The Beginning of a Costly Love Affair

I first got a glimpse of Pandora charms and bracelets in 2011 if I'm not wrong. At that time I was passing one of the many Habib Jewels branches (no designated Pandora outlet yet then) while window-shopping in Suria KLCC. I still remember how captivated I was at the Teddy bear charm arranged together with a few other charms and a blue Murano glass in the centre. That was insanely beautiful (quoting the phrase of the lovely Asha Gill of Lonely Planet Six Degrees) and thus began my love affair with Pandora.

My first Pandora - my first story is
my love for animals. The kitty
charm, second from top is birthday
present from Darling & Dear

First and foremost, what is a charm? When I was a kid a charm is something that people used to ward off evil, to bring good luck and to cure you from sickness. A charm was obtained from the shaman or pawang and depending on how good he or she was, the pawang could provide you with anything you want and overcome any problem you have whatsoever. Ranging fom warding off evil, to making you attractive to member of the opposite sex, to overcoming marital problems, to making your business thrive, to curing whatever ailments you have on the face of this earth, mentally or physically. The charm can be just some small scrap of paplers with something that looked weird and funny written on it and then sewn onto small cotton pouch and worn around the waist with a string. Later on, small aluminium containers with designs that looked Siamese (or was it Nepalese) were used instead of the cotton pouch and they were  worn around the waist or hung around the neck like a pendant.
A charm could also be a spell (verbal)  which is a sentence or phrase chanted or voiced out with the intention of bewitching the other person or persons. Somehow or other I do believe that the conviction people have on these charms, talismans, emulets and pawangs and bomohs have not really changed much. In the vicinity of the Commuter Train Station in Shah Alam, one can see a lot of advertisements about "perubatan cara halus dapatkan bayaran balik hutang" or "perubatan penyakit ganjil" or " perubatan jadikan anak bijak dan mendengar kata ibu bapa". I do try to keep an open mind about a lot of unexplained or paranormal phenomena. However I am not at all impressed with people professing expertise and simple solutions to every problem on the face of the earth, often at exorbitant prices. Ooops ....sorry, got a bit distracted, lets go back to charm bracelets.

Nowadays a charm bracelet is simply, charms and various trinkets worn on a bracelet. If anyone anyone is interested to have a short read about  charms here is the link http://www.thecharmworks.com/HistoryofCharms. Modern charm bracelets are stylish, can be customised to your own fancy and can be dressed up or dressed down.  The bracelets can be changed to compliment any style or outfit. A woman need never wear her bracelet the same way more than once. That is if you have many charms to mix and match of course. There are many manufacturers of charm bracelets around the world such as Pandora, Camilla, Trollbeads, Ohm's Bead, Tedora, Thomas Sabo, Lovelinks, etc. However in Malaysia only Pandora, Thomas Sabo and Lovelinks are available. Pandora is available in Malaysia in 2011 when it was brought in by the local jeweller Habib Jewels.

My leather bracelet Pandora

On the left is my leather bracelet Pandora. I have written about the two charms in the middle in one of my previous posts. They were presents from my close friends and my colleagues in CIAST which I love very dearly. The other two charms next to them are the very cute Miss Hedgehog charms. The last bead on left and right are clips to hold the other charms in place. PA said that this set matched me very well when I wear jeans and shirts. Actually nowadays I am always in jeans and shirts. I feel that irrespective of how old I am, I should dress comfortably, safely and I still love too be neat and presentable. Should I get another leather bracelet? Well, a retiree is supposed to be more careful with money and should not indulge oneself in mindless spending. Very frankly, the previous sentence is very often heard by my friends, however, I tend to become weak in the knees when new collection of Pandora comes out every season. Yes, I have a strong feeling that Per and Winnie Enevoldsen, the founders of Pandora company are very powerful Danish bomohs. May be I should go to one of the Malaysian bomohs to get rid of the Pandora spell. Then we shall know who is more powerful.

Will write more about charm bracelets, in the mean time, some info related to them are pasted below from various sources. My apology about the haphazard way my photos and copied texts are displayed, I am still doing things trial and error. Ain's blog is really gorgeous, lovely to read, well arranged and I just adore the colours in it.

         

My other set

What is Sterling Silver?

