The haze that has been clouding my mind for the pass few months is finally gone - BRING IT ON! I feel like I can take on the world!! It just kinda happened when I saw something today. I am so glad that this one thing that I had been awfully blurry about is totally over, O-V-E-R... ovAaaaAAa!! No weights, no old burdens... It's just so blardy awesome!!

Wed, 27 Nov: I had dinner with Pinky at a western food place along Mt. Erskine, after we took about an hour's joyride up to Batu Ferringhi and back. The place is basically a little atap house with tables set up all around its compound... where the food is considerably cheap and really good. I had a really nice & succulent pork chop, while Pinky amazingly ended up having 2 servings - 1 grilled fish & 1 garlic butter fish. You can bet that after you eat the latter, no vampires would dare come near you... hehe...

We called up Chris just to kacau him a little... hehe... Anyhow, we hung around the place until nearly 10pm. By then, I had decided that there was no way I'd like to join Joce and the others at Shamrock - so I called Shen to let him know I won't be there. I really wanted to just go home, kick back & relax... and watch the last episode of 10th Kingdom! *grins*

Thu, 28 Nov: Nothing significant happened - I slept early for the first time in 5 days. p/s: No prizes for guessing why I was sleeping late.

Fri, 29 Nov: Stayed home tonight to clean up the entire website that I had held captive from the Student Council of KDU Penang for slightly more than a year. I only did what I can - the rest they'll have to add in on their own.

TODAY: The later part of morning was dedicated to banking and running errands with my mum. We had dropped dad off at the dentist before we headed for the banking district. After alls said and done, we had some time to kill before its time to pick grandpa from his shop. I decided to drop by to KDU to pass the CD containing SC related files to Chris; return the Evita VCD to Daws; and to say hello or have a chat with some of the many people that I know in there... everyone should be there today since it is, after all, Open Day. But firstly, I showed my mum where the canteen was, so that she could have a drink while I gallivant about.

So... what did I learn from this trip? It is possible to have a nice chat with Kevin... that doesn't happen too often in the past though. SweEeeEet... Leaving KDU, I read a message from dad. He said he'd walk over to grandpa's shop from the dentist's. Good... no extra detours.Later when my dad got into the car, he told us he bought some layer cake from Sunflower. Hurrah!! We have cake!!

I've been following the "10th Kingdom" mini-series on NTV7 since last Saturday night... it's a pretty interesting show! Today would be the last night I'll be staying up until nearly 2am because of staying up to watch 10K... and tomorrow will be the last time I'm going to have problems waking up for work. Hehehe...

Mon, 25 Nov: Had decided that it was pointless to follow my grandpa & mum to the wedding dinner since I can't very well taste anything much on my tongue. Everything I eat feels bland. I believe that we shouldn't refuse free food, but I wasn't too keen to go through an 8-course dinner when I can't very well taste the flavors... and not to mention to put up with a potentially horrible sound system & ludicrous karaoke singing. Thus, I find myself dropping them off at Marco Polo Restaurant, Garden Inn, for the dinner. (Oh yeah... I went home to find an SMS from my mum that went "Not even 5 mins here and I'm already bored"... hehehe... Damn! I had a good laugh reading that). Meanwhile, I drove over to Pulau Tikus to buy chicken porridge home for my dinner. After my simple dinner, I had gone over to Chin's place to help her solve a webpage design dilemma that she was having. We also had a nice chat analyzing a certain friend of ours who is kinda getting on our nerves at the moment. ;P I left Chin's place shortly after my mum SMS-ed me to start driving out to take them back from the dinner. Ah well...

Tue, 26 Nov: I had a good laugh watching some of the clips in Muffin Films. *laughs* Thanks for telling me about it, Chin! I think I wasted almost a whole good hour just watching them... and waiting for it to load over my slow modem line. Anyhow, Chin had come over tonight to brainstorm about what else she could do about the web thinghy. After she left, I just waited for 10K to start. So many fairy tales incorporated in there... and the colours are so beautiful... *sigh*

Fri, 22 Nov: Today is a public holiday for Nuzur Al-Quran, but it's still a working day in Agilent. *Ho-hum* At lunch time, Kenneth, Mook & I headed over to Batu Lanchang to feast on our super-duper-favourite chicken rice... except on the last possible moment... I decided that I miss the claypot noodles even more... hehehe... so I ordered just that. *yummy!* After finishing our food, we sat around for a while, looking up at the TV hanging from the ceiling, enjoying a documentary on Discovery Channel about speed - fast boat, cars & anything related to that.

