Status check

This post is 4 months too late from the status check I was supposed to have done after blogging about it. And my, have things changed!

Let's see, 6 months after my first move, I was quite contented with the new job and the little number that got me so disappointed was all for naught! Indeed I got what I wanted (deserved?) so I was a happy camper performing my best at work. La di da.

Then the whole ISP business came into play full force but once again, I was in for a pleasant surprise when Mr. Hicks rang me. So I won't be moving out but rather, moving back to what I used to do. I think it all worked out well for me because I got what I wanted :) And now, counting the days till 1 July when it will all happen with a big bang! Once again, mild uncertainties of a new environment but I believe it should at least be better than moving out, no?

And now I sit patiently in W4 till I am ready to uproot once again to join my new friends.

I have on newly painted bright red nails in anticipation of the sun, sea & sand. Cest la vie! XOXO.

I lost my marbles

I momentarily lost my mind in the last couple of weeks. In more than one occasion, I wanted to blog but forgot my password! And out of the blue, I keyed one random thought in today, and signed in with my first attempt! Nice :)

Perhaps another day - feeling a little feverish today.

BLAR BLAR BLAR

When do we stop being angry?

When the day slowly winds down after we try our best to complete tasks set upon us in order to earn that monthly income? When the whole world just seems to stop for a split second while you considered what went wrong? When you contemplate in a fleeting moment whether you should just wise up and let it go because to err is human? When you have had a good blar-ing session with those who care? When you are somewhat soothed by the emits of the little blue Ipod hanging over your neck? When you just think back of the gazillion good times together?

When do we not stop being angry?

When that simple honest meaningful apology did not come your way.

Q&A

I know I haven't written in a while. Gotta admit, been just plain LAZY and also due to several reasons that I shall not mention, obviously if I could I wouldn't have gone for that brief hiatus. It's a rainy afternoon here in old congested home, and I was working on my Achievements, something of a pre-requisite for a discussion in the next few days. I just find that whole writing about what you did well is a little bit of a bull, I mean, it will be a little brag story of blowing the little highlights out of proportion while at the same time, conveniently forget the big fuckups we did. I think it is only fair that you get ALL the people you have worked with on ALL the projects to assess you. Just a short Q&A.

1. Rate [insert name] as a colleague
a. Brown Noser
b. Slacker
c. Do-er but not perfect
d. I want to be like her!

2. Prove it!

That would save alot of people's time when it comes to assessments. Easy peasy.

I really want to write more because I feel like writing after being forced to blow my highlights out of proportion but it's raining heavily. So I better go!

Life - new, existing, gone

Baby Sarah joined us in the world healthy and safe, on the 18th. She was a little early though and caused a little panic among everyone but I am very glad that both mummy and baby are doing relatively well.

~~~

And then one of us turned a year older, this time at Nero Teca where the Cholest Club was in our norm:

- leg of a giant roasted pork marinated in red wine with generous sides of wedges and lentils
- pasta with fish (was a red snapper if I'm not mistaken)
- milanese pork chop
- mediterrenean salad to make us feel less guilty
- a bottle of some white
- scattered cupcakes with a number on each of them; courtesy of the talented amongst us

We took pictures of the food this time, really we did, but our lovely camerawoman did not send me a copy of it so I'll leave you with what I have.

Making many many many wishes

His first ever crush when he was 8; and she will always be the mature 18 to him

How he wished he was 34 whilst they met when she was 22

The 61 y/o sugar daddy with his sweet young thing of 21

He was 20 when he stalked this bitchy 19 y/o

First childhood friend at 5 and she in will forever be his sweet 16

Wishing he had nipples reading ONDY

~~~

My pip mourns and it hurts me to know.

A sticky situation

I have the darndest luck with my shoes while in the office. Today, a third heel broke off a third pair of shoes. And I only just found out that our Real Estate division has SHOE GUM!! Believe it or not, those sticky gluey gum that cobbler uses. I am pretty impressed how well equipped this company is.

So I run barefooted for now while the glue dries (and stink up the area around me with my smelly feet, hahahahah), while I try to recall what other personal belongings of mine needs fixing. Heh.

They say, the third time is a charm eh?

smiley emoticons

so many versions...

=)

:-)

:)

=-)

")

("

my favourite is :) because it shows a fat round cheeked face and it saves a space in sms-ing

today..

