little miss bliss

My little piece of heaven

2010-11-07T16:48:00.001+08:00

When life gets too much, this little scoop can get you away for just that 5 to 10 minutes... Depending on how long you take to eat it.

I take mine sloooowly... :D

Not that life was getting too much.. Just enjoyed watching RED.. So maximum cool. I love Bruce Willis in 2010!

Haha..... I love sundays~

Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone

Otw home!

2010-11-05T07:13:00.000+08:00

Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone

testing email posting

2010-11-01T22:31:00.001+08:00

Testing email posting! I'm loving this drink...
Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone

the green issue: office plants

2010-10-31T19:35:00.004+08:00

Just the other day I was washing my mug in the office pantry, I suddenly noticed that there were a lot of greeneries in my office pantry. Too many for such a tiny space - 2m x 2m. No, seriously, the office pantry is that small. No, seriously. Come have a look! It's free. :)

Anyhoo, sometimes, the office/working place/home #2 feels like a bleak place. But apart from the blinding number of emails and phone calls to answer, long hours, below zero temperature which freezes up your muscles, the very snug pantry aka Office Plants Graveyard (OPG) etc... we don't really have it as bad as the other living things in there: the abandoned plants.

With all the magazines out there screaming "GREEN iS the new Black!" I figured I too shall pay a tribute to the greeneries in my office. The under-privileged ones, that is.

Case #1: Mr Tall
Length of stay in OPG: more than 1.5 years
Location: Next to coffee machine
The Abandoner: Unknown.
History: It has just been there always.

Look at it grow - full of optimism and vitality. This plant has been there even before I joined this office. Like 1.5 years ago. It is like the pioneer of the Abandoned Ones. It has to be! Because no one dares to move it. It gets the premium spot of being next to the coffee machine. Recently the lower leaves have shown some loss of chlorophyll (and spirits), but the younger leaves on top badgers on for optimum sunlight, no flourescent light, to stay alive.

Case #2: Me-in-a-mug
Length of stay in OPG: about 1 year
Location: On top of mini oven
The Abandoner: Unknown.
History: Sudden appearance on a weekday afternoon.

OK, this one is quite sneaky because I never knew it was in a mug. I thought it was always in a jar, left on top of a tall cupboard in the office. Anyhow, when there are new colleagues, we would pluck some of it and place in a new vase to welcome the new-comer. Sad, right!!

Case #3 + 4: Mr One Leaf Jack and Mr Earthy (a duo)

Length of stay in OPG: 8 months / more than 1.5 years
Location: On the floor beside the water cooler
The Abandoner: Pending investigation
History: too sad...

OK so One Leaf Jack was left there because the leaves used to have white stuff, like it was ill. And then due to lack of care, it is now left with ONE LEAF. The one on the right, Earthy, it the only earth based one in here. It has always been there... and sometimes people accidentally kick it when entering the pantry... poor guys. Sometimes hot coffee splashes on them too. Poor guys indeed.

Case #5: Ms Honey Pot

Length of stay in OPG: One week (latest member!)
Location: Next to sink
The Abandoner: Comms.. well, not by choice. only temporary.
History: The beautiful glass vase which it once called home suddenly split, soaking documents and threatening the safety of the owner's computer leading to its temporary quarantine in an abandoned plastic honey container.

This plant loves its owner very much. The owner fell very sick and has been away on MC for a few days so I guess it got anxious causing the glass to split. No one else touched the vase! Now it is next to the sink. Sometimes dish washing detergent splashes in too. I've moved it a little further away.

Be strong plants! You will find new loving owners soon. Honey Pot, your owner will be back in no time!

Anyone who would like to adopt a plant, please do not hesitate to proceed to the pantry and do mother earth proud.

if i had a pet dog...

2010-07-18T22:21:00.003+08:00

Random thoughts inspired by the dog blogosphere...

If I have a pet dog...

> I can throw all my stuffed toys away (except for ahpooh)
> I will treat it like my kid
> it will be a Chow Chow(teddy dog!)
> I will create a blog for it (like my friend's www.boxermoiselle.blogspot.com)
> it will be called Bobbee
> I will teach it to dance
> I will buy it its own Pooh Bear toy
> I will buy a short red tee for it so it will look like a Pooh wannabe
> I will teach it to fetch... 8Days and my Blackberry...
> I will be more motivated to exercise by taking it for walks
> it will be trained to bite good looking men's ankles when we are on our walks so I can go apologize after
> it will get treats all the time!
> I will try not to spoil it rotten..

It's sunday night... time for me to continue this reverie in my dreams... :)

bliss in Japan!

2010-06-19T20:11:00.003+08:00

Look what I found!

One of the fancy shops in Omotesando Hills. snaps!

More photos and stories of Japan to follow... just need time~

1st Time : Petronas Family Day

2010-06-19T18:59:00.005+08:00

After a bout of rah-rah about internet being back into my life, I didn't actually get back into the internet! 3 months later, I realize I'm paying RM60 (RM61.05 to be exact) for unlimited internet every month and using it only for 10 minutes a day (on average)! omg. that's 5 hours a month and that means, RM12 for an hour. Feels a bit like a loss. time to tell some stories...

Today I have a chance to join my colleagues in taking part in the Petronas Family Day. We have been taking part for 4 years and I heard it has been the same thing for 4 years. So really, all of us newbies are experiencing it as what it is.

5.30am: PJ gang decides to be different and goes for breakfast early in the morning. We still so cannot believe that Harry, who usually wakes up at 2pm on weekends, also joined us. We had dim sum. yum.

6.30am: Not sure where Bangi is. "No problem lah.. got time, got petrol.."

7.20am: We're here!! Omg.. we're early...

7.30am: The hotel sponsors hot air balloon rides and of course, we have to get on it first to test it out - is it safe, etc.. "Get on the hot air balloon first before the crowd starts queueing up!! yay!! "

8.00am: The rest of the team arrives staggeredly. Just like every year, we have nasi lemak for breakfast courtesy of Js who was late last year... and the year before that. Like really late. Like 10.00am late...

Wei having nasi lemak~

This year Js arrived at 7am.

8.30am: Soon the set up was done... the crowd started queueing up for the hot air balloon ride. I was assigned as the Hot Air Balloon Crowd Control with Lilian. Basically, we had gates for them to queue in and I basically have to tell them it is for 4 persons max and had to basically take lots of family photos for them. Nice job.

Just like every year, we had the Ping Pong game. You're given 3 ping pong balls, and all you have to do is try to land them into any of the 30 cups set in front of you. Easy right? And when you get even just one ball in, you get our limited edition Traders Eco-friendly Shopper Bag! (photo to follow soon). It smells organic too~ phew!

Now, if you don't get any of the 3 balls in, you can try again. and again!

And if we don't really want you to try anymore, you get our limited edition Traders Eco-friendly Shopper Bag!
*This cycle went on till 11.30 when we finish

9.00am: The candy floss machine starts up! Jon, our super multitasking dude joined us wearing his Pastry kitchen uniform. Just last week he was in Engineering. And the week before that, I thought I spot him in Front Office uniform. aaanyways, our machine was a bit cranky so yes, we got the orange candy floss on stick, nice and easy and made some kids happy. But the floss flies up a lot and covers poor Jon in melted sugar.
But Jon never fails to enjoy his job. Look how he stood out in blue!

It is also about this time we started giving out lollipops!

Oh, the sugar rush! Candyfloss, unlimited lollipops... you have some kids starting to turn cranky. An anonymous mom told me when I wanted to offer her son a lolli "No! No more! Look at him!"

The little boy was kicking her shoes with his left leg, and then his right and then goes around her and then repeats the kick again.. this went on for a while and I decided that, yes, he's had enough sugar for the day.

10.00am: Was abandoned by Lilian as she had to sit by the laptop to key in contacts. Was abandoned by Harry as he had to go smoke.

10.15am: The sun shines in full blast rays...

Just like every year, we stand around trying to be useful...

10.30: Abandons Crowd Control job. Too hot! Attempted to help with Ping Pong game. But picking up ping pong balls suck too. Abandons camp to go spread the word about Traders - by giving out our limited edition Traders Eco-friendly Shopper Bag.

Also took part in Impiana'sgame booth to try win some prizes but sadly lost. Chowchow got a free night stay at Impiana! With breakfast somemore! It is loudly suggested and rumoured that he will take Wei with him.

11.15: Hot air balloon does its last ride as it was getting too warm. Group photo!!! (photo to follow soon)

11.30: head on to the famous Sate Kajang~

12.00pm: Arrives at Sate Kajang! everyone ate the same thing - Sate. Only last year, one of our colleague insisted on Soup Noodles. This year, that did not happen because she has left. Everyone ordered Coconut drinks too. Instead, the dude brought out a crate of Coca-cola. Of course, we had them sent back and got us real Coconuts. And then they gave all of us plastic spoons so we couldn't scoop out the flesh.

In any case, that was good pre-lim lunch.

12.45pm: Head back to PJ! "This is a good time to sleep!" says I. JC plays game on his iPhone, everyone else try to get comfy and fitted into their little spot in the car. Driver AP feels crappy that he has to drive. It was at this moment that Harry says "This is a good time not to be driving!" After a short bout of F words, everyone doze off.

1.30pm: reach home!

2.00pm: knocked out.

internet! yay!

2010-04-24T22:18:00.002+08:00

I really can't believe I have survived 2 weeks without my laptop! It felt like Lent all over again! but only this time, I'm actually sacrificing something (Yep, didn't do much for Lent this year. Last year was about chocolates. I know riiight.. but I guess I'm just not at the stage to sacrifice juicy meat for forty days, *faints just thinking about it*).

Anyway, my baby laptop has decided to go into a coma and of course it has been on life support for the past one month. I've just been in denial of its medical situation, decided to let it fight off the problem with its own brute strength. Finally, its heart beat stopped and so was reluctantly sent to the "revival" station.

The past 2 weeks of absence was the hardest ever in my history with my laptop. Of course, I worry about... wait, I just realised I didn't name my laptop. I named by car Bee. :).. yeah anyway, was pretty worried about my laptop's safety and more importantly...

my songs and photos are in there!!! its like my whole life in chapters stored in there. I was worried. Had sweaty palms sometimes just thinking about it. And of course, it also died on me during a time when I needed to do my major monthly e-bankings, bill payments, Tax filing. Aiyo.

And I try to while my time away by keeping myself busy... and then I realized that the only thing I do when I'm not working, or e-banking or e-filing, is done on my laptop. *cue drama!

O_O

So I did what most social outcasts did... I read endlessly... it was hard because I'm so not up-to-date with the world!

Like, why did X from Front Office break up with Y? Why, Yvonne? Why? Well, I don't know! argh. How can I not know! hmm.. I could see the disappointment in my Senior Sales Manager's face. "How come you don't know?"

and so... when that didn't work out (I mean, I can't be reading Waiter's Rant, Time Traveller's Wife and Dear John back to back for 2 weeks in a row), I tried texting people more, tried going out for dinners more. But it is just not the same.

I also wanted to practice some Yoga and then I realize I play my Yoga CD on my laptop because the recorded volume's pretty low and needed to be amplified on speakers. grr.

I also got mild OCD. I cleaned up everything that I see. Everything seemed to need a scrub, a rub, some polishing, some wiping. I felt like a grown up woman for once! The maternal instinct to keep things neat and tidy! Or maybe I was just bored.

And when my fingers decided to sound the alarm of abuse, I stopped cleaning and, hold your breath(!), took out my abandoned notebook and my fave pen and started writing a book!

But of course, it stopped at page 5.

So "ma kwai fun", Cantonese for "freaking troublesome", to write and when you think maybe "munch" is more interesting a word than, say, "eat" or "chew" or "snack", as in, "As I munched on that unsalted bag of chips, I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to ta pao fried bananas for my mom and her mahjong kakis". So should I use Munch, Ate, Chew, or Snacked?

Erm, anyways, so when you think you might prefer to use "munch" you have to either use white outs or draw a line across the unwanted word to axe it. So messy!!!

I miss you Microsoft Word!

So when I got my laptop back on my lap this afternoon, after driving 300KM back to Johor for it, I was almost thinking of dramatically shedding some tears of joy. Just to emphasize to my parents how much my laptop meant to me because they didn't agree to send it back to me in KL. -_-

I missed you. Don't ever die on me again, OK? Next time you do that, I'll just go queue for an iPad.

signs

2010-03-14T21:34:00.003+08:00

signs that you have been all about work since counting down on 31 Dec 2009.

1) You have very bad skin
2) You look like you are suffering from malnutrition/could have more nutritious foods
3) You are putting on weight in the wrong places
4) You suddenly find yourself making regular appointments for reflexology and neck and shoulder massage
5) You look like you could use some sleep
6) You ache for a holiday (heeeelllppp)

I am at point 6 now (and all of the above). Ache.For.Holiday. and it is not even mid year yet!

soooo need this. right now.

and the list continues to more drastic side effects..7,8,9... but that shall be kept for another day. Let's see how I, little potato in need of some sand and sea, survive till June then.

innocent brutal honesty

2010-03-08T23:39:00.003+08:00

I love people who tells me the truth.

I love honesty.

I definitely love people who are transparent.

Now that I have made that clear. Anyways, the world will be a beautiful and awesome place with everyone being honest and kind and wanting no more than just joy and bliss for everyone around them. What a happy place to be.

*no, I'm not on some Happy Pills.

But there is a little something called Brutal Honesty.

These are people we should learn to love because they tell it like it is. I am still learning to open my heart wide enough to accept these sharp, killing words with a smile and warm embrace. I truly am still learning the art.

Today, I received Brutal Honesty in its purest form.

It just so happened that I was feeling fine and dandy and on top of the world after having an awesome lunch with awesome drinks and awesome clients to meet.

I was feeling so awesome I was smiling to myself. Like, what a beautiful day, right?

Then I met 2 colleagues who caringly told me:

"Oh Yvonne, Yvonne, you have become fat, I can see." (direct translation)

I held my heart (well, left side of my chest) and feigned a fainting face. Like, seriously!

And I thought by doing that, they will pull back their words with a smile and laugh it off and start talking about donating to charity. But NO! it is not meant to be...! Instead they earnestly looked at me with the expression that says something to the effect of "why are you treating this as a joke? we're serious, darling."

My life just came to a halt for 1/10 of a second when I realise that they were not in anyway trying to spoil my day. It is just plain old innocent brutal honesty which slipped past the Mincing Department. It came Whole. Cold and hard handed over with warm hands.

Of course I did not feel like a major super star after that. I just felt like I needed a jog.

See why we need more of these? I felt like a jog after what seemed like years of deprive. I need more brutal honesty in my life.

Sneak Peek

2010-01-26T20:51:00.003+08:00

*wow, 2 days of posting in a row. we're on a roll aren't we?

Sneak Peek: A day in Yvonne's work week...

It's been a super hot day scouring the streets of Nilai, some 70km from my office - so hot that I thought I was going to die of heat stroke. Then and there, no less. I wondered who was going to collect my body. Like, will they inform my parents?

I did save "mummy" and "daddy" in my phone.

And then it rained and based on my superstitious believes (inplanted into my head since I was like 2 days old), some rain drops got to my scalp and that, my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of my health as I know it. If I get flu, it's caused by those drops. If I get cough, it's caused by those drops. If I get fever, it's caused by it too. If I get diarrhea... you get the picture.

And then because I itchy-buttedly drank some super strong coffee lovingly brewed by my client, I got this massively epic headache which bounces from left to right.

BUT!

It could have been caused by those rain drops.

And then I got stuck in traffic, ON THE WAY BACK. (wow wee!)

On top of that, I have 2 ulcers on my tongue which was caused by heatiness (duh, everyday in the sun) and I was supposed to drink lotsa water. But how was I supposed to be motivated to drink when everytime I drink, it hurts like faaarrrrkkkk... literally. And when I wanted to tell my colleague that I wanted to puke, he thought I wanted to peel. Peel what? (raise eyebrows, raise eyebrows)

seriously. this was worse than bad hair day. or staining your shirt with curry right before an appointment. or accidentally eating garlic before a meeting. and have no access to Listerine. or going into the Touch N Go lane without your Touch N Go card! it's worse than stockings tearing in the middle of Shah Alam! With no spare!

.....

Wait, I'll have to re-consider that.

And all I wanted to do was to sigh a long "cibaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii" when I got back to the office. And so I did. Trust me it feels good. Try it, today!

OK, I conclude, stockings tearing in the middle of Shah Alam with no spare is really sucky. touch wood touch wood.

