My Little Kingdom

Blessing In Disguise?

2011-03-06T21:28:00.000+08:00

Still trying to overcome what has happened. Still facing uncertainties. Still unsure what needs to be done.

In the midst of such crisis, opportunities were pouring in. I have turned some down. Some still pending for my decision. And I am hoping for some more better opportunities.

Am I being greedy?

Starting from small

2011-02-15T10:33:00.002+08:00

Things have not been going on well as planned for me. I am not going to go into it. As the more I talk about it, the angrier I become. I can't seem to accept the fact yet. Hell....it wasn't my fault at all that I am in such a shity spot now. Hmmpphhh......

Life still has to go on, ain't it? Many friends have suggested that I start a little baking business from home. Cakes and cupcakes!

I was kinda reluctant initially coz baking and decorating cakes is my hobby. I really do not want to be sitting in the kitchen all day long smelling myself of butter and vanilla and choco and everything else.

But there were a lot of encouragements from good old friends and hence I have decided to just give it a try.
I am taking orders for cupcakes especially. Suitable for any occasions. You name it, I'll bake it.

Do drop by at http://www.cakesforthoughts.blogspot.com

Time to revive

2011-01-11T17:30:00.002+08:00

Didn't realise that it has been almost a year since my last post. Perhaps it's time to revive the blog.

Been really busy of late. Seriously not too sure why am I forever so busy. Must have been due to my poor management skills. Sigh.....

Btw I have been on cupcake baking craze. Not sure if this is just hangat hangat ayam or it will be a permanent hobby.

Oh well...enough of ranting. Back to work and will think of more to blog.

Her World - April 2010

2010-04-23T17:42:00.006+08:00

I have been freaking busy over the past months. Somehow by the time I get home after work , I feel so drained out that my mind just went empty and I have nothing to blog.Guess age is really, really catching up.

Sometime in March I received a call from a girl who works in BluInc. Well, actually I have been contemplating if I should even blog about it. I just hated the outcome. Duh! But then...on second thoughts...what the heck! It's already being seen by thousands of readers nationwide.

Oh, well...back to the story....I got this call and was asked if I am keen for a beauty makeover which will be published in April's issue. I was initially excited. And so I said 'yes'.
I went to their office where the photoshoot was to take place. One hairstylist came from BSC to do my hair. She was told to curl it and then make my hair look natural and elegant. The make-up artist is from Bodyshop.

So I sat down and the hairstylist started to curl my hair. Looked myself into the mirror and I didn't quite like what I saw. But I said to myself...maybe I'm not used to seeing myself like this. Maybe because I am still without make-up, hence I looked so ugly. Maybe after the make-up, I will look ok. Maybe when it's on the magazine some touch ups will be done. So many maybe's.

Then the make-up artist turn to apply make-up on me. Hmm.....maybe I am outdated. Those days when I was taught on applying makeup, I have to use highlighter, concealer etc etc to make my nose look sharper, to shorten my face since it's too long, re-shape my lips and on and on. But this guy did it quite simply. Nothing of what I learned applies. After that, it was the hairstylist's turn again. Touch touch my hair, blow a bit. She couldn't get the style that she wanted. No choice.

Then I saw one good looking guy...no shirt. I could tell he's an European from his thick accent. He's got 4 packs...and another 2 packs slightly visible. Young, lean, dark brown hair. Real good looking. Must have just finished photo shooting because he came to remove his make-up and to get dressed. He was wiping off some water on his shoulder (must have been water sprayed on him to make him look sweaty). And there I was seated there looking at him through the mirror.

Guess what...?? He didn't even lift a wink to look at me!
How sad.....but that is understandable. If I were him, I won't either because I feel and looked like an old auntie at that point of time. I expected the makeover to make me look younger but I was wrong.

The outcome :

See lah...I looked so old. The hair is so ugly.

How sad.

A New Year, A New Beginning

2010-01-02T20:42:00.007+08:00

For the past 3x years, I have been ushering in the New Year by celebrating my birthday. This year was a bit different because I had so many friends from primary school to secondary school to colleagues and family who wished and celebrated it with me.

I had my early birthday present from Miss R who gave me this pair of earrings on the 29th Dec.

Then I received a birthday wish from a primary school classmate, Pn F, whom I have not met for 25 years.

Then on the 30th Dec, I had another surprise from an old friend, Mr.V. He gave me this pair of earrings. What a surprise! I had 2 pairs of earrings this year. How do they know I'm a crazy fan of earrings, though I have to admit sometimes I'm just too lazy to wear them?

On the 30th itself, I was chatting with Miss J and I asked if she'd like to join me on a shopping spree on the 31st of which she agreed. So the 2 of us met at Sunway Pyramid at 9:15am. People must think the 2 of us are mad...shops were not even opened yet. Anyhow, we had breakfast first and then at 10am our journey begans. First target was Esprit.

We did a lot of walking. But couldn't seem to find anything suitable. It's either the size is not right or the price is not right. Jalan-jalan until past 2pm only did we realise we had not had our lunch. While eating, I got a call from Mr.J who said he is dropping by and told to meet him in Starbucks.

Before going over to Starbucks, Ms J wanted to get some doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. And guess what? She got some for me for my birthday. So sweet of her.

So, we met Mr. J. And he gave me this.Very nicely packed. Another surprise. I didn't expect him to get me anything. We only reconnected like a month or so as we have lost touch after our secondary years.
Then come midnight. I received extremely many well wishes from so many people. I got up the next morning to find a sms from my brother, which after reading it I felt so touched that I cried.

My brother, whom I hardly talk to and even if we did, it is just a few words. My brother, whom I always fought with like cat and dog. I realised even though we don't share the same opinion, even though we don't agree with many things, we are after all siblings and when any of us are in trouble, we just stood by each other. His sms clearly tells me that he cares and love me. It's just that we do not express it openly...not a tradition in our family...so shy la to say it out loud.

Come evening, he and his wife came with a birthday cake. A birthday cake!!! What in the world...I don't want to blow candles and have people singing me birthday song. I'm not 3 years old. I am thirty something, for crying out loud. Anyway, after some debate with my aunt over how many candles to put on the cake, my mom finally said, birthday girl makes the decision. Yeaa...thank you, mom.

And so my birthday cake has 1 candle.

After the birthday song ( yes, can't escape that one) and cake cutting, I carried on with my bicycle cycling.

What more could I say? I feel so blessed and happy. I don't need expensive gifts or a big celebration. I have friends from all over who wished me. Those who knew me remembered my birthday. And I have friends who were just by my side whenever I am in need. What more could I ask for?

I have only 1 sibling and what he did made me so happy. I am so lucky to have all my family and friends around me. Life has its ups and downs. With good company, the downs would eventually become the ups.

And so, in the end I have earrings to make myself look pretty, I have doughnuts to fill up my stomach while I lay on the couch with a good book to read.

Thank you all of you. It is a really good beginning to year 2010. Let's all prosper and have a blessed year ahead.

Mixed Feelings

2009-11-27T23:34:00.005+08:00

Most of the time, during the night, before Edrik and I go to bed, we have to have a round of game.

Simple games like tickling one another or telling stories or jokes. Sometimes we end up arguing. At times it can get quite bad.

One night Edrik started tickling me. In the midst of tickling, he got angry. I didn't know why. Then he started to sulk and took his bolster and slept on the floor. Crazy boy. I told him to come back up but he refused so I got angry because he was sulking. Then I said fine...don't come back up the bed and effective the next day, please sleep in your own room.

Guess what I found the next day when i got home after work
Well..."You Asked For It".

I was angry the night before and couldn't help laughing when I read this.

I Miss Him

2009-11-27T23:22:00.003+08:00

Today is the 2nd day without Edrik at home. He has left for his drama camp - a 4D 3N program.

The entire household is unusually quiet without him. When I got back from work last night, my aunt said, "it's so boring without Edrik around. We have no one to nag at. We have no one to mess up the place". Oh well...that is Edrik alright, messy and noisy.

Yesterday while at work, I came across a message which read like this:

A simple message that really melted my heart. I guess he was trying to tell me not to worry about him because I was reminding him about taking good care of himself.

Today to kill the loneliness, I went on a shopping spree. Somehow no matter how hard I try to keep myself occupied, I still think of him.

Oh..the little devil......I can't wait to see him on Sunday. I just got to tell him how much I missed him.

Lost & Found

2009-11-19T21:57:00.003+08:00

Life is filled with colours again. How wonderful........

Just within this week, I finally reconnected with some old friends. From primary school to secondary school to ex-colleagues. I cannot believe this but yes, it is for real. I reconnect with not just one but a few.

Suddenly life is happening again. I spoke to a few of them, catching up with updates. For the umpteenth time I repeated my part. It's all being told like a script by now coz I have been answering the same questions and telling the same old uninteresting life of mine.

It is so strange how life revolve around us. At one point of time, I told myself I would never see this person again. Never thought we would someday touch base. But hey, thanks to the advance technology that we have, we are all finally reconnected.

We have all grown older and wiser, I supposed. Not to mention some has grown sideways while some still remain the same. I find myself more comfortable and chatty with all my long lost friends. Could it be because I am now more mature, more forgiving and have better PR skills?

I am still searching for some more old friends....just like searching for my lost soul. Once I find them I will categorise them under "Lost & Found".

It just fits perfectly well.

Down, down and down

2009-10-16T22:00:00.003+08:00

Life has not been good to me lately.

I hate going home. I hate stepping into the kitchen especially. Everyday I see the incomplete kitchen, I get so mad. So frustrating I just didn't know what to do. It does look like the contractor is never going to finish the job despite having taken the money.

Who would want to finish the work now that the money has been paid. Only a fool would pay up before the job is completed and that fool is none other than ME.

I blamed myself for listening to my mother. My mother kept telling me the old man will not cheat us. So I trusted her and I paid. And look at the mess I got myself into.

Already stressed with the contractors, suddenly business picked up and I am overloaded with assignments. So many until I began to have sleepless nights. I think and think of where to find "heads". Been working late daily as well.

With all the worry and stress, I am now rewarded with gastritis. It was bearable until a few days ago, I had to take sick leave. I puked. I felt my stomach filled with gas and acid. Then the pain. Then the bloatedness. Then the hunger pang but after eating 2 mouthful, I felt so full but then an hour later I am hungry again but I could only take another 2 mouthful. And for the past 2 days, my stomach has been churning.

Oh...not to forget during my sick leave I was working from home. Not that I liked to do it. Boss was on the phone with me talking about work and I had to get things done.

I am not happy at all. I'm still having gastritis. Medication has not been of much help. How can I get the contractors to finish the job? I paid him out of sympathy. He has a sick wife whom I have met. His eldest son is utterly useless. He is an old man in his 60s. I feel for him when I see him climb the ladder to nail the wood and so on. I wished he didn't have to work so hard anymore at his age. For these facts, I am being taken advantage of.

It is an expensive lesson. Never be kind anymore. Never have a soft heart anymore. Never trust anyone, not even your own mother.

Life sucks.

Contractors

2009-10-04T22:51:00.002+08:00

Has anyone has any pleasant encounter with house contractors? I'd like to hear your good stories.

Let me tell you about my experience with contractors.

My house is undergoing renovation. Not a very extensive one but it is to extend the kitchen, shift the toilet to the back and build the wall fence in front. Renovation started somewhere in end July. I was told it takes 3 weeks to complete. Hmm...3 weeks is not that long. I could live with the mess for 3 weeks, I told myself.

As usual, I don't quite trust these people. So I told myself...ok...give them 5 weeks. Should be sufficient to get everything done. Guess what? It's not completed until now!

The problem? This old man kept telling my mom he has no money to buy materials. So mom pitied him and gave him some money. And yes, he did buy the material. But it was not enough for the entire works. Now he has taken almost all the payment and he has yet to complete the reno. Despite calling him to come over and get it done, he still said he has no money to buy material.

Honestly, my patience has run dry. I have exploded right in front of them. Still no movement. During times like this I wished I have a "taiko" who can help me to talk to them.

Not much work left actually. Just a little bit of tiles to replace because they ran short of it. And then the painting and fix up the kitchen cabinet. That is all that was left to be done. I have gone for months without electricity for the kitchen, no fridge to use and poorEdrik had to make do with bread everyday as his lunch pack. I couldn't make him egg sandwich because I was not able to cook in the dark. The pipes weren't ready and I had no water to use in the kitchen.

Now I have water and electricity, but I have no cabinets to store my things. The whole house is in such a mess and thick layers of dust can be seen all over the place.

