Finally I have settled in my new workstation. As I have been downgraded to student status, I no longer have an office room for myself *sob! sob! My second home is now a well-equipped lab and I occupy a long bench at the side. Took some pics with my camera phone for you guys:

One good thing about my new home.. I get to bring my laptop and get connected to the Internet 24/7. So what do I do for long hours in the lab (beside working on my PhD)? Watch my fav music videos of course. Here is my selection for Nostalgic Friday week #59:


The cutest song ever. Brighten up my mood even if its my worst day. It brings out the best memories in me and never failed to put a smile on my face.

Have a great weekend!

Thanks to the current controversies surrounding this ancient practice, yoga has become an household name in matter of weeks! Coincidently I have just started my yoga classes at the gym. Today I'll be going to my 3rd class and suddenly it is cool to attend one! :P

So far, I am the only Indian/Hindu in the class and even my instructors are Chinese Christians! In reality, though yoga is a practice originated from India, it is practised mainly by non-Indians in Malaysia. Maybe its the Western influence, but yoga that is being taught in most of the centres are purely based on the physical attributes.

There are lot of arguments going around about the National Fatwa Council's decision on yoga for Muslims. I mean 'yoga not for Muslim' :P. I strongly believe they should be just left alone with their decision. It's not our concern (the non-Muslim) to interfere with decision taken about some other people's religious affair. Bloggers are free to express their dissatisfaction about the issue but I think it stops there. I certainly do not agree with leaders of the Indian community wasting time holding discussions with other leaders trying to revert the ruling. It is their issue, let them settle it themselves.

One argument is that.. if a ruling made to affect 60% of the population, the rest of 40% (non-Muslims) will be eventually affected. Maybe yes, may be no. I personally think that even the implementation of such ruling on Muslims itself will be difficult, let alone implementing it on the rest. As a matter of fact, I did chuckle a bit when the council said yoga might sway Muslims from their religion, thus it has to be banned. Again, it is their opinion that the mass can be easily swayed from their religion and they want to safe-guard their people. So, let it be.

p/s: check out nutritoday for a video on yoga - something you guys can try for real

Tomorrow is the day - Bloggers Buff 2008 (BB2008)! Lots of effort been poured in, lets see how things unfold tomorrow. :-). To those who have registered, see you guys there. And to those who have to miss the event, hope to see you guys in the next BB.

This week's nostalgic offering..

Anything can be more nostalgic than this song? It changed everything - music composition, lyrics, dance.. just everything.

Recent issue of former V-C of Universiti Malaya, Rafiah Salim who was dropped from her position sparked a long debated issue of gender inequalities. While she insisted there was a gender bias (quoting her: that thing between legs), the Deputy Minister is saying its because she was simply not good enough. Wonder what qualification does the Deputy Minister has. Anyway, politicians' qualification is another topic for discussion - a topic I believe will be exciting to explore. For now, lets just focus on the 'gender issue'.

Women of 21st century - career minded? leaders? iron ladies? maybe.. but the fact that some men insist they have to confined to their 'traditional' role of reproducing, cleaning and cooking. In their eyes, whatever a woman has achieved and capable of achieving doesn't matter at any point because she doesn't have a penis. No that thing between legs, no talk. Period. Sometimes I felt like screaming "Well, yea.. we don't have one of those because you are having two of them - one down there and another one up there replacing your head!". Yea, it's that bad.

I didn't grow up in a family which favours one gender compared to another. Back home, everyone is the same, every child is a child. All get the same opportunity and guidance. I never exactly exposed to men with that kinda mentality till I stepped out of home and start mingling around. It became more evident as I climb up the ladder and now being a PhD candidate is causing misery in a completely different sense. People think I am weird. Some men think I'm sort of nerd and someone their women who should not mingle with for the fear that I may 'corrupt' their mind. And some even think I am single and will be like that for the rest of my life because I'm 'overqualified'! Bloody male chauvinists!!!

Whether I will choose to remain single for the rest of my life or will get married to two men is a decision that lies with me. It has nothing to do with my paper qualification and career path I am about to choose.  But the fact that I loathe even the sight of idiots with low-class mentality remains.

This is an old old story. It's rather odd that I am confessing to it after so many years, but guess I just have to do it. I was a tomboy as a child.
 
Some evidences:

• I dressed up like a boy. I had dresses, skirts and clothes to remind that I am a girl, but most of the time I'll be in t-shirt, shorts or in one of my fav jumpsuits. 

• I played games that only boys play (well most of the time).. guli, gasing, kites, football, galah panjang (don't know the English translation) - just name it, I would have probably done it.
  
