'Tis The Season To Get Fattyyyy...

Ahh... Christmas is indeed in the air.

I managed to capture a few photos while at a shopping mall tonight but am a little lazy to upload it. I'd guess I shall save the photos when I want to describe the amount of effort invested by some malls to entice shoppers to part with their hard earned $$$.

Anyway, it occurred to me that when Christmas comes around the corner, there are a few things we can't escape from. The eating, drinking and extensive merry-making we indulge ourselves during the festivities.

So, time to watch what we eat!! Although some of us are working our butts off at the gym to try to get ourselves to fit into a dress two sizes smaller than what we usually wear, it is during these festivities that the most "damage" occur. I'm finding myself getting tempted by the lovely chocs and Starbucks Toffee Nut Latte but have to admit, I can only take at most two out of this entire month!! It's too sweet for me! I'd rather go for something which tastes fruity sweet rather than sugary sweet.

Just remember to eat in moderation, and although that lovely chocolate fountain is calling you, try to remember how difficult it is to shed those pounds every year come Jan 1st. (^^)

Anyway, I know its very hard. But do try to keep yourself healthy by exercising and eating right?

Remember, the New Year is around the corner and its time to dust off the old Resolution List!!!

1st of December.. Is Christmas Upon Us?

This will be a rather short post. No photos yet as I've to decide which photo of Snoopy to pick out. She's already in the Christmas mood... sort of.

Anyway, I've fallen ill again. This time, it's my stomach. I think I'm having diahorrea since I had passed some soft stools... err, I'd best stop at that. It's probably some bad fish since I had sushi last night.

I tried to put up my usual "snowflake" JavaScript but the "new" Blogger template complained about some invalid XML. So, rather than trying to figure out the sometimes mysterious error message, I've decided to just leave it at that and just modify my existing banner. So, that puts my blog in the Christmas mood.

For me, the season of Christmas does not begin until the 1st week of December, when the Catholic church's Advent calendar begins. What does that mean? Advent is the start of the holy season to welcome Christ into our lives. While the season of Lent was a time of repentance and a start of our journey to return to Christ, Advent is about welcoming Christ again. It is also the time, when we should remember about the 2nd coming of Christ.

Hence, the reason why I waited for this weekend to put up my Christmas trimmings. (^ ^)

Around this time last year, I was away in UK, feeling rather homesick and was sad about missing Christmas with my family. However, I had a really great manager there who decided to ship us home to Malaysia for two weeks since everything (including the office) was closed for two weeks.

Anyway, I had been following a journey with Christ using a little booklet and it was wonderful. I got closer to God and the true meaning of Christmas came through. The spirit of giving and peace upon all of us.

I usually place a lot more emphasis on Easter as it symbolizes new life but when Christmas comes around, I get sentimental and feel very warm and fuzzy thinking about Baby Jesus in his swaddling clothes, in the manger. I don't have the Nativity Scene as a Christmas decor in my house... :-P

So, has the spirit of Christmas caught up with you yet?

Cherish The Living

A couple of entries (zewt's and Little Raymond's) have inspired me to write about this, as well as a piece of news which I received early yesterday morning. Not that I'm morbid but it is a fact of life. There are two things that are certain in this life, which we cannot escape from: death and taxes. I'm talking about the former, i.e. death.

I have listened to so many people voice their regret and sorrow over not being able to say what they want to say or do what they want to do for someone who has just left this world. But it is often too late.

Just yesterday morning, my father and I had a typical conversation. He asked me if I could give Snoopy a ride but I said that I needed to get to work on time. He said, "Just for 5 minutes, only." I told him I couldn't spare it. I had to get to work on time. I didn't know why but I just had to. I got irritated because there are times I need to be in the office on time to do something. (I know, I know... My soul does not belong to the company but that's just me... the responsible idiot worker...)

When I got to work. I heard the bad news. My colleague's father had just passed away the night before.

I paused. Said a prayer to ask for forgiveness from God for being irritated at my father. Said a prayer for my colleague's father and her family.

After visiting my colleague and dinner with my colleagues, I called home and my father asked me to get his favourite char siew pau. This time I did not refuse.

Life is indeed short. Remember to count your blessings and be thankful for it. Remember to cherish your loved ones around you.

Attack of The Fatty Desserts!!!

I'm having a serious attack of the munchies now... (-.-)

I can't help myself!!!! *Sigh*... Feast your eyes on the following delectable photos....

SLURRRRRRPPPP!!!!

WHY CAN'T I STOP DROOLING ALL OVER MYSELF???

These photos were taken last month when I attended my colleague's farewell at KLCC's California Pizza. After sharing a few things with my colleagues, we decided to gorge ourselves with a couple of items from the dessert menu.

Boy, it was worth it!

... And...I didn't mind working my @ss off at the gym after that meal. (^___^)

Losing My Voice...

My posts has been quite infrequent of late as I have been awfully busy at work. *Sigh*, I hate to use that term, but I have a day job. And until I can win that Big Sweep lottery and "retire" from corporate life, I have to answer to my bosses - my colleagues, managers and team members.

