After laughing at my colleague for his misfortune, I'm happy to announce he at least won back a little bit of cash to cover his payment for fixing his car.
And no, this is not to encourage anyone to go about buying 4D. The whole incident was just too absurd not to have been blogged about!
There are rumours that Bryan Adams and Scorpions are coming to perform in Malaysia/Singapore this year. Yeah, sure, they're big names but I'm fussy. Sarah Brightman and Celine Dion came and went.
I have never been to a concert so far in my life (wait, unless I count my free VIP ticket to Diana Krall at a Jazz Festival some years back. Back then, I was like, "Who?"). Waiting for that ideal concert to come is like... is like, having U2 come to perform here in South East Asia. Not in the near horizon.
So anyway, here's my list of concerts I'd like to attend: 1. U2 - as I have mentioned several times over this blog. A U2 concert would be my ultimate. 2. Michael Jackson - back in the 90s when he still could sing and perform. So I don't think this will ever happen unless I turn back the clock. I might substitute him with Janet at this juncture. 3. George Michael - A sit down concert, not a standing, full of screaming fans type. Watched some of his live performances on YouTube and had irritating people singing along. Hey, when I pay to hear George Michael, I want to actually hear him sing. 4. Josh Groban - Again, another sit down concert for the same reason as above.
Others whom I might consider: Andrea Bocelli, Laura Fygi (she came to Malaysia but I didn't know who she was then), Leona Lewis (just immersed myself with all her performances for The X Factor).
In the meantime, I'm enjoying all their work via recorded songs. Except U2, whom I prefer listening to their live performances rather than their albums. Makes my hair stand.
... for the extraction of my other pair of wisdom teeth. I now sport a swollen cheek, as though I'm keeping a sweet in my right cheek. The dentist I visited this morning gave me antibiotics and some pain killers. Hope all goes well before my Bangkok trip this Thursday.
My colleague had an unfortunate day yesterday but he was so cool about it until I asked how he was. Here’s how his story goes.
First: His car was broken into, with the driver’s window smashed. Only things stolen were a few coins, which added up to about RM2-3, and a few unimportant personal documents but with his IC and credit card numbers on them. So he had to go to the police station to make a report.
Second: As he went to get his car fixed, he left his car just outside the shop while he went in to talk to the mechanic. In less than 5 minutes, he went back to his car and realized his handphone was stolen through the broken window.
Third: Needing to withdraw cash to buy a new handphone, he circled the bank branch but couldn’t find a parking spot. Yup, you guessed it. He parked illegally just for that few minutes to withdraw from the ATM and he was slapped with a fine.
His car number is 6614 if you’re interested to buy 4D. He’s already bought them all today, Magnum, 4D, Toto.
One thing I learnt and appreciate from my ex-company is that I get to see weird gadgets. These items would be commonly found in the USA but not here in Malaysia.
For example, I have been looking for a cork extractor/butler’s friend/ah so extractor. You know, the cork extractor that has a two-prong metal bit that helps remove a cork from a wine bottle? Yeah, you’d probably get it at any Woolworth’s or the nearby grocery store in America. But NOT HERE IN MALAYSIA. Except my ex-company of course, which costs 10 times more unfortunately. I’ve come to the conclusion that one fine day when I finally place an order on Amazon.com, I’d throw a cheap one into my basket too.
The second item is a bag hook. I love the idea that you can hang your bag on this hook during dinners and not worry about it falling on the floor as I normally place it on my chair. Again, my ex company has one in silver, beautifully made but again, it costs a bomb. And silver and I don’t go together. No siree. I can blacken any silver piece within a week. I’ve given up polishing my silver seahorse brooch. Some people are fortunate that they can wear silver accessories and make them shinier.
So anyway, these two items are the odd thingamajig I’ve been eyeing since I left my old office 3 years ago.
And guess what? I found the bag hook in Central Market! Alas, it’s rather ugly and um… patriotic but I guess that will do for now. My colleagues looked at it and exclaimed what a wonderful invention it is as they’ve never seen one before. Again, if not for my ex-company…
After my horrifyingly stressful emcee stint last week, I just received an email from the Corporate Comms to say they have selected me as part of their panel of emcees. This is so that if any part of the company is having an event, they just might call us to emcee.
I think I'll go buy the D60 and say I've just become the assistant photographer to my other colleague for all events. A D60 doesn't shrink when you put on weight, nor does it go out of fashion and neither do I need to put make up for hiding behind the lens.
As promised, here are some photos of the two new gals.
Meet Amber. Quiet. Sleeps a lot. Understands commands faster. Loves to chew bones. More Labrador genes. Evil (see later pictures and I'll explain why). Browner.
