Xthreem Income

I know this may sound a little far fetch, but it is true. An online education website that allows you to learn and earn. That's right, it allows you to learn and earn. All you have to do is sign up for a starter pack that comprises of 3 online courses which you can login and study at your own time, you will be on your way to earning a long term residue income. In a couple of years time, you would have gain some extra knowledge from the course you studied and received payouts equivalent to your initial investment. What's more, there is no end to your earnings because you will just continue to earn.

This income stream is certainly worth checking out! E-mail me or drop me a line if you want to find out more.

Alternatively, for the minimal price of RM 40, come and participate in an upcoming personal finance workshop which will be held on 16 September 2007 from 9.00 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. at The Rock K.L. 5th Floor, 40 & 42, Jalan Tun Perak, 50050 Kuala Lumpur. You will learn to better manage your finance and find ways to increase your passive income in an interactive workshop by the writer of the hit financial programme - Money & You on NTV7.

So what are you waiting for? Act now!

Bridal Shoots

I could clearly remember the day of our bridal shoot even though it was more than a year ago. From the initial hype of searching for my ideal bridal studio, to getting the best deal and the prettiest wedding dresses and evening gowns. I was excited about taking pretty pictures with my most loved person on earth. Just the thought of looking through beautiful pictures of the pass as we grow old together sends shiver through my spine. I was determined to get the best pictures any bride could ever dream of and I knew I would with the help of my sister. But little did I know was an ordeal awaited me on the day of the shoot.

But how could taking pictures and looking pretty be an ordeal, you might ask. Well, to start with, my sister and I did a wonderful job in convincing the bridal studio manager to give us 7 gowns instead of the 5 gowns from the package we paid for. So on the day of the shoot, I had to change into 7 different gowns - 2 wedding gowns, 1 wedding gown for outdoor, 2 evening gowns and 2 traditional costumes, which was fun as every gown made me look different from the other. Each gown was accompanied by a different set of accessories, hair-do and make-up. The photographer would then take an average of 40 shots per gown. Each shots were taken with finese and carefully constructed pose and attention to detail. Until today, the voice of the photographer reminding us to keep our shoulders down, chin up and smile is still ringing in our ears.

By noon, I was already feeling tired. Shan and I eagerly waited for lunch time to come. But when it did, we were only allowed 30 minutes lunch break as the studio employees had so thoughtfully ordered McDonald's for us. The rest of the afternoon was tough as we struggled to keep smiling and carry ourselves up to look our best. When the photographer motion us to lie on our the fur carpet for one of the shots, we almost wanted to sleep of. The carpet were soft and comfortable and we were exhausted. When that scene ended, I almost begged him for more of that scene just so we could rest longer.

Our ordeal finally ended at 7.30p.m. We started at 9.00 a.m. and ended at 7.30p.m. That was a good ten hours of photoshoot minus the 30 minutes of lunch break we got. We thank God that we survived.

But that wasn't exactly the end. Next step was to choose the photos that we wanted to develop. We had to choose photos we want in the big album, then the medium album, then one for the big photo frame and one for the table frame, 6 sets as favors to close friends and relatives. That too, took longer than we expected. We arrived at 2.00p.m and left after four solid hours of look at thumbnails of our pictures. Finally the pain of the bridal shoot has ended.

If you are thinking of a bridal shoot, it's a good idea, but consider first if you are willing to go through the hours of standing and posing and smiling and choosing and the list goes on. Many of our friends did not go for a bridal shoot but still had nice photos of their wedding to keep nevertheless. However, they did not have the memories of a challenging and eventful photo shoot coupled with pretty bridal pictures to go with memories of a beautiful wedding. All in all, we actually enjoyed the whole bridal shoot process despite the challenges and exhaustion. If given a chance, we would still go for it because it was an experience on its own.

Our final advise to all of you who are in favour of a bridal shoot, just prep yourselves before you go. And remember, shoulder down, chin up and smile!

Dying Young

My father died at the age of forty-nine. I was barely twelve when the doctor certified him dead on March 18, 1990, 12.40 p.m. Cause of death was sudden cardiac arrest. Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart’s electrical system malfunctions. In my father’s case a sudden asthma attack went out of control causing electrical problems that kept the heart from pumping the right way. He died at the age of forty-nine. He died young.
Although I’ve inherited asthma from my father, I am determined not to die young. My determination remained strong up until last year when my faith was shaken.
March 2005, fifteen years after my father’s passing away I was going to be twenty-seven years of age and full of hopes and dreams. I was eagerly awaiting end of the year to get married with the man whom I love. But eagerness was shattered when an abnormal abdominal pain sent me for an ultrasound scan. Through the scan the radiologist found a huge tumor covering part of my liver. Upon further investigation ordered by a renown hepatologist in a local hospital found that the tumor mass covered up to thirty percent of my liver. Because it had the pattern of a benign tumor I had an option of either leaving it as it is or getting it removed through a hepabiliary surgery. After much consideration, my fiancé and I and registered as husband and wife and decided to go with the second option which changed our lives forever.
Five months later, in August 2005, I went for the operation as scheduled. What was supposed to be a four hour long surgery had prolonged to eleven hours of intensive battle to save my life by the dedicated team of hepabiliary surgeons. What was supposed to make me well, didn’t make me well but revealed the secret that my body had been keeping from me.
It turned out that the tumor covered up to sixty percent of my liver, and the doctors had to remove the entire right lobe of my liver. But that was not all, in fact that wasn’t even the issue.
“The tumor mass that is in your liver was merely a secondary attack of a small but malignant tumor sitting right at the head of your pancreas,” my husband relayed to me the solemn words that had spoken to him when I was first wheeled out of the operation theatre.
I cried very hard that day. A week after the surgery, I was still barely twenty-seven. I thought of my father. I thought of dying young. Maybe my fate was to die young like my father.
The doctors gave me six months to live. They told my husband to take care of everything and try to fulfill my dying wish.
August 2006, one year after I was diagnosed with 4th stage pancreatic cancer, I am still very much alive. My liver has outgrown the normal grow-back of fifteen percent to almost seventy-five percent. My cancer is very much localized now. My oncologists in NCI Cancer Hospital call me a miracle child.
Although it has not been an easy and smooth flowing journey this one year, but I survived. With more than a little bit of effort to change my lifestyle and my eating habits, I persevered. With a more than little bit of love from my husband and those around me I fought on. With more than a little bit of faith in God I stand victorious.
To read more about my battle and victories over cancer check out my other blog on Victory Over Cancer at www.my-cancerpage.blogspot.com