Now, for those who are still studying, cherish your student days!!! For it will not last forever, unless you choose to be a professional student as your career choice... (^ ^)

I have been awfully busy conducting some internal training at work, trying to regurgitate all that I've learned from the last training session some many moons back. It had been a while since I touched the product and it took me a good few hours to recall what I've learned. Hence, the adage is very true... Use it or Lose it!!

Aside from the fact that I had to stand in front of people to speak; which I had no trouble at all, the one big side effect which I do not like about conducting training is the effect it has on my voice. Of course, I do not discourage the participants from speaking or asking questions, but as a trainer, you do most of the yapping.

So, I'm suffering from a slight sore throat after 2 days of intense talking. I had the weekend to rest, but by then, my throat was a bit sore and I was feeling "heaty".

By Monday evening, the training was finally finished and so, I had a bit of time to rest. I had been asked to phone a customer but I found that difficult because my voice was at its breaking point. So, I turned to a colleague who brought some honey to the office. Just a couple of teaspoons with some hot water really does wonders.

It offers relief and your throat feels all nice and warm, just like the honey. But, I still need to rest my throat.

However.....

EV: What you want to eat?
Me: (speaking softly)... How about a salad, and pasta? Oooo... How about this foccacia?
EV: **looks at the menu** This one??? It has cheese and etc... You want to eat-ar?
Me: **nods enthusiastically** Yeah yeah!!!
EV: Aiyooo.. You got sore throat and you still want to eat this heaty thing????
Me: Kekekke... (speaking softly)... Yeah.. Fight fire with fire!!!
EV: ** shakes head **

Anyway, my voice is a lot better as I have been taking a lot of water to cool my system. Yep, with water, you produce byproducts and so, you have to visit the loo very often. But, one feels better after that.

So, any other ideas to cure a sore throat or soothe a very "tired" throat?

Weekend Has Begun??

My Friday post is missing.... Hee Hee... Because I haven't had the time to write anything yet!!

Anyway, to many people, the weekend officially begins on Friday, after their office hour (i.e. 5:00pm, 5:30pm or 6:00pm...)

However, for me, my weekend this week officially begins when I reach home at about 8 or 9pm. (-__-)

Why?

I'm farking B U S Y...

Aside from the fact that I have to kow tow to my customer who is asking a lot of things from me, some of which is to deliver something next to IMPOSSIBLE (???), I have to setup a few slides for a training session on Monday.

The training session is OK, but that customer is just killing me. Anyway, I'll just "tahan" (persevere) until everything is over. I'm not looking forward to Monday. *sigh*

Isn't it strange that on a Saturday morning (it's 12:33am now) and I'm already starting to feel the Monday Blues???

Besides this, I'm also nursing my old injuries again. My knees are hurting again due to a pretty heavy workout a few days back. That sucks. It's back to the ice, compress and rest routine again. (-__-)

Well, looking at the bright side.; at least the server will be down during the weekend and I can't access my mail. Yay!! (But I'm only delaying the inevitable.....)

Hope your weekend turns out better than mine.

** Back to ye olde grinde stone.... **

Another Tag - Top 5?

LIST OUT THE TOP 5 PRESENTS YOU WISH FOR

1. iPod Classic 160Gb
2. Another JRT puppy (Jack Russell Terrierist)
3. dSLR - Nikon D40 or D80?
4. Time with family and friends
5. A Get-Out-Of-Jail Card....

THE PERSON WHO TAGG-ED YOU IS
ehon

OUR 5 IMPRESSIONS OF HIM/HER
1. Hardworking student *cough* *cough*
2. Friendly
3. Youth Leader
4. Thoughtful
5. Funny

MOST MEMORABLE THINGS HE/SHE HAS DONE FOR YOU
He leaves comments in my blog... (^^)

THE MOST MEMORABLE WORDS HE/SHE HAS SAID TO YOU IF HE/SHE BECOMES YOUR LOVER , YOU WILL
.... *speechless*

IF HE/SHE BECOMES YOUR LOVER , THEY HAVE TO IMPROVE ON
....

IF HE/SHE BECOME YOUR ENEMY , YOU WILL
most unlikely be my enemy...

IF HE/SHE BECOME YOUR ENEMY , THE REASON WILL BE
... very unlikely...

PASS THIS QUIZ TO 1O PEOPLE THAT YOU WISH TO KNOW HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT YOU
I will spare this torture from my other friends... Can or not?

How Many Days of Annual Leave You Have To Left?

It's a nice Friday to laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzeeeeeeeee around. (^ ______ ^)

I'm very glad to be able to do so as I'm taking a couple of days off work.

Well. Not that I wanted to, but I had to clear some leave.

I had been saving my leave for December since I could not take it earlier a few months back as I was anticipating some work. However, that didn't come through and so now, I'm in a rush to clear my leave since I can't carry forward my leave. :-(

It's ok. That means I can spend some of my days at home with Snoopy. She's hoping that I stay home so that she has a friend to play with. Besides giving her some attention, I can give her blog some attention too!!!

Meanwhile, have a great weekend folks! :-P

Never Be Afraid To Say What You Feel

Source: Courtesy of VKSoong

I got this picture from my friend during the waning hours of the work day - you know, the time between 4 and 6pm.

