The Lady's Visit - Part 1 of 3

It was one week ago when Lady Patsy left for Malaysia. I sent her to the airport, which is one hour away from my house, at 3:30am Monday morning. This gave her ample time to check in her luggages (yes, she bought an extra bag on her short holiday). After she made her way to the departure gate, I left the airport. I can't say it was an easy drive back to my house. I was sleepy due to a late night. I had to catch another episode of Army Wives - re-runs of first season, which I missed all but the last two episodes (we had just moved from Germany last summer). I am hooked on that show and can't wait to see the new season in June.

Contrary to Pat's blog announcing that she is on holiday, I assure you she is not. I am very sure she is back in Malaysia. If not, I would have received a come-and-get-me call by late morning, last Monday (while I was zooming around on my riding lawn mower).

Anyway, here's what both of us were up to in the past weeks:

China Grove Church and School, circa 1870s.
Doesn't this remind you of the church and school on the 70s TV series, Little House on the Prairie?

This was taken in the historic part of downtown Leesville, Louisiana. By the way, Leesville was named in honour of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, one of the most celebrated generals in American history.

After galavanting around Leesville (while trying to get over the tiredness of a long flight from Malaysia) and taking more photos, we ventured out to Nachitoches.

Part of historic Natchitoches.

Natchitoches was established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis. It is the oldest permanent settlement within the borders of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Natchitoches was founded as a French outpost on the Red River for trade with Spanish-controlled Mexico, with the French presence beginning as early as 1699. The settlement's site was established near a village of Natchitoches Indians which give the city its name. (from Wikipedia)

Pat's lunch at Landing Restaurant in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
Catfish sandwich and a bowl of gumbo.

After lunch, we decided to walk off our meal. We stopped by The Steel Magnolia House which was built in the 1830's. The house is rich in history and culture. From the unique architecture to its involvement in the Civil War, this home is truly a piece of Southern history. It is known for the on-site filming of the 1989 award-winning classic "Steel Magnolias".

Later, we walked by the river and found these ...

Ducks by the river, near the restaurant.
Notice the odd one out? Married into the family or visiting relative?

To know more about Natchitoches, read here (when you have the time).

By the way, these are the last photos I took before leaving beautiful Malaysia.

Vacium, anyone?

Tagged - Favourite Links

I was tagged by Mat Bangkai more than a month ago. Now that I have found some time to blog again, I decided to tackle this first before sharing more on my recent holiday activities.

The Linking Tag Rules

List out five favourite links - the links can be of business sites, affiliate links or whatever that suits the blogger.
Tag five more people to share their links, so hopefully, at the end of the tag, we would be able to share good links with each other.
The links MUST be clean. No X-rated sites.
List out only FIVE links.
You MUST tell the FIVE people you chose.
Provide the link back to the person who tagged you.
Obviously, it should be an active link.

I have several favourite websites and wish to list most of them (and not only FIVE links) ... sometimes I am not too keen on rules. :) And speaking of rules, I am not going to tag anyone else. Some people do not enjoy doing tags (as I have learned since I started blogging). So I am not going to impose. Feel free to pick this up, if you wish to do it.


1. Facebook - a great way to keep in touch with family and friends. Enjoy looking at photos and knowing what everyone is up to.

2. Malaysia Today - my news source about Malaysia.

3. Weather.com - gives me information on weather. That way I can plan lots of my activities around the weather and temperature. For example, choosing a good day to do some garden work. I do not wish to suffer a sunstroke while mowing my lawn or, God-forbid, struck by lightning.

4. Dictionary.com - need it because I am not a walking dictionary.


5. Reciva Radio - a good place to listen to radio stations from around the world.

6. wwiTV - a place to check out TV stations from around the world. RTM 1 and 2 used to be there but was removed almost a year ago. sigh ... It was nice to catch local TV when I wanted to get the feel of 'home'.

7. WalMart - A place where I can save money and live better. :P
seriously ....

8. Amazon.com - Love to shop there, when I can. Books, apparel, electronics, etc.

9. Tiger Direct - Good deals offered for computers and electronics. Love to browse this site even when I am not looking to buy something.

10. Victoria's Secret - need I say more? :)

Random Report

I was not going to blog until a few weeks later because I have a visitor at home but I figured too much caffeine intake is bad ... and this blog is due for an update. Anyway, my visitor hails all the way from Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur. Meet Lady Patsy...

She will be with me for the next two weeks.

Her first meal in the States. Dallas Airport, Terminal B ...

Now this is what I call French Fries!

Go here to read Patsy's report ....

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Holiday in Malaysia

The journey ...

My lunch at Incheon Airport, Seoul, Korea. I can still taste it!


Where's my bag????

I always have this slight fear that my bags will never arrive its destination especially when it has to go through more than two airports.

In Malaysia ...

Here are some photos taken during my holiday.

