PureDew ~ Pure Thushara

That didn't take very long.

2006-08-29T19:15:00.000Z

My friends-only journal is back up. I was expecting to take ages to make a decision on my blog software but the choice was pretty obvious when I surveyed what was currently available. B2evolution is, by far and away, what I have been looking for. A long while back, I tried the demo version out and although it was good, it still wasn't advanced enough at that time to do what I wanted it to do.

Now, its features have much improved and installation took barely an hour. I've still got to configure the sidebar and tweak stuff here and there. I think I'll take my time on that since I'm pretty busy now that university's begun once more.

Anyhoo, that journal is ready for blogging albeit its slightly unpolished look. So yeah, if you were reading my friends-only posts and want in, drop me a message there or e-mail me. This blog here at Blogger still remains to be my public blog which I shall update from time to time.

Change is good.

2006-08-27T08:43:00.000Z

It first started with bots spamming my site. Then, I grew weary of the same old blogging system - Geeklog. Handy as it may be, I craved to play with another CMS, I just do not know which one to choose. There's always Blogger, thankfully, for now.

So, yup, if you've come here from my old journal, you'll already know that I'm planning a revamp. Maybe doing away with PureDew altogether (gasp!) and switching to Livejournal or Vox or Blogger or maybe Wordpress... who knows? I'm still considering my options.

Give me sometime to think about it and I'll get back to you. :) In the meantime, you'll find me here on Blogger blogging away.

Oh, and incidentally, happy birthday to me. (What better way to start an addition of a year to my (increasing) age than to pick a new blog system? Woohoo! :)

Fuschl-am-See

2006-08-11T01:47:00.000Z

Fuschl-am-See, originally uploaded by thushara.

Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains.
~ Diane Ackerman

For me, the smell of a fresh water lakey breeze reminds me of Fuschl-am-See, Austria. Up till the second I saw the lake [Fuschl], I always believed lakes were simply niches for fishes and the Loch Ness, not Muggle swim spots. Fuschl-am-See convinced me otherwise. I can't wait to go back again.

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100.
Exposure: 0.003 sec (5/1643)
Aperture: f/5.2
Focal Length: 4.7 mm

Puchberg

2006-08-04T14:02:00.000Z

Puchberg, Austria, originally uploaded by thushara.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

~ John Muir

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100.
Exposure: 0.011 sec (5/439)
Aperture: f/2.6
Focal Length: 4.7 mm

Whirls of red

2006-07-14T21:47:00.000Z

Whirls of red, originally uploaded by thushara.

Are women just headless beautiful bodies?
Taken at Leopold Museum, Vienna.
"Körper, Gesicht und Seele" Exhibition (Body, Face & Soul).

Taken with a 1.6MP Samsung Camera Phone.

Taken just for kicks.

2006-07-12T12:45:00.000Z

Taken just for kicks., originally uploaded by thushara.

World Cup 2006 - Germany. Leipzig. Argentina-Mexico. Argentina won: 2-1. Taken with a Samsung 1.3MP camera phone.

Quotes from the players post-match:

"My granddad always told me to try to hit the ball with both feet, but I nearly always go with the right. I've got the left one, as they say, to get on the bus."
- Maxi Rodriguez, Argentina's right-footed midfielder, after scoring a wonder goal with his left foot to beat Mexico.

I swear I touched it, I swear!"
- Hernan Crespo's splendidly-desperate plea to be awarded Argentina's opening goal against Mexico.

Life's 10 Simple Pleasures

2006-06-29T13:28:00.000Z

It's been long overdue... I'm sorry. *sheepish look*

Tagged by Rajinder and that's how I got roped into this. :P

Life's 10 Simple Pleasures:

1. Sipping a marvelously chocolatey hot/cold chocolate while watching an episode of Simpsons/Friends/favourite comedy (and laughing till chocolate comes out of my nose... heh)

2. Sharing a comfortable silence with the one I love (Mr. Lion), holding each other's hand while walking on the beach at sunrise.

3. Having a shower and just enjoying the water beat down on my body.

4. Enjoying a good book with the best chocolate ice cream sundae in the world beside me.

5. Vegging out with my best galpals and laughing over the latest goss in a girlie magazine.

6. Eating a damned good roti canai and spicy curry, with an iced Milo at the roadside mamak, with good company, to boot.

7. The afterglow one gets after a particular spiritual Ruhi sesh/devotional/deepening.

8. Shopping the whole day and finding my clothes size in everything I choose to buy.

9. The good ol' times of playing Monopoly and/or Scrabble with my family and catching my father cheating (or trying to!) so that he wins.

10. Being alone with my Thushee, listening to music and just mindless Internet surfing.

And I'm tagging:

1. Wyn

2. Michelle

3. Matze

4. Dr. P

5. Alkam

6. Michali

7. Prema

8. Rajiv

9. Sindhu

10. Onyx

Snowy trees

2006-03-12T13:49:00.000Z

snowy trees, originally uploaded by thushara.

“There is nothing in the world more beautiful than the forest clothed to its very hollows in snow. It is the still ecstasy of nature, wherein every spray, every blade of grass, every spire of reed, every intricacy of twig, is clad with radiance.”

~ William Sharp,
Scottish Poet

On the way home from Ruhi Book 2. Trudging through snow is not too bad when you get to gaze at snowed-upon trees!

Taken with a Samsung 1.3MP camera phone.

Snow in the AM

2006-03-12T13:31:00.000Z

"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.
"So, it is."
"And freezing."
"Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."
~ A.A. Milne, English Humorist,
creator of Winnie-the-Pooh.

Snow at 6:41AM GMT
Glasgow, U.K.
Taken with a Samsung 1.3MP camera phone.

Snow Upon the Desert

2006-02-01T20:02:00.000Z

Airborne thousands of feet above, looking down on snow upon the deserted mountainous plains of Afghanistan.

If your hopes scatter like the dust across your track

I'll be the moon that shines on your path

The sun may blind our eyes
I'll pray the skies above

For snow to fall on the Sahara.

If that's the only place where you can leave your doubts

I'll hold you up and be your way out

And if we burn away, I'll pray the skies above

For snow to fall on the Sahara.

- Snow on the Sahara song lyrics.

Taken with a Samsung 1.3MP camera phone.

Evaporatin'

2006-02-01T09:01:00.000Z

Flying over a dried-up Caspian Sea.

“The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising.
Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”

- John Muir.

Taken with a Samsung 1.3MP camera phone.

Truer words have never been printed.

2006-02-01T08:01:00.000Z

Taken in BeneBene, Canary Wharf, London.

Truer words have never been printed.

- Thushara

Taken with her Samsung 1.3MP camera phone.

Nightline Skyline

2006-02-01T00:51:00.000Z

Lights in the night,
So bright.

- Thushara

Taken with her Samsung 1.3MP camera phone at Canary Wharf, London.

Ice cream Dreams

2005-12-06T00:53:00.000Z

Ice Cream at The Harbour Bar.
Scarborough, England.

Having a dream you don't pursue is like buying an ice cream cone and watching it melt all over your hand.
- Frank Papasso

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100.
Exposure: 0.026 sec (1/28)
Aperture: f/2.6
Focal Length: 4.7 mm

Scarborough

2005-11-08T00:55:00.000Z

South Cliff.
Scarborough, England.