After a quick laugh, this picture got me thinking.

Do you have the guts to say what you really feel? Especially towards someone whom you think is supposedly larger, taller, stronger, more senior than you, when you are being put down or bullied?

Do you want to always live in fear, not able to express how you really feel?

I remember the words of Sir Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Britain during WWII and after. He said,

Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others.

How very true....

Back to "Kemahiran Hidup" (Living Skills)

Even though my work life is getting a bit sucky now, I managed to get in a bit of fun during the weekends. Although, one day I had to help EV out. However, with EV, there's never a dull moment.

Friday night...
Me: So, what time you want me to come over?
EV: Huh?? What? What? When I wake up-la!
Me: Which is what time......
EV: When I buka my eyes-la! Eh, why are you coming over?
Me: Aiyooo... You forgot ar? You want me to help you with your side-table/drawer thing?
EV: Oh yea hor... Which one am I getting-ar?
Me: I donno!! You decide-la!

Saturday morning...
EV: Hello... Did you just wake up?
Me: Ohhhh Maiii GAWWDDD!!! It's 9:00am already???!!!
EV: Yes... You said you'll come early. People are hungry liao-le.
Me: Sorry.. Sorry!! I'll come now, okie?
EV: BTW, what are we eating?
Me:... Errr.. Food?? Decide later-la!

As some of you may know, there was a peaceful march from Dataran Merdeka to the Agong's palace for Operasi Bersih. I was caught in a bad jam when I got on the Sprint highway. Hmmm...

Anyway, I had a task to do which was to help EV select a proper side table from IKEA. From the very moment I parked my car @ IKEA, I was prepared to face the large crowd in the shopping centre. Oh yea.. Besides that, I had to deal with EV's indecisiveness.

EV: Which one should I get ar?
Me: ** HUFFING AND PUFFING ** OOIII!! Faster decide!! This box is not that light-woei!!!
EV: Put it down-la! Who asked you to carry?
Me: OII! YOU TRY TO CARRY 10KG ABOVE YOUR HEAD!!!!!!

After the long decision making process, she finally settled on one model and I had the joy and privilege to help build it.

On the way back to our car, I saw this at one of the new shops @ Ikano.

If you look carefully, its a Barbie doll stuck in a colourful jelly or jello (as known in the US). I've seen some decorative cakes before, but not one where the cost of the cake included the cost of the Barbie as well. Guess how much the cake was??
....

....

....
Give up?

It was RM69. Yep.. It is THAT expensive.

However, I got to tip my hat off to the "baker" for having the creativity to sell jelly "cakes".

After a whole day of walking, I was "treated" to a lovely evening of wood working. This certainly brings back memories of this subject back in school - Kemahiran Hidup or Living Skills. Basically, it was a general subject teaching you cooking, electrical, wood-working and sewing. I can't recall which module we had in school but I remembered it was really general.

So, taking the stuff out of the IKEA box, I proceeded to arrange the pieces as per the instructions in the manual. EV was busy with dinner (I managed to squeeze dinner out of her) but she eventually came over to have a look.

EV: Eh... You need my help or not?
Me: Yes, I need you to hold this piece... while I carry the.... what are you doing?
EV: I'm putting in the wooden peg-la. Why it cannot fit?
Me: Eh... Don't simply play play with it. Follow instruction.
EV: Cannot be-ma... Got this hole here, sure can plug this thing in mah.
Me: Oii!!! Don't play play! I don't want to disassemble everything when I find out I have one less screw or something.
EV: You sure or not? :-P
Me: I'm sure... DON'T DOUBT IKEA!! They're very precise one. If the thing needs 5 screws, 5 screws is all you get.
EV: Cehhh... You sure or not???
Me: I'm very sure... Want to bet?

As you can see, I had already got the main body of the sidetable done. All that was left was the drawers. We took some line to line up the drawers as EV didn't have too much of a 3D/depth visualization. That explains why she took Accounting while I took Computer Science back in Uni. (^ ^)

Here's the side picture of the completed sidetable - minus the drawers. Thank goodness this is a small sidetable. I can't imagine having to put up an entire chest of drawers or those large clothes cupboard.... (@___@)

We had reached this stage when finally EV said something under her breath...

EV: sh*t... Why like that one?
Me: o___O
EV: Alamak... Why this one cannot fit?
Me: What did I just tell you?... NEVER DOUBT IKEA!!! WHAT DID YOU DO??
EV: I didn't see this page! I thought we can skip it!
Me: I said... NEVER DOUBT IKEA. How now???
EV: Take it out-lo...

Lucky it was just the drawer. *phew*

At the end of it all.. This was the result...

I can't recall what time I started building this cupboard. But it was fun. It really brought back memories especially the part where I had to tack in the plywood back.

EV had a hand in it too. She's quite proud that she was able to do something.

The one thing I learned was that EV's dad's toolbox was one of the most complete toolbox ever. Different types of nails, screws and even rubber wall protectors were found in the box. I couldn't find a level but was amazed that the sidetable/drawer out quite stable. The only complaint I have about this model was the quality of the wood. It isn't as heavy as the other one which EV's dad bought some time back but it is good enough. This sidetable/drawer has a tendency to move whenever we slide open/close the drawer because it is very light. Which is why, IKEA had one additional step of anchoring this sidetable to a wall. Hmmmm.

