Laurel Dewey's debut novel, Protector, is an exciting crime thriller that has a hint of the sixth sense. Detective Jane Perry is a disturbed individual who is struggling with demons from the past, and more recently the loss of the family she and her partner were protecting. Jane tends to take her job too seriously, and it hits her hard when the family dies in front of her eyes.

Spiraling slowly out of control, she is saved when nine-year-old Emily Lawrence enters her life. The child is put under Jane's protective care after both her parents were found brutally murdered in their home. Believed to have witnessed her parents' murders, Emily is in danger when the killer makes another attempt on her life.

What follows is an excellent tale of suspense that intensifies as the bond between Jane and Emily grows stronger and the killer takes more and more desperate measures. You can watch the trailer at Laurel Dewey’s website.

Protector seems to be almost too intense for a debut novel, but it is surprisingly realistic in depicting the darkness of the human psyche. Dewey captures the flawed personalities of the characters really well, especially that of the heroine, Detective Jane Perry.

Jane Perry is not your average likable heroine, in fact Dewey's personification of Jane's bad attitude is so realistic that there were many times when you just want to slap that sarcastic mouth of hers and make her show a little respect to her superiors and colleagues.

However, you realize that Jane is a troubled human being just like anyone of us, and is in the process of healing from her past. Jane's and Emily's journey through helping and healing one another in the midst of danger is a touching and emotional process.

There were a few things which bothered me though, among them Dewey’s tendency to be too obvious and repetitive when describing reading people from their body language, I believe that subtlety might have worked better in this case. There were also a few other details which didn’t exactly make sense to me and seemed unrealistic and unlikely.

It may be that Dewey is used to writing non-fiction, having written two non-fiction books, a variety of investigative reporting, celebrity journalism and alternative health research, but she has a knack for storytelling and was nominated for a Silver Spur Award for her western novella, In the Name of the Land. I enjoyed her debut novel immensely and I believe that with time and a sequel to Protector on the way, Dewey can only get better.

I'm currently studying about calcium in my course now. Did you know that astronauts lose about 200mg of calcium a day in space?

The point, actually, is that without gravity our bones loses calcium, and when we don't walk or exercise, or even when we're lying down at night to sleep, our bones lose calcium.

Now this is interesting and scary to me at the same time.

Interesting because I wonder if we only have as much calcium as we have because of gravity. Our bones lose calcium in anti-gravity, which I said already, and rebuilds the bones with calcium again when the body is under the laws of gravity.

Does that mean that if we lived in space, we wouldn't need half the calcium we currently need now? Or does that mean that we need to supplement our diets with twice the calcium we need now to build up our bone mass?

98% of calcium is in our bones, and only 2% is needed for other important functions of the body, like muscle contractions. So 98% of the calcium in our bodies could be unnecessary if we were living in space...

Ok, maybe not the whole 98%, but still...a huge percentage wouldn't be needed. Maybe. Well, what do I know? They're still conducting experiments on it.

The scary part is that we lose calcium if we're inactive for long periods of time, and even while we're sleeping.

Hey, I like to sleep. And I tend to be inactive for long periods of time when I sit and read, or study, or when I'm at the computer...

How much calcium have I lost already? And am I taking enough calcium in my diet everyday to replace what I lose?

I don't want my bones to be weak or brittle and prone to fractures when I get older... =(

That does it! I going to drink goat's milk (cow's milk actually depletes more calcium from your body) everyday now, and exercise at least 15 minutes a day, everyday!

Sighz... I'm so glad I have a badminton game tonight...

I HATE MOSQUITOS!!!!!!

Can't a girl get a decent night's sleep without pesky mosquitos sucking all the blood out of her?!

I itched and scratched and itched and scratched so much that even my dreams were full of itching and scratching. =(

It was terrible...

And now I'm wide awake... and going to have a tough time staying awake later today.

How am I gonna get my work done?

*yawn*

If God died and made me God, I'd kill all mosquitos. =P

I played badminton today for the first time since....um, I dunno... since a long time.

I sucked so much I don't even wanna talk about it.

We went to Hard Rock this last Saturday for dinner and the band. I did mentioned before that we loved live bands, didn't I? =)

Anyway, it was a really great night. We had a delicious dinner, and then we hung out and talked until the band started playing at 11pm and stayed all the way until they finished.

The band was really great! Loads of energy, and they were really friendly too. They danced with us during their breaks, we talked about music and stuff, and they invited me and Lone to jam with them too.

We ended up inviting two of them to watch Transformers with us the next day, because we happened to have two extra tickets. The movie was great, but I still love the animated movie better. I'm pretty sure they'll come out with a whole series of Transformer movies now...

