There are two common questions people tend to ask when I say I'm furthering my studies (again). One, "Huh, studying again? When you think you are getting married?". Two, "How can you even think about torturing yourself again?".

Let me answer both here. Next time if anyone ask me the same question, I'm just going to give the permalink to this post! :P


"Huh, studying again? When you think you are getting married?"

I have always maintained that I have no intention of settling down prior to completion of my PhD - even when I was doing MSc. While I agree there are women out there who managed marriage and studies, I know I am not one of them. It takes a great person to juggle both, and although I do multitask at times, it is not that easy. Hate to say this, but yes, I am afraid I would fail in either role I have to pay if I get married while studying or vice versa.

Getting married and producing babies should not be the only aim of one's life. Plus, is there any rules saying I should get married at 28? :-)



"How can you even think about torturing yourself again?"

I admit my MSc was long (3.5 years) and torturous. Half way through the project, I almost gave up. I gave myself an ultimatum - buck up within the next 3 months or quit. To my surprise, things got better and I completed the project. Now, I can only regard that as a learning experience for me to face tougher challenge - PhD. Another 3 years of 'torture', I'll get what I always dream of. I am prepared for it. So, no worries about me okie? ;-)

Amazingly, I got this quote in my mailbox today:
"The victory one gets after hard work is priceless."

Finally I got the photos from the organizers! :) You may want to read my previous post about the award I received from the Society HERE. Okie okie.. nothing much there except for a photo, which summarised the whole thing.

Maybe now I can brag elaborate a bit about it. It was an award for the Best Postgraduate Student@Postgrad Prize in the field of nutrition given by the Nutrition Society of Malaysia. Its an annual thingy and each year max 3 master graduates and max 3 PhD graduates will be selected nationwide for the award. This year, 3 master graduates and only 1 PhD graduate were selected. The award comes with a certificate and some handy cash prize as well :D

I had a mega-shopping spree last Saturday. Mega not because I bought lot of stuff but also I did it all in a record time of 2 hours (*wink wink)! It was Global Indian Shopping Festival (GISF) time again but I have no pictures to share this time. You may want to check out the previous post on GISF.

Now that I have started to live in 'budget' due to the fact that I have a Kancil to feed, let me go through stuffs that I bought and the price:
(P/S: 'budget' here refers to lower amount to be spent on shopping and other luxury spending. The use of the term 'budget' may vary according individuals )

• 1 white-turquoise sequined saree - RM95
• 3 kurti tops for aunt - RM 30
• 1 kurti top for me - RM10
• 2 kurti tops for sis - RM20
• tit-bits - RM10
• indian sweets - RM14
• 3 sequined/embroidered bags -RM65

So, in total = RM244 + RM3 (parking ticket).

But the satisfaction that I get = priceless!! :P

I can't stand disorganized work place.
I need to clean my room every week without fail.
I fold clothes and even plastic bags carefully.
I make sure all my pens have caps.
Every single document is carefully arranged on my desk.
The rubbish bin needs to be emptied everyday.
I read everything I type at least twice before sending it off.

And of course I got pissed when the Internet connection not even close to 'perfect'!!! Grrr...

*Specially dedicated to the sucky Internet connection I am facing since the last few days.


Between, here are some pics to cheer everyone up! :P

Okie, you have came across words like 'campus', 'School' etc.. what you think I'm up to? *hint - it has something to do with my new year wishes

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?

I attended a wonderful wedding dinner last Friday. Romantic atmosphere, melodies songs and good food too. Check out some photos I took there:

Oh yea, I have decided to reveal the answer today itself instead of Monday. Some guessed my question correctly, some got close...

Another new year wish of mine materialized. Can guess which one?
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

Answer:
I got new hairstyle! :P

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! :)

The day to say goodbye to my office. After a grueling, exciting, emotional and an-experience-filled 16 months, I am bidding farewell to my job - my first one outside UPM.

It was an emotional roller coaster ride for me. I may not share everything that happened in this space out of respect to my colleague(s), but I had my tough time here as well. Yet, I took it as a learning experience, and tried my best to have fun here - that is to love my job. Yes - I loved my job.

What I was doing for the past 16 months are totally out of my scope. No, I wasn't trained specifically to be a sociologist. I am a proud nutritionist. But I have tried my level best to fit in. It was tough at times, but I know in the end, I will be rewarded with an invaluable skill, expertise and experience. I am not wrong.