Today I cleaned the new kitchen until my fingers ached. You know the new windows which they put up? There were cement splattered all over it. At the sill and on the glass. And then the door frame also had the same problem. Had to wipe hard and use scrapers to scrape off the cement. My nails all turned ugly because of the harsh work. We even decided to paint the place on our own now. What to do? We cannot sit and wait. It has taken too long. We have to go and get our own paint now. Means, more money needed to pump in again. It was so much of hard work and I began to curse and swear them in my heart.

Finally, tonight I told my mom this. "So suey to have given the job to them. Please tell this to the contractor.They have been fortunate to meet us but we have been unfortunate to meet them"

Moral of the story : Never ever trust contractors. Never ever have a soft spot for them, regardless if the contractor is an old man who comes to you with very, very sad story. You just have to shut your ears and conscience when you deal with contractors.

While you may pity them, once they put your house in a mess and you have no water to wash, no electricity to use, you can't cook and you plead with them to quickly get it done..they will still turn a deaf ear on you. You will not get any sympathy from them.

My feelings about them at this very moment : I wish I could get my hands on them and wring their necks till their heads drop. That would give me some satisfaction.

Closed Chapter

2009-09-01T17:42:00.002+08:00

Okay, I know I have bragged and bad mouthed my neighbour by putting up the photos accompanied with a write-up.

But who to blame for all these? Had you all been in my shoes, you would know how I feel.

Anyway, their contractors came and rectified the gutter and the pipe at the back of the house. Whether there will be more problems or not, we have yet to find out. Will only know when there is heavy downpour.

As for the "jaguar" and the plants, nothing has been done. Honking still carries on whenever they come back. Like a handicap person who got no hands to open the gate. I will stop here before I begin bad mouthing again.

This chapter about my "beloved" neighbour is closed for now until I detect more problems of which I hope not to.

My "Beloved" Neighbour

2009-08-23T23:00:00.010+08:00

Today I am going to tell you about my neighbour.

This picture was taken right at my gate. Each morning when I wake up I am greeted by this rotten "jaguar". The "jaguar belongs to my "beloved neighbour. As you can see, the "jaguar" is already in a bad shape. The body has got holes caused by the rust. The car has not been in used for more than a year. Someone came and stole the car battery one day and the "smart" owner went and replaced another one which got stolen again within the next few weeks. As you can see, someone broke the window too and now it's being covered by garbage bag. Such an eye sore!

Now..behind this car, there are some trees and plants. When the neighbour first moved in, they started planting all sorts of trees and plants, Not just this amount that you are seeing, there were more! It was like a mini jungle. Despite telling them not to plant, they still did. The second son said this is a public area, so it's not up to us to sound him. The last straw came when my mom saw them planting sugar canes. You know how messy sugar canes can be? Well, mom was adamant about them removing the sugar cane. They had no choice and relented.

You see, some time ago before they moved in, one night some robbers hid on top of a tree near where their plants are now, waiting for their victims. The victims could be any of us that were getting down from the car to open the gate. My mom spotted and alerted the neighbours. Despite telling them these story, they were still very stubborn. Maklumlah.....the one hidding on top of the tree happened to be the same skin colour as them. Very difficult to be noticed at night unless they start to grin and you will notice the two rows of teeth.

This neighbour always makes trips to India and each time when he returns he has some new faces in his house. These people will act like his servants ie opening the gate, washing the cars and gardening. Lately, there hasn't been any servants around. So no one to tend to their plants. Some of his kacang plants or what..I don't knowla has grown too tall, I think and fallen. But no one is chopping it off or at least clean up the mess. It's just left there.

This is not the end of the story. There are more. here is a picture of his house. Notice the 2 red arrows? You see when they painted the house, both his neighbours share of walls also he painted his house's colour, making his house looked complete. The part which I have circled, I believe there has been some leakage into his house, hence his contractor greased the roof. Well, I don't mind if he greased only his roof, he actually greased my wall too. Look at the black patch.

*Note : This pic was taken before I put up a wall fence.

To get a clearer view on the grease.

If you also notice, there is a lighter shade of peach sticking to their wall. It is actually a thin piece of metal painted in peach and stuck that for reasons which I believed is to cover up some holes to prevent the house from leaking. And because of that when there is heavy rain, the water just flowed over to my house, like rain taking a trip down the water slide. Not that the water get into my house but it actually landed on my porch roof. And I am pissed.

I have told them to remove their gutter several times as they have exceeded and invaded my territory. This picture is so obvious. Even a blind person can tellthat they have "makan" my house.

But...guess what? Their contractor came yesterday and insisted that no, they have not exceeded what is allowed. The contractor claimed that it is ngam-ngam at the border of their house. Mata setok, I tell you. I thought he has cock eye but when I looked at him, he has perfectly normal eyes.

Last week, my family decided to build the wall fence. And so we did. After plastering the wall, the workers wanted to go over to their place to plaster the other side of the wall. But my "kind" neighbours refused to let them in. So we had no choice but to leave it unplastered.

A few days ago, I saw these 2 tiny dried up cement which look like pebbles on the wall.

Then I found out that these 2 cement piece were actually from their side. You see, when we put up the bricks on layers of cement, there are bound to be some cement droppings. These 2 were the result of that and the "kind" neighbour has decided to let us know by picking it up and place it on our wall.

Oh not just that, they even had the cheek to question me if I am going to plaster the other side of the wall. When I told them that someone in their house has refuseed to let the workers in, the elder son simply shook his head and deny it.

Their gutter has been leaking again. The last time it leaked we told them to get it repaired because the water actually flowed into my car porch. If, like what his contractor had claimed, ngam-ngam at the border, how can the water flow into my porch? Anyway, they didn't repair the leakage. After months later I couldn't take it anymore. I hung a canvas over my fence, below the gutter so that when water flows, it goes straight back into their house. Don't blame me...they forced me to do it.

This round it leaked again. 2 spots. You can see it from this picture.

And the result :

Nice patch, huh?

Let's move on to the back of the house. Looked clean, ain't it?

My "kind" neighbour is so generous. The wife always throw the leftover to feed the birds. I find it so dirty. Not only that. The pigeons and crows come for it. We all know how toxic their droppings are. Shouldn't some people need to be considerate here?

The garbage bin which they got their contractor to do for them has no lid. There was one day I took a peep in it and saw so many flies...the big and shiny ones. This pic which I took is considerably ok comparing to the one I saw last week.

You know this pipe is supposed to be like their front gutter, meant for water to flow. Its facing towards my house again. Unfortunately there has not been heavy rain during this weekend. Otherwise I would have another lovely picture to show. when it rains heavily, the water gushes out from this pipe. if I happened to be opening my back door during that time, the water from this pipe will be cleaning my door from me. Seriously, it gushes out like waterfall . You see, I cannot understand. Why need to put that elbow? Just allow the water to gush straight into the drain will do whatttttt!!!
Last week, when I saw it with my own eyes, I couldn't take the nonsense anymore. Under the heavy rain, with an umbrella, I banged their back door. Bang, bang, bang until they came. I showed it to them. To the elder son, actually who happens to be a lecturer at a university. See....we have educated people in that house but do not have civilised minds. He said he will get the contractor to rectify it but a week has gone. Gutter not removed, this pipe also not rectified yet. Sighhhhhh.

Lastly, look at this.

Remember their back lane looks clean? Well, yea, of course it looked clean because they don't throw the unwanted stuffs at their area. Instead they threw it right across the backlane near another neighbour's house. Both our backs are facing the side of this neighbour (try to imagine, k? I don't know how else to explain). One look and people will think it is this house owner which threw the stuffs out without realising it is the doing of my exact neighbour.

Cool neighbour, eh?

Continuation - Bali Trip

2009-07-21T21:27:00.004+08:00

After the Monkey Sanctuary, we moved on to Kintamani Volcanoe. Apart from the breezy wind, it drizzled a little when we arrived. As we got down from our van, we were approached by many sellers selling t-shirts and souvenirs. All of us were hungry. We ignored them and proceeded to the restaurant. I have to say that was a smart move.

Kintamani Volcano

However after lunch and a few snapshots, we decided to leave. It was raining again and while waiting for the van to pick us up, big mistake.......my family decided to open their mouth and asked how much were the souvenirs. In no time they were swarmed by the sellers.

Next stop - Tirta Empul in Tampak Siring.

Before we are allowed to enter the temple, we had to wear sarongs. One pakcik decided to help me tie the sarong. Don't know if he was sincere in helping (because I didn't ask for help) or he was trying to "menggatal". My mom asked for his help to tie the sarong and he turned her down.

First..like this.

Then...like this.

The outcome...tadaaa

After donning on the sarong, we were taken to this place. It was filled with people and all were queuing up for their turns to bathe in this holy water. It is believed that the holy water is able to cleanse away the bad luck and also to cure illnesses.

And where did the holy water come from? It came from this spring. If you noticed the black spots, those are actually the water sprouting out from the underground. This is not a man made spring. It is from a natural source and it has not dried up since it was first discovered.
Next we visited other areas and saw prayers taking place. The Balinese here usually prayed for peace and safety.
From the spot where the prayers was taking place, we saw a big house seated at the tip of a hill. Our tour guide said this house belongs to one of the Indonesia's president. I cannot recall his name though. And that hilltop is actually a breast of a woman, if seen from a top view and that house is actually built right on the woman's breast.From this view, you will see both the breasts. A bridge was built to cross from one breast to another. Amazing..if this was during Gulliver's time, his wife's breasts would need to have a bridge in between so that those tiny people would be able to cross over.

Another death

2009-07-21T21:21:00.003+08:00

I guess I should stop grieving. Just when I was to think I should stop grieving, I heard of another death. Teo Beng Hock, whom I do not even know, one who is not even related to me. But I feel for his family. He died while under MACC's custody and his death has been unexplainable.

While I want him to rest in peace, I also wished he would appear into somebody's dream and relate what transpired during his last hours.

His fiancee's words to him on his funeral was enough to move everyone to tears. His sson-to-be mother-in-law was crying uncontrollably. So were his own parents.

I think I have blogged enough about death. Otherwise in time to come, my blog might be turned into an orbituary session.

Pray that justice will be served.

Update on bad news

2009-07-04T18:39:00.004+08:00

Well...he didn't wake up. I was told he passed away this morning and the family is donating some of his organs.

Yesterday around 1:30pm I received a call. The doctor had declared him brain dead and moving him out from the ICU. And the family had to decide whether to remove him from the machine. I said to my friend, "miracles do happen, right?"..."Maybe he will wake up."

I had intended to visit him after work that day. But with such news, I wasn't sure if I should wait. I asked permission from my boss to visit him. I needed to bring a colleague with me. I somehow wasn't sure I could do this alone. Thank God..boss understood and agreed. I left office at 2:30pm. So many things crossed my mind while I was driving.

Steven is not a very close friend of mind. And yet to say that we aren't close at all is also not true. We would stay out of touch for months at times. We hardly meet. But each time when he calls, he would tease me and make me burst into laughters.

I remembered when my dad was so sick and admitted to Selayang Hospital. I was there to look after my dad. He came and gave me moral support. He accompanied me to lunch. When he left, the specialist broke the family some bad news. The doctor had told us to bring my dad home. I was completely broken. And I called him. He was the one who advised me on what to do next. He was the one who gave me the moral support.

Yesterday, I would say was one of the worst days in my entire life. I got to the hospital and saw him surrounded by his family members. They were all crying. His ex-partner who was there told me that the family has decided to remove him from the machine but he was reluctant to go. I was dumbstruck....."You mean Steven said he refuse to go?" The guy said no. Steven is brain dead. He is communicating through a medium. Then only I realised there was a medium seated next to him.

His sisters and mother were all crying. Even my colleague who went with me, who knew not of this man also could not contain her tears. Her sister asked if he is willing to donate his organs to which he agreed. And the family kept persuading him to let go.....they assured him that all will be well taken care. The siblings said they will look after their mom.

Steven is not married but has 2 daughters aged 8 & 4 with a woman. The "wife" was there. She promised to look after their children. She said.."I know these are the 2 whom you loved the most. Don't worry I will take good care of them". With that the "wife" went out to the waiting area and brought the 2 girls. She told them to hug Daddy and to call Daddy.

Then she served tea to his motherwhich usually in a Chinese tradition, it means accepting the person into the family. In this case it is considered she has been accepted as a daughter in-law by the family. Her sister was telling him what has just taken place.

Then the medium speaks again. The medium said not everyone is here. There are a few more people which he wanted to see and he named them. I waited for a while more and then I walked to him and spoke a few word to him. I stroke his arm and it still felt warm. Then I left.

It was and still is very devastating to me. I wished I had stayed longer. I wished I had said more things to him. I just cannot believe he is gone.

Rest In Peace, Steven. May God bless your soul. Amitabha.

