A quick and shameless self-promo post :P

Thank you so much for the votes and wishes. Here are the rankings so far:

Most Popular Female Blogger
Tulipspeaks - 4.29
Bytes-Berry - 3.59
Psych Theory - 3.17


Best Personal Blog
Tulipspeaks - 3.48
Kartzworld - 2.38
Kav’s Kollage - 4.21
TheBlankPage - 3.18


The voting started on 6th of June and will end in 6th of July. So, if you haven't vote (for me that is) there is still some time left :P

Just a hypothetical question which I would like some feedback on. Just imagine this:

You were happily blogging away for months or maybe years now. Your blog has nothing else except for truth and only the true experiences of your life. You were enjoying sharing them with your newly found blogmates, who gives suggestions and criticisms without having to face you in real. But your blog is well hidden from those you know in the real world. Everything seems to be fine...

Until one fine day, you found out that a cousin of yours has been reading your blog. Or your parents found out your blog by accident. Worse, your boss bumped to your blog.

Not that it landed you in a bitter row or civil suit, but it's the feeling of you being watched. You feel you are not invisible in the blogworld. You know you have been swearing a lot in your blog. You have been typing it away without fear. But now, someone is watching you. Reading everything you type (and read everything you typed). Freaky?

How this is going to change you and your writing style? Are you going to quit blogging all together or just gonna be more cautious in your writing? Or you simply don't care at all?

I don't know how reliable this is, but The Blog Readability Test says...

Something to be proud of? Or I should start to worry because it needs high level of education to understand the content of this blog? Looking at the other side of the spectrum, it only means my blog readers are all geniuses!! Congrats everyone! *wink wink


And Happy Nostalgic Friday everyone:

I'm a Blogger-person and after 3+ years relying on blogspot, I have grown to love it here. Of course Wp is more powerful, but for me Blogger.com is more than enough.

Over the period, my blog has seen numerous changes in her look. Usually I surf around for new templates and give it a fresh look before applying it here. I never used a blog template as it is but normally used it as a basis. I have seen various brilliant templates and here I am sharing my top 10 choices of blogger templates especially for female bloggers in a random order. The designs remain copyrights of the respective designer.

1. Butterfly girly

2. OMG smashing


3. Colibri


4. Flower Pink


5. Rosa


6. Art Imagination


7. Flower


8. Divalicious


9. Retro Lady


10. She's Got Style


There are still many more templates to be featured. Maybe will have a part two to this post. Have you came across any beautiful, stylish yet girlish templates lately?

When you publish a blog post, post a picture in Flickr or start a Facebook account, you are subjecting yourself to be known to 6B people out there. The is no such thing as 'maintaining' a low profile when you have snaps and your life experience pasted here. You are known. Face it. And when you willingly put yourself on the limelight and of course, people will start judging you from that day onwards. We are vulnerable in cyberworld.

Yea, this is a personal space of us, the bloggers. We are entitled to do whatever we want here without being questioned. BUT unlike our own home, we are not confined to 4 walls. Your neighbours can have 'full view' of whatever you are doing in your cyberspace. When that happens, couldn't it be more courteous to be humble?

If you think you are entitled to an opinion of your own (which is true), so does Mak Minah who has a pisang goreng stall down the street. So does your distant cousin who secretly reads about your nights out with boyfriends. So does your greatest rival of the blogworld. So does the so-called obsessive Flickr fan of yours. The key is to be yourself without hurting other human beings.

Guess that is not too much to ask.


* a post out of my frustration reading posts just published to condemn others without facts, which I think is a wastage of space.

My apologies for skipping Nostalgic Friday post yesterday. Was out the whole day and the by the time I come back, I was dead tired.

Let's make up for it now :)

Beginning yesterday (or was it the day before?), Manya Blog Awards has been opened to all blog readers to cast their vote for their favourite blog. Simply put, it is a Malaysian Indian version of the famous Blogger Choice Awards. The differences? Manya is confined to short-listed Malaysian Indian blogs and awarded by Putera MIC, while Blogger Choice Awards is more global. As expected, there is a lot of criticisms thrown at Manya, but the efforts shown by Putera to gain back support of bloggers is commendable. No true blogger could be 'bought' by an award, and it will definitely not 'sway' us from our way of blogging. Some may not have that confidence, but I do.



Alright, more about Manya...

