seriously, I have much to tell... :)

28 July 2008

26th niece!

ooh, I had a great weekend in Taiping!


1st reason:

I get to see my new baby niece! Number 26 in the nieces and nephews line-up, introducing

Abby!


Abby and I

Abby was only 13 days old and she basically just drank milk and slept everyday. SO we "aunts" had to wait every 3-4 hours for a chance to see her open her eyes. Go makan, come back, see baby! Go shopping, come back, see baby! Eat Durians, wash hands, see baby!

There is nothing like a new born baby to bring family members together and seeing everyone feeling happy and hopeful and making up their own funny baby noises and giving their very own original advices to Jess, Abby's mom. It was fun!


2nd reason:

I had lotsa durians!

Life was quite blissful as I slowly helped myself to D24 while watching CSI Miami and CSI New York, occasionally being reprimanded by various aunties for eating durians with a spoon. Oh well, one cannot please everyone.

8)

20 July 2008

Curry-Okie

Some call it "curry okie", some "kara okay", some "karao kee" but my office calls it Red Box (that's where we usually go for some karaoke action). Like, "Is Red Box on tonight??" or "When wanna Red Box?"

Last Wednesday, my colleagues and I decided to tear ourselves away from work (which was difficult) and just go and sing our hearts out! With our three funky and straight interns in tow plus two Thai task force and one french trainee, it was confusing but fun!

Everyone (almost)!

Shiowling and me...


EnHui: Me too, me too!
Presee: Hey, what about me?!

My three hyper and straight interns!
They were belting out Air Supply and stuff. Ayo.

A conversation with a friend about guys who prefer guys to girls and I got this question...

"Your interns again ah?"

Wah. Like all my trainees have been "not straight" all this while. Lol!

Anyways, the performer of the night goes to...
Enhui! Move over John!
(check out Jonjon in this post)

See how Nicholas and Enhui held on to their mikes.


On another matter...

Aih! So happy that Sushi ZanMai has found its way to One Utama! My fave affordable sushi place. I'm contented.

My senior in college works there and I suppose thats why the dessert look so cool... :D I have blogged about ZanMai before but need to dig abit to find the post. Here it is! Sushi and Me.

and then later that night, I went to SS2 Murni's on another quest to try different types of food on every trip there. This time I tried the Meatball Spaghetti and the Dragon Pizza. Both were pretty yummy. :D Ayo, I think I need to start jogging again!

new gadget!

I've got a new toy (and no, not battery operated!)! Well, it is not a Wii or PSP or DSLite or a tall, cute guy or whatever worth blogging a mile about but it is pretty cute and useful!


Introducing - the mini, flexi, non-slip and multi-tasking tri-pod!


I know. Cars screeching to a halt, waiters dropping trays, people dropping jaws, dogs dropping bones, cats stop licking themselves etc etc. A little bit on the anti-climax side but it is cute! And useful! And cheap! And comes in lotsa colours! (but I only managed to get this blue one. Will hunt for a white or pink one) And it is small and portable! "Available in pasar malams near you. Camera sold separately," I almost chimed.


I spent some good 3 minutes to explore how I can utilize its flexibility.

You could prop it on a chair...


You could hook it on a table... should there be a need to take a photo of you lying on the floor


As my friend suggested, you could "hug" it on some tree branches when you are out in the wild and still need to camwhore yourself... as demonstrated here:

Now, my baby can take a photo of itself sideways, that way, this way, all by itself! no need to be on a flat surface!

Look ma, no hands!

*Btw, just wanted to note that I dislike Tesco tissue paper. It is rough and it smells. Must be a punishment when I decided on that very unfortunate day to buy a pack of Tesco tissues over Kleenex. Tsk. Tsk.

15 July 2008

first tag ever

I don't really know what a tag is but from observations, supposed to copy and paste and change the answers right? haha.. this could be fun...

Name: Yvonne Lee

Sisters: 2
Brothers: -
Shoe size: 5
Height: 5'5"

Where do you live:
Not to be revealed

Favourite drinks: H2O
Favourite breakfast: Half boiled eggs and toast!