Bad news!

2009-07-02T22:12:00.002+08:00

I wanted to continue to blog about my Bali trip today but I couldn't. Just a few minutes ago, I received a call. The caller said, "Susan, I have bad news for you". I held my breath, not daring to breathe.

I have been receiving nothing but bad news lately.

Exactly 3 weeks ago, my colleague, a bachelor who lived alone died in the wee hours of the morning from a heart attack. What a shock that was. I woke up at 6:45am only to receive an sms from another colleague at 6:50am informing of his death. He called this colleague of mine at 4am asking for prayers as he said he had chest pain. A few minutes into praying, he was gasping for breath and shrieking in pain. Next was silence. My colleague rushed to his house. Shouting aloud his name when he got there, the whole neighbourhood actually woke up. He used the neighbour's balcony and climbed into his house, only to find the house in darkness. When he got to the bedroom and turned on the lights, he was already gone.

2 weeks later which was actually just a week ago, MJ died. When a friend called me at 7am that morning to break the news, I was neutral. I didn't feel anything. Then slowly when I drove myself to work, I cried. Geez...MJ is gone...forever. He was looking forward to his comeback. Even the title of his tour explains. "This Is It Tour". Adding salt to the wound, the radio stations were paying tribute to him, airing all his numbers. It made me more sad when I listened to You Are Not Alone, my fav number. Till today, I still cried when I read about him. All the news that were slashed on to him were meant to tarnished his image and these culprits certainly did a good job.

2 days ago, my aunt came down from Kelantan. She had not been well and went for a check. The hospital found a "growth" the size of about 5cm on her liver and told her they do not know what it is and said to come back again 3 months later for another check to determine if the "growth" has differ in size. Hate to say this...but heck...WTF...?? Anything can happen in 3 months! Do we wait and go back 3 months later and then to be told that this is end stage cancer? What is this doctor saying?? It's a human life here....geez.....Anyway, she is here for another check and will be getting her report tomorrow. From the look of the scan, it doesn't seem good. Pray that there is cure to her problem. Pray that a miracle will happen.

Back to the call which I received a short while ago. A friend called to inform that our friend collapsed during a meeting at his office today and is now in a coma. It seems chances of survival is very slim. There is blood clot in his brain. He is in ICU now. I must make a visit to him tomorrow. Pray that he will wake up.

Just about a month ago, my neighbour passed away. Every morning I will pick up his daughter and send her to school together with my son. They are both the same age. I can see all his 3 children have very good relationship with him. If he is not working outstation, he will take his children to the market, and fetch them back from school. He died of a heart attack in outstation. When I received the call at 2:30pm on that faithful day, I told my mom...no..it can't be true. Maybe my son had heard wrongly. I said pray that it was a mistake. When I got home that evening, I saw canopies already been set up outside his house. What more could that mean? He has 3 young children. The oldest aged 10 followed by 9 and 7.

God.....why is this happening? It feels like some kind of punishment to me. Will I have to be here to watch my friends slowly depleting one after another? Please...I don't think I can take anymore of these.

Bali Tour - Part 4

2009-06-14T21:55:00.006+08:00

Still on Day 1, from the wood carving factory, we went to Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud.

As usual, we were warned about what the monkeys can do. We had to be very careful with our bags and cameras. These creatures are known to snatch them away. To be honest, we weren't very keen when we heard we need to purchase tickets to get in. (Ticket costs Rp15,000 for adult and Rp7,500 for a child). I mean, after all, it is only monkeys.

But on the other hand, this place is one of the tourism spots. Since we were already there, might as well take a look and see how Bali monkeys look like.

At the entrance, a lady was selling bananas, costs about Rp6,500. Supposedly for feeding the monkeys. As she waited for business, she fell asleep. She must have realised that we were snapping her picture and she woke up. Kind of pity her. She must be tired. Pregnant and needed to sit there throughout the day just to make a living.

Standard of living in Bali is very low.

As we walked in, the monkeys came to us. They were big monkeys. Some kind of like sneaked behind us. My cousin got so scared, she hugged her bag and froze each time she sees a monkey walking towards her. She even refused to hold any of the bananas. 1 monkey just came forward and snatch a banana from Edrik. No joke..I was getting pretty nervous too. I started asking myself if this was a good idea after all.

As we walked further in, we noticed some of them play in groups. Our tour guide explained that they have their own gang and territory. Suddenly, we heard some shrieks. We turned and saw a few foreigners running away from some monkeys. The monkeys were fighting. One must have crossed over to the other's territory. Very gungho...I tell you.

Unorganic bin. Hehe....pretty interesting.
Monkey Forest is very big. Along 1 side of it is a cemetery.Also in the forest, is a temple. The gate was locked. Apparently females are not allowed to enter this temple.

As were leaving the forest, we saw some monkeys about to take their bath.

Bali - Part 3 - Official tour now begins

2009-06-03T23:00:00.014+08:00

Our first stop was to the batik factory. I wasn't impressed with the end products simply because they are being sold in USD and it is very expensive. So I decided to walk out of the selling area and went over to a group of people who were working on the batiks.

The wax which is always kept hot with low fire so that it remains liquidified.

A woman waxing the batik. This process is done so that in the later part when ink is applied onto the material, the wax will prevent the ink from smearing unnecessarily to other parts of the cloth.

Hand painting the batik once waxing process is completed.

Halfway waxing, this lady stopped and did something else. She was kind of weaving the coconut leave.
And the outcome is this. I soon found out that this is like a bowl for offerings to their gods. They would usually place flowers, tiny biscuits, some fine leaves and then a joss stick. They would pray at the entrance of their houses or shops. After that they place it on the floor. Practically everywhere I went, I see these. Some has got more simple design. This is the best design I have seen so far.

Next, to the silver factory. Almost all the places has statues like this at the door front. It is also some kind of dewa which they pray to. In Bali everyone is fond of using flowers.

Even the dewas...the Balinese placed fresh flowers on them. And a lot of these dewas has a cloth wrapped around them. Like a sarong. But what does it symbolise...I do not know.

A woman at the silver factory working on a pendant. I must admit it is a very, very tedious job. You sit long hours and uses much of your eyesight. Mind you, no machines seen at the factory, not even a single one. We were told the accessories or jewelleries sold are all handmade.

I saw some nice earrings but it was too expensive. After that we moved on to the art gallery.

Before a painting is being put up for sale, it is initially sketched like this.

Followed by painting.
We left the gallery and headed for the wood carving factory. Along the way, we saw some shops selling wood products by the road side and requested for the driver to stop.

Upon visiting one of the shops, I was caught by surprised. Huh...?? Ku-ku bird for sale? I was really, really curious on why they needed to carve this. for DIY purposes? Curious but didn't have the guts to ask.

Our next stop at the wood carving factory. This man carving a sculpture. All are hand carved.

Do you think the mermaid managed to achieve orgasm through our massage?

Bali - Part 2 - Hotel Tour

2009-06-02T22:32:00.017+08:00

I was awaken by the sound of an old lady who slept in the next bedroom. My handphone alarm has not rang. Why on earth did she wake up so early? My..oh..my..she had a voice louder than an alarm clock. I set my alarm at 6:30am only to be awaken at 5:30am - the time shown on my handphone. I got up and told her to ssshhhhh.....it's only 5:30am. And she exclaimed...hah?? 5:30am the sky where got so bright one?

Alamak, she's quite right also. I checked my wrist watch and found out it was almost 7am!!! Damn! I forgot my handphone has got auto time setting for worldwide time. But then, how do you explain about that "no time difference thingy"? Beats me, I am still puzzled until today.

So, we all got up. Opened the windows and saw beautiful view. We quickly showered and went to the coffee house for breakfast. The coffee house has a Balinese setting. They served continental breakfast buffet style. Not many choices but it tasted pretty good. The environment was really good. Shady and breezy with the fans running and some soft Balinese music in the background much to our joy.
Waiting for omelette

Next, we went strolling around the hotel. The name Puri Bambu tells all. It's filled with bamboos. Something which I adore.

At the poolside.

Taken from part of the compound

Still at the hotel's compound

As we strolled, we came across a humane looking monkey right on tree.
Flowers blooming at the garden.
I don't know what this is. I think it is a deco item. Actually towards the left hand side there is a reading corner, sort of like a mini library. Guests can actually sit right at the patio and read while enjoying the scenery at the same time.
While waiting for the tour guide to arrive, at the entrance of Puri Bambu.

Bali - Part 1 -before departure, during flight and upon arrival

2009-05-31T22:26:00.017+08:00

I have been wanting to got to Bali since a long, long time. Somehow...some issues would just surface and then I had to put the trip on hold. I remembered the Bali bombing which created fear in all of us. Then came SARS. This time round, Dad actually tried to talk me out because of A(H1N1). Sighhh.....it just had to happen. Dad kept saying, today's news said this....today's newspaper said that...bla bla bla. For days he tried to talk me out of it. No, I don't care. I was adamant about my trip. I must go. I have put it on hold for so many times!

As a precaution, I enquired about Tamiflu tablets। Then I bought my multi vits including vitamin C. I increased my dosage intake। Just to convince myself that I have better back-up with stronger immune system. Not only that I had to buy masks - 1 box (50pcs). You might wonder why on earth would I need 1 box. Well, I am travelling in a group of 8. I estimated each person to use 3 masks for each route. And that's not all. I went looking for hand sanitisers. Making sure each of them has a bottle. Ok॥I have to admit I have been very kiasi and kiasu...but hey....better safe than sorry.

I don't want any of us to be infected or to be quarantined under suspicion due to my stubborness. It ain't fun to have a police standing outside your door for a week though you have not committed a crime. Because we were all so kiasus, before arriving at the airport, we donned on the masks।

We were the only people in that flight with masks। I thought I was being overly paranoid until I hear a passenger in the same flight sneezing away। Phew! Good thing I had the mask on.

The mask is pretty uncomfortable. It feels warm. I almost wanted to remove my mask while inside the airplane. And then suddenly I heard "Achooooo......". Oops.....and again "Achooooooo......". Aiyoyo...I changed my mind. Stick to the mask. My cousin and her mom who initially refused to put on the mask immediately took it out from their bags and donned it. Kakakakkaka..... As we were travelling in the evening, we managed to catch the sunset from inside the plane।

During flight, I kept trying hard to figure out about the time zone। Here's what happened। I called AirAsia to check if theire is any time differences and the girl said , yes...Bali is 1 hour behind us। Ok॥that's fine। I checked from one of the webs in the internet and yes, there is 1 hour difference। But when I looked back at my ticket, and calculating backward and forward, using my own logical explanation, I was not able to figure out how the time zone work। AirAsia girl said flight time is 2 hours but ticket showed 3 hours। So there has to be some kind of time difference। Still thinking hard, I heard the announcement...."we'll be landing shortly। FYI there is no time difference between Malaysia & Bali"। Huh?? No time differences?

Not trusting my ears I checked with the airport authorities when I got to the ground. Yeah.....no time difference. Ok, I told myself....1 last try...I'm going to ask differently this time. I approached a taxi driver. I said, "Excuse me, can I know what is the time now?". Taxi driver looked at his watch and said, "It's 10:30pm now." Hmm...that confirms it. No time difference. So much for my hard thinking during my 3 hours flight. Duh!

There are 8 of us....16 biji of eyes scanned the arrival hall, all on the lookout for our hotel driver. Saw so many people with signs but none that showed Puri Bambu Hotel. Oh dear....I went walking around, checking with strangers who has signage with them but was turned the other way round. No one could see what the signs said. All that I approached, none showed Puri Bambu. I decided to call the hotel. Darn, I was not able to get through. Not because the line was engage, more so like I have no connection. That's Celcom. I had to borrow one of our member's phone..DiGi user and it got through. My cousin who is a Maxis user couldn't get through either. The guy at the hotel said driver is already at the airport. He told us to walk to information counter and he will get the driver to meet us there. And yes, we found him. Aiyoh...I told the driver. Hold your signage high high. Don't hold low low. You place it around your waist area noone can see. Poor guy....he was apologetic and very patient with us.

We told him we were hungry. And he took us to have Nasi Padang at a small warung.The food tasted good...either that or we were all very hungry. Cost us 395,000 Rupiah. Quite frightening to have a meal which costs hundreds of thousands.

We checked in with welcoming drinks. 2 big interconnecting bedrooms greeted us. It was really spacious. We got excited for a while and not long after we fell into deep sleep.

Back in action

2009-05-31T22:15:00.002+08:00

I lost my blogging sense. That was why I stopped blogging for more than a month. At times when I wanted to blog, some things would just crop up and there goes my ideas and creativity.

