Bizarre Christmas

Actually, it's been a muted Christmas for us. Had to admit Dad into a hospital on boxing day since he hasn't been well from a week ago with suspected dengue/chikugunya. He was on drip as he was vomiting. Doctor suspects he was attacked with viral fever and maybe a tail-end of dengue.

It's actually good that we were on long holiday so we could visit him and keep Mum company. He was discharged after two nights and came home to rest.

Then, a few hours later, KS parents, on their way home from Ipoh yesterday wanted to drop by to see how Dad was, encountered car problems and were forced to spend the night while sourcing for a mechanic.

This morning, while we were having breakfast with everyone, my aunt, uncle and cousin decided to drop by to visit Dad. Then in the afternoon, my Mum-in-law went to visit an old friend who helped source for the mechanic and had them guide her back to our PJ house. So her friend and family also dropped by to say hello. Phew! What a load of unexpected visitors! KS parents just went back and we're finally back in Klang to feed the cat.

But all in all, Dad's getting so much better and I think the company also did him good. We made sure he didn't strain himself and insisted he took his rest when he felt tired.

The Shrilling Chicken

Here's what I got for Grace for Christmas. It's called a "Shrilling Chicken" although I reckon it should be called a "Roasted Shrieking Chicken". The expression on the chicken's face is so hilarious!

I also got for KS a shark hand puppet, specially ordered from Amazon, shipped to somewhere in USA, then shipped to Singapore and brought in by Grace. Phew. You can imagine what a bomb it cost! But I had the hope it would be the hand puppet for him and unfortunately, I wasn't too pleased with the QC as it had a slight tear plus it wasn't exactly what I hoped it would be. Ah well, the risks of buying stuff online.

Here we made a short video of the two and hope you enjoy it:

Pre-Christmas Peace

The furious wrapping of presents have tapered down, the bottom of the tree is bursting with presents, the two kids are out on their train ride, Matt's busy in the kitchen preparing the turkey while I'm here busy blogging and playing computer games... This is going to be a GREAT Christmas. :)

Matt, Grace and kids are here in PJ. This is the first Christmas we're having here in the new house. KS brought the Christmas tree from Klang and set it up a couple of weeks ago. It's now quietly blinking in the living room, lending a peaceful sparkle in it's muted corner. I gave up trying to fit all the presents under it so they're spilling out of the sides.

Christmas shopping this year has been a fun process, pounding the pavement of every mall for the last few weekends. Of course, KS was filled with horror battling the crowd last weekend when he had to do his shopping. Look forward to the opening of presents and seeing everyone's face when a particular present it opened. Will feature it here once it is unwrapped.

Blessed Christmas everyone.

You Know You're Old When...

This morning I realised two marks of growing old:

1. I realise I've been drinking warm water instead of cold. As a child, I used to drink only cold water and simply couldn't believe my Mum when she said warm water is nice.

2. I wake up at 11am on a weekend and think, "Boy, a day wasted!" when 11am used to be the official wake-up time back then.

Will add more to the list when it dawns upon me.

Wrapping Up 2008

Since KS started recounting the 10 events of 2008 in his blog, I'd like to recap major events of 2008 too although some will overlap with his.

1. General Elections 2008 saw to a major shake up to the current administration. The rakyat has spoken loud and clear and yet fools choose to challenge even God by saying things like "Even God cannot destroy UMNO". The last time God was publicly challenge was "Even God cannot sink this ship (Titanic)". We'll see.

2. Discovering new places - Korean town in Ampang, Camerons, Bangkok and Hong Kong. I enjoyed Bangkok and Hong Kong but only see myself returning to Hong Kong. It was also a good (although stressful) time with my family.

3. Hospitalised. The strange fever that wouldn't go away for 12 days and deferred my Bangkok trip. Pity there wasn't a Dr House in that hospital as they haven't figured out what was ailing me. Also, I was slightly amused that despite my repeated rejection of my 4th antibiotic course, informing him I have felt nausea and headache when I once took my 3rd course years ago, the doctor insisted I take it. He had to eat his words back when a rash immediately broke out all over my body. And I've learnt that it is good to stay in a single bedded room if you're not well.

