*ahem*

I realized that I just started my blog for 2008 with a rather morbid topic... but that's just it... things have happened that I've not been writing on because I was lazy to upkeep my blog space... maybe I'll fill in the blanks later... but really... I need to go buy myself a card reader that supports SD Cards because I have misplaced the USB cable for my *cough* digital camera. Oh no!!

Oh wait... I do of course have to mention about the group photo shoot on 12 Jan that brought together a rather big number of ex-student councilors of KDU Penang (circa 1998-2000)... or more affectionately known as XSC'ers). For more details and some pretty impressive photography... go to Malcolm Foo's blog (btw, that's a direct link for whatever is parked into the Jan 2008 bucket on his blog) and click on the topics about XSC to see the goodies.

Now where's my treat for giving you a free plug Mal? ;P

Edit: Did I mention that I just got myself a spiffy new haircut? ^_^

RIP Heath Ledger

Looking through IMDB's profile on Heath Ledger, I tried to remember when exactly was it that I was first truly impressed by his acting skills.

I believe that he first became someone to look out for after his International big screen debut as Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You. His next big role was as Gabriel Martin next to Mel Gibson in The Patriot. By the time Heath played the role of William Thatcher in A Knights Tale, I was absolutely convinced that he was a young actor with a lot of potential to go far (although yes... this movie was light fare when compared to The Patriot).

Most recently famous (or I should say rather infamous) for his role in Brokeback Mountain... it's sad indeed to know that someone who had such great potential in his vocation had died and he is just about a year older than me... and at press time... cause of death has not yet been determined and no obvious signs to support popular assumption that it could have been a drug overdose.

Whatever it was... RIP Heath Ledger - a great actor that could have been an even bigger star if he had lived into his golden years.

My week in Penang

I quietly went back to Penang on 23 Nov and will be going back to KL on 1 Dec. I didn't tell many people that I had been back because there were just so many things to tick of my list for the week.

The first was to participate in the prayers for my maternal grandfather's death anniversary (I can't remember the how many-th it is though)... and after that was to help my aunt to do some virus-busting on her computer.

Among other things I had to do with my mum after that was to start on a shopping round with my mum to stock up on clothes for CNY because #1. There was a member's day Sale in Metrojaya (the offers are really good) and it's always more pleasant to go during the day; #2. We don't like crowds...; and #3. There's more color choices than just predominantly the customary CNY red.

The other thing we did was to go to the movies... not once, but twice. I must admit relishing in going to the cinema again after a long drought... (would you believe it if I said I have not gone to watch a movie ever since I was in KL?). We watched Bee Movie and Enchanted - one on Wednesday and the other on Thursday (yesterday). Bee Movie is something that you should definitely watch if you are a huge fan of Jerry Seinfeld, he is very much in his element.

As for Enchanted, I totally enjoyed watching this one. This could very well be the first Disney movie in a long time that reminds me of the quality of Disney movies during the heydays of classics like The Sound of Music, and Mary Poppins. Oh, and if you are up to it, you can actually try counting the number of scenes and elements from previous Disney productions that have been "spoofed" into this movie. It's quite interesting that Disney is spoofing Disney. ^_^

I've also spent some time at the hair salon to get a scrub done on my hair to get rid of the stubborn chemical buildup that comes from use of our everyday off-the-shelf shampoo and conditioner. Gotta love the feeling of having nice, smooth, and non-stubborn strands of hair.

Oh... and not to mention... I also had an anime-viewing marathon session or two. I just finished watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya; and will be finishing Chobits by some time later today. Ahh... gotta enjoy my time off while it lasts.

Chicago: the theater production

I've watched the movie starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere... and on Nov 8, Thursday night, Deepavali... I've gone to watch the theater production on which the movie was based on in KL Convention Center. Where the movie was more dark in nature, the theater production was rather more comical. It was really good too. And if there is one performer that everyone absolutely adored...

it would have to be John Barr who acted as Amos Hart... the most "invisible person in the world" and Roxie Hart's simple-minded husband.

The role was so well portrayed that you could really see how insignificant he is to everyone... no one hears him, no one even notices him.

Overall it was a really entertaining performance and I'm glad that I had decided to watch this production.

