First Baby Book and other related details....

Some of you who are reading this blog might be thinking, " Hey, where is Alex in all this pregnancy blogging? This is the Alex-Cheryl blog and not just a Cheryl blog. Doesn't the father to be have something to say?"

Well I must say that my hubby is a man of many words - in speech. While I am a woman of many words, it is more so in print. I am fairly less chatty in person (although some friends beg to differ) but really I'd rather observe people than talk up a storm. Alex on the other hand is usually the source of the storm. And this is good. Our differences here balances the equation.

Anyhow, I digress. The point I was trying to make was, although Alex hasn't blogged much, he has made several attempts, evidenced by the fact that I have 3 drafts sitting in my list of posts, none of which exceed 3 sentences :)

This father to be has been a very dedicated father-to-be. I didn't realize how seriously he took the pregnancy until he dragged me to Borders Bookstore one Sunday and was super insistent about buying this book.



Apparently this is the best book to read for expectant families. It has become Alex's duty to read this book, updating me about what to expect throughout the pregnancy on a week to week basis. Having your man involved is great because it gives the man another way to connect with the pregnancy experience through the 9 month period. While men can never experience nor really understand the difficulties of carrying a child, it is good to involve them in the entire saga. This is not only because us women need their emotional and physical support, it also gives them a sense of responsibility plus refreshing the fact that they played a major role in bringing about this bundle of joy.

Alex has been much more serious about our pregnancy than I have been. He has been very strict about me staying away from raw and cold foods. So no sushi, no salads, nothing that has been kept in the open in the fridge, no mayonaise ...etc. One exception - I have been insisting on deli meats because I do so love my cold cuts and he has given in (only for deli meats) as long as I zap them in the microwave first. He has also been making sure I have a sip of water at 11.30pm plus my nightly folic acid supplement without fail even though I kick up a fuss about having to swallow any form of pill. (My mother can tell you how much a pain it is to try and get me to eat supplements. She has been on my case for years about Vitamin C, Evening Primrose Oil, Fish Oil - I actually don't take them at all)

Alex has been very faithful (or I should say stubborn) about making sure I eat the supplements for the sake of the baby's development. He has been waking me up nightly at the same time to take it. You might be wondering why he has to wake me up. Its because I normally crash at 8.30pm while he only sleeps at 11.30pm. So before he gets in bed, he brings up the water plus pill and gives me a quick wake up for them.

Though I'm singing praises about my husband's dedication here, I secretly think he enjoys watching me pout, kick and complain about having to take the folic acid supplement. The thing is FOUL. Tastes absolutely gross. Its a folic acid plus iron supplement and the iron content in the pill makes me feel yuck.

But I guess since he is going to so much trouble in making sure I take the pill, I can easily do my part by just swallowing it :)


cheryl

Pregnancy - Week 6

I think I have the reverse of the morning sickness. I have noticed a pattern over the last few days. I come home from work and basically lie around groaning trying to hold my stomach down. Nausea is a nightly theme so all thoughts of eating dinner has been thrown out the window. I tried some lemon and hot water. No sugar. It seems to help. Once I stop sipping it seems to come back fairly quickly.

To try eat, I seem to only be able to stomach instant noodles. And I think going with the sour theme of the lemon, I am able to have instant spicy Korean noodles with lots of tabasco sauce and a large squeeze of lemon juice. Instant chicken flavoured Cintan mee is also working.

So most nights I am unable to eat anything and when I can, its instant noodles or bust. I suppose some form of nutrient is better than none at all. I hope this improves soon.

cheryl

Pregnancy - Week 5

So I'm going to start writing weekly posts about our pregnancy on this blog. Mainly to track my bodily changes on a week to week basis, to keep a journal of my experience that I can come back to in the future (who knows, maybe baby will get to read this when he/she is older!) and also for friends/readers of this blog who may appreciate some basic info about what to expect when pregnant.