Well...I am back again after a good, short holiday. Feeling refreshed and fully recharged, I am back in action..be it work or blog.

Coming up next, I will be blogging about my holiday with loads of pictures to share.

Culture Unplugged Video

2009-04-15T20:16:00.001+08:00

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Burnt a hole in my pocket

2009-04-15T14:14:00.004+08:00

It was raining heavily this morning. Was really, really reluctant to wake up. I had to drag myself off the bed at 5:30am. Darn!!! It just had to rain at this hour.

My right eye has been twitching for the past few days. Call me superstitious but I truly believe that something horrid was gonna happen. How serious is the matter depends on how long or how hard the eye twitches. For this round I was bracing for the worst. The last time when I had eye twitching was a few years back when my dad was seriously ill. Each time my eye twitches, I get emergency calls from the hospital. That prompted me to believe that bad luck was going to befall.

Dropped my son off at his school at about 6.55am and then noticed the air-cond was not cold. How come? It was raining heavily. I should be freezing inside the car. One look at my meter temperature and I saw the needle going towards "H"...Up and up it went until it reached the red spot. I was alarmed.....praying hard that my front bonnet would not explode. I imagined my bonnet burst opened by the amounting pressure with smokes blowing out.

Stopped by the side and sat in the car for easily an hour. Heck....who could I call at such early hours. I can't open the water tank anyway. It's too hot to open it. Wouldn't want hot boiling water gushing onto my face and leave me scarred for life.

So I waited. Good thing mom was with me. She started telling me true stories about life after death. Geez......what a way to pass time. An hour later, we opened the bonnet. It was still drizzling. Water tank was full with water. So it cannot be the car running out of water. Phew....I really said to myself if it is because the car ran out of water then I only have myself to blame for. I would be so ashamed...good thing it wasn't that.

Around 9am++ the mechanic came. He checked and confirmed there is nothing wrong with the car except for the air-cond. And so I had to drive my car to the air-cond workshop. from the school to the workshop is about 1.5km. By the time I got there, temperature was at its max again. The guy had to wait for a while vefore opening the water tank cap. He said water is boiling. Yeah...when he opened it I could hear the ssshhhhhh sound followed by gluglug gluglug sound and then smoke coming out of it.

After the "CT scan", the car was dignosed with "lung failure". The fan has kaputed. And because the fan was not working, while driving, it actually add on the stress to the relay causing the relay to burn. He showed me the relay. It was black all over. He said had I continue to drive further, it would damage my car engine, thus I will have more headache.

So now he had to dismantle the fan and replace it with a new one. The original set costs RM500- RM600 for a Hyundai Atos. The not-so-original one costs RM290. A few things which I learnt today.

1. Never ever buy a Korean car. The guy told me Korean cars are sold cheap but spare parts cost a bomb. In fact for some parts the cost is equivalent to a Mercedes.
2. There is only ONE fan in Atos. Meaning, the fan will need to "look after" the air-cond and the engine. In Japanese cars, there are TWO separate fans, each looking after their own portfolio.
3. The cost of Atos fan is equivalent to 2.5 fans of a Toyota!!! Can you beat that?
4. Saw a Camry parked inside the workshop. We aked if it was his. He said yes. We asked further if its fuel savings. He said yes, definitely better than my car.
5. Never ever buy a Korean car. Seriously fuel consumption is so high and there is no 2nd hand value.
6. Car air-cond needs to be serviced every 18 months.
7. The air-cond filter needs to be changed every 30,000km. Filter is important as it looks after the compressor. The compressor is like the air-cond's heart. If it suffers a heart attack, it will die. And the replacement is not cheap.

So best is to send your car for a regular medical check before it is too late. When it requires surgery, chemotherapy and radiology....your pocket will suffer.

My cooling coil was removed to check if it is still in a good condition.

From the inside of the car at the passenger seat, below the dashboard. You probably can't figure this out. It looked a lot like the skull's been removed.
This is the front bonnet. Water tank's cap been removed.
Damn! I bought Atos because it was cheap. Didn't realise the spare parts price could match up to a Mercedes and Toyota. From poor became poorer now. Sighhh.

Added Family

2009-04-05T21:29:00.005+08:00

Please welcome the new members to my collection.

Bought these from Charming Pieces.

Named The Secret not by me but by the lovely lady who founded and made them.

Originally it came with a pair of earrings made from the same black stones and dragon fly. I personally thought it didn't quite match this bracelet so I requested to have a pair of customised earring that matches. And here's what she produced.

I also bought The Accompaniments from her. I love dragon flies and couldn't resist this one.
Shi Min, the person behind Charming Pieces actually visited my blog and noticed that I am a crazy fan of earrings. Hence when I opened my package, I was surprised that she gave me this...for FREE! Another pair of earrings which came with this note and tied with a ribbon. So sweet of her.She certainly made me a happy customer. Smart marketing tactic. Haha.....

April's Fool

2009-04-01T13:56:00.005+08:00

Was anyone of you fooled today? I was......early in the morning.

It was 6:35am when I heard my message tone. Wondered who could it be sending me such an early message. The message said "Tell Edrik today no school". I replied, "why?"

And that made me think hard...so hard.....squeezing all the juices in my brain wondering why. I recalled hearing the news last night. Nothing announced about a public holiday. Then I said to myself, did our Ruler passed away or something?. Why no school? Then I told Edrik....a message came from your grand aunt. She said no school today.

And Edrik asked. "why no school"? He quickly took the memo out from his schoolbag. His school has actually given him a memo on Public Holidays and class replacement dates. He went through it. He said," no ah...nothing mention about holiday today" "Aiyah..don't botherlah", I said and we left home.

Shortly, Edrik said, "Mi, I think I know why. It's April's Fool Day today". Just at the same time a message arrived on my phone. From my aunt who replied to my "Why?". She said, its 1st April...April's Fool.

Shucks!!! Who would have guessed a 50++ years old lady would pull such prank at such early hours of the morning!

Today is also the 6th death anniversary of Leslie Cheung, one of the most talented artiste I have ever come across. A handsome man with a beautiful voice. A singer, an actor who sings, dances and acts. He sings not just Cantopop but Chinese Opera as well. Unfortunately at the peak of his career, he died.

I learned about Leslie through a cousin of mine. He was so crazy over Leslie. He always play his songs and sang after him.

I still remember that fateful day. I was having dinner when my brother texted me and told me that Leslie had died. I choked on my food, not believing a word he said. I told him, please lah...it's April's Fool today. No good to pull such prank. He said it's all over the radio.

I rushed home. Don't know why I rushed home either. I turned on the tv, I called my friends, I listened to the radio. Yeah...radio was talking about it throughout.

Apparently Leslie committed suicide. Jumped from the 24th floor of Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. A note was found on his body. Fans who heard about it rushed to the scene. Lots of us wondered why. Why did you have to do it?

I remembered watching the news. I saw someone with a broom and water scrubbing the spot where he landed. Must be washing away the blood.

I stayed at home to watch his funeral. I was sobbing in between. I wasn't even a diehard fan of his. I don't collect his albums and posters and etc. But I was deeply saddened. My mom who watched his concert from the DVD which my cousin bought after hearing about his death kept shaking her head. She kept saying...what a waste...why?

It's been 6 years. Till today, the radio stations still pay tribute to him. His fans still remember him dearly. I wonder if he ever regretted taking his own life.

Danell Showcase 227

2009-03-23T21:39:00.007+08:00

A long overdued post. Just when everyone has gotten over the excitement, here I am blogging about it.

Mom has called me weeks earlier to tell me that Danell will be conducting his own showcase and she wants to attend. Told me to get tickets. Boy, was I surprised to receive her call because I wasn't even aware of whatever showcase that she was talking about.

The much awaited day finally arrived......my neck has grown a few inches longer waiting for this day. Feb 27, 2009 was a Friday. It was a crazy day for me. I had to work. To attend this event would mean I need to leave office early. And so my agenda went like this :

8:00am - Start work
5:00pm - Finish work(the only trouble was something came up at 4:50pm and I couldn't leave at 5pm sharp). It just had to happen on that very particular day.
5:15pm - Left office. Headed for home...yes....I had to go back to Klang to fetch a bunch of faithful fans.
5:45pm - Zig zagged my way through along the highways. Managed to reach home in 30 minutes including the waitings at a few traffic lights. Office in USJ, mind you.
5:50pm - Showered. Collected 2 old ladies at my house
6:00pm - Went to pick-up Edrik. 10 minutes of shower. Obviously it is mandi kerbau la. Apa lagi? (I had to call up the centre to request for earlier release - 30 minutes earlier, to be precise).
6:05pm - Left Klang and headed to KL.
7:30pm - Arrived at Wisma MCA. I would have arrived earlier had I not taken a wrong turn and ended up in some weird places. But that's typical of me.

I met lots of my "old" as in old friends. Took my tickets and found some seats way behind. The whole entire rows were supposedly for the fan club.

Waited.....*tapping my finger......8pm, no sign of Danell. I thought the show starts at 8pm. So while waiting, here's what I took.

The auditorium.

The banner.
And then we heard drums strolling, the lights shone on someone. He looked so small and from where I was seated, I couldn't see him very clearly. But the audiences were shouting. So it has to be Danell, right? I got excited. It turned out the guy was a fellow singer from the same recording company as Danell....Hao Ren. He was the special guest invited to perform and I think he rendered 2 of his popular numbers.

Then Danell made his entry with his own composition - Sui Yi Men (Portal), his back facing us.
He performed many songs that night. His own numbers, jazz, bosa nova....so many. He did his unplug with his Takamine. He swayed his butt. He kept mentioning "cool". He was bilingual that night. So considerate of him...knowing most of his Pinkies are bananas. he threw flying kisses which turned his fans all mad, screaming away. He responded with "I Love You too". Gosh...I must say his PR skills has certainly improved. Still a shy boy, I find him. But I also find him being able to interact and handle the crowd with much more confidence now.

This was taken when he was singing his Heaven Knows. A killer song, that's what I think. One would just melt and die for him when he sings this number.
His XJHXJN bosa nova version sounded really weird to me. But he seemed to like it and was proud with it.

An hour passed so fast. It was the end of the show. He said good-bye and left. The audiences didn't have enough of him especially his Pinkies. We all shouted 'encore, encore, encore...." (the drummer strolled the drum, adding on to the suspense) endlessly until he showed up with his winning song, Mimpi. Wow....indeed it was the right number to sing. All of us stood up, singing along. All of us know this song by heart. We whistled, we waved banners and light boards. We were very high.

After this song, Dan gave a short speech. Once again, thanking all of us, his recording company, parents and family and his fans. Emotions got into him. Tears welled up. He cried. Pinkies said, "Danell, please don't cry"....Awww.......it was a touching moment when he related his feelings, the stress he went through preparing for the showcase. Another Pinkie gave him a tissue to wipe his tears. Some Pinkies cried along with him.

Danell and the Pinkies has a very unusual relationship....a special bond. Although he is a shy boy, the Pinkies has supported him throughout his 3 years in the entertainment industry. He has a magical charisma which I do not know how to describe. His fans base comprises of not just the young girls, there are young children, teenage boys, and uncles and aunties as well. It's a combination of all age group.

A picture paints a thousand words. Look carefully at this group picture and you will know what I mean.

Overall, I feel Danell did a good job. He was bold enough to try something different. Apart from a small stage, it would have been better if he had 2 big screens on the sides so that those seated at the back can have better view. Oh, and I'd like to add this.....Danell, I liked the way you swayed your butt. I hope to see you do more dances and build some muscles. I know you can do it!

Petronas - MESRA outlet

2009-03-23T12:00:00.003+08:00

So called Mesra outlet but not that mesra pun.

It happened last Friday. I went to the USJ 20 outlet to buy a loaf of bread. While queuing for my turn, I saw a notice pasted on the table top of the cashier. I read it. It says if you are not given a receipt for your purchases, you are entitle to a bottle of mineral water for FREE.

I was quite surprised. It's like..wow..if they can put up such notice then their service level must be there. Not bad for a Petronas. At least that was what I thought.

So my turn arrived and I paid for my bread. I gave him RM5.00and he gave me my change RM1.00. But without receipt. So I read again the notice on the table top, just to be sure before I make an enquiry and embarrass myself. Hmm...ok....I am entitled to a free bottle of mineral water. My BM can't be that lousy till I misunderstood every word that is written on it.

I asked the cashier. Here's how the conversation went.

Me : You tak bagi I resit, jadi I dapatlah mineral water?
Cashier : *Silence* but he quickly took the receipt from the cash machine and pushed it into my plastic bag.
I bengang liao.
Me : Macam ni ke servis awak? Sepatutnya you kena bagi I satu botol mineral water.
Cashier : *Silence* he looked outside to the cars filling up the petrol.

