I wanted to blog about this quite sometime ago, but [excuse] other posts took precedence, and I didn't have the luxury of time to blog from campus (oppss.. that's a hint for next post). There was a news in the local newspaper which revealed a bizarre festival in Vietnam. It is called keo vo or simply - wife catching. Unable to believe my own eyes that such 'culture' exist at this era, I proceeded to google and landed in couple of news portals reported the same news.

In Viet Nam’s remote Vang Ma Chai Commune, a boy can seek out a potential lover, ‘catch’ her and take her home as his wife without having to go through an official ceremony.....

....children as young as 12 or 13 gather in the centre of the commune for another tradition, where a boy can seek out a potential lover, ‘catch’ her and take her home as his wife without having to go through an official ceremony.

I was like ..huh?? what happen to the usual courting, dating and marriage? And 12, 13 year old kids doing that? I remember playing football with the boys when I was 12!!!

Then I read further...

The girl will only be his if he manages to get her home. Once there, they live with each other and if after a few days they don’t like it, the girl can return home and wait for another suitor. As well as encouraging sex with minors, the habit is inevitably resulting in underage pregnancy.

I was wondering what kinda culture is this. The boy just simply catch a girl, bring her back home, live/have sex and next day if he doesn't like her or she doesn't like him, she just come back home like nothing happens? :-S

19-year-old Cheo Su Truong, employed at the commune’s veterinary unit. Truong is mother of two children, the oldest is five years old. Truong’s father became a grandfather when he was only 35.

Once the match is established, that’s yours for life, complains Ly Y Thong, who caught a wife when he followed his friends to the festival when he was 13 years old.

“I have two children now. Sometimes I get so sick of my wife, she’s old. But I can’t divorce her.”

Okie, so now.. if you don't send her back after few days, you are stuck with her for the rest of your life. You got married when you are 13, becomes a father at 19 and you are sick of your wife... Well, it sounds more like a life-sentence to me!

The custom began with the wish of poor people who were in love but couldn’t afford a proper wedding ceremony. Unfortunately the custom has evolved into something quite different.

Thank goodness they actually explained the 'original' custom at the end of the article. I think the origin of such culture made sense but now, it sounds disgusting to me. I don't understand what makes it to difference to enforce law in that community, but again, I am living in an entirely different environment from these people. Thus, I may not be able to understand the difficulty the law enforcers and the teachers are facing.


I can't imagine someone 'catching' me to be his wife. Gross!!

And I still want a guy to droll over me like this video:

The blogworld now is under intrusion. Serious - no joke. Those living in my part of the country would probably know what I am talking about(*hint - check out mahen's post). I am not going to take sides and start to sort of attack those who caused such surge in blogging activities in Malaysia. I see it as a positive sign - even politicians from the ruling party (who used to say bloggers are mainly unemployed women) have taken up blogging. Besides, the recent developments in the country also has urged many M'sians (especially those of Indian origin) to take up blogging as well *applause! We are all blogmates now! ;)

But the question of originality arise whenever I come across these blogs. I have begin to wonder if the blogs of prominent politicians of the ruling party are actually created and maintained by them. Okie, some may be unleashing the blogger in them, but how about the others? These are people who don't even write their own speeches! Are they actually sitting in front of their costly-higher end-but-under utilised laptops? Or have they employed other individuals to blog on their behalf? If they did the later, do they actually visit their own blogs? Hmm.. I'm still wondering.

If that is one dilemma the M'sian blogwo rld is facing, another form of 'blogs' is killing the spirit of blogging as well. Those are what I call 'copy-paste-blogs', and all you can find there will be political news articles copied and pasted as their posts! *sigh... We all have the access to news portals, and I don't think we need to read the same news again and again. Okie okie.. it's an important news, we got the point the every first time we read it! Maybe you could show some of your writing skills besides the copy-paste article?

Then another group of people called celebrity bloggers. Blogging is serious business nowadays, and (certain) bloggers have clinched the celebrity blogger title, but when I read through their blogs, I can't find a single useful post which I think that would justify the tag 'celebrity blogger'. Seriously, I think that term needs to be banned! Everyone blogs as per their interests, and some celebrity bloggers ONLY blogs for others' interest. Its all about getting more hits and more hits and even more hits. The passion for blogging has died and since replaced by quest for popularity.

Maybe this may not go well with many people out there, but hey.. what's wrong in voicing it? Plus, deep down inside, we all know its true after all!