I am feeling a little out of sorts at the moment trying to embrace the new me and the fact that our family will have an extra member really soon. The news is still sinking in. I'm usually quite confident about decisions that I make and am organized about things that I have to get done but in this case of being pregnant, I am feeling rather overwhelmed, very green around the ears and kinda wish I had a software that I could install in my brain called 'All you need to know about pregnancy and children'.


I suppose most of my trepidation comes from the fact that I am in Australia and all I know about raising children is based in Malaysia. Things like health care, maternity stuff, childcare, clothing for changing weather, bedding for changing weather, car seats, capsules, maternity leave, work arrangements, money... all these things are blinking like crazy neon lights in my mind. To say that I feel equipped to raise a child at this moment is wishful thinking but I guess all first time mothers feel the same way?


Anyhow with that said, we had my blood tests done this week. All my health indicators are good. I have a rather high iron level (0.1 higher than the normal range) and best of all my cholesterol level is now at an all time low of 4.8! I am so happy with that result. To explain a little, I am super happy with that result because while I was with Intel my cholesterol level was 6.5 for two years. After the second high reading, I decided to do something about it and started exercising at the gym during my lunch hours. After 4 months, I had another health check and my cholesterol levels had dropped to 5.8 which was a fantastic reward for all my efforts even though the number was still above the healthy range. Since then I had not had another health check but I have kept to some form of weekly exercise. And now its at 4.8! Woohoo! I think it could be stress related. I didnt use to feel stressed while at Intel but I must say that out of 10 colleagues, 7 of us would be diagnosed with high cholesterol. So my conclusion is that our high levels must have been stress related.


As for how I am feeling this week, I am extremely tired when I come home from work at 5pm. I am unwilling to cook, mostly because I have no appetite (and as people who love to eat know, you can't cook a good meal unless you feel the passion and desire to eat it) I struggle to keep my eyes open for a couple more hours because if I fall asleep at 5pm, I would then wake at maybe 3am the next morning and boy, will I pay the price for it the next day. After my very valiant efforts of staying upright, I usually collapse by 8-830pm and sleep till 7am the next day.


There is not much body change other than a lack of appetite for dinner and extreme tiredness for this week. More soon.

cheryl

A Surprise and The Beginnings of an Adventure

So we found out today that we are pregnant!


I have been feeling a little odd over the last 2 weeks and the thought of being pregnant snowballed into a huge possiblity when I missed my regular monthly visit from Aunt Flow. Mostly I had being feeling tired, especially at nights when I could barely keep my eyes open once the clock hit 7pm and come 830pm I would have to call it a night. I would come back from work feeling absolutely disinterested in cooking and in food. So those were the initial signs.

The last few days have been slow going and with each passing day my anxiety has been growing. Not just because this possibility was a constant reminder at the back of my mind, but also because I had to adjust doing several new things and taking more responsibility at work all at the same time. I was going to start in a new role at work which required some mental preparation and some form of studying.

So we waited until Alex completed his final paper which so happened to be my first day at work in the new role. We made an appointment to see the doctor. You must be wondering why I didn't have the kit done at home with the urine. Well I figured that if my suspicions were accurate, I would have to go in for a doctors appointment anyway so why not get the confirmation in one hit? If I did the urine test at home, there could be the possibility of doubt. 'Maybe the kit was wrong?'

In we went for the check and the doctor gave us the affirmative news. I must say that the doctor must have thought we were the most reluctant couple he has ever given the news to. Both Alex and I were dumbfounded when he confirmed the news. The momentary silence was so deafening we could have heard a pin drop. It was mostly out of shock I think. Even though we were both prepared for the possibility, actually hearing it from a health professional super super CONFIRMS it. No mistakes there.


Anyways, the doctor has written up a list of basic blood tests that I need to get checked out for and from this day onwards we will be having monthly check ups to make sure everything is going good and on track.


