brown paper packages...

read recently in kennysia about borderlinx, so decided to give it a try, since amazon dun ship to sandland. maybe they just don't trust the desert camels?

anyway, i managed to get a good deal for a wireless headphone that i've been eyeing during the black friday sales on amazon, so i had the item sent to my US address for free. but when i wanted to forward the item from the US to me, i found out i can only ship the item to m'sia, because it's where my billing address is. 

their cost calculator showed that shipping to the sandland is much cheaper than to m'sia, but since i've already registered myself as in m'sia, then i can't change that. ok fine, pay an extra of about RM40 to have it shipped back home. i can live with that... no choice also, right?

but then i found out that i'd need either a maybank credit card or a visa card for the shipment. what?!? i only have 2 m'sian master cards! so how? my item is stuck at my "suite" in the US. i can't send it back nor forward!

so i created another account with borderlinx, but this time registered my billing address under sandland. i was thinking maybe there's a way for me to merge the 2 accounts, but no such luck. so i tried contacting their customer service via online chat (i'm a great fan of this feature!). this person at the other end, greg, was really very helpful. he checked why i wasn't able to make payment with my mastercard, as it wasn't stated anywhere that only visa is accepted. it seems that this is because i'm registered under the maybank cluster, so they only accept maybank credit cards and visa cards. i forgot, but i must've clicked on the link from kennysia, which was an advert! so of course the link will bring me to the maybank cluster, whatever that means! duh!

anyway, i explained to greg that i have also created another account but registered under sandland, and asked if i could have the item moved to my this other suite. he did some more checks, and maybe because other than the country, all the other info were the same, so he said he's able to do that. yays!

the next day, i saw that the item has been moved, so i made the (cheaper by RM40) payment for the shipment. i'm also able to pay using paypal here! *boo to maybank!!!* and like 2 days after that, i received a call from dhl enquiring about my location!

these are a few of my favourite things!

yays to greg, whoever you are! :)

the art of matchmaking...

being a single gal at 30+ of age, it's inevitable that i'd fall prey to the kaypoh intentions of friends and family members to try to matchmake me with someone they know. everyone has one (or a few) relative/friend/acquaintance who is single that's "just the right match" for me. 

whatever...

for me, i don't really care much about meeting "the right match" through such activities but i don't really repel these intentions either. i know my friends and family members (and sometimes even friends' friends, or their mothers, or the vegetable seller in the market that they frequent) meant well. some people have the misconception that singles are sad lonely people who need rescueing.

whatever...

anyway, like i said, i've nothing against them. so most of the time, i'd go along for the arranged meetup, sometimes just to humour the matchmaker, even when i am already seeing someone secretly on the side. ok, this fact may or may not be true. i'm just saying...

i don't really see it as a matchmaking session, but more like meeting a new friend. no harm knowing another friend, right? that being said, however, there were some awkward moments that could have been avoided had the matchmaking party been more tactful about the whole thing.

as an experienced "victim" to matchmaking, i've been to my fair share of such sessions. while some were disastrous (ok, most were disastrous), i'd also like to point out that i met one of my good friends this way too. so it's not all bad... that's why i've decided to make a compilation of some do's and don'ts for all those aspiring matchmakers out there. note: some of these incidents may not be from my own experience.


it's just a meetup, not meet-the-parents marriage proposal
there's no need to go on and on about the guy's family background, how his mother is really nice and understanding and there's no need to worry about the in-laws after marriage. like, seriously?? we've only met the guy (along with his mother) for 5 minutes and you're already talking about our future marriage life together? geez...


too hard-sell
yeah, we know you're really excited for the two of us to meet and you really hope to see us take to each other and all that. but before the meetup, there's no need to fill both parties in on every tiny detail you know about the other party. what do you expect us to talk about when we meet? the weather? if we already know everything about him and him us, then there's no need for all those "getting-to-know-you" conversations anymore, no?

guy: i just drove down from penang, where i work
girl: yeah, i know
*crickets chirping*

girl: i'm in the drugs business
guy: yeah, i know
*crickets chirping*


whisper-whispering and making eye signals behind our backs as if we're not there
look, if the guy you're trying to introduce to us still needs behavioural coaching, why the hell are you introducing him to us?!? and trust me, though we pretend not to notice all those subtle raised eyebrows and eye signals, we do see them.

also, there's nothing worse than being made to feel like an outsider, when two or more of your friends are whispering (not so softly too!) right in front of you, on the strategies they should employ in getting the two subjects at the table to warm up to each other. like hello, we're still here and we can seeeeeeeee and heeaaarrr yooooouuuuu!


teasing us about the guy we've not even met
now i find this one totally immature. ok, so you know someone great you want us to know. fine. but there's no need tell everyone in the group as well, and then start teasing us for our every action and words, as if we're so hard-up to meet this great and amazing guy friend of yours!

girl: let's go over there by the lake.
friends: aiya, he won't be there lar. why you wanna go there for?

girl: wait, let me have that seat. the wind from this direction will mess up my hair.
friends: why? here has a better view of him? where is he sitting by the way?

gosh please, we're not in school anymore!


the way i see it, the best way for a successful matchmaking session is to let nature take its course. sure, we sometimes need a little nudge in the right direction, which is  the reason for the matchmaking, or maybe i should use the term "introduction". but after that, just let things be. we've met the guy, he's met us. so now let's just have a totally normal meal/drink while we talk about normal everyday stuff in a normal ordinary way. if he's interested, let him take the initiative. he's a big boy, there's no need to hold his hand all the way. if there's no interest, then just move on. and sometimes in place of romance, the seed of friendship is sown, which is a good thing too!

by the way, i'm kinda traditional in the sense that i still believe that a guy should always be the one to make the first move. yeah, i'm difficult like that, but that's just me :)

like a true chinese!

