"What chemicals do they sell?"

One day at work (a telephone conversation conveyed by one of the managers):

"My Chemical Romance will be coming up to the bar later"
"OK, where is this company from? What chemicals do they sell?"


Later on...

"You haven't heard of them?" asked Yvonne.
"No, what songs do they sing?" asked another.
"Erm, Helena... Black Parade..." said Yvonne knowing only these two songs.
"Oh, the video with the funeral thing... scary" offered another who probably have Astro and MTV at home.
"How come you guys haven't heard of them?" asked Yvonne trying to sound a bit more updated than the rest.
"Don't know. Beyond I know la," said another.


For the record, I do know who My Chemical Romance is. I have their song "Helena" in my laptop! "Black Parade" is somewhere.. I couldn't find it... somewhere. Anyways, I know a grand total of 2 songs by MCR. And I do think that these two songs are pretty good. You do find yourself humming to it sometimes. Well, I do.


I have always thought they were a bit goth and emo and stuff. But thanks to Wikipedia (which I have just utilized 3 minutes ago), I now know that they deny being emo. They are rock or violent and dangerous pop. Wow, the whole music genre vocab is growing everyday.


Anyways, I'm excited to go to their concert tonight. Believe it or not, this is my first concert. I'm just really worried about "fitting in". Who are their fans? What do they talk about? What do they wear?

I have decided to wear something blackish because
a) I'll probably blend in better... somehow something tells me that everyone will wear black
b) I suppose when there are a lot of people, all the pushing and shoving will probably result in dirt on light coloured clothes
c) it is monsoon season and it will definitely rain and the ground will get muddy and slushy and splashy and think about the laundry later on
d) so it will rain and we will get wet and wearing white is just a bit rude isn't it?


I think I'm giving this whole concert thing too much thought.

mushrooms were growing on my laptop

Well, almost. I could imagine mushrooms growing on my laptop since it has been ignored for such a long time. I almost felt sorry for it. I even used a hanky with printed sakura flowers from Japan to cover it... just to compensate for the loneliness and of course to protect it from dust. Those nasty tiny things - they are everywhere!

So the problem here is, I've been very busy. There is so much going on! So much to do! So many more pending! Yikes. Things just feel so hectic and especially now that it is the end of the year and the holiday mood seeps in. It is really difficult to feel horrible during such a wonderful time. So really, it is not horrible but just, well, you know - "Hurry up and get over it and let's head to the beach!". Haha. That is if my plans with my sis Susan actually materialize. What with the monsoon rains and stuff. I silently also think that spending the days shopping isn't that bad either. Oh well.

-An update to my work place-
My doggie pretending to have a sun tan. Christmas bell not too far away for any moments of impulsive Christmas cheer. Green tea in the cup to help with detox plans. Water - always essential. Photo with memories of my more relaxed training days. JuiceWorks menu for emergency juice-cravings. Let's not forget the needy and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

Of course the teddy bear and the stress balls and the back massager are still there. But I guess since it is already messy, what harm does a few more things make?




I decided to go back home last Friday by bus and I got to the station in the very last minute to catch the 6.30 bus home. I got the worst seat ever. I was in the back row and got the seat which was facing the aisle. I mean, if the bus driver had decided to slam the brakes, I would have flown very ungracefully to the front and crash right into the windscreen. Not unlike those bugs and bees in Bee Movie. Oh right, Bee Movie was funny! I watched it with my second sis back home.
However, I had unlimited leg space.


Anyways, to add on some Christmas cheers around, my hotel played host to some kiddies from ISKL. They were so adorable and they kept on moving and touching things and pressing buttons and fighting for a chance to speak and be smart. It was hilarious to watch them... from a distance. I mean, I don't think it is safe to have me around kids. I don't really know how to handle them. Anyways, I immediately found a favourite who was so adorable, handsome even, and offered him my hand to hold. He held it but only for a few minutes before he ran off to press more buttons. I tell you, kids have the attention span of about 30 seconds.


All my photos were blur because they just can't stop moving! They can amuse themselves by just waving their heads around. Wow. I wish I could too. I normally just get headaches. Anyways, my leng chai is the one in the second row on the left, behind the totally blurred one.

We brought them to see the rooms and see how the beds were made. They paid attention for about 30 seconds, which was about enough to see the mattress pad laid, and then they got edgy and restless. The Housekeeping team has hidden lollipops around the room to get them excited and it worked. They were so excited. I tell you, my favourite boy found his in the corner of the bathtub totally hidden from sight. Even I didn't see it. How smart, huh? Clearly, I'm biased.

This was one of the funniest activities. We gave them each a pillow case as "dirty linen" and they were to throw them down the laundry chute. They all got so excited and after they threw their cases in, each shouted "hello!" down the chute. So adorable. It seems they have learned the letter "L" last week but they did not include Laundry into their syllabus. "What a shame," says their teacher. This week was "M". When they saw the toilets labelled "F" and "M", they were confused. It seems they did not include Female and Male when they learned the letter "F" and "M". Well, next week will be the letter "N" and there have been plans with some of the moms to do some revision on "L" to include Laundry and "M" to include Male.


It is amazing how these things become the centre of conversation sometimes.


