Embracing 'Ex-Stock'

I'm having a casual chat with a friend, and out of the blue, he throws this question at me: "Can I refill my detergents this week?" Now, here's the kicker – I happen to run a little side gig: a detergent refill station. It's my small way of contributing to the battle against plastic waste, one refill at a time.

Anyway, back to the convo. He drops this term on me: "ex-stock." And I'm sitting there, scratching my head, wondering if it's some kind of secret code. 

So, being the curious soul that I am, I ask him to break it down for me. Turns out, it's just a fancy way of saying "available immediately."

I know, I know – not exactly the most mind-blowing revelation. But hey, you've gotta celebrate the little victories, right? So here I am, geeking out over my newfound vocab: ex-stock. 

Who knew learning could be this thrilling? 😄

Ranau Library

I always love reading and i love my books..Recently i went to Ranau Library with my mom(she's a book lover as well :D ) and i was amazed on how the Ranau Library had changed!

It now has its own building, compare to 10 years back when it was located at  upstairs of a shop lot! Thank you to whoever it is to finally realize Ranau needs a better library. Well went inside the library it is quite huge divided into few sections. It also has a multimedia section where some research can be made computerized-no facebooking of course!

I am so excited with the new library-well to consider that i always happy with lots of books around me :). It was a weekdays when i went there for the first time and there was not much people. Second time, yes a lot! At least people know how to appreciate library.

I didn't take any photo as the management is quite strict-but maybe i will take some this week (hope the librarian never read this blog anyway ). I borrow a few books from the library for my work. Hmm but one thing is that the books in the library is not neatly arranged. i was looking for a business and marketing book actually but only find a few and to my astonishment it never been borrowed! The book come in on Jan 2009 and i am the first who borrow it on April 2011..Hmmm

Interesting book actually..maybe not many people realize that the library actually has quite a few interesting books apart from novels. I am really interested in Sales and Marketing but i couldn't afford to enroll myself for any class yet-so yep i use all the resources (free) as i can to get educated, study and maybe will just sit for the exam one day? Sometimes i wonder why is that i study Computer Science before and not Business and Marketing..But i never regret it-i always believe that life is a school - we learn something new everyday.


I share one of the poem from this book: The Ultimate Marketing Plan

A lion met a tiger as they drank beside the pool.
Said the tiger to the lion, “Why are you roaring like a fool?”
“That’s not foolish,” said the lion with a twinkle in his eyes.
“They call me king of all the beasts because I advertise.”

A rabbit heard them speaking, ran homeward like a streak,
Thought he’d try the lion’s trick, but his roar was just a squeak.
A fox was walking by that way, had luncheon in the woods.

The Moral: Never advertise unless you have the goods!

Happy reading people!

The Kite Runner

Bought this last week, but hadn't get the time to sit down n really read it. Its actually a real experience of the Afghanistan people, how they deal with their everyday life, move to other country, their culture and their religion. I love this book!

My teacher used to tell me that reading is to at least appreciate all the pain, experiences and life, on other people. Its a lifetime experience of a man, put in a book, for someone to read. And yea, The Kite Runner is a lifetime experience of an Afghanistan name Amir.

I am a Christian, and live in a Muslim country, but i only have a slight idea on what muslim is. For me, its just a Mosque, Friday prayer and halal. But reading The Kite Runner, open my mind that the Muslim itself actually has different kind. I mean just like Christianity, we have Protestant, catholic.

Amir as the main character, comes from wealthy family, and they have a servant, a Hazara a shia Muslim. Amir and his family is a Pashtun, a Sunni Muslim. There's a lil bit difference in Sunni and shia but, they still get along together.

After the Soviet invasion, Amir's father took Amir to America and sought asylum. They were no longer wealthy and life as immigrants was hard. But eventually Amir finished college and became a successful writer.

The Kite Runner is a tale of friendship, betrayal and redemption. It is about human's struggles with sin and family traditions. It is about personal and cultural honor and shame. It is an old-fashioned kind of novel that really sweeps you away, as one review says.

And i love Amir's father quote : There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.

Being ruled by Russian then Taliban Baba says : The Mullahs want to rule our souls... and the Communists tell us we don't have any.

The book is a really great experience to open one's mind on how we see things. To understand things, especially when you embrace something that you don't even understand its history :)...

Sold: Story of Modern-day Slavery

I found this book while checking a bookstore at Timesquare last month..I was actually looking for a book, about a little girl being sold by her mother, but couldn't remember the title..haiya...i am very keen to read that book..Anyway, i asked the staff there to look for a book entitle SOLD and there's a little girl on the cover. He check on the system, and said that the book sold is under woman eductaion, something like thatla..then i said..ok la..just let me check that book first..

The book was awesome!

Zana Muhsen (born 1965) and her sister, Nadia (born 1966) were sisters of Yemeni and british origin who were born and brought up in Birmingham, England. They were sent to Yemen in 1980 on a purported holiday to meet the paternal side of their family, but sold unaware into marriage in by their father, Muthanna Muhsen, a Yemeni émigré.

Its a true story and i can't stop wondering, why a father can do such thing to his little girls! Looking at their photos taken by journalist, Eileen McDonald, i can imagine days that they have to go through everyday. Not even know their husband, far from loving them, being rape by their so called husband and getting so much impossible housework...omg.

My heart cry when the writer explained every details on all the days she have to live with. After 6 years she finally reunite with her mother, and with the help of so many people, she finally back to England.

After being reunited with her mother, Zana expressed unhappiness in England, and was quoted by McDonald, "I want to go back to Taiz [where she had lived in Yemen] and get a job. I will visit England when I want to. I am not sure I want to be a British woman anyway. I don't like the short skirts; it's disgusting."However, she remained in England and in 1992, wrote Sold: Story of Modern-day Slavery with the ghostwriter Andrew Crofts, describing her experiences.

A very sad story yet can learn so many things from it. Well, sometimes, we took things for granted, even when getting wooden toys for a birthday gift, we will just put it aside and never appreciate it. Do you know that Zana's child only use muds and dusts as a toy? Yep, she has a son, but she has to leave him there when she returned to England. The Yamen government forbid her to take her son with her to england.