Sterling silver is a popular metal for jewelry, silverware and decorations. Sterling silver is an alloy of silver that consists of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of other metal, usually copper. Fine silver (99.9% pure) typically is too soft for practical objects. Alloying with copper maintains the silvery color of the metal, while increasing its strength. However, the copper is much more susceptible to oxidation and corrosion, so sterling silver tarnishes more easily than fine silver.
Other metals that may be used in sterling silver include zinc, platinum and germanium. Silicon or boron may be added to improve the properties of the metal. Although these metals and additions may improve the resistance of the sterling silver to firescale and tarnish, most sterling silver is still made using copper.

The Pandora Mythology
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, to create her and he did, using water and earth. The gods endowed her with many talents; Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo music,Hermes persuasion, and so forth. Hence her name: Pandora, "all-gifted".

When Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by presenting Pandora to Epimetheus, Prometheus' brother. With her, Pandora had a jar which she was not to open under any circumstance. Impelled by her natural curiosity, Pandora opened the jar, and all evil contained escaped and spread over the earth. She hastened to close the lid, but the whole contents of the jar had escaped, except for one thing which lay at the bottom, and that was Hope

ABOUT PANDORA The COMPANY

PANDORA designs, manufactures and markets hand-finished and modern jewelry made from genuine materials at affordable prices. PANDORA jewelry is sold in more than 70 countries on six continents through approximately 10,300 points of sale, including approximately 950 concept stores.

Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, PANDORA employs over 6,900 people worldwide of whom 4,900 are located in Gemopolis, Thailand, where the company manufactures its jewelry. PANDORA is publicly listed on the NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen stock exchange in Denmark. In 2012, PANDORA’s total revenue was DKK 6.7 billion (approximately EUR 900 million). For more information, please visitwww.pandoragroup.com

And here is a short history of the origin of the Pandora brand taken from Wiki

In 1982, Per and Winnie Enevoldsen opened a shop in the Nørrebrogade area of Copenhagen. When the demand for their products increased, the couple shifted their focus to the wholesale business. In 1984, the couple opened a production facility in Thailand, Pandora Productions, and hired designer Lone Frandsen to help create a jewelry line. In 1996, Pandora — strictly a wholesale dealer by then — hired its second designer, goldsmith Lisbeth Enø Lochte, who worked with Frandsen to create Pandora’s signature style and customizable charm bracelet.^[2] The private equity investment firm Axcelpurchased 60 & of the company in March 2006. That same year Pandora launched its first store in Hamburg, Germany, followed by locations in Australia, Denmark, Switzerland, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States. Pandora employs more than 2,500 people.^[2] The company was sold through an IPO on October 5, 2010.

Unwinding and Rejuvenating in Hatyai (Part 2)

Hatyai (also Hat Yai, Had Yai or even Haad Yai) is a town in the southern Songkhla Province of Thailand, very near the Malaysian border. It is the largest town in Songkhla Province and is a commercial and business centre for the province, while Songkhla is the administrative centre. The name Hatyai is short for "Mahat Yai" which means a big Mahat tree, a relative of the jackfruit tree according to Wiki. Hmmm ........ a relative of the jackfruit tree. Could it be cempedak then? Or may be sukun? So Cempedak Besar or Sukun Besar town. Hatyai has a population of about 150,000 in the town itself while the surrounding area known as Greater Hatyai has some 800,000.

Walking around Hatyai among the tourists and the locals it is difficult for me to believe the town had suffered a number attacks by presumably Muslim insurgents or separatists in 2006, 2007 and lastly in early April 2012. Both me and PA had bought train tickets to Hatyai in 2012 with the intention of experiencing the Songkran festival which takes place in mid- April every year. We were both very excited about the train journey, the Songkran festival and of course about Hatyai itself that we just could't wait to go. However on 31st March 2012 (or was it 1st April) a car bomb exploded in the basement of the Lee Garden Plaza Hotel killing 5 and injuring hundreds. We were very dissapointed but decided to abandon the trip as there was a travel advisory by the government to discourage Malaysians from visiting Hatyai in the aftermath of the incidence. Lucky for us KTM refunded 75% of the ticket price since it was still more than 72 hours away. That is the thing about violence, it makes people shy away from visiting a place, it disrupts economic activities and it hinders people from conducting their daily lives. Wandering round the Lee Garden Plaza Hotel last Friday, Saturday and Sunday I felt a little sad because I saw many of the hawkers and traders there were actually Muslims themselves. They must have been affected by the violence in some small ways in the least.