boss: i like your new hairstyle. you look like a ninja. when your enemies approach, you just pull out the dagger from your hair and throw at them!
stargal: =_=''' boss, this is not a dagger!
boss: no? oh, then it's a pencil?
stargal: no, not a pencil also... it's a... a... a chopstick!
boss: aahhh... then you can just pull it out and eat at anytime!
stargal: yeah, like a true chinese! :P

nothing like a bit of pain...

so i was feeling a lil under the weather yesterday... i was once again questioning my decision to be based in this desert country, far from my family, friends and all the things that i'm comfortable and familiar with. i missed all the good (and not to mention cheap) food back home, i missed driving, i missed my best friend's wedding...


and i was particularly bummed when i couldn't think of anyone to ask along to the oliver! musical that's making its way here next month! am i really friendless here? none of the people i know here share the same passions for the things i like.  i get weird looks when i tell some people that i do horse riding, and i'd have so many friends who would go to the oliver! musicals with me if i'm back home.


so with my mood being so cloudy, i had half a mind of not showing up for my riding lesson after work yesterday. but then i thought about all the money that i've paid for my lessons and if i don't show up, the lesson would be burnt coz we can only cancel a lesson one day earlier.


but my mood changed when i arrived at the riding school, with the horses and riders, and just being outdoors. the weather nowadays is at around 28-ish deg C, so it's really a perfect time to be out of doors. anyway, i got a brown mid-sized stallion named bahrain yesterday, and he was a dream! i think he's new at the school, coz i've not ridden him before and all the trainers were paying close attention to his performance yesterday. he seemed a bit naughty at first. when i was standing next to him stroking his cheeks and neck while the groom was tightening up his girth and getting him ready, he kept trying to get his mouth near my hands. i gave him my upturned palm to show that it's empty, but he still tried to bite my gloves. even when i stepped away from his head and closer to his body, he'll keep turning his head around and trying to bite me. so i thought he's gonna be a problem but when i asked my trainer (i got a lady trainer yesterday), she said, "he's ok, unlike sebastian" (i fell off sebastian AGAIN last week! - i'm blacklisting him now).


anyway, once i've mounted bahrain, he's just so responsive and did all the things i wanted him to do effortlessly. and he's so easy to ride! i love him! but then disaster struck... we were going through our exercises and after a  fast and long canter, my trainer gave the cue for us to trot. i was just starting to rein bahrain in when suddenly one of his front hooves tripped on the sand! his head fell forward and as i was having a tight hold on the reins, he pulled me forward as well. i lost my balance, leaned forward onto his neck but couldn't hold on tight enough and sort of rolled off his neck onto the ground! argh!!!


it was not a really bad fall, nothing serious... just made me a little sore in the rump. i got right up, remount and continued on with the lesson.


after the lesson, as i was walking towards the metro station with a slight muscle sore, i was quite surprised when i realized that my spirits have lifted. i'm not moody anymore, but was actually smiling and feeling quite happy! weird, huh?


hmm... maybe it's the adrenalin rush that came from exercising and sweating out buckets, but i have the suspicion that it's also due to the muscle aches and pains that made me feel alive again. maybe this sensation reminded my subconscious that however numb we've become, we're still capable of feelings, both physically and mentally. then dunno why, suddenly a saying cropped into my mind: "we're all spiritual beings going through a human experience". so we should appreciate and enjoy this experience, the whole sweet, sour, bitter and spicy of it, an experience which only a human can go through.


maybe a bit of pain is not so bad after all! :)

riding on the efforts of others…

warning: ranting post ahead!

the manipulator

this morning, ms. blackberry* came over and asked me to tune into the internet radio. at first i thought it was an instruction by her boss (the gm), coz we're recently running a radio ad campaign. so i thought the boss wants me to monitor the ad, and asked her to pass on the message. then she added, "it's so boring here. we should have some form of entertainment and music. leave it on, and i'll speak to boss about it."

at first i didn't really catch on that this was her own idea but luckily, i have my earphones semi-permanently attached to my cpu and i was lazy to reach down to unplug it. so i told her it can't be done and asked her to do it from her side. she went back to her desk, but no music came from her pc.

then i realized, "damn, it wasn't the boss's instruction. she just wanted to use me!" damn damn damn!!! if my earphones weren't connected to my cpu, i'd have bodoh-bodoh (malay: stupidly) played the radio and when gm walks pass, he'll think, "wah, this girl so free. enjoying life here." what the hell lah!

*nicknamed as such due to the fact that she's on her blackberry the whole day in the office, facebooking, sms-ing, messaging etc. there's even talk that it's stuck to her hands permanently, like a mutated growth or something!

 

the rider

my company has this staff benefit whereby we are allowed to claim our taxi fare to selected destinations such as a mall or beach park etc. of course, there are conditions but yeah, we have such benefits.

anyway, there's this colleague, yakking yvette, who somehow always refuse to submit for the transportation claims, due to certain reasons that i'm not convenient to divulge here. ok fine, if that's your stand. but then, she'll still happily tag along and benefit from the free transportation whenever we go to those selected destination. so it's ok if other people makes the claim, which benefits you, but it's not ok for you to submit the claim? how hypocrite is that?!