 

• I liked to climb trees. Its unfortunate that I have put on too much weight now, the branches might just snap if I even attempted to climb *sigh.

• I liked to get dirty with soil, rain etc. I was never a clean and neat child. Its amazing that I have grown up to be a hygiene-freak!

• My friends were all boys. My first friend was a Chinese boy who brings feeding bottle to school. Hehehe.. 

• Talking about friends, I still have more boy friends than girl friends.

• I used to have short hair. There was one instance when I felt my hair grown too long because it was touching my shoulder. Felt uneasy, took mom's scissors and cut them off. I was 6 then.
  

Is it cool to be a tomboy? Well.. maybe. What you think?

[out of town. blog in schedule-mode]


Remember Bloggers Buff (BB) which we organized last year? Well, BB is back again this year with much more extravaganza! I have written the post on BB2008 here and the official blog is here. Check them out and if you are a Malaysian blogger, don't miss the event ya!

More photos here.

After having a long (actually short :P) thought about this, I have decided to cramp summarize the entire Deepavali celebration in one post. Reasons:

1. Way too many photographs (66)
2. Deepavali mood has since fizzled down
3. This ain't a photoblog although it may have started to look like one
4. I'm lazy

The preparation
The mood sets in with muruku- and cookies-making before the house is cleaned. Next will be the annual ritual of me applying mehendi on the the girls' hands. Having a female-majority family doesn't help here. Usually I will be complaining of pain and numbness as I have at least 6 pairs of hands to work on. This year it was not so bad.

Eve's evening has always been the time for a visit to the gravyard - to say hie to my grandpa. You will find the entire cemetery filled with cheerful bunch of people, unusual for a solemn place. It is the time for them to offer prayers to the ancestors and some even keep on coming after it has darkened.


We started the rangoli just before the Eve's dinner but put it on hold till we finished up with all the games in store for the Eve. It has been a tradition to have gooooood food and lots of fun-filled games on the Eve till the clock struck 12.

Deepavali Day 1
Deepavali starts with a visit to the nearby temple. Back home, another short prayers before everyone indulge in excellent breakfast prepared by grandma, mom and aunties (noticed I am not in the list?). That would immediately followed by 'gift-exchanging' session. I don't know about others but in my home, it is a must for all married couple to gift clothes and angpau (read MONEY) to the unmarried ones. And what happens when you gift the kids with at least 4 sets of new clothes at one go? Cam-whoring that is!!




Deepavali Day 2
Usually the second day of the festival spent visiting other relative's open house or going for a movie together. Together here means the entire family, which this year was 12 members. After that, just spent few mins in Putrajaya.



Deepavali Open House
I mentioned about my open house in few posts back. This is the first time in 12 years I am having one. Initially I was expecting visitors only for the lunch but at the end, I had my visitor around 10.30am and the last one leaving at 7.30pm. Lots of food and some time was spent playing silly game. Hope everyone enjoyed. Thanks to Nathan, Venkates, Asha, KV, Mahen, Puvan, Kavilan, Selian, Mala and Emmy who turned up!


Deepavali Photoshoot
Second MIB photoshoot within a month apart. Small group and a short trip.Though I have been to Putrajaya few times before, this is my first visit to the Botanical Garden. Unfortunately the photoshoot was way too short for all of us to enjoy like previously. A place to return.




You may find all of my Deepavali pictures here and here.


Having said all that.. how can I actually forget that today is a Nostalgic Friday day? #57 to be exact. Here is this week's sexy offering:


Have a great weekend people!

I do.

And that is what statistic/visitor counters are for.

No idea what I am babbling about? I'm talking about the "keyword analysis" feature in my statcounter account. It shows the keyword which people has used to search via the search engines before landing in your blog.  I think google analytics has that feature as well but not sure about other counters. For me, it is the easiest way to know what your blog reflects about, though at times you may find bizarre searches. It also double as a fun thing to do when you have some time to spare.

Wanna know what were the latest 25 keywords used to reach my blog?
Here they are..

I had to blacken the 2nd most common keyword search for some reasons. And I don't understand the search related to men wearing saree :-| Don't think it is a nice sight anyway. Apart from that most of the keywords are related to Deepavali, given the fact that the festival has just concluded. Hmm.. about 'penis story for women'.. I really don't have any comment on that. This is just a part of the whole list, I have another 78 keywords not listed here - some were related to the blog, some to me, some were bizarre searches. Nevertheless, it was fun thing to know.

What does your keyword analysis say?