Well.. It isn't too bad but you need patience and an ability to follow instructions carefully...

Rising To The Challenge

It's the start of another week. Should I dread it?

Perhaps not.

For, the start of another day means a new, clean slate to do something. This is the hope we have to give ourselves each day. Living one day at a time. (^ ^)

My last post talked about the new change I had to face. So, after accepting that change, I have decided to rise up to the challenge. Even though I may get knocked down from time to time. However, that should not stop me from meeting the challenge. Because, some of those knocks are just temporary setbacks.

I'm no wuss.

I hope I don't whine too much. Because this new change is an opportunity knocking on my door. Even though it may seem like I'm facing a major stumbling block for now.

I have faith and enough confidence in myself to succeed through this trying time.

"Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

Friday.. But I'm Not In That "Friday" Mood

This will be a two-part post. This is because I've not completely figured out what I want to write about... In fact, I've not figured out the topic at all. Anyway, I hope by the end of the 2nd post, it would be much clearer.

Well, it has been a pretty busy time for me for the last 2-3 weeks due to some new changes at work.

No.... It's not something drastic but it has to do with the ability to embrace and accept change.

Change is not always easy. There is an amount of adjustment one makes to the new change. And the ability to adjust to that change is probably determined by our personality and flexibility. Besides that, it takes an inner strength to embrace change.

Change is also part of life. Everything changes. From the time we were born, we are always changing/evolving. So, we can't say that there is no change in life. It is always there.

Anyway, for the last couple of weeks, I've been battling/adjusting to change at work. I do not want to elaborate too much but all I can say is that there is a void now, and I'm part of the few people asked to fill that void. The void is not a simple one, as it involves some new leadership.

There is some sadness in this change and hence, my mood today.

All I can say is that I am coping with it, learning to adjust to it as I go along. :-)

Hope you folks have a good weekend! I'll try to update more when I have the time. :-P

Don't Assume!!!

It's Friday again... ^____^

I'm happy that the weekend is around the corner. However, I have to work on a few things which is potentially going to tear my hair out, i.e. Project Management sh*t...

Anyway, I picked this up during the team building last week and I find it really useful.

We all know this word very well...

ASSUME

But, if we break the words out.. we get..

ASS|U|ME

which is...

DON'T MAKE AN "ASS" OUT OF "U" AND "ME".

Pretty cool huh!!! ;-)

Anyway, have a good weekend folks!

Extremely Tiring Weekend

First of all, Happy Halloween!!!! Of course, we don't "celebrate" Halloween officially in M'sia but am wishing it to all those who do...

I was away during the weekend for my company's team building event @ Genting. Nope, I DID NOT go up there to wish Uncle Lim bye-bye... -____-" However, the thought did occur to some of us. ^____^

The team building event was an event many of us looked forward to because not only we got to go somewhere on the company's expense but it gave us the chance to bond and socialize with our other colleagues whom we didn't necessarily speak to in the office during our regular workday. Certainly, this was the time we got to know people better. And it was fun!

I can't post all my 242 pictures in my blog, and so, I'll just post a few which were quite memorable. (^_^)

Day 1 Activities
- Some indoor games
- Walk-Hunt
- Night War Game

Fish pond... 1 of the clues for the "walk-hunt"

Another fish pond???!! Which one is the clue??

My team's tower.

Let's pasang the "antenna" made of straws...

This is the clubhouse we go to when we have our indoor sessions, makan, etc...

Day 2 Activities
- Some more indoor games
- Outdoor rope games

Day 2 was a lot more fun as it involved some outdoor stuff. I didn't participate due to a bad knee but managed to run around to take lots of photos. Hence the 200+ photos in my camera... (^_^)

Find your way out of the web...

Do you trust your team members to catch you when you fall?

Do you have the strength as a team to scale this wall?

I certainly enjoyed myself over the weekend. It was a lot of fun. I managed to interact with different people from the company and had plenty of laughs. There were a few funny videos being captured especially during the "Bollywood Dance" contest. Hahaahaha...

Besides that, underlying the entire weekend, we learned to communicate and work together as a group. We are all linked in a chain and when we're united, we're stronger! :-P

I Want To Rant, Can or Not???

I've been having a "brilliant" time at home today...

First of all, my ISP has been pretty slow in connecting to Google and hence, I couldn't grab my mails or rant on my blog. WTF

Second, all the plans I wanted to execute today just went bust.

I have been planning to clear my leave for a while and so, thought of taking today off to do a few things.

However, once my parents heard that I was on leave, they quickly decided to dump Snoopy on me and ran out the door. They didn't come back until after lunch. By that time, I had to rush to get ready for my gym training session.

**SIIGGGGHHHHH**

So, now I can't go and get that fleece jacket from Nike which I wanted and also, I can't cut my freakin' hair.

I swear, every time my mom asks me to go cut my hair, I'll just glare at her, keep silent and walk away. -_____-"

Why?