After getting home, I quickly changed & gotten ready for Calvin's sister's wedding dinner... only to receive a call from JP that Daniel Chan is going to be late in picking us up. I decided to walked over to JP's house to wait for Daniel, who was late by an hour from the time he originally told me he'd pick us up *Applause* - Anyhow, we eventually arrived at the Penang Chinese Town Hall for and none too late... hehe... about 10 minutes later, Calvin's sis, with mike in hand, sang Ave Maria as she took her honorary bridal walk into the hall... her other hand was, of course, holding her husband's =) Now, that's unique! I don't think I'll ever see a bride do something like that in a very long time to come... or ever at all again.

Moving on to the other important thing - The food was amazing! I think it's even better than some of the course dinners I've had in some hotels. The bridal car's main adornment was simple and yet beautiful - no gawdy arrangements and soft toys... just some plastic lilies & orchids that seemed to grow flowingly across the bonnet.

Sat, 23 Nov: I had to go to work in the morning at MIM and was supposed to join my colleagues for a lunch with my recently resigned manager. However I needed to take a raincheck on the lunch thinghy because I had tonnes of errands to do for my dad. I went home for lunch. Jocelyn called & she decided to join me for my errands... before we headed over to KBJ for a little bit of window shopping. We also called Jaclyn to join us shortly before we arrived at KBJ. At the end of it all, Jac & I bought a Cleo each... while Joce "ta-pau" some lekur home. Jac had to attend a wedding dinner, while Joce was to go home to catch a ride with Chin for a seafood dinner at Teluk Kumbar with the gang. I was tempted to follow them but since I was starting to feel sick... I decided to take a pass on this one.

On an impulse, I gave Ling² a call on her KL registered company handphone and we had a nice long chat. The timer on my phone clocked something in the region of 21+ minutes. It was before 7:00pm. Damn. Gotta pay peak hour rates... but *oh heck!* it was worth it! Went out to pick my dad up from Kanpungku at about 10-ish. Later at about 11-ish, I got drowsy although I was supposed to wait for Vijaya's call to let me know when she's coming to pick me up to go clubbing... she only called at about midnight. Sleepiness had taken over my will to go party... thus I apologized and again... took a raincheck. Hmm... I guess it must be the effects of impending sickness... my throat feels rather scratchy and dry.

Sun, 24 Nov: Had woken up at about 8-ish but decided to go back to bed. I heard the house phone ring... and sorta just dragged myself up. Looked at the clock - 10:30am. My mum picked up the call, and yelled for me to answer the call. It was Joce. *Ohh...* I had forgotten to give her a call last night to let her know that I wouldn't be joining them... and she also wanted to know if I can go to the beach with her today. Sadly, my answer is a flat "No... I think I should rest & nurse myself". Yes... I'm afraid my throat feels worse.

After lunch today, I followed my parents for a ride to the banks followed by some grocery shopping. Yes! My breakfast stock is now replenished!! *Nyahahaha...* Uncle Toby's fruitty breakfast cereal bars. =9 After that, we headed for Lorong Selamat for an early dinner because my dad had to leave for KL on the 6pm bus. I ordered a soup Koay Teow without the Koay Teow... didn't feel like eating much. Took myself to the doctor's at 7:30pm. The doctor presribed, "Salt gargles, no oily food, no cold food/drinks (and gave me some lozenges, something for flu, and painkillers to ease the pain/irritation I feel whenever I swallow)" - *Sigh...* no more digging into the freezer for my Baskin Robbins for the time being. Nasty.

Who left the window open?! Brrrr.... *oops!* That's just some wind passing... <-- lame joke, I know~... I'm just kinda bored.

