Bulging Eyes and Ringing Ears

Yeah of course the photo bomb

I've been researching a certain type of television program for the past week to see how they measure up to my latest concept,  and my eyes and ears are beginning to rebel from overexposure to media.  I'm sure if anyone saw me, all they'd think is, "huh, lucky for some, surfing shows daily."  Well believe me, most times it's not, especially if you see how much drivel is out there masquerading itself as a show.  (Now you understand why my kids try not to go to the movies with me, they usually shush me as I mutter a stream of comments under my breath ...)

So when the ladies organised a get together for Wednesday night, it was with a resounding yes that I agreed to go.  Suffice to say I've not gone out to clubs/bars/watering holes, whatever you want to call them, in quite a while so it was interesting to discover this new place called Elysium in town. Situated atop one of the business towers in town, it was relatively easy and painless to get there (yes this all really counts OK!) The lovely hostess guided me to the lift that whisked me up to the 31st floor, where the friendly waiters showed me to a lovely terrace overlooking the Kuala Lumpur Skyline.  It had just finished raining so the evening was cool and balmy.  I was introduced to everyone as there were fresh new faces there, one of the other reasons I went.

Great View

The young helpful young waiter efficiently went through a list of cocktails especially prepared for ladies night.  Unfortunately though, his accent was so thick I kept saying " sorry, could you repeat that " and leaned closer to hear him.  He sort of rolled his eyes and produced the menu for me to read for myself ... Oh you mean "urban legend" I said.  He gave me that look, you know the one, we've all done it before the "that's what I said" look.  Oooo kayy then.

biggest plate of nachos ever!

Back to the Ladies, so we have a former COO of radio broadcasting, 1 producer, 1 zero waste campaigner,  1 marketing and promotions whiz , 1 traffic news presenter and a high flyer from a major research company.  As you can imagine the conversation was eclectic and ranged from trips to the south and north pole to chasing escaping pets on a beach!  One thing we all had in common, we were all tired of the  chauvinistic behaviour still rampant in our  respective industries even though we've moved into the 21st century (I guess the burning of bras was not enough to break the glass celing!) and that feminism was more about equality, not who's better.  The conversation came to a head when we discussed how we could collectively begin to create a network of women to set up a form of "old boys club" in order to help each other move up the ladder.  I'm sure you understand exactly what I mean.  It was also refreshing to go out and have a lively and entertaining discussion, as opposed to being bored out of your mind with the company, conversation, place, time...zzzzz.

Pro back lighting yall he he he

As the night wound down,  the DJ started ramping it up, (must say really good choice of tunes from the lady jock).  We said our farewells.   A few of the girls had already agreed to meet up separately  for potential collaborations.  I'd say that was well and truly worth the night out.

And the best part?  We'll be meeting up again soon.  Right I have to get cracking, only two more days to our Scandelabra Showcase, now that Lisa is well and up and about, it's full steam ahead!  Look forward to seeing you there!  Keep those e mails coming in and thank you again for your subscription.

Throwing down the gauntlet

Blay watching the Polar Bear on Telly

I was vegging out in front of the idiot box the other day and as I'm a big wild life/ below zero /extreme fishing fan, naturally a program about polar bears had caught my attention.  Heey! they may be the most dangerous carnivores on this earth but they're still the cutest! But that's not my point, stop distracting me!  My cat Blay, whom my son an I had found as a kitten in the car park, took one look at the Polar Bear on the screen and went straight into hunt mode.  I giggled to myself thinking "yup a little 5 pound kitty against a 300 lb bear, that's about fair... (well in Blay's head)  as my little "happy " cat sailed through the air from the couch to land in front of the telly. She then proceeded to watch the show too!

So as the documentary played on, the host of the show was waiting for the mother bear to leave her den with the cubs and move on  to a different part of the vast snow filled islands to find food as she had been in hibernation for 6 months. Thinking she was just taking the cubs out for some fresh air just like  days past, he realised she was actually leaving as she just kept walking on... and though she looked back a couple of times that was it. They just moved on.   I thought to myself, humans very rarely if ever just pick up and go.  We have so much baggage or "things" that we have to bring with us that it takes time, emotional preparation, money and organisation to do so. 

My daughter Leilani picking up and going (as far as the beach.. heh)

More pondering, the slow turning of the rusty wheels in my brain could almost be heard as I had  just been introduced to Claire Sancelot who headed the Zero Waste Movement in Hong Kong.  She had recently moved to Malaysia with her family and was trying to find her feet here.   Meeting her only reinforced my mind set of how I was living my life.  I try to recycle as much as I can, organise the meals so food waste is minimal (well when you have two teenagers in the house, there is NO SUCH THING AS LEFTOVERS!!) 

I know even though the ministry here is saying we as a nation have to start recycling NOW, they've  pushed the deadlines for implementation because the nation were (are ?) not "ready".  These are among the public responses received recently when asked on their preparedness in the implementation of the Act and I quote from www.therakyatpost.com   

• “What is waste separation? I know nothing about the Act being implemented in September”. (2015)
• “Is it true that action will be taken on home and business owners if they don’t separate the waste? It feels like a burden”.
• “Why there has not been any news on this new regulation? I have no qualms about following the new rule as recycling is already practised in my household”.     

                          This is a Fab Video from The Plastic Coalition. 

I guess for some of us, it's easy peasy, it's something you do without thinking, but for those who still feel a bit in the dark, I've asked Claire to give me her thoughts on Zero Waste here in Malaysia.   She says  "start by refusing small items like plastic bag, straw, bottles..., carry your reusable bag, refillable water bottles.  Little changes go a long way.  We have only one planet and it cannot be recycled and right now we are destroying our living environment.   Free yourself from things, its is extremely liberating.  Happiness does not come from things"    She also quoted that clothes are the second largest polluter to  Our environment  (Ladies stop rolling your eyeballs, and men this is not the reason to continue to wear that horrible 5 O shirt OK?)   For those of you who are interested in reading more about Zero Waste, Clair has a page on Face Book ZERO WASTE KUALA LUMPUR  

Now one of my pet dislikes are the styrofoam containers we're constantly given by vendors for take away or *tapow* as we do here in Asia, so like our forefathers who were actually more eco friendly, I've gotten ahold of a tiffin carrier, especially for take away food. 

I got mine from Alibaba express

These Beauties are from India

I got this for my dad from Thailand

So I challenge you to do the same, I've also got a Facebook Page called Daph's Caf , do post your pics of your tiffin carriers there... if you dare :-p

Have a lovely week ahead.