Have you ever been on a plane?: Yes
Swam in the ocean: Yes
Fallen asleep at school: Yes (omg!)
Broken someone's heart: erm...
Fell off your chair: Yes
Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call: Nope
Saved e-mails: no because i don't think they will disappear from my inbox
What is your room like: roomy
What's right beside you: atm, some dvds
What is the last thing you ate: chocolates!
Ever had chicken pox: nope
Sore throat: periodically
Stitches: nope
Broken nose: nope


Do you believe in love at first sight: er... yes
Like picnics: haha! maybe
Who was the last person you danced with: aiyo. none?
Last made you smile: my trainees
You last yelled at: my trainees (gosh, they rock)

Today did you:
Talk to someone you like: yes
Kissed anyone: nope
Get sick: nope
Talk to an ex: nope
Miss someone: yes ( I do think ppl miss ppl all the time!)
Eat: yes, loads too.
Best feeling in the world: haha! ahem. i'll say happiness.
Do you sleep with stuffed animals: yes, my pooh bear, ahpooh.
What's under your bed: I don't have a bed!
Who do you really hate: omg. let's not go there. this is a happy tag!
What time is it now?: 9.13pm

Random:
Is there a person who is on your mind now: yes because there is always people on people's minds.
Do you have any siblings: yes
Do you want children: yes
Do you smile often: more than most people
Do you like your hand-writing: it is pretty crappy but it is still my writing... so yes.
Are your toe nails painted: yes, clear polish
Whose bed other than yours would you rather sleep in: haha! any clean and comfy bed... but takeshi kenishiro's bed would be good.


What color shirt are you wearing now: grey
What were you doing at 7:00 p.m. yesterday: eating Chilli Pan Mee at Kg Baru
I can't wait till: karaoke tomorrow!
When did you cry last:
when I watched Grey's Anatomy
Are you a friendly person: yes!
Do you have any pets: nope
Where is the person you have feelings for right now?:
haha... dunno!

Did the last person you held hands with mean anything to you now?: well yes, of course! I won't be holding some meaningless creature's hands right?


Do you sleep with the TV on?: sometimes
What are you doing right now?: wondering why ppl do this tag thing
Have you ever crawled through a window?: yes
Can you handle the truth?: sometimes but always prefer to
Are you too forgiving?: Most of the time
Are you closer to your mother or father?: sometimes mom, sometimes dad.. depends on the issue at hand. haha!
Who was the last person you cried in front of?: I do watch Grey's by myself mostly.
How many people can you say you've really loved?:
so, so many.


Do you eat healthy?: try to!
Do you still have pictures of you & your ex?: nope
Have you ever cried because of something someone said to you?: yes
If you're having a bad day, who are you most likely to go to?: friends/family
Are you loud or quiet most of the time?: I'm super loud sometimes and creepily quite sometimes
Are you confident?: sometimes



5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
aiyo! that would be Standard 6. Let's see...

went through lotsa exams, filling in friends' "autobiography" books (I know!), listening to Spice Girls, rallying to quit piano lessons, being silly



5 things on my to-do list today:
Mostly work related!

register people for training, overtime calculations, training hours, e-mail loads of people, buy milk...


5 snacks I enjoy
:
chocolates, potato chips, keropok Cap Ikan Bawal from Kelantan(especially when dipped into chilli sauce), fruits, mcD's fries

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:
wah... more than 5 things... I'll do everything!!OK just to name 5:

buy beachside properties in all popular beach destinations, do something to save wild animals (just read how tigers are ill-treated in certain countries), travel and see the world, go back to studying and researches, buy lotsa shoes!


5 of my bad habits:
aiyo...-_-

not taking things seriously, procrastinating, forgetting things, complaining, talking too much

5 people to tag:
haha.. the few ppl i know who blogs... shobie, david, jonathan, philip, burn

13 July 2008

So, so Red

Last Friday night, I arrived in Kluang at about 11.10pm. I was tired and in a daze but I was having a nice supper with my family. While eating and gossiping and feeling like I was high, my phone suddenly buzzed. I received a message from my one of my ex-classmates. Looked serious to me so I read it twice.


"I hv a question.. If u focus on studying hard, getting gud grades, getting gud job & in the end, still find urself unsuccessful. Would u tell ur child 2 do the same?"

I scrolled down further to look for an answer in the SMS. I read it again and realised that it was not an inspirational forwarded SMS.