Meet Maple. Gregarious. Alert. Photogenic. More Retriever genes. Doesn't understand "sit" despite repeated hoarse commands. Happy Go Lucky. Loves to play ball.
Amber taking the ball away, giving Maple the evil eye. The minute Maple takes the ball from her, Amber will use that as an excuse to attack her.
Amber looking for ways to steal the ball away from Maple. This is why Amber's evil.
Forlorn looking Maple having a bath.
Maple happily with her ball while the grass looks greener for Amber looking on.
Guilty looking Maple although she wasn't the one being scolded.
And finally, Amber kena sayang. Love her bliss expression.
Will attempt to update the photos into my Flickr once my bandwith cooperates.
This weekend, we're heading back to Melaka and looking forward to meeting two new additions to the family, Amber and Maple. Two adorable lab-retriever pups. I intend to photograph and hug them to bits. Will share with you next week!
I love, love these shots! Was reading some photography website and surfed right into this page. It’s about telling a story with 5 frames.
At first, when I saw the first shot, it looked a little bit creepy, with human skulls. Thereafter, the little snowmen really made it so cute and hilarious. Read the comments as people interpret the story.
Here’s my take: Photo 1: Evil skulls keeping vigil of their flame of life.
Photo 2: Suddenly, creeping from the darkness, you see grinning snowmen approaching the skulls.
Photo 3: Quietly taking their positions, the snowmen surround the skulls, looking for unobstructed path to the light.
Photo 4: When they are near enough, they suddenly light up and announce their presence amongst the skulls. By then, the skulls are unable to react.
Photo 5: They snuff the light out, still grinning.
Over the weekend, I immersed myself with YouTube videos of Hugh Laurie. He’s really so witty! Loved the songs he composed; Sophisticated Fool, Mystery and Where Is The Lid? (Unfortunately, my office has banned YouTube so I can’t link it at the moment).
Still going through the first season of House. Dad, Jan and myself are getting addicted. But we can’t watch more than three episodes at one go as it gets a little bit confusing and we mix up the cases.
I’m finally wearing a borrowed cocktail dress, as I couldn’t fit into any shift dresses borrowed or owned. I feel fat in it but heck, I just don’t have the time to search for another and will disguise my fat arms with a shawl.
Anyway, this has spurred me on to search for that perfect shift. I’ve always wanted a scoop neck line with an empire waist dress so maybe it’s time for me to hit the streets to look for a tailor.
Browsing on the net, I came across a few designs and some of them come from those ready patterns you buy off the shelf and sew on your own. It’s a shame these patterns can’t be found in Malaysia. I remember attempting to sew one wrap around skirt, bending industrially over the cloth in the dusk light while Mum was busy over the sewing machine.
It was nearly completed. I only had to iron on this white belt that would make the cloth firm for the waist and then fold it away from sight. Never got around to doing just that part. Otherwise, the whole skirt would have been complete!
Unfortunately, it isn’t as easy to pick this up again as resources are limited. Especially patience.
What a cool marketing strategy. One of my favourite sites on digital photography is the Digital Photography School. Just very recently, they put up the latest Nikon D60 as a prize for the person with the most contributions on their forums this month.
There was a surge of people signing up and suddenly I'm seeing the forums being filled and folks rushing to be heard. I signed up since I'm a regular reader and wanted to have a go at it. But... I don't know what to contribute!
Oh heck, I'm just going to enjoy my weekly newsletter subscription from them and tell myself I need to use my camera more before I even consider the DSLR. :) You can tell I'm such a go-getter.
As you know, the thing that bugs me most when it comes to formal events is "What do I wear?". Yours truly has just been volunteered to co-emcee for an event next week, the launch of a super serious high level product. The guests are expected to be top management folks and it is held in one of the most expensive locations in KL, the Carcosa Seri Negara.
So, instead of worrying about what do I say, my nightmares are already starting on what I should be wearing. An evening dress when everyone is in suits? A business looking dress (if I can still fit into that)? Was advised against wearing a coat and encouraged to wear a skirt because my co-emcee is a guy.
I so despise dressing up! If you'd be so kind as to drop a comment, I'll flood your email next week with some pictures of what I currently can fit into to get your vote. :(
Was sifting through some old books that Mum wants to throw and came across a Readers Digest book on artists and their art.
Back in my old company, I was once surrounded with people who talked about arts, throwing words I’ve never heard of like “nouveau”. I listened in absolute non-comprehension and the fascination of the arts simply eluded me. Now that I’m reading my cousin Karen’s blog on her postings on Paris, again, I’m left with the feeling like I’m missing out on something.