 

the body huggers

in the recent green campaign that took place in m'sia (and even the "cleaning" campaign of last year), i've noticed a category of people among my facebook friends. while most of my friends shared information, videos and links about the issue, some expressing their own opinions and anger on their status updates, take part in impromptu discussions, or even just simply changed their profile photos to show their support to the movement, there were some who decided that they don't want to have anything whatsoever to do with it.

in this time and age, it's impossible that they don't know anything at all about the issue. even if the mainstream media tried to mute it as much as possible, it's all over the internet, on online independent media and facebook. aren't they at least a tiny bit curious as to why is it that most of their friends' profile photos have suddenly taken on a greenish theme? of course everyone would know the significance of it, unless they've been in a coma for the past one year. hence we can safely rule out "ignorance" as the reason.

so why aren't some of them showing any form of acknowledgement to the campaign? don't they care about what is happening to our country? i'm sure they care, coz i know my friends are not cold-blooded people. maybe they feel that it's not happening in their city, hence it has nothing to do with them? or maybe they feel that it's a futile exercise, all these protesting and gathering. after all, it's been approved by the gov. what can we do, right? nothing's gonna change. or maybe they're just afraid? all these anti-this anti-that, what if the authorities decided to take action on those who support the cause? at least they won't be incriminated.

or maybe they think that there are so many others in the bandwagon already. so it's ok for them to berpeluk tubuh (malay: hug their own body - meaning have their arms crossed and not doing anything), coz one more supporter or one less supporter won't really make any difference. after all, i'm not good at talking, i can't express my views so well, i'm this and i'm that, bla bla bla all the excuses in the world... let the others who are more outspoken do all the work and hopefully they'll succeed. then it'll benefit everyone, including ME!

well, i know i can't force anyone to support anything that i believe in or am passionate about but it's really disheartening to see people who don't give a damn about anything. especially if it's something that will and does affect them and their families too! it's not like we're asking them to lead or start something. all these campaigns need are a show of support, even in the smallest gesture, just to let them know that they have our backing and that they're not alone.

 

the planters

there are some people who are very good planters... not of plants, but ideas. they'll try to plant a certain idea into you, and then sorta passed the responsibilities on to you to act on it while they take a seat back and let you do all the work.

once, 2 of my colleagues wanted to go for steamboat at a restaurant and asked me, sweet sheila and yakking yvette if we would like to join. we agreed but sweet sheila wondered aloud if it’s at the same restaurant that she went before. according to her, that restaurant’s steamboat is not nice at all!

upon reaching the building where the restaurant is, sweet sheila confirmed that it was really the same restaurant. so the whole way going up to the restaurant, which was situated at the upstairs terrace of the building, sweet sheila kept telling me how bad the food at the restaurant is. my 2 other colleagues were walking some distance in front of us, so sweet sheila kept trying to convince me to change venue. “trust me, the food there is really bad! it’ll be better if we go to the steamboat at “little lamb”. this restaurant caters mostly to filipinas. not our taste at all! really, you wouldn’t like it!”

she kept right on at it, buzzing non-stop at my ears, that finally i can’t take it anymore. i turned coolly to her and said, “if you want to propose a change of venue, say it out to everybody. stop buzzing around at my ears coz i’ll never open my mouth for you. first of all, it wasn’t me who suggested this place. we are just tagging along. secondly, i’ve not eaten at this place before. so don’t expect me to tell everyone that the food is not nice.” that shut her up nicely for the rest of the night…

another time, yakking yvette was telling me about her roommate's departmental outing and how much fun her roommate had. then she proceeded to sorta complain that our department never does such things and how nice it would be if we could have something like this.

now, if i don't know yakking yvette that well, i'd have jumped right into her trap and say, "let's plan something!" but i saw right through her ploy! if i'd have said that, then the task would definitely be placed upon my shoulders and i'd be the official organizer for the departmental outing.

if it were someone else, maybe i'd have very happily want to plan something TOGETHER. but now i've come to recognize the few "planters" here (through the hard way, unfortunately!), so my answer to their manipulation would be, "good idea! why not you plan one?", making sure to emphasize on the word YOU.

well, in my previous life (meaning life back home lar), i'd probably be very gung-ho in wanting to organize an outing or trip etc. anything the spells FUN! but that also would need to depend on for whom i'm organizing it for. which brings me to my last category of "riders" as per the title of this post...

 

the wait-and-seers

i really hate it when we put so much time and energy and effort into organizing something, only to be met with lukewarm or even cold responses. when we throw ideas around, everyone would be very excited but when the e-mail is sent out, no one would want to be the first to reply. everyone wants to wait and see what other people say. in the end no one will reply, which then makes us feel like we're just syiok sendiri (malay: excited/happy about something only you yourself is excited/happy about).

so nowadays, i'll refrain from organizing anything that involves a big group, unless i know the group is as gung-ho as me. luckily my makan group is always very responsive to foodie-outing proposals, so i don't mind doing that. besides, other members of the group are also always organizing stuff, it's not always organized by me.

for other stuff like shopping, outing or just going for dinner, normally i'll just throw the idea with my artist. if both of us are game for it, then we'll ask anyone who would like to join. if no one else wants to go, we'll just go by ourselves. easy peasy...

and if there's something i'd like to do for say, a celebration or event, i'd do it by myself instead of plan it with someone else and making a big deal out of it. that way, i do it on my own free will, in my own time and capacity, instead of having to wait for others. one good example was what i prepared for a few of my colleagues during valentine's day.

