It's a pity that we often found it out late. Be it sale at the nearby mall, empty parking slot or some people's behaviour. Last week, I came across a series of news articles on various crime convicted by people least expected to. Some excerpts:

JOHOR BARU: A Form Five student who refused to marry a man who befriended her less than a month ago was abducted, tortured and molested by the man. He also made video recordings of her in the nude.

Read more.

A Russian man has killed the girlfriend that he lived with for two years after finding out that she once was a man.

Read more.

A Russian woman got so upset by the news that her boyfriend intended to leave her that she tied several firecrackers to his penis and exploded them, the Life.ru web-site reports.

Read more.

KUALA LUMPUR: A lecturer at a private international university who allegedly demanded sex and money from his students in return for better grades has been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Read more.


One similarity in the crimes - all committed by someone known to the victim (though I'm not sure if the guy with blasted penis is the real victim here :P). I am sure we all have heard of similar incidents or at least been reading about it in the newspaper on daily basis. Looks like it's a norm now to have a criminal walking around us, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Once a close friend told me, crimes are normally done by someone we know, at a time when we least expect it. You will never know which time bomb is going to explode, at what time. Isn't that scary?

The recent incidences in my life made me to be extra cautious about my surrounding, especially with people around me. I know I have no one else to be blamed but me, IF someone screw me up. So, why wanna give that IF a chance? :-)

Stay safe, people!

After battling with the new blog template for about 3 weeks, I manage to customised it to what my blog looks now. A tedious process *sigh.

How is the new look, people?

Usually I always receive complaints that tulipspeaks is loading very slow. But whenever I check with my own pc, it loads perfectly fine. How about this template? Is it still slow?

Now that I am (almost) done with this new theme, I get to go on blog-hopping spree more often :-)

Long life blogworld!

That was the name given to the 'advance blogging session' organised in conjunction with PJ Challenge '09 Bloggers Karnival. Frankly, I didn't go to attend any of the activities, just wanted to attend the one my friend, Rames was going to talk in which I later found out to be "Blog 411".

It was indeed a well-organised and fun-filled blog event. Looking forward for more :-)
View the rest of the photos in my flickr set.

Chumma Talk: I wish everyday is a Friday.. *sigh

Chumma Talk: I know I'm hopeless in replying to comments and blog-hopping. Don't get pissed with me guys. Please have some mercy :P. I will be visiting everyone's home soon.

Hopefully you guys are not sick of me continually posting photos of my weekend trips.

Last weekend saw me driving to Malacca, dubbed the Historical State. I have been to Malacca before, but this time it was in a huge entourage (20 people) and to the A Famosa Resort, a man-made theme park. The food and beverage being sold inside the theme park is freaking expensive. I would suggest a night (or two) stay at the resort and bring along some packed foods to save cost. But invest in a good camera with loads of free space in your memory card. Don't forget to bring along a spare battery. You will have plenty to shoot.

Now.. time for the photos & video:












We had to give the WaterWorld a miss because of the tight schedule. Navigating around with 20 people is not easy, mind you. I was dead tired by the time we got back home. Nevertheless it was an entertaining short trip. Loved it!

View the rest of the photos in my A Famosa Flickr Set and Facebook Album.

Roller coaster ride.

That is ONE phrase that summarised my last 5 years on the bumpy road called life. While I shined and succeeded in one part of life, I failed with a huge zero mark in the other part. Life is, after all not all rosy as they say.

If there was a single thing I could not accept, that would be betrayal. And amazingly, that was what I experienced the most. It happened so frequently that I can't even trust my own shadow. Look, I have to attend a talk in 1/2 hour time and I'm sitting here blabbering about how people cheated my trust at 8.30 in the morning! I go to sleep every night thinking about it anyway.

But I found a cure to this 'disease'. All it takes is a confrontation. I found that confrontation did not heal the wound but it helped me to let it out, which at least gives me a good night sleep. Yes, confronting people who used to command high respect in my life (but now has sunk so low) isn't easy. Often it leaves them speechless. Probably they thought I will never find out, or even if I do, I will never ask them right on face.

At times I do think if these people use their tiny brain before ruining other people's life. What goes around, comes around darling! Screw me up, God will screw you up in return. Just watch and see.

So, how does it feel now that I have found out? Painful? Embarassing? Or as usual, you just don't give a damn? :-)

Now that some people have (at least partially) out of my system, I could breathe normally. No, it is not all well now but it is getting there.

I will never claim myself to be an excellent driver, but I certainly follow the rules on the road and loathe at those who do not. Beside the long drives, there is another thing which attracts me to driving - the independence that it gives.

It's a pleasure to know that I don't have to depend on anyone or anything to get me going around. Just hop in, start the ignition, slide the gear to D and press the accelerator - I'll be on my way.

This weekend, I will be going on a long drive. First such drive with MyVi1980. Wish me good luck!


Time for Nostalgic Friday #74. Dedicated to the thrill of driving..

It was a weekend away to the beach. For the first time, I spent time by the beach without getting into the water. It gave me opportunity to experiment my Lumix. We reached the beach around 4pm and it was still freaking hot. The sun was not showing any sign of going down at all. It felt like 1pm, rather than 4!

Some shots to share:

Some photos are available in my facebook album and I will be adding more photos to my flickr set in few days time. Do bookmark it.

Looking back at the past 5 months which was eventful and full of drama, I can't help it but to shed tears. Tears of happiness and sorrow kinda get mixed there though. I remember this Bollywood Girls Day Out with Mala & Sundra. Spent half of the day eating and taking photos. Months later, Passage Through India left a comment in that post thanking me for post! :P. It was fun day, nevertheless. Wish we can have another similar one before the year ends *looks for Mala. Then it was Ponggal and this year was certainly different. Can't remember why? Go here, and you will know.


February was a greatest month so far. Love is a great emotion but it came with a baggage of its own - I found out only later. But I cherished it. It was beautiful. Then comes Thaipusam. For the first time ever, I went to Batu Caves with a group of friends, took tonnes of photos and came back only the next day. It was a tiring but exciting experience. Academy Awards this year saw Slumdog sweeping 8 Oscars - brilliant!

Bukit Tinggi Photoshoot was another photoshoot event under MIB's banner. It was when I was still struggling with terrible gastritis which saw me being rushed to A&E. Yes, I was in pain but not many know and I still feel some who knows didn't care. But it's alright. Like what they say - it's all in the game! :-)  Oh yea, not to forget, I bought my Lumix LX3 a day before the photoshoot and still loving it!


March is a month which still send the shiver through my spine. I don't wish to elaborate on it and hurt many people in the process (including myself). I took a long break probably longest in my blogging history. Just to mend my heart. It was sad. Period.

Most of the April saw me hibernating. Went for a small get together of uni-mates. Came back to blogworld just in time to celebrate my 4th year of blogging.



May onwards, I am trying to my old self. Trying to be cheerful again, with posts about me, quizzes etc. We also had another photoshoot under MIB's banner at Putrajaya (which I didn't blog about). You may find the fericous feminist Ammu missing in action. She is not missing in action but she is dead all together. Ammu you see now is a fragile and at times cheerful, struggling and broke Ph.D student.



As I went through the posts I have made for the last 5 months (47 so far), I refreshed my memory of all the incidents and events, laughter and cries, friends and strangers who had coloured my first 5 months of 2009. Try digging your past posts, you might find yourself too.