About 10 km from Hatyai town centre and about 15 minutes tuk tuk ride is the Khlong Hae Floating Market. All the four of us went there last Saturday evening. We took a tuk tuk from the hotel and it cost us 4000 baht which is equivalent to RM40 more or less. The usual return fare was 5000 baht but Darling bargained with the kindly pakcik, saying that there was only 4 of us and not the full capacity of 8 persons.

The Khlong Hae floating market consists of a row of stationary small boats (sampan) lining up against the canal bank. A wooden platform is built alongside for people to walk on. There were tables and benches provided if you want to eat there. The market opens Friday to Sunday from 15.00 to 21.00 approximately. All the food sold on the floating market are halal as the vendors are all Muslims and a big majority of them are women. Further up the bank of the canal were more stalls selling food, T-shirts, key chains and many other souvenir items.

What struck me about the floating market was the attempt made by the local to use banana leaves, bamboo and clay pots as containers for the foods and drinks sold. Plastic bag usage was minimised and I did not see any styrofoam container at all. It seemed an environmental campaign has long been in place. The place was clean with many rubbish bins provided. The canal too was clean, no floating rubbish can be spotted. Our pasar malam should emulate this cleanliness attitude and perhaps try to reduce the usage of non-degradable plastic bags. At the pasar malam near my house I never see any rubbish bin.

As there were so many people at the floating market last Saturday we decided to buy food and eat them at our hotel. So we jostled among the crowd and bought our food. We ended up buying a a 4700 baht worth of food. Everything looked delicious we were just too spoiled for choices. Back we went to our hotel to enjoy our food. We planned to go for some TTS (borrowing Darling's term which I believ is for lepak or rendezvous with food and drink) near the Lee Garden Plaza later on as it was only 20.00 Thai time when we arrived back at the hotel. The teh ais there was just too delicious to miss.

Perhaps I was a little intoxicated with all the food I do not remember all that we bought. PA did capture the image of each food, may be later I will borrow her photos to write about them. As for the TTS planned, after all the food which we couldn't really finished, we were just too tired to go out again. Even PA who was very keen about the TTS was fast asleep before me, Darling or Dear.

Hatyai at night. View from Diamond Plaza Hotel window.

In the tuk tuk. Serious faces
but actually happy to explore
the floating market

Tour guide, food advisor,
travel buddy, best friend &
GPS too!

Travel buddy, information
provider, best friend, budding
travel planner and food critic.

Food glorious food!

Unwinding and Rejuvenating in Hatyai

Arrived home from LCCT yesterday evening at around 17.00 hours after picking up my orange prince from the vet in Section 7, Shah Alam. Me and my gang Darling, Dear & PA went for a short holiday in Hatyai, Thailand. It was part of my retirement present from my friends. Thank you so very much Darling, PA, Dear, Siti Z,  Siti Y, Pn Ayana, Pn Wan and L for this surprising and wonderful gift, thank you, thank you, thank you!

The destination was actually kept a secret from me as a surprise. I had a feeling we were going to Thailand but I didn't know where. Was guessing between Songkhla, Phuket, Hatyai, or even Krabi, as Darling is a frequent visitor there. I only knew we were going to Hatyai on the travelling day itself. To be more precise only in the departure hall of LCCT about half an hour before the flight. There was a small ceremony of "revealing" the destination by handing me the boarding pass and I was even interviewed by some cute CIAST journalist. I was given an explanation as to why Hatyai was chosen as the destination. Frankly, any destination would be cool to me, as long as I can be with my friends.

So off we went to Hatyai last Friday 18/10 and we stayed there for 3 days and 2 nights. We had a lovely, lovely time. We were together, we swapped stories, we swapped rooms, we bought a lot of undergarments, we pampered ourselves a little and we ate way too much.

So once again, thank you so very much everyone for your lovely gift to me. I will treasure the memory of this trip always. I will be writing more about this trip later and will be uploading the photos I took as soon as my laptop is okay from virus.

Oops........... forgot something. Upon arrival at LCCT I was once again interviewed by that cute CIAST journalist as to weather I enjoyed myself during the three days. I did guys, of course, so very much. To watch both interviews please go to: mygang@spd.@ablock@ciast.com (just kidding guys, my friends have the video actually).

A Day in a Life..............

This post was first written on Saturday, 12th Oct. 2013.