 

phew, ok. that was a long rant... but just getting things off my chest! :)

flying 1st class, woo-hoo!

i guess this dragon year is treating me quite well, what with me not having to pay extra for going on the next day’s flight when i missed my homeward-bound flight… but i was also being upgraded to first class on the 1st leg of my flight back to dubai!!

at the boarding gate in klia, i was just about to sit down when i heard my name being paged over the pa system. at first i thought there’s something wrong with my boarding pass or maybe i’ve somehow gone to the wrong gate. but when i went to the desk, one of the staff (not sure if he’s airport staff or the airline staff) asked to see my boarding pass. when i handed it to him, he looked at it to verify that i’m indeed the person they paged for, and exchanged it for a red-coloured pass, telling me, “you’ve been upgraded to 1st class. it’s a lucky dragon year for you.” i was like, “huh? omg, thank you!”

in a daze, i only heard “upgraded”, but not “1st class”. so i thought i was being upgraded to business class and quickly updated my facebook status: “omg, i’ve juz been upgraded to biz class!” coz i’ve never been one who wins lucky draws and 4D and those kinda things, so getting upgraded to biz class is like omg, so lucky already! it never occurred to me that i’d get 1st class! LOL

anyway, when they called for boarding, normally i would to be one of the last to get up to join the queue, to let all the kiasu people stand in the queue all they want. it’s not like they will fly off earlier than the rest of us, right? but now i’m the holder of a RED boarding pass ler! so when they called for boarding, i just coolly stood up and walked right up to the front of the line (of those with cattle class pass – see how kiasu? everyone knows econ class boards last, but they will still stand up and rush to the gate when the announcement specifically said “1st class and biz class”). ok, i admit i was quite smug when i showed my RED boarding pass and continue walking into the separate aerobridge for 1st and biz class, while the rest of the unwashed looked enviously after my retreating shadow (as pictured in my mind lar :P)

i was quite looking forward to getting a good rest on the flight, as i had to wake up at 5am that morning to make it for my 9am flight. but as it’s not everyday that i got upgraded, of course i had to check out that section behind the closed curtains where normally we can only catch a glimpse of!

too bad it’s quite an old plane, but luckily they made it up with their good service!

was offered a hot towel and juice the moment i sat down… not from the trolley, mind you, but from a tray! the seat configuration was 1-2-1 and i got the window seat. there are these compartments next to the seat that i can store my hand carry bags in, as shown in the pic. no need to use the overhead compartments, which means i can just reach in and out to access my stuff without having to stand up. me likey! :)

look at the leg space! i lifted up my legs and stretched out straight, and i still couldn’t touch the divider in front.

checking out my seat functions. like i said, it’s an old plane, so the the buttons are not so sophisticated. but i love the compartments below, where i can put away my book and camera etc.

on the other side of my seat, you can actually raise the hand rest to become some sort of divider for more privacy. sorry, no pic of the divider in the up position, coz i didn’t pull it up…

table out from its compartment on the left (see the lid there? compare it to the first pic on top). and got table cloth ler! :D

breakfast time… everything served on real plates, bowls, cups and saucers, and the utensils don’t come in a plastic bag. i was so tempted to nick the cute salt and pepper shakers, but of course i didn’t :P

my egg omelette that came piping hot straight from the kitchen, not from the trolley!

time to relax after a very full breakfast, which i didn’t finish coz i had breakfast before boarding at mcD with my parents, bro and SIL, and my cousin oliver (who is an aircraft engineer and was on duty at klia that day). was contemplating on watching some in-flight movie, but tv was kinda small even though you can pull it out to be nearer to you, and also the movie selections were not that great.

so decided to do a bit of reading with the seat reclined at 75% down (we can actually recline to 180 deg flat!). they have the normal overhead reading lights, but i love this personal reading light by the side of the seat…

i dozed off for a bit, but i think only for 15 min. then it’s time to land at my transit destination at colombo, sri lanka. haiz, time really flies when we’re having fun, huh? all in all, it was a rather sweet 3hrs plus flight experience. i was back to flying cattle class for my colombo – dubai leg of the journey… :(

anyway, i must say sri lanka air has given me a really impression of their staff and service. but i can’t say i’d fly with them again, if i can help it. the reason will be in another post, as this post has gotten quite long… so stay tuned! :)

p/s: i found out i was actually on 1st class and not biz class while i was having an ice-blended green tea frappe at the colombo airport’s coffee bean. a fellow malaysian who was on the same flight as me was also having a drink there and when he saw me, he called out to me by my full name coz he heard it being paged in klia. it’s kinda irritating actually, coz he kept calling my full name whenever he wanted to engage me in a conversation. but anyway, he told me he was upgraded to biz class right before my name was called, and he was so jealous that i got 1st class. then only it dawned on me that i should’ve realized mine didn’t looked like biz class, coz biz class would most probably have the seat configuration of 2-3-2. aiyo, shows what a country bumpkin i am, for not recognizing that immediately! :D

happy new year from the land of the shimmering sands!

a bit late, but better late than never, right? anyway, i spent my new year's eve and new year's day just like in my previous years... avoiding all the crowded places and just lazed around at home. i did went out to have new year's eve dinner with my 2 colleagues tho', just to make it slightly special and different than any other weekend.


oh, and i was recovering from a flu, due to the weather change in sandland. the temperature is getting quite cold now... something to be grateful for, instead of the scorching heat of the summer!


ok, i know everyone's talking about new year's resolutions, something which i'm determined NOT to make every year, but somehow still managed to come up with a semblance of a resolution.


this year, i'm NOT gonna make any. i swear... but just let me give a little update about myself here in sandland, in point-form.


1. i really enjoy having the whole apartment to myself, which gives me plenty of privacy and me-time.


2. i've been cooking a lot, on and off, mostly simple meals. i feel i have a knack for cooking, even though i've not had much practice *perasan*. i'm thinking of getting a smallish oven, so that i can try my hands at baking simple stuff like muffins etc. i also need something to heat leftover food with, so an oven would come in really handy.


3. work wise, things are going quite ok lar. work is just work, so nothing much to talk about... i have made some good friends among my colleagues, as well as some enemies but who said life is all a bed of roses, right? and like what a colleague told me, "we're not here to make people like us. as long as we feel what we're doing is right, there's no need to think too much about it." anyway, those who hate me are just jealous of my awesomeness lah! *flicks hair* :D


4. relationship wise, i'm still happily single and available... still have not found that special someone yet. or rather, like what my colleague said, still have not been found! YET! :D


5. my horse-riding lessons are still on-going... loving every moment of it!


