Turmoil

Today I laughed and cried til I was good and numb. I was sad at the reality of how my team will always have a much lesser probability of moving up the ranks in the department.

But at the same time, my colleagues were cracking jokes about resigning en bloc and together we open a shop. Maybe a nasi kandar shop or a cake house. We started assigning roles like "Jaga api", "person who take orders", washing dishes would be a rotation thing... and on and on.

My face just turned numb. I think my facial muscles were just confused on which way it should contort to. Ahhh... numb...

In spite of all this, I'm so glad that at a time when I am down - the whole team had been supportive (specifically I need to thank Christabel the most). I also had colleagues in Singapore who are willing listeners - Jeff who read my yahoo status & TW whom I think I have a terrible tendency to automatically dial up but never pushes me away even when I become neurotic... Thank you!!.

Not to forget the ever wonderful Lyne and Angela... my ex-colleague and ex-boss respectively. Angela's involvement was purely coincidental... while lepak-king at my old dept, Lyne had just brought her name up and speak of the devil... she called Lyne about a minute after that.

It was a nice surprise and I couldn't be more thankful for her advice and support on the fact that I wanted to jump ship. Honestly, I didn't want to get Angela to help me but it seems that somehow someone up there decided that it would be better to put her there as my guide of sorts.

Life happens sometimes... and things have a way of coming to you whether you ask for it or not. In a sense I think I'm a pretty lucky sod. Better things are coming my way now that my time at where I currently am is drawing to a close.

Happy New Year to all and may it bring to you a greater promise of a brighter future.

p/s: Kalamari-buddy, sorry I didn't feel like yahoo-ing stuff in detail when u pinged me. I'll elaborate this to you sometime soon

23-Dec (Thu): Am on half-day today. Woo hoo! Going to KL on the 5:30pm bus from Garden Inn... except... it didn't get there until 6. What's more - it's a temporary ride (with no aircon) until we reach the bus' workshop in Butterworth. Stuffy like *bleh*. SMS-ed woeful news to Michelle who's waiting at the Kampungku (Gelugor) pickup point.

After all the drama with the no aircon thing... we found out we were being put on a non-tiptop condition bus... oh it was a SLOWWWW ride... didn't reach KL until like 1am in the morning. *YAWNz*

24-Dec (Fri): Mich's friend Koon Hee was kind enough to pick us up so late into the night. He and his family were excellent host... making sure that their guest are comfortable. In the morning (after having some rest) - everyone in the house got moving to help prepare for the Christmas party.

Ooh! Btw... they have a really cute Australian Silky Terrier too. That darling ball of fur goes by the name Happy. Must remember to post up a photo of that doggy.

25-Dec (Sat): Woke up early and joined my host for their Christmas morning mass. They had a choir and a dance ensemble perform - it was really good. Besides - it was fun to hear their senior pastor speak coz he's a really entertaining speaker. Sleep-inducer? Definitely not.

In the afternoon, Koon Hee had kindly dropped me off at my dad's place in USJ 2. Ahh... it's been great so far but I could use some lunch. Hah! Since my bro had yet to have his lunch... hee hee... we can go eat... my treat lar!

Later in the evening, I went to ronda-ronda in KLCC on my own while waiting for Sze Lin and Freddie to meet up with. I must say I had a pretty fruitful shopping spree then. Anyhow, after meeting up with the happy couple - we took a train to Subang Jaya then a cab to Taipan for a mighty late dinner. From there on, I had my bro pick us back to the house for a nightcap. *yawn*

26-Dec (Sun): We met up with Ai Luen at about 1PM at KL Sentral. From there on, we had intended to take the monorail to Bkt. Bintang but heck - we found out that the long queue at the ticket counter was because they are stopping the service for 30mins. So we took a cab there instead.

Note: At about this time - people were calling up to tell us that there had been a Tsunami hitting the beachfronts along batu Ferringhi down to the Gurney area in Penang

First things first, lunch!! We went to a place called 18th Street. They have a really quite a lot of things on their menu... it took us ages to decide what to eat. All sounds quite tempting. :p''

Well eventually we did get our lunch over and done with while at the same time, we gals caught up with each others life's and all that jazz. Freddie? Well... he just listened mostly and chipped in rarely.

27-Dec (Mon): Sze Lin and Freddie got a cab to go to Sunway Pyramid after having a late breakfast (Dad had bought us all some nasi lemak before he went off to work) at my house since I didn't want to go for anymore shopping or window shopping for that matter. Just felt that it was better to rest before going to catch my 3:30 bus back to Penang.

Anyhow, prior to lunch time, I dragged my bags into the car since my brother had to pick up some of his friends. From there on, they decided that having chicken rice at Jalan Gasing would be a great idea since my brother had to drop me off at the KL KTM Station. No complains here... the food there is nice although definitely a bit more pricey.

When it was time to board my bus, I had to ask one of the attendants which bus was to Penang. To my surprise... I was pointed to the double-decker!!! Whoa-ho-ho!!! And I thought that was going to Singapore.

Anyway, luckily I did ask first. If not I'll be like that lady who boarded the double-decker thinking it was going to Singapore. Fortunately she realised that she was on the wrong bus before either of the two buses had departed from KTM.

And, oh!!! I couldn't be more delighted to be sitting right in front at the top deck. It really feels like I'm on a sight-seeing nature tour... on a VIP seat. I feel like a kid in awe really... hehehe...

Woke up without much of a voice today but dragged myself to work anyway. Talking was a chore but I somehow managed to mutter out what's necessary when it mattered.

That idiot TW didn't even notice that I was struggling to complete a conversation in the morning until at an afternoon telcon + netmeeting... the coordinator CT made a mention of it since I had warned her that I may not be able to talk much while carrying out the demo they had requested be done.

It was interesting that for once, my answer to "Are you OK?" was a flat out "NoOOoo... I'm not *cough, cough*"

You see... I just have this bad tendency to answer in the positive even if I'm feeling a wee-bit off-kilter.

Not particularly a very wise thing to do at times. :P

I realized that the last time I actually went to see the doctor was more than a year ago. No kidding!

I just happened to look at the last date stamped onto my personal copy of the company medical booklet... all because I know this time... the coughing must stop.

Had nearly coughed my throat out while driving home from work today.

Tonight, the movie I chose to watch was Shutter. It's a Thai horror flick... peppered with plenty of occasion to scare you out of your mind... and well... the occasional comedic moment. To know more about this movie - try going here for a review and synopsis.

[Edit: My Singapore Trip... an account in the shortest way I could write it...]

03-Dec (Fri): Woke up as early as usual but am heading to the airport to catch the 9:30 MAS direct flight to Singapore. Arrived at Changi some 1hr++ later.

Saw one of Botero's works in the Airport.... it's a big black statue of a jolly round lady. Will later find myself looking at more Botero pieces as I traipse around the island.

Mum & I checked into the Hilton and somewhat finished unpacking by noon thus leaving us some time to walk along Orchard Rd before we part ways. Didn't really need lunch since we had the airline food thing for brunch.

At Orchard MRT Station - probably did the smartest thing by buying the EZ-Link card... will be needing that in days to come. My stop - Yishun... it's about a 30mins ride.

At Yishun, I got on a bus that will pass Yishun Avenue 7 and tried to look for #1... that's where the Singapore office is. Unfortunately, I turned and walked the wrong way and found myself in Woodlands. Damn those confusing address numbering sequences. Pah!

Oh, forgot to mention that I was also caught in the sudden rain and wind with only a small little umbrella for cover prior to seeing a decent bus stop. Luckily managed to find one kind uncle who can speak Hokkien to let me borrow his handphone so that I could call my buddy TW.

He suggested that I get a cab after being shocked that I've actually walked quite a distance in the wrong direction. Interesting 1st day in Singapore so far I must say.

I arrived at the office just when the rain started to ease off. Then I called my buddy again and wahey! I finally get to see all the people that I haven't seen in a long time.

TW bullied Nancy to get me some water... he's both a naughty and nice person so I don't know how Santa Claus would ever evaluate him. Oh! And he passed me the stuff I asked him to get for me... tickets to Mamma Mia for tonight (it's the last show of this theatre run) & my local prepaid card. Yay!!! I'm no longer incommunicado.

Mamma Mia! Mum and I watched this at the Esplanade and thoroughly enjoyed the show. It's very well-planned since although the set is simple, the theatrical devices and costumes were used to enhance the flow of the script. Genious!

And of course, how could I forget the performance from the one and only Silvie Palladino who took the role of the mother-of-the-bride-to-be? She's a really great singer and theatrical actress.

04-Dec (Sat): Seeing that the day is clear, mum & I headed to go to the Jurong Bird Park. It's really well-kept and at least the birds don't seem to be balding. Our feathered friends there looks very much in the pink of health. Can't believe that we actually spent half a day there.

In the evening, we met up with my dad who arrived in the afternoon, at the hotel. For the night, we went for the Night Safari. Riding the tram was quite fun... since we were driven over a stream of water at least 4-5 inches high. The guide speculated - "Watch out for you just might see a CROCODILE"... creepy... :P

05-Dec (Sun): During the day, I decided that I wanted to check out Haw Par Villa.. and later found out that it was the only place that didn't require an entrance fee. Hurrah!!! Seeing that we had some time to spare after walking about HPV... we went to the Singapore Science Centre. Plenty of interesting exhibits to keep curious minds entertained. Seriously a great place for a "lawatan sambil belajar".

In the evening, my parents were to meet up with their friends for dinner while I had a dinner date with an old pal from college - Andrew. Nice of him to take me around Suntec City where we settled for dinner at Picken Move. How you get your food and drinks is apparently following a somewhat German Market concept. Interesting, that's something new to me.