Assam Pedas, The Curve (bloggers gathering organised by Mat Salo)

Lady bloggers (not bored or unemployed!!!)

From left: Galadriel, Mat Salo, Vijay (Photo courtesy of Galadriel)

Stephen Francis and me (Photo courtesy of Galadriel)

At Coffee Bean, Queen's Bay Mall, Penang with Daphne Ling.

(I don't remember being able to afford Coffee Bean treats during my college days. Then again, Coffee Bean did not exist in Malaysia wayyyy back then).

Ruby Ahmad and me at the Dome, KLCC

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Mee Rebus at Kak Ton's ...

Zorro, Elviza and me

Elviza and I arrived later than the rest (oh yeah... Husnah was also late). By the time we got down to eating the bestest mee rebus in the world, Kak Ton had a couple of halved hard boiled eggs left. I believe Husnah had one and the other was going to Zorro (a second round, I suspect). When Zorro declined (good for him ... haha), Kak Ton offered it to me. I happily announced that I now have Zorro's telur in my hands.

Sitted from left: Daphne, Pi Bani, Me, Husnah.

Standing from left: Elviza, Marina, Kak Ton, Dalilah (not so standing)

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Suite at E&O Hotel, Penang

Me and photos of my forefathers (E&O Hotel) :P

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Till the next update, take care y'all.

Taking a break ...

Did you know?

Speaking of coffee (not men), I am going to take another break from blogging (gonna have lots of coffee!). In the meantime, here's something from my archives which I found worth sharing.

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There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

"Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." So she did and she had wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.
"Hmmm," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today." So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "Today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head. "YEA!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything.

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain!

A minute of your time, please

About a year ago (March 24th), I started blogging. I have to say it has been an exciting ride for me. Along the way, I met many wonderful people. Suddenly I don't feel alone being away from my beloved Malaysia because I meet Malaysians every day of the week through cyberspace. I have even exchanged phone numbers with them so that we can be in touch in more ways than one. I am thankful for that.

(cartoon courtesy of www.enasha.com)

“If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone.” said Maxwell Maltz (US plastic surgeon, motivational author, and creator of the Psycho-Cybernetics, 1927-2003).

Yes, that helps but I think what John Donne (1572-1631) said seems more realistic, if you like, that "No man is an island"

Now, we are complicated creatures ruled by emotions. Some days we can handle it on our own, and other days we need a friend's shoulder. Most people are lucky to have a friend nearby to unleash their inner most thoughts over a cup of coffee. It becomes challenging when one has moved around a lot - like me. So I resort to catching someone online and if that fails, I use the phone. Maybe it was just not my day, sometime last week, or the people I tried to connect with online were busy and did not respond to my saying "hello". One of them said "what's up?". I don't know about you but that sounded like a busy response. :) I did not want to impose.

Mind you, it was past 10pm over here - I certainly wouldn't want to call anyone in the States and wake up a sleeping household. (And even if I had a friend locally, I can count a coffee session out at that hour). I could have emailed someone (and I did before ... when it was an issue I can wait on) but sometimes, I am sure you will agree with me, we need to talk to someone in real time and get immediate feedback. The only person whom I knew was awake and possibly free was my best friend in Malaysia. So, I called her and thankfully she was free and patiently listened to me.

(pic courtesy of
www.freewebs.com)

Now I am not being dramatic about my situation (that's settled) but it brings to mind how we sometimes get caught up with our own lives and do not realise that some minutes of our time can make a huge difference to another in need. (I am guilty of it, at times). I could not help but think about an incident that someone regrets - not being there for her friend in his last hours. This lady was going about her evening routine - the usual kitchen work after dinner and then to relax in front of the TV with her favourite shows. Her phone rang at 8:00pm. Her friend, of many years, asked her if she had time to speak to him. She said that she was busy and told him that she will call him back another day. Next morning, she received news that he died of a heart attack at 11:00pm. When she shared this news with us she also added, in tears, that she regretted not giving him a few minutes of her time. She admitted that she took his friendship for granted. Now, she will never know what he wanted to share in his last hours.

Anyway, I was looking back on what I used to write early last year and found this poem, which I would like to share again:

Someday I will soar to the heavens
Above the clouds with song in my heart
Someday I will ascend to the blues
Leaving all cares, I will depart
Until then I'll remain on this earth
Journeying the road of life with sight
Until then I will walk with faith
That my path is the runaway for my flight

(pic courtesy of www.landscapedvd.com)

Someday I will set sail to the seas
To the far and open waters of this earth
Someday I will be one with the breeze
Giving me peace and my soul rebirth
Until then the shores of life I'll stroll
Leaving the prints of my life's expedition
Until then I will give my all
before I sail away to fulfil my aspiration

- Jacqueline Tegjeu

(pic coutesy of www.atlastours.net)