He uttered not even a word. No eye contact. Not apologetic at all. By then I was fuming mad. I didn't want to create a scene so I left. But I was not going to let him off so easily.

I went to the office. That was around 8:30am. I was complaining so hard to my colleagues. While toasting my bread, the office went into a blackout. Alamak...my bread also not properly toasted. My colleague who was making her drink couldn't remember if she had added the creamer. With the candle, the pantry was still dark.

My colleague said this is all because of me. For being so angry, the office had a power failure. And because of that, I was not able to log into the internet to obtain the phone number of Mesra. I MUST lodge a complain. Die-die also must complain.

Then we found out half the USJ blackout, including Putra Heights. We went ronda-ronda. Boss released us but told us to come back later. Half a day gone. By the time we got back to the office, it was 2:30pm. Everything was back to normal.

My temperature also cooled down already. But after thinking it over, I decided to make that phone call. I complained. originally I didn't have that guy's name but because he was such a smart ass, he threw the receipt into my plastic bag. I had his name, date, time, tel no. outlet address all in the receipt. Hahaha......so I gave all the details to the lady.

I actually told the lady that it is a disgrace to keep such employees. Petronas represents the country's national petroleum producer. All it takes is 1 rotten apple to spoil all. Times are bad. There are many jobless people out there who can perform better than this guy. If he has such bad attitude, you should not even keep him.

I told her to convey the message to this guy. if he denies, just watch the CCTV from the outlet. See if I am lying or not.

Well, she said they will investigate and revert to me. I shall wait and see.

It is not the issue of a bottle of mineral water. I can very well afford it, not only 1 bottle but many many bottles. It was his attitude which made me mad. He could have at least be apologetic and I would let him off even without giving me that bottle of water.

What A Blow!

2009-03-18T22:43:00.004+08:00

I reached home almost around 8pm tonight. Was supposed to workout at the gym but changed my mind. Was kinda tired. I reached the gate and I turned off my car engine, thinking to park my car into the porch later. This would allow Mac some time to run around in the compound before being leashed up. Then I saw him behind the grille door, so I thought to myself...aiyah..might as well park the car. I went back to the car but I couldn't get it started.

Damn...what is wrong with the car? I changed my tyres last Saturday. At the same time I told the guy to check my car battery and he said, "Miss...your car battery still very power wor. No need to change". So with that assurance.......still very power, right....I didn't change my car battery. I kept igniting the car engine and finally got it started. Drove to the porch and turned it off. Then I tried to reignite again...over and over...it wouldn't work.

My dad then called his mechanic. So the mechanic came. Checked the car battery, turned on my flashlights and then said it's due to weak battery. Looks like I didn't have a choice but to change the battery. He charged me RM140 for the battery and it's one of those which I have to monitor the battery water level. Duh.....this isn't my preference. I wanted those which I didn't have to check on the water level. But he told me this type is better...longer lasting. Sigh....I had to give in. RM140......I said to him very expensive. I told him since he is taking my old battery back, he should give me a better discount. So he said RM5 for the old battery. Nowadays the value has dropped. Have you ever wonder, when it's their turn to pay us because they took our things, the story is always the same....ie Price has dropped. No value. But when they sell us things...they say...aiyoh...suppliers increase price, so we have no choice but to increase. So RM140 - RM5 = RM135. I told him...RM130 will do. And he agreed. Dad said price is reasonable but I do not think so. I was expecting to pay about RM110-RM120 for the battery. Any idea what is the market price for the battery. Anyway, when he replaced the battery, it triggered the car alarm. I saw him fondled around the steering area and then the alarm stopped. Then he left. The minute when I opened the car door, the alarm went off again. I panicked. I didn't know how to switch it off. I couldn't use the remote as it has no battery as well. Nobody was able to help me.

Dad didn't know what to do. He's been driving his antique car without alarm and auto lock. Edrik kept saying..mum...do something...do something. Aiyoh...I was so embarrassed. Must have disturbed the neighbours too. I got into the car and shut the door and the alarm stopped. Oh...I thought that settled my problem. But when I opened the door to get down, the alarm went off again. Gosh....I stared in despair. I opened the door and closed it, repeated a few times and the alarm stopped. I can't be going to work in that car tomorrow!! I don't want people cursing at me for making so much noise. It's like when you open the door, it triggers the alarm and when you shut the door, it does not necessarily stop the alarm.

Then I had an idea. While in the car, the alarm stopped crying. I decided to go hunting for a car accessories shop to help me. It was 9pm then. I went roaming several places and all shops were closed. I almost gave up when I spotted one particular shop still open. Wow...so happy. But I knew they were already closing up. It was already 9:15pm. I had to wait for my turn at the traffic light.

A second felt like 5 minutes. Coast clear, I drove across the road while traffic light was still red. I didn't have much of a choice. The shop was closing. When I arrived, the shutters were already down. Had to be thick skinned liao. Walked to one of the guys and with a pleading look I told him my problem.

He checked for me and even taught me the emergency button to press when the alarm goes off. He even told me to try pressing the button. Then I told him to replace my remote batteries which he did. He even tested a few times on the car to make sure everything was okay. Here's what I learned tonight. I learned where the emergency button for the alarm is....underneath the steering. I learned that when we use the remote, 1 beep means "doors locked". 2 beeps mean "doors unlocked", 3 beeps mean "doors not properly locked" and 4 beeps mean "your alarm had triggered earlier".

Honestly, I didn't know about all these. I somehow prefer manual lock because I tend to forget if I have locked my car each and every time I use the remote lock. But I have to admit, come rainy days, the remote lock is a better and wiser option.

I was pretty much like a mad woman tonight. It is during situations like this I would miss Edrik's dad. Whenever he is around, I never once had to worry about my car. He always make sure my car is in a tip top condition for me to drive, checking the car's internal and external.

Sighhhh....I guess good things just don't last.

Bruschetta

2009-03-16T21:02:00.003+08:00

Last weekend, I had the urge to prepare something different for the family. So off I went shopping at Tesco. Upon arrival, I went to King's Confectionery. Checked the baguette.....it was RM2.49...hmm...I thought to myself......cheaper than what I expected (I don't buy baguettes so I didn't know the market price).

Then I went into Tesco. Walked into the bakery section. Saw the baguettes hot from the oven. The lady was putting it one by one into the long paper bag. Checked the price...whoaaaaaa....RM 1.59!! Grab lor.....waiting for what summore? Any human in the right frame of mind would definitely grab it, what more 1 chinese lady stood next to another lady and told her Tesco baguette very nice. Then I went to gather a few other stuffs, paid and went home.

When my mom saw the baguette, she was quite worried. My aunt also gave the same reaction...err....we are gonna eat that hard-hard bread ah? Alamak! Eh.....you all are not being very adventurous with food la. And not very encouraging to me as well.

Anyway, here's what I did.

Ingredients:
Capsicum
Yellow pepper
Tomatoes
Ham
Bacon
Garlic spread
Cheese - grated
Pepper
Salt
Baguette - sliced

Here's how I did it. Not sure if it's the right method.

1. Chopped the capsicum, yellow pepper and tomatoes. Mixed them together with a bit of salt to taste.
2. Stir fry quickly the cubed ham and bacon. Set aside. Toast the sliced baguette in the oven. Once it turns brown, turn over to the other side until it turns brown as well. Remove and apply the garlic spread.
3. Add a dash of pepper.
4. Spread the chopped ingredients on top. Followed by the ham and bacon.
5. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top.
6. Put it back into the oven for another quick toast. Just to heat it up.

Serve hot. It tastes better.

Well, I thought I had cheese at home but when I got home I found out I had none. So mine went without cheese. Dad loves it. I do too because it's not heavy, not filling. Just nice for a light, healthy meal.

By the way, guess what? The following day I saw Giant advertised their baguette in the newspaper. Do you know how much? It was RM0.99!!!! And I thought I got a good deal at Tesco. Dummy me.

Selfless Love

2009-03-12T14:45:00.002+08:00

My wife called, 'How long will you be with that newspaper? Will you come here and make your darling daughter eat her food?

I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter, Sindu, looked frightened; tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with curd rice. Sindu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age.

I cleared my throat and picked up the bowl. 'Sindu, darling, why don't you take a few mouthful of this curd rice? Just for Dad's sake, dear'.

Sindu softened a bit and wiped her tears with the back of her hands. 'Ok, Dad. I will eat - not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this. But, you should...' Sindu hesitated. 'Dad, if I eat this entire curd Rice, will you give me whatever I ask for?'

'Promise'. I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with mine, and clinched the deal. Now I became a bit anxious. 'Sindu, dear, you shouldn't insist on getting a computer or any such expensive items. Dad does not have that kind of money right now. Ok?'

'No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive'. Slowly and painfully, she finished eating the whole quantity. I was silently angry with my wife and my mother for forcing my child to eat something that she detested. After the ordeal was through, Sindu came to me with her eyes wide with expectation. All our attention was on her. 'Dad, I want to have my head shaved off, this Sunday!' was her demand.

'Atrocious!' shouted my wife, 'A girl child having her head shaved off? Impossible!'

'Never in our family!' My mother rasped. 'She has been watching too much of television. Our culture is getting totally spoiled with these TV programs!'

'Sindu, darling, why don't you ask for something else? We will be sad seeing you with a clean-shaven head.'

'Please, Sindu, why don't you try to understand our feelings?' I tried to plead with her.

'Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice'. Sindu was in tears. 'And you promised to grant me whatever I ask for. Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you who told me the story of King Harishchandra, and its moral that we should honor our promises no matter what?'

It was time for me to call the shots. 'Our promise must be kept.'

'Are you out of your mind?' chorused my mother and wife.

'No. If we go back on ourpromises, she will never learn to honour her own. Sindu, your wish will be fulfilled.'

With her head clean-shaven, Sindu had a round-face, and her eyes looked big and beautiful.

On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was a sight to watch my hairless Sindu walking towards her classroom. She turned around and waved. I waved back with a smile. Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and shouted, 'Sinduja, please wait for me!' What struck me was the hairless head of that boy. 'May be, that is the in-stuff', I thought.

'Sir, your daughter Sinduja is great indeed!' Without introducing herself, a lady got out of the car, and continued, 'that boy who is walking along with your daughter is my son Harish. He is suffering from... leukemia'. She paused to muffle her sobs. 'Harish could not attend the school for the whole of the last month. He lost all his hair due to the side effects of the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to school fearing the unintentional but cruel teasing of the schoolmates. Sinduja visited him last week, and promised him that she will take care of the teasing issue. But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my son!

Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your daughter.'

Selfishness

2009-03-12T11:02:00.004+08:00

Sometimes I cannot understand why some human beings can be so selfish. In fact, ihis selfish species can be someone who is really close to you, with blood connection, share the same DNA profile ...so selfish to the extent I think it is forgotten that we are ONE FAMILY!!!

It is so sad to note this. While there maybe communication breakdowns at times in our lives, while we may have different perspectives in our lives, while we have our differences, are we not still a family?

What does FAMILY mean to you? Just a name? Or a burden to you? Or people whom you once loved? Responsibility? You have been so selfish till I could feel if you can, you just want to get away from us. Avoid us and ignore us. This is so damn bloody hurtful to think that it came from you.

Your family does not look down upon you. In fact your family will always be there when you need them. Sometimes, advices are being misinterpreted as nagging and lectures. Misinterpreted as scoldings. Heed advices offered by the elderly. As the young ones, we have nothing to lose. As the saying goes, "they have eaten more salt than us eating rice".

Criticism from your family does not mean they want you dead. It is in fact for your own good. If you can't take it, then no one is able to help you further.

"With this ring, I am now yours"

2009-03-05T17:53:00.005+08:00

No...no....I'm not referring to myself. It's my brother. He registered his life to this woman(vice versa) last Monday, 2nd March 2009. Venue : Some Kwangtung Association.

My parents
Well...we are just a small family with me being the eldest. Standing next to King Kong & King Kongresss made me felt so small.
This is like a briefing on the marriage in accordance to Malaysia Law.
Sign...sign....sign....need to sign 3 copies. 1 for the husband, 1 for the wife and another for the what ah? The country? The law? Aiyah...can't remember la......the Master of Registrar did mention but I didn't put much notice to it.
I guess I should feel honored to be the chosen one as my brother's witness. Celyn had also requested for her eldest sister to be her witness.

"I now pronounce you Hubby & Wifey. You may kiss the bride".Congrats, Bro. You are now a "Big Man", liao. Be responsible for your family. Know your role and duties. (that's how old folks like to put it, isn't it?)

Lastly, I hope my brother doesn't kill me for blogging about his registration in such a manner.