4. Caving. It was fun climbing and crawling in Gua Tempurung with the CG. My toe nail is still slowly growing as I type.

5. Getting ever-so-slightly healthier. Started with switching my char siew pao and Snickers chocolate bar to some oats for breakfast which then caused me piles (see? It's sometimes not healthy to eat oats!) and now I'm taking cereal and the occasional instant soup for breakfast.

6. Good friend Heman migrated to Sydney. Although we don't meet as often as I like, I do miss calling him once in a while and just talking. Things are just different over the internet, you know?

7. Changing new job. Stressful but it's work stress so that's fine. Mental stress is being sorted, so things are getting better. However, I've lost the time and motivation to blog as a result of being bogged down by work.

8. Minor new discoveries - Ben & Jerry's, Krispy Kreme, Capoeira.

Now to start planning a list of things for 2009.

Colonial Malaya

Last Thursday, my office had our annual dinner with the theme Colonial Malaya at the Carcosa Sri Negara. It was nice to see my colleagues dressed up to the era and some came looking like Tunku Abdul Rahman. Plus, the setting was simply perfect for the theme.

I was told to go a Tan Cheng Lock's wife so I dressed up in my cheongsam. Yes, my wedding cheongsam which made me look like a lap cheong just three months after my wedding. I've lost quite a lot of weight recently (to my puzzlement as I really want to know how I did it so that I can continue doing it!) so it fit me as well as it did on my wedding. Will find a decent photo if I can find one.

The food at the Gulai House was excellent although I didn't dare to touch the beef. Loved the pancake/crepe with ice cream at the end.

Everyone went home with a prize, the "unluckiest" ones went home with a 2G thumbdrive, which was still a good thing for me. Although my 4th thumbdrive, there's always more junk to store and keep in them.

How's Your Poo?

Today, after 11 years of being my partner, KS actually asked me about stool matters without me prompting or bringing it up in the first place. I am so proud of him. The endless dinners with my family talking about poo has finally rubbed off.

It's Been Too Long

I can't remember the last time I went to a pub or disco and danced.

But last Friday, I attended a farewell for an ex-colleague but as I only got to know about it on the day itself, I went dressed in a sweater (!) and heels which were not really meant for bumping and grinding in a sweat filled environment.

Zeta's got a great band (although I have no comparisons but I enjoyed myself) and the crowd consisted of much older folks, most self-consciously moving on the spot while holding their drinks in one hand. We were the same until someone suggested to go down to the dance floor and boy, did we then really move it, move it!

Now my muscles are sore but it was worth the stress reliever! I had a great time letting down my hair with my ex-colleagues.

Now back to my work on a Sunday.

Doing Work on a Sunday

Hate it. Hate it! Gaaaaaah! Forgot to bring home my calculator now I can't do my work. Plus, I'm in a holiday mood. It's a weekend, for crying out loud! :(

Being in an Islamic Bank...

One of the first things I learned here in my new job is the Malam Khamis-Jumaat. All this while, my sifu's in my ex company never explained this law so when I heard about it recently, I thought my leg was being pulled.

Malam Khamis-Jumaat, or Thursday nights, for Muslims are dedicated for husbands to be with their wives. You know, to carry out their famiy duty of procreation. So every Thursday nights, there's always the joke circling about not having to hold late meetings.

Then, I also recently learned that circumcision is not only for boys. Apparently, girls are also subjected to it when they're babies although I'm still not very sure what they actually cut off. That is SO weird!

One colleagues said, "Of course, now that you're in an Islamic Bank, you should get know these things". I'll share more when I learn more interesting things.

Recurring Bad Dreams

For some people, they dream of bad things happening in toilets. For KS and a few people I know, they dream of sittimg for exams and somehow they can't read the questions, can't understand, pencil doesn't work, pen doesn't have ink, everyone else writing furiously while you're still trying to figure out how to open the paper... Actually, I had a dream about sitting for a Maths test which asked the degree of a triangle with a cos theta. Man! That was more than 15 years ago and I couldn't answer that!

Anyway, my recurring bad dream is usually related to teeth. Last night I dreamt that 5 of my molars disintegrated into smaller pieces but left the roots in my gums and I had to spit out the pieces in hope that some dentist can glue them all back.