About a week ago I happened to watch a BBC Knowledge documentary about exercise. The title was either "The Truth About Exercise" or was it "What You Should Know About Exercise". The programme discussed the latest findings on the effectiveness of exercise on loosing weight, the differences from one individual to another on  the kind of exercise choosen and also why is exercise very important even if you do not lose any weight. At the end of the programme the narrator was saying something like "get off the couch, too many of us are sitting on our chairs for hours and hours" - that hits me in the face like a cannon.

Okay, woke up at around seven today. No, I am not going to continue sleeping this morning. Let's be a little more active today and morever I have a few errands to run. First and foremost, I had run out of hypertension medication. Didn't take one last night. So took a bath, get dressed and drove over to Klinik Hari in Port Klang town. The clinic is situated along the main street of our port town and I arrived at the parking area after about 15 minutes of driving at 8.45 am. It's a Saturday therefore I managed a parking spot very near the clinic and next to the main road. Walked over to the clinic and asked the nurse to provide me with two-months supply of Micardis 40mg. Would have preferred to speak to the GP but Dr. Hari was not yet in. Some other time then.

Okay, medication checked. Next to go and see Kuning at CIAST because I made a promise to myself to check on Kuning as he just had his second vaccination yesterday. Kuning is the handsome year-old orange tabby kitten who has wormed his way into our hearts in CIAST. Since Darling has taken the initiative to vaccinate the orange boy, I thought I would do my part by making sure he is fed during weekends and also to ensure he doesn't have a bad fever after the vaccination.

So Kuning is OK, he's eating and drinking OK and I think just a slight temperature perhaps (orang Perak kata dedo). Placed some extra kibbles for the other cats and refilled their drinking water. It was already drizzling quite bad then. By the time I got into the car and drove to the parking area next to the hall in front of CIAST the rain was torrential. What else to do, stay in the car, take out my tablet and started writing this post. I was already very hungry as I hadn't had my breakfast yet. The nasi lemak stall is just across the street, about 3 minutes walk, but I had no umbrella, so I had to bear the rain for another half hour before I managed to have some breakfast.

All right, what are my other errands? I need to replace the battery for my digital weighing scale. Perhaps at some watch shop. I would like to browse for the cute Crocs sandal I saw at Empire Gallery that day. I also need to get some betnovate cream and some of that allergy tablet Adezio from the pharmacy. Eczema sufferers  usually need a supply of these medications. I left the car at CIAST and took the commuter train to Subang Parade arriving there at around 12.00 noon
I came out from Subang Parade at around 5.00 pm. What did I do in that five hours? Well...............

I went into a watch shop with the intention of buying the battery for my weighing machine. However upon entering the shop I caught sight of some smart G-Shock watches in fascinating colour combination. There was one in dark blue and grey which I really liked. There was another in transparent dark blue which was just as georgeous. Should I get one of those? No, stop it, I already have quite a number of Baby-G watches which I really adore. Some other time may be. I went out of the shop and totally forgot about the battery.

Wandering around I saw a lot of people in that World of Sports shop. This shop always seemed to have bargains. Walked slowly around the shop looking at sport shoes, backpacks, sports bags, sports equipment, casual wear shirts, etc. I ended up buying two pairs of shirts at 50% discount. Loved the shirts because it is made of material that dries quickly upon washing and therefore are very suitable for travel. I am going travelling with Darling, Dear and Pn Azua this coming 18 - 20 October, yahoo !!!!! They are keeping the destination a secret, it is in ASEAN country it seemed. Well, Malaysia is an ASEAN country too. Anyway, I am guessing we are going to Thailand. But which part of Thailand? I think somewhere quite near, such as Hat Yai, Songkhla, Phuket or Krabi. Am I right guys?

Almost next to World of Sport is the Crocs outlet. Unfortunately the cute model that I wanted to buy was not available there. So I went browsing at Parksons and after that went into MPH. Bought a book at MPH entitled" Born in Malaysia, A Photographer's Journey" by Kenny Loh and Tan Joo Lee. Then I went to the ground-floor Caring Pharmacy and bought my eczema medications.

I had some pasta for lunch at the new corner eatery called Pastryville. It is more of a patisserie actually as there are many pastries, cakes and dessert. However simple meals like pasta are also available. I like its location as it is an end corner shop and a cozy place to rest after going round the shopping centre.

By the time I finished lunch, it was almost five and I walked to the train station and took the train back to CIAST. I fed Kuning and the other cats and played with them for a while before driving home. I arrived home at 7.00 pm.