Blessed is the spot,
And the house, and the place,
And the city, and the heart,
And the mountain, and the refuge,
And the cave, and the valley,
And the land, and the sea,
And the island, and the meadow
Where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified.

- BAHÁ'U'LLÁH
(Compilations, Baha'i Prayers)

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100.
Exposure: 0.333 sec (1/3)
Aperture: f/2.6
Focal Length: 4.7 mm

Silhouette.

2005-09-26T01:09:00.000Z

Silhouette.

Near Loughborough, England.

Watch me at the window from your place on the couch,
watch me pretending that I am really looking out.
You say, 'Come here, I can't see you in this light,'
but I'm much safer beside the moon tonight.
'Cos when I am a silhouette,
I have no fear you can love me from here

When I am a silhouette

I can give myself to you and you'd never see through.

- Catie Curtis, Silhouette (song lyrics).

Taken with a Samsung D500 mobile phone 1.3 Megapixel Camera.

Grasslands

2005-09-16T01:41:00.000Z

Autumn is here.

Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow.'

- The Talmud.

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto

Exposure: 0.002 sec (5/2406)

Aperture: f/3.8

Focal Length: 9.6 mm

Short Story

2005-09-03T01:49:00.000Z

Just that. Short.

She leaned against the window of the train, pressing her forehead hard. Her skin turned white at the site of pressure and she could feel it throb slightly. Green and black intermingled blurs whizzed past. She shifted in her seat and looked down at her shoes. Idly, she thought, "I need to polish them when I get home". But, she knew inside when she got home, her boots would lay forgotten. Unpolished when she wore them next.

The mechanical female voice announced the arrival of the train at Queen Street. Equally mechanically, she got off and trudged (for the want of a better word) through the turnstile, the ticket machine swallowing her ticket deep into its metallic bowels. Outside, a young woman touting the FT magazine looked at her hopefully as she walked towards her. Hastily, she crossed the road, thinking to herself, "Not this time. I just want to be alone." Springing unbidden, a mountainous peak appeared in her mind's eye and she envisioned herself sitting alone, and just being.

A loud honk from the road she had just crossed drew her back to reality. She glanced up at the shop signs and Caffè Nero caught her eye. She walked in. Stood in front of the expectant waiter/cashier and searched her bag, looking for her purse. Finding it, she randomly ordered the first thing she saw advertised on the chalkboard. A regular Caffè Latte. Lucky she saw that first and not the expresso macchiato. She hated the macchiato.

As the barista turned to prepare her drink, she stared at the cake display. The pristine white top of a marzipan coated pastry with criss cross chocolate lines stood out. The barista asked, "Anything else?" She answered, "A slice of... almond torta also", reading the cake label. "Right." The barista smiled at her as he slid open the door and selected the biggest piece for her, probably deciding she needed a sugar high to smile. He rang up the purchase, announcing the price and she paid.

"Got the loyalty card?" She looked blankly at him. He tapped the box of cards on top of the counter, explaining the concept of stamping the card when getting a drink. She nodded her consent as he ended with a smile. The cashier assured her, "Don't worry. It's valid at any Caffè Nero in the UK." She smiled wanly. He grinned back, his blue eyes sparkling in the dim light and pushed the plate of cake towards her. "You should smile more. You look more beautiful when you do."

For a second, she looked startled. Then, she replied, "What's there to smile about?" She indicated her right hand, showing him her index finger and said, "I lost my favourite ring today."

"Sorry to hear that. Maybe you'll find it soon."

"Yeah. Maybe." She answered.

"The sugar's over there", he said, pointing to the far corner of the cafe. "Take care, love."

"Right, thanks." She carried her coffee and cake to an empty table. She sat down and looked at her food. Amazingly, she wasn't hungry, having eaten nothing but a sandwich in the early morning. She sighed and picked at the cake, allowing the crumbs to fall on to the plate. She sipped her coffee - bitter. Like her day. She nibbled at her marzipan icing - saccharine sweet. Like how she had hoped her life would be everyday.

A storybook - Love is A Four Letter Word - was retrieved from her backpack. She thought to herself, "My life is just a four letter word too." Pages were turned intermittently to give the presence of the idea of the book being read, but she read nothing. Her eyes were unseeing as her thoughts were miles away. Every so often, she would pick at her food.

Across from her, a couple looked curiously at her. "Someone so young shouldn't look so sad. She has her whole life in front of her", they thought privately to themselves. A young man sitting two tables away from her, debated within himself if he should walk up and say hello to her. Feeling someone's eyes on her, she looked in his direction. Her eyes met his, her chocolate brown ones twin pools of direct honesty and yet unexplained sadness reflected within, that he was compelled to look away. He felt a twinge of sympathy for her and turned back to his coffee, flipping to the next page of his open magazine in front of him.

And so the time passed. Just like that. An hour and a half.

Realizing it was getting late by the customers emptying themselves out the door, she pushed her cup away and stood up. Slung her backpack over her shoulder and as she walked out, she dropped a 40 pence tip into the cup for the blue-eyed barista.

"Cheers, darling," he said as he smiled his thanks.

She echoed back, "Cheers."

She walked out, unrealizing the magnitude of impact she had made on his day, not knowing really, what effect she had made in the universe by simply walking into a coffeehouse to have a drink.

Italian Marvel

2005-08-18T01:56:00.000Z

The Pisa Baptistry & Cathedral and yes, of course, that's the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.

You're the Nile,

You're the Tower of Pisa,
You're the smile

On the Mona Lisa.

- Cole Porter, American Composer and Lyricist, 1893-1964.

Lyrics to the song - You're The Top.

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Focal length: 4.7mm

Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto

Exposure: 0.004 sec (10/2549)

Aperture: f/5.2

Towering

2005-08-16T09:32:00.000Z

The Campanile San Marco, Venice, Italy.
Legend has it that the Ranieri brothers who built this 97 metre high structure (originally a lighthouse) had their eyes removed so they would not be able to repeat this wonder.

If you read a lot, nothing is as great as you've imagined.
Venice is... Venice is better.

- Fran Lebowitz, American Writer and Humorist.

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Focal Length: 4.7mm

Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto

Exposure: 0.002 sec (5/2516)

Aperture: f/2.6

Highland Coo

2005-08-13T09:37:00.000Z

"Moo", go the Highland Coo.

Inverness, Scotland.

The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth.

To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.

- Albert Einstein, German born American Physicist, Nobel Prize Winner in Physics (1921), 1879-1955.

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto

Exposure: 0.005 sec (5/918)

Aperture: f/3.4

Focal Length: 8.1 mm

Expanse

2005-08-12T09:39:00.000Z

The Schloss Schönbrunn, Vienna, Austria.

Clear the air!
Clean the sky!
Wash the wind!
Take stone from stone and wash them.

- T.S. Eliot, American born English Playwright, Poet and Critic, 1888-1965.

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Focal Length: 4.7mm

Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto

Exposure: 0.004 sec (5/1144)

Aperture: f/5.2

Yellow vs. White

2005-08-10T09:44:00.000Z

Blurred ~ Yellow Flower Closeup.

Earth laughs in flowers.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist & philosopher.

