Pickles n' Tickles by JJ

Moneygami WOULD you have known that Chrometophobia actually referred to the fear of money ? Quite frankly, I thought it was the fear of chrome. I don't know of anyone in my world who feared cash cuz most would be happy to be printing money in their backyards so they had greedy amount of paper money to sleep on or to keep a bonfire going with it! Okay, I'm exaggerating but I don't see how one can be persistently fearful of money to such distressing point that there was a need to coin a word for it. So I was somewhat perplexed when I first heard of the C word during a recent Business Writing workshop by Rajen Devadason (I realised I knew more about car engines than economics at the workshop). Consequently, that got me Googling for other uncommon phobias (or at least in my mind), and I ended up with the list below! To learn about more phobias, go to http://www.fearofstuff.com/   1) Arachibutyrophobia : You wouldn't have guessed it too, bu...

 SAREES are some of the nicest things I'd spend my money on although I only see myself wearing them three or four times a year for weddings. Still, I love sarees more than any other Indian costume cuz they bring out a woman's curves in a most flattering way (provided one wears one that's suitable). So, while shopping with my mother and aunt yesterday, I dragged them out of a spice shop to check out a certain saree boutique on Lahat Road, Ipoh . Beautiful colours and materials in all shades and texture, some were designer sarees, and some, according to the shop assistant, were 'one-only' pieces. "Unique pieces, Miss. If you wear one of these to a party, I guarantee you'd be the only one wearing it," he said in good spirit. Sounded nice, but I've always taken the sweet words of a saree shop assistant with a jar of salt. At least this person stopped at that. Some fellas would start qouting you their 'best price' once ...

We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. - The Tempest, Shakespeare - But what do you do when you can't sleep ? I, for one, count sheep , and it works on most times (although as a child, it was easier to imagine goats than sheep cuz my grandfather's home was next to a goat farm that fortunately didn't belong to us. But yea, counting goats was not the same as counting sheep cuz I never liked them goats - they stared. Then again, I also hated Granfather's chickens - they chased. Damn birds with agression issues).    View from cousin Lorna's house in Kendal, Lake District Close-up : Sheep dotting the green grass - a peaceful sight I LOVED this place and still do :) Last night was a struggle as I tossed and turned, and finally wriggled out of bed and got onto Twitter to moan about my sleepless state (I think the caffeine from our Desk meeting did me in but thank heavens I wasn't palpitating). Just the night ...

"DO not add my mother on your Facebook okay. If she adds you, just pretend like you didn't get any request from her, unless of course if you want her to post embarassing replies to your statuses. I think I need to  create a whole new profile just for her and my aunts," said Mich. "Oh babe, I just taught your mom how to poke you," I replied, laughing. I get Mich's point - I also wouldn't want my mother on my FB, checking on stuff I'd only want my friends and acquaitances to have access to. What's more with an older friend confessing to me last week of 'stalking' her daughter on FB. Freaky, isn't it. You must have seen the look on her face when she had said it.  Aunty Lian on FB Thirty minutes earlier, while Mich was sleeping upstairs, I was in the kitchen, playing with Daisy (the much-loved golden retriever) and talking to Aunty Lian, Mich's mom. The 70++ retired English teacher was animatedly telling me about her ne...

I'M on a diet and feeling like a hungry vamp-on-the-prowl every now and then before I feed on more raw or cooked vegetables at this point, which is actually Day 2. But it's not too bad - I discovered that I like my greens more than I thought I did. Day 1 was to hell and back since I lived on fruits alone! There must be something in fruits that bring out the primal instincts in me. Or how else do I explain this raging urge to drag the asshole who cuts queue during prime time traffic and seal him in a narrow well, or to practice my uppercuts on the neighbour who keeps his bulky trash on my doorstep? Thinking straight is also a challenge with only fruits, I tell ya. I found it testing to write a straight-forward event piece yesterday after my lunch, which was a platter of dragon fruits, melons and pink guavas. The fruits drove me nuts, but I'll still keep up with it. The  General Motor Diet is actually quite doable when you think about it. This is...

SO I am hopeless at handling automobiles according to my dad. He had secretly confirmed it long ago but when I came home driving with a smoked up bonnet on July 1, finally he said it to my face.   "Buying a new car is not going to solve it if you slacked in caring for it. "With you, it'll just be a matter of months till the new one also ends up like this. "Look at mine - it's more than 30 years old but it's as good as new because I've cared for it," said dad, looking helplessly at my Suzuki Vitara 4x4, which was parked outside the gate. Dad's old machine With the bonnet propped up, the smoke went up higher in heavy grey swirls and the smell of a possibly barbequed gasket was over-powering. It took about 12 hours for the smoke to subside but the smell lingered on. The only saving grace was that the engine still roared a mean roar when I started it. My mother was quite hysterical when I arrived from Kuala Lump...

IT was five days before 30th birthday when I received a news alert that read 'Michael Jackson had died!'. Such an earth-shatteringly shocking news it was, and yet all I did was toss the phone away, and focus on driving without a thought on the greatest entertainer who ever lived. At a different time, I would've immediately gone online to verify the news, and kept tabs of the tragedy and mourned for the man who had yearned to heal the world. But it was barely a normal instant when I got that text message because my Grandma, who had defined my world had died just a few hours from MJ on June 25, 2009. I was also driving when my brother rang to ask if I was okay before he calmly released the news of Grandma's passing earlier that day. He told me to drive back carefully before hanging up. I clutched the mobile phone close to me and drove with a numb mind. A woman most important in my life had died, and I wasn't there by her side. I...