Blog Beautification *

Hola! What do you think of my shiny new RSS button at the right bottom corner of my page? Thanks to my buddy LJ, I now have a new Fave Mariuca Technorati button and a Subscribe to Mariuca button! :)

While visiting LJ yesterday, I noticed the new RSS button on display at LadyJava's Lounge. It was truly the cutest thing ever and I was instantly captivated. I knew then that I had to have it at both my blogs! Look wise, I think it is simply awesome. Plus, it makes a wonderful subtle reminder for your readers to fave or subscribe to your blog.

So when LJ offered to help put up my own buttons here at Wishing On A Falling Star, I was of course thrilled! See how cute and shiny they are? Thanks LJ, I love it and Mariuca looks even prettier now! :)

Orange & Green for Mariuca




Pink & Blue for MPG

Having seen how a simple tiny button can add colour and excitement to your blog, do you feel like jazzing up your new year with some minor blog tweaking or perhaps even a brand new makeover? All you have to do is drop by my three favourite blogs below. Each one provides blog makeover services of individual style and expertise. Take some time to discover what they have to offer. You'll be truly delighted with the end product, no matter which card you click! :)

Seek Jean for a cool clean makeover.
For sassy sophistication, hop over to LJL.
Visit Emila for magical creativity.

Posted at 1.58 AM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!

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MARIUCA LOVES

Merry-uca Christmas! *

Ho ho ho! It's that time of the year again for all of to us to be jolly and have some fun in the snow with Santa! Let's forget our worries and moody blues as we embrace another together moment with our family and friends.

I'd like to wish all my friends a wonderful Christmas with this lovely Mariuca Christmas card I ordered from who else but the creative Emila! I just love my card, it's exactly what I asked from and as usual Emila did not disappoint me, thanks dear! Thank you to everyone who has been dropping off their festive wishes for me since yesterday and I wish you all a great Christmas with your family and friends. Since we don't get snow here in Malaysia, I'm still waiting for a nice round snowman from anyone who'd like to make me one LOL! :)

Merry Mariuca Christmas to all my friends and readers celebrating this joyous occasion especially to Santa, Jean & Martin, Ane, Nick, Roxy, Shyam & Jerry, Debbie & Collin, Nessa, Grandy, Kim, GK, Mize, ECL, Monica, Jackie, Mel, Liza, Metz, Ruby, Bokjae, Bobby, Foong, Trinity, Uncle Sam, TH, Eric, Sushi, Kimberly, Ken, Kok, Yoon See, Shiela, Jesse, Janice, Rozella, Erisha, Life Ramblings, Tina, Tammy, Lainy, Fida, Matt, Sandee, Crystal, Karen, Cindi, MT, Bobo and Andrea.

I'm also in a very Christmas holiday mood so let's have some fun with another cool quiz from Blogthings! Apparently I'm a Jam Filled Cookie, don't I sound yummy? I wonder what holiday cookie you are, so come take the quiz and share your result with me okay? ;)

You Are a Jam Filled Cookie

You are an idea person. You're always thinking up something new. You're also quite persuasive. People are drawn to you and adopt your beliefs. You are energetic and ambitious. But most of all, you are charming. You are a natural leader, and you are ready to lead!

What Holiday Cookie Are You?

Jam Filled Cookie - Mariuca, Ruby, Monica, Life Ramblings, Kim, Shemah, HaaziQ, ECL

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookie - LJ, Rozella

Biscotti - Ane, TH, Janice, Debbie

Sugar Cookie - Bobby

Shortbread Cookie - Jean




Posted at 1.55 AM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!

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MARIUCA LOVES

Very Late Music Monday *

It's been so quiet here since I had to remove my music box due to the no auto play music rule on Entrecard blogs. I've been pretty down lately. The rainy weather isn't doing much to uplift my spirits, year-end always makes me a tad nostalgic, the Internet slowdown we Malaysians are currently facing also adds to my sluggishness to do anything much but catch up on my sleep. So today, I'm gonna entertain myself and all music fans here with a little something from one of my favourite groups - Goo Goo Dolls. B thinks I have a crush on John Rzeznik. I admit I find the sensual attraction of his wonderful voice and chin cleft oh so appealing but I think I'm more in love with the way he brings each song directly to me with such conviction and dark lyrics. ;)

Instead of placing my Music Monday pick at MPG, where I usually do, I'm gonna feature my very late MM pick here at Mariuca for the very first time. When I first heard this song, I was enjoying my summer break in Chicago with some girlfriends who had come to visit me in Chester from Connecticut. We were all students and decided to visit another bunch of friends in Milwaukee and Chicago. Ever since then, this number has stayed with me over the years, distance and events that have taken place in my life, never failing to bring me back to that one crazy Chicago night with my ladies. Thank you for the memories. :)

