In the Arts Corner

My iTunes player is currently spinning out songs from:

1. Amore ~ Andrea Bocelli
2. Love.Angel.Music.Baby ~ Gwen Stefani
3. Ancora ~ Il Divo
4. Renee Olstead ~ Reneé Olstead
5. The Dvorak Album ~ Yo-Yo Ma

I have my bookmark stuck somewhere in a copy of:

Check out the music video for Football Mad Nation by Popshuvit and Disagree - the anthem that is currently rocking Celcom's pre-World Cup advertisements... Syabas to our local boys. You have obviously created a world class stadium-friendly tune!

Meet the Master of Terror

Alright people. Meet Min the little terror. Soon to be 2 years old... he is not a cousin, not a nephew, but my dad's friend's kid.

I don't think I mentioned this in my earlier post about my trip to Hatyai during CNY... but this is the little tyke that I was helping to look after throughout our trip and stay. He may be cute but he sure is a handful.

Like other little kids his age, he finds joy in grabbing pebbles from hotel "plant display areas" only to throw these to just anywhere else as he runs around. But that's not all.

At the coffee house, he went to pull out the power plug of the cake refrigerator from the power socket in a blink of an eye. Oh yes... not to forget - he ran into the hotel kitchen too before we could say abracadabra.

And he knows the meaning of recognition... but in his case... he just likes to blow his horn first. He will clap and cheer (and make others cheer too) even if he has not finished his little task/game.

To cap it all, Min was flipping himself over the seats to get from the middle section to the backseats and vice versa when we were on the way back home. Ahh... the joy of being a carefree lil'tot.

Gambling with life

You think it will never happen to you. That is... until it hits you square in the face. It is probably a nice argument.

For one, I had a great-granduncle who smoked and took his share of whisky/brandy everyday of his adult life. He died of old age at 96 .

On the other hand, I have a 72-year old granduncle who had breathing difficulties and had to be admitted to the hospital so that they could clear his windpipes that were clogged from decades of smoking. He smoked since he was nine.

Two old guys with different stories. But there are others who may have suffered at an earlier age, succumbing to the ailments due to their vices.

Let me use another example. Say... the Mat Rempits who terrorize our roads. They ride and swerve dangerously - never thinking about the safety of themselves and most importantly other people who may be affected by their actions.

It's all about the thrill, the andrenalin rush, and pure silly pride for all the wrong reasons... that is until they get the shock of seeing their friend die in front of their eyes.

I'm not saying that gambling is bad simply because we have to make choices or take risks in our lives everyday. It's just that we ought to act in moderation and know our limits.

A little bit of...

Stress
Yes. Maybe a little too much of it as the past week inched closer to Friday... at which point one of Ozzy Osbourne's quote became something I could relate to. It goes like this: "Of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most."

Oh yes... I did feel like I have indeed... lost my mind.

San Marino F1 Grand Prix
Michael Schumacher wins a race after a long spell of absence of being at the top of the podium. But is Ferrari really back at their prime? In a world of IFs, there is a possibility that Renault's mistake to bring Alonso in early for his 2nd pitstop was the reason why Schumacher was handed the win on a silver platter.

But then again, it's not yet halfway into the race season. There's still a lot of room for everyone to find out how close or far the teams are from each other in terms of their car design, reliability, and technology.

What not to watch... ever!
The Hills Have Eyes is likely one of the worst movies I've watched this year. ONE: I don't see a proper storyline in it. TWO: It's all about gore. THREE: It's not even scary!

Oh well... but not like I got to choose the movie. Ash couldn't make it at the 11th hour; Mal had already bought tickets to the midnight movie; and I just happened to have willingly obliged to take Ash's place without knowing what the movie was in the first place.

Ok... so enough of this sidetracking... bottomline is... skip this movie and you save yourself probably about RM9, 2-hours of your time, and the agony of having to seat through a mediocre movie.