I don't want to bore you all with facts which you can read in Manya's home page. There are few bloggers within our blogging community who have been nominated for this year's award, including yours truly. Most of the nominated bloggers have accepted their nomination. There are 9 categories of awards, and two more 'special' awards - Readers' Choice Award + Putera's Award.



Now, the most important part of the post...



Go to Manya Awards, and vote for me now!! :P Readers are required to rank the blogs in each category and voting period is for a month. I have been nominated in two categories - Most Popular Female Blogger and Best Personal Blog. Please vote me *blink *blink *shy *shy..

Besides, there are lot more other blogs which you may wanna get to know and vote as well!!

Start casting your vote now! :)


I have published this song before, but now I feel like wanna hear it again. Troubled time, my frens! :P

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!

Thanks for the wishes, I'm getting much better except for this nagging headache. Anyway, hope I will get enough rest over the weekend. I'm coming to your blogs soon. Hang on there! :)

Back to the topic, I think now its the high time for bloggers in Malaysia. We are going places! First, 'somebody' underestimated the power of blogworld. That caused them dearly. We even manage to send a blogger to the Parliament, mind you. One blogger is currently taking part in Malaysia's Dreamgirl search - a reality show looking for a model (ala Next Top Model) which is being aired online. Yesterday I was faithfully going through Kenny Sia's blog and found out he has listed as one of Malaysia's 50 eligible bachelors (CLEO). Not bad..! Besides prominent opposition politicians blogging in the cyberworld, we now has a former MB joining the bandwagon as well. Now, that's a news!! :P

Right now I'm thinking what else could be in store for us. What are we going to achieve next? What is in store for us, the bloggers? And most important of it, till when we are going to make an impact in this country?

I know I know.. may be no point pondering over things which are beyond our control. But no harm in postulating isn't it?

I do have some blogmates from overseas here. Would appreciate if some of you guys could share the blogging culture in your respective country. Is it still a new culture? Are bloggers making such impact? What future holds for blogging in your place?

When I started blogging, I knew no one in the blogsphere. I just treated my previous blog as a space to voice out my frustration and to a certain extent, gain some attention I was lacking of. Yes, i succeeded in my mission - I gain not only attention but friendship. Now, that was an added bonus which I never expect in the first place.

I slowly build a network, which consisted of blogmates who knew me through my writing. My writing which reflected my inner desires, feelings, opinions etc brought me wonderful friends. Even now, my YM has a long list of such friends I gain through the blogsphere. I had so much fun exploring into a new world - a world that promised me the wonders of friendship.

However, they have slowly varnished from the blogsphere and those still here don't seem to be passionate about it. No, I'm not talking about a single common platform like Mindsblog or Betweenus, but about the healthy 'blog visits' we used to have, the long chats we used to have in the comment section. Many can be just passed as junks but it was lively. We used to have this small online gatherings in YM voice conference, and it was used to be so damn lovely!!! Gosh.. I'm missing all that now.

You guys are wonderful, leaving me comments which spurred me to write more and more. I should thank the regulars as well as the silent readers. But don't you feel things are getting more and more formal? So formal that we are losing the fun side of blogging?

But I'm missing my old days here. Where are you guys? Where is the passion? Where is the love? Where is the bond?

For the past one week I was in a war with my router. Seriously my (ex-)router hates me. I can't think of any other reason why it refused to get connected to my laptop, but willingly allowed itself to be connected to my sister's laptop and my brother's pc. My laptop, after being jilted by the router, refused to connect to that particular router but accepted connection from any other router. :|

After trying my best to get things right (and failed), I decided to take both my laptop and the router to the computer service shop. *sigh. To my dismay, even the Chinese guy there was clueless about it. We tried everything we could, even reformatted my laptop in the process (ggrrrr.. lost substantial number of files there, but that's another story for another day). Finally I got myself a new router, and it worked!!

The guy asked me to check the connection right there, and can anyone guess which site I went first? :P My bloggie - definitely. And the guy was dumbstruck when he saw me publishing the comments here.

The guy(pointing at tulipspeaks): Ini u punya ke? [Is that yours?]
Me: Ya la. [Yes]

The guy: U blog pasal apa? [What do you blog about?]
Me: Apa-apa pun boleh. [Anything goes ;)]

The guy: Politik adakah? [Politics?]
Me: Kadang-kadang adalah. [Sometimes]

The guy (with eyes wide open): Betulkah? [Is it true?]
Me: Betul la. [True]

The guy: U tak nampak macam blogger la! [You don't look like a blogger!]
Me: Hahahahaha.. yea ka? [Is it?]