Because whenever they hear that I'm not going out or have leave, they just dump Snoopy on me and just run off!!!

I missed 1 free car service because I couldn't find the time to service my car until it was past the 10,000km mark. Yep, I missed my 5,000km mark. And my parents told me that I had to service my car because the performance was getting bad.

Again, the glare, silence and just walking away. -______-"

** SIIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHHHHH **

Now, I'm no means being disrespectful and ungrateful but sometimes, when you lay down the best plans, it just goes out the freakin' window.

Hope you folks have a better weekend than I will..

38 Things... (Not the sanpat kind)

I kena another one of those tag thingies again... So, here goes... (^ ^).
It was done by 3:22pm but only posted now... Kekekee...

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night? EV
2. What were you doing at 0800? Eating blekflirst (breakfast)...
3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Laughing at a joke
4. What happened to you in 2006? Work, Work and more Work. I also became an aunt - good friend gave birth to baby...
5. What was the last thing you said out loud? Give me a few minutes
6. How many beverages did you have today? Water, Milk and Cina Teh Ais
7. What color is your hairbrush? Plastic purple
8. What was the last thing you paid for? Parking at Bangsar Village II (so expensive!)
9. Where were you last night? In my bed - dreaming of....
10. What color is your front door? White-ish
11. Where do you keep your change? My black black purse
12. What’s the weather like today? No more rain liao.. Sun come out bright bright
13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? Vanilla (no doubt about it!)
14. What excites you? Manchester United winning the Treble again in 2008!!
15. Do you want to cut your hair? Yes! Can't stand having long hair.
16. Are you over the age of 25? I'm definitely not 18 or 22 anymore... Neither am I under 25. :-D
17. Do you talk a lot? Depends, who is talking and who is listening.
18. Do you watch the O.C.? Heard of it, not interested in watching teeny angst "drama". Give me Heroes anytime!!!
19. Do you know anyone named Steven? Yep.. 3, I think.
20. Do you make up your own words? The words make me.. hehehe..
21. Are you a jealous person? Hard to say...
22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Adele
23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. Katherine
24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? Catwoman (EV)
25. What does the last text message you received say? Someone said they want to give up and tidur.
26. Do you chew on your straw? Yep.
27. Do you have curly hair? Nooo....
28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? Kuching? S'pore? Aust? Not sure yet.
29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? Current colleague known as "F-man"
30. What was the last thing you ate? Chicken Rice... Yummm...
31. Will you get married in the future? Can't imagine...
32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? The Manchurian Candidate on HBO.
33. Is there anyone you like right now? Yep... I'm still single mah!
34. When was the last time you did the dishes? This morning after blekflirst...
35. Are you currently depressed? Not really.
36. Did you cry today? Yep.. From laughter!!
37. Why did you answer and post this? cbenc tagged me ma...
38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey. Alvin, Chan Raymond, che-cheh, keeyit, MonkeyWong

Canon Expo Anyone?

Its just after lunch. I'm a little full but yet hungry - have not decided what I'll be - hungry or full. LOL!!!

Anyway, just a quick reminder to all you photo geeks/gurus out there.

The CANON Expo @ KL Convention Centre is from today, 23rd Oct to 25th Oct 2007. More details here. (^ ^)

Good Weekend & Wet Monday Morning...

How was your weekend? Hope that it was good.

It is the start of another week and already the traffic wasn't good. :-(

Anyway, again I'm blogging right after I've come back from the gym. Kekekeke.. It's my cool down time before I go mandi (shower) and then tidur (sleep).

I managed to get out during the weekend to Sunway Pyramid because the EV wanted to check out the DELL Roadshow. So, I dragged myself out of bed to bring her to Sunway Pyramid.

EV: So, which one should I get?
Me: What's your budget?
EV: Not so expensive-la!!
Me: Define "not-so-expensive-la".
EV: Ehhh.. I don't know.. Under RM3K?
Me: Oooooooo!!! *Evil grin*

She's still deciding on which model to get, either a 14" or 15.4" model.... The price is different as well.

Me: Why you need such a big display for?
EV: Ehhh.. To see more things-lo?
Me: See what-la????!!
EV: See things-la!
Me: ????

Eventually, she settled for the 14" model... I think.

EV: So, which one should I get? The 14" or 15.4" one?
Me: I thought you decided????!!!!
EV: I don't know-la. My last laptop was 15" also but taller-leh
Me: *Points to brochure* Wide screen.... Wide screen....
** Runs to laptop demo booth **
EV: Ohhh.... Yea-hor! So, what's the difference between the 14" and 15.4" models??
Me: **pengsan**

Besides EV trying to kill my remaining brain cells by constantly asking me about the difference between two measurements, I noticed that the new section of Sunway was done really well. It was bright and very open, unlike the dark and dingy look of the old section.

I took this picture as it was the "marketplace" called Marrakesh. It certainly looks Moroccan but the stores are definitely not. :-P

I like this ornamental lamp which graced the top level of the marketplace. EV thought I was crazy for taking the photo.

After walking around for about 6 hours, I managed to drag EV home as we had to prepare for our friend's wedding dinner.

We did not manage to attend the wedding ceremony which was held in the same ballroom as the dinner but we got to watch slides of the photos taken during the ceremony.