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto

Focal length: 4.7mm

Exposure: 0.028 sec (10/359)

Aperture: f/2.6

Now... compare the above photo with this previous one I posted:

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Focal length: 4.7mm

Exposure: 0.016 sec (5/317)

Aperture: f/2.6

Scene Mode: Close-up

Notice anything different?
Yes, the yellow flower picture's foreground is in a blur while the background is more focused. Whilst, the daisy photo shows a foreground that is focused and a background that's in a blur.

Chocolate Tree

2005-08-09T09:51:00.000Z

Centrepiece in the shop window of a famous Austrian confectioner & baker, Demel in Vienna.
The tree is made entirely of chocolate and other types of sweets - decadent!

Everyone who enjoys thinks that the principal thing to the tree is the fruit,
but in point of fact the principal thing to it is the seed.
Herein lies the difference between them that create and them that enjoy.

- Friedrich Nietzsche, German classical Scholar, Philosopher, 1844-1900.

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto

Focal length: 4.7mm

Exposure: 0.041 sec (10/243)

Aperture: f/2.6

Slug

2005-08-08T09:55:00.000Z

Just a Slug ~ Sluggin' it along in the dewy grasslands of Glenfinnan, Scotland.

He would pore by the hour, o'er a weed or a flower,

Or the slugs that come crawling out after a shower.

- Rev. R. H. Barham, English Poet & Dramatist, 1788-1845.

I was inspired by Alkam's post on snails to post this up. Snails & slugs - what a sight!

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Focal Length: 4.7 mm

Scene Mode: Close Up

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern 1/14.9 sec - f/2.6

2005-08-08T09:43:00.000Z

Women are like apples on trees, the best ones are on the top of the
tree. The men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are
afraid of falling and don't want to get hurt. Instead, they just get
the rotten apples from the ground that aren't so good but easy. So,
the apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in
reality they are amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to
come along, the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to the top
because they value quality.

- Anonymous.

Something I found browsing through on the Internet.

Gothic Blur

2005-08-07T09:59:00.000Z

Stephansplatz ~ St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Vienna, Austria.

The principle of the Gothic architecture is infinity made imaginable.

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English Poet & Philosopher, 1772-1834.

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Focal Length: 4.7mm

Scene Mode: Night Landscape

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern 1/2.9sec - f/2.6

Light

2005-08-06T10:01:00.000Z

Karlskirche ~ St. Charles Church

Vienna, Austria.

God be prais'd, that to believing souls,

Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair.

- William Shakespeare, English Dramatist, Playwright & Poet, 1564-1616.

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Focal Length: 4.7mm

Scene Mode: Night Landscape

The Palm House

2005-08-05T10:03:00.000Z

The Schloss Schönbrunn Green House ~ The Palm House.

Vienna, Austria.

O DWELLERS OF MY PARADISE!

With the hands of loving-kindness I have planted in the holy garden of paradise the young tree of your love and friendship, and have watered it with the goodly showers of My tender grace; now that the hour of its fruiting is come, strive that it may be protected, and be not consumed with the flame of desire and passion.

- Baha'u'llah (The Persian Hidden Words)

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Focal Length: 4.7mm

Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto

Tea Time at the Loch Ness

2005-08-04T10:05:00.000Z

Tea time at the Loch Ness ~ Hot Chocolate & Apple Pie.

God comes to the hungry in the form of food.

- Mahatma Gandhi, Indian Philosopher, 1869 - 1948.

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Focal length: 4.7mm

Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto

Daisy

2005-08-03T10:07:00.000Z

Tread lightly, she is near

Under the snow,

Speak gently, she can hear

The daisies grow.

- Oscar Wilde, Irish Poet & Novelist

Taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2100

Focal length: 4.7mm

Scene Mode: Close-up

Types of Indians in Malaysia

2005-08-02T10:08:00.000Z

Statistics have been compiled, research has been
conducted, relatives have been consulted, the
gossip aunties (their big hips clad in colourful
and bright golden sarees) have actually, for ONCE
agreed.

We present to you the characteristics that
classify the THREE major Indian groups (or
perhaps, castes?) that exist in Malaysia. The
REGULARs, HIP-HOPPERs & MACHAs.
Statistics have been compiled, research has been
conducted, relatives have been consulted, the
gossip aunties (their big hips clad in colourful
and bright golden sarees) have actually, for ONCE
agreed.

We present to you the characteristics that
classify the THREE major Indian groups (or
perhaps, castes?) that exist in Malaysia. The
REGULARs, HIP-HOPPERs & MACHAs

I s'pose only Malaysians will find this 'un funny. :/ I found it hitting a lot closer to the truth. And I'm a regular, who's a IPWTTANI. Though, I assure you, I will take less than 6 years to finish my medical course!

1) REGULAR

Definition: Comprises a mere 7-10 % of the total
population of Indians in Malaysia. Found in
well-developed parts of the cities spread
throughout the peninsular. (None have been found
in Sabah & Sarawak as yet)

Characteristics include:

1. Speaks English as their 1st language.

2. Do not know how to (or just dont) speak
their mother tongue.

3. Prefer to identify themselves by
sub-group rather than the plain

Indian (ie-Malayalee, Ceylonese, Telugu,
Sikh, North Indian etc)

4. Uses the internet more than the other 2
groups combined.

5. Swears off, criticises and ridicule those
who watch Tamil/ Hindi Movies and/or dramas.
Instead, watches the OC, MTV and other American
sitcoms.

6. Thinks that the REGULAR group is way
larger than it actually is and constantly makes
fun of the other groups, in particular the MACHA
group. Why? Because it's fun.

7. Aspires to be a doctor. Those who do
medicine will eventually do so at UK/Australia,
but will normally end up taking more than the
required six years to complete the degree due to
excessive failure.

8. Recent studies have shown that there is
a growing splinter group within the REGULARs
known as the IPWTTANI (Indian People Who Think They
Are Not Indians). This growing sub-group is considered
the elitist by some and is found to make the
occasional statements like "I wish I were in the
UK" and/or "This never happened when I was
studying in Australia".

9. They often speak in unidentifiable
accents. The women/men of this group also prefer
to date white men/women from foreign countries
with the excuse that local men/women "just don't
understand me". Some of them will only go out and
fornicate with their so-called 'cousin' who's
studying in Australia/UK, who's visiting on their
semester breaks. Many secretly desire to be taken
away to live in a Bollywood film with a
happily-ever-after ending.

10. Despises Samy Vellu

2) THE HIP-HOPPERS

Definition: The 2nd major group of Indians, the
HIP-HOPPERS comprises about 20-30% of the
population of Indians. Normally living in urban
areas of cities, the HIP-HOPPERS, as their name
suggests, can never be found where they actually
come from, but rather in clubs, bars, pubs etc.
Many secretly desire to be like the REGULARS but
just don't make the cut.

The characteristics of the HIP-HOPPERS are:

1. TRY to speak English as their 1st language.

2. Their actual 1st language is Tamil.

3. Openly desire to be blacks (waddap dawg?)

4. Hair not in original colour

5. Have unknown hand movements and slangs
that are supposedly cool that supposedly go well
together with their normal attire of FUBU jerseys
and baggy jeans (that are more often than not
bought in Petaling Street/Chow Kit)

6. Are famously known to shorten their names
to suit their lifestyles (ie. Sam, for Muthusamy
and Amber for Ambikadevy)

7. Large quantities (almost all) found in
Jalan Telawi of Bangsar (though, to be fair, many
REGULAR groups are found here too)

8. Parents want them to be doctors. Many end
up studying medicine in Russia/Ukraine (CSMU)
because they refuse to go to India and cannot
afford UK/Australia. Those who go to India may
eventually switch camps to the MACHA group.