Oh and just for laughs, this is Alex's response to the positive urine test :) It so happens this was the shirt he was wearing that day.

Wish us all the best folks. Its a whole new journey, one much longer than just a flight, a hop and a skip away. This will be a 25 year journey..... We are pregnant!

cheryl

Penang Food Adventures - Malaysian Kuih

This is the final installment of the Penang food series. I have been posting multiple entries about Penang food with pictures taken from my not so recent trip back to Penang in July. I thought I better get on with and post these before my next trip back to Penang in January which would undoubtedly be dotted with more food excursions. More food excursions = more food entries :)

I do food entries here and there on this blog firstly because great memories are created over a good spread on a table. And since I'm away from Penang I like to be able to look back and remember the foods that I miss from home. A blog with pictures is a good fodder for that. Secondly its to sort of promote Penang food. I get random hits from people who are looking for locations of great tasting food in Penang and these posts could lead them to some of the best secrets of Penang. Thirdly, there are many others who like me are far away from home and reading a blog like this could be a way of sharing similar experiences, emotions or evoking memories about our 'old' home regardless if it was Penang or not.

So on to the post for today, Malaysian Kuih!

What is kuih? The simple definition - It's bite sized goodies that are usually sweet in nature although some are a mix of savoury and sweet. They could also be called Asian cakes or pastries and these are eaten throughout the day whenever one can get their hands on them in between meals.

Pictured here are deep fried goodies - The 'Ti Kuih' and 'Lek Tau Kuih'. 'Ti Kuih' is essentially a sandwich made out of a slice of Chinese steamed sugar cake with two slices of yam. The sandwich is then dipped in batter and deep fried. The 'Lek Tau Kuih' is green bean paste made into a patty and then deep fried. There are varieties sold with these goodies like banana and sweet potato as well.

Pictured here is the 'Che Koo Kuih'. This is a brother of the 'Ang Koo Kuih'. I say its the brother because the ingredients are exactly the same in both and the difference is only in the color. The 'Che Koo Kuih' is a tortoise shaped cake encased in a rice flour dough filled with sweet mung bean/green bean. This is often gifted to friends and family when a newborn is a month old as part of a celebration ritual done by the Chinese. These days you can buy it off shelves in certain bakeries or even street vendors. I bought this box at Eaton.

Pictured here is the 'Ang Kong Nga Piah'. I love this simple kuih. It is actually made out of the same ingredients used to make the skin of mooncakes. There is no filling in this one and it is how I like it. I love having it with just a cup of water and letting the mix of a biteful of the kuih plus water just melt on my tongue. This is my favourite kuih to have in front of a tv show.

Pictured above is the 'Kuih Talam'. This is simple two layer kuih, the top most layer is lightly salted coconut cream while the bottom layer is made out of sweet pea flour and pandan extract. The texture of this kuih is slightly gooey and gelatinous but the sweet and salty of both layers plays off each other very well and it is a lovely kuih to have on a hot afternoon.

Pictured above is the 'Ham Chim Peng'. It is a yeast dough filled with red bean paste and lightly fried in oil. This a good supper kuih to have. There is a stall selling these in the old section of Penang town. Business is very brisk, open at 7.30pm, sold out by 9pm. Directions are as such: Across the street from Prangin Mall is Jalan Pintal Tali. Turn down that road and keep going until you hit the junction of Campbell Street. The stall is on your left right before that junction.

This is 'Pak Tong Kuih'. It is simple steamed rice and sugar cake. Very light and delicious, perfect for a hot summer evening. Kids who have lost their appetite when sick are usually given a piece of this to trigger their appetites or at least as a substitute until they regain a healthy appetite for food. The same stall that sells 'Ham Chim Peng' mentioned above also sells this kuih. It does not run out as quickly and you can sometimes still get this at 9.30pm.