I had many eventful days throughout my work period here in Monash University (yes, I am naming my (former) employer officially for the first time in tulipspeaks). I struggled through my final stages of Master degree while working here. For that, I have to thank my boss - he is one of the most considerate human being I have met so far. I have nothing but praise for that man. He gave me all the time I needed to complete my viva voce and thesis. He is the only person I shared the existence of tulipspeaks, and if you are reading this, "Thank you Dr".


I had misunderstanding with a colleague, which is still going on. I do hope to reconcile with her. No point of harboring ill feelings towards anyone. It brings no good to anyone. My mistake or no, I wish to ask for her forgiveness and I hope to do that very soon. I explored places I never believed I would step my foot, I stayed there, I mingled with the community - a priceless experience. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a talkative person, but I must say I have picked up communication skill while I am in Monash. I am no longer afraid to communicate, ask questions or express my opinion. I learned to be an adult, finally.


I am going to miss this huge-screened HP pc, definitely. Small but comfortable workstation filled with (lots of) papers, and files. The Neslo O which always accompany my morning. The fruit fragrant in the ladies (yes, it never stink) :P. Not to forget, the smiling colleagues, humble professors, friendly lecturers and helpful staff. I had a wonderful time here.

Thank you, Monash.


*Neslo O - Combination of chocolate malt, coffee and sugar, without milk or coffemate.

I'm suppose to do Syura's tag today but I'm unable to do anything coz I'm ....

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?

I know I have stopped wishing some time ago. I never had any resolutions/wishes before but this year I have not one but 10 of them! I want a change a now. Possibly a change I have been longing for; a change that will startle any people; a change that will definitely change me!

Okie okie.. don't get confuse. Let's get down to short list of my wishes for the brand new year:

I need to shed 15 kg to be back to a healthy weight! I don't know how I am going to push myself to do it, but I have to.. somehow!






The last 3 years have been wasted. Don't wanna waste another precious year in my life for anyone now. I better start looking for a bf now! Any volunteers eh? ;)








Every year will start with a bang, u know the usual countdown parties and fireworks. But this year started quietly. Just me with my darling. Praying that a different start will give me a different perspective for a new year!

Happy New Year to all!

January
Looks like 2007 started with a bang! Welcomed 2007 with 7mins of fireworks, and the month of Jan is definitely a month of celebration, with Thaipusam and Ponggal. I enjoyed it.

February
Duh! It was the dreaded V-day month. Lonely one - as always.



March
I started The Nostalgic Friday series and now after 27th week, it is still going on strong.
Watch the entire video collection HERE.




April
Presented in an international conference - that was my second oral presentation and was freaky!


May
The maiden bloggers (MIB) gathering. Few months after that, we formed a team and currently working on a 'kutty' project. Lets look forward what we can do in 2008, as a team of course.


June
I traveled , traveled and traveled. Driving on old town roads, sleeping in small chalet surrounded by jungle, coldness, Internet-less life. Oh boy.. what a month!



July
Took a short break from my travel, and teamed with other MIBs to come up with a bloggers' workshop - Bloggers Buff 2007!









August
Month of drama. I can't believe it has been 4 months since we got robbed. Feels like yesterday,and I still haven't recovered from it. Even slight noise startles me till today. And no, they have not been caught yet. As a result of the robbery, we got Bobby.
And finally, I graduated.


September
My pathetic birthday (which everyone forgot :P) was in this month


October
Started a postcard series. So far, there are only 2 posts done under this series.


November
It can never get busier. With Deepavali and work (my colleague works from home... grrr!!), I felt like I needed 48 hours a day to stay afloat.
November - a month I said goodbye to two of the most important persons in my life.




December
Bought my own dotcom.
In the end, I gained a total of 8kg this year. Damn!




This is the last post for the year 2007. I will be taking a break from blogging till Jan 1st, 2008. Thanks a lot for being here with me for a whole dramatic year. I will come back with brand new resolutions for 2008! Take care till then.

After breaking up with my ex-boyfriend, I immediately found myself attracted to this hunk. Hopefully this is not a rebound relationship. I long for him to stay with me for a long long time.I wanna live happily ever after with him - ala the fairy tales.

This time around I was more careful with my choice. Not to say I did mistake in choosing my ex, but right now there are so many 'hunks' around!!! I was spoilt for choices!! Thankfully I had my friends and sister with me, while I made the important decision.




He is fondly called Aspire 4720G.