Much later, he took me to the 70th floor of the Swiss Hotel to have a drink. The view of the night skyline of the whole city from up there was fabulous! And of course, it was really nice to catch up with Andrew since the last time I saw him was about 4 years ago. :)

06-Dec (Mon): Today was officially the day to do some serious shopping. First, mum wanted to go to Peninsula Shopping Mall to find her line dancing stuff. Then later on, we went to the City Link Mall and Suntec City to complete the round. That's a lot of walking for one day... and silly me was wearing heels... not proper walking shoes. Result? Sore feet.

Towards the evening, I headed again to Yishun since I did agree to meet TW for teabreak in the office. Yeah... the idiot can't make it for the group dinner he sorta organised. Apparently, a last minute reschedule of a class he is taking so to make up for it... he promised tea instead.

Oh well... stuff it! I'll still have Lisa, Belina, and "uncle" Bernard to keep me company for dinner. They took me to Big O in Wheelock Place. Has kinda like a Secret Recipe feel to it except that the colour scheme of the place is mainly orange. I had cod fish for my main meal... really nice.

For dessert, we all shared a chocolate cake thinghy, some durian cake dessert thinghy, and a sinful waffle served with caramel & ice cream. Yum!!

07-Dec (Tue): Today, it's time to go home. Our flight leaves at 11:30am from Changi. I'll miss the Christmas atmosphere no doubt. Adieu Singapore, and hello again Penang - Pearl of the Orient.

This had been a week of animations for me.

Shark Tale - 17 Nov (Wed) The graphics and colours were awesome! Other than that... the story is somewhat way too predictable. Recommendable if all you want is a good laugh. And yes... if you read the newspaper reviews - I hereby confirm to you that Oscar will remind you of Will Smith as the Fresh Prince of Bel Air

The Incredibles - 20 Nov (Sat) Went for this one with Jase... and someone who doesn't speak English tried to sell us tickets to a show that started 15 mins ago. No way man!!! Don't insult a cinema-movie fan... missing even a single minute of the show is a CRIME!!! Ok... so I'm being a drama queen... but forgive me for being a really big fan of all things from Cartoonworld and Disney.

Anyway!!! Don't you dare miss this one. Watch it a 2nd or 3rd time if you like... collect the DVD when it comes along...

You sure wouldn't want to miss out on the superb audio-visual effects. The James Bond franchise could sure take some notes from this toon.

The script is very well-written simply because you'll easily relate to the characters as they figure themselves out. Peppered with loads of witty lines - what more can you ask for??

Oh... and b4 I forget... WATCH OUT for E a.k.a. Edna Mode - eccentric costume designer for super heroes. She's absolutely hilarious. Ho-boy!!!

A retreat far from the trappings of a busy and highly technological modern citylife was something I couldn't refuse.

In simple English, I just wanted to escape from being anywhere near my TWO IDIOT BOXES.

Thus, I find myself spending 11-15 of Nov in Taiping... just tagging-along with some friends' for their church camp. (I'm not a Christian... hence the term tagging-along)

Oh yes, btw... HAPPY DEEPAVALI and SELAMAT HARI RAYA!!!

Anyway, among the things I enjoyed while I was there was

• taking two different trips to explore the area around the beautiful Taiping Lake Gardens;
• getting caught in a heavy downpour during our Taiping Zoo - Night Safari trip;
• playing games and watching people play games;
• meeting old friends and making some new friends

I don't quite know what else to write on this... so maybe - let's see some photos instead, OK?

Fountain at Taiping Lake

Isn't the design of the Reflexology Walk just beautiful?

Some mossy-manmade pyramid stone formations

I love this view :)

Walk into the light... Skywalker...

A 180 degree view of Maxwell Hill. (Click on photo for fullsize view)

And we have a photo finish!!!

Spot the flying projectile

This is one for "The Chronicles of the Absent-minded"

My mum discovered that our account passbooks were not in the usual place about 2 weeks back.

My dad had a theory that I could have accidentally threw them away when I threw away my superbly tattered bag. It was my loyal companion for the past 2-3 years.

I denied it all... but eventually as days past and I can't think of where else I might have placed those books...

There can only be the inevitable conclusion... the very same one I had been vehemently denying... OH NOOOOooOOOo

The number of passbooks lost = SIX. Yup... S-I-X.

And the best part... 2 of them doesn't have my name on it. So very DUuuHHHhhh-brain of me. wa wa waaaaaAaaaa...

Movie night at GSC. Was hoping to get tickets to watch "Taxi"... but the only seats available were in the front row...

Hence, the backup movie of choice was... WHITE CHICKS

It's something you'd only watch if all you want is some slapstick comedy. Don't go in expecting too much... and don't think too much about anything that didn't make logical sense to you.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show for what it was meant to be.

Hmm... received a surprising message while watching The Terminal actually. Daniel had suddenly sprung on us that Joobs is back and that there will be dinner gathering scheduled for tonight.

Okay... let me forget that I'm still feeling tired - I haven't seen that woman in like... AGES!!!

We all ended up going to the Northam Beach Cafe... where everyone had a jolly makan session.

Oh... among the glorious things we had tonight!!

Gawd!!! It's Saturday... but I had to go in to work :( *sigh*

Anyways, I'll be able to claim a day off later on. Am awful tired from the amount to time spent in office over the last week and a half...

I should be able to keep it together for another few days*yawnZzz*

At the start of the day, I had hoped that we could clear out whatever we needed to do by 2pm... but then of course... we ended up staying til 4pm-ish.

Got home in time to bum for about 20mins b4 having to go pick up mum & dad from the bus station in Gelugor... once that was done - it was time for a blissful nap

Later dad woke me up to say it's time to go catch a movie since I said "Drag me there if you have to!"

How could I refuse? They agreed to watch "The Terminal" before I went to take my nap ;)

SPOILER WARNING! Anyway, I kept remembering about the way Chin joked about how she should say "Where do I get the Nike shoes?" when she reaches the customs in the US (ala Viktor Navorski)

Let's see if she gets deported from US for doing that. *chuckles*

Year end closing at the office... plenty of stress... but heck! We did take some time off in the guise of celebrating Halloween. Much fun we had... yesireeeeEee!! :)

My colleague's very halloween(ed) cubicle

All my babies...

My creepy wall... huwahahaha

Construction in progress! (Note the mess)

All decked up... say cheese everyone!!

Gosh! This couldn't have been a busier weekend for me.

Chin2 was originally scheduled to leave for her 2-yr re-assignment to the USA in early Nov... but as of last Tuesday, she was told that she has to leave on next Wednesday!!

Was actually planning to stagger the farewell gatherings for 2 of our common groups of friends but looks like it has to be a jammed pack weekend

a) ex-student councillors (collegemates)... scheduled for Saturday dinner;

b) schoolmates... scheduled for Sunday lunch

With a little help from some helpful and willing souls - we got the ball rolling by emailing, SMS-ing & calling up anyone we can think of. What would we do without modern technology?!!

Fortunately, the turn out was great for both gatherings considering the last minute arrangements.

It really felt good that the effort put in ended up so fruitful... :)

Besides, I'd rather be able to shelf aside my ever-piling work to do something for my friend. I'd hate to not have been able to say bon voyage to her.

Year end closing or not... my friends definitely comes first.

In the mood for something comic-like?

A hint of corniness?

Well, it sure doesn't get any better than a dose of...

Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow

Potential Spoiler: Watch out for the running joke about Polly Perkins (Gywneth Paltrow), a true-blue journalist at heart, and her camera.

p/s: convinced my mum to come along for this since although she just came back from her China tour about 6-ish pm... her first comment to me was "I wonder what's good on TV tonight?"

My comeback to her, "If you've taped Chinese serials for 8 days, you can afford another hour to go on tape. Come on! Let's go watch a movie!"

Yes.... Happy Birthday to me :)

*YaWnZzz*

Yep... guess what? I just got back from work about 30mins ago.

Yes, I know... it's a sin to work 'til so late on my birthday - yet I didn't have much of a choice

There was a late development in the end-user testing that I was involved in and the deadline for sign-off had to be by the end of US biz-day, 14-Oct.

But anyhow, at least that is over and done with now... and I did have an enjoyable day.

After all, my favorite colleague did oblige me when I playfully told him that he should call me and sing me a song instead of typing it over on Yahoo.

Not to mention that he did manage to throw in some crazy comments, criticized himself for sounding bad, and thought I had said he was tone-deaf when in fact I said, "At least you are not tone-deaf".

Ah what a riot...!!

Oh... btw... since tmrw is the first day of puasa, we had a little birthday do for all 5 people in my team who celebrate our birthdays in Oct.

And yeah... 3 of them have to berpuasa soon... so any later and it will be no celebration at all in Oct.

Guess what!! I just got back to work today!!! Huwahahahahha

Had been off for the past 2 days to laze, and laze, and yep! You guessed it... more lazing.

It was great to not have to sit in front of the computer all day for 2 blissful days

Monday was more like errands day... getting all little but essential tasks done

Yesterday was adventures to the countryside with dad for an absolutely photo-trigger-happy time.

We drove over heading toward Pantai Merdeka in Kedah... and passed-by many brilliant green paddy fields. We even found two beautiful patches of water lotuses in full bloom (the flowers normally associated with Buddhism)

On our way back from Pantai Merdeka, we passed by a school during dismissal time... and saw this short little dude running on his short legs ever so happily home.

Quite a sight to behold since the bag on his back looked almost like a turtleshell... and just imagine that he's also wearing a slightly oversized shirt. Kawaii!!!

Dad then decided to drive down to Sungai Petani before turning back for Penang... was kinda tired when we reached home...