U2 Equivalent

Dad just bought a Celine Dion Concert DVD and both my parents are now glued to the TV and this DVD has just converted them into my equivalent of U2. It's funny watching them and hearing their comments. Dad's commenting that the next time she performs, even if it's in Las Vegas, they would like to make that trip! And they're expressing that one of our names would have been Celine if she had been famous back when we were born.

Ah well, she just performed here in Malaysia on April 13th this year. Too bad they didn't see the DVD before. :)

When You're Popular...

I've been quite an avid reader of Kenny Sia for some time now but his postings lately have been too much advertisement that I log in only perhaps once or twice in a month. Apparently there are over 500,000 hits on his site with his soaring popularity.

Anyway, he has created a lot of enemies and there's even a hate blog about him. Real nasty stuff. Talk about hate mail but an entire hate blog? Plus it's written anonymously. While I don't particularly like him, the blog is fascinatingly horrid. It's like reading a tabloid!

CD Frenzy

Usually, KS is the one who will buy music CDs but I recently shocked him by buying quite a few (8 in total). I've always wanted to have the complete Lord of the Rings soundtrack and now I do. What I didn't expect to see was a complete Fellowship of the Rings music score, which I saw in Hong Kong. It took 3 CDs to record the entire 3.5 hours of the movie but I reckoned if I can listen to the entire score, I might as well watch the whole movie again. Which reminds me, it's about time to start my annual watching of LOTR.

I also got myself copies of the entire 5 Harry Potter soundtracks. Still haven't fully appreciated every soundtrack yet.

Yesterday I bought Josh Groban's Noel CD to start off my Christmas mood. Always something about Christmas songs that makes me feel fuzzy. With Josh Groban, I'm wishing I had a better sound system to fully immerse myself in his baritone. Bliss.

The Breaking of the Fellowship

Today was the last day for my ex-colleague in my old place. He is moving on to another department within the same organisation but will be located elsewhere. I will greatly miss his company especially since I have been having lunch with him several times despite my new workplace.

He is my photography inspirer, the one who got me going on photography lately, introduced me to doing crazy things like going all the way to KLIA to take photos, the one who was trying to get me to buy a DSLR amongst others. Gosh, this is starting to sound like an eulogy so I'd better stop here.

The breaking of the Fellowship continues. Next, my other ex-colleagues will shift to another building in a couple of months and I will be left alone to fend my own lunches. Ah, I'm just having one of those "I wish things would remain the same" moods.

Sophisticated Phone

In my 10 years of working life, I have never had such a sophisticated phone. It is even featured in some TV series. It has a directory as well as a clear speaker function (in my old office, we only had one or two phones in the entire floor that could have speaker function and even that we had to almost glue our ears to the speakers to hear the other person talk).

On top of that, I just need to carry it with me to any work station and plug it in while my extension number remains.

When I took this shot, my colleague who's a fresh grad laughed at me for being so kampung. Humph, little does he appreciate this small privilege.

U23D Not Happening

Looks like my plan of going to Singapore this weekend for U23D has to be scrapped. Just looked at the tickets for confirmed seats have already been sold out (and they're incredibly expensive!). And the thought of going all the way to Singapore just for a chance to get tickets for U23D seems a bit crazy, especially since I'll be working every weekend thereafter.

So no U23D :(

Capoeira

Last week I had the pleasure of accidentally witnessing a Capoeira performance by some international students at Jaya One. Capoeira is "is an Afro-Brazilian art form that ritualizes movement from martial arts, games and dance." - Quoted from Wikipedia.

To me, it looked like break dance mixed with martial arts with graceful but powerful flips, head stands, hand stands, cartwheels with fluid body movements. Even the girls had built biceps. Guess that is a given since they have to do so many upper body lifts.

The performance at Jaya One was sort of like a graduation class where each student received a coloured belt (indicating their level very much like karate). Some were kids who looked like they were just 2 years old and they were extremely cute to watch. Alas, my 4G SD card was full so I only managed to capture just a few seconds.

The song they were chanting was quite catchy and I found myself so engrossed with the whole performance,I stood there for over an hour watching them.

The fascinating thing was watching the adults. Man! They were really good! Since they were performing against the kids, you could see they were holding themselves back. (Sorry, this one had another instructor blocking my view but you can still somewhat see what's going on at the back)

Anyway, here's what it's supposed to look like, I think. Wonder if Capoeira is featured in any movie yet.

Akeelah & The Bee Quote

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."