You're wind! You are a very kind and sympathetic person. Whoever DOESN'T like you has a mental disorder, because you are a loving and caring gentle soul.

What element are you?

Was hanging out at Segafredo's in Gurney Plaza last night instead of Shamrock. Chin & I were more than happy with the change of scenery... Joce just went along with it; while we let Shen, Andrew & James know that we've changed our destination. I definitely enjoyed the Midnight Mint I ordered - very refreshing... mmMmm... *Yum!* The whole outing ended up being dubbed "Study Group" because everyone was flipping through magazines from Sega's mag-rack, most of the time. Su Jin joined us a bit later & the conversation ended up being about gyms, health & fitness. Yes... we have 5 people who are avid gym goers... once again... I flip through a magazine.

Lunch today: A very nice makan at Sushi King, BJC. Oohh.... sushi and green tea!!!

Walked into office and heard from the secretary that the mail server my mailbox is on, is down. *Wahahaha....!!* What a nice start for the day after 2 days of sheer torturous so-called training. I'm handicapped. There is no way I can attend to user requests that sits in my mail accounts. Bliss!

Anyhow, after work yesterday - I went to get grandpa (as usual-lah~). Then as a favor to Daniel, I dropped by Garden Inn to collect his online-booked-and-paid bus ticket... only to find out from the ticket counter that they can only process that during working hours. *Gag!* There's no way I can be in town during office hours! So... contingency planning, called Daws to see if he's still in the office (it's just across the road) and... amazingly he's still there at 6++ pm?! Ok! Forget about that 'coz that was good news to me... I quickly went over to his office to pass him a printout of the email from Daniel, containing the booking & payment details. Meanwhile, I also found out that he has succumbed to his temptation and had just bought himself a deep turquoise-colored Nokia 7210. I also found out that he'd be on leave from Wednesday onwards and will be going back to his hometown... but he agreed to help sort out the ticket thinghy for Daniel anyway.

Leaving that place, I called Daniel to tell him about the recruitment of Daws for help to retrieve the bus ticket... only to be told that Daniel had forgotten to inform me he had asked Ewen to help him. *AaaAarrRRrgh! Blardy-hell!* Rushed about for nothing. *Dagnabbit!* Soon as I arrived home, I logged on to the web and checked my personal mailboxes that have been somewhat neglected for the day. Seeing that Daws was still online at the office... I told him that there's no need to help Daniel with the ticket thinghy anymore and thanx for agreeing to help out earlier. He then told me that he is looking for a protective cover for his new phone but hasn't the time to do that for the time being... and I told him "Use Cling Film! =P"... *Wahahaha....!!*

Oh well... what else can I suggest? Condoms maybe?!
.
.
.

<-- I mean those phone covers made of a type of rubber, matte-surfaced, and semi-transparent... Now what were u naughty people thinking about?!

Arrived in my Agilent cube by about 8:30am today and took a quick browse through my Inbox. Among the items in it was a set of The Appraisal Form. *Gasps* I quickly printed it and stashed it into the folder containing the materials required for the training I was to attend at 9:00am. Overall, the training was rather boring. It did however allow me to meet one of my Hong Kong colleagues whom I've only communicated with via the phone & emails. She's a very nice lady.

At boredom level maximus: I started SMS-ing a few friends. I don't know how, but Kalamari's immediate reply to my boredom was to mention about his lack of food availability. *raises an eyebrow* Yes, the Kalamari wails for food once again! Hehe... ok! Sorry lar... my reply to him, soon after, was kinda mean but it just so happened to be after a tea break when I received his message. I offered him some cream puffs, black forest cake, and pizza slices. *Ducks! Runs for cover!*

A little later, using my need to be at my employer's town office for an appraisal, I left the training session a little earlier. Arriving in town, I took a detour to KDU to pass Daws the Maxis receipt my aunt asked me to pass to him (less I forget to bring it along the next time I see him... which is I don't know when either! *bluek*). Anyhow, minutes later I got into the office for my appraisal. I guess it went quite well.

Leaving the office, the howling wind and pouring rain greeted me as I walked to my car. My pants were drenched. Next stop? Go get grandpa, then homeward bound for a nice warm bath and dry clothes. Ahh... tis indeed a boring day with a twist of lemon.