O.o the squirrel

OMG! Can you believe this:

Here I am sitting in the living room minding my own business surfing the internet... and I noticed something was moving just beyond the sliding glass door through my peripheral sight. So I turned round and noticed that it was just our friendly neighborhood squirrel... and it had actually paused to check out what I was doing. It was actually looking at me eyeball to eyeball just before it decided to scamper on to do it's squirrelly duties. LOL.

Happy 50th Birthday Malaysia

50 years ago on this day, Tunku Abdul Rahman proclaimed the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British rule.

To all fellow Malaysians, here's wishing you:

Selamat Hari Merdeka!

...and a nice long weekend

"Dying on the Horn"

Yup. I learned this phrase from my Brit-now-Australian mentor (at work). When someone honks like... "beeeeeeeEEEeeeeeeeEEeeeeeeEeeeeep" - it's as though someone has died on the horn.

This has become a commonplace joke with everyone in my team now and one of us will say it when we hear someone honking away trying to gain the attention of the idiot who has double-parked behind him or her so that said idiot will come and move their car away.

Well... I had the honour of being one of those unfortunate people who had to resort to doing some incessant honking last Friday... for a whole good 10-15 minutes thanks to a moron who didn't even have the courtesy to leave his or her contact number visible on their car dashboard.

I was supposed to get home to meet dad and get my stuff for going home to Penang before the both of us leave for the 8pm bus to Penang from the old KTM station in KL. I was cursing away under my breath at that moron and was tempted to inflict some serious scratches on the moron's car except that I can't and didn't do that because my car is still trapped by said moron's car.

So my dad formed plan B. He told me to abandon the car. Then he called for a taxi from USJ, boarded the taxi, and told the guy to take a detour to Damansara Uptown to pick me up.

So... does that mean my car stays in DU over the weekend? Nope. That will not be necessary because my brother who was arriving back in KL from a business trip to Singapore has been assigned to pick the car up. Hence the car was rescued... and I still hope karma will go back and give back to the moron what said moron deserves for being a total inconsiderate buffoon.

Wahey! I'm still alive!!

Yes, this blog has a tiny spark of life in it still!

Okay, yeah... I've been a bit lazy to update (understatement, I know...) and here's what's been going on so far.

For the first 2 weeks in my job I was essentially spending more time getting to know my new colleagues than working because everyone in my team who reported in for work on the same day as moi did not get our notebooks until sometime in the second week. Fun, fun, fun!

On my first weekend in KL, I followed my dad to his friend's daughter's wedding dinner at the Westin Hotel... and it was my first time in a wedding that played disco music when the dance floor was opened. Oh... and did I mention minimal romantic music? It was such a blast!

Anyway, back at work we had our training session throughout week 2 and started doing on-the-job training on week 3... and it's been so far so good since then.

By the way, it doesn't seem like I ever need to leave Damansara Uptown to get lunch... there are just so many food outlets here!

Harry Potter
I finally got around to getting myself a copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and am almost done reading it. As for the movie "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", I can't say that I like it much because as a person who has read the book... I feel that too much of the story has been dropped and the script was done to fit it into a reasonable duration for a movie. I've always believed that Harry Potter from book 4 (Goblet of Fire) onwards would work better as a miniseries rather than a movie. I do however believe that Helena Bonham Carter did a fine job in portraying Bellatrix Lestrange who is very deranged and very loyal to Voldemort.

The F1 Circus
I have to say something about this. It's very obvious that Ron Dennis (and whoever else who is in league with him) is gearing towards putting a Brit at the top of the Driver's Championship by the end of the season. People (including Damon Hill) may say that Hamilton and Alonso are acting like children but the blame truly lies with Ron Dennis. What was he thinking when he successfully lured Alonso a reigning world champion over to McLaren and groomed a very talented Hamilton to go for gold? I'm sure Alonso has every desire to defend his title... and there's no way Ron Dennis can convince him to just let Hamilton have the upper hand. There will definitely be more drama to watch out for.

So much to talk about...

I just have too many things that I'd like to write about. Now. But of course I hate to bore anyone with incessantly long ramblings so... I'll try to keep this as short and sweet as I possibly can.

