As I only had four responses to my blog re: Paying it forward, I am sending out packages to Zona, KJean,Mirebelle & lasilasi.

Guys could you please email me your address : nasilemak at sourrain dot com.

In my effort to garner participants in my previous post on paying it forward, I have whipped something up over the weekend that may well go into the care packages that I am putting together. Rather than sending out stuff from my favourite smellies shop, Lush, I have started making toileteries.

Made from all natural ingredients, these bath bombs contain citric acid, bicarbonate soda, PURE essential oils, all natural rose petals/lavender and just a smidgen of natural coloring to make it all pretty instead of looking ghastly white. I tried one yesterday in my bath ,and the whole floor was just filled with a heavenly rosy smell of rose essential oil. Not chemically made, mind you, only pure essential oils are used in my products. I have very sensitive skin, and bath products sometimes plays havoc with my skin due to the extremely long list of unpronouncable chemicals.

Now, aren’t they just so edible looking???? Being me, even my bath products are made to look like cupcakes.

I am going to continue making them, and with any luck the bath bomb that I send out will be close to retail looking perfection. If you have not used bath bombs before, they scent your bath with lovely smelling oils which is good for your skin as you soak in it as well. They are not bubble baths, which uses chemicals to foam up the bath.

If you don’t have a bath, do not fret, as I had also made some lavender glycerin soap! Due to the lavender flowers that I have embedded into the soap, this is good for a face or body scrub as well. Again, nothing but pure glycerin,lavender essential oils, lavender flowers and a drop of coloring. If you have oily skin, I can replace the lavender essential oils with tea tea oil instead - dry skin will work well with palmarosa.

Inedible fish

BTW, these are practice runs - those pictured are the first time I am making any kind of toilteries. Hopefully batch 2 will come out looking more presentable. As I had splurged on ingreddients and tools, I am also going to start taking orders for them. So if you would like to order handmade all natural toilteries, email me!!

Got this idea from mei’s blog. I was going to do something similar with la petite chinoise before she dissapeared off the blogsphere, and thought this might be a good time to bring this up again

What it is:
This idea is based on the movie Paying it Forward, if someone does you a good turn, you pay it forward doing three good deeds to three other persons, requesting that they do the same and pass it on. The theory is that the world would be a better person by the good deed power of three.

I will be putting together some ‘care packages’ which will include bits and pieces e.g. books, earrings, lipbalms, seeds, Tshirts, food (earrings and lipbalms will be replaced by other ‘manly’ items for blokes!). This is really the least I can do for all the support that I have received through my blogs in the past three years, not to mention the friends that I have made and the worry that I caused when I went MIA!

How do I participate:
Leave a comment on this post (will be open until 30th) and I will pick a minimum of three names to send packages out. Depending on what the reception and my budget is like, I will try to send to more than three commentators…I might only get one comment on this posting, who knows!!

When will I get it?
I will probably be sending this out through land and not air mail, as air mail costs will probably be much higher than the items contained in the care box. Obviously, if you’re in the UK, the package will probably reach you in a day or two rather than taking up to three months. Yes, this is open to all my readers irregardless of where you live.

I will be sending out items in a month or two, and you should receive it about three months after the posting have gone through. You should be getting your packages through by Christmas (I hope!) and might choose to open it on Christmas morning instead.

What is the catch?
The catch is that upon receiving the package, you promise to do the same on your blog. If you do not have a blog, a token sum donated to my chosen charity would be very much appreciated.

I have questions!!
Then please email nasilemak at sourrain dot com

Can I specify my gifts?
I am not Santa Claus neither am I your mother - so NO! However, I will try my very best to provide a happy suprise rather than a nasty one. This means no meat products for veggies or seeds for people that do not even have a cactus. And no girly products for male receipient - unless you specifically ask for it that is.

Sekian, terima kasih. (that’s all, thank you)

PS: Please either leave your email address on the comment or email me at nasilemak at sourrain dot com - otherwise I will not be able to get in touch with you!

A storm’s brewing once again in the land I call home….

One of Malaysia’s most prominent political blogger, credited as being a big resounding influence on the recent elections is currently in jail for sedition of one of his blog post. This is THE man that regular citizens have looked up to for his courage and fearlessness in revealing injustice and defying opression by the same people that has been trusted to run the country. Making a stand, RPK has refused bail and visitors. His wife started a campaign to raise his bail money (a measly RM5000, less than USD 2000) - hoping that 5000 Malaysians will donate RM1 each. After 6 hours the total is about RM24,000 in bank transfers and USD 4,000 via pay pal. Being at work, I completely missed the whole donation drive and by the time I came back it had been suspended due to the generosity from people donating a few hundred RMs at a time instead of the requested RM1. Regular citizens just wanting to do their part to help this man who is quick acquiring folk hero status.