Someone has just visited my blog!

2009-03-02T23:27:00.007+08:00

I was about to blog when I noticed someone has visited my blog.

You think it was REALLY HER??!! Boy ..oh..boy...I'm not a lesbian but when I saw her footprint, it did get me excited.

Can't see who she is...click on the pic please. You'll get the enlarge image.

27/2/2009 8PM Danell [Sharing] Musical Showcase 李桀漢《分享》拉闊音樂會

2009-02-26T21:20:00.005+08:00

Oh...I just can't wait. The President of DFC has been keeping all of us in suspense. And everyday he posts something new. Like allowing you to take a peep into what the showcase is all about and yet you get only half a glimpse.

Tomorrow's The Day and I bet we will all have a great time. So far, Danell has never failed to amaze me with his multi talent. I wonder what he is up to this time.

Photo taken from Idolhunter Production

PLUS......I have not seen the rest of the gang for some time. I missed them so. I know I will have some good laugh tomorrow. I just missed their jokes and laughter. More updates right after tomorrow.

Yahoooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

Hyperrrrrrrr market

2009-02-23T10:16:00.004+08:00

Hypermarket!!! Good at hiking up the price while deceiving us with "everyday low price"or whatever tagline that they can think of.

Just a few days ago, someone wrote a full page, or was it two full page about hypermarkets - on how the express lane can become a depressing lane because consumers do not care if they have items less than 10 or more, on how trolleys get hijacked especially those time when we all needed to insert a RM1 coin to utilise the trolleys and so on. And not to forget the pricing which may not seemed as competitive as how they term it and also the billing which doesn't seemed to tally.

Well, I had one good experience last night. I went to Tesco. Edrik wanted to treat us ice-creams and he told us his budget is RM6. So we needed to chose ice-creams within that budget. Fine, that is understandable.

3 of us were at the freezer looking into the ice-creams and checking on the prices making sure we do not choose something which is too expensive. In the end, we pick these 3:

Kit Kat Drumstick - RM2.16
Smarties Cup - RM0.96
Apple Sour - RM0.96

So total = RM4.08.

When we were paying the bill, the cashier said total RM5.10. I asked her how she derive with that amount. She showed me the small monitor in front of her.

Kit Kat Drumstick - RM2.70
Smarties Cup - RM1.20
Apple Sour - RM1.20

So I explained that wasn't the price displayed outside the freezer. Instead of being apologetic, she asked me if I am sure??!! She even insist that her prices are correct because that was what appeared on her screen. Well....I can't be that blind, can I? Maybe I made a mistake on 1 of the ice-creams but for all 3?? Her prices maybe correct because all she had to do was scan the barcode and tadaa...the price appeared. But someone has to key in the barcode and the prices first in order to get that to happen, isn't it. Someone needs to do the data entry.

Anyway, when she insisted in that manner, I wasn't happy anymore. I was giving her a very angry look already. I insisted that she checked the prices. So her supervisor came and I followed her to the freezer, identified my selected ice-creams and showed her the price labels. Grrrrr....

Finally, the supervisor revised the prices for me. Had I not complained, poor Edrik would be blindly paying an additional RM1 (there goes his pocket money for 1 day).

Now.....how many people actually check the receipts after paying? Last night, I bought 3 ice-creams. So it was easy for me to monitor. On top of that, we had to work within a RM6 budget, so whatever discrepancy there is, it is easily identified.

I'm sure some of us do our monthly groceries with heaps of items filled in the trolley. Total bill amount is probably over a hundred ringgit. Do we all check the receipts which entail endless list of items? Can we all remember the prices displayed on the racks? I doubt so.

I think we are all too taken in by some really good offers that these hypermarkets are promoting, thus we overlook on the rest of the items. There may be 1 or 2 really good buy, but it doesn't mean all the items sold by the hypermarket is particularly cheap. They lose some from here and make a lot from there.

In fact I found out some mini markets even offer better prices than these big players. It's about time we shop wisely. Do some comparisons. Be shopping smart!

Real decision

2009-02-21T16:17:00.002+08:00

What is making real decision? Have you ever wonder?

I attended a seminar last night. It is actually a 3 day seminar but I only went for one - the 1st session of the 3 days. I made up excuses for not being able to attend for the next 2 days. Hmmphh....frankly, I regretted not attending. Because last night was just the beginning. The best part has yet to come.

The speaker, Basel, from South Africa & Australia ( born in SA, lived there for awhile, then moved to Aus & been traveling to and fro ever since) is really fantastic.

He started off his seminar by asking why are we there tonight. In fact, he said something about sharing the tickets. 3 persons sharing a ticket and each will attend will attend a session. By doing so, we split the cost. Hehe...funny...he seemed to have read some of our minds.

Basel spoke about his personal life. About how he was living. How he started smoking. He was challenged by a friend, either he takes a puff to proof that he is a man or else he must be a chicken. So being a man with his ego, he had his first smoke. Then he got hooked on it. He also started drinking and swearing. he was told it has to be this way. It's just part of his working life.

When he met his wife, he decided to quit drinking. So he did. He decided to stop swearing, so he did. He decided to quit smoking. But he didn't. He has made a decision to quit. So he went to a doctor who gave him some menthol sweets to suck. First 2 days was fine. No smoking. On the 3rd day, he had a stick. The next day he had 3 sticks. And the following day he had 30 sticks. So he was back to square one.

Then he heard about applying the patch on the arm and leg which will help to quit smoking and so he did. First 2 days was fine. No smoking. On the 3rd day, he had a stick. The next day he had 3 sticks. And the following day he had 30 sticks. So he was back to square one.

Then he heard meditation will help. First 2 days was fine. No smoking. On the 3rd day, he had a stick. The next day he had 3 sticks. And the following day he had 30 sticks. So he was back to square one.

And the story goes on and on. He has made a decision. A decision to quit smoking. Each time he failed, he was still very much decided that he wants to quit smoking.

One day, while playing tennis, he couldn't breathe. While gasping for breath, he told his wife that he wants to quit smoking. He then handed his pack of cigarettes to his wife and told her to keep it away from him. he said he didn't want to die. And that was the day, he REALLY quit smoking. He stopped smoking after 91/2 years of making his decision to quit smoking.

So, what is making real decision? have we been making decisions in our lives or have we been making real decisions in our lives?

Obsession

2009-02-18T23:41:00.006+08:00

One fine day, as I was surfing an online shopping web on clothings, I stumble upon someone's blog on beading. That's when I came to know that there are so many people out there selling these beading jewelleries online. Some are doing it because of beading interest. Some take it as a part time business. What amazes me was these beaders are either university students or professionals by profession.

Well, I am a person who does not trust online shopping. A lot of times, what you see is not what you get. Then I remembered my trainer having told me that online shopping is pretty safe. And because there were a few items I was already eyeing, I decided to test on my first purchase.

Hence the result of my first purchase from a beader.

I actually bought 3 pairs of earrings. One of which is a 3D snowflake was a gift to a friend.

I also bought an angel wing necklace.
Then come 2nd purchase. This one is not from online shopping though. It was from one of the shopping malls. I couldn't resist as it was a 70% discount.
Next, my 3rd purchase.
My 4th purchase which I have just received on Monday.
A matching bracelet to go with.
My 5th purchase which I received yesterday.
Making visits to these blogs has become an addiction to me. I just could not stop swinging into their blog. That's how addicted I am.

These beaders will usually mail the order out. Occasionally some of them do arrange to meet at certain locations.

Whatever it is, I know I am in trouble. I cannot stop buying online because the prices are much cheaper than others.

A toast to my new found hobby! Yummmm sengggggg!!

Farewell

2009-02-09T21:47:00.005+08:00

On her last day, my colleague gave each of us a message clipper as a token of friendship.

In the evening, we took some pics.

Before this group pic was taken, we had to wait for more than 15 minutes for one of our colleague who was in the toilet making his "investment". Just as we decided not to wait, he finished his "business". Can you guess which one of the 3 gentlemen is that?

We hugged each other, trying real hard not to drop a tear because once someone starts to cry, the rest will follow suit.

Back In Action

2009-02-05T22:27:00.003+08:00

Chinese New Year is almost over.

Since the week I came back to work, many events had taken place. For instance, last week I met up with a candidate on a Saturday!!! Yep.....after a week's break, I had to actually work on a Saturday! Oh well, never mind.....after all with this current economic downturn, we have to be thankful if we still get to keep our jobs. Be even more thankful if there are candidates for us to meet cause that would mean there are still clients who need our assistance.

Come Monday, a new assignment landed on my desk. Wow! So happy. For the first time I was feeling so glad to receive a new assignment. Boss kept reminding us that we have to appreciate whatever assignments we have, be it small or big. Told us not to be so choosy anymore coz we cannot afford to lose any clients at this point of time. He also told us to work extremely hard to ensure that we close the assignments. Hmmm...I can never agree better. But then, usually he was the choosy and arrogant one...picking on what assignments we should accept and at what sort of rates. Low rates, don't do. But now....low rates also better do. Sigh..... is it really so crucial? Didn't I hear our DPM assuring us that it isn't really that bad and that Malaysia is not badly affected?

Oh well......our Government ministers are prone to not remembering what they say. Either that or their statements are usually being misunderstood by so many ears. What they say is not what we have interpreted. Make sense? Hmmphh.....

Workouts at the gym has been...err....interesting. I am trying to get back on my feet by working out on alternate days. At the same time, personal trainer gave me a cd. Told me to listen to it and then let him know my opinion. You know what? The cd was about Network 21.....AMWAY!!! Oh...I love listening to motivational talks. I listened to it for easily 5-6 times and then during our next session, I practically told him the entire content. He was amazed coz he didn't pick-up as many pointers as I did.

Anyway, early this week, I was given another cd again. This time he said he has not listened to it. Told me to listen and then brief him what it was all about. Hmm.......I suspected something amiss. Fishy....but I didn't mind. It's one of those MLM tactics. I was at one point very much involved with MLM so I said to myself...never mind...I have nothing to lose....I can always apply the motivations onto my current job. I don't need to become an Amway distributor. I'm interested with their products but not the business.

In between the days, I was busy preparing my candidates for interviews. I sent 2 yesterday and 2 more will be going in for a different position. In fact, I had to skip lunch to give way to one of the candidate and I finished late today as I had to meet up with another candidate. But again, I remind myself repeatedly be thankful that I have candidates to send for interview.s Now I need to pray real, real hard. I hope I am able to close these two positions.

Coming back to Network 21. And so I finished the 2nd cd and I briefed my personal trainer. Guess what? This time he gave me 3 cds and a ticket to attend a convention!!! And then told me he has the distributor application form in his hand...just waiting for me to sign up!! Alamak!!!

I was numbstrucked. Although I have anticipated that this day would come, I was somehow not quite prepared for it and didn't know how to respond. I just gave him my best smile possible.

Okay, on a positive note...this could be my one in a million chance of a lifetime to make it big during the downturn. I mean, honestly I have seen people making big successes during the crisis in 1997. The time when so many people were badly hit, some became better. So should I go for it? I have nothing to lose, right? Well, the most I would lose is my time but then again I will learn so many things along the way. Am I correct in thinking so? Or have I lost my mind from reading and hearing too much about positive thinking?

Today we had a farewell lunch for a colleague. Tomorrow shall be her last day with us. I know she will be reading this. I wish her all the best in her future undertakings. We have worked like a family, although we do not communicate among one another everyday. Seated too far away. If need to chat got to walk over to one's place. There had been good and bad times but it's never a heavy storm. We share a great bond and I shall miss her.

Came back from lunch and a candidate dropped me a bomb. Decided to withdraw from an interview. Fine. Great. Move on...Ignore the negative ones coz I do not want this type of people to affect me mentally.

Tomorrow is the last working day for the week. I am so anxious. The assignments are really critical and I really hope that I will be hearing good news, not just for myself but for the Company as well. Pray and hope.

Not really a turbulence for the past 2 weeks. Not really somewhat a great week that I would shout about either. What I do know is Monday is a PUBLIC HOLIDAY and that's what I'd like to shout about! Yabbadabbadooooooooooooo............................

The Unfortunates

2009-01-27T14:32:00.007+08:00

Today is the 2nd day of Chinese New Year. Woke up a bit late today. Was lazing on the bed.

Visited 3 places after a late breakfast. These are my routine visits yearly.

My 1st stop - Handicapped and Disabled Children's Association of Klang, Selangor. There are about 72 kids altogether this year. Apparently the numbers are growing. I spent about half an hour there enquiring about the kids. Many of them have been abandoned by their parents. Mostly single parents, unwed moms. It is indeed a very sad sight. And when you hear about some of their conditions, your heart will break.