Name Lyrics

Oh and just a little Mariuca update on what's been transpiring here at my blog - my TC widget seems to have gone bonkers on me! I'm frustrated but seeing that it's a blogger problem, I have no choice but to wait this one out. For the past few days, my TC widget, has been displaying my older commentators rather than the current ones on the list. To my current commentators (you know who you are) brace yourself for this change and know that I'm hoping the problem will fix itself soon. And to my older commentators like Nessa, Adrian, Nick, Bobby and Janice who have been commenting from day one but never made it to my TC list since I started giving recognition to my Top 10 Mariucans, enjoy your free ride now! :)

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted.

Posted at 8.23 AM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!

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MARIUCA LOVES

My Friend the Artist *

Of all the things I gave up when I left the 9 to 5 world to become a full time freelance copywriter, I miss my friends the most. It's different when you're working from home. Yes, I do have the occasional meeting or conference call with my clients and I can still speak to my friends over the phone, but it is still not the same thing as being there with your friends every weekday, having lunch in our favourite cafe, enjoying an afternoon chat over coffee or even gossiping about the office politics.

As some of you already know, Emila and I used to be colleagues at our last place of employment. On my first day at work, I was as usual fashionably late, although I really didn't mean to be late. Traffic from Subang Jaya, which was my former place of residence, was utterly unforgivable that Monday morning, which saw me being half an hour late for my first day. It was then that I first met Emila, who was the graphic artist for the Corporate Communications department I was placed in. Though it took us several months to get really chummy, the wait was worthwhile for we eventually became close buddies and I discovered that we shared more than one thing in common.

I remember the mornings when I'd arrive early and we'd have breakfast together at her cosy little room. We both love word games and spent many lunch breaks inside her room playing our much beloved Text Twist on her PC. And sometimes, when I had nothing to do in the office, I'd hang out with her in her room watching her do amazing stuff on her PC, creating graphics for our former boss or working on a special project, all the while in awe at her creativity and artistic skills.

Specifically I recall that one lazy afternoon where Emila along with two of our gal pals and myself found ourselves bored with nothing to do work wise. We ended up having a little drawing competition inside Emila's work room. I'm certain you can guess which drawing belongs to our resident artist Emila, but can you figure out which one is mine? Don't laugh okay? Told ya I can't draw well! ;)

House

Cat

Beach

Bridge

When I left my office for good more than 4 years ago, we still kept in touch but our coffee moments together were far from regular. I had to concentrate on my freelance work while she was still working in the same office I said goodbye to earlier. Our friendship was rekindled once again when we both ventured into the world of blogging. Me with Wishing On A Falling Star and Mariuca's Perfume Gallery and Emila with Emila's Illustrated Blog. In a way, blogging got us back into the routine we both shared in the office, saying hello daily and sharing what goes on in our respective lives through our visits and comments on each other's blogs.

Over the years, Emila has made an even stronger impact in the art scene with her creativity and undeniable talent. Her work has won several recognitions and prizes to date but my proudest moment of having her as an artist friend was the day I found out she is being featured in a local art exhibition! Participating in a Charity Art Exhibition at Kerinchi Foyer, Wisma UOA, Emila will be showcasing some of her best work for all to view and admire! Organised by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the exhibition is open to public daily from 10am - 6pm, displaying some of the wonderful artwork from our local artists. You will now get a chance to view some of Emila's wonderful work in a real exhibition for the very first time. The exhibition will run for one whole month, beginning 18th December 2008, so please drop by if you can to show some love and support for Emila.

I've always been in awe of Emila's work and I claim to be her number 1 Fan, which is why I always turn to her for my own Mariuca illustrations and products. There is no other artist that I trust as much as Emila to satisfy my artistic needs. For Emila to finally receive the much-awaited recognition she so richly deserve through her participation in this exhibition, I am just so proud of her! Congratulations Emila, here's to many more successful ventures in the creative world you so rightly command! :)

Posted at 8.27 PM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!