This here is the 'Tai Yong Pau'. This doesn't actually fall into the category of Kuih but more steamed Chinese Buns but heck, I'm not doing another entry just specifically for buns so I'm putting in a mention here. This is similar to lotus seed bun except this is mega sized with a hidden treasure in the center - that being a full salted egg yolk! Absolutely yum.... If you love salted egg yolk like me, you will love this. It is cholesterol hell but its tastebud heaven.

For more details on Malaysian kuih, go here.

If you reside in Sydney and want to place orders for some kuih, go to Makan at Alice's. They also serve lunch and dinner. The menu looks really good and this is now on my list of places to hit while visiting Sydney.

Thus ends my Penang food ramblings - till February ...

cheryl

Penang Food Adventures - Best Malaysian Fruit!

The months of May-July is always the season for some of the best fruits in Penang. The fruits in mention here is the durian, mangosteen, langsat and rambutan. Mace and Pin took us on a drive to Balik Pulau and on the way we stopped for a helping of durian since 3 out of 4 of us in the car were craving for the delicious fruit. Guess who the 1 person who wasn't? :) My dear husband of course. Unfortunately majority wins so he had to go along for the adventure.

We chose a lovely durian of the Ganja variety. Now for those who have had this variety before you would know that its extremely potent. We were warned by the vendor that after having the durian we are to not drink water for at least 10 minutes. If not, you would feel dizzy or a little light headed. Definitely not ideal for driving through the winding steep roads of Balik Pulau.

But boy was it a treat! Here is a picture of the man cutting up the durian for us. Opening the spiky fruit requires skill and strength in the wrists. This man was clearly very experienced with it.

The stall also sold mangosteens. I love mangosteens. In fact, sometimes I think I love mangosteens more than I love durians. Lovely sweet white flesh encased in a fibrous dark purple casing.

This is a picture of langsat. Also a fruit with soft white translucent flesh yet completely different in taste to the mangosteen. I cannot describe the flavours of these fruits. You have to try it to know it. So if you haven't before, the next time you catch sight of these on sale at a roadside vendor, make sure you stop to give it a try.

There were plenty of other durian varieties on sale at the stall. The durians at Balik Pulau are often cited as being the best in Malaysia. The stall is located at the Balik Pulau lookout called 'Anjung Indah'. It has a nice scenic view of the sea from the top of the hill and is a nice, relaxing stop to make. For better directions to this place, go here.

This was our yummy Ganja. I had only two pieces of the fruit and was very satisfied. One good durian is definitely better than having 10 average ones.

Now, can someone please import Penang durians to Australia? The Thai ones available here are incomparable in taste and texture.

cheryl

Penang Food Adventures - Old House Cafe

While passing Kimberley Street on my last trip back in Penang in July, I spotted this newly renovated place called the Old House Cafe. The owners of this place bought 5 units of pre war shop houses and restored the structure to its former glory before adding a touch of the antique with the use of heavy wooden doors with metal trimmings, old style tea tables, seats, benches and artwork.

Curiosity got better of me so I talked my parents into having lunch at this new establishment. The prices are a bit on the steep side for regular coffee shop fare but I suppose you are paying the difference for cleanliness, cool comfort and a nice ambience. This would be the place to take customers or visiting friends/relatives for a simple lunch or dinner.
The exterior of the cafe. It is very hard to miss as it is the only stretch of green in a line of pre war buildings.

I get the feeling that no expense was spared when the owner poured funds into this place.

We ordered 3 of their most well known dishes. The first being 'Har Mee' - A slightly spicy prawn based soup noodle served with a big prawn, a pork spare rib garnished with fried onion. The soup had a lovely flavour to it. I have never been a big fan of Har Mee so I refrain from making much comment about this.

Another of their famed dish is the Braised Meat Rice. It is pork, chicken and hard boiled egg slowly cooked in simmering soy sauce with the chinese five spice powder before being chopped and served with rice. This dish to my opinion is the most value for money one can get in this cafe. If I return, I will order this again for myself.