Ok, anyway... Pictures! =)

Lone and I shared a B-B-Q'd Rib. It was huge! And delicious!
Margaret had a combo of B-B-Q'd ribs and chicken. Also delish!
John had steak, really tender.
Eng Kok had lamb, it had a dash of wine in it and it was juicy!
Charmin had fish. Healthy and delish!
The band, Redemption. This female vocalist is Paula, with a beautiful voice. In the background, the guitarist, Teody. You should see his fingers fly. He was one of the guys who went for the movie with us. He's the nicest, sweetest guy, he taught me and Lone some software to record our original songs.
The male vocalist, Bian.
The cutest bassist, and talented too, I love his energy. Alex. He's the one who introduced the rest of the band to us.
The drummer, Chris. If you watched him play, you'd be amazed at his talent and originality. He's one of the other two who went for the movie with us. Redemption will be playing at Hard Rock beside Concorde until the end of July. Go check them out! They are really good!

We'll be meeting them again next week for dinner, and we've all made plans to go back again to Hard Rock to watch them. And don't tell my bf...but I've got a little crush on Alex. *wink*

What?! He's adorable! =P

I was in Singapore on Mother's day last month, and this month I was in Bangkok on Father's day, so I didn't really get to celebrate those days with my parents properly.

So I decided to treat them this past Sunday, to a very delicious French dinner at Le Bouchon in KL, as our own personal Parent's day!

I had an ulterior motive of course, I wanted to eat foie gras! Foie gras, which I had heard so much about, but never tasted.

You can imagine the anticipation.

I was kinda worried that I'd build my expectations up too high, after everything I've heard about it, and that it might not taste as good as everyone has been saying. But oh, let me tell you...it was absolutely heaven!

How do I even begin to describe it? It's almost like...like catching snowflakes in your mouth and letting them dissolve on your tongue but not quite.... coz the foie gras isn't snow, nor is it cold... but oh... I can't describe it! You need to taste it for yourself!

It's like seeing music or tasting color, you feel the foie gras with your whole body, not just the tongue, and all of your senses open up and you experience something so wonderfully... orgasmic.

*Sighz*

Will you just look at it? It's making me salivate right now... It looks so good, but the taste! Oh, the taste!

I ordered lamb for the main course, which by the way, was also really estatically delicious! I have so spoilt myself for other foods now... It was the 'tender-est' lamb I have ever tasted.
My dad ordered the beef with foie gras, which was just as delicious and the most 'tender-est' beef I've ever tasted!
My mum got the salmon, which was pretty good too. I don't like cooked salmon though, so I didn't really pay much attention to it. But it was good! For salmon. ;P

It was a very, very satisfying dinner, and although really expensive, it was so worth it!

And of course, I had the best company ever. My parents!!

HAPPY PARENTS' DAY!! You guys are the bestest, bestest parents any girl could ever wish for!! Muah!! Love you sooooooo much!!

Sorry for the slow update with the Bangkok pix, guys! I know you're looking forward to the fishing pix, so here they are!

The place was great, it's called BungSamRan, just so you know if you ever decide to go to Bangkok to fish.

Just look at the environment and the scenery, isn't it beautiful?

This was how the cabin we were fishing in looked like. So comfy!

Preparing the bait! There's a technique to it that I can't follow.

My first catch! Look at the rod curve!

Intense concentration...I'm realising that it's much harder than I thought!

This really isn't easy!

Finally landed him! The giant mekong catfish! 17kg, guys!

My second catch!

Soooooo tired, look at my expression!

This giant has brought me to my knees... But look! You can see him! I almost got him!

Finally....after much sweating!

Got a couple more.... with a lot of grunting and sweating and muscle aching...

My biggest catch! 19kg! My parents 'tumpang glamour' taking the pic of the fish with me, and let me tell you, this one was spunky....this one gave me the most difficult time of all, and even after I finally landed him, he was trashing about so violently that we didn't dare take another pic of him.

Anyway, I know I said I was gonna catch at least 8...but it really was so much harder than I thought! And I'm so much more out of shape than I thought!

It's really sobering to know that I'm such a weakling! I've got to get more exercise and build up some muscles! I'm so dissatisfied that I only got 4 and a half (the last one finally defeated me!) before my body protested so badly that I just had to stop!

Every single muscle was aching! My arms, my legs, my back, my stomach.... And my fingers were numb! Literally! I couldn't feel them for hours! They hurt to the bones even until the next day!

