Selamat Hari Raya Haji

Kuala Lumpur is quiet today.  It is a public holiday, a day where Muslims celebrate Hari Raya Haji as it is known here.  Muslims make up more than 60% of the nation's 28 million people.  Whenever major holidays are celebrated, the city is sort of deserted as people leave the city for their hometown to celebrate the occasion with their loved ones. 

Let me take this opportunity to wish all friends and readers here a Selamat Hari Raya Haji.

The weather here in Kuala Lumpur is wonderful today to be celebrating this happy occasion.

A reader here asked whether shops will be open in the city. Rest assured that Kuala Lumpur hardly sleeps. Shops, shopping malls and complexes are open every day of the year and during all public holidays be it Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali or Christmas.  Restaurants,  fastfood outlets included, are open, so are entertainment centres.

Welcome to Kuala Lumpur!

Friday Frolics - What Email Sign Off Are You?

Nice, it's Friday again and the day of the week for a fun activity here - a Friday Frolics personality quiz. This week's quiz is about email sign-off. What are you? Take the quiz to find out.

Have a lovely Friday, everyone!

You Are Love

You are a naturally affectionate person, and relationships are very important to you. You don't expect a lot of career fulfillment in your life. Instead, you're happy to put people first. Of course, you don't sign every single email 'Love' - that wouldn't always be appropriate or welcome. However, you have more people than any other type that you can sign 'Love' to. You have many close relationships. You are a kind and compassionate person. You are easy to know and easy to communicate with. You choose your words carefully and try to say the right thing. You want to connect with your communication.

What Email Sign Off Are You?

Quizzes Here Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds

Last week's quiz: The Vintage Card Test

2014 Malaysia Public Holidays

The government through the Prime Minister's Department has just released the 2014 gazetted public holidays for the country as well as by state.

This would mean that it's that time of the year again to start planning for the year ahead whether you are a corporate citizen, a private employee or a parent planning your holiday with your family for next year:

This chart is for the National Public Holidays. Click on image to enlarge.

This is the schedule by state - two parts..

Referring to the charts above can be confusing I know, so I've crunched them down to a simpler version. Here it is, 2014 public holidays celebrated nationally, in Kuala Lumpur and in Selangor (the latter including Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam and Klang). I'm sorry if you are located in other states, you can still refer to the charts above.

2014 Malaysia Public Holidays as well as for Kuala Lumpur and Selangor..

I haven't received the schedule for school holidays for next year so you may want to check back.


Related article:
2013 Malaysia National Public Holidays & School Holidays

Apricot seeds are beneficial to health

Plums are not grown in Malaysia, yet we do get them here almost all year round in our supermarkets and hypermarkets.

Apricots, on the other hand, are rarely seen here except in their dried form. Did you know that apricot kernels or seeds are edible and they are consumed for their health benefits? It is true. You can read about it here: http://www.apricotpower.com/

It's common knowledge that prunes (dried plums) are good for the bowel system. According to Wikipedia, due to the high fiber to volume ratio of apricots, dried apricots are sometimes used to relieve constipation or induce diarrhea. Effects can be felt after eating as few as three. Now you know..

Friday Frolics - The Vintage Card Test

There is always a certain charm to vintage things - vintage clothes, vintage furniture and so forth. How about doing a vintage card test this week to tell us our personality?

Happy Friday, everyone!

You Are Romantic

You have an idealized version of how things should be. You seek a life full of emotion and passion. From an early age, you've known exactly what you've wanted, and you don't let anything or anyone block your path. You are polite because rudeness never gets anyone anywhere. You know how to act in order to get your way. You aren't exactly manipulative, but you do believe in charming people whenever you can. You like them to think they've won. You are old-fashioned in that you still believe in love, meaning, and standing up for what you believe in. You have a strong personality, but you have a light touch. There's more fire to you than others realize.

The Vintage Card Test

Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

Last Week's Quiz: What Banned Book Are You?

The Best and the Worst of times

Anyone who has the Live Traffic Feed widget on his/her site is bound to check out who's been visiting the site and like me would get excited on seeing a new destination and probably like me again be wondering what that country is like.

Today, two readers arrived from countries that I've never seen before on this site or they have been here and I missed them.  One is from Palestinian Territory, the other from Israel.  Well, Hello there!  What a coincidence that you both came by one after another. Take a look.