I never took my eyes off the laptop screen during the entire conversation :P


We just experienced a 'blogging boom' in Malaysia, especially since late 2007 and during the election, bloggers paid an important role in influencing the voters' sentiment. At the same time, we do have people blogging for fun - the reason I believe why most of us blog. Least I expected sociopolitical bloggers to be stereotyped to 'look' like Jeff Ooi or Marina Mahathir. And not all fun bloggers look like Kenny Sia, XiaXue or NicoleKiss. I don't think a blogger's physical appearance got anything to do with stuff that they write online. And I am still thinking what is wrong with my physical appearance and articles I write online. Maybe I still look like a school girl, I don't know *sighhhhh...



Some bloggers have no qualm about revealing their real self online. Even sometimes I think my bloggie is overloaded with my photos :P. But some prefer to just be anonymous and stick to a nickname instead of revealing their name or photo. I'm sure each of us has at least one or two such blogmate/blog reader, and if you do:

1. Have you ever wondered how they looked in real life?



2. Or do you actually create an imaginary figure of them whenever you come across their blog or whenever you see their nick?



3. Do you attempt to get to know them in real? eg. asking for their photo or starting e-mail conversation?

15.03.08 was our very first gathering for MINDSBLOG. Our real idea was to have a small party celebrating the victory of Barisan Rakyat :P, but somehow the idea got evolved and turned out to be a gathering of admin, authors and readers of MINDSBLOG. That would explain the short notice. Nevertheless, I thank everyone who attended the event.

It was already 1.30pm when we started with our lunch. Most of us took chicken briyani rice, some took mixed rice but some just refused to give in to the temptation, and just stick with their drinks.

[Update: The blog is best viewed with Mozila Firefox]

Now, do I really have to post on something so obvious? Hehehehe.. I just have to. Whenever I change my layout, I will usually get more negative feedback rather than positive ones. Maybe some people don't like changes (and that's a topic for another day) or maybe there is something seriously wrong with the layout.

The codes were not generated by me, but downloaded from elsewhere. But I spend 2 hours editing this layout. So, what are changes made?

1. I always wanted to make full use of the space and this template made that possible *grins
2. I took off some ads
3. Larger font - pity those who had to squeeze their eyes to read posts on the previous layout

One thing I didn't have the heart to change are the colours. Black & red is a simply amazing combination and I would like to retain it *grins again

I am a bit concerned with the page loading, and I'm not sure if it looks bit cluttered as I have removed the frame. What do you think?

as I said earlier.. it was fun! Puvanan was telling us.. "hey, this is not a workshop, its a picnic!" I can't agree more. so what we did that day? let me narrate the story through photos! (thanks to Guru, one of the crew member & also Puvanan for taking some of the photos).

Bloggers Buff 2007!! Yippeee!!!! We had a blast and I really pity those who signed up but didn't turn up yesterday. Guys.. you all missed an eventful Sunday! I'm still editing the photos, so just one pic for today & the rest together with the details of BB 2007 in couple of days time!

Hey guys.. Rames did us a favour by creating a poster for Bloggers Buff 2007. Check it out! Cool stuff!
And don't forget to register by this Thursday!

I have read soooooooooooo many reviews about Sivaji - The Boss that I have decided NOT to write a review on it. Ah.. that doesn't mean it was not a cool movie. A pure entertainer! Director Shanker being "Director Shanker" never failed to highlight the use of technology in his movies. In this particular song, Rajini was basically transformed into 'someone' else :p How was it done? Watch the making of oru kuudai sunlight here:

Ah..feel so good to be back in my office (and blogging!). I came back from my trip yesterday and it was quite refreshing. Have not edited the photos yet and probably I can get it up by Friday. So for today, let me introduce a bloggers event we are conducting right here in Kuala Lumpur!

What: Bloggers Buff 2007 is a workshop cum forum organized to gather Malaysian bloggers from different genres together to network and explore various issues and aspects of blogging. When : Sunday, 8th July 2007( 8.30am – 5.30pm) Where :Dewan Dato’ Haji Sidek, Jalan Kg Attap, K.Lumpur

Thats right! We are conducting a blogger workshop!!! Oh no! We are not going to 'teach' you how to blog.. I know you guys are pro at it ;). So what do we intend to do?