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MARIUCA LOVES

Top 10 Mariucans for November! *

I apologize for my tardiness in coming up with this post but I always believe it's better to be late than never. Speaking of which, the MPG Teddy Bear Contest I am currently holding at Mariuca's Perfume Gallery will end on 18 December, so it's still not too late for you to try your luck at winning the pink MPG Bear. Roxy has already won BEAR-iuca, who is happily travelling around the world as we speak. I wonder who will be taking home the adorable MPG Bear. If you fancy bringing home this adorable MPG Bear, hurry and send in your entry before the closing date! :)




Back to my overdue post, this one is to give recognition and thanks to my Top 10 Mariucan for November. Ever since I put up my Top Commentator widget here at Wishing On A Falling Star, LadyJava has always been my Top Mariucan. She has been reigning queen here for the past 8 months, which is an awesome accomplishment for any commentator...until last month, when she was finally toppled by the creative Emila, who for the past 2 months has been trying to be tops here! Congrats Emila! It was indeed a tough feat to kick out LJ from her slot but you did it! And to LJ, thank you so much for a wonderful 8 months of being my Top Mariucan here. I had a blast with you and I hope you did too. :)

I'd also like to thank everyone who constantly visited Mariuca to drop off their comment love for me and as usual my Top Mariucan will receive a free ad in my sidebar for a month as well as 1000 EC credits while my Number 2 and Number 3 Mariucan will receive 500 EC credits and 250 EC credits respectively. Have fun EC shopping and I hope to see you back again in December! :)

Posted at 6.53 AM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!

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MARIUCA LOVES

Cooking with Mariuca - Soto and Begedil *

After three tries, I finally perfected the art of making begedil (potato cutlet with minced meat) YAY!

Soto ayam is a spicy chicken soup with vermicelli, commonly found in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. It has always been one of my favourite local dishes, especially when it comes with plenty of begedil and chilli padi (bird's eye chilli) blended in kicap (soy sauce)! Like I always say, the spicier the better. So when I saw Miss Yummylicious featuring my favourite soto at her blog, it immediately got me craving for some! ;)

And once I get a craving for something, I can't stop thinking about it until I've satisfied that particular craving, which was what happened last weekend. I decided to cook soto myself since most supermarkets now sell the ready-to-cook soto paste in packets, which makes it easy to cook this dish. All I had to do was dump the right amount of soto paste into my electric cooker, add some water and wait for the soup to be ready, while I prepared the chicken and garnishing.

The main thing that was missing from my soto dish was begedil, which like I mentioned earlier, is what completes this tasty dish. The first time I made begedil many moons ago, they crumbled into tiny pieces the moment I started frying them in hot oil. So I did a little research online and after several attempts, I believe that I now have the perfect recipe (by my taste buds!) for these yummy potato cutlets. Are you ready to cook with Mariuca today?

Ingredients

6 medium size potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 small cup of minced meat (chicken or beef)
10-15 bird's eye chilli, finely chopped
2 sprigs of spring onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
1/4 cup of fried shallots
1 tsp of salt
white pepper to taste
oil for frying

All ready to be dipped in egg and fried

How to:

1. Fry the potatoes in oil until they turn a nice golden yellow in colour. Remove from pan.
2. Use a wooden spoon to mash the fried potatoes in a big bowl.
3. Add in the minced meat, chilli, fried shallots, spring onion, salt, pepper and 1 egg. Mix everything thoroughly.
4. If mixture is too soft, add a little flour.
5. Use your fingers to shape the mixture into flat round balls.
6. Dip the balls into egg before frying in hot oil.

Crispy golden brown

Begedil with my favourite meehoon soto

There you have it! Quite a simple dish to make for a nice weekend at home, especially during this rainy season. I took the last picture before sprinkling some chopped spring onion as garnishing, so don't forget to add that before you sit down to a delectable meal with your family. Bon appétit!

Posted at 8.54 PM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!

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MARIUCA LOVES

The Spirit of BEAR-iuca! *

As promised, my friend Roxy who won the Mariuca Teddy Bear in my last contest immediately got to work on her promise to share BEAR-iuca with the rest of you, especially those who did not win in Mariuca's 2nd Blogversary Contest. BEAR-iuca is all packed and ready to travel the world now and though Mariuca is teary to bid farewell to my teddy, I am pleased to be passing on The Spirit of BEAR-iuca good luck charm to the following bloggers. I do hope you'll welcome BEAR-iuca into your home. :)

BEAR-iuca would love to visit Jean, LJ, Emila, Nick, Debbie, Nessa, Grandy, Kim, Farah, GK, Mize, Monica, Jackie, Bono, Haaziq, Bintang, Mel, Metz, Ruby, Shemah, Bokjae, Bobby, Foong, Eric, NAFASg, Sandee, ECL, Kimberly and Uncle Sam. We hope you'll join us in our quest to send BEAR-iuca on an amazing journey around the globe by taking part in this meme. Have fun and have a BEAR-y good weekend! :)

I am also tagging all my visitors here at Wishing On A Falling Star!