A new beginning :)

I guess some of you may have seen my MSN description lately. It says that I'll be working in KL soon... and soon is 9th July. Thank you all for wishing me all the best and welcoming me into your "KL gang".

So yes, I really am looking forward to my new job. Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mac, Apr, May, and Jun. It has been 8 months since I left the working world and it's high time I got back into it. I've enjoyed my long break and it has given me more than enough time to heal from all the wounds I've amassed throughout the past 7 years.

I must say that I don't regret the choices I've made because it made me learn about life and about myself... and because of that... I'm wiser on certain matters. Hence the haiku...

Haiku

Scars will form and stay
Though the wounds have healed through time
No longer the same

Movies

Hors de prix (Priceless) was the only movie that I as able to catch during GSC's French Film Festival. Audrey Tautou stars as a young gold-digger who mistakenly initiates a relationship with a bartender thinking that he is a wealthy young bachelor. Those of you who have watched Amelie may remember Tautou's stellar performance as an innocent and naive girl... so be prepared... in this movie she is the total opposite - a materialistic and worldly wise woman.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End does feel like it was a bit too long. As much as I enjoyed the show because of Johnny Depp's performance... I still feel that the story was much better in the 1st and 2nd movie.

Shrek 3 was a pretty good watch... for adults. The new teams of writers behind this installment have taken Shrek onto an entirely different level and they have lost the element of entertainment for the kids. If I were a kid, I would have lost interest for the sheer reason that I couldn't understand the adult jokes put in. Otherwise... Donkey is still Donkey and Puss-In-Boots is still Puss-In-Boots... err... except, they had a body swap incident.

Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. I somehow felt that this movie was a better one than Spider Man 3 and it was real funny to see Stan Lee being turned away for trying to attend the big wedding that didn't happen in New York. The only thing that was odd for me was seeing Jessica Alba with blonde hair. I've always thought that she looked better as a brunette.

Transformers. Holy robots! That is a lot of CGI. I have to admit I don't really remember the story arcs in the original cartoon series... but I do think that the movie was pretty amazing in a sense as it incorporated a number of humorous scenes in an otherwise serious war-like situation.

Weddings and Births

A shout out of congratulations to my newly wed friends: Ester Yeoh, Lynette, and of course the Penguin. I wish each of you a happy marriage with your partner and thank you for giving our common friends a chance to have a reunion of sorts.

Another shout out of congratulations goes to the mothers and their newborns: Fiona and her adorable baby girl, and to Chris G and her baby Isaac... as for Michelle C and Vennee well... I know it's a matter of time before your little ones come about too. Until then... take care dears.

F1 GP 2007: Lewis Hamilton the wonder rookie

Lewis Hamilton is definitely going places. He has the talent and he has a great car to drive in. He had been on the podium from the very first race on... and he had just won both races in North America - Montreal and Indianapolis.

For the moment, it looks like he has a strong fighting chance to become the first rookie that becomes the world champion. It's not impossible.

It looks like defending world champion Alonso will have to push much harder and have determination that is far more than that of his team mate's to end the season as a three-time world champion... it's only been seven races so far and Hamilton is already 10-points ahead of Alonso!

I know that although it is still a long way to the end of the season, I'm very sure that the dynamics in play throughout this season thus far will continue to make it a truly interesting one to watch out for. I just can't wait for the next race to commence!

The child in me

Some time ago, Kalamari tagged me to describe six idiosyncrasies about myself... which I ignored then because I had some other things to ramble about. But you see... the thing about being tagged is that it kinda niggles at you in your mind until you actually respond to it.

So to begin with, I had to make sure that I don't misunderstand what is the meaning of idiosyncrasy and that meant a little liberty visit to Dictionary.com. We shall be taking the first definition that goes like this:

"Idiosyncrasy" refers to a characteristic, habit, mannerism, or the like, that is peculiar to an individual.

And the next thing I knew, I was thinking about taking a somewhat interesting bend to this. Why not talk about the things that I have never really grown out off as I grew up... elements of the child in me? So yeah... here are my six:

第一： I love looking through the window to observe what goes on outside. It doesn't matter if it is the window of a building or a car. I'll observe the birds, the trees, that little squirrel scampering around, the people, the clouds and etc. People might think that I'm daydreaming but I'm really just taking in the natural wonders around me. It powers my imagination and builds my skills of observation. This is why I can probably point out to you during a sunset that a cloud is shaped like a beautiful and majestic bird... with a perfectly placed gap in the cloud being its glowing red eye.