# To create a good network of Malaysian bloggers of different genres.
# To alienate fears and negative perception of blogs in mainstream print media.
# To promote blogging as a hobby and as a potential income generator.
# To promote blogging as a medium to exchange information.

Now.. its all about networking and promoting blog as vital and most happening medium of communication for today's world!

I just can't remember when we came up with this idea to conduct such ambitious project.. but the credits goes to the whole team - Mahendran, the gentleman who is chairing the commitee & commitee members; P Kamalanathan, Praveen, Puvanan and yours truly.

This is a blogging event organized by bloggers for bloggers regardless genre, gender or race, and I am counting on you guys to make it a hit!

Okie now..I know you are all geared up and wants to know more about this event. All you have to do is to visit Bloggers Buff 2007, read through our welcome post and tentative event schedule. IF you think this is for you, get yourself registered by completing the registration form. Let me emphasis here - all participants need to pre-register themselves and NO walk-in blogger will be entertained that day. Don't tell me I didn't warn you! ;)

Last but not the least, please kindly spread the word around by putting up the promo badge which was done by one of our bloggers, Saravanan in support of this event & linking it back to Bloggers Buff 2007.

I am loving my busy life.

Sounds crazy but thats what I feel. Waking up at 6, reaching office way before it opens, rushing to reply important e-mails & meeting staffs before 10, travel to sites till evening, reach office around 5, check the mails again, meet the staffs again & rush back home before the traffic become unbearable.

That was my routine for last week. And this week is pretty easy on me. We are moving to new building and whoa, its huge!! Once I am done with this post, got to unplug the PC for the movers to get it transported to my (ahem) new office!

Despite the busy schedule, i found a little time to lepak around Midvalley. There is shopping festival going on and surely I don't think I wanna miss it this year. Besides meeting up Mahen & Praveen was fun :P I have posted some of the photos in my flickr, you may check it out here.

Next week, I will be off to some areas in rural part of my state on work purpose. Hopefully I will manage to check tulipspeaks at least once a day. Kinda missing all my online activities.. *sigghhhh

The blogger's meeting @ gathering went on fine. There were 8 of us - Me, Anitha, Praveen, Visithra, Mahen, Saravanan, Puvanan & Murali attending it. Some of us have met before but some of us don't. So, it was more of a session getting to know each other. A lot of gossiping too! Hahahaha..

Sis & I reached Starbucks at about 3.10pm (gathering at 3.00pm) and was greeted by Saravanan. Moments later Puvanan joined us. Things were pretty quiet then. I was like.. "oppsi! this guys are not talking. are they shy or something?". They proved me wrong, once Praveen, Visithra & Murali joined the club! Mahen joined us a little late - making a grand entrance (ama thaane Mahen? :P).

Besides chatting with each other for 4 hours.. we also came up with an idea to form a group called United Malaysian Indian Bloggers (which I hope to be changed to Malaysian Indian Bloggers). It is not a group like an organization or something. As for now, it will be just a loosely-connected group of Malaysian bloggers of Indian origin. We have several plans in line, which we hope to announce from time to time. If you are a Malaysian Indian blogger, please let us know if you are interested to join hand with us. Promise you won't get bored. ;)

I wanted to post many pics initially but just to make things more spicy, we decided not to put up the photos taken in the gathering. Photos are shared only among the attendees. Thus you may not find any of the photos in Flickr or blogs.

That's right guys.. we are gonna meet! I hope you guys have read Praveen's post on the gathering. I think its a wonderful idea to meet up. Its gonna be a friendly meet, with alot of fun and possibly a serious agenda as well. Keeping my fingers crossed! Now.. this is what I call a great welcome back gift for me! Can't wait for Sunday :P

p/s: thanks alot for the e-mails, offliners (chats) and smses. I appreciate the fact that there are people out there willing to listen me when I need them the most. Will be slowly start visiting everyone's space soon. Hang on there! Love all!

A spiritual piece of work by Maestro Illayaraja. May be an excellent start of a Friday morning. Every time I hear this song, it never fails to create a sensation in me. A master piece.

Movie: Thaaiye Moogambigai (not so sure...anyone can confirm?)
Song: Janani Janani