But it had been a fun day and we did manage to test out Dad's Nikon Coolpix 8700. The colours captured were absolutely brilliant!

Will put up some of the photos once my dad bring's back his notebook since I didn't manage to copy it before he went back to KL.

Had just gone to watch The Bourne Supremacy with my dad.

Methinks that in it's own way - this sequel is more interesting than Bourne Identity.

Maybe it's because it's not so much focussed onto the action... and more on the characters this time round.

What's to love about this show? - Watch how Jason Bourne pulls surprises on both the good and the bad guys.

Windstruck

Have you watched this Korean movie yet? If you like love stories, having your heartstrings pulled at, and you are game to maybe get some tears squeeze out of you... please go hunt for a cinema that is showing this right now!

It's probably the best non-fairytale-based love story I've seen within these 2 years.. maybe even a bit more than that

Anyways, if anyone is game to read an overview and maybe read some opinions about the movie... you can read this article @ Seoul Selection

Okay! Now before I sign off this posting... let me tell you about my pre-movie experience for today. I arrived at the cineplex 30mins before the show began and my-oh-MY! The queue was blardy long... first time I've seen it this long on a Wednesday night

Maybe it was because Jackie Chan's "New Police Story" just started screening coupled with the fact that it's Wednesday (RM6 for any show on Wednesdays in GSC)

Anyhow, as I was nearing the counter, someone asked me to help her collect a ticket booking to which I obliged... and guess what?! There was a computer glitch the counter attendant had to clear in order for that booking to be collected... !@$^#@

But luckily for me... I got my tickets and managed to get into the theatre just in time (THANK GOD!!! If not I'll get an earful from my mum for being a good Samaritan). Didn't miss a single minute of the movie even... *phew!!*

p/s: Do take time to go to the movie's official website if you can... it's really nice! One caution though - it loads rather slowly (beware those on dial-up... I'm complaining based on broadband usage)

Hello world! Meet my colleagues! :)

This is us at an appreciation lunch for all the blood, toil and tears that we have put in since last year... to finally hit (almost) all of our major performance measures. It was a tough road... but we made it!!!

p/s: Looking at all the food makes me hungry... *drools*

Gathering with friends are always joyous occasions, especially when we manage to get a big group to come together... and this is no easy task. Really need to thank Ash for making this one happen...

Firstly, we went to our 'traditional' mamak gathering spot --> the Sup Kambing place nearby to Soho's. After that it was coffee time at CBTL, Gurney Hotel. Below are some pictures :)

Wackiness totally intentional... disclaimer: this is no candid shot

Shoes!!! Photo taken by Peky.

A family portrait of the guys

Aha! A member of the paparazzi caught on camera

Soul-Searching

Obviously, I've suddenly developed a need to write lengthy, descriptive, and flowery essays. Had actually wrote another one (but I'm keeping it offline)... it was a self-analytical piece.

But to make up for hiding that piece of self-exploration from all of you, I think this excerpt that I received from a free Karmic Love report will give a pretty good idea of what was going through my mind of late...

"You maintain a certain intellectual aloofness that can damage your romantic relationships. In a prior life you were interested in the common good; perhaps you were a revolutionary leader, an academic or someone who worked for social reform, and you distanced yourself from people on a personal basis in order to devote your energies to the group as a whole.

In your current life you maintain a bit of that aloofness, and it can make your intimate partner feel neglected or held at arm's length. You have a tendency to claim your individuality in a way that pushes others away. Your lover might bring this to your attention, in a direct or indirect way. If you maintain your individuality too stringently, you can inadvertently hurt the people who are closest to you.

You have a certain shyness, a reserved demeanor, that is rooted in some kind of insecurity that you have carried with you from a past life. You use your intellectual leanings as a tool, a crutch even -- you distance yourself from emotional entanglements that might overwhelm you. You have trouble sharing your innermost thoughts, feelings and fears, and this can make your romantic partner feel rather shut out"

Damn... I hate it when my gut feeling is so right (for once!)

Had gone for Eugene's bbq and met a new bunch of ppl last evening. Honestly I had fun throwing puns around about the host just as much as everyone else. Idiot just told me it was a bbq but didn't tell me that it was his b'day too.

Of course I eventually realized that but then of course it was a bit late to get a present or some kind of token now. Attendance is the only thing that will have to do then :P

Actually I didn't intend to follow the whole lot of them for clubbing at SS after the bbq, but I guess persistent persuasion from the others did a part in changing my stand

Ended up staying up til nearly 3am (inclusive of some time spent at the mamak stall after we were done hanging around the club)... a pretty fun weekend so far for me. That much I can say for now.

*streeetttttcccchhhhh*

Got home late... sigh... but made it a point to have a night out on my own today (I mean Wednesday, yesterday).

Went to Gurney Plaza, bought a movie ticket, then went to sit at Temptations to get a cup of capuccino as company while I go through some pages of "Dilbert: The Way of the Weasel".

10 minutes to 10:45pm... paid for the coffee and went into the theatre to watch Princess Diaries 2.

Great fare for light-hearted entertainment peppered with healthy doses of comedy! The young men in Princess Mia's life are not too bad looking either :P

It feels like I’ve woken up on a fresh new morning in a land far, far away – on a fresh new dawn whence winter is retreating while spring is just waking up from its sleep.

I can hear the birds sing in cheerful harmony. I rub my eyes and climbed out of bed to sit next to the window. Then I rest my head upon the windowsill to look in awe at the heavenly sight before my eyes.

The sunlight is glistening playfully upon dewdrops that lay on blades of soft green grass and blossoming spring flowers as a gentle wind tickles them into a graceful swaying motion.

The field rolls on and on seemingly endless but for where it meets with clear blue skies.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes as though I am capturing it all into memory forever while at the same time enjoying the fresh scent of this wonderful morning.

I opened my eyes once again as I heard a familiar and welcome voice calling out to me. I then turned to face the direction from where it came from.

A rush of warmth radiated from my heart and a smile washed across my face as I glanced upon my loved one... blowing a kiss down to him and returned his greeting.

The days ahead were filled with simplicity in so many ways. The serenity washed away all anxieties that result from living life in the city.

There is just so much more to revel in while we are here. Laughter was never far away from us as we found time to play in everything that we did.

How I wish I could live carefree like this always... with worldly worries being something that does not exist in our vocabulary at all.

Oh, it feels incredibly great to be here... even if it is only all in my mind for now! Maybe someday this will come true – even if not forever and a day, perhaps it can be for some period of time within our lifetime.

Note: I was just being inspired to write some imaginative piece as I was listening to some really nice mood music. So... this piece is in essence purely fictional. E.g. reference to someplace with four seasons.

While waiting for the digital scanner to complete my request, I suddenly heard Murni saying "Amboi, tersenyum kucing!". :)

Well… I was definitely feeling very happy and amused and replied with a “Well, there are a lot of funny things today” to my bubbly colleague.

I’m so totally on a high today!! It did help that Kovi came up with a very wishful question while knowing full well the answer to the question... it was just hilarious... we all know every software system has a certain level of limitation to them, don’t we?

Then there was also my colleague PK (one of those ppl based in S’pore)... had to break a chat I was having with him to attend a 15min training session...

PK had said he wanted to discuss on something in the chat but I told him only to call after my training is over... but then of course he kinda forgot about it until I IM-ed him.

He’s one of those really overworked ppl. Apparently, he needed me to retrigger him what topic it was that we were supposed to continue on. Kekekekeke...

Anyway, after we were done with the work related topic, our conversation turned to some idle chat on some general topics about people and nonsense stuff.

Among them was about his his team mate, TW. You know, things like how they tend to tease TW that his mother has probably found him another nice girl to pair him up with on his subsequent trip back to his hometown. LOLz

In return, I told him Nance (another of PK's team mates) had actually taken an opportunity or two at poking fun that I should consider TW - where my reaction would usually be to try to change the subject.

Honestly, I just simply adore the group of ppl I work closely with. Such a bubbly bunch of ppl! Either that or it’s just because I feel so much positive energy around me today.

Well... hello, hello, hello! Updates abound!! Wahey!!!

Update 1: I now have brace studs on my upper-front teeth... previously it was just on my molars so they weren't quite visible... and my brother now calls me "braceface".

Update 2: Monday morning began with a colleague (SW) passing me a CD with a post-it on it that simply says "Hi Aewis, Enjoy :)". Was told it was from someone in Singapore. Questions as to who was the sender drew a put-on blank look from SW and "Don't know :)"

Thought a long while before SMS-ing the suspected sender (coz he's on leave). Didn't get a reply until about lunch time. So my guess was right! Hah!

Cheeky SW asked me in the a/noon if I knew who was the sender... I said I found out who... but interrogated anyway on who was the messenger... :P

Listened to the CD later in the evening but started laughing as soon as I heard sounds of chirping birds.

What a coincidence! I had actually just dreamt of a serene landscape where barkless and leafless trees lined along a path where there were plenty of different kinds of birds hanging around the place... over the weekend.

Among the mundane things I've been snapping these past few days... (all have been reprocessed from their original resolution via Photoshop)

Edit: Mmm... after looking at the photos... I realised I missed out a mention of a farewell dinner for Uma that we had at Nandos (Pg Airport) on Thurs... Had fun catching up with Chin2, Pingy, Guats, Vij, and of course Uma... who's leaving 2nite to go work in the UK... bon voyage my friend!

What the hell is wrong with Malaysian motorists? Accident yg ada fatality tu pun nak tengok!

Bloody hell! The accident causing a traffic jam on the other side of the road I would understand... but f***!