- Marianne Williamson

I had a great birthday week, still having cakes and birthday songs right up to today. Work is getting better, with strengthening relations between colleagues and getting into the flow of things.

Unfortunately, other than work, my life has been a little bit uneventful so my blog has been a bit empty. I WILL go find a life so that I can blog. Sheesh...

By the way, Akeelah and the Bee is a movie where I learned some pretty cool words like logorrhea, xanthosis and prestidigitation. How to use some of these words, I still have no idea.

Laugh Out Loud

This is an excerp from the Star papers today:

Abdullah: ‘Anyone can be PM’
PUTRAJAYA: It is possible for anyone from a minority group to be a nation’s leader, even in Malaysia, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi.

“It is up to the people to decide, just as the Americans had done through the democratic process,” he said while extending his congratulations to Senator Barack Obama.

This remark comes right after the big protest of the Selangor Governer who wanted to promote a Chinese lady to head the PKNS (Housing Committee of Selangor) as the previous head retired. She has been working there for over 31 years and is the right hand man of the head. And this is just PKNS. PM?

Hahahahahaaa..... maybe what's missing from his remark is the year 2277.

Melaka, Oh Melaka!

First, they were in the news for intending to give famous Indian star Shah Rukh Khan a Datukship despite the fact that he isn't a Malaysian. The reason cited was because he filmed a movie in Melaka which caused a slight increase of tourists to the state.

In that case, what about Sean Connery who filmed a show with the KLCC Twin Towers? Or Jackie Chan who has done countless movies in Malaysia? Oh, how about Jodie Foster who filmed Anna and the King in Ipoh and Penang?

The list is long.

Anyway, recently the state government was in the limelight again. They are offering RM1,000 for any married Malay man to take on single mothers with children as their second wife. This is so that the state will reduce costs in providing for these single mothers. Sounds a little familiar.

Wonderful! And these very same people will lead the nation one day. Shudders...

Futuristic Cars

Just saw a program on future cars. The show introduced three types of eco friendly cars. One runs on hydrogen from water and expels water from the exhaust pipe. Another runs on solar (but this one doesn't look too promising since it doesn't move fast and it's hot!) and the third runs on air.

I'm just wondering if I will ever live to have these prototypes running on our roads since these inventions aren't new and have been in prototype for ages. But ah! It would be so cool to have an eco friendly car!

Annual Dinner

The two dreaded words. It's in two weeks. The new dress I bought can't be worn for this. Not Shariah compliant (too much exposed skin). And it is held at the Carcosa Seri Negara (my second time going there this year when I never knew where it was even located prior to April 08).

It was quite funny as I was listening to my colleagues talking about the annual dinner. At first, I caught the theme as Las Vegas and thought feathers and fish net stockings. Not Shariah compliant at all! And I was worriedly thinking if I would even dare to show up in a Las Vegas outfit (or maybe I'd come as a croupier).

To my (slight) relief, the theme is GlamCity, which could be interpreted as anything. Sigh. The stress of dressing up begins again.

Why People Keep Dogs...

In the news, there was this man in Johor who was being robbed and attacked at a shoplot. The victim's dog came to his rescue and landed the robber in the hospital. The robber subsequently died of the injuries.

Now the dog owner (or the original victim) is being taken in for questioning. I hope the family keeps the dog away from the authorities and reward him handsomely.

Lumix LZ8

I was recently offered to buy the Panasonic Lumix LZ8 for a steal so I went to check it out. After all, I wouldn't mind having a second camera in the event that I don't want to be carrying my bulky prosumer. It boasts of wide angle lens, 5x digital zoom, large LCD screen, uses AA rechargeable batteries, easy grip (can't stand those ultra slim cameras that always slip from your grip) amongst others.

Another reason for getting it was because Dad was starting to look at the Olympus FE320, which I somehow don't quite like because it doesn't share the same memory card (more hassle in transferring the shots because of my card reader) plus I've seen some photos taken with that camera and it looks too.. exposed. Gosh, am I starting to become so picky?

Anyway, bundled together with the camera was a free 2G SD card, free tripod and a 3 year warranty. I was extremely tempted. I have a 4G SD card and several 2-1G cards lying around but heck, I'm drawn to freebies!