第二： I love to play and can think of a game on the spot using whatever tools I have around me to entertain... KIDS. This trait is the one that makes me the default babysitter during family gatherings because I can normally keep them busy enough for their parents to feel comforted that their kid will not be randomly straying onto the street or putting their tiny hands on a shiny can of beer from the icebox and downing it because hey it's just a harmless "soda".

第三: Discovering a fact or an amazing story of the significantly trivial kind that amuses me can make me ridiculously happy. E.g. On 1st June, I found out that an entertainer whom I've recently known about is just 4 days older than me. It's such a silly thing to know about but (yeah) it actually tickled me and I'm still feeling it.

第四： I love plushies and anything that is remotely adorable. That will explain my significant collection of TY Beanies and Buddies... and many others. Mum and dad will occasionally get me something on their travels too if they think that it'll be something I'd like. So yeah... that makes me very much their little girl still.

And while I'm still on this thread, Infinitium is not allowed to come near any of them because he said they make good fuel for fire. Desecration of any of my precious toys are not allowed. Capice?

第五: Cartoons had been a staple in my diet during my childhood and it will continue to have a special place in my heart till the end of time. I used to watch stuff like He-Man, She-Ra, Transformers, The Care Bears, My Little Pony, Sesame Street, Eureka's Castle, etc. I still watch all the Disney feature animations... in addition to all the other offerings that are coming out from all the new players in the animation genre e.g. the amazing Pixar Animation Studios. Anime is also a new love of mine. So... in essence, if you put me in front of a TV with the Cartoon Package from Astro... it will be my ideal couch potato dream.

第六: I always perceive everyone I meet to be a good person until they show themselves to be vehemently on the dark side... or my sixth sense tells me that someone is a really shifty character. Oh! By the dark side I do mean those people who are conniving rats or double-headed snakes or parasitic louses or well... OKAY to make the list short... the evil ones.

And so that's it. I'm finally done and my potential victims of a tag to write six idiosyncrasies about your wonderful selves can rest easy because I'm not going to tag you... but end with a quote by Abraham Sutzkever (Yiddish poet):

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older."

Aye! Avast me mateys... ye be happy and young at heart fer all eternity.

Whom will you touch in life?

It's insanely abnormal for me to do a back-to-back post but this topic just jumped into the forefront of my mind.

For some reason this compelling opening line from the plot summary of the series Six Degrees became an important topic for the moment.

It also made me recall something that Kalamari said regarding what had happened during an all time low in his life. Then I also looked back on my own life... and that nice poem called Footprints.

I've always thought that I was a mere blur passing through life as I know it. Just another person in mother Earth in the vast galaxy.

Yet there have been people that pop up once in a blue moon who will tell me that I mattered to them in some way or another. Either I did something or said something that made them think differently.

What I want to say is that you should not for even once think that you are an insignificant blob that no one notices. You really are not a wallflower - even if you think you are. There will be someone in the fringes of your life that will notice you and what you are going through.

People whom you've never thought as being someone who cared for you sincerely as a loved one or a mere friend will be there for you no matter what.

Believe it or not - no matter how deep a bottomless pit you think you are falling into... there is just that someone, somewhere... who will turn up and be your wings of support.

We just need to take away our rose-tinted glasses and open our eyes to see who they really are... those who will serve as your pillar, your life coach, your cushion, a shoulder to cry on... your true friend.

Honestly, you are never ever alone - you just think you are.

Anxiety is my name... did I get the job?

Oh, I hope so with all my heart!

Today at 12:30 PM, I had my second interview through the phone. It seems the purpose of the phone interview was to gauge on how I sound like over the phone since I did apply for a role with the Customer Satisfaction team. I was told I sound good over the phone... so I will take that as a good sign.

All I can do for now is to pray a little harder that I will be given the job. Another week or two of waiting... *paces in anxiety, anticipation, etc.*

Okay... now come to think of it... I do owe a bit of details on the first interview so here's a little rewind on what happened last Sunday.