Random ramblings from the heart…

I haven’t really thought about this much until a recent chat with Shakila over MSN. It went something like this:-

Shakila: I think I should match you up with someone when I come back. I’m good at this
Me: What’s with everyone trying to get a boyfriend for me?!
Shakila: I think it’d be cute.

Cute? Awww... erm... okaAay. Then I start reflecting other episodes with similar tunes. Here’s one from a recent gathering with some schoolmates:-

Pam: Do you have a boyfriend (Mei echoes the question)
Me: *rolls eyes* Erm... no.
Pam: Haiyar! You must be too fussy. *tilts head*
Mei: Don’t be so fussy lah. *smiles*
Me: *chuckles* Oh yes, I’m fussy. (Agrees so I do not have to elaborate further)

Here’s another episode that happens almost every time I have a gathering with this group of people - where the mother hen of the group, Ling Ling, steers most of the conversations:-

Ling2: Aewis, have boy-boy already or not?
Me: *shakes head* Nah... not yet =)
Ling2: Eh! If the rest of you see her with a boy-boy, please... tolong broadcast to the rest of the group.
Peter: Wei, wei, wei!! Not only broadcast to the group... must sebar for everyone else to know (and all others in the group start trailing on about this...)
Me: *wishes I could hide and attempts to change subject*

Alright! So what’s wrong with not having a significant other?! Gee-wHiZ!! Not that it’s a must. I’m still young. I love what I have now although occasionally for the past few weeks... erm... ok... months - I've asked myself whether I’m still sorta in love with a certain someone.

I know the people who knew what happened between us think that I should forget about him. I really agree with them and think that I should let him remain as the friend that I’ve now taken him to be. But it seems the question now pops its ugly head once in a while because we have stopped avoiding one another, and we have now become closer friends than before we broke it off 1.5 years ago. I know this is dangerous ground to thread upon... and yet I’m still walking on it.

I think I shall take this one day at a time and see what life has in store for me. I may yet meet my certain someone, someday, at the right time, at the right place... or who knows if in some odd twist of events I end up being with him again? By the way, what seems a good reason to reconsider about him is because of the bizarreness of how it happened and how it fizzled out. It was just really bizarre. But remember... I’ll let life lead me to my destiny. (I’m just pondering out loudly...for once... so please don’t bombard me, ok?)

Fri, 15 Nov: Yes! I've finally gone to watched "Harry Potter" (at 9:15pm, in Mega Pavillion, Prangin Mall) and I find it to be a really interesting show. Dobby the House-Elf is quite the riot. It's funny how he always punishes himself every time he thinks he's done something bad. Ron Weasley's broken-and-held-together-by-celo-tape-magic wand prooved an interesting twist too. Spells he casts using the wand backfires (note the slug scene). Ron's dim-witted owl, Errol, is also an added comic element.

There are so many action sequences that deserve mention and to swoon over... but I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't watched it yet. Go watch it! Anyway, in short - the storyline's interesting, the action keeps coming, and I thought the movie was rather short although it was 2.5 hours long.

Sat, 16 Nov: I had gone to do some shopping with Sze Lin in Gurney Plaza at about 4:30pm. We went to check out the Swatch Collections; browsed through the MPH book fair at Ground Floor (we later visited the book store itself), a few shoe shops and toy shops; and last but not least - took a good glance at the many new(er) handphone models showcased at one of the bigger handphone dealerships there... *ho-hum*

At the end of our trip, I ended up buying a pair of shoes from Vincci. On our way out...? We were tempted to check out a shop named Phenomena (I hope I got the name right) because they have an offer of RM18-58 for 2 racks of clothing but we decided not to go in because we had to leave already. *sigh!* So, what tempted us? The items sold there usually start at more than RM100... Did I mention that they specialise in selling really nice pieces that are a fusion of ethnic-western styles?

This morning, grandpa caused a riot in the house. He had driven out to buy something and had not noticed that he had stepped in a pile of dung when he came back. He walked all over the house with that same pair of slippers and soiled the floors. Later, we also realised that he had also messed up the car paddles and part of the interior. Eww... yucks! That can only mean that he had stepped into that thinghy before driving home from his little errand. No guesses what my parents & I were doing after our discovery - it was a hell lot of cleaning up to do.