9. Despises Samy Vellu.

The HIP-HOPPERS major claim to fame is driving
out all the REGULARs (Malay, Chinese & Indian)
and the white expatriates from Bangsar by large
quantities, so much so that they can now call
Bangsar "home".

3) THE MACHAS

The last and largest group of Indians in the
country comes from the MACHA group. Probably
the most famous group, it is so well known that most
Malaysians think ALL Indians are from the MACHA
group. Comprising nearly 70% of the Indian
population in Malaysia, the MACHAS can be found
in urban parts of the cities, and also in estates.

Their characteristics include:

1. Speaks Tamil as their 1st language

2. Sees Tamil Nadu/Madras (India) as the
place to be.

3. Astro at home is hardwired to Astro Vaanavil.

4. Worship Bollywood films. The men openly
desire to be like Rajnikanth or their favourite
Indian star.

5. A night-out will have to include a stop at
any Indian shop in Brickfields. The shopping haven
will have to be Jalan Masjid India.

6. Know all the Tamil songs by heart and has
never heard of Hitz.FM.

7. For men, outfit is never complete without
a gold chain. Women prefer to spend their
life-savings on gold jewellery and gaudy sarees.

8. Half of them aspire to be doctors, the
other half; their parents want them to be doctors.
The bright ones become the pride of all Indians in
the country when they enter UM for medicine, the
less fortunate go to AIMST. Many more attain
paradise and have their dreams come true when
allowed to go off to India (most of the time
Manipal) to do medicine. Most just drop-out of
school and contribute to social-problem areas in
the country.

9. Despises Samy Vellu.

Austria

2005-07-23T08:15:00.000Z

The best trip of my life! When I was 14, I went to Innsbruck – loved it so much, I vowed to return again to this gorgeous country. Seven years later, I returned to see Vienna and Linz. It’s still the same beautiful country – one I would love to settle down in someday! :)

See more progress on: Austria

Germany

2005-07-23T07:53:00.000Z

I’ve been to Langenhain, Offenbach, Frankfurt, Essen, Dusseldorf (gotta love that cute name! ;)) and Cologne in the space of 10 days. It was a wonderful trip since I got to see the Baha’i House of Worship, the cathedral in Cologne, and even a musical (Aida) in German! I highly recommend going to the chocolate museum too in Cologne. Still got to visit Berlin and the other parts of Germany soon! I can’t wait!

See more progress on: Germany

2005-05-28T12:48:00.000Z

Yes, my favourite topic. Rainbows. Nature's greatest creation, or so I'd like to think. :P And this article is full of just that. Ever since I've come to Glasgow, I've seen many a rainbow. Which has made me come to believe that Glasgow is special. I've not seen so many rainbows since... ever! In school, we learned that rainbows were made up of 7 colours - ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) (and we had that mnemonic to remember: Roy Of York Gained Battle In Vain.) and in Bahasa Malaysia (merah, jingga, kuning, hijau, biru, indigo, ungu) (and the mnemonic we remembered for it in Malay was [don't laugh!]! :P Michael Jackson Killed His Brother In USA. [All the kids, unsurprisingly remembered our rainbow colours, henceforth in school.])

And just to inject a bit of science in this post for intellectual posterity ;) , here's a link to read more on how rainbows are formed. Rainbows and its basics. See, my posts are also good for the kids! :P

Right, enough of the rainbow rants... we all know what you've really come here for... the pictures!

this photo was taken by my friend, P, who's an avid photographer. Just had to share it with y'all. :)

A base of a German rainbow.Peer carefully at the pic, you can *just* about see it.

A better pic of that German rainbow. :) I took this picture!

I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up one Sunday morning and saw a rainbow in my room. I felt so blessed!

This was another (compact) rainbow I found in my room when I came home from class one day. I think it was formed from my rainbow pencil case (which you can see in the picture) but I'd like to think that it's something better than that. (Now you can see I like raibow colours a lot - even my pencil case si like that! :P

Divine rainbow light. Same rainbow but a closeup.

The day I saw a double rainbow. It was a good day, in spite of me feeling a little pensive that day.

The double rainbow closeup. I stood watching it until it faded away into the evening light.

The Lotos-Eaters

2005-05-16T12:50:00.000Z

"Courage!" he said, and pointed toward the land,
"This mounting wave will roll us shoreward soon."
In the afternoon they came unto a land
In which it seemèd always afternoon.
All round the coast the languid air did swoon,
Breathing like one that hath a weary dream.
Full-faced above the valley stood the moon;
And, like a downward smoke, the slender stream
Along the cliff to fall and pause and fall did seem.

A land of streams! some, like a downward smoke,
Slow-dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go;
And some through wavering lights and shadows broke,
Rolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below.
They saw the gleaming river seaward flow
From the inner land; far off, three mountaintops,
Three silent pinnacles of aged snow,
Stood sunset-flush'd; and, dew'd with showery drops,
Up-clomb the shadowy pine above the woven copse.

The charmèd sunset linger'd low adown
In the red West: through mountain clefts the dale
Was seen far inland, and the yellow down
Border'd with palm, and many a winding vale
And meadow, set with slender galingale;
A land where all things always seem'd the same!
And round about the keel with faces pale,
Dark faces pale against that rosy flame,
The mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters came.

Branches they bore of that enchanted stem,
Laden with flower and fruit, whereof they gave
To each, but whoso did receive of them
And taste, to him the gushing of the wave
Far far away did seem to mourn and rave
On alien shores; and if his fellow spake,
His voice was thin, as voices from the grave;
And deep-asleep he seem'd, yet all awake,
And music in his ears his beating heart did make.

They sat them down upon the yellow sand,
Between the sun and moon upon the shore;
And sweet it was to dream of Fatherland,
Of child, and wife, and slave; but evermore
Most weary seem'd the sea, weary the oar,
Weary the wandering fields of barren foam,
Then some one said, "We will return no more";
And all at once they sang, "Our island home
Is far beyond the wave; we will no longer roam."

- Lord Alfred Tennyson

Atoms of the Universe

2005-04-27T13:00:00.000Z

Love is the one law which causeth and controlleth order among the existing atoms!
- (Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 525) Cited from here.

Tonight's Gleaning by My Best Friend & I sparked a discussion on Revelations and the effects it has on the world. MBF then recalled a quote and a quick search in the Ocean Research library found what we were looking for.

Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is a direct evidence of the revelation within it of the attributes and names of God, inasmuch as within every atom are enshrined the signs that bear eloquent testimony to the revelation of that Most Great Light.
-(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 177) Cited from here.

And as we thought about that quote, MBF remembered this quote on love (as above). Love is the greatest law in the universe. Without it, everything would fall into pieces. After all, if there were not to be attraction and love between the atoms of the universe, none would exist.

After my phonecall with him ended, I suddenly felt like going through Ocean again and I found this quote, which pretty much says the same thing again.

Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the diverse elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 27)Cited from here.