His wife, who had personally witnessed him beaten up by the cops when he was arrested in 2000, is pleading that all Malaysians do their part, and petition their MP to boycott Parliament. Hopefully with enough protests, the powers to be will realize that RPK is not alone, and the Malaysian public that was responsible for the political tsunami will again show their support for one of the very few who are brave enough to stand up against the limp government.

The reason I am blogging this because I am advocating democratic free speech - media or otherwise. RPK, as a highly articulate journalist and a member of the royal family is now in jail for a blog post. Is there any hope for the rest of us - the regular citizens? You’ve voted for change - please continue to support those who advocated change and woke the rest of us up to the non democratic government.

If anything happens to RPK whilst he is in jail, I have no doubt that a turbulent upheaval will occur in Malaysia….

UPDATED 8th May: Bail have been posted and RPK will be released tomorrow. There will be a candlelight vigil at Dataran Merdeka at 8pm tonight.

I am on a self-imposed exile at the moment. Apologies for emails unanswered - it is not my intention to ignore anyone. I will definately reply upon getting out of my funk

PS: There are issues with my protected posts..not sure what to do about them now. It would not accept the correct password and yet allows those with no password to read it.Blah.

be back in a couple of days.

YC is one of my favourite blogger with a heart of gold. She is smokin’ ,super drama, dead nice…and a sucker for ice cream..how can y0u not like anyone with such a innane love of ice cream.In the midst of her super-drama life, she has found time to lend a helping hand …and for all of us whose life is waaaay less dramatic than her, surely we can find some time from all this blog reading to give a little back to someone else who truly needs it?

In YC’s words:

” I stumbled upon Yvonne Foong’s website by chance. Being a drama queen who whines n complains gila babi when the world doesn’t revolve around me puts me to shame after spending more time understanding her situation.

At the peak of her youth, Yvonne’s diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (A rare inherited disorder resulted by genetic mutations which causes growth of tumors in the nervous system, commonly involving the cranial, spinal and auditory nerves (brain, spine and ears). With its broad clinical spectrum, NF2 patient may develop a wide range of distinct problems such as symptoms of nausea, balance problems, partial facial paralysis, changes of vision, numbness or weakness in the arms or legs, fluid buildup in the brain and most importantly the loss of hearing.)

Yvonne suffered sudden health deteriorations that robbed her bodily capabilities, became deaf, and soon had difficulty balancing. To date, Yvonne has undergone 1 spine and 3 brain surgeries.

Despite having went through four surgeries, many tumours are growing in Yvonne’s brain, spine, and along peripheral nerves. To monitor her health, Yvonne requires periodic MRIs, expensive doctor consultations, eye examinations, X-Rays, and many more.

Just recently, a cluster of tumours were newly discovered inhibiting her right optic nerve. Doctors in Malaysia tested her eyes and concluded that they could not do anything about it. Yvonne is set to see an Neuro-Ophthalmologist at UCLA in May. She is determined to save her eyesight, and nothing can stop her from believing.

Yvonne’s one of the most courageous young women I’ve ever met, she deserves every single piece of respect that I have to offer. Instead of letting the incurable disease get in the way of her dreams, she took the world with all the strength that she has.”

YC has kindly sponsored four handmade dresses by Drama Mama under her own funky label of Blackjettas Design for Yvonne’s fundraising which will soon be up for auction on Ebay. During the month-long charity auction, a new dress will be up for bidding each week.

The charity auction will span from March 22 to April 22, 2007. All biddings will be conducted on Ebay, making worldwide participation possible. Winning bidders will have the option of paying by Paypal which has credit card facilities. Dresses may be shipped worldwide.(NO MORE EXCUSES KAY!)

100% of the making from the auction will go to Yvonne’s medical fund.

For more information, please visit Yvonne’s website. If you want to know more, Yvonne has a book up for sale as well..” I’m not sick, just a little unwell” , and I believe that it is on sale at MPH.

Now get your ass off and go bid/donate/buy/remortgage. Thank you have a good day god bless you.xx

From time to time, I read blogs by people that i don’t usually read, and it’s usually through links of those that are on my blogroll. I don’t really enjoy them, but its for the times when I am bored out of my mind. Some end up being on my blogroll because I end up reading them more than once a week and enjoy them tremendously(see new additions to my links).

One of the blogs I read occasionally belong to a married woman with 2 kids.A week ago (I think) she posted that single people who thinks that they are happy are in denial. She also thinks that if you think you are single and can depend on your friends, you are just denying your friends the chance to hook up and NOT be single. You are thus pathetic and a sore loser by proclaiming that you are happy being single.