- I was doing mindless checkings of which of our regional countries had public holidays between a certain period. Ok ok, I admit, I changed job to be a secretary.
- I ate 4 curry puffs. I had a real craving for some Skillet Fries in Chilli's, so luckily Madam saved the day by potato feeding me. Temporary gratification till I get the real deal. Or maybe I can do my own version when some grows out of Pino's ears.
- I kinda OD'd on facebook. There are just too many applications but I only play the boozemail ones. The little drink icons are cute.
- I ate 1/8 of a strawberry pengpei mooncake. Which is pretty tasty and smelled really fragrant! But I am not a big mooncake fan. I chucked the durian flavour one way at the backend of the fridge.
- I am still hunting for leggings. To wear with that top that I couldn't try on before I bought it. So mafan lar.
- I will be having dinner with Magges. Twas good to see her again and to catch up, felt like only yesterday that we were doing our usual meet-ups
- I backed up my data. So diligent, is I.
- I drew happy pictures with a pink ink pen on starfish's AA ticket. Heh. Which he doesn't know about yet till he checks in at the airport tomorrow. Shy nia :p
- I wore my hair BIG. Apparently it makes me look fatter.
- I overslept -_-

cuckoo bird early

My car is scheduled for service today so I had to hitch a ride. With a colleague who needs to take over support function from the States. Which means before the sun is up, I am already sitting here blogging this now.

But I had one of the best sleep last nite for a while, after a week of flu & fever that never seems to end. The meds was probably the reason why I had short drama dreams. But I am finally feeling more like my old self today.

It is so disheartening to be the last one out of the office last nite (not counting the 24x7 guys in the DC) and the first one in this morning.. in a wing of almost a 100 people.

I am still a disgruntled employee.

Can't wait to meet up with Magges tomorrow!!! So much to update. Safe flight for now.

I need some decent rest this weekend.

Abit of Hong Kong

Just returned from a short visit to Hong Kong with one conclusion; their sales (or maybe what's left of it) is a big con job! Only shops on sale are those supporting the tourism industry with a big blue happy face sticker outside their shops, the likes of Giordano, Sasa, Clarks & Keith, Ah Chu Dresses, etc.

And the only thing I bought is a striped dress-like top with butterfly wings from Ah Chu Dresses lor. Weird exchange that was, as the shop's policy was "no trying unless you have purchased". What???? And if you don't like what you have bought, you can exchange with another item of the same value in the shop BUT you have limited chances of trying. I was probably too dumbstruck with the whole idea so I bought one and then only tried. As you can probably tell, in the end I wasn't too enthusiastic with my purchase -_-

The Royal Plaza

At least it was a nice hotel


With a side couch for reading with daylight

A big Asahi for pip who always orders whenever we're at Zen

Huge briefcase in Tsim Sha Tsui (no sale -_-)

Stolen flash from some other tourish at the peak

Harbour front prior to boarding the ferry from Kowloon to HK

A fattie me at Lan Kwai Fong

My only accomplishment was having eaten lots of original recipe dim sums, egg tarts, roast goose, wantan mee, lou por peng, chupar rice (twice!! yummylicious), dong ping lai char, peking duck, fish balls, the famous manggo dessert drink, and a Tetley every single night I was there :p

Renewed faith

Recent events have showed me how powerful the word faith is; to truly believe what is in your heart and to believe in yourself. For standing strong on the compromised grounds of fairness, it will bear the merits that you deserve. That is the power of love.

Some of us have moved on and I am very happy to learn of it.

Whereas some of us stayed back and my faith in him has been restored.

Neat trick!

I got a call on my mobile earlier with the display number +88686702212596. I immediately recalled hearing and reading numerous stories about how con artists from China or Hong Kong call you up informing you that you have won something and to cash in your prize, to please bank in xx amount into a bank account for transfer fees or whatever. So with slanted eyes, I picked up.

fadedbutterfly: hello?
woman: halo siao cheh, ni huay chiang hua yue ma?
fadedbutterfly: sorry, no *in a haughty brit-eessshh accent*
woman: oh okay

And hung up.

So I related this to gecko who quickly told me that I should have kept her on the line to waste her phone bill! He further went on to teach me how he treats telemarketers and wrong-numbers.

Step 1 - pick up
Step 2 - "hello?"
Step 3 - having confirmed they are one of the above
Step 4 - leave phone beside you on the table and continue doing what you were up to before being interrupted. Wait for "toot toot toot" tone when caller hangs up in frustration
Step 5 - repeat if the caller attempts a second time, or third, or fourth..