I'm thrusting deep into my heart, trying to find an answer to this mess..
I don't know if I will find an answer
but I know either way it's not going to work out any more..

This one is for you.

I had a really odd and difficult day. As much as I want to wake up every morning to a bright, sunny, peaceful.. [and blah blah] day, I am facing that much of challenges to keep my day 'alive'. And the day was 'dead' today.

Okie, lets not dwell so much on it. I don't want tulipspeaks to go into sombre mood (like the author) :P

To keep my mind away from whatever-it-was, I decided to design a name card for me. Not an official kinda business card which states my profession, home address and stuff like that. I need a card which identifies me as a blogger. I think most would have figure out by now that I attend a number of get-together among bloggers etc. So I need a card to represent the blogger in me (ah, that sounds nice.. ) hehehe..

Guess I was feeling a little 'too down' and ended up with 3 designs instead of one. I was thinking hard which one to choose when I got the idea of asking my blog readers instead! Here are the designs and please leave a comment stating which design I should go for. Thanks!

So which one do you like?

The hottest news in town:

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced Monday at 12.35pm that he is quitting Umno, citing a lack of confidence in the current leadership.

Well, I was expecting something drastic like that from Tun, after all his bitter relationship with the current Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi needs no introduction.



However, I don't know how genuine is Tun quitting the party he actually recreated:

Dr Mahathir urged other party members to quit too, as a way of pressuring Abdullah into vacating his post.

However, he advised those who do quit not to join any opposition party, adding they can all rejoin the party once there is a change in leadership.

Politicians never fail to amuse me..


**updates in The Star and Malaysiakini.

I absolutely love interior decor. Add couple of photos there and some carefully selected decorative items here may do the trick, but for me, no space is lively until you add some greenery into the scene. I am not saying just throw in ANY plant into your office space or living room or bedroom. You have to take into consideration the theme you want – I personally would prefer green, instead of colourful potted plants, I know some of you may feel otherwise. Long creepy plants will look pretty in the bathroom, while taller plants may look nicer in the living room. Nevertheless, the lighting in the room and the type of house or space may play an important role in making your choices. However, bear in mind that you may have to take some effort to grow and maintain natural greenery in your rooms. Some of us just don’t have the time to take care of single indoor plant, let alone plants in every single room in the house! This is especially true when one or more family members have allergy towards pollens. This is when silk plants come to the picture. Besides adding greenery to your space and save your precious time, it will also protect you and your family from the allergies caused by natural pollen and plants.

Do you agree with me?

You will agree with me, especially when you get the opportunity to view a blog which talks about
The Armor of Iron Man. Interesting title isn't it? Check it out, it's an interesting blog as well. A comprehensive blog I must say. It talks about practically everything under the sun – from blogs to internet stuff to movies to travels and not to mention, downloads as well. There is this post I enjoyed reading –Why wedding rings should be put in the fourth finger. Some may have read about it elsewhere, but it was my first read and I enjoyed it. There are couple of wallpapers being offered in the homepage as well. This complex blog can easily be passed as a website for its complexity! I wonder how the author manage to put in so many stuff in one single blog and organized it in such an intelligent way!

Ebay never fail to amuse me. Seriously, that is one online store which I trust and do my purchase. Till today, I have bought dresses, sarees (yes, trust me!) and some craft items from ebay. I am sure many of you have bought other stuff from ebay as well. A quick check in ebay revealed that people sell all sorts of things there - from Danish Neolithic polished axes to Tibet jewelery to paintings and posters to vouchers! You name it, they have it!

I just received photos taken during a wedding dinner from the bride herself. Thanks Kavitha!
The photo was okie but not up to a standard of a professional photographer. Maybe it was prior to editing (hopefully). Whatever the reason is, I look so horrible in it! Then come photoshop to rescue!!

What a difference!
I may not be a professional photographer or a designer, and what I know is very little compared to many of you. Looking carefully, the yellow colour in the bride's saree turned out to be too bright. But then, something is always better than nothing right?

Now you know why I love Photoshop?

Between, if you have any tips on photo editing, do share them here. I wanna learn too! :)

What if you are given an opportunity to make money while making new friends?

What if I tell you, you could meet new blogger friends all over the world, while grabbing some juicy opportunity that pays handsome money?

What if I say you could advertise your services and at the same time grab other opportunities to make money?

