Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Escapade!

I promised to tell a little bit more about my trip to Lumut. There were 3 of us moderators for the team building, my friend C and a guy, M, who is also training in a different field. C is a quiet person and although M says he is an extrovert, our first lunch was filled with forks and spoons clinking in the silence.

Being someone who doesn’t like eating silently, I tried to bring up common topics but being amongst people who are from different fields, I soon ran out of things to say. Can you imagine, I used THREE of my Eric’s Misadventure Tales which had them laughing as my opening salvo but after that, I got a little tired. Which reminds me I haven’t updated more Misadventures in a while. Soon.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
View from the lobby.

Anyways, back to the team building, it was actually fun, making others play games which you don’t have to be involved in! And at the start of the whole thing, I was about to come down with a flu but fortunately, half of the activities were done outside an air cond room which really helped me recover. Next time you’re feeling ill, go outdoors if you have the energy.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
The beach.

As for the location, Damai Laut, I must say it’s not somewhere tourists would want to stay because why go all the way there and not hop over to Pangkor Island itself? It could be positioned to attract large groups such as church camps to enjoy the facilities. The staff were excellent though, perceptive and always willing to accommodate.

Views from my room balcony:
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
That's Pangkor Island at sunset.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
The resort.

We wanted to stop by a chicken farm along the way home to buy fresh eggs but I’m glad we didn’t. My friend who used to work in a hatchery says they’re not THAT fresh anyway. And it would be totally weird to buy trays of eggs home from a holiday.

Snow Hero

While I wait for KS to finish his work, I will now elaborate yet another episode of Eric’s Misadventures. This one involves snow when he was working in the USA.

There was this girl that Eric liked back then. She lived in a cabin near the lake and one hard winter, she was almost snowed in. So she called on Eric’s help.

Immediately seizing the opportunity to help a damsel in distress, Eric geared himself with thick gloves, jackets and a beanie. Upon reaching her place, he was faced with several feet deep of snow which he had to shovel off her driveway.

Our hero took on the task gamely and set about clearing the path. Of course, being inexperienced and the sole worker, it took him many long hours to complete the task in the freezing winds. By the time he was done, it was dark, his fingers numb with dripping cold and all she said was, “Thanks!”

Trudging back home, he removed his sodden apparel and thought nothing of it. The next day at work, he felt his left ear stinging but didn’t act upon it until it started oozing pus. Frightened, he quickly then went to see the doctor.

The doctor was shocked to see his condition and diagnosed it as frostbite. If he had delayed any further, he would have lost his ear. However, since the natives are well aware that they should be wearing muffs to protect their ears, the doctor couldn’t resist but to ask him to wait while he called in his nurse to come take a look.

Turned out, a whole bunch of nurses tagged along for they have never seen a frostbite case. They all fussed over him, “Oh you poor thing!” while treating him like some small kid who should have known better. One of the nurses then proceeded to bandage his ear but because of the lack of experience in such cases, the bandage was wrapped AROUND his head.

By the time the doctor came back in, Eric was bandaged as though he was about to be ritually mummified. The doctor gasped and quickly untangled him. Eric ended up with a huge bandage wrapped around the ear so it protruded like a big mushroom growing from the side of his head.

His colleagues had a field day thereafter.

TV Series

We got ourselves a copy of the TV series Heroes and have been hooked to it since. Every opportunity we can, we’d watch about 3 at one go. Why 3? Because we can’t stand the suspense but yet realize we need our sleep to be able to function properly the next day.

I’ve been asking my colleagues if they have seen it and only one has. So I haven’t been able to discuss things like, “So Peter is the bomb? And who is that black dude who seems to absorb everyone’s else’s power? Does Sylar eat people’s brains to get their power?” So many questions, so little people to help answer or discuss.

Going to the internet isn’t going to be fun. I accidentally read Gilmore Girls episode guide and now I don’t feel so excited about it anymore. But they were so good together! Why did they break up? Aaaarrrggghhh!

Foaming Female

Yes, we finally know what gender Ang Ku is, after more than a year she’s stayed with us. How we came to this bit of information is because we sent her to the vet – she’s been closing her right eye in the daylight for over 2 weeks now. Eye infection. So we were given some liquid antibiotics to feed her with the help of a syringe.

After strategizing, KS caught hold of her while I tried to force feed the liquid through the side of her mouth. But horror of all horrors, she started foaming so badly it took 10 tissues just to wipe her foaming saliva until I couldn’t stand it and released her into the garden, where she continued to foam. It was actually rather scary.

Undaunted, I tried again after a short period when she stopped foaming and managed to squeeze in 5 ml. Her foaming was immediate so I left her crouched over the grass, dripping.