I think that's a darn neat trick!! I always get very agitated when wrong-numbers call me because as soon as I inform them that they got the wrong number; they usually insist that they got it right, or asks me what number they dialled, or hangs up so abruptly without a word or a hint of an apology. That's just plain rude!! -_-

I had a telemarketer call me up once inviting me to a re-launch of their old hotel. I immediately told her very politely that I was just not interested because I did not want to waste her time talking and explaining it to me when she could be reaching someone who is genuinely interested. That little b*tch went all rude and hung up on me. The nerve!!

So next time when you get a call from any of the above, just repeat Steps 1 to 5 above. I'm sure you'll be feeling so satisfied with this little neat trick that you can't wait for the next wrong caller!

And if you see a number similar to the above calling you - DO NOT GET CONNED!!

*the above is based on fadedbutterfly's personal opinion and is no way responsible for any consequences resulting from the above actions by readers*

Is change good?

A week from today, I will move on to a new role. After months of waiting, the transition has officially been communicated to me and will be effective on 15.8. I leave my job as a policewoman and go into showbusiness! I was given a proposition for this new role due to "compelling reasons" within the organization. I was skeptical as I wasn't sure if it could be a career progression for me but in view of the recent on-goings in the organization, I did not have alot of choices..

During the build-up to this transition in the last few months, I started looking forward to this role by psycho-ing myself that it will be better in the long run, that there is a steep learning curve to this, that I will undoubtly be valuable to the organization and others with these learnings in due time, yada yada yada. I suppose I am damn good in convincing myself. Maybe most of all, I truly needed the change; this feeling being further reinforced during days when I had to catch real dungkoffs red-handed but could never truly chuck them off to jail.

However, after numerous clickings through our canggih-fied ERP, I got the final details of the new role and am hugely disappointed with one little letter. Did my expectations go up a notch due to what we heard over the grapevine? Did the unusual amount of exposure caused me to demand inwardly for it? Was he just not firm enough? Was she just too stern?

But today, with the handshake firmly completed virtually, I will soon be leaving my badge and useless gun on the desk. Will the change be refreshing? I will do a status check in 6 months. -_-

The 2nd read

I am running out of books to read. Even digging through the new basket of books courtesy of a certain Mr. Leng in Australia now, I resorted back to the one that I have read before. The Da Vinci Code. I really enjoyed it the first time round and now, having been to the land of romance, I hope the imagination in my mind's eye will be able to indulge me for the second time.

I had a hectic but very enjoyable short trip down south last week. Met up with the ever accommodating Bogge and spent good moments just catching up. Having finally made this long overdue trip only heighten how much I miss her company and the third leg of the tripod Magges in Down Under :((. We had coffee and shopped and ate and drank. Most unforgettable was the massive and extremely appetizing pasta we had at La Cantina in Venezia, a little Italian restaurant with a view (which we did not see as it was pitch black) in Changi Village Hotel. We ordered a pama ham on melon and a fresh salad to start with. We then turned greedy and ordered Crab Meat with Linguine, Clams in Arrabbiata Linguine and Chicken & Sun-Dried Tomatoes with spaghetti, all accompanied by a bottle of 2006 Palliser Estate sauvignon blanc. I highly recommend this restaurant with its superb friendly and efficient service, great tasting food in very generous portions and at a reasonable price.

I am hungry now.

Regrets

As I sat in his room and listened to him talk in a language that I was no master of, I could still pick up bits and pieces of words to comprehend what he was saying. My other senses heightened as my lingual skills was impaired for I do not speak their tongue. I noticed his short raspy breath as he spoke of his condition. I noticed the tremors in his feet as he tried to stretch the aging muscles of his legs. I noticed his discomfort as he tried to breathe and talk at the same time. I noticed the deterioration of a patriarch who once stood tall and straight right to this ripe old age of his.

And I can't help but feel more than a pang of regret for not having spent enough hours with my late grandfather in his last remaining months. In certain ways, they were more similar than I realised for they had pride, were honorable in their own ways and was very much respected within their own community. I then felt a sense of shame for the lack of my own actions where my grandfather was concerned. I have always favoured him compared to my grandmother; he was cheerful with his grandchildren, reasonable with his children, brilliant with tales of his earlier days, never succumbed to the sins of manhood (that I am aware of), generous with the less fortunate and always had the fridge stocked with ice-cream.