However, the 8MP camera with Leica lens just somehow couldn't impress me enough to part with just RM399. I took several shots but they all appeared blur and the quality of the photo left much to be desired for. Of course, with a flash it looked okay but I usually avoid using a flash unless necessary for taking photos.

Plus, it didn't have Indoor nor Plants options, which are the two Dad and I use most. So in the end, I came back to do more research on the camera and there were quite a lot of negative comments about it. Sure, the wide angle lens was a great feature but what's the use of that when the photos turn out terrible?

Ah well, I just saved myself some cash.

Fungus

Remember my blacked toe nail? Apparently if you have a toe nail like that, it would be best to go see a doctor to ask for some drops to keep the area between the nail and flesh clean.

I went to repaint my toe nails and to my horror, the pedicurist exclaimed loudly, "Her nail has fungus!" I wanted to recoil my feet and hide it under a towel at that but the ladies at the saloon immediately introduced me to some drips they had for such cases.

So now, it looks much cleaner than it initially was. Haven't been able to scrape the last bits of the black part. I hope the drips work as I have to do this daily!

Record Breaking

Stayed back late last night at the office. 11:30pm. My personal record and the company’s record too. Not that I’m proud to be associated with the title. The news spread like wildfire even though I only told one other person aside from my boss (who later gave concessions on my errors due to my feat!).

It’s been a busy week, the kind that time flies so much so that you have to get a phone call to remind you that it’s lunch when you still haven’t had your breakfast. But luckily for me, it’s not like Jan’s “busy-at-work” definition, that you even stop yourself from taking a dump! I still do go to the loo, don’t worry.

My colleagues are really nice as I’m getting to know them. One of them is a fresh grad and is really enthusiastic and positive, whom I’m really motivated by. Great kid! Another looks like a demure gal but does stuff like paintballing, plays sports basically is an outgoing person.

This weekend is a long weekend due to Deepavali on Monday. Although I was prepared to be mentally thinking about work as per last weekend, my boss refused to update us on his last meeting, insisting we go back and have a restful weekend. I’m also getting to know my boss better and I’m happy the way things are going.

So… what I am still doing here? Today is my turn to wait for KS. And it’s already 9pm. Sheesh.

So while I wait, let me just share more about my office. My office has central air-cond and it is set at freezing temperatures. At first I was worried about what the dress code would be, being in an Islamic bank and all. After all, I just acquired some skirts from Bangkok and was starting to wear them more often back in my old office. But now, I don’t have to worry because I have to totally cover myself up or risk freezing! Dang. I should have bought the autumn/winter dresses from Hong Kong.

Speaking of being covered up, today at lunch, I guided a tourist from Argentina to a money changer. Along the way, I spoke to him and asked if he enjoyed our warm weather. He looked at my dressing and said, “It IS very hot here but you’re dressed in so many layers!”

All in all, I’m stressed out but happy and motivated. There are a lot of things I’m going to be learning!

Learning Curve

After so long of not being absolutely stressed out on work, I'm now in the thick of many happenings at my new workplace. I'm starting to leave work late and I think I'm developing stomach ulcers from stress! And it's only been one week. :)

But! I AM enjoying myself learning new things, getting to know how to deal with my new boss, finding the right clique with my colleagues. The challenge is fun although I remain sceptical on deadlines given. What I need most is belief from my boss to make the impossible possible. It's been done before and I believe it can be done again.

To pluck a favourite chant of an ex-work partner, Jia Yu!

First Few Days

Things are very exciting at my new workplace. I'm not doing what I was brought in to do! Which is good, as I am learning a lot more than what I have been familiar with for the last 3 years.

Okay, will not talk much about work itself but I MUST say this:
1. I do not have access to Gmail
2. All pictures are banned from the internet (meaning, if you have a photo on your blog, I can't see it)
3. Internet connection is slow
4. I can't change my Wallpaper
5. My mouse has no scroller
6. At least I can open blogs
7. I have to go buy my own wastepaper basket

Just the few quirky things I've observed so far lah. If you know me well enough, I don't have to explain what No.1 to No. 5 means to me. I'm getting my new computer tomorrow so that will hopefully remove offensive mouse.

Another thing that has just dawned upon me is that, I am now in higher management level and I need to learn how to treat the fresh grads and younger staff properly. More learning.