Had a good day today, which ended with a rather productive Gleaning. Now, I'm going to bed, nightey nite! :)

Forgiveness

2005-04-12T13:07:00.000Z

Today, besides my everyday revision for exam prep, I read a Baha'i quote that made me understand about forgiveness. It is never easy to forgive and sometimes when you think you have forgiven, you realize later that you have not. In my life, there are but a few incidents that I have yet to forgive though I would like to believe that I have forgiven. Today, after reading this and various writings on the subject, I feel that I have moved one step closer to being a better person. I think I am ready to forgive...

Humanity is not perfect. There are imperfections in every human being, and you will always become unhappy if you look toward the people themselves. But if you look toward God, you will love them and be kind to them, for the world of God is the world of perfection and complete mercy. Therefore, do not look at the shortcomings of anybody; see with the sight of forgiveness. The imperfect eye beholds imperfections. The eye that covers faults looks toward the Creator of souls. He created them, trains and provides for them, endows them with capacity and life, sight and hearing; therefore, they are the signs of His grandeur. You must love and be kind to everybody, care for the poor, protect the weak, heal the sick, teach and educate the ignorant.

Cited from here.

Synchronized Swimming

2005-04-03T16:32:00.000Z

if anyone knows where I can do this in the UK, drop me a note!

See more progress on: continue learning synchronized swimming

Psalm 23 (for students)

2005-04-02T13:15:00.000Z

I quite like the 23rd Psalm. But, reading the "updated" version made me smile too.

Psalm 23 for Students

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not flunk;
He keepeth me from lying down when I should be studying.
He leadeth me beside the water cooler for a study break;
He restoreth my faith in study guides.
He leads me to better study habits
For my grade's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of borderline grades,
I will not have a nervous breakdown;
For thou art with me.
My prayers and my friends, they comfort me.
Thou givest me answers in moments of blankness;
Thou anointest my head with understanding.
My test paper runneth over with questions I recognize.
Surely passing grades and flying colors shall follow me
All the days of my examinations,
And I shall not have to dwell in this university forever,
Amen!

Join Me on Friendster!

2005-04-01T13:15:00.000Z

Join me on Friendster!

Friendster's getting more interactive and user-friendly. With blogs and everytihng. 2 years ago, when I wanted to start my own friends-only password protected blog, I had to look high and low for a good CMS and/or free site that let me do what I want with it. There was LJ but it seemed too cliquey and none of my best pals were on it anyway. I finally started PureDew :) and now, after a year, Friendster comes up with exactly what I used to want. Too bad I'm already comfortable here. But, at least I know if I ever get bored (or broke) managing my own site [like that's gonna happen! ;) , I can go to Friendster.

Gleanings

2005-03-29T13:18:00.000Z

I'm back from hiatus. But, still don't expect a blog everyday from me, least not till mid-May! I just felt like keeping this in my blog since somehow the words resonate so much in my heart and mind. (My blog's coming to be a scrapbook of sorts for me where I collect and bookmark itty bitty things that I like.)

Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility.

Referenced from here. Courtesy of my best friend Lion who showed it to me when I was down in the dumps all worried and depressed about the coming 'zams. :)

Quote

2005-03-16T13:19:00.000Z

Quote from my flatmate:

We got the meat, yet we waste it. They don't have the meat but they want it. So, thank the Lord we got the meat!

Interpret it as you like.

2004-08-31T19:08:00.000Z

It's finally done! Granted I didn't get everything I wanted (like a WYSIWYG editor in Firefox - yes, I'm still hung up on that! :P) but everything else is fine. And for that, thank goodness!

Now, what's left to do is P A C K !!! And quick! It's September 1st already and I leave in 2 weeks' time! Also need to reply many, many, many, M A N Y ! emails - there's so much to write all my pals about everything! :)

Anyhoo, it's 4AM now and I'm still wide awake - it's the adrenaline high I get after I finally achieve something that keeps me awake and as bouncy as a bunny.

Plus, my cold (miraculously) receded - I can breathe! (I'd better not speak too soon, though.) And the sore throat's gone. Whew.

Itinerary for today:
Going for a buffet high tea today at the Hilton with my mom and her friends. Actually, I don't really need to go but my mother thought it'd be good to try and fatten me up a little just before I leave.(Seems that I'm a little on the thin side according to her, although I beg to differ. :P) But, it'll be nice to spend some time with her. Okay, fine and also that the fact that my brother told me that Hilton allows one to make their own ice kacang (malaysian delicacy of shaved ice, rose syrup, sago, jelly i.e. very sweet dessert that can just about send one into sugar shock if made right) and I intend to make it right! :)

Also, need to buy contact lenses, saline and lens solution for the next 6 months too. Oh, and the latest dibs on the optician that screwed up my glasses? Well, now they apologized and want me to pick a new frame. In the past few days, I've visited at least 8 different outlets in search for THE frame but their plastic frame selection's horridly small that I never found anything I like.

My brother decided to get a pair of frames too and he wants metal ones of which this optician has an abundance of. Since I've paid the cash for my broken plastic frame, and those meanies don't wanna give me back a refund - my brother's going to replace my order with his. And I'm going to ANOTHER optical shop (hopefully better) (here's hoping they don't let me down!) to get my plastic frames.

Confused about the story? Never mind. :) E.Optical sucks. 'Nuff said.

Is it normal that I don't like packing? I hate packing. Really, really, really hate it. I hate trying to fit everything I own into one little boxy like bag and lugging it around. Maybe if I do a little everyday, then everything won't seem so huge to me. Yeah, I might do that.

Kay, so this will be the last post here at blogspot. For now. :) I'm moving back to PureDew now. Since it's ready and all. So, update your links if you've made them out to be here and I'll see ya back at my journal! :)

Phish.

2004-08-31T07:19:00.000Z

O V E R W H E L M E D ! ! !

That's how I'm feeling now. I bought my suitcases yesterday with my father - nice, big 'uns - all empty and waiting to be filled with the lunk of books and clothes sitting on the floor & bed of my room. Have not done that yet 'cos I'm being stubborn and working on my journal.

Am getting irritated too - 'cos although the editor works in both browsers, it somehow screws up my CMS in Firefox, causing pages to be blank. I've searched on forums, google, and everywhere else trying to see if anyone else has had a similar problem. But, nooo. I'm the only doofus. Gah.

Know what? Scr*w it. If I can't get it to work properly, then I'm leaving it alone for now. Packing's way more important especially since I need to share out my books in my parents' bags too so it's not overtly heavy.

And there's the issue of my glasses. No, I'm not in the mood to talk about it. E.Optical sucks. 'Nuff said.

On top of everything else, now's the perfect time for me to come down with a cold. Wunderful, wunderful! Got a blocked nose and a scratchy throat. Ish.

2004-08-28T19:05:00.000Z

Alright, I've been working on my journal the whole of Saturday. It's up and running at journal(dot)puredew(dot)com and I've removed quite a bit of images that were on the sidebar to enable faster page loading. I put those images in a separate page with a link for those interested to click on it.

So far, so good. :)

Now, it's layouts. Right now, it's 3AM Sunday morning and I'm tweaking the layouts of my journal when I should be sleeping. :-/Somehow, I'm having trouble with my images - need to fix it before I can sleep. I didn't reply many emails - just a few. Still got so many more people to write to and I haven't had time to read many blogs. Let alone post comments. :(

Anyway, things to work on in my journal after layouts:
1. Try and add a WYSIWYG HTML editor for blog entries and comments
2. Tweak Comments template so anonymous unregistered visitors can leave a name and email/URL when they comment
3. Update my daily blog reading list - I've got a couple more blogs to add on.
4. ...