I suddenly can understand what my sis Susan is talking about when she talks about her students.

And then the kiddies got excited when we talked about food. They got so excited watching one of the chef cook fried rice and the fire was so huge that their attention lasted for more than 2 whole minutes. Wow.


Who needs hotdogs and fries when you can have Yang Chow fried rice? Which was a favourite because later when they were eating lunch at the coffeehouse, they asked "where is the fried rice?"

One of the funniest things heard during the visit... (took place at the Sky Bar)

"What they serve here is what only adults can drink but you kids cannot drink. Who can tell me what is it?"
"Cold water!" (Clearly, some elements of Asian culture is found in this little boy"
"That's right, that's right. But something else."
*scratch head*
"It is alcohol."
*No response*
"You know, beer, wine and so on"

"OOh! Ooh! Do you know what my brother does? He drinks beer."
*awkward silence*
"Well, we're going to have to talk to your mom about that don't we?"


It was an exciting day but it is really tiring. So many kids, so many questions. Their teachers must have so much patience. Anyway, later that night I went to The Actor's Studio in Bangsar with ShiowLing to watch this theatre show called D'arranged Marriage which was an appreciation invitation from the employee benefits company. We were so tired that we told each other, "The show better be good."



Well, we expected food because it started off with a cocktail reception but unfortunately, it was just cocktail... and a few tiny pieces of samosa and canapes and the waiters were those blink-and-you'll-miss kind. "We really should have gone for Chilli Pan Mee (some noodle) first". "The show have better be good".

So there were lotsa people who don't know each other standing around holding a drink and looking for food. We eventually made conversation with the reps from a medical centre from Puchong. This is of course after we parked ourselves beside a bowl of potato chips (which I suspect to be Jack n Jill Potato Chips in Original flavour). It was still very kind of ING to have organized this.

Anyways, the show was really good! It was a solo stand up comedy but with more action because the actor danced and sang throughout. It was the kind of show that I would feel happy to watch even if I had to pay for the tickets. The story is about how arranged marriages are a norm in the indian culture and it sort of depicts the actor's life since he was 10.

He is one person but he managed to play the role of, what, ten? And the lighting and sound effects were almost flawless eventhough it was just a small studio with very basic set-up. And he replaced his "f" with "p" just to add that extra bit of funnies.

"Your pather and I have pound the perpect wipe for you!"

"You know what you need? You need a wipe!"

He just did everything on his own for one and a half hour and it was entertaining throughout. Totally recommended.


And then of course there is the PIKOM PC Fair happening at KLCC for the weekend. I went there yesterday and got some stuff and also a few freebies which I ripped off the guy who sold my friend a camera. Well, the whole place was packed and the LRT coaches were packed as well. Today was worse. The whole KLCC was full of people walking at the speed of snails. Suria was full as well, with the festive season and the promotions and sales. And then before I knew it, I bought some tees and 2 pairs of shoes. Oh-oh. I think I need someone to cane me. I need to be barred from Vincci.

Finally, the day is over and I can enjoy my one half weekend. *breathes* *breathes again*



What's next?

HoHoHo... I love my job... :)

matrimony bliss

"Congratulations Kent and Murni!"

Love is in the air! Last Sunday, we attended Murni's wedding all the way in Seremban. Shiow Ling decided to drive to the hotel called Royal Adelphi because we decided that 4 pax could squeeze in the back.

Anyways, hunger pangs had to be satisfied first especially when we have 3 growing teens around us... The non teens were basically looking for an excuse.




The hotel looked really huge and still quite pretty even though it was more than 7 years old. The reception area was decked with cocktail tables and on each table, we find photos of Murni and her husband, Kent. This one is one of our faves:



We took turns to take photo with the stars of the day and this is one with all of us. Burn came to join us from Malacca too.Murni was glowing!


And then after the Yum Seng toasts, we "asked" Joyce and Philip (who has a loud voice) to go up and sing. You know, get the ball rolling... Apparently their best pose:

They sang Jolin and DT (I think it is DT)'s song called Jing Tian Ni Yao Jia Gei Wo (I think). Anyways, great performance! *clap clap clap* Right after their ice-breaking, ground breaking performance, everyone started queuing up for their karaoke session. It didn't stop even until when we decided it was very late and was time to leave. My classmates Amirah and Ivan were still waiting in vain for their turn.


Of course, we did a bit of cam whoring before we left. One of the classic ones:


Anyways, I must say, all of Murni and Kent's wedding photos were absolutely beautiful. They had slide shows on projectors in the restaurant itself and all the photos got better and better each time it changed.

To Murni and Kent,

Congratulations and may you two have an everlasting and blissful marriage!

my first blood donation

Hari ini dalam sejarah(peribadi) : On the 15th of November 2007, Yvonne donated her blood for the first time.

The day before the blood drive, I thought of all the excuses possible for me to not be able to donate blood. According to the guideline, one cannot donate blood if:

-one weighs less than 45 kg
-one has had less than 5 hours sleep the night before
-one is homosexual
-one has multiple sexual partners
-one has HIV+/ AIDS

OK. I think I can only admit to #1 and #2. Anyways, seeing the determination and willingness in my boss and colleague, Bin, I decided to just go for it. So I slept early the night before.