This dish here is ho..ho... the 'Tu Kar Chor' also known as Pig Trotters cooked in Black Vinegar. If done well this dish is divine. It is often known as the dish that ladies in confinement crave for.

The version served in this cafe is not too bad though I wish it had more fat meat in it rather than being purely lean meat. However it is quite good value for money as you can see the from big chunks of meat in the picture above. Satisfying but not jaw dropping.

I might return for another visit to this cafe on my next trip but it won't be on the 'must do' section of my list of things to eat.

Location: 145-153 Kimberley Street.

Opening hours: 12-3pm, 6-10.30pm. Closed Tuesday

cheryl

Penang Food Adventures - Hawker Food

It's been awhile since my trip back home to Penang and I have been meaning to post about all the wonderful food I indulged in during that time but I admit I have a bit of slacker with my updates no thanks to my busy home life. Yes my busy home life :) So I have decided to make amends and do all the food posts in one weekend.

Lots of pictures coming up with short comments on where to find these delectable yummies.


This is 'Koay Chiap' - A steaming bowl of flat rice pieces served in a fragrant broth (duck stock) topped with lovely chopped pieces of duck meat, a hard boiled egg (cooked in simmering soy sauce), chopped chives and sometimes coriander. I have returned time and time again to this same stall and this is the only place where I have Koay Chiap. The stall that serves this dish is located at Kimberley Street. Its a small unassuming stall by the roadside with a very quick stream of customers coming and going - only available late evening ~8pm.

This is 'Char Koay Teow' - Flat rice noodles fried up in a hot wok, tossed in the searing heat with fresh, crisp bean sprouts, fried pork fat bits and finished off with an egg. This is also on Kimberley St.

This is 'Yong Tau Foo' - This dish is clear soup dish of Hakka origin containing a variety of vegetables, fish balls, tofu, chili stuffed with fish paste and etc. This particular stall on Kimberley St is like no other Yong Tau Foo stall in Penang. This vendor sells his very satisfying fare from the back of his motorcycle where customers choose the ingredients they want and it is served hot to your table sans the broth. The Yong Tau Foo pieces is topped with fragrant lightly fried garlic oil, sweet sauce and chilli sauce on the side. If you want some of the broth, make a request for it and it will come separately in a smaller bowl.

Part of my food list also included a trip to Balik Pulau to have the infamous Laksa. The name of the coffeeshop is Nan Guang and its right across the street from a T junction, next to the Balik Pulau Market. I can't provide further details as it is located in a remote area of Penang.

The two ladies operating the laksa stall - open for lunch only up to 3pm.

Alex and I enjoying our food. And pardon the KFC on the table :) Mace and Pin had to stop off at KFC first for Alex because he can't have anything spicy so it was just me that enjoyed the laksa.

The hot bowl of 'Laksa' (the picture is of the Assam version) - A fish based soup rice noodle dish with lots of fish bits in the soup made with touches of tamarind, lemongrass and galangal. The noodles are usually garnished with sliced cucumber, pineapple, mint, onions and a dash of prawn paste. This dish has a very distinctive flavour and its not possible to describe it unless you've had it before.

This is 'Mee Goreng' - A spicy Malay noodle fried dish - yellow noodles (sometimes with koay teow) tossed over wok heat with tomato paste, chili, egg and topped with tofu pieces, sliced vegetable, potatoes and cuttlefish.

This is 'Claypot Chicken Rice' - Rice cooked in a claypot over charcoal fire, giving the dish a rustic, barbeque-like, distinctive flavour. Chicken pieces, salted fish, shittake mushrooms and chinese sausage is added to the rice while cooking and an egg is cracked atop the rice at the end stage of cooking. Chives are added as a garnish. This dish is often served with chopped up chillies in soy sauce on the side and in some places with dark soy sauce. This one here is located in a corner lot coffee shop in Pulau Tikus diagonally across the open space car park near the Pulau Tikus market. The owner of the coffee shop has lots of pictures and newspaper clippings hanging on the wall of his son who was a multi win badminton player. I can't remember the name of the shop. Anybody can?