After I took my lunch, Jocelyn & I drove up to Tanjung Bungah to hang out at the beach. However, we drove into rain at our intended beach along the Sandy Bay Paradise Resort and seeing that the sun was shining further up - we decided to try going up to Batu Ferringghi. It was also drizzling up there. Disappointed, we turned back...

Reaching Sandy Bay once again, we noticed the rain had stopped. Hurray! We parked the car & hopped out to the beach. We just walked around for a while and didn't really do anything else (our mood was already dampened by the rain-lah). A little later, we headed to Secret Recipe, Belisa Row. I snacked while Jocelyn munched her dinner. I have dinner waiting at home... so, no heavy meals for me.

Had gone home in time to pick my dad up and to drop him off for his bus to KL. Later, it'll be a TV marathon for me. I am contemplating to do my ironing... but i'm feeling lazy-lar... hmm... nevermind... and yes... I know... "Don't put off to tomorrow what you can do today" - Fine... fine... I admit it! I tend to procrastinate (a lot).

Chats with Daws within the past few days/nights have mainly been about handphones. He still can't decide what to get to replace his dying phone because of

1. the ol' purse strings;
2. yet he's always thinking of getting a phone with polyphony with/without colored display... phones with both of these features are mighty expensive now
3. ...and of course the thing we all quote "I want to have something different"

In summary, I just told him -- "Don't be kiasu/yuppie/"Ah Beng", be realistic, buy a phone that will cause the least regrets, and get something you will not be embarrassed to carry around 1 year later. So what if 7210 looks different? It's also expensive - and not to mention the design will be a passing fad."

The 7210 (one of his many considerations) is basically a seasonal fashion accessory... take it around pass the time of its hype and *tadah!!* We have a fashion victim! *Applause!!*

What's YOUR Writing Style?
brought to you by Quizilla

You are a freeform writer. Individualistic with a sense for the different and challenging, Walt Whitman and his poetry lacking meter and rhyme is just what the doctor ordered. You're quick to write something that the rest of the world doesn't accept as poetry, quick to separate yourself from the average joe. An author with a true sense of self, you have confidence in your abilities and aren't afraid to show it. :) GO YOU!

Forgot to add this 2 days back. I had met Jayson on MSN Messenger, 2 evenings ago, and had a very nice long chat with him. Caught up with what's going on with our lives and yadah-yadah. Also updated him about the "Stupid Thing That Happened, Ignited by Yasmin". He thought what happened was nasty... much the way we all felt about that.

I'm going to go off a little earlier today. Yay! I will be going to Shamrock again, tonight... it's officially a weekly ritual with the girls... and of course - a few blokes... [addition to posting] Tonight it was 4 girls and a guy, Shen. Lucky fella~. Anyway, it is his birthday. We gave him a bottle of wine. We contemplated going to Langkawi.

I am looking forward to watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Now there's just a matter of when to go... still no schedule observed to be released on CinemaOnline. Just waiting for that... and then bolehlah pick a date & time to make ticket booking. =) Tralaa-laaaa-la~~

A little Quiz...

What Is Your True Aura Colour?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hmm... that's cool!
I like blue anyway...
Altho... the description does sound pretty deep and profound indeed... gee-whiz!

~ohmMmm~~ ;P

The First Post: Didn't have a good start for a Monday. I had to put up with some insane bout that my grandpa came up with this morning *boils*... but I'm over it now. Nothing like a good cup of coffee to settle ruffled feathers *cool...sizzle...psssht...ahh*

Sat, 9 Nov: Was bored & on the verge of having hypothermia during my morning, serving a half-day sentence at work. Thanks to Yahoo reminders - I remembered to send Yokes a birthday greeting. The cold didn't feel so bad with ICQ Lite running on the computer... at least I had Daws & the "Kancil Killer" to chat with. The Kancil Killer is one of the best people for me to chat with when it comes to Saturday & Sunday toons... or anything about cartoons :)

At 5:30-ish, I went to pick up my parents. They've just arrived by bus from KL. Later at about 7, my parents & I left for Penang Swimming Club. But before that, we had to detour to One-stop to send my brother's handphone to my uncle & aunt's shop for repair. Apparently my brother had stumbled into a puddle of water while drunk... and the phone got soaked.

