Jules' Quote Picks

Cynthia Kersey has been writing about Unstoppable People for over a decade and found that living an unstoppable life always involves giving. People who give and are involved in a purpose that is greater than themselves are the happiest people and live the richest and most meaningful lives imaginable...

(Thank you Abang Zu for sharing this...)


Monday, March 30, 2009

It has been very sad...

...last Saturday, 28 March 2009, I received such devastating news...one of our family friends, Dr Haliza Shafie, Dr/Aunty Tini as we knew her, had been killed in a terrible trekking accident...

There's not very much I can say now, without tears welling up in my eyes...she was such a kind soul... and my family and I will remember her always...

Friday, March 27, 2009

Cepat...Cepat!

Today, I'm literally going "cepat! cepat!"...and I'm so glad I have Jac Victor in the background to keep me moving!

Haaaa...yesterday was a really challenging day...physically! After almost 10 years out of the adventure, outdoor scene, yesterday, though ardously challenging to my muslces and limbs, proved that, hey, I've still got it!...Hee hee... not bad for an old gal who's hitting the big 4...0 soon!

It started with fun learning time at Domino's Pizza where the Krista Nirwana kindy kids, which included my darling Thing 1 and Thing 2, had a thrilling time learning the art of making pizza. After enjoying some Aloha Chicken, we headed to FRIM (Forest Research Institute, Malaysia) for the outdoor part of this educational field trip.

Haaaa...nature...lovely, wondrous nature...it's been so long since I was surrounded by the "jungle". The museum and the fish pond were cool. Then off we finally went into the man made jungle, where the guide gave us very interesting insight into the the trees and vines of Malaysia. This was at the foot of the hill, and Marrakesh was still walking on his own. Then the moment the guide indicated that we were to move forward uphill for the rest of the tour, Thing 2 had insisted he be carried by dear old mommy. So, off went mommy with a 10kg backpack (filled with bananas, a 1lit water bottle, change of clothes and snacks) on her back, and the 18kg Thing 2 in her arms...uphill...over roots and tree trunks and slippery mud...with about 50 other friskies and some 10 adults (other parents and teachers) either in front or at the back. And it was understood that the accompanying parents would assist the teachers in minding the kids, not just their own; Thing 1 was holding my right hand, which alternated with taking pictures too. So, it was mommy with her 2 darling goons, halting every now and then to see if the rest of the group was okay. We continued... uphill... with occasional stops for information by the guide. It was a good 45 minutes going up.... OMG...!!! By the time we reached the last stop (the trail actually goes further on, but for this Krista Nirawana group, it just had to be the last!) at the top, sweat from my face was flowing like a mountain spring, my left hand (in which I carried Marrakesh) was almost numb, and my knees? Well, they're practically gone now! But this mommy had no choice, but to just hang on until we were back down and inside the tour bus, else, what?...let the jungle take my kids?! Nooooo! So, as we turned back downhill, I was forced to transfer Damascus's grip to his class teacher, who by now was holding on to 3 Playhouse children. But the kids were amazing..... With the exception of my dear Marrakesh, who had nicely fallen asleep as we descended, and 2 other Playhouse young ones, the rest just walked happily on, some holding on to their parents' or teachers' hands, most just completely on their own. It was really mind over matter for me at this juncture. I couldn't give up coz my children needed me to carry on moving. Finally, we got back to the bus, and into the comfort of AC and plush seats. Well, it didn't stop with me just sitting back and immediately dozing off. No, I couldn't doze off. With Marrakesh still asleep in my arms, his weight feeling even more now coz he was fast asleep, and with one hand free to work, I took out from inside the backpack the bananas, the packet drinks and the snacks, which Damascus gobbled up in no time. I had 1 banana and almost emptied the 1lit bottle. Phewh!... There was no chance to snooze coz by this time we were already approaching the school, our initial rendesvous point. It was another task getting off the bus as it was raining. But, realising that there was no way that I could manage an umbrella, I just popped the boys' caps back on, then scurried to the car. And rushed home...to send the day's Fudgy delivery and to bake the batch for the next day's delivery.

But my darling goons were happy. So, does anything else count?.... :) And, hats off to the principal and teachers of Krista Nirwana, who did a fab job in organising the trip! No doubt, some things could have been planned better, but, hey, can you take care of 50 kids in the jungle????!!!!

So, this morning, after a good dose of very brute caffeine, I managed to finish baking the rest of today's Fudgy batch, and while they all wait nicely on the racks to be cooled, I have some minutes to share bits and pieces of my life with you...