It could be

2010-01-25T22:19:00.002+08:00

It could be...

... that I'm SO busy

... that I'm SO uninspired

... that I'm SO caught up with this thing called life

... that I'm SO freaking turning mid-twenties this year

... that I'm SO supposed to be doing something else right this moment

... that I'm SO over-exposed on Facebook

... that I'm SO spending more time researching Blackberries and Iphones

... that I'm SO daydreaming

... that I'm SO in need to stay away from computers (!!!)

It could be these reasons that I'm not updating my blog anymore. Nonetheless, I still feel the need to pen. Look out for my book in your friendly neighbourhood bookstores this summer.

Not.

:D

camerons : in touch with nature

2009-09-21T19:48:00.010+08:00

Just about 2 weeks ago I went to Cameron Highlands! It was pretty much impromptu and I love impromptu trips! I love the whole Just Go spirit! So here we gooo... on a healthy diet and fresh air trip!

winding

winding...

oh the roads are so curvy... getting dizzy... my butt is moving from left to right... my head is swaying! help!

Luckily, everyone survived the whole ordeal. Some resorted to drugs but I just ate some pringles and went to sleep. Haha.. whatever works.

First stop: Strawberry farm!!

So cute!!!!!!!!

My first time seeing strawberries and I was very happy. Though it was pretty sunny and hot too.

"wtf. Why is it so hot?"

Being the youngest and first time in Cams, I asked the most questions.

"Why the strawberries so small one?"

because the big ones are protected in the other gated areas.. haha!

And then we went to Kea's Market!

They have sooo many stalls here selling fruits, flowers, corn, vegetables, mushrooms, strawberries strawberries strawberries.

Somehow those aunties keep on trying their selling pitch on my guy colleague and it works all the time..
"Come la leng chai! Buy la.. u buy 4, I give you cheaper!" ok la ok la..

then suddenly she pulls out this huge gigantic packet from the back of the store,

"ah, since you buying so much, why not buy this whole bunch!! cheap only..."

Suddenly, we have like 2 dozens of corn. Suddenly, we have like 20 bags of vege. Suddenly, the car is filled with flowers... oh boy..

Wah! Big eggplant!

Finally we checked in!
Bala's chalet.. do not be deceived by its name because it is actually very English..

Beautiful, quiet and gives us the Smokehouse experience without having to stop by the Smokehouse.

I want to own this place!!!
Our chalet which opens out to the courtyard with lots of chilling spots..There you have 5 hoteliers coming up with brilliant ideas to spruce up this place and market it.. damn I want this property.

Anyways, we decided to drive to the "atas" Equatorial for a look and yes, beautiful view...
but boring rooms...

Then we went to look at all those flower shops along the roads.. Here they sell everything in pots - flowers, chillies, cactus, strawberries...

Then we headed to the night market which is only available on Fridays and Saturdays...

Lotsa food on offer!Strawberry ice cream too!
But I still prefer Verry Verry Strawberry at BR.. :D

We had steamboat which was very regular but one thing great is the vegetables are free!!! just top up as much as you want.. it is freeeee!

We even had durians.. but too excited so no photos here.. haha..

At the night market, they sold everything that they offer such as fruits, flowers, vege and strawberries.. but also a lot of merchandise with strawberries on it. It is funny how Cams have strawberries as its icon. Even pyjamas bright orange pyjamas with strawberry prints! I told my friend that wearing that will totally spoil anyone's love life.

It rained in the evening (bummer) but the next morning, we woke up to a beautiful morning!!

Cold and misty... just the kind of temperature we need. Like, it was hot yesterday and we were like, wtf??

So cold! I like!!! See :D it's like I can imagine the scene in Twilight here up in the mountains...

And just the right setting to visit my favourite place of them all!!

The tea plantation!!
Chan!

That's where we're going to have breakfast!! coming up!!
On the way... hungry... but want to take photos like no tomorrow...

I'm sooo impressed with what I see here..
Beautiful architecture and design...

Loved the whole semi outdoor atmosphere and well taken care facilities...

We had breakfast right at the edge itself!

Partly due to my whining...

"Don't want to sit here! must sit outside!!!"

because it was full outside where the view is the best but lucky lucky... some uncles were leaving...
we had the obligatory scones with butter and jam.. delicious! and the tea was of course gold blend... and then there was a little squel from me "I want nasi lemak!!"

Eating nasi lemak here is so nice. It's cold and the sambal is hot.. can only be described as "shiok".

Beautiful! I want a weekend house here!!!
If only the roads are not so windy..

The whole Tea Centre is filled with history of Boh and it was artfully done..

And I find Mr Boh adorable! How come I never knew about him... hmm Comms not strong..
We also had a tour of the tea factory... oh.. cannot tahan the smell here... The strong tea smell as the leaves are crushed and rolled..
Finally, we left with a very satisfied tummy of scones and tea...

I'll miss you!

But not before stopping by Kea's Market for more strawberrys and vege shopping...

sappy

2009-09-21T11:03:00.002+08:00

I woke up this morning and the first thing that came to mind was the last thing that was on my mind when I drifted into slumber... "I don't want to be old!!"

I'm in the midst of a long weekend (whoopah!) and what better to do than catch up on some reading... and I happen to catch up on some sappy romance stories.

Its time to take a break from those self enrichment crap that I have lying around within reaches. It is quite difficult to comprehend why we just like to be told what to do ya. Well, they are not crap. Crap don't cost that much. They are just materials that, erm, I grab when I'm too free/feeling bored/feeling uninspired/eating an apple? They seem to be part of the metal particles that make up the steps on a ladder - an enhancement to the steps, I suppose.

Anyways, I have just finished The Notebook - courtesy of my buddy at work. It is a pretty short story written by a guy who looks like a fitness instructor (Nicholas Sparks) with a hollywood smile but it has pretty intense sweet love in it. Like in loads of decades.

I finished this book in a day and this morning, I woke up thinking, I don't want to be old! Closer to the end, the lead characters are both old and suffering. One from Alzheimer's (which is the worse of all) and another from various thinghies that old people eventually suffer from. I don't want to imagine coming to that stage. But of course at the very end, there is actually a twinkling of a happy ending. And to still be so in love when you're that old and sick - just the recipe for one of the most touching stories around. It's like reading Twilight x2.

Except that in Twilight, they all remain beautiful and young. I feel horrible now. I feel bad for the leads in the story. I always stay affected for a few days. My friends do not get this. The girls probably will. I have to read something cheerful or funny to neutralize it. Its either I stick to teeny boppy twilight-like books or serious newsweek or some enrichment craps for a while now. Or watch an even sadder Korean movie where one of the leads will surely have some illness. Sometimes I think maybe the amounts of BBQ that they consume inspire the scriptwriter's eventual conclusion that the sickness will be cancer. It's mostly cancer.

Or maybe I should just go out for some retail therapy..haaa.. for this, everyone gets it.

blue!

2009-09-06T22:02:00.004+08:00

hahaha... so the revamp plan went down the drain due to unforeseen circumstances to my schedule but I was determined to at least make some minor changes to this page.

Obviously have just changed the background colour and the blog header and removed some clutter. And since the header has hints of blue, the whole colour scheme should change too! awww... I liked my pink and magenta notes! hmm.. Maybe I will photoshop and change my gym ball to pink later.

and on the right you have Fishies!! my 3 new digital pet fishes. This is already a popular gadget on blogger so I don't think it is that amusing but they are so cute! Give me some time to name them. click to feed them!

Speaking of pets, I have a new addition to my pet plants family! I adopted a little potted plant - aiko! I don't know what is her species because the guy I bought it from told me in chinese. But I DO know what she will look like when she is all grown up. She will have one or two pink/red flowers only at any one time.

aiko has curves

This photo is about the actual size of it... it will probably take me a few years to see her blossom. Exciting! but slow process la. My mom has already warned me not be to over zealous and feed her too much water or fertalizer because it is a plant that is sensitive to such stuff. OMG. Aiko, please survive.

The revamp process is still ongoing. I'm looking for stuff to add on. I will also probably add a twitter update thinghie. Who knows? Maybe I have a need to publish whatever's on my mind every hour or so? Maybe I need to let people know what I'm eating for lunch? I have yet to check out twitter and have yet to figure out the fun of it. The scary part is - what if I get addicted?! Wait! Can't eat! Need to Twit! steam fish with ginger for dinner. Twit.

I'm just imagining what I would be twitting about.

Stuck in traffic jam. Twit.
Still stuck in traffic jam. Twit.
French toast for breakkie. Twit.
Don't like Mondays. Twit.
Bobbee the plant has grown one new leaf! Twit.
Found one pimple on forehead. Twit.
Stuck in traffic jam again. Twit.

shudder.

lmb's revamp plan

2009-08-31T23:15:00.007+08:00

OK, Facebook has become like The People's Daily. So much so I don't even have things to say here anymore! Feels like if I posted the same things and same photos here, its like... un-fresh. Even to myself. Time for revamp.

my first photoshop product for lmb!

how i made this page look like sometime ago - complete with embarassing photo

But I was just reading an article the other day about why people blog. It seems that penning down your thoughts and feelings allows you to de-stress and the likes of it. I didn't pay attention as I'm in between reading a few different books and magazine and trying to keep up with the world news and our turbulent political scene which doesn't make much sense and doesn't jive with the politicians initial declarations and actual intentions. And trying to feel the patriotism on this very meaningful 52nd anniversary of Malaysia's independence.

I digress.

Anyways, I saw the highlight of it. Benefits of penning down your thoughts, albeit in digital form. And my true idea of keeping all these little thoughts and views is for me to look back when I'm 40 - like a window to my past. So if it is half hearted, how disappointing it would be then?

And perhaps in the process, I should explore twitter...hmm... been playing with the idea but do I really want to impose my "what's on your mind" on people and have other people's "what's its" imposed on me?

room to explore.. room to explore.

I plan to do this on a totally free day if I can find a comfy Starbucks in Batu Pahat where I'm going to spend 8 hours next week. I don't even know where is Batu Pahat and I don't even know if they have a Starbucks. I wonder if they at least have a wifi-enabled Old Town Kopitiam? hmm.. Or maybe I should just go for seafood.

I don't even know if Batu Pahat is famous for seafood! Or was it pottery?

room to explore.. room to explore...

curiosity!

2009-08-30T20:19:00.002+08:00

I, Yvonne, have just renewed my infatuation with Brad Pitt.

For I have just watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button when I decided not to watch a totally sad Korean movie again. Seems like I'm always watching movies like a thousand years after the release.

Anyways, really, there is really nothing curious about why girls are always naming him when asked who they thought were hot. And this movie would not have got me watching it intently for 2.5hours had it not been Brad Pitt starring as Benjamin Button. Like how I watched Protege because Daniel Wu starred in it. :)

And what a beautiful tale. There are days when certain creative people's mind wander and come up with totally cool ideas and this story was definitely created on one of those days. But Fitzgerald's story was a short one. An interesting one but the movie has added in the spices, the soft details and the warm fuzziness that it lacked.

So there is a case of piggy backing. The cool ideas were there and someone else have picked up on it, fine tuned it and made it smoother - into a movie. Instead of B.Button born as an old man who could speak "Are you my father?", he was born as a crying baby with an old man's physics. I really thought that he would just become younger and stop at about 30 and start to age again. But it was not to be. He grew younger and younger (oh, Brad Pitt!) and then even becoming a little boy, and then a baby again. But wait, I was watching very intently when the make up department managed to make Brad Pitt look 20 again! Whoa. Natural good looks helps of course.

Got me thinking what I would do if I were to age backwards. Man, that would be just plain awkward. As Benjamin asked Daisy, "Will you still love me when I have acne?" Will make a note to buy the original DVD to keep and probably watch again when I'm 40 and start imagining aging backwards and hopefully coming up with a totally cool story that could make a totally cool movie that attracts a totally hot cast and totally enrich people's daily mundane life. Haha...

H1N1 days...

2009-08-23T10:02:00.003+08:00

Now, everywhere I go there are people taking my temperature to make sure I don't have a fever.

Temperature taken when clocking in for work, when I walk past the KL Convention Centre (and gets an orange sticker if I pass) and also at entrances to offices and factories that I visit.

Occasionally there is also a bottle of alcohol hand sanitiser to encourage you to sanitise your hands. Some smell good (brands like Dettol and Eskulin), some smell like it didn't try hard enough to mask its chemical properties. Some are placed in beautiful glass pump bottles (ala Ikea), some in industrial size plastic bottles (ugly), some in electronic sensor dispensers (cool).

Some even provide face masks to those who opt for a safer journey ahead.

All very good measures to protect ourselves from the deadly virus. But embarassing when the thermometers are prone to hiccups! Or when your temperature fluctuates...

"Why you always got temperature one??" asks my colleagues.

I don't!! It's just the thermometers.

Some use those ear scans, some use those laser scans on foreheads, some use those temperature piece placed on the foreheads for a few seconds (slow).

Recently I got a forehead scan and failed!

"Wah, 41 darjah selsius! Miss, you tak boleh masuk ofis kita la!"

Cannot be!!!! try again!!

"Sekarang 38.5. Pun tak boleh la..."

So, how did my temperature change from 41 to 38.5 in 3 seconds? I totally do not trust your little machine and plus the fact that I drove so far away in the heat to come here! GRRR! (temperature rising).

And another encounter at work (building up a line)

"OMG, Yvonne, 39.5! You can MC today la! hahaha!" *some colleagues gasped, stepping a little further away from me*

Cannot!!! I have appointments already~~~ Try again!

*digs around for ear scan instead*
"Oh, 36, OK pass... Happy working!

Why ah?...

Sexy Lips are taking a retreat!

2009-08-05T23:02:00.004+08:00

Oh man! It's been a while...

I've just been too busy to think of anything interesting at all to post here. I mean, lotsa new things are happening but I can't just go like this:

"Wow, today, I learn the techniques of speaking to clients. This is interesting to me because I have not done this before and I'm really nervous about meeting clients on my own soon."

or like this:

"So today I met a very nice client who even offered me a cup of tea while I talked about my hotel."

or about Bee again:

"Today I brought Bee for a shower again and he squeaked in delight and wagged its tail".

Yawnz.

So, today I accompanied our Japanese sales manager on one of the visits and while waiting for a client to appear, which is when I sometimes feel makes them feel nice and important, I suddenly thought that hey, this is really funny. Even the receptionists were trying not to LOL at us.

I spy with my little camera...

Oh man, those security guards point their temperature guns at us and shoved this onto our faces. "Wear this".

OK...

Now, if a Sales Manager has lips like Angelina and uses it to her advantage by capturing the attention of the clients or whatever is in their imagination, she'll have to re-think her strategy now. Maybe wear more perfume or edgier outfits to leave an impression.

We were told to put these masks on right after we "secretly behind-the-scene" reapplied lipstick and gloss in perfect alignment with the contours of our lips whilst being careful not to cause "lipstick bleeding".

"Aiyo, next time no need to put lipstick anymore. Wasting!"
"If I have to wear this again, I'll have to reapply foundation before the next visit!"
"The client won't even know if we are smiling at them you know!"
"I think it is smearing my lipstick now."
"Ya, how are they going to know if we are sincere??"
"Now we have to really work on the eye make up la because all the attention is there!"
"Do I have to speak louder?"
"Eh, is this mask clean or not. Did you see the guard holding it? Not very clean yah"

And our meaningless rants and questions go on until the client appears, feeling nice and important.

Somehow, the duration of "waiting for the client to show up at the reception" churns out the funniest moments of my sales calls. Maybe I will record more of it to create another chapter in my life. o_O

Bee!

2009-07-04T23:09:00.002+08:00

Ah, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen was fantastic! So many new faces! Optimus Prime did not disappoint me at all... I love Optimus!! Autobots attack!

A conversation...
"I love Optimus Prime! He so man.."
"Oh, the lorry izzit.."
"He's not just a lorry ok..."

Another conversation...
"Eh I almost cried man..."
"When? When Sam died?"
"What! No! Of course not! I almost cried when I saw Megan Fox"

So, the male part of our movie trip was there solely for Megan Fox (eventhough some of them claim to be watching the autobots action). The females? Josh Duhamel!

Another conversation...
"Did you realize that the captain (Josh Duhamel) only cares about Mikaela (Megan Fox)? Only pull her hand, only shield her, only call her name?"
"Of course la.. who wanna care about that Shia La.. something.. La what ya?"

And of course Bumblebee was as cute as always. And this sequel did portray the close bond between Bumblebee and Sam. Sam calls him "Bee!"
hahaha.. so cute! like calling a baby!