I cried hard at his funeral for even though he has always had his patch of white hair as far as I can remember, wearing his grey pants and collared tee or striped PJs, I never thought much of when he will leave us. But when he did, the sight of his body still shocked me and the wave of sadness never left us throughout the entire 5 days.

Memories of him filled my mind and heart over the weekend. May God bless his kind soul.

Two happy birthdays!

We gathered once more to indulge but with a special reason this time; to celebrate the Traveler turning a year wiser. Silly me should have had the consideration to do a joint celebration for Jo's was also 5 days prior. Not that I forgot hers except it just did not occur to me to link them two together for the day. Perhaps my subconscious mind heard the repeated "oh, i am not celebrating this year because i pantang laaa" but that did not stop a few hearty toasts to her too.

However, efforts were not lost as we had a wonderful meal of super thin mushroom crepe, clam & prawns pesto, mexican chicken with a 12-inch banana, stuffed pork, spare ribs and topped it all off with a Haagan Daz icecream cake and alcoholic-cendol. All complemented by a 2006 New Zealand sauvignon blanc which to my humble opinion was superb to my tastebuds and easy on the palate for its slighty fruity essence that was not too dry, and a wolfblast. Heh.

Checkers has NEVER failed me! :)

Once again, we got-together at a mouth watering eatery and dug into the food way faster than the SLRs can click. I shall endeavor to do so on the next time. Oh yes. So that you readers can almost taste what we love! Note to self: have amies and carol click more while I feast on them porkies :p

Wishing you both a very happy birthday & an excellent year ahead *hugs*

Welcome to the club

:)

The Cholest Club

I always always always have a fantastic time with this bunch! Till our sashimi party! *burp*

cut.snip.cut

I really feel like a decent haircut, not just that simple trim that is hardly sufficient to be glued together to form a toupee. Not anything drastic as it takes yonks for my hair to grow out but I have more than sufficient reasons to keep it neat and tidy!

- split ends
- same cut for the last 5 years (my perm hardly counts)
- awful layers that flies out all over after a wash
- remaining ends of the perm
- just because

I think I will go NOW. So impromptu until my heart's beating a little faster than normal.

Meme's

I always read this word as such a Jap like kinda thing. Must be from the pronounciation of anime!

I got tagged by Mils so here goes;

~~
INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

1. ReckenRoll
2. MKinMotion
3. The Adventures Of Super Wife
4. Exordinarily Ordinary
5. Fadedbutterfly

Select 5 people to tag:
1. Magges
2. Amies
3. Gecko
4. Mak
5. Lyn

~~

1) What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was playing truant quite a fair bit and always hoping that Mr. Goh couldn't make it for Physics tuition classes! So that we can all head to Java Shoppe and order french fries. Weekends were always movie manias at 1 Utama and whacking a bag of Potato Patch before that. Yum yum!!

2) What were you doing 1 year ago?
I was immersed in my job mainly because I was trying to get the hang of things and faced loads of frustrations when it seemed the rest were just lepaking! As you can obviously tell by now, I adopted their culture instead :p

3) 5 snacks you enjoy?
a. Pringles (sour cream & onion and cheezums flavour are to die for)
b. Potatoes made in any way (crisps, chips, mashed, baked, fried)
c. Cheese on anything (bread, crackers, by itself, on any other edible items except fondue)
d. Old skool indian muruku (the one with the jagged edge and NOT curled into a round wire)
e. Peas in a packet coated with wasabi and egg white and flour (I hardly eat this but I think I would enjoy some like right about now)

4) 5 songs you know all the lyrics to?
a. Sometimes When We Touch (our all time favourite karaoke singalong, very easy to sing!!)
b. Making Love Out Of Nothing At All - Air Supply (so old skool leh)
c. Something About The Way You Look Tonight - Elton John (I've always wanted someone to sing this to me but never... kinda romantic me thinks)
d. Goodbye My Lover - James Blunt (so depressingly sad that it's nice!!)
e. When You Say Nothing At All - Ronan Keating (mainly because he looks so yummylicious in this MTV)

5) 5 things you would do if you were a millionaire?
a. Buy a big house and furnish it
b. Buy myself a fancy car
- There goes the first million -