Why in the world does those idiot motorcyclist on my side of road (non-accident side) stop and gawk at that... that...!?

Maybe Malaysians are just too happy to watch horror/gory movies... but heck! What's so great about watching the post-accident scene.

Frankly, I just passed the accident scene without turning my head to look at it. Having glimpses of "vultures" and cops attending to the scene ala CSI is enough to sink my heart.

Selamat Hari Merdeka!

Humble greetings from the office, to everyone! ...coz I don't follow Malaysian Calendar lar... working today :P

This is what I got myself yesterday. Hoo-boy!

And well... I didn't have enough time to charge up the batteries before I went for dinner with Ash, Joanna, and gang - up at Bkt Genting for some Thai fare.

The food was ok at about RM12pax... but the scenery would have been excellent if not for the sky being a tad too clouded.

But then again, I wasn't totally disappointed. Every sunset is unique after all.

I managed to notice a formation made by the play of light & shadows that shown through the clouds... It was a great big bird!

Its eye was the sun itself. The streamlined body and wings in flight were made out of the visible light passing through sparsely clouded areas. Pretty :)

Today, I've gone out again for another gathering. I think I wouldn't have gone out if it wasn't for Uma's great escape plan*...

* - ultra strict parents, she's the rebellious 24 yr old... who wanted to go on a secret date... prior to meeting back with the girls who will send her home in the evening

And so it went that I hosted Uma at my house for a short while (dad dropped her) - on the pretext that we'd go meet up with the other girls for some jalan-jalan at Gurney Plaza.

Well... we did go jalan-jalan... except without Uma... she came later lar... :P

All in all... a really fun weekend and an expensive one too. Sakitnya poket saya... but I'll get over it while I play with my expensive new toy.

Oh! Forgot to mention that I probably got mine at a real bargain from my dad's friend's shop.

With additional battery, upgrade to 256MB memory stick... + the camera bag & tripod that comes with the promotional package... I only paid somewhat short of 1.7K... huwahahahahahahahaha :D

Puteri Gunung Ledang

Having watched only Part 1 of the making of this movie, I'm already impressed.

Having gone to the website, I'm awed. It looks amazing.

For those in the dark, it's an epic based on an adaptation of a historical legend and a myth set in a bygone era of Malaysian History - the age of the Malaccan Sultanate.

Anyway, has anyone caught the MTV of this movie's signature song, "Asmaradana" - sung by none other than the leading lady Tiara Jacquelina...?

I find that the musical piece has a strong traditional Malayan/Indonesian (Nusantara) influence although it has been composed to attract the modern audience... terribly catchy, slightly haunting, and gee... I like it.

The dance cheoreography is also something to behold. It's so dynamic and ENERGETIC! These 2 words would rarely be associated to dances for traditional tunes but it sure works for this one.

Now, the golden question is, after all the hype and promo... will it live up to the expectations of movie-goers? We'll find out for ourselves soon enough... we sure will - just after the movie premiers on Merdeka Day, 31 Aug'04

p/s: I wanna see the movie, but I'm not nuts... not gonna step into any shopping complex on a PUBLIC HOLIDAY cum extension to SCHOOL HOLIDAT. I'll go watch it some few days or a week after it opens in the theatres.

Ah... IT'S GREAT to TAKE a LOOoooOoooONG BREAK!

But as they say, all good things must come to an end. Tomorrow it's back to work.

I had been on leave since last Thursday... which incidentally became day to settle all pending banking stuff. Great time to be in the banks tho' - all it took me was a 5 min wait in each bank before it was my turn to be up at the counter.

Been in KL since Friday. First thing I did after reaching the commuter station in Subang was to head to Carrefour's Burger King. A trip to KL just ain't complete w/o a visit to BK's!

On Saturday, I met up with Ling2 in the afternoon. We had lunch at TGI Fridays in 1U... loved my lunch and couldn't eat dinner after that.

Later in the evening I met up with Joce in town and followed her to her place in Mines... decided just to take up the offer of dessert since I can't take dinner...

By the time my bro came to get me from Mines... I was too poofed to give Kalamari (and gang) a holler to meet up over some kopi and football :P

Sunday was when I jalan-jalan(ed) around Bkt Bintang... and spent my last hour there by having a tiramisu and coffee at Dome. Did some people watching.

Monday afternoon was lepak and more shopping (lots more window shopping than purchasing)... at Sunway Pyramid.

Was happy that KY said he'd meet me there for coffee... coz basically all previous attempts of meeting up for the past 3 yrs ended up being cancelled because of time constraints by either party.

Later had dinner at Pizza Uno (Taipan) with dad and bro. Another splendid dinner! Mama-miAaaa... :)

On Tuesday, was supposed to be on the 2:30pm Plusliner express bus... except was told it's broken down :o

Ah well... free upgrade to the 3:30 Nice bus was nothing to complain about. I still get to arrive in Penang within the same time.

Today? Well... today was just a time for me to buddy up with my car. Went to get her a car wash, engine wash and a vacuuming. Oh yeah... pumped the tyres up too :P

Hmmm... have always intended to post this photo somewhere... :)

Had taken this one way back in yr 2000 when I was on a family vacation in Perth, Land of Oz.

Would bet that if anyone in my beautiful homeland dared to do this... it's off to the happy-land of life behind bars and plenty of interrogation.

Ooh... also would like to share a nice quote I came across recently

"I am only one; but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do" - Edward E. Hale

Probably a good mantra when feeling like a helpless louse... because quite frankly...

A person with capabilities is never truely helpless unless they make themselves helpless via the destruction of self-pity, insecurity; lack of confidence, determination and a will to live.

The week past was one of blood, toil & tears... coupled with a wonderful weekend.

Blood, toil and tears???

Don't get me wrong. It was just that time again... QTR-END CLOSING. Yup. It means extra vigilance during the last 3 working days of the month (not going home before 8pm... avg 12-13hrs @ work) + accompanying my supervisor to come back to work for 1/2-day on Saturday.

How does one get through high-pressure days? Ok, I don't quite know the answer... but I get by. There were moments when my speech capabilities was equal to Ross Gellar (he takes ages to finish sentences)...

Definite indication of stress, no? Oh yes, it is! And it's quite frustrating when I couldn't seem to piece my words into coherent sentences.

But thankfully, there are some people who just know how to throw the right words back at me so that I can continue my train of speech. Just gotta LOVE them.

A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

My 1/2-day in office wasn't bad... it was rather fun and relaxed in a sense... quiet office... a few other ppl coming in to pick up the last bits and pieces for the closing...

...and of course the capability to put up the speaker volume and letting tunes from my selected Yahoo Launchcast station blast away without having anyone telling me to tune down. >:)

After lunch, went to Baskins to stock up on ice cream. Would highly recommend the flavor of the month --> Far East Fantasy. It's a really delicious combination of lychee, soursop, and plum sherbet.

Btw, the color combination for this one is a really sweet combination of white, pale pastel pink and pale pastel olive green.

Later in the evening, went out to watch "I-Robot" with Jase. Superb movie! Interesting storyline... and somewhat a bit Alfred Hitchcock in a way. The Hansel & Gretel analogy was a nice touch to complement the plot. Genious!

Other things to appreciate were the animation & robotics... and not to forget... the nice Audi that Spooner (Will Smith) drives. Whether it is a concept car and/or animation in part... it sure looks spiffy ;P

Sunday: Woke up pass noon. MmmmmmMmmm... Nice weather to sleep anyway. It was raining from morning til sometime mid-afternoon.

Decided to go jalan-jalan at Gurney Plaza with mum in addition to catching a movie. Had my heart set in watching the Thai movie - "Beautiful Boxer". I was hooked since I first saw the trailer during my previous visit to GSC.

Based on the true story of Nong Toom Parinya Charoenphol, a kickboxer who wanted to become a woman, this is a truly worthy watch

In a nutshell, what made the movie interesting was how the story was artfully presented and filmed. You could follow the feelings and bond between the characters... while feasting on some of the most beautiful backdrops/sceneries

But the most important thing of all... was the message that was carried throughout the movie... "Follow your heart no matter what. Do what feels right for yourself, not others". :)

The story has a lot of heart in it... it really does... but that's just my thought. Go watch it if you haven't already done so and judge it for yourself! Maybe you'd love it as much as I do. :)

Alas the fool was played
A concrete wall but a gossamer dream
Whom art thought a bright star forth
Cheerful! Passionate! Divine!
Nevertheless an empty void
A lonely soul crying for help!
Was there pain behind that mask of smiles?
Did ever sadness cloud past those angel eyes?
Alas the fool was played

A lot of the time, we only see what's on the surface and take it as we see it. But well... sometimes what we see is just the facade after all isn't it?

If not, why the heck would people even write articles about feigning confidence?

If you look carefully, it's quite simple. Really.

There are real people who live their everyday lives doing what they need to do to survive yet another day without fainting at every little thing :)

Like... erm... what have I been up to lately?

Books... (I kinda juggle my reading if you notice the below list) a) How To Be Good by Nick Hornby ---> done b) Stupid White Men by Michael Moore ---> just started on it c) Business at the Speed of Thought by Bill Gates ---> erm... kinda lazy to finish it... been months and I'm just past Chp.1?!! Sure tells you how interested I am on this one d) Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work by J.Canfield, M.V.Hansen, M.Robertson, M.Rutte & T.Clauss---> someway through this one

Movies... a) Princess Mononoke (DVD) ---> Nice! Loved the artwork... the myth... and the cute but rather freaky looking little Kodama b) The Prince & Me (cinema) ---> lighthearted fare. Call it a modern fairytale. Loved this one anyhow... no matter how surreal and predictable the story was... I'm biased because I love watching Julia Stiles' movies. But anyways, watch out for Soren... the Prince's aid. He lends some comic moments to the movie... hehehe... c) Spiderman 2 (cinema) ---> Predictable? Yes... especially since we did kinda grow up reading the comics. However, the movie has some moral high-points. More details below.