Moving from there, mum decided she'd rather shop than just sit around while waiting for dad & I finish with our swim, so we dropped her off at Island Plaza. Arriving at PSC, the rain started. No swimming then. Dad decided he'd just go bake in the sauna. I went straight to meet up with some friends - I had promised to drop-by anyway.

Here's the thing - Shen had planned to celebrate his birthday at the beach by the pool area... but he's not there yet... and so are many others (he said they were elsewhere waiting for the rain to subside). Only Soo Hoo, Fran, Pam, Erh Pin, & me were in PSC. Oh well... I left with my dad about 9-ish & asked Erh Pin to pass my token present to Shen.

Erh Pin saw it and laughed - a bottle of Carlsberg Ice with a blood-red ribbon tied round its neck. He thought it was cute and asked if I bought it with a ribbon already on it. Haha... Grow a brain buddy! No bottle of beer will be readily available with a ribbon on it. I also asked ErhPs to tell Shen we'll give him his real present when we see him again (most likely on his real birthday). Later, Shen called to let me know when he was on the way up to the club. I unfortunately told him I'd left the place already, won't be back up there, and would most likely see him again another time (soon). Lalalaalala...

Today: Caught up with sleep. I FEEL GOOD!! I've gone for a haircut!! Woo-hoo!! Yeah... baby!!! Ok... it's not totally short, as in boy cut short. It's just shoulder length and looks much neater than before the massacre of my long, unkempt, untameable hair ends. *grins* ...Now all I have to do is tackle the ironing of my pile of clean laundry.

My colleague, Vimila, came back to work after a long break - today... and along with her, she brought a whole lot of Deepavali goodies for all of us. Oh joy!! The pantry will be stocked for the next few working-days!!

I am glad that I decided to bail out of going to hang out with the girls & a few guys tonight. I am really tired. My eyes felt like they are gonna pop out anytime... and then I got tempted to take on a last-minute invite to go out for a little bit of berjalan-jalan at Pesta.

Ok... luckily my better judgment won the battle. I decided to take a raincheck on this one too. Decided to drive out for a little errand and found myself struggling to concentrate while on the road. Good thing I decided not to go out for either events. I think I would have slept on the wheel either on the way to the destination; or back from there.

Have to work tomorrow morning... *sigh*

Wed, 6 Nov: Had asked my aunt to lookup for available Maxis numbers based on the three latest 4-digit combinations from Daws. Luckily I had took a sheet of post-it with me. My aunt returned my call when I was just starting up my car to go home. Quickly grabbed a pen, stuck the post-it onto my steering wheel, and scribbled all the numbers being dictated to me. That being said and done - I fixed on my hands-free, called Daws (and he said he'd call back...), drove my car out of the parking bay, picked up call, dictated numbers on the post-it to Daws, and my colleague (who was hitching a ride with me) laughed everytime I sounded a bit more animated/perplexed when replying to some occasionally silly question by Daws... at other times... I'm just being cute (as always... hehe...) He finally picked one number & went to my aunt's shop to settle the line registration with my aunt, after work.

Later, I went to get Joce at 8:30 PM. Picked her up early because I needed to make a detour to One-stop to buy some blank CDs. After that, we went over to Shamrock to meet up with Jamie, Shen, Erh-Pin, Fran, Pam, Mei Ling, & Calvin. The place was very dead. The pool table was ours for the whole night. Played cards & goofed around before we went over for mamak, right across the street. So much for all of us who said we would like to go home early.... we ended up going home at about 12:30AM.

Today: A box arrives for me in the office. Hmm... let's see what's in it... OK.... opened the box... put aside the packing foam... something in bubble wrap... "ARGH!! WHO PACKED THIS THING~?!!" - 2 layers of bubble wrap mummified by a 1.5 inch wide super-adhesive tape?! ...The last thing I need to do now is to be Ms. Butterfingers... consignment items read: 1 porcelain mug, 1 ballpoint pen, 1 Agilent ID badge holder. Ok... dropping this on the floor is definitely not a good idea.