He has his pros and may be I am deeply in love with him to 'see' his cons (if there is any) :P Not many girlfriends will be able to list down their boyfriend's pros, guess I am an exception. My darling comes in an opalesque shape and is equipped with:

Intel Centrino Duo processor technology
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7300
(2.0GHz, 4MB cache, 800 MHz FSB)
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965GN Network Connection
Mobile Intel 965PM Express Chipset

Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium

160GB SATA HDD / 2 GB DDR2 RAM

14.1" WXGA Acer CrystalBrite TFT Color LCD & dual display via Acer GridVista 1280*800 16:10 resolution

NVIDIA Geforce 8400G with up to 1024MB of TurboCache technology (128MB of dedicated GDDR2 VRAM, up to 768MB of shared system memory)
High Definition MPEG-2 Hardware

Dolby certified surround sound system with low frequency effects

Integrated Bluetooth

Integrated 8X DVD Super Multi Double-layer Drive

5-in-1 Card Reader supporting SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro & xD

Integrated Acer Crystal Eye Webcam

6-cell Li-Ion Battery with Acer QuicCharge Technology

Acer Empowering Technology

Preloaded Norton Anti Virus & Microsoft Office 2007 Trial softwares

1+2 year International Limited Warranty

Free casing, original optical mouse and a year long free movie pass.

Well, I don't understand half of his specifications, but who cares? He looks good and so far he works pretty well too.

He cost me RM3,488 (USD 1,041), and about an hour after charging my card with that amount, I got a phone call from the bank.

voice: Good afternoon miss. I just would like to verify if you have charged RM3k+ to your Mastercard an hour ago?

ammu: Yes, that's right (obviously gal!!! my hunk set me back by 3.5K.. but he is worth it)

voice: Thank you for the confirmation, miss. Have a nice day. (hung up)

Good guys come with a price.

I was in love with him, and I still am. A four-year relationship is not something anyone could just forget in a blink of an eye, and I don't think I even want to attempt to forget him. The four years was a roller coaster ride for both of us. Sometimes it was smooth, sometimes it was bumpy. Guess that is what life is all about.

I still remember the first day I saw him. Four years ago when I was still fresh from college, I remember being pretty naive then. His appreance is what caught my innocent eyes. Eventually I learnt that he was as good as his looks. A well-built feature that anyone could die for. He was cool.

The last four years, I was in a learning mode. From master degree to social networking to blogging to what not! I was learning them all, and he was there for me the entire time. I don't think I could have pull it through without him. I loved him for that. I always do.

Now, the time has come for both of us to move on. I think I am ready for bigger challenge, and he thinks its time for him to be with someone else. It was a painful decision to make, but I know I will have to make that decision sooner or later. I really would like to tell him how much I adored him, how much I valued him, how much I loved him. But wait, I think he already knew that. The time he accompanied me to the hospital when I was doing my research, the time he spent with me working in my study room and the beautiful moments we shared in my bed will always be in my memory.

I think I should just stop crying and let him go. He has to go.






Good bye my dear Travelmate 250.

No I am not getting married. At least, that's not what I'm going to write here, and doesn't mean I will never write about it here :p.

I think its wedding season all over the world right now. Even Keshi has blogged about weddings.. and I think if I dwell more on wedding-relationship-marriage, it would be a copycat of her post! hehehehe..

I attended my friend's wedding dinner yesterday. So much for the chaos in the capital in the last few days, plan to attend her wedding was cancelled and I resorted to attend the wedding dinner instead. Such a pity, because I really wanted to attend the wedding not the dinner!!! I never liked wedding dinners, though many prefer to attend it instead of the real wedding ceremony itself. For one, I hate parading myself seeing people parading themselves over and over again. Plus, I think by attending the ceremony means much more for the couple, and the attendees as well. Witnessing a man and woman promising to be there for each other forever is more significant than just watching them savouring grilled chicken over the dinner! Anyway, in this case I didn't have much choice. I knew the bride & the groom from my university days (that's about 7 years!) and I got no excuse to skip the event.



Dinner supposely to start at 7.30pm & yours truly reached the venue at 8pm.. but the function has not started yet! Hmm.. okie may be they are waiting for more people, my stomach started to make funny noises, boredom started to set in but lucky for me, sister was there entertaining talking to me. Pheww!!



A friend came in few minutes later and guess what happens when two old friends meets?? We were chit-chatting and posing for the photos till the event start.

Then its the usual stuff - cake cutting, photos, dinner, more photos, identifying other uni mates and more photos. By the time when I came back home, I was dead tired - tired of talking & eating!



So, how was your Sunday?

.... because I feel much safer when I'm all by myself.

Free from verbal abuse

Free from expectation

Free from suspicious eyes

Free from mental torture

Free from web-of-horror


..And you are blaming me for isolating myself?

My Deepavali was spent with family members. It was OK.



The rest of the photos have been uploaded to my FLICKR. Check that out. No more blabbering about Deepavali till next year! :D