I can't think of anything else, really sleepy...

Yesterday - 28th August - I cut my 2nd birthday cake at home, this time with my family. We took some photos too and then, we went out for a buffet supper at the PJ Hilton. Yes, at 11PM - we were stuffing our faces. But, the conversation was better than the food. :)

Oh, and my sis took me for a M.A.C shopping spree! It was über cool! I had a makeover done by a professional M.A.C. artist and got a concealer (NC42), and M.A.C. LustreLipGlass (Beaux) too. As it was a promotion, they also gave a li'l bag, eye makeup remover and demiwipes with it. And my sis is way, way, waaay knowledgeable about makeup - she was as good (prolly even better!) than those M.A.C. makeup artists.

I love playing around with makeup but I practically never wear much on my face. In fact, up until last year, my makeup skills were pretty much limited to face powder, an occasional dash of lipstick and if it was a formal thing, then a little mascara on my eyelashes and blush on my cheeks. Finito.

But, after she introduced me to M.A.C. and their wonderful colours of eyeshadow, there was no turning back. I probably will never be as good as her in putting makeup on (I don't have much patience!) but if I could learn some tricks on getting it to look natural, that's good enough for me. :).

Today, I've got to go and collect my glasses. The optician never called back. grrr. So, I'm gonna give 'em a call tomorrow and find out what's the deal with my glasses. They better be not stringing me along. I'm so sick of it.

And also, I'm going with my father to Tesco/Carrefour tomorrow to get my suitcases. I really have not an inkling on how to choose luggage. They all look the same to me - how on earth can you tell if it's good and sturdy? If it were up to me, I'd just get a Samsonite or a Delsey and make sure that it was of a nice colour. :P Since my dad's been buying the suitcases all this while for us, I might as well ask him to teach me how to choose 'em.

I think I'll go to bed now. I'm re-uploading my layouts via FTP to my journal. And it's gonna take awhile. So, I'll leave it uploading while I catch some zzzz's..

Back!

2004-08-27T18:42:00.000Z

Good news! Good news!

I'm back home! Yes! With high speed Internet - I'm surfing through webpages with the speed of light (299 792 458 m / s) and enjoying it too!

I reached home at about 6PM and spent a couple of hours settling in and unpacking, calling up pals on the phone and informing them I was back. (Btw, I have loadsa pixes to upload once PureDew's up and running!)

My brother wanted to take me for this Jazz Festival at Mont Kiara so we went at about 9Pm - which was a little late. The music was alright but I was rather tired after staying up late the night before. So, the loud jazz music wasn't exactly what I wanted - I was thinking more along the lines of soft jazz music playing in the background while I had dinner.

Anyway, I left for home early - 11PM. Checked my email and my blog. I was pleasantly surprised by Rishi's birthday present to me! :) (See previous comments in last post to know what he got me) Thank you so so soooo much, Rishi! I loved it! I was wondering what lay behind that link and after I clicked on it, and saw the beautiful e-greeting you sent me, I was like, "Oh, wow! It's so gorgeous!" And yes, my site's back up. Almost. So, don't worry, Rishi, you'll get my daily blogs right from the source itself. PureDew. :P :D

I've moved from http://puredew(dot)com/index.php to http://journal(dot)puredew(dot)com

I just thought that it sounded nicer compared to boring index.php and so, it's moved. The old site is still there and I've added a link to take everyone to my new home. I'll be updating my site little by little - certain things will be moved to someplace else so my site will load up faster. Expect nicer templates too! It'll have to be done slowly as I'm gonna be busy in the next few weeks - only 2 weeks before I leave! And suitcases aren't bought yet, altho' the stuff to take have been prepared and kept aside waiting for my spanking new suitcases!

Oh, and J called me today to wish me a Happy birthday. Her exams just finished so I might be able to meet her up in Kuala Lumpur this weekend. If not, I'll visit her in Seremban just in case she gets kinda busy. They don't have holidays after exams - starting immediately into the next semester, which is way crazy. But, then again whoever said medical schools had to be sane?

And pressies - I got The Key, as you already know, from my grandmother. And my aunt took me to the jewellery shop and insisted on buying me a ring too. Also cut a chocolate cake in my grandma's house before I left and took photos with my cousins and everything.

My sis is taking me out for a M.A.C. shopping spree - I'm so looking forward to it! :) And I treated myself to new clothes too - got a couple of new tops, pants, skirts and nighties. Very reasonably priced too. And my mother's promised me an MP3 Player - I'm still thinking of an iPod - newer versions have come out and I plan to keep the money she gives me for it until December or later and buy it then. So, I get the latest! hehe.

I wanted a drum set actually - but hmmph! no one wanted to buy me a set. My parents don't think it's a nice instrument for a girl to play (who cares? I still want to learn how to play the drums!!!) and it's also expensive. Oh well.

I'd better not write too much here, I'm supposed to be getting my site up ASAP. And reply mails too. Plus read up all my daily blogs - I bet I missed a lot!

Happy Birthday, Thushara!

2004-08-26T16:40:00.000Z

So, I'm finally 21. Don't feel any different though... :) right, well, I was expecting this feeling of profound wisdom and enlightenment to overcome me and then, I'll understand life and why we go through stuff the way we do. But, um, nope. None of that.

The clock struck 12 midnight 43 minutes ago - and I didn't turn into a pumpkin. Dang. I was wondering what it felt like to be a pumpkin. ;)

Still in my gran's place - so it's slow dialup. I have loads to write but no time. I'm coming back today though - prolly reach home at 4PM. My grandma gave me my birthday present - yup, you guessed it.

The Key.

A really sentimental moment for me - my aunt was there and they were hugging and kssing me and advising me about what not to do and what to do in Glasgow when I leave. And to always remember them and to come visit them in December when I'm back. And my cousins, Bel & Kel - they were so sweet. God, I love my family!

When I'm back home, I'll definitely blog. Stories to tell, pictures to plog. And to all of you who sent me e-mails, e-cards in my inbox, messages and those wonderful phone calls and SMSes at midnight - thank you! I feel so blessed. I'll write you all soon individually when I get home!

Nothing planned for my birthday as yet. A tentative dinner with my friends and family planned when I arrive home but we'll see. I did initially wish for a barbecue (it's been aeons since I had one!) but it's on way too short a notice, so maybe another time.

My cousin's calling me (yep, she back!) so we can have an all-night gossip marathon. 'Nitez! :)

Oh, and happy birthday, Thushara!

2004-08-23T14:51:00.000Z

Am here in my grandmother's place. well, there's bad news - my cousin sis couldn't come back in time to see me (we planned for Tuesday but at the last minute, she had an additional assignment and had to stay back at her uni to finish it up.) She can only make it back to my grandmother's on Thursday and I leave on Thursday. Not sure yet if I can lengthen my stay 'cos I have a LOT of packing and shopping to do.