This girl is about 10-11 years old. She cannot see. Her eyes are all white....no pupils. Whatever that you speak, she follows. Very adorable girl indeed. You speak in English.."Hello" and she follows "Hello". You speak in Mandarin..."Gong Xi Fa Cai"..and she follows. Whatever language you speak she just follows. But she cannot understand what you are saying. She just has the gift of following every single word you say. The Principal of this association said she has just joined them not long ago and they intend to send her to a special school so that at least she gets to learn.

This boy is 3 years old. A Down Syndrome child born to a teenage mother. A teenage mother!!! I asked, how is it possible for a young mother to give birth to a Down Syndrome baby? I thought it only happens to mothers who conceived at a late age. Well, apparently this mother has been on drugs....ecstasy, ice and whatever sort. Got pregnant out of wedlock and the result is this boy.

He is so cute. Smiled when he realised I took a snapshot of him. Behind his smile lies a sad story. His mother has abandoned him. what to expect, right? A teenage mother who is not even capable of looking after herself, what more to look after a Down Syndrome baby? This boy had bone cancer. But he has recovered from it. He also has a hole in his heart. Doctors said he is too young for surgery, thus need to wait till he turns five. I hope with proper care from this association, he will remain in good health till he is due for surgery.

This boy has got bruises on his arms. I did not ask how he got them. I supposed some are self inflicted. I saw a girl being tied to the bed. They had to tie her up as she is prone to injuring herself.

I visit this place every year. Some faces which I saw last year are not seen this year. They have passed on. It's really heart wrenching. 2 kids, also new cases...I was told were sent by their babysitters. Single moms again, they were abandon at the babysitter's place. And they have no birth certs. This association will look into applying the birth certs for them as well. It will be a tough process, though as they didn't have much info about these children.

One boy, is blinded on one eye. He has hypertension (hear that?? a boy about aged 4-5 has hypertension!!) and also water in his eye causing the eye to swell. he has undergone 3 operations and need to go for more. His dad, it seems is a cambodian while mom is a chinese. I didn't capture his picture. I'm not even sure if it's alright for me to put up their pictures here. It is not my intention to belittle them. Neither do I want my readers to poke fun at them.

There are so many kids....11 years old who is only having a size of a 5 year old. A lot of them are bedridden. They can't even sit up. Many has bone defects. There are just so many of them.

At times I do wonder if it is good to have so many of such kind hearted associations around. The more we have, the more irresponsible people we are going to create.

These people think that the associations are solution to their irresponsible act. They just dump the kids there and then disappear for good. True enough, the associations are there to shelter and provide for the kids. But it is not to encourage these humans to just simply sleep around and not think of the consequences. While sex may be pleasureable, I think it comes with a sense of responsibility and maturity. It's not just to have some fun.

My next stop was to the orphanage. 28 children in that sheltered home. They are perfectly normal children. Some mothers could not afford to look after them because they need to earn a living and husband has abandoned them. Some, again are not married. So they leave the kids there and then never come back for them anymore.

This Samaritan Home has volunteers who come and help during weekends or any other day. They provide tuition to the kids. Teach the kids discipline and so on. The kids get proper education and fees are borne by the Samaritan Home. So where do they get the financial aid? Of course, they count on us on whatever amount that we can contribute.

My final stop was to the Old Folks home. Last time, we gave out angpows to individuals. Then we were told better not to do so. Why? Because some of their children who hardly visit them will come by once a year and take away the angpows from them. Every year, they do get quite a lot of angpows because so many people will come and visit them. The children will come later on and take away the angpows from them. See how ungrateful the children are? Already they are being unfilial for not caring for their parents, next they take the angpows away. So what we do nowadays...we contribute to the association as well. So that they can use that fund whenever emergency arises, ie medical aid.

While there are still many caring people in the society, there are also many irresponsible ones. They throw and we scoop. Just exactly how much can we help? How are we going to curb these issues?

I think we need to create public awareness. How? I don't really know. I'm not an expert here. Counselling, perhaps?

Chinese New Year

2009-01-26T21:28:00.008+08:00

The day has finally arrived. Phew! i thought it would never come......after weeks of cleaning and painting for just ONEEEEEE festive celebration. I still don't get it. What is so great of this celebration until we need to undergo extensive cleaning. Spring cleaning, that's what it is called. But I think it sounded a bit too lenient. From this year onwards, I'll call it hardcore cleaning. Fits better.

Well, I slept at 1am this morning. I woke up before 6am yesterday (awaken by mom) and started off my day with a visit to a jam packed market. I was still semi-stoned, eyes could hardly open, blur-blur and dazed, we walked to the market. Can you imagine..at 6:15am the market was already filled with the Ah Soh's and kakaks and also people like me who fall as victims to the crime of a festive season.

Then I went home with further cleaning. The last minute cleaning was the kitchen because in the morning, mom still had to cook as offerings to the Mah's ancestors. It's a tradition for every family to provide offerings to the ancestors on the eve of the Chinese New Year.

Washing and scrubing the kitchen, followed by bathrooms and several rounds of sweeping and mopping the floor till the eleventh hour. It was said that on the first day of Chinese New Year, we cannot sweep and mop the floor. If we do so, we will sweep away all the good luck.

So much of superstitions.

No great deco this year. Mom decided to cut down on the flowers.

The alter with offerings to Buddha and ancestors.
Part of the living hall.
Mom was pretty disappointed with the pussy willow. We couldn't find any nice ones despite surveying at a few places.Bonsais...the treasure in mom's heart. She just love them to bits. Here's one of her masterpiece.
We couldn't leave Mac out of this celebration. Last night we decided to make him a bow tie. We had it on his collar but when we woke up this morning, as destructive as he is...we found the red ribbon bitten to pieces and lying on the floor. So we made him another one and quickly capture a few snapshots of it. As at this hour 2335hrs..the bow tie is still intact on his collar. Quite a record, it has lasted on his collar for more than 12 hours.

Our handsome Mac.

Then relatives came. Later I visted one of my uncles. His daughter has just bought a toy poodle a week ago.

Meet Bruno....he is so cute. At 6 weeks old, he is still too small to climb up the steps.

I slept during late afternoon. I feel so refresh after a few hours of sleep. Finally managed to get a good rest (though it is still insufficient) after weeks of hardcore cleaning.

I hope all of you had a great time too. Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Alexander Fleming

2009-01-23T14:56:00.003+08:00

Got this story through email and I would like to share it with my avid readers. What does this story tell you? After reading, take a moment to ponder. Hope you learn something from it.

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.

There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

'I want to repay you,' said the nobleman. 'You saved my son's life.''No, I can't accept payment for what I did,' the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
'Is that your son?' the nobleman asked.'Yes,' the farmer replied proudly.'I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.' And that he did.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia.

What saved his life this time? Penicillin.The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill .. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.

GREAT NOTES
and May We Be Blessed To Walk With the Great Spirit
God Bless
What goes around comes around.Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

Dead tired!

2009-01-18T23:26:00.005+08:00

I think I am getting very emotional of late. I don't know why. I am trying so hard to control my temper and yet I snapped. Sighhhhhh.....

I don't look forward to celebrating Chinese New Year. In fact I feel like running away from it. Leave all the stupid preparations behind...No eye to see.

Today was another busy day. I woke up at 7am and left for my Di Zi Gui at 8:15am. I finished at 10am. With a growling stomach (I was so worried that people seated next to me in the class would hear my hungry stomach), I went looking for food. I stopped by a bakery supplier shop to get some stuffs for my cookies.

11:45am I had to fetch Edrik back. By the time I got home it was past noon. I started preparations for my cornflakes cookies. This time I added dried mixed fruits and reduce the sugar amount by another 15gm. Well, it worked. It turned out fine.

3:15pm I had to take Edrik to his swimming trial at a newly opened pool. The pool has a length of an Olympic pool. (note: Just the length!!!) Ding dong here and there, by the time I got home it was 5pm++ Continued with my cookies again.

This time I did chocolate chips. I do not like chocolate but upon Master Edrik's request, I baked some for him. This is my first attempt at baking choc chips.

Macadamia Nuts

Hershey's chocolate chips
I am not sure if this is how it is supposed to look before being baked. For one who doesn't know that this is chocolate chips to-be, one would have imagined it as something else. (I thought it looked a lot like unbaked dung from far!!!).
I do not have a picture of the finished product but trust me it looked a whole lot better than the unbaked ones. Oh...and the taste was pretty good. While it was baking in the oven, the aroma of the cocoa lingers in the air. So fragrant that it actually made me drooled over it although at that time I was still unsure if the cookies would turn out well.

Personally, I think it would have been better with more macadamia nuts. I have actually increased the chocolate chips as compared to the original recipe. Here's the recipe by Amy Beh :

Ingredients:
120gm butter
140 gm soft brown sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla essence
1 small egg, lightly beated
175gm plain flour
35gm cocoa powder sifted twice
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
50gm macadamia nut, coarsely chopped
70gm chocolate chips

Method:
1. Grease baking trays lightly with melted butter and preheat oven to 175-180 degrees celcius.
2. Cream butter, sugar and egg in an electric mixer until light and pale. Stir in sifted flour mixture with a metal spoon and add in the nuts and chocolate chips. Mix well to combine.
3. Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into larger-than-cherry-sized balls. Arrange them on trays, well spaced out. Lightly press them down a little and bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked and golden.
4. Leave cookies to cool slightly on the trays then lift them out onto wire racks to cool completely before storing in airtight containers.

So, by the time i finished baking, washing and storing the cookies into the containers...it was around 9:20pm. Then I had a very quick dinner. After that I proceeded to wash my car. I had to wash my car. It was so dirty and unrecognisable already. I could scribble words on it. So just imagine the layers of dust that has been sitting on my car!

That was not the end of it. After I showered, I had to iron Edrik's uniforms. And I supposed because I am too tired I just couldn't sleep. So here I am again, blogging down my frustrations and complains. No doubt the entire itinerary for today has nothing much to do with Chinese New Year except for the baking, I am still going to blame it on the festive season. Why? It's because the last weekend and the weekend before, I was painting, washing and cleaning.

I feel so haggard and tired. I even neglected my workouts. Damn! And now I have a stiff shoulder and sore on my neck. Where did those come from?

It is all Chinese New Year's fault.

I need to catch some sleep now. Got to wake up at 5:30am tomorrow.

Missing Margarine

2009-01-16T12:33:00.004+08:00

Someone has been eating my margarine spread and it's all gone now!!!

I have a small tub of margarine spread in the office fridge. The last time I used it, there was like perhaps 80% full. Today I intend to get my favourite kaya and a loaf of bread during lunch time, planning to have margarine and kaya bread for tea. I would usually eat something before my workout.

But when I opened the fridge and pick up my margarine tub, I was surprised that the tub felt so so light. When I took a look at it, boy...oh...boy.....there's only enough amount left for 1 slice of bread.

Someone has been eating my margarine and it is all gone now!!! (Reminds me so much of Goldilocks and the Three Bears)

Let's put it this way.....I don't mind sharing my food. All this while I have been buying food to share among my colleagues. But when this is something for my personal consumption, the least the person could do is to at least tell me that he/she has taken some of my spread. I think that is not too much to ask for, isn't it?

Our Company has this policy. Anything that is left on the pantry's table, it is meant for everyone. Apart from that, it's personal. I didn't leave my spread on the table!!!

Had I not checked, I would have gone with my kaya and bread purchase. Now that there is no more margarine, I have decided not to go out.

I'm not angry because someone finished my margarine. I am angry because of the attitude that this someone has......a couldn't-be-bothered attitude or what we call tidak apa attitude.

Pleaseeeeee....have some manners, people!!!

Cornflakes cookies

2009-01-12T23:23:00.010+08:00

Alas, I managed to bake decent cornflakes cookies. Was trying out another cornflakes cookies recipe the other day and the turnout was a major disappointment. Clueless about what went wrong, I tried again and the end result was still the same. The cookies were not crunchy. The recipe had exactly what I wanted in a cornflakes cookie - mixed fruits and mini paper cup. But after baking the output wasn't what I had expected, I was really disappointed.

It was a waste to throw away the cookies. So I decided to feed my poor neighbour's dog the somewhat soggy cornflakes cookies when my neighbour is not around. The poor dog ate for weeks (taking in perhaps 3-4 per day) until it got fed-up of it. i think it will not touch cornflakes cookies anymore for the rest of its life.

Not willing to give up. I decided to try another recipe. This time by Amy Beh. The recipe does not contain mixed fruits. Neither is it baked in a paper cup. But it was deliciously crunchy.

The cookies before being baked.