The kids' field trip yesterday was really cool...it brought back fond memories of my younger days exploring our National Park in Pahang and hiking up Mount Kinabalu. I would and could still do all these you know... after at least 6 months of rigorous training, and definitely a porter service throughout the hikes, not to mention proper bathrooms!!! But the sights that nature holds...aaaahhh...simply magnificent...they'll never fail to amaze me....




Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A Time To Breathe...

Hi there... it may seem that I don't spend much time on Jules...well, just so you all know, I HAVE been spending loads of time on Jules, the "physical creation" part that is, and that's why I haven't had much time to LOOK at Jules, the tech part. Please do know that my thots are always with you, my dear, dear Jules family, friends and patrons...sometimes the spirit is very willing, but the flesh is just too weak...or there are just too many goons clinging on to me...!!! :) I try to push my body against its natural limits, but at the end of the day, or after 2 whole days, I just simply need to sleep...or become DocOc : multi tasking made easy!

Okay, I'd like to share with you what I've been up to, chronologically, since my last post. Here goes :

Friday , 20 March 2009
Morning : Delivered weekly JulesFudgyliciousness batch to loyal friends at TM
Afternoon : Went galavanting with fellow dolce enthusiast, Wiz the Wiz...showed her the nooks and crannies of KL coz she claims not to know her way round the city.
Evening : Rushed out Fudgy orders for Saturday and Sunday
Night : Packed stuff for Putrajaya escapade; said bye-bye to darling husband who left for Langkawi for a media event; drove to parents' home in Klang where darling goons were nestling during the school break.

Saturday, 21 March 2009
Morning : Woke up at 5am to prepare for Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Escapade; Left Klang at 6.30am, then WHM2929 broke down enroute; detoured to Tony's BigBenz, but WHM2929 couldn't be saved the same day; BroJoe came to the rescue and drove us back to Desa Pandan where we jumped onto WKB4097 to proceed on to Putrajaya; but sadly, we had missed the Hot Air Balloon escapade (my mom insists that it's a blessing in disguise...);
Afternoon : checked in at the Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside at 2pm; had a fabulous surprise when I met, for the first time, a Facebook friend, Nora, who was also there with her family; got to the room, and...the TV didn't work, the mini fridge was locked, the window was not locked and Thing 1 and 2 had opened it and were happily half jutting outside (TO MY SCREAMING HORROR!!!!!!!!!), couldn't locate the "qiblat" directional sign (which was supposed to be somewhere on the ceiling), which had my parents (in the next room, yup, my parents were with us) complaining inside out, and by this time (after locking back the window) all 3 goons were already jumping on the bed, until the maintenance guy finally got the TV working, after waiting a good 20 minutes or so...sigh...
Evening : (4pm) went to the Hot Air Balloon site but could not see any hot air balloons, only saw rows and rows of food stalls, and kites and super hero balloons flying aflight, the heat was scorching and everyone was hungry; managed to find a table and got some food; then Thing 1 said he felt the call of nature and needed a pottie; so we gobbled down our food and rushed to go back to the hotel...still no hot air balloon in site.
Late Evening/Nite : Thing 1 did his job, and it was then Fun Water Play for all 3 goons in the bathtub of room 2247; after order was regained, we set off to tour Pullman, my sister and niece also popped by; Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside is indeed a gorgeous hotel with brilliant design and architecture...wish I cold say the same about the service...anyways, then grumbling tummies wanted food, so off we went to the hotel's restaurant, b's; oh, I must mention that while touring the hotel, we did catch a sight of 2-4 hot air balloons in flight, from afar; it's a wonder why the balloons didn't cruise by the lovely Putrajaya lake for all to see; anyways, dinner was another fiasco; our table wasn't laid properly, we didn't have any napkins, our pizza was brought to us but we had no plates to eat from, we then had the wrong food delivered, my mediterranean sandwhich with grilled veges was cold, the fries were cold and no one came to our rescue; such a disappointment for a hotel so beautiful...I suppose that's why we've all been told not to judge a book by its cover...But my consolation for the day was the call from Tony to say that WHM2929 is all fine and well, and I did not need to reach far deep beyond the lengths of my pockets...Phewh!

Sunday, 22 March 2009
Morning : Took the goons to the pool, only confined to the kiddy pool coz this momsy was not about to go running or lapping after goons in the absence of their darling ayah; had breakfast, which amazingly turned out better than our experience at dinner the night before; went to the games room and played monopoly; rushed back to the room, showered and packed, and got ready for the 12noon checkout; as soon as I closed the door I realised I had left the boys' milk in the fridge, but I couldn't go back inside coz the key was already cancelled (past 12noon, mind you...very strict you know...); I told this to the lady at the reception and she said, sorry, there's no one to assist me, she can reactivate the room key but I'd need to go back up there myself to get the milk from the fridge; so, I said, it's okay, you can keep the milk...
Afternoon : Off we went in search of Alamanda to grab some lunch; after leaving Precinct 5 where Pullman is, we went round and round and round looking for signboards showing the way to Alamanda, but there were none, and we had given up and decided to just find lunch back in KL, when we finally found the signboard to the mall...phewh...
Evening : We left Alamanda circa 4pm and headed to Nadhrah's for a simple makan2 to celebrate Qawiem's birthday; then we headed back to Klang
Night : left Thing 1 and Thing 2 in Klang and headed back to Desa Pandan with my Cat In The Hat.