The Spirit of BEAR-iuca

-START COPYING HERE-

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a powerful Genie Princess named Mariuca who was known throughout the land as the friendliest, most popular blogger in the blogosphere kingdom. Adored and admired by international visitors and commentators from around the world, the Genie Princess travels the blogosphere on her magical flying carpet, always looking for ways to share her good fortune with others.

Over the past two years of blogging, Mariuca has met so many new people, from all walks of life and all over the world, each one bringing a little of their culture and lifestyle when they visit and comment on Mariuca’s two sites. So on her 2nd Blog Anniversary, Mariuca wanted to celebrate with all of her international blogosphere buddies by hosting a bear-naming contests at Wishing On A Falling Star and Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery and to pass her two lucky, cuddly teddy bears along to the winners who came up with the best names.

On the opposite side of the world, from the moment Roxy (the prolific Roxiticus Desperate Housewives blogger) and her sweet daughters London and Maddie saw the teddy in his personalized t-shirt and blue muffler at Wishing On A Falling Star, they knew that he needed to come to live with their family in Mendham, NJ. The three New Jersey girls named him immediately and burst into a wonderful song for BEAR-iuca:

BEAR-iuca, BEAR-iuca, amazing teddy cheer.
BEAR-iuca, BEAR-iuca, we’d love you to come live here!

Mariuca received 16 possible names for the Mariuca Teddy Bear, making it hard for the Genie Princess to choose just one…then Alakazam! A bolt of lightning delivered the perfect way to share BEAR-iuca’s good fortune to bloggers around the globe. While the soft, stuffed, cuddly BEAR-iuca is on his way to live with Roxy, London, Maddie and Rex in the Roxiticus Valley, the Spirit of BEAR-iuca is racing through the blogosphere to bring happiness, holiday cheer, and beary best wishes to everyone who welcomes him into their online home and passes along the BEAR-iuca good luck charm to ten friends.

Please play along with us by following a few important rules:

1. Add your site(s) to the list once you have received the Spirit of BEAR-iuca badge of teddy bear cheer.
2. Pass along the Spirit of BEAR-iuca and his cheery badge to as many people as you like.
3. Leave a comment HERE once you’ve passed on the Spirit of BEAR-iuca.
4. Once Roxy and the Genie Princess have visited your site to make sure your links are complete and proper, you will then be added to the Master List.
4. To ensure everyone receives equal link benefit, please UPDATE your list regularly!

BEAR-iuca LOVES

1. Mariuca 2. Roxiticus Desperate Housewives 3. Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery 4. Roxy’s Best Of... 5. Bay Head Blog 6. Roxiticus Best Blogs 7. Emila's Illustrated Blog 8. Metz - Empty Streets 9. The Spirit of Blogging 10. Speedcat Hollydale Page 11. Snapshot 12. purplefrogcat 13. Turn-u-Off 14. Simple Life 15. A Little Girl Talk 16. Life in the Lapadula House 17. Spicybugz World 18. The Mom With Brownies 19. Our High School Homeschool 20. Our Five Dangerous Boys 21. The Big Dog 22. LadyJava's Lounge 23. Moments of My Life 24. Life is too short to be ordinary 25. A Great Pleasure 26. Time Goes By 27. Life According To Me 28. Laketrees 29. This is a miracle 30. Porcelain Doll 31. Moms...CheckNyo 32. Wonderful Things In Life 33. Sweet Nothings 34. Hot Shit Form Here 35. Not Just a Mom Site 36. The Life of a Mom 37. Wiehanne Lounge 38. The Painted Veil 39. My Crossroads 40. Little Mermaid 41. LOVE's Haven 42. Also Mommy 43. The Journey 44. Comedy Plus 45. Making sense...(somehow) 46. The Modern Mom 47. Stay At Home Mom 48. Picture Clusters 49. Maiylah's Snippets 50. Sweety tots 51. My Discoveries 52. A Life to Remember 53. Rekha 54. Crissy's Haven 55. Crissy's Library 56. Crissy's Zone 57. Shopping Blog 58. Crafts and cooking 59. Asian Mutt International 60. A Simple Life 61. I AM KCAT 62. A Girl For All Status 63. Berry Blog 64. Carnation 65. Pinaymama's Diary 66. Life's sweets and spices 67. The Callalily Space 68. Butchay 69. Blessings in Life 70. Pinay Mommy Online 71. The Ruby Posts 72. Day Break 73. R...E...B...E...L?!? 74. VDAY CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 75. Just the Tip of the Iceberg 76. Honeysweet Learning Center 77. Vsk8shop 78. A Diva's Hammer 79. Arlene - Joys in Life 80. Listening..Learning..Living 81. Mommy's Little Corner 82. Living one day at a time 83. Momhood Moments 84. SUPER INFO THAILAND 85. Life Ramblings 86. Samantha Ysabelle 87. Kikamz' Just About Anything 88. SigneSays 89. Normz 90. Mymy 91. Lynlyn 92. Your Caring Angels 93. In The Eyes Of The Beholder 94. dayfly 95. Night Clicks 96. Life is What We Make it 97. Dancing in Midlife Tune 98. Fida Abbott 99. Lofty Matters 100. Modus Vivendi 101. Aha Mama! 102. Anything Goes 103. Chopsticks 104. GAGAY 105. Straight from the Heart 106. Nizhama2 107. Daily Ramblings 101 108. Sjtl's Weblog 109. A Mother of Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow 110. Beautiful sOuL 111. At Pam's 112. Mystique's Moments 113. Notes By Marvic 114. YOU Next!