ONE: Kids should eat green veggies (OK, this one was a sneaky one by the scriptwriters... but I'm gonna have a good time throwing this line back at some veggie-haters... hehehe...) TWO: With great power comes great responsibility and sacrifices. THREE: You might want to spare the one you love from hurt by pretending not to love them... but you can't stop that person from choosing to be with you since everyone has a right to make their own life choices. ;)

p/s: I managed to get off from work ETA 6pm for 3 days in a row this past week!!! Mon, Tues, Wed!!! Whoooopiiieeeee!

Looking back on the week just passed, I'd say I am drowning in my work. Normally, I'd be supporting my team of 12. But since Monday, 5-Jul, I was supposed to support an additional 12-13 people.

Why so? Those 12-13 people had just lost their team lead due to her resignation.

Now I have at least 25 people under my wing should they have any issues with the processes or the system.

My job is
(a) to be the walking encyclopedia of all matters covered under our daily job function;
(b) guru at troubleshooting for the root cause of any issues

It can get tiring when so many things come your way in quick succession. Is there ever a space to breathe? At the moment, I would say there barely is any space for me to come up for the sweet scent of fresh air.

By the way, did I mention that for the whole of last Monday & Thursday that I had to support yet another 12 people? Oh yes! That's a total of 36 or so people. Why?

Their team lead was out of office - she was at an offsite training on Mon and on leave on Thu.

Am certainly not looking forward to tomorrow either. Their team lead will be on leave again on Monday.

I can only just pray that nothing major happens... and even more so that people haven't sabotaged their own system entries out of carelessness.

Oh trust me on this. It doesn't matter if people have been longer experienced on the job or not. A lot of the experienced staff can still do mistakes that are normally done by rookies... and they do those mistakes at the same rate that the rookies do.

I can only quietly bang my head on the wall for these people since I'm too tired to repeat the mantra to them. But what am I talking about?!

I still have to repeat the mantra in section XYZ pertaining to the issue at hand, regardless. It comes with the job.

Broadcaster of crisis command central, gatekeeper, investigator, motivator, team lead, troubleshooter, tutor, walking encyclopedia... I'm seriously overworked and underpaid.

There's always a first time for everything. Without a doubt, there always is.

Today started out just like any other work-day. Was doing follow up for a particular mini-crisis.

It started with an email that I had sent out last evening to make sure that there was written proof that I was aware of the issue. Had also seeked confirmation with one of my favourite colleagues if a formal escalation ticket had to be logged.

The answer he gave me yesterday and early this morning was, "It's OK. You don't have to do that. :) I'll handle it from my end."

Thus I left it at that and went on to look into other matters. That was until before lunch time.

He had email to say "Please log a call :)". Not just a direct reply to my earlier inquiry. He was responding to someone in my team who had asked about the progress of the issue.

Now why didn't he just tell me to do the escalation thing earlier on?! Wasn't I supposed to be the gatekeeper/collection point so that he doesn't get a barrage of direct inquiries from the grassroots?

I can't believe it happened and what made him trip up like that. And that really pissed me off. Oh yeah! That's the first ever time I was truly and absolutely angry at him.

I told him so and I told him off. We are all overloaded but that doesn't mean that we can screw up on something so simple.

2 odd hours later, I had calmed down and told him I'm cool about the whole episode now. The response he gave me displayed sheer relief.

You see, I wouldn't expect his response to be any less than that. It's just that everyone knows that I don't get worked up easily.

Thus if my temper erupts... it means that someone had crossed not just an inch over my tolerance level - they have gone past it for more than a mile.

The best challenger to beat is always your own self

It's no use comparing yourself to others. I'ts always better to challenge yourself to do better.

For example, I feel GrReeEeaAAT that I finally managed to take an extra 2x50m lap swim today in the same time I used to take my usual 10 laps.

Will raise my target slowly but surely... but for now... over-exerting would mean jelly-legs when I get back to walking on solid ground...

This means that should I be overly ambitious, there would be a very high potential that I'd fall flat on the floor... NOW THAT WOULD BE PAINFULLY EMBARRASSING!!!

Hmm... so adorable are the lil' critters... yet always such painfully tragic endings do they meet... and who would have thought cartoon shorts can be more violent than South Park?

Meet the Happy Tree Friends!

Am feeling a tad artistic today. So I pulled out my yearbook and flipped to the page where there was an anime style drawing of every single person in my class - faces only.

It was the handywork of Takako, a Japanese exchange student that my class had hosted while I was still in Form 5.

Looked out for my face and scanned that into my computer... cleaned the lines a little... and slowly applied layers of colour into it... and soon... wah-lah!

What do you think of it? If you ask me... I'm proud of myself that I still remember how to make use of Adobe Photoshop to do stuff like this.

It's 10:09PM on the computer clock. Am still in the office... *sigh*

Have just listened to Summer Sunshine by The Corrs over LaunchCast... I think I'm gonna go buy the CD.

Ooh... fast tune!! It's Walkie Talkie Man by Steriogram playing now. Damn! Haven't heard anyone sing in (spurts of) supersonic speed since Scatman John.

Edit: I ended up leaving the office sometime round midnight and bolted to get into office for a teleconference at 8am the next morning.

After the telcon, the only sane thing to do was ask my boss to let me off on a half day paid-time off. Exhausted as I was... I kept myself going until noon.

After that, my mind just wasn't functioning anymore. I wasn't able to listen to much anything that anyone was saying to me.

Gladly drove myself home sometime before 1pm... made myself a simple lunch before going into a long peaceful slumber... ZzzzZzzz...

Before I can say "ABRACADABRA!" it's almost Monday again. What?? Monday??? Geesh... time sure flies when there are so many things going on.

I can say that the past week at work had been a semi-nightmare... thanks to some genious who did some serious under-estimation. The side effects just rippled on from there...

I found myself giving pretty much the same reply many times throughout the week, occasionally peppered by a few additional words when updates came along. It was frustrating!!!

I felt like biting off the head of the 3rd and subsequent innocent inquirer each and everyday. Its not them... I think it's just a normal response when any person remembers saying the same thing for more than 2-3 times a day.

Had to keep reminding myself to keep a smile on my face and in my voice... yup... breathe... bReathe...BreaThe... ahh!!

Soon, Friday comes and goes and whaddya know? It's Saturday. As usual I had to routinely pick my gramps from his office at about noon... but when I reached there - gramps declared "Come back in 30mins"

Now, what do I do with 30mins? I'm in the town center with nothing better to do. Zilch, zippo! Nah-dah!!

Ah heck! After taking a quick mental pow-wow, I guess it'd be great to drop by Giant (Pg Plaza) and do some grocery shopping... or so I thought until I got there and saw the amazingly long queue at the cashiers.

Nah-ah! No way I'm going into that... and that is how I ended up going into Book Zone and getting out of there with Chicken Soup for the Working Soul and John Irving's A Son of the Circus.

I didn't mind getting the CS book this time... it's the smaller paperback version and cost 28.90 only. It's more compact and way cheaper (by about $10) compared to the original sized ones.

The John Irving book would be for dad on Father's Day. Can't go wrong by helping him to add another book to his reading collection since he is an avid reader.

Oh! And did I mention that I had to go into work today? Oh yes... two others + yours truly had been asked to go in to do some testing starting 5pm today.

It was quite hilarious actually. First, the 3 of us had 15-20 mins of confusion. None of us were clear on what we were required to do and did not quite know who to contact.

Then of course we also found that we had a logistical nightmare. We were unable to call anywheare outside Asia Pacific for some reason, no matter which office call system available to us was used.

Do or die... we had to contact our US counterpart... Desperate times call for desperate measures...

Last resort - email... that's the worse communication method in an office when dynamic communication was required. After a long 10min wait, a reply! Joy! Except... err... wait... I had to explain our phone system dilemma... and suggested that we connect via Yahoo Msger.

A few minutes later... ho-boy!! Yay!! We're connected and many clarifications were made within a span of 15 mins.

By now, an hour had been nicely wasted off my Sunday evening... time that could've been used on other more trivial pursuits like lazing, hanging out, and lazing.

Delight later then was the fact that the newly upgraded system did not come up with any errors. Brilliant!

Except now I have another problem... I'm very short of time. I had to rush home to take both mum and dad for a quick dinner before dropping dad off at his rendezvous point to meet up with his car pool back to KL...

Yes! You guessed it!!! It was time to drive like the wind along the causeway; with the observation power of an eagle; and reflexes like a cheetah!!! Tally-HoOoooo!!!!

It was a pretty eventful past week... let's start with the 5-Jun! Well... my pal here, Jase, had booked Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban tickets for a Saturday that was

One: A public holiday... and
Two: during a school holiday

Sweet... and of course... Jase had to break just about every traffic rule to make sure that we can still collect our tickets on time. *LOL*

Later in the evening... it was time to go for my 2-yr old cousin's birthday party. Plenty of kids running around the place in addition to aunties and uncles who are catching up with one another... *yawn*.

7-Jun (Mon): Ah well... just when every other colleague of mine are enjoying an additional day off (perks of ppl working for MNCs practising 5-day work-weeks)... I had to go in to work. Simply because... I don't work following the Malaysian calendar.

Anyhow, Umayal SOS-ed me in the afternoon... and thus I ended up going out for some window shopping in Gurney and later having a magnificent dinner in Dome...

Tired as I felt... that was a blissfully enjoyable evening.