I can't help posting another picture of the claypot chicken rice. Doesn't it look absolutely tempting?

This is 'Char Koay Teow' again except this is my favourite version of it. Mace and I call this the wet Char Koay Teow/ chinese carbonara :) It is creamy, spicy and an altogether different spin on Char Koay Teow. Though wet, this place lacks not in terms of wok heat. The secret of a good Char Koay Teow is in what we call 'wok hei' in other words the heat of the wok. This particular stall is located in Kampung Jawa, Bayan Lepas. It is the first shoplot in a row of shops. Open daily for breakfast and lunch.


On to my favourite beef noodle stall in Penang.

I often come here for my beef noodle soup. Its a husband and wife team that prepares the noodles. There is an option for rice instead of noodles to be had with the beef soup. They have so many orders going that often it is a wait of 20 minutes before you receive your order. This stall is located in a corner lot coffee shop called 2828 Cafe, on Perak Road right across the street from Salvation Army.


The Beef Soup with Rice. Beef balls, thinly sliced beef and tripe topped with parsley (you can request for no tripe) I prefer it with rice rather than the noodles.

There is a small unassuming coffee shop on Chulia Street that is very well known to have the best 'Siew Bak' - roasted pork belly and 'Char Siew Bak' - sweet barbequed pork in Penang. The stall also serves roast duck and 'cheong' - chinese mixed sausage but the pork is clearly the winner in the pack. The coffee shop is located on the ground floor of Sky Hotel, although called a hotel its more a motel and is diagonally across the street from a Fujifilm green signboard of another shop. This place opens for business at 11am and is well sold out by 1.30pm. That is the best kind of business to have. So be early if you want some of this delicious pork.

It is a family run business and here is a picture of the father holding a cleaver, masterfully chopping up servings of pork for the long list of customers.


Take a closer look at the goodies on offer... imagine all of that being sold in just 2.5 hours!


Each order of meat with rice comes with a simple vegetable and lean pork meat soup. This is lightly salted and very appetizing. It is the beginning of better things to come.



I was so excited when the meat arrived. Roasted Pork Belly on the left and Chinese Mixed Sausage on the right. It was simply presented, no garnishes, no artistic flair in the layout but hey ho... put a piece of that in your mouth and its ooohhh... transported to pork heaven.


This is the Sweet Barbequed Pork. Also tremendously good. The lightly black charred bits add an extra dimension to the taste of the pork. I must say though that after having all that pork, the oil content did get a little to me. However it was nothing that a good ice cold glass of lemon juice couldn't fix!

I'm glad we are going back to Penang for a holiday in 2 months. Penangites are very lucky to have so much good food available just at their doorstep. Now that I'm far away I truly appreciate the convenience of it all. With such great fare in so many locations its no wonder that Penang is often called a food haven.

More food talk coming up...




cheryl

My Current Favourite Advertisement

Making choices in this day and age seem to be a lot more complicated than it was 10 years ago. I'm not talking about moral dilemmas that often bring us into grey realms but something a lot more black and white like trying to buy a consumer product off the supermarket shelf.

Have you ever given thought as to how any different types of milk products there are on an average milk shelf at the store? The variety of names given to the simple milk is enough to confuse even a genius.

This is my current favourite ad.




I wonder how long the lady took to memorize her lines. Hats off to her for pulling it off! I rather enjoyed the bit where she casts a condescending look at the man's belly saying, " And only 2% fat."

Love the ad, bought the milk and still buying the milk :) Now when will they make a simplified ad like this for a smarter insurance ad?

cheryl

Hacked!