After baking.
When you put it into your mouth, you hear crunch...crunch...crunch. It tells you how crunchy it is from the sound of it. Will continue to bake more over the weekend as I don't have enough to share with family and friends.

Here's the recipe. Note that I have actually reduced the sugar amount from 110g to 80g.

Ingredients:

110gm butter

80gm castor sugar

1/2 tsp grated rind of lemon or orange

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg yolk

100gm cornflakes, crushed lightly

Sift lightly:

125gm self raising flour

1 tbsp cornflour

Method:

1. Cream butter, sugar and essence until the mixture turns light and fluffy.

2. Beat in egg yolk and lemon rind.

3. Fold in sifted flour and mix.

4. Put mixture into the rerigerator to chill for half an hour until slightly firm.

5. Drop teaspoonfuls of mixture onto the crushed cornflakes.

6. Shape into balls and placed on lightly greased baking tray and bake in pre-heated oven over 170 degrees celcius for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden in colour.

7. Cool on wire rack before storing into airtight containers.

Do try. You will love it.

Delayed Birthday Celebration

2009-01-08T17:23:00.012+08:00

It's been a week since my birthday has passed.

Today my office held a delayed mini birthday party for me. Reason for the delay...hmmm...I was told because some of them went on leave and then on MC and so forth....Initially we wanted to have KFC but then changed our minds because too many of them are coughing. Some folks said not to eat chicken when you are coughing so we opted for McDonald's instead.

No pictures on the food. There's nothing enticing about the burgers.

Here's the cake. It is an ice-cream cake. A colleague of mind who collected the cake last night accidentally tilted it while putting it into her fridge, hence a slight damage by the side. Still it looked beautiful to me. It is the thoughts and trouble and efforts that she has to go through.

The frosted strawberry

The candles. Ok..someone asked how many candles I wanted on the cake. I said 1. But they all refused and insisted to put 3 on it. Hehe....3 candles doesn't mean I am 30 this year. Although age is just a number, no way am I gonna reveal my age.

That's me. Guess my age.

Some of my colleagues.

Right....thank you all for everything and most of all...thank you for taking in a bit of my saliva. The cake was delicious, right?? Righto! *cough*cough* choke...Gross!! Yucks!

I truly appreciate it, pals. Let's look forward to a fruitful 2009. A toast to all of us at MSW.

Virus

2009-01-07T14:41:00.006+08:00

Damn....a few colleagues is down with some kind of virus attack. 1 person passing it on to another.

The latest being diagnosed with bronchitis and yet he is here to work. I don't know who started it but what I do know is this virus is contagious. It was passed on to another colleague and she fell ill. Another been sniffing and coughing since last year and yet comes to work.

2 days ago, I felt soreness in my throat. I doubled my water consumption and I felt better. Today Boss reported he is also feeling a bit unwell. 2 more colleagues have started coughing.

Suddenly the sickly ones seemed to be so hard at work. Today 3 sickly ones coughed at the same time, openly in the office. And they could still laughed at it.Damn.... it is so bloody unhygiene. So gerammmmmm with these people. For goodness sake, they need to be quarantined.

Sh**...when you are unwell, please stay at home and get some rest. Don't bring the virus to the office.

Chinese New Year is coming. I cannot afford to fall ill. So many assignments are piling on my deskwith datelines to meet. I musn't fall ill. Can't they be considerate?

I think I should get a disinfectant spray and shield myself from the viruses. Would it work, I wonder?

"I now pray that you will not befallen with illnesses and that you are shield from the viruses. Should the viruses come anywhere near you within a 3km distance, they shall be zapped and burnt to death".

New Year Resolution

2009-01-06T18:39:00.005+08:00

I never seemed to achieve my new year resolutions. As a matter of fact, I wasn't even anywhere close to hitting my 2008 New Year Resolutions. What I didn't plan for worked out well. What I have planned for didn't work out at all. Hmmpphhh....... Should I not plan and list down my resolutions this year?

My heart says "list it down" so...here goes......

2009 New Year Resolutions

1. Achieve 90% of my 2009 New Year Resolutions (I mean it!)
2. Earn more
3. Work less
4. Spend less
5. Be the centre of attraction (Not sure how I'm going to do that but will figure it out somehow)
6. An hourglass body (tough job here as some parts that are meant to put on a bit of weight is not putting on)
7, More workouts
8. Looked like 21 again

Sounds easy? Nah.........but that's the challenge. No challenge, no fun.

Logenhaus

2009-01-05T20:56:00.004+08:00

Been wanting to blog about this since a couple of months ago. I finally get to do it tonight. Somewhere in November last year, our Company organised the annual lunch. We decided to have lunch instead of dinner as some of the staffs are staying a distance away from the office. Our Boss brought us to Logenhaus in Taipan. Logenhaus serves western food and indeed it was a good choice. All of us had a splendid set lunch.

We started off with Soup of The Day. Can't remember what soup they served already. Sighh...a significant sign of old age.

Then the main course. Each of us had different selection. Thus we ended with these.
Grilled Norwegian Salmon Steak Haus Fries. My colleagues said it's really good, tasty and filling.

Charbroiled Lamb with Mushroom Sauce. I had this. The meat is really tender and juicy.

Logenhaus Roasted Half Chicken with Garlic Fried Rice and Blackpepper Sauce. Don't know how it tasted. All I knew was the young chap kept eating without uttering a single word. So I guess it must have been good too.

Blackpepper Steak with Baked Potato

After that we had a choice of coffee or tea...or me?? And then we were served ice-creams.....Movenpick ice-creams. It's a pity I forgot to take pictures of the ice-creams. They were served plain without garnishing. The ice-creams tasted just as good. Smooth and not-so-sweet. The ice-creams can only be found in Logenhaus. You will never find it in any of the hypermarkets or ice-cream parlours in town.

Movenpick ice-cream is a MUST HAVE when you visit Logenhaus.

Birthday

2009-01-01T23:50:00.006+08:00

Today is my birthday. Yup...1st Jan 19xx I received my 1st birthday gift on 30th Dec because she wouldn't be seeing me after that. So she gave me the pressie in advance. I didn't open it until today and when I did...tadaaaa.....this was what she gave.

A pair of earrings from Khazanah. Yesterday I met up with an old friend. We had lunch together. I have not seen her in years. We were supposed to meet to lunch but then she lost her way and was late. In the end she arrived at almost 2pm and we had a late lunch. The minute she got out from the car, she gave me a gift wrapper paper bag. She reminded me that the next day will be my birthday and this was actually a gift from her. Aww...I was so so touched. I didn't know how she knew. I cannot recall telling her. Maybe I did and I have forgotten. But this was the first time she actually gave me a gift and wished me. She was the last person I would have expected to receive a gift from. I was really touched and I was at the verge of hugging her but no..I didn't do it coz I was at the corridor and a lot of people were around us. Too shy to hug her. She said...don't shake it. And have it for yourself. Don't share. After lunch we dispersed and then I opened up the paper bag. In the paper bag was a box.

And in the box, I found this. 5 beautiful cupcakes. 3 toppled but it's ok. Still..they looked really sweet and pretty to me. When I opened the box, the aroma of the butter cupcakes was really strong. I ate 2 of it later that evening as I had promised to attend rpm class. It tasted really good. I just do not know how to thank her for this. It was really the thoughts that count. And that was what made our friendship simple yet beautiful.

Okay..something new happened to me yesterday. I was supposedly to train with my personal trainer but he smsed to say that he was requested to cover a class...rpm. The original instructor couldn't find a replacement and hoped that he could help her. And yea...the timing actually clashes with my slot.

So what this smart aleck did was...he asked if it is ok for him to cover the class and then invited me to join his rpm. Sighhh....rpm was the last thing I ever had in my mind. I told him to go ahead but to count me out from his class. I mean...10 minutes of cycling during my training session is already so exhausting for me..what more rpm that goes on for approximately 45 mins??

heck...no way I'm gonna attend the class but he gave some theory and I relented. Then for the whole entire day I was pondering over it. I tried to find excuses. I told him I will break my legs. He obviously didn't buy the story. he explained with his theoretical facts again and again I gave in. Then 2 hours before class, I smsed him. I chickened out. I said I am very sleepy. Too tired from too much of reading. Needs to be excused from class. He replied.....get up and walk 2 rounds and do 10 repetitive floor push ups. I will feel better. Duhhh....so much for talking to a trainer.

Anyway he persuaded again and told me that I will definitely enjoy the class and it is all at my own pace. So I said..ok..I'll be there. And I went.

Boy..oh...boy...he had to pull the bike to the front row and place me right in the middle. He said so that he could monitor me. Aiyohhhh...ok la...whatever ler...I'm already there in the room...no way to escape anymore, right?

Throughout the class, I was amazed and surprised by how it was conducted. I found out that it was an even better way to de-stress then just working on the machines. It was really enjoyable. So he didn't lie when he said I will enjoy it.

I thanked him for talking me out of skipping the class. I now looked forward to attending more of his rpm classes. unfortunately I think it will be a bit tough as his classes are usually conducted during weekdays around noon. I will be at work at those hours.

So that was how I spent New Year Eve. No countdown for me this year. I had a hectic one last year and this year I have decided to just stay indoor and sleep. However, I received tonnes of smses and phone calls wishing me Happy New Year and Happy Birthday. These are moments that I treasured the most. As I aged, i realised I couldn't stand places that are over crowded. Hence, I avoid it.

Happy New Year everyone.

Another Christmas Party

2009-01-01T18:23:00.004+08:00

Well....after a fabulous time I had at the Christmas Party hosted by my boss, I had another one hosted by an aunt.

A self proclaimed Christian who never steps into the church, she decided to treat us to a Christmas dinner at a Chinese restaurant. So we went. We were told to bring a gift each for gift exchange during the later part of the evening.

Some of them were late. They were not punctual. That is a typical Malaysian attitude. I cannot understand why. They are not ashamed of keeping others in wait for easily half an hour. I was bored and hungry. Getting restless, I looked around the restaurant. I found nothing nice except for the deco.

Then when everyone has arrived, at last...dinner is served. I had wanted to take pics of the food, all nicely garnished but no...I was famished. i couldn't wait. So in the end, I took this

The food looked like it had gone through a war zone, having been rummaged and salvaged. Dad asked why i took pic of empty dish. I said...oh, heck..I was too hungry and I don't want to hold the others from the nicely served food just because I wanted to take pics. It tasted superbly delicious. Or was it because I had been too hungry?

A pic of my family.

Standing left to right : Dad, Aunt, Cousin
Sitting left to right : Myself, Aunt, Edrik, Mom

We brought a Christmas cake along and guess what....altogether there were 4 Christmas cakes that night. Crazy...how to finish?

This one is from us.

After dinner, we went over to aunt's house for gift exchange.

Well, it was quite an interesting evening despite the waiting. I met cousins whom I have not seen in years. Some has changed tremendously. I wouldn't even be able to recognise them in the streets. It was a good time to be in touch again and rekindle fond memories.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T13:14:00.004+08:00

I have had blogspot account for more than a year but never did blog here.

As we all usher in the New Year, I have decided to blog here instead of www.xanga.com/mahsusan

Will be updating more soon. Need some time to get familiarised with Blogspot.

HAPPY NEW YEAR people.

TGIF

2007-05-18T14:22:00.001+08:00

Today is Friday. The day that I look forward to. I dread Sundays but I love Fridays. Does this feeling apply to you too?
Usually on Fridays, I have several reports to prepare. Come Monday, there will be meetings to attend. And these meetings at times are what we called "taruh session". Well, I guess it's a norm. It happens everywhere. Am I not right?

Countdown

2007-05-17T20:25:00.001+08:00

14 days more to go before I start my new job. Minus off the weekends, I have exactly 10 days more to go. How do I feel? Am I looking forward to it?
Well, to be truthful, I am not so excited about joining the new workplace. I don't feel the ummpphhh!! I have met with the boss and a few new colleagues and they seemed pleasant. The offer for the new job is good. So, what's the problem??
I am attached to my current company for only a year. I was initially happy working here. I made several business trips to overseas and it was a fun learning experience. Gradually, things changed. I was given added responsibilities. Not that I mind. But I wasn't getting support from my superior any longer. I started receiving instructions from other Departmental Heads. I have people who overwrote, overlapped, crisscrossed their boundaries. I became confuse. Despite highlighting my concerns, my superior did nothing to improve the situation.
I am disappointed. I would like to learn further from this company. However I don't see any career advancement with this company.
Perhaps, luck was on my side. Before I could start looking for a new job, I receive this phone call. My new boss head hunted me and offered me a position. I was overjoyed!
I should thank God and my lucky stars. This could just be the beginning of a new chapter in my life.
Let's just wait and see.