By Any Other Name…

Posted on 17 April 2009 by Mimi

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

My mother, whom everyone fondly calls Lola (who just celebrated her birthday a few days ago), is smitten with a particular colour called “old rose.” She has been on the lookout for quite some time now for some fabric that comes in this elusive shade.

The ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Colour Names shows the various shades of old rose as below:-

shades of ‘old rose’

The makcik (auntie) in our office cafeteria calls the same colour “warna belacan” (‘the colour of shrimp paste’).

belacan

Photo from Wikipedia of belacan being sold in a market in Malaysia

So tell me, would ‘old rose’ still smell as sweet if it were called ‘the colour of shrimp paste’?

Categories: Rojak | Tags: | 11 Comments

Jaring Email Problems With Streamyx

Posted on 15 April 2009 by Mimi

This is a quick post for my Malaysian readers who have Jaring email addresses but are using Streamyx to access the internet.

I had a problem with my Jaring account starting on the 25th of January this year, when I could only receive — but not send — emails through my Jaring account. I tried all possible configurations and combinations of settings. I scoured the internet for possible solutions. I tried calling Jaring’s helpline. But nothing worked.

Sounds familiar?

After some two frustrating weeks, I ran out of patience and went to Jaring’s Anjung Internet at Suria KLCC.

The solution turned out to be maddeningly simple: just change your incoming mail server from smtp.jaring.my to mta.jaring.my.

[NB: I use the default ports (25, 465, 587) and leave the SSL (secure sockets layer) box unticked.]

A word of caution: I was told by the supervisor at Anjung Internet in Suria KLCC that you’d need prior approval from Jaring before you can change the server. Hence, you must go to any Anjung Internet branch, fill up a request form, then wait for a day or two for their technician to call you and inform you that the change has been done.

Anjung Internet at Suria KLCC is located at the Ramlee Mall, Concourse Floor, near Pizza Hut.

Suria KLCC, Concourse map

Go to Jaring’s site to check out the locations of Anjung Internet branches.

Good luck!

Categories: Rojak | 4 Comments

Hands

Posted on 14 April 2009 by Mimi

hands

Yours were the hands that cradled me
When I first came into this world,
The very same hands that 
Clutched my own tiny hands
When I took my first faltering steps.
Those hands bathed me, clothed me, 
Held me, comforted me,
Taught me, guided me,
And caught me after each fall.
And then those hands
Had to let go of me,
(Albeit reluctantly)
When I found that I 
Had grown wings
And could fly.

Now my own hands 
Hold on tightly to 
Pairs of tiny little hands,
As tiny little feet 
Take their first unsteady steps.
Now it’s my hands 
That do the bathing, the clothing, 
The holding, the comforting,
The teaching, the guiding,
The catching…

Yet time and again,
These hands
Of mine
Still long to hold 
Those hands
That held me in my youth –
Your hands.
For they continue to comfort me,
Teach me, guide me,
Love me.

Happy birthday, my dearest mother! May God bless you for always and always and always…

Categories: Rojak | Tags: , | 10 Comments

Mini Tour of KL (Part 2)

Posted on 13 April 2009 by Mimi

To continue our mini tour of KL, we now go into Jalan Tun Razak. Jalan Tun Razak is one of the major roads in KL. I suppose it would be safe to say that it is the equivalent of Gatot Subroto in Jakarta. Or EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Avenue) in Manila.

Turning into Jalan Tun Razak, you can’t help but notice this tall white building on the right, with huge red letters that spell out ‘UMNO’. It’s pronounced as ‘am-no’ and is the acronym for United Malays National Organisation, Malaysia’s largest political party. Yup, yup, you guessed it. The building is called ‘Bangunan UMNO’ or ‘UMNO Building’ and houses UMNO’s headquarters.

Bangunan UMNO

Traffic’s still pretty heavy but, at least, it’s moving.

Notice the car plate numbers? The car on the left was registered in the Federal Territory — KL, Putrajaya, and Labuan — because its plates start with the letter ‘W’. On the other hand, the car on the right was registered in Johor because, you guessed it, its plates start with the letter ‘J’. Now this gives me an idea for a future blog post — I can write about the other letters used in car plate numbers one of these days.

cars along Jalan Tun Razak

A notable landmark along Jalan Tun Razak is PWTC or Putra World Trade Centre. It’s right next to Bangunan UMNO. It’s not just for exhibitions and conventions — its function rooms can also be rented for wedding receptions or Hari Raya Open Houses.

PWTC

Read more »

Categories: Malaysia, Photography | Tags: | 5 Comments

Mini Tour of KL (Part 1)

Posted on 12 April 2009 by Mimi

I’ve been busy lately and I’m sure you’ve all guessed just as much, judging from the brevity of my recent posts. I was neck-deep in paperwork at the office, then I had to put in some overtime as part of mommy duty, helping OnlyGirl and RoundBoy with their Maths homework. I had no time for blogging. I couldn’t be bothered with vessel sinks. And the treadmill gathered a fine layer of dust the whole week last week.

So to make up for the long silence, let me take you on a mini tour around KL. Just so you all get a feel of what KL looks like.

First up, DBKL building.

DBKL

DBKL stands for “Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur”. KL City Hall in English. They’ve got a nice fountain in front of the building but it wasn’t visible from where I was shooting it. I was in a moving car, from quite a distance.

KL street

Notice the trees on both sides of the road? That’s one of the things I love about KL and Malaysia, in general. It’s so green all around, even in the city. I solemnly swear that this was taken at the heart of the city of KL. Scout’s honour!

Moving on to the next photo, that’s an LRT station you see on the right.

Star LRT Bandaraya

It’s part of the STAR (acronym of the company name: Sistem Transit Aliran Ringan, which means ‘light rail transit system’) LRT network. The station’s name is ‘Bandaraya’, which means ’city’.

Behind it is Sogo Department Store, used to be part of Sogo Japan before it went bust in 2000, now privately owned. They used to have a huge indoor artificial waterfall, right next to the food court, but I’m not sure if it’s still there because I haven’t been there in ages. Read more »

Categories: Malaysia | Tags: | 7 Comments