On the other hand, I'm still living it up with my two madcap young cousins. One's twelve and the other's six. They keep me constantly grinning with their antics. Belle (the 6 y.o.) drew my portrait just half an hour ago and then my sister's too (although she's not here). LOL - seems that because my features were "boring" to her, she took the liberty to add me a moustache and beard on my portrait. :)

Well, it's 11PM now and I'm dead, dead, dead tired. I'm going to bed and it's definitely guaranteed I'll sleep like a log. 'Night y'all.

Psst. Will answer comments later - dialup's just too slow for anything. Sheesh. :S

2004-08-23T01:41:00.000Z

Leaving now.

In 5,

4,

3,

2,

1,

z-e-r-o....

And ladies & gentleman, thushara has left her home. (well, thanks to wireless Internet, I'm in the car and just outside of my house. :)

Will blog soon!

ReAL time is NO Time

2004-08-22T21:23:00.000Z

I just realized that the times of my blog entries are screwy. I've no idea what time zone my blog's in but I'm pretty sure I'm still 8 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Unless someone's changed Malaysia's time zones and forgotten to tell me.

So, just for the sanity of my mind, my watch is currently telling me that it's 5:30AM Monday morning. G'morning, Thushara. Where's my coffee? Dang, I so need a caramel latte right now. Mmmm... latte.

I wonder if 48 hours of no sleep can cause temporary brain mess up.

2004-08-22T20:47:00.000Z

A record for me - I didn't sleep tonight either. That's 48 hours with no sleep. The good news is that I've restored my journal to its original state. It works fine but I just don't feel an urge to write there yet. I still have some things on my mind to do with it - just that I've been working on it for so long that I'm kinda fed up with looking at coding and figuring out the why's and how's to make it work.

It's Monday morning - I just packed my clothes in my bag for my 5 days, 4 nights stay at my grandmother's. I'm so so so so so soooooo looking forward to seeing my cousins! We've planned a couple of things to do while I'm there - stuff that I haven't done for like aeons! Yep, my cousin and my brother and I have our traditional MF's (midnight feasts a la Enid Blyton) when we visit each other. Basically, it's staying up the whole night with loadsa junk food - crisps, chocolate, sugary sweet soft drinks - and lotsa entertainment planned - the Nintendo Gameboy, ghost stories, gossip, sharing of secrets, board games. Stuff like that. My brother isn't coming though - he's got college so it'll be me and my cousin reliving out our childhood memories.

I've already made her promise to take me to ALL the great restaurants in that li'l town in Perak. It's gonna be awhile until I eat Malaysian food after I leave for UK. And shopping too - if there's anything nice. I love my grandma's place - it's so peaceful and quiet though, very unlike bustling, noisy Kuala Lumpur. Although I never much liked the nights - with the inane buzzing of mosquitoes. The croaking of the frogs don't bug me much unless I go out of the house and then have a frog jump right over my foot or past me.

I made those cookies for my cousins - the other 2 little runts - K & B - are gonna love 'em. They turned out well - very soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies. The brownies weren't so bad either - I used the Pillsbury Mix of Fudge Brownies. Since I didn't sleep the whole of yesterday, I was dead tired on my feet while baking. I kept needing to drink sugary sweet drinks to keep the glucose buzz up so I could finish on time. I made pizzas too for dinner - they were yummy. Mmmm, carbs. Those people on the (F)Atkins Diet seriously don't know what they're missing!

Leaving in another 4 hours time - so I guess there's no point in me sleeping now. I think if I did fall asleep, it's gonna take two whole herd of elephants to stampede past me to get me to wake up! Just remembered - I have to pack my camera too. And Thushee. And my mobile/cell phone charger. My toothbrush. Toothpaste. My contacts & lens solution. Some mags and a book or two.

I need to re-pack.

Waiter, there's a thought floating in my (soup)head.

2004-08-21T22:50:00.000Z

Oh, and I had to gripe about something else. This thought was floating around in my head. And instead of letting it float around, I decided to grab it and nail it on my computer screen so it could shut up and let me think about more important things.

Thanks to the lack of sleep, I can't wear my contact lenses. My eyes are just wayyy too tired to let me put on a little plastic skin over it.

Yes, I had to complain about that. :)

2004-08-21T22:04:00.000Z

I didn't sleep tonight. My only consolation to myself for the lack of sleep is that my journal has been upgraded. I've begun the slow task of reinstalling the plugins I've used in the latest version of my journal. I've set a target for myself - my new journal MUST be up and functioning before my 21st birthday.

If I fail, well, let's not think about that. I shan't fail. 'Cos I never allow myself to.

There is a monkey wrench thrown into my plans. Unfortunately, it is one of my own doing. So, I've got no one to blame except myself. I'll be visiting my grandmother this coming Monday. She stays in a town far away from where I stay. This town is not quite rural, but it isn't Kuala Lumpur either. From her house, the town (and where all cyber cafe's reside) is at least 20 minutes away. If I were to bring along Thushee (my Toshiba notebook), I'd have to use dialup to access the Internet and everyone knows not very much can be achieved with dialup.

Soooo, I had better install and do up most of it before I leave on Monday morning. And that's where yet another problem arises. Today's Sunday morning. I'm supposed to go shopping with my mother today and I've got to bake chewy chocolate chip cookies and brownies today afternoon to take with me to my grandma's house. (The kids always love my baking. And who am I to deny them of that? ;)

So, it's in between of these two planned activities, I have to find time to get my journal up. Spit spot. What a feat! Do I get into the Malaysian Book Of Records for this? :P

Yesterday was my best friend's - J - birthday. I wanted to call her up and wish her but I couldn't get her mobile phone. So, I text messaged her instead and she replied that she was at home (home for her is very far from me, and her phone line at home is difficult to get at times due to the rural-ness.) I wish I was there to celebrate her birthday though.

I got my first two early birthday wishes from my Orkut friends - Mithun and Wes. Somehow, I never expected any wishes from people I knew from Orkut. After all, they're ones I never met. But, it was sweet of them. I was touched. Especially since Wes knew that I'll be visiting my grandma's house and he wasn't sure if he would see me online on my birthday.

I'm rambling on now, aren't I? But, what the heck. I have the right to ramble as much as I like. My blog, my talk. Glasgow sent more letters - some of which are forms I have to fill and send back. They included a long booklist and details on what the first semester would be like. It sounds challenging - I'm looking forward to it.

I just realized I know of so many friends of mine - both blogging and non-blogging who are going to start school with me this September. It makes me wonder whether all of them are as nervous and as excited as me. Whether they're wondering if they'll find nice friends and if they'll fit in. If the lectures will be tough.

I wonder a lot. My mind's constantly flitting from here to there. I'd better get back to work and install another plugin. That'll keep it occupied for awhile.

2004-08-21T05:37:00.000Z

I checked my mail today and it seems someone found my lost money and wants to give it back. The sender's name was "Your Lost Money" and the title of the email - "We Found Your Money". It's rather interesting how they could find my lost money on the Internet and email me about it, 'specially since I don't recall losing any cash lately. Unless you count the twenty cent coin that fell away from my fingers and down a rather dirty drain where I had to leave it. Somehow, I doubt that the email was about my lost twenty cents. :)

And no, I didn't open it. Deleted it straight away along with other emails telling me I needed a penis enlargement (I wonder how that's gonna happen when I don't have one, to begin with!), firmer breasts (I like mine just the way they are, thanks), and a Christian advisor for my debts ( I was not aware I had debts!). Junk mail - what would we do without 'em? Probably have a cleaner mailbox. :D

Anyway, I slept late. This morning actually. Was up the whole night with my webhost as he installed a new version of Geeklog for my friend and upgrading mine. Mine had some problems - as I wanted to use my current database (not a brand new one) and I wanted to move it from boring ol' index(dot)php to journal(dot)puredew(dot)com. He said it could be done and we were working on it.