What’s wrong with this cat? I tried looking on the internet and asking my friend who took up vet but found nothing. Her eye hasn’t improved, as all we’ve managed to do is administer eye drops.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Lumut

Been away for the last 4 days in Lumut (near Pangkor Island), helping out a friend to conduct a team building session for her client. We organised games including Explorace, raft building, rope elements, flying fox... I'm just glad to say we only organised it, rather than participating. As it is, I'm already aching and exhausted. And later I'm going to Melaka for the weekend.

But it was fun. I think I can do this about 4 times a year. Now I'm just glad to be back and having internet connection!

More about this when I get back from Melaka.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Hilarious Video

This has got to be one of my favourite videos of all time. From Goodness Gracious Me. Enjoy.

Opening Doors

Tomorrow, I will be doing 2 things which I am uncertain of why I'm even bothering. Both are Head & Heart issues, head says one thing while the heart says the opposite.

Going to be a confusing night tomorrow. Poor KS will be plaqued with my "Pros and Cons" list again. Will give him prior warning, poor chap.

Head & Heart Debate

KS and I are faced with a decision that will change our lives should be choose to accept it. We are being offered a 4 month old Jack Russell at RM500. My colleague bought him but had complaints from all her neighbours for all the noise as she lives in an apartment. So she has to find him a new home.

Here are my thoughts:
1. We already don't have much time spent at home.
What's to become of the puppy when we're always not in? I feel it isn't being fair to the dog but KS says we will have to just work around it as having a dog won't fit perfectly into our lives. We have to take the effort to make changes. Just like a baby. It's won't be convenient but if we really want one, we have to make the effort.

2. The dog doesn't have a certificate.
Something about the mother dog being pregnant without the owner knowing about it hence they could not have been present to witness the coupling. I don't know the procedures to certifying a dog but this sounds a bit fishy to me. But the cert isn't so much a big deal. Just that you wonder if it really is a pure bred and besides, we're paying for it.

3. Nature of a Jack Russell Terrier.
I've been reading a bit about them on the net. And what they say scares me.
  • They are hunting dogs. They will hunt and kill other animals. That means he cannot live with cats (so what's to become of Ang Ku?!).
  • They need loads of space to run (but we can bring him out to the park here on weekends and we have a garden for him to run).
  • No way can you leave a JR without his leash as he will attack dogs 3 times larger since he doesn't realise he's a small fellow, he will like going underground (we have an underground drainage system) and can get lost for weeks and months being underground.
  • They are also not good with kids below 6 years old. So what happens when we start having kids?

4. Price is too steep.
Other friends who are trying to sell their pure bred puppies are pricing them at RM400. Besides, if my colleague really IS looking for somewhere to house the dog, she would be almost giving him away for free to someone whom she knows will be able to take care of the dog.

Of course, all these really depends on each dog as we can never generalise and say things like "All Singaporeans are kiasu". Each individual is different.

But in my heart, I have always loved Jack Russells and always wanted to own one. But because pedigree puppies cost between RM1,200 to RM1,500, I have never bothered much about researching about them in depth. I won't mind Retrievers or Labradors but we don't have the space.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

How to resist??

My Fair Lady

My family and I watched My Fair Lady after months of anticipation on Tuesday. I enjoyed myself but somehow went away with a feeling of slight dissatisfaction, not because of the show but because I was so irritated right from the start.

I had earlier purchased seats for my family and my parents friends from Alor Star and didn’t know I was going to inherit really good seats on the opening night and Friday night. So I had to give up my expensive seats for the first night but never mind, at least I watched it with my parents.

What shrouded the play for me was this lady (my parents friend) C, who requested for 1 ticket a week after I purchased our seats. Of course I could not get the same seatings as ours but got hers just one seat diagonally behind our row. The night before, C kept whining about how afraid she was of getting lost, insisting we all switch our phones on after the event in case she gets separated from the rest of us. I ignored her and just told her curtly that the seat wasn’t too far off and she completely ignored me.

So last night, she still kept on about getting lost even as we were approaching the doors to enter and my mum, bless her, opened her mouth:

“Dad, maybe you’d like to take her seat instead?”

“Oh, would you really? Thank you!”

You can probably guess I wasn't jumping over the moon with my Mum. Dad drove them down and housed all of them in the PJ house as guests. I paid for the tickets as a treat to my parents and it was MY prerogative to give the ticket away if I wanted to. And SHE was the one who booked the tickets late!

Mum then tried to retract her words but of course the damage was done. In the end, Jan offered to sit alone and as she stood up to give up her seat to Dad, C said, “Oh look! Your daughter is so nice and thoughtful”. If we were in NZ where the slightest sounds are audible, you would have heard my teeth grinding.