This got me thinking.


What year is it?! Am I thirty already??


Oh. Still 22 years old and counting. Phew. I didn't just miss out the estimated 8 years of my life.


I replied, "Are you drunk or are you on drugs?"

This is not like him at all. He is not the kind who would be drunk or be on drugs which added to my confusion.


"Ha2. I'm still sober. ;) jz curious ;)"

Oh. Phew.

At this point, I figured that he was doing a minor research after some soul searching and probably will blog about it. hmm. Must find out if he has a blog.

I replied, "How many ppl did u ask? Anyways, tell your child to do his best and follow his dreams :)"

Now I wonder if he already has a child. How old are we again? 22 right??


"Um, 10? Jz sum questions from my observations..;). sum even replied dunno how to answer.. ;) cheers and keep in touch.. ;)"

He kept on winking ;) so I felt compelled to ask:

"Is your girlfriend pregnant?"


To which he denied.


Anyways, I did my own little "survey" recently too. I randomly asked a few people (of different age, ideas, profession, tastes etc) if I should colour my hair blond. I just felt doing something to my hair.


Almost everyone said NO, BAD IDEA or JUST GO BROWN.

Only Murni, true to her Go For It nature, said WAH! YES!


Anyways, since majority said no to blond, I decided on Red. :) it is pretty harmless. I've seen people colouring red. You've probably seen it too. It is like red, maybe not, maybe is, only visible under bright light. OK-lah. Not too crazy right.


I went to this hair salon in Kluang which I go to if I ever go to one in Kluang called Shann. The guy who did my hair was this young dude with a patch on top of his head coloured white and the middle of the patch in bright yellow. Try imagining an egg prepared sunny-side up. But it is rather interesting to me. Like a little Canary has just decided to nest on top of this head. But still cute.

Canary boy (I say boy because I think he is very young. Prob 20 only) was very efficient and quick. Like an Italian waiter. Or like that crustacean in Finding Nemo that does the cleaning in the fish tank. Like, now you see, now you don't. I picked a colour that was not too obvious because it was my first time and chose to do highlights instead and he quickly set to work without further a do. I wanted to tell him to slow down even.

Anyways, my hair turned out really, really RED.


This photo is like a muted version. The real colour is unbelievably RED. I guess it is because my hair is very fine that it turned out redder than I have expected. Well, I actually liked it. Just worried about whether it will match my face, my personality and most importantly, because we were going to have a family steamboat dinner in my house, what will grammy say, what will aunties and uncles say, what will mom and dad say. oh-oh. I think I just did a boo-boo.


Anyways, there were also concerns about what my boss will say. My colleauges, whom I SMS-ed immediately after, said, "Don't worry lah."


The results was not like my previous brown highlights done at Toni & Guys. This is the difference between a RM100 highlight job compared to a supposed RM300 highlight job. T&G actually painstakingly chose tiny tiny bundle of hair to colour and even used different shades and took me 3-4 hours. But here, of course, they don't do it that way. I have bigger streaks which might look like patches if not careful. Now, I'm not sure if I should feel terrible or not. But I decided to like it.


Canary Boy gave a pretty good service and even did a very good job with the hair-wash. I mean, next time you go for a hair-wash, get a guy. Because they are stronger and give better massages and they don't (usually) have those dangerous nails scratching your scalp.

So I decided to like it. See how much a difference good service do to your organization? If the service is good, people are more likely to overlook the little glitches here and the little un-met expectations there. But if the service is bad, people will have loads to say to loads of people. Like this post.



On another note, I had durians!!

It has been a looong time.

My dad executing his skills.


Sticking to traditions, we sat/squat on the floor to eat durians.
I prefer the yellow-fleshed ones!


Me eating with a spoon and tiny bowl.

Benefits of eating with a spoon includes:

1) no smell on hands (which could last for days)
2) no transfer of germs from hands to durians to stomach
3) if the phone rings, I still can go pick up
4) no wastage of durian which normally will stick to all fingers

:D


06 July 2008

work hard, beach harder

Oh, I totally loved my little break in Perhentian!