And so exciting! I finally have collected my car today! Therefore, I have decided to name my pet car Bee too. Well, what can I say? I'm a girl. I name everything!

"What do you name your car?"
"Name my car? For what?!"
"Don't you feel a connection to it? See? I named my plant Bobbee so I can relate to it. It's not just some shrub on my desk ok"
"Don't get it.."

But girls get it

"So is your car a male or female?"
"Male. I'm pretty sure."
"So have you named it?"
"Still thinking of one.. what do you wanna name yours?"
"Bee."
"Cute!"

I went to collect it with my friend and when we saw the car, we went, "Hey Bee!!" Of course this is after the delivery guy have left. Well, can't help it.

An sms to her later...
"Bee taking shower now. Thanks for coming along!"

sms to dad
"Got my car. It is named Bee. Taking Bee for a spin around KL later."

For the first time, my dad did not reply my sms.

:D

what's the fucking point?

2009-06-25T22:05:00.002+08:00

OK, very fucking angry right now.

This will be a good lesson to me. Have to put it down in writing (albeit digital one) so I will forever have it carved in my memory and never follow this stupid tradition.

Now, why do we fucking choose to purchase products/services from people we know?

My parents have a very old school thinking that we should buy things from people we know.. like friends, relatives, acquaintances etc because of a few reasons - support their business, solicit discounts, a peace of mind that the goods/services sold will have a quality guarantee.

Like real la.

fuck.

When the product/services screw up, the disadvantages start to show:
1) They apologize and automatically expects forgiveness (which we are obligated to because of the relationship - what we call "close one eye")
2) They give you some excuse/reason and you are compelled to accept (otherwise, does that mean you don't trust your friend?)
3) You can show you are not happy but you cannot complain too much because you have to "give face"

and this, ladies and gentlemen, is the fucking problem.

What more if that friend/relative/acquaintance is your parent's friend/relative/acquaintance which automatically upgrades them to "senior" level whereby you practically cannot do anything about it but sulk and wait for the slow recovery of the situation.

and I hate that whole "nothing you can do about it" situation.

fuck.

Like, will you choose to eat a mediocre plate of, say, char kuay teow just because the owner of the stall is your friend when you know you can get a superb and famous one next door selling at the same price with people queueing up to buy it. The only problem is the queue. Or maybe also sometimes it would be more expensive.

BUT at the end of the day, I know I'm getting a good plate of char kuay teow. And I eat it to satisfaction with I can tell the stall owner "good job!" and when the chef does a bad job, I can tell him, "why nowadays you don't add enough si-ham one?". If it was that your father's friend who cooked it, can you do that? NO. and you go home fhungry. and fangry.

SO. No more buying things from people I know. If there are people queueing up to buy from you, then OK lah. THEN I will use my friendship with you to get you to sell it to me first.

back to basics

2009-06-20T23:03:00.004+08:00

You know how all babies look cute? (when they are not screaming) They look even cuter when they are happy! And many times I have seen babies playing around and then laughing to themselves. So happy and carefree.

Most of the time, you see them lie on their back and lift their legs up and clutch their own feet. Cute right? Like this image:

So a few days ago during yoga, as my class was looking forward to the Child's Pose (all time favourite), our instructor told us to do the the Happy Baby instead. Yes! This little taken for granted thing that babies excel at is actually an official pose.

But of course, when done by adult female, can be kind of awkward to the sight. Imagine a group of women 'kangkang' habis and laughing away. Oh well, Happy Baby pose, everyone! This sort of caught us by surprise but soon everyone was laughing and having a good time stretching our inner thighs and what nots. The pose is essentially to stretch the back too and normally we roll side to side to "massage" the back.

Now, if you are having a bad day and need a comfort zone, just do the Happy Baby and roll around on your back. Better than to indulge in a pint of super creamy and delicious and addictive and heart-melting Coffee Truffle ice cream from Haagen Dazs. Good tip, eh!

a note on Edward Cullen

2009-06-20T22:12:00.004+08:00

I just thought I have to talk about him.

I have just finally watched Twilight (yes, very cut off from the NOW these days) and I have just finally understood all the buzz with Edward Cullen!

I mean, aunties in their 30s were writing in to The Star newspapers a while ago to rave and rave about him. And I believe they have children. Girls were swooning about him. Even some boys! But they cover up by talking about Bella Swan a little bit more - yawn.

To understand this indescribable infatuation with a very young and tall and very pale-skinned boy, you'll have to watch the movie. I didn't think he looked strikingly hot from the beginning but as he smoothly advance in the movie, he's like... erm.. WAH! So intense! Even he himself could not fathom what drove him crazy. He thought it was Bella Swan but maybe, just maybe, he saw himself in the mirror? hehee...;)

All women should go out there and get an Edward Cullen for themselves. Period.

"yay! child pose!"

2009-05-27T22:29:00.003+08:00

Today was my 6th yoga class and as I get more familiar to the various names of the poses, my yoga class seemed to get funnier.

Last time, when we don't hold our poses long enough, our yoga instructor will threaten us by saying "whoever drop out of balance first must do 10 chaturanga!" and nobody really reacted because.. er.. what's a chaturanga?

This is a chaturanga:

And now that we know what's a chaturanga, when she says "give me 5 chaturanga.." you can already hear us going "oh my gawwwd!!!"

Followed by the "urgh! urg! urpppp!"

My yoga instructor is super patient as she smiles and say, "OK good, now hold, hold, hold"

That's the favourite line: "Good, now hold, hold, hold"

And because she is so patient and nice, naturally you'll want to follow what she says and you go hold, hold..... not quite.. "aik!" *crash* *gets up quickly*... hold. Cheat at yoga!

Anyways, as the class gets smaller, the instructor has more opportunity to scrutinize your every pose/stretch/posture.

Just when you seem to be in a comfort zone with your Downward Dog, she comes to you and ask you to bend lower and have your legs go straighter. And another favourite phrase of hers: "OK, I'm coming to lend you a hand"

She says this ask she pushes you to your stretchability limits. Never did I know I can do that!

And during the one hour class, around the 45th minute, after we have stretched more than we can and held more than we could ever imagine, she will announce, "OK, now, get into a child's pose to relax yourself a little"

To which we will go: "Yay!!!"

"My favourite!"
"My comfort zone!"

amongst others exclamation of happiness. Well, there's not a lot of poses where we ALL excel in other than the Child's Pose.

You see, this is a Child's Pose:
Good right.

Anyways, I told my instructor that my aim/goal is to do the yoga handstand. And she duly did this:

"Is it this one?"

"Whoaaaa!!" went the class.

She said that some people can achieve this just after around 3-6 months of practicing yoga. Hontouni?!!

Cool. If I ever get to do this, I'll make sure I take a photo and post it here and even in Facebook.

going green

2009-05-24T18:12:00.003+08:00

.... and I thought I was a bit paranoid with taking care of my little potted plant Bobbee and his new water-based sister Dee-Dee. When they look kinda wilt-ish, I water them and touch their leaves to make sure they know I'm there. I even introduce them to all my colleagues. But I just found out there are people who takes this more seriously than I ever did!

Maxine: Psst!!
Me: *whisper* yes? er, why are we whispering?
Maxine: *whisper* Ms Nora is going to give you one of her.. wait

*use her palms to cover Dee-Dee so Dee-Dee won't hear our conversation.

Maxine: .. going to give you one of her plants. Also water-based. You have to think of a new name for it and think where to put it!
Me: *whispers back* OK! Let's see... not sure. Have to see it first!

*removes palms around Dee-Dee*

Maxine: OK. I'm going to inherit one of the plants as well. Do you think Emily is a good name?
Me: Sounds nice! One of the more popular names.. but..
Maxine: Each time I think of Emily, I think of Emily Rose
Me: Yes, exactly what I wanted to say. Better not.

Our Front Office Manager treats her plants like her pets as she speaks to them and praise them when they look fresh and pretty. She's being promoted and is leaving to another sister hotel for her new challenges but sadly, her pets cannot follow... so we are inheriting it!

FOM: Its OK. You'll have a new owner who will take good care of you. Really good care, OK?

At first I thought it was just basically speaking to the plants in general... like how are you all today?

But she acknowledges each of them and with a meaningful look. Like having a conversation. No wonder they are so healthy. Wow. I thought I was alone in this world where I'm the only one who talks to inanimate objects until now! So, I'm pretty normal after all. Try suing me for talking to my plants!

On the day we inherited the plants...

Maxine: Awww... I shall name you Lovely... Yvonne, is Lovely a good name for her?
Me: Yeah, she is lovely after all..
Maxine: And you, Beauty... aww... tomorrow I'll clean you up, OK?

You see, Maxine is new to plants. So this is like her first baby. There is bound to be more fuss and frills for these plants. Like the first time parent, the baby has priority in everything. Even a place on her desk.

Me?

Maxine: So, what are you going to name your new family member?
Me: Well, I'm going to buy a bigger bowl and merge Dee-Dee with him and they can flourish and have lotsa leaves(children) together...
Maxine: How did you know the new plant is a male? How sure are you?
Me: hmm... I guess it doesn't matter.. they are.. erm.. homos...
Trainee: *choke choke*
Maxine: Hmm.. that will do.

oh, to be a taxi driver

2009-05-23T23:18:00.003+08:00

I have given it some thinking. Mainly because I was taking a time out and didn't want to think of anything too mind-boggling. Just some menial things. Let's see. Scan through the archive of menial things to think about when chilling. Ah, I decided to think about how difficult it is to be a taxi driver in KL. Therefore, I have thought of the challenges faced by taxi drivers so we can appreciate them more for their services.

1) You think it is easy to be driving for long hours in a taxi with cheap fragrance?
2) Have to fork out hundred plus bucks to 'modify' my meter, ok!
3) Have to always decide on where I want to go and where I don't want to go.
4) Customers are not willing to pay 'flat rates' these days due to the economy! darn!
5) Have to practice making the 'face' when customers tell me some weird place they wanna go to.
6) Have to calculate fares. Meter Rm16.50 + Toll RM 2.00 = RM21 la! Got 2 tolls you know... RM 1 each. But customers don't understand.
7) I hate it when customers want to go to KLCC. Jam la!
8) Cannot tahan when customers ask me to print receipts. The machine never works!

Man... not easy. And I thought the current hot weather was the main problem. I always tell them to drink more water. Ganbateh, drivers!

what's with the weather?

2009-05-03T13:23:00.003+08:00

Such beautiful weather today!!!

It is sunny and hot, as it has been all week, but is it also super windy! Nice. With my curtains making swish-swoshing sounds as they brush against the window sills, I almost imagined I was at the beach listening to lazy waves. Time to head to the pool.

Well, just want to note about something nice because everyone's been complaining about the weather lately. Everyone's been complaining about a lot of things lately... yes, me too! Time to look at the beautiful side of things.

Also, because I still have internet to use! hahahaha!! I'm running out of ideas on what to do with the connection. Paid all my bills, checked all my e-mails. Superpoked people on facebook and checked out everyone's walls and photos. MSN-ed to death. Googled for ideas for Mother's day presents. What else?!

Maybe I should go outside and play now.

wah!

2009-05-01T20:27:00.002+08:00

So it is Labour Day today and I didn't have any internet connection and so after waking up at 12.30pm (excuse: I am on medication), I had lunch and turned on the TV for my pigging out in front of the TV. I AM on medication.

Well, if you feel you lack sadness in your life, turning on the TV at 1.30pm is the best way to feel the depression and sadness that you need. Wah. From RTM 1 to TV9, all sad shows! Even the Feel Good channel was not spared. RTM 1 had some discussion on some sad issue, RTM2 had a scene where a prostitute was crying while praying because she was forced into it while her evil colleagues told her to dream on, TV3 had a Makcik staying in an old, dirty hut by herself with no money because her son and evil wife duped her into moving out on the pretext that they want to renovate it to make it bigger and so they can live with her and take care of her BUT never invited her back to her now big house. NTV7 had a scene where a family is crying at a funeral and the father saying "it is all my fault, it is all my fault". TV9... is just plain sad.

There is no use of a flat screen TV if you don't have good stuff on TV. Or Astro. Or good movies on DVD. Let's see. Have watched Austalia (whoa, loved that scene where Hugh Jackman took a bath in the woods with that one can of water). Protege... hmm... let's watch again! Watching a movie twice is made OK when you have Daniel Wu starring in it. yum cha yum cha.. there goes my afternoon.

Halfway reading my "A complaint is a Gift", suddenly I thought... Maybe, just maybe, I can test out my internet and see if I can still use it. Bingo! Can still be used! whoa!! I wonder why... even when I don't top up! Its OK... add some shine to my day.

Yesterday, said before dodgy number guy called me to explain why my internet connection is slow. Actually, I think there will be less damage done if he didn't call because this is what he said:

"I have already asked my boss and he told me that where you are staying is under the Umbrella Effect.. yada yada (something I didn't get)... So that's why it is slower now. So that's why we decided to OFFER to you to top up at RM48, less expensive, because you are not getting the fast speed up to 1mbps. This one will change yours to half the speed. So it is savings for you! So now you pay half the price and can still get connection!"

Of course, I was speechless.

But, since he is so sincere in "helping" his customers, I decided it is OK. Just straight to the point: I told him that I don't care about money. I want the speed.

He said he have to refer to his boss and find out what other solutions he can offer other than the hint he gave such as, erm, you still want to stay there? Hahaha... move out to another place just so I can subscribe to your internet? wah.... very confident la this fella.

Now I'm really anticipating if he will ever call back and if he does, what solutions his company can offer me.

internet woes

2009-04-26T19:16:00.003+08:00

OK, so with NO choice because I stay so many floors above ground I made a hasty decision on Saturday...

I signed up for Streamyx!

Shit. Suddenly I got this feeling like the kind of feeling you get when you finally made a decision and the decision is something that people frown upon. Is this matter something that I should march on ahead with or frown along?

hmmm...

The thing is, Streamyx has been having lotsa bad press if you ask me. However, my mom and dad uses Streamyx but does not seem to be having problems...so far... so.. this is a 50/50 thing.

Only time will tell. Let's see how efficient they are first. I was told to wait 3 days for them to call me to install the whatsit and then 2 days to deliver the modem whatsit. I will not have internet till the weekend! help!!!

Oh, right now I'm using the final day of my current Izzi and am glad. It all seemed fine and dandy at first but their customer service really really needs improvements. Not professional and they always have dodgy mobile numbers calling you to inquire on when is the last day of my top up, like, what the fuck? I should be asking you!! And there was once this guy called to say he can offer to sell the top up at a cheaper rate and I question him how will I know if he is really from Izzi and he decided to say, "Well, I'm calling you now to give you this offer!" Not the answer that I was looking for so I hung up.

Then suddenly, 2 days ago, some other guy called me on his mobile to "inform" me that I did not top up and would like to offer me to buy a top up from him and I said, no, I'm still surfing the internet and it is so slow by the way. Then he ask, oh, how many days do you have left before you need to top up. I said, I think you should be telling me, not me telling you. Then he proceeded to step on thin ice by asking me this , "what do you mean by slow?"

I said, well, picture this: I click to open my e-mail, I go out for dinner and I come back, the e-mail is not opened. So how?

He said impossible and I said this is what I am experiencing sometimes.

Then he decided to make an appointment to come over and check it out. OK, can give second chance. But he or his "technicians" did not call back. Too bad. It was promising but it died a sure death.

Anyways, all that shall be behind my ass now. However, the future seems to be rather dodgy too. haih...

corrected

2009-04-21T20:42:00.002+08:00

So, in all my confusion and limitations (17th floor too high so WiMax cannot reach, it seems), I have decided to just go and ask this WiMax counter boy at my place about the possibilities of utilizing their services, because I was getting sick of the irregularities and unpredictable state of my current service provider and am paying a lot for it! Crappo!!

I asked him about WiMax and he tried to "upsell" to me. Seriously, that's all everyone's doing lately. Upsell, that is.

Then he also decided to introduce their new Wiggy thinghy to me.

So I said, "Oh, I know about that. The wiggy (I pronounced it as wee gee) right?"

Then he decided that enough is enough! What's wrong with all these customers! Getting the name wrong!! He said, "Er, actually, it is wee-jee..."

"Oh. Oh.... really? erm, the 'wee jee'. Of course."

OK, I have yet to talk to someone else who works with WiMax. I need clarifications.

Like, do you pronounce piggy bank as pee jee bank?