Ron & The Balcony

I seem to have too many Stories of my Sister but I also do have a story of my brother. Ron actually jumped from our balcony not once, but twice. Yes.

The first time, he said it was because he observed a tall neighbour lounging on his balcony. When his friend came by, he easily leapt down as the balcony wasn't very high. So Ron though he could do the same and jumped. Said his legs hurt when he landed.

The second time was to use the open umbrella cartoon concept. Of course, the umbrella turned upside down and down he went.

He's still in one piece and didn't experience any broken bones from the said stunts.

Oh, another one about the balcony was either Ron or Grace who threw their mountain chickens, trying to make them fly. After several attempts, the chicken died of a heart attack.

Grace & The Hot Iron

As part of their bedtime storytelling, James and Cameron asked me to tell them Stories of my Sister. I tried to remember as many as I could and they thoroughly enjoyed the stories.

One that I realise I haven't blogged but often tell people is when Grace forced me to touch a still hot iron. At that time, I was about 4-5 years old in our first house in Alor Star. Our maid had just finished ironing and left the iron on the ironing table. Grace asked me to touch it, right in the center. Knowing it was hot, I refused.

She then proceeded to trick me by placing her finger in front of the hot surface without touching it, but from where I was, it looked as though she was touching it. Curious, I took a step forward with my left index finger outstretched.

As I got nearer, I could feel the heat and was about to pull my hand back. In a flash, Grace grasped my hand and pressed my finger onto the iron. As I screamed in pain, she picked up a pillow nearby and stuffed my mouth to shut out the noise. My dad found out later and gave her a good caning.

I still bear the mark on my left index finger to this day.

My First Ben & Jerry's

Today I dragged Monster out for dinner and forced her to share with me my first tub of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Ever since she described the mouthwatering ice cream with its funky names, I've always been curious to know what it tasted like.

Plus, I've always watched people on tv series or movies who'd settle on their couch with an entire tub of ice cream. Ice cream tub = comfort. And me, being an ice cream girl, needed to fulfil this experience and tick it under my "things to do before I regret having never done".

I choose New York Super Fudge Chunk and we settled down on a bench facing the pork section of the supermarket. This tub contains Chocolate Ice Cream with White & Dark Fudge Chunks, Pecans, Walnuts & Fudge Covered Almonds.

While I love the fudge chunks and nuts, the chocolate ice cream was a little overwhelming. After several mouthfuls, it became a little bit jelak so I had to bring back three quarters of the tub. And now, several hours after consuming it, am having a slight sore throat because of it. Uh oh... But this isn't going to deter me. I'll try Chunky Monkey or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Any suggestions from those who have tried Ben & Jerry's?

************

Now that I've polished off the rest of the tub, I take my earlier comments back. It's yummy! But I'd still like to try another flavour next time.

Train Review

Since it is the first time I travelled via train for long distance, I thought I'd share with you a little about travelling on the KTM.

One of the first things I noticed was the strange arrival times of the train. Our train was the last one and was scheduled to arrive at 11:08pm. Yes, not 11:00pm or 11:15pm. And did it arrive at 11:08pm? Of course not. Both times, the train was late.
Here's a picture of the sleeping berth. It's as narrow as the pillow provided so all your bags will have to somehow fit at your feet unless you'd rather have them lying on the floor blocking the gangway.

I slept on the upper berth and here's the ladder that is shared between two berths. As you can also see, there are curtains to create privacy in your small little space.

Going to and fro, we had the exact same berth numbers. Mine was 37 on the L3 carriage. Not really recommended as it is beside the door leading to the toilet, hence, high traffic. We had all sorts of smells coming from the entrace, people smoking and urea.

All in all, it was quite fun for the first time. Not sure if I'd do it again though.

Accidental Shopping

I'm here in Singapore to spend time with my sister and her family just before I start my new job. Wasn't planning to do any shopping since the exchange rates are horrendous. And what happens? I happened to follow my sis and Mum to Suntec City.

Even before we reached our destination, Mum and I already bought some clothes from our favourite outlet, Hang Ten. I really have no idea why we always end up buying Hang Ten clothes in Singapore. Must be Mum, really.