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed

Half awake, I found 3 text msgs waiting for me as I grabbed my handphone to look at the time. 6:5something am. All the msgs are were about a telcon at 7am. WTF?!! That wasn't in my calendar last night.

Fine. So I dialled into the toll-free # but I can hardly make out what was being said. So I IM'ed my colleague in Singapore just to check if it was just me coming out of sleep... but it seems to be something to do with our connection with US.

Coming out of the call an hour later, I felt like it was a waste of time since I could hardly make out what was being said. But life goes on and it's high time I got myself ready to get into the office.

...and so the day passes by and it's time to go home and fuel up my car along the way. Except, my car ran out of fuel a couple of kilometers before I reached the petrol station. Major bummer.

I guess the only thing that made sense was that I needed to call a couple of friends to see who can help bail me out of this predicament and fast... it's funny how when I can't afford my phone battery to be drained out that it was way too close to doing exactly that.

But on a brighter note, my phone stayed alive long enough for me to reach my pals... my car was fueled just enough to get to the nearest petrol station... and I had a nice chat with one of the attendants at the station.

I was in awe that the attendant spoke excellent English and is pretty well versed with the manufacturing sector... definitely a rare case... and it was also nice of him to warn me about the modus operandi of snatch thieves that have been preying on customers at the station recently.

Whatever it is, I know that one day... I'll look back at on what has happened today and laugh at it. But for now, I'll just say that I'm relieved to have gotten home safely... and that I should make a better guess at when I should fuel my car (based on the average distance per tank) rather than making wild guesses based on that really weird digital fuel meter that I don't really know how to gauge with in the first place.

Mind over matter

Moral of the story: Many a time, our worst enemies are none other but ourselves. How else is it possible that we sometimes end up scaring ourselves over something baseless? :)

Oh, btw, if you are wondering why I've put in this second comic here... actually this one here is just for kicks. Hehehe...

Random thoughts...

Yes, once again I revisit the notion that "It's a small world after all". Why? Believe it or not... Kael who had been dropping by my blog recently is actually working in the same place as I do.

Multipurpose Man makes a return at Kalamari's blog and...

to those of you who celebrate it.

Ah... l'amour, l'amour

I've never been so crazy as to have bought a DVD set of a drama series before last Saturday... but I just could not resist the anticipation to see how the Korean drama "My Lovely Sam Soon" progresses and ends!

It was definitely a good decision because I was getting pissed at the lacklustre level of subtitles provided by 8TV. I wouldn't have known how much dialogue was lost - along with the level of meaning and comic timing put into the drama if I didn't watch the DVDs.

But that's beside the point. The real reason I'm even writing this post is to put on record that although the story revolved around one of K-dramas' most cliché themes (specifically one that revolves around a dating/marriage contract), I find that the show was very human without being overly outrageous.

It also brings out some messages about boy-girl love relationships, like:

• breaking up is hard to do
• it is difficult to forget your first love but you have to move on
• you don't know that you are in love until someone points out that your actions show it
• you could unknowingly grow the tendency to annoy the person you love if you are nervous and afraid to just fess up (this may sound idiotic, but it happens)
• which brings us to the fact that you could also start to say and do some really stupid things and create a hell lot of confusion for everyone while you sort your heart out
• love is not black-and-white... it's very gray
• and when a couple finally figures out that they truly want to be together regardless of the challenges ahead of them - they will find a way to make it work

Last of all, I'd just like to say that at least the ending of the show was a good one. It's been a while since the Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korean dramas aired on national telly made good use of the build-up... there have just been too many of them ending either too corny, in an anticlimax, or just too soft to leave a lasting impression.

In other words - I just love this show and I'll probably be watching it again and again

p/s: I should mention also that among other things, one of the messages I read in between the lines is that you should go for your dreams and do what you feel is right

WaAAaaaay Over the ToP!

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown: If you liked the first one - you would probably like this one better. If you didn't get enough of Scrat running after the ever-evasive acorns that he loves so much - you'll be getting more laughs from this installment.