6) 5 bad habits?
a. Washing my hands every time I see a sink anywhere (I have a disease)
b. Jusifying fonts on documents; including those by other messy authors!
c. Creature of habit; I hate broken routines or last minute changes
d. Wiping off prints on my monitor screen and handphone all the time
e. Short fuse + bad temper = angry butterfly on days when things don't go my way

7) 5 things you like doing?
a. Reading blogs with pretty pictures
b. Mahjong!!!!!
c. Watching chick flicks, rom com's and cartoon movies
d. Eating yummy food + sleeping after that
e. Good yumcha sessions in a comfortable environment
- The order above is by no means my preference level. I love doing 'em all!! -

8) 5 things you would never wear again?
a. This little ugly black MNG skirt which I don't know why I bought
b. This smelly longsleeved cotton red Sportsgirl top which I think I blogged about sometime back
c. Too short dresses or skirts (I am a conservative person okay *blush*)
d. This baggy white Esprit pants which makes my bum look twice its actual size
e. Pyjamas (relax, lingeries excluded)

9) 5 favourite toys?
a. Barbie dolls + Barbie doll house
b. Teacup set
c. Blanket used as a cloak and pretend to be Queen
d. Getah
e. This big red stuffed dog that I wished was real
- I think those were what my childhood mainly consisted of! -

I think we can conclude that I only aim to be a naked fat potato loaded with cheese sitting in a big house watching movies all the time. -_-

Bali

Sanur beach

Beachside dinner @ Fortuin Cafe Jimbaran

Some monument

Skyhigh

Across the palace-like garden

Adorable little one

Krispy Kreme!!

White choc & Original Glazed (best of all!)

Sunrise

As you can tell, I'm too lazy to blog about it. It was quite a fun trip but unlike the expectations I had of Bali. As the saying goes, "it is not where you go but who you go with". I would have to make another trip to fully experience the beautiful Kuta beach.

Does advertisement work the 2nd time?

A dear friend of mine is hunting high and low for Daryl Hall's What's In Your World. So he asked me if I could advertise it in my blog. And so here I am. I will send you a bottle of "hundres & thousands" if you are able to so kindly email it to me at fadedbutterfly@gmail.com. "Hundreds & thousands"... you know... those nice tiny colourful sprinkles on old- skool cakes that met your fancy when you were a kid :)

I am guessing dear friend must be going through an emo phase right now since he is seeking so hard for that song. I am wondering if it could perhaps be due to the reason that he made me swear once never ever to mention it on this blog. Heh. Well dear friend, if you are reading this, I hope it's not. You need something else in your world.

Imma just back from Bali but lazy as hell to post it up now. Be back in a jiffy!!

To oink or not to oink

I came in to work this morning bright and early, and whilst making my morning cuppa I had a chat with a fellow colleague who was indulging in a packet of nasi lemak. Smells superb, the coconut infused rice released its mouth-watering fragrance tempting those near and far. Or maybe just me lah since I am such a pig when it comes to eating and I havent had a decent packet of nasi lemak since 2005. But that is not the point of this post. So anyways, we were talking about the nasi lemak and I was making casual conversations about whether the chilli was spicy enough. He replied that it isn't too spicy but that's the way he likes it. Said he can't take too much of them mini reds lest it burns a hole in his stomach. I retorted that it was just a matter of training your stomach! You know like how Msians eating mamak have no problems whatsoever, but place a Msian who's been abroad for too long in front of a plate of roti canai with fish curry and nasi briyani rendang, our friend will be shitting till high kingdom come the next day.

Again, this post is not about food.

So anywayyyys, he rattled off some chinese proverbs that sounded so scholarly until I can't even remember how it sounds like now, except it meant something like "suffer now, enjoy life later or enjoy life now but suffer in your later years".

Got me to think, how would I or rather, how am I actually living my life now? To which side of the scale am I tipping to? Over indulging because it makes me happy but suffer through the consequences a couple of decades down the line? Or am I overly cautious and never truly allowed myself to LET IT GO completely? Of course by now I am using a very generic hypothetical scenario whereby I live to a happy hearty age of 79 (is that still the average living age of a female?) with tonnes of family members around me, filial children and cute grandchildren, loving faithful husband who grows old beside me and I am still sane enough to play mahjong.

Then I wonder, but what if my preferred lifestyle now when I am still able to hop, skip and jump in a pair of 2.5 inches deprive me of all that in my later years? But if I don't enjoy, what makes you think I'd even live to 30?? Then what is the WHOLE point to life anyway?