So that set my mood for the show. Then when the curtains went up, this grandmother sitting beside me started to ask her two companions (daughters or granddaughters I didn’t bother to check) about what was happening. They proceeded to give her a commentary in Cantonese. “Oh! Hey tei hai lap sap yan ah?” (referring to the flower girls at the start). I glared at them but elicited no response until I shushed them. It continued off and on throughout the entire show.

Then one of the companions decided to make the show a sing-along. Maybe she attended the recent The Sound of Music Sing-Along but she must have gotten the dates and show wrong. After several bars, she stopped, thank God. But this happened to several songs and also provided script prompting.

The good thing was that people actually switched off their phones (until after the intermission, at least!). And there was at least one guy who gave a standing ovation. There were more who gave a leaving ovation. I wonder if I should give up watching anything here in Malaysia.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Euro Deli

There's this chain of restaurants all over the Klang Valley called Euro Deli. It's a porky place, serving western meals. Although the table settings make it look like a cheapo place, the food is far from cheap. We had our lunch at the Summit outlet, I had the lamb while KS had the pork belly for RM25.90++ each.

It was really yummy. Each mouthful was absolutely tasty, even the broccoli oozed butter as you sink your teeth into it. The lamb was good and tender but the pork was better, with succulent pieces bursting of its juices on your tongue.

Highly recommended should you want to treat yourself to ang moh food. *Photos later

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Video Sharing

I took a video on my handphone but when I play it on my computer, it is shown sideways. You know how you can turn a photo clockwise or anti-clockwise, is there any simple software out there that I can do the same for videos?

Negotiation Skills

Back in Uni, I took this Negotiations as one of my subjects. I had hoped it would help improve my negotiation skills but unfortunately, being someone who learns on the job, all the theories melted as soon as I heard it.

Yesterday, I saw one of the best negotiation skills being displayed. I went shopping with my friend who cajoled and negotiated her way through everything. Although only one relented from giving her 3 free sausages instead of just 1 as she was entitled, it was done so that the salesperson did not do it begrudgingly. I must say towards the end, I felt slightly embarrassed but also felt that hey, sometimes if you don't ask, you'd never get it.

So today I went to buy some blank DVDs and CDs in Section 14. I picked up 100 CDs, 55 DVDs and 100 sleeves and tried my hand at bargaining. The guy assured me he was giving me original Imation CDs and DVDs, which was his "gift" to me. I don't know whether I was conned but he said there are fake Imation CDs out there and showed me how to spot the fakes (apparently, the original has some serial numbers embossed around the transparent centre of the disk).

In the end, he gave me a pen to write on CDs and two normal pens. The CD pen would be useful and besides, I'm happy I got something!

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Weird Sea Creature

At our gym, there's this shop that displays a large tank of sea creatures, corals, clownfish etc. The last time we were there, we noticed this really weird looking creature.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

It looks like a snail, slightly bigger than my fist. A bit geli lah. Never seen it in my life and wonder what on earth it is.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Road Littering

Was on my way to PJ the other day and noticed this car in front of me who flicked his cigarette stub out of the window along the highway. It makes me really mad that Malaysians litter as though they expect someone to pick up after them in public places.

I wish I could collect all the cigarette butts and as soon as someone winds down their window and throws one out, I'd be there to stuff in thousands of used ones into their cars.

Of course there's spitting thick gob everywhere even along walkways. Okay, I refuse to get worked up over these things before I go to sleep.

Blogs

In the last couple of days, the buzz word has been blogs and if you own one, the chances of you getting a job is elevated. Okay, I'm being dramatic but somehow I've been hearing that if your qualifications include owning a blog, it adds on to your CV.

I now understand the wisdom behind not being a dooce. Some employers would want to see your "work" and being a dooce won't help.

Anyway, if you don't have a blog yet, consider starting one.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Mouse Ache

I admit, I'm addicted to the Insaniquarium game. Now my fingers can barely type for I have overworked it on the mouse for the game. And it's 3 a.m.

Thank goodness I can see a slight disinterest already. I hope it goes away after tomorrow.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Press Talk

Yesterday at work, we had a launch lunch and I had to sit with some reporters. Although there were a couple of my colleagues who were from the Corporate Communications department, the chitchat amongst the reporters were left largely to myself and my colleague. And we had fun! These reporters are so down to earth and dressed casually.

One of them gave me a couple of magazines which she wrote for and now that I’m just waiting around for KS to finish up his work before we head to Spidey 3, I flipped through it and experienced a tinge of melancholy. I do miss my days in Comms, when we used to get loads of magazines and flipping through each was considered WORK and the opportunity to speak to reporters were too many.

You pick up many interesting and cutting edge products being introduced into the market, which you would otherwise have not noticed. And it’s not like I’d go out there and buy all the magazines off the rack since only several pages are really useful info.