And what if I say you could review other friend’s blog and have them reviewing yours, exchanging links with the hope of improving your Page Rank?

Awesome, you may say.
I’m sparked, I would say.

SocialSpark is one initiative that took into consideration all the aspects I have just mentioned. I am still a newbie in SocialSpark, slowly finding my ways in it’s countless versatile applications. Kudos to the people who came up with this idea. Although the site is a bit complex (and yes, complicated), I think we could figure it out after few times visiting it. One thing I noticed about this site, it has beautiful colour theme – my favourite red! So far, I have added some new friends there and hope to find more of them. Maybe I can write reviews for them, and get my blog to be reviewed as well! For now, I have reserved some opportunities and they put me in the waiting list *sigh. Hopefully I will get hold of one or two good opportunities soon. My blog is getting a bit ‘dry’ without new paid posts! :P

How about you guys? Have you signed up for SocialSpark? How do you find it?

Another new year wish of mine materialized. Can guess which one? Answer will be revealed on Monday! :P

1. Robbers to be caught
2. A new car
3. New hairstyle
4. Gadgets
5. Lose weight
6. Overseas vacation
7. A new boyfriend
8. PhD
9. A new blog on shopping
10. A brand new self

Movie: Thambiku enthe ooru
Song: Kathalin theepam ondru

I can't even remember listening to this song when I was a kid! Thanks to youtube, I get to search for many of Illayaraja's priceless masterpieces!

Tagged by two lovely ladies - Cindy and Syura longggggggggg time back. Sorry gals, I just got the time to do them now.

First tag - by Syura

Aha.. this a fun one. I have to post my top 5 hunk! :D Let me see.. 5 is rather too little isn't it? :P Maybe I will do it a bit different - confining the list to hot guys from Bollywood and Kollywood! *sigh.. still 5 is too little!

1. John Abraham

2. Hrithik Roshan


3. Shah Rukh



4. Vishal



5. Surya





Second tag - by Cindy

~~Begin Copy~~

This is the easy way and the fastest way to :
1. Make your Authority Technorati explode
2. Increase your Google Page Rank.
3. Get more traffic to your blog.
4. Make more new friends.

Rules :

1. Start copy from “Begin Copy” until “End Copy” to your blog.
2. Put your own blog name and link.
3. Tag your friends as much as you can.

1. Picturing of Life
2. Juliana’s Site
3. Shower Your Children With Love - The Right Way
4. Life’s a journey, not a destination
5. Simple Life
6. Life is beautiful; Life is love
7. Lovely Mummy
8. Lemonjude
9. Faith,Hope,Love
10. Newife Blog
11. Good things in life…
12. …the Guru-Guru life…
13. ezooone@seweng
14. Emelda
15. Shemah@My Sweet Escape
16. Rozella@Asian Mutt International
17. Once Upon A Time
18. tulipspeaks

~~ End Copy ~~

Anyone interested can take up the tags. Have fun! :)

I rarely go into public chat rooms nowadays, and I only have to when I have no other choice - none of my buddies online/I'm dead bored/Stuck with lots of routine work. One of the reason why I try not to 'venture' to public domains will be stress-due-to-sexual-harassment. Sometimes I wonder why each and every new technology which was invented for good purpose ends up like a huge rubbish bin filled with filthy and horny 'animals'. Yes, its either horny or plain stupid people.

Below are my conversation with 3 new chatters. Can you feel the disappointment and annoyance in my tone? What happened to intellectual debates and innocent talks? *sigh..

