Car hiring in Portugal
Yawn… It’s 10.02pm and I’m happily typing away while drinking coffee, eating chocolate and occasionally peeping off my shoulder to watch the TV my parents are watching right now. Good movie they are showing right now, Cradle to the Grave, Jet Li movie and in my opinion, 99.9% movies that he acted both in Hokkien and in English movies are wonderful. Love the stunts and the storyline. His acting are naturally perfect and you can see that his martial arts is a result from years of Kung Fu training.
Right.. So where was I? Oh yeah, apart from IGG.com, I’m currently rendered into boredom since my usual online game haunts are currently upgrading their game servers. I forgot totally about their upgrade and nearly knocked my head onto the desktop when they plugged me out from the game… I WAS IN A MIDDLE OF A BATTLE WITH THE BOSS!! I can almost hear my friends’ cursing from Portugal and Australia ringing in my ear.
I was 1min close to getting my triple EXP and poof! We are out of the game. So much for staying up late for my poor friends. I was thinking of taking a holiday to Portugal and see for myself what’s life out there and whether the Portuguese in Melaka practices the same culture as those in Portugal.
Portuguese in Melaka? I’m not kidding. In the early days, Melaka was invaded and ruled by the Portuguese and they left a big chunk of their culture and essence in Melaka when they were chased out later by the Dutch, or was it the English?? Pardon me for my rusty history knowledge, I studied history of Malaya, not Melaka… hehehe
I heard from my Portugese friend that if I want to get around in Portugal, I got to have a driving liecense book a car from car hire portugal companies that can be found at the airport if I need it urgently the moment I touch down. But since he has offered to drive me around, I can save on the car rental and instead pay for my friend’s petrol. hehehe…
Preparation during Ramadan 1
After many days of boredom, I finally got my computer back, reformatted and completely free from virus. Yahoo!! So no more downloading of KEYGEN for softwares, thinking to save my 10USD only to fork out the same amount to get repairs done for my pc after the infection.
Fifth day of Ramadan and I’m happily rejoicing the holy month. My nights are filled with Quran reading and Terawih prayers along with other sunnah prayers while the day is work as usual. Amazing, during other months, I could never stand until 10pm before falling dead on my feet and constantly think of my comfortable bed. But during the holy month, my bedtime falls after 12am each day, waking up at 4.45am for Sahur and then followed by another round of Quranic reading while waiting for Subuh to arrive.
I finally managed to get my clothes tailored and done after 4 years being kept in the closet. The authentic kain songket which is handwoven by the weavers and costing SGD$220 for the pink Kain Songket (4yards) and $180 for the purple Kain Songket Terengganu (2yards) is tailored into Baju Kurung and Baju Kebaya.
It was supposed to be completed a few months ago but since my dear aunty is being well, herself *snickers*, she finally got around to making it 1 week before Ramadan. Hehehe.. so much for bring old and having diebetes eh Cik Noi?
Oh my aunt in Muar is a great tailor and does all of my clothes up to my design and fits perfectly. The embroideries on some of my Baju Kurung were handmade by herself and she only does that for close relatives only due to the intricate precision and time costing it took to make a small design. How I really love her!
Below are some pictures of the Pink Kain Songket and Purple Kain Songket Terengganu.
I had actually wanted to make the pink one into Baju Kebaya Modern but then after much thinking, I wouldn’t want to waste my money in making an outfit only to wear it for a year, hoping that I wouldn’t add an extra pound so I can squeeze my way through for next year like my elder sister. *snickers madly*
See the gold thread designs on both outfits? Those are actually artificial gold threads, articulately handwoven to form what it is now. Not all handwoven Kain Songket has the same designs and colors.
As you can see, the purple songket on my left is only enough for a top. So I have to use kain batik lepas which I bought years back in Kelantan as my bottom. Whew!! The design comes out perfectly.
Hopefully everyone that is suppose to be around is around for Eid Mubarak especially the two little angels below. I really love to take their pictures especially when they are caught red handed doing something really, well… childish.
Yes these two are the VIP of the year and I’m eagerly waiting for their arrival.