I am not gonna go rah rah rah on healthy eating, no binging, use your discretion, the right balance is the key word, do good and live forever, bla bla bla. I think I am just gonna darn well try to be happy. After all, being happy creates beautiful memories and this is what I'd like to remember on my death bed.

And if I had to choose - I will definitely whack the spiciest nasi lemak in town! Screw that stomach ulcer if it ever hits me. And now, mission to find nasi lemak.

Again, this is not about eating ok? :p

1 wedding & a get-together

"Finally!!" - the grateful sigh from the family when we attended Han's wedding. He has truly made the most of his bachelor life and lived it to its fullest. Last week, he embraced a new beginning and started it off with a bang.

His grand wedding was held at Fisherman's Wharf, a huge convention centre with an Egyptian theme in the hallway yet with a modern sophisticated touch in the ballroom. Signages were strategically placed everywhere leading towards the ballroom, and all was made damn sure they attended the right wedding as a huge banting of the newly weds were placed directly outside the ballroom. Talk about shout-out! :)

The trip was nevertheless fantastic; all thanks to the family who flew in from all over the world to share his joy. With the combined characteristics of our side of the family, the atmosphere at Han's was astounding and cheerful and loud and chaotic. I totally loved it as it brought a sense of togetherness among us all. Even tho' all of us live in different parts of the world but put us all under one roof, it was as if time never lapsed from when we last got together. It was indeed a waste that not all Triang's 3Gs were there otherwise it would have been such a memorable occasion!

A scenic route we took daily between Han's and our hotel in downtown

St.Paul's ruins - Macau's famous landmark

The new Mr & Mrs SSH

The impressive heng tai's & chi mui's & flowerboys & flowergirls all in matching outfits

The coincidental blacks & reds, huge banting at the back

His very last nite to be James Bond

Half of the family

The wedding was held in a real chinese traditional manner like what we see from HK movies yet infused with a modern concept of the new century. The banquet was scheduled to start at 8pm but guests were welcomed by 5pm for a few rounds of mahjong! Whilst the ladies went off for a few games, the men were lingering by the bar for endless flows of liquor. The VIP table was a long stretch which faces the audience but much to the chagrin of the VIP guests, their individually served portions of dishes excluded the whole suckling pig which to say the least, was scrumptious! We, at the normal round table, of course had the luxury of the whole piglet :)

Hot Brazillian Dancers - Macau is so show business!!

Of course a shot of their naked asses is a must

The Scottish who ended up being the main attraction - there were guests coming up to him and wanting to snap photos together :))

The very adorable little koala who loves jumping up to be carried

Thankewberymuch!

Thankewberymuch!! Some of you have been most kind by offering to send me the song :) Advertisement works! Thankewberymuch Sara, should have known that you'd have it. Betcha you're into Il Divo too right? ;) Thankewberymuch hanthetan, so the efficient wan. I owe u 8 frenchfries :) Thankewberymuch HelpdeskSupport, I should have asked you right from the start since you're my Helpdesk kan? :p

Now I so layan the song la. Makes me wanna salsa. But I haven't done it in ages. Not that I'm very good at it. In fact, I only attended a few classes. And I'm not the only one apparently. *coughcough*. And I bought the shoes!! Which I have worn less than 5 times. I so wanna sway.

I am going away tomorrow. Bliss!!!!!!!!!!

sway me

It amazes me how happy I feel whenever I re-sync my ipod. With a brand new set of songs, it bestows the excitement of a brand new toy all over again.

Which brings to mind, I'm hunting high and low for Michael Buble's Sway but failed before the big re-sync last night. Although I ended up with two other versions -_- ; Pussycat Dolls (courtesy of gecko) and Dean Martin (courtesy of eve).

And since I have a blog, I might as well advertise for it! So please send it to me if you do, fadedbutterfly@gmail.com and I will be forever indebted to you :D I was hopping between Metro stations in Paris and I distinctly overheard a rendition of it. It stuck on my head the whole day! So layan okay. It played during a friend's wedding and everyone was happyskip sashaying to it! So layan okay.

I dunno wtf I'm doing blogging when I have a freaking deadline tomorrow!!

Oh shucks, mum kissed ass today. We seem to be going thru a bout of badcarlucks. Maybe we should change ALL of our cars to rid the karma.

