ABC of Spenders

In one of our recent discussions, Bart and I worked out five groups of spenders:

Misers: Only the cheapest of everything will do.

Prudent Spenders: Spend necessarily. Extra costs must be justifiable. Luxuries are carefully thought out and must not cost too much.

Regular Spenders: Spend necessarily with no qualms about the occasional luxury. Don't mind paying a bit extra if it's still reasonable and more convenient.

Big Spenders: Spend lavishly but expenses are still within their means.

Debtors: Spend excessively i.e. always in the red.

The above is now formally known as "Angie & Bart's Classification of Spenders" :-)

Which are you?

Monkey Tonic

Mom was getting concerned that we seem to be coughing quite a bit lately. Her recommendation? Monkey tonic. My brother and I used to take it when we were little. It has been about 20-25 years since we had some.

No, I don't think it contains any monkey parts but it does contain lots of herbs. It is sold in cake-form (like belacan) and it is made into a dark, muddy, mildly-strong-herbal-smelling soup with meat.


[No monkey business: This thing seems to be, almost, a cure-all]

According to the instructions, it is apparently good for "old age and debility, rheumatic pains in the bone and joints, numbness and weakness of limbs, pains in the body, pains in the loins, excessive nocturnal urination, prenatal and post-natal weakness, anaemia, gastric pains, spleen weakness, lack of appetite, asthma, works in abdomen of children, jaundice, stunted growth and cold perspiration."

Indian Inclination

Angie and I are thinking of a holiday to northern India. Just wondering if anyone had any dealings with, or know of, reliable tour agents in Penang that specialises in Indian tour packages or does flight bookings with ground arrangements? We appreciate your feedback/comments. Thank you.

Tuna Treat

Fancy a non-red meat western dish? Well, here's what we had for dinner tonight. Tuna patties, boiled potato wedges with cheese squares, and stir-fried carrots. Speaking of tuna patties, this is not the first time... running out of ideas for meals :o).


[Tuna Treat: Being Catholic on a Friday :o)]

Tuna patties were made with one can of tuna flakes with oil drained out (this makes 4 patties), one chopped big onion, pepper, 3 pieces of crushed cream crackers, corn starch and some oil. Patties were grilled on a wok.

Hair Scare

On the evening of 19 April 2006, I walked into the Brother's barbershop in Sungai Dua. My specification: Short and flat at the top. I came out looking like this:


[A barber's interpretation: 'No hair'-y matter...]

To my colleagues at work, this was what I said, "I told the barber, "Surprise me"".

To my Engaged Encounter friends, I'm likely to retort, "I'm being prudent... got to save on shampoo".

Home Improvement

New look for our living room:


[Curtains with a touch of nature and matching cushion covers, and a batik painting mounted on an easel]

Thanks Mummy for sewing the curtains and the covers :o). We bought the curtain material from a fabric shop at the Jelutong market.

After much consideration, we finally bought an easel to put up the sailboat picture which was left wanting to be displayed. We made the purchase from the Nanyang Book Co. at Carnarvon Street. It was a 'costly' alternative to mounting pictures on the wall.