It’s about visiting art museums and gazing at the Renaissance sculptures in Europe. Sure, the sculptures are gorgeous but don’t they look the same after, oh, the 5th sculpture? I’ve been to a couple of art galleries but CANNOT, for the life of me, understand it. I discovered that I like paintings that look so close to the original subject, they might as well be photographs.
People flock to the museums and get inspired. Some can sit there just looking at one painting for hours. I just don’t get it. It’s like being blind and trying to imagine what red is and how it invokes the soul.
Is it because Arts is not a emphasized subject in school? I now find myself trying to read the art book I unearthed for the sake of getting a glimpse of this world. My intention to read this is after I go through the other books I found on underwater creatures, amazing facts of the world, Chinese stories, Arabian stories…
Hence, Europe has never really been a great place to visit for me because I know I’ll not appreciate a major part of it.
I just attended my first baking class. On the syllabus were three cakes, Nutty Mousse Cake, Baked Cheese Cake and Moist Chocolate Cake. Guess which one made me not only sign up but also dragged Mum along.
It was quite fun and the instructor was very open to any question. No question was too dumb. I learned that there IS a difference between cocoa powder and chocolate powder. And that printed recipes are usually inaccurate. We had to almost rewrite everything from the notes that were given to us.
In the end, we each got to take home a slice of every cake and sampled the leftovers. The chocolate cake is really really yummy. "If you have a girlfriend who is slim and shapely, keep giving her this cake as a revenge!" is his advice. It's irresistible.
This guy shared that when he was studying in Switzerland, his homework was to create a new cake every day. Wow.. that sounds really impossible! I only follow recipes, I have never created a cake. So what we learned today were all his own. And I paid double for this recipe since I insisted Mum come along in case I could not understand what was going on!
One fine day, I will attempt this with Mum and let you know the outcome.
From the same weekend of fishing, the next day, I followed KS and his family to the ancestors graves in Masjid Tanah for Cheng Beng, a day to remember the departed. We were supposed to be there by 7am, which meant a groggy drive up as I was already feeling the effects of the sun from my fishing episode.
This is the first time I joined KS family on Cheng Beng since we got married. Although I never grew up observing this part of the Chinese culture, I felt rather attuned to whatever that was going on for some strange reason. But I did bring my camera which made KS pretty uncomfortable, taking photos of graves.
But I did ask permission from my mother-in-law and she said they didn't pantang. So here are some shots I managed to sneak in while trying to look inconspicuous.
The prepared items for burning (paper gold/money) Flowers for the graves. Part of the view of cemetery. Note the amount of people dotted along the graves. The cars came in droves and caused a mini traffic jam. Here was the paper gold/money for our ancestors. See the colourful paper weighed down by pebbles on the graves? These represent cloth for the deceased to make clothes from, if I'm not mistaken.
Caught sight of a family flinging "money" into the breeze. The wind scattered them across the graveyard as they drifted downhill.
And finally, I don't know why, but there's always a bald tree in the graveyards that I've been to. Here's the Masjid Tanah one, shrouded in smoke from the burnt offerings.
With all the smoke and sun, I called in sick the next day.
I know I’ve always mentioned wanting to go fishing. No, last weekend, this was a different kind of fishing – rescuing guppies from my in-laws pond before we could scrub the algae which stagnated the water feature.
At the first glace, the algae looked absolutely disgusting. I didn’t even want to touch it so when it got entangled on the net, I would furiously whack it against the closest brick. After a while, it just got too tiring and I resorted to using my bare hands.
Anyways, I was getting more and more ill each time I stepped out into the blazing sun so it didn’t cross my mind to take photos while I was at the task. But here are some photos on my successful catches and how the pond looked like before we scrubbed it out.
First it was Take That. Then the Spice Girls. And today, by fluke, KS searched for NKOTB (New Kids On The Block, if you didn't know) on youtube and voila! They're getting back together too!
While I am typing this, youtube's playing all their old songs. And I'm singing along. To every. One. Of. Them. Man... this brings back SO much memories! How I scrounged every magazine for their posters, bought, begged, borrowed every video they ever produced! I mooned over Joey McIntyre before getting confused and also liking Jordan Knight. Oh their moves! Their ability to sing was secondary but their songs were darn catchy.
I remember playing Step By Step over and over and over on my radio one weekend and my neighbour finally retaliated by playing it back just as loudly. I even despaired that Tsiang's grandma would know Michael Jackson and NOT KNOW the NKOTB!
KS claims that guys used to diss them then because they were jealous and in secret, they'd try the Step By Step dance on the stairs. Okay, okay, I tried it too.
Sigh... the original boy band is finally coming back again! Balding, but coming back together again. May 16.
After laughing at my colleague for his misfortune, I'm happy to announce he at least won back a little bit of cash to cover his payment for fixing his car.