Why, ah? hmmm.....

monday rocks for once

2009-04-13T09:02:00.003+08:00

Am on leave today and man, do I love being off on weekdays. I mean, you can hear the birds chirping!! I still can, by the way. Look at me! Loving and living life at 9.00am! Hahaha...

The best part about not working on Mondays is the semi-smugness you feel as you watch people going to work grudgingly, majority of them silently cursing in their heads, "wtf. wtf. wtf." Some still thinking about yesterday's party. Some still thinking of that top on 50% discount during their Sunday shopping spree, "Should I have bought it?" Some wondered if they remembered to pack their Easter chocolate eggs. Some just did not seem to have woken up as they snoozed all the way, heads bowed low and handbags slipping away with files dropping out of their "Save the Environment" shopper bags.

I took my mommy to the train station and on the way back, I saw a later batch of people going to work. They also have the same look and the almost same invisible speech bubbles except that theirs said "wtf" in capitals. Like, "WTF". Maybe they were running late? hmmm..

I'm going for a swim and sunbath now. Ta!

finally?

2009-04-11T22:57:00.003+08:00

So.

It is past Good Friday now.

Before this, I told myself that the moment I reach Saturday, I shall eaaaaaaaat chocolates! Like I mean it! Like a big kid, I announced that I'm going to hunt down alllll the Easter Bunnies Chocolates and eat 'em all! Move aside kiddies! (To which my bossy pointed out that it wasn't what Easter is all about. I know...)

But it has been a whole 23 hours and I did not gobble chocolates like I'm having THAT time of the month x 12. x 12!

:)

Because to fast is not about to end up indulging in it later on, right? Then, it would just be self torture.

Anyways, no chocs and no meat for me yesterday for Good Friday. One of my colleagues joined me on the Vegetarian flavoured Maggi cup noodles lunch yesterday. For her religious purposes, she has her own meat-fasting vows for Tuesdays and Fridays.

"I'm not even supposed to have sex on these days."

"And not even think about it!" she announced.

To which we were quite sceptical. o_o

"But I can't help it la."

By the way, we had a farewell party that day in the staff lounge and, man, were the desserts deeelicious. Ooh, mini strawberries. Ooh, watermelon. Ooh, tiny oval-shaped choc cake with super big chocolate chip shaped choc topping and mini chocolate piece stuck on the choc topping created by our pastry team. You just can never over-do chocolates. Everything goes.

*pops a piece into my mouth*

"mm..... MMm!!! MMM!!!!"
"What? What? Does it taste bad??" asks Maxine trying to understand my mumbling which suddenly turned too exciting.
"mmm-mm-mm!!"
"hmm? oh! Cho-co-late?" Spit it out! Spit it out!"

hahaha....

"It's OK. You didn't swallow it."
"Yeah... Man, that was good cake over there."
"It's OK. Only 2 more days to go."

I can almost imagine people shaking their heads disapprovingly.

The in came my dessert buddy Iris, prancing happily into the office.

"So, is our brownie plan at DELIcious still on?!"
"hahaha... yes, yes..."

Happy Easter, people! :D

i-scream!

2009-04-05T10:48:00.003+08:00

Random pic of my Very Very Strawberry

Yesterday, after a super heavy lunch at Ichiban Boshi I decided to convince my friends to go have ice cream at the Baskin Robbins Cafe. I was craving for sugar ok. It was then that I started to wish I have worked part-time in an ice cream parlour last time. I should have been more adventurous and independent! The only part-time I have done is giving tuition for my juniors and part-time sales assistant in Topshop and that was a really good experience.

The thing is, you will feel like the most powerful person at that moment when the customer orders an ice cream from you. You sort of get to silently decide how big a scoop the customer gets and you sort of get to silently decide how much toppings they get to enjoy too!

Now, I'm very sure they have a standard operating procedure in place and a standardized scoop size and toppings count.

But it seems the sizes have been varying in this past month when I go to all the different brands. Sometimes I get a very very standard scoop (like, so small you almost felt disappointed) and sometimes I get a very full scoop, where the, erm, ice cream guy (what are their designation?), spend some time perfecting his skills to make a super round scoop (not the semi-spherical one). So, really, I don't really fancy the idea that each time I go to an ice cream parlour, the size of my ice cream scoop depends on who scoops my ice cream!

Already, I see some nods over there.

Anyways, my experience in Baskin Robbins was good. Service was excellent. Well, mostly you pick your flavour and you ask for a pinch to taste, you decide and you pay. Sort of self-service. But again, it depends on who you approach to get your scoop.

This dude I got was super friendly and smiley. It seems like he is really enjoying his work, serving his valued customers with their favourite flavours and seeing their smiles makes him feel satisfied and keeps him going. Or maybe, he was just born smiley.

Anyways, when I asked for tasting, he happily obliged. You know it is very difficult for me, these past few weeks, to decide on a flavour because I'm fasting from chocolates. And those waiters at NZ Natural and Haagen Dazs doesn't seem to fancy the thought of me being undecided. Hello.

And he really fill up the tiny spoon so I get a thorough taste before I make my decision. And finally, Very Very Strawberry it is! Man, was the scoop so perfectly round.. and big. I suddenly remembered the i-scream parlour in HongKong! Nostalgic! Bravo! We have here, ladies and gentlemen, an Ice Cream Guy!

Good, eh. Good ice cream after good sashimi and followed by a long gossip session with my friends. Oh, satisfying.

Now, let's see. Based on my recent visits to these places, I shall now suggest to you how to get a good ice cream experience.

1) If you see a crowd of undecided people, stand back and wait till they have chosen and bought their scoops. Patience, people. When the Ice Cream Guy/Girl is busy/kan cheong, he or she will be less attentive to your Big Decision Making on the flavours.

2) Look out for the Ice Cream Guy/Girl who looks like they take pride in their jobs. If they all look crappy, then have to depend on number 3).

3) If possible, approach the Ice Cream Guy if you are a girl and approach the Ice Cream Girl if you are a guy. Oh yes, there IS a difference.

4) Give them your 'Ooh! Ice Cream!" look to show how much this scoop of ice cream mean to you. Don't know the look? Erm, just bring a 5 year old to the shop and copy that look.

5) Ask politely, almost like you are troubling them, to taste the various crazy flavours. This is free after all.

6) When you have decided, give them your "Yes, I have decided" look and ask them for "one big round scoop of ________" and smile. I didn't actually say this but I think I will start to the next time I go. Hehe. Just to be sure.

7) If you really do get a big round scoop, give them the happiest look you have and pay. If you don't, then give them the "disappointed but it is OK because obviously you like to cheat your customers" look. I guess it doesn't really matter since you already have the ice cream in your hand but at least he/she will feel guilty and will think carefully when he/she decides to stinge on the scoop again! :D

grammy

2009-03-30T20:07:00.002+08:00

It was a pretty humbling trip back home this weekend as I went to help mom with looking after grammy for the "afternoon shift". Aunt Lily does morning and Aunt Lucina does night. Mom does the afternoon one.

As posted on facebook:

Today, I went with mom to grammy's house. Grammy is old now and can't really take care of herself. aunty Lily is looking after her there. She needs people to feed her, bathe her, etc... my job was to fan her with the super traditional rattan fan. The table fan/ceiling fan is just sooo uncool. Cool ya, grammy? My other job, when I'm not fanning her, is to apply eucalyptus oil on her temples and chest. She likes the minty feeling.

Grammy likes to hold people's hands/arms when she has nothing to do. Maybe she felt it was comforting. And warm. She says her fingers felt cold. She likes warm hands.

So while I was fanning her, she decided to reach out and hold my hands. OK, grammy, here you go, my hands.

I think she felt I was no good. She let go after 5 seconds and call for my mom. Because my fingers were not too warm and my wrists were pretty small. She didn't bother to reach out for my hands anymore after that. -_-

Oh well...

It was painful to see grammy because it was obvious she was suffering. Her actions, her words. I feel like it was how I felt when I'm sick, helpless, weak and in pain all over. Nothing is wrong - it is just the body weakening day by day due to age. sigh.

On the bright side, she has her own daughters caring for her. She hates strangers. Me too, grammy. :)

The evil pocky

2009-03-23T21:04:00.003+08:00

a continuation of my seemingly eternal journey of chocolatelessness.....

It is not wise to have chocolate flavoured Pocky snacks in the kitchen when you are fasting from chocolates. Not wise at all. Then you wonder why did I ever buy it? Well, it came in a package with 3 packs of strawberry flavoured ones. Needless to say, the strawberry ones were long gone leaving the chocolate once to be ignored. Or not. Oh yes.

You have no idea how many times I had to really use my will power to look away or think about something else... like, erm, the KL stock exchange or something. urgh.

Anyways, was in Suria for lunch today and man, Godiva was glowing.

And I had lunch and once again, that irresistable crave for chocolates snuck up my longing heart. This feeling is getting stronger by the day. I wonder if I can pull through.

And so I decided to reward myself with some ice-cream! Haagen dazs was right in front of me so, OK, let's do it! (eventhough New Zealand Nat would have been a better deal)

Tonikaku, it is not wise to choose an ice cream shop where 65% of its flavours have chocolates in it. Urgh. SO how? Macadamia Nuts? Boring. Sorbet? What! Strawberry? No. Mango! No. Coffee? Allergic! So I ended up with some fancy-named caramel & vanilla flavour. Ooh. Nawce!

haih. 17 more to go... tick tock tick tock...

Forty days of serious crave

2009-03-15T19:47:00.008+08:00

OK, I think I'm kind of torturing myself.

Give me some chocolates already! roar!

It is the Lent season and normally people would refrain/fast from something. Maybe to feel the pain that Jesus went through. For forty days.

And I decided on chocolates. This was decided when I was having my weekly jog around KLCC park with my colleagues Presee and Maxine. It wasn't difficult to decide.
I mean, I already don't get worldly pleasures like most people. Such as
-alcohol
-coffee
-cigarettes

...among other things.

So how? Chocolates lah. Noooooooooooo.... well, there is nothing else that I can think of. I eat chocolates everyday.

Sometimes as a morning snack on my way to work in the LRT. I eat some after lunch because I have a habit to eat something sweet after a meal and I personally don't like candies. So I go for the smooth, milky and sweet chocolates. I eat it as an energy booster (and sometimes mood booster) in the afternoon at work. If anyone goes to KLCC Suria and asks what I want to "tapao" from there, I'll go "get me some chocolates! I need to re-stock!" before I think of anything else to ta-pao. I eat some when I'm reading or watching TV or waiting for people. It is common to find a pack of M&Ms tucked in my bag for emergency chocolate needs (I'm serious). I even eat some before I sleep because it makes me happy, OK?.

Forty days.

No wonder I've been moody. urgh. What a toll.

I've been told that this kind of fasting is kind of meaningless because I don't frequently go to church. Oh well, since I have already put my heart to it and as long as I have the faith in my heart. :)

Forty days.

Positively thinking, I actually save a lot of money because I really eat a lot of chocolates. Let's see:

Weekly big Cadbury bar - RM6.99 x 4
Pocky - RM2.99 x around 4
M&Ms small pack - RM2.39 x 6
M&Ms big pack - around RM 5.00 x 2

Estimated Monthly Total = RM64.26

Hmm... maybe I should keep this up.

And I get healthier too:

Colleague : Yvonne, want anything from KLCC?
Me: ... just get me some juice...
Colleague : You sure?

The pain is magnified when...

"Yvoooooonne, here are some chocolates for you! I know you like chocolates. I bought this from Dubai!!"
*dramatic sad music, all lights go out and only spot light on me, already on my knees - why... why...
cannot breathe.

Forty days...

I'm SO going for chocolate brownies at Delicious at Marc after Good Friday.

Oh anyways, I found out about this heavenly brownies from a friend long time ago and have been having it a few times. I recently had a chat with a foreign tourist who was telling me about his experiences in KL and then he started talking about these same brownies. Haha. Small world. Described as "a piece of heaven compacted into a piece of brownie".

Forty days............

25 more to go...

boys' girl talk

2009-03-09T19:08:00.003+08:00

The trainees I get in my department never fails to entertain me.

A conversation between Aa (not his real name), Bb (not his real name either) and me.

Me: Hey! You skin looks better now after your break. What happened?
Aa: Oh, right? You noticed. Yea, now I can smile. I bought a new moisturiser.
Me: Really? Which one did you get?
Aa: Clinique. Is that a good brand?

Bb: Why? Your skin had problem? Go to New York la.
Aa: Huh?
Me: Oh, that New York Skin Solutions ah?
Bb: Eh, you know about it? You go there too?
Me: No lah. I just know the name from reading newspapers...
Aa: Is it good?

Me: Eh, wait a minute. You go to New York? You go for facials?! Even I don't go for facials!
Bb: Go la... It is good for your skin. I bought a package last time. RM3000.00 for 10 sessions.
Me: Gasp!
Aa: Really? Is it effective?
Bb: Ya. After 3 sessions you can see the difference already. You should try it.
Aa: But RM3000. Quite expensive right.
Bb: Last time I bought the package because I got chicken pox and there were really huge scars you know. My father sent me there.
Aa: Oh. So now your skin better ya..
Me: Gasp! Your father sent you there??
Bb: Ya.
Me: Scared you cannot find girlfriend?
Bb: Ya. Exactly. He told me with the scars cannot find girlfriend..
Aa: So where is this New York place?
Bb: etc etc etc
Aa: etc etc etc...
Bb: etc etc etc.....

*I went to the bathroom and came back and they were still discussing the details.

Me: Omg, can you all discuss about something else? I'm not used to this.
Aa: Yvonne, do you think I should go and try?
Bb: Its OK. You can try.. etc etc... then they have their own products etc etc etc...
Aa: I'm just thinking... etc etc...

Me: *Look away* sigh.

my first concert

2009-03-08T21:54:00.004+08:00

Snippet:

Iris: Wah. That was great! When did you first went to a concert?
Me: This is the first!
Iris: OMG! So exciting! This is a wonderful moment. Take a photo!!

Well... yeah. Jason Mraz's concert last Wednesday at Stadium Negara was my first! And it was great! Very simple, pretty laid back. Just him and his guitar. And his very adorable band.

Some photos:

The crowd building up...

Jason appears!

Him and his signature hat

Loved the lighting...

The crowd in full!

Penny arrives (late-ish) and did a lukewarm performance with Jason...

I honestly think they should change her stylist... if there is one...

Jason on his own again (after about 3 minutes) and glows!

Group shot!

humbly they go...

A very pleasant and entertaining first time experience for me! More to go! Way to go Jason!

Yvonne watches Bleach

2009-02-22T13:38:00.004+08:00

If you asked me, I never had the patience with anime. So many people have been fans of anime around me and I never did get it. My sister Lisa watches anime like crazy and I never did buy into it. My cousins have been anime fans for ages and I never did ask about it. I did try but never did get so involved in it. I sometimes question it like how people question why I love Winnie the Pooh so much.

I guess that's changed now.

Yvonne is now watching Bleach! Something I would have thought of as a cartoon about cleaning agents for white shirts before, is now something I fill my free time with! Me like!

Me like Ichigo Kurosaki... his determination and his seemingly endless energy and will to win... His character get more and more good looking by the day.

Me like Yachiru! (the one who piggy on Zaraki Kenpachi's back)

Yachiru for her fearlessness (because she has "Ken-chan" as her captain) and love for fun and sweets... like me. haha. except for the absolute fearlessness...

and me most like Kuchiki Byakuya!

Byakuya is the epitome of cool in this series. And his voice... so steady and cool. The creator didn't even think of cutesifying him in those short parody of his own characters after each episode.

But look what I found! a cute version of Byakuya on this webby.
hahaha.. I'm sure when I look back in 10 years time, I will be laughing at the infatuation. Tonikaku (anyways), watching Bleach teaches one a new language! I think I can learn the Japanese language faster if I have interest and if I am exposed to listening to it everyday. It is working.

Next on my goal will be a visit to Japan! I wanna experience the home land of this whole anime business. Ganbateh!

*so I guess my whole indescribable wonders are on hold for now. I have a destination at the moment. :)

The complexity of it all

2009-02-21T22:43:00.006+08:00

I just had a very good nap and am full of energy and am full of enthusiasm to do something eventhough it is already 11pm on a Saturday and am at home. I should be reading my 7 Habits of Highly Effective People book or ironing my clothes or preparing handouts for my training on Monday or sorting out my bookshelves.... but er, maybe not that enthusiastic. If you asked me this last year, what I was doing at this hour on a Saturday, I'll be partying somewhere. But now... kind of mellowed down a lot.