6. financial wise, things are fine too, tho' i kinda regret having hastily invested in a 10-year savings plan that is leaving me quite dry every end of the month, with not much spending cash in hand. now, i can only look on the brighter side of things, that is i finally have some savings put aside.




i guess that's about it... happy new year, y'all!

addicted to prezi!

i came to know about prezi last week, when my gen-y gm (or so he claims!) requested us to do up a presentation using it. it's such a cool app!


so i've made up another presentation for my department's christmas party, and everyone loved it! hehehe... just wanna share it with everyone here (tho' u're NOT invited to the party! :P)


wait for it to load fully, hover your mouse over the word "more" to view it in full screen, and keep clicking > to advance to the next slide.

sales & marketing xmas gathering on Prezi

here's another cool presentation, by the prezi team themselves. but this required a higher level of skills, involving flash and photoshop etc...

who visits you when you sleep?

i was sleeping peacefully and was vaguely aware of myself rolling to my left to continue sleeping on my side. then suddenly, i felt a slight stirring behind me, as if there's someone sleeping next to me on the bed, as well as a slight sinking of the bed. i thought, "ah shucks, not again!" and started chanting.

i tried to chant out loud, but no sound came out of my mouth. i can't move a muscle nor even open my eyes. but as soon as i started chanting, i can feel the "pressure" lifting off me with again, some stirring on my bed as if a heavy object has been lifted off the surface.

when i felt that i'm completely free to move again, i opened up my eyes and saw the clock reading 4:00am. damn! my heart pounding, i quickly looked around my room, but everything is in order as they should be. but now that i'm wide awake, i'm just angry. another interrupted sleep! blardy hell! took me more than an hour to fall asleep again, and then it's time to wake up for work. double damn!

actually this is not the first time this has happened to me. the first time was during my secondary school, form 4 i think. scared the hell out of me! up until now, i've experienced it for 5-6 times, in bear hill, in bkt jalil, and now in sandland.

according to chinese lore, this is called "pei kwai jak" (cantonese: pinned down by a ghost). in other cultures, they refer to it is "hag phenomenon" or "old hag syndrome". basically, the symptoms are about the same, with slight variations depending on the person. at first, i too thought that i was visited by some supernatural thingy. the first few times, i daren't even tell anyone. then another time when that happened and i told my parents, my mom said it could be because i missed my gongyo the night before.

then lately, i came across an article about "sleep paralysis" and the symptoms are what i've experienced, except that i had them while lying on my sides instead of on my back as reported by many others. so there's actually a scientific explanation for it! but they still can't explain about the hallucination (is the sinking sensation of the bed and stirring behind me really a hallucination?) though.

anyway, i'm more calm now, whenever i'm "pinned down", coz i know it's not really a supernatural visitation and i'm not about to be possessed by a ghoul or kidnapped by the aliens. but that doesn't dispel the initial fear when i feel the first stirrings behind me. after that, i'm just hell pissed that i'll have trouble going back to sleep, which will make me even more pissed! why am i always being inflicted with all these sleep problems??

kitchen goddess in training…

this is just something frivolous that i bought from daiso… :P

what i wear when i’m cooking… ;)

not that i cook that very often, but hey, it makes me happy to be cooking in a cute red japanese-style apron, even if it’s just a simple weekend lunch!

mamak in sandland!

hehe… saw this shop at al karama after our indonesian dinner sometime last month, while on our way to catch the taxi home.

“malaysian fast food destination. kdai makanan malaysia mamak” they have abc and rojak!!!

dunno how authentic it is, coz they even spelled “kedai” wrongly. too bad we were full from our dinner. if not, i’d like to give this shop a try. maybe i can go again. but then again, it’s quite far and out of the way, so maybe not.

me and my gang members…

i’ve formed a gang here recently. or rather, a few of my colleagues and i have formed a gang recently. actually, most of us don’t have much in common. yeah sure, some of us love books… some of us are chinese… some of us speak malay… some of us are from the same departments… some of us even have a few overlapping similarities to the common grounds as mentioned earlier, but that’s not the reason our gang was formed. the one and only reason for the existence of our gang is that whenever we get together, we’re always talking about food! so we’ve called ourselves the makan-makan gang! :D

every beginning of the month or so, when we get our salaries, we’ll always think of places to go have a good meal. so far, we’ve been to:

chinese steamboat buffet…

korean food…

indonesian food… this is mee soto, by the way.

other than going out for meals, we’ve also started inviting each other over to our place for some home-cooked makan, especially now that the weather is getting too hot for us to venture outside.

joyous josephine, an indonesian chinese and nice girl natalie, a filipino are from the hr department. they were very kind to invite me over to nice girl natalie’s place for some home-cooked dinner when they heard that i’m just gonna go home and cook myself some mee cup.

home-made steamboat, also at nice girl natalie’s place.

actually, all of us claim that we seldom cook, only cooking “once in a blue moon”. so every time we get an invitation to someone’s place for home-cooked meal, we’ll joke that there’s a blue moon that day. hence the “blue moon” has turned into something like a code for us, which means that someone has decided to cook on a certain day. so it’s not uncommon to hear us saying, “the moon at nice girl natalie’s place is going to be blue this thursday!”, or “so, where and when is the next blue moon going to appear?”, or “your turn to have a blue moon, huh?” etc.

anyway, our gang consists of:

yours truly, of course! :P

the 2 gals from hr as mentioned…

sweet sheila, my artist from china and smiling rachel from finance, an indonesian chinese

yakking yvette from sales, another chinese national

and finally, the latest member to join us, lovely lily from events, a fijian (she’s the one sitting opposite me). sorry for the blur photo, but i can’t find a good one with a clear shot of lovely lily in it.