Til, then I’m going to look around at the landscape gardening shops to figure out which items to get for my mom’s garden decor.
New furnitures?
Got caught in the rain just now while riding to town. Brr.. cold and my lower half is wet and I’ve just sneezed. Ugh! Quite a weather we are having nowadays. Lots of work to do and finish after the long weekend.
I’ve been thinking on getting new furnitures for the office. Need to throw the old blue sofa since I can no longer feel the cushion whenever I sat on them. Had thought of getting the cushion refurnished but then again, might as well get new ones since these current ones are overly lacking and peeling off.
Perhaps after October I can start my search for new discount furniture. But not now.. I still have alot of work to do.
Power Surge
It’s day two of Ramadan. Life is as normal before fasting ever came. I still jump around, doing my daily activities and never once thought of getting a drink to break my fast. But then it’s only the second day. My Chikungunya has recovered but my joint pains on my ankles still hurt badly especially at night or doing some rigorous exercises.
The office is in a mess when I finally came back for work. There was power surge and blackout during Friday night and it blasted off a few of my lights, destroyed my TV, printer, desktop, laptop charge, washing machine, DVD player and some other accessories that I had placed on standby. All of it was wasted.
My dad was strained to the point of hyperventilation at the damage. Luckily, I major in Electronics Engineering, and doing troubleshooting and repairing of the damaged items were easy peasy. So far, the TV, DVD player, lights are repaired. We bought a new laptop charger at RM180, new Toshiba charger at Landmark Building. The washing machine needs some time to repair since the transformer is charcoaled out and getting it resoldered with a new one takes sometime as its covered with Resin.
My computer is sent for repair as its still under warranty. The printer.. I haven’t had time to deal with it yet. Luckily my ADSL modem still works. I can finally do all my work..
I’m still holding an evil grudge on the stupid monkey that steals the Neutral Bar from the TNB Feeder Pillar. I’m hoping that the next baboon that tries to pull that trick, placed his finger on the wrong terminal and get zapped out. That will teach those irresponsible cheats on stealing items from the feeder pillars. This is not the first time we get blackout because of them.
All of my neighbours were affected from this. Their compressors died and it will take another RM50,000 to get a new one. Ugh.. terrible
As terrible as the acnes on my younger brother’s face. *snickers*
Reminds me… I need to get acne treatments for my younger sister too.
Goodbye Chikungunya
I’m officially cured!! Wow.. who would have figured that Chikungunya virus lasted for so long. Although I feel cured, the doctor has advised me to take it easy and pop in the paracetamol when my body feel like its not its usual self. This is because the attack of the virus in my body has taken a heavy toll on my own anti-bodies and things will not look up if another heavy virus or bacterial infection disease siege me again. I would rely heavily on strong antibiotics if I were to fell sick in this coming days.
SO no more nonsensical gallivanting in the middle of the night and eating weird food combinations- french fries dipped in vanilla ice cream and a small dollop of wasabi. I still feel feverish and dried eyes and doc says its normal since I am recovering. Okie Dokie doc!
Since I’m considered recovered, I decided to go out and feel the fresh air, dragging my poor parents out to Angsana Plaza. I would never want to step into that place when during the fasting month of Ramadan as it is pack with Malays doing their shopping for the Hari Raya Puasa festival. There will be no available parking lots and with the fasting during the day, many opt for the night shopping, after the breaking of fast in the evening.
I went brooch hunting for my new Kebaya and Baju Kurong that is tailor made by my aunt in Muar. The designs which I wanted, the old big brooch with running diamond chains on its bottom is not longer available. The design is no longer being made. It was a tiring search but in the end I went to my old boutique and got something alike my old brooch.
It is still gold plated, encrusted with diamond crystals and have a warranty of 1 year. But the price was certainly not 4 year ago when I got my old brooch. The original price was RM65 and after much haggling she gave me RM60. I had wanted for RM50 but come to think of it, the price is the same if I were to get it in Singapore. But I’m happy with my purchase, so no crying here my dears.