My colleague asked me what was I going to do after work today because it is half-day today and I said with a happy face "I'm going home to sleep!" Which is a very original and sincere answer because I was pretty tired and sleepy and all I wanted was my bed and bolster and my basic human instinct told me that I'm going to sleeeeep when I get home. Simple. Then my colleague said I was not lady-like at all. o_o.

"Why!!" I demanded. He said girls are not supposed to say that because it doesn't look good on them. It seems I was supposed to say things like going home to clean up or do some housework etc etc.

omg. I just revealed a 'cho-lor' side of me? (cho-lor roughly means rough)

"Oh. No la. I'm going home to do some embroidery first. Then I'll take a short nap. I have to water plants too and cook dinner!"

And obviously it was too fake. "That's too much la" he said.

Well, whatever.

Actually, I do go home, clean up my house, do my laundry, make some tea while waiting for laundry, put on a facial mask, watch some anime (Bleach!), hang up clothes to dry and then only have a nap. See? That's a lot, right? That's very lady-like isn't it? I just didn't go on to mention all the nitty-gritty details maybe because my mind just said out loud that I wanted to sleep.

Hmm. OK. I conclude I'm pretty lady-like.

Just don't expect me to bow my head and smile shyly all the time.

I even went grocery shopping today and bought healthy stuff like fruits (I got seedless grapes! woohoo!), cheese, vitamin c and found this really nice bread by Gardenia! whoa. I think I will not buy any other kinds of bread for now. It is chocolate and raisin flavour and even has an 'atas' name like Gardenia Delicia. Haha.

And with that, there goes another week in another month in another year. hmm.... It was pretty much the same last weekend. And it was freaking Valentine's day and I was at work and I actually felt like it was just another day. Just like when it was Chinese New Year or Christmas. It felt like just another day. I wonder why. As this is my little journal, let me state that I have a lot of indescribable thoughts and questions and piece-o-minds. Like when humans started to wonder if the earth was flat or a sphere and if it was flat, and if we travel to the end of it, will we fall off the edge? Unfortunately, the person with that question never did find out because it was actually a sphere and he just kept on going until he reached a place where he thought was familiar because it is after all where he started. "oh, I'm home. I'm home! hurrah!" Or so I think. Or like when Newton found Gravity. He was wondering too. Or when Maslow decided on his Needs Hierachy. He was wondering too.

SO. Yeah. I'm at that stage in life where I wonder about these seemingly macro stuffs. Not stuffs like "What should I wear to the party?omg omg." More like a "Did the chicken or egg come first?" stuff. Indescribable. Its like I need to use more than that miserly 3% of my brain matters this time. But like how? I wonder.

I wonder.

I also wonder if I should continue to wonder or continue on moving and getting back on the track of what we call life (with destination unknown). Hmmm.

i fucking love you

2009-02-16T23:12:00.002+08:00

hahaha.. some people take love very seriously indeed...

*taken from a cute plastic bag from which i bought some cute things in some harmless shop selling cutesy stuff where little kids patron

Insufficient snooze

2009-02-15T12:21:00.003+08:00

Yvonne's Health Journal Entry #3 (3rd so far I think, hehe):

My body is changing everyday and it is changing at an alarming rate! People say that once you hit 23 years old, you should start to take care of your body as you would advice your parents to. No more "aiya, I'm still young. Bak Kut Teh everyday, no problem! Later go gym la.." Oh no.

How true it is. I just recently reacted badly to milk (which I used to drink every night before I sleep!) and just yesterday, I reacted badly to coffee.

I used to have headache and little flutters in my heart after coffee and I get so hyper I start talking and talking and talking. People sometimes ask me to drink coffee for that. (!!). About an hour later, I'll be back to normal and I'll even get a good night's sleep after I worked out all that coffee. That's why I sometimes drink that before a night out. Hehe.

But yesterday was crazy! Headache and heart palpitations and difficulty in breathing. I even popped my head out my window to gasp for deep breaths in case it is my room that is stuffy. I really, honestly think I was dying!

(and coincidentally, I just unthinkingly told my colleague last week that I think I will die young).

SO, in summary, no more coffee for me for now. No alcohol either because that one will really kill me. And no milk. And no dust. I also make sure I eat at a fixed time everyday and thank God I have a cafeteria in the hotel. This is to prevent gastric. Aiyo.

These are times when you wish you are still staying with your parents. Dad will remind you and mom will cook nourishing, tasty food. *touching tears well up in eyes*

And guess what? I just tested my own limits when I just had a very hectic week at work this week. Maximum physical and mental activity with minimum sleep. Symptoms:

-hand shaking
-heartbeat very weird
-shortness of breath
-puffy eyes (no!)
-dry skin (sigh)
-unshiny hair (ayo!)

I think I should try to sleep 8 hours a day for 2 weeks and see what is the outcome. Will update after! In the meantime, I think I should start to cherish my life.

Earth Ox Year!

2009-02-01T20:11:00.005+08:00

Chinese New Year has come and today is the 7th day already. 8 more days to go! My colleagues Presee and Maxine were abuzz with reading their feng shui and eating jam tarts. It is the year of the Earth Ox! And I'm born in the year of the Ox!

"Does anyone have a compass around here?!" screamed Max once she got hold of the Feng Shui book from Ms Nora.

"So how, face east? West?" Presee querried. Krishna and I look on curiously.

"I can be your compass!" I volunteered and promptly stretched out both my arms with my right pointing to where I remember the sun rised (and burn my backside) and my left pointing to the supposed west la.

"OK, let's see your Pak Kua first. Ox, 1985, earth OX, woman, ok you are number 9."

"Whoa, Max, you can change jobs!"

Anyways, it was all for the fun of CNY. When else you can indulge in people telling you what to do and how to do it.

Don't wear black!
Don't say "die!"
Don't freaking sweep the floor!
Wear red!
Light fire crackers!
Toss yee sang!
Eat prawns!
Throw orange into river!
Eat crazy seaweed called Fat Choy!
Don't buy books! (??)
...and many more...

It is fun although sometimes you struggle to make sense of things.

Anyways, some photos from this CNY!

Yee Sang with colleagues!

back home! visit to the organice farm - they have flowers! And did you know that the tiny tiny black seeds in the dragon fruits can each grow into that huge plant which produces the fruits? Yes, it starts with that one tiny tiny seed!

Wah! Kluang has a new shopping mall! We have Big Apple Donuts and Secret Recipe and PDI and Sushi King. Whoa. Anyways, bought these slippers to commemorate the year of the Ox.

First day of New Year at Grammy's place of course... some shiok sendiri photos...

Barbecue at my place with family!Man, it was fun. So much food, so much coke, so many chicken wings, toooo many pineapple tarts. Time for exercise! Moo-!

new year, new look!

2009-01-18T20:07:00.003+08:00

I just drew up a proposal for a new look for our little office! Wanna see?

This is before...
Of course my place is the one pink in colour...

And this is after!

With two new table coming in for our 2 new colleagues, we've gotta squeeze a bit. Get closer together-gether.

I drew these with Gliffy.com with their 30 day free trial. This is just one of the many floor plan softwares out there and it is like in those days when I drew floor plans for my kiddie projects. Haha! So, it was somewhat beneficial to my adulthood. Don't look down on your masak-masak play time!

Anyways, the problem with free trials is I have to hope the changes and amendments get confirmed before the 30 days are up!

pork without fat!

2009-01-17T22:59:00.006+08:00

Today, I explored into Jaya One with my cousins Steph and Elaine. After lots of "what do you want to eat?" questions, we finally decided on Kissaten!

I liked their Extra Large Lightbulbs! So round and cute!

A "fusion Japanese" restaurant, Kissaten sounds like a fusion name too. Don't know if it has any meaning in Japonaise.

-World's smallest pepper mill candidate-

Anyways, I had good pork here. Any shops with good pork is worth mentioning in my blissful blog.

This Ginger pork dish I had didn't have fats on it! Whoa! This is like one of the shops for Yvonne.

Clearly, we liked the food. Elaine had the oyster dish. Steph had the pork slice noodles which came with Gyozas. Both very good.And ooh! Desserts!

This is the Choco Pudding. Very the nice and rich! It was smooth but about 50% of it was not as smooth as the other 50%. I think they didn't stir well. Tsk Tsk. Shame on the pastry chef.

Another dessert!

Some pumpkin pudding with red bean. Nice but I'm not a red bean person...

Yay! I've found another Japanese food haunt! (Don't worry Sushi Zan Mai, I still love you. Just make sure you continue with the good service!) As for Kissaten, definitely going back again to try more stuff. Yummmm.

need trainees

2009-01-08T19:47:00.004+08:00

A conversation today...

Yvonne: OMG, we need trainees. I'm so overworked!

Krish: Get some trainees la! Get girls la!

Yvonne: Why?

Krish: You always hire boys! Get some girls la.

Yvonne: ... Oh!! Of course I choose boys la. Hey, I got some cute girls for you before what. That one not cute meh?

Krish: Ya. Now no more! Why?

Yvonne: Coming soon la. OMG, we need trainees.

Krish: Ya la.

People, we are hiring trainees! Apply if you are hot! :D

salute to the aunties

2009-01-05T18:49:00.003+08:00

Can't breathe.

Sweating. Cold.

Can't see clearly. Black and white dots.

OMG. Can't hear.

Legs are jellyfied. Can't stand. Need. To. Sit.

That's what happened in the LRT today and thank God for the aunties around me.

One pulled me to sit down. Another two fanned me. Then they pulled me out of the train at the next station amidst the crowd and keeping in mind to make sure I hold my bag in front of me while I recuperated.

I couldn't speak. I wanted water. I took out some money and asked the aunties to help me buy water.

"No need! I got!"

Whoa. Their bags are so full of handy things.

"Do you need plastic bag to vomit?"

All the other younger able-bodied people were just looking cluelessly. I can't remember. Or were they staring curiously?

After a while of accompanying, inclusive of reassuring words and loads of advice, they bade me farewell and asked me to be careful. They were like my mom. Lotsa advice. Lotsa eucalyptus ointment.

I couldn't thank them enough. The next time I'm rushing to the next destination, I will make sure I do stop and help a person in need if I see one because I now know the beauty of humanity.

Here is to all the aunties out there! Hugs. :)

Macau and Hong Kong!

2009-01-03T20:02:00.013+08:00

Story-telling time!

So for my year end time-out, I went to Macau and then Hong Kong!

Macau first... lots of big hotels and casino!

This is MGM's interior:
Then we went to the city square... Christmas decorations were still up and carols can be heard everywhere!

At the Grand Lisboa:
I couldn't resist taking a photo in the streets.. the streets in Macau are mostly very narrow. The roads are narrow and you rarely see tar roads! Lots of stones and marble flooring...
And we finally came to the little coffeeshop which they normally call Char Chan Teng in Macau and Hongkong. This one specializes in steamed eggs and steamed milk pudding. Very eggy and milky to me.. haha.. and I tasted the pork chop bun for the first time!
Another pretty alley..
The next day, I finally understood how common the pork chop bun is. Everyone eats pork chop bun! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper.. always available! Like nasi lemak. And it usually goes with milk tea. I love it! We're talking about a piece of pork fried to perfection... not minced meat with what-nots.
and then, after walking a while, it was lunchy-teatime! What else but Portugese egg tart! yummers... and after lotsa heavy taste, it all washes down very well with this fave drink of mine-chrysanthemum with honey and lemon.soon it was night time and we went to the ruins which is the icon and memorial of Macau!
and for a taste of Portugese food to complete the trip, we had these for din din! whoa! Pork ribs!
View from my friend's house. The buildings here are pretty much old and small but fetches premium rent rates.
Look what we saw at a bus stop! Furry Friends' Toilet. No more digging required and loads of privacy.
Look what they call Guardian there in Macau and Hong Kong! Manning! I found this so amusing...And then we went to The Venetian. A hotel cum mall cum casino with Venetian theme.

They have little boat rides and the lady who rows it can also sing beautifully. This is what I call multitasking!

The ceiling of the mall is purposely elevated and painted to emulate the look of the skies. Very real! well, when you don't notice the shadows... o_oI don't know what you call these entertainers but they stand there and don't move for a long time. Some rich tourists actually threw money at him to get him to move for them... hmm. I don't think I will want his job...

Jesters too!
Me and Weilynn! We took this photo to make a thank you card for Shiowling and Chris for letting us bunk in their love nest. haha... Moving on to HongKong!
Before that, Jen jen brought us around before taking the ferry to HK. We went to the Fisherman's Wharf for some photo op!
They have gingy there!
While waiting for the ferry. Overlooking the Sands Hotel.
After an hour's ride, we see land!!
Ah, we're here! Welcome tea set at Kowloon Shangri-La...
We got lost! So we took photos. Haha...
We found ourselves always at these zebra crossings. The buzzing sounds of the traffic lights made us so kan-cheong! It will go tick-tick-tick then when it is time for pedestrian to cross, the ticking will go faster and faster! Like ticktickticktickticktick!
We walked so much that we decided that this is why there are not many fat people in HK.
In the MTR! We bought the Octopus (Pat Tat Tong) card and it can be used to go anywhere on the MTR. And if you actually top up money into it, you can use it for tram rides, ferry rides, and even use it to buy things in 7elevens.
Avenue of Stars which is just behind our hotel. At night, the lights are just preeeetty!
Look, the carpet in the lifts of Shangri-La actually shows the day. They change it everyday. How convenient! We'll never lose track of the days now. haha!

First stop will be City Hall to eat dimsum which is highly recommended by so many friends.
At Maxim Palace!We had to go early to avoid long queues and we actually ended up there at 10.15am. The place opens at 11.00am. Yup, we were the first. Hungry and impatient, we took photos!
That's Weilynn doing research for our next destination. The City Hall is so well designed and modern.
By 11.00am, there was already a big crowd outside Maxim Palace. We're in!

On a full tummy, we walked and walked around Central till we found Stanley Market. Very hilly place this Central.

And then we saw an escalator which will bring us to Mid Levels. Where is that? Whatever, let's go!

After about 20 over escalators, there were still lots more to go. Photo time!
We reached Mid Levels and then realise it was really just the mid levels. We either go up to The Peak or go back down. Up it is! We took a cab because... we got lost!!

So we reached the peak and decided to go up The Peak Tower which gave us even better view of HK than the ordinary ground of the peak. So it was the peak of the peak! Costed HKD20 though. haha...

Whoa.
Whoa.
The Peak Tower also houses an EA games station. Probably to keep the kids appeased while the parents take a romantic stroll on the tower. But then again, I spot many big kids too...
Astro Boy at Peak Gallery! This shop is so cool!
We took the tram back down to Central. It was the best and fastest way back and indeed an experience! So steep!!We went around Central and went to Times Square. This place is huge! Can't resist posting this photo. A Carrie Chau Gallery in Times Square. Very cute!
The next day we decided to explore The Avenue of Stars and Tsim Sha Tsui!

Beautiful view of the island from here...

There were a few tin men shaped after calafares in a movie set. This one is or a director. Retro director.So many Hong Kong stars! I took a photo with Tony Leung. Remembering the Infernal Affairs trilogy which I watched before setting off.. haha..

Calefares!
At Tsim Sha Tsui, we took a ferry across to Central to explore the IFC and IFC mall. The IFC is that tallest building you see on the island. Probably the most filmed building too!
Star Ferry! Very cool and only costs HKD2.20 for upper deck. Lower deck is only HKD1.70.

We took an MTR back to Kowloon and then headed off to the airport. Time for bye bye! sobs!

The view of HK from the plane was amazing! This is a lousy shot but you get the idea...
I'm gonna wear the "I Love HK" tee shirt now and mean it!

Yvonne's tiny lesson on how to cook a barbie

2008-12-27T08:39:00.004+08:00

Man, I love christmas! Such great atmosphere! Such cheerful people! Such good food!

I had a barbecue in my garden on Christmas day and I need to post this up so I'll never forget the beauty of barbecued pork.

First, you need to set up a fire! This is my first time!! It was super boring at first when the only things burning were the newspaper and the dried twigs. The charcoal were like old people saying, "yea, yeaa... I'm getting there."

Then, as the fire becomes a bigger and looks as pretty as the one shown below, you can rest assure that it is the charcoal burning already. Time to spread out!

Put your marinated skewered pork on the grill! Turn it over a few times to get it evenly cooked.

*don't ask me marinate with what... google it lo...

Remember sharing is caring.. share space with people!

"Hey! I'm cooking my pork!"
"So?"

End result:Juicy on the inside and a little charred on the edges! You'll have to keep applying some oil on the meat to get it to cook nicely.