Monday, 23 March 2009
Morning : baked fudgies
Afternoon : baked fudgies
Evening : baked fusdgies
Night : prepped ready fudgies and baked a few more

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Morning, to date : delivered 50 fudgies to the forever-delightful-Fiz-the-Peach and the rest to Jules friends here and there, then headed back home to prep a special birthday surprise...

hhhhhaaaaahhhhh....sigh....that's to date....a bit of time for a strong coffee and a breather...before I'm up and about again with Jules...






Thursday, March 19, 2009

Jules Shopped But Didn't Drop!

...Yup, coz, I was shopping for Jules, not merely for my own personal pleasure nor satisfaction... :) Hence, the head was still well in check and didn't go astray !

I wasn't too happy with yesterday's task though, coz I didn't quite get what I was looking for...something to thrill Jules's patrons in my next batch of JulesFudgyliciousness. But, I'm not giving up, there's still today and tomorrow. I hope I'll find something fab to share with everyone :)

I must thank Jules friends at AMP for clearing off my JulesDelightfulness Chocolate Chip Cookies yesterday...you guys are simply fabuloussss! And TM friends too, of course, for never failing me... :)

I'll stick with my Quote Pick by the fab Billie Holiday for the rest of the week, but I think I'll give a new vibe to go with it; hope everyone likes... Now I have to plan out my trip for this weekend with my darling goons, to see the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta at Putrajaya...

A piu tardi...

In the meantime, let me share with you the little bit of joy that I achieved from my shopping yesterday...yet another square plate to add to my collection, this one's called 'Born Free'...i think it's so cute, with all the ginger bread men running 'free'!...And the candelabra to complete my Amber Rose collection...


Monday, March 16, 2009

Jules came to terms with her greatest fear...

...that her offspring would inherit her trait of poor sight. Eye sight.

Today, it was confirmed that my Cat-in-the-Hat is nearsighted, something which could have been caused by so many things, ie. too much TV, computer, video games. But I believe it's my genes. I started wearing glasses at the age of nine, until now, I'm sadly, still in denial... that I now need multifoculs!

I was sad...that at 7+ he'll already have rims on his nose, and a very distinct nose he has...a handsome trait of his sire. It'll be a shame to have his charming nose hide behind those rims. This whole day was about getting Esfahan his glasses.

Well, I pray that he not only inherits my nearsightedness (in terms of a 20/20 vision defect that is), but also my audacity for life. Then, I can rest assured that he'll learn to turn his shortcomings into advantages that will help him breeze through life. And, I tell him, 'be yourself...just carry on being your true, wonderful self, and don't let those lenses get in your way'... :)

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Jules is Refreshed!

I had a very productive day today...grabbed some cool stuff from The Curve's weekend bazaar and got a great deal on new dining chairs. Very refreshing to the soul... :)

And with that, I figured JulesMD could do with a new, refreshed look too. So, I did a few cleanups here and there, and changed a few things here and there, and...voila! A new look to JulesMD!

Among the things I acquired today is a cool fridge magnet by papelline that says, "Be Yourself, Imitation Is Suicide"...


(They, papelline, say that they search for quotes, but create their own design for the magnet...cool eh?)

Yup, I do indeed believe in being original myself, I do not imitate, nor do I use or wear imitations, especially handbags!

Moral of the story... it's always refreshing to be original...

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Jules is very touched by the support at her Charity Booth

Hi everyone,

I was going to wait until I've gotten some pictures from the Charity Bazaar before I posted anything. But, then again, I figured that might take some time, so...I shall write something now.

I am truly, deeply humbled by the keen support that I received at Jules Charity Booth recently. No doubt some people could not make it, but they communicated the support and the encouragement, and that means very much to me.

I must thank the fabulous ladies of Soroptimist Ampang, for directly, and indirectly, helping me to clear off my wares at the booth. My parents visited, my sister took charge of admin while darling husband promoted aggressively! All my friends and patrons of Jules who were there...you know who you are...a zillion thanks...

I greatly value your faith and respect... I shall thrive to produce more and better Jules products...

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