Turmoil

Today I laughed and cried til I was good and numb. I was sad at the reality of how my team will always have a much lesser probability of moving up the ranks in the department.

But at the same time, my colleagues were cracking jokes about resigning en bloc and together we open a shop. Maybe a nasi kandar shop or a cake house. We started assigning roles like "Jaga api", "person who take orders", washing dishes would be a rotation thing... and on and on.

My face just turned numb. I think my facial muscles were just confused on which way it should contort to. Ahhh... numb...

In spite of all this, I'm so glad that at a time when I am down - the whole team had been supportive (specifically I need to thank Christabel the most). I also had colleagues in Singapore who are willing listeners - Jeff who read my yahoo status & TW whom I think I have a terrible tendency to automatically dial up but never pushes me away even when I become neurotic... Thank you!!.

Not to forget the ever wonderful Lyne and Angela... my ex-colleague and ex-boss respectively. Angela's involvement was purely coincidental... while lepak-king at my old dept, Lyne had just brought her name up and speak of the devil... she called Lyne about a minute after that.

It was a nice surprise and I couldn't be more thankful for her advice and support on the fact that I wanted to jump ship. Honestly, I didn't want to get Angela to help me but it seems that somehow someone up there decided that it would be better to put her there as my guide of sorts.

Life happens sometimes... and things have a way of coming to you whether you ask for it or not. In a sense I think I'm a pretty lucky sod. Better things are coming my way now that my time at where I currently am is drawing to a close.

Happy New Year to all and may it bring to you a greater promise of a brighter future.

p/s: Kalamari-buddy, sorry I didn't feel like yahoo-ing stuff in detail when u pinged me. I'll elaborate this to you sometime soon

23-Dec (Thu): Am on half-day today. Woo hoo! Going to KL on the 5:30pm bus from Garden Inn... except... it didn't get there until 6. What's more - it's a temporary ride (with no aircon) until we reach the bus' workshop in Butterworth. Stuffy like *bleh*. SMS-ed woeful news to Michelle who's waiting at the Kampungku (Gelugor) pickup point.

After all the drama with the no aircon thing... we found out we were being put on a non-tiptop condition bus... oh it was a SLOWWWW ride... didn't reach KL until like 1am in the morning. *YAWNz*

24-Dec (Fri): Mich's friend Koon Hee was kind enough to pick us up so late into the night. He and his family were excellent host... making sure that their guest are comfortable. In the morning (after having some rest) - everyone in the house got moving to help prepare for the Christmas party.

Ooh! Btw... they have a really cute Australian Silky Terrier too. That darling ball of fur goes by the name Happy. Must remember to post up a photo of that doggy.

25-Dec (Sat): Woke up early and joined my host for their Christmas morning mass. They had a choir and a dance ensemble perform - it was really good. Besides - it was fun to hear their senior pastor speak coz he's a really entertaining speaker. Sleep-inducer? Definitely not.

In the afternoon, Koon Hee had kindly dropped me off at my dad's place in USJ 2. Ahh... it's been great so far but I could use some lunch. Hah! Since my bro had yet to have his lunch... hee hee... we can go eat... my treat lar!

Later in the evening, I went to ronda-ronda in KLCC on my own while waiting for Sze Lin and Freddie to meet up with. I must say I had a pretty fruitful shopping spree then. Anyhow, after meeting up with the happy couple - we took a train to Subang Jaya then a cab to Taipan for a mighty late dinner. From there on, I had my bro pick us back to the house for a nightcap. *yawn*

26-Dec (Sun): We met up with Ai Luen at about 1PM at KL Sentral. From there on, we had intended to take the monorail to Bkt. Bintang but heck - we found out that the long queue at the ticket counter was because they are stopping the service for 30mins. So we took a cab there instead.

Note: At about this time - people were calling up to tell us that there had been a Tsunami hitting the beachfronts along batu Ferringhi down to the Gurney area in Penang

First things first, lunch!! We went to a place called 18th Street. They have a really quite a lot of things on their menu... it took us ages to decide what to eat. All sounds quite tempting. :p''

Well eventually we did get our lunch over and done with while at the same time, we gals caught up with each others life's and all that jazz. Freddie? Well... he just listened mostly and chipped in rarely.