lyricsree: hi
lyricsree: ammu
lyricsree: asl
lyricsree nath: hai
lyricsree nath: how ru
lyricsree nath: w r u
lyricsree nath: asl
ammu: hi im fine thanks
lyricsree nath: here 25m
lyricsree nath: chennai
lyricsree nath: nice name ur name
ammu: thanks
ammu: 27 f malaysia
lyricsree nath: tamila
ammu: i do speak tamil
lyricsree nath: tell me
lyricsree nath: ok
lyricsree nath: u know chennai
ammu: lolz
ammu: i know how to read map
ammu: of coz i do
lyricsree nath: marrida
lyricsree nath: wat u doing
ammu: does it matter if im married?
lyricsree nath: okok
lyricsree nath: how u look,ing like
ammu: hw i look like?
lyricsree nath: simran
lyricsree nath: w r u
lyricsree nath: ammu
lyricsree nath: enna pnnura
ammu: huh
ammu: nothing la
lyricsree nath: home/cafe
ammu: home la
lyricsree nath: r u alone
ammu: lolz. silly question. home means parents, siblings, grandma n my dogs will be in also
lyricsree nath: tamila peslam
ammu: fine
lyricsree nath: vocie chat eukka
lyricsree nath: enna dress pottu eruka
ammu: i dont voice chat
lyricsree nath: ok
lyricsree nath: chat
ammu: u r looking at the screen n chatting.. does my dressing matters?
lyricsree nath: ok give m e in words
lyricsree nath: wat u doing there\
ammu: right now? or for living?
lyricsree nath: right now
ammu: im reading comments in my blog
lyricsree nath: fine
lyricsree nath: wat about ur night
ammu: my night? it is night here
lyricsree nath: with ur hubby
ammu: wht hubby?
ammu:
lyricsree nath: iam alone and my pillo
lyricsree nath: ur not like that
ammu: like wht?
lyricsree nath: couple are enjoyed u know
lyricsree nath: 'like that
ammu: i dont understand wht u r trying to say
lyricsree nath: night an a sex
lyricsree nath: athan sonnen
lyricsree nath: correcta
lyricsree nath: ru interested
lyricsree nath: w ru
ammu: lolz
ammu: oh u r a sex maniac
ammu: lol
ammu: sorry wrong person u r talking to
ammu: byebye
lyricsree nath: thanks


***

mukkillan: hi
mukkillan: hi amu
mukkillan:
ammu: hie
mukkillan: what is your hobby
ammu: i blog
mukkillan:
mukkillan: your qualification
ammu: a BSc and MSc
mukkillan: which subject
ammu: nutrition
ammu: r u offering any job?
mukkillan: what kind of job
ammu: u r asking as if u r interviewing me for a job
ammu: thats why i ask
mukkillan: ok ok cooool
mukkillan: are you married
ammu: does it matter
mukkillan: what is your interest
ammu: blogging
mukkillan: then
ammu: thats all
ammu: i dont hv time for other activities
mukkillan: wht is your size
ammu: size of wht?
ammu: screen? 1024*768
mukkillan: really dont know size
ammu: i dont understand wht u r trying to say
mukkillan: r you male or female
ammu: amutha is a female's name rite?
mukkillan: what is your hip size
ammu: r u a tailor?
mukkillan: yes
ammu: dont u get customers in india itself
ammu: ?


***

vin_never_quit: hai
ammu: hie
vin_never_quit: thanks for replying
ammu: welcome
vin_never_quit: ur asl
vin_never_quit: me 23 m chennai
ammu: 27 f malaysia
vin_never_quit: ur native?
ammu: malaysia
vin_never_quit: have u heared abt female controlling the male
ammu: as in work domain?
vin_never_quit: what?
vin_never_quit: u there
ammu: yes
vin_never_quit: i am talking abt dominating
ammu: female controlling male in wht circumstances?
vin_never_quit: keeping male under cotnrol
vin_never_quit: i am talking abt dominant mistress and submsissive male
vin_never_quit: for BDSM session
ammu: r u looking for sex therapist?
vin_never_quit: not sex therapist
vin_never_quit: u dont BDSM
ammu: lolz
ammu: wrong person la
ammu: bye
vin_never_quit: wait
vin_never_quit: let me send a pic tat will explain u

Between, I have updated nutritoday. Check it out! :)

Found this funny commercial in youtube. Wish I am capable of 'utilizing' the remote control like her!!

A must watch!

Have a good laugh and a great weekend people!

Soulful Thoughts - What a clean blog! That was my first impression when I saw Rachel's Soulful Thoughts . After carefully going through her blog for the first time, I went on to check her "About" page. She describes herself as "loving, cheerful, creative, thoughtful and sweet" person at her best and "impulsive, childish, overindulgent, moody and an obsessive compulsive" person at her worst! I think this is the best way of describing oneself. Yes, she has captured my heart then and there. I remember posting 99 facts about myself during my first year of blogging, Rachel has posted 100 facts about herself - what a coincidence! :) And guess what - she is sacred of cockroaches too! Okie okie, enough about the author. Now about the blog. As I said before it is a clean blog. It made my own blog to look like rubbish bin! She blogs about everything under the Sun, just like me! I'm loving her!