The dinner was good as expected, but we had a very strange waiter who did this...

I didn't take a very good shot of this but it's a picture of a used spoon in a teacup. The teacup wasn't even empty!!!!!

The waiter cleared my friend's plate and bowl but did not take the spoon with it. So, not knowing where to place it, he placed the spoon in my friend's almost-empty teacup. -____-"

He also cleared my friends' husband's plate, along with his fork and spoon. When we asked another waiter if we could have 3 sets of fork and spoons, he came and gave all of us forks and spoons. o__O

At first, we thought it was the norm since we had a prawn course coming up. However, looking around the other tables, ours was the only one which had forks and spoons for everyone.. .. .. .. ..

Next, my friend asked for an empty teacup, the waiter came with a glass of cold water. HAHAHAHAHAA

By the end of the dinner, we did not want to ask for anything else as we're not sure what else would he bring. LOL!!!

BTW, did I mention that the table number was 38??

In cantonese, 38 means "san pat", which literally means "blond" or ditzy. No wonder we had such such an interesting service during our meal last night. (^ ^)

BTW, Congrats to both Kae Jeen & Peter on the start of their beautiful journey together. :-)

So, how was your weekend again?

I'm Finally Back At the Gym!!!

It is finally FRYYYYYYDAAAAYYYY...

My brain was officially fried today.

Anyway, I nearly didn't manage to get to the gym because there was all this chit-chat with some folks at the office. It's about "Sanctuary" and "Jungles"... Kekeke... *ahem*

Basically, the punchline was "Get pissed but don't get wet!" LOL!!!!!

I'm happy now that I'm back at the gym. Only managed to put in about 1.5hrs of work but then, I think that's enough to start my out-of-shape body back into the work-out regime.

Anyway, football is back and so is the rugby World Cup 2007 finals. I'm a bit sad ever since the Wallabies to Jonny Wilkinson's foot. Good luck to the Roses. Hope that you folks will win the World Cup back-to-back with the help of Jonny Wilkinson's foot.

Have a great weekend!!!!!!!!

Are You Part Of "The Shift"?

My colleague sent a very cool link this morning and so, thought I'd share with you folks.

There is a global revolution going on now and it is gathering pace... It is called The Shift.

'Nuff said. The embedded video will give you folks more info.



The question is... Will You be part Of "The Shift"?

Thanks Sharon for the link! (^ ^)

4 Years On

It has been 4 years since Oofy has passed.

She was a lovely dog. She came at a time when the world was going nuts. It was 2 years after 9/11 and the wounds were very sore. At this point, a lot more details were known about what happened on that terrible day.

She came at a time when I was facing the most stressful point in my career. I was asked to do more work and yet, getting not much satisfaction out of it. She just came out of the blue. I still can't believe anyone could just discard such a beautiful dog.

Aside from my parents and sibling, I had never felt so much unconditional love from another living being. She could still love me despite me disciplining her. She could still wag her tail even though I had a black face to show her.

Her face could just turn hearts of stone into hearts of love. She had that ability.

Oofy, I know that you are in God's house now. I hope that you are having a good time there with Jesus and the other animals there. I know that you will make great friends there.

I miss you. I love you. I hope I will see you at the Rainbow Bridge.

It's Never Enough - Holidays, Sigh!

I get that same 'ol feeling again - That feeling that it's the last day of your relaxing weekend/holiday. (-___-)

Anyway, it was a good 4 days of rest although I did a lot of running around during that time. One thing I was glad about was the easy traffic on the roads for the weekend. However, I could not say the same for the traffic at the malls. (-____-)

Me: OMG!! So many people here!! Why don't these people go "balik kampung"????
EV: Aiya... Where else can these people go-la. Traffic jam going back kampung, you know?

I was supposed to watch Ratatouille but ended up watching Resident Evil:Extinction. It's a long story. It involved me being late.

EV: You're late!!! How can we watch the movie now???
Me: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry....
EV: So how now?
Me: Ehhhh.. You wanted to watch Resident Evil, let's go watch it.
EV: You sure?
Me: Yeah... Just remind me to go toilet before the movie, so I don't pee in my pants should I get scared.
EV: HAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

What can I say about the movie? Did it manage to escape the dreaded Curse of the 3's i.e. Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Carribean 3, Rush Hour 3, ....? I'm not sure. All I felt was that it was entertaining. It's because I didn't have the "curse" of watching the first two movies before. **smirk**

Aside from the fact that Milla Jovovich had skin to die for in the dry dessert heat of Las Vegas/Nevada/post-Apocalyptic world, I would have to say that it wasn't as scary as I thought. Maybe I've been playing too many scary games like F.E.A.R or Silent Hill (1,2.....???) to know when the damn zombie boss will appear. All in all, I saw product endorsements like never before - Sony this... Sony that... Oh yea, the pic was made by Sony. Geez, it felt like a very long Sony advertisement!

Oh well, like I said, it was entertaining. At least I got to hang out with EV who said that the movie was not up to snuff as she has seen both the previous movies.