*spoiler alert*

And to cap it all... how about adding a fun-loving she-mammoth-who-thinks-she-is-a-possum-with-mischievious-possum-brothers into the equation?

In short, this is a definite must watch for comedy lovers, feel-good story afficionados, and/or just about anyone who loves animations. =)

---

Juggling all the things I have to do is definitely egging me onto the brink of insanity. I definitely should break out of this running on a treadmill thing.

OK. Moving on. It was great to have met up with my "ex"-colleagues Mich3ll3 T and TW for dinner on Friday + having the chance to meet a couple of people who are/were nominees to go to ISEF. It was fun =)

*mmm... I am in a good mood, aren't I? dumm-dee-dumm...*

A new season begins

With the completion of the F1 GP Race in Bahrain last week, there is much to look forward to.

For example, we can all look forward to what Nico Rosberg can do. Rosberg, the rookie from Williams-Cosworth appears to be the best thing that happened since Raikkonen and Alonso entered the arena as he starts from the 3rd place on the grid for the Sepang race tomorrow.

The other thing to watch out for is of course how the teams are coming along with the new rules for the year - including the standardization that engines should be not more than V8s.

At the rate things are going for now, it seems like Williams has a chance to better their position in the constructor's championship; Ferrari and Renault may be looking at a lot of tactical play; and let's see what the two Red Bull teams can come up with by the end of the season.

Edit: Ah, rats! Both Williams' had engines blowing up at Sepang yet I believe we can see more being done by their drivers (car reliability permitting). Glad that Fisichella won the race too... it might be a start to a better season for him after getting quite combination of car reliability issues and/or DNFs last season.

Not to forget - it looks like Button is having a good start in the season too by consistently getting 3rd place in the first two races of the 2006 season.

It's official! Sound the horns!

The first official word of it came during our CNY gathering. Doris is getting married. Rambo-woman mind you. Who would have thought that she would be the first in our group to go into holy matrimony?

Then the idea starts to sink in further. She messages everyone to make sure we are coming for the dinner.

Next up, Jamie starts sending out plans for Doris's Hen Night and (before you know it!) that has come and gone too. DHN was two Saturday's ago and boy did everyone's sleep pattern suffer after that.

Some of us Blame the Russian Vodka that 'Pinky' brought but not everyone drank that. It's just nicer to blame the alcohol. Yes, blame the alcohol.

Then we started to talk about what we would wear for the morning of the wedding and what challenges we would like to put Jeff through when he comes to pick Dor up prior to the tea ceremony. Some even went on to talk about what to wear for dinner. You know, it's just typical girl talk.

On the eve, we joined everyone else who mattered for a buffet dinner at Dor's place where we found time to fine tune our masterplan for Jeffry.

On the day (yesterday), my first task was to get the bananas from the market. I sure got some attention for being all dressed up while going through the wet market.

As I looked at the time, I thought I was late to arrive at Dor's place only to find out that I was the earliest of the gals. Dor was all chirpy and telling me that she woke up late and just came back from being made up. Can't blame her for oversleeping since there's so much preparation involved leading up to this day.

Anyway, I soon heard her mum asking me to help put the accessories on Dor and quickly obliged her so that she could go get herself dressed up peacefully. An aunt came in some minutes later and exclaimed "So, you are the bridesmaid!". I laughed and quickly explained that the real one is on the way.

Soon everyone started to trickle in and the house bustled with activity. Everyone was excited and happily took photos with the bride. Then it was time for everyone to get into our stations. Once Bobby (Dor's brother) opened the door of the bridal car and inviting Jeff into the house, the challenge began.

1st challenge: It's a warm up. At the gate, the groom and his entourage must finish a bunch of bananas. Now that wasn't so hard.

2nd challenge: Test of male-bonding. Groom must take 5 bodily hairs from his best man. This should include eyebrow and sideburn. After that, the best man must take 5 bodily hairs from the groom. Yes... we let the last part come out much later. We couldn't let the groom get away so easy.