27-Dec (Mon): Sze Lin and Freddie got a cab to go to Sunway Pyramid after having a late breakfast (Dad had bought us all some nasi lemak before he went off to work) at my house since I didn't want to go for anymore shopping or window shopping for that matter. Just felt that it was better to rest before going to catch my 3:30 bus back to Penang.

Anyhow, prior to lunch time, I dragged my bags into the car since my brother had to pick up some of his friends. From there on, they decided that having chicken rice at Jalan Gasing would be a great idea since my brother had to drop me off at the KL KTM Station. No complains here... the food there is nice although definitely a bit more pricey.

When it was time to board my bus, I had to ask one of the attendants which bus was to Penang. To my surprise... I was pointed to the double-decker!!! Whoa-ho-ho!!! And I thought that was going to Singapore.

Anyway, luckily I did ask first. If not I'll be like that lady who boarded the double-decker thinking it was going to Singapore. Fortunately she realised that she was on the wrong bus before either of the two buses had departed from KTM.

And, oh!!! I couldn't be more delighted to be sitting right in front at the top deck. It really feels like I'm on a sight-seeing nature tour... on a VIP seat. I feel like a kid in awe really... hehehe...

Woke up without much of a voice today but dragged myself to work anyway. Talking was a chore but I somehow managed to mutter out what's necessary when it mattered.

That idiot TW didn't even notice that I was struggling to complete a conversation in the morning until at an afternoon telcon + netmeeting... the coordinator CT made a mention of it since I had warned her that I may not be able to talk much while carrying out the demo they had requested be done.

It was interesting that for once, my answer to "Are you OK?" was a flat out "NoOOoo... I'm not *cough, cough*"

You see... I just have this bad tendency to answer in the positive even if I'm feeling a wee-bit off-kilter.

Not particularly a very wise thing to do at times. :P

I realized that the last time I actually went to see the doctor was more than a year ago. No kidding!

I just happened to look at the last date stamped onto my personal copy of the company medical booklet... all because I know this time... the coughing must stop.

Had nearly coughed my throat out while driving home from work today.

Tonight, the movie I chose to watch was Shutter. It's a Thai horror flick... peppered with plenty of occasion to scare you out of your mind... and well... the occasional comedic moment. To know more about this movie - try going here for a review and synopsis.

[Edit: My Singapore Trip... an account in the shortest way I could write it...]

03-Dec (Fri): Woke up as early as usual but am heading to the airport to catch the 9:30 MAS direct flight to Singapore. Arrived at Changi some 1hr++ later.

Saw one of Botero's works in the Airport.... it's a big black statue of a jolly round lady. Will later find myself looking at more Botero pieces as I traipse around the island.

Mum & I checked into the Hilton and somewhat finished unpacking by noon thus leaving us some time to walk along Orchard Rd before we part ways. Didn't really need lunch since we had the airline food thing for brunch.

At Orchard MRT Station - probably did the smartest thing by buying the EZ-Link card... will be needing that in days to come. My stop - Yishun... it's about a 30mins ride.

At Yishun, I got on a bus that will pass Yishun Avenue 7 and tried to look for #1... that's where the Singapore office is. Unfortunately, I turned and walked the wrong way and found myself in Woodlands. Damn those confusing address numbering sequences. Pah!

Oh, forgot to mention that I was also caught in the sudden rain and wind with only a small little umbrella for cover prior to seeing a decent bus stop. Luckily managed to find one kind uncle who can speak Hokkien to let me borrow his handphone so that I could call my buddy TW.

He suggested that I get a cab after being shocked that I've actually walked quite a distance in the wrong direction. Interesting 1st day in Singapore so far I must say.

I arrived at the office just when the rain started to ease off. Then I called my buddy again and wahey! I finally get to see all the people that I haven't seen in a long time.

TW bullied Nancy to get me some water... he's both a naughty and nice person so I don't know how Santa Claus would ever evaluate him. Oh! And he passed me the stuff I asked him to get for me... tickets to Mamma Mia for tonight (it's the last show of this theatre run) & my local prepaid card. Yay!!! I'm no longer incommunicado.

Mamma Mia! Mum and I watched this at the Esplanade and thoroughly enjoyed the show. It's very well-planned since although the set is simple, the theatrical devices and costumes were used to enhance the flow of the script. Genious!

And of course, how could I forget the performance from the one and only Silvie Palladino who took the role of the mother-of-the-bride-to-be? She's a really great singer and theatrical actress.