-END COPY-

Posted at 1.18 AM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!

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MARIUCA LOVES

Who Won the Mariuca Teddy Bear? *

As much as I love having one of Mariuca's famous contests here at my blog, I always have a difficult time when it comes to choosing my winner. I'd dread the closing date simply because the next step requires me to make a final decision, something I sometimes find hard to do, especially when I receive so many wonderful entries.

Now that my 2nd Blogversary Contest is officially over, it is time for me to bid farewell to my adorable Mariuca Teddy Bear as he sets sail to his new destination. Though I've had the best time hanging out with my Teddy Bear this month, I am thrilled that he is headed for an exciting new life with his new family.

THANK YOU to everyone who took part in the Mariuca Teddy Bear contest, you guys made my 2-year anniversary celebration much more fun and exciting with your participation. Some of you put in so much effort into your entry, which made it almost impossible to single out just one winner. I also love all the names you've suggested for this adorable teddy bear. I was much impressed by your earnest creativity in trying to impress me with the best name for Mariuca's Teddy Bear. However, the agreement remains that there will be only one lucky winner and I have to say that this is the hardest selection I've ever had to make for any of the contests at Wishing On A Falling Star so far.

So are you ready to hear the new name I've chosen for my teddy bear? Without further ado, I am truly happy to name the Mariuca Teddy Bear with his new name - BEAR-iuca! Congratulations to Roxy of Roxiticus Desperate Housewives for coming up with the most perfect name for this adorable bear! Looks like BEAR-iuca is going to the USA! :)

With the name BEAR-iuca, Roxy has cleverly combined the bear with his master Mariuca, resulting in the cutest, most unique name appropriate for an adorable bear. When you hear BEAR-iuca, your thoughts will definitely turn to Mariuca right? I thought this was an excellent name choice, thanks Roxy! :)

Roxy's two lovely daughters, which is one of the reasons Roxy wants to win, even came up with a catchy cheer for BEAR-iuca and it goes a little something like this.

BEAR-iuca, BEAR-iuca,
Amazing teddy cheer
BEAR-iuca, BEAR-iuca,
BEAR-iuca come live here!

The other reason Roxy would like to bring home BEAR-iuca is because she plans to share this lovely bear with everybody in the blogosphere. She has made a solemn promise to share BEAR-iuca by sending him around the globe to make an appearance on hundreds of blogs! I love the idea of BEAR-iuca having his own little adventure, making new friends, spreading love and cheer, which ultimately moved me to select BEAR-iuca and Roxy as the winner for the Mariuca Teddy Bear contest YAY! :)

Once again, congratulations to Roxy and thank you very much to the rest of my participants. Don't despair if you did not win this contest for you still have a shot at bringing home BEAR-iuca's sister from MPG! Isn't she adorable? You have until the 18th of December to send in your entry so hurry! To find out how you can WIN the MPG Teddy Bear in pink, click here.

Thank you to all my participants, Mariuca loves ya!

1. Bono - Mariuca Baby Bear
2. Jackie - JonahBear
3. Adrian - Marzipan
4. Nessa - Randy Rover
5. Emila - Wentworth
6. Ken - Donnie
7. Saffa - Choco
8. Roxy - BEAR-iuca
9. Dhiya - Ali
10. Kim - Little M
11. Janice - Love
12. T.H. - Brown Mariucan
13. Debbie - Macario aka Mac
14. LadyJava - True Blue
15. Nick - Alexa
16. Farah - ICA (pronounced Ai-ka)

Posted at 8.01 AM

* The first person to leave a comment on any post title that ends with a star will receive a link back to his or her blog for being my first commentator!

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MARIUCA LOVES