Oh yes, send me the song please. Thankewberymuch. Even if it kills you hunting for it. Thankewberymuch. Because I got deadline mar, otherwise I'd have hunted for it myself. Thankewberymuch. And mininova died last night so I couldn't download :(

tick tock tick tock

I'm caught in a plateau, uncertain of my somewhat forced on decision to pick one of the few fork roads ahead of me. But to pass days in this frenzied emotional roller coaster is sucking out the very core of me. No wonder my colours are fading..

Leng cheh has vented, but she's a mom with 3 kids so the choice is even harder for her. The Sis is constantly on a verbal diarrhea on this topic too, but that's cos she's wanting to meet more hot men. So has Gecko (no, not to meet any hot men :p), but he has a gameplan come end of this year to indulge in his passion of living under waters (at least for a while that is). My Furniture decided to take matters into his own hands and explore his dreams, but now is the best time for him to do so (altho' if u asked me, I'd rather he choose the option of going abroad).

Magges took the plunge. So did Sourrain. Brave brave souls.

Am I throwing to big a fuss over a comparatively simpler decision I made? I will know come July. I hope it's sooner though for I count the seconds to end the days I'm still facing.

knnccb

My ride got broken into last night :(( I woke up this morning to find my back passenger window smashed to pieces with a lousy yellow plier. The damn thief manage to steal my smarttag and attempted my radio too. As I installed one of those radio with the detachable panel head, the schmuck either did not have enough time to remove the entire radio behind the display panel or was a plain amateur! He disconnected the battery pack under the hood hoping in vain to stop the alarm but lo and behold! my car has a backup alarm battery which did not stop the incessant blaring at 2am. A great big holler from my dad halted his unforgiving act and he took off in a lousy white Proton Iswara.

I am at least thankful that all he got was the smarttag, without my touchngo card inside. Hahahahhaahahha.

Funny thing tho', my smarttag battery died on me for more than a week and a half, and I never got around to replacing the battery. So I have just been using the smarttag on touchngo lanes. As I was driving home last night, I don't know why it struck me that I should just leave the smarttag in the glove compartment and tucked the card on my sun visor. That saved my loaded card from being taken as well!

In a way, I do feel violated. The thought that this bloodypieceofshit sat on my very own seat and rummaged through my belongings is just plain repulsive!!! I hope he gets hit by a car! A car similar to mine! To remind him of his wrong doings! To my car!! Argh!!

My first thought when I learned of this incident, "did he steal my sunnies?!!!!" :p

And PangSaiMa can only say "welcome to the club" -_-

/on a side note - good luck on your first day tomorrow magges!

Porkelicious delight!

4 fellow porkies trotted down to the heart of the city for a real indulgence of soul food. Combine a team of food lovers, wonderful conversations, excellent food, hearty laughters, sufficient drinks and lovely ambience, one would be blisfully contented to start the week.

- We indulged in a mix variety of pork spread; from thinly sliced pork ham with white juicy asparagus to half a suckling pig (hah?? half only ar?!) marinated in white wine which is tender enough to be cut with a plate
- We had fabulous desserts that ended with a shot of alcoholic lime like juice ala tequila style
- One of us had pork ball noodles for breakfast and roast pork rice for lunch to build up the anticipation for pork dinner (over-porked, if u asked me :p)
- We were enlightened with tales of a german's rear to feed our imaginations
- And given recommendations for the best char siew and siew yoke place in town
- To justifications on why "big size" beat "good looks" anytime

El Cerdo in Kuala Lumpur with the best company to brighten up the butterfly's colours. No pictures of food because we were too busy stuffing ourselves :p

Happy birthday Magges!!

I wanted to post this with some good old shots of previous birthdays but I am blogging from my new pc *yes!!!!* and have yet to transfer my old stuff over hence, no photos :( Here's wishing you a wonderful and fantastic year ahead, with great success overcoming all the challenges you will be faced with! I'd like to bake a creme brulee for you but no equipment yet, heh, so wait up for next year ya :)

*muax*

:(

The dreaded day is fast approaching, tomorrow to be precise, and I can only wish you the best of luck! Have faith and be strong, remember that there is nothing like a good challenge to bring out the best in you! That is you my dear friend, that is you. You will be missed tremendously here yet you will be loved and remain in our hearts whenever we do our annual lou sang sessions, birthdays, coffees, drinks and eating. Until we meet again, take good care and I love you lots woman! *big giant hug*.

The last supper, heh

When the lights finally hit red

With SluD (no longer silto)

What facial expressions he has!