*Silently hoping that I would turn out to be 45kg or less tomorrow . -_-.

-Bin reading the fine prints-

Anyways, so Bin and I went first. It is also the first time for him and he seems to be more nervous than me. Me? I was still hoping that I would be 45kg or less. Anyways, he came up with excuses like, "I feel a bit weak. How come ah? I think I feel a headache". "Please lah!"

-My blood was tested-

Whatever. When the time came, we both filled in the forms and went for the tests first. It turned out that my blood type was B! Cool. So now I know. I was so excited watching them test my blood. The nurse politely smiled and explained but I think she thinks I have been living in the jungle for the past 22 years of my life.

Anyways, first test was the weight. I was 46kg! Shit.

Second test was the amount of iron in my blood. They will take a drop of blood and drop it into some solution and if that drop of blood sinks, it means that I have enough iron to donate. I passed this too! Shit.

Next, it was to proceed to the doctor to test my blood pressure. The doctor said, "Wow. So you actually passed the first stage. Let's see if your blood pressure pass too."

I asked her, "What normally happens when people like me donate?"

It seems people like me normally experience dizziness, feel weak or just plain faint. And probably cry during the donation because of fear. -_-.

-Trying to keep cool when the doctor said that my blood pressure passed too-

Huh! This was my last hope as an excuse to escape this scary experience. OK. I think I should just shut up and go ahead. I asked the doctor, "Are you sure?" before deciding that I should really just shut up and go ahead.

For the record, I wasn't forced into this. I wanted to do it for the experience but of course the little voice in my head went "siao ah?!"

Anyways, so there I was. Very excited. Bin was also excited but scared. So there goes. They made sure my name was correct and asked me to hold some cheap plastic cut off pipe. I thought I was going to get a red squishy rubber ball! OK. Maybe low on budget. Anyways, my veins were very easy to find so it proceeded without incident. You could locate my veins without even slapping my arm like how they slapped Bin's arm.

I was laughing all the way and instructing Jon, my trainee who was afraid of blood, to take photos for me to blog with.

"Jon, I want side view, ya! Can see the packet of blood not?"

Anyways, halfway through, Bin's blood stopped moving and so the nurses poked him again. It was very unfortunate for him because he ended up with some blue-blacks. Anyways, I kept on laughing at him and at the whole experince and that probably made my blood flow out faster and also fortunately made me forget that this was scary. The doctor even came over to look see. "Wah, you're still OK! Haven't fainted?"

Finally after about less than 15 minutes, 350ml of blood was out of my system.

"Whoa."

I thought 350ml would be like a can of coke. This was like crazy big packet. Like blood from my whole arm was inside. Surprisingly I did not feel weak or dizzy or faint or cry.

I was making so much noise calling Jon to come over and take photo of me with my packet of blood. The nurse kept if aside and when Jon came, he passed the blood to him. Jon was like, "wtf!" (No he didn't say it but I think he thought like that)

Then they said they have prepared some food for me. A cup of hot Milo, a packet of chocolate biscuits, a Red Bean bun and a packet of Yeo's soya milk. I thought I had to finish everything so I did. I forced everything down even though I didn't like Red Bean buns. I had Nasi Lemak for breakfast wei. I later found out that I could actually choose which one I wanted to eat. Oh.

Anyways, they also gave me a little red book to keep track of everytime I donate blood. I thought "Wah. They have so much confidence in me?" because the book has space up till # 112. Haha. Erm, I don't think I can fill it up in this lifetime.

The more you donate, the more benefits you will get when you visit the hospitals. You get upgraded to better wards and you get free outpatient treatments. Some could get free Hepatitis B jabs and so on. Wow.

Donate today and think about the lives you will save! It is not painful and it doesn't leave any scars. Cool stuff.

I told my dad excitedly through SMS that I donated my blood.

He replied, "I have been donating for years."

Show off!

No Internet

I have no internet in my room, I have no internet in my room, I have no internet in my room. It sort of explains why I have not been blogging. Because blogging from a cafe or restaurant just feel so weird. Like how I'm feeling right now. With another patron vying for the plug point and people peeking behind you.

I shall update soon with pictures and stuff. I have so much to tell! I will get my internet soon! As soon as I have the time to apply for it... Just you wait.

Till then, tata!

decisions

I just came back from my hometown, Kluang. It was nice to spend time with mom, dad and my sis eventhough it was just for 2 days. Or was it one day plus? Anyways, my mom kept on commenting on how much weight I have lost and kept on telling me to eat this and that and eat more fruits and drink more water and sleep early and so on and finally she asked me to keep my hair long. I was, like, "Huh? Why?"


I like short hair now! So fuss free! I don't really know why but she very much preferred me with long hair. Now, I have scheduled to have my hair trimmed this Wednesday. Should I or shouldn't I?
Hmmm...

people come and go...

People come and go all the time. It can be difficult to say goodbye sometimes but then it is all part and parcel of friendships. Today was Burn's last day in the hotel. He has finished his training and we will not see him anymore. He has been my "new bestfriend" for a few months now and has been fixing all my pc probs and pc questions. Now, who am I suppose to turn to when my computer goes crazy?! As hard as it can be, we have to let go and say goodbye. With heavy hearts, we decided to be happy for him that he is going back to college life (plus some envy too).