04-Dec (Sat): Seeing that the day is clear, mum & I headed to go to the Jurong Bird Park. It's really well-kept and at least the birds don't seem to be balding. Our feathered friends there looks very much in the pink of health. Can't believe that we actually spent half a day there.

In the evening, we met up with my dad who arrived in the afternoon, at the hotel. For the night, we went for the Night Safari. Riding the tram was quite fun... since we were driven over a stream of water at least 4-5 inches high. The guide speculated - "Watch out for you just might see a CROCODILE"... creepy... :P

05-Dec (Sun): During the day, I decided that I wanted to check out Haw Par Villa.. and later found out that it was the only place that didn't require an entrance fee. Hurrah!!! Seeing that we had some time to spare after walking about HPV... we went to the Singapore Science Centre. Plenty of interesting exhibits to keep curious minds entertained. Seriously a great place for a "lawatan sambil belajar".

In the evening, my parents were to meet up with their friends for dinner while I had a dinner date with an old pal from college - Andrew. Nice of him to take me around Suntec City where we settled for dinner at Picken Move. How you get your food and drinks is apparently following a somewhat German Market concept. Interesting, that's something new to me.

Much later, he took me to the 70th floor of the Swiss Hotel to have a drink. The view of the night skyline of the whole city from up there was fabulous! And of course, it was really nice to catch up with Andrew since the last time I saw him was about 4 years ago. :)

06-Dec (Mon): Today was officially the day to do some serious shopping. First, mum wanted to go to Peninsula Shopping Mall to find her line dancing stuff. Then later on, we went to the City Link Mall and Suntec City to complete the round. That's a lot of walking for one day... and silly me was wearing heels... not proper walking shoes. Result? Sore feet.

Towards the evening, I headed again to Yishun since I did agree to meet TW for teabreak in the office. Yeah... the idiot can't make it for the group dinner he sorta organised. Apparently, a last minute reschedule of a class he is taking so to make up for it... he promised tea instead.

Oh well... stuff it! I'll still have Lisa, Belina, and "uncle" Bernard to keep me company for dinner. They took me to Big O in Wheelock Place. Has kinda like a Secret Recipe feel to it except that the colour scheme of the place is mainly orange. I had cod fish for my main meal... really nice.

For dessert, we all shared a chocolate cake thinghy, some durian cake dessert thinghy, and a sinful waffle served with caramel & ice cream. Yum!!

07-Dec (Tue): Today, it's time to go home. Our flight leaves at 11:30am from Changi. I'll miss the Christmas atmosphere no doubt. Adieu Singapore, and hello again Penang - Pearl of the Orient.

This had been a week of animations for me.

Shark Tale - 17 Nov (Wed) The graphics and colours were awesome! Other than that... the story is somewhat way too predictable. Recommendable if all you want is a good laugh. And yes... if you read the newspaper reviews - I hereby confirm to you that Oscar will remind you of Will Smith as the Fresh Prince of Bel Air

The Incredibles - 20 Nov (Sat) Went for this one with Jase... and someone who doesn't speak English tried to sell us tickets to a show that started 15 mins ago. No way man!!! Don't insult a cinema-movie fan... missing even a single minute of the show is a CRIME!!! Ok... so I'm being a drama queen... but forgive me for being a really big fan of all things from Cartoonworld and Disney.

Anyway!!! Don't you dare miss this one. Watch it a 2nd or 3rd time if you like... collect the DVD when it comes along...

You sure wouldn't want to miss out on the superb audio-visual effects. The James Bond franchise could sure take some notes from this toon.

The script is very well-written simply because you'll easily relate to the characters as they figure themselves out. Peppered with loads of witty lines - what more can you ask for??

Oh... and b4 I forget... WATCH OUT for E a.k.a. Edna Mode - eccentric costume designer for super heroes. She's absolutely hilarious. Ho-boy!!!

A retreat far from the trappings of a busy and highly technological modern citylife was something I couldn't refuse.

In simple English, I just wanted to escape from being anywhere near my TWO IDIOT BOXES.

Thus, I find myself spending 11-15 of Nov in Taiping... just tagging-along with some friends' for their church camp. (I'm not a Christian... hence the term tagging-along)

Oh yes, btw... HAPPY DEEPAVALI and SELAMAT HARI RAYA!!!