I finally managed to unwrap the items after a long struggle. The mug is really nice & heavy (...it's all black with the a little Agilent logo & motto printed in white), the pen is rather nice & heavy too... and the badge thinghy... is a badge thinghy. What's all this? It's my consolation prize for a logo competition I took part in (there were only 4 participants worldwide... so much response, eh?). The task was to create a logo for a global function group in Agilent.

Sun, 3 Nov: After breakfast, we went to visit Granny Christine's grave. Dad had actually forgotten about All Souls' Day until I reminded him about it last night. As soon as we got home Dad began his massive cooking project - fried bihun enough to feed the families of my 3 grandaunts, his best friend's family, and ourselves. I had actually invited Peky over for lunch when I saw her online before lunchtime but she said she was "pai seh". She also told me that a pipe had burst outside her house overnight - right at where her dad's beautifully tended garden patch was. Oh no! That once beautiful garden is now quite a painful sight, with all the gravel the PBA has put there temporarily before the actual fixing work begins.

Pretty much lazed around after lunch. I decided that I should cancel going for a badminton workout with Shane, Sze Lin, Freddie, and Kok Keong later tonight. I do not want to be feeling dead when I go back to work on Tuesday (The logic? Having only slept at 4am, and then going for 2 hours for badminton at 9pm - a person with no fixed exercise regime will definitely be a very tired & sore one...)

Had followed Peky to join Daniel, Dom, Malcolm, Julian & Pei Ling for dinner at California Cafe, Gurney Plaza. It's nice seeing this group getting together again. The food - edible but not incredible. Sadly I was in a rush... I had to leave them at 9pm because I have plonked on the alternative & less energy taxing activity - watching the 9:40 show of "Red Dragon" in Prangin Mall. All I can say is "I like the movie!! It's very smart & I would recommend people to go watch it. Anthony Hopkins rocks!!"

Mon, 4 Nov: Happy Deepavali!! Hi~ I didn't do much today. Just had a mite of a mystery to solve before we got the DVD of "Amelie" to run without the director's commentary. The font for the options listed for the audio features were so small that we literally had to be very near the TV to try to interpret what it was all about. I find the movie to be an amusing watch... and it was easy to relate to Amelie. The filming style & storytelling of this one is also intriguing. Oh yeah! Mum & Dad went to KL in the evening. Hurrah!! The house is mine!!! Muahahaha...

Today: Went to office - logged in as usual only to be greeted by a popup that "rudely" screams out - "Your account has been disabled. Please contact your system administrator". Just my lucky day... quickly figured out that I had to renew my account with the IT folks & found out that they'd only restore my NT account and Outlook Exchange by the next day. That's half the morning. The other half - I managed to borrow a colleague's terminal to check a few things and clear some stuff (she works from home then comes to work at 12:30... cool-eh?). Anyway... asked Daws via ICQ if he'd come up with another three 4-digit combinations for probing with Maxis. His original three combinations queried to Maxis via my aunt came back with only one option that he didn't like. Told him to think about it and let me know later coz I'm literally computerless.

The afternoon was spent packing a lot of packages to be couriered (... I still have some more to pack tomorrow morning too!). At about 4:40 PM, I tried using my NT login... woo-hoo!! It worked!! Next, I checked my Outlook... it still didn't work. One out of 2 isn't that bad for a start, right? With the long weekend & some lose ends to tie... I'm only afraid of what I might be greeted with when the Pandora's Box is finally accessible. Btw, Daws messaged to let me know the numbers... they even had a story to them... ;P Har har har!!! Will check them out within the next 2-days.