The biggest shock of the month happened yesterday to me when I was notified through several phone calls and sms-es about my Facebook (FB) account being hacked. I'm glad these friends of mine know me well enough to know I would NEVER post disgusting content on my webpages and subsequently took swift action to try reach me so I could fix the problem. I have a rather long list of contacts on my FB and such an incident would have such a massive ripple effect, it would not be pleasant.

This was the sequence of events.

For the past 2 weeks I have noticed that several Facebook accounts of my acquaintances had been hacked and the perpetrator puts up status updates promoting dieting pills/drugs on certain webpages. It was then I thought to myself, " Imagine if this happened to me, what would I have to do ensure my information on my laptop is safe?" Then I thought, " Nah, it won't happen to me. I don't download anything. I only check my emails, go on FB, update my blog and read other blogs. I should be safe." Talk about premonition and how wrong I was!

Yesterday 13 Nov, I was out for lunch and had left my mobile phone at home. I was at work first half of the morning and luckily, had the afternoon off. After lunch I returned home to find that my mobile was exploding with missed calls and sms-es. I checked the message and to my horror found out that my FB had been compromised and the perp had posted unlawful, disgusting content on my photo albums. I rushed to my laptop to log on and couldn't because the password had been changed.

This thrust me into full panic mode because my log on email account on FB (Gmail) shares the same password as my Gmail account itself. What this means (if you havent linked the two together) is that if I reset the password on my FB, I still could not get to that new password because the idiot had also changed my password on the email account that the new password was sent to. To that effect, I would not be able to remove the content off FB as quick as I would like and my good name would have been tarnished for a long time. The quicker the content was removed, the fewer the people that would have seen it.

The wheels on my brain started turning and I recalled the backup email account that I used for my Gmail. I have a different password there so I had to reset the password on Gmail, get the new password from the other email account and from there sign into Gmail, change the password, get the new password for FB, sign into FB and change my password there. From there, the content was deleted.

The idiot who hacked my account also accepted a long list of pending friend requests, 30 to be exact, many of whom I wasn't keen on accepting in the first place. I do not know what other changes he had made to my account while he had it in his control and I didn't have time to look fully into it last night. I am glad to say however that he only had the FB account pliable in his hands for 1hour 20 minutes before I regained control and changed the password.

I am really glad that I got the notification from friends about the situation at 2pm and also the fact that it happened on a day that I had half a day off. Another key point was that I had plans to leave the house for a girls afternoon/evening out at 3pm. If the situation were any different, I would not have known about the breach and the trouble caused would have been more significant. It took me all but 20 minutes to fix the issue, leaving me with only 5 minutes to spare before I had to go out for the night. So I thank God it was all in good timing. Any other day... the incident would be 'anxiety attack' worthy.

However when I returned that night, I got another message from a friend that my Friendster account had been compromised as well. My Friendster account has been dormant for 2.5 years. The existence of that account did not cross my mind earlier in the day and when reading that message, I slapped my head a couple of times saying,"Cheryl you fool... it had the same password. You set it up during your days as a student! How can you forget??"

After fixing that up, I was hell bent on finding out how this happened to me. As mentioned before, I do not download music or videos or much off the web. And my password is very strong and is 10 alpha numeric characters long. To get my password, it had to be a keystroke logger with a backdoor. So how could it be that a keystroke logger could have attached itself to my system?

I put on Sherlock Holmes cap and started tracking the source of the hack. Breadcrumb by breadcrumb, page by page, the picture started becoming clear to me. The source of the hack turned out to be an old student email account in University of Canberra which ceased to be operational since I left the uni. That was 6 years ago! It was not to my knowledge that details of email account would still be kept by the university. It is my assumption that details of the address book were still kept in that account and it was through it that my email accounts were compromised. Who know's what other information in my student folder has been compromised as well! Prayer is now necessary that the info is not misused in any other way. It would not be good to have a fake Cheryl going around with my ID.