A team of interviewers had come down to Penang for the company Job Fair to interview shortlisted candidates. This was at Equatorial... and, and, and (OMG!!!)... I think it went very well.

It started with a briefing about the company before I was screened by a friendly Jobstreet.com consultant. She also took the liberty to prepare me for potential (err...) disappointment of not being given the job (oKaY~~ *shifty eyes*) and coached me on what are some of the questions to expect. Alright... yeah... a reminder wouldn't hurt.

Then I was shepherded to meet with my interviewer, an American. Ah, the joy! The thing about American interviewers are that they are to the point... so I spoke wholeheartedly from my work experiences and threw in all the key words and phrases... and he said he was impressed that I knew the ropes for the role very well.

That really made my day!

So friends... I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck... :)

Quest for a Job

As some of you may know, I've been looking for a job since sometime in Feb 2007 after having resigned from a position as an internal communicator for an MNC in Nov 2006. The long break had been good in a sense that I've been able to identify what I really enjoy doing in all my previous jobs.

Now the thing is that I've been applying for positions that are based in Penang and had not much luck so far. Then on a whim I applied for a position that will be based in Petaling Jaya... and I get called for an interview. Fate is telling me something. And I want to get that job.

Please wish me the best of luck. I could really use a boost.

p/s: There's going to be hell to deal with if I get this job... my dad won't be too happy that I won't be in Penang... but if that is the only job call that I can really get at this point of time... I'll take it. Whatever it takes. It's my life and I do not want to be oppressed anymore by my own dad's ideals.

Reel Talk

It's been a while since I talked about the movies... so this is it. Spoiler alert to those who have not watched any of the below mentioned ones.
 

Let's start with Babel. The very first thing you'll notice about the poster is that it kind off reminds you of Love Actually and Cinta... and you would not be wrong to assume that it is a movie that takes on the format of telling you multiple stories - where the people in each of the stories have a degree of a link with someone else that is being showcased in another story. But this is where the similarity ends. This movie carries a deeper message.

It suggest that actions that one has taken in the past may lead to very unexpected results in the future of someone else somewhere. It also takes a punch at the fact that a simple matter of getting an ambulance can become a very complicated matter when politicians make their own interpretations and assumptions. But above all, it also tells us about how desperation can make you do stupid things.
 

Then there is The Pursuit of Happyness, a movie based on the autobiography of Chris Gardner... a truly amazing guy who had nothing but the ultimate goal of being a good father to his young son and to be successful in getting a full-time job as a stockbroker when he was at the deepest end of the ocean (figuratively speaking). Bottom line of the story is... "Never Ever Give Up!" Oh... and one more thing... who would have thought that Will Smith started out in a cheesy role as the lead in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Trivia: The misspelling of the word "happiness" is fully intentional on the author's part. Watch the movie or read the book to find out why. ;)
 

Next up is Meet the Robinsons from Walt Disney Pictures, something from my favorite genre of movies or shows of any kind. The storyline for this is pretty good but it may not be something that tiny tots can totally understand - the content may be a bit too deep. Anyway the show starts by introducing us to Lewis, an orphan who loves to invent things. He bumps into a boy from the future called Wilbur at a Science Fair and it is later revealed that Wilbur is actually chasing after a rather clumsy bad guy known as the Bowler Hat Guy...

Believe it or not, BHG is not much of an evil genius compared to his sidekick... a robotic hat with artificial intelligence known as Doris. Lewis ends up traveling to the future with Wilbur and meets Wilbur's family consisting of a rather odd collection of people who takes a liking to him but reversed their decision to adopt him once they found out that he comes from the past.

I could go on... but nah... I won't. All in all, the story will end on a very feel good note... typical Disney show that it is. One thing to note is of course the fact that this movie does reference a line from Toy Story when the dinosaur says, "I've got a big head and tiny arms".
 

And last of all... is Spider-Man 3... one of the most anticipated movies for the 2007 summer release. Honestly, I have to say that this movie totally defies the assumption that sequels cannot outdo the first movie. It was seriously good in terms of the storyline and I would say that it is one of the best adaptations based on a comic series. You can really go with the flow and feel for the characters... unlike V for Vendetta (which I admittedly slept through chunks of the movie because maybe it was just too dark and draggy).