Told ya ;)

I will miss you plenty!

Or so it seems!

Flew back to KL and was told I'd be whisked off to Phuket again! Whee!! What a pleasant surprise :) But we paid for the price of last minute planning. Rather expensive air tickets if you asked me. It was a rush for leave application, tickets collection and hotel reservations. We almost missed our filght to begin with as we all left from work early on that Friday afternoon but the rain threw our tight schedule awry.

But Phuket is beautiful; so relaxing and comfortable and cheap. Unfortunately it was the low-peak season, which meant dark cloudy skies and sprinkles of rain showers everyday. First night into Phuket, I was down with fever which blew into a sorethroat, cough and cold. Am still not fully recovered today, 13 days later. But was an otherwise enjoyable trip with good company and alot of laughter.

Phuket Graceland Hotel - very nice!

Maya beach - check out the dark clouds

Dinner on Patong

Foot massage everyday!

Europe Part III

This will be a photo-filled post of Paris. I love the beautiful city and its ancient architecture. If given more time, I can sit in a cafe under the sun the whole day with un verre de vin blanc and people-watch :) I was warned endlessly that the French are really rude and I should keep a sharp eye on my personal belongings. Truth be told, I was really apprehensive before the trip wondering if I can even enjoy the sights with paranoia running through my mind! To sum it up, the French are much better I suppose; save for the receptionist at our hotel which I will perhaps share in another post, and the precaution needed while strolling along the busy city streets or tourist spots is just like how you would take in any other big city. Not a drama-case situation :p

The Pantheon - a temple where the great men in French history are buried

My 2 temp French guards outside the Pantheon :p

We took a cruise on the River Seine, the river running through the heart of Paris, from Pont Neuf, one of the many bridges across the Seine. This cruise is highly recommended as the first spot for first timers in Paris as it cruises along the main attractions of the city, giving you an opportunity to glimpse the favourite sights of Paris and plan your route for the remainder of your trip.

Pont Alexandre III taken on the cruise

The Seine behind us

Statue of King Henri IV, who reigned during the construction of Pont Neuf

We crossed the St Michel bridge to the Notre Dame cathedral. There was an evening service when we entered the church, it just felt so surreal.

Outside the Notre Dame

Its grand height

How much more beautiful those big black cameras can capture - that's me on the right snapping...

... the "Mays" of Notre Dame where green tea, poetry in chests of gold and famous paintings were offered to Mary as gifts from the goldsmiths of Paris on the 1st of May

A visit to the Lourve is of course, a must. Just to find out what's the great big deal of the largest museum in the world. However, even tho' one is not an art connaisseur, one can still enjoy a slow stroll through the maze of famous arts. It is indeed a pleasant experience and the hours just flew by! Photographs are not allowed to be taken in certain sections inside the Louvre, example with the Mona Lisa. So I bought a little bookmark of her. I think it is just a marketing ploy so everyone will buy souvenirs of her.

Outside the Louvre



The purpose of our trip

Candidly caught basking under the sun

Mars & Venus

Those beautiful ceilings!

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Venus de Milo - almost forgot that mum had a figurine of her displayed on a (now broken) glass mantle we used to have

An abstract curved mirror right in the middle of nowhere, making everyone pause with confusion when entering this area. Cute.

Pre-classical Greece, IMHO, the most beautiful & serene section in the whole museum

Right smack in the very busy 6-lane roads just for the Arc de Triomphe

A must on Champs Elysees! :)

I planned to catch the Eiffel in the early evening to see it in all its glory in daylight. And then maybe to hop into a bar for a beer while waiting for nightfall to catch its night lights. We got there about slightly past 7pm and the queue! The long snake of a queue!! Made us miss our beer just so we could catch its grandeur during the transition from day to night. 2 hours long and up 2 lifts later, the view is worth it.

Just as soon as it was lighted up

1000+ ft above, at the top of the tower

Also the purpose of our trip :)

The base of the tower

Not a bad postcard shot from my lousy Sony T5 eh :p

The many little bars along Rue Mouffetard

A typical French rue (us on the left plotting our Metro route over a cup of coffee)

Blood on my toes - my pair of flat-lined walking shoes failed me miserably :( & I bought the first pair of flip-flops I saw on Blvd St Michel

My busted feet

At Gare du Nord waiting for our Thalys back to AMS

Schiphol airport at 2am, dead - we had a 13-hours wait before our flight! O_o

Holiday over :(