looking forward to the next makan, either eating out or a “blue moon”! :D

the friendly neighbourhood money lender...

whatever that was said about him, at least he's not stingy. even though he knows that i'm so far away, i just need to type 3 lines on gtalk for him to promptly transfer some money into my m'sian bank account within minutes.

it was an s.o.s. due to some miscalculation, i was short on cash in my regular bank to make the minimum payment for my credit card and after terminating my old postpaid mobile number, i've not had the chance to set up the new prepaid mobile number with my other banks. which means i can't move any cash around to accounts that i've not set up as "favourite accounts", coz they'll send a security code to my phone number and the number registered is still my old number. heck, i can't even log into one of my banks due to this!

anyway, it's nice to know that he's still willing to give me his money so readily, even though we're no longer together. of course, the amount is just a small one. and that's also because i always pay him back promptly, without him having to remind me. once, i owed him RM200 for a few months because i've totally forgotten about it. then one day when i suddenly remembered, i asked if i've repaid him and he said no. when asked why he didn't remind me, he said he thought i'm tight on cash and didn't wanna pressure me. so nice to have such a friendly money lender hor? interest free some more! :P

now who was it who said that money spoils relationship?

most used arabic words...

these are the 2 that i always use here.

sho hada! = what is this?

colleague: eh, you didn't send the file yet?

me: i sent yesterday. did u check your e-mail?

colleague: oh, not yet. hehe...

me: sho hada!

me: do we get public holiday on 1st may?

hr: no

me: but it's international labour day!

hr: sorry, this country don't follow...

me: sho hada!

haram = sinful/forbidden

pervert colleague 1: can i go up to you flat tonight?

me: no

pc 1: why?

me: *said with muka selamba (malay: nonchalantly)* haram *walked away*

*yes, the perverts here are really so bold! esp towards asian girls, coz they have this perception that asian girls are "easy".

pervert colleague 2: how come you refuse to shake hands with me now?

me: cannot

pc 2: why?

me: *muka selamba* haram *walked away*

*i know it's rude not to shake someone's hand when someone stretch out his/her hand, but how many times he wanna shake my hand in a day??? every time he sees me, he'll come up to me, ask how i am while shaking my hand. for 5-6 times a day! not only that, he'll also hold on to my hand while speaking! and u know what he speak to me about? it's all stupid things like "how are you today? good? have u had your lunch? how did u find the lunch today? bla bla bla..." i mean, what the hell???

german-ized

last week, i wrote about cantonese-izing my colleagues' names. well, seems like the joke's on me now!

it all started with my gm, a german, greeting us with guten morgen (german: good morning). after a few mornings of guten morgen, i pandai-pandai (malay: trying to be smart) greeted him with guten tag (german: good afternoon) and guten abend (german: good evening), hence opening a floodgate of new german words everyday! thank god we have google translate to look up the words that he shoot at us!

a few days back, he stopped at my work station.

gm: you know, your name is a short form for susan. or in german, we call it "su-za-ne".

me: but that's not my name.

gm: i don't care. from now on, you're su-za-ne from communications.

me: ................

gm: alright, su-za-ne ta-ne? *grin*

me: =_='''

gossips in broad daylight...

working in a place where there aren't many people from your country or those who speak your language is always the best... you get to gossip about people terang-terang (malay slang: straight/outright) right in front of them!

sweet sheila, a chinese national, and i speak cantonese in the office, especially when talking about stuff not related to work. so it's really convenient for us to gossip. we've even developed nicknames and cantonese-ized names for our colleagues, to make it easier for us to talk without having to mention anyone's real name. evil, right? :P

(conversation in cantonese)

sweet sheila: you know this Wai Lum*? (and Wai Lum was actually standing right in front of us!)

me: what about him?

sweet sheila: i heard that he's been trying to court Sau San* from the finance.

me: wah, Sau San is so pretty. you think she'll fall for him meh? everyday face black-black, like the whole world owes him money like that!

sweet sheila: that's y. dunno how true lar, that's what the Xiu Pei Shu** told me.

me: but Ah Pou*** told me Wai Lum is already married wor!

sweet sheila: aiya, so what? that Lou Shu**** is also married lar, and still he's going around with that Pak Hap*****!

* can you guess the english names for Wai Lum and Sau San? easy enough, right?

** cantonese for "lil secretary". the most junior (in age) of all the secretaries here, but obviously no junior in her connections where juicy stories are concerned!

*** her name means "gem or precious stone" in english, hence "pou", meaning "precious" in cantonese.

**** cantonese for "mouse". nothing to do with his name. just that he looks a lot like one! :P

***** her name is also the name of a flower. this is the cantonese name of that flower.

but today, we realized that sometimes we need to be careful with what we're saying, coz we'll never know who's listening (and actually understanding what was being said).

sweet sheila: (arranging some photos while doing the layout for a newsletter, with a few pics showing our gm posing with some vip guests - thinking aloud in cantonese) hmm... so many people here, but our gm is still the most leng-chai (cantonese: handsome) one.

at that very moment, our gm walked past us from behind... he stopped short, turned back and spoke to sweet sheila: ngo leng-chai? (cantonese: i'm handsome?) omg, how sweet sheila's face turned red! and i was trying so very hard not to laugh out too loud, in case the lou fatt yeh (cantonese: empress dowager) pokes her head out of her office!

we totally forgot that the gm, even though an angmoh (hokkien slang: caucasian), has worked in hongkong for a few years before! :D

of daughters-in-law...

it seems like every time the aunties get together, the topic of discussion, other than their unmarried children (if any), will surely be about daughters-in-law (DILs). it's either their own DIL(s) or their friends'/relatives'/neighbours'/friends' friends'/ neighbours' friends' DILs!