3rd challenge: This one is a combo. Jeff had to say the 10 things he loved about Dor... and #10 was because she's the only one he wants to spend his whole life with. Very sweet. This was to follow with a serenade. We gave him a guitar and he came prepared with a printed songsheet with chords for "Growing Old With You".

Kudos to Jeff for being a sport although he was sweating buckets by the time we let him through into Dor's room.

Fast forward. Prior to dinner was the church ceremony in the beautiful gardens of E&O hotel. Angie (from Sabah), Siah and Ah Tin were the bridesmaid dressed in a combination of pale gold and golden brown.

With "I Do" and vows exchanged.. it's official - Doris is now Mrs. Jeffry Wong... and for the record... they do make a beautiful couple.

A little tidbit: It was said that Mare openly announced on TV that she was coming back to Penang for Dor's wedding. Omigawd! That's so crazy!!

Running on a treadmill, aiming for the finish line

That's how it feels like. Knowing where the finish line is but you have not one iota if you will ever get there.

With two projects running in parallel, I'm just trying my best not to get hyper-stressed or burnt-out. Reviving the entire clockwork for an internal newsletter is not my cup of tea but its something that needs my utmost attention.

Having to revamp, cleanup and revitalize the local intranet on the other hand is something I know well. I just lack the time to commit to the whole data migration thing. Yes... and that is where bosses come in.

As critical as both of these babies to be revived ASAP, it's not humanly possible for me to get them both up at the same time. There is only 40 work hours a week and it would be unfair to say that I have to work 24/7 to get them done. Besides I will also need to put some time to work on other items listed in my portfolio.

Luckily for me, boss saw my point. I just need to wait to see what happens next while I try my best to float on the surface.

About something or other....

About work: Ask me if I'm a "Jack of all trades and master of none" and the answer is a probable "YES". So many things to do but only that many designated work hours. I guess that is a kind of trade-of when I promised myself to be sure that I have a better work-life balance... not just to wake-up, work, eat, work some more, go home late, have a bite to eat, sleep, repeat the cycle... like how it was when I was in my previous job position.

Mental Note: No wonder so many people are saying that they have no time to meet people... work (read: modern corporate careers a.k.a. the rat race) has a bad habit of doing that to a person. Quite evident if anyone has been reading those Valentine's day social/trivial hubbub about speed dating, and other dating services, blah-blah...

About the sudden spurt of blog updates: Please thank my sudden need to output all of the things that have been playing in my head... and not just sticking to forcing myself to put up a blurb about some reality TV show, some movie(s), F1, and depressing thoughts about the workplace.

About something else altogether: Oh, I'm such an idiot! *slaps forehead* What's so hard about giving people my namecard? Hmm... maybe the job title on it sounds a bit too fancy but boss wanted mine showcased that way. But anyway, once again, I hereby confirm myself to be an idiot.

Mental Note: (1) Gotta stop being a git about it; (2) Stop making lousy excuses like, "Oops, sorry! I didn't bring it out with me today". (Pah!) Networking konon...

An Early Valentine Note

Ultimately... it's the thought that counts

Jumping back onto the fast track

Getting back to work after a long break has always been a headache but I'm one of the lucky people who can detach myself from worrying about what is waiting for me inside the dreaded inbox. I truly enjoy first then face the music only when I'm actually back in the corporate environment. :)

Among the hullabaloo of things in my bag was this bit about having to be at Shangri-La for a day-long event with regard to "Youth Enterprise (YE): Train the Trainers Workshop", on Weds.

Okaaay. Hah.

The event itself was interesting enough. All the attendees were people who will later be corporate/teacher advisors coaching school students on how to run a real company that has a manufacturing line. Mental note: Networking opportunity.

We went through the same workshops that needs to be duplicated and presented to the students, inclusive of a simulation where we were put into groups competing with one another to 'manufacture' picture frames and marketing it. Overall, it looks like everyone had fun.

Besides that, I think I also had a good laugh during lunch break when I ended up following a couple of Citigroup gals from my 'workshop group' to a table where other gals and a guy from Citigroup + a couple of teachers were parked.