My sis and I took a flight to Kota Bharu, Kelantan and then a long limo ride to the jetty and then a speed boat ride to Perhentian, right to the resort's doorstep (literally!). It was a long journey but rather pleasant. I was impressed by how efficient things were. The Skybus from KL Sentral, the fuss-free flight, the KB airport limo, the speedy speedboat. The well-dressed and friendly limo driver was even waiting for us with my name printed on an A4 paper. I mean, I expected some 'Puduraya scenario', chaotic and messy with people shouting out my name (mispronounciation too). But none of that!

My name was printed as:

MS. YVO
NNE



I guess because he wanted it to be huge and MSWord will not fit everything into one single line. In Cooper font somemore. Centralized and Caps Locked too. Haha. Anyways, I expected a sturdy old Nissan Sunny taxi but got a smooth Waja limo complete with leather seat. Wah. Brow-raising.


Now, everyone can fly(to Perhentian)!


It was very stressful to sit in this row of seats. In case of an emergency which warrants an evacuation, it will be my duty to open up this exit door. What if it doesn't open?!!
And why am I always involved with evacuations?


A while ago...

I took the role of the Fire Marshal during an evacuation exercise in the absence of my boss. Oh boy.


Anyways...

This is the map of Perhentian. The little green spot is where I went. Named Flora Bay.


View from the speedboat


First look of the resort from the speedboat (which left our hair totally out of place)


The rock (which we later climbed onto and pretended to be beached)
(and I got my calf scratched by some nasty shellfish)
(also saw a crab fighting with another crab; Are crabs territorial?)

First day excitement


Still fair and not sunblocked yet


Second day onwards...
hammocking

"wah"



me and my staple teh tarik (complete with sunbeam)
I was impressed. The teh tarik was as good as the ones you can get from an authentic mamak stall. Really good.


They are very serious about the teh tarik's froth here in Flora Bay.

Let's go into details about the hammocks...

My new-found love - the Hammock

There were three nice ones in front of our room but the most comfy one is on the right



As you can see, mine has holes everywhere. I figured so that I can put one foot down to swing myself from side to side. "I shall get that comfy hammock tomorrow!"

I tried to ignore the huge gaps. Anyways, was reading 'Merde Actually' and reignited my reading habit. This book is very funny! as in LOL funny. Have since bought Merde Happens too. :D

Some random things I see while I'm on the hammock:

the resident squirrel of the palm tree from which the 3 hammocks meet

The little sunbeams caught my eyes as I swayed side to side (complete with little rainbow)

The PADI diving school hut with strict cleanliness requirements as they have tiled their floors - "Strictly no shoes, no sand, no wet wet!"

I created my own zen garden throught the "gaps" in the hammock

A cute cat looking suspicious... must have crapped somewhere.

My drink of choice

I finally got the good hammock! See, no holes!

A pirate-themed speedboat taxi complete with a pirate-like rasta driver was spotted on the shores of little friendly Flora Bay.

Some more random pictures...

To include into my Feet Shots series which I'm compiling
Btw, I made friends with the resort Public Area Assistant (aka the guy who sweeps up dried leaves from the surrounding) and does he do a good job or what?

Thanks to him, I found out exactly where I should stand to get signal on my Maxis mobile. It seems my chalet was "Celcom's territory". No comments about DiGi.

We can also take taxi rides to other resorts around the island

You can never really get away from football... not even on a remote beach


Some kayak

We saw a little snake! Try spotting it!

An old "high five!" coral


I don't know what I will do without Topshop. Both the bikini and slippers were really good and comfy and exactly what I want.

Last minute photos before heading home.

SO typical ya. hehe!

I left my mark!

I shall nostalgically miss the hammocks


Basically, I just bummed around not doing much for 3 whole days. It was... refreshing.

Eat, read, take photos, sleep, swim, sunbathe (a little) and then repeat again.

Didn't go snorkeling or diving (Perhentian is one of the best diving spots in Msia). But I did do an hour of kayaking and I was so proud that after all that tough pedalling, my arms didn't hurt! :D Maybe I'm not as unfit as I thought. And then it was back to hammocking...


I know it sounds like it could be boring but it was actually very nice not doing anything for once. And at the end of it, I am actually energized for full-on action come Monday (tomorrow).

You work hard, you beach even harder.


And then you go back to working hard again.


Then I'll beach harder the next time around.


Can you say no to this?