The most mundane and dreaded is all done

With that kind of title... you must be wondering what the heck I'm talking about.

Quite simple, really. THREE words: Income Tax Submission.

Have you done yours yet? If you haven't done so yet... are you waiting until it hits 11:59:59 on 30 April 2007?

One word of advice: Get it done early and you might just avoid the probability of a server crash of sorts due to the pressure of heavy traffic experienced by the servers on that very last day.

You know it... I know it... we all love to procrastinate over things we don't usually like to do.

So, after all said and done... you should know that the e-hasil web submission module on the LHDN website is really easy to use and it took me just about 5 minutes to get all the information keyed in.

Believe it or not... that is probably like 5 times faster than the time it took me to find all my 2006 income tax related information (documents and receipts for filing) and to draw out the relevant numbers.

F1 GP 2007: Sepang , Malaysia

The race has just ended and it was a fantastic one to watch. The McLaren team led by Ron Dennis had put in a tremendous amount of effort to bring their cars up to be on par with the Ferraris (winner of the Melbourne race just three weekends ago)... and it had really paid off for them with 2-time defending world champion Fernando Alonso coming in 1st and rookie Lewis Hamilton in 2nd.

I also see that Hamilton will be a big player in F1 in the years to come after seeing how he expertly edged his way from 4th on the grid to be ahead of both Raikkonen (3rd on grid) and Massa (pole on grid)... and subsequently defended his provisional 2nd place spot in the race while allowing his teammate Alonso to widen his time gap with the Ferraris prior to the first round of pit stops.

It also seemed that the Ferrari team was caught speechless with the tide being in favor or McLaren. Massa who ended in 5th too didn't make it any better for the team. He seemed to have lost the spirit to earn back the 3rd place spot that he lost after losing control of his car in an attempt to overtake Hamilton (a few laps before the first pit stops) coming out of a turn and ended up driving over the curb and some grass.

The next few paragraphs... comes in spurts and may not connect with one another.

Nick Heidfeld of BMW Sauber (probably the longest serving driver in the Petronas sponsored team) - he did a good job finishing in 4th for the second race in a row.

Nico Rosberg had once again become a victim to the Williams' car unreliability that he is now rather familiar with. That's really unfortunate since things were really looking good for him. He could have earned some points if the car hadn't died in the last leg of the race.

Ever notice that world champions have a tradition after winning a race? The legendary Michael Schumacher will jump and punch the air on the podium. Fernando Alonso has a more amusing quirk - he does a silly little jig (and it is a different jig for each race won) on top of his car after he climbs out of the cockpit in the parking area next to the designated podium area.

Did anyone notice that there are a lot of British drivers in the line up this year followed by the Germans?

One last thing... it is beginning to look a lot like we are going back into the days of Ferrari vs McLaren. A neck and neck fight to the end - or will it? As Murray Walker once said - The opposite of F1 is "if".

p/s: If you want to look for a laugh... google up Murray Walker quotes and read them... he is famous for spitting out words with enthusiasm and quite often stating the obvious or plain old goofing things up.

F1 GP 2007: The Iceman Cometh?

I wanted to say this for some time... this could very likely be Kimi Raikkonen's year in F1. He finally has a very decent car to drive - a smoldering red FERRARI. When he was a wild card rookie for Sauber Petronas in 2001... he did pretty good tremendously well during his time driving in a mid-range car. That's why I believe that he will one day be a world champion in F1 racing.

However, I do wonder if Alonso will still be able to defend and retain his title in the somewhat more unreliable (historically speaking) McLaren in the past few F1 racing years? He had a good start coming in second in Melbourne but will destiny continue to smile brightly for this young gun?

Relatively speaking, his understanding on how to get the best out of the car he is driving could be compared to that of Michael Schumacher. How else can you explain why Fisichella who is put into an almost always similarly set up Renault in 2005 and 2006 cannot deliver the results that Alonso showcased? Whatever it is, I'd still like to see Alonso in the top 5 at the very least... and to spice it up, a close fight between Alonso and Raikkonen would be spiff-spanking purrrfect.

