Earthquake!

It was early morning last Friday. I was up and impatient to see the progress of my seedlings. While Mr. Hubby kept the Princess company I ran out to hose the plants in the front yard. That was when I saw my ornamental bush moving vigorously: side to side, side to side. I thought the vehicles driving past must be producing unusually strong air currents to make the bush move so much.

Mount Kinabalu seen from the Kokol Hills.

Then the front door burst open and Mr. Hubby, looking quite alarmed, rushed out. My first thought was Oh no! The baby has hurt herself!

But Mr Hubby said: Ada earthquake! Ada earthquake!

Huh? That’s a big word to use, I thought. “A tremor,” I corrected him. “Has happened before.” But he refused to calm down.

“The house shook,” he said, “my chair moved!” I still thought it was a tremor but I checked my Fb newsfeed to see if any of my friends had felt the earth moving. And most did!

 “Did you feel that?” someone asked.

“Did the earth move?” 

“I thought someone was shaking my bed!” 

“There were sounds coming from the roof and I thought it was the cat,” Meg said.

“I thought I was very ill,” said Muthu who had obviously been on his feet when the earth moved.

The tremor was felt as far as Beaufort.

Before long, someone confirmed that it was really an earthquake with its epicenter in Ranau, deep inside the mountain. Magnitude 6.0 is no laughing matter for a place which has experienced nothing more than mild tremors.

If we in KK had experienced a sudden rush of adrenalin when we felt the house shake for a few moments, imagine the terror felt by the stranded climbers on the peak of Mount Kinabalu when the earthquake struck. Imagine the horror and panic they must have felt when the mountain shook and when rocks and boulders rolled down the mountain threatening to flatten anyone they met on the way down.

Pic credit: Gaby Peter

We on safe ground could only follow their ordeal and predicament on Fb... like I followed Gaby Peter's. We couldn’t feel the hunger and thirst they felt. We couldn’t feel the cold and the biting wind as they patiently waited for help, the help that never came.

I can't even begin to imagine the sense of helplessness and dejection they must have felt after waiting from morning—the earthquake struck at 7.15am—just to be told at 4pm that they had to stay the night at the peak because the helicopter couldn’t land and so the rescue effort would be stopped and only continued the next day.

Spending the night on the mountain peak and being exposed to the freezing cold, wind and rain meant the climbers would suffer hypothermia. It was possible that those who aren't used to the extreme condition could just go to sleep and never woke up again.

Pic borrowed from Fb

The mountain guides knew the climbers wouldn’t survive the freezing night atop the mountain. On their own initiative, they goaded the climbers by asking them to choose between staying on the peak and die or die while attempting to save their lives by climbing down the mountain. 

They chose to descend. 

Sadly, four mountain guides lost their lives while trying to save the lives of the climbers in their groups. It was also very tragic that several young school kids didn’t leave the mountain alive. However, after several hours of hiking and struggling in the dark, along boulder-strewn paths or newly-made alternative routes, as well as traversing very steep slopes, 135 climbers reached the foot of the mountain. They were exhausted, starving and thirsty but they were alive.

How many would have survived had they spent the night on the mountain top is anybody’s guess.

Sales Tips from a Smart Online Shopper

I know someone who has a closet crammed with nothing-to-wears. And another has so many bags and shoes that she had to build a huge cabinet just for storing them. Me? I’m contented with a few pairs of pants and tops, and I wear my shoes until they become a source of embarrassment. I guess it does make me sound pathetic and even my sister said, “You’ll end up just like mama if you horde your money. Go buy something for yourself!”

Google Image

I promised that I would reward myself with something pretty and… well, with a price tag that won’t deprive me of dinner for a week or force me to survive without electricity for a month.

For advice I turned to my neighbour, Mrs. Jiran, who earns a small salary but is always fashionably dressed. I caught her just as she was getting out of her Honda after a day out. I complimented her on her beautiful blouse and the trendy shoes she was wearing. “And oh, I love your handbag too and those earrings and scarf. Make you look so elegant,” I said sincerely before asking for her advice. 

She glanced at my sweaty face and the soil-stained cuffs of my sleeves and let her eyes travel to the mismatched flip-flops on my feet —I had been weeding in my backyard.

Photo credit: Zalora

“What you need is a make-over,” she declared. My face must have turned white and then beet-red because she quickly offered to tell me how she could afford to satisfy all her needs and wants.

“What woman doesn’t want to look beautiful, eh? We work hard at the office and come home to more work. Never ending, our chores. It’s only fair that we reward ourselves occasionally, my friend,” she said.

Photo credit: Zalora

 “If I bought myself this, that and those I’d have no money left for food,” I told her. That was when she told me her secret. She doesn’t earn much so she saves her money and shops only during sales.

“Who could resist a sales promotion deal?” she asked. “Sales are held regularly. There are sales during the festive seasons and holidays: Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Christmas etc. And with online shopping, you don’t even need to go to the malls.” She smiled, her red lips stretching from ear to ear. “Now listen here,” she said, acting like a boss.

Photo credit: Zalora

And so I learnt from the chatty Mrs. Jiran the rules of smart online shopping during sales and how to avoid disappointment or regret.

1. Buy something that will not go out of date. For example, basic tees and jeans are a smart investment because they are timeless.

2. Don’t immediately buy an item that catches your eye. Read the product description carefully; pick a size and zoom in on the picture before adding it to your online shopping cart. You should ask yourself where and when you’re going to wear the product and if it matches with what you already own.

3. Know what you have in your wardrobe so any new products you choose could be matched and worn with your current clothes. Make a list of new items you could add to your wardrobe—a blouse like your old one but in a different colour; pretty fashion accessories you could match with many of your clothes. By sticking to the list you’ll prevent impulse buying and avoid over-spending and there’ll be no regrets when the sales period is over.

So there you are—the rules to smart online shopping. Now let’s shop and have fun!