the recent cny was no difference. every opportunity they get, they'll launch into a full and detailed discussion on the topic. of course, not all the comments are negative ones. there are also some praises, albeit few and far between, for some good DILs that they know of, particularly the filial and patient DIL of my other aunt.

anyway, one day in the car on one of our cny visitation rounds, my mom and my aunt were busy indulging themselves in this heated topic, totally ignoring me, my dad and my uncle in the car. to be fair, not everything they complained about are baseless, because some DILs are really too much and should be given a few rounds of spanking! but as a future DIL myself (hopefully!), their comments and complaints put much pressure on me.

after a while, i can't stand it anymore and decided to speak out. their initial surprise at my sudden "lai, lai (mandarin for come, come), listen to a young lady's point of view on the matter", were quickly replaced by enthusiasm, and they quickly invited me to speak my mind. so this is what i said:

"as a wife, if my husband is capable enough to provide for me and the kids, and i'm not required to be a co-breadwinner, of course i'd be happy to play the role of a good wife, good mother and good DIL. but if i need to go out and earn a living, of course i can't be expected to be coming home from work, cook, clean the house, take care of the children etc without any help from my husband. coz a home is a joint responsibility, not only that of the wife alone. in this age and times, gone are the days where housework is the sole responsibility of females. men should shoulder some of these responsibilities as well, since we're shouldering part of their responsibilities of putting food on the table."

of course, i didn't say this in such structured sentences (and they were in mandarin), but it's the gist of the message. upon hearing this, the two older women replied that of course as MILs and working women themselves, they would understand that too and that they also don't expect their DILs to be superwomen. and they too know that young ladies nowadays have different thinking and do things differently from their times. in the end, what's important is striking a balance.

i guess this topic of "MIL from hell" and "the terrible DIL" will never end for both young and old women (depending on which camp you're at). of course, there are also some fortunate women who've enjoyed good MIL-DIL relationships. ultimately, it's all a balancing act from both parties, coz like in all relationships, it's a two way thing.

-----------

to a few of my friends who are going to tie the knot this year and next, here's wishing you a happy marriage life in all areas! ((hugz))

lost baby, ex-boyfriends and a neighbour's secret...

i just had a miscarriage and was feeling rather depressed and sluggish. all i wanted to do was to curl up in bed and sleep the days away. so i applied for unpaid leave for a whole week, and since the final year exam is gonna be next month, my leave was approved rather quickly, coz the management thought i'm taking leave to study. for a brief moment, i did worry about the exam, coz medicine is not exactly an easy subject. but for now, i just wanted to sleep.

i ran through in my mind my list of ex-boyfriends... which ex-boyfriend's place should i stay at for this whole week? i can't possibly go home, coz i didn't want my mom to know. i went first to kay's place, but saw that he's staying in an atap house, not unlike the kampung house my late grandma used to stay.

i thought better of it and went instead to ray's place. that was when i realized that ray is actually renting a room in my neighbour's house! i knew that my other neighbour renovated their house to put in additional rooms to be rented out, i didn't realize that this neighbour also did the same. while walking into my neighbour's house, i was very worried that my parents would see me. i was also worried that my neighbour would recognize me, but was relieved when i saw that they had a separated entrance for their boarders.

once i got into my neighbour's house, i was surprised to see that the interior has changed so much from how i remembered it, from when my brother and i were young and we used to traipse over to play with the neighbour's kid. now, the place has been transformed into something like a motel, with room doors along the walls. there were even numbers on the doors! so this is the secret they've been keeping from us all these while huh! and in the middle of the place, there's like a courtyard kinda thing, with so many people milling about. i assumed they're all tenants of my neighbours, so i asked around for ray's room number.