Sat, 2 Nov: Hurray! No work today means I benefit from getting to actually enjoy the long weekend. Woke up at 10-ish. Got online to check mails & had a rather interesting chat with Chris & Daws each. After lunch, followed my parents for another bank "La Tour de Penang". All went well until we went to Bank X - with intend to use the cash deposit machine. Main branch: machine "Out of Service". Komtar: bleah. Dato Kramat: more bleah *tut!!!*. The last ditch... look for a branch I remember seeing along Jalan Jelutong. Took a wrong turn. Ended up going a big round before we found it. Yes!! Yes!! Finally a machine that works!! Ok... well... it was quite a fussy one too... kept refusing the last RM50 note that we had to try swapping with other RM50 notes we had kept in our wallets.

Next stop, the market - I bought a whole watermelon for Jamie's pool party. Wanted to cut it, but I had sentry duty - peeling loads of onions & shallots for dad's cooking project tomorrow (let's just say he literally plans to feed an army). Finished that in time to pack for the party before Jase came to pick me up. The watermelon felt like it weighed a ton.

Turning into the apartment visitor's car park, I saw Doris, her parents & Jeffrey. Aha! I finally see who Jeffrey is... *chuckles* In the lift ride to Jamie's, I kinda told Jase that he was not a gentleman. He didn't offer to help carry the watermelon until I mentioned it... to which he replied "Ok, here's the deal - I carry it when the lift opens until we get to Jamie's place". My reply? "What's the point?!" - btw, Jamie's house is just right in front of the lift. Period.

After greeting whoever's arrived, I headed to the kitchen to cut the melon up. Hahahaha... at least Jase was decent enough to help cut it too. Vern Ying chatted with us while we were hacking it into bite-sized pieces. Jamie's dad came back with satay & 2 lobster termidors. Wow!! Thanx uncle!!

Once all the grub was ready, we moved down to the poolside. We ate, we goofed, we fed the mosquitoes, we swam, and some of us went into the pool for a swim - in swim gear, of course. Pool incidents: Su Jin pulled Jo Lynn, who was in normal clothing, into the pool. Shen jumped into the pool voluntarily before Su Jin pushed him in. Jamie slipped n fell by the pool side. Aiks! ;D

Now let me list who was there: Jamie, Su Jin, Shen, Doris, Jeffrey, Soo Foong, Sze Lin, Vern Ying, Jason, Jo Lynn, Deborah, Fiona, Tze Wei, Erh Pin, Soon Beng, Calvin, Shawn, James, Andrew, Stephanie, Adrian, and 2 girls who were Jamie's housemates in Uni. Dor & Jeff had to leave by 8:30 PM to catch a bus back to Kelantan (they study there). The remaining group: some left before 12:00 AM, while the rest of us stayed on til 2:++ AM before heading for Subaidah in Tmn Pekaka. I think most of us reached home at about 4:00 AM. What a night!

The world is getting weirder than it already is. Flipping through The Star newspaper last night, one headline caught my attention. It goes something like this:

Lankan man breastfeeds child

What I remember about the article is that some Doctor mentioned that if a so-and-so gland goes into hyperactive mode - a man CAN breastfeed... hmmm.... think I'll put up extracts from that article when I'm back home.

After picking my grandpa from his office, I had to detour to the workshop to get a bulb changed for one of my headlights.... but woe behold!! There was a massive traffic jam along all the roads leading to Komtar. Time spent getting from Penang Road to Carnavon Street - 15 minutes. Phew! I thought the worst was over... Then I got stuck in another standstill getting out from Chulia Street Ghaut to Weld Quay Road. Was stuck there for at least a good 45 minutes before managing to get into the turnoff leading to the workshop about 100m away.

The mechanic got the bulb changed in less than 10 minutes. From there, I decided to detour for some bank hopping and 'play' with some of the machines. The banking area was just round the corner. Got stuck in a queue at a cash deposit machine. Guy in front was depositing loads of cash and the machine seems to be fussy today. It 'spitted' out some of his notes quite a number of times. Ack! Wasted yet another 25 minutes. Took the alternative route home to avoid the crazy traffic situation up near Komtar.

Theory: Super Komtar Preview Sale + Rush Hour Traffic + Incoming Traffic from mainland via Weld Quay ferry terminals = horrendous traffic situation.

P/s: Forget about the article... I'm now too lazy to go dig it out of the newspaper stack. I chose to watch Charmed & Survivor instead