Warriors

Author: Reilly, Matthew
Genres: General Fiction | Thriller
Book Condition: Very Good Condition (no wear & tear)
Original Price: RM32.90
Selling Price: RM18.00

Description: A third installment in bestseller Reilly’s series to feature Jack West Jr. The adventurer from the Australian outback and his band of merry men, women and children race against several nefarious groups to defuse a disastrous celestial event. The planetary entity known as the Dark Star, the evil twin to our sun, is set to return to our solar system, igniting a massive negative energy source that will destroy all life on earth …
 
 

Title: Blindness

Author: Saramago, Jose
Genres: General Fiction
Book Condition: Good Condition (no wear & tear)
Original Price: RM42.90
Selling Price: RM18.00

Description: A city is hit by an epidemic of “white blindness” which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man’s worst appetites and weaknesses-and man’s ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man’s will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.

 

Give my books a home yeah?
 
 

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Baby Rahul’s Full Moon Celebration

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Baby Rahul's Full Moon Celebration
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That’s it; cutie pie Rahul is officially 1 month old! He is getting more and more adorable! I take back my words about babies being boring, he is just too cute!

That’s his mommy feeding the greedy boy. LOL
 


 

Full moon was spent playing with the baby and non-stop snapping photos of him. When he smiles, it lights up the room :)).
 




 

We didn’t have the traditional Chinese full moon celebration. It was just a quiet affair within our family.

Oh he have such beautiful dark luscious hair now, i’m so envious of my nephew.
 


 

I just realized that i don’t have photos of Rahul with his daddy because he was at work :(.
 


 


 

Mom and dad were really happy. Rahul loves it when dad carries him. Kept smiling and giggling.
 


 

A complete opposite when i’m trying to take a photo with him. Look at his disgusted face! Sigh…
 

 
 


 

3rd ah yee carrying him here.
 


 

Oh ain’t he the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen?!
 

 
 

Which is the reason why we can’t help dotting on him.

Full moon pressies from us. The super cute crocodile body suit is from grandma!
 

I made the traditional red eggs for Rahul’s full moon. My very first attempt and i’m proud that it turned out pretty well.
 

Here’s how to make red eggs:

1) Put eggs into a pot of water on the stove. Make sure that the heat is at the lowest else the eggs will crack and the coloring will be all over the eggs later.
2) Add a tsp of salt and 2 tsp of vinegar for easy absorption of red dye later.
3) Let it simmer for around 25 to 30 mins.
4) Prepare a bowl with red dye (you can easily purchase the red dye from supermarket – those used for baking will do).
5) Do not dilute the dye with water.
6) Remove the pot and pour the hot water away but do NOT run cold water on the eggs.
7) Put the egg into the bowl with the red dye and cover the entire egg with dye (use glove to avoid staining the hand or use spoon to twirl). Repeat for all the remaining eggs.
8) Leave the eggs to cool before washing the eggs to remove excessive dye.
 
 

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