Always be the first to cook because when the crowd comes in, you'll be slowly enjoying your barbie delights and sipping wine (coke for me) while the rest fight for barbie space. hehe.

nostalgic sweets

2008-12-21T20:18:00.003+08:00

Whoa! I love that 24 hour shop at my condo! It has everything! You can combine Tesco and Carrefour and still you won't stand anywhere near the extend of its product range. From cutting mat for only Rm14.50 (instead of RM100 at Kinokuniya) and vodka lime and cucumber to this!

Love this mousepad - always handy to lend a blissful burst of colours...

I ate this when I was 7! The packaging remains the same but comes in pack of 5s now... Haha, yes, Choki Choki understood that one stick is never enough.

An Angel or what!

2008-12-20T12:58:00.003+08:00

*with Spiderman Theme song by Michael Buble in background

So I have just completed 2 gruelling weeks of trainings. I'm now certified as an Angel!

Well, Training Angel, that is. We have a compulsory 3 days Shangri-La Care training for all new hires and I can now conduct two of the components. Lotsa interesting scenarios and videos.

There is so much ShangCare programmed in my head now that every contact with people around me whether as a service provider or as a customer, I keep imagining how we can go the extra mile for service. And taking notes to use as examples in my next class.

I was having lunch in my usual faithful fusion restaurant with really friendly staff. I think they are Thai and ever so gentle and graceful and smiling. Anyways, I was picking out all the extra onions, dried chilli and ginger from my Kung Pow chicken when I imagined the following scenarios:

Waiter:
"Ms Lee, can I offer you something to read while you wait for your meal? There is an interesting story on the pirates infested Gulf of Aden. So the drama one.

Me: Thanks! I was just going to ask for the papers. You're very thoughtful.

Waiter:
Ms. Lee, here is your Kung Pow chicken. We have added extra chilli as you prefer it to be spicy and the fried egg is half-cooked, just the way you like it. Also, we have already separated the onions, chilli pieces and ginger for you. Do enjoy your meal!

Me: How convenient! Thanks!

Waiter:
Ms. Lee, I notice that your green tea is finishing. Can I offer you another glass?

Me: Sure!

Hahaha! No doubt also that my expectations of customer service has escalated to a new height. I feel that a lot of big corporations do not have the very basic, fundamental element in delivering their products - good customer service.

But then again, a complain is a gift. Don't wanna give it to them. I'll just keep quiet and tell the hundreds of people I meet everyday that I think they provide bad service. And on top of that, just like every true customer, I will add in "salt and pepper opinions" and even offer them some alternative shops to go to. So bitchy ya... but this is not about being bitchy but it is more about human nature. *nod nod*.

food for the soul

2008-12-14T16:52:00.002+08:00

My Breakfast!

-mini burgers with meat fried to just-right-crispiness and fresh-to-death cucumber in between wholemeal wheat buns (the healthy component)-

There are just some foods which will never go out of fashion... luncheon meat! Have not had this in months! maybe years!

Nostalgic and totally sinfully delicious and flavourful. yummers!

an outdated movie goer

2008-12-08T20:45:00.004+08:00

I wanna watch Bolt! I wanna watch Twilight! I wanna watch Space Chimps!

I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!

Le sigh. I need to get a life.

But it is not to be. Year end sucks(with the work load)!!! but it rocks at the same time. What with the festive cheers... I'm torn.

Anyways, I happened to watch Infernal Affairs on Singapore TV yesterday night. Can you believe I have not watched this phenomenal Hong Kong movie before?! Unbelievable. Unacceptable.

Then I found Infernal Affairs 2 and 3 DVDs at home as well. I launched into an Infernal Affair Marathon this afternoon! Well, I think it is such an interesting story told beautifully through the faces of these cool Hong Kong actors. Hmm.. I'll never get sick of them!

The whole movie is quite a lot of guess work but I think it was very cool. I liked that they cast Andy Lau and Tony Leung as the lead actors. Both very cool but I very much prefer Tony Leung. He is cute! Oh the unforgettable scene on the roof top! And man, was Edison Chen cute as well. Shawn Yue looks kinda tortured though. "I wanna be a good person!" seemed to be the order of the day.

I'm like getting a delayed reaction here. Everyone has already finish gushing about it way back in 2003 (so I googled).

Hoping to grasp a better understanding of the Hong Kong culture before I embark on my little journey, it was kinda unrealistic because it is all about the underworld thing. What about normal daily lives of normal people? I need to watch more movies!! I can't stress this enough.

I wish Daniel Wu was in the movie as well.

Talking about Daniel Wu, is it just me or are his Seiko ads getting pretty unappealing. He needs better make up artists and hairstylists! I miss that manly tan. I hope I get to chance upon a glimpse of him!! Or any of his hunky actor friends! *-*

Anyways, OK. I'm done expressing my current thoughts on Hong Kong hunks. That's why I love blogs. hehe.

fun in the sun and going 360!

2008-11-29T22:12:00.003+08:00

"whooppiieeeee!!", went Yvonne.

Thursday was a fun day in the sun! Third installment of my hotel's staff outing, my colleagues went berserk with glee. The remaining 122 of us swarmed into Sunway Lagoon Surf Beach to play a telematch and then after lunch, it was free and easy time.

We hardly ever have time for gatherings and the telematch was a superb way to bond and foster team spirits!

This game was super funny. They were asked to turn 10 times around the stick and then run back to their camp. Almost everyone ran SIDEWAYS! Some ran to other teams and after recovering from the spin, ran back to their own teams embarassed. hahaha... man... and I recorded everything. Will upload later on.

Then it was free and easy. One of the rides I went on was the Tomahawk!

Well, no photos, only videos but it is a ride that turns 360 degrees and pauses momentarily while the passengers were upside down.

I could feel each and every strand of my hair being pulled by gravity when I was upside down. Strange but I don't really feel as terrified as I have been 5 years ago. I didn't leave and took the ride again right after, accompanying my colleague. Again, just laughing and waving at the camera... haha...

I don't really know what was the feeling but I expected some chills and thrills but I was practically... numb. Weird. 2 things went to my mind:

1) Maybe I'm getting older so I'm not so scared anymore.
2) Maybe because I was kinda ill with runny nose and coughing and recurring diarrhea.
3) Maybe the fear of death is not there!

OK, time for alarm and reflect.

how much is that teddy in the window?

2008-11-23T10:36:00.004+08:00

eeeeeeeeeee...! I want a dog!

I went for some pau and dim sum breakfast yesterday... decided to reward my tummy with some good food since I've been having the tummy runs for the past 3 days.

oh btw, I love to eat pau! Yums.

"see, got pau in the background!"

And the group of us decided to stop by the pet shop opposite of the DimSum Shop to walk off the access of paus and gargantuan amounts of dim sum we gobbled.

Then, I thought that I should get a pet. Something to coo and cuddle and play with.

First thing I saw were the fishes section. Boring. And brings back bad memories of my one and only pet, a fighting fish, which died mysteriously. Surprisingly, I didn't name that fish so I'm not too affected.

I saw some birds too...
They didn't strike me with the emotional connection I wanted.

Some hamsters perhaps? Hamtaro, the japanese cartoon, sort of made these little creatures sooo likeable.
But it must be ticklish to hold them...

Then comes the doggy section! So cute!!

I particularly liked this one which looks like a fat teddy bear:

It looks so sad I wanna take it home! Aced the emotional connection requirements!

I had to pull myself away. Condominium living doesn't permit for a dog... not even a super cute one (how inflexible). Plus, I'm never home. How!

You, teddy dog, shall be in my wish list for now. Will get you one day... soon!

year end plans

2008-11-16T23:05:00.003+08:00

I am really looking forward to December! Eventhough from now till then, I still have a few major things to kao tim plus lots of commitment and training at work, I'm still pretty excited!

I'm going here:

and here!
I don't normally like to allow myself to be too excited about things before it happens because when it happens it might not be what I expected it to be or something. Don't you ever have that feeling? When you expect 100% and you get like 80% and you feel like craps for a while. I'll definitely give in 100% effort but I normally expect turn outs of like 80% (still quite positive ma) and when it happens, it could be 80% and still I would be alright with it. If it ever falls below 70% then really, it is actually a disappointment. No need to even talk about it anymore.

SO. I'm expecting 80% but am already excited! I wonder if it will be a 110%! I'm getting confused myself! Never mind.

Finally, a trip abroad to a different world after one and a half years!

*will check the "New Goals since Forever" column on the right. Next year will be India!

2008-11-16T11:05:00.003+08:00

McDonald's have never failed to give me reasons to call them for deliveries. Look what I've got this time!

Melman Hairband! Really good for days when you feel like looking silly. Good for relieving stress. Can't wait for Gloria's one!

alumni party

2008-11-09T17:07:00.003+08:00

One of the staff at Souled Out offered me a shot of Port as I approached the first floor. I have not even taken my last step yet! I thought to myself that if everyone took that shot as a welcome drink, then I suppose everyone should be kinda tipsy and jolly. Man, was I right. It wasn't even 8.oopm yet! Food was not served yet and so freeflow beer and wine on empty stomach equals lotsa drunk alumnis. Welcome to my college's Alumni's Party 2008. This was on 6 Nov 08, btw.

I suppose my batch was not invited yet (not old enough) and so everyone was just a familiar face but not acquaintances. I just watch as people acted silly and had fun being silly. I wonder why I have to attend this party! I'm not old enough!! Luckily I had a senior colleague with me, also an alumni.

(actually I was there representing my boss, who is an alumni himself, to get his distinguished alumni award as he is away on vacation)

I surveyed the room to check out who are the Taylorians of the yesteryears... then I was greeted by this jolly uncle who dressed like he was set to go on holiday in Phuket.

"Halooooo! Are you an alumni too? Which batch are you from?"
"I'm from Batch 18!"
"Oooh! I'm from Batch 4!"

Actually, I think his batch 4 was the first set of batches in the Kenny Hills campus before they moved to the second campur in Miharja and started a new set of codes. I was in the third campus in PJ. No way that he was only 14 batches before me.

Then as I explained that I was there to get an award for my boss, who is from the very first batch, he said his friend was from the first batch too! Unfortunately, after we located the first-batch-uncle, he was too tipsy to remember my boss.

I quickly excused myself and found my colleague also on the way to getting drunk. I made him go get some food from the buffet counter and let go of the wine for a while. OMG. Free flow of beer and wine is funny to watch but only for a while.

As the Kenny Hills gang made loads of noise in one corner, even bursting balloons, the Miharja (second campus before the PJ one) group were in another corner, sitting in a circle sharing gossips while trying to relive their twenty's clubbing days. -_-.... I thought it couldn't go any further until one of them decided to stand up and perform some dance in the middle of the circle.

Moving on.

So I found the corner with people nearer to my age and batch. OK. So got some business cards and some updates on the world, about Obama, about insurance.. etc. Man, I wished time would fly.

Then the COO of the college gave a speech but everyone was too noisy for him to be heard. Then as he was returning the mic to the MC, the first-batch-uncle seize the mic to give a speech as well. haha.. funny! This was his piece:

"When I see Taylorians, I ask them, "vous parlez francais?" and they will go "oui!" (weee). That is TCHT! Now, when you see a TCHT alumni, you ask "vous parlez francais?" you will hear..

"Oui(weeeee!)" responded the crowd. His speech seemed to have more impact than the previous one.

Finally, the time came for lucky draw! Aiya, I didn't even win the tupperwares!!

Next came the award presentation. So I presented my boss's speech. It was at this time I wish my voice was louder. Kenny Hills Gang were too busy bursting balloons.

Later on, there was a failed attempt to form a dancing circle in the middle of the dance floor because, as drunk as everyone was, the music was just not pumping enough. Looking around, the staff were serving more wine to the people! I thought they should stop.

I tried not to look bored and chat up a few people. I didn't know what else to talk about so I decided to sell my hotel's recently re-launched SkyBar.

Ooh! Second lucky draw! Again, I didn't win anything. -_-. At least my colleague won RM100 Haagen Dazs's vouchers! He didn't even realize when they called his name. I should have just taken it for him and pretended nothing happened. hmmm.

I really felt like I was in a story book of dark comedy that night. Too cynically funny to be true. I'm glad I could still find humour in such situations. Now, let me see if I can get my colleague to part with his vouchers!

miniest or the minis

2008-11-04T21:43:00.004+08:00

What I do when I'm not reading or watching Grey's Anatomy...

Today I bought some jigsaw puzzles!

Tada!

I can hear you say, "aiya... biasala. Still playing Jigsaw puzzles? Boring." (Actually it is for some training purposes)

But look...

It's the size of a cigarette box! haha.. cute.

Open up!

How thoughtful. They included a mini thong...

For what?

For people with fat fingers. It is really small (seen here compared with my thumb)... whoa.

I can already imagine the frustrations and future profanity laden puzzle sessions.

milk again

2008-11-02T18:06:00.004+08:00

haha.. OK. Not fair lor.

How come I drink this everyday and don't see colourful rainbows and cute creatures flying around me in celebration?!

And nobody cleared my IN tray!

paper cut

2008-10-31T22:46:00.002+08:00

At the right time, the right angle, the right humidity (or lack of it), on the right bad day, a piece of paper (or an envelope or magazines or books or even a paper box!) can be so lethal. I hate paper cuts. :(

stuffs in October!

2008-10-27T18:53:00.007+08:00

My, my. October is coming to an end! That means a lot of things:

1) End of October Vow (yay!)
2) HR and training stuffs to take care of at the end of every month (aiya)
3) Starting of November! Stress time- Audit, annual staff party, training modules, training needs, development plans, HR plans for 2009, etc etc etc... and mom's bday!
4) Time to plan for December! (hmm hmm!)

Anyways, I had fun in October... let some pictures do some talking:

Went for Fire Safety Training at Bomba Taman Desa! with real fire!

The team was excited

Still kinda excited

This is what we're going to do

Not without taking pictures first! (me and weilynn)

More pictures (omg, notice weilynn and I)

action time!

Moving on to bigger things, we learn a bit about hoses

Like how to carry it properly... omg, mommy!

WARNING!
Do not try to lift the hose reel you see in the corridor/staircase near you unless you really know how to! You may risk the following:

1)Broken rib cage if not carried properly and have the heavy head swing around and hit you
2)Embarassment if the hose comes undone... not cool.
3)If the hose rolls out, you need a big space to roll it back...
4).. which you may not do and risk hindering a fireman's job should there be a fire...
5)...which may result in you getting charged for hindering a fire rescue.. not cool at all...

Anyways, ready...

Go!

The worse part of everything is the cleaning up & rolling back the hose. heavy stuff.

The fun part was getting a ride on the fire truck! bee boo bee boo!

Another training definitely worth mentioning... training to be proper trainers...

That's us!

The only picture I have atm... even training on How to Make Maki Roll!

Well, the Maki Roll was not the focus. The focus was on training the chef on how to train other people and the Maki Roll was an added bonus. Hehe!

It was a really cool training as we had a great mix of departments. That's why I love hotels. We learned a lot and laughed a lot. It was funny watching a bartender learn some demure spa receptionist's work. It was funny watching a front desk staff who has never cooked before make Maki rolls. It was funny watching some clueless HR staff learn professional techniques on changing ashtrays. (that would be me). And THEN, we were also trying to explain lotsa Malaysian terms to our corporate trainee from Canada, Iris, when we naturally use them so often... like Mangkuk and kangkang and Die Die must do and so much more.

Funny through and through! some random quotes...

FO: Thank you very STRONG!
Duty Manager: Mangkuk means bowl... like not so bright you know... like empty bowl...
CT: "You're so bowl!"
FO: Please take a shit! (eh! seat! seat!)
F&B: Don't mix up... it is wine cork not cock... c-o-c-k. (eh! c-o-R-k!)
Trg: You might have 20 people in your apartment.. Department!

My ashtray trainer: "when you see the cigarette butt, B-U-T-T, you know it is time."

Grand finale:

"let us slot into your in between..."

(when playing a game with some new hires and wanting to mix with all of them)

None stop.

On another day, I went around the hotel to take some photos of my colleagues. I told them to show me passion and posers they are! They went to the trouble to set up lotsa scenes for me... Camwhoring is in our blood! My faves:

Your glasses are in safe hands, baby!

First the little bowl, then crushed ice, then martini glass without stem, then shake-a-shake, et voila!

Wouldn't you want this cool coffee cocktail drink on a warm afternoon?