Well, we decided to go have a nice dinner together-gether. Before we did that, we did some cam-whoring which is something we shamelessly do all the time.

First shot: we decided to take a photo on our office's new sofa
Seated on the right is Ming Hai, our new toy boy.. erm, one of our new interns. :p

And then we decided to use flash and I accidentally snapped while setting the timer... how much more candid can they get?

Then we did a "proper" one. Everyone was supposed to be "proper". We said, "serious one". Then Ming Hai (who hasn't blend in yet) thought it was to be unsmiling and unfriendly.


Then we took another "proper" one because the previous one had this white patch at the bottom of the picture due to the reflection of the flash on the table (which I have already cropped away). So we promptly took a stack of Punch Cards and used it as a stand to avoid the flash. We didn't tell Ming Hai to smile yet and he continued to be... well, serious.

We then wanted to be "funny". Again, accidentally took the photo while setting the timer. I prefer these accidental photos more. :D


Murni was doing a full body thingie. Shiow Ling was probably doing the Ultraman. Burn was doing an insecure baby boy thing. I was.. erm... running towards the sofa. Ming Hai was very obviously trying to be 5566.

Bye-bye, Burn. Hello, Ming Hai.

sms

Have you ever sent an SMS to a person and then think for a few seconds and then open up the message that you have sent to check if the words came out right? I have a habit of doing that sometimes especially when I feel like I have not been really paying attention to what I was writing.

I learned how to do this from the first time I got a mobile phone which was in Form 4 or 5. I got a Nokia 3310 which is legendarily hardy and extremely user-friendly. All you need were the 'Cancel', 'Left', 'Right' and a central main button to work all its functions. I could type my message while watching TV and at the same time think about something not related to what I was watching. I could even be replying a message halfway through my sleep and then not remember about it. Sometimes people call me when I'm asleep and I would reply like I was really thinking but then I won't remember what I said when I wake up the next morning. Therefore, sometimes I too wish our conversations on the phone could be recorded each time so that I could listen to it again to see if I said anything... I was not supposed to say. It's like how I read my sent messages.

I don't just read it from where I have written the message under "Write New" after I send it. I close it and then go to "Sent" and read it as how the receiver will get to read. Why do I do that? Hmm. Beats me. But I do have a habit of replying messages while multitasking and sometimes the message might not sound or feel like how I meant it to be.

For example, if I wanted to say that I can't go out for dinner or something, I might have typed (while snacking and answering calls or writing my 'to do' list):

"Sorry, can't go out tonight. See ya some other time!"

But if I were to be really focusing on the message, it might have been typed as(maybe while only snacking):

"Sorry, I don't think I can make it tonight. Hope to see you some other time though. You have fun! :)"



And if we are not pre-occupied, we might be pressed for time. I've been replying messages when I'm busy too but I always try to type it as I feel it. One of the worst example was

"K" (in case you were wondering, it means OK)

Of course I don't do this. This is way too... erm... disconnected.

Erm, how hard is it to type an 'O'? Or and an exclamation mark?

Anyways, I normally type OK as:

"Okie dokie!"

Sometimes it would be:

"Okie dokie! :)"

Sometimes if I am feeling really happy, it would be:

"Okie dokie darling! :)!"

If I were to type to my boss, it would be:

"Certainly! :)"

When I'm not too keen:

"OK!"


There are also times when I have received messages which have had too much attention from the sender and all those flowery words and more-than-one SMS just to say one thing. For example:


"OK, no problem, I'll surely get it done for you because you have been so nice to me. Think nothing of it. What goes around comes around. Maybe one day you can get to help me too..."

OK, maybe it is not just saying ONE thing but seriously, get on with it. I'll prefer:

"OK, no problem. Anything for you.:)"

Wah. Now that's a message which will actually influence me to help the sender when there is a need for it. It will actually encourage me to reply too.

You'll definitely know that I'm not interested in replying a message when I don't even bother to use a fullstop. For example:

"Yeah ok see you soon whatever"

Erm, minus the whatever. Hehe. I'm not that rude.


I don't really use those SMS short forms(what do we call it?). Basically, the SMS short forms are ways to save time. For me, if I were to actually think about all the short forms, I'm actually making an extra effort and am concentrating. For example:

"c u l8er. w8 4 me @ d Ntrance. ttyl."


I will have to also say it out loud to see if it makes sense. Effort, I'll say.


There are also times when I feel the need to use more words, especially when I am asking for help. Haha. I once sent a message like this:

"Base on our friendship of 2 months plus, I need to ask for a favour. Do you think you can assist me with something which I think will probably be peanuts to you since you are an expert in what you do?"

Or something like that. Can't really remember. But I got a positive reply. Cool! So I didn't just waste my time typing. Luckily I use T9.