There was a huge Malay bookstore. I was tempted to go in and begin my hunt on Chef Wan recipe books but my parents saw my intention and dragged me away. Why… I was only 2m away from the entrance of the bookstore.
There was alot of shops and boutiques for bridal items such as bridal boutiques and decoration items for bridal gifts in Angsana. At least now I know where to go to instead of searching the whole Johor Bahru for it. I managed to get a glimpse of the price for one set of those glamour looking bridal gifts decoration. Each cost around RM58- RM65, depending on the size and design of the each piece.
Woah… those fancy pansy stuffs photographed and printed in bridal magazines are costly! Perhaps I can just rent it off. Should be cheaper.
I’m late!
Ack!! I thought today was the 26th Aug 2008.. Instead its the 27th!! I nearly had a heart attack when I saw my pending and undone work that was suppose to be submitted yesterday.
Not only that RHB has came out with their long awaited Mastercard Debit which is why I’m going to rush over to my bank in an hour time. I need to request from my bank manager all the necessary details in some loan and yada, yada.. Glare at their personnel as to why my updated details which I have filled up last two weeks ago is still not updated in my internet banking.
Still haven’t gotten a new car yet. Instead I’m concentrating in getting more money and sales. Cars and my fantasies of getting new posh looking Corvette accessories have to put on hold. Who wouldn’t want to have a Corvette?!!!
I’d like the black colored one. The one that oozed with pure sexy feeling and their leather seats, don’t make me rant about their leather seats. I love the smell of leather. I don’t need a radio to drive because I’d have my mp3 mobile phone blaring my favourite songs when I drive.
It’s a hard choice. Corvette or Audi… Audi is good too. I had a chance to drive an Audi before and their control is so smooth!!! I fell in love with it on the first drive.
Drat!! The boss is pestering me to head out to the bank now. Will update you later my beloved blog.
The Road of Recovery- Chikungunya
My condition is better today. I can eat without the usual pain, no more bad ulcers but my wisdom tooth problem still persists. My rashes have lessened out and now I can happily walk around without stopping for a scratch. My skin is back to normal although you can see my skin peeling off on my face due to the side effects of the disease and the medications.
All in all today is certainly much better than a few days ago. I manage to get some well needed sleep ever since my insomnia of the last few days. I still get my sudden bouts of feverish attack which I find it very bothersome especially during the middle of the night which can wake me up from my sleep.
My medication ran out on the fourth day which left me only my emergency dosage of paracetamol in the first aid kit. And from that day onwards, it was Chikungunya versus paracetamol. Well then, today I can officially say I’m feeling much better even though I still have my recovering nap once in a while. I’m doing whatever office work that has piled up during my absence in the office.
Wow.. a lot!!
Anyway this morning I had a scary wake up call from mom at 3am. She never walk up the stairs to my room in the middle of the night unless its an emergency. It was an emergency alright, my dad found a large python 2m long and 3inch thick in the laundry room. The huge reptile was hiding behind the washing machine. Good thing my dad found it first before my mom because if it was the other way round, she would have scream and ran far far away from it before informing us.
Since I was still sick, I couldn’t help my dad in capturing the snake. My dad had actually wanted to just catch it and let it out later in the morning to a safe place but changed his mind when the snake strike out and bit him. Luckily its just a python and not a cobra, like the one I had an unfortunate time experiencing.
After a clean strike on its head with a sharp long pipe that we used to dig holes, the reptile was strike unconscious. But my dad didn’t take it for granted and tied the creature up in a Gordian knot around its body and left it suspended on the staging. You can still see the drops of dried blood pooled underneath the suspended creature.
We don’t usually kill snakes that strayed into the house unless they pose a threat to our safety like cobras and vipers. But unfortunately this poor creature had thought we were a threat to it and as such, imprinted its death. Lucky thing dad is around, if not I think mom and I would have screamed the poor thing to death.
hehehe…
Day 4 & 5 of Chikungunya
Still not recovering even though my antibiotics have long ago finished. I am now left with painkillers and panadol. My joint aches are gone but the swelling of fingers, soles of my feet and horrible rashes breakout plundered me. I was too itchy and sick to be online yesterday which is why I am updating today.