Man, I love hotels!

quotes of the week

2008-10-19T21:26:00.002+08:00

"What is worse than eating a piece of shit?"
"Eating your own shit?"
"No! Eating two pieces of shit!"

"OMG, can you believe I ran out of eyeliner?"
"You don't have spare?"
"Spare?"
"If one day researchers find that eyeliners can cause some illness, I'll die."

"Ooh, I have one! Enhui told me this. Now, why is the sea blue?"
"It is a reflection of the sky?"
"No, because the fishes in the sea go 'blue, blue, blue'"

stop for a moment

2008-10-14T22:26:00.003+08:00

Sometimes I forget how tall our Twin Towers are...

-taken on the way home just now-

So tall that when it rains and gets quite cloudy, they look like they're in the clouds. :)

spots

2008-10-13T23:07:00.003+08:00

look what I found! :)

also found some friends and a colleague spotted... haha... small little world...

Jennifer's 23rd

2008-10-12T21:36:00.003+08:00

a belated post

Happy Birthday, Jennifer!

I love celebrations!
Celebrations are happy.
Celebrations make me happy.
And we all need happyness.
=We all need celebrations.
More celebrations = more bliss
= no space for frets.
For whatever reasons there may be, be it big or small, let's celebrate.

Here's one we all can adopt:
Cheers to life!

problem solved

2008-10-12T09:18:00.002+08:00

Dialled AirAsia's customer care number (for the 20th time) and left the phone on speaker mode.

Hi! Welcome to Air Asia! For English, please press 1! Untuk Bahasa Melayu, sila tekan 2!

Please be reminded that your conversation may be recorded for training purposes so that we can improve to serve you better. (Maybe this is from McDonalds. I got mixed up.)

All our sales agents still busy due to overwhelming response from our promotion! We'll be with you shortly.

Haha.. just wanted let you guys know what you will hear when you have called them too many times and failed to get to their busy busy sales agent.

So about the itinerary problem. After 20 minutes of listening to the same waiting tone, a lady finally picked up and say hello! (about 20 minutes because I left the phone and went to do some filing and training room set ups etc etc)

I told her about the problem and she said, "Oh your colleague's name is too long! But it is OK, it is just one letter short."

Oh just like that huh...

air asia boo boo

2008-10-05T20:20:00.003+08:00

I've always had high regards for Air Asia. You know, now everyone can fly. Affordable flights. Very simple online booking services. All was nice and dandy with my relationship with Air Asia but I suddenly remembered that my already action-packed Monday (tomorrow) is going to be worse because I have to call their impossible to get sales agent! %@$#!

I made a few reservations as usual for my colleagues who are going to China for training and everything was alright. They have a few steps from choosing dates and time, to guest names to payment options and then, THEN, came the Itinerary.

Name spelled wrongly?!

No freaking way.

And the worse part is I was duly informed by my frowning colleagues that they charge for any changes.

Wait a minute. Let me check. I clicked Back and I DID type correctly! omg! Don't you dare charge me! I have witnesses! Printed Screen as well should they need proof. (haha!)

I wonder if this is how they make that extra buck. Maybe people who are not confident with their reservations will think that they really did make the mistake and submit to their fate of paying for the changes. I wonder. And so I had to call them to get the problem rectified, right? I like problems being solved immediately.

Wah. Try calling Air Asia and if you ever get through, let me know. I tried for 2 days straight. sobs! I felt so helpless at that mo! nooo!

I'm looking forward to
1) get through to their sales agent (who are "still busy due to their current promotion" since forever)
2) see how they handle this situation (will they insist it is my fault and charge or have the probs rectified immediately?hmmm..)

Pink Phase

2008-10-05T13:27:00.004+08:00

Have you ever had a phase where you suddenly favour certain foods and eat so much of it everyday till you can't look at it again for the next two years? I have, I have! I even had a want-a-tattoo phase. But I think that's over with now. Or is it? hmmm...

I'm currently having a phase. It is a pink phase. It all started with the pink wallet which my colleagues at the office lovingly got me for my birthday. Everyone thinks I'm the kind of person who adores pink to death. Then the collection of pink things grew because I like to match my stuff.

So I decided to match my office equipments(because I just can't bring myself to wear pink). My stapler, my pens, my post-it notes, my puncher, my stationeries box, my highlighter, my calculator (seriously), my blade, my everything! I like it when my things are matched in colour. Just need to get a pair of pink scissors, pink glue, pink paper clips and eraser and I'm office complete.

Now everyone really thinks I adore pink to death.

It's OK. At least I now know if anyone steals my stationeries. I'm the only pink in the office. Hah! Except for my boss who has a pink stapler as well.

Anyways, bringing pink phase to a new height! I bought this on impulse last week and boy do I love it!

Smells very nice. Reminds me of Peekaboo because they normally use that Watermelon Playball thing. But upon further chewing, it reminds me of lotsa watermelon and I love watermelons. Makes me happy thinking about watermelon. A happy chewing gum. And it is supposed to exercise your jaws and clean you teeth etc etc. I have to have this after a meal. And it is pink! :D

rojaks

2008-10-02T20:04:00.003+08:00

I've been spending so much time at my pc that I feel like a real geek but not that I'm doing a lot of hightech stuff. Just some major hard disk clean up and going through some photos and discovering things here and there.

A while ago, my cousin Jennifer and I started the "cousin's shots" thing. Mainly self portrait of the two of us. Look what we have collected! Anyways, even when we were babies, our parents will always put us next to each other and take photo of us next to each other (see middle pic). Just because we were born one month apart.

And ooh! I found the Little Miss Naughty tee! All for RM10. haha. Very thin cotton. Good for my badminton session. Note that the Little Miss Naughty is like on drugs compared to the one on the right of this page.

Also, I've been uploading lots of Daft Punk mp3s to my phone and got so excited when I read that I could even put Daft Punk videos and set the video as my ring tone! Meaning when people call, the video will play. Painstakingly I went through youtube and selected the video that I wanted (Interstella 5555 Part 3, Digital Love) and uploaded it to my phone thinking that everything will work well but no! It is not to be! Ouch! This is, like, too much tech for one day and I thought it is OK because it will all be worth it. I might get to upload more videos etc etc. But no! It seems I need to get this Media Manager Pro which I need to pay for in order to convert the video blah blah. I think I need some tech/geek help (cue Chuck's intro).

Anyways, not going into more tech details, I shall just show you my phone discovery of the day. It was my first time charging the phone and it seems that I can still listen to songs on my phone while I charge it! Hahaha...I'm so easily fascinated. I think I need tech help. Seriously. I'm not realising the full potential of my gadgets!!

Most randomly, I miss sushi. (Not going to happen in October)

Ooh! Ooh! I started a keychain collection a while ago. And then I decided to make it a real collection. I told everyone around me that I'm collecting keychains from around the world and got some as souvenirs! I also said that I shall make it a point to visit all these countries before I die. Er, I hope I do get to visit them all.

I have 11 now. Minus Singapore and France because I have been there but I don't mind visiting these places again. Singapore is a definite la. I'm expecting some keychains from Australia soon and if any of you visit some European countries, get me a keychain, please! I want more excuses to go there. :D

A product of lazy photoshopping.

OH PH

2008-09-30T20:11:00.002+08:00

>Oh yes! Tomorrow is Hari Raya! *doing the invisible stiring kuih dodol dance*
>You celebrate meh?
>No.
>So happy for what?
>I don't care man. As long as it is a PH, I'm happy!... Man! I can't spend!!!

aiYa!

So, tomorrow, for the first time in a long time, I'm going to spend my public holiday in a money concious manner. Usually, I throw money conciousness to the wind when I'm on holiday or off days. I mean, once in a blue moon, ok! If I suddenly want to buy a pink container which I don't need, so be it! If I suddenly want to buy pink blade, so be it! This is a testing moment in my life. Will I make it? Haha.. I'm just dramatizing this whole October Vow thing. Seems ridiculous but I think I wanna make it happen. Hopefully after this one month of self inflicted training, I will somehow turn to become a natural money concious person responsible and accountable for every penny I spend. I think I just need to avoid a few places such as Topshop, Vincci and Sushi Zanmai. I know, I'm so predictable, right?

Maybe I should make it a point to avoid McDonalds as well, seeing the very regular intake of their calorie laden and saturated fat contents. Suka-suka eat fries. Suka-suka eat chilli fries. Suka-suka waiting for train, eat choc sundae. Suka-suka don't wanna eat normal lunch, order McDelivery.

But that's another McMatter. I think I should just spend this wonderfully blessed two days sunbathing by the pool or watching dramas in my room or doing some reflexology at the rock garden. *yawn*.. I mean, wow! Can't wait. ;D

a vow for the month of October

2008-09-29T20:38:00.003+08:00

*warning: this post might have a slight hint of BF (bitch fit)

Today, before I really thought it through, I told my colleagues that I vow not to spend unnecessarily for the whole month of October and I raised quite a few eyebrows and got quite a few "wow"s and turned quite a few heads.

Well, actually, everyone I told that to did the same reaction - turn to face me, raise eyebrows, said wow.

I just spent a lot of money colouring my hair and the result is No Diff because the previous red was too OTT so the normal blah brown (even in two coordinating Mahogany Schmany shades) just did not cut it and so the red still rules. It is as if I just sat there for 2.5 hours for nothing! Uh! So hurt!

So, I shall spend wisely to cover for this terrible mistake of an investment. Well, no biggie but just wanted to put it down in writing (literally) so that I will adhere to it. nod.

I just have to figure out what to do with my 20% discount voucher from Topshop which expires on 1 Oct 2008. hmmm.... this requires some meditation.

Anyways, I got a new toy!

Something that I have been looking for - really slim! and I love sony ericsson phones so I'm a happy camper for now! :)

mini me

2008-09-27T11:25:00.003+08:00

Look what I found!

One of the hundreds of childhood photos of me and my sisters. And I always wondered where my love of photos came from... haha... mystery solved.

First timer - KTMB Sleeper Berth!

2008-09-26T11:20:00.005+08:00

In a bid not to fight with thousands of people in the balik kampung spirit next week, I have decided to just spend a long weekend back home and chill in KL during Raya. So yesterday after work, I took the night train back! And I purposely chose the night train because I have always wanted to try the sleeper berths! Looks so interesting. Looks so fun. Looks like an experience.

I walked past a few coaches and saw a few people setting up their laptops and some having chats with their friends/family who have bought berths right opposite each other. This should be fun, I thought.

Anyways, first look:

My first thought was, "wow... like little cells..."

My little berth!:
Always always make sure you request for window seats (when purchasing seats) and make sure to request for lower berths(when purchasin berths) because I think it is a secret plot of the counter staff to make you suffer the aisle seat/upper berth if you don't specifically ask for otherwise.

Anyways, I brought along 2 books because I thought that it would be the best time for me to catch up on those books which I started but never finished!!

But how to read when there is not light? There is this very old, well-intentioned and well positioned reading lamp which doesn't work. It is just placed there so that people will remember that this old train once had people reading in its berths.

Look at the switch! So classic right? (with a dash of sarcasm)

See? Those with upper berths have to climb on this cold steel stairs. Very inviting.

On another matter, on my way into the train, KTMB staff gave me a Raya Goodie Bag. Whoa. Seriously. The drink and ang pow I can understand but one whole box of kuih raya?! Hmm... fishy...
Reminds me of this article in The Star which I read and HAD to laugh out loud. KTMB employees cooked porridge for passengers. I think after that Prime Minister took the KTM Commuter incident, they sort of felt the need to buck up. After, I repeat. After.

And right after I happily (free stuff, always happy) took my goodie bag, a buncha students from a local university decided to hand out survey forms to me to fill in. Some of the questions (to rate between strongly agree to strongly disagree) include:

1) KTMB staff are
a) Friendly
b) Courteous
c) Knowledgeable
d) Helpful

I mean, yesterday they were pretty much friendly, courteous etc... but please. I may not have the best memory around but kuih raya and a pack of soya bean milk will not help me to forget the times when I was not given good service!!!

And don't even get me started on the toilets! Because one of the questions asked about the cleanliness of the toilet. Very brave, no? Brownie points for confidence! :D

Anyways, let's focus on the berths,
So it was a pretty pleasant experience. The bed was not so bad. The sheets were clean. There were enough space. Though a person taller than 6 feet will want to consider the first class berths. My feet were almost touching the wall. I couldn't really kick around. Anyways, I didn't want to move too much because it was cold! They didn't include a blankey... only the extra sheet on top. So I had to pull the curtains to stop the cold air from reaching me but that would leave me in the dark so I couldn't read my books.

So I went to sleep.

The whole train was pretty silent when everyone has gone to sleep.

Don't worry. The KTM staff will go around and wake people up when they have arrived at their station. I had to resist my usual grouch and whine when woken up unexpectedly (especially by mom). At least they make sure you don't miss your stop. Good ya? OK, have to give some points here.

Milky way

2008-09-24T21:55:00.002+08:00

I love to drink milk. I drink a big glass of milk every night before I sleep. Those who know me better will even know that I sometimes do some mixology with my milk. 1/3 chocolate, 2/3 full cream. :D Yes, I'm that into my bedtime milk.

And then some unscrupulous, greedy, money minded beings decided to taint their milk products so they can dilute it and generate more profit, killing babies and making thousands of them ill with kidney stones. They didn't even have a chance to say "I got kidney stones because I didn't drink enough water". Aiyo!

Then the brand that I drink, Dutch Lady, decided to announce that they are clean. OK. Cool. No probs.

And then latest today, a new list of tainted products were published and everyone paid attention to the 8pm news. Those products include Dutch Lady's products! :(

M&Ms are not safe either. :( :(

Now I need to check for kidney stones. :( :( :(

Re-cap

2008-09-14T22:23:00.003+08:00

Where are we going again?
It's a place called Jacobs...
Hmm. Feels like we're going to have biscuits! haha...
Eh! No! Not Jacobs! Jarrod's. Jarrod's. Jarrod's?
Jarrod & Rawlins la..
Oh. OK. Interesting...
Where's that!?
DUnno.. follow Jin later.

a bit the outdated la... just want to post it up.. :)

Man, I like birthdays...

say no more

2008-09-13T18:15:00.002+08:00

I woke up this morning feeling really fine. Like many of my other fellow rakyat who didn't catch up on the 8pm news yesterday, we woke up feeling like, woohoo, thank God it is a Saturday.

Little did I know that the country has fallen into really deep shit. I mean, it has been messy and it has been crazy and unbelievable (read the news in today's newspaper and found myself shaking my head) but NOW, it is really hopeless.

So editors and reporters are being detained for doing their job these days - reporting.
Did they miss out the guy who sweeps the drain for sweeping the drain?

So if I know of someone doing/saying something which is bad/harmful/unlawful, I'm not supposed to report it to do my part to keep this person from doing more harm?

Because my understanding now is if I were to tell, I will be the one punished. The person who did the shit will just chill. Wow. Why do the cops even encourage people to report crimes?

I used to think, omg, when will this childish political shit end. Soon enough. Let's not get too upset. NOW I think it will never ever end and will never get better. Warning: We are so moving backwards. Pretty soon, don't be surprised if you read about passing laws for stoning law offenders.

Maybe they will stone the reporters?

I'm so disappointed. I have always loved this country and have always defended her and the supposed leaders, saying things will be better. But all her beauty, her wonderful people and her promising future is crumbling just because of a few people doing things for their own political/selfish/special agenda. Seriously, we deserve better than this. The country deserves better.

We deserve better.

sporty update!

2008-09-06T19:19:00.004+08:00

I've just decided that maybe rhyming is not really my forte. I suddenly had a vision of Phoebe in Friends strumming her guitar and singing her hearts out while her friends smile/squirm in support.

But then again, if she's having a great time, what's the harm right?

Ooh! I'm so proud of myself! I played badminton again yesterday! Roar. My thighs hurt so much because of the whole LinDan-ChongWei inspired game (Run for it! Reach for it!). My colleague Edwin even got butt cramps. But I like this kind of muscle pain. It makes you feel fresh and you get to sleep really really well after. The pain that I don't like is the waking up early on a Saturday morning to go to work until 5.30pm kind. This is true.