I had a load of books to read start over the weekend. However, I only ended up wrapping them in plastic so that the book will be kept in good condition. I still have a whooolllleeee lot of books to read. :-P

Snoopy couldn't escape boredom as well. She's wearing her new harness. I think she feels like she's being asked to be a horse. LOL!!! The harness is for us to use when we take her out so that we can attach her leash to it. She tends to get excited when she sees other dogs.

It is just past 11pm. And I have < 1 hr left before the holidays end. *SIGH*!!!!!!

I Won?? Ohh...

I was coerced into joining Lilian's GoDotCom contest recently and was surprised that I won something for participating in it....

MANY THANKS LILIAN!!! **MUAKS MUAKS**

Oooo.. Must thank Terence too...

MANY THANKS TERENCE!!! By the way, how was hell? Kekekkeekekekekeke....

I am however disappointed that zewt did not participate. If ever there was a vote on who should go dotcom, it'll be him. ;-)
Ehhh... Me no suck up-la. Me telling the truth one!!!!

I rarely win anything. Even if I did, the prize isn't very fantastic.

Yep. I'm serious about that.

I remembered going for a "Grab Bag" at the church fair and managed to pull out the worse prize of the lot - a Kodak keychain, which was rusty!!!!! (Who puts stuff like this for the church fair??)

If you're wondering, what's my prize, its getting my own domain!!! Yipppeee!!!

I'll be getting in touch with a friend about hosting. I'm sure that he'll be very happy to get some business from me. (^ ^)

Anyway, on the subject of winning - here's a little video I got from Reuters once the Nobel Laureate 2007 prizes were announced. It's of Doris Lessing who is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. If you're wondering about her, go wiki her... i.e. Go search for her on Wikipedia-la. Past laureates include one of my favourites - Ernest Hemmingway, Rudyard Kipling and Pearl S Buck. If you hadn't heard of those writers, it is time to go to the bookshop and pick up one of their books... BTW, Doris Lessing's the 11th female to receive this award. ;-)



I just looovveee her expression of "Oh Christ..." or was it "Oh Cripes..." (^ ^) I don't know... I'm slightly deaf after all.

Just watch the video and you'll know what I mean.

I'm very delighted (in a very dignified British manner) of winning something. :-P

To Little Ray and Leonilpi - CONGRATULATIONS for your win!!!

Why I Beloggg....

A while back, Lilian ran a contest to "Go Dot Com". The contest is to blog about "why blogging is beneficial". This is my *ahem* attempt.

I started back in 2003, when one random stranger chat me up on YM in regards to technology and he introduced me to a website (yeap, it was called that back in the day) and it was a collabo between himself and some friends.

It was a good website, talking about life in KL and etc, which was good - since it gave people outside M'sia about the life in general for the average M'sian on the street. You don't get those rose-tinted, perfume-scented, wrapped up in a nice package you might envision if you're on some travel tour or something.

So, I started to "blog". I wanted to talk about alot of stuff, typically ranting on bosses, and life in general.

I took a hiatus from blogging as I didn't know what else to talk about and besides, I had to focus on being a modern slave. That was 2003.

However, come 2006 onwards, blogging took an entire different turn. People started to talk about everything from pets, cooking, parenting and even about their diseases. Not to mention, blogs caught the eyes of marketing folks and now, people are indulging in PPP and etc. That's great 'coz what was a journal-like website became something which can churn a little bit of $$$ on the side for some folks.

I don't condemn PPP but sometimes when it is stuck in a personal blog, it looks a bit "funky".

I got back to blogging when my first dog Oofy died - a huge outpour of emotion came out. A lot of folks dropped by and offered support, which was what I needed and I found a whole new group of people who shared a passion for animals and pets.

Soon after, I had another dog and decided that I would blog about her antics. Then, I realized that blogs can give some folks joy especially for those who don't have pets but yearn for them too.

One of my previous posts showed support for "Free Burma", when all blogs were asked to join in the support for Burma.

So, blogs have now become a platform for people to voice out their support and grouses, to champion for something. And I'm not just talking about the political blogs out there. There are blogathons to champion for a worthy cause such as pledging donations for charities such as Breast Cancer Awareness (for this month) and Saving the Environment.

Certainly, the role of blogs have evolved from what was termed as a website, to personal journal to e-marketing tool and a means to spread information in regards to an issue or event.

I'm just blabbering here... But I can certainly see that blogs are here to stay. It is a powerful tool and like a very wise playwright has said many centuries ago, "The pen is mightier than the sword" rings very true in the modern age of bits and bytes.

Scary Bosses?

I've been "enjoying" my daily car-pooling with EV ever since she got here and am feeling a little glad that I'm so considerate with the environment. I know I should do more but..... (hate that but)

Anyway, we had a conversation about work (what else is there to talk about...??) on the way to work and she related to me the story of her new boss.

EV: Remember my boss-ar, the one I told you who comes in early in the morning?
Me: Mmmmm... **Nods**
EV: I thought she comes in early because she has to fetch her kids to school. Turns out it isn't. She got someone to look after her kids for her. She comes in at 6am.
Me: WAAAAAAHHHH... So scary!!!!
EV: Yealo!! So scary!! She's very efficient and wants things done fast!
Me: Of course-la! That's why she comes in at 6am, so that she looks like she finish her work so fast, 2 hrs before you even step into the office!
EV: Yealo!!! So scary!!!