Wah, so much to say about such an ordinary thing. I do prefer calls but of course SMS is still the most cost-effective and still gets the message across. That is if we actually pay attention while we SMS. I once sent a message complaining about this girl A to girl A. Because I was doing other stuff and since her name was somewhere there in my head, I naturally selected her name and pressed "Send". Dangerous, I tell you. Don't ever do that. Nuh-uh. Oh yeah, that's also one of the problem with Nokia 3310. It is too easy to send a message that I didn't even have enough time to realize what I was doing and stop it in time. My current Sony Ericsson is alright. Not too easy but not tough either. Maybe I should switch to Samsung. My dad's Samsung is such a mystery. But phones being so high-tech nowadays, I guess we really do need to know what we are pressing or clicking to get the functions working, so yeah, should be quite safe. And yeah, I want a new phone. :(

raya mood

Today I joined Hajar in her quest to buy 'baju raya' in One Utama. Although I have just had a rather long shopping trip to Midvalley the day before, I figured that a woman can never shop too much. I told myself that I won't buy anything. Well, we set off very early at about 10.40am to sort of be the first to get to the goodies. Haha! Talk about being kiasu. Anyways, I was feeling really hungry and so Hajar recommended we try Carl's Jr. burgers. I first heard of Carl's Jr. when they had a rather raunchy advertisement starring Paris Hilton in some swimming suit doing a car wash and eating their burger. And it was well-received when its first outlet in Singapore was launched (or so I read in 8days magazine). Well, one thing's for sure - they have achived publicity.

Anyways, OK. Let's have a freaking big burger for brunch!

How big is big?! Their promo cards are as below:

Definitely.

As we were waiting for the burger to arrive, we exchanged stories about work. It is interesting that finally there is someone who knows what I'm talking about because Hajar is in Human Resources too. :) The burgers arrived promptly and the fries were hot from the stove and so I was really satisfied.

Me and my Western Bacon Something Something burger.

Hajar with her 'SuperStar with Cheese'

As you can see, it is about 3/4 of the size of our faces. I guess they have kept to their promo promise. I actually finished mine! Plus some fries! Can't believe? Ask Hajar. OMG, I can eat. It has been proven.

After the meal, we went walking around and around looking for shoes, clothes, etc etc. There were sales everywhere! Except for items that we want, of course. Not as many people as I have expected; with the occasional kid running into your knees. Or popping balloons. Or spilling ice-cream. Adorable but that's a safety hazard! I mean the ice-cream on the floor, not the kid. But nonetheless, it was quite hectic.

We watched Resident Evil too. A movie I had no intentions whatsoever to watch. I didn't even have the intention to know what it was about. I thought it was some show about aliens. Then Hajar told me it was a horror movie. OK. So I sat through the whole movie prepared to feel horrified. Well, those 'undeads' are absolutely horrible and so irritating! You kill and you kill and they keep on coming. Not too bad but would have prefered something like Lust, Caution instead. I think I should watch this movie! So much hype going on about it! Hmm.

Anyways, we continued our search for Hajar's dream dress. Just as things were getting a little too tiring, we saw these people crowd around these yellow people. The DiGi yellow man!! I have always wanted to take a photo with them! SO cute! There were two of them and one was skinny while the other was more 'well-rounded'. I refused to take a photo with the skinny one and had to wait till those kids leave the other one before I could take a photo. Obviously, the round-er one is more popular. It was a bit 'malufying' (embarassing) to be chasing kids away so I asked Hajar to go first. Haha! The yellow man actually already have a fixed pose and fixed smile. I also realize that the yellow men had 4 fingers only! hehe. (I was figuring out why he didn't do the 'V' or peace sign)

Oops, caught me there. Yes, I did buy some things.

By the way, I'm a Maxis user! Oh-oh... Are they going to lose me as their customer now? Because DiGi has a cute mascot? We'll wait and see.

I'm still pretty much depending on my parents for money for this month and so I called my dad to inform him that I have been shopping yesterday and today... with the card. Told him not to be surprised with the amount and stuff.

I thought my dad would sort of give me a long lecture about life and how hard money is earned and stuff and saving for the future. I was prepared. But he said:

"It's OK. I was telling your mom, whatever you spend, as long as you are the one paying for it, go ahead."

Part of me said : Sure, dad. Cool! See ya this weekend!
Another part of me said : Huh... Must pay back... *whine*

Then a tiny part of me said : Of course la, 22 years old already wei.

I also mentioned : "Cut from my allowance la"

But that comment was somehow ignored or my dad didn't hear it and the subject was changed. Hmm. Hmmmmm.... Eeek!

its a cycle!

So another week has passed. I spent the whole week in orientation and training on our hotel's culture. How about my work then? Oh, not to worry because we got new trainees! Three of our sweet juniors from Taylor's decided to gain some experience in HR and what better time than now (when we are so busy).


I texted Murni a few days before she came back to work.

Me: Murni, u coming in on Monday? I've got training for whole week.
Murni: Yes, did u miss me?
Me: Of course! And I need your help to follow up on some stuffs.
Murni: Haha! OK dek...
Me: Oh ya, one more thing. Jon will join and be your toy boy for the whole month, don't worry!
Murni: Haha! You are naughty girl la.

(Don't tell Jon about this.)


Anyways, the supposed toy boy got snitched by the Front Office department and was replaced by other juniors by the name of Joyce, Fahad and Ming Hai. Only one week and they are already making us laugh. Very efficient and what I especially like is they are not introverts. They ask even more than us when we were training. They complain without blinking and they criticise well too. All funny in their own way.