then i saw ray among a group of people. it seems like they're in the midst of a board game of some kind. so i went up to him and asked him which room is his but he told me to wait for him to finish his game first. i was so annoyed! i just had a miscarriage, for goodness sake!  i was just about to open my mouth to say something nasty... then i woke up.

~~~

what a weird dream over the weekend! i guess i slept too much, that my brain went all murky and sluggish. hehehe... but waitaminute, since when is kay my bf, let alone my ex-boyfriend??? dem funny... and in the dream, it seemed like i wasn't too bothered about the identity of father of the baby that i miscarried. also, it seemed like i had a whole long list of ex-boyfriends, huh? :D and the funny thing is, why have to only go to ex-boyfriends' place? why never thought of going to any of my good friends' place? dem weird...

btw, ray is really one of my ex, but i ain't gonna tell which one, so don't ask! :P

operation rabbit…

ok, i know i’ve not been updating lately… been too busy lazy :P

anyway, i think most of you knows that i went home for the chinese new year last 2 weeks. so i guess i better put up a post about it before the cny ends… hehe…

so, it was after about 1 month in sandland that i decided that i wanna go home. originally, i told my parents that i’ll not be going home for cny as i’d still be under probation and will not be able to take leave. but after 1 month, i decided to try my luck and ask my hr if it’ll be ok for me to go home for the festivities. and they said ok! i was elated! so i quickly went to ask my immediate superior if it’s ok for me to take a few days off. she was a bit blur at first, coz it was nov and as far as she knows, there’s never been a “chinese new year” in nov! after explaining that cny’s in feb, but i’m asking coz i’d like to book my flights early, she gave her nod too… yay!

anyway, i then made up my mind to give my parents a surprise, so when i told my brother abt my impending trip, i made him promise not to tell them. then as the date neared, more and more people asked me if i’m going home, so i told them, “yes, but don’t tell my parents!” so in the end, it seems like the whole world knows except for them… :P

one bad thing about arriving early at the airport is that with nothing much to do, we tend to look for food…

and shop too much at the duty free stores!

on the day of my arrival, it was drizzling a bit… i got down from the taxi, and expected to see my dad sticking his head out to see who is at the front gate, like always, when he hears a car stopping outside our house. but that day, no head stuck out. i dragged my luggage right up to the grill door, peered in and called out, “hi! hi!” and proceeded to open the door. then i heard my dad’s voice calling out to my mom, “anne, someone’s here!” oh, dad’s lying on the couch. he didn’t even bother to turn around to see who it was! then i got into the house, and was bending down to take off my shoes when my mom came out. she was stunned for a while, just staring at me for like 5 seconds before uttering one word, “ei?”

then she turned to dad and said, “it’s ah girl!”. that’s when my dad jumped up from the couch… actually he’s sprained his leg and was in a lot of pain but apparently when he heard it was me, all the pain seemed to have disappeared! hahaha…

anyway, here are some snippets of conversations from my trip home… :)

2 months ago
me: i'll be home for reunion dinner lar... 3pm arrive in kl, take cab back to m'ca. should be able to arrive on time kua...
bro: then should i ask ma to cook more rice?
me: aiya, no need lar. if u ask, then she'll know
bro: but she'll not cook enough for one more
me: apa lar, as if i'm such a big eater. worse comes to worse, we'll just eat less and then have supper later at night. anyway, ma always cooks extra for cny eve
bro: ok lar. but u sure ma's heart can take it? better tell her in advance
mo: no! dun tell!

2 days before my departure
bro: So, could you pls confirm your flight details again? Make sure you arrive before Ma starts cooking the rice... haha.
me: ETA KL 3pm. pray the highway is not jam! i'm not worried abt the food lar... i'm sure will have enough, and it's not like i'm such a big eater!
bro: I think you better call pama once you touched down in KL... otherwise it would be too shocking for them to see you at the front door.... remember ma just had a balloon done on her heart... hehe.
me: aiya, then no surprise element liao... no problem one lar...

can pengsan right, this brother?? =_=’’’

tried something special this year… fruits yee-sang!

taxi ride from airport
me: abang, agak-agak pukul brapa boleh sampai? (what time do you think we'll arrive?)
taxi driver: kira-kira 5 stengah lah. jgn risau, i tau mlm ni u ada makan besar. sure sempat punya... (around 5.30. don't worry, i know you have big dinner tonight. u'll sure be able make it)

at home
mom: when i saw u with ur big luggage, i thought u quit ur job and is home for good! :D
me: sorry ma, my luggage is empty one. i'll be buying more things to bring over there!

phone call
5th cousin sis: hello uncle, are you all having dinner now?
dad: not yet lar...
5th cousin sis: oh, how many people having dinner at your house today?
dad: 5 people. me, my wife, my son, my son's wife and my girlfriend lar
5th cousin sis: oh, sue has arrived issit?!
dad: you all very good har? all pakat behind our backs!
5th cousin sis: haha... i wasn't sure if she's arrived, and didn't wanna spoil the surprise if she hasn't... :P

relatives gathering at my house on 2nd day
kluang aunt: so did u meet any rich oil king?
3rd cousin sis: remember har, must be oil king har. if not, dun bother.
5th cousin sis: must own a house where when u open the door, there's an oil-well right outside!
3rd cousin: yeah. when u cook also easier. just scoop out the oil from the well.
me: =_='''

visiting at relative's house
mom's cousin sis: eh, must find a rich oil tycoon har! then when u get married, u can charter a plane to fly us all over there. reserve 5 seats for us from this house. remember har!
me: =_='''

checking in my cello… bye-bye baby, see u in 7 hours!

 

reshuffling my stuff due to overweight luggage
airport counter staff: pergi dubai makan mamee jer? (u'll only eat mamee in dubai?)
me: dubai takde mamee! (no mamee in dubai!)
airport counter staff: eh, yang bongo ni u main eh? ada konsert ker? (u play this bongo? are u having a consert?)
me: =_='''

tho’ it was a short trip, and pretty hectic, but i was glad i made it home! i know i’d regret it if i didn’t, and i’d feel all miserable the whole time, knowing all the things that are happening back home. the fun times, crazy laughters and good food…

also, managed to meet up with my besties mon and san for my fav fish head noodles! and some bak-kua (dried meat) and shandy at pin’s place… and also some catching up with N when she fetched me to the airport!

  no teary eyes this time round at the airport, tho’ the panda eyes were worse than ever! all from staying up late to watch astro with a vengeance… :P

when i exit from the dubai airport to look for a taxi, a man directed me towards the “pink line” where all the bigger taxis are. i thought, “what the hell? i just want a normal taxi! i’m not gonna let them bully me into taking a bigger taxi just because i have a cello with me!” but as it turned out, the “pink line” is the line for pink taxis, driven by lady drivers!

up until now, these “pink taxis” have been only a hearsay (for me, at least) coz we seldom see them on the roads. these taxis are exclusively for ladies and families. and this lady driver was so friendly and chatty. she’s indonesian and when she found out that i’m m’sian, she started speaking malay to me. and she didn’t allow me to lift a finger when loading and unloading my heavy luggage and cello onto/from her taxi! :) oh, and unlike in m’sia, the bigger taxis (family size) are of the same price as the normal size taxis…

ok, this is getting to be a very long post. hope it’ll make up for my lack of updates these past few weeks… but before i go, i’ll just end with a photo of myself on my first day back to work after cny, since N complained that i don’t post enough photos of myself on facebook and my blog. anyway, can’t really see, but i was actually wearing a red blouse there, a deviation from my normal “funeral clothing” – blacks and whites! not that i’m superstitious or anything, but just for the fun of it… :)

hope everyone had a great cny this year!

hoi-kung dai-katt!!

p/s: this big-ass mirror is just beside the door to my gm’s office and i simply love it! not only is it big (from floor to ceiling), it also tends make us look tall and slim! :P