The perennial rain did not dampen any of our spirits. Some traveled all the way from KL and have to go all the way back. Some ran in the rain from the LRT station. My colleague Wolter was the most hyped up one. He bought a new and expensive racquet and a big-ass racquet bag and even wore a sleeveless yellow jersey with red shorts ("LinDan is my neighbour"). o_o

After the game, we all went for dinner and had a long gossipy chat and everyone kept on saying "oh the night is still young" and continued the gossips. I thought, you know, wow... working out is so much fun now! You get value added stuff like the latest news about who and who and the what, when, where. I was like, we should do this more often! I'm telling you, people in the Finance departments have the most stories. Haha. I would prefer to view this as networking. Sharing is caring. Being in the know of things. So enjoy la. It was very much later that I realized that I was the only one who was working the next day. The pain...

twenty three

2008-09-04T16:44:00.006+08:00

omg,
I'm so twenty-three,
Say the candles on my Secret Recipe,
What happened to 19 and 20?
In denial? No, not me,
Young at heart I'll always be,
Though my choice of food is now sushi,
Day in, day out trying to be healthy,
Choosing water over Pepsi,
Choosing green tea over coffee,
Though coffee is oh-so-yummy,
Well, OK I take it, but, but only occasionally,
And the occasional KFC and McD,
And the chicken wings and lethal pan mee,
Btw, I'm on MC,
The medicine is making me drowsy (and rhymy),
Going to sleep like a baby,
Need to get well soon, seriously,
So I can look forward to the weekend to paaaarty!

PS:
To my dear colleagues at the office, thanks for party and the Radley!
To SL and Chris in Macau, thanks for the Mango D!
To Jenn and Elaine, thanks for the sushi!
To the rest of my darling friends, thanks! I'm now 23!
To Shobee, no probs dearie! (haha.)

Cake complete with girl-girl holding tiny handbag.

@ the office with some new faces

Sushi night out with lotsa gossips. haha...

a grocery shopping trip

2008-09-01T19:56:00.003+08:00

I'm so proud of myself for a whole full minute today. I actually used those reuseable shopping bags to carry my groceries! I looked around, trying to inspire the aunties and uncles as I purposefully fill my stuff into my shopper bag. I have always told myself I need to start doing it but never did remember to bring the shopper bags. Bring a bag today! YOU can make a difference.

Honestly speaking, it is much more comfortable to carry the load with a shopper bag. Plastic bags are so yesterday, no? haha.

Anyways, I took a cab today. There are days when you get crappy taxi drivers (most days actually), there are days when you get indifferent taxi drivers and then there are days you get interesting taxi driver. I mean, I got into a cab with a very old uncle driver without teeth in an even older cab and ended up crashing into a curb. Omg. I know. Today, I got an interesting driver who grooved to The Best of BeeGees. I think.

From Tragedy to To Love Somebody, the chinese uncle, whom I initially thought was fidgety, was actually totally enjoying himself silently singing the BeeGee's hits. I was like, wow. Then I thought maybe he was listening to Light FM but then upon curious inspection, he actually had a CD player (wah) and this was definitely one of those No. 1 hits compilation CD of some sort.

Later on, he remembered he had a passenger, moi, and proceeded to ask which route is the shortest. I said, "I dunno". Then he asked, "Huh! You dunno how to go home one?!" and laughed and shook his head. -_- I mean, just drive la. At the same time, can pay attention on the road?

Anyways, in the final 5 minutes in his cabby, I also found out that he likes Batman and had an unidentified action figurine, complete with the batmobil. Totally eccentric. Anyways, he was so into his songs he missed a turn. I was like, "Uncle, here I know. Must turn!". Hah!

Sharing is Caring

2008-08-19T22:21:00.002+08:00

What does one do when one has one cake but more than one celebration? hmm... Today, we figured it out.

Lemon water

2008-08-18T21:16:00.006+08:00

Yesterday I saw this lemon flavoured water in a convenience shop and got so excited! I immediately bought a bottle.

Could it be the same as the Volvic lemon water?

Gosh, I love this stuff. I had this everyday when I spent that measly few days in France. It tasted like really good mineral water from the Alps (no less) with a slight lemon-y taste. Refreshing and cooling. Comes is lotsa other flavours as well but the Lemon one is the sugar-free one. Love, love it. My college classmates will understand this. :)

Anyways, I tasted the Tinge flavoured water and then got sooooo disappointed I couldn't go on. It has sugar in it! Killjoy. Might as well fizz out an old bottle of Pop Spritzer and drink it. It is the sugar that kills them both. Might as well drink Coke!

I wonder if Volvic Lemon water is ever going to be brought in. This drink actually motivates me to drink more water. And it is not sweet and therefore I suppose better than sipping regular sodas. I want! Can some mineral water distributors do something? I'm pretty sure there will be a market here. Infuse some Vitamin C in it and voila! Or at least, claim to have some Vit C. Go, distributors! Go!

*anyways, there have been talk about how Lee Chong Wei was not performing at all.. etc etc. I mean, he is all we talk about at the water cooler, lifts, ladies, pantry, boardroom etc. Anyways, well, I guess it is easy to love winners and easy to criticise people who lost. And it is easy to take the easy way. I stand by the fact that, well, he got silver!

Cheering on Lee Chong Wei

2008-08-17T22:51:00.003+08:00

I just came back from a mamak where I was cheering together with hundreds of other patrons for Lee Chong Wei in the Olympic badminton men singles finals against Lin Dan of China.

Go, Chong Wei! Go!

Everytime he scores, the whole mamak erupts into cheers and claps. Every single time! But of course that is just about 20 times throughout the game. I have never experience this before. I guess football fans do it all the time and I never did understand but now I know how it feels like. It is nice.

It is amazing how sports can inspire this sense of belonging. Everyone comes together. We were cheering like as if he could hear us hundreds of miles away.

Chong Wei didn't win but it's OK. You're still my fave sports hero! (As in, you top Kimi Raikonen anytime!) :D I'm going to play more badminton now because of you.

I once blogged about sitting at a table next to him in a Dim Sum restaurant and I couldn't place who is he until he left. How stupid! This was about 2 years back. I kept on telling people, "Hey! I had dim sum next to Lee Chong Wei before, OK!" And then AhBin will tell me that his parents are his parents neighbour. etc etc. Trying to outdo each other in knowing him more that the other.

Now, if I see him anywhere at all, I'll make sure I squel, take a photo with him and have him autograph something and then give him a great big hug. *nod*.

Sweeeeet

2008-08-16T14:25:00.005+08:00

bliss on a plate.

Crispy waffle with chocolate ice-cream and loads of choc sauce, choc chip and choc rice, flower-shaped marshmallows, juicy strawberries and cheesecake with choc cookie base. Aiyo. Can't breathe.

wong ah WAH

2008-08-13T22:52:00.006+08:00

I've been pretty busy still but I felt a responsibilty to blog about this good food discovery.

Preface:

I've been taking my health seriously! I actually have been jogging and playing badminton! And hopefully will continue to do so regularly. Cool stuff. No pictures at the moment because I guess working out seems to be like such a cherished activity that even I didn't think of taking photos. My work out buddies a.k.a. colleagues and I have to work our jogging time around work time.

Let me paint you a picture with random snippets (no names shall be mentioned!):

"5.28pm. I'll be back in a while! Don't go without me!" *and then come back at 6.00pm

"It is 5.25pm, OMG OMG OMG, we promised 5.30pm. No, 2 more minutes, let me send this last 2 e-mails. 5.29pm. Argh!! gimme 5 more minutes!! 5.35pm. Argh!! one more e-mail! Let me save my documents! Argh!! 6.00pm."

"Better not dampen our spirits! Let's go!!"

"Argh! Where's my other sock!! You! Go photocopy this! Argh! My hairband!! "

So, that's, like, our warm up session lor.

It is good to give our heart some pre-amp pumping before the real heart pumping.

So last Monday, after a really good sweat-fest, we played host to one of our colleagues from Manila. We brought him to this restaurant/stall on Jalan Alor. Blink an eye and you will miss it but it is unmistakably in front of Royale Bintang. That's the best I can describe it. :)

All the precious minutes spent on the running tracks were duly cancelled by each juicy, savoury chicken wing which was a favourite with everyone. Superb.

Well, clearly the chicken wings were their Star Product

The noodles dishes were very good. Both Hokkien mee and roasted pork mee were very yummee. No stinging on ingredients here.

The lala was yummy too. Vege was cooked just right and fresh. Satay was pretty juicy. And if you notice, at time of snapping, some chicken wings were already MIA. The grilled stringray (not in pic) was done to perfection too and OH, did I love their sambal. *happy contented high pitched sigh*

Btw, I'm currently going for Adobe Flash training. Wheee! Now, I'll have to find out how to publish my little homeworks here. :D

putrajaya

2008-08-05T23:53:00.003+08:00

Just a random update!

I went to Putrajaya on Sunday night for a makan angin ride and found the place to be so pretty.

Will feature more photos... I accidentally deleted quite a few photos. Need to dig around to see if I have a back up somewhere. -_-

26th niece!

2008-07-28T00:24:00.003+08:00

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)

Curry-Okie

2008-07-20T20:57:00.005+08:00

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!

2008-07-20T19:47:00.004+08:00

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.

first tag ever

2008-07-15T20:54:00.004+08:00

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!

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

So, so Red

2008-07-13T14:41:00.004+08:00

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

work hard, beach harder

2008-07-06T19:15:00.015+08:00

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?

bye, bye, KL!

2008-07-02T08:40:00.002+08:00

whoa.

it is like I can't believe it...

I'm going on a holiday!

woohoo!

No computers for the next few days. Oh finally.

No phone calls... when I come back, I'll probably forget my Standard Greetings... teehee

No office clothes...

whoa. I think I might not be able to handle it... I'll probably miss all these...

but i'm going to the beach! whoopie!

Tales from the Navy

2008-06-29T15:25:00.003+08:00

Due to &^#%*@! who do not really know where to sit on an express bus when their seat numbers have been clearly stated on their tickets but did not process in their smart little brains, I ended up seated beside a crew from the Royal Malaysian Navy whose seat has been colonized by another &^#%*@ who have the same seat number on his ticket. Or so the &^#%*@ claim because he wants to be seated with his girlfriend.

&^#%*@! aside, it was quite interesting talking to this dude. I shall call him Mamat. My friend and I used to use 'mamat' in replacement of dude in Bahasa. :D

For eg: Mamat tu dari mana?
which means: Where is that dude from?

Not to be mistaken with: Mamak

Anyways, Mamat told me about:

-RMN (which silly me have not much idea about)
-the "kapal" he works on which was KD Jebat (which is one of the best ships in the RMN)
-how small KD Jebat is if we compare it to the US aircraft carrier ship (because I asked if we have one of those...)
-his job (he works 5 days a week! craps!)
-that Thursdays and Fridays are English Speaking Days on the kapal (good for them!)
-his boss
-his colleagues and subordinates
-where and what he studied
-which countries has he visited on official missions (shall not reveal)
-which countries he wish to visit in future (Japan, Korea & somewhere in the Middle East)
-where he lives
-where his fiance lives
-Malay traditions in a boy-meet-girl situation (Family to meet up first!)
-how the tradition is not practiced anymore in KL
-how living in KL is refered to as a test to a person's faith
-when he plans to marry
-how much he have to send as dowry to his fiance's family when they do get married
-how he has been saving for this dowry (whoa)
-how Minangkabaus in N.Sembilan normally have the whole kampung chip in food, like rice and spices and all things nice, to help in a wedding thus reducing costs (at this point, I think he wished he was a Minangkabau)
-what kinda weird exotic meat he has eaten
-how kancil (mouse deer) meat tastes very nice (I gasp and went,"But kancils so cute!!!")
-the food on board KD Jebat (which he said was good as the chefs are mostly culinary arts diploma holders from KTAR)
-etc etc etc.

I think, in that short 3.5 hours ride from Kluang to KL, I sort of found out a lot about the daily life of a navy crew and also the personal life of Mamat.

Of course there is the customary question:

"If I have holiday in KL and wanna stay at your hotel, do I get a discount?"

I proceeded to elaborate how small a fry I am and how things don't work like this anymore in this age but if he wants to stay in KL at all, I do recommend my hotel.

Aaaaanyways, I asked Mamat if there were any scary encounters on the kapal since we all know a lot of movies with scary encounters on kapals. He proceeded to tell me only 2 stories since I told him I don't like to watch scary movies or listen to scary stories as I get scared easily (at this point you will be asking, "Then why did u ask??!!" I know.).

1) Once he thought he saw a colleague on the deck when actually there was no one (normal)
2) Once he saw a dude with long hair and an eagle on his shoulder at the bow of the ship with arms stretched out on both side ala Rose in Titanic (at this point I laughed). The long haired dude then jumped and disappeared. (bizarre!)

I asked him so many questions that he thought I was interested in a career with RMN. (LOL). He seriously told me that at my age, if I apply, the chances of me getting the job is pretty good.

I just told him that I don't think I am fit enough.

To which he agreed. -_-

Sky High

2008-06-22T23:06:00.009+08:00

Having stayed in KL for the past 5 years and having walked pass the Petronas Twin Towers everyday for the past one year AND not stepping foot on the Twin Towers Skybridge is unacceptable.

-Photo taken during a fire evacuation drill-

-Photo taken while going to work-

-Photo taken when having drinks at SkyBar-

Curiosity finally set in.

I was determined to wake up early and just go and experience for myself what it will be like to stand on that bridge connecting the Twin Wonders of Malaysia. I was determined. I psyched myself up by imagining the breathtaking view while taking in the architectural pride of my country.

OK. No need to be so drama. Pei Ching and I were already set to go. Many were not able to join but we were going no matter what. Any concierge in the city will advise you to start queueing for the free tickets as early as 7.30am. I went there at about 7.45am and was greeted by this:

It will be good to go with some buddies so that you can chat about your anticipation, how Malaysia has developed so far, the petrol price hike, how difficult it was to wake up so early on a Saturday, how the public transportation sucks sometimes, etc etc.

But it will be better to just go there early. Be there by 7.30am and you will cut down on the pain of waiting in line.

There is no food in sight and so it will be a good idea to ta-pao something to eat while you wait.

We missed the 9.00am tickets but yay! we got the 9.30am tickets! Some people got the afternoons ones...

We were required to sit in a mini theatre room to watch a 3D presentation on how Petronas came about and how good they are to their employees, customers and stakeholders. At least the 3D glasses were pretty entertaining:

It's pretty huge but still funny. I think maybe I wanna get a pair of sunnies this big next time.

Anyways, a word of advise : Minimize contact with the 3D glasses provided! I doubt they sterilize it but what I saw was shocking. It was a dark room but due to my paranoia on dirt and bacteria, I inspected the glasses closely. Well, yes, a little oily from being in contact with so many faces everyday but if you look closely, you will soon realise that some people actually bite the ends of the holder (I don't know what you call it but it is the part where it sits on your ear).

omg.

OK. Back to the bridge. We took a ride in this highspeed elevator. And when they say highspeed, it was really, really highspeed! The lenght of the ride felt like I have just reached a tenth floor of my apartment but in actual fact, we were already on the 41st floor! whoa... whoaaa...

-The Bridge-

When we first arrived, the guide/usher decided to explain a little more about the bridge and in a way blocking us anxious people from stepping on the bridge. We were this close!!

OK, yada yada, the bridge consist of 2 storeys, one for the employees, one for mere visitors like us, weights 300 plus tonnes, yada yada. We were like children looking at a whole bunch of lollipops but were not allowed to touch.

Finally, we were set free!

At first I could hear some of the ang-moh visitors gasping in awe at the view. That was before they realize that the view was not so gasp-worthy because it was a misty morning. I think we could only see buildings around 300 metres away. Aiya....

And there were no public/tourist-friendly binoculars on the whole bridge. So what else can one do?

Take photos!

KL Convention Centre, Traders Hotel, ExxonMobil & Water Park

Menara Public Bank

The water fountains and some cool designs on top of Suria KLCC

Some office folks having tea break (typically). I think this should be on the 37th floor.

Me!

After about 10minutes, we were ushered off... not before we took some last minute photos!

Peiching

Esmee and me

Me going "Last one!!"

The incredible high-speed elevator control panel. whoa.

big money

2008-06-15T22:43:00.002+08:00

One day, I was just showing off my 1,000 rupiah note (souvenir from Natalia) when Ardhan pulled out another note, gave it to me and said

"Yvonne, here. Go and buy yourself a... car. I think second-hand one can. I'm such a good friend, right?"

Haha! Now I have two. Maybe I can add it to my dad's collection of notes and coins. Maybe I'll start my own collection! I dunno. I even thought I have started a keychain collection with my 7 keychains from 7 different countries but was told that it was not a collection. I think I suck at collecting. Anyways, according to Ardhan, this 50,000 rupiah is about RM18 after conversion. OK la, I forgive you for being a cheapo last time.