Anyway, among the things I enjoyed while I was there was

• taking two different trips to explore the area around the beautiful Taiping Lake Gardens;
• getting caught in a heavy downpour during our Taiping Zoo - Night Safari trip;
• playing games and watching people play games;
• meeting old friends and making some new friends

I don't quite know what else to write on this... so maybe - let's see some photos instead, OK?

Fountain at Taiping Lake

Isn't the design of the Reflexology Walk just beautiful?

Some mossy-manmade pyramid stone formations

I love this view :)

Walk into the light... Skywalker...

A 180 degree view of Maxwell Hill. (Click on photo for fullsize view)

And we have a photo finish!!!

Spot the flying projectile

This is one for "The Chronicles of the Absent-minded"

My mum discovered that our account passbooks were not in the usual place about 2 weeks back.

My dad had a theory that I could have accidentally threw them away when I threw away my superbly tattered bag. It was my loyal companion for the past 2-3 years.

I denied it all... but eventually as days past and I can't think of where else I might have placed those books...

There can only be the inevitable conclusion... the very same one I had been vehemently denying... OH NOOOOooOOOo

The number of passbooks lost = SIX. Yup... S-I-X.

And the best part... 2 of them doesn't have my name on it. So very DUuuHHHhhh-brain of me. wa wa waaaaaAaaaa...

Movie night at GSC. Was hoping to get tickets to watch "Taxi"... but the only seats available were in the front row...

Hence, the backup movie of choice was... WHITE CHICKS

It's something you'd only watch if all you want is some slapstick comedy. Don't go in expecting too much... and don't think too much about anything that didn't make logical sense to you.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show for what it was meant to be.

Hmm... received a surprising message while watching The Terminal actually. Daniel had suddenly sprung on us that Joobs is back and that there will be dinner gathering scheduled for tonight.

Okay... let me forget that I'm still feeling tired - I haven't seen that woman in like... AGES!!!

We all ended up going to the Northam Beach Cafe... where everyone had a jolly makan session.

Oh... among the glorious things we had tonight!!

Gawd!!! It's Saturday... but I had to go in to work :( *sigh*

Anyways, I'll be able to claim a day off later on. Am awful tired from the amount to time spent in office over the last week and a half...

I should be able to keep it together for another few days*yawnZzz*

At the start of the day, I had hoped that we could clear out whatever we needed to do by 2pm... but then of course... we ended up staying til 4pm-ish.

Got home in time to bum for about 20mins b4 having to go pick up mum & dad from the bus station in Gelugor... once that was done - it was time for a blissful nap

Later dad woke me up to say it's time to go catch a movie since I said "Drag me there if you have to!"

How could I refuse? They agreed to watch "The Terminal" before I went to take my nap ;)

SPOILER WARNING! Anyway, I kept remembering about the way Chin joked about how she should say "Where do I get the Nike shoes?" when she reaches the customs in the US (ala Viktor Navorski)

Let's see if she gets deported from US for doing that. *chuckles*

Year end closing at the office... plenty of stress... but heck! We did take some time off in the guise of celebrating Halloween. Much fun we had... yesireeeeEee!! :)

My colleague's very halloween(ed) cubicle

All my babies...

My creepy wall... huwahahaha

Construction in progress! (Note the mess)

All decked up... say cheese everyone!!

Gosh! This couldn't have been a busier weekend for me.

Chin2 was originally scheduled to leave for her 2-yr re-assignment to the USA in early Nov... but as of last Tuesday, she was told that she has to leave on next Wednesday!!

Was actually planning to stagger the farewell gatherings for 2 of our common groups of friends but looks like it has to be a jammed pack weekend

a) ex-student councillors (collegemates)... scheduled for Saturday dinner;

b) schoolmates... scheduled for Sunday lunch

With a little help from some helpful and willing souls - we got the ball rolling by emailing, SMS-ing & calling up anyone we can think of. What would we do without modern technology?!!

Fortunately, the turn out was great for both gatherings considering the last minute arrangements.

It really felt good that the effort put in ended up so fruitful... :)

Besides, I'd rather be able to shelf aside my ever-piling work to do something for my friend. I'd hate to not have been able to say bon voyage to her.

Year end closing or not... my friends definitely comes first.

In the mood for something comic-like?

A hint of corniness?

Well, it sure doesn't get any better than a dose of...

Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow

Potential Spoiler: Watch out for the running joke about Polly Perkins (Gywneth Paltrow), a true-blue journalist at heart, and her camera.

p/s: convinced my mum to come along for this since although she just came back from her China tour about 6-ish pm... her first comment to me was "I wonder what's good on TV tonight?"

My comeback to her, "If you've taped Chinese serials for 8 days, you can afford another hour to go on tape. Come on! Let's go watch a movie!"

Yes.... Happy Birthday to me :)

*YaWnZzz*

Yep... guess what? I just got back from work about 30mins ago.

Yes, I know... it's a sin to work 'til so late on my birthday - yet I didn't have much of a choice

There was a late development in the end-user testing that I was involved in and the deadline for sign-off had to be by the end of US biz-day, 14-Oct.

But anyhow, at least that is over and done with now... and I did have an enjoyable day.

After all, my favorite colleague did oblige me when I playfully told him that he should call me and sing me a song instead of typing it over on Yahoo.

Not to mention that he did manage to throw in some crazy comments, criticized himself for sounding bad, and thought I had said he was tone-deaf when in fact I said, "At least you are not tone-deaf".

Ah what a riot...!!

Oh... btw... since tmrw is the first day of puasa, we had a little birthday do for all 5 people in my team who celebrate our birthdays in Oct.

And yeah... 3 of them have to berpuasa soon... so any later and it will be no celebration at all in Oct.

Guess what!! I just got back to work today!!! Huwahahahahha

Had been off for the past 2 days to laze, and laze, and yep! You guessed it... more lazing.

It was great to not have to sit in front of the computer all day for 2 blissful days

Monday was more like errands day... getting all little but essential tasks done

Yesterday was adventures to the countryside with dad for an absolutely photo-trigger-happy time.

We drove over heading toward Pantai Merdeka in Kedah... and passed-by many brilliant green paddy fields. We even found two beautiful patches of water lotuses in full bloom (the flowers normally associated with Buddhism)

On our way back from Pantai Merdeka, we passed by a school during dismissal time... and saw this short little dude running on his short legs ever so happily home.

Quite a sight to behold since the bag on his back looked almost like a turtleshell... and just imagine that he's also wearing a slightly oversized shirt. Kawaii!!!

Dad then decided to drive down to Sungai Petani before turning back for Penang... was kinda tired when we reached home...

But it had been a fun day and we did manage to test out Dad's Nikon Coolpix 8700. The colours captured were absolutely brilliant!

Will put up some of the photos once my dad bring's back his notebook since I didn't manage to copy it before he went back to KL.

Had just gone to watch The Bourne Supremacy with my dad.

Methinks that in it's own way - this sequel is more interesting than Bourne Identity.

Maybe it's because it's not so much focussed onto the action... and more on the characters this time round.

What's to love about this show? - Watch how Jason Bourne pulls surprises on both the good and the bad guys.

Windstruck

Have you watched this Korean movie yet? If you like love stories, having your heartstrings pulled at, and you are game to maybe get some tears squeeze out of you... please go hunt for a cinema that is showing this right now!

It's probably the best non-fairytale-based love story I've seen within these 2 years.. maybe even a bit more than that

Anyways, if anyone is game to read an overview and maybe read some opinions about the movie... you can read this article @ Seoul Selection

Okay! Now before I sign off this posting... let me tell you about my pre-movie experience for today. I arrived at the cineplex 30mins before the show began and my-oh-MY! The queue was blardy long... first time I've seen it this long on a Wednesday night

Maybe it was because Jackie Chan's "New Police Story" just started screening coupled with the fact that it's Wednesday (RM6 for any show on Wednesdays in GSC)

Anyhow, as I was nearing the counter, someone asked me to help her collect a ticket booking to which I obliged... and guess what?! There was a computer glitch the counter attendant had to clear in order for that booking to be collected... !@$^#@

But luckily for me... I got my tickets and managed to get into the theatre just in time (THANK GOD!!! If not I'll get an earful from my mum for being a good Samaritan). Didn't miss a single minute of the movie even... *phew!!*

p/s: Do take time to go to the movie's official website if you can... it's really nice! One caution though - it loads rather slowly (beware those on dial-up... I'm complaining based on broadband usage)

Hello world! Meet my colleagues! :)

This is us at an appreciation lunch for all the blood, toil and tears that we have put in since last year... to finally hit (almost) all of our major performance measures. It was a tough road... but we made it!!!

p/s: Looking at all the food makes me hungry... *drools*