So, in my opinion, that was a Saturday quite well spent, timewise and moneywise too!

Kuning has a long beautiful tail,
like the ring-tailed lemurs of Madagascar

The predator in Kuning made him very interested in the bird carcass

Gorgeous!

Sunday Morning and Dismal News

Woke up at around 8.00am today. Must be the rain last night because normally I would wake up around 6.00 or 6.30 in the morning nowadays. Even if I don't, Mickey would be nudging and pushing me and meowing with his face inches from mine.  Mickey does that either because his food bowl is covered with that heavy stainless steel cover that he couldn' t get off or just simply wanting my attention. This morning he must have overslept too because of the rain. Found him curled up snugly in that overturned plastic food cover which has since become his favourite furniture.

Turned on the TV, channel 101 of HyppTV which is actually RTM1. Well there is the Sunday morning talk-show and the topic today is of course the recently completed UMNO Polls 2013. I am not a member of any political party and I do not ever intend to be one. I am just a Malaysian citizen who would like to see my country prosper and develop into a first class nation. I would like to see my nephews and nieces and their generations enjoy better standard of living, better education system and healthcare, proper cheaper housing and most importantly for them to live peacefully in a country where the crime rate is low. That being said, first and foremost I would be very happy if my nephews and nieces are well rounded individuals. It is good if they are successful in their education and their careers, but it is more important that they are able to think for themselves on issues that matters like politics or religion and are not just parroting what are dictated to them by leaders.

There is no major surprises in the results of UMNO polls yesterday. I find that very very difficult to believe even if the papers were buzzing with this expectation for days. Barisan Nasional did very badly in the 12th General Election (GE) and did not recover at all in recent 13th GE and yet there is not much change in the leadership of UMNO? The dismal performance in GE 13th has been widely discussed in the blogsphere and I for one do not believe in the Chinese tsunami theory. The Malays must stop this culture of blaming others when something went wrong with their lives. We must look into ourselves, be brutally truthful and accept responsibilities for our actions if we want to be a hardy, tenacious, proactive, forward thinking, competitive and successful community. Like my WhatsApp message to Zam & Ain last night, if I am young and better qualified I would definitely seriously think about migrating.

Let's get away from the dismal news. If anyone is thinking about something different for their breakfast or even afternoon tea here is a suggestion.

Get a packet of wraps. Wraps are round thin ready-made pancake (like lempeng nipis) sold in packet of 6 for around RM7.00. Lay out the wrap on a flat surface. Take 2 slices of cheddar and arrange in the middle. You can add whatever you like after that, vege, tuna, sardine, leftover meat from last night dinner or diced fruits like apple, strawberry, banana or even jam, hazelnut spread or peanut butter. Roll up the wrap and cut into three sections. You can also secure the cut wrap sections with toothpicks to prevent fillings from falling out. Put a a little butter on top of each section. Arrange in a tray and bake in oven ( toaster oven will do) for about 10 minutes. Serve hot, yummy, delicious!

Toasted wrap with cheddar & vegetables

Continue napping

Meeting SK

Yesterday I went to the Midvalley shopping centre to meet my old friend SK whom I have not seen or talked to for ages. We had brunch at Belanga and we thought about catching a movie. Unfortunately for the 2 or 3 movies that we fancied (Gravity, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Inferno) the only seats available are those in the front most row. So cancelled the movie, some other time then. That's the thing I hate about the cineplexes in the big shopping malls, tickets are not easy to get if you just walk in, especially on weekends. Had a similar experience twice in that lovely Setia City Mall with Darling and Dear.

I got to know SK when I was warded in PMUM (formerly known as UH) way back in mid 1990's and she was working with the university. We struck up a friendship. Everytime I had a follow-up at the hospital, I made sure I saw her. We would be chatting at the hospital's cafetaria with a few other friends I made during my hospital stay.

So yesterday, after a hiatus of about ten years, we met. We talked for a long time about things in our lives. She is still working with the university, I am retired now. Her mum had passed away, my mum too. SK is quite a traveller, she has been to a lot of places and many countries. I would say, I am just beginning to travel. With my close friendship with Darling, Dear and Pn Azua at the office, I too has been bitten by the travel bug. I really do hope to visit more places now that time is more available to me. Looking forward to 18-20 October trip very much.

So thank you so very much SK for not giving up on me when I did not contact you for years (for whatever excuses), I value your friendship very much.

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul - from the poem INVICTUS