As we walked towards Suntec, I nearly bought more clothes but managed to convert and ask myself if I would really buy that top in Ringgit. Proud that I managed to resist, I turned a corner and there, laying in wait for me was Daniel Yam's shop. Now, it has been my aspiration for almost 5 years now to own a Daniel Yam.

Daniel Yam is a Singaporean designer who once had a few of his clothes in Metrojaya Mid Valley. I loved his clothes back then and even when I was looking for my wedding dress, I tried and tried to find something that was suitable.

Unfortunately, I felt it was a bit too pricey at that point. By the time my spending levels had increased enough to allow me to splurge, his line was taken off from Metrojaya and I could not find any of his shops in Singapore.

With absolute determination this time, I stepped in and picked up just two dresses which would be appropriate to attend weddings. I must say the designs are old (he doesn't seem to have designed anything new lately and his website hasn't been updated since '01!) but what I love about his clothes is that they are "expandable" - meaning, my stomach can bloat or my hips expand and yet it will still fit because of its biased cut and lovely material.

So I made a hasty purchase. Now I'm feeling the guilt wash over me. Dang! I'd better go to someone's wedding or some dinner and wear this several times just to justify my purchase. Quick! Anyone! Get married and invite me!

Went into Muji too but somehow didn't feel the magic we felt in HK so we came out empty handed.

Yellow Fellow

Guess who I have here?

Isn't he adorable?? He even has an Elvis curl at the top of his head and he squeaks! Only thing is, I don't have a bathtub anywhere. Oh well, this is gonna be a ducky that lives on land.

And courtesy of someone (I think it's Monster or Matt who used to sing this song which comes to mind when I see the rubber ducky...), here's a trip down memory lane:

Mamma Mia!

Couple of weeks ago, KS suggested we go watch Mamma Mia. Since this is highly unusual, I accepted the offer with apprehension. When we were waiting in line to go into the cinema, there were plenty of "aunties" waiting with us.

"You know I'm doing this for you, right? This is called sacrificial love. Agape love. You know? It's the same level as me standing in front of an oncoming vehicle to protect you"

After a lot of eye rolling, we got in. And who was the one who laughed the loudest throughout the movie?

Anyway, after watching and enjoying the movie, I just went and bought the tickets to the musical for 1 Jan 09. The ticket counter opened yesterday but yet most of the seats were gone! Mum and Dad wanted to skimp on the tickets but heck, we only watch musicals once a while so I'd rather pay a bit more and have a better view, don't you think?

Train to Singapore

Tonight, I'm taking the train to Singapore with my parents. The only other time I sat a train was from JB to Singapore, when I was still schooling. This train will take 12 hours (OMG! What on earth will I do?) and I'm taking the same train back on Sunday night.

Sigh. I've loaded my phone with 3 sermons of about 30 over mins each. Still... 12 hours!

Camerons - After 2 Decades

So I was in Camerons over the weekend, two decades since I last visited it. This time around, we were there for the Youth Ministry planning so while KS and the rest toiled away at brainstorming, I happily kept myself occupied by reading, watching tv, writing, playing with Pastor's kids and eating.

We stayed at the OMF cottage (more like a mansion!). It comfortably fitted over 25 of us and we were given the best room.

This is the view outside one of our windows. Unfortunately I don't know what building this is but it looked pretty.

Some photos of the OMF building. So many gorgeous flowers too.
On the way down, we stopped by a strawberry farm and bought, well, strawberries and jam and vege (the kind I eat). Very cheap, of course.

And while we were there, we had a lovely waffles drenched in strawberry sauce and topped with ice cream. Yummy!

We took the old road back to KL and it was a really bad decision because the roads were so windy, someone threw up in the car. I was fortunate to be in the front seat so it wasn't so bad for me. Still, if we ever were to go back, I'd recommend to take the new road, even if it means it's further.

So Little Time!

I'm just back from Camerons (and I'm glad to say I didn't puke on the way down as I did 2 decades ago). And now I just realised that I don't have that much time to do all that I planned to do during my 2 weeks break in between jobs!

Plus, I'm not feeling really well which would be a good enough reason for Grace to ban me from seeing the kids. Hmmm... I know Grace will kill me if I don't make it to Singapore this week. But I'm certainly coming in Nov when U23D hits the theatres!