And what Murni loved best was that Joyce and Ming Hai could speak Hokkien so the three of them plus Bin truly felt at home when they chit-chat. I wish I could too. It is like a mini club where you secretly swear at people without people knowing. Haha! Though this is not what it is, it sounded like it.

Joyce is a very cute petite girl who is professionally trained to sing in a famous school somewhere in Singapore. She studied in Aussie too. This is her second degree. We are just waiting for the next trip to Red Box for some big time serious karaoke!

Ming Hai is basically very driven by basic instincts such as hunger and fatigue. And probably something more. In these types of situation, when you hear him talk(maybe swear) in Hokkien, I bet you will laugh even without knowing what it means.

Fahad, is the most cool and calm person of them three. He is also doing second degree (did computer science and decided to switch) but keeps quiet most of the time. Most of the time he doesn't understand what we are talking about because sometimes, we Malaysians don't use proper English. For example:

Ming Hai: You want to go back at 5.30 sharp? You 'wait long long' la.
Fahad: What do you mean 'wait long long'?

(direct translation of a chinese term meaning to wait forever in, you guessed it, Hokkien)

And then we will proceed to explain, each giving our own interpretation, confusing him further. Shiow Ling too shared a story... (She called using another person's phone)

SL: Fahad! Shiow Ling here.
Fahad: Sorry, Shiow Ling is not at her desk. Would you like to leave a message?
SL: No! Shiow Ling here!
Fahad: But she just stepped out.
SL: No! Fahad! This is Shiow Ling speaking!
Fahad: Oh. Shiow Ling?

Maybe we talk too fast. Anyways, he is Muslim and he is fasting this month and poor thing, to fast in a place where people munch all day long.

Me: Hey! Who's Smarties? I eat ya! (Already eating actually)
Presee: I don't know but give me some. (Already pouring some for her actually)
Ming Hai: Fahad sitting beside you la. He is fasting you know. You are so bad.
Me: Hey, he has got will power also, OK. If he can resist this temptation, he gets more blessings. Isn't it?
Fahad: Haha, yes.
Ming Hai: But you get more sins.

-_-


And they blend in really well with our mini "trainee culture". The one where Murni, Ardhan, Philip and I had. The one where we sort of think that "informal relationships" helps sometimes. Like how we will send a guy to ask a girl something or a girl to go ask a guy something.

Ming Hai: Hey I got these few promotional cards from SkyBar.
Murni: Wah... so many. Yvonne last time you went to get info, did you get these cards?
Me: No.... :( they only verbally gave me the info. I had to jot down somemore.
Murni: Wah... who did you ask ah? Did you open button?
Yvonne: Ya lo. Maybe I should wear more frills here around the chest here.
Murni: Ya. Must be orange-orange and with tight sweater. See, so tight. tsk tsk tsk.
Yvonne: tsk tsk tsk.

And then Ming Hai proceeded to explain for the umpteenth time why he chose to wear a bright orange shirt with tiny frill detail at the chest and a tight black sweater over it. Apparently, the shirt (from British India) was too orange and he didn't feel comfy so he used the sweater to tune it down. Erm, OK.


I'm so looking forward to go back to work on Monday because of them. :)

quick one

Dear friends,


We were featured!

at partyout.com

We were at Laundry on a Saturday. Don't really know why they call it Urban Politics. Anyways, I thought I could get a clear picture of everyone together (they came with big cameras and big flashes)...

but that's about as big as the pic gets...

Another one with more people...
"one more! one more!"

Dhany, Ivan, Ardhan and Tonny must be so proud they were not shy that night...
"majalah, majalah!"
(I'm thinking it is linked to this magazine called Juice)

It was a really nice night out and I shall remember all of you! :)


OK, back to work. hehe...

new home!

I can't tell you how heavenly my bed felt yesterday night. Oh, it has been one long, long day. Slept at 3 am packing my things, woke up at 6 am to go to work, rushed home from work at 2pm, started moving my stuff at 3pm, finished at 5pm, makan with Philip until 6pm, went to Cold Storage and came back around 6.30pm, clean up until 9pm... then it was bed time. Ardhan called half drunk at 11pm and was surprised that I was sleeping. I have no idea what I said to him. OMG, I think I strained my right arm too. :(


But on the bright side, I have moved! Cool stuff. I like my new place. Very the cool and very the nice. This room is going to be a temporary room because I will be moving to another one in November. (OMG, have to move again!) Sounds crazy but it is a very long story. I'm just happy that I don't have to take the KTM anymore... Hallelujah!


Yesterday, Uncle James(who has a Toyota Unser and trolley) and Philip who came to help me move got quite a bit of a shock when they saw the amount of things I had. I sort of filled up the whole Unser to the brim. Philip wasn't too amused. Uncle James was quite positive and kept on saying, "OK lah, not too many things lah. Girls always buy more things but OK lah, not too bad" when in fact, his first reaction was , "*gasp!*, so many things ah!?"