I'm addicted though. I'm so definitely going back again...after building up a little bit more muscle and stamina...

And this time I'm going to conquer them all!!

Muahahahahhah!

Altogether we caught more than 30 catfish that day, from 9am til 9pm... and after the 5th, all I could do was watch while the others had fun fishing... =(

I'm not gonna let that happen next time. I'm gonna fight!

It was really great and loads of fun! If you're an avid fisher-person, you really should try fishing there. My dad's already talking about going back again in a couple of months, and I'm eager to go back too.

It's beautiful and comfortable, and although it's not cheap, it's definitely value for money. And would you just look at the amazing sunset?

How could anyone not want to go?

*blissful sigh*

Hello readers! I'm baaaccckkkk!

I had soooo much fun!!

But it was so tiring too! OMG, I can't even begin to tell you. We arrived there at about 3pm Thai time, which is one hour behind Malaysia. Then we only had 2 hours to reach the hotel from the airport and freshen up for a bit before we needed to leave again for a cruise dinner.

We stayed at Amari Watergate Hotel, it's a five-star hotel, so it was great. But the best part was that there was a shopping complex right in front of the hotel, so we didn't have to walk far. LOL! But we'll get to that later.

The room I shared with Yap;

Then we went for our cruise dinner on the ChaoPhraya River. That's the boat behind us.

The wind was blowing my hair into my eyes, which was really annoying, but isn't the background beautiful? Except for the pillar blocking part of it.

We saw the King's palace from the cruise, so majestic and beautiful!

And one of the temples, I don't know which, but it looks great, doesn't it?

There were lots more to see on the cruise, but then it was dinner time, and I became more interested in the food than the view.

I couldn't take the pix of the main dishes, coz by then everyone was lining up and digging into them, so you'll just have to be content with these. Feast your eyes!! Too bad you can't feast on them literally. ;P

The dessert:

The fruits:

The fingerfood and whachamacalit...:

The ham...:

The sushi plate:

Dammit! I'm getting hungry all over again! Ok, I'm going for lunch now. I'll be back with more pix soon!

It's official, we're extending our stay til Monday! LOL!

So that means almost a whole week away from home, and the computer, and my blog...again. Sighz...

I love going on trips, but I hate being away from home. Any way I can bring home with me while away? =)

So...again, goodbye for now. Don't miss me too much. I promise I'll blog as soon as I reach home and tell you all about the trip!

And also...a Happy 'Be-earliered' Birthday to Angeline, since I won't be here to wish her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE!!

Have a great birthday and lots and lots of fun! HuGz and Kisses!

And...

Bye everyone! I'm gonna so enjoy my trip to Bangkok! =)

Did I mention that I'm going to Bangkok on Wednesday for some fishing and shopping?

Oops...I think I forgot.

Anyway... I'm going to Bangkok on Wednesday for some fishing and shopping. =)

Ok, it's actually a company trip, I'll be leaving Wednesday and will be back either Saturday or Sunday...or Monday, if my dad decides he wants to stay even longer for the fish.

We're supposed to come back on Saturday, but my dad mentioned that he wanted to extend our stay so that we could fish more.

Fishing there's great.

There's this place, lakes and ponds and all, it's man-made but really nicely done and really really huge! There are huts for you to relax in while waiting for the fish to bite, and man...when they bite... you are in for one helluva ride!

Fishes there are BIG! I think you can't get any fish less than 10kg, which I'm really excited about coz the biggest fish I ever caught was 5kg.

The last time my parents went, my dad caught a 25kg fish!!

Which took him 45 minutes to reel in!!

Wooohh....tiring!

For all you more experienced fishermen, go ahead and grin smugly at the fact that you've caught bigger fishes which took a whole lot longer than 45 minutes to reel in. I don't care. =P

It's my first time going, so I'm so gonna have fun in Bangkok with the fishies! It's gonna be such a workout for my arms... In fact, one of the last times I went fishing, I caught 5 fishes in a row, and the biggest was the 5 kg fish I mentioned, and I was pooped!

Imagine catching more than 5 fishes, and all of them more than 10kgs!!

Whew! Just thinking about it makes my arms feel tired! LOL!

My dad said that I'd probably only last, at the most, for 7 catches. And that's for the whole day, by the way, not just for a few hours in the morning like the last time I went. Hmmpphh!

I gotta prove him wrong! I'm gonna get 8! Just for the sake of proving him wrong. LOL!

I'm so excited!!

About the shopping too! Of course! LOL!

I'm not a regular shopper, but there are so many things to see in Bangkok, and I love looking! Who knows? I may even buy some clothes! LOL!