One of the gals noticed that their guy pal had automatically asked the waiter to get a fork for me (I was happily eating with just a spoon and knife... someone else could have taken the fork that had been set on the table way earlier)... and decided it would be a good prank to say he was checking me out and wondering if he could have my number.

I bet you can all guess that the circus came to town then when everyone began to target the guy. He seems to be quite a sport since he soon joined-in on the uptake and pulled a fast one. It was hilarious! Eventually, the little pranksters decided to leave the table while I was finishing my desert... leaving just the guy and myself at the table. Nice one girls... however let's just say that small talk ensued and that was all.

Anyway, I'm sure we'll all meet again over the course of the 9-mth YE program and meet loads of other people along the way.

p/s: For example, I'm still getting to know the other volunteers from Agilent since many of us are new to one another.

A Long and Busy CNY Break

I was supposed to be on leave from 26 Jan (Thu) and go back to work on 6 Feb (Mon) but didn't find it unusual that I had to work from home on my first off-day for CNY.

Then of course mum began to nag me on when I would start my baking for CNY throughout the entire morning since I couldn't get off the computer until I'm done with the publication of the Jan toolkit.

It also seems that it has become part of a tradition for me to wrap-up my CNY baking and packing of the 'produce' right into the first hours of CNY. Btw, I only made "Coffee Shortcake" and "Jam Tarts" this time... was short on time to make a nice cheesecake.

Moving on, it appears that the weather this CNY is much more pleasant than last CNY's (it was extremely hot then). We also completed our visiting rounds within a record 3 days (normally it seems neverending to me)

And then on 1 Feb, I had a record of a Yee-Sang lunch with my family followed by 3 back-to-back evening gatherings with Chin2. The 1st was with the CGL gals I knew throughout my F1-F3 years at Starbucks (E-gate). The 2nd was with the XSC group at Mr. Ho's Fine Foods... and the last was at Bagan with my CGL F4-F5 classmates.

Bits of news from all the gatherings were: Dom who had planned from last year to get married in June this year has to pull in his plans 2 mths earlier since his fiance is now expecting. Doris is getting married in March and hen-night is at end-of Feb.

Getting home... it was time to pack for my trip to Hadyai with my parents (and some of their buddies+family) the next morning. Later, I realised I should have tried to sleep during the drive there but I got caught up with re-reading "Memoirs of A Geisha: A Novel" by Arthur Golden. I needed a refresher on the story since it's been at least 2 years since the last time I read it. Nope - haven't seen the movie yet.

Anyway, I managed to go for a foot massage that my dad deemed friendly for first timers since it wasn't one of those where you can scream out in excruciating pain. Needless to say I did quite a bit of shopping too and manage to get a nice white handbag with amber trimming, a good number of tops, and a couple of bottoms.

The selection of food that we had throughout the trip had been good but I'm quite hopeless with handling the level of spiciness there. I had to rely a lot on eating cucumbers, cold drinks, or the local cakes/deserts in resetting my tastebuds.

We got back in Penang on Saturday evening with just enough time to prepare to go for a dinner at uncle Dean's place.

And then... before I know it... it's time to get back to work... and that's another story.

Random spurts of thoughts

It's been a busy January. So much for bumbling around while learning the ropes... my colleagues and myself are actually just running with the flow and hopefully not finding ourselves smacked hard into a giant wall. Being a totally new team, it also means we are learning about each others expectations and how we affect the dynamics of it all while trying to move towards the big cheese.

Did anyone notice that a certain number of humans may in fact be proving the fact that humans are worse than animals? I've watched quite a few nature programs but never once have I seen a gang of males targetting on a single female and doing "the deed" in successive turns. Even polygamous animals don't do it like that. Then of course I should not generalize and just say - there are people who are worse than animals.