What do I know about Palestinian Territory and Israel? Nothing much except that they are in constant dispute, the former being sympathised with by many countries while the former has been portrayed as the inflictor of pain. I have read too that Palestinians who live on the Israel side are living a much better life, being treated fairly with equal opportunities and so forth. I also read about a boycott called by some prominent personnel urging the Muslim World to boycott anything and everything that originates with the Jewish people.

And in response to that, a pharmacist, out of the kindness of his heart, offered to assist them in their boycott and I quote:

"Any Muslim who has Syphilis must not be cured by Salvarsan discovered by a Jew, Dr. Ehrlich. He should not even try to find out whether he has Syphilis, because the Wasserman Test is the discovery of a Jew. If a Muslim suspects that he has Gonorrhea, he must not seek diagnosis, Because he will be using the method of a Jew named Neissner.

"A Muslim who has heart disease must not use Digitalis, a discovery by a Jew, Ludwig Traube.

Should he suffer with a toothache, he must not use Novocaine, a discovery of the Jews, Widal and Weil.

If a Muslim has Diabetes, he must not use Insulin, the result of research by Minkowsky, a Jew. If one has a headache, he must shun Pyramidon and Antypyrin, due to the Jews, Spiro and Ellege.

and more..

Some time ago, some dimwit here in his dim lightbulb moment called for a boycott of all things American. He must have conveniently forgotten that a lot of bread and butter served in homes here come from being employed in MNCs and a lot American-based too. He probably doesn't have a relative working in an American MNC, or none using an iPhone, no one using computers (Microsoft), etc., etc. Duh!

We are living in the best of times with the best standard of living, the best technological advances, the best medicines (growing a nose on the forehead for some purpose, for instance), etc., but can we also say we are living in the worst of times wrought with hatred, vengence, destruction, wars, you name it.  John Lennon comes to mind..

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...

On a positive note,

and I'm going out into the sun today!

You, lovely readers, have a wonderful, wonderful day ahead too!

Self-defence - no longer an option

In this day and age, self-defence is no longer an option. Sadly, it is now mandatory for ladies especially to be constantly on the alert so as not to fall victim to crime.

Speaking of crime, frankly, it can happen to the best of us as I found out from a very careful male colleague. He was pickpocketed by a playful group of young men after he made a withdrawal at his bank.  Great group synergy at work there!

You'd be forgiven to think that the items on the left are just a ring in the top picture, three sticks of lipstick (heart-shaped too) and an ordinary-looking red pen in the last.

Gotcha!  These are self-defence products. They are all pepper sprays in disguise or rather concealed pepper sprays. Very James Bondish, wouldn't you say? Great gift items too, come to think of it and they can be bought online. If I may add, don't leave home without it - the pepper spray, that is..

Counting my blessings

Looking at the Petronas Twin Towers this morning, I thought we were set for another fabulous sunny day but clearly not so looking at the overcast sky right now.  Surprising air quality according to the DOE is still good here in Kuala Lumpur though the skyline does appear to be hazy.

I count it a blessing that this pair of towers can be seen both from the office as well as at home - without the slightest effort. They are just there right in front whenever I look up and need a focal point to ponder a thought or two. Blessing? You bet!

A visiting colleague once remarked that the Petronas Twin Towers are the most exquisite buildings he has ever laid eyes upon and he has travelled extensively for work. He now is based in Shanghai and he travels to Malaysia a few times a year and never tires of taking pictures of the twins each time he visits.

Back home, I wonder how many of us locals really stop to admire these beauties in our very own backyard.

Incidentally, the Petronas Twin Towers are currently still the tallest twin towers in the world. Soaring to a height of 451.9 metres, the 88-storey twin structure is Kuala Lumpur's crown jewel. The world's highest double-decked bridge is also found here where it provides a stunning vantage point of Kuala Lumpur. Linking the towers at levels 41 and 42, it facilitates movement, and functions as an escape route in case of emergencies. Entrance to this skybridge used to be free of charge but a year or two ago, an entrance fee has been introduced. The fee structure is as follows to give you an idea:

Ticket Price
Adult RM80 (approx USD25)
Adult (MyKad) RM25
Child RM30 (approx USD9.30)
Child (MyKid) RM12

There is an observation deck at level 86 but not sure if that's open to the public.  It offers a 360-degree view of Kuala Lumpur. However, some reviews say KL Tower offers a better view of the city. KL Tower stands at 421m and over the weekend hosted the KL Tower International BASE Jump annual event.