New Job Nightmares

The last time I left my first job, I had a nightmare just 2 days after starting at my new workplace. I dreamed I had returned to my old workplace, saying hello to familiar faces who were wondering what on earth I was doing back there. And I only realised I was in the wrong office at the end of the day, and by then, I knew my new boss had fired me for not reporting in that day.

This time around, I have only resigned for 2 full days, not even started my new work and I've had THREE nightmares. First two woke me at 6:45am and I couldn't go back to sleep thereafter.

First nightmare was on the night I resigned, was that I received a call from my new boss who asked me strange questions like, "What product did you handle?". I told him then queried why he is asking me now and since everything is already on my CV. In panic, I heard him say over the phone that they actually don't want to hire me anymore! I screamed over the phone that I've already resigned and that I don't care, I've already signed their offer letter, so they are legally bound by it!

The second nightmare was that I met up with my old colleagues for lunch. And at the table, I asked them how the co-brand partner was doing. Immediately they shut up and refused to say a word. And the reason for that was because I had become the competitor so they are not to even reveal if Mr Lim is fine or not. I got so upset, I left the lunch table at once, feeling like an outcast.

And now at my afternoon nap, I just dreamed that my new role was actually taking care of a bowling alley which my new bank has for their customers to use. And I knew that I had to work late and weekend, when most customers would make use of the bowling alley. Plus, the bowling alley was located about 1 km away so I had a dilemma whether to drive there or walk there every day. I panicked and wanted to ask my new boss what exactly is my new role there is. Plus, at the same time, I thought I'd better call my friends to see if they have another job available for me to switch to in case it really is looking after the bowling alley!

Oh my gawd! Can't I sleep in peace?! What's wrong with me??

Last Day

Today is my last day at work. And it so happens, the last day for Jan at work too. We both resigned almost at the same time and while she starts next week at her new place, I have a blissful two weeks!

Here's what I'm planning to do:
1. Go Melaka for Raya
2. Go Camerons this weekend
3. Run errands - settling stuff for my new workplace, shopping, fixing my computer, fixing my Roomba thing again etc
4. Go Singapore
5. Come back to my office to participate in a farewell lunch my colleagues are organizing.

Sigh. What a lovely break I'm going to have!

Krispy Kreme

Just had my first mouthful of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Plain ones. Very sweet but very yummy in texture. Bliss.

NoooOOoooo!!

U23D tickets are on a stand-by basis 2-3 hours prior to the screenings!! Unless I want to secure the seats, I'll have to pay SGD645!!! Which works out to be RM1,500 per person! Crikey. And I know there are many Singaporean U2 fans who will certainly go for this.

Sheesh.

Hong Kong Food

Fried fish skin dipped in soup Assorted beef parts noodle
Fried rice noodles, congee (in replacement of a hot drink), some dumplings, mango with grass jelly dessert
A huge sui kau
Pork knuckles in sour soup noodles
Beef noodles
Pork chop with rice
Borsch soup (Kim Gary KL has a nicer version of this soup)
Grass jelly with sea coconut dessert
Goose & taufu

HK Disney in Images

The Disney train:

Disney train handles:

Fountain at the entrance:

Grumpy Donald on his sinking boat:

Even the railings had Mickey Mouse:

The ticketing counter:

The tickets:

Flower arrangements at the entrance:

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Mickey's ice cream

Even the takeaway bowl's handle has Mickey's print. Food there sucked though.

We watched the Lion King show, the 3D show (my favourite!), the Parade, It's a Small World (nothing fantastic), High School Musical (never watched it so didn't understand the performance), Winnie the Pooh (the crappiest since we waited almost an hour for a lousy ride) and the fireworks at night.

We didn't manage to cover Tomorrowland but since Space Mountain was closed in preparation of Halloween, didn't really miss much. Intended to buy some Disney stuff like cookies but they were so expensive! Plus we didn't have time so we didn't in the end.

Now I can't wait for U23D if it's going to be like the 3D show we watched!

HK: Bits n Pieces

Just some random shots from Hong Kong. Here's a building that looks like something from Lord of the Rings, with the sharp pointed tips. (Just told that this was where Morgan Freeman went to pay a visit the Hong Kong crook in Dark Knight and then Batman later went there at night to catch the crook. Geez, I can hardly remember the movie already.)
Then, there was a passing junk full of tourist, I think.

And a pet shop with a funny url: www.mybird.com.hk