9-Jun (Wed): Dinner with some of my schoolmates at a place called Little Cottage. There was Guats, Bowie, Chin, and Uma. Oh... btw! I loved the Lamb Chop... it was so beautifully done.

Later on... we headed off for CBTL at Belissa for coffee and a touch of dessert... Royal Chocolate Cake! Oh yummy!!!

11-Jun (Fri): Went out for a really nice Thai lunch with my colleagues. Our reason for making noise celebration was because we have just passed the 1-year mark into our job. There was S.Huei, Mich, Pearly, M.Nee, Lay2, Vennee, and Lynette.

Too bad I couldn't stay on for a chat... had to rush back to the office for a 1pm meeting... only to later find out that it has been pushed out to 4pm. Grr...!! All the rush for nothing. Ptui!!

Later at night... joined Mal, Ash, Joanne and a few others for some teh tarik near Line Clear. Could have sworn that I think I almost got hit by the car park's bar thinghy... but thankfully... I got away without a dent in my skull.

12-Jun (Sat): Good gosh!! I overslept!!! Bathed and grabbed everything I needed for the teambuilding. Christabel told me she thought she was late... (she came to my house at 9:15am)... but looks like I did one up on that. Could not stop apologizing to Mich as we were supposed to meet her at her place in Air Itam at 9:15.

We arrived at Sandy Beach Paradise Resort about 10am... just about time when everyone else actually started to arrive. Great!! At the conference hall... we met Dhupinder's little girl... 3-yr old Bakshinder. She's such a cheerful little cutie.

Bless us all who sat around that child... because we weren't really paying attention to the presentations that went on... we were playing with Bakshind. ShHhhHh...

Later, we were broken into groups... and hence the games begin. First, we had a sorta follow the leader dancing thinghy... and then we had a Limbo Rock session before lunch.

After a delicious buffet makan... it was time for beach games under the hot sun... ;P

We played Fire Brigade and Tug-of-war. My group was lucky in our first round of TOW... we pulled when the other team was not just when the whistle blew... hehehe... but then again... 2nd round? You can say that we don't have the pulling power... and the ground beneath us was very dry and very loose... no foot grip. We were sliding deep into the sand. Argh....

Oh well... for today, I just feel that my legs are sore... and I'm beginning to find signs of blue-black spots all over myself... sigh... but it had been a really fun weekend!

Woke up this morning to the beat of yet another odd dream. ODD.

First, I find myself walking past a gate, across a huge field of grass through a garden, towards a house.

Along my way... I walked past a giant fish. It was like a 7-foot long version of a parrot fish. Then... I strolled by another one.

It was yet another giant... imagine an 9-foot long cod fish. The only thing now is... this fella caught my leg with its flippers and didn't wanna let go...

Gee... talk about being caught by a big fish... literally too.

We had intended to go to Coffee Bean at Gurney Tower last night but saw that it was dark. If not a power failure, it must be closed. But we wouldn't wanna risk parking and find out that IT IS CLOSED.

Ash had the sudden brilliant idea that we could go watch a late night movie... "How about watching Shrek 2?". I was like, "Yeah. OK! Let's go to GSC, get tickets and we could sit at one of the coffee places while waiting for our movie"... That being said, Mal drove us all to Gurney Plaza. Woo-hoo!

Let's see... it was only about 10++pm when we got our tickets... and we ended up sitting at Dome - having a drink and some yummy potato wedges (no... I'm afraid I don't know the meaning of health freak diet).

The movie began very promptly at 11:45pm. Shrek 2 is really funny from start til the end!! I don't think I ever laughed so much for any other movie within the last year.

As per the original Shrek tradition... they have yet again done subtle spoofs of scenes and characters from other movies. At my last count... there are at least 8 of those. Won't list them out less it becomes a spoiler to anyone who hasn't watched the movie! :)

These days, I feel that I'm lucky to have a pretty amazing bunch of people as my colleagues. Among the things we do for each other...

There are the few that will stop and ask "How are you?" or "How's your day so far?"

...and then of course - we have the occasional joker who will do or say something absolutely insane... witnesses will not be spared from fits of laughter. Great stress relief mechanism, isn't it?

For example - colleague #1 recently "crushed" her toe and her foot is now in a cast. She proclaimed that how it happened was embarrasing.

Colleague #2 in S'pore just found out about it from #1 because I had refused to tell him why #1 was on MC earlier in the week.

Then over a phone call this evening... #2 sneakily diverted the conversation. He started with "we should give a minute of silence for the injured toe" (huh?? *speechless*)

...then he went on to "hey, you know what? you should go over and visit the toe and say aww toe-eee *kiss, kiss* (shh! don't tell anyone I said that. *laughs*)"

Gosh! I really didn't see that one coming... but I should have known better since this one is an absolute nutcase after all.

Ooh... forgot to mention... have finally watched Troy on Tuesday night. I found the movie flow was good for a 2hr 45mins movie. I wasn't dozing off... :P

Hector (Eric Bana) the noble prince and hero of Troy, Paris (Orlando Bloom) was the wimpy bother of Hector who needed to grow up mentally, and Archilles (Brad Pitt) the fearless (and virtually emotionless) Greek warrior were among the key characters.

They had spiffy Greek costumes... and of course... the infamous Trojan horse was also portrayed in the movie.

You are the pilot.

Saint Exupery's 'The Little Prince' Quiz.
brought to you by Quizilla

Gee... the only thing that matches the quiz result is my dull mood.

ROTFL

This is quite a hilarious read.

Movie Mania?

Let's see what I've managed to watch in the past month or so...

• Along Came Polly - I enjoyed this Ben Stiller & Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy flick. Loved the way Hank Azaria as that French guy who kept calling Ben Stiller's character --> "Loo-bend" (Reuben)
  

• Super Sapiens a.k.a. Hellboy - Hohoho!!! Wouldn't say that the storyline was one of genious... but the makeup and effects were pretty good... one big red dude and that water-being that likes to read 5 books at one go
  

• Van Helsing - Gosh!! What can I say?!! The visual effects have been superb from start to end. As for the story, I quite like the way the story of Dracula, Frankenstein and Werewolves were all weaved into one major plot. Sweet...

  Btw... I found that Dracula looked cool... his brides were rightfully slutty... Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman)... WHOA!!... and Princess Anna (Kate Beckinsale) was a pretty strong character in her own right.

OHHH MY GAWWDD!!! Why LaToya? Why??? She was way better than Jasmine but yet the votes decided she had to go...

This sucks *grumbles* I'm disappointed. But moving on... let's wait and see who will become the 3rd American Idol.

The finale for Survivor: All Stars is just so full of drama!! Marriage proposal from Rob to Amber before they announced the vote... again... OHHH My GaWwwwDDD!!

All of a sudden... Reality TV seems to be full of interesting twists and turns. Just when I was getting quite bored with them. drE@mZzz...

p/s: But am glad that it's Amber who won the money - and may those 2 love birds live happily ever after.

Thoughts on F1 racing

I can close my eyes and imagine that Michael Schumacher wins one race after another. I'm now continually more interested in what goes on behind the master. The stars seem to shine bright for the BAR Honda team and their current boy-wonder, Jenson Button. That much can be said past the Imola race that happened last Sunday.

The BMW Williams team where Button was once a part of seem to be hanging on as much points as they can get... mostly via Montoya. Though what is happening with Mercedes McLaren could be a repeat of what happened last year. Lacklustre performance in the early stages but they managed to claw back up both the driver and team charts after a third of the season had gone by. This was achieved mostly via consistent performance by Raikkonen.

Thoughts about life in the past week...

In a few words... "Crazy, tiring, and quarter-end closing at work". For both last Wed & Thu... went home past 10pm. For last Friday... 2am the next morning... and I was back into the office again at 9am that same Sat to tie up loose-ends. This seems to happen during every quarter-end which we had so far.

No wonder I can sleep as though I were dead... it's not easy to wake me up when I'm dead tired... my parents can attest to that... ;P

Anyhow, Jocelyn called on Friday to tell me that she's back for a while from KL and wants to meet up... and so that's what we did when I picked her and Daisy up to have some drinks at Shamrock on Saturday night. It feels good to finally see people other than those I see at work day in and day out for the past week or so.

Truth be told... it's kind of a stress-breaker. The only other entertainment I had before this week of hell... was going to this magic show thing in PISA on 25-Apr'04 (Sunday) and bumping into Patricia. Found out that she's back in Penang and would be working for TNB.

Day 1, 17-Apr'04: Reached Jerteh by bus from Penang (left the island 9:20PM last night) at about 5:30-ish AM. From the bus station, the sleepy trio got onto a taxi to Kuala Besut... and boy was that a ride!

The taxi-dude drove as though he was in an F1-car... and his speedometer wasn't even working. Along the way we passed a police check point... but the cop was sitted in a chair was obviously in lala-land.

Still way early at 6AM... we sat and wasted some time in a coffee shop near the office of our "travel service". It's called Cocohut Travel by the way... and no... they aren't overrun by coconuts all around the place. XP

At about 8AM - we started our 30 mins boat ride to Pulau Perhentian Besar after doing all the necessary registrations. Arriving on the island, my pals and I put our luggage under the care of the chalet management coz we don't get to check in til noon... and headed for the sea!! Woo-Hoo!!

Clear, cool waters... we dipped into the water for a while... then we suddenly realized that it'd be better to get snorkels from the chalet ppl first. That was the beginning of it all... first reef area in front of the chalets... hmm... nice... 2nd spot... even better!

HelloOoo Nemo! Okay... so I saw a bright fluorescent orange clown fish playing among the anemone... mwuaaaahhh!!! I happily swam around some more until I saw a jellyfish somewhere in the water... arrgh!!! I'm too chicken to stick around... bubbye!!!