I'm currently apparently hooked on a pretty predictable but rather entertaining Taiwan soap showing on 8TV, "Reaching for the Stars". Though the acting is rather mediocre on the overall... I won't complain about the eyecandy. Guo Yan Jun (one half of a pair of twins) who plays Liang Zheng Hao is quite a hunk... but maybe, just maybe, the makeup artist for this show is overdoing the lipstick/gloss thing on him.

Did I mention that I had a chance to go to the Gov of Pg's residence because I was the appointed photographer to capture the moment when our CEO is given his Dato'ship? S1ndhu tells me I'm a lucky pig to have the opportunity to shake hands with the Gov and be near the CM. I'm not so sure about the CM part tho' coz I've previously been a volunteer with the RC and had at times being part of a guard of honor lineup and such... probably had more than a few chances to have seen some of them politicians in person (pimples and all)... Anyway, before I forget, CM's assistant is rather cute and yes I was paying attention to what I had to be doing the whole time besides checking out the splendid decor that adorns the Gov's audience hall and I hope I don't have to wear court shoes again in the near future. I prefer sandals anytime cause I just don't like the traditional closed-toe female shoes that are not in the sports-shoe category and I do mean the kind that covers up your heels too... but perhaps I should just learn to look for one with nice comfy material that won't cut above my heel.

There ya go... and this is thus the end of my first bout of randomness in a long time. Peace and Happy Chinese New Year!

Feeling around for solid ground

Looking back I realised that I've always managed to move into a new job role at the most challenging times. Just look at this:

• Sept 2001, it was a downturn for the manufacturing sector... my first job after completing my degree.
• June 2003, I joined a startup dept where we were to function as a back-office + plenty to learn about our ERP system which was incidentally in its infancy. Many kinks and quirks have been ironed out since then.
• Dec 2005, stolled into my new role in corporate relations - consisting no one from the previous team

This can only mean that there is plenty to do and plenty to learn. There seems to be an endless and confusing list of things to do until we manage to set into a groove of our own.

Besides, I'm looking towards getting the necessary hardware and software packages to support our multimedia needs over the span of the next 6-months. Wahey!

On a separate note, the movies I've watched recently that I find is captivating in their own right are:

• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe directed by Andrew Adamson
• The Promise directed by Chen Kaige

Christmas Booty

This is what I decided to get for my brother... he, the big Simpsons fan. It's rather amusing really... where the Train Stations were are now "Interesting Tombstone Signs" (something like that). I particularly love the one that says "I'm with Stupid -->" where it points to the neighboring block with Homer Simpson in it. Click here if you'd like to get a peek at the game board.

Now on to what I have in my pile. Besides a T-shirt, a little bear in a paperbag, and a nice coffee pot & cups set... is this cheerful looking flower. We are having some evil fun in the office now that one of my colleagues have decided to use it as a whacking device (it has an 18" stalk).

Lastly, if I remember correctly, I'm supposed to get something from my brother too... except he forgot to send it down with my dad last week so... I'll wait and see what that is

Edit: Essentially mum and I were supposed to get a book each but I realised that, "Hey! They are by the same author and they should be read in the correct order"

The books were "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue" by Emily Giffin. Although they fall into the chick flick corner, do not be surprised why they are excellent pageturners. Giffin is a good writer who engages the reader into empathizing with the characters no matter what good or bad have they been up to.

Before and After Christmas Day

Something I forgot to mention earlier: Sounds of Joy was a really wonderful performance by our local celebrities Jaclyn Victor and Juwita Suwito. I give credit also to my old friend Daniel for being an excellent pianist although he was given a last minute notice on the afternoon of D-day that he was needed.

Before Christmas: Twas the week before Christmas... I joined my colleagues for a karaoke session in Redbox where we went crazy singing ourselves hoarse.

On Gluttony: Just a few words... "Lots of FOOD!"

Time of Reunions: Besides the previous ones mentioned

• I managed to meet up with the duo Kotak and Kalamari on Christmas Day at one of the busiest places... Gurney Plaza.

• And met up with a childhood friend when following dad for one of his reunions with his best buddies from school