I looked like a walking tomato these two days, ripe for the picking but poisonous to eat. The rashes breakout was terrible yesterday and not an inch of my body is not inflamed and swelling. Sleeping was a painful attempt because my irritable skin do not like coarse material before I start shivering in a feeble attempt not to scratch. My fever is gone. My mouth ulcers are very stubborn in staying with me which makes me very irritable because I can’t eat a proper meal without pain.
At least today I look much better, my rashes have slowed down and at least I look like an almost ripe tomato. Mom is recovering. She can cook and do a little bit of household chores now. Her swelling have lessened out and I still have to force her to drink 100 plus drink. I don’t know why she hates it and constantly runs away from it everytime I brought it out. I’m clueless to her dislike but too bad, she still have to drink it.
Unfortunately for mom, she’s starting to show the signs of having rashes and she’s even proud in showing it to me. (@_@)” Hopefully she doesn’t get full blown rashes. I don’t think her body can take anymore bashing on her antibodies..
Or perhaps I could set her out on a mini vacation with her current disease, lock her up in one of those cheap hotels and get those medics to take care of her if she breathes one more word of opening her stall back in her current condition.
Day 3 of Chikungunya
The fight still continues. I am still scratching and wincing at every move I make. At least the pain has lessened down. But now I’m faced with another problem, the swelling and the resurrection of my gastric problem. Swelling is not a problem as its only a mild one on my feet and my fingers, compared to Mom’s I’m still cute looking. (8_8)/
But gastric, ugh.. that is another problem. Couldn’t get hungry else I become the living dead, moaning with pain lancing up my stomach. I usually drink my Nestum Milo drink whenever I get my gastric attacks. Morning breakfast; Nestum drink, Dinner; Nestum Drink. Gastric attack also Nestum drink and I can’t eat anything else since my gums got affected by the sickness and became sore and swollen.
Fever is getting better, I don’t get my usual fever attacks since I’m constantly taking my paracetamol. At night, well that is when the Scratches makes it debut as usual. I hate to endure the urge to scratch but at least this time I can control it even though its tear jerking process.
According to my monthly plan, I was suppose to get my self a new T-shirt. Not any T-shirt, but those cute looking printed pictures or the funny t shirts that is widely sold in the City Square. But I don’t think my aching joints would allow me to go there. Even sweeping the floor is a major event for me.
Day 2 of Chikungunya
There’s a saying, A sick Syikin is a very short fuse Syikin. That was what I was feeling the whole day. I couldn’t climb the stairs to my room without wincing and 10mins later, when I finally reached the top landing, I was panting and feeling like a 60yrs old.
My sudden attack of the body rash didn’t make its debut until around 9pm. From then on, I was like a dog with fleas. The urge to scratch was there, plastered into my mind and I made a mistake into falling to the cries of the siren. All the food that I nibbled and forced fed myself tasted bland and it got worst when I woke up this morning, everything tasted bitter.
My feet felt as if a thousand needles were prickling me every step I took. I thought yesterday was bad, today just got even worse. I had to constantly crawl to the toilet to vomit since that is the fastest I can do. My face was puffed up, my eyes were a little bit of swollen but my eye balls, they were monstrous red. All in all, this event make me really look like an ancient vampire dracula that just had her blood lust.
Mother was not in a good condition either. She’s either locked down to her bed or groaning her pain away. I know how she felt and because of her old age, she must really be having the pain that is 10times the usual. I even had to force feed her with Nestum Milo Drink during the night since I had experienced a gastric attack from the disease, and forced fed her to avoid the same thing to her.
I was thinking to use these long break to continue with my Indigo Eyes seeing that its on Hiatus for a long time. But with my aching joints and pains, I think that thought could remain on the shelve a little longer. My good friend is officially pregnant and I couldn’t decide what to get for her baby shower.
I thought of getting a children’s book. But then again, the child is not even born yet. I might as well get that for my nieces since both of them are smart enough. But that can wait also, until my Chikungunya settles down.
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