I seem to think that I have quite an ‘authority’ on this topic - aherm. I am obviously not jealous of her married status and her happiness in being married. I think marriage should not be the be all and end all. It is the solidification of the commitment you have with someone and an agreement that even though he farts in bed and leaves his socks everywhere, you would still like to be together with this person. If one day your other half cannot stand it any longer, marriage over, no need to dwell on it and stay in a relationship just to have someone miserable to spend the rest of your life with.I also feel, and tell me if I am wrong, that I am no less of a friend to the people who are important to me whether or not I am single. It is a union of two persons, not one half of a person. Just because I am married does not mean we’ve morphed into siamese twins. True, I might have more time to kau jai (seduce men) with the girls if I am single, but other than that, I do not see myself having no time for my friends (distance notwithstanding ok).

I have many, many single friends. Many smugly-married seemed to have choose their married status over friends. I believe that my utter trust in decisions my friends make and my ability to stand by them irregardless is the reason why I keep friends. I can say that if any of them (single friends) choose to hook up with tom,dick or harry just TO BE MARRIED and IN A RELATIONSHIP, they can. In fact, most of them are actually quite *cough*hot*cough*. But they choose to be single. And I believe that they are happy in the single state. Heck, if you do not choose to be single, I don’t think you would have the space to know yourself well enough to love someone else. Unless you know and love yourself, I do not believe that you are able to love someone else. I chose to be single once, a long long time ago,because I knew I needed it. It was a scary process (resulting in a tattoo), but a nessacary one for me to discover who/what I want in life. And you know what? Those were the best days of my life. It might take you 10 years, it might take you 1 year, the process varies between people. But the bottom line is, you can still choose to be single AND happy.And no, it is not lame. In fact I think it is extremely commendable to choose to be single. Esp if you are single and NOT LOOKING. It is always better to not be in a relationship than to be in the wrong relationship for all the cliched reasons.

I know quoting her without linking her page is quite nonsensical since I am bitching posting about it, but this year my resolution is to be more zen;therefore no flaming.Besides, she did say that it is just solely her personal opinion.That did not stop many of her regular readers from leaving harsh comments anyway - some call her closeminded and ignorant. Its people like her that gives the coupled up a bad name - you all know that sort of couples,they stare smugly down at happy singletons. I know of many smugly coupled who feels/think the same as her - including my own parents. I do not blame the older generation - women were brought up to depend on men. We also, in this age in time, do not NEED a (marriage)license to screw, which was another one of her reasons.I sometimes wonder if she lives in the dark ages.And brandishing her christianity as part of the reason why people should get married - man, that is just not down with it.

But guys, do tell me - do you think it is OK choose to be single or do you (like her) think that God created Adam & Eve (which in the first place I am not even christian:)) and thus if you are single you are pathetic and lame?Or worse, desparately in denial ?

The day that all men dread and all women love is tomorrow - how quick was that?

I had never been a big fan of valentines’ day. One year my car got stolen. One year I had dinner at a posh restaurant - my exbf was there as well with me,but he was doing the cooking instead of eating with me. I even helped out by going around the restaurant taking pictures for lovebirds to keep as a token of their celebration. Last year I stayed at home alone whilst bacon went off to a football match. So I would count the men that I had been with extremely lucky that I had never demanded anything for Valentine’s day! Not only that, I don’t even sulk if they don’t see me. Now, are you in love with me yet?

Marcus did a list of things that elcheapo men can do for their other halves for valentines day. Being an elcheapo , here are suggestions of what a girl can do for her man for valentines day whilst still keeping her shoe fund full:

1.Let him go out with his mates. Yes, on Valentine’s day. Trust me, he’ll love you for it. All the lovey dovey that is bound to happen on this commercialized lovers night will make him miss you more and he’ll probably can’t wait to tear your clothes off when he gets back.

2. Buy sexy lingerie. Put sexy lingerie on. Tie bow. Pose on bed. Tip: If too poor, wrap body in cheesecloth.

3. Pop porn into tv. Pop corn into microwave. Remove. Butter. Enjoy. (add champagne if needed. If feeling too cheap, sparking water)

4. Watch sports on tv with him. Any sports. It seldom matters whether it is lawn bowling, curling or rugby.Provide beer.

5. Buy him a cactus instead of flowers this Valentine’s day. It’s a bloke plant(minimal attention, pokey macho needles) and it looks less gay and a dozen of deep red roses.

6. Go out by yourself. Spend time with your girl friends, single or not. Get a manicure, get a haircut, go for some decadent food. They will love you for it and so would he - excuse for not having to act like a lovelorn puppy is good enough for him.

No doubt tomorrow the roads will be filled wtih lovelorn lovers with big bunches of flowers and chocolates and the restaurants will be filled with men obligated to stare into their lovers eyes all night before splashing out half a month’s salary on a meal of grass and a silver of maet.I will be home, dying of jealousy.

Happy Valentine’s day elcheapos!