Meals were included into our holiday package... and our first meal there was a real shock. One huge and scrumptious fried fish, a dish that looked like kung-pao squid, large plate of vege & a huge serving of tom yam soup... enough to feed 5 ppl but there are only 3 of us!! Gosh... that's a lot of food

After lunch... and a short rest... the REAL snorkelling trips began. 1st drop point somewhere off Perhentian... the reef was the most beautiful among all the others that they took us to. A close look at the corals sometimes reveal a camouflaged fish... most often - the stonefish that pretty much matches the coloring of a type of hard coral.

I started to have a headache after getting out of the water and into the boat to leave for our next destination.

2nd drop point (also off Perhentian)... we went looking for turtles. Decided to hit the water again despite my headache... and yup! I had a good look at the turtle - big fella but it's a shy one...

3rd drop point... decided that I better skip it... accumulative effect from lack of rest + going under the heat of the sun is not a good thing. Siew Hooi said that there were more anemone and plenty of clown fish there... and btw... by now... we noticed that no matter where you go... you can always spot sea cucumber (many different species of them too).

Back at the chalet... it was some rest before dinner... and again... huge servings. Night time, we did some star-gazing while lazing on the beach enjoying the breeze. By now, we were quite buddy with our "tour guide" and a few people who are our partners in crime during this trip. In short, we are in the same activities group.

Day 2, 18-Apr'04: Mmmm-mmMMmm! Another day of blue skies, clear sapphire blue waters across the horizon. Along with Lyne, Siew Hooi and the group we've been joined with... it's off to a trip around the Redang group of islands.

A few minutes after we left Perhentian Besar, our boatman received a call to turn back. Seems our guide forgot to take our packed lunches into the boat... patah balik!!!

We had good laugh about that as we journeyed to our 1st snorkelling stop. Dunno where it was except our guide, Andy, told us the place was called Teluk... to which I replied "Teluk what?!". Great view though.

Next, Redang's longest beach... Pasir Panjang... place with white sandy beaches, part coral graveyard nearer to the beach and regenerating/surviving reef further off the beach.

Sea life here is diverse... and the fish are very used to people... mush out some water soaked stale bread and they come around you like a swarm of bees. We also get to see a few small groups of coral sharks here. Yup! The same kind that Richard Hatch caught in one of the Survivor episodes.

Swimming further out, I managed to see a fish that looks like a brown-yellow giant version of the whatever-horn fish that was so popular... my guess is - it could be about 4 to 5 feet long from head to tail.

Final snorkelling stop for the day - Redang Marine park. But before we hit the water again... it's time to grab some lunch. It was probably one of the best nasi kandar meal I had outside Penang.

We each had rice with squid, cabbage, a kind of roast chicken, and some sambal... on picnic tables and benches under the shade of some beach front trees. Yes... that includes coconut trees. ;P

After washing our hands at the facilities that were built on the island, we swam to have a look at the sunken ship first. Corals have grown on and around the structure... and fishes have made it their home too. We then swam within the perimeter heading to the jetty and saw this really big school of white pomfret somewhere further out.

Taking my head out from facing underwater for a while... I heard Siew Hooi saying "Mmm... yummy!" - I couldn't help but laugh as I myself imagined having a nice, sweet, and juicy bawal putih for dinner. Not long after that, I spotted what looked like a fish that was about 10 t0 15 feet in length somewhere about 50 or so feet below the surface... wow...

However, the corals around here were different. They were more dull and it was not hard to see that there were plenty of spots of dead corals here and there. I also remember following a garoupa that had glowing spots on it for a while before it ducked into the corals to hide from view.

The area where I was at that time kinda freaked me out though. The coral reef couldn't have been more than 3 inches below me and I didn't want to get myself scratched all over. I swam as fast as I could back to the beach in a sort of panic while trying to keep myself as high on the surface as possible. Getting to the beach felt really good after that.

Before leaving the marine park, we took some pictures to remember the amazing view around the place. Siew Hooi and I concluded that Lyne was a really bad influence. You see... our friend Lyne hung on the tree with her hands and feet clinging to a tree branch (we took a photo of that), and some others in the group started doing the same a bit later.

It was amazing the the branch didn't break when one of the heavier folk got on the branch ala orang utan. Bless them all for not getting hurt.

On the way back, we dropped by Pulau Lang Tengah. Our guide just left us there to enjoy the beach. There's not much to do there actually since the waters off the beach were very shallow and quite rocky. All there was to do there was to relax and enjoy the view... :)

Later, as we were getting back to our chalet, our guide took us to a cold water spring on the other side of Perhentian Besar. Splashing ice cold water over our heads never felt so good. It sure took out the feeling of having a "burning" head and body after a whole day of snorkelling.

Finally back on solid ground, we took turns to have shower before heading to the restaurant to have a fantastic lazing and snacking bout. We ordered a chocolate banana pancake... while Lyne ordered her standard Milo + 1 glass of warm water, Siew Hooi ordered a fantastic mango smoothie, while I got myself a banana smoothie.

The smoothies were Sinfully delicious! They used real fruit to make those... there's no such thing as using carton packed juices here (like what our normal food outlets would do). We vowed that we will have to come for a smoothie again before we leave the island the next day.

Having finished our snack - we grabbed some magazines to read while hanging out on the beach... lazing on the deckchairs. Shortly after that, we heard a few ppl from the other group asking for someone (anyone in our trio) to fill in an empty spot for a game of "chor-tai-tee" on the porch of their chalet.

SH & Lyne didn't really know the game but I knew how to play it... so they shoo-ed me off to join our holiday friends for the game of cards. We played for quite a few rounds before going back to join the group hanging out at the beach while we all waited for our designated dinner time. That was when we couldn't resist ourselves from gossipping about the black sheep in our holiday group.

We talked about this notorious couple that was always last to get on the boat or join in for any meal... probably because they were oblivious about everything else while being in a world of their own. They don't even make it a point to apologize for each time they made us wait for them.

Everyone got so used to it that we roll our eyes whenever we notice the missing headcount... coz it's always the same 2 that are missing.

Then there were the episodes where the two couples in the group... where the guy willingly carries the girlfriend if she happens to complain that she is tired and doesn't want to continue to walk/swim. Oh gosh! Textbook helpless damsels in distress... we never thought we'd see a page of history coming to life.

Finally, it was dinner time. On our table... a big plate of fried mee hoon... while the main attraction was BBQ-ed squids, fishes, and succulent crabs. Yummy! Yummmmmmmyyyyy!!!

Halfway through dinner - the pompous guy (one-half of the couple who's always late) asked us if it was our first time at Perhentian and if we liked our chalet. SH told him that it was a first for Lyne and herself and yes we liked what we have paid for... and that this wasn't my first trip there as I've been to Redang before.

He then asked me if I liked Redang or Perhentian better... and when I said Perhentian... he continued to ask if I endured my stay in Redang because there were guys who were better looking than him in the group I was with. Not wanting to stroke his overgrown ego - I replied, "Hell yeah!". SH and Lyne couldn't be more proud of their "lil' sister" (that's what they playfully called me throughout the trip).

Later... as life would be on the island - we armed ourself with mosquitoe repellent before settling ourselves back onto the deckchairs along the beach. We chatted about a great many things and was later joined by Ah Huat from the other group. This dude apparently resembles one of our colleague's sons. Our guide also joined us for a while.

We later noticed lights flashing from the waters but it didn't quite register what was it about until we heard a shout from a boatman... he said "Please inform the owner of the place. We ran out of fuel!"

Not long after that... I think some kind of rescue mission happened. A small boat went out to pass some fuel to the stranded passing boat that was just drifting towards wherever the current was taking it to.

That was quite an eventful observation before we all decided to call it a night.

Day 3, 19-Apr'04: After breakfast, we all followed our guide for a bout of jungle trekking. Someone asked if it they should wear shoes before we started the hiking trip... and Andy replied, "Piece of cake. No shoes needed". But truth be told... never trust a native of the island... he's used to being barefoot. Pity the poor suckers who believed Andy and went barefoot.

Our first target was to get to the other side of the island. Lyne and I seem to be ahead of the group most of the time... to which someone trailing behind commented that the 2 of us must be experienced hikers. Hah... erm... yeah... maybe.

Soon as Lyne saw that we've probably reached "the other side" - she exclaimed that out loud. Andy who was a bit behind us quickly shouted back, "Wait, wait, wait!" before darting ahead of us. Lyne and I soon realized that he wanted the appearance that he was first to arrive at our destination... and started to laugh at Andy. He's one nutty chap (and a nice one too).

The other side had a really nice, long, wide and white sandy beach... with hammocks hung between coconut trees; and a roofed hut to shade us from the sun. We rested and rehydrated ourselves before taking another trail to go back to our chalet.

The trail back was a much easier one... except for the part where there was a drop that we had to take before crossing a small, passing stream. Two guys were overzealous and fell down but luckily they were not hurt bar a few scratches.

We soon reached a 5-star chalet resort and walked through it's compound. Up on one of the trees in that area was a family of white-faced black-furred monkeys. Real peaceful creatures who really wouldn't understand our fascination with them as we (this included some gwai-lows who are residents of that resort) stared and looked up at them.

This was an obviously more upmarket and more commercial stretch along Perhentian as we spotted some souvenir shops around the place. As the stretch of beach ended... we thought that all we had to do was to climb a few more steps across the hilly terrain and we'd back to our chalet.

Boy were we wrong!! The guide told us to go ahead and follow where the big black water pipe goes as he waited for stragglers in the group. (You guessed it... the infamous couple are missing again!)