Hmm... what about new drivers like Nico Rosberg? I hope to see if he can continue to bring out the sparks of brilliance he demonstrated in 2006. He showed much promise in some of the qualifying rounds and in laps before car reliability issues poked its ugly head out to kill any hope of raking in points for the Williams-Cosworth team.

And in case any of you haven't quite figured it out yet... I'm a fan of F1 and not strictly supporting a particular team. I truly enjoy watching how the drivers dish out their skills against all odds on-the-track (including team strategies that turn out awfully horrific in nightmarish proportions)... and occasionally... it's just nice to find out if the BMW Sauber team (as it is known today) is making any headway into fighting it all out with the big kahunas.

Oh yeah... that goes for the the Toyota team too since they are a relatively young team in F1 - having entered the fray only in 2002 with high expectations of making it into the top team in something like 5 years. That's pretty ambitious and we know they didn't really make it as a top team yet. They are aiming to win in their 6th season (tsk, tsk, lofty, lofty, but to be successful you need to aim high - real high).

Here's a quick look at how Toyota has fared over the years:
<key> 'team position at end of season'/'total number of teams' in season or year
10/11 in 2002 (ho-hum... the back-marker days)
8/10 in 2003 (still in the back-marker days)
8/10 in 2004 (yup... still in their back-marker days)
4/10 in 2005 (whoa, nelly! now that is a huge improvement!)
6/11 in 2006 (oops, a drop! back to the drawing board to crank it way up...)

Phew... I'm done FOR NOW!

You'll see more of my F1 ramblings as the season rolls on until the end of the year... haha!

Feast for your eyes

Is there a theme to this? Maybe and maybe not.
I just like how they look together as a collage.

A penny for your thoughts?

A short trip to Singapore

Yup... that's right. I was on a short trip to Singapore mainly for one Cheryl Tang's wedding dinner... but on the side, I've met up with some people - both planned an unplanned.

It all started on Saturday morning at the Penang airport where I bumped into Lay2 and found out that she was on the same flight to Singapore - but she's on transit for a direct flight to L.A. from Changi for her holiday. Then landing in Changi, there was Geraldine coming out of the same flight. G is also on transit to L.A. but she is on a business trip and has an indirect route to L.A. from Changi.

After some small talk, I introduced the two gals to one another... whom btw works in the same MNC but did not know each other 'til now. Then it was off for some light lunch and more chatting in one of the makan joints within Changi airport.

At about 1:30pm, it was time for me to say goodbye and make my way into town to meet up with my dear old friend Pinky! It was really good to see her again after such a long time. More chatting (but of course!) before I go off to check into the hotel and get ready for the wedding dinner.

Pinky and moi (in all my travel gear looking like I've hiked for miles)

Having checked into the hotel - I had to quickly get my things together, take a shower, dress up and make sure that the ang pau is in my dinner bag.

Arriving at the Four Seasons Hotel at just about 7:00pm, I rushed up to the ballroom only to find out that I was early. Chinese wedding dinners in Singapore are no better than the ones we have in Malaysia - it also starts roughly one to one-and-a-half hours after the time stated on your wedding invite.

Oh well! So much for that. Being early has its upside though... I get to catch up with a bunch of my ex-colleagues-cum-friends who are based in Singapore.

A word about the hotel and the food... a really grand place (think E&O but a notch better) with really good food.

And now a word about the bride. For once... Cheryl is looking demure and very lady like in a DRESS. Yes, a dress. No pants and no crazy hairdo. It's something all of us get to appreciate for once in a life time only.

After the dinner, I got a ride back from the ever adorable Lynn. I guess she doesn't drive in the city often since she had to refer to a Singapore street atlas.

On Sunday, I checked out early and walked to the nearest MRT station to make my way to my cousin's place. It had started to rain lightly and luckily for me... I had a small umbrella with me. Yay! I met Renu at the Simei station and had breakfast at some place round the corner. She had baby Ethan with her... her 6-month old little cutie. Basically after that, we took a walk to her home and I spent my time there until it was time to leave for my flight in the afternoon.

That's me with Ethan... he's just started teething so he's the King of Biting for now