Anyways, God bless Uncle James and Philip. Right now I'm typing this in my new living room, feeling a bit lost. I mean, erm, how do I boil some water around here? There is no one at home and I'll only see a few of my housemates on Tuesday. They really trust me so much. I've only met one so far and he was the nice one who passed me the keys and access card and he too commented on my stuff. hmm. So until Tuesday, I'll have to sort of eat ready-to-eat stuff but that is alright because there is a really nice restaurant downstairs which is not too expensive too. Cool. I told you I like my new place. :)


Oh right, I'll have to rely on this restaurant for WiFi when I move to the next room because it doesn't have internet! Sigh. There goes my msn, my facebook, my friendster, there goes my blogging, there goes my online newspaper, there goes my google, there goes the whole meaning of my laptop, there goes my songs download. There goes my life... sobs. There goes the whole point of moving to a place near LRT so I can have more free time. You'll probably see less of me later on but do remember, I still have a mobile phone. *nod*

The end of one signifies the beginning of another

And so there goes my college life. Yesterday was officially the last day of college life as my classmates and I got our results and went through the results ceremony. There were a lot of last goodbyes and so on because many of our friends are going back to their home country and many more are looking to start their career in Singapore and Macau. It was a joyous event but also a sad one because, well, it is kind of sad to leave our carefree student life and into the cold working world and also to not be able to see everyone again and hang out like before. Of course there is Friendster and Facebook and Myspace but... you know.. it is not the same. When will we meet again? Where will we end up? We all have a new beginning now. A new chapter in our lives. So many uncertainties. So many questions still unanswered. So many decisions to make.


Everyone seemed somewhat a little more matured after 4 months of trial working life in the internship. I would love to meet everyone again in 10 years and see how different and varied we all will become. In order to maximize the time spent with my friends, I went for Karaoke at Neway for the whole afternoon and then to Laundry Bar at night.

-Summarized!-

I have uploaded the pictures to all my uploadable accounts and so this is a summarized version. Why am I so free? Because this will be the last Sunday I spend as a licensed-to-be-clueless student. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be a working adult. No more wasting time. No more chilling to the max. No more um.. and er.. Its going to be "Certainly". Sound scary. Will I make it? We'll just have to wait and see.


Right now the big question is, will I find a roommate?


Haha. That was a joke. But seriously, I need to get a roommate soon. Soon. A good one at that.


The weather has been very unfriendly lately. It has been so warm that I could feel my skin a little like being oven-cooked. Slowly I'm turning into something like roast meat. Air conditioning? What air conditioning? One of the few reasons I can't wait to start work tomorrow is the air conditioning. Ah... breezy bliss... Better remember to bring my moisturiser. :)


Anyways, I was just looking around my room today. What I have previously described as a little tiny room actually housed so many of my things and as my cousin Jennifer who visited last week pointed out, it is actually quite big and comfortable for one person. I'm going to miss this room and this personal space. I wonder what my future room will look like. I haven't gone there to take a look eventhough I plan to move in next weekend. Just hope it will be good. See? Uncertainties again.


I just hope everything will be cleared and certain by the end of next week. Will update again then. In the meantime, to the few of you who read this, please pray and hope with me too... :)

"Fix You"

I think I have been spending too much time on my laptop for the past few days that I started doing things I don't normally do such as searching for forums and blogs and what little bits and pieces of news or articles on almost everything. Even property forums! Not that I understood much of what they were saying but I guess I sort of know a little bit on property investment now and which areas are good to buy property now. They even have rankings on the areas which have the most potential for profit. Ooh. I was browsing and browsing somemore when I suddenly realised that I did not turn on my WMP at all for all those hours spent at the pc!

So I created a new playlist from all those forgotten songs like the Andrea Bocelli's, Diana Krall's and so on. Easy listening was the order of the day. Not so much of the Black Eyed Peas and stuff. I have also started to like Imogen Heap's songs very much. Burn introduced some songs and then I found out that the other song which David sent me some time ago, Let Go by Frou Frou was actually Imogen Heap herself. Ooh. No wonder they sort of sound similar. Anyways, I was getting sort of melodramatic and then there was Coldplay. Coldplay's Fix You suddenly made me wanna cry. I dunno why. I decided to check out what people thought about the meaning of the song. (I told you I spend too much time on the laptop lately). Anyways, apparently Chris Martin wrote it when Gwyneth's father passed away and she was so upset and was crying and all. How sweet. I got goosebumps just imagining the kind emotions that was going on.


Some dude also thought that the song was written for broken toasters.
"When you lose something you can't replace..."


I just think the song is reassuring and even sort of like comforting. Someone will always be there for you. Probably try to fix your problem. Or just be there for you. I'm thinking Someone upstairs too.

"Fix You"

When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I...

Tears stream down on your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I...

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

bye bye shoes...

In view of my soon-to-be migration to PJ, I have given away 3 pairs of shoes. The blue one and the polka dots ones that I think is too late to wear anymore because, seriously, I'm 22 and working. That means less 3 shoe boxes to move. Phew. Still have 20 more... hmm... And lots and lots of books and notes and clothes. And lots of pillows and plushies. And my faithful mattress. omg.