Extra Accessories

This is another one of my work during uni time. I got the inspiration to write this when I thought of an ex-class mate who is kind of a show off.
Again, this article was also posted in Soulcast.com with the same title.

The door swings open, and Curvaceous makes her grand entrance. Heads turn around to watch as she strides to an empty chair beside her group of adoring fans. Her bum sways from left to right as she makes an unsuccessful attempt to imitate Pamela Anderson in Baywatch. Her low cut blouse shows-off a chunk of dark fleshy Twin Peaks. All eyes are fixated to her as they go “Boeing! Boeing! Boeing!”

The lecturer at the front of the lecture hall turns red with anger as she notices that the class’ attention has shifted from her lecture to Curvaceous. She clears her throat and barked, “Are you done with the fashion show yet?” Curvaceous looks up at her and blinks innocently before replying, “It’s not my fault that I have extra accessories that you don’t!”

A Picture of You

The following story was written during my university years in Auckland for a Principles of Writing assignment. I could really relate to this story as it was based on real life incident. Furthermore this work had actually earned me very high marks.
The poem at the start and end of this story has been taken from a greeting card that I've utterly fallen in love with the first time I saw it. I bought it wondering if I'd meet my Mr. Right. Today, I'm happy that I've met him and have this wonderful card for him.
This is one of the postings that has a duplicate copy in another blog website call Soulcast.com, so if you've read it before somewhere and thought it sounded familiar, you're right. It's the same article posted twice in two different sites. It's one of those little mistakes I make during my times of confussion.
But if this is the first time you are reading, then I hope you can relate to it as much as I did. Enjoy!

I carried a picture of you ever since I was young and believed in fairy tales. I carried a picture of you through all the times love let me down and through all the times I thought that I would never meet you in this life.

I stared at the pale faced girl who was staring back at me. Her eyes were watery and her mouth was trembling. She was trying very hard to express herself but he wouldn’t let her. He wouldn’t let her talk, he wouldn’t let me hear her and he obviously wouldn’t listen to her.
“They are my friends, and they need me. I don’t think I should leave them when they need me most…” he paused to look at me and frowned when he saw the tears in my eyes. He swallowed hard and continued, “…besides, I need a break. I can’t always be with you…”
The rest of his words vanished into thin air. I felt blood rushing up to my face but the girl in the side mirror remained as pale as before. Her expression on the other hand had changed from sad confusion to cold anger. I let out an exasperated sigh. I knew right from the start that this relationship was meant to fail, yet I set foot in it. I had no one to blame but myself.
I turned away from the mirror reflection to look at him. The boyish charm that I had fallen in love with three years ago had been replaced by a worn out expression. His face was tensed even as he concentrated on the traffic. I thought I saw the picture in him, but now I realised that it was merely a resemblance.
To be fair to both of us, I decided to put an end to this. My vision was blurred and my throat was dry as I struggled for words. What came out sounded more like a croak. I turned back to my inner self again searching for a better way to say it.
“I don’t think I can go on any more,” I finally found my voice. I tried looking him in the eyes but they were fixated to the traffic. “I don’t think we should go on,” I continued and wondered if I was doing the right thing. I could feel my eyes water all over again. I turned away from him but managed to see his jaw tensed. As I waited for his reply, I wrestled to keep myself from taking back what I had just said. This was one fear that I had to live with.
“But we could still be friends,” I quickly added. This was the least I could do to make it easier for both of us.
The car pulled to a stop at the side of the road. I looked up at him and caught a glimpse of tear in his eyes. He was deep in thought. Part of me prayed for him to say no. I was sure he didn’t fit the picture I have but I wasn’t convinced. I was afraid of making a mistake that I would later regret.
The long awaited reply finally came after what seemed like hours of pondering. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be so unfair to you,” he said.
For a moment my world seemed to have fallen into pieces. I felt a strong sense of despair. But then I reminded myself that I was the one who suggested the break up and he did not fit the picture anyway. Whatever it is, I had to be strong.
“So, I guess this is it,” I said after a long pause. I fought to keep from crying unsuccessfully. I felt a warm hand on my tear-streaked cheeks.
“We’ll still be friends?” he asked. His voice sounded shaky too. I looked up and realised that we were actually sharing our final moment of couple-hood in tears. I nodded and we embraced each other for the final time.
When we finally broke away, I looked into the mirror again. The eyes that stared back at me were no longer cold, but warm. I could see a sparkle, a sparkle of hope that one day I would meet the one in the picture that I carried in my heart.

I carried a picture of you, not in my pocket but in my heart. I didn’t know what you would look like, but I knew what it would feel like to finally know you and be with you, safe and protected and accepted like I’d finally found my home.