I used to be a scary boss, i.e. working > 12hrs per day at this start-up I was at. I was stirred to work so hard because I wanted to make it a success. Besides that, there was a degree of insecurity should the company go bust, so, I want to do as much as possible to prevent that. ;-)

Anyway, now that I'm older, I want to start slowing things down a little. I've cut back on my hours from 12 to about 10 or less. Sometimes, it ramps up to about 12-14 based on project needs. However, I've learnt that it is not wise to work very long hours for too long because that burns people out.... FAST! Like what zewt mentioned about the different generations of modern slaves now, I can't seem to push the youngsters these days or else I'll lose them faster than saying "OT"....

EV continued with the conversation by saying this...

EV: You IT ppl won't have such a problem. After all, you all begin work at 10am mah....
ME: **WTF??!!** OOOOooiii!!! That's because I have to deal with overseas people on UK/US time, ok? I work long hours just like you do-la!
EV: Whatever you say lorrrrr....

(T_____T)..... To be continued....

5 Things

I kena tagged from Che-Cheh but didn't have the time to blog about it on Thursday night as the electricity went out. It was too hot after I got back from church after taking Snoopy out for the blessing mass (to come soon).

Soooo... Here goes-ar...

5 Things in Office Bag:
1. Laptop (Provided by company - wat-to-doo, I is CONsultanT)
2. Mouse (computer, not the live kind)
3. Pen (to write when laptop run out of battery)
4. Emergency Sanitary Napkins (You know-la....)
5. Spectacle Lens Cloth

5 Things in My Purse:
1. Some MYR
2. Some MYC (coins-la)
3. Plastic (gym card, Isetan card, insurance card)
4. Old receipts
5. Redemption cards

5 Interesting Things In My Bedroom
1. PS2 (can't live without my console!!!!)
2. TV + DVD Player
3. Huge stack of pOrn..... Anime (gotcha!!!!)
4. Stack of unopened Oracle World magazines
5. A bed??

5 Things I Want To Do
1. Visit all the Disneylands/Worlds in the world
2. Travel to Europe
3. Shake hands with James Gosling at Java ONE
4. Get another puppy friend for Snoopy
5. Setup a kick ass PC which can run Crysis


5 Things That I'm Doing Now
1. Blogging
2. Preparing technical slides for work
3. Watching Scrubs on DVD
4. Sweating (it's hot)
5. Thinking of which games to get for my PSP

Who else to tag?
1. MonkeyWong
2. cirnelle
3. Alvin

Free Burma

'Nuff said. A picture paints a trillion words or in this case a million voices...

Still Hung Over...

I know.. It's Wednesday. I'm still hung over after the weekend. If you follow the link, you'll know what I mean. I probably look like that dude in the picture in Wikipedia, minus the janggut and big stick-la.

This probably explains my small hiatus from my blog as I've been quite hung over and tired after last week's activities - EV's arrival and my company's annual dinner which was a blast! (Some photos to come later)

As some of you may know, my good friend EV has decided to move down to KL permanently, so that she may torture me more effectively. Yep, she has major "plans" for my torture....

EV: I'm still not sure about the roads-la. I'm so new to KL...
Me: **Blinks** (You sure? You come down like twice to three times per year) Ehhhhh....
EV: So, are you going to drive me to work?
Me: Yea, just for this week.
EV: What just for this week??? Aiyooo... I'm so blurr-la.. Not used to KL roads.
Me: I thought you taking LRT?
EV: Ehhh, I scared I get lost-leh.
Me: Okla, I'll teach you for one month.
EV: Yay!! I got driver for one month.
Me: o________O

......

EV: What time are you coming on Monday morning?
Me: About 7:30am
EV: SOOO EARLY?????!!!
Me: What to do... You want to eat Traffic Jam for breakfast?

I reached EV's place at 7:15am, got her to work by 7:30am....

EV: So early!! What do you expect me to do???!!!! Nobody is there!!!!
Me: Go take The Sun newspaper-la and read-la!! Aiiyoo.. Go ask the guard for pass to go up-la!!

We were shouting at each other as I dropped her off at her office entrance. It was so funny. Lucky there weren't any bystanders or else they might have thought that I was kicking her out of the car or something.

Well, I came into the office at about 8am, nearly scared the Finance person for coming in so early. Hehehe...

I went to make my coffee and found out that the coffee machine was OUT OF ORDER.

AHHHHHH!!!! 天啊!!!!!!

So, I've been walking around the office looking rather blur and out of sorts. I've sent out strange e-mails which my colleagues find so amusing.

Colleague 1: Ehhh.. Your e-mail ar.. When is the thing?
Me: Ehhh...
** Looks at e-mail**

Me: ALAMAK!! Sorry! Sorry!
Colleague 1: Hahaaha!! You ok or not?

*Sigh*... I've got to get back to the gym!!!!!!

Note: My knees are about 99.1% healed. Will starting hitting the gym next week when I feel stronger. Thanks for your well wishes. (^ ^)