I really shouldn't have collected so many things. And looking for a room. omg. Today was the first time in months that I have a headache. As in real full-on headache. Like migraine headache. I couldn't even bear to look at my fan because the spinning makes me "fly". No, I did not just take some weird unprescribed drug, in case you were wondering. Just Vitamin C to prevent myself from falling sick which is a big NO NO because my oral defence is this Friday and all my four months of internship counts on this one hour show to get my marks. *big sigh* (losing 3 days of my life in the process)*


I sat at my desk for a while and kept on trying to concentrate on my slides while thinking about the room and the moving and my future place's surroundings and potential food stalls which I may wanna try and how I would spend my weekends and if I'll get to try the Ramadhan stalls in time and when I should get a car and if I should change my wardrobe and when I should go back to Kluang and oh how the Kluang Station toasted bun would taste after so long and of course Central Chicken Rice and sleeping late and mom's dishes and what to wear on my first day of work and which shoe to go with it and so on. One thing led to another. Soon, I gave up on my slides and ended up eating a large McDonalds McValue Meal. I don't normally eat large sets because I don't normally finish regular sets. I finished my large set and even regretted not getting an apple pie too. I'm totally growing.


Anyways, I was just wondering if I should buy back 3 pairs of shoes after I have moved. Haha. OK, OK. Yes, there are more important things in life to think about, Yvonne.

i feel like throwing a tantrum

I really hate looking for a new home. The whole process is just too tiring and it takes up all the space in your thinking mind. I somehow feel everything is not going my way this time around. Why is that? It takes up all my time too. I hate wasting time.

Eeeeeeeeeee. I hate this.

AND I have to complete my slides and prepare the materials for my oral defence which is on this Friday afternoon. Meanwhile I have to travel to all these crazy places to view apartments.

Sigh. I totally hate this.

grown-ups stuff

What is Yvonne doing apart from having fun (on the surface)?


Looking for a job.

Looking for a new pad.

Looking at a new direction in life.


I don't like turning 22. I don't like doing adult stuff. I don't like to have to think like an adult. I don't like all these responsibilities. I don't like to worry. I don't like insecurities. I don't like uncertainties. I don't like thinking about what the future holds for me. I don't like making decisions. Each little step will affect my whole future.


But do I have a choice? No.


Thinking about it, I try to pacify myself by thinking that at least I have the chance to face all these things. At least I have a chance to choose. At least I can think for myself.


Right now, I just wish someone will just guide me and direct me. But I know I'll have to walk this path myself. Sigh. Why did I have to know that? Craps.

A good weekend-plus

Last weekend rocked. My colleagues and I went for a trip to Penang! Despite the fact that we know there will obviously be crazy traffic jams and very little time to spend there, we went.

7 of us in 2 cars. Here are my 6 other travel mates.

A sense of nostalgia hit me when we went throught the tunnel in Ipoh and saw all those beautiful limestone mountains. It has been such a long time...

The first thing we did when we reached Tambun was eat. We had seafood.

eek! That was our first dinner!

And then somehow I never got to feel hungry until our last food intake which was cendol before we left the next day. Look at the Fried Oyster in the middle!!! We had that at Gurney Drive. Murni must be so upset she couldn't come along. That was my favourite dish from the whole trip.

I tried to take photos of the Penang Bridge but everything was so dark and shaky... let's just think of them as artistic shots.

The next day we went to Shangri-La's two properties at Ferringhi. Finally! A beach!

Sun, sand, coconut three, rocks, sea. This was a fave picture spot.

We all could do with more chill time.

We also went to the Chi Spa. Philip, Ardhan and I decided to take lots of photos. This one was supposedly copying a love triangle advert. The landscape was really pretty and any lousy shot seemed still acceptable.


This is one of the funny ones. Mr. Tony didn't know he had to strike a pose.

Philip was everywhere.

The journey home took us twice the normal duration. 8 hours. All we see were cars, cars and more cars.

We tried our best to entertain Shiow Ling so that she won't be sleepy. It seems we did a great job. Philip even went a few steps too far with Ardhan but I shall not elaborate. It wasn't too roomy for us to sleep in the Myvi anyways so we sang, told stories, gossiped, and cam-whore some more.

The next day, we had to go back to work. Everyone was like moody and blur and hanging on to their cups of coffee. Murni was the only fresh face.

Anyhow, Philip boy came to the office and gave me a birthday present! So sweet!


So we now have a new friend in the office. The rest were also very sweet because they threw me a lunch party the next day. Domino's never tasted so yummy. :D The cake? It was ordered from our own pastry kitchen. It was super rich and super chocolatey and I liked it. Even with my name spelt wrong. Thank goodness I have made my love for chocolates clear from the start. ;)

The next day, we mere trainees were granted permission to have our hair styled by Peek-a-boo. They come once every two weeks and it is to ensure our staff are always well-groomed and well taken care of. They are very nice and skillful.

I got a trim. Burn had his crazy thick Amazonian hair "managed". Ardhan had his third haircut. The first time he did it on the sly and got an earful from our training manager. The second time was when our training manager asked him,"Can you do something about your hair?!" To which he replied, "Can I have Peek-a-boo cut my hair today?" Somehow our training manager just sayang him too much. Murni did some temporary curls because she is keeping her hair long for her coming wedding. She didn't like it and upon her request, I could only post this photo (below) if I cropped it.

There. Fresher faces. Ready to "delight the customers" and "go the extra mile for service". Erm, not that we are frontliners. Boooo.. ;)