Okay, my wait continues…

Insaniquarium

My friend introduced this game to me and I played it until past 1am. Can’t wait to go home and continue it. I’m so darn tempted to play it here in the office but my cubicle is too centralized and everyone will see.

Basically, you feed fish which will grow and er.. shit coins and diamonds so you get more cash. Once you get enough money, you buy parts of an egg until it’s complete then you get various pets with different abilities to help you.

Simple but it’s put me off Freaky Factory for the time being. Dang, when WILL I ever tire of Freaky Factory? If you know any games, especially Flash games, do let me know. I’ve already played Cake Mania, Diner Dash and most of the Neopet games. I’d like to be bored of it one day.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Successful Brownie

I've never been much of a brownie fan but over the years, there have been at least 2 people who's face light up when I say I like baking, with the hope that I know how to do brownies.

So I looked up the internet for a recipe and hit on one that had fairly simple ingredients. All I had to do was go out and buy pecans. And it was so simple too, without having a need for my Kitchen Aid.

The result? Yummy...
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Or maybe the ice-cream and chocolate sauce overpowered it... This small slice was enough to make me jelak. And I was on a sugar high just from it.

Red Bean Bane

I have always thought boiling red bean tong sui or barley with fu chok was a simple matter. After all, one only needs to put in the beans, add water and boil until the beans almost disintegrate. Thereafter, simply add sugar for taste. Voila!

But no, this is my 3rd attempt at boiling red bean and I have completely ruined it again. First time was too much beans, second time there wasn't enough, now I thought of adding sago and now it's turned out to be a jelly red bean concoction. Then there was my attempt at barley fu chok a month back, which had so much ingredients I could make 2.5 large stock pots of it. I haven't look at barley since then.

Dang! Looks like I have to find it on the internet what is the correct way to do these things.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Our Date & Adventure

KS is so sweet! Since today is a public holiday, he took me on a date last night. Said the place he was taking me was "secret" and for me to pack an overnight bag. The whole day was wrapped in anticipation as I watched the clock at work.

We went to this Italian restaurant somewhere in KL, NEROTICA. The ambiance was great, very cosy and the food was good. This is near where Frangi's is, near Jln Alor. I had swordfish soaked in tomato sauce (NOT bottled ketchup of course) while KS had a breaded pork chop.

Then we drove to the hotel, Dorsett Regency, along Jalan Imbi. First impressions really count and let me explain how going to this hotel was so bad it became hilarious.

Firstly, the car park was dingy, narrow and strewn with office rubbish. I liken it to the car park at Summit shopping centre, with some water dripping from goodness knows what pipe. The lift lobby from the car park also left a lot to be desired for. But when the lift opened, it was well furnished so I thought, okay, maybe this isn't so bad after all.

This was already night and yet there were at least 4 guests trying to check in. With one person at the counter. Who seemed to be taking forever with the customer he was with. Never mind. KS stood in line while I walked around the cramped lobby. I read the first signboard, promoting their band with the most atrocious grammar within the first lines. Another signage said the hotel would not be held responsible for guests "horses or other living animals".

Now, I'm talking about a 4 star hotel right in the heart of KL having these kind of signages. Still, trying to forgive them, I waited until KS was attended to. This concierge guy, while halfway talking to KS, turns to his colleague and said, "Why you never pick up my call just now? Cibai..."

My eyebrows raised as he quickly turned back to us and assumed his duties. He was really unprofessional! Then he told us we had complimentary breakfast for 3 days, which I thought was a bit strange so I questioned him about it. "Well, we got it in our system that you'll be here for 2 days".

1. We were only staying for one night
2. You mean, if I stay for 2 nights, I can come back the next day after my stay for a free breakfast?

This wasn't the ultimatum. We got the room key and headed up to the floor. The stupid lift didn't have instructions as to how to get to your floor, as you needed to insert the key card before pressing the desired floor. So we were stuck in the lift until it opened again for another guest to come in and show us how it was done.

Dragging our bags to the rooms, we opened the door and with a start, realised there was another key card already in the slot to switch on the electricity. Bewildered, we opened the door further and there was this startled ang moh who jumped out from the bed as we tried to enter the room. Thank goodness he wasn't undressed! We quickly muttered our apologies and went down to see the concierge.

We wanted to just cancel it but the guy apologised and upgraded us to their suites for free.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
View from our window. That's Ritz Carlton, by the way.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Our lounge. That's KS' work on the table.


The next day as we tried to check out, the person at the counter said she couldn't find us registered under the upgraded room. Which means, our room was considered vacant and we could have had another surprised visitor trying to enter our room that night!

What a laugh! To think they rate themselves 4 stars! We're still laughing over it but you can be sure, we will spread the word NEVER to stay at the Dorsett.