Unfortunately, he was also busy with some other stuff and my eyes were all puffy and tired from keeping awake until 5AM - we decided to do it later on. So, I'm in the midst of the transfer/upgrade and instead of writing more entries in my journal and backing them up every single time, I might as well blog here. :)

And here I am.

I quite like Blogger actually. It's so easy - and the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor for posts is such a breeze to use, I'm enjoying blogging here. I'm almost tempted to give up on Geeklog but then again, I think back on my friends-only posts and the other security features I have there and it just becomes a paradox. I suppose I could write friends-only posts under a pseudonym but I love posting pictures too and that's difficult to post under a pseudonym, especially if I'm in 'em.

So, I'll just juggle both blogs and keep 'em both anyway. :)

Oh yeah - remember my glasses? The one I was taking an eternity to find/buy? Well, I collected them 3 days ago and it's screwed up again. *sigh* If you don't know the story, here it is in a brief version.

1. Thushara decides to buy new spectacles.

2. She goes to the shop and after a long, long, long time dittering on what to choose, she picks a green and black plastic frame. It feels nice when she tries it on, and she's happy with it.

3. She tests her eyes and the optician promises to do it within a week.

4. A week passes, optician calls back and delivers bad news that frame is accidently broken. Optician tells Thushara that it's the only frame in the shop and there's no other stock in other outlets too. Thushara is devastated. Optician suggests she look at other frames.

5. Thushara visits the shop again and tries on more frames. Nothing fits her fancy. (They don't call Thushara fussy for nothing!) Optician suggests she look at other branches and see if she can find something nice there and they'll take the frame from that outlet and make her glasses for her.

6. Thushara agrees. She visits 3 other outlets but still, nothing tickles her pickle. She returns to the optician and as they see how badly she likes the first frame, they offer to call up the headquarters to check if there's any more stock.

7. A week later, they call Thushara and say her glasses are done. Thushara is suspicious. She thought there was no stock? But, she comes anyway. After collecting her spectacles, she realizes she can't try them on as she's wearing contact lenses. So, she takes them home.

8. She tries them at home and the moment the glasses are on her face, she gets an isntant headache. Something is wrong with the lense. She can't use it at all - the headache is too much to bear. Also, when she looks down at the floor, the glasses just slips off her face and would have broken into many splintery pieces had she not caught it in her hand. Definitely, glasses need to be readjusted. Aside from these 2 defects, she notices the shape of one side of the frame is deformed and the lense is actually sticking out. Thushara is using a glass lense and it's dangerous for a glass lense to be like that. If anything were to hit her face, that lense could shatter because of its improper placing in the frame and shards of glass go in her eye.

9. She returns the glasses back to her optician and shows them all defects. Optician doscovers that the lense was not made right, according to specifications. Thushara's eyes suffer from astigmatism (although it isn't a very high one) and the angle corrected on the lense for it is about 5-10 degrees off - which is what's causing her to have the headache.

10. Thushara gets upset - so many defects, this optician isn't a good one, she surmises. But, what choice does she have? She's paid the cash. Optician realizes she's disappointed with their services, they apologize and say they will replace the frame, and lense for her at no extra charge. (Of course, at no extra charge! If I were to pay any more, it'd be crazy!!!) They request for yet another week until they get the job done.

And now, I am waiting to see what will happen. I thought the frame had no more stock? And I actually suspect that the frame they made my glasses in IS the same broken frame. Anyway, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and just wait.

What a situation. :S

Are you having a fun weekend too? :)

Backup Blog

2004-08-11T08:55:00.000Z

Hi there! This is my backup blog for my site - PureDew ~ Pure Thushara. So if you've come here from there, that means my site's down. Bummer. :(

But, that doesn't mean I've stopped blogging altogether or disappeared from cyberspace. I'll still be blogging at this spot so you can check back here for updates. (Also, this is a good way to see how often my site goes down and for how long. That way, I know when it's time to move to a new webhost.)

Anyway, since my journal's not having an outage right this second, you can go back to it by clicking here. :) See you there!

Her name, by the way, and you may wish to know this, is Thushara.

2004-03-03T12:42:00.000Z

The title adapted from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy p.578 .

Some of my friends have asked me about the meaning behind my sitename. PureDew.com. Well, I originally wanted Thushara.com. But, since it was taken, I've decided to be a little creative. And came up with PureDew.com.

The name "Thushara", I've been told, has two meanings. One is that it is another name for the Hindu goddess of Education, Saraswathy. It's a little apt here for me considering how much I love books. In fact, in high school, I was known as the class bookworm. Another definition to Thushara would be "dewdrop". I do not know what language this is in. But, this is the first definition I knew of for my name.

When I was born, my parents wanted an unique name for me. Just like all parents, they wanted their kid to be different. They went through a lot of books and asked many relatives to name me. Of course, they followed the Indian tradition of names common in Malaysia. i.e. go to the temple priest and ask what alphabet/syllable would be appropriate for a baby born in that particular month and so on. My mother even contemplated naming me "Bathsheba"! Yes, the very same Bathsheba from the classic Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. Which, incidentally, is one of my fave books.

Finally, one of my mother's friends offered up a name - Thushara. She wasnt show what language it was in, if I'm not mistaken, but she did know that the name meant morning dew. A clear dewdrop. My mother liked the name very much and thus, I was named as such.

Over the years, I've grown pretty much used to people asking me the origin of my first name. They've also asked me if I am Sri Lankan or had any Sri Lankan roots. Questions have cropped up about the religion associated with my name - somehow people think I'm Christian due to my name. Well, to put everyone straight for the record, I'm Malaysian Indian and I'm Baha'i. :)

Pronounciation of my name has been a pain for me. My name has been mangled from "Thus-hara" to "Shara" to "Sharon" to "Tasha"! When people ask me for my name, and I reply, "I'm Thushara." They get this puzzled look on their face and go,"Tushara?" or "Tusara?" and even "Sara?" How did they even come to the latter, I have no idea!?! Somehow, the "h" in my name escapes them. I like the "h" in my name - it adds character! ;) So when someone pronounces or reads my name correctly, it's a delightful surprise for me!

At home, my sobriquet is not one but many. My family like calling me "Thusha" and/or "Thush". Sometimes, in a moment of humor, it's "Thush Bush" and "Thushee", also "Toshiba" - not unlike the laptop brand. My friends have used the similar for me and also have even converted my name to Mandarin and called me that for a time.

So, do I like my name? Well, yes, I do. I like my name being different and it almost always comes in handy when I strike up a conversation with a stranger. I'm not gonna dump on you a quote by Shakespeare about roses and names smelling as sweet. :) Instead, I like the quote by Swoosie Kurtz, in which she says,"Change it [my name] to what? Tiffany? It's been an advantage. It's unforgettable. I'm the only one."

My name's like that too. Although I'm rapidly finding out that many other kids out there are being named after me! :)