So... we found ourselves were hiking along the jungle trail again (without a guide in front)... and starting to feel rather tired... SH and I cheerfully chanted out thoughts of ice cold 100 plus, delicious smoothies and a juicy burger to spur us home to the chalets.

15 minutes later... we were finally back at our chalets. Phew! Just in time for our check out too (noon). Luckily for SH, Lyne & myself... we could afford to rest and have a shower since we found out that there'd be no one who'd be checking into our unit. BLISSS!! However our neighbours weren't so lucky...

They had to move out soon as they reached back from the jungle trekking... so what they could do was move their stuff out and then they dropped by our place to take a shower... it was an alternative that better than nothing at all :)

After checking out - we ordered out lunch... Yup! We had our burgers... and SH had to have her mango smoothie again... while this time round, I tried the watermelon one. The taste of it reminded me of ais kacang. Ais kacang!!!

We had intended to leave on the 4pm boat ride out from Perhentian but the owner told us that 2pm would be a better time as the sea would be rough later in the evening. And so, we docked our bags and ourselves into the boat... put on our life jackets and said goodbye to Perhentian.

Back on land in Kuala Besut, we bought some keropok and arranged for a cab to Jerteh where we spent the entire afternoon until 10:30pm at night. We tried some of the local food there... the weirder the dish sounded or unfamiliar to us, the more likely we were to order it for our meal. One of it was "sup perut". It was good and no I didn't get diarrhoea the next day!

Before we went to wait for our bus, we managed to find a shop that operates much like a factory outlet store. Lyne and SH bought some shorts while I found a nice piece of sarong batik for my mum.

After that... we just waited for ages for our bus to come. It was late by about 30-45 mins. This time, our seats were wider and we dozed of soundly soon after since we've had a pretty tiring day. The only time we woke up was at the last rest stop that the buses made because we had to hop off the bus for a short while to warm up a little.

5:30am the next day, 20-Apr'04 - we were finally back at the point where we began our journey to the East Coast. The 3 of us decided to have an early breakfast of roti canai at the nearby mamak store. *yawn*

Then we headed for Lyne's car. It was part of the plan that we got someone to leave her car there the night before... so that Lyne can drop the other 2 of us home without having to bother others to wake up at an ungodly hour to pick us up.

Arriving home... I quickly unpacked what I could and made sure that I continue to stay awake since I had planned to dart into office to download my emails before everyone else got into office. After that was done, I had to drop my grandpa off to his office in town.

With that finally over and done with... it's time to hit the haystack and not wake up until whenever. ZZZzzz...

Well... I don't think it's much of a choice but more of an obligation that I had to make. I had to claim my half-day paid time off this afternoon. Dad feels strongly that we should follow my granduncle's funeral procession.

I didn't think that it would be too wise of an idea to let my dad drive today anyhow. He had, after all, just fell and hit his head over the weekend and earned himself 2 stitches on the head.

It was a crazy day for me... having to go into office by 7am for the 2nd day in a row... I know I'll be drained out at the end of today. But then again... going in to work at 7am also means that I can execute leaving for my 1/2 day off much earlier in the day.

When I arrived with my parents at my uncle's house for his father's funeral - he knew that he didn't have to find anyone else to babysit his 7-year old daughter cause she usually locates me easily like a homing missile.

The day was long and it was hot... but still we had to go through all the rituals. By the time we finally arrived home from whatever we had to do... I felt like a dead fish and lugged myself to bed. It was a long day indeed.

Today I'm observing Good Friday... courtesy of following the Singapore holiday calendar... wahahahaha!!!

Had managed to pop by the IRD with my colleague Cindy... just to confirm that we are not taxable yet... alritey!!!

...and best of all... being able to just hang out for a lengthy, chatty breakfast session without worrying that we had something to work on... coz we are on holiday on a Friday... JOY!!! JOY!!! JOY!!!

I'm so pissed that a certain group of people can be so brainless. Just because I'm not handling any accounts... it doesn't mean that I will forget the whole process and procedure... in fact... I have to know it and understand it all the time because it's part of what I do.

Sure... those idiots escalated the issue all the way to top management... except that they don't realize that they just threw a spanner into the clockwork. Now the system support model will be disrupted. It will be destabilized once more after finally finding and maintaining a solid ground for the past month.

Baka!! Baka!! Baka!! Whomsoever be the BPA(s) that brought this issue up should just try to be in my shoes... I don't want to find out the name(s) of the person who created and support the issue... coz I will not be able to stop myself from wanting to strangle them with my bare hands... grrrr!!!

It's a small world after all...

When you least think of it... something happens that reminds you that the world is not so big after all. For instance when I read about a recent murder of a discotheque manager, I went, "Hey! I know who he is!! That's the fag that coordinated a show for one of the grad balls that I had taken part in as an organizing committee member"

Then it seems to me that the world is even smaller than I think it is... when one of my ex-colleague and her sister talked about the murder and said that they knew this guy quite well... and that her sister cried when she heard the news coz they were friends. My ex-colleague, on the other hand, mentioned that she wasn't too fond of the guy.

But there was one thin that we all agree about. The way the late Nigel Samson talks can offend people. He's agressive and over-confident to the point that sometimes you just wanna give him a tight slap... yet we know he means well... he's good at what he does... and definitely the alpha-perfectionist. Even so... no one deserves a fate like his... such a terrible way to die...

This weekend was basically all about the Ching Ming festival... in other words... the Chinese version of All Souls' Day. Actually... we are doing this early by more or less a week since my dad will not be in Penang for the next 2 weeks.

And so... Saturday was the day that I was rustled up way early in the morning by my dad for our trip up to Balik Pulau to do some prayers at the grave of my great-grandparents.

Today... was more prayers at home... although... I did steal some time in between the usual proceedings to bake a Peach Cheesecake... ;)

Oh yeah! My favourite little cousin came visiting too... and gosh... I still got coaxed to do some impromptu drawings for her... and I've still not succeeded to come out with perfectly dry clothes on me after I give her a bath. *rolls eyes*

Later at night, Bowie came to have her share of the cheesecake with her beau. She also finally managed to see all the photos that I had wanted to share with her. According to her, I look alike a certain colleague of mine. Man... she's the 2nd person to tell me that

But I'm not so sure about it myself... somehow I just don't really think we look that alike... hmm... maybe I should just test the reaction of a few other ppl

Since the last time I wrote something here... I've watched The Missing, did my duty by going to vote in the 11th Malaysian Election, and have watched a pretty good race via the telly... namely our very own Malaysian Sepang F1 GP race

The movie? A pretty good vs. evil story... and it also emphasizes on the importance of family ties thread on some level. Also loved Cate Blanchett & Tommy Lee Jones in their roles.

The elections? I'd say it went pretty well... though my brother and I did notice that we were probably the only ones in the early 20-ies queuing up at our polling center to do the deed. Most of our friends popularly ask just this one question... "Hey! Where can I get registered?"

Like ... DUH-UH?!! All you have to do is walk into the Post Office... go up to the counter... tell them you wanna register for the electorate role... present your IC... and you are done in maybe... 5-10 mins (provided that the connection to the EC network is not down).

Basically, this just reflects the "tidak apa" attitude among most of the unregistered eligible voters in my age group. Where's your pride people?! Your single vote can logically sway the result of the poll - and thus leading to the selection of your state and parliament representatives by a simple majority.

The race? It was great compared to the race in Albert Park, Melbourne. It started with spots of rain at certain parts of the track... tricky business manoeuvring between the wet and dry areas. Plenty of interesting overtaking bouts by drivers in the top and mid-field... so it was not boring at all.

A job well done by the guys who made it to the podium... Michael Schumacher (who has skills and a superb car package), Juan Pablo Montoya (who kept his head and didn't over-push his car this time), and Jenson Button (who finally won a podium placing since he first stepped into F1 racing in year 2000)

F1 cometh once again...
The New F1 season has finally opened with the race on Sunday just passed. I can just say that the results has been nothing surprising so far. Same old faces for 1st-2nd... *yawn* but it was great to see Alonso making it to 3rd place. This guy is really someone to watch out for in the future after Michael Schumacher's days in F1.

Pity that Raikkonen had his engine blown out pretty early in the race... oh well... and it also seems the early 1st pitstop for Montoya didn't quite pan out to give him an advantage... pity... pity... seems Ferrari had one upped on everyone again with their superb car package.

Visitors at work...part 1
First - there is the furry kind. Found what looked like a small puddle of suspected mouse urine on my desk. Quickly armed myself with a bottle of glass cleaner; sprayed my whole desk after temporarily moving papers on my desk elsewhere; and wiped off the glass cleaner. No sign of furry visitor for the next few days...

(In Gollum-speak) "Good... gooood... they must hatessss the smellsss of the glass cleaner... yesssss... yessss... they hatesss it"

Visitors at work...part 2
The entire BPE team stationed in Asia was onsite in Penang for the whole week. Finally get to see them face to face. All in all... it was 3 from Singapore and 3 from Japan... the other 2 are actually stationed in Penang. They are really nice... but I'm not so sure about the one who didn't really seem to be in the mood to mix around. Hmm... nevermind our miss high-and-mighty. The others were pretty great company and we got to know them a little better too.

I also found out that not only is my yahoo-ing buddy, Thanadet, a humorous character (ok... whoever worked with him knew this)... he is an absolute riot simply because he is much like a kid at times (my new discovery)... he also seems to have an odd fascination about my braces... coz when he sees me... he looks at me all weird and especially when I talk... he's trying to spot the placement of the braces... (p/s: I think I'm gonna get that same treatment from kalamari when I meet him sometime in the near future o.O)