So do not be naive like me, assuming that your student details are kept safe by your university or that they would delete unnecessary student information after your departure. If it could happen to me after 6 years, it could happen to anyone even after 10.

I am relieved that it was not spyware on my laptop that opened a door for the hack. Because if so, I would be very worried about my bank details as I had just completed a transfer of funds that morning itself. I would also be very concerned about how much info has been leaked through my laptop to the hacker (as I have all sorts of personal info stored on the HD) not knowing how long the back door has been there.

In short, the sequence of the hack was this.

Uni email - Yahoo - Friendster- Gmail - Facebook

And in conclusion, if you received any email from me from those accounts on the 13th November 2009, they are NOT me. It must have been some idiots idea of a Friday the 13th prank.

Very angry, I am.


cheryl

Just another Saturday...

It has been a while since I posted on this blog. Cheryl normally has better things to say than I do but I thought this time I better say it first before Cheryl tries to make the story more interesting. :-)

Yesterday, Cheryl and I, along with 9 others from work took part in paint balling. It is an experience Cheryl is happy to be able to tick off her list ... We went paintballing behind the airport at Fairbairn Pines. It is a very large field with many set up and I think the company that runs it has come a long way. The last time I went, their main office was not much bigger than a shipping container. Now, it's huge!

Anyway, we were given the rules of paintball before starting. Many I noticed hadn't done paintball before and were quite worried about being shot. (If the ball explodes on impact doesn't hurt as much!) By the end of the first game, everyone started feeling the pain. Some, multiple times too (Thanks Matt...) but it was turning out to be more intense a game than I anticipated. As part of the package, we were given 200 paintballs, but I think most of us used it up in about 2 - 2.5 games. Just goes to show how intense it got. Many bought 500 paintballs as refill and we used them all!! We had to, no one could keep them. If I remember correctly (correct me if I am wrong guys), we had 7 - 8 games before we called it a day. In between games people started having colourful overalls as a result of being shot. Some had bruises to boot (yeah, shoot me in the knuckle) and some had lumps as a result of being shot at in the head not just once but twice, at the same spot too! (How you guys managed to shoot Dave's lump is beyond me).

Teams were divided, pitting the rest of the lab vs Specimen Reception. By the end of it, I think it was pretty even, especially since we won the flag grab ones... (Way to go Dave the Terminator!). Even one of the refs took part since we were short in manpower... (It was 5 people vs 6). The most annoying game, which we lost twice in was the shuffle game. Avoiding being shot was hard in that game. The best game, flag grab with the 'protect the fort game'.

The last game was the 'shoot at anyone till you run out of paintballs or can't withstand the pain' game. This was the ultimate game of the day which I knew that if I took part I would be nursing a lot more wounds and bruised ego. It was fun to see people just letting loose on other people...

At the end of the day, I came out well - nursing about 5 wounds. Cheryl on the other hand, got about 3 on her right leg, a nice shot in the bottom, few on her left arm and one major bruise on her left knuckle. With the colourful suit Carmen had, I reckon that she and Cheryl tops the list of having most wounds to nurse. Dave Kaylock and I on the other hand also get the joy of nursing head wounds. The pictures are in the link below... All in all, it was a just another Saturday, with more heart pounding excitement. :)

Oh Oh, before I forget... I need to set the record straight (before Cheryl does). During one of the matches I got shot and had to leave the game. As I was walking out with my gun in the air, who shoots me? MY WIFE. Yes, that's right. Cheryl, my beloved wife shot me (and it hurt too). I do my best to protect her during the day and how does she return the favour? By SHOOTING ME. What kind of a deal is that?

Hope you guys who took part in the game enjoy the shots and the day out. It was a fun Saturday and yeah, we should plan something in a few months or so... Keep this competitive nature going :P To the rest of the lab who didn't go... You missed out on a fair bit of fun and excitement.